The Pat McAfee Show Live | Thursday April 17th 2025

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The following program is a collection of. students talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic, informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the. beliefs of their peers, their boss, or. ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how humans in the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further.

Hey, what? Let's go. This show stinks. And the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful. McAfee on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers. You. stop. Damn it. Your friend, tell a. friend something nice could change their. life. [Applause]. [Music].

Hello beautiful people and welcome to. our humble abode. The Thunderdome on. this big program Thursday April 17th. 2025. This sports program starts. now are happening all around us. And. yes, your eyes were not deceiving you. The toxic table is here at Boston Connor. and at Tai Schmidt and obviously we're. juiced up to get to Las Vegas for. Wrestlemania weekend. And we cannot wait. to hit the road and hit the skies to get.

out to Sin City. And yes, one half of. the hammer Cowboys AP Tone is here with. a ball cap on. And yes, what you saw at. the end of this desk right here is he. who is a college football national. champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Ryder. Cup winner, a father of 10, a onesie. wearer. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawk. Holy [ __ ] AJ Hawk. AJ Hawk. AJ Hawk. AJ. Hawk. Great to see you, brother. It's. great to be here in Debbut's seat. I.

feel like I had to wear a onesie to kind. of represent. He told me yesterday, "Hey, make sure you represent and wear a. onesie and look good." So, I'm trying. that for debut. You do look super cool. Uh, how about at Big Night Out in. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? There was a. lot of booze at the state of Ohio. You. were former president of Ohio, AJ. Hawkchant, radiating through that entire. building. Had to feel pretty good to get. that love from the people of Pittsburgh. Yeah, the people were awesome. I met. tons and tons of Pittsburgh people and. people from all around the the country I. would say and they were all uh they were. all very nice, very very good people. Tai Conman, we we saw a bunch of them in. the tunnel when we were coming down from.

the suite actually going down to uh to. backstage and they were honestly they. were juiced. Yeah, it was I feel like. we've built a pretty cool little. community and we have you to thank for a. lot of it. You've been a great partner. of ours and this is one of the first. times I get to be in studio with you. Every time you're in studio, I'm not. here. Uh the boys obviously share these. wonderful fairy tales of getting to hang. out with a legend that is AJ Hawk and I. very rarely get to do that. So it is uh. awesome to be here. It's a big day for. the program today. Huge day. NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver will join us in. about 13 minutes or so. The second batch.

of playin games happened last night. 9. verse 10, 9 vers 10 on both sides. Winner gets an opportunity to play. against the losers that happened the. night before in the seven vers 8 7. vers8. I'm going to tell Adam Silver. that I think they should have been. playing on the same night. 78 78 910 910. should have been playing on the same. night cuz last night a little bit of a. waste of time con man. Yeah, huge waste. of time. The he played the Bulls first. and it was a blowout. I believe it was. like 71 to 45 at halftime. Tyler Hero. started the game 8 to8. He was. absolutely balling. Uh but it was.

terrible. It was bad ball uh start to. finish. There wasn't any uh cool uh like. Orlando Magicesque people in the crowd. It was more so just uh just people there. to watch the game. Caleb Williams signed. a football and threw it up into the. stands, but [ __ ] that thing. He just. looks so freaking pissed cuz we know how. much he loves to win and the Bulls. losing was clearly getting to him. I. felt bad for him in that time, but no, it was a blowout. Uh, now the Heats will. go and play the losing Hawks in Atlanta.

on uh Friday, I believe. And now the. second game needs to be talked about. Yeah. Okay, cuz on the same day that. Nico Collins and I don't know uh this uh. Mr. McMahon who works for ESPN, he wrote. a book I believe he covers the Mavericks. down there in Dallas for ESPN. Tim. McMahon I think is his name. He wrote a. book on Luca's greatness. It's actually. the header of this now. He's covering. the Mavericks. So he has a lot of. questions for Nico about what Nico's. doing. And all Nico said was, "I think. defense wins championships." That's what. I think. That's what I think. Then I.

turned on the game against Sacramento in. Sacramento and there was like two. consecutive possessions where uh shot. clock just ran out and Sacramento didn't. even get a shot off and then there was. time they couldn't get the ball in and. it was like okay this Dallas Mavericks. team is potentially going to be like uh. hey we're locking it down. Sacramento. was never really in this game. It was a. blowout basically since I turned it on. like midsec quarter uh going forward. there. And uh I'll tell you what Dallas. Mavericks going to run here. That would. be quite a uh how you doing? keep it. moving from Nico Collins and the Dallas.

Mavericks. Rich Paul kind of alluded to. it earlier uh cuz he reps Anthony Davis. and obviously this trade Anthony Davis. is just getting dunked on by everybody. getting absolutely murdered and Rich. Paul goes they're going to have to. figure out how to win down there. Obviously they got to get healthy. They're not healthy. When they get. healthy they're this, they're this. They're this and it's like it feels like. they are taking a lot of pride in being. smacking a wood on the defensive side. And that's from Nico and I assume it's. radiating through the rest of the team. I'm not saying they're going to win this. entire thing, but them getting a win. last night, huge, I would assume, for.

that Dallas Mavericks locker room, front. office, coaching staff, you name it. Well, and it kind of changes the entire. thing, too, cuz then after last night, you think about what this team would be. Sorry, Nico Harris. Sorry. Nico. Harrison, Nico Collins, great player. One of the best wide receivers in the. world. Love this football. But also, seriously though, it does kind of change. your perception like, okay, if that team. is the team that they were last night, and then you were to add Kyrie Irving, the way Klay Thompson played, the way AD. played, of course, AD talking [ __ ] to.

the fans after, I mean, it was kind of. like a all right, everyone settled down. a little bit. Anthony Davis is still. unbelievable at basketball. They do have. some sort of plan. And I I I know the uh. closed door meeting Shams is reporting. that everyone was pissed about that the. Mavericks did uh with Nico was not what. Nico wanted to do. That was a ownership. thing. Nico's like, "You think I want to. talk to any of these people?" No, I. don't want I don't want it on the. record, off the record. That Tim McMahon. guy was really putting it to him. And. all Nico just kept saying is, "You don't. think we're going to be able to win like.

this? I think defense wins. championships." And uh as somebody who. said to hell with Nico, okay, this guy. somehow convinced people that he was. more important than Luca. I said that. I'm actually pulling for Dallas not to. do well because I want Nico to kind of. have to sit in losses because once. again, Luca led this team to the finals. a year ago and this guy is somehow. convincing people alongside a. nutritionist that they are more. important to the Mavericks than Luca is. to the Mavericks in the long run. I. don't like that. I don't I hate that. But I also after watching them against.

Sacramento last night, I was like, "Okay, they have a plan. This is who. they want to be." And they were I mean. they were Yeah, we are. Yep. We are. locking people down and it's like, can. that win in the NBA? Probably going to. need another piece offensively. Are you. going to be able to win in the Western. Conference this year? Probably not with. how deep it is. But you could see like. that's his plan. And he was very very. steadfast with it whenever he spoke with. the press since then. And sweet for AD. Like I feel like after Kyrie uh blew. out, he he got that injury. I forget if. it was a knee or a ACL. Yeah. It could.

have been that's when AD was already. hurt. It could have been like, "Okay, Anthony Davis is just going to shut it. down. I don't need to play." uh who. cares? Everyone's already killing me. But for him to still kind of go out. there and ball and then the Kings also. fired their GM uh after the Kings, who. were terrible forever, finally got uh. better. And then they say, "You know. what? This guy sucks. Let's get the hell. out of here." I think it was they've won. like three seasons in a row that they. won 40 plus games or something along. those lines. Yeah, here it is. And they. hadn't done that since 2005, 2006.

Pretty brutal. Uh yeah, you can see. which way Sham's leading towards the. news whenever he gets it because you go. back to that first tweet that he put out. at the very end uh he goes, "Yeah, Sacramento went 4834 and snapped a. record 16year drought uh to make the. playoffs. Let's get that guy out of. here." Almost feels like what the Lions. did with Jim Caldwell. You remember. winning him, but not enough. We need. more. We need more. We need more. I was. in that Sacramento building. Uh. beautiful arena, beautiful town, wonderful people. I'd assume that the.

Sacramento Kings fans would like to. continue to have success. Maybe they'll. just be a part of the turnover that's. happening around the NBA. But, uh, congrats to Dallas. Congrats to the. Heat. Good luck getting in. Now, everybody's fighting for the number. eight overall seed, uh, on Friday. Heat, Hawks, Mavs, Grizz. Will John Mar throw. grenades all over the place? Will Trey. Young do his thing? Throw balls at refs. Y, that was it was funny. It was very. sweet. Can't wait to talk to Adam Silver. in about 8 minutes. And then in the next.

hour, about an hour from right now, uh. we'll be talking to uh four-time NFL. MVP, man who's currently a free agent, a. man who has been contemplating a lot, open to everything, attached to nothing. Aaron Rogers will be joining us in one. hour. Uh cannot wait to chitchat with. him. AJ Hawk also here in studio in the. Thunderdome for this particular. conversation. There's a lot to kind of. go over with Aaron. There's a lot to. kind of hopefully clarify with Aaron.

AJ, I know you've been in constant. contact with Aaron Rogers throughout. this entire process while the world has. kind of debated and contemplated and. maybe made up storylines and things. Maybe they're true, maybe they're not. true. What do you think we're going to. hear from Aaron today? And uh how. excited are you to see how he handles. this? I'm pretty pumped up to see how he. handle I'm I'm very excited to see how. this goes an hour from now. I am pumped. to see how I guess just with everything. that's been going on, I like I've told. you many times like I felt like. something should have happened by now. I. assumed he would be uh signed with the.

team at this point. So yeah, I I I can't. wait to hear what his perspective is, where he sees uh you know moving forward. I guess where his health is and uh I. don't know like we haven't heard. anything. When's the last public. statements Aaron has had? Uh we got a. text was that two months ago like hey. baby I'll come on next week short of uh. short in the near future short I'll be. on shortly shortly or something like. that and then I don't think we've heard. anything we've seen him walking the. beach at sunset yeah that's really the. flag the football camp he had flag.

football we've seen him flag football. which he looked good by the way love. that he's not taking drop backs either. just I'm going to stay at the line. scrimmage shore throws whatever we need. let's get this thing in there does it. every single year to raise money he has. won philanthropist of the year in. California since last time we've talked. to him. And then obviously the throwing. at DK at UCLA has taken place since. then. He has visited with the Steelers. which has been reported by numerous. people. So there's a Was he the V was he. with the Vi what Vikings? Yeah. Giants,

Steelers, Saints conversation. Yeah. Like how close was he to anything? That's what I'm saying. Like there's a. lot to ask. Or is he? I don't know. What's that Todd? What do you say? Well, you said was like in the past tense. I. mean over these last like two months. Was he ever close? Like was there ever. were they ever even talking contract. with any of these teams? Yeah. And to. your point about you thought that. something would have been decided by now. us too I think. So like why why I'm like. excited to hear why have why have we not. really gotten an answer? Florio reported. that he was looking for $85 million a. year, which you know was a lot we.

thought, but you know that is not what. Florio reported. That is not what P Pro football talks. Mike Florio Pison legend who's been. covering the NFL for a long time. But. there has been a lot of uh. hypothesizing about what Aaron Rogers is. thinking or doing for next season. Uh. hopefully we'll get some clarity on it. all today. What do you think we learned. today, AJ? Well, was first was do people. really think money was an issue or like. the money was a problem like. hey people do no I'm going to hold out. until I get what I you know two years.

$105 million or something at one point. that was a part of the conversation like. the the money could potentially be. scaring some people away and then then. it was reported that there's already a. contract in place at certain places and. then there's you know the Giants offered. 90 or $100 million for Matthew Stafford. did they offer something there's just so. many things that have been just said. about Aaron as if it's been act. Yeah. And we have been very lucky to be. alongside the Aaron Rogers experience. for the last few years. There's a lot of. things that are just said about Aaron. that I think Aaron would disagree with. wholeheartedly even though it is very.

much about him. So I'll be pumped to. hear how he comes in. What's his angle. Tai Schmidt and also what his thoughts. are on everything. Yeah. And you know, I'm most excited because like I I'm not. I don't think we're going to necessarily. get like a definitive answer today like. hey I'm doing so and so next year but I. think the longer this went on and we. didn't hear anything like the and it's. still a possibility I guess but like the. reality started setting in like maybe he. is going to retire like and as like a. massive Packers fan and Aaron Rogers fan. like I still think he has more left in.

the tank especially the way he played. down the stretch last season like I want. to see him play football again now. So, like, you know, uh maybe we're going to. get, you know, at least a little inkling. as to what he wants to do next year. Again, I don't think he's going to come. out and definitively say, "Hey, I'm. going and playing here. I'm going to. retire." But maybe we will. Yeah. Personally, I don't think we should. bring up retirement at all. Okay. On. this program, I don't think we should. try to talk it. I think we kind of were. the only ones that were bringing it up. there for a while. Yeah. But I don't. think he should. Why? You think we might. push him over the edge and push him into.

Well, I'm just Maybe. And we don't I We. want to see him play ball. The only. thing from. retirement, that's what you're saying. We don't want to be the one. Six feet. ain't so far down. That's what you're. saying. We don't need to be the ones. that are promoting the the two see him. play ball. The mother of Iawaska pushes. him, brother. Don't worry about us. Don't worry. Has there been any of. those? Chance. I mean, there's a lot to. catch up on. But, you know, I'm sure. everybody will listen and say, "Yeah, that's the truth. We agree with.

everything you said." No, no matter what. Aaron says here, I'm sure the people who. have been pushing narratives or whatever. will certainly say, "Yeah, maybe we. weren't right." That that that is going. on around the world that he's going to, you know, sometimes he pops up with like. random things that aren't really aren't. really football question like answers. I. wonder if he has anything on his Yeah, I'm sure there'll be something he and. Conor will uh share some laughs about. This hour is presented by Ram Trucks and. powered by the new 2025 Ram 1500. All.

the power you need, the luxury you want, and the capability you deserve. Shout. out to Ram. Finally got the um the 2500. heavy duty rebel Ram over to uh Weston. Arthur uh from Mount Union. That was a. wild experience. We won't be doing that. again. You will not be doing that again. Just what I've learned from cars. Um if. you've ever purchased a car, all the. paperwork that you sign is immense. I I. assume there's a lot of lawsuits, there's a lot of things, there's a lot. of I don't know why it is the way it is.

Buying a car is a terrible experience. It is a terrible, terrible experience. Now, whenever there's three different. states involved and a truck that's. potentially not even, I guess, classified to anybody cuz it came right. off the thing right to us as a showcase. thing. So, it has been a tough. experience getting the Ram truck, but I. will say the Ram people have been on top. of it. We are very, very thankful for. the Ram truck people. just I guess. there's a lot of laws like on Sundays. you're not allowed to do anything with. cars in Indiana, you know, it's like.

really you're not allowed to sell or buy. a car on Sundays. So, there's been some. things that have happened on there's. been some I mean it has been a lot dude. and shout out to the Ram Trucks people. uh for being as helpful as they have. We. hope Weston enjoys the truck. Seems like. they're very grateful for it over there. Uh and that has been really cool to kind. of be a part of. But yeah, we will not. be uh we will not be doing all that. again. So, the last Ram truck giveaway. that we did was last year. Congrats to. Mount Boom and Congrats to that. We hope.

doing that again. I It was fun until it. wasn't. So many a lot of red tape. Mike. Fos has spent and he document he went. back and looked I guess a total of 26. hours on the phone with different DMVs. and states and license like all the. things that he has had to go through. So, shout out to Fosso getting this. done. Once again, thank you to the. Arthur family for being very grateful. for it all. And uh what an incredible. play by Weston there at Mount Boom. And. uh it was an honor to spotlight your.

play at Mount Union. And uh thankful. that this thing is we're about the uh. we're about 2 feet from, you know, we're. in a red zone of this, but the Ram. trucks are a wonderful truck and uh. we're thankful that Ram is a part of our. team. Speaking of a part of our team, um. AJ Nicoyava has joined a new team. He's. going to be going back to Southern. California and playing for UCLA. Congratulations. You know, we didn't. know how this was going to work because.

there was a lot of people saying that uh. maybe the reputational damage or maybe. the drama was going to maybe uh hold him. away from a lot of different schools. You know, two lane was being talked. about at one point. A lot of people were. like, "No is gonna play for two lane.". No offense to Lane, but you understand. how this whole thing goes. Then we were. hypothesizing yesterday, maybe it goes. back to Tennessee. Maybe they go shake. hands, say, "Hey, we made a mistake. here. We had a miscalculation. We had a. misread. We're all very new to this. situation. There's not a lot of rules, not a lot of guidelines. This was. inevitable. We just happen to be the. first big name to do it yada yada yada.".

And they go back to Tennessee because. Tennessee also doesn't have a. quarterback. Instead, what Colin Cowardd. reported yesterday, obviously, he based. out of Los Angeles, is that he's hearing. that Nico is going back to UCLA. Then. other people confirm the report that. he's going back to UCLA, back home to. Southern California for less money than. what he would have made at Tennessee is. what's being said. But at least he's. closer to home and he's in the Big 10. That's right. And you know, local kid, maybe he's able to do with UCLA what. Shad Door Travis were able to do both at. uh Jackson State and at Colorado. Maybe.

he's able to bring some buzz. Maybe he's. able to bring a little bit of juice. and. maybe he's able to continue his career. in his growth so that we can see him in. the football world for a long time at. UCLA. We're happy you found a home. That's that's all I would like to say. Now, West Virginia got in. Yeah, maybe. we got quarterbacks. We got guys I don't. even need to tell you about Scotty Fox. Okay. Get out of Ohio. You know who this. kid is? I know of him. Yeah, of course. Got long hair. I guess they call him. Sunshine. He might be the next dude.

He's supposed He's supposed to be in. high school. He was at West Virginia. He's one of the first guys that would go. to West Virginia like skip spring. reclass or not reclassify but yeah. graduate early graduate early go and he. said the boys gravitate to old Scotty. Fox and he said he's got we got Nico. Pisano Nico over there a lot of Nico. talk today a lot of Nico Nico Collins. Nico Harrison Nico Iava Nico Pisano. there's a lot of Nikos out there great. name by the way Nico is a great name and. then obviously the transfer from Texas. A&M quarterback we got a lot of good. quarterbacks in West Virginia. So, whenever I said yesterday, we'd love to.

have Nico there. That wasn't because I. thought anybody was bad, but I like that. Nico has a home and he's in the Big 10, so he's still going to be playing big. time football. A lot of travel for him, but he's back in Southern California. What are your thoughts on how it all. turned out? Yeah, I'm glad we we watched. him firsthand against Ohio State. The. guy is tough as nail, so I have a ton of. respect for how he plays, and we know. how good he is. This guy can be an. unbelievable quarterback. I think he's. just scratching the surface on what he's. going to be. But yeah, going back home, UCLA, if he can bring them, I don't I. don't know if you gonna say bring them. back to the glory days, but bring them, you know, bring some juice to UCLA.

Yeah, some more re relevancy and some. more people. We know it's a big old. stadium they play in and they're trying. to fill up every single time they play. So, I think it works out for him. I'm. glad he got somewhere so quick. Does it. that was this all along? What's the. whole no contact thing that these guys. enter the portal? I don't know. And who. knows if that's real, you know? Who. knows what's real? What isn't real? We. don't know. But I like he's going to. have to go to Iowa at some point. you. know, over the next couple years. And, you know, are the Hawkeyes going to be. able to handle Nico Yamalava coming into. the Big 10? I don't know. We shall see. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's. interesting. Uh because UCLA, you know,

they're not they're not exactly, you. know, a powerhouse when it comes to. football. Everybody knows that. But the. weird thing that I like girls soccer, girls, softball, they got a great. softball team. Their basketball team is. solid. Their women's basketball team's. solid. So, they've been a great addition. to the Big 10, no question. But a lot of. the talk around it was that money was. part of it, but it was Tennessee's. offense. Like I don't know if that just. got like squeezed in there. And UCLA has. a firsttime OC. So like I don't know if. it kind of seems like cuz I I agree like.

I'm glad that this is over and done with. and he found a spot and he doesn't have. to go the next three weeks with like. getting his name dragged through the. mud. But it seems like they did kind of. just maybe realize like, oh wow, like. this is going to get very bad very. quickly. like let's see if if UCLA is. interested and UCLA obviously like you. get a guy like this I mean there's. there's a chance that you know they. could contend in the big I don't know if. they're going to win the Big 10 next. year but this certainly doesn't hurt. them. I mean like like I mentioned. yesterday 99% of teams in college.

football I think would look at their. current quarterback situation and say. we'd take Nico Yamalava. Big 10's tough. Yes. Tough. You got a lot of big time. players in the Big 10. You know Oregon. obviously on the West Coast in the Big. 10. But forget about that. I still think. and they are the ones that win. Penn. State is Ohio State. Michigan, Iowa, SC is in UCLA's backyard. They're. in the Big 10. Like, yeah. So, it's. going to be tough to just win the Big. 10. You know, it's going to be tough to. even be great in the Big 10. But UCLA. was a complete afterthought. And now,

you know, I think Nico brings them some. relevancy. And I'm happy all parties. have kind of Yeah. To your point, we. move on. Now, moving on. Let's talk. about the NBA. Ladies and gentlemen, the. association is in the middle of its. biggest time. The playing games have. begun. The playoffs officially start on. Saturday, and all eyes are going to be. on the NBA. Well, who would know the. league better than the guy who's the. commissioner of it, Duke. Ladies and. gentlemen, friend of the program, commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver.

How you doing, Kamish? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me, dude. Thank you. for joining us. We are obviously a. massive fan of yours. The fact that you. ever take time to chitchat with us makes. us feel smarter and uh more prestigious. I think more distinguished. I believe. there's a lot of words that we could say. that you make us better, but we're very. grateful that you take your time, Kamish. Well, I wore my tie and jacket, so thank you. That's what I'm talking. about. See, we need that. That's the. type of [ __ ] we need, Kamish. Okay, let's talk about it. Playing games.

happen. Uh, you know, the excitement is. starting to build about playoff time. You guys as a league understand that the. playoffs are the most important time for. your league and understand that this is. where the massive piece of your ratings. and entrance and relevance uh is going. to rely. What is the mindset of the. league going into the playoffs? So. basically all your stars still in play, Kamish. Well mindset as you said is best. time of the year for basketball and I. think it builds not just from our. regular season but I'm a big college.

basketball fan. You mentioned I went to. Duke. um you know, builds into March. Madness and then into the NBA playoffs. And I think the the playin has worked. well. We got two number 10 seeds playing. tomorrow night. And I think that's kept. a group of teams competitive that might. otherwise have thrown in the towel. earlier into the season, you know, and. to see Dallas still competitive, to see. Miami still competitive. So, you know, we got those two playing games left. tomorrow night and then the playoffs. start Saturday. In fact, I'll be out in. Indianapolis um to see Milwaukee Indie.

on uh Saturday afternoon. Okay. Well, we. can't wait to have you in our city. We. will not be here. We'll be at. WrestleMania in Las Vegas, but the. city's pumped you're coming. There's a. parade. I think there's a parade if you. want to talk to those refs, you know, about uh the hands on Tyrese. Hallebertton. Um let's talk about the. season as a whole in the state of the. NBA. Obviously, you signed a brand new. broadcasting deal. Congratulations. Some. people are calling it greatest deal uh. that they've ever ever seen negotiated. and get done. So, way to go. ESPN.

obviously benefiting from it, other. partners as well. Then the report comes. out that the ratings were down 2% this. year verse last year. I've always been a. proponent of the fact that the NBA runs. digital, runs social. Whenever the NBA. is happening, it takes over X. It takes. over everything. And that's a massive. piece of your younger demographic. But. to the ratings component from this. season only, do you think there's been. two different leagues or seasons for you. guys? Pre-allar game, postall-star game. I think postall-star game everything up,

right? Do you agree with that sentiment? And yeah, it, you know, Pat, it's a. great way to put it because you remember. the narrative early in the season was. that the ratings were down. In fact, they were down. We there was a. competitive World Series of presidential. elections. There were a bunch of factors. I think that led to our ratings being. down early on. But in order to end up. down 2% or relatively flat for the. season, which is a victory these days, especially with declining television. viewership from traditional television, you know, that's a victory. And the.

reason that happened is just as you. said, essentially post Allstar, the. ratings picked up a lot. In fact, to to. end up just down 2% for the season from. where we came from, the ratings had to. be up significantly. And I think you. saw, you know, tremendous competition. around the league, teams playing, you. know, for for for playoff seedings, teams playing to get into the playoffs, healthy stars, a trade that that. attracted a lot of attention. A bunch of. things happened in the league and that. generated a lot of interest. But to your. point about digital media, you know,

I've said this to you before, to take a. page from you, you know, people are. either watching this right now on ESPN. or on YouTube. And I think I think you. have a bigger audience on YouTube than. you do on ESPN. And I again we're in. those new television deals we did, you. know, not only do we have a huge digital. presence in terms of social media and. highlights and everything else, but. every game is every national game will. be streamed in our new television deal. So, as fans, particularly young fans, migrate away from called traditional.

television or legacy television and are. increasingly just watching things on. their phone, on their iPads, just, you. know, consuming things from from from. through streaming media. Um, that's. where we'll be next year. And so, you. know, I it it also I think in the same. way that you're sort of reinventing. sports television in a way in the way. you present your yourself and and and. your crew when you do games, it's going. to open up all kinds of new. opportunities. I mean, traditional. television, it's been great for.

professional sports, really for all of. sports. But when you move to digital, it. creates all kinds of new opportunities. to to personalize the feeds, to to add. merchandising and gaming and new angles, new audio feeds, sort of that Manning. cast idea, but sort of on steroids where. you can have sort of unlimited ways to. access games. So I I think we're about, you know, you're you're at the beginning. of what I think we're going to see a. huge sea change in the way sports are.

presented through media. I appreciate. you saying that. That is very very kind. of you to um kind of acknowledge. But we. started digitally then we add the linear. component. So we've had to kind of watch. others. You know there's plenty of. digital uh companies that have created. avenues for content and ways to do. things. But the fact that you suit. literally um and guy who's been around. league long time have the vision for. what the next iteration of this whole. thing is is the reason why we have so. much respect for you. So, you need to.

know that that's not easy, too. Cuz I. know that you're dealing with a lot of. people that I don't want to say uh have. made a lot of money doing something one. particular way, but that's we've had to. deal with that. A lot of people have. done something the same way, same way. Same way, and then we come in and say, we think if you do this, at first it's. not going to be good, but in the future. it'll be better. Those are hard combos. And you've had to have a lot of those, which is why I think a lot of people say. the deal that you were able to get done, brilliant, brother. You need to know. that. Absolutely brilliant. And we're. thankful as a sports media team that. covers sports that a league is doing it.

too. And the NFL will try to follow suit. obviously with what you're doing and the. NFL's ratings are bananas and they. always will be, but other leagues are. going to try to do what you guys are. doing with this deal. And I think it'll. be great for the game and I think it'll. be great for the sports going forward. Yeah. Again, you know, thank thank you. Pat. I would just say we're following. our fans and we have a particularly. young fan base in the NBA and we have to. make that transition to digital to. streaming television cuz that's where. they are. I mean, and again, as I said, to be down 2% this year, relatively flat.

in the regular season is a huge victory. because we're losing as an industry. enormous amount of traditional. television viewers, whether young people. never subscribe to cable in the first. place or disconnect because they can get. the the content they want to watch. And. your show is a perfect example. And. ESPN, I think, is doing a really nice. job straddling both worlds. you can get. your your telecast, you know, your. program through traditional television. on ESPN or you can get it on YouTube. And now ESPN has already announced.

they're going to take their service and. go direct to consumer next year. So if. you're not a cable subscriber, you'll be. able to get the full ESPN feed directly. to your phone. And that's that again. will be a huge turning point in. traditional television because what's. holding the cable bundle together in. large part is professional or you know. sports right now, major league sports, whether it's professional top-notch. college sports. That's a key part of why. people get cable right now. And again,

all the whole industry is really just. following the consumer, following our. fans. You have no choice. And it's. really interesting also for sports cuz. in a way I mean I'm older than you guys. but you live through the time where you. had to get home to watch the game and. now you carry your television with you. and wherever you are you know as I said. it's I think the way people think of it. now if you look what's happened you have. a lot of traditional telecasts have gone. from you know let's say ESPN to a. streaming service or you know from NBC.

to Peacock and it's still by and large. the same feed that you would be watching. on television. What we're about to see. and I'm really excited about is all this. new optionality. So, you'll be watching. sports in a different way and it'll. create more engagement because one of. one of the big things for us is it's not. just the number of people watching your. game, but it's how long they watch. And. as you guys were talking earlier in the. show about blowouts last night, you. know, you look for ways as a league, all. right, you can't control the competition. on the floor, but you can find other.

ways to keep people engaged and and. really just the way that you guys do. You know, I'm a I'm I'm a longtime. viewer of what you guys do and you find. ways to keep sports interesting to have. Aaron Rogers on to be talking about. things that are happening around the. game. And I think that now those things. are very separate. You have sort of the. pre traditional pregame shows halftimes. You have, you know, format formatted. shows like what you guys present. And I. think what really smart people, producers are looking to integrate those.

different aspects, you know, so that. when you tune into a game, if you want a. traditional X's and O's presentation of. the game, you can get that. If you want. sort of the Manning cast type. presentation where they're not just. talking about the games, but they're. talking about other things that are. happening. You can then expand that. through streaming media where you don't. have any limitation. Now, like you guys. were talking about, why not have all the. games on night? Yes, you know, part of. it is just a limitation in terms of. traditional television. Like you think. of it like shelf space. You know, we.

have two networks to work with. We're. working with ESPN and TNT. So, the only. choice then is then you got to put games. in the afternoon so you can get them all. on as opposed to going two nights in a. row. When you go to streaming media, it's unlimited. If you're on, you know, use a platform like Netflix or whatever. else, you don't think of it as in terms. of what channel it's on. it's on Netflix. and you have unlimited menu of options. You can do the same thing with sports. It really opens up tremendous. opportunities for us in terms of the.

schedule that if if ESPN for example has. Friday night as opposed to only pick. choosing one game to go with and and. that's the there's an 8:00 game or 10:30. game and it might turn out there's an. injury or there's a blowout whatever. else. they can have the full menu of. games and you can be presenting them all. at once and from ESPN standpoint or from. the league standpoint, we just want. people to watch if they choose to watch. Oklahoma City, you know, as as opposed.

to, you know, Memphis. It really we're. indifferent to that. We just wanted. people to present the best possible. competition at any time. So like I think. you're going to see in the next few. years more change in sports television. than you've seen in the last 40 years. Yeah, I think so too. And the NFL. obviously is doing it. Thank you for. that beautiful layout of what the future. looks like for your league and also. every other league that is going to have. to you're either going to have to do it. or you're going to kind of die. It's a. survivor or die type. No, the. marketplace is forcing us there. Again,

I I think that if you if particularly. when you have a young league and and. part of it I learned from our players. I. mean, even if you ask them how they. consume games, like very most guys, they're watching on their iPads, you. know, they're they're watching on their. phones, you know, you know, we started. with that League Pass product that you. can get, you know, through cable, you. know, or satellite, but it's it's just. not how young people consume television. anymore. And part of it is because you. want you're on the go and, you know, you. can take your tablet, you can take your. phone, and that's how I watch so many of.

our games. I'm I you know, I joke. sometimes I live in an apartment in New. York City. It's easier to navigate. through my iPad to go from game to game. than it necessarily is on a traditional. television. Definitely. I mean, that's. no questions asked. Especially because. you gota got to connect into the. streaming service on your on your TV. Then you got to log in. You got to hope. you're still logged in. If you're not. logged in, okay, let's remember our. password. Do you want to log in with. your phone? Yeah. Take a little picture, little QR code. Let me do that. I hope. my phone has the updated password. whenever I do the It's like a whole It's. a whole thing, but it's the world that.

we're in. And to your point about, you. know, there's going to be more change in. the next couple years than there's been. in the last 50 years or 40 years or. whatever in sports world. It's like. remember when they started streaming. games, people like my my dad doesn't. know how to get on Amazon. It's like now. they do, you know, like now like society. as a whole, both young and old, I feel. like understand what the modern. technology is. I'm excited you're taking. advantage of it. Now, with that being. said, we talk about pre-allar game, postall-star game, two different seasons. basically for you guys in my eyes. personally, watching from like 30,000.

ft. I feel like your players are more. liked now than maybe they have been over. the last couple years. Do you agree with. that? And do you appreciate the fact. that your players are speaking a little. bit more, whether it's telling their. stories with Netflix documentaries, doing more interviews? I mean, LeBron. coming on our show was the most absurd. thing of all time. so thankful that he. did that. But I think we all learned a. lot about LeBron that we haven't learned. in like 20 years. And I think anytime. you learn more things about people, you. like them more. And we're in an era now. where I think people have to like who.

they are a fan of if they're not just a. blind fan of the team. I feel like your. players have done better with that. Do. you agree with that? And how do you feel. about that? I definitely do. I mean, it's in terms of them like more. I think. it's it's hard for harder for me to. judge it on a relative basis now versus. 5 years ago. I know now that at the end. of the day I see large part of my job is. putting our players forward as the. multi-dimensional people they are that. you know that sort of one end of the. extreme is that shut up and dribble. notion like we just want to see you play.

basketball. The other end of the. spectrum is you see people for who they. are that basketball is one aspect of. their lives. Now I get it as a fan first. and foremost and I'm often pointing this. out to players that it has to begin with. their play on the floor. That's why. they're here. People want to see them. give their all on the floor. They want. to see the passion. They want to see the. effort. And so we can't ever take that. for granted. But once you bring them, you know, to the big stage to play. basketball, then to show that they're. multi-dimensional people, that they're.

not just from Indiana. This is the city. in Indiana they're from. This is where. they played high school basketball. This. these are obstacles they've overcome in. their lives. this is, you know, whatever, you know, issues they've. confronted. This is how they made. themselves better as a player. This is. what they're interested in off the. floor. I I I think the more ways we can. present these players, again, so much of. what you do, you know, through your.

show, they it makes them more likable. To your point, it makes people more. interested in them. I used the word. engagement before. I mean, I'll just. give you a quick example. When Victor. Webbyama was in New York for for at. Christmas, he played the Knicks and then. he stayed in town cuz I think he was. playing the Nets two days later. He went. to Washington Square Park downtown in. New York City and he played chess. It. was raining that day and he loves. playing chess. I think he played chess. down there for an hour and a bunch of. cameras showed up, people with their,

you know, smartphones, whatever. Something like a 100 million people. watched that over the next week. clips. of him playing chess in Washington. Square Park. And I think now number one. is he's injured at the moment, but he'll. be back. He's a phenom number one pick. in the draft, an incredible player. But. when people see, oh, what an interesting. guy. He also plays chess. He speaks. multiple languages. That draws people. in. And I think that's where this this. Lee can use social media, but it also it.

has to be authentic. He he didn't. pretend he played chess. He plays chess. He wanted to go out and play chess that. day. But then people find new. connections to him. Yeah. Like humanize, you know, because we see them. That's. the right word. I mean, they're all. special. Like you have to be a special. human type to make it into the NBA. They're all so tall. Steph Curry does. not look that tall on the court. He. walks by you, he's taller than you. Like. they everybody, they all feel like. superheroes almost whenever they're on. TV. And then whenever you don't know. anything about the actual human that is.

underneath, I think some people feel. like, uh, I don't really know if I can. relate to this person. And then WBY sits. down in the rain in New York and just. cooks people at chess. It's like, I. didn't know this guy could play chess. I. thought, you know, it's like all these. things are great things um for the. league. And I I appreciate the fact that. your players, you know, cuz I think. there was been a lot of and it's very. well documented and I'm not saying. anything. It's out of pocket and it. happens in every sport. A lot of ex. players, a lot of media always want to.

say what's wrong with a sport or what's. wrong with a game to make the game. better, I think is what they're trying. to do by pointing that out. But. sometimes whenever you're super negative. about certain things, people can build. that narrative about the entire league. And I think a lot of the players kind of. got a little bit like ah to hell with. everybody. Everybody hates us. Everybody. talks [ __ ] So the fact now that I think. more of them are talking and showcasing. who they are to the fans, I think that's. great news for your league. I think. that's great news for sports as a whole. Like once again, LeBron walked in here. Yeah. Just walked right in and just.

started chatting and he's like the guy. He's the face of your league and has. been for like 20 years. And I think him. and everybody else that's doing it is. good for your sport. Now, the boys will. have a bunch of questions, but I have to. ask about something you alluded to. That. trade was certainly something that uh. drew some interest, you know, and. obviously Nico down there in Dallas is. having to kind of answer the questions. for the decision that he made that that. team might be they might be they might. be I I mean there is a chance that they. end up having a lot of success in his. vision. But Luca, a superstar going to.

Los Angeles to team with LeBron James. And I know people that don't follow. basketball very closely say, "Well, didn't the NBA block a trade from New. Orleans to LA in the past? How is this. even possible?" I think the NBA was. running the team at the time because. they didn't have ownership. What were. your thoughts on this trade? When do you. get a heads up that Luca is getting. traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and AD. is getting traded to Dallas? And what. were your thoughts on it as a whole, Commish? Yeah. So, first um just to. clarify the I don't or the commissioner.

doesn't have the right to block a trade. other than a trade not conforming to our. rules. So, and and you alluded to David. Stern once blocked a trade, but he it. was I get how confusing it was to fans, but he was both the commissioner and the. acting owner of the New Orleans. franchise at the time. And so, a trade. was recommended to him by the general. manager, and he turned down that trade. based on what he thought was in the best. interest of that franchise. As an owner, not as the commissioner. He turned down. the trade as the owner, not as the.

commissioner. Exactly. And by the way, I. learned my lesson because in that. interim period when we were running the. Los Angeles Clippers, a guy named Dick. Parsons came in and he was the interim. go governor. And I of course had been. here when David had turned down that. trade and I said, "Dick, you're the. owner of that team. You will decide what. trades to make or not make, not me." So. there's absolutely no confusion. But in. this situation, um, with with Luca, I. learned, the league office learns a. little bit ahead of the public because. to the point of leagues approving.

trades, it's kind of like a closing at a. house. Both teams have to be on the. phone. We the the lawyers and the. basketball folks at the league office. have to make sure that the contracts. match, that the team and does indeed. does have the cap room to make the. trade, that it complies with our rules. So I learned when they called the trade. into the league office and again so I. don't really have a role in that process. other than if there's somehow a dispute. as to the mechanism of the trade. You.

know in terms of the the trade itself. look it's obvious time time will tell. The only place where I feel defensive on. behalf of the Dallas Mavericks and new. ownership there is there were some. suggestions early on that the trade. wasn't done for basketball reasons that. somehow new owner didn't want to pay a. maximum salary or had you know was. focused on building a new a real estate. development or something else. The only. thing I can say and and I feel very. confident in this knowing Patrick Dumont. who's the governor of the team and the. people involved, they believed that they.

were making the best trade on behalf of. the Dallas Mavericks. Whether that turns. out to be true, again, only time will. tell. I I've known Nico for a long time, Nico Harrison. He was a longtime. executive at Nike before he was at. Dallas Mavericks. Again, whether or not. he made a the right trade, he's a really. decent person. I know he's trying to do. the best he can to run that franchise. I, you know, like it's been a rough time. since they made the trade. There's no. question about it. You know, combination.

of, you know, Anthony Davis, my god, like going down in the very first game. He was playing for the Mavericks. You. know, Kyrie then with the season ending. in injury, you know, I'm still I'm proud. of that team. Obviously, they're they're. still playing hard. You know, they still. have a chance to play into the playoffs. tomorrow night. So, I I get the fans. passion. I understand again why Dallas. Mavericks fans are so upset. I. personally am a fan of of Luca Donuch. I. think he's a great young man, you know, and you know, let's see how this turns.

out. I I want him to be great. I want. the Dallas Mavericks to be great, but I. it's but there's no doubt I'd say been. I've been in the league for a long time. It it's been remarkable, I think, how. much interest there's been in this. trade. Maybe because you have the Lakers. on the other side of it. Um you have. happen stance that Mark Cuban just. recently stepped out as the owner of. that team. So, a lot of chatter around. it, but um you know, we'll see when they. play the games how this works out. Yeah. And LeBron being a part of it too is.

just another, you know, elevated, let. alone JJ Reic in his first year cuz. there's so many storylines there. And to. your point about intrigue with the. trade, I think a lot of people that. weren't really paying attention to the. NBA were like, "Hold the phone. Didn't. that guy just go to the finals last. year? Now he's teaming up with LeBron.". And I think it's good for the league as. a whole. Uh I know that there's a lot of. drama that comes alongside of it that. you probably have to deal with. Uh. speaking of dealing with things, it is. your job to drive new initiatives to. bring people more um you know interest. in the league. AJ has a question for.

you, Kamish. Yeah, Kamish, you mentioned. uh engagement earlier. Is the inseason. tournament I feel like has done a lot. for people and brought people uh to more. eyeballs, I guess, during the regular. season. Is there anything you guys are. are spitballing or you're kicking around. the room trying to think you may try in. the near future? Yeah, I I mean, look, so yes, to your. point that the the inseason tournament. has been successful from that. standpoint, we knew we needed more, I. think, games of games of consequence. during the regular season. You know, we. took a page from European leagues a.

little bit from college basketball. that's always had some of those. tournaments, you know, around. Thanksgiving or the holidays or whatever. else. I think in two in terms of new. initiatives, number one, we got to do a. better job with Allstar. You know, I've. said that before. Um, we we've tried. some new things. They frankly haven't. worked. You know, we're moving the. All-Star game moves to NBC next year. We're going to be smack in the middle of. the Winter Olympics. I think that NBC. has some ideas around, you know, international. You guys playing. basketball on skates? You guys wearing.

ice skates? Not a bad idea. Yeah, I'll. watch, you know, and and and if you see. the, you know, credit to the NHL for the. the four nation faceoff, obviously that. was really successful. We know from the. last summer Olympics, you know, that. when USA played France, for example, or. Serbia, got tremendous interest, tremendous ratings around that. It's a. little hard to figure out when you have, you know, 30% of your players are. international, you know, from many. different countries exactly what format. will work. But, but AJ, that's something.

we got to get right. I think we're also. looking at doing some additional things. in Europe. You know, there's we're the. number two sport behind soccer globally. in in in Europe. Tremendous interest. Half of our international players come. from Europe. Um, our last, you know, last six MVPs have been, you know, in. the league have been international. Five. of those six have been European players, you know. So, we we see opportunity. there. You know, I think one thing that. differentiates us is we're such a global. game. Um, and we continue to look for.

opportunities to just broaden the pool. of people who follow this game. You. know, Africa, we're doing a lot there. Um, we in the middle of COVID, crazy, we. started a league there. I I I always use. this statistic, amazes me. 10% of the. players in the NBA were either born in. Africa or one of their parents was born. in Africa. You know, you know, Africa, you know, it's 54 different countries. You know, huge continent, but well over. a billion people. So, that's something.

we're focused on. And I just say last. AJ, just go back to the earlier. conversation about technology. I again. we're not even scratching the surface in. terms of when you move to streaming and. digital media how much more you can do. around the game to create that. additional engagement from your fans. just you know some of it yeah you know. sports betting obviously has become. really you know prevalent now you know. legalized something like 35 states and I. get the other side of it and one thing. about digital media for people who don't. want to see ads for sports betting or. don't want anything to do have anything.

to do with it click click that's off. their screen they won't have to deal. with that but I think that that that and. other forms of gaming becomes a point of. engagement for a lot of fans. Merchandising, um, collectibles, social media, user. generated content. I think you're going. to be able to have immerse that into the. game experience. So, there's a lot. coming, AJ. Yeah. What do you think this. guy's doing? Just sitting in New York. not thinking of ideas? AJ, what do you. think this is? I knew there was a bunch. going on behind the scenes. I just. wanted him to be able to tell. AJ's in.

the studio today and I'm not. What's. going on? Yeah, agreed. Yeah, commission. We get you'll be in our city. this weekend. We uh think everybody will. treat you fantastically. You've done a. great job as commission. You talk about, you know, having to change some things. and dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. your way through. AP Tone has a question. for you. Yeah, Commissioner, you and Pat. were talking about uh digital and. streaming and linear, and you use the. word shelf space, which which I found. interesting because uh Christmas Day NBA. used to have all the shelf space. The. whole cabinet, the whole all the snacks.

were NBA. Okay. And now Commissioner. Roger Goodell comes in and he wants all. the shelf space for Christmas Day. Have. you talked to Commissioner Goodell about. that and said what what hey what gives? And have you thought maybe maybe. Christmas Eve is NBA's new shelf space. for for that uh time of year? Well, I. mean Roger and I talk all the time, but. I we're competitors and on one hand I. think that to the extent that the NFL. does better, that college basketball. does better, it's good for everyone. definitely is a rising tide I think in.

the in the growing interest in top-notch. sports. I mean if you look at you know. the the most watched programs uh you. know on television NFL dominates that. list but the rest of the list much of it. is you know NFL I mean I'm sorry you. know NBA finals major league baseball. world series etc. NHL. So, we're seeing. tremendous interest in sports. And I. think that where they came on, you know, Christmas, they they had the two games. on Netflix, which were competing against. our games on ABC and ESPN. I get it. I. would never even suggest, first of all,

you wouldn't listen to me anyway, but I. think the NFL should do what's in the. best interest of the NFL. So, I have no. issue with with that whatsoever. In. terms of looking at I I'm not saying. we're going to move away from Christmas. because the NFL is also on, but I think. our players recognize that, you know, we. work on the holidays and whether it's. Christmas or Christmas Eve or there's. other opportunities where people are. home and and are more likely, you know, to have free time to watch our telecast, we should be looking at other dates as. well. So, that that's that's something. we're constantly exploring. But back to. that shelf space issue. I mean, so.

there's, you know, there of course on if. you think it wasn't so many years ago. when you didn't even have that. optionality of live sports on streaming. or remember early on they couldn't get. it right and everything. Now it's just a. given you're going to have live sports. on streaming. But now if it's just the. NBA on on Christmas Day, it may create. the opportunity for more teams to play. I remember in the old days teams used to. complain to us when they played on. Christmas Day and now it's, you know, now teams coming to the league and say, "We want to be part of that showcase. We.

recognize that that this is a day that. people expect to see top-notch NBA. competition." So, I welcome the NFL. I. welcome the competition. It makes us. better, too. We need you on Christmas. Eve. We need you on Christmas Eve. because Christmas on Thursday, obviously, is this upcoming year. So, now there's three games for the NFL. And. you talk to Raj, so you know they ain't. going to give that up. No. You know, they're not going to give that. Oh, it's. Thursday. What do you want us to do? We. always play on Thursday. And it's like, okay, well, that's just going to be how. it is. Christmas Eve, I found myself.

just kind of twiddling my thumbs. And. it's like, well, it would be nice if we. had the NBA showcase that's normally on. Christmas on Christmas Eve. But hey, that's your world. We're just football. doofuses. Speaking of your world, your. world's big right now. But there's one. side that's seeming a little bit more. heavy than the other side. Con man has a. question for you, Kamish. Yeah, Commissioner feels like you guys are the. most, you know, uh, proactive in. changing the playoff format, obviously. with the, uh, playing games and. everything. And right now there's a. pretty big difference between the. Western Conference and the Eastern. Conference, especially when it just.

comes to seating and overall records. So, do you guys kind of see a chance. where the seating kind of changes after. uh the playoffs are set where you got. kind of go back and reede 1 to 16. instead of doing the East versus West or. is that kind of a bad idea when it comes. to the idea of, you know, Lakers versus. Celtics in the second round versus kind. of a finals matchup that you get uh with. the East versus West Conference? Yeah, it's it's definitely not a bad idea and.

it and it's something we've come back to. over the years. We've sort of looked at. it, decided ultimately not to do it. Then depending on where the balance is. of the competition, we'll come look at. it again. I think part of it is when you. recede, you have to then wait for that. whole bracket to finish. So it adds some. delay in the playoffs. I think you know. in terms of when you can start the next. round. Part of it is travel. you know. that when you stick with your. conferences, you know, up until you get. the finals, it's not perfect, but you.

reduce the crisscrossing the country to. a certain extent rather than, you know, first round going from coast to coast. So, that's part of as well. Part of it. is tradition, you know, that I I don't. think tradition ultimately should be. controlling because you have to change. with the times. So, it's something we. keep coming back around to. I think I'm. I'm I'm fine with where it is right now, but you know, we want to create the best. competition at the end of the at the end. of the day. So, we'll just keep looking. at it. Okay. Uh, you keep looking at. everything while we will continue to.

watch. Um, the league, you know, one of. the narratives around the Dallas. Mavericks, whenever you said new, uh, governor, new ownership, everything like. that, they were trying to get a real. estate deal done, a casino deal done. People are also thinking maybe they're. trying to get the hell out of town. Now, that's just things that were said. We're. not saying that that is real. But we're. just telling you this is the reality of. things that were being said on the. internet at a rapid rate about the. situation down there in Dallas. With. that being said, Tai has the last. question for you here. Kamish. Yeah, Kamish. How often do you think of.

potential expansion? Because we've been. hearing for years now about a team going. to Vegas. Obviously, the A's in the MLB. are moving there. We've seen the. success, you know, in the city that the. Raiders have had. I know De Mo, Iowa is. just clamoring for a team as well. So, Oh, yeah. Big time. Big time. Pittsburgh. Exactly. There's a bunch of. other cities. How much uh on like a. year-to-year basis are you thinking. about expansion, especially when you. take into consideration all the things. you're talking about with kind of the. media rights exploding over the next 5.

years or so. So, so just to go back to. what Pat said a minute ago, you know, and I was the one who raised it, so I'll. I'll just finish the thought on Dallas. They're not going anywhere. There's no. thought of that team going anywhere. It's true that the group that bought the. team is out of Las Vegas, but it they. couldn't be clear and I just want to. make sure that well there's no doubt. people have been talking about it and. it'll turn out over time to be a good or. bad trade, but it had there were no. ulterior motives there. This team is. staying in Dallas. In fact, they're. looking at building a new arena in.

Dallas. So, that's that. In terms of. journalism, journalism, shout out. That's journalism out of us. In terms of. expansion, um, we try not to look at it. every year just because we want don't. want to be too much of a distraction. What I've been saying for the last. several years, we knew we needed to get. a new collective bargaining agreement. done. We did. We needed a new media deal. to get done. And, you know, Pat. referenced that before. We did that. We've locked in our television rights. for 11 years. And part of the reason you. want to know what your television um,

deal is is because you now have new. partners. you're going from dividing up. the money in terms of 30 teams and and. those players to let's say if we. expanded by two teams to 32. So you want. to know what those economics are. So now. that those things are done, we're just. beginning a process um so internally at. the league of exploring the opportunity. to expand. I will say sometimes on the. outside it looks like a no-brainer. because it seems like you're printing. money to expand. But again, as I said, you're really selling equity in the.

league. you have 30 teams that own the. league and now you're saying we're going. to have 32 teams that own the league. So. you're diluting the economic interest of. all the 30 teams and you're also. potentially diluting the talent because. you know as with 450 players plus some. in the NBA but roughly 450 players you. know there's even among those the. greatest in the world there's only so. many difference makers and then how are. those players going to be distributed. around the league? That's a lot of what. we spend time on in collective. bargaining agreement is the right.

distribution of players. And so we're. looking hard at it. We're sort of. modeling it, for lack of better terms, in the league office. Look, there's no. doubt there's been interest in Las. Vegas, Seattle. I've been very public. about it that it was a it was a market. that was fantastic for the league that. we left at the time for understandable. reasons, but there's no doubt that there. continues to be enormous passion in that. market for the NBA. So, we're looking at. those markets and others. I think as we.

get into the summer, we'll get into a. more formal process of how we go about. doing it. I don't want to say it's a. foregone conclusion that we're expand. going to expand but I also think over. time organizations tend to grow and I. look at the success of those markets for. other you know major league teams now. and you know so it's easy to present a. scenario where you can see it working. successfully for the league but but I. don't I don't want to jump the gun here. you know we have the 30 existing teams.

who all need to weigh in on this process. and also at some point need to have. direct conversations with the people who. are who are interested in those teams. It's premature to do that right now. That's what you know, we've been. contacted by groups who are saying we'd. love we have interest in potentially. being part of expansion not just in. those cities but others. And we sort of. said we're not quite ready yet, but but. again, we will we will, you know, go. through a very, you know, methodical. approach to it and and do it very. cautiously, but we'll continue to look. at it. Yeah, it sounds like that's how.

you do everything. Commish, we are. nothing short of impressed with you. Congrats on another NBA season being. great and congrats on the playoffs about. to begin when all eyes are on your. league. We can't thank you enough for. joining us today. Safe travels out here. to India and to all the other cities and. uh you're the man. We appreciate and. love the hell out of you, man. Yeah, thank you. Thanks Pat and everybody. Appreciate the time. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, the commissioner. of the NBA, Adam Silver, so many things. Do you have any other.

plans? So many things. Well, yeah. I. kind of laid them all out. You repeat. all those points. Yeah. Hold on. You. weren't impressed the first time. He. gave me a great answer. He did give me. that was a great fall. That was great. Uh cuz he does have to continue to 82. games. A lot of games. He kept saying. engagement earlier. Engagement. Engagement. Like what do you do? Like. it's tough. These young kids. How do you. get them engaged? That's they have the. digital audience. Never gets talked. about when it's stuff. All right. Hour. two will be on the other side. Aaron. Rogers will join us and we'll wrap up. some sports stories. Be a friend. Tell a. friend something nice.

All roads leading to Eugene and I can't. help but say. [Applause]. [Music]. [Applause]. hey. You make me want to jump. Put my. hands up and keep my heels up and all. again now.

A little bit now. A little bit something. now. A little bit now. A little bit now. A little bit now. A little bit now. A. little bit now. A little. bit. Now, it's awesome. It's a great day in. Oregon.

We got. [Music]. to. wait. We. are We. are We are. Thank you. [Applause]. I love I love this. [Applause].

[Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Love it. We got engineers. We got. doctors. We got. economists. We got real tests that have. real real implications happening. and all of these sons of said give me. college game day game day game day game. day game day game day game day game day. game day game day game.

day instead of. studying I had some questions about. coming out here to Berkeley but after. experiencing it is very evident that. this is one of the best cities in this. here United States of. America USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,

USA. And this represents everything that. is great with this country, with our. sport. It doesn't matter which way you. view the world. It doesn't matter which. part of the country you're from. College. football runs through our soul. And that. is what a celebration today is all. about. I am thankful to be here amongst. these nerds and future geniuses and. future people that are going to run this. place. It's an honor to be in Berkeley. It's foggy. I think the following.

program is a collection of students. talking about happenings in the sports. world. It is meant to be comedic. informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the. beliefs of their peers, their boss or. ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how humans in the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further. Hey,

let's go. This show stinks and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful for. McAfee off the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers. You can't. Damn it. Tell your friend. Tell a friend. something nice could change their life. [Applause]. [Music]. Hello beautiful people and welcome back. to our humble abode the Thunderdome on.

this big program Thursday April 17th. 2025. Hour two of the program starts. now. Are fantastic. We're lucky to talk about. them every single day. And today we've. been blessed with the presence of. greatness here in the Thunderdome. It's. not just me and the toxic table at Bossy. Conor and Taiish Schmidt. Sweet shirt. Thank you very much. He's got a wolf. howling at the United States of America. Yeah, howling at the United States of. America and almost howling that take. Yeah. Shout out take. Shout out take. One dead man show uh is happening on.

Saturday, I believe, at the Fountain. Blue Theater uh which is one of the many. shows that'll be taking place over. Wrestlemania weekend. Would like to hear. Take tell some stories. Oh, hell yeah. He was on our show. He tolds a couple. stories about, you know, Cypress Hill. and many others and things that he's. done. I couldn't even fathom what it's. like listening to him chithat. That's. one half of the hammer cowboys ball cap. tone. What's that? I uh I was just. pictur If take shows Saturday, I know. David gets performing at the pool, fountain blue, on Saturday, too. I. didn't know if they were doing it. together. I I I don't I think it's a.

theater and a pool. Two different vibes. But hey, both going to be great. Get out. there. Take is going to be choke. slamming people into the pool, I. believe, as part of it. I mean I I. wouldn't ah and American bad ass he go. on they put up a bunch of like uh pool. noodles and tight and he rides his rides. his little chopper over top there's. chance it's Vegas it's Vegas this. weekend yeah potentially I mean this. weekend uh in Vegas maybe the greatest.

weekend in the history of Las Vegas and. that's saying something uh this might be. the greatest uh Thursday in the history. of Thunderdome because we're joined by a. man who has won titles at every level. High school, he once had uh twice. actually had 30ome tackles in one game. while averaging 45 plus yards a punt and. scoring multiple touchdowns on the. offensive side. He's a Centerville Elk. through and through. Former president of. Ohio, ladies and gentlemen, Ohio State. Buckeye legend AJ Hawk. Didn't average 45 a punt. You know, I'd.

every once a while I'd boom 60, but then. I'd yank one left into the crowd. Yeah, but that's what average is for. Yeah. Yeah. You hit you hit 60 yard so that. you can hit a 30 yarder on the other. side and then you hit a sixer into the. crowd. Like that's what would happen. I'd be dead tired punting. Yeah. Kicking. off too. I I kicked off a few of them. into the crowd. A lot of people I mean. that's going to happen. A lot of people. forget that uh you were a punter. I I. don't think that ever gets talked about. enough is most athletic guy on the team. Usually the punter. That is kind of uh. how it goes in high school for some. places if they don't have a soccer.

player uh punting or whatever. And you I. assume quickly learned the punter math. Yeah. Because all of us jocking off the. field after the first punt, that was a. 49 yard. All right, we need to remain. that. Oh, that was a 32 yard. Okay, start doing the math. We want this thing. to be a 45. You do 13 and then on the. other side, we need a 58 yard next. Okay, so we have 45 yard average, which. is what you were able to do. Congrats to. you, AJ. One of the greatest athletes of. all time. Thank you. Not I mean the guy. that sits here, what LeBron was here, Debb was here. Now I think I Hank.

Shiffley sits here. All these guys are. super famous. as Chuck Bagano, obviously. he's a boxer and a football player. Uh. let's talk about uh Goat uh announcing. that he has one more show of. electrifying college football fans. around the entire globe. I've had the. opportunity obviously to work alongside. him the last few years, but obviously. have had the opportunity to watch him do. his thing on television for the better. part of the last uh like 40 years or. whatever the case is. However, I think.

it's 40 years is how long they're saying. he's been with ESPN. Lee Corso has uh. announced he's uh retiring after week. one. He'll be turning 90 in August. And. I've said this numerous times. Whenever. you watch him at either the production. meetings on Friday or on these campuses. moving about, he's still got, you know, still quick, refuses assistance whenever. you're talking about steps and. everything like that. Obviously on. camera, it's been a little bit different. for Coach Corso than it was maybe 10. years ago, 20 years ago, 15 years ago,

you name it. but he was a an energy just. had an aura around him at all times that. was just like hey how you doing keep it. moving and he was a big proponent of uh. it's just entertainment sweetheart you. know and he very much understood that. and it's guys like him and Charles. Barkley who understand that you're. allowed to be entertaining you're. allowed to be funny you're allowed for. the people to enjoy the experience while. they're watching and learning about. sports trailblazer dog honor to call him. a peer for a couple years here and uh. the sports world would definitely miss.

him every single week. But he does have. one show left. Can't wait to see what he. does. Not so fast, my friend. How many. of those will we hear? How many more. Tyonder Deroggas will we see doing their. thing? How many more gems will be. dropped in that one episode? We'll. certainly hang on to all of them. And uh. congrats to Lee changing the game. Changing the game forever. Changing. college football forever. you know, he. is credited um by a lot of minds at ESPN. who I know a lot of people get mad at. ESPN because of how involved in college.

football they are and a lot of people. say ESPN has more say than they actually. do, but it's easy thing to say because. of how invested ESPN is in college. football, but the reason why ESPN is so. invested in college football from my. understanding, this is just from being. around it and meeting all the people. that make all the decisions, they love. college football. Oh yeah. like. absolutely love obsessed with I mean we. talked to Kirk Herbstream and obviously. he does a great job calling the Thursday. night games for Amazon and kicking off. each every uh NFL weekend but you're. talking about obsessed with college ball.

everything about Reese Davis Chris. Fowler you know the the Nick Sabin. obviously is the greatest of all time. Desmond Howard 20 plus years on college. game day the people behind the scenes. breathe sleep eat college football I. mean that is just what they are that is. why they're so at the highest of highs. at ESPN and Disney love college football. and Lee Corso is credited as building. that sport and its popularity with his. performances not only on game day but. just throughout the college football. season no matter what he's doing in his.

speaking engagements and everything. So. like you're talking about a guy who was. viewed as a goat, a guy who was talked. about as a goat, a guy who acted like a. goat uh I think for a long time and a. man that'll be missed uh on television. So, change the sport, change the. business, change a trajectory, uh change. everybody's life that he's around. So, I. think that'd be a job well done if you. were to uh kind of kind of speak about a. human and his existence and his. profession on television speaking into a. microphone. Think of all the people that. legit just waited around to see Lee put.

the mascot head on like, hey, who is who. is coach going to pick this week? And. yeah, I mean it as far as I can remember. as a kid. I remember Lee Corso on TV and. checking out Saturday, turning on game. day, seeing whatever he is doing. And. the dude is an absolute entertainer. That's what I love about him. He came. and spoke at my high school years ago. with Kirk and Lee was off the charts. You talk about energy, man. He took the. stage and just lit the whole room on. fire. They wouldn't have him back every. single year, but unfortunately Lee has. those all around the country. He's doing. it. But yeah, what an absolute legend, man. They put out a couple of graphics. about Coach Corso. Uh, Coach Corso by.

the numbers, 430 mascot headgear picks. Okay. Which to your point became the. show. Yeah. You know, that that is what. we're all that's what the whole show is. leading up to is the headgear. 69. different teams have been picked. Uh, most headgear selections by. team. Oregon's been picked 21 times. Shout out to the Duck. Loves the Duck. Florida's been picked 22 times. LSU, hey, great place down there in 25 times.

Alabama, Roll Tad, 38 times. Mhm. No way. The Ohio State Buckeyes. Where it all started, by the way. Brutus. 45 times selected. So, when you hear AJ. talk about I love this guy. People of. Ohio. Absolutely. Everybody does. obviously, but yeah, I mean, what a. showman. an absolute showman through and. through. And uh I think there's some. people, you know, very young that won't. get the entire Lee Corso experience over.

the last 5 years, I'd say, or whatever, three years, whatever the case be, but. you're talking about one of the quickest. guys on television. Yeah. And the. history. So, let alone coaching and how. much his players love him. Let alone. being an entertainer. But when you're. talking about just brain, wit, quickness, you're talking about one of. the best of all time, Ty. Yeah. I mean, and now the cool part is like we're. seeing all the clips like the best of. It's like, you know, and and like AJ. said, like it's very rare now when you. get to be around our age. Like he has. been a part of game day for my entire.

life. Like yeah, when I started watching. game day, he was there the entire time. And for like what we do in sports media. in general, like that's just very rare. I don't think we're going to have very. many instances where you look at a show. that you watched your entire life up to. like now when you have kids and. everything and it's the same main stays. on there. Like I don't know how often. that'll happen again. It's a comforting. feeling knowing that without a doubt. what's going to be there. Lee Cors is. going to be there. Kirk Herb obviously. as well and uh Coach Corso gave Herby a. nice shout out in his retirement letter.

Last year watching them have a few. moments to get that was obviously very. emotional for all parties. The people. behind the scenes of game day have been. there a long long time too. Long a lot. of them. Now granted there's new people. that come in to the crew. But you're. talking about like 30 some years some. people working back there. So whenever. you talk about Lee Corso, they've seen. Lee Corso be and do everything that he's. done for a long time. Those people love. ball, love college game day. I think. some of them did not necessarily love. the addition of old Pat McAfee. Uh but I. think obviously I have massive respect. for them and I think I've maybe earned.

theirs as well over the years. But it's. like watching Lee kind of work a room. too. Incred. Yeah. You know, just always always up sitting. down and when he was losing his hearing. there obviously a little bit at the end. and being we'd be in a production. meeting and something would get brought. up. He wouldn't know what was going on. Then he'd be reminded and that you think. the topic was over and then he would be. informed on what's going on and then he. would drop just a [ __ ] nuke in the. middle of it. It's like, "Oh yeah, still. got my man. My man." Yeah. Absolutely.

So age obviously catches up with. everybody, but what he was able to do. throughout the entirety of it, he's. going to be 90 still on television. Crazy insane. That's uh that's a wild. thought. Congrats to Lee. Yeah. And I. feel like he even had a lot of great. moments these over these last few years. Like I forget what it was with Kirk, but. if it was his 500th show uh or or what. exactly it was, but they had that moment. too where you know even Kirk talked. about it. 500th head gear. Yeah. Was it. his head gear? I forget. 600. What was. the number? I thought it was like 500th.

something. So maybe it was the 400th. 400th. Ah, I don't know. Yeah, I forget. what it was, but but it like I I. remember that scene, you know, of them. two together and you know, Lee was. obviously very thankful and then, you. know, even him going back to certain. places that he's been at like the return. and him being honored at multiple I. mean, Indiana this year, you know, that. his entire team from that time when he. was coaching uh those 79 I think he was. coaching. Yeah, 79. And then you know. Bellich when Bichc was on last year at. Army Navy and Bill was talking about you.

know like I remember when you were. coaching with you know his Bill's dad. Yeah. And things like that I feel like. are really cool to kind of relive over. these last few years. So hats off to. him. Is he still going to be working at. Tyonderoga? I wonder. I would assume. I. don't know if that's a rib that people. tell me like the game day people but he. had like full-time job at Tyonderoga. Really? I think from what I've been told. like calling people, let me tell you. about these Tyon like a salesman like. he's cold calling people leading. salesman. I don't know if he was a.

salesman or if like Tyonderoga asked him. to make calls or stuff cuz you know he. always had the the pencil he was talking. but yeah I think he had a very like an. actual like worked for Ta I think he had. a I think he worked for Tyonderoga from. what I've been told. Now they might be. ribbing me though so that's why I I. would assume they're going to retain. he'll stay with them has to has to and. number two pencil won't be a number two. without Sam Roberts con man need a corso. edition huge for college ball though and. I think that is. um that is.

something that I don't think is said. about Lee is like they give him credit. for building the sport and being a part. of the development of college football. just found he's a pillar of the sport is. kind of how he's viewed by a lot people. that are in the conferences, people that. are at the schools, people that are at. ESPN, college football playoff people. I. mean, like everybody's like, "Hey, this. guy helped elevate this sport entirely. over the last 40 years." So, everybody. is a massive fan of his. Well, there was.

a period of time where he I think he was. the most popular person in like in. sports media. Like I I think I don't. think that could be argued. There was. that time period and then like you. talked about it where he was like it's. all about the entertainment. He was like. one of those first people who weren't. just taking weren't just spitting out. facts and just talking as serious as. they possibly can. It was making it fun. and lively and actually entertaining. And yeah, Lee Lee is like I'm like Ty. said, that was all I thought when I. first saw the clips coming out again. You know, the one where he throws a head. gear and goes, "Fuck it. [ __ ] it." Yeah,

[ __ ] it. Like there was no one else. doing that on air um and making people. laugh. Like you actually he actually got. like pops from people on TV which was. awesome. But yeah, Lee's Lee's a goat. And I would like to finish up with. saying Lee could have very easily been. mean to me, you know, because of what I. am, who I am, how I operate, you know, I. pull a lot of inspo from guys like Lee. and Charles Barkley and a lot of. professional wrestlers and everything. like that. The way I speak in my energy. and the way I talk, it's like I'm not a. uh news journalist like a lot of people. are in sports world. I'm trying to like.

have let's have a good time here. He was. very you look at the South Dakota State. the first time I did it Lee sitting. right next to me and you see him go like. oh I did not like and then after that. show very kind to me very nice to me. very complimentary and throughout the. entirety he's been very cool to me so. I'm very thankful for Lee and uh good. luck in in retirement man I hope you. enjoy fall I hope you get a chance to go. see some games I hope you get a chance. to go do whatever the hell you want to. do and happy early 90th birthday and. happy retirement from all of us you're. the man Lee yeah coach joining us now. ladies and gentlemen is a four-time NFL.

MVP. He is a host of one of the top. sports podcasts in the history of sports. podcasts that drop every single Tuesday. during NFL seasons for the last four or. five years. Five years, I think. Ladies. and gentlemen, a first ballot hall of. famer and a free agent quarterback, Aaron Rogers.

Hello, Mr. Handsome. How's my internet? Okay. All right. Uh, your internet's great. I know you're. probably uh Where are you right now? Are. you uh at that same place we saw you. walking on the beach with the uh the. towel in the blanket and uh open to. everything attached to nothing. I'm. hanging out with this guy. What up, Apollo? And I'm looking out at the You know. what? There's actually a couple dolphins. out there. I might need to get out there. and get some of that good healing uh. energy. Yeah. There actually are two two.

dolphins just just raised up. It's very. uh serendipitous. Well, don't get out. there cuz we know they like to uh uh you. know what we know. You know what we. know. They are a horny bunch from what. we've been told. Uh we don't know that. in particular, but we've just read that. uh around places. Shout out to the dog. That's Apollo, right? I think I learned. the name. It is. Yes, it is. Yeah. How. old? He's uh born on Christmas. He's uh so. he's not quite four months. Way to go.

Paula, welcome to the world. He's a. handful. He's a handful. Yeah, you have. a puppy. That's a wild thing to have. You're a first time free agent. quarterback and you have a puppy. Let's. dive in. Um okay, so being a dog dad has. been a massive piece of your life, I. assume, over the last few months. As of. April 17th, where do we kind of sit in. your world right now? How is uh. everything kind of gone? because there. has been a lot of things projected and. said about what you're doing, what. you're thinking, where you're at. Where.

are you at right now on April 17th as a. human? We shall say I'm in Malibu. looking at the dolphins. Yeah. Yeah, you. get it. Mindset. You understand what I'm. saying? You understand what I'm saying? Listen, you know, I live a, you know, I. live kind of a quiet life. Uh uh if it. weren't for my buddy Tim and my sister. Mia, I wouldn't hear about a lot of the. [ __ ] that's out there. Nice. Um but. Mia finally said, "Listen, you got to go. on the show. and just set some of these ridiculous.

rumors and all these people who said. they're close to me, sources, just set. them straight because there been a lot. of [ __ ] out there." And again, 90%. of it I wouldn't hear about if it wasn't. for me or uh or Tim. So, shout out to to. both of them because I'm sure they're. watching. But, uh shout out. But yeah, you know, it's been uh it's been uh an. interesting uh break for me. Uh but uh. yeah, it's been hanging out, working.

out, hanging out with Apollo, and. um uh enjoying enjoying my time. Okay, so I'm assuming that Tim and me a shout. out. Uh, and thank you for watching if. they are watching and thank you for. joining us to clarify some things. I. assume what they're alluding to is all. the different reports about what your. football future kind of is going to look. like over the last two months. We'll say. since free agency kind of started, it's. been a lot of buzz. You know, there's. you're holding teams hostage uh with not. giving them an answer. You're waiting.

out for another place or you might end. up uh back staying at home in New Jersey. for the Giants. Is there anything you. kind of want to set straight here off. the top as we dive into a lot of these. conversations that have been happening. about you that maybe you haven't been. participating in at all over the last. couple months? Yeah, I'll set it all. straight. I'll set it all straight. I. have no problem. Listen, you know, from. the jump, it's uh you know, I'm in a. different phase of my life. I'm 41 years.

old. Uh I'm in a serious relationship. Uh, I have off the- field uh off the-. field stuff going on that requires my. attention. Um, I have personal. commitments I made, not knowing what my. future was going to look like after last. year. Um, that that are important to me. and and I have, you know, a couple. people in my inner inner circle who are. really battling some some difficult. stuff. Um, so I have a lot of things. that are that are taking my attention.

and have beginning in in really January. away from away from football. Um, and. uh, that's been where I've been focusing. uh, most of my attention on. You know, to make a commitment to a team uh, is a. big thing whether you're a first year. player or a 20 20 year vet. Um, and uh I. had a lot of great conversations. uh with a lot of teams. Um, uh, not one of those was the Jets cuz.

that wasn't a great conversation. Um, we. heard we heard. So that was an accurate. report. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay. That was that that was not an. accurate report. We can get into that in. a second. But okay. Um, but I had some. good I had some good conversations. Um, but I've been upfront with all of them. I don't have anybody, you know, working. on my PR staff. Like Mia is the head of. my PR. She tells me what the hell's. going on if I need to know anything. I. don't have any leaks. I have a very. tight circle. I'm not out there uh.

putting [ __ ] out uh just to put [ __ ]. out. That's just not how I operate. There's been a lot of people assuming. they have information about me. That's. just not true. I've been straight up. with these teams from the start about. where I was at. You know, starting with. the money thing. You know, I told every. single one of the teams I talked to, you. know, they ain't about the money. I play. for 10 M. You know, I don't care. Uh I. never once said I need a multi-year. deal, 30, $40 million. That's absolute. [ __ ] I said I play for 10. Yeah,

whatever. Well, I thought you were a. selfish prick. I thought that's what it was. I thought. I just saw a guy sign for uh 60 million. or 55 million or whatever. You said. you'd pay for uh 10 million. Okay. So. you saying you would play that means you. are thinking uh is retirement still on. the the field like where are you. whenever it comes to like playing or not. playing for 10 million by the way makes. it very easy for a lot of teams to be. able to accommodate you um where is that.

mean that's what I told him that's what. I told him in March you know in the. beginning in the very beginning you can. ask any any one of the teams I talked to. um that was that was the conversation um. but but also the conversation my where I. was at in my personal life, the stuff. I'm dealing with off the field, in my. inner circle, that that has to take my. attention right now. And so, I wasn't, you know, stringing anybody along. I. wasn't holding anybody hostage. I was. honest from the jump about where I was. at mentally um and some of the. constraints that I have uh in my life.

right now that have to that that warrant. my attention. Um, so yeah, you know, I I'm open to. anything and and attached to to nothing. So, uh, so yeah, retirement still could. be could could be a possibility, but. right now my my focus is has been and. has been and will continue to be on my. personal life and and that's what I've. told the coaches that there's still. conversations that are being had and um, so it's all been very honest alliance.

communication. I've really appreciated. the time. I I talked to to the various. teams. Um, but there's been a lot of. narratives that have not been anywhere. near accurate. Starting with the Jets, continue with something I just read. about uh, you know, me pitching. something to the Vikings. Uh, I know. Ben, I only know this again because of. me. Ben was on the show talking about me. waiting around for the Vikings. That's. not accurate either. You know, I I I.

know there's I'm sure some a lot of. sentiment from uh both Packer fans, even. maybe Vikings fans about certain things, but but no, um I've known Kevin forever. I've known Kevin O'Connell since we used. to work out uh at uh Fitness uh Quest. 10, I think it was called, uh in uh San. Diego County in North County. I've known. him for 17, 18 years, and we got a good. friendship. So, we talk outside of just, you know, this off season. We keep in. touch during the season. So, we've had.

good communication. Um, and. Oh, no. Oh, we're getting right to the. [ __ ] The government shut him down. The government just shut you down your. internet right there. We heard it. We. The NFL just shut down your internet. there for a second. But let's talk about. We're back. We're back. Okay. So Ben. Rothersburgger hypothesized, which is. what a lot of people have been doing. because a lot of people assumed that a. decision would have already been made in. your whether you're going to play. football, who you're going to play. football with, especially with the draft. looming and free agency coming and.

going. I think you saying uh that. there's a lot going on in your personal. life that needs your attention and I. think you've told me a little bit more. about that. I think if everybody kind of. understood what was going on, not saying. you need to tell anybody's story, but. it's like they don't Yeah, they don't. need they don't need to, you know, they. don't need to. I don't need my my. personal life is my personal life and I. don't need to dive into the you know. there's a sensitivity around some of the. stuff that's going on for sure and it's. very important to me. Um but uh yeah I. mean there's a lot of silly narratives. out there you know like uh I'm sure.

people are assuming I've been sitting in. a hole in the ground contemplating or. maybe down doing Iaska somewhere. I. actually haven't done any of that. Nothing's on the. horizon. Haven't been doing any of that. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know if I. collaborate on it. Yeah, because it. sounds like mentally you don't need it. because remember we only did those. things whenever we were trying to find. clarity. We're trying to figure things. out. So, that's a good thing. I think. don't need the meds. But if you were. doing it, we would let you know. We. probably would say good for you. Good. for you. Yeah, we'd be we'd be happy for.

you regardless there. But yes, I think. my next my next time I do that, I'm. going to have to take AJ down there cuz. he needs some serious serious help. Mother, he actually has a question for. you, Erin. Yeah, you mentioned the Jets. earlier. We can get back to the Iwasa. situation later, but you mentioned the. Jets. What was that meeting like? We. heard, didn't Is that Isn't that where. they said, "Hey, you can't come on Pat. Mcabby." No, but that was debunked. later. Oh, of course. But I'm saying, how was that meeting? You mentioned, "Oh, we'll get back to this. Sounds like. you want to talk about it." What was it? Well, maybe that was hypothesized as.

something that was going to be part of a. conversation. Is the internet good? Are. we good here? Yeah, you're good. You're. good. I'm sure they're trying to shut. this part down, but you. know, I listen that was an interesting two. years to say the least. But, you know, I. figured that when I flew across country. on my own dime that there was going to. be a conversation. And the confusing. thing to me and the strange thing was, you know, when I went out.

there, I meet with the. coach, we start talking. Oh, no. Oh, boy. See, they don't want this. They don't. want Yeah. No, you're back. You're back. You're back. They don't want this out. there. They don't want this out there. right now. You're back. So, where did you Where'd I leave you. there? You meet with the coach. You meet. with the coach. We start talking. He. runs out of the room. I'm like, "That's. kind of strange." I was like, "Then he. comes back with the. GM and I'm like,"All right. So, we sit.

down in the. office and I think we're going to have. this long conversation. I've flown. across the country and 20 seconds in he. goes, I mean, literally, I'm talking to. the GM about something and he leans to. the edge of his sheet and goes, "So, you. want to play football?" I was like, "Yeah, I'm interested." And he said, "We're going a different direction at. quarterback." And I said, and I was kind. of shocked. Now, not shocked because I.

didn't think that was a possibility. Listen, of course they want to move on. That's totally fine. But shocked because. I just flew across country. You could. have told me this on the phone. If we. weren't even going to have a. conversation, and this is verbatim. exactly how it happened. So I said, "Huh?" And he goes, "We just want to. know how you want it released, the. messaging." And I. said verbatim, "I don't give a [ __ ]. about the. message." And I said, "Why?" And then he said, "I don't want.

to be up in front of the room saying. something and have guys looking back at. you.". Interesting. And I said, "What does that. even mean? are you assuming that I would be in the. back of the room during a team meeting. undermining what you're saying? I said, 'You don't know me. And he said, you. don't know me. And then I said, exactly. Which is why I flew across the country. to have a face- tof face meeting with.

you to talk about my experience with the. Jets and to hear your vision for the. team. 20 seconds in what I thought was going. to be a couple hour meeting turned into. like a 15 minutee meeting and I walked. out of there but um so at that moment. str that was a strange meeting for sure. there was no me pleading like please. have me on the team no I don't know or I. don't want any part of that it was. already a debacle in some cases. listen that whole situation was was.

crazy and I think even that was a little. rogue by the head coach um because I. talked to the GM him later uh about it. Christopher Johnson called me. Chris is. a fantastic guy. Anybody that's ever met. Christopher Johnson says the same thing. He's a phenomenal dude. Uh he's about. the right stuff. Uh he's a sweet human. being and I'm thankful that I got to. meet him and Doris cuz their friendship. uh was a big bright spot in the. organization. And and there's a lot of. great dudes there. There's great players. there, great humans. There's great, you.

know, guys in the equipment room, training room. uh you know, Carmen and Maddie and the. nutrition department, all the strength. staff. There's a lot of great dudes. there. Um but there's, you know, there's. uh there's obviously some things that uh. need to get fixed over there. Yeah, it. didn't go well. Obviously, there was. high hopes and dreams by Jets fans, Jets. organization, and you, which I think. gets forgotten about. uh you had great.

visions of going over to New York and. with the Jets and leading them to. victory for the first time long time. that ends up not happening then the exit. obviously with new GM new coach as you. said seemingly a possibility regardless. the way it went about it didn't expect. it so when you leave that meeting and. that's what I'm saying like I I wasn't. surprised that they want to move on but. like would you why would you not pick my. brain I'm there to like talk to you. about the team and about things that I. think can get better and things that are. good and and players that have leaders. leadership possibilities and and.

anything I mean I've been in league 20. years any type of conversation there was. none there was none okay so that was. strange okay so you get uh you leave the. building probably in uh I would assume a. little bit of a mood you get on a plane. to fly back across the country during. that flight are you now contemplating. future of ball there or when does that. kind of set in is there a conversation. about like don't want to go out like. this or is this a sign from universe God. that maybe my football life is over like.

does that expedite the conversation of. what your future looks like in football? Does it slow it down? How does that kind. of affect what would then happen after. that meeting takes place and you become. a free agent for the first time. basically in your career? Well, first of all, I told my pilots, hey, have a good night. Have some beers. This is going to be a long meeting. We. might even have dinner. I don't know. what's going to happen. It's going to be. a good, you know, I'm excited about this. meeting. So, walking out of there, you. know, 25 minutes, it's really like 40. minutes because I saw Veto and Gus in. the training room. I saw Dave, uh,

Zephilato, uh, you know, awesome trainer. there. Got to talk to him. Uh, so I was. there maybe about 40 minutes at at one. Jets drive, uh, you know, then I drove. home, had a, you know, had some. conversations with some people there, including Christopher. Um, but the next. day when I when I left, I was just. thinking, hey, that's the closing of. that chapter. There's so many beautiful. things about the two years that I had. there. Uh, obviously most of them off. the field, but uh, but no, I wasn't I.

wasn't upset about it. I was surprised. I felt like there wasn't an ample amount. of respect in that meeting. Um but. uh you know I guess I shouldn't have. been surprised based on some of the. things I saw over the two years but um. but I am thankful for my time uh with. the Jets. I'm disappointed it didn't. work out better uh on the field but uh. it didn't damper anything. I just. thought okay well now uh now I have the. chance to uh to talk to other teams and.

and uh and see what's out there and then. also time to contemplate my own future. Okay, so let's talk about the other. teams that were potentially available. I. rattled them off earlier, but we didn't. really dive into them. You've been. linked to a lot of teams, a lot of. conversations. Now, I don't think. anybody has said that you have told all. these teams like, "Hey, right now. there's a lot going on in my personal. life." A lot going on, very serious. things with people that I care a lot. about. So, I am not in a position to. make a decision. I assume because you. didn't want to go to a team as a. quarterback and everything and then have.

to miss some time, which is what ended. up happening last year with the Jets. when you went to 98% of the OTAAS and. then you missed uh a weekend and. everybody made a big deal out of it. So, I appreciate us learning that you were. up front with all these teams, but these. teams became very pronounced seemingly. unless there was a wild card team behind. the scenes we don't know about. Giants. You and the Giants went down the road. and chitchated a little bit and did you. contemplate playing for the New York. Football Giants? And then uh Vikings,

Steelers, uh I don't know how many other. team the Saints Saints kind of just got. in there. You don't have to lay out all. of them, but have you talked to all of. those teams? And what was it like being. a free agent for the first time while. chatting with these squads? Yeah, it was interesting for sure. I'd. never had that experience before. I'm. not going to get into specifics about. every team that I talked to, but it was. it was a few teams. Uh there were a lot. of teams I saw mentioned that I had no. absolutely zero contact with. I will say. I did talk to Brian Dable and had great.

conversation with him. Really enjoyed. him a lot. Um I think he's uh you know. uh a lot of fun to talk to and and has a. beautiful football mind. Uh you know, him and Josh, he had Josh in in Buffalo. Josh is one of my closest friends in the. league and uh you know I just enjoyed uh. enjoyed the conversations. He's a you. know really bright football mind. But uh. but yeah, there were some there were. some other teams that I talked to like I. already mentioned. You know KOC is is a.

buddy of mine. Um and we talk during the. season. So um it was a it was a cool. experience. Obviously I went out to. Pittsburgh and uh tried to do that as. quietly as possible. Um, you know, a lot of people think that. I'm desperate for attention, even though. I haven't talked to you or anybody else. in three months, but um, I did fly into. a a different airport, not the downtown. I I'll tell you my what I did secretly. I I flew into a different airport. Uh, I.

got a Malibu rental car, drove the. Malibu rental car in to the facility to. the backside practice field, got led in. the practice field, and then somebody in. the building must have said something. Uh, and when I came out, there was like. some. cameras that were pointed, but there. ain't no way they thought, "This dude is. not going to be in a Malibu right now. He's not going to be in a Malibu rental. car, is he?" So, I kind of drove by him. They had like a really long lens I was.

seeing and I'm you know uh Mia did a. deep dive to see if anybody got a. picture and there was one person who had. a picture and it didn't go anywhere of. me in the Malibu. Um but uh but that was. fun to kind of sneak in, sneak out. But. uh but yeah, I mean, listen, I I've. talked to Mike Tomlin. Uh he's more than. I even thought uh from afar as far as. the type of person that he is. Uh I have.

a lot of respect for what he's. accomplished in the league. Uh Arthur. Smith, you guys have had Art on the show. many times. Love him. I mean, talk about. a guy that doesn't need to work. Doesn't. need to work, but uh but he's a grinder. We we have we've had a a friendship for. a couple years now and uh I just like. what he's all about. I like when he's on. your show. Um and the quarterback coach. is actually a guy named Tom Arth. Tom. Arth was in the quarterback room with me. in 2006 in Green Bay in the offseason.

The first offseason I ever did went. through the Mike McCarthy quarterback. school. It was me and Tom Arth and Tom. Clemens. And thankfully I had Tom Arth. because those were crazy ass workouts. that were really hard and Tom uh you. know we gave each other some breathers. here and there but uh but yeah great. dude. So I it was nice to go into the. city. I never really spent any time uh. in Pittsburgh other than the few times. we played there but uh yeah I've enjoyed. talking to to Mike. So what are you.

doing there? you're doing due diligence. on the people and just trying to do they. invite you obviously to come maybe learn. a little bit more about you. How does. that kind of come about? You flying to. probably the Beaver County Airport or. Butler County Airport, hopping into. Malibu, pulling in the back. I'm not. going to tell you what airport we flew. into cuz it was great in and out, man. It was like no even it wasn't even It's. always like that, you know? It was. That's Pittsburgh, baby. Pittsburgh's. easy. Don't worry about the traffic. Don't worry about that. I mean, Pittsburgh's good. But how did that come. about? you guys just kind of wanted to.

see each other, kind of meet each other. because if you were upfront with them. was saying, "Hey, right now offseason a. lot going on." Lot that is uh kind of. taking my attention and I assume they. understand, especially if they learned. what it was. There was just like uh we. should at least do some due diligence. for each other. Is that kind of how that. comes about with you traveling to. Pittsburgh? It's different when you're talking on. the phone. You know, luckily with my. lack of service here, it's a lot of. FaceTimes, but um but it's different in. person. I just, you know, personally, I.

wanted to to see uh what it was like. there. Um. uh see the facility. Uh get to meet Omar. in person. Um you know, see just just. get a glimpse, a snippet of what uh uh. what life would be like uh in. Pittsburgh. So, I thought it was. important that to go see it in person, and I also wanted to do it as quietly as. possible. So, uh there were very few.

people that even knew I was uh I was. heading out that way besides uh uh. besides Mike and Omar and uh and Arthur. Like even Tom Hart didn't find out to. that morning. And I've known I've known. Tom forever. I got to reconnect with him. last year on the field. Uh, I hadn't. seen him like in person in. probably like 19 years. You know, this. guy was in my quarterback room. I guess. it was 18 years if it was 2006. But, um, he didn't even know till the morning. So, it was nice to be able to to to get.

in early and get out. We found a picture. of you in the Malibu. We found the. Malibu. Hey, there it is right there. That's That was me. You look like you. got a hoodie, sunglasses, hat on, Malibu. That is awesome. You're an. attention [ __ ] though. remember you're. in attention. That was that was the. exact picture that I saw. So I saw these. people. I said, "Damn, they're going to. get a good pick here. At least I got my. SR hat on. Shout out to to Mike." But um. but yeah, that pick never went anywhere. So now obviously that's Oh. Well, yeah, there it is. Uh and everybody knew I was.

there at that point. But yeah, that's me. driving. I want to let you know the. people of Pittsburgh will respect the. fact you're driving around with a boo, brother. I'm going to let you know that. Now, let's stay in Pittsburgh. Uh AP. Tone has a question for you. Yeah, not. me necessarily, Aaron, but there's going. to be a lot of Steelers fans who want to. know if you are still in contact with. the team. Um, and if they gave you a. deadline, because there's a lot of. people in Pittsburgh talking about. deadline, they need to have you before. the draft. They need to have you before. mini camp, whatever. OTAAS. Um, are you.

still in contact with them? Did they. give you a deadline or did they say, "Hey, you know what? Take your take your. time, deal with uh what you have to do. personally, and then just let us. know." Listen, this entire time I. haven't felt like I owed anybody some. sort of decision at any point. This is. my life. Uh like I said, things are. different now. My life is different. My. personal life is different. I have stuff. in the inner circle that uh you know, I'm I'm intimately close to uh that. that's really important to me. Um and.

I've been upfront with him uh about that. and said, "Listen, if you need to move. on, if you need to do something, by all. means. By all means." It's like nothing. but love and respect. Uh if that's a. decision that needs to be made. Um but. uh there's been no deadline and uh and. yeah, I've talked to I've talked to uh. Mike T many times. Okay. So, you're. still in contact with the Pittsburgh. Steelers. Um feels like the trip went. well. You're dealing with stuff in your. life right now. Steelers seemingly. understand that. Didn't want to out you.

cuz I assume there's a lot of times. where Steelers because they're getting. questioned a lot by the Steelers fans. Hey, hey, what are we doing? What are we. doing? what are we doing? They have. tried to completely kind of I want to. say dumb it down but basically not say. anything. So it feels like there is a. trust between you two which is great. And we saw some photos from UCLA Nicole. school. AJ has a question for you. Yeah. Aaron we saw you throw into DK Metaf. First off did you hire the videographer. photographer for that? What was this uh. what was this all about? How did it go?

I mean you were pumped about this. completion. You had a nice little dig. across the middle it looks like. But how. did this come about? And who is this. where is this footage from? who took it. Uh, it was the other guy. Uh, what's his. I think his name is Alex was there. I. don't know if he's a full-time guy for. DK. Um, but yeah, he was taking some. video and some pictures and, uh, I said, you know, it was fine if DK released it. And I don't think DK did. I think. actually the kid did. So, uh, I'm not. sure if everybody was super excited.

about that. Maybe they were. I don't. care either way. But um but yeah, you. know, again, I I I wanted to do due. diligence uh with this whole process and. part of it is talking to a guy like DK. Um and let me just say this, what a what. a great dude. What a great dude who who. loves who loves football. And uh I mean, what a specimen this guy is. I was. laughing with him because uh you know, I. said, "Where do you work out?" Cuz I. I've been working out of Proactive here.

for a long time, even rocking the. Proactive gear in that shirt. He goes, "Oh, UCLA." I said, "What time you work. out?" He said, "6 a.m." I said, "You got. anybody else working out with you?" He. said, "Nah, they last a few weeks at. most, but then they they taper off cuz. nobody wants to work out that early.". And then when we were throwing, I said, "Hey, can it not be 6:00 a.m.? You know, I got to drive. PCH is closed." Um, so. we threw it uh we met at 8:00 in the. morning, which is much nicer than 6:00. But but yeah, I've had a few. conversations with DK and um you know, I. just think he's a he's a super guy. Um,

part of the process is just, you know, with this whole thing is seeing how my. body is, how it responds, how I feel. Um, you know, I'm 41 years old. Uh, take. pretty damn good care of myself, but, um, you know, I wanted to see how it. felt to to throw with DK and how the. juices felt now that ball came out and. just all those little things. And also. just get to know DK. And like I said, that's a really good human being. Like. from the first conversation I had with. him, he was saying like, "Yes, sir.". No sir. And I said, "You old ass?" Just.

cuz I'm this cuz I'm old. No, that's. just how he talk. He's just a really. respectful dude. Uh and an absolute. specimen. He's accomplished a lot in the. league and and I've enjoyed uh enjoy. getting to know him a little bit. Enjoy. throwing to him. I mean, what a what a. talented guy he is. Okay, so I'm going. to get right to the point here. Love DK, love Tomlin. Wait till you meet GP and. Pat. Yeah, George Pickkins, Fri Muth, absolute beast. The city of Pittsburgh. is I mean, wait till you try Rudy Subs. Everybody knows Peri sandwiches, Dallas.

pizza. Holy hell. I mean, there's so. much to love about the city that I. assume you didn't get to experience in. your one day in your Malibu. Easy in, easy out. But if sounds like what you're. saying, and we talked, you like Dball. Obviously, uh, the Vikings, you and KC. have a relationship. That was they got. JJ McCarthy over there. But there's been. a lot of chatter about you going to the. Steelers. And nothing that you have said. here has made me believe that you're. ruling out going to the Pittsburgh. Steelers. Is that an accurate. assessment? And if you were to play.

again, does it feel like it would. probably be for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Well, again, you know, I'm going back to. it, but I am trying to be open to to. everything and and not specifically. attached to to anything when it comes to. this decision. Um, I'm not holding. anybody hostage. I really want to. emphasize that nothing about what I'm. saying. I've been upfront from the. beginning. Uh I don't mean any. disrespect to any player on their team,

veteran or young guy that comes in. Um. I'm just going through uh a lot in my. personal life that uh that has to take. precedent at this point. Um because you. know that's a big commitment and when. the commitment is made, it has to be an. all-in type commitment. And I know. people say, "Oh well you missed mini. camp last year." It's like we can go. down that story at some point for a. different time, but um but but not now. Uh I've talked about it at length, but.

um I don't think it was fair to the. Steelers or anyone um you know to make a. decision while I'm dealing with uh a lot. off the field. So at the same time, I. want to keep the lines of communication. open. That's why I've talked to uh to. all the important people and the people. that need to know know what's going on. and the people that don't make up [ __ ]. about me. Um and and that really hasn't. changed since co. So, well, I think even. before CO, which is why Aaron Rogers.

Tuesday even started, then I think CO. probably expedited that. Well, CO Yeah. put it on on steroids for sure. Yeah. Yeah. We're not going to get Still. haven't I haven't, you know, not that I. need one. Haven't got an apology. I. haven't got an apology yet about. anything CO related. I haven't actually. heard I don't need that. I'm just like. maybe some of the you know the the the. same the same crew one time and maybe. admit especially after everything has. been released. You were wrong. Maybe. that hippie out there, maybe that. football doofus uh who had a 500page.

report that that kind of gets uh lost in. the entire thing. Had a little bit of. piece of information ahead of time and. uh maybe that type of mentality and uh. stick tuitiveness is a reason why he's a. goat whenever it comes to football. Now, you said you're trying to keep the lines. of communication open. I would assume. that there's a reality about what is. next week. Connor has a question for. you. Yeah, Aaron, great to see you. Always a pleasure. um next week the. draft and I'm not saying you know what. prospects do you love cuz I assume like.

you said you've been dealing with a lot. of stuff you're not really locked in on. that specifically but have you kind of. thought about the idea of certain teams. making certain moves and does that. change anything? You know, you said. you're attached to nothing, but if there. was one team that maybe went a certain. direction, would that change a thought. on maybe possibly playing for them. opening the door to go to that team? Uh. and then also, you know, you brought up. last year's mini camp. We now all know. over the last three months you went to. Egypt to explore the tunnels beneath the. pyramids.

Bingo. I wish I had. I mean [ __ ] I' I've. read a lot of stuff about even before. the the you know the what is it? LAR. what they're using to to expose that. Yeah. Bare minimum. You know those. weren't tombs. So Okay. Bare minimum. Boom. Just is at the bare minimum of the. conversation. Bare minimum. Okay. been about. Well, happy you went over. that. We didn't know if you had a shovel. when you went over there. You were taken. down to see what it was then. But. anyways, go ahead. I wish. Yeah, but uh.

I haven't seen one draft prospect film. or nothing. I mean, I watched some. college football for sure. Uh I did see. the running back from Boise State. He. was at UCLA the day that uh DK and I. worked out and he is a specimen now. He's He is put together. He is put. together well. Yeah, he is well put. together. And I think I don't know, maybe Bejian Robinson. Who's the last. running back to go in the top 10? Bejan. Bejan. Yeah. Was it Bjan? Yeah. I think.

it's probably going to be he probably go. in the top 10. And I mean just the eye. test. He passes the eye test for sure. Look at this. We got a mock drafter. Aaron Rogers while doing this. But does. the draft affect anything that you were. going through? Oh, no. Not at all. You. just kind of you'll watch it, see what. it is, and then we'll catch up and see. what's happening on the other side. I mean, listen, I'm not going to say I. won't watch it because I know you guys. are doing if I watch anything at all, I'll be watching you guys. That's kind.

of you. Thank you. I'll say that. And. you're going back to you're going back. to old stomping grounds. That's right, AJ. Fantastic. The the heraldish son of. Green Bay. He's coming back to Green. Bay. It'll be great to see him out. there. What type of reception you think. he's going to get? cuz he ended up. playing for a couple other teams. You. know, is he going to get cheers? All. time leading tackler for the Green Bay. Packers. They got to go bananas for AJ. Hawk, we would assume. They're waiting. on you to come back, Aaron, just like we. were at the big night out. Yeah. What's. that all about? I thought you were. making your decision at big night.

Sorry. Sorry I couldn't make it. Yeah, sorry I couldn't make it. Um, yeah. Really wanted to be there. Yeah. And you're I know you're a guy. that loves all the attention and. spotlight and everything like that. He. uh told me he was like, "Could you. imagine if I go in there? I I'd be the. biggest [ __ ] of all time. The amount. of time that you put into this and all. the people that you have and then I show. up and it's just like, hey, that was a. private conversation." Okay. All right. I'm just telling you. I'm still not. sure. I'm telling you. I'm telling you.

Yeah. Aaron, I'm telling you. Aaron was. like the fact that I was he like almost. apologetic that it was even like a part. of the You need to know if you would. have been there. Definitely trot your. ass right after that middle. you're. getting a football in those right hand. and left-handed. I want to see both out. there. We would have loved having you, but I do respect and appreciate you. being like I you didn't like that. That. was a big part of the narrative, which I. respect out of you. And I think a lot of. people kind of misunderstand who you are. as a human as a whole. And uh I can't.

wait to see what you do next. Legitimately, how often are you thinking. about it? Like whenever we saw that. picture of you on the beach, like. there's a thousand things going on in. your personal life. So I guess you could. be contemplating anything. But how often. is football on the mind? I assume it has. to be a lot. Legit. I assume it has to. And are you listening to Oh Mama, I'm in. fear for my life from the. long of the. long or Tone Digs wondered if you.

actually had wave crashing sound in your. headphones because the ocean wasn't. making good enough wave crashing sounds. So you just kind of amplified it in. there. When how much are you. contemplating football? Is it every day, every hour? What is the if you had to. just put like kind of a a time frame on. it? I mean, it's it's a it's a it's a small. percentage because the conversations. have been had, you know, there's there's. uh there's no more contemplation. It's.

I'm taking care of my people right now. and I'm taking care of my my personal. life responsibilities. and I'm keeping the conversation open as. well. What I listen to on the beach, I. listen to mostly Allan Watts speeches. Oh, really? He's a good one. That guy's. an orator. That was the Watts. Our. second guest. That's Yeah, we we did. that. Second guest. Oh, DJ Watts speech. Yeah, I'm sure it was. Yeah, JJ's dead. He uh Yeah, it's all the Watts. Okay.

Yeah, we're tying it together. Is TJ. going out the PE sign? Um, last question. for me. Your helmet being banned. Your. helmet being banned. Uh, is this uh. something that's crossed your mind on. you know what, the helmet goes, I go. Uh-oh. Again, I didn't hear about that until I. don't I don't know if it was Mia or Tim, but one of them let me know that that. was out there. Um, listen, I know it's. been on the edge. I mean, I've worn.

multiple shut helmets that have all been. on the edge. And then at some point, I. think this is at least the second, if. not the third helmet I've worn that is. like got cycled out because it doesn't. pass the concussion test good enough. Um, don't look. Absolute. I don't know. I don't know. Listen, I don't I don't know the the, you know, the the the inner workings of. shut, but if I were to play, I'm going. wear shut if they're still going. If. they still got a, you know, they still. got a good helmet that passes some sort.

of test, that's what I wear. I'm a shut. guy. I've been for 20 years. You know, I've tried other helmets at other times. in college, but that was my favorite. helmet. So, it's too bad that they that. they banned it cuz I haven't had a. concussion in a number of years. Um, but. uh they make damn good helmets. I'll. tell you what, if shot can pass a. protocol, I'm going to wear it now. It's. on the edge. How about saying on the. edge? Every time it needs a score of at. least 6.4 or higher. This thing's 6.41.

I mean, it's been it's been on the. bottom of the yellow for sure at least. the last three or four years. You know, it goes green as it's all the vices and. different ones, best Redell ones, and. it' be like the shut XP whatever pro. down at the bottom that I wear like just. two notches above, you know, that no one. else in the league is wearing. They put. that up on the jumbo like on the screen. at uh training camp because they'll come. out and do an entire presentation about. the new models, the new studies, the new. research, the new everything. It's part.

of the equipment room and they do have. like a scale. Here's the safest in our. eyes helmet. And then they do say like. these ones have been banned. These ones. are close. That's hilarious thing you. describe it as on the edge cuz. everybody's like looking oh nice new. model and then Aaron every time like. still good. All right. I don't know how. they're rolling that one out there. again. And swear to God, that's it's one. of the first things I look at is there. was there was always like a a player in. a helmet and it had like green, yellow, and red, you know, and I'd always look. for that little shot. I'm like, "Oh, well, we're still good. Still good.".

Well, I'm happy to hear that you are. still open to things. I'm happy to hear. that it seems like your football. conversations in life are going in a. positive fashion. I'm happy to hear that. you're driving in a Malibu in. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on a Friday out. of nowhere. I'm sorry to hear about you. going through a lot of things in your. personal life with your inner circle. And we all are excited to hear about. what you're going to do with your future. whenever you figure out the time is. right to make that decision. We. appreciate the hell out of you, man. Yeah. Listen, I don't have sources. I.

don't have people that are out there. pushing narratives. I speak for myself. and it's been nice to be quiet for the. last few months. It's funny in that time. period how the [ __ ] narrative goes. [ __ ] crazy, right? When I haven't. said a [ __ ] word. So, there's nothing to say. I just laid. out where I'm at. There's nothing else. to. report. There's no other reason to be. continuing to talk about me at this.

point. So, time to turn the page. All. those people that have made a lot of. money slandering my name. You. know, apologize for co. Okay. Say your. vac status. Okay. All right. Okay. All. right. I'm happy to hear you. Couple. months off. Still got the fast blow. Hey, and [ __ ] keep it moving. Yeah, you're right. How you doing? Keep it. moving. Tell Apollo we said hello. Can't. wait to meet him. Yeah. I don't know. where he's at right now. He must be.

laying down on the ground here. somewhere. Pissing on something. He's. pissing on something. He's probably. Yeah. chewing some up for sure. He's. chewing some up. Huskies are are very. not active either. So yeah. Yeah. And. Apollo not at all. Apollo is a. uh you can tell just by looking at four. legs and everything. Two different eyes, right? Huskies sometimes. Sometimes. Oh. yeah. No, he's they're both blue. They're both blue like that for Apollo. That's what you're saying. Oh, Australian shepherds. Yeah. They have. the the different eyes a lot. Have you.

ever seen a halfwolf, half husky? You. ever seen that one? Those are big. Those are big dogs. Direwolves are back. Conor. Connor, are. you thinking about going to space. anytime soon or not? Uh, I mean, I don't. know. It depends if we got any green. screens around here. I can go later on. Okay, Aaron, we appreciate you, brother. Hope you stay on land. Hope you make. whatever decision makes you the. happiest. I might go in the ocean later, but other than that, yeah, I will. I'll. be good right here. Watch those. dolphins. Yeah, careful. Watch those. dolphins. I don't see any right now. There's a guy down there fishing, though. Good luck out there. See what.

he's fishing for. Well, hey, thanks. You. guys be safe out there. And uh if you go. to Green Bay, man, and you want dinner, go to Chives. Can we stay at your house? Yes. Yeah. Boom. Go to Chives. Stay at. Aaron's wife is good. We appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen. Aaron Rogers. Yaron. Okay. So, as a Steelers fan, what did. you hear? Cuz I'll tell you what I. heard. Go ahead. What I heard was. Yeah. Sounds like if he's playing, he's.

playing. That sounds that sounds like. that is due due diligence. Not only his. due diligence and he wouldn't say there. obviously it's very personal. It's very. serious things that are happening to. people very close to him and I think he. is a big part of helping his like I. think he's a big part. So I think he. probably didn't want to make a decision. do it all knowing that he was going to. be absent not only physically but like. mentally as well. He's very serious. things. He won't say it. Uh, and I don't.

want to I almost feel like it. I'm not. going to say it. There's very very very. serious not for him, but people very. close to him. And uh, he feels I think. compelled or responsible. Yeah. He's. helping he's helping people. People that. have been around him a long time that. have had a lot of things happen to them. They're very, very serious. So, he feels. so I think he doesn't want to I think he. was very upfront with people like I. don't want to do this. And then because. I don't think he liked how big that. story got last year about the OTAAS. No, he was like I was here every If he's.

going to be in, he's he's going to be. there fully. I think that's what he. wants to do. Yeah, cuz I think he wants. it to very much work. Like if he's going. to continue to play, which he said he's. still open to retirement, which. potentially is something. He doesn't. want to go like what the J like he's. going to want it to have success. So I. think uh I I it sounded like he is a fan. of the Steelers is what it sounded like. And it sounds like he's not in a time to. make a decision or in a time to commit. to a football team right now and be. their quarterback at the age of 41 with. everything going on around him. But it. sounds like let's see what takes place. and then you know it sounds like he. likes Mike Tomman. What's going on in.

UPMC down there in Yeah, obviously he he. loves Coach T. He said uh Coach T. exceeded his expectations. Loves Arty. Smith. As as we've said many many times, Arty Smith didn't need to be sleeping on. a couch. Uh he could be an ex exec at. FedEx if he really wanted to. Uh got to. meet Omar. Uh I know everyone in the. facility that from what I heard loved. Aaron and everything went great inside. of there. I mean, him renting a Malibu. and cruising through the streets of the. Pittsburgh is is awesome. Uh, doing his. due diligence with DK and everything. like that. And he spoke so glowingly of.

DK, which, you know, we knew we gave him. $30 million. Um, no, it it sounds like. if he's going to be playing football, it's going to be for the Steelers, which. I am so happy. It's and the Vikings, he. was like, "Me and Kos know each other. very well." Didn't really dive into that. much. Gave him a couple opportunities to. dive into the Vikings. didn't. So, it. sounds like in his eyes maybe not as big. of a story as maybe we or anybody else. is kind of making it. Yeah. And it's. crazy cuz when you think about it, he. was already in the league when KOC got. drafted to New England. So, you assume. they probably had a relationship a long,

long time ago before KC was even a. coach. It feels like a lot's going on in. his personal life, but he feels like. he's at peace, too. Yeah, I think he's. doing great. I think he's he's doing. well like off the field. But the one. thing I didn't ask, we didn't mention. the Saints, did we? Uh, you brought it. up, but he didn't say anything. mentioned it. Yeah. So, yeah, guess. that's a non story. Yeah. So, if he's. going to play, he's going to play for. the Steelers. What did Was there any. other options out there that we. mentioned that he said like talk to. Dall Giants? He like J ball. I mean, cuz. that doesn't have a quarterback right. now though. They didn't though for the.

longest time. I don't think the Jets. were an option. Um yeah, it sounded like. that did not go well. That's wild. You. could have just texted me and said we're. moving on. Like that's not normal in the. NFL, right? I don't know. But but maybe. AG was looking for his response there, you know? Maybe like he was hoping Aaron. would be like, "No, I want beer." You. know, like there's there's always a. reason. I'd assume. Now, Aaron Rogers, for instance, I would certainly expect a. heads up that 20 seconds into this. thing, you're just going to tell me you. don't want me to be here whenever. That's a long way, brother. Yeah. Yeah. But do I maybe from the the Jet side,

they're thinking, "Hey, we wanted to do. the courtesy of talking to you in person. about this." But then if you actually. thought of it, like, "Well, I live in. California. It's kind of far. If you're. going to let me go, just let's do a. phone call." Yeah. I mean, there's. obviously two. There's a reason that AG. did that. Yeah, I would assume because. you could easily say, "Oh, they just. they sent me a text and cut me." You. know, you hear people like break up. They break up with their wife over via. tweet or something. Yeah. So, they may. they probably thought, "Hey, I'm being. respectful by doing this in person." But. which I guess not. But Aaron on the. other side, what do we Yeah. You didn't. even ask me like who what I like. What.

needs to be changed? 21 years. I've been. okay at this thing. I know you are also. a very good coach, but you know, I've. been around a long time. Had a lot of. success. not even a you don't even want. to use me as a sounding board before. telling me. Okay, thank you for all that. information. Now, with that being said, we'd like to move on. So, I think he. probably assumed that conversation was. gonna go a lot of different directions, even if it was a a conversation about. him not being there anymore, which I. think we all knew was a very real. possibility, especially with the way the. NFL works. New coach, new GM, they have. a team in their eyes how they want it to. be. Is veteran quarterback Aaron Rogers.

the one that they're looking for? Maybe. not. So, I think he understands reality. of the business that they could move on. I think he's just like a lot with the. Jets that I. don't I couldn't have expected, you. know. I think that's probably how he is. viewing it all. We didn't get to your. question, uh, which I apologize for. No, all good. I think the biggest takeaway. at least for me was that like there is. no you know cuz we kind of talked about. this um out there like before the show a. couple days ago like what if you know he. he just waits around kind of until. there's like a an injury to some other.

team and then he decides hey I'll you. know week eight or week nine I'll go. sign with one of these contenders who. gets put into a spot. But it sounds like. he's not waiting around for the Vikings. Like once he kind of puts everything to. bed in his personal life with that. situation, then it seems like he's going. to come to a decision. And that decision. ultimately feels like it is going to be. the Steelers. Like it doesn't seem like. we're going to get a four weeks from. now, you know, the Vikings. dec maybe I will come in and then we'll.

figure out, you know, the the situation. there. Like it does seem like he knows. it's it's Steelers or nobody. That's. what it feels like. Yeah. That is that. what we all heard? That's what it feels. like. But if they he said the draft. doesn't change, I think if they go like. say Shadur falls and they draft him. doesn't change things, does it? He's not. starting year one. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. Cuz then you still have the Yeah. Cuz. Aaron with the Jets, I think he has said. that he would be open to Yeah. Yeah. a. younger quarterback never needed. multi-year. He said 10 million bucks. 10. M 10 M dude. Weird. It's a great amount.

of money bucks just out of nowhere is. great. But in comparison to what he. would be the 28th I don't know how many. rookie quarterbacks I guess was four or. five. So he'd be like the 26th, 23rd, 22nd heist, whatever it would be. You. can guarantee me 10 M's, but I I want to. put a bunch of incentives in there. If. we if I take you to to great heights, I. want some I want some more. Yeah, we. need at least a division title, playoff. win, conference championship, super. Yeah,

the only way he's playing is if he feels. like he can win like Yeah, money is not. the thing. Which he said, yeah, with. with the Jets. But I mean to the point. of the money, yeah, Fields, Justin. Fields got two years$40 million from the. Jets. So he'd be way under that. That's. also why the Giants and the Saints never. seemed like viable options cuz like he's. not going to go just play just to play. and collect a paycheck. Like if the. Giants or the Saints get Rogers, do they. immediately become like Super Bowl. contenders? I don't think so. Like if he. goes and plays for the Steelers like. here we go. Yeah, because they're always.

going to win. Tough to have TJ's there. He'll be there. Uh oh. They're going to. give him 40 million. They have to. He's. chucking deuces, though. You can't let. TJ go. It's only 30% of You can't even. let TJ play on the last year of his deal. this year. He's He's chucking deuces, bro. He is. He's going like this. It's a. foundational piece of Pittsburgh. Was. that on Big Night Out Wednesday? It was. Maybe he was saying, "What does that. mean?" Do we know? Do we know any. context to that? Big night out cuz I'm. out, [ __ ] No. Maybe he said maybe he. had 41. He did. And I was two, you know?

Maybe he was like, "Oh, yeah. Could be.". Maybe he was representing 412. Where's. the one? Yeah. Well, it could have been. his thumb. It could have been his cuz he. four fingers and then one and then he. was doing That's how we do it. The two. Yeah. Yeah. That's what people do. He's. trying to induce his bro. Nah. You see that, dude? Yeah. But he. doesn't have his pinky up in that. So, no, but I'm saying he did he tried to. change it. He tried to do it this way. He tried to do it with five four. fingers, one thumb, and then two over. here. See? 4-1. You wouldn't get You're.

not saying he's saying [ __ ] Pittsburgh, bro. I'm out of here. No, he's not. saying that. He is. He's saying, "Help. douches, bro.". What's J saying? His brother can say. what he what he can't say. J said you. get a deal done early. It's cheaper. Yeah. And you should have done that. Basically, that's what he said the last. time he was on the show. JJ said, "Oh.". Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Talk [ __ ] about your. [ __ ] superstars, brother, bro. Go. ahead. You're right. That was a bad. idea. This is why This is why TJ's. leaving. He's sick of it, man. Just like.

all the Cena marks. They're sick of the. disrespect. See disrespect and TJ should. be too. I think the TJ deal will get. done. That feels like it has to always. does. It got done during training camp. last time for the go to the NFL. It. feels like is he going to hold in or is. he going to Is he going to go to OTAAS? He No, he held he held in last uh. training camp. I can't remember what he. did for OTAAS. He might get traded on. draft night. Yeah. Next Thursday night. page. Okay. So, the NFL is obviously. very alive. The NBA is very alive. Um. hockey uh the Canadians uh secure a.

playoff spot. Congratulations to the La. Habitatons uh getting into the playoff. picture for the NHL which has been set. The Columbus Blue Jackets do not make it. in. Hell of a run there at the end. though. Hell of a run there at the end. And the boys will be back stronger and. sharper than ever next year. Uh. obviously we're pulling for the Capitals. strictly because we met every single one. member of the team. We did meet every. single member of the team and OV is a. beast. What a year it's been for them. Good luck. The Golden Knights also. Yeah. We'll see you in the finals.

They're hot. I mean they are blazing hot right now. Really? Yeah. Stoner. Stoner obviously. doing what Stoner does per usual. Jackie. Ace is coming off the best, you know, season of his career. I mean, Noah. Hannon doing what he does. I mean, just. all the boys are are buzzing on all. cylinders right now. Do you still have. your pods in your kit? Without a doubt. Hanging in my locker right now whenever. called upon. How come? Uh oh, yeah. That's a great question. Sorry, Gumpy. Uh Tone just wanted me to. ask you how Texas hockey is doing. Uh.

we've lost seven straight. We're just we're just [ __ ] cruising. going into the playoff. Cubs, who just. came off LTIR, brother? Tyler Seagan. Yeah, we scored 15 seconds into the. game, then we let in six straight last. night against the Predators. Predator is. one of the worst teams in hockey. Uh I. don't know what happened. We got Rantin, one of the best goal scorers in hockey. Uh we need Miro Heiskin in back. I don't. know if he's going to be ready. We got. the Avalanche first round. You know, what about Robo? Robo uh he got hurt. last night playing when he didn't need.

to either. So yeah, he was in a knee. brace leaving the stadium. So it's. great. Lost some glue with Pav. The AS. the favorites to win the Stanley Cup on. ESPN bet. Florida Panthers with Marawn. down there. Are they getting Kachchuck. back? I heard he's on the ice. Coach. spoke today and said everyone's. available for game one. Oh Kucky's back. Need them to go want that first round. pick. Canes, Golden Knights, Oilers, and. uh you know, I'll be excited to see if. the Devils can get it done at plus. 5,000. Sure. You know, and uh congrats.

to the Canadians making their way into. the playoff picture last night. Earning. at least one point is all they had to. do. Now, let's talk about another sport. that's taking place. NFL, NBA, NHL, and. the MLB happening, and it was a night of. big bombs, big hits, and even a. concussion or two. Yeah, we've been. talking about this time and time again. You know, the MLB is at at its best when. the superstars are performing. Uh, only. had a couple games last night, but what. happened? Show Otani hits another. ding-dong. Aaron Judge hits another. blast. Uh, show Hayes was an absolute.

moonshot. I mean, he's hitting that 450. Just a no doubter. No doubter. Uh, thought the Dodgers would go ahead and. just beat the [ __ ] out of rock the. Rockies cuz the Rockies are another team. who kind of they skim by, but they're. very similar to like the Pirates. They. just absolutely suck. Funny, I think. Yeah, I could have done. that. But the Rockies are another one of. those teams who are okay with kind of. just winning 60 games every year, getting their ass kicked. They have also. have a beautiful ballpark. Uh but. they're they're very pesky. They came. back almost beat the Dodgers. They. didn't, so you know, it doesn't really.

matter. And then Judgy here. I mean, uh. listen, I know we talk about Showi and. he is, you know, like one of the the the. biggest star in the MLB. Aaron Judge is. the best player in baseball and I'm not. just saying that as a homer. You look at. his numbers. Absolutely ridiculous. He. was three for three in this game. He got. intentionally walked earlier and then. tie game in the seventh. Uh this guy. gets like one pitch to hit every single. night and that's why they don't pitch to. him cuz when he gets a pitch to hit, he. hits a [ __ ] shot. I think he was 22. with an intentional walk before this at.

bat. Correct. So he ended the night. three for three. He's batting over 400. He leads the MLB in batting average, in. slugging, in on base plus slugging, in. RBI's. He's uh he has seven homers. I. think the league leader has eight. And. then Yeah. Scary situation here. You. forget this kind of stuff can happen in. baseball. Uh Hunter Wendelstat, first. base uh umpire just eats one. Eats a. line drive side of the head, right? Yeah. Right off the side of the head. And you can see I mean he he drops like. a [ __ ] bad habit obviously. That's.

why first base coaches have to wear. helmets now. I would assume these umps. are going to start wearing helmets there. on the side. Well, you can't obstruct. their vision cuz they got to be able to. John the old John so bad. Oh yeah. Oh. yeah. And luckily he was fine. Nothing. nothing ended up happening. Yeah, he. left the game and and he was good. But. every once in a while, like, you know, I. mean, this is this is kind of the why. the majors can never have metal bats. because of [ __ ] like this. Show almost. got donged in the dugout. He's he almost. took one right to the head. Mookie Betts. hit a a foul ball into the dugout and.

like they have those concrete barriers. So like those balls are going super fast. and then it hits that concrete skips. like crazy. Like it's it's also coming. back off the back side of it. When we. were at that Pirates game there was we. were in a foul ball. Yeah. to the face. There was a couple that get over the net. and they're going so fast cuz the. pitchers are throwing harder probably. than I don't know. I'm not than ever. before. They are. Yeah. Okay. So, they're throwing harder than ever. The. batters are stronger than ever. So, anytime and I don't know, E= MC² or. whatever it is, but anytime something's. moving fast and then something very.

hard, that shit's going very f tough to. react. It's like hockey with a puck. You. know, the way hockeyy's had to protect. the fans because of the puck's going in. there. Baseball's obviously had to do. the same thing. But if you're on the. field, it's going to be difficult. You're right in the way. AJ, big head on. that guy. I think probably protected and. saved him. I hope so. I mean, I hope. thick skull. This is real. Like, if. you're watching a baseball game or even. a hockey game, we went to that Pens. game. I was sitting up a little ways. Like, we were right over the glass. Like, we were right in the area where. you could take one right to the face.

Got to be attentive. I told her I'm. like, "Hey, don't protect you guys. I. got you. I'm keep my eyes on. I'm not. looking down at my phone." Like, you. look down at your phone in one of these. games, you're dead. There's nothing you. can do there either. Like it doesn't. matter how like you can't react that. quick to a ball coming off a bat like. 115 miles an hour. It's just there's no. way. But he's way to get back up. Yep. Way to get back up that. And then uh you. know people making a bigger deal about. this. This fight was uh we had a benches. clearing brawl in the Nationals Pirates. game. Uh absolutely chicken [ __ ] though. Pablo Lopez throws high at uh Cut right.

after he hit Brian Reynolds before that. And then, you know, quote unquote, the. uh, you know, obviously they're they're. wondering, "Hey, Ski is going to go out. there and beat the [ __ ] out of this. guy." The bench is clear, the bullpens's. clear, but this is what we can't have. happen. Then these guys just kind of sit. around, play play grab ass, play patty. cake. One person did end up getting. ejected, but if the benches are going to. clear, like, we need people to we need. fights. Throw h, you know, that's that's. kind of how cold. Look at the guys are. Oh, coming all the way in. That's what. I'm saying. You clear the bullpens, too, like that means actual bad blood. That. means, hey, we need guys throwing.

punches. We need guys, you know, getting. ejected. We can't just do this kind of. BS. It ended up being, you know, nothing. really happened and and that was kind of. the end of it. Coach, we hope you're. okay. Yeah, he was. Happy to see the. boys stand up and yell at the other side. for him. Yeah, exactly. That was good to. see a little bit of uh, you know, a. little bit of energy there. AJ, the. Pittsburgh Pirates are in a bad spot. Okay, they got Paul SK the next one. Cotch obviously has been very successful. baseball player. Started with Pirates. once a month, came back to Pittsburgh. The ballpark is glorious. Um, but the.

the numbers are not good down there. It's a joke. It really is. Like you guys. talk about it and and I think like. people who maybe aren't from there, don't follow baseball, like don't like. there should never be 8,000 people at a. Major League Baseball game ever. Like it. it's just it's rid Like I understand. it's cold, so you can maybe say that for. a couple, but like we've seen a couple. of these instances where like the. weather's great. That stadium is. immaculate. It's beautiful. The tickets.

are [ __ ] cheap. The food good. Yeah. Like everything about that experience is. is great a and it's still like you're. still watching major league players and. I think that's kind of partially why. people are fed up and they like the. Pirates have five guys batting below 200. in their lineup right now. Like they. just don't they don't try to compete. So. even when Skins is pitching the night we. went and saw there were probably what I. mean I I don't know what they said for. attendance but way less than you know. 8,000 might have been what they said. There were probably like 3,000 people. there. Like it's just it's a [ __ ].

joke, man. And like something does need. to change. Yeah. And people I think. people not showing up is becoming a. message from the city to the ownership. and to the team, not to the players. I. tried to tell that to Paul at Big Night. Out because numerous times throughout. Big Night Out, it it has gotten into a. pitch with Pittsburgh fans. You remember. Fire Canada? You remember that? That. that was the whole country everywhere we. went. Yeah. And then they Tomlin was. forced, the Steelers are forced to do. something that they have never really.

done, which is make a coaching change at. a coordinator position in the middle of. the season. It literally is not. something that the Pittsburgh Steelers. ever do, but it got so loud. Pittsburgh. fans will let you know. And this one. feels like they are finally fed up with. the ownership because I think it's. because Paul SK. I think the Pittsburgh. people are at the point of being. disgusted with the owner. Used to be mad. at the owner, hate the owner. It's. [ __ ] this Buckos, but we'll go have. a nice family night out at BNC Park, you. know, everything we just said. Maybe. we'll get some Zambelly fireworks. We're.

going to expect the Pirates to lose, but. hopefully somebody on the other team is. good enough that we can say we were. there for a moment. Now it's at the. point where it's like the Pittsburgh. people are like, "We're done with this.". This is from a big night out uh last. week on. Wednesday. Whoa. Jesus. Jesus. Oh [ __ ] Two hours later. Oh no.

What was he supposed to do? Yeah. Paul's. in a tough spot there. And I did not. expect that. To be clear, I did not. expect that reaction. I had no idea. But. it does feel like the entire city of. Pittsburgh is at the point where they're. like, "This guy deserves better. Paul. Ske, we got a guy." And we've seen this. before. A lot of Pittsburgh Pirates. pitchers have started in Pittsburgh and. then they go on to win awards in World. Series at other places and then with. Paul it's like I think all of Pittsburgh. is like this guy loves our city. This. guy is perfect for our city and he's the. next one and this ownership group is.

still just not doing something or. anything about it. That's why I think. they're so loud and that's why I think. they're not showing up. I think they've. decided as a group like nah, we're not. giving this guy anything. Is that how. you think about it? Yeah, it's. definitely a decision because uh the. tweet that was just up there, I think. it's four or five times this year. already under 9,000 tickets sold. It. happened only once last year. They. weren't good last year either. They. weren't good the year before. When was. the last time they were 2004 2014 uh was. the last time they made the playoffs. Um. so that the 10 years it's been and so.

they haven't been good since then. But. this is the first time that it's this. first time that no one's showing up and. it's a coordinated decision by the city. because they are so fed up with. everything and because of Paul. It's. definitely I mean there's there's. definitely a correlation to Paul. starting second half of last year coming. into this season with all the. expectations with Paul and the rest rest. of the pitching staff and then you know. it just they did nothing this offseason. for the lineup to help the the pitching. or Paul and the like it was loud coming. into the season and then they didn't. have a good start and it's just kind of.

it reached a fever pitch. We'd like to. let Paul know this is a compliment. They. love this is because they love Paul SK. He got a big old pop like I Yeah. Huge. pop. Yeah, exactly. He is the one that. they are mad. Mhm. Finally fed up with. ownership because of like here we go. again. Another one for him. Yeah. And. you're everything that Paul's about. Pittsburgh people are like we like this. guy. What are your hobbies? Uh nap. and then baseball. Baseball. Really? How. do you feel about the city of. Pittsburgh? Love the people here. Love.

the city. Love this. Love everything. about Pittsburgh. like nobody's saying. that in baseball in for the Pirates in. history, let alone the guy who's. supposed to be a Hall of Famer. Now, obviously a lot of career left, but he's. doing things that nobody's ever done. before. I think he is the reason why the. Pittsburgh people are done with it. Just. like this guy does not deserve this. Basically, this guy's representing our. city in a poor fashion. And uh I think. it's only going to continue to be. honest. And I assume like Diggs would. know and like Pirates fans would know, but like now it's just like the. expectation. Like we joke about it where. it's like oh you know he'll he'll be a.

Yankee in 5 years but it's like a lot of. these guy like you know it's going to. happen like these guys don't want to and. it has nothing to do with Pittsburgh. It. has nothing to do with the city but it's. like he had more people were showing up. to his games at LSU to watch him play. Like you don't get you're not the number. one pick a guy who could win a Sai. Young. You go to the big leagues. You've. dreamed about this your entire life and. then it's your day to go out there and. pitch and nobody's in the [ __ ]. stands. It's like you're playing in a. high school game. Like people can blame. the weather or whatever. Like it's cold. as [ __ ] in New York. There were 43,000. people at the Yankees game the other.

night. Like because guess what? They. have a $300 million payroll. Like they. put money into it. They want people to. come to the stadium and enjoy the the. like the the Pirate the Pirates payroll. is $88 million. Like they just they. don't try to feel the competitive. winning team. And eventually people. will. They'll just be like, you know. what? [ __ ] this. I'm done. Why am I. going to spend my money if this rich. prick's not going to spend any of his. money? Yeah. And I saw a video from Jet. Pass and talking about that how like. going into this year like you have Paul. Skins, you have the pitching staff, you. have a bunch of guys and then they put.

like $19.5 million in free agency this. year and like we're talking about $300. million for one team and then you know. we're talking about Pittsburgh here. where their best player isn't one of. their highest paid guys. He's on a. rookie, you know, that's a rookie. quarterback deal. A rookie quarterback. deal. Yeah. And they're only putting. $19.5 million in that off season. That. is 100% the issue cuz you know skins. averaged 25,000 people at his games last. year which is which is a pretty good. number. This year we saw the game there. was nobody there and it's exactly. because of that. They said oh we have.

the guy we have the pitching let's put. money into this team this offseason and. we'll be [ __ ] great this next year. and they did jack [ __ ] So that's why. everyone's super fit. Yeah. And. everybody in Pittsburgh said they did. jack [ __ ] and then they said no we like. our team and then they started out. terrible and they're like you did jack. [ __ ] Yeah. They don't play in a good. division. So like if they would have. done a little bit like they they could. go with like wall skins is like in his. prime here and he's not making you know. $40 million a year which he will be. eventually like they could have been one. of those teams where it's like hey the. Pirates could win this division every. single year. That park AJ deserves.

beautiful you from where we sat you if. you stand at home plate you look through. like the outfield into the with the. Clemente bridge right zone and. everything about it. It's awesome. Everything's awesome. Everything about. it. Great logo. There's no quick fix. though. Right. What what can the owner. do? Well, I guess bring it money sell. the team. So, we're looking into this. Baltimore sold, I guess, a few years. back. 1.3 1.3 billion. Um, so we would. assume that the Pirates would be in that. ballpark, you know, maybe 1.5, maybe. 1.75, whatever the case is. The guy.

bought the team for how much money this. was like it was 90. Congrats, dude. You. did it. 90 mil. 90 million. What year? Orioles was 1.77 725. Okay. So probably. like two billion just because as things. go professional sports are only going to. go up. So somebody could buy the Pirates. potentially for $2 billion. Uh you're. also buying that P you know that every. hat has where you buy I don't think. you're buying a stadium. I think the. city runs the stadium and all that but. it's like you got Paul SK there if you. were able to buy that team. That guy. goes from 90 million to two billion. You.

should be pumped about that guy. Yeah. Passion fans. Get out. Take it and. leave. It can't be fun to be the owner. in it. the owner has to this has to come. across their desk. uh he heard from what. I've been told he was hurting and also. opening day he was walking around the. stadium wanted to be a part of the. people and one person recognized him and. was like yo it wasn't a thanks for. everything it was a so the team and they. just everywhere he walked it was just. literally like a hive of people they and. they passed it was like a wave they. passed the chant to the next group of.

people that were he was walking by cuz. he was walking down a like um like a a t. a walkway or whatever now so like. there's a group of people here they. recognize him. Sell the team. Old buddy. goes, "Okay." He gets to the next group, they go, "Hey." And they sell the team. And then he gets to the next group. Sell. the team. He had people from every part. of the city, every part of the stadium. telling him to sell the team in person. On opening day, that should be like as. an owner. As an owner, like opening day. should be like a uh a big deal, celebration like, "Hey, there's there's.

hope. There should always be hope. On. opening day, we're back." Instead, every. single human that saw him except for the. security guy that was walking with him, I guess, cuz he probably felt obligated. not to say it was telling him to sell a. damn team. That's uh basically there he. is. He's walking through. Sell the team, you son of a [ __ ] Caught him. This. [ __ ] guy. There he is. That's him. That's him. Then people are turning. around continuing to sell the team. And. you know, from what I've been told, obviously he has heard the stuff that's. been said on shows. Sure. Our shows, other shows, and everything like that. And Mark Cuban always said, because Mark.

Cuban's from Pittsburgh, went to. Indiana. Obviously, he ends up in Dallas. buying the Mavericks. Allegedly, he got. turned down buying the Pirates a couple. years ago. He's trying to make a couple. runs at it. Who knows if that's still. the case, but he he says if you were. getting paid 40 million a. year, would you wake up every day, go. stand in the middle of downtown for 5. hours, and have everybody come tell you. suck, and then you just go home, but. you're getting paid 40 million a year. Would you take that job? I don't want. that. Me personally, no. No. But there's.

a lot of people that would say, "Yeah, in a heartbeat $40 million." If you're. living that for years, that's tough. At. some point, you got to lay your head. down. You would think that there would. be some sort of pillow thoughts, but. what I've realized with this guy, he. doesn't have them. He doesn't care. He. He does not. I mean, he's just walking. around just running a profitable. business. Bingo. That's all he's doing. It's not the same thing cuz there's not. as many of like the issues and like the. oh, this guy's a real piece of [ __ ] I. don't know, you know, like his backstory. really or anything like that, but it's. almost like a Dan Snyder situation where. it's like everyone says for the longest.

time like this guy [ __ ] sucks. He. needs to sell the team. We're never. going to be any good while he's the. owner. And they get off on that. It's. like, oh well guess what? I do own the. team and I'm making a shitload of money. and there's nothing any of you [ __ ]. people can do about it until people are. like, "Okay, well then we just won't. come anymore." Yeah. And that's what's. happening right now. Yeah. in like the. direction of baseball. Like it feels. like baseball does have steam and like a. lot of stars. The games we were talking. about earlier. Trout's playing well, right? Two. Yeah, he's hitting homers.

Homers. Yeah. But like the games are. going quicker. The pitch clock's. helping. All this stuff like sure he. could sell the team now or he could wait. 10 years and baseball might be in a much. different place where he's selling it. for, you know, two and a half billion. Like look what happened with the. Timberwolves. Timberwolves sell for what. was it? One one.5 or whatever it was. But now the team, the Celtics just sold. for 601 four years later. Like that guy. tried to get out of selling the team. because the NBA stars, a lot more people. got more steam. Like the MLB might be in.

that same position now. Yeah. So maybe. he's just holding on for a couple more. years. Yeah, we got Paul. You're right. A lot of people going to be buying. Pirate stuff. This valuation's going. going to go up. And everybody in. Pittsburgh is like, please try to field. a team. Please try to be a squad. We got. the stadium. We got the atmosphere, we. got the people, and we got an ace. That's like they could spend like if. they spent $70 million more dollars, like we're still talking about having. half a payroll that like the Yankees and.

the Mets do, but like at the very least, like, hey, at least you're trying a. little bit. Like $88 million for your in. like your entire team's payroll. Like it. it it just it says to everyone like, "Hey, we're not trying to win." So, you. know, and I assume other owners don't. love it either because they have money. Rev they got a rev share. So they're. take there's these teams the Yankees are. taking care of the Pirates, aren't they? How they have to take care of these. teams that don't spend. And it's not. good for the league to have a team that. is just like clearly not attempting to. win. You know, I'd assume the MLB. doesn't love it. They have to hate it. I. I would love to see hear what like the.

other owners say about them. More people. are showing up to these AAA stadiums. than they are to the Pirates games. More. people show up at Big Night Out. Exactly. A lot more. Yeah. Yeah. Go to a. Columbus Clippers game. TripleA team in. Columbus, Ohio. There's It's jammed. You. tried Pat. You tried to make it. entertaining. You tried to put on a good. night and you did. It's weird how that. works. Invested in Yeah. invested. heavily and uh it's weird how that. works. You sell out of place and. everyone has a great time. Pirates do on. their entire roster for the whole season. in one night.

So, you know, I mean, that kind of that. kind of says it right there. Let's get out of here. We got to hit the. road, Jack. Oh, yeah. We're going to. come back. The road to But it's in a. long time. The road to mania. The road. to Mania is hitting the sky for us here. in a matter of a few moments. Next stop. will be Las Vegas for the greatest. spectacle in all of sports. entertainment, Wrestlemania. Tomorrow will be absurd. I.

have got confirmation that there will be. another guest. Oh, here we go. Shut up. Who? No. I don't want to say it. What? No. Word. No way. Word. Wide. Word. Wide. Word. What? Give me a hell yeah. Hell yeah. I do.

believe in you. Whoa. What a day. Let's. go. God. Doors open at 8:00 a.m. local. At WWE World, we will start at 9:00 a.m. local. Obviously, noon Eastern, 9:15 will be our tribal chief. Ria. Ripley will stop by. Triple H will stop. by. And I do believe Stone Cold Steve. Austin will be stopping by. Cannot wait. to kick off Wrestlemania weekend. tomorrow morning. Cannot wait to be a.

part of the Hall of Fame and the kickoff. to Wrestlemania in the afternoon. Then. Hall of Fame late night Easter time, 10. PM local. And then obviously. Wrestlemania Saturday and Sunday is. going to be absolutely glorious. The. things that come out of Wrestlemania are. talked about forever every single year. Even if you're not a massive wrestling. fan, you turn on this weekend, you are. going to find yourself entertained, wowed, and potentially yourself a. wrestling fan for the rest of your life. Just disappear for a little bit. Just. disappear. Just go into the world and. enjoy the hell out of yourself because.

what the WWE puts together is second to. none. We are very lucky to get a chance. to work intimately with it for a big. night out. And the people that have been. around WWE on the production side have. been putting on the greatest spectacles. around the world for decades and. decades. And in Vegas with all the. opportunity in the stars and the. investment. This weekend is going to be. second to none. I cannot wait for an. iconic weekend. And uh we hope you'll. join us tomorrow. And then we'll be live. on Monday wrapping up Wrestlemania and. also potentially chitchatting with uh.

Max Crosby. Oh, live in person in his. home of Las Vegas. So, we appreciate you. all so much. AJ, thank you for coming. out to Thunderdome. Oh, yeah. You did look a cool. with AJ here. Uh, I think we need to do. a giveaway. I don't. Actually, you're. right. We've done a lot. All right, never mind. We'll do one maybe tomorrow. at Wrestlemania. Be a friend. Tell a. friend something nice. It might change. their life. We're in this thing. together. Hey, chat. We appreciate you.

Gouthat. Shout out to the chat. AJ, anything you say in the chat? Shout out. chat. Nice. Boom. I already said that. Yeah, I know. So, I reiterated it. So, they got it. Double down. Boom. You. wanted to retweet like Bruce dancing on. uh Pete. I said, "Bruce, what are you. about to do?" Doubling down. And he went. and grinded on Pete back in the day when. he did the talking about Pete Taml. Okay. My bad. All right. Yeah. Obviously, everybody understands what. you're talking about here. Inside jokes. and inside stories are obviously. amazing, especially when outside people. are listening inside, too. Yeah. I was.

very very very very very very inside. Yeah. Uh Bruce is a Michigan fan. So. whenever Pete Daml was doing the news. that he was doing about Harbaugh and. others, Bruce was offended by it like I. believe a lot of Wolverines fans were. And then Bruce was a little boozed up in. a hotel at the national championship. And uh Pete Daml happened to be hanging. out because Pete Daml is friends with. us. And Bruce just going to help himself. and Bruce stumbles basically knocks over. Pete pretty much headbutts him and and. says something to him and it's almost a. scene. And uh Bruce, I hope you felt. good over there. Go blue. Go blue, baby.

That was a deep cut then. It's a deep. cut now. Well, shout out to AJ. I know. He didn't know your name at first. That's why we call you Bruce. Yep. Now. he's referencing a drunk night in. Houston, Texas at about 2:30 a.m. in a. hotel lobby. Multiple years ago. That's. good brain on you. Two years ago. Yep. That's it. Zero concussions unlike a. multiple. Multiple. Yeah. Could also use. the word couple in that particular. instance. Multiple would also work cuz. it's more than one. But I appreciate. where you were coming from and thank you. for coming out here. It's great to be. here. Are you getting in the ring this. weekend? Looks like you're in shape. I.

don't believe so, but there's a couple. people that that I'm looking for uh some. surprises. I think I'm might get in. there. Who are you looking forward to? Oh, I mean, we all know we all know our. one guy we like, Tommy Invincible. We. hope he gets his shot. Maybe Sam. Roberts. I hope Sam Roberts gets a. chance to get in there. I'll let Tommy. Invincible know cuz he heard Debb shout. out yesterday and we talked about him. Um AJ was I've been pushing him for a. while. AJ found you early. Yeah, AJ. found AJ's been funneling your reels to. me for a long time. And uh I would like.

to say AJ, you got an eye for talent, brother. You got eye for talent. You got. an eye for talent. Eye for Moxy. Absolutely. How could you not? I mean, the first video I saw, I think there. were seven people there. He high-fived. them all, though. All of them. And the. yell and the intensity, it was like. that's how you like a professional. Like, yeah, he's a pro. That's what I. think of. This guy's a pro. It doesn't. matter how many people are out there, who's out there. We're going to. entertain. Are you in good shape? Looks. like you're in great shape right now. Why? What does that have to do? Denny, Denny, you look really I haven't seen. you. I haven't seen you in person in a. long time. Yeah, I'm about the same as.

I've always been. You look jocked, dude. Not really, man. I'd love to see Punk. kick your ass this weekend. I'm not. taking I would never I would never take. one of those. Hey, Punk. You seen the. bombs he throws? Yeah, I'm there every. Monday. Yeah, I know. No, I don't want. any part. Do you I don't want any part. though. What What about What about Seth. freaking Rollins maybe stomping your. head through your [ __ ] desert? I. don't want any part of anybody in the. WWE. They all scare me. What about. Michael Cole? Michael Cole. Now, if he. came out of the old Cole train and put a. single back on, maybe I'd get in there.

You knock him out. Maybe I'd carry Maybe. I'll carry him like a backpack into the. ring. I'll be his manager. I like Johnny. Bananas. Or maybe Yeah. You know, the. baby Bejorn. He's on the front, you. know, facing you. Well, facing with his. little facing. Either way, I'm not doing. it, but you know what I mean. I don't. know if he was facing you like that lady. did whenever they wanted Big Night Out. That's right. You know. Oh yeah. No, I'm. not. No. Maybe Michael Cole straddling. That'd be pretty cool. I will. I don't. think so. What? Let's get out of here. Be a. friend. Tell friends something nice.

might change your life. Tomorrow, even. if you're not a wrestling fan, just know. it's going to be absurd. Tomorrow's. going to be a spectacle in of itself on. our show. And then the greatest weekend. in wrestling happens. And uh we're lucky. as hell to be a part of it all. Be a. friend. Tell a friend something nice. It. might change your life. We're in this. thing together. Team on me. Happy Mania. weekend. Hell yeah, boys. Here we go. Team on three. 1 2 3. Goodbye.