The Pat McAfee Show Live | Tuesday January 6th 2026

IN STARKVILLE, CALIFORNIA. [music]. >> [screaming]. >> THIS ONE'S FOR THREE. A.J. HAWK, $5,000. [music]. >> [laughter]. [screaming].

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[music]. [cheering]. [music]. >> THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM IS A collective of. stooges talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic. and 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 for. >> [cheering]. >> The all-time leading tackler for the.

Green Bay Packers. YOU PAY. DAMN IT. YOU HAVE A FRIEND TELL A FRIEND. SOMETHING NICE, could change your life. Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to. our [music] humble abode, the. Thunderdome. On this magical Super Wild Card Tuesday, [music] January 6th, 2026, THIS PROGRAM. BEGINS NOW. FOOTBALL. DAYS OF GREATNESS, AND what.

we're about to have here, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and a Monday, is something that we football people. like to call greatness. Thursday, college football playoff game in. Phoenix, Arizona. I'll tell you what, Ole Miss hosting Miami. Ole Miss being a. team. that was left for dead. Yeah. Ole Miss, a franchise that we thought. were going to be completely donezo after. this year. Better make the most of it. This is over. Your coach is leaving. Your coach is leaving. Your players are.

leaving. Everybody's gone. Well, turns. out the running back that has 4,000. touchdowns who still has 3 years of. eligibility left, he's returning back to. Ole Miss. Quarterback from Ferris State, national. champion, beautiful school up there in. Michigan. They go back-to-back, by the. way. Congratulations to them. We'll talk. about that. Trinidad goes to Winidad. whenever he's down there in Oxford. He. said if he's granted another year of. eligibility because of what was. happening for one of his years at Ferris. State where he could potentially be. deemed a medical redshirt, so maybe he. gets an extra year of eligibility. If I.

was to have another year, I'm not going. down to buyou. I'm staying right here at. Ole Miss. Two coaches from the coaching staff. that'll be leaving, Charlie Weiss Jr. and Kevin Smith. Who is the running back. coach, will be continuing to coach the. Ole Miss team. The other four that were. kind of working both jobs, LSU and Ole. Miss, will not be returning to Ole Miss. for the rest of the run. It's an. interesting dynamic what's taking place. in Ole Miss, and that head coach, Golding, he might be the one. This guy might be. the one. Now, he's got a sick visor with. great hair, seems to have a great. disposition, looks like he enjoys having.

a good time. The way he describes guys. is whether or not you'd like to have a. beer with him. That is the type of. language we like to use whenever we're. discussing football players, whenever. we're discussing leaders. And this guy's. been able to rally the entire squad. Congrats to him. And then Miami, we've been boots on the ground for Miami. now two times. Down in College Station. when they were taking on Texas A&M, 40. mile an hour wind gusts kind of changed. the whole entire game. So, whoever could. survive that game, we thought was going. to be a very mentally tough team. But. what was very apparent is this Miami. team's thumping people. And then they. got a chance to take it all out on the. Ohio State Buckeyes. A lot of people are.

chit-chatting, that's Kam Kante Scott, he's a beast. Didn't win the Jim Thorpe. Award, but does hit the Jim Thorpe. clean. Clean statue pose immediately after a. pick-six in the college football. quarterfinals. But what they did was. out-physical the Ohio State Buckeyes. And that's the identity, not only of how. I think people would want the Miami. Hurricanes act from down in Miami, but. the head coach is like a black belt in. jujitsu. Mario Cristobal's got no time. for your games. Offensive lineman loves. Miami, from the area, speaks Spanish to. the folks in the area, recruits.

full-time, wins spring to you all the. way back, and guess what? They are. Their style of play is electrifying. The. way they go about doing their business. is awesome. They'll talk their and. do their And Carson Beck, their. quarterback, if he's going to have time. like he did against Ohio State, he's. certainly able to make the right. decisions. And they got a guy who's. Derrick Henry in the making in running. back, in Mark Fletcher. He can run over. whoever, whenever, however. This game, Miami-Ole Miss, is going to be an. absolutely epic battle over there in. Phoenix. And then.

Atlanta on Friday, Big Ten battle to see. who's going to be representing the Big. Ten in the National Championship. A. repeat, obviously. This game happened. early in this college football season. The Indiana HOO HOO HOOSIERS. WENT ALL THE WAY to Eugene and proved to. the world that they're a real team this. year. And the Oregon Ducks, what have. they done since then? Just fight back, get better. Dan Lanning, absolute psycho. for football. Kurt Cignetti, absolute. psycho for football. Both teams built. the same way. We're big, we're strong. We use the transfer portal. We certainly.

pay our guys. We got studs across the. board, and we're ready to roll. This. game on Friday night, after a Thursday. night college football playoff. semifinal, then this game on Friday for. a college football semifinal, and then. we go to bed and we think to ourselves, wow, football is awesome. It can't be. much more, can it? Yeah, Super Wild CARD. WEEKEND STARTS. TWO games on Saturday, three games on Sunday, and then a Monday. night football little appetizer that's. going to be in the home of. >> [singing].

>> Houston Texans traveling to Pittsburgh. on Monday. That's after everything we. already have. Welcome to football. heaven. We're lucky TO BE HERE. HELL YEAH. TALKS TO T HERE AT BOSTON. CONNOR AND AT Ty Schmidt. Ty, this is a. special time for ball. >> Yeah, I mean, it's the absolute best, you know, not only are we going to be. boots on the ground, which is kind of. just a cherry on top, but, you know, everyone always talks about divisional. weekend being the best because a lot of. times you have, you know, the best teams. remaining. I think you're hard-pressed, you look at really the calendar for the. entire year. This is the best week of.

the year, okay? We get college football. semifinal, college football semifinal, all into all these best games. Like, there is there is no if you're a. football fan, really if you're a sports. fan, this is the best week of the year, in my opinion. >> Yeah, I completely agree. And then March. Madness, obviously great for the. off-season. Okay, March Madness is. fantastic, that is a good time. I would. even add in because we got to experience. it, NBA All-Star break, great. All-Star. week, great. Cuz it's behind the scenes, not really on camera. MLB All-Star week,

awesome. Super Bowl week is awesome, but. this right now is a ball lover and ball. watcher, pause. This is the one. I mean, it's the one we wait for. And then let. alone what's happening on Thursday and. Friday decide the D1 champs. >> Sure. We've already had the Oh, yeah. D3, D2, and D2A champs already decided. Tone, it's been a big week for ball in total. Now, you're a Duquesne Duke, obviously. >> Yes, I am. Shout out to the Dukes there. But how about the D3 champs? Wisconsin-River Falls. >> Wow.

>> [cheering]. >> They [applause] beat North Central, who. we obviously know very well. North. Central, over the last 6 years, has won. 96% of their games. Wisconsin-River. Falls here, at one point they were 0 and. 10. At one point, not too long ago. They've never won a national. championship before. The other night, they conquer the conquerors, North. Central, who was looking to be. back-to-back national champions, and now. looking out for maybe a dynasty down. there in Wisconsin-River Falls. There is. a player that I know very well, and so. do you that started his entire career. over there at River Falls, Owen Schmitt,

the beer truck. Yeah, he went over. there, demolished some people, demolished some kids, came over to. Morgantown, worked as a bouncer at a. bar, earned a scholarship, became a West. Virginia Mountaineer legend and icon, and then obviously goes on to play in. the NFL. He also does music. He owned a. saloon at one point. I mean, an. absolutely dynamic human. Started his. entire thing over there River Falls. He. was at this national championship cuz I. put a tweet out about Go lock the D. bones boys as North Central squad and I. got a tweet back from Owen and it's. like, "Hey, I'm actually here. Where's.

your. Let's have a little respect here.". Congratulations to Owen Schmitt and. Wisconsin River Falls for winning their. first national championship. Michigan's. own Ferris State goes back-to-back in. the D2 B level. Congratulations to. Ferris State getting the job done. Who's. there next Trinidad? Maybe that. quarterback's getting plucked to go to. some school and maybe coach football. playoff semifinal like we had seen last. year. And then the D2A team that won it. all, Montana State. Congratulations to. the Bobcats. >> [applause]. >> Sorry, FCS team. I do apologize. It is.

D1. Hard for me not to call it D2, but. it is D1 double-A FCS. Then there's a. two and then a three and an NAIA and. then a JUCO. Okay, I'm trying to keep it. all right. We love ball. This game, insane. That was an overtime touchdown. that was thrown to Taco Diallo right. there. It was uh obviously down six. The. extra point for Illinois State Roll. Birds incredible year gets blocked. So. now Montana State's kicker named Miles. Sandstead. All he has to do is hit an. extra point in front of a bunch of.

shirtless dudes in a freezing cold. He. does that, Montana State wins a national. championship. Congratulations. to the Bobcats out there. That's what. it's all about. They win national. championships in rodeo, they win. national championships in football, they. win national championships. [clears throat] in all those things. I. need to see Duquesne on there, Tone. Is. that ever going to happen to represent. Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania? Uh the. Dukes made the FCS playoffs uh last. year. Uh they went out valiantly on. their swords uh this season. Um they did not They were not ranked. high enough to make it, but they will. They will make it. Uh we will get an FCS.

championship out of them. If you looked. um all the all the champions are from. northern states. Um so that's where ball lives. That's. where ball thrives these days. So I'd be. shocked if a team out of Pittsburgh. didn't win soon. A lot of people talking. about the SEC. Are you guys okay? Is. everything going to be okay? Stephen A. Smith actually made a good point this. morning. He said, "It's about to be. three different Big Ten teams that are. potentially about to go now." Okay, now. granted, Miami, certainly. Ole Miss, certainly. Ole Miss representing the SEC. very valiantly. I I I think that needs. That's a big story that needs to be.

told. This Golden guy has to hold his. building together, but he's also. representing the entire Southeastern. Conference at this point. And and Miami. ACC was an afterthought. I mean, the. ACC, I can't believe we're letting any. team in there. Duke, yeah, right. That's. why we had JMU and Tulane in the 12-team. playoff is cuz how ass the ACC champion. was. So Jim Phillips was sitting over. there, the commissioner of the ACC, staring down potentially no ACC teams in. the college football playoff. And then. there was a big conversation about, "Well, this Miami team, I know they lost. early, but this Miami team got all the.

pieces. They're big enough, they're fast. enough, they have dominating wins. Carson Beck's been there, done that.". And the college football playoff. committee put them in there to represent. the ACC even though they weren't. champions as an at-large kind of team in. there. And they've certainly held up. their end of the bargain. Shout-out to. Miami, nine-year NFL vet, Broward County. Hall of Famer, Darius J. Butler. Miami. and Ole Miss, obviously final four. So. they're good teams, great stories too. for all of college football. >> Absolutely. Uh Ole Miss, I think. probably has the best story right now. because of what's going on with the. coaching staff and the coach leaving and.

the players. And now you got five stars. transferring from LSU to Ole Miss. So I. think storybook-wise, probably got the. best story. Uh Miami, if you looked at. I'm glad the committee actually knows. ball and they let them in and they were. the one lone ACC team. But I feel like. Miami kind of has their own brand even. separate from the ACC in their glory. days. You know, you talk about the Hall. of Famers and the the legacy there. And. then on the Big Ten side, that Big Ten. kind of dominance just keeps going on. Indiana, clearly I think right now the.

best team, best coached team in the. country. Then Oregon, you know, on any. given Sunday they can do their thing. So. I think we got a great final four, but. uh yeah, you know who I'm rolling with. Well, Miami's supporting the entire. thing too where it's like, "Hey, conference champions can't get in." You. know, like we almost left or not we, the. committee almost left Miami completely. off of the table. It was almost under. Dame. JMU was in. JMU was in. Tulane was. in. Tulane was in. Like that Miami is. the example of exactly why you have to. change the entire bidding, you know, situation with the CFP. Yeah, I love.

this Miami team. I watch this Miami. team. Boots on the ground will be able. to do it again. Obviously we'll be doing. a field pass from both of these games on. ESPN2. You say Ole Miss is the best. story in college football. I think right. now if you were to zoom in, the best. craziest story is certainly that. But if. you were to zoom out in a big way, what's happening here in Indiana is. crazy. It's absolutely First ever. Heisman winner, first ever ever first. ever number one overall pick, first ever. first ever first ever first ever first. ever. And now they have a chance they're. knocking on the door of a national. championship appearance. What Sigineti. has done to this entire state, obviously.

this university, but all also college. ball as a whole has given a lot of. people hope that if they have the right. boosters, they have the right people. behind them, and they have alignment. from the president. President Pam. Whitten is a ball lover. She is, "We are. going to try to win ball." Yes. And then. you have a head coach and an AD they're. also on board. And you get the right. people, you can flip something from. nothing literally to maybe a national. champion in two years. That's kind of. the upside of this modern day football. that we have for college ball that. doesn't get talked about. A lot of. things get lost in the sauce. Transfer. portal is a bad time. It is.

Contracts are out of control. They are. Coaches having to leave at certain. times. It is insane. Bad bad bad. There's a lot of bad bad bad bad bad. Good good good. Indiana can now thrive. as a football team because it can. provide the amount of money to be able. to get some recruits that they need when. every other recruit in the history of. football would have went to another. school that they could have potentially. got to the NFL for. Now you got Fernando. Mendoza going to Indiana potentially. over other schools and big names in the. past because maybe they were able to. offer a little bit of a sweeter deal.

Maybe because the business is a little. bit nicer down there in Bloomington they. were able to bring in Pat Coogan, the. center from Notre Dame. Maybe because. the boosters want their football team to. be good, it's a good thing for ball as a. whole, not just a bad thing that always. gets brought up, Tone Diggs. >> Yeah, I agree 1,000% and this year in. the transfer portal IU is doing it. again. Them and Texas Tech are. dominating. And I I like how you said it. um and D by two. Like when you look at. it just in a vacuum right there. Yeah, Ole Miss and what's happening with Lane. and everything like that. But when you. zoom out, IU before Sig got there, one.

and eight, two and seven, oh and nine. There was a five and four in there, two. and seven, two and seven, two and six, one and seven, two and six, oh and. eight, one and seven, one and seven, one. and seven. Like insanity and Sig comes. in there, back-to-back years goes to. playoffs. They have a chance to be the. second team ever I believe to go 16 and. oh in college football. The last time. was Harvard in like the '70s. It. This is. and I'm trying not to be like just in. the moment. This might be the great one. of, if not the greatest sports story of. all time, what Sig's done at IU and.

their run this year. >> And people are saying like Ted Lasso. type here for Sigineti. You are. talking maybe one of the greatest. coaches in the history of sports when. it's all said and done for this paisan. that's living down there. >> Yeah, well in all sports like you. mentioned and just professional or. amateur. Like you can lump him in with. guys in the NFL, with other sports like. that. But the coolest part with the. transfer portal that, you know, maybe. with all the negativity around it, which. of course there is, but the cool part is. it separates the great coaches from the. good ones, the good coaches from the. not-so-good ones. Like you could argue.

that Texas Tech is primed for Joey. McGuire to be in the consideration of. one of the great coaches in college. football because if they can continue to. do it, Sigineti in three years has gone. from JMU to hey, this guy's the best. coach in college football. That is nuts. and it's all cuz of the transfer portal. >> It's not It's not just like his talent. evaluation as a part of coaching. Getting the most out of people. I I. mean, I don't want to continue to point. at one particular place, but it is going. to be kind of the example that people. use whenever they say, "Yeah, money. doesn't mean you Florida State." Okay,

look where Florida State was. They were. should be in uh national championship. conversation, should be in the. tournament. Their fans felt that way. Lot of injuries at very key positions. Obviously it ended up working out how it. ended up working out. Florida State. people still hold grudges against people. for that particular moment. But then. it's like, "All right, you got a program. built, you're there. Let's do it again.". They spend money on the wrong particular. fit in DJ Uiagalelei and they go right. into the So it's not just that. you have money, okay? Certainly having. money is a necessity in this modern. football, but it's like to your point. about the coaches being able to to pick.

the right people and coach these people. while they're getting paid millions, hundreds of thousands of dollars, managing egos. You're right, I think the. coaching aspect of it is having a light. shined on it brighter than ever. And we. haven't even talked about the team in. Eugene, Ty. >> Yeah, exactly. And I think, you know, they they have a lot to kind of look. forward to this year as well because. last year, you know, Oregon was kind of. the best team all year and then they got. flat-out embarrassed in the Rose Bowl. And I think, you know, they started to. kind of do the facelift when Cristobal. was there. But like coming into the Big.

Ten, I think a lot of people in the Big. Ten thought Oregon's going to be, you. know, like yeah, they have the money, they have Phil Knight, they have the. nice uniforms and all the different. combinations. But they their style of. play doesn't match any team in the Big. Ten. And Dan Lanning has from the get-go. said, "Hey, we need to get get more. physical on the offensive and defensive. lines." And that's exactly what they've. done. And then on top of it, you have. the Dante Moore story now where it's. like, is he going to be, you know, is he. going to go back? If he if they end up. winning the national championship, like. he kind of cements, you know, his his.

draft status and he probably goes pro. and he could end up being the first. pick. So like there's a lot of. interesting things there. And then. again, you know, as a Big Ten guy for. for two Big Ten teams to meet again in. this, you know, a Peach Bowl and for it. to be a rematch of one of the best games. of the year already, like you couldn't. ask for a better matchup. >> Well, and that's what's sweet about. this, you know, college football and the. parity in it too, is like we might never. see a Alabama type run, a Clemson type. run where it's one or two schools, you. know, like the thing going around right.

now is all it's the first semi-final. without Ohio State, Clemson, or Alabama. Like we we may never see a run like that. again because of the transfer portal, which makes it so much better. Like. we're either going to have Miami versus. Oregon and Indiana, or Ole Miss versus. Oregon and Indiana. Like the the every. single year is kind of similar to the. NFL right now. Like you have no idea. >> what's going to happen in the end with. all these teams. >> And I'll grant it we had Ohio State and. Alabama still in the quarter-finals. >> Yeah. But ratings. up and to the right. >> Mhm. Way up and to the right. The New.

Year's Eve game was up like 30 some. percent or something like that. Now, does that mean people are getting more. used to kind of the schedule cuz last. year kind of got dropped in on them out. of nowhere? I don't know how many people. were really pounding the drum every. single day that's college football. playoffs are about to happen out of. nowhere. Hey, yeah, it's been 3 weeks, 3. and 1/2 weeks. There's a. huge game tonight. I think people are. kind of getting used. >> Like song more. Yeah, ex-. Hey. >> They actually got rid of it. They did? The song is dead. What? >> Yeah, I'm trying to buy the rights to. it. I'm trying to buy the rights to it. Hey, Beethoven sued him. Why don't we. just make our own?

Uh I think we already have one recorded. We sang it how many times? So we'll just. rip that. Yeah, [laughter] you're right. We we should just do that. But on that. note, it did feel as if there was a lack. of people knowing last year that the. college football playoffs were. happening. This year, you know, obviously second year people are a. little bit more comfortable, but the. numbers way up and to the right for. football this whole college football for. sure. And I think what they're going to. see from these two games is good. football. But I think good football is. about to be on display. >> Absolutely. Comment just mentioned it. Like for what, a decade, decade and a.

half, just Bama, Georgia, Clemson every. year. You kind of definitely get tired. of that. So to have this final four and. these stories, all four of these teams I. feel like have great stories. They got. completely different stories, different. style players, different coaches. I. can't wait for these two games. back-to-back, man. Then obviously. whichever natty we get, that'll be great. as well. >> Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is. the man who has all the right ideas for. everything on Earth. Ladies and. gentlemen, the quarterback guru for ESPN. and football knower, Dan Orlovsky.

JUST WENT TO THE DRY CLEANER, had to get. my suits cleaned. You know how Greeny. is. Greeny likes me we buttoned up in. there when I go in the morning. Just got them done. Just changed them. out, dropped them off, picked them up. Love your people, family forever, respect the hat. I like the fact you. wear clean suits as well. Let's talk. about these college football playoffs. quickly. You know, Oregon, Indiana. playing each other. People are saying. that's number one and number two overall. pick. Now granted on what Dante Moore. decides to do, there is a chance I guess. he goes back to Oregon, maybe play some. more football, maybe does that entire.

thing. Fernando Mendoza in my eyes, just. from watching the entire season, he's. 6'5, 225 to 230, throws dots, takes. hits, and can run. And then in between. the ears he's outrageous. And I've been. told he's never sunk the biz at Nick's. down there in Bloomington. >> Wow. But he has certainly had beers with. the boys. Like everything you hear about. him is that he's an NFL guy. Now. granted, he's got a season he's trying. to finish here. Feels like Fernando. outright number one whenever it's all. said and done, and then Dante Moore. number two. How do you feel about the.

display here of potential future NFL. quarterbacks? And what are your thoughts. on these guys' projections going. forward? Yeah, the more I've watched Fernando, the more he reminds me just play-wise of. Trevor Lawrence. You know, big, physical, athletic guy. I would say if. you don't confuse him, like if you don't. change the picture on him, if he has a. pretty good idea what coverage you're in. post-snap, he'll shred you. And that was. one of the things that surprised me in. the Rose Bowl was like how much zero. coverage or man just Alabama lined up.

and played. And it was just catch and. throw for him. He's too smart of a. player, but it's been pretty impressive. to watch his growth and kind of thriving. this year. It's too early for me when it. comes to like the legit study of these. guys to say no-brainer number one. He's. obviously going to be in that. conversation. And then I think for Dante, I I I think. for Dante, if you protect Dante Moore, he's Matt Ryan to me. Uh just so smooth. And I think that's the thing that. happened last time they were out Indiana.

out at Autzen was just they made him. uncomfortable. And he never allowed to. play in rhythm. If you if you allow. Dante to play in rhythm, he'll cut you. up pretty good. And so that's the. advantage that Indiana has. Um. you know, I'll be interested to see how. Dante and that offense performs. Does it. change his at least um potential plans. if he has them? I had heard yesterday. from somebody that has some interest in. it that they thought he was going, you. know, and or felt confident that he was.

going to go. That's hearsay and what. that that that group of people believe. and whatnot. So we'll see. Um. but I do think that both of them have. have really high-end potential to be. first-round picks. >> I mean, there's numbers floating around. for quarterbacks right now in college. like 5 million, 5 and 1/2 million. dollars. Do you stay at the place you're. at 5 million dollars, build up your. resume, build up your confidence, build. up reps, build up everything, and then. go the following year? I mean, that's on. the person to decide. Obviously, that's. for them to choose. And congrats to them.

being in the position to be able to do. that. Fernando, brother, you said you talked about his cover zero. awareness. Penn State game winner, cover. zero. Iowa winner winner game winner, cover zero. They bring And he even told. us the other day that he's in the middle. of a play and he's like, "Oh, they. bluffed me. They got me." And then he's. making a decision later. It's like he. gets it, you know, like he You got You. got to mess with them, man. Like you you. got to mess with them. You got to do. some things that are a little bit. unorthodox. You have to consistently. change the picture on them. You guys. have heard me say this. I think there's.

two ways to really impact quarterbacks. You either speed them up or slow them. down. And right now, you're not really. doing either to Fernando. And I think. the best thing that Oregon can do, knowing how good Indiana's offensive. line is, it's like you've got to try and. slow him down. You have to get him to. second-guess what he's looking at. He's. I'm telling you, he's a generational guy. I think he's. generational. That is how I am. describing Fernando Mendoza. Not just. because the way the ball comes out, the. way he's built, 6'5, 230. I mean, that.

is exactly what you want. He can run. He. just got the edge on Alabama, okay? That's an SEC team. He gets the edge, picks up the first down. But in between. the ears, he is a Sunday guy. I mean, it. is no questions asked. Plus he's having. beers with the boys. It's like. everything you want basically in an NFL. quarterback from what we've learned. about Fernando Mendoza, he is. And it's. like I don't know how many of these guys. just pop up. I I I don't know how many. of these things are just out there, honestly, roaming around in the streets. in 2025. >> Yeah, we've been to a lot of college. football playoffs.

>> 2026, sorry. Jesus. We've been to a lot. of these games. None of them have looked. like that, what Mendoza put on display. for the Rose Bowl. Even when we watched. Will Howard against Ohio State, >> What about Stroud cuz you guys talked. glowingly about him after that? Similar. feeling about Stroud. Similar feeling, but he's vastly different. Like Stroud. was moving more in that game against. Georgia, which I think made us very. like, "Oh, I didn't know he could run. like that." With how big he is, we knew. he could spin it. Fernando is like. dissecting the defense. We talk about. all these quarterbacks having their. second chapter whenever they're later in. their careers. Why are all these guys.

doing so well? Well, it's cuz they can. break down what a defense is. And all. these younger guys, because of the way. they've been doing offenses their entire. careers, they don't really have to break. it down. So these guys with experiences. that have been there and done that and. know what's happening, they can make the. best selection for each play. It's like. feels like Fernando's already at that. Feels like he is already at the second. chapter where he knows what you're. doing. His answer to us the other day. was outrageous. Every play is a puzzle, basically. He's a nerd. Like we know. he's a nerd. He's a football nerd. Every. play is a puzzle. That's how I look at. it. I just got to figure it out. And. then, ooh, you got me on that one. Let.

me go to my check-down piece that I got. right over here. It's like he talks like. a 10-year vet whenever he's talking. about defenses. So much so people think. he's a robot whenever Yeah. He's talking. about it. >> And and to all of this, and and Saban. talked about it a little bit going into. the game, Bama going into the game was. primarily a zone team. But Fernando has. been so good against zone all season. long off of the RPOs. That was the. storyline coming in here. They were. like, "Bama's going to have to run a lot. of man." So then he answers the. questions against man against Bama. So. now he's great against zone. He answered. all the questions on the test against. man against Bama. So Oregon, yeah, it's.

in a bit of a pickle here about what to. do against Fernando coming into this. game. 6'5, 230. That that is just a whole 'nother. element, and he can move. I don't like. the saggy pants he's wearing, but he can. certainly move. And he's. What's that? >> Got to blame Adidas. Yeah, he won't be. wearing those at the next level. But I. think he also, you talk about like his. maturity in between the ears. I think if. you're going to get drafted by a team. like the Raiders or the Jets, who has. been habitually terrible for the last. however many years, like you need to. possess a special kind of maturity as.

that quarterback coming in cuz a lot of. those guys, quarterbacks, we've seen. them draft, like they just let the. situation eat them up. And I think he's. shown that like he's not that type of. guy. >> Beers with the boys is a big deal for. me, too. That that's a whole Being a. nerd and also beers with the boys, that. is just a part of the job of being I'm. not saying you have to drink, but we. need to hang out with the boys. >> all going to New York for the Yeah, like. being a leader and being a part of the. group is a huge part of being an NFL. quarterback. It's like everything this. guy does seems to be great. Orlovsky, your last thoughts on it all. Yeah, I I think the thing that stands.

out is nowadays to be top pick and. really good in the league, you have to. be a three-tool player. You got to beat. dudes with your arm, your mind, and your. legs. You have to have that capability. We see it with all the good. quarterbacks. Every great quarterback. that we've really known and is in the. NFL right now, they're great. problem-solvers. And when you bring up. him saying every the defense every snap. is a puzzle, I mean, that's you you have. to be a great problem-solver, and you. have to have the tools to solve the. problems. And those tools are different. for a lot of different guys, you know? They're just different tools. And it.

looks to right now it looks to be that. he has all those tools. And I would the. thing with Stroud is interesting because. I think this is for the public. I don't. really believe it's going to play a part. for. the NFL evaluators. But CJ was at Ohio. State and a big time recruit. So, it was. like, "Oh, you're the Ohio State. quarterback and you are a star recruit.". I still think that there's going to be. people in the public thinking, "Wait, this is the kid that went to Cal and. then he transferred to Indiana and he's.

going to be the first pick?" And it's. like, if you just took the human, moved. them to their traditional powers of. college football, there probably would be a less, um, negative reception on that thought. with Mendoza than it would have been. I. agree. First impressions are tough to. kind of shake. Now, let's talk about. another Cal quarterback that wasn't. number one overall that could have been. Go ahead, Aaron or Tone. >> Yeah, Danno, obviously I saw you talking. earlier and saying that Aaron, maybe. Aaron's best game in his last four or. five years and now he's got the Houston. Texans defense coming to Pittsburgh,

which. if not one, number two defense in the in. the entire NFL. I know, you know, they're going to throw a thousand passes. to to Gainwell and Warren and they're. going to get it out quick. They're not. going to let that D-line disrupt up the. game. But, overall, how do you feel. about Aaron and the Steelers offense's. chances against that Houston defense? And I'll give it to you. We gave you a lot of before the. season. You were right about a lot of. things with the Steelers, um, and I just. wanted to to point that out to you.

All right, you're a good man, Tone. Also, um, I appreciate that. I was wrong on things. as well, so don't you KNOW I APPRECIATE. >> OKAY, CLIP THAT. CLIP THAT. CLIP THAT. CLIP THAT. THAT was cool. We're just. going to pull that. Go ahead. Just for I. don't know who said yeah, you were, but. That was Nick Picciotti. >> would say. my answer for for for Pittsburgh versus. Houston's defense is rinse and repeat. versus with any offense. Houston's. defense is ridiculous. We had to do the. the we not had to, we got to do the. voting for the NFL awards and first and. second team all pros. I struggled to not.

put six or seven guys on their defense. on the first two teams. It's that good. And so, one of the things that. Pittsburgh has thrived on offensively. this year is yards after the catch. because they get the ball out so. quickly. Aaron knows exactly what you're. in. He's going to get the ball out to. playmakers in space and yards after the. catch. It's one of the best defenses in. football in everything, but certainly. defending yards after the catch. It's. one of the best tackling defenses in. football. And so, that's the big. challenge is the thing that Pittsburgh. loves to do and it's really kind of kept.

them afloat this year offensively is the. thing that Houston. like, um, dominates with. It they just. thrive in it. And so, this is not going. to be an overly complicated thing for. Aaron. He's going to know, obviously to. Aaron, he knows who most people are in. defensively, but he will know exactly. what Houston's in. They're not, you. know, schematically incredibly creative, especially on first and second down. They're going to play a four-man front. They're going to play in quarters. The. thing is it happens so fast and they're.

going to have they got people who can. cover. Both Stingley and Lassiter can. check DK. I'm sure it's going to be a. great battle, but DK's not going to. dominate that battle. Uh, Petrie's as good as a nickel as. there is in football. I think the one. thing the one thing that if you watch. teams have some success against Houston. defensively this year, you have to take. shots down the field. You're not going. to hit a ton. You have to. And it's just. not something that Pittsburgh does, so. I think it's a pretty significant. challenge. Calvin Austin with a little.

stutter [laughter] go. DK down the sideline. And we would like. to let Yinzers know and we've told that. a lot of people in Pittsburgh watch the. show. We appreciate that. We love Yinz. down there. Um, you need to know that your offense. is going to be punting a lot, okay? The. Houston Texans bring the boo birds to. stadiums that they go to because your. offense is not going to look good. I. witnessed it with my own eyes in. Indianapolis and I was like, "Oh, I. didn't even think about this." People, whenever their offense is not doing. well, their natural reaction is boo. That's what the Houston Texans do to.

your stadium. They bring the boo birds. It's not just the Texans coming to play. your team. It's also the boo birds are. coming in because they are going to make. your offense look elementary. They've. done that to everybody. Seattle Seahawks. doing the same damn thing. They will. make your offense look elementary. Your. offense is just trying not to turn the. ball over. Like that is the move. They're they're they're sparring right. there. Your offense is not trying to get. exposed early in this game. So, there's. it's even an idea like, "Hey, let's not. do anything crazy. They're probably. going to get a couple three and outs on. us. They're probably going to get a. sack. That's the way it's going to go.". So, what we're trying to tell Yinzers.

and Accuracers, let's not burn the place. down in the first quarter whenever. there's not a lot happening on offense. I I know that's going to be hard to do. in the moment on Monday night football, but it's like this Texans defense can. get you very, very upset with your team. That is kind of how they've been, Danno. Yeah, they've got the two as two as good. of edge rushers as anybody, but also in. the run game. I mean, Will is Will. Anderson is a a demon in the run game. Their linebackers are as quick downhill. as anybody. So, like they they run.

through your face. Uh, it's it they're a. violent group of linebackers. I. mentioned Petrie. Petrie's as good as. any nickel in football. Uh, they're. fast. They're long on the back end. Bullock is sensational. Lassiter's. sensational. So, it's it's just a very. dominant defense when it comes to their. individual talent. >> Boo! That's what that's what people START. DOING. WE SUCK. WE SUCK. HOW IS THIS GUY STILL THE COACH? THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE SAYING. To be honest though, they don't boo the.

offense a ton because they're so used to. it sucking. Okay, we'll see. Houston. Texans come in there and it is fourth. and 13. It is we have not gone anywhere. near half. Yeah, we we there has not. been a positive play for a while. Like. there has not been a single. moment because they just smother your. happiness. That is literally what the. Texans defense does. And Pittsburgh's a. place, you know, especially Monday night. Long day. Went out there and made a goal line. Had. a little couple cocktail or two there.

Did their thing. Had some Dallas Alice. pizza. By far the best pizza in. Pittsburgh. Well, work's canceled. I don't know, but. >> Work's canceled Monday, by the way. There's no work on Monday in Pittsburgh. Canceled. Is that real? I just made it real. Holy We need. Father Maximilian Maxwell to potentially. do that. I think he can kind of do. whatever he wants to do. John 3:16 and. Father Maximilian Maxwell really getting. a win for the Steelers the other day. Beautiful thing. Maybe they're the team. of destiny, honestly, as we go forward. here. But, as we do look at you.

traveling to Pittsburgh cuz you're there. for the game. Um, people are going to be pumped to. hear that. So, also, um, jeez, you guys. got a lot of heat. You guys got a lot of. heat on the internet calling that last. game. You, Lou, Fowler. Yeah, they they there was a. there was a lot of people saying talk. too much, talk too much, talk too much. Three people in there. Lot of takes. >> Yeah, just the reality. It's it's a. reality. We're going to talk 33% more. than other booths. >> [laughter]. >> But, what people are saying is you don't. have to. You can have the. acknowledgement that there is three. people and kind of make that decision. together. Not saying it should be you or.

Lou, but there should be maybe be a. little bit better of a conversation. going in on expectation. That's on you. I'm not a TV producer. I didn't go to. broadcast boot camp. But, on that note, whenever you're traveling out there and. when that rules analyst talks, if it's. that same guy, say, "You don't deserve. to be in the NFL." Just say that to him. Say, "You should not be speaking for the. NFL. Okay, thank you. This is a. meritocracy. You get to the league. You. don't get to just be here because you. were here. And just because you're on my. network that I work on doesn't mean I. have to think you're good at your job. cuz you're not. You are terrible and. you're representing all the ball.

whenever you speak." You can say that to. him. You're allowed to do that. I'll I'm. giving you Tone just canceled work in. Pittsburgh on Monday. I would like to give you permission to. be able to say that to that guy that. we've never heard of before. He's a good. man. He's a good man. >> I'm sure he is. There's a lot of good. people getting fired right now cuz. they're ass at their jobs. So, like he's. good guy. I get it. We need. Super Bowl card weekend brother on. Monday night football. Let's. Oh, that gets me worked up. I I don't. like these rule rule.

Gene's territory. That's it. Gene's. territory needs to be doing it for. everybody. I I don't know why he's not. Ed Hochuli, where the hell did you go? Ed Hochuli just wanted to disappear from. the limelight. Nobody thought that was. going to happen. Why is it he's out of. the game? Look at Will. TELL HIM TO STOP LIFT HIM. FOR 14 SECONDS AND BREAK DOWN A PLAY. YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHO WE NEED. THIS GUY. I'VE NEVER HEARD OF POPPING UP ON THE. SCREEN. WELL, I THINK WE DON'T NEED IT, BUDDY. OKAY? Unless you're going to be. great, we don't. Let's move along. Let's move along. You. guys are going to be great on calling.

Pittsburgh. No, we don't have the call. Troy has the. call. We'll be there for it. I'll be. there for NFL Live. Troy and Joe have. the call. Yeah, they ain't WHEELING THEM OUT. >> [laughter]. >> LIKE, "OH, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, GUY? What's his deal?" But, they [laughter]. they aren't paying them too. They are. kind of paying them 30 million a year. each, you Yeah, that's what I mean. Nothing against them. I'm saying they're. not Yeah, Joe and Troy. Yeah, Joe and. Troy. Oh my god, my heart's up. >> You guys are. What's your problem, Connor? For me, it's just not that guy. It's not that. rules analyst guy that's representing.

football on the biggest stage. Like I'm. that he's not the one with Joe and Troy, right? >> Oh, that's. uh, Russell Yurk. Which he he's on the clock, too. >> Yeah, but he's kind of the goat compared. to To you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was. like whenever they had the replacement. refs in there like, "You want this? What. you want?". "Is this what you want? This is how bad. it has to touch down. No, it's not a. touch down.". >> to have John Perry. I think John Perry. then went to, um, I think John Perry. works for the Bills now, I believe. See, John Perry, boots on the field. I.

remember John Perry on the field. I. remember actually getting into it with. John Perry on the field because he. robbed me. The only other way to. describe it would be. screwed me out of 15 yards on a punt out. of bounds. So, I certainly what was. that, buddy? Cuz they do this whole. thing. And then I he had good moxie, good flow. He'd been there. Gene been a. >> JP's a good dude. Yeah, I liked. the Buffalo Bills are plucking. Okay. It's a move. >> What the hell is he doing there? But, I think I think some of these. officials do this where guys who are. ex-officials are in that role. I believe.

they I I don't know if every. organization has them, but they go and work for organizations. and they evaluate like the upcoming. opponent's tape when it comes to We can. get a lot of PIs on this team. Yes, stuff like that. I think something. like that where you're you're saying, "Hey, this this this backside defensive. back or something like that or this. right tackle." You know, pregame these. coaches have. conversations with officials. Look out.

for this, look out for that. I think. that's in some capacity that role. That. feels smart. That that feels like a good. idea. If you're If you're making as much. money as these NFL teams are making and. refs matter as much as they do, having. somebody to be able to potentially play. the game a little bit on your side is a. good play. We just hate this. >> think like some self-evaluation, Pat. Sorry. Like, "Hey, just so you know, you know, [clears throat] maybe you're. getting away with this shift or this. motion or your guy's doing this. Check. yourselves." Stuff like that to try to. get it ahead of our really either side.

Interesting because Dion Dawkins does. the inside hand chop that some refs call. holding. I would assume that now JP. who's working for them talks to the. officials and says, "Hey, this is the. move that he does. It is not holding.". Like more of a clarity on the entire. That's. It feels like you the coach got one of. these. Let's not get this guy. They probably. do. The Bills keep changing rules, huh? Got the inside track, huh? Oh, you're saying maybe we should keep. our eyes on what's going on in Buffalo.

Gumpy is a Dolphins fan. He should not. be speaking. >> Two. We got two. Give me two. Okay. 1972, only undefeated team. That's right. Pop the bottles. Still. running it. >> bottles. Indiana Hoosiers might get you. It's prime for Josh this year. >> Indiana Hoosiers might get you. >> for Josh. Hey, in Pittsburgh though, you. need to go great Italian culture in. Pittsburgh. That means there's a lot of. pizza. There's a lot of great food. Beautiful culture everywhere. And. whenever you said you did not know. Pittsburgh had pizza like this, we're. there Monday for live if want to have on.

set taste test I'll volunteer. Interesting set sentence there for the. second one. But yeah, a lot of different. pizza. Lot of different opportunities. >> Got to put the We'll make sure some. Dallas Sala pizza will be delivered. That's the best in town. >> That's the best one you say? Yeah, no. questions. Dallas Salas. Yeah. Now. granted, did I work there and grow up. with the family? Sure. So, is that a. little bit biased opinion? Of course. But I will say Dallas Salas pizza. certainly phenomenal. That's the place. That's my place. Augie's currently. running this place alongside his mom. still doing it back there. Shout out to. Beth. We love the entire squad. Love the.

family. That's what you're looking for. >> Meat lovers. Okay. Oh, yeah. That's. everything on there, pal. >> It's a good pizza. It's not the best. >> have it on good. >> [laughter]. >> It looks much better than it did in that. first photo. >> That looks good. I don't like the photo. choice for the Dallas Salas pizza that. they used on the graphic. >> Terrible. Look like a piece of. cardboard. >> It did. And I don't like that at all. But you can also buy it half baked. So, it does kind of look like that. So, then. whenever you get home after a long day, you pick it up half baked. You put it in. the oven. Now you got oven baked pizza. >> old take and bake. >> Salas. Taking care of people, you know, cuz that's a working class pizza.

>> Mama Marotta loves the half baked. >> WELL, WHO DOESN'T? WHO DOESN'T? Good. people love the half. Pat, what is I have a couple questions. So, one, it What is Pittsburgh at least pizza. style wise? Is there an differentiating. thing? Like are they famous for thick, thin, stuff crust, all that? And then. what do we What do we like? Like what. kind do we like? Go ahead, Tone. Tone's. about to slander, you know, our friends. and family because No, no, no. I would. say Pittsburgh like obviously New York, you know what a New York slice is. Detroit's got its own pizza. You guys up.

in Connecticut have your own style. We. are Chicago. I got a direct message from someone that. says McAfee's pizzas suck. Yeah, who. said that? it. They don't want to. say that to Dallas Salas' face. I'm. going to let you know that right now. >> I didn't say Chicago cuz I don't respect. Chicago. >> THAT? VINCE WHAT? VINCE WHAT? I WOULD. LIKE TO KNOW NAMES. NO, just. Okay. Well, Vince Okay. It's probably. the owner of Vincent's, which is a solid. pizza. >> Great pizza as well. I'll tell you what, Vinny doesn't do a bad job on pie. But. now he he needs to relax. >> kind of we kind of adopted all the.

pizzas and then whatever shop you go to. is kind of a style from potentially. another place. Like my favorite is. Fiori's, which is more of a New York. style pizza. Pat's favorite obviously is. Dallas Salas, which is a square pizza. Every Everyone's got their different. one. There's even one where it's cold. cheese. I don't love that. That's called. Beto's. But there's I mean there's a. If you like pizza, it's got something. for everybody. Whatever you like. >> Rockaway? Rockaway? Yeah, see that. No, but just make sure it's an Italian. name. Okay? Just Just make sure it's an. Italian name. So, I don't know. Yeah,

boom, BANG. >> [laughter]. [laughter]. >> WE'RE NOT DOING FASOLINO'S EITHER. WE'RE. NOT DOING ANY OF THAT. OKAY? OG? PITTSBURGH, uh Dan, I don't know if. it still stands, but like. the densest per capita of Italians in a. city in the world outside of Italy was. like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Actually. Italians everywhere. I mean all of them. They're all Italian. This is Anthony. DeJulio. This is Franklin Nicholas.

Marotta. This is I mean these are, you. know, like this I think Phil's even. Italian. That's why he gets so tan in. the entire thing. His last name is Mains. or whatever. It's like everybody around. me growing up was basically Italian. And. it's a When you move out to Indiana and. there's none except for Andretti up on a. sign or something, it is a culture. shock. I will say. It was a little bit. of a wild time. What's. >> of Italians. They're the greatest. >> All the time. Food. I love Italian. Italian food. I got to go to Italy. That's my number one place that I want. to go to in the world. Just got to. Pittsburgh, you're going. You know, you'll be there. It'll It'll basically.

be the same damn thing. Okay, let's talk. about the Super Bowl. Where's it at? San. Francisco. Okay, can't wait to see who. gets to Santa Clara. We got Aaron. obviously taking on CJ Stroud. Both of. those guys have won in the playoffs. Feels like there's a lot of inexperience. in the playoffs happening right in front. of our eyes. Maybe the dawning of a new. day in prime time. Go ahead, D But. >> Absolutely. And this weekend we got. Super Wild Card Weekend. We got four. quarterbacks looking for their first. playoff win. Drake May, Bryce Young,

Justin Herbert, and Caleb Williams. Uh. who do you have most confidence in. getting their first win playoff win this. year? Or this round, I should say. Um. I think the Caleb and the Bears-Packers. game just feels that there there's a. good shot for that. I think the world of. Green Bay, but that game's going to come. down to the final 3 minutes. Can Green. Bay's defense, the last time we saw them. out at least with their guys, they got. ran through by Baltimore. Obviously,

that's the trademark of Chicago's. offense is their ability to run the. football. D But, you would know this, but I just think one of the things that. makes it so challenging is like every. body's got to tackle. And then that. creates those downfield shots for Caleb. And so, Caleb there's still moments of. inconsistency and head-scratching misses. at times, but he makes big plays down. the field when they present themselves. And so, I think that Caleb's got a good. shot because of some of the injuries and. again, just the challenge of playing. them. I would also say this.

I think. the Chargers-Patriots game is a very. interesting matchup. If you If we just look at New England. and the Chargers and we say, "What's the weakness of the Chargers?". Because of injury, you'd say the. Chargers' offensive line, right? Just. not an offensive line that is healthy. enough. "What's the weakness of New. England?" Defensively, it's their. ability to get after the quarterback. And so, I think maybe that kind of. contrast or mitigating kind of leans to.

the potential for the Chargers' offense. to have some rhythm. And then I would. say the second thing is. this Chargers defense is different, man. Yeah, I think it's one of the five to. six best defenses in football, certainly. one of the less best in the playoffs. And I just don't think New England. offensively has dealt with a defense. like this one. Um really good edge. rushers. Derwin's outstanding. Speed at. the linebacker position. Coverage that's. very good. Well coached. And so, I can.

see Herbert and the Chargers. Um. I don't know where I stand pick wise. yet, but I think that's a really. interesting game. I'm fascinated by the. Chargers as a whole, you know? Cuz I. like their building. I like their coach. I like their culture. I like everything. that's possible. But can they ever. really get it done? I guess we shall. see. And then let's go down to Duval. Another great story coming out of this. weekend. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Dan, uh why. do you think that the Bills are. favorites going to Duval? I mean, we.

we've seen what Jacksonville's done over. the last several weeks. And I know they. love it that way. We've already heard. Liam Cohen kind of mention like, "Hey, we're We're home underdogs. So, we got. everything we need." But why do you. think they are underdogs at home, especially what we've seen out of Trevor. Lawrence as of late? And how do you. think that game's going to go? Well, on the quarterback too, Buffalo's. really good. Okay. I mean, Josh Allen's a top FIVE. PLAYOFF GUY. JACKSONVILLE'S REALLY GOOD, TOO.

I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW, DAN, WE HAD A. FULL CONVERSATION OUT THERE WHERE I SAID. WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE RUDE TO Dan. Orlovsky today. IT'S 2026. WE NEED TO BE. NICE. OUT THE DOOR. WHAT I WENT OUT THE. DOOR. WELL, WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT. A LACK OF ITALIANS IN PITTSBURGH, CERTAINLY it's going to start. Grazie, prego, you know, all that stuff. But. whenever we talk about this, whenever. you say, "Well, the Bills are really. good football team." It's like Yeah. HEY, Y'ALL. WHY ARE THEY FAVORED? AND I. SAID, "ONE, they have the best player in. the playoffs. Two, they're still a. really good football team. It's not like. Josh Allen's going down there playing by.

himself. They have the leading rusher in. football. They have arguably the best. offensive line in football. They have. the best right now coverage unit in. football. And so, there's a lot of. really good stuff with Buffalo." And. that's kind of why I said a couple weeks. ago, like let's move on from this does. Josh Allen have enough? Yes. >> Wait, you said best coverage unit? Better than the For what? Kickoff. coverage? Yeah. What are you talking. about here, Dan-o? Pass coverage? >> right now right now that secondary's. playing at a very high level. Very high. level. HOUSTON?

YEAH, HOUSTON'S. GOOD AS WELL. Houston Now, SEATTLE'S SECONDARY. PITTSBURGH. >> [laughter]. >> IT'S THE THEY'RE NOT AS GOOD AS BUFFALO. THEY'RE NOT AS THERE, JEEZ. They're not AS GOOD. JACKSONVILLE-WISE. AS BUFFALO? NO, they're not as good as. second Buffalo's secondary's been. fantastic the last 6 weeks. >> All right, I trust you. I trust you. I. trust you. I trust you. I trust you, but. now whenever you say that, that's acting. like, you know, like whenever you say. they're a really good football team, is. that the reason why they're favored over. Jacksonville? You're kind of saying like. Jacksonville not.

>> Yes, the team thinks You know, just. whenever you use that I don't have to. pull one down to put up the other. It's. Well, you kind of do whenever the. question is why is one favored over the. other and you say, "Well, one's really. good." So, what would that mean? >> No, I I No, I said the quarterback and. then Buffalo's a really good football. team. So, that would indicate that. Jacksonville not a really good football. team. And. Buffalo got elite rushers, too. Elite. rushers in the league. Yeah, who is the number one rush defense. in the NFL? Who is it? Oh, Jacksonville.

Jacksonville. >> Who can't stop the run? Who's that? >> The Bills. Oh, okay. >> Who can't Who can't Who's not a very. good run offense? Jacksonville. Who. can't stop. We got to that, okay. >> They're not a very good running football. team. Have you had eyes on Jacksonville? Have you had eyes on Jacksonville? You know that answer. >> [laughter]. >> You know what that sounds like. In real. life, have you had eyes on them? I've seen them in person. No, I've not. seen them in person, no. Okay. So, I I.

see how you can say eyes on them like. film, I get it. But like whenever we saw. them take on the Colts and it was. without Dimes, obviously, so it is what. it is. But it's just like they're gigantic. They are all massive. They're all very. fast and people are wide ass open. This. guy should not be allowed to have the. ball on offense. Parker Washington, I. believe is his name. He's a returner, great returner. And Liam. >> Liam finds ways to get him the ball in. space. It's like this team is unbeli-. like I think a lot of really good a lot. of people very excited for Jacksonville. this year. You know, obviously they had.

the Blake Bortles run. Uh whatever they. go up to New England, take a knee before. half, they could have continued to step. on the throat of the Patriots. Second. half, they collapse. Everything blows up. after that. Literally everything blows. up in Jacksonville. And then way before. that, you had Brunell spinning it. And. obviously Fred Taylor, absolute dog for. that team. But like this one feels like. the realest that Jacksonville's ever. had. And uh it's just year one, hopefully, of what it is. >> his You know their defensive. coordinator? Bison. Anthony Campanile. >> Yes, there you go. Yeah, yes. Did you. see the tweet that Nick just sent you,

by the way? We are Pittsburgh is the. number one Italian per capita world. place outside of Italy in the world. It. makes sense. So, go ahead and eat up. over there, Dan. Mhm. Uh loga. sandwiches, too. Free subs, whole. Italian hoagies. How you doing, how you. doing? Keep moving, yeah. Here's a lot. of small words that just say and numbers. that say. >> [laughter]. >> A lot of Italians, a lot of Italians in. Pittsburgh. Uh About East Coast. La-. Last question here, yeah. Yeah, they. The Italians say we Is water here? Yeah, and they put roots down and they don't. leave. Yeah, unless they're forced to. And then. Chicago happens.

I think my grandmother was. Huh? I think my grandmother My. grandmother, I think, was like. maybe off off the boat Italian, Montanaro. Oh, so you can say it then? Oh, say what, Connor? Jeez, he's from. Boston. That's complete opposite there, you know? That's kind of an Irish run. town with Italians there. Pittsburgh, Italian run place with a lot of Irish. there. So, that that's kind of the Yeah, yeah, little that's the reverse there, you see? We should actually have the. Italian horn as a logo like the Celtics.

have, you know, the three-leaf clover or. whatever, if we really wanted to. accurately depict what the Pittsburgh. was and what Boston is. All right, last. question here. Speaking of Boston, let's. go up there. Go ahead, Con man. >> Yeah, Danno, look, there's no winning in. this MVP, you know, talk. I know you've. probably seen it on the internet. No. matter what, no matter who you say, you're going to get for. I even. just laid out the reasoning for Matt. Stafford yesterday and people assumed. that I thought he should win the MVP. Obviously, as a New England Patriots. fan, I believe Drake Maye should win the. MVP. Matthew Stafford currently minus.

180 at DraftKings, the best sports book. on the planet. Drake Maye plus 150. That. has switched over the last couple weeks, you know, Drake Maye has been the. favorite, then Stafford. Currently, Stafford's the favorite. Uh I would. actually like to give you the chance. here to explain to everybody why do you. think Drake Maye does deserve the MVP? Nothing about Stafford, nothing about. the debate, just talking about Drake. Maye. Why do you think he deserves the. MVP? >> He's squirming right now. He's. squirming. No, this is This is my.

favorite moment for Connor because he's. not trying to make me look like a a a. What's that, dude? Oh, WE ABOUT TO FUDGE. and say something there? Yeah, sound like you were. about to fudge and let one slip. Um I would tell you that number one. Okay. probably did as much with as little as. anybody in the NFL. Obviously, there's. not a ton of stars on New England. I. I think Steph's had a fantastic year. I. think Steph is in the running for at.

least on the field what he's done, comeback player of the year. Hunter. Henry uh is another big-time player. Hunter Henry quietly has had like. statistically, I think like a top 30. season in the history of the NFL at. tight end. Career. Top 30 career type stuff. Josh. McDaniels is great. The two backs as. patch casters. So, but they're not like. these bonafide stars as a Puka Nacua is. or a Davante Adams. And so, to have the. season he's had without the. [clears throat] no-brainer first-team.

all-pro or second-team all-pro guys, it. speaks to how well he's played. Uh. number two, to take a team that didn't. have high expectations and obviously. earned the They're the two seed, earned. the two seed in the playoffs, it is. speaks to speaks volumes to how well. he's played. And then three, and this is. where I would say. Connor, this People aren't going to like. this, but this is just truly how I feel. I honestly believe unless you've watched. just about every single snap of these. guys, I think it's really hard to make a.

fair judgment. And I promise you there's. not a lot of Patriots fans who have seen. just about every snap of Stafford and. there's not a lot of Rams fans that have. seen just about every snap of Drake. Maye. W- What they've asked Drake Maye to do, just in what when it comes to the. control of their offense, is pretty. significant and that's why you've. watched this kind of climb steadily. throughout the season, not only. performance, but warranting very much so. being at the top of that MVP. conversation. Hell yeah, Danno, we.

appreciate you. Well, you know, you have. a vote. We know you put it in just like. Tone did. Odds have been taken away from. DraftKings because the votes are already. in. So, you can certainly tamper a. little bit. We can't wait to see who. wins all these awards and obviously. being in the conversations a great. thing. Anytime we have a conversation. with you, we appreciate the hell out of. it. We love you, Danno. Love you, too, boys. Ladies and. gentlemen, it's Dan Orlovsky. Had a seatbelt on in the parking lot. when he's driving, he doesn't wear it. You know, I think he's probably been. yelled at before like, "Hey, if you're. going to be in the car, put a seatbelt. on." He was like, "All the time?" And. they're like, "Yes, all the time." And. they parked and then he was like,

"Keeping it on." You know how You know. he doesn't really wear it. Oh, yeah. Cuz. that thing's coming We got to. You know, he probably doesn't even know. No. Somebody should tell him. He. probably doesn't even know he can lift. that thing. Crazy. It's all right, Danno, we love you, man. We love you, Dan. You know what else we love? What's. that? That is also happening right now? Huh? Women's college hoops. Okay? Listen, I know. >> Okay. nobody would expect us to be a. women's college hoops show, but we. certainly are. We caught the fever. whenever Caitlin Clark was playing at. Iowa and Angel Reese was down there at. LSU and Dawn was doing her thing at.

South Carolina. It was like WWE mixed. with wild hoops at the same time. Caitlin obviously comes here to the. fever, changes the dynamic of our entire. city. Excited for her to get back. healthy. We took our show to Iowa for. the first Friday of March Madness to. celebrate the women's basketball team as. opposed to the men's team, just to. celebrate it all. So, we are fans of the. game in this year. There's six teams. that seem to be in for the natty. NOW, UCONN, DOMINANT YET AGAIN, D. But I. didn't know this. Yeah, you can't talk. about women's basketball without talking. about UConn, one of the greatest.

dynasties ever. And she Sarah Strong is. keeping that going, defending champs. Obviously, she got one with Paige. Bueckers last year. She's only averaging 18 points, eight. rebounds, four and a half assists, three. and a half steals on defense and a block. and a half while shooting 58% from the. field. And also her running mate, Azzi. Fudd, who's uh leading the nation. probably in three-point percentage, shooting 58%. Back there. 48%, I'm. sorry. God, UConn always good, it feels. like. South Carolina, always good. LSU,

ALWAYS GOOD. WHAT'S THAT, DANNO? YEAH, ACTUALLY, you know, they started out 13. and 0 this year and they've dropped. their first two SEC games. A lot of. people saying, "Wow, has Kim Mulkey lost. her fastball?" Or is it just because. that rat bastard Lane Kiffin's IN THERE? NO! I DIDN'T KNOW PEOPLE WERE SAYING THAT. AND WE CAN'T TALK WOMEN'S college hoops. without talking about my favorite team, the sixth best odds. LET'S GO OUT TO. AMES, IOWA, shall we? Foxy! You don't. want to play your best basketball in. January. You don't want to be a monster. in January. You want to be a monster in. March.

>> [music]. [music]. [music].

[music]. [music]. [music]. >> COME ON! YEAH.

COME ON! [screaming] WATCH OUT. YOU'RE. about to get cooked by Audi Crooks. Listen, I'm a huge fan of the way she operates. Huge fan. She just gets buckets. That is. literally all she does. And did I know. anything about Iowa State's women's. basketball team ever? Nope. But Audi. Crooks highlights pop up my algo and I. say boys immediately I'm making a song, we're making a highlight. Cuz people are. trying to take shots at Audi right now. ESPN's Tik Tok. What? Yeah, THEY'RE LIKE.

BAYLOR EXPOSES AUDI. It's like you. better watch your mouth there. Okay? They made a couple shots. There's. a lot of good teams. Audi Crooks is. going to cook when everybody looks and. that's in March when she's a monster Ty. Schmidt and you know it. Women's college. hoops runs through Ames now over there. in Iowa. No, it certainly doesn't, but I. do love Audi Crooks. She is a Iowa gal. born and bred Algona, Iowa. So I will. ride with Audi Crooks regardless of. where she goes to college. You're about. to get cooked by Audi Crooks. That's.

cute. That's cute. >> [laughter]. >> That's cute. You know who runs March? She said it, she better back it up. She's going to be a monster in March. She's going to be a monster today. What a good time. Song's a heater. though. All right, be a friend, tell a. friend something nice, might change your. life. We'll see you on the other side. Who is Pat McAfee? I'm Pat McAfee. [music]. A little crazy at times. [music].

Hardest working dude I know. And he's an. absolute [music] force of nature. We. didn't stop. There's a point in my life. all I could think about doing was. professional wrestling. I really didn't know what to expect. Doesn't sit still, gets out of his seat. I found out Pat [music] was a rock star. every day. And right then, right there, I quit my job. It's a very talented guy, very [music] entertaining. There's a. point in my life where all I could think.

about doing was being a comedian. Listen, I enjoy being a punter, but not. every [music] series, dude. Some of the most absurd. >> [laughter]. >> He's the locker room guy. He was kind of. what God had for us. He was kind of our. voice at all moments. You know, I could. give a about who the hell the. punter [music] for the Colts is. He. brings the juice all the time to. anything that he's doing. We're going to increase our output of. content by 10,000%. How am I going to.

commentate when hey, you can't hear me. I'm delayed on what I say and when I do. speak, you guys just keep going like I. didn't say anything. >> [laughter]. >> Like what am I doing? It's coming back. I got to re-examine my. whole life. He had my heart pounding. there for the first little while. >> And just [music] kicking the ball. against the house. No way in hell am I. going to live in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nobody can move the crowd like you can.

The cigarette selling came up. It's. really his money. There's a point in my life where all I. could think about was being a magician. This is your principal speaking. Magic. happening [music] everywhere because of. who? Me. You know, he's one of my best. friends. And it was the best decision. I've ever made in my life. It's been a. hell of a ride. Probably the best. decision I've ever made in my life. Now. I think I found my true love and that's.

why I want to be like a talk show host. That's what I want to do. [music]. I love talking to people. I love. learning things about people. I think I. think people want to tell you a story. and you just got to get it out of them. This should be good.

You don't want to play your best. basketball in January. You don't want to. be a monster in January. You want to be. a monster in March. >> [music].

[music]. [music]. [music].

[music]. [music]. >> Hey. Why? Lights. go. This show stinks and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful.

The all-time leading [music] tackler for. the Green Bay Packers. YOU PAY. DAMN IT. BE A FRIEND, TELL A FRIEND. SOMETHING NICE, could change their life. Hello beautiful people. and welcome back to our humble abode, the Thunder Dome. On this super wild. card Tuesday, January 6th, [music] 2026. Our two-hour program begins. All right?

FOOTBALL! IT IS THE GREATEST WE CAN'T. THANK you enough for allowing us to do. this for a living. Super wild card. weekend is coming up and both college. football playoff semi-finals are. preceding it. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are going to. have magical football to get us through. the greatest weekend of all time. The. talks are tables here at Boston Connor. and at Ty Schmidt. Whatever the hammer, Cowboys AP. Tone is here. Tone, as we. projected the lines, is there anything. that kind of sticks out or a little bit. unusual that you look at the betting. action? Uh for college football, no. I.

mean it's pretty standard. Um Indiana is getting I believe 60 some. percent of the bets. Um which is is not shocking just the way. that they have looked. Uh and then the. Old Miss-Miami game is a little more. even and I think that's because of the. story lines and and just how the magical. run that both of these two teams are on. But there's nothing out of the ordinary. that I'm seeing with these two games in. this in these situations. >> super wild card weekend? Anything we're. seeing that makes us go, "Ooh, that's. interesting." Sports books DraftKings. will certainly like that. Yeah, there's. a lot of there's a lot of home dogs in.

this round of the of the playoff. Obviously you're going to get that when. the Steelers. and the Carolina Panthers are hosting. games as they as they won their. conference. And then there was a flip recently. between the Bears and the Packers. Packers were favored by one and a half, now the Bears are favored by one and a. half. Even though Green Bay on the money. line is minus 112, Bears are minus 108. So this is basically a true pick'em in. that game. >> Okay, so the Chicago maybe atmosphere. turned that thing to them being favored. by one and a half. But can you go back. to talking about the money line on.

DraftKings? Money line just straight up pick for the. Green Bay Packers is minus 112 you said? >> Yeah, last time I looked, yes. And the. Chicago Bears money line pick just. picking them to win is minus 108, which. would say that the Green Bay Packers are. actually favored to win that because. they're taking a little bit more off of. your bet if Green Bay wins as opposed to. the Chicago Bears. That means they think. that Green Bay is more likely to win cuz. they're taking on a bigger risk whenever. you're taking that bet as opposed to. taking the Chicago Bears in their eyes. Then whenever you talk about the spread, them being minus one and a half, I.

believe that is before it flipped or is. it flipped again? Has this flipped. again? It has flipped again? Okay, just flipped yet again. Okay, so. this thing is dancing back and forth. The Green Bay Packers now favored on the. road. This could be a big bet coming in. This could be monitoring or something. This could be an injury up. This could. be literally anything. You're talking. about a true coin flip it feels like is. what DraftKings is saying. And and. during the regular season, it was split. outcomes anyways. Ty, how's this make. you feel about what's going on with the. books? >> Yeah, I mean it doesn't surprise me with.

how banged up the Packers are as well. But like you said, the two games during. the regular season, like they they were. both incredibly tight. First game. Packers won 28-21 and Caleb. threw Caleb Williams threw an. interception on, you know, their last. play of the game essentially. And then. in the second meeting, you know, the the. Packers kind of dominated the first 55. minutes of the game or so and then the. Bears score a touchdown. They obviously. recovered the onside kick, score again. going to overtime and win. So I would. say I mean it makes sense. You would. think that the the Bears this is a very.

close match up between these two teams. and they obviously know each other very. well, but it would make sense that you. would give the slight nod to the Bears. being at home. How do you feel about. this one? Nine-year NFL vet Darius J. Butler, you got Caleb obviously playing. his best ball that we've ever seen him. play. And then for the Packers, there's. still a lot of interesting conversations. happening around their entire operation. over there in Green Absolutely. Health. is always critical when it comes to. these games. That's why you see all. these different teams and coaches rest. some of their star players and Ty just. mentioned it, a bunch of their key.

players are banged up. Obviously. probably going to be all-pro this year. Micah Parsons, this is where you're. going to really miss him on that defense. side of ball. I'm kind of leaning. Chicago even though this is Caleb's. first, you know, playoff atmosphere. It'll be a first for a lot of different. things. He'll be at home. He's still He's still not necessarily. hitting the singles yet. I would say he. definitely has that home run hitting. ability. The run game he has to lean on. Defense, they're going to get the. turnovers to set them up. I think. So, yeah, I'm leaning I'm leaning Chicago. There's a lot of pressure. I'm hearing.

some rumblings with Matt LaFleur. on the sideline, too. So, Ben Johnson is. obviously very comfortable. So, yeah, I'm leaning Chicago on this one. >> Hold on, but I heard there's an. extension coming. I mean, there's been a. lot of conversation around Coach LaFleur. and what the future looks like. Ty, is. that not accurate, I think? >> Yeah, it is. I mean, I I I don't know if. there's pressure, per se, but it's just. like, hey, guess what? You can't lose. this one, you know? It's like the the. Packers at the start of the year and. granted, again, we talk about this with. Ballard and Steichen and the Colts and. like injuries. Injuries are a very real. thing, but when the Packers traded for.

Micah Parsons, that was like signaling, hey, this is the piece that we need to. get us over the hump to go win a Super. Bowl. And early on there, when he was. healthy and they were healthy, it looked. like they were one of the best teams in. the NFL and the team but since he's. gotten hurt, they've kind of limped into. the playoffs, which is exactly what they. did last year. And again, the Packers. are one of those franchises like the. Steelers or, you know, one of those like. wi- winning one playoff game or just. getting into the playoffs like that. doesn't really sit well. They they need. to win an NFC Championship or go to a. Super Bowl. So, I think if they struggle.

here, uh my guess would be that there. will be very serious uh talks and. considerations into not re-signing Matt. LaFleur and maybe getting rid of him if. the Packers do lose this weekend. >> Joining us now is the all-time leading. tackler for the Green Bay Packers. That. is on no sources. That is just our. opinions uh from the situation or is it. from sources? >> No, not sources, but it's like everyone. who is associated with Packers media, like beat reporters, people who do radio. shows. Schneid, you know, yeah, guys. like that. Like everyone is kind of. talking about it because that was a big.

deal when they asked Ed Policy about it. at the start of the year and he was and. he basically said uh so, Schneidman. asked Ed Policy at the start of the. year. >> Policy? Yeah, Ed Policy is the the the. de facto he's the president of the. Packers right now. He's the one Yeah, exactly. The de facto owner. He's kind. of running the show and he was not. committal on giving extensions to both. LaFleur and Gutekunst. So, it was kind. of like, oh, okay. He didn't outwardly. say that they're going to extend these. guys. So, there is room to believe that. maybe if this season doesn't end the way. that they want it to or expected to,

that there's a chance they don't get new. contracts. >> Is that Carman's boy? That is Carman's. boy. And they make big moves. >> Yeah, big time. He was the one who. basically came in and and put the hammer. down to get Micah Parsons. Now, you you. bring Micah in and you're unbelievable. Micah gets hurt, you don't do as play as. well. Is that going to be held against. Gutekunst and LaFleur? We shall see. Just like here in Indianapolis, we bring. in Danny Dimes, he was incredible. Danny. Dimes breaks his leg, we stink. Who do. you hold Do you hold that against Chris. Ballard? Do you hope for that type of. return after Danny Dimes comes back? Are.

we bringing back Danny Dimes on a. contract? >> Yeah. It's like all those things have to. happen in every single building. Fascinating if if it happens in Green. Bay cuz that's a job. Everybody on Earth would want that. Right. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that is certainly. something they want. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is the all-time. leading tackler for the Green Bay. Packers, a man who's celebrated another. trip around the sun. AJ HAWK. >> [applause and cheering]. >> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL who celebrate here. on January 6th. It is AJ Hawk's. birthday. WE LOVE YOU, BUDDY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAWK. HAPPY birthday. to. you. >> [singing]. >> Yep. Happy birthday. to. you. >> [singing]. >> Happy birthday. dear Hawk. Happy birthday. [singing] to. you. LET'S GO TO THE CAPITAL. [screaming].

NO, NO, NO. NO, NO, RIGHT. THAT'S. DIFFERENT January 6th celebration. Ours. is always and will always be Hawk's. birthday. Happy birthday, Hawk. You look. good there on full screen. Want to make. sure that happened. You strictly said it. so that people could see whose birthday. it was cuz with all these faces and. places, people could potentially be. confused on whose big day it is. It's yours. Happy birthday, AJ. We love. you, buddy. Thank you. Appreciate that, guys. I uh. one thing I don't think you mentioned is. Bears-Packers situation, the rivalry, the head coaches. They don't really uh. you know, there's some weird animosity. between those two, isn't there? Yeah, and I like the fact that they've.

continued the rivalry. Like continue the. tradition. And the fact that we're. getting to experience it in prime time. on Super Wild Card Weekend on Saturday. night is just a special thing. It's a. special game. It's going to be a special. atmosphere and the game is going to live. up to expectations. AJ, how do you feel. about this one for your Pack? I mean, honestly, I feel pretty good. about it. As long as Jordan Love's. health is okay, I I understand like for. Caleb and the Bears, there's definitely. I mean, there's pressure on both these. teams. We know that. It is a an added. thing with the whole LaFleur rumors. I.

understand that's not like we don't have. any solid information or whatever, but. there's always rumblings about that if. they don't win this game, but I feel. pretty good about where the Pack are. going into Chicago. I feel like they uh. they feel like maybe people aren't. giving them a chance or people are been. hyping up the Bears all year and Caleb. and all what they've done. So, I feel. like the Packers are kind of laying in. wait, you know, hopefully have a big. game. Let's go around to Super Wild Card. teams. And we're the only ones calling. it Super Wild Card. No, that's what it's. called. >> Super Wild Card. Yeah, it's Super Wild. Card Weekend. Everyone knows that. I. haven't seen anybody else really say. that. >> Card. I've heard it in the past. I don't.

know if I'm seeing anybody It's Super. Wild It's Super Week. >> Super Wild Card Weekend. It's leading. into Super Bowl season. >> Exactly. It's Super Wild Card Weekend, obviously. Let's just go around. I don't think. either of these coaches are in trouble. if they lose. McVay or No. No. uh. Eric Bieniemy, I don't think so. This. one. it seems like from what everybody that. is following Green Bay is saying, certainly conversation if Green Bay was. to lose this game about the coaches. Uh. McDermott, it'll get loud. >> Yeah, oh, yeah. It'll get real loud for. McDermott and that hasn't even been.

brought up or broached at this moment. And we're not calling for this. We're. just saying the reality of the. situation. With Josh Allen being the. best football player on Earth, an alien. is how everybody views it. Buffalo Bills. fans, if McDermott can't get the job. done, they're blaming him. They're not. blaming Josh Allen. They're saying it's. him that they can't win. No Patrick. Mahomes, no Lamar Jackson, no Joe. Burrow, no anything in the playoffs and. you can't get the job done. It's going. to get loud for McDermott and nobody has. talked about that at this point. >> also gotten very, very loud for Brandon. Bean. At least from the Buffalo people,

especially with how the Keion Coleman. situation has kind of happened this year. with him being a healthy scratch. It's. gotten loud for the GM, as well. >> Shanahan and Sirianni, they're both. good, right? >> Yeah. Well, Sirianni is the It'll get. loud. They'll ask for Sirianni's job, but that's just because it's Philly. Shanahan, it'll get loud, too. Mhm. They. always attack like what his record is. They always do that entire thing. And. I'm not saying they should without Fred. and Bosa on the defensive side, they're. nowhere near at full capacity, but it. always does kind of get loud for. Shanahan if they don't win a Super Bowl. Ain't that accurate, AJ? Yeah, it's definitely accurate. I also.

think if you lose, how you lose plays a. big factor in if they're thinking about. possibly moving on from head coach. If. you get rocked, if you go out there and, you know, what Look what happened to. Alabama and Indiana. If you get. dominated physically on both sides of. the ball, like people definitely have. questions. >> Yeah, people give up hope. The. interesting thing, and I don't want to. get too off topic here with uh Alabama. You look at all the other coaching. staffs that are left. They're all Saban. disciples. Alabama decided to go away. from Saban in their next decision. I. wonder if Alabama people are going to be. good with that if they continue to not. win national championships while Saban.

disciples win national championships. So, these other schools are taking our. recipe? They won't. And then. they're. And then we say, well, we need a guy. from. Make it make sense. I I I I don't. understand why everybody wants a piece. of Saban's tree, okay? Hey, Saban's. apples are blooming everywhere. These. things are great. Johnny Appleseed, this. guy. He He's He's get Every. other school that's good is pulling from. the Saban tree. And then we decide cut. the tree down, put a field up, and get. the hell on. Is I bet you Alabama people.

are going to get pretty loud about that. Like. >> Oh, I think they already have. Yeah. I I. just thinking about that. And then we. got Coach Saban, I think, on tomorrow. And I know he's tight with Greg Byrne, who's the AD, and he's very close with. the Alabama community and everything. like that. But I So, I'm wondering how. I'm going to phrase that to Coach Saban, but I thought about this last night and. the night before about it all, just. because we're seeing the four disciples. and the way Signetti talked and the way. Landing was talking and the way that. they all talk about Coach Saban. Signetti said, "I learned more about. being a head football coach, all right, in one year with Saban than I did the 27.

years before that." He said. That's what. Signetti said about Saban. >> Yeah. So, then for Alabama to choose to. not go with a Saban disciple, like. that's an actual decision that was made. And I got disrespected for Coach Saban. And it's like. Coach isn't going to feel disrespected. He'll highroad it. He'll be very nice. about Alabama and everything. But I like. immediately, as I was sitting in my. house, yeah, that was in a state where it was. legal, maybe a little hot. I fired off a. text. I I typed up a full text to Coach. Saban about, you need to stop going to. these basketball games and sit with this.

guy. Like every other school was looking. for you. He's basically what they were. trying to do. And your own school tried. to move on. I could see that he won't be. disrespected by that. But it is. something that's very fascinating. whenever you think about how loud a guy. would that and I I think it's. justifiable. We love Kalen DeBoer. I. think Kalen DeBoer is an incredible. coach. I liked the hire whenever it. happened. I thought he was maybe one of. the only accomplished guys that could go. in and fill the shoes of Coach Saban at. Alabama. And maybe that's the reason why. they wanted to go a different direction, AJ. Maybe I I'm not 100% sure. Yeah, I. don't know. Usually if like it's it.

still ended well with Saban. It wasn't. like at all, he was great and then he. wasn't good the last couple years. Then. I understand going like, hey, we're. going to bring in the opposite of what. we had. But no, like it was good and he. decided to step away. See you. And yeah, I don't know. I guess at the time. though, it sounded like it made sense. for DeBoer to come in. Yeah, for me, I. was on DeBoer's side. Still am. But then. now we're kind of watching this all. trickle and it's like. all of these coaches are saying. guy. birthed me, basically. Yep. And he birthed this era of Alabama.

football. And it's like, why is everybody else. want something that you guys got except. for you Like that that could be. that could be something. Now, granted, I'm a look for disrespect guy, okay? I. am. Coach Saban is not. He spends his. energy in solutions, all right, not. problems. I'm not looking for that type. of stuff. But for That's an I'm excited to hear. his kind of This is me telling Jimmy. Sexton to go ahead and or Miss Amy, please tell coach Saban that this is. coming tomorrow. Okay, that I am. certainly asking if he is disrespected. by the fact that every good team in the.

country is trying to get a coach Saban. light in there and that except for your. school is trying to and I love Kaylin. This is not me backhanding Kaylin. DeBoer. This is me watching a Saban. disciple. Saban a coach at the Rose Bowl with our. own eyes right there. Signetti is just. dissecting every attention to detail. Every single thing is Saban's entire. thing is attention to detail. It's just. like bam bam bam. Got a plan for. everything. I got a plan for everything. Signetti hyper like that. Lanning hyper.

like that. This Golden guy I assume. there's a lot of Saban coming through in. his leadership techniques right now. >> All right. >> And Cristobal, yeah, well, all right. He. says all right. All right. And. Cristobal, he gives with the way he. talks about coach Saban it's like That's. an interesting decision hindsight being. 20/20. >> Especially especially with having boots. on the ground and seeing Miami a couple. times and then seeing Bama just get. completely bullied. It's like okay, you. know, Cristobal and how he designed his. team, you know, how Sig has designed his. team like just physical. I mean that's.

that's all that's all we know from, you. know, Alabama football and then to. actually see that like at that point in. the fourth quarter I was like damn it's. This is embarrassing. Like these boys. laid down. It's one thing to get beat. but it's another thing to just get. absolutely punished. So yeah, it's very. very odd and the Bama people to your. point Ty they've kind of I feel like. kind of been out almost since the day. since the hiring like it was impossible. for Kaylin to live up to those day it'd. be impossible for anybody to live up to. Saban's standard but this the Alabama. standard or even the SEC standard in. general for Kaylin was tough to step.

into that. >> Yeah, maybe not Golding. I I don't. really know as much with him but it. feels like all three Signetti, Lanning, and Cristobal wanted to build their own, you know, Saban type aura at their. specific schools. Like Lanning. especially he's been up for every single. job and his whole entire thing is the. grass is damn green in Eugene. Cristobal. leaves Oregon just to go to Miami cuz, you know, alma mater like very much a. connection there wants to bring that. place back and Signetti I mean granted. much different situation him going to IU.

with the whole entire Bama job but like. IU has gone all in on Signetti. Like you. wonder if all the those guys all those. Saban disciples that are so successful. would rather like hey, I want to go and. be Nick Saban but at a different school. not at the Alabama itself. >> Yeah, taking over that Bama job at the. time AJ not easy for anybody. I I think. like literally. >> Impossible. He's still there. He's still. there. Yeah. Statue still you're playing. on his field he's still there. Okay, and. he's talking ball on the weekends and.

everybody agrees with everything he. says. And whenever he goes on and. pontificates about we put that on X. obviously and all that stuff. Gone. Those numbers are outrageous and. I'm not saying like the numbers matter. because only good numbers matter but. these are good numbers. These are not. like people watching it cuz they hate. it. It's numbers of people watching. going yeah, that's actually my opinion. going forward now. That that is how I. feel and he's still doing that on a big. stage while this team's happening. So. not an easy job at all we're saying but. it's just very weird that everybody else.

is trying to get a piece except for. whenever they had to make the decision. there. Was that disrespectful? Coach you disrespectful? I'm kind of dis. You call me one of your best friends? Respect. I view you the same way. I like. that you did that. I did not know that. that's how we view each other. I'm. pumped up about that. >> [laughter]. >> I didn't know that. And he's one of your. best friends? I'm disrespected by what's. going on down there. And that's who I'll. be in your friend group. I don't know. how many of those you have. I will. certainly be the one that'll be You need. a couple. You need a couple of those.

Yeah, always have been that person in. the group. So I'm excited to do that for. coach Saban. Coach, this is good time. Just wait, you know, just you You won't. have to say anything. I I will No, you're probably going to have to say I. don't feel like that. All right. And. I'll say okay, I'll be clear next He'll. take an NFL gig, too. Give him one of. these NFL gigs. I want to see him back. in the league. >> [snorts]. >> He won't but still. Raiders. I think. he's pretty happy. >> with what he's doing right now. That. that's his answer all the time. I'm. really happy with what I'm doing right. now. Him and Miss Terry going to the. Alabama basketball game the other night. just kind of casually sitting Yeah. Big. bird. Let me get some popcorn maybe. Let's do this. Oh, I'm going to go golf.

with the lads. All right. Oh, I'm going. to go golf with business partners that. are maybe worth a billion dollars like I. am. Okay, I'm going to do that. >> Oh, what are they going to say about. Indiana now? Exactly. My golfing buddies just had no idea. Tee off the first tee. Alabama should. beat the hell out of it. What? I don't [clears throat] know ball. >> Might be saying why didn't we hire Sig? Like having this exact conversation. >> Okay, so on that note Sig and Kaylin. DeBoer similar, right? Small school. success have a lot of success and then.

get put into a big position like. I think a lot of these rookie. quarterbacks if you see a lot of ball in. college kind of puts you in a better. position. I think a lot of reps at. smaller places to get them into those. positions. Signetti could have been a. guy maybe that fills in those shoes. >> Can you imagine? And also like. >> Yeah, we have the JMU coach. loves the. opportunity. Oh. my god. >> That would have been so loud. >> Yeah, DeBoer went went from a natty to. Bama. Like he It's not as if he went to. Tony's party like JMU. [laughter] This. guy was playing in the national. championship. But well, we have the.

beautiful thing of his hindsight. >> Of course. We do. Of course we do. Hey. Bert, what are you doing, brother? We. need you to be a better talent. evaluator. We need you to know who's the. right guy for the right job. Not saying. Kaylin DeBoer can't win it all. We. certainly think he can but is Alabama. the right place for Kaylin DeBoer and. how he operates? We'll see. >> You would you would hire Kaylin. Me? Those resumes? Did you see Sig on our. show? He said hey NCAA. why don't YOU SUCK IT ON our show? I. WOULD HAVE HIRED THAT GUY. With those. resumes you look at Kaylin's record. Like even going going into Washington.

and. yeah, the national championship. appearance like I mean it is if now if. Signetti was like a an SEC guy for, you. know, 10 20 years maybe different but. He's dining in Alabama. Yeah. He yeah, he he had a couple he was. messed up down there. Yeah, but he's not. he's more of a. IUP. school program. Coach Siri only stacked I believe coach. in IUP. >> Yeah. Mhm. That's almost a factory down. There were there used to be some rumors. about IUP about, you know, go up there. you might leave with something, you.

know, good times talk about. >> the boys that. What do you mean? Just. good times. You're going to leave with a. hangover for sure whenever you go up to. IUP. That That was kind of the rules and. I I think a couple of those bars are. still there still doing it and I I was. up there when I was just a young lad. like a teenager certainly in there is. Jason McAfee still doing it. So I think. IUP is still bringing it out there. So. we appreciate that. Love ball there at. IUP. Yeah, they love ball. My brother went to school there. They're. known for STDs AJ. They have yeah, that's what they're known for. They were. not anymore obviously they cleaned that. up. We're we're very proud of them for.

doing it. Yeah. Well, you know how you clean it up? Just. people graduate and you know, [laughter]. now we got a new group in there. The. youngsters you break the chain. Yeah, don't let the youngsters continue it. You're right. I mean that was a wild. thing just to be All right, let's move. along. >> There's a couple of higher schools that. have that same kind of. situation going on. I think it's a. little I think it's rude IUP [laughter]. cuz IUP I've had great times Sure. I. mean great times. There was a couple. basement frat parties that I was at up. there and people had no idea who I was. just. terrible sound systems DJs sweating on. top of everything just.

College, baby. Oh, that's yeah. Good. times up there. And taking it back to. ball Fernando's living a college Mhm. life with the boys. Did you hear that AJ. whenever he said that? I thought that. was a big deal for the number one. overall pick. I I agree. Yeah, cuz you wouldn't think. that and then I saw what the quick the. the clip of him walking in with the boys. to. local establishment it looked like yeah. I mean that is true. Like you don't have. to sit there and go and get hammered. with the boys every single night every. weekend but it is I think you need to. hang out with them off the field for. sure. Team chemistry is built a lot.

better around a keg than it is kale has. been my. saying since the beginning of time. Now, you could change kale out and put maybe. another leaf in there and maybe I would. think it's kind of equal but nonetheless. need to be hanging around the boys. Like. that needs to be something that a. quarterback does. You're the CEO of the. locker room. That is what your immediate. job is. So you got to know everybody got. to have relationships. You got to take. time out of your life to build the. relationships and it's like I think. Fernando has all the pieces. He just got. out there about a year ago. Yeah. Hanging out with the boys rally around.

the boys everything. It's like that's. good leadership. I'm excited to see him. in the NFL. Joining us now is a man. who's known as a quarterback whisperer. for the NFL. He's worked with every. great quarterback that has ever existed. And coached with every coach that's ever. coached ball. Yep. Ladies and gentlemen multiple time Super. Bowl champion coach B.A. Yay. How you doing? What's up, boys? Hey, great to see you. We missed you in here. this morning obviously and your vibes. and energy and energy drinks are. certainly something that we are going to. miss. for the rest of the way but we.

appreciate you joining us here. What I. was just saying there about Fernando how. real is that you think? Being able to. hang out with the boys, have a couple. beers alongside being 6'5" 230 and able. to break down a defense. What are your. thoughts on this Fernando Mendoza kind. of sensation and him at the next level, Mr. Quarterback Whisperer? Yeah, I think he's got all the traits, man and and drinking beer is one of them. especially with the offensive line. Every quarterback got to take care of. his offensive lineman and and maybe a. top receiver or two but he's got all the. measurables the guy can spin it. He's. athletic. Reminds me a lot of Drake May.

coming out. Same height, speed. but yeah, he can place the ball anywhere. he wants to put it. What's the. difference between the NFL and college. for these quarterbacks? Now, there had. been a conversation that all these. second chapter quarterbacks that are. around the league we've seen them. Darnold, Baker, Kirk. You just go around. all these second chance quarterbacks. almost that have had an uptick in. success. A lot of people started saying. well, they've seen the defenses they. understand what the defenses are so. they're able to make decisions. These. younger quarterbacks with the way ball.

is in high school and college kind of. slowed down the development of the. football IQ maybe. Is that an accurate. depiction of what is happening at the. quarterback position in your eyes and do. you think Fernando, Dante, any of these. guys are maybe getting back to. understanding what's happening on the. defensive side? Yeah, I think the volume of defense that. young quarterbacks see is just so huge. You know, they're seeing they might see. four coverages in college and and maybe. five blitzes versus eight or nine. different variations of coverage and 20. different blitzes in a game. Uh.

Mendoza looks like he can handle the. pressure extremely well. Uh he seems. very bright, haven't sat down with him, but love to sit down with him, put him. on the board and and get to know him a. little better, but uh he just looks like. he's got the cerebral part down pat. Uh. how many young quarterbacks should we. see having success in the future cuz it. has been a little bit of a run here of. these younger guys starting to really. break out. And you look at this. playoffs, not a lot of playoff wins from. a lot of these quarterbacks. This almost. feels like we're completely in the. dawning of a new era of the QB. Do you.

agree with that? And how do you feel. about these young guys heading into. their biggest games that they've ever. played? Yeah, I I think for sure the NFL's in. great position right now with a bunch of. good young quarterbacks and a couple. more that are going to come in next. year. But uh yeah, I think with the. playoffs. uh uh. it advantage to the guys who've been. there and done it. You know, the Josh. Allens, Aaron Rodgers. But the rest of those guys, I mean. there's there's some talented young. people out there that can really play. Uh Trevor Lawrence is playing at a super. high level. Caleb Williams is playing a.

high level. Brock Purdy. Uh I mean, you. know, Jalen Hurts was MVP in Super Bowl. last year. So I mean the league has got. a number of great quarterbacks. We're. we're not even talking about Mahomes and. the guys that are missing. You know, Justin Herbert's in there. So. uh I think it's going to be a whale of a. playoff series. >> Most important time of the year, most. important position in the game. Feels. like we got studs everywhere and the. defenses are about to make it tough for. them. Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, BA, when you're evaluating these.

quarterbacks coming out of college, I. guess what was your what was your. formula or how did you do it? Did that. change over the course of your time in. the NFL and how you tried to I guess. predict success in the NFL for these. guys? Yeah, for me you know, I didn't like. comparing people, but I loved comparing. measurables and what a guy who a guy. might remind me of. Uh. you know, when I did it for like 20. years and you know, I love to sit down. with them individually and get them on. the board. Talk to them about.

hot blitzes. Tell me about your offense. Now if a guy. can put his up up there and explain to. him what he's going to do versus cover. two, what do you do versus this blitz? I. want to hear how you handle it. Then. we're going to put our offense up on the. board and talk talk to him about it. And. then out in the middle of the workout, I. might walk up and say, "Okay, it's man. man protection. Here comes the weak. safety. How you going to handle it?" And. the best two I've ever seen were Andrew. Luck and Patrick Mahomes. Uh it Peyton. was great, too, but uh.

Andrew Luck, I tried to fool him. He. said, "No, that's exactly what you. said." I said, "You're right. You're. right. Here's that's exactly what I. said." Mahomes just spit him out. I. said, "Slide protection. Here comes the. strong safety. Fix it." He's throwing. the ball. He makes the right call. I. mean, in a 15-minute meeting, these guys. had it down. May take some guys. two or three years. Some never get it. >> Okay, so my question is then how do we. miss on guys if that is possible in 15. minutes being able to find that out? Why. do you think there's so many misses at. the quarterback position, which there. has been? Now granted, as of late, feels.

like there's more hitting. Feels like. there's a little bit more hitting as of. late, but there was a run there where we. had no idea if the quarterback was going. to be good or not. How do people miss. and why do people miss, you think? I I think sometimes it's system fit and. and a really shitty team. I mean, you if. you're if you can picked in the top. five, you're going to a really shitty. team most of the time. You know, you're. not lucky like Ben Roethlisberger was. pissed. He dropped down to 11th, but he. got on the Pittsburgh Steelers with the. best defense in the world. He wins 15. games as a rookie. That that was That showed young.

quarterbacks, I don't have to go in the. top five. You know, that money's not. necessarily going to come on this. contract. It's going to come on the next. one. And but you get in those teams and. if you don't have an offensive line, so. many times like. you pick this quarterback. I'm looking. at the Raiders right now and uh. to pick a quarterback to fix them right. now, I think would be a bad mistake. You. got to have a lot of other things to. fix. Well, one quarterback ain't fixing. all that And uh. you better get an offensive line in.

front of this kid. You got a great. running back. Get an offensive line. If. you can slide down a couple spots and. maybe get one that you really really. like uh a little bit later in the in the. top five or six picks. I think Mendoza's. generational. You're the quarterback. whisperer, so you free agency, you can. flip an offensive line, too. We saw. Chicago Bears do that. They traded for. Tooney, which was a massive move. Paid. two other guys to shore up kind of the. middle. Ben Johnson says, "We need a. offensive line. I love Caleb, but we. need to do this because our run game's. going to be whatever it's going to be. able to protect Caleb." And that's.

worked very quick. I mean, the offensive. line is like literally the key, it feels. like, to whether or not you're going to. be ass. You know, BA, that feels like. that's the biggest deal. Yeah, I mean, but the thing is who's available and. you'll have to have a trade partner. You. know, what are you giving up to get. those guys? And uh. the Bears did a great job. You know, they they they solidified those that. inside interior part of that offensive. line, which they needed to. And and. that's that's put them in the playoffs. Um because Caleb is now not running for. his life all the time. He's just running.

to run and make plays, you know? And. he's very comfortable in the pocket. because he's got a pocket. You know, these other cats, they're you know, I. think back of uh. uh David Carr and Tim Couch. In their first two years, they were. sacked 140 times. I mean, Timmy Couch when I got he was. all broken up by the time I got him. Hell of a player. Was never a bust. Was. a great player. He was just torn all to. pieces by the time I got him. His his. arm was about to fall off. And he's. tough as tough as nails. But to get to.

some of these teams, you know, if I'm a. quarterback, I would say, "I ain't. coming.". I'd pull an Eli. I'd pull an Eli. I'd. say, "I ain't coming." Eli, John Elway, it has happened a couple different times. and obviously what happens around you is. certainly very important to how you have. success at the quarterback position in. football. There's 11 people on the field. for a reason, but boy, these. quarterbacks take all the blame. And. then they get all the credit as well. >> That's right. And a lot of the money. And a lot of the money. Okay, let's talk. about Ben Johnson. We talked about him. being able to shore up the offensive. line. Whenever he took over the job,

everybody thought he was going to be. great. This is the belle of the ball. He's turned out to do just that. This is. first time in a big stage, though. Go. ahead, D But. Absolutely. So Caleb, I. mean, Ben obviously starts with him. And. you talk about quarterbacks getting the. beat out of him. Caleb went from. taking 68 sacks last year to only 24. this year. But what changes on the. playoff stage? I know we all as players, everything just got faster for whatever. reason. You go from preseason speed to. regular season speed to post season. speed. From a coaching standpoint, what.

changes once you get to the playoff. stage, especially with a young. quarterback? Yeah, I think it's a level of ex of of. preparation. You know, everybody's. everybody's fired up. Everybody's. intense. Uh you know, for the for the. Bears, they're going to play somebody. for the third time. That's hard. And uh. but uh they know each other. Just get healthy, get ready, get a game. plan. Ben's always got surprises for. people. But you know, they didn't just. fix an offensive line. They got Swift. and they got Romodouze and Luther. Burden. They got weapons and young tight.

ends. Because Ben's a a 12 personnel. guy. They got two tight ends that can. really play. Uh I I love the Bears offense. when those kids are all healthy on the. outside. I uh I appreciate the fact that. that Chicago Bears culture was flipped. so quickly. They're not the only ones, man. You know, New England seemingly was. able to get back to where they wanted to. be. And then if you think about Carolina. Panthers are hosting a damn playoff. game. >> Oh, yeah. There's a lot going on around. being. Joey Cohen. He was hired late. Maybe. this guy's not even going to be able to.

hire a staff. This guy cuz Bruce Arians. ain't going to let him hire anybody at a. Tampa Bay. This guy's not going to be. able to hire a damn staff. That's how. late it was in the process. They hire. what? A 21-year-old GM? Yeah. And. Stoner. They got no shot. And here we. go. Now all of a sudden the Jacksonville. Jaguars are hosting a damn playoff game, which leads greatly into Ladies and. gentlemen, it's time for our favorite. segment of the season. It's BS or no BS. with BA. We appreciate the hell out of you, BA. Go ahead, Con Man. >> Yeah, Bruce, uh right now there are.

three home underdogs in the first round. of the playoffs and picking them all to. win is the right thing to do. Is that BS. or no BS, BA? I think that's no BS, brother. I mean, when you look at the the teams that are. under Houston got great defense. Quarterback's playing great. Going to. make the road to Pittsburgh. I I don't. think that's a tough one for him. Uh. Buffalo and Jacksonville, that's a tough. one for me cuz Jacksonville is really. really hot, but I'm not betting against. Josh Allen cuz he's been there and done. it. And of course, the Rams and the.

Panthers, the Rams went out there and. got embarrassed in Carolina. I don't see. that happening again with that defense. and and and Matthew Stafford playing at. that level. I think they're all safe. picks. The only the only one that's. really questionable will be is. Jacksonville cuz Liam's got him playing. so good. Okay, so is that is that. supposed to be BS then? Is it supposed. to be BS or no? Don't take the road, dog. >> Okay, so the favorites are going to win. So you like the favorites, BA? Is that. what you're I like all the favorites. Yeah, I'm taking all the I'm going to. take all the favorites. Okay, so we got. a little bit of a scandal here. So so. let's go back. >> baby. That's BS, baby.

Yeah, it's BS, baby. That's all BS, baby. It's BS, baby. That that's what. that certainly is right there. Okay, let's get to the next one. Go ahead, Tash man. All right, coach, uh you just. mentioned it a little bit there. Defensive head coaches are all the way. back. There will be more defensive head. coaches hired this coaching cycle than. offensive head coaches. Is that BS or no. BS, BA? I think that's BS, TOO. HO! I think the defensive coaches are way. more qualified, but the set the the.

hiring cycle the last four years has. been all offense. Everybody I've had two. calls this morning, people looking at. different people and they're looking for. young offensive coaches. And uh. it baffles me because when I think of. the defensive guy Brian Flores and Vance. Joseph and Robert Saleh and Steve. Spagnola, just to mention a few on. defense, unbelievable. defensive head coaches. But the the. trend, I mean, Kevin Stefanski's going. to do a job real fast. I think Matt.

Nagy's got a shot and and and you're. going to hear his name, Clint Kubiak. And I would think if somebody's smart, they'd bring back Mike McCarthy. Oh, hell yeah. Hey, we think he does want to get back. into the game. You know, I feel like he. enjoyed the hell out of his life. First. time he's had a fall in what, 50 years. or whatever it was, the story. He got to. hang out with his kids, got to go see. volleyball. I love it. He go duck. hunting up there with his dog. Gus. Gus, which is an award-winning award-winning. duck hunting dog and Gus. I think he. enjoyed all of that, but he's football.

guy through and through. You know, he. was excited to get back in there. And I. feel like he learned a lot from watching. from this perspective as opposed to. being in a building. Do you think that's. possible with uh coaches maybe away from. the game for a year and then you kind of. get back in with I don't want to say a. brand new, but a different perspective. maybe than you had? Oh, yeah, totally. I mean, I did that. with CBS after the Arizona. You know, I. thought uh my health was not going to be. good and I got it all fixed up and uh. you know, decided to get back in and the. one thing I decided I was not going to. call plays. I was not going to be the. head coach and offensive coordinator. I.

probably would not have taken the job if. Byron Leftwich wasn't available. And. to me, it's still a crime that we're not. talking about Byron Leftwich in this. head coaching cycle. He's the brightest. offensive mind I've ever been around. I. love to hear that. Byron Leftwich. obviously could spin it as well. Uh I've. never been around him on a day-to-day. Tough. Just What a name, too. Byron. Leftwich, synonymous with ball. I. appreciate the fact that you're away. from it, come back and say I could. probably be a better leader as a whole. if I'm not calling plays in this. entirety. You go to Tampa, win a Super. Bowl. That's all she wrote. Let's get to.

the third BS or no BS with BA. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, BA, Sam Darnold can and will. lead the Seattle Seahawks to the Super. Bowl. Is that BS or no BS? I think that's no BS, brother. I think right now Sam's figured it out. He's not going to have to put a Superman. cape on. They got that running game. rolling. Showed up big last week against. San Francisco. Just let me be the. facilitator, get the ball out to the. right guys, make some big plays with his. legs and uh. he and JSN, man, that's a dangerous.

combination. But with that got that. running game going, with the defense. they're playing right now, and then the. 12 up there in Seattle, watch out, it's. going to be tough. Home field advantage. is wild for Seattle to have. Congratulations to them and McDonald. being able to turn it all around and. Darnold spinning it. Biggest game, biggest moment. Sam Darnold throwing. dots. Good for Darnold. Hopefully. they're able to get it done there in. Seattle. Obviously, their fan base. worthy of being showcased to the world. throughout the entirety of playoffs. Now, there's a couple game balls we need. to give out. You know, in actual NFL.

buildings, the Monday after games, there. are game balls given out in the team. meeting. The coach comes in, has these. game balls ready. He and the equipment. manager have worked together. You read. off a list of play journey and you throw. it. You know, sometimes back of the. room, little bit of a spin, big time. catch. The energy obviously fantastic. We want to do that this season with BA. He's done it every single week. That. obviously will not change this week. Go. ahead with your game balls, BA. Who. should be celebrating a huge end of NFL. season? Yeah, NFC, a lot of guys didn't play. last week, but Matthew Stafford, again, put it up, big numbers, three.

touchdowns, had a hell of a ball game. leading them to to a big win. And then. in the AFC, it was a little bit harder. because they only had one tackle, but. Myles Garrett for breaking the sack. record, uh his stat line was one tackle, one sack. Uh. that's hard to pay $150 million to a guy. for one tackle, but 22 and 23 sacks. might get it. >> [laughter]. >> Hell yeah. Lot of money stop the game. Lot of. money. You know, he said as long as. upstairs has the same mentality about.

winning as me, I'm good, I'm happy. You. know, cuz last year whenever his. contract was in discussions, he put out. a whole letter, high five to the ref. there, it's hilarious, by the way. He. put out an entire uh message about how. it's not just about being a good player. I want to win games, man. I would like. to win. And seemingly took a shot at. Andrew Berry with the way he described. getting to Canton in Hall of Fame almost. as if that was a goal for the Browns as. opposed to winning football games. Then. he gets 40 million a year. That. seemingly changes. I'm going to be a. part of the change that's going to. happen here. Then they go on and not win. again. It's like, how long does this.

last? Is Myles Garrett going to continue. to be a pillar and a sensation while. they continue to lose like Joe Thomas. spent his entire career? Obviously, nobody wants to do that. The Browns are. fascinating, BA. Obviously, you're up. there as a coach. It feels like they. have been just cursed. Like they are. just going to stink. Doesn't it feel. like that with Cleveland? I don't like. it. I like the people of Cleveland, but. it feels like that with the Brownies. Yeah, they had the great fans, man. I. you know, I was with the Colts and we. went up there like week 16. It was. snowing like crazy. I said, "Peyton, you. don't have to worry about style and. count today." We're in the like we came.

out there, they asked in every seat. It. was crazy. We had to kick a field goal. on the last play of the game to win. And. then going there and and coaching for 3. years, they had great fans, man. And. they deserve more. It's a shame but that. they can't put the product on the field. It's just been the quarterback issue for. years and years. And you know, why they. ever gave up on Baker, I don't know. Yeah, that was that was wild. Beat the. Steelers in a playoff game. Pretty big. >> Without without Stefanski on the. sideline. He had COVID. The Pittsburgh Steelers are who the. Cleveland Browns beat in the playoffs.

Get this guy the. Get him out of here. All these. commercials. I'm about sick of him doing. the dougie. Let's get him out of here. Now he's down there in Tampa trying to. win NFC South. Got a nice house down. there. >> He does have a nice house. >> He's got a nice house down there. I I I. I seen that as as a through the. Instagram story there of his family as. he followed along with that NFC South. You think Tampa's going to be okay? Yeah, I think so. They had They. had a lot of injuries this year and some.

things didn't go right a couple. different spots, but. Todd's going to right the ship and Jason. Licht's going to get another great draft. and they'll they'll reload. They don't. have to rebuild. All right. I guess. we'll just believe it because you're. down there, you're close to the. situation. You're the man. We appreciate. the hell out of you, coach. You got it, guys. Ladies and gentlemen, that's coach BA. The Tampa Bay fans were calling pretty. loudly for a new coach down there. Yeah, yeah. Real loud. Big time. BA's in the building, you know, as. consultant. I think Todd and Jason will. get it done. So you're like, all right,

that sounds like that's what's going to. be happening. Right. That division, it feels like any year. you could argue that any of the teams is. by far the favorite to win it. >> But what I'm saying is they're not. making any changes. No. That's what it. sounds like right now. Oh, yeah. I mean, Schefty kind of said that yesterday, too, but you know, Schefty said big. things could change. Schefty living in. his fears in this moment is certainly. wild. Him getting a whole new narrative. or perspective in a city, an entire. city, just from one text message. Hey, actually snooping around, Kliff. Kingsbury? Yeah, parting of ways. He's.

gone from Washington. Add Kliff. Kingsbury's name potentially to a list. of head coaching things. Well, did he. get fired or did he leave? Well, him and. Dan Quinn sat, talked about future. And. they they decided to part ways. I guess. they disagreed. So now he'll pursue. other opportunities. It's like, is he. still getting paid by the Commanders and. by the Cardinals? And then is he. potentially going to be a head coach now. all of a sudden because obviously, what. he was able to do with Jayden last year. is certainly going to be a conversation. that is going to be brought up during. the whole interview process here with a. lot of head coaching vacancies and not a. lot of head coaching candidates. It's.

like, so did Dan Quinn tell Kliff, yeah, go be a head coach somewhere else. I don't like what you're thinking. Or. did Kliff tell him, hey, I'm going to need more money cuz. I'm going to go be a head coach. Or did they actually talk ball and Dan. was like, I'm done with it. And then. defense coordinator comes in, Dan's done. with it. I don't want anything. We need. to not have whatever happened this year. happen again. Fascinating development. Yeah, you put that tweet up? I'm sorry. Can you read it like how that tweet is. worded? Like Dan he met with Kliff today. to discuss the future of the offense. after those conversations. So heading. into those conversations, what was the.

thought? I That's what I want to know. Like what was your What did you plan on. into this meeting? Were you thinking. like, hey, I'm going to we're probably. going to part ways or were you thinking. everything's all good and then after you. talk, you said to see you. Yeah, it was. Dan Quinn like he's going to have to. earn it in here. And then he didn't earn. it and then they decided to move on. Maybe Dan Quinn wanted a different. direction. Kliff's like, I'm not going. to do that if that's what you want to. do. Because. uh coach Tomlin multiple times moved on. from offense coordinators because he. wanted a different style of football to. be played. >> Yeah. And I think multiple times he's. not the only one. Uh there's been other.

teams that have done this where the head. coach would like a different style of. football to be played. You can either do. it that way or we'll find somebody to do. that. Maybe that's what took place here. I'm not sure. But I don't think Kliff. Kingsbury's name, I'm like, oh, people. are going to want him to be a head coach. for sure because of what BA literally. just said. If you're an offensive guru, you're certainly going to get an. interview and a sit-down. He's handsome, he speaks well. He has Jayden Daniels. who has one of the greatest rookie. seasons of all time now on his record. that he can certainly sell. Lot of jobs. open. I It feels like Kliff might be a. head coach next year. It is crazy how.

how change so fast in the NFL. And. I'm thinking what you're thinking as far. as philosophy-wise on the offensive side. of ball. Hey, Kliff, maybe we should do. more of this. And Kliff is putting like, hey, this how I do it. And And coming. off of that NFC Championship run with a. rookie quarterback, like that was crazy. They ran a ton of hurry-up, were super. aggressive, went for it on fourth down a. ton. I know Jayden got hurt a bunch with. his running and his elusiveness, but. that's a part of what makes him great. I. don't know if this will be the right. time for Kliff to hit the market as far. as being a head coach with all the hot.

names that are out there on Are there. hot names? Yeah, on both sides of the. ball. Deep The defensive guys and we. talk we looking at the landscape of. who's out there right now. Kubiak could. be a name with you know, that's out. there leading Sam. But outside of that, I mean, Josh McDaniels, he's not going. anywhere. Like the top like offensive. guys, like who who are like the top. That's what I'm saying. Like in the. break now, Mike Six jobs. Yeah, we got. six jobs available. Like Yeah, and then. who knows if another one opens up after. this weekend from whatever outcome. It's. like, how many offensive names are out there?

This might be the time for Kliff. Kingsbury to get back in the game cuz. last year, to your point about the NFC. Championship run, people were like, hey, Cliff's going to get back in head. coaching." Yeah, I actually did it. I'm. getting paid. I like Jaden. I like. working with Jaden actually. I like what. Dan Quinn's doing here. Let's go ahead. and stick around, give it another run. And then if he doesn't get hired, this. might be the old story of like, "Hey, when you're hot, you know, these opportunities aren't. going to come forever." But it feels. like he's going to get a lot of. interviews. >> Yeah, definitely. Especially with what. you said, you know, like look at those. teams at the top like the Raiders for.

instance. They're about to draft a young. rookie quarterback and he's had a ton of. success Cliff with young quarterbacks. So you can even go back to Kyler. Like. they kind of built Kyler up a little. bit. They went to the playoffs and. granted you see how that ended up with. Arizona, but there Tennessee, you know, the offensive guys are kind of older. You wonder if Stefanski wants to take a. year off. You could definitely see that. after living in Cleveland for that long. And then Big Mike. Big Mike, you know, older guy. A lot of these teams do want. those younger kind of you know, quarterback guru offensive guru types.

and I think Cliff would definitely fall. into that category. Even Cleveland's. Like you think Cleveland would give. Cliff Kingsbury a look because they have. multiple young quarterbacks and Is Cliff. going to go to Cleveland? That'll. That'll be a whole another Absolutely. not. I doubt he'd go there. What's that? Cliff Kingsbury is not going to. Cleveland. I can tell you that much. If. he Cleveland Cliff If he gets another. crack at a head coaching job, he will. not be going to Cleveland. I believe he. was a Pat's backup for a while. So I. wonder. >> with Tom.

>> Yeah, I wonder what kind of relationship. he has with Brady cuz if you remember, it was a couple years ago. Remember how. it was like a done deal that he was. going to go to Las Vegas to be their OC. and then they like fudged something with. they didn't want to give him an extra. year that he wanted or something like. that. So I great I mean that's that's a. different regime. So who knows there, but if you're Cliff, I mean if you went. to Vegas, I I would think you would. maybe more so want to go as maybe the. OC. You you go gangbusters with a guy. like Mendoza and then boom. After that, hey, I'm I'm the hottest ticket in town. Yeah, and to Dabo's point about the. defense though, right now I believe.

Brian Flores is the quote unquote. favorites to land in Vegas. A lot of I. think Florio reported over the weekend. that the idea in Vegas right now would. be a full-blown New England Patriots. Brady reunion with B Flo being the head. coach, Brian Daboll being the OC and. then Daboll being another guy who's good. with young rookie quarterbacks. >> with a stogie out there in Vegas. He's going to pinch stripe suits. Yeah. Mark Davis. Oh my god, that'd be awesome out there.

Yeah, just in my head all of a sudden. Cliff has a real shot at getting the. head coaching job. Yeah, the offensive. guys would be Clint Kubiak, Seattle OC, Cliff, Stefanski, Big Mike, Joe Brady, Joe Brady, uh Matt Nagy. We'll see. Yeah, TBD. I think I'm probably leaving a couple. out, but Dabo, to your point though, what if what if defensive guys win the. day? Now BA said that's BS, baby. And we. at previous BS or no BA or no BS with. BA, we asked him if a defense is going.

to be the thing that wins a title this. year and he goes, "That's BS, buddy.". Need a quarterback. So he's always going. to think offensively. I think that is. what BA does. But with how great all. these defenses are and if Demeco's. Houston Texans are able to go on a run. strictly because of their dominance, McDonald's with their Seattle Seahawks. strictly because of the dominance of the. defense, it's like owners are very much. monkey see, monkey do. I I mean they are. Philadelphia? I mean they had they had one of the best. defenses last year. Obviously Saquon had. an unbelievable year, but they've kind.

of been wrote a rotating cast at that. offensive coordinator spot, but their. defense especially since Vic has come. over there has been great. But I think, you know, I'm on board with what BA is. saying because we know how important it. is with developing quarterbacks. We've. seen what Liam has done with Trevor. We've seen what Ben has done with with. Caleb. So yeah, I can definitely see the. monkey do a monkey see, monkey do part. of that. But I mean you have to look at. every organization has to look at, "Hey, how do you want to build this team? Which guy can really come in here and. lead this franchise whether it's a. Vrabel or Dan Campbell or Sirianni or.

Demeco Ryans. Whoever that guy is that. you think is a. Robert Saleh from 49ers. Whoever that. guy that you have the most faith to. stand in front of the room and and lead. you to turn to that next chapter, that's. where you go whether it's offensive, or. like a special teams guy. I like that. that's being considered seemingly more. by everybody. Like, "Hey, you need an. actual like. coach. Like you need like you need like. a leader in there, not just a play. caller or a play play dra cuz there for. a while after McVay, who actual leader. by the way. McVay, I'm not saying that.

he's not an actual leader. Sean McVay, great leader, great speaker, feels like. everybody respects the hell out of him, has made tough decisions, has had hard. conversations. He's not just a play. designer and play caller, but I think a. lot of people are like, "Well, everybody. could do that if they got to good place. You got to good place. Why don't you. come on in here?" It's like leading a. team and having like an alpha trait that. you have to have while also having. empathy and being able to relatable. while your resume has to be able to hit, that's all a part of being a great. coach. And I think a lot of that got. forgotten about whenever there was a. hiring cycle or two or three after Sean.

McVay had success where it was like, "Who could call best play?". Fans like offense? We're going to give it to them. We're. bringing in a super genius. It's like, "Well, what about like leading a team. though?" Like like that is certainly a. conversation that was kind of lost. And. then MCDC gets a gig. And then all of a sudden Vrabel starts. gnawing on glass basically up there. And. then you start seeing Sirianni. His. little entire thing is his leadership. style. Different than everybody else. Seems like he's got the boys rallied. behind him. It's like, "Wait a minute.

Maybe you do need somebody that can lead. an organization at the head coaching job. while also being able to do the football. side of it." Yeah, Zac Taylor, I don't know if we consider him in that, you know, entire We do, yeah. Yeah, okay, we do. KOC really was the one that. flipped that for McVay. Like KOC went in. former player after his entire Ram's. stint and he made the Vikings what it is. and then he had to make a bunch of tough. decisions with Kirk and some other guys. and Brandon Staley I think comes to mind. for me as far as like, "Oh yeah, that. was a bunch of when it came to.

McVay's entire coaching tree." But there. isn't a Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn like. at all. Not even remotely close this. year like there was last year. Like last. year going into this entire week, it was. like, "Who's going to get the bell of. the ball?" The two bells of the ball. really cuz Aaron Glenn was considered. the number one, you know, defensive guy. and Ben Johnson was the number one. offensive guy. But it worked and now. this year there isn't that. So Cliff. Kingsbury kind of stepping into that, "Hey, don't forget about like Look at. the second time. Yeah, second time, yeah. How much he learned?

Well, well, we well, we watched in. Arizona since he's been They've already. fired another coach. And they already. got somebody, you know, that that whole. situation. They might be the Cleveland. of the West and I don't like that. Did. you see the stat? Huh? The entire history of the Arizona. Cardinals, I think it's like 100 years. They've never had a coach be there for. more than 6 years. Yeah, there was. another stat that came out of the. Cardinals that was just so horrible. Denny Green. win. They can win like 17 They can go 17 and. 0 for like 10 straight years and their.

their entire franchise's win percentage. would still be under 500. That's one. that's coming to my mind. >> That was one of the stats. There was. like most double digit losses in the. history or something like that. It was. way the graph. way this way. And then there's every other team. It's. like, Have we not talked about how the. Cardinals have been absolute. shits? And how their fans in that city. That's why. >> It's beautiful city. That's why we don't. talk about it because the city is so. freaking awesome. >> And the people are like.

That city is awesome. That might be in. college football. Beautiful place. Unbelievable campus. Unbelievable spot. Like they should absolutely be able to. win and they just don't for some reason. Phoenix after Indianapolis, Indiana. obviously, might be best city in the. United States of America. Nashville. After India. Nashville. Miami. They. stink, too. Oh. Maybe that's why. City's too nice. Football team Just like we talk about. with Miami. Yeah, yeah, all three. All. three of those places. City's too good. City's too good. Can't.

focus on ball. How could you? Phoenix. Oh. The mountains? The view. Oh, there's five star restaurant. Here's. five star restaurant. Five star. restaurant. Relatively affordable and. also anything you want to do, good time. is here. I want to go practice there. Oh, I'm going to be late. I'm going to. drive 150 miles an hour. That happens. Cuz they're living life too much out. there. You're not Tyreek Hill. Maybe. Phoenix being too awesome is the. problem. That's also why you'd think. they would be able to attract like a top.

line head coach, you know, a bunch of. good players in free agency because it. is awesome out there. What's Miami doing? What what's playing. down there? What do you guys got cooking. down there in the dolphin? Nobody really knows by the sounds of. things. McDaniel said he was helping in. the GM search and Barry Jackson reported. that McDaniel actually isn't safe. So I. think once we get the GM, the GM will. make the decision on what the hell's. happening. Who's the GM potential. possibility? Who's the name we know? Jon. Eric Sullivan. of the Packers. I believe he's having an. interview today. I think they're.

interviewing maybe like six people via. Zoom today. Okay, so from our. understanding just from our We don't. know a lot of people telling us things. about front office people around the. NFL. Would be open to it. Wouldn't mind getting more info on the. people that we don't know about in the. league, which would be cool. These. people are kind of like under the guise. of watching film and on the road behind. the scenes to kind of build. you know, a roster. That's normally. who's getting the general manager jobs. Are they leaders, too? I think that's. something you certainly have to look at. But allegedly out of the Packers. organization, this Jon Eric Sullivan guy.

is a guy. AJ, you know him, I think, from your time in Green Bay. Yeah, he's. been there a long time. He yeah, he's a. dude. Like I. I think if I didn't believe that, I just. wouldn't say much about him. But yeah, I. think he's absolutely a guy. Yeah, but I. think Green Bay has been creating a lot. of these like good leader, not just like. find out evaluate our evaluation. >> They've watched it They've watched it. run like Green Bay whatever you want to. say like from the top down like it's run. the right way. They do things the right. way. And so they've grown up in that. system. They want to try to implement. that somewhere else when you become a. GM. Schneider, Elliott Wolf, New England.

over there at Seattle is obviously. Schneider. They're littered literally. throughout the rest of the league in. high profile. He might He's going to be. the next one allegedly, even though. they're interviewing other people. >> AJ, I have a question cuz I'm trying to. shape my mind how I feel about this John. Eric Sullivan. Do you have to call him. John Eric Sullivan if you are a friend. of his? You have to call him John Eric? Do we call him Jess? >> Johnny. J. I don't know. I think you. call him whatever you want. I don't know. what he prefers. Nobody knows. >> Sully's available. >> Sully would have a plane crash. I'm good. with I just didn't know if he was a. two-name guy or not. >> Plane landing. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful.

plane landing on the belly of the plane. in the Hudson. >> That's right. Belly of the beast up. there, you know. Can't use Sully cuz he. just signed that $516 million contract. with the Chargers after their Monday. night football game. With Wisniewski. Forgot about that. Him and Wisniewski. really put on a show for us. Sully is a. dog. Yes. So, maybe they just call him. Johnny. Yeah, Johnny. Johnny. J J E. Rick. J E Wentworth. J A Wentworth. J A Wentworth. >> [singing]. >> Good jingle. Yeah, that would be a good. one for him. >> That's a good That's a good jingle. New.

GM. >> Did you hear that Audie Crooks song. before you came on? That is honestly. that's very good. That was That was you? Come on. Come on. It's really good. I. It's so legit. I am a big fan as well. She is awesome to watch play basketball. >> got people tweeting, "What's the name of. that song?" Audie Crooks, brother. That's the name of that song. Maybe even. brother at the end. Yeah. Shout out to AI. Shout out to bars. Shout out to melody. And shout out to Audie Crooks. Yeah. You're about to get cooked.

That's Audie Crooks. It's a good song. UConn's in trouble, especially if that. thing starts Oh, oh, you know, it starts. going. >> Sure. Okay, I don't like that. Sure. I don't. like that. We wish them all the best. We. love Audie Crooks, and we also. appreciate the hell out of you. We'll. see you tomorrow. Goodbye. Yeah, that came up out of nowhere. Let's. take a break, and. on the other side, obviously got to. cover everything else happening in the. sports world. >> Yeah. Yep. >> D3, D2, B, D2A, obviously figure out. there. >> I don't know what any of it's called, either. Me, neither. I get attacked though for.

saying. You guys are elitists. There's no more. 1AA, right? Correct. I guess there is. 1AA. They call it FCS, but 1AA, D2. Like, what are we doing here? What are. we doing here? What are we doing here? Jeez. NCAA. I. don't know if the NJCAA and NJCAA. >> Well, we know it only remains. Oh, okay. I didn't. That's That's Coach Chef JB, I know. >> Yeah. That's right. Chef JB. So much. meat. Which one did he Where's he get all that. meat?

Beating the dog. >> Steve Kim. Big Smitty. Dave Portnoy. All the All the cast of. characters. The food does look phenomenal. >> It does. It does. Melt in your mouth. That's real time out there. This boat. looks phenomenal. >> yacht. It's a yacht. >> [laughter]. >> Show some respect. Jesus Christ. >> All right. Let's get out of here. We'll be back on. the other side. We appreciate you all so. much. Happy New Year. We're thankful to. be here. We'll wrap up all the sports. talk on the other side. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice, might. change your life. Take fight.

Ladies and gentlemen, in three, two, and. >> [cheering]. >> This thing's been staring at me all. damn. DAY. OH, HELL YEAH. HALF [cheering] A MILLION DOLLARS, TYLER.

>> [cheering]. >> YOU DON'T READ THOSE BOOKS. BEFORE THE GAMES, [laughter] RIGHT? YEAH, all those books. Take the book. Yeah, first page. Wow, holy Bron read it. Biggest. fans. Ty has a question for you, Tom. >> Yeah, Tom. First and foremost Yeah, I. know you, Ty. Thanks, man. Hey, Ty. I I. I LOVE WOW. WOW. TY, GOOD FOR YOU, TY. >> ONE LAST oorah for the crowd? >> You want me to do another one? I'LL DO. ANOTHER ONE. HOORAH. This is awesome. Wait, my mom wants to. say hello real quick. I love your show.

You guys are so funny. >> Let me introduce to everybody Big Mac. Roy Z Ruby. Mac. Hey, Roy. What's going. on, boys? Little Kid Leno. Hey, Little. Kid. D'Onta Wilson. SON OF A. >> That's what it's about. Wait, wait. Before we say it, I say sorry wrong, so. Could you strike you out? >> [laughter]. >> I think I can. Yeah. Heard you ran into a CD last night. Is. that accurate? No, I'm falling for it. >> Where's the best place to get some. gator? I'm the best place TO GET GATOR.

FEET TOGETHER. FEET TOGETHER. >> [screaming]. [laughter]. >> PETER IS TAKING A DUMP. WE need. to make a change. Start at the tip. I don't think I'm. fully ever. Can I get some soup? Yeah, these look amazing. >> think this is EVEN COOKED. NOTRE DAME. [screaming] BEATS PITT TODAY, AND THAT. IS JUST JONAH. HELLO, beautiful people. It is our honor.

to introduce the legends that are going. to be bombing BALLS THIS EVENING. >> [screaming]. >> WELCOME TO PARRIS ISLAND, South. Carolina, WHERE THEY MAKE MARINES. >> [cheering]. >> HOWDY. I JUST GOT A RED, WHITE, AND BONER. I. think I got a little freedom erection. happening as well. >> Thought about the head. OH, NO.

OH, NO. I DROPPED IT. THEY'RE DOING national anthem for the. weenie 500. If I were an Oscar MAYER WIENER. >> [laughter]. >> FOR $1 MILLION. GOOD LUCK, SYDNEY. HOLY MAN. >> [cheering]. >> OF COURSE. I DO HAVE FAMILY members with.

Down syndrome, or as you guys would call. it, Don syndrome. IT. EASY. EASY. WE LOUDER. >> [cheering]. >> SAY WE ARE FAMILY. We are family. YEAH. YEAH. BETTER BETTER BETTER BETTER BOO. WOO.

>> [music]. >> WHAT'S A PEARL JAM SONG THAT I WOULD. KNOW? >> Even flow. Big Nirvana fan? I am. Favorite song? Oh. Wait, no, no. Okay, I just lied. Never mind. >> need to take this to a back alley or. something? >> You guys are out of your mind. >> what we are waiting on right now IS FOR. AN AMERICAN LION TO WALK OUT TO A WINDOW. AND SAY, "IT'S ME. I'M YOUR NEXT POPE.". >> TOLD do not touch it. Boom. This thing. is beautiful. Oh. Ty just got to poop his pants. We're. going to wrap this thing up. Matthew.

Golden's there. He is. Go get him. Matthew Golden, wide receiver at Texas. LET'S GO. BOOM. >> [screaming]. >> FOSSILS. 6:00 A.M. MY 7-year-old daughter comes. in to wake me up and says, "The. skeleton's gone, and the other one's. broke on the front lawn." We're driving. with kids in the. >> Okay, DANNO. I THINK YOU PULL OVER. >> THERE'S MORE COMING. THERE'S MORE. COMING. OKAY, WE'LL CALL YOU BACK. >> AJ HAWK has a question for you, Mr. President. >> Yeah, Mr. He's a great player. That's.

true. I appreciate that. Unfortunately, my youngest son puked all over himself. and went to the hospital, so my whole. family's not here anymore to hear that. He seems to be doing not much better. I. used to go pick corn off the cob. He'll. put it in the microwave, put some butter. on it, and serve it to him, and then I'd. eat some as well. >> You got chewed out after that one. >> Yeah, okay. I like that. >> you loved it. No none on that thing. Yum. yum yum. All right. >> [laughter]. >> I'm going to do you, Con man. >> What? Just like Quick shout out. Constance just say sis lost her house. Oh, no. She lives in the Palisades. 40. years there. Good shout out.

>> Now, it is official. He'll be back. coaching with the Baltimore Ravens. Please have me on. You know, every now. and then. No. Like McCarthy's going to. become a coaching free agent. >> I'm getting tired of getting corrected. up here. I'll tell you what, this is. God damn. AJ, you did a great. job today. I thought you'd give me some. more questions. >> [laughter]. >> Thank you, guys. Mathematics is the. language of the universe. Galileo. Galileo. Galileo, let me go. Let me go. First and. foremost, if you can feel it. >> Chase it. HELL [laughter] YEAH. CONGRATULATIONS.

>> [screaming]. YEAH. IS YOUR KID OKAY ON THE BEACH. OR WHAT? >> I HOPE SO. Who knows? GOT ME. >> [laughter]. >> LET ME WRECK A RIM. NOT TRYING TO ADVERTISE ANYTHING. Just. No, OF COURSE NOT. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE. IT AT ALL. DANNO, WE'RE STILL LIVE, COACH. We're still live. He was like, "Get me the out of here.". >> [laughter]. >> John Cena, you can't see me. >> [laughter]. >> If I could just use a couple seconds of. valuable airtime and say, like, "Yo, at.

least get the closure you need. I'm good. with it. I'll be fine, but I ain't. COMING BACK.". >> LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HULK HOGAN. >> [cheering]. >> THERE IT IS. THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT. THERE WHO MAYBE, you know, were pissing. on the Hulkster when he passed away. But, lo and behold, you see the angel's. wings. You see the halo. Turns out Saint. Peter is one of the BIGGEST. HULKAMANIACS. SHUT UP, FAT ASS. I'M. LOOKING AT YOU, PAL. YEAH, YOU. THERE'S. SO MANY fast food restaurants. >> accent? Do you want to just shut the. up? >> I'mma cut you off. Right there, Danno.

You can tongue my bean bag. This is my. true self, and if you don't like it, you. can go yourself. >> If we hit a baseball, who do you think. would hit the baseball the best? For sure. I would tire Tom. Ty. Yeah. Tom, I love you, KIRK. TY. MIKE LEIGH IS HERE. Ben Stiller is here. TIMOTHY CHALAMET. IS HERE. LET'S SEND THESE SONS OF. BACK TO NEW YORK WITH THEIR EARS. RINGING. You trying to think you WERE. ME? I DON'T THINK SO, JOHN. HEY COOGS,

SUCK IT BUDDY. THANK YOU MICKEY. [laughter] MOUSE. EARS. WE GOT TWO WORDS FOR YOU. WHEN I'M DEAD AND GONE, THEY WILL SAY. THAT I WAS A LOYAL. >> [cheering]. >> I DIE, I DIE. YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH.

COLE, YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH ME, DUDE. >> [laughter]. >> HAPPY NEW YEAR, GUYS. HAPPY NEW YEAR. HEY. See you next year, Cole. Here's Jim. on our show. doing his thing, showing the world. exactly who he is, which is a. compassionate, brilliant, wealthy. legend. Rest easy, Jim. I love. you. A lot of people realize is from. here to the moon. is 208,000.

miles, roughly. You think about that, and you know, that's far. But like Mars, think about this, is 250 million miles. 250. million miles. Um, and so, you know, that's a little. different thing because when you go, it. takes about anywhere from 9 to 11 months. to get there depending on the. environment. I'M IN THE STANDS, THOUGH. JIM, ARE YOU GOING TO MARS? IT SOUNDS LIKE. YOU ARE. I WISH I WAS. I think you have.

a chance to do a show from there when. you're 80. >> [music]. [music]. >> I'm all the way in your dreams, smoking. on [music] some new green, changing up. the routine. Gratitude truly feel like. no school and last pretty cool G3.

[music] jobs, fuel means staying top, blue jeans never change, blue means deep. shots, fuel screens, movie stars, cool. scenes, [music] bank account juicy, canceled you made, bubbly man [music]. spooky, false watch cool seas, hating. folks doing gifts. Yeah, you ain't. >> [music]. >> Yeah, you ain't fools. 2K. Yeah, you ain't fools.

2K. Yeah, I'm up here in your dreams, smoking on some new green, checking out. some new scenes. >> [music]. >> And you ain't fools 2K. >> [music].

[music]. >> You know what? I think there's only one. thing left to do here. I've experienced. Kappa Sig for time. I've experienced the wonderful culture. I've experienced the beautiful people, AND I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME CHAINS OVER. HERE. WE'VE GOT SOME CHAINS OVER HERE. >> [laughter]. >> WE'VE GOT SOME CHAINS OVER HERE.

THIS DAY IN CORAL GABLES IS GOING TO BE. ONE THAT I WILL REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF. MY LIFE. RAY LEWIS STARTED HIS DANCE. RIGHT HERE AT MIAMI. ED REED STARTED HIS. LEGENDARY RUN HERE AT MIAMI. THE LEGENDS OF FOOTBALL RUN DEEP. THE. MOMENTS ARE SPECIAL. THE NATIONAL. CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE IN ABUNDANCE. JUST. LAST YEAR, A LOVELY UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.

WOMAN DIVER FROM ITALY WON A NATIONAL. CHAMPIONSHIP. THIS THING'S BEEN STARING. at me all. DAMN. DAY. KIRK, I'M A LITTLE WINDED. THAT'S WHAT I. WAS GOING TO [laughter] SAY. YOU talked. the whole time you were running. I'm giving you a chance to get your. breath, you talking You're crazy. I hope somebody got a Lifesaver up. there. He's out of breath. He's out of. breath. My man is out of breath. And it is A LONG WAY.

>> [laughter]. >> TO THE TOP. Look at him jump in the. suit. Somebody Are you going to jump in. the pool or. Yeah, so I'm tired for you. Oh my god. Oh, he's going to take the. jacket off. Okay. Okay. Oh, oh, oh, oh. He's taking the shirt off now. Looking ripped. Yeah, looking ripped. Oh, he's taking the drawers off. Ladies and gentlemen, THE PANTS. >> [laughter]. >> LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

IF YOU COME TO THIS beautiful campus, you will notice QUICKLY. THAT THE STUDENTS HERE LOVE THIS. UNIVERSITY. THEY LOVE. THIS ATMOSPHERE. AND I'M WITH EVERYBODY. I THINK THAT U. IS BACK. GIVE ME. >> [cheering]. [laughter]. >> HE'S GOT THE SPEED ON. OH MY GOD. GIVE ME THE. >> [screaming].

[cheering]. [laughter]. >> CHAINS, BABY. >> [cheering]. >> Here he goes. Oh god. >> [laughter]. >> Here he goes. Feet together. Feet together. I THINK THAT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. SO, for. the pencil. And he's got the U. Let's fire him up. Back to the feet with the refreshing.

punt. MIAMI AT FLORIDA TONIGHT. Let's have a. look at that again. Check out the form, Herbie. Oh man. Let's see the timing. We need Justin I. think it's pretty good. Feet together, BUDDY. PERFECT. PERFECTION. Weight in it and all. But it is great to be DOWN HERE IN. T-TOWN, ALABAMA. NOW, a little history here, shall we? This is. What's your name? Gabby. Gabby, you're a.

senior here, right? >> That's correct. >> And what is your major? Chemical. engineering. >> Okay. Okay, have you ever kicked anything before? No. Okay, but you said you want to do. it, not get somebody ELSE, BECAUSE. BECAUSE I CAMPED out for so many hours. with my friend, and I got lucky enough. to get picked, so let's GO FOR IT. >> YES. >> [cheering]. >> YES. WE LOVE THAT, GABBY. $300,000. if you make this kick right here, Gabby,

okay? Oh my gosh. That seems fair. I don't know what a. chemical engineering degree costs, but. hopefully that'll help towards it all. >> My parents would love that. >> Okay. I'll throw in 200 as well. >> He's throwing in 200. $500,000. >> [cheering and screaming]. >> ALL RIGHT, GABBY. GOOD LUCK. WE'RE PULLING FOR YOU. 33. YARDS. ALL YOU GOT TO DO IS MAKE the. kick. Good luck, Gabby. Okay. Thank you. Any final thoughts? I love you, Mom and DAD AND BROTHER. >> [laughter]. [screaming]. >> LOVE THAT, MOM AND DAD. HOPE YOU HAVE A.

GOOD TIME. Ladies and gentlemen, Gabby Mathis, chemical engineer, senior here AT. ALABAMA. WHAT'S UP TO WIN? $500,000. IT'S COME TO THIS, HUH? IT'S come to. this. It's come to this. Gabby just smacked me in the face. Kirk. just smacked me in the face. How about this? How about this, Gabby? If Kirk Herbstreit can throw that. football through those uprights right.

there, we'll give you $300,000. >> [cheering]. >> Are you okay with that? $300,000 if Kirk HERBSTREIT CAN THROW IT. THROUGH THOSE UPRIGHTS, FORMER OHIO. STATE QUARTERBACK. NO WARM UP. FULL SUIT FOR GABBY. >> [cheering]. >> GET GABBY. GET GABBY. GET GABBY. >> [cheering].

>> WE GOT CHAINS, let's get it. >> [laughter]. >> All right. It's getting even more pricey. Kirk. Herbstreit, I did NOT KNOW YOU HAD THAT. IN YOU. You son of a. Gabby. Gabby, it's for you, your mom, your. brother, the whole family. Congratulations, and Kirk, >> [cheering].

>> good on you, man. It was close. Back to you, Rece. Jeez. Way to go, Gabby. Hey, what a moment. You know what? I love the fact that. Gabby wanted the experience. You know what? Blue eyed Buckeye still. got a little zing in this arm of his. You don't want to play your best. basketball in January. You don't want to. be a monster in January. You want to be. a monster in March.

>> [music]. >> I'm. a fool, you're about to get hooked BY. ALL THESE FOLKS WALKING, TALKING, BUCKING AS YOU SHOULD. That's how these. folks. >> [music]. >> Oh, you're about to get hooked. by all these folks walking, talking, bucking as you should. That's how these. folks smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke. >> [music]. [music].

[music]. [music]. >> Hey. Why? Let's. go.

This show stinks, and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful. Mac. to be on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The all-time leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers, YOU PINK. DAMN IT. YOU FRIEND TELL A FRIEND. SOMETHING NICE could change their life. Hello, beautiful people, >> [music]. >> and welcome back to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this A.J. Hawk birthday, January 6th,

2026, [music] hour three of the program. begins right now. FOOTBALL. >> HEY, IT'S MAGICAL. A.J., happy birthday, buddy. Hey, don't want to have to do. this again, but there might be some new. people here, so Happy birthday. to. you. All right. All right. All right. A.J., that would have been awesome if we. would have did that. That would have. been great. You know what? Maybe we. should, right? It only happens once a. year. >> It's only once a year. You're right. My. connection's kind of choppy right now. birthday [singing].

to. you. You're going to hang up. Happy. birthday. I can't hear you. Oh, we got to be louder. Happy birthday, dear A.J. HAPPY [screaming]. BIRTHDAY. TO YOU. HELL YEAH. Happy birthday, A.J.

Thank you. Yeah, it was like Shifty. yesterday, my audio cut out. I didn't. really hear it. >> Oh, you didn't hear? Can you hear us. now? No. You can't hear us right now? I was reading your lips, so yeah, I'm. still doing it. Here we go. Okay. Okay, can you do that the whole Do it again. I'm doing it again. Can you believe it's. been. >> Can you hear us right now or no? Can I. seriously Uh yeah, just came back. Okay. Happy birthday [singing]. to. you. I appreciate it. Can you believe it's. been 5 years since his party at the. capital? It's crazy you did that, H. You.

know, a lot of people do mention that to. me. >> [laughter]. >> A lot of people do. Isn't it weird your. birthday is the same day as what was. happening over there in Washington? >> [clears throat]. >> I just happened to not be on the. program. Here's A.J. Hawk highlights, by. the way. Uh if you if you don't know. this, the guy that shows up on the. screen every single day from Minooka, Illinois, is an absolute monster on a. football field. Uh I mean, no questions. asked. All-time leading tackler for the. Green Bay Packers at Centerville High. School over there in Ohio, outside. Dayton. Shoutout to all the Elks out.

there. Obviously, legends across the. board. Uh A.J. once had like 30 tackles. in a game, while also rushing for 250. yards and punting six times for an. average of 50 yards. You're talking. about the Ohio boy of Ohio boys. He has. a tree named after him on the Ohio State. University's campus because he was once. the president of Ohio, voted by his. constituents. So, ladies and gentlemen, we are certainly going to celebrate one. of the greatest football guys, one of. the greatest Ohio guys, and good friend.

of the program, who's not only good on a. football field and on this particular. show and in day-to-day life, where he's. living in the moment like right now and. right now and right now. He's also an. incredible mixed martial artist. People. forget that at one time. he was potentially going to take down. Jon "Bones" JONES, BUT INSTEAD HE STAYED. FOCUSED on football. And obviously, we. thank him for that in the football. world. In the UFC and the MMA world, YOU. MISSED OUT ON THIS. HEY, YOU MISSED OUT. ON THIS.

A.J., happy birthday, buddy. We love. you. Thank you. That that clip's. amazing. It is. It it showcases what could have. been. What about what you found what we found. out this weekend? What's that? His. senior year, he tore his PCL, ACL, and. MCL. Was out for 4 weeks, and then came back. and played quarterback the rest of the. year cuz the quarterback got hurt, led. him to a state championship. And he's. saying I wasn't. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's real. He took a lot of liberties with that. story, but yeah, you know, I guess like.

one. one piece of that I tore my PCL my first. game my senior year. Okay, not your ACL? No, no, cuz ACL I wouldn't be able to. come back. I tore a PCL, got me, you. know, got scoped, cleaned out the. cartilage, rehab, had to come back the. last 4 weeks wearing a DonJoy. That was. awful, but playing quarterback and. playing quarterback's a tough position. I'm not going to lie, even in high. school, it's tough making those reads. I. was I was tucking it and running a lot. >> Did you guys win? Uh yeah, I think so. I don't know. We. didn't go to We didn't go to the state. finals or anything like that, no. So,

your high school quarterback obviously. needs to get added into this entire. thing. Were you playing linebacker as. well, clearly, obviously? Yeah, well, I. mean, I was like so I I played. linebacker, running back, and I was. always like a backup quarterback in case. they needed me, and then they needed me. when I came back cuz our guy got hurt. >> So, you're playing full-time linebacker. and full-time quarterback in Ohio high. school football. For a couple weeks. God, that'd be legendary. They tell. stories about this guy. >> Oh, yeah. For sure. When I ran into. Who'd we run into? We ran into somebody. who was at another place in Ohio,

another high school, at the same time, and said he used to go watch Centerville. High School football games to watch A.J. Hawk, this absolute maniac on the. football field. This guy has been like. the Ohio boy through it all. And A.J., happy birthday, man. >> Happy birthday, [applause] Hawk. Thank. you. And don't you worry, Ohio, he's spawning. others. Mhm. That's right. He's spawning. others over there in the great state of. Ohio. We appreciate that, and what a. great week for it to happen. Maybe the greatest week of ball. >> week, huh? I know. Yeah. Legit, A.J.,

the semifinals, semifinals, super wild. card, super wild card, super wild card. This is it, A.J. We made it here. Yeah, we did. I think Ty, didn't you say. this is like the greatest football week. {slash} weekend of the year? I I would. say you are most likely spot-on there. Yeah, especially cuz Thursday we start. with college football. Can't be. >> And it's not just a potential no-. nothing college football midweek game. No. It's college football playoff. semifinal. >> The game. This is this [clears throat]. is Here we are. These are the best four. And then Friday it backs it up, and then.

we got two very obviously very good. games. Sunday, three very good games. Monday, one. And we don't have to be. distracted watching eight different. screens. You see this guy has to get. emotional when he says goodbye. Yeah, he. did. Had to. Yeah, he said. Can't blame. him. No more Octo boxes. Mhm. Till next. year. I'll see you guys in September, he. said. So, what's he do till then? Unplugs. Yeah, he sits in the corner. Does he pop. up in the off-season at all? And then. come what, you know, the first or the. last week of August, first week of. September, he comes.

That's the unplug. Let's see what. happened. He goes, they unplug him. again. All right, we're good. 10 months. And. then September, what do they what. happens? September, they they walk in. They actually have to get a duster. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [clears throat] Yeah. HELLO, NFL FANS. WELCOME BACK TO WEEK. ONE OF NFL REDZONE. AND then he does his.

whole spiel, and it's like he. never left. Yeah, but he has been. unplugged. Basically collecting dust for. the last 6 months. You forgot after they. first plug him in, before he does that, he. has to pee and poop, of course. Of. course. Well, actually, maybe he doesn't. That's why he doesn't, yeah. To a large. extent, I I thought he builds up like a. self- power mode. He changed his style. of play this year, you know, new. contract for Scott Hanson. He changed. his style of play. You know, he he's. basically like the NFL's point guard, just kind of passing in the games, coming back, getting the ball. Boom. He.

was he was a little bit more I'm. I'm going to dribble into your into your. area, and then I'm going to dribble. back, you know, and then I'm going to. take it up there. We're going to run it. again. And then maybe I'll go see, and. then I'm going to take it back like it's. okay. And then every once in a while. something big's going to go Let me go. and kick it out to the corner, you know. Let me go ahead and do that. Every once. in a while he'd send it to a booth that. was complete shite, and we'd be like, [clears throat] "Come on, Scott. You. didn't pass the ball for the last 10. minutes. We don't need these people to. be the next ones talking in that. entirety." He changed his style of play. a little bit this year. I I think we all. noticed it, right, with RedZone?

Absolutely. Did anyone end up boycott. because of the commercials? A ton, dude. >> There's a lot more commercials as the. year went on. Ratings were down for. RedZone, I think like 98% or something. like that. Oh, wow. He heard about. something else that had that percentage. before we went live. That is not real. But I did take it on the shins going. into the NFL season cuz I was an NFL. RedZone shill because I said 1 minute. out of 7 hours was going to be. We're still Who cares? We're still going. to watch this thing. And I'll tell you. what, there was a couple times where. Scott was about to get to a really good. point, and all of a sudden, boom, somebody pops in for a 35-second ad, and.

I'm like, "WHAT WAS HE GOING TO SAY?". >> MHM. That's true. Still watching it on your side. You. still see it. And that Mercedes looked nice. though, didn't it? Oh my god, you. kidding me? They got good commercials. They do. They do, actually. Good bow tie. >> Great bows. Jon Hamm voice them over. Oh, he's making quite a comeback for. that. I love Jon Hamm. Yeah. Kupp has. the league in the NFL. >> Commercials. Uber The Uber one really. went all in with him. Uber went all in with him.

And they should, by the Yeah, Kupp nails. it. Good commercial. He's actually a. fan. Knows ball. Studies ball. Watches ball. Lives ball. I can't believe he said that. thing in that thing. Yeah. That was crazy he said that. >> I know, but it was it's spot-on. >> What was that thing though? What was the. the the GQ it was a Oh yeah the GQ thing. with him and. Will Arnett. Will Arnett. Is this thing. on? Available now. Please go watch. It's. incredible. Good for Coop. I believe he. wrote directed shot edited the entire. thing. We are massive fans of Coop.

obviously and his big ass brain. Him in. that conversation though saying. I mean retelling a very real story cuz. when we found out we had his number it. was a very. All right boys we're doing a cold. FaceTime here which is move that happens. in the Thunderdome whenever we get. somebody that we think should not know. of our existence. >> Not much outside of the Thunderdome. You'd have to. Not many people outside of the. Thunderdome are doing the cold FaceTime. for the first time you ever reach out to. them. I didn't Certainly not to someone like. Bradley Cooper. I didn't even think.

about that. It just feels like the right. move doesn't it? We get a. >> It's your move. It's what you do. It's. great. And it's crazy when people answer. you know cuz then it's actually holy. you know we don't have to call the. catfish show it's actually this person. you know that is crazy thing. And as. soon as Coop answered that we went. immediately into. Me something girl. [singing] We're all. jacked up. And the fact that he. remembers that moment is so cool for us. And the fact that he says it publicly. crazy. It's Coop baby. >> It's a great story. Here it is actually from GQ's social. media.

I believe this is for is this thing on. what's that called? The press junket. >> That's sweet. He's a cool guy. That's. the best in the beginning I think of the. movie. Will Arnett brought you up. >> [laughter]. >> I just bought Oh he just texted him. Back he met him all that stuff but he. was a I was at Chris Henchy's house in. the morning having coffee cuz we would. always do that in the morning and then. I'd see on my phone it says Pat McAfee. calling. So I must have got his number. and then it was a FaceTime and then I. open it and he's with all his guys and I. was and they start singing Shallow and.

then I looked like a little boy who. [music] just met Elvis. >> [laughter]. >> That's crazy. That's crazy. That is crazy that Yeah exactly. That is. insane that that is the way he's talking. about it. But that's cuz I think and I. don't want to speak for him here. I. think he watches our show like every. day. Like that's how much he loves ball. like the guy is addicted to ball. So him. getting commercials and being a part of. it we're a huge fan of that. We. appreciate the hell out of him. Brand. new champs. We are biased. >> Yeah. He's Yeah he spoke to team on the. field. >> Oh yeah.

Got a great promo. Yeah and sat in the. owner's box. And then he made some decisions in the. off-season. And then now they're back-to-back. champs. For the first time in 25 years for the. NFC East or something like that. I don't. know you tell us. >> they're the only back-to-back division. champs this year. Pretty sure they they're the only one. who won their division 2 years in a row. this year. Ain't nobody's happy with. them. Nope. Are people giving them a. chance to win it all? No. What are we. talking about Seattle? It's wild that. they're defending champs and people. don't like it's like they're just I. don't know if they're flying under the. radar or it's like people just don't.

believe in them or what? >> All season it's like that age. They're. like waiting for them. It's not just. like national people it's like the. Philly people too are just like "Yeah. this team sucks.". >> [laughter]. >> "This team's exactly what we thought. they are but biggest stage they got. stars all over the place could certainly. just pile it up." That's not really how. people are talking though about this. team at all right all year Ty? >> Yeah no not at all. I mean it's the same. thing the but. I don't know if it's just because people. like it's it's when your team's defense. is so much better than their offense. it's more often than not a tough watch.

because they're beating teams like 13 to. 3 and 13 to 10. And yeah their offense. has kind of looked like shite but their. defense is so good and the fact that we. haven't really talked about them like I. feel like you know if teams take them. lightly in the playoffs which they won't. but like Philly has just as good of a. chance to come out of the NFC as any. other team right now. >> Yeah definitely. I mean unless you talk. about. The Seahawks I mean. Hey. they're the real deal. They are. No BS.

brother. That's Hey. Well said. Superman cape all right. Did. he say Sam put the Superman cape on? >> That's huge. I mean It's a huge development. >> They're so far away. Just. They are. They're like. so far away. So it's hard to talk about it. Which is not fair okay? We're going to tell you we're part of. the problem. We probably didn't talk. about them enough. Now granted you go. over to Pittsburgh early in the year we. talked about it. Yeah. Good football team. It's a good football.

team. Exactly what was said. You know. what we didn't know at the time? That's. a great football team. That is a great. football team. Real talk. And I think. they've kind of developed all year only. gotten better and better and figured out. different ways to win. Remember he was. just getting the ball every single play. for a while. Yeah. And then all of a. sudden now Charbonnet is the guy and now. we use definitely have him going on. We. got a couple tight ends getting loose. and then the defense is just going to be. one or two in every statistic and Mike. McDonald our head coach he's actually. calling the defense as well as leading. this entire thing. So we're going to. have a tough mentality. Yeah I don't.

think anybody really talks about Seattle. enough in this entire That defense we. all know how great the defense is JSN. how great he is as well. that Rashid Shaheed highlight I feel. like he's going to make you know a. couple splash plays here and there maybe. it's a kick return maybe it's reverse. just a 70 yard post where people are. going to remember oh they did get. Rashid Shaheed at the trade deadline but. they put the this team together. greatly and they got the right head. coach we'll see if they got the right. quarterback on this run it's a lot of.

pressure on Sam but a lot of people. believing in him. I believe in him too. Look at these stats from him though here. on playoff teams versus playoff teams. These are the people that made the dance. how did they fare against them? Seattle. Seahawks 6 and 2. Worst Steelers 1 and. 5. Patriots 2 and 2 only played 4 uh. playoff teams which is a part of the. strength of schedule issue which. everybody's wondering about. Does this. surprise you at all though Con Man? Seahawks at 1 Steelers the worst in the. league. Uh definitely a little bit with. the Steelers but also because of their.

division being kind of having a down. year in general they're they're not. playing as many playoff teams probably. did not help them. The Jags being 5 and. 3 I think is what kind of stands out. We're talking about them being home. underdogs they won 13 games they've. beaten other playoff teams and they're. still kind of being disrespected. I'm. not there yet with Seattle I'm just. going to come out and say it I don't. think they're legit at all. I don't. think Sam Darnold can win a Super Bowl. at all. But I do think their defense can. do it that's why all the okay the RAMS. THE RAMS.

NO NO NO. I'M ACTUALLY I'M JUST. >> [laughter]. >> NO NO NO I MEAN. SEATTLE HAS A wild kind of internet fan. base so they will definitely. let me hear it because this the Rams win. they go to Seattle who are you taking? Cuz I know I'm not taking Darnold over. Stafford. That was a great game. It it it it was it was a great game and. they had a punt return touchdown to. basically win it. Does it and and that. can happen again with Rashid Shaheed and. they had a two point conversion which. also helped them win it. >> I'm not putting down the Rams I love the.

Rams. Let's not get crazy. >> put down the Seahawks either. It's just. my beliefs are not in Sam Darnold and. unfortunately them winning 13 to 3. against a team where Philip Rivers. scored 24 points doesn't make me think. any higher. of the Seattle Seahawks but at the same. time the I still believe in defenses. winning championships. The last one that. I saw from New England it was 13 to 3. The last one from Philly I mean that. defense dominated Patrick Mahomes that. defense won the championship so still. very possible for them to win a Super.

Bowl. It's just game on the line I don't. know. Okay let's move past that and. let's go to defense. Ladies and. gentlemen it's award season. Isn't it. AJ? >> Oh yeah. Yeah it is. Ladies and. gentlemen. What the hell? Was that a real belief or. a kind of asking a question on whether. or not it is? No it was a real belief I had my thing. muted and I hit it the last second and. just wanted to make sure I got it. across. Oh so you tried to just make. sure we really understood where you were. I was going to say what kind of award. season. I was going to pose a question. Oh I like that. Like there it is. I like. that. I did that to Ty earlier. I said.

who is Ed Policy in the middle of him. giving an answer just in case other. people don't know who he is that he's. acting owner of the Green Bay Packers. So I like I like the thought of the. potential alley-oop there from Hey happy. birthday. Thank you. I just I just. figured it out. I figured the mechanics. of TV. >> [laughter]. >> That was a good mic right there. A great. mic and. He's the man I hope he gets tired. I'm. excited to see yeah what happens with. him. I think he's very focused and. excited for the opportunities to. potentially get hired and what a nice. refreshing feeling it would probably be.

leaving a place get a chance to get away. do life a little bit while observing. football from a different perspective. and then diving back in and obviously. know that this is it. So this is the the. final run at this entire thing. That has. to be a great feeling for coach Mike. we're obviously pulling for him. But it. is award season Yeah season's over. So. now we got to give awards. The AP did. all their voting all their ballots have. been cast congratulations to AP Tone. getting that done. It's a tough task tough task had to. watch every single snap of every single. player at every single position for.

every single title. Thank you to for. doing that and the other 49 AP people. like Dan Orlovsky and others I hope you. did the same as Tone because us watching. him take it seriously was actually. awesome. Tone we appreciate you doing. that. But it's not just AP they're. giving out awards. We got awards to give. out too AJ you know that. Yeah I do. What are they? Oh that's good question. How about the everything DB Darius J. Butler all everything DB team. >> [applause]. >> Tough to make this team. I'll tell you. what I asked if we needed a first and. second string D Butts said nah I I don't.

want to put first [laughter] and second. string. It's going to be tough to make. this team. Now granted there's a lot of. DBs all around the league we're. appreciative of their services. These. are the five that made your final five? >> Yeah I go 1 through 5 and then there are. two rookies that kind of get a co I. guess rookie of the year but yeah it is. tough to make the team it's only five. spots and they're very a lot of. deserving guys. I think Dan Orlovsky. said it earlier it's tough to even put. all pro defense together and not put all. the damn Texans on there. But we're. going to start with a Texan. Second time.

making the all everything DB. Derek Stingley Jr. one of the best. cornerbacks in the league if not the. best cornerback in the league. The only. cornerback in the league to have four. plus interceptions in three consecutive. years. He was drafted number three. overall and has lived up to the hype. Already got a new contract becoming one. of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the. league, and we know we've been around. league for a long time. A lot of times. when a player gets that money, gets that. first big, big-time life-changing check, they kind of take a year off or kind of.

have a year where they get it's kind of. a dub, but no, he stepped up big and has. been one of the cornerstones of the best. defense in the National Football League. It was tough not to put his counterpart. on the opposite side of him, Kamari. Lassiter. I'm going to already say it. right now, he's honorable mention. He. should have been on here. But it's. tough. It's tough. But speaking of the. other corner on this list, I mean, we. already showed all five. We'll go. Quinshon Mitchell, uh sophomore. superstar. >> Congratulations, Quinshon. First-rounder a couple years ago out of. Toledo. A lot of guys didn't know this. guy's name coming out of college, uh.

Maxion, but he is one of the best press. corners, and we know how how much of a. premium that is, especially in the. playoff time. He will lock up with your. number one receiver. He will travel from. the left to the right. He will get in. his face, and he will challenge him down. in and down out. Once again, it was. tough to pick these two top corners. because there are other guys out there, Denzel Ward, Christian Gonzalez. There. are other really, really, really good. cornerbacks out there, but this guy. right here has put together two. back-to-back years. He almost made the. team last year, just not a ton of ball.

production. And a lot of these press. corners won't have a lot of ball. production, uh but he has been. unbelievable this year in that Vic. Fangio defense where they play more man. coverage. So, I expect to see that more. down the line in the playoffs as well. So, congrats to Quinshon. Congrats to Quinshon. Not easy to get on. this particular graphic. >> Absolutely not, and this spot is near. and dear to my heart, the nickelback. position where I kind of made my hay in. the league, COOPER DEJEAN. ANOTHER. ANOTHER SOPHOMORE.

SUPERSTAR. Uh he's, you know, breaking barriers, uh. I would say on this team, uh for sure. Uh unbelievable year once again. It took. until week 12 this season for Coop to. give his give up his first touchdown in. the National Football League. He's. become uh one of the best, if not the. best, slot defenders in the league. He. can tackle. He can blitz. He's a great. pre-snap communicator, and his ball. production is going up as well. We all. remember the big-time interception, which was his only interception last. season in the Super Bowl, which he took.

back for a touchdown. But he is a. physical specimen out there, and once. again, communication is key at that. nickel position. He can line up. He. played some outside corner this year. because they needed him, uh but he's. back where he's most comfortable in that. slot, and he is an absolute dog. Another. sophomore superstar up here with his. teammate on this team. Honorable mention. for this spot, Jaylen Petre, Marcus. Jones. Okay. Also had great years in the. slot. Congratulations to them. >> [applause]. >> Baby Coop. >> Congratulations to an exciting white. crack in the all-everything DB team. This is huge day.

Hey, Coop, thank you. And Riley, too. I. know they come up here and thank you, Coop. Congrats to you as well. Yeah. No. doubt. >> No doubt. I mean, this is exciting. stuff. I've been waiting for this day. my whole. >> life, possibly. And this is one of the. happiest days of my life, I'd say. Seahorn? Yep. Yep. Eric Weddle. Oh, Weddle was a monster. >> got Xavier Woods. Yeah, I didn't know. Hitman. Yeah, yeah, I guess yeah, if we. do that. >> Minnesota. But if you're sticking corners, though. Chuck Pagano. Yeah, Chuck Pagano. Chuck. Pagano was a.

Dustin Fox. Riley Moss. Yeah, corners, though. We we just strictly Think Dustin. Fox Dustin Fox was corner, right, AJ? Oh, yeah, corner with Minnesota State. and then he got drafted by Minnesota. Yeah. And we're we're just talking about. random corners throughout the history. Yeah, just random super athletic. corners. >> Yeah, surprisingly super athletic. Congratulations. Now, we move on to the safeties. We're. going to go Kaelen Bullock. He was the. best free safety in the National. Football League this year. Once again, this secondary, this defense can be all.

Texans, if I'm being honest. But he's. going to get around the ball. He's a. big-time hitter. He will show up He will. show up in later woods as well. Once. again, a great communicator. They don't do a ton defensively as far. as scheme-wise. They don't try to trick. you. This defense just lines up and do. what they do. Four defenders in that. back end who have at least four. interceptions. That's Kaelen, that's. Jaylen Petre, that's Kamari Lassiter, and that's Derek Stingley Jr. So, they. are ballhawks as well at getting after. you in later woods. They do everything. you want to do on the defensive side of.

the ball, and he was the best free. safety in the National Football League. this year. So, shoutout to Kaelen. Bullock on his first appearance in. all-everything. Hell yeah, Kaelen. Two Eagles, [applause] two Texans, and. then. uh obviously stud that's been around for. a long time. Yep, back-to-back years now. for Derwin James, and he could be a. slot, he could be a linebacker, he could. be a safety. He's Mr. Everything when it. comes to the Los Angeles Chargers. defense. Another pillar on that back. end. Also leads all defensive backs in.

pressures, and he was actually chipped. on like 12% of his pressures, which you. rarely see safeties getting chipped that. much, but he's around the ball, around. the line of scrimmage a ton, kind of. similar to Kyle Hamilton. Obviously, he. came before him. Was one of the best. players in college at Florida State, and. has hit the league running. A bunch of. all-pros, a couple with all-everything. DB teams now. But he does everything. Had a little more ball production this. year as well. Had three interceptions, but will get after you, will sack will. open you in will tackle you in open. field, and also a great communicator as.

well. That's all All these guys talk. their pre-snap. Now, Stingley is. probably the quietest guy. He's just. going to follow your best guy around, shadow, and make plays. But all these. other guys, great commu- Actually, Quinshon as well. He will lock your ass. down, just get in your face. But those. guys in the middle, and usually the guys. in the middle of the defense, safeties, nickels, backers, they have to be the. communicators, get other guys lined up, and also be kind of Swiss Army knives. and do multiple things for their. defenses. So, shoutout to all five of. these guys on all-everything DB team. this year. Congratulations, boys. All. right. Derwin, first ever back-to-back.

all-everything DB. >> Him and Stingley. He had Oh, Stingley. was on it as well. Okay, so congrats to. both those guys. That's multiple years. of dominance. Did I see a C was on. Derwin James's chest and nobody else? He. would be the captain, you think, of this. all-everything DB team or Oh, yeah, he's. the OG of this group, for sure. This is. a pretty uh This is a young group, actually. So, the league is in is in. good hands, um and I can't wait to see. these guys on the biggest stage, uh. making big plays on you know, on. primetime games. Speaking of young. group, couple rookies of the year here. Now, to be something of the year, you.

would normally be just an individual. >> Yep. But this is co-rookies of the year. Can't just pick one, too much good. football. >> It was It was tough. It was tough to. pick just one. I'll start with Xavier. Watts since uh their season is over in. Atlanta, but he had an unbelievable. season from wire to wire. Uh was a part. of a very good defensive draft class. with I thought with the Falcons, the two. edge rushers, Walker and Pierce Jr. And. Xavier Watts was kind of the the pick. that went under the radar. I thought he. should have been a higher pick based on. what we saw him do at Notre Dame. He. will come up and hit you. Once again,

another guy that will communicate, and. he plays like a vet. Like, when you. watch this guy, you just turn on the. tape, you would think he was a. six-seven-year vet out there with Jessie. Bates. He will attack the football, led. all rookies with five interceptions. He. will lay the hat. He will make big-time. plays. I can't wait to see this guy's. career just ascend down there at. Atlanta. He's going to be a good ball. player for a long, long time. And then. speaking of good ball players, Nick. Ekwalu. He was a first-round pick and. just an absolute playmaker. Once again, just like Derwin James, same number. He's obviously NFC. You got Derwin in.

the AFC. He will line up all over the. defense. He will blitz. He will tackle, and he will get after that football. I mean, when we think of Yeah, when we. think about LOB and you think about Kam. Chancellor, and he was kind of the. tone-setter of that defense, I would put. Nick in that conversation. He's the one. of the tone-setters of this defense. You. have great players all around that. defensive secondary. We know Mike. McDaniel, he's an absolute madman. They. have a great front as well. I think. their front is a little better than it.

was in the LOB days. So, they've kind of. been carrying this team. Best defense on. third down, and Nick Ekwalu and what. he's able to do in coverage, what he's. able to do in the run game, what he's. able to do getting after the passer, he's a big reason why this is one of the. best defenses in the National Football. League as a rookie. We highlighted him. at the combine and it coming out of. college, and hey, this is probably going. to be a guy who does well at the. combine. He was 6'3" 220. He ran a 4.38. He. jumped 43 inches for his vertical, and. his broad was 11'6". So, yeah, he is.

just an an athletic specimen who is also. really, really good at football. >> Congrats to the secondary. >> [applause]. >> Hell yeah. Good job, boys. And the. all-everything DB team and honorable. mentions. Didn't want to make a first. team, second team. No. So, we just do. one. Tough to crack. Tomorrow, ladies. and gentlemen, the trenches. Same trophy? Oh, the reigning. Who is it? Trenchy, Lane Johnson? >> Yeah. He's expected to practice. tomorrow. That's a huge deal for the Philadelphia. Eagles. Very huge. I'll tell you what,

biggest stage. It's like the thing we. always talked about with the Chiefs. Whenever they're in the middle of their. run of every single year, it's like Pat. Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris. uh Jones, all the boys on that team, like they're used to the big stage. Like, not that they're mailing it in, but like Been there. When we when it's. time like to win or go home, lock in. with the amount of skill that they have. It's like if they are to completely lock. in, which turning on and off the light. switch isn't necessarily always easy, okay? That's why people work their dicks.

off every single day and prepare and. yada yada yada, you name it. But with. the way the Philadelphia Eagles are. constructed, a lot of big-time players, and uh normally in the biggest moments. is when they play. their best ball cuz they understand like. the ramifications of everything, you. know, in those moments. So, I'm not. saying that they mailed it in or didn't. play their best ball. I'm just saying. there's a chance. There's a chance that. we have not seen anywhere near their. best football yet. What is the status of. Jalen Carter? Cuz he had surgery on both. his shoulders, and he missed the last,

you know, little portion of the season. Is he 100% healthy? Are they still. trying to figure that out? Do we know if. he is also already back practicing? >> Call. >> baby rhino or something. >> Yeah, baby rhino. You blocked that guy. I don't know. >> He just blocked Did he just block a. kick? Jordan, was it Jordan? No, Jordan. blocked one, too, but I just remember. him going He had he definitely missed a. couple weeks out the stretch. I think. he's healthy. I would have to check, but. I think. Jaylen Carter's healthy. Lane Johnson. should be coming back. And as you as you. guys mentioned like that run game, if. that can get going, that'll change.

everything for the Eagles. Carter. returned in week 18 from a month-long. absence because of injuries to both. shoulders. Yeah, so it feels like he. >> Lane? Lane, I don't know right now. Guess we'll see if we got any. Cuz if. he's coming back to practice, you assume. he's playing. Why would you practice? Lane, Trent Williams, I expect I don't. know. I haven't seen anything, but with. Trent Williams knowing who he is with a. hamstring injury, I expect him to be. back out there. >> Yeah, I saw him tunnel, you know, boom.

box. >> Mhm. I saw him. >> Still vibing. moving a little bit. And. then on the sideline it looked like he. was not like agonizing in pain like that. thing was, you know, not that that can't pop up on you. though. I'm sure it's very scary. Lane. who's been out since week 11. should be back for the playoffs. He's in. line to return for the playoffs. That's. a big deal. Huge. Their [snorts] record. >> Huge. That That's like the craziest stat. of all time. They're like 120 and 50. with them and then they're awful without. them. This from Jeff McLane, Eagles right.

tackle, Lane Johnson expected to. practice on Wednesday for the first time. since he suffered a Lisfranc. Johnson. has made progress in his recovery but. still has to test his right foot before. the team makes a decision on his. availability for Sunday's wild card game. first the Niners. He's playing. That. injury is a Yeah, he's in. Yeah, Lisfranc sucks cuz that's every. everything. That's the whole foot. I. broke Yeah, I broke my pinky, my big. toe. Okay, you can walk on the outside. of your foot, the inside of your foot. Got an ankle, maybe you can hop a little. bit. Just the entire.

That sucks. He's taking many great. Johnson will return though from battle. against that thing. Hell yeah. How hard. How tough is it? I guess AJ, both of you. went to Super Bowls. >> Surgeries. That No, not even that that. injury. Just as a team like we always. hear like Super Bowl hangover. Like you. have that long run, you win it all, you. celebrate, and then coming back that. next year. Obviously not too many people. go back-to-back. How tough is like that. really handling that and being in it, being a part of that team? I'll answer. quickly before AJ gives an actual.

answer. I thought we were just going. back to the Super Bowl the next year. Everybody told me I was wrong and we and. I was. We never got back. So, AJ, your. thoughts going that entire time? Yeah, it's I mean, I don't know if we. assumed see it. We won We won it all and. then we got locked out like, you know, a. month later. So, it was different. We. didn't come back together until training. camp started. So, that made it a little. bit different. I think we weren't. together. So, it was like it's all fresh. and new again. We didn't have like the. complacency. I think we went 15 and 1, I. believe that year and then got beat in. the playoffs, which sucks. But I don't. know if I could say like there's. complacency, but people like it's.

natural human nature to get comfortable. Like if somebody if you do you get a. ring or something happens. I don't I. wouldn't say that was the case with us. I don't think Big Mike was not going to. let that happen with us, but I think it. is real. It's definitely real. The team. that I was in the locker room of, I'm. not even going to act like I was really. a part I wasn't There's no reason I. should have been there. I had no idea. what I was doing. I feel like I brought. good vibes though. But like that team. very mature. So, like the next year I think we made. it to the division round and then lost. to the Jets. I think we gave up.

deep shot to the right after calling a. timeout cuz we thought we were getting. the ball back. Pass interference, Nick Folk hits a. 30-some yarder instead of having to be a. 54-yarder. Nick Folk's still doing it, by the way. He was old at that time. Still doing it. Unbelievable. We lose. the second year. But like I think all. the OGs. I think they knew how hard it was to get. to the Super Bowl, you know? Like I So, I have Mount Rushmore quarterbacks, too. Like Payton and Aaron like. Yeah. You would assume like every year. you had a legit chance.

>> Peyton took it really hard, I think. From my understanding I don't know all. the information on anybody or anything. But from my understanding he was Peyton. like. I think he disappeared for a few weeks. like get away from everything. Like. really took it hard cuz how good our. team was and how we had to leave at. halftime. And I keep saying leave it like I didn't. do you know. That team was so cool to be a. part of. They were just like grown ass. men, you know? Like yeah, we're drinking a beer the. night before the game. Where is the ice cream?

Yeah, did you see Did you see a beer at. our Saturday meetings early on in my. career? Yes. Ice cream, beer, pizza. Balls, balls. What else do we need? Like that group. We're playing cards on this night. We're. doing dinner this night. This is. happening on this night. It's like that. that was like It was aw- and I. just get dropped in there strictly as a. single young vibes guy at every one of. the events, you know, for basically. every part of the team. Defense, offense, skill, lineman, you know, I got. a chance to really see how they operated.

and I think they got a chance to see how. I operated, too. And I would say I think. they they think I did okay. I think I. did. But it was like that was. Like in West Virginia it was the same. Like we were. you know, our team was like They were. pros. Yeah, you see I I came into Ohio. State, we won the national championship. my first year. Like I saw those dudes. were men. Like those upperclassmen. watching them, I'm like, okay, like this. is They They were like a part of an. older generation to where they. they could go out as hard as anybody on. the planet and then they would be there. at 6:00 a.m. the next day just cracking.

skulls. Like they did not care. >> I think they would say that that was a. trait that helped them in football. Like, you know, and and. Yeah, well, not only that, but like. I feel like those people got a lot. tighter as a team. Like I think there. were certain things that happened. whenever guys weren't just completely. worried about nutritional science at. every single waking turn. You know, I. saw something. about track, the 100 meters from the. beginning of documented time till now, and we've only gotten like .7 or .8. faster. Whenever it talks about all the.

shoes, all the new technology, the new. track, everything like that. Documented 100 time 100 meter time. And. I might have got got by a If I was, they. put a lot of work into this thing to do. it. But it's like how how much faster. did the human body actually get with the. advancement of all this science and. technology and information and all this. And it's like not that much. So, like whenever these nutritional people. came in and just changed the entire. culture of football. like that almost. And the NFLPA and the. NFL made it mandatory in the CBA. Like.

everybody needs a nutritional coach, everybody needs a science coach and then. like this. And I think athletes. just bought into it cuz it's like, yeah, okay, this is what the nutritional. person says this is what it is. That. really changed quickly. That's why. whenever I'm talking about Fernando. Mendoza having beers with the boys, like. I think that's a big deal. Like. I Like I I think that is a huge thing. cuz yes, I guess everybody's stronger, faster. By how much? Certainly there's guys that are very, very fast and there was guys that were.

nowhere near as fast playing football. back in the day. But it's like how much. did all this super duper nutrition. help and what did we lose by taking away. all the bad stuff that could potentially. bring more chemistry than anything else, you know? And that's why whenever I. Mental toughness. Sorry, I don't want to. lose that mental toughness when I like. when everything is crafted for you and. here's smoothies and all this. That's. what I get worried about is guys that. say like, I need a I'm not going to You. see a guy all of a sudden in street. clothes after warm-up, I don't feel. right today. Yeah, I don't feel right.

Like what are you talking about? You. don't feel right. Like come on, man. Like that's what I hope we don't lose. Also, hey, yeah, make a peanut butter. and jelly, bro. We're hungry. Yeah, open that thing, okay? You take anything, spoon, whatever's nearest. Boom, bang, and then. do it. Just doing that as opposed to. hey, here's this for you, here's this. for you. You want two protein balls? How. about a protein stick? You want a little. bit of this? Gatorade? Oh, you want. Gatorade? We used to have to try. to fight for some goddamn Gatorade out. there. And I'm not yelling at the clouds. in front of you or anything.

I'm just saying when I'm talking about. players being generational. Fernando feels like in a world of. generation where we're back in the. modern era right now. And I don't even think he knows it. I think he's just like It's a good. thing. It's a great thing. He doesn't. know it. Shut up. That Oregon defense that was going to. harm Dan Lanning. I'm really excited for. that game. So pumped. Dan Lanning's. second shot at him. Mhm. I'm glad that game is Friday. and not Thursday. And I'm pumped for. Miami Ole Miss, too. It's just, you know, Oregon-Indiana. It's Some of.

the nerds You see what the nerds are. saying about Dan Lanning? What? About. beating him twice. Yeah, pretty easy. >> The board did it. He wasn't the only one, I guess, right? They did This is different. That's what Hembo Hembo said. Everybody's talking about beating. Lanning twice. I think Hembo sent me a stat about. another team that was trying to beat. somebody twice. He's like, everybody. talks about it being hard to beat. somebody twice. It's actually not. factual. Maybe you beat him the first. time cuz you're a better team. And then. it was some stat. This one is about Dan. Lanning. And maybe these teams are just. better teams, which is what Hembo and.

the stats people say, I think, about the. whole narrative about how hard to beat. somebody twice cuz I think outside stats. people, us, we got a better knowledge, you know, more fired up, little bit more. motivated. Stats people say, well, actually higher score first game was. more corresponding with how good team. is. And then the second time should be. the exact same. But we all understand. what this is. We all understand. adjustments. We all understand what. could happen. But stats say it's. certainly possible. Also, you see with. the the DeBoer-Washington when he beat.

him twice, 36-33 and 34-31. Like those. games could have gone either way. 32-31, Ohio State first meeting. Rematch, ass beating. Yeah. 41-21 was. not close. It was not that close, yeah. Yeah, that was 41-nothing. That's what. it felt like in my eye in my mind. And I. assume you feel the same way on that. one. Yeah, the beating team twice. I guess I. I'm a victim of that, too. Or I guess. I'm guilty of saying, oh, you know, it's. hard to beat a team twice just because. Yeah, that's stupid. We should change. that. I just because I heard it before.

It's like saying, oh, make sure you. don't go outside with wet hair when it's. cold, you'll get pneumonia." That's. dumb. Like that doesn't mean anything. That's a [laughter] Don't touch the eggs. of a If you touch the eggs of a in a. bird's nest, the bird won't come back. cuz the mom will disown them. Nope, that's false as well. Like yeah, we got. Have you disproven it? Yeah, all these. things All these things are just do it. this way cuz it's how it's always been. >> want stoop on your hands. You don't want. your little kids having mushy bird poop. and garbage all over their hands, so. don't be digging around a a bird's nest. Okay, I like that. So, they went to the. extreme saying, "Hey, you want to ruin. this life?" Yeah, the mom will kill all.

the babies if you touch them. They make. them feel that. >> Yeah, the most extreme. What about. pumping gas while your car's on? Yeah, I guess that's Well, there's. That's never been even questioned. What. do you mean? You shouldn't do that. Are. you sure? Especially in the winter. Especially in the winter, D. But, you're. an Indian you're going to need to do. that. You knew AJ. You knew Okay, you do as well. You knew. AJ felt very strongly about that and I. appreciate you alley-ooping him here on. his birthday. [laughter]. AJ's never even thought about turning. his car off while pumping that gas. >> That's just common sense, you know that. Well, how come at every gas station it. says turn the car off when you're.

pumping gas? I mean, there's a lot of signs all over. that mean nothing that are garbage that. they just have there. Yeah, I agree. That's What What is it for? What do you. think? CYA, cover your ass cuz they. don't want to get sued if your car blows. up. >> Exactly. And that's, you know what? Yeah, it is fine until some fat hayseed. flicks a cigarette near your car and it. blows up the entire gas station. And now you don't just have one. fatality, you got 30. 30? 40? This is just like the bird with the eggs. that Exactly. >> [laughter]. >> I looked up the bird with the eggs. thing. I think he's right there. He's.

wrong about the gas thing, but A lot of. signs. But But, what he's saying is just. cuz we've heard it all the time doesn't. mean it's real. You know, just cuz Hey, that's what AJ AJ likes to question the. uh. He doesn't like the. >> like to question they. When the people. say, "They say." Like my mom is guilty. of it. She always says, "They." And I'll. Well, Mom, who is they? Here's the. thing. We'll say it's Google at this exact. moment is one part of they. I don't know. if this is how they identify. We. shouldn't necessarily just automatically. throw they on them, but Yes, you should. >> Rare is what I see right there. Rare.

Very rare. Yeah, but what Do you see the. first line or do you just not read like. first line into What are the two words. after rare? It's tin of nicotine right. here. Catastrophic risk. But, I mean, come on now. AJ [snorts] AJ All right. So, obviously, everybody has told you. you're wrong, but I understand you got. to live with it. >> ever mentioned it to me. I think they. all said, "Thank you for keeping me nice. and comfortable while you're pumping. gas." I think that's all it is. >> does this new thing on the plane flights. where he refuses to sit in his seat. during takeoff. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, what's that all about here? Pretty. active flyer. Because he was told one.

time, "Hey, sir, can you sit in your. seat for takeoff?" Now, he refuses to do. it. I'll have to do that. I'll tell you. what. Every once in a while I'll protest. some that's being said on those. things. I I I respect I I very much. respect um what you're saying. I can't. wait for him to hit his head off the. ceiling. I got a wide base. You see my wide base? >> The real problem is he's like banging on. the exit door like, "Oh, you think this. is You think this is fun? Don't you want me to do that now before. If I did it in the air, it'd be much. worse than if I threw it on the ground.". I just want to see if it's holding.

Yeah, I appreciate you doing those last. minute plane checks for us. How about the peek and go? You were dead. ass asleep. No, no, I watched I watched. that whole thing, believe me. I cuz I. saw it. and I heard him push it back up and I. was like, "Oh, dang it, we're going. around.". >> Okay, so you were up for that. Okay, I'm. happy to hear you were up for that. And. the way you fly, I assume you were. actually woken up by the plane moving. and your body just We're going to puke. right now even though you're dead ass. asleep. Us in the front kind of in real. time dealing with the information, knowing that hell was about to.

potentially happen. Like, "Hey, if we If. we can't land, we'll just pull it right. back up and then we'll head over to. LAX." And then getting a message like, "Hey, think we're going to be able to. land, so going to be able to see ground. We're going to be good." It's like. awesome news. So, kind of like anxiety. kind of just kind of settles away. And. then we get to a part where we see. ground. Like we Okay, we got here. We. cuz we knew the mission the whole time. And obviously, we're paying attention. We're We're doing the entire thing. We. see ground clearer than I think we've. seen. >> Oh, yeah, it looked good. I mean, it was. clear clear. He could He could have. touched down. I I'm thinking the pilots.

wanted to land at the other You guys saw. it ground? Oh, yeah, I saw a house. Oh, big time. Cuz I woke up on the. There's minimums. We We could have done. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, I'll tell you, it was it was. certainly an impressive re-lift back up. into the sky, but from what we were. understanding and I'm sure some pilot. would give us some. >> Yeah, I I don't have my hours. Yeah, I. know AJ got some hours under his There's. minimums. There's minimums. He was He. was fully legal to do it. He made a. decision. He's conservative. I agree. It's better to do that than die. Which.

he can always grandstand with, you know, like, "Well, we just thought it's safer. for all parties." But, also potentially. And my hotel's right there. hour drive. Yeah, so that that is where, you know, we in the back of the plane who then had. to do an hour drive, you know, with. limited certainly had some questions. like, "Ma I saw I was told if we could. see we're going down here. Is air. traffic control telling you we can't go. down? No, they're saying you can't. Okay, you're just finding out if you could. see. So, you're making a decision to go to.

LAX then. Yeah, the airport was open. Yeah, still fully open. Oh, yeah, operable. Well, hey, got us down safe. That's. right. Thank you for doing that. We can't complain, honestly. That's a. nice plane. We're on it a long. time, but that was a nice plane. Oh, yeah. It was a nice. Three rooms. I mean, you guys were. sleeping in the back, had no idea what. was going on in the front, right? >> No idea, luckily. On the plane to. California? Could not hear you guys back. there. I didn't know that you guys knew we were. possibly going to do a. you know, a go around or touch and go.

Like I didn't I didn't even know that. I. just knew it was foggy. Yeah, we were. very much in the know on how it was all. going. Pilot actually came back, sat in. front of me. All right, hey, listen. I'm. going to take a seat. Did this one to be. a long one. Had his glasses on his lap. So, here's the situation. Kind of breaks. it all down. Low ceiling, you know, obviously a lot of pressure and blah. blah blah blah the whole thing. Super. scientific words. We're all what? Half asleep at that point. I mean, it. was a long time. >> I was nuked at that point. Yeah. Oh, man. Still up. This [laughter] guy very.

well dressed, good hair. I mean, seems. very professional. Moves glasses to the. lap. I mean, knows his whole thing. Breaks it all down to us. Does it sound. good? Does sound good. Thank you for, you. know, the information. Gets up, goes. back up there. Now, we're all on high. alert. All right, here we go. Let's see what what happens, boys. Flight attendant turns around. They're. saying they think it's good for landing. It's like. >> [laughter]. >> Yes, that's great news. Little burst of. energy there, by the way. You know, about the 27th hour of our.

day, 28th hour of our day or whatever. Lucky to do it, not bitching about it, just tucked in about state of mind where. we are at the time. And then yeah, the. Oh, look at that guy's house. I'm. literally seeing his backyard. Okay, we. can see down there, IT LOOKS LIKE. HOLY WE'RE OUT of here. That was good takeoff. Shout out to that plane still having the. juice. to be able to just turn that I was. hoping he was going to circle around and. come back in the same airport. They do. that sometimes. Try it again. No, no, no, no. Guy was never landing there. Never. No,

the hotel was connected to LAX. He. wanted us to take the roller coaster. ride. That's all that was all that was. about. Boys, wake up. You got a. hour and a half ride. >> [laughter]. >> Awesome. Thankful to be safe. Yep. Yep. Thankful to be safe. For sure. Yeah. Cannot wait to get out to Arizona, then. to Atlanta. What? And then Super Bowl. car weekend. What? What? What? And then. Super Bowl car Monday. What? Look at me live. Happy birthday, AJ. Happy birthday, Hawk. Happy birthday, Hawk. Happy birthday, Hawk. Happy. birthday, Hawk. All right, we're back. tomorrow. Uh be a friend, tell a friend. something nice. It might change your.

life. We're obviously in this together. Team on me. AJ, anything to say on this. birthday? No, I appreciate you guys. Thank you. And you guys know, these are the good. old days, absolutely. You landed the plane, brother. I'll go. We're in it. Let's live in the moment. And. this moment. And this moment. And this. moment. And a new one. >> [snorts]. >> And a new one. The past is dead. The. future does not exist. Here we go. I like it. New one.

And. here it is. Tone's not in the moment. I can tell. Tone's worried about No, he's trying to. move on to Hammer Dahn. He's got a lot. of bets to get, a lot of winners. [laughter] Shout out Shout out to that. whole thing. Happy Happy birthday, AJ. Love this moment and every moment we get. to spend together. We're so thankful for. the moments in which we get to talk. about sports for a living. It's the. dumbest life of all time and we can't. thank you all enough for allowing us to. do this. Team on me. Team on three. 1 2. 3. Goodbye.