Welcome to the Game! 2025 NFL Week One - Pop Culture x NFL Crossover, GQ Covers, CMC and Diggs Comeback Year, In Defense of the Lions and Living in a Fantasy

0:22I'm Victoria. I'm Giovanna. The game's on. Hey team. Welcome to the first episode of 2025 of the game, your new favorite NFL-based podcast by the girls for everyone. We are so excited to be here, be talking to you about the NFL in a way that feels fun, exciting, informative, and community-based. I started the show because I couldn't find other people talking about the NFL in a way that I wanted to talk about it. So I decided to create it and make the show and I found Giovanna and now we're so excited to be here and be building community and having a great time yapping about football. Yapping. Just yapping all day long.

1:05So I'm Victoria. I'm from San Diego and I am a Detroit Lions fan. I'm Giovanna Sproggins. I grew up in Dallas so by default yes I am a Dallas Cowboys fan but I'm a realistic Cowboys fan so it's okay. Like you can talk to me about how we suck and I'll I'll respect you for a little bit. You can talk to me about it. I know sometimes, but it's fine. We get through it. Micah Parsons, that's okay. Later in the show, later in the show. Yeah. Yeah. We'll get into that later in the show. We're going to be covering on the show today, some pop culture. We will be covering the Eagles Cowboys game. We have a listener question to tie it all in and some season predictions as we go.

1:45So a couple of things off the top. We have the podcast, but we also have a substat community and a fantasy football league. I know that a lot of you guys are probably here from the Fantasy League. 1 ,350 girls joined this year. So, yeah. It's a lot of girls. That's actually, like, so insane. We're talking 1 ,300 leagues. Just playing ball. So 1 ,300 teams. Not leagues. Yeah, 106 leagues. Yeah. Like, that is, we're building an army here. And we're all going to be bad girls just playing some fantasy football. And I love that for us. That's still insane. Like crazy. It's wild. And the whole point is to build community and to find other women who want to talk about sports in the way that we want to talk about sports.

2:32And I'm so happy to say that that's happening in the chat. So in the chat on the fantasy app, but also in the Substack chat, it's going off of girls hanging out, saying what they want to say, giving opinions, talking about players, talking about trades. and it's like just a really great community to be a part of and just having the substack chat last night i was cracking up it was so fun to be a part of so if you're looking for people to chat about games with while they're going on like we are the place to do you want anything to add on that on on the fantasy note yeah on the fantasy note like i we're in this together girls like make sure you say upstand all that stuff because we're gonna do some hot waiver wire ads every single week.

3:18People to stash, people that are going to come up. We're going to talk about injuries and all that stuff. If you haven't saw, CMC is questionable right now. Christian McAfee running back for the 49ers. He's questionable. And that is a huge impact. He is in one of my leagues. So we will see. And that's kind of been a little bit of an iffy thing this year with running backs because obviously CMC is coming off of a very, very down year, but he's still really good. So hopefully we will see him play week one in that 49ers game, but I guess we'll have to see. Yeah, I guess we'll have to see tomorrow morning what's going to happen with Christian McCaffrey over on the 49ers.

3:53But I hope he plays. We'll see. I hope he plays too. And I hope for his sake that he has a really great year because I know that people are upset from the fantasy perspective from last year. I think it's you got to be careful with picking the hot guys. You know, you have to be careful with like picking favorite players just because they're hot and cool. But I did hear I was talking to one of the girls in the community. We were on the phone, actually, and she was saying that one of her friends has a theme for who she picks every year in fantasy. So she's done one where it's like people that have like names that would show up in a Taylor Swift song.

4:28She's done them like based on, I think, like astrology or something like that. Or like she did a theme. So she's like horses and water animals only. And she only picks players from those teams. and so I want to like chat with her about what her teams have looked like and has she won with this like chaotic uh chaotic way of picking her her draft picks no I need to see her I need to see what the theme is this year I need to see all her players the astrology side is interesting because remember I sent you on sleeper if you use sleeper app it literally will show you the players astrology which I think is crazy and you can't tell me that's not meant for the girlies because like the men that are playing fantasy they're looking at it no there's no way they're not.

5:07So sleepers looking out for us and I'm here for it. They don't pop up on mine though. So I need to figure out how do I get them on there? Maybe I need to update my app. There's a certain way you have to get to it. Like it's, it's kind of hidden in there, but yeah, it's, yeah, it's hidden, but it's there. It's there. Maybe I'll drop to see like, are the girls here? And we're like, the girls are here. Yeah. Maybe I'll drop an article about how you can find everyone's astrology site and then we can all, we can all munch off of it. Yeah. Yeah. So let's get into some pop culture. We're talking a little bit about astrology players.

5:38Let's talk about what's going on in life. I'm happy to report that I saw today that Cardi B actually won her trial. And I know, I know. So if you didn't know, as she should, as she should. So if you didn't know, Cardi B is dating Stefan Diggs. And that's why we're talking about her on this show. So she's dating wide receiver for the Patriot, DeFawn Diggs. And she is on the stand right now. She's being sued by a security guard at a hospital who she claims was videoing her. So the security person was videoing her and they got into like a verbal altercation. And this security guard decided to sue Cardi B for assault.

6:22And Cardi B has made this entire thing an absolute fashion show. The voice bits from her are iconic. Like if you haven't seen it, the face it, like she's just being exactly who she is. And I love it because you see people, most people are buttoned up on the stand and she's like, you're not taking my money. You're not taking my money because you're wrong. And they asked her at one point like a question and she said, I was pregnant. No, I think what sent it for me is there is a part and I saw this on TikTok, there's a part in the trial, I guess, where the lawyer was like, weren't you wearing a different, different color hair?

6:57And she was like, yeah it's called a wig and that just sent me like as a as a very very proud black woman it's just so iconic i think she came to court with like three different like three different hairstyles and it was amazing what do you mean i love it that they pointed that out she's like it's a what what no also whoever that girl's lawyer is needs to be take his license i don't even know how he passed the bar that's that is the exam that they have to take right anyways It's wild. We need to talk about Stefan though, because he's having a little bit, this is going to be interesting season for him.

7:31Obviously he's been in the news with Cardi B and that kind of scene. And I remember the first time I saw them was actually, I think they went to a basketball game together and they sat courtside. And that was the first time I was like, oh, they're together. This is real. It's kind of spicy. I didn't even know Stefan was like Cardi B's type and like vice versa. I mean, yeah, I guess I don't know who Cardi B's dated in the past, but I do love the combination of a like famous musician woman and an NFL player guy, because I think it's just like, I mean, any athlete is like hot. And I love that. Like, I feel like NFL players are really having a moment in pop culture.

8:11We're seeing all of these brand deals. We're seeing them own their own businesses. Like the players are so much more than players these days more than ever before just because the number of eyes that are on them their social media presences and yeah I like love the combo so I feel like I saw them and I was like oh yeah this makes sense because we all like the Travis and Taylor at all we have the Josh Allen quarterback for the Bills and Haley Steinfeld of it all yeah but Stefan is actually really like I really like Haley Steinfeld and Josh like that is a that probably can I select like my favorite i think they're my favorite like i think you can say celebrity and quarterback duo obviously josh allen maybe he'll win a super bowl this year we'll see but i think they're like my favorite duo right now yes travis and taylor are my favorite duo i'm sorry so please don't kill me please yeah yeah yeah okay so yeah so stefan's interesting because he was on the bills from 2020 to 2024 and he had a season ending ending injury in week eight of last year and there's kind of some talk about like, is he going to have a comeback year or is this going to be kind of flat, which I think is a similar storyline to what we were just talking about with Christian McCaffrey on the 49ers.

9:20He's now on the Patriots on a$69 million three-year contract. We're seven. Okay, continue. Okay, hold it together. But yeah, he's on that contract with the Patriots. And I think it's interesting because Patriots were on our go last year. And I'm interested to see, can he be a leader on the team? Because I think that sometimes when people step into a leadership moment, they often do better than in a non-leadership moment. And I think that he could be one of those people because he does have like a poise and a presence. And I think that when you are teaching other people on the field to have a poise and a presence, you'll end up playing better because you're internalizing being the example.

10:07And I'm hoping that's what's going to happen for him. I'm also curious to see if that's what happens for Joe Flacco on the Browns, the Bears. Browns. I get those mixed up too, but the Browns, yes. It's the colors. It's the colors. No, because why is every orange and blue team, Browns, Bears, Bengals, Broncos? Who made this up? Not a woman. They're all, clearly, and they're all Bs. And they're all Bs. What am I supposed to do with that okay so the Browns anyway I think that Joe Flacco I was really kind of suspicious about him in the beginning but I think that he might step into a similar role especially having someone who's a little zesty like Shadour Sanders underneath him and so I'm really interested in seeing does he step into that role as well and does that role in turn improve play on the field So I'm curious to see kind of what happens in that role.

11:05But I'm wondering if that, yeah, if Stephon Diggs will see that as well. I actually really like the fact that you said, like, stepping up into a leadership role. And I think for Stephon, that is going to be the key walking into this Patriots offense. Because from a fantasy perspective, I have seen mixed, like, emotions on how he's going to perform this year. As quarterback is still fairly new to the league. And, you know, there's still a lot of woes that they have to uncover with the Patriots offense. but I'm a little bit hopeful and I think for the fantasy girlies I don't think Stefan is a bad pickup obviously like I would err on the side of caution like watch him week one week two and see how much of he is stepping up as like the wide receiver one option and how much gets the ball but I think he he could be a good fantasy house option but we'll see because he needs he needs some he needs some ump in his NFL career in my opinion when you got to get it we got to get the spark back going.

11:57It's times. Speaking of getting the spark back, I think a lot of people are hoping that Travis Kelsey has a pretty, I almost said breakout season, which is not right. But I think that people are hoping that he kind of picks it back up again because like Travis Kelsey in his true prime and not playoff prime is so fun to watch. But in the last couple of seasons, we haven't seen him play at his max capacity. And so I'm really excited to see that happen. One of the girls today in the chat was like, Travis got the girl. Now let's see the play. I was like, yeah, yeah. And then he'll have everything you wish for.

12:33I think from a Travis, like he honestly really think this is last year. And if it's his last year, I think he's going to, he has to go with a bang. Like he has to. He did say at the press conference the other day though, I think while he's already at the getting ready for the game, which is going tonight while we're recording, that he's feeling young and fresh. So I'm interested. They asked him, like, is this your last dance? Like, is this your last season? And he alluded to, like, feeling really young and fresh. I mean, I would feel young and fresh, too, if I was engaged to Taylor Swift. I mean, like, what can I say?

13:05I mean, I love the Kelsey brothers for their entertainment. Obviously, we can't skip over the fact that Travis and Taylor are engaged now, which is so exciting. He was on GQ, which I love the photos. The cover was very shocking to me. If you guys haven't seen the cover, it's almost like lion-esque with the, he has like a fur around his head. And I was a little shocked when I saw it. I was traveling in the Houston airport. And when I saw it, I kind of was like, whoa. And then I was like, oh my gosh, that's Travis Kelsey. And it says America's sweetheart. But it's him like looking like, I think it's like neck up.

13:40So you can't see any clothes. And then like this lion situation going on. What's funny about that to me is like when you first shared it with me, like victoria texted me asap and she was like you have to see this g like you have to see this and i look at it and even realize it said american sweetheart that like made it so much funnier to me because i'm like okay now what are we talking about here and he's just like literally like his hair like i don't even know what it is hair or like some type of mask or something but it's like over his face and he's like yeah smoldering into the camera yeah yeah it's like the america sweetheart line didn't quite match with like the with honestly the photo shoot in general like he's like picking up exotic animals he's got furs on like it's very like sexy cool guy pop culture breaking the norm but not quite like America's sweetheart like guy makes girl dinner so I thought that was interesting but honestly like I I really like seeing all of the like extras he was also They're just in an American Eagle campaign.

14:42He's really going for it, which I think is cool, regardless of my personal opinion of the actual cover that they chose. And I'm wondering who was it him who chose the cover? What did we say earlier? Like, did Taylor approve this message? Did Taylor approve this message? I was like, not going to lie, I think I would get the ick. But it's also Travis Kelsey, so I'm not sure. But like, imagine like you're walking through the airport and you see your man on, you know what I mean? Like, that's kind of, I don't know. I wouldn't have chosen the photo, but I don't know if I quite got the ick from it. I was just, it was a little jump scare.

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15:55And I just love that it's all natural ingredients. It is bold flavors and no seed oils. There's nothing crazy going on in these products. It's just real ingredients and great flavor. Not to mention the people who founded and work for Cusos are some of the best. And it's not that often that you find high quality people and a high quality product. So hand in hand. So if you want to try out Cusocuts, you can head to Cusocuts.com. Use the code the game at checkout for 10 % off your order. Back to regularly scheduled programming but the chiefs offense this year and i know we're gonna get into some rishi rice talk because that's also kind of what might make travis kelsey's year like rishi rice is the wide receiver on the chiefs now he came off of an injury last season kind of similar to stuff on season inning injury did not play and then now he's facing a six game i think it was six right Six game suspension.

16:52Six game suspension. Yeah. And so he will not play, which honestly it worked out better for him because I think originally they wanted to suspend him like during the season. So he would have played the first couple of games then got suspended. But now he's just sitting out those first six games. But the role where she writes is going to play on the Chiefs offense might make or break how Travis Kelsey performs. And I think we're seeing the league shift a little bit because a lot of these tight ends now, they're blocking more than they are receiving. So if you can kind of like get on the line and be a blocker and, you know, you have two really good receivers and the Chiefs have two really good receivers in the one and two, Travis Kelsey might be out there blocking more than he's catching and getting touchdowns.

17:36So we'll see. Yeah, that's interesting. If you didn't know the Rashi Rice situation, I'll just give you like a quick update on it. In 2024, Rashi Rice got into like a race on the Dallas highway, ended up in a crash, and there was bodily injury to some people in the crash. So he's been sentenced to 30 days in jail over his somewhere in his five-year probation. And then the six-game suspension, I don't think if that happens, you ever like truly 100 % move on from it. But I do like that he's like, I want to take my time, serve my punishment, and then come back in with like, you know, without it hanging over his head, which I think will cause him to play a lot better.

18:14But I do think that in the first couple games, is Travis Kelsey going to have way more opportunities than he maybe would have had if Rashi was in? Yes, and that's only going to bode well for Travis and Taylor. Agreed. They kind of had no choice. If he sat out in the middle of the season and played, that wouldn't make sense, especially for the organization, too. It wouldn't make sense and it wouldn't be good for anyone in that situation. Bopey learned his lesson because I really do like him and I have a personal connection to him because he played at SMU, Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

18:43So I think he's going to be a really good talent. Yes, graduated, pony up, go Mustangs. So I hope he learned his lesson, and I hope that he has a really good year this year, because I think he does deserve it, and he's definitely one of the most talented receivers in the league right now. I'd love to see him, like, pull it together, have a really good season, have learned a lot from the experience, from the press experience of it all, and kind of see, you know, a turnaround on his part. out of trouble. Yeah. Because I do think that there is a redemption arc here. And I think that if he can kind of train himself in the press and in his conduct, I think he just has a lot of potential and also could be a good mentor in the future to new players coming in and being like, don't do what I did.

19:29Don't be that guy. Let me show you how to do it better. Because that always works better coming from someone who's been through something rough than someone who kind of came out like Justin Fields is just kind of like a classy guy like Justin Fields telling a 22 year old when Justin Fields turns 30 him telling a 22 year old not to race is going to look a lot different than Rashi Rice so I think there's a lot of opportunity here which could be a silver lining to like a really bad really sad situation so that's interesting yeah I really like that you brought up blocking of the offense and I think that we should go right into the game, the Cowboys-Eagles game, because there was a lot of blocking from the offenses that allowed a lot of run game and a lot of yardage on the field in a way that I don't know that I've ever clocked like I did last night, but I feel like guys are just pushing people out of the way and running backs and wide receivers.

20:22It was like watching bodyguards. No panic, no stress. They got their bodyguard pushing people out of the way in front of them. I was so impressed with, Honestly, both sides saw a little bit of that, and I thought that was super interesting. That's definitely not the main thing that we need to talk about last night. Where should we start? Spitgate. Can I call it Spitgate? Like, yes. That is insane. But the fact that we were blessed with a Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys game on the season opener of the NFL is amazing in itself. And I'm proud of my Cowboys. I know we lost, but it wasn't by much.

21:01four points that was the four points i'm proud of us see we should have caught the ball i think like i was like third and five or something fourth yeah third and five and like fourth quarter and if he would have caught the ball we would have been in the red zone and we might have scored and that might have changed the game a little bit but i'm proud of the cop i'll take it i will take it i am so excited i've played that one yeah i that was the craziest thing i've ever seen. I think spit gate. So I do have some info on kind of like the discord after. So apparently Prescott spit first, but spit on the ground.

21:40So Dak Prescott said, I just spit ahead, which then Carter asked Prescott if Dak was trying to spit on him, which he said, why the hell? Like, why, why would I do that? And then Carter knows that he didn't try and spit on him, but spit back. And Carter's really interesting because he's young. He's young. Jalen Carter is a defensive tackle, and they pretty heavily rely on them. The announcers last night actually compared him to Micah Parsons. And so him being out is a huge hindrance. They call him a disruptor as well in the media. He was drafted ninth overall in 2023. 2023. Okay. Yeah, so ninth overall.

22:20He's 24 years old. He, yeah, got kicked out of the game right away. Also, let's mention first six seconds. There was no snaps. No snaps. And also then the lightning delay and then the lightning delay and the injury in the first six seconds as well. So while Jalen Carter is spitting on Dak Prescott, which also like pick a better player, pick a pick any of anybody else, like pick a better player is wild. I know you're not that. I know. I know that you're smarter than that. If you're that good in your first two seasons, you got a brain on you. So I'm not sure what happened. He did apologize. after the game.

22:59He called it a mistake, said it wouldn't happen again. And Dak Prescott called it unfortunate circumstances that he got ejected. And we know - He was nice about it. He was nice about it. I think he's kicking himself for it. But that was crazy. And thank you for the entertainment. I agree. That's what I mean. Like something had to happen, like, like, but then there was another flight between, oh, I think it was like, uh his name starts with the elk he's like Samoa and I always know him on the Cowboys because he has really long gorgeous hair um and I do believe if you have long gorgeous hair and you play in the NFL you are special and you have magic in your soul but he got into a really big tussle with one of the Eagles players and like they both were like taking off their helmets that game was just all over electric no pun intended because of the lightning delay but I think it made for a great opener for this season.

23:49And it was really good to see how the Cowboys stack up against competition, especially the former Super Bowl champions. If you don't know, the Eagles did win a Super Bowl last year. So the fact that the Cowboys, who didn't even make the playoffs, didn't even make the playoffs last season. The fact that we only lost by four points. Again, it's a W in my book. J.S. Winston, I'm E to W. I'm glad. Yeah. And to get that close without with C.D. being a little like C.D.'s Butterfingers, I think, is also a big win because when Seedy is on his game and a little bit cleaner, which he usually is, that could have also been a different matchup.

24:29Jalen Hurts, also two rushing touchdowns. Man's a dog. He's certified, bro. If there's probably top, actually, I can't say that because I have so many that I like right now, but he's really up there. And I think talk about a leader when we talk about earlier, man, that offense is ran by Jalen Hurts. And he's just a good guy all around. But yeah, regular football, we're going to get it done one way or another. And obviously a good old tush push. A good old tush push. Can we talk about Love Island real quick? If you haven't seen it, you guys have to go watch Huda's tush push commercial. It is iconic.

25:05She looks stunning in it. No, she's gorgeous. I loved it. I loved it. I think it's chaotic. I think players are going into pop culture. I think it was a crazy move and I liked it. And I liked the commercial and I liked the way Huda looked in it. And I liked that the tush push is staying. Like, I don't know. I was, I watched it and I was like, you know what? Hell yeah. I'm pretty sure it's the Chargers. Have you seen the Chargers like TikTok videos with the Love Island folk? They do a lot. I think like Hannah from Love Island, like all on social media. Yeah, they do like funny videos and like dances and like they'll ask players questions.

25:40so I think the Eagles took a page out of the Chargers book and was like oh well we can get a love island too but I don't really know what's her tie to Philip like why the like what was what was the connecting point of like Huda and the Eagles it's and Tush Push it's butts like it's her butt I mean Olandria has a good butt too I Olandria yeah what a queen if we ever talk I guess I thought we should have Olandry on, but I'm pretty sure that that's, I can't think of another reason. And I just said, it's her butt. I'm like, uh. I don't want to objectify her, but like. I don't want to objectify her.

26:20I don't objectify women on this show. Okay, well, now that that's cleared up, in the, in the substack chat, the girls went off and were like, one girl says, Jalen hurts the cowboys with those legs. And then someone says, Jalen hurts my feelings not throwing the ball to Brown. Jalen hurts my feelings that he couldn't play this good at Alabama. Jalen hurts my feelings that he's single-handedly kicking my fantasy team's ass. So that's probably the worst thing. If you're playing somebody this week and they had Jalen Hurts on their team, good luck next week. Don't even look at this. Big L. Big L. And then on the girls in the chat note, so somebody in the chat says, did I hear Dak say iced coffee?

27:00and then he says he's a Starbies man through and through. And then somebody says, we love a man who could appreciate a false Starbies. And then later on, after Spitgate and the fight, girls were like, and they say women are emotional. And someone says, and I will never forget this for the rest of my life because this is exactly what I was hoping was going to go on in these chats. Someone says, guess he didn't get his PSL before the game. The girls, yeah, the girls. The girls are eating. And this, it's, again, if you have enjoyed the community, You need to go right now because that's just like, that's amazing.

27:34That the fact that that's going on during the games. Yeah, during the games. During the games. Okay. Speaking of games, should we get into the game that we're looking forward to the most this week, season predictions? And then take a little listener question and go home? Yeah, let's do it. Honestly, the game I was looking forward to has already concluded. I mean, like that was just, that was my game of the week for sure. There's some other really good matchups. And I know we're going to talk about the Lions too. but that was my game of the week for sure. Yeah, my game of the week, obviously. So I'm a Lions fan.