Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt on Ted Lasso Season 4, Their Arsenal Fandom, and the Power of Believing: Men in Blazers 08/11/2026

0:00Rog:You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio.

0:15Rog:My guest today, one of sport's most transformative duo, South West London's answer to Carlo Ancelotti and Zinnadin's Sudan, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Linders' Bill Belichick and Jordan Hudson. pair of Arsenal fans who've just smashed back onto our television screens in Ted Lasso season four on Apple TV it's a talk about everything that's to come for your Richmond Lady Greyhounds and for your defending champion Arsenal Football Club do we always welcome back Mr Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt I'm always the best I say it all the time he speaks in poetry I'm exhausted I just read what you told me to do I'm just doing your business gents the world is ready to believe and believe again.

0:56Rog:Like I said, last time we saw you, World Cup final, halftime show. Number one, who came up with the concept? So how many times you rehearsed with the Biebs? Yeah, we did. The concept, I think, was Chris Martin and whoever he had writing it. We rehearsed with the Biebs twice. Johnny Infantino. I don't think, he may have. Does his creative work? Possibly. I think he just walks around a room, swings a baseball bat and someone's furiously typing. He's one of those kind of writers. And then, yeah, We rehearsed with Biebs on Monday. We did it at a different venue. At the Jets practice facility, which is one of those big plastic bubble domes.

1:32To throw them off. Yeah, exactly. So nobody knew where we were. Parts unknown. And then we rehearsed at MetLife or New York, New Jersey Stadium, as it was referred to, on the Friday before. I mean, look, I hope it doesn't bother you, but I give a huge shout out. Monday night before we rehearsed, this guy was like, hey, we should have the believe sign, but it should say believe. And I was like, that is amazing. I was like blown away. I was just sitting there. I was like, ah, that's great. And then we didn't text Chris right away, brought it up like the next day, like face to face, because sometimes those type of pitches go better when it's, you know, mano a mano, eyeball to eyeball, warm eyes to warm eyes, as my sister Lindsay would say.

2:14And he loved it and they had it made. And then, you know, we were off to the races.

2:17Rog:1.5 billion people watching around the world. Everyone loves puns. And we proved it. Finally. Conveniently, they all love Bieber as well. Yeah, sure, that might have been the thing. That sold it over. Jason, you both started and finished the World Cup. You're on the field for the U.S. opening ceremony. Flags of the 48 participating countries. You went home to Kansas City. It was beautiful to watch Arrowhead Stadium jump with Argentinian fans as if there is a suburb of Rosario. What was your favorite World Cup memory? I mean, sitting backstage, you know, the two of us dressed as the characters with the fellas from BTS as they were getting their final touches done.

2:57The majority of those fellas were paying attention. Their hair and makeup people were not. So, like, at some point, like, we were sitting there and the screen is here. And there's just a gal just adjusting, like, six locks of hair. Like, and I'm just kind of like, like, how do I? I don't know. Like, I didn't see me. I'm not going to yell at anybody, you know, in general, but much less dressed as Ted Lasso. Not that that gal had any idea who I was, but that was a pretty surreal moment. Or the import of the World Cup final. Yeah, yeah. She plays on the TV behind her. And finally, when she goes away, Madonna's wardrobe rack comes through just really slowly.

3:31Just really slowly as Spain is really cooking with the ball. Like, oh, brother. So we don't really know what happened in the first half, but we did our best.

3:41Rog:KC Current, CPKC Stadium they do make a sparkling appearance in episode one of Ted Lasso out now, Apple TV very first episode, I will give no spoilers but it does set up Ted's next challenge as head coach of Richmond's women's football team the Lady Greyhounds what's the hardest thing for you Brendan about refashioning the show to focus on the world of women's football? Gosh, I mean just coming up with new characters and who these new team new team players were going to be. Other than that, nothing really hard per se about it. We already had our toes in women's football a little bit. Even more than women's sports with his WNBA fandom.

4:26And being able to walk down the street to go to Liberty Games. But yeah, it wasn't hard per se, but we did want to make as fun of characters on the team as we had done the first time around.

4:36Rog:Jason, I know you got a friendship with that became an authenticity consultant, awesome women's player Leah Williamson. What was a singular insight that she gave you that you wouldn't have known otherwise? Golly, just from the mindset of a player going through an injury, you know, that was super, super helpful. She's had a couple of doozies. Yeah, exactly. And, and I would ask her questions, you know, text her like sometimes the, cause you know, she, we were, um, she was over in the UK and, you know, time is, you know, is precious for anyone in any place. Um, and so I would give her like, you know, here's, here's 10 questions, you know, you know, from, from the writer's room.

5:17and then I would just get back these like wonderful like you know voice notes and I and I just told her I go I'm if it's okay when you do these voice notes I'm gonna you know type them out so we can we can give them and in some instances just play them uh so you know just be aware of that uh but then she was just very like as if having her in the writer's room it was wonderful like she just you know honest vulnerable you know authentic like and and as I know her as a human being and And as I think people have come to learn about her as an athlete as well, that it was just like the real deal. But that's the one that comes to mind first and foremost.

5:53Rog:It's like Jim Harbaugh and the travel khaki. I mean, it's a similar kind of thing. Similar kind of person. A hundred percent, yeah. Just giving you what they got. Shooting you straight. No judgment. You don't want to just, boom, open the floodgates and let it roll. It's somehow been three years and I think approximately 42 Chelsea managers since the end of Ted Lasso season three. Jason, you said at the time, the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we're hoping to tell, that we love to tell has just occurred. Was there a moment, an experience when you decided, nope, we're coming back, that you thought Ted Lasso needed to live again?

6:29Not a specific one. It was really the phrase I've come up with, it was like, yes, by a thousand cuts. It was both things going on internally, just hearing the voices that we know. And I had grown to love from the first three seasons, But then I started to hear these disembodied voices and ideas and visions of characters, which sounds like so hoity-toity, and I apologize for that. But it is the truth. And then it was just a matter of, you know, hanging out with Brendan and our buddy Joe. We did the commercials with way back when and seeing if my enthusiasm was resonating amongst them and then the writers.

7:01But then all these things going on, like as Brendan referenced, you know, me going to these WNBA games with my family, my sisters, whenever we're back here in New York. We're just a 10-minute walk to Barclays, which is something I've always envied of people that grew up in Northside Chicago walking to Wrigley or anybody living in North London to stroll over to the Emirates for an afternoon of sport. We get to do that with our family. And our tickets are right next to the opposing bench. So I wasn't taking notes, but just being around that energy, I was just like, oh, this would be fun. This is interesting and knowing and understanding, at least the best I can, Ted's relationship with women, even the five or so that we show throughout the first three years.

7:43I was like, well, what if we throw a whole team and an assistant coach at him and see what he learns from that?

7:51Rog:It is hard to overstate just how popular, how beloved Ted Lasso is, the characters. During the last season, they collected 283 million viewing hours, which is roughly about as long as every Everton season feels. 13 Emmys, you hear people say, it changed my life, changed me as a person, due to its upbeat optimism, which I think drives pessimists crazy. Honestly, optimism, I thought we'd stamped it out in this world. Does knowing how meaningful it is, does it put more pressure on you? Do you feel like a manager trying to defend the title? We very, at least me consciously, but everyone I think is basically doing this in the writer's room, just try not to think about it.

8:32But like we – it's certain we never expected, you know, people's reaction to it and that it would be imbued with so much meaning to people. And so since it wasn't part of our process at the beginning and we seem to do all right not thinking about it then, like continuing to not think about it, I think, you know, continues to serve us. Because also it can lead to – It's repression.

8:51Rog:It's good. It can also lead to getting high on our own supply. And like, oh, let's write this scene or whatever to be important and to be meaningful as opposed to knowing that we are a sitcom that manages to find some moments that are slightly uncomic. But yeah, if we were to keep surfing on people's reaction to the show, we'd be real dickheads by now. Worst dickheads. Yeah, worst dickheads by now. You're unbearable. Thank you. Thank you for noticing. I feel seen. Jason, you've always joked that Ted Lasso is actually, I love this quote, actually light you after two beers on an empty stomach. What are the most Ted-like parts of you that you're drawing from when you need to get into that character?

9:36I think his true love of being part of a team, like going through the highs and lows of the human experience with others side by side versus maybe adversarially or being out in front of them. But I think side by side, arm in arm, like kind of the Red Rover, Red Rover, send life's troubles right over and see if we can hold it together. I think that's the biggest thing. I've just always gravitated towards playing team sports than slipping into the ensemble arts of improv and sketch comedy. That's always been, I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

10:13Rog:Do you know where the Jason Sudeikis ends and the Jim Harbaugh begins? Not anymore. Not anymore. No, no. Maybe. There's probably something there, but no. It's more for his wife to know the distinction. You know, that's like... But even for her, it's getting harder every day. Yeah.

10:34Rog:I do want to talk about something else that you both share, your love for Arsenal Football Club. I know, Brendan, you've been supporting this club since the Dutch days, 1999. You're in Amsterdam. Dennis Bergkamp was banging in all the goals. I think that's what started the relationship. That relationship now old enough to rent a car. It's been hard miles. That's what cemented it. What's kept you in it? Oddly enough, for the show we do and its nomenclature, just belief, just blind belief. You know, like I was able to get on board, not from the beginning of the Wenger glory years, but, you know, I caught some of it.

11:08But then there was the banter era, you know, and there was the 8-2 and the Champions League semifinal against Man U. Yeah, oh my God, it just kept coming and coming. And then, like, you know, the small salve of a few FA Cups here and there. But, like, it was brutal for, like, what your hopes are for this team. And then, like, not even making the Champions League anymore. And then, like, finding yourself hoping to beat, you know, Victoria Pilsen. And then not even being in Europe at all. But, like, yeah, for some, I don't know why exactly. But, like, my relationship with this club just has belief as its center point.

11:45And like, you just got to believe. And I know, you know, every fan has to do that for their team, really. But like, yeah, we got tested. We got tested for a very long time. And to finally see that pay off and then pay off under the stewardship of a beloved former member of the team, it means a lot. And, you know, the belief shouldn't need to be validated. That's not how belief works. But when it does, on the rare occasions when it does, it's indescribable feeling.

12:09Rog:It is transcendent. I'm going to walk through the beats in a minute. But Jason, you've since joined it as an Arsenal supporter. What quality made you start to fall in love with that team, with these players, with the idea of North London forever? Well, I'm always susceptible to someone's enthusiasm, you know, and Brendan, as evident, has it. I mean, the series wouldn't exist without, you know, him sharing that enthusiasm with me in real time back in Amsterdam, in the green room of Boom Chicago and explaining football to me through the playing Man U. against Arsenal on FIFA in those days. So I knew all the players' names from Arsenal, you know, from that era of Arsenal, just from him, you know, explained to me as through the metaphor of the 90s Bulls.

12:54But then they were just so kind to us whenever we wanted to come. And we would go as often as possible because my man wanted to see them. And I stayed fairly agnostic for the first three seasons. You know, season one, we went to a few matches, but we were pretty darn busy. Season two was locked down, so we watched a whole bunch of matches, Ate a lot of Nando's. Season three, we started, you know, punching that card and going to see a different place and got to film a bunch of different places. And then by the time we came back around, I was like, well, I'm going all in. And it was and it has as much to do with what was happening on the pitch on both the men's team, the women's team, but then also the folks in the office, people, you know, you know, at the security desk when we come checking in.

13:32And then, you know, the coach himself, you know, his security guy, Peter, like everybody. And then getting to know Josh Kroenke. It was like one thing after another of just being like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And nobody was hurrying me into it. Nobody was trying to lure me into it. There was no salesmanship going on. It was just like, oh, we're here when you're ready. It was like, and then, yeah, the second we got back there, I had made the decision to be fully in. And once they had that support from me, you see what happened. I don't want to take credit for it.

14:02Rog:You are the butterfly's wings. I am the Ashton Kutcher of this situation. That is the butterfly effect. That is me. What does the club stand for in your own words? Just to count that. Boy, oh boy, great question. I mean, it feels very familial. It has a family sense to it. And I think when I see Brennan and Shannon there and their kids, when we're watching even at the house in LA, and they're all rocking Arsenal gear, I feel out of place if I'm not also rocking Arsenal gear. I've got to fit in with this family. You know, the same way if I was in the Brady Bunch, I'd rock, you know, Big Collar and some Bell Bottoms, you know, and some puka shells.

14:43That's a big part. And the way they embraced us as – and anytime we had guests, it was like that's the place we knew we had to take them. When we go to Arsenal games, like – and when we're in the director's box, which is not always, there is a real, like – you know, everyone's gregarious and friendly. But there's also, like – there's clearly a wait. There's a wait in the room for all these games. and it's felt, you know, from the bartenders to the ownership. Whereas at a club that will not be named, we went to once, the owner was literally like, isn't this great? Isn't this great? Like the fucking opening dialogue from the sweater song.

15:26And it's just like some people get it and some people don't and Arsenal get it. Who's your favorite Arsenal player to watch in what? Sucker. because, well, partially because, like, I hope he's coming back from this injury properly, but also, like, you know, having seen him from his, like, embryonic moments on the pitch, and see him move from fullback to winger, and just get to the point where he's taking games over, and see him, like, have to suffer what he suffered at the Euro final, and come back from it, yeah, he's just such a smooth player. He hypnotizes you. He's faster than he seems, because he's gliding in such a way that, you know, when he's at full health, like, he just baffles whoever's against him because unlike like Arjen Robben who would kind of do that he can go left or right um and it just throws people off and yeah he's he's he's a treat I mean I do love him yeah that's who that's who I definitely collect with um in trading cards with I'm a big uh Saka he's a part of my PC I like someone that when they have the ball you don't you know you feel comfortable you feel at peace you're like okay what are they gonna do with it whatever they're gonna do with it it's probably gonna be the right move I've always appreciated point guards like that in the basketball world just people that play from the eyes up I feel like Odegaard is one of of those, but probably all-time honoree.

16:34Rog:Last season was some hero's journey. There was long spells in the lead, the January wobble, there was darkness, the 2-1 loss against Manchester City, April 19th, five games to go. You guys write dramatic characters, you write dramatic moments. When you saw Declan Rice on his knees after that loss, mouthing, it's not done yet. It's not done. What did you feel in that moment? I didn't hear it that way. It was later when it became like meme-ish. I was like, really? Because I always heard it as, it's not done. Me too. It's not done yet. I always heard determination, not fracture. Not Dickensian little chimney sweep.

17:14Rog:No, no. I didn't. It could have been a shattering moment. He could have sat there, said nothing, and looked at his toes until somebody came and picked him up. But instead, as soon as Martin got close enough, like. It's not over. It's Patton. It's Patton. Declan Rice, that's sweet. Yeah. You get it. Week 36, two matches to go. Arsenal play West Ham, little DeAndre Trossard, breaks a deadlock, 82nd minute, but then another moment of wonder. Even the scriptwriters might have felt they were stretching it. West Ham equaliser in stoppage time. VAR review, ending in those immortal words. After review, West Ham number 19 commits a foul on the goalkeeper.

17:57Rog:Where do those words rank as the greatest movie lines of all time between frankly my dear i don't give a damn and i'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse i mean i put them over movie lines i think we're we're going up against the declaration of independence uh at that point like those we're going straight to t jeffs like those were those were powerful powerful words and much like the declaration of independence they were effective because they were correct and true and when i read them what do you feel they're not the poetry right transcendent poetry 100 yeah i think it scans i think it's in pentameter.

18:27It makes me... I know Miles Davis has passed on, but his music lives on in the way you read it. The phrasing, the emotion, the birth of cool. I'm getting moved,

18:38Rog:and I'm not even an arsehole fan.

18:44Rog:Next week, title one, long wait, 22 years was over. Where were you both watching, and how did you experience that moment? I was in my living room in LA with my wife and my two-year-old. who does not understand, very much wishing to be, you know, around the Emirates and join that crowd that was gathering around. You know, because my wife has been pulled along in this. She's been a fan for over a decade now as well. And it just was the joy of like, they fucking, they finally did it one time. Like, because, yeah, they've had these collapses. They've been close. And I try and I still believe in the capital B, but like this is the relief of it.

19:21And like how it was a bunch of guys who not only did it, but had earned it.

19:24Rog:I truly believe Arsenal have been on a hero's journey. Like genuinely an epic Greek poem. They've tried so many times. They've failed publicly. They've been scorned. They've overcome it. English people love your failure more than their own success. And they've won despite that. What's the lesson you take from the past four years of living and dying and reliving and soaring? That maybe the plants and trees know more than we do. and we just got to follow their lead again. I was expecting some loft, but you've surpassed that, man. I mean, I got to come up to your level, brother. That was genuinely, I'm barely, I should be a pair of smoking shoes just sitting here.

20:07Rog:Genuinely, there is in a way. Final match of the season, way against Crystal Palace. Jason, you were at the fancy free bar in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Invincibles. Just with your regular guys, you're there with Spike Lee and New York City Mayor Zerram and Darnley. Who both scooted over to make room for my daughter, Daisy. So I have a great photo. And then, yeah, it was, I mean, generally. Take a sec. What was that moment like? What's your memory? Don't want the memory. I mean, the memory was it was packed and it was rainy. So there were people outside the bar, outside the pub, like watching with their umbrellas, you know, through the TV.

20:41And normally, you know, there's plenty of spillover there. And I just know this from just, you know, watching the season vicariously through them on Instagram, just their thing. so walking through there with the kids and seeing jason the the fellow that runs it all make eyes with me embrace me and my family because with me and my sisters and we come in and it was it was overwhelming like it was i mean people were fired up people were excited yeah it's we did the first half there and then then we then we took it you know our house is about five minute walk from there and then watch the second half at home uh because just because the little kids you know just went like at some point otis was like this is a lot and he they couldn't