PMS 2.0 1421 - TNF Preview, Kirk Herbstreit, Mike McCarthy, Cody Rhodes, & AJ Hawk

16:16Pat McAfee:And that's what Revis delivered for a long time. He was by far the greatest in the game at what he did. So Tom Brady, while making an argument for Gronkowski, said, bah, bah, bah, talked about Rivas' greatness. He goes, Gronk could get open on Rivas. Okay, that is, even whenever we had Rivas in practice, I put Gronk out there, Gronk could get open on Rivas. Nobody else could get open on Rivas. Rob Gronkowski, because how big he is, because how fast he is, because how he knows leverage, could get open on Darrell Rivas. Well, Darrell Rivas saw that, and he responded. And Darrell Rivas just says, it's a damn lie, Tom.

16:47Pat McAfee:And I love that Darrell Rivas will always have this mentality. You have to at the corner position. You have to be like, no, everybody can get locked down. Anybody can get it. And I love that Tom Brady said, Gronk in practice is getting open on this guy. And Rivas goes, I don't even care if the reps don't count. No motherfucker is getting open on me. That's the type of competitive spirit that you need, especially at that position. And on that note, Xavier Howard of the Indianapolis Colts has announced his retirement here before we go into week five of the NFL season. He obviously has had a great career.

17:18Pat McAfee:Xavier Howard, obviously an incredible name in the football world. Whenever he came to Indianapolis, we were excited to see what we had with Xavier Howard. First couple weeks have not been great, obviously, for him. That is a hard position to potentially not be at your absolute best because who you're going against is they're getting younger and faster. So when you're out there, when you're exposed out there, there's a chance that bad things can happen to you and to the team. I don't know how it all came about. the way it read because Lou Anarumo had a quote like on Tuesday about Xavier Howard like we'll talk about that we'll figure that out and then that quote didn't really make its way around until like yesterday and then like an hour later Xavier Howard's retirement was announced it was like oh this feels like there was maybe a situation that happened so I reached out to source in the building and they don't know the timing of the conversation or everything but this was definitely Xavier Howard being like, hey, fun run.

18:11AJ Hawk:Yeah.

18:12Pat McAfee:This has been a good run. That's not a position. We saw Vontae Davis, rest in peace, a friend of mine, former teammate of mine, middle of a game, say, no, I'm not doing that. I am not getting out because you can – I think you can know. What did it sound like? I think you can – hey, it's a young man game. Rest in peace, the Vontae, obviously legendary retirement there. But that is a real thing. Whenever you're out there, and obviously I've never been anywhere near athletic enough to go out there, and we do have great whites that have played that position. Without a doubt. And they're certainly currently playing that position.

18:44Pat McAfee:But, boy, if you are outmatched, it is not a fun thing, any play. Because any play, you can get it. And everybody in the stadium is going to know. That's why the confidence, the athleticism, everything. That's why that Riva shit is just outrageous for what he was able to do. And then there's guys that have played like 20-some years a corner. It's like outrageous right there. the athleticism that you have to have for that. Xavier Howard retires, but I think this is like a good, I don't want to say metaphor, but example of like, the NFL is every generation's all-star game. So like, you can be, huh?

19:18Pat McAfee:And then another class comes in and all of a sudden it just goes like that. That's why the people that are great for a long time, we have to respect. Because the amount of work, God-given athletic ability, but also like attention to detail that it takes to stay on top of the game is crazy. So thank you, X, for coming to Indy. Sorry it didn't work out as well. And have an incredible retirement, brother. I hope you enjoy all of it.

19:38AJ Hawk:Yeah, and respectfully, I think a lot of people who play Puka Nakua are going to retire the week after. I don't think that's exclusive to Xavier and Howard. But with the Revis thing, that year you talked about him being a mercenary. It was that. The Patriots won the Super Bowl the year Revis was there strictly because, hey, half the field is completely gone. And then the other side they had Brandon Browner, who was also unbelievable. But it is cool just hearing from the Rushmore, you know, about Revis and about those, like, greats in the game when Tom and Peyton were playing and just them talking about them.

20:08AJ Hawk:And, like, those stories are so awesome. I do hope Puka doesn't, you know, go too hard tonight. Because if he does, then does San Francisco even have a defense tomorrow?

20:18Pat McAfee:Do they all retire? I think we have to ask that question. Puka Nakula, the retirement causer. Boom. You know, there might become a list. Like, Randy Orton was a legend killer. Yeah, that's right. There for a long time. And he was saying, on that note, the American Nightmare, Cory Road's going to be here. What? That's right. That 140 live in studio. He actually pulled up his rounds. Yeah. Whoa. Whoa. You know, I can't believe he's going to be here. Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba.

20:55Ba-da-ba.

20:57Pat McAfee:Ba-da-ba. Ba-da-ba.

21:06Pat McAfee:He's outside. Whoa! That makes sense. He's out there. Yeah, you got to do that whenever he's around. No pyro the other night. What? Messed up. No pyro the other night. Can't have that. Yeah, we don't have to show it. Certainly do not have to show it. But he has a crown jewel in Perth, Australia next weekend. Saturday, October 11th, 8 a.m. Start time, obviously, Australia. it's a complete opposite side of the world beautiful place I've never been to Perth Australia's a beautiful place it is very far though and they're going to fly a long way to see who's got it who's done Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins and before we get there tomorrow night in Cincinnati Smackdown Cody Rhodes is in tag team action against the Vision obviously which Seth Rollins created so they're throwing everything at Cody Rhodes and he'll chit chat with us beforehand he's teaming up with obviously I think he's with Randy I don't want to say it wrong I think he is with Randy I think so

22:06Pat McAfee:Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton are on the team together Must watch How are they going to lose? Taking on the vision The vision is pretty crafty now That tsunami The vision name too The vision Kind of sick

22:22Cody Rhodes:And who's got it? Who's got the vision?

22:24Pat McAfee:I think it's Paul and Seth got it. Yeah, they have. And then Braun Breaker is. And Bronson Reed is.

22:31Cody Rhodes:They're their visions. Their eyes have sight. Yeah.

22:35Pat McAfee:But their vision is Braun Breaker. Hell yeah. There it is. That's the vision. And Paul Hammond's got good eyes. He does. Always has. Good eyes. Good tongue. Good mic. Great tongue. Great. We've seen. Maybe some of the most silver tongue of all time. Yeah, you can say that. Let's talk about Shador Sanders. Okay. Ooh, do we have to?

22:58AJ Hawk:I know. Do we? Because it's bad. Should we just do the whole thing like he did?

23:02Pat McAfee:If we're going to be honest about it, holy shit, are you kidding me? Content creator, good. Sure. Okay, if he's a content creator, it is good. Yeah. Okay, like if he, that was a hilarious response. Once again, this is just like, this kind of goes back to the Anthony Richardson conversation that kind of happened a year ago. It's like when you're a quarterback, it's just a different animal. Like being a quarterback is just a different thing. You're the CEO of a company. You're the face of a multi-billion dollar operation. Like, that's what a quarterback is. Me, punter, could get away with being a dumbass in certain things.

23:32Pat McAfee:Don't have the spotlight on me all the time. Shador, third string quarterback, fifth round pick. Obviously has a massive spotlight on him because of who he is, the success he's had, how many people follow and like him. And also, you know, the family he comes from is a very important piece of the entire puzzle because that particular family, the dad happens to be one of the greatest athletes to ever exist. not just one of the greatest football players, just athletes of all time, motivators, businessmen, musicians, we'll even say. Sure. Good at everything. So family is going to be followed. Him being a part of that, obviously going to be talked about.

24:03Pat McAfee:So him responding to Rex Ryan saying, I don't need to hear you talk. I don't need to hear your mouth. I don't need to hear you talk. I don't need to hear another word from a third-string quarterback, which is not just Rex Ryan's thoughts. That is pretty much anybody that's in the NFL's thoughts. because it's hard enough to win a game already. This happened with Tebow, okay? The Tebow effect, Tebow mania. Hey, we don't need added distractions because of a backup quarterback or a third quarterback. Life's already hard enough in the NFL to get a win. We don't need to be bringing more bullshit to our locker room, which is probably why you didn't see Shador get drafted until the fifth round.

24:40Pat McAfee:Now, allegedly, there was Ravens and who knows how many other teams that wanted to draft Shador, and they said no, declined, which once again is a whole other conversation that's happening around NFL buildings about these people are declining opportunities to get in the NFL. Like what are they, like you have those people that just live in NFL buildings. So him miming his answer about Dylan Gabriel becoming starter and him still being a third-string quarterback, hilarious response to somebody that's talking shit about you or to you, especially whenever they say, I don't want to hear you. Like that is a hilarious response.

25:13Pat McAfee:Like I would like to say on the record, hysterical response. and people have said hey i don't want to hear the punter before and i wish i would have thought of this idea i would like to say that i wish that was the case but much like everybody else has kind of reiterated this is like a content creator type thing as opposed to maybe an nfl quarterback now all he needs is one team to want him okay so who cares if you piss off a bunch of decision makers with this who cares if you legitimize all the worries about you being a distraction or something not taking it serious or do you want the best for the team all that there's people that are going to be able to spin that in nfl buildings that this is not good for us to have in our building but once again all he needs is one team to be like pretty clever actually i like the way he's talking shit back i like how he's uh maintained his moxie throughout this entire process i don't think dylan gabriel even though people are taking his quote and saying he's taking a shot at him it's like feels like dylan gabriel joe flacco even when kenny pickett was there there was never like beef towards the door and shador was doing a lot of community stuff before it was never like beef towards shador it is heightened uh awareness heightened clout because of who he is so he knows he has to know that and understand that everybody's gonna talk about it but like there's definitely people in the nfl they're like exactly that is exactly what we thought but you don't really hear dylan saying like kevin you don't really hear anybody that's actually in there being like this guy is a nuisance or a pest or uh drama or controversy or anything like that but there is a lot of shit that gets out that you just think to yourself well that's not a desirable thing that we would want to see from a third string quarterback for our team that is kind of what people think but it's like chador is going to get covered in a different way how many times does espn cleveland radio have an iphone on the third string quarterback right okay so it's like never normally i was the third string quarterback for the colts for a couple times and i wasn't ask questions ever.

27:02Pat McAfee:So it's a gift and a curse. Everybody knows what's coming with Sanders family and what it is and how it's going to be just like with Tebow, just like man's all these people that get labeled potentially a distraction. There's going to be people that hate it. And every move that happens legitimizes that hate. And then all you really need though, is just one person, one decision maker to be like, I don't mind it. We can handle it. Gets in our building. He'll be good. We'll see if that ever happens.

27:25AJ Hawk:Probably kind of hard too for Shador, just because him and Gabriel came out at the same time. They played college at the same time. And, like, it's probably easy for Shador to look at his stats in college and, you know, Gabriel's stats in college, whatever, and maybe think he's better. It just doesn't make any sense for him to kind of come out and do that whole thing. It just creates drama immediately. And you mentioned Tebow. Like, Tebow is the only comparison. And if you were to go back and, you know, listen to Tebow or watch his stuff, he's not doing that shit. And then Tebow eventually, you know, I forget if he was the starter immediately or eventually got an opportunity, but he wasn't doing any like bullshit to make some sort of storyline.

28:01AJ Hawk:Like this is not a story. If, if Shador just answers the questions, honestly, or unless he answers them honestly and is like, yeah, I'm way better than this fucking guy, which he might, excuse me. But, but like, I'm not sure. Why?

28:12Pat McAfee:Cause if I say something, it's not going to be, and also I don't want to hear me. And I'm going to be honest. I don't want to say what I was going to say. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. What if Shador thinks this is the greatest out? I don't know what you want me to do. I was told you don't want to hear me, but I can't get my actual answer. So, So you want me to do coach speak? Yeah. Yeah. That is what NFL rooms want. Now, fans, his followers, his supporters, sports media, obviously we've all talked about it. Everybody has hit it. We love that this is happening. But I don't know if it's necessarily the right move for an NFL career, if that is what you're looking for.

28:45Pat McAfee:But we don't know what Shador – once again, all you need is one team to be like, that's fucking hilarious. We wish we would have done that to Rex Ryan, actually.

28:53Cody Rhodes:I don't know if you had any guys, like teammates like this when you were playing, but like, is there a point?

29:00Pat McAfee:You okay? Swallow a bug. Swallow a bug. You get chocked up? Hey, I hear you, man. Swallow a bug.

29:04Cody Rhodes:Saw the Yankees tonight. I mean, swallow a bug. I'm sorry.

29:07Pat McAfee:He got emotional last night. Yeah. I FaceTimed with him last night. It was much better FaceTime than the ones that I have been having lately. 40-40 tie. I was just lost. Yankees lost in the sun.

29:18Cody Rhodes:It was a little more pleasant. It was a little more pleasant. But, like you mentioned, we haven't heard anything about the other quarterbacks in the room or Stefanski being like, hey, we're sick and tired of this guy. But at what point would maybe a vet go up to him and be like, hey, you've got to stop doing this shit. Just shut up. Every time you say something, it is becoming a distraction. How much of that is actually leaking into the building, you think?

29:40Pat McAfee:I don't know. Nobody's said anything about him in the team, which I think is the only thing that matters. For us, it's all fodder. As soon as the locker room starts talking, then we'll start taking it serious. And then there was people that were saying Dylan Gabriel. I think he's your Shador Sanders fans, saying that Dylan Gabriel took a shot at Shador Sanders. Listen to the entire – this is 51 seconds, and then he says like a very cliche almost answer about how people in professional sports have described getting their first start.

30:06Kirk Herbstreit:I think it's funny because, you know, I got a text from a good buddy of mine,

30:10AJ Hawk:and he sent me a picture of a fire station, you know, and like it's kind of like why are you sending that, you know. but um when he sends it you know he just lists the the obvious right like doors are open garage doors are open like things are ready to go and like they're just waiting on that phone call

30:29Kirk Herbstreit:to like respond surgically and like just what a great representation of like the job i had and and being ready for that moment and i think you know i smile because it's like a moment you

30:41AJ Hawk:prep for and you you are extremely excited for but also got to realize that it's extreme focus

30:47Kirk Herbstreit:and and that's what i've continued to harp on but hell yeah you wait for the perfect time you know you're gonna wait a whole lifetime so for me i'm just i've always been ready well shador has a song called perfect timing this is shot at shador it's like nobody's ever said like hey no perfect

31:03Pat McAfee:time's coming or if you wait for a perfect time it's never going to show up it's like i think he He handled that amazing. Dylan Gabriel has handled this entire thing perfectly as well. It hasn't been easy. Because he's third-round draft pick. First quarterback drafted to the Cleveland Browns. He probably thinks, I'm about to have a great NFL career. I'm trying to have an incredible NFL career, as he should be thinking like that. Especially after how he played at Oregon everywhere but the Rose Bowl. And then at Oklahoma with why he ended up going to Oregon because of how good he was. And all he's done, he's set extreme focus and staying locked in.

31:32Pat McAfee:He hasn't said shit. He hasn't done anything. there's been so much loud loud loud around him about the guy getting drafted after him he probably started to worry actually about maybe everybody's working against me here you know like he probably started feeling like maybe i'm not even getting an opportunity letting like negativity kind of slip in and he never let it waver never waver just as continue to be go about it i think he has handled this perfectly and that was not how the internet loved here and that that was a slight and i am very quick to be like oh that guy that guy's kind of taking a shot at that i thought that was like almost a cliche answer at the end of the entire thing and i'll also say perfect timing great song so both ways can kind of be right at this particular dg's got a very wise friend that that fire station thing i like that a lot doors are open okay garage doors are open just wait just waiting for the time you got to be prepared and he said that's all i've really thought about extreme focus and if you wait for the perfect time it's never going to come and it's we've thought we've talked about that with rookie quarterback yeah it's like man if he goes in there Now he's going to play.

32:33Pat McAfee:This team has got to play. This team has got to play. This team, it's like, hey, that's the NFL. He's going to have to play really good people. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who is not only the face of college game day and maybe college football as a whole now that Coach Corso has retired, but also a man that we get to kick off every NFL week with Thursday night on prom alongside Al Michaels, Kaylee Hartung, Carissa Thompson, Ryan. Nope. Fitzpatrick. It is Ryan. God, I'm sorry, Ryan. I just call you Fitz. I just call you Fitz. I just call you Fitz. Fitz and Wit, obviously. Of course.

33:08Pat McAfee:Tony and Sherm. And obviously the entire cast has done a great job for, what, three years now. I think it's been great as they've kicked down the door of streaming for the NFL and for professional sports leagues as a whole. Ladies and gentlemen, old blue eyes and dog handler to Pete, Kirk Herbstreit.

33:25AJ Hawk:Yay! What's up? What's up? How we doing?

33:29Pat McAfee:Hey, I'm great. How are you, brother?

33:31AJ Hawk:Great. Doing great. Fourth year this year with Amazon Prime.

33:35Pat McAfee:Three down. Sorry, three down? Three down. Three down. Hey, two down, just like the Reds.

33:44Herbie, you idiots!

33:46Pat McAfee:Oh, my God!

33:52Pat McAfee:That is basically what the Dodgers did. Shohei, he's a player.

33:58Cody Rhodes:Herbie.

34:01Pat McAfee:Ah, Shohei Storm pitcher.

34:03AJ Hawk:I'm going to do Shador Sanders.

34:06Pat McAfee:And we were just talking about that a little bit, actually. We were just chit-chatting about how, obviously, because he's Shador Sanders, that's why ESPN Cleveland Radio has a camera on him. And there's obviously going to be heightened attention brought to Shador, has been since he's got there, has been since he's been in college. And anytime he does any of these things, there's either people that are going to say, yep, just like we said. And then all he really needs, though, is just one team to like that and bring him in and maybe has a great career. But let's not talk about Shador. Let's talk about Dylan Gabriel here.

34:35Pat McAfee:Now, he gets his first start in London. Obviously, he's taken on the Carson Wentz experience and a B-flow defense that is going to be difficult. But whenever you think about Dylan Gabriel, what do you think about whenever it comes to handling this entire situation? This is a tough situation for a third-round draft pick who's trying to make his career. and then a guy that's drafted two rounds after him is obviously the topic of conversation all offseason all training camp even when he gets his start topic of conversation he has maintained kind of locked in laser-like focus I love the way he has handled it he obviously has a chance with his arm what do you expect from him with the Browns and has he always been this guy that is like the utmost professional seemingly here yeah I'm with you I go back to anytime you're looking

35:19AJ Hawk:a young quarterback, I personally look at how many reps he had as a collegiate quarterback. This guy was at UCF for a few years, and he went to Norman, played at Oklahoma, and then obviously finished it in Eugene. And the only reason I bring all that up is this guy's dealt with a lot of different circumstances and different kind of pressures, especially when he stepped up from UCF to Oklahoma. And so I think that really hardens a guy. You know, when you deal with the ups and downs of playing quarterback at some of these high-profile places and you have so many reps, you know, that's why I think Brock Purdy was able so quickly after a four-year start, four-year starter at Iowa State to be able to step into the NFL and seed the game pretty quickly.

36:01AJ Hawk:And I think Dylan Gabriel reminds me of that. You know, he reminds me of a guy that had a ton of reps. You put him in that offense with Kevin Stefanski who understands how to attack and how to be decisive. I would tell you, even though he's young, I have high expectations. Now, he's not your typical 6 '3", 6 '4", quarterback. But because of what I just brought up about how he understands how to attack defense's weakness, I think he'll be put in a position to make quick decisions. And I would not be surprised at all to see him go out and play well in his first game. And what you brought up, I think he understood when Shadour Sanders got drafted that there was going to be a lot of attention on Chador.

36:43AJ Hawk:And he was in a very unique position being drafted ahead of him, but not be talked about a lot. And now here he is, even this week. He's the starter. Part of me wonders if he's okay with that. Part of me wonders if he just, you know, let my play do my talking. And, you know, he's going to have a really, as we all know, Minnesota, what they do defensively with the different looks, they'll pressure you, especially young quarterbacks. They'll walk seven guys up. They'll come. They'll drop. his head's going to be spinning, but I don't know. I got a feeling he'll go out there, and I'm not saying he's going to light it up, but I don't think he's going to be a deficiency.

37:19AJ Hawk:I think he'll play well, and I think he'll play fast because of how he'll be prepped for that defense.

37:24Pat McAfee:Aaron Rodgers played fast against the Minnesota Vikings defense last week in Ireland. It looked good. Now, obviously, Aaron Rodgers 20-some years in against NFL defenses. We'll see what Dylan Gabriel, 64 career college starts, brings into the NFL. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot. They just did the – this weekend I wanted to the Hall of Fame for West Virginia. No big deal. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

37:45AJ Hawk:Congrats, bro. Shout out to Penn State. Great speech. One take. Unbelievable. Yeah, he had to do his acceptance speech on the college game day set in front with his speakers up in front of, I don't know, 8 ,000 or 10 ,000 Penn State fans and knocked it out in one take. It was pretty remarkable. And they even sang – Country Roads. They sang – yeah, Country Roads.

38:06Pat McAfee:It was fantastic. Yeah, it was great. It was nice. appreciate them helping there. I was told on Wednesday, because there was still a thought on me trying to make it to Morgantown for the entire thing. Timing-wise, it wasn't going to work. Also, my family, my wife had an event or two to go to. My dad was... I felt like that should have been a family thing. Fall is crazy for us. You, obviously, we see, but all of us. Fall is pretty crazy. On Wednesday, Matt Wells, remember Wellesley, the assistant athletic director, was like, hey, can you send a video that we can run at least? and I'm like, you got it.

38:36Pat McAfee:I completely forgot about it. I'm like, I am so sorry. I'm so sorry. He was a good guy. He sends me a text on Friday. He's like, hey man, all good. Just wondering if you could get the video. Friday, I'm already at Penn State. So am I going to do an iPhone video? I don't think so. So literally, I text Matt Garrett the night before. I'm like, hey, can I use the stage tomorrow morning to record something? I think that would be pretty cool. I also, because college game dance, college football and everything like that. yeah no problem so i didn't think it through though i was like this is literally the only shot that i got to do this thing once i get up there i didn't realize we got to stop the music because there's dj grip is crushing it out there since like 5 a.m stop the music completely uh do you want us to play the speakers to the people and i'm like oh no i didn't even think about i thought i was just gonna be able to talk while music's happening would not have been possible so i'm very thankful that they kind of bought into it and they actually shaped kind of the speech because they started with Eat Shit Pit chants immediately.

39:32Pat McAfee:So as soon as I turned around.

39:33AJ Hawk:Good improv on that. Hey, thank you. As soon as I turned around, I was like,

39:37Pat McAfee:hey, I got to do a Hall of Fame speech. And they're like, congratulations. I'm like, thanks, thanks. It's obviously I can't make it because I'm here. Is there any way you could help? They're going to show it at West Virginia or whatever. And they go, yeah. The crowd's like, yeah. And then as soon as I turned back around, they go, Eat Shit Pit. I'm like, yeah, okay. Yes, you do know. You do know what we are trying to get accomplished. So I appreciate them doing that. But in the video they ran, I learned a lot about my college career. So they put together a video. They put together a really nice video.

40:06Pat McAfee:And I'm very thankful. And I learned a lot about my career. It was kind of like, you know, nice. Because in that speech, I talked about how since I've left, I've only thought about one game one night the entire time. It was the worst night of my life. Like, that's all I've thought about with my West Virginia career. And if I hadn't thought about it, somebody would remind me of it. So that's literally, I went to school there for however long, all-time leading scorer, you know, all that shit. Only thing I think about is the worst night of my life, basically.

40:28AJ Hawk:so then kicking punting kickoffs like you did it all man i didn't i didn't realize that myself i went back and watched the uh the presentation and the way they they led to it i was curious to see how that went and it was i was with you i was watching that video like holy shit like this how how many guys do that today how many guys are punters and kickers and the kickoff like is that

40:51Pat McAfee:that's that's very rare i think yeah now remember i retired at 29 staring down my fourth knee I kind of blew this thing out I maxed the legs out but in there it said I had 51 starts or something like that for West Virginia and at the time it was like the most it was like nationally ranked for amount of games and amount of starts and everything and I'm kicker so is it even a real start because it's not first play that's a whole conversation this dude having 64 starts is that what you said?

41:19AJ Hawk:64 starts with 2 ,111 pass attempts and see You know, Pat, I think at that position, for obvious reasons, that allows the guy who's a rookie who on the NFL, it moves so fast, which it does. But if you go back and look in the last 10 or 15 years, look at the guys that started for three years plus and look at how they were. Now, chances are still it's tough to make it in the NFL for these quarterbacks, but the guys that have the best chance are like anybody. You do something more often. You see more coverages. You make more mistakes. You learn from those mistakes. And you got me that time. I'm going to get you the next time.

42:06AJ Hawk:And I really think, I'll tell you, jumping right into the deep end, going up against that Minnesota defense in the scheme, but that's going to be a great game to watch, It's just to watch Dylan Gabriel go out and see how he can execute.

42:18Pat McAfee:9.30 a.m. Hopefully it's not a blowout. We're waking up with you over there. And hopefully Greg Olson's back on the call. He was awesome on Sunday morning. We got a good cast right now. It feels like calling games. Some people are getting attacked weekly. But, you know, it feels like the shot clock is on for everybody. Let's talk about the game tonight. Go ahead, Ty.

42:34Cody Rhodes:Yeah, Herbie, I think a lot of us are surprised that the Niners are eight-and-a-half-point dogs tonight to the Rams. But from talking to Kyle Shanahan, what have you heard from him on not only the amount of injuries that they're going to be dealing with tonight, but also Mac Jones starting under center again?

42:52AJ Hawk:Yeah, I mean, think about, you know, take your team, the Packers, and imagine taking down. And I know you guys have had to deal with some injuries, but I don't know if I've ever seen a team that's decimated by injuries more than the 49ers. And not just this year, but the last four or five years. You know, they've had such a great window here with such talented players. And it just feels like Debo is now in Washington. Some of these guys are getting older as the window is beginning to close. And then this year, you know, it starts off early with Kittle being down. Hopefully he'll be back in a week or so.

43:31AJ Hawk:Now you've got Ricky Pearsall, who's kind of become their number one receiver, down. You've got Ayuk, who's already been down all year. And then you got Brock Purdy, who was dealing with that turf toe, a different level of turf toe than Joe Burrow. You guys saw him try to come back last week, re-aggravated it, short week. So they're going to go back to Mac Jones, who was dealing with his own injury himself with a knee. But thankfully, he's able to go. He's 2-0, by the way, as a starter this year. And so he'll get the opportunity. But you're talking about Demarcus Robinson, who's a former Ram, who's going to be one of his go-to guys tonight.

44:08AJ Hawk:You're talking about Kendrick Bourne, who Mack Jones played with in New England. And you've got backup tight ends. The good news is Christian McCaffrey is there. So I wouldn't be shocked to see him try to carry the offense tonight, not only running the ball, which has been, by the way, kind of an Achilles heel for San Fran. You know, it's a matter of time until Kyle and this offense will get their run game going. Hopefully it starts tonight. But even if they can't, look for him. Look for Christian involved in the pass game, obviously. Just the more weapons they can get on the field, that they know what they can do, the better.

44:42AJ Hawk:Meanwhile, they're going up against a Rams defense. You could argue he's playing as well as anybody right now in the whole NFL. I mean, we always think of the Rams. We think of Sean. We think of Stafford. We think of offense. But this defense, post-Aaron Donald, the way that Les Snead, their GM, and Sean have gone out through the draft and free agency, They're D-line's playing as well as anybody in the league, creating all kinds of problems so they can play zone. That forward does all the work. Everybody else has their eyes on the football. So they definitely have their hands full. But like the Dolphins and the Bills a couple weeks ago, you just – you never know, man.

45:19AJ Hawk:Just when it looks like San Fran has no chance, it wouldn't shock me at all to see them somehow rally around that theme of no chance and play well.

45:28Pat McAfee:Shanahan as an underdog to McVay is 7-2 against the spread. How about that? How about that? So, as an underdog against McVay, now against everybody else, he kind of stinks. When he's an underdog, it's basically like the sports books are on. But against McVay, Shanahan, 7-2 against the spread as an underdog. It started at 3 on the 28th of September. Now we're on October 2nd. It's at 8.5 because of all the injuries. You talked there a little bit about one of the weapons on San Francisco that they didn't have last year. But the running back position as a whole is kind of having a little bit of a resurgence here.

45:59Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Con, man.

46:00AJ Hawk:Yeah, Herbie, I'm pretty worried about CMC. He's the leading receiver and leading rusher, and they don't have, I believe – or sorry, second in receiving, first in rushing, and they don't have Pearsall who's first and Jennings who's third. So I'm kind of thinking CMC might get 55 touches and tackled 65 times somehow. What do you think about the running backs in this game? Do you think this is going to be kind of a run the ball because the 49ers are going to be so focused on Puka and Devontae, or how do you see this matching up? Does that mean take the under? Is that what you're saying? Under. Also, hold on.

46:31Pat McAfee:There's a stat here. The last ten times or nine times that Shanahan's underdog to McVay, the under has hit seven and three, six and three. Six and three, the under is, as Shanahan is underdog against McVay. Underdog has hit six and three. Six and three.

46:49AJ Hawk:You got all kinds of good stuff. It feels like that, Connor. I think a lot of people at local media and Sam Fran are really all over Kyle and the offense about the run game. We always think about you guys as a great running team and haven't been able to get it on track. I've heard some of the players and Kyle talk about we're very close. It's all 11 guys, whether it's guys that work in a double team or the back finding the right hole or receivers blocking. It's kind of a collective effort when it works and when it doesn't, same issue. But we all know, even with these injuries at receivers, it's really a matter of time until you can get Chris McCaffrey on track.

47:25AJ Hawk:Like I said earlier, hopefully if that happens, one thing to remember watching this game, the Rams' defense in their first four weeks, the opponents are averaging third and like 9.4, basically third and 10. If that happens tonight, if that trend happens tonight, it's going to be a really tough night to throw the football if you get those obvious passing situations. The beauty in running, if they can get it going, is you put Mac Jones in more of a play-action game and throw on your terms. So that'll be a big thing tonight. But the backs on the other side that you alluded to, Connor, Kyron Williams, very, very underrated back, in my thought anyway.

48:08AJ Hawk:Oh, yeah. It just brings a personality and a toughness that seems to kind of resonate and really kind of provide some juice for the entire team. But he doesn't get talked about much because of obviously Matthew Stafford and Puka and Devontae Adams. But I really think you go back to the Super Bowl in 21, that team, to now, that was more of a shotgun, Odell Beckham spread people out, let Stafford work. And I think they've evolved to become more of a blow you up, run downhill, under center, physical, and then play action to Puka and those guys with Stafford. So the backs on the other side, and Blake Corham, the young man out of Michigan, is doing a hell of a job along with Tyron Williams.

48:51AJ Hawk:So it's a physical, physical game, typically between these two teams. And the Rams, I think, have a lot of confidence in that style.

48:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, I believe in McVay mightily. Believe in Shanahan, too. I have that kind of natural thing. And then people throw stats in my face all the time. Kill Shanahan. All the time. People throw stats about Shanahan all the time. Because when they have bad years, it's real bad. And it brings down all the other stuff. One or the other.

49:17AJ Hawk:Yeah, exactly.

49:18Pat McAfee:And it's like, I'm like, I believe in Shanahan. Man, I saw him look real cool at a beach house, throw the football across into a garbage can. I'm like, I like him. I like Shanahan.

49:27AJ Hawk:I'm with you. Both these guys. Both these guys are as innovative as we have in the NFL. They have been for years. And I think they really love competing against each other and just kind of finding out. And Kyle Shanahan, I don't know. He goes into this game, it's like, oh, everyone's hurt. They have no chance. I don't know, man. And I think this is one of those games where he's like, my scheme's pretty good. I've got a lot of confidence in what we can do. And, yeah, it sucks that we've got all of our Pro Bowl players are down, but we've still got some guys, you know. So I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised to see them rally around, you know, some of that doubt.

50:07AJ Hawk:People are already assuming, okay, that's another loss. So they're four or whatever it is, three and two. So move on to the next game. I don't know, man. I think they'll come out and swing.

50:17Pat McAfee:I believe we lost power here to our lights at the Thunder. And we are back. We're back. We're back. Shout out to the uninterrupted power source coming in. We got pretty interrupted, but also we are still live. Still live on YouTube. Still live, which is great. Kirk, you were sending so much good shit that electricity kind of double-crossed it. Hell, yeah. And kind of tore it. Hey, you talked our lights out. That's right. It was Peter. It was Peter. I love that. Boy, Pete. How about Pete? He had an article written about you and your dad being a fucking dog handler. This guy's got ads. Did you see his ads?

50:54Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. Yo, Peter is the right one, if it means anything. This dude's paws are bigger than your hands. His paws are bigger than your hands. He is... Hey, good boy. Good boy.

51:14Pat McAfee:Think about people turning on their teeth. They know. They're just barking at them. They're just barking at them. But I agree with everything you're saying about Shanahan. I literally do. But if you say it too loud in public around the wrong people, they're going to pull out 100 stats. They're going to say Shanahan ain't McVay. I don't want to hear it. So just know that before tonight. Tell Al we said what's up.

51:35AJ Hawk:He's 10-7 against Sean. in a lifetime.

51:39Pat McAfee:Okay, it's another good stat. These are all good stats. These are all good stats. Let's talk about some of the other teams around the NFL, obviously teams that you have seen. Go ahead, Tone.

51:47AJ Hawk:Yeah, Herbie, you're on a bit of an NFC West tour. Last week you had the Cardinals and Seahawks, and the Seahawks kind of had control of a lot of that game last week. And now this week they have Tampa coming up to Seattle, which is one of the better games this weekend. How do you feel about the Seahawks as a whole and then this weekend? because I tell you what, I watched them play the Steelers too. They look like a good football team. So I've had a chance to see Green Bay and Washington. I've had a chance to see Buffalo. And then you mentioned last week having a chance to see Seattle. I tell you what, it's going to depend on if Sam Darnold continues to play the way he did last year, the way he's looked so far this year, if they stay healthy, obviously.

52:32AJ Hawk:Of all those teams, Buffalo feels like, you know, because of Josh Allen, they're up there. Green Bay feels really good. I could easily see a Buffalo-Green Bay Super Bowl. That would be a fun one if they can stay healthy. Seattle was dangerous, man. What a great matchup. Baker Mayfield and that offense going up against that Seattle defense. What's weird is Seattle wins on the road with Mike McDonald. They can't win at home. It's the craziest thing. Like you would think the 12s, Seattle, you can't go in there and win. That's not been the case at all. They've been road warriors. I think they've only lost one on the road since he's been there.

53:10AJ Hawk:But at home, they can't put it together. But I think Seattle is for real. I think this NFC West is, depending on Sam Fran, if they can get healthy. But the Rams, I think, can't wait to see them in person tonight in this game because the way they've looked up to this point, and any time Stafford's healthy and you've got Sean McVay and Puka and all that offense. but their defense is playing lights out. So NFC is a lot of fun. Not just the NFC West, the entire NFC. It's going to be a hell of a run as we move along this season.

53:42Pat McAfee:Yeah, late year football is going to be electrifying in the NFC West. McDonald has won how many of how many?

53:48AJ Hawk:Nine of his first ten road games.

53:50Pat McAfee:That's pretty good. That's pretty good mental toughness. One on the road. That's pretty good mental toughness. And remember last year, the Seattle Seahawks, the 12s you're talking about, we all are big fans of, they gave up their stadium a couple different times. Oh, yeah. They had lost faith. Yeah, yeah. They lost their stadium twice. Buffalo Bills went in there and stole it. I think on a Monday Night Football, Bills Mafia went in there and stole it. And the Packers, I think, went in there and stole it. I think the Seattle Seahawks fans did a lot of like, you're going to have to show us, buddy.

54:14Pat McAfee:You kicked Pete Carroll out of town. You kicked Geno out of here. You're going to have to figure it out. I think he's the right guy. I think we all.

54:20AJ Hawk:You better get on that bandwagon fast because they're going to win a lot of games this year.

54:24Pat McAfee:Not all Seahawks fans. I would like to make sure that's good. They're still very much an active Seahawks fan base. but we saw their stadium get stolen twice last year, and that never happens. They're like our representative in the NFL. Hey, what stadium do you see?

54:37AJ Hawk:At Cincinnati or Nashville, that's a regular occurrence, but not in Seattle. That can't happen.

54:44Pat McAfee:Let's say a hooligan's over here from Europe. Give us your best atmospheres. We're going college. We're heading to? College. You saw the whiteout. First time in your life.

54:55AJ Hawk:I was going to say it,

54:56Pat McAfee:but that's strictly five days ago in my life.

54:59AJ Hawk:Well, that's aside from West Virginia.

55:01Pat McAfee:And in there? Of course.

55:05AJ Hawk:People kind of, when you're in the SEC and you say you've got to go to the Whiteout, no, that's nuts. I'm like, I'm telling you, the Whiteout and that Penn State student section, who I think is the best student section in the country, they drive it. So I think the Whiteout is right there. And I think LSU at night, when they have a good team, playing against a good team, that's obviously right up there. And I think Neyland Stadium, I think we forgot how good of a spot that is in Knoxville. Now that Josh has them back up competing and chasing playoffs, that is a really tough environment, intimidating environment.

55:43AJ Hawk:So those are three for me. What about you?

55:45Pat McAfee:I think I'm on your side there. I think you know more. But in the NFL, it's Seattle is who we're throwing out there. Pittsburgh, Seattle, Green Bay, New England when they're rolling. Philadelphia, like those cities. but the Seattle Seahawks ones are the ones that have always been like our rep. 30 seconds here before a hard out. Alabama, Vandy. How cool is this for Vandy to have this moment? And also, Alabama.

56:08AJ Hawk:Before I flew out here, Pat, I visited with Diego Pavia just for a feature for game day this week. And, man, are we allowed to go to Tuscaloosa and pick Vandy? We're not allowed to do that.

56:20Pat McAfee:I'm telling you, I've been talking to him a little bit too in the DMs. There is no fear. Him and Clark Lee, I'm like, holy cow.

56:31AJ Hawk:These dudes are for real. Now, Bama's coming off a massive win last week, as we know, in Athens. So, they got a ton of momentum. I feel like their quarterback really grew up, became his team. So, I think Bama, obviously, the team to beat. But do not laugh. This is not the old Vandy. These boys are for real. And that quarterback is coming in pissed off at the world.

56:52Pat McAfee:We'll see him tonight on Prime. I'm you're the man, ladies and gentlemen. That's Kirk Herbstreit.

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57:48Pat McAfee:Football is the greatest. We're so thankful we get a chance to chat about it, but it's not just football. On this glorious week five NFL kickoff Thursday, baseball is actually showing up for us in a huge way as well. Yesterday we had Schwarbo, who's playing for a Philadelphia Phillies. He's a monster and hilarious. 32 years old. He's going to sign another$7 trillion deal. He's hitting bombs for the rest of his life. I like that he has a great attitude and is funny. Cal Raleigh, the MLB's leading home run hitter, joined us yesterday. And then last night, one of the most electrifying baseball games I've seen in some time between their biggest rivalry, Red Sox and the Yankees took place.

58:28Pat McAfee:Shout out to baseball happening in a big way for us on these middle of the week days that has been happening. Tonight, though, is week five of the NFL season. Hell yeah. The Rams host the Niners. The Niners have a bevy of players on the injured list. It's a Thursday night. It's a quick turnaround. And if your guys miss on Thursday night, they get an entire week and then almost another week. So you've got a two-week kind of rehabilitation recovery that you could potentially get for some players. So we've seen Thursday night opt-outs more often than Sunday opt-outs. With that being said, Brock Purdy misses a game, sandwiched by playing a game poorly.

59:06Pat McAfee:Will he become a guy that we know him to be after this toe injury? Or will Matt Jones thrust himself into the primetime spotlight as an eight-and-a-half-point dog on the road in slice and dice a very good Los Angeles Rams defense? So many different storylines can come from tonight's game. We cannot wait to watch the NFC West do battle. The toxic table's here at Boston Corner, at Ty Schmidt. Yesterday, Con, man, I saw World Series champion hat on. You guys lose last night. You just represent the city with the hat. I like the move, Ty. Don't you, Ty? Yeah, I love that hat. Yeah, just like, remember, City of Champions is what he's trying to say.

59:42Pat McAfee:That's what he's trying to do. Because the Red Sox yesterday, World Series hat, because he came in here dancing on a Yankee. Yeah, rightfully so. Then they lose to the Yankees in a thriller last night. He comes in with just like, hey, don't forget, City is still sick. Yeah, it's not just the baseball team that we're worried about. Are you worried about the Red Sox? And are we back to Patriots season because of how last night went, even though there's still another game?

1:00:03AJ Hawk:Yeah, I don't know if I'd say I'm worried about the Red Sox because I watched the first four innings and then forgot the game was on and then it was the ninth inning all of a sudden.

1:00:10Pat McAfee:I actually talked to Connor last night. During game, FaceTime, I'm sitting with my wife, okay? I'm not a baseball person. My wife is somehow less of a baseball person than I was before we started getting into baseball this year. Sure. And we're captivated. Sox, like, we are tuned in. So I call Connor to talk to Connor about, like, yo, this is actually pretty sick. Connor goes, well, the game's still on? I'm like, Connor. That'll do. That cannot be how this is. You had some other stuff, obviously. Ideas were working. I appreciate you doing that. Last night's game was awesome. Yeah. I mean, it legitimately was.

1:00:44Pat McAfee:And the Yankees winning a tough one is good for the Yankees? Because there was many moments last night where I thought you guys were out, like the Mets. Like the Mets actually just got a couple-day head start on the offseason over the Yankees as opposed to it. Last night, I thought it was over a couple different times. Did you feel that way as well? And then your big stars come through for you? Is that good news for the Yankees if you're a Yankees fan?

1:01:03Cody Rhodes:Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, like we've seen these games for the most part outside of the Dodgers Red Series. Like these games are all close. They all have been because none of the bottom of the roster guys are playing. Like all the, you know, the Red Sox last night used one of their, you know, best guys in the bullpen who didn't pitch the night before. The Yankees, you know, used their guys. And like this is what it's all about. You can't win a World Series if a guy like Judge or for the Red Sox, Trevor Story or Alex Bregman. You can't win unless those guys perform. It just doesn't really happen.

1:01:42Cody Rhodes:It's another one of those things where it's weird because typically baseball doesn't come down to one game to decide your season. You have the – but this is it. They've kind of both thrown their better guys. Both of the guys who are starting in this game – I hate it.

1:01:59Pat McAfee:I hate that the Yankee Sox is at 8.08. Sox. Gotta be. I understand that's how you feel. Daddy's playing. Okay. Daddy is playing its league.

1:02:11Cody Rhodes:We all have multiple views. You know, it's like you can figure out a way to watch both things. Oh, you think I'm timing Prime?

1:02:18Pat McAfee:What am I doing?

1:02:20Cody Rhodes:That's the thing. Shit, I got it to that. Move it to six.

1:02:23Pat McAfee:Why is this thing going on at six o 'clock?

1:02:25Cody Rhodes:That's the one thing with Prime that stinks. So, yeah, you might have to put Prime on a smaller TV or watch it on. Heaven forbid, you might have to watch it on your cell phone. Watch what? Watch the football game on your cell phone. Well said. He knows. Sometimes you got to do it.

1:02:43Pat McAfee:God made more of these opportunities. I understand. I appreciate that. But, man, they started yesterday at 6.08. Man, I didn't love that. You didn't love it? No. I loved it. It was the best. It was so good. I think it was over 930 or something like that. Yeah, I know.

1:02:59Cody Rhodes:And honestly, I hadn't thought about that yet. It was like, you know, wow, I'm going to be going to be like one tonight. But I would have been anyway because of Thursday night football. So it's not a big deal. And it's funny you mention that because for a second there, I did forget that tonight's game is on Prime. So you can't just do the old split view. They've got to figure that out.

1:03:22Pat McAfee:YouTube TV, Google needs to call Amazon. From my understanding, they are certainly willing to work together. Of course. Part of the source of that. There's a couple of them. We've got people who want to watch playoff baseball and football games on a state night. Come on. For the good of sports. Google it. Part of the fangs. There's a fangs group that is all trying to compete with each other in there. Right. We need Amazon and Google to put their swords aside on Thursday nights if the Yankees are playing the Red Sox. And let us quad box Amazon in. Please. Let us add one in there so that we can enjoy this thing.

1:03:54Pat McAfee:Instead, Amazon's going to have us do what they do every single Thursday night, force us to live on their platform and watch these commercials. Everything else that we watch, we can just go somewhere else. But instead, I hope they're charging more for their commercials. I've told this to the powers that be at Amazon. Hey, the thing I hate about you guys is I can't go anywhere. I'm stuck doing the commercial breaks. We can go look at what else is available. Of course, of course I can do that. would be nice to be able to just hit the old back arrow button and go right over the Red Sox and Yankees.

1:04:27Pat McAfee:Exactly. In an elimination game. Can't do that, though. Gotta go, oh, yeah, gotta sign it. Gotta do the entire thing. So Amazon has us in that case. So they need to be charging more for their commercials because I'm forced to sit through them. Yeah. The only commercials I really see. The Amazon ones. Forced to. Yeah. You're right. I think that's where I saw the ass MCDC commercial, right? Is that where I saw that one? Probably. Probably. Probably. I don't really get to see a lot of commercials these days because they're archaic and stupid, and the 30-second ad does not work. You know, you kind of – linear people got it all figured out.

1:05:02Pat McAfee:One half of the hammer. Cowboys AP Tone is here. Big one tonight. What's the percentage of money here on who?

1:05:08AJ Hawk:I was actually shocked. It's only 52 % on the Rams. Let me make sure it hasn't changed. No, 53 % now on the Rams at home, probably because the number is so big. and I personally think a lot of the general public doesn't find out about these injuries until game time. They turn on the TV and they're like, oh shit, I bet on the Niners and they don't have any of their wide receivers tonight. But yes, right now it's just 53 % Rams.

1:05:30Pat McAfee:All right, be a friend, tell a friend that's gambling out there that there's injuries happening. Joining us now from Manatic in Ohio is a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Ryder Cup winner, and now a Hoffnum. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawk. Hey, Hawk! Dude, that haircut looks so good. Looks so good. You've got to shape one, I think. You know what I mean?

1:05:49AJ Hawk:Yeah, I don't know. I think it's going to take a little bit of time. How about you talking about commercials? How about the YouTube TV where it says, enjoy your zen, and there's no commercial? You guys ever get that? Love that.

1:05:58Pat McAfee:I almost fall asleep. Love it.

1:06:00AJ Hawk:Can't we sell? We can't sell that space, or what are we doing?

1:06:02Pat McAfee:Well, I think they're potentially trying to sell that space, but their time might not match up perfectly with whatever the network's time is for commercials. That's like, I think Rich Eisen's the last person I saw had to do it. He had a radio out, a TV out, and some other out. Do you remember those days whenever shows had to do that?

1:06:22AJ Hawk:Wouldn't they be doing it? Yeah, as they're going off the camera when they're simulcast, they're reading an ad for the radio show that they're doing.

1:06:28Pat McAfee:Yeah, and I guess I don't know how or why YouTube TV has more space. Maybe it's because the local ads don't run on YouTube TV. So those are like the 30-second local ads that maybe don't get sold or don't happen or whatever it is. So that moment of Zen is pretty nice.

1:06:44AJ Hawk:It's nice. It is.

1:06:45Pat McAfee:It's pretty good. A company should think about buying ad space and calling it. Yeah. From.

1:06:51Cody Rhodes:Presented by. Whoever. Right. That'd be a good one. It wouldn't be. Because I love that moment of Zen. I do too. I do.

1:06:57Pat McAfee:And I immediately just look at my phone. Sweet. I'm not going to do that. Yeah. Bingo. Can you put a countdown on this thing? Right. Can you give me a countdown for how long I know? So you're somebody Zen and I know it's working for somebody. But for me, it's my daughter's got something going on where I need to do something here. But tonight, big one, AJ. Rams, Niners. Niners very injured. A lot of stats coming out that Shanahan plays McVay very well. Fred's still playing on the defensive side. McCorkle Jones, obviously, is potentially in the middle of a mid-career resurgence that we have seen a lot of players have as of late.

1:07:30Pat McAfee:And then Christian McCaffrey still exists. So what are your thoughts on how this game goes? And eight and a half is a lot of points, brother.

1:07:37AJ Hawk:Yeah, it's the first thing I thought of. Eight and a half is a bunch of points. But then I start thinking of that Rams defense, and I love what their D-line does. I like how they run at all three levels. So I would say right now I might be leaning Rams, but I am not 100 % confident in that pick yet. I don't know who I'm going to pick by the end of the program. But I still think the Niners still could possibly keep it close. That's why I'm not fully decided.

1:07:59Pat McAfee:Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a Super Bowl champion, a man who is obviously one of the greatest yinzers of all time, like David Bednall. Yeah, sure. Closer for the Yankees. Did you hear this, AJ? This guy. Get rid of him.

1:08:11AJ Hawk:Why wouldn't you get rid of him? Why would the Pirates want him?

1:08:13Cody Rhodes:They got a haul back from the Yankees, too.

1:08:16Pat McAfee:Oh, we always get hauls, brother. We know exactly what to do with hauls.

1:08:19Cody Rhodes:I'm just kidding. They didn't. It was panned big time. They're like, Jesus Christ, the Yankees just threw three bums from the farm system, and they gave them their all-star closer. What the hell is going on?

1:08:28Pat McAfee:Joining us now is a man that would not have made that decision for the city of Pittsburgh. Okay? Guy who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Before that, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. I think he spent time at the San Francisco 49ers. And, hell, he might have been a barkeep at some place in Pittsburgh while he was growing up. Ladies and gentlemen, our coach, Coach Mike McCarthy. Yay, Coach! Coach, how's it going?

1:08:51Kirk Herbstreit:It's going great. Good afternoon, man. Did you see that Yinzer last night? No, I missed it. I apologize.

1:08:58Pat McAfee:No, it's baseball. Not a lot of people see it. But their numbers are up, though, to be clear. Bednar, David Bednar. Yinzer, closer for the Yankees, okay? Beginning of this season, he was closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, made the All-Star game, has Renegade as his walkout music. And, of course, that Pirates owner, Coach, says, get this guy the hell out of here. Who's going to pay this guy if he continues to be this good? Now he's wild card winning games for the New York fucking Yankees. And he still comes out to Renegade, Coach. He comes out to Renegade. And the reason why he said he had to do it, because there was certainly some discussion.

1:09:35Pat McAfee:Renegade, obviously, the Pittsburgh Steelers song in the fourth quarter. Oh, mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law. Boom, boom. There was a lot of conversation about, like, you can't take that to New York. What are you doing, buddy? And then he said, all right, I'll get rid of it. And then he laid down at night and he pillow talking with himself. Every time the song comes on, I take a James Harrison, just take somebody's head off. I have to keep that as my song. This guy is a super Yinzer, was on the Pirates. They said get him to hell out of town. Coach, that's part of the problem, but I think we should respect Yinzer for doing his thing on the biggest stage.

1:10:12Pat McAfee:Don't you agree?

1:10:14Kirk Herbstreit:No, absolutely. I mean, hey, once a Yinzer, always a Yinzer. You got to love that. No question.

1:10:19AJ Hawk:Did you see what the other Yinzer relief pitcher did last night? No. Yesterday? Mason Miller. What did he do? Threw 104. Went two scoreless. Did he put me pretty good?

1:10:28Pat McAfee:Can we just keep?

1:10:29AJ Hawk:No, he was never on the Pirates.

1:10:31Pat McAfee:Oh, I was going to say. Jeez. Come on. He was on the A. This is the Inzer? Where's he from?

1:10:37AJ Hawk:He's from Bethel Park. Oh, really?

1:10:40Pat McAfee:Bednar's from Mars.

1:10:41AJ Hawk:Let's go part-time.

1:10:41Pat McAfee:The owner of the Pirates had no fucking idea this guy existed. Okay, anyways, let's move. Let's talk a little ball here, Coach. Let's talk a little football here. We're heading into week five of the season. I think injuries have started to really take over some teams, like the Niners tonight, which we'll definitely dive into at some point. But week five, obviously it's October now. you talk about thanksgiving being when it matters what do coaches know by week five like what do you think coaches are thinking at this point as we're done with the first quarter of the season and now we're trying to navigate the rest here coach well i think just like anything you know you've already

1:11:14Kirk Herbstreit:touched on injuries i mean you know every year you're going to fight injuries it's just a matter of how many uh you know when they you know when they come and and who you know obviously what position sometimes you get overloaded and you know if you go right to san francisco i mean it's to have this many this fast, I mean, that's a difficult challenge without a doubt. But I think when you get out of September football, I mean, in my opinion, I've always felt that September football is a little sloppier. You know, you've got the training regimen with the new CBA. You don't really get to, you know, train as much in certain aspects that you really don't find out about your team, you know, until you really get into these regular season games.

1:11:55Kirk Herbstreit:So, you know, I'm talking more about the fundamentals and so forth and run defense, running the ball, pad level, footwork, the fits, the communication on defense, all those things kind of get it. So I think clearly when you get past those four games, obviously you have tendencies, rules are more and more defined, a little more clear for your players. You may think that sometimes you get into games where you're heavy two-minute offense and you're playing more 11 personnel where you wanted to be more 12 and 21. And so, you know, you've got things that are going on in that first four weeks. So it is always, I've always felt week five and six is usually a time where you're looking to hopefully schematically shift some gears and move away.

1:12:37Kirk Herbstreit:Because when I look at schematic football, you know, I use your baseball analogies here. You know, you always want to establish your fastballs and your curveballs. But then now you start to change up some things like that. So I think that those things start to come into light when you get out of September and you get into this phase. this phase but injuries it's just they're always going to be there um and when you have a bunch early it is challenging because now your younger players are playing probably a little earlier than you want them to play we actually got into this a little bit last year uh in dallas and i think but you know the benefit is in the long run but these younger players are getting ready for november december football and history will tell you that your young players are going to be playing in some of the biggest games of the year at the end of the season when it matters most there and

1:13:23Pat McAfee:you have to reestablish what your fastball is whenever you have a new cast of characters, especially at important positions. I mean, that is quarterback being the most important. Like, what is our fastball now with McCorkle Jones at quarterback, let alone everybody else? Then we start getting our curveball. Then we get the sweeper, the splitter, the sinker. You know, then we start working the junk. You know what I'm saying? Like Dave Bednor does. Yeah. And then that other guy from Pittsburgh. Mason Miller. Yeah, Mason Miller, this guy. He's got absolute heat. But you're right. Establishing who the hell you are is certainly a benefit, but then whenever you get injuries, it's like, well, who are we now?

1:13:56Pat McAfee:It's like an ever-changing situation. Injuries 100%, right? Every team. You just got to hope it's not at a key position. Is that what every coach and GM is doing? Like, we know injuries are coming. We just pray to the football gods that it's not at, like, one of our pillar positions. Is that an accurate kind of feel that you guys all have whenever you go into a season?

1:14:16Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I think the obvious is, you know, certain positions are affected more by change than others. And that's just, you know, that's just the natural part of the game of football. But, you know, you really don't want to see anybody, you know, have serious injuries, you know, significant injuries where, you know, could affect their, you know, the whole season or a significant amount of time. So that's really the, you know, I know what I'd always hope for because, I mean, it's the fact of the matter, it's a violent game. Players are going to go through the, you know, injury phases. they go through it in their career so I mean it's it's really part of the game availability is the most important ability and that's the fact of the matter and I suppose especially in today's football you know with the way things are set up the best thing that can happen to any football team especially a young football team is they get to practice every day together and they line up and play every day together particularly you know through September because that's how you build that connection and get the momentum you're going to find you're going to learn how to win sometimes when you're dealing with a younger team and then you get on a roll.

1:15:17Kirk Herbstreit:But, yeah, the injury part of it, it's there, and it's challenging, especially for these two teams playing tonight. I mean, when you have the injuries on a short week, I mean, that really manifests itself even more.

1:15:29Pat McAfee:Niners go from a three-point dog to an eight-and-a-half-point dog as the injury report continues to roll out. Go ahead, AJ.

1:15:36AJ Hawk:Coach, speaking of that, like with injuries, when a team, especially in offense, is ravaged by injuries, has a lot of injuries, maybe have a backup quarterback playing. Can you explain what it means when coaches say they're going to dial down the game plan? They're going to shrink the game plan and make it easier, I guess, for, say, a backup quarterback. I'm not saying they need to do that for Mac. But is that something that coaches will – like, how do you do that? How do you scale back when you have to put somebody else in that doesn't have much experience?

1:16:00Pat McAfee:Or Thursday night game plans in general. I think just kind of all of that kind of going into one.

1:16:05Kirk Herbstreit:Yeah, I mean, just I'll start with the Thursday night game plan. And I personally, I've always put in more in the previous week, you know, and anticipate the carryover that you'd have from, you know, the Sunday game into the Thursday. So because, you know, you want to you still want to have enough volume to be able to have the flexibility throughout the course of the game. So but, yeah, as far as I mean, I mean, really, it depends on who your quarterback is. Frankly, I just think that, you know, now we get into the design of the quarterback room. Do you have a true veteran? You know, quarterback is what experience is.

1:16:37Kirk Herbstreit:the profile of the quarterback, the backup quarterback, you know, physically and his attributes are aligned with, you know, with the starter, which I always preferred. So because you definitely want to make sure you're giving your offensive personnel the opportunity still to be successful and contribute to the team. I think the biggest thing is the complemented football value goes up even higher when you get to your backup quarterback. It's just, you know, the ability for the offense to play to the defense and vice versa and and field position and those types of things you know just the emphasis on time of possession uh really the vitals of any game taking care of the football you know just as far as you you know i think just like in any life you get what you emphasize mac jones first love shanahan

1:17:20Pat McAfee:number three overall pick let's trade away everything if he has another incredible game is this toe injury we're gonna wait we're gonna wait until this toe injury is 100 with brock purdy how much does the coach understand about the potential drama outside of a building with this type of stuff especially at the quarterback position brock purdy comes back still injured doesn't look great last week mac jones two weeks ago looked unbelievable if he was to look great again tonight that's good for the team i think having two good quarterbacks is obviously a great thing but do you have to think about the drama like are you reaching out to brock letting him know he's our guy like how does that kind of get managed by a head coach knowing that there's going to be shit outside talking about what you need to not get inside yeah i think the noise is something

1:18:02Kirk Herbstreit:you're really working on and managing every single day. It's based on how you interact daily, how you communicate daily. That quarterback room, I'm sure, is very, very close. I've never been in one that isn't. So, yeah, I don't think that drama is something that's really dealt with in the room. And if it is, then you've probably got to look at the things that have led up to that point in time. It's part of the game. And the fact that, you know, they'll be able to stay right in rhythm with how they want to play conceptually, how they want to play against the Rams, which, as we know, the Rams' defense is a big challenge.

1:18:39Kirk Herbstreit:So, yeah, I wouldn't be thinking about that. Personally, I wouldn't be thinking about that at all. And I'm sure Brock is helping Mac get ready for the game, and that's the type of quarterback rooms I've always been a part of.

1:18:51Pat McAfee:Thinking about that at all is a good thing for a Yenzer to say. I just want to let you know. I'm going to add that to mine. To mine, I'm going to say, thinking about it all is a pretty good little bit of a run there if you drop into some... I love that. I feel like I'm learning about myself while talking to you. It's a beautiful thing. Talk about... Go ahead.

1:19:11Kirk Herbstreit:You're on fire today, brother. Oh, I am.

1:19:14Pat McAfee:You're the one that's on fire.

1:19:16Kirk Herbstreit:I know you get some of that coffee you're drinking. That's for sure. Oh, brother, every day? You got me sitting up. It's coffee.

1:19:22Pat McAfee:It's not just the coffee you're smoking over here.

1:19:24Kirk Herbstreit:Well, you can go there.

1:19:26Pat McAfee:Well, I did try to give you some. Yeah?

1:19:28Kirk Herbstreit:well documented that's right thank you i appreciate it thank you

1:19:33Pat McAfee:you did you were very kind i was like huh yeah no thanks it was uh it was obviously a good moment in our relationship you talk about quarterback rooms being tight though let's talk about that a little bit more because it's on display i think in cleveland go ahead connor

1:19:45AJ Hawk:yeah coach right now dylan gabriel is getting the start for the browns shudder sanders did an interview and i'm just now realizing i was supposed to send it to you and i did not but Shadur basically doesn't answer the question. He just kind of mimes what he would say to the reporter's question. Yeah, there it is. We don't need audio because there really isn't any. What do you think about this? It's kind of tough just because they're both rookies. They're both in the same class. How can you handle this situation as a coach? And then also, will this help Shadur because now he'll get more reps as the backup versus the starters?

1:20:21Kirk Herbstreit:So he's not speaking there? No. He's miming. he's miming he's doing like a full-on like okay good um very well done great so rex ryan yeah

1:20:33Pat McAfee:so coach this is where it came from so rex ryan and many others were basically like i want to hear from the third quarterback for the browns basically like hey we don't need to hear that that is basically what they said so the next time he had a camera in his face once again third string quarterback fifth round draft pick rookie has cameras in his face because he's shador sanders They knew that whenever he's coming into the building. He decides not to make any sounds then. Everybody doesn't want to hear from me. Okay, I'm not going to make any sounds. Good content creation. I will say genius idea, expert-level trolling.

1:21:04Pat McAfee:They like phenomenal stuff here. As a coach, though, Stefanski, obviously, on the offensive side of the ball as well. We haven't heard really Dylan Gabriel say anything negative, Joe Flacco say anything negative, Kenny Pickett say anything negative. Nobody in the locker room, really. It's all just outside noise. But that quarterback room is a sacred place. Dylan Gabriel, I think, has handled it very well. And now he's having the opportunity to obviously play against a B. Flores defense. But how do you manage that type of stuff? The word distraction gets tossed out a lot. And obviously, it's a terrible word in the NFL and most professional sports.

1:21:35Pat McAfee:How do you manage that, especially at the most important position in the most important room of the team?

1:21:41Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I mean, just seeing the video there live, I mean, my first reaction is, I mean, don't we all have a sense of humor? I mean, I thought it was kind of funny personally. Yes, exactly. But I think really, I know just being fortunate to be a head coach, you know, at the beginning, back in 06, you know, really social media kind of, you know, really took off. And AJ will remember this situation. We had a situation where a young rookie took a picture of Josh sitting in a hot tub and then it hit social media. So that was like the first time that I had to actually be educated on what exactly is social media, Instagram.

1:22:16Kirk Herbstreit:And so and then you learn to deal with those things. And so I do think it is a time and place deal. Content is real. I mean, I am very well experienced in content because I just worked at the content enterprise of the world the last five years prior to doing this great show with you. So it's very, you know, it's financially beneficial and there's definitely some gain in that. So, I mean, that's so I look at it as from personal. But as a head coach, absolutely. You don't want any distractions. and I do agree with Greg, you don't want to hear about the third string quarterback, but I think the really thing is, the question is, you know, what are they seeing in Cleveland?

1:22:56Kirk Herbstreit:And, you know, I would think that, you know, going back to what I just said earlier, the quarterback rooms are, you know, quarterback rooms, offensive line, I mean, some of those rooms are some of the closest rooms that I know that I've been able to witness over the last 30 years in this league. So, and so as long as those guys are okay in the locker room because the most important room in the organization is the locker room. And I've always believed that. And just as long as those guys are right, because it's all about the football. I mean, we're going to laugh and guys are going to do things.

1:23:27Kirk Herbstreit:Some guys will do something a little stupor and others that will cross the line. But, you know, as long as it's not too far over the line, you pull them back in because you do want everybody to beat themselves. AJ, we used to talk about it all the time with the leadership guys. You know, we want the personalities of everybody. But in our locker room structure, rules and how we want to operate within our culture, we want everybody to be themselves because everybody will be the best version of themselves. Is that the first time it's ever happened in an interview without any audio? You've got to give them some kudos.

1:23:59Kirk Herbstreit:Multiple questions. Multiple questions. Yeah, so, but yeah, I don't, I personally don't think that stuff's a huge deal unless it's an issue in the locker room. And I think you just, you know, I think like a lot of things in life, we all probably need to learn how to laugh a little bit more. So that's how it hit me when I first saw the video.

1:24:21Pat McAfee:I love that. AJ, he wanted everybody's personalities to show in the locker room. Is that why you always flipped off the coaches after you made plays? Could be.

1:24:29Kirk Herbstreit:Oh, he was flipping the coaches off. I didn't realize that's what that was. Oh!

1:24:35AJ Hawk:I told the story of the trap where I got called into your office, Coach, in my towel. Yeah, I had to tell you. No, it's an inside. It's a joke where it's going on between myself and Winston Moss, the linebacker coach at the time. No other coaches. It was a joke. We all laughed about it. But, Coach, the locker room situation. I don't know if we all laughed about it. Sounds like a new piece of information is coming through.

1:24:55Pat McAfee:Coach, Mike wasn't laughing. Guess what happened last year?

1:24:58AJ Hawk:It was funny. We laughed about it. We did laugh about it. It happened those times when it was caught on camera by CBS or whoever did it. But, Coach, the locker room you mentioned, I know you made like an active effort to stay out of the locker room and kind of keep the coaches out of the locker room, not always walk through there. Can you explain what that was about and why you did that?

1:25:15Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I just think like anything is that, you know, our facility grew there in Green Bay. And, you know, at that time, you know, back in 06, I just felt like you guys didn't really have your own space, you know. And, you know, everybody has beliefs about developing group dynamics, connection and so forth. And, you know, and there's just conversation that amongst players that, you know, Hey, I know I'm a cool dude and you guys want to hang out with me all the time, but Hey, I don't need to be there. So, I mean, I thought, you know, I just felt that, you know, you guys needed your own space. And, and if you remember back in, cause I mean, you, you, you were with me from the, from day one is that's when, you know, the access into the locker rooms with the media and everything kind of all went to a different level so you know I was always just very cognizant as you know one of these guys gonna be able to be guys you know just be themselves because you know it's a hard way to to make a living but it's you gotta have fun I mean the game of football is fun uh what we do working hard grinding and getting ready each week I mean that's there's a lot of you know there's a lot of joy and happiness that goes into that process and and that's where the whole belief of that came back in 06 was you know where are these guys going to be able to hang out and laugh and joke you know um you know during the breaks and so forth and and it's amazing how it changed and i don't know if you feel this way i can remember the times when you did walk through the locker room in the earlier days guys were you know a lot more interaction talking and then as time went on in my career there and it's the same you know i'm sure everywhere now you know you walk through the locker room and everybody's got their phone on no

1:26:50Pat McAfee:no you got to keep that away you got to have some you're saying well they got to have you got in the locker room you're saying everybody has turned into that this generation has turned into everybody

1:26:58Kirk Herbstreit:kind of isolated yeah that's just that's hey i mean it happens at home with my kids i mean it happens when they get in the car so i mean i just think it's you know those things change so i think as a when you talk about culture the facility and how you want people to interact and all those i mean you think about all those things you know we're you know not only the time and space um because you know we'll come five o 'clock you know some guys are going home to family some guys you and everybody's got something different. I always loved it when you guys would get together away from home. I mean, really one of the things I ended up changing the schedule was away games, was we left as early as we could and moved everything back a little bit because I wanted the players to go to dinner together on the road.

1:27:39Kirk Herbstreit:And I thought that was something that was very beneficial to our position groups and things like that. So, yeah, that's just the way I've always thought about it is how you got to – You know, everybody wants to talk about leadership and culture, but my job is to create those opportunities for those things to happen organically.

1:27:59Pat McAfee:That's an incredible way to view it. I obviously never got to play for a team that you coached, but scheduling a little bit earlier so that the boys have time to hang out is wonderful thought. I think that is the key ingredient to winning. I think as a team has to like each other. I think they have to hang out. AJ and I talk about this a lot. The teams that I've been on that have been good, which is a lot of them, have gotten along. Like, hey, you need to have friendships there. So understanding that as a coach, I think, is a beautiful thing, genuinely. And you talk about one of the biggest storylines of the entire NFL season.

1:28:29Pat McAfee:Not really a lot of chatter from the locker rooms. Mostly from owner and then one player and then media. The biggest game of the century happened down in Jerry World this past weekend. Some will call it the McCarthy Bowl. Go ahead, Ty.

1:28:45Cody Rhodes:Yeah, a lot of people were calling it the McCarthy Bowl, and it delivered on all accounts until we had a tie and basically you might as well not even play the game. And it was a huge waste of time.

1:28:54Pat McAfee:You're saying not play the McCarthy Bowl? We shouldn't even play? Well, yeah.

1:28:58Cody Rhodes:After watching it, I was like, you know what? Just give both these teams a loss. This is bullshit. We just wasted all this time. This is not fair. But, Coach, what did you think of that game overall? Do you think it lived up to all the hype? Obviously, you know, Jerry was pretty jacked up that Michael didn't just completely destroy the game. And then the ties. You've got to have some opinion on this, how we can maybe eliminate these from the game. Just what are your thoughts on that whole situation in general?

1:29:28Pat McAfee:B.A., B.A. Yeah, B.A. Explain the B.A. one, please.

1:29:31Cody Rhodes:Yeah, so B.A., we talked to him, and he basically said, hey, the 10-minute overtime was because of me, because we ran about 100 plays in a Cardinals game, and we wouldn't have been able to practice or play on Thursday. if that would have been the case. So I said, hey, listen, we need a 10-minute overtime. But his idea was, hey, both the offense, both offenses, you get one play from the eight-yard line against the other defense. And then you go in. If you score, obviously, you know, the other team gets the opportunity. If they score, you keep going until one person doesn't score. And then we ultimately have a winner because it's not going to add a bunch of plays for guys.

1:30:05Cody Rhodes:And we should get a result pretty quickly.

1:30:10Kirk Herbstreit:Todd, that was a hell of a sermon. I'll try to answer your six questions. Come on, get them. First of all, I love them. Come on, it's a McCarthy Bowl down there.

1:30:17Pat McAfee:That's a big deal. And it ended in the worst possible way.

1:30:22Kirk Herbstreit:Come on. It did. No, I agree with that. But the fact that it was a McCarthy Bowl and they didn't invite my ass, that's bullshit. That's the first I heard of that. I agree. But I thought it was a great game. I really did. I think both teams have a lot of similarities. They're young teams with arrows pointing up. So I was not surprised that it was a close game at all. I know the way it started in the first half, everything was leaning towards Green Bay. But the way the battle back and forth, I thought it was a very entertaining game. And I thought a lot of young guys stepped up and both teams having some injuries and so forth.

1:31:01Kirk Herbstreit:So I thought the game had everything you wanted except the ending. And I do agree with the tie thing. I mean, you definitely want to see a resolution where there is an opportunity to have a winner. I know personally I've had two ties as a head coach, and I think really, and A.J., remember this, in 2013 actually helped us because it came down to the division record and so forth. So we were able to win the NFC North on an 8-7-1 record, battled through a ton of injuries that year in 13. and then the second time was in 18 we had a game and actually both teams both the times were against the minnesota vikings which is actually killing my my goddamn didn't my division win percentage by the way but we won't get into that so two division ties but uh but in 18 but in 18 age if you remember the game it was really uh no i'm sorry but 18 it was uh early in the year hot went crazy number and going to B.A.'s point, I think we had probably 80 plays on offense or 77 plays on offense.

1:32:06Kirk Herbstreit:We had a perimeter player that had probably the highest GPS number I've ever seen. And then we go into the following week and we always adjusted the numbers in practice, reps based off the GPS numbers and so forth. And we had a situation in practice where this player, me, the assistant coach, and the player went on the same page. He practiced too much during the course of the week. and then the following Sunday had a fatigue injury in the game. And I always, you know, that was one of those things about those, you know, those overtime games and ties. And, you know, Green Bay has the point I'm making, Green Bay has the bye week this week.

1:32:39Kirk Herbstreit:But, you know, I'm sure Dallas is being cautious with the guys that have those really high numbers because, and that's where, you know, B.A. was saying, I mean, because those players are at risk, you know, for fatigue injuries and the training after an overtime game is, you know, is very important as you lean into that. not only the following week, but the week after as far as the angulation, the peaks and valleys, how you train going into that game. But, yeah, that second tie against the Vikings on a noon game, hot day at Lambeau, I always felt that that carried over. And we lost a dynamic runner player for a good four or six weeks on a fatigue injury.

1:33:17Pat McAfee:So that is probably another thing that was stated whenever the 10-minute thing was brought up because it wasn't a 10-minute one. It was nothing, and then it was a full quarter. Then it was 10. Now it's like if you score a field goal, you can – it's like they've tried to get it right, it feels like. Playoffs. We're trying. Playoffs, we all – okay, we're playing until we get a winner. Good. That's how it should be, and everybody wants it. And then you hear B.A. and McCarthy both like, we're trying to get through a fucking season. So let's not – because hockey will go like six, seven periods. Oh, yeah.

1:33:47Pat McAfee:That thing will just keep going. And then those guys have a game like two days later, and it's like how do they even survive? Football, there has to be an end, especially with the amount of contact and everything. And Jerry Jones brought up the three-hour window. We need to make sure we stay in a three-hour window, okay? Because we don't want one game interrupted another game. And what our studies have told us, three hours optimal time for a game in there. Obviously, Jerry has that answer. And he also was quoted as saying, they got Michael, we got our guys, and we tied. So let's move along with the questions that you are asking.

1:34:20Pat McAfee:I don't like that you were invited. He messed up.

1:34:23Kirk Herbstreit:No, I think I could have got in if I needed to. I'm just kidding.

1:34:28Pat McAfee:Yeah, but we should have let you kick off that game, man. You should have been doing a kickoff. Coin toss. Well, I'm talking kickoff. Actually kickoff. Yeah, actually do a kickoff, you know, for both teams. First kickoff.

1:34:40Kirk Herbstreit:We could have made some money off Jerry with his T-shirts or something.

1:34:44Pat McAfee:Exactly. Yeah. More money, Jerry. We're a little ahead of time.

1:34:48Kirk Herbstreit:Yeah, a little McAfee show on the top here.

1:34:51Pat McAfee:Oh! Oh, hey. Yeah, we would have been paying Jerry for that one, I think. So, I don't know. Money's coming or going there. Jerry's seemingly always collecting.

1:35:00Kirk Herbstreit:Oh, you're going to have the right guys selling it for you.

1:35:02Pat McAfee:Yeah, landmatch. You're right. Got McCarthy going, Dyer. I got a uniform I want to do to kick off. I got a toe thing I'm going to hit. It's going to be great. All right, Tony has a question for you about something not named the McCarthy Bowl.

1:35:15AJ Hawk:Yeah, Coach, I have a question about the Ravens who are not off to a good start, especially for their standards. And I saw a tweet from Dan Orlovsky this morning who said they are the 32nd ranked team in rush attempts on first and second down. They are not running the ball on first and second down. When they do, they're running for six yards a carry. And last year, Derrick Henry ran for almost 2 ,000 yards. So my question is, why do you think teams go away from things that are working, especially the run game? It feels like teams, the run game will be working and they go away from it. And the Ravens specifically, he hasn't rushed for more than 50 yards in the last three games.

1:35:50AJ Hawk:What do you think is going on with the Ravens in general?

1:35:53Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I mean, we're not seeing every game and going strictly through stats, but I do think this. I think you've got to really watch statistics in the first four weeks. I've always waited until the fifth week to let things start to fill because you do get into crazy games. You may have an overtime game that really pushes the stats offensive a lot higher than they probably really are and no different for your defense. So I think you do have to watch that. But I think we all do understand that the Baltimore Ravens, when we get to week 17, 8, they're going to be running football. So I think it's just probably a great reminder who they are, the division that they're in.

1:36:29Kirk Herbstreit:But I think you have to look at the type of games they've gotten themselves into. You know, when you go up against the Buffalo Bills and you get into shootouts and things like that, you know, sometimes those run attempts aren't what they should be. And I know that personally from a play caller. I've always, always tried to adhere to the formula of ball distribution. If you can get the ball distributed 55 times to your perimeter group with rushes plus completions, you're doing your job as a play caller through the quarterback to get that ball distributed. So I think that's something when you just go pull that number out of there and say, oh, they're not rushing the ball enough.

1:37:05Kirk Herbstreit:You got to look at the whole picture. So we're not sitting here knowing exactly what type of games they were in, whether they're high shootout games, they were behind. You know, all those things play into that. But, you know, Baltimore is at their best when they're running and doing all those things throughout John's career there. So I think this is just more of a – it's been four weeks, and it's a great reminder, you know, just to get back to who you really are.

1:37:32Pat McAfee:He fumbles a couple times, too. They get all upset. You've got to punish them. And I know a couple more he's trying to do. He's trying to run a score up. Yeah, exactly. Oh, come on.

1:37:42Kirk Herbstreit:Jesus, you don't forget anything.

1:37:45Pat McAfee:Yeah, pretty accurate. I won't forget what you say about tonight's game. Okay, NFC West here. Now, I know you're not picking games because that's not, obviously. No, right. Don't want to have that type of pressure. Don't be doing it. Yeah, can't be doing that. Of course, don't even know how it works. But if you were, you'd be doing really well. You'd be doing really well right now if you were to be picking games. Tonight, this thing started as a three-point spread. It has moved over a matter of a few days to eight and a half. That is huge for the NFL, but that's how many injuries have kind of been rolled out.

1:38:18Pat McAfee:Mac Jones will be starting for the Niners again, taking on Matthew Stafford in a Rams offense. That might be historic whenever it's all said and done with receiving. Pukunuku is leading everything. If he was to stay on track right now, he would beat Calvin Johnson's record for receiving by...

1:38:34AJ Hawk:175 yards.

1:38:35Pat McAfee:175 yards. So he has a lot of room to kind of... 175 is obviously a game. He is ahead of a game at this point, so they can certainly have a little bit of an off game and still be on track to break a record. And then Devontae Adams, the number two wide receiver, he's getting to see defenses that he hasn't seen ever probably because of how good Puka is on the other side. McVay, Stafford, force-feeding Puka and Devontae Adams as well. Tutu Atwell obviously had a long touchdown, but other than Puka and Devontae, the pass distribution chart is heading directly to those two. And then obviously the run game has to get going, and Higby at tight end will get the rock every once in a while.

1:39:13Pat McAfee:But they're not scared to throw to their stars. How do you see tonight going against a beat-up Niners team, at home for the Rams, division rivalry game, eight and a half points feels like a lot. Are you going to go against your normal thoughts there, division game, or how do you kind of see it playing out this evening if you were to be picking the game?

1:39:32Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I think number one, I mean, I love the NFC West and just how competitive it is. You know, obviously we had the game last week, and now you've got the Rams and the 49ers tonight. So, yeah, there's a lot going on there. I do think the Rams are playing really good football. I love the way Sean, you know, matches the run and the play action-action together in the early downs and the way they're dropped. I mean, I think Matthew Stafford's a Hall of Fame quarterback. I've coached a lot of games against him. You know, able to go against the Rams in training camp practices the last, you know, back 24 and 23.

1:40:06Kirk Herbstreit:so you get good feel for their personnel. I think this guy, I always look, when I get these division games, I look at the trenches. You know, I think you've got two D-lines that are probably two of the best defensive line coaches in the game. And I really like the way the Rams are playing up front. You look at all their scores. The production of the offense has been very low. They're doing a great job winning normal down the distance, first and second down. So I think that's going to be big tonight. but you know you got to respect Kyle and his system and you know and McCaffrey you know his his success you know against the Rams you know or when it you know when he doesn't play I think they're 0-3 when he doesn't play but he's going to touch the ball a ton tonight I mean I think that's going to be part of the the method to deal with this I don't like eight points at all that's I mean I made this you know we said this a couple weeks ago when division games I don't know So, I mean, it's your show.

1:41:01Kirk Herbstreit:Do we have to give up eight points there?

1:41:03AJ Hawk:Eight and a half, actually, not just eight. Well, Coach, there's a seven and a half out there.

1:41:06Pat McAfee:Oh, no, there's a seven and a half. Oh, there's a seven and a half. There's a seven and a half somewhere.

1:41:10Kirk Herbstreit:Well, I just think seven and a half points in a division game, that's sacrilegious there. Really like the Rams right now. I think they're playing really well. Love what they're doing on offense. I think their defensive front is dynamite. There's two edge rushers and their inside pieces. So I like the Rams, but I'm not giving up eight and a half.

1:41:31Pat McAfee:All right. We had a twofer here out of McCarthy's brain, and we appreciate that. What's the backdrop there? We didn't get a chance to chat about it.

1:41:39Kirk Herbstreit:Door County. That's Worshoe Island. Yeah, beautiful, beautiful view. Just, you know, AJ got me fired up last week talking about Jerry's boat, so I was able to get a bunch of time on my boat this past weekend, and it's really cool this time of year. I never really have the opportunity to do boating, much boating, in October. So it's just gorgeous up there. The leaves are turning and just a beautiful part of the country. So I was going to show my boat versus Jerry's, but my boat's so small I couldn't get it on the screen.

1:42:08Pat McAfee:Yeah, smart. Yeah, yeah. Jerry's boat, double wide screen and he won his game or set up. I need that thing to be a couple times. But Door County, I don't know if it was on air or off air. We actually brought something up that was happening. I actually don't know what's going on. Can you update me what's going on? I've been up in Door County up on the boat. That place has become, I think, a dream place for you and your family. I appreciate you representing and thank you for joining us, Coach. Have an incredible weekend.

1:42:35Kirk Herbstreit:You too, man. Always a pleasure.

1:42:37Pat McAfee:Good luck to your pick. You did a twofer here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Mike McCarthy. Yeah, Coach! What did he say earlier? Did I say something with all? Something bring it all. Something with blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was like the most Yenzer thing of all time. Just like, because Yenzer's words all go together you don't want to really move your mouth and open it so you just get this kind of a lazy language that is kind of spoke by and mccarthy's got it has never thought about losing it no a lot of people that make it from pittsburgh they're sent to like coaches like hey you need to stop speaking like that that we cannot have you so the yinzer accent has not really been introduced to a national audience because anytime somebody gets to a national audience they tell them you You cannot speak like that.

1:43:24Pat McAfee:That is not how this goes. So, you know, the fact that McCarthy has gone Green Bay, San Francisco, Green Bay, Dallas. Yeah, wow. New Orleans.

1:43:34AJ Hawk:He was in New Orleans for a minute. And just never lost it. He thought he did. He thought he lost it. I didn't think I thought I lost it. Oh, yeah.

1:43:43Pat McAfee:I mean, is that how I sound? I don't sound like that. That is how you sound. I don't. Maybe like my dad. But it's like, no, you are now your dad. You are Pittsburgh dad who happens to be one of the best football coaches of all time. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado. There's more than one wrestling family. There's obviously more than one storyline. But the one that we loved was when this man finished his story. He was one stardust. And he had to go away, create a powerhouse. and now who's running the show? This guy. Ladies and gentlemen, the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes.

1:44:27Yeah!

1:44:30Pat McAfee:Yeah! Woo! Yeah! Yeah! Woo!

1:44:39Pat McAfee:Oh, champ! Can't really see you. We've got a light stuff. Way done. Wow.

1:44:57Kirk Herbstreit:My hands are so sweaty, I'm sorry.

1:45:13Pat McAfee:Boom, fireworks. works yeah i heard you missed him yeah you played it off you look cool it was cool there's a microphone i'll say this where was that what happened well i'm not sure what happened i

1:45:33Mike McCarthy:have theories there is a uh oh can the title upside down yeah the miz the miz no no and he has one since. There's a writer who was featured on WWE's hit series on Netflix, Unreal. I call him Baxter. I think it was him who did it. Anyways, here's the sad part. When it didn't blow the first time, that's a good sign to not do the punch. You know what I'm saying? Let it go. It's not going to be there. Oh no. I went for the punch.

1:46:00Pat McAfee:Again.

1:46:00Mike McCarthy:Again, no pyro. And then, got up on the buckle to do the big one. No pyro. Getting up on the buckle with my hamstrings and my butt, which they've getting real big. You need that full explosion, you know? It didn't happen for me. Sad night, but hey, they woed. Yeah, they always woed. Always woed. AJ even woed. Thank you. I really appreciate you guys the version of my song that we have here. Bada ba. Bada ba.

1:46:30Pat McAfee:Bada ba ba ba. Bada ba. Bada ba. Bada ba. Bada ba.

1:46:53Pat McAfee:Yeah, that's good.

1:46:54Mike McCarthy:That is music to my ears, and I sincerely appreciate you guys doing that. So, do you know the words, obviously? I don't know the words as well as I should. Now, Downstate, we made that song years and years and years ago, and I've used it every single place I've gone. Out the Curtain, Adrenaline in the Soul. Okay. I actually don't think I do know a couple of words all the way. I know this, though, is sometimes it lingers a little, and you're just waiting to do this. You're already in the spot. So you've got to kind of sit there, and you'll see a couple of, hey, man. Give it a second. Here we go.

1:47:32Mike McCarthy:Yeah, so it's a great song. Thank you, guys.

1:47:34Pat McAfee:Born and raised in the biz, which is why I think you're here today. Okay? The fact that you came here to the Thunderdome to do this conversation, I think it's very old school, but also incredibly awesome that you feel obligated to do as such whenever you're a champion of the WWE. Tomorrow night, Cincinnati. You're tag-taming with Randy Orton.

1:47:53Mike McCarthy:Is that what I read? That's the thing. It's Heritage Bank Arena, which is an arena I love, and it's Randy Orton. Let's go. Somebody who was a mentor to me in the game, and no spoiler, Randy is – we don't know how much longer Randy is going to be doing this. I don't want that to creep up on me. if we didn't get one more good old-fashioned mega power style tag with the guy who is partially responsible for me ever getting anywhere in WWE. So Randy Orton, Cincinnati, it's a great fit. I was right around the corner. I had to come by.

1:48:20Pat McAfee:We appreciate you stopping by.

1:48:21Mike McCarthy:Pulled the bus up.

1:48:22Pat McAfee:Yeah, we saw it. Very sweet. Cool bus.

1:48:24Mike McCarthy:Well, bone to pick with you on the bus. Your bus was next to me at Russell Palooza the other day.

1:48:29Pat McAfee:Yes, was it?

1:48:30Mike McCarthy:I believe it was.

1:48:31Pat McAfee:No, it was not my bus. It was another bus.

1:48:33Mike McCarthy:Well, I would have liked had you come on my bus and said hello. I like when you come by. I know, but the door was shut. Post-show, though, you've got to throw down.

1:48:41Pat McAfee:I agree. That's old school, too.

1:48:43Mike McCarthy:I know. You've got to throw down. And I am a throw downer. I feel like I want to see how much of a throw downer you are.

1:48:49Pat McAfee:Well, we did throw down. We have throw down. You're talking about you want more throw. Yeah, yeah.

1:48:54Mike McCarthy:You do a big show like that. We premiere on ESPN. It's throw down territory.

1:48:58Pat McAfee:We need to throw it down.

1:48:59Mike McCarthy:Yeah.

1:49:00Pat McAfee:You still doing the vodka?

1:49:02Mike McCarthy:Wheatley vodka? Yeah. That's right. Wheatley American vodka.

1:49:04Pat McAfee:Okay.

1:49:06Mike McCarthy:I like Wheatley American Vodka, but Sazerac, Parent Company, that's all. Buffalo Trace, Pappy, all the deep, the good bourbon stuff. And we're in the heart of it right here, you know?

1:49:17Pat McAfee:Yes, we certainly are. I'll tell you what, Pappy had a good run there. Very expensive. Mr. Winkle? Yeah, you're talking about Pappy. You're talking about we have 30-something bottles here. We can go ahead and do it. Yeah, Jack Daniels will be all that I would need. But your bust has always been very hospitable. You have been very hospitable to me in the business. You've been around the business a long time. Right now, bigger heights. You're going to Perth, Australia next week, and that's just like status quo. Yep, going to Perth, Australia. Going to sell out a stadium probably. Me and Seth Rollins are going to battle for the most precious prize in the game.

1:49:48Pat McAfee:State of the business right now. If you were just to give kind of an entire address of where we are right now, what would you say? How would you describe to somebody that maybe doesn't watch wrestling on a regular basis?

1:50:00Mike McCarthy:Well, with ESPN and where the industry is at, pro wrestling in general, only onwards and upwards, which is new because you have these peaks and valleys throughout wrestling history. I've always loved it. But say, look at the Attitude Era. If you really look back at it, it's actually a short, shorter time than we remember. The golden age of the 1980s, you know, macho and all that. It's a shorter time than we remember. We've been cruising now four or five years. Dallas mania even the year prior to that it's been onwards upwards a lot of that has to do with Nick Khan coming on board with WWE he's a super genius a super genius and that's a that's a wrestling term in a way super genius and so much of it has to do it has the best roster WWE's roster is you got Seth Rollins the fact that we get to go do that and get to do it in Western Australia in Perth world champion WWE champion it's a beautiful thing so as long as this roster stays healthy, stays happy, stays cooking, it's onwards and upwards.

1:50:59Mike McCarthy:And I think the heights for sports entertainment and pro wrestling, we've never seen anything like this before. So this is just as a kid who loved it, always loved it, always thought it was cool. The fact that other people think it's cool now too makes my day.

1:51:11Pat McAfee:Yeah, every show seemingly has somebody that is notable from somewhere that's a massive fan. And a lot of people were fans whenever they were growing up. I think every kid at some point has a run with professional wrestling. A lot of people coming back as older as they've gotten older. And I think that's because of the access. We got Netflix deal. We got ESPN deal. Obviously, we're still running on cable and linear television. Oh, yeah. YouTube channel for WWE is like the biggest in sports.

1:51:35Mike McCarthy:Libraries over there on Peacock.

1:51:36Pat McAfee:Everything. It's there. Just kind of cooking right now. You guys should be incredibly proud of the work that you're doing. Yourself, very much.

1:51:43Mike McCarthy:Why are you acting like you're not part of this? You're a huge part of this. On that note. You can give this a reverse rub you've been getting. We love PAC. Yeah, yeah. We love PAC. Yeah, yeah.

1:51:52Pat McAfee:I've been lucky to be a part of your guys' world, to be clear. And I do think there is a chance that the WWE ESPN deal I did have potentially a little bit of sway in that time. Oh, yeah. But on that note. Neither here nor there. I think you guys have earned it all for good reason. And watching you guys work up close and personal for how long and what I get to do, it is unbelievable what you guys are able to accomplish on a regular basis, and your work ethic is outstanding. Go ahead, Ty.

1:52:15Cody Rhodes:Yeah, I just want to say first and foremost, not that I ever thought you lost the juice, but you coming out at the home run derby in Atlanta, Me and Pat were down there with some of the players, and the pop that you got was louder than any of the players that night. I mean, I know you're a Georgia boy, but I just needed to.

1:52:31Pat McAfee:Well, not just the fans. Yeah.

1:52:34Cody Rhodes:Eugenio Suarez was going crazy. His son was like, Dad, I need a picture with this guy. Come on.

1:52:39Pat McAfee:They were speaking Spanish, and then all I heard was, Cote de Roque. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.

1:52:44Cody Rhodes:So that was really sweet.

1:52:45Mike McCarthy:But you thought I had lost the juice previous to walking out?

1:52:48Cody Rhodes:No, I said you didn't. You were worried. I'm just saying, like, baseball fans. I don't immediately think everyone in here is watching Raw on Monday. I don't think that.

1:52:57Mike McCarthy:It's crazy. Wrestling fans are everywhere. They are. I always come with the idea that maybe they're not going to be. Maybe it's an opportunity to show them. Hey, the wrestler guy, he's cool. Maybe that's why I'm wearing the suit. It's a different outlook on a wrestler. But in Georgia, that's Stomberg grounds. It was a fun night.

1:53:15Cody Rhodes:But that was really sweet. As we have a hard hour in 30 seconds,

1:53:18Pat McAfee:we'll continue on digital. Ladies and gentlemen, he and Randy Orton are battling tomorrow night against the vision, the future of the industry. Bron Breaker and Brunson just a week before he has to battle in Perth, Australia for the crown jewel against Seth freaking Rollins. That's Cody Rhodes. AJ Hawks here. Week five of the NFL season kicks off tomorrow. We'll be reacting to it tomorrow. Goodbye. Okay. Now we're on digital. We just went off of TV. Wow. Now we stay on digital. He has a question for you. And watching that thing down in Atlanta for you was so cool. I was so... We're a little boost up.

1:53:47Pat McAfee:A little bit. We're a little boost up. We're obviously a little bit...

1:53:50Mike McCarthy:What does a little boozed up look like for you? I feel like.

1:53:53Pat McAfee:I think I had three Jack and Diets. He had maybe seven.

1:53:57Mike McCarthy:Yeah. Seven, eh? Give or take. All right. Ten. Dogs got to hunt, huh?

1:54:00Cody Rhodes:Ty was on the all-star team.

1:54:04Pat McAfee:They gave him a full uni. I was. Oh, I love that.

1:54:07Cody Rhodes:Yeah. Had the eye black on and everything. I was ready to get.

1:54:09Mike McCarthy:Did you get out there on the field at all? Did anybody figure it out?

1:54:11Cody Rhodes:Well, we introduced everybody. Yeah, it was pretty sweet. But you talk about the WWE and wrestling getting as big as it is. You're about to be Colonel Guile in the Street Fighter movie. When you look at that, how much of your wrestling background comes into acting? Because obviously, I think you're a pretty good representation of yourself in the ring. But how much of what you're doing in the ring could you pull from on set acting and be like, wow, this actually maybe isn't as hard as I thought because I kind of do this every single week?

1:54:43Mike McCarthy:The physicality part of Guile was, I felt like, a pretty easy pickup. And a bit of a spoiler for what's going to be, I hope, a monster movie. Guile does a few things in terms of in the video games. You know Guile's going to do a sonic boom. You know Guile's going to do the flash kick. I was adamant that anything that's a stunt, I want to do it. If that requires me being on these wires, I want to do it. If you put another guy over here in the corner who I know is going to do the shot after, I still want a shot at it. And his name's JV, his stunt squad who's putting together these fights because it's Street Fighter.

1:55:18Mike McCarthy:You need fights. It's a fighting tournament. Unbelievable. Very easy for me to jump right into it. And he had a great team around me to let me get one go at a couple things that I hope I get to see in the movie. That movie, if you ever played the game, particularly Street Fighter 2, what Katao Sakurai has done as the director is unbelievable. It's just fan service. I mean, if you just saw us all walking around the lot in Australia, you've got Dalsam, you've got Ken, you've got Ryu, you've got Chun-Li, the real I don't want to say the real final boss but in that game You said it. I did.

1:55:52Pat McAfee:We all thought it when you said it too.

1:55:55Mike McCarthy:Just a really wonderful cast and I think one thing they did that was awesome on this movie is Noah, Kalina and Koji who are the three leads unbelievably good actors who've taken it so dead serious and are there to work every day so then you've got me and 50 Cent and Andrew Schultz and Roman. We were able to play. They let us have a lot of fun. And I hope people enjoy how I approach Guile because it's different perhaps than straight military man, I suppose.

1:56:22Pat McAfee:What part of Australia were you guys in?

1:56:23Mike McCarthy:We did all the filming in Sydney. I was in Darling Harbor.

1:56:26Pat McAfee:Okay, so I was in Brisbane at the same time. I know. You guys were all up there. I thought, we'll just drive over and meet these guys.

1:56:34Mike McCarthy:Nope. It was a huge, huge continent.

1:56:38Pat McAfee:Literally, in my head, I didn't do a lot of research into where I was headed. I just knew I had a 16-hour flight in a tube with no Wi-Fi. So I knew that was problematic.

1:56:47Mike McCarthy:Did you go Perth at all? Did you get over there? No, I just went strictly to Brisbane. That's a big shock when people go is they think, oh, exactly, I can just drive on over there. And then they get on a five-plus-hour flight from Sydney to Perth and realize, oh, this is a giant continent.

1:57:03Pat McAfee:Because you just rattled off a bunch of people's names, and they had heard I was going to Australia. So I got texts from people. They were like, are you in Australia? Right now I'm like, yes. they're like we're filming in what city again? We were in Sydney. Yeah, Sydney. We're in Sydney or whatever. Are you going to be here? And I'm like can definitely make that. I mean the amount of people that are there yes I can come say what's up. And then turns out it was not that easy just to hop over there. Filming was cool though. How many movies have you been a part of?

1:57:29Mike McCarthy:I did a cameo in Naked Gun which was a blast because Liam Neeson is a Jedi. Get to have that moment. It's the first real movie I've been part of. In a sense of being there every day showing up, stunt training, next piece you know the the the hair on guile is is quite a sight and just moving through the day they kept us really busy and sydney was so incredible and i haven't been in a place and stayed still like that pretty much in my whole career other than my own home i uh for crown jewel i put the aussie flag on the back of the jacket i had to yeah i love the country as well man god they were just such a if i had to be one place for that amount of time away from the girls away from the family to do this it was a really special place food so good yeah everybody big That's the steak culture over there.

1:58:10Mike McCarthy:Oh, my gosh. Eggs in the morning.

1:58:13Pat McAfee:I didn't like the seatbelt in the back seat. I didn't love that.

1:58:16Mike McCarthy:Oh, well, you can't get in a car. Uber, yeah. It won't be moving unless you buckled in. Yeah, I didn't love that.

1:58:21Pat McAfee:Didn't love that. Could certainly find cocaine from seemingly anybody. Marijuana was not very prevalent anywhere. I was looking for a tree. Could not find it on a very easily case. But everything other than that, clean.

1:58:33Mike McCarthy:I did not have the same drug experience. That's why you're a champ, bro. Yeah, exactly. That's why you're a champ. I mean, if that's going around out there, all right.

1:58:41Pat McAfee:No, but I'm not. See, but everybody thinks I am a winter storm guy because of my energy. I am not. It's the complete opposite. I'm like, have tried it. That is the worst. I wake up in the morning just like, you're the worst human owner. Don't need to do that as an adult. I have to go the other way. I'm looking for the trees on a very regular basis. Don't want to travel in there because I've seen a lot of them abroad. You're looking for the mellow, the warm jets. Yeah, I just want to see, you know, kind of cool. Indiana obviously would never do that here. Can't? No. No, we'll never do that. Just CBD here.

1:59:08Pat McAfee:But in Australia, I'm there for a long time. That was the longest time I have gone outside of Indiana. Obviously, when I live here in Indiana, maybe since I'm 21 years old. I had that 27-month period. I was in trouble by the NFL. I was in the substance of abuse program. But other than that, no smoke to be found anywhere. That was interesting. But, yeah, I guess the upper was certainly readily available. They're all jacked. The food was incredible. Everybody had a great personality. For me, we're in Brisbane. Sidewalks were like marble at some of the places I was walking around.

1:59:39Mike McCarthy:Such a clean spot. Oh, my God. Such a clean spot. It was awesome. Australia was awesome. Do you think they really like Americans? Because I felt like they were incredibly kind. But I also thought maybe this is like an overcompensation. Talking a bunch of shit about your rights. Also, too, with the tattoo, I thought maybe they don't love me as much. They're really nice. But I walked away. It was a second home for me. Loved it.

2:00:02Pat McAfee:You came in and said, I'm the American nightmare. and they said every American's United.

2:00:07Mike McCarthy:You know how the climate is now? I don't ever want to be the one to pull it up a little bit. I'm loud and proud about it. Plus, it's Colonel Guile, as you said. You know you're going into this USA all the way. Yeah, absolutely.

2:00:19Pat McAfee:I don't think a lot of Americans are there.

2:00:21Mike McCarthy:No. It's far. It's really far.

2:00:23Pat McAfee:And also the schedule. This is 8 a.m. start on Saturday for us, right, for the Crown Jewel in Perth?

2:00:29Mike McCarthy:Oh, my. Yep, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

2:00:34Pat McAfee:I'll be up with you. I'll be an hour before doing a game day, but I'm going to wake up with you. Are you late? You don't have to give it away. You guys will be last, obviously, until it's announced maybe that they're first, depending upon how.

2:00:46Mike McCarthy:The politics of wrestling. Dude, yeah. You get it all, huh? Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, those are the two spots. You want to be first or you want to be last. I'm pretty – I think Hunter's old school in that the WWE title typically goes last, But also, sometimes going last is not a chore, but it can be a journey. If it hasn't been that banger show or if it's been a bit of a slow burn, then it's all on you to give them the action. That's the challenge of it all. I think you're made a better wrestler by being put in that spot.

2:01:15Pat McAfee:But first, you're setting the tone for the entire week.

2:01:18Mike McCarthy:First, you're setting the tone, but also first is low-hanging fruit in a good way. First is a great spot. First, last. The middle concerns me. Well, listen, you used to be in the middle.

2:01:29Pat McAfee:Weren't you doing cartwheels? Now where you're at? First or last?

2:01:33Mike McCarthy:I was the most in-the-middle guy of all time. So I like the other spots.

2:01:38Pat McAfee:Tone has a question for you.

2:01:39AJ Hawk:Yeah, Cody, since you have that big match coming up next week, tomorrow will you be like, hey, Mr. Viper, Mr. Horton, maybe you have to do more of the heavy lifting tonight?

2:01:51Mike McCarthy:That's very likely if it was anybody but Randy. Yeah. Randy, I genuinely think, and we've had a lot of shows where, say Randy wasn't advertised, and then Randy's music hit, and it was the loudest reaction of the night. The people, there's a love he has, scene is very similar, the equity they've built up. When Randy's in town, that's, it's very, you know, I'm not, I don't know if I'm saying Mr. Orton, but I'm there for whatever I can do to give him the best match possible, because he's earned it in every such way. And he's naturally going to do that just on his own. but I feel like our locker room and I hope the NXT guys and all the NIL guys who are coming in and all the guys, Sean and Baldo are training.

2:02:31I hope they realize what a special individual that Randy is.

2:02:34Mike McCarthy:And we won't have him forever. I keep saying that and dude might be here another 10 years. He looks like the Quazilla current mode he's in, but I certainly want to get this tag with him in case it's the last one.

2:02:45Pat McAfee:How come Baldo doesn't have one final run?

2:02:48Mike McCarthy:That's a great question. He's been around it. He knows everybody. That's a good – I mean, you hit that music at the Rumble, see where it goes.

2:02:55Pat McAfee:Oh, and I hope he's wearing – I hope it is –

2:02:57Mike McCarthy:Which one do you want? You want A-Train or you want the Tensai? Tensai. Oh, okay. Well, that's different than most people would want.

2:03:03Pat McAfee:We need one more Volta Tensai run.

2:03:05Mike McCarthy:Well, I mean, either way, that's always – drop them in the water, and I bet the place would lose their mind. Royal Rumble for sure. Royal Rumble, and then see where it goes.

2:03:12Pat McAfee:Former University of Pittsburgh offensive lineman, obviously, and freak show athlete. That guy, I think, not just one night. He needs an entire run.

2:03:22Mike McCarthy:You're calling for a Baldo entire run. Cena's last match. He should be involved with the Cena stuff now that I'm like, this is Baldo we're talking about.

2:03:29Pat McAfee:I'm pumped about this final run. Yeah, and Baldo, I think he needs promo every week, too. I think he deserves that. I think we get promo for Baldo every single week. You're really putting a lot of time into this. Yeah, I think he should get 20, 30 minutes a week. Put Baldo out there. Boom. 10-minute match. Obviously, he's going to have to get some of the boots back under him. He's going to have to do that, but he's down there working with everybody.

2:03:51Mike McCarthy:Well, he's a big dude. You don't have to do as much.

2:03:53Pat McAfee:Oh, couples. Yeah, big dude, less is more.

2:03:57Mike McCarthy:You don't have to come off your feet all that much. It's up to you, like the light heavyweight types. You bounce off them, you know?

2:04:03Pat McAfee:Baldo was always so good to me, man. I would like to see him just go ahead and get one more. D-Bone! D-Bone probably wants to see Baldo.

2:04:09Mike McCarthy:Oh, for sure. I think he mentioned D-Bone to me last time, and I think as I was leaving, I was calling him the wrong thing the entire time. That's all right. That's good. Yeah, don't worry about it.

2:04:17Pat McAfee:Yeah, you just broke his heart. Yeah, this guy, massive. Bada-bang. Bada-bang.

2:04:22Mike McCarthy:Did I screw it up last time, D-Bone? Was I calling you something else? He doesn't remember. All he remembers is that he touched you. I hope I got it right.

2:04:29Pat McAfee:Good to see you, Mr.

2:04:30Mike McCarthy:Rhodes. Good to see you.

2:04:31Pat McAfee:Do you have any questions for the American Nightmare, D-Bone, about anything going on in the WWE?

2:04:36AJ Hawk:D-Bone. No zipper burn today. I will say I'd be a fake C-Nation fan if I didn't say I am pissed off that you have that fucking strap on. Because this right here?

2:04:47Mike McCarthy:Wow. This right here. This upsets you.

2:04:49AJ Hawk:But I will say, thank you for bringing out the best in John Cena and putting on one of the greatest matches of his career. Thank you.

2:04:59Mike McCarthy:That was a very uniquely laced compliment, and I thank you. Thank you. It was a great match. Met life, what a good time. What a good time. And I hate saying this, but part of the beauty of how great that match is was the lack of a match that really took place at WrestleMania in a sense. sometimes the long game is the game. And, again, it's like going on last. It's a hard spot occasionally, but the bigger picture, I treat them as they were the same match. And then we just got to use all the bells.

2:05:27Pat McAfee:Oh, you're saying it was like first half seconds.

2:05:29Mike McCarthy:Yeah, exactly. It's a story, you know, I don't want to quote Mr. Heyman here, but the chapters, the innings, all those things, it's a long game.

2:05:36Pat McAfee:Oh, are you seeing the vision right now? Is that what you're doing?

2:05:38Mike McCarthy:He's got good vision, huh?

2:05:40Pat McAfee:Well, we'll see him more tonight.

2:05:41Mike McCarthy:Who are you picking out of Bron and R. Bronson to move forward into the upper stratosphere? Who's it going to be? Oh, the big dog? Big Bron?

2:05:50Pat McAfee:Is that even a question? I mean, what are we even talking about? This is, okay. Guy runs 25 miles an hour. Now, tsunami is certainly unstoppable.

2:05:58Mike McCarthy:And he called you out. He wanted to tsunami you, you know. Did he? Yes, this is a thing he's put out there. He wanted to tsunami you. When? When did he say this? I think he's pretty much put everybody on a list. You were on a list. You were on a list.

2:06:09Pat McAfee:Dude, in high school, I was on a list, too. There was a lot of conversations. Uh-oh, uh-oh. That was an eye-opener for how bad people can really hate me.

2:06:17Mike McCarthy:Here's my outlook on Bron Bronson, though. I feel like whoever you pick to be the guy from that group, because this happens to tags all the time, I think you'll be wrong because I have a feeling they're both going to be.

2:06:27Pat McAfee:That's why it's the vision, brother.

2:06:28Mike McCarthy:Yeah, Mr. Heyman does not make bets that do not pay off. No, we're all football guys. We're all football guys here, so.

2:06:37Pat McAfee:We looked up your amateur wrestling record at high school.

2:06:41Mike McCarthy:The unreal. 101 and 2. That's so good. And only taken down four times. Wow. Yeah. So good. Yeah. I was obsessed. You ever seen Vision Quest? Oh, Matthew McKeon. You talking about The Vision? Not The Vision, but you've seen Vision Quest? I have, yeah. What a vibe. So that was my life. I was up early. The whole thing, the whole reason I was so obsessed with folk style amateur wrestling is because where I lived, Dusty was kind of Gomez Adams.

2:07:05Pat McAfee:Yes.

2:07:05Mike McCarthy:When we go to tournaments and stuff.

2:07:07Pat McAfee:For everybody else that doesn't know what you're talking about.

2:07:09Mike McCarthy:Adam's family. When he was just looked upon as he had this freak-like job. And then he was always ridiculed for not being a real athlete, which Dusty looked how Dusty looked. And I made it. So that was everything he did. He could hit a baseball as far as, I mean, everything he did, he was a great athlete. But I really wanted people to know when it came to me, the wrestling was as real as it got. It was a weird psychology as a youngster, but it drove me because that run in high school was absurd. You committed to Penn State, didn't you? I didn't fully commit. No, no. I was going to Howard Fine Acting Studio.

2:07:42Mike McCarthy:My mom wanted that commitment. My mom, to this day, thinks I've made the wrong career choices. And I love her for that.

2:07:52Pat McAfee:Mama Rhodes!

2:07:54Mike McCarthy:Mama Rhodes is not... I think she wanted that Penn State, I mean, Runnels or Rhodes to get into college and do it for sports. Here's the thing about that amateur wrestling record, though, that here's the fraudulent part. That was in high school, in the South. competition's not as uh stiff as you get in the midwest you know some spots out in california i'd go to these kin shertel gold medal camps over the summer and i would get dog walk i would get murk now i never got pinned i was good enough but i mean the team georgia was a fun bit for a second but i remember being at one camp and the guy goes all right you're crab walking across the gym he said if you're from pennsylvania go 30 kids go all right if you're from west Virginia go.

2:08:36Mike McCarthy:Ten kids go. He named every state and then he got to Georgia. One kid. Just me. I was the only one at these things. It was Vision Quest. I just had to keep that record going. I don't know what it was, but my family loved amateur wrestling. I felt so bad when I lost it. No, you made the right decision, man. Thank you.

2:08:53Pat McAfee:Let's talk about you being a Georgia boy. Go ahead, Con, man. Yeah, what about the Georgia Dogs? I mean, yeah, it sucks for you

2:08:59AJ Hawk:because they might blow. Alabama's also a good team. Are they going to bounce back here, or what's going on?

2:09:06Mike McCarthy:It's not like it was four or five years ago before the big extended playoff where that one loss is it. As far as fan bases, we're not packing it up in Athens and saying it's over, but I certainly didn't think that was going to be the case. I didn't think Alabama had any of the juice. I didn't think that. So that game was just a sad inning. I see Georgia running the table throughout. I do. And then we get into the same discussions at the end with, you know, you've got one loss teams and then there'll be a two loss team and who fits. But I still stand by my dogs. And I think a great game. That game is always a great game.

2:09:43Mike McCarthy:Yeah. But not what I was expecting. But not as bad as it used to be. It used to be SEC, you lose the one game, it's done. Pack it up. And now there's a little bit of a cushion, I guess, there, but not a good day for me. They're going to fix it, though, this weekend. Of course. Joe Tess is on the call. Bringing good vibes? Bringing the good vibes, yes. The dogs are going to be fun.

2:10:05Pat McAfee:33 games, you guys had one down there in between the hedges. Wow. You guys lost that. Yeah. It was the longest home winning streak in the country. Number two home winning streak in the country lost as well. Washington. Yeah. So we got a brand new top of the we must protect this house. Georgia, is it what's that coming down the track or who's that coming down the track whenever you call the dogs?

2:10:26Mike McCarthy:Who's, right?

2:10:28Pat McAfee:I don't know. You did who's. I did both, actually, because I've heard from some Georgia Bulldog fans that are a little older, maybe, that say, it's a main machine. It's a what?

2:10:39Mike McCarthy:And then you talk to some other folks younger, and they're like, it's who?

2:10:45Pat McAfee:We're people. So they say it's who? So anytime you hear me do it, it's how I'm starting it is really a decision that's getting made in real time.

2:10:54Mike McCarthy:Yeah, the gears are going. But I think if you just put any oh in there. Oh, that's it. Oh, that's it.

2:10:59Pat McAfee:Hey.

2:11:00Mike McCarthy:It's like when you have a wrestler that you can't pronounce his name. It's just the speed, and when you hit it, you're good. The moves. I do that with moves. Yeah, no, if you just get through it real quick, the who's or what's. And also, Athens is ready for you to sing it anyways. They want the excitement. Yeah, they're not. This is Athens. We shouldn't be that particular about that song.

2:11:18Pat McAfee:Athens hated me the most out of everybody when I got to it.

2:11:21Mike McCarthy:From the switch up you did?

2:11:22Pat McAfee:Yeah. No, no, no. They hated me the most when I got on College Game Day. Hated me by far the most.

2:11:26Mike McCarthy:Would you say they were kind of the old whites you were referring to? That is exactly how I'd refer to that.

2:11:31Pat McAfee:And then also, they thought I took David Pollock's spot on the show. I got along with David Pollock. David Pollock, unbelievable athlete. David Pollock, very good to me. But Georgia Bulldog fans were like, Yankee clown, greatest dog of all time. So then they dropped me in there. We took the show down there. There was like 40 people behind us. It was like, well, never fucking doing this again. Yeah, never going to come down here again. But I will say, I think the Georgia Bulldog fans, a couple ladies kicked me out of a restaurant. one of them be kicked out of a restaurant when I was down there in Athens.

2:11:59Pat McAfee:I would say they have by far been the worst fan base towards me. Oh, I hate to hear that. No, it's good. It's because of the reason that they are what they are. But I did pick them, and they did win for me. Yeah. And I feel like we had a moment there when I moved Texas.

2:12:15Mike McCarthy:How's your relationship with Ohio State fans?

2:12:17Pat McAfee:Very good because of this guy right here.

2:12:19Mike McCarthy:Okay. Because A.J.

2:12:21Pat McAfee:is Ohio State fans, I think they would turn on me immediately upon me not picking them. That is college football as a whole. But the Georgia people, it took a long time. I would compliment them. I'd interview Kirby. I'd put over their entire team. Don't want to hear it. Get this guy to fuck off the microphone.

2:12:37Mike McCarthy:You think it's because you weren't wearing a tie?

2:12:40Pat McAfee:I don't even know.

2:12:41Mike McCarthy:That was the first thing when you were on college game that I thought, bold. No tie. And then the bolos are coming out. You just brought an energy.

2:12:51AJ Hawk:Do you sleep in a suit, though? I have recently gone down

2:12:55Mike McCarthy:one time in a suit, which is, that's almost shameful when you wake up and you're still in it. And I rushed from Bristol when I went to the ESPN headquarters to meet my daughter and wife at the beach, and I was still in the suit. And I took my shoes off. It's just bizarre. She'll have a lot of questions when she grows up. I mean, it's mainly, like, I was looking through my other clothes today. We call it, if ever I wear my track jacket and stuff on TV, the writers call it Cozy Roads. Uh-huh, I like that. Cozy Roads! That's awesome! Yeah, so I do love a good suit. You do. You look good in them. I asked about the Ohio State thing because they seem very difficult to get in.

2:13:32Mike McCarthy:Yeah. They're difficult to get in as far as that fan base. And I wondered, are Georgia fans the same and we don't know it? I think a lot of them. Are we keeping the gate? I figured it was just come on in.

2:13:43Pat McAfee:There's a lot of cults in college ball, which is why college ball is so good. In the SEC, there's a lot of them. Nick Saban and a lot of people have told a story about the Southeastern Conference, how there's no professional football. So the colleges were literally, hey, this is what we have. And then you talk about grandfathers and grandfathers' fathers and everything like that that's been passed down, the tradition, which is why college football is so great. But I think the Georgia people just specifically, David Pollock, this guy's talking more than David? Not on my watch. I don't fucking think so.

2:14:11Pat McAfee:David Pollock had a 44-inch vertical or something like that.

2:14:14Mike McCarthy:I want Kirby to call and leave a pep talk on my voicemail. He's the greatest. The first time I ever heard what he sounded like in the locker room blew my mind. I thought, okay, these guys are going to war. This isn't a game. This is war. That guy's amazing. We love Kirby, too.

2:14:31Pat McAfee:Kirby, too, has always been very nice to me. Kirby's always been very cool to me. The Georgia football team has always been very cool to me. I've always been a big fan of him, and I appreciate the hell out of their fan base, to be honest. I like that you went to bat for Pollock because I'll tell you what, if somebody comes in and takes my spot, I hope the West Virginia Mountaineer people are like, fuck. Yeah, exactly. I hope they are like that. I genuinely do. But you earned him over. That's the greatest thing ever.

2:14:54Mike McCarthy:We're talking about being in the middle of the card, and then you earn them over. That's the gift. You didn't start with the rocket on. You slow, showed them what you could do, and they love you now. You just got to figure out what's or who's.

2:15:06AJ Hawk:You made me think of a question, though, talking about Kirby's locker room speeches. I know there's different locker rooms for different superstars, but before big main events or WrestleMania or whatever, does anyone get up and talk in front of the group and maybe motivate for the night, or is that just not a thing that happens?

2:15:22Mike McCarthy:I think the last time we had somebody talk to the whole group was Undertaker talking about Netflix Raw. Gotcha. And just what that meant, which was really great because some of the younger ones might not see him. They might not realize who the Undertaker was as an actual in-ring performer. And for him to explain how big of a deal this was, that this was happening, that was one where you wanted to run through a brick wall. The other guys who will do it, who are more subtle, it's not a pep talk. It's more of a pull you aside and hit you with something that's like who is again mr. Heyman on the you know He doesn't take me as one of his guys I usually am fighting his guys, but when he says something it matters and Michael Hayes Michael Hayes is one that he's just a wild he'll hit you with something or pull the curtain back and show you all the people and where they are Just again don't want to take any of this for granted Again Heritage Bank tomorrow.

2:16:13Mike McCarthy:That's a huge one for me the fact that you do this with Randy massive but those are good pep talk guys. Hunter's good too. Yeah, now that I think about it we got a lot of good leaders. A lot of good leaders on the squad for sure.

2:16:27Pat McAfee:What about Michael Cole? Come on. Sure. Michael Cole's energy is motivating.

2:16:32Mike McCarthy:Absolutely. He walks out there, the tie's a little undone during the day. He doesn't care top, bottom, who you're on the card. Get over here. Tell me. He gets what he needs. He gets his notes. He's just a voice of WWE.

2:16:46Pat McAfee:My favorite thing about him, he does so much research. So much writing, so much. The guy's attention to detail is absurd. He's always trying to type notes, and you don't know if his hearing aids are on you talking or on a video package that he is listening to throughout the entirety of the day. But he'll get something from somebody that he really likes. He'll get real excited about it. And he's like, oh, I can't wait. And then we get to almost the moment in the match where it's coming, and you see him get pretty excited. And then before it even happens, as it's happening, he can't fucking burn out!

2:17:16Pat McAfee:You know, it's like his love for the business is like very apparent. I think that is what makes the WWE so special. All of you guys, women and men and the people in creative and back. I mean, you talked about Freebird there. He's been on the road for 50 years. This guy's been living arena to arena to arena is what he's been doing. The passion for this business is the business, which Triple H had 1 ,000 times in Netflix. But it's very real. The business is kind of the thing that if you love it, it'll love you back. And I think you guys have done incredible things with it. The last question is coming from Ohio.

2:17:51Pat McAfee:Fresh haircut from A.J. Hawk.

2:17:53AJ Hawk:Yeah, Mr. Rhodes, speaking of leaders, there's a great YouTube channel called Miz Golf. Another WWE superstar runs that channel and plays, I guess, it looks like, I think there's a couple under par golf usually there with partners. Has he asked you to come on the show? I don't know if you play golf or not, but is that something you're aware of? Would you play with him?

2:18:10Mike McCarthy:Uh, you know, he hasn't asked me to come on because he's secretly, he's trying to get better with every day. If you know, if you know, Miz, Miz is not going to, he went through a guitar playing phase, I think five years ago. And he, he had it. I remember it was on the, like on the plane. He had the travel guitar. I don't even know if he remembers it, but he, Miz only can go 110 at anything. so I think he's trying to get as good as he possibly can to then embarrass people who would come on the channel

2:18:40Pat McAfee:but he never will though he's been going 110 on golf for a while

2:18:46Mike McCarthy:yeah so you don't see it coming

2:18:47Pat McAfee:and his score started at 110 and now it's 150 he's somehow gone the opposite direction it is entertaining though shout out to Miz Golf we will watch him do his thing

2:18:59Mike McCarthy:is Miz's short game good on Miz Golf?

2:19:01Pat McAfee:I can't tell you this The swing looks beautiful. The swing looks great, though, right? Without the ball.

2:19:06Mike McCarthy:Yep.

2:19:06Pat McAfee:Oh, so this is fraudulent.

2:19:08Mike McCarthy:No. He's working it? He's putting a little K-fabe on that swing?

2:19:12AJ Hawk:He goes and plays at Tahoe every summer and comes in bottom three every time. His caddy's the prompt.

2:19:17Pat McAfee:His caddy tells him he should continue to do what he's doing, which is try to be a professional golfer.

2:19:23Mike McCarthy:Guys, Miz has had a hell of a run. Former WWE. Look at that.

2:19:27Pat McAfee:Yeah, he's in the woods there. Yeah, I don't know how accurate that trail is.

2:19:31Mike McCarthy:Okay, former WWE champion. I think he's hosting American Gladiators. It's on the way. Yeah. Let's go, man. If it is, I'm screwed. I think it's out there. He's done everything in the business. If this is his new thing, Dancing with the Stars. Unbelievable. If this is his new thing he's picking up, let him get in here. Take a couple putts. Put some money on the line. You're losing way too much money on College Game Day, by the way. I had Brandi watching it this week with the two kids who went tandem on you. I'm dying laughing at the money just draining from you you had to know that that kid was going through the uprights that was the most white soccer player I'm going to kick it straight I have ever seen and they were in oh I just met this guy no you didn't finance they both are in finance we said the same thing I love that you're willing to do that but man we need some rules you need someone else on the show to say I'll chip in here Not just, hey, Pat money.

2:20:29Mike McCarthy:That's a good idea.

2:20:32Pat McAfee:Kobe Rose! Kobe Rose! Yeah, I think that's a good idea. All right. Good luck tomorrow night. Shout out to those kids. I appreciate it. I respect it. But, yes, it is getting expensive. Yeah, no, good for them. Kicking's not supposed to be easy. That's the whole part of the segment. So I don't love that. Even if he was a soccer player, that's a hard kick. There's thousands of people around him.

2:20:48Mike McCarthy:I mean, congrats to you, though. Kickers are all the rage right now. I'm watching the Cowboys just for the kicker these days. Yeah.

2:20:55Pat McAfee:What a vibe. Well, I'm watching WWE because of you.

2:20:58Mike McCarthy:Thank you, sir.

2:20:59Pat McAfee:I'll see you tomorrow night in Cincinnati.

2:21:00Mike McCarthy:Yeah.

2:21:00Pat McAfee:On SmackDown with Randy Orton taking on the future of the industry. Taking on the two dudes that you wouldn't want to fight, but that's everybody in the world. Yeah, amen. All right, taking on the vision tomorrow night in SmackDown. Then next week in Perth, Australia.

2:21:17Mike McCarthy:Are you guys wanting a ring for that? I have the ring, and I forgot to wear it. Look at me. See, I was a wrestler until I just said that. Yeah, now the ring is on the line, plus the giant fall right off you because it weighs 70 pounds title that you've got to get every buckle on. But it's the biggest title I've ever seen ever. So hopefully it's there in Perth, and then the winner gets a ring. I get to keep my ring, though. So the idea is getting two rings. Oh, give me all the rings. You want a Brady-style fill a hand up. Yeah, that's what you want. You don't want an Ease?

2:21:46Pat McAfee:You don't. I got two of these. You can potentially do that. We appreciate you.

2:21:53Mike McCarthy:This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18+.

2:22:19AJ Hawk:Are all batteries the same?

2:22:23Mike McCarthy:That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell.

2:22:35AJ Hawk:Is there any other battery with Power Boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Goats only trust Goats, because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell.

2:22:54Pat McAfee:is the greatest sport on earth. That is AJ Hawk right there. He is a Hoffnom, which we need to continue. He's got a new haircut. The haircut's becoming Hall of Fame worthy as well. Is this what the look's going to be? Is it going to be a low fade, and then we're going to slick this thing back? How you doing? Keep it moving. Or maybe we do the blowout like Paul E.D., you know, boys, from Jersey. What are the thoughts here with the low fade? What's the end goal here, pal?

2:23:19AJ Hawk:I do not have an end goal, actually. I just was trying to grow the sides out and so tried to clean it up a little bit. But I don't know. Honestly, I have no clue what I'm going to do with it.

2:23:28Pat McAfee:I think it looks very good right now. There was a couple months there where we were wondering what the hell you were doing or what you were going to do. We're starting a football season. You're on TV every day. This is an aggressive decision. I think you've gotten to the point here in week five, good shape. Yeah. It's got good shape. Maybe you do the Cody Rhodes. The Cody Rhodes. He does them right here. On your head. Do that.

2:23:50AJ Hawk:I mean, I love his pocket watch situation. So sick.

2:23:54Pat McAfee:He's always swagged out of his mind. Such a good suit. And then I love that when he wears a track suit, they call him Cozy Rhodes. He's a big-time ball fan. Big-time ball fan.

2:24:02AJ Hawk:You can tell.

2:24:03Pat McAfee:He watches show a lot. This show a lot. Anytime I would see him at an event or if we were literally anywhere at the same time, he would always go out of his way to mention something that happened on the show that day or like the most recent day. He's always been so cool to me. I'm very thankful for him. The Toxic Table is here at Boston Corner. and at Tyshman. Big one of the night for you, boys. All the marbles. For all the marbles. Okay, what's the final score? Let's do a prediction.

2:24:26Cody Rhodes:I'm going to say 5-2 Yankees. Fuck you. I'm going to say 7-6 Sox. Whoa!

2:24:37Pat McAfee:What's the over-under in this particular game? Let's go to one half of the hammer. Damn! Cowboys AP tone.

2:24:42AJ Hawk:Yankees are around minus 150 on the money line to win, and the over-under is 7-1.

2:24:47Pat McAfee:Oh! Oh, Comments has no problem.

2:24:50AJ Hawk:No problem at all. I mean, the bats have gone hot. And like I said, I missed five innings, but I'm pretty sure the bats are hot. Right?

2:24:58Cody Rhodes:The bats are fairly hot. They have been pretty tight, low-scoring affairs. But, you know, guys are getting hit. That's what I thought. Oh, yeah, singles, singles, singles. Singles, singles, singles.

2:25:09Pat McAfee:Yeah, a lot of singles. It's hashtag up to something season for Boston Conner last night. Got captivated by it. I cannot wait for the world to see it. And tonight, the world gets to see an NFC West battle. As the Rams and the Niners will face off to kickoff week five of the NFL season. Stafford, McCorkle Jones. There was a line at seven and a half somewhere. Is it still eight and a half at ESPN Bet or where are we at now?

2:25:32AJ Hawk:It is eight and a half across the board now.

2:25:33Pat McAfee:Eight and a half across the board. Conman, what do we need to know? Injuries for the Niners.

2:25:38AJ Hawk:Yeah, I mean, I don't know if there's a bet on like touches for the Niners, but no wide receiver one with Pearsall, no wide receiver three with – or two, rather, with Juwan Jennings. So it's kind of Mack Jones, Kendrick Bourne a la 2021 in New England when it comes to receivers for the 49ers. Expect CMC to get legitimately 55 touches. He's the leading receiver and rusher tonight for the Niners.

2:26:00Pat McAfee:Demarcus Robinson, I believe, is the name that Kirk Herbstreit mentioned is wide receiver for the Niners that might get a touch or two here this evening. Maybe sprinkle a little Anytime TD there on Demarcus Robinson. It just felt like a name that came out of nowhere at Kirk Herbstreit's mouth. A lot of injuries for this Niners team. Seems like this is kind of the story, brother, all the time with him.

2:26:19AJ Hawk:Yeah, they've been bitten by the injury bug for many, many years. You hear Coach McCarthy say he hates fatigue injuries that always bother him. Soft tissue stuff would always – he'd be pretty upset with that because sometimes you can do – I guess you've got to do whatever you can to try to prevent those with hydration, take care of yourself, but sometimes you're just unlucky, and it feels like the Niners have been unlucky for year after year after year.

2:26:41Pat McAfee:I'm not sure if there's any tickets available for SoFi tonight, but I assume there is. And if you want to go or you want to go anywhere else, use our friends at SeatGeek. Right now you can get$30 off with tickets code PATMACAFEE. There you go. Okay, perfect. No space. Does that change a lot? We change a lot, yeah. It gets changed a lot. We don't change it, by the way. What happens is it gets into... Gets onto Reddit. Gets onto... Maybe not Reddit anymore, but it gets onto these, like, couponers thing. And it gets abused, is what they say. And I'm like, well... Stream couponers. What's the purpose of having one if you don't want people to use it?

2:27:15Pat McAfee:Well, we want it to get used, but not by people that aren't supposed to use it. It's like, okay. How do you know who's supposed to use it? Who's allowed to use it? I guess it gets spam pretty good. To be clear, SeatGeek people are smart people. I am a big fan of the SeatGeek people. Always have been. They have taken a lot of shots with us and have helped us out immensely. But, yeah, I do get a little frustrated when it's like, oh, it's PMS dirty. No, it's Pat dirty. No, it's just Pat. No, it's like, can we? Is this what everybody does? Does this happen all the time? What's going on? Well, it gets into threads that it's just not the right.

2:27:50Pat McAfee:So we don't want people to use it? Well, we don't want the right people to use it. They want people to watch the show and earn it. That's right. They don't want people to take advantage of the system. With that being said, if you want to take advantage of the system, Pat McAfee, right now,$30 off tickets. There are some restrictions that apply. It doesn't matter if you're a new or repeat customer. $30 off with code P-A-T-M-C-A-F-E-E. No space. I don't think it matters if it's capital or lowercase. You can get$30 off your tickets with some restrictions that will apply. And SeatGeek is the greatest ticket-buying platform on planet Earth.

2:28:26Pat McAfee:And the moon. That's coming. Live events on the moon are coming. Yeah, quickly. Tonight, football goes to space. Tonight, football and its excitement goes to the moon. as McCorkle Jones takes on Matthew Stafford. AJ, eight and a half is the spread. At one point, it was three. The Rams favored at home with Pukunakua playing the greatest football maybe any wide receiver has ever played in the history of its league. AJ, who do you like? How do you like it?

2:28:57AJ Hawk:So, yeah, I've said before, I've gone back and forth on this one. And as Coach Mike said, like, eight and a half is a lot of points, especially in division. So, man, three seconds ago, I was thinking, okay, I'm going Rams here. I'm going Rams minus eight and a half, but you know what? I just, I got to trust my instincts. I'm taking Niners here plus eight and a half on the road. I woke up this morning, had a tune in my mind,

2:29:20Pat McAfee:went to the notes section, then the voice memo. Sure. Had a nice workout. Got a good sweat in. Want to overdo the sauna thing. Sure. Nice. It's great. House I moved into had one of these. Holy shit. Shout out to Rich White Dude. Yeah. putting this. Thank you. There's a lot of things this guy has in the house where I'm like, thank you, bro. I would have certainly never accomplished getting this done. So thank you for doing it. As I was sitting in there, I just started doing research on this particular game. And Hembo, obviously massive tag team partner with a bunch of stats. All the stats say Shanahan's going to keep this close with McVay.

2:30:00Pat McAfee:So do the Rams win? We all think yes, right? We all assume yes? Yes. But Thursday night division game and Shanahan with McVay, I think it stays close. So I'm with you. And it's been this way since, I think, 5.40 a.m. I actually looked at the clock and was like, I am not budgeted. Love it. Last week, I waffled on a lot of picks. I ended up having three right out of 16. So at 5.40 or 5.40, I was like, I'm sticking with this no matter what. No matter who comes on the show and says whatever the fuck. No matter what status said about how great Puka is. And how great Matt. I believe him. I agree. Don't move.

2:30:40Pat McAfee:So I'm staying on Niners plus eight and a half strictly because I made a deal with myself when I was sweating my balls off this morning. And last week I did a lot of good players. And every way I leaned, I thought, ended up being the right way.

2:30:55AJ Hawk:Well, not all of them. Because you leaned Bears and I said, but Max Crosby, oh shit. And, you know, that one was on me. Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying.

2:31:06Pat McAfee:I was watching those games, and I was like, man, I think I've won all these games because my first thought was all what was happening. And I'm like, holy fuck. I'm really seeing the field right now. I want 8 of 10 on game day. Then I'm watching these games on Sunday. I'm like, fucking boys got it right now. We got this thing kind of figured out. And then I see the graphic, and it's like, no, you do not. What the fuck? And I'm like, oh, man, I thought I waffled back. I thought I seesawed back. So I'm not budging anymore.

2:31:35AJ Hawk:fucking stay 5 40 a.m that's your truest self too that's how you know but this is a very new me

2:31:39Pat McAfee:this is a very new is it the true me maybe it is a very new me this this morning it's your heart's north star 5 40. well said well said that's right i should follow it yeah i don't know if i'm gonna see it every day but i have been seeing it on a very regular basis these days i've been drinking a lot of water staying hydrated become a coffee drinker you know you go you go down to paris island you watch the marines and the drill instructors operate and you're like these motherfuckers are optimal elite human beings these are the ones yeah these are we should we should try to carry over what these guys are doing and women for for like our actual life found myself waking up earlier a little more coffee i'm shaving now hell yeah yeah i didn't know you had a scar on your jaw making a yeah that's a good one on your chin yeah that was a good time those are these things are gonna happen yeah there's a couple here sure yeah there's a a couple on this side yeah these are a lot this is life what you were seeing here okay this is all life what you're seeing but it has become a new one with the morning and uh it's been fun to become a morning person always been a nocturnal creature always like 2 3 a.m up and then i'd hear the morning people say like you gotta be up early if you want to accomplish things i'm like you're fucking sleeping bitch i'm still up yeah i am up at 2 3 a.m there is a different animal to waking up and now granted with kids have to because whenever she correct wakes up it kind of takes over a lot of things you don't have as much free time so you have to wake up early but i do appreciate the waking up and just like the mindset it takes to like not just be like actually i could probably sleep another 20 30 minutes and then that becomes 45 yeah yeah it'll get you it will get you yeah so like that first decision of like getting up has become one uh that i've really enjoyed making i don't know if this is the new me though forever aj you're a morning right you're an early

2:33:25AJ Hawk:riser uh yeah but i mean it doesn't it should get easier as you get older it doesn't get easier for

2:33:30Pat McAfee:me i thought it would but no yeah but every day you're making that decision to get you're a pretty

2:33:34AJ Hawk:structured morning guy right yeah i try to be i think it's good for you to do that everything

2:33:39Pat McAfee:i've read is like hey have a thing need structure the day need something to start your day with it's like i've been i've been waking up early and i've been loving it i've been loving it not at the exact time of waking up to your point sure say it gets easier i'm like fuck this it's It's about to be pitch black. I'm not looking forward to it.

2:33:57Cody Rhodes:It's already starting to get in that 7 o 'clock. Still very dark outside.

2:34:01Pat McAfee:My entire morning this morning, pitch black. It made me feel like I'm going to fuck it. I'm so early, dude. I'm so early right now. I bet. It's fine, dude. Then that cold tub. I don't go all the way in because I'm trying to grow muscles. There's a bunch of anti-propaganda. Sure, that's right. But I will certainly dunk my face in it. that's a nice little wake up call too just 42 degrees yeah it's been fun man it's a whole new me feels great sent a hilarious email this morning maybe my best email I've ever sent I think the person that received it I don't know what they think about it me sending it I felt good I felt in my bag every sentence got better and then even the sign off you know where it says like this email is sent from an iPhone I even made that as a PS, basically.

2:34:53Pat McAfee:This email was sent by a retired ball kicker who, and then bury him again, and from his iPhone. Sent. So every sentence got better. It was really good. It's like how people want movies to go, I think. That was that email. So mornings have been great for me, is what I'm saying. It's been entertaining for me. And AJ, maybe I FaceTime you in one of these mornings. Maybe you can give me a little motivational sermon to kind of start my day, AJ.

2:35:16AJ Hawk:Classic AJ. I don't know. Do you think this person you sent the email to Hopefully they woke up and first thing they read Was this email, did it motivate them?

2:35:23Pat McAfee:Four people I think they'll be motivated I think they'll be spurned to action Of some sort I just ain't got time for this shit You know This guy wears tank tops, he's a fucking idiot Okay, we'll see buddy We will see Let's get some fucking games right Here we go, come on boys

2:35:45AJ Hawk:Tonight we start, we start one though tonight.

2:35:54I don't want to do that.

2:35:56Cody Rhodes:I don't think you need to. You stuck with your gut. Why are you leaving? You're right. I mean, exactly.

2:36:02Pat McAfee:Fuck it. Oh, come on. That wasn't for anything. That was just for fun. Yeah, that's all. Even if it was,

2:36:13AJ Hawk:I can't remember who brought it up. There's been an alarming amount of injuries since AJ made his shot that said no more. That is true. Maybe the most injuries in history. What happened? Probably you, AJ. I'm going to punt the next one then, right?

2:36:27Pat McAfee:Not in here, please. We've got lights everywhere that went out earlier. Did you see we had full power outage?

2:36:31AJ Hawk:Yeah, I had a full power outage yesterday. It dropped me off the show. Yeah, like what's going on?

2:36:35Pat McAfee:I don't know. The graphics thing crashed right before we went live yesterday too. That might have been my fault.

2:36:39AJ Hawk:AI is overloading the grid.

2:36:41Pat McAfee:I think I fat-fingered that one. Oh, no. I'm just guessing here. I actually don't know, but I'm just guessing. There's a chance I accidentally hit the dump everything button. Yeah, I am. As opposed to the load everything button. You see there right there. That was a first though. Hey, well, way to recover back then. Yeah. That was real panic. There was real panic back then. Yeah, that was terrible. And then when the lights go out, there's, oh, but ears still worked. Yep. Microphones still work. So we put these UPS things, uninterrupted power supply. What are those called? Generator? Generator.

2:37:12Pat McAfee:There it is. so these things in theory uninterrupted is in the U but there has to be some sort of power outage to launch generator this one we paid massive amount of money to a very good company great company here in Indiana that does a lot of work around and it's like this is the quickest this is the quickest out to back on UPS you can basically get and shout to it it worked kept us on the stage lights stayed on the whole time these lights were off TVs, the mics We didn't go to ESPN for 24 seconds. 24 seconds. That's pretty good. YouTube, all good, though. YouTube, still good. TikTok, I think, still good.

2:37:54Pat McAfee:Unless they banned us for another 24 hours, which happens all the time. Every day.

2:37:58AJ Hawk:So you have a full power outage in the building and you only lose 24 seconds. That's pretty good.

2:38:02Pat McAfee:That's pretty good. Shout out to the Beelys. The Beely Electrical Cup. They came in and looked at the entire place and was like, we think you need this, think you need this. And Tim McAfee alongside of them, obviously, getting to the bottom of it. because in years past, that would have been a fool. That's the end of the show, folks. Somebody called the board center. Yeah, Kamaru Usman. Oh, my God. Kamaru Usman was giving one of the greatest motivational speeches of all time about what he thinks about when he's walking to the ring. I turn into an animal. I turn into a beast. I start thinking about...

2:38:31Pat McAfee:And just everything stopped. And then we had to guess if someone flipped a switch in the back alley. Which turns out... It was. Some homeless bum hopped on the thing.

2:38:40Cody Rhodes:Some bum.

2:38:41Pat McAfee:Turned it off. So shout out to the UPS system keeping us up. But we need to figure out how maybe to send it to ESPN. We need to ups the thing. We need to ups the thing that's going to ESPN. Get that connection. Yeah. Or wherever it's been sent.

2:38:59AJ Hawk:Space.

2:39:00Pat McAfee:Moon.

2:39:01AJ Hawk:Eventually. There's a girl training to go to Mars, and she's never going to come back. She's got bad parents.

2:39:08Pat McAfee:Her parents. And she knows that. I don't want to judge anybody, but I don't need that. I don't need to hear about that. Imagine Mackenzie comes home one day and says, I'm going to Mars and never coming back. It's like, what the fuck? No. They're not. That's not happening. I'm your father. You're not going. You're not doing that. How about that? This is fun. Why don't you fucking just start digging a grave? She's 24 years old. Oh, my gosh. Come on. There's so many things we need to find out here. We don't need to lose you forever. Just fuck it. Send it, she says. Where's Elon? Elon. Yeah. I need you to build one that just fucking sends it.

2:39:42Pat McAfee:I want to get up there, and then I want it to, just like a blow, just send me up. She's like McConaughey in, what's it called? Interstellar. What was Affleck? He was growing something on Mars, right? Red? No, that was

2:39:55Cody Rhodes:Damon and the Martian, yeah. A good movie. Grown tomato, or potatoes from his poop.

2:40:01Pat McAfee:And Vicodin.

2:40:02AJ Hawk:Vicodin potatoes.

2:40:03Pat McAfee:I would like to acknowledge the courage that this takes to make this decision. It's like when Christopher Columbus was told, hey, you're going to die. And he said, fuck it, I hate my family. Let's go. Is that right?

2:40:20Pat McAfee:We don't know. We don't know. He might have been a single manager. We have no idea. But we do know that to make that decision, there had to be something going on. It's like, thank you. You're telling me I'll fall off of that thing? Yeah, you got it. I'm sure I can go get some boys, too. go down to the bar. Hey, got a one-way trip to fucking nowhere. Let's roll.

2:40:42Cody Rhodes:A hundred people.

2:40:44Pat McAfee:You got it. Yeah, fuck. Never going to go home again. Go in there. So we don't love it. A lot of courage, though. Yeah. So what's her name? Do we know her name?

2:40:54AJ Hawk:Yes, I just had Alyssa Carson, I think. Congratulations.

2:40:57Pat McAfee:They don't do one-way missions, though.

2:40:58AJ Hawk:They say they're not doing one-way missions. She has to point on coming back, right?

2:41:01Pat McAfee:Well, I think we all just kind of understand what that means.

2:41:04AJ Hawk:I mean, isn't it like a nine-month ride? That's the thing. How do you not go crazy Nine months one way

2:41:09Pat McAfee:Oh remember in Avatar They kind of put them to sleep They do They're in the chambers Kind of put you to sleep When you're out there Remember Yeah Then when you wake up You start floating around Yeah Welcome to Bah bah bah And then you start Kind of dancing around And then If you're paralyzed You can't do it But then they put you in a tube And all of a sudden You're fucking You're

2:41:26Cody Rhodes:Yeah The 11 foot blue thing Yeah

2:41:31Pat McAfee:There's a chance That's what she's signing up for And I would like to say If she was sold that I understand Yeah I get it If you want to go be a 11-foot most athletic blue thing of all time. Maybe I would sign up for that. But that is a one-way trip. I think that's what Alyssa's probably acknowledging. They're saying I'm coming back, but... I'm not. Is that what you're saying? Probably not. Maybe I'll make a chip for if the tide's going to turn. Into that hole next to the garbage can? Sounds doable. Yeah, maybe... It's the unduffable. I don't need to. I'm leaving before changing it. AJ, you're the man.

2:42:10Pat McAfee:We appreciate you. Appreciate you. Thank you for traveling out here tomorrow. I'll be live in Alabama. They got me in a sick spot. Foxy. It's awesome. They got me in a great spot. Nice. It's been fun to, because years past, I just go on the field, which has been awesome, showcasing the stadiums and everything like that. And obviously, I didn't know much about the college football world at that time or many people in the college football world. so now that you know i've kind of met some people know some people the thought is like hey can i get a cool place that maybe i don't get third degree sunburns and also maybe showcase something cool about your place and we've really had sweet setups so far this season i'm very thankful to everybody that has been allowing us in their building james franklin i was four feet from his office yeah i mean i was literally four feet overlooking their entire facility in their stadium everything was like beautiful this one tomorrow is a nasty setup i mean it is it is sweet i'm very thankful.

2:43:03Pat McAfee:I don't know how many people get access to these places, but we're incredibly lucky and thankful that we get to do it. We'll see you tomorrow. Be your friend. Tell your friend something nice. It might change your life. We're both on the Niners plus eight and a half, even though everybody thinks the Rams are going to win. Seems too obvious. And that football wasn't for that.

2:43:19AJ Hawk:No. D-Bone got to jump up and get that ball, doesn't he? That football would be perfect because it is right in the rim. Stuck in the rim?

2:43:26Pat McAfee:Another tie?

2:43:28AJ Hawk:No, that's a win in the cover right there. All right, talk and get it.

2:43:33Pat McAfee:Look how close that is to going in. If that ball hits an inch higher, it bounces off of that, obviously inside the paint.

2:43:42AJ Hawk:It's amazing how it got stuck like that, too.

2:43:45Pat McAfee:Sideway, oblong. Oblong, yeah. That's because I turned that son of the shot ways.

2:43:52AJ Hawk:Nice release. It's almost like a simulation.

2:43:54Pat McAfee:Yeah, it's like how I left it. You see a lot of it. What?

2:43:58AJ Hawk:Who's running it?

2:43:59Pat McAfee:Who's running it? Somebody, something. thing we we don't have enough time to talk about and i'll tell you what i try to check all the boxes when i'm doing this one at night hey jesus christ obviously i'm very thankful for you i appreciate you doing what you're doing you're dying for my sins and all my sins i hope you take care of me and my family and uh keep my daughter healthy and happy now if it's not jesus i would like to say thank you to my families that have passed away family members that passed away maybe they're up there guiding me i hope you all are okay my friends i hope you guys are good uh if it's any of the other gods or whatever fucking running it, I appreciate you guys.

2:44:31Pat McAfee:I don't know. I don't know what you guys got going on, but I do appreciate it. Just want to kind of check all the boxes just in case, you know, you never know who you're going to meet up here. I think I'm okay with basically everybody, but there's one particular one. If it's right, I'm wrong. We're going to send you a team on meet. Team on three. Never forget it. Let's enjoy tonight. Let's enjoy this life. We're in the middle of football season. Baseball has meaningful games. Magic is happening. The Fever, we're going to win the WNBA Commissioners Cup. Is the commissioner... She's done. What is she doing?

2:45:01Pat McAfee:Was she boozed up whenever she was saying these things? Was she at the All-Star game here in Indy just like, fuck Caitlin. How does that happen? I was listening to that quote as Fi, I believe, is the name. She's vice president of the women WNBA PA or whatever she's speaking. Nafisa Collier. There in the middle, yeah. Nafisa called in the car. As she was giving that speech and kind of unloading everything that was happening, I'm like, okay, we're trying to do a little leverage play here. And then she said, verbatim, I was told. And I'm like, okay, what could this be? And then she's saying, I'm like, no fucking way.

2:45:38Pat McAfee:What is happening right here? That is a fatal blow, I think. Because normally, league is going to win the public. Players have no chance. Normally, the reason that happens whenever there's a labor dispute, team's going to be there a lot longer than any of these players are so hey players you're cool and all that but when you're gone this team's still going to be this team is a part of the fabric of the city the fans are a fan of this team okay and that's how it's going to be the players are kind of replaceable actually that's kind of the start of the business so anytime there's a work stoppage or a contract negotiation or anything like that fans and public normally all side with billionaires in teams.

2:46:17Pat McAfee:That is kind of what it works. Fee kind of... Fee dropped a little... She changed the game a little bit. Because now, Caitlin Clark's fans are like, what'd you say? We knew she wasn't thankful. We knew she wasn't thankful. And then the rest of the WNBA is like, what'd she say? So, it wasn't just Caitlin fans in the WN... Because there's been, like, you know, Caitlin fans, WNBA fans.

2:46:45Cody Rhodes:you know there's like what's the two circles uh venn diagram felt like that the shared part was

2:46:51Pat McAfee:very small at the beginning very very very small at the beginning and then you know i think it has opened up as the league has continued to do a thing but there's still obviously still more on either side feels like this one right here in the middle this commissioner right here in the middle what did she say they're calling for her job oh yeah they're calling for her job yeah and then Caitlyn comes out and goes, yep, everything she said. And Caitlyn, well, fuck, Caitlyn didn't stick up for this lady at all. What about Paige at the end of the J-Hud Hall of Happiness? Kathy, I bet I was the last person you got to see.

2:47:25Pat McAfee:And she gives her the Rookie of the Year award. And Paige, thank you so much. Does the hug and move. Was that the last time we saw? Maybe. Kathy Engelbert is the commissioner of the WNBA? I think so. They're trying. They're trying. I'm excited to see what she says next. I had four Jack Daniels. Oh, boo-hoo, I got fucked up and said some stuff I shouldn't have. Let's move on. When did those conversations happen? Are those in secrecy? Like how? Yeah. She was very comfortable, clearly. Very comfortable whenever she was saying whatever she was saying. And it's like, I hope you guys figure it out. And when Kaitlin comes back, I know the Fever are going to win it all.

2:48:02Pat McAfee:And when Kelsey Mitchell gets healthy, she's going to know we're going to win. She got hurt last night. Damn. Lost the game. Stensitius. She was leading the team. Leah Boston, I think, went for like a quadruple double last thing.

2:48:12Cody Rhodes:Yeah, overtime game. Tough overtime game. Tough game.

2:48:14Pat McAfee:Let's go run by a fever with a lot of injuries. Yeah. And on that note, feels like Kathy's about to have a long offseason. Yeah. I don't know how she's going to put out those fires. As somebody that has had a few fires around the WNBA world. Sure. Those are very good. That's a big one. You better sound the alarm. That's a six-alarm fire. Good luck. It is a good time. Let's remember that. Let's not try to hold back sports. Sure. Promote sports. The world needs more sports. And tonight we got baseball. More importantly, we got week five NFL football. Be a friend. Tell a friend something that might change your life.

2:48:50Pat McAfee:We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.

2:48:54AJ Hawk:You know when you're locked in, focused, and fearless. Welcome to the WNBA. Your vision narrows.

2:49:01Cody Rhodes:You can't look away. Every assist. Every stop. Every logo three. From beyond the logo. Every did you see that moment? You bet. What records are going to be broken this season? All of it right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN. All season long.