PMS 2.0 1431 - TNF Preview, Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule, Mike McCarthy, Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti, Andrew Whitworth, & AJ Hawk

23:38And then a little bit later, Addison Barger rounds out the scoring with another solo homer. So there were eight homers hit in that game last night between the two teams. So it wasn't very close, but it was very entertaining to watch. And now the Blue Jays, this will be a little bit of a fight. It's 2-1. There's two more games tonight for both sides.

23:57Pat McAfee:Toronto, L.A. would be good for baseball, bad for baseball? Is there anything that's necessarily bad for baseball? or whenever we did the NBA stuff and the Pacers beat the Knicks, we were kind of forced to read about all the stats about the amount of people you're going to lose out on and viewers and ratings like that. Because the casual Knicks fan you're going to lose out on, there's a lot of people that are in that area. There's a lot of people in that market. So if you lose New York out of anything, it's not going to be great news. That's why the NFL would love if one of these teams over there would figure the fuck out.

24:34Pat McAfee:They would love that just because the amount of humans that are just in that area that would happen to watch if it was on a primetime game, the casuals, if you will, is a big deal. For baseball, LA being a part of it is obviously a big deal. That's really all that matters, I think. I don't know. I mean, I know Blue Jays fans are a big deal. For me, being American, I do not want to see a team from Canada win the World Series. Just kind of the way it is. And I don't think, I mean, Toronto's a big market, obviously. So, like, you know, people will care about that. But really, I think the MLB is just thinking, like, hey, we just need the Dodgers to make the World Series.

25:10Otherwise, yeah, we might be getting the Thunder and Pacers treatment going into it.

25:16Pat McAfee:Whoa, Tyrese, Megastar, congrats to Netflix. They have the – Netflix Sports, I don't think, has a clue what they're doing. But the stuff that they got going on ends up good. Yeah. So, I think that's – High production. So, maybe they do know what they're doing. Congratulations on starting five. We've seen some clips. We've talked to Tyrese, obviously, throughout this entire process of him filming. He said filming and everything has been nothing but, like, first class, very cool, very thankful. And he shared a lot of very intimate moments with them. And, obviously, his run, I'm happy that he got it, like, documented.

25:51Pat McAfee:Because that was special, man. So cool. Like, what Tyrese was going through. All the way back from, like, Olympics. You go through Olympics all the way through. He had some struggles. He was hurt. He wasn't in shape. He was hurt. Like there was times there and Carlisle's team runs, you know, and then the all-star break happens and he comes back. And then everything that just kind of leads to it all. And then that magical playoff run where he just showed the world what he had been doing here in Indiana for a while. I think people are just kind of getting woken up to it. Just like the Indiana Hoosiers football team.

26:18Pat McAfee:I don't think the world like sees it. We just so happen to be here. So we literally see it all whenever it's happening. If I didn't live in Indianapolis, would I know Tyrese and everything he's about? Probably not. we just so happen to live here he's awesome dude's a great superstar he's like a perfect face for our team he's uh he's trying on new hairstyles now he's going through uh he's going through uh his rehab of his achilles he's kind of in uh what's that called whenever you're kind of locked in quarantine uh no yeah but uh something uh when you're locked in oh they're crazy so cabin fever Cabin Fever.

26:54Pat McAfee:Is that whenever you're locked in? Yeah. Yeah, he's in the middle of rehab. He's looking for anything right now. So we got new hair. We got new this. We got through this. He's getting through with a very positive mindset, but he's special. And then obviously the access that they're going to be able to get to somebody, Kevin Durant's in there. It's like, that's GOAT. Yeah. That's like a GOAT conversation guy. And he doesn't really do a lot of shit. You know, he talks to Kay, I think, a couple of different times throughout the season. Kay Adams on Up and Adams. He did the David Letterman, My Next Guest Is.

27:23Pat McAfee:That was dope. to obviously listen to. And he does some other stuff, I think, with his boardroom company with Rich and that. But you don't really see a lot of Kevin Durant. You know, he kind of moves kind of differently than everybody else. Not scared to mix it up on the internet, obviously. He is a legitimate megastar and a goat when it comes to basketball. I hope they show some of the stuff from the Olympics when he just took over for our country. That was incredible. So all of this. And then obviously SGA, like, guy just won MVP. Greatest season ever. At all times, it just got broken off. It should be very good.

27:55Pat McAfee:I think this should be incredible, at least from what we've seen and what we know of who they're shooting. Yeah, dude, the Olympic stuff. I mean, that's such a good point. Imagine the KD and Ant and that relationship on the Olympics, them going to the steps after they always won. Like Jalen Brown, he wins the finals and then doesn't get picked for the Olympics. I wonder if they have stuff like that. SGA with Canada would be so cool. And then what's Jimmy Harden doing? What does he do? We don't even need him on the court. What does James Harden do? That's all I want to know. But yeah, that'll be awesome.

28:32And like the Tyrese stuff, the clip of him and Reggie Miller that's already been kind of released like that. I mean, it gives you chills. Just thinking about what going back to when that happened for, you know, Tyrese and his Achilles and everything. and then just the mindset that, you know, Reggie Miller kind of walks you through that Tyrese might have been going through when he's deciding whether or not he's playing game seven or not. It's like, I'm getting chills right now just talking about it just because of what did happen, you know, because Reggie Miller says, like, go back to game six, look at what happens in game six, and then go to game seven and look what he did.

29:03You know, like, that is shit. It's good for Tyrese to be able to see it, though, too.

29:08Pat McAfee:Yeah. You know, like, later in life. His kids, yeah. Relive it, you know, because it was a magical run. And he has the mindset of, I can't live with the what-ifs. Because what if he drops 45 in game seven? Looked like he was going to. That's not a thousand percent. That's etched in history forever, this dude. He went crazy. Had five game winners throughout the season. Greatest run ever in the playoffs. And in game seven of the finals. Last game he goes for 45, which was possible while being injured already going in. Triple-double. Which I'll be excited to see what they cover of that whole process, too.

29:41Pat McAfee:When he was hurt, how much was hurt, what was happening. the decision of him going and playing whenever I assume there are some people saying like don't do this don't think you should go right now and him like yeah right dude he's playing out there like he's a mega star he's a superstar we are very thankful that he is in our city now before we get too much further we have to cover a couple things that have hit and then we got an interview with Matt Rule from this morning before he traveled to Minnesota for tomorrow night's game that I think is a good convo about college ball but there's a video from Tua that a press conference that I think was handled incredibly well i will say and maybe this is something that is good for the future of the miami dolphins all right so um you know i as as a leader of this team of the miami dolphins um you know the the comments that that had been said uh i would say i've i've made a mistake and i'm owning up to that right now um you know i've talked to to guys on the team about it talked to the leaders about it and uh you know that they they know my heart they know that the intent was right but no matter the intent um you know the intent can be right but when things get misconstrued or however the media wants to portray it oh you know that that leaves a void of of silence and a lot of questions for the guys on our team now being one in five you know we talk a lot about, all right, we, we got to get this going.

31:12We got to get this going, come in excited to go to work, forget about the noise. And I feel like I just added onto that for, for our guys. You know, for, for myself, I got to look at myself as, as the leader protecting the team. I don't feel like I, I did that to the best of my abilities. I felt like I let the emotions of the game get to me after the game. and that's something that I can learn from as a leader on this team and what happens in-house should be protected and none of that should have gotten out. And so I want to publicly apologize about that, I want to move forward, and now I want to focus on Cleveland Browns.

31:54Got any questions?

31:55Pat McAfee:I love that. Opening statement. That would have been the first five questions. Obviously, this goes back to whenever he was talking about players on his team showing up later, not showing up at all to players-only meetings and everybody was like, hey, dude, shut up. We don't want to hear that. They talked about leadership being leaders and what they need and everything like that. And everybody's like, hey, we don't want to hear that. And then obviously every ex-NFL player, every ex-player is like, hey, don't need that. So I assume that some of that creeped in there. We appreciate the hell out of Tua immediately owning it and addressing it that way.

32:24Pat McAfee:Maybe that's good news, Gumpy. Maybe this is a good sign of things to come down there in Miami. I think that's real leadership right there, what I just saw. Yeah, for sure. I would have, you know, maybe a little bit earlier, waited until Wednesday, let the coach get ahead of it and say he apologized as well, but I liked what he said. He's got a hurricane. It's all about the U, baby. On that note, let's talk about some college football. We got a chance to catch up with head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers earlier today, Rivet and Convo. A lot of Penn State chatter in there. Where is there? We'll see.

32:58Pat McAfee:Take a look. Ladies and gentlemen, the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Hey, don't look now. everything is still sitting right out there in front of him. Ladies and gentlemen, Matt Rule. Yeah, Rule. All right, let's talk about going on the road, getting a win. Obviously, it didn't look good early. You guys end up getting a dub. What did you learn about your team, and how do you feel coming out of Maryland? Well, first of all, let me say this. Maryland's got one of the best young quarterbacks in the country, and we thought, hey, we'll disguise on them. We'll try to fool them. My man didn't get fooled.

33:29Malik is a fantastic player, And, you know, we got up 10-0 right off the bat, and he brought them back. We took the lead again. They took it back, and things didn't look good in the fourth quarter. And we got two fourth stops, 280-plus-yard drives. It's the first time, Pat, in eight years that the Huskers have taken the ball on offense and gone down to win the game. And so they seemed to love it. They were excited about it. We had 10 ,000 Husker fans out there. It felt like a home game. It was awesome.

33:55Pat McAfee:I love that. Your Nebraska fans are a real deal, huh, brother? I mean, that is, I think we see that with the volleyball. And obviously we know from Yes Man, I know it from Yes Man, where Jim Carrey goes and loses his mind in it. But it's like, it's kind of just chatted about, hey, like the Nebraska fans are very loyal, very passionate, and they show up for their team, even in the thin times through the thick times. Right now with how you guys are building, is there a different level of energy coming from them, or is this who they are all the time, Coach? This is who they are. I mean, I knew we would have a good crowd because when I was looking at this job two years ago in 2022, three years ago in 22, when the coach had been let go, they weren't going to make a bowl game.

34:35They went to Rutgers and there has a huge contingent there. Like, it's one thing when people make the hour long car ride. But our fans flew from all over the country to come into Maryland and be there for that game. And so they deserve to have a good team because they've been there, as you said, they've been there for 60 years showing up every single week. and now we're trying to show up with them.

34:55Pat McAfee:It's like an hour and a half before the game, too. They're in there, right? It's like the stadium is the hangout. This is the tailgate. We are in here together, right? Isn't that kind of the story over there? Yeah, in the state of Nebraska on home Saturdays, the Memorial Stadium is the third largest city behind Omaha and Lincoln. And so it's unreal, and they're good fans. It's Nebraska nice. We take care of the other team. We care about the other team. They cheer for good football, and they travel with us. So, you know, it's a Friday night in Minnesota. You know, you're on the road. At least you know that you're going to have Husker Nation show up.

35:28Pat McAfee:Do you guys have any cool things like doing a national anthem with the Kansas City Chiefs where you know exactly at an away game how many Chiefs fans are in there when it's in the home. And you got the home team just like, yeah, it's great to be home here. There's not a lot of Chiefs fans in here, you know. Of the – and then you hear a third of the stadium. Chiefs. And it's like, oh, shit. They're out here right now. What are the Nebraska chants? I don't think I know what the chants are. So we're sitting out. So Maryland has a small locker room. So I literally, Daniel Holgerson and I sat outside on the grass.

36:01Like fans could have heckled us if they wanted. We just sat outside for like the two hours before the game. And like the 30 minutes before they would even let fans in, you could hear go big red chants out in the parking lot. Like they were at the gates waiting for them to unlock the gates to be able to go in and take over the stadium. And so you hear go big red, go big red. You feel like you're at home. But that idea, that Chiefs idea about the National Anthem, that might be something Husker Nation will pick up.

36:27Pat McAfee:I'm telling you, it is a good tone setter. Just in an away game, too, it's like a good temperature check. Like, hey, how many people are here? You know, like Steelers fans all have terrible towels. So you can see them immediately upon away games before the game even starts. Like, hey, what's it going to be like in here tonight? And then the Chiefs getting that thunder, boom, right at the beginning in somebody else's house is beautiful. Happy to hear your fans did that. Let's talk about Friday night action against Minnesota. Obviously, another Big Ten matchup. What are your thoughts on their program?

36:55Pat McAfee:You know, P.J. Fleck's been there for a very long time. Obviously, you guys have everything still very much in front of you. Your only loss is to Michigan, and it was three points. So, if you win out, which, looking at your schedule and your team, certainly possible. One game at a time, though, Coach. Let's not get too crazy ahead of ourselves. One game at a time. What are your thoughts going into Friday night's game against Minnesota? and where your team sits currently at and you're messaging to them about the possibilities? Yeah, I think the thing about our team is just, hey, the last few games we've been up 14-0 and 10-0, and we've allowed the other team to get back in it.

37:29So we're still kind of playing up and down, riding the highs and lows. And, you know, we have the youngest team in the Big Ten, so that's not an excuse. You just have to teach them. You have to teach them, like, when you're up 14-0, don't go out there smiling and relax and let them score, make it 14-7. Put them away. And so we're trying to just put together a complete 60 minutes and not have to have Dylan and the defense and Isaiah and them go down and win the game in the last seconds. But that being said, Minnesota has been down double digits in its two Big Ten wins, and they've come back. And, you know, P.J.

37:59Fleck, I respect him immensely. I've gotten to know him personally over the years. He teaches his kids how to play football at a high level. He also teaches them his men. They're like, they're really, I love them coming out in the draft. And so I know they're going to be tough. I know they're going to be sound. They have a redshirt freshman quarterback playing his seventh game who's dynamic, and they have a great defense. And so it'll be a great football game for everyone to watch on national TV.

38:21Pat McAfee:What is it, October 17th, the game? What will the weather be? Minnesota's going to be cold as cold at night. Yeah. Have you seen it? Go ahead. No, they said a little rain. Luckily it rained here for two days, so we practiced outside in the rain. And, you know, it doesn't really bother our guys. And it's supposed to be in the 60s, maybe dip down in the 50s. I mean, that's Cornhusker weather. Oh, perfect football weather. I mean, that's a great Friday night in the Midwest, baby. I like to hear that because like two weeks from now, Minnesota, that's going all the way down. And you talk about P.J.

38:54Pat McAfee:Fleck and getting to know him. We got to know him at the beginning of his run here at Minnesota a little bit. What a lightning rod of a human being. Just Nekton mentality is what he talked about to us. One of the first times he talked, like a shark has Nekton mentality. And it's always hunting, like always moving forward, you know. and obviously the buy-in with the boat and everything. And then whenever he was at, which Michigan was he at up there? Western Michigan. Western Michigan. He was trying to build that program up and build them traditions. So he was making videos in his office and sending them out to the students like, hey, on third down, we're all going to do this, okay?

39:26Pat McAfee:We're going to go boom, boom, boom, and then we're all going to go like this on third down. We're trying to make this place tough. It's like the way he approaches it, former player obviously, and the way he attacks it, it felt like he had a special rocket on his back. And now he's been in Minnesota for some time. Game day was there 2019, maybe? 2020. Eric Decker. It's an interesting dilemma there for a lot of teams, especially in the Big Ten whenever it's been so dominated by two teams. It's like, what's success? What isn't success? Which then immediately leads to your hometown. And I don't want to have to distract you here because obviously you're in the middle of a season and you've already answered this about how much, like, hey, that's my hometown.

40:08Pat McAfee:Like, I love that place. Like, I always will. Everybody loves their alma mater. That conversation's only gonna heat up around you, you assume, and you said before, like, hey, this is what happens. I was at Temple, I was at Baylor. Anywhere you have success, this type of shit happens. I'm used to this. This is a good thing, not a bad thing that other people want our players, want our coaches, myself included. That's kind of been your messaging. You've been here before. What does that look like for you with team, with everything with how hot that's going to get in the kitchen it seems like it's with my team it's just unbridled honesty tell them the truth tell them exactly the truth and don't don't bs them because they'll know and um and and secondly like just out there like you know um this is it this is part of it like it's better than when i was in carolina and they were chanting to fire me right so it's better than being on any hot seat list so having other schools maybe be interested in you is is is critical and and but i don't do that during the season i don't Don't mess around with that.

41:03I don't play that. And at the same time, this is not a jumping off job. This is a destination job. This is one of the greatest places in the world. This is a town of 300 ,000 people. Everyone says like Lincoln. It's 300 ,000 people here in Lincoln. I can do whatever I want here. I have a great young team, the youngest team in the Big Ten. Think about how good we'll be next year. Now, I'm not thinking about next year, but where we are right now, we're learning, learning, learning. Think about where we're going to go with Dylan and all these guys. So I refuse to be distracted. And at the same time, it's when it's your alma mater.

41:34You have to show it love and respect. And I love Pat Kraft. They'll find the right coach for them, whoever that is. But this is a destination job that should be a national bully, that should be a beast. And I think we're making our way to doing that.

41:48Pat McAfee:Yeah, and I think with the third year of Matt Rule at every place, I think that's a pretty good prediction, and especially with the way you're going. But if you lose every game going forward because you're distracted with other shit, nobody's going to want to hire your ass. We got the Carolina Panther chance coming back. That's exactly right. And so I just, I tell my kids all the time, like, hey, you're, you're one game away from either side of it. So just stay right in the middle and just who you are, man. All right. Next game, obviously Friday night. Connor has a question for you. Yeah. Coach with the Friday game, how much does it change kind of your prep?

42:19I know early on you guys already played during the week, but does it, you know, on Sunday, was that different just because you guys were a day behind or what, what is the biggest difference between the Friday night game and Saturday night game when it comes to preparation during the week? That's a great question. You know, Monday is usually our day off, and the captains, I met with the captains, I was like, hey guys, we'll do a traditional Tuesday, old school, bang and practice. Wednesday will be the same way, just maybe a little less. Thursday we'll walk through, and normally we practice on Thursday.

42:48So today we'll walk through, then we'll travel up to Minnesota, walk through again tomorrow and play the game. But the captains voted, they wanted meetings and walked through on Monday, so I said, alright, if that's what you guys want, we'll do it. So we just added a little bit on Monday. They'll get Saturday off. I told them, man, find a way to win the game. There's no greater feeling than watching Pat McAfee on game day sitting on your couch like a regular fan, just enjoying the game. I mean, so we got to go play well Friday night, and they put the work in on Monday to get that done.

43:13Pat McAfee:The games on Saturday have been electrifying. So let alone watching game day, which I am very lucky to be a part of, and I love that the show is a part of college football as a whole. It's such a beautiful sport, man. the tradition the pageantry everything like obviously you've gone to the nfl uh i from pittsburgh which is nfl town only really understood the nfl world the nfl lifestyle the nfl fandom everything like that then obviously i got an incredibly lucky opportunity to play in it for eight years so it's like i felt like i knew the nfl literally since birth you know so then college football through the nfl you start watching game day that's kind of like your dabble into of college football then you may travel with a teammate back to their university go see what it's like for a game there maybe you go hang out another place and it's like wait a minute this is a different this isn't like the nfl at all certainly same sport certainly same sport we get it they're playing football out there but the tradition and pageantry and environment and culture and buy-in that is in college football that you talked about with nebraska it's the greatest on earth and you can feel it through your tv every single saturday i mean friday night obviously we'll be able to see it with your game but saturdays from when we start obviously because the fans everywhere we go which once again we're so thankful for are insane you hear the tradition you hear the pageantry through the fans there all the way through the nightcap games we've got some good west coast teams playing right now all the way to like 1 a.m college football is just throwing a fastball and it is it's been spectacular on that note there's some conferences that are better than others is what everybody's saying i has a question for you yeah that's what people would say coach Coach, and obviously you're a Big Ten guy.

44:49I'm a Big Ten guy, so we know how tough the Big Ten is. But the national media wants to say, hey, listen, the SEC might get six teams in the playoff. With what has happened to Penn State, the Big Ten is top-heavy, and then there's just a lot of shit underneath that. What would you say to people who make that statement? Because as we know, I mean, hey, listen, anybody can get anybody in the Big Ten every single week. Yeah, I think there's a lot of partisanship throughout all that, right? Like even like we beat Cincinnati and at the end they came back and made it a close game score wise. And they did an excellent job.

45:23And I'm a big Cincinnati fan. But they're voted ahead of us right now. And they're voted ahead of us because for whatever reason, people might see them on a Saturday. I would just say this. Is anybody actually watching the film? Is anybody actually watching the tape? I watch some teams that are right. And I'm like, that's not a very good football team. I watch other teams. I say, man, that's an excellent football team. what we've done in the Big Ten is we have basically propped up a couple teams and they've earned it Ohio State's earned it don't get me wrong but we haven't like the propaganda machine hasn't pushed the middle teams the middle tier teams the Illinois even when Indiana got in last year and they deserved to get in it was kind of like yeah but because you know they've been Indiana last several years but I mean Lane Kiffin went to Ole Miss and that place that place took off I mean what he's done is they've taken off with Ole Miss and we just say well it's Ole Miss is a great team They are a great team, but so is Illinois.

46:10So is Indiana. So are the teams in the Big Ten. I think the Big Ten and the SEC personally stand alone. And then ACC, Big 12, all great conferences. We should play each other. But when we play each other, the Big Ten and the SEC wins a lot. And so I think the Big Ten has to help itself. You know, part of me being out doing things like this, we have to help ourselves get our names out there because, like, Nebraska's a blue blood. Like, we have to earn it. We're not in that conference. I'm not talking about us yet. But some of those teams that have won eight, nine, ten games, they're kind of dismissed in the Big Ten, but they don't deserve that.

46:38They're better than that.

46:38Pat McAfee:I mean, you mentioned Indiana there and everything you just said, I love hearing from especially a coach active currently and a coach that's going to go down as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time for what you've done in a lot of places. You think about how everybody viewed Indiana going into Oregon. I mean, it was just like Indiana's going to get smacked because nobody wants to believe that Indiana's good at football. It's hard to believe that Indiana's still good at football. And to your point, I think there's a lot of teams in the Big Ten that are like, yeah, we understand they play football there, but it's hard to believe that they're good at football or great at football at this point.

47:09Pat McAfee:And with NIL and Transfer Portal and marketing machines and brands, it's like literally anybody can win any game. That is kind of what we have figured out through the last couple of years of college football. If you want to talk about the system, hey, is our system a good system? Now, meanwhile, we have the NFL that shows us how to do this all right. But is our system a good system? The poll to start the season had two teams at one and two who aren't even in it anymore. Like why even have a preseason poll? And before anybody, before anybody has a vote or says anything, like tell me which games you've had.

47:41Tell me how many times you've watched the Huskers play. Tell me how many times you watch Indiana play. Like I had to go back on Monday and put on the tape of Indiana, Oregon to see like what Indiana did. They didn't gimmick them. They didn't, that's a great football team with an excellent quarterback. Like just give them their due, but we're still in college football, looking at the logos, looking at the perennial, this the last 10, that instead of people actually watching the ball.

48:02Pat McAfee:So Indiana, ranked number three, highest they've ever been ranked, obviously. And I think Oregon, good football team, too. I think you watch that game and it's like, hey, these are two really good football teams. I actually said, can't wait to see both of you in the playoffs because I think that is the case. But if they were both to make the playoffs, with a lot of the projections, there's only going to be three Big Ten teams that make it. It's like, well, who else is battling? It's like, well, there's still a lot of football to be played. And there's still a lot of opportunity for a lot of teams.

48:25Pat McAfee:In the SEC, I know a lot of these teams are ranked high just naturally, I think, and potentially because a lot of the five stars and everything that they are able to get down there, they all got to play each other. Some of those games might get real ugly. We might find out who's the levels in the SEC over the next few weeks because they got to play against each other, all of them. And it's like, is Texas A &M actually much realer than everybody could imagine? And then also Ole Miss. Ole Miss got Georgia this weekend. It's like, okay, here's a big test. But if Georgia gets back to being who they are, there's a chance that one gets.

48:57Pat McAfee:I mean, it's like college ball right now is so fickle. I mean, it is a very fickle place right now. There's only like three teams that have been dominant through it all. Those SEC teams, too, who end up making it, better hope they get a home game. You got to come to the cold up there. You got to come to that cold rule. Come to that cold. Come up and play in the snow and the ice like the NFL does, like every other sports league does. We're the only league that plays in domes to protect warm weather teams. not to protect them, but it does protect the warm weather team. Let's play on home campuses to protect the things that you're talking about, Pat, like the pageantry of college football and see who can actually play in the weather.

49:37And that would change everything. And to your point, I love what you just said. Let's just play it all out. That's why the NFL, you're not voting on who's going to make the playoffs in week six. You're just watching them and letting the games play out. And forever, college football has been an elimination tournament. Win once and you're out. And we got the playoff. And so now you can have good matchups and good games and you lose a game, you can fight back. Like last year, we were talking about nine and three teams getting in, which I think is great because now you can go play good games, have excitement throughout the year, and then have a lot to talk about the last three weeks of the season.

50:08Pat McAfee:It's all very good. Everything's very good. There's just a chance that humans will make it bad, you know, and that's going to happen in everything. But the Ohio state, Tennessee game last year is going to be referred to by everybody in the North. Correct. Whenever the college football playoff comes around. Well, this team is better than this team in the big 10. because look how many five stars they got. They got guys that run 4-3. It's like, well, maybe we can't up here in the North have everybody that runs 4-3 because it's going to be 32 degrees by the time we get to November. And it turns out the 4-3 guy, he runs actually a 4-6 just like everybody else in that weather.

50:39Pat McAfee:And we need some power up here. So it's just two different styles of ball. And it's like, well, which one is deemed better? Well, it depends where the game's being played. Bingo. Which is why the 12-team playoff happening is a beautiful thing. I don't think any Big Ten teams necessarily want to travel into the fucking belly of the beast down there in the SEC. No doubt. I think that's a whole different ballgame too. Tennessee, 102 ,000 people down there. Depending upon how hot it is, I know it gets cold in Tennessee. I think it's a little different ballgame, Tennessee homegame. LSU at night. LSU hosting a game at night.

51:12Pat McAfee:I think that'll be a little bit of a different animal. Alabama, I think it is a very important— A &M, for sure. You've seen A &M. A &M is fucking outrageous. I mean, they are all on the same page. They are all PJ Flecking in the stands because they have practiced the night before. It's like, I think it is a big deal. But then once again, imagine walking into Columbus in the middle of January. You got to take on a team that's not only built for it, but also used to it. And it's freezing and you've never seen this before. They cracked three helmets. Nico Iomaleava's helmets, three of them. The equipment wasn't even ready for the cold, let alone the players.

51:46Pat McAfee:The equipment was too cold. Said, fuck this, crack three of them. Get me out of here. It was like, that's going to be talked about a lot. Then the SEC's like, well, we all play each other down here. It's like, all right, well, who cares? Who's coming to the cold to do it? It's a good time for debate in college ball, which I think is how it's always been. Last question here for you, Coach, from Tone. Yeah, Coach, we talked about how it is going to be a great Saturday. Ole Miss, Georgia, Tennessee, Bama, USC, Notre Dame. Are you going to take advantage of being off on Saturday to watch some of those games, especially maybe that last one?

52:15Because if USC upsets the Irish, There might be a big one in a couple weeks against you and that team.

52:24My goal is not to leave the couch on Saturday. So I want to be a college football fan. I have two daughters that play volleyball. And I like what time is the game? The first game. We get back probably at one in the morning. The first game is at eight. I was like, I'll take the eight o 'clock game. I will be back to watch game day and watch the whole day. I'll watch it until one o 'clock. I love college football. And when I speak about college football, I'm speaking about the game overall. so I will watch everything. I'll have the YouTube TV, four TVs going. I mean, I'll be, I might bring in a second TV downstairs.

52:54I have one that won't roll. I mean, I'll be like a, you think I'm a gambler, though I do not gamble. You think I'm a gambler, I'll be watching so many games at once. Like, but that's, I love it, man. I love every second. I love watching the games last night. I'll watch college football any chance I can get.

53:06Pat McAfee:I'll tell you, it's hard not to love it, man, whenever you're in it. If you're a football person, it's hard not to fall in love with college football if you're not a college football person. And if you are a college football person, and obviously that's still they put dirt on top of you you are gonna love college football but if you're not a college football person which there's a lot of new football fans that are coming into the college football world that's what the ratings are telling us ratings are going up now the nfl's ratings are obviously still whatever they are okay they're 15 million more than most college football primetime games in comps but a lot of the numbers going up for college ball it's like i think those are nfl people potentially coming in being like hey this is a good sport here it's the second biggest sport in america yes no questions asked and there's still so much room to grow and everything you're saying is the exact reason why it's fucking awesome and you know you have no idea who's gonna become a star when the game kicks off there might be a dude that's on that bench that hasn't done anything and then all of a sudden two passes three passes superstar and then a team becomes relevant and then a university becomes relevant it's like so special it's very very special to that point coach all this talk made me think about this so like when you're watching on midweek conference usa or max or whatever then or maybe even tomorrow on a saturday Will you see a player make a play?

54:14And you're like, oh, I could see him in a track. Wait a minute. You write a name down to call him later? No, no, no, no. You ain't getting me on that one.

54:25Pat McAfee:I didn't know if that was tampering or not. Oh, yeah. Coach Rule's out here trying to pluck guys off of Wednesday night football. We appreciate you, Coach. Thank you for joining us. Safe travels to Minnesota, and good luck, brother. Thank you, guys. You're the man, dude. You've been really good to us. We appreciate that. I appreciate you guys. Shoot. Thank you guys for having me on. You're a good football coach, too. I think that is – your boy – hey, a guy – I just saw the tweet as we were coming in. One of your players gave a speech at halftime. Is that accurate? Yeah, Ja 'Cory Barney, our young sophomore receiver who's dynamic.

54:58He's leading the country, I think, in punt returns. He's – in the middle of the halftime, we were in this small, terrible locker room, and he was like, man, what's wrong with y 'all? They couldn't put all the stuff out that he said because it was – but he was like, man – he started doing all this. Like, man, we're up. You heard me. Up seven other. You heard me. Defense gonna strap these bitches. 5-4-5, we're gonna get his act together. We're gonna fucking go. And I was sitting there the whole time like, oh, God, how do I follow this? I was like, let's go to the field, guys. Unbelievable. Team, one, two, three, go.

55:26Here we go. That is, hey, that's good culture, brother. That's good culture. Hell yeah, it's fun to be around. It's fun to be around. That's, you know, it's funny for me. I've always, the three places I've been, not the Carolinas, but the two colleges now here, we've spent a couple years to build the culture up and get the football right and then I've always kind of left afterwards and so that's why for me you know I'm like I'm going all in on this place like we can make this whatever we want

55:52Pat McAfee:that's a huge statement at the very end obviously asked about at the very beginning as well his name because he's from State College Pennsylvania Happy Valley he went to Penn State has a lot of ties to Penn State still has to feels obligated to show love and has love for Penn State and it's in a big tent they got access to everything, and he has history with the athletic director. He says, I understand that. Hey, some jobs are right for me. I love this place. Ty, he said it there at the end. Why not go all into this place and finally get to reap the benefits of the culture that I sowed for the first three years?

56:18Pat McAfee:I feel convinced, legitimately. You, Ty, how do you feel about it? I can see both sides personally. I think if he were offered the Penn State job, he would go back. He just said he literally wouldn't. ESPN, he literally just said three times he wouldn't. Hear me out. You got 20 seconds? Hear me out. He's from there. He went to school there. Like, whether he – hey, he loves Nebraska. Wife. I get it. Wife. Yeah, exactly. Like, that's a very special place. Okay. You get the opportunity to go back and win a national championship there. Okay, Joe Paterno. Like, Matt Rule is the best coach in the history of Penn State.

56:55Pat McAfee:Okay. He also could be the best coach in the history of Nebraska. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We'll see you on the other side. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

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58:26Pat McAfee:Actually, we don't know that. You never know. We have no idea if they're going to play 10 more times, these two guys. Aaron Rodgers in the Pittsburgh Steelers, his first season there. They could become a 5-1 football team after tonight. Already had their bye week. They've got a long stretch to go, but they have looked better than they've looked over the past seven years. In the past three weeks in specific, they've looked much better on the defensive side. And offensively, Aaron Rodgers, D.K. Metcalf, and the boys are only starting to catch their stride. With Mount Washington, a 315-pound tight end, who has the nimbility of a ninja when he's out in the open field out of Georgia.

59:00Pat McAfee:This guy was behind Brock Bauer, so nobody really talked about him. The Pittsburgh Steelers picked him up, and all of a sudden they start saying, hey, we got Mount Washington out there. We got a tight end who's gigantic, and he can move. He was able to do this in college at Georgia. Everybody thought his knees wouldn't be able to hold up because he's so heavy, he's so big. That's like a natural question. Hey, that human is a tackle. He should not be able to run like a tight end. His knees are inevitably going to give up. Pittsburgh Steelers said, we'll find out in AFC North football. He's been a weapon deep down the field, but also in protecting Aaron Rodgers so that they can run their offense.

59:31Pat McAfee:They've got an interesting offense right now. They're going to have an extra offensive lineman on the field for a lot of it. They might have Aaron on the run, or they might be comfortable enough against this particular Cincinnati defensive line without Trey Hendrickson, if he's playing or not, where they have him a little bit more in the pocket. But they're moving, they're grooving, they're protecting Aaron, and they're letting their dogs kind of take care of everything downfield. It's been fun to watch. Aaron's been playing out of his mind. Aaron's been playing very, very good, even though PFF has him ranked 39th in the NFL at the moment.

59:58Pat McAfee:So I'm excited to see what they're able to. They might have adjusted that because they heard someone say something about it, so who knows. Well, on that note, it does feel like the scoring system is subject to change if it is publicly scrutinized. So whenever it is a definitive number and then all of a sudden it's not, we'll take a different look at it. So how many are we taking a different look at these things? And Chris Collinsworth was on with Kay Adams on Up and Adams. today and address J.J. Watt and J.J.'s kind of differences with him. We have not been able to watch it because it's an eight-minute video, so we're not able to see everything that he has said.

1:00:29Pat McAfee:But PFF has responded. Chris Collinsworth had a PFF hat on when he did respond the entire thing. And Chris, we appreciate what PFF has brought to football. That's no question. Cincinnati is near the home, I think, of PFF in this entire thing. And Joe Flacco now calls Cincinnati his home. Tonight, four and a half is still the spread at ESPN. Bet the Steelers are favored by in cincinnati andrew whitworth of amazon primes coverage and also la rams super bowl champion and long-time cincinnati bangle will be the ruler of the jungle tonight he will look very cool he will have a hoodie underneath a sport coat and he will look incredible i don't know if he hits something as a ruler or prowl across growls oh i don't know i have no idea all white for sure though because it's a whiteout oh yeah so he'll be in just like up in uh penn state i think coach Saban's got a suit for if you want to he'd love that thing I think he wanted to hang on to that for the rest of his life the ruler of the jungle also known as the lion I believe we looked this up because you know you could say Cincinnati Bengals the Tigers are the ruler of the jungle the Lions the king of the jungle so then we asked AI and AI said oh ruler and King same thing so he is the king of the jungle tonight he's the ruler of the jungle and I believe that he's gonna give them the willpower to go ahead and start pretty hot Joe Flacco's going to look up there and show him like, oh, I remember when we were playing against each other.

1:01:49Pat McAfee:I was a Raven. He was a Bengals. Those are good old days, man. Jeez, shake his hand. That first one, Joe Flacco. Primetime, Joe Flacco. You're going to throw that thing as far as you can. Yeah. That's the talks table. I have Boston Connor and I have Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Cowboys, 10 Diggs is there. And a man who grew up as a Cincinnati Bengals fan. He's a college football national champion, football champion, Ryder Cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawker. Hawker, Joe Flacco in primetime with Cincinnati Bengals. Four and a half. I started the show last Starr saying, I don't know, five and a half doesn't feel like enough.

1:02:18Pat McAfee:It goes the other way. So it actually goes complete opposite of what I was thinking. What are your thoughts on tonight's matchup? And what am I not seeing about this Cincinnati Bengals team? Yeah, well, I like the graphic with the question marks around Trey Henderson that really paints a picture. We're not sure what's going to happen with him. I think it's a big deal whether he plays or not tonight. But, I mean, you guys took, what, the first 19 minutes of the show just to annihilate the Bengals and say how terrible they are? Oh, it was 16 minutes. And it wasn't an annihilation. It was a complimentary fest, a glazing, I believe the Youngs would call it, 6-7.

1:02:51Pat McAfee:So we were glazing the Pittsburgh Steelers, I believe, for everything they had going on. And in turn, we did leave out the other team that is playing in a two-team game, the Cincinnati Bengals. And I would like to, if you watch the tape back, I recognize that throughout the 16, 17 minutes that we are doing everything that we hate people do, which is completely leave out one half of the entire game. But yes, it was a very heavy Pittsburgh Steelers start to the show today, if you were to just judge it as a whole, AJ. Yeah, that's definitely how I consumed it, how I took it. But I mean, first off, look how sweet Joe Flacco looks at that white Bengals helmet.

1:03:26Doesn't that look legit? That's worth at least three or four points, I would imagine.

1:03:28Pat McAfee:That's a good point. I think the AI sportsbooks now would account for that. You would think that the AI sportsbooks would be ahead of it, and they would get the jersey game, and they would understand they'd be able to put Joe Flacco in different areas. Hell, I bet you AI saw young Joe Flacco in this jersey. and said maybe this is what he was supposed to be all along. So there's a chance that that already happened. We don't know. Nobody knows. There's mistakes at YouTube. Nobody knows. It's in the back whenever we're doing our connection with him. So there's answers. We don't know these AIs. Sportsbooks AIs might know how cool Joe Flacco looks is what I'm saying, AJ.

1:03:58Okay. I don't know if they take that into account, whoever is programming these AIs. But I don't know, four and a half. Didn't you say if you want Bengals, couldn't you get five and a half here? Yes.

1:04:07Pat McAfee:Bengals could be plus five and a half at every other sportsbook but ESPN bet. ESPN bet has the Steelers at minus four and a half, and that's the only place as we speak. So if you're looking to bet on the Steelers, there is a minus four and a half at ESPN bet. Now, we do not want to promote that too much because, boy, I have not got a lot of these right on these particular things. There will be a guy joining us here in a couple moments, Coach Mike McCarthy, who has been seeing these Thursday night games rather well. he if he was to be making picks would be five and one on these thursday night so we will certainly be listening to what he has to say but let's not leave out the fact that he's got a little home game that's right he's got a little home game here with the uh the pittsburgh steelers so whenever he gives his pick we got to know that there might be a little bit of a little bit of a bias joining us now ladies and gentlemen superbowl champion the inzer legend former head coach of the dallas cowboys and the green bay packers maybe coming to a city near you Oh, boy.

1:05:01Pat McAfee:Hey, did you jump in, Coach Mike? Yeah, Coach! All right. Good afternoon, man. Good to see you, Coach. What's behind you? You got your game face on, Pat, huh? Yeah, it's a big night tonight. You know, I'm trying to get some things right. Yeah, it's a big night tonight. AFC North football on primetime. You know, obviously, we're excited about it. That's cool. Hey, that's what we're talking about. I see six offensive linemen in the black and gold. Nice. So we're obviously excited for that. What do you got behind you there? A couple rings? Just letting people know we got a couple of rings? Yeah, we had a little dilemma in the house this week.

1:05:30You know, AJ, I don't know if you've gone through this yet, but my 13-year-old won the national volleyball championship down there in Skyline, Dallas, and she was kind of bragging about how big her ring was and made a comment that it was bigger than our Super Bowl ring. So I had to line that thing up and see what the hell we got going here. It's close. It's pretty close. I thought I'd share that with everybody. Have you run into this yet, AJ? No, I have not. You know, Texas does things a little different, Coach. We don't have any national champions yet, 13 over here. But, yeah, that's a pretty impressive ring.

1:06:01You're running in this, bro.

1:06:03Pat McAfee:My daughter's ring almost bigger than my Super Bowl ring. Had to line these things up, get a different eye on it. Congrats to your daughter, man. We were obviously chatted with you during the draft. I think that might have been the beginning of the season. We didn't really know what all was going to happen. They ended up winning the national championship. Hey, let's go. That's awesome. Congrats. Yeah, that was great. What a great team. They won nine tournaments, first place in every tournament, won the nationals. So it was an incredible year, incredible run. So I'm very proud of her. And she almost won the biggest ring in the house.

1:06:32Pat McAfee:Almost. Almost. Almost. Yeah, I don't have to get back to work and win another one. 13 years old and bringing home a ring like that, that's scary. Okay. Everything's bigger in Texas, I say. Yeah, especially whenever you're winning nine tournaments in the national championship. Congrats to them. Let's talk about you saying I'm going to have to get back to work to maybe win another one. We have already started floating your name for any job that is available, both college and the NFL. You let us know when to stop. We will. And obviously you did not tell us to do this. So we just want to let you know the situations we are putting you in publicly anytime a name pops up.

1:07:03Pat McAfee:On that note, coach is getting fired here already. Callahan down in Tennessee gets fired. I don't know if you've ever been fired in the middle of the season. I'm not, I don't know your entire history of that. But what do you think goes into that decision making process? And then if you're a staff that is still there after a coach gets fired, what do you think the mentality is for them there? Well, I mean, it's very difficult. I think just like anything in our profession, you always look at the personal. And this is very difficult on the families. You know, and I think as coaches in our industry, professionally, we understand it's part of the job description, you know, because there is change each and every year.

1:07:42So that's the first thing that I look to is just, you know, how's the family? Because there's things that you go through. We were released near the end of the season in 19, and really the toughest part is what the kids have to endure at school and in the neighborhood and things like that. So that's the tough part, but the game goes on, and that's the way this business is, and it's the brutal truth of it. But the first thing I always think about is I just hope that the families are good. There's a new direction. There's going to be change. There's going to be adjustment. It happens each and every year, really throughout every organization.

1:08:24It's just a matter of how much. So it's part of our business. It's the tough part of our business. But, yeah, I just think that times like this, you know, it's a gut check for – because you can't last very long in this league without going through some adversity in that area.

1:08:40Pat McAfee:On that note, so you said gut check not only in that building, probably around the league, right? Whenever one team fires a coach, it's like, hey, this potential – I don't want to say floodgates open, but there's obviously other jobs that are being talked about publicly, which is what the NFL is. Sucks for the families. Sucks for the kids. All bad. I mean, that just absolutely sucks what they have to go through in their actual lives day to day. But now other jobs, is there a thought like, hey, and I don't know if you've ever been in this position either because it seemed like all you did was win during the regular season whenever we watched you, so I assume you'd have to go back in the day.

1:09:10Pat McAfee:But like other places around the league, is there like a little bit of a chatter? Okay, there's the first one almost. There's the first card to fall. Is that something that happens amongst coaches? I think the obvious is, you know, it's part of, you know, the media, you know, exposure that everybody is in tune with. I mean, you have to because it's part of your job. I mean, I used to, you know, keep my head in the sand in the old days. And I mean, it just doesn't serve you very well. You've got to be aware of what's going on around you. Because if you're not, you know, your players are. You know, your co-workers are.

1:09:45Your assistant coaches are. Their families are. So you have to be in tune with all that. Personally, I'm not a fan of making changes in season regardless. Now, you know, that's above my pay grade. So those are conversations that, you know, really probably go on above the coaching staff and coaching operations. But I just feel when you're going through these difficult times, you know, there's so many people involved in what it takes to win. You know, your support staff, your personnel department, everybody involved. And it's an incredible opportunity, in my view, that gets wasted when you make change in season.

1:10:23Because I think there's so much more to learn from others. You know, we all understand the responsibility of the head coach and the coordinators and things like that. But adversity is part of it. I mean, you lose two, three, four in a row. You know, real coaches, you have to dig out of that. I mean, that's part of surviving and advancing in this league is to go through those moments. So, yeah, I was, you know, this is just my personal opinion. I just wish that these opportunities would just push forward and let these coaches try to fight their way out of it.

1:10:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, that's a very good personal opinion. You're allowed to give your personal opinion. How many years in the NFL did you spend? Have you spent? 1993, so 30, 31, 32 plus. That's pretty good. It's a long time. So I think you're allowed to have your own personal opinion. Yeah, I think you're allowed. Thank you. I think you've earned it, and we appreciate that. Okay, go ahead, AJ. Yeah, Coach, something that actually seems to fast-track some of these coaches getting fired is injuries that happen to these teams. We look around the league. Obviously, with Tampa Bay, they're handling it well. They have a bunch of guys down still winning.

1:11:30San Fran, just a rash of injuries it seems like the last few years. Is that something as a coaching staff that you guys talk about leading into the season, like playing on depth? Like, how do you handle that? Because, you know, at some point you're going to deal with the old injury bug. You just hope it's not to certain areas of your team. But how is that something that some teams find a way to work through and other teams seem to really struggle? Big believer in trust your tradition, trust your experiences. AJ, 2010 is something I reference all the time as a head coach. You know, 77 players will win a Super Bowl.

1:12:02When you're able to keep, you know, you break down to the 53-man roster at the end of training camp and keeping 68 players in the building. Every single one of those guys is so important to the journey because, you know, you think about it. We had 68 when we started the season, but I think we might have been 65 back then. It took 77 players, so 12 guys came from outside the building to contribute to a Super Bowl victory. So now you have 17 games, so I think it's even more prominent. You have to develop your younger players. You've got to get your younger players ready. You know, last year in 24 in Dallas, we knew our depth was going to be younger.

1:12:39You would hope maybe your injury challenges would have came later in the season, you know, give your younger players a little better opportunity to be ready. Sometimes it goes that way, sometimes it doesn't. You know, it's so important to find ways to continue to develop the young players in season. So much has been taken away from the training environment, particularly in training camp in the offseason program, from the players, especially the padded work. I mean, the injuries to the offensive line, I don't know what the numbers are. I'm sure you guys have it analytically. I mean, sitting in this chair watching the league from this scope, I can't believe how many injuries there are week in and week out.

1:13:17They have to be super high for comparables throughout the history. I've seen nothing like it. Every time we talk about a game, that's the first thing. You look at the injury report, how it affects the matchups, where's the stress point on the O-line, D-line, because everything starts right there. And you used to think if you had eight really good offensive linemen, you could navigate and get through the season because the consecutive starts of five offensive linemen equates to winning. The numbers are crazy, like 12 plus ones a year any time the five offensive linemen start every single game. And I think there might be only two teams right now that have five offensive linemen that have started every game.

1:13:55The reality of it at today's NFL, I think you need 10 offensive linemen in your building that are ready to play because you just see these injuries are obviously high. And also, you know, you have to factor in 17 games. You know, I think when you play on Sunday and now you're going to turn around and play on a Thursday game, you know, you're not as quick to bring the guy back that you might have been three or four years ago. So I think all those things play into this. But the number of, you know, games missed by starters due to injuries, I just can't believe it's ever been higher. and I think it's something that needs to be addressed or there needs to be more because you can't keep just going like this because at the end of the day it's about the product and the competitiveness of the games which they're still there but man, I just think there's so much up and down each week when you watch these teams going through these injuries

1:14:45Pat McAfee:Since we've started this show, the injuries have always been a part of the conversation then a couple years back it was like backup quarterbacks the amount of backup quarterbacks that are playing was like 90 something or something like that, I forget it was like absurd Every year there's some injury storyline. This year it does feel like it's much more prevalent, especially in the teams that we thought were going to be very good. Now, you mentioned something in there about the 17-game season in choosing when guys come back and when they don't come back. Maybe we'll steal another week of rest here so we can get it on the back end.

1:15:11Pat McAfee:These Thursday night games, like Trey Hendrickson, for instance, he was announced as injured because of a back, is what I remember, a back. And then now he's on the injury report for a hip, and he's questionable on a Thursday night. Anytime somebody's questionable, I think for Thursday night, there's always the thought like, ah, probably just keep them because you get like a two-week break here. You can probably steal something. Has that always been the case for Thursday night football games or the added game into the season kind of upped that a bit for these Thursday night games? Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying in theory, but I do, in my experience, has been with the medical staff.

1:15:43You know, every injury is specific to the player. And I've always felt that way. And, you know, the input from the player to the training staff, then to the coaching staff. I mean, you have to have a protocol that's in place because, you know, because you want consistency because, you know, you want the players to have the confidence in the medical, you know, procedure and everything to get back on the field and so forth. That's critical. But also you want the coaches to be able to plan accordingly. I mean, I would much rather know about a player not playing early than a player playing late. You know, that's going to play late because, you know, it gives you a chance to play and plan and gives a chance to get these players, the reps, during the week and get them ready to play.

1:16:25Because at the end of the day, you know, everybody in the building is going to contribute. Every one of those players in the locker room. I mean, that's that's part of their job description. So, you know, AJ wants to know who's playing next to him. You know, he wants those practice reps and communication and things like that throughout the week. So that's the reality of it inside. I mean, the injury reports is, I mean, there's a lot of conversation that goes. And really the, you know, the projection of your training staff to if a guy's going to play, not play. That's a big part of it that factors into game planning for coaches.

1:16:55Pat McAfee:When's that happening? That's happening in Monday meetings after a game, Tuesday, Monday afternoon? Yeah, nonstop. I mean, you know, you get the scans. I mean, if you have a play game on Sunday afternoon, you know, like in Dallas is the same way in Green Bay. They have so many MRI slots that are already reserved for Monday morning so you can get guy scans and anybody that needs to get scanned. So, you know, you usually as a coach have a general idea, you know, by dinner time, you know, the ballpark of if a player is going to make it or not. So because, you know, you start game playing on Monday nights and then as Tuesday, then they come in for Tuesday treatment because, you know, some things don't, you know, Injuries don't really show themselves until 48 hours.

1:17:39Pat McAfee:Torridor. Torridor. Yeah, yeah. We are referring to Torridor here as well. We're referring to not in Green Bay, obviously. You said it. You said it. Yeah, yeah, yes, I did. I've lived. I'm playing along here. I've lived it. I've lived it. The Monday night, you said by dinner time, you normally know or have a good sense of who's going to play, who's not going to play. And there's obviously. Well, no, I wouldn't say who's going to play. I mean, kind of where they are. Got it. In their injury journey to get back. What are we having for dinner? wings? Are we pizza? What is the salad? What is like a...

1:18:09Pat McAfee:Soup, soup, and salad. I mean, come on. Wedding soup, coach? Wedding soup's so good, dude. Wedding soup is... Really? Yeah, I'm not a wedding soup. Yeah, I'm not either. Really? What are you talking about? Wedding soup is delight. I'm old school. I like the vegetable soups. Okay, you like the vegetable soups? Like tomato? You love... Minestrone. They got that minestrone at Olive Garden. Beef. Okay, so what's... We're a meat eater, obviously. Big steak. We have a big steak there. Big fish eater. Up in Dork County or just all the time? Pescatarian. I grew up that way. Catholic. Eat fish every Friday.

1:18:46I mean, I've been eating it my whole life.

1:18:48Pat McAfee:Okay, so your house and fish. How about the little fish sticks? Are we still eating those? The little fish sticks that we're having? My kids have grown out of that now. But yeah, I definitely had a few fish sticks in a day when the kids were younger. Oh my God, this is awesome. See, growing up. Ketchup on those? You put ketchup on those, obviously, right? ketchup on those for sure. Heinz, what else is there? Isn't it disgusting has some people from some places don't put ketchup on everything that ketchup's supposed to be on strictly because Heinz did not come from their city? Isn't that crazy?

1:19:18Pat McAfee:Because I'll meet some people I'm like, you put you put that shit on eggs, right? No, never. It's like, yes, you do. You put that on. I think it is a different animal whenever you grow up in Pittsburgh because of how delightful Heinz is on everything. Absolutely. The pride. You know, the pride in your ketchup. The other stuff doesn't taste the same. You put it on hot dogs? Put it on hot dogs? Put it on eggs? You put it on eggs or no? I'm right there with you. Everything. Pretty much anything. Not eggs. Yes, eggs, AJ. That's what we're talking about. You're exactly what I'm talking about. No, I'm scrambling.

1:19:48Scrambled eggs only.

1:19:50Pat McAfee:Yes, definitely scrambled eggs. You're not putting them on sunny side up. AJ, is that what you're trying to do? Well, you said eggs. That's what AJ's saying, though. AJ, you're putting these on. Yeah, well, not on hard-boiled eggs, either. You got to put them on. Dip a hard-boiled in there. you put salt on hardball no problem that is certainly what uh tabasco that's yeah that's it was a go-to on the hardball and are you taking the whole thing down are you doing a cool cut around to getting the yolk out of there because cholesterol you gotta throw that out you're just only eating the white uh hard-boiled eggs yeah i i'd say post uh 40 years old take the yolks out pre-40 definitely was eating the whole egg yeah okay now i know the keys to life i appreciate that now this is part of go ahead okay well i was gonna say it's part of maturity that's what this is this is maturing yeah this is living life this is taking the yoke out this is developing this is becoming who you could possibly be at your best version of yourself which leads to this question which is going to be maybe the most high intellect conversation we've had on this particular program in some time go ahead connor yeah coach i hope not because i should not be asking this question if that's the case, but you brought up something pre-show about NFL QB's EQ.

1:21:00As a mark, I had no idea what you were talking about, so we Googled it, the emotional quotient of NFL quarterbacks, and this was the definition essentially. What do you mean by NFL QB's EQ? How can you actually measure something like this? And then when you think about the quarterbacks who have been in first-year offenses like Danny Dimes, Drake May with McDaniels, Sam Darnold in Seattle. I mean, you could even go to J.J. McCarthy because it was his first time really playing in that offense. How do you kind of judge that EQ? And for those guys who are first years in those offenses, does that kind of mean they have a high NFL QB EQ just because of the fact that they're having immediate success?

1:21:45Or how do you judge something like that? Well, there's, I mean, that's a more specific individual criteria to it. I was referring to, I was kind of spinning off of our conversation last week when we were talking about Baker Mayfield. When you look at Baker, look at Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, and you can even put Aaron into this category. These guys that are kind of disrespected, kind of a pissed off group of quarterbacks. and you look at their success, but you look at their path. And I just think there's so much to learn from when things don't go right. I mean, there's so much value in that, you know, because it does.

1:22:26It gives you a heightened awareness. It gives you – it heightens your anticipation ability, you know, conflict resolution. You know, you definitely learn to deal with that. Handle success when it comes off of that so now you don't get too high. So I just think when you look at the EQ of these guys that are just, they're playing their ass off. And Aaron's kind of an exception of the fact because he's played so much football, but so much that led up to the season. And I think they're really becoming a team that we all were hoping that they're going to be. But, you know, and now AJ knows better than anybody.

1:23:04He's at his best when he's pissed off and plays with a chip on his shoulder. But I look at these guys that have gone through so much and they're just playing great football. And I just think it says so much about them personally because of for what they had to go through. I mean, they go to Green Bay as a young first round pick and have to sit for three years before you play. There's some emotional maturity that goes with that. So, I mean, that's hard. And I think, you know, your point, Connor, about J.J. McCarthy. I mean, there's some maturity coming off a national championship and then ability to watch and learn and be behind Sam.

1:23:41And now it's your time. So I just think the EQ, you know, there's so much that goes into the evaluation of every NFL player. And, you know, the mental breakdown, the physical breakdown, the video studies and this and everything. But the EQ is really where the goal's at. And, you know, how you judge that and how you evaluate that, how you quantify that, that's really the beauty. that's in the sauce of every organization's evaluation process.

1:24:07Pat McAfee:Coach, I'll tell you what. You being the guy saying EQ is what we need to be looking for, the emotional quotient is certainly right on par with every conversation we've had with you thus far, which has led to numerous situations where potential backhanded compliments have come from one of us to you, more specifically me. You bringing up the emotional quotient being one of the most important things of a quarterback. If we can put the graphic back up, please. This is literally exactly what you need in a leader of an organization. I mean, this is what, whenever you're going through the draft process, we should be trying to figure out the EQ of every one of the guys that are going to be put in positions of leadership.

1:24:45Pat McAfee:Self-awareness, AJ, how often have we talked about that being the most important thing in anything? Every single day, about every aspect of your life, not even just sports. You talk about be who you can afford to be, that is strictly from self-awareness, and that is not just in football, that's in any leadership position, or just in life, self-awareness, understanding the situation, who you're allowed to be, who you're not allowed to be in this particular situation. Self-regulation, obviously, that's discipline. We would like to know the discipline of the people that are going to be having a leader.

1:25:10Pat McAfee:Social awareness, obviously, how they interact with their team, how they interact with the media, how they interact with marketing, even if you get it, how they interact with everything is a massive ordeal. And then relationship management, I've never seen something that leaders have to have at a high level just described so perfectly. I mean, the emotional quotient, whenever we're talking about, hey, how do you know the right guys to draft at the position? You know, we all know they can run and we all know they can run. It seems like the EQ, as Coach Mike McCarthy is saying here, is what we've been looking for this entire time.

1:25:39Pat McAfee:So I'd like to tell you, Coach, thank you for introducing that into my life. And also thank you for letting us behind the scenes a little bit on what goes into being a great leader, a quarterback. It is the EQ is what we're looking to do. It's the ability to understand, manage, and express your emotions while recognizing the influence of ours. That's quarterback in the NFL. That's a coach in the NFL. That's a CEO. That's a manager. That is literally everything we're looking for whenever we talk about love and ball. Who's also committed? It's an EQ level, Connor. Yeah, Coach, to Pat's point right there about managing, is this something that GMs have to have a very, very high, you know, not tolerance but awareness of just because, you know, Andy Reid came on and he talked about how Brett Veach would tell him, you know, his read on a player and then that read would be correct and that's kind of how he rose through the ranks.

1:26:23Is that something that GMs have to have when they're evaluating players then? I mean, let's be honest. Your whole leadership hierarchy has to have it. And obviously, when it's coordinated and it fits together, then now you're working at such a different level. But, yes, I think clearly from ownership to president to GM to head coach, I think all that, there's nothing worse as a leader finding out after the fact. And I would say if I said it once in a staff meeting, I said it a thousand times. I don't need to be the first guy to know when AJ skips his workout in the morning, which he never did.

1:27:02But I don't need to be the first guy to know, but I can't be the last guy to know. You know, you can't. It's just having the awareness to make sure that everything we ask the players to do, everything we ask each other to do, everything we ask the support staff to do, it's done for a reason. You know, we don't just do things because this is the way so-and-so did it back in the 60s. so I mean have a purpose for everything you do but it has to be done because if you if it's not done then now the credibility starts to go away then then the culture starts to erode and things like that so have a reason for why you do it but you got to have people that buy into the structure understand where the walls and the boundaries of the structure are and just adhere to it and I just think common sense goes such a long way in that journey and then it is for all of us if you can take the emotion out of the tough moments and learn from it, I think it gives you a such higher opportunity for success.

1:28:00Yes! Hell yeah, Coach. Yeah.

1:28:03Pat McAfee:That's some good spoken word right there. Sometimes common sense isn't common sense though, right? In situations, Coach, where you're like, well, I assume that was common sense, and that's not always the case. Some people don't have a whole common sense. I couldn't even imagine. I think that's a great point, AJ. No, I think that's where continuing education comes in. You know, common sense to me is definitely going to be – Wow. Maybe it'll be the same as a 24-year-old too. So that's my responsibility to have, you know, clarity, clear communication, clarity of what's expected. And I go back to not having 9 ,000 roles.

1:28:34You know, we used to hand out that – we'd have that fine schedule every year that you had to put up in front of the team. I mean, it's – you know, how can you just make it – you know, bring it all together? And that's where I always felt this – we had one role. No disrespect. No disrespect. It covers everything. Yeah, it covers everything. So, I mean, being late for a meeting. Yeah, I mean, you know, if you put a ton of energy into a 10-minute presentation that you're putting together for the team and then you've got guys that are going to walk in late, I mean, you know, that's disrespectful. So, I mean, in my view.

1:29:07So, I just think in just giving clarity and understanding the group dynamics, is an unbelievable journey to go into a situation each year, try to build a team that's going to now navigate and grind through a 17-game season, and then you've got to really go play the real games and play football. I mean, there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. So I just think keeping it consistent, concise, and clear, it just goes a long way.

1:29:34Pat McAfee:You're a weapon, dude. You're an absolute weapon. We're very thankful you come on this show. Hearing a Pittsburgh guy talk about leadership is, I mean, it hits even more home, I think, for me. But it is, you've been phenomenal, brother. You're just breaking down your entire culture and how you build it and why you build it and what you're looking for out of people that work for you. Like, hey, you need to buy in here, okay? You're buying in or you're getting the hell out. Those conversations are also not the easiest. Snooping out after making a mistake, I assume, not the easiest as well, trying to figure it out and move on.

1:30:02Pat McAfee:I appreciate the fact that you are so open and transparent with us about how you operate. Because obviously, AJ got to play for you. And we know AJ wasn't late for work. out now i know he didn't laugh i mean he's still gonna get my humor yeah yeah 20 years later i mean yeah my jokes are still that bad i guess please laugh that you should have dropped that afterwards drop the self-awareness on the eq yeah that would have been uh that would have been incredible but that was an awesome little glimpse into how you operated your building now you talk about the voyage that you have to do in building group chemistry and everything like that we're seven weeks into this now after tonight kicks off go ahead ty yeah coach you mentioned how the steelers are kind of rounding into the team that a lot of people maybe expected them to be right now.

1:30:43Going into week seven, a lot of the good teams have kind of established their identity. If you're one of those teams who hasn't yet, is there still a chance for those teams to kind of make something of this season? Or at this point, do you kind of know who you are and how you have to win? And those teams that don't are kind of shit out of luck. No, absolutely. You know, you always remember November, but what's most important is December. And that will never change in this league. You see it, I don't want to say maybe every year, but it happens. It happened for us in 2010, and we've had other teams that got hot at the end of the year and went deep into the playoffs.

1:31:22So that's still the case. I don't think that will change, especially with the extra game, 17. I think it's probably even more so. There's an opportunity, and I love what the league's done with the division games still at the end of the year. So everything lays up for that. So I think you can definitely still get hot and bring it. But I think really when you get to this 6, 7, 8, 9 week mark, I always felt that we work all offseason. You build your roster. You're taking the steps through the offseason program. You get the young guys integrated, and you go off and camp, and you have this really great idea of how you want to play and what your team looks like and how they're going to grow.

1:32:04and then all of a sudden, you know, the injury challenge hits and all the other challenges hits. And so you're not maybe really playing the way you hope to be playing or like to be playing. You know, Cincinnati, you know, losing Joe Burrow. I mean, that's a huge hit, you know. And I know we'll talk about the game here in a minute. Oh, I like your hosting. Yeah. What's that?

1:32:25Pat McAfee:You're hosting. You're teasing. You're giving teases right there. That was a tease. You're a host. That's good. Well, see, you're bringing me along in this TV world. I appreciate that, too. I'm learning, too. Yeah, well, teams are learning as well. And it feels like as long as the challenges are minimal, you know, the injury challenge can change your team later in the season. But it feels like at this point we're starting to learn a little bit, is what you're saying. Yeah, definitely. But I do think Pittsburgh is starting to be the team that we all thought they would. I love it when Aaron, you know, end up going to Pittsburgh because, you know, the defense, Mike Tomlin, the veteran coordinators, you know, T.A., you know, Terry Austin, and then, you know, Danny.

1:32:59Danny, and you also got, you know, Arthur there too. So, I mean, you've got veteran coordinators. You've got a lot of experience. It's a veteran football team. You know, you're going to be in every game because of that defense. And, you know, who's one more two-minute games than Aaron Rodgers? So that was how I viewed their team on how I think they're going to be able to run through the season, win the close games. They're going to be there each and every week, you know, and take care of the football. They're off to a great start in the turnover ratio. So I really like the identity of that team.

1:33:31And I'm going to look at Cincinnati, you know, watching the Cincinnati Green Bay game. You know, I think Cincinnati may have found who they need to be, you know, moving forward with Joe. I thought Joe Flacco in the second half, you know, just his ball distribution and the time clock that he was playing. You know, he gave them a particular chance to be in that game in the second half. So I would anticipate that Cincinnati would try to play Pittsburgh tonight a little bit the way they played in the second half of the Green Bay game. So those are the things you have to adjust, who you want to be, but who you have to be.

1:34:08That's always the question I always felt as a head coach that you're always looking at as you get through the course of the season. But I think Pittsburgh is really – I love the experience level they have on their team. I thought the veteran guys that they brought in all the way through have been excellent. If they can stay healthy, I think they're just going to get stronger and stronger each week.

1:34:27Pat McAfee:As Coach McCarthy teased it, we will talk about tonight's game right now. Coach, you don't make picks outright, okay? And we respect that for you. But you do give us how you feel about games. And if you were to be picking games, you would be 5-1 on these Thursday nights. Adam, baby! Let's go, Coach! If you were to be, that's very good. Now, you talk about how week 7 you start to know what team you have and everything like that. Six games into it, it's not a fluke. You know, first couple, you might have just been blindside or boring. You know what I mean? You might be able – you might be just blind squirrel finding a nut in there and broadside or boring.

1:35:02Pat McAfee:You might have got lucky there. You know, that bit of a case. Six in being five and one, you're seeing the board here, brother. And tonight, it's another divisional game, AFC North football. You talked about Flacco in the second half, maybe becoming who he's supposed to be, not just who they want to be but who they have to be. And then on the other side, you got Aaron Rodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, what you said looks like the team that is uh everything we hoped they would be now it was minus four and a half at the espn bet uh like an hour ago 45 minutes ago it is now returned to minus five and a half as of a minute ago so it's minus five and a half across the board bangles plus five and a half across the board could have stole a four and a half uh for the steelers at espn bet for like the last 36 minutes or so it's all across the board five how do you feel about this that a lot of points i saw a little grimace on your face there whenever it was at five and a half as opposed to four and a half feels like five was your line in your head that you're making if you're making lines and if you're making picks coach well i was definitely hoping to be less than six i i think the biggest thing you know as i think i've already said i i like the way pittsburgh's playing i think they're playing to their identity um i always look at the big picture and it's something like you know we always put in front of the team on wednesdays you know you put the stats up, you know, kind of the vital signs, you know, total offense points and all the, you know, the regular stats you see each and every.

1:36:20There you go. Perfect. And if you look at the numbers, you know, when I see Cincinnati always in the 30s, but they lost their starting quarterback. So, you know, you're going to get knocked out of the top 10 right away on some of those things. That's just the way it goes when there's a transition of playing, you know, with the backup quarterbacks and things like that. So I don't really feel as bad about those numbers, about Cincinnati as far as those numbers. I don't think they truly reflect it because I do like the way they tried to play against Green Bay, and I think the way they played in the second half is a formula for them to win games.

1:36:51But what I love about Pittsburgh is they're taking care of the most important. Their turnover ratio is outstanding, and that's who they are. They carry the football, run the football. Obviously, their run offense versus their, since they've run defense, looks to be a potential advantage for Pittsburgh. So I think the important things that you have to do when you go into a road, you know, on the road is run the football, take care of the football. And I think clearly with Aaron, you know, with the ball in his hand at the end of the game, it's somewhere where you want to be. So I know we're not supposed to pick games here, but I don't, you know, I'm going to go home next week, so I've got to take the Steelers.

1:37:31Pat McAfee:Okay. We knew that was going to be the case. Actually predicted that you were potentially going to be a little biased about going home now. Back at Greenfield, you know, we saw it last week. going back with two rings in the family now not just one here as we bounce back to Pittsburgh I appreciate everything you said today thank you for the leadership advice thank you for the pick and it feels like you're seeing the board maybe better than anybody else that's gambling right now and I know you're not gambling but if you were to be gambling and you have been for all of us I want to let you know we've been winning brother and we appreciate the hell out of you we'll see you next week alright man you guys have a great weekend ladies and gentlemen that's Coach Michael Kors yeah coach Coach Gensler.

1:38:09Okay?

1:38:10Pat McAfee:Through and through. Western Pennsylvania legend. We go from one coach that has those accolades to another coach that has those accolades. Now, AJ, whenever you listen to Mike McCarthy, you can hear the Pittsburgh in him. You can literally hear the steel that was in the water that he drank his little baby boy growing up there on the street. You know? You can hear it in there. You can tell by the way he acts. Now, his leadership shit, I don't think I expected that, AJ. That has been a mind-blower for me from outside looking in, AJ. He is like one of those guys, very curious, always learning, always trying to progress and evolve and figure out how to get his message across.

1:38:51So, yeah, it's not surprising for me because I've heard it for years. But, yes, maybe on the outside it might not look like he's that guy, but he is.

1:38:57Pat McAfee:Well, he's a yinzer, too, so I think people naturally expect us, oh, grunt hard, hard-nosed, work hard, you know, that whole thing. Let alone emotional quotient is what we're looking for here. And then I forget what he said a couple weeks ago where it was like, hey, that was very deep what you just said. No shit. Yeah, like that is. He has been phenomenal. You know he's Western Pennsylvania. You know he's Pittsburgh. There's other coaches where you watch them operate. You know they're Western Pennsylvania. You hear them talking shit. You hear them leading groups. You hear them kind of disrupting everything.

1:39:25Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is the head coach of the IU football team. the head of the who who who who's yours Kurt Cignetti yeah coach 100 % our fault we want to take accountability for yesterday that's on us thank you for taking the time yet again here today with us you're welcome great to be here love you hey I know we're looking ahead okay we got another game we won't go back to yesterday we got a lot in front of us there's a lot of opportunity still I know all those things coach I just want to let you know man we had a great Saturday in Oregon didn't we that was a good time yeah Hey, that was a good time.

1:39:59Pat McAfee:I want to let you know I appreciated your team. I had a lot of faith in your team. I respect the shit out of your team. Let's talk about your team. I also respect and appreciate Oregon as well. I think they still have everything in front of them, which is why it was such a big win for you. This year, feel more mature? Felt ready for that type of game, do you think, going into that? And what does this mean for your team going forward this year as everything literally is right in front of you still? Well, you know, I was confident going in. I thought our team had a great mindset. we got a lot of veterans on this team, a lot of great leadership, good players that have high character.

1:40:35And we had a great week of preparation. And I thought we were prepared. Now, until you step on the field and play the game, and how do you match up? Because obviously last year was a tremendous year. Year one for us, you know, doing what we did, starting 10-0, didn't trail until game nine. But, you know, we didn't get it done against Ohio State and Notre Dame. I guess you could say we were competitive for a quarter and a half against Ohio State. We were up seven none, but we didn't get it done. And so I thought Oregon was an extremely impressive team on tape. I have a lot of respect for Coach Lanning.

1:41:10They got a lot of great players, and it was a hard place to play. It had been a while since they had lost a game there. So I thought it would be critical that, you know, number one, we have a great mindset. and that we would be able to overcome adversity during the course of the game without flinching ever, letting doubt creep in, being resilient, so to speak. And I thought it was a physical, hard-fought game, but we did a great job on defense, particularly in the second half. You know, the thing we got done, gave up three points and got two turnovers. I think they had 40 total yards in the second half outside the last prevent drive.

1:41:49Offense answered their scores with 75-yard touchdowns. great drive again at the end of the half of 24 seconds we did that the week before against iowa too special teams was really good uh been good all year at 58 yard field goal two other ones you know we've been pretty good in all phases so uh it was a great program win yeah i'd say and

1:42:08Pat McAfee:you talk about being pretty good in all phases or great in all phases i because i live here seen it you know the reason why that game is such a big deal i think for the brand of iu football is because the whole world saw it and heard about it and i think that's huge for you you know I love that you're a Gatorade Zero Glacier Freeze guy. I am as well. It's by far the best one. It is by far the best one that they have. No questions asked. Great taste out of you. Okay. I like what you're doing. But, yeah, exactly. Cheers to you. I assume IU is getting paid. If not, they should be. We are not. I am not.

1:42:38Pat McAfee:This is just, you know, zero sugar. Let's keep it moving. But Kirk Herbstreit brought up a good point, you know. And Kirk has respect for the Big Ten. Kirk has seen the Big Ten. But there was a stat that was out there. It was like Indiana is 1-71 in these games in the history. and I immediately said, well, the IU football program literally just started last year. Okay, so that is kind of how I feel about it. And I know I'm not the only one. There's a lot of people around Indiana that feel that way. Do you feel the same energy or even more energy than last year with the hot start that you've had this year?

1:43:07Pat McAfee:How does this support feel from IU? Because this is all brand new to Hoosiers fans. They're all football people, but Hoosier football is very new to them. How has it felt kind of rallying for the next 5, 10, 15 years of a program here that you're building from scratch in Bloomington? Yeah, well, you know, we have the largest alumni base in America right now, over 800 ,000. We took over number one a month, a month and a half ago. Wow. You know, I think we built on our successes all the way around and all the things that are important to a program. I mean, the games are sold out. The fans are crazy and nutty.

1:43:43Giving has really increased and we're getting more high-profile, high-powered donors into the program. Facilities are improving. You know, obviously we're in rev share now, and NIL will be a key component in that as well, staff salaries, those kind of things. So we're definitely moving in the right direction, and obviously there's a lot of excitement, especially, you know, after this last game. Illinois game was a big game too. You know, they were number nine in the country, and then you go to Iowa. That's a really hard place to play now. and that was a hard-fought game and win that one. But I think it's really important and address this Monday with our team that we rip the rearview mirror off.

1:44:26And, you know, this team's met every challenge up to this point, but why have they met every challenge? It's because of their commitment to the process, doing the things they have to do to be prepared and give themselves the best chance on Saturday. And then even when you are totally prepared, you've got to put it on the field. you know plays one to 150 you got to play a certain way uh you know so we have things we preach uh i really believe in college football you know game one and game two everybody's ready to play after that who shows up ready to play and uh we have to show up ready to play this week and have a great mindset and do the things you got to do from a preparation standpoint because anyone can beat anyone 95 percent of teams and people are capable of beating one another on any given day and michigan state's got good players they got good coaches uh they went on the road they lost two hard-fought road games at usc and nebraska they were dogfights and i'm sure they're disappointed by their last game at home against ucla but uh they got a lot of character on that

1:45:30Pat McAfee:team and i expect their best shot as you should because you're not taking anybody by surprise Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, Coach, Roman Hemby, your running back, we saw him obviously in a couple of those highlights against Oregon. I guess how nice is it to bring him in for Maryland and to see how he's kind of developed as not – it feels like he's actually a great leader for the team, a veteran player, but the guy runs so hard and seems like he's very versatile and can do it all. Like, what does he do for your offense? Yeah, I think you hit it right on the head. You know, you bring in guys like Hemby, you know, Coogan, and there's others.

1:46:02But Hemby's a warrior. He shows up every day at practice, and he's 100 % effort all the time. Finishes runs in team run drills. Got great hands out of the backfield. Pass protection we needed to work on a little bit when he first got here has really improved. And you saw it, you know, against Oregon. I mean, he's a hard downhill runner that has good speed, great hands out of the backfield. And he's just very consistent. Like, you know, a lot of times when you go in the portal, You can research them. You see the stats. Maybe you played against them. You hear good things. But you really don't know these guys until, you know, you go through spring ball, fall camp, and play a few games.

1:46:44I mean, just he is an A-plus in every area that you're looking for in terms of getting ready to play and playing to your full potential.

1:46:54Pat McAfee:Everybody's trying to do what you do. You just talk about not knowing who these guys are out of the transfer portal until after spring, through fall camp, and then a few games. Everybody's looking at what you were able to accomplish and saying, hey, if we have a good transfer portal run and we get the right guy in here, we can turn into a number three team in the country in two years. There's a question now Connor has about what you've been able to do with the, you know, there's a lot of people in that transfer portal. And you've talked about the stars and everything, what you're looking for. Connor has a question.

1:47:19Yeah, Coach, to Pat's point right there, you know, Mendoza was a name last year, but now he is one of the names in college football. And, you know, you've turned him into that. We talk about in the NFL with Baker Mayfield and his OCs. He makes his OCs head coaches. You basically make these quarterbacks absolute superstars. What kind of traits do you look for when you're in the portal, when you are recruiting, to know that this kid has something in him that you can kind of – you mentioned full potential. Bring out his full potential. Is it character? I heard you talk about character at Michigan State and your own team heading to Oregon, and that felt like a massive thing.

1:47:53We just talked to Coach McCarthy about QBEQ, emotional quotient, and just about the importance of that when it comes to football. What are the specific things you're looking for in all the players that you currently have in your team? Well, I mean, you know, you've got to have a blueprint and a plan, first of all, for how you're going to run your program. But this business is all about recruiting, development, and now retention. So, you know, I think all my years as a recruiting coordinator really helped me from an evaluation standpoint. point and I've always you know evaluated anyone we're considering coming into the program whether it's a recruit a portal guy or coach obviously because it's all about people it is all about people you got to have the right kind of people on your staff and on your team you know development is huge uh you know there's a lot of good players out there I really believe that uh you got to do a great job developing them uh you know in the weight room off-season program how you practice in the meeting room and the kind of culture you create in your program.

1:48:56And, you know, in terms of the quarterback, first of all, Chandler Whitmer's done a great job with Fernando Mendoza. You know, he's in his first year with us as quarterback coach, co-offensive coordinator. And we've had a great running quarterback. You're right. I think we've had five, four or five in a row that were player of the year in the league. And Curtis Hork had a great year last year, actually with second team all-conference, but I think he led the country in QBR. They've all been different. We've had the pocket guys, the dual guys, and the in-betweeners. And you've got to build around their strengths and around your offensive strengths.

1:49:33And, you know, all those guys have flourished, and Fernando's done the same thing. He was an easy guy to evaluate. There's a lot of physical talent there. You know, he's tall, he's smart, he's got quick release, he can make all throws, he's mobile. When he got here, we had to settle him down a little bit in the pocket, work on his footwork and, you know, process a little bit and just calm him down a little bit in the pocket, you know, because he didn't have the best protection at Kale. The progress he has made in the pocket really is unbelievable. But as much progress as he has made, he's got that much more he can make because of his ability.

1:50:11And he's the kind of guy, I mean, he is extremely intelligent. He is super high character. He wants to be a great player. and I've never been around a player anywhere I've ever been that prepares like him. Let's go. Wow.

1:50:26Pat McAfee:I love that. I love that. And cares about people, involved in the community. Teammates love him. But he's not a real rah-rah guy now. You know what I mean? He leads by example. That's how the quarterback needs to lead. Hey, that's high EQ, I think, is what I'm hearing from Mike McCarthy, the emotional quotient for him through the roof, physical talent, through the roof, his accuracy is insane. You know, you watch him play, it's like, oh, that's a Sunday guy right there. That is a Sunday guy. Can extend to play as well. And now he's doing something special down there in Bloomington that we've never seen before in this state.

1:51:01Pat McAfee:Now, on that note, whenever you got here, you were something that I don't think anybody has seen in D1 ball. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, and it was a breath of fresh air, Coach. And obviously everyone, you know, right after, you know, whether it was you saying, hey, listen, I've never taken a backseat to anybody. I'm not going to do it now. And maybe kind of jousting with Ohio state a little bit and Purdue. And then the Google me, you know, I win that's going to follow you the rest of your life because you continue to do it. Do you think like, are you at a point now where you don't feel like you have to maybe quote unquote talk shit or do any of that stuff anymore?

1:51:33Because it's like, Hey, guess what? I can say whatever I want to say, but we're playing on Saturday and we're coming in there to kick your ass. And now people know like, Hey, Indiana actually really might come in here and beat our ass. Yeah, there's no doubt about it. I mean, you know, I feel like this year I'm back to who I was. This may be 44 or 43 for me. I don't know. You know, the other 41 years. But, you know, just like, you know, what's our response going to be this week against Michigan State coming off the Oregon win? What you saw last year for me was sort of my response to my first eight hours on the job here.

1:52:11What I detected, noticed, and saw and didn't like. and I wasn't going to lower my standards. I'd come from a championship program. We'd won five straight championships. Hell yeah. And I wasn't going to have my standards lowered by everything I felt, saw, and heard. And so I got a little mad. Yeah, I did. And it all started at the basketball game. But it didn't. It started when I stepped into the stadium for the first time ever and got on the elevator with the AD and he got an earful. And then it just took on a life of its own after that. I get it. So, yeah, I don't need to do that. We've established that.

1:52:56Pat McAfee:Yeah, I don't need to do that anymore. We established it eight hours in. Okay, a lot needs to change. I'm sick of all of this, everything. The questions were probably condescending. The things you were seeing were probably condescending. All of a sudden, well, this is a tall task. We don't have this. We don't have this. I'm sick of this. Okay, we were winning here because I decided to come here. That's what I was going to get you. And you got to talk to your shit. I love that. And now you're at the point where, I mean, after the Oregon win, it certainly helps. And I'm excited to see how your team responds as well.

1:53:22Pat McAfee:This is a big test for your team now. They talk about, you know, handling failure. Handling success is obviously the hardest thing. That's all you've ever really done. You can Google that. I'm excited to see your boys respond. But I also appreciate the fact that you look around and you're like, all right, I don't have to tell everybody that we're going to beat the shit out of them. They kind of understand that now. You're the man, coach. We appreciate the hell out of you. Well, you know, I love you guys. And I heard you talking about the Gateway Gators against the Plum Mustangs the other day. Hell yeah.

1:53:49You know what I mean?

1:53:49Pat McAfee:Terry Smith is interim head coach up there at Penn State. Gateway Gator, great. And that's a great football coach. Let me tell you, he'll do a great job there. As will you. That's the head coach at Indiana, Coach Cignetti. We'll continue digitally. Cheers. Goodbye. All right, we're still live. We're still live. So don't say that, you know, don't bear, you know. You're still live. There's people still watching. Coach, we love you, man. And congratulations on all the success, and thank you for the time. Got to keep it going, man. All right. Can't wait to get back down there, brother. Can't wait to get back down there.

1:54:18Pat McAfee:Maybe stop by the house. Glad you're in our state. I'm glad you're in our state. You're my homeboy now. Hell, yeah. You're damn right. I'm glad you're in our state, brother. You should go down to house. Fuck, yeah. Hey, I need to go down to house. Putt and green, the whole thing. The whole family. Tell the family we said hello and grazie down there. Okay, let's go. That's an open invitation. Boom. All green. We're coming. Ladies and gentlemen, Kurt Signetti. Thank you. Yeah, Coach!

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1:55:42he's hilarious the best he is himself oh yeah he said pocket like the way you did with the golf

1:55:48Pat McAfee:club yeah come out of the pocket yeah so he's western pennsylvania i mean we had mike mccarthy and kurt cignetti we're talking about pittsburgh just having its you know influence on football still happening still very real but him walking into that building and just everybody there just being like, why would you come here? What are you? Do we have a weight room? Not a good one. We got half a one. Him being on edge all year. And just being like, I hate all year. I'm more of my selfish year. No way. I'm moving my whole family here. I'm moving my whole family here. He called his shot. Can you imagine if he does all that stuff and they go four and eight?

1:56:24That's not good, but he knew. He's like, fuck it. I'll call my shot and then we will just beat the shit out of everybody.

1:56:30Pat McAfee:You know how coaches speak through the media to their players? He was speaking to the entire state of Indiana. He was like, obviously he was talking to college football, but he was also talking to IU alumni, which I just saw the tweet. 805 ,000 now is their alumni, which I don't know how that happens a couple months ago. Indiana University is now home to the nation's largest living alumni network, powered by more than 805 ,000 living alumni. IU's vast alumni network provides unparalleled opportunities for connection, career advancement, and lifelong growth. That's also comma and NIL for our football team and our basketball teams.

1:57:07Pat McAfee:You can also add in there. So are they like they were tied with another school and somebody passed? Rest in peace. It must be like some sort of website. They sign up. Yeah. Either that or like active yourself. Also like the football team being as good as they were last year, I wonder what that did for enrollment this year. You know, like that's a big deal for kids going to college. It's like, oh, shit, we might get a college football playoff team next year. Like, yeah, if I'm on the edge between Indiana and Ball State, like probably going to IU. Indiana also, good time. Yes, for sure. Noted good.

1:57:41Big Ten school.

1:57:42Pat McAfee:Bloomington noted good time. Yeah, you're right. I guess that is Big Ten school. All Big Ten school is good time. Legit, everyone I've ever been to. Yeah, because like West Virginia, obviously, just a professional good time, I think. You know, the dropout rate's hilarious for your first semester. You just kind of go crazy every night. there's an opportunity to do something cool and you're gonna do it okay and that's just a part of it and then there's other party schools you kind of hear of and then yeah i guess now that i just kind of think about all the cities we've been across in the big 10.

1:58:10Pat McAfee:i mean at iowa we had there was a beer waiting for us at the hotel so awesome lady had a baby keg while we were checking in a hotel for the iowa hawkeyes games here columbus is obviously columbus i mean penn state penn state outrageous. Hey, how is it out there? Absolute destruction. Like where? Everywhere. Pure chaos is how Stanford Steve kind of called it. What else? Michigan? Madison. We went out in Ann Arbor. Michigan was a good time? It was, yep. Michigan was a good time. Oh, there it is. Boom. Northwestern sucks. Yeah, that city of Chicago. Michigan State is a big party school. What school is it?

1:58:45Pat McAfee:Well, it's funny. While we're talking about it. Northwestern, we just said, because we immediately went from Northwestern, So we want the city of Chicago as opposed to the school. Maybe any of the inner city campuses? Yeah, because there's not a lot of room for the frat life or whatever. But yeah, if you go to a city school, you just go out in the city. In the city. So the city counts as the, like Pitt, for instance, in Oakland. I've had good times in Oakland at apartment parties, house parties, and things like that. But it doesn't have the opportunity to do what big campuses. You've got a fake ID and go to the porch.

1:59:17Pat McAfee:Bingo, you're going to the city. Interesting. And do they still do all this stuff? Yes. I hope so. Oh, yeah. They do. Down in the South, I wonder. I assume just every – because I only see their tailgate setups and everybody's having a good time. Yeah. They know. They know how to – yeah, they always have great setups. Like, yeah, down South, they have a great college experience, I feel like. I'm happy we got good times all over the place. That's what it's all about. We need more good times. Amen. The world needs more good times. So if these are being generated via sports or just other opportunities, we're happy about that.

1:59:47Now, tonight, let's start this week, week seven.

1:59:53Pat McAfee:Perfect. Let's go. AJ, I would like your take on Tua's. We didn't really talk about that, but we can do it tomorrow. Actually, we can just move past it. I thought Tua did a great job on that statement. Did you as well? He handled it well. Absolutely, yeah. If he, yeah, go ahead, address it, let him know. And like you said, start off the press conference like that because I know every question will be about that. Yeah, hey, hand up. That was on me. Here we go. Let's move forward. My intent, I explained to the boys what my intentions were to just talk about. And he said, the guys know my heart. They know my intent.

2:00:21They know. And I'm like, yeah, that is very true, actually. It's usually the case.

2:00:25Pat McAfee:I did appreciate him throwing a media under the bus like we misconstrued it. Yeah. I get that one. That's a good move. Yeah, it's not a bad move. I get that one. What I meant, because it happens to us, what we actually said versus what you are saying, we said two different things. But in this particular case, every ex-player basically said, come on, we don't need that. Come on. You're throwing all of us under the bus now. You're throwing yourself under the bus. You don't even know it right there. You're literally just throwing yourself under the bus. Nobody's winning here from this particular statement, so I appreciate him owning that and moving forward.

2:00:58Pat McAfee:Rasheed Rice is back for the Kansas City Chiefs. That's going to be, I mean. Huge. It's about to happen. Yes. It started happening, okay? the Chiefs wagon started to kind of forge the river a little bit. And it started rolling slowly, surely. This team stinks. They're dead. I even fell into it. I'm like, you know what? Maybe they are done, dude. This is a bummer. I don't like it, but I'm thankful that I got to watch it with how great it was. That's how I started feeling in here. And then hold on. Hold on. The Chiefs. Remember, they're the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes hears that too. He hears that too.

2:01:38I think he loves that.

2:01:39Pat McAfee:He starts putting a team on his back. He actually starts running. He starts taking hits, taking runs. Travis Kelsey starts, oh wait a second here we go. Xavier Worthy okay, hold on. Kareem Hunt Hollywood Brown Juju Smith-Schuster. All these guys seemingly start having better games and it's like this is more weapons than they've ever had and then all of a sudden, wait a second, Rasheed Rice is coming back too. So now they might have the most weapons that they've ever had. They're playing good football and this is why that they are sitting in the position that they're in, which is everybody saying they're going to insert pool again.

2:02:11Pat McAfee:That's where we're sitting in week seven. For sure. Feels like AJ. Yeah, definitely does. I mean, watching Patrick Mahomes work and watching, like, you can tell. I don't know. The guy's just an ultra competitor, and I love watching him. And I think when he is in that mode, when he's alive, when he is breathing, the Chiefs always have a chance. Yes, I think that's how we should view it forever, especially with Andy Reid coaching as well. So we should remember that. That's punched by Jack Kim. We keep running this play. I'm sorry. We ran this a bunch. I love watching Jack Campbell come in and throw this unbelievable haymaker here.

2:02:38He's so good. It's so funny to me. I don't know why.

2:02:41Pat McAfee:Why didn't you do a little bit more? Watch this. Yeah. He let him get up, too. It was like perfect. Almost hit him. What if he hit him right in the balls, too? He probably made a glance. Yeah, he might have got a glancing blow at the balls there. We're not 100 % sure. But him perfectly timing for when he got up. Like, hey, nobody touched this guy. He's getting up. Yeah. That's classic play by a veteran defensive player. Jack Campbell certainly flies around. But on that note, Patrick Mahomes and Rasheed Rice last season, weeks one through three. Okay, Hembo sent these stats over. Weeks one through three last season, 24 receptions first, 185 yards yak, 288 receptions yards, 32 targets.

2:03:16Pat McAfee:And then he got injured in week four. Mahomes is getting less yak this season, 5.7 yards per completion, than he ever has. So Rasheed Rice should be adding to that. Little on all the weapons that Andy Reid now has to kind of draw some shit up. That feels like huge news football-wise. And, yep, I'm back to only picking the Chiefs blindly until I lose all my money like I did a couple years ago. It's a good move. I assume sportsbooks are going to react the same way, though, with them. Yeah, actually, I can't. They are, what are they this weekend? I mean, he's the favorite to win MVP now, and they're the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

2:03:45So sportsbooks are already. Oh, they're minus 11.5 against the.

2:03:49Pat McAfee:This says 12.5. I assume that either of those could work across the board. Chiefs minus 12.5 hosting the Raiders, and we know that's a petty game. That's a big number. Big time. And if you remember how Rashearice got hurt, Mahomes might feel a little bad because it was actually Mahomes who fell on his leg to get him hurt last year, and then that's carried over into the suspension. So maybe Mahomes is going to say, you know what, I owe you six touchdowns. It feels like everybody on that team loves him because they're just openly, proudly, very loudly supporting. Everybody's like, don't you do that?

2:04:18Pat McAfee:And they're like, it's our guy. Yeah. So they must be very, very pumped for him to come back. Mike Vrabel is going to take on Tennessee Titans. Obviously, Tennessee Titans fire him unceremoniously out of nowhere in a lot of our eyes. He then goes to Cleveland Browns for a year as an advisor, as a counsel, and then he, boom, becomes the head coach of the New England Patriots, and boom, they're really good again. So Vrabel, who had success in Tennessee with the Titans, will be facing them for the first time as a head coach in a new place. Will he remember that, or will this be strictly business for Mike Vrabel, A.J.

2:04:50Hawk? Well, I don't know. What do you think, Pat? I think he may have an idea. He may have a little memory of what it was like to get booted out of there, But will the sportsbook take in this whole interim head coach bump? That usually happens the week after a firing.

2:05:02Pat McAfee:You think for Callahan and the boys down there after the firing? Is it McCoy? I believe McCoy is the interim head coach. Yeah, I didn't love what McCoy said, too, because he basically said, like, well, on offense, we're only going to do what Cam Ward does well now, and we weren't really doing that per se. So not great for New England. But if you're talking about, like, hey, the players are going to – because it's not just him. Harold Landry, who's the leader on the defense now, He used to play for Tennessee. I forget if he got cut or just signed somewhere else. Who knows? But there's a few of that.

2:05:30Bob Spillane, Jack Gibbons, the other middle linebacker. There's a few Titans on that roster, and I feel like you talk about it sometimes too. It's a big time. Vrabel can say what he wants, but doesn't the locker room more so have to be like, hey, we need to do this for fucking coach no matter what he says?

2:05:45Pat McAfee:That's what Terry Smith is saying up at Penn State to the team and to the coaches. Like, hey, we got James Franklin fired, so we can rally around this. You could definitely rally around your head coach and put up for him. I didn't even think about the fired head coach bump that happened. That's like one of my rules. I don't have a lot of rules. McCoy's a respected guy, too. He's a respected, legit coach. It's a revenge game versus the fired coach first game. Yeah, it's tough. I'll stay away from this. Yeah, it's the battle of the football gods kind of, you know, who knows. Yeah, who knows. And we like Cam Ward.

2:06:15That's what sucks. Like, we all – I like Cam Ward. I think he's nasty. So it's like, shit. You're taking Vrabes minus six and a half? I didn't know the points were that much, but I'll see tomorrow how I feel. But right now, that's where I'm leaning. You should know, very similar to a lot of situations, like the Bills, everybody's taking the fucking Pats. Everybody and their mother's taking their Pats. Everybody and their mother is saying Pats are going to kill them. What's the stat again? 75 % of the bets right now are currently on the Patriots. And what's the stat? 15 and 36 teams that are getting 60 % or more of the public bet.

2:06:50Pat McAfee:AJ, this is the week I am not a public puppet. Are you sure? McCoy said players not plays when asked about how he would change the approach with Cam Ward. There it is. What does Cam Ward do best, players not plays? What does that mean? Boy's got to lock in a little bit. What does he do? This is fucking week one game, week seven. It's fucking bullshit. Okay. Well, good luck to you guys. Thanks, man. Ladies and gentlemen, before we make our picks, we would like to say that AJ's college roommate and high school friend is currently battling through something I just learned about in the last few days via a post on his social media.

2:07:29Pat McAfee:Basically, I had a chance to chat with him and AJ obviously has more information. Him and Nick are literally best friends. So Nick is currently looking for a kidney with the type O blood. And if you are interested in helping him as he's battled chronic kidney disease throughout his entire life. And he said that he knew that this moment was potentially going to be coming for him. He had no idea it would be this soon. He had been on dialysis since August, I think. Yeah, that's what he said, yeah. I think he's been on dialysis since August, which is three times a week for four hours each session.

2:08:03Pat McAfee:They're basically pumping out his blood and then pumping it back in to clean it because that is the job of his kidney and his chronic kidney disease had gotten to a point where the kidney is not operable. So now he is looking for a donor to give a kidney that could potentially match his blood type. And that would happen in November, I believe. He has to go through dialysis for a few more weeks before he can even get to the point of getting or receiving said kidney. So you are not past this storyline to help. And it's not just, obviously, Nick Mangold. How many people are currently on dialysis?

2:08:33I believe it was 550 ,000 in the United States and like over 800 million worldwide.

2:08:37Pat McAfee:Okay, so even if you have any interest in helping Nick Mangold or anybody else, there's a lot of people. you go to this website you can scan this particular qr code and then you'll click on the link and then you'll go through some things and they'll check and see what your blood type is and what's all possible for you to be able to help out a football legend obviously an ohio state legend new york jet legend and a young man that i didn't even know this was really possible aj you've been close with him your entire life went to the same high school same college and obviously still talk to him today did everybody know about this and what have uh what did i miss maybe in describing that entire situation no you pretty much hit it on the head um no like everyone was not aware of this by any means i mean they were like we were aware of that he had a situation but we didn't know how serious it was and we didn't know he'd be getting you know needing a kidney transplant at this point in his life he didn't either that's what he said like i he even like was joking with me saying hey i go into this dialysis which is not a great situation it's not fun and i go with i'm in there with a bunch of 60 70 80 year olds and i'm i was like yeah they gotta say who is this giant mammoth human with long hair and a beard right walking in here why is he in here and nick is asking the same thing like yeah i didn't think it would be at this point but he's also super positive about it and saying hey there is like an answer there's if i can find a way to get a kidney i can go and hopefully live a normal life after this but uh yeah it's scary man he's got four kids everything just uh totally upends your whole life we are sending super positive vibes and well wishes and good luck to mangled his entire family on receiving a kidney but also I think there's a chance that Nick is on the other side of this is going to be able to raise a lot of awareness about things that we have learned over the last couple of days through Nick Mangold's story here with chronic kidney disease about the many other people that are just looking for a little bit of health I believe or a little bit of help I believe the body has two kidneys but it is uh understood that you only need one to really operate a body so if you have an extra and you're willing and you happen to match if you go to this website and find out.

2:10:32Pat McAfee:Type O, you could be the person that potentially saves Nick Mangold's life and many others that are currently going through the same thing. So Nick, we love you, buddy. We love you, brother. We hope you get it. We hope you get it. Now tonight, AFC North football, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, minus five and a half for the Pittsburgh Steelers on every single sports book. You could have got them in minus four and a half about an hour ago. It is switched back. Everybody sees it the same way. Almost a touchdown favorite in Cincinnati in front of Andrew Whitworth, the ruler of the jungle.

2:11:08Pat McAfee:AJ, how do you see it? We're fresh off a tie, brother. We're fresh off a tie. And we're tied for the season, too. We're 3-3 for the season. And we're fresh off a tie last week. So whenever you talk about what tonight means, it's a potential perfect slate for one of us or both of us if we see it the exact same way. Yeah, it is. I mean, this is Coach McCarthy. I know he's – I've got to go home next week. So he's taking the Steelers, obviously. He usually doesn't like a lot of points like that, especially in the division. I've gone back and forth with this one, but you know what? Honestly, give me Joe Flacco and give me the Bengals.

2:11:41Plus five and a half at home. Wow. I don't know. Especially if you didn't hear Big Mike say – Guess who's not invited to Thanksgiving anymore. They might have found it. You heard what he's – They found it a little bit in the second half. Yeah, he did.

2:11:52Pat McAfee:He said Joe Flacco, they're doing what they need to do to win football games, which is such a football coach way to talk about a team that's decimated by injuries and also in a situation that a lot of people don't think they'll be able to win. Football coach looking at them and going, they have ways to win games, though. And they started playing ways to win games is what he said last week. Yeah, but A.J. kind of let it off with his real feelings. You know, big bike has to go home to Pittsburgh. A.J.'s got to live in Ohio. And that's exactly why he picked the Bengals. Oh, yeah, and he's probably going back to Centerville for some celebration of him punting 50 yards.

2:12:22Exactly.

2:12:22Pat McAfee:30 touchdowns, some sort of. Homecoming king. Do you have a celebratory A.J. Hawk Day back there at Centerville for the Elks? No, we do not. Everyone dresses up as Hawks. Don't lie, Hawk. Everyone dresses up as Hawks, walks around the hallway. Everyone has to get 33 tackles today. Okay, and also rush for 130 yards. Yeah. And they even have the wings. Exactly. Everybody, you got to go like this while you're walking. And it gets kind of tight in the hallways, but they do it for A.J. Hawk. A.J. Hawk A.J. Hawk Or that might be how you rack up a couple tackles You know, instigate a little contact Get a little brouhaha going and then boom You just got a fucking melee in the hallway Right here underneath the Teachers hate it Yep, exactly A little chicken wing Actual glass hawk wing, I guess Yeah, because you gotta Yeah, it's bigger Teachers are doing it too Yeah, that's what I mean They hate it, yeah Their costume smell They've been doing it for years Think about it Yeah, because every year they've got to do it since he did that.

2:13:22Pat McAfee:Think about them having to hold their books while they're tough. What do you even do with a backpack? Beak? Well, that's part of the Hawk days, working out. Yeah, exactly. Shoulders and traps are dying by the end of that. That's what you love. Yeah, that's what you love. That's your favorite part. It means you're growing. It means I'm growing if I'm sore, right? Amen. That's right. Pain means gains. Dude. Always. That's what we're doing. Flap. You're saying you're not in the bangles? Flap. Flap. Flap Flap If this goes in, I'll take the Bengals Okay I'm sure you'll make a good, solid attempt Did that go in?

2:14:02I don't think so, but boy That was right on line I don't know what to do here This is a five-point game, that's what we just learned We just learned it's a five-point game And you can get four and a half or five and a half We gotta get an answer here Holy shit It went in Yeah, that one did go wrong. You don't have a choice. You have to trust it.

2:14:23Pat McAfee:Joey Flacco plus five and a half. I mean, if you go back and listen to the beginning of this show, just two hours ago, at this exact moment, it's 216. We're 16 minutes in two hours ago. You would not believe that. I mean, that's two balls there. Yeah, have to. That's the universe talking to you. Whitworth. You have to listen. White helmets. Why not? Look, it's gonna dominate that the ruler of the jungle too. I believe the pants and also the jersey are also white Paul wait wait how much pants and Jersey? Yeah, cleats Flacko's got those white cleats. They even painted the walls of the field white.

2:15:00I saw that

2:15:01Pat McAfee:Flacko's got these cleats right here. Yeah, they'll just paint them orange. They'll drop them in there for orange These are actually Flacko's cleats. Yeah, it's not a lie That's hey, we're live we're live we're live We're live. I'm live, too. Let's go. Okay. Okay. I like that you're live. Both AJ and I are both taking the Bengals plus five and a half. AJ likes it because he lives in Ohio. Me. I throw a football, universe ball into the hoop. It goes in. Two of them, basically. Fitz, what up, baby? Hey. Why should I feel... Hey, Fitz. Good to see you, dude. Why should I... Should we feel good about this or no?

2:15:37Pat McAfee:Like, what are you doing? Are you talking to team? Are you playing? What's all expected for you? I'm just the ruler of the jungle, Pat. But because I'm the ruler of the jungle, it's going to be a big night, baby. And you know what? I'm going Bengals tonight, too. I'm with you. Oh, he dyed his beard today. Blue day, all day. Let's go. Yeah. The boys are saying you got your beard white for the whiteout tonight. Is Fitz doing the same? Fitz is not going to do the same. He does his beard back colors. He doesn't want to admit it. But here's the truth. I also got the white Bengal stripes in my hoodie tonight.

2:16:08I'm representing all white with the team. Let's go, baby.

2:16:11Pat McAfee:All right. We can't wait to watch it. We appreciate it. Tell Fitz we said what's good, too. Will do, Pat. Appreciate you, brother. See you. Good luck tonight. A lot of pressure on him. It's bullshit. He shouldn't be allowed to be there. Especially with how good he's going to look. Now that, I mean, the white beard sold me. Do not put the village in his feelings. What does the ruler do? Do they eat like a gazelle or a bunch of meat? Yeah. Okay. They get a staff, I believe, is what Bruce just dropped in by ear. I watched. The only time I've ever seen it was when I watched Gary Owen, his rehearsal.

2:16:37He filmed that. I watched a clip of him doing it. It was not happening when I was there. They didn't do it back in the old Riverfront Stadium. when I was a young kid going to games, but it looks pretty sweet.

2:16:46Pat McAfee:We knew that Gare had a tall task there. And showed his weight, by the way, but I think Witt should feel good. Staff, plus five and a half, I think is what he should say. Yeah. When he puts that thing down. He should put the ah. Hold on. This is what G. Okay. Cincinnati, this week's rule of the jungle is me. I'm so excited to be here. We're going to strike the jungle. I'm excited to be rule of the jungle. Yeah. It's time, baby. Yes, it is, G. Yes, it is, G. So Witt better pick it up. Yeah. Okay, so it's not like they're not like a bangle. They're like Tarzan. That's what it appears to be, yes.

2:17:19What? No, they're not trying to be a tiger. Okay, yeah, yeah. They're a human in the jungle. They're Tarzan.

2:17:24Pat McAfee:Well, first of all, tiger, I mean, I guess if I was a tiger fan, which I was, I wrote a school project on in fourth grade about tigers. Me too. Which I respected and appreciated. We had to do a hanger, and then we had to color the animal, and then we had to write a little thing about it. It was so sick. I remember, like you said, I lied about everything. I had to bangle tiger as well. That was the first time I lied about everything, and I knew the teachers weren't reading it. I said, these tigers take their food into the bush. Just lied completely. They might, though. You don't know that? Sometimes they carry it up in the trees.

2:17:50Pat McAfee:Wrote it that morning, literally, as I was taping this thing together because it was a full challenge you had to do. Yeah, I just lied the whole time. Got an A because I guess the tape looks good. I like the tigers. I don't think tigers, though, are naturally known as the rulers of the jungle. They're not. No. I don't think that is the case. It should be, though. Well. The ruler of the jungle is the lion. Yeah. Which is the king of the jungle. Yeah. but it is the jungle over there because the hootay people make it pretty wild yeah it's true and lions don't hunt that's the thing tigers do it all that's why you would think they'd be the ruler and the lion would be the king because the lionesses bring the food to the lion so it's like a king yeah whereas a ruler thing would be like hey that guy's patrolling fucking shit up like a tiger in a bank but i think that people would say a king is a ruler yeah he rules all the land so you're saying a lazy ruler i'm i'm almost thinking like dutch and dutch uh excuse Duke and Duchess.

2:18:38Know how that works? Yeah. The king is the lion. The queen is the lionesses. And then the duke and duchesses would be the tigers.

2:18:49Pat McAfee:The rulers. So instead of general or captain, it's in the hierarchy of the jungle. They're way up there. Way up there. Major. But just right below. Yeah. Because it looks cool. Because it looks cool. Now the tiger looks cool. I think that was one of the stats I wrote Tiger looks cool I mean you've seen a liger right Those things are fucking awesome Coolest animal out there Tiger King still in jail Is he still alive If he's alive holy fuck He was trying to get pardoned by Trump I don't think he gave it to him Man what a launch into an era of life that we had there By him Probably living the dream He looks a lot different Yes, Joe Exotic is still in jail.

2:19:37Pat McAfee:He's serving a 21-year sentence for his role in a murder for hire plot and wildlife crimes. I'll tell you what, there was a lot of backstabbing in that zoo safari world. A lot of rulers of the jungle. No, there were zero rulers of the jungle. I think they needed a ruler of the jungle. They needed a tiger to actually come through there. See, he was ruler and king, he thought. Yeah, there you go. Tiger and king. He was doing too much. He never did one thing. And he's currently incarcerated at Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth and his earliest release date is scheduled for 2030. Okay, so he's close.

2:20:06Pat McAfee:his real name joseph malnoy i think he's sick though i think that's why he's at the medical center i think he's sick for real all right tiger king we appreciate you allowing us to see your life at the time in which they did nail it i don't think you did it all right though which is what kind of we all liked hope you're better let's win our best hell yeah boys how about the universe ball yeah two of them We'll find out if it's real or not, I guess. Good luck. Be your friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this all together. Let's never forget that. Team on me.

2:20:41Pat McAfee:Hey, great work in the back, boys. Great work in the back. Good work, boys. Graphic boys. Good work, boys. Good work, boys. Everybody in the Thunderdome, really good work. You too. You too. Good work, boys. Foxy, congrats on still being U-ball champion, bro. Just like we said it would. Ooh, ooh, ooh. It's a tough game for you. You. You, you, when we do, do, do what we do, do, do in the ball of you, you, you. We're very good at this game. Now, this is a game that anybody can win. True. Certainly. Because D-Bone has done that a couple times. Yeah. All right. Team on me. Stop cheating. He needs to get in the air for his tips.

2:21:18Oh, I meant you, Voxy, as well. Us? Oh, not you.

2:21:23Pat McAfee:What are you talking about? Voxy's on the ground. We didn't take any points. Yeah, I didn't take those points. Gentleman's game, though. you guys said you know what that was a cool play here's a couple points yeah because only you can decide if you want to you know utilize the rule at the time just play right i will say good internet judging if d-bone was on the ground or not great the still photos really did him in yeah because in real time when you're watching it oh look at the big man move you're kind of looking here looking here you're not looking at another place big man on the ground he's oh look at that oh no Looker, first one ever.

2:21:58Pat McAfee:And Team D, bone and butts. Maybe the D-Block, maybe the D-Boys. I mean, I guess that's a work in progress on the team name there. The original name I thought was bone and butts, but they have changed. There you kind of see a little special athleticism out of our national champion. And whenever you slow it down and take a picture, his foot's clearly on the ground. Clearly on the ground with the ball in his hand. Yikes. Clearly grounded right there. Now this does feel like refs trying to slow down the game, but I love that we're holding it accountable. Well, so New York actually is Fox's phone, and he's the one that called it out.

2:22:25Pat McAfee:Nobody else called it out. Yeah, after Foxy lost. I think that was Bone's big point. New York called? I thought it was ruled on the field. Oh, that's interesting. Oh, that is weird, Tony. That's funny. Foxy, in this sense, you're the ref. Yeah, and then Bone's the Lions? Bone would be the Lions, Foxy. I think you're missing this. I guess Bone is the Lions in this situation. But then the ref said in the pool report that, no, New York didn't call us. But then Dan Campbell says, yes, New York did call, and they did make that play. So what's going on? Is New York in with the Chiefs? That's what everyone's saying there.

2:22:55Pat McAfee:Do we get some stories straight, maybe? No wonder why the Chiefs are back. Why? Because I've seen the AI pictures that you've been making out there? You mean the ones of 15 and the stripes together? Yeah, they're smooching all the time. I'm about sick of seeing Patrick Mahomes and these refs smooch all the time. It's all over my algorithm. It's all over my algorithm. Oh, a sucking face. They said new angle of the Juju Smith-Schuster thing, and it did look like a new angle. I was like, all right, let's see if there's anything said between the two. What's said? and then lo and behold, it was just Patrick Mahomes walking back and then him walking right to a ref and sucking face.

2:23:29Pat McAfee:I'm like, enough with this. Enough with this. Too much. No, I will say, conflicting stories cannot be happening out of the NFL, especially whenever it comes to refs and chiefs. And a touchdown. Get the story right. That's insane. Not the only one. What's that? I mean, I don't got to pound the drum anymore, but the refs, I mean, they're completely fucking up the game. I saw a guy that had$500 to win like two grand, and he had digs 30 yards, and he didn't get it. So, I mean, like now there's a bunch of money on these calls that are – look, again, I'm not pounding the drum anymore, but the referee that I have a problem with, he'll be reffing the London game so you guys can see for yourself.

2:24:12Pat McAfee:9.30 a.m., obviously. Adrian Hill, sorry. Okay, so I appreciate that. I can't wait to watch him do his thing and his crew do his thing. the conflicting stories though never happens why is the new york thing a problem the new york thing should never be a problem that's what i don't know yeah i don't think it's an issue at all them lying about it happening i think is probably the bigger problem yeah right yeah yeah no question you can't yeah you have to be on the same page massive deal we know that if if there's people who have 8k streams at all times around them in new york and they got all eyes on them i don't have a problem with new york because why are they even wearing the shit yes if new york can't be like hey pick it up or something like that i think that is probably how it's supposed to go right in that kind of yeah how it's supposed to kind of go that's why they had to run over that one special spot put the things on because they got to talk to the thing now with the person up in the in the stadium you know maybe they're in constant contact with people in new york so i don't know how it got kind of construed but them saying no it's not from new york and then it being from new york is like the shadiest shit of all that could possibly happen.

2:25:17Pat McAfee:That's a problem. If they would have just said from the beginning, New York called this one in. Yes, exactly. Then at least they could come in and say, this isn't the only one. We've called in. There's a lot of things that we think are obvious or change calls just to make the game better that we call in. But instead, they're like, no, New York wouldn't do that. And then it's like, yeah, actually, New York did that. What team did they do it for? Oh. Oh. Do we know? So now they kind of put themselves in a little bit of a bind, you know, Just because of faulty communication. I think they should just own that New York is doing shit.

2:25:48Pat McAfee:AJ, that's what I think they should do. Absolutely. Yes, of course they should. When you try to lie about it, even if they're not doing anything weird, it makes it sound like you are. So hold on. Right. So why didn't you tell the truth at the beginning? You think it looks bad? You think it is bad? Well. Because I don't think I would have thought it was bad until you lied about it being bad. Then you have to start questioning. So what else? Yeah. Exactly. And it's pretty easy to tell when someone's lying, but when you're talking about the streams and the pool reports, do we know if the AK streams are live in New York when it comes to the NFL games?

2:26:23Pat McAfee:Okay, we're not talking about that because we didn't see that ESPN+. Just double-checking. ESPN +, did you hear this? No, what? I've not been able to check it out personally, but there is certainly a large group of people that are investigating currently on the Internet about ESPN+. ESPN +, has live games, right? A bunch of live games. and they're going to have to figure this out. I guess there's a chance that they run advertisements which stop the video. And then after the advertisement, you go back to where the video stopped at. So then however long the advertisement, as you see, you're automatically behind, let alone the lag that's happening.

2:26:54Pat McAfee:So if it's a 15 second video and you go back, you're 15 second behind. But what if the lag is another 15 seconds, you're 30 seconds behind. Then you do that again, get another advertiser somehow, you back it up. So as the game goes further, you're kind of getting off, I think is what the storyline was. And then the immediate question is, well, why don't they just run their ads whenever they're running the commercials? and it's like well they might have been actually which then they were stopping back in the commercials actually yeah so they're actually making you watch commercial break longer than and it was setting back again there's a chance i have no idea but it's just like you got to figure that out you got to figure that out yeah and if you want to do it you got to do it with red zones foxy ram trucks please this is what you just this is the answer like if they're trying to steal more time or more money off the thing or add or you know profit off the amount of people that are watching these live games to pay for the product in which you're spending a lot of money on the coding and the engineering and the back end to make sure all that shit runs it's like you can't have the game stop you got to keep it going and if it's during the commercials i don't think people care you drop in there that the new v8 hemi is back no i don't think people would care yeah

2:28:00Pat McAfee:motor train has chosen ram 1500 is truck of the year for 2025 ram trucks are also back on track and returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2026 season, and we're assuming they're going to win. That's the best truck down the line. Nothing stops. Ramming whenever it's rams. Yeah, so that can't happen. That's what – I mean, we're on ESPN Plus right now. There's probably people five minutes behind us. Yeah, but we don't – it doesn't matter for us because you can't really gamble on what we're doing. The live betting stuff whenever these games – and then you're saying it's – Well, that and that's like a massive part of like the selling point.

2:28:35and say, hey, you want to cut your cable cord? It's like, well, yeah, but I want to watch the games live because otherwise, like, what am I – I get the out-of-market stuff, but, like, it's not an alternative to TV if that's the case.

2:28:45Pat McAfee:Gumpy, as soon as this started going on the internet last night, there was somebody that cracked the case, a lad – I forget your name. I apologize. He really dove into it all. I should give you credit. I don't remember it. He started going last night, and then this morning we bring it up, and Gumpy's like, I'm getting the notifications two minutes before it's happening on my screen. I can't do it. Minutes, legit minutes behind the Texas hockey game the other night. It was insane. I was like, what the hell is going on? And then I fast forwarded. I had to fast forward to get back to live. Yeah, catch up to live.

2:29:10Pat McAfee:You can. You can catch up, but they don't, like, give you the. You wouldn't know unless you get a notification on your phone that somebody scored. Exactly. Yeah, so it's blowing the entire scene. Is there a package to pay for more to not get those ads? Probably. Is that available? I don't know. Because that's insane to me, if not. That does sound like a good gage. Especially if they're there. But if you do that during the commercials, now all of a sudden. Yeah. Now we're doubled. You're adding to the pool, hopefully, too. The humans over there will get it done. If you're a friend, tell a friend something like, hey, you guys are going to figure it out over there.

2:29:44Pat McAfee:In New World, ESPN Plus has so many games. A lot of options. Okay, so the back end of that shit, okay, the amount of...

2:29:57Pat McAfee:The amount of that that's happening at all times. Can't have anybody crack in the coding to keeping it up not dropping the network the platform has to be able to be strong enough for the amount of people that are coming on to it has to be smooth like that's a lot of okay now they signed up for that that is what he is being signed up for whenever they got all the rights that's a lot of so we understand that they need to make money to be able to power all this because if you don't make money that's not going to work and it's going to be the worst thing of all time we just need to do it a smart fashion we'll do that yeah right we'll do that yeah yeah Are we working there?

2:30:28Are we working in the place?

2:30:30Pat McAfee:Because we can, but... Well, they do that. We can't do that. I don't have the ability. But we hope they know the people that can do that so we can continue to move on with live sports, the greatest thing on earth. We'll be back tomorrow talking about that. Be a friend to a friend. Something nice might change your life. We're in this together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Good energy in. Good energy out.

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