PMS 2.0 1515 - World Baseball Classic Quarterfinal Preview, Adam Schefter, Jeff Passan, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, Quentin Richardson, Michael Pittman Jr., & AJ Hawk

13:46Pat McAfee:If that makes sense.

13:49Michael Pittman Jr.:I just think that the best thing you could do, you know, here's the thing. Social media came into be in like 2009. So I'm sure early in my career, like maybe you're cutting and pasting and then like cleaning it up and then maybe something. that definitely could happen. It's something that everybody was adjusting to, but I don't want to jinx myself, but I think you just go and take as many precautions as you can to make sure that what you're doing is going to be right, accurate, and clean. That's the one thing I get to say. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody's human. But when these tweets go out sometimes, the mistakes are a little bit more public than other people's mistakes.

14:30Michael Pittman Jr.:Everybody makes mistakes in their job. everybody yes but sometimes you know some people's mistakes are just more publicized and that's sort

14:40Pat McAfee:of how it goes when when you do these jobs well that's how you get here yeah magnified when you uh get to a level you get to an expectation and then everything you are being you are in a fish bowl like that is how it works we've had to kind of realize that like everything that we say we have to make sure because our shit's going to get taken out of context anyways so we can't get provide more of that. So you are getting watched because of who you are. You've earned that right, but you also have to manage it. I think the only mistake Holly made was she deleted it. I think she should, because it just, in the sentence, it says basically like, don't, this is not attributed to me or the league.

15:14Pat McAfee:It's like, okay, nobody knows who the me was there. And it didn't.

15:17Michael Pittman Jr.:I didn't see it. I didn't see it. I just heard something about it, but I, you know, I could just,

15:20Pat McAfee:she probably got heat from the person that sent it to her, but nobody knows who that person is. Nobody knows who that person is. But, and also we wouldn't have, I don't think anybody would have even, No. Holly, you keep doing your thing, Holly. You keep doing your thing is what we're saying. And Schefter, we appreciate the hell out of you.

15:34Michael Pittman Jr.:Guys, have a great weekend. It was lovely spending the week with you, truly, being part of the fraternity. Hey, it was a dream come true for us, actually. For us, too. It was awesome. Like, it was a great week. I expect to be back there for free agency next year, too.

15:46Pat McAfee:All right. Hell yeah. Mounce your pocket. You're the man, ladies and gentlemen. Adam Schefter. Yay! Classic. That is a classic. That was good. Yeah, it felt good. He said us, speaking about himself. so he's probably talking about

16:01Brett Yormark:Daniel and Schrager. Oh, he was speaking for the team. Yeah, I bet on the plane ride home, they were like, wow, those guys are so nice.

16:07Pat McAfee:AJ, we've got to figure out a way to get you in here next year for that. What did you hear from what he said there about the NFL and league as a whole? You asked the same question I did. They might never stop. Why?

16:18Brett Yormark:20 years ago, when a team sold for$500 million, didn't they say, hey, where's the ceiling? This has to stop at some point, right? Why? I don't know. I think with Roger Goodell, too, Like he is continuing to try to find ways to expand the league, play all over the world, eventually possibly have teams overseas. Like, yeah, it's not slowing down anytime soon.

16:37Pat McAfee:The streaming platform mega money havers is the game changer. Oh, yeah. Because players get 49.5 % of revenue. I forget which particular revenue. There's some revenue that players can't touch that the owners are able to get, but then everything else. And a lot of it is the distribution, the rights, the TV rights, and everything like that, Jersey, all that, in that world. And it's like, as that continues, just go up, just one deal, just one deal for two games with one platform can bump the salary cap up. It's like, it's a pretty good little spot the league has found themselves in. Yeah, we're thinking about doing Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve.

17:17Pat McAfee:And then there's also that random Tuesday in December Eve we're thinking about doing. That's coming. That's happening. in friday night lights yeah oh we got a good one brewing for you middle of october around halloween friday night lights coming to you live from one of these green bay or pittsburgh or something like that like it's only a matter of time you know and the players are gonna hate it all and i would like to say as somebody that got to witness uh you know the dudes who battle in the locker room like thursday night games are tough for dudes like especially later in the season at certain positions It's like some guys aren't really able to walk until Wednesday after a game on Sunday because of the amount of shit that they have going on with their body, the amount of things that have happened to their body throughout their entire career.

18:03Pat McAfee:Some of these guys are 11, 12 years in, offensive lineman, they have, what, two hips and knees, back, let alone the back, and then obviously the head and shoulder, like literally everything. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is almost just like, let's get out of the recovery of this.

18:18Brett Yormark:Become a human. Like become a human again, honestly, and be able to walk down the stairs.

18:21Pat McAfee:Yeah, so there's Thursday games. come in it's like every team's got one and you're gonna like it and uh the guys were like i compare thursday is like the first day i'm back moving and then the cell from all the coaches to the players were like boys we got a three-day bye right after this game and that's kind of how everybody got through it and now just thursday is just like kind of a natural thing that has to happen and everybody views it as a celebration on the back side like we'll get a three-day break on the back side of this thing and thursday night football is beloved it's launched amazon prime to the moon i think is is the numbers that they said and everything like that so they're only going to to make money they're only gonna make more money sorry 48 of all revenue is what the players make a share that can be moved up to 48.8 based on the additional of a 17th game oh yeah and then i think that's up to 49 something but players are pissed yeah we lost we can't even get 50 percent of this thing it's like man i don't know if anybody's gonna be able to beat the billionaire lawyers okay we got an nfl pa that's a bunch of you know lawyers we really appreciate those lawyers that are in there.

19:24Pat McAfee:The billionaires that are buying these teams for$12 billion. Yeah, they got good guys. You should see lawyers that they have. And these guys have been around a long time. And they got ideas for every single clause and how they could sell it. It's a fleet of lawyers we have learned. We have learned this. It's a good thing to have. Yes. Especially whenever there's other lawyers. It's like battleship, basically. You're sitting behind. They're on the other side and you just got to have good launchers for their lawyers shit that's coming back at you on this side and that's the cba for the nfl mlb is going to have one i think mlb and baseball are about to have a huge ride into uh relevancy after this wbc and i'm only saying that strictly because i am an average sports doofus and i'm falling in love with baseball every single game that i'm watching here and i assume that's going to continue into mlb season which is so along.

20:18Pat McAfee:Joining us now is the baseball authority for the next generation of baseball fans. You go ahead and fire up the jet when you need to talk ball, ladies and gentlemen. Jeff Pass. Yay, Jeff! Jeff, what up, dude?

20:32AJ Hawk:Gentlemen, it is a good day for baseball. It's a good week for baseball. And you know what, Pat, I'm glad that we, like, rescued you from the edge there. Like, you were... It was getting close, man. You were almost out, but we

20:48Pat McAfee:just sucked you right back in and now we got united states canada tonight and we might have

20:55AJ Hawk:united states dr with all schemes on the mound against the platano power like oh

21:02Pat McAfee:things are looking up patrick things are looking up things certainly are and i'm not going to make an official declaration on what happens with me in baseball if we lose to canada tonight I think I know, but I don't want to make an official declaration. Shout out to the Italians getting us to the quarterfinals. Can you tell me about Team USA tonight and how do baseball players respond to everybody mocking and ridiculing them? Can they just like lock in? Is that something that happens in baseball or how you're playing now is how you're playing and we're going to have to hold on to our shit tonight against Canada even though we're supposed to beat the hell out of them?

21:38Pat McAfee:Is that kind of how baseball goes?

21:41AJ Hawk:this is this is no offense intended to any other sport but i think baseball players handle failure better than anyone because failure is such an inherent part of the game you know the like the old saying goes you fail seven out of every 10 times and you're a hall of famer and so you have games like the one where the u.s lost eight to six to italy it's not like there were a bunch of jabronis out there for the Italian team either. Like, these are good players. They absolutely carved through Pool B. And they're going to have a fantastic game tomorrow against Puerto Rico. But the main attraction tonight, United States, Canada, a few weeks after both of the gold medal Olympic hockey games.

22:23AJ Hawk:And, you know, for Canada, they are approaching this the same way I think that the Italians did. Back in the original WBC Pat in 2006, Canada beat the United States. And this wasn't a Canadian team like the one now where you have big leaguers up and down the roster. They had like four or five big league guys. And Michael Sirocco, who's going to be starting for Team Canada tonight, goes to a Baseball Canada event every year. And every year, he said yesterday, they play highlights from that 2006 WBC game. So in the same way that every other team that's facing the United States, approaches them. Canada right now looks at this as its championship game.

23:04Pat McAfee:Canada, of course you guys are running those highlights.

23:06Quentin Richardson:Feeling like 06 a bit in here. No, it is not. Yeah, right. Hey, Jason Bay ain't walking through that locker room. No, he's not.

23:14Pat McAfee:What's so funny, Jet? I don't like it. Those highlights need to stay 20 years ago. We need to blank them, okay? We don't need that first pitch fastball right down the middle just to see if they can catch up to it or not.

23:27Brett Yormark:Let's hit them. Let's hit them with the first pitch.

23:29Pat McAfee:Bingo. We need to do fastball. Let's make it a middle finger one. Put them right on first base, okay? I'm learning about, you know, your sport jet as it continues to go, how the pitchers basically have, and I guess I should have known this because they're dogs, but there is like a lot of pride and ego and everything that's going on up there. Oh, yes. So that first pitch, because remember our first, what, three games, the only hit we really gave up was the first pitch. Boom, bang. So I'm wondering, what are we doing? Are we telling them what the first pitch is? They're like, yeah, first pitch is normally going to be fastball.

24:00Pat McAfee:With an ace, first pitch is normally going to be fastball. And it's like, can we change that? They're like, you go tell the pitcher that. And I'm like, hey, can we not fucking throw fastball? And then it's always like, oh, yeah, maybe not or whatever. They really take that personal, though, I guess. That is like a tone setter, I guess, as a pitch. And the first pitch you get is going to be the best pitch normally. So if we can get past that first pitch tonight, we're in a good spot. Is that how I should feel?

24:24Jeff Passan:Yeah, yeah, I think so. I don't know if I would suggest plunking him and putting him on first base. That's typically not how you want to start a game. I think we want – Well, it's better than a home run. Well, right, but we need to get out of the first inning unscathed. I think the biggest thing – Jet, I don't know if you agree. And maybe if you're down there and you've been around the team a little bit, we need to jump on them early. Because if this is another one of those games where it's like we're down 2-0 in the fourth inning and we're starting to count how many at-bats we have left. These guys will get tight because they understand the enormous amount of pressure that's on them, piggybacking on top of what just happened against Team Italy.

25:01Jeff Passan:So what has the demeanor been of the team if you've been around them yet? And what do you think DeRosa is going to do lineup-wise tonight?

25:11AJ Hawk:I think they are appreciative of the fact that they're still in this tournament. And I think they are completely locked in now. You know, they got lucky, frankly. Things could have gone so much worse, could have gone sideways in a catastrophic way. And they didn't. And Italy came through. Italy picked him up. As Vinny Pasquantino said, you're welcome, USA. And he was right. And I think you're going to see the A lineup tonight. And you're going to see the A lineup the rest of the tournament, Ty. We asked Mark DeRosa about this yesterday. Like, you know, is Paul Goldschmidt essentially going to be getting any at-bats?

25:45AJ Hawk:And he said he's under no restrictions when it comes to sitting guys who are position players down on the bench. And, you know, now that there are only three games left, the pitching is going to be laid out in a very particular way. Logan Webb starting for Team USA tonight, an absolute workhorse dog, three plus pitches. You're going to see sinkers, change-ups, and sliders tonight. He can locate them and land them both sides of the plate, up and down in the zone. Really the kind of guy you want with only 80 pitches being allowed. He can be very efficient. He gets a lot of ground balls. You know, Team USA is favorite in this game and significant favorites for good reasons.

26:29AJ Hawk:Because despite what happened in the Italy game, they remain the most talented team in this tournament. And if they win this game and the Dominican Republic beats Korea tonight, let me tell you, boys, we got Paul Skeens versus the DR for a trip to the finals Sunday night. It does not get any better than that. And that's the beauty of this tournament. That's why people are falling in love with the World Baseball Classic, because we're seeing the kind of emotion, we're seeing the sorts of things that we just don't typically see in a Major League Baseball game. And I love that the United States, every time this tournament comes around, gets exposed more and more to the passion that the Dominicans have, that the Japanese have, that countries around the rest of the world have toward this great game.

27:21Pat McAfee:Let's do the baseball tonight. Let's do it. Come on, boys. Let's do the baseball for the season.

27:27Brett Yormark:Yeah.

27:27Pat McAfee:Okay? Oh, yeah. There's a couple ways that can happen. There's one way it can.

27:32Brett Yormark:When's opening day, Jet?

27:33AJ Hawk:Good question. March 25th Giants versus Yankees and when's when's final day

27:43Brett Yormark:October November 10th yeah all right late October I don't know what the hell I'm doing

27:48AJ Hawk:in 10 minutes the fact that I was able to pull March 25th right there was a freaking miracle

27:53Pat McAfee:yeah we're pretty proud of you I got a I got a valuation of a team wrong in an earlier conversation I spent some uh I said wrong number another time there's a lot of numbers floating around so we'll certainly excuse you what we do appreciate is the fact you've been pushing for baseball for us for a long time without you none of this happens for us and uh we're very excited to watch us continue in the world baseball classic after tonight well okay that is what we're excited for thank you jet i know you got something in two minutes you're the man

28:19AJ Hawk:appreciate you boys have a great time watching tonight and pat just one thing are you betting yeah big one hammering it oh yeah you are hell yeah you are you chase that You're going to make it up, Patrick. I'm not chasing anything. You're going to make that paper.

28:34Pat McAfee:I'm not chasing anything. Yes, you are. I think it's a jet paper. No, no, no. You're freaking degenerate? That's a jet pass. That's a jet pass. That's a jet. I'm not chasing anything. She doesn't know. I'm just saying it wasn't me in my bet that made us lose to Italy. That's what I'm trying to sleep in there.

28:50Brett Yormark:Well, yeah, obviously.

28:52Quentin Richardson:Are you doubling it or keeping it the same? How bad are you chasing it? I triple.

28:57Pat McAfee:I'm just doing the same, mostly because my bank wouldn't let me deposit anymore. Sure. Problem gambling. It kept me at a low restriction, you know, because I didn't gamble for a long time. I didn't gamble at all for a long time. Now that we're getting into all these different sports, I would like to continue to be into them. So what I've realized is I'm probably going to have to sprinkle a little something on some of these teams. Baseball, I had a bunch of L's. Okay, I'm talking home runs. This guy's supposed to hit. He certainly does. He hits the Warren track. That's cute. this guy this guy went pulling through the fucking outfield wall that's cool can you pull one over it can we can we have him put one over it so it was just L's L's L's but I was watching baseball because of them so then I was like I'm done with this I'm gonna wear a baseball bet and then this happens and uh now I have to because at night when I lay my head down I think to myself maybe I did piss off the gambling god so much that they let Italy just kind of have their way with the United States of America and baseball and kind of puts in a position we're in not chance tonight we're going to win and I'm going to be able to sleep clearly.

29:56Quentin Richardson:Exactly. I don't think Italy was on you. No.

29:58Pat McAfee:That's what we're going to find out tonight for sure. I'm going to have to clear that with myself.

30:01Quentin Richardson:Italy was on the boys. They need to take this a little more seriously. We ain't losing. They will now.

30:07Pat McAfee:Baseball, obviously gigantic right now. Hockey happening. The PWHL, how are the Boston Fleet doing?

30:13Brett Yormark:The Fleet are rolling there still at the top. I believe Vancouver is coming in at second. Still very tight. Megan Keller kind of mentioned it because there's only a certain amount of teams like the race to the number one seed for the playoffs is about as close as you can get, strictly because two weeks from now the fleet could be in last. They won't be because Megan Keller is still kind of at the top. Excuse me, Montreal, there they are. Minnesota Frost. But still getting back into things post-Olympics. I think they've only played three or four games a pop, but we'll see how it kind of progresses here.

30:46Brett Yormark:And I still expect the fleet and big Megan to kind of dominate.

30:51Pat McAfee:Yeah, I always say Keller, yes. I understand who you're trying to talk about. Olympic gold medal hero Megan Keller, friend of the program. Absolute stud there for the Boston fleet. That's the PWHL. NHL also happening. Who's winning the NHL, Nick? The Pittsburgh Penguins are about to win it all. Is that what we need to keep an eye on for?

31:07Quentin Richardson:They're going to win it all as soon as Sidney Crosby comes back from his knee injury.

31:10Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. Some guy tried to run him off the ice in the Olympics. Don't love that. And also this weekend, college hoops all over the place. Championship week here. Conference championship week. March Madness is right around the corner. Literally. I don't know if you caught story or not. But Big 12 had their tournament in the Big 12. Some national champions, hopefuls. Some absolute studs from over there. They were playing on an LED board. They were playing on an LED board. This thing was sick. And obviously, you're just watching a TV you don't have sound on, and all of a sudden, the court starts talking to you.

31:40Pat McAfee:You're like, wow, is this 2095? Is this the year 3000? What are we doing? Well, it was on for a majority of pool play. Now for a championship, they're going to change it back to wood. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, and the commissioner of the Big 12, Brett Yormar.

31:54AJ Hawk:Yeah, Brett! How you doing, Brett? I'm doing great. Pat, how are you?

31:59Pat McAfee:I'm fantastic. Thank you for joining us. That's AJ. We're all big fans here.

32:02AJ Hawk:AJ, how are you? But, Pat, I got a question for you. The last time I saw you, I was in Lubbock, and you were there for that big game versus BYU. You were wearing a pair of cowboy boots. You have those on today?

32:13Pat McAfee:No, no cowboy boots on today. Just shoes. I don't want to be too much of a badass here, and I don't have the belt buckle on either. But I'll tell you what. When you go down to Texas Tech, you get a shovel, you start digging for oil, you start feeling like a real cowboy. And the Big 12 has a lot of that great culture you guys have in the Big 12. And I think you love your conference immensely. It does feel like you're one of the most forward-thinking commissioners we have in all of sport. Tell me about the LED floor, and then tell me about people immediately bitching about it, I would assume. Is that kind of how we got to this point, or how did we land on the LED board floor, and then why are we going back to wood right now, Brett?

32:48AJ Hawk:So, Pat, great question. First of all, anytime you innovate, you know, there's going to be risk. And you know that going in. And I think it's fair to say that you never expect 100 percent buy in. That being said, there were mixed reviews. Some players liked it. Some players didn't. There was discussion about making adjustments. There was discussion about a potential slippage. And following the games yesterday, I met with, you know, the four semifinal coaches. and I had been encouraging feedback all week. In fact, for the last two weeks, starting with the women's and into the men's. And I was very intentional about that.

33:25AJ Hawk:And we decided last night that for us, most importantly, is that you've got four of the biggest brands in men's college basketball competing tonight. And the conversation should be about those teams and not the court. And I made that decision ultimately, following the feedback I had received some from the some of the key stakeholders and I feel good about it I think it was the right thing to do and I often tell my staff listen we're in the good judgment business it's critically important to make good judgment and I made a judgment call last night and I stand by okay I like the judgment

33:58Pat McAfee:call I appreciate you looking out for your conference it's much bigger than just the court I also appreciate you getting some sample uh research here for this led court and how far away do you think we are from actually having that as a potential option for teams whether

34:10AJ Hawk:colleges or professional listen i i i'm still a lover of the led court based on what it can do and and it was brought to life certainly um throughout the women's and men's that being said i i said to the owner last night and his staff you got to go back to the lab you know you got to refine some some things and let's keep the conversation hey we need better squeaks when the

34:31Pat McAfee:shoot when we get a we need to squeak like the old nike and one commercial we need to squeaks we

34:36AJ Hawk:need to listen pat there was a lot of squeakage for sure um but candidly they got to go back to the lab and they got to figure out and nothing's perfect in life they got to refine it and we're going to stay in touch with them but um you know listen i am an innovator and i i believe in trying to be different and lean into that point of differentiation and that's what we did you said

34:57Pat McAfee:you have four teams playing tonight that uh could be in the national championship conversation you feel good about where big 12 is right now in hoops who's your women's big 12 champ just if you could talk about that quickly.

35:07AJ Hawk:Hey, listen, let's start with the women's. You know, I love women's basketball, and I was in Kansas City all last week. So every women's game, with the exception of going to the President's Roundtable, which I know we're going to discuss here in a little bit. Absolutely. West Virginia won the championship of our tournament. They did a great job, and I'm really proud of them. It was the first time they had won it in nine years. Jordan Harrison, who was the MVP of the tournament, was a transfer student. And she came in with Mark Kellogg a couple of years ago. And it shows that the transfer portal can work.

35:44AJ Hawk:And she started as Stephen F. Austin. She honed her skills there, moved on to West Virginia, and obviously led them to the championship. And congratulations to the entire West Virginia community. Just a great win by them. And we expect big things out of them in the tournament. But it's not just West Virginia. My expectations is we should get eight, maybe nine. I'm being, you know, probably a little ambitious here in the big tournament. And I'll be going to some women's games and excited about, you know, what we're building on the women's side for sure.

36:19Pat McAfee:OK, and tell me about the men's side now, the Big 12. West Virginia, obviously going to win not even in it. OK, so just so.

36:25AJ Hawk:So, so, so, Pat, this is I coined this phrase. We are the second best league behind the NBA. And I firmly believe it. OK, second best league here in Kansas City alone. We have three of the top seven teams in America. And I was kidding with Charlie Baker this morning. He and I chat often. And in fact, he's coming to our games tonight. And I said, Charlie, you'd love to have our final four in your final four. And he agreed. So we're expecting big things tonight and then into our championship game tomorrow. And then selection Sunday on should be great for us. I mean, my expectation is a minimum of eight, but hopefully nine.

37:06AJ Hawk:And I do believe that we're well positioned to win a national championship this year. We've got big brands. They're performing at a high level. Now, listen, anything can happen, and it's all about the matchups, but I'm fairly confident.

37:17Pat McAfee:Okay, so you mentioned Charlie Baker, and you mentioned the Big 12 and where it stands amongst every other league. There was a meeting that happened just a few days ago that could change it all. AJ has a question for you, Brett.

37:28Brett Yormark:Yeah, Brett, you mentioned that. AJ, how are you today? I'm doing great. Great. I appreciate what you're doing, too, for the Big 12. We can tell you're passionate, but we mentioned the President's Roundtable. First, I guess, what was that experience like, and is anything actually going to come of that? I know you had a bunch of great minds in the room speaking, but do you think something can actually happen from this?

37:49AJ Hawk:Well, let me start off by saying I was honored to be there, and there was an esteemed group of people, industry leaders and thought leaders that were present, as well as some elected officials. and candidly when I was told about the meeting I wasn't sure you know what direction it was going to go in but it became very constructive and we were there for about two hours and many of us spoke about our concerns around collegiate athletics and it was a very thoughtful conversation and I do think coming out of there we're going to see some momentum. I think it's critically important that we get the SCORE Act done through the House and then move it to the Senate.

38:30AJ Hawk:And I think there's momentum for the SCORE Act more so now than ever before. And I expect something to happen in the next couple of weeks. The SCORE Act provides some of the guiding principles that we need, and you've probably heard it before, but federal preemption, limited liability protection so we can enforce the rules that hopefully govern collegiate athletics. There's also a declaration that student athletes are not employees. And I can tell you this in my visits to campus and my time spending, you know, with student athletes, no one wants to be an employee. They want to be a student first.

39:04AJ Hawk:They want to enjoy that collegiate experience. And then lastly, you know, it does provide student athlete protections. And one of the things that I spoke up about when I was on the Hill in that meeting was agents and being protected from some of the ruthless agents out there. Now, Now, there are many good agents out there. I want you to know that. And many of my friends.

39:26Pat McAfee:But some of these newcomers to the industry, if you will, are preying on our student athletes and their families.

39:35AJ Hawk:They're pushing them into the portal. They're asking for 20 percent plus commission where you don't even find, you know, a third of that in the pros. And we've got to put a stop to it because every time a student athlete gets into the portal, there's 40 percent of them that don't come out. and every time they transfer, they lose credits. And what I love about this industry is that it's purpose-driven. And at the end of the day, it's incumbent upon me and the leaders in this industry to make sure that we provide the opportunity to student athletes so they can become the best version of themselves.

40:10AJ Hawk:And a big part of that is getting a degree. And we are compromising that. And it's being driven in part, not entirely, but in part by some of these agents.

40:20Pat McAfee:That's why we need the SCORE Act. Bad business, yeah, happening all over the place. There's contracts not being fulfilled on both sides. Schools have no say in anything, but if the schools had say in things, maybe they would undercut some stuff. So it's like having some sort of guardrails. I think everybody on both political sides feels as if it's a necessity to keep college sports where it's headed, which is up and to the right, but also to save women's sports, Olympic sports, sports that are non-revenue generating. That's a big deal. So did you guys know you guys were going in there to push the score act?

40:49Pat McAfee:Because I didn't know what the meeting was. I obviously had some friends in the room. I'm not going to say whether or not I thought I could get into the room. I'm not going to say whether or not I thought that was. But on that note, thought that was a very...

41:01AJ Hawk:You should have been on the list. You should have been on the list.

41:05Pat McAfee:I assume I could. Like, if I really wanted to, I assume I could have, you know, ooh, rah, remember we did the whole thing. I assume I could have done that. But that felt like a thing that I should not have been a part of. Any TV people should have been a part of. Now, granted, presidents of networks, I think, certainly should have been there because they're a big part of the money and the scheduling and kind of making things go forward especially with what the tv deals are for the different conferences how they don't line up so like getting money kind of in it all so i don't think but listening to the room talk did you guys know it was going to turn into uh yeah we all like the score we all everybody in this room kind of likes the score act i didn't know that's what you guys was that the agenda what how in do you think uh president trump was because i think he said a couple times i can make an executive order to make this thing go through and then we just got to figure out the courts like do you think he was like did you guys know it was going to be a very pro score act meeting because it felt like you all were very proud with where the score act was and then it got turned down i guess by a judge if i'm reading this accurate and we got to the score the score act is in the house

42:02AJ Hawk:and we need the score act done and i will tell you that in speaking to my colleagues you know the power four commissioners we're all rallying around the score act we certainly feel it's something that needs to get done and um i think it was going to be a topic of conversation we did not receive an agenda in advance but we knew it would be a topic of conversation got it i thought

42:21Pat McAfee:it was uh i thought it was well done as people started talking they're actually in the sport you know because i was watching it live yeah and i heard uh the beginning statements okay here we go we're setting the tone for the meeting the yankees guy did a lot of talking okay i don't know how much time we have you're doing a lot of talking right now sweet uh appreciate you being invested i guess and interested in helping especially if you're able to run such a good business but then as the people around college sports started talking it was like oh we want the score. It sounded like everybody wanted the score act.

42:49Pat McAfee:And that was kind of what it was. That's good, though, because that means there's an answer seemingly pretty soon, potentially, if we need it.

42:55AJ Hawk:Well, listen, I've often said progress over perfection. The score act is progress. It's not perfect. OK, and there's a lot of other things we need to be working on. And I'm spending an enormous amount of time with my commissioner colleagues and Charlie Baker and the CEO of the CSC, Brian Seeley, on making sure that, to your point earlier, we have rules, we can enforce those rules, and there are guardrails in all the right places. But the SCORE Act is the first step forward, and we need it. And it'll give us some momentum.

43:28Pat McAfee:It felt like both political parties were in on it. From that meeting, it felt like everybody was kind of in on it. So good luck over there. We appreciate you being a part of the change. And thank you for representing the Big 12, man.

43:40AJ Hawk:Thank you so much, guys. Thrilled to be with you today.

43:42Pat McAfee:We need to give easier schedules to West Virginia. all sports you're the man ladies and gentlemen brett york yeah brett's a thinker he's a thinker

43:51Brett Yormark:he's a doer yeah innovator i like he says he's an innovator i like that yeah like you said i'm

43:55Pat McAfee:gonna listen the resume showed you just go back and look i'm an innovator i don't like status quo i want to change some things i do want to do that when i saw him down at texas tech it was for i think what was happening in that presidential meeting i mean he was shaking a lot there was a lot of powerful people at that texas tech game there was a lot of powerful people right behind the game day set, there was just a lot, I don't know how many billions of dollars were there, but there was a lot of money there. And Brett was like, this is what we need to do. He was kind of like linking it all together.

44:20Pat McAfee:He does seem like he's a doer. That's why him being the Big 12 commissioner is so interesting, because nobody really, you know, like the Big 12, West Virginia obviously runs that shit, but like, you know, like, yeah, that's, how about, this is the year I decide that Audie Crooks is going to be my favorite basketball player in the Big 12. You know, that West Virginia wins it for the first time in nine years. Hey, I don't know any of you, Bob. Hey, thank you for doing that. For more GetTap.

44:48Jeff Passan:Are they in the tournament? I think they're going to get in by the skin of their teeth. That's all that matters.

44:53Pat McAfee:Because you're not trying to be a monster in January. No, you're not. March. It is March. And it is March. That's right. And West Virginia is a tough team. Sounds like they're the monster in March.

45:02Jeff Passan:What's that? Sounds like they're the monster in March. Well, they're certain. Yes. Not so much Iowa State, though.

45:07Pat McAfee:I mean, there's a chance they're about to get shot by Audi Grumps. I mean, walking, talking, bucket, as you shook. That's Audi Crooks. Yeah, there's a chance.

45:16Quentin Richardson:I would say it wasn't even the champions.

45:17Pat McAfee:West Virginia Mountaineers, they played on the LED court, by the way. Had no problem with it. No. It was good. He said no big deal. Yeah, the court's dancing. I could see people. Oh, yeah.

45:27Quentin Richardson:I need to get my feet on it. A little distracting.

45:29Pat McAfee:Just as an athlete, though, or a coach, if you were to lose a game on that court, you certainly are provided an excuse immediately. Yes. We're playing on some Mickey Mouse glass court. I've never done this before ever. And now we're doing it. Like, you're just giving an opportunity for somebody to whine and bet you. But, like, that is literally what you are providing. He knew that. He said, like, anytime you're trying something new, you're doing it. And he said, hey, it shouldn't be about – enough with the court. Okay, let's put the wood back out here. We got the boys. They could potentially go win the natty.

45:56Pat McAfee:I respect it. But I do appreciate that he's trying things. You're automatically going to be pissing losers off, though. Like, losers of games are going to have an excuse to be mad at you for why you did it. And then you can immediately say, well, both teams are playing on it. Let's move to the NFL. Kyler Murray officially signs a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings. That was a cool thing to watch yesterday. I had no idea he was a Minnesota Viking fan growing up. All of a sudden, it feels like a much more beautiful story as Kyler Murray, former number one overall to the Arizona Cardinals, ends up leaving there, giving them a bit of a cap hit while also getting paid and in a situation where he could join any team for the vet men, which would be$1.3 million.

46:34Pat McAfee:We saw Russell Wilson do this with the Pittsburgh Steelers as he was still getting paid by the Denver Broncos. Similar situations here. Will Kyler Murray be able to go somewhere and take off? Then you start piecing them together with Kevin O 'Connell. And before he was even released from the Cardinals, the dreams were kind of coming together in Minnesota that Kyler Murray was going to lead them back to maybe an NFC title, maybe a Super Bowl. He signs a one-year deal with them. Age, how do you feel about Kyler Murray to Minnesota? Now that you know that he said that when Brett Favre threw that interception against the Saints, he cried real tears, man.

47:05Pat McAfee:Somebody asked him, how long have you been a fan? When does it go back to? He goes, a long time. I mean, I'm going to say something. At some point, I'll say it right now, I guess, I cried real tears when Brett Favre threw that interception. And then Minnesota Vikings fans I saw on the internet were like, us too, man. Us too, bro, in his entirety. It sounds even better, and it looked even better than I thought it could. And now the football stuff, it's just all fantasy land for what's possible over there, AJ.

47:27Brett Yormark:Yeah, especially for the Vikings. It's all reward and not really much risk at all. You're only paying your quarterback$1.3 million getting paid from his previous team, like you said, the Russell Wilson situation. So I think it's a huge positive for all of Minnesota. But what does that quarterback room look like? Like with he and JJ, like what do you think spring ball or OTAs look like? Training camp? I don't know. Are they saying they're competing? What are we doing?

47:49Pat McAfee:I don't know. Yesterday's press conference sure felt like Kyler was the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.

47:55Brett Yormark:It felt like they were introducing the starting QB for the new starting QB. He is here. Yes.

48:00Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to present to you the guy that's going to be taking us. We'll be paying him less money than our still first contract quarterback that we drafted in the first round, J.J. McCarthy. And he'll be our starter. This guy is going to do it, is what it felt like yesterday. I guess they haven't said that. Adam Schefter in his tweet said he officially joins quarterback room with J.J. McCarthy. And it's like, well, Schefter's a Michigan man too. So is he trying to – what's the angle there? We don't know. But it sure felt like Kyler Murray was starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

48:29Pat McAfee:And I guess now it just all comes down to whether or not he can learn the offense, operate the offense, and if he can, Justin Jefferson, Kyler Murray on the same offense, Kevin O 'Connell pulling the strings, B-Flow on the defensive side, that fan base.

48:46Brett Yormark:Yep. Scrolling. They could be a scary team. They could be a scary matchup. They could be. They could be.

48:55Pat McAfee:This ain't the Spurs. Although I do love it. I do love it. I do love it. I got it. They could be a very scary team. This could be a problematic situation for you as a Green Bay Packer owner. You know that the Bears are good all of a sudden. Great all of a sudden, I'd say. You know the Detroit Lions are going to be good all of a sudden. Great all of a sudden, I'd say. And now you've got the Minnesota Vikings coming back into what they were just a couple years ago when they maybe punched the football gods right in the sack by kicking Sam Donald out of the building and Daniel Jones out of the building.

49:22Pat McAfee:Does that worry you a little bit, Ty Schmidt, about the Minnesota Vikings?

49:24Jeff Passan:Yeah, I think so. But I also think it's kind of just status quo of the division. When all this stuff happened, you know, it was like, I like the idea of Kyler getting a new opportunity somewhere else. And then, of course, it was going to be in Minnesota, you know, with a guy who everyone respects like Kevin O 'Connell. But every other team in that division is good. And I wonder, do you think they play it like will they bring in, you know, like a Josh Dobbs or, you know, not him, but someone who KOC has had there before to kind of help Kyler throughout the process? because that is kind of the one thing that everyone has been talking about is, well, for Kevin O 'Connell's system, a big part of Kyler Murray's game is playing outside of that.

50:05Jeff Passan:He wants to run, all that kind of stuff. It's very similar to what people were saying about Caleb Williams, it seems like, and is he going to be able to fit in with Ben Johnson's system? And obviously, people jumped on that the first couple weeks of the season when he wasn't playing well, but we saw how that ends. So I think, yeah, if you're a Vikings fan, you're thinking, Because as a Packers fan, you didn't know early on, but once JJ was the starting quarterback last year, it was like, this team is not beating the Packers. And I'm sure every other team in the division felt like that.

50:36Pat McAfee:I didn't like that they were saying mini-soda.

50:38Jeff Passan:Yeah, that was my style. I didn't like that they were saying that.

50:41Pat McAfee:There was a lot of that. Yeah, there was a lot of that immediate reaction to Kyler because he is shorter than any quarterback that's ever had success in the NFL.

50:51Jeff Passan:I mean, yeah, probably, what, 5 '7", 5 '8"?

50:54Pat McAfee:I think he is he's got to be 5 '9", 5 '10".

50:58Quentin Richardson:5 '9", 5 '10", and cleats maybe

50:59Pat McAfee:no because that's not how he

51:01Quentin Richardson:he's definitely shorter than Drew

51:03Pat McAfee:but he's been able to have 5 '10", he's 5 '10 he said 5 '7", that was rude that's what people on the internet are saying you watch the videos

51:14Jeff Passan:and it's like behind the linemen he does, he looks like he's 5 '10", well I'm just saying that's what it looks like

51:21Pat McAfee:in the comps, whenever you see him on TV he's with Giants. Right. Okay. That's like, for me even, I think a lot of the photos people see me with, I'm with like very tall people. So whenever they see me, people tell me that I'm taller than they think I am. And it's like, well, that's because I think you've only seen me around super tall people. Like Orlovsky was in here the other day. He's so tall. He's very tall. He's so tall. Like people in sports normally so tall, so athletic. So Kyler, it does get amplified. It's just like Bryce Young with that backpack. Yeah, exactly. That was tough. When he walked onto our set at Radio Row, I had no idea.

51:56Pat McAfee:Holy shit, normal size. You are not a shrimp. That's what people were describing you as, basically. So I think that's all kind of, you know, talked about because in the history of the game there hasn't been a lot. But Kyler's had success. KOC knows that that's a potential thing, and he'll get it going. But I didn't like how the internet just automatically started saying that. I didn't like any of that, Con, man. And that's where you live.

52:17Brett Yormark:Yeah, no doubt about it. And he's a very easy target. You know, the whole video game things and his size, it is very fun to make fun of that type of thing in the NFL. But I think he's much smarter than he actually, you know, people think he is. Like, this feels like a situation where he's going to finally go to a, you know, a team, a coach, and not that Cliff Kingsbury wasn't, but like an offensive genius. Like, and that's what we all think KOC is. Not to mention the best wide receiver in the NFL with Justin Jefferson. Like, it feels as though that entire building is one behind Kyler Murray. and he's still a number one overall pick talent.

52:53Brett Yormark:This isn't a guy who hasn't proven he can't do it. He's won 11 games in a season before. He is very capable to go out there and completely change the trajectory of the career and just the Minnesota Vikings. Not just this year, he could stay there. And you say building.

53:07Pat McAfee:Remember when Arizona Cardinals building was voted? Yeah. And now Minnesota, vastly different cities and surroundings. But the building concept of it all, Arizona got all efforts. All Fs. Across the board. Carpeting. Wallpaper.

53:28Quentin Richardson:Chairs.

53:30Brett Yormark:Bathrooms. Sinks. Plates. Forks. Soap dispensers. Toilet paper. Toilets.

53:41Pat McAfee:Parking spots. Team meeting. Lamps. Whistles. Everything. Got Fs. Footballs. Those are Dukes. Wow. I don't know. I think they bought Wilson. Don't you. It was hard. Don't you bring the NFL in this. They bought Wilsons. Don't you do that. Anyways, that whole building was like. That's literally what that building was. So maybe Kyler, being who he is, you know, top 10 draft pick in MLB and NFL, was a little underwhelmed with everything that was going on in Arizona. You know, maybe he was just a little bit like, how is this what it is? And now he gets a chance to kind of refresh, rewrite his entire story.

54:24Pat McAfee:It's like, I like anybody going to KOC's offense that can throw a football. I really like somebody that's super motivated and loved the team as a kid.

54:33Brett Yormark:Like, that is... Huge bonus, huge bonus, I think, especially with Kyler. Learning that made me, oh my gosh, this is how it was meant to be.

54:41Pat McAfee:Legit. Titans had a huge party last night, debuting their new logo and patches. love the effort they put in yeah into the celebration we had confetti we had music we had lights we had an entire celebration a little bit of a party the boys were out there it looks like bourgons and bob are kind of doing their thing over there for the tennessee titans down in the absolutely electrifying city of nashville the whole world is at their disposal down in nashville hopefully they're able to win some games as ever gets a shot on the stage get for the gram i appreciate him doing that's pr guy for the tennessee titans formerly of the houston texans is good to us.

55:17Pat McAfee:This guy is very good to us. He had to make sure he got a shot for the gram there for himself up on top, as he should. Respect that. But I like how much positive momentum there is seemingly behind the Titans. And their logo was leaked by the Fanatics hat release. And everybody kind of shit on them. It's going to look good. It's going to look really good. I think it does look good. And good for the city having some positive shit, AJ.

55:41Brett Yormark:Yeah, I mean, Nashville is awesome. We know that. Where was that? Was that at the Bridgestone Arena? Is that what that that whole celebration is? I'm not sure. It looks like it's almost that big, but wouldn't it be weird to be the guys that have to wear a full uniform and pads and show up on a stage with a symphony playing next to you? It looks great, but that's kind of an awkward situation to be in.

55:59Pat McAfee:All right, let me go ahead and put on my costume. Isn't that what you're doing on game day, H? Yeah.

56:03Brett Yormark:Yeah, it is. And then you got all your buddies and you're running your heads into each other. This one, you're taking a mic and you're chatting with running shoes on.

56:10Pat McAfee:Is that the Pinnacle, downtown Nashville? And I'll tell you what, this might have been the Pinnacle jersey release that we have seen. Good celebration over there for the Tennessee Titans. Good positive vibes. As we wrap up here on ESPN, we'll head over to do the news on ESPN News. Nice. And then we'll go into the greatest weekend of all time. Then we're back on Monday. We will obviously have another hour of spectacular shit. Oh my God. We got Q Rich joining us. Obviously talk a little NBA because the NBA is happening. First take, get up. All NBA. That's it. Two hours. Normally, yes. Big night.

56:44Pat McAfee:We were missing stuff. Luca won. Damn.

56:47Brett Yormark:Awesome. Pointing every time after every bucket. I love it.

56:50Pat McAfee:Female ref. What was that camera person doing? That can't happen. Get off the floor. All right. Have an incredible weekend. We appreciate you all. Good luck to all the athletes doing their thing this weekend. Goodbye.

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58:37AJ Hawk:That's Amazon.com slash H-U-B Delivery.

58:45Pat McAfee:Sports!

58:46Brett Yormark:All right, amazing. We got to do it tonight, H. We will. What do you mean? There's no question. We got it. You're right. That's why I'm hammered. Place your bet. Did your bet already in there?

58:54Pat McAfee:Yep. Hammer, absolute, and done on USA minus 900 to beat Canada. Tonight in World Baseball Classic quarterfinals, that's AJ Hawk. The Talks of Tib was here at Boston Corner at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer, done. Cowboys AP Tone is out here. Now, Tone, who's our lineup? Do we know? Who's going to be hitting bombs tonight? Do we know? What can we bet on right now? Especially because I have this blind optimism that everybody's going to do good and we're going to kill them.

59:23Quentin Richardson:I have that optimism as well. As you should. The lineup is not out yet, so we don't know who is going to be in there. Obviously, USA minus 900. They are minus four and a half on the run line. Jets said they thought they were going to get the A lineup, which was Witt and Harper and Judgey and all the boys that you've seen in the first three games before they thought they didn't have to win the one against Italy. So they'll all be out there. They'll all be out there in the home run possibilities. The over-under for the game is 9.5.

59:54Brett Yormark:Cover that ourselves.

59:55Quentin Richardson:Yeah, I mean, Logie's going to shut the boys out. Michael Soroka's going for Canada. He's a good MLB pitcher, so we'll see what goes on there. But no, as of right now, we do not know what the lineup is, but you can still bet on all the normal guys that hit a home run still.

1:00:08Pat McAfee:Okay, I appreciate that. Going to bet on all the normal guys that hit home runs. Aaron Judge is going to show up for us tonight, right?

1:00:13Jeff Passan:Yes, tonight Aaron Judge will show up. I fucking guarantee it. Guarantee it. Some of these other guys who have kind of been limping along who are, you know, quote-unquote in the A lineup, those are the guys that we need to kind of make their presence known and let people know like, hey, I actually am on the team. I am here to play. Who is that? Love the guy. He's one of my favorites. Bryce Harper has not been great so far, and Cal Raleigh is hitless. We need both of those. Yeah, hitless. Exactly. And, again, part of that is because early. Which side of the plate? Early. Both. Doesn't matter. Yeah, he hasn't got a hit yet in the tournament.

1:00:47Jeff Passan:Part of that is because early on we were playing these rum-dum teams with pitchers who can't throw strikes. You know, our teams are walking 18 times. He probably hasn't had something like that happen since sixth grade. But no more excuses, okay? You hit 60 homers last year, big dumper. Please don't take a big dump in your pants tonight. All right, let's fucking put one over the right field wall, please.

1:01:06Brett Yormark:Did DeRosa tell him he has to hit her? Did he say you just have to catch? I'm just hoping that we have all kind of wheels forward here. All right, let's make sure everybody gets motivated. Jack Hughes, sure, we can motivate him.

1:01:18Pat McAfee:Yeah, what's he saying, AJ? Jack Hughes sent a message before the tournament, by the way. He did. The Canadians got all upset at Jack Hughes, and that's what I guess it is. Why'd you send a message? That was before. That was before. I sent a message. Yeah, I like baseball. I'm following along. All right, baseball. It's out of motivation. No, so it wasn't before this game. It was before the tournament, allegedly. And maybe they run that whole thing back in this entire thing. But, A.J., why are all fingers going to potential world champion skipper Dero? There's a chance tonight he comes out with his best stuff, and I'm expecting it out of him as well.

1:01:50Pat McAfee:He better.

1:01:51Brett Yormark:It's going to be the ultimate redemption situation that he is living in right now. Every interview he does, they claim that he misspeaks again or whatever's going on. Leave the guy alone. Let him manage his ball club. Yeah. He's allowed to say whatever he wants.

1:02:04Pat McAfee:He's allowed to say whatever he wants to motivate the boys. We were both 2-0. So what? Neither of us had lost is what he was trying to say. Let Dino do it. Dino needs to be standing up in front of the boys.

1:02:15Brett Yormark:Dino should be in front of the boys. It should be him and Matt all day.

1:02:18Pat McAfee:All right. Let's get to some more news, shall we? Mike Evans did a press conference as he was introduced for the San Francisco 49ers. He's obviously so mature, such a veteran. but listening to him speak about what he thinks he can be for the San Francisco 49ers was cool to

1:02:33Brett Yormark:hear hey Mike Nick Nick Wagner from ESPN here you mentioned that this from a football standpoint this was the place that that mattered the most to you or fit the best for you can you just expound on that what specifically you mean from from a football standpoint why this was the right landing

1:02:48Quentin Richardson:spot a team that always they always compete even with the injuries last year I think they went 13 and four. I mean, I feel like they were one piece away and I think that I'm that piece and I look forward to coming here and improving that. Hey, Jay, they're a missing piece.

1:03:08Brett Yormark:I love hearing that about my receiver.

1:03:10Pat McAfee:Yeah, me too, dude. Absolutely. Especially if that's a conversation he was having with John Lynch, you know, because it came out the Tampa Bay made a very good offer. Now it's like he's all in on what they can become out there in San Fran and watching from afar. and I believe him, H. I do think he's the piece that's potentially multiple colors, weird shape, boom, shove that thing in there. He's a weapon, AJ.

1:03:33Brett Yormark:He is, especially with Kyle Shanahan. I'm sure he and Brock Purdy will get on the same page very, very early on in the spring whenever they connect. But also with the presser, do you think they said anything to these people? Hey, no more stupid questions about the substation. Don't be asking this guy. He hasn't even been here yet. You think they preempted him at all?

1:03:49Pat McAfee:We didn't see the entire press conference. We assume he was asked about that. That's the biggest worry for me by far. I don't know.

1:03:55Brett Yormark:I think they'd run it. I think they'd run it if he had to answer about it.

1:03:57Pat McAfee:Yeah, you're right. And who would they be? Us or the internet? Yep. The internet would run it. I guess we're kind of one and the same. I guess we're kind of one and the same, which is part of the problem sometimes.

1:04:05Brett Yormark:But go ahead, Connor. I mean, that's the biggest worry without a doubt at this point is the substation. George Kittle, I don't know where he said it, but he mentioned like, hey, the only thing weird about the substation is all the plants that surround it are just dead year-round. So yeah, I am genuinely worried. Did he really say that? Yes, he did. Yeah, that was like his – He said the trees have slowly died. Yeah, he said a veteran pointed it out to him that the only thing when it comes to the substation is all the plants around it are just dead year-round. It's California. They're supposed to be alive year-round.

1:04:34Brett Yormark:I mean, that is a real thing, I think, and this will be the ultimate test. And Lynch said that they're looking –

1:04:39Pat McAfee:I mean, those plants are living 1 ,000 years in just one year because they're just getting vaulted the entire time. Yeah, that's what I mean. That's a problem. Yeah, they kind of give up a little bit. Call them electromagnet plant years. You know, dog years like seven years. Those plants, the whole time they're at attention. E.M.Y. How long can a lily last? You know, whenever that thing's in full bloom. I guess not. That thing's going to go out. Joining us now is a man who knows more about basketball than we'll ever learn. And I'm sure he will realize quickly that maybe we haven't been following along with what's going on in the association at all.

1:05:14Pat McAfee:And he is being brought here to tell us what the hell we need to care about. Ladies and gentlemen, friend of the program, 13-year NBA vet, one of the knuckleheads on the Knuckleheads podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, Q-Rage.

1:05:27Brett Yormark:Thank you, Q-Rage.

1:05:28Pat McAfee:Good to see you, dude. Good to see you, dude.

1:05:31Adam Schefter:Looks good.

1:05:31Pat McAfee:Looks good, fellas. Good to see you, dude. Thank you for joining us. We saw you on ESPN the other day. You looked clean. We're hoping there's more of that for you because we think you're great for basketball. Now let's talk about it. Los Angeles Lakers' Luka goes crazy last night. 51 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists. subs himself out, I guess, with a minute and a half left. Could have had a 50-point triple-double. Was seen on the sideline saying, I don't care. I don't care. He sits down and does not care. He then came out afterwards and talked about his motivation a little bit. Q Rich, I don't know if you heard this or not.

1:06:02Pat McAfee:Here's Luka talking about the night that was against the Bulls.

1:06:05Quentin Richardson:I mean, in the second quarter, I kind of felt it. You know, somebody started talking to me, so it kind of woke me up.

1:06:18Quentin Richardson:Matas. I was surprised. I was shocked.

1:06:24Brett Yormark:What was it that was, if you care to share, what was the dialogue between you two? And I guess what about what he was saying woke you up?

1:06:30Quentin Richardson:I'm not going to say what he said, but, you know, if I would say that, I would definitely get attacked. But really, you know, kind of, you know, these games, you know, sometimes you're going easy. We kind of went easy in the first quarter, so then it woke me up.

1:06:47Pat McAfee:Okay, so Boozellis, this guy, he's an American. Boozellis, he was asked about the entire thing afterwards at the locker room is what he had to say.

1:06:56Brett Yormark:What do you hope to take away from the experience?

1:07:03Brett Yormark:Probably not to talk to him.

1:07:05Pat McAfee:So he learned not to talk to Luke. Is this something in the NBA where it is well-known like, hey, we don't poke the bear here. We don't poke the bear. Has Luke always been that guy? and he's taking it easy in the first quarter. Do we need to worry about Luka not trying all four quarters now all of a sudden? How should we view everything last night and how normal is this type of thing?

1:07:26Adam Schefter:No, this can be normal. A lot of the great players use different things to get themselves going. You hear stories about MJ or Shaq creating things with guys or sometimes actually using real things to get them going. Like you say, the season can be long. Every game, you just don't come out and just feel that energy every single game. That's why I have such a respect for guys like a Russell Westbrook or Kevin Garnett that channel that super, super high level of energy every single night. And I think Luke is like everybody else. You know, and he has, I mean, not like everybody else with his ability to go and get 50, 10, and 9 after you say something to him because that's a different level.

1:08:05Adam Schefter:You know, you said something, you poked a bear, and now you got to pay big time.

1:08:09Pat McAfee:Okay, so are the Lakers going to win? I saw the third in the West, and then there was some narrative I saw. And once again, we're not following. I saw that how they were doing when LeBron wasn't playing was good, and then LeBron comes back, and maybe they took him a little bit to catch up. Third in the West, do they have a chance to really win this, or are all eyes on OKC as SGA goes for 127 regular season game straights with at least 20-plus points last night? They're running the West, or do the Lakers really have a chance whenever it all is said and done?

1:08:42Adam Schefter:I think the Lakers depending on who they draw in the playoffs they do have a legit chance because of what Luka's capable of doing then you look at AR and also obviously they got LeBron but they gonna need help with their bigs in the middle with Hayes and Aiden they need big games from those type of guys and then a big series from Rui but I think you know when you got this type of explosiveness and this superstar power they definitely have a chance but like you said I think right now all eyes are definitely on SGA and the Thunder and, you know, it's a little side-eye going over there to the Spurs because they're not playing around either.

1:09:14Adam Schefter:The Spurs are definitely threatening, and they have a chance as well.

1:09:17Pat McAfee:We'll certainly ask about the Spurs. They have an alien in a matter of moments. But back to OKC. Go ahead, Conman.

1:09:22Brett Yormark:Yeah, Kierich, I don't think anyone's doubting how great SGA is. Like, he is an unbelievable basketball player. You don't just walk in to 127 straight games with 20-plus points. But when it comes to the NBA community, the term ethical hooper has been thrown around. I love it, by the way. Yeah, typically not with SGA. He's been kind of deemed an unethical hooper. When you watch it as a former NBA superstar, how do you feel about just the way he plays? Now, he's smart and he draws fouls, no doubt about it, but is it a little too much with how much skill he has, the way he goes about the game?

1:10:00Adam Schefter:No, I think the difference is just right now in this time, you got the generation where everybody has a voice. So you got Twitter, you got social media, and you got everybody screaming different things. And most of the people are people that are fans of the team that he's destroying every night. So you got to put that into context. The man that scored, he hasn't scored less than 20 points since 2024, fellas. This is the NBA I'm talking about. No all days, no nuts. He giving whoever, whenever buckets. And the thing that I hate when I hear all of this slander about he's a foul baiter, he's this or that.

1:10:33Adam Schefter:anybody who's watched hoop and watched basketball at any level, the guys that lead the league in scoring, the guys that are MVPs, the guys that are all NBA, they all get fouls, whether it's Luka, whether it's Shea, whether it was KD, whether it was Russell, whether it was LeBron, whether it was D-Wade, Paul Pierce, any of these guys, you go back to MJ, Allen Iverson, they all shot a ton of free throws and more than anybody else in the league. So I don't get, well, I do get that it's just this era that, Like I say, the social media area where everybody can say something, everybody can have that voice.

1:11:06Adam Schefter:But, like, this is not nothing new. This has been going on since forever.

1:11:09Pat McAfee:Okay, so when did the term ethical buckets come? Because D-Butt dropped it the other day. I love that this is a thing. Has this always been a thing in the basketball world, or is this new, like, how people are starting to describe whether he's an ethical player? This guy pounded the paint a little bit, gets good jumper, doesn't flop. This guy, unethical hooper, taking advantage of the rules. I don't like, how long has this been the way that it's been described? And the reason why I said I love it is just because somebody very innovative had to come up with that. And I don't know if it's been always or just now.

1:11:40Pat McAfee:They've certainly changed the way people are being described on the court.

1:11:43Adam Schefter:I mean, to me, like I say, when you use that as far as talking about SGA is disrespectful, the real hoop was no.

1:11:51Pat McAfee:Yeah, but has that been a thing? Have people been saying that for a long time in the basketball world?

1:11:55Adam Schefter:I mean, unethical, that actual term, that's more recent than anything. Okay, so it is new. I haven't heard that in my era or my generation. That's more newer to me. Because what were they calling it? Foul merchant.

1:12:07Pat McAfee:So somebody got sick of saying foul merchant. It was like, we need something new. Right. We heard foul bait, foul merchant.

1:12:12Adam Schefter:Yeah. Unethical. Yeah. Sound right on that. It's unethical.

1:12:15Pat McAfee:That is phenomenal. We're in a good time to be alive. People are, you know, very creative in this entire thing. Let's stay in the West here. Wrap up here. Go ahead, Tone.

1:12:24Quentin Richardson:Yeah, Q Rich, obviously we talked about the Spurs and Wemby. you know but it's not just Wemby it's Darren Fox it's Vassal it's Castle they are so young and talented but are they too young like are they do they need more experience to to compete for a championship this year or is just Wemby such an alien that you think they could potentially win a championship this year and every year that he's in that he's healthy yeah in my opinion I'm not

1:12:48Adam Schefter:one of the guys that what people to say hey they need to lose or need to feel this pain I mean I think that's just an excuse that everybody gives a great team if they don't do it any this young. I mean, to me, they got everything they need to go and win it. I mean, like you said, Wimby is incredible and phenomenal. But when you look at what Steph Castle brings to the table as a two-way guard and he can be a lockdown defender. When you look at Fox, like you say, Vassal. And, you know, all of the complementary part, the Luke Cornett, what he comes in and does and contributes, the Kelton Johnsons, the Vassell, they got a full team of guys that can really playing Dylan Harper as a rookie is a stud already.

1:13:29Pat McAfee:How do you feel about Magic City Night being canceled in Atlanta as we move to the East?

1:13:37Adam Schefter:I mean, first of all, let me say, when I first ever saw it, I was like, you know, all of this AI stuff going on, you don't know what's really real or fake. I was like, no way. I was like, this cannot be real. I was like, no way this is real. But I mean, you know, as somebody who frequented Atlanta a lot, I have family in Atlanta. I have been to that fine establishment on an occasion or two, or maybe more than two. But I couldn't believe it was actually happening. When I saw it and I saw somebody speak out about it, I was like, oh, yeah, they definitely going to get this out of there. I'm like, they are not going to let this go.

1:14:13Adam Schefter:Like, I've been in and around the NBA too long. That's why I was like, I definitely thought it was fake when it first happened. But, I mean, being in Atlanta and knowing what Atlanta is about, I understand what it was going to be and what it was going to mean to them. And I also understand the other side of how, how it came to the point to where it got taken, you know, taken away.

1:14:33Pat McAfee:As basketball is starting to come into our full focus. I only get the headlines, you know, through my algo, that one popping up by the same reaction as you. Magic. I love that that's happened. That was my first reaction was like, Oh, this is hilarious. Then I saw what the full diatribe. Oh yeah. Basically about, let me tell you why this is disgusting. And it's like, that's a valid point. I don't know how Silver's going to handle this entire thing. And lo and behold, the NBA had to cancel it. Steve Coonan down there in Atlanta was like, I don't know what you want me to do. We made an announcement that it was going to happen.

1:15:06Pat McAfee:People love this place. Silver's like, I'm canceling it. He's like, I don't think that's the right move, but we'll swing it. They take a lot of shots down there in Atlanta. Every night, they are trying to make it an event. They are trying to make it a live event.

1:15:19Adam Schefter:you know and i think they do have one of the one of the great atmospheres though they like i always enjoy playing in atlanta in that in that building well that's because they take a lot of shots like

1:15:27Pat McAfee:they are the cameraman on the court trying to play yeah last night with the cameraman on the court i mean there's a there's an email going to steve coonan from adam silver can you please hey tighten up down there can you please steve's like we're just trying to get good shots man trying they are putting on they are putting on a live event down there every single night like they are trying to entertain not just their fans, but all of Atlanta. Like, hey, if you come to the city, you come to a game, you're going to have a good time. Cheap prices for stuff. They're taking a lot of shots on things.

1:15:57Pat McAfee:So when I saw the Magic City tonight, I was like, alright, we're going for it here. We really are. And then Silver's saying, no, you're going to have to go back to the drawing board if you want to pay respects to Magic City. We're going to need Cheetah to get a little respect as well. You're going to have to go to some other... Alright, let's move on. In the East, it's not just about Magic City and Atlanta. The Atlanta Hawks being forward-thinking marketing people. It's also about a record-breaking evening down in Miami. Go ahead, Ty.

1:16:23Jeff Passan:Yeah, Q, Rich, going back to the ethical, you know, non-ethical, unethical Hooper conversation, this kind of all started when Bam Adebayo scored 83 points the other night. And for whatever reason, people, boy, were they pissed off. Just not happy about this. Someone asked Eric Spolstra, I think yesterday, you know, his thoughts on it. And he basically went the Conor McGregor route and said, I'm going to apologize to absolutely no one. This is a non-story. As someone who played in the league, though, and maybe part of this is all the reverence everyone has for Kobe, what was your take on Bam scoring 83 and how he got those 83 points?

1:17:01Adam Schefter:First, I absolutely loved him scoring 83. I was first watching it, then I wasn't watching it. Then somebody said he had 30 in the first quarter, so I went back to watching it. To me, like you say, the reverence for Kobe, if you truly have reverence for Kobe, you would know that Kobe himself would have did this. I mean, very same thing. I don't know that he would have had to go about it the way that Bam did because they're different type of players. And we saw how Kobe got his 81, which was different, in fact. But I mean, Kobe was that dude. Like MJ in 2003 hit the game winning an All-Star game, and everybody wanted it to be MJ's moment.

1:17:39Adam Schefter:And Kobe said, bump that. And he came down and he one-upped that game-winner and he game-winner him and said, I don't care about that. That was the Mamba mentality. So Mamba, I feel like if Kobe was here, he would absolutely salute Bam for doing it. And he's actually said it before his passing. You know, you're supposed to appreciate and show respect to these guys when records are broken and things like that. For me, it was disappointing to see all of the negative talk towards Bam and towards what happened. Because, I mean, anybody who knows Bam, he's one of the best human beings, best teammates, best guys you're going to probably come across in this in the sports world period and i couldn't find anything anyone more deserving to do it than him i mean as far as like he came out of nowhere no one expected it and and then just to know bam and his story and the type of person everything he's about i can't see anybody having anything bad to say but i mean that's the that's the world we live in today to me i just i just celebrate him and salute him for doing something that's going to be there forever.

1:18:38Adam Schefter:No matter if somebody come and break it, he's still going to be in that top upper echelon for doing it. So, you know, I love Spoh for doing what he did as a coach and for facilitating his guy to get that done.

1:18:49Pat McAfee:Yeah, I appreciate that. To your point, it came out of nowhere. I don't think most people, myself included, would have expected Bam out of Bayou to go for 83. I think like if SGA went for 83, if Harden somehow, Kevin Durant one night went absolutely crazy, wamby went for 80 joker yes these types of guys i don't think anybody expected bam so i think the initial reaction from people that aren't like super ball knowers was like yeah right i think that is the the initial thing and then all you need is a couple people from the basketball world to be like yeah it is kind of and then all of a sudden boom that whole entire narrative can kind of go because people are looking for an opinion to justify their thoughts right from somebody that has uh some sort of resume that says they know what they're thinking so the negative thought we knew were going to be real because of the world we're in.

1:19:37Pat McAfee:But he'll be able to forever say when him and Miss Asia have kids. Dad won for 83. And also, he's the second player to go for 10 ,000, right, in Miami Heat history. Is that accurate? Yeah. He just had that the other night. Hey, we need... West Virginia University would like to offer scholarships. Right now. Yes. We are the first ones in. Okay, this also goes to Travis and Taylor. If you guys... West Virginia Anybody would like to offer your kids full scholarships for whatever they want to do. They want to be lawyers. We got you. They want to play basketball. We got you. Volleyball. Rifle. Shit.

1:20:15Pat McAfee:Whatever. Whatever they want to do. We would like to offer scholarships. I think that was cool for BAM. It was cool for basketball. Now, let's stay in the East. Go ahead, AJ.

1:20:23Brett Yormark:Yeah, Q Rich. Obviously, Jason Tatum comes back early from this Achilles injury. He seems to be playing well. And doesn't really. I mean, he looks very, very good, I guess. What do you think their chances are of making a run and winning another championship this year? I know Luka Garza's averaging almost eight points a game as well. He's really come on.

1:20:39Adam Schefter:What do you think about the Celtics as a whole? I think their chances for a championship are very real. I think the guys, Joe Mazzulla as a coach and the staff, everybody there did a great job coming into this season, knowing that everybody was counting them out. And obviously, you've got to salute Jalen Brown and that whole team, all of the players, the actual players for doing what they did for for going at it and looking at the opportunity knowing that no one was expecting them to do that and everybody counted them out and they they put themselves in position to where whether jason came back or not they were going to be a competitive team in these playoffs and no one knows what they were going to be able to do and now when you add you know all nba type guy like jason tatum is one of the top players in the league back to that and he comes back looking as good as he did in those first early few games you only think that it's going to continue to get better for them as he gets more back to himself with his body and back to how he's feeling better.

1:21:34Adam Schefter:And right now, I mean, the sky's the limit for them, man, because they look really, really good defensively, and they shoot the ball really well. So, I mean, those two things there pair really well in the playoffs.

1:21:43Pat McAfee:What's in that chest on the Nike box over your left shoulder there? There's a little bit of a sweet, like, metal briefcase.

1:21:51Adam Schefter:Those are the throwbacks, man. to the 16s where they came back with uh with uh when they came with the briefcase man you know i know a lot of people in my neighborhood man they still got that old school briefcase for you know it might be for the you know the carry they uh they haircut and clipper blades in or you know or various different things can they can be used for every picture is it also utilized the same way

1:22:17Pat McAfee:like the crown royal bag was kind of used for a while is there is there some very similar very

1:22:21Adam Schefter:similar yeah like that type of vibe right there like you you might have anything in the briefcase

1:22:26Jeff Passan:yeah i still have that briefcase briefcase got in seventh grade and i still have my crown roll

1:22:31Pat McAfee:exactly yeah we had good times okay all right sweet q rich we appreciate you joining us man yes sir anytime fellas y 'all already know what's your plan are you on how much are you on espn i saw you the other day on there are you getting more dates how's this work yeah yeah it'll be

1:22:47Adam Schefter:for the weekends for the uh throughout the rest of the finals all the way up to the finals and everything on the weekend. So I get to kick it with the legends like Hannah and Jay and Gary and Ryan and all those guys. So it'd be cool.

1:22:57Pat McAfee:Yeah, but that's the only time we really get to watch weekends. Yeah. You're going to be doing shit for us. So we appreciate the hell out of you, man. We appreciate that. No doubt. No doubt. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, 13-year NBA vet Q Rich. Yeah, Q Rich. I like him. Miss Q Rich. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was good. He traveled all the way up to Indianapolis for the finals. It's almost NBA season. Yeah. Almost. He was saying a lot of stuff, and I was like, okay, we're in. and then pulled a schedule up here, and it was like, we still got a little bit. It's like a month.

1:23:24Quentin Richardson:NBA season.

1:23:25Pat McAfee:Six weeks, and then their playoffs are really here. March Madness seems like it's going to be good. I think so.

1:23:31Quentin Richardson:Very, very good.

1:23:32Brett Yormark:Election Sunday is coming, right? This Sunday.

1:23:34Pat McAfee:Yeah, we're here.

1:23:35Quentin Richardson:Top graphics who are going to be coming out are going to be in the tournament, which I feel like hasn't happened in a long time. And then you have four or five of the best teams in the last decade this year. So it'll be very, very fun.

1:23:49Pat McAfee:NIL is helping basketball quality?

1:23:51Quentin Richardson:Yeah, because they're staying.

1:23:52Brett Yormark:The top, if we remember last year. The big thing last year is about how the favorites, basically, they didn't clean sweep, but they won most places where those lower schools for NIL. So if you're a person who bets on every single underdog, it kind of murdered it last year because all those guys from the small schools, they end up going to the bigger schools to play. But it did make the competition from Sweet 16 on amazing. Those games were incredible, but those smaller schools like Florida Gulf Coast, remember when Dunk City was started, they were 15 seed. Stories like that, St. Peter's, was it?

1:24:31Brett Yormark:Yes, it was. From New Jersey, those types of places. Buffalo Wild Wings, Doug Eater. FAU a few years ago. Yeah, Doug, yeah, Bingo. Who's the 100-year-old lady? Loyola Chicago, Sister Jean. No, she's still bringing it. I think she's playing point guard this year.

1:24:48Quentin Richardson:I am pretty sure.

1:24:50Brett Yormark:She might be playing three, not point guard, but I don't know. We might want to check on her dim. I thought Sister Jean was.

1:24:56Jeff Passan:She did pass away. She passed away in October.

1:24:58Brett Yormark:Yeah. All right, Pete. I'm sorry.

1:25:01Pat McAfee:I'm sorry. I didn't know either. That's why we're doing this right now. She had to be 100 and something there, right? Mm-hmm. 106.

1:25:10Jeff Passan:What a run.

1:25:11Pat McAfee:Sister Jean, you beat the game.

1:25:12Jeff Passan:Oh, my God. You beat the game. Mm-hmm. they said the human you were was the greatest that anybody had ever encountered so much so

1:25:21Pat McAfee:that whenever you showed up at basketball games a team that was talked about his ass actually became magical so good we thank you for your service to sport we thank you for your service to society and i think even you would agree 106 you did you did it you beat the game rest in peace sister gene and I assume that their basketball team is now ass because she's not there.

1:25:46Jeff Passan:They lost their coach too after they went to the Final Four. Love you, sir. Rest in peace to that school's basketball conversation is real.

1:25:54Pat McAfee:Anything to say super Catholic stuff right now that you would say for this?

1:25:58Jeff Passan:Your watch has ended, Sister Jean. Thank you. And an M &A. And a nomine patria et filia e spiritu santo.

1:26:05Pat McAfee:Rest in peace, Sister Jean.

1:26:08Brett Yormark:All right. Done good. 106. Wow. That's a winner. It's a hell of a life. Shit. No, never mind. What's that? You see what? What was that, H? That's all I got. That's all I got. Sometimes questions pop in my head and then I just stop.

1:26:21Pat McAfee:Yeah, we know. And usually because the question is not supposed to be asked at the moment in which it was going to be asked, you didn't forget the question halfway through it. You realize, shouldn't let this one out of my mouth right now. And on that note, thank you for doing that. Because we're paying respects right now to a 106-year-old sister G.

1:26:37Brett Yormark:Yeah. Fucking potty mouth. It was not going to be a disrespectful question. But I've matured, and so sometimes I stop myself. Okay. Well, thank you for doing that. Remember when they forgot to give her high fives coming off the court that one time?

1:26:49Pat McAfee:Yeah, and that's why the coach left.

1:26:51Brett Yormark:That was crazy.

1:26:52Pat McAfee:That might have done it. Speaking of rest in peace and legends passing away, Jim Irsay passed away. His Jim Irsay collection, the guitars were sold, I believe, last night for auction for a lot of money. A ton of money. And he obviously had a traveling museum that he was trying to showcase to the world. things that he loved, things that he thought should be preserved and showcased for people to see forever from, I think he has the original AA book that is kind of like the guiding principles, all the way to a Jimi Hendrix guitar to like a piece of Shinzu's actual, like he just loved history. He loved showcasing his stuff, did full shows.

1:27:31Pat McAfee:And since he has passed, they are going to send them to new ownership, you know, who would take care of him and treat him well. And also to the tune of 30 plus million, maybe even 80 plus million for maybe even a hundred plus million dollars in collecting. Yeah, he had it all. Yeah. And he did showcase it. And he did showcase it a lot. And he was a billionaire who, you know, wanted to go to a show, I'm done with the show. Should I get, I should get the Beatles drum set from Johnny Carson, right? Duh. Who else is bidding for it? That guy doesn't even like music. That guy doesn't even, I'm not. Yeah, I'll do that.

1:28:06Pat McAfee:What's your number, boss? Do you see who else is thinking about buying it? We'll never see those drums again. Do not. Let's go ahead and get it. That's literally how he felt. And yeah, it's turning of a page. Good luck with all these things. Everybody that ends up with them. And the Ursa family, this has to be an interesting thing to go through. Every new item is a new story and a memory and nostalgia that you kind of have to go through during your mourning process while also your profession is an everyday reminder of, that's a crazy thing for the three daughters to kind of have to go through.

1:28:40Pat McAfee:I assume every day is just a constant reminder of somebody that isn't there anymore. So good luck to them as they process it all while trying to navigate an NFL team, NFL waters, and actual human grieving process. That's an insane kind of process happening right now.

1:28:54Jeff Passan:Especially with this kind of stuff, because we talked about this a little bit before the show. That's not like an exaggeration that says he basically could operate a museum. Like he had, you know, I imagine going through that house, like there is stuff that they probably haven't seen in a long time. And it's just like, oh, wow, you know, is it this may be the time to get rid of this. And then, like you said, like that brings on just like all these memories and stuff like that. But at the very least, you know, at least that stuff's not just going to be sitting around and collecting dust like they're doing the right thing.

1:29:23Jeff Passan:That's probably what Jim would have wanted to do is, you know, hey, let's let somebody else enjoy this now.

1:29:27Pat McAfee:Yeah, you know, he felt like he was just kind of the carrier of the baton for those things. And I'm excited to learn what all he has. I think that's going to start rolling out because it's going to be a nice little reminder, AJ. It'll be a nice reminder of a man who wanted to preserve a lot of things. Let's talk about this free agency frenzy. Obviously, the commanders had a lot of money, still have a lot of money. Oh, yeah. Commanders can make a lot of moves right now. They have a league high,$65 million in available cap. They can make a lot of plays. What are people leaning towards for them to do?

1:29:58Quentin Richardson:So what they're originally addressed and had to address in the free agency was their defense. They had to get a lot younger and a lot better on defense. Their defense was horrendous last year. So they did that with Adafi Owe, who's the edge who came over from the Chargers, who's really good. Then they got Clavon Chase on the edge from the Patriots. So now they have a pass rush in that situation. They have got Leo Chennault, who we've been told many times is the linebacker from Kansas City, is the strongest human ox that exists on planet Earth. Nick Cross, the safety from the Colts. So they addressed the defensive side of the ball early and often to get better and younger on that side.

1:30:32Quentin Richardson:They got Chig and Conquo for the Titans for a weapon to go with the weapons that they currently have, which aren't much. So they still need to address wide receiver. A lot of people are talking about their only wide receiver of note, to be honest, is Terry McLaurin. So they need maybe a second. Now people are tying the relationship between Jalen and then Brandon Ayuk because they played in college together. Sorry, Jaden. Jaden Daniels. They played in college together at Arizona State, so maybe once he gets released by the 49ers, maybe IU comes over to the commanders, but they're still going to need maybe a couple more defensive pieces and some offensive weapons at the wide receiver position.

1:31:08Pat McAfee:They spent a lot of money, AJ. They still have a lot of money left. The Brandon-Iuke situation is fascinating. Obviously, just turned down like$30 million guaranteed, just didn't go to work there for a while with the San Francisco 49ers. It's a fascinating situation, but obviously an incredible football player. and if he and Jaden get along, they obviously have the money to be able to afford him, but they can also make other moves, Age. I love the position that the commanders are in, and this comes after we just complimented the Raiders, who might have had the greatest free agency frenzy of all time.

1:31:36Brett Yormark:Yeah, you're right. When I look at this and I say, hey, we need wide receiver help, is there any chance that Debo goes back there on a discounted deal? He goes and tests the waters and says, hey, because I'm surprised he hasn't signed with anybody else yet. Yeah, Debo, Diggs. Stefan Diggs got released by the Patriots, and he has an impending court case coming up in April. But teams are still at least rumored to be interested in him. Jawan Jennings, another guy. Who knows if him and I, you could go from Niners to Commanders, but you could also see that type of situation just because Jaden Daniels is such an appeal at quarterback.

1:32:08Brett Yormark:You would want to play with a guy like that without a doubt. And they've got a new stadium. Things are looking up in Washington, at least in the next five years or so.

1:32:16Pat McAfee:Hollywood Brown also available. John O. Smith available. So they got$65 million to be able to play with. And this is like third wave of free agency, so the deals should be pretty easy to kind of get done at this case. Hey, Commanders did great. Raiders did great. We love what the Titans did. We love what the Carolina Panthers did. Love what the Colts did. Love that. Patriots, though. Con man said, nobody's talking about the Patriots. Patriots were in the Super Bowl. We did good, and we showed them no respect during free agency, is kind of what you were saying.

1:32:48Brett Yormark:Well, a lot of the deals just weren't massive deals. Romeo Dobbs was the only one four years,$80 million. It really ended up being like a four-year,$68 million deal. I feel like Elliott Wolfe has done that better than anybody when it comes to those terms. You know, Elijah Vera Tucker, everyone kind of buried about, hey, this guy's been hurt. He missed all last season with triceps. He has a$250K roster bonus for every single game. Draymond Jones, another guy. But the two really, for me, that stood out were Reggie Gilliam, the fullback, which you're not just going to get juiced up when you see it, and then Kevin Byard, the safety.

1:33:16Brett Yormark:He led the league in interceptions last year. You could argue the Patriots weren't great at actually turning the ball over when it came to interceptions and forced fumbles. I reached out to Debutt. Debutt was like, this is one of my favorite signings of the entire free agency just because when you pair him with a Christian Gonzalez, with a Carlton Davis, that opens up him even more. And not to mention, you know, Craig Woodson going into his second year, one of the bright spots in the Super Bowl for New England, was massive to get that knowledge transferred from one to the other. Did he have five straight weeks of picks or something like that?

1:33:46Brett Yormark:I think he did. He had a couple multiple interception games, too. Like, he went bananas. And, you know.

1:33:53Pat McAfee:And now he's going to be targeted.

1:33:54Brett Yormark:Yeah, exactly. Now he's free to roam a little more, even. You know, like, for the Bears, him and Brisker were great, and Brisker went to Pittsburgh. But they didn't have the lockdown corners that New England had. Like, New England has two bona fide suds, one that's going to be an all-pro, probably highest paid in the history of the NFL, Christian Gonzalez. And then the fullback, I think the biggest thing is when you look at what happened with the resurgence of James Cook, a lot of those yards, a lot of those kind of schemes they had. And granted, the duo was the big thing, two tight ends. He was on the field doing those things.

1:34:25Brett Yormark:And when it comes to Trevion Henderson, I expect him to make a huge jump because of the inclusion of the fullback.

1:34:30Pat McAfee:The Patriots are back. It sucks. And they're making all the right decisions. And it seems like the mass holes are loving every second of it. Hell yeah. They already made it to a Super Bowl. They lose. So we don't have to deal with the mass holes saying, wow, this is such an easy sport. You guys make it so difficult. This is what it is. But then they reload in the offseason. They got a lot to kind of grow off of. And Drake May is only going to get better, we assume. Good for the Patriots. And Tone, as soon as Connor said, you know, we didn't really talk about the Patriots free agency. Tone goes, there's a team that I wouldn't mind talking about with what they did in free agency that I kind of like.

1:34:59Pat McAfee:And I would never compliment them on any other day. So let's go ahead and get that under control. Tone said, maybe not the mistake by the lake up there.

1:35:06Quentin Richardson:Is that what you were saying, Tone? I mean, there's still, let's lock it up, there's still a mistake by the lake. They still have a long way to go. But they did what kind of the Bears kind of did last year. The Bears needed a turnaround big time, and they needed that offensive line. Coming into free agency, the Browns had zero offensive linemen for next season, so they had to go out and address it, and they did. They went and got Titus Howard before free agency started. They traded him and gave him a huge extension. He's been good at the right tackle position, so that'll be good there. Elton Jenkins from the Packers, they got him.

1:35:35Quentin Richardson:He's going to move back to his natural center spot where he was a two-time pro bowler. So maybe they'll be good there. Zion Johnson was the highest ranked guard on the market. Connor and I were very interested in him coming to our teams. I was disappointed to see him go to the Browns. And then Tevin Jenkins is a solid guard too. So they went and got better at every single position on the offensive line. And then they sit there at number six, which a lot of people are projecting they may take a left tackle at six so that their entire offensive line will be new, but it'll be much improved. And that's where it all starts.

1:36:03Quentin Richardson:That's what the Bears did last year. That's what the Raiders addressed with Linderbaum. So I think it's just – I did. I wanted to highlight the Browns. It was weird, but it felt right.

1:36:11Pat McAfee:Yeah, Todd Munkin's coming here in jeans saying, hey, we can kind of turn this place around if we really want to. Andrew Barry, who's the GM formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, now he's with Cleveland, he kind of got his name dragged a little bit because of the hiring process and the head coaching position and how the quarterback thing has all kind of landed. They might have better days ahead. Is Shador their starting quarterback, AJ? Is Shador Sanders starting quarterback for the Browns? Where's Dylan Gabriel in all this? Deshaun Watson's back doing drills. What do the Ohio people think about the Browns next year?

1:36:38Pat McAfee:Because I assume the Miz thinks they're winning the Super Bowl. Is that how everybody else thinks?

1:36:42Brett Yormark:Yeah, I mean, the Miz is his own unique kind of Browns fan. He's much more positive and optimistic than the Browns fans I am usually around. But, yeah, I think people are willing to give Shador a shot as a starter. Now, it is weird. Deshaun could be out there taking snaps. Dylan Gabriel is still there. But I think Munkin kind of being under the radar, doing this, like you say, has shorned up the offensive line. And the fact that Tone is even talking in a positive light about the Cleveland Browns, that's all we need to know. They are doing the right thing.

1:37:10Pat McAfee:How about that, Tone? How about it?

1:37:12Brett Yormark:Yeah.

1:37:13Pat McAfee:We don't know if they're doing the right thing. Tone could be wrong. He is an AP voter for all the NFL awards.

1:37:17Brett Yormark:I should say they're trying. I guess they're attempting, they're trying to build their team up.

1:37:20Pat McAfee:Which we like, and they've been really hamstrung the last couple years with contracts, though. Not that they're still not with Deshaun Watson, but at least they're kind of getting into a later version of that whole thing.

1:37:28Jeff Passan:Do you think it's that big of a deal that Jim Schwartz isn't going to be coming back as their defensive coordinator? Because that's something that no one's really talking about, how they basically hired Todd Monk, and we're like, hey, I'm sorry, Jim, get the hell out of here. We know your defense has been the best in the NFL pretty much for the last five years, but you're not getting the head coaching job. Take a hike. How big of a deal do you think that is? Because it seems like they're doing things right on the offensive side of the ball, but now what their strength was is they're going to have a new coordinator.

1:37:53Pat McAfee:Hey, Miles put out at some point a post about something.

1:37:57Quentin Richardson:Probably. It's his offseason, so that's, yeah.

1:38:01Pat McAfee:I hope he breaks you in half when he's there. He could, for sure. Yes, he certainly could. And you just kind of popped off at the mouth a little bit.

1:38:08Quentin Richardson:A little bit. I was speaking facts.

1:38:10Pat McAfee:He was over there at the Winter Olympics. He was. So maybe he is in a much better position in a Zen wise with Todd Munkin getting the job over Jim Schwartz. We were kind of confused why you would do that. If you're going to do an older coach who's successful at their respective jobs, why not just keep the guy who was led to a historic defense and is probably beloved in the building? and they said, oh, we want something fresh. We want something new. We'll see if the defense responds in the same way. We assume Miles Garrett's going to get to the quarterback. No doubt. We assume he's going to. Mason Graham.

1:38:38Pat McAfee:And I saw Jerry Judy trading with Mr. Golden Feet. Yeah, Rout God. Yeah, Rout God. There it is. I thought he was weird about that. Yeah. And he, what tweet did you see? I'm sure you saw something for somebody that knows what explosivity looks like.

1:38:52Quentin Richardson:Yeah, they said, oh, great. He's trading with Rout God. Maybe he should be trading with Hans God. That's ridiculous

1:38:58Brett Yormark:Jerry Judy has unbelievable hands And unbelievable

1:39:01Pat McAfee:And unbelievable moxie And unbelievable aura And unbelievable hair and chains and clothes As we continue to try our best to fill On the AFC North Because we might be joined by somebody Who just joined the AFC North

1:39:15Quentin Richardson:The team that won the AFC North free agency

1:39:17Pat McAfee:We have audio issues This is starting to become our problem It feels like All fingers in the back are heading right to to the other side. I don't like us throwing everybody under the bus like this, but I do like that we're doing the news. Hey, we got some news. We have somebody connected that we're going to talk to and about for the AFC North, but the news is it's on their end, is what everybody's saying. Oh, man. That's tough. Before we get to more AFC North conversation, let's go to the tennis world. This isn't a fucking hindrance. Man. Okay, run it, Foxy, please.

1:39:52Michael Pittman Jr.:If you're mad with me, I'm sorry. No, I'm not.

1:39:54Jeff Passan:I don't think it distracted you enough.

1:39:59Adam Schefter:That's what I'm saying.

1:40:12Brett Yormark:Did you see a hindrance? He's not the first player this tournament to feel like there's a Corby missed. And Medvedev's probably saying hindrance, is he? Oh, this is a big moment because he might actually have a case here, Medvedev.

1:40:38AJ Hawk:Well, if he asked for it, it means that he saw it, right?

1:40:43Adam Schefter:There's no way it distracted him enough. In the rulebook, if he misses the next ball, then I understand. but we played two more two more shots. It is something different.

1:40:53Quentin Richardson:Now if he if he asked for it it means he saw it right? So if he saw it the only thing I can say is that it was different than normal.

1:41:00Adam Schefter:There's no way it was enough to distract him though. There's no way.

1:41:05Quentin Richardson:Well this is the benefit of the doubt. It's the benefit of the doubt. Players do that all the time though.

1:41:11Pat McAfee:Players do that all the time.

1:41:13Michael Pittman Jr.:Like players do this all the time when they're like this.

1:41:17Pat McAfee:The gesture with his hand was a hindrance for finally getting to it. I was sick of waiting for it. But that whole thing happens in tennis. Bruce, you're supposed to be our tennis guy. That happens. I hate the sport. This guy can't do this whenever it's out of bounds. And then the other guy can say, they interrupted me in the way I'm thinking. And it sounded like the female ref there, I don't know what that rule, the judge, the

1:41:39Brett Yormark:Yeah, the line judge.

1:41:41Pat McAfee:The judge, the super ref in these things. It felt like they were trying to say in front of them, like, hey, are you sure? sure that this was a hindrance. He could have at any moment said it wasn't an actual hindrance. I was making that up. And this was like game winning point situation, right too, Bruce?

1:41:55Brett Yormark:Yes, it was the second set and it was tied 5-5. So that was a pivotal game, a pivotal moment in the match. And Medvedev, he's kind of a salty sawed off prick. He's not giving away any points. He's not conceding any chivalry, giving points away ever. So, yeah, just kind of a classic tennis drama. I hate tennis. I've decided. I've never seen it, though. Why is that a rule? If anyone has played racquetball, in racquetball you can call hinder. If you get in the guy's way and you're in the way, that's like a legit thing. But when you're on opposite sides of the court, I don't care if the dude sits there and helicopters his meat, I'm still finishing the point.

1:42:32Brett Yormark:It doesn't matter.

1:42:33Pat McAfee:Now, unless he helicoptered his meat on every single hit, I guess if it's a little bit different than the other, they could call it a hindrance. I'm learning that. He'd be good. So if he helicoptered every time, I think that would be the normal. But what she was trying to say is the rules are you did something out of the normal. He said it hindered his brain power capacity. You've got to still keep playing. He did, though. That's kind of what old buddy was saying. That was a great point. We did four more points after this. What are we even talking about? Medvedev goes, I know, Stan. I saw it. You can't do it.

1:43:00Pat McAfee:I guess it's also called whenever there's loud, ah! So I guess if you – Do they actually call it for that? Do they call it for that? Because – One more time. Okay, so that's actually a big part of it. I was doing some research. So if every time I go,

1:43:20Pat McAfee:and then I go, that one would be the hindrance. Because it was different than normal. So if I, a hundred times, and then I go,

1:43:32Brett Yormark:they would say, that's a hindrance right there. You're just finishing the point. Exactly.

1:43:39Pat McAfee:And I don't know why they do all the grunting. I appreciate that they have more energy going through their hands than anybody in any other sport. But it is not just like socially acceptable in every other sport to be grunting as loud as you possibly can while doing your job. And I think that's why I like tennis. Okay, now I'm back on it. These people screaming in the middle of an arena. And then now if you don't scream. So they kind of set themselves up. They have to do the most scream they would ever do. Yeah. Because if they get to the point of having to do that, it can't be called a hindrance.

1:44:12Pat McAfee:So now it makes a lot more sense. I just want to let tennis know I'm never watching again because of what I just saw. You're out. He's out. I'm out.

1:44:21Brett Yormark:You're out. I didn't know hindrance was a call.

1:44:23Pat McAfee:It's a call. Yeah, near the taped up fingers guy.

1:44:27Brett Yormark:Bruce grew up playing tennis. Did he know hindrance was a thing? I didn't. I was doing a lot of hindering against the kids playing all year, spiking my racket in the parent-child tournament, and all that. I like that.

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1:45:44Pat McAfee:What's going on here? Can we not talk to these people over in the AFC North?

1:45:49Brett Yormark:They're trying again to their phone. So it was a Wi-Fi issue over there. Also, Bristol was talking to us about losing the feed for a bit, and then they had me pinned. so they were just screaming in my ear while I was trying to talk about tennis. I mean, if Bristol's losing the feed, it's hard to be pointing the finger at the other team. Yeah, it feels like it's probably a bathroom issue over there. That's a good point. It's 100-mile-an-hour winds outside. Are all our satellites up out there? Hawko's okay, though.

1:46:17Pat McAfee:Yeah, Hawko is okay. He looks better than ever. Look at that haircut. He does. I've seen like eight cows fly by during the show. Well, if you can feel it. You can chase it. That is what it felt like earlier. You know how we have that camera shooting out at the gate and then out in the front? I don't think a lot of people know that. people should know that if you're around our property we do see you. If you walk in with a see-through onesie on with your cheeks out with a guitar, we are going to see you. Gotcha. And we are going to investigate. Now we are in Indiana. So the things that we have inside here potentially you know whatever.

1:46:48Pat McAfee:But cameras outside shaking. And then we saw just leaves and shit just flying. It looked like a movie. Bags were flying through there today. We hope everybody's safe. Joining us now ladies and gentlemen is a man who used to call this place home.

1:47:05Pat McAfee:Now he's a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ladies and gentlemen, wide receiver for the Steelers. A man who the Yinzers are going to absolutely love. He'd literally break his back on a football field if it meant he could get a reception. A dog in the purest of forms. Also a farmer, I think. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Pittman Jr. Yay!

1:47:30Quentin Richardson:Thank you.

1:47:31Pat McAfee:Thank you, guys.

1:47:32Quentin Richardson:Thank you.

1:47:33Pat McAfee:Thank you.

1:47:33Quentin Richardson:Appreciate you guys having me.

1:47:35Pat McAfee:Hey, congratulations on being a Pittsburgh Steeler. We're all very excited for you. Yada, yada, yada. Can you please tell me your energy as you go into that Steelers building? Because obviously I'm from Pittsburgh. I've watched your entire career here in Indianapolis. I'm very appreciative of the culture in which I think you operate by. I think it's going to be great for that city. How do you feel as a Pittsburgh Steeler and everything that that city kind of represents?

1:47:59Quentin Richardson:absolutely i mean i would just like to start out with saying that um indy i mean like i've loved my time in indy so much i mean everybody there like it's so hard to leave such a special place um and everybody there that made it like so great so shout out to the training room shout out to the equipment room and um obviously all of my teammates and stuff too but you know like looking forward just just um yeah i mean i just feel like my style of football just just like fits in here um just like that smash mouth football and everything like you know like i feel like that's the way that i play football and and that i'm gonna fit in well here so excited about it fired up i talked to coach mike um and uh and uh everything that he has planned for me and uh it just sounds great so i'm stinking fired up to be here hey i'm stinking fired up for you too it's

1:48:58Pat McAfee:gonna work out perfectly aj has a question for you yeah you mentioned uh big mike mccarthy what

1:49:03Brett Yormark:was your first impression speaking with him and what what about his personality and his passion about football made you want to become a stealer absolutely i mean just like his passion and and

1:49:13Quentin Richardson:like just like the thing or the um stuff that he was talking about or just like talking about with with being more diversified because, you know, like when I was with the Colts, like you saw a lot of intermediate to short stuff, like just work on opening that back up to more of the things I did in my first three years. Right. And like just getting back to that well-rounded receiver that I am. So, and, and then obviously that we know that, that like, that, that Aaron is still thinking about playing or not playing. and then we're fortunate that we got two really good quarterbacks on a roster still, like in Mason and Will.

1:49:54Quentin Richardson:And you guys might have a better sense of Aaron coming back to play than I do, so you guys would probably know something before me.

1:50:03Pat McAfee:No, AJ definitely will. And I think if he was to come back, you would be one of the first people he would probably tell, brother. You are a person that he is going to be good friends. He is going to like who you are, not only as a wide receiver, but just as a human. This guy's a farmer. The way you and his relationship are going to go, I think, if it was to happen, would be spectacular. But on that note, Connor has a question about contact.

1:50:26Brett Yormark:Yeah, Michael, because of that thought right there, have you reached out to Aaron maybe to inquire about either living in his house or just about the area in general? Because that might be a good way to gauge it. Hey, Aaron, can I maybe buy your house off you if he says no? Oh, okay, so you're going to throw the ball to me? or has there been any contact in that sense? Yeah, do it for all of us. As far as where you'll be, yeah, because we'd like to know too because we'd like to talk about that. Yep.

1:50:51Quentin Richardson:Absolutely. So I haven't reached out to him yet. I'm trying to give him his space to thank. Yeah, I mean, like, you know, like, just like, I would love to move in with him, but, you know, after what he said about him and his wife, like, just like, I don't want to get in, like, the way. True. way of them doing their stuff. Got to have earplugs, man. Hey, hey.

1:51:18Pat McAfee:We have Beats by Dre. We need noise canceling if you're going to head out there. I think there's a chance you're going to be hearing a lot of different stuff. Guys in great shape. Great shape. A lot of push-ups.

1:51:34Pat McAfee:He's doing a lot of push-ups. Michael Pippa, you know what we're talking about. We're talking to a brand new Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver. Ty has a question for you.

1:51:43Jeff Passan:Yeah, Michael, we heard that you were in Uganda maybe when all this went down. Did this catch you by surprise being traded? I imagine that would potentially suck being halfway across the world and then realizing like, oh boy, now I got to figure all this stuff out. Or did you know that this could potentially happen and this was maybe kind of an expectation once Alec Pierce signed his new big deal with the Colts?

1:52:06Quentin Richardson:Yeah, so going back, I I actually booked this trip like last year. So obviously I didn't have the complete foresight to see this happening. But as it kind of progressed, I kind of planned for having to potentially make a early trip back. So I actually ended up cutting the trip short by, by six days, but obviously like I was happy to do it because, you know, this is like important stuff. But yeah. So yeah. Yeah. So I was out there for about seven, seven to eight days. Like it's a complete blur because there's no internet. There's no cell service. And we were doing like a safari and a fishing thing.

1:52:52Quentin Richardson:And we got to go to a villages and drop off some food and like stuff like that. So it was great.

1:52:59Pat McAfee:Did they fly a pigeon in? How exactly did they let you know, hey, you're a Pittsburgh Steeler now. And Big Mike McCarthy would like to say, what's up?

1:53:07Brett Yormark:Omar Khan running through the safari with a machete.

1:53:13Quentin Richardson:So there's this one room that has Wi-Fi. And you have to be in that room to get your 3G. Yeah, like your 3G, like with band Wi-Fi. So that's how I found out. And then I got in there. And then everybody's calling me, texting me. I'm like, but obviously, like, as it got closer, like, I obviously knew, knew, like, knew which direction that we were headed, so.

1:53:39Pat McAfee:Did you find any perspective in a place with no Wi-Fi, knowing that you're potentially about to have a new home? Seriously, was there any, because I think you were with, obviously, I don't know who you're with. I don't know exactly the dynamics, but I assume that was very close people in your life that you're traveling, what, 48 hours to get to the middle of nowhere, spending time with nothing else. Did you have perspective conversations about life while you're out there trying to pull Godzilla out of there? I don't know what you're doing in Uganda.

1:54:03Quentin Richardson:Yeah, I mean, it definitely puts perspective on life, you know, like being out there and being with the local people that live there and just see how they live with so much less. And like it just really makes you put your problems into like perspective. to be like, I'm worried about this. And these people are struggling every single day to just live the way that they're living right now. And it just puts like perspective and just being out there is just like eye opening and just being able to help them out and do the little things I could do like while like I was there, so. You pulled a, is this a river monster?

1:54:44Pat McAfee:I don't know what the hell this thing is. What is this? Oh!

1:54:46Quentin Richardson:Yeah, so that's actually the fish that my brother caught. So I caught a much smaller one. That's why I didn't post it. No, definitely pose with that. Yeah, right, right, right. Change your shirt, pose with another one.

1:54:56Pat McAfee:Yeah, did it on a different day. You got to do what you got to do. Congrats on an incredible trip, I guess, to Uganda. And we're very thankful that you're a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll continue our conversation with Michael Pittman Jr. as this hour wraps up on doing the news, ESPN News. We'll continue digitally on YouTube, ESPN +, Disney +, TikTok Live, and X. This man's a Pittsburgh Steeler now. Tone, before we go off air, is there any message you want the world to hear you telling Michael Pittman?

1:55:24Quentin Richardson:Yeah, Mr. Pittman, everyone is very, very excited. I'm not sure if you saw the Twitter reaction. I know you did because I saw you change your Twitter profile, but anything you need in the city, anything, you let me know. We'll get it done. We'll kill someone for you.

1:55:35Pat McAfee:Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

1:55:38Quentin Richardson:I appreciate that.

1:55:39Pat McAfee:Hold on. Hold on. Okay, we're back. Oh, man. That had to be. All right, so we're still live, Michael. We're still live. We're still live. We're just not on ESPN News anymore. We're just only digitally.

1:55:49Quentin Richardson:That's true. It's Feel Good Friday. He wanted me to tell him what the city's reaction was and what they would do for him, and I was telling the truth.

1:55:56Pat McAfee:And the thing about it is when I talked about you going to another team, I actually said this guy is willing to die on the football field. You are all in. Whenever we were having issues or hearing issues about the culture and the buy-in at the Indianapolis Colts, it was like you were the one that I and we talked about as like this guy will always show up. I even said when Jonathan Taylor did the holdout and got paid for it, it was like Michael Pittman Jr. should be the next one. Just put a hoodie on, sunglasses on and do it. You held us together, bro, for a long time. And we all have a lot of respect.

1:56:26Pat McAfee:And the Pittsburgh Steelers fans that are on this show were forced to watch it. So it's like, I think our messaging to people back in Pittsburgh, not that we know a lot of people, we know a good amount of people, is like this guy, it's in his name, Pittman. Like he is supposed to be a Steeler. Now on that note, Tona has a question about the Pittsburgh Steelers journey.

1:56:43Quentin Richardson:Yeah, dude, Michael, there's a lot of leaders in the locker room. A lot of them on the defensive side of the ball, though. Cam, TJ, Patrick Queen, Jalen Ramsey. On the offensive side of the ball, if Aaron doesn't come back, it's you and DK pretty much who are the vets. Everyone else has been there for a while, but they're still younger. Have you thought about your role in the locker room yet, which is loaded with a ton of leaders in there? Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I definitely have to put in my time here first, and I got to learn from them. You know, like I got to learn from TJ. I got to learn from Cam.

1:57:18Quentin Richardson:I got to learn from Aaron. Like if he decides to come back the way that they do things here, because that's one thing that I don't want to do is come in here, stepping on toes and trying to do something that they don't do. You know, like I am a part of their team now and I have to be assimilated like into that. And and and like I have to earn that from them first.

1:57:41Pat McAfee:Nick Moralda in the back also a Steelers fan said you come in and step on some time yeah sure okay you know that's also a injure in the back so I mean that's just one particular Italian injure who is saying that but uh the city's pumped for you and uh good luck I heard uh I just got a message in my ear from the back room you said something about needing to find a farmer to till the land as you're going over to Pittsburgh is that accurate yeah so I'm gonna need a farm

1:58:08Quentin Richardson:manager to take care of the cows, horses, goats, chickens, and the grass and the hay.

1:58:16Pat McAfee:Okay.

1:58:17Quentin Richardson:So that's iron right there. The love horn. What's the tip to tip? What's the inches there tip to tip? I don't know, but she's definitely our widest.

1:58:30Pat McAfee:I was told by Texas people, you're supposed to know fucking tip to tip. That was a question that I was supposed to get an answer for right there. From my understanding of how this conversation was supposed to go, I only have one Longhorn conversation, and it's me coming in saying, tip, tip, what is that thing? Do we got titles or not? So you just kind of ruined everything I had going for my life there, but iron is beautiful. At least six this year. That's a fucking tip to tip if I've ever seen one. Jeez, Louise Pittman Jr.

1:58:59Quentin Richardson:Tip to tip, it's at least bigger than four inches, so there you go.

1:59:03Pat McAfee:That's good for Pittsburgh too, brother. I want to let you know you're going to be impressed with that. We'll see you soon. We hope you're around during the draft. We'll be around Pittsburgh, and we can't wait to watch all of it. Good luck, man. Hopefully you find a farm manager for your tip-to-tips all around there. All right.

1:59:20Quentin Richardson:Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

1:59:22Pat McAfee:Good luck, Mike. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, former Indianapolis Colt. We appreciate your service. Now Pittsburgh Steeler, Michael Pittman Jr. Yeah, Michael! You're supposed to know tip to tip.

1:59:33Brett Yormark:Yeah, that is baseline.

1:59:35Quentin Richardson:He just knows that he loves iron with all his heart. Yeah, I know, but what? Oh, iron, that kind of fits.

1:59:42Brett Yormark:Yeah, I'm pretty sure the other bull is called city.

1:59:46Pat McAfee:and then the other one's called light and then the other one is mango oh man this might be too good to be true for the Pittsburgh Steelers who's throwing them the ball Will Macy I don't know Aaron you guys know I don't know fuck is that guy ever going to make up

2:00:00Quentin Richardson:his god damn mind

2:00:03Brett Yormark:has there been an offer to him do we know that that's a good question

2:00:06Pat McAfee:that was what I learned from the conversation is that Steelers haven't made what oh okay sure what that's what it's waiting on I didn't love that he did deflect my question of him working out and staying in shape directly to fucking. You know, like. Yeah. I mean, that's just the reality.

2:00:22Brett Yormark:It's a good little detour to knock you off. Because I had him. Because I had him.

2:00:26Pat McAfee:You know, like Connor doing the, hey, can I buy your house? That's a good way to, you know, kind of need an answer. So, like, oh, you're working out. What are you working out for? Still playing? Or is this just going to be who you are as a person? He then quickly had to be like, I guess I'm telling the truth here. I'm working out the fuck. Yeah. Nah, bro, I'm fucking. You know, and I respect that so much. That might have been my favorite moment from all Aaron Rodgers' appearances. Yeah. Is that he said a lot. Me too. He was an hour and a half in there. Talked a lot. Complimented a lot of people.

2:00:54Pat McAfee:Complimented everybody. Second favorite. Loved it. And then the only takeaway immediately afterwards was like a picture of him. Love the way graphics departments are working now. Boning. You know, like a picture of Aaron Wood. Yeah. You know, like a picture. Sexually active. Yeah. Like all those things. I was like, yeah, that's good journaling. I mean, people are wondering why the guy looks better than ever. It's not because he wants to continue to spin the pill. He doesn't know that yet. Spinning his pill. Boom. He's spitting pills out. All right. Throwing ropes. Huh? You tell us. Is that what you're thinking?

2:01:26Brett Yormark:I said he was throwing ropes, is what I said.

2:01:29Pat McAfee:Yeah. Shooting ropes. There it is. My bad. No, and also throwing them. We don't know, actually. We don't. You can do both, probably. Yeah, didn't they bend a bullet one time?

2:01:37Brett Yormark:Yeah, they did. Who? Angelina Jolie. Yep.

2:01:40Pat McAfee:She fucking threw that thing.

2:01:42Brett Yormark:Has she been acting in the last 10 years?

2:01:44Pat McAfee:I don't think she has to, but I do not know.

2:01:47Jeff Passan:She certainly doesn't have to. She's probably been in a thing or two, but yeah, you know. I mean, she's got like 40 kids.

2:01:52Pat McAfee:Acting's a good time. Acting's a good mental test. That's what I have realized. It's a good, fun mental test. Can you remember the words?

2:02:01Brett Yormark:Well. You. And can you be good, too? You've got to be able to be good. We've seen people that are terrible on camera. Can you be the word?

2:02:07Pat McAfee:I have yet to see myself do anything, which is kind of interesting. Okay. I've seen a little bit of me. That was a good clip. I've seen a little, a tiny bit of me. Brief clip, but it was good. But it's interesting. I'm getting a chance to do things because, you know, there is a, hey, should try to learn about this particular industry, you know, especially with who we know and opportunities that are taking place, especially with Ari. I mean, Ari Emanuel just comes, hey, you're going to be an actor. It's like, I don't think that's the case. Nope. You want to be a principal in a Super Bowl commercial?

2:02:39Pat McAfee:When is it? This weekend. Where? San Diego. No. I can't do that. Oh, not thank you. You're in a Super Bowl commercial. That's how this whole thing started with Ari, okay? That's literally how this whole thing started. And then I go do the principal commercial. So much fun. Peter Berg's working that thing. So much fun. I mean, it was... I'd never done anything like that before. I got cast as a tree in a high school play. Nice. Okay, I got cast as a tree. I think it was Christmas. Lorman got Santa Claus. Nice. Love that. He got Santa Claus.

2:03:10Quentin Richardson:I didn't know we did that.

2:03:11Pat McAfee:Yeah, it was Miss Something. She was a reading teacher. She was not a big fan. She purposely put me as a tree. I had to stand there for an hour and a half and the door in practice hour and a half to stand as a tree. I had one word I think it was like, hello. You know, so that was like the most I did in acting as a whole. Never done it before. So that whole principal thing was awesome. I had a lot of fun. And then all of a sudden it's like, hey, could you be a drill instructor? And it's like, what's that? That's like the baddest fucking guy on earth. I don't think so. They're like, we would like to see if you could do this, please.

2:03:40Pat McAfee:So then I go down to Parris Island, learn how to be a drill instructor, watch them do their thing. And it's like, hey, you're in the greatest generation and also you're a drill instructor, which is complete opposite of kind of my personality, okay? I was a fat principal that was in. And then all of a sudden, I'm a fucking drill instructor in World War II from the greatest generation. World War I vet being a drill instructor for the Marines at Parris Island. It's like, that seems like a big responsibility. They're like, well, yeah, don't fuck it up then. It's like, okay. So I give that a full go.

2:04:09Pat McAfee:fly to australia to do that so that's my second time acting i'm in australia filming a movie around people that are like shakespearean train fucking doing it their whole lives yeah i've been doing that their whole life yeah so like the it was like a really cool feeling before things are about to start i don't know how many millions worth of everything that's in there you got trucks and kings everywhere and then you got these actors who are phenomenal here and it's like hey we're wasting all this time right now because of you and it's like the feeling i got before that was like sick like that was like uh that was like a cool that was like a cool feeling right there and then doing it it's like wow okay it's fun to like take on the personality of somebody that i'm not fat principal then a drill instructor and then uh i guess they watch like the dailies is what this called we kind of learn about this business they watch like the dailies which is the every single shot basically is being sent to executives at places to kind of watch it i didn't know that obviously at the time i don't know how many people know that but they're watching dailies and they're like, hey, Tulsa King's filming right now.

2:05:05Pat McAfee:They need somebody that's kind of similar to your age and build. Could you be a potential, I don't know, for giving away what I am in that particular thing, but that's completely different. None of these things have been like any character that is me, you know? So I've actually had to like portray things that are vastly different than who I am. And I've been loving learning about it. I've been loving the process. They put a report out that I'm trying to be the next Stallone or something. It's like, thank you for trying to You fucking make everybody hate me, thinking that I'm going to be. There's never going to be another Sylvester Stallone.

2:05:36Pat McAfee:But I am certainly watching and learning and getting an incredible opportunity to work alongside of him. And it's like there will never be another Sylvester Stallone ever. I'm watching this guy rewrite things by hand and then, like, doing it all. So it's like I'm trying to learn as much as I can. And we have an interest, certainly, in the Thunderdome and getting into that world. And I've just been very grateful that I've gotten a chance to see it at a very high end, kind of thrown into the deep end. And I know I don't deserve these shots, and there's going to be other actors that are going to be upset about me getting these opportunities.

2:06:05Pat McAfee:And I agree. This is the first time that we've ever had somebody actually kind of speed up everything, I think. I think that would be a good way to do it. We've never had an Aria manual.

2:06:16Jeff Passan:No, right. No, no, no. But you have to earn them after the first one. Like, the first one you probably get because of who you are. But then if people see your dailies and they suck, like, you're not – someone is not going to put their reputation on the line and a movie on the line for, hey, yeah. It's Pat McAfee. Let's give him, like, you actually have to prove, like, oh, no, this guy can do this. He can do this. So, yeah.

2:06:37Pat McAfee:I just wanted to let people know that I am not under the guise that I think I'm going to be a fucking movie star. Okay? That is, we are just learning about the process right now. And I didn't call Ari and be like, hey, make me a fucking movie star. I'm a fucking movie star. Let's go. That is not kind of how it was being, but, like, I was very thankful that people were talking about. It was very cool. and Ari like the only people he reps at this point because he just he's fucking he might be one of the greatest american dream business stories of all time whenever it's all said and done with what he's been able to do and accomplish and everything like that but it's like they wrote an article about me being the next alone from some what was it variety i think so yeah right or something like that and they're like Ari reps and they listed off who he reps or whatever and it's just like so ridiculous that my name was next to any of those people and i'm very thankful for the opportunities that Ari has presented because this guy's a fucking weapon.

2:07:26Pat McAfee:He's everything he was in Entourage, okay, as Ari Gold. But yeah, I'm trying to enjoy it all, man. I really am. And I'm trying to learn as much as possible about it while I'm doing it. And also respect the craft as much as possible. Reading books about it, watching YouTube videos about it, things to think about. The other actors on set, Goody from Tulsa King, Cashflow, who plays Bigfoot on Tulsa King. These people have a little bit, a lot more experience than I do. like them being so welcoming and like teaching and coaching it's like the drill instructor cast you're with is very good sick yeah they're all like incredible actors all of them oh yeah and they had to spend an entire day getting yelled at by me that's the business entire day entire day oh isn't it fucking nice look at you you fee-fi-fo-fum big fuck this guy's from a family of things and you got me just in his fucking grill you know like this and uh yeah it's been cool it's been fun but there is no illusion where i think i am gonna be sylvester stallone nobody will be the next sylvester stallone and i don't think i covered that uh enough because of how much of a run we've been on so i just want to make sure before we get into the weekend everybody knows that i do not fucking think i am a movie star i am just trying to learn about said business because of how awesome it has been to us as a society and uh yeah it's been really fucking cool scott stone down there at tulsa king this guy og legend been around classer doing his thing out there a lot of good people man have been trying to give me opportunities and uh they have had to tell me what you told me too though because i'm like as soon as i get there i'm like thank you so much

2:09:02Jeff Passan:for the opportunity they're like hey yeah if you sucked you wouldn't be here we're not fucking

2:09:05Pat McAfee:doing favors here right this whole thing i'm like all right i mean we'll see i haven't seen any of but i saw one picture a live picture somebody sent me a live picture of the edit so i fucking held it oh oh so you can see the second and a half so i can see yeah i got half a second of me acting got a little bit of dialogue in there because i've never seen myself so people are like how are you i'm like i have no idea and then i show up at like a scene and i don't have like the fundamentals to fall back on you know because i'm like i have no idea if what i was doing was right so just alright I'm just gonna fucking just see how it goes so we really won't know until all this shit comes out how it is that's an interesting yeah I can imagine that's an interesting mental that'll be fun okay is this going good I have no fucking idea

2:09:52Pat McAfee:special delivery fucking me just going right into a scene with picking people who are multi-millionaires from acting it's like it's been fun it's been fun on that note let's have the greatest weekend of all time hell yeah good work this week boys you too great work this week

2:10:04Quentin Richardson:you too brother work Tony

2:10:07Pat McAfee:Coxy Table, great work this week. You too, brother. Boys in the back, good work this week. Good work, boys. Graph design, boys, good work this week. Good work, boys. Tim and Zito, good work this week. Good work, boys. Shecky Schragz-Orlovsky, good work this week. Good work, boys. AJ, it's been great to see you. Nice haircut. See you next week on Monday. You're going to show up ready to fucking go, and I can't wait for that. Yeah. And baseball. I can't wait.

2:10:31Brett Yormark:That's what I was just going to say. U.S. I mean, you shouldn't guarantee a win, but you can pretty much guarantee. You can guarantee this one. You can guarantee it. You're right. Let me go ahead and put$5 ,000 down on him right now.

2:10:42Pat McAfee:Gumpy, enough with your – Minus$900. Yeah, minus$900. It's not as big of a favorite, obviously, against Italy or minus$1 ,100, which is why they call it maybe worse. A little bit more return on your investment. Yeah, it's huge. It's actually really good. Yeah. And now they're sending me responsible gaming videos.

2:10:58Brett Yormark:Again, the darts got you again. Yeah.

2:11:00Pat McAfee:So, I haven't had this happen to me. after losing the$5 ,000 bet on a minus 1 ,100 favorite and getting mocked and ridiculed across the entire internet world, DraftKings just launches a responsible gaming thing as soon as I log in there going, hey, you want to fucking shut this down for a minute? Yeah, double check this. You're allowed to breathe. You don't have to chase this thing. You can exclude yourself, actually, for up to five years if you would like to ban yourself from the platform. It's like, okay, I understand it was a bad bet. Please. Can you hear me out? Yeah. I was just trying to get a win.

2:11:34Pat McAfee:The boys are going to win tonight.

2:11:35Brett Yormark:You got to plead your case on there?

2:11:36Pat McAfee:To the AI. For America. That's telling me I got a problem. Okay, let me – I'm going to put this bet in while we're live just so it can be real. Still no lineup.

2:11:45Brett Yormark:I'd like to know who's going to be in the lineup. Does he know what time the game is? Who?

2:11:50Jeff Passan:I think D-Row's locked in for this.

2:11:52Pat McAfee:Just double checking. Boys, I want to let you know I'm now winning$555. Now we go. Let's go, boys. And on Monday, baseball still exists. We'll see you then. Have an incredible weekend. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. Thank you all for allowing us to do this for a living. We are eternally grateful and the luckiest dudes on earth. We understand that. We're going to try to respect that forever. And we hope you will continue to love sports alongside all of us. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team.

2:12:20Pat McAfee:Goodbye.

2:12:22Jeff Passan:Shot clocks. Big shots. Upsets. Aces. TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app. Thought Sweetgreen was just salads? Think again. There's a new way to do Sweetgreen. Wrapped and ready, these handheld wraps pack bold flavor and 40-plus grams of protein into something hearty, satisfying, and built for life on the go, from craveable sauces to satisfying textures.

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