PMS 2.0 1527 - Adam Schefter, Paul Skenes, Quentin Richardson, Mike Greenberg, & Bret Michaels

18:53Pat McAfee:Were you going to say something? I was going to call up the Sports Broadcasting Act to read you the rules. I just want to make sure that we're always adhering to the rules, Pat. How much you like to hear the rules. Hey, man. Hey, listen. If you want to guide us in the right way at any time, go ahead and feel free to do it. Now, if I don't think it is important enough to care about, I will certainly let you know. Some Broadcasting Act feels like in this particular profession, we should try to pay a little bit of respect to. Thank you, 1961 Broadcasting Act. Good job. Hell yeah. We appreciate that.

19:22Pat McAfee:But, okay, let's talk about some turmoil, shall we, a little bit of why is this always happening from Ty to you, Shev? Yeah, Shefty, you know, we've talked about this a bunch really over the last several years. It seems like right around this time or right around the season starting, everyone's got an issue with Jalen Hurts, whether it's, you know, the team thinks he's the problem. Anonymous sources are coming right after the league meetings, basically putting all the blame on him. There's still the A.J. Brown stuff going around. Like, what do you read into all this stuff, not only with Jalen Hurts, what you're hearing about A.J.

19:55Brown, and also, why is this just constantly what's coming out of the locker room in Philadelphia? I mean, look, the year ended in disappointment, so people are going to be digging in. And that's a very intense media market, so people want answers. And Jalen Hurts' body language was not always great last year, so I guess people are looking for more explanations. look again i look at it like this the guy's done a lot of things right like he did win a super bowl two seasons ago right where he could have won mvp of that particular did he win mvp no he didn't

20:30Pat McAfee:win mvp of that game i uh super bowl mvp yeah he did he did okay super bowl mvp okay excuse me i stand corrected he's a super bowl mvp two years ago leads me to the victory could have won another Super Bowl. Played well enough. He's been doing this at a time where if we look at his offensive coordinators, he'll have Sean Mangin this year. He had Kevin Petulo last year, Kellen Moore in 24, Brian Johnson 23, Shane Steichen 22, Shane Steichen and Nick Sirianni 21, Doug Peterson in 20. Different offensive coordinator every year. Different offense. Like, I know he's not the quarterback that everybody wants, but how about the fact that he's done a lot of things that no other quarterbacks have done with a number of offensive coordinators.

21:14Could it be different? Could it be perfect? Are there questions this year about what it might be like if Sean Manuel wants him to line up under center, which he hasn't done great, which he's resisted to do in the past? Yeah. Okay. There's a lot of questions, but we're still, I think, taking apart a guy that's had a lot of success in this league. I don't quite get it.

21:35Pat McAfee:It happens a lot though. It feels like it's always happening. What we were saying yesterday is it seems like people are way too comfortable talking bad about the franchise quarterback. Now, you can read that a couple different ways. Are they way too comfortable because they know everybody else feels the same way they feel? So they're like, hell, I'll be the one that anonymously says it, I guess, which I hate, even though you make a living off it. I understand that. I don't really love anonymous sources killing somebody in the same building that they're working for, especially whenever that one guy and what he does on the field helps everybody else's resume out a lot and everything.

22:02Pat McAfee:So I don't love the anonymous source. This guy's the worst. even though we're not using i'm not using anonymous sources to attack and malign somebody's character pat true yeah you're breaking news you're saying yes yes yes i got it yes that's what i'm saying okay so there is a separation so you probably heard me say this yesterday or somebody said this before where it's like hey anonymous sources in sports are crazy i i get like anonymous sources in politics and shit because people could die okay and like sure think the world's gonna happen but in like sports nobody's gonna be dying from anonymous sources i don't think i mean i i would assume not so whenever like it's an anonymous source in a building killing somebody that's what you're saying like hey let's make sure we separate the two from news i don't love that that that may me just speaking me it makes me uneasy we're using anonymous sources to talk about somebody's character or if they want to go on the record and say i think this guy's a jerk hey we'll quote you no problem but it's hard in my mind yes i don't think it's really fair to have anonymous sources questioning somebody's character now if there are a lot of people and you want to write a news story saying there are multiple people that believe this guy's a jerk you know he's rubbed people the wrong and give a specific example okay i mean there there are examples and ways in which you can do it but to quote somebody like this guy's a jerk i don't know i just don't i don't i don't love it there's been places and once again my name's on the show so i can only speak from my perspective of things which you know people get really mad about but it's like legit there's things articles written about me where they get an anonymous a source and i'm like i know who you just want to to get that like you did that on purpose like that is this is a clear i know who said that so you might as well just write who said that in the entire thing i think that's what's really amplified it's like okay so you're just gonna say i you can't say who i am but then just make up a bunch of stuff out of context that isn't true it's like that's disgusting i think i don't think that is how it's supposed to be but on that note we've amplified it.

23:55Pat McAfee:We all have. It's because it's huge news. It's a Super Bowl MVP quarterback. It happens every single year. This is the 10th time we've heard this type of stuff about Jalen Hurts. Hopefully they get figured out over there. Last question as we have Cy Young the legend on deck. Good baseball reference. Let's go down to the Dallas Cowboys. Go ahead, Tone.

24:17Quentin Richardson:Yes, Shefty. Jerry Jones talked a lot at the owners meetings, but one of those things was George Pickens and his contract. What's the latest situation with the Cowboys star wide receiver? And do you think there will be a contract extension? And if not, will George show up to training camp? I know that's a long way away. I'm skeptical that there'll be an extension. It's early. It's April 2nd. But George Pickens is not allowed to be in that building unless he signs the franchise tender. He's not going to sign that franchise tender without there being a long-term deal. I don't see a long-term deal coming into focus until right before the deadline, which would be the middle of July, which tells you that there's a real probability that George Pickens will not be there for the offseason program.

25:01Now, if the two sides can figure out a long-term deal that I think is going to be very difficult, then that's great and good for both sides. They both get what they want. But if they can, and I think it's more likely than not that they won't, now there's the possibility that we won't see George Pickens, who knows when, in the summer. He could come in a week late, two weeks late, right before the start of the season. He's under no obligation. He won't be fined for missing camp because he hasn't signed anything if they don't get a long-term deal done and he hasn't signed that franchise tender. And so I just think it's set up right now to be a very tricky, challenging situation for both sides.

25:40What would be a fair long-term contract for George Pickens? I think the two sides would have differing ideas. He's not going to be there in the offseason program. He's not selling the franchise tender. C.D. Lamb's 34, average a year. Other wide receivers are getting more. What's the number? It's a tricky deal to do.

26:01Pat McAfee:Yeah, but Jerry said he's got long-term plans for Mr. Pickens. He's got long-term plans. He does. That's fine. Let me know when the deal's done. Maybe he gets a little bit of natural gas down there, a little honey hole. Maybe George Pickens gets a tiny shovel to potentially go dig down into the honey hole that he has found at Natural Gases that's right below his feet right now as we speak. Glory hole. Glory hole. Yeah, he'd like that. So glory hole, I believe, is oil. Okay. I believe the glory hole is oil. I'm not sure. Natural gas, I believe there is. It's a bit of a honey hole, honey pot. We're talking two different natural resources here that you can make billions and billions off of.

26:44Pat McAfee:Not everybody loves that. Yeah. Not everybody loves that. And I'll tell you, I think it's a pretty big talking point right now. Certainly. I think it is. It sounds like we got a lot on this land from what I've been understanding. Cody Campbell down there in Texas Tech, he's got a lot of shovels, man. every time I text him asking where I need to start fucking digging he never gives me an answer but maybe one day I appreciate you Shefty you know what you before we go you're the uniform Falcons Pat you didn't ask me about the Falcons clean new look for Atlanta very sharp very cool looking we got yeah oh yeah see here it is hold on can we go back can we go back can we please turn that up did he write it or is he reading voiceover you think turn it up

27:24Quentin Richardson:I once had a dream yes where I was a falcon My eyes were new, fresh, vision like nothing before.

27:34Quentin Richardson:I could see in what felt like four dimensions in time. I was one of them explored. I could now see everything.

27:45Quentin Richardson:Unbounded from the ground, I was let loose. The higher I soared, the more free I became. The sky was all mine and I was the same. I am the fastest animal on the planet. to naked eyes of blur. Swipes of red, white, silver, and black would occur without alert. Pray, you have no time to pray. In this dream, my body was a falcon, but my mind was still mine. I could recognize my city and nest from miles away in detail without trying. All dreams feel real, of course, but this one was different still. A bouncing word I heard upon waking even now gives me chills. Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta. Until no sound.

28:30I could still see everything as it is and was. But now I'm flying on the ground.

28:39Pat McAfee:A new red rush. Oh, yeah. That was Andre 3000? Really? What group was he in? Was he the black eyed piece? ladies and gentlemen just say it with me push that force everybody move to the back of the bus do you want to hunt and hunt with we the type of outcast is the answer there outcast they're in high school just like Lil Wayne at the time they're in high school dropping bangers Rosa Parks you can go all the way back through Quemini I believe they're one of the first DMX Rough Riders Anthem

29:33Pat McAfee:that's the first thing I saw that got me into rap and then Outkast was the next real quick what's that you have breaking news and also and also congratulations are in order to Josh Allen and Hailey Steinfeld for having us clapping cut you out you definitely gave important piece of information out there at the end what you say do we know any more info or we just want to send our love and health and everything to the lovely superstar? Baby girl, that's all we know right now. Good for them. Congratulations. Josh, girl dad's awesome. You're going to enjoy the hell out of it. Congrats to both of them.

30:07Pat McAfee:You're the man, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Schefter. Black Eyed Peas, Andre 3000. Yikes. Come on. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, who we made wait way too long, is a man who's fresh off his first dub of the MLB season. Cy Young winner, a man who at one point was here in Indianapolis, pitching for the Indians, selling out the entire downtown area. Then he made his move over to Pittsburgh, became an instant legend. This LSU national champion's a stallion, a stud, the future of baseball. And he's on the bump for the Pirates. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Skeens. Yeah, Skeens! How you doing, Skeens?

30:41Quentin Richardson:How's it going, Paul? Steely McBeam.

30:42Pat McAfee:Hey, great hat, honestly. I love what you're doing there. I don't know.

30:47Quentin Richardson:It's that Steely McBeam.

30:48Pat McAfee:Yeah, I know. Steely's got a mascot, and that was what they came up with. and at the beginning it was kind of mocked and ridiculed, but now it's kind of just become a thing. I love that you love Pittsburgh as much as you do, Paul. Can we talk about that a little bit? Pirates, notoriously ass. We've been spending money, though, now, and I think you are one of the main drivers of it all because of your talent and the optimism from the entire city behind it. How do you feel this year about the team? I saw you guys watch that social media video where it's Pittsburgh people talking about the Pirates winning, and it does feel as if you guys want to win for Pittsburgh.

31:18Pat McAfee:How is that to start the season here, and how do you feel at this exact moment six games in? Yeah, it's been great. You know, I had a loss of the series in New York and then came back and won the series in Cincinnati and, you know, coming back home at a 500 record and fired up to, you know, have the home open tomorrow. It's going to be a fun year. Okay, let's talk about that New York. We don't want to go backwards, okay? Spaceships don't come equipped with rearview mirrors. They dip. Shout out, by the way, to Andre 3000, who is not a part of the Black Eyed Peas. You knew that. I know that you knew that.

31:52Pat McAfee:Sheffern just embarrassed himself. But we don't need to go in the back. That New York game, okay? That New York game. You just got to eliminate that immediately. Like, how do you go about processing that type of shit? That had to be the first time, long time, that you've ever experienced something. Maybe ever. Maybe your whole life. Like, how do you process that and move on and then come out with your best shit the next game like you did? Yeah, I just got to see it for what it is. you know the it's it's never as bad as it seems it's never as good as it seems so just watching the game you know understanding what went wrong what went well and that's that's every game you know you treat it the same as every game it's just a lot shorter that you can you know a lot fewer pitches that you can look through after a game like that which makes it a little bit easier so it's not it's you know it's nothing crazy just got to get back into the routine and you know remember what makes you good i think you didn't have that many pitches yesterday either feels like we're uh on pace maybe to pick up a couple games you know pick up a couple games like maybe all the way into october maybe all the way into october and there's a new tradition uh there's a new tradition that has certainly captivated the stars it has certainly captivated the universe and it has certainly taken over tone digs's life who's obviously you're a massive fan of the pirates uh we're hoisting things now bud yeah we are uh skeins

33:14Quentin Richardson:and it's a phenomenon. It's taking over the entire internet. Actually, I wanted to throw to the video so the people, if they don't know that, can understand what hoisting the cone means. Billy, what made you the official cone bearer over here in the dugout? Well, Jake made sure that it was in the dugout and if we're going to have a cone in here, you know, someone's got to lift it up. It's not going to hoist itself. So just kept it next to me in the dugout and anytime something good happened, hoisted it up and a lot of good stuff happened. with it so got raised a lot yesterday um and again it goes with the uh the welder's mask or welder's helmet whatever you want to call it um so they work well together and we're looking forward to a lot more airtime for this thing yeah shout out sports net sports net pittsburgh and hannah mirrors was doing the interview there and then billy cook was the one talking and jake mangum was the one who brought the cone into the locker room how did how did this come are you ever going to hoist the cone or is it strictly billy cook's job what's what's the what's the life of the cone like in the dugout right now yeah well the cone the life of the cone it's been getting used a lot uh recently so got to keep that going uh i don't know you know there are probably going to be a number of people that hoist the cone this year he cruised it a few times ward is you know he looked like he was at hogwarts there um nice i don't know the the i don't know the story on the cone And to be honest, I do know there was a shirt that came out in the offseason that said hoist the cone.

34:46And nobody knew what it meant. So we got a traffic cone before, I think, before the Tuesday game in Cincinnati. And, yeah, what the heck does hoist the cone mean?

35:03There's probably a player's parking spot in Cincinnati that was hoisting the cone. After Manga brought it in, he probably just stole it from a parking lot somewhere. But we got it, and it's made its way back to Pittsburgh.

35:19Pat McAfee:And things have been happening. And we all wonder what Fanatics was thinking at the time. We said, wow, just another blatant error by Fanatics when it comes to merch. What Fanatics was saying was, just wait. Okay, this is a pre-sale right now. What you're getting at is about what you're looking at. You said, Matt, who brought in the cone? Who was the one that decided that the shirt needed to come to the dugout? And the dugout now is at a point where we're only winning games. I see you not really giving it much attention there. Maybe you need to start focusing on the cone a little bit more as it walks by you.

35:49Pat McAfee:Show your respect. But you are saying it did start from the t-shirt that was completely wrong, that was telling the future. And now it has captivated the boys a little bit. I feel like that's what I saw with the WBC. Every dugout routine becomes like a part of the team. Whether it's a hand signal, whenever somebody gets on base to it all, we think the cone's going to survive? The cone's going to survive the year? or are we one rut away from Cone getting dropped back off in a parking lot? I don't know baseball culture well enough. How long is this thing going to last? Forever? I really hope so.

36:20You know, the dugout stuff, in my experience, it happens organically. It's not something you force. So the Cone's here. I think it's here to stay. We'll see. You know, hopefully it lasts all the way into October, you know, a deep way into the season.

36:36Pat McAfee:All right, why don't you have cleats on the ground in there for us, keep us updated on how that cone's going to do. But I think when you're hoisting it as high as you guys are, we're going to be seeing that thing. And the welder's mask right next to it. Sweet. I mean, we're talking grit. We're talking blue collar. We're talking why not get a win. We're talking youngest player in long time, maybe ever, to be playing baseball at that level. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Paul, this is nothing new for the Pirates. It's kind of what they do, you know, not great, get a really good guy, draft him, he plays young, and then, you know, Five, six years down the road, he ends up getting traded to the Yankees or something like that.

37:09That's not happening with Paul. We're in a new buckos right now. I agree, which is why I was going to say Connor Griffin is getting called up. He's making his debut on Friday. You guys obviously cut from similar cloth in terms of being like, hey, can't miss prospect. This guy is going to be unbelievable. How much of him have you seen? We've seen his stats throughout his entire minor league ramp up to this point. I mean, it's just ridiculous if you extrapolate it over a full MLB season. How much of him have you seen, and how excited are you to watch him make his debut on Friday? Yeah, I'm fired up.

37:45You know, if Bucco fans needed anything else to get excited about for the home opener, you know, they got it. So it's great. You know, he's super mature. He's 19 right now. You would never know it talking to him, the most mature 19-year-old you're ever going to meet in your life. The play speaks for itself, but the way he conducts himself in the locker room and off the field, it's cool to see. He's going to bring an energy and obviously a skill set to Pittsburgh, but that's exciting.

38:22Pat McAfee:From Mississippi too, right? WBC. Yeah. Him and Maygum actually went to the same high school, I believe. Oh, so he's got some cone ties. Okay, I'm pretty excited. He's going to be up there pretty comfortable. What is life for a 19-year-old going to be like in MLB? You guys are traveling a lot, obviously, right? And then he got a lot of life. Like, he's just built for it because he's played baseball his whole life. Like, how do you kind of get used to being a rock star? And by rock star, I mean, yeah, very popular, very famous, but also on road a lot. Like, that's something that we just assume he's good at?

38:56Pat McAfee:Is that something we just assumed you were good at, too? It's tough. I mean, it's, you know, I'm sure you guys know the life just being on the road and traveling to different places and, you know, competing, going to unfamiliar places and staying in weird hotels and new stadiums and that kind of thing. it's something like it's going to be an adjustment for him he's done it in the minor leagues and it's probably harder in the minor leagues taking bus trips rather than flying and you have better hotels in the big leagues but he's going to be fine it's just some adjustments that you have to make you'll learn you know sleeping eating just little stuff like that that people probably don't think about that you know you learn a lot about pretty quickly once you get called up yeah i wouldn't be able to do what you got i don't think i'd be able to just discipline food food discipline on road very tired obviously team is supplying a lot but just that one aspect of your life whenever you don't really know what the right move is or have something that you can just definitely go and get pillows oh god hotel pillows especially for your big ass head look at that look at that log head this guy i couldn't even imagine.

40:15Pat McAfee:You're putting towels underneath the pillows? I travel with pillows. Smart. That's probably a baseball thing, I assume. A lot of baseball guys travel in pillows? I think a lot of guys do it, yeah. That's a good move, yeah. Because our biggest complaint is always these pillows. Yeah, the beds, whatever. You're going to be laying on something. Pillow's always bad. I like that baseball's got a traveling pillow brigade. You guys just walking in with those things flopping I like everything about that. Shout out to you, by the way. Love what you've done since the beginning of your career with the Gary Sinise Foundation.

40:53Pat McAfee:Obviously, we have matched alongside you. This year, we're shooting for$150 ,000. Can you tell a little bit more about this and why you've remained committed to giving back to great United States Americans? Yeah, it's the Gary Sinise Foundation. You know, this is my third year with them. They do great work. veterans and first responders just supporting them in any way they can. They've let me ride in a fire truck now, which is pretty cool. I got to honk the horn and all that. Wow! Pretty cool! They do a week at Disney World every year for veterans and first responders. One week each. One week for veterans, one week for first responders.

41:41and it's their families. It's pretty heavy. I went down there for a couple days in the off season and it's a lot of women and children, if you know what I mean. There's not very many men there that are, and a lot of single moms, single dads. It's pretty heavy just with fallen veterans, fallen first responders, and they just do a week of healing for them at Disney World, among other things. But they just do a lot of good work, and it's an honor to partner with them again.

42:19Pat McAfee:Yeah, being a tag team partner for Gold Star families is certainly a beautiful thing. Happy to hear that the Gary Sinise Foundation is continuing to help out the families of those who serve our great country, both here locally and abroad. Shout out to everybody. We've matched with you last year. You're going per strikeout, right? Are we doing that again? Yes, sir. Okay, what are we doing? Remind me. Remind me what we're doing. Remind me what we're doing. We've matched the first two years, but remind me what we're doing. Whenever you get ponche, when you get a ponche, okay, what are we doing? We're donating per strikeout how much?

42:54$100.

42:55Pat McAfee:How about you and me? This year we go$500. I like it. Let's do it. All right, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check. Yeah, check on it. Yeah, yeah. His hand's so big. Yeah. Massive. You never want to do that in real life because that's so big. Touch your elbow. Yeah. Speaking of, all right, on that note, last question for you here comes from Connor. Yes, you know, your two starts into the ABS era in the MLB. It feels as though it has been a huge success. Do you have a conversation with your catcher about it? We saw the splits. Catchers are the most successful when it comes to challenges.

43:26Pitchers, okay. Batters, okay. How has that been so far, would you say? And do you think it is something that is going to, you know, in general, help the game a lot? yeah i think it's definitely going to help uh the game i i don't i think in my two starts i don't think i've had anyone challenge uh i haven't i so i'm not i'm never going to challenge uh there's uh because you know as a pitcher you think everything's a strike you get emotional and and uh you know when you when you get emotional that that doesn't help you so um i'll let uh i'll let my catchers uh challenge for me i don't think there have been any hitters that have challenged against me, but it's great.

44:09You know, it's being accurate. Is it a strike or is it a ball? And now there's an answer for that. So it's cool. It's been fun to watch. You know, it's definitely affected the games.

44:25Pat McAfee:You're a previous catcher, we all know, and we asked you this question like the last time you were on the show or maybe two times ago when you were on the show, and you said, I hope ABS never gets in majors. That's what you said. And you talked about the respect you have for umpires and the respect for catchers and framing and how that's a part of baseball is a little thing. It felt inevitable that this was going to come. Have you changed your stance? Are you okay with it now, especially with what you've seen happen? Because there's been some magical moments of catchers just dunking on umpires right in front of their face.

44:56Pat McAfee:And hey! And then another bolt. I don't think so, brother. Hey! Three straight. Right, and now we're talking about some of these umps are getting called out for everything. I mean, not even looking at the bases. It feels like potentially much better for the sport because it does add an extra element of electricity, but also potentially exposing, not great officiating at the same time. I know all those things are potentially why you weren't for it a couple years back. What are your thoughts now, knowing that it is just a reality of baseball for the rest of your career, which is going to go for a long time?

45:32yeah when we talked uh when i was in indy the the experience that i had you know i was a lot closer to college back then and and high school back then than i was to the big leagues uh like just because i had never experienced the big leagues and um so you know selfishly at the time it was like well there are a lot more balls that get called strikes than strikes to get called balls. And so now, I want to say last year I had more pitches in the zone get called balls against me than pitches that were balls that got called strikes. So now I'm all for it.

46:16I'm all for it. It's great.

46:18Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what, the data has certainly opened my eyes. Maybe I am a little bit better than those umpires. Maybe the umps aren't better than me at this entire thing. That is, it's provided incredible excitement. I mean, it won a game last night. It won a game last night for Baltimore. Yeah. I mean, it was a walk-off ABS. Bolt, catcher says, I don't think so, Jack. That was, that was where we were aiming, fella, is what he says to the yump. The yump goes, we're going to take a look at this thing. Let's go ahead. All 20 ,000 of us, let's look at this in real time. Was I right? I wasn't. Damn it.

46:51Pat McAfee:Game over. Strike three. It is an added element of excitement. Can't take too long either. I like how efficient it is. Because if it took too long, then people complain about baseball games being long. I think it's great. And if it's going to continue to make you a better pitcher, brother, let's run that up. We appreciate you for joining us. Good luck the rest of the way. Appreciate it. That was good to talk. All right, we're going to come see you on a road somewhere. Hell yeah. We're going to come see you on a road somewhere. I'm going to see him in Chicago next week. Oh, yeah, against Cubbies.

47:22Yeah.

47:22Pat McAfee:Are you going to – you ever think about doing that maybe with the pitch clock? Start real early so a guy has to lock in. Hold that thing. Ten seconds. Balance point. Is that what this is called? Bang. Hit the balance point. Hold it. And then he doesn't know when you're coming. And then once he looks like he's lost interest, boom, now we're doing it. You know, like they do it in penalty kicks and like breakaways. Have you thought about this and is it allowed? uh it is allowed i don't think anybody's done it for 10 seconds but it seems like a really long time um see i'll think about it i can't guarantee that i'm gonna do it but i'll give it some thought well don't just drop it in a game obviously work on the off season come in next nobody's done 10 seconds you said which makes me out of war shinzu rest in peace nobody's ever done it before you You just sit there.

48:12Pat McAfee:Imagine the reaction from the crowd, too. When's he going to go? When's he going to go? You know, and then, why? Something to think about. Just trying to get better. That's all we're trying to do. Ladies and gentlemen, Cy Young winner, Gary Sinise Foundation donor, and a man who's going to save the Pittsburgh Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh, Paul Skeens. Thank you, buddy. Let's get it all. I don't think he's going to do it. He might. I don't think he's going to do it. He might. Let's pivot from MLB and obviously giving back to great Americans, and let's talk about the NBA on its incredible run.

48:41Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, 13-year NBA vet, a member of the Knuckleheads podcast, friend of the program, Quentin Richardson. Thank you, Rich. Rich, what do you think? You think Paul should maybe try that?

48:54Quentin Richardson:I've never seen that, but you might be on to something. I don't know.

48:58Pat McAfee:See, I didn't know if it's legal. Oh, yeah. I mean, imagine if you're a knuckleballer and you do that. So your body's knuckling while you kind of go in there. Let's talk basketball. Is that legal? Is that illegal? Is that illegal? Luka, immediately, let's talk Lakers. Everybody's going to love this. Me, national doofus, doesn't pay attention to the NBA, especially because the Pacers go from game seven of the finals to the lottery. Is Tyrese Halliburton the most valuable player this year? Something to think about. Now let's go to the Los Angeles Lakers. Luka, he's lost 38 pounds, I'm being told, and he is playing his best basketball.

49:34Pat McAfee:Is he going to be able to lead the Lakers to a title? What's the reality of that particular situation? I know Wemby and SGA are certainly battling for the MVP, and OKC and San Antonio are outrageous. I understand that. But is the LA hype real at this point? And is it only real because we're talking about how terrible of a trade it was for the Mavericks? Like, how should we actually judge this Lakers team? Should it be in comparison to what the Mavericks became after trading them or in reality of this year in the NBA?

50:00Quentin Richardson:No, I mean, in the reality of the NBA, I would, I mean, right at this point, you know, everybody's kind of concluded that the Lakers won that trade, that Lucas should have never been traded. This is just his first full season, you know, as a Laker, getting the full offseason, coming into training camp, knowing this is his new home. I think the Lakers absolutely have a chance to win the championship with Luka after him. I mean, it doesn't have to mean it's going to be this year, but I think, yeah, they got time to work. And I mean, he's showing that he's got way more in the tank than I guess Dallas or anybody thought he did.

50:32Quentin Richardson:But I mean, this is a superstar we're watching, and he's dead smack in the middle of his prime. and he's giving everybody buckets right now.

50:39Pat McAfee:J.J. Redick becomes the second Lakers coach, I think, to win back-to-back 50-game seasons, him and Phil Jackson.

50:45Quentin Richardson:Shout out J.J. Shout out J. Redd. You know what I'm saying? That's my former teammate. Shout out J. Redd. That's big time.

50:52Pat McAfee:Hey, that is big time, especially because he was just a podcaster who was getting interviewed with LeBron James. That's why he got the job. Other people should have gotten the job. He is now a certified good NBA coach. Are we allowed to say that? Is that what people would describe J.J. Redick as?

51:04Quentin Richardson:What else can you call him? His record says, So, I mean, the numbers are the numbers. They don't lie. I think he's doing a hell of a job considering all of the circumstances and the huge change in the middle of everything, getting Luka and acquiring him. And I think he's been – him and the whole coaching staff, they've been amazing at trying to, you know, flip things and flop things around to get this team in position to be their best. And, I mean, right now they're sitting at number three. And, like you said, this is second back-to-back 50-50 winning season. I mean, that's a good coach in my book.

51:32Pat McAfee:Yeah, I would say. And I'm happy for him. Former player, former media member, having success in L.A., doing his thing. And also, he was catching a lot of heat early. And he has not changed the way he talks to anybody. So, I respect and appreciate that. Good luck to the Lakers. Let's move to NBA championship conversation. Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, you were speaking of great coaches. Joe Mazzola is the all-time leader in win percentage. No big deal. It feels as though the Boston Celtics are once again back. Jason Tatum, triple-double. Jalen Brown, 43 points. Can you just explain to me, first of all, how someone can even do that in Tatum and how impressive that is from a basketball standpoint?

52:08And then the other part of the question, how is it not automatically going to be Celtics versus Spurs in the NBA Finals?

52:17Quentin Richardson:So what Tatum is doing from a basketball player standpoint is incredible in my eyes. to be back this quick from that type of injury and then to be back in this type of a form as quick as he's gotten to this, like being able to put up these numbers and play these minutes and look this good doing it. I expected him like, yeah, when he said he was coming back, I expected him to be back and, you know, kind of working his way back into getting to somewhat of a full strength. But he came back already far ahead of what I thought he could have been, and he's far exceeded what I thought he could be doing.

52:50Quentin Richardson:I mean, the numbers, the rebounds and assists are crazy right now. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, he's come in and he's getting double-double after double-double. He's seeing double teams. He's passing the ball well. And all of the talk about him and JB, they should please silence that yet again. They said it all the way up until they won the championship. Then they wanted to rekindle that situation with this. And they've shown that they played together, you know, basically Tatum's whole career. And JB only played one year without him. And, you know, last night he still went and got 43 while JT put up all of those crazy numbers.

53:23Quentin Richardson:So, I mean, that shouldn't even be a conversation about whether they could play together and whose team it is. They're both superstars and they both are leaders of the team. And that's just what it is.

53:32Pat McAfee:Double-double against a double team. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, they're the troubled team. They seem to be a real problem up there. And the fact that they're able to win as much as they were without Tatum, okay, because we're watching without Tyrese here in Indiana. actually we're not I haven't really seen much I've seen easy I'm not letting my eyes see it because my last Pacers experience was the best game winners in the finals we're having so much fun I mean Tyrese game 6 think about the Madison Square Garden that wasn't even a game winner that was going to overtime that thing shot up to the clouds Jim Irsay caught that thing Madison Square Garden did the whole Reggie Miller thing.

54:18Pat McAfee:I mean, we had a lot of time. Now we're in a lottery. Now we're in a lottery. The fact that the Celtics have been able to continue to be great without Tatum that entire time goes to your exact point about them not even, you know, hey, this is just an incredible duo that is unbelievable at basketball. And Joe Mazzullo might be an actual psycho when it comes to the entire sport. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was playing war noises, I believe, during training camp to get the boys ready. That's what Luca Garza said, like, okay, it's different. up his explosions and gunfire. Well, the coaches versus media game.

54:48Pat McAfee:Yeah, exactly. You know, where it used to be just like a fun, ha-ha, let's have a good time. 89-0 or something like that. It's like they're just a different – he's so young, too. I mean, he's so young in the game. Took over a great spot. Good for the Celtics and obviously the Spurs as well. Speaking of the Spurs, Tone has a question for you, Q Rich.

55:05Quentin Richardson:Yeah, I do, Q Rich. The Spurs and SGA and OKC, one and two seed, very, very fascinating in the West right now. I believe the Spurs are 4-1 against OKC on the season. What are your thoughts on that matchup in the West going into the playoffs and then also the potential MVP between Wemby and SGA? Right now I have SGA as my MVP. I think everything that Wemby is doing is definitely unbelievable. And think about this year. I feel like you've got four or five guys that could be MVP in any other year. Joker hasn't gotten a lot of talk, but he's still averaging a triple-double. He just became official.

55:43Quentin Richardson:he's going to average a triple-double for the season, and he's leading the league in rebounds and assists. That's crazy. What Wimby is doing is crazy. What Luka is doing is crazy. If Cade doesn't get hurt, he would be in the conversation. What Jalen Brown has been able to do has been crazy. He would be in the conversation. So it's like it's one of those crazy years. But for me, I think what SGA has been able to do, putting together his fourth straight year, averaging over 30, you know what I'm saying, joining the class with MJ, breaking Wilt's record. the last time he ain't scored 20 points was December of 2024.

56:16Quentin Richardson:I think he's showing that he's a dominant force. Not that these other guys aren't, but you have to couple that with the winning aspect. He has the best team in the NBA coming off a championship and they ain't letting off the gas. So I still think it's his MVP and it's his time right now.

56:31Pat McAfee:You're the man Q, Rich. Thank you for taking time with us. We can't wait to continue to chat with you. And is SGA going to do it again? Nope. This guy never misses. but wendy he's everywhere you're the best ladies and gentlemen that's cute rich wendy was asked to give three bullet points on why he should be mvp his first one was defense right he's half together yeah just i think i'm pretty good he's a search everywhere hour two on the other side we got mike greenberg brett michaels be a tell everyone something nice might change your life.

57:04Quentin Richardson:As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.

58:02Quentin Richardson:We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.

58:10Pat McAfee:Sports! Are the greatest since April 2nd, 2026. And on this particular program, we'll have Brett Michaels in this hour. Wow! Also, Mike Greenberg, we're incredibly lucky that we get a chance to do this for a living. Sports are the greatest thing of all time. They continue to deliver, even though football isn't happening right now. and meaningful baseball is happening every day for 162 days. It isn't happening. The Crown basketball tournament is doing it for us. It is, though, yeah. Yeah, it matters. You only got a couple opportunities to win the Crown, and the Crown was certainly within reach for two teams that played last night.

58:49Yeah.

58:50Pat McAfee:Oklahoma beats Colorado. Baylor beats Minnesota. Now tonight we find out if Stanford or the West Virginia Mountaineers will go on to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. I feel like they're probably going to beat Rutgers. I think I did at one point pick all four of the teams on the left side of the bracket to win each game. So I don't think I had it. So you got it right. I don't think I had a certain pick, but at one point I knew Oklahoma was going to win and Baylor was going to win. And then on the right side, West Virginia is about to get it done and the Blue Jays going to get it done. So that's happening tonight.

59:22Pat McAfee:Meaningful stuff. We got Final Four this weekend. We got golf that's only going to continue to get stronger. We got NFL news that's only going to continue to cook. This morning, Kirk Cousins was signed to the Las Vegas Raiders. He is a man who's going to be taught, I'm sorry, brought in to teach Fernando Mendoza how to be an NFL quarterback, the things to do on the field, off the field, in the meetings, in the locker rooms, whenever you're taking the boys out. Now, we think Kirk and Fernando will be a good duo, good tag team in there. We think him and Kurt Cignetti have a similar, you know, we're all kind of in the same football nerd atmosphere, it feels like.

59:59Pat McAfee:So we're pumped for them. We're pumped for the Raiders. And Kirk Cousins, once again, gets another guaranteed contract in the form of about$20 million. $8.7 million coming from the Falcons. $1.3 million coming from the Raiders this year. And then a$10 million roster bonus three days into the 2027 season. But nobody's expecting him to actually play for that team. They'll just have to pay him that amount of money at that particular time. So the Raiders basically kick a$10 million roster spot to next year. They'll throw it in the trash because the salary cap probably only going to go up and to the right.

1:00:32Pat McAfee:They're paying him league men. He's going to mentor Fernando. Feels like a smart move for the Raiders if Kirk Cousins can play football good. There were some times last year where we saw him play football. He was not good. There were some times we've seen him last year play football. He was good. You take him back to the times in which he was in the Vikings offense. with Kubiak as his coordinator, he was very good. So we assume he'll have success. We assume he'll be good, Kirk Cousins, and we assume this will be great for Fernando and the Raiders going forward. Now, when Kubiak coached Kirk Cousins, Hembo says, good things happen, good things happen.

1:01:04Pat McAfee:You know what else happened? He got like$130 million guaranteed from the Falcons. He moves on from there. He's with the Raiders. Toxic tables here at Boston Corner, at Ty Schmidt. You gave me a side eye after I said the NFL is always delivering, especially with news, Kirk Cousins being the last thing we need to talk about. It wasn't about the NFL. It's just you listed off a bunch of sports that are going on, and you seemingly left out one very, very particular one that everyone's pretty freaking hyped up about. So I watched this one last night that you're talking about, I do believe. I don't think so.

1:01:32Pat McAfee:This guy's dropping straws through. It was in the middle of, like, an arena. Okay. And there was a circle that had a bunch of sensors on it, and then he had to lift the straw to a different height, and he was competing against others to see who could get to the highest and drop the straw through the circle. It was intense. Did he do it? The one that I saw was the winner. He dropped it from about yay high. Is that on ABC? It has a win, too, like that old trash game on your phone. That's what you're talking about because that would be a sport. How about the one where there's like a big tire in the middle and then there's two dudes wrestling?

1:02:09Pat McAfee:I love that one. With Mr. Jack? Not a tug of war. Mr. Jack did used to do that in elementary school. Shout out to Holiday Park. They tore that place down. That was a shame that they did that. That was our elementary school. Now, these two guys are wrestling, and one of them is trying to get the other one into the top. Oh, okay. Is that what you're talking about? Are you talking about the real American freestyle wrestling where Cale is doing interviews, guys are cutting promos, and Tristan Wirfs, NFL lineman, hops up on a stage and says, I'll wrestle this guy, sure. And then all of a sudden, the Buccaneers people are like, Like, is this, are we watching WWE?

1:02:45Pat McAfee:What's going on here? Because that's actually some good shit. Oh, yeah. I like that amateur wrestlers are now potentially getting a professional platform because there wasn't really anywhere to go. Kurt Angle, a lot of amateur wrestling people got mad at Kurt Angle for getting into professional wrestling. But it was like, what else am I, what do you want me to do? MMA, I guess, at the time was a little bit smaller. He would go on to become one of the greatest WWE people of all time. But I remember amateur wrestling people being mad at him. If they could take amateur wrestling and make it a professional league, That would be dope, especially as somebody who's from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where we've got a lot of wrestlers around us.

1:03:16Pat McAfee:A lot of call for you. Is that what you're talking about? No, that's not what I'm talking about. But I know eight guys who would be top of the table in every single one of those sports you just mentioned, especially wrestling, because of how strong their hands and forearms are. What are you talking about? I'm talking about the freaking Premier League. Soccer's not happening. The premierest of Premier Leagues. Darts. Darts. We're not doing this. Look at those matchups. Look at those matchups. Look at those matchups. Go, Johnny. We basically have four Super Bowls kicking off at 2 o 'clock. And, yeah, sure, you might look at the headshots and say, there's no way that guy can jog a mile.

1:03:56There's no way that guy's last meal wasn't under 4 ,000 calories. Guess what, man? That's what darts is all about. Okay? So, yeah, you can judge them by how they look. But why don't you judge them by how they throw?

1:04:08Pat McAfee:I'm judging them by how they act, not by how they look. Exactly. Okay? Exactly. Uh-huh. That's how they act. This is how they act. A lot of this. A lot of this. A lot of... Fish on! A lot of that. We love reeling in the fish. They do that a lot of my... Some of them do have moxie. Okay? Yeah. Some of them do have moxie. 180s. Fish on. Finish it on a bull. Do you know what that's all about? Because it feels like you don't respect exactly what it is all about. It is all about... I want these darters to deliver for the adult culture that you are describing there. But I'm worried that these darters only think about darting when they're darting.

1:04:44Pat McAfee:We need them to start focusing on darting when they're not darting. I can't be having guys pulling their triceps after one. One hundred and eighty. It looks like they're potentially going to have a heart attack with over kind of stimulation whenever some things start happening. They start, ah! They look redder than me. These guys are redder than me somehow. And then I'm supposed to think that they have enough oxygen in their brain to go stand up, have enough balance, and deliver me a triple 20, triple 20, triple 20. I just want one of them to focus on it. I just would like one of them to say I could be good at this.

1:05:17Pat McAfee:You can't be a pro athlete and have gout. It just doesn't work out. The gout is what the kings do. Yeah, exactly. The kings. So sorry we got eight kings up there. Who's the last player? Who's the last NFL player? Who's the last NBA player? Who's the last MLB player to play through Grout? I don't know. I don't think there ever has been one. Exactly. It's crazy. It's crazy to think, oh, Foxy agrees with you. Shut up, Foxy. Joining us now. Joining us now is a man who probably has a good opinion on this. I would assume so. Yeah. Listen, I'll watch for the entertainment. I don't know how they're playing all that music.

1:05:50Pat McAfee:Okay? I don't know how that's working. I do appreciate their interest. Johnny B. Goode actually wrote in his will, Chuck Berry, he said, But look, the only song this song is available for is Johnny Clayton. And not to mention, see his favorite athlete, Stephen frickin' Bunting, the bullet. I just want these guys to just, I want these guys to focus on what they're doing, especially if I'm back from across the pond on them. All they are is focused, man. They're so focused. They're sucking down McChickens and McDoubles like there's no tomorrow. I don't know if they have that over there. I know D-Bone does.

1:06:23Pat McAfee:Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who might have an opinion on this. I assume he's been to an event. He's been covering sports for society, basically, for 30 years now. Zero time Emmy Award winner. Host of Get Up, who celebrated eight years today. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Greenberg. Yay, Greenberg! How you doing, Greenberg? I'm doing great. It is a pleasure to be back on, but no one is happier about it, as you know, than my wife, Stacey. I think I mentioned this to you when I ran into you in Phoenix the other day. she just said to me like two weeks ago she said to me how come you haven't been on McAfee's show in a while and I said I don't know maybe he's mad at me about something and she gives me a look and she goes what did you do?

1:07:09So I'm telling you right now no questions asked she was on your side

1:07:13Pat McAfee:Okay good we'd like to hear that Shout out Miss Stacy we certainly appreciate the hell out of that and we're never mad at you Greeny never could be. Around you there were some questions but we just decided to stay away as opposed to dive in. We should have done more of that. We know you're very busy, and we're appreciative of your time. Getting a chance to catch up with him at the league meetings coming out of a workout. Let me tell you, Greeny in, like, kind of gym leisure. Jack, yep. Yeah. Jack, he's got it. He's in shape right now. Greeny, you're in great shape right now. And I'll say this.

1:07:41Pat McAfee:Also, I don't want to get, you know, too complimentary here this quick because we're only a couple minutes into this thing. Skin was glowing. Hair was strong. Perfect. I mean, hair was very strong in there. covering sports 30 years good beard yeah fastball was reaching triple digits it was too i mean we were picking things apart oh no let's not do that reasonable takes on everything and then also some questions it was it was a great time the other day thank you for spending it with us we genuinely appreciate you every time well it's always great to see you guys it had been much too long we caught up on a variety of things i think i told you about the way the encounter began um which is that after i finished working out there was this one little bathroom off to the side of the gym and i was going to go in there just to wash my hands because I was going down to have breakfast, but it was occupied.

1:08:26So I'm waiting outside and I hear from inside a toilet flush and the door opens and it's Connor. And so we, we greet each other amiably. And, and I, he says, I'm going to go down there. Our meeting is over there. I said, all right, I'll be there in a little while. And then I thought about it and I said, I'm not going in there. I'm not, I'm not going to go and wash my hands in there. There seemed very little chance that I was going to emerge from that room cleaner than I was when I went in. So I went and found a different bathroom. So that was the beginning of our encounter on Tuesday. Yeah, the morning dump on a con, man.

1:08:57Yeah, little do you know, I smeared poop on your back, bitch.

1:09:01Pat McAfee:That's on you. There's a chance that that was on your seat in the room as well. We appreciate the fact that you trusted the room more than Connor's bathroom. On that note, a wonderful image walking out of the bathroom that early in the morning being Connor. And then Connor with a quick boom right to you. And then moving. Wonderful way to start the day. Obviously, we're celebrating the NFL out there, and that's what the league meetings are as a whole, kind of what the future looks like. How do you feel about this Kirk Cousins thing with the Raiders? I think the deal, I don't know if you've seen the way the deal has been put together, genius here.

1:09:33Pat McAfee:It's a genius deal by the Raiders. They're paying league men, and then next year they owe a$10 million bonus, but they'll just kick that off the side. And then obviously the 8.7 coming from the Falcons on the offset lane, which feels like a smart deal from the Raiders. I like it. How do you feel about it, Greeny, out there? I feel great about it. I just learned about that, about the particulars of the deal as I was waiting to come on when you were talking about it. And I completely agree with you that this is, when you look at the way the deal is structured, there's no losing scenario. It's a no-lose deal for the Raiders.

1:10:08And most importantly, I have a philosophy that far more young quarterbacks in the NFL are ruined than are developed. and the Raiders are a team that has gotten almost everything wrong, it feels like, for such a long time. And now, just in this little moment here, it feels like they've become the team that gets everything right. I loved everything that they did during this offseason, particularly signing Tyler Linderbaum. I love the way they're making aggressive moves to put something together around their young quarterback. The hiring of Clint Kubiak is an absolutely outstanding one. He's one of those guys in that line of offensive-minded coaches who are going to be, are going to give you as good a chance as you can have of developing a quarterback.

1:10:45I liked that they were trading Max Crosby. Obviously, the way that turned out, I don't blame on them. But to continue to put more and more pieces around him. And then most significantly, I love now that they're not forcing him to be the guy, not just starting week one, but starting like July 15th or whatever day they all show up at training camp. You don't want to have everything be on his shoulders, no matter how pro-ready he is. And I think Mendoza is as pro-ready as you can be for a rookie quarterback. I have always believed that getting a veteran in there to mentor him is an outstanding move.

1:11:18Cousins is a perfect one. The combination of Cousins and Tom Brady being in the organization, I don't know how much better Fernando Mendoza could have it than he has it right now.

1:11:28Pat McAfee:Yeah, and on that note about Kirk Cousins, his personality feels like one that is going to gel well with Fernando, and Fernando is going to gel well with Kirk Cousins. And Fernando is not a guy who will feel, like, threatened by this, and I don't think Kirk will either. Kirk's been in this situation before. from the human side, let alone just on the field side of him being comfortable with the offense and being able to tell Fernando what he needs to be looking for in the offense in which the head coach is going to have for the entirety of his career. The human aspect really works too, I think, Greeny, which I think is a huge deal.

1:11:58Shefty made a great point about this this morning when this story broke. It happened while we were on, and I hadn't thought of it this way. Kirk Cousins did not choose to go to Atlanta with Michael Penix there. Kirk Cousins went to Atlanta believing he was going to be the starting quarterback, no questions asked, and then they blindside him by taking penics, and he winds up in a role where he's part starter, part mentor, and because he is such a consummate pro, and I think from what everyone says, such a good guy, he'd probably handle it as well as that situation can be handled. He's coming to this situation with his eyes wide open.

1:12:30Everyone knows this eventually becomes Fernando Mendoza's team, and Kirk Cousins, I have to believe, would have had other opportunities in other places. So he's choosing this willingly. He understands that part of his job, maybe the most important part of his job, is to help Fernando Mendoza get ready. So he's doing that of his own accord, which means, I think by definition he's comfortable with it.

1:12:50Pat McAfee:Fernando will be visiting the Raiders next Tuesday. Shefty just broke while Greeny was giving that answer. Shefty's on top of him, man. Isn't he? Always. Oh, man. Tough to have combos with in real life. Or about music. All the combos. Yeah, he thought Andre 3000 was a part of the Black Eyed Peas, which was certainly... Which... No, I'm not asking. That's closer than I would have thought Shefty would get. Andre 3000 is from OutKast, and that is infinitely closer than I would have guessed Shefty would be. He went for it, though. He did go for it. Yeah. He went for it, though. And we didn't expect him to go for it, but then he said, that's Andre 3000 there?

1:13:32Pat McAfee:I was like, all right, okay, let's go ahead and dive in a little bit. Shefty, he's a weapon, dude. He is. Okay, let's talk about him being a weapon and kind of just like a massive piece of the NFL's universe. The newsbreakers are a massive piece of the NFL universe. Obviously, it's a job that pays very well, but it also provides a lot of conversation to grow the league as a whole. I think the NFL is great at that. I'd assume you think the same exact thing. Now, Brazil just got announced for another game. Germany's getting annual games. England's getting annual games. Australia is getting Rams Niners.

1:14:04Pat McAfee:That's a huge game that is happening down there. And then coming out of league meetings, I guess a big initiative was like international, international, international. What are your thoughts on the growth of the NFL over the last 30 years? Because it does feel like there may be nowhere near their peak of just printing money. Seems like it's only going to keep going. Greeny, do you agree or no? Yes, for sure. Bob Kraft said it the other day, and this is what's going to happen. Ultimately, and I don't know exactly how soon, every team will play 18 games, and every team will play one international game every season.

1:14:36So there won't be any advantage or disadvantage, and you just do the math, and if there are 32 teams, that means there will be 16 international games per season. And they will move them all over the place. The NFL has been printing money. They are essentially an ATM, and they are almost exclusively a domestic product. If you think about the other sports that we consider to be our sports, I mean, baseball is enormous in Japan and has grown in other places, but it is ridiculously popular in Japan. Basketball, and in part because of the Dream Team and other things, basketball is a massive international sport.

1:15:10It's enormous through Europe. It's enormous through Asia. It's enormous through the entire continent of Africa. Most of these sports have hockey has enormous, enormous following in Eastern Europe and other places like that. Pro football is basically popular in this country and maybe a little bit in Canada and increasingly in Mexico. There are billions of people that are not yet part of their of their audience that they are going to cultivate. So I don't know how quickly that will happen, but I don't think there's any obvious reason to think the world won't fall as in love with this sport as we have, because it's just so incredibly captivating.

1:15:45So I would say there will come a time when pro football will be as popular internationally as basketball is, let's say. I don't know how long that will take. Probably not five years, but probably not 50 either. So something in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 years from now, I think the league will have grown that much more. Now the question becomes, will those other countries have their own leagues, right? And in the NBA, there are professional basketball leagues all through Europe and all over the place. Japanese baseball, I've asked many people who are over there, they say Japanese baseball is a step above AAA baseball.

1:16:19That's how high quality the baseball is. Will there be NFL, pro-American football league? Hockey, a lot of international leagues as well, yeah, a lot of them. Absolutely. Almost all of these sports have international leagues. So will all those people just become NFL fans, or will all of a sudden pro football spring up in all of these other places? I don't know the answers to those, but I think there are, What I'm trying to say is there are tens of billions of dollars left on the table right now globally by pro football, and they will go get it.

1:16:48Pat McAfee:And I think that's why flag football is so important to your last point right there. World baseball classic, you just watch what it did, being a global thing. The Olympics, whenever teams or sports were able to play in that particular thing, you get a unifying feel from all these different countries for said sport. I mean, the amount of people that became hockey fans in America because the boys and the girls won, it's like, hey, we like that. if football could have that in 10 years from now that would be insane but i think flag football would be the only way in because i think the pads and the helmet and everything that it takes to kind of get into tackle football it's like the flags can actually be dropped at parks and like at fields and like hey put these on and then once they start watching i assume the nfl is going to do a great job with the videos and commercials and i assume the social and digital and how to play flag football but it's like that's much more accessible for people i think that don't really They know the game.

1:17:37Pat McAfee:I think it's, let alone the women's flag football that can still, there is so much. It feels like we're just, we're not even near what football could be. And we are grateful for that. Yes, we are, Greeny. Yes, we are for that. I got to tell you, my son and his buddy were over. So 22, 23-year-old guys. And I'm watching college basketball. You know, it was the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. And they were dying to watch the flag football, whatever this is. two weeks ago when all those guys did Logan Paul and all the NFL guys played against the flag football players. So I will admit that I would not have turned it on otherwise, but we wound up watching the whole thing.

1:18:14And I will tell you, I was endlessly entertained. I thought it was outstanding entertainment. I thought seeing the NFL guys trying to figure out how to handle it. Luke Kuechly got a penalty on literally every play because he just kept hitting people. Brady threw the best pass of the day. Tom Brady right now would be the starting quarterback on at least seven teams in the NFL. And I think when he said he was only kidding about coming back, I don't buy that for a minute. I think he actually is, or at least did give some serious thought to coming back. And why wouldn't he? He would be better than the starting quarterback on a lot of NFL teams.

1:18:48All of that said, I was endlessly entertained by the flag football, and I would watch it again. If there were flag football to watch, I would continue watching it.

1:18:57Pat McAfee:Yeah, I love Tom Brady. He got to showcase a little bit of the pastime. Now, his team would only score that one. That was it. There was not a lot of other highlights as Team USA, the actual flag footballers, dominated the NFL guys. But yeah, Tom Brady showcased that he still got it. He said that the owners weren't specifically impressed with the idea of an owner playing in the league as well. What side are you on? Obviously, as we're going into a negotiation, that's probably going to be a part of it all. But the flag footballers that we have for Team USA, I think we're going to be winning every world championship.

1:19:26Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. I don't know how long it's going to take other countries to figure this one out. How about that move? Huh? That was the one, running full speed. He, bang, bang, and a boom. Boom, bang. And they couldn't, you just couldn't. And then Luke Kuechly just, to hell with him. Yeah, screw this. To hell with this guy. And Jalen Ramsey, the same thing. So I'm not 100 % sure if flag football to tackle football will be 100 %-er for these international people that we get in. But the more people in the ecosystem, the better. And I'm excited for the game to continue to grow. Okay, the boys have a couple other sports questions, if that's okay, especially in the time that we're in right now.

1:20:00Pat McAfee:Of course. I know you know nothing about the sport of baseball. We're kind of the baseball people at ESPN now, but Ty has a question for you. Yeah, Greeny, I actually do view you as somewhat of a baseball historian, and this might be a little bit overreactionary because it has just happened. But listen, the pitch clock was huge, cutting games down, so we're not spending three and a half to four hours when you're watching every single game like I am. But do you think it's possible that ABS is the best development in the history of baseball. I mean, early on, we're only six games in. We got games ending on this.

1:20:36Like, it has added just such a flair and an excitement to really every game, and it doesn't matter when it's coming, whether it's the third inning or the ninth or whatever part it is. Like, it has just been a rousing success so far. Yes, I agree. And I would quickly say that the people who run Major League Baseball are always criticized and sometimes very much deserved to be and never given any credit for some of the progressive moves that they make against the will of all of the traditionalists who sit out there and never want to stop telling you how much better the game was in the 60s. So they deserve a lot of credit for incorporating the pitch clock, again, against a lot of people's will, and now incorporating ABS, which I have been screaming for forever.

1:21:18First and foremost, the idea that umpires' mistakes or officiating mistakes are just human nature and a part of the charm of the sport has always been ridiculous. As I wrote in a book in 2010, Mike and I did a book, and we said the human element in sports sucks. It's the reason that we have deodorant. It's the reason we don't walk around smelling bad all the time because we can do something about it. So why in the world wouldn't we use technology now that we can overturn terrible calls? I agree with you. The way they do the ABS, which has shown sort of the – there's like this drama, this dramatic build.

1:21:55For those of you who watch tennis, you've seen the exact same thing. When they show you it's in, it's out, whatever it is, you build to that moment. Yes. Is it the greatest change or invention in the history of the sport? I'd have to give that a little thought. I mean, there was a time when they lowered the mound. There was a time when there's the dead ball era. There have been some pretty significant changes in the history of the sport. But in recent memory, I think the two that you mentioned, the pitch clock and the ABS, have made it more watchable. See, that's the thing. all other sports make changes in order to become more watchable and baseball and baseball fans and baseball traditionalists have always been hesitant to accept that and that has never made any sense to me so while i don't know if i'll say it's the greatest move they've ever made i think it has been a rousing success and will continue to be you go back to the nhl work stoppage i believe

1:22:44Pat McAfee:gary bettman changed some rules to make it more watchable hockey because he was getting to it It got rid of kind of the goon. The goon kind of got out, but they said it made it better. The NFL has been very, very aggressive in how do we make this more fan-friendly thing with the rules changes. MLB doing that with the pitch clock, I loved it. I loved everything about it. I hated the whole pat-down, hand-check, spider-tech thing that they have in there. Like, Mason Miller the other day comes out to Korn. That entrance was incredible. Pittsburgh Kid, by the way, whatever you're talking. And, yeah, Pittsburgh Kid, he's throwing 104.

1:23:16Pat McAfee:He comes out for that entire thing. It's a big entrance. Old buddy comes out with the horns. Evan Diaz. In L.A. They come out to that band. And then ding, ding, ding. Whole dramatic entrance. And then who do they meet? And they think the ump giving them a full pat down. It's like, that can't be the end of him coming out here. Okay, can we at least wait until he throws a couple pitches to do that? Like, how do we make that better? I didn't like that dad's like, yeah, welcome to the show. And it's the ump. I need your hands. I need your hat. I need your belt. I need your hat. I see your fucking glove.

1:23:42Pat McAfee:I need everything you got. Like, that was just a weird thing to them to do. But it feels like that was a massive, apologize for the pun here, sticking point for baseball as a whole and pitchers. Is that accurate? Because they're sticking to this, it feels like, in the most ridiculous time, just to showcase that they're doing it, they are doing it. This is a real thing. Why is this such a real thing, and why don't they all just use it? How they do it is one thing. That they are doing it is the right thing. You're trying to increase the offense in the sport. So I'm older than any of you guys. I remember a time when everything wasn't a strikeout, when they weren't bringing in guys who were throwing 104 in every inning.

1:24:24So the offense, as the game went on and as the pitcher's arms wore down, it was more exciting to watch because you would see base hits and you would see guys getting on. And if you give pitchers unfair advantages, you allow them to violate the rule, either the spirit of the rule or in this case, the actual rule in ways that benefit. it would be like changing rules in pro football to benefit the defense. If you'll notice, Oh, we don't want that 50 rule changes in pro football in the last 30 years. Every single one of them is intended to create more offense. You want more things to gamble on. You want more things for fantasy.

1:24:58You want more things that are going to bring more people to the game and more people into the tent. So you can quibble with how they're going about doing it. I won't disagree with you there, but that they are doing it so that pitchers cannot have an unfair advantage. I actually think is the right thing.

1:25:12Pat McAfee:to do i did kind of quibble there a little bit if i had to say so myself but i appreciate you laying out why we wouldn't want that as a society so go ahead and pat them down there i want big you mentioned a lot of different eras there in development science human science was a big era for baseball as well i remember that one we all did y 'all watch that then rules obviously everybody can't be just take you know we can't be 280 pound baboons everything that just is not a healthy thing that's supposed to you can't be 5 '8 sir and come back at 6 '4 like that is not how this can actually go from a health perspective but if we're getting i mean it's natural humans see big oh like we will pay attention to that i also think the stars performing is a big deal this show hey guy can you tell me a little bit about this this dude i think he's driven to be a pitcher and to prove that he's an mlb pitcher and everything like that i think that's his natural mentality after we got to talk to him a little bit i'm not saying other people haven't found that out but my feeling after I talked to him is like, oh, this guy wants to be viewed as a pitcher.

1:26:09Pat McAfee:Like he would like to be viewed as a good pitcher. So it seems like he's going to do that this year while also raking for the Dodgers. You as baseball historian, baseball lover, can you try to explain this for me to explain it a little bit better, like the pat down that the Umpstead?

1:26:43We'll be right back.

1:27:06Quentin Richardson:car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies wherever you get your podcasts.

1:27:41He's the best player that ever lived. I don't think that's an exaggeration at this point. He is someone who, if he were to pitch every five days, would right now probably be the betting favorite to win the Cy Young. So if you think about it, we've seen pitchers win the Cy Young and the MVP in the past. Not frequently, but it happens. Most of the time, voters will not vote for the pitcher as the MVP because they'll say he has his own award. And I've never actually agreed with that. But let's even say that is the case. Pitchers have their own award. It's the Cy Young Award. And position players have their own award.

1:28:16It's the MVP award. He could legitimately win both. He is inarguably the best offensive player in the game. And he is on the short list of the best pitchers in the game. That's never happened before. Certainly 100 years ago and beyond that, pitchers would also bat. And Babe Ruth is the most famous example of a guy who was a great hitter and a great pitcher. But never, and to this extent, never over this prolonged period of time, by the time he was hitting more home runs than entire teams were in the late 1920s, he was no longer pitching. To be as dominant a starting pitcher as there is in the sport and the best offensive player in the sport at the same time has literally never happened.

1:28:57Or if it has, it not only hasn't happened in this century, it didn't happen in the previous century. So I don't think it's an exaggeration right now to say he is the best player that ever lived.

1:29:07Pat McAfee:The GOAT. Okay. Happy to see that we're a part of that. And I hope he's on because he's already been on the mound for a World Baseball Classic Championship, right? He's already been on the mound in the ninth inning for that. Got the dub. It'd be sick to see him, game seven, kind of handling that thing. And then also, why not? Yeah, or walk off. Why not? Why not? And then on the flip side doing the other thing. He's special. and he seems to be so locked in, especially with everything that has happened around him, Greeny. That's all just like a blip, obviously, in his past and his recent history that we have kind of learned of this sensation, the greatest of all time, you call it.

1:29:41Pat McAfee:But there's been a lot of shit. There's been a lot of shit here. And when you've got to focus on a tiny little baseball, I don't know how he's been. I mean, that's an incredible. And then there's two streaks happening right now that are just outrageous. Longest on-base streak in MLB at 36 games. Oh, yeah, longest scoreless inning pitching streak in MLB, 22 and two-thirds. And what if, I mean, Bruce just asked this question as he reminded me of this tweet from MLB. He's like, what if this just goes forever? What if this never ends? What if that number goes to 180 games and this guy just continues?

1:30:16Pat McAfee:There's a chance that could happen. Shohei will follow along with all of it. Okay, let's pivot away from baseball. Even though we've fallen in love this year, I don't know if you've witnessed this, we've done the baseball this year. I don't know how long it's going to last, but we've been doing it. because the sport is better i mean it's more exciting to watch for the reasons that we've just outlined it is it is more exciting to watch a baseball game than it was seven or eight years ago and i think it's only going to continue to go in that direction yeah i'm a simpleton you make you make it better i'll go that way you know i think i'm probably a good little thermometer you know how's this guy feel he's a dumb dipshit you know that is probably a good idea baseball good right now you know what else good college hoops and it's different it feels like good con man yeah greeny i feel like the final four has a lot of juice i believe we got a hembo stat earlier this is the first time both games are under uh two or three point spreads yeah here it is two spread two points rather uh how do you feel about this weekend uh arizona michigan feels like a dream matchup for the final four then near national championship matchup and then uconn illinois the The UConn finish was incredible, and Illinois has kind of slowly dominated a lot of teams on their road to the Final Four.

1:31:29What do you kind of expect out of Saturday and then inevitably Monday? Illinois is really big, so I watch a lot of Big Ten. I went to a Big Ten school, so I watch the Big Ten all year. Illinois is really big. My instinct is to say that I think they win that game, but after what I saw Connecticut do on Sunday, you just can't bet against them because that was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. This play, this moment that you're showing right now, I think now that we've had some time, we did the show on Monday morning and we were almost wall to wall with it. But then I had a couple of days that I was traveling and thinking, I think it is, I think it goes with the single, among the most dramatic moments in the history of the sport.

1:32:13Like those one shining moment montages, all that stuff that you see. It goes with Leitner. It goes with Chris Jenkins. It goes with Lorenzo Charles. I think it's that significant when you consider who it was against, when you consider that was in the Elite Eight. And I think it has to go with right in the group with the greatest moments in the history of the tournament and of the sport. So I wouldn't bet against Connecticut, but I think Illinois is the better team, and I think they win. Michigan-Arizona is like I heard Charles Barkley say that's Ollie Frazier. They've been overwhelmingly the two best teams.

1:32:47That game Michigan played on Sunday was over in the first ten minutes. against Tennessee. They're ridiculously good. But I think Arizona has been better. And I think the single best player on the court is Acoff. So if I had to bet on it right now, I think I would bet that I would bet Arizona, Illinois, wind up playing for the championship on Monday night, and I would bet Arizona. I think they've been the best team in the tournament. I think there were moments all year where they looked like the best team, and I think in the end they are the best team.

1:33:16Pat McAfee:Yeah, Arizona's outrageous. just obviously have knocked off some big names in their run in this. Co-Apede, who committed on our show to Arizona, who has football family in this entire thing, he's been special, man. He's breaking freshman records all over the place. Then you go back to that UConn, the shot you're talking about being in the pantheon of March Magical Moments, March Madness Magical Moments. He's a freshman from Indiana, sends his team back to Indianapolis, which is where he's from basically right here. I mean, there's just so many storylines around all the different games. March Madness' numbers are up immensely.

1:33:48Pat McAfee:I don't know if you saw that, Greeny. We're touching like 19 million for some of these games. Obviously, sports are fantastic, but these types of things are back and good for society. And the Elite Eight's good. Final Four's good. These guys got the mentality they want to win it all. Pete Thamel just reported that Dan Hurley was quoted as saying in his press conference today, we came here for rings, no watches. Okay. Love it. Good to know. I guess you get watches for the Final Four. Oh, I did not know. Yeah, so they probably asked him. about the gift bag, potentially how that whole thing went.

1:34:18Pat McAfee:We would like to be perfectly clear. We did not hear his actual quote. We are just strictly making up the context around Pete Thamel's quote that he has given here. But they certainly asked him about how nice that watch was and how many watches he's got. And Barr came right out of his mouth. He's insane. Is this how insane in a good way? He loves, he's passionate. He loves his team. This man is a maniac. Is this college basketball like since the beginning of time? because Bob Knight obviously remember that. I got a chance to watch Coach Huggins. I mean, he was an intense guy. Coach K, obviously, pretty animated over there.

1:34:54Pat McAfee:It feels like College Hoops has a lot of passion, a lot of pageantry, a lot of emotion, and a lot of head coaches that are kind of the staples of the sports who are very charismatic, I would say, in its entirety. Is this how it's always been, Greeny, and what are your thoughts on it? Yes. Well, because players have always come and go, and the coaches are the constants. the coaches have largely always been the biggest stars in collegiate basketball in particular. You know, even the greatest players in college basketball historically would only play three or four years, whereas the coaches are there forever.

1:35:25So when you think back to UCLA, yes, if you know about it, you would think of Alcindor and Walton. But the reality is you think of it as John Wooden's run. You think of Coach K and Duke. You think of those eras because the players come and go and the coaches remain the same. Michigan State basketball is Tom Izzo at this point more than it's Magic Johnson. The one thing there with Hurley. So I had him on get up on Monday morning. And I really regret that I had not seen this moment at that point. I don't know why I didn't see it. I don't know when that video went viral. I raced right out of the studio on Monday morning at 10 o 'clock and raced to the airport to fly to Phoenix.

1:36:05So it wasn't until I got to Phoenix, I landed whatever time, you know, six, seven hours later. that I saw this. And so I so regret that I did not ask Hurley what the hell is going on there because, I mean, Bob Knight, I never saw him do that. I never saw any coach, no matter how intense they are. I have no idea what that moment is about. I know they both downplayed it, and obviously there was no outcome. But can you imagine if the official were to call a text and the outcome of this game actually turns on that? So I don't know what in the world he's doing there, but that's something I've never seen a coach do.

1:36:42Pat McAfee:According to our source, Ciz, close to the situation, they're telling us that he couldn't hear what the ref was saying. The ref was trying to tell him something. He couldn't hear what he was saying, so he leaned in. And then he has a very good relationship with said ref because we know he does have relationships with the refs. So it just kind of, that's how it all came to be. I think that's why both the ref and he downplayed it. And I think a lot of, Coach K, I think immediately said like, Like, thankful that the ref did not decide to make that about it. Like, it was interesting how everybody, a part of it, spoke about it.

1:37:13Pat McAfee:And then all of us outside were like, that's an insane thing to happen in real time as outside the bubble. But Coach K, I think he said, like, in there, you know, like there's just a little bit different. And they were talking to each other. He was saying something to them. Nonetheless, insane storyline of this entire matchup. I don't know. Well, the quote I saw from Dan Hurley, and I don't know if he was kidding, is he said that he thought the ref was coming in for a chest bump. And I'm thinking to myself, the ref is not supposed to chest bump the coach. Pretty cool moment, though. After the game or at any point.

1:37:46Can you imagine if that had actually happened, if the ref had come running over? Hey, coach, what a moment. I'm thrilled to have been on the court. Let's chest bump. Like, that's not something that an official does either. So it's just a weird-looking moment in the basketball game. And, again, I am so regretful that I hadn't seen it. So I didn't get a chance to ask Hurley about it on Monday.

1:38:06Pat McAfee:That would have been so sick. Are they tapping each other off? Could you imagine a full – Hate me, Hurley. That's not what happened. Yeah, that would have been so cool. Then he goes to the next ref. Next ref comes in. The whole line. Oh, that would be amazing. I thought there was a chance before we reach out to our source that he was potentially like maybe thinking that that ref wanted Duke to win and like was maybe some calls of him going, what now? We win, bitch. And then that not being – like because you can definitely believe that that's what he was doing there. And then they said, no, great relationship, trying to hear what he was saying.

1:38:43Pat McAfee:And then him saying just – I mean, I think he does just say stuff, though. I think that is a part of the game up there. The boys love him, though. I mean, old buddy Monson made the shot, said he's his role model. He's his mentor. He's everything. And he does yell at him. He gets after it. It feels like that's how you win in college hoops. And we're excited to watch this Final Four this weekend And in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana, I think they're going to do battle out there. Let's go back to the NFL here. Tone has a question for you.

1:39:08Quentin Richardson:Yeah, Greeny, earlier in this conversation, you talked about NFL teams ruining young quarterbacks. I'm glad you brought up the Jets so I didn't have to do it. And you're also a big fan of the draft. That was 30 minutes ago.

1:39:19Pat McAfee:Yeah, I remembered it.

1:39:20Quentin Richardson:I wrote it down. You obviously host the draft. You host a draft podcast, first draft with Mel and Field. So I wanted to bring up, I saw on Get Up this morning, you guys did an alternating mock draft or you showed alternating mock draft where Ty Simpson was taken 33rd to the Jets. Do you think Jets fans would be mad about that with all the draft picks they have in 2027 and the quarterback class that is supposed to be coming out in 2027? Or do you think Jets fans would be okay with that early in the second round? I think Jets fans would be okay with that. I think that there is some logic. I think it was Tim Hasselbeck who said today, there is some logic to packaging.

1:39:57The Jets have the 33rd pick and the 44th pick. to packaging those and moving up and taking him somewhere in the first round. If that's what they decide. If they identify Ty Simpson as a guy they believe can turn into a great player, and as you guys well know, there are very mixed opinions on him. Everything historically about him, there is trouble. So I told you this the other day, McAfee, but for those who have not heard, I think this is an important point. One year, when I was still hosting Mike and Mike, the draft was in Chicago, and I got on a plane to fly from Hartford to Chicago, and I happened to be seated just randomly next to Bill Pullian, who I used to call the Frank Lloyd Wright of the NFL because he was the architect of all those great teams.

1:40:37And I grew to know him and really, really like him a lot when he was at ESPN. And he kept... Oh, no.

1:40:44Pat McAfee:Drafted me to Bill Pullian just so I'd get that in before Greeny went after it, and he lost his son. Oh, jeez. Your connection's unstable. It's on our side. Isn't it a big apple? It says our connection's unstable. He was just about to tell us everything. Yeah, he's... He told me. He was giving us the key to life. He's on the inside, too. I'll never forget. There. Okay, Greeny, you're blurry, but the message still remains. I'm blurry, but I'm back. Yes, you are. Let's hope that this works. I think my signal is good. I hope that everything is good and that you guys can hear me. So, Pullian said to me, he said to me, you don't draft the outliers.

1:41:22You don't do it. because everyone will point to the one success story of the guy who didn't have the 40 time and didn't measure the way you want him to. But what they don't show you is the 15 guys who failed. So you don't draft the outliers. So Ty does not check any of the boxes. 15 starts. He's only six foot one. He doesn't have a cannon for an arm. There are all of these things he doesn't have that would suggest that there is risk involved. Now, I'm not an evaluator. I'm just an aggregator of what people say. There are a lot of people who know a lot about quarterbacks, Dan Orlovsky, Jordan Rodgers, and many others who are super high on him.

1:41:59If the Jets are high on him, then it might make some sense to package their two twos, trade into the back end of round one, A, to make sure you get him and no one beats you to him. But secondly, maybe more importantly, to get that fifth year, because if he's going to be a developmental player, then you want one more year of him being tied to your organization before you make a decision. With regard to next year's class, I will just say this. If I could, if I could tell you how many times I heard people identify this year's class, 2026, as the year that was going to be loaded with quarterbacks, we're going to have Garrett Nussmeyer and we're going to have Drew Aller and we're going to have Cade Klubnick and we're going to have all of these and it's going to be loaded.

1:42:41There's going to be five first round quarterbacks in 2026. And now we're sitting here fighting over whether or Now Ty Simpson makes it two. So I would not count on all of those things working out next year the way everyone anticipates. You don't sit around and wait. There's only one Arch Manning. If you identify the quarterback and you like him, you take him.

1:43:00Pat McAfee:Well, we'll see if Arch Manning at Dexter or Texas. Sarr came out and said that they feel different this year. They feel different this year. They're going to go on a run. And we believe towards the tail end, Arch was, he's a bad Manning out there. He was a bad Manning out there. so maybe he'll go next year Dante Moore also going back to Oregon for another year sellers I mean there's a lot of return back to college to say hey let's maybe get a little bit better before we head up to the NFL and let's also make millions of dollars in modern college sports before we do that Greeny we can't thank you enough for taking time out of your life to chit chat with us brother guys it's been much too long don't be a stranger let me see you um we'll be in Pittsburgh so if you have time for me I would love to come by uh I'll be there starting Tuesday night for the draft so I assume you guys will be there all week or something close to it so if you have time for me I'd love to come back yeah definitely we will certainly be out there we will see you Tuesday or Wednesday whenever we get out there we can't wait to watch you crush it on the first night of draft and I want to let you know Greeny if you want to hang out here for about a minute and a half or so yeah yeah Greeny I got good news for you I'm just eyeballing you from afar you and your family I know that there's some people that you hold and very high regard without ever having to really ask you how you feel about the person you don't understand what i'm saying sure so you know in pittsburgh during the draft friday night a man a yinzer a legend will be performing a free concert alongside wiz khalifa for the draft ladies and gentlemen joining us now a man who's going to get a motivational speech from Mike Greenberg as soon as he shows his face on this show to have a great performance whenever he performs at the draft in Pittsburgh on April 24th.

1:44:50Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, Brett Michaels, the Poison. Yeah! Hey, Brett. Hey, good to see you, Brett. How you doing? You got me fired up. I'm ready to get in there right now and start this concert. Yes, he is. Hey, Grady, why don't you let Brett know what type of thing he needs to bring to this draft. The draft's only gotten bigger and bigger. The draft is now a spectacle. The draft is coming to Pittsburgh where Brett is from. It's going to be the biggest and best of all time, Greeny. Let him know what he needs to be thinking about as he takes the stage for the NFL draft. I'm telling you right now, Brett, first of all, it's a pleasure to talk to you.

1:45:25I've been a fan for decades. And I will tell you that this will be my sixth year on the draft. The draft has become like the Super Bowl. This is no small or a gig. I want you to approach this as though this is like playing halftime at the Super Bowl. There's no difference. There's nothing smaller about it. The audience is enormous. There will be more people there in Pittsburgh live watching you than are actually in the stadium when the Super Bowl game is being played. Consider this the biggest. Go out there and consider this the biggest gig you've ever had in your entire life and just destroy it on that Thursday night.

1:45:58Woo! Greeny!

1:46:01Pat McAfee:I'm going. I'm going. He's ready. He's ready. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, it's Mike Greenberg. Thank you. Yeah, Greenberg. I just got to say, I'm a fan also. Oh, shit. We hung up on him. I'm fired up right now, Pat. I'm fired up. Brett, he didn't hear that. We hung up on him. No, he's still there. Hey, did you hear he's a big fan of yours, too? I'm still here. Yes, I did. That makes my day. Thank you. I'm a football fanatic. I'm going to see you there. We're going to talk life, football. I said many times that sports, football especially, music saved my diabetic life. and gave me inspiration. You just got me fired up.

1:46:37It's ridiculous. I got chills. I'm fired up. Me too. Me too. A pop to you out here. A pop to you. Hey, Grinny. Look, I'm not making that up. It's the yinzer in me. I'm pretty good downtown, everything.

1:46:49Pat McAfee:Oh, I like that. I like that. You're killing it in that. And Grinny, one time with us, please. Every rose has its own. Nailed it. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. That's my green bird. All right. I want to tell y 'all, it's going to be, I'm so fired up. Wiz and I are going to bring it, and we have a title for it. We're going to have the black and yellow, nothing but a good time, and nothing but a good draft. All killer hits, no filler. Okay, so that's the title. Hold on. We've got to go back to it. It was a little long. Okay, but we got it. Hold on. I didn't know I was going to have to take it. Okay, so it's the black and yellow, nothing but a good time, nothing but a good draft.

1:47:32all bangers no filler is that what all killer hits no filler all killer no filler okay black

1:47:42Pat McAfee:and yellow nothing but a good time nothing but a good time great song ain't nothing but a good time oh you're getting me look at me yeah okay let's talk about this honestly genuinely you are Butler, PA, Pittsburgh man. And you've obviously went on to have immense success. Obviously, every yinzer proud to see another yinzer have great success. You love the Steelers. I think you have been very adamant and open about how much you love sports and appreciate the Steelers. I assume this was a massive call whenever you're asked to perform at the draft for the city of Pittsburgh that will never get a Super Bowl.

1:48:19Pat McAfee:This draft is the Super Bowl. So this is a massive football event in Pittsburgh. I assume you were very, very elated whenever you got the call for this, Brett. Is that accurate? Beyond accurate. First of all, on a very sincere note, I want to say this. When I got the call about doing this, I was talking with everyone about it. I'm a 100 % guy. As you as a fellow Yinzer, we're 100 % guys. And I just want to say, it was like a bucket list dream come true. Besides, I also told him, you don't ask me to come up and perform at this on Friday night. I said, I'm going to take gaff tape and gaff tape myself to the podium.

1:48:59So one way or the other, I'm going to be there. I've had duct tape all ready to go.

1:49:04Pat McAfee:I was going in. I was going in. I like that. If you would have taped yourself there and Roger Goodell had to come out and stand at your podium for every single draft pick, that would certainly be a great way to get a part of the Pittsburgh draft. You and Wiz are going to be performing together. How's this go? So here's how me and Wiz, right? We got together. We met at Jay Glazer. We were throwing a party. We were raising a big charity event for the fires that happened. And long story super short, we went there. I was jamming. I brought up some stuff with some friends of mine. And we were on tour.

1:49:36I said, let's just grab the band. Went over and played acoustically for a lot of people. Wiz and I started just singing songs, doing stuff together. And it became, that's where it all kind of started right there. and we said, we're going to take this to the draft.

1:49:51Pat McAfee:Okay, so are you singing together? You're doing your song, his song, together songs? Here's what we're going to do. The way I feel it, we're designing a set together. And I got to say this to Wiz and his team and Will and everybody also from Pittsburgh and our team, everyone is getting along unbelievably great. Everyone's like, here's how the stage could look. Where are we going to put the DJ, the double drums, and then we're going to mash the setup. And I think the way we'll do it, when we hit that stage, do a couple of ours, a couple of theirs, and then come together and do one big grand finale.

1:50:26Or throw it into the middle of the two and just mash it up. But nothing but hits from both of us.

1:50:32Pat McAfee:Yeah, all killer, no filler, baby. It's black and yellow, nothing but a good time, nothing but a good draft.