PMS 2.0 1535 - Quentin Richardson, Mark DeRosa, Sidney Crosby, Daniel Jeremiah, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

19:05Pat McAfee:Let's go to some shoot sport conversations. Ladies and gentlemen, the last two nights on Amazon Prime, we have watched a play-in game, something that has become a little bit of a spectacle to fill in between the end of the regular season and the playoffs to maybe get some more names involved. This year, a lot of names involved. LaMelo Ball said, how you doing to the world? Avdia said, hey, rest of the country, I've been over here in Portland, kind of doing my thing for a while. Steph Curry and Draymond Green introduced themselves back to the world. called Paulo Bancaro is getting destroyed on the internet, but he can turn it all around in one swift swoop.

19:40Pat McAfee:Joining us now is a man who can break down and play games a little bit more and also tell us what we need to be watching for in these games. Are we seeing if Steph Curry's shooting at a bigger hoop than everybody else? Because it's starting to feel like he is. And when he was doing that before, I know I was wearing probably a bigger shirt. I was a little fatter probably then. It was years ago, years and years ago. But in fact, that's still in there, I think. I think that's the win. He can get you some wins. And if 36-year-old Draymond Green, I'll punch you right in the face. And he did. Anytime.

20:12Ladies and gentlemen, Q Rich.

20:13Pat McAfee:Yeah, Q Rich! That was awesome to watch. What up, fellas? Golden State was awesome to watch. I mean, granted, I had to watch it this morning. Okay, that's 100 % on me. I fell asleep. The West shit for the NBA is very difficult. I have a kid. I have a pregnant wife. And I have a full-time job. So there is – it's going to be tough, those late-night games. and I will kind of doze away. But if Steph Curry is going to be playing like this, I will certainly stay awake. You know, the Lake Show was the late show back in the day because Kobe was doing his thing. Steph Curry took that West Coast late-night game, kept people up for a long time type of basketball for a while.

20:47Pat McAfee:Is he back? Are they back? And is Jimmy Butler – how much should I be believing that this is happening over the next couple months, K-Rich? Listen, I mean, Steph Curry, as long as he's healthy and he's able to play and run around, he's always going to be the equalizer with that jump shot and with that three-point shot that he has he's probably the most deadly guy in the nba shooting the ball of all time and i mean when whenever he's always there's a chance that he could he could hit one and and everything changes that's the type of player he is it just takes one to go in and we saw that that exact example last example last night and he got going and he carried him through i mean him and and and draymond's defensive IQ and the way that he balled out defensively and locked up on Kawhi, those two dudes turn back the clock and they move on.

21:34Pat McAfee:Okay, so talk about turning back the clock a little bit, you know, because sometimes for some people that have been through everything before and have experienced all the highs of the highs, sometimes they need the bigger stages to kind of wake up. You know, some people, I don't want to say you're waiting for the bigger moment, but certainly turn their entire everything up whenever it gets to a bigger moment because they know that it matters more, especially 82-game season, a lot of different time to have success and downfalls and everything. Do we think that that team is a team that has been to the dance so many times that is like dance basketball is when they're playing their absolute best every year?

22:10I mean, I think absolutely for those individuals like Steph and Draymond. They've been in so many big moments and they know what to do and know what it feels like to be in those positions. This isn't new to them. This is like another game. And they've been in it and they performed at that level so many times to, you know, overcome those moments is like instinct to them. And that's why teams like that with those type of players has been around the block so many times and still can play right now and still can dial it up. But they're always going to be dangerous in these play-in and play-off type situations.

22:44Tell me about Charlotte now. Brand-new team, feels like.

22:47Pat McAfee:Miles Bridges obviously been around. Happy to see him have his success. but LaMelo new to the scene. Obviously Khan going to be brand new to the scene as he continues to do his thing. Charlotte as a whole to an entire generation of NBA fans, probably new to the scene. Tell me about this squad and what you like about them and how are their chances against Orlando to move on to take on the Detroit Pistons. Hell yeah. It's going to be, it's going to be a hell of a game tomorrow night here and here in Orlando. And I mean, this team, this team Charlotte has been one of the most exciting and fast playing up tempo teams this whole second half of the year they didn't have a great start but they they got their chemistry down they got everything got their players back and you're seeing it right now man they they are if nothing else they are extremely exciting they play super hard they play together they defend and um their team that you never know what's really going to happen because it's like they they got they got some wild cards lamella was playing his butt off having a hell of a year the big addition was kobe white i think you saw in that game against the miami heat he came in and he pretty much helped win that game for them.

23:53With the points he scored and the run he went on, he kept them right there and put them in position to finish off at the end. So I think them against the Magic tomorrow is going to be a huge game. My Magic definitely need to bounce back. Lost last night against Philly, but they got a chance to sure it up and still make it in. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow night.

24:10Pat McAfee:Come on, Friday. Play in championships to get into the playoffs. Suns Golden State, Charlotte Orlando. Who will get into the big dance? Okay, we had some breaking news this morning out of Sham Sharania's Twitter account. 65-game rule that has come into play that if you don't play 65 games, you don't get awards, which potentially lead to bonuses and obviously legacy and career and everything like this. This was for load management reasons they put in the 65-game requirement. Well, now we are learning that you can challenge them. You can appeal the ruling if you don't make it to 65 games. Get to state your case.

24:46Pat McAfee:Extraordinary circumstances challenge is what Luca and Cade Cunningham presented to the NBA. I assume it was a, hey, this wasn't load management. We got actual injuries, poor timing. Sorry about this. We still think we should be able to win some awards, especially with legacies on the line and actual contract money. I think Tyrese told us it was like$40,$50 million difference for a title that you didn't get or that you do get. So this is a massive ordeal. Happy to hear that there is a potential way to appeal it if something actually happens. Anthony Edwards got denied, I do believe. He did the same thing with the Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge and had it denied.

25:23Pat McAfee:Cade and Luka get it passed, so they are up for the awards. On that note, D-Butt has a question for you. Yeah, they are up for the awards, but pretty long shots on DraftKings. But the favorites, three favorites, SGA is the favorite, Wimby and Joker, who led the league in rebounds and assists, first time ever. If you were picking, if you had the one sole choice to pick this year's MVP, who would you go with? I'm going with SGA. SGA, I mean, he's done it back-to-back years. His team is the number one team. I mean, and I don't think it's a diss to any of the other guys. I think any of these guys in any year could have been the MVP, all the way down to Luka, K, and obviously, you know, Joker and Wimby.

26:05I mean, those guys definitely will be first-team All-NBA, but I just feel like what SGA has done, the run he's been on, the resume he's put together, the all-time records that he's toppled this year and passing up, Will joining MJ with four years straight, averaging 30, shooting 50, over 50%. I mean, he's the man right now. Like I told you last time, he scored 20. He hadn't scored 20. The last time he didn't score 20 was December 2024. I think that's a certain dominance on the league and letting everybody in the world know that literally no one can guard me. No one can stop me. The way he walks and dresses too is just awesome.

26:46He knows it. He knows it.

26:50Pat McAfee:He is 100 % certain he is exactly who he is. I walked out of a hotel elevator at the Esports and he was just chilling on the wall on the side and he was dressed so cool and there was two people around him that they were having a conversation. I looked to my left. It was a fucking movie scene. I'm like, good for you, man. Literally what I said, and then I just kept walking away. Leg up. He had like a baggy suit on, pant. So cool. At the SBC. Yeah, like a full length. Fur. Yeah. This was elevator. Swag is crazy. Swag is crazy. Crazy. This was elevator the next day. It was like a loose suit, pant.

27:31Pat McAfee:You know what I'm talking about? High black sock dress shoe, I think, like up there. And then he had like an over thing on and sunglasses. And then there's two guys talking to him. And I just literally pop out of the elevator. Who knows what my altitude was at that exact time. Walk out. I'm going to try to get out of here without seeing too many people. Where the fuck do I go? Speaking of the dress, though, you see I wore my Jordan t-shirt today. Because I took a lot of flack on social media for saying that MJ was a goat. As if people would expect me to say something different. I don't know why.

28:03I'm a kid from Chicago. Southside, Wild Hunters. I watched every move this man made, and I ain't seen nothing like it since. And it's no disrespect to nobody else. It's no disrespect. We all are giving opinions. I get my whole social media flow. Oh, you got killed, huh? Since you wasn't that, I was like, I don't care. I'm not about to finger battle with you Twitter people and all of this. Like, I said what I said, and I stand on it. MJ to go.

28:31Pat McAfee:Okay, I like what you did there. I appreciate what you did. I also like you got murdered out there. It was hot. It was hilarious to me. I just enjoyed it. You know, I don't really, that doesn't rile me up. Like, those are just people somewhere behind the screen. I'm not really affected by it. I find it kind of funny. And it's still, like, it's literally still going on right now. People are passing back and forth in the comments. Like, it's not even about me anymore. It's just them going at each other, and I'm just looking at it laughing. Like, it's hilarious. So this is why sports television, I'm not going to blame anybody, this is why sports television did LeBron versus Jordan for four years straight every single morning.

29:09Got to have a conversation. Still doing it. Because it just goes crazy. It just goes crazy. He just led the league in fast break points, by the way. At what age? Year 21. Oh, he's cherry picking, huh? Age 41. Oh, cherry picking. What's that? That's great. No, it's the opposite. Cherry picking. No, but on that note, four years straight, maybe longer, every single morning, every single one, there had to be at least one discussion of if Jordan would have done something differently than what LeBron did the night before. Or if coming two days from now, what would Jordan be able to do against his team that LeBron probably won't be able to do?

29:44Like that was literally every single – the reason why? It's because of his comments right now.

29:48Pat McAfee:It is very rarely do you have two people that are like representing a generation, you know, definitely a generation. and uh like my entire adulthood with a brain and memories is watching this guy just crush forever and it's like during the social media age during the things where you learn about the type of person you can get uh literally caught doing anything at any time seemingly you have to be super guarded he put his entire family and friends on it's like uh i don't know i don't know it's a little bit of a different era so it's tough to judge like uh importance but if i was from chicago and I had a Jordan candle sitting right next to my computer, I understand that I would – and also if I played basketball my whole life, like you did, who have a much better opinion than I would have, I like that you've kind of dug in there.

30:36Pat McAfee:It's going to be loud, though. And it's not just because I'm from Chicago. I could have been from Antarctica and I would still believe and know the same thing. That's just more poignant that I'm from there where it all happened. But I could be from South Africa, West Indies, and it's still the fact. That is what it is. It's not, yeah. And yes, I am a Jordan Brand athlete since 2000. Michael Jordan handpicked me. I saw a lot of that in my comments. He handpicked me. Yes, blessed and all of that, but still, those facts remain the same. The fact that I'm a Jordan Brand member has absolutely nothing to do with my opinion on who the GOAT is.

31:14It's the timing, too. Like, if you are, you know, a teenager or a young kid, like, when I saw Deion Sanders do it, Like, it's going to be hard for anybody to ever be a better, you know. And seeing Michael, I had an older brother six years older than me, so he made me sit down and watch Michael. Like Q just said, you never saw nothing like it before, and you still haven't really seen anything like it since. And I'll admit, I was brainwashed. And I would never say anybody was a GOAT outside of the black cat. So, I mean, it just is what it is. But LeBron, Mick, you know, you're growing up in this.

31:44D-Bone, like guys who have grown up and only seen that, it's going to be hard to convince them anybody 20 years from now ever be better and i'm not trying to convince him db i'm not trying to everybody's entitled to their opinion and i'm not like like i'm not taking anything away from lebron like anybody with eyes can see what he's done has been nothing short of amazing to come in with the hype he had and everything that was expected to over overshoot that and and jump over what people were expecting and still year 21 to be doing what you're doing you can't take nothing away from him if you try until you hate him, but that don't mean that he's better than MJ.

32:20That's all I'm saying. See, we just did. We did it. Oh, yeah. We just did it right there. Once it comes up, you got to have a conversation. We just did the whole thing. All right. We've got 364 more days this year. Yep. And then we got to hit that three more years after that. Okay, let's make sure we hit all this shit.

32:36Pat McAfee:Okay, I'm sick of it. April 16th. I'm sick of it. Okay, let's get back to the playoffs, which is obviously everything that everybody's going to be talking about the NBA until it's over, and then it will all be drama about everything else that has happened around the NBA. So let's talk about what's going to take place over the next couple months. Go ahead, Con Man. Yeah, Kee Rich, big conversation with the playing games. It's like, hey, congratulations, your season's over. You get to go play the one or two seed in the East or the West. When you're looking at those other series, LeBron Lakers going up against the Rockets, Nuggets going up against the T-Wolves, Cavs, Raptors, Knicks, Hawks, do you see any underdogs making it through on DraftKings?

33:13The odds prices for the series are pretty lopsided. towards the favorites, the Lakers kind of being the only one that is the higher seed that doesn't favor in the entire series. But any of those do you see coming out? And then also there's no chance the Trailblazers can get it done versus Spurs or any of those other series, correct? Should we just assume it's going to be one, two, three, four across the board? Yeah, well, I don't know. The ones that I will keep my eyes on, like you said, the Lakers and the Rockets, I'm interested to see how that series goes. The Timberwolves and the Nuggets as well.

33:49I know the Timberwolves haven't been trending that way as well as the Nuggets have, but we've seen what they've been able to do the last two playoffs, and they got Ant-Man, so I'm never going to count him out until they literally out. And then I got to look at that Knicks-Hawks series, man. The Hawks, you can't just dismiss them like that, and I think they're going to come out there and they're going to put up a big fight in this series. I don't think it's as lopsided as it seems. I won't be surprised if the Knicks go ahead and handle them, but I also won't be surprised if they give the Knicks a hard push.

34:21All right, Q Rich. The West is just dominant at the top? Yeah, I believe that. I believe the Thunder, the Spurs, and the Nuggets is tough. Even though, like I said, I don't shut the door on the Timberwolves, but I think the Nuggets could have. I feel like I would not be surprised if the Nuggets beat the Spurs in the series or the Thunder in the series at some point this postseason. I think Joker and them, they can be that good. It won't be shocking to me if that happens. Celtics, Nugs. That'd be fun to see Joker back on top, especially with what his brother's been doing. Sit down. Sit down. That guy in Boston would be great.

35:09That's what I'm saying. That dude looks scary sitting in the crowd. I wouldn't want to be nowhere around his area. What is he, 6 '8 or something like that? Fully tatted jacked? He looks huge. I don't know. He looks huge. Not only tall, but wide and huge. And be like, wait a minute. Two of them. Two. Not just one. That was just the one that was on the video. The other one, I believe, is taller, not as wide, kind of in between Joker and the mountain, basically. How many more of these are there? I can't even imagine what his papa looks like. they look like some dude that was like, you remember the movie Triple X when they had them dudes they look like they could have been some extras in Triple X and I'll tell you what, if you're chirping and they don't like what you're saying

35:54Pat McAfee:if they don't like what you're saying they're certainly going to let you know too, and they know what they look like as well I think, that one guy turn around sit down

36:10holy shit what was that thing did the homer simpson just went into the ground

36:16Pat McAfee:you're the man we appreciate the hell out of you ladies and gentlemen hey uh we're excited for the playoffs maybe you won't be as biased as you are with your whole chicago almost three decades being a team jordan member yeah say eliminate that shit eliminate that Eliminate being from Chicago. I'm telling you, you can take the bias out. It's still MJ. Go ask somebody who's not Brian Jordan for 30 years and still been watching what I've been watching. They'll tell you the same thing. Yeah, we've heard it a lot. I've heard it a lot. Just because I don't really know Bull like that. And I saw LeBron in high school beat the entire Pennsylvania State All-Star.

36:47So I said, that's going to be the one right there. And then I watched The Last Dance. A lot of this shit. A lot of Zach Bryan dribbling in The Last Dance. Yeah. Cut it out. A lot of Zach Bryan dribbling in The Last Dance. Okay. Those points. So, I don't know. Who's Zach Brown? I don't remember. Who did he play for?

37:07Pat McAfee:Zach Brown. He played for the LA Fitness in Omaha. I don't know where he was. That was yesterday. He's the orange. He's a country singer. Oh, okay. Something in the orange. There it is. There it is. Incredible. Revival. Revival of the moments that he has. I do not know as much about him as I should. I believe he's a military member. He needs to stay away from basketball court and cameras. Certainly. He should be on basketball court. That's good cardio. I like what he's doing. That's great cardio. Somebody airing him out like this when he was on a fast break is unbelievably rude. This was the last dance, though.

37:37I saw a lot of this in the last dance. I didn't watch basketball back then, but I saw. Well, Lampier was clotheslining people. It's like that Lampier was also dribbling that shit over his ear. So I think that's where they can get up. So let's relax. Oh, man. All right, you're the man. I appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen. It's Q Rich. Yeah, Q Rich. Yeah, so let's just make sure we all kind of understand. Oh, yeah. That was my first time watching that generation of basketball. And that's where my take was like, hey, hey, this is two very different sports. Stop it. John Stockton. Tone Diggs was playing.

38:13He was four of the guys on 15 rosters in the NBA. I don't know how to take it. Those are just a couple guys, though. Those are just a couple guys. You guys are watching it with your goggles on. Guys off the bench now. Go back and watch the clips. I'm going to have to go back and get eyes on basketball. Thunder Dan Marley? Yeah. Jeff Hornacek. I mean, who is he? Okay, now let's go. We got a full league here still. There's still some others that we need to fill the positions of here, and I think they're Tone Diggs, Boston Connery. Oh, yeah. I think I saw Bruce Brown. Kidd, Jeff Smith. I mean, that was kind of the takeaway from the playing games.

38:44Like, gosh, these are the nine and ten seeds. These guys are so good at basketball compared to just the average person. Guy threw a pass off a lady's head last night. What are we talking about? He wasn't paying attention. He's a high-pay player on the team. You're carrying water. That's what I mean. What I'm saying, though, is it's two different sports. The game has evolved so much. Yeah, of course. The game has evolved so much. It would be hard to actually say. Well, who leads the entire history of the league in wins, points, rebounds, games? The guy that's played in a soft league for a long time.

39:13Okay. What, because Bill Lampier ain't down there, clothesline people. I was hearing about Bill Lampier years ago. Lampier years ago, I would like to be with Bill if I ever, popping off at a wrestling event and somebody would like to fight me, I would love to have Bill Ampere like I have Randy Orton. Like, I would definitely like that. But when we're talking about just Jordan came in and did things that we've never seen, and thank God he did. Because basketball would have been dead if they would have continued to do what they were doing. If they were doing this type of stuff while they're dribbling the ball.

39:41No doubt. But it's 2026. You still don't see anybody that moves like Jordan. Okay, so athletically we're talking. Yeah, but LeBron's 41. Like, we just talked about how LeBron is 41. He leads the league in fast break. All right, we're doing it again. This couch or tomorrow. LeBron's in the room. I grew up hating that guy. I grew up hating him. I'm from Massachusetts. We hated LeBron more than anything growing up. And then eventually you get to the point where it's like, holy shit, how's this guy doing? Still playing? Yeah. You get brainwashed. Okay, we're done with it. That's four days worth. Yeah.

40:11Too much. We didn't talk about Kobe yet. Rest in peace. Rest in peace. Mr. B. Yeah, rest in peace. Unfortunately. Now is not the time. It's a two-man race. No, it is not. Because that is... If we're talking about Kobe, then we've got to talk about it. We're talking about Tim Duncan. I'm sick of Tim Duncan. What about Steph Curry then? There you go. What about Wilt? You know, you're going to go through it. You know, this is going to be a part of the conversation. We have to talk about Wilt. Larry Bird. Bill Russell. Larry Bird, the only guy to win three straight MVPs. All right, let's move along.

40:40Ladies and gentlemen, a sport that we have recently fallen in love with. Fallen in like with. Love.

40:48Pat McAfee:We were in love. It is currently in like. It will remain in like until we get back to maybe the fall, I think, is when it really starts sprucing up. After Memorial Day. After NHL NBA Finals. What's up, baby? Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now to talk about baseball, a man who played in MLB, we think, we did the math, 16-year vet. Been there, done that for every team. Somehow not the Pirates, don't love that. The Italian Yenzers would have loved his presence. He's Team USA's coach. He's also the host of MLB Central on MLB Network, 10 a.m. to noon every day. We watch. Fantastic. We do. This guy.

41:30Detective D-Row. He's my favorite. Detective D-Row. How about Bat Class D-Row? Yep. Then he put him in the fire. He had a fire thing on at one point. And I will say this. This guy, greatest visual in the history of sports with a national anthem human edition. You know, because like the B2 bomber, certainly much better than any human could be. Some singer singing it very well. Some symphony. That shot that we saw recently of the guy getting both flyovers. Bingo, yeah. That's a great. Like camera. We're just talking humans.

42:01Pat McAfee:When humans are getting shot during national anthems, you know, the best in history. We're talking World Baseball Classic Finals. He had a jawline, pure hair, perfect. Hat gripped perfectly. right over left chest, which I learned as an adult, the heart is actually more so in the middle. So we've all been doing this one here because I think that's what we were taught. Is that fake? I don't know why that happened to all of us, but the heart, I guess, is down here. He had that thing locked in right here, and somehow there was a perfect uplighting, and they had this 8K shot on the Jumbotron, 35 seconds of the national anthem maybe.

42:41I've never seen anything. I felt fucking alive.

42:45Pat McAfee:I hope he has that on repeat in the bedroom, in the living room, and in the kitchen. Ladies and gentlemen, fresh off the hot stove. Coach Marta Raza. Yeah! Zero! Do you have that picture? What an intro! Do you have that picture? Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. If I could tell you what I was thinking in that moment, I was looking into the stands going, wow, this thing got big. Yeah, this matters. This got big in a hurry. Yeah, this matters. they were loud. Their fans were loud. It was obviously you knew you guys were going to be outnumbered, I think, in a couple of different places.

43:23Pat McAfee:Us getting a chance to experience the ponche and the culture and just the vibes. Obviously, them going on to win is gigantic, but showcasing all of Latin baseball, it felt like, is what that really was. I want to go down there and watch these games now. You were removed from it. Did that really happen, Pat? We didn't win? I was there. I was there. D-Row. D-Row. I'm still potting. Yeah, you are still potting. It was a tough walk out of that stadium. I'm going to let you know. I know you guys had a tough one too with the silver medals. Obviously, we were there. Yeah, miserable. We're going to talk to some people.

44:01We got to rework that. We can't be getting silver medals on the field. And then I had to hang in there and give the fake hug to everybody after. Like, way to battle with me. This is rock bottom. Yeah. On the field. You're on the field, too. Everybody's watching you. We were watching you.

44:20Pat McAfee:We were about 30 feet away from you giving them a hug because they would meet you, and then they'd go down in a dugout. A couple of the boys kept the medals on. A lot of the boys took the medals off immediately because it wasn't what they wanted. But let's talk about that experience as a whole. Was that the best one that we've – World Baseball Classic that there has been? And I feel like it was good for baseball as a whole. Would have loved to win, D-Row. I think you obviously more than us at this point, especially with what you were hearing from everybody in all walks of life, people that don't know baseball either, we're calling for you to not have your morning show anymore.

44:52Pat McAfee:Oh my God. You're great on your morning show. I'm happy that didn't happen. I'm back though. I'm back. Yeah, you're batting a thousand over there. I fucking watch. But on that note, what do you think of the World Baseball Classic now looking back? I think it was great for ball. I think it was great for ball. Yeah. So many thoughts. Played in it in 09 as a player, and we didn't know what we were getting into. Then managed it in 23 and could kind of start to feel the groundswell from Japan and the Latin American countries. And then you couldn't deny the passion of it this time. I mean, that thing was all-encompassing.

45:26The game against the Dominican when I took the lineup card out with the umpires and Albert Pujols, I played with Albert in 09. We're good buddies. We locked eyes with each other and it was like, hey, we're good buddies, but this is on tonight. Like, oof, you can just feel the tension in there. For me, what I take away, the growth of the WBC, the growth of baseball, how I got those guys to buy in and love each other for two and a half weeks and try and create just an unbelievable experience for them. The bottom line is Venezuela outplayed us that night. We didn't get the offense rolling. and the offense never really got rolling the entire tournament.

46:09And that was strange coming off Arizona, those two games we played in Arizona where we were just rolling. So, yeah, I walk away. I'll never get over the fact that we weren't able to get across the finish line. But, man, God, friends for life, band of brothers being in that dugout with those guys and honored to be able to manage them. Yeah, it was an incredible run with you guys.

46:35Pat McAfee:and when he hit that two-run shot right there yeah i i don't know if you've heard me talk about it and how i experienced that that was like the best moment i've had at a sporting event as a fan the by like it was i was jumping up on my seat because not a lot of people in venezuela have a clue who i am which is good and the game yes they do well by the end of the game they figured it out yeah by the end of the game it kind of got figured out but for most of that game i was just we were just kind of in it. It was D-Bot's birthday the next day. He was turning 40. I mean, we had perfect seats. We had a...

47:06Pat McAfee:We were in Miami. I mean, we were having a good time in this entire thing, and I lost my mind. I absolutely lost my mind when that thing went... I blacked out, too. I gave him a huge chest bump, and then my pitching coach is grabbing me, going, who we getting going? Who we getting going? Listen... You gotta tighten up, D-Row. We gotta get back in there. You can't be riding the highs like you're me in the crowd, D-Row. That's what people are going to... I have a tendency to ride the highs. In that moment, listen, there's so many things going on, and I know we took a lot of heat for decisions that were being made.

47:35We were losing 2-0 in that moment. Garrett Clevenger's warming up for the Rays if we're still down 2-0. Before the game, we kind of made some deals with some teams to keep their players healthy, and we were not going to bring Mason Miller into a game that was tied. And that was kind of what we worked out with the Padres. Garrett Whitlock had thrown the heck out of the ball for us. the entire tournament and he was you know phenomenal but big ask right there three out

48:06Pat McAfee:of five days he didn't have it a great also uh the behind the scenes of you having to deal with all that i think we don't really learn that until as the days are kind of going by on what all limits are like mason miller right now he's potentially what cy young right yeah he's having his best season so the padres obviously knew that he's a pittsburgh kid so i assume he wanted to go whenever you needed him but there's a lot of things happening between the people that are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to some of these guys for something that they're running, right? MLB is running as well.

48:36Pat McAfee:So how do you balance that with how serious seemingly the world started taking it, but then realizing like this kind of has like preseason vibes a little bit with who's allowed to do when, how do you kind of deal with that? And do you think more people should know that going into the world baseball classic so they don't just kill you, kill you immediately for everything? You know, it's funny if you say that, Pat, because I looked at it after I got done and I'm like should I be eating all this grief if people truly knew you know kind of what goes into it um but then that kind of downplays our place in the tournament and how we go about it so I'll never do anything to downplay the guys the fact that the the 30 guys 30 of the I mean that's one of the greatest teams that'll ever be put together just super talented players super talented human beings, they're coming in knowing that the 162 matters more.

49:27I think for me, what people got to understand about this is growing up in the United States, the World Series is always going to be the pinnacle. Like every American born kid wants to get on a big league team that plays baseball and win a World Series. If we happen to walk into a WBC, that would be fantastic as well. I think if you look at it from the other countries, a team like Venezuela, a team like the Dominican, they come to our country and play. They hear our anthem every night. So for them to be on our soil with their countrymen, hear their anthem, it's got to be an out-of-body experience for them.

50:04So they're going to act and portray a different way than I would say the American. We cared just as much. We had just as much fun when we were letting it out. I just think that whole narrative kind of got skewed. No, I'll eat a lot of the pitching stuff. I would just say to the people at home, if it looks fishy, it is. It is. You know, like Byron Buxton stayed in center field and I would move Pete Crow Armstrong to the corners. That wasn't because I thought Byron's a better center fielder than Pete. That's because we were in agreement that Minnesota didn't want us moving Byron around. I couldn't put Gunnar Henderson at second base.

50:48There was things that were not going to happen. So I don't think the entire world needs to – like Ryan Yarbrough was going to pitch against Italy no matter what. He had to to cover the innings. You might not have liked when he came into the game, but he was coming in. Yeah, I killed you for that. I know. I also kind of knew all this stuff. I didn't know any of this stuff. So he's killing you on this. I thought it was just pitching. I didn't know it was also outfielding. I'm growing the game, Pat. I got to eat a few. I don't want to know any of it. What? I just want a gold medal. Damn it. All right.

51:26Yeah. Which is what he is. Who do I? Yeah.

51:27Pat McAfee:Amen. Okay. All right. Let's move off to World Baseball Classic. Now, I feel like we're much more informed. I think it was great for baseball. Yes. And I think it was an incredible start to the season. Go ahead, D-Bud. Absolutely. I think you're incredible for baseball, too. I love the Detective D-Rose said a couple weeks ago talking about my Marlins but uh you mentioned you played in 09 and then obviously I've been following I guess a little more closely the guys that played in the WBC this year how did that impact you as a player and how do you think it's impacting the guys that played this year to start this uh long MLB season yeah I I think for me um first what I got to share a batting practice group with Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins and David Wright so I'll never forget that that that was two and a half weeks of the most fun in my life as a player.

52:12I think how it impacted from a position player standpoint, it's a no-brainer to play in that thing. You're getting playoff at bats in March, and then it rolls right into the season and you're ready to go. From a pitching standpoint, you've got to have the right mindset. You've got to come in with the – because you've got to change out. You've got to ramp up quicker. You've got to understand that once you get in this environment, There is no governor on anything. I know you can, you think that you can kind of tone it down. You can't. I mean, you felt that room against Venezuela. It's, it's, it's too much.

52:50It's too big. There's guys on that USA roster that'll never play in games like that in their career in the, in the big leagues. So it's, it's tough to turn that off. And you gotta, you gotta be willing. And that's why Andy Pettit, our pitching coach, always said, if, if they're on the fence, I want the guy who wants to be here, not the most talented guy per se. And that's why Skeens is such a unicorn. He was my first call on the pitching side, and he goes, I'm doing this for every serviceman and woman in the United States. Like, all right, dude, I'm like, I'll go to war with you. You know, and then Venezuela came back and I'll tell you what, they had an army.

53:33Pat McAfee:That place, you talk about the magnitude and how it felt in there. That was special, man. It was cool that your sport was bringing that to the world, but also just getting a chance to be in there with the Venezuelans, celebrating how emotional they were, how happy they were. They were great shit-talking sports fans, I would say. Maybe they're not friendly. Yeah, clean. Yeah, I got a lot of love for Venezuela. I played winter ball there coming up through the minor leagues. And spent a lot of time over there in Caracas. And made some great friends. The Bobby Abreus of the world. Legend. Yeah, legend.

54:11A couple other guys. So, the Venezuelan. My Venezuelan teammates in my big league career, I always had a little kind of special bond with. You speak Spanish? No, I don't. I don't. How many years have you lived on that? I could say the bad words.

54:26Pat McAfee:Okay. So, you can fit in a little bit, but then you drop one of those and they go, gringo! Yeah, I can understand what they're saying. It's just the speed at which they say it. I can't pick up everything. Yeah, we're trying, though. You know, I see a Spanish sign. I try to learn the word. You know, I'm trying to pick it up. I'm not doing Rosetta Stone or that other one. I think there's another one. Duolingo. There it is. I will at some point try to learn it all. 281 days straight. You are? Yep. Really? Which language? I do multiple. I do Spanish. I do chess. Oh, so you're dicking around. And I do math.

55:04You're doing 281 straight days of math? Math, chess, or Spanish. Just keep the melding sharp, man. You don't use it, you lose it. Yeah, you're right. And if you don't reuse it, you never had it. Mm-hmm. Well said. Yeah. The issue is, do you feel like you could speak Spanish right now? No, I can understand it, though. And then it's different. You got Venezuelan Spanish, you got Puerto Rican Spanish, you got Dominican Spanish. Well, I'm down in Miami, Spanish, Spanish. Cubans, you know. So maybe you've got to learn Latin so then you can just learn all the languages.

55:37Pat McAfee:Latin helps all the languages. Why don't you drop that one in there? Maybe drop math out of the equation. The dead language, Latin. Latin, chess, and Spanish. They've got the Game of Thrones language on there. Oh, Italian. Okay, let's go back to some baseball, shall we? Thank you, D-Ro, for enjoying that conversation with us. We're trying to learn Spanish. This is what we're trying to say. We're trying to get into the game. Big conversation around baseball has been fun for me. I don't know how the purists feel. Go ahead, Tom, man. Yeah, D. Rowe, feels like the ABS system has been a massive addition to the game.

56:11I saw the percentages that have come out. The catchers are absolutely crushing umpires. Pitchers and hitters kind of trailing behind them a little bit. How do you feel about the ABS? Do you feel like it is kind of taking out a part of the game, the framing, each ump having their own strike zone type of thing? And do you also feel as though the umps, at least behind home plate, when it comes to strike zones and, you know, plays at the plate might be on their last legs? Like, we might not need them anymore if we have a set strike zone for every single night? Yeah, that's the fear, right? Like, if you can get every call right, why don't you do it?

56:48I'm still an old school purist. I do love the ABS. and what Rob Manfred did a couple years ago, putting the pitch clock in, you can't deny it. I mean, that's game-changing. That basically saved the game from an entertainment standpoint. I know when you play, you're not worried about that stuff, but now being on this side of it, it matters. I mean, you know, watching. So in on the pitch clock, in on the ABS, I think that the interesting part for me is watching how certain teams, It appeared certain teams had meetings and how they're going to deploy it and when they're going to use it. And other teams were just going rogue early and just challenging whatever they wanted.

57:34And I think as the season progresses, I think you're going to see a lot more guys hold it to high leverage situations. And kind of, I think the catcher would be, if I was sitting there, I think the catcher would only have the chance to challenge on a team that I was around. And then the hitter.

57:53Pat McAfee:Yeah, all hitters or just first four probably? First four guys that probably have a good eye. Yeah, it'd be hard for me for my eight-hole hitter to lose a challenge for us. That would be tough. You would get killed. Could you imagine? You'd get killed. And I'd hit eight. I'm not using the challenge unless bases are loaded. But even if so, I mean, the thought of Team USA having ABS in World Baseball Classic going forward, and I know you have said that you would like to be coach going forward. We hope that's the case, obviously. We want to see you get gold as the skipper out there. Pat, what am I going to say to that?

58:28Of course. Who doesn't want that? Hell yeah. I agree. I don't know how you – We want you too, coach. Do you want to be the coach of Team USA? Nah, actually. This is kind of – Nah, I'm good. Cool. A couple other countries calling, I think. The environment wasn't that cool. I'm going to try to get over there. I'm going to try to – ABS is going to be in there, though, and at some interopportune time, one of your guys is just going to naturally do one of those. Because they're all-stars. Yeah, and it's going to be wildly wrong. Then they're going to have a zoom in on your face. That's the hardest thing from the manager's perspective, from the dugout, is knowing what a ball and strike is.

59:04You can get the height of it moving past you, but you had no feel for East-West. How come you didn't let any of these umps know during the World Baseball class? I didn't see any of this. I didn't see any of the dust being kicked. and you know I saw one guy turn his head around an ump's hat the other night big Toronto yeah Toronto did this one right here make sure they were getting beak to beak in there they could do that entire thing you baseball folks really you really turn it up a bit whenever you're getting after it with the umps especially in 23 when we did it I almost went Dan Bellino was behind home plate who's a great great umpire and I just I he called a pitch on Kyle Tucker and I turned to to Brian McCann my boy and I go should I go I just want to go and he goes No, no, no.

59:48We need you. Should have went. You should have went.

59:53Pat McAfee:We didn't have any plays that really warranted it. I'm sure there was some pitch in there somewhere I didn't like. Just make it up. Oh, actually, we actually. Yeah, we had the generous strikeout against DR. Which, by the way, hey, if you don't like. Come on, that's a strike. I agree. I agree. Not today. Punch a pal. They had the Presidente cans, the Dominican Republic beer, of it missing the zone. How great. How great, though. Did Perdomo and Albert Pujols handle that moment afterwards? Yeah, that was cool. They could have made it a whole thing. Again, from my vantage point, it looked like a great pitch.

1:00:27Yeah, of course it was.

1:00:29Pat McAfee:Yeah, from my vantage point, it was fantastic as well because I got to go experience Ponce Venezuela, World Baseball Classic Championship, and it continued our friendship with you. We appreciate you joining us even after Ty just absolutely sawed you down a little bit. No, I love it. I love it. I had to, D-Roll. Listen, and I knew a lot of the stuff about you're basically being hamstrung with a lot of these guys. Just as a Yankees fan, I just knew that just wasn't the moment for Ryan Yarbrough. But what are you going to do? What are you going to do, Amy? Your hands are tied. You got to fire them when you got them.

1:00:59You got to fire your bullets, man. Exactly. Hey, we appreciate you, D-Row. You're the man. You guys are the best, man. Watch all the time. We watch you every morning. Got a TV? What do you think? Great show. I love it. Your O 'Neal Cruz breakdown was unbelievable.

1:01:12Pat McAfee:Great show. High quality. I think you got good LED board. Seems like the stage is good. Everything's good. It looks really... You never being around your phone is crazy. I've tried to FaceTime you during the show so you would be forced to answer it. You never have your phone. You're super professional. Once again, University of Penn guy. He's a U Penn guy. Ivy League guy. There's an Ivy League guy out here doing it. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. You guys are the best. Thanks for having me. See you later. Anytime. Yeah, D-Ro. Show's good. Awesome show. Show's good. Learn a lot. It's good morning football.

1:01:43for baseball. With that guy. With him in different settings. And he's always handsome. Yeah. It's unbelievable. They got good sets over there. Good gimmicks, though. They're doing a lot of gimmicks for baseball. We're back on the other side with Sidney Crosby. What?

1:02:03Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin? Or what that clunking sound from your dryer is? With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all on the Thumbtack app. Download today. If you've ever wanted real energy without choking down something that tastes like regret, Bucked Up is the answer. The flavor is the thing people keep coming back for. Insanely delicious, which is not a phrase usually associated with energy drinks, and they're built on real science-backed ingredients.

1:02:46Clean energy that actually works without the garbage you don't want. Bucked Up is so confident you'll love their drinks, they're giving away an island vacation just to prove it. That's the kind of brand this is. No purchase necessary. Giveaway ends May 30th. Enter and find your closest Bucked Up at BuckedUpEnergy.com. grab a bucked up and feel like a million bucks.

1:03:36Pat McAfee:us right now got drafted with the first overall pick to the pittsburgh penguins in 2005. now he and his boys evgeny malkin and chris letang followed mario lemieux yarmer yager ron francis tommy barasso and a litany of other legends in pittsburgh that make us the hockey time easy that's a detroit red wings fan back there nonetheless i am from a hockey city and i am lucky for that that this man has led us to so much happiness so much success and he's the only dude to have 21 straight years of averaging at least a point per game an absolute stallion a consummate professional for the first time on this program ladies and gentlemen Sidney Crosby.

1:04:22Yeah! What's up, guys?

1:04:26Pat McAfee:Okay, I watched Mighty Ducks. Is this where we're sharpening the blades at? Is that where we're at in the room here? This is the equipment room, yeah. This is where all the work gets done. This is Tag's room, our equipment guy. Okay, how long has Tag's been there? How long has Tag's been there? His first year was my first year. I think he was the third guy then, so he's been around for a while. He's the head guy now. He started off as the third guy. Oh, he worked up the lines. Okay, this guy. Okay, he was an apple at one point, you know, and then he puts the C on the chest. Let's talk about your run since 2005 in Pittsburgh.

1:05:01Pat McAfee:Obviously, coming in to the NHL, we found this out in Pittsburgh as we were learning about you becoming the next superstar. So highly hyped, highly regarded. You know that. Obviously, you're super-duper humble, which is why you've been able to play for so long. But whenever you get to Pittsburgh, did you feel the magnitude of the city and how much they appreciated hockey. And through this run, why have you remained so committed to the city? Because obviously over the last couple years, there's been a lot of people saying maybe you should go elsewhere, maybe you could do that. You've remained very committed to Pittsburgh.

1:05:30Pat McAfee:Can you tell me a little bit more about that and maybe tie it into your hockey life over there? Yeah, I mean, it couldn't have been a better place to come just for the fact that it's an unbelievable sports town, but also because we were a group of young guys kind of coming up in the league together. So coming out of the lockout, there's obviously a lot of pressure, you know, being a first overall pick. But to know that you were sharing that with, you know, a ton of younger guys that were excited for the opportunity, wanted the responsibility to be a part of this team and to grow it. And with the fan support that we have here, it's just a place that, you know, at the time I think thought was going to be incredible.

1:06:12And it's worked out to be, you know, even more. looking back so um you know i think just from the day i showed up at the airport um you know it was packed it was more than i could have ever imagined and to think 20 years later here we are getting ready for another playoff run uh i probably wouldn't have believed it at the time so i'll

1:06:33Pat McAfee:i'll take this any day yeah and we'll take it too pal okay you say you thought it would all work out or whatever you know with the language that you guys speak it has certainly worked out and now that you know yinzer is a lot better at this stage of your life think about that airport being packed for you think about how much shit was said to go all right we'll go i guess we'll go get this guy you know like think about yinzer think about that now that you know kind of the culture of this city we are excited for you and obviously everything you've done for us has only been a good time now let's talk about the good time now whenever we chatted with you last year a big night out on stage before you threw football for a million bucks didn't even doubt it okay unbelievable effort out of you had you thrown a football before oh yeah yeah in canada you guys do that i didn't realize it was going to be that far i was told it was going to be like 10 yards you know further than that well i had to put a little heat on you you know i talked to you the night before i said hey if i asked you to throw a football through a hoop for a million dollars you think you'd be able to do that gino and letang immediately go he'll make it you know different with different accents they'll go he'll make it regardless of whatever you're doing and then you asked me for for some info.

1:07:39Pat McAfee:It did end up being about 15 yards longer than what I told you. Okay, so I apologize for that. You threw a seed. You delivered for the city in the arena in which you've done so much, but during a conversation with you there, I tried to get you to play for Team USA. I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to... Don't go there. Don't go there. I mean, we could. Sorry. We didn't play. I'm not going to say anything. I'm not. Congrats to you guys. Congrats to you guys. Still top two in the world. Still top two in the world. That's good. Okay, man, I did not. But then the next conversation was, hey, like, what does this all look like?

1:08:12Pat McAfee:And you immediately mentioned to them, we want to do a couple more runs here in Pittsburgh. And I think a lot of people potentially doubted that with how old you all are now. You know, you, Gino, and Chris. How has it worked out this year? Why do you think you've been clicking? And how do you feel going into the playoffs? Yeah, I mean, I think we just, you know, with so many changes in the offseason, I think we came into camp just short term. We just want to have a good start, get things organized, and try to get on track. And we had a great start. That really helped. I think a lot of guys that came in had something to prove for a lot of different reasons, whether it was a young guy, whether it was somebody getting an opportunity that hadn't really.

1:08:53Guys on one-year deals that wanted to prove themselves. A lot of different things. So I think we came together as a group really quick, saw that we had some success. And, yeah, Hazy says hi, by the way. Hey, what's up, dog? How you doing, brother? Hey, baby, Hazy. Hey, baby, Hazy. Hazel. Hazel. Hey-o. And, yeah, from there, we just kind of, you know, we got some momentum and started to get some belief. So, of all years, this was a pretty tough one with, you know, how competitive it was to get in. So, it's a good first step.

1:09:24Pat McAfee:Yeah, it's definitely a good first step. We're expecting it in our Stanley Cup, obviously. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we want. Now. I'm just here to be here. Yeah. Congratulations, you guys. Go out back to the dance with Sidney Crosby. No, on that note, very pumped to see you guys back in the playoffs. Also, very pumped to watch the way you guys were playing this year. Felt like we can go on to win it all. First round against Philadelphia Flyers. Listen, I've been in Philly whenever you played against Philly. I don't want to say taking some shrapnel in your name in Philadelphia at a Penns-Flyers game there.

1:09:57Pat McAfee:We understand the relationship between you, their fan base, and their team. Why is it special to you? Is it because of how they treated you whenever you were young, or is it because it's the Pennsylvania thing? Why is this one a heightened rivalry, do you think? Well, I think it was there, you know, before I started playing. So I think I was told about it, I heard about it, but I hadn't really experienced it. And then, you know, my first game, I got to figure out pretty quickly what it was all about. So I think there wasn't much of a feeling out process there. I think it, you know, it was everything I expected and more right from the start.

1:10:31and then you throw in the playoff series and you throw, you know, the history that's been there for so long. Yeah, just exactly what I thought more. You're a little menace, bro.

1:10:44Pat McAfee:You know, like for being, you know, there's a couple moments, obviously the memes and the gifs will make their way around here as the pens and flyers series takes place. But I always thought we needed goons around you, okay? Because there was numerous years where you were the one fighting people, okay? Have we put that to bed now? Are we still doing face washing with people when maybe somebody else could potentially be doing that? And how important do you think that is for you to set an example for the rest of the team about like, hey, sometimes you have to really throw. You have to throw. Like sometimes you have to do that.

1:11:18Pat McAfee:Because that's a weird thing for me whenever I watch you throughout your entire career. I don't say I hate it. I actually kind of love it. But I think why is this happening, if that makes sense? Yeah. Well, I think early on, too, I was a smaller player. I think I wanted to show that I wasn't going to be pushed around and that I could handle it if it did come to that. I'm probably not one of the smaller guys as much anymore as I used to be then, so I probably had a little bit more of a chip over my shoulder with something to prove and probably overdid it. I probably didn't need to do that at some points, but it's part of the game, and I think as far as the playoffs go, you try to stay out of that stuff and just focus on playing.

1:11:59but yeah, I'll do my best to stay out of it. Yeah, thank you, please. And I can already see it. We'll just leave it at that.

1:12:04Pat McAfee:Yeah, you'll try your, yeah, exactly. I already see you in the first period. You're grabbing somebody's jersey, obviously from the back. You're in the middle of it. It's like, get 87 the hell out of there. Why is he in there? It's a beautiful thing. I think it's one of the reasons why Pittsburgh absolutely adores you, man. There's not a lot of people that come through Pittsburgh, even people that have had success there that are universally beloved. Pittsburgh people are natural. Nah, don't like that. hate that. You, beloved by everybody, even whenever you're winning a gold medal for Canada. That seems like gravity.

1:12:36Pat McAfee:That's old news. Pittsburgh's the most watched market because of it, still. Yeah, do you see that? You understand that? Pittsburgh's the highest watched market in the United States of America anytime USA plays Canada because of you. The place absolutely adores you, and you scrapping, I think, is a big part of that. Tone actually has a question for you. Yeah, Sid, you talked about earlier coming in and you guys being so young, you and Gino and Flower and Letang and Stalzy. Like, it was all of you guys being super young. But then there was the stories and you living with Mario and him being such a huge role model for you guys.

1:13:09And then kind of him being the owner and you coming in kind of saved hockey in the city. What was it like, you guys all being young but having Mario Lemieux? And then are you guys still talking, you know, constantly going into this cup run? Yeah, I mean, you couldn't have picked a better role model. And I think just for seeing someone day to day that's so even keel, living with them, getting away from it, you know, away from the rink, just being around his family, not having to worry about all the little things when you're in your first year. But I think, you know, having each other as far as being the young guys, I think that took pressure off, especially with the impact that all those guys had.

1:13:48They weren't guys just kind of coming in and getting their feet wet. They were thrown in some pretty big roles right away. Flower was playing a ton even at an early age. You know, Gino came in, was an instant star. So I think just having that group and then even the extended group around that, younger guys but character guys, big personalities. We had a ton of fun, but we knew that the position we were in and obviously having Mario there, you couldn't get a better role model who's somebody that, you know, I could relate to. he's gone through a lot of similar things and the way he's handled it so um yeah like i said earlier you couldn't get a better situation as a young guy coming in yeah but a lot of young guys

1:14:31Pat McAfee:could potentially completely shit the bed with everything you know like the way you've been able to handle it with so much humility and grace while working your ass off and you talked earlier about being smaller whenever you first got in the league now you gotta have the biggest squads i mean those things are outrageous as a man who has larger legs i have larger legs used to wait until you see the stuff that your legs will do whenever you retire actually you'll probably oh i don't even want to know yeah yeah you're right you're right nothing's good when you retire bro play forever everything sucks as soon as you retire there there isn't oh magical new science that you'll be able to know that doesn't you don't want any of this shit man you don't want to you You want to play forever, but you're got, can we talk about the amount of like hockey conditioning?

1:15:19Pat McAfee:Are you in shape? Is there an office? Are you working out all year? Do you, do you ever stop? It's pretty short. It's pretty short, but yeah, I think as, as I get older, I feel like it's something that it's harder to take time off. You know, the better, you know, it's better if you can just kind of stay in it at least doing a little bit the The month, two months off straight, those days are over. Yeah, well, tell me about you skipping the All-Star game, pissing everybody off, and playing on a lake in Colorado. Is that what it was? Is that what it was? Hey, look, Tanger! Tanger's in here now, too.

1:15:52Pat McAfee:He's super handsome. Wait till these – for people that don't know, the guy in the background right there, ridiculously handsome. I mean, just like, yep, there he is. Yeah, there he is. Oh, like, that's exactly what he wanted to hear. That's like the worst. Hey, Tanger, thank you. He loves getting his tires pumped right now. Hey, Tanger, thanks for your service to Pittsburgh, pal. You're welcome. Hey, you broke some record. Yeah, of course. Keep him happy right now. Yeah, I respect that. Are you going to sharpen the blades there, Tanger? Is that what you're about to get? Yeah. Yeah. Our trainer Tags is not really on the job right now.

1:16:27Time off.

1:16:28Pat McAfee:He started as a third liner. Tag started down low in the bench. You're saying he's already taken time off. This is what happens, Sid. whenever greatness is around, people start getting comfortable. Can't have it. We're going into playoffs right now. Get Tags' ass back in there, Tang. Yeah, I'll get him. I'll get him. He needs pizza, that's all. Thank you. Thank you. Uh-oh. I don't like that one bit. Not at all. Hey, you tell Tags he needs to tighten the fuck up over there. You hear me? You tell Tags we appreciate his service. He'll be in here any minute now that he's seeing this. Tags is a good man.

1:17:03Pat McAfee:Whenever you talk about like everything you do gets judged like that all-star game thing was tough but then what i learned is you were playing hockey and some you found a rink that you could display is that like what you do like when you travel or do anything you have to find ice to train on is that the life of your like is that your life i like to know it's not a must i wouldn't say but i was in montana during all-star break and we didn't have that much time um so i was trying trying to balance and skating to rest and then be able to jump into the game and be all right. So skating outside seemed like a great idea.

1:17:37So it was nice to get out. There's nothing better than being out in an outdoor rink. I've never done it, actually. You should. I want to see that.

1:17:46Pat McAfee:Yeah, I can't skate. Penn Hill's deck. You were doing it? Ball hockey? Yeah, ball hockey. I did ball hockey, which you've played, obviously. Is this you in Montana? This is the video I saw of you? Yeah. And is this just some kid's rink on his backyard? no this is just at like a park in in big sky they just have an outdoor rink there that uh they set up so and you knew this guy was sniping you right here did you know this camera was out uh i think i met him after the fact but yeah i was just i think there was only one or two people there so i drove by it saw that it was open had my gear and gave it a whirl that's sydney crossby hog yeah that's awesome see a rink oh gotta skate it don't know yeah i got my gear here too let me been that guy recording who's that oh he got a kid out on the ice holy pretty good 87 helmet oh my god growing up what was the story mario lemieux like iced out his living room or something like that so he could skate in there like you canadians do absurd stuff to get better at hockey where were you a pond hockey guy how did you kind of come into the sport yeah i mean the weather wasn't quite as cold so if we got if we got cold weather for long enough we were on the lake or on the pond for sure um but mostly ponds uh we played a little bit on the lake and you know hockey was we practiced twice a week one or two games it wasn't an everyday type of thing when i was growing up so um you know you just love being able to get that extra time in playing whether it was on the lake or whether it was playing street hockey any chance you could to play a little bit more because it just it wasn't as available i don't think as it is now so you know that was that was a big part of it too you know they call it like there's a book called the outliers where all the people that are the most successful in their business were either around it at some point introduced to it or they just so happen to be completely obsessed with this particular thing sounds like you were that way with hockey since the first time you uh laced your skates i believe is how you would describe that yeah yeah right from day one my i think i started skating when i was three my dad played uh my mom my mom has a big big family and all my cousins played so So we, you know, it was something that we all did and we all followed one another to the rink.

1:19:57I used my cousin's hand-me-down gear. You know, it's just something that brought us all together. So it was a great way to grow up. And the photos come out of you just banging a dryer or something in your house, I believe. There it is. Yeah. That's where I shot pucks was in an unfinished part of the basement there. and that dryer was to the left of the net behind it. So if I missed outside left, that's what happened. So I wasn't aiming at it, but as you can see, I missed a fair amount there.

1:20:28Pat McAfee:We would like to thank this dryer. I don't even know how that was used, but it actually held up for a long time somehow. The thought of just bang happening. That had to be so loud, those bucks cramming off them. The dents and the wounds. We'd like to thank this dryer for its service for the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We would really like to thank you, kind of getting tightened up. Okay, let's move along in the hockey conversation about legends and goats, especially one that you know well. Go ahead, Con, man. Yeah, Sid, it was a pretty cool moment seeing you, Gino, and Ovechkin after that last game.

1:21:02Not sure if it's Ovechkin's last game yet, but how has that relationship been throughout your career? It feels like over the past couple of years, we've seen you two specifically much more kind of in the public light. I think you guys got him a watch after one of his games and he got you guys a gift. What has that relationship been like? Do you two kind of share moments just because you've gone through some of the similar things being the number one picks? Hey, Gino! Hey, speak some Russian real quick. We're doing the... We're doing Ovi talk. I thought we'd be able to drop some dinner. That's Gino.

1:21:39Yeah, you know what? Just like I think early on, just with how we came in and the rivalry and everything was built, you know, for each of us to be, you know, against each other. And with the playoff series and everything, it was just pretty natural for that to happen. But I think over the course of the years, getting to know him better, you know, getting to know his family and just playing against each other for that long. And I think there's just such a mutual respect there. So it's been pretty cool to, you know, to be connected that early to play as long as we have and to see the career that he's had.

1:22:18You know, the expectations are so high, but, you know, to be the greatest goal scorer of all time and to come in with the expectations and to see that up close and to be able to relate to it a bit. Yeah, it's kind of it's kind of cool the way it's all worked out. Are you and him similar? You just drinking Coke, just ripping off Dr. Pepper over there on his side? I wish. I wish. I wish I could do that. But, yeah, he can do that. I think it has an effect on him one bit. He's still filming that. He might be the last of a dying breed. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Actually.

1:22:51Pat McAfee:You know, like actually. Because the way he's – they bring him sandwiches, and it's like multiples. And they're like, here you go, Ovi. And then here's a Kool-Aid-sized bottle of Coca-Cola. Hot Cheetos. And now it goes – That's a nice program. how are you you're super i you are we weighing food and everything no no i i mean i try i try to keep an eye on it i love sweets i wouldn't say i'm super dialed in but i'm much better than i was i wish i would have known a lot of the stuff when i was younger for sure um i didn't i didn't quite follow it as close then but um it's okay 21 straight years yeah i think you're doing a okay Okay, on that note, D-Bud has a question for you.

1:23:3521 years is nuts. We were actually talking about LeBron and Michael Jordan earlier. We'd love to hear your opinion on that. But dominating for so long, you've won Stanley Cups, you've won MVPs, you've won gold medals. What, I guess, still drives you? What's kind of at the core that motivation for you at this point in your career? I think this, you know, playoffs, just competing in, you know, big games, meaningful games, the camaraderie with the group, being part of a team that does never get old but I think just yeah those two things stand out the most to me is just the competition you know everything that goes into that and being part of those big games and then just being part of a group I love coming to the rink every day I love being around the guys and we got a great group here so it's been a lot of fun you want to keep that going so I think that's you know those are probably the two biggest things and as far as what is the what's the other part you had for me mj or lebron yeah okay it's the fourth time we've done this on this show i just want to let you know that i got i got to go mj just because growing up i was a huge bulls fan and uh and they were so good growing up and then i got a chance to watch last dance and i had this image of how all these guys were going to be i had no idea i'd never seen much of them growing up and then i see last dance and they're exactly what i kind of envisioned that in my head growing up so i i think that you know that probably solidified it for me probably uh probably mj settled wow a bit of a runaway yeah everybody's saying the same answer all the goats do where are you from again what time coal harbor nova scotia east coast of canada that's way up there right aren't you guys way up there yeah we're pretty up there not by saskatoon no it's nowhere near saskatoon no way other side no it's nowhere near victoria manitoba

1:25:35Pat McAfee:he's been to the social club a few times where in victoria yeah crosby knows oh that's a canadian by the way back there he's from victoria western canada he's a dallas stars fan that's nice that he followed you up there gumpy got anything to say to sydney no congratulations on being back in the playoffs. Let's go on a run here, brother. Thanks. I appreciate it. Gumpy, how many golds has Canada won in hockey? All time and everything. Probably like 56, I think. How many are we behind in? You get like 35, 40 more. You'll be close. What about the last two years? Who's in first from there? Let's not disrespect him, Mr.

1:26:07Sidney.

1:26:08Pat McAfee:I'm talking to Gump. It's not Sidney. Don't put Sidney on the screen. This is strictly for Gump. This is what happens, by the way. He's the only Canadian in here, Sid. This is what happens. so yeah it is tough i actually almost uh went back on everything that i said about nhl players playing in international games whenever you got as soon as you got hit in that game i really was like why are these guys playing it why why are these guys playing it it does feel like your sport the international we were just talking to d-row about baseball with the world baseball classic It feels like your sport is getting very much like the Four Nations as the All-Star was phenomenal, I think we all thought.

1:26:49Pat McAfee:Obviously, the Olympics captivated both the women and the men, captivated the entire globe. Why do you think there's so much of that type of feel for that sport? I guess you go all the way back to whenever we beat Soviet Union or whatever, the Miracle on Ice. It feels like hockey always has that. Why is that, you think, Sid? Yeah, I think just big sense of pride when guys get to play for their country. And, you know, you think about it, guys leave their home and they go play in a new city for a new team. Don't really know a lot about what they're going into. And then when they get to play for their national team, you know, it's just so much pride, I think, that comes with that.

1:27:28And you never know if you're going to get that opportunity. So I think you just you see that on full display when guys, you know, play for their country. You see guys, you know, the desperation and you see the intensity and you see the fans, the way people get behind it. I think, you know, we as players feel all that. And you look at Four Nations, nobody knew really what to expect. And, you know, you're playing the Bell Center first game and just the atmosphere and the way people got into that. I don't think anybody could have drew that up. You know, that was that was special. So I think we all feel that.

1:28:02Pat McAfee:Yeah, you want to take the attention back to Four Nations for sure. I know. Yeah, I heard that. Yeah, you know what I'm doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard that. He gave a bottom to Kachuk recently. And I think it was a huge ordeal, by the way, that you guys won that. And I think you guys know that, too. At the time, there was some loud. It was really loud. Sociopolitical implications. Canada wins, and it gets quiet real quick. And it's like, holy shit, did a hockey game just decide? And it did. It felt like it did. And sports, by the way, the greatest. The greatest of all time. Speaking of sports being the greatest of all time, you know, One generation to the next is kind of how it goes.

1:28:36Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Sid, when you got drafted, a lot of the – and I can't really remember if this was a thing before you, but everyone was pointing to you saying, hey, he's the next – this guy's the next Wayne Gretzky. And then as your career has kind of gone on, we've had a bunch of other guys come up, but now that narrative's kind of changed to, hey, this guy's either the next Gretzky or he's the next Crosby. Have you had a chance to reflect on that over the course of your career? I guess hockey culture might be a little bit different. Maybe you don't have guys coming up to you saying like, hey, you were my favorite player growing up as a kid.

1:29:08But have you had a chance to kind of think about how crazy that whole full circle thing has been? Or is it a little bit hard when you're still dominating at your age this late in your career? Yeah, it's hard, but I think you do start to realize it. I mean, you know, whether it's you're playing against guys, kids that you played against now. and things like you said where you're a young guy saying that you were his favorite player, stuff like that. So I think that it's not something you typically ever get used to, but it's a little more common now. And I think being in this position, the more you can help.

1:29:51I had so many guys as a young player that helped me, so I think that's something I try to remind myself of. At the same time, you're still out there trying to compete. you're still trying to play at the top of your game and try to balance all that. So I guess it's different in that way, but it's no different than the challenge you have coming in as a young player with something to prove, not knowing much. There's challenges with that too. So I think they just change, you know, the longer you play, but that's something that has definitely been a lot more common, you know. Yeah, you're an old-ass man.

1:30:23Pat McAfee:It's been fun to watch and you're still playing at such a high level. I assume that's a treat for all the young dogs out there. Every once in a while, they still have to catch a stick to the mouth, though. You know, every once in a while, that's going to have to happen. It's hockey. How do you feel about the state of hockey right now? You talked about coming out of the lockout, being a lot of pressure for you and the boys. But then some rule changes happened to kind of open the game up now. How do you feel about where hockey is being played right now versus maybe whenever you came into the league?

1:30:47Yeah, I think there's a lot more emphasis on skill and speed. And I think, you know, you look at teams lineups and they dictate that a lot, you know, based on how teams are made up and who's won and what's made teams successful. I think you still look at teams like Florida who've had a ton of success the last few years. You know, they're talented, they're skilled and fast, but there's still a lot of grit to their game. So I think that that element is still there, but maybe a little bit less emphasis on, you know, the physical aspect than maybe, you know, when I first came in. You look at defensemen, they're a lot more mobile probably overall, you know, right through, you know, all the D-men.

1:31:32I think there's a lot of focus on being able to move the puck, being able to skate, join the rush, create offense, not necessarily as much maybe on shot blocking and things like that. but that stuff's still super important and has a huge, you know, a huge bearing on the outcomes of games. So you'll see in the playoffs, that stuff's magnified even more. And, um, but I think, yeah, the skill and speeds kind of just gradually gotten more and more.

1:31:57Pat McAfee:Can you say outcome again? I never heard that. I don't think in a Canadian accent, that's, that's both of them. That's a calm compound Canadian outcome. Need to add that into the repertoire whenever we're doing, sorry, sorry. I'm going to do all that. I like that you said it's a little bit more speed and skill. That's our game, too. Football is like speed, skill. We need to get highlights. We need to do that. You have created them for so long. Not scared to beat a passer. That's why I thought maybe LeBron would be his guy. Yes. They've kind of been dominating throughout the same exact run. So it'll be a little bit of younger kids who see LeBron's last dance, and then that's when it'll kind of change.

1:32:35Or same season. Sid hasn't seen enough LeBron because he's been doing his own LeBron thing.

1:32:40Pat McAfee:plus he's out there in Montana there's no service he can't see shit out I don't know how he's still doing it it's absolutely incredible what he's doing yeah exactly talk to the mirror brother we appreciate the hell out of you for everything you've done for Pittsburgh but also the game thank you for operating in the manner in which you do on the ice, off the ice, as a leader as a person in society we genuinely appreciate the way you've done things you tell Tags get his ass back in that equipment room. We need to win a series against the Flyers. I'll let him know. Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it.

1:33:15It was fun.

1:33:16Pat McAfee:You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, Sidney Crosby. Yes, Sidney! I don't know if that's the most he's ever spoken. That was sick. The most I've ever heard him talk, for sure. As we're in the middle of it, I'm like, oh, we should get some life stuff here. I don't know how many people are going to be able to hear from him ever again. First time ever getting talked to him. So pumped. Thought it was never going to take place on this particular program. The fact that him, Gino, and Tanger showed up at Big Night Out. Now, they said, you kind of forced us, right? We were going to be home. But then they showed up right there, too.

1:33:45Like, they're just always around each other.

1:33:46Pat McAfee:It's unbelievable. It was great shit-talking with them and learning about them. They've been around each other for so long and obviously have had so much success. So, anytime you have that, obviously great camaraderie. Hockey is an incredible culture. It's an incredible sport. And the playoffs are ridiculous. And Sidney Crosby is back in there. And it's a problem. Because much like everybody says, you know, Steph Curry, he can get hot and go. Penguins can go. Now, everybody's talking about that team right there being the one. They're saying Colorado's a problem. They're saying they are an absolute problem.

1:34:16Pat McAfee:And that's what everybody's saying. But we shall see. The NHL playoffs kind of figure itself out as it goes on. And people who get injured, we'll never know. Somebody will have a broken back out there. We'll find out afterwards that they actually had to pick his ass up and shove him onto the ice. And he couldn't sit down on the bench because he actually had a broken tailbone. He played for two and a half periods or whatever, just couldn't finish the game. It's like that's what hockey culture is. It's crazy. Florida has owned hockey. Yep. This year will be brand new. That'll be worse. Hopefully.

1:34:46As Sidney Crosby. Yeah, Tampa. Sidney Crosby brings it all the way back.

1:34:50Pat McAfee:Let's pivot from Sidney Crosby to another GOAT. Ladies and gentlemen, a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner, A.J. Hawke. Yeah, Hawke. Oh, he's glowing for mania. Are you heading out for WrestleMania out there in Las Vegas, AJ? Yeah, I don't know. After I saw what Cody did to the Thunderdome and what DeBone actually may or may not be a part of, yeah, I don't know. I'm thinking about it now. You kind of put me through a loop. I didn't even once think that he would be able to. Boom, bang. Well, you guys, the fact that you said he has the brain of a peanut, and Ty says, no, not a shelled peanut.

1:35:23When you take the shell off that small, I didn't take that into account. I give DeBone some credit. I think he is smart. One of those Chinese... Edamame? Oh, yeah, the Russian nesting doll. There they are, Russian nesting doll.

1:35:36Pat McAfee:What? Yeah, the Russian nesting doll that sits inside of the other one. Yeah. Oh, sure. You take it off, you pull the smaller one. You pull this head off, you pull the smaller one. What Ty was trying to say with the unshelled nut, you're taking all those... Exactly. We're getting way down in the bottom of that thing. Yeah. Yeah, that's what's connected to his spine. And I'll tell you, incredible at graphics. but there's no way he set this up and knew this was going to happen. Now, on that note, I don't like that Cody did this. No. Not at all. I don't know. I saw a picture last night of Bone hugging Cody.

1:36:11What? He liked one of Cody's photos that Cody posted. He had the strap with Wayno, and he liked it.

1:36:17Pat McAfee:See, AJ, what you don't know, everybody in here wants me to fire D-Bone. Okay, that's what everybody wants. Suspension, maybe. Not that. Not fire. Suspension, maybe. Suspension. Leave of absence. If we all fill up a pillowcase with Rock and beat the piss out of him. Just get him back. I don't think we can do it. A little bit. Firing squad. Socks and batteries. Cody, I mean, that was good for Cody, though, I would say. Like, good for Cody. Now that we're kind of emotionally out of this particular situation because it's been cleaned up, still got to. Whoa. I mean, that's some pretty damning evidence right there.

1:36:48Was that from the other night? Oh, is this AI? Oh, man. No, that's not AI. That's Bill McComas' photo. Can we move along, please? Can we move along? I don't like thinking about that. Did they go to dinner afterwards? And is his name actually DeBone? And we didn't even know it until now? Has been a plant. I don't like the way he just casually walks by him. Not even a reaction. Was that a thank you with the computer spike? Yeah. Like, did he say, thank you? Thanks, DeBone. While he did that, maybe. We don't know.

1:37:21Pat McAfee:That's my assumption. And I asked yesterday who Wano was on. Remember I actually said I wonder who Sidewano is on? The great one? Look at that. Cody's smoking cigs. Well, guess who's got Sid? You do. Yeah, you're right. Well, I don't know if Sid knows anything about any of it, but I would hope he'd be on my side. He is. I hope he'd be on my side. No, he's a huge mark. Yeah, he's – yes, he is. He has time for all of that. He certainly has time for all of that. Okay, we got some bad news for next NFL season. Feels like the replacement ref's probably going to happen. Yeah. I don't know. We've seen a song and dance before, AJ.

1:37:54Pat McAfee:get you closer maybe than anybody else but this is not good news now granted everything is posturing okay everything is leveraged especially whenever there is negotiating taking place especially whenever it's high leverage negotiating kind of taking place the officials of the nfl understand they are a very a very crucial crucial part to the game they also understand that they are a tight union okay that is a tight union so what the nfl has to deal with is how do we modernize what we are expecting from these officials with these officials being a very tough negotiation regardless pool reporters after games that get typed up is really the only accountability that officials have ever had and there's no follow-up there's no real anything there's no face of the music there's no admission of anything there's an email that gets sent to each team from the head it's like i think we all are looking for some things but those things have never happened before for the officials So there's never been precedent in the negotiation for it.

1:38:51Pat McAfee:Anytime you're adding things to a negotiation or an agreement, going to be tough, going to be tough. And especially with what happened the last time this all took place, the officials ended up with all of the leverage, okay? It was kind of like, oh, yeah, is that right? That's what the officials said. Whenever the NFL and the players had the lockout situation, the NFL had the overwhelming mindset that these players will run out of money and they will have to negotiate with us, okay? for the refs it's not the case they're not full-time they have other jobs most of them very very successful other jobs lawyers uh i think there's some accountants in there i think there are some business owners financial advisors like they're very these people uh are going to be able to remain tight and they're going to have money all they are going to have to do is wait out the bad replacement officials embarrassing the game and then they will find their position of leverage back with the nfl so the nfl said we have to learn from that we have to get the ass officials and make them not as ass.

1:39:50Pat McAfee:So they are starting to do that process right now, A.J. Hawk. Remember, my final point here as I continue to ramble, because this is a very important thing, the refs that we're going to get for replacement refs are refs that think they'll never have a chance being NFL refs because if they ref in the NFL, they would technically be considered a scab to the NFL's officials association, and you don't want it. So we're talking ass of ass with no chance of not being ass signing up to be refs when we don't have refs. But they're trying to teach them how not to be ass. I think that's good news, but inevitably, this is going to be a bummer, I think, AJ.

1:40:28Yeah, I think it's good news you're trying to get them better, get them out there during OTAs, get them around the NFL game a little bit. But my question is, who are these refs? Because if you are an official, you are most likely already assigned to a crew and have a job next year. If you're a college official, right, I would assume you know what you're doing next year. This is... Like high school guys, high school people that want to try? D2, D3. Who is open to it? First time. We need him. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Call him. We need somebody at least with some conviction.

1:40:58Pat McAfee:Now, I've seen some of the games that he reffed, and there were some terrible calls being called. But they don't have cameras. They don't have technology. He has the moxie, though, to deliver what we need. That's a whole first time. I love everything about him. We need to find that as well. They need to be teaching that. Because those replacement refs getting out there and... Nope. Ah. Personal foul. Defense number. What?

1:41:30What number?

1:41:34Pat McAfee:27. There's no 27 on the field. Is this thing on still? They can hear everything I'm fucking saying. We don't need that. No. And that's the least of our worries. Yeah, but that could be the worst. But that is an actual worry. Yes. Everything about it. Spotting the ball in the right hash instead of the wrong hash. What ball is in play? Where every little thing these officials who are currently negotiating with the NFL know what they do. AJ, we cannot be doing the replacement stuff. Also in NFL news, YouTube, who lost Sunday ticket to Disney through YouTube TV, will be at Disney and ESPN next year.

1:42:15Pat McAfee:They have negotiated a deal to get five NFL games. Are these the games that were from the doubleheaders? Potentially, yeah. That became available. YouTube, who has been investing into the NFL over the last couple years, had a Christmas game. Mr. Beast did some stuff. They really unloaded on it. I think they had a lot of streamers. I think they're excited to be in business with them. And I think the NFL is excited that YouTube is now a part of this as well, AJ, in a bigger way. Yeah, so where it says at the bottom, the league had additional inventory to sell after eliminating Monday Night Football doubleheaders.

1:42:43Did they do that just to do this to open up another revenue stream here with YouTube and things like that?

1:42:48Pat McAfee:Yes, and I don't know. We're not privy to the conversation. But remember, ESPN and Disney purchased NFL Network, right? So they pick up more games naturally because NFL Network has games. So we don't know, let's say we, in their mind, doubleheader Monday Night Football, none of us really. So that opens up some games. So now they're able to resell those things. So the NFL is looking for games to open up. They are looking for games to open up currently. Remember, there was going to be like a bid, like an auction for some games. Yeah, it's a crazy time to be the NFL. Good for them. Joining us now is the man who knows the draft inside and out.

1:43:21Pat McAfee:He is the voice of the combine here in Indianapolis, color commentator for the Chargers. Ladies and gentlemen, let's move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah. Come on. Yeah, DJ. How you doing, DJ? What's up, boys? I'll tell you what. I guarantee you there's some high school refs right now that are at the gym, curls and forearms. They are getting ready to put that little medium outfit on and go out there and just flex for the universe. It scares me, DJ. It scares me, honestly, with where the game is, with how many people are watching, with how much money is being bet on these games, and from what it was with those replacement refs.

1:43:52Pat McAfee:Just my own personal experience with the replacement refs. Yeah. Everything was bad. everything you're not a big fan of one going like this and then one going like this that's what i'm saying everybody remembers the fail mary there was what yeah 82 other plays in that game yeah where there was probably a lot of stuff and the refs matter man it really matters so i like that we got new york potentially and we got more cameras but who's doing it in new york because those people are officials let's move along let's get to the draft okay let's talk about next week in pittsburgh pennsylvania we cannot wait to celebrate the next generation for you what's the big conversation you think about this draft?

1:44:27Pat McAfee:Number two? Because I heard David Bailey did not take a visit to the Jets in their top 30, but he could potentially be number two overall. They're going to go with a defense guy at number two. There's not going to be another quarterback until maybe late in the first. Fernando's a lock for the Raiders. What is kind of your storyline that is brewing as we're about a week out from the first round of the NFL draft? Well, I mean, I think it starts at two. You know, we don't know what they're going to do. I've been leaning towards Bailey later in the process, but that's not based off like some rock solid Intel, just kind of reading into the situation and talking to folks around the league.

1:45:01That seemed to be a little bit more of the expectation, but we don't know. So that's wide open. I would say, and just talking to the GMs around the league over the last couple of weeks that the positions get in heat are the tackle position and the receiver position. Those are the ones you just hearing like the run could start early and it's going to go, those guys are going to all fly off the board. So that can inform some of the decisions for the teams that have two picks, Cleveland being one of them there at six. They need both those positions. There's a chance they're going to miss out at 24 on both of them in terms of the premier guys.

1:45:35What's the greater need there? That's why I've been leaning more towards the tackle for them early. There's a fun conversation. I was talking to someone the other day, Pat, that was telling me on the agent side, and they've talked to this team, and they're dialed in with this player in this team, take it to the bank, and then talked to a position player at that team later that afternoon and he's like there's no chance we're not we're not doing that so like it's like it's all over the map right now dude yeah dj i had to follow up on that because i'm i was just listening to everything hearing the same thing like the run-on tackles is going to be the story of the first round the over-under is set at seven and a half and i believe seven of those will be tackles then you'll get the guard from penn state who would be potentially be eight i heard you and bucky breaking down numbers the other day as far as position groups and averages and who's going to go where do you think we are going to get get to that eight offensive linemen in the first round and who would be the last who is who is going to be the offensive lineman that we're waiting on potentially as that last one in the first round yeah i think it's ihanichur the uh the kid from arizona state who's new to football you know moved over uh to america from nigeria at 13 didn't play high school football um you know junior college goes to arizona state and it's gotten better and better and better and has like first round ability in his body it's just you know getting a little more consistent so normally that's a second round profile but there's just so many needs that i think he's got a chance to get into the bottom of one so him and low move from utah the other tackle at utah would be the two guys there but i mean those other guys are those guys are going man you can take that to the bank

1:47:08Pat McAfee:dj i definitely didn't just run to the bathroom while you were giving your answer there and uh but i heard you say my name in the bathroom uh just want to let you know i appreciate you talking about how you're hearing one thing and you're hearing something completely different there's something that's completely different that could happen in this particular draft i think it's only happened one time in the past in 1967 do you know that the michigan state spartans had four players drafted in the top 10 of the nfl draft the ohio state buckeyes could tie that this year with a defense that is absolutely stacked historic in a wide receiver in a wide receiver class that hasn't really been chatted about that much other than is Jordan Tyson healthy I don't know now we got a chance for a record-breaking type uh night for the Ohio State Buckeyes AJ has a question for you on that note yeah DJ of course you see the four guys from Ohio State we have up on the border is it possible that Ohio State has five guys go in the first round you think it is this will happen we have these four guys go in the top 10 uh well I mean look I think Reese Styles um and I would put Tate in there.

1:48:15I feel real good about those three. And Downs, obviously, is a top 10 player. It's just the position and how that sorts out as we go through the top 10. I would say it's greater than 50 % chance he goes, but he's the one that would be on that borderline just off position. And you mentioned five. Caden McDonald is kind of in that Caden McDonald is going to go like 25 to 35, in my opinion, the D tackle. So there's a very real chance you see another Buckeye come off the board. It's a heck of a group there. The one that I'm most intrigued by of where he lands is Styles. Just because I love the fit of him with the Giants.

1:48:50I know the Giants can go in a lot of different directions, but when I look at that division and you look at Jaden Daniels specifically, is there a better human being on planet Earth to try and defend Jaden Daniels than him? To be able to run sideline to sideline to suck him up, if you want to suck him up, he wants to run, and then have the length. If you want to run RPOs, he's got the length to be able to cut all that stuff off in the middle of the field. I would

1:49:12Pat McAfee:love him there okay on that note d-butt has a question for you yeah he perfectly sets up kind of this question right here jeremiah love as well who i think is the best player in this draft in my opinion is a positional value kind of changing or kind of thrown out the window when it comes to this draft you told my sonny styles there off ball linebacker caleb down safety and then uh jeremiah love running back typically positions over the last few years that don't go high in the draft that's kind of out of the window with how this draft lines up i think so d but i think the smart teams will view it that way.

1:49:43Look, I'm all about the premier positions and I get that. You prioritize that if you're similarly graded. But I have a hard time passing up a player you've got a 7-0 grade on and just placing somebody else above them who's got a 6-4 or a 6-5. The grading seal I used to work in. I just don't think that's smart business. I think you want to take great players if you have an opportunity to do it. The running back is the one that's just a little bit different just because of the shelf life. So you want all those carries to matter. I've been preaching that over the years. But to me, the gap between him and some of the other guys, like if you're the Tennessee Titans, maybe you're not fully equipped to show him off in year one.

1:50:22But I think another offseason, you would be in that situation. So I think you would see a good Jeremiah Love in Tennessee this year. And I think if they continue to add pieces, you could see an elite Jeremiah Love in 27. DJ, we all got sources, don't we? Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. According to my source, there's a chance somebody goes like 11 or goes 24

1:50:44Pat McAfee:and goes like 26 and maybe goes like 12. Do you think that's true? And what do you think that means for draft night? Yeah, it's going to make it fun and interesting because it is, you know, there's wide ranges on some of these guys. Like I love, like one of my guys is I like the Toledo safety. I'm a big fan of McNeil Warren, but there's teams that have him in the middle of the second round. There's teams that think he's a top 15 type player. So that's going to be a fun one to follow on draft night. Where does he end up going? Mesidor is wildly polarizing. He's a little bit older. And he's someone, you know, a lot of his wins come inside.

1:51:21You know, as an edge rusher, you know, he's out there. But a lot of those wins come over guards. I really like him. And I think in a draft where we don't have a lot of interior pass rush, he might be the best interior pass rusher in the draft when you kick him in there. But other teams ding him, you know, like, I don't know if he can consistently win on the edge at the NFL level. And then he's a little bit older. So yeah, I mean, these guys, I'm, I'm serious. It's like top 15 pick middle second round pick. I've heard that more this year than any other year.

1:51:45Pat McAfee:Okay. So our source, I assume that we are talking to different people. I would assume it feels like everybody has their own world in this. Everybody's trying to go off their own judgment of everything. And from what we're all hearing from outside with the sources inside, it's like, I don't, I don't know if anybody really knows who's going to be available when I think Everybody is very much wondering who's going to be available when. And on that note, as we wrap up here in two minutes, go ahead, Con, man. Yeah, DJ, in recent memory, is this the most kind of all-over-the-place unknown draft that you've been a part of?

1:52:14It feels like normally, at least when it comes to player grades from teams, they are in a similar range. But I've heard you talk about Jordan Tyson, and I've seen him up in the top 10, and then I've seen him in the second round. Like, does this feel like the most, hey, I have no idea what's going to happen a week from now aside from Mendoza going one overall? Yeah, I think there's a lot of good players in this draft, but there's not a lot of really clean players. You know, when you talk about Bain in the arm, like Mesador in the age, Jordan Tyson's had the injuries every year. So, you know, how do teams view that?

1:52:48I think they all view them as players the same, like in terms of how they would value the talent. It's just about how much they value the risk associated with it. So that's where you get a lot of fluctuation. And the other thing I would say is when you have, you know, really kind of the one premier quarterback, you know, the quarterbacks kind of navigate everything. Everything kind of moves around them. The trades kind of move around the quarterbacks. And right now it's Mendoza one and everybody in the league expects Ty Simpson's going to be a Cardinal. When the draft's over, it's just a matter of where they want to, you know, pull the card.

1:53:16So with that kind of removed, it takes away some of the certainty in the draft and changes things up. I can't wait for it. Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When are you getting over there? Sunday. Sunday night, man. I'll be in there all week. By the way, real quick, I think you and Dan are in a good place now, and that makes me happy. I'm glad that you guys are in a good spot. I don't know if I told you this, Pat, but right when that whole thing was going on, this is in the too much information category, I went to the podiatrist. I had a foot doctor appointment. The podiatrist walks in, the foot doctor walks in, he goes, he sees me, he goes, oh, you're getting excited for the draft?

1:53:53They go, yeah, yeah, I can't wait. He goes, man, Orlovsky really loves Ty Simpson, huh? And I'm like, gee, many Christmas, my podiatrist.

1:54:00Pat McAfee:Hey, that's the draft. It's always excellent. We continue on the others. Yeah, I think I don't know what I was going to say there. We're still live, DJ. We are still live. We just wrapped up on ESPN right there. We're still on ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, YouTube, TikTok Live and X. Nice. There's still a lot of people listening to everything you're going to say. Way to land the plane on the podiatrist. Yeah. Did you see the countdown? Did you see the countdown? No. Did I get it in? Yeah. Perfect time. Couple seconds. Three on the clock. Okay, yeah. How's your foot? America almost missed out on that little nugget.

1:54:33That would have been, that would have been.

1:54:33Pat McAfee:AJ, thank you for saying that we care. That's a good question, AJ. How's the foot? How's the foot or both feet? What's going on? Oh, man, that's what separates him, by the way. It's not just the tan. It's the heart that he possesses. I had a cyst that they drained. It was kind of gross, but they, yeah, but it's good. I'm good now. We're going to be fine. We're going to be draft ready. I'm sitting down the whole time. We're good. What are those things called on the outside? Corns? Bunions. No, no, that's gross. No, this is not that. This is just like on the side of your ankle. You'd get a cyst anywhere else on your body.

1:55:07Pat McAfee:Like a blister? They stick that big needle in there and just... Are you talking about a blister? No, no. You've had a cyst before, right, Pat? A blister? I've had a blister. It's similar, but not phenomenal. It's like a nodule. It's like a nodule. Use words that we know, man. It looks like a big knock. It looks like a little pellet. It looks like a little pellet. Not like that. That's your foot, DJ? Bro, that sucks. What are you doing to me? That's just normal for you? You're like, you've never had one of these? This is the problem with the draft. Let's see your foot. Hey, put both feet up there.

1:55:46Fucking nose. Aaron's done it before. It's the draft, baby. No, it's like a little pee. It's like a little pee on the side of your ankle. It's gone now. And what happened? It was just a little uncomfortable. It was just a little uncomfortable with the shoe. So I got it off.

1:56:01Pat McAfee:I don't think I've ever had that. I didn't know that. Is it going to come back now, though? Can they guarantee it won't come back? It bunches. They can't guarantee it, AJ. That's a great question. They can't guarantee it. But the doctor also did me a solid and then got some cortisone in there afterwards. Even if it does, you're not feeling anything. I felt amazing. How many of these have you had? because you did ask me as if i didn't like just understand this a normal thing i've had i've had other cysts but that you know where it doesn't not a big deal like you go to the dermatologist i had one on my head before which was kind of weird so you're sitting there and it they they just took the thing that one they did the little incision and they're just going to take the cyst out you know okay so is it uh is a removal like i had a skin tag i think down here one time and they like yeah but this is under the skin yeah this is under the skin okay so are they popping it like what's that stuff like testing make sure it like cancer free and shit oh yeah yeah yeah yeah they've uh they've done that before my podiatrist did not gosh i hope i don't have foot cancer now you got me a little your podiatrist sounds like he's out on lunch well your podiatrist worried about a burlowski let's start reading some fucking foot books please man do your job Good God.

1:57:15He had good degrees. He has good degrees. He has good degrees. His chat to BT in his phone is what he has. He has good degrees, and he's played a lot of good golf courses. That's how I do it. Oh, yeah. That tells me that he's – Sounds like a dickhead. Listen, I don't know him personally, but – Unless he's watching. Everything I'm hearing about him – He's a fan of the show. That's why he knew about Arlovsky. He loves you guys. So he appreciates what you're saying. He likes it. We just cooked it immediately. Thank you, Doc, for doing all that. And now he is thinking too late. That's this now for DJ.

1:57:45Pat McAfee:Yes, he certainly does. Okay, Ty has a question for you, DJ, about the draft coming up. Yeah, DJ, it sounds like it might be a crapshoot, and it's pretty polarizing. But this late in the game, which guy or guys are really flying up the board, or at least on your board? I saw a lot of mocks, you know, early in the process, Caden Proctor's late first round, maybe second round. And I think it was either yesterday morning or something like that. I saw that they had him going maybe in the mid-teens. Are there a couple guys who are really starting to kind of fly up the board as we get closer to the draft?

1:58:19Yeah, I would say more kind of in that back of one and then really in that second round is the names where you're hearing a lot of juice and buzz. Malachi Lawrence from UCF, the edge rusher. Everybody loves him. And when you talk to a bunch of teams and they all say, we'd love this guy in the second round. When you get enough of them that say that, you're like, oh, OK, maybe somebody just wants to jump the line here. And he surprises us and sneaks into the bottom of one. So that would be one. Trayden Stooks from Arizona because he's got the nickel safety flex. He's a super athletic, smart kid.

1:58:50He's been great on the interviews. He's another one kind of in that early second-round range. Stribbling, the receiver from Ole Miss, the tape's good. He ran fast. And then the interviews and the meetings with teams have gone exceptionally well. So I thought he was like a third-round guy, and now I'm beginning to think he doesn't get out of the second round. So those are three names that have kind of caught some heat here at the end.

1:59:12Pat McAfee:What's your plan for Pittsburgh? Sunday through Sunday. That's a long time. We got any plans to go anywhere? There's a guy named Frank out there. He's open arms. I think he's cooking for everybody. Beast. I saw him. I don't know if you've got a chance to see him on the internet. This is he. Okay. This is him right here. You got to check him out. He's got all the answers. He echoes the sentiments of thousands of old yinzers around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But what he said... He looks like the drummer of... like a drummer in a band. Yes, he does. Chad Smith. Could be. Honestly. Could be. We have no idea.

1:59:45Yeah, like the Chili Peppers, right? Is that what we're thinking? Yeah, Chad Smith.

1:59:48Pat McAfee:I think Chad Smith's going to be pretty pissed that he said that. He's Will Ferrell, right? Yeah, he's Will Ferrell. Yeah, he's Will Ferrell. I don't know if Frank looks like Will Ferrell. And to be honest, I don't know if Frank's pumped up about you saying he looks like Will Ferrell either. But on that note... I think it's just the hat backwards. Yeah. Chiseled jawbone there. Like, that's a good look. You got two lanes in, you got two lanes out. And then they said, well, just go downtown, take the bus, park somewhere else, get a hotel. I looked it up. What's it? The Regency or something? $800.

2:00:20For what? For what? To stand next to people and pee all over each other? It's going to smell that he is a generation of Yinsman. I got to look that up. I got to look that one up.

2:00:31Pat McAfee:He's got a generation. By the way, great promo out of this guy. I would assume he is a very chirpy fella, and I assume he brings the noise. I assume at parties, that guy is awesome. We appreciate Frank because he is echoing the sentiment of a lot of older yinzers that we also know, talking about the hassle that it's going to be to get down into the draft. But with everything we've seen, it looks like it is about to be a phenomenal time down there. I can't wait, man. I think so. The way the NFL has grown this draft is special, I think. I genuinely think it is a special thing, DJ. Jay, obviously you've been a part of it since the move and everything that's happened.

2:01:06Pat McAfee:It's become a really cool, cool time to be a football fan there. It's like a traveling rock show. You use the same analogy. It's just that the crowds are massive. And it's all like, I don't see fights at any of these things. Like everybody's just having fun. They're having a good time. Well, they didn't fight in Philly. No. I'll tell you what, though. I'll tell you what. Speaking of fights, I mean, my Padres, A, we don't lose. And, I mean, we're fighting for puffer jackets on the way into the stadium. There's a good intensity going with our ball club right now. What's going on? We're in the brown here.

2:01:37The Padres had a giveaway. Like, first 10 ,000 fans get a Padres puffer jacket, and people were just beating the shit out of each other trying to get them. And then the Padres go on to – we talked about it earlier. Comeback. Massive comeback in the ninth inning to beat the Mariners. I'm puffer knife. By the way, I was on the plane coming home late last night, and I'm watching this game and everybody in the plane, it's like almost midnight. Everybody in the plane is asleep. So they win and I'm friends with Huard and Salk, the radio guys up in Seattle. So I wanted to send them a picture of my reaction.

2:02:10I didn't realize, I don't do a lot of selfies, I take the picture of the flash. I think I woke up the entire cabin. It was not a good look. Damn.

2:02:19Pat McAfee:You always look like big time asshole whenever that happens. It's even worse whenever you accidentally hit the camera thing and it's out. and the flash goes. And I'm only saying that as somebody that we've had that happen to us plenty of times where we're just kind of standing somewhere and then all of a sudden a flash is to our side and we look and it's somebody just going, oh, shit. They're trying to sneak one by the goalie. It's like, hey, do you want to take a picture? No. No? No. Are you sure you want to sneak it in? Are you sure you want to? I've never been on the receiving end there, Pat.

2:02:54You will though, DJ, especially in Pittsburgh. you're camping out there for a week uh that's a long time will we see you wednesday night i hope so i gotta do my my final mock draft wednesday night so that's the show we gotta do but i'm gonna try and get over there after that's over okay cool yeah please do yeah it'll

2:03:09Pat McAfee:be a good time the people at the cayman science center miss stacy okay miss lizzie with the catering miss lizzie with the catering at the cayman science center uh they don't normally bring food from outside the science center in sure sure so miss lizzie has been uh a lot of extra work here okay to get dallas alas in there get rudy's i have to get permane's in there you know so miss lizzie is an angel we like to say thank you to her miss stacy This is a legend. This is kind of her event. It's kind of become her event and it's not the only event. Miss Dixie's setting up another event over at the Warhol Museum as well.

2:03:48She's a weapon.

2:03:49Pat McAfee:A lot of events happening around the draft. But the Wednesday one, basically the reason why I wanted to do it is because NFL Films, the football town, the 53 minute video, 54 minute, I forget what it is exactly, but it basically just explains Pittsburgh. this from the voice or I haven't seen it yet. It was going to be the first time I was going to see it was during the draft. And that was, I feel like the people that are going to be on air for the next four days talking from Pittsburgh, it'd be a cool thing to know. Like it's a lot of information that's going to come through as you're on, on the air.

2:04:23Pat McAfee:And the fact that I was lucky enough to be a part of it, incredibly dope, but I feel like it's, it should be a super casual, like you're going to get food from around Pittsburgh. It's just like a welcome to Pittsburgh type event is kind of what it is. and then we're going to watch this thing. I'm going to watch it for the first time, and then hopefully we have the greatest draft of all time. And I'm excited for it. Yenzers are going to be pumped about it. Oh, yeah. They've looked up a lot of negative things for them to get mad about. Yenzers, baby. But they are going to be pumped. It's going to be special.

2:04:54Pat McAfee:And Daniel Jeremiah, I can't wait to watch you work, brother. I appreciate it, man. Hey, by the way, are you guys having Rodgers on for an announcement or anything before the draft, or what's the deal there? He's busy. DJ. He's going to ruin it. He's working. out. Why don't you fuck up? You know, why don't you fuck up? Good night. That was a reasonable question. It wasn't. We got a lot going on over here. Do you think it's on us to tell a man who's committed his entire being to football that he needs to make his decision? Now, some people would say yes, actually, at that draft. If he was to walk out at that draft with Goodell at the beginning and just do a I'm coming back.

2:05:32Pat McAfee:I love you all. It's been an honor to be here. And then just walks off. It would be a mixed reaction, I think. Tony. Tony. Maybe from you. It's right before the draft. He's giving his answer. That's exactly what he was supposed to do. I'm just saying I've seen polls on Twitter and stuff like that. I think it would be a mixed reaction on people. What does Dan Dawkins say about polls online? I don't know. You do know? Unless they got a GAP, they're not real polls. Yeah, they're not taking polls. Sorry. Yeah, that is what he said. Who's taking polls online? Just saying I'm just trying to relay information here.

2:06:03It is kind of an interesting situation there. Rogers? Online polls? He's not making a decision until all the bodily fluids in his beanbag have been depleted. Okay? We've talked about this. He basically told us that last time he was on. If he's still got juice in there, no decision. Once the spigot's dried up, he'll decide. He's at it. Yeah. And Big Mike gets that. DJ, I don't know if you listened to our conversation with him. He does understand. No.

2:06:35Pat McAfee:I don't know if you heard our conversation with him. He gave us nothing on anything because he looked like he was in incredible shape. So I was like, okay, I can ask him a question here. We're at least going to have to get some. Hey, you're staying in incredible shape. So are you working? Like, what are you, you know, like, what are you doing in there? And his answer, I don't know if you saw this, was he's staying in shape so he can have sex with his wife. That's what he said. Respect Jenny Rao. Yes. The rude butt. Make sure you put that in your write-up for the draft. And he is jacked. And he is very jacked.

2:07:03Pat McAfee:So that is a part of the story. So there's a chance what Ty said is accurate there, and we're just kind of waiting on the day there's no more Rodgers. I mean, I was just curious if he was going to come on and say he was going to play or not, but I feel like I did gather a lot of extra information on that question. Welcome to the program. And the Steelers like Will Howard. Which another year of Will Howard behind Rodgers would kind of put him on the Jordan Love perfect trajectory. Yeah, did they have that poll out? Do you think it would be a good idea for Will Howard to get another year in Mike McCarthy's offense behind Aaron Rodgers?

2:07:38Was that a poll? No, the poll was, do you like Aaron Rodgers? Do you want him to be your quarterback? And it was overwhelmingly no. Who put the poll out? Who put the poll out? I believe it was 93-7, the fan. Oh, what the fuck did they have? That used to be B94. And I'll tell you what, I learned about the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC through them. Now they're out here doing these types of polls. Can't wait to get back to Pittsburgh. I love it.

2:07:59Pat McAfee:They're stirring it up. So, DJ, Fernando Mendoza, I don't like that he was on the cover of a magazine and it says perfect across him. What was that today? We saw a picture. But the full sentence was the perfect plan. Yeah, but I don't like that they put perfect right across him. As somebody who is a massive right here, I don't like that. I'll get screenshot if you look at that game. Yeah, it's a lot of pressure. And obviously, Fernando doesn't hear the outside noise. He's locked in. I mean, he wins a Heisman. He wins a national championship in his hometown. he takes Indiana to places that they've never been so let's just assume that this is not something but in the past this is a setup yeah this would be what we call a setup how do you feel about Fernando after kind of your final evaluation or have you just kind of decided he's number one overall pick let's move to learning about everybody else that's also going to be taking up night one of the NFL draft yeah he's been in the books for me I think if you took that little box that was over the word perfect and put it over the word plan I'm in agreement with it you know like it's to me like it is I love the plan that they're doing.

2:08:58You go out and get Cousins. He's going to be able to learn from him, watch him a little bit. You're not going to put him out there until he's got the complete understanding of this offense, which is going to give him a greater chance to be successful. You go get Linderbaum. I think he'll do some other things in this draft to help that offense, get a big X receiver out there, another guard, get Colton Miller back. You bring in an offensive coach. I do think the plan has been really, really good there. He's not a perfect player. Nobody is. but I like the way they're approaching it and he's been, Hayes been in the barn on him for a long time for me.

2:09:29I saw what I needed to see. Has Dan, Dan's gotten quiet, right? Has he about that whole thing? Yeah, he's just waiting for draft night. No, basically because every single person has been like, yeah, I don't know. Everyone just stopped listening. He's still saying it.

2:09:41Pat McAfee:No, but to be clear, I don't think anybody knows. Like, I think there's a lot of, I think there's a lot of different messaging going on because Dan's going to say that because he hears it from somebody. Yeah. Like, right, we assume Dan heard it from somebody. Or 12 to 15 GMs. Yeah, 12 to 15 GMs said like – I don't know. That was a little – I think that's kind of what, you know. Well, and also what big games. That too. I think he did. He said – I think he said like coaches and decision makers. I don't think he said specifically GMs. He did. But, you know. Yeah. He was really – Yeah, but he does.

2:10:14I mean, he's in private and you guys have talked to him. Like he's the Ty Simpson guy. Like there's nothing – Agreed. Agreed. Manufactured about it. He's all in on it. And he's going to be – I mean, I believe firmly he's going to be a Cardinal. You guys think that any other teams come into the play there? I just think he's a Cardinal. Steelers. It comes down to whether or not they – Absolutely not. Steelers? No. I don't see it. We already did that with Kenny Pickett. I don't know if he's big enough. Better than Kenny. Pittsburgh is going to want a big guy, I think. And Mike McCarthy wants massive hands.

2:10:42They brought in Carson Beck and Drew Aller for their top 30 visits. So, yeah, that's not their type. But, DJ, I do have a question. After tie, who do you think the third will be? And what are your thoughts on Cole Payton as the third quarterback potentially? Yeah, I think it'll be Beck just because of, you know, the resume, you know, the number of games, big games, the size, the kind of the prototypical stuff that he possesses. I know, you know, the knock on him was kind of the just like the attitude and people didn't necessarily love the kid, the Georgia period of time. But it sounds like he's you know, he grew up over his time at Miami.

2:11:20so that's uh you know he's helped himself in the visits he's been solid on all the visits he's got good football intelligence so he would be the one i would you know if i was going to guess i think it'll be him cole payton um he's fun i mean he's a fun player to watch and i think he's got somebody fun to work with i'm just curious how how early you would you know go there how early does that that ride start i would say it's more like the fourth round um would be my guess but i mean look it you know we can do this you can you could talk to 29 30 teams and get one answer it only takes

2:11:47Pat McAfee:one and then you know all bets are off you're talking to 29 30 teams like dan orlovsky no i'm saying you could theoretically okay i didn't know i didn't know i was like holy fuck that's a lot of conversations i don't have that yeah i don't have that i don't have that going on yeah the ability that is an ability that only the insiders possess shallow enough conversation to keep the conversation going but depth that it feels like it's a relationship on both sides and then also immediately available all the time. So that is kind of the difference, I think. And thank God. You know who the best, guys?

2:12:21Go ahead. You know who the best sources are on this stuff, by the way? I don't think you guys would be surprised by this, but it's coaches outside the building. Like, if you go back and look over the years, like the good stuff that you get, it's from a coach who has a relationship with a coach because they talk about everything. Whereas, like, the personnel guys are a little bit more close to the vest. It's a little more guarded. The circle's pretty tight. But you get yourself somebody who's best friends with a defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator with another team, that's where the good stuff comes.

2:12:47Pat McAfee:Yeah, equipment managers are normally going to put you over, so they're not going to say anything bad. Strength coach is around all the time, but nobody's going to say anything bad. Security guys are great. Right. Because you get the security if you have relationships with security guys because they're having to do all the late background work because GMs are paranoid. So it's like, hey, just double check on this kid. Make sure there's nothing that we don't know about that happened in his past. And so I don't know this one anymore. I only had one that I had a good deal with, a good relationship with.

2:13:18And he would tell me, like, man, I just did a lot of homework on these two guys over the last week. And I was like, oh.

2:13:23Pat McAfee:The security guy making$25 an hour? Well, big dom. I mean, no, these guys. You mean like the big doms? Big doms making$10 million. The big doms are the leaks of information? No. There's some people that were in that role that if you had connections to them, You can get some good stuff there. I don't like that one, but you're supposed to be the most secure. Hello. Hello. Lock it down. That's your whole entire purpose. The guys are in the background checks, yeah. DJ did just say pretty matter-of-factly on one of his shows that A.J. Brown's going to New England. Oh, what security guy is he? Is he saying grazie?

2:14:01How about that? Yeah, right. Tom ain't talking to nobody about nothing. No. He got nothing. No, yeah, there's nothing to come out of there. That is some of the just paying attention to what's going on there and then looking at the additions that they've made and knowing that's how the Eagles operate. That's more their jam.

2:14:20Pat McAfee:On the A.J. Brown thing, yeah, I'm not talking to Dom, but if you look at everything they're fucking doing, yeah. Sheffield kind of said the same. Pretty safe to say A.J. Brown's got a new team coming around. Is that going to happen draft night then? Is that what that happens? I don't think so. I think it's a June deal. So dumb. A designation. Haven't they done this in the past where they just designated for that time? Yeah, the information guys would have better scoop for you on that in terms of how that works. I don't think that they could. I'm a scout, bro. There was another deal that happened in the last couple years where I was talking to a team about a player, and they said, well, we don't need that.

2:14:56We've already got something kind of cooking for June. So they had to wait for that.

2:15:01Pat McAfee:All right. Well, the post-June 1 designation is obviously a special time, as is draft season, especially for you. So thank you for taking the time. Will you join us on Friday live from Pittsburgh? Absolutely. I'd love to. Do you want to go – what time do you want to be on? Do you have a preferred time? Noon to 2 Eastern on ESPN, noon to 2.33-ish digitally. So what time would be good for you? I have no clue what my schedule is, Pat, but I will make – we'll work it out. 12-10 is taken. The commissioner of the NFL will be on. Yes. I'm going to lose that one, yeah. I feel like you have a history of doing this to me, by the way.

2:15:38Like Olympic gold medalists, like just coach K. Like, can we just, can I just once follow somebody that's, I won't say on the same level, but not so far above it. I can't even see them. You know, that would be.

2:15:50Pat McAfee:I was trying to, so I was trying to get you to say like, man, the noon hour would be great. So then I could go, Oh, that's what I was trying to do right there. And you didn't fall for it. I appreciate you doing that. I genuinely appreciate that. You're the man. Yeah. Not a surprise. You guys are the best man. I'm just excited for this thing to get here. I'm excited for Pittsburgh to kind of show off a little bit. I think it's going to be awesome. Hell yeah. Did you see the colors of the draft on all the logos and everything? It's nice. It's like diarrhea green. No. Yellow. That is not the color.

2:16:19Pee and poop, green and yellow. No, that is not the color. It is an interesting blue mix with a yellow. Wasn't there like a magenta and orange one too? There was a pink, orange, and yellow.

2:16:32Pat McAfee:Sure. One that we saw, a bunch of different signs and logos. The whole city is black and yellow. It's built for it. Hey, is O 'Neal Cruz catching the ball now since we last talked? Ladies and gentlemen, this guy's an asshole. Daniel Jeremiah. Thank you, DJ.

2:16:56If you've ever wanted real energy without choking down something that tastes like regret, Bucked Up is the answer. The flavor is the thing people keep coming back for. Insanely delicious, which is not a phrase usually associated with energy drinks, and they're built on real science-backed ingredients. Clean energy that actually works without the garbage you don't want. Bucked Up is so confident you'll love their drinks, they're giving away an island vacation just to prove it. That's the kind of brand this is. No purchase necessary. Giveaway ends May 30th. Enter and find your closest Bucked Up at BuckedUpEnergy.com.

2:17:34Grab a Bucked Up and fuel like a million bucks. Need parts fast? O 'Reilly Auto Parts has fast. Need them now? We've got now. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it. We're O 'Reilly Fast. Just one part that makes O 'Reilly stand apart. The professional parts people. Oh, oh, oh, O 'Reilly. Auto Parts.

2:18:13Pat McAfee:No reason to bring up the bad times from the first two games. Yeah, yeah. He has been flawless since. Yeah, we're in the good times right now. We're hoisting cones. He's swinging a cone. He's donk shot and everything. I'll tell you what, Thunderball has gotten interesting. It's gotten us more into baseball, I do believe. This just happened. Pittsburgh Barge just hit this. Yeah, three runs. Jack. Goodbye, 4-4 in Pittsburgh. Hoist that son of a bitch. Da, da, da, da, da. Oh, mama, I'm in fear. Oh, my life, I'm the law. I'm of the cone. Yeah, the big bear is coming out of his slumber, so that's good to see.

2:18:54He's a big bear, that guy? Winter's over. Dancing Bear is about to come fuck everybody. Don't you worry about the team. He's the leader of the squad as far as hitters is concerned.

2:19:04Pat McAfee:Okay, so Skeen's got the highest ERA on the team, I see. Yep. Okay, that's because that first inning was tough. Great news. That was a tough first inning. He's only going to get better. His ERA is going down as he continues to roll and continues to. Have we done the bounce point? Yeah. Has he done that yet? Oh, yeah. He's done it? No, no. He hasn't held it, but he's hitting that bounce point. I thought I potentially missed it. I felt like Pitching Ninja would let me see that if he did one of those. He had an 18-incher. Is that what that thing was? Yes. 18 inches of butt. The one he's throwing or the one he has?

2:19:35Pat McAfee:He had an 18. Wow. He has an 18. He had an 18-incher sweeper, I think. Yeah. Foot and a half, D-Butt. That's what we're talking about around here. That's diesel. I think it was, yeah, I think Pitching Ninja said, yeah. Yeah, the replay of this one, yeah. That thing was 18. I don't know how you. He's pitching. That one's outside the plate and then it's under here. Come on. Yeah. That's a foot and a half movement, brother. Horizontal. And then he's also got the vertical movement, too, if you fucking want some. Yeah, change-ups devastate. Shohei Otani's putting that ball wherever the fuck he wants it.

2:20:02He is fun to watch. Yeah, I mean, once you kind of watch baseball more, you do realize, like, okay, quarterback's hard, left tackle's hard. Hitting a baseball, I mean, has to be the hardest thing. Throwing a strike. Throwing a strike, shit, yeah. Thunderball. You heard Bryce Harper on the show, like, oh, you can know what's coming. Still not going to hit it. Yeah, that's. I mean, throwing a strike, so hard. Yeah.

2:20:25Pat McAfee:Okay, so hard with the batters in there, obviously, just trying to. And then hitting a baseball, yeah, right. Man. With the limitations on where the fuck that thing has to. Yeah, you know, I'll get on top of one a little bit. I'll tell you what, we're creating rules as we go here with Thunderball to try to make it as good as possible. You're just throwing meatball. Yesterday, we had. How do you get them out? Is it all forced out? Back to the mound. Back to the mound, yeah. Or peg. There you go, talk, running. Yeah, talk ran into the wall a couple times. did that get out? Yeah, that was big fly for Foxy.

2:20:54Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what, we lost to D-butt, Dirty, and Bone. Oh, Southpaw. Yeah, well, he was actually hitting from both sides of the plate. For absolutely no reason. Oh, no. The game-winning RBI, that fucking New York tried to win. Look at your right-hand side. That's gone. Wow. Yeah, I mean, this team very young. Okay. Yeah, that's a home run. Dirty's a problem. Dirty's a really good player at this game. D-butt also from the right side much better than he is from the left side, but kind of does his thing. Right for power, left for contact. Oh, bye. Yeah, that one felt pretty good. It's not so much the hitting that's my big problem.

2:21:29Pat McAfee:It's the pitching that I can't find a fucking shot. Yeah, I mean, we're playing some real Vanderbilt in here. D-Bone's throwing some meatballs right there. D-Bone fucking hits Grand Slam here in a little bit off of somebody. I'll tell you what, that was... D-Bone left, he hits a dinger, and was that a strike? Change up? Yep. grand slam if bone touches it it's gone it's the summer slam yeah bone is a problem in the batter's box boxy don't like swinging a bat no he doesn't a lot of guys who don't like swinging a bat that's dirty dirty started really dealing and then talk got in there and yeah I mean that was a great play right there that was an out I felt good about that oh yeah it was a good game this thing takes forever to play but it is a lot of fun save gotta tweak some rules It's only made us appreciate baseball even more.

2:22:19Pat McAfee:Game time. That was a walk-off right there. What was your guys' team name? Yesterday we were team Jackie Robinson. Happy Jackie Robinson. Congratulations to team Jackie Robinson. D-Bone was on that team. Dirty was on that team. And D-Butt were on that team. So it's almost the Jackie Robinson. Yeah. Three Ds. Yeah. They were a good team. Three and D. And they were kind of fucking, you know, dancing with how the game should be played or not. You know? Rolling into beans. Rolling into – Trying to get hit in a wiffle ball game. Trying to get hit in a wiffle ball game. You don't get your base. You don't get your base.

2:22:58We took it out. Well, yesterday we were doing – Hey, we had to take it out. We took it out of the second game. Hey, AJ, I'll tell you what. It was a hostile environment for me and Dirty. What do you mean? It was a hostile environment. We had ground balls getting kicked. Why for just you and Dirty, though? It was tough. Jack, you're up. The other team did not seem to wear the 42 jersey. He had the battle. Got reviews getting sent in. Fucking three hours later, pool reports. Got an overturned call. I saw the chatter. I saw the chatter afterwards. The chatter. Me too.

2:23:30Pat McAfee:I was pretty excited to see that a couple hours after the game, Foxy was still fucking reeling from the loss, trying to find the footage to see if we got somebody or not. Taco's downward dog here. He's clearly out. Zoom in on top. Talk has the ball. Foot is not on the ground. Review says you're out. Game should have been over. Instead, Gertie went up and hit a walk-off. So you guys tell me. That's the pool report. We're up one. That's ball, baby. We're up one in the bottom of the third. Okay, in the rule that we had yesterday is three people teams. Each person has to pitch an inning. At a pool.

2:24:07Pat McAfee:Okay, five runs per inning is max. and it was 9-8 in the bottom of the third. We had two stingy outs. I mean, we were playing real stingy. We had talk in there closing because that's what talk does. Then all of a sudden this play happens, and I don't – I mean, we got – Foxy's on the ground. It's the third out. Yeah, we got – I'm jumping in the air. I'm so happy we did it. I think he might be out. Yeah. The whole sideline gave us a safe call. No, we did not. We did not say safe. We said we didn't see it. No, I saw a safe call. We have the video. You're in the video. Thank you. We have the video.

2:24:42See what I'm talking about, AJ? Chill it. See what I'm talking about? Yeah, I can see you're up against it a little bit, D-Bone. Up against it? We got screwed? Yeah, they won. What are we even talking about? This is sports, baby. And I think D-Bone is forgetting this is a New York review. New York holds all the power, so what everyone says on the sideline or in the game doesn't matter. New York says, you're out of here, pal. That's postgame, dude. New York says in postgame. The postgame pull report came in. Sorry. Yeah. No, New York can reverse that. Remember, in Thunderball, we're kind of making the rules.

2:25:11Yeah, postgame bull report can actually say if it would have been the final out of the game and we would have won. Yes. Yeah, we win. Across all sports, besides F1, once the results are in and we leave the fucking grounds, that game's over. Exactly. You want this to be like F1? See you in the championship. No. Exactly. You're right. You're right. See you in the championship game of the day. Congratulations. It was a great game. It was a great game. You won the second game. We have a lot of rules. Well, we can only play two innings because you guys' game took like an hour and 15 minutes. It was so long.

2:25:42But we didn't walk off Jack as well. The pitching in the second game was light years better than the first game. That's good, yeah.

2:25:49Pat McAfee:It felt like that was going to be a downfall of some of the guys, myself included. I can't fucking hit that thing. I think we need to entice action in the batter's box. Yeah, I agree. Got to start with 0-1, and then maybe two fouls with two strikes would be out. I think you can take two walks an inning because you still, like, you know, you can't. Don't rule. It's bullshit if someone's not throwing strikes and you have to swing at it, but you also, we're playing wiffle ball. This isn't fucking game seven of the World Series, all right? Don't go up there looking to fucking walk. That's a jackass move.

2:26:21It's been happening. A lot. It's been creeping into the game. Yeah, too much. That was my strategy the entire time. Exactly. That asshole, right? He's on your team. He's on my team. That's your team. I heard you say to him, hey, Fox, let's look for a walk here. I'm trying to win. Are we not trying to win? They were doing it to us. They were doing it to us. find it. It's like, hey, there's no way they're going to be able to throw three strikes before

2:26:42Pat McAfee:they throw four balls. Let's just sit there. I was playing the game how the game was being played against me. There's two types of players, too. Good-Eye Gumps knows where his pitch is. What, do you want him to swing at something low, something high? No. Gumps is going to get on base and get home. Oh, they're saying Gumps got an eagle eye out there? Yeah, he knows exactly where the ball's going. I get my accent. ABS? What are we doing? We're just watching? No. Gumps is waiting for his pitch. He's got the two-hole in your whole life. if you know what you're doing. Yeah. Somebody's going to pull a hamstring for sure, getting it first.

2:27:12Pat McAfee:Yeah, left knee. I blew up my goop. Left knee. Left knee. There's a good chance I need Tommy John. Okay, so everybody's banged up. Okay, good. We got to do a little thing. We were missing MVP yesterday, too. Yeah, Nick. Yeah, skates. So that'll change. Nick, I was told you won 4-5. I thought you won 4-4 with four home runs and a grand slam. I didn't know you had a – No, Bruce threw me one. I chopped it back to him, and before I could get the first, also pulled my hamstring. I was out. but I don't know what it's like to be on base. I either fucking touch home or nothing. I like that. You haven't been out here on this piece of tape out here.

2:27:45That's right. It's a different ball game. It is a little different out there. It's a good sport. I also thought about it last night as well. If you're a lefty, that thing being closed doesn't help us at all. Okay, if I'm trying to rip one into the gap, it's coming right back to the second base. Yeah, but you guys get more room here. Yeah, sure, but you get plenty of room over there too, and you're trying to get it through that door. You get way more room this way. Hey, this is how the stadium is built, baby. That's true. Okay, fine. When I freaking rip one through that door and walk home later, it's not my fault.

2:28:16I'll tell you what, if you pull it through that door, it's a grand slam no matter what. I'm propping that door open. It's tough to get out of the park, AJ. It's not a bad idea. Yeah, genius. I just thought of that. I didn't say that. Above the black railing, like where the jerseys are, and then –

2:28:32Pat McAfee:Brick wall – brick pillar to the left is the start of the foul line there. Okay. But if it hits anything like up top, like lights, the Thunderdome shit, and it comes back down, that's in play. That's not. It's probably as cold. Yeah. I lost my shoes there. Yeah, I forgot I had to run. Yep. That was part of, like, life now. Like, oh, shit, I'm actually going to try to run here. I got to tell you. It's been fun. I wonder how long this will last. How long? We'll see. I might actually stream this one. This one might actually make it to, like, live. It's more fun than watching pickleball, I think. Definitely.

2:29:01Except for Agassi was great. Actually, I saw some of Agassi last night. It was good. Him and James Blake, that whole situation was fun to watch.

2:29:06Pat McAfee:Anna Lee Waters beating James Blake in straight sets in pickleball. Good for pickleball. James Blake and Andre Agassi just winning straight up. Yeah, against Anna Lee and Jeannie Bouchard. I think that'll kind of just – I think Andre Agassi is only going to get better. Yeah, yeah. I'd like to see him maybe play Anna Lee. That's not a bad idea. Oh. She's on AQ. Not AQ? I don't know how AQ stepped up. He said he had like a 4.9. That's not even close to them. It's pretty high, right? Man, I don't know why. He had his own bag with multiple paddles. Yeah, and a backpack. Yeah, he had a backpack. Yeah, with the paddles coming out like it's a quiver.

2:29:46I do remember that. No way. Yeah, he's kind of skipping in. He had his hokas, you remember? Yeah, he told us all the rules that were wrong. He had his hands in a little sack. I was skipping in. I can see him now in the Arizona backyard just walking in.

2:30:00Pat McAfee:A couple pickleballs on the right side here where like a couple holder would be on a bag. Fucking Quiver on the other side. He'd come out this way. Got his shoes on this side. Yeah. Rating score right on the back in the front pocket. Yeah, he fucking... Jockstrap with a cup. He wore a cup because he said he... Oh, yeah. On the outside of his shorts. Yeah, short shorts. Big cup. Had to let people know what was going on. When you come into this kitchen, know that it's big. That's what AQ's doing. Yeah. We got to get out of here. Be a front-to-top in some place. It might change your life. We're in this thing together.

2:30:28Team on me. We'll see you tomorrow. Hey, mania. Let's go. Get your ESPN Plus Premium Super Duper now. Start now. Get done. Unlimited. Get it now. That's another to me, too. I need to get it now. Let's all do it. It's going to be a monumental evening in the history of sport, Saturday night. And then Sunday is going to spotlight the business even more. What a time to be alive. Hell yeah. And if I see you in Vegas, fuck off. All of you. Except for Randy Orton. Of course. The GOAT. He's saving the business. He's winning the 15th world title.

2:31:08Pat McAfee:Be a friend. Tell a friend. Something nice might change your life. We're listening together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for$15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available.

2:31:42Pat McAfee:Taxes and fees extra. Default terms at mintmobile.com. Hey, sports fans. The ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional cost. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN, all in one place. Sign up or activate now.