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Hey, Pardon My Take, listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcast, Spotify or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. On today's Pardon My Take, we've got a two-fer. We're talking Black Monday, firings, hirings with our good friend, Diana Rossini. Then we're going to do a little college football playoff preview with, unfortunately, our college football expert because he won the duel with Tom Tilly.

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Has it been one? It has.

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He's got three out of four of the last teams. Brandon Walker, we haven't tapped Brandon yet, but he will be in this show. He said to me before, Is it my coronation? Basically, our worst case scenario.

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Wait, so is Tom totally out of teams?

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Yeah, he's got one team left, but statistically, he can't make it up.

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But we should put some stock. If he picked the champion, that should mean something.

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That should mean something. We're winners on this podcast. We haven't decided yet. We're going to do Hot Seat, Cool Throne. We're going to do some pressure rankings. We're going to do Guys on Chicks. We got a great show for everyone, and it's brought to you by our friends at DraftKings, NFL Playoffs. We're talking about the NFL Playoffs. You bet we are getting on the action at DraftKings Sports. We're going to have an official sports betting partner at the NFL. Scoring touch downs is key to winning the NFL playoffs, and the key to you scoring big is betting on them at DraftKings, the number one place to bet touch downs. Ready to place your first bet? Try betting on something simple like a player to score six. Go to the DraftKings Sportsbook app and make pick. Here's another reason to watch your favorite players crush it in the playoffs. New customers bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Score big during the NFL playoffs with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code take. That's code take. For new customers to get $20 in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings Sportsbook, the Crown is yours.

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Co/audio. Okay, let's go.

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Hey, football guy, Fatina, A-W-N.

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Hard as my take. Yeah, pardon my take. Yeah, pardon my take.

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Yeah, pardon my take.

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Yeah, pardon my take.

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Yeah, pardon my take. Welcome to Part of My Take, presented by DraftKings. Score big during the NFL Playouts with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code take. That's code take for new customers to get $20 in bonus bets instantly when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, January eighth, and PFT Black Monday has occurred. We just want to remind everyone that those guys have families.

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Kids have to change schools. Yeah.

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Getting fired is not fun.

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No, it's a very somber day. Thoughts and prayers. Anyone that takes joy in their coach being fired is a sicko.

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See you, Doug Peterson.

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Adios, bitch.

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It was crazy. We're going to get into more with Diana Rossini about it, but that was, I think, the most shocking news was Trent Balke staying and Doug Peterson going because Trent Balke, he's a cacahroach. He just sticks around forever. He has been the GM of two teams, and he is now about to hire his sixth head coach. And I looked it up, Trent Balke, as the GM of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is 26 and 58. Sorry, he started as, I think he was a senior player personnel or whatever, and then became the GM. His time in Jacksonville Well, '26 and '58. Doug Peterson's time in Jacksonville was 22 and 29. So Trent Balke without Doug Peterson was 4 and 29.

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22 and 29 sounds pretty good.

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Yeah, it does. So Doug Peterson got fired, but Trent Balke didn't. You separate those and you're like, Wait a second. Now, I'm not saying Doug Peterson should have kept his job, but it seems like the Jags should have fired both of them.

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Yeah. So Trent Balke, he was there for the 49ers, the Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula days. I believe he hired- Chip Kelly. He hired Jim Tomsula. He hired Chip Kelly. He was part of that whole scene where, allegedly, Harbaugh may have told some high-up people when they walked into the room, Sorry, this room is for men only. You know what he's really good at? He's really good at sitting next to the owner and being the one with the most face time around the owner.

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Even how he got the job in Jacksville, he started as, like I said, senior player personnel or something, and then they fired their GM, and then he was like, I'll be the interim GM. Then after a while, I was like, Wait, I guess I'll stick as the GM. Yeah. He's a survivor.

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Sitting next to the owner during games is actually worth a lot in terms of job security, and he's very good at that. Yeah.

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So that was the big news. Then the Giants, also big news, keeping both Dable and Joe Shane crazy. I guess John Marey deserves credit for being a man of his word.

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I guess so. He also really threw him under the bus while saying that he's keeping them. Yeah. He's like, This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but we're not firing him.

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And it's It's a dumpster fire decision in this respect. One, you have a GM. They both are on the hottest seat, the hottest seat possible going into the season. So what is the GM going to do? He's probably going to spend as much money as he possibly can in free agency. I think someone posted last night, like Gettelman spent the most money in his hot seat year. Who is their GM after Gettelman? Can't remember his name, but he spent the most money in his hot seat ear. Now you have the coach and GM in their hot seat ears going to just try to spend as much money as possible and hopefully that it keeps their job.

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Also probably draft a quarterback. Then maybe I would say that the pressure would be on them to play that quarterback on the early side rather than on the delayed side. I'm not saying that if they get Cam Ward and he's great, they put him in too soon. But if they get Cam Ward or Shador or somebody like that, and they wait around for four weeks in the regular season and he doesn't look great in practice, they're going to be more likely to be like, Fuck it, let's just pull the emergency start rookie quarterback lever so that we can save our own job. Correct. But I do think that Dable, I think he's a... I've changed a little bit as the course of this year went on, but I still think that he is a guy that can be a very good head coach. I agree with that. If he had the right tools around him. They got to do a lot of other stuff. The roster is not so great. But yeah, they're going to be sticking around. Mr. Mera, I would feel so bad if I was the head coach, and the owner gave a press conference being like, I know everybody in the world wanted me to fire this guy, and I wanted to fire this guy, but I'm not going to fire this guy.

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Yes. But it was Jerry Reece before Gettelman. He had a hot seat year where he went max in the free agency. I think they made the playoffs. And Gettleman did the same. So they're going to be all in. Also, I saw this. So Jordan Renan said, How rare is it for a coach to get another season after winning just three games in their third year? It's only happened twice since 1980. Bruce Kosslet in 1999 and Dave Shula in '95, both with sincey and both crashed out. Definitely a weird thing for year three. Year one, three wins. You could keep your job. Year two, maybe even. Year three, Three wins, usually is you're gone.

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I think they both made such an equal amount of mistakes that it was hard to pin most of the blame on one of them. It's smart. It's very smart. To cover each other's heads. If they both get a little bit better, then we're in a good spot. But I can't identify which guy is issue.

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Then the names are piling in for each job. The bears are going to interview every single person ever. Mike McCarthy, David Shaw, Kafka.

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Robert Salah.

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The list just goes on and on. I did see an old friend, though. Memes, are you excited for Matt Nagui era in New York? He's just getting an interview. He's not the next coach.

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What's wrong with talking to guys?

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Who do you want? Because Ben Johnson is not going to the Jets or the Saints because those teams did not offer him an interview interview, which means he basically was like, Don't even bother interviewing me. Ben Johnson would have been Adam Gays 2.0 on the Jets.Nice spin zone. That's good.

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I don't like his attitude when it comes to taking meetings either.

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Yeah, I don't either. It's crazy. We got two teams in the playoffs and three teams looking for new head coaches here on this podcast. So who do you want? Either Vrabel. Okay. Hank just went like this. You said That sad boy. Yeah, it's still possible. Aaron Glenn. Brian Flores. I'm sure Dolphins fans are probably like, Yeah, take him. I'll take him. That's pretty much it.

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Sounds like you're thinking about kidnapping. I'll take that guy.

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Yeah, it doesn't seem like you're very enthusiastic about this.

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I think you should want Rex Ryan. I think you should want Rex Ryan more than anything you've ever wanted, because at the very least, it's going to be a fucking blast. Yeah, but the end of the Rex Ryan days weren't great.

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Right. But the beginning were, and what would you be doing when you hire him? You're going back to the beginning. Back to the beginning, but he's old now. You don't know how he deals with the new players. He's thinner. He got the rhinoplasty or whatever. We need fat. If Rex agrees to put on 200 pounds.

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Fat Rex back?

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Yeah, fat Rex. See, I'm the reverse with Mike McCarthy. If the bears decide to hire Mike McCarthy, it has to come with Ozempic.

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Because he'll be the first person ever to move to Chicago lose weight.

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Yeah, he'd have to do it. He'd have to do it because I was talking with Eddie, our good friend, and he basically was like, I don't want Mike McCarthy because of the face he's going to make. And I explained to him, well, there's no big Jumbotron in Soulja Field, so at least you won't do that. But I agree, you got to lose weight if you're Mike McCarthy.

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I want Mike McCarthy to the bears. You're rooting for my demise. No, not for your demise, specifically. He's a good coach.

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You know the honesty is that Mike McCarthy to the bears would be a disaster. It would be funny to watch. I'm fine with people wanting to have fun watching.

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Anyone to the bears would be a disaster.

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That's the reality. I think he's a good coach.

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A coordinator is not a proven good head coach. There's been many examples of stud offensive coordinators not working on his head coaches. Mike McCarthy has at least proved himself as a head coach. You have a better chance with Mike McCarthy than Ben Johnson. I'm not even joking about that.

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You'll at least be honest, you just want to see my pain. No matter what. Mike McCarthy makes it funny.

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But yeah, I think, honestly, if I really want to see your pain, Ben Johnson would be more painful because you'd get so much higher up, and then when he sucked, you'd be- I'm never getting higher than 6 out of 10.

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But that's a lie.

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If you got Ben Johnson. If I really wanted to take glee in your pain, I would root for Ron Rivera to the bears. But I'm not, and I'm rooting for Mike McCarthy. But you would also love that. No, actually, I don't think that I would. I don't think I would. You'd find a way to love it. No, because he's so nice and he'd probably stop in, probably have to be nice to him again.

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Yeah, that would be too close to us.

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If you get Ben Johnson... 6 out of 10. That's such a lie. That's such a lie, and you know it.

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That's awesome.

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If you get Ben Johnson, 6 out of 10, you get Mike McCarthy, where are you at?

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Two. Two out of 10?

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I'm rooting for Mike now because I feel bad for the way he's been treated in Dallas. I mean, you got a raw deal.

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You'll be more excited than if you got Mike McCarthy. You're going to be excited if you get Ben Johnson. I want you to get Ben Johnson just because I want to see you walk back this take.

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If it sounds It sounds like they're going to get Ben Johnson, then Big Cat gets to watch the rest of the playoffs and see every play and be like, Oh, fuck, yeah, that's mine.

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But it stays 6 out of 10. Hank, what are you guys going to do? You got it set? Vrabel? Vrabel. You don't even have to worry about it.

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You have a backup plan?

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That's so annoying. Look at his smile.

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Are you a little bit worried about Tom braided? How much joy would it give Tom braided, the guy that demanded his release from the New England Patriots, to then take their potential coach and put him in Las Vegas?

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I think Tom braided and Mr. Kraft have a good relationship, so I don't think it would give him that much joy. There's not bad blood.

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He's not even thinking about anything besides for him.

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The release with the Patriots, that was a braided Belichick thing.

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Give me a backup plan, though, for Boston, for New England.

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Probably Ben Johnson. Yeah. He's a UNC quarterback. Drake may be UNC quarterback.

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There's that connection. That's your backup? Is Ben?

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I'll take Mike McCarthy. Proven winner. I I don't know a lot of ball, but I would rather take a proven head coach than an unproven coordinator.

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You are rolling the dice a little bit. There's a lot that happens as a coach. But we're getting very that you don't get practice for as an OC. He has the best guy ever to manage that team and be the leader of that team in Dan Campbell, while he gets to trial his fuck. Josh McDaniels.

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Yeah. Hank keeps saying this thing where it's like, you've seen head coaches. How often is it that a head coach goes to his third team and is more successful? Because there's just as many instances as offensive coordinators, good offensive coordinators being good and going to a new team as there are head coaches going to another team. Your whole thing of offensive coordinators going to a new team sometimes doesn't work. Sometimes head coaches going to a new team also doesn't work.

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What about Andy Reid?

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What about Sean McVay? What about Kyle Shanahan? What about Matt Lafleur? What about Matt Lafleur? That was second, not his third.

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I know, but I said he just said going to a new team. Remember.

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Remove the Redskins, and then let's do it again. Remove the entire Redskins coaching tree.

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Okay.

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You just named one organization, and that's just because the Redskins are-We build coaches.

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I just said Matt Lafleur.

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Matt Lafleur.

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He was on that team. Say Kevin O'Connor.

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Kevin Sivansky. Coach the ear twice. No big deal.

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No, I'm basically Ron Harbor was a special teams coordinator. I'm basically just talking specifically about McDaniels. I'm obviously have a Patriots bias, but that is how I see it.

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You have to have already coached before.

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Sometimes it doesn't work.

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I'd rather take a proven winner.

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Okay. I mean, I think it's probably the same. It's probably the same success rate, proven winner.

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Doug Peterson was a head coach that went to another team and did not work out for the second team.

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Max, let me give you one because we'll adjust it now. We'll not go second team. John Fox. We'll go third team, Bill Belichick.

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Unc?

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No.

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You're counting the Jets?

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Yeah. Browns, Jets, Patriots.

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Okay. Third time's a charm.

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Yeah. I guess.

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Whatever. I don't want Mike McCarthy, but I'm probably going to end up with him. I'm going to end up with Brian Florence. They're interviewing 100 people just so that Ryan Polls can hire the guy he played college football with.

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Did you guys see Jerry Jones on Landman? No. His acting job? What is Landman? It's a show. It's got Billy Bob Thornt and Jon Hamm in it. It's a crazy show. But Jerry had a 90-second cameo.

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Was good?

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It was incredible. This guy can fucking act. He started to tear up and have sniffles during it. He gave it a passionate speech. He outacted Jon Ham and Billy Bob Thornton in the same scene. That's what Jerry should be doing. Yeah, be an actor. More time acting, Jerry. Be an actor, Jerry. But it made me think Mike might be coming back. The emotion that he was able to demonstrate.

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He was thinking about firing Mike McCarthy.

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He was talking about just life and family and having people around you that you care about deeply. He meant it. Obviously, he feels that way about his son. But yeah, made me think, I think he's not cut out for firing guys anymore.

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Yeah, he doesn't fire guys. Jason Garrett was there for way too long. Do you guys want to do some pressure talk? Who's got the most pressure? I also did a rankings of which QB I'd want in this playoff. I don't know if you guys wanted to pick apart my rankings or we could do it together. I could rip through it. You could tell me. I think you would like it, PFT.

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Okay.

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My rankings are Patrick Holmes, one. I don't like it. Josh Allen, two. Lamar Jackson, three. Matthew Stafford, four. Jared Goff, five. Justin Herbert, six. Baker Mayfield, Seven. Jaden Daniels, eight. Jalen Hertz, nine. Jordan Love, 10. Sam Darnold, 11. C. J. Stroud, 12. Bo Nicks, and then Russell Wilson, last.

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You're ahead of Jalen Hertz. It's a lot names to try to remember the exact order of them. But there's also a difference between quarterback and quarterback in the system that they're currently in.

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Yeah, I'm just saying which quarterback I want. I just want who I trust. It's my trust ranking.

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I think that's pretty good.

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Would you go any different than Patrick Holmes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson in your top three? Maybe not Lamar. Trust in the play-off?

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But based on how good Lamar has been this week. I understand. His interceptions aren't really interceptions.

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We could do a quick snake draft of drafting the quarterbacks. Yeah, let's do that. All right. Hank, you ready? We'll do a three-man draft because we each get four quarter. No, it's 14, right? Yeah. It's 14. Shit, that's a number that doesn't work in this.

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We could do two just left out.

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Two left out. Okay, I like that.

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All right, that's the do not trust.

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Hank, do you want to start? No. Okay. Pft, do you want to start?

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Yeah, I'll start.

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All right.

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I'll take Patrick Mahomes. Okay, good pick. Thank you. Good pick.

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I'll take Josh Allen.

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I'll take Jared Goff.

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Then you also have one coming back.

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I will take Lamar Jackson.

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Okay. I'll take Matthew Stafford, Super winner.

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Yeah. Okay. I will take Jaden Daniels, Baker Mayfield.

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Okay, I will take Justin Herbert and Jelen Hertz.

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I will take Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson.

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Wait, no, I only have one. Sorry. Justin Herbert. I don't know why I picked two there. That was really stupid. Justin Herbert.

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Jalen Hertz. Okay.

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Super Bowl winner. Did you pick him? Did you just take Jalen Hertz? Yeah, I took two by accident. Justin Herbert was my pick. We're doing a great job. And Russell Wilson. Okay. My last pick. C. J. Stroud. I wanted to take Sam Ronald.

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It seems like you guys certainly have a tight. Do I get a last pick?

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Do you get a last pick? My last pick. What's our type?

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Well, I wasn't going to take you in love.

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I'm going to go Malik Willis.

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Good pick.

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No. Can I change it? Yeah. Taylor McKee.

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Malik Walsh and Taylor McKee. Yeah.

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Malik McKee.

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We'll put it up for blind vote, and loser has to do an hour stand up?

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No.

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Loser has to go to a bachelor party?

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Yes.

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Yeah. Okay. You want to talk pressure rankings or who's under the most pressure? I have a few that I had listed.

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I've got a one-one, and it might be different from what you had talked about.

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All right, so give me your one-one.

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My one-one is Sean McDermott.

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Okay.

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Are we doing individuals It could be individuals and teams.

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But make your case for Sean McDermott because I have a different coach that I think might have more pressure.

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Okay, because Josh Allen has been an alien this year. He's been incredible. It's his best year ever. He might win the MVP. And he's probably going to be incredible in the playoffs, again, because Josh plays very well in the playoffs. The payoff losses, you can look at all of them and say, That's not really on Josh. He played good enough to win 99.9% of the games.

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He played two perfect payoff games the year that they lost the Chiefs in the 13 seconds. Right.

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So who gets the blame for those losses? Sean McDermott, I think deservedly. I don't think that... Obviously, there's a narrative out there because he wants to beat Mahomes. He wants to say, Okay, I'm the guy in the AFC. I can lead my team to a Super Bowl. I get that. But in reality, it's a lot more on his head coach than it is on him. Yeah. And McDermott, I thought this after the heartbreaking loss last year, and it would be shocking if it happened. But if they get bounced and in a terrible fashion again, I wouldn't be surprised if the bills moved on for McDermott, even though he's been a great coach for him. He turned the entire franchise around along with Josh. But at some point, these losses add up. You become that guy, and then it breaks your brain, and you spend all your time thinking about how to get over this one little hump, and then things just fall apart.

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It's a good point. I don't know if they'd fire him. I don't know if they'd fire my coach that I picked, but it's a similar vein. I think Mike Tomlin has a ton of pressure because Mike Tomlin, he hasn't won a playoff game since 2016. If you look at his playoff record, because he's been in Pittsburgh in forever, his first four years in Pittsburgh, he was five and two in the playoffs, including a Super Bowl. In his last 14 years in Pittsburgh, he's three and eight. It's not been good. I think the way this season has ended, I know there were some murmurings last year. I don't think Mike Thomas is going to get fired, but this is just another year where it's like, Hey, you have not won a playoff game. We're going to be going on almost a decade of you not winning a playoff game. What's going on here? We're Pittsburgh. We're the Steelers. We need to win playoff games. So that was my coach. And also, I think Russell Wilson There's two guys that are under pressure in terms of money. Russell Wilson and Sam Darnal.

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Sam Darnal was going to be my next pick. Because the difference in how much money he's going to make next year based on how he performs in the playoffs is there's probably A $100 million difference. Yes. If he stinks, he could get franchise tagged. He could get picked up and signed for... If he hits the open market, some team will overpay for him, so it probably won't be in the $25 to $30 million range. They'll probably pay a little bit more. But if he plays really, really well in the playoffs, now we're talking about $150 million, $175, $200 million. The way quarterbacks get paid, you don't know. So this is like, it's $100 million difference. It's based strictly on how he plays, I would say, in the next two games.

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You can't just take a small sample size, but that's also the reality of it. The game on Sunday was a very consequential game playoff atmosphere. If he comes out and has a dud in the actual playoffs, that's two pressure games where you're like, What just happened?

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Yeah, and the most recent games you've seen.

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Right. Yeah, so Sam McDonald and Russ, I think Russ is the same way. If Russ comes out, he's just awful. Again, who's going to sign him?

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Yeah, no one.

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No one's going to sign him. As for the quarterbacks, I had a little pushback when I said it on Sunday from people online, but I do think Lamar is under more pressure than Josh Allen, and that's because something that you said, Josh Allen has not been the reason why the Bills have lost in the playoffs. He's been an absolute alien. He's 24 touch downs, four interceptions. He had those games. The Chief's game, he played perfect. Their defense couldn't get a stop in 13 seconds. Lamar is two and four in the playoffs, and he's had some really good teams, and he's had some years where... I mean, his passer rating is 75 in the playoffs. He's had interceptions. I looked it up last night. Four out of six of the games, he has not gone over 200 yards. The other two were catch-up games. Remember the game when they were the one seat against the Titans, and he was just throwing the entire second half? And then last year when they were down against the Chiefs, I I think there's just a lot of pressure on the Mar just because another insane season, if they get bounced by the Stealers, especially, it's like, What is going on here?

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Yeah, I actually agree with that. I disagreed with you, I think on Sunday and thought that it was mostly on Josh, but that's a good point. I think that Lamar, especially the season he has, especially if he wins MVP. If you lose in the play, if you're Josh or Lamar and you lose early on in the play, you probably don't want to win MVP, right? Yeah. You're like, maybe Josh hasn't got one. But if you're Lamar, you're like, well, I got a third one. But again, it almost serves to magnify your playoff loss.

[00:25:12]

Right. And Josh definitely has pressure on it. The Bills have pressure on it. Sean McDermott, like you said. It's just that if you look at both of those guys and what they've done in the playoffs, and obviously it's not all on the quarterback, but that is how it works, is if the quarterback doesn't elevate their game. Josh has elevated his game in the playoffs. Lamar has not. So Lamar has to do that this year because this is like, if not now, when. The good news is, have you guys seen that I believe it is every 12 years, the Ravens win the Super Bowl, and it's always with a 28-year-old quarterback, and Lamar is 28. So Trent Dilfer won it in 2002 as a 28-year-old quarterback. Joe Flacko won it as a 28-year-old quarterback in whatever year that would be. Oh, no.

[00:25:59]

Flacko Flacko went in 2012.

[00:26:00]

Trent Delpher won it in 2000. Flacko won it in 2012, and it's 2024. All 28-year-old quarterbacks.

[00:26:07]

All right. So we've got right now a sample size of two for that. Correct. But this would fulfill the pattern.

[00:26:12]

Significant sample size.

[00:26:13]

It's like 17 years from now, there will be another darts champion because that's how the prophecy has been foretooth.

[00:26:19]

How sick would that be if someone was just guaranteed like, Hey, every 12 years, you can win a Super Bowl? I can wait that long.

[00:26:23]

I would easily take it. Great.

[00:26:25]

That's about when you would get restless for the next one. You kidding me? Yeah. The second.

[00:26:30]

I think Kam Dicker, the kicker for the Chargers, has a lot of pressure on it, just because Harbaugh. Yes. If you blow a kick, and Justin Herbert would be my actual pick.

[00:26:39]

Yeah, Justin Herbert, also the kicker for the Vikings. Will Rieker, he's got a lot of pressure on it. Yeah, but Herbert Herbert definitely has pressure.

[00:26:46]

He's got pressure. They were beating the Jaguars at one point, but the narrative will be out there that you can't win the playoffs, even though he's a very good quarterback. Also, I just found this out yesterday. Game in Houston, the annual wild card game there. You know who's leading the Texans out onto the field? Who? Aaron Foster. Oh, yeah. Hell, yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. I don't know if that's good or bad for the Texans.

[00:27:09]

I think it's good.

[00:27:10]

I think it's good.

[00:27:10]

Is he wearing the jacket?

[00:27:12]

I need to get in touch with them. No, they lost that. They lost that. They got fucking slow. Yeah, they lost. That was JJ Watts jacket. It was his idea. But yeah, Aaron Foster will be leading the Houston Texans onto the field for this playoff game. That rocks. I'm pumped for him. But yeah, in this game, I would say there is some pressure on C. J. Stroud, but not nearly to the extent as Herbert.

[00:27:32]

And CJ Stroud also has the... As weird as it is, and the Texans going into the season were Dark Horse Super Bowl, and it looks like that's not going to happen. With the amount of injuries they've had on offense, NC DJ Shroud just having not a very good year overall, it can be like, Hey, even... You could tell yourself, Even his floor is playoffs. So we're going to be okay. And yeah, there's gravy teams. I actually think the commanders are going to win on Sunday night. We'll do all of our pics and analysis on Friday. But the Commanders, everything's gravy. The Broncos, everything's gravy. I even think the chargers, Justin Herbert has pressure on them, but this was a lot quicker to get to the playoffs than they might have expected. It's a little bit of a gravy. The Rams, you got to... Matthew Stapper is getting old, but that was another one where they had a bad year last year and they were able to flip it pretty quickly. Then the other two pressure teams I had. One was the packers. That was simply because there's word out that maybe the bears broke the packers.

[00:28:37]

I hope that's not the case because I don't want to just be one of those teams that just beats their rival all the time. Unfortunately, so far this year, that's exactly what's happened.

[00:28:47]

Sometimes you see that happen, but the opposite way. This might be a Michigan, Ohio State thing where you beat them, and now they get really good.

[00:28:55]

But they literally can't beat us as of recently. So packers have pressure because we might have just broken them. And then the Eagles. Nick Seriani's got some pressure. I actually don't think he has as much pressure as he did in the beginning of the season. You think he has just as much?

[00:29:13]

No, I'm I'm nodding in an agreement.

[00:29:16]

What's the pressure count on nick Seriani? If you guys flame out, what happens?

[00:29:25]

I mean...

[00:29:27]

Nothing. So he might not even be- He's not going to You're not going to get fired. So you might not even be under pressure.

[00:29:32]

I mean, it's still pressure from... There's always pressure from the city to win, and the team is so... This is the most talented Eagles team that I've ever seen, I think.

[00:29:43]

Whoa. I've Shot at Jason Kelsey.

[00:29:47]

No, I think most people- Who, by the way, has another show?

[00:29:51]

Shout out.

[00:29:52]

I watched the whole thing. Good show.

[00:29:53]

Of course, you did.

[00:29:54]

What was your favorite part?

[00:30:00]

I liked when-You watched the whole thing? Yeah. No, he had a nice panel. He had Lil Dicky, Charles Barkley, and Baldy on it, our guys. I liked when they were just... There was a couple of bits that they did in the beginning and at the end.

[00:30:12]

Was your favorite part with the other people?

[00:30:12]

Yeah, that's what it was. No, they did like... I liked when they were just talking ball.

[00:30:17]

Okay.

[00:30:18]

I wasn't a fan of... They did a lot of bits that I wasn't a fan of, but I did like when they sat down.

[00:30:23]

Okay, so you liked Charles Barkley, and then you didn't like the bits. I love the whole show. I thought it was great.

[00:30:29]

Yeah, me You asked me my opinion.

[00:30:30]

I gave you my opinion. My favorite part was when it was just Jason.

[00:30:33]

No, when it was Jason and his wife. Yeah. That was awesome.

[00:30:36]

His wife was great.

[00:30:37]

Yeah.

[00:30:38]

Queen.

[00:30:39]

She has a name.

[00:30:40]

Kylie. Queen. Queen Kylie. What are you doing?

[00:30:46]

All right, so not a lot of pressure under nick Seriani?

[00:30:49]

I mean, there's just pressure to win in Philadelphia, but there's no job pressure, if that's what you're asking.

[00:30:55]

Right. Okay.

[00:30:57]

Do you think there's any job pressure for Kevin O'Neill?

[00:31:02]

No.

[00:31:02]

Not in the sense of he'll be fired, but in the sense of he's getting a new contract.

[00:31:09]

He's getting a new contract. I don't think so. I obviously saw the Kevin O'Neill could be traded report. That, to me, just, I assume, was his agent writing that, telling someone, Hey, can you report this? Because we want to put some pressure on the Vikings to actually sign this guy for what he deserves.

[00:31:27]

It'd be insane if you're the Vikings and you traded Kevin O'Neill.

[00:31:30]

Yeah. I don't think he has that type. I think they're going to give him a lot of money no matter what.

[00:31:35]

I think that there might be some truth to what you just said because he was upset that he didn't get a contract extension earlier. Right. And so he's telling his agent, Yeah, it's okay if you leak this out there.

[00:31:45]

Yeah, make some noise.

[00:31:46]

Because there are probably some teams that would line up to trade for him. Yeah.

[00:31:51]

Now, the last one I had was the Lions, if Ben Johnson accepts a job, I don't know if he'd accept a job while they're still in the playoffs, but he might like...

[00:32:03]

I don't know how that would work. I do think that there is some pressure on the Lions. Yeah. There is.

[00:32:09]

Well, you might lose both your coordinators. You never know how long that's going to... It's not that the lines will all of a sudden be bad, but any team that has success and loses talented people in the organization, it makes it a little bit more difficult to get back there the next year.

[00:32:25]

If Dan Campbell, if he makes one of his super aggressive decisions and it doesn't work out for him, then there's a lot of pressure on Dan Campbell. Then people start talking. But he will make super aggressive decisions. A hundred %. That's what's going to happen. And he's a winner. He's a winner. He's a winner. Did you see the postgame video? It was awesome. In the locker room? Awesome. When I grow up, I want to play football for Dan Campbell. Yeah.

[00:32:48]

This is like all roads through Detroit. The entire thing was... You understand why those guys will just do anything for him and why Alex Anzaloni will rush back with a broken arm, and they'd die for him.

[00:33:01]

That quote from... What was the cornerback's name? The guy that said, They tried to bury me, but you can't bury what came from dirt? Yeah.

[00:33:08]

That's great. Great quote. I'm just excited for the playoffs. This is one of my favorite weekends of the year. I'm excited to get into it. We're going to break down each game on Friday show, but it was good to set the stage. I'm also just excited not to... I'm sure memes, you agree, just to not have our teams playing to make football look worse. It's nice to watch some good teams play. Where's your confidence at right now, PFT? Midweek.

[00:33:36]

It's actually pretty high.

[00:33:38]

Okay.

[00:33:38]

I agree. Sometimes Memes gets pissed at me for not being as super confident about my team as I should be, but I feel like I'm also realistic. Also, this is the result of decades of scars of being disappointed by my team, where I think most normal people, they take that forward and they are less likely to get excited about things. Memes is not a normal person. No. So he's just like, yeah, Jets will be great next week. I think that we have a very good chance against Todd Bulls and the Bucks defense. I'm now back big time thinking that Jaden Daniels is going to put on a crazy display where I'm talking... I think he's going to run all over the box. I know they have a good rush defense, but I think I know what Todd Bulls is going to do. I think I'm one step ahead of Todd.

[00:34:24]

Hell, yes.

[00:34:25]

That's got to feel good. And I've got an answer for it.

[00:34:28]

That's got to feel good to know it's Tuesday and you're already one step ahead.

[00:34:31]

I've got the game plan. And guess what? I've got an answer for it.

[00:34:35]

When we do our picks, I like the commanders in this game.

[00:34:38]

I like him, too. But again, like you mentioned, it's really no risk. It's a free role where if we He was in the playoffs, still great 10 out of 10 season.

[00:34:47]

You just don't want to look bad.

[00:34:49]

Yeah, I don't want to look bad. And I would like to see Jaden play well in the playoffs. I would like to see Dan Quinn make good decisions during games, and I would like to see some some spark out of a run game.

[00:35:01]

It's also a win no matter what, just because there's always so many bad stats about rookie quarterbacks making their first start or just guys making their first start in the playoffs, and you get this one out of the way as early as possible. Yeah.

[00:35:14]

I mean, Jaden Luckily, he played in big games in the SEC back when the SEC used to mean something back in the day. But I think, yeah, I'm confident. We'll talk more on Friday, but I'm going to bet on the commanders for the first time in a very, very long time. I usually stay away from of those games. I've got a little parlay cooking, too.

[00:35:33]

I like it. All right, let's do Hot Seat, Cool Throne. Hot Seat Cool Throne is brought to you by our friends at game time. It's football season. You want to pull up tickets for the game in Tampa Bay? It's football season. We can't wait to get out some games. The help a game time. It's playoff season. The official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports, you know how much we love Game Time now with their brand new Game Time Picks feature. They're making it even easier to get to a game. Game Time Picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats, so you don't have to time searching through thousands of tickets, looking at tickets for Bucks Commanders Sunday Night Football.

[00:36:06]

Bucks Commanders Sunday Night Football, pulling it up on game time right now. It looks like the get-in price is $102 to get in. They've got some sweet, lower-level in-zone seats, 216 bucks. That's the super deal they have there. I actually might buy Commander's NFC Championship game tickets just in case it's Commanders packers. $2,000 a pop right now. I like that. And then give them away. I like that. Wow. There's no chance I'd be allowed to go. You know what?

[00:36:35]

I'll match.

[00:36:36]

You want to match? Yeah, I'll match. You want to get tickets? Yeah. You get refunded if it doesn't happen. Yeah, no, I know.

[00:36:40]

I'll match. Okay. I'm not going to buy them until it happens, but I'm matching.

[00:36:45]

Okay. I'll buy the tickets, and then I got to figure out who I'll give them away to. Yeah.

[00:36:50]

We'll find someone a match.

[00:36:51]

You know what? In the spirit of bipartisan, I will give them away to Donald Trump and Joe Biden if they would like to attend together and send a strong message to America that all politicians are great. Yes.

[00:37:02]

No, I'll give my two away to just anyone who's not a Packers fan because I don't want Packers fans taking over Rael John.

[00:37:08]

I love that. Yes.

[00:37:09]

All right. So buy the tickets at game time. Just pull up your chosen event, turn on the GT pick setting at the top of the screen or browse the best local Game Time Picks deal near you or are on your Game Time app homepage. What are you waiting for? Go buy those tickets now. Download the Game Time app and use code PMT to easily score great deals with new Game Time Picks. What time is it? Game Time. We're also brought to by our friends at Planet Fitness. Start the Year Strong. Planet Fitness offers high-value memberships that support any fitness journey, a judgment-free environment where you're free to get strong your way on your time. Feel your strongest best self, the best in class equipment for a full workout, from strength training to cardio to stretching. Brand new plate loaded machines like hack squat and supine bench. Planet Fitness has the same high quality best in class equipment as other more expensive gyms. Their classic membership is just $15 a month. We have our Planet Fitness in the corner of our court now. It's elite. It's awesome. We get the full gym. We love Planet Fitness.

[00:38:07]

Hours, amenities, and offers vary by club. Check out planetfitness. Com or stop by your local club for more information. Must be 18 years old to enroll or 13 to 17 with parent or guardian. We're all strong on this planet. Join today in Club online or in the free Planet Fitness app. Hank, Hot Sea, Cool Throne.

[00:38:28]

Hot Sea, yeah. You said we have to the gym now. We also have an in-house golf instructor. I was thinking about it earlier and everything has come together in this office.

[00:38:36]

I fixed my golf shot. People are not going to like the new one.

[00:38:40]

I would like to hire a long drive coach. I like that. Kyle Berkshire. If you're out there, Yeah. Kyle, let's do a video together. He's out there. Yeah. Well, if he's listening. Hank, not right now. I'm trying to interfere with my training right now, Hank.

[00:38:53]

How do you think people are going to respond to my new golf shot? If it is good, I literally walked up and tested it today, and Can I hit it 4 feet from the pin from 100 yards out? How do you think people are going to respond to it, though?

[00:39:06]

Listen, people online hate it. There's no perfect golf swing. Tiger Woods could post a swing, and the people online would be like, blah. But you just got to do what works for you, and that swing works for you.Okay. Even though it's a drill. You've seen it, Peef? I haven't seen it yet. He got told to do a drill, and he just had all these things in my swing.

[00:39:21]

Peef showed me a drill where you just put all your weight on the front foot, and you put your back foot all the way back, and that's just my new swing.

[00:39:29]

I like that, like a closed stance in baseball. Yeah.

[00:39:32]

My hot seat are North Koreans.Oh.Oh..

[00:39:35]

You actually took mine, Hank.

[00:39:36]

Yeah.

[00:39:38]

But good pick.

[00:39:39]

But yeah, if you were thinking about maybe moving to North Korea, you heard some good things. I don't think anyone's heard. You might want to rethink How do you think it? Because North Korea has banned eating hot dogs.

[00:39:48]

Oh, I'm out.

[00:39:49]

Yeah. Yeah. Cooking and selling hot dogs as part of a crackdown on Western culture, infiltrating the hermit kingdom.

[00:39:55]

Yeah, they crack down on some other stuff, too, besides just hot dogs. You can't wear jeans, no leather jackets.

[00:40:02]

That's fine.

[00:40:03]

No microwaves. Okay. Air friers? What are air friers? I don't see air friers on here. No weed, Hank.

[00:40:11]

They probably already had that as a list. That's fine. Yeah, you quit.

[00:40:14]

That's a pig No slang. No slang? No slang.

[00:40:19]

That's actually good for us. Yeah, that is.

[00:40:21]

No slang. Porn. No porn, but I think that was already a rule. Okay. That's why the North Korean soldiers that went to Russia and fought against Ukraine, they all just went away because they got addicted to porn. Yeah. Which is pretty cool.

[00:40:36]

Okay. That was your-No Hot Dogs. No Hot Dogs is a deal-breaker for me.

[00:40:41]

Yeah. No, it's my hot scene. My cool throw is WWB. Yeah. They are on Netflix now. I'm not a WWI guy. I think you guys are more wrestling people when you're younger. I was not. But I mean, Netflix is the answer. Getting anything on Netflix. I went on Netflix last night to watch something else, and I saw WWI. I was like, I'll watch this for a little bit. That's never happened. I've been on TV a million times. I've scrolled past it, never watched it, but it was like, Open Netflix, WWI. I was like, Oh, what's this about?

[00:41:10]

And I realized-They just own everything. Yeah. They own our eyeballs.

[00:41:14]

But that's got to It's got to be great for a WWEE. Yes.

[00:41:17]

I heard it was awesome. Did you enjoy it?

[00:41:21]

Yeah. I watched it for 20 minutes and then turned on Dune. Okay.

[00:41:26]

What was your favorite part?

[00:41:27]

The promo? Yeah, a couple of promos. Cody Roads, I think. The Rock.

[00:41:33]

That was our wrestling talk. Yeah.

[00:41:35]

I've never got to wrestling.

[00:41:37]

My hot seat is Meth Streams, the site we all love and have agreed silently to not discussed on the show because you don't want to talk about meth streams because it'll get taken down. It was a big part of, I'd say, my entire 20s. First crack streams, then it was meth streams, and the sites have been taken down. And There's a note on there that says, I believe it's from the owner of the site, I'll be taking a break from live streaming. Reminder that the only domains in which I operate are meth streams and crack streams. So no more meth, no more crack. Why did this happen? This guy made so many people happy by having this website.

[00:42:18]

Did he just get bought out?FCC, yeah.

[00:42:20]

Or the FBI. Dana White showed up to his house and fucking beat him up.

[00:42:23]

Yeah, this sucks. It's a very, very sad day. Very sad day. I always love the chat on the side of these streams. Trying to trick you? That's where you got to really... Oh, yeah. I was watching the Caps game yesterday, and for a second, I had to pull up the score app, and I just went over to the chat, and every single comment in the chat on the score app was tie game. People that were like, I'm at the game. They just scored. Yeah, that's Elio.

[00:42:49]

Elio's in there. It's awesome. He does that. He's a troll in the score app.

[00:42:52]

It was very, very funny. Then my cool throne is Mayor's Bets. They're back on. This is the time of year in playoff season where the mayors come out of the closet and they just make a bunch of bets with each other. It's always for the dorkiest shit that they send back and forth. But this time the mayor's bet is actually between JD Vance and Ted Cruz for the UT, Ohio State game. So Ted Cruz says, Hey, JD Vance, care for a wager? Loser brings beer and food from his home state and delivers it wearing the winning jersey. Then JD Van says, All right, which Texas ice cream should I have Ted bring when the Buckeyes win? It's just mayor bet season. Wow. They're always-Curky. The stakes couldn't be higher.

[00:43:30]

Can't wait for this.

[00:43:32]

Yeah. Also, a shout out, fuck you to Aftab Pureval, the mayor of Cincinnati. He still owes me a case of Skyline Chilly. They don't pay up on that shit. I'm waiting for my case of Skyline, Aftab.

[00:43:42]

Having the Wengel has not been in the playoff since he got all cocky?

[00:43:47]

Since Travis Kelsi called him a Jabroni? Yeah.

[00:43:50]

I think it's been a while. Well, they were...

[00:43:52]

Yeah, they weren't- No, their last playoff game was a loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. I think there's an Aftab curse. Until you send me my skyline, you're never going to make the playoffs, buddy.

[00:44:06]

Yeah. Okay. My hot seat is concussion protocol.

[00:44:10]

Why?

[00:44:11]

Jalen Hertz is still in it.

[00:44:13]

But isn't that cool throwing concussion protocol because they're taking good care of them? That's true.

[00:44:16]

Good point. I'm nervous. It's crazy, Chef. He tweeted that when he didn't even have the concussion test that day.

[00:44:25]

Correct.

[00:44:26]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[00:44:27]

He literally could not have been out of concussion protocol yesterday.

[00:44:30]

It's crazy because I needed that tweet to have this.

[00:44:34]

It's crazy. I told PFT my panic level was at a 4 out of 10 yesterday. It's down to a 2 out of 10.

[00:44:41]

Oh, the tweet made it go, okay, to 2.

[00:44:45]

Then a lot of people... Because I got worried, and then a lot of people were like, he literally cannot be out of concussion protocol until Wednesday. So yes, that is technically correct, but we won't know anything until Thursday because he has to practice a full day, and then the next day, wake up with no symptoms, and then you're out of it.

[00:45:06]

Sounds like we're running out of time.

[00:45:07]

If you practice his Wednesday- You want him to play.

[00:45:10]

I know I do. This is what I'm saying.

[00:45:12]

I want you to respect concussion protocol. This doesn't work. Yes, it does.

[00:45:15]

This doesn't work.

[00:45:16]

I want him to play.

[00:45:17]

You like the packers? No.

[00:45:18]

I want him to play, but I want you to acknowledge that it's a concern.

[00:45:27]

It's not until Thursday.

[00:45:29]

Wait, you told me yesterday it was a concern.

[00:45:31]

But that's because I didn't know the rules. Sorry, I was concerned of my stupidness.

[00:45:38]

You should be more concerned. Max has a point.

[00:45:42]

I've been concerned. No, but he's throwing I'm not talking about? I'm the one who's concerned. I'm saying, get him out of concussion protocol. This is crazy. I know how the concussion protocol, you don't respect it. I do.

[00:45:54]

Part of you wants him to not play.

[00:45:56]

No, no, absolutely not. Because if the packers win that game, then I got problems. Look at PFT's face.

[00:46:02]

I don't. There is a part. No. I'm not saying there's a big part.

[00:46:05]

No, there's zero part.

[00:46:06]

You wouldn't be trolling this hard.

[00:46:07]

There's zero part.

[00:46:07]

You got some joy out of the concussion protocol.

[00:46:10]

Yes, I told you on Sunday, I wanted one more day, and then I need him out.

[00:46:15]

What would happen on Thursday? Are we getting an update today?

[00:46:20]

No. There's no update until- We're still not in problem territory.

[00:46:24]

You can't get out of concussion protocol until you practice a full day and then wake up the next day.

[00:46:29]

If he's in concussion protocol on Thursday, Max, I will be more concerned than you.

[00:46:33]

They're not practicing today or tomorrow. Wednesday is their first practice.

[00:46:36]

I will be very upset if he's not out of there.

[00:46:38]

That would be tomorrow.

[00:46:38]

Correct. Yeah.

[00:46:39]

And today, when the show comes out.

[00:46:41]

I told you my timeline. I have a timeline for the concussion protocol.

[00:46:45]

I mean, no, you're packer Dan. That's fine.

[00:46:47]

No, I'm not. I have a timeline. My timeline has expired after today. I said to this to you on Sunday, I wanted one more day, and Chefy doing that tweet was awesome and crazy.

[00:46:57]

I mean, it was just absolute rage bait. That's all.

[00:47:03]

How long has it been?

[00:47:05]

I think he did that tweet just for you.

[00:47:08]

Maybe.

[00:47:08]

Has it been what? Twelve days?

[00:47:12]

I don't know.

[00:47:14]

It's been a long He got him.

[00:47:15]

Gosh, protocol's bad.

[00:47:16]

I care about him as a person, first and foremost. Me, too.

[00:47:19]

Is Jordan Love okay?

[00:47:19]

You say he's the 10th best quarterback in the playoffs.

[00:47:22]

That was trust. It was trust rankings.

[00:47:24]

Yeah, because-I did not. All of the quarterbacks ahead of him have played good Super Bowl games, right?

[00:47:31]

What?

[00:47:32]

Jalen Hertz. Nine. I had him nine. Yeah. A head of Jordan Love. Let's call me Patrick Dan again. Jordan Love stinks.

[00:47:39]

Also, me, Big Cat, and Hank each took four guys. So the least we could have him is number four. True. On our personal rosters.

[00:47:47]

No, I was speaking to Big Cat because he said he had him at nine.

[00:47:51]

Well, that's because he's in the concussion protocol, you fucking idiot. My cool drone is Farkoin. I If you bought Fartcoin a month ago, you outperformed the entire stock market since 1869.

[00:48:05]

Is it at the moon?

[00:48:07]

It must be at the moon. I don't know. I'm just pissed that I missed the Fartcoin.

[00:48:11]

Are we in a fart bubble right now?

[00:48:13]

Fartcoin? I'm an idiot.

[00:48:15]

How long has Fartcoin been around?

[00:48:20]

1869.

[00:48:21]

Okay. Wait, the market cap on Fartcoin is $1.2 billion? Love it.

[00:48:29]

Fartcoin She's going crazy.

[00:48:30]

I might get in on Hawk to a Coin. I feel like that's going to pop. Not by the dip. That's going to pop.

[00:48:36]

Is she just gone?

[00:48:38]

No, she was back. She's in sleep. A picture of her came out. She was just chilling on the beach, rocking a $2,000 swimsuit. Oh, nice. Respect.

[00:48:47]

Good for her. Okay, let's get to our interviews. We got Diana Rossini. We're going to talk some Black Monday, Coach hirings coming up. Then we have Brandon Walker, our college football expert, talking about the college football playoffs.

[00:49:01]

Before we get to Diana Rossini, she's brought to you by Experian. For the AWLs who really know us, you know how responsible we are with our money. The secret reason we have so much to gamble is because Experian helps us save money across our other purchases. League rights They're getting out of hand. We have to subscribe to way too many streaming services so we can watch every key game, and that's where Experian comes in. They'll find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions for you so you don't have to worry about paying for services you forgot about. You could also have Experian negotiate your bills like cable, internet, or cell phone, and you keep all the savings. All around, Experian does the work so you can save money. It's a one-stop shop for your financial health. Download the app today. Results will vary. Savings are not guaranteed, and some may not see any savings. Not all bills or subscriptions are eligible for negotiation or cancelation, an eligible paid membership is required. Download the Experian app and see how much you could save today. Diana is also brought to you by our friends at Kevin's Natural Foods. We got a bunch Kevin's Natural Food sent to us.

[00:50:02]

It was delicious. Their coconut chicken soup, one of the best soups that I've ever had. Their General Soas chicken stir fry is incredible. If you want a delicious protein-packed meal on the table in five minutes, Kevin's Natural Foods heat and serve entrees are your MVP. They're clean, nutritious meals. They taste like something you get at a restaurant. Kevin's entrees include fully-cooked, antibiotic-free beef or chicken and incredible sauces. So all you need to do is heat and eat. Plus, they're free from refined sugar, gluten, and soy, making them the perfect mealtime solution for anyone looking to fuel up without sacrificing flavor. It's hard to believe something this tasty can be ready this fast. Skip the greasy takeout, grab Kevin's natural foods instead, It's the perfect mealtime hack when you're too busy to cook and you want healthy food, and you won't regret it later. Kick off 2025 with Kevin's and make it your healthiest and tastiest year yet. Find Kevin's natural foods in the refrigerated section of your local grocery. Now, here's It's Diana Rossini.

[00:51:02]

Okay, we now welcome on our very good friend. It is Diana Rossini, senior NFL reporter for The Athletic. You can find her on The Athletic, also Scoop City podcast. She does very good. She has her ear to the streets of all the NFL coaching and GM hirings and firing. So Black Monday is done. I'll start with this, Diana. What was the most shocking thing that happened on Black Monday that you, league-wide, you were just like, everyone's confused as to why this occurred?

[00:51:36]

Yeah, it was less about the firings and more about who was being retained. I would say, let's just start with the firing category. I'm shocked the Patriots really did it. There was a lot of chatter about it, but I can't believe they really pulled the trigger. But in terms of those that were retaining, I can't believe the Giants kept Joe Shane and Brian Dable. I cannot believe it. From everything we saw in Hard Knocks, to obviously, Saquon Barkley having the most ridiculous ridiculous season, to the mess with Daniel Jones, to winning just three games. All of the drama in New York, it just seemed like this was the time. This isn't working. And just even from things I know, this isn't working. But John Maris, sticking with his words that he said in October, which was that he didn't want any change. Yet did you hear him talking about retaining them? It's painful for him. These guys are going to have to win every game. Otherwise, they're going be walking off the field going, Am I getting fired today? I just think it's a really... They're being put in a really hard spot in Jacksonville, too, with Trent Balke.

[00:52:40]

I think that one was pretty surprising. A lot of people thought he'd be out.

[00:52:43]

Yeah. With Doug Peterson being gone, and it shocked me to find this out yesterday. Our good friend Uncle Chapp, sent me a very sad Jaguar stat that Doug Peterson actually has the third best winning percentage of all time for the Jaguars in the history of their franchise. So Balki sticks around He's a survivor. You can't get rid of that guy. What does that mean for the Jag's coaching search? Which coaches do you think would be less likely to work with a guy like Trent?

[00:53:11]

Bill Belichick.

[00:53:12]

Jim Harbaugh.

[00:53:15]

Yeah, that's a good one. Look, I think that job is actually more coveted than you'd realize. When you take a look big picture, I would say, let's just put it in order. I'd go Patriots, Where's Jags in terms of openings of what coaches I know that I've been talking to want. And the Jags roster with Trevor Lawrence, there's not this belief around the league that Trevor Lawrence is not the guy. Even though he hasn't been great. Every coach wants a quarterback. You have to go to a place to have success that has a quarterback in place that's decent and that can win you games. And those are those three teams, which is why everyone is trying to get those interviews, and you see everyone is off and running. But the That faulky situation is, to me, that just... I read it as, the owner doesn't want to go through the process of searching for a head coach without some guidance. These guys are not football guys. They don't know. Look at the Jets. They hired a search firm of people they fired just to do it so they didn't have to.

[00:54:17]

That sounded mean. That sounded like that was targeted at memes. That did sound, yeah. Did you mean to target that at memes? Be honest.

[00:54:24]

No. Look, I don't like memes, but I don't not like... I like the Jets. Yeah.

[00:54:31]

It would be- I don't know about that.

[00:54:33]

No, it'd be good for you. I think if the Jets were good, right? People don't know this.

[00:54:37]

I grew up a Jets fan.

[00:54:39]

I live- It'd be your own people. It'd be your own people like that.

[00:54:43]

I want to see them successful. But it's the same story. And memes, you feel this, and you're a lot younger than me, so your pain is different than mine. And mine is much worse. They've been making these mistakes that are so ridiculous every single year, and it just seems like they can't get out of their own way, as you guys know and have been following all the reporting. Yeah.

[00:55:07]

Let's talk about the Jets. Mike Greenberg got an interview to be the GM for the Jets. That sounds like a dream job for him. But who are you hearing in terms of their coaching options right now?

[00:55:19]

Well, last week they had Ron Rivera in the building and Mike Vrabel in the building at Florham Park with the team out practicing at the same time. Just wild, but that's what they chose They are casting a very, very wide net, as you're seeing, almost to a point where I wonder if Mike Tanabaum is getting paid per interview. I'm sure you guys were following along yesterday. How many slips went? I must have I like the word jet 50 times yesterday in terms of coaches that are going to be taking and general managers interviews with them. Look, I think Aaron Glenn, Brian Flores, Brian Greasey, Arthur Smith, Joe braided.

[00:56:01]

I mean, basically- Matt Nagui?

[00:56:04]

Matt Nagy? Yeah. Yeah. Matt Nagui is going to get a job, I think, in this cycle. He's getting a lot of love behind the scenes from teams. I think I think Naguih was... I think the best move he made was to go back to Kansas City, reset, figure out where he messed up, what mistakes he made, get that confidence back up by being around the greatest to do it. And he's ready to go. I'm interested to see what his staff is going to look like because that's obviously going to be an important element in all this.

[00:56:34]

Is that an unusual thing to do, to have two coaches that are interviewing for your job go out and watch practice at the same time? Yes, that is weird. It's very weird.

[00:56:45]

It's also like, look at the bears, right? They technically could have had Ron Rivera, Mike Rable come in last week. They had that ability to do it. They chose not to do it because Well, first of all, the Chicago Bears, their first round of interviews are all virtual. Mike Rable and Ron Rivera are not flying in there. Ron is not going there, by the way. But everything is virtual first. Then through those virtual interviews, then they're going to pick the guys for the next round to come in to meet in person. Obviously, the bears don't think Mike Rable is too big to interview.

[00:57:22]

Yeah.

[00:57:24]

Guys, no. What?

[00:57:27]

You reported that.

[00:57:29]

I I was amplifying your reporting.

[00:57:31]

We've done this so many times, and it's so annoying.

[00:57:34]

How big is too big?

[00:57:35]

If he lost 20 pounds, would he get a job?

[00:57:43]

Okay. I was thinking about it. I was like, I'm not telling them this, but I'm going to tell you.

[00:57:47]

Yes.

[00:57:48]

Somebody from the Jets said, damn, he's really big. Yeah. I know.

[00:57:52]

I know. I've been saying this.

[00:57:54]

That sounds like Brick. Yeah.

[00:57:57]

Brick was like, Damn.

[00:57:58]

Yeah, brave He's sitting next to Brick for sure. No, Brick and Jack were not in the interviews from what I heard, and they're not participating in the ones that are going down with Rex Ryan in Palm Beach. But the awesome listeners of the show will come up to me and ask me if I've destroyed Mike Vrabel's career because I said that teams don't like that he's fat, which is so not what I'm reporting.

[00:58:27]

No, we never say he's fat. We never say he's fat. He's a big man. He played football.

[00:58:31]

He's powerful. My general manager said to me that Mike Rable is very intimidating to a lot of people, that his personality, his size. That's all I said. It wasn't just one general manager.

[00:58:42]

It was multiple.

[00:58:43]

It's also Well, this is not true.

[00:58:46]

It's true. It's also that's on the general manager because Vrabel is not that intimidating once you get to know him. He's just a big guy. He's a strong guy. He's a strong, masculine man. He's a leader of men. I want him as the bear's head coach. All right, let me ask you about the bear. This is my thought process. You can grade my thought process. Tell me I'm crazy, whatever you want to go with this. I want Vrabel or Ben Johnson. The Patriots are probably going to have Vrabel, right? I would assume. Ben Johnson has not done it. He had not accepted an interview with the Jets or the Saints. They never reach out because he basically was like, I'm not doing it.

[00:59:23]

Yeah, people are back channeling like, Hey. Yeah.

[00:59:25]

He's not doing that. It's down to there's two Guys, Vrabel and Ben Johnson for three seats, the Jaguars, the Patriots, and the bears. Balki coming back, does this mean that once Vrabel takes a job with the Patriots, then Ben Johnson might be the target for the bears or vice versa?

[00:59:46]

Look, as someone has had to report a lot of crappy news to you over the last few weeks, I think it's good for you. I think when the print Balki news broke, you're back.

[00:59:57]

Yeah, right.

[00:59:58]

I think Ben Johnson still has a lot of questions about management in both of those organizations, which I think is pretty well known at this point. There are questions. Ryan Polls is leading the search. Ryan Polls is not going anywhere. I think there's some Chicago people who believe he's going to get fired at some point here when the search ends. Kevin Warren and Ryan Pauls are in lockstep in this search, and they 100 % have their eye on Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel, for sure, as their top candidates. Let's say in this world, and it would be, I guess, Hank's best world, Graves goes to New England. Yeah, I think Ben Johnson, the chance of him landing in Chicago are much better now that Trumbuck is in Jacksonville, which if you're a Jags fan, it's like, Oh, my goodness.

[01:00:47]

Are you kidding? What are we doing?

[01:00:48]

What are we doing? But I'm interested to hear what happens after these interviews because you find out a lot about these organizations and what their plans are and how they envision themselves and what the philosophies are. Wouldn't you find out what questions they've been asking. We'll see what they're after.

[01:01:05]

What would the percentage chance be? Because I've played this whole thing out, and obviously, I want Ben Johnson, but I do think that him staying at the clients is still a possibility. I'm so glad you said that.

[01:01:18]

I'm so glad you said it because I had somebody yesterday text me, was like, Hey, don't forget, there's a world where Ben Johnson stays and looks at this coaching cycle and goes, This is not for me. This is not what I'm signing up for.

[01:01:34]

Damn. And weirdly, that drives the price up every year that he says no. But it's like, Oh, I got to get this guy.

[01:01:40]

Look, he's great. He's an awesome plate caller. I love his self-awareness, his understanding of, look, I've only been to the playoffs twice in my life. I wanted to come back to Detroit to just watch not only this team get back, but watch how they handle success, because that's another part of growth as a coach, of not just dealing with the problems, dealing with when things are good and how to manage your team and how to make good coaching decisions. So I appreciate that emotional maturity, but at some point here, you got to jump in the pool. You got to do this thing.

[01:02:14]

Well, a good cautionary tale is Lou Anerumo. Lou Anerumo from the Bengals, who was a hot name in the NFL coaching circles three years ago, and he just got fired by the bangles. So it might not last forever. You might not be the guy that everyone's lusting for forever. So I'm hoping that that will push Ben Johnson to the bears.

[01:02:41]

You look at it this way. The second the Detroit lines stink, his chances are going to go away. That's just the reality. How many times have we seen this where, like you just mentioned, Lou's defense was tremendous in the Super Bowl. He's considered the Patrick Mahomes killer, and he fired him.

[01:02:56]

Is he going to get a job somewhere?

[01:02:59]

Yeah, I think Lou is one of those coordinators. I don't mean to be intensive to the process because I'm sure he was hurt and upset about it, but he's one of those. They get fired and you go, All right, which head coaching candidate is going to bring Lou Adarumo on as their DC. I can tell you there are several right now who are talking to him to try to see what he wants to do next.

[01:03:22]

Ben Johnson to the bears with Lou. They coach together in Miami. I've already done this all in my head. I've gone way too deep with all the I do like that format, though, when you get a younger head coach, and then he brings in a guy that's just been around for forever to show him what Wade Phillips did in LA when McVay was out there.

[01:03:40]

He's the guy for a while there. You bring that veteran presence of like, Look at Brian Callahan in Tennessee. He brought his dad. Yeah. To help out. Tennessee Titans fired their general manager, Ran Carthon.

[01:03:53]

The statement that they put out today was really, really strange. They said that Ran was hired to be the The description of the job was different when they brought him in, which was to be in lockstep with the head coach. Now, the description of that job has changed, which also implies that now Ryan's job is to be like Brian Callahan's daddy and tell him what to do all the time. He didn't fit that job description. What happened in Tennessee?

[01:04:18]

Well, he's got a daddy.

[01:04:19]

His daddy's on the team. His daddy's his daddy. He's getting two daddies.

[01:04:23]

Look, I'm going more big picture, right? You just go back one year ago, just one year ago, when they were making a decision of what to do with the general manager position. After John Robinson obviously was let go, and we know what came with that, with the A. J. Brown trade and all the things with communication issues that he had with the owner, They move on. All right. So they collaborate with Mike Vrabel at the time and say, Okay, what do we want to do next? Vrabel goes, I want to go with my player personnel guy, Ryan Cauden, who's now currently with the New York Giants. Guy understands how I work. We view things the same way. And he's like a real football guy. He's a true scout. And the Titans said, No, we want Ran Carthon. He's the guy. And from what I understand, Rable just made the suggestion of, Hey, I like Ryan, too. He's a great dude. Let's just make him an assistant GM. Let him grow on the job with Ryan. Then when the time is right, he can get a GM job, and they didn't want to do Then in the end, they obviously fired Mike Ruvol, gave the power to Ryan Carthon here, and now a year later, Ryan Carthon is out.

[01:05:39]

To me, this says they don't know what they want. This also says to me that they make emotional decisions, which are the worst times. I think there's a difference, too, in making emotional decisions. Robert Kraft was emotional talking about the Gerard Mayo, but I don't think that's just a reaction to a bad year. This This is not up to the standard I need this team to be. This in Tennessee is, I have to blame someone. I'm sick of it. Someone needs to fix this. Ran, it's not you. Goodbye.

[01:06:11]

That's got to be such a shitty feeling as a GM. You have the number one pick. You're excited for a couple of weeks. After week 18, you're like, Fuck, yeah. Okay, now it's ran season, baby. Then it's like, no, you don't even get to make that choice.

[01:06:22]

You don't get to open this present.

[01:06:23]

Yeah, that sucks. But yeah, no, I can see that there is a difference between being emotional about a decision that you made and then making the decision because your emotions took over.

[01:06:35]

Correct. Look, it's human nature to be emotional about it and be frustrated and angry. But I think they were emotional when they fired their head coach last year, and it sounds like they're emotional here. I don't know if that's a great quality to have when you're running a business.

[01:06:50]

We'll get back to Diana Racine in a second. She's being brought to you by Prime and Wild Card Playoffs. They're coming on Saturday. We got TJ Watt and the Steelers on Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in a playoff showdown between AFC North Rivals, and it's only on Prime video. Is there any love lost in this game? That's my first question. Second question, what should I do with the record book? Should I keep them or should I throw them out the window? Do these teams like each other? A lot of questions should be answered. If you're not a Prime member, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to stream the game, the Steelers Ravens. It's a big spread, but you know that these teams play pretty close. So it's going to be a great game. It's play-off football. Football, Steelers, Ravens, what could be better than that? The Steelers and the Ravens in Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game, powered by Verizon, Saturday at 7:30 Eastern, only on Prime Video.

[01:07:41]

What's going to happen with Mike McCarthy? Because his presence and it's a large presence.

[01:07:46]

Is he too large to get a head coaching job?

[01:07:48]

He might be. It's messing me up mentally because what the bears are really good at is they're interviewing every single person that's ever coached football. There's some names on that list that scare the fuck out of me. Then I find myself being like, well, Mike McCarthy is better than this guy. Then I have to take a step back and be like, wait a second. Am I talking myself into Mike McCarthy? Can he just stay in Dallas so I don't have to talk myself into Mike McCarthy?

[01:08:13]

No, I think the chances of him staying in Dallas are fair. I think that could happen. Look, I know that they did a little bit of work on some head coaches behind the scenes over the last few weeks, so it wouldn't shock me if they also move on. I just don't like how they're going about their business, how they're just hanging them out to dry right now, trying to figure out what he's going to do next. This entire year was really hard, if you're him, not knowing what's going to be next. Look, I think if Mike McCarthy does wind up moving on or Dallas, Jerry says, Yeah, we're going to go in a different direction, I 100% think he has a good shot at getting that Chicago Bear shot.

[01:08:54]

That would be the funniest possible. Yeah, funniest possible outcome, I think- What's the worst?

[01:08:58]

I've thought about this about it. David Shaw. I don't know why I'm imagining your pain that I have.

[01:09:04]

I'm like, What would move Dan so angry that I don't even want to be around him? David Shaw. I don't want Brian Flores, but I've somehow talked myself into maybe the second time around, he'll be better. But I just don't want a defensive guy, except for Mike Vrabel, who he's a different cat because he can- Well, who looked at who he's hired in the past at OC.

[01:09:29]

They go on to be head coaches, Arthur Smith, Matt LaFleur. He obviously knows how to pick a good OC. So that's a good point. Anthony Weaver is a name that I'm hearing a lot of teams are putting in for. He spent three years with the Baltimore Ravens. Right now, he's the DC for the Miami Dolphins coach. He was with the Texans, another large man. I don't want to say he's like Vrabel light because that's taking away from Anthony's abilities individually. But he has a great way of connecting with players, holding them accountable, but he's just a little bit more leadback. He's cool, but he's smart. I can tell you people in Baltimore, they think that this is going to be the run he gets. This is the cycle. He'll be a head coach. It's time. You shouldn't be disappointed if that becomes a real thing.

[01:10:21]

I just don't want a defensive coordinator. I want an offensive guy. I want someone who's going to come in here and be like, Caleb Williams, we have to do everything. This organization has to do everything in its power to make Caleb Williams great. That's all I'm scared about.

[01:10:36]

One other name in Chicago is Cliff Kingsbury, the people thrown out. I don't want it. I talk myself into that. I don't want it because I selfishly want to keep him around in Washington. I think he's a very good OC, didn't work out for him at all as a head coach. He's one of these guys where when they get fired from being a head coach, they immediately say, in that moment of truth, after you realized what you just got freed from, being a head coach sucks. That might not be for me. I love that. Then a year later, though, these guys are like, Yeah, I want to coach football again. They forget so fast.

[01:11:07]

Well, going back to what we were talking about, how everyone knows there's such a small chance of getting those jobs. You do it, you take it, not Even if you're not ready, you just do it. But I think Cliff has had some time here, time off, away, as we know, he traveled the world, to recenter himself. Now that he's having so much success as a coordinator, and he's told me in the past, I like play calling. All the other crap that comes with being a head coach and all the headaches that you have to deal with and the things that you have to think about and manage, it's exhausting. I do think he will take an interview, but I think when it comes down to it, it may be one of those situations where he decides to just stay in Washington.

[01:11:50]

Yeah, I love that. All right. So Memes, I think, has some questions for you. Before we do that, though, a question on Max's behalf. Is Jalen Hertz going to ever clear the concussion protocol?

[01:12:01]

I am not happy about this. This is concerning to me. This has been over two weeks. Look, Wednesday's Practice Day is going to be the most important part of this process, obviously, because we'll know if he's cleared. But we're obviously starting here, the playoffs and the starting quarterback is still in concussion protocol. Yeah, Max, you should be freaking out, my friend.

[01:12:25]

You should be freaking out. The word I heard was concerned. How are things in your- What, what, Max?

[01:12:30]

What?

[01:12:30]

This is obviously PFT just texting her ahead of time to say this. No. A hundred %.

[01:12:35]

Are you saying that her integrity as a reporter is so low that I could text her and make her put out a false report? You don't respect women.

[01:12:46]

That's not what I said.

[01:12:47]

You sound like memes.

[01:12:48]

What I am saying is that, actually, I don't know. Can't you not clear concussion protocol until a practice day? Correct. So there was no way of clearing concussion protocol yesterday.

[01:13:00]

But if Schefter did tweet it-On Wednesday.

[01:13:01]

But remember, Max, this is the news that you have to watch. He will get tested again. If he gets tested and fails, he's got to go to the whole thing again.

[01:13:12]

Oh, no. He's got to do the colors. Yeah, that would be He's at everything.

[01:13:15]

Count backwards by seven. How are things inside your own house? Is your husband as deeply into the Taylor McKee lure as Max is?

[01:13:24]

Oh, yeah. Look, I'm at a point now where I manage Kevin the way you guys manage Max. We're the same person. I love this guy. I know what he's dealing with, just all the obnoxiousness and the concerns. My favorite thing to do, because we have a big calendar in our kitchen because we're busy and- The big calendar.

[01:13:43]

You need the big calendar.

[01:13:44]

We're like a 1983 home. It's just gigantic. Instead of using phones, and I will just do this, I'm like, Well, if the eagles get bounced out of the first round, da, da, da. You want to cause having. I I've been planning things on games. I've been planning things on Sundays, and I put them in there. He's like, I don't know why I'm putting things in. I don't know why I'm doing that.

[01:14:07]

That's great. All right, Memes, you got questions? I have two questions. Okay. The first one's from me and the other is from Tom Lee. He's a coworker, also a Jets fan. Mine is, who's your source inside the Jets building, and why do they keep showing up for a job they hate? That's too great. Okay. And Then the follow-up from Tom Lee, what's your fucking problem? It's good questions. Good questions. Would you like to address either of those?

[01:14:42]

Yeah, it's the janitor. Everyone always says it's the custodian, it's the security guard. It's the cheerleader. It's actually Salah. He's still at the building. It's Joe Benito. It's any New York jet fan. If you come up to me and just tell me a story about the Jets, I'm Why not?

[01:15:00]

Why not?

[01:15:02]

It's the New York Times.

[01:15:02]

They don't care. Memes doesn't know sarcasm. He's going to be like, She said it. She said it. I knew that.

[01:15:07]

She finally admits it.

[01:15:09]

I know. Memes, you do hate my reporting. I have noticed it. I realized that you... I think, I don't think you hate me. I just think you hate the information that I'm putting out there. Is that true?

[01:15:25]

Yeah.

[01:15:26]

He can't separate it. Yeah, no. Don't shoot the messenger, shoot the message.

[01:15:29]

He shoots the message. To him, you are the news. It's easier to get mad at you than it would be to wrap your head around it.

[01:15:36]

I'm mad at reading. I'm the one who did that.

[01:15:38]

Yes. Speaking of the Jets, with the Rex Ryan thing, do you think it's a good strategy for Rex Ryan to say, I'm going to go in there and tell Aaron Rodgers that the country club days are over?

[01:15:50]

It's brilliant. It's brilliant. I love what Rex is doing right now. I'm all behind this campaign. It's ridiculous, but it's smart because he's telling the Jets I want this job. I'm going to do this job. You know when you're so overwhelmed by someone's confidence that you're like, Wait, maybe they are good. He's telling them what he wants them to believe. Whereas you think Mike Vrabel was sitting there going, I want this job. I'm doing this shop. I know how to fix this. Ron Rivera wasn't doing that. They're getting a different message. So he's going to separate himself. To me, it's worth the risk.

[01:16:24]

It'd be fun. It'd be fun. See, I have one question about the Raiders because we talked about the teams that didn't do anything. I'm not sure that we can put the Raiders into that category just yet because I think Mark Davis is just thinking it over. I don't know. He's taking his time. What's going on with Tom braided and the Raiders and the relationship with Mark Davis? Is Antonio pierce safe?

[01:16:46]

Yeah. The Tom braided influence is bigger than I think people realize. I know he's the minority owner, and there were some question marks of like, All right, well, he'll be in the background. Tom braided is not going to Has Tom braided ever been in the background of anything? He's full on in the decision making for the Vegas Raiders. He talks to Mark Davis all the time, and I think you're going to see tons of Tom braided ways and just influence on how this team is going to run. I think the question that we probably need to consider is, is Tom braided an Antonio pierce fan? Does he like what he sees?

[01:17:25]

I'm going to guess probably not from his personal history with the Giants.

[01:17:30]

I don't even think it has to do with the Giants. I just think, look how Tom likes to do things. It's New England, right? It's the Patriot way. It's tight. It's accountability. It's all the things that we know. It's everything that Hank is. This is just I don't think Antonio pierce runs his team that way. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I just think when it comes down to it, it goes back to that comfort of, I know I can operate with that. So who's left that can do something in the way that Tom Don braided wants it. Brian Flores, Mike Vrabel, right? There's New England again.

[01:18:05]

Chiano.

[01:18:06]

Chiano.

[01:18:07]

No one's talking about Chiano.

[01:18:08]

Are we doing this again?

[01:18:10]

No one's talking about Chiano.

[01:18:11]

Why are we talking about Chiano? We should talk about Chiano. Is it Mike Vrabel to the Patriots is done?

[01:18:17]

I don't think so. He's meeting with the bears. He's meeting with the saints.

[01:18:22]

Okay.

[01:18:23]

I'm curious when he's going to meet with the Patriots. That's the one I haven't seen yet. Okay. I'm going to go dig on that. Okay. Obviously, and Hank is all in on this, right? Yeah.

[01:18:32]

He reported already.

[01:18:34]

Yeah, he did. He reported it.

[01:18:35]

He reported Mike Ribrill to the features?

[01:18:36]

Based on his feelings.

[01:18:38]

Yeah.

[01:18:39]

That's good. That's our reporting standard here is do you feel something- I actually think that's the least interesting hire, though.

[01:18:47]

Yeah, it's great and it's cool and returns home, but that's not a shocking move if that happens.

[01:18:53]

No, I actually expect it to happen. I want it to happen so it's like the chess board starts to clear up a little.

[01:18:59]

Yeah. I mean, if he picks the Jags, then I'm like, Holy cow. That came out of nowhere.

[01:19:04]

Do we have time for one last question? I know that you have another thing coming up. Do the rowback question. Rowback question. Joggers, hoodies, shorts. Robackk. Com. Promo code, take 20% off. Joggers, hoodies, shorts. Okay, so is there a college coach that is drawing interest that maybe we haven't heard about as much? Because I'm thinking about two guys, Naciano. Dabo, because he hates coaching college now. It seems like he's fed up with the transfer portal NIL stuff. And then Sark.

[01:19:42]

Fine. I don't think those two are going to be in the cycle, aggressively. I don't know what Sark wants to do, but every coach in college likes that buzz of the NFL. Bill O'Brien is the name I'm watching. I know he He loves Boston College, and they love him up there. But that's a name I'm watching. Matt Campbell is a name I'm watching.

[01:20:06]

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know about... But Bill O'Brien, I think I said Raiders would make a lot of sense for Bill O'Brien.

[01:20:13]

There's another New England connection I forgot about that. I didn't connect that. That's great. Yeah. Look, the question was, could I see these college coaches maybe getting an opportunity? Yeah, but I haven't heard any of these yet. But those are the names if I had a guess at this point, I'd keep an eye on them. Okay.

[01:20:33]

Do teams have to announce when they do an interview?

[01:20:37]

They just like to do it.

[01:20:40]

But they don't have to. They could interview someone that we don't know about, and then all of a sudden it's like, Well, that's the coach.

[01:20:46]

Yeah. They just like to let the world know. They just like to let the fan bases go, Look, we're working.

[01:20:50]

The Jaguars publishing their list of people that they've asked to interview for the job was pretty strange.

[01:20:56]

Yeah.

[01:20:56]

See, I would- What about the teams putting out comments that they're retaining coaches and GMs?

[01:21:01]

When did we start doing this? I know. If I were running a team, I would just go like, Yeah, we're interviewing the Ghost of Vince Lombardi. We're interviewing just George Washington, the leader of men.

[01:21:12]

I would move in silence. Yeah.

[01:21:14]

But That's how I would do it. But don't you think if you have to put out a statement, do you think the Chiefs are going to put out Andy Reid?

[01:21:21]

That'd be funny.

[01:21:22]

After they win the Super Bowl-Decided to retain Andy Reid. We're going to stick around.

[01:21:27]

The Rams are like, We love Sean McVay. He's allowed not your return back. No. No. No. Thanks.

[01:21:32]

Yeah. All right. Well, Diana, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We love having you on, and we'll see you at the Combine. We'll see you Super Bowl week. We'll see you at the Combine. Just let me down easy if you find out something before I see it. Just let me down easy.

[01:21:45]

I am hoping this all comes together on your 40th birthday. That is the hope for me. So I can't wait to give you that big, big present that Josh McCown is your head coach. Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson. Bye, guys.

[01:21:59]

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[01:23:01]

That's f-O-R-thepeople. Com/pmt or poundla, pound529 from your cell. This is a paid advertisement. She's also brought to you by our great friends at Uber Eats. Uber Eats, get involved, get some delicious food delivered right to your door. Whether you're ordering wings for the game, whipping up a seven-layer dip or ordering pizza, there's something about football that makes you want to eat. In this football season, Uber Eats has the best deals on game day food, no matter what you're craving. From two for one pizza to buy one, get one wings, Uber Eats will be dropping new deals each week, all season long, Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now for game day. What do you guys want to eat this weekend? There's a lot of football going on. We got five days of football. That's five days of food from Uber Eats. I'm thinking wings one night, maybe barbecue one night, maybe some Thai food one night. Mix it up with Uber Eats. Terms and conditions apply. See the app for details. Now, here is our number two ranked college football Football Expert, Brandon Walker.

[01:24:01]

Now for something completely different.

[01:24:05]

Okay, we now welcome on a very special guest. It is our college football expert, not by choice, but by a stupid tournament that we did, and he happened to win. It is Brandon Walker, who has already made demands on this studio. He demanded the couch be put back because Hank was sitting on Vinnie Woodhead chair, which Vinnie Woodhead is near and dear to our heart.

[01:24:25]

Yeah, Vinnie Woodhead, it's our van. Sure. Hank just said unilaterally that he was going to move the chair, install the chair, and then whenever we'd have a guest off, he'd force me to come in here and move the entire couch back. Two things.

[01:24:37]

Did you hook them? Two things. Okay. A, I'm not a guest. I'm part of the show now as the resident college football expert. And B, the couch has nothing to do with me. I'm sitting on the couch, but you guys are engaging in the couch fight with Hank right now.

[01:24:50]

True or false, you sat down on the chair and you said, What's this chair?

[01:24:54]

True, but I didn't know what the chair was. I rest my case. But Hank is the one- But it's part of show, shouldn't you know that it's Vanny Woodhead? Aren't you and Hank fighting?

[01:25:02]

But didn't you just say you're a part of the show? You don't know Vanny Woodhead.

[01:25:04]

I don't know the intricacies of Vanny Woodhead. I'm aware of Vanny Woodhead.

[01:25:07]

You know who knows about Vanny Woodhead? Tom Fradelli.

[01:25:11]

Well, you know what he doesn't know about college football, and that's why I'm here. I walked in with that.

[01:25:14]

Well, Brandon's Also, his ass isn't really built for a chair. It's more of a couch ass.

[01:25:18]

I sat in the chair. I immediately got concerned I was going to break the chair. There were concerns with the chair. But Hank is fighting the chair battle, not me. I don't care if the chair is here or not.

[01:25:29]

Well, you We should have an opinion one way as a show.

[01:25:31]

Well, I do have an opinion. I want our guests to be as comfortable as possible here. All right.

[01:25:36]

So you're here. I'm here.

[01:25:38]

Wait, are you a guest on your own show now?

[01:25:40]

No, I'm not a guest.

[01:25:41]

But you might be a guest on your own show.

[01:25:44]

I'm in a pretzel now. How do I get out of it?

[01:25:47]

Trix, make Brandon really fat in the cover art.

[01:25:50]

Yeah, that's how you get out of it. Why?

[01:25:50]

Go ahead. Why would you do that? No, I wasn't talking to you.

[01:25:53]

I understand that. But why would you do that? You don't even have to do that much. I wasn't talking to you.

[01:25:57]

I was talking to Trix.

[01:25:58]

Wait in at 273 I'm trying to... I thought I was 265.

[01:26:01]

Brandon told me that he ordered dark chicken for lunch instead of having the chicken breast meal that we had for lunch for the whole office thinking it was healthier. I think that's actually way worse. So you're probably up to 276 now. I love that dark meat.

[01:26:14]

Brandon.

[01:26:14]

Yes. Jason Whitlock over here.

[01:26:16]

College of Humana. No one I'm capable of. Watch it.

[01:26:18]

Cans. Stay away. He said cans. He said a huge rack. Yeah, he said a huge rack.

[01:26:24]

He said it several times.

[01:26:24]

Got to stay away. I've never seen someone cope harder with not being able to get laid. Yeah.

[01:26:30]

He knows what he's capable of. I wouldn't allow myself around her because I knew you get me in the same room as that.

[01:26:36]

I'll tell you one thing. A huge rack. You know me. Me and my wife have a deal. I can never be in the same room as Sydney Sweeney. That's right.

[01:26:43]

I'm capable. You know.

[01:26:44]

What I'm capable of. All right, so Brandon, college football play. We want to talk about the matchups. Sure. We're down to four. Yeah. Overall, how would you say the first college football playoff has gone? Are you one of the... Let me ask this a better way. Why is it that college football seems like there's just an endless amount of fans that just don't seem to like the sport?

[01:27:04]

It's the only sport that really gets meticulously picked apart for the quality of its games. It doesn't really happen to the NBA playoffs or the NHL playoffs. It doesn't really happen to anybody else. It's the only sport where if there's a bad game, it is suddenly an indictment of the entire sport. Correct. Whereas a playoff is just that. You are playing off to find out who's the best team at the end. There's no guarantee you're going to have some esthetically pleasing games along the way. You've just collected through a 12 game sample size, who deserves to be here. We pretty much got that this year. I don't know that it was perfect, but we got that. We can't help that some of the games weren't as good.

[01:27:38]

The Super Bowl when PFCI were growing up, you were in your 30s, in the '90s was always a blowout.

[01:27:44]

It just seemed like you're just going out of your way to take shots at sometimes. You're part of the show.

[01:27:49]

I think that because they installed this new payoff, then there are now a bunch of people out there that are looking at it and trying to tweak it, trying to move it around, trying to add things, trying to inject their own ideas into it. You got to be careful with that. You got to be careful because if you do too much, you're going to become the NBA, and you don't want that.

[01:28:06]

People believe that the playoff was implemented because it was supposed to be some grand fix. Well, it wasn't fixing because nothing was broken. It was just a better way to determine a champion. It's more seats at the table. It's more excitement. It gave us in October and November, there were unparalleled in excitement. November had games. Would anybody have cared about Ole Miss, Florida, in previous years? No. Would anybody have cared about certain games? No. It gave us a great November. It gave us a bad first round, but then it also gave us Texas, Arizona State, which was remarkable.

[01:28:33]

The pushback I always have for people is, so the first round sucked. What was the alternative of the first round? It would have been Indiana and Tennessee playing in a bowl game that half the players opted out and no one gave a fuck. That's exactly right. So, yeah, it was a blowout, but all the players were playing, and they were trying their hardest. And I'd rather watch that even if it's a blowout.

[01:28:53]

People are nostalgic liars about college football. They're like, Well, we should go back to how it used to be. Thirty years ago, Penn State goes undefeated and gets nothing. They get nothing. There are these times in history where we're just letting sportswriters decide. So we've come step by step by step. The 12-team playoff, I think, is the best way to do it until we have a 16-team playoff, which we will be better.

[01:29:13]

How about we compromise? How about we keep the current format, but the winner gets the old trophy.

[01:29:17]

That could work.

[01:29:18]

Now, I will say this year, it might have... You don't know this, this is year to year. Maybe eight teams was enough for this year, but you can't go based on... You can't do that.

[01:29:27]

Yeah, and the fixes that I do think should happen happen are you don't do the automatic buy. The seeding. It should just be the four best teams get a buy. The first two rounds should be on campus because I do think what we're finding is part of college football, it's obviously the game, but it's the atmosphere as well. When you ask a fan base to travel potentially three times in a three-week stretch, you just aren't going to get the same atmosphere. The crowds are not going to be the same as they were when it is like, Here's our one big bowl game.

[01:30:01]

It also takes time to build up to that schedule, to make it part of a fan base's routine, where if you're a big school that has national title aspirations every year, that you just pencil in. Okay, late December through mid-January, I got to keep my calendar open because it might be on the road.

[01:30:17]

Yeah. I mean, if you're a Texas fan, you're in your second straight playoff, or you're going to... I don't even know where they played that last game. Were they the Fiesta Bowl? No, they weren't the Fiesta Bowl. They were the Peach. They were the Peach Bowl. Are you going to Atlanta knowing that you might If you have two other trips in the next two weeks? Maybe you're not. Maybe you say, Well, I'll get them the next time. So it creates some issues and stuff. But there are small issues we have to work towards. Overall, this is a better way to do it than we've ever had, and it is going to get tweaked The auto buys for conference champions got to go away. That has to go away. It created a spot where the sixth seed had the easiest path to where we are right now, which I think Penn State probably was good enough to get there anyway. I'm not going to hold it against them, but they had an easier path than, Oregon.

[01:31:00]

Yeah, Oregon got screwed. Oregon should have just lost the Big Ten Championship, and they still probably would be alive.

[01:31:05]

Yeah, they would have gotten a home game. They would have won it, then they would have gone on. They wouldn't have had the rust that they dealt with against Ohio State. Now, Ohio State killed them so much. You can't really blame that. But still, there were issues, and we'll fix them along the way.

[01:31:17]

Ohio State...

[01:31:18]

Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, I think the other thing we agree on, Brandon, is that the National Championship game should be at the Rose Bowl.

[01:31:23]

We don't believe in that. You try to make it personal with me about the Rose Bowl because you try to make it personal with me about a lot of things. No, I don't. You make it personal. You like to point fingers and say, Brandon Walker hates the Rose Bowl, and you turn everyone against me by saying, No, I don't hate the Rose Bowl. I think the Rose Bowl is magnificent and wonderful. It is also absolutely in love with itself and thinks it's bigger than the sport, and the Rose Bowl needs to be taken down a pick. The Rose Bowl holds up college football progress. It's done it before. It stands in the way. It has to have things its way, and it is not that special.

[01:31:53]

Are you describing the Rose Bowl or the SEC?

[01:31:55]

It is special. A good one, PFT.

[01:31:58]

I love that. Not the worst counterpoint I've ever heard.

[01:32:01]

Yes, get him.

[01:32:01]

Not the worst counterpoint I've ever heard. But it's better than his counterpoints where he just says, I hate it. No, I don't hate it. I just think it's in love with its own farts.

[01:32:07]

You hate it because you get a migraine if you want.

[01:32:08]

The Texas-Arizona State game, they are in overtime on the playoff game The Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl. The Sunset. The Rose Bowl will not hold up. The Rose Bowl keeps- You keep saying the farts thing, but the farts smell incredible.

[01:32:22]

Yeah, they smell like roses.

[01:32:22]

I don't think the Rose Bowl farts smell that good.

[01:32:25]

Well, Brandon, they had to kick off because the game is built. It doesn't go by your fancy box. It's about a sunset. It's about a sunset. It goes by the sun.

[01:32:33]

You don't respect the sun?

[01:32:34]

The fucking sun?

[01:32:35]

Football's not about sunsets.

[01:32:36]

Also, there's- Imagine that, not respecting the sun?

[01:32:38]

There's an airplane that was... You don't even know what they fly over for the Rose Bowl. No, you don't.

[01:32:42]

You didn't know either, did you?

[01:32:43]

Are you always know?

[01:32:44]

Are you fucking kidding me?

[01:32:45]

What flyover did you not know?

[01:32:45]

Are you fucking giving me the Rose Bowl? There was a flyover you didn't know, right? No, he knows all the flyovers.

[01:32:48]

Yeah, there was a flyover, but that was an experimental aircraft that I couldn't possibly expect.

[01:32:52]

What was the stealth that flew over the Rose Bowl, right?

[01:32:54]

It's called a B-2 bomber. Come on.

[01:32:56]

It's a B-2 bomber. Don't we call it the stealth?

[01:33:00]

Yeah, like casualism, called it, the Stealth Bomer.

[01:33:02]

People who don't respect the Rose Bowl.

[01:33:03]

I respect Stealth Bomers.

[01:33:06]

And the Rose Bowl?

[01:33:07]

I respect the Rose Bowl. Here's the problem with you turning it into this where you either love it, unconditional.

[01:33:12]

Well, I'll admit to one thing. My feelings were hurt a little bit because I didn't... Usually, I can pick up on your mocking tone. When we were January first, we spent the whole day together, and I did not pick up on your mocking tone for about three hours. Then when I did, I was like, God It. He's been locking me this whole time.

[01:33:32]

Well, that's on you. You live your entire life with me on a marking tone.

[01:33:34]

I know, but you then also, I found out- I bought him a gift. He bought me two gifts. Guess where the gifts are from, PFT?

[01:33:40]

Spencer's.

[01:33:40]

The Rose Bowl. He's buying me Mocking gifts.

[01:33:43]

No. He's Mocking me with gifts. Brandon was nailing you for three hours, and you didn't realize it? Yeah.

[01:33:47]

If I bought myself Rose Bowl gifts, that's Mocking. He was Mocking me with the gift. I know that he loves the Rose Bowl, so I got him Rose Bowl gifts.

[01:33:53]

Honestly, Big Cat, if I were you, I would be fine with that arrangement. If somebody wanted to buy me a locking gift that I actually enjoyed, I'd be like, okay.

[01:33:59]

But I don't know if I enjoy it anymore, because every time I enjoy it, Brandon's laughing.

[01:34:03]

You walk up there and you see Wisconsin Badgers, 1994 Rose Bowl champs, and a picture of the Rose Bowl, you don't-I'm like, God damn it, he got me again.

[01:34:10]

Yeah. That's how our friendship works.

[01:34:13]

That's a great friendship. So as I'm an SEC fan, Brandon, how do you feel about the mighty shoulders of Texas carrying the mantle for the SEC?

[01:34:20]

Still Big 12.

[01:34:21]

It is weird. It feels weird. It's been a bad bowl season for SEC. It's been a bad season for the SEC.

[01:34:28]

Would you like to apologize for the SEC?

[01:34:30]

100% no, because fuck the SEC. I'm a fan of Mississippi State University. When Georgia loses, I think it's hilarious. When Alabama loses, I think it's fucking hilarious. So this myth that you guys think that we're all sitting in our trailer parks down south just waiting for Alabama and Georgia to bail us out is wrong.

[01:34:45]

Insanely about trailer parks.

[01:34:46]

It is wrong.

[01:34:47]

I was going to say Super 8.

[01:34:49]

Yeah. Whatever. Wherever we're hanging out- Back of a pickup. Down south, the dog fighting ring, wherever we're hanging out down south, we're not- The cousin fucking Fest. We're not just waiting. We would never talk football, the cousin fucking fast. We're never talking waiting for Alabama to bail us out. When they win, we're like, God damn, this is proof of how tough it is down here. When they lose, it's hilarious.

[01:35:09]

I like that.

[01:35:10]

But in a weird way, the SEC School, Texas, going up against Ohio State, built like an SEC team.

[01:35:18]

Ohio State? Yeah. They've been the one team constantly, and Clemson touched it for a few years, that have been built like an elite SEC team. It's not built like an SEC team. It's built like an elite SEC team because there's teams built It's like Florida right now and Kentucky and A&M. Then there's teams built like Alabama and Georgia over the last 15 years, which is just take the fivest of the five stars and put them in every position and destroy everybody. And Texas is like that. Ohio State is like that.

[01:35:43]

If Ohio State wins this national championship, shouldn't we be saying that Georgia is built like an elite Big Ten team?

[01:35:48]

I don't represent the Big Ten. I don't have a Big Ten accent. That's on you to start turning around the narrative.

[01:35:54]

No, I actually find the whole thing funny, and it's like the Big Ten cat thing that I do. I'm with I'm not rooting for Ohio State to win.

[01:36:01]

It helps you none as a Wisconsin fan.

[01:36:03]

No, I know. I'm not rooting for them. If they win at all, I will benefit it by saying, Wow, toughest conference. Look at me. But I know that I'm not rooting for them.

[01:36:13]

When you get to the end of the season and it's happened in the SEC a couple of times. It might happen in the Big Ten this year. Two SEC team play for a national title, and your team went nine and three in that conference. You're like, Look at what we had to deal with down here.

[01:36:24]

No, I'm never winning anything ever again. Neither are you. It sucks.

[01:36:27]

Speak for yourself, buddy. You're talking to a 2021 College World Series champion. Okay.

[01:36:33]

Well, I've actually got a dynasty going with women's hockey.

[01:36:36]

Well, yeah, but you don't really- Three out of last five years.

[01:36:38]

You never actually watched one of the games. I did. I watched the third period of one of the Championship games.

[01:36:42]

Yeah, but you can't name any of the players. I can name all the Mississippi State basketball players. Haley, players: Chad, Austin, Cody.

[01:36:47]

All right, let's talk about the games. Let's. Thursday night. Sure. Penn State, Notre Dame. Slugfeet. Path to get here, Penn State, nothing. Haven't had to play a big game. Notre Dame acquitted themselves very nicely against Georgia. Marcus Freeman panced Kirby Smart.

[01:37:05]

Absolutely panced him.

[01:37:07]

Panced him, had him crying like a bitch after. Loved it. Georgia, by the way, is going to be back. They're going to be fine long term.

[01:37:14]

Oh, They've already gotten two of the best wide receiver transfers in the country. They're fixing their problems now.

[01:37:19]

Kirby Smart is one of those coaches that like nick Saban, when they lose, it's actually bad for everyone else because they're just going to come back with more vengeance.

[01:37:27]

Well, I say that about the entire SEC. If everybody wants to shit on the SEC right now. That's fine if you want to do the collective conference thing. But embarrassing Alabama and embarrassing Georgia, them going through that, it's just going to turn them into monsters this offseason, and it's going to be nastier than it's ever been.

[01:37:41]

I think most of the shitting on the SEC is because the SEC so vehemently defended itself going into the playoff. And also they've had a 20-year run where they've just kicked the shit out of it.

[01:37:50]

Yeah, but everybody would lobby in that scenario, I think. I didn't think Alabama deserved it or South Carolina or Ole Miss.

[01:37:56]

That's where you hate South Carolina. All right, so this game. You've actually predicted the playoffs perfectly so far.

[01:38:02]

I have, yeah.

[01:38:03]

That's our college football expert, folks. Who do you have winning this game and why?

[01:38:08]

I have Penn State winning this game because I think Penn State and Notre Dame are very, very, very similar. I think But I think Penn State is a little bit better version of the team they're going for. They have a better quarterback. Great defense, better quarterback, both elite running game, both very, very, very physical. Penn State just has one more explosive playmaker than Notre Dame has. They have incredible tight-in, Tyler Warren, and they have a quarterback who I think is not going to make the mistakes that the backup quarterback for Georgia made. Listen, Notre Dame, they're both built to win games the same way. Get a 7-10 point lead, use their defense, ride it out, win the game. And Notre Dame pulled that off to a tee against Georgia. Notre Dame had two plays. They had the sack fumbled to get the ball at the nine-yard line, and then they had the kick return. That gave them two touch downs of separation, and they never let Georgia breathe. They never let them get it. If those two plays don't happen, they had 250 yards of total offense. They're in a more physical defense, and I don't think Aller is going to make the mistakes the backup quarterback made.

[01:39:03]

I just like Penn State as a little bit better version of what both teams are going for. It does.

[01:39:07]

The Tyler Warren piece is a good point because when you watch Notre Dame, like Jeremiah Love is electric. Reilly Leonard can run very well. He's a tough runner. It just doesn't feel like anyone's getting crazy open. No. Whereas Tyler Warren is one of those guys where it's like, you just throw it up to him and he'll get it.

[01:39:26]

I think Notre Dame had 80 yards passing against Georgia.

[01:39:29]

He was also Faizan.

[01:39:30]

Which is Alda Faizan.

[01:39:31]

Great, great, great, great, Faizan by Faizan.

[01:39:32]

Which was all fine. That's what they needed to do to beat Georgia. But I just don't know if that's going to be Penn State. Because I think Penn State is going to get a couple of shutdowns from the combination of Aler and Warren. I know that a lot of people, it feels like more people believe Notre Dame is going to win than believe Penn State is going to win. But I think that's totally due to the path that Penn State had and the path that Notre Dame had.

[01:39:51]

Do you think that Aller is... Do you trust him?

[01:39:54]

I think he is very good. I've been on the Drew-Aller train for two years to my detriment last When they lost Ohio State in Michigan, people were like, See, we told you he's terrible.

[01:40:03]

That was a bad game.

[01:40:03]

It was a bad game, but it was also to do the two best defenses in the country. Well, this year, he doesn't turn a ball over. I think last year, he might have had four interceptions, this year, three, something ridiculous. I don't know if those are exact numbers. But he doesn't turn the ball over, doesn't make mistakes. If they had elite receivers, this would be an elite offense. They don't have elite receiver, so it's a really good offense.

[01:40:21]

Did you plan on this when you're thinking about who's going to win this game? It's the 100th anniversary of the Four Horsemen.

[01:40:28]

Knute Rockne.

[01:40:29]

I don't I don't believe Rick Flair and Arn Anderson were together 100 years ago.

[01:40:33]

Are you familiar with Knute?

[01:40:35]

I am familiar with Knute.

[01:40:36]

Doesn't that feel like- One-one for the Giffer, right? Giffer, yeah. Doesn't that feel like Team of Destiny vibes?

[01:40:43]

Do we know if there's any 100-year anniversaries for Penn State?

[01:40:47]

Probably don't want to look in their past. Have we checked?

[01:40:49]

Yeah, this is Catholic versus Catholics.

[01:40:51]

Or Catholic versus Convicts.

[01:40:54]

Both. Both versus both. Catholic versus Catholic Convicts.

[01:40:58]

Catholic? Sure. Well, Catholic Convicts versus Catholic Convicts.

[01:41:01]

Good point. Yeah. Yeah. What a match.

[01:41:04]

They really are the same thing. Question about this game. Yeah. Big Game James. Sure. Which I think we should start calling him Big Game James. Remember when we called James Shield Big Game James? It's like, well, why?

[01:41:17]

It just goes great with James.

[01:41:21]

Yeah. So Big Game James. Are we worried at all about Big Game James not being Big Game James?

[01:41:26]

I think about it. Is it fair to say he He hasn't won a big game when he just won two playoff games? I understand.

[01:41:32]

Those weren't big games.

[01:41:34]

Right. Max said they weren't big games.

[01:41:36]

Isn't that right? Okay, so could I argue that Georgia without its starting quarterback?

[01:41:40]

No, it's still Georgia.

[01:41:41]

It's still a big game. We're really massaging the word big game to fit our narrative right now.

[01:41:46]

It's a team that's like, he's not greatly favored over. It's a toss-up game against a top five team.

[01:41:57]

Penn State has not been able to overcome Michigan was at the top of the sport the last three years. They couldn't overcome him. And when Ohio State, they haven't overcome Ohio State. Can I ask you this? Over the last four years, what's Notre Dame's record against those two teams? What would it be? Because it'd be the exact same as Penn State. No, it's a fair point.

[01:42:13]

But that's also a little Brian Kelly in there.

[01:42:16]

And Freeman, who I think, again, he pants Kirby Smart. He looked great. This is the guy that lost Northern Illinois this year. This guy who has lost some small games.

[01:42:24]

Tough team. One of the best Mountain West teams.

[01:42:26]

This is a guy who's lost some games he shouldn't lose, but suddenly because he beats Georgia, all the questioning is still on James Franklin. I don't think this- It's called narrative. I don't think this is all about the coaches here. I think this is one team has a better quarterback than the other. That's what I think. I agree. I agree with you. If you go out the whole playoff, it's four coaches. Somebody's breaking through for the first time. Ryan Day gets rid of his problems. James Franklin gets rid of his problems. Marcus Freeman ascends to the top of the sport for the first time, and Sarkisian battles through everything he had to battle through. So it's a fascinating coach narrative playoff.

[01:42:59]

I agree.

[01:42:59]

It is. With Marcus Freeman, the pantsing really occurred on that fourth down. Yeah, the fake pop, the fake go. Did you know that Georgia had a giant banner on the sidelines that said DJO? You remember that DJO that was on the bottom of the screen the entire game because it was boom, right there on the sidelines. What does DJO stand for? Don't jump off sides. That makes sense. That's what the banner meant. And then they jumped off sides.

[01:43:24]

Well, they also have posted speed limits in Athens, Georgia, and they don't really pay attention to those either.

[01:43:28]

They also should probably had a banner saying Don't get in the way of refs.

[01:43:31]

Don't get in the way of refs. Don't drink and drive.

[01:43:33]

But I think that having the Don't jump off sides banner makes you more likely. If that's the one thing that you're emphasizing- It's in your head. Don't hit the ball in the water, Hank.

[01:43:41]

If the last word you read going on to the field is offsides, it's in your mind to jump off sides. It's in your DNA.

[01:43:46]

Correct. All right. So officially, Penn State.

[01:43:49]

I like Penn State. What do you guys like? Would you be willing to put your reputation as a basketball expert on the line? I have already earned that reputation via winning this battle this year, so I don't know I have to put it back on the line.

[01:44:01]

Do you need a banner to hang behind you? Because I don't think you won the Big Game Boomer banner.

[01:44:05]

Big Game Boomer hasn't put one out yet.

[01:44:07]

Okay, so you haven't won it.

[01:44:08]

Right. I haven't won it, but I haven't lost it either. Okay. We went through all of 2024 without a new banner.

[01:44:13]

True. I'm with you. I think I'm going to bet Penn State. Yeah. What's the current line in draft?

[01:44:18]

Two and a half, I think, or maybe two. I think it'll be a pick-up by game time. I feel like the late money is coming in on Penn State.

[01:44:24]

I also hate to do it, but I don't know. Under? It's low, 44 and a half. You can't have a kick return or a college football play, something stupid happened. But these teams both want to play.

[01:44:37]

Both those things happened in the last game. The total ended up at 33. I know.

[01:44:41]

The one thing that's been jumping out to me about Notre Dame is they're secondary.

[01:44:44]

Yeah, very good.

[01:44:46]

So good.

[01:44:46]

Yeah. Xavier Watts is one of the best players in the country.

[01:44:49]

I feel like, yeah, as much- But they're good at every level of their defense. As much as you want to trust Penn State and you want to trust Drew Aller, that is going to be a tough battle for him.

[01:44:58]

It's going to be very tough, especially because his The two receivers don't really get much separation. But it's not so much just trusting Drew Aller. It's trusting Drew Aller more than you're trusting Bradley Leonard to throw the ball down the field in the play. I don't think Penn State is going to go out there and throw for 350 yards in of touch downs. But if you had to tell me one team is going to win by throwing for 215 yards and two touch downs, I would say that's Penn State. Yeah.

[01:45:24]

Okay. Max, do you have any for Penn State questions for Brandon?

[01:45:27]

No, I had no notes. I think he did a great job.

[01:45:29]

It's going to be a great We'll have Max there. We'll have chief there representing Notre Dame. I think Frank is going to be here representing Notre Dame. Connor Griffin, Penn State. Jeff D. Lowe, Penn State.

[01:45:38]

Mckinsey, Notre Dame. Yep.

[01:45:40]

It'll be great. It'll be packed house. Okay, second game. Texas, Ohio State. Now, the knee jerk is Ohio State looks unbeatable. Texas has not looked incredible. Not at all. They played a little around with Clemson. I know that was never really in doubt, but And then Arizona State probably should have won that game.

[01:46:03]

That got right to the edge of losing.

[01:46:04]

That targeting call, that changes everything.

[01:46:06]

In a fourth and 13, if he throws it by an inch.

[01:46:09]

Zero blitz. I know. Is this going to be Ohio State kicking their So if I went by what the two teams have done in the playoff, it has to be that, right?

[01:46:21]

It has to be because Ohio State got the embarrassment against Michigan. Three weeks, they heard how terrible they are, how big of a train wreck they are. And they came out, and their play Calling was different. Their attitude was different. Everything was better. They had fixed it. However, I wonder about this. Ohio State now, by virtue of their two performances they put on, does the pressure now circle back around to get on their shoulders again? Because they had that pressure going into Michigan in the last couple of years. They've had that pressure, and Ryan Day traditionally doesn't do that great with pressure. Now that they have shown they are unequivocally the most talented and the best team in this playoff, does the pressure come back? And then do they go into that shell again where their play calling isn't as aggressive? Where the play calling isn't as down the field? I wonder about that. Otherwise, if Ryan Day and Chip Kelly don't hold this team back, if they call plays the same way they've been calling plays, I think they win about two touch downs. Breaking moos.

[01:47:11]

You get a cow. You get a cow. Like that. Breaking Moose. Another one? Yeah. That's good. That's good cow because we don't want to have to retape it. Raiders, Fire, Antonio pierce. Oh, they do? Okay.

[01:47:26]

Yes. Interesting.

[01:47:27]

So Raiders, Fire, Antonio pierce. That is It is another Vrabel opening. It is.

[01:47:32]

Possibly. Vrabel, Bring Josh McDaniels back. Yeah.

[01:47:36]

Do we have any thoughts on that before we get back to college football? You've watched one NFL game in your life?

[01:47:41]

I've watched a bunch of NFL games. But they play every Sunday still? Yeah, you're going to be here on Sunday, right? No, absolutely not. Okay. I know how many openings there are. How many Vrabel openings are there? Five. So are all the openings Vrabel openings? Yes.

[01:47:55]

Whatever opening he wants, he takes. Okay.

[01:47:58]

Jacksonville is not a Vrabel opening, right? They're not hiring Vrabel. They might.

[01:48:01]

They probably want to. Yeah.

[01:48:03]

Everyone wants to.

[01:48:04]

Right. But you can't be a Vrabel opening if Vrabel would never get to you. He would pick another job before you pick that one, right?

[01:48:10]

Yeah. Maybe Ohio State.

[01:48:11]

You guys got to be honest about your Vrabel opening.

[01:48:13]

This immediate reaction is bad for the bears because- That's your immediate reaction to everything. I agree. But I do think there's a chance that Ben Johnson goes to the Patriots and Vrabel goes to the Raiders.

[01:48:24]

And then- Why would he choose the Raiders over the bears? Tom braided.

[01:48:29]

No. Vrabel?

[01:48:30]

Yeah. Tom Brable.

[01:48:32]

Tom braided.

[01:48:33]

Tom braided is the part owner of the Raiders. You probably didn't know that.

[01:48:37]

No, I knew that.

[01:48:37]

I needed Brable to go to the Patriots so Ben Johnson come to the bears. Now it's back to there's multiple seats open for those two.

[01:48:46]

I understand they were long-time teammates, but is there any personal evidence that says he's going to tie his future career into whatever Tom braided wants him to do?

[01:48:53]

I think Mike Brable is a pretty good coach, and I think he... Yeah, they don't have a quarterback, though. Actually, Raiders is not Ben Johnson, so Raiders could be Deion Sanders.

[01:49:05]

Why wouldn't Vrabel be Patriots? What's the laugh?

[01:49:09]

What's the conversation?

[01:49:09]

I think he will be. He's not a good enough coach for it.

[01:49:11]

I think he will be Patriots. I don't think Ben Johnson will be Raiders because they don't have a quarterback. But I need Vrabel to go to the Patriots so that Ben Johnson go to the bears. Fair.

[01:49:22]

All right.

[01:49:22]

That's where I'm nervous because if Vrabel goes to the Raiders, then Ben Johnson will go to the Patriots.

[01:49:27]

You believe in the Year of Our Lord 2025, the Patriots are a more appealing destination for Ben Johnson than the bears would be?

[01:49:33]

I'm a big connections guy.

[01:49:35]

I feel like both quarterbacks are- No, they're both good.

[01:49:37]

What I'm saying is the quarterback, obviously, is why somebody would be interested in New England. Second is Robert Kraft feels like he would typically be a good owner to work with.

[01:49:46]

But I bet for a coach, an offensive-minded coach, I know whatever he put on the field this year, I bet Caleb Williams is really fucking enticing. I bet you think you can unlock the best of them.

[01:49:56]

I do all my coach hirings and firings on connections. That's Mike Vrabel to the Raiders, Tom braided. Sure. Ben Johnson played quarterback at UNC. But- Drake May also did. It's as simple as that. That's what makes me nervous.

[01:50:10]

I also think that the guy who is the longtime offensive coordinator of a team He's been very committed to the lines. He stayed out of the coaching search last year. He took himself out because he wanted to return to the lines. He's super close. I think it's not impossible for him to do it, but I think it adds another reason why he maybe wouldn't want to go to the But guys, we can talk about the NFL when the season starts again next year.

[01:50:33]

Season's over.

[01:50:33]

Yeah, I know. We were going to have to include this in the podcast anyway, so why not just do it over to your podcast?

[01:50:37]

Are they doing a playoff this year for the NFL?

[01:50:39]

We actually do a transfer after the season's over. I know that sounds weird.

[01:50:43]

That is weird. Yeah, and the playoff, actually, it's not based on just a bunch of old dudes sitting in a room.

[01:50:47]

Why not?

[01:50:48]

Yeah, it's weird. All right, so Texas, so you think the pressure on Ohio State could surface?

[01:50:54]

I think it could resurface. We've seen Ryan Day not be able to deal with that before, right? If all of a sudden he's the heavy favorite again, and you have no excuse not to win, I feel like that could creep back on him, him and Chip Kelly.

[01:51:06]

How does Texas win this game? Personally, I'm done with Quin yours.

[01:51:12]

So Texas is probably the most interesting team. I believe they have Ohio State ceiling in there somewhere. Every now and then for two drives, maybe a quarter, that Texas offense looks like, oh, my God.

[01:51:25]

Sarkle getting his bag, a misdirection player.

[01:51:27]

Sarkle getting his bag. Quinn will be throwing darts because every now and then, Quinn Ewa just throws fucking darts, and then he'll throw a floater into triple coverage. You're like, Where did this guy come from? If they could, for four quarters, tap into their actual true potential, which is going to be tough against Ohio State, which I think is the best defense in the country. It's going to be tough against them. But if they could, they're as talented as Ohio State. You know what? They're not as talented, nobody is, but they're as talented as anybody not named Ohio State, and that would give them a puncher's chance.

[01:51:55]

Yeah. So do you think that the formula is going to be run the ball, get physical? For Texas? They have a very good offensive line.

[01:52:01]

No, I don't think so. That defensive line is really good. I think it has to be making plays 25 yards down the field. I think it has to be Marcus Golden. I think it has to be even maybe get Isiah Bon involved. It has to be Quin Ewer's hitting at least three or four game-breaking passes.

[01:52:17]

Or put on Michigan uniforms.

[01:52:19]

Or put on Michigan uniforms, and that causes Chip Kelly and Ryan Day to fucking freak out and want to win the game a certain way that they shouldn't be wanting to win the game like that.

[01:52:25]

They do have a golden and a blue.

[01:52:28]

Yes.

[01:52:28]

I know it's not made Maze in blue, but it's close.

[01:52:31]

Golden and blue would be Notre Dame, wouldn't it? No, but- Blue and gold would be Notre Dame.

[01:52:36]

They got two players.

[01:52:39]

Golden. Blue. And blue. Yeah. But that's not Michigan. His name isn't Maze.

[01:52:45]

That's true. That's what I said. Which is Mexican. I said, I know it's not Maze, but it's close.

[01:52:49]

Maize is Mexican corn, right?

[01:52:51]

It is corn, or Native American corn. Native American.

[01:52:53]

The Indians call it Maze. So your official pick is Ohio State. I want to take the over in this game. Is Texas Texas defense is good, though, too.

[01:53:01]

It is very good. It also gave up 510 yards and 31 points to Arizona State. That's the thing.

[01:53:06]

That wasn't a fluke. Arizona State didn't fluke that game. They just bullied him in the second half.

[01:53:10]

Arizona State had the ball in the red zone in the first half four times, didn't score any points. They moved the ball all day. Finally, Skatebu and Levit got it going, but they scored 31 points. It's overtime, so they scored 24 in regulation. But they had 510 yards. That's a lot of yards.

[01:53:27]

How do you shut down Jeremiah Smith? You don't. Not You don't.

[01:53:30]

You either just hope you shut down everybody else, or you hope Chip Kelly and Ryan Day don't force feed him like they've been force feeding him.

[01:53:38]

You hope that they probably should.

[01:53:40]

They didn't force feed him against Michigan. They didn't force feed him against Penn State the It was their first time, and they pussy-footed around it. They came out in the payoff and realized, Hey, we have the best receiver room in the country, because it's not just Jeremiah Smith. He's the one getting the headlines, but Pukha has been great. Like, Carnell Tate has been pretty good, too. Their third best receiver be the best receiver on any other team. And you just hope they go away from that.

[01:54:04]

Yeah, you got to get inside their brains somehow.

[01:54:06]

Against Penn State and against Michigan, Ohio State ran the ball on first down, ran the ball on second down, and tried to be tougher up front, tried to be in our physical teams, and they couldn't do it. As long as they don't try to do that again, I don't know how you stop them.

[01:54:19]

The thing that concerns me is, and I agree with you, I was planning on betting on Ohio State. I feel like they're not going to make the same mistakes that they made against Michigan. They just can't. That was like shock therapy where they woke up. Okay, we can't do that again. But it also seems like everybody else in America is saying Ohio State by two touchstones.

[01:54:36]

Well, Texas is a hell of a lot better than Michigan, too, right?

[01:54:38]

Yeah, they beat the fuck out of it. Yeah.

[01:54:39]

So Texas, I don't want them to get disrespected here. I just don't think they have the high They don't have the high-end potential of Ohio State because Quinn Ewers can never be that guy for a full game. They have not played a full game yet.

[01:54:52]

It's consistency. They've consistently... That SEC Championship game, they played Georgia very tough. They got killed by Georgia Georgia when they played at home in Austin. And then all the rest of their resume is... Not much. Like I said, even the Clemson game, they were killing Clemson. Clemson, again, it was never down.

[01:55:10]

They want about 14 points.

[01:55:10]

Right. But it was also like, wait, whoa, do we have to look at this game again?

[01:55:14]

Yeah, and I can imagine like an NFL Scout as they get ready for the draft, and I think he's going to go back to college and transfer somewhere else. But looking at Quin Ewers has to be one of the most frustrating things you can look at because you will see three throws. You're like, this guy is a top five pick. We got to trade up and get this guy. And then the next three throws, nobody get near this guy, undraft or free agent.

[01:55:32]

The game-winning throw against Arizona State was incredible. That was a great play by him. Like, standing in the face of pressure from 13.

[01:55:39]

Yeah, that was a great throw.

[01:55:40]

He's capable of doing great things.

[01:55:41]

But the interception he threw with six minutes left when they're nursing an eight-point lead was among the worst throws you've ever seen. He throws in a double coverage and he floats it. It's basically an arm punch.

[01:55:49]

I would trust him more if he brought the mullet back.

[01:55:52]

I'd agree.

[01:55:53]

I would agree with that, too. It at least indicates some swagger to him that he really doesn't have. Right.

[01:55:58]

It would actually transform this entire discussion from like, he really frustrates me with the interceptions to that's Quinn, he's a gunslinger. He's going to take his chances.

[01:56:07]

So Ohio State beats Penn State in the national championship?

[01:56:10]

I think Ohio State beats Penn State.

[01:56:12]

Man, that would be such a... Imagine James Franklin wins the national championship over Ohio State. It would basically solve every one of his life's problems.

[01:56:20]

Who's that a bigger kick in the dick for? Is it a bigger kick if James Franklin finally breaks through, gets to the national title game, and he has to play Ohio State, a team that he just can't beat, or Ryan Day fights or everything, gets to a national title game, and then loses to Penn State, who he's never lost.

[01:56:33]

Oh, you know what it be? Ohio State fights through, gets to the national championship, loses to Notre Dame, Lou Holtz laughs in his face.

[01:56:40]

Oh, I didn't even think of that.

[01:56:41]

When he wakes up the next day.

[01:56:43]

Yeah, they should actually do You know how ESPN always does the seven different simulcasts? Sure. A Lou Holtz cast. One should be the Lou Holtz cast, and it's just him asleep on his chair.

[01:56:52]

But to answer your question, I think it would probably be a bigger kick in the dick to Ryan Day only because James Franklin is to it.

[01:57:00]

Yeah.

[01:57:01]

He's been there, done that. Losing to Ohio State, no one be like, Oh, man, James Franklin lost to Ohio State. If Ryan Day loses to Penn State in the National Championship game after losing to Michigan at the end of the season, and you're already in your January 20th, you can't fire him, that would be very unsettling for Ohio State. Whereas Penn State would be like, Listen, we just got to the national title. We got to stay the course, keep taking shots. James Franklin, yeah, he can't beat Ohio State, but maybe someday we'll get there.

[01:57:29]

As As long as I like Penn State and think they're a very good team, their roster is not as good as Ohio State's. Them losing to Ohio State would not be that good. They don't have a Jeremiah Smith.

[01:57:38]

Nobody does. Right. But it feels like they're always missing that one guy on the outside that can be just everything. Yeah.

[01:57:45]

Any home field advantage at all for Texas?

[01:57:48]

I don't think so. I think Ohio State travels well enough, and it'll be 50, 50. At worst, what? It'll be 60, 40, something like that. I don't think there'll be a home field advantage.

[01:57:56]

Ohio State is very concerned about the temperature at game time. We saw that with Tennessee, too. I think it's going to be very cold, actually, in Dallas. Is it- It's indoors. It's indoors.

[01:58:03]

But it's going to be- They might pump the AC. They're having some- What if someone leaves the door open?

[01:58:05]

They're expecting some snow.

[01:58:07]

Yeah.

[01:58:08]

What if someone leaves the door open? What's the- In Jerry's world. The big door? Yeah.

[01:58:13]

There's a giant window with the sun. But you don't respect the sun.

[01:58:15]

Wouldn't Ohio State want to leave the door open so it could be in Northern Texas? Yeah, you think so.

[01:58:19]

That's actually my favorite sunset in sports is that 15-minute window when it's at Jerry World and it blinds all the receiver.

[01:58:24]

Yeah, I guess they still have that. I remember Texas Stadium when I was a kid, too. They had the hole directly in the roof and it was just awful.

[01:58:30]

It was the dumbest thing ever. One of the Leon Leck games, the fumble against the dolphins.

[01:58:36]

So that God could watch the Cowboys. That's what they said.

[01:58:38]

Yeah, it was snowing. Snowing in an indoor stadium. That's right. Crazy. Okay, I got a rowback question. Robackquestion. R-h-o-b-a-c-k. Com. Promo code take. 20% off your first purchase. Q-zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts, rowback. Com. Promo code take. Who's going to win the 2026 national title? That's a great question. Thank you. Great question.

[01:58:58]

Thank So Jeremiah Smith will be back.

[01:59:03]

Maybe he transfers.

[01:59:05]

To where?

[01:59:06]

Wisconsin? Whoever wants to pay him $10 million. He should just do it.

[01:59:12]

Yeah.

[01:59:12]

See if- He could probably make more money in college football in the next two years.

[01:59:16]

You think Portnoy would try to get his rich uncle to buy him, too?

[01:59:20]

I don't know if he's related to Larry Ellison.

[01:59:22]

He's probably going to call him that soon. Yeah.

[01:59:23]

How big of a Michigan fan is Larry Ellison's girlfriend?

[01:59:26]

Got to be the biggest in the world.

[01:59:26]

12 million.

[01:59:28]

When Texas with Arch Manning. How about Texas? Oh, okay. I think they're still going to be real damn good.

[01:59:35]

Is Calin DeBore going to be okay?

[01:59:36]

No. Oh. He will be a two-and-out guy. Whoa. Who's our quarterback next year?

[01:59:42]

It is very funny that Alabama They're not screwed in NIL, but they are not the same as Ohio State or Michigan or Texas. They don't have the same boosters. Oregon, even. Yeah.

[01:59:56]

Listen, Alabama, not to brag, but me and Fournaley didn't went on his couch before the year and said, Alabama is not going to be competing for national record because Millrow is not good enough.

[02:00:03]

I also said Travis Hunter will win the highs.

[02:00:05]

You did. But Millrow was still the best they had. What's coming down the pipe in Alabama? And running back, they've been normal forever. Receiver, they're normal.

[02:00:14]

Well, Ryan Williams.

[02:00:15]

They're just Ryan Williams, sure.

[02:00:16]

Good point, Big Cat.

[02:00:18]

Not normal whatsoever.

[02:00:19]

They are way closer to a normal SEC team than they've ever been, and nothing is happening to make me think that's going to change.

[02:00:25]

So nick Saban is going to have to come back and save him?

[02:00:27]

I don't know. I guarantee you, if they go nine and three again or nine and four with a bowl up, he's out.

[02:00:32]

I got two words for you.

[02:00:33]

They will not let that happen to you.

[02:00:33]

What's coming down the pipeline of a quarterback? Jaden Rishada.

[02:00:38]

Jaden Rishada.

[02:00:39]

Do you want in on him?

[02:00:40]

No. He doesn't want in on him. He won't stay anywhere long enough to be in on something.

[02:00:44]

He does have a pretty crazy resume.

[02:00:47]

He spent one year in school.

[02:00:49]

He spent three schools?

[02:00:50]

Yeah. Then I think he went to two or three different high schools?

[02:00:53]

Yeah. He's a friendly guy. Oregon has a guy who signed in in December and already transferred. These guys If you don't understand, just go somewhere and plant your sofa a year or two and see. Just see what happens and see how it unfolds. Don't just leave immediately.

[02:01:08]

My big fix for the transfer portal is because now schools coming up, schools are going to be able to pay directly to the players. What you should do is, freshmen should get whatever. Let's just say, round number is 50K. Sophomores get 100K. Juniors get 150, whatever it is. If you transfer, you go back to freshman.

[02:01:28]

That's not a terrible idea. I thought maybe if you sign out of high school, you have to stay somewhere two years. Now, that's not very American, and it's not very free, but I think it's better for the players. I do, too. If you transfer immediately, you're never going to... Because it's going to make it... It's like a concussion, right? Once you get one, it's easier to do it again. Is that true?

[02:01:47]

I think so. Jalen Hertz having two this year?

[02:01:48]

Did he have two?

[02:01:50]

He might have had one in the first Commander's.

[02:01:52]

We have so many of these transfer zombies that are now four and five and six, and seven schools.

[02:01:56]

Did you see his post-game interview in that game? It's ridiculous. He was wearing glasses.

[02:01:59]

Yeah, We're doing Jalen Hertz now?

[02:02:00]

No, he's just in the concussion program. We're worried about him.

[02:02:03]

I don't know what it's going to look like when the schools start paying directly, but you are going to be able to... You can have contracts. I don't think that's un-American. If you sign up for a contract and you probably have some collective bargaining with the players.

[02:02:14]

What people don't realize is this is college football. It's great that the schools are going to be paying them and everything, but the behind-the-scenes and the under-the-table money is still going to be flowing bigger than ever. Of course. So all these freshmen that, Oh, he's only getting 50K. Yeah, he's not getting 50K. He's getting 500K somewhere else. So it's all going to be nasty.

[02:02:29]

I My take on the whole transfer portal and NIL stuff is the pendulum has swung. For the longest time, guys couldn't even fucking get a job. Now, we've swung all the way the other way, and we're going to find somewhere in the middle.

[02:02:46]

I just feel like some players... I like player freedom. I like guys going to find an opportunity, and some of these schools lie to players. But sometimes when you go to a place and you leave immediately, you never give yourself a chance to grow into anything. If If you're always looking for the quick fix, the school is, too, and you're never going to find anything. You're just going to be that guy for the entire five years during college, it's never going to work.

[02:03:07]

If you don't have an NFL career, having a college career at one school that means something is very valuable.

[02:03:13]

You look at a guy like Jalen Hertz He stuck around, right? He stuck through. It showed that he's a good teammate. Then he got out of there.

[02:03:19]

Then he got concussed twice.

[02:03:21]

He went to the school that valued loyalty the most.

[02:03:24]

He's probably a great backup quarterback. That's what you can say about that man.

[02:03:29]

So you guys have just transitioned fully into messing with Max right now? Yeah. Okay.

[02:03:32]

Would you say it's... If your quarterback is in concussion protocol the week of a playoff game?

[02:03:38]

That's not great.

[02:03:39]

Big Cat is trying to play this game that he's huge.

[02:03:42]

I just won Max. I am.

[02:03:44]

I need the Eagles.

[02:03:45]

I need him out of concussion protocol.

[02:03:46]

I need him to beat the packers.

[02:03:47]

I need him out of concussion protocol.

[02:03:49]

But he also really wants to troll me about Jalen Hertz. Well, Max- It's Packer Dan.

[02:03:51]

You would admit, Max, the Monday of a playoff game, hearing the word concussion protocol is troubling.

[02:03:57]

Thank you.

[02:03:58]

It is a technicality.

[02:04:01]

It's a bad technicality.

[02:04:02]

It was impossible for him to get out of concussion protocol yesterday.

[02:04:06]

But is that not a troubling technicality?

[02:04:07]

Because he's concussed? No.

[02:04:10]

He would have had to have gotten out of concussion protocol last week if he was going to... Because he wasn't out of concussion protocol last week, he had to still be in concussion protocol Monday.

[02:04:21]

I think... I'm trying to get my case right. I'll just say this. I think the fact that Max is talking so much about the concussion protocol- You're talking about the concussion protocol.

[02:04:30]

Is troubling. I'm not triggered.

[02:04:32]

I know what you're trying to do.

[02:04:35]

Why packer Dan when Barstool Big Pack was right there. Yeah. Because Yankee Dan, Parker Dan. Let's get him out of concussion protocol.

[02:04:43]

That is his second. If you look at the video after the Washington game, the first one, he may have been concussed. I was just here.

[02:04:53]

Oh, yeah. So PFT is a constant state of concussion.

[02:04:56]

No, we just hit guys hard.

[02:04:58]

We played physical football. You said that because you were still wearing sunglasses in the concussion.

[02:05:04]

Well, yeah, you wear sunglasses inside. Something fucked up with your brain.

[02:05:07]

Did have a concussion in the salt shed. Yeah, I had multiple concussions. I also may have gotten bit by a rabid bat.

[02:05:16]

Still came out, did the show the next time.

[02:05:19]

Brandon, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. College football expert. Do you have any questions for us? No. As my first official appearance as the official college football expert on this show, Officially, I had a good time, officially. Okay. Officially, good job.

[02:05:36]

We never did actually say, but the contest that I won, I had three schools left in the college football playoff.

[02:05:43]

Fournily has one. It's Penn State. Okay.

[02:05:46]

If Penn State wins at all, I think Fournily should probably win. That's what I said. But no, even if they win at all, he is still short of my point total because I've been so dominant so far. But if you don't get the champion, it's un-American.

[02:06:03]

That's not what we said. We'll have to review the tape.

[02:06:07]

You can review the tape. He also had two buy schools.

[02:06:11]

That's him. If you choose buy, that's your lifestyle choice.

[02:06:14]

That counts as points. Those are wins, too. But yeah, listen.

[02:06:18]

We'll review. Usa rugby does the same thing. If you finish in second place long enough, you get first place. It's like Kobe Bryant's career. It's like he was never the best player ever in the NBA, but he was always number two, three. Guys, I have officially already made an appearance as the expert. I don't know what we can't undo it now. We're going to bleep that out. Let's clip what out. We're going to bleep out me saying expert at any time. We can bleep out the Kobe stuff, too. I don't have time for the Kobe stands. Bleep out concussion as well, and then the whole entire podcast will just be a bleep.

[02:07:00]

All right, thanks, Brandon. You fat bleep.

[02:07:03]

Brandon Walker was brought to you by Netflix and their gripping new limited series coming called American Primeval. Start Starring Taylor Kitch and Betty Gilpen.

[02:07:11]

American Primeval is about one of the most beautiful, brutal, and isolated parts of America in 1857, as men and women violently clash over land, culture, religion, and community.

[02:07:21]

American Primeval is a very violent story of rebellion, pain, hatred, fear, and ultimate survival as one woman fights to save her son as they try to get through the land.

[02:07:33]

American Primeval is brought to you by Pete Berg, Mark L Smith, and Eric Newman.

[02:07:38]

American Primeval, only on Netflix, January All right, let's finish up with Guys on Chicks.

[02:07:43]

Henry, Hank. How many of these questions are, Hey, as a female, AWL, I was greatly disappointed to hear that Max would not attend my Bachelorette party. A lot. A lot. That's sad.

[02:07:55]

I was just abiding by the rules.

[02:07:57]

I was obliging to the rules. Did anyone tell you that you were saying that word incorrectly? Oh, yeah.

[02:08:04]

Yeah.

[02:08:04]

Isn't that disgusting, Hank, that we have a producer that can't pronounce words? Yeah. It's sickening. Did you guys hear the other day If I lost that bet, I would be at so many bachelor parties. That's the thing about me. Yeah, you were. That's the thing about Hank. That's the thing about me. He loves women. Did you guys-He didn't respect them. Yeah.

[02:08:27]

Unlike Max. I have a girlfriend.

[02:08:29]

Where's that?

[02:08:30]

So you can't respect women if you have-She could I'm not your two. If you're in a relationship, you can't respect women.

[02:08:38]

What are you, Mike Pence?

[02:08:40]

Can't be in the same room with them?

[02:08:43]

Some of your most respected women are your girlfriend.

[02:08:46]

Max is afraid to get in a room with some of that peanut butter skin.

[02:08:51]

You just know what you do, so you got to stay away from it.

[02:08:56]

Oh, my God. Those canons. You know what you're capable of, Max? I meant to bring this up. I don't know. I was like, maybe... I think it was over Christmas, maybe. I think it was Charles Davis. Because I was talking about Ablaj and how you said that wrong. He said it was a Niklaus situation.

[02:09:16]

He said, Knut Rockne.

[02:09:18]

Oh, yeah? And he was like, that's actually...

[02:09:21]

If you look it up, that's actually how it was pronounced. That's how you would have read the word.

[02:09:27]

So- Knut Rockne.

[02:09:29]

Am I wrong, but is this the 100-year anniversary of the Knut Rockne? I don't know. Was it the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame? Yeah. What do you guys talk? What is that? Knut Rockne is a famous football player. I'm pretty sure that was 1925.

[02:09:45]

Way back when.

[02:09:46]

If so- Or Coach, sorry. If so, that would be like... I mean, Team of Destiny, Notre Dame, right? Yeah. The Echo is literally getting woken up. He coached from 1918 to 1930. So Knut Rockne. Shout out the legend. Yeah, the Four Horsemen, 1924 included the Four Horsemen, backfield, the Harry Stoll-Dreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Leaden. Don't see a lot of Elmers in the backfield anymore. Elmer Leaden was a problem. Elmer Leaden. All right, Hank, guys on chips. Speaking of pronunciation, this actually plays into it. We also got a note about this.

[02:10:21]

Keto. Keto?

[02:10:22]

Keto? Keto. Keto? That's the correct pronunciation. Fun fact.

[02:10:25]

My boyfriend decided he was going on a keto diet to start the new year.

[02:10:30]

I always thought it was keto, too. Ketosis. Yeah. Is it ketosis? I guess. I don't know. Is it keto? Keto Calin? My boyfriend decided he was going on a keto diet to start the new year.

[02:10:43]

I thought he was kidding, but when I came home from work the other day, he filled almost the entire fridge and freezer with meat, like a fridge almost entirely of fish, beef, and chicken.

[02:10:56]

He's not crazy chunky, I never said he had to lose weight. I actually like the little plump. I actually like the little plump.

[02:11:04]

Oh, that's mean. But he's fully doing this, and it's annoying. Probably his piss smells bad, too, right? My bad girlfriend, if I tell him to stop because I don't want our entire fridge and freezer filled with meat, do I let him go for this?

[02:11:21]

I'm thinking this resolution will end soon anyways.

[02:11:24]

That's the answer.

[02:11:25]

You got to just ride it out.

[02:11:27]

He's going to want carbs by Friday. Yeah, every diet goes the same way. Especially the January first one.

[02:11:34]

Yeah. In the keto, you're like, damn, this is awesome.

[02:11:38]

I could eat steak, I can eat bacon. All I have to do is eat meat.

[02:11:43]

Then you do it for two weeks and you say, shit, you know what I would die for right now is a piece of pizza? Yeah, guys see an influencer who's in tremendous shape. He's like, all I have to do is eat as much meat as I want all the time. It's very easy for a guy to say, Yeah, that sounds like the easiest diet ever.

[02:12:08]

But at the end of the day, he's going to want a bag of chips. I went through this with the Dunk when I was looking up the easiest or no, the fastest ways to lose weight without losing muscle or strength.

[02:12:22]

It's keto.

[02:12:23]

But then I looked into actually how you do it, and I was like, That's not possible.

[02:12:29]

Yeah, no, it's one of those trick diets where if you say, Hey-It's a Google, How do I do this?

[02:12:36]

Yeah, and you say, Hey, do you like steak?

[02:12:39]

Yes. Oh, do you like chicken? Yes. Well, I have a diet for You.

[02:12:44]

But then you eat it and you're just like, This sucks.

[02:12:48]

Yeah.

[02:12:48]

Also, you know what else I really like is all the sides that come with steak. Yeah. Give me the cream of corn. Give me the twice baked potato. Yeah. Give me the mashed. Give me the sweet potato No fries. Give me all that shit.

[02:13:05]

Give me the lobster mac.

[02:13:07]

It turns out that everything has carbs in it. And sugar.

[02:13:11]

And sugar, which is the carb. But I'm not eating candy. But you're right. Grapes, when I found out Grapes were carbs, it blew my mind. It did. Hey, guys.

[02:13:22]

My husband is a huge Baltimore sports fan. We are expecting our first child, and he is adamant on naming the boy Jackson. Well, I do love the name Jackson. He wants to name the middle name either Lamar or holiday? Is enough enough or do I bend the knee?

[02:13:39]

Has his sports fandom gone too far to run for the hills?

[02:13:43]

You got to go holiday. I mean, that's because you cover both. Or does that then take away the Lamar? What's the question? I don't think it covers. I think it's just Jackson holiday. Yeah, he's just naming him his name? And Jackson holiday is also... He's a great prospect, but... Yeah, you might want to be... Lamar Jackson would be a safer bet.

[02:14:06]

What if Jackson... It happens a lot, that good prospect Jackson. Yeah. What about Jackson Gunner? That would be good. I like Gunner. I think Gunner Jackson flows a lot of that. Gunner Jackson is great. All right, yeah. Gunner Jackson is cool. If you want to go with a tried and true Baltimore guy, you could go Calvin Jackson.

[02:14:27]

Then he sounds like a future president.

[02:14:30]

It's true. Jackson is actually not a bad first name because you can do things with it.

[02:14:36]

You give them chances. If you're naming your son something after a sports player or something weird, give them a chance. Give them a chance to change it if they want.

[02:14:47]

So if they become Jack, that's not a weird thing.

[02:14:50]

Also, don't do the X. I don't think he would, but the J-A-X-O-N is crazy. Also, Jackson, to me, sounds like more of a Southern name, doesn't it? If you're from Georgia, you're named Jackson. That's different if you're from Baltimore. A Nashville suburb. Yeah. How about this? How about Jackson Stavros? That's good. Jackson Stavros, the Wire. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think Jackson is a good Maybe don't do Jackson holiday because then that's just... Then you're naming after Jackson holiday, not Lamar Jackson.

[02:15:21]

Also, like Max said, prospects don't always pan out.

[02:15:24]

Also the one Jackson that we know sucks. What's the Jackson? Mccarthy.

[02:15:28]

Mccarthy is Jackson. He's Jackson?

[02:15:30]

I should know that because I'm his dad. Also, there's something weird about naming your son after a 21-year-old.

[02:15:37]

That's not related to you, right? With Lamar, at least he's got some age, and he's become a part of Baltimore.

[02:15:44]

At this point, it's like you're naming your son after a 21-year-old who's good at sports.

[02:15:50]

Yeah, I think you were right with the cow thing. You want to name after a guy who's career is over because you can't change it. Now, you could change it in, I don't know, hypothetically, a double murder situation.

[02:16:04]

So maybe don't even name Mojay. But you can't change what they did after they were retired. So maybe go Cal or Lamar Jackson is safe just because at bare minimum, he's got two MVPs, and he was electric. If he never wins a Super Bowl, you still would be like, he had an insane career. But with that, if you were from Miami, you named your kid Moreno. Yeah, maybe go Joe. Flacko.

[02:16:30]

Flacko, Jackson, the Wire. Flacko Jackson. Gunner.

[02:16:33]

Flacko Jackson, the Wire, Gunner. Last name. All right, we'll end with a part in your take. Hey, boys. New take. Why hasn't anyone tried to block a field goal at the crossbar?

[02:16:45]

Obviously, Obviously, it would have to be a long field goal, so the kick has a chance of landing short, but I feel like there's enough there to at least give it a try. The Lions could have tried against the Ravens back when Tucker kicked the 66-yarder.

[02:17:02]

The crossbar is 10 feet above the ground, and anyone who can dunk could give it a shot. What do you guys think? Much love, go Hawks. I agree with this.

[02:17:13]

I don't know if it's legal. Can you goal tend?

[02:17:16]

I'm looking at field goal. Field goal rules right now. Okay. I'm not sure, but we're going to find out. What would make it illegal?

[02:17:25]

I don't know if there's goal tending.

[02:17:28]

What's the difference between five inches and 50 yards?

[02:17:31]

Because if not, why not you sign Wimby for a playoff contract and just put them back there on field goals? I'm guessing you can't put your hand on the crossbar, but if you're just straight up jumping up. All right, so here we go. The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar.

[02:17:54]

If the ball passes through the goal and returns through the goal without striking the ground or some object or person beyond the goal, the attempt is successful.

[02:18:03]

I'm reading right here that Morris Stroud of the Chiefs used to do that, and then they changed the rule, Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, is formerly known as the Stroud Rule, goal-tending by any player leaping up to deflect a kick as it passes above the crossbar of a goal post is prohibited, the referee could award three points for a palpably unfair act.

[02:18:27]

That's bullshit. That is bullshit. I think you should get...

[02:18:30]

What would be interesting is if they changed the rule where you can goal-tend, you have to catch it, though.

[02:18:38]

Or it's a live ball. That'd be hard. I know, but it would be at the end of a game like, Hey, this guy's got to... Because then how electric would be if the guy tipped it to himself and dropped it, and then it became goal tending. If you if you reject it above the crossbar and catch it and return it for a shutdown that's worth 10 points. I like that. That's automatic Super Bowl. Yeah. I like that a lot. This is a weird penalty for them to implement because the chance of this happening got to be Very, very rare, right? Yeah, I'd agree. I guess someone was doing it, but it sounds like they made it illegal. That sucks. That'd be fun. I also wish that the Arizona State field goal counted. People were trying to say that it did. The one that bounced in? Yeah. That'd be cool as well. Okay. Numbers. What were like a week into 2025, and Meams still has never gotten it. I'm going to go with 5. 11. Three. Do you want three? No, I'm thinking. 33. Let me find that number in here. Meams, what are you most worried about?

[02:19:50]

Pft getting it for a second time or Jack getting it, and then you being literally the only one to ever do it. Pft has never gotten it by himself. That's actually not true. Yeah, he actually has gotten it. I got it. By himself? On this machine, I've gotten it. On the old machine, I get it several times. You've never gotten on any machine, ever. That's crazy. I also think memes like something- People underestimate the fact that you never got it in the old office either. Yeah, never got it. I also think something's up with memes. I think he got a concussed over the break or something because he seems a little bit happier. I don't know what it is. It's the jumpsuit. He's really excited about the jumpsuit. He was smiling to me today. I was like, This is weird. Memes got hacked. He's never done this before. Yeah, and the jet season is over. Yeah, and we're wearing the Super Bowl next year. Nice. Okay, three. 8. 21. 99, Pug.Forty-eight. Forty-eight is Jack. What was yours, PFT? Five. Max, what was yours? Eleven. What's yours, Hank? 33. 57. 57. Love you guys. Let's see.