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Embrace a giant spirit.

God bless football, Billy Gill.

God bless football, Mike Ye.

God bless football, Mike God bless football and Notre Dames women, La Crosse, Ste.

Wow.

Really? You're going there that early in the proceedings, huh?

Listen, you always have to be excited when you take down number one, right? If you're not going to be number one, beat number one. And I'm only going to focus on you, not your lovely daughter, who plays La Crosse at Northwestern. Thank you. He's been defending national champions. But this happened, oh, what, about Two weeks ago, Northwestern went to Notre Dame as a number one team in the country, and Notre Dame smoked them. 14 to 10, and it wasn't even that close. No. I don't know if it was or not. I'm just saying that. But Notre Dame gets the win, baby.

Yes. In fairness to you, Notre Dame played very well. They outplayed Northwestern. They played like they wanted the game more, Mike. But I would only say this, since that game happened, you have lost to Syracuse. You play North Carolina this weekend. And I will tell you what I say to professional athletes, do it in the postseason, okay, Mike? How about this? Make it to the postseason, Mike.

Wow. Listen, I am a, what have you done for me lately? And lately, Notre Dame beat Northwestern in the last game they played together, Notre Dame 1, because I was at the game before with you and your lovely wife, Abby, and me and my wife. We were watching your daughter's freshman year. Notre Dame came, our Northwestern came in and beat to Notre Dame and gave you guys your kudos for that. You went on to win a national championship. And the next time you come to Notre Dame, what happened?

Wow. Billy, what are you doing over there? I'm just an impartial observer.

Mike, did you open your doors to the Stugas family? Did they happen to stay at your house or no?

We don't allow losers to stay at our house.

The only fair. No, listen, I deserve it. But then what are you doing staying there? I mean, Notre Dame hasn't won anything in football in years.

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Notre Dame is a fencing school, okay? We have 13 national championships in fencing.

So fencing school. My parents are a big fencer, are you? Absolutely. You don't let losers stay at the house. You would let Rachel stay at the house before you let me stay at the house, wouldn't you?

Open invitation to either one of your daughters or your wife, but you know.

Oh, God. Mike, it's your favorite time of the year, The scouting combine.

So I want to be careful with this because I am not a fan, contextually, of the combine and what it represents, which is from the end of trying to be NFL players, the end of their college career, from basically November to February, all they do is train for non-football things. I mean, they're training in a sprinting stance for a 40 that they'll never be in that stance again in their life. They're doing verticals, they're running around cones, and we're judging people off of this. I don't fully understand it. But on the other side of that, listen, as a player, I went to the combine, and I understand as a player, this is your interview. So what I do want to see is players doing their all-out best in whatever they're choosing to do to show that, Hey, the parts of the interview I'm going to do for you, I prepared for and I'm ready to go. So this has nothing to do with the players and more to do with... And I know everybody doesn't take all the different drills, literally, and say, oh, because this dude ran around three cones really fast, I'm going to up his draft stock.

This should be used, I've always said, to we know who the top guys are. To me, nothing's going to really hurt them. This is going to be for guys you're not sure about. You see them Excel in something, and it makes you go back and watch more tape on them, because ultimately, that's the deciding factor. The thing I do like about the combine is the interviews, when you actually get to sit and talk to a player and get to not ask stupid questions, but just talk to a player and get a feel for them, especially for the quarterbacks, when you can put them up at the board, when you can talk about when they make visits to your team, and you can give them part of the playbook, how do they digest it? I think all that stuff is important. But I'm sorry. Who was just with the other day? A former coach talking about the combine saying, Man, we could care less what an offensive lineman ran a 40 in. Having an O-lineman run 40s is the dumbest thing in the world for me because you're just begging for a ham string pull. Why?

To watch a guy who never has to sprint 40 yards, run 40 yards. If you want to get him in a 10, that's great. But a 40, it's a joke. So sorry, that's just my spiel I do on the combine every year.

Isn't that why the Jets drafted Mekai Becton? Because he ran a really fast 40 time.

Yes. Massest ever for a lineman. He's going to be on the Jets next week.

Just blows my mind.

Again, blows my mind. I don't get it. As I said, if you use it for markers, and I remember Bill Polian, the great Bill Polian, one of the great GMs we've seen in this league, talk about how he uses it as markers of marking points. But the problem with that is there are people that are shorter than your point that can play well. There are people that have smaller hand sizes than your mark that play well. I mean, you don't know. If you want to use that as a measuring stick, okay. But to downgrade somebody for that, when if you watch tape and they look great on tape and you say, Yeah, but he's about an inch and a half short, I'm like, Are Are you shitting me? He looks good on tape. That's the bottom line, man. Go play and go play.

Mike, how many times did you run 40 yards on a football field in your life?

I ran it in high school one time when they timed us. Once, right? Listen, high school stats are a joke, right? Again, I never played defensive line in my life. I was a 6'5, 245-pound linebacker my senior year, and I was a five-star, first-team parade All-American and rated the best defensive lineman in the country, and I never played defensive line. So it shows you how ridiculous it is. When we were running the '40s in high school, as the coaches were going down to the 40-yard mark, I moved up five yards. So I ran a 4'7. I ran a 4'7, 35-yard that they thought was a 45 yards. All of a sudden, it was like, Oh, this guy can move. He's 240-something. He runs a 4'7. I mean, It's ridiculous. Guys, I didn't even run it at the combine because I had shoulder surgery after my senior year. I just went there to talk to teams and have the doctors look at me. I didn't do any of the things because I had shoulder surgery. So I ran it I never ran it when I got drafted by Houston. The only time I ran a 40 was when I was a free agent and I signed with the Dolphins.

They timed you in 40s before camp started, which I thought was somewhat ridiculous. So never, never. I mean, it's crazy.

But on a football field, in an actual game, playing for the Eagles, Notre Dame, you would never run 40 yards, right?

Ever. Occasionally, I would run 40 on a pursuit drill, which was rarity. Pursuit is more about the right angle. Speed is great. You got it, you got it. But there's so much more... Rarely do you run a straight line 40 outside of wide receiver's running go routes and DBs turning and running after they swing their hips to run. Other than that, it just isn't happening.

Billy, I got to tell you, that's pretty impressive to be rated the top defensive lineman in his class and never play the position. That is talent right there, Billy.

Or massive hole in the hole system.

Yes, I leaned toward a massive hole in the hole in the system. I mean, it's just crazy. My son Jake, when Mike played in the army All-American game his senior year. Jake went and did like an Army All-American combine for juniors. And Jake was rated one of the top tight ends in the country based off of that, right? So then Jake went to a camp as a sophomore and did really, really one of these camps. The software did really, really well. So Jake was very highly rated. And then going into senior year, he committed to Notre Dame. So there were still these Nike camps and other camps, Adidas camps out there. And Jake was like, Well, I'm not not going to them. I'm already signed. I'm going to Notre Dame. So what's the need? Which I completely agreed with. And all of a sudden, by not doing something, his rating dropped by not going to these camps. So the people that rate from these camps dropped his rating for doing nothing. It's ridiculous. It's just crazy. You got to play their game. It's unreal.

Yeah, but Mike, the truth is, if you're talented talented, they'll find you. They don't care about the camps. If you're talented, they will find you, and they will draft you.

1,000 %, they will find you. That is the truest statement you've made in a long time.

Well, thank you. Mike, who's the best player in this draft? Forget about quarterback, just who is the best player in the NFL draft this year?

Brock Bowers, the tight end from Georgia. This kid is unreal. And he's at a position, unfortunately, listen, this is a heavy cornerback, heavy offensive tackle, heavy quarterback. Those are three money positions in the NFL, right? So you're going to see those and some top-end edge rushers like Verce from Florida State, Turner from Alabama. So tight end is a little, obviously, pretty specific, even though that position has become pretty vertical, whether you're attached, slot, or up like a wide receiver. This kid from game one, his true freshman year, he started against their first game, I think it was against Clemson, and was a major part of the game plan right out of the gate. He is a stud, and we have seen Dalton from Buffalo and even more, Sam Laporta from Detroit. What rookie tight ends the effect they can have. Michael Meyer from Notre Dame later in the season when they started using the tight end more in Vegas. What tight ends the effect they can have in this league. Bowers is going to... Whoever gets him, and it won't be as high as he should go, where his talent is compared in this draft to everybody else, he'll go lower on that because of the position that he plays in the need.

But I think this is a guy who, right out of the gate, is going to be unbelievable.

Mike, are you surprised? Caleb Williams appears to be the guy who's going to go number one overall. People think he's the best quarterback in the draft. Are you surprised that Jaden Daniels has risen this high on most draft boards?

No, we've seen this before. We've seen a guy have a monster year and rise up because of it. One of the differences is, and what I like about the guys we're talking about, who has failed as of late from the quarterback position? It had been guys that hadn't had a lot of starts in the NFL, right? Yeah. They get 13, 10, 13, 15 starts, and all of a sudden, they're a high first-round draft pick. Now, you look at the guys that have had a little bit of-Like Zack Wilson? Yeah. Zack Wilson, Mitch Trubisky. You start to look at Trey Lance for... Had some time, obviously, where he played, but not in the Power Five either. So you look at some of the guys now. They have A lot of experience. Bo Nix has played forever. Jaden Daniels, remember, he started early on in his career in Arizona State. Caleb Williams as well. So you have guys that have played. Michael Penix has played a lot, a lot of that due to injury as well. So you have a lot more guys, and I wonder where that trend will be of backing off the guys who have a limited amount of starts, even though they may look really good, as opposed to guys who have played a lot in college and are a little more seasoned.

So Jaden Daniels, listen, who just won the MVP? And what's the reason he won the MVP? Lamar Jackson won the MVP because he can throw the ball pretty damn well, and he runs as good as a running back. Jaden Daniels is the same way. So this is where we are in the NFL. If you can pull that off, if this kid can continue to throw well, we know he can run. You always worry about getting hurt. But the times Lamar has gotten hurt, it's been in the pocket not running. So that's why Jaden Daniels has made the move he's made. The guy, though, to me still is Michael Penix. I just am infatuated with him and the way he throws the ball. Now, struggled when there was pressure around him. We've seen that, but I've seen him do enough good things. Certainly, his medical history is not great. He's not going to be a guy that's going to hurt you running the ball. He's going to be a guy that's going to be in the pocket or slide in the pocket to make a play downfield. So the athletic quarterback that can run and really hurt you.

He's had the shoulder, the two knees. It's been tough on him, but I still love the way he throws the ball.

Mike, are you interested in a game of rumor mill? Are you interested in playing a game that Sure. Yes, absolutely. Okay, good. All right, we're going to get to that in a second. Billy has some stuff on the NFLPA because they voted on best owners, best teams, best facilities. I'm excited about this. But before we get to both of those quickly, because we just talked about the quarterback and Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels. What are the bears going to do here? They have to trade Justin Fields at this point, right, Mike?

Yeah, they're going to trade Justin Fields, and they're going to draft Caleb Williams. I think what we also call this season is a lying season. And a lot of things you hear, just a lot of smoke being blown to try and accomplish what you want to accomplish. I think at the end of the day, listen, I like Justin Fields. I'd like to see what he can do, but I don't think the bears at this point can afford to do that twofold. Number one, if it doesn't work, already we're hearing about next year's class not being as good as this year's quarterback class because the bears have to be thinking forward, what are we going to do with the quarterback position? When we see a young quarterback come in and show, sometimes look great, sometimes not so great, we're not sure. And then we see a guy come in like a Caleb Williams, who has this high rating and this high ceiling. Teams are going to bet on the untapped potential as opposed to we saw some of the highs and lows of a guy we already have. So, yeah, I think they're going to trade him.

I really look forward to seeing where Justin Fields ends up and what he's going to do, because I do like him, but I do not believe it's going to be any question at all. Chicago will take Kyla Williams.

They might regret that, Mike. I'm with you. Justin Fields is really good. I think he's really good.

He is. You know what? This is the thing, guys, is GMs are more afraid of what happens if we didn't take the right guy as opposed to if the guy that we did have worked out. Ryan Bowles, and I'm not just saying Ryan, GMs are scared to death of if you didn't make the move, and that part, it turns out to be great. My God, you live with that for the rest of your career, right? You stuck with Justin Fields. He had another social year. Caleb Williams is the offensive rookie of the year. You go, damn, we blew that one.

With the Jets, it's a way of life, though. Yeah, exactly. We always take the wrong guy. All right, Billy, what do you want to get to first year? You want to go rumor mill? You want to go NFLPA voting? What do you want to do?

Well, okay, Mike, so we have a number of things we can get to. We have the rumor mill, which is Mike Yee's segment. We have the NFLPA voting on different aspects for different teams. And Mike, this is very exciting. I have for you, Spotrack's contract breakdown predictions for seven QB extension candidates. Dates. Oh, wow. This is what they're saying these seven QBs extensions should be, and then we can judge what they are. If you want, I can give you the names of those quarterbacks first, then you can decide if you want to play this game or not.

That would be, obviously, Dak Presk That's one of those. What does it say that he's in line for?

So Dack, they're-I guess we're going to play this game. He wants to play the game, Billy.

Yes.

I want to play the game.

Three years, $180 million. Wow.

So his contract's up after next season. They're projecting him at three years, $180 million.

But they have to because his number is too high to not redo a deal and spread it out over years to keep the cat number lower than what it is.

Right. Dack. Wow.

$60 million a year for Dack in this game.

What's the next biggest quarterback that's going to get one?

There's some names on this list, Mike. We have Kirk Cousins on there who some people think might be a Hall of Famer.

That's not an extension, though, right? Isn't his contract up? I mean, that's just a new contract, is it not?

Sure. Let's go with that.

Yes, it's a new contract. Regardless, if it's reupping or a new contract, they're just projecting what Kirk Cousins is going to cost the team here. And I love lying season, Mike. This is one of the staples of lying season. Go out on a tennis court and show everyone you can move around. Why don't we play the game this way, Mike?

I'll give you I'll give you the quarterback, and I'll tell you the years that they're projecting, and you tell me how much it would be for. Love it. Kirk Cousins, they're saying 36. They're saying three years. So what would you give Kirk Cousins for three years?

Three years on a probably average 40 mil a year. So I'll say 120.

I'll say 140.

Mikey?

Yeah, I'll split the difference. 130.

They actually have it at 100, bargain for Kirk Cousins. Yeah.

Wow. Mikey, you go last there. You got to play like the price is Right. You got to go dollar below or a dollar above me.

I didn't know if it was right there. Right in the middle. You'd be a horrible Price is Right player.

All right. All right. Next quarterback.

Here's an interesting one. Baker Mayfield, three-year projection.

Wow. Three-year projection, 60 mil.

Wow. Mikey?

Seventy-five.

Wow.

I'm going to go three years, 75 million and one dollar.

You know what? I messed it up. It was four years. Four years.

Oh, wow. That changes everything. It changes everything. Hold on. Four years, 85 million. Four, 85. All right, go ahead.

Four years. 85 million.

485. All right, Mikey. A?

Ninety.

I'm going to go... Oh, wow. I'm going to go four years, 90 million and $1.

Stugatz wins. They're projecting four years, 120 for Baker.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Price is right.

Hey, I hope I love Baker. Good for him. I hope he gets every dime of that.

Here's one of Stugatz's favorites, Jared Goff, four-year projection.

Oh, wow. Wait, he's early? 29. Oh, he's only 29. Okay. Wow. Four-year...

I want to go last on this one because I have- I'm going to go 153.

Okay, very specific. Really?

Four years, 153. I'm going to go... So Dack was very specific. 153. I'm going to go four years. Dack was at 60, you said, right? Four years, $200 million.

Okay. Mikey?

It might have been part of Rumor Mill. So I'm going to go four years, 180 million.

Mike, he nailed it.

And he gets the bonus, a thousand dollars.

Oh, he gets both showcases.

Exactly.

45 million a year for Jared Goff.

Wow. But you cheated. You had the information.

You know what? I completely forgot as we're doing this, how much the salary cap went up. So all right, I'll do that on this one.

Okay. Now we have three guys left. We have Tua, Trevor, and Jordan Love. Who do you guys want to go to.

Jordan Love. Let's say Jordan Love. He's going to be the next thing.

Jordan Love, four-year projection.

Four-year projection, I'm going to say $155 million.

Okay. You got?

I'll say four years. God, he had such a good year, such a good second half. I'm going to say four years, $180 million.

Okay. Mikey?

Four years, 150. What did you say, 150?

I said 155.

155 and $1, jerk.

Oh, wow. Okay. Jordan Lowe, four years, $200 million.

Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? That's Aaron Rodgers money. Oh, my God. It's crazy.

Let's do Tua next. Tua, four years.

Wow. Led the NFL in passing yardage.

Four years, 250.

This is crazy. Mike, could you If I told you back when you were playing, these were going to be the numbers. Oh, my God. Randall missed out. 205.

205. Mike, what did you say?

I said 250. Mike, yeah, you're saying 5 million more than Jordan love.Wow.Yeah..

He led the NFL in passing Yarn.

I know. That's why I'm saying 250.

I'm going to go 251.

Four years, 220. So a bargain. Wow, that is a steal.

It really is.

Now, pay close attention to this last one. Trevor Lawrence, 6 years.

Wow. 6 years.

6 years, $260 million.

Wow. Trevor Lawrence. All right, you want me to go, Mike? 6 years, $280. I'm going to go 6 years, $300. This is insane.

Oh, I went too low. I definitely went too low.

$6,300.

Okay. What did you say, Mike?

I said $260, and Mikey, I said $280.

So you got to nail that 6 years, 300 million dollars.

That's a projection from Trevor Lawrence. Wow. Never want to play off I don't think. Good for them, man.

Good for them. This is just awesome.

At least Jordan Love won a playoff game.

Yeah. How about it?

Wow. This is insane. All right, let's get to You want to do the rumor mill? Yeah, the rumor mill is great. I love the rumor mill. All right. We have one minute for the rumor mill, I'm told.

Let's run through it.

All right, according to the rumor mill, Kerr Cousins might not return to Minnesota, but there is a team that might take him, the Las Vegas Raiders.Wow.Wordered.

To the rumors.

That would not-Wordered to the rumors, Mike.

It's lying season. Keep in mind.

Would not shock me because I don't think the Raiders are going to go into the season with Aiden O'Neill as a quarterback, so I can't dispel that.

But you think the Vikings are going to go into the season without Kirk Cousins as their quarterback?

I think they'd like to go in. But I got to pay Justin Jefferson as well.

All right. Okay. Wow. He plays the game well, Billy.

But according to the rumor, Bill, the Vikings already have their replacement lined up, and it's Sam Darnold, according to the rumor.

Oh, God.

What? Wait, so the Vikings are going to get rid of Kirk Cousins, who, according to Billy, is a first-caliot Hall of Famer, and he's not wrong. I'll sign elsewhere.

Before the injury.

Sorry, Billy. But Sam Darnold to the Vikings is what you're saying?

That's what they're saying. The rumor mill is saying. I'm not saying it.

The rumor mill, of course. I would never accuse you of saying that.

They hired Josh McCown, who had a great working relationship with him, and they think Kevin O'Neill can turn him into something.

Wow. The guy that should be happiest if Sam Darnal becomes a starter in Minnesota is Zack Wilson. Just another high-picked Jack quarterback that failed and was a backup somewhere for a couple of years before he was a starter again. He can follow that way.

It would be great if Zack Wilson, if this plays out, the rumor mill, and Darnal goes to the Viking, Zack Wilson goes to an AFC team, they play each other in the Super Bowl. Oh, yeah. Please let that happen. How about it? You want another rumor? I hate them, of course.

How about something Dolphins related, Billy?

Yes, please.

According to the rumor mill, there's a certain running back that might be headed to Miami, and his name is Derek Henry, according to the rumor.

Wow. You know what?

It's his top choice.

It's his top wow. Listen, I love King Henry, but you have other holes you need to fill. You have Moster, you have Achan, and you have even Jeff. I think Jeff Wilson is there as well. Yeah.

Moster led the NFL in touch down.

I don't know why you would do that. I think you have other holes to fill. That's why they talk about Baltimore, too, with Derrick Henry. Baltimore is a leading rushing team in the league, and a lot of that is Lamar Jackson. You have a pick other... Now, they have less holes to fill, but still, you're pretty much set with your running game.

Billy would love that, though, having Derrick Henry.

I just love a name. Yeah, I like a name.

What else you got, Mike? Mike, by the way, Goik, he's lashing out at people. Mike, you're lashing out at a rumor mill. That's true. Take it easy on the rumor mill. It's doing its job. It's creating things to talk about. That's all.

Also, for the record, I want to keep Rahim also, just in case there's any question about that.

That's nice of you.

Well done.

He's a friend of the show, right? Yeah. And Achan, you want five runningbacks.

His interview wasn't great at the Super Bowl.

That's how we judge who we want to keep. All right, you got any more rumors there?

Sure. Last week on the Rumor Mill, Billy and Mike, you weren't here. We had Saquon Barkley, possibly going to the Dallas Cowboys, but we had the wrong team in Texas. According to the Rumor Mill now, Saquon Barkley linked to the Houston Texans.

Wow. That would be a great get for them because you're talking about different... There's a lot of running backs available, and none are going to be tagged. I think Josh Jacob still stays with the Raiders. You got our buddy Austin Echler. It's going to be a great addition somewhere. I think should be to a contending team. Kansas City. I think Derrick Henry could end up with the Cowboys, quite honestly. And snakewan Barkley, the best of both worlds there. He can run the ball, and he can catch it out of the backfield. For a young, up-and-coming team like Houston, that would be an excellent get for them.

Mike, all this shows just how interchangeable all these guys are, or at least that's how the NFL views them. They're all interchangeable, which is crazy. To me, Austin Echler makes the Chief so much better if they were able to land him.

Think of that. Austin Echler, the way he catch the ball out of the backfield, Pacheco running the ball. I mean, what a great one-two punch that would be.

Yeah. Just got married, though, so we'll see if the wife wants to enjoy Kansas City for a year or two.

Or he's about to get married. He also didn't have the nicest things to say about Taylor Swift and that whole thing. So we're going to see if Taylor allows him to play on the Chiefs, I suppose.

All right, you have one more rumor for us?

Well, it wouldn't be a combine week rumor mill without a couple of scouts saying some stuff. And according to the scouts on the rumor mill, they have Spencer Rattler rated above both Bo Nicks and Michael Pennicks.

Yeah, Spencer Rattler was on collision course coming into college to be the Caleb Williams of this class, or whenever he was going to come out. And that's fallen off as he's moved a bit last up there.

That was three colleges ago.

Exactly. It was South Carolina now. There are things I like out of Spencer Rattler. Now, we're so wild. It maybe just goes to show what everybody What he else didn't do in the senior bowl. He was the MVP, and he threw four passes in the senior bowl. He was four for four. Two passes, though. Yeah, I guess so.

He was the top-rated D-lineman and never played the position. Exactly right.

It's exactly right. So who knows? We'll see. I mean, again, we're not going to tell a lot in shorts and a T-shirt for sure. But if it makes people really study him and his film and what he does, there's going to be some... We know this happens every year, right? There's going to be five quarterbacks taken in the first round. Two or three of them are going to be busts, and there's going to be quarterbacks taken from the third round, third round on down to the seventh round. Who will be better than some of those drafted before him? This happens every single year.

Yeah, it does. Bill, you want to do the NFLPA with Mike real quick? Steve Spagnola is going to join us. Spag is going to join us coming up here in a few minutes. Nice. Yeah, that's your boy.

Listen, I love playing for Buddy Ryan's defense. I love playing for Bud Carson's type of defense. I would have loved playing for Spag's defense, man. They adjust well, and eventually, they get after your ass defense. I really enjoy his play calling.

Well, I'll say this, Mike. We have very little time left. In fact, we're way over time. But I will ask you this, when You were in the NFL, did you... I guess this is done every year, the NFL players team report cards. So they rank teams based on a certain number of categories, seven categories, I believe. Treatment of families, food, nutritionists, locker room, training room, training staff, and weight room, with the hope that this will help potential free agents in determining where to go and to, I guess, keep the teams honest in those categories. So of those categories, I guess, which to you would have been most important as a free agent?

There's actually 11 as well with head coach and owner in there. To me, it would be like, there are some I don't care about. Remember, we're making these college facilities great to entice the 18-year-old to come there. Now, that's fading a bit. It's more about NIL. In the NFL, you're getting paid. You go work. Who cares what your weight room looks like? You'd like your family to be treated well with a family room there. But the thing about a training staff, you look at why Dallas dropped, I think, from fifth to 12th. One of the biggest complaints was the training staff. Now, by CBA, you have to have at least three on-site trainers there, and they're thinking now that's not even enough. To get the treatment that you need. Those are things I would be more concerned about, not what my locker room looks like, not what food I'm getting, though. That would be nice luxuries to have. Hell, I remember interviewing Tikehau Spikes when Greeny and I were doing Mike and Mike at ESPN, and he was just hoping to get an extra towel for a shower when he was playing for the bangles.

A lot of the Fs in these categories you see now, these were A's in my day. I mean, that's how different it is now. But not a lot of that It affects what happens. Look where Kansas City was ranked in a lot of things in our back-to-back Super Bowl champion. Last. Yeah, exactly. Except for Coach. Andy Reid is right near the top. So, yeah, you would like to have a better work environment area, but teams aren't going to jump to... Some teams will tweak and change, some like Cincinnati not charging the younger players or whatever team it was for their food, or if you want a room alone on the road, you have to pay extra. I mean, there's some really dumb stuff in there, but I don't think it's anything to deter a free agent who may get paid a lot of money from going there.

Let's hope for Billy's sake, it's important to Derek Henry. There you go.

Miami ranked very high. They were at the top.

They were number one, yes. Owner, everything. We're in Rumor Mail. This was according to a vote.

This is the vote, yes. This is the vote.

Weevy two segments. I get it. I got it. I'll go look. You look refreshed because we're not talking about football seven a week anymore.

I know. Not prepping for games, just getting to enjoy now basketball and hockey and Notre Dame women's lacrosse beating number one teams in the country. You're a jerk.

All right. Good luck against Carolina this week, and I'm sure that will go well.

Goodbye, Steve.

God bless football, Mike.

God bless it all.

Twenty years of the Dan Lebitard show.

We've gotten fatter, we've gotten bolder, We've had children.

A lot's changed over the years. You know one thing that hasn't? The great taste of Miller Light.

It was the original light beer, and to this day, it's still the best one.

Miller Light has more of the taste you want, and less of the stuff you don't. We've been all around in those 20 years. Austin, LA, New York, Las Vegas. One thing that's remained constant as we've gone around and met with the fans, the great taste of Miller Light. You can be anxious at times, right? How do we have small talk with people? I'll tell you how you drink a Miller Lite. It makes bonding with friends easier. Times change, but you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Light. Tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Light delivered right to your door, visit millerlight. Com/gbf, or you can find it pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Light Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces.

Steve Spagnola, defensive coordinator, Kansas City chief, the greatest coordinator of all time. Is joining us here on God bless football. What are you laughing at, Spag? You're the only coordinator to win four Super Bowl's, man.

Well, I don't know if that constitutes that accolades, but I appreciate it. I do. That's more about the players than the assistant coaches I have, really.

That's very humble of you. Your schemes are amazing, but you're right. It's a player's lead. You were just at the combine, huh?

Yeah, just got back. Listen, we're right back into it. I tell you what, it's like with the length of the season, And now with the 17 games and the Super Bowl falling where it does, you don't really get a chance to breathe. You've had a little bit of time down in Miami last week, but bang, here we are. It's on the next year. But that's the cycle of NFL football.

Are you addicted to football spags? Seriously?

I guess. I still like the beach. I like to play golf. I like to hang with my wife. So it's not a total addiction. But I'm not sure you can be in this business and do it the right way. I think we're all built like that. You I get married to it for eight months or whatever that stretches, that grind. But I do enjoy it.

Let me ask it differently. Is your wife tired of football?

Yeah, she was probably tired of it a long time ago. I tell you what she likes, Stu God. She likes the relationships, especially with the guys, the players. She very much ties in. I love that part of it. We do a lot of things with the guys, and then our guys know she loves them, and that's a big part of what we do.

They like you, but they love her, right?

Exactly. I'm going to use that quote because that's exactly what it is. Like me, love her, and I don't blame her one bit.

Well, I was reading some quotes from your players on this particular Chief's team saying that Mrs. Spagnola is the key to the whole team, that she makes the best Italian dishes that they've ever had. Is that indeed true?

Well, can you blame them? I mean, look, everybody likes a good Italian dish. Now, she connects. Listen, she's a giver and a server. She She does a lot of that. She's a strong Christian woman, so she does a lot of that throughout the community and other communities. But she loves to serve these guys because she knows they like it, and I think they appreciate it. So we do it as much as we can. We have a Friday deal where I'm bringing in. It's usually They love the banana pudding. That's the big one. And then Saturday mornings, we would do the guy that got probably the biggest hit, we call it the Cram Award. He gets the big pasta dish. So that's what they're talking about.

You're back from the combine. We see you're in the office Walk us through that big board behind you. Who are we thinking?

That's an amazing board. Yes. What are we like here? What are we like here? What are we like here? What are we like here?

What are the chiefs looking at here?

I probably ought not to have that on video, although I can't figure out what it is, so nobody else would be able to. That's the backdrop. I'll be digging deep into that in the next few weeks.

Is that all the drafted free agency rankings back there? What is that, Spags?

That's a little bit everything. That's some defensive calls.

You shouldn't be showing us this.

We got it all up there.

I'm going to do one of these so nobody can eat it. You should do that the whole time. Like one of those inflatable things outside of a 711.

If somebody could figure that out, then give me a call.

Oh, my God. That is so great. Spags, I'm wondering because I see how close you and Andy Reid are, and I know you've known him for a long time. And so I'm just wondering, can you describe that relationship for us? What it started as and what it's grown into today?

Yeah, great question. If I take it all the way back to 1999 when Andy hired me. I mean, look at... We're the same age, came up the same way through the college ranks, and then he jumped into the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and Mike Holmgren, and he just took off because that's him. He's special. But you start out as a quality control guy, and Andy had a different relationship. But we knew each other as friends and people in the business before he hired me. But thank God, I owe everything to him getting in the business. And then, I mean, he He just was really great, and he's always been this way. He is still this way today. He's always promoting guys from within. The guys he identifies as good coaches and people that he wants to keep, he just keeps And he did that. I did that throughout his system in Philadelphia with Jim Johnson. Then, of course, after that, left him in Giants and the whole thing. Then for him to bring me back in 2019 was a huge blessing. We had always stayed in touch. When we were head coaches together, when I He was in St.

Louis and he was in Philly, and I think all the guys that work for Andy do this, but you become a head coach. The first guy you call with any question is Andy Reid. We're on the phone with him or texting back and forth. So that relationship always was there. Then when I had the opportunity to come, I jumped on it, and it's been great of a sense. He's a special guy, John, in that he's rock solid. The guy is steady, nothing rattles him. The players recognize that. I think the staff and the players echo that. I I think that behind the scenes is the biggest reason for the success that we've had.

Spags, did you think at any point, because there were rumors flying around, did you think at any point that Andy Reid might retire after the season?

I never felt that. I think people are always going to ask that when you get to Andy's age and the success he's been. But he's got so much energy. You asked me if I was addicted to football. You asked Andy the same question. I think he'd tell you the same thing. He might be addicted to it. But he loves it. And you can see it every day when he comes in here. He has not lost one bit of energy, not one bit of spark. I mean, you see how intelligent he is with everything he does offensively. I just love being around him. I love working with him.

What was your reaction when Kelsey bumped into him? Because he handled it so well, Andy.

Listen, those guys, they have a special relationship.

But that's crazy to us, right, Spags? To you guys, that's normal. To us, it's on the outside. That's crazy, right?

That's a That's the way to say it. Look, this always spark flying on the sideline, and this thing's going on all the time. And typically, the next day or even in the locker room after the game, that stuff is so just gone. I mean, it's just part of the nature of the game.

Mikey Ye and I were talking before you came on here about you wanting to be a head coach. Well, Mike, yeah, go ahead and ask the question. All right?

No, you talked about how great of a coordinator he is. The next natural jump is to want to go back into that head coaching ring? Is that something you want to do? Is that something you're trying to get done?

Well, look, so I'll answer it the same way I have all the way through. We all, I think, are built, I'm talking about coaches now, the same way. We all aspire to run our own show. I had the opportunity to do that in St. Louis. It didn't go great. If you get a second opportunity, I think you're always better because you learn from your mistakes. Whenever you get one of these first-time head jobs, there's no manual for all the things that you got to go through. You learn on the run. So I think experience is the best thing. So would I do it again? Absolutely. But I always follow that up with saying, if it never happens again, I'm a blessed guy. I mean, listen, I leave that whole thing in God's hands. That's just the way I'm built. I don't lose sleep over it. I have a tremendous job right now. I work for the best head coach in the league. And so if it doesn't work out, that's okay. Would I want to? Yeah. And we'll see what happens. And if it works out great, if not, I'm a happy man.

Spax, I was trying to make the argument that you're so great at what it is you do. And when you take on the responsibilities, all the responsibilities of the head coach, you are no longer focusing on stopping an offense. You're no longer focusing on your defense. I feel like you're the best in the business. Why not just continue to do that on that team in particular? Jesus.

You bring up a good point, and it's probably why I'm able to sit here and say, Look, if it doesn't work out, that's okay. But I think we're all built, we're prideful guys. We all You guys have been in athletics. All of you have been involved with it, and we all want to win. We all want to aspire to be to the top and win at the most elite level. So the drive is still there. But again, if it doesn't work out, that's okay, too.

You've been in Kansas City for five years. I was telling the guys right before you came on, that's the longest you've been in one place since 1987 to 1991, I believe, which was Yukon. You got to be tired of moving.

You mean as a coordinator? Yeah, that's true.

That's true, because I was eight years as an assistant in Philadelphia.

It's funny. I was just having this conversation with a younger coach who was asking for advice. And I did say to them that I think one of the things to do in this profession, if you're at a young age, is to do a lot of moving around. I believe that if you can rub elbows with a lot of people down the road, I think that helps you because they've seen you, they know your work ethic. It's all about contacts in this league. It's probably no different than any business. I would assume the business you guys are in, the next job you get is because somebody you know. So I think the moving around helps you. Now, I was fortunate, guys, that at the time I wasn't married, so I didn't have children. And you're not taking kids out of schools. I get that. Sometimes when you have a family, you can't do too much moving. But it worked for me. And I think that it's important when you're a young coach to do that.

Now you have five kids, right?

Is that No, we don't have any children. My wife and I have adopted children, and they're now grown now, and they've got kids, so I'm a grandfather. That makes me feel old, but that's okay.

How many of the grandchildren, adopted children, how many of them wanted to meet Taylor Swift? How many of them met Taylor Swift?

Well, we keep that. We keep that over on offer.

Your draft board is right in front of us, Spax. The draft board is there for the taking, though.

That's funny.

Spax, Patrick Mahomes, all the years you've been in the NFL, of all the quarterbacks you have coached against or coached with, is Patrick Mahomes the best quarterback you've seen?

Well, listen, he's certainly that right now. But listen, Tom braided, we had to defend quite a bit. He's obviously one of the greatest. It's hard to do that. I think you do that when everything's all done, right? And Patrick still has some years to go here, and I'm just hoping he can keep staying on the same trajectory. He makes us better every day. I mean, listen, we have to practice against Patrick every day, him and Andy, and what they're putting together. It's a competitive deal. That's what I love about what Andy has here. And we go out here for OTAs in another month and a half or whatever it's going to be. We'll be trying to knock each other. They'll be trying to score on us. We'll be trying to stop them. And it makes us better. I think that's one of the threads of what we have here that keeps us going getting better and better.

Spags, you got a couple of big time free agents on your defense, Lejarius Sneed, possibly Chris Jones. How important is it to get those guys back?

From my perspective, guys, I'm praying every day that we do get them back. I understand. Listen, I know the landscape of the NFL, and sometimes it's tough to keep everybody because there's a cap and the whole thing. Listen, I want all these guys to get paid. I mean, that's just the nature of what you do. You want all the guys that work for you, whether it's a coach or a player, to Excel, get the most they can out of this profession in a lot of different ways. But from my perspective, I obviously want both those guys to be here.

Spax, we'll get you out of here in just a minute here, and we do appreciate the time. Sure. The Super Bowl you won against Tom braided. I know you value all the Super Bowl. They all mean a lot to you. Yeah. Is there one that stands out because you stopped this legendary quarterback and legendary offense? And Spax, you should have won Super Bowl MVP. In fact, you should have won twice. You should have won it this past year in the year that you beat the Patriots with the Giants.

Listen, I'm not sure any coach is an MVP of winning because it's still the guys playing on the field, right? But I'll tell you what, Steve Godts, that team that we did play in '07, that Patriot team, if my brain can get back there, they were far ahead of the curve. They were spreading it throwing it to all the wideouts that Tom had.

It was the best team I've ever seen, Spags.

It was the best team I've ever been to. If you just put it in context, going into the game, quite frankly, and I've said this before, if we could hold them to 30. I felt like that was a good game. That's how good it was. I didn't know if we could do that, to be quite honest with you, but our guys rose up. Now, I'm in the middle of this one right now and the feeling of the way the game... This group that we had this year was a special in terms of high IQ football players. I never had as many high IQ. I've had a lot of high IQ players. Antonio pierce is the head coach now. Kelvin Sheppard is coaching in Detroit. He was a Mike Linebacker for me with the Giants. Sarah Myer-Trod, a bunch of them, and James Laranitis when I was in St. Louis. But as a total group of guys together, this was the most we had. And I think that more than anything, that in the way our assistant coaches convey game plans to them from an intelligence standpoint was the key reason why we were able to do what we did.

I thought it was special what the guys put together, how they played through the playoff run, and certainly what they did in the Super Bowl. I didn't like the fact that we gave up 22 points or 19 or whatever it was. I was hoping we could get that a little lower. But that offense that San Francisco has, what Kyle does, the quarterback, I think is tremendous. I thought they did a really good job. It was a good game.

You wanted to shut them out, didn't you, Spax?

We always do.

You're not happy with your performance. It was an all-time performance by your defense, Spax.

When you look at it, guys, the ultimate achievement for any defensive player or defensive coach would be to have a shutout in a Super Bowl. I'm not sure you can do anything better than that. So that's what we're gunning for. It didn't happen that way, but that's what you're gunning for.

Beating the best offense, most of us have ever seen, though, is pretty damn good, Spax. You've done good is what I'm trying to tell you. That was special. By the way, when the Jets fuck it up, and they will, and Salah gets fired, if you want to be a head coach again, we'd love to have you, okay?

All right, we'll see what happens. We don't worry about that right now, but I feel you. You're not all Jet fans, though, right?

You have two Jet fans, me and Mike Yea. You have Billy, who's a Dolphin fan.

That's awesome. That's great. I tell you what- Billy wasn't happy with your first round of the playoff, I have to be honest.

No, you were my favorite person. Sorry about that. And that first half in Germany, I didn't like you very much either.

I'll tell you what, it was cold. That playoff game, I'm telling you what, that was real cold, guys. And I knew it would be tough. The good Lord helped us that game because I know it's hard to go from Miami, South Beach, and go play in Kansas City minus 30. That's not easy to do.

All right, man. Hey, we appreciate the time. Next time we do this, Spax, I don't want to talk any football. I want to talk Italian food and drinking beer and playing golf, okay? I'm all for it.

I'm all for it. Okay.

Hopefully, you get one of those guys on the board behind you, all right?

We'll pull somebody off. I appreciate you guys having me on. It's a lot of fun. Thanks.

All right. Thank you, Spax. We appreciate it, man. You got it. All right.

Twenty years of the Dan Lebitard show.

We've gotten fatter, we've gotten balder, we've had children.

A lot's changed over the years. You know one thing that hasn't? The great taste of Miller Light.

It was the original light beer, and to this day, it's still the best one.

Miller Light has more of the taste you want and less of the stuff you don't. We've been all around in those 20 years, Austin, LA, New York, Las Vegas. One thing that's remained constant as we've gone around and met with the fans, the great taste of Miller Light. You can be anxious at times, right? How do we have small talk with people? I'll tell you how you drink a Miller Light. It makes bonding with friends easier. Times change, but you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Light. Taste like Miller time. To get Miller Light delivered right to your door, visit millerlight. Com/gbf, or you can find it pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Light Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces.