Nightcap Hour 1: Unc & Ocho react to Coach Prime getting surgery + Bubba Wallace joins the show

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Shay Shay Episode: Nightcap Hour 1: Unc & Ocho React to Coach Prime Getting Surgery + Bubba Wallace Joins the Show
Release Date: July 29, 2025
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe, Chad Ochocinco Johnson ("Ocho")
Guest: Bubba Wallace, NASCAR Driver

---

1. Introduction and Episode Overview

Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson kick off the episode by expressing gratitude towards their listeners and introducing the main topics of discussion. They announce the special guest, Bubba Wallace, a prominent NASCAR driver who recently secured his first crown jewel victory at the Brickyard 400.

---

2. Reaction to Coach Prime's Surgery Announcement

Timestamp: [09:33]

Shannon Sharpe opens the conversation by addressing the news of Coach Prime (Deion Sanders) undergoing surgery for bladder cancer. He emphasizes the importance of regular health check-ups, especially for African American men, highlighting his own experience as a prostate cancer survivor.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "Men, everybody get checked out... It could have been a whole another gathering if I had."
  [09:33]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "I've got to get as far ahead of the curve as I can going into the preseason because I'm not going to get that many snaps getting acclimated to the speed of the goddamn game."
  [25:17]

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts discuss the significance of Coach Prime’s openness about his health battle, urging listeners to prioritize their health.
• They reflect on similar past health challenges, including Shannon Sharpe’s prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.
• The conversation underscores the importance of proactive healthcare and dispelling fears associated with medical consultations.

---

3. Incident Involving Christian Wilkins

Timestamp: [19:23]

The hosts delve into a reported incident involving Christian Wilkins, an NFL player who allegedly kissed a teammate on the head during a team meeting. While some perceive it as playful, the teammate took offense, leading to Wilkins being cut from the team.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "Where there's smoke, there's fire. So it is what it is."
  [23:05]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "We're on that. Come on now."
  [73:45]

Discussion Highlights:

• Shannon and Ocho speculate on the reasons behind Wilkins’ release, considering factors like missed games and possible breaches of conduct.
• They discuss the evolving culture in locker rooms, contrasting past practices with current behaviors.
• The significance of contracts and guaranteed money in NFL decisions is analyzed, with insights into player and team dynamics.

---

4. Madden 26 Ratings Controversy

Timestamp: [35:31]

Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson discuss the recent reveal of Madden 26 player ratings, specifically focusing on the omission of Patrick Mahomes from the 99 overall rating list. They debate the fairness and accuracy of the ratings based on players' performances.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "But Patrick Mahomes didn't earn he didn't earn a 99 either. 98, which is good."
  [36:12]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "It's not a bad thing. Mahomes is still... he's like Superman in a sense."
  [37:25]

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts analyze the criteria used for player ratings, debating whether recent performances should outweigh past achievements.
• They compare Mahomes' statistics with other top-rated players, questioning the decision to exclude him from the highest tier.
• The conversation touches on fan reactions and the potential impact of ratings on player perception and game dynamics.

---

5. Special Interview with Bubba Wallace

Timestamp: [38:25]

The highlight of the episode is an in-depth interview with Bubba Wallace, who shares his experience winning the Brickyard 400. The discussion covers Bubba's journey in NASCAR, the significance of his victory, and his aspirations for the future.

Notable Quotes:

• Bubba Wallace:
  "I wanted to win it fair and squared straight up... it's still kind of unbelievable to me."
  [39:48]

• Bubba Wallace:
  "I have confidence going to the Indy and then road courses are right there beneath it."
  [60:38]

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "Bubba, man, congratulations... Come back and see us soon."
  [67:10]

Key Topics Discussed:

• Victory at Brickyard 400:
  Bubba recounts the intense final laps of the race, his strategic mindset during restarts, and the emotional moment of winning alongside his family.

• Personal Journey:
  He shares insights into his early days in racing, including overcoming challenges and the support from his team and family.

• Training and Preparation:
  Bubba elaborates on the evolving nature of racing practice, the importance of simulation tools, and adapting to different track dynamics.

• Advocacy for Diversity in NASCAR:
  Bubba emphasizes the need to inspire minority youth to engage with motorsports, highlighting the barriers and opportunities available.

• Future Aspirations:
  He discusses his goals for the upcoming season, the importance of continuous improvement, and maintaining a balance between competitiveness and personal life.

Notable Quotes During the Interview:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "What was that moment like when they came to Victory Lane and you laid eyes on your wife and your child?"
  [44:21]

• Bubba Wallace:
  "It was a really cool experience... We're locked in. And now we can go and have some fun for these next five."
  [51:39]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "What's going in your mind when you're having to restart?"
  [45:52]

• Bubba Wallace:
  "Always keep pushing for more... It was just the perfect recipe for an awesome day."
  [42:52]

---

6. Closing Remarks and Final Discussions

Timestamp: [67:23]

After Bubba Wallace’s interview, the hosts reflect on the conversation, highlighting Bubba’s contributions to NASCAR and the importance of representation in sports. They discuss the historical context of diversity in racing and encourage listeners to engage with and support the sport.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "There was really no Iowa. There was no California racing. Everything was from the south."
  [67:54]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "It's more than just going in a circle... Until you see them on the track."
  [69:05]

Discussion Highlights:

• The evolution of NASCAR’s geographical and cultural landscape, moving beyond its Southern roots.
• The strategic elements of racing that go unnoticed by casual viewers, emphasizing the skill and preparation involved.
• Encouraging diversity and broader participation in motorsports through exposure and support.

---

7. Promotions and Advertisements

Throughout the episode, brief promotions for sponsors such as Chumba Casino, Lenovo, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, DraftKings Sportsbook, Abeka Homeschool, and others are interspersed. These segments are designed to engage listeners with special offers and product highlights but do not contribute to the main content of the episode.

---

Conclusion

In this episode of Club Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson provide insightful discussions on current sports topics, health advocacy, and diversity in racing. The highlight interview with Bubba Wallace offers listeners an exclusive look into the life and achievements of a trailblazing NASCAR driver. The hosts effectively blend serious conversations with engaging banter, making the episode both informative and entertaining for their audience.

---

Notable Quotes Compilation:

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "Men, everybody get checked out... It could have been a whole another gathering if I had."
  [09:33]

• Bubba Wallace:
  "I wanted to win it fair and squared straight up... it's still kind of unbelievable to me."
  [39:48]

• Chad Ochocinco Johnson:
  "What's going in your mind when you're having to restart?"
  [45:52]

• Shannon Sharpe:
  "There was really no Iowa. There was no California racing. Everything was from the south."
  [67:54]

• Bubba Wallace:
  "Always keep pushing for more... It was just the perfect recipe for an awesome day."
  [42:52]

---

Note: This summary omits advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the substantive discussions and interviews within the episode.

Transcript

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[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yes, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Men, everybody get checked out, because if it wasn't for me getting tested for something else, they wouldn't have stumbled upon this. And make sure you go to the. Get the right care, because without wonderful people like this, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today because it grew so expeditiously. I could say, but please get yourself checked out, especially African American men. We don't like going to the doctors. We don't like nothing to do with a doctor. You know that. So I'm not just talking to the brothers. I'm talking to my Caucasian brothers, my Hispanic brothers, my Asian brothers, my everybody and my sisters. And that's all y' all get checked out. Because it could have been a whole another gathering if I had. Yeah, we knew Coach prime was dealing with something. He didn't come show up to his camps that he was supposed to put on. He didn't show up to the spring thing. So there's a lot of things going on that led people to believe that there was something seriously going on with Prime. We didn't know what it was. We just knew at a later date in time, the way that he's always been, he's going to be very forthcoming. He's going to tell you exactly what was going on, how long it's been going on, and what. What the treatment or whatever he needed to do to get taken care of. You know, when he had the, you know, oo remember he had the amputation, he had to have some of his toes removed, and he had a. You know, and he was in dire straits in that situation. And he came, you know, once he started feeling better, he came and he told exactly what was happening. And so I always felt that I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it was serious because a lot of time I would send him a text and I just get like one or two words back. Same thing. Kind of like what happened at Jackson State. So I knew it was serious and I just left it alone. I said, now when he's in a good. In a better place and a good frame of mind, he'll be back to time joking and laughing. And when. And. But when he's not joking and laughing, I know it's something serious because he's that type of guy. He's a very fun, fun loving, very outgoing guy. I'm just glad they caught this in time. They were able to catch what it was, remove it and get him all treated up. And I'm glad Coach prime, you know, everybody here at Nightcap is sending our thoughts and prayers to you and glad you're feeling better, bro. But yeah, guys, go get it. Go get it done. Go get, go get, go get tested. Because, Ocho, I'm a prostate cancer survivor, and prostate cancer is one of the more curable if detected early. That's why early screening and detection is very, you know, obviously, if it runs in your family, but, you know, go get tested. And, you know, I was in. I'm in a high percentile. My father had. My father died. Died of cancer. You know, his brothers, he had two other brothers that died of cancer. So I'm already in the high percentile.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yes, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So I didn't wait till the age. They said, we'll start getting tested at age 40. Nah, bro. I started getting tested like at 33, 34, and they were able to detect it. Ended up getting a colonoscopy and finding out that I had it and I got it treated, diagnosed in 2016, got treated in 2017, and I've been cancer free ever since. Ocho. But when you got the news that Coach prime had really gone through something really, really serious, what, what was the first thoughts that go through your mind?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Well, obviously I said prayers right away. I said prayers right away for him understanding. I knew it was something serious for the simple fact there was some things that, that he missed that he couldn't attend. I know if he couldn't attend certain events that they had planned for. For Colorado, I knew something was wrong. So finding the news out today, I'm glad he did get it checked out in time. And listen, prime been through his trials and tribulations. As he always says, there's every time God is using him as that messenger, you know, be able to. To give, give, give, fellas, as. As he said, all ethnicities, an opportunity to get that message out. Go get checked. Go get checked. Take care yourself. Take care of your body and make sure. Make sure you. You're okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right, Ocho. The. I'm gonna share my story, but I'm gonna let. I'm gonna let prime have his right now. This is about prime today, this week, but a later date and time down the road, I'll share some things that I've gone through that very few people know with that being said. But like I said, I mean, and to see him out there fishing, and then he got his black. You know, got that bag with him, and. And, you know, he says, man, right? I. I didn't sleep. And, you know, once you get to that age, he and I, you know, timing out, basically the same age is that, man, it's hard to get a great night's sleep because you go to the bathroom so much. I try to cut myself off drinking. Drinking water at a certain period of time, but sometimes, you know, when I'm doing nightcap, my. My throat get parched, and I, you know, I. I end up drinking more than I should. And I know I'm gonna be up four or five times a night. It's gonna. It's gonna interrupt my sleep. But guys, go get checked out, and he's absolutely right. Just speaking, you know, growing up, first of all, we didn't have health care. So unless there was an absolute medical emergency, you fall dead on the floor or something like that, you weren't going to no doctor. Yes, sir, they would. They were gonna give you a home remedy. Your stomach hurt, whatever it is, drink some ginger ale, baking soda or something. You're not going to the doc. You got a gash. Hey, go get some cobweb. You know, you go put some paper towel. Then we gonna. We're gonna do it like that, but you're not going to the doctor. And so we kind of build up a fear of the doctor. But now I. I think knowing what we know now, you know, everybody's trying to say, well, you know, service and repairs are the same thing. No, they're not. Service and repair is not the same thing. One is proactive, the other is reactive. Now, I'll let you geniuses in. That said, I thought they were the same thing and had the crying emojis. I will let you geniuses figure out which one is active and which one is reactive.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So in other words, when you go get checked out and I'm. That's what time is basically saying you're being proactive as opposed to being reactive, which means now is there. You don't know. They didn't catch it in the early, the early stages. So hopefully it look seems like they caught this in an earlier enough stage that he was able to get, you know, he was able to get it removed and they, whatever the treatment, whether it was radiation, chemo or whatever the case may be, seemingly he said he's cancer free. That's what the doctor said. If I'm not mistaken, that was sitting next to him and they got everything taken care of and that's what you need to do, Ocho. Don't wait until it's too late and then it's stage three, stage four. There's really nothing else now all they can do is just make you comfortable.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't be afraid to go to the doctor, get everything taken care of and so you can have a very productive life. And then just because you go Ocho, that doesn't mean things are not going to happen. You can get your car service every year like you're supposed to, every six months and something still might happen to the car. But there's a greater chance that they'll find out something as opposed to you're in dire straits or dire emergency.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

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Learn [e-mail] oh Joe, we have more info coming out on Christian Wilkins. Adam Schefter shares what was an awkward kiss incident between Kristian Wilkins and a Raiders teammate. Wilkins kissed a fellow player on the head and the teammate took offense to it. The incident happened inside the team meeting room. Report says the interaction was playful, but the teammate didn't see it that way. Shifter adds the incident was not the sole reason Wilkins was cut is the real Ocho When. Hold on. This is. This is shelter talking. Yeah, allegedly. This is. This was an incident that took place right? When did men start playing like this? Ocho Forget. Forget. I understand it's 2025. It's a different time. And I don't get. I don't care what your letter is in the Alphabet.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Bu.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm cool with it. You be the L, you be the B, you be the T, you be the Q. Plural. Whatever the case may be. Yeah, have at it. When did men in a football bat in a setting like this, when did they start playing like this? Ocho? Was it after I left the game? Was it like last week? A couple of weeks ago? You stayed a little bit. I retired in 04. You retired in 2012 from the NFL, so you stayed a little longer than I did. So when did this start happening? Ocho Hey, I I don't know.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I don't know. I think that's he plays like that. Ocho I, I, the, the people I hang around based on where I'm from, I, I don't, I don't see that type activity. I don't see that type of. Listen, we have, Excuse me, we have playful banner, but the playful. Yeah, when we, and we, we Conduct it. It ain't like that. It ain't in that manner. So I, I is, it's news to me. It's new to me. I don't know Christian Wilkinson, you know, Purse Wilkins. I don't know him personally. You know, I, I, I know of him, you know, as a, a fun, energetic type of player. He's done some funny things, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, they got that picture. When I think there's a national championship game of one game and the guys on the ground.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's just, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm like, oh, bro, guys don't play. Look, maybe, maybe they do now. I shouldn't say I'm just from an era, right, where guys didn't play like that. And yeah, look, yeah, we horse play. We might nail somebody locker short shut. We might put powder or water in your shoulder pads and when you grab them, it come down on top of you. Do guys horse play around like that? Yes. Do we soak the rookies clothes, put them in the cold tub and then put them in the freezer? Yes. We've seen guys, you know, basketball players put popcorn in the guy's car. We've seen stuff like that, Ocho. Not like. And I've seen some stuff in the locker room now. I've seen some guys play that even I'm like, y' all nasty that grow I a.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But not, not to that magnitude.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Not no, not no. Not no. Not no. Not no kissing on, not even kissing on the forehead. Not even. No joking manner.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, I, I don't know. It's hard to say. I'm not in the locker room. I wasn't actually there. And obviously Shefter did his best job in describing what happened and ob.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, think about it, Ocho. Ocho, remember we talked about it. Of all the things they could have said, why did they say this now? They could have said anything. He stole somebody car. He stole fifteen hundred dollars from somebody. He forged a check. Of all the things they could have tagged the young man with. Allegedly. They put this.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, I mean, listen, alleged. That's actually what happened. You know, it had to come from somewhere. So that means that's exactly what happened with their smoke. There's fire.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Where there's smoke, there's fire. So it is what it is. Whoever the player was, they took offense to it. Maybe they got in a little scuffle, maybe it caused an issue and maybe that was just the icing on the cake for them to release him based on the other issues and other incidents about him missing games last Year and then not doing what's required to make sure he gets on the field in a time. Man of this year. Maybe they're fed up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If I'm not mistaken, Ocho, they said this incident happened earlier, so I don't know if it happened, say, in the off season. It happened at some point in time during the season.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Obviously, there was. There was a. A diff. A fracturing. A fracturing where they like, bro, you need the surgery. He says, no. It seemed like he said no.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Maybe they wanted a second opinion. He didn't want to get a second opinion. Because here's the thing. You could. You could, like, okay, you got a torn acl and doctor said, well, you need to get this. So he's like, no, I'm gonna let it heal on its own.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Please.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You. You can do that. I wouldn't advise it, but you can do it. They tell you to go get a second opinion, Ocho. You can do that. And both doctors say the same thing. You say, no, I'm good. I wouldn't advise it, but you can do that. I. I don't. I don't get why he wouldn't, considering he had guaranteed money. He had $35 million coming to him. That was guaranteed. So he was at. I could see Ocho, if I didn't have guaranteed money coming in, if there was a situation like, nah, bro, I need to get on the field. But he got guaranteed money, and so they said, nah, it's not healing like it's supposed to. You need to have another surgery.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I just don't. I don't get that. That's what's being reported now. We don't know what's true or not. But look, the truth is somewhere in between this box. Yeah, between the kiss on the forehead, the second opinion. They want him to have. They wanted to have surgery again. Something. The truth is somewhere in here, ojo. We just don't know where it's at, but we think the truth is somewhere in this box.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Well, listen, what you can do is you can hear the situations, right? And it's like having a puzzle piece, all right? We got good pieces to the puzzle, and you can just fill out the rest of the puzzle based on the actions that have happened and what you're hearing. So you missed games last year, okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, Well, I think you only played five games, Ocho. I think you got hurt after the fifth game.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay, well, listen, all right? We're going into a new season. You still not healthy. You might have got a second opinion. Maybe your second opinion said, you know what? You need to just relax and let it heal on its own. Maybe the team said, well, you need to get surgery. So again, now we go into another season. You missed so many games last year. Now the season rolling around again. You're still not healthy. You're not on the field. They see you on camera, dancing around, you know, having fun and doing. Doing stuff that's. That's not for, one, helping the team. Two, that's not helping yourself. And three, what we're paying you millions of dollars to do, you're not earning that. You're not earning that. You're not going to do that on our time or our clock.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And so they made a business decision.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, I agree. I'm looking at like. Like I said, if he's in the last year of his contract, he doesn't have this guaranteed money. And he thinks, like, hey, I get it. I. I totally get it. But he got 30. He got. He got what he had already got, like 49 million. He got another seven coming this year. And then guess what, Ocho, he got another 25 coming, another 25, 27 coming the following year.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So he's protected. That's why. That's why guys want these guaranteed contracts, Ocho. So I can be protected not just for one year, but for multiple years.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So I. I get it. But if the report is what Shift is saying is true.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I just don't know when this started taking place, guys. Like I said. Hey, look. Oh, like I said, Ocho, we. Hey, look. I done put. I don't put more. I done gone through so many tubes of toothpaste, putting toothpaste on the guy's door in training camp. Cause I know all he gonna do is just walk out the door and pull it shut. He ain't gonna look back at it. He just gonna grab it and got him. I done poured so much alcohol and lit it on fire and up under the door. Yeah, we play pranks like that, but we know. Look, you ain't. Don't touch a man's. You know, boy, I saw somebody almost got the brakes beat off him. He took his hair, he took his brush. Took dude brush and combed his pubic. Brushed his pubic hair with it with his brush and put it back. Okay, so you see, people don't play now. Yeah, man, ain't no. It ain't nothing but a brush. It ain't no. Hey, it ain't that serious. Yeah, people don't play the way you play. Everybody don't play like that. And you, and you need to understand that, right? Cause you dealing with. Like I said, I just don't, I don't get it. I just. Like I said, I grew up at a time where men, men didn't play. Men rarely didn't play at all. I remember my grandfather, them telling no jokes, like I said. And we told a story of my brother. I just sat down with him about. Somebody made a joke about my grandfather's teeth. And my grandfather was driving off. Yeah, he had his teeth. He had his false teeth. They were sitting on the dash and got a. Mr. Barney. Don't let, don't let your teeth run away. My grandfather put that car in reverse, stopped that car and got out, said, don't play. He said, I'm old enough to be your dad. He said, don't play with me. He said, I'm a grown ass man. He said, find somebody to play with. And I'm not him, man. Probably about five, six here before we smoke my girl. Because if you know back old people, you should go get the, the gas station. Get that full service Ocho.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yes, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I'm saying? They get a puppy. Oh yeah. Hey. Cause you did the windows and you know what I'm saying? Oh, yo, you did the wind. You got the windows all nights.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And you know you still do that. They still do that in Jersey, huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, they do that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, they do that in Jersey.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, man. And so I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm surprised, I'm really surprised that in, in a today's society that allegedly what Christian Wilkins did. I mean because he, like I said, there are some things that like and, and, and photos that surface and I don't know, it might be AI. It's hard to say. Hell, I don't got the way. I don't really believe nothing on the Internet anymore because I don't even know if it's real Ocho, if it's AI right, Because AI have, have it, you know, got an alligator riding a horse. So, so I, I don't even know what to believe anymore, Ocho. But I'm just saying, guys, stop playing so much. All these people in pranks and all this stuff and you see people walking up and they trying to prank somebody and they doing all this stuff. Everybody. Yeah, yeah, come on, come on now you go, you, you, you gonna get yourself hurt.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the first thing somebody, family gonna say, they didn't have to do him like that or they didn't have to do or do her like that. No, you didn't have to play like that. Yeah, people, everybody don't play the same. Somebody gonna let y' all have it. So just stop. Just stop. Like, like you said, Ocho, that's a total stranger. You don't know them from Adam, and I know some. I know I got great friends, but we know how to play, and we know what to say when we play. You know, certain things. There are certain things that's off limits, and you understand that. You always told a stranger you did it with.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You always know what line not to cross. You know your friends. You always know what, what can get that. What buttons to push, you know, what buttons not to push, you know what line not to cross. And there's. There's great understanding with that. When it's someone that you've been friends with for a very long time now. Correct. When it's somebody new, like you're on a new team, a teammate that you don't know that well outside of that building, there are certain things you can't do. You can't conduct yourself, you know, the way you conduct yourself with somebody known 20, 20, 25 years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's why you go in a new environment, you sit back and you observe. Yeah, okay, I can joke with him. Can't joke with him. Or I can say something like this to him. Yeah. Can't say that to him.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You got to read the room.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's why you observe. Give yourself a month or two, three months. Excuse me. To observe and see who you can.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And can't play with.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Who you could talk to, who you can make joke with, who you can do certain things, too. You just need to be observant, because being a locker room, because you got a lot of different backgrounds on your people come from a lot of different areas. I mean, the social, economic background, the different religions, the different ideology, how somebody was raised.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't know what the trigger is. You just don't want to be the one to pull it. Right.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You're right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So I, I'm sorry. The young man, but hopefully they get this resolved because he's extremely talented. He can play.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's gone to the Pro Bowl. He, he can play. Yeah. He can rush the passing. He's tremendous against the run. I, I. It seems to me that he really enjoys the game. Sometimes I think he enjoys it too much, but this, I just. Like I said, we don't know. Shifter's reporting that this incident did happen, but he's saying that's not the that's not the sole reason of why they chose to go in this direction. We don't know. Like I said, that's what Sheft is being reported. We're reporting. Basically we're commenting on what Shefter's reporting. What we do know is that he's been released and they're basically saying we ain't paying you. He filed a grievance with the NFLPA trying to get the guaranteed money that he believes he's owed. We'll see how it plays out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

A parent, you wear many hats. At dinner, you're the chef. When your kids play, you're the ref.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And let's Face it, you're basically a full time chauffeur. Fortunately, when it's time to wear your teacher hat, ABEKA makes things easy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Learn [e-mail] Ocho y' all did my man wrong. Patrick Mahomes will left off the 99 rating. Players with the 99 overall rating in Madden 26 were revealed and they are Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, Miles Garrett and Lane Johnson. What was my homeboy. What were you. What was he, Ocho? A 98. Oh, okay.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, he's a. He's a 98. Like there are many quarterbacks I know they made it to the super bowl. Right? We all football this year.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Based on last year, he shouldn't have been 99.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That's the whole point. That's every. The rating is based on your performance and what you did last year. Yes, they went to the Super Bowl.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but he don't.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And the standards in the metric system in which we judge Patrick Mahomes, who even though he's a 98 is still one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He's not a 99. Based off last year's production. I'm not sure why people, people, Chiefs fans, they fussing at me. They arguing with me. It's not a bad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But what because he. No, it's not a lifetime of cheat. You don't get to. You don't get a 99 and get to keep it forever. So I get to play like crap. I throw 40 interceptions. I'm still a 99 because I've had great years in the past. No, if you look at the guys, look at the season. Saquon had over 2000 yard offensive player of the year. Look at Lamar. Josh Allen was the mvp. Jetta was. Jetta was what he have second, I think second most receiver yards behind Chase Miles Garrett had an outstanding season and Lane Johnson, we know what John Lane Johnson represent. So these guys that are 99, they're more. They earned that. So Patrick Mahomes didn't earn. He didn't earn a 99 either. 98, which is, which is good. If you gave him a 97, I don't think he could have been mad considering how he played. Right.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And I think people, we. We watched the Chiefs last year. We Watched them struggle, especially offensively, even though they were winning games, because Patrick Mahomes is just that great when it comes to managing game and not turning the ball over. Patrick Mahomes last year, he only threw for 3,928 yards his first season.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Under 4,000?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, under 4,000 in front of him. In front of him. Statistically, who threw for more yards? Lamar Jackson.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff and Joe Burrow. I mean, like, what are we talking about? It's not a bad thing. Mahomes is still. Last year. It showed us that he's human. What Patrick Mahomes has done so far in such a very short amount of time in his career, he is, it's. He's like Superman in a sense.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Like.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Like Superman in a sense. To the point we're comparing to Brady. And he's still active with a long way to go.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, yes. But it's not. Oh, Ocho. Without further ado, let's welcome in. He drives the number 23 car for 2311 racing. He has three career wins on the NASCAR circuit. He became the second black driver to win in the Cup Series with a victory in 2021 at Talladega Supermotor Speedway. He the first in his career for the 2311 racing. And yesterday he captured his first ever crown jewel victory in the historic win at the Brickyard 400. You begin, man, Bubba, we had a conversation a few. This probably about four years ago, and you said, I think you had just. You had just started with the. The MJ Denny Hamlin team. I think you had, you had just, just started.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you were talking about your expectations. You know, hey, I want to win Daytona. If it's like you, like Shannon is the super bowl. If you, if you get a chance to win one game. What game you want to win super bowl for me? Well, that's how it is for nascar. You want to win Daytona. Yeah, it wasn't Daytona, but it was one of the crown jewels. So you got Daytona, you got The Coca Cola 600, you got the Brickyard, and you got Darlington. That's right. One of the crown jewels. As the. As it's winding down and you realize, I'm about to win this. I'm about to win this. What's going through your mind, Bubba?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, first, thanks for having me, boys. I appreciate you. It's an honor to be on here, man. The last, last 20 laps when we got the lead, honestly, I didn't know how many Laps were left. I thought it was way more than 20 laps to go. So when my spotter told me 20 to go, I'm like, oh, all right, we gotta, we gotta get serious here. We got a chance. Rain came through, had a little bit of a delay, had a red flag, but I told myself like, I didn't want to win it this way. I won Talladega like this in 2021. We know how much controversy that started. I wanted to win it fair and squared straight up and get the 23 back to victory Lane. And so I just stayed in the ready mindset. We went back with green, white, checkered, attempt, two of them to be exact, and were able to conquer both of them. So it's still kind of unbelievable to me. You know, I, I manifested a lot of good things waking up Sunday morning, but I put in my tweet that I still don't believe it, although I was believing the whole time leading up to it. So it's just weird, man. It's crazy. It's crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, Go ahead, Ocho.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That was going to be my next question. Most of the time, when you win something big like this in, in make history, you know, being one, one of the second, if I'm not mistaken, to win this big, of this magnitude. Has it even hit you yet? Has it hit you yet, exactly what you've accomplished?

[Ryan Seacrest]

It has. You know, it had been going on three years since I had been to Victory Lane, and you know, I've said it multiple times. You know, my buddy who drives a 12 car, he won it at Charlotte and he had said, he had gone on a little hiatus and he had said, you don't know if you could do it anymore after you go for so long without winning. And so a lot of self doubt kind of was sitting in there and, and it was a lot of perseverance and overcoming that. And we're here, we've done it. So now to get back through the flow of everything, yes, I'm busy now, I'm doing all the media stops, but this is how it was three years ago. And it's, it's a great feeling, like you're on top of the world. You know, everybody's looking at you different now and, and, and the people that continue to believe in you, they're kind of giving you like, see, I told you so. And that's a great feeling to have.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. When you get to the, when you got to the track, did you believe you had the type of car that could win it for you?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, I Think when you get to the top level, before you even step foot on the field or the track, you have to believe, you have to have that percentage, whatever that is. Right. You have to know that you have a fighting chance. And with this team, that's what we created going on five years now with 2311, we wanted to show up with the right people, the right cars, just the right equipment and partners to make this all work. You got to have everything to make this work in a sport. And so, yes, going into Indy, we finished fifth there last year, knew we had some potential, Went through practice, we were like 32nd in practice, but practice was super weird, so we threw that out the window. And then we qualified second. We missed the poll by 1300s of a second. So we knew we had a good car. We knew we had a really good car.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But Saturday is Saturday. Sunday is, is race day. It's game day. Like, it's a total different vibe and there's so many different scenarios. But like I said, I woke up and it was, no one is taking this for me today. Hours before the race, like, I want that. I've seen the trophy sitting in the driver's meeting. It says I want that. The, the track president, good friend of mine, Doug Bowles, said, In 2005, Tony Stewart won. You guys know these names. In 2015, Kyle Busch won. He said, legends win on the year of number five legends in the making, current legends, whatever you want to be. So it is up to you guys who decides to win. And I said, I'm gonna be that guy today, hours before the race. And it all worked out. And man, I, I said again in my tweet, I'm not the superstitious guy. I, I usually don't manifest. I just kind of go with the flow. But Sunday was different. And I was confident in every move that I made and every outcome that was, was there, every scenario that was there. And it was just the perfect recipe for an awesome day. Had the family there, had my nine month old and my wife there. It was. Was awesome.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's what I was about to get into. Yeah. In late September, you and your wife, lovely wife Amanda, welcome your first child.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What was that like, Bubba? I got my wife here, who's been by my side for the longest, and now I got a. Oh, my goodness. What was that moment like when they came to Victory Lane and you laid eyes on your wife and your child?

[Ryan Seacrest]

You, you're elated, right? I'm on top of the car. I'm Wore out. I'm sweating, I'm soaking wet. And I was, like, doing an interview, and I'm like, I haven't seen my wife and kid yet. Like, where they at, what's going on? And so you're going through the emotions. I'm trying not to pass out because I'm dehydrated and fatigued, and I see them, and all of that goes away. It's just like us three are at the track for 15 seconds, and I see my kid.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He cracks that smile when he sees. When he sees me, and I'm already on top of the world, and I don't even know how you can get higher than that. And it was just. It was just a really cool experience. You know, we were able to win in Daytona to start the year with the duel, but this one was Bex's first official win. So to have him there, he has no idea what's going on. But we have a ton of memories captured that we'll be able to talk about someday, and I look forward to that moment. But Amanda being there as well, she's. Like you said, she's there every step of the way, has been with me for going on 10 years now and has gone through the trials and tribulations with me right by my side, and. And the first thing she told me, and you could see as she mouths it, we did it. We did it. We finally did it. We've been working so hard to get to this level, and now that we got our little sidekick, healthy baby boy, it is just. Did he kiss the brace?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I saw you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He did not. He.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He sat there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He was like, what are y' all doing? I didn't want to force it. I didn't want to force it. It was awesome, though.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was awesome.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I want to go back to those moments, especially towards the end of the race. Obviously, you had multiple cautions, and you have to restart. Are you nervous? Like, I'm trying to think, like, what's going in your mind when. When you're having to restart? Obviously already having a certain position, nervous when it's time to restart in case my thing and maybe somebody might come back and. And take the spot where I'm already at?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

How did that play out? Did you have to. Did you have to block people in or you. You know, you have to. You have to be strategic in everything that you do.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. So. So during that red flag, you know, I went through all the scenarios of what was going to happen. I knew, well, the biggest thing we'll Back up a little bit. When the caution came out with six to go, we were extremely tight on fuel. Like, yeah, like my crew chief said, we have enough fuel for one overtime restart. That's it. And then this is all calculated out, so could be off by very little. But the technology and the data that we have nowadays, we don't miss that much. It's spot on, Right. And so they're like, we have enough for one overtime restart if we go. When we go back green. So I said, okay. So I go through my mental checklist, okay, I gotta get a good start here. If I get a good push and I'm ahead, he's not gonna beat me through turn one or turn two. So we fire off, and I don't get a good push. He gets a good push. He's ahead of me into one. And I said, okay, gloves are off. We're gonna. We're gonna battle this because I'm not, you know, giving up this spot. Get the lead through two and defending, playing a little cat and mouse down the back stretch. Caution comes out. Still in the lead. Well, I was just told that I only have fuel. Enough fuel for one of those.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Here we go.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We're about to do it again. And so it's like, all right, there's no way that. There's no way that it could end this way. I kind of had the Angel Devil on each shoulder. It was like, this is about to be ripped out from underneath you. And then the other part is like, you got plenty of fuel in the tank. This is going to be fine.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right?

[Ryan Seacrest]

And fast forward, it ended up being fine. We had a hell of a restart, got in the lead through turn one and never looked back. And, hell, I had enough fuel to do a burnout. I ran out of fuel, backing up on. Onto the podium to go up to the top. So it was. It was really cool. Really cool.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That's dope. That's dope.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Thank you, brother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The. The 23, the XL car, I mean, you. You were the first driver that. That Mike and Danny hired in 20, 21.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And, you know, you absolutely know how competitive Mike is.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Denny is. Is pretty. Dan is a little. A little calmer, but he's competitive also.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you're going through your drought, that never cross your mind, man, I got. I got to win this thing because knowing MJ.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I. I 100. I thought about that every day. MJ has been super loyal to me and has been one of my biggest supporters. And it's not every day where somebody can say that. Right? And so I definitely don't take those words for granted. I appreciate that support. But I also know he also told me, you know, don't get comfortable, you know, always.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Always keep pushing for more, you know, and. And I'm never the person to get comfortable because I am so competitive, and I want to win every damn race that we enter. But MJ and Denny both know it's a little bit different for Denny because he's in it. He's in the trenches as well, but they both know how hard it is to win. And so when you're going up against guys like Denny, I mean, Denny finished third. He was right there. You know, he's. He's winning multiple. So it's. It's super hard. And so I, I didn't lose the sight of that. That it's really hard. And I'm. I'm giving it everything I have. But there was a time like maybe a few years ago where I felt like, you know, Denny was really, really hard on me. And it's like, man, I'm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What do you want me to do? And I quickly switched transition to. I think both MJ and Denny see the potential in me that I don't see. And this is why everything is happening a certain way. And so I put it on my shoulders to figure out why it. Why is that? What. What are they saying? Let's go find it? And I hate that it's taken three years, but hey, it's been one day since I've haven't won a race now, you know, and not. It's not. Not a thousand. Whatever it was at 100 races, whatever it was. And, you know, it's. It's. I really appreciate those guys and understanding the, The. The importance of competition and what it takes to be the absolute best. I had to beat the best this weekend to get the win. And so I really love the position that we're in now. Yes, it's only five races to go in the regular season, but there's so much weight lifted off my shoulders. The last three years, I have been the last guy or the first guy out, you know, the last guy in, first guy out. I have to, the very end of the regular season, have always just been super stressed out because you want to make the playoffs. It's a make or break. You know, we missed it. We were first car out last year. We missed it. And you're kind of just put on the shelf and we'll try again next year. Well, we're in, baby. We're in. We're locked in. And now we can go and have some fun for these next five. Really identify our weak areas and sharpen our tools to get ready for a good playoff run, because I truly believe in this team. The 23 car has really upticked the performance from all avenues, and, man, it's. It's been really cool, so. Well, just. What an awesome day yesterday.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If you don't mind sharing with us, Bubba, what did Mike say when you. When you get. When he got on the phone with you and you guys talk, what did he say to you?

[Ryan Seacrest]

He's just super proud, man. He was just really, really proud and really happy for me. And I was. I was bummed. I was bummed that he wasn't there because Reddick, teammate, he's got to win. With MJ there, I think he's got multiple wins with MJ there and, And I've yet to my three wins. He hasn't been there, but just. Okay, but I thought that one would have been maybe.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Maybe that's your good luck charm, him not being stay away.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, I got three of them. You ain't there. Stay away. That's fine with me. But I said, man, I wish you were here. And he was like, well, I'll have a drink for you in spirit. So that was. That was super cool. He's always watching from. From a guy. You guys, you guys know him. I mean, he could be doing so much other things with his time and money and effort, but he loves nascar. He, He. He's been a fan of this for so long, and he understands how hard.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's. You're exactly right. That's exactly right. And he understands how hard it is, and he loves the process to see his, his team go through to get to the top. So it's honored to, to be driving the 23.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, how much time do you get to take off? If I'm not mistaken, cup, there are five races left is Iowa Speedway is next, right?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I was Iowa's next. Yes, sir.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I was next. How much time do you have off before you have to get back out, start training, get back in the rhythm and actually forget about. Okay, I just won Brickyard 400. Now I got the lock in and continue to still have fun and enjoy myself?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But things up before this playoff run.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, well, so when, when I win, my schedule gets immediately busy, you know, so. Yes, that's all I've been doing today. We had A little party last night, but man, I'll tell you, getting old and having a nine month old, that servers you up real quick. I was up at 7am Ready to rip, changing diapers and whatnot, so it was, it was, it was special to have the team over. But I'm sure tomorrow, I know tomorrow's really packed, and then Wednesday, maybe some more stuff, but Thursday, usually have a day off and then you travel out Friday, so you get a day or so to just completely be off social media, not working, enjoy yourself, playing golf, whatever, hanging by the pool, hanging with your kid, whatever it is, so. But really, it's no time. You're right back in the car and going at it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I have one more question before. If you have anything else. Go ahead, tell me. I, I know Iowa's next. I'm not sure what the other four. Please tell me Homestead Miami Speedway is in the next four after Iowa.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Nope, we've already ran, we ran Homestead earlier this year. So next year the, the final race of the season will be Homestead, so it'll be in November. So. Yeah, we, we ran Homestead, we finished third there back in March, so it's been a while, so. Yeah, yeah, you can travel. Come on out. Any race. We got you.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

All right, you already know. So we got, we got Iowa. What's after Iowa?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I don't know, Let me look. Iowa, Watkins Glenn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I went to Watkins Glenn. That's a road course.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's a road course. Richmond and Daytona.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, well, Daytona, that'll be what? That's during football season though, by that time. Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's probably a month away.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay, I, I'll see you in Daytona.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You're gonna be there. All right, perfect.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, because remember, I'm in Miami, I'm right down.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So that's, that's a Saturday night race. So August 23rd.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay, I'll be there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, I'll hit you up, bubba.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me ask you this. How did they determine the crown jewels? Because when I was growing up and I used to watch nascar, you know me and I had the conversation you like. Man, you really do know nascar. When did, Because Talladega, Talladega was really next to Daytona when I was a kid. And so, and you look at the crown jewels they got, you know, you got, obviously got the Brickyard and you got the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte. You got Daytona and then Darlington. How did, how did Talladega get kicked out?

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's a good question. So I, I haven't really, really been a, a history buff and understood the importance. I appreciate the importance, but when all this came about, you know, I just kind of stumbled upon, like, okay, we got four crown jewels, but I would say since the early 2000s, late 90s, maybe early 90s, it's. It's been kind of those four because they're always talked about every time they're on the schedule and we're getting close to them. Crown jewel events are coming up. So Talladega, I think, just because I don't know why it's changed, be honest with you. I could get off into the weeds, and I'm not sure, but I know we got one of them. So we're good.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I got what? I got one of the slams, and I'm good. We had a conversation, and I was asking you, I said, well, how much time do you spend on the track? And I want you to share with our chat that you, like, spend most of the time in the simulator because, you know, the cars cost too much and we can't afford. Can't run the risk of wrecking them. So we spent a lot of time in the simulator. Talk to our chat about. About that.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I remember that conversation. Yeah, we. That's. That's actually a really popular question that, that people always ask, like, what does practice look like? Well, we don't get any. You know, let's go back 15, 10, 10, 15 years ago. Yeah, we were testing each and every day of the week. We'd read race on Sunday, be testing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday if you could. But nothing's free in this world, and it costs a lot of money. And so NASCAR looked at ways of becoming more cost efficient and bridging the gap from smaller budget teams to bigger budget teams. And so they eliminated testing. Right. The more testing, the more R D you get, the more speed you find as to where smaller teams, you don't really have that. So you had the disparity. Right. And so now there's probably, let's just say 15 to 20 NASCAR mandated tests, but there's only three cars that are allowed. Sometimes there's two from each team that are allowed to go, but NASCAR mandates those. And it's not every time that I get to go and do it. I haven't tested in over a year. And that's just one track. There's just one drive. And so we spend all of our time, weeks leading up for road courses. We'll spend every Wednesday for two hours getting ready for, like, Watkins Glenn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And so some drivers do more, some drivers do less, some drivers don't do Any at all. I. I struggle a little bit because it is virtual, right? It does. You don't have the sensation of speed. So that's a big factor that I rely on. Like my. My mind.

[Shannon Sharpe]

My.

[Ryan Seacrest]

My butt is telling me things to my feet to do, my hands to do, and you don't get that. But it is a good tool for engineers and crew chiefs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They really have developed the software and the technology to basically take our setup, our physical setup, and plug it in the data world.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Right?

[Ryan Seacrest]

And this is what you got. So give us our feedback, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it's. And it's crazy to see how advanced it has come. So, yeah, we spend hours on the virtual world getting ready for real life and expect it to be the same.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You know, that's. That's funny now that you said that. The way you practice, obviously, you don't want to wreck the cars in real time, having to practice. But doing it in the virtual world, how long before you catch a rhythm, the live track, and feel comfortable at what you're doing? Obviously doing it virtually, you have to memorize everything. Understanding where you can get away with things. Can you get. Can I get away with this high? Can I get away with the low drag? You know, the whole nine yards? I don't want to.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, yeah, no, no. I'll give you a Chicago. The street course that we ran, we were just there or three weeks ago. I believe it is actually pretty good on the sim. Like, things translate pretty well. And so we have our breaking markers. They have like, 800ft, 700ft, 600ft until the turn, right? So that's your breaking markers. And so on the sim, you pick out one, and you get into a nice rhythm for. For weeks and running that. And so it's like, all right, you know, we feel pretty good about it. We go off in real life, and you break at the 6, 600 marker, and it's like, oh, that's it. Okay. So then sometimes it could be off maybe by 100ft, which is a lot, but you can creep up to it and. And whatnot. We usually tend to creep up to it instead of overdo it and back. Back off. Because when you're on a street course, there's not much room for overdoing. You are done and destroyed. So, yes, you have to be mindful, so it's easy for us to creep up to. But when the track translates and correlates really well in the virtual world, right. Then it makes the process easier. So you're spending maybe three laps in Real life to get comfortable.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Ah, okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You, you mentioned Watkins Glenn, which is a road course. Normally it's all these left turns. Now you're talking about right turns. How long did it take you to get comfortable with that?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, it's taking me 23 years. I've been doing it all my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Man.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Road course. I've come a long way since my first road course race, so I've been a cup for eight years now. Man, I was just terrible. I was so slow. Just if the breaking mark at that, if the mark was go lift at the 400, I was lifting at the 800. Like I was just not doing my job. It was bad. And now, you know, we've, we've been able to confidently say we looked at all of our road course stuff. Those finishes don't show it. But where we qualify, where we run, we can say we're a 10th, 12th place car on road courses, which is a massive step and I've really appreciated the grind to get there. It's been a lot of work. But I have confidence showing up on road courses now. Like I have confidence going to the Indy and then road courses are right there beneath it. Right. It's not gonna match an oval because I haven't done it all my life. There's a lot of guys that have done it majority of their life, majority of their career. They can just show up and be really good at it. And so it's, it's just a different craft that you have to learn how to develop and adapt to. That has taken a little bit more time for me, but it's finally starting to show up and pay off.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah. Okay, I got one more question. One more question. Okay. Come on. I promise, I promise, I promise. Okay. When it comes to practice, right. I just want to know this virtually, obviously, or when you have simulations in the virtual world, do they obviously have cars as well do. Is it simulated that way? We have have other cars to practice against.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Nope, nope. We are out there solo. So yeah, there's, there's another factor that you're, you're always by yourself and certain tracks you can work on, like we don't have tire fall off. So the tires are always 100 grip every time, every, every part in the virtual world that's not real in real life. Right. So there's so many different factors. As soon as you roll out of the, the, the garage, your tires are already starting to heat up and change. So there's a lot of factors that are still a work in progress. This is Many years after I am out will still always be developing simulation tools to get it even closer to real life. So it'll be exciting to see what. What's to come.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bubba, you drive. Now, obviously, Rick Hendricks is a big car collector. MJ is a car collector. Are drivers. You guys drive for a living. Are you guys car collectors? Do you like cars? Cars?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I love cars. I have. I have a couple toys I've posted. I have a couple vintage cars. I got a Volkswagen Bug and a bus, so those are fun. But you got a 23.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What? You got a 23 window. 21.

[Ryan Seacrest]

21. 21 window. That thing is pimp, too. Like, it's. It's actually off getting work done. Okay. It'll actually be back, I think, within the next month, which I'm excited for. We got a bigger motor in it, so it's. It's gonna be fun. But Toyota, man, is such a great partner of ours, and I got a pretty sweet deal. I got a pretty good agent to work out a good deal. I get. I get three personal vehicles from them, so I'm not complaining. I drive the new Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. My wife's got the Lexus GX550. And then I got my bus driver one just to cruise around in the new brand new 4Runner that just came out. So I'm living good. I got a lot of cars.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I love cars.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, we're good, right?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You drive fast for a living. You didn't mention anything foreign. That is really, really fast.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm good because I trust my race car way more than any streetcar that goes fast. Okay. So I'm good. I drive it on Sundays.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay, That's a good one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's a good one.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bubba, we're gonna get you out of here on this one. For black young kids that may be listening and get them interested in NASCAR to be like you, because you said at a very young age, you was driving the midgets, and you, like, always wanted to be on the NASCAR circle. You wanted to drive. How do we get other minorities interested in nascar? Oh, man.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Such a good, good question. I think it. I think winning on Sundays definitely helps. You know, for me, that. That gets, like, the. The stake in the ground. That gets the roots in the ground right and creates a foundation how we make getting started in. In motorsports mainstream. It is so underground. It doesn't matter if you're trying to be an F1 driver, IndyCar driver, NASCAR driver. The go kart tracks are not some, hey, show up here. And have a good time. It is underground, and it costs a lot of money. And so I think. I think it's understanding. There's probably so many kids out there that I know there's so many kids out there that want to race and have no idea that there's a go kart track or a racing facility within 10 miles of their. Their house, right? And it's about the exposure. It's about being comfortable to go out there and just watch, become a fan, learn as much as you can. And then when you build up the confidence, the courage, you go ask somebody, how do I do this? How do I become this? The first thing people are going to say is money. The way that the sport is evolved now, like, the driver that has a lot of talent and no money versus the driver who has a lot of money and notes or no talent, you know, he is getting the opportunity first over the guy with talent. And so I hate that it's that way. But everything's gotten expensive these days. But motorsports, I mean, you're racing cars. At the end of the day, it's expensive. And so understanding that figuring out how to get your foot in the door, but understanding that it is so underground, you have to do your research. I. I encourage everybody to get on Google Maps or whatever it is and type in racetracks nearby and go and enjoy it. Because there are so many different forms of racing to get started in, and everybody wants to be a driver. I get that. But there's only 38, 36 of us that get to do it in the world. Like, it's hard. Not everybody can be a driver, but you can be a part of the race team. There are so many opportunities that I think all of us can do a better job of showcasing. Hey, this might be an avenue for you. This might be an avenue for you. Like, come be a part of our team in some fashion. Let's learn together and grow together.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I like it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bubba, man, congratulations, man. We're proud of you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Thank you, brother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Check this out. When you win. When you win the cup because you're in the playoffs, when you win the cup, come back and celebrate with us. Oh, I'll be there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll be there. From the racetrack. I'll call you from the bus from victory lane, bro.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Appreciate it. Bubba, man, congratulations on. Congratulations on the new kid. Congratulations on the win, man. Come back and see us soon.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, we'll do. Thank you, guys. Y' all have a good night.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bubble Wallace, ladies and gentlemen.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, man, that was great. It was Great. Like I said, I. I've had it. I've had him on Ocho. When I, When I first started Club Shay Shay, I had him on. And we talked a long time and got into the weeds of it, and we talked about the drivers. We, you know, you know, obviously Wendell Scott, but, you know, we talked about Richard Petty and Kale Yarborough and Bobby and Donnie Allison and Daryl Waltrip and, you know, all the guys. Harry Gantt and Austin Bill from Dawsonville and Buddy Baker, the Wood Brothers. You know, man, I. Oh, bad. Back when I was, When I was a kid, nascar was it in the South.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Black, white, it didn't matter. You go to the, you go to the, the convenience store and they had the bandanas. They had all the little bandanas. You saw all the racing cars. Dale Earnhardt Senior so you had, I mean, you had all the paraphernalia, the jackets hanging up the caps. And if you're from the south, you know exact. Exactly what I'm talking about. And it. There was no, There was really no. There was no Iowa. There was no, There was no California racing. Everything was from the south, basically from Virginia all the way down, man. It was, it was unbelievable. And to talk about it, man, but I was. It was great to have Bubba on and get an opportunity to talk, you know, from time to time. I like having. I like having guys on from a sport that we don't really talk about a whole lot. And it gives our chat. Give the chat an opportunity to hear about something that they're probably not as familiar with or, and, and, and to get a guy, get an opportunity on like Bubba to show his personality.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And the funny thing too about it is, is I've been to. To many, many NASCAR races. I, I can talk the bourbon, talk the Pacifics a little bit, and I don't think people actually want to give it a chance because they, they just view it as cars going fast in a circle.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But, yeah, strategy is a lot of strategy behind it, a lot.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But you. I never, I would never want to explain the strategy to somebody who's never been. I want to get you in the environment. I just need to get you an environment. I just need to get you in them stands, get you a nice beer, get you a hot dog, get you some popcorn and just then allow you to experience it there and then you'll get a better feel for it. It's more than just going in a circle, because just tell it. Just tell you watch it on tv. It does no justice, man, until, until.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You See them cars.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Traveling at 180 to 200 miles an hour, and they're this far apart. So you talk about the 405, or you go on 75, 85. I'm talking about highways that everybody knows. Or you get on the 10 on rush hour, and you a. Yep. Like Ocho said, you rush hour, and the cars are going. Traveling 180 miles an hour, and they're this close to each other.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

No room for error. There is no room for error.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And when those cars come. And when those cars come by and you. You could just. I mean, you could just feel it.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, the best part is when the announcer says, driver, start your engines. Oh, it's thought that that feeling is. Is like no other.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, when they fire that thing up, Ocho, and they start. Head to the track and they start doing like this, and they move it like they're getting the tires warmed up. They wanted to grip, man. Ain't nothing like it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ain't nothing like it.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You've been to Charlotte before? You've never been to Charlotte, huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I've never been to Charlotte, no.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay. Yeah, Charlotte. I've been to Charlotte. Daytona, Iowa, once. Homestead, which is. Right. But like a 30 minute drive down the road.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, we got Hampton. We got Hampton. Hampton is so hard to get to because there's only one way in and there's one way out.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, that's traffic.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you talk about a couple of hundred. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hampton is Hampton, Georgia. So there's only one Ocho. It's two lanes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you going in, bro. So unless you get helicoptered in, good luck. Good luck. But yeah, man, it's. You got to. You got to. You gotta. You need to experience it to get a true appreciation. Yeah. All right. Jerry Jones says he just can't help himself today. He said last year's chant for CD Lamb's contract extension was much louder than yesterday's chant for Micah. Jared said, man, that was a little faint noise compared to the way they were hollering last year. Paid Lamb. Whoever's not in, you can count on a few hollering that. But it was big and loud last year. Chance for Lamb.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I don't know. I don't know. Listen, I. I told you what I think Jerry's doing. I told you what I think he's doing. He's purposely pranking us every time. He's not pranking us, but every time it's time for a player to get paid, even though he has to pay them top dollar. I Think he purposely waits to the last, to the last minute for a reason? He's doing no purpose. So the attention can always be on the cowboys. So the attention can always be on. Be on him. Let's say. What if he did pay Michael Parsons already? What would be the conversation? What would be the conversation right now?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Dak. Are you, Are you. What you gonna do with that?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Wait, what do you mean? That, that get scheduled to make what, 60, 61, 62, something like that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

$60 million. Hey, is he gonna extend him? Extend him?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

He just signed it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But he got two years. He got another year left on that already. Yeah, that, that do. Hey, that's what I say, Ocho. Hey, that's what I say. These years go by fast. You look up, I mean, hey, I just remember celebrating the 50th birthday. Now I'm closer to 60 than I am 50. And that's the thing you look up, man. Man, this time ain't waiting on nobody, Ocho.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, it ain't. It ain't one thing. And one thing it would never do. It would never. It would never. Hey, what? Hey, say that. You remember that quote you said about why you wear a watch? You know, Remember that quote? I got it written down. I ain't got my pad. I will watch. Why?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, hey, how valuable my time is not to tell time? Yeah, that guy, after this year, that could have two years left.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Okay, okay, man, that, that, that killing them, boy. That killing them one hell of a team offense.

[Shannon Sharpe]

80 million dollar signing bonus. 231 million in guaranteed money.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That's what he got.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That, what that got.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Go ahead, brother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, ain't mad at him at all. I mean, you know how much a man got to pay? How much a man got to be worth to pay you? 230 and guarantee it.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I'm on that. Come on now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, to the man, the man that got a hundred million dollar home. How much money you think he actually.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Got if you can afford 100 million dollar home? You know what? I, I give you one better. How about the man that has a 360 million dollar yacht?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's a crew. You got to have a crew. Probably 30. 30 to 50 people.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And don't get me started, man. There's a whole different. We think athletes are rich. Well, hell, what you think the people that's paying them are?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, they rich, wealthy. They wealthy, man. There's a difference between rich and wealthy. The wealthy, the wealthy people pay the rich people salary. That's how that work. That's how that works.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

As a matter of fact. Oh, hold on, hold on, hold on. And, you know, there's a. There's another level above the wealthy people.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The author, the ultra.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Come on now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. See, when you start. When you start getting. Ocho, when you start getting. When you start getting to that 20, 30 for. First of all, you start getting 20. 30 billion. That's it. Now you get the 50 to 75, and then you get these guys that got a hundred. And then they go from 1 to 150, 150 to 200, 200 to 250. Now you get that Elon Musk that's in a class by himself, that he's 300 billion. And then, you know, you got Larry Ellison and you got Mark Zuckerberg and you got, you know, Jeff Bezos. You got those guys, the two hundreds. But, but, Ocho, it's kind of like. It's. Once you get, like, To a certain number.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's like hot. You. Your body don't know the difference between 200 degrees and 300 degrees.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Once you get 50 billion, you get 50. What can't you buy with 50 billion that you need 75 billion for? Listen, besides just say, I want to have it, which I get. I ain't got no problem with that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, and it's. It's so funny. When it comes to billionaires, the toys that they like to buy are completely different than what the millionaires like to buy. They're toy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They get. Let me. I mean, they dropping, they drop, they dropping. They dropping 100 million, 200 million on artwork. You know what I'm saying? They got a painting, you know, Picasso or they got When Raw, you know, they, they, they. They. They spending. They spend money. Michelangelo, they spending money on Picasso. They spending money like that, Ocho. You know, they got a home over here. They got a home over there. And, you know, they got a helicopter. They got a jet. You know, they take. You know, they got a. A. A place over here that they'll take the, you know, take the yacht to and get up.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah. Hey, man, it's a different world out there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But so, Jerry, you heard him. So it doesn't matter how loud the chance were. You heard them say, hey, Michael, wait a minute. Yeah, but why, as he would say, pay Michael one thing.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

One thing Jerry gonna do. Is he gonna do things his way? Oh, for sure he gonna do things his way and on his time. I don't like the fact that Mike is missing all these valuable days and he's Not. He's not going through the. I call it putting a callus, creating a callus on the body to get ready to play football in the regular season. I don't like it because you. He gonna cut. No. Micah, as explosive as he is, he gonna go from zero to 60 just like that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep. But look, this is Jerry. Jerry gonna be Jerry. He's gonna do like you said he's gonna do thing on his timeline. He already knows he has to pay Micah. Micah Parsons don't fall off trees. You got one, and you get an opportunity to have him for the next, you know, you got him. Yeah, I mean, Micah's 26, so this is his fifth year, so you get it. To have him for another five to eight years, at bare minimum him. And you know you're gonna have to pay him. And guess what? This is not the other. This is not the only contract that you're gonna get it. You're gonna. Guess what. You're gonna probably have to extend him another time. Just like Miles Garrett got extended, and he got extended again. TJ Watt got extended, and he got extended again. So guess what? You're gonna probably have to give him two extensions. Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Michael Parsons probably, by the time he's 3233, is gonna probably be worth then sign contracts over $300 million. That's just. That's the NFL that we live in now, Ocho. That's. That's where it's at. And he would have earned every dime.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, people don't listen. Somebody in the chat. Micah Bennett, training camp, Ocho, what you talking about? Is Michael Parson practicing? Has he touched the field?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What are you holding in?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, he holding in. How we. Like, what are we talking about, man? I just said he gonna have to go from 0 to 60 when he signs. He's holding in so he doesn't get fined.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, that's 50,000 a day.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

It is. 50,000 a day, huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah. Like golly, common sense.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That's crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, he's. He's. He's been a limited participant because he's citing back tightness.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, back what?

[Shannon Sharpe]

His bike. His back tight.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But people funny, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't blame him.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, that's fine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't blame him. Like I said, I. I 50, 000 a day. Yeah, you'll be in training camp. I mean, you're gonna be in training camp. At bare minimum, 20 days. That's a meal.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah. Ain't no. Ain't no point. Ain't no point of Playing like that. I'm here because they can't forget. They can't forget that money either, but.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They can't really like it used to. But guess what? Since you can't forgive it, guess what. Go ahead and put in my contract. I want my whatever. What? Whatever I would have lost. Whatever I lost by not showing up. I'm gonna need that in the contract. Yes.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Matter of fact. Matter of fact, put it in my signing, Boat. In my signing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Like Dollar bill told. Like St. Louis told. $ Bill, do something to make me feel better. That what he told Brooklyn? What was it? What was it? What was the dude named Brooklyn? What was the other dude name when he. When he put that. He put the cigarette out of what you call him? Nose Man. I forgot a little bad to do, but, hey, do something to make me feel better. Hey, yeah, look, they're gonna get it done. I. I just hate, you know, Michael, Michael, Michael, Mike. Mike is like. Well, hold on. Y' all keep on telling me y' all gonna get it done. Until that thing hit my bank account, I don't believe it's gonna get done.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But listen, I mean, Jerry is. Jerry's being Jerry. He's done this to everybody. So the timetable, I'm not sure when it's going to be me. If I was the player, I would have asked Jared. I went. I would have went to him quietly. I say, listen, I understand you have a way of doing things. I'm not here to bully you and tell you how to run your business. But I need to be on the field. I need to be practicing. Especially when it comes to training camp. I want to be as far ahead of the curve as I can be going into the preseason because I'm not going to get that many snaps getting acclimated to the speed of the goddamn game. Please, sir. Thank you kindly. And close the door. And walk out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, remember what he said about cd? What CD Gonna get out of being in practice, being in training camp, being all this?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Man, please. Well, actually, you know what? CD Ain't missed a goddamn beat. He missed a beat last year. He miss a beat, Dak went out. He still was very productive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I think they ended up. Didn't they end up. They. I think they ended up shutting CD down, too.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Well, that's towards the end of the season.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

My goddamn napkin. Go. Oh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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