Smells like Football SZN

Summary

Laugh With Me – Smells Like Football SZN

Host: Jeremy Odem
Guest: Eric Larson
Date: September 2, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode, host Jeremy Odem welcomes back recurring guest Eric Larson—a self-proclaimed fantasy football champion and noted veteran of live NFL games. The pair dive full throttle into football season: riffing on Jeremy’s latest jokes, unpacking football fandom, poking fun at generational slang, and delivering a thorough, division-by-division NFL season preview. Expect plenty of laughs, pop culture asides, and sports insight delivered with the duo’s trademark wit.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Fall Arrives… and So Does Football (03:39)

• Jeremy and Eric discuss Eric’s month-long vacation, poking fun at the idea that nobody noticed he was gone since his work now requires less people-management.
• "You just kind of weasel your way... and then nobody thinks to look for you." (Eric, 04:16)

Comedy Side Hustle: The Daytime Stripper Car Wash (04:19)

• Jeremy resurrects Eric’s tongue-in-cheek idea for a themed ‘stripper car wash’ as a daytime gig for exotic dancers.
• Debate over side hustles, tip-based gigs, and the looming ‘tipping culture’ everywhere.
• "Why do the strippers have to work night and day?... do they get to choose one or the other?" (Jeremy, 04:19)
• Eric quips about the growing gig economy and how everyone, from strippers to podcasters, hustles for tips in different ways.
• Discussion expands to recent tax law changes on tips and their impact on service jobs.

Old School vs. New Tipping Culture (08:04)

• Nostalgia about “tip discipline”—when a dollar per drink was standard—and how suggested tip percentages have inflated.
• Jeremy’s anecdote about his friend who insists on custom tipping just $1, “That’s tip discipline right there.” (Jeremy, 08:54)
• Commentary on how even retail and stadium concession workers now expect tips, echoing older complaints with a comedic twist.

Generational Slang Confusion: The ‘6, 7’ Phenomenon (10:08)

• Jeremy recounts feeling out of touch hearing teens, including his daughter’s friends, repeating “6, 7, 6, 7.”
• Research (and interrogation of family) reveals it’s a passing fad, likely borrowed from a rapper’s catchphrase—much like "no cap".
• “I look young, I should at least act young, right?” (Jeremy, 11:23)
• Self-aware dad humor as Jeremy vows to overuse “6, 7” to stay relevant.
• “I'm going to be six seven-ing all over the place.” (Jeremy, 15:15)

Football Returns: Nebraska Huskers and College Football Talk (15:37)

• The hosts riff on Nebraska’s unconventional Thursday opener, how prime-time schedules disrupt traditional ‘game day’ vibes, and the emotional whiplash Husker fans endure.
• “It didn't feel like Husker game... it was a good offseason, feels like the excitement’s there. Maybe Husker fans are getting overwhelmed with success of the offseason and then being let down again.” (Jeremy, 16:18)
• Both recount their dedication staying up for late games, “When it became obvious that we were still in the game... 100% not going to cover the spread, which was 7.” (Jeremy, 18:18)

NFL Preview: Division-by-Division Breakdown

AFC North (24:00–35:19)

• Browns: Written off as a “draft-pick hoarding, tanking team”; jokes about Joe Flacco & Shador Sanders QB battle.
• Steelers: Projected perpetual .500 team; Tomlin’s never-had-losing-season streak continues.
• Bengals: All-in on offense, defense is a question mark. Burrow’s health is the linchpin.
• Ravens: Consensus favorite for the division. "They're going to be a 12-, 13-win team. A lot of that's due to Lamar.” (Eric, 33:36)

AFC South (35:19–45:28)

• Titans: Called “the Mike Trout of the NFL—great, but irrelevant because of surroundings.” (Eric, 36:12)
• Colts: Still in a post-Luck slump, uncertain at QB. “Another thing that's been murdered is Anthony Richardson’s football career.” (Eric, 38:21)
• Jaguars: Flashes of hope, could surprise, but Jeremy and Eric are cautiously pessimistic.
• Texans: Predicted winner, mostly on strength of defense and coaching (Ryann’s influence), but not “flashy.”

AFC West (45:40–59:58)

• Raiders: Written off despite Pete Carroll’s arrival. Neither host is buying a renaissance.
• Broncos: Major improvement in defense but skepticism whether Bo Nix's development is enough. “I don't buy it. None of his teammates have gone to his birthday party.” (Jeremy, 50:28)
• Chargers: Lot of optimism, deeper offense, new running back O’Marian Hampton, “alien” Keenan Allen returning.
• Chiefs: Still top until proven otherwise. “I still think that Patrick Mahomes is a top three QB and Andy Reid is a top five play-caller.” (Eric, 58:37)

AFC East (61:57–69:55)

• Jets: Perennial disappointment. “What an awful ride to be a Jets fan.” (Eric, 61:57)
• Dolphins: Fun team, but McDaniel and Tua could both be gone if no playoff run; praised for creativity and vibe, but durability is a worry.
• Patriots: Defense will keep them competitive, but feels very “AFC South,” good-not-great. "I buy into Drake May..." (Eric, 67:15)
• Bills: Josh Allen is “field tilting.” Team is in its prime Super Bowl window.

Who Will Represent the AFC? (70:33)

• Ravens called the “safe pick” for the Super Bowl; Bills chosen by Jeremy as “due to get over that hump.”
• “As long as [Allen’s] in your offense, your offense probably going to be pretty good.” (Eric, 69:13)
• Both dismiss Texans/Jaguars as real threats; neither truly sees the Chiefs returning.
• “If the Chiefs keep getting bounces, we're going to riot...” (Jeremy, 58:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tipping:
  “Now the beer is $18, and the suggested tip line is $3.50… I have a friend, he will punch in the custom amount and give them $1. That’s tip discipline right there.” (Jeremy, 08:18)
• On Generational Slang:
  “I look young, I should at least act young, right?” (Jeremy, 11:23)
  “I'm going to be six seven-ing all over the place.” (Jeremy, 15:15)
• On the Broncos Hype:
  “I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard none of his teammates have gone to Bo Nix’s birthday party.” (Jeremy, 50:28)
• On Charger Optimism:
  “I couldn’t be more excited to have the guy back. First down, first down, first down. I don’t even know if we’ll get to second down.” (Jeremy, 54:12)
• On the Chiefs’ Dynasty:
  “I still think Patrick Mahomes is a top three quarterback and Andy Reid is a top five play-caller.” (Eric, 58:37)
• On NFL Parity:
  “There's always like six, seven teams that switch—playoff team, non-playoff team. That just always happens.” (Jeremy, 44:36)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:39 – Eric’s month-long vacation and side hustle jokes
• 04:19 – Stripper car wash social commentary and tipping economics
• 08:04 – Tipping inflation and “tip discipline” nostalgia
• 10:08 – “6, 7, 6, 7” slang and generational gap
• 15:37 – Husker football, laborious game day stories
• 24:00 – AFC North breakdown begins
• 35:19 – AFC South breakdown, Titans/Colts shade
• 45:40 – AFC West: Raiders, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs deep dive
• 61:57 – AFC East rundown, Bills as “the Joshes”
• 70:33 – Super Bowl pick debate (Bills vs. Ravens)
• 73:45 – Teasers: Laugh With Me Animated Series & Fantasy Football Draft

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Tone & Style

Jeremy and Eric’s interplay is fast, irreverent, and rooted in a blend of sports insight and real-life comedy. Their exchanges range from observational dad humor (“I’m going to be six seven-ing all over the place”) to sharp sports analysis, all with a friendly ribbing that makes listeners feel like part of their group chat.

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For New Listeners

If you love football banter, nostalgia for “the way things used to be,” and the chaotic brilliance of sports fandom intersecting with dad jokes and pop culture, this episode is a must-listen—and you’re never more than five minutes from a laugh or an unexpected insight.

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Mira Potassan]

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[Eric Larson]

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising.

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[Jeremy Odom]

Snap.

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[Jeremy Odom]

Welcome back. It's a brand new episode. This is Laugh With Me, a podcast with Jeremy Odom. I'm your host J O and I'm welcomed once again by a giant giant in the transportation industry. He is a former fantasy football champion, multi time. Correct.

[Eric Larson]

That is correct.

[Jeremy Odom]

He is the former fifth speaker at Central two for two. Just this past couple of. Just this past weekend. Not this past weekend but the weekend before. Just a little over a week ago he successfully kinda arm dragged a fridge full of beverages into a paper bag to take out to a boat. This is our favorite guest, Eric Larson.

[Eric Larson]

I mean there just Is no graceful way to. To fill a paper bag full of. Full of.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

When you're full of bush lights.

[Jeremy Odom]

When you're filling a paper bag full of beers, this really. That's the best thing I'll take on it. Welcome back to the show. You're finally back from vacation. We. We documented. Thank you for the voice memos. They were some of the best parts of the month of July, early August. You were gone a long time.

[Eric Larson]

I was. And it's fall now.

[Jeremy Odom]

It is now fall. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

We went from the dog days of summer to it's. It's been gloomy and rainy and 70.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Eric Larson]

The last three days.

[Jeremy Odom]

Tell me how one. I know you're. You're huge in the transportation industry. How does a guy get like a month vacation?

[Eric Larson]

Well, you know, my job doesn't require me to actively manage people anymore, so.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay.

[Eric Larson]

You know that I. I doubt they even realized I was gone. So that's. That's important. You just kind of weasel your way. You kind of put yourself into a corner.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

And then nobody thinks to look for you.

[Jeremy Odom]

Now, I will say one of my favorite parts of your vacation. You had an idea. And this idea was, hey, we need to find something for strippers to do during the day. Like, they have their night job. What could they do during the day? And your idea and I. This is a really good idea. Was the stripper car wash some type of themed car wash? Excellent idea. I called it out on the pod. But I just wanted to ask you in person to kind of see what you were thinking. Why do the strippers have to work night and day? Do they get to choose one or the other and kind of just. They start as a stripper night and they mold into this, like, car wash empire. Why. Why two jobs?

[Eric Larson]

I'm kind of shocked by the question, honestly. I mean, we live in a side hustle environment. I mean, why do you do radio and work a normal job?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, this is. This is a nice side hustle for them.

[Jeremy Odom]

Do you.

[Eric Larson]

Now if you're. If you had your car wash washed by a stripper, I mean, I'm assuming you'd tip.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, yeah, yeah. There'd be a tip involved.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. So, hey, this is a great opportunity for them to, you know, earn tips. And then also, I mean, let's. Let's be honest. You can't strip your entire life, so they're also learning life skills.

[Jeremy Odom]

So. Do they not earn tips when they're stripping?

[Eric Larson]

Well, they do. Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay. Yeah. So you're just feeding it to what they do. Like, hey, well, hey, let's put them in a place where they can earn tips.

[Eric Larson]

Think about the fact, I mean, they're talking about getting rid of tax on tips.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes, they are.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, if you had two tip jobs, stripping and car washing, right. I mean you practically pay no taxes.

[Jeremy Odom]

Do you see? Let's put, all right, I want to come back to that. Do you, where you said, you brought it up. Do you see people going into more of those tip based type jobs now with the big lie of you're not going to get tax or tips? Because we know now that we, it's been passed and we know that, we've read it. I mean, it's not it for everybody. Like, not everybody's tips are not paying tax. There's some limits to this thing. But do you think more people are gonna be like, oh yeah, I'm buying in. Like, I'm all in on this, I need to serve.

[Eric Larson]

That's, that'll be, that'll be the big, the unintended consequence. Yeah, we'll change everything to tip base. Yeah. Like, so you're gonna go to the grocery store and it's gonna be like, please tip your cashier.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's becoming that, you know, it's becoming.

[Eric Larson]

That because I mean that, that is the problem with the tax on tips is the thought that, hey, if you're wait staff, you're only making $2 an hour, but maybe you're making $10 with tips. So maybe it's averaging out to 12 bucks, right? Well, if you're a cashier at a grocery store and you're making 12 bucks, doesn't really seem fair that one of those jobs doesn't get taxed for 80% of it and the other one gets taxed for everything. Yeah, so, so, I mean, it's going to be really tough to implement.

[Jeremy Odom]

I, I, I could see the, and you could already see you go to a baseball game and you go to the concession stand and they ask how much of the tip you want to leave. You know, the coffee shops have been doing it for a while now where the cashier's asking for the tip and it's getting, it's getting deep because now, you know, you go, you could go buy clothes and it's like, like how much do you want to tip? Like, because they, you, you did the online shopping. Like you went on, you pay, you picked out your items online, you went and picked up and then, oh, here's your tip. What do you Mean, I already paid a convenience fee. I already paid the shopper fee like that. That should take the place of the tip. But yeah, yeah, we're in an environment now where everybody wants a tip.

[Eric Larson]

This kind of. It almost feels like old man shaking, you know, fist at the sky. Like, when you think about it, like when we were coming up first, going into stadiums, you know, live events and that, you. You bought your beer, you tipped a dollar, right?

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh.

[Eric Larson]

Or even like you went to. You went to the bar.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep. You tip a dollar. Yep.

[Eric Larson]

You brought me three drinks. Here's $3. Like it's a dollar a drink. And now to that point. All right, well, now the beer is $18, and the suggested tip line on there is saying, you know, $3 and 50 cents. So. And I have a friend down in Atlanta and he. He will stop everything at the stadium and he will punch in the custom amount and give them $1.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, really?

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

So he goes low.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Where they go high, he goes.

[Eric Larson]

He has not changed from that $1, you know, staple tip.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's fair.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, that's. That's tip discipline right there.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it is. It's actually honestly good to him for sticking with the discipline on the tip. And it's tough these days to stick to that because it's so easy to just hit the thing.

[Eric Larson]

But. Yeah, it convenes. It inconveniences you.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it does.

[Eric Larson]

To. To put something in. Else in there.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, you've got this idea that the strippers strip at night. They run the car wash during the day. I'm here for it. I also, I just don't know if they need to do both. I also like the idea of the. The themed car wash. I don't know if you listened back to the episode or not, but I. You know, you could have the rock and roll car wash, and it's got the music and the lights and, you know, the haunted house car wash. And, you know, the themed car wash is not a bad idea that, you know.

[Eric Larson]

I didn't really put two and two together. But, you know, like our show, the show Breaking Bad.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

They had a plot line in there where they using that as a front to, like, launder money.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Think of how much more successful they would have been at laundry money if they would have had strippers and rock and roll themed. You know, like, you're talking about some real executive level car washing.

[Jeremy Odom]

They wouldn't have had the storage unit with a pallet of cash because they would have been able to account for it.

[Eric Larson]

Oh, Spoiler alert.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, sorry. Yeah. If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, well, welcome back from vacation. That, that was quite the jaunt. So the other day, I gotta tell you this story because this was, it made me feel old and I wanted to understand the teenage mind a little bit. So I've been seeing, and I've been seeing it for a while now on, like videos, you know, online, and, and even, even people out and about, they, they're saying they see 67 or they say C6 and 7 and they go, 6, 7, 6, 7. Have you heard this?

[Eric Larson]

No.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, it's, it's a whole thing. Six, seven.

[Eric Larson]

And this is teenagers doing this.

[Jeremy Odom]

Teenagers are doing this 20 year old, like young people are doing this 6, 7, 7 thing. And I didn't get it, like, at all. Like, what does it mean? I figured there had to be some kind of, like, deeper meaning I wasn't getting. Right. Okay, has to be. But I didn't want to. I didn't want to be old guy and be like, what are you talking about? Like, what is it like? Because it took me a while to find out what Cap meant. Like, you know, like that I, I was managing young people and I'm asking, I'm texting him something, they text back, cap. And I'm just like, I don't know what that means, but I did say it to them because I. God, I don't want to be old guy. Right? Like, I got a. I look young, I should at least act young, right?

[Eric Larson]

You capping.

[Jeremy Odom]

So I ended up having to google the cap thing to, to figure out what it meant. But six, seven was tough because they're two numbers. So you, you type it in and you don't really get much back. Right? So I'm just, I'm trying to figure out what that means. And, and so I was kind of waiting for the right opportunity to have somebody say it, that I could corner them and be like, what does that mean? And not feel judged as an old guy. Well, this last weekend, Hattie, my daughter, she had her 13th birthday party and so it's her. And there's like a dozen teenagers run around, right?

[Eric Larson]

You didn't ask them, did you?

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, here's what happened, is a bunch.

[Eric Larson]

Of 13 year old girls, like jump into a pool of piranhas first.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, here's what happened. They, they were doing. I don't know what they were doing because we set the party, we had it going, and then I'm watching football. It was the first freaking Saturday. College football. Like Texas, Ohio, State was on during this party. So I'm watching the football game, but I overhear Hattie say, six, seven, six, seven. I'm like, perfect, this is my time. So I put a little note in my head and I said, later, gonna corner her and be like, what's this six, seven thing? Obviously, she's in on it. So then later that night, she's. She's having her party. The party's still going, and. But now it's downstairs. Well, upstairs it's me, It's Braden, he's 15. We've got my brother in law, he's over, right? And I'm like, braden, because he said something like six, seven, or okay, hey, Braden, I, I was going to ask Hattie about this because I heard it earlier and I was going to corner her. But since you're here and since you seem to know what's going on, what does that mean? Like, what is, what's the joke? Like, what, what are we doing? And cuz Maas, he didn't know either, and he's a little older than us, you know, he's like 45, something like that. And he's brain's explaining that there was like a rapper at some point in the last year or two that it said 6, 7 or something like that. So now everybody just goes 6, 7. Probably no different than people go, mustard, you know, because of, you know that the guy who did halftime, I'm. I, I look really old right now. Kendrick Lamar. That's. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about, right?

[Eric Larson]

Just waiting for you to get it out.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, yeah. I was just, I was getting there. So then I'm like, okay, six, seven. I was like, but people do this. They go, six, seven, six, seven. He goes, no, there's nothing with the hands. I've seen people do the hands. First of all, I was like, so there's got to be something with the hands. But what, why, why, when do you say it and why do you say it? You go, if somebody sees 6 and a 7 or 67 or something, it's just 6, 7. And I'm like, all right, I can do that 6. You just say any time. So then. So then Thias goes, hey, Huskers, 1, 6, 7, 6, 7. So then I'm like, 6, 7, up doing the hands. And I'm like, hopefully not their record. Six, seven.

[Eric Larson]

I. I'm feeling like the psychic backlash. Yeah, Braden's eye roll. That was probably. Oh, that was probably going on as you guys were doing this.

[Jeremy Odom]

It was deep because he was Texting. I'm like, braden, we're in a safe space. You can't. He's texting his buddies. I. A hundred percent. He had to have been telling them the 6 7's done. Like, it's jump the shark. Like it's over, you know, But I didn't know what it meant. I'm just so happy to have kind of figured it out. So I told him, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be six seven ing all over the place.

[Eric Larson]

I'm looking forward to. I mean, honestly, as soon as we're done with this show, I mean, it's. We're gonna find him.

[Jeremy Odom]

We're gonna find him and we're gonna be 6, 7 all over this house. Like, that's. It's got to be going down that way. But no, I'm just. I feel. I feel like I'm a part of, you know, a new generation now and can just 67 with the best of them.

[Eric Larson]

I don't know how you be, fellow kids.

[Jeremy Odom]

How you be. How you be. Well, football's back. I don't know how you're feeling about it. And other than our team, the Huskers played Thursday night. And in our group chat, it's like, it didn't feel like Oscar Gabe. It didn't feel like the first game of the season. And I, I get it. I. I think part of it was the game was being played in Kansas City. We're in Nebraska. You got 70,000 plus heading out of state to go to this game. But I don't know, it was just weird. It was a. It was a good off season. Like, it feels like the excitement's there. I don't know if maybe Husker fans are getting a little overwhelmed with the continued success of the off season and then being let down again right away, which. Shoot. We almost had that again Thursday night, but came away with the win. I don't know. Football's back.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, yeah, pretty much since. Since the Huskers finally became bowl eligible last year. I feel like that was when the Kool Aid first started getting served for this season.

[Jeremy Odom]

Gotcha.

[Eric Larson]

Like, we broke the curse. Like, it's. It's over. Onwards upwards. The rule. Season three, Mojo of the third season and each of his stops has always been, you know, more successful, so. But yes, it was very tough to feel like game day just with a Thursday night game. Right. Like, didn't even start till 8pm oh, that was awful. So you got to work. Like, normally you have that Saturday tune up game.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep.

[Eric Larson]

And you know, you can start your day with a good brunch, couple beers in before kickoff, and you have the whole day ahead of you. Where here it was right at the end of the day.

[Jeremy Odom]

It was.

[Eric Larson]

Probably, I mean, and I probably answered my own question. I probably should have just taken Thursday and Friday off and just still started with a good brunch and, you know, cracking beers at noon. And then I'm sure by 8pm it would have felt like Husker game day.

[Jeremy Odom]

So my Thursday started at 1am with my alarm going off to go to work because I had to work early that day. So then, you know, work early, get off work early. Then I try to get like some sleep because I'm just exhausted and then get up and then try to get hyped for this football game. Right. But it's so late. Eight o'. Clock. Holy cow. I mean, I don't know how I did it, but I stayed up for the whole freaking game. I don't know if it was just the nerves because we were just playing too good. I don't know.

[Eric Larson]

I feel like in some ways I jinxed it because I was all right. Hey, let's. Let's get this up to two touchdowns. Because two touchdowns, I can go to bed.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep. I felt the same way.

[Eric Larson]

And when it kept getting closer and closer, it was just, I guess I'm in it for, you know, the long run.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep. When it became very obvious that we were still in the game, could win the game 100% not going to cover the spread, which was 7. It's like that. That's a recipe for disaster. And we've seen this disaster over and over again. But it was nice to come away with the win. We're 1 0. And now it's like, here come the games that, you know, Nebraska. A team like Nebraska should be winning, so maybe it won't be as nerve wracking, but I don't know. I don't like it when coach Rule says every game's gonna be close. Like, buddy, give us something like, we can't. I can't. We just can't go through this every week.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

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[Jeremy Odom]

The NFL's back this week and as always, we have our NFL preview and episode here with Eric Larson. He's our resident football expert. How many? Ballpark it for us. How many games have you watched live NFL?

[Eric Larson]

Like lifetime.

[Jeremy Odom]

Lifetime.

[Eric Larson]

I, I mean, probably got to be 30 to 40.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay, so now I'd like you to compare how many games live has Tom Brady the announcer called and seen in person? He's in your ballpark. So if we're comparing expert to expert, we've got one of the best right here on Laugh With Me. He's seen many an NFL game live in person and many more than that on tv. I mean, I, I don't know how. Adrian Peterson, legendary NFL, Right. You're wearing your Vikings hat here today. NFL legend at running back for the Vikings. You were there when he set the single game rushing record in Kansas City, Missouri on a Thursday night. Chargers Chiefs. When Phil Rivers found a wide open Mike Williams open in the end zone and then found him again. Almost the same play for two to win a game over the first place Chiefs. You were there. You've been to some big games.

[Eric Larson]

I can't believe you skipped over, I mean, in that Adrian Peterson rushing record game that we saw with the 296. That was also the first time that there was 109 yard touchdown.

[Jeremy Odom]

That was an NFL record.

[Eric Larson]

That was the first one.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep, that was the first one. It was exciting. Missed field goal caught at the back of the end zone, returned all the way. I think the half ended, I think the first half end with it. Yeah, you've been, you've been a part of some of the NFL's biggest moments. And now you're here on Laugh with me, top 50 comedy podcasts in the United States to break it all down for us. So we're gonna start with the AFC and then we'll, we'll get to the nfc, we're gonna get to the big dog, we're gonna get to the soup. Reigning super bowl champions and all that. But we're gonna start with the AFC and kind of just see where, where you're head lying as we head into this season. So let's start with. Let's start with the North.

[Eric Larson]

Okay.

[Jeremy Odom]

We'll.

[Eric Larson]

We'll start with a team that we probably only need to spend about two sentences with. Like, the Browns.

[Jeremy Odom]

The Browns. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Like, what's the most exciting thing going on with the Browns? The. Their third string quarterback is Shador. That's. That's about it.

[Jeremy Odom]

Shador Sanders has got to be the most exciting part of this football team. And it's just name value alone. And if he gets on the field, that's exciting to see what he does. He. You think he's gonna play this season?

[Eric Larson]

We got like, you got old, old man Flacco out there. I say old, old man. He's younger than us.

[Jeremy Odom]

Younger than us. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

But, yeah, we're not suiting up to play quarterback for the Browns, so, I mean, there's always a chance that he could get out there, but I feel like we could.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, we tried.

[Eric Larson]

But I mean, the Browns drafted a quarterback before him and he's number two on their depth chart. So, like it's, it's a long road for Shador to get any playing time.

[Jeremy Odom]

Has there ever been a quieter high draft pick, a quarterback backup than that guy with Shadir behind him, with Flacco ahead of him? I mean, he's just sitting there. He gets to just do his job without the noise and the pressure. The fans are going to be chanting. They won't be chanting for him. They're going to be chanting for Shadow Sanders for sure. Maybe even in week one. But yeah, Joe Flacco's there. It's obvious that the Browns are playing for next season as they have 10 draft picks already in next year's draft, including two in the first round. So they are obviously like building up to next season.

[Eric Larson]

It is kind of a wild thing to. To just think of, you know, all the parody that's in the NFL. And, you know, obviously I'm a Vikings fan, you're a Chargers fan, and there, there have been some bad teams.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, we've had some bad.

[Eric Larson]

There's been some bad teams in the last 20 years. Yeah, I don't think any Chargers team or Vikings team in the last 20 years has been as bad as, you know, the Browns or the Saints are going to be like this year.

[Jeremy Odom]

No.

[Eric Larson]

Which is wild. How do you get that bad?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, well, when you mismanage them and that's been the kind of the stories, the ownership's a problem and.

[Eric Larson]

Well. Or the fact that they're paying Watson, you know, $45 million to. To not play this year.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, he may never play there again. I mean, it kind of makes sense. Yep, kind of makes sense. But yeah, the Browns, I don't think if there's any doubt there that they will finish last in that division and they're certainly a front runner to be towards the bottom of the NFL and have that number one pick. So, yeah, the Browns, but the Steelers, on the other hand.

[Eric Larson]

There are.

[Jeremy Odom]

They're going to be any. How many games better than the Browns you think they going to be?

[Eric Larson]

Oh, I mean, the Steelers are going to be 500 at least.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that's what they do.

[Eric Larson]

You know, Tomlin's going to extend a streak.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

You know, Rogers, dk Metcalf, like there's some reason for excite excitement in the fact that, you know, two players on offense, which hasn't necessarily been the case this last couple years when you're. Naji Harris is your like highlight player.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

You know, the whole experiment that they did last year with Russell Wilson and Fields, it didn't work out.

[Jeremy Odom]

They always say if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

In this situation.

[Eric Larson]

But it's, it's kind of a weird thing in the AFC north because you have the Steelers, who are not going to be that exciting on offense. You know, they have Arthur Smith, their offense coordinator, very run first guy, old man Rogers at quarterback. But they have a really, really good defense, a really, really good defensive coach. It's like they went all in on the defensive side and the offense just got the scraps.

[Jeremy Odom]

The idea was our defense is what's going to carry us. That's our backbone. That's our culture. And Aaron Rodgers is the guy who's just going to manage everything and keep us in position to be able to win football games if we have to. Because he's a Hall of Famer. Sure. But he's also on the beyond the back end of his career. I mean, he's, he's a guy that's literally said he could retire two years ago. I mean, when you're dipping your toe in retirement two years ago, I mean, how committed are you, honestly for your physical aspect of it?

[Eric Larson]

Well, that's. You know, I saw a breakdown of Rogers earlier this year where they were talking about when he was with the Jets. I mean, he was one of the least efficient quarterbacks like in the league. Like there was still A couple of those highlight plays that you might have seen, you know, at the recap of the game that just like, oh, maybe he still got it, but that fastball did not come out. It's very often right. Like he's, he's, you know, to pull that analogy even further, like he's kind of like the aging, like pitcher that's all of a sudden decided like, I'm going to throw a knuckleball now.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Because my arm just can't throw the fastball like it used to. So I got to figure out some other way, some other stay relevant game.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

But you have that all in on the defense. And then when you look at the next team, you know, in this division, the Bengals, it's like the exact opposite. The Bengals have gone all in on their offense.

[Jeremy Odom]

Correct.

[Eric Larson]

And they have nothing in the tank for like the defense. Like, they just have a bunch of young guys. Like, it's just maybe, maybe some of these guys will be good. We change our defense coordinator, but the point of our team is going to be our offense.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. And on defense, they spent a good chunk of the off season back and forth, back and forth with contract stuff with their top draft pick, with their star defensive player, Hendrickson. Like, they end up getting deals done kinda right enough that they're gonna take the field. They missed a lot of camp. You don't know where their head's at mentally as far as the business part of it, because they know next season I'm not gonna be here. Like I'm gonna need to get a big deal somewhere else.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

So you got to take care of your body. Like there's just so many question marks on defense. But that offense, you keep Joe Burrow upright and things going to happen. So that might be enough. A lot of people are putting the Bengals in the top three teams in the AFC talk. Would you, would you say that's fair?

[Eric Larson]

I would say that there are some people putting them in there. I don't think that I put them in the top three.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Just from that, that flaw of, hey, it's all riding on the offense. Like they had a great offensive year, but it was also the only year that you've had Burrow, Chase and Higgins all healthy for most of the season. You know, that's been the knock on Burrow is that he has gotten hurt. If he's healthy, it's great. But I mean if one of those three pieces of the, the stool, the tripod goes out, like, is that offense going to be able to keep that Kind of a pace.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

And then you, you mix in the fact. I mean you've got this super competitive division. We already said the Steelers are going to be a 500 plus team. You've got the Bengals that, you know, could have aspirations of, you know, at least a wild card. If not, you know, maybe challenging for that division. You got the Ravens, but the AFC north this year for their inner conference, they're playing the NFC North.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh.

[Eric Larson]

So all of these teams are also going to be facing the Lions, the Vikings, the packers, what a tough like this could get. Like really, really like if one of these teams has a mistake or has like a big injury, like it's pretty easy to see that path to just them getting buried and then being out of it and not making the playoffs at all.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay. So with that being said, the division games matter so much more. Right. Because you, you need to stay pace within to try to get.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

You know, for the top spot, make that playoff spot. We already counted up the Browns. That seems fair. And they're playing the NFC north. So this is going to be wins, like just wins piling up for the north because of this. The Steelers, we, we both agree a 500 football team at worst. Six, seven, six, seven wins. Right. But probably eight, nine wins. Yeah. So the Bengals and Ravens, they'll compete for the division. Bengals probably a wild card team. So now you've got the Ravens of the heat. You've got them number one. Are they good enough? Because they're going to be playing the Lions. They're going to be playing the packers who just got better. They're gonna play in the Vikings, you know, on top of the other powerhouses. They got to play. What do you think? You think the Ravens are just going to business as usual? Go out and win a whole bunch of regular season games?

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, I, I do. I think the, the Ravens are probably going to be a 12, 13 win team. But a lot of that's just due to Lamar.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Eric Larson]

And just things. Yeah, I mean you got Lamar and you got Derrick Henry and that kind of neutralizes some of the advantages that other teams have on that pass rush.

[Jeremy Odom]

And a good defense. Yeah, they just. Yeah, there's a really good football.

[Eric Larson]

Like it's just they're gonna, they're gonna match up well against a lot of teams where it's like, all right, the Bengals are going to be throwing. All right, well now like playing the Vikings. Great pass rush. Detroit, great pass rush. The packers just added Micah Parsons. Like then you look at their teams in their division that all also have great defenses and good pass rushes, like. All right, well, I guess you're probably, you know, leaning towards the Ravens just because they've got more tools in the toolbox to get past those. Yeah, and that's where Lamar is almost like. Like, you know, when we were young and Nebraska was rolling out with the option, it was so devastating to teams outside of the Big 12 because they never saw the option.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it's different style football, so they.

[Eric Larson]

Would have to do a different type of game prep to go and play that well. I know that there's a lot more running threat, like, quarterbacks out there, but, I mean, obviously the MVP speak for it. I don't think anybody's doing it better than Lamar is right now.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, he's playing another level, and the only thing he's missing is the super bowl trophy.

[Eric Larson]

Also, you know, full disclosure, Lamar's on my fantasy football team, so, of course, like. Like, you know, MVP year.

[Jeremy Odom]

MVP year. Well, I. You and I are on the same page with the AFC north pretty much from bottom to the top. All right, let's move on to the.

[Eric Larson]

AFC south, the most boring division.

[Jeremy Odom]

I think last year, this was the division we forgot about. Like, we were. We were like, what we're missing teams. Like, what division are we forgetting? We just completely didn't even talk about this division. We went back to it, but it's like, what is. What is within this division that is exciting that you would want to watch? Like, who. When you turn on red zone and you're just like, give me. Give me all the action. Do you care to see any of these?

[Eric Larson]

That's.

[Jeremy Odom]

I.

[Eric Larson]

And I don't. You know, maybe it's just AFC out of sight, out of mind. But, like, the Titans just. They've always had boring football.

[Jeremy Odom]

They really have.

[Eric Larson]

Like, it's. We're a long ways removed from, like, the Steve McNair having any sort of relevance out there.

[Jeremy Odom]

RIP.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, RIP. Derrick Henry was pretty much like. He was almost like the Mike Trout. Like, hey, I know Mike Trout's great, but he plays for the Angels. They never play in the playoffs.

[Jeremy Odom]

Like, doesn't matter.

[Eric Larson]

So I see him on the highlights. He looks great.

[Jeremy Odom]

That.

[Eric Larson]

That's. That's great. But there's not enough around him that makes me care about that team.

[Jeremy Odom]

You can tell. It works out. That's good for him. Good for him.

[Eric Larson]

But, yeah, you got. I mean, I've got the Titans in that fourth spot, Cam Ward coming in. I mean, they. They have some pieces. You could see where they're going. But it's a.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's. It's going to be one of those situ situations where it's a. Show me. Because they're. They're so young in such a rebuild, they're going to have to prove it on the field. Like, nobody's picking them. They're. They're bland. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Well, they've almost like. I mean, Vrabel hasn't been there now for three years.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

But they still feel like that same type of team that's like, hey, we're going to run the ball, we're going to grind it out, we're going to win low scoring games. But they don't have the talent, they don't have the players to win those kind of games.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, that's the thing. They lost Frable, who was the identity. Like that was the culture. And it worked. They were playoffish team every season. Right. But then you lost him. Never gained a new identity. Tried to kind of create that same mentality through. And it's just. Yeah, it just hasn't worked out. So. Yeah, Titans at the bottom. That kind of makes sense.

[Eric Larson]

No, right above them, I have the, The Colts. And you know, this is just a side note.

[Jeremy Odom]

We have a.

[Eric Larson]

We have a friend that is a really big Colts fan. And, you know, I think the fact that he didn't call out, that we missed the AFC south means that he's not a very committed listener.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, I believe I. I'd agree with that. Thanks for listening, Cody. They just lost their owner, Rip. There's a lot of death in the AFC south this year. Steve McNair, now this.

[Eric Larson]

Oh, did he pass this year?

[Jeremy Odom]

No, he's been gone probably like 10. But we did just talk about it.

[Eric Larson]

So I'm like, is that why that came to my head? Was that what I was thinking of?

[Jeremy Odom]

No. He was murdered.

[Eric Larson]

Another thing that's been murdered is Anthony Richardson's football career.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's over. He did it to himself. Yeah. Not even the injuries. It's just effort.

[Eric Larson]

Getting replaced by Daniel Jones, I mean, that's.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's sad.

[Eric Larson]

That's a low point.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, man. You think he's ever gonna play there again?

[Eric Larson]

Not. Not with the Colts? No.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's kind of what I thought, but.

[Eric Larson]

It'S kind of wild just considering how big of a, you know, coming into the draft. I mean, he was just that. That phenom athlete that shot up the rankings just due to those intangibles. And now he looks a lot like. Like a Trey Lance.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that's a Great comparison. And when he first got on the field, he did show some things. It's like, this guy's gonna be a difference maker. Like, he's a good football player.

[Eric Larson]

He'd be throwing like 55% for his completion percentage, but somehow he would still make this 60 yard touchdown pass. And it would just be like, what?

[Jeremy Odom]

Like, nobody can do this.

[Eric Larson]

He's going to put it all together.

[Jeremy Odom]

I think it was that time he pulled himself out of the game for a breather. Yeah, that was like the first sign of where we're heading with him. And yeah, here we are.

[Eric Larson]

Yep. But yeah, to lose the quarterback, you know, competition straight out, what are the.

[Jeremy Odom]

Chances they get back? Andrew Lock, like, quarterback?

[Eric Larson]

Zero.

[Jeremy Odom]

Zero. He's done okay.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, he has been gone for like six, seven years now. So.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, I figured if Colin Kaepernick can still work out every season, he's still.

[Eric Larson]

Waiting for his chance. He's still waiting for his shot.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right, so the Colts, man, I almost could go either way with the Titans and Colts. Like, either one of them could be at the bottom.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, I, I feel like the defense is a little bit better with the Colts. I think I probably trust them a little bit more. I mean, and the Colts did, like, they were one of those teams that surprisingly, like, I feel like they won about seven or eight games last year. Like, they were pretty dang close to.

[Jeremy Odom]

They were in the back. Yeah, no, like, they were in the mix. You know, they were one of those teams that at the end of the season, it was like, all right, if this, this and this happens and they win, they sneak in like, and there was a handful of teams like that. So you get, you get yourself in that position. All right, you're not too far off. But yeah, it always starts at quarterback and they don't have it.

[Eric Larson]

So the next on our depressing AFC South, Jacksonville, the Jags. And I will say I'm. I'm probably a little bit higher on the Jags than most people. Like, I don't think they're going to make the playoffs, but I really wanted to find a reason to put them above the Texans. Like, I, I like their coach coming in. I like what they've got going on offense. Like, this is pretty much Trevor Lawrence is like, last chance to. Has to be like, this is his fourth coach, I believe, like, coming in like he's. And he's gone through some really bad ones.

[Jeremy Odom]

But how has he stuck around so long with all these coaching changes? And they're like, you're not the problem.

[Eric Larson]

Yep. I mean, he was the golden boy. He was the golden boy after Luck that was gonna, you know, everybody wanted.

[Jeremy Odom]

They got Travis Hunter.

[Eric Larson]

They got Travis Hunter, they got Brian Thomas. They've got the core skill players on offense. They brought in the. The Bills offense coordinator, Cohen to be their. Their new head coach. So kind of a very similar vibes as like. Like the Bears that we'll talk about of just, hey, this offense coordinator for the. The Bucs, Cohen, he. He revitalized Baker Mayfield.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Like, this guy's going to be the best coach that Trevor Lawrence has had.

[Jeremy Odom]

And Baker Mayfield, he's doing okay. Like, he's. He's a guy out there in Tampa. So. Yeah, what he's done is impressive. Yeah. If he does it with Trevor Lawrence, shoot. Yeah, you could. You could make the case they'd be ahead of the Texans. Yep.

[Eric Larson]

And we did talk about, though, you know, with the AFC north, hey, how bad that. That interconference schedule was. That's going to be the one thing I think that's probably going to keep me from saying, oh, well, hey, the Jags or the Colts or one of these teams might have a chance to sneak into wild card. It's just these guys are going to be playing the AFC west and the NFC west like, this year. And so a lot of travel games, a lot of, you know, competition that's better than all the. The teams that are in this division.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, you know me, anytime anybody's got to go toe to toe with the Los Angeles Chargers, that other team's in trouble. So, yeah, that's a tough spot for the. The. For the South.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. So this could be one of them where the, you know, top team in this might have 10 wins, like Texans.

[Jeremy Odom]

This is a division. No, it isn't this division, but a division has in the past made the playoffs. Like a division winner with a losing record. I don't know if we've got one of those divisions this season. Doesn't look like it. There's some good teams at the top, but if there is a division that could have that, it's probably this one.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, that was the NFC South.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes, that was the South. Yep. But, yeah, I don't see a division this year that has it unless it's the South. AFC south, so. But the Texans are probably good enough. Jacksonville's probably good enough.

[Eric Larson]

Yep. Got the Texans winning this one.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Eric Larson]

Even though, again, I was really arguing with myself, trying to figure out a way that one of these other teams could win, you know, Stroud. Took a step back last year. You know, offense coordinator fired. They're bringing in a new guy. Really, really good head coach. Ryan's. That defense is going to be legit. Like potential top five defense.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. Not much to say. They. They're not very flashy. They just go and win games. The Texans, I will say though, it feels like they're due because with like this new coach with. And he's been there, this will be his third season, I think with the Texans.

[Eric Larson]

Now that sounds right.

[Jeremy Odom]

And Strout's third season as quarterback. We always have. And this happens every season. The NFL is weird like this. And it's the parody. There's always like six, seven. Six, seven teams that switch out from a playoff team, non playoff team. Right. That just always happens.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

There's always a large group of teams that don't make it and then a new crew does. This is a position where I could see, like you were saying, I'm looking for that argument for the Jaguars. Some things happen. The ball doesn't balance the Texans way this season. Strout has his sophomore slump maybe a year late and now the Jaguars win the division, go to the playoffs. The Texans don't. There's your switch. And it's really not that far off. I could totally see that like in this division I'm picking the Texans to win it as well. But I could not be shocked at all at the end if it goes the other way and it's Jacksonville that takes it.

[Eric Larson]

That's. And you know, just when you talk about that strength of schedule too, I mean the Texans will be playing the Ravens, the Chiefs, Buffalo. So you know that first place schedule does play heavily into some of those teams that flip from that flip.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

You know, in, in or out. Just due to having to play those.

[Jeremy Odom]

Heavyweights, which is always going to happen. All right. The best division in the AFC in my opinion. It's the AFC West.

[Eric Larson]

This.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it's a good division.

[Eric Larson]

Throwing a lot of vibes of like the NFC north last year where it's just like you got three contenders and then you know, you got the. You got the Raiders and the Raiders, the Bears, you know, just kind of hanging out there. Like maybe they'll be frisky. Probably not.

[Jeremy Odom]

Ah, I tell you what, the Raiders are always good for a Thursday night upset over like a top team like the Chiefs or something. They're always good to just absolutely slam a team, you know, and win by 30 like one time. They're always there to be super competitive just long enough for one of your stars to get hurt and then see what happens in the second half. Like, it's just weird. That goes on with the Raiders and. But they've got the new head coach. Are you.

[Eric Larson]

You buying into Pete Carroll?

[Jeremy Odom]

No.

[Eric Larson]

Are you hyped?

[Jeremy Odom]

Not at all. I am interested to see because he. He did have such a good thing going in Seattle. He's been out of the game now a little bit. He's older. It probably was retirement time. But, you know, who knows? Maybe he can still run a business like the best of them and get a group of professionals hyped. But the Raiders culture is so different. I don't know. I'm not buying it.

[Podcast Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

And I. I don't believe that Geno Smith is going to be their answer for. For overcoming these other teams in the division.

[Jeremy Odom]

He felt like a band aid, you know, and that's kind of been Geno's thing. And. And he. That's what Gino doesn't want to be. You know, that's what he ended up being in Seattle.

[Eric Larson]

Right.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it's. It's. I'm not buying the Raiders at all. Yeah, we can just cross them off. They're toast.

[Eric Larson]

Now, this. This might be one of my more controversial picks, but the Broncos, I'm not necessarily buying them as being this. I think a lot of people are setting the Broncos up as, hey, this is going to be a team that could win the AFC West.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's. There's a lot of people saying that they're the team that's going to finally take over the Chiefs.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. I'm not buying it, Bo.

[Jeremy Odom]

Nick's got a heck of a lot better throughout the season.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, but he still wasn't. I mean, he's still not Drew Brees. He's still not one of the things. One of the pieces I love to read each year is, you know, Barnwell for ESPN breaks down his, you know, teams that are going to improve and teams that are going to, like, go down. And, you know, one of the things that I believe that he called out on these guys was just that defense. That defense was so good. They've got, you know, defensive player of the year and their secondary. But it's tough to make the case that you're going to get better at defense when you already were the best at defense the previous year. Like, it's tough to make that case that, hey, the defense is going to be even better next year. Well, that. That normally doesn't happen.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. You generally take a step back, so.

[Eric Larson]

Then you're like, all right, on the offensive side, have they done enough? Like, is the improvement of Bo Nix the only thing that we are basing this thought that they're going to overtake the Chiefs?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that's not enough for me.

[Eric Larson]

Like, that from that one year to second year jump, is that enough of a difference, just him having one year in that. That system, to say, hey, they're. They're gonna go and, you know, conquer?

[Jeremy Odom]

Because even his improvement from week three to week 17, although it was a great, you know, improvement from there, he looked like a serviceable quarterback.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

He didn't look like a world beater. That now it's like, okay, now I'm going to lead the team to beat the. Our. Our generation or this generation's Patriots dynasty, you know, with the Chiefs.

[Eric Larson]

Well, and even, you know, we just got done talking about the. The Texans. All right, who, you know, Stroud coming into last year, year two, or Bo Nix coming into now, year two? Which of those two quarterbacks would you have picked? Would you have taken? You know.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right. Yeah. I'm taking Shroud.

[Eric Larson]

You're taking Stroud 100. And I feel like that was probably a lot of the disappointment vibes that were coming from the Texans was when Stroud didn't take. He was still good, but he didn't take that next leap.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right. Well, I. But to Barnwell. You were talking about Barnwell at espn. He's very analytical, and everything that he puts into his pieces has the data to back it up. I tend to go off vibes a lot of times, and this is something that I have noticed with the Broncos. This is something I'd heard. I don't. I don't know if it's true or not. It's just something I heard in the off season. Second year, Bo Nix, none of his teammates still have gone to his birthday party, even going into his second season. So that. What kind of leader is he? You know, I don't know. That's just something I heard about Bo Neck. But I mean, anyways, I don't like the vibe.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's all I'm saying.

[Eric Larson]

Could you imagine, you know, Philip Rivers not having his teammates at his kid?

[Jeremy Odom]

Me, you know, those are his brothers. Those are his brothers. Gosh darn it.

[Eric Larson]

All wearing bolo ties.

[Jeremy Odom]

All wear bolo ties. They would, too.

[Eric Larson]

And he. You knew that he was counting on him because he needed help just managing those, like, 20 kids that he's got.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. It's awesome. All right. Do you think we finally have a team that can Overtake the Chiefs.

[Eric Larson]

I put the Chargers second in this division.

[Jeremy Odom]

I figured that. That makes sense. So what's. What's holding back the Chargers from being the team to overtake the Chiefs? Because the Chiefs arguably last season, and yes, they went to the super bowl, but that was one of the worst Chiefs teams in this Mahomes era.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay. They had some lucky, many a lucky bounce their way at the end of games to rack up the W's. So what are the Chargers now doing? I guess to. To say, all right, now it's our time.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, so I feel like I'm putting a target. You're having me talk first about the Chargers.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, I can talk about the Chargers. I can tell you what I love about them.

[Eric Larson]

I will say that the. The one thing, my one knock against the Chargers is just. I feel like they're still rebuilding that defense. You know, you had such a great defense for, you know, half a decade, you know, anchored by Bosa, you know, all the. The great. The pass rushers that you guys had. And I feel like there's been a lot of turnover on that side, and you don't quite have that Harbaugh defense that you need.

[Jeremy Odom]

It was. It was key getting Cleo Mac to come back.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

So having. Having Mack in there is big, obviously. Big for any defense. Right. This team's built to have linebackers flying, Derwin James flying over the field, making. Making things happen. There's going to be a lot of movement out there to hopefully confuse and just be ball attackers. Like, I like that. But, yeah, you're right at the line. We need to put that pressure at the quarterback. We need to get Mahomes out of the pocket. Quick stroll so that secondary can attack the ball. But I think it's the improvement in offense this year that's going to be the difference.

[Eric Larson]

Is this just Keenan Allen for the Los Angeles Chargers? Is this just the Keenan Allen signing?

[Jeremy Odom]

I love our new running back, o' Marian Hampton. I. I don't like Najee Harris. In fact, the guy's got one eye.

[Eric Larson]

Hey, hey, hey. It's a very serious thing. Do not light fireworks off near your face.

[Jeremy Odom]

It really is serious. Don't do that, Eric. You're a guy who hosts a Fourth of July party every year. Yeah. Have you had. How many injuries have you had like this?

[Eric Larson]

Oh, zero.

[Jeremy Odom]

Exactly. Because you run your operation. We need. We need some accountability there in play because we can't have our veteran running back coming to camp with one eye. Okay. He doesn't want to be a Pirate. And I don't want him to be a pirate. Okay.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, are you at all worried that Harbaugh might listen to this podcast? He does just cut. Cut Harris.

[Jeremy Odom]

Just. All right, first of all, of course Coach listens to the podcast. Hey, Coach. And second of all, if he decides to cut Harris, we're gonna go ahead and give him the applause because it's time, it's, it's Hampton's time to step up and be the RB one. He's a heck of a talent. He's a rookie, sure. But he's going to be a difference maker. Very similar to Eckler was for, for QB1. So. And then, and then you bring back and we got lad McConkey year two and he's a stud. Okay. He's a stud. So now we're gonna.

[Eric Larson]

Top tier football name too.

[Jeremy Odom]

Year two, lad McConkey. That's awesome. Then the return of the alien himself, Keenan Allen. I couldn't be more excited to have the guy back. I mean, what do you. First down, first down, first down. I mean, I don't even know if we'll get to second down.

[Eric Larson]

We, we've talked about this is gonna.

[Jeremy Odom]

Be first down, first down, first down.

[Eric Larson]

We talked about Philip Rivers. I mean he's got to be chomping at the bit to want back too.

[Jeremy Odom]

You know, he wants back, you know, you know, because they signed Phil. Phil's back within the organization and the good graces of him as he's, you know, officially retired. But he did spend the one day contract with the Chargers this offseason in July. You got to think he had in his back of his mind, well, what.

[Eric Larson]

If, what if I just hung out?

[Jeremy Odom]

What if I don't leave? Like what if, you know, what if the one day I'm here I go, let's compete for. Compete for the spot.

[Eric Larson]

I'm just imagining him like hiding in a bathroom. Yeah. Waiting till, waiting for them to lock up, you know, coming out.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, gosh darn, why can't I throw around? You know, it's. Rivers is loving seeing Keenan back out there and, and you know, when you've got Justin Herbert at quarterback, you're always in the game. So I'm excited about this Charger team. I think we've got to start week one with that win over the Chiefs to set the tone. But. And this isn't just me as a Chargers fan being like, we're going to beat the Chiefs because the Chiefs are the Chiefs. You know, last year showed it. It's going to Take a lot to overtake them in the West. But I think this is about as good a shot as we got with our bar right now to. To take that one spot. But. But you've got the Chiefs, so it's.

[Eric Larson]

It's kind of wild. You know, you asked me at the beginning of this. Top of this episode on how many football games I've attended live, and there's a decent chance that the Chargers might be my second most seen team.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's got to be. It's got to be Vikings and then it's got to be Chargers. Right.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, it could be really close to the Chiefs.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. Okay, that makes sense.

[Eric Larson]

But I mean, we've gone to a lot of Chiefs, Chargers games. I think we've gone to two Chargers games in Minnesota.

[Jeremy Odom]

The Vikes. Yeah. So, yeah, that could very well could be. You've seen some Charger football up close and personal.

[Eric Larson]

This out of all, when I. When I was first brainstorming this list, I don't think it really sank in until we did the AFC west here, that this is probably my most controversial division. I mean, putting the Broncos at third.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Putting the Chargers at two and keeping the Chiefs at one.

[Jeremy Odom]

The Chiefs at one. A lot of people don't want to keep them there. You've got Travis Kelsey. He's got a lot going on in his life right now. Is he focused? He admitted he wasn't last year.

[Eric Larson]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

So is he. Is he kind of in that same boat? Has he figured out how to handle it now? I don't know. You figure if he's gonna go one more season and he knows it's only one more season, he would go all out. You know, similar to John Cena. He's doing one last year in WWE full time. Right. This is it right now.

[Eric Larson]

Or maybe you could say, like, Gronk in or.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay, all right, that's probably a better comparison. But see, this just going all out while doing other things. But Kelsey, I feel like hinders Mahomes when he's not playing at a high level.

[Eric Larson]

Right. Well, especially when, you know, the Chiefs are dealing with so many wide receiver injuries, so many running back injuries. I mean, their number one wide receiver, their number one running back both got knocked out last year pretty early in the season. Worthy. They're highly touted rookie speedster guy.

[Jeremy Odom]

Speedster.

[Eric Larson]

He's probably better as a complimentary player than he is as the main event.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right. Which. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's a difference maker. That's. Yeah, it's still gonna get 60, 70 yards a game and a touchdown, like all day.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. So you, you've got those weapons this year. I mean, I know Rasheed Rice is still going to be suspended for the first six weeks, but you do have Pacheco back. You do have. You know, the reports say that Kelsey's looking better than he was this time last year.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's just his haircut.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, it's nothing on the field, but it's kind of. I mean, this is the inverse of the, the conversation we had about the Broncos of just, hey, do you, do you buy this position upgrading enough to overtake? And I guess when I put the Chiefs here, I'm looking at it more just. I don't expect them to take that big of a step back. I still think that Patrick Mahomes is a top three quarterback in the league.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Eric Larson]

And I still think Andy Reid is a top, you know, five play caller in the league.

[Jeremy Odom]

He's an all time guy. Yeah, he's all fame.

[Eric Larson]

You know, they've been locked in a defense coordinator. They've got a lot of continuity within that team. I just don't see with Reed and Mahomes, them doing a backslide that's going to cost them this division.

[Jeremy Odom]

So basically it comes down to, even if they play similar football last season, it comes down to do they get the bounces their way at the end of games like they did last season. I'll tell you what, if they do, we're going to riot because that was disgusting last year. Disgusting. We will riot. I'll go to any game I gotta go to to riot. It might just be me and then you watching me because I'm sure you want nothing to do with this riot, but I will be rioting.

[Eric Larson]

I, you know, I've gone to quite a few Chiefs, Chargers games with you and I've witnessed you just yelling out, go Bolts.

[Jeremy Odom]

Go Bolts.

[Eric Larson]

To an entirely red concourse seating area. I imagine your rioting will be about on that same level.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it'll be, it'll be pretty close to that, but I'll bring it. I'll bring it as good as I can bring it.

[Eric Larson]

That. So the Husker game that was on on Thursday, the Mahomes were there along with Kelsey and Swift.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

And I thought it was kind of funny because it's like, all right, you got Dylan Raiola, the Huskers quarterback that, you know, works out with Mahomes, has the same, you know, personal trainer. Like they were finding every excuse during that game to like show a shot of Patrick Mahomes watching Raiola. But like you could tell that they were being super disciplined on just making sure that Patrick Mahomes is the only one in the frame.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep.

[Eric Larson]

Like they just, they just know how over it the average football fan is of seeing Kelsey and Swift.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, they're just, they're overexposed. What do they, I guess you could argue they were at Arrowhead. And yes, Kelsey went to Cincinnati, so you had those connections. But on the side, this was the first appearance, public appearance together since being engaged. So it was like kind of newsworthy. So they had to show the, the couple at some point throughout. But yeah, they had to be careful because they all were sitting together in that sweep. That's funny.

[Eric Larson]

You, you ever invite the Kelsey's onto the pod?

[Jeremy Odom]

I haven't yet. We're in talks, you know, and you know, I just said we hadn't and then I just said we're in talks. So yeah, we're, we're in between. Yeah, we'll see where it goes. I mean, they're in the sports category, I'm in the comedy category. Occasionally they talk about funny things. Occasionally we talk about sports.

[Eric Larson]

So it's, I would say, I feel like I see a lot of like clips of just the two Kelsey's like, laughing.

[Jeremy Odom]

Just a laugh. Laughing.

[Eric Larson]

I feel like they laugh.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that's all right.

[Eric Larson]

But they're not laughing with me.

[Jeremy Odom]

They're not laughing with you. They're not left with me. Not yet anyhow. We'll see what happens. All right. Last division of the afc. This is a division that, I mean, I, I, I almost said any team could win it, but that's just not true. So there's probably only two that could. One that will.

[Eric Larson]

What an awful ride to be a Jets fan. It's gotta be like just the last like four years from the enthusiasm or like just excitement of having Rogers and.

[Jeremy Odom]

All his buddies with him.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah, he gets one play. Tears. Tears. Achilles, like you have those, you know, Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson. Like you have talent on that side. So you get the bad year with Rogers. You get last year where he's coming back from that, that Achilles injury. Doesn't look, doesn't look great. Doesn't look like the Aaron Rodgers that was winning MVPs five years ago. Coach gets fired. And now here you are looking at the season where you've got Justin Fields, you know, marching out as your, as.

[Jeremy Odom]

Your QB one and the, and the.

[Eric Larson]

With this on his third team.

[Jeremy Odom]

And the depressing thing is Fields, Fields looks good in preseason, which just means he's going to look awful in the regular season. And that's the thing. It's like the jets are going to get hyped up, like, hey, maybe we got. Maybe we got a thing. Maybe we got something here because we. Like you just said, they've got pieces. It's not going to work out.

[Eric Larson]

No.

[Jeremy Odom]

This is the worst team in this division. You think they're playing for the number one pick, you think by. At the end?

[Eric Larson]

Let's see. So they play the AFC north, which that's, That's a tough draw, and the NFC south, which is a good draw.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

I don't think they're going to be that bad. I just feel like they're going to have six wins. They'll be picking like seventh or eighth top 10. Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. So they're still rebuild.

[Eric Larson]

But even. I mean, their one point of pride would be their defense. But even their defense took a. You know how much of that was the head coach?

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Eric Larson]

And when they fired him, it was like that defense, they lost all momentum. Yep. Now, hey, was that just due to the team kind of, you know, hey, we're, we're done already.

[Jeremy Odom]

I mean, they, they were feeling that way after week one when they're arguing with each other and Rogers isn't leading. And yeah, they, they lost kind of that attitude and enthusiasm to go out and win football games. But the Dolphins, on the other hand.

[Eric Larson]

This is, this is a tough one because Mike McDonald is just. Or he's a character.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes, he is.

[Eric Larson]

Like, he's somebody. I want to be a head coach in there. Just because he's for the jokes. Yeah, he's just, he's interesting. Like, most coaches are just carbon copies of each other. You know, they're going to do an interview and they're kind of like the quarterback where, hey, everything's going to be safe. Everything's going to be in a. You know, we're not going to say anything controversial. This guy, like, hair slick back, you know, he's style icon. Practically.

[Jeremy Odom]

Practically.

[Eric Larson]

Need to get him laugh with me. A hat.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, I'll send him a hat. You think you'll wear it?

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

I mean, you wear the press conference. Yeah, shoot. Just wear it on like a Tuesday press conference, Monday morning press conference or something.

[Eric Larson]

But do we know anything about the Dolphins other than Tua Tua Hill Waddle Hn.

[Jeremy Odom]

Why Agent. He's funny as hell. He just like today he went on like Instagram live.

[Eric Larson]

Okay.

[Jeremy Odom]

Sitting at his computer, 67. He didn't even say anything. He's just sitting there like he's reading computer. The camera is just looking at his face and he's just sit. It didn't say anything. He's just on live.

[Eric Larson]

You, you set up the video camera one when I got here for this episode. But you were like, the battery is probably going to run out. Which I, I see that it has.

[Jeremy Odom]

It has.

[Eric Larson]

I think that was probably the beep that we heard earlier.

[Jeremy Odom]

But yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Did it run out because you were trying to get on this trend and record yourself?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yep. I really think that he has something. He's really funny. I think he has something. We need more of just us doing normal things. Not saying anything, just hanging out. We're always like, hey, Chat, you know. Oh, chat. What do you think? Oh yeah, watch this. Chat. No, I think we just need to be hanging out and people need to just be watching. I think that's the future of us. And he was the, he was the forefront. So he's on to something. And Tua.

[Eric Larson]

He'S got to wear the padded helmet.

[Jeremy Odom]

He's got to wear the padded helmet. And this is probably. Do you think this the head coach and Tua, this is their last shot together?

[Eric Larson]

Yes.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, I think so too.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. I think this would be a full, full tear down, full on flop.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

If, if they don't make the playoffs.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's too bad because you're right. They do have talent. They're interesting.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. And he'll be a highly sought after offense coordinator.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, yeah. Big time. But very analytical guy. Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

If he doesn't get it done here, he's going to be kind of. Maybe Almost like that McDaniels type of reputation of just, hey, you're a great coordinator but maybe, maybe managing the whole apparatus is something else.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Eric Larson]

Something a little too big for you at this moment.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. I'm kind of surprised you've got the Patriots next because what about them have sold you that they're a team that could compete in a division.

[Eric Larson]

They got digs now.

[Jeremy Odom]

For how long? He's gonna make it all season.

[Eric Larson]

No, I mean I, I buy into Drake May.

[Jeremy Odom]

Do you.

[Eric Larson]

You know, they, they upgraded at running back.

[Jeremy Odom]

They variable at head coach.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. I think their defense is going to be good. Like again, this, this, this is a very AFC south team. Like this, this could slot right into.

[Jeremy Odom]

I was just gonna ask you, is this Patriots gonna feel a lot like those Tennessee Titan teams where they were like just good enough.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right. So.

[Eric Larson]

And some of it with them being in the Second spot. Some of it might just be the Dolphins and the jets also being in this division. Yeah. NFC South. I mean, do you think like, would you put the Patriots above like a Falcons? You know, you put them above the Panthers and the Saints. So there's two wins that they're getting right there.

[Jeremy Odom]

I would put them against those two. Yep. And I would say the Panthers. I don't know. I think I feel like the Panthers offense, not that bad. Yeah, but, but yeah, you're right. I'd put them above those two. I don't know that I'd put them above the Falcons. I don't know. I kind of like the Falcons.

[Eric Larson]

ESPN and their, their power rankings that they came out with today had the Patriots as 16. They had the Falcons as 23.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, that's a big gap.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. And it's mostly due to the defense. That Patriots defense is going to be good. Rabel's a defense minded guy.

[Jeremy Odom]

Sure.

[Eric Larson]

They're still playing, you know, up in the northeast, so they're going to have weather. They're going to win sloppy games.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. All right, all right, I hear you. But they're not good enough to beat the Bills.

[Eric Larson]

They know they are not good enough to beat the Bills.

[Jeremy Odom]

The Bills are juggernaut.

[Eric Larson]

I mean, I don't know why we still call them the Bills. I mean they should be the Joshes by now.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, like certainly their team.

[Eric Larson]

We kind of talked about those field tilting, you know, Lamar Patrick, Mahomes. I mean Josh Allen's going to be in that conversation too of just as long as he's in your offense, your offense probably going to be pretty good.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, he's a heck of a talent and he's a guy that's due, which he's either due or he's just going to be a guy that's never going to get there. But yeah, they're in that window. I mean I don't think there's any. They just with I forget their head coach's name, but the head coach, Josh, there's just that core that just feels like a quarterback and a head coach that are, are safe and they're going to be good, they're going to be competitive and they're just going to continue to rebound, rebuild around them until they get it figured out. And they're in that window right now to have it figured out. But yeah, they seem unbeatable over there. They're going to certainly win the east.

[Eric Larson]

But just they haven't been able to. I mean even the Bengals and Burrow have Beaten.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Eric Larson]

You know, the Chiefs, they've gone on to the Super Bowl. We're still waiting for that first Bill Super Bowl.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. So is Buffalo.

[Eric Larson]

I think as soon as the Eagles won the super bowl, then it became the Buffalo and the Vikings have both had the most super bowl appearances without a win.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, dang. So maybe it's Viking year.

[Eric Larson]

I know a lot of people in Minnesota be really happy to see a Buffalo, Minnesota Super Bowl.

[Jeremy Odom]

That'd be awesome.

[Eric Larson]

The stakes would be.

[Jeremy Odom]

It'd be pretty high.

[Eric Larson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right. So, I mean, I. As far as, like, the divisions, I'm with you on just about every spot in the afc. Who do you think is coming out of the AFC to the super bowl as we head into the season? And there's still a lot of things are going to happen because like we said, there's going to be teams that usually or did make the playoffs that are not going to, like, that just happens. So without knowing that, who represents afc?

[Eric Larson]

I mean, I think the safe option would be the Ravens, but again, that's. That's saying, hey, can they put it together in the playoffs? I mean, they were the most dominant team through the regular season last year.

[Jeremy Odom]

Sure.

[Eric Larson]

And it looks to be about that same team. I think Buffalo would probably be the one that you're going to see getting the most press, the most ink spilled here in the next week on, hey, they're going to make it. I don't think anybody could.

[Podcast Advertiser]

You.

[Eric Larson]

Could you put the Chiefs as a dark horse.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's wild because I'm sitting here looking at it and I'm thinking, okay, you. You could certainly have an angle on the Ravens, the Bills. I don't know that I'd put the Texans in there. So I'm really. Anybody from the South, I would. Even. Even with the Chiefs winning the West, I would take the Chargers over the Chiefs to make the Super Bowl. Like, yeah, it's wild because, yeah, I don't see the Chiefs making the super bowl. And they're gonna go in here and be favorites to win the west and just do what they do. So, yeah, it's wild. I'm gonna. I'm gonna say, I think what you're saying about Baltimore is legit. I'm going to go with Buffalo. There's. It's just a matter of time. They're going to get over that hump. You know, why not now their team's pretty. Pretty freaking good. And yeah, it is kind of wild.

[Eric Larson]

Because, like, last year we were having this conversation. I'm pretty sure. If we went back and listened to it. I mean, Buffalo was thought of as, you know, like one of those probably top five teams in the afc, but it was a bit of, like, a rebuild.

[Jeremy Odom]

It really was.

[Eric Larson]

I don't think that people. Until they got playing games and then everybody's just like, well, they're still really.

[Jeremy Odom]

Good, even though they unloaded on offense. Yeah. All the, like, key playmakers around Alan, they were, like, gone, gone, gone. But that worked out to their favor. They said, okay, Josh, like, go lead the team. You don't have to now give so many balls to digs and. And so on. So it actually worked out in their favor. And their offense was incredible. But there's just something about Baltimore. If you shut down Lamar, you can still. You can still beat them.

[Eric Larson]

It's a Maybe. Maybe That's a. That's. That's probably a good call out on there, because how many teams can stop Lamar?

[Jeremy Odom]

Right?

[Eric Larson]

It's. It's a very, very short, very few. There's only probably four or five teams that could have that recipe.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. Yeah, good point. All right, the afc, we're going to talk nfc, we're going to talk about the Laugh With Me animated series that's coming out here real soon. The Pilots coming out very soon. And we just had our fantasy football draft day. What an exhausting day that was for me. We've got that coming up.

[Eric Larson]

You fall asleep during the draft?

[Jeremy Odom]

I did not. Did you?

[Eric Larson]

I don't.

[Jeremy Odom]

Don't answer that. We're going to talk about that. We're. But thanks for coming in. We got another new episode coming up here in another day, so talk to you then.

[Ali Jackson]

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