Ballpark Food Debate, Masters Recap & Troy Aikman on NFL QB Play, Drafting Mendoza & More | Ep 187

Summary

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Ep 187: Ballpark Food Debate, Masters Recap & Troy Aikman on NFL QB Play, Drafting Mendoza & More

Release Date: April 15, 2026 | Host: Wondery

Overview

In this lively, wide-ranging episode, Jason and Travis Kelce dive deep into the culture of American sports: from hilarious and outlandish ballpark foods, to a firsthand Masters recap, and a career-spanning interview with Hall-of-Fame quarterback and broadcaster Troy Aikman. Expect signature brotherly banter, honest sports insights, and thoughtful reflection—plus a heap of football nostalgia.

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1. Ballpark Food Debate (02:30–15:00)

Key Discussion & Insights

• Travis at the Cleveland Guardians home opener: Travis shares his hometown pride after participating in the opening game at Progressive Field, enjoying Wings and “ballpark dog.” Despite usually being anti-hotdog, “It’s the nostalgia. I'll sacrifice my ick for the fact of how it's made and how it smells, and I’ll just---I’ll enjoy a ballpark dog, man.” (03:52)
• Food Preferences: Jason teases Travis over his stance on condiments. Travis is strictly ketchup-only: “No mustard. That’s a lie. Whoever told you that is idiot.” (04:19) Both agree sauerkraut works in moderation, especially on Reubens.
• Craziest Ballpark Foods Across the League:
  • Diamondbacks' Ice Cream Peanut Butter Sandwich: “That thing is fucking insane.” - Travis (05:18)
  • Yankees ‘Mini Dessert Chicken Bucket’: Chocolate-covered cookie ‘bone’ in a chicken drumstick-shaped vanilla ice cream, coated in candied cornflakes, served in a souvenir bucket. Jason: “I’m not a big fan of foods impersonating other foods.” (06:09)
  • Fenway's Lobster Poutine: “Why are we doing chowder? Baseball is a summer sport. Chowder is not a summer food cuisine.” – Travis (08:00)
  • Texas Rangers Wearable Nacho Rally Sombrero: “It’s hilarious…imagine trying to wear that and utilize it.” - Jason (10:53)
    “The person wearing these nachos is going to end up eating the least amount. The people behind them and to the right and left…you’re bringing the party for everybody else.” - Jason (11:57)
  • Phillies 'Schwar Bomb' Sundae: Soft serve in helmet with funnel-cake-fried strawberry Uncrustable, strawberry sauce, Fruity Pebbles. Jason on the cereal: “I’m so into everything outside of the Fruity Pebbles…” (13:49)

Memorable Quotes

• “Melted crayon texture. What…” – Jason on mustard (04:44)
• “Buckets might be the most underrated piece of equipment…” – Jason on utility innovation in stadium snacks (09:31)

Notable Moments

• Travis’s college hotdog crate story—“he was like the hero of the day” (12:33), echoing the energy of the sombrero nachos debate.
• Jason admits he will boycott the Yankees’ chicken ice cream (08:58).

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2. Masters Recap: “Out of the House” Special Edition (18:26–28:58)

Highlights & Key Insights

• Both brothers recap their time at Augusta for the Masters, describing the unique tradition, atmosphere, and affordability ("the pimento cheese sandwich was a buck fifty" [21:57]). They reflect on:
  • Par 3 Contest: Jason appreciates the family-friendly, relaxed pre-tournament vibe and notes Augusta’s commitment to tradition. “No phones. There’s no digital scoreboard. Everything’s manually being done.” (21:08)
  • Experience and Infrastructure: Compared to Disney World for its cleanliness and organization. “All the dirty work kind of happens in a way that you don’t ever see.” - Jason (21:57)
  • Augusta’s Unique Offerings:
    • Pimento cheese, egg salad (“pomego” is the name for the combo)—Jason’s favorite
    • Fried chicken and pizza at Berkman’s Place, the elite area
    • The pervasive presence of Masters gnomes (“gotta get my hands on these gnomes” – Travis (28:07))
  • Nostalgia & Merchandise: Jason on the pull of Masters merch: “That’s where they get you. It’s a $50 sandwich, but you’re gonna go into that merch store and spend some cash for sure.” (28:08)

Memorable Quotes

• “It’s more than just a golf event…anybody can enjoy because of how beautiful the landscape is…” – Travis (20:20)
• “It’s everything you’ve heard about…the hospitality, the way it’s run is second to none.” – Jason (27:47)

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3. Interview: Troy Aikman on NFL QB Play, Broadcasting & More (29:13–78:59)

Introduction (29:22–30:04)

• Jason reads an epic, stat-stacked intro for Troy: “Six foot four quarterback from UCLA…number one pick in the 1989 draft...six-time Pro Bowler, three-time Super Bowl champion…” (29:22)
• Travis: “You’ve been an icon in the Kelsey household for such a long time.” (30:04)

Key Topics & Insights

Impressions of Jason as a Broadcaster (30:38)

• Troy describes meeting Jason for the first time, recalling his emotional story about his grandfather and immediately noticing his TV potential: “The highest compliment I can pay any former player is…‘I would have loved to have been a teammate of yours.’ And Jason’s one of those guys…” (31:52)
• On Travis: “I can say the same thing about you.”

The Evolution of Football Broadcasting (33:56)

• Troy reflects on the challenges of broadcasting, the difference of pre-social media days, and the value of having learned the craft in a three-man booth. “There’s not much grace period in life, period, but especially in broadcasting.” (35:15)
• Jason praises Troy’s “face value” analysis, free of attack or hyperbole: “There’s a realness that doesn’t come off like you’re attacking anyone.” (36:03)
• Troy: “The one thing I’ve always tried to do—tried to be honest … I have so much respect for the players and the coaches that participate in this game.” (36:48)

State of NFL Quarterbacks & Offenses (40:16)

• Troy describes the cyclical nature of QB talent and schemes: “Somebody always fills those shoes… I think the league is in great hands.” (41:10)
• Power run games vs. spread sets: “Now it seems to be coming back to the middle… teams are more [run-focused] and I love that.” (41:54)
• He credits coaches like Norv Turner for his own career rebound: “My first two years in Dallas, I was on that path [to being a bust]… Norv Turner then came in my third year… and our first year we were a top 10 offense.” (43:08)

Advice for Building Around a Young QB (46:46)

• Importance of work habits, leadership: “It’s easy when you walk into production meeting and you’re meeting Patrick Mahomes… The trick is finding that person who has it when they’re still in college.” (48:21)
• Schematically: “I would want him under center… I think the college game has gotten to where these quarterbacks… don’t read coverages, [lack] sense of timing.” (49:08)
• Praises Joe Burrow: “He’s an old school quarterback. I mean, he could have played in the 90s.” (49:08)

NIL Era, Transfer Portal, and College Football (49:36)

• Troy is ambivalent about NIL, critical of how it’s played out: “I speak for probably most people out there, I know that most alums have heartburn over this whole NIL program.” (50:04)
• “You can’t collect a check and then the very next year go back in the portal and then go collect another check. It just…defies what this country’s supposed to be about.” (50:49)
• Laments lost focus on education: “I haven’t heard education come by about college football since NIL came about.” (51:41)

Draft & Evaluation, Including Mendoza Hype (55:41)

• Troy cautions against falling in love with “the best quarterback in the draft.” “Every year there is a best quarterback in the draft, right? …But it doesn’t mean every year there’s a franchise quarterback.” (57:04)
• On Mendoza: “I like him…I like his accuracy…I’ll be pulling for him when he gets his chance.” (58:04)

“Get Off My Turf”: Rant about Modern NFL (61:06)

• Jason & Travis bemoan lost old-school football: “We love the wedge back in the day…Get the big boys out there locking arms, full on collisions.” – Travis (61:24)
• Troy’s pet peeve: overprotecting the QB. “You’re fighting through 300 pound offensive linemen… and if you get there and you don’t do it exactly the right way, then there’s a penalty. And I just, I don’t like that.” (63:29)
• Travis sums up: “I signed the contract. I’m good, I’m ready. I agreed to this.” (64:59)

Quick Hits and Lightning Round Highlights

• Larry Allen's famous interception chase: “At the time that it happened...he was so athletic that I didn’t think anything of it…then I see the clip and you’re like, whoa.” – Troy (66:32)
• Andy Reid nearly convincing Troy to come out of retirement for the Eagles: “He says, ‘You heard what happened, didn’t you?’ …He was selling me on why I should come out of retirement.” (68:16)
• Philly stories: “They didn’t matter who the defensive coordinator was, they beat the dog out of quarterbacks.” (70:17)
• Could Joe Buck get a yard in the NFL?: “There’s no chance. None. …He might not get up.” (72:41)
• Jerry Jones in 'Landman': “That is acting… He told it in a sound studio in front of 40 people… And he sold it.” (73:12)
• Michael Irvin shoutout: “Regardless of whatever was happening in his life, when we went out to practice…he runs every route like he’s preparing for the Super Bowl.” (77:38)
• Welcome to the NFL moment—Reggie White: “When I got up, it was...Reggie. That’s when I remember thinking, man, this, this league is different when you’ve got 300-pounders like Reggie White who are running you down from behind.” (78:47)

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4. Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Travis on ballpark food: “I’ll eat a dog… at a ballpark dog. It’s the nostalgia.” (03:52)
• Jason on nostalgia: “Buckets might be the most underrated piece of equipment that any man can own or utilize." (09:31)
• Troy Aikman: “If that can translate [to TV], the guy has a real future…Jason’s an absolute superstar in this profession.” (31:52)
• On QB play: “The league is in great hands. Somebody always fills those shoes.” (41:10)
• On NIL: “Most alums have heartburn over this whole NIL program. And I, I don’t know how it gets cleaned up, but…” (50:04)
• On Michael Irvin: “Regardless of whatever was happening in his life, when we went out to practice…he runs every route like he’s preparing for the Super Bowl.” (77:38)
• On old NFL harshness: “You talk about a wide receiver back in…the 2000s… if you went over the middle, it was up to the quarterback to protect the receiver.” (64:18)

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5. Timestamps Guide to Major Segments

• Ballpark Foods Debate: 02:30 – 15:00
• “Out of the House” Masters Recap: 18:26 – 28:58
• Troy Aikman Interview: 29:13 – 78:59
  • First impressions: 30:38
  • Broadcasting: 33:56
  • NFL QB play: 40:16
  • Coaching impact: 43:08
  • NIL/Draft: 49:36–58:04
  • “Get Off My Turf”: 61:06–65:16
  • Rapid-fire stories: 65:32–78:59

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6. Final Thoughts

This episode blends sports nostalgia, brotherly humor, and genuine insight through discussions on America’s favorite pastimes and the state of football today. The interview with Troy Aikman offers rare candor and stories from the NFL’s golden era through to modern-day challenges in sports, both on the field and in the broadcast booth.

For more: Follow New Heights on YouTube and @newheightsshow across socials for weekly highlights and the full brotherly experience.

Transcript

[Jason Kelsey]

Adobe Acrobat, your team's home base. Collaborate within a shared PDF space. You've got your docs, your plans, your specs and then invite the crew to build what's next. They talk up the teamworks using a 3D render. They think that this design could be a contender. When somebody wonders what's the next steps, AI helps you finish the rest. Bolts are tight now. Your plan's refined. Run a smoother business when you're on the line. Do that with Acrobat.

[Brandon]

Learn [e-mail] dothatwith acrobat to realize the future America needs. We understand what's needed from us to face each threat head on. We've earned our place in the fight for our nation's future.

[Troy Aikman]

We are marines.

[Brandon]

We were made for this.

[Travis Kelsey]

We loved the wedge back in the day, man. Get the big boys out there full on collisions. Like why change that? That's the start of the game right there. I get to see some action.

[Troy Aikman]

The wedge. I haven't heard the wedge.

[Jason Kelsey]

I was a wedge buster in college before I started. I was running down in knee braces and they said jason, just take out this wed no joke. UCF had a really good kickoffer. Like hey guys, just go down there and take the wedge out. We go down there, we blow this four man wedge up it goes 106 yards to the house.

[Troy Aikman]

I would have loved to have seen him not only run down the field, but run down the field and knee breaks.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a wondry show brought to you by AT&T, the best service provider there is. You better believe it. We're your host. I'm Travis Kelsey is my big brother Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Shout out to the heights and shout out to the University of Cincinnati as we are alum from there I did get a degree. I know a lot of you won't believe that, even Jason, but I do. And make sure you subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast and follow the show on all social media at new height show with 1s for funk list throughout the week. Jason, tell the people what we have coming up for this week's episode.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got another great episode for you 92 percenters. We're going to get out of the house with Trav at the Guardians home opener. We're also going to get to the first ever on site edition of out of the house.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes sir.

[Jason Kelsey]

Masters and hall of famer Troy Aikman is here. That's right, the one and only the best. Troy is incredible, and he's great in this conversation. You guys are gonna really want to stick around for that. And before we do get into that, we are going to get into the. Some of that new news.

[Travis Kelsey]

New news coming in hot.

[Jason Kelsey]

New news is brought to you by American Express. Travis made his way back home to Cleveland for the Guards home opener last week. You saw Slider. Hey, is he still called Slider or. It is Slider.

[Travis Kelsey]

Don't even go down this road, Jason. Yeah, I saw. I saw a slider, man. I got to see everybody over there at Progressive Field, man. Over there at what we call Jacob's Field. Got to be a part of the Guards home opener as we took the game. 4:1, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

There we go.

[Travis Kelsey]

You know, it's just something about getting my feet on the ground in Cleveland just energizes me.

[Jason Kelsey]

Man, you got those nice loafers on. Yeah. Did you get a look at any of the absurd food? The mob has been coming out with a bunch of absurdly crazy items all across the country.

[Travis Kelsey]

I was just catching up with friends in the suite and just watching the game. I really didn't get outside, but we had some good. We had some good food in the suite, for sure. We got some wings.

[Jason Kelsey]

I was about to say, what is your ballpark food of choice since you're not a hot dog person?

[Travis Kelsey]

I'll eat a dog. At a. At a. At a. I'll eat a ballpark dog.

[Jason Kelsey]

Timeout. You have said on the show and to me for many years that you do not eat hot dogs or tubular meats of any kind. So now you're telling me one exception. You know what? I'm not gonna lie. This makes sense.

[Travis Kelsey]

Ballpark dog man.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a special. It's a special.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's the nostalgia. I'll sacrifice my ick for the fact of how it's made and how it smells, and I'll just. I'll enjoy a ballpark dog man. I don't know what it is about being at the ballpark that I need a dog with some ketchup on it and bing, bang, boom. I'm not going to eat more than one. No. No mustard.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're not putting mustard on. That's the one condiment you have to have on it.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's a lie. Whoever told you that is idiot.

[Jason Kelsey]

I disagree. I think you must have. Well, yeah, listen, you can eat it however you want, but that's the one condiment I have to have. Must. You don't like mustard on a hot dog.

[Travis Kelsey]

You do like, mustard in, like, a sauce or like in a dry rub that the meat and like, the other parts of the food, like, hide the taste of. And the, the, like the melted crayon texture that is mustard.

[Jason Kelsey]

Melted crayon texture. What. What about sauerkraut?

[Travis Kelsey]

No chance. I can again, again, if it's hidden in like a Reuben. Like a, like a Reuben sandwich. Yeah, I can. Or like a corned beef sandwich. Maybe the sourness could get a little too pungent.

[Jason Kelsey]

We should just, like, review all these crazy foods that have gone. Do you see this one over Arizona? I think I'm going to go to a Diamondbacks game this year solely to try this ice cream peanut butter sandwich. Whipped cream Cracker Jack Kit Kat concoction.

[Travis Kelsey]

That thing is fucking insane.

[Jason Kelsey]

Does that not look delicious, by the way? That's a Nutter Butter, right? That's not a Nutter Butter peanut butter sandwich. Whatever.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's a Nutter Butter.

[Jason Kelsey]

Gosh.

[Travis Kelsey]

The Kelsey household go through our fair share of Nutter Butters, dude. Holy right.

[Brandon]

Do you want to see some of the weird they've got out there real quick? Get the Kelso Rosarito on it. Now I'm getting some head shakes. You don't want to see the mini dessert chicken bucket at the Yankees game.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think they're pretty good. They're pretty cool.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm not going to be a downer here. Let's see it. Brandon, what else we got?

[Brandon]

You want to see a mini dessert chicken bucket? There we go.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dessert.

[Jason Kelsey]

What is this called? The.

[Brandon]

It's a dessert ice cream with a chocolate covered cookie bone center, a float coating of white chocolate and candied corn flakes. Serve in a souvenir mini chicken bucket.

[Jason Kelsey]

What is the point of making it look like chicken?

[Brandon]

It looks like chicken. I think we just got there.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not a big fan of foods impersonating other foods.

[Brandon]

You're out on the chicken.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm out on the chicken sandwich ice cream sandwich thingy. I just give me a night cruise campus. I don't need to look like a chicken drumstick. Who are we fooling here? What are we doing it for? I would make sense if it was the New York chickens. Then I'd be like, oh, okay, they're doing something that's like a theme of New York chickens.

[Brandon]

What is the New York chickens have a chicken bucket?

[Troy Aikman]

Yes.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't. I don't understand this at all.

[Travis Kelsey]

Is it. Is it the drumstick flavoring like the, the. The classic, like, drumstick that we all know that we get from, like, the

[Brandon]

grocery store, it's just covered with candied corn flakes to make it look like it's fried chicken. But I'm assuming it's probably like vanilla ice cream with a chocolate covered cookie bone center, which I don't.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm out on this one. I. I've seen a lot of them.

[Travis Kelsey]

This doesn't make any sense at all. There has to be. There has to be something that's making sense to this. There's no way. Somebody was just like, all right, here, check this out, guys. A drumstick. I think that's how they do it.

[Brandon]

I think we're over.

[Travis Kelsey]

There's no.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm just confused. I don't know where the chicken comes in to. Like, it's just chicken.

[Travis Kelsey]

Why did. Why didn't they.

[Jason Kelsey]

Chicken isn't even known as being like a.

[Travis Kelsey]

Why didn't they just make it like a baseball dog?

[Jason Kelsey]

Like, make it.

[Travis Kelsey]

You know what I mean? Just make it like a baseball bat.

[Brandon]

Here we go.

[Travis Kelsey]

Why the Is you guys didn't want

[Brandon]

to do this segment and now here we go.

[Jason Kelsey]

Kfc, like, was like, hey, we can't get the fried chicken in the stadium, but why don't you make ice cream look like fried chicken? And they're like, oh, yeah, sure, we'll do that for no reason. All right, let's skip to the next.

[Travis Kelsey]

Next.

[Jason Kelsey]

Next.

[Travis Kelsey]

This one's.

[Brandon]

This one's made us mad.

[Travis Kelsey]

We're moving. I'll take the bucket. I'll take the bucket. No chicken.

[Brandon]

Red Sox. We're doing lobster poutine at Fenway park this year. The ballpark food features crispy fries, lobster meat clam chowder, and crispy bacon, all served in a custom lobster boat.

[Travis Kelsey]

Why are we doing chowder? Baseball is a summer sport. Chowder is not a summer food cuisine.

[Troy Aikman]

Whatever.

[Brandon]

I don't like. I don't like the idea of how. Where that chowder's been stored. I don't like the idea of where

[Jason Kelsey]

is it at the bottom? Is that.

[Brandon]

I like this.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, that's what I'm saying.

[Jason Kelsey]

I like the receptacle. I like the. I like the lobster. I like everything except the bacon. I have no idea why bacon is included in this and what the purpose is. It's not going to add much.

[Travis Kelsey]

Give it a little salty. Just like a little salty crud.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's got chowder in it. It's salty as crap. I don't. I do think if it's hot, I would question the integrity of that chowder, but I would still give it a Go. I'd still give it the integrity of the chowder. Seafood and heat usually doesn't pair well. Especially. Especially shellfish.

[Travis Kelsey]

Fucking 95 degree day at the ballpark. I'm out.

[Brandon]

I'm going to try any of these if you'll have me, but I will

[Jason Kelsey]

not try the chicken drumstick. I'm boycotting the chicken jumpstick.

[Travis Kelsey]

Was a Yankees fan or somebody in the Yankees organization. Please tell us how this came to be.

[Brandon]

I will say this. They did give us a great moment. I'm going to share this. There was a man who constructed a chicken bucket hat tower.

[Travis Kelsey]

See, that's the thing. I like the bucket.

[Brandon]

I'm big into this.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm big into the bucket. With the bucket.

[Jason Kelsey]

The I with the bucket.

[Brandon]

KFC brought to you by Travis Kelsey. I mean, if that's not next year's brother, I just signed you a giant ad deal. I'm with the bucket. Travis Kelce.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm with it. Colonel Sanders. Hit me up.

[Jason Kelsey]

Buckets might be the most underrated piece of equipment that any man can own or utilize. I think it's a. It's a. You can stack them, you could carry anything you want in them pretty much. I mean, it's a very useful receptacle. But the fact that we're making chickens is. It just doesn't make any sense. I can't get past it.

[Travis Kelsey]

They had the buckets already ordered and they didn't know what to put in them. I'm. I'm drawing the conclusions. They're like, what goes in a bucket? Chicken.

[Jason Kelsey]

They had a new fried chicken chain that was going into the stadium and then they had to back out on their contract. But they had already bought all the chicken buckets.

[Brandon]

Cost of cooking oil went way up. And they said, I don't know, make an ice cream.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's the only thing that makes sense.

[Brandon]

We've solved the mystery. All right, let me show you a couple more. The Rangers have revealed a wearable nacho rally sombrero. The food vessel contains chip cheese, lettuce, jalapeno, and more.

[Travis Kelsey]

This is hilarious.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is this real? Is this real?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, this dead is real.

[Brandon]

The photo is incredible. All right, what do we think of the not the rally sombrero?

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm kind of into it. Outside the beans. I'm kind of into it.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think it's ridiculous.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, it's beyond ridiculous. Yes, but I mean, it's kind of. I love nachos at a game. I love nachos at a game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Imagine trying to wear that and utilize it.

[Brandon]

Like, you're dumping that on your neighbors.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're dumping that on the scene next year everywhere. I think it's hilarious.

[Brandon]

Go to the bathroom with that on your head.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can't look down, don't look down, don't look down, don't look down, don't look down.

[Jason Kelsey]

I like the idea of sombreros. I just don't know that nachos was the best choice. What's the messiest food item that we can combine with a place that you

[Travis Kelsey]

can't access, you can't stand up and get excited.

[Jason Kelsey]

They should have just made, like, Pete, like pretzel sombreros.

[Travis Kelsey]

They should have made little baby pieces

[Jason Kelsey]

off and dip it in cheese or something like that.

[Travis Kelsey]

But, like, the sombreros shouldn't be large scale enough to where you could put it on your head. It should just be like the. Like the old ice cream cut batters helmets, you know, those little small ones. They should have just made a little tiny sombrero like that in the size of where you would always get the nachos, you know? You know what I mean? Like, typically the size that you get is just like a 4 by 4 or 5 by 5. You can hold it with one hand, have a beer in the other hand. Like, they should have made a sombrero that size. This is absolutely ridiculous.

[Jason Kelsey]

What's interesting about this item is that it probably is the only food item ever in a ballpark where the person buying it is the one not utilizing it. And in fact, probably putting themselves at the most risk of things going badly, right? Like, the person wearing these nachos is going to end up eating the least amount of these nachos. The people behind them and to the right and left of them, like you're. This is a very selfless maneuver. If you're buying the sombrero nacho hat, you're getting this. You're bringing the party for everybody else.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, this is hilarious, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

While also putting yourself most at risk.

[Brandon]

Just hot cheese. Sit on your head. All right, all right, all right.

[Travis Kelsey]

I went to a Guards game right after college, and we're sitting on top of like that baby monster on left field underneath the screen. And there's probably 10, 15 of the homies that were all up there getting hammered and having a blast. And we go to get hot dogs and we're like, I mean, how many. How many hot dogs can we get? And they're like, well, we can make as many as you want. We're like, all right, everybody gets like three, four hot dogs. We end up with a crate full of hot dogs to carry them back to the. Back to the seats. And my guys, I think it was Steve Big Act. My guy, Steve Big act has it over his head as he's walking up and all the guys see him and start fucking going nuts. Like. Yeah, like, he was like the hero of the day. And I think that's what this big ass sombrero reminds me of, is like you. You bring this back to the hobby. You're just like, let's go.

[Brandon]

You're down to run in this. Ral sombrero hits. I think this is gonna be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

Absolutely. Hilarious.

[Brandon]

Last one, Phillies. The Schwar Bomb sundae. It is a mini helmet filled with soft serve ice cream topped with a funnel cake, fried strawberry, uncrustable, fresh strawberry sauce, and fruity cereal pieces.

[Jason Kelsey]

I am so into everything outside of the fruity Pebbles cereal. To be honest, I'm not a big Fruity Pebbles person.

[Brandon]

It's just sprinkling.

[Jason Kelsey]

I know, I know. But I. I'm gonna try it. Don't get wrong. I'll. I'll give a full report. I'm a big fan of helmet ice cream.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love strawberries. I don't know what it is about strawberry sauce.

[Jason Kelsey]

Like strawberry.

[Travis Kelsey]

No strawberry sauce. It says fresh strawberry sauce. Like the drizzle over. I don't know what it is about that. It makes me like. It gives me like the ick. Like the.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, I'm in on that.

[Brandon]

Strawberries.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, I think it's the texture of it. It's like.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's like texture too. Syrupy.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, it's like that red syrup.

[Jason Kelsey]

Doesn't look like there's a lot. Yeah. I don't know what it is.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't love it, but I love everything else about this. And I'm taking that souvenir home and

[Jason Kelsey]

Ohio I was in when they. When I read funnel cake, fried strawberry and crusty, I mean, that's the only thing I need to hear. I'm going to try this now.

[Brandon]

Dude. Fried on crustable is going to be incredible.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Brandon]

All right. That's ballpark food.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's called a Schwar Bomb, so I'm going to give it a go.

[Brandon]

Great name.

[Travis Kelsey]

Great player, great name. All right, now that does it. For new news, brought to you by American Express,

[Jason Kelsey]

thanks to our presenting sponsor AT&T.

[Travis Kelsey]

Here's the thing about golf. It's where deals get done, relationships get built, and connections matter the most.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. Just like you need reliability on the course, you need it in your network. That's why you should choose at&t a champion partner of the Masters.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, Jason, I got a question. If you could play Augusta national with any three people dead, alive, who's your dream foursome?

[Jason Kelsey]

Tiger Woods? Fred Couples?

[Travis Kelsey]

Okay. And.

[Jason Kelsey]

And I gotta say Jim Nance now, because I heard he does commentary for people that are playing it with him.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, need that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Whether you're closing a deal between swings or catching a tournament while traveling to work, AT&T delivers the seamless connectivity that keeps you in the game on and off the course.

[Travis Kelsey]

Because when the connection matters, it has to be at&t.

[Jason Kelsey]

Connecting changes everything. Visit att.com connect to change to learn more. Thank you to our partner, American Express. Ooh.

[Travis Kelsey]

When you're at a live event, some of the best words you can hear are come this way.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah, yeah. At a game, concert. Doesn't matter what event it is. The American Express Platinum Card always comes to mind when people think of premium experiences.

[Travis Kelsey]

Elevating your entertainment is where American Express Platinum Card membership really shines, granting you exclusive access to unique experiences worldwide.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. It's the kind of thing that makes a regular night out feel like the event of the year.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, a little fomo. Forget about it.

[Jason Kelsey]

And now that American Express is the official payments partner of the NFL card, members around the world can enjoy incredible experiences from the pre to the post season with access to tickets, perks and on site activations at select games.

[Travis Kelsey]

From the moment you get to your seats to every play that follows, you know you're experiencing more than just the game. For me, that's a win.

[Jason Kelsey]

Unlocking access and elevating the fan experience. That's membership at its best terms apply.

[Travis Kelsey]

Learn more about premium events collection at Go amex with Platinum. Thank you to our sponsor, Amazon.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby, yeah. Here's the thing. Life doesn't wait. Nope. One minute you're crushing it at work, next minute your kid is spilling juice all over their favorite shirt.

[Travis Kelsey]

And oh yeah, that smoke detector been beeping since 3am because you're out of batteries.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's where Amazon saves the everyday low prices on everyday essentials. Whether it's the stuff you plan for or the chaos you didn't see coming.

[Travis Kelsey]

Everything you need, all in one place. So you're not running around to five different stores all day.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, we're talking paper towels, snacks, cleaning supplies, whatever keeps your day moving.

[Travis Kelsey]

Amazon has your back with the prices you can count on. So you feel confident your money is well spent.

[Jason Kelsey]

No hassle, no Stress Shop, Amazon, and Save on essentials. Save the everyday. All right, last thing before we get to Troy. We gotta get to this out of the house from this past week at the Masters. We're currently filming this while we're in the house, so we're going to toss to our own selves out of the house. This Masters edition of out of the House is brought to you by at&t.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, thanks, guys. Appreciate you sending it to us down here at Augusta.

[Jason Kelsey]

I've been down here since Tuesday.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, I just got down here yesterday. Yep. Saw Jason up at the. Up at the course. Had a few crow's nests. Had a few azaleas.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Saw a few azaleas. Saw a few good shots. We're out here in the. The front of the house that we. That we're renting down here, and it's gorgeous. Saying hello to all the patrons outside of the course and gonna head up there for another fun day.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely.

[Travis Kelsey]

How was the part three?

[Jason Kelsey]

Part three was great. I don't know that I helped Akshay out at all. I actually do think I gave him a good read. He told me it was a good read, so I will take it. A lot of fun. A lot of families. Patrons are all just looking to have a good time. It's a way more relaxed day than the actual tournament.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

And it's very unique in the way that, like, no other major especially. But really no other PGA event has something like that the day before you do it. You have pro ams in the other events. But this thing was so unique and special in the way that their families are incorporated into it. That was my first time being a part of it, and it's just another example of, I think, Augusta national just setting the example and the tone of, like, what golf is. Right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Know the sport. Do you partake in as much with your families, whether you belong to a club, whether you play with your kids, it's just. I think it's something that really matches up well. And to do that right before the biggest tournament in golf, it's pretty remarkable. It's also not mandatory, so those guys sign up to do that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

They could be hitting balls. They could be getting more reps. Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

But it's a part of the show. It's a part of the fun. It's part of the excitement of the week.

[Jason Kelsey]

And, well, I think it's an acknowledgement that this thing is bigger than themselves. Right. It's an acknowledgement that the history to this. Our families are going to be included in It. All of it. They really embrace it. So I think it was. It was awesome to be there and to have a lot of fun with those guys.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. The one thing about this tournament is that it's more than just a golf event. It's like, you don't necessarily have to be into golf. You're going to see some amazing shots of the best players in the world, but it's an event that anybody can enjoy because of how beautiful the landscape is, because of everything that goes into what that course is. I mean, you have different houses and places you can go while you're there, and you just get a full experience like none other. And it's why it's one of the best events in sports.

[Jason Kelsey]

The cool part about being there is that you're on these grounds that have been there. And this tournament has been being played since 1934. The course was carved out and just feels like it was made to be a golf course. You don't have your phones. There's no digital scoreboard. Everything's manually being done.

[Travis Kelsey]

It feels phones and understanding where the match is because you don't know what a guy's got going on three holes over, and whether they're making a push or they're.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's a level of mystery to it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Throwing it all away.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, you're there and you're trying to figure out, where's the scoreboard? Oh, he. Freddy just got a quadruple double. What was a quadruple bogey or four? Like, what the heck happened? And so it's. There's this excitement in the fact that you don't really know what's happening when you're there. The way the grounds are handled, the way the faculty, the workers. Everything's done there is just done at an insane level.

[Travis Kelsey]

I gotta give a. From the course management to the workers and everybody that's really putting this thing on and making this thing go, they make it one of the cleanest places I've ever been, especially on a golf course.

[Jason Kelsey]

Man, they do such a great job. Everybody says it's kind of like the Disney World of Golf. I can see that all the dirty work kind of happens in a way that you don't ever see. So everything looks pristine. The way they treat everybody. The way everybody treats you, whether it's the patrons, the workers, everybody's just there to have fun. It's an awesome time. They've somehow kept these prices down. I mean, the pimento cheese sandwich was a buck fifty. I think a bottle of water is $2.

[Travis Kelsey]

They're not giving that thing out for free.

[Jason Kelsey]

If you have Berkman's passes, it's. It's for free. After you pay us for however many thousands of dollars for the ticket. I don't know how that works, but. No, it. They've. They could jack those prices up.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

You go into an NFL stadium, you're paying what, like $8 for a beer?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, but those are premium beers.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's your asshole. But it was.

[Travis Kelsey]

What was your favorite shot?

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know. We saw. I'm trying to think of my favorite hole.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is 13. I love 13. The par 5 bend around the corner, then you got to play over Dog Leg, Raised Creek.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yep. Okay. Ray's Creek. You know the creeks.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think it's Raised Creek. And you got to make a decision on whether you want to go for it. And you got a long second shot, approach shot. Are you going to lay up and pitch in?

[Travis Kelsey]

But if you ever got to play it, what would you do?

[Jason Kelsey]

What would I do? I'm going for it.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're going for it.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not trying to set a score. I'm trying to have a story. I'm trying to turn the corner and everything.

[Travis Kelsey]

There we go.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, it's. That hole's awesome. I also, I. I just like the par fives. Honestly. Par fives and par threes are the most fun ones to tee up because you're going to see somebody throw a dart at one of the par threes, like 16 or two coming down the hill.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's a fun one. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Well, you see scoring, you're going to see somebody go for an eagle, you're going to see some birdies. Like there's a lot of action, I feel like, on the par fives and threes. So those are the ones I like to post up at.

[Travis Kelsey]

You think Rory's running away with this thing or what?

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, he's winning by six strokes right now.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yep, sounds about right.

[Jason Kelsey]

For those of you that don't know, it is Saturday morning, the cut has just been made, and Rory is winning by six strokes. He is going to be potentially the first person to repeat as Masters champion since Tiger woods did it in 2001. Or 2. It was either 2000, 2001, or it was 2001, 2002. Either way, he would be the fourth person ever to be back to back Masters championship. I think that'd be awesome. Another guy that's up there right now, Justin Rose. I got to see him. When the US opened in Philly in 2014. Awesome. Dude.

[Travis Kelsey]

I watched him and Spieth and Koepka.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

On the par three and then tee off and. Man, it's just crazy when you see these. These pros tee off with the driver, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, the sound, the. Not only the sound of the ball, the club hitting the ball, but the swing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. The placement, how tight it is, the

[Travis Kelsey]

velocity it comes off.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's crazy how tight these. These. Some of these shots they have to hit even on one. One is just a par four up the hill. But that bunker on the right, you got like a 15 yard landing strip. Really? That you're trying to hit.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

If you don't get it in there, you could be in the trees on the straw on the left side that you can't reach the green. It's watching these guys navigate how precise they are with all the shots. It's just a blast to see in person.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

When you can see the ball, that thing skyrockets off that face. So you gotta have some UV protection to try and see it, but. Yeah. What was your favorite thing you ate?

[Travis Kelsey]

Favorite thing I ate.

[Jason Kelsey]

I know you're a big egg salad guy. Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Because who doesn't love mayonnaise mixed with eggs thrown on some white bread? I actually used to love egg salad. Mom used to make it. I don't know what it was. Once I found out that she was just like. I walked in the kitchen at the wrong time.

[Jason Kelsey]

Please don't do the sound effect.

[Travis Kelsey]

But, mom, you made the best egg salad. I'm gonna be bougie and stay. There's a fried chicken in the Berkman's Place that is to die for.

[Jason Kelsey]

I didn't get the fried chicken. I got the pizza in Bergman's.

[Travis Kelsey]

How was that?

[Jason Kelsey]

So for those of you that know, Berkman's Place is another tier.

[Travis Kelsey]

Are we allowed to talk about Berkman's Place?

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know.

[Travis Kelsey]

Are we even allowed to be sitting here doing this?

[Jason Kelsey]

Probably not. We're gonna get banned for life, I'm sure. I hope not, because it's an incredible experience. I.

[Travis Kelsey]

Well, you can watch the. You actually watch the tournament Better.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, listen, I like watching on Sunday personally. All right. Pimento cheese and egg salad combination was my favorite combo. Dude, it's called the pomego. I found that out this week.

[Travis Kelsey]

That is.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a lot. I don't think texture wise, you would.

[Travis Kelsey]

I am so out on this. Oh, my God.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's pretty darn good. There was also another combo. People were saying the pimento and the barbecue, to me, that was too many flavors happening. It was overkill.

[Travis Kelsey]

Pimento, I can see.

[Jason Kelsey]

And the chicken. Classic chicken, grilled chicken sandwich. Yeah, that was good. But the pomego is my favorite combo of it. The ice cream peach sandwich. You didn't get one of them.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm glad you tried all this, because I didn't.

[Jason Kelsey]

I was here longer.

[Travis Kelsey]

I was trying to watch some golf.

[Jason Kelsey]

They were also having me do it as a part of the broadcast, so I didn't really have a choice. It was all delicious. That's it. Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

I got around to.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, it was.

[Travis Kelsey]

You see Nance. See daily.

[Jason Kelsey]

I didn't see either of them.

[Travis Kelsey]

Me neither. I'm hoping I can maybe find Nance today.

[Jason Kelsey]

And we called into Top Dog.

[Travis Kelsey]

Who knows if old John Daly's still over there.

[Jason Kelsey]

He is. He's there right now. Actually, we called Top Dog yesterday when we left the course to see if he was still there, and he had just left. But he is there this morning, and he'll be there this morning. Sunday as well, I believe.

[Travis Kelsey]

Interesting.

[Jason Kelsey]

So, yeah, for those of you that have never been. It's awesome. It's everything you've heard about. There's some of the best golfers in the world. The hospitality, the way it's run is second to none. The tradition to it. The. The. The history that's happened there. All of these gnomes. There's gnomes all over the place. Everybody's getting a gnome.

[Travis Kelsey]

Gotta get my hands on these gnomes.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, there's all. There's the. The merch. And that's where they get you. It's a $50 sandwich. But you're gonna go into that merch store and spend some cash for sure. But you love it. I don't know the way it was for you, but, like, the moment people find out you're coming, you know, I got my barber. Hit me up. Can I get a hat? Can you give me this key? So it's. It's an experience like none other. A tradition like no other. I don't know if we want to keep stealing Jim's lines, but, I mean,

[Travis Kelsey]

Jim, we're stealing your lines. We love you. That's how good your lines are.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

But we'll give you the nod.

[Jason Kelsey]

Imitation is.

[Travis Kelsey]

Cite our sources.

[Jason Kelsey]

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. All right, that's it from us down here at Augusta, Georgia.

[Travis Kelsey]

Little out of the house.

[Jason Kelsey]

We'll see how it. The rest of it tees up this weekend.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

How it shapes up that's all I got.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. And that's out of the house. See you guys. How about that? That's our segment. We don't know what that looks like yet, but hopefully looks like we're having a great fucking time.

[Jason Kelsey]

Once again, that master's edition of out of the House is brought to you by AT&T.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's get to our conversation with the legendary hall of Famer Troy Aikman. This conversation is brought to you by Amazon. One of our favorites.

[Jason Kelsey]

Our guest today is six foot four quarterback from UCLA. He was the number one pick in the 1989 draft. He's a six time Pro Bowler, three time Super bowl champion, 1993 Super Bowl MVP.

[Troy Aikman]

Yes, sir.

[Jason Kelsey]

And a member of the Pro Football hall of Fame. He's also the 1983 Oklahoma High School State typing champion. I did not know that. He's been in the broadcast booth for 25 years. He's also my coworker on Monday Night Football. Please, 92% welcome to the show, Mr. Troy Aman.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's go.

[Jason Kelsey]

There we go. There we go.

[Troy Aikman]

Best intro ever.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm trying, I'm trying. That's easy. It's easy when you got that many accolades.

[Travis Kelsey]

Troy, Troy, can't thank you enough for taking the time and hanging with us, man. You've been an icon in the Kelsey household for such a long time. Remember I had the Dallas Cowboys action figures. It was, it was all the Stars. It was you, Irvin Emmett Dion. I remember having him as a kid. Man, I've been such a big fan of you. Grew up a quarterback. Wishing I could one day be an Achman, but, you know, made my way into the quarterback's best friend world. Anyways, but appreciate the time, dog. And I gotta hit you with the first question, man. What was your first impression of Jason on air?

[Troy Aikman]

Oh, well, it was fantastic. I mean, I, I remember we did a production, we did a production call with, with Jason back when he was, when he was still playing with the Eagles. And someone asked, I don't think it was me. Maybe it was Joe, maybe it was. Aaron asked him if, if Jason had an interest in getting into television when he was done. And he indicated that, that he might, you know, that he had given it some thought, was going to be doing some stuff. He, he talked about his grandfather. You know, he got emotional talking about his grandfather. And it was, it was one of those calls where we, we hung up and we said, wow. We just, you know, we, we just saw a side of Jason that we had never seen before, you know, we just saw this great competitor playing center and dominating, you know, and being an all pro player and all that. But then we saw this human side to him. Then we thought, wow, you know, if that can translate, the guy has a real future, you know, if he wants to go that route. And he did. And by that time, I was. I was at ESPN and. And just thrilled. I mean, it was the Kelsey sweepstakes. It's. It's a little bit. It's a little bit like what you're going to be going through here, Travis, and serious. So to get Jason, you know, to be a teammate at ESPN has been awesome. I mean, I'm not just saying this. I said this to others. I think Jason's an absolute superstar in this profession. You know, I mean, he can take this and go as far with it as he did his playing career. You know, we do that Monday night countdown hit that. I come down and. And go on the set with him. The highest compliment that I can pay any former player or current player is by saying, you know, I would have loved to have been a teammate of yours, and Jason's one of those guys, and I. Travis, I can say the same thing about you. I've. I've covered enough of your games, but. But now I am a teammate of Jason's, and he makes us better. So it's. It's awesome. And now if we get his brother, we get his younger brother over to the worldwide leader, we, you know, we got something.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't know, man. ESPN's a very polished organization. I don't know if I. Yeah, I'm just kidding, man.

[Troy Aikman]

I'd have a gl. Not that

[Travis Kelsey]

considering. Considering Jason's first time on air. He's screaming tits, and he still has a job. No. So do you think Jason could fit in on the. On the 90s Cowboys?

[Troy Aikman]

Oh, heck, yeah. Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, he'd probably be hanging with me, you know, I mean, hell yeah. Some of those guys, they, you know, they. They. They had more extracurricular activities than. Than what I had. I, I don't. I don't claim to know what j. In his personal time, but I have a feeling he and I probably would have been hanging out together.

[Jason Kelsey]

Hell, yeah. That would have been a blast.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's some good right there, man. I. I had to ask you what your opinion was or, or at least the first thought of Jason being. Being the teammate, so. That's awesome, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

I got to mention this, too, while we're still on, like, first impressions, going up in the booth with you and Joe for the first time I didn't know what I was doing and just watching you guys play off of it and like the, the way you let me in there and just a great teammate, you were there to try and guide me through that. I really appreciate that. And, and then you come down to the regular table while we're talking me, you swag and the pre show and you kill it there, man. I mean you've been doing this. Is there anything you can't do in broadcasting? How long you've been doing this for? 25 years.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, 25 years.

[Jason Kelsey]

That is amazing, man.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, it's crazy. You know it was first of all when I, when I got into this in 01, I was in a three man booth. So I, I first worked with Daryl Johnson, my former teammate. Night yeah, he had retired a year before me and, and then Dick Stockton. So the three of us. And then after one year Madden left and when he went to Monday Night Football and so then they were looking for a new number one booth and that's when I got paired with Joe Buck and Chris Collinsworth and I was in another three man booth with those guys for three more years. So my first four years I was in a three man booth and I knew pretty early on that I, I didn't like the three man booth but I, I learned a lot by going that route. And the other thing is too, there's, there's, there was no social media. So yeah, you know, I said a lot of dumb things, I still do. But when you say something dumb you're like man, I hope and, and you didn't have to hear about all the, all the people who heard you say it, you know and, and now there's not much grace period, there's not much grace period in life period. But especially in broadcasting. So you don a chance to kind of learn your way. You know there's a, everyone has a quick opinion on guys as soon as they come into it. But like working with Collinsworth was, was good for me because he had been in television for a number of years prior to that and Chris is one of those guys. There's a handful of these type of guys, there's not a lot of them. He could host a radio show, you know, he could, he could host a studio show, he can be the analyst, he could do, you know, he can do games, he can do all of it. He could do play by play. I think there was one time when they talked to him about maybe doing play by play with Madden and I Could not, I wouldn't even attempt it. You know, I think what Joe Buck does and what play by play guys do is such a unique skill. You know, I've gotten more comfortable in front of the camera over the years, which is only natural. But I'm not as talented as a lot of other people that could really kind of do any type of medium they wanted to.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know, man. I think you kill it every time, Every time we talk medium swag, Ryan, svp. Every time you're on the desk, it is amazing to us how quickly you snap into it. What you say just like pierces through all the nonsense. Like, that's one thing that I think you do such a good job, not just on the desk, but also calling games where you talk about the quarterback position in particular, but really just football in general. There's a realness that doesn't come off like you're attacking anybody. It's just like a face value, what you're seeing that you articulate so well in every medium. I hear you in, Jason.

[Troy Aikman]

That's high praise. It means a lot to me. I, I, I'll honest, I mean, what I'm most grateful for you saying is that it doesn't feel like I'm attacking anybody because there's times when somebody writes something that I said.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Troy Aikman]

And then it comes off as though I was being critical of the player. And I, and I, and I get offended by that because the one thing that I've always tried to do, I've tried to be honest. I mean, everyone tries to do that. I think, I think you owe it to the audience. I think you owe it to your employer to be honest. But at the same time, I have so much respect for the players and the coaches that participate in this game. I mean, the three of us, we, we know how hard the game is to play and, and I especially know how hard the quarterback position is to play. Doesn't mean every throw is perfect. Doesn't mean every time the quarterback plays, he plays well. And, and I will point that out, but I, I hope I do it in a respectful way and not in a way that, that tries to embarrass or be disrespectful to the people that are out there on the field doing it for sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

And, and it doesn't come across that way to me, especially when you're watching it live. I, anybody can write an article with like a soundbite and frame it in whatever way they want.

[Travis Kelsey]

I was gonna say, I think the players understand that the most, you know, the, the, the, the guys that are seeing exactly what you're seeing and on how you're describing it, really appreciate your ability to, to put it into words and, and to give that to the viewers. And I think, you know, we all are biggest, worst critics if we're the best, you know, if we, if you just have to have that mentality. So, so if somebody's saying that I'm not doing something that I need to be doing, like, I, I, I'm the first one to point that out. So I think the players definitely see that first. And it's typically the viewers that have this love and desire that, you know, their, their quarterback or their players are, are the best and can never do anything wrong that have those kind of

[Troy Aikman]

views on that, especially Dallas, because they, you know, I'm sure, Jason, if, you know, you do games or if you were to say anything on a pregame show about the Eagles, immediately gets like, if I say when I'm calling a Cowboys game, and I don't call as many now on Monday Night Football because we only get two games a year. Whereas at Fox, you know, I had many more. But if a call, if I didn't agree with a penalty that benefited the Cowboys, I mean, they're Cowboys fans, but they'd lose their trainer.

[Jason Kelsey]

Trainer.

[Troy Aikman]

The one thing I do remember from when I was playing, I would be watching a Sunday night game or a Monday night game and a quarterback would make a throw and the, the analyst would say, no one in that he's the only guy in football that can make that throw. Or he's, he's the best guy there is at that position. And then the next week another quarterback would do something. They'd say, he's the best. That. And I, and I'm like, there's 31 other quarterbacks that can make that exact same throw. You know, I mean, and so I never have been. And maybe at times this, this is not good, but I've never been prone to hyperbole. Like, I just, yeah, if I do say something that's really strong, I mean, it's because I honestly believe that that's the only player that could have done whatever that was. You know, I mean, I just think it's, I think it's disrespectful to all of the other great players in the league. If, if you're only trying to sell that moment for television and not really being totally honest about the league overall.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely. And it comes across for sure because we're not going to Name other announcers. But other guys get labeled almost as like super fans of like specific players because they're always saying certain things. And I just feel like everything you say about a guy is very at face value and I've always like loved hearing that perspective.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Jason Kelsey]

What do you think about the current state of quarterback play in the NFL? Like where are you at just holistically with where we're at?

[Troy Aikman]

Well, I, I like it. I, I know going back to, towards the end of my career and I, you know, I, I played and when, when we, when we played. I mean, I'm sure you guys feel the same. You, you feel like you played in the Golden E. You know, I mean there were, I had Elway Marino, Warren Moon, Jim Kelly, Steve Young, you know, Boomers. The list goes on and on. I mean there were, there were a lot of really great quarterbacks during the era that I was playing. And towards the end of my career I was asked, hey, where are all the great young quarterbacks? Is like, who's, who's going to fill those shoes once everyone retires? But, but what you find is somebody always fills those shoes. You know, there's always more superstars that are coming along and, and I think the league is in great hands. I mean I, I really do. You know, we can look no further than Drake May of New England, a second year player and what, what he's been able to accomplish and a number of other quarterbacks as well. I mean obviously Travis's quarterback and Patrick Mahomes, what he's been able to accomplish. But there's Josh Allen, there's a number of great quarterbacks. Joe Burrow has always been one of my favorites. But I think the game itself, what I've, what I've liked to see here in the last couple of years and Jason, you probably would agree we to the spread sets and throwing the football. The rules favored the receivers. You know, it was tougher on the defensive backs and that really goes back to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and some of those games because New England just went after the, the Colts physically and so they changed the rules. It became more favorable for the receivers. So we saw this influx in teams wanting to throw the football and now it seems to kind of be coming back to the middle where teams are more. And I love that. You know, I mean my career, I would have loved to have thrown the ball more than I did. But I, if I was a coach today, I would do it the same way we did the 90s cowboys. I mean a power Running game, the play action game. And we see that, we see that from a lot of, we see that in San Francisco. We see it in, in with the Rams. We've seen it with a lot of other teams. Chicago, and they're kind of coming back to that, which, which I really like, which is only going to benefit the quarterbacks. So I, I like where the league is right now. I love these young quarterbacks and, and all the greatness that we've been able to see from that position.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love to hear you talk about the, the 90s cowboys, man, it's so fun. I was just telling you how I was watching the documentary and how excited it felt like that organization, everybody in that building got when, when you guys got North Turner.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

And I think I, I, I'm really just, I'm, I'm, I'm curious what was it about Norv's style and it really being suited for you because you kind of had that difference, different world, a lot of, a lot of like rough games and a lot of learning experiences through those first couple years.

[Troy Aikman]

There's so many quarterbacks that have come into this game that were, were, came in as high draft picks, high expectations, and then it just never quite happens for them. And, and my first two years in Dallas, I was on that path. I was on the path of, of being a bust. We were the worst offense in football really both years, my first and second year in the league. North Turner then came in my third year with the same players, really pretty much the same offensive lineman, same skill players. Emmett, Michael, Novacek. And our first year we were a top 10 offense and we went to the playoffs for the first time, won 11 games. And then the next two years with Norv, we were top five offensively and we won two Super Bowls. And so even in today's game, there's, there's not a lot of great offensive minds. And if you're one of these quarterbacks who's fortunate enough to play for one, you got a chance to be really successful. Everyone points to Sam Darnold and what he's gone through and where he's been the last two years. And that's a great example of it. He's been around, really great coaching, he's excelled and we've seen his talents come out and that's what happened to me. I mean, I, I credit. There's a reason why North Turner was my presenter when I went into the Pro Football hall of Fame. Michael and Emmett, they both, they both credit North Turner for turning their careers around. And Jimmy Johnson, he deserves a ton of credit too, because he was a tremendous motivator, but he was a great evaluator of talent. And so with those picks that we got from Herschel, the trade of Herschel, you know, we. We. We made the most of them and. Or he made the most of them. I had nothing to do with it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Give me, somebody please give me some fun to say we. It's fun to say we're on the same team here.

[Troy Aikman]

It is kind of fun to say we. You know, we. We picked some great players after we made that, but, yeah, it was a fun time. And. And just as fun as it was then, then Jimmy left. And it. It just goes to show you that, man, there's a lot that goes into to having success, you know, and when you have it, it don't screw it up. And, And. And I think that the egos of Jimmy and Jerry, they. It happened too early for them in the NFL. They didn't realize really what they had. I think if it had been down the road years later, after a longer period of struggling, I think maybe everyone would have kind of taken a backseat and said, well, wait a minute, this is too good. Let's just enjoy it and let's not mess this up. But so. So be.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, the perspective makes all the difference. I remember 2017 when we went on to win the super bowl that year. Brent, we had a really good team. We could all sense in training camp. You just know when, like, you got the roster, everything's clicking, and Brent Selleck stood up in front of the guys and guys, I went to the NFC Championship game my rookie year, and we lost. And I was like, oh, we'll be back there next year. It's been 10 years since I've been back to that game. He's like, you don't know how hard it is to get there. And when you got there, it. To take advantage of it. And that was like, it's launched the season. It really had us, like, take it off. But I mean, the perspective, you don't really know until you have been through it and you've seen the downturn. You realize how special it is to have all those pieces in place. Let me ask you this, because you brought up organizations failing quarterbacks more than quarterbacks failing organizations. If you're building an organization right now, I know you're helping out with Miami. You're trying to get a young quarterback. What is Troy Aikman's, like, pinnacle of. Of putting this guy in a successful situation?

[Troy Aikman]

First of all, I'll say this about quarterbacks. I, I, I'm sure you guys do it as well. I, I, I worked the draft in, in 2018, I think it was whenever Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield and those guys came out. Josh Allen. Yeah, it's a great quarterback class, so.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah, like fine wine.

[Jason Kelsey]

Getting better.

[Troy Aikman]

It's only getting better. And I, I worked that draft, so I went to some of these pro days and watched these guys throw.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Troy Aikman]

Now, I don't go to physically to the pro days, but I'll watch a number of them on NFL Network. And quite honestly, I watch them and I, I think to my, what, what do you evaluate? I mean, what do you get watch? This isn't even football. It's just, you know, hey, let me just show you how strong my arm is. And, you know, you get to see the ball come out, you get to see a little bit of accuracy. But there's not, to me, there's nothing that happens at a pro day for a quarterback that translates into whether or not this guy is going to be successful in the NFL. And, and, you know, it's, it's all the intangibles because if you're, if you're looking at being drafted, you, you've got, you've got enough arm strength, you know, you've got enough athleticism. And then. So. Okay, well, then what's going to determine it? Well, you know, what kind of leader are you? What, how, you know, do you want to be the, the best there is? Are you the first one in the, your work habits? Are you, are you intelligent? You know, I mean, there's just a number of things and, and I feel it's easy, it's easy when you walk into production, meaning, and you're meeting Patrick Holmes, who's already won three Super Bowls, you know.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Troy Aikman]

I mean, you know, he's got it, whatever that is. You know, the trick is then finding that person who has it when they're still in college and they're getting ready to go to the NFL, that becomes, that really becomes how you evaluate it. But I think as far as, what would it look like to give a young quarterback success, it goes back to kind of what we talked about. I would want him under center for the most part. I think that, I think the college game has gotten to where these quarterbacks sit back there, hold the ball, they're waiting for guys to get open, and then when they get open, they throw them the football. They don't read coverages, they don't understand coverages. There's no sense of timing. It's one of the reasons why I love watching Joe Burrow play so much, because the ball comes out on time. He's an old school quarterback. I mean, he could have played, could have played meyer in the 90s. And you can feel that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, so.

[Troy Aikman]

So I think getting under center, it forces a quarterback to kind of play in rhythm and get the ball out. So I'd want that. I'd want a running game, all those things that are really beneficial and helpful for, for a quarterback. But you're right, there's a number of teams, Dolphins included, that are looking for the next young quarterback that can be their guy for the next 10, 15 years.

[Jason Kelsey]

You brought up college. Where does Troy Aikman stand on Nil?

[Travis Kelsey]

When you talked about out diving in on Nil one time, and then the kid didn't even write you a note and just bailed on ucla and, dude, I, I hadn't been. I was already out on it. I was like, dude, these kids, if these kids just get the opportunity to jump, they're jumping. And it's like, why even, why even waste your time on it?

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, it's. And in fairness to, to the, to the young player, you know, it's a collectibles thing. He's just collecting the checks. He doesn't know who.

[Jason Kelsey]

He doesn't even know.

[Troy Aikman]

He doesn't even know. So it's no, no reflection of him. Them. And. But with that said, I know a number of people, my daughters being two of them, that would have loved to have me, to have given them that kind of money. You know, I mean, they would have written me a thank you note, you know? You know, I never even met him. I never even met the guy. And, and then he didn't play. So it just, And I speak for probably most people out there, I know that most alums have heartburn over, over this whole NIL program. And I, I don't know how it gets cleaned up, but I do feel that at least in the NFL, you've got a contract that if you take money, you know, you're obligated.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's what it feels like it needs to get to.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, you have to honor that, man.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah. You can't collect a check and then the very next year go back in the portal and then go collect another check. It just, it defies, you know, what, what this country's supposed to be about. I always thought players should be paid because, because you couldn't work in the off season or you could work in the summers, you couldn't work during the school year back when I was playing, and I didn't come from a wealthy family at all, but there were a lot of teammates of mine who came from less money than even I did, and they were really struggling. And I thought, man, these guys should be getting paid something. And the ncaa, I think, just really dropped the ball. I mean, if they'd gotten out ahead of this and said, okay, here's what we're going to do, and they didn't do it. And. And now it's the wild west out

[Travis Kelsey]

there, you know, so it is insane, man.

[Troy Aikman]

And what also, what you don't hear about anymore is, is the quality of the education.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, that's.

[Travis Kelsey]

I haven't heard that. I haven't heard education come by about college football since Nil came about. It's.

[Troy Aikman]

All of a sudden, it's not even discussed graduation rates, none of it.

[Travis Kelsey]

I never heard a kid ask, hey, how are my trans. How are my credits going to transfer if I. If I switch schools here? I haven't heard that one yet.

[Troy Aikman]

No.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's play a hypothetical, because this is all funny games. If you were a college quarterback and you had one more year of eligibility, but you knew you were a top, top five lottery pick at a great university, but you know the NFL is waiting on you, and everybody, Everybody knows you're going to be a top pick, would you stay an extra year or play for the worst or get drafted by the worst team in the league?

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, it says Jets, Travis.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm not going to do the Jets. We got an employee that works with us at New Heights that's a huge jets fan, and the question was, would you get drafted by the Jets? But I'm just going to say by. Just, would you. Would you question whether or not to stay the extra year or get drafted by. Arguably, like a rough situation that's a

[Troy Aikman]

hard one, because typically, you know, for instance, when I came out in 89, I was first overall pick, and the Cowboys, of course, were the worst team, and they were. They were the worst team in football.

[Jason Kelsey]

And.

[Troy Aikman]

And we were the worst team in football. Even after my rookie year, we. We regressed. We went from three wins before I came to Dallas to one win when I joined. And. And so that didn't look like a great situation, but yet it became an amazing place to play. And. And so I, I think you got to be really guarded about saying, well, historically, this franchise hasn't done it, and so do I really want to go to that place or Should I stay in college another year and make maybe, you know, reshuffle the deck and I get a play chance to go play somewhere else? I. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of. You take Peyton Manning going to Indianapolis, what he was able to do, you know, they all look good. Joe Burrow going to Cincinnati. I mean, all these programs start looking better, you know, when you start getting the right people in place. So that's a, that's a hard one. I, I think it's so important for these quarterbacks to play, just play, play in college, play as many games. I mean, the chances of them then going on and having success, success in the NFL go up dramatically. I mean, you look at a guy like Bo Nix and what he was able to do, and it's so rare. A lot of these quarterbacks have only had 13, 14 starts in college, and that's a big jump then going to the NFL and expecting to play well.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is there anybody out there that's struggling in the league right now that you would say might be the next Sam Darnold?

[Troy Aikman]

Not offhand. Not offhand. You know, when I, going back to that draft, Sam was my number one guy. I mean, when I evaluated him, I thought the one question mark was Sam in college was the turnovers. He, he turned the ball over a lot in college, fumbles and interceptions. And he still has had some of that in the, in the NFL. But early on it looked like, well, maybe it's just not going to work out for him. But like we said, he goes to San Francisco, backs up, then he goes to Minnesota. And then what he's done this year in Seattle has, has been awesome. We've seen that from Baker Mayfield. Josh Allen was a bit of a project coming out of college. People thought it would take him longer than it did, and he's the one who, and had the most success right away. So I've talked to so many people who evaluate quarterbacks for a living, and, and I've said, hey, when you walked in and met with Aaron Rodgers coming out of college or Joe Burrow or whoever did, did you know they had it? And, and it's about 50. 50, you know, I mean, it's a coin flip as to whether or not what, what you think is what they're going to become. And, and that's why. Why. That's why there's so many people that have been wrong. It's not an exact science in getting these guys right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, quarterback is even the hardest one to judge, I feel like, because, like, you've been saying there's so many intangibles that determine whether that guy pans out.

[Troy Aikman]

That's right.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got a great one coming out this year.

[Travis Kelsey]

He took college football by storm this year with both his play and his, his personality, man. He's a bit of a unique individual. And for Fernando Mendoza over there to Indiana, obviously national champion. Everyone's saying he's going to be the number one pick. What's your, what's your read on. On him if you've been able to catch him playing football?

[Troy Aikman]

I haven't studied him. I, I've seen him play a little bit. You know, my, my college football viewing is really more or less, the game's on and I'm studying, preparing for our broadcast or whatever. And so it's more, more background noise. So I don't really, really study them too hard. A big fan of what he's been able to do, a big fan of that university, for that matter. And what Kurt Signetti accomplished, I mean, it's just remarkable. I mean, it just blows me away. Speaking of him, not to avoid your question, but they played UCLA a year ago, week three. I'm home on a Saturday, they're ucla, Indiana at the Rose bowl, and they start talking about Kurt Signetti, and I'd never heard of him before, and they say he came from James Madison. They go through his whole thing. They played the sound bite of, you know, all I do is win. Google me. And, and so I got, so I got, I got, I got so locked in, like it. That's when television worked, you know, like, it hooked me.

[Jason Kelsey]

And I was.

[Troy Aikman]

And it wasn't because of ucla. It was because, man, I want to know more about this Kurt Sinetti, this old ball coach, man, and I'm watching his team play, and you could tell they were just so well coached, you know, Know the. They'd catch the football, they're three yards short of the first down, but the guy immediately catches it, knives up the field, picks up the first down. I'm like, man, these guys, they've been well coached. So I've been following them ever since. And so I'm a huge fan of what he's done now Mendoza, I will say I was just having this conversation with someone else that every year there is a best quarterback in the draft, right? There's always a best quarterback, but it doesn't mean that every year there's a franchise quarterback in the draft. And I think that, I think that that's what. And I'm not suggesting that Mendoza is Not a franchise quarterback at all. I'm just saying that, you know, that's. That's what has to be evaluated. Is, is he the first overall pick? Should he maybe not be the first overall pick? It's just that, as we've talked about, the league is so starved for quarterbacks, and if you're one of those teams that needs one man, they all look like franchise quarterbacks.

[Jason Kelsey]

Talk yourself into it real quick.

[Troy Aikman]

That's right. So I. I like him. I like his accuracy. I like. Man talk off. He's played in big games. He's shown it on big stage. I think there's a lot to be said for that. And now it's a matter of can he get to the right place? Is. Is Vegas that place where he can really excel? It's easy to say yeah, because Tom Brady's an owner and he's got a vested interest and he's going to be right there, but he's not going to be right there, you know, and there's a. There's a lot that is happening within that organization, so. But I like the young man, and I'm. I'll be pulling for. I pull for all these guys to play well. I'll be pulling for him when he gets his chance.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's awesome. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you to our partner, Liquid iv. When it comes to travel, I love a good road trip or discovering the best food spot in the city. Yep, that's right. You're driving through some random town, see a line out the door at any tiny place, and you just know you got to try it. You know it's going to be good. Next thing you know, you're telling everybody about the best tacos you've ever had.

[Troy Aikman]

Had.

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

It's my middle name. So something pretty incredible is hitting theaters on April 24, it's called Michael the new biopic about Michael Jackson.

[Jason Kelsey]

And here's what makes it incredible. Jafar Jackson, Michael's actual nephew, is playing him in the film.

[Travis Kelsey]

This is incredible. This isn't just about the greatest hits or the iconic dance moves. This goes deeper. It's the real story of how someone became a legend.

[Jason Kelsey]

The journey behind the music that changed the world. Michael hits theaters April 24th. And honestly, this is one that you're gonna want to see on the big screen.

[Travis Kelsey]

Head to your favorite theater's website and grab your tickets.

[Troy Aikman]

Now.

[Travis Kelsey]

The Michael Jackson biopic pick, only in theaters April 24th.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you to our sponsor, Allstate.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Let's get to this segment right here. We're calling it get off my Turf.

[Travis Kelsey]

Get off my turf.

[Jason Kelsey]

We need to narrow these fields. It's too easy to get vehicles. Now. We're also out on these touch screens on the walls.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm out on that, too. I am out on that too. Oh, I want a smart house.

[Jason Kelsey]

What the is wrong with mortgage outs? Get off my turf.

[Travis Kelsey]

Get off my turf.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a new segment for us.

[Travis Kelsey]

Sick of this new wave, man. We've been, we've been bitching about all types of. On how the NFL's changed, man. We're huge. We love the wedge back in the day, man. Get the big boys out there locking arms, full on collisions. Like, why change that? That's the most exciting. That's the start of the game right there.

[Jason Kelsey]

I get to see some action.

[Troy Aikman]

The wedge. I haven't heard the wedge.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're talking to two wedge wedge guys right here. We love crack bag blocks. Being legal, defenseless receiver rules, man. I just watched the doc and, and Michael Irvin is just out here just enjoying every single lick. He's taken over the middle man. Just becoming bigger of. More and more of a beast every time he catches one, man. And that's. It's just. It's just a different game. So, Jason, go ahead.

[Jason Kelsey]

I was a wedge buster. I was a wedge buster in College, before I started, I was running down in knee braces and they said, jason, just take out this wedge. No, no joke, no joke. Me and Ricardo Matthews, a D lineman that played in the league for a long time, they said we could get down there faster than anybody. Anyways, I'm like, hey, UCF had a really good kickoff. Hey, guys, just go down there and take the wedge out. They do all middle returns. It'll be great. We go down there, we blow this four man wedge up. It goes 106 yards to the house, not the sideline. Let's reevaluate this.

[Travis Kelsey]

Maybe have some savvy, maybe get to the ball.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.

[Travis Kelsey]

You would have loved to see this dude running down because it was in his transition. You heard him say knee boy braces.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, well, that's what I was gonna say. I would have loved to have seen him not only run down the field, but run down the field and knee braces.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

He had just made the transition over

[Jason Kelsey]

to the offensive line.

[Travis Kelsey]

It was the rule that all old linemen needed to wear knee braces. So he had this big old. It was like he had a yoga ball on his waist, man. He had this big old gut because he was trying to gain weight to play online. Had the knee braces on, but still had like that linebacker athleticism a little bit.

[Jason Kelsey]

Not quite, not quite.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nothing in that belly more than beer and subway, man. It was hilarious. He was, he was, he was a baller.

[Jason Kelsey]

We're going to give you 40 seconds, Troy. Air out. Any complaint you have with the modern game of football. Do you have anything that right off the top of your head you can think of?

[Troy Aikman]

I guess what I don't like is, and I'm a former quarterback, of course I don't like the extent of some of the protection on the quarterback is probably my biggest complaint. Just because it, man, it just. The whole objective for a defense is obviously to get to the quarterback. I mean, if you do that, you got your chances of winning go up. And, and these guys, man, I, I've never played defensive line or any of that, but I can only imagine that you're fighting through 300 pound offensive linemen, you're getting twisted and torqued in all kinds of directions and yet you're trying to get to the quarterback and, and if you get there and you don't do it exactly the right way, then there's a penalty. And I just, I don't like that. I don't, I don't like that at all. Now there's so much that's been done to try to protect players, and, And I'm. I'm all for it, but.

[Jason Kelsey]

Right.

[Troy Aikman]

You talk about a wide receiver back in the, in the, you know, going back prior to the 2000s, I mean, if you went over the middle, it was up to the quarterback to protect the receiver. And now they just. Quarterbacks will just throw it anywhere because they know the quarterback or the receiver's not going to get hit. And what I see a number of times is defenders, they don't know how to play it, like they're caught in no man's land, and they don't know whether to try to make a play on the ball, just. Just try to tackle the receiver. I feel bad for the players. The gladiators that are in the arena, they don't really want the protection. You know, they're the, the players are the ones always saying, hey, we're good. Let us play.

[Travis Kelsey]

I signed the contract. I'm good, I'm ready. I agreed to this.

[Troy Aikman]

That's right. So that's. That's what's kind of different and odd about the whole whole thing.

[Travis Kelsey]

Couldn't agree more.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, I don't want to be the. Get off. Whatever the segment's called, to get off my lawn guy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Get off my lawn. You don't want to do that.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, all right, we'll be those guys. Thank you for. Thank you for playing along. We'll get. We'll get you out of here after this last segment. Man. We always end it with a little bit of. We gotta ask, but you can clearly not answer. You can just tell us the off, Troy. But. But we, we gotta ask these questions.

[Jason Kelsey]

I gotta ask the first one. I got to. Because this is the most impressive highlight I've ever seen in the NFL. NFL is Larry Allen chasing down that interception the most impressive thing, athletically you've ever seen in the NFL?

[Troy Aikman]

Probably. I mean, this guy.

[Travis Kelsey]

Insane.

[Troy Aikman]

I've seen the clip you're talking about, and I remember. I remember the play like it was yesterday. And. And yet he was so athletic that I didn't think anything of it at the time that it happened. You know, Larry got to him before I did. You know? Okay, I was pissed that it was an interception, but. Right, right then I see the clip and you're like, whoa. I mean, he. He was. He was a freak. And he was the. He was the quietest, shyest guy in the locker room. Oh, my gosh. I mean, he.

[Jason Kelsey]

He.

[Troy Aikman]

He wouldn't say two words. You Know, I mean, he was so shy.

[Travis Kelsey]

Silent assassin man.

[Troy Aikman]

And he'd get on the field and he would just destroy people. I mean, it was.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love it.

[Troy Aikman]

He was, he was, he was amazing. Amazing.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think of that clip. I think of that. What did he put up on the bench press at the Pro bowl the one year it was like some absurd number.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah, I might have been £800 or something. It was after I had retired that, that, that he did that. And, and just a gentle giant. I mean, God rest his soul, you know, he passed a few years ago, but I'd reached out to him. I'd heard he was struggling a little bit, and he was just a gentle giant. I mean, just, just an incredible, incredible. His, his son went to Harvard. Harvard or Yale. Played football. I mean, he was a family man. Raised great kids. Everything he did, he invested back into his family. You know the words goat gets thrown around a lot. You know, greatest of all time and all that. I, I mean, there's a lot of great linemen and, and I'd put a lot of others on par with him, but I wouldn't say anyone that's ever played, played been better than him. I know that. And loved, loved having him as a teammate as well.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby.

[Travis Kelsey]

Close friend of mine, Andy Reid, says that he maybe have called you in 2002.

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

While you were, while you were on the Fox broadcast to see if you'd maybe be interested in playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.

[Troy Aikman]

That's right. Yeah, we were, we were at old Jack Murphy Stadium. I was in the three man booth with Collinsworth and Joe Buck, and we had just done a game break that Donovan McNabb had just broke his leg and the Eagles were playing really well. They were number one in the NFC at the time. As mid season, we're getting ready to go to halftime, and my producer, Richie Zion says, hey, I've got a number that I need you to call at halftime. Which he had never done. And I was in my, like, third

[Travis Kelsey]

year, third year, middle of a broadcast,

[Troy Aikman]

and I'm trying to call from the booth at halftime and there's no cell service. So I walk out onto the concourse because this was an old stadium, it was old Jack Murphy. So I'm out on the concourse, fans are walking by, of course they're like, hey, Fu. Aikman, Cowbo blow. I got, I got Andy. I said, hey. He says, hey, it's Andy. And I said, andy Reid? He said, yeah. And he says, you know, you heard what happened, didn't you? And I said, yeah, we just did a game break on it. He goes, well, I want to talk to you. I said, andy, I'm in the middle of broadcast. He said, I know you are. He said, I need you to call me after the game. And I said, all right. So I called him after the game, and he was selling me on why I should come out of retirement and go. Go sign with the Eagles and play for him. They were playing Monday night. The following game was on Monday night against the 49ers. And Ty. Ty, Detmer was this. He. I decided, obviously, I didn't. I didn't do it. I said, I didn't go.

[Travis Kelsey]

You didn't pull the old man rivers.

[Troy Aikman]

I was on my way up to Montecito, Santa Barbara, after that game, and I'm driving up, and I said, I can either keep on going north and enjoy a week in Montecito, or I'm going to be on a plane in a blizzard in Philadelphia, you know? And Edmer goes down the very next week. He gets hurt. Against 49ers, AJ Feely takes over. He wins five straight games. McNabb comes back from his injury, finishes out the season, and the Eagles went to the NFC Championship game that year. So it wound up being a. Still an amazing year for him.

[Travis Kelsey]

There you go. That's. But what a fun story, man. That's crazy. I can only imagine trying to be on the main concert course while they're yelling at you. It's like, this is Andy. Oh, man, that's too funny.

[Jason Kelsey]

Speaking of Philly, do you have any favorite stories from playing in Philly?

[Troy Aikman]

I know they're good on defense now, but back when I played, it didn't matter if it was Buddy Ryan, Bud Carson, Ray Rhodes. I mean, it didn't matter who their defensive coordinator was. They.

[Travis Kelsey]

They.

[Troy Aikman]

They beat the dog out of quarterbacks. I mean, it was 91. They were number one against the run, number one against pass, number one over all. They were knocking quarterbacks out every week. And my first game against them, I didn't know a lot about them. My rookie year, our first game was on Thanksgiving in Dallas. And at the end of that game, and that was the year, obviously, we weren't very good. And I. At the end of that game, they X rayed both shoulders, both knees, my elbow. I thought I. I thought I had broken bones through my whole body. We. We had to play the Eagles two weeks long later. And after they X rayed me after the game, they said, yeah, no, everything's good. I said, everything's good. And I had to go back two weeks later and play against these animals. I mean, they, they were, they were brutal, relentless. And that was a game. They were throwing the, you know, they had the snowballs with batteries and, you know, I didn't take my helmet off. The Santa Claus throwing snowballs at him on his little tricycle. I mean, that, that stuff, that stuff was real, you know.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's amazing. Y. Yeah.

[Troy Aikman]

I remember we were sitting around at a roundtable one off season as me, Farve Elway and I think Warren Moon. They asked us where our least favorite place to play was, our toughest place to play. And they get to me and I said, said Philadelphia. I mean, it was hands down, Philadelphia's the worst place to play. And far. And they go to Farb and Farve says Philadelphia. And I said, what do you know about Philadelphia? He only played there one time in his career and it was like four years earlier. I said, I got to there every year. These guys are. I mean, that, that defense was so. They were so good. I mean, Reggie and Clyde Simmons and you know, the list goes on. On Seth Joiner. Yeah. Eric Allen. I mean, they, they were just dominant.

[Travis Kelsey]

We got a running joke on here that I average. An average fan couldn't get a single yard in the NFL. But with the guy as. As much football knowledge accumulated as Joe Buck. Could Joe Buck.

[Jason Kelsey]

Buck.

[Travis Kelsey]

Get a. Get a yard in the NFL?

[Troy Aikman]

Get a yard doing what? Running? Running the ball

[Jason Kelsey]

or out wide catching.

[Troy Aikman]

However, there is no chance. None.

[Travis Kelsey]

None.

[Troy Aikman]

In fact, in fact, you know, Joe played football. I broke his neck playing, you know, when he was in high school, he broke his neck.

[Jason Kelsey]

I didn't know this.

[Troy Aikman]

Broke his neck playing football.

[Travis Kelsey]

Get with the giggle is hilarious.

[Troy Aikman]

Joe would not only not get a yard, he, he would not. He might not get up. I mean, like, come on. Are you serious?

[Travis Kelsey]

My bad. So I set Joe up for failure right there. Who's a better actor? You and Jerry Maguire or Jerry Jones and Landman?

[Troy Aikman]

Jerry Jones and Landman. Did he not crush that?

[Travis Kelsey]

It's so fitting.

[Jason Kelsey]

Kidding. Dude, that scene in the hospital is unreal.

[Troy Aikman]

I've had a lot of meetings with Jerry over the years and I had a lot of great conversations with him about his past. And you know, when he gets into talking about some of the things that, that he's lived through and that. That he's done, it's pretty, pretty fascinating. And so I've heard variations of basically that story that he told in Land Man. And so Joe and I were talking about it. Joe Buck. And he Was saying, hey, did you see it? And I said, yeah, I saw it. It was phenomenal. I said, but I've heard him basically tell that story. I said, he wasn't acting. That's Jerry. I mean, that's Jerry telling the story. And Joe made a great point. He says, no, I hear you. I hear you. That it's his story and all that, but he told it in a sound studio in front of 40 people with cameras and lights and an audience. And. And he. And he sold it. And that is for sure. That is acting. So I. When he said that, I said, you know what? You're right, because we've all been on commercial shoots, and, you know, it's not as comfortable as what Jerry made it feel when he was delivering that. I thought. I thought he was phenomenal.

[Jason Kelsey]

Couldn't agree more. Yeah, the cadence and, like, the way he. The pauses and everything, it just came off so real.

[Troy Aikman]

And I've gotten to know Taylor Sheridan, and we were talking about that. That piece that Jerry did. And. And I agree. Taylor said if. If he wanted, you know, he could make a living as an actor, you know, and he could. I mean, I got. I got a joke I could tell, but I don't want to tell it, so I'm not going to. All right. It would go. And then I. And then I got my hands full in the media for the next. So I'll leave it at that.

[Jason Kelsey]

But when we stop recording, we're gonna. We're gonna hear this. All right?

[Troy Aikman]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Using a former teammate to fill in the blank, People forget that blank was a problem.

[Troy Aikman]

Using a former teammate to fill in the blank, that blank was a problem.

[Travis Kelsey]

People forget that. That this man was a problem.

[Troy Aikman]

I mean, obviously we had some. We had some colorful figures and. And well documented, I might add. But the. The. The thing that, you know, there's a lot of people who. Who point to. To Michael, and it was in the documentary of all the things that he went through and. And dealt with in his personal life and away from the field. And. And I. I would say that Michael, like, he and I have a relationship that's so unique, and it's been that way forever. You know, my mom, who's passed. We. Michael and I were on a. On a cruise after my first year, and I. I brought my mom and. And. And like, my mom, the Michael and the trouble and the things that he. He got into, like, my mom would not have condoned those things. You know, a lot. A lot of people's moms wouldn't. A lot of people wouldn't. Right. But my mom loved Michael Irvin because every time he saw her, he made her feel like a million dollars, you know, And I. I've met Yalls mom, and when people make your mom feel special, special, I mean, you can't put that into words. You can't put a price on that. And so. And. And my mom loved Michael right up until the day she passed. And Michael and I have that relationship to where he's. For the longest time, as. As I've gotten older, you're more willing to tell people what they mean to you and that you love them and. But when you're in your 20s, Michael was the guy who would come over, see me in public. He'd come over, give me a kiss, and tell me he loves me and, you know, these bear hugs.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Troy Aikman]

And regardless of whatever was happening in his life, when we went out to practice, because people would say, how. How do you and Michael, or how are you and Michael so close? And I said, you know what? When we go out to practice, it doesn't like we live totally different lives. But he gets out there and he runs every route like he's preparing for the Super Bowl. It's never affected the way he prepares during the week. And that's all I cared about. I mean, if a guy. If a guy came and showed up to work and was ready to get better that day and help us win, man, it was, go do whatever the hell you want. And that was Michael. I don't know how he did it because he ran hard away from the facility, but he. He ran hard at the facility as well, and. And it's why we were as close as we were.

[Travis Kelsey]

Man, I love Irv, man. He's the best dog.

[Troy Aikman]

He's a piece. He's one of one for sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you have a welcome to the NFL moment? You might have already named it with the Eagles game from your rookie year, it sounds like, but it was the

[Troy Aikman]

Eagles, and it was my rookie year, and it was Thanksgiving that I talked about that. You know, in college, a big guy breaks through the line. You know, I wasn't the fastest guy in the world, but. But I could run. I ran the wishbone at. Oh, you. When I was playing at Oklahoma. But, you know, you just run away from them. You know, you run away from it. You throw the ball and, you know, you go on to the next play. And we're playing the Eagles, and Reggie White got through them, got through the line. So I take off running, and then somebody. Somebody tackled me. From behind. Behind. And I was just like, who was that? I didn't know they brought a linebacker or something. When I got up, it was. It was Reggie. And that's when I, that's when I remember thinking, man, this, this league is, this league's different when you've got 300 pounders like Reggie White who are running you down from behind. And yeah, so that was my, that was my welcome to the NFL moment.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's a mean guy chasing you for sure.

[Travis Kelsey]

Troy, we can't thank you enough, man. One of the best to do it on the field in the booth. Booth. Stand up, guy, man. Thank you for all the nuggets of gold, the wisdom, the stories, brother, and of course, the time, man. This is fun, man.

[Troy Aikman]

You got it. You got it, man. I appreciate you guys having me. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you to Troy Aikman for stopping by, man. I still remember having those action figures when I was a kid, man. I, I, even when I watched Little Giants, I was like, I kind of like the Cowboys, man. Aikman had those cowboys jerseys looking sweet in the 90s, man. Shout out to Aikman for all the stories, man. Obvious. Obviously one of the best broadcasters out here. But for all you young bucks, man, go watch some Aikman highlights from the 90s, man. You won't regret it. Once again, that conversation is brought to you by Amazon.

[Jason Kelsey]

And that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you to Troy Aikman. Make sure you're subscribed to nice channel on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast.

[Travis Kelsey]

Once again, New Heights of Wonder show brought to you by AT T this week.

[Jason Kelsey]

Still got it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Follow the show on all social media. New Heights show with one extra fun clips throughout the week. To our New Heights production team. Thank you guys for always making us look good. And you guys are really the, the engine that keeps this thing going, man. We appreciate you guys and thank you to the 92 percenters for tuning in each and every week. Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as we did and we'll see you next week. Peace.

[Brandon]

Does intuit. I want to sponsor my trip to the zoo.

[Travis Kelsey]

The LA zoo?

[Brandon]

No, I went to the Living Desert in Palm Springs. Oh, you're full of. I'll take you.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're. You're as close to San Diego as you are the deserts.

[Brandon]

But I was in, I was in the desert looking at wedding venues. It was not. This was not a zoo trip.

[Travis Kelsey]

Brandon J. Travis.

[Jason Kelsey]

So no, nice.

[Brandon]

It was very nice. And here's what I've learned it's expensive.

[Troy Aikman]

Oh.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Brandon]

I said, lauren, how serious are we? Honey, there's a. There's an Applebee's right there.

[Jason Kelsey]

She'll say yes.

[Brandon]

Honey, you know I love you. It's three dollar margaritas. How much are we really looking to spend on people?

[Travis Kelsey]

Half off apps after 10? After 9? Actually. They moved that up an hour.

[Brandon]

They have something called a triple dipper. I think our guests will love that. Yeah. Let me know when you guys want to come out. I. I'll book it around your schedules.

[Jason Kelsey]

Are we invited?

[Brandon]

You guys are both invited. You skipped Jake's, so you got to

[Travis Kelsey]

come to mind you're getting married at the zoo.

[Brandon]

Honestly, I would get married at the zoo. I love a little wallaby running around. Dude, do not. Don't temp me.

[Travis Kelsey]

Just come out on the elephant. That's happen.

[Brandon]

Dude, they had rhinos, man.

[Troy Aikman]

If you.

[Brandon]

Rhinos are sick, bro.

[Travis Kelsey]

Rhinos are sick. Very intense. Did you go in the cage with them?

[Brandon]

No, they don't give me the Travis Kelce tour.

[Travis Kelsey]

Don't do it.

[Brandon]

I'm with Gin Pop. They keep me behind the fence.

[Travis Kelsey]

Terrifying.

[Brandon]

No, they're there, but they're like. You're looking at an alien when you

[Travis Kelsey]

see them fucking trot around. Like, holy shit. I have a ridiculous AI algorithm right now of Ionis the Hyones. I own

[Jason Kelsey]

this. Yeah, that one is hilarious.

[Travis Kelsey]

The one where he's just laughing in the front seat.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's one that I had to look up. Like. I'm like, I know this is fake, but just like, let's just see if it says AI.

[Travis Kelsey]

Jason. You had to look that up. The hyena had a mask on. Rock. Is this real? Hilarious.

[Jason Kelsey]

Just comment section. Just a quick glance, making sure you

[Travis Kelsey]

can't ask AI about another AI thing being real. Because then they're. They're on the same team. They're going to say, yeah, the robots get together like, it's real.

[Brandon]

That's real. That's real. That's real.

[Troy Aikman]

That's real. That's.

[Brandon]

That's fine. Love it.