Engagement Advice, Eagles Banner Night, Chiefs in Brazil & NFL Season Preview with Alex Smith | EP 152

Summary

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New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Episode 152: "Engagement Advice, Eagles Banner Night, Chiefs in Brazil & NFL Season Preview with Alex Smith"
Date: September 3, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively season-opening episode, Jason and Travis Kelce celebrate huge personal and NFL milestones. They discuss Travis’s engagement to Taylor Swift, swap proposal stories, and offer advice to fans considering popping the question. The brothers preview the new NFL season, weigh in on major headlines—including the Micah Parsons trade—and share what to expect from the Eagles' banner night and the Chiefs' historic season opener in Brazil. Three-time Pro Bowl QB Alex Smith joins for an in-depth conversation about Travis’s early career, Andy Reid's coaching genius, and bold NFL predictions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Travis’s Engagement & Relationship Advice

[01:51 - 05:57, 10:00 - 13:00]

• Announcement: Jason playfully forces Travis to address the big news: "In case you missed the Instagram post heard around the world, Travis and Taylor are engaged." [01:52, Jason]

  • Travis thanks both brothers and the fan community for their excitement.

• On Calling Taylor His Fiancée:

  • "There's something different about calling somebody your fiancée...it felt way more official." [02:44, Jason]
  • "It was my first time introducing Taylor as my fiancée to a few of my teammates. So, yeah, it was pretty cool." [03:01, Travis]

• Advice to Listeners Contemplating Proposing:

  • "You gotta know your gal or your significant other. You can't let how somebody else does it make you feel like you need to do it that way." [03:24, Travis]
  • "You can't read about it in a Cosmopolitan magazine. You gotta know your person." [03:37, Jason]

• Funny Bachelor Party Exchanges:

  • The brothers and intern Brandon joke about wedding invites and bachelor parties, with Travis quipping, "I invite you guys everywhere," but later defers on finalized plans. [05:06, Travis]

Memorable Moment

• On Public Engagement Reactions:
  • "It's been really fun telling everybody who I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with." [02:20, Travis]

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2. College Football Recap & Tailgate Announcement

[09:27 – 16:26]

• They dissect Cincinnati vs. Nebraska, celebrating both teams and shouting out players ("Walker #3 was giving us’s little...making guys miss” [11:24, Jason]), and debate whose jorts Jason was wearing.

• Funny Beer Story:

  • Jason and Travis realize mid-game they were drinking non-alcoholic beer, with Travis laughing: “I showed up sober...wondering what the hell was up.” [14:32, Travis]

• Tailgate Plans:

  • “Ultimate New Heights fan experience...barbecue, contests, merch...and it’s completely free.” [08:13, Jason]
  • “Kansas City always shows up. KCP&L is always a good ass time.” [09:19, Travis]

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3. Chiefs’ Historic Game in Brazil

[18:04 – 22:39]

• Travel & Prep:

  • "It’s not like you’re going to the other side of the world in time zones, but we’re traveling half a day." [18:17, Travis]
  • Discuss logistics (stadium 2 hours from hotel, managing jet lag, prepping film on the plane) and joke about “getting their Russell Wilson on” or bringing a Nintendo Switch for the flight.

• International Experience:

  • "This will be my fifth country I've played in...Europe and South America. NFL's got to keep expanding." [21:26, Travis]
  • Anticipate intense Brazilian fan energy.

• Previewing the Chargers:

  • On Jim Harbaugh’s coaching: "They’re gonna be tough as nails. They got heart. You're gonna get a well-disciplined football team.” [23:49, Travis]

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4. NFL Season Preview & Major Headlines

[23:49 – 37:01, 81:27 – 96:39]

Chiefs-Chargers Matchup:

• Discuss Chargers’ new additions (Najee Harris, Makai Becton, Rashawn Slater’s injury), Rashee Rice’s suspension, and practical game “keys”:
  • “Don’t turn the ball over. Stats are stats, dude. The amount of fumbles in Week 1 – it’s insane.” [27:36, Travis]
  • "Stop the run, eliminate penalties and mistakes." [27:57, Jason]

Eagles-Cowboys Opening Bash:

• “Could you think of a better way for the Philadelphia Eagles to start the NFL season coming off a Super Bowl than playing the Dallas Cowboys and dropping a banner?” [29:00, Jason]
  • "They’ve all turned the page and you have to focus on this year. But the banner isn’t for them. It’s for the fans." [34:02, Jason]
  • Discuss Siriusanni’s decision: "Eagles will not be on the field for the banner drop." [33:53, Travis]
  • Jason’s players to watch: “Moro Ojomo...keep that name in the back of your head...Jalen Carter’s gonna get a lot of attention, but I think Moro’s gonna have a good year.” [31:32, Jason]

NFL in 2025:

• YouTube offers free global live stream of NFL kickoff; discuss the evolution of media, coverage, and fandom.

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5. Special Guest: Alex Smith Interview

[44:31 – 111:09]

Travis’s Rookie Years & Andy Reid’s Impact:

• Alex’s First Impressions:

  • Did you expect Travis to have a Hall of Fame career? “Hell no. Hell no.” [45:32, Alex]
  • “There were some question marks about Trav and his professionalism coming in.” [45:56, Alex]
  • “He didn't even play his rookie year...there were huge question marks, Jason, for sure.” [46:16, Alex]

• On Andy Reid:

  • “He has this aura—downright like you’re afraid of him in certain instances—but he always wants the best for you.” [48:42, Jason]
  • “That’s what coaching is: tough love...the best thing about Andy is the no judgment.” [49:24, Alex]

• Travis’s Improvisational Growth:

  • Alex recounts a memorable play: “You just kept running across the field! I threw him the ball...it turned into a 30-yard gain.” [51:10, Alex]
  • Travis: “If I can feel the quarterback’s at the top of his drop, and what we called isn't working, I'm doing something else.” [58:08, Travis]
  • Jason: “You gotta be a free spirit to all of a sudden whip this out in the middle of a game...anyone analytical, showing up early and reading the playbook isn’t doing this.” [56:58, Jason]

On Transfer to San Francisco & Harbaugh vs. Reid:

• Alex Smith discusses imposter syndrome and the pressure of being the #1 overall pick:
  • “Being a first-time pro and #1 pick in San Fran, I felt I had to be perfect...real imposter syndrome.” [62:40, Alex]
  • On Jim Harbaugh: “He eats, breathes, and sleeps football...his life goals were play, coach, and die.” [67:25, Alex]
  • On Aloha shirts vs. Blue-collar shirts: “Jim gifted every guy a blue-collar shirt...Big Red’s in aloha shirts. We got blue-collar shirts vs. aloha shirts—going at it in Sao Paulo!” [70:05, Alex]

NFL Draft, Mahomes’ Arrival, and Kansas City Culture:

• “The beauty of what Andy set up—when Pat [Mahomes] finally played, he was going to be successful. There was no ‘roll the dice’ happening.” [76:09, Alex]
• On being a mentor:
  • “Pat came in...humble, ready to work. There was never a prima donna ego.” [73:51, Alex]

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6. League Topics: Trades, Coaches, & Predictions

[81:27 – 101:57]

Micah Parsons Trade Reaction:

• "I just could not believe they traded him...If you’re going to, get a Herschel Walker-type trade. But for two late first-rounders and Kenny Clark? I think it’s a horrible trade." [81:51, Alex]
  • Jason: “Statistically the chances of replacing Parsons’ impact with two late firsts are so low.” [84:02, Jason]
  • On Jerry Jones: “He’s never negotiated a contract before, and Jerry’s the GM, owner, and negotiating directly...The power dynamic feels icky.” [85:11, Alex]

New Coaches to Watch:

• Ben Johnson (Bears), Vrabel (Patriots), Liam Coen (Jags), Allen (Saints), Kellen Moore (Saints), Aaron Glenn (Jets), Chip Kelly (Raiders, OC) discussed.
  • Jason: “Dennis Allen as DC always gave me fits. He can stop the run in a shell just by moving guys around—it was always an issue.” [91:32, Jason]
  • On Pete Carroll (Raiders): “One of his core fundamentals is joy. Just still chewing that gum.” [93:06, Jason]

Bold Season Predictions:

• Alex Smith: “The ‘23 QB class could go down as one of the greatest of all time...maybe the best ever.” [78:12, Alex]

  • Discussed standouts: Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy, Drake May, Penix Jr.

• Sleeper Teams:

  • Giants (big defensive turnaround), Tampa Bay Bucs (“They can make a real run”), Rams (love Stafford, Jared Verse), and 49ers (less talked about but still loaded).
    • “You start yapping off coming into Philly and then play your ass off? Respect.” [95:38, Jason]
    • “The Niners are a little less talked about this year because of last season, but they still have all the pieces.” [96:03, Jason]

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7. No Dumb Questions Segment

[96:39 – 110:56]

• Is the NFL Getting Softer?

  • Jason launches into a tongue-in-cheek rant about the banning of smelling salts:
    • “NFL’s gone soft, man. ... Now we got all these prima donnas. Don’t want to be a team player. ... What happened to smash mouth football?” [97:12, Jason]
  • Alex: “He drops Patrick Willis in a list of old timers. ... Patrick Willis only retired like six years ago!” [98:26, Alex]
  • On jersey swaps: “It’s weird to see guys taking pictures with jerseys postgame after getting their ass kicked. Should be more old school.” [98:52, Alex]

• Can an Average Guy Get a Yard in the NFL?

  • "Zero percent chance. Not even King Henry's getting a yard with average dudes blocking.” [103:05, Jason]
  • Debate funniest position for an average dude. Jason: “Middle linebacker. Just completely lost. Put the GoPro on him for TV.” [104:11, Jason]

• Who Taught You Film Study?

  • Alex: “Early in my career coverages were simple buckets—now it’s all hybrid, changes on the fly.” [105:19, Alex]
  • Jason: “I learned from Jeff Saturday—study the D-line in detail, look for every tell.” [106:06, Jason]
  • Travis on defensive prep: “Mike DeVito had spreadsheets every week, breaking down everything you could see...I realized I was playing at such a basic level compared to that.” [109:52, Travis]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Did you expect Travis to be a Hall of Famer?”
  Alex Smith: “Hell no. Hell no.” [45:32]

• On Chiefs-Chargers in Brazil:
  Travis Kelce: “It’s the most unique it’s ever been...but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited.” [18:17]

• On Andy Reid’s Coaching:
  Jason Kelce: “He has this aura...but you always feel like he just wants the best for you. ... The line between disciplinarian and player’s coach.” [48:42]

• On the Micah Parsons trade:
  Alex Smith: “I think it is a horrible trade. To be very clear.” [83:57]

• On being a rookie in the NFL:
  Alex Smith: “It was real imposter syndrome...How long till they find out they made a mistake?” [62:40]

• On Banner Night:
  Jason Kelce: “The banner isn’t for them. It’s for the fans.” [34:02]

• On Travis’s play style:
  Alex Smith: “Kind of the early dawn of Trav improvisation...trav always open. When in doubt, just find this guy.” [56:00]

• On NFL evolution:
  Jason Kelce: “I miss the wedge unit. But also...we probably shouldn’t do that anymore.” [101:57]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Engagement & Advice: 01:51 – 05:57
• Tailgate & College Football Recap: 09:27 – 16:26
• Chiefs in Brazil Discussion: 18:04 – 22:39
• NFL Season Preview & Keys: 23:49 – 37:01
• Alex Smith Interview Start: 44:31
• Travis’s Early Career Reflection: 45:24 – 54:27
• Andy Reid/Harbaugh Comparison: 65:39 – 70:05
• Mahomes’ Arrival & Mentorship: 71:07 – 76:49
• Micah Parsons Trade Analysis: 81:27 – 89:17
• New Coaches Breakdown: 90:23 – 93:13
• Season Predictions & Bold Takes: 93:24
• No Dumb Questions/Film Study: 96:39 – 110:56

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Conclusion

This dynamic, candid episode mixes football insight, playful family banter, and unfiltered opinions on the state of the league. The Kelces and Alex Smith give listeners rare inside perspective from the locker room to the broadcast booth, mixing deep analysis with the irreverence fans love. Whether discussing wedding proposals, Andy Reid’s life lessons, or dissecting NFL trades and season outlooks, this is New Heights at its best: brotherly, expert, and straight from the heart.

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Transcript

[Jason Kelsey]

In 2014, when you're a rookie with Travis, when he first arrived at the Chiefs. Let's start there.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Did you expect that we'd end up where we are right now? What were your expectations for a young Travis Kelce?

[Alex Smith]

Did I expect him to be, what, like a hall of fame career?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Yeah. That's the question.

[Travis Kelce]

Crazy question.

[Alex Smith]

Hell. Hell no. Hell no.

[Travis Kelce]

What? What threw you off? Welcome back to new heights 92 percenters. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a wondry show brought to you by Reese's Oreo cups. And those things are tasty.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby.

[Travis Kelce]

Two of my favorites combined into one. We're your host. I'm Travis Kelsey. This is my big brother, Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. University of Cincinnati grads. I'll tell you what, Bearcats, man, didn't end the way that, that we wanted to, but I'll tell you what, they fought, we fought. It's only. That's all I wanted to see some heart. And that's what I fucking saw. And we got a hell of a team, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Let's go, baby. Take over the Big 12. Subscribe on YouTube, Wonder plus wherever you get your podcast and follow the show on social media at new heights show with 1s. Jason, I think this is where you tell everybody what we have coming up next.

[Jason Kelsey]

92 percenters football is back. Yeah. We're going to talk about all the biggest news from last week, including the preview the Chiefs heading down into Brazil. We're also going to get into the fallout from the Parsons trade and dive into the rest of the NFL season with three time Pro bowler and Chiefs legend Alex Smith.

[Travis Kelce]

Smitty.

[Jason Kelsey]

But before we get to all of that, we're gonna get into a little bit of that new news. New news. Travis, we gotta talk about it.

[Travis Kelce]

I don't think we have to, but go ahead.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay. Well, in case you missed the Instagram post heard around the world, Travis and Taylor are engaged.

[Alex Smith]

Yay.

[Travis Kelce]

Well, and thank you guys for the congratulations that you sent out last week.

[Jason Kelsey]

You saw it?

[Travis Kelce]

Yes, I did. It was very nice of you, Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you.

[Travis Kelce]

It was very nice of you. Although you had already congratulated me. You had to do it on behalf of New Heights and felt like it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Would have been weird if we didn't do it. We wanted to send that message.

[Travis Kelce]

What?

[Jason Kelsey]

No.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you guys. Okay. And I appreciate everybody that reached out and sent something and all the posts and all the excitement that's been going on, it's been really fun telling everybody who I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with. So.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

How was the last week? Been exciting?

[Travis Kelce]

It's been awesome. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Isn't it? There's something different about calling somebody your fiance.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's a comedian that has a whole bit about it. But I think they nailed it. Of talking about like my. Oh. It was John Mulaney, I think is talking about girlfriend. Versus. All of a sudden you're like this is my fiance or my wife. There's something more way. Way more official to it.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. 100. I felt that at the game. Actually. It was my first time introducing Taylor as my fiance to a few of my teammates.

[Jason Kelsey]

There we go.

[Travis Kelce]

So. Yeah. It was pretty cool.

[Jason Kelsey]

Isn't. Don't you get giddy saying it?

[Travis Kelce]

I did. Yeah. I still get giddy.

[Jason Kelsey]

I love it.

[Travis Kelce]

It's exciting times still fresh.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do we have any advice to other 92 percenters that might be popping the question?

[Alex Smith]

Man.

[Travis Kelce]

Just. You got to know your gal. You got to know your gal or your significant other. You got to know him.

[Jason Kelsey]

You can't.

[Travis Kelce]

And it's got to. You can't let. How somebody else does it make you feel like you need to do it that way.

[Jason Kelsey]

You can't read about it in a Cosmopolitan magazine. Expect that they're going to know your person. You got to know your person.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. You maybe might be able to get some ideas from how other people did.

[Jason Kelsey]

It that those other people.

[Travis Kelce]

I hear you. They might get the creative juices going.

[Jason Kelsey]

There you go. That's okay. I got you.

[Travis Kelce]

I would just say know your. Know your partner. Know. Know who you're doing it for and do it for the right reasons. Baby. Everything else would be. Be beautiful.

[Jason Kelsey]

I cannot wait to hear more of the planning and everything that will take place. Travis. You are gonna. You are crazy about to embark on the wedding planning phase of that is a relationship.

[Travis Kelce]

Yep. I've heard about that.

[Jason Kelsey]

And get ready. It is a lot of fun. Have you ever heard Mike Leach talk about planning wedding.

[Travis Kelce]

No. But that is a. That's a wild. Go ahead.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not gonna. I can't even do it justice. You're gonna have to watch that clip yourself. But Mike Leach is pretty. He's a funny man. Funny man.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

No. It's a very exciting time trying to figure out where dates all of these things. There is a very important question that Jake and Brandon required me to ask on this show. Which is are they invited to the bachelor party? Bachelor party.

[Travis Kelce]

Man. How do you even know there's a bachelor party coming?

[Jason Kelsey]

You know I don't. I'm just asking this question on behalf of Jake and Brandon.

[Travis Kelce]

I haven't thought about it one second.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. So this is a good way to defer.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well done.

[Travis Kelce]

So. But I invite you guys everywhere.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yes. Are they invited to the wedding at least?

[Travis Kelce]

Well, you know, we're gonna see. We're gonna see how. We're gonna see how it all shakes out because I don't want to put them at a table that they wouldn't mesh with. Well, I would just.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's segue here. Let's segue here. Let's segue here. 92% is for those of you that are unaware. Travis was not the only member of New Heights that has recently been. And Brandon has got it. So, intern Brandon, I now flip the question on you. Are Travis and I invited to your bachelor party?

[Alex Smith]

Of course. Of course you are. I don't know.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know what we invited to the wedding.

[Travis Kelce]

This is news to me.

[Alex Smith]

Of course.

[Travis Kelce]

I think we just strong armed our way into this.

[Alex Smith]

You're in.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, no. Shame. I am perfectly fine. Strong arm my way into this.

[Alex Smith]

A few of my friends texted me like, hey, man, so congrats. We're so happy for you. Are we going to get to hang out with Jason and Travis? And I was like, oh, cool.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's like your second question is, are.

[Alex Smith]

Jason, Travis, like, going to hang out with us? And I'm like, no, not now.

[Jason Kelsey]

But no, you guys are.

[Alex Smith]

We'll figure out what we're doing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Brandon. We're doing intern. Brandon got engaged in an ocean.

[Alex Smith]

I did.

[Jason Kelsey]

Truly fantastic. Can we put that photo up?

[Alex Smith]

My little head bobbing in the water like this and the ring is floating.

[Jason Kelsey]

And then it's a great photo.

[Alex Smith]

Travis did it on land, which is much safer. Land mammal got warned.

[Travis Kelce]

I got warned.

[Jason Kelsey]

Brandon went aquatic.

[Travis Kelce]

I went aquatic. And I once thought I would do it on water, but you. You.

[Alex Smith]

You did it.

[Jason Kelsey]

He didn't do it. He did it in water.

[Alex Smith]

Holding the ring while kicking your little feet, trying to fight the current. Terrible idea. Don't recommend it. That's my advice. It. Listen, that's the most athletic thing I've.

[Jason Kelsey]

Ever done in my life. Brandon, I'm sure you have had a lot of people reach out and not.

[Alex Smith]

As many as Travis had, but yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Travis has had so many that I've had people reach out. And that's been one of the more fun things is hearing from coaches and former friends of ours, like, hey, can you tell Travis congratulations?

[Travis Kelce]

Nice man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely. Will do.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, it's been, it's been so much fun hearing from everybody seeing the Internet go crazy. Cleveland, Cleveland Twitter page. The city of Cleveland at City of Cleveland put up their local man and his new fiance stun in engagement pictures.

[Jason Kelsey]

I thought that was absolutely great. Local man is a great way to go. That's so good. We also got a great tweet from Awful. Announcing NFL podcast host announces engagement to recent guests. Very accurate. Accurate.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Speaking of announcements was pretty good. Speaking of announcements, congratulations again, Trav. Very happy for you and Tay and can't wait to see what the future holds for both of you. Now we can transition to announcing another thing which is the new heights tailgate in KC. Oh, that's right. September 14th, starting at 11am the new heights tailgate sponsored by Audible is coming to KC live in the power and light district.

[Travis Kelce]

KCP L, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Ultimate new Heights fan experience with food of course, barbecue, tons of contests and new heights merch giveaways. A photo booth to take your game day photos. DJ to keep the vibe going. Cornhole. Who doesn't like putting a sack in some cornholes? Cornhole game to compete with your friends. A giant TV to watch NFL games live. And plenty of places to hang out for you and your friends. And it's completely free. Free for all fans because we appreciate you guys so much and we want to have a kick ass time and typically that more the merrier. So you don't need to sign up, you just show up. Capacity will be limited to first come first serve basis. Let's go, baby. Walnut street between 13th and 14th just outside of KC live in the power and light district of Kansas City next week for the Kansas City Chiefs Philadelphia Eagles game. It's gonna be a barn burner.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Little super bowl rematch.

[Travis Kelce]

Come on, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Come on, baby. We won't get too far ahead. We won't get too far ahead. You guys know around this week, want to let you guys know that's what we got coming up. And make sure you show up and show out, baby. Casey always shows up. KCP L is always a good ass time, man. I've never had a bad time there. And sure enough, New Heights is bringing it.

[Jason Kelsey]

That wraps up new news. Let's get to out of the house, Travis.

[Travis Kelce]

Out of the house is brought to you by Gillette. The best a man can get. I see you. I see you stroking the beard. You're feeling, feeling them grays coming back in.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's coming. Thank God.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, I see him.

[Jason Kelsey]

My wisdom is coming back by the day.

[Travis Kelce]

You Lost it for a second out of the house. The. The Kelsey's hit up arrowhead for the Cincinnati Nebraska games. Shout out to Nebraska, but shout out to uc, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

No doubt.

[Travis Kelce]

Nebraska played a hell of a game. Went down to the wire. Cinc. Showed all the heart in the world, baby, and showed that. That we got some ball players, man. We got some ball players and we can make some plays with the game on the line. And yeah, we got one play that we can learn from. And it's early on in the season. Can't let that game or that play define us. We got a lot to. To be proud of about that game and a lot to learn from as well.

[Jason Kelsey]

It felt like a first game. It felt like a lot of just, you know, not like catastrophic mistakes, just kind of like sloppiness, you know, drop ball here, false start here. Like we had 35 passing, I think up until the fourth quarter, but it didn't feel like Soursby was playing that bad. Like he threw some really good fade balls and I don't know, it just was one of those. And hats off to Nebraska. Nebraska played a great game. They controlled the ball. I think they had like 35 minutes or something like that. Close to 40 minutes of time of possession. You know, we just didn't stay on the field as an offense. We kind of got behind the sticks, we'd run the ball really well, then all of a sudden getting like a third and long and you know, we had the. The turnover before half and then obviously the turnover at the end of the game when we were going down a tie or win it. But I. I'm with you. I came away like Cincinnati has some. Something to him this year. Sorsby. I like him. I know it didn't. It wasn't his. Probably he'd take back that last throw and maybe some other ones, but I liked him as a player in the game. I think they got some. The running game look great. Walker number three.

[Travis Kelce]

He was.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on. He was giving this little. Putting that foot in the ground, making some guys miss.

[Travis Kelce]

Sourceby doing it with his legs.

[Jason Kelsey]

He was.

[Travis Kelce]

Show that he's a gamer. He's like, listen, I'm going to find a way.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm excited about Cincinnati the rest of the way. I think they'll clean up a lot of these mistakes they had in this. This game. I also think Nebraska is probably a good team this year, so. Oh, yeah, I think. I think since he's going to do well in the Big 12, I'm looking forward to watching them the Rest of the way.

[Travis Kelce]

You know it, baby. You know, and I. I have. I got to give this shout out. My guy, Terry Braden, man. He's defensive line coach over there in Nebraska. He had been in Kansas City just about my whole career, man. One of my favorite guys of all time.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's awesome.

[Travis Kelce]

In. In the building, man. And he's. He's. He's one hell of a coach. And sure enough, man, he's. He's got them Kern Huskers rocking and rolling on the D liner.

[Jason Kelsey]

Them corn Huskers had arrowhead rocking and rolling. It was. It was.

[Travis Kelce]

Nebraska showed up. You see what you see was there. UC was there. We had a. But when Nebraska is right down the street, man, you see was there.

[Jason Kelsey]

What are you talking about? It was filled like. It was like 90% Nebraska.

[Travis Kelce]

But you felt that because both teams wear red.

[Jason Kelsey]

I felt that because it was 90. Nebraska, like, I. I mean, UC travels well, but let's be honest. That thing was. There was. I mean, they could have been shucking. They could have. Yeah. There was a lot of corn going on.

[Travis Kelce]

All right, you got me.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right. We also have a little thing that they have written in Jason brought jorts for Jason with this.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, he did. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Except I didn't. These are Travis's jorts. I stole them from his closet. It.

[Travis Kelce]

But everyone liked them. They did on Jason, so that's all that matters right there.

[Jason Kelsey]

But that was. I did go on busing afterwards with Will and Taylor.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, yeah, we love those dudes. Pissed. I didn't get a beer with them at the game, but Trav had already.

[Jason Kelsey]

Been on, and it's. I had never been on there. They. I also told a story of us drinking non alcoholic beers, which I don't think we. I mean, listen, if you're in the non alcoholic, it's just so weird when you think you've been doing something for the last hour and a half, two hours, and then all of a sudden you realize that it hasn't been happening. You just feel deceived. How could I be so naive to not even check what that. What that was? But, yeah, I think it's a crazy.

[Travis Kelce]

Realization because I was the first one that got it. And I'm sitting there. I had poured a real beer, and I had poured the non alcoholic beer, and I found the taste difference.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And I was like, this one's, like, a little sweeter. That's crazy. That's actually a really, like, delightful taste. And I looked at the can. I'm like, oh, let me see. What kind?

[Jason Kelsey]

What?

[Travis Kelce]

Zero. Because all I read at first was zero something.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Like, it had zero and bold letters.

[Jason Kelsey]

I just saw beer and I just assumed it was beer, but.

[Travis Kelce]

I saw zero and I'm like, zero.

[Jason Kelsey]

What kind of is this?

[Travis Kelce]

Is it like zero calories, zero sugar? I'm like, in my head, I'm like, that's be the first zero calorie beer I've ever heard of.

[Jason Kelsey]

I just, I saw a bunch of people comments like, how did you not know? Like, you weren't buzzing. I was drinking before I got in the suite. Like, it wasn't like I showed up sober.

[Travis Kelce]

I did. I showed up sober. And I was sober going into the second half, and I was just like, what the is?

[Jason Kelsey]

I was drinking all morning.

[Travis Kelce]

Let me drink two and get to where I need to be right now.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Knowing how that first half just ended.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Either way, absolutely hilarious. I told Jay we started dying laughing, and she made sure to tell you.

[Jason Kelsey]

That I'm back there. Another one out of the fridge, like, delicious. What? What?

[Travis Kelce]

Zero alcohol.

[Jason Kelsey]

It was an electric experience. Arrowhead. Fantastic job creating that environment, Nebraska. Fantastic job. Good luck the rest of the way. And I got to. I got to give a shout out.

[Travis Kelce]

To UC one more time because they knew that they were going into Nebraska territory with that home game.

[Jason Kelsey]

They did.

[Travis Kelce]

They knew that. That that stadium was going to be mostly Nebraska. So they took a home game, went to their territory, put up a fight, baby. I love them for it. I thought it was a ballsy move.

[Jason Kelsey]

But they got paid like $2 million for it.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, that's it.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right. Did you watch any other college football this weekend?

[Travis Kelce]

I watched a whole lot of college football, and one of the most touching moments of this. This past weekend was seeing Lee Corso.

[Jason Kelsey]

No doubt. Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Hanging up, man. Just give her one time. One time for me, man. I can't tell you how much of me is like, I love that guy. Never met him once, but I love that guy. How he drove the love for college football, for football in general. Yeah, man. I can't thank him enough for his efforts, for wanting to make it fun, for making it seem so effortless to enjoy this game. And, man, what a. What a remarkable career. And went out on his terms, man. It was awesome.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm with you. I mean, an icon. An icon of our childhood, an icon of college football and the entire landscape. We're going to miss you, Lee. Congratulations on an incredible career. Went out swinging. I mean, Come on, baby. Calls the Florida State upset over Alabama. Come on, baby. I Know he did it. I know he did it with zero expectation that was going to happen, but, I mean, come on now. What a. What a beast. What a freaking beast. All right, once again, that was out of the house. Brought to you by Gillette, the best a man can get. Real quick, before we get to the Alex Smith interview and some of the other things going on across the league, we're going to start with Bold Topics. That's right. Bold Topics is brought to you by YouTube because we've got some absolutely fantastically massive news. This Friday's Chiefs Chargers game is making history. It's being offered completely free around the world for everyone. That's crazy. For the first time ever, there are no subscriptions, no paywalls, and no requirements. YouTube is bringing the NFL directly to you, so you can watch on the big screen without any. Any hassles, no matter where you are. So here's our suggestion. Cancel your Friday plans, gather your friends and family, and celebrate NFL Kickoff Weekend the right way. And let's watch some. I mean, what else are you gonna be doing Friday night? You might as well watch the freaking Chiefs and Charges go at it.

[Travis Kelce]

I mean, high school football is back in action, but you can just watch. You can watch it on your phone. YouTube.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's a good point. You go to the high school game and then just stream the game live.

[Travis Kelce]

Stream the game live.

[Jason Kelsey]

Doing them both. This is why YouTube, dude.

[Alex Smith]

All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Chiefs Chargers in Brazil. Trav, how is this week different? Eagles traveled to Brazil last year. I've. I remember a little bit of the talk, but what are you guys getting ready for?

[Travis Kelce]

This is the most unique, I think it's been.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

In terms of traveling to a game, it's not like you're going to the other side of the world in terms of, like, time zones and stuff. We're only going to two time zones away, but we're traveling half a day. So it's. It's an interesting. You. Typically, you would go to London and time it up to where you get in London or you get overseas in Europe, and you have a whole day in front of you. So you can sleep on the plane. You can. Or at least try and get some sleep on the plane to, like, take up the time of the flight.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep.

[Travis Kelce]

It's. It's a whole thing right now of, like, trying to get there and get acclimated without losing the sleep schedule keeping you in tune with, you know, just the times you're waking up and the times you'll be at your peak and athleticism. You know, throughout the day. So it's a bit of juggling that I know the, the stadium's two hours away from the hotel. That'll be a unique experience. Driving to the game for two hours. The old college football way that we used to drive to Miami, even though that wasn't that far away. But yeah, we were a delta hand and, and you know, we got to play it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And it is what it is. I think it'll be, it'll be rewarding if, if we go down there and, and find a way to win knowing that it. This is such a unique schedule and unique experience. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to go down to Brazil, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, it's going to be electric.

[Travis Kelce]

It is going to be so much fun, man. And the international games are always a blast. Getting to see new fans and how they react to big plays and just how they show up to the game, how they, how they act during the game. Whether I'm gonna hear chance and stuff. I'm. I'm excited for all of this.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And it's gonna be. I already know that the Brazil fans are gonna go nuts. And it's gonna be a blast, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep. And I think what you're kind of alluding to is like there's no time zone changes so you can't like save time overnight and whatnot. Like you guys are gonna lose a whole day Wednesday and just travel because it's 12 hour flight and you're not gaining or losing. There's no way to manipulate it.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

So you're just going to be. Get up in the morning, fly down to Brazil and get nothing in that day other than maybe some film on the plane or film when you land. Right?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

So you got to be smart with your time. A little bit more strategic with your dude.

[Jason Kelsey]

Get your Russell Wilson on. Get your start doing high knees in the aisle. You know, make sure you're, you're moving around.

[Travis Kelce]

I don't, I don't know if I'll be doing that. But I, I got my, my Nintendo Switch too.

[Jason Kelsey]

Nice.

[Travis Kelce]

And I'm gonna be Mario golfing and. And they got Mario Golf. Oh, yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Gosh. Get hip cuz I can't, dude. I'll be on it all day. I. I just know it. I gotta stay out of it. I gotta stay out of it. All right, let's move on. It went to have on a international division game. Is it weird to have an international division game?

[Travis Kelce]

I mean, this would be my second one. We Played the Chargers in Mexico City.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. We only had one game international. It was London. I wish we would have been able to play more when I was there. I'd like the international games, personally.

[Travis Kelce]

It's a blast. This would be my fifth country I've played in.

[Jason Kelsey]

Fifth country. It'll be your second continent, right? Europe and South America. Well, third continent, I guess. North America, Europe, South America. You're just missing Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

[Travis Kelce]

Yep. So, NFL, we got to keep expanding.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, we got to keep going. We got to keep going, boys. Australia's coming. That one is not far off.

[Travis Kelce]

No, the. The Aussies definitely love some. Love some football. They love some competition, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Does this counts as a home game for the Chargers? Sucks to suck. Do you expect to. Do you expect more Chiefs or Chargers fans?

[Travis Kelce]

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I. I was. I. I don't want to say I was caught off guard, but there were more Chargers fans I felt like, in Mexico City than there were at the game in Los Angeles. So I'm not sure if. Because they're closer to the border. Yeah, their original team, San Diego, was so close to the border that they had a bunch of, like, fans built up from that. But. Yeah, I don't know how far down south, like, into South America their. Their fan base goes, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have scheduled this if, like, there wasn't a lot of fans for both teams. You know?

[Jason Kelsey]

We'll find out. Other Chiefs have been weighing in on the topic. In the trip to Brazil. Mackenzie Nelson. Everything Xavier Worthy knows about Brazil, he says, comes from the fast and furious. One way to do your research.

[Travis Kelce]

Okay, One way. So I have to watch that on the plane.

[Jason Kelsey]

Pat let us know. He had to explain to Travis how a globe works.

[Travis Kelce]

First of all, uncalled for.

[Alex Smith]

Pat, I think, more than anything, was just explaining to some guys how far the trip was. Some guys didn't understand how far the travel was. Travis, even though he just was down there, like last year, explaining to him how the globe works.

[Travis Kelce]

Very uncalled for. Had no idea that Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo were that close. Yeah, I knew Brazil was down there. I didn't realize it was that far down there.

[Jason Kelsey]

Argentina and Brazil are heated rivals, just so you know.

[Travis Kelce]

Yes. Yes.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Just hadn't put those two together.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Well, actual football preview. The Chargers are in year two of the Chim. Jim Harbaugh experience in Los Angeles. Yeah. What are the staples of a Jim Harbaugh coach team? I mean, Freaking.

[Travis Kelce]

They're gonna, yeah, tough as nails. They got heart. They're gonna, they're gonna play all four quarters and every single phase, you know, you're gonna get a well disciplined football team.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's like your NFL, it's like your football. It's going to be a lot of 12, 21 personnel. They're going to establish a run game, line up, play actions off of it. It's a, there are always physical teams on offense and defense. It's, it's an old school mentality that Jim Harbaugh's teams bring to the, to the game and it's refreshing in a lot of regards. And I can't wait to see what year two looks like for the Chargers. I really can't. I mean, I hope they lose this first game obviously, but I, I'm optimistic about how they do from here on out. I like that the NFL is doing this with week one opening games with divisional matchups. You got the Eagles versus Cowboys. We're going to get to that one in a second to start the season off. You guys in the Chargers. I'm going and doing the Monday Night Countdown with Bears, Vikings. There's just a lot of good games in this week one that I think I can't wait to watch the games this weekend. It's going to be so much fun. We got some key matchups potentially. We got Josh Simmons, hell of a rookie debut. He's got Khalil Mack, one of the best pass rushers over the last decade in the NFL to definitely a hell of a welcome to the NFL moment for the young buck. Chargers have added Najee Harris and Makai Becton. Although I don't know if Makai has practiced yet. I think he's been.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, I think both of them have kind of been up in question, but maybe Najee has got the thumbs up as of, as of late. But either way, if they don't play this game, they'll, they'll definitely contribute to that team. Both great players and actually it looks like that Harris will split reps with rookie Omarion Hampton. So yeah, getting him kind of slowly back incorporated into the, into the offense, I guess. Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater unfortunately is out for the season. Man, the worst kind of news you ever want to come across. Such a great player, man. And I mean as much as you know that team is going to run the ball this year, having a healthy old line is, is a huge component, especially early men. You just hate to, hate to see that for such a great, great player, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely. It's been. I mean, even from his rookie year, it's been one of the better tackles in the league. He's a blast to watch, and hopefully the big guy can come back even stronger. We got. They. They aren't the only ones missing a star player, though. Rashee Rice will officially start his suspension this week. He will be out for the first six games, and, you know, I think everybody, in case he's looking forward to seeing him back out on the field, opens up a lot, but, you know, listen, this is what you're gonna have to deal with, right, Trav?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. And I think the. The biggest thing is that, you know, I want to say we saw it coming, but we had. We've had to prepare for this, you know, knowing that there's going to be some amount of games that he's going to end up missing, and Rashid knows that, and, you know, he's going to attack these weeks and make sure that he's ready for when he's allowed back in the building. And. And you know what I think. I think it's going to create, you know, that much more love and that much more fight out of him. I think he's got a lot to prove still in this league, and I think I saw a certain type of work ethic and attention to detail that, you know, he's taking it up a notch when he. When he's out there in practice, so I can't wait to get that guy back in the building, but we're gonna have to hold it down without him down in Brazil, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Trav, have you guys brought up any keys to the game? What do you think?

[Travis Kelce]

Of course we have. There's a. There's a bunch of.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let me guess. Let me guess, let me guess, let me guess.

[Travis Kelce]

Not telling you guys any of our keys.

[Jason Kelsey]

Don't turn the ball over.

[Travis Kelce]

That's a huge one, which.

[Jason Kelsey]

I love the keys. I always love going in the keys of the game. All right. Take care of the football.

[Travis Kelce]

I mean, stats are stats, dude. Over the. Over the, like, last, like, four years. The. The amount of fumbles in the first week. It's insane.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Amount of fumbles and amount of missed tackles. It's through the roof.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's always crazy. It's always the same, hey, take care.

[Travis Kelce]

Of the matter where you are.

[Jason Kelsey]

Take care of the football. Create turnovers on defense. Take care of the football and offense. Stop the run. Eliminate penalties and mistakes.

[Travis Kelce]

Eliminate penalties. We got to be going forwards, guys. We can't be going backwards. Eliminate those. Stop killing Ourselves. We need to be playing the other team, not ourselves.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. That's right. If we beat the Kansas City Chiefs, we'll beat them. No, we can't beat ourselves. Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. If we be. If we. If we don't beat ourselves.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, there we go. All right, let's. Let's keep this thing moving. We'll see you guys down in Brazil, baby. Sao Paulo, baby. Let's get ready to get this thing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you have any. Do you know any words?

[Travis Kelce]

No, but if. If. If I come, I'll make sure I learn some down there.

[Jason Kelsey]

Bring some back with you.

[Travis Kelce]

I'll bring some good ones back.

[Jason Kelsey]

The only two I remember are Obligadu and Cervasia.

[Travis Kelce]

Nice. Let's talk a little Eagles. Cowboys, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on now.

[Travis Kelce]

First game of the. Of the season for both these teams, and, man, what a matchup to get this thing going. A lot going on in the Cowboys world and the. The defending champs.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, could you think of a better way for the Philadelphia Eagles to start the NFL season coming off of a Super bowl than playing the Dallas Cowboys to start the NFL season and dropping a banner like, I mean, in.

[Travis Kelce]

Front of the boys?

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, the NFL is so good at these scheduling things. The. The environment. This Thursday. I cannot wait. I cannot wait to experience this. It is going to be so. It's going to be. It's going to be insane. It is going to be absolutely bedlam. It's going to be nuts.

[Travis Kelce]

So I am. I am kind of pissed that I never got to go to you playing against the Cowboys. Like, I never got. I only.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got plenty of Cowboys, Eagles games.

[Travis Kelce]

To go to, Travis.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got plenty to go to.

[Travis Kelce]

I don't need to be playing. I wanted to go. I wanted to be in the stands as an Eagles fan, watching it with Cowboys fans around and feel that, you know what I mean?

[Jason Kelsey]

It's. It's. It's a. It's a great time when you're in Philly. It's not as much fun when you're in Dallas, but it's a great time.

[Travis Kelce]

You don't know that.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, I do. We lost a lot of games in Dallas, unfortunately, but.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, okay.

[Jason Kelsey]

Anyways, no, I. This is going to be. I'm looking forward to so many things. There's a lot of guys that I think, dude, they've been putting in so much work, and they've been doing it now for all the training camp, and they're trying to stay focused at the task at hand to. To repeat and have another great season. And I think the mentality has just been so good across the board, from the coaches to the players. They're returning so many pieces offensively. I mean, really, the only new pieces are their right guard, Tyler Steen, who's been there. He's just. Now he's going to be starting and that's it. I mean, the offensive coordinator is the other new one on offense, and the other one I'm really looking forward to is defense. I think Moro, Jomo. Keep that name in the back of your head. This is a guy that. And. And I know Brandon. Intern Brandon. Shout out to intern Brandon. He knows who I'm talking about because he went to UT and Brandon knows everybody from Texas. But, dude, this guy. You know when you can't tell when there's a guy balling out on scout team, if it's just like, he's given great effort. So is he catching guys when they're tired, a little bit fatigued on like a Wednesday and Thursday. So you're like, all right, he's got some juice, but I'm gonna wait to see how this goes then. He just keeps getting better. And he has this great disposition to him that he. From the moment he's got there, he's been inquisitive and asked questions and is always trying to get better. And it brings me back to. We had Kobe Bryant talk to the team in 2017, and one of the guys asked him, do you have any advice to young players trying to make it in the NFL? And this is my favorite thing. Kobe said, all speech. It was. Other guys referenced some of the other stuff, but I really love this. He said, be curious, right? Ask questions, try and learn as much as you can. And Stout always says it in a different way. Knowledge is our greatest resource. He's always been asking questions to some extent, like, annoyingly, like, guys like God damn Morrow just keeps on talking to me and asking me questions. He has had a relentless effort when he's on the field. He's had a relentless effort off the field. He wants to be great at football. I think he's going to have a really good year for Philadelphia. I'm putting it out there. He's playing alongside Jalen Carter, who's going to get a lot of attention because he's one of the best defensive tackles, if not the best in the NFL. And I think it's going to be. I'm looking forward to seeing him play, and I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, I'm just looking forward Being back at the link and watching the Eagles line it up again. A lot of guys going into their second year, especially on defense or second or third year. Let's. And we're seeing like, are they going to be able to keep up? Are they going to be able to do it again? Vic Fangio? Yeah, I don't know, man. I'm just really excited to watch this first game.

[Travis Kelce]

I mean, it's gonna be absolutely insane of a, Of a. Of an atmosphere. Hopefully the game resembles that. Knowing everything that the Cowboys have going on with the first year coach and. Yeah. Getting their star defensive player traded a week before the season starts. They got a lot of noise, but the banner. I want to talk a little bit about the banner time. The banner games, man, I've been a part of them where somebody else was raising a banner and I've been a part of them when I've been raising a banner. You've been a part of them definitely when you've raised a banner. Have you ever been the team going into.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't think so.

[Travis Kelce]

The stadium.

[Jason Kelsey]

No. Well, I was in a banner game for. Not for winning a Super bowl, but I was. We played in New England. In New England when they retired Tom Brady's jersey.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh. Which was arguably bigger than a banner game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Big time. It was a big time environment. They almost won the game, too.

[Travis Kelce]

That's what I'm saying. It can go both ways, but at the, at the same time. Coach Sirianni said that the Eagles will not be on the field for the banner drop.

[Jason Kelsey]

You beat me to it, too. They've been, they've been. I think they're handling it the right.

[Travis Kelce]

Way and I think 100% you can't be out there. You got a game. That's last year. Yeah, it's last year.

[Jason Kelsey]

They've all turned the page and you have to focus on this year. But the banner isn't for them. It's for the fans. And they're going to be going absolutely crazy. And that's why I'm excited about it, because I don't. I, I'm not playing anymore. I could be excited about a banner. Watching the Cowboys, like, I, I don't have to worry about being in the moment in this season, but they're handling it the right way. I think Cam Jurgen said something similarly this week about, you know, not giving a damn about a banner. They're all focused on this season and moving on from last year.

[Travis Kelce]

Give a damn about the next banner. You know what I'm saying?

[Jason Kelsey]

That's Right.

[Travis Kelce]

Dude, I went. This reminds me, talking about banner games, I went to one of the most legendary days in Cleveland sports history. I got to literally be the biggest kid in the entire world.

[Jason Kelsey]

What's that?

[Travis Kelce]

I went to the Cleveland Cavaliers banner game after they won the NBA championship.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And that same day, go to a Cleveland World Series game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Holy cow. It's a hell of a day.

[Travis Kelce]

And I took dad and it was electric. And I as a. As a little kid standing in Gunderina on knowing that I'm about to go and take my dad to the World Series after this. Dude, it was insane. That's all I have for you. I just wanted to make sure you. You knew that I did that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I'm happy that you did it and didn't invite me. You. That sounds.

[Travis Kelce]

Well, yeah, that was another thing. It was during the season, so you were probably sure playing football. And I was on my bye week.

[Jason Kelsey]

Interesting.

[Travis Kelce]

All right, so what are your keys to the game?

[Jason Kelsey]

Take care of the football. Don't eliminate mistakes. No penalties.

[Travis Kelce]

We can't beat you. Can't beat ourselves.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

But seriously, hold on to the football. All right, here we go, boys. That wraps up Bold Topics brought to you by YouTube. Hey, reminder to mark your calendars, hit up your whole group text all your messages, all your group chats, and get ready to be part of football history. Coverage starts 7pm this Friday, September 5, only on YouTube. Game available via YouTube globally, except Canada, unfortunately. Sorry to our friends up north and other certain countries. Unfortunately, the game will also be available.

[Jason Kelsey]

On free over the air broadcast television in local markets of participating clubs. Before we keep going, we want to say a big thank you to our partner. DraftKings. That's right. It's been a long summer without football. But we're back and we're ready to play some bets with our partners, DraftKings Sportsbook.

[Travis Kelce]

All right.

[Alex Smith]

Single, single game parlay. We're going to look at the kickoff.

[Travis Kelce]

Game for the season. Cowboys at Eagles.

[Alex Smith]

Jake, with its first two picks of our single game parlay.

[Jason Kelsey]

What do you have?

[Alex Smith]

All right, so I wanted to pick one from each team. I know Jerry Jones has said that the Cowboys are very committed to stopping the run. I'm not sure that I believe him. So I'm going to be taking saquon Barkley over 100 rushing yards.

[Jason Kelsey]

They're going to commit. Whether they'll be able to do it is a different story. Right.

[Alex Smith]

I think losing a star defensive lineman, even though they got Kenny Clark back, doesn't necessarily bode well for Being able.

[Jason Kelsey]

To stop the run.

[Alex Smith]

Second pick is a little inspired by beer Bowl. I saw Cooper De Geen flying out there on the obstacle course. I know that Eagle secondary is going to be going crazy. So I got Dak over 0.5 interceptions. I think they catch pick from Dak.

[Jason Kelsey]

We're making. There you have it, folks. I do actually make our picks based on Beer bowl observations.

[Alex Smith]

That's insider information. That's insider information.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know if we're even allowed to legally do this.

[Alex Smith]

That man wanted that. He wanted it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well done, Jake.

[Travis Kelce]

All right, for the final two picks.

[Alex Smith]

Of the single game parlay, I'm going to go with Jalen Hurts anytime. Touchdown. I think Jalen's going to find the end zone one way or the other. I'm also going to go with Jalen Carter over one sack. I love Jalen. I love betting on sacks.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jalen Carter is going up against the rookie Tyler Booker from Alabama. It'll be. That's one of the matchups. I forgot to mention this up top. I'm looking forward to watching that one this game because. Yeah, I don't know, man.

[Alex Smith]

That is our single game parlay for this game which comes out to plus 1000 odds, meaning if you bet $10 on this and the bets hit, you get $110.

[Travis Kelce]

Check out all of the odds for.

[Alex Smith]

The playoffs and more over at DraftKings Sports Book.

[Jason Kelsey]

Now that everyone knows about some of the awesome bets that are available on DraftKings, you're ready for the big game. I know I am. It's been a long time coming. A long summer without any football. But fear not, my friends, it's back. I might not be on the field, but we can still stay in on the action with DraftKings sportsbook.

[Alex Smith]

Those of you who haven't checked out our partners at DraftKings Sportsbook yet, you can get a new customer offer out now. All new customers bet $5. Get $300 instantly in bonus bets and $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. That's a pretty good deal.

[Travis Kelce]

That's a good deal.

[Alex Smith]

Download the DraftKings app now and sign up using code New Heights. The crown is yours.

[Jason Kelsey]

How'd I do? Nailed it.

[Alex Smith]

You cried.

[Jason Kelsey]

You did great. Well, is that your first ad?

[Alex Smith]

Baby's first ad.

[Jason Kelsey]

You want to start doing more of them? Sure. As many as you want, Jake. I'll do some ads.

[Alex Smith]

Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York.

[Travis Kelce]

Call 877-8-HOPE and wire text in Connecticut.

[Alex Smith]

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[Travis Kelce]

Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino.

[Alex Smith]

And Resort in Kansas.

[Travis Kelce]

Fees may apply in Illinois 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyd and Ontario bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. See [e-mail] promos NFL Sunday Ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use exclusive.

[Alex Smith]

Excluded restrictions Apply additional NFL Sunday ticket [e-mail] go NFL Sunday tickets terms limited time offer.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Reese's Oreo Cups. Ooh, Reese Oreo.

[Jason Kelsey]

Nice.

[Travis Kelce]

Reese's Cups with Oreo cookie crumbs included. You asked for it. We definitely asked for it. And it is finally happening.

[Jason Kelsey]

For those of you that don't know, we just said Reese's Oreo Cups. That's right. They also have regular Oreos with peanut butter in the middle. Two fan favorites coming together to make everyone's day a million times better.

[Travis Kelce]

Wait a minute. Could Reese's Oreo Cups be like the Kelsey Brothers of candy? Which one of us is Reese's and which one of us is Oreo?

[Jason Kelsey]

Which one of us is Reese's and which one of us is Oreo?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Are we talking about Oreo with peanut butter in the middle or Oreo with white in the middle?

[Travis Kelce]

Just regular Oreo.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, I'm clearly Oreo. I'm a little bit darker.

[Travis Kelce]

You gotta love it. So grab these Reese's Oreo cups today, wherever candy is sold. Better yet, grab them right now or we're going to grab them first because they are seriously that good.

[Jason Kelsey]

They are. And we wouldn't lie to you. They're. They're very good.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you to our partner, Gillette.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, Gillette. Okay. All right. All right, Trap. Well, we got week one coming up. Everybody's going to be wondering what the look is this year. You've been known to switch it up. You've gone mustache, you've gone beard, you've gone clean shaven. What could we see? Mutton chops? What's next? Maybe a nice chin strap. Throw it Back to the 90s, dude.

[Travis Kelce]

My dude. High school.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

I had an aggressive chin strap. Yeah, I have no idea. I think I'm just going to keep this look. I might, you know, getting a little furry. I might trim it down a little bit. But I think this is the look for the start of the year, at least.

[Jason Kelsey]

Regardless, Gillette's Best shave also has A new look this season. We're talking about Gillette Labs, baby.

[Travis Kelce]

Yes, sir. Gillette Labs is here with an official NFL licensed razor, a must have for any fan.

[Jason Kelsey]

Featuring the iconic colors and logos from 12 of your favorite NFL teams alongside Gillette's best blades and flex disc technology, the special edition razor is designed to go the distance of the NFL season.

[Travis Kelce]

That's right. These babies have blades that last 50% longer per cartridge than fusion. That's right. For up to 30 shaves per cartridge. And don't worry, folks, they've got Chief's kingdom covered. And it looks sick.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, and the birds, too. And what doesn't look good in midnight green. These things are awesome, baby. Gillette's best shave is the best a.

[Travis Kelce]

Fan can get available now in 12 teams. That's right. Get it while you can online or at a retailer near you. Visit Gillette.com NFL for more information.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you to our partners, SeatGeek.

[Travis Kelce]

Ooh. Do you guys feel that?

[Alex Smith]

The energy in the air?

[Travis Kelce]

NFL season kicks off. Off tomorrow.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And our friends at Sea Geek are back for their fourth season with the new heights hookup, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Whether you're a first timer or you've been using SeatGeek forever, they're giving all of our listeners 10 off with code new heights.

[Travis Kelce]

They've got Eagles, Cowboys, Chiefs, Ravens, all the huge matchups you want to go see this season. But check this out. SeatGeek isn't just for the NFL games.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, really?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, that's right. Want to watch the weekend? Maybe perform Broadway? Yeah, we got you covered up.

[Jason Kelsey]

Broadway.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, they've got that and 70,000 other events.

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelce]

Open the SeatGeek app and add code New heights to your account to get 10 off your next order. Doesn't matter if you have used Seatgeek 4.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's code New Heights. For 10 off terms apply.

[Alex Smith]

Let's do it.

[Travis Kelce]

Jason, do the honors, please.

[Jason Kelsey]

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome three time Pro Bowler from Helix High School. He was the first Pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. The 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the year. The quarterback who threw Travis his first ever NFL touchdown. Please welcome Mr. Alex Smith.

[Travis Kelce]

Baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you.

[Alex Smith]

Thank you, Jason. Thank you.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's go.

[Travis Kelce]

A little wise shallow Cross down in Miami.

[Jason Kelsey]

You kidding me?

[Alex Smith]

Never been intro'd with that accolade before as the first person to throw you a touchdown. And it actually is not a bad accolade, man. That's.

[Travis Kelce]

I. I'll take it.

[Alex Smith]

I've been called worse, for sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, well, let's get into it in 2014 when you're a rookie with Travis, when he first arrived at the Chiefs. Let's start there.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Did you expect that we'd end up where we are right now? What did you. What were your expectations for a young Travis Kelsey?

[Travis Kelce]

Did he.

[Alex Smith]

Did I expect him to be, what, like, a Hall of Fame career?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. It's a question.

[Alex Smith]

Fuck no. Hell no. Hell no.

[Travis Kelce]

What. What threw you off?

[Alex Smith]

Well, I mean, obviously, like, there's not many guys you come in and you have that expectation that you think that right away. Well, especially, I mean, what, a third round pick, right?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

And so, no, I mean, there's no third round picks that come in. You're like, this guy's going to be the greatest past, you know, the greatest tight end ever. No, it just. And there were. There were some. There were some question marks about Trav and his professionalism, you know, coming in that were understood in the building.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, dude.

[Alex Smith]

But no, I mean, like, this is the crazy thing when you think about. I'm sure everybody looks at Trav's career is like, oh, look, it was just, like, so great and destined. I mean, he didn't even play his rookie year, you know? Like, I. Dude, I remember you out there trying to run through, like, routes, hobbling around, bro. I remember you, like, hobbling around on that knee, just, like, trying to get through it. And I felt so bad. I'm like, this is a young guy and he's, like, dealing with knee issues already. No, they were, like, huge question marks, Jason, you know, for sure. I think there was a ton of positivity in the building, like, from the moment we drafted him, though. Like, Andy Dorse at the time, John Dorsey, the gm. Like, there was a ton. Like, they were like, we got a guy. Like, that was the belief. Like, listen, we got a guy in the third round. We're super hot. You know, we. We feel like he can be a player, but he didn't play for a whole year, you know, like, that. It was. That's crazy to think back about, right? I mean, and then, you know, 100 procedure.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. Huge need, huge knee surgery and micro fracture. At that point in my career, I was lucky. I was young enough to where it paid off and yeah, there was still. And in terms of the professionalism, it, it, it kind of worked out in my favor because I got to see everything from like, I just got to sit back and watch guys like you guys like Fasano, then, then guys like Jeremy Macklin come in and like be pros and, and show me how it's done at the professional level. And it's. I ended up catching on. Not the second year, the third year, but eventually it clicked for me.

[Alex Smith]

Kind of say it in jest, right? Like a half joking obviously about the professionalism. But I also think the cool thing is that I think in the same time that, you know, when you got drafted, I'll never forget it was like, hey, they again, they think you're, you know, hell of a player. This is going to be great. They also immediately understood like, like, who is. He's fresh out of college. This guy's got some, you know, he's got to learn a little bit. It's going to be a process.

[Jason Kelsey]

He's going to grow, he's going to mature.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah. And I mean that like, but that, that doesn't happen everywhere, you know, I think that was the cool thing about, especially about Andy, right? Like Andy does it. There's no judgment, right. Like he, he remembers what it's like to be a 21 year old kid, you know, and like, hey, like if you're late to some meetings, it wasn't the end of the world, you know. And Trav happened, you know, Trav got called to the principal's office a time or two those first few years.

[Travis Kelce]

Just a tap on the shoulder. Hey, Andy wants to see you.

[Jason Kelsey]

I wonder why I tell people this all. I feel like Andy just has this aura about him that there's like this presence that is downright like you're afraid of him in certain instances. Like he has like that kind of like feeling. But at the same time you always feel like he like loves you and just wants the best for you. Like he has, he toes that line of being a disciplinarian and like a player's coach better than anybody I've been around. Like he's not going to accept anything from you that isn't your best. But at the same time he's like forgiving to like a fault. Like it's. I don't even know how he's mastered both of those avenues. But it's, it's hard to explain, but that's kind of the vibe I always got from.

[Alex Smith]

No, I think you hit it on the head like he's. I mean, I think that's what coaching is, right? Like tough love, right. You got to be both. You know, you gotta have like high standards and hold people to them. But at the same time, I think the best thing about Andy is again, like the no judgment, right? Like if you, if you mess up, if you air, whether it be on the field or like in your personal life or something professionally, like, he. It's not the end of the world. Right. Like.

[Jason Kelsey]

Right.

[Alex Smith]

You know, and so he will welcome you back in. And I think, you know, and I think you appreciate that as a player, for sure.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do we have a favorite story from Travis, Ricky or. I mean, I know we just said a couple, but like, favorite story, even if it's not rookie year, let's say second year, what's a favorite story from a young Travis Kelsey?

[Alex Smith]

God, let's try to think like, I, you know, for me, I can't get out of my head. I know maybe some tight ends had like broken out into dance occasionally, but like the first touchdown pass, the first touchdown touchdown pass. No, Like, I remember all of a sudden him, he breaks into choreographed dance. In the end, it was pre planned.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's no way you just do that.

[Alex Smith]

I remember distinctly being caught off guard, right. Like, I just didn't see it coming. I knew, I knew he was talented, but not like that. Like, no. And then every week it was like a new one, right?

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, yeah, man.

[Alex Smith]

From there on out, I had him.

[Travis Kelce]

In the market, ready to go. Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

I don't know if Trav, if you ever remember this play. I actually broke this down on. On Sunday countdown at espn, but we were playing. It had to be your second or third year. And we were playing the Denver Broncos and we called like early in the, early in the game, you started out wide and we motioned you down and we ran strike, which Jason's just like a fake, a little fake in and then come back out, right. Like on the third and three and Nice. And we converted it, right? He. He killed the guy. The db, it was, man. The guy came running down with him.

[Jason Kelsey]

In the motion pivot thing where you.

[Alex Smith]

Come down so he kind of takes down. He comes out. Yeah, well, we like save it and we come back to it in the second half, like in the fourth quarter in like the biggest moment of the game. And I think we thought like we were going to get him again. And the DB was like pretty veteran. And we had the same look. It's man. And this guy just sits hard on us, right? Like he's not taking the cheese. Well, Trav just kind of, like, feels it. So he just keeps running. Just runs all the way across the field, right? Like, this is the NFL. You're supposed to go in and come back out. And he just kind of like, saw the guy outside. He's like, oh. And just kept running across the field. And I threw him the ball for some reason, and it turned into like a 30 yard game. And I think everybody on the field, like, including Big Red, it was like, what just happened, right? And it was kind of the early dawn of Trav doing some of these things. Right?

[Jason Kelsey]

Like, Trav, full disclosure, did you know it was strike or were you running the wrong route? What was going on?

[Travis Kelce]

I knew exactly what it was, but.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right.

[Travis Kelce]

The thing is, is I'm. I get the first down and I, like, get pumped up. I do a first down, and then I start to slowly look at coach Reed on the sideline. I'm like, is he gonna come here?

[Jason Kelsey]

This is the beginning.

[Travis Kelce]

Don't ever do that again.

[Jason Kelsey]

This is the beginning of the moment where he started to get some leeway into doing these things. Is that what I'm hearing?

[Alex Smith]

Yes.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

Early dawn of the. The Trav improvisation, which, by the way, there's like, in every little route, there's little things you can do. I mean, this is a full. Like, you're supposed to. You're supposed to break, right? And you broke.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're supposed to be in the flat over here, and you're all the way on the other side of the field. Yeah, yeah. Big difference.

[Travis Kelce]

Just doing. I. I knew Alex wanted me to do that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Because you think about the game. Is it like a quarterback? Did you like that he did it?

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, heavy outside leverage. Don't love strike against heavy outside leverage.

[Alex Smith]

That's right. Just keep going.

[Travis Kelce]

Who am I hurting going across field?

[Alex Smith]

Nobody. And it works.

[Jason Kelsey]

Nobody over there.

[Travis Kelce]

That's what you got to do. You can't be selfish enough to ruin somebody else from getting a catch.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Travis Kelce]

Which I've done that, and I've had to reel it back.

[Jason Kelsey]

Alex, we've talked about. I think we talked about it when I was with you guys before the super bowl, but what do you think of Travis's ability to audible? You just talked about the first time he ever did it. From a quarterback's perspective, how do you feel about somebody doing something that is not pre planned?

[Alex Smith]

Yep. Yeah. It's funny because I was young. As a young qb, you're like, no, I need to know you're gonna Run the line on the paper, right? Like, I need to trust that you're gonna be in the right place at the right time. And it's so funny. Like, as you, as you move on and you play longer, I, I want a guy that can separate. The number one attribute I want in somebody that's running routes is separation. I want somebody open, be able to separate and trash have. And the crazy thing about a tight end is you got to know. And I actually think it's the second hardest position to play as a young guy on offense behind qb. Just because, like, you're involved, you're in all the shifts and motions, right? You got to know all these formations. You're involved in the run game blocking, you're involved obviously in past protection sometimes. And then you got to run routes. But, I mean, you're running routes against linebackers, you're running routes against safeties, you're running routes against corners. And like, to his point, you do have to realize what your advantage is versus all these different guys.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you, dude.

[Alex Smith]

But I, I, you know, there are all these, like, listen, half the time you're running like a stick route, right? Like for everybody out there, like the stick routes, like, the most basic tight end route, it's this little five yard out. If you run the line on the paper in the NFL, you will never be open. Right? Like, you just won't. And it got pretty quick. And I think the cool thing, I don't know about you, Trav, like, we were in the same division, obviously, with Antonio Gates, who also kind of played with some of this, 100%.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. You could tell Rivers be on the same page. Yeah, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

But you know the routes, you would watch it on film. You're like, that's definitely not what that looks like in the playbook. Right. Like, he put a little sauce on it. He put a little wiggle on it. He ran it at like one yard, not five yards, you know? And so I think pretty quick you got to the point with Trav, that was like, it's working, right? And I, dude. And I will never forget. I don't know if I told you this. This was later. This is probably like your fourth year. We were struggling on offense. Maybe it was when we started one in five, to be honest. Do you remember when we started one in five or. And we were, I mean, we were not playing good on offense. And I'll never forget, Nagy called me in Monday after the game. We had just lost, I think the fifth game. Everything's looking bleak and we Watched every pass play on offense. And I'll never forget, like, kind of like looking for some tendencies, like, what can we do better? What are we missing? And the number one takeaway from the meeting was Travis doesn't always run like the route like it's supposed to be, but he's always open, right? And like the number one takeaway from this offensive meeting was like, hey, when in doubt, we should probably just find this guy, right?

[Jason Kelsey]

Because he'd be like running a corner.

[Alex Smith]

Route and you're like, it's not supposed to be open versus this look, but he would like, right, he would run like a seven yard out route instead. And it was like, well, he was open, right? Like, everything kind of had a twist. He could just like, he wasn't just gonna run and get covered, you know, it was, it was right. It was nice, you know, and so to that point, like, once you trusted that and you developed that relationship, it was like, no, Travis is going to get open for me. Travis is going to work right? Like, and again, like, there's a maturity and there's a lot of guts in some of that, like as a route runner to do, you know, do some of that.

[Jason Kelsey]

But, well, we, we were talking, we're kind of throwing a little bit of like, not shade, but kind of poking fun at Travis a little bit for being a little bit immature and kind of being a happy, go lucky free spirit. But I think that that directly plays into like, you got to be a free spirit to just all of a sudden whip this out in the middle of a game. Like, anybody that's analytical, reading the playbook and showing up on time to meetings is not doing this. They're not taking a strike out and going all the way across the field. No way. You're totally right.

[Travis Kelce]

You know what it is, though, is that the strike route actually comes off of another route. It's like the complimentary route to flank or drive. So it's like in my mind, it's like that's the. Yeah, those two go hand in hand with each other. It has evolved since then to understand what else is around you and like to understand, like, I don't know, the what the quarterback seeing versus certain coverages, where the coverages are weak and, and where the holes are in the defense and things like that. But it 100% was the luckiest instinctual decision I made. That really paid off because it, like Alex said, it started to like kind of unravel into, oh, in practice. I'll just try it in practice. And if it doesn't work in practice. Then I won't put that on the quarterback in the game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Game.

[Travis Kelce]

You know, I'll. I'll try my hardest not to, like, I don't know, catch him off guard. And it's just, it. It just turned into like, oh, well, just be definitive professional here.

[Alex Smith]

Dropping knowledge, dude. The other thing, I don't know if you remember this to that same point. Like, if you were running a shallow cross, right, like for everybody out there, again, you're just running across the field as fast as you can, right? But like, if there was a corner running on you, you constantly would like, you would do what you did in that tape. You would like dead leg him and.

[Travis Kelce]

Try to like, oh, yeah, no, I'm with them until.

[Alex Smith]

And again, none of that was on, like the route, like, none of that was installed. And again, it was like your way of, like, listen, I gotta win some way, right? Like, I gotta separate and get open. Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

100, man. Well, seven step timing again. To understand the quarterback's progression and footwork. It's like, just like, it's like a. It's like a timer going off in your head. You know what I mean? And don't let it get to that third. That third second. Like, if he, if, If I can feel that the quarterback's at the top of his drop, it gets. I'm botching the route anyways because the, the what we called isn't working and he needs to get that ball out. So I'm doing something else. Anyways. Oh, thank you to our partner, YouTube. Hey, NFL fans, history is about to go down in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and you've got a front row seat to watch yours truly and the Chiefs, right? From your phone, tablet or tv. The Kansas City Chiefs are taking on the Los Angeles charges. Man, I remember playing these guys in San Diego. Now we're playing them in Brazil. This is crazy down in South America. And here's the best part. For the first time ever, it's completely free and streaming live on YouTube for the entire world to watch. Mark your calendars for Friday, September 5th. Coverage begins at 7:00pm Eastern with the game at 8:00pm and trust me, you don't want to miss this one. There's even a halftime show featuring global superstar Carol G. Who we know always brings the heat. No subscription needed, no hassle. Just head to the NFL's YouTube channel. Set your reminder right now. Friday, September 5th coverage begins at 7pm Games available via YouTube globally, except Canada, unfortunately. Our friends up north. Also, the game will be available on Air for the local markets of the participating clubs. So check us out. Thank you to our sponsor, Allstate.

[Jason Kelsey]

Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you know to check if your pool float is fully inflated first before lounging in the pool.

[Travis Kelce]

It's a big one. Like you know to check your beach umbrella is anchored before setting it for the day.

[Jason Kelsey]

Who hasn't made that mistake? Like, you know to check if you've got your lucky hat first before heading to the big game. Checking first is just smart.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.

[Jason Kelsey]

Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Travis Kelce]

What he said. This show is sponsored by Liquid iv.

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelce]

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[Jason Kelsey]

They've got two amazing flavors for you to try. Sugar free energy, Strawberry kiwi and BlackBerry lemonade. Oh, I'm looking forward to trying that one. One stick hydrates than water alone with three times the electrolytes of typical sports drinks.

[Travis Kelce]

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[Jason Kelsey]

I say, Trav, which, which new flavor are you most excited to try?

[Travis Kelce]

I would say strawberry Kiwi. I was always a strawberry kiwi guy growing up, man. In a lot of different drinks. I won't name them, but I'm liking where this is going.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm a big BlackBerry person. Just in general, I like blackberries and blueberries.

[Travis Kelce]

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[Jason Kelsey]

Tear poor. Live more. Go to LiquidIV.com and get 20 off your first order with code New Heights at checkout. That's 20 off your first order with code new [e-mail]. let's rewind. We're. We're all in Alex Smith Kansas City era. Travis Kelsey. Let's talk about Alex Smith San Francisco Air. Was there anybody else that operated like this in San Fran? What was your time in San Fran like?

[Alex Smith]

It took me a long time time, Jason. Like I, I battled, you know, being the Number one pick and signing like, this was before the rookie wage scale, so I signed a massive contract. Right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Like, yeah, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

You know, and being a first time professional and the number one pick and going to the San Francisco 49ers. Right. I mean, it was like. I mean, I felt like I had to be like Joe Montana, Steve Young. I'm also the number one pick. So I got to be Peyton Manning and John Elway and I got to be all those things right now. Right. Like, right now. And it just. It was like I carried around so much weight as a young professional. Like, I felt like I had to be perfect. And also I. This is real. Like, it was real imposter syndrome. Right? Like, it was like, interesting.

[Jason Kelsey]

How.

[Alex Smith]

How long. How long, Jason, until they find out that they made a mistake, you know, like, especially playing right away. And this was the crazy thing, Trav. Like, I didn't. I mean, I played week three, my rookie year, and like, I never. There weren't a ton of. It wasn't until like a few years later, like, I actually got to be around some veteran quarterbacks and actually see what it was like to be a NFL qb, you know, like preparing Monday through Saturday, what it takes, you know, Just had no idea. So it was. It was rough. It was rough.

[Travis Kelce]

Sure, dude.

[Alex Smith]

A lot of late nights by myself, just watching film and having no idea what I was doing, trying to figure it out. Yeah, no clue.

[Travis Kelce]

That's tough.

[Jason Kelsey]

So, man, you go to Andy Reid.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Why was it so much more successful like the Chiefs before you got there? We were just talking about this. I mean, they had a great defense, but they had not been successful really at all. So what is it about Andy Reid and going there that all of a sudden you enjoyed? Probably, I think safe to say the best.

[Alex Smith]

Oh, for sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

Years of your career.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

And then also as a team at Flourish, like, what is it about the system, the coach? All of it?

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I think a couple things. One, the fact that it's not a system. Like, again, like, think about all the QBs that Andy Reid's had over the years, you know, from Donovan, and they all play well before that, obviously. Michael, you know me, Pat, like this. And there's a bunch of guys in between too, that he had for little stints and guys that all have different strengths, you know, very different strengths. And I think that's the beauty. Like, Andy doesn't run some like cookie cutter playbook book. Right. Like, we're not running the stuff that they. You guys were running in Philly. Right. Like, we're not running the stuff that they were running in Green Bay before that. Patrick's not running the stuff that I was running. Right. Like that just. He's gonna tailor it to, to your strengths. He's going to put you in a position to succeed. And then I think there's like a. Again, like I just talked obviously about, you know, for me, my mentality at that point, again, it was like, it was, it was heavy when I was young. And then you get to Kansas City and there's like a lightness to Andy, right? Like, I mean, he, Again, like that I didn't, I didn't feel like if I messed up, it was the end of the world. Right? Like, and he constantly was like, let your personality show be you. Right? Like, he constantly. In the QB room, his favorite saying would be like, hey, when in doubt, go deep. Right. Like, I mean, he, you know, and, and I'm sure some of that he felt in me, but again, that's kind of the beauty of his coaching, right. Like, it's not the same for everybody.

[Jason Kelsey]

Right.

[Alex Smith]

Like he, he morphs it and changes and adapts to who he's got in front of him and what they need.

[Jason Kelsey]

Need.

[Travis Kelce]

Let's, let's talk about a little Jim Harbaugh. Oh, yeah, man, I'm going down. Yes. I'm going down to Sao Paulo to see him for the second time as a charger. Obviously we saw him a little bit as when he was in San Fran still before he went to Michigan. But I remember meeting Jim in San Fran when I was getting drafted and the guy is just wired different, man. He is. He eat, breathes and sleeps football all day, every day. And you know, that's what you want out of your, your head coach. But how are, how are some of his, like, coaching methods different than Coach Reeds?

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I. Again, dude, both, both these guys, I mean, Jim definitely changed, had a huge impact on my career. Huge impact. Like before he arrived here in San Fran. Honestly, like, I'm probably walking around with a bus label, you know, at this point. And he has me back, signs me back. You know, he's coming from Stanford, but I mean, this is a guy that played 15 years at quarterback in the NFL. I mean, he definitely understands. Crazy part is he played for the Chargers and I grew up in San Diego, so I remember watching him play as a kid. But you're dead on. Jim's different. Like, different. Like it's like a real life Ted Lasso a little bit. Right? Like these, like off the wall saying, right. Like, he'll quote you Shakespeare, you know, like, he just has so much gratitude to. For football. To your point. Like, this guy loves football. Like, and, like, I'm not just saying that. Like, I remember at times he told me his life aspirations were to play football as long as he could, then coach football as long as he could, and then die. Right? Like that. Like, life goals.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's a very simple man right there. It's not over. Complicate this.

[Alex Smith]

Like, I'll never forget my first game again.

[Jason Kelsey]

Love it.

[Alex Smith]

You know, like, here I am getting ready to play.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think you're being a bit dramatic, Coach.

[Alex Smith]

Have you seen what he does before the game to the quarterbacks?

[Jason Kelsey]

He's got the gloves and he's playing catch.

[Alex Smith]

Like, right before kickoff, dude, he comes over and I'll never, like, I'll never forget the first game we're playing. And he comes over and he's got this, like, look in his eyes. And again, he's like, he's so, like, happy for you that you're going to get a chance to play football. And he starts smacking you around in the helmet and he, like, starts jacking you up in the chest. And, like, I remember I could, like, just feel. I could feel how much. It was funny for me at this time because I think I in some ways had taken it for granted, but, like, it wasn't going to last forever. And I remember, like, seeing that in his eyes, like, how much he would give to play one more time, right?

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

And it wasn't like a glory days type of thing, but, like, again, like, it was real. It's like, oh, man, this just, you know, like, it was infectious that, like, when the head guy just loves ball that much. And then for me, he just, like, again, he took so much pressure off of playing quarterback. Right. Like, prior to that, I'd always felt like I had to stretch or do something special or, like, make a play. And with Jim, it was like, no, man, just run the offense.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, if.

[Alex Smith]

If the. If it says to throw the flat. Like, if the read is to throw the flat, just throw the flat. Right? Like, I never felt like it was the first time in my career that I felt like I could just kind of be me.

[Jason Kelsey]

Right?

[Alex Smith]

Like, I did again. I didn't have to, like, do anything remarkable.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, who are you taking? Chiefs. Chargers. Brazil. Week one. Chargers have made immediate impact with Jim. I mean, immediate. This is going to be a big one, dude.

[Travis Kelce]

He.

[Alex Smith]

I'll tell you what, like, he'll always Have a tough football team. Right. They're always going to be.

[Travis Kelce]

Culture of how he coaches. You already know, physical.

[Alex Smith]

And it's funny, these two coaches. Two of my favorite, like, things about them are actually like pieces of attire that they wear. So I don't know if you guys have seen this. One of my. Again, it was one of my favorite things when Jim came to. To San Fran because he gifted every guy on the team these blue collar shirts. And so you would get your own blue collar shirt and it has your name on it. And he told this whole story of, like, what is a blue collar shirt? And. Right. Somebody in our life, in our. Someone in our family, paved the way for us and worked one of these jobs. Right. And kind of again, going back to this, like, gratitude of playing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

And then the night before every game, Big Red's wearing aloha shirt. Right? And it kind of just like, sets the tone. It's kind of, you know, night before the game, he's got the aloha shirt on. It kind of just like, calms everything down a little bit. So we got the. We got the blue collar shirts versus the aloha shirts. Going at it in South Hollow.

[Jason Kelsey]

I love that blue collar shirt. I don't. Dude, I would get so fired up for a blue collar shirt with my name on it. And that whole. I can envision him giving this speech. I'm getting goosebumps thinking about this right now. He should be wearing blue collar shirts and not suits. Suits to away games. We're working men. I'm not a businessman. Yes.

[Alex Smith]

Yes. Thank you. I. Dude, I hated wearing suits to games. I felt so, like, you know, again, it was like, almost. It, like, personified the weight of, like, the professionalism. Right. Again, like, again, like, I. When I was struggling with it, and I. Dude, I could just put on my blue collar shirt and a hat, go to work, man. That's all I needed.

[Travis Kelce]

Let's go.

[Jason Kelsey]

Bring the lunch pail.

[Alex Smith]

Well, you actually want a prediction for this game?

[Jason Kelsey]

No. You're good.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't even know why I said that's fine. We're not gonna put you on the spot. I'm just excited to watch it. Well, we talk about coaches and your time in KC let's talk about the introduction of Pat Mahomes. He credits you very often with welcoming him to the NFL and kind of being that mentor. What was that relationship like for you right away?

[Alex Smith]

I mean, I'll never forget when I first talked to him.

[Travis Kelce]

It's the frequency, dude. It just.

[Alex Smith]

It's different. I mean, like, we were a good football team, right? I mean, we'd won a bunch of divisions. I was gone to Pro Bowls. Like, we'd gone, you know, obviously won a playoff game, I think, the year before. So your part of you is wondering, I mean, yeah, who are we taking in the first round, right? Like, to go help us. And you're never expecting, obviously, to trade up, right? Like, we. Oh, here we're trading next year's first round two to go up and get a quarterback. I mean, you're dead. Like, it's not. It's not what anybody wants to hear, right? Like, I mean, that's not for sure. But I think the crazy part is, again, going back to my experience of having been like, the number one pick, an early pick. Like, you just have such. You have no control, right? Like, you're thrust into this process and you're like a completely. You're a cog in the machine, right? Like, yeah, you go where they tell you to go, pick, number, whatever. You know, even now, you sign the contract that's slotted for that. That, you know, deal. I mean, obviously there was some empathy, you know, still for me as being an early pick. Like, obviously, Pat didn't pick this. I didn't pick this, right? Like, the powers that be again, I. I'd spent so many years alone my first few years in the league, right? Like, again, watching film on my own and just, like, had no idea what I was doing and remembered how much that sucked, right? Like, it sucked. And it. And so to fast forward to when we drafted him, also within that, too, right? Like, I. I had spent early part of my year kind of distracted myself, right? Like, I mentioned, like, the imposter syndrome and, like, the self doubt and, like, was I good enough? And, dude, I would. I would be ready. I'd be going out there to play and my mind would be like, oh, what are they gonna. What if I throw a pic? What are they gonna write about me in the paper tomorrow? Like, God, what if they start booing me, right? Like, I. I had distracted myself with, like, my own internal dialogue and like that. And like, Like, I was determined when I got to Kansas City. Like, I will never be this. I'm not going to be distracted anymore, right?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

And so even once we drafted Pat, too, there was almost like this great challenge. Like, am I again, everybody pitting us against each other? Am I going to look over my shoulder and be distracted? Right? Like, Andy still had told me, like, listen, I got the keys to the car that Year, I don't know. So there were all these conflicting things, right, Going on emotionally. And I think the other thing that just comes down with Pat and I try to tell people this, like, like, you. You give respect, you get respect, right? And like, from day one, Pat came in and like, there was never. There was never like a primadonna ego. There was never like a. You know, he's the man. He came in humble, ready to work, just like a. Like a good kid. And it was pretty quick. It was like, no big deal. Honestly.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

No. No big deal.

[Travis Kelce]

That's.

[Jason Kelsey]

I do.

[Travis Kelce]

That's what I give. I give Pat so much credit for that. That year of just being a great teammate, like, totally. He didn't get.

[Jason Kelsey]

He didn't.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, he. He came in with like, you said that. That ability to just like, you know what? I'm just gonna make sure everybody's, like, having a good time today.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, totally.

[Travis Kelce]

We're gonna find a way to get better at football. But he was, I think, I think seeing you as the. As the. The leader of that football team, as the leader of that offense, how you. How the offense had started to like, really change into. To, you know, this air raid, this down the field offense with Tyreek and. And all the weapons that we had with Drop with. With Chris Conley, like, it was. It was starting to play more downfield and. And it was just. It was fun to kind of see you take that offense to the next level and then kind of just hand it off to. To Pat after that year was over.

[Alex Smith]

With, man, let's be very clear. Like, I. First off, I get way too much credit in, like, the patent development story. Like, way too much. Way too much.

[Jason Kelsey]

We need more credit. Let's. We need more credit here.

[Alex Smith]

You know, Could Pat have played that year? Like, clearly, you know, but again, to the point, to the point, like, I don't. The beauty of, like, what Andy set up and like, the QB structure and this is kind of the beauty of the QB room. And it's not like this everywhere, right? Like, you do everything together. Everything together. You eat together, you live together, you rehab together, you watch film together. You obviously practice together. And like, come season, I mean, I, you know, I'm spending more time with the QBs than I am with my family, right? You know, given weeks. And so it was a cool way, like, Pat, like I was in year 13 at that point, right? Like, I had. I had become. I had three kids. Like, I. I had the week down to the minute of what I needed to get done on a given day to prepare to play well on Sunday. And so know the cool thing is like Pat for a year got an up close look, right, like how I did it. And again when he finally got his opportunity obviously to roll, I mean he could take what he liked, right? He could build off it, he could, you know, it obviously not all for him, but. And that when he did start playing, right? And this is the beauty of like taking a quarterback early. They did everything in their power that like when Pat stepped foot on the field for the first time, like he was going to be successful.

[Jason Kelsey]

Successful, right.

[Alex Smith]

There was no like rolling the dice, let's hope this goes well, right? Cross our fingers kind of thing. And I mean obviously it's rare, it's rare in the NFL. There's only a couple organizations that, that have done it like this.

[Jason Kelsey]

And you know, dude, I, it drives me crazy and I watch it, watching high draft value and then I see like a defensive head coach being selected. Like are we not trying to put this guy like in the best position to be success? Like I get a veteran quarterback that's been around like, yeah, let's get a defensive guy, let's get this guy a defense. But like a young player, like we just put so much stock and value into this position. Why are we not allocating everything we can to make this guy successful? It blows my mind when I see that across.

[Alex Smith]

No doubt.

[Travis Kelce]

Yep.

[Alex Smith]

Just rolling the dice.

[Jason Kelsey]

I do want to touch on this because you, you brought up for the second time now imposter syndrome, self doubt. And one of the things, one of the most important things I think so a person could give to another person is belief, right? And mainly like a belief in yourself. And like you ever, all of us remember those individuals around you. You mentioned Jim Harbaugh and how he made you feel gratitude towards the game. And like I, I think I remember the coaches, Jeff Stoutland, Howard Mudd, like Paul Longo, all these guys where when I had self doubt in my career, these guys were there to reaffirm me and like make sure that I was, knew how good I could be and how good I had the potential to become. So I had to mention that because I always get fired up hearing about like every player goes through that. Any player that says they don't go through it is full of crap gap. And it's because you're surrounded with great people, great teammates, great coaches that you end up coming out of that. So I'm going to transition to this. There's a lot of rookie quarterbacks from last year that are coming up on their second year this season. Who does Alex Smith have belief is going to take that next step forward. Who's going to be the best of the bunch to kind of have breakout seasons?

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, I, Dude, I think this rookie, the rookie class from last year to be clear that the second year group, the second year group going in this year year, I think it's going to go down as one of the greatest QB classes of all time.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh wow.

[Alex Smith]

Maybe the best of all time. I think it has a chance. I mean we just saw literally Jaden Daniels. It is the greatest rookie season I think in all of American sports.

[Jason Kelsey]

Electric. It was very electric.

[Alex Smith]

I mean unbelievable. Bo Nix. I mean you saw it live.

[Travis Kelce]

Next is a baller, man.

[Alex Smith]

A baller, right? He's the sixth guy taken. I mean to think about that, it's crazy. There's, there's a few guys on that note that I'm, I'm really excited about. I'm, I'm excited for kids. Caleb again, another number one pick. Like getting Ben Johnson. I love the Ben Johnson hire. Like I, I think you're gonna.

[Travis Kelce]

Yep.

[Alex Smith]

I see a side of Caleb this year. I think he's going to flourish in it. I think they needed, you know, again the next several years he'll get to play in this system that is so good. And I think he's really gonna take off. They got a bunch of weapons. That division's a monster. That division is a monster though.

[Jason Kelsey]

It is. That's the problem by the way.

[Alex Smith]

So is yours travel.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, no, I'm very aware. Very aware. You get a bunch of legendary coaches and throw them in a division, you're going to get some, some competition in there, man.

[Alex Smith]

Did I, I don't know if I told you this. Do you know it's the winningest division in NFL history when it comes to head coaches records, dude, the AFC west.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's a crazy stat.

[Alex Smith]

History.

[Jason Kelsey]

That is crazy.

[Alex Smith]

Anyway, here we go boys.

[Travis Kelce]

Buckle up.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude.

[Alex Smith]

But I think Caleb's gonna have a great year. Year, dude. I mean the guy we haven't seen is J.J. mcCarthy. Right? Like.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, right.

[Alex Smith]

I mean playing for Kevin O' Connell, who I was lucky enough to, you know, another San Diego guy I go way back to high school with. I played for him. He's one of the best QB minds I think in the game. And then think about who's throwing to. Right. You got, you know, you got Jetta, you got Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson. I mean they got a lot of weapons There. I think he's gonna have a big year. And then Drake May. I like Drake May a lot. Like, I think I. I'm basically naming all of them. So. Yeah, I get that. That. But Dre, I think. I think New England. I love Vrabel getting hired. Josh McDaniels coming back as the OC I think he's also unbelievable offensive mind. Like, I really do. I love all these guys. I don't even mention Pennix, who might have the best supporting cast from weapons.

[Travis Kelce]

You know, standpoint, everywhere.

[Alex Smith]

I. I did. I. I love it. I think they're all. I think all these guys are going to take steps this year.

[Jason Kelsey]

Awesome. All right, well, what about.

[Alex Smith]

Is that just the worst answer ever? I just named all of them.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, I'm. First of all, just got me fired up for football. I'm going to the Chicago Bears game. I can't wait to watch Kayla Williams and freaking JJ McCarthy go at each other. I mean, that's going to be a blast. So. All right, what do we got? What about the rookies this year?

[Alex Smith]

I mean, it's just. It's like. It's funny. It's Slim Pickens. And this always happens, right? Like, after a big year, the next year course. I mean, you got all eyes are going to be on Cam, right? Number one pick.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sure.

[Alex Smith]

I think he, you know, by all accounts, was the consensus guy there. Right. Like, that was the most ready. The thing I like about him so much is like, the a. He's a gamer man. Like, the craftiness. Like, he's. So. He's like the opposite of what I look like as a rookie. Like, I was so stiff and like, you know, like, this guy's played a lot of football. Right. He's played at three colleges. He's played in multiple systems. He knows what he does well. You know, he's got a great skill set, does a little bit of everything. I think he's going to play good, and then I don't. You know, we'll see if any of these other young guys even play. Jackson Dart may not play. So I. I like again, Cam. Cam's the guy we're all gonna be watching, in my opinion.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, fair enough.

[Travis Kelce]

We had. We had some crazy news break last week in the NFL. Micah Parsons finally got traded.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

There was a lot of debate on whether they were going to get a contract done. And then it just became war between him and the owner. Yeah. Jerry Jones. And Michael Parsons is officially a packer. What was the first reaction when you saw the news?

[Alex Smith]

Couldn't believe it. I just, like, could not believe they actually traded him. You know, I felt like it was like deja vu, right? Like, they. They had. He had a contract dispute with Dak and it got done the last minute. He had the contract dispute with cd. It got done last minute, and it kind of just seemed like, well, here we go. They're definitely not letting Micah Parsons out of the building, right? And I could not believe it when it happened.

[Travis Kelce]

I still can't believe it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

And.

[Alex Smith]

And now that I've had, like, a little time to digest this thing, I, like, I. I don't think it's insane. Say if you wanted to, like, move him, right? Like, he. Listen, this is a generational pass rusher. He's 26 years old. Like, the next five years for him are going to be ridiculous. Probably the best five years of his career, like, coming up. And yeah, if you wanted to move him and you were gonna get a Herschel Walker type trade, like, if you were gonna get just somebody offering so much that you couldn't turn it down because you wanted to press reset, I could understand it. But to just to get what is going to be two late first round picks, and I have nothing against Kenny Clark, but, like, Kenny's a good player. To put this in perspective, the Niners traded three first round picks for Trey Lance, three for a guy that had never played a snap in the NFL. And you're telling me that again, they're talking about him like, Reggie White, like, he's had 12 sacks. He's the only guy since Reggie white to have 12 sacks to start a career this many years. Right? Like, again, he's a monster. Even when he doesn't even does it. Even when he. And you guys know this, right? Like, even if he doesn't get the sacks, the pain he is to game plan for. Like, when you come in on, you know, Wednesday morning, the giant circle that's around Micah Parson is like. Like, we cannot let this guy cost. We are going to do the run game's going to revolve around where he is. The pass game's going to revolve around where he is. We're going to chip him and double time, double team. Hey, Trav, you're always going to be lining up where he is to try to give an extra gap for the tackle. Like, you just do you bend over backwards for this guy just to, like, try to take him away, you know?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep. It's crazy.

[Alex Smith]

I think it is a horrible trade. To be very clear, very clear.

[Jason Kelsey]

How I feel about this, there is a, there is a chance that it can work out if one of, if one of these first or both of these first round picks go and, and are successful. But, like, statistically the chances of that happening are, like, so low that you're going to find somebody that affects the game like this. Like, that's what I think. Recently there's been things coming out like, he's not great against the run, and I'm not normally a guy that, like, cares that much about, like, sacks. I think that number sometimes gets blown overblown somewhat. This guy affects the game on a level that maybe only two or three other guys in the NFL do across the league on defense. Like, like he is that big of a difference maker. Your entire game plan, we played the Cowboys without him. It is so different, so different. And I, I love Kenny Clark. Kenny Clark is a great player. And I kind of feel bad that he's a part of this and being compared to Michael Parsons because as a D tackle, he's really good. But it's just, he's not affecting the game the way that Micah Parsons is. And the, the way they're trying to sell this, I think is. Is funny because they have to at this point. But the real reason this isn't happening is flat out egos. And it sucks that that is the reason why this whole thing is happening.

[Alex Smith]

You're spot on. The only way this ever, you know, 10 years from now, this looks good is if they draft two hall of Famers with these two picks. The odds of that happening when you're going to be picking probably like pick 24 or higher, it's, it's not, you know, again, not looking good for them. I couldn't agree with you more. This is all about. This is all about hurt feelings and egos. And on this note, this whole idea of Jerry negotiating directly with this guy, he's 25. Apparently it's not only 25 years old. He's never negotiated a contract in his life. He has professional representation that everybody knows he has to have hired to do this for him. And you're the. How old are you, Jerry? And you own the most valuable sports franchise in the world. You're the gm and you're gonna go like, the power dynamic of this, that you're gonna go negotiate directly with this guy. It makes me, like, I feel dirty. Like, you know, it makes me feel. It makes me feel icky. That, like, come on, man. That's. That, like, that's so wrong.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, I'm not I can't disagree with anything you're saying right now. I mean, it's. We. It happened. I feel like it's never happened in Philadelphia. Apparently this has been known to happen in other places. What do you mean? I'm talking about like, a GM and a ghost. I mean, you'll.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, all right. I was gonna say. I thought you were gonna say somebody traded away, like, your star player, because it definitely happened.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's happened everywhere, buddy. That's not. This. This one feels different, though. It's not like a monetary thing.

[Alex Smith]

Kansas City traded away their star player in 2018, just to be clear.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, they did.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, they did. Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

It just feels everybody. You can throw it down field. Touchdowns, dot com me up.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, we'll move on.

[Alex Smith]

Let's move on.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, no, no, you're good. You're good. Because it segues in nice with what Travis was saying. Has there ever been a trade like this before? We have some name. We have. We've definitely got some in front of us. Which are. Yeah. I mean, cheating.

[Alex Smith]

Sure. In history. I mean, what that. I mean, the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth. Right. I mean, like, it's. There's been. There's been trades, big trades. I mean, Dallas obviously knows it well here recently. Luca, you know, on the move. Luca. I'm trying to think. It's kickball. I mean, obviously Khalil Max, probably the closest thing you know to like, a. A difference making, you know, edge rusher getting traded for a bunch of picks. I still. I. I don't know. I mean, this, like, Micah is different, man. Yeah, he's so talented.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's a name on here, but it's not a trade, which I would assimilate this two. And this is, like, how bad it can look if this doesn't work out for Dallas, which is the Saquon going to Philadelphia last year, and that was a free agent. Like, they let him go and he got signed, so not at all applicable. But, like, if Micah goes out and balls out this year in Green Bay, which it probably will happen, and Green Bay gets substantially better. I just. The optics of it are just going to be so, so, so bad.

[Travis Kelce]

That's.

[Jason Kelsey]

If.

[Travis Kelce]

That's. If they don't go out and they. They don't perform, you know, if. Yeah, if Dallas goes out and plays football.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, they got some good receivers and Dak is a good quarterback. And I just. I just think defensively they're. And I like Matt Eberfluz. He's a great D coordinator. That's a. That Was the, the guy on the defense that was creating all of the issues.

[Alex Smith]

To be clear, if you're gonna do this again, like, I don't mind the idea of like, we're a full reset, but you do this in the off season and you don't do this in the quiet, right? Like, this is like you, you, you, you, you announce this to the world that this guy's available, you create a bidding war, right? Like, there's 30 teams that would have, I think, given up a similar bounty as this. I think there's plenty more that would have gone overboard, right? Like, I just think this did. It was so rushed. It seems so quiet and last minute. Like, it kind of feels like they didn't maximize what they could have got for this.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, in my opinion, it honestly feels a little bit like Jerry was like, what's the coldest, most miserable place I can send Michael Parsons? Green Bay is willing to give us this. He's like, perfect.

[Alex Smith]

But you send him to. Now, like some people think they're like a, I mean, huge expectations in Green Bay now, right? And like they may, and some people already, like, they may be super bowl favorites in the nfc, right? Like some people already, you know, are they now one of the two, three best teams in the NFC with this.

[Jason Kelsey]

To that point move for him, like.

[Alex Smith]

Trade them to New Orleans. Maybe you get a top five pick. Maybe you get a top pick, you trade them to Green Bay, you might be getting picked 32, you might be.

[Jason Kelsey]

Watching them all playoffs long.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, sorry, New Orleans fans, I didn't mean to.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, didn't mean to throw shade.

[Travis Kelce]

All right, here we go. So you were just talking about the Cowboys maybe just pressing the reset button. New coach. A lot of first year coaches, there's always that turnover in the NFL, but Dallas is one of them. With Schottenheimer, we got Ben Johnson in the, with the Bears that we already talked about. Vrabes as well back over there. Obviously not first time head coach, but first time, first year over there in New England. Aaron Glenn over with the Jets. Liam Cohen, Kellen Moore with the Saints. Who you taking for the most successful year?

[Alex Smith]

One coach, there's seven of these guys, right? Seven, I think. Yeah, yeah. Dude, this is tough. I think again, like, I, I want to be clear. I love the Ben Johnson high, but I don't, I mean, that division again is, is stacked. So I, I, I think it's great. I don't know how many wins it's going to directly, you know, go to this next year. I, the Mike Vrabel. You know, so much of this is your division and what your division looks like. The Mike Vaughel higher in New England. I know. You know, obviously Buffalo is awesome, but the rest of that division is kind of wide open, in my opinion. And I think that, you know, again, Drake May's a guy like they're. They're gonna. By the end of the year, I think they're going to be promising. The sneaky one, I kind of think is I wonder about his first time head coach is Liam Cohen. Yeah, right. Like, I think Jacksonville from a roster standpoint is closer, like, to winning a lot of games. And again, this, this AFC south, like you got Houston, it. It's a little wide open after that. I could see. You know, I like Trevor Lawrence. I think he's super talented. They got two great edge rushers down there. Young edge rushers. They got Brian Thomas Jr. Is it a baller outside? Like, I, I could see them getting.

[Jason Kelsey]

Good fast and they're doing something right now that I think between what Canales then did over in Carolina, like, Baker goes down there, he has a rejuvenation of a career combined with other great, talented players, and he's great talent. Then all of a sudden, Bryce Young is playing well in Carolina. I like some of the schematic things they're doing. They like flood different zones or utilizing like fly motions in the, the flat, the stress flat defenders. They're doing some really cool things. I'm excited to watch Liam Cohen in Jacksonville as well. And I'll say this too, with Ben Johnson with the Bears. The other one is, I think Dennis Allen's a really good defensive coordinator. He always like, gave me fits down in New Orleans. He can scheme things so well, especially he can stop the run in a shell by moving the D lineman and having the linebackers play a certain way. That it was always kind of like, like an issue and I respected the heck out of it.

[Alex Smith]

Totally agree. I know Dennis Allen hasn't had a ton of success as a head coach, but as a D coordinator, to your point, and it's unorthodox. Like, how he gets to things is unorthodox. And for me as a quarterback, I hated going against that. Like, I, I love textbook defenses. Right. And like, it. It was a hundred percent. It was always a pain in the ass to go against these weird ones. So.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep. And then obviously I got to give my man Chip Kelly some love back in the NFL. Offensive coordinator for the Raiders. I cannot wait to see Chip Kelly back in the NFL.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, we forgot to, yeah, we forgot to mention Pete Carroll with the Raiders.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's one of those seven. How about that?

[Jason Kelsey]

How old is he?

[Alex Smith]

I mean it's crazy. He's in his 70s.

[Jason Kelsey]

You want to talk about a positive mindset? Have you ever been around Pete?

[Alex Smith]

I just, dude, I mean he's one of the guys like his, his, one of his core, like fundamentals is like joy. Just like bringing joy.

[Travis Kelce]

I mean.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yes.

[Alex Smith]

It's amazing. Just still chewing on gum.

[Jason Kelsey]

Still chewing. Do you have a, do you have a sleeper pick? Who's your, who's your sleeper team to compete for a Super bowl title?

[Alex Smith]

Wait, sleeper for the Super Bowl?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I guess just sleeper team to overachieve. Let's say that.

[Alex Smith]

All right, I'll get, maybe I'll give you a little bit of both. I think like the, like when I think about who's, who's poised to have like a big turnaround. Yeah, I, I think the New York Giants could definitely have a big turnaround. I mean three games. Dexter Lawrence, I may be best player nobody knows about. He's unbelievable. And they've got, how many edge rushers do they have at this point?

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean they've got the Abdul Carter kid.

[Alex Smith]

They've got, obviously they still have Brian Burns. I mean from Carolina they got a bunch of guys. I, I think they got a chance for a big turnaround. To me again, it's some of these, where I go to these divisions and it's like the NFC south, right. Like I, I, I think the Bucks, I think the Tampa Bucks are so good.

[Travis Kelce]

Good.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's my sleeper team.

[Alex Smith]

I think they, I think they can make a real run.

[Travis Kelce]

One of those stacked rosters when you really look at it, dude, before Mike.

[Jason Kelsey]

Evans and Godwin got hurt, they were competing with anybody. They were right up there with the top of the nfc. And then they kind of took a nosedive a little bit during that little downtown.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah. But then they found that run game that two headed like running back room that they had. They found that more once the wide receiver, running back Bucky ball player.

[Alex Smith]

Man.

[Travis Kelce]

Man, you get them with a one on one matchup.

[Alex Smith]

Man, they barely lost the commanders in the playoffs. What they were, they beat the Eagles last year. I mean in the regular season too.

[Jason Kelsey]

And you know, it was early. The Eagles got a lot better throughout the season.

[Alex Smith]

But the other, the other division, I think that some, some teams going to come out of is the NFC west. Right. Like the Rams. I love the Rams. I love Stafford like Jared Verse, come on, Jared. Verse is. Is a problem, dude. A problem man child.

[Jason Kelsey]

They came up to Philadelphia. There's a lot of noise about Jared Verse and really the whole D line. And they run games really well and they do all these things. And I'm like, man, they're playing Phillies online. This isn't going to be like, they're not going to even affect the game. They got after us in the snow, which everybody knows, like snow is usually to the offensive lines advantage. Like. And I'm like, dude, these guys, I got a lot of respect for these. These guys are run. They're coming, coming. And Jared Verse was talking on some trash before the game, backed it up during his play. And whenever that happens, I'm like, dude, respect.

[Alex Smith]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

You start yapping off coming into Philly and then come and play your ass off. Like, all right, I'm taking notice.

[Alex Smith]

There were a couple clips where him and my lotta going at it and those are two big. Those are two big cats. And he for sure, he won a few of them. And I was like, I mean, super impressive. But then I think again, in the same, like the Cardinal, the Cardinals got a chance to be good if the Niners stay healthy beat. I think they got a chance. So that's. They're not really under the radar. They're not a sleeper, but.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, but I do think the Niners are a little bit less talked about this year because of the way the season went last year. And you forget that they have one of the best coaches in the NFL, George Kittle. Like, they have all these pieces in place. The defense took a downturn last year, but they've been one of the best defense of the NFL.

[Alex Smith]

They got Robert Salah back. Like, I think a big get for them.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on, Matthew, let's get some Bengay on that back. I want to see the Rams doing something this year. Let's go.

[Alex Smith]

I think he will. I think he will. I think he's gonna be all right.

[Travis Kelce]

No, he's definitely. He's a Ben Gay.

[Alex Smith]

He's a gamer.

[Travis Kelce]

He's not.

[Alex Smith]

He's not.

[Travis Kelce]

He's not.

[Jason Kelsey]

Icy hot.

[Travis Kelce]

Let's get to some no dumb questions. Smitty, we asked 92% as our fan base here to send their preseason questions. So let's check out this preseason edition of no dumb questions because there's no such thing as dumb questions, Alex. Just dumbass people. That's it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Two of us, we got a list here. Which rookie will shock everyone. We of already did that a little bit. NFL soft. Well, I don't know. Who knows what that means?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, let's do that one. Let's do that one. I like that one. NFL soft, Alex was a part of the years where you could really take someone's head off.

[Jason Kelsey]

Hey, Jason, recent news. NFL got rid of the smelling. So this leaf's gone soft, man.

[Alex Smith]

What happened to the wing te? What happened to the Patrick Willis personality?

[Jason Kelsey]

Jack Lambert falling the bank.

[Alex Smith]

Hard hitter.

[Jason Kelsey]

Lp you can't forget llp. Now we got all these prima donnas.

[Alex Smith]

Don'T want to be a team player.

[Jason Kelsey]

And we got freaking rivalries.

[Alex Smith]

Don't mean anything anymore because everyone want a jersey swap and everything.

[Jason Kelsey]

What happened to smash mouth football? You know, just run through a motherfucker's face. Now we just spread it out.

[Alex Smith]

Spread it out.

[Jason Kelsey]

Marshawn Lynch. Nowadays I just can't stand it.

[Alex Smith]

NFL doesn't mean anything.

[Jason Kelsey]

Think, dude. I. I don't know, man. I just. That off my chest.

[Alex Smith]

Thank you, Jason.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you, Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

Why was that only. Why was that only. Excuse me. He was addressing me. Let me answer the man. I cannot tell you how much I love that. That rant started from the NFL banning smelling salts. We went from smelling salts. That just a non stop rant of how the game has changed over the last last two decades.

[Alex Smith]

Did he drop Patrick Willis's name in there?

[Jason Kelsey]

He did.

[Alex Smith]

Okay, let's go.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

Just in the midst of these old timers. Just like Lawrence Taylor. Patrick, Patrick Willis only retired like six years ago.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, no, but he, he was, he was a part of.

[Alex Smith]

I'll tell you, I, I think he is spot on on one of these things. And it does, it does not sit right with me. Sometimes is the, the postgame public jersey swap.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

I think if you're gonna do the jersey swap, it so often was like if you saw a guy after the game, you could talk to him and then you would go to the locker room and you would send it over, right. You would sign it and the equipment guys would take it over. I do think sometimes in big game it is weird to like see these guys like taking pictures with their jerseys post game on the field. Like one of you just got your ass kicked. And like, I don't know, there's part of that, like, I think the optics, the optics of it. It should be more old school, like the clubhouse. Just send it over. No one needs to know.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

I don't know. You don't have to do it for the gram or anything, you know, even.

[Jason Kelsey]

Just for the optics.

[Travis Kelce]

I was with Them on smelling salts. I was with them as soon as he said that, I was in on it.

[Alex Smith]

But I don't get the story behind that, by the way. I mean, it's like universally loved. I don't know anybody that like, doesn't like smelling, you know, like, was there somebody that like, put in a complaint?

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I think the only reason they banned him is because there's probably an argument. I mean, the reason they were on the sideline initially was for guys that got their bell rung to do a little smelling. Yeah. Go back out on the field.

[Alex Smith]

Game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I would do them before every. Before every first play. First series of the game. In the first series of every half, I would do one just to kind of get the system going again.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, dude.

[Alex Smith]

When you play, when you play on the west coast and you play the 1 o' clock kickoff on the east coast, it is urgent. Early, man. My first eight years of my career, you go there, bro, you're waking up at like 5am Your time. You're eating pre game meals so early. So like the smelling salts pre game, I mean, you like had to have them, right? Get yourself going.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelce]

And now you got on the sideline where it's like a drug deal. Guys are pulling them out of their pockets and.

[Jason Kelsey]

Doing. What are we doing? The team stopped providing them and they acted like there was like a shortage on smelling salts. And it's like, I don't think there's a shortage on smelling salts. I'm pretty sure you guys, they put.

[Travis Kelce]

A tariff on the smelling salt.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think the NFL has been trying to move away from anything associated with concussions for a long time now.

[Alex Smith]

The real veteran move. Did you guys ever, like stuff like 80 of them in a water bottle?

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[Travis Kelce]

The only way do it.

[Alex Smith]

Little squeeze.

[Jason Kelsey]

You could feel it just like burning your up. Yeah, just. You turn into macho man Randy Savage for a second. No, it was, man. I, I don't know, man. I, I think we all agree on a certain extent that the, the game is changing and sometimes you're not always happy with how it's changing and you miss the barbaric of it. Like, I miss the wedge unit locking arms and running down like a human wall. But I also acknowledge that we probably shouldn't do that anymore. Like, it was just absolutely terrible for those individuals. And I mean, I, I missed the hits going over the middle. I'll be honest. Like, I think about these. I loved watching somebody get a completely obliterated going across the middle as a Fan. But I think we can all acknowledge that it's probably best that we've moved on from this as part of the.

[Alex Smith]

As somebody, as somebody whose leg was. Was broken on, you know, national TV. It's still fairly physical game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

Guy named J.J. watt. Just pretty big dude.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, let's do another one. Let's do another one. NFL running back plus average fan o line game 1 yard. But we've done that one a thousand times. Oh, wait, no, that's a different one.

[Travis Kelce]

Let's do that one then.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I kind of. Yeah, go ahead.

[Alex Smith]

Hey, boys, it's. It's Gravy from Wisconsin just calling in. You guys talk a lot about doing.

[Jason Kelsey]

A average person getting a 1 yard in the NFL.

[Alex Smith]

I want to know how many of the NFL running backs could get guard with the average people playing their offensive.

[Travis Kelce]

Line from center guard tackle actually pretty good.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you think it's a terrible.

[Alex Smith]

The majority of running back could get a yard with average people playing their offensive line.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is this assuming that there's NFL defensive lines?

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, I think. Yes, yes.

[Jason Kelsey]

If that's the case. No, there's precisely a zero percent chance.

[Travis Kelce]

Doesn't matter who you give the ball, dude.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, you can run the tush push. You're not getting a yard. There's nothing you're going to run that's going to get a yard without average guys playing o line. Unless you maybe if you run like some gadget play or like a toss crack with like an actual legitimate players blocking on the perimeter. But outside, I just. Not a chance in hell that's getting a yard.

[Alex Smith]

I agree with you. There's no, there's not a single running back. I, you know, I mean, King Henry, nobody's getting a yard. Yeah, you're gonna get. They're gonna get hit. They're gonna get hit five yards deep.

[Jason Kelsey]

Correct. Like they're not even by the offensive lineman. Who's gonna get dwarf thrown. Thrown into them from.

[Travis Kelce]

Well, then what Answer. Answer this question then. What is the most exciting position to make an average person play?

[Jason Kelsey]

What would I want to watch? Yes, I'd like to watch an average person play D line. Watch it. Put an average guy at nose guard and let's see how that goes.

[Alex Smith]

If each team had to play with one average guy, where would you put him?

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, where are you throwing them?

[Jason Kelsey]

What's the most.

[Travis Kelce]

For the most exciting. Like when you turn on that film the next day, you're like, if you put him.

[Alex Smith]

If you put like middle linebacker. If you put average Joe Mike Linebacker.

[Jason Kelsey]

Watching that. I mean, just completely lost.

[Alex Smith]

Put the GoPro on him and let you know. It'd be good TV.

[Travis Kelce]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm just picturing a guy just lost. Not, oh, holy, that is so good.

[Travis Kelce]

Just getting lost.

[Jason Kelsey]

Launched in the middle of the field.

[Alex Smith]

Have your head on a swivel, just getting crack blocked.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's do one more. One more.

[Travis Kelce]

All right, let's do it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's do this. Twitter question from Aaron Clinton. Who taught you how to watch film and how long did it take to recognize coverage live in game? Alex, you want to take that first?

[Alex Smith]

Oh, sure. Well, I mean, I obviously talked about, like, I. I watched a lot of film by myself.

[Travis Kelce]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

A lot early on. The crazy things back in the day. Day. And you probably saw this, too. You used to get these, like, textbook coverages. Maybe, like.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Alex Smith]

Teams either played like, cover two, and it looked like this is how every team plays cover two, and they played cover three, and then they played man. And there were all these very identifiable, like, they fit in a bucket kind of thing. And then it was probably like, halfway through my career that that all went out the window and everything were these kind of, like, hybrid coverages, and you couldn't even really tell. You're like, is that cover three or four quarters with, like, Is that rotation? I don't know. Like, what. You know, all these kind of combination coverages, weird fronts, and it can change.

[Jason Kelsey]

On the fly, like a motion to like a three by one. Yeah, yeah.

[Alex Smith]

You know, and so it was way harder to identify, like, what the hell is going on pre snap from a quarterback's perspective, in. In that regard. I mean, you still can to a certain extent, but not. Not as easy. Who taught you guys how to watch film?

[Travis Kelce]

I was going to say, yeah. What about you, Jay?

[Jason Kelsey]

I. I feel like, like, I talked to Jeff Saturday, early in my career, because Howard Mudd coached him, and he thought it'd be good after my first year to go meet with Jeff in the off season. And I definitely learned a lot of things about how to study defensive linemen technique. Their feet, foot back in particular. Like a head up guy, you know, you think he can go either way. But a lot of times his stance dictates what his foot is going to step with first. And if you really watch and take tape, how guys get in their stances, what techniques they're in, what the coverage is behind it, a lot of times that can dictate where these guys all end up and everything. And I think that talked to him a Lot about, you know, you watch first and second down Wednesday, which you do as a team anyways, right. Like my thing was I always wanted to maximize my time and I didn't like going back and watching stuff that I was just going to watch with stout anyway. So like first, second down tape. I knew I was going into a stout in the meeting room room. I always knew that we were going to struggle getting to like two minute scenarios. What are the games that they like to run and like what are the down and distances that they like to do that stuff? Are there any tells that the D lineman give away on third and long as to like what games are running or like if they're doing a three man game or a two man game coverages. All I cared about with coverage was what the box look was going to be like or if the, the they were tipping away pressures from like a safety standpoint, right? So like if the blindbackers were stacked, there was a good chance it was either going to stay some type of shell quarters too high look or the nickel was going to pressure if the backers were bowed or bossed. Somebody's coming into that space. So I, I don't, I love that.

[Alex Smith]

We'Re like watching film and it's like all these coverages and you're like trying to break them down from a quarter perspective. Like Jason have you and you're like, well, if his right foot was a little further back, I knew he was going left. You know, it's like the full, like the game is so simple at the line, you know, like the OD line. Like. Well, his knuckles were white, so I knew he was really, you know, he was really going to come off the ball.

[Jason Kelsey]

I asked this. We have like, we would have like an alert call from like the tight. The tackle, right? And the tackle would be like, all right. And there'd be nothing telling me that the nickel was pressuring. And JP was the best at this. He would just be, hey, and give me the alert that they're going to blitz over there. And I'm like, dude, there's no way they're blitz. And sure enough it be a blitz. And I'm like, jp, how the hell did you know he's blitzing? No, the end was tighter. That was it. The end was a snugger alignment and that was all he was operating on. I'm like, dude, keep letting me know that information because I'm not going to see that.

[Travis Kelce]

For me it was, it was like an eye openening experience. And don't get Me wrong. I've, like, kind of like, over the course of my career, understood off, like, defenses just from being in the QB room and then. And hearing a guy like Doug Peterson talk about it here, a guy hearing guys like Matt Nagy. And then when. When you're out there running these plays, you hear like, the conversations I had with you and with. With Pat, and then you start to identify, like, why we're calling these things and, like, how I can run my routes differently and how I can kind of manipulate guys, keep guys, like, froze so I can open up windows and things like that. But early on in my career, I was like, I think this is like, my second or third year in the league. And I, like, had just started to, like, I think I'm a starter and I'm. I'm having success and I'm, like, kind of like feeling like, yeah, I got the hang of this now. You know what I mean? I'm rolling and everything. And I walk into the training room on, like, a Tuesday after a game, and my. My guy, Mike DeVito, big Mike DeVito, D lineman, he's sitting there, like, just like, getting his ankle worked on, and one of the. One of the guys from the defensive side come in with a spreadsheet, and he hands him a spreadsheet. And it's like, every. Everything the team that we're playing that week does out of every formation, and he had it, like, categorized. And I'm over here, like, playing at such a basic level compared to, like, getting a spreadsheet every Tuesday that I would looked at that. I was like, I got a long way to go. Like, I'm not even thinking about their percentages of, like, the. The. The coverages that they're running. I'm just, like, trusting Coach Reed that when he dials up shallow cross, it's mad, man. You know what I mean? Like, you know, like, I'm just looking at the pictures on the install of, like, the concept we're running. And it was. And shout out to Mike DeVito, man, he was always, like, one of the most prepared and, like, ready to go, guys. And his, like, how he. How he attacked every single week. I, like, I just grabbed that one, like, day in the training room. I just grabbed it. Like, man, that's what make that. That guy, like, accountable. Like, he understands this to, like, like, the point of, like, yeah, it's like a scheme that he understands. And. And I was just like, man, I didn't take it to the point of getting an excel sheet, but every single time I looked at the install. Now I look at all the percentages and all the numbers and everything they got for you. Well, good deal, Mike.

[Alex Smith]

Mike DeVito is a defensive tackle. But dude, by the way, what are the chances he's from what are the chances Mike was. I'm almost positive. Is he from New Jersey? I think he's from New Jersey. I mean, fairly positive. He's from New Jersey.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jersey. All righty. That wraps up our discussion with Alex Smith. Round of applause, Alex Smith, everybody. Alex, you're the man.

[Alex Smith]

Appreciate it, fellas. Thanks for having me on.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you for coming on. This is awesome.

[Travis Kelce]

Thank you. Always, always fun to catch up with you, brother.

[Alex Smith]

I appreciate you down in Brazil, bro. Go get him.

[Travis Kelce]

Appreciate it. Heck yeah. Let's go.

[Jason Kelsey]

And that wraps up another episode of new heights. That's right. Next week we will be bringing back stamp of the week. So hit up on social with your nominees. Make sure to subscribe to the new Heights channel on YouTube and follow new heights on the wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen new episodes of new Heights early and ad free right now by joining wondery plus in the wondery app or on Apple podcasts.

[Travis Kelce]

Once again, new Heights is a wondry show brought to you by Reese's Oreo cups. Thank you guys for always tuning in 92 percenters. And thanks you to our production for making us look way better than what we are are. We'll see you guys next week. After the first week of the NFL, baby.