Bill Belichick, Grit Week 2026, Cavs Win Game 7, Aaron Rai Takes The PGA + Who’s Back Of The Week

Summary

Pardon My Take – May 18, 2026

Episode Theme:
Bill Belichick, Grit Week 2026, Cavs Win Game 7, Aaron Rai Takes The PGA, & Who’s Back Of The Week

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Overview

This special Grit Week episode of "Pardon My Take" features an in-depth and wide-ranging interview with legendary football coach Bill Belichick, celebrating his new tenure as UNC head coach and delving into his philosophies, career milestones, personal quirks, and unforgettable moments with the Patriots. Alongside, the crew covers the Cavs’ huge Game 7 win, Aaron Rai’s surprising PGA Championship victory, Stanley Cup (and croissant) bets, baseball rivalry highlights, and a packed, classic “Who’s Back of the Week.” Throughout, Big Cat, PFT Commenter, Hank, Max, and Zach deliver the usual blend of sports insight and irreverent humor, making this a Grit Week kickoff to remember.

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Episode Breakdown

1. Grit Week 2026 Launch & Road Vibes

Time: [02:16–03:32]

• The team is on the road for Grit Week, headquartered in Jacksonville with plans to travel the South in their Chevy Silverado and upgraded Vanny Woodhead.
• Discusses new Grit Week logo and comically debates who’s featured in it.
• Throughout, they riff on van naps, road trip traditions, and why they love being on the move.

2. Cavs Rout Pistons in Game 7; NBA Playoff Chatter

Time: [03:32–10:12]

Game 7 Summary

• Cavs clinch a dominant Game 7 victory over the Pistons; Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill (7/9 on threes), and Jared Allen all excelled.
• Owners' antics: Dan Gilbert bussed in 25 loads of fans in a move "out of the George Soros playbook" ([04:02], PFT).
• The series is dubbed “a mid off,” but there’s consensus that the NBA field is particularly open this season — several “just okay” teams can beat each other.

Pistons’ Future and Playoff Flaws

• Detroit made progress but needs more offense and a deeper roster to be a true threat.
• Cade Cunningham’s disappointing Game 7 is dissected in detail.

Knicks/Cavs Next Round Hypotheticals

• Knicks fans are confident: “Knicks in 5” is the house consensus ([09:15] onwards).
• Gentle roasting of each other’s playoff expectations.

Thunder/Spurs Anticipation

• Jalen Williams’ return for OKC. Excitement brewing for conference finals.

Hockey Cross-talk

• Recaps how long the Carolina Hurricanes have been off, joking about disputes over days of rest.

Memorable Quote:

“We found the antidote for big game James—just have Mobley, Mitchell, Merrill, and Allen all play out of their minds.” – PFT Commenter [04:20]

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3. PGA Championship: Aaron Rai Triumphs

Time: [13:07–26:31]

Rai’s Win

• Aaron Rai wins his first major—on the same course where Max took his prom photos, naturally.
• Discusses Rai’s iconic 68-foot clinching putt and the European takeover of majors this year.
• Detailed banter about the inscribing of the Wanamaker trophy before play concluded.

Rai’s Backstory & Style

• The crew is quickly won over by Rai’s humble backstory:
  • Wears two black gloves, a nod to growing up golfing in cold, tough conditions in England.
  • Dad cleaned his clubs after every practice; Rai still covers his irons to this day.
  • Broke world record for consecutive 10-foot putts made (207) at age 15 ([22:56], Big Cat).

American Sports Woes

• Americans denied both golfing and NBA MVP glory. Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, and now SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) keep the trophy out of domestic hands.

Tournament Critique

• Hank: “Exciting leaderboard, boring finish. Rai’s a nice guy, but it was a blue ball Sunday.”
• Big Cat: “If 10 years from now Rai’s won nine majors, suddenly it’s retroactively cool!”

Memorable Moments:

“Right hand glove’s had the best week since the O.J. trial.” – Big Cat [21:41]
“When Rai hit that 68-foot putt, that was it—moment of the championship.” – PFT [14:26]

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4. Stanley Cup Stakes & Croissant Bets

Time: [16:31–18:54]

• Lighthearted crossfire on what would happen if the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
• Big Cat declares he’d eat two croissants every day (and French fries) until an American team reclaims the Cup ([18:11], Big Cat).
• PFT clarifies: “Imagine if the Oilers win and you have to do it for two years!”
• Extended riffs on the (very nice) South of France and French citizenship.

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5. Fantasy Football, Drafts, and Offseason Talk

Time: [19:20–20:04, 41:56–43:19]

• Max fields live dynasty rookie fantasy draft picks during the show—Fernando Mendoza, Jordan Tyson, etc.
• Quick-hit analysis on rookie value and trading strategies.
• Later ties in twisted tea and preseason buzz, with more on fantasy league prep.

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6. Sports Odds & Ends: NBA, NHL, MLB, UFC, and More

NBA

• Spurs defeat Timberwolves, move to face OKC in the West finals.
• Anthony Edwards’ odd bench interaction post-elimination discussed—PFT: “Little weird, not a giant deal” ([32:28]).

NHL

• The Canadian Sabres push Game 7, leading to heated fan discussions—and more croissant talk.

MLB Rivalry Week

• Coverage of Yankees/Mets, Cubs/White Sox, Phillies/Pirates, etc.
• “Nationals getting a team puppy might be their season’s saving grace.” – PFT ([39:51])

UFC/MMA (“Who’s Back”)

Time: [44:22–49:03]

• Conor McGregor returns versus Max Holloway (July 11).
• Max officially claims UFC correspondent status, wrests the title from Hank.
• Ronda Rousey/Nate Diaz fight discussed as “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever watched.” – Max ([36:11])

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7. Extended Bill Belichick Interview

Time: [60:12–160:26; see detailed highlights below]

"What Does Grit Mean to You?"

• Bill: “Not a big grit guy… I like toughness, competitiveness. If that’s grit, that’s what I like.” ([60:12])

On the Fullback Position

• Approaches fullbacks as instinctive, powerful players who must “see the same hole” as running backs.
• “We had Landon Roberts at middle linebacker and James Devlin at fullback. After four plays, we just said, that’s it—no more lead plays. You’re going to kill each other.” ([64:05])

Coaching College vs. NFL

• Finds it more hands-on and rewarding to coach at the college level—can “yell at anybody.”
• Loves watching rapid player development, especially from freshmen.

Impressions, Energy, and Coffee

• Hates coffee—can’t stand the look, smell, or even coffee ice cream.
• “I get all my energy from football. Cinnamon tea if I need a boost.” ([71:37])

Historic Football Memories

• Vivid detail on growing up around the game (scouting with his father, Navy teams).
• Anecdotes from early Colts and Lions days, Parcells introductions, and why Youngstown/Ohio breeds great coaches.

Gameplans & Regrets

• Favorite game plan: Introduction of “Detroit” (two TE formation) in the NFL.
• Admits the Pro Bowl “disaster” (gave up 42 points before halftime) was an all-time stinker: “It’s impossible to give up 42 points in 20 minutes.” ([94:52])

On Randy Moss

• “Randy Moss taught me what real speed is. Never anybody like that.”
• Moss’ willingness to restructure contract to join the Patriots (from $11M down to $3M + incentives): “He just took an $8 million pay cut.”

“Challenge Flag Out Of Spite”

• Asked about the challenge flag as a time-out tool: “The Manningham catch... Yeah, just took a shot, maybe I saw something. Sometimes you just want to pause.” ([109:28])

Practical Jokes in Patriots Era

• Long stories of Matt Light’s prank wars (remote control mouse, seagulls in trucks, locker shenanigans): “He killed me with those.”

Danny Woodhead’s Journey & Player Archetypes

• Story of Woodhead’s transition from Jets practice squad WR to Patriots RB, defying size/speed prejudices.
• “You love guys like that because he’s super competitive, great kid, team guy all the way.”

Teaching Tough, Smart, Dependable

• Core mantra: “Practice is harder than games.”
• On building trust: “You earn each other’s trust daily. Every day, you have to be consistent.”

Notable Teaching Moment

• Zach, PMT staffer, asks for help about oversleeping.
• Bill prescribes three alarms, phone calls from family, and possibly a sleep doctor:

“Do you care? Do you have an alarm clock? Get two more. If that doesn’t work, talk to somebody that knows more about sleep than I do.” ([157:25–158:28])

On Tom Brady’s Development

• “Brady wasn’t even good, but he became great... day after day he took small steps but never backwards.”
• “Every week, teams had a plan to stop Tom Brady. That’s true greatness.”

The “No Days Off” Speech and Its Real Meaning

• “No days off” was about focus and effort when at work, not literal lack of rest.

On Building Approachability at UNC

• Building trust, relationships, and player commitment—“If players think you’re helping, they respond; if not, you lose them.”

Best Improvements He’s Seen

• Steve Neal: “He’s probably the most improved player I’ve coached—he didn’t even know where the huddle was.”

Notable Quotes (w/ timestamps):

• “[Coffee]…I can’t stand the smell, I can’t eat coffee ice cream… I hate it.” – Bill Belichick [71:38]
• “When you come in here, we expect your best. When we’re done, we’re done.” – Bill Belichick on “No Days Off” [139:24]
• “Fourth string quarterback. You can’t name another fourth string quarterback at any level. That’s how far down he was.” – Bill Belichick, on Brady [144:24]
• “There’s gotta be a solution. Talk to someone who knows more about sleep than I do!” (on Zach oversleeping) [158:25]

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8. Classic Who’s Back Of The Week

Time: [44:08–56:19]

• Conor McGregor returning to fight Max Holloway.
• Shams spoiling Amazon’s MVP ceremony announcement.
• PFT: “My who’s back of the week is El Niño!”—weather nerding oncoming superstorms.
• More MLB, NBA, and pop culture “backs” (including disputes over birthdays).

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9. Grit Week Logistics, Subs, and Dance Floor Antics

Time: [161:26–173:43]

• The show wraps with tales from the road, including Zach’s mission to match every host with the perfect Publix sub and his solo dance night at a Florida club.

“May we have a boys' dance night one time? That could be fun. We all should go solo…” – Zach [173:24]

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Top 5 Memorable Quotes

1. Belichick Hates Coffee:
   “I can’t stand coffee. I can’t stand the smell of coffee. I can’t even eat coffee ice cream. And I can eat anything that’s sugar.” – Bill Belichick [71:38]

2. Practical Coaching:
   “Do you care? Do you have an alarm clock? Get two more… If not, talk to someone who knows more about sleep than I do!” – Belichick, advising Zach on oversleeping [157:25–158:25]

3. On Player Improvement:
   “Brady wasn’t even good. But he became great. Day after day, taking small steps, but never backwards.” – Bill Belichick [144:24]

4. Playoff NBA Parody:
   “We found the antidote for big game James… just have Mobley, Mitchell, Merrill, and Allen all play out of their minds.” – PFT Commenter [04:20]

5. Grit Ethics:
   “When you come to work, you go to work. Don’t come in here and take a day off.” – Bill Belichick, on 'No Days Off' [139:24]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Grit Week Launch, Road Trip: [02:16–03:32]
• Game 7 Cavs-Pistons Recap: [03:32–10:12]
• PGA Championship/Aaron Rai: [13:07–26:31]
• Stanley Cup Croissant Bet: [16:31–18:54]
• Fantasy Football Draft Talk: [19:20–20:04], [41:56–43:19]
• Bill Belichick Full Interview: [60:12–160:26]
• Who’s Back of the Week: [44:08–56:19]
• Publix Sub Questionnaire / Dance Club Story: [161:26–173:43]

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Tone & Style

The episode mixes signature PMT banter—irreverent, fast-moving, inside jokey, and affectionate sports-nerdism—with an unusually thoughtful and heartfelt extended interview with Bill Belichick, who’s disarmingly open, blunt, and detailed about his life in football. The result is an engaging and richly detailed listen for diehards and casual fans alike.

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For New Listeners

This episode is an essential listen for fans of football lore, sports comedy, Patriots nostalgia, and those who care about the nuts and bolts of greatness, leadership, and the often weird realities behind sports legends. It’s also a perfect Grit Week kickoff. Don’t miss coach Belichick riffing on coffee, croissants, fullbacks, the infamous challenge flag, and what it really means to improve.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, pardon my take, listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Big Cat]

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[PFT Commenter]

on today's part of my take presented by DraftKings. We got him. Bill Belichick. Grit Week 2026. We're starting it with a white whale. We had an awesome time with coach Belichick in Chapel Hill. Recorded with him for like an hour and 40 minutes. Get excited. Grit week is ready to go. We're here in Jacksonville. We got a great week planned, some great guests. We're going to talk some game seven. We're going to talk PGA championship. We're going to talk Vanny Zach maybe becoming a butterfly just coming out of his cocoon.

[Big Cat]

We're talking chrysalis.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we're talking chrysalis. Zach. Are you a chrysalis? Are you a butter butterfly?

[Zach]

Maybe Inca could probably still in cocoon. Okay, maybe butterfly aspirations. But we stone cocoon.

[PFT Commenter]

Great show, though, coming your way. And it's all brought to you by our friends at Chevy. It's grit week. This is the part of football calendar where nobody's watching but everything gets built. Early mornings, pads back on conditioning, film reps. Spring training in football is all about putting in the work when nobody's cheering yet. Check out the current offers and build your [e-mail] We've got a Silverado with us this week in grit week. We're going to be traveling through the south and Chevy will be with us the whole way. So check out the current offers. Build your [e-mail] It's a football guys truck. It's grit. It's the Chevy Silverado. Go get a Chevy Silverado today and check it [e-mail] okay. Let's go. Hey, football guy.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, Martin might take. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Monday, May 18th, and it is Grit Week, boys. Grit Week 2026 is here. We all feeling it.

[Big Cat]

I'm loving it. I. I like the new logo that we got for a grit week here. It's me wearing it appears to be like saint style helmet. And then that guy in the middle Hank said was him.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

As the football player but yeah. I love grit week. I love being on the road.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you know why he said it was him? He said it's because he's holding it in his left hand. That's what he said he's holding. He's holding the big mallet in his left hand.

[Big Cat]

That's what you're also holding a hammer in your left hand. Big cat.

[PFT Commenter]

That's true. Yeah. Ambidextrous.

[Big Cat]

But I'm, I'm. I'm very excited to be back on the road. I love the new Vanny Woodhead. I can't wait to hit the road.

[PFT Commenter]

So sexy.

[Big Cat]

That thing was built for comfort. That was built for interstate travel.

[PFT Commenter]

It was built for Hank Naps.

[Big Cat]

Oh the. The yawns are going to hit different from the back of any woodhead 2.0. Yeah. I'm ready to roll. Love being on the road with the boys.

[PFT Commenter]

And we have an awesome interview with coach Belichick coming up. But before that Game 7. The Cleveland Cavaliers advance. We're actually recording this while the fourth quarter is going on. So let me check the score real quick. It was a lot to a little. For a long time. It was. They're down 30. It was. It was. Yeah. What's the current score? 10871 1080.

[Big Cat]

So congrats to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[PFT Commenter]

Congrats to Dan Gilbert who who did an all time owner move shipping 25 busloads of fans.

[Big Cat]

It's out of the George Soros playbook.

[PFT Commenter]

It's pretty nice. Yeah. He's stuffing the ballot and it was. I mean the Cavs like they just were so much better in this game. The series Friday night thought. Thought the Cavs were going to close it out at home. B ball. Paul had different. Different ideas. He was incredible. But this was. We've. We found the antidote for big game James. James Harden game Sevens. It's just simply have Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill and Jared Allen all play out of their mind.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Mitchell played awesome the first half. He was controlling the offense when he was getting to the rim.

[PFT Commenter]

Sam Merrill 7 for 9 from 3.

[Big Cat]

He was either scoring 5 from 7 or hitting somebody for. It was just. It was dominant from the guys this series. Is it fair when we call the series a mid off?

[PFT Commenter]

So I was talking. I was actually hanging out. We're talking about it earlier. I think we just need to come to grips and we haven't seen the Knicks play in what feels like forever. Yeah, I think it's okay to just say that in the NBA right now. And the Knicks might throw this theory off because they might just be better than what we kind of expected. A lot of teams are just okay, and that means they can all beat each other. And then there's OKC in San Antonio. Yeah, that's kind of what it feels like where it's like both of these teams have flaws. Both these teams did okay things during. You know, the Pistons had a very good regular season, but at the end of the day, they both. They. Like, if you just keep playing this series forever, they'll just keep exchanging wins back and forth, and the. And the Pistons just don't have enough offense, so we knew that kind of going in. Tobias Harris. That's got to feel good, Max. Bad. Bad.

[Big Cat]

That's another win for the Sixers.

[Max]

Still waiting for him to make a bucket tonight.

[PFT Commenter]

Still waiting for him to make a buck. He had a stretch there in the playoffs where he had, like 20 points, a bunch of games in a row, and then it just has fallen off a cliff. But, yeah, it's. I mean, the. The Cavs, we were. We were having this discussion last week when we were asking Memes who he wants to play, and he wanted to play the Cavs. He wanted to play the Cavs.

[Bill Belichick]

Wanted to play.

[PFT Commenter]

Wanted to play the Cavs. And my counterpoint was the Cavs. Well, I think the Knicks are going to win. The Cavs do still have players that are very good, and the Pistons have Cade Cunningham and then some guys that can chip in, but maybe not a consistent basis. Whereas the Cavs have. I mean, like, Donovan Mitchell can go off, James Harden can go off. Evan Mobley and Jared Allen can be very good. So Max stru. Dog.

[Big Cat]

I think this is. The progression of the Pistons along the way is like, what were they two years ago? I said the other. The other. The other day they won like 16 or 18 games.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, they were so bad. Long.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So just two years ago, they were. They were just. Dog. They're really, really bad last year. And then last year they made the progression against the Knicks. Then this year, the natural progression from that is let's take the regular season super seriously. Let's win all the games that we can get a high seed. Then they get to the playoffs and it's like, oh, yeah, when you play against better teams, the. The flaws are more easily exploited. So then going into next year, you would think that they would continue to Adjust the roster and then maybe be a more serious playoff threat next year.

[PFT Commenter]

Need more scoring.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, this might be. It's a step in the. I don't. I don't know if this playoff was a step in the right direction for the Pistons, but I would say the totality of this season, we're still going the right direction in Detroit. So next year you'll build off this.

[PFT Commenter]

And Kate Cunningham wasn't good tonight. He's had weird turnovers and like, yeah, tonight he was not. He was. He needed to be superhuman for him to win this series, and he fell short on the superhuman thing, which is not saying he's a bad player. He's a very, very good player. It's just. When do you have to carry the load that Cade Cunningham had to carry? You can't have an off night, especially in a game seven. Yep.

[Big Cat]

There was a moment after halftime. Big Cat, I made this note because, you know, we always go back and forth on what the biggest leads are in sports, like what they look like.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

I've got a new one. I've got a new one. This is the biggest.

[PFT Commenter]

I saw it, too.

[Big Cat]

What was yours?

[PFT Commenter]

72, 49.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, I saw it. I was like, holy, that's. That is by far the biggest 23 point lead in sports.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

72 to 39. No, 49 or 72 to 49. 72 to 40.

[PFT Commenter]

But it feels like that. It feels like 40 points.

[Big Cat]

When that score was on the screen, I sat there, I did the math like three times in a row, and I was like, this has to be a 40 point lead.

[PFT Commenter]

Correct.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy, but yeah. Congrats to the Cavs. Good luck in the next round. I know. I know the Knicks fans that I know meme. Zach included, very excited to play against James Harden and the boys in this round. Are you. Are you worried at all that James Harden has been saving it up his entire career for this series and he's about to just unload on you in the NBA.

[Zach]

You play who you play. I am looking forward to playing the Cavs. I have no but respect for James Harden's game, but I have the utmost respect and confidence in Jailbre and the Knicks memes.

[PFT Commenter]

I agree with Zach statement. Never in my lifetime, though, have the playoffs started in the Eastern Conference final for the Knicks or like any team

[Big Cat]

I've ever root before. So I'm just excited to watch him play.

[PFT Commenter]

Nixon 6, Nixon 6.

[Hank]

For sure.

[PFT Commenter]

Nixon 5, Nixon 4, Nixon 4.

[Hank]

This will be over by next week.

[PFT Commenter]

I know.

[Hank]

By the Time we're back from grit week. This series will be over.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna say Knicks in five.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Hank]

Nixon five, Nixon four.

[Big Cat]

Is it a disappointment for New York if the Knicks don't sweep them?

[Hank]

No, no, it's the NBA. You can have an off night.

[PFT Commenter]

It doesn't.

[Hank]

You win the series, you win the series. But it's, it's Nixon 4.

[Big Cat]

Will you personally be disappointed, the Knicks if they don't sweep them?

[Hank]

No, I, I know how it goes. It's, it's the, you know, you can, you can, you can get cold and lose a game, but that doesn't mean you're the worst team.

[PFT Commenter]

That's facts.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And then on the other side, I can't wait for the Thunder and the Spurs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Jalen Williams is coming back for the Thunder, too.

[Hank]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

So they've doubled their amount of Jalen Williams that they have ready for San Antonio.

[PFT Commenter]

We're in the conference finals.

[Bill Belichick]

It's conference.

[PFT Commenter]

Right. We still have, we still have a Game 7 in hockey, but it happened like that. Hank, your, your best. Two weeks of sports gone in a flat. I know.

[Hank]

It's a good run. Not really. Actually, it was a horrible.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I was gonna say you hated those two.

[Hank]

It was like, it was a. Yeah, basically. I never, like, I never came back from Max's bachelor party. Like, my, my sports, my sports season just ended.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Now I'm just like, Now I'm just a neutral observer. Like, I went to Vegas as like, go, team, go. Yeah. And I came back just like, what's on TV tonight? Like, all right, let's watch this game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We'll never come back from Vegas. You remember the Carolina or the Carolina Hurricanes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

They're still playing hockey.

[PFT Commenter]

We had a nice. There was like the old debate, the bodybuilder debate, on what day of the week? How many days of the week? There was a lot of debate on how many days off the Hurricanes have. Is it 11 or 12? I think it was spurned by our good friend ryan Whitney saying, 12, counting the day that the Hurricanes play game one as the 12th day, that's an off day. Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So.

[PFT Commenter]

But I, I, I got a little chuckle out of that. So that's how long. Like, the fact that they haven't. We're, we're debating on how long their rest is. Is it 11 or 12 days? That's how long it's been. And we just haven't seen them play.

[Big Cat]

That's really mind blowing. Yeah. I've been working on an impression recently because, you know, I'M good. Pretty good at impressions. This one is Keith Yandel from Spin. Chiclets.

[PFT Commenter]

You want to hear it? Yeah. Wow.

[Bill Belichick]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, Wow. I texted. Yeah. That was such a funny video. And it also. But I think Biz knows it's mostly his stories. Wow, wow, wow. But we'll have what we have to have. Yan's.

[Zach]

We.

[PFT Commenter]

I think we're on Yance in the rotation, right? Yeah, we went biz wit. Yeah, we're back to Yan. So we'll have Yan's on next week, but. All right. We're going to talk PGA Championship after this quick ad. Okay, before we talk PGA Championship, DraftKings. The NBA playoffs are here, and DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting part of the NBA, brings excitement to every game day, the whole postseason. When the lights get brightest, the best players in the world show you exactly who they are. Playoff stars turn it up round by round, and DraftKings turns it up with them. From the first round all the way to the finals. Bet player props bet live. From the opening tip to the final possession, every bucket, every dime, every clutch takeover matters. And only DraftKings sportsbook keeps you in on the action all the way through. New DraftKings customers bet just $5. You'll get $100 in bonus bets and instantly download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use Code Grit Week so you're ready for the moment. That's code grit week. One word. Turn five bucks into 100 in bonus bets instantly. In partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or 1-800- my reset New York. Call 877-8-HOPE and wire. Text HOPE and WY, CT. Call 888-78-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in

[Bill Belichick]

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[PFT Commenter]

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[Bill Belichick]

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[PFT Commenter]

see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos, limited time offer. Okay, boys. None of us have to get wet from soggy sorrows and Shane Bacon because Aaron Rye is your 2026 PGA champion at the course that Max took his prom pictures. Congratulations to him.

[Big Cat]

That's pretty huge. What's the most iconic moment on that 18th green? Is it Aaron Rye winning a PGA Championship? Or is it Max Delente buttoning up a suit with a bow tie for the first time in his life?

[Max]

I mean, it wasn't very, like, dramatic. He had that thing locked up.

[PFT Commenter]

He did.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He actually had it so locked up that I was a little. I was a little weirded out. The fact that the Gail was inscribing the Wanamaker while there were guys on like the 15th. It was like. I know it's a total crazy long shot, but what didn't one of the guys, like, as a guy who had

[Hank]

bet John Rahman was just hoping for a prayer and anything that could possibly happen to go wrong. That gave me like one last second of hope of like, this tournament's not over. He's not.

[Big Cat]

He's not in a trophy jinx would be all time. Yeah, that would be incredible. I think. Yeah, it was. The tournament just kept going on because they had Schmid and a bunch of other guys that weren't going to win that had to wrap up. I would have left the course if I was Schmidt. I'd be like, this feels like I don't need to actually finish.

[PFT Commenter]

It was the 68 foot putt. That was awesome. Awesome moment. That was the moment of the championship. And that was. From that moment on it was like, all right, he's got this. But yeah, it was a little weird that down the stretch there's a guy like, who. Who had like an E. Was an eagle or a Smalley. Had a eagle. Small Pirates shout out that guy who said that should be there. His. His fan. His fan group's name. But he had an eagle and it was like, okay, yeah, obviously there's pretty much no chance, but it's par three. What if he had a whole in one?

[Big Cat]

Was it like a 68 or 68 yard or 68 foot putt.

[PFT Commenter]

Foot putt.

[Big Cat]

That. That Rye hit to wrap it up, which I think was like a little bit longer than the one that. That spawn hit last year, right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, like.

[Big Cat]

Like by a foot or two. It was over at that point. It's a cool story, although it is. It's the second European to win a major this year, and Europeans are now 2.0in majors for the first time since 1934 when the Masters began. And then nothing bad happened after that.

[PFT Commenter]

Are we. Are we as a country washed? Because this also is on the heels of Shams announcing SGA back to back mvp. And I think it's been like nine years, I believe eight years since an American has won the NBA mvp.

[Big Cat]

So that is tough.

[PFT Commenter]

We're just getting. We're just getting this. This counts as a loss for Philly.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Not a good sports town.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Not being able to defend.

[Hank]

They did Get Rory rattled.

[PFT Commenter]

Rory is such a. Oh, my God.

[Big Cat]

It was so funny. He just hit, like, a chip shot, and then it went poorly. And then one guy. It wasn't even his backswing because after the shot went. Back goes usa. And Rory turns where he goes. That guy right there. Get him out, get him out, get him out.

[PFT Commenter]

Get him out of here.

[Big Cat]

Kick him out.

[PFT Commenter]

It was. It was so soft by Rory. But, yeah, it's. It's crazy. What are you guys talking about? Memes. What did you find?

[Bill Belichick]

Joel Bead one.

[PFT Commenter]

Joan. What? Joel beat usa. That's true. Joel beat. Is usa. Usa mvp.

[Big Cat]

And also we're going to win the Stanley cup again.

[PFT Commenter]

It was.

[Big Cat]

Which is. Which. That's like, year, what, 15 or how. How long has it been? 1994. 93.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we've been dominant at that.

[PFT Commenter]

I think the official, like, guy who was born in America was 2018. James Harden.

[Big Cat]

Okay, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So that was the last one. It went James Harden, Giannis twice. Jokic twice. Twice. Embiid Jokic, SGA twice.

[Big Cat]

And then it's going to be WIMBY for the next 10 years.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's going to be Wemby forever.

[Hank]

The Canadiens.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, the Canadians. By the way, Matt, I will.

[Big Cat]

I will get dual national. I. I will renounce American citizenship and become French if the Canadians win the Stanley cup this year.

[PFT Commenter]

Cool. Game seven coming up, Max. Are you. What? He just said it.

[Max]

No, you just saying. Stupid.

[PFT Commenter]

That wasn't stupid. They're not gonna win. What did you say?

[Big Cat]

I said the.

[PFT Commenter]

No, no. What did you. I know. I. What did you say before that you're gonna renounce your citizenship?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. Sometimes I just say things out. Degenerate. I was gonna just become French if the Canadiens.

[PFT Commenter]

But you're not gonna win the same. How do you.

[Hank]

How do you acquire. You're gonna marry someone from. How do you acquire.

[PFT Commenter]

Enough croissants.

[Big Cat]

I'm pretty sure that France has taken everyone they can get.

[Hank]

You're gonna have to move there for, like, half the year or whatever.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's fine.

[PFT Commenter]

No, that's not fine.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no, it's not fine, Hank. I'll probably need somebody to come and hang out with me and.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No, you don't want to go to France.

[PFT Commenter]

Not for half a year.

[Big Cat]

Dude, the south of France is nice.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Of the places I'd like to go.

[PFT Commenter]

How about this?

[Hank]

Not on the short list.

[PFT Commenter]

If the Canadians win.

[Big Cat]

Bad take.

[Max]

No, that's a bad thing.

[Big Cat]

That's a very bad take by him.

[Max]

There's a lot of places south of France.

[Big Cat]

It's really nice.

[PFT Commenter]

It's very nice. If the Canadiens win the Stanley cup, you have to eat a croissant every single day until an American team has a Stanley cup back.

[Max]

That sounds awesome.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I know. I'll do that.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, great.

[Big Cat]

That'll be my question.

[PFT Commenter]

You would get a little sick of it after. Like, imagine if. If the Oilers won after that. He had to do two years. You know what?

[Big Cat]

Big cat.

[PFT Commenter]

Croissant. Every single.

[Big Cat]

I'll do the croissant. I'll also. Because I'm so confident that we're not gonna. We're not gonna lose the Stanley Cup. I also eat French fries every day.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, no.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's gonna get real bad.

[PFT Commenter]

Croissant. You would get sick of a croissant.

[Max]

I don't know, like a croissant and coffee in the morning.

[Bill Belichick]

That sounds like.

[Max]

That sounds like a sustainable breakfast every day.

[Big Cat]

A lot of carbs.

[PFT Commenter]

So then he's got to eat two.

[Max]

Two would be a lot.

[PFT Commenter]

Two. Then two. Two would get heavy. Two croissants every day until we get the cup back.

[Bill Belichick]

And.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. You agree?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I'll do it. It's not gonna. Listen, it's gonna be the Colorado Avalanche. We already said they're winning the Stanley Cup.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay? So back to Aaron Rye. Sorry, dude. That was. We were. We were throwing praise on you for winning a major, and then we just got sidetracked by a million different things by Europe. Oh, Max, are you doing your draft? He's in his draft right now. He's got live draft. I may not have Max said that he had a live draft. I was like, dude, on the show. He's like, why would I do that? Because. Why not? He's got a. He's got a fantasy football draft.

[Max]

Well, I have a co owner. Yeah, yeah, no, we went. We went with Fernando Mendoza.

[PFT Commenter]

It's great. We miss it.

[Max]

It's a. It's a dynasty rookie draft.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a dynasty rookie draft.

[Hank]

Too early. Oh, okay.

[Max]

He's Fernando Mendoza with our second pick. And then Jordan Tyson with our fourth pick, which we're going to the Saints, so.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so then who's. And then when's your. Let us know when you're next.

[Max]

I think that's it. I think that's all we got.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, that's it. Oh, good draft, because I think we

[Max]

traded all of our other picks to get up to the first round pick, so. Yeah, that's it.

[Big Cat]

You mortgage the future, huh? Mortgage the future.

[Max]

Mortgage the future.

[Bill Belichick]

For what?

[Big Cat]

You said you trade all your picks to move up.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah,

[Max]

I can't really tell you.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, great. Good draft.

[Max]

Super flat. Super Flex. Super Flex Dynasty. So that's why we went with Mendoza.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Aaron Rye. I love when you're watching a golf tournament and you don't really know who the guy is who's about to win, and they start pouring on the stories. And my initial reaction, because, you know, we all root for different guys and have different bets, I'm like, fucking A, get this guy out of here. We need someone else. And then they start giving us the stories, and I'm like, this guy might be the coolest guy ever. The stories about him wearing two gloves because he grew up in England and he golfed in the cold and he didn't have a lot growing up. And his dad used to clean his irons after every single practice round. So that's why he has covers on his irons. I'm an Aaron Rye fan. Like, you can't they. For. You know how they always will throw on some stories that make you feel sentimental, like, they were really hitting us with it. And every single one, I was like, yeah, you know what? That's awesome. He's. And he's on the record being like, yeah, I know it's goofy, but I'm never going to forget where I came from. I'm never going to forget the fact that, you know, having a pair. A set of clubs when I was a kid was a big deal, and taking care of them is a big deal, and so I show that gratitude.

[Big Cat]

Cool.

[PFT Commenter]

For Aaron Rye.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He said that when he was a kid, his dad bought him those clubs, and they were, like, way, way, way beyond what his dad could afford to pay for that. So since it was such a nice set, they would take great care of it. And he's like, yeah, actually, like, golf clubs are really expensive, and it's pretty cool that I get sent free clubs now, but I'm still going to take care of them just the way that I would have when I was a kid. That was very cool. I'm wondering if we're going to see more golfers now wearing two gloves. I like, why don't we wear my juju. Why don't we wear two gloves now?

[Hank]

Couldn't tell you.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna go, what's the reason?

[PFT Commenter]

Because not even two gloves. Two gloves. And they're black.

[Big Cat]

And they're black. And I would say, like, between this and the Michael Jackson movie that's out right now, the right hand Glove has had the best week since the O.J. trial.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's like every kid across America is going to be like, I got to go out and get a right handed glove too. So I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

Might make a comeback. Yeah. He might be like, oh, it's two glove season.

[Big Cat]

This is my era. We're in the two glove era.

[PFT Commenter]

This is me.

[Big Cat]

So yeah, I might.

[Hank]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

Hank, have you ever tried golfing with two gloves once?

[Hank]

No, I've tried golfing with the. The wrong glove on.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I remember that. A couple.

[PFT Commenter]

We don't even know which side you golf for.

[Hank]

Well, it was an accident. I asked for like a right handed glove and they gave me a right. A glove for my right hand.

[Big Cat]

But supposed, like it's very confusing. Like, I get that. That's actually. It's a mind when you ask somebody for a right handed glove.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Shout out. By the way, the guy after the third round who he was mocked for it. He had Aaron Rice sign his baby. And did you see that going viral on Saturday night? Everyone's like, who in the world would ever have Aaron Rice sign your baby? That baby's worth a lot right now.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You can sell that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I'm never.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, probably going to pray. He's going to. He's probably going to PSA grade that baby tonight.

[Big Cat]

That guy's like, I'm never washing my son again. My son's worth so much mint condition.

[PFT Commenter]

I think he probably is like, shit, I probably should have had him sign something else. Yeah, maybe my hat.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, this is. It is like just a ton of. Of wholesome Aaron Ryax coming out. So when he, when he was a kid, when he was 15 years old, he broke the world record for consecutive Putts hold from 10ft away. He made 207 in a row from 10ft away.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Pretty cool.

[PFT Commenter]

207 on his.

[Big Cat]

I think you should.

[PFT Commenter]

You, you should. You should test that. Oh, maybe it sounds like a dark stream after dark. After dark stream. With mulligans.

[Hank]

Yeah, with mulligans.

[Big Cat]

And you also get to drink like two beers and then hit 100 putts and then four beers and 100 putts.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And we'll test you.

[PFT Commenter]

And don't forget, don't forget.

[Hank]

Other people do it.

[Big Cat]

Don't forget hot chip and then hot chip.

[PFT Commenter]

Hot chip and.

[Big Cat]

And lemon eye shot collar. We'll do lemon eye too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You get shot collared. But yeah, it's. It's cool. Awesome. Like did Hank, you're. You're Our golf nut. Do you think that this. Were you satisfied with this tournament?

[Hank]

It was a great tournament. It was exciting going into the day Sunday, bunched up leaderboard. There was like 30 people within four shots. A lot of big names. Aaron Rye. Nice guy, Great story.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Hank]

Boring as hell. Boring. Winner. The Justin Thomas going off and like getting into the elite, the clubhouse with like five, you know, five under all time blue balls. All these. All these guys like Rory John Rom, Cam Smith, all in the hunt. It was so exciting. And it's like, oh, we could have a playoff. We could have like an all time moment. It was pretty boring down the stretch. Honestly, like, the only thing that happened was that that Rye putt for the win. But even if he doesn't hit that, he probably still wins by two strokes. It was kind of a blue ball Sunday where it was like, it was really exciting going into Sunday. I was like, look at this leaderboard. Like, oh, my God. Like, everyone's within everyone. Everyone's within four shots. Nothing happened Sunday. Great, great crowd, great, great venue, great fans, great leaderboard going into Sunday. Disappointing finish.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, what. What if. What if you. What if we say 10 years from now, Aaron Rye has won nine majors.

[Hank]

Don't care. Still.

[Big Cat]

No, that's. That's the thing about. That's the thing about. Is it retroactively? It'd be like, yeah, that was actually the coolest.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that was awesome. We saw it.

[Big Cat]

Because golf fans, when they watch. When they watch their sport on tv,

[Hank]

he comes out and he's like, sports advisors.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Hank]

Like that. Scotty was the same way. Yeah, Scotty was boring. And then it's like, all right. He's like, he's.

[PFT Commenter]

He's cool.

[Big Cat]

They're like, I want exciting guys to win, but in golf, really, what you mean by the exciting guys is just guys that you've seen win before.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Big names.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And also your bets.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Let's really just, you know, distill it down to. You had a few. You had a few lines in the water and none of them.

[Hank]

Yeah. John Rahman, Cam Smith. I was. I was praying on. But still it was. I don't know, it was there. Like, it was a hard course. They set the course up hard, and because of that, there just wasn't like a ton of really birdies or anything. Like, nothing really all that exciting happened.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm still laughing. The. The best part of the tournament for me personally was we were all sitting in a hotel suite together watching the tournament. Zach got us pub subs, which we'll Talk about in a second. Great job, Zach. And Hank was rooting his ass off for Cam Smith, and Cam Smith went up to take a putt from, I don't know, like, 20ft for a birdie. And PFT just goes, Brick.

[Big Cat]

He bricked it.

[PFT Commenter]

Hank was just like. No, you said it before he put it. Hank was just like, why would you do that?

[Big Cat]

Because I wanted to break.

[PFT Commenter]

He was like, I got Shopley.

[Big Cat]

Sh. No Sh. He finished 10th. Shoffley was in and around, added Sh and Reed to finish in the top 10.

[Bill Belichick]

Reed.

[Big Cat]

Patrick Reed. Let me tell you, I. I think he might be the first POG golfer. Like P. P. Yeah. Yeah, he is. He's thick as hell.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, he was filling out also, back

[Hank]

in the day, it was Pog City.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Tiger was just Pogville.

[Big Cat]

But now he looks like. He looks like early era Meghan Trainor.

[PFT Commenter]

He.

[Zach]

He does.

[PFT Commenter]

And he also.

[Bill Belichick]

He.

[PFT Commenter]

He does, like. Like. Like, fat guys usually wear, you know, dark shirts. Patrick Reed's like, I'm gonna wear the most ridiculous, like, striped, like, diagonally striped, but very large shirts that make him look fatter.

[Big Cat]

And then he wears the tight pants. He's got, like, yoga pants.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

When he plays, he bends over. He's like, oops.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's got. He's got some shit going on. He's thick. Thicker than a bowl of oatmeal.

[Big Cat]

He is Patrick Reed.

[PFT Commenter]

I love Patrick Reed story. That'd be great if that was the documentary. He comes out thicker than a bowl of oatmeal.

[Big Cat]

I hate to watch him go, but I love to watch him read.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Over. I like the tournament just because I thought. I like the tournaments when they're really hard. I think they're cool. When. When it's like, Scotty after Friday was like, this is the hardest pin placement I've ever played. There's something about golfers complaining. That just. It. It makes me laugh every time. It's like, yeah, your job.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I enjoyed the fans yelling at, like. Like, just E8 Eagles at Scotty shot.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

That.

[Hank]

That was just funny.

[Big Cat]

And like, go, Birds. After every.

[PFT Commenter]

Got.

[Big Cat]

It was very Philly. It was very Philly. There was another story about Rye again. It's just like wholesome fact overload about Rye memes. You'll love this. His story is pretty much Happy Gilmore. So he hurt himself playing hockey when he was a kid.

[PFT Commenter]

Aaron Rye. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He had a hockey in England. He had a hockey stick.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, he didn't. Wasn't.

[Big Cat]

He just had a hockey and his mum said, that's Mum. His mum, yep. Said, that's, that's not safe. Let me get you some plastic golf clubs instead. That's much safer sport that you can enjoy. So he wanted to be a hockey player. And he was like, thank you, Mommy. Yeah, I was trying to be hard to set the hockey.

[PFT Commenter]

Being a hockey player in England, that's quite something.

[Big Cat]

Two minutes for boating.

[Hank]

Wait, so he, did he get hurt or his mom was just like, I don't want to, like, drive you to practice in the morning.

[Big Cat]

I think his mom was like, that looks, that looks quite dangerous. So he didn't get hurt?

[PFT Commenter]

No, but he just, he wanted to be hockey. His mom was probably like, we don't have ice rinks in England.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So you're not playing hockey.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Mumsy was like, those, those skates sound quite expensive. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Mumsy handed him the soccer balls. Like, try this. Okay, great. So I, I, I like the tournament. I enjoyed the tournament. I understand what you're saying, Hank. You did want, like, a Jon Rahm Scheffler duel.

[Hank]

I wanted a playoff like that. That's, that's what I always want. I wanted, I wanted a playoff, and I wanted some fireworks on the back nine.

[Big Cat]

Well, the way that the playoff would have worked, you're gonna hate it once you find out about it, because you're gonna be like, I wish that that had happened. No matter how many people had tied for the, for the number one spot, after they were all done with 18, they would, they would have all played in the same group for the playoff, like, just all teed off at the same time. If it was like five of them, six of them, they would all play together playing the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

Scramble.

[Big Cat]

That would have been awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Internet invitational, which is 3v3. Scramble. Scramble to get, get it down to three.

[Big Cat]

A scramble would have been awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, other news. We got the spurs one game, six convincingly against the Timberwolves. We now have Spurs OKC in the Western Conference final starting Monday night. Going to be awesome. And then we also had the fallout of the Timberwolves. Timberwolves are one of those teams. They are. Every single playoffs, we said this. Every single playoffs, they are heard from. They, They've. The last three years, they've upset someone. They've made a mark on the playoffs. And then when they go out, we had Anthony Edwards dapping up everyone on the spurs with eight minutes left in the game. And then was it Nas Reed? I believe Nas Reed afterwards said, essentially, like, we don't, like, we don't play As a team. Yeah. And that's why we lose. And not exactly a great quote that. You want to hear his exact quote. Here it is asking what they need to do to be able to catch the teams like OKC and the Spurs. He said, probably just the moodiness. You look at both those teams and they're playing for one another. They're excited to be on the floor with one another. Another their team, where they're selfless. I think we have more than enough talent. But just being less moody. I think that that's just the name of the. Of the game for us. Just being less moody and more selfless. I feel like he could have just said Julius Randle.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, Randall, he had his struggles. I think it's just, you know, he

[PFT Commenter]

was playing OA defense a lot on Game six.

[Big Cat]

They. They lost. They're upset. They don't know what. In reality, the answer is. Like, they. They need somebody to counteract wimby, which they don't have now. In the last game of the closeout game, the Spurs Bargs all played incredible.

[PFT Commenter]

Castle was insane.

[Big Cat]

It was. It was a great night for the three of those guys.

[Hank]

And.

[Big Cat]

But I mean, in reality, if you want to catch the Spurs, Wimby is going to be a puzzle that you have to figure out how to solve. I don't know if it's just like sending Rudy Gobert out there every night. Just be like, piss this guy off and get him kicked out. Like, I think it's just, you got under his skin.

[PFT Commenter]

You got to find an even taller French guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Good luck.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But they do feel like they're a team.

[Big Cat]

I mean, they're. I think that they're a good team that is now getting frustrated not being able to get over that hump.

[PFT Commenter]

Correct. Correct. And I. They would have lost this series if Anthony Edwards was 100% healthy, I believe. But it would have been maybe more competitive because when you see, like, they won Game one, which is a little bit of a shocker, then they won the game that Wemby got ejected from Game six. The other games were. Were blowouts. Game six, especially, where it was like, I mean, do you guys. Do you guys. Did you guys have a problem with Anthony Edwards going up to the bench with eight minutes left?

[Big Cat]

I have no problem with it.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought it was a little weird. I don't. I don't have, like, a big, oh, Anthony Edwards. Can't win with that guy. But it was a little unorthodox.

[Big Cat]

I mean, just like, they actually couldn't Win the series. Yeah. They were just completely outmatched. So, yeah, I did. You would like your superstar to not do that. If you had like a. An A or B choice, which option do you want?

[PFT Commenter]

But then again, I. I don't know what happened in the huddle, but if Chris Finch was like, hey, Aunt, you're not going back in, then what? The coach is basically telling you, hey, we're. We're done. We're done here. So if he's not going back in, it's like, all right. Yeah. Might as well go say congrats.

[Big Cat]

Can you imagine hockey players lining up to shake each other's hands after a game? They would never do it. Like, these guys take the game so seriously, especially in the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

That's fact.

[Big Cat]

Like, that's the difference between the NHL and the NBA.

[PFT Commenter]

That's facts. Okay. Any other sports stories that we had from this weekend that we wanted to talk about? It was Roger. Yeah. That was gonna be my. Who's back? We'll talk about him. No. Aaron Rodgers back. Terrible. Rogers is back 5 million.

[Big Cat]

I.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel bad for Steelers fans because that is just. He's not. He's not the same quarterback.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

Is he better than what you have right now? Probably. Although you don't know what you have with Will Hard.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I think I thought you were going to say Drew out. Drew Eller is just, you know, you have a Drew. Not that's old Drew out. You thought that you knew, but they just. They're doing a complete factory reinstall of the software. You see that quote?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

They're uninstalling everything he's ever learned.

[PFT Commenter]

Correct.

[Big Cat]

And they're doing brand new program.

[PFT Commenter]

I. Listen, Mike McCarthy is a good coach, the quarterback. So I would guess that would be the silver lining, is that Rogers and McCarthy together, maybe you can recapture a little the magic, but it does feel like the Steelers just put a finite floor and ceiling on their season.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

And it's somewhere between seven and 10 wins.

[Big Cat]

That's what we're thinking.

[Hank]

What was the relationship like with them at the end of their time?

[PFT Commenter]

Not great.

[Big Cat]

What do you think it was like, not great. With Aaron Rodgers? It's usually not great.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. It doesn't go well.

[Hank]

I thought that was, like, why they split up.

[PFT Commenter]

It was part of it. It was. I mean, it was. It wasn't great, but it was also Aaron Rodgers with the packers overall. And then, I mean, McCarthy left before obviously Aaron Rodgers because he had LaFleur. But. Yeah, I. I mean, I think. I think Rogers also Has had. I mean, even when. When he was with the jets, you could see it in some of his comments where he's just like, I kind of maybe shouldn't have left the packers because they know how to run an organization, which they do. So maybe he's like, hey, this will maybe work out again. They did have good times together. And Rodgers was at his peak with him, I think. Although he won, I think his last MVP was with Little four.

[Big Cat]

You know what? I think that this is the year that the Steelers win a playoff game. Okay,

[PFT Commenter]

there you go.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, I. I think it's. Yeah, it's the best option that they had right now. Without a doubt.

[PFT Commenter]

But again, it's like, what are you building? Like, what do you. What's the long term play? I guess it doesn't matter if it's Mike McCarthy's first year. It's like, hey, just try this once and then. And then figure it out.

[Big Cat]

It's the best option for this year.

[PFT Commenter]

But they're gonna. Again, isn't next year's quarterback draft great? I mean, we don't know, but it could potentially be great.

[Big Cat]

They're probably going to play themselves into

[PFT Commenter]

the 16th where they can't get a quarterback. Yeah, that part would piss me off. I were a Steelers fan. Hank, do you have a review of your Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano fight? And it was horrible. That was horrible.

[Max]

It was way more.

[Hank]

Yeah, it was. It was really bad. Those fights are a joke.

[PFT Commenter]

Nate is you. He can fight anytime. He'll put on a show.

[Max]

One of the most difficult things, like I've ever watched on a television.

[PFT Commenter]

More difficult than the drive we have tomorrow

[Max]

that we're. We're not talking.

[Big Cat]

That's a different category. So remember, you were uncomfortable, Max.

[Max]

Yes, I was so uncomfortable.

[Big Cat]

The most difficult things to watch on the television that you've ever watched on

[Max]

the television, other than Eagle or Philly sports losses like that was up there. He was bleeding from like.

[PFT Commenter]

Like a really bad tragedy.

[Max]

You don't, like, see them on the tell, like live on the television?

[PFT Commenter]

There's one that we could. You saw.

[Bill Belichick]

He was like eight.

[Max]

Yeah, well, yeah, I was five years old.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Challenger.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. The challenge.

[Hank]

We weren't alive.

[PFT Commenter]

That was tough.

[Bill Belichick]

What is it? The chat.

[Max]

I don't even know what that is.

[Big Cat]

You don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, Google. Google.

[Hank]

O rings.

[PFT Commenter]

O rings. They got cold in Florida.

[Max]

Oh, rings.

[Hank]

Yeah. They tried to launch a spaceship before it got hot out rocket goes.

[Big Cat]

And then everybody. School in America. Wheeled the TV in to watch it live. Because there was a teacher on.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, there's a first grade teacher on there.

[Hank]

Everyone's okay.

[PFT Commenter]

No survivors?

[Big Cat]

No, it's bad.

[Max]

Survivor.

[PFT Commenter]

No survivors.

[Max]

No. Oh, no survivors.

[PFT Commenter]

Blew up on live television in front of America's children.

[Big Cat]

But, yeah, I guess the Ron fight was bad, too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, whatever. Yeah, that arm bar was vicious.

[Bill Belichick]

That wasn't an.

[Max]

It wasn't an armbar.

[PFT Commenter]

What was it?

[Max]

Ronda. Ronda Rousey's was an ar.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, no, I said Ronda Rousey's armbar.

[Max]

I mean, Nate Diaz, he was just. He was just.

[PFT Commenter]

That's what he does. He just doesn't care. He's just a.

[Max]

He watched it.

[Zach]

Nate D's is a healthy reminder. Is like, there's levels to being a man.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. Like, correct.

[Zach]

An absolute sad correct.

[PFT Commenter]

Every time Nate Diaz fights, you're like, oh, my God.

[Big Cat]

You think he's gonna die for the first three rounds?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You think it's a dead man?

[Zach]

Yeah, he just eats punches and it makes no sense.

[Bill Belichick]

It's.

[Zach]

It's the most sobering reminder of, like. Yeah, I might be made.

[Max]

Because Nate, his face was a faucet of blood. Like, the amount, like, the stream of blood that was coming out of, like, the pores of his face were very graphic.

[Big Cat]

We might have a new MMA correspondent with. Max is doing a good job.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that you are doing a good job, Hank.

[Max]

You've been trying to take that.

[PFT Commenter]

You've been replaced, Tank.

[Hank]

Fuck.

[PFT Commenter]

And then the Canadian. Canadian Sabres going game seven. That's going to be awesome.

[Big Cat]

Good for hockey.

[PFT Commenter]

A lot of you know that the series is getting serious because we got a lot of fan discourse, what it means to be a good fan. Because Canadian fans were leaving early when they were down 8 to 3, which I understand. Yeah. But previously they had been like, we don't leave. We don't leave early for these games.

[Big Cat]

Wait, Canadians, they. They won.

[PFT Commenter]

They lost eight to three. Before, earlier in the series. They're like, look at Sabres fans leaving.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

This is.

[Big Cat]

They were talking about the same.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I didn't see.

[Big Cat]

I didn't. I guess I didn't see too much of that discourse.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it was. I mean, listen, Canada's.

[Bill Belichick]

It's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a hockey country. Except for the gold medal and the Stanley Cups. Other than that, the number one hockey country. Okay. Should we do who's back of the week? Oh, also, we had rivalry week in. In baseball, which I feel like they don't really pump that up because we had Yankees, Mets, Cubs, White Sox, Phillies, Pirates. Cubs need pitching.

[Big Cat]

Natsos We're.

[PFT Commenter]

We're in trouble.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Max]

Wheeler Skeins.

[Bill Belichick]

Wheeler.

[PFT Commenter]

Pft. Dropped a Nats fact on us that we're like. He's like, did you guys know?

[Big Cat]

Did you.

[PFT Commenter]

Let me do that. Let me know.

[Big Cat]

Let me do the fact. Let me do the fact. Because it's a good fact. Did you know that until Saturday the nats had lost 15 straight games when they were trying to get back to 500?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

When there were one game below 500.

[PFT Commenter]

And Hank and I both are like, nope.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, that all changed. That all changed because 500. They were 500 then they lost today. But we got a pup. We had a dog, which there's. There's a strong correlation between getting like a 13 week old puppy and your season getting completely turned around. So shout out. Natty. The. The Nationals pup looks like a very good boy. I just hope that he's got a couple innings out of the bullpen in him because our pitching staff stinks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Cubs need pitching. White Sox are good. They're actually like. This is finally like. It's kind of. They're not a joke.

[Big Cat]

They've got some sluggers.

[PFT Commenter]

Big time, dude.

[Big Cat]

Sluggers, dude.

[PFT Commenter]

They're not. They're. I don't know what the price is for them to win the AL Central, but they, they, they are not a bad team. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I have a question, Big Cat. Why does PCA hate women?

[PFT Commenter]

He actually talked about it afterwards. There was a woman in the outfield in. In center field who was talking to him and he said, I just talked some back. I like that.

[Big Cat]

It was. I think it was her engagement party or something maybe.

[PFT Commenter]

And then right as. Right as they go, they show the clip of him talking shit to her. And then it's like. It's like children's day at the park. And it was perfect. So. Yeah, I have no problem with that. A PCA is. A PCA is a guy who can start like he. People get mad about PCA if he's not. If you don't root for the Cubs, people get mad about him. If you root for the Cubs, you can defend him. He's a lightning rod guy. He's good for rivalries. He is. And Schwaber's also just. He just hits. I mean, that was insane.

[Max]

He hasn't hit any homers in the past two days. And I'm getting antsy.

[PFT Commenter]

You're like, this guy stinks now.

[Max]

No, not this guy stinks.

[Bill Belichick]

It's just.

[Max]

I'm just used to Schwaber homer's every single day. So now that I. That I have, I've had two days without them. Although Harper has hit homers in both of those days, so at least one of those. Oh, yeah. Above.500.

[PFT Commenter]

There you go. Mets are the Mets back. Season defining win this weekend on Sunday. Not back, but they've moved up a level from dead to scrappy. Oh, that's an important step.

[Max]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

There's still six games below.500, but they won five out of the last six. Long season. Tyrone Taylor, big home run today. So long season. Okay, Twisted Tea, who's back? The week's brought to you by Twisted Tea. Summer's right around the corner and twisted tea is coming in clutch to turn our day drinking up a notch. Their new summer party pack has a brand new twisted tea lemonade. And I want to go on the record saying this will be the drink of the summer. It's got a refreshing taste with a little kick and no carbonation. Grit week is the official kickoff of preseason football that we've all been waiting for. And we know that twisted tea is a staple during football season. So what are you most excited about in the upcoming weeks? And how can you bring twisted tea along for the ride? Well, go grab a refreshing twisted tea today. Get in on it. Twisted Tea all summer long. We're excited. We got. Max is doing drafts. We're talking to coaches.

[Max]

I'm working on. I'm working on a trade right now to get back.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's go. This is what we're talking about. You know, mini camps. OTAs like football's going to be back. Tell me the schedule release.

[Big Cat]

Tell me about this trade.

[PFT Commenter]

Max get to get the trade going. Go get a twisted tea. Grab a refreshing twisted tea today.

[Bill Belichick]

We're.

[Max]

We're pretty tight ends.

[Big Cat]

What's the. I don't think there's a train. That's when the pick is in.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they don't do.

[Big Cat]

I think trade just goes.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Do the.

[Zach]

Do.

[PFT Commenter]

Do the trade.

[Max]

I mean, it's. It's nowhere close to confirmed, but.

[PFT Commenter]

What are the. What are the initial talks?

[Max]

We're. We're in talks with Keon Coleman for the.

[PFT Commenter]

He's in your league.

[Max]

Keon Coleman? Yeah, he's on my team.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh. Oh. I thought you said you were in talks with Keon Coleman.

[Max]

I thought he was in talks with having Keon Coleman. Trading Keon Coleman so that we could draft. We're looking at Max Claire, the.

[PFT Commenter]

The.

[Max]

The new Rams tight end.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Max]

Just because we're thin at tight end and you know, a Rams Tight end will be.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You know, he'll be heard from.

[Max]

He'll be heard from. He'll be heard.

[Big Cat]

I'd like you to actually reach out to Keon Col Woman and seek his permission to be traded. Can you tweet at him, let him know?

[Max]

Sure, I'll do that right now.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Who's back of the week?

[Hank]

Hank, my. Who's back of the week? I should probably just let Max take it based off our earlier discussion.

[Big Cat]

Interesting.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, okay. Go ahead, Max. It's.

[Hank]

Now that you're the guy. UFC guy.

[Max]

Oh, UFC. Conor McGregor.

[PFT Commenter]

There you go.

[Bill Belichick]

Conor McGregor.

[PFT Commenter]

Dana.

[Max]

Dana White is back, right as Francis Naganu is. Is walking out for his fighting MVP.

[Bill Belichick]

I think it's called.

[Max]

Dana White just drops Conor McGregor back versus Max Holloway. Crazy. Crazy. July 14th.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay. I think that's great work.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, I think that's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's close enough.

[Big Cat]

Can Conor McGregor at all.

[Hank]

I'll watch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. People are gonna watch.

[Max]

I think he's a heavy underdog.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I don't. Right at this moment, I would imagine it's. It's the old. You don't do road work in silk pajamas. Once he got very, very rich, it's probably harder to be like, hey, I want to go get my face bashed in.

[Big Cat]

He should have actually gone to prison if you wanted to get better at fighting.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. He had many chances.

[Big Cat]

I know. He should have told his lawyer, like, hey, yeah, hey, I'm not gonna fight. Let this one through.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

July 11th.

[Big Cat]

I gotta get in.

[Max]

July 11th. I was wrong with July 14th.

[Bill Belichick]

June 14th for.

[Max]

June 14th is the white House fight. And that's where I got, like, getting.

[PFT Commenter]

You'll be there again.

[Max]

I. I will not be there for Conor McGregor.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, getting head from your wife on your mega yacht versus going and training to get your face mashed in. Yeah, Tough one. Tough. Tough to ch.

[Big Cat]

It's tough to get a blowjob on a mega yacht and say, you know, I need to work harder for my life to get better.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So he's back. So, Hank, you're. That's your. Who's back?

[Hank]

That was my who's back also. Shams spoiling.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Hank]

So a piece of.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So he just. Amazon was ready to. To have a big ceremony tonight.

[Hank]

Like, waited like, they're like, we're gonna, you know, wait till the playoffs. Get going.

[PFT Commenter]

Shop's gonna piss me off.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

No, it's like. It's just a dick move.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's a dick move. Why did he say tweeted out this

[Hank]

morning that Shay was the mvp. And then it came out that, like, had been Amazon and the NBA had been intentionally, like, waiting, delaying, planning on doing this whole ceremony before game seven. And they just what?

[Big Cat]

An.

[Hank]

They just tweeted it out.

[PFT Commenter]

What is it tweeted out for years. He just tweeted it out.

[Big Cat]

Tweeted it all out. Yeah, yeah, Dick.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, what's Sean's deal, dude?

[Big Cat]

I don't know, but I'm out on Amazon games.

[PFT Commenter]

Why?

[Big Cat]

They are harder to find at bars. Oh, I know, because I brought this up the other week and you were like, well, all these bars, they have to have Amazon packages. It's not the same. It's not. So I was in Virginia on, on Friday night, and I was just trying to watch the game out so I didn't have to stay in my hotel room. We're on the booth.

[PFT Commenter]

We're on the booth, guys. You got to share with the class.

[Bill Belichick]

Funny.

[Max]

Blake Griffin quote memes.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you say this is regarding the Shams situation?

[Big Cat]

He just said it.

[PFT Commenter]

He said it's Sunday. Shams go to brunch. You nerd.

[Bill Belichick]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that.

[Big Cat]

I love it. So that's the only good part about Amazon. I like Blake Griffin.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

But yeah, I'm. I'm over Amazon. NBA. I'm over.

[PFT Commenter]

You gotta just watch at home.

[Big Cat]

I, I, but if you're in a hotel, you don't get Amazon on the tv. I was reduced to watching on my phone the entire time.

[PFT Commenter]

I had.

[Big Cat]

When you watch a game on your phone for. And it was two games, I had to watch about six hours of NBA non stop on my phone sideways. That's, that's a very hard thing to do. I feel like I should get a medal for that.

[PFT Commenter]

The, On Friday night, I think everyone had plans, although Hank was maybe stop over, but I had Rossello over because he was still in town to watch the games. And notepad. He brought the notepad. It was legit. He's taking notes. We're sitting outside. What?

[Hank]

That's performance.

[PFT Commenter]

It's not. I watched him take notes. I watched him take notes.

[Hank]

You have a notes app on your phone?

[PFT Commenter]

Nah, it's something about. Something about that yellow legal pad.

[Big Cat]

It's easier. Plus it's.

[PFT Commenter]

You remember it more.

[Big Cat]

A guy like Rosillo, the, the blue light, he's trying to cut down on that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's true. He's addicted to the.

[Big Cat]

The blue light is bad.

[PFT Commenter]

I use yellow.

[Hank]

Did he have it in the, in the go yard? What did he pull it out of like, did you bring the goyard and then pull the.

[PFT Commenter]

No, he just had it in his hand. We were sitting up on my. My rooftop, and he was. He was just taking notes throughout the whole game.

[Hank]

Roof on or off?

[PFT Commenter]

Roof was closed. Roof was closed. The perugal is the word I found out is a word that people use that I didn't know. Pergola.

[Big Cat]

Pergola.

[PFT Commenter]

Pergola or perugula Sounds like something I want to eat.

[Big Cat]

You're combining arugula. You're combining it with.

[PFT Commenter]

Google is a cheese.

[Big Cat]

No, it's a vegetable.

[Hank]

Vegetable.

[Big Cat]

It's a vegetable.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't want to eat it.

[Big Cat]

That rabbits hate. And you're also mixing up with a bills.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah. Arugula, perugula and pergola and pegula in purgate. Pergola. That purgatory. Bo pur buella bopa bula.

[Big Cat]

You're thinking pergola. Pergola is the thing.

[PFT Commenter]

It's the. It's a thing over my head that I have a remote and it just goes roof. Roof closed. It's a little windy.

[Big Cat]

You might actually.

[PFT Commenter]

I didn't want his yellow legal pad to. You might go in the wind.

[Big Cat]

You might have an awning. Now that you know that you mentioned it.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I think it's.

[Big Cat]

I think this might be an awning.

[PFT Commenter]

Perugula. I really do.

[Zach]

Our perugula. What power. Perugula. So on.

[Big Cat]

Off.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. It's got like the. It's got, like, slits that just go like that. So if I want the sun to come in.

[Zach]

Oh, it's almost like a car air vent.

[PFT Commenter]

You'll go, yeah, but they're like, yeah, there's a bunch of ones and they just go like that.

[Zach]

Pretty sick.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I actually haven't never opened it up, so I don't know if it opens. Now that I'm saying this out loud. I just assume because their slits, they open.

[Hank]

I thought that was the whole genesis of this thing was you being like the. I took the. I took the roof off.

[PFT Commenter]

That was taking the stuff off the couch. That was just taking the winter. The winter covers off the couch and the winter cover off the tv. That was me opening it. And then everyone's like, oh, do you have a roof, Actual roof that you open? And I was like, wait, I actually do, but I've never opened it to perugala. That was. That was maybe the worst two minutes of podcasting ever.

[Hank]

Go ahead.

[PFT Commenter]

Pft. Your who's back.

[Big Cat]

My who's back of the week is El Nino. Because we Have a potential super El Nino coming in. I don't know if you've seen the computer models, the projections of what this looks like. Just looks like a big vagina on the globe.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

According to the model that I've seen. But then I did some research into it, and it seems like this might be the biggest El Nino that we've had since, like the 1800s. Yeah, since. And it. It was like a big thing in the world with that El Nino. There are droughts and floods.

[PFT Commenter]

It's going to be awesome for us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. There are famines.

[PFT Commenter]

So the Midwest, drier, warmer, winter.

[Big Cat]

I love that. Oh, in the winter. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

So it only. El Nino only really affects things in the winter anyway.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I watched a video about it last night. Wetter volatility in California and southern United States. It basically pushes all storms, like, south, drier, warmer in the Midwest and East coast.

[Big Cat]

What about, like, the Chilean fishermen that we were very concerned for the last time? El Nino.

[PFT Commenter]

I didn't remember that. Yeah, I didn't. That didn't get touched on the video. The video looked like it was a broadcaster out of la. So I was like, yeah. And then the woman he. He told. It was a meteorologist. He told the whole thing. And the one was like, so I don't have to buy a boat yet. He's like, not yet.

[Big Cat]

I love that. That's very might. Yeah. I just remember the 101. The last time there was like a super El Nino coming. Everyone just kept talking about Chilean fishermen. And then the other topic I remember is that 10 billion crabs died off the coast of Alaska last time, which sounds like a fake number to me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, I don't want to get all Nick counting. I don't want to get all Nick fuentes, but like 10 billion. Did everyone count every single snow crab?

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, that's a lot of crap.

[Big Cat]

It seems like a lot of snow crabs.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a lot of crabs. Okay, my. Who's back of the week is football because we have Bill Belichick coming up and it's an awesome, awesome interview. Got a hour and 40 it was. We also have a vlog dropping. When's a vlog dropping?

[Max]

The vlog is dropping Tuesday.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. So this is where PFT got his injury.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We had a great time, though, at unc. So we went out. Shout out. By the way, we did see some awls out in Chapel Hill. I don't. I feel like people were pretty cool about not spoiling it. We did. We did play a game where anytime anyone Asked us who we were interviewing. We had to say someone from unc, but we couldn't repeat. So I think one guy came up to us, and he's like, who you guys here for? I was like, james Worthy. And he's like, what? I'm like, yeah, we're interviewing James Worthy. Isn't that crazy?

[Big Cat]

The guy came up. I was like, yeah, we're. We got an interview with Eric Montross in the situation. He was like, oh, that's awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But it was cool because we went. We got to watch practice. Hank and I got to call some defensive plays at the end of practice. Very end of practice is spring ball. They let us. You know, I. I think they. They made it pretty easy for us because there was only, like, three options.

[Hank]

It was one of the coolest places. It was one of the coolest things

[PFT Commenter]

I've ever done because we. We had a moment where we had, like. We got, like, two stops in a row, and Bill Belichick looked back at us and was like, good job, guys.

[Hank]

And Steve Belichick and Jamie Collins is, like, one of the defensive systems.

[Big Cat]

Like, you guys are on their ass.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Hell, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It was awesome. It was awesome.

[Hank]

It was unbelievable.

[PFT Commenter]

But, yeah, Shout out. Shout out. My guy, Brandon, who I've known for a long time, who was able to. You know, it's been a long time trying to get this interview done, and I'm sure there'll be a few people who will be like, hey, how did you not ask about Jordan? They didn't tell us. We couldn't ask anything. We were like, hey, we want to have a good football interview with the best football coach of all time. We're not going to ask about his girlfriend and potentially ruin it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think.

[PFT Commenter]

And I'll take that. I'll do that every single time.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

To get the good interview.

[Big Cat]

I think if that had happened, the interview probably would have been over at that point. And I did not want.

[PFT Commenter]

Like.

[Big Cat]

We talked to Bill Belichick.

[PFT Commenter]

They didn't tell us.

[Big Cat]

We couldn't talk to him for about an hour, 40 minutes, and we probably could have talked to him for about three hours.

[PFT Commenter]

We. I. There were so many. There was a moment. You. You'll hear it in the interview where it's like, 20 minutes left. Where in my head, I was like, wait, we haven't asked a single question about Tom Brady. I was like, hey, Tom Brady. Pretty good, right?

[Big Cat]

And there. There is a moment in this interview coming up where in the last three months of this podcast, I've cried From laughing too hard. The first was with Jerry o' Connell when he was doing his Geno Smith impression. Was it seven Sundays? Seven Sunday Heroes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then the second was when Zach was asking Bill Belichick his question this time, and Belichick was trying to figure out, like, what the issue was and how to actually help Zach out. It was. It was so funny. I hope you guys like it. But again, yeah, they didn't ask us to not bring anything up, But I do think that if we had, it would just been like, interview over. So if some people are mad, I get it.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I still want to interview Jordan. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I want to keep that open.

[Big Cat]

But, yeah, I get it. I. I get it if you wish that we had asked that. But also at the same time, it's like we were never going.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't. I don't get it, because I. You want, like, if we have a chance to interview Bill Belichick, who knows more about football than pretty much anyone on earth, I'm going to ask an hour and 45 minutes of being football questions. I agree with that.

[Hank]

I agree with the fact that when we started the podcast, there was a short list. There was a short list of five people. The who, like, dream interviews. Like, he was top of the list.

[PFT Commenter]

And I've been. I've been working to try to get this interview done for a long time, and it finally came together, so I wasn't going to be like, oh, you know what? We're gonna. We're gonna. We're gonna hit him with the Jordan question two minutes in.

[Hank]

You guys did talk a lot about Jordan last year, but I understand.

[PFT Commenter]

I understand why. I understand.

[Bill Belichick]

I understand. No, no, no, no.

[Hank]

But, like, it's.

[Big Cat]

It's not like, whatever.

[Hank]

It's understandable why you did.

[Big Cat]

We were the only pro Jordan Voices

[PFT Commenter]

we are to have we want on

[Hank]

the show brought her up in the last year.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, she was in the news. We want her on the show.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So I think we. We did. And we want. I mean, we've been doing this for 10 years now. Our rule is always when we have a guest on, we want them to come on again. Maybe not Dak Prescott, but I think we did a good enough job that we'll have him on again. I really do. I think Bill Belichick will come back on the show.

[Big Cat]

I would love to talk to him again.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And, yeah, I. I couldn't talk about. About the injury over the last, like, three weeks. Hamstring. Hamstring just snapped clean off.

[PFT Commenter]

Just watch. Watch the watch the vlog. Yeah, I don't.

[Big Cat]

I. I don't need surgery. There was a moment where the doctor told me he thought that I needed surgery on it. Thank God I don't. And it's way better now.

[Bill Belichick]

But.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think you can hear it in the video, too, when it snaps off.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I. I will not ever make fun of somebody else for having a hamstring injury in my life.

[Max]

That's why I told PFT that I wanted to kick him in his leg after he got surgery when he made

[Bill Belichick]

fun of Joel Embiid.

[PFT Commenter]

Chad thought you're being so funny that time.

[Max]

No, I was just giving content.

[PFT Commenter]

No, because I was giving a ins. You did an inside joke when you said that. That only the room knew, but yes, it was. That is. You are going to kick PFT at some point in the back.

[Max]

No, he's not going to get surgery.

[Big Cat]

Don't need surgery.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Healthy as a horse. I'm still retired from running, but I'm healthy as a horse. Started starting yoga. I'm developing an obsession this week.

[PFT Commenter]

Clean off.

[Big Cat]

No, no. The MRI just said torn hamstring, slight tear to the tendon. Don't have to get surgery on. The worry was that the hamstring tendon had snapped.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Because he couldn't feel it in the back of my leg because there was a bunch of swelling and from where the. The muscle itself had rolled. Yeah, we're old.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm old, so it's great.

[Big Cat]

That's why I'm retired from running and I'm going to go full time into yoga.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But enjoy the interview because I really do think it was a great interview. And I was like, it was one of those interviews where we were, you know, I think we agreed on like 45 minutes and it just kept going and it was awesome. And we got in a groove and it was like, I don't want this to end.

[Big Cat]

Zach.

[PFT Commenter]

You're who's back.

[Zach]

My who's back of the week is going to be a professional Call of Duty because generally we had the third major of the year today. Bush in the challengers division of the CDL or in the challengers division of Call of Duty. The Bush did take home the prod. They shout out to the trophy. Big win for the Bush. That's a Abe Cayman capsule pro loop.

[PFT Commenter]

Big win from the losers bracket, which is tough to do.

[Zach]

Yeah. Knock down a loser bracket, then seven game run to go grab the trophy. That's real hardware.

[PFT Commenter]

Congrats to mooc, Jerry and Sass and the boys bush definitely.

[Zach]

And then you got a nature pft. La thieves won the cdl so they beat out optic for let's go as well.

[Big Cat]

That's my guy. Nadeshot.

[Zach]

They got it done also.

[PFT Commenter]

Any other who's backs? No. You know, we have some Zach stuff at the end of the show. So we got some good Zach stuff. Both the Publix run and your. Your trip. Solo trip to the club.

[Zach]

I am glad everybody enjoyed the subs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we'll get into it. All right, let's get to the Bill Belichick interview. It is brought to you by our friends at Chevy. It is grit week. Chevy is a proud sponsor. Pardon my take. This is a truck that is the definition of grit. Long days, dirty work, and showing up day after day, no matter the conditions. Strong, dependable, and built for the grind. Because grit isn't about being flashy. It's about being ready when it's time to go. That Silverado, all grit, no quit. Check out the current offers and build your [e-mail] go right now. Check out the current offers. Build your [e-mail]. we have a Chevy Silverado that we're traveling with from Jacksonville to New Orleans. We love it. We're also in Vanny Woodhead, but it was also a Chevy. So go check out the current offers and build your [e-mail] today. That's Silverado. All grit, no quit. Okay, here he is, coach Bill Belichick. Okay. We now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very, very special guest. It is coach Bill Belichick, UNC head football coach. It is the first interview for grit week. This first question is brought to you by Reese's coach. Thank you so much. By the way. This has been an incredible day, but we got to start it how we start every grit week interview and ask you, what does grit mean to you?

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, I'm not a big, great guy, so.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Bill Belichick]

You know, definitely don't like grits for breakfast. That's not one of my things either. So. Well, like toughness, competitiveness. So if that's grit, that's tough. That's what I like. I like toughness, competitiveness.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good answer. I also. So I was. I purchased your book as a little, little preview for. For this interview because I wanted to, you know, get in the mind of Bill Belichick, and I noticed something right away. You've coached some unbelievable football teams. You've won eight Super Bowls, six, the head coach, two with the G. You say, though, that the 1963 Navy football team is the best football team of all time. What is it about them?

[Bill Belichick]

I think they had the most impact on me. I don't know if it's the best team of all time, but it's a hell of a team. It was a great group of players, but it's a great group of people. And so I learned so much from them about leadership, teamwork, being a good teammate, sacrifice. And, you know, Stallback, Tom lynch, you know, Skip or Jim Campbell, Johnny Tsai, I mean, those guys are, you know, I've been kind of adopted by that team. You know, I was 10 years old, but I just hung around. And those guys are such great people, great leaders, and it's such a great team. Like, the chemistry on that team is amazing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

So a little bit about us. We're, we're big fullback guys. We love fullbacks. We created an award for the nation's top collegiate fullback. It's called the Low man trophy. So we put it out every single year. One of the favorite things that we do. And I'm curious from your perspective because you've coached a lot of fullbacks. You've seen the game change over the years. What's your, what's your philosophy on using fullbacks and also how to teach fullbacks?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, like anything else, you can gain an advantage, you do it. And so when we felt like we could gain an advantage with a two back set of the fullback, depending on who our fullback was, then we would try to use that. And so certainly in, you know, goal line, short yard situations, four minute things like that. But we've had some really good fullbacks and, you know, James, James Devlin, Mark Edwards, you know, Yock was, you know, did a nice job for us and you know, going back to, you know, Cleveland and Baltimore, I first came into the league, there were some, you know, good fullbacks. Nobody liked Jim Brown, all right, but he was the best of all time. But, you know, it just gives you a chance to build another gap in the running game as opposed to having two tight ends and 12 personnel up on the line. When you have a fullback, you can go to either side and create that extra gap and it gives you more flexibility in your blocking schemes. You know, Coach Parcels is big on that, you know, with Maurice Carthon and, and, you know, fullbacks that he had. And so I certainly learned a lot from, you know, the way he, he employed him as well.

[Big Cat]

When you're looking at a fullback, are you, are you looking at a guy and saying, okay, this guy is Very good at running directly into people or is there, like, is there an art to, to blocking the. Out of people? I guess is what I'm asking.

[Bill Belichick]

You know, the, it, it's interesting. The fullback is really the running back. He's the eyes for the running back, so he has to see the same hole that the running back sees. If he doesn't, then you just got a mess on your hands. So that fullback needs to see where the running back would enter in, and that's where he needs to go. And then the backs follows him. If the fullback makes bad decisions and the, then the tailback's kind of stuck with, you know, a bad picture and there's nowhere to run. So he actually has to be a very instinctive guy to be able to, you know, when can I go around? When can I go through? When do I have to take the guy? No, it's not my guy, but he's more dangerous than me getting to my guy. And all those decisions, it's, it's, it gets dirty in front of you and, and making those decisions have enough toughness. And especially when you guys that are coming up in the line of scrimmage, you know, guys like Ray Lewis and, you know, Earl Acker and guys like that that are really coming to attack those fullbacks, you know, you need somebody that's, that's strong, powerful and tough, ready to go head to head. You know, we had Landon Roberts at middle linebacker and James Devlin at fullback. You know, after about four plays in training camp, we just said, that's it. No more lead plays with you two guys. You're just going to kill each other. So we know you're tough, we know you can block. We know you're going to take on the lead blocker. All right, let's, you know, let's try to stay healthy for the rest of camp. Yeah, those are some. There's some train wrecks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So I was able to, we, we were able to go watch practice. It was incredible to see it. I, you know, I don't know what, you know, people outside might be like, oh, well, Coach Belichick, he's not hands. You were in there. You were in there every single, you know, down you guys were playing last practice of spring. Offense, defense. What is it like, how much have you had to change your style coaching college kids now versus pros? Is it, you know, are you looking for a specific type of guy that's different than what you're looking for in the pros, or is it just football's football?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, I try to do whatever I can to help improve the players in the team. So whatever that consists of, if it's giving them coaching points on the field, off the field, watching film, you know, talking about fundamentals, you know, however, I can help them, you know, reach their goals, play better, and help our team reach its goals. That's what I do. It's, it's fun. It's a lot more opportunity to coach really, at this level than, Than in the NFL. And, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. And I, I enjoy, you know, coaching all the groups in practice. You know, I can go yell at anybody. It's fair game. So, yeah, head coach, you can take out on anybody you want.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And it's actually a lot of fun.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I would imagine, like, being able to watch because, you know, once you're a pro, you're a pro. And yeah, obviously the coaching is very important, but in terms of like watching a freshman and the leaps and bounds they can make, it's probably pretty cool to see guys come back, you know, your second year and be like, oh, wow, they've put on muscle and they've, they figured out the game a little bit more and being able to see that growth probably at a more rapid rate than what happens in the pros.

[Bill Belichick]

Absolutely. There's no question about that. They improve a lot. They improve very fast and, and really in a very short amount of time. Sometimes, you know, three to six to nine months, it's. It's almost like watching a different player. So, so that's very gratifying to see that type of improvement. They don't improve that fast in the NFL. They improve, but not at that rate. And so it's, you know, if the kid is open minded, willing, will listen, and then we'll really work at the skills that he needs to work on again. They can improve very quickly, both physically and from a fundamental technique standpoint.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And I might have read this situation incorrectly, but Hank and I were calling some plays on defense with your son, and you look back at us at one point and I, I think the look was like, damn, you guys are calling some good defense. Was that, was that true? Is that, was that a fair look?

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. You made a couple good calls to really stop the offense here. You stopped and cold.

[PFT Commenter]

It felt good. Then, then we, then we lost. But for a brief second there, I think Hank and I both were like, I think we might just be on the UNC staff now. Like, this might just be our future.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, yeah, you guys are on a roll for sure. Yeah. You have about four or five calls on a row that just stuff the offense.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Like, you're in the huddle. You heard the play.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Chess match. Yeah. When. When you talk about yelling at the different position groups, do you have to change how you yell at a kicker as opposed to, like, how you at a linebacker, how you yell at a safety?

[Bill Belichick]

I don't yell. I just emphasize.

[Big Cat]

You emphasize.

[Bill Belichick]

I just emphasize points. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I don't yell which position group is the most fun to emphasize points to.

[Bill Belichick]

Honestly, I enjoy all of them. I really do. I enjoy all of them. You know, I love to get on the quarterbacks and the receivers, the skill players and, you know, but certainly the defensive players, because, you know, I like that. You know, defensive play style, special teams, same thing. Offensive lineman, you know, those guys need to be some of the toughest players on the team, and, you know, it's good to get after them, see them respond to tight ends and offensive line. So, honestly, I enjoy all of it. Yeah, I do. I enjoy coaching every position. They're all challenging. They're all different. That's the great thing about coaching special teams. You know, I start off as a special teams coach, and other than the quarterbacks, you coach every position on the field. And so it's, you know, the mentality of a defensive back compared to an offensive lineman or a linebacker compared to a receiving receiver is so different. And the personalities are different. Regardless. Each personality is different of every player. I get that. But as positions, they're very, very different. And it's a great learning experience to understand how to handle different. Different players that kind of look at the game differently. You know, toughness is a. Is a. It's an interesting thing in football. You know, you see guys on defense that are tough, they'll go run in there, they'll make these tough tackles, and then you look at a receiver who's going to go over the middle and catch a pass, and he's going to get cleaned out, he's going to get clobbered, and he still hangs on and makes a catch. It's a different kind of toughness. It's a different kind of mental toughness, like a Julian Edelman toughness compared to a Lawrence Taylor toughness. They're both tough players, but in different ways. And so it's kind of interesting.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. So, speaking of special teams, getting the opportunity to coach everybody, one of my favorite calls that you ever made was the drop kick, the Doug Flutie drop kick.

[Bill Belichick]

And, you know, that was a Chris Berman call.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. That's I was going to ask you about.

[Bill Belichick]

I got to give Chris Berman the credit on that one. He's the one who told me, hey, you know, Flutica drop kick? And I'm like, no, not really. And he said, yeah, he, he. Absolutely. I seen, I saw him do it up in Canada and he can drop kick. What do you think about doing it? I said, all right, let's see here. And so I go to Flutie and said, can you drop kick? He goes, oh, yeah, sure, no problem. So he's dropped kicks a couple and said, all right. Well, last game of the year, we put in the drop kick. So it was a different formation, right, because there's no, you know, he's back there kicking and we had an extra guy, we actually split him out that somebody go out there and cover him. So we. There's like four minutes left to go in the game and five minutes left to go in the game, something like that. And we're. We're moving the ball. We got the ball down, like maybe around 20 yard line or so. And I look over to Doug and I said, doug, are you ready to go on the drop kick? And he's like, well, I haven't warmed up. I mean, I haven't. I'm like, look, Doug, if you want to do it, then don't do it. Okay, but what do you want me to do? We're about to score a touchdown. Either go in there and kick it or we'll kick the extra point. I mean, what do you want to do? I'm ready, Coach.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm ready.

[Bill Belichick]

I'm ready.

[PFT Commenter]

Good answer.

[Bill Belichick]

Exactly right. I mean, what do you.

[Big Cat]

You're giving him the opportunity.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, this isn't like baseball where you got, you know, hey, just warm up in the bullpen, we'll bring in two or three more batters. I mean, we're. If we score, kick it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So we sent him in. So we score. We sent him in there and he. And he kicked it and it was. I mean, it was the first one since 1940, 30 something. I forget what it was now, but it was like, you know, 75 years or something.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

It was a great.

[Big Cat]

And, And I was going to ask you about that because I thought, stupidly, I'll raise my hand. I got this one wrong. I thought maybe the Shawam had embellished that story to us that he told you to call it. But credit to him, he knows ball.

[Bill Belichick]

He did. He. He. Yeah, he turned me on to it. And I said, I mean, you know, I'M a football historian. I mean, you got a chance to drop kick it, you get an extra guy in protection, right? Yeah. So you don't have to worry about, you know. You know, one more, got a block, and, you know, Doug just popped it through.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's incredible. I love it. I saw. I. So I have a coffee company, and I saw a quote that broke my heart, but also was probably the coolest football guy quote of all time. You said, I don't drink coffee. I get all my energy from football. Is it. Do you actually not drink coffee?

[Bill Belichick]

I can't stand coffee.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. And you get all your energy.

[Bill Belichick]

I can't stand to look at coffee. Can't stand.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, no. I'm gonna cut all of this.

[Bill Belichick]

I can't stand the smell of coffee. I can't even eat coffee ice cream. And I can eat anything that's sugar.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

The coffee ice cream, it just. It. It's terrible. I hate it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So.

[Bill Belichick]

So when they say, yeah, can you make coffee? No, I can't make coffee in the world. I want coffee. You want it, you make it yourself. I'm not making coffee. I don't even know how to make it.

[PFT Commenter]

So if you. If you were like a shot of espresso, which you might not even know because you don't drink any coffee, like, that's, you know, that's a lot of extra caffeine. What's the shot of espresso of football where you're like, I need some extra. I need an extra kick of football. Do you put on film of something specific where, like, this is where my energy.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. If you see something that looks good and feel like, man, that's gonna be a good player. You know, if we do this, we can make a. Make a play on this, or, you know, this is something that can stop something that they're doing. Yeah, that's an energy. That's an energizer for sure.

[PFT Commenter]

So, like, you could be. You could be, like, dragging ass in the afternoon. You're like, just give me a piece of tape. Let me watch it real quick. All right, I'm ready to go.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. I mean, look, if I wanted. If I wanted energy, I'd go to my cinnamon tea.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Bill Belichick]

You know, I'd hit that. But football, I wouldn't drink coffee if there was nothing else to drink. It just.

[PFT Commenter]

This is heartbreaking.

[Big Cat]

Are you anti caffeine in general?

[Bill Belichick]

No. Oh, hell no.

[PFT Commenter]

It's just coffee. Just coffee. That's fine.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You're good with, like, an energy drink or any Kind of. Tea?

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, no, I drink tea. I drink, you know, you know, soda, cokes, whatever, but, you know, coffee. Not a chance.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. All right, so pick one.

[Bill Belichick]

I don't care how much milk you put in. I don't care how much sugar you put in. I don't care how much whipped cream. You can't. You can't bury that taste.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

It's still. It still finds a way to go through.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And you really hate coffee.

[PFT Commenter]

This is.

[Big Cat]

No, that's fascinating.

[PFT Commenter]

Let me test you right now. Gun to your head. Coffee or the New York Jets.

[Bill Belichick]

Go to the Jets.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, wow. That's a man who eats coffee. Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Remember, undefeated, unscored on head coach of the New York jets twice.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Bill Belichick]

Never lost the game. Never gave up a point.

[Big Cat]

That's a great point. Did you ever think, like, maybe I should have grabbed like an envelope or like a half torn sheet of paper to write my resignation letter on?

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. In retrospect, I don't think that was the greatest choice.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I don't know. It got the message across.

[Bill Belichick]

It certainly did. Yeah, it did. In a very. I don't know, wasn't real. It wasn't the classiest thing I've ever done, I'll say that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

But I mean, I was in. I wasn't in a mood. I was in a mood at that time.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I mean, it probably worked out for you, though.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, I mean, I had worked for Model and the two trains that were coming down the tracks were Dolan and Woody Johnson. And I just felt like I don't feel comfortable working for whichever one of those guys ends up with the team. Nothing personal. I just, you know, I'd had a bad experience and I was either I'm going to work for a good owner or an owner that I felt comfortable with. It was. Shared a vision with or I'm not working for that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

You know, so, you know, was that.

[PFT Commenter]

Was that last season in Cleveland the toughest year of your coaching career? Because, you know, knowing the team's moving, everyone's like basically out. The fans are going after you guys and you have to coach a football team.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, yeah. It was unprecedented.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, you've never seen anything like it. The stadium was literally empty. There wasn't one sign, one billboard sign for anything. It was as barren as it could be. And then, of course, in the last game against Cincinnati, you know, we had to turn around three times because we couldn't get close enough to the dog pound because they were throwing pelting us and they were taking those big seats, you know, the steel seats, and they were unscrewing them and tossing them over the upper deck. I mean, it was. It was. There was some violence there. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was terrible because the Cleveland fans had lost their team, and we were still there. Modell was gone. Of course, he never came back. And, you know, you're just kind of stuck there. And. And everybody was. They were really upset at us because we didn't make the decision to move, but we represented what the Browns were, and, you know, I mean, that team. The town loves football. I mean, north, northeast Ohio, you know, western Pennsylvania. I mean, Canton. I mean, that's as football as it gets. Yeah, they know football. They love football. And of course, they were devastated. And so, you know, we were the ones left to, you know, kind of feel their wrath. But honestly, we weren't happy about it either.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, no, that was a bad position for you guys to be in, and we've noticed that, too, over the years. Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, Youngstown. There's something about that area that produces fantastic coaches, too. And your experience. Have you. Have you noticed that, like, there's a lot of guys that come out of that, you know, small area that end up becoming really, really successful football coaches?

[Bill Belichick]

Right? Well, I mean, of course, my dad was from Struthers, which is a suburb of Youngstown, so he was five miles outside of Youngstown. There were several coaches there. Ron Lynn, Jerry Angelo, guys like that who, you know, he. He knew he was a little older than they were, but, you know, they also came out of Struthers, so. Yeah, I mean, it's football. I mean, that's as football as it gets.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I got a question about your dad, because did he have a photographic memory?

[Bill Belichick]

You.

[PFT Commenter]

You explaining what his job was? Seems impossible, that. Scouting, advanced scouting a team with no tape, no replay. You just have to go and watch the one play, and then you have to figure out exactly how they're blocking it, what they're running it, what. What their tendencies are. That's an insane, like, task to do. And he was able to do it exceptionally well. What, like, did he have a photographic memory, or was it just meticulous and knowing the game through and through?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, I think what I saw was preparation.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So he knew what he was looking for. You know, here are the plays they run. You know, when this guy comes in the game, you know, be ready for this. This guy comes to the game, be ready for that. Now, of course, that was back when most Players went both ways right before they had even substitution, but regardless. And when he would see certain formations, you know, he could anticipate plays, but he, he trained his eyes well. You know, as soon as the lineman set for pass and put his eyes downfield, he saw the pattern, he saw the coverage, the line run block, then he'd pick up the run blocking, not worry too much about who the receivers were blocking, although that might come into, you know, the periphery later at the end of the play. But you got one look at, you got one look at the kickoff return, you got one look at the kickoff coverage, you got one look at the punt return. And, you know, he would write fast and, you know, then when there was a timeout or at the end of the game, you know, he'd go back and, you know, kind of clean up some of the notes and everything. But, I mean, he, he, you know, he didn't miss a play. I mean, yeah, it didn't matter whether it was kickoff return or blitzes or play action passes or whatever, like he could identify the play. And then when the film came in, which was usually late Sunday night for the Saturday college games, so usually he wouldn't get the film until late Sunday night then to try to get that done for the coaching staff on Monday. Then as I got older, he would let me help him with it. So I would go through and, and you know, he'd maybe take half of it, I'd take the other half of it and I'd draw the formation, draw the play, you know, draw what I saw him do. Then he would go back, look at it, double check it. But it was a lot faster because a lot of the, you know, the legwork had been done. Yeah, tight splits or that was 83, 85, whatever. And so that's how kind of how I learned it. And then he would, you know, correct me like, you know, well, this isn't really what happened. He was supposed to block him, but he, you know, he screwed it up. And so, you know, this is what should have happened on the play kind of thing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And so, you know, putting the game into the, into the film that came in was, you know, incredibly, you know, helpful. But he was also there. I mean, you know, he was an hour or 10, you know, whatever, an hour and 10 minutes before the game, timing the snappers, timing the punters hang times, you know, seeing who handled, who were the punt returners, who were the kickoff returners, who's a long snapper, you know, charting all the punters punts and everything. Even in pregame warm up. So, I mean, it was the full. It was a full evaluation of that team. He wasn't a personnel scout. He wasn't there to scout players like, oh, this guy's a good center, has a good tight end. Like, that's not what he really was doing. He was looking at what the team's plays and strategies were and other things that you can, you know, pick up as well based on, you know, sometimes things on the sideline. You know, you see the head coach talking to, you know, maybe somebody on, and it's a fake punt or, you know, stuff like that. I mean, there's a lot of little nuances that, you know, he. He really had an eye for, you know, that I learned along the way.

[PFT Commenter]

How old were you when you first. Was there a moment in your childhood where it started to click where you're like, okay, this is what I want to do. Like, this is the. This is. This is it.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, my dad was gone every weekend, right? He never stayed at the Navy game, so he was gone every weekend. So if Navy was playing, you know, Penn State next week, then he would go to State College or. Or whoever they were playing. Maybe they're playing, you know, B.C. whoever it was, he would go to that game. So, you know, if I was good and, you know, I did my homework and, you know, then I could go on a trip with him. And so we went to various trips, you know, to Penn State to Army, to William and Mary, to Maryland, to Pittsburgh, to Virginia, you know, driving distance type things. And so when I would go, you know, with him, then I would sit next to him in the press box and watch him do it, you know, but it was great because I, you know, spent all the time with your dad. And again, whether you're going to West Point or State College or Charlottesville or Williamsburg or wherever it was, you know, that was part of the trip, too, you know, and we would look for, you know, he'd go to used bookstores, you know, and pick up some of the, you know, used books that he collected or, you know, stuff like that. So. And then, you know, ride back with them, talk about the game and stuff. So, you know, I'm 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, you know, and then eventually, you know, I went. Even when I was in college, after our season was over, I went with him to West Point, and that's when I first met Coach Marcellus.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, wow. So wait, so that was when you were in college, you met Coach Parcells?

[Bill Belichick]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

And then. And Then from there.

[Bill Belichick]

So Coach Parcells was at Vanderbilt.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Bill Belichick]

And they were playing Army. My dad had known Coach Parcells when Coach Parcels was at army, right. With. With Coach CAHILL in like, 67, 8, 9. Somewhere in there. But then when Bill came back as a Vanderbilt coach with Coach Sloan and they played army, my dad was there scouting army. And, you know, and then that was my first introduction to Bill. You know, we both kind of remember that. Like, that's how we met was, you know, through my dad. So I went to Coach Martabroda with the. With the Colts. And who I knew a couple of people on his staff. Pete McCully was the receiver Coach George Busols was a special teams coach. Frank Lauderbert, who's another Ohio guy that my dad knew, who was formerly head coach of Iowa. There's four or five people on staff. And Kawaii develops the offensive line coach who worked in my dad's football camp. And so, you know, so why don't you go talk to them and see, you know, what they have? Well, Coach Marjorota had come over from the Redskins with Coach Allen, and Coach Allen had, like, 23 assistant coaches, right? I mean, he had like, you know, a battalion and at the Colts who were. They were incredibly cheap. So they only had eight coaches, and that was it. There's nobody else. And so when I went to coach Marcia Broda, he said, well, yeah, we'd love to have you, but I mean, we can't pay you anything. We can't, you know, like, we can't do anything for you. But if you want to come here and work, we got stuff for you that you could do. I'm like, yeah, that's all I want. I don't care about anything. Like, can I stay in the dorm? And he said, yeah, you know, and it said, you know, after the. After we broke a training camp, he got me a room at the Howard Johnson's by friendship. At that time, Friendship Airport was bwi, because that's where he was staying, because he came over from Washington, kept his house in Falls Church, and so he was staying there. And so Ted, Whitey, deville, George Busell and I all stayed in the Howard Johnson's right next to. Right next to the airport. And so every morning we would get up, have your coffee, they would. And Ted was very disciplined. Honestly, for, I don't know, four or five months, he had the same thing for breakfast every single day. I mean, that's a, you know, that's what. Anyway, what was it? I was like, two Eggs over medium, bacon, you know, just same thing. Yeah, same thing. Yeah. I mean, they didn't ask for his order.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So every morning I would drive them, the other three coaches, Whitey, George and Ted to the office. I was like a little mini staff meeting. And then at the end of the night, I drove them home. So it was like another mini staff meeting. Ted and Whitey would talk about their game plan on offense and ask George about the kicking game. What are we going to do about, you know, punt return, whatever. And so it was. And I was working on defense with Maxie Bond. So it was. It was an incredible experience. And because Ted was so understaffed, every time he needed something done, it was, billy, can you do this? Billy, can you do that? Give me these stats on this. Can you look up this? Can you do that? Yeah, sure. I mean, whatever you want. So I actually got to do a lot, even though I wasn't qualified to do anything.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Because just because I was available and you need somebody to do it, you get the experience. Yeah. Every time you need somebody to do something. So about halfway through training camp, Joe Thomas comes over and says, you know, like Ted says, you've really been doing a good job. I see you working pretty hard out here on the field. You know, we're going to start paying you $25 a week. My great one. I was making so. So 22 something after taxes a week. So it was. But honestly, it's probably not always worth.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So it. It's interesting. I. You've seen so much football. You've been around so much.

[Bill Belichick]

So, so, so after that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So then, so now the season, like the Colts. Okay, so The Colts were 2 and 12 the year before Bert Jones come as his quarterback. We're one in four. We win the next nine games. We're 10 and four. We win the AFC east, and we lose to Pittsburgh in the. In the playoff game, you know, and kind of a heartbreaker. We're down by like four or five points and we're driving and we're on the like, 10 yard line, and Hammonder steps pass, runs back 90 yards for a touchdown. So we got beat. So now the season's over. And so general manager Joe Thomas, you know, comes, goes to Ted and says, you know, Ted's like, well, I'd like to keep this guy. And I said, well, look, I mean, Ted, like, I don't have a place to stay. I don't have a car, so, you know, can we do something there? And Joe said, well, no, we, you know, Once you come back for training camp next year. I was like, well, no, it's. It's six months away. I mean, I really. Ted's like, look, we got a lot of work to do. We got to break down film and this and that and everything else. And Joe was like, there's no way. Like, we're not. You know, we're not paying him. Stay. Pay me 25 a week. So, okay, so then Coach Rosano offered me a position in Detroit, and then Coach Holtz became the head coach of the jets. And that was. I had already gone to Detroit. Then when Coach Holtz got the Jet job, I probably could have gone there with him, but I already gone to Detroit. And so, I mean, I could end up. But he. Coach Holtz didn't even stay for a full year in with the Jets.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, the stuff that you're talking about with your dad, the. The things that he would log for each game and the things that he would pay attention to. Technology has changed so much about the game. The game itself has changed a lot, too. But out of what he taught you and what he actually did for his job, how much of that is still relevant to what you do in terms of coaching and advanced scouting today?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, it's relevant. I mean, look, advanced scouting, you get a film of the game, you know, five minutes after the game's over. So it's not that. But what is relevant is coaching. Right? So, like, when you walk out there on the field and you watch the play, I mean, you know, there's no scoreboard. There's no out here in practice. Right. I mean, there's no replays. There's no, like, you get one chance to look at the play and tell the guy what he did wrong or, you know, and coach. And so how you see the play and how you're able to coach, you know, I would say multiple players, like, I think I can see, you know, enough. And again, depending on what the play is, it's a pass. A lot of times, you know, I'll go downfield and, you know, see the route, the coverage, see that part of the play or so forth, but that's. That is. That's real football. And even though now, especially in college, where you can, you know, look at the iPad and run the plays back and all that, it wasn't always like that, you know, and there was days in the NFL when you just had the Polaroid shots, which I would say one Polaroid shot could give you some information, but not. Not a ton, you know, and so you still had to see the game. And, and that was really what became valuable to me was, yeah, the scouting that all got, as you said, out technology. But in the end, what was valuable was when you actually watch the game that you're coaching in. Right. Or practice that you're coaching to be able to see what you need to see to be able to help your, your team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Is there one or maybe two specific game plans that you look back on and you're like, that's like when I think about what coaching and getting a team prepared for, like, I really just did my job. Maybe it was the Rams super bowl, maybe it was the second Ram super bowl, which by the way, I bet the over in that game. Thanks a lot for that.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, you're about 20 points short.

[PFT Commenter]

Try 50 points. You, you had them in hell. But is there, is there one that you look back on? You're like that, that game plan, everything I did there, I just was so dialed in and I had the team ready to go.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, one of the, I mean, first of all, like, I don't think game plans don't really win a lot of games. Players win them, you know, and when you're at the Giants, you're coaching Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson, Pepper Johnson and Carl Banks and Leonard Marshall and all that, you know, I mean, you're coaching some really good players. The one of the most interesting games for me was when I got to Baltimore. The first project that Maxie Bond made me do was to go back and look at the Rams who beat the Redskins in 1974 in the playoffs. And the Rams came out within a two tight end offense and 12 personnel. And they put the tight ends on either side. And Washington's defense was all based on two backs in the backfield. Right. So strong side, weak side. So four on three, three on two. There's a lot of different combinations, but that's, that's George Allen's defense. Four on three, three on two. Well, when you put two tight ends in the game and the back can go either way. Well, either side is the four on three side or either side is a three on two side. And so if you're now three on three and four on two, you got problems.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And the Rams killed them. They killed them. So Maxi said, I want you to break down that game because I know we're going to see this again because it, it killed the Redskins. So I broke it down. I go through, I watched the whole game. We never saw 12 personnel, not one play. Not one play. But then we get to Detroit and I'm coaching the tight ends and coach Charlie Sanders, who's been obviously a Hall of Fame awesome player, and we draft David Hill. David Hill was a hell of a tight end, a great player in his own right out of Texas A. So we're sitting there with two tight ends. We're 1 and 4. Ken Ships, the offensive coordinator, we're sitting there, we're 1 and 4 and, and we're playing the Patriots. And the Patriots have like, beat the, Beat the Raiders, like 40 to 10. They beat somebody else, Miami, like 39 to 7. I mean, they had just steamrolled three teams on a row, really good teams. And, and so, and we were, we were one. And like I said, one in four, I think it was. And so I said to Ken, I said, ship, what do you think about David Hill, Charlie Sanders? And he immediately caught on. It's like, oh, yeah, if they rotate this way, we go that way. If they rotate that way, we go this way. So we've been like 35 to 14. I mean, we killed them. Well, from that point on, that formation has always been Detroit in the New England verbiage. So Fritz Shermer, Ron Ehart, Bill Parcells, who went there in 1980, it's always been Detroit, Detroit formation. And we didn't end up having a great year, but that particular game and the way that that unfolded kind of was, you know, kind of a. I got it from the Rams. Right, okay. But it was kind of a front runner of the 12 personnel that has become pretty popular in the league. Even, you know, when Joe Gibbs was running and Don Coryell and those guys are running all their one back stuff out in San Diego, they were doing a little bit differently, but it was kind of the same idea.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And to be able to come out where the strong side is, either side and defensively, if you declare what your strong side is, then, you know, you got problems on the backside.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And so Charlie Sanders and David Hill, I mean, like, I mean, they're running, you know, seam routes and flag routes and wheels and everything on linebackers and, you know, I mean, they just couldn't cover them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I mean, that's, that's, it's a great game plan. You've had some great games as a coach. Can I give you maybe my. Maybe your worst game plan of all time?

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, well, there's plenty of those.

[Big Cat]

You might not have thought of this one for a while, the Pro Bowl.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, yeah, that was. Yeah, we're down. We. We're down 42 to 7 with 10 minutes ago in the second quarter.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You really that one up.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, it's impossible to give up the 42 points in 20 minutes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. How did that happen?

[Bill Belichick]

We got strip sacked. We fumbled. Welker fumbled and got stripped. They ran it back for a touchdown. I think they returned an interception and a fumble and maybe a. Might have been a kick return in there somewhere. Yeah, and we scored, like, 14 points. I mean, it wasn't like 42 to nothing. Makes 42 7, 42, 14, something like that. But I'm looking up there, and it's 42 points, and we're not even halfway through the second quarter. I'm thinking to myself, all right, three times, 42 score, 120 points going.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, I don't want to say poor coaching, but, I mean, you look at the film and you can't help but notice that.

[Bill Belichick]

And then that was bad. It was bad. Yeah. So then we get into that. We go into halftime, and, you know, in a Pro bowl, like, nobody says anything, right? But, I mean. I mean, I was pissed off, like I said, and we're walking back out, and like, four or five players are like, you know, coach, I've never heard anybody swear at a Pro bowl again. I said, well, the way you are playing, like, honestly, like, you deserve it. And he goes, yeah, I know. We. We definitely deserve it. But, like, you know, I've just never heard a coach get. Be upset about a Pro Bowl. That was a bad, bad day. I mean, it was like. It was like 42 points in 20 minutes. It was unbelievable. You couldn't. You couldn't score 42 points if you. Against air. Like, if there was no defense out there, you couldn't. I mean, it would take you more time than that to score, right?

[Big Cat]

And then you guys got desperate, and you tried running a fake punt directly into Sean Taylor's face. What was that play call about?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, Mormon, who was really fast, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Mormon ran, like, about four or five. And so he fake punted us at Buffalo, right? And there's like, 4th and 8 or whatever, and he ran and he got, like, 10 yards. And so that pissed me off and pissed off Sealy, too, the special teams coach. And so we're like, well, this guy's really fast. The Pro bowl, you know, nobody's really expecting us to fake the pun, so, like, you know, let's go and put it in, you know. You good with it, Mormon? Yeah, yeah, sure. He's good with it. We call it. And I've never seen anybody get hit as hard as Sean Taylor hit him. I was just telling Jackie yesterday, his daughter who goes to school here, we were talking about that play and that was a total yard sale. His helmet, his ear pads, his chin strap, his mouthpiece, his jer. I mean, he's over there by the team doctors.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

He's like 10 yards out of bounds underneath the team doctors and a dentist and over everybody. And I'm never see anybody gets a hit so hard. Yeah. And I'm like, Brad, I mean, really, Coach, he finished the game. Finish the game.

[Big Cat]

He popped back up after that.

[Bill Belichick]

He didn't pop back up, but he finished the game.

[PFT Commenter]

He finished the game.

[Bill Belichick]

That is. That is one of the hardest hits I have ever seen. That was a. Oh, my God.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Probably my favorite player, Sean Taylor, I grew up a Redskins fan, so loved watching him play.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then. But you had a great game plan that year against the Red. I think you guys scored like 56 points or.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Or something like that.

[Bill Belichick]

That was a big win.

[Big Cat]

But, but Sean Taylor, he did take your punter out that one time, so

[Bill Belichick]

we'll call it even in the pro. Oh, my God. I mean, if you go to the top 10 hits all time.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Top 10 hits, that's got to be like. I mean, that's as hard a hit as. As you can find.

[Big Cat]

And it all goes back to.

[Bill Belichick]

And he saw him coming too. You know, it's one thing like when a guy's coming over the middle, catch a pass and he can't see, you know, and the guy just annihilates him. Yeah, but Mormon saw him coming.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And man, he should have made that pun against you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. That put the seed in your head like. Yeah. That you, you're learning. So I, I also. You talk about that like always learning and just constantly learning. And football is something that you just always learn. I also heard you say that Randy Moss taught you what real speed is.

[Bill Belichick]

No, absolutely.

[PFT Commenter]

It. Was it that different than everything else you had because you had coached a lot of. Randy Moss went to the Patriots.

[Bill Belichick]

Never anybody like that. Never anybody like that.

[PFT Commenter]

What. What exactly.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, we had Michael Jackson, Roger Carr and the Colt. But, but Randy. Randy is such a smart player. And look, I've never been fast, okay. So I don't know what it's like to. If I'm running, they're going to catch me. If I'm chasing them, I'm not going to catch them.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay. So I don't know what it's like to be faster than everybody else. I don't know what it's like to be able to be even with somebody and to be able to outrun them by 5 yards with 20 or more yards to go. And so Randy, you know, he explained to me like how, how he would use his speed and how he didn't feel like he was really able to do that at Minnesota and in Oakland, you know, that it was like, well, you got to run a go route. Well, they're rolled into me and the safety is over the top. I'm like, yeah, we're not going to throw the ball. And he said, exactly. You know, they get pissed off because I'm not running as fast as I can. But honestly, there's nowhere for me to go. And if they throw me the ball, it's going to get intercepted. So I'll tie up both guys, but I mean, I can't, you know. And so I said, well, look, what if we do this? What? And he goes, yes, that's what we need to do. We need to run at the free safety. We need to run it to have field safety. If they roll outside on me, then we got to go inside. I can't just, you know, the guy's 25 yards on top of me. I can't run past them. There's no way. I said, yeah, I wouldn't expect you to. So half of his touchdowns in 2007 came when he was in the slot or he was the outside receiver. But emotion or line up in a. In a position that would have been where the slot receiver lined up. So if there was a middle field safety, he would run right at the middle field safety. If the guy overplayed him, he'd break back to the outside. If the guy played him high, then he cross his face and go to the far pylon. First quarter of the jets game that he ran that pistol route touchdown against the jets and you know, just took off from there. And if it was half field safety, he'd run right at the half field safety. And those guys are scared to death him. A lot of times they were like 30 yards deep. And so he could just, just go wherever he wanted to go. They were so deep, it was like trying to cover Tyreek Hill. Some of the same issues we had with Hill, where you line up so far on top of them that you give up so much space in front of him that when he catches it now you can't even tackle the damn guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Bill Belichick]

So, Randy, 23 touchdowns, but he explained to me how, you know, how to use his speed. Like, here's how I can use my speed. Can I. What about on this route? Can I do this? I'm like, explain that to him. And he goes, well, if I see him there, I'm gonna go here. I'm like, yeah, sure. And Brady. Okay. Who could process it and embrace it and understand it, you know, made it work. And so they weren't. It wasn't like he was making a browse. It was like, I'm gonna go here, and if there's space, I'm going into that space. And if there's no space, then I'm going into this space. Right, okay. Makes sense. And he could do it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And there wasn't a deal where Tom was like, oh, I thought he was gonna go here and he went there. I thought he was gonna go there and he went here. Like, when Randy made the decision, he always made the right decision.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. And so, like, hearing that story, though, the. I would imagine when you traded for Randy Moss, you didn't expect to line him up inside, you know, and have half his touchdowns come from there.

[Bill Belichick]

No, but as we started talking about it and, and, and, and Randy's. Look, Randy's. I love Randy. Randy's like, you know, in that West Virginia twitch, I'm lying side, I can go deep, buy and run a two yard crossing route over the middle.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, right.

[Bill Belichick]

You throw that to somebody else.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Like, okay, all right, got it. No problem. But, yeah, you know, when I traded for Randy, you know, I talked to coach Davis for like two months and Mike Lombardi was there too. Mike was at the, at the Raiders. And I talked to Mike trying to trade for Randy, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And it took two months. I mean, it was like a glacier moving. And finally it was a two day draft. And Mr. Davis calls me up and says, all right, look, do you want to do this trade or not? I said, well, yeah, I mean, but trying to do it for two months. Like, yeah, I have cold feet now. He goes, all right, we want your pick in the fourth round for Moss and that's it. And we had like the sixth pick in this, in the fourth round. It's two round, two day draft, so. Okay. So I said, well, look, he's making $11 million a year. Like, I got to get a hold of Randy. We got to bring him in for a physical and we gotta, we gotta fix his contract because we don't have $11 million worth of cap space to make the trade. He goes, look, Belichick, that's your problem. If you want him, you figure it out. All right? So it's like midnight. So I call up Randy, get his number. Randy, Coach Belichick. What? Who is this? Slams the phone down. Randy, who is this? Don't play no tricks on me. Who is this? Who is this? Who's calling? I said this. Coach Belichick for them. Randy, don't, please don't hang up. Don't hang up. Listen to me, listen to me. This is Coach Belichick from the Patriots. Please listen to me. Seriously.

[Hank]

What.

[Bill Belichick]

Why would you call me? So we just traded for you was to New England. I said, yeah, I know. Look, here's what we got to do. Like, you got to come to New England, you got to take a physical. We got to redo your contract. But it is that, that. It was by when. So the draft starts at noon tomorrow. This is like 1am goes, I'm at a club in Houston. Yeah. I said, well, what do you want me to do? Like, this is what we need to do to make this trade happen. Brandy goes, I'll be there. I'll be there. All right. Hangs up the phone. Next morning, he comes into Gillette stadium at like 7:30am I don't, you know, got his plane, got his guy, got a car, whatever. He shows up there 7:30. All right, you know, go take physical. Take physical contract. We don't, you know, what are you gonna do about this contract? It was. I don't care. I said, well, look, you're making $11 million and we can't afford to pay you. That goes, well, what do you want it to be? So. Well, how about 3 and we'll do incentives to 9. It was fine. Call Bus, Cook. Call Bus. Get it done. This guy just took an eight million dollar pay cut.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Bus could probably.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay, so sign the contract now. He earned all 9 million.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, no doubt about that. So. But that's how willing he was again. And so we got that done. It's noon, call back, Mr. Davis deals done. We got it. Okay. Boom. So they take our fourth round pick. We got Randy. So now it's like, you know, 12:30, 1 o', clock, we're in the middle of the draft, and Randy's like, where's my playbook? Like, look, Randy. Well, like, we're trying to do this draft because I want that playbook because this is now April, and we'd already started offseason program. Now, granted, we weren't like, you know, all out, balls to the wall. But we're doing our pro, you know, we're in the off season program. Randy says, look, I need that playbook because when I go out there with Tom Brady and the rest of the offense, I'm going to go out there and make a bunch of mental errors. Like, I got to have this offense down cold. So you give me that playbook right now, and I want to have that down by Monday morning when I go out there with the team. What a godsend.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So I'm like. I said, josh, do we have a playbook? And he goes, well, you know, we haven't really wrought him off yet. I said, look, Randy wants to play with. Josh said, got it. Boom. So go. We'll give him a playbook. He goes out there Monday. He goes, I need to know all the signals. I can't have Tom Brady signaling and my dumb ass misses signal or I run the wrong route. He goes, I'm not doing that. I want this and I'll have it down cold. And he did. He goes out there on, you know, he goes out there with Welker and, you know, we traded for Welker too.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Bill Belichick]

That same year. And he goes out there and, I mean, never, never missed anything. And then, like I said, really helped coach me to understand how to use his speed.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Fourth round pick, always learning. Not bad. Not a bad trade.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Randy was incredible. Yeah, he was incredible.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I got kind of a weird question for you about your attire. I know people talk about the sleeves a lot. I've always seen the sleeves as. There's. There's definitely some sort of utility behind the three quarter sleeve cutoff that I just don't know. There's got to be a purpose for it, a reason why. Why you would cut those sleeves off.

[Bill Belichick]

Short arms. Yeah. If I don't cut them off, then they, like, hang over my wrist and they're in the way, and so I. I don't. I got short arms, so I. I just cut them off.

[Big Cat]

You and Reuben Bane? Yeah, it's.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like that was up of him. I'm sorry about that. He shouldn't have said that.

[Big Cat]

Why? Why?

[PFT Commenter]

No, he just gave a look. Like you're gonna compare me to Ruben.

[Bill Belichick]

No.

[Big Cat]

Well, yeah, I. I always assumed that there was, like, some sort of pocket access that I wasn't seeing. Like. Because there's a reason for everything that you do on the side.

[Bill Belichick]

No, honestly, I mean, I did it in high school. I'm, you know, like junior high, high school, college, like I mean, I've always cut them off, and it's just my arms are short, and if I get, you know, they're just. They're too long. They hang over my wrists and my hands, and I try to roll them up and I fall down again.

[Big Cat]

So just cut them off.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It's smart. Yeah. Can I do my weird question?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I got also a weird question. You're obviously, you know, best head coach of all time. Should be in the hall of Fame. We don't have to get into that. It's crazy. We thought it was crazy at the time. It still is crazy. You're prepared better than anyone. You've won all these Super Bowls. But we have a theory, and you could tell me if this is way off. The one time that you are seen flustered or not prepared is. And maybe it's only happened a few times in your career, the challenge flag, when, you know there's really nothing to challenge and you're not going to win it, but you're just frustrated and you want, like, time to pause for a second.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. I mean, like, that was the Manningham catch in the Giants Super Bowl. It was right in front of me. I saw his feet in. I'm like, well, you know what I mean, It's a big play. Just, you know, and then you watch the replay and it's like.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Bill Belichick]

It is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah. So we were right. That there is the. Every now and then, it's like, I just. I don't like how what has just transpired. Let me just pause for a second.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, I mean, again, I was. I mean, like, again, taking a shot at it. Hope that, you know, maybe I. I didn't see something that was there. The. The worst one was the. Was the super bowl against the Rams. And so, you know, we're playing in Mercedes Benz, right? And so they had the big scoreboard over top of us, right? And so I tell the players all week, like, look, keep your eyes on the field. I want to be looking to send you into the game. You're up there watching the game, and, you know, you're watching a replay, and whatever I said, you keep your eyes on the field. So we're in the second quarter, and we're. I mean, they have got maybe a first down and much.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep. Happy over. I know.

[Bill Belichick]

And you throw a sideline route over in front of their bench, and, you know, it's a close play, but it's on the other side of the field. And so I'm. And then. And then they Kind of start to come the ball, right? And so, you know, I'm, I'm watching and like, all right, well, so they're gonna, you know, officials call it a completion. So they come to the ball, it's like, all right, what are we gonna call here? Like, you know, what are they doing? They're going fast. So look, when a team goes fast, that's actually a good thing because you can see the formation they're in, right? You don't have to guess. There's a three by one, it's a two by twos. And what, you know, you kind of look out there and say, all right, there's the formation. Just go and make the call. And the players beside me are saying like, he's out, he's out. He only got one foot in. He only got one foot in. But I'm not going to look up at the screen because I've told these guys for like six days straight, do not sit there and watch the screen. Keep your eyes on the field because that's where the action is. The screen is for the fans. And they're like, coach, coach, you only have one foot in. Only one foot in. So just as the ball is about to be snapped, like I think it was, Brandon boy grabs me. I look up and I see he's got one foot in. And I'm like, oh, Christ. And now the ball snapped.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And it's too late. And they look at me like, great job, coach. But I had, you know, I said, don't do this. And then I was too disciplined to not do it. And then it caught. And everybody in the stadium saw that. Right, except for mine.

[PFT Commenter]

And you were just like, I'm not looking at this screen. I gotta do it. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

We'll get back to Bella. Check in a second. He's brought to you by our great friends over Reese's. Some fans believe in turn in teams of destiny, but I believe that everything happens for Reese's. Just think about it because. Let me get one of those Reese's over here. Let me get some of that product.

[PFT Commenter]

I was having one on the flight down.

[Big Cat]

You were. I actually thought about asking you for

[PFT Commenter]

a Reese's exact game.

[Big Cat]

I think you were eating all of them. These are delicious.

[PFT Commenter]

I only had two of the four.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I love the smell of Reese's. That chocolate peanut butter smell. Nothing like it. What's the one thing every team or athlete wants? It's a championship because half of them are called cups. Stanley World Ryder. Just like Reese's, luckily scoring a Reese's cup is way easier than winning a championship. It's almost like you were destined to get one right now because everything happens for a Reese's. Pick one up today. Reese is the official candy partner. Barstool Sports. Everything happens for Reese's. Get [e-mail] Reese's coach Belichick's also brought to you by our great friends over at NASCAR. Memorial Day weekend is here. So is one of NASCAR's crown jewel events, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, happening Sunday, May 24 at 6pm Eastern, streaming live on Prime. This track is fast, demanding. It's built for drama. And when it's 600 miles under the lights, you're in for a marathon of non stop strategy and speed. But it's more than just a race. It's a moment. The Coca Cola 600 is part of NASCAR Salutes250 together with Coca Cola, an annual tribute honoring the brave men and women who serve our country. Taken to the next level as we celebrate America's 250th birthday. Will Ross Chastain repeat? Will 2311 continue their dominance in 2026? There's only one way to find out. Grab your snacks and drinks and don't miss this Memorial Day weekend tradition. The Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 24, 6pm Eastern only on Prime. And now here's more coach Bill Belichick. So we have our producer over here, Hank. Hank is a massive Patriots fan, part of the Brady four. He actually went to, he went to jail for Tom Brady. Yeah, he locked himself, handcuffed himself in the league office and spent a night in prison.

[Hank]

Do it again.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So did that cross your desk when, when the Brady four got locked up, did you, did somebody come and tell you, like, hey, just so you know, sir, there's four Patriots guys that, that have handcuffed themselves to Roger Goodell's death.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. So was that when porno got.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

He was with him.

[PFT Commenter]

He was in jail. Oh, no. Dave got dragged out of the Super Bowl. But before that, he and Dave and Gaz and Feidelberg went to the league office and protesting and they went to jail for a night.

[Bill Belichick]

Right. Yeah, I mean, I do remember that. But I mean, it wasn't, you know, kind of like, kind of like Portnoy getting dragged out. I was like, you know, because the video, that's hysterical.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, skinny jeans, he videoed the whole thing, right? I mean, that's hysterical.

[Big Cat]

The dead legs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, dead, like skinny jeans

[Bill Belichick]

But, I mean, I didn't really get to engage or follow up on. I mean, I'm sorry, but I do appreciate the support.

[Hank]

Yeah, of course.

[Bill Belichick]

And then, you know, when Matt Patricia wore the T shirt with Goodell, that was another one that's like, I don't know if this is really gonna, like, like, ingratiate us, but it's a good T shirt.

[PFT Commenter]

Sold a lot of them.

[Bill Belichick]

I'm sure it did.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

There's no doubt.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Zach]

All right.

[PFT Commenter]

You got a question?

[Hank]

Yeah, I mean, obviously, I. I grew up in situate from 96 till 2016. You made me and like, an entire generation of. Of kids feel like winners because of your team. So thank you.

[Bill Belichick]

First of all, I appreciate that. I really do. I really appreciate that. And those. Those comments or stories from people who say, you know, I went to the game with my dad or our family, always watched the game, and those are some of the best memories of my childhood or my relationship with my whoever, son, father, whatever. Like, those are such meaningful stories. I mean, I just want to tell you, like, seriously, that those hit home because when you're a coach, you don't, like, you don't know. You're just trying to make a first down or stop one, and. And then you find out, like, you had such an impact on somebody's life or relationship, and you're like, wow, you know, it's really. You know, I actually did something good. I wasn't trying to do it, but it actually did something good.

[Hank]

Beyond good. Yeah. I mean, it drives these guys nuts because it's like, you're like, you're so cocky. You're so cocky. And it's like, yeah. Growing up rooting for a team that was just always, like, we would joke. It's like, you know, wake me up when the playoffs start because we know we're going to be there. And that's awesome.

[Big Cat]

That's why I'm going to say, like, maybe it's not always a good thing. You're a guy like that. Say you. You spent your entire year, like, play to play, focusing, like, next play. Hank's like, yeah, I don't really care. It's not Process of.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Building you. I think you preach it a lot. Like, you don't. You don't go to the mountaintop in 15 minutes.

[Big Cat]

Hank did.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You taught.

[Big Cat]

You actually taught Hank to skip the process.

[Hank]

But, yes, thank you from the bottom of my heart. My question, though, I was watching an interview with Matt Light on Julian Edelman's podcast, and he was talking about you know, practical jokes that he's played over the years. And I was wondering if there was one. There was one in particular that, like, might have pissed you off in the moment, but, like, when you get back to your office and, you know, doors closed, you're like, all right, that was, that was. That was a good one. That's pretty fun.

[Bill Belichick]

There was plenty of. Pissed me off at the moment. The worst one for me was light had this remote control mouse. And so I'm standing up there talking to the team, kind of doing my rant or whatever, and I catch us out of the corner of my eye, and I, like, see something move. And of course they see me, but I don't know, right? And so I'm trying not to get distracted and I'm going on and. And I kind of catch it again. And now I'm distracted, right? But, you know, trying to stay with it, trying to be, you know, and then he runs the thing like, right underneath my feet. I said, of course, like, they all go crazy. And I'm like, like, like, I know you. What?

[Hank]

What?

[Bill Belichick]

What? I. Wow. What happened? What did some. Is there something wrong? You know, and they're. I mean, they're how. Like, he killed me. But, but my. I got even with these two guys. Maybe not even. So it's like, oh, five, four, maybe. And so Light goes out to Hawaii for the players association meetings. I'm like, matt, if you guys want to really get something done for the players association, why don't you go to Buffalo? Okay, but no, you guys are going to go out to Hawaii, sit around, drink my ties, you know, and. And like, and call it business. So he goes out there and he says to the media, you know, all season program is the most important time of the year for us. It's where you bond with your teammates. It's where you, you know, you work hard together, you sweat in a weight room, you push each other, and if you have new guys on the team, you kind of get to know them. And this is so important. So Matt comes back. I'm like, matt, like, those comments are so. They're so bad. You're the only one who's not here. And you're talking about how important this is. I said, like, we got a problem here. Well, simultaneously. Well, not simultaneously, but at the same general time. We're in our off season program, right? And so we're working on pass rushing. And so I got Rosie, Rosie Colvin. And so we're working on this pass rush game. And like, I'm the Offensive lineman. And so Rosie, he, like, slaps me and, like, this slap, uppercut move. And I'm like, God damn. He breaks my rib. So I'm like, for two days, I. You know, I can't breathe. It's like, painful as hell, but I'm trying to, like, suck it up and, you know, but I'm not going to get in there and do this past thing anymore, right? So now I'm like, all right. Colvin and Light went together at Purdue. They were at Purdue together. So everybody's got their own locker, and they got their picture of their wife and her kids, you know, and so I took. I said, look, I'm gonna put you two together in the same locker. Now they don't like each other, and now they got Rosie's wife with Lights, kids in the. Everybody else got their own locker. The rookies, everybody. But these two guys are in the same locker. And I'm like, you can't do that. So we all do it. So every week they come to me and they're like, now they. I mean, they hate this. Like, they. They don't want to be that close to each other. They said, how much longer is this going to last? I said, I'll tell you how much longer it's gonna last. It's gonna last until my rib feels better, and that's a long way off. So they're there for, like, six weeks in the same. And the rest of the team loved it. Like, they loved it. You know, they're like, hey, Matt, your wife. Oh, that's Rosie's wife.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, look, those kids are so cute. Rosie. Oh, those are Matt's kids. Oh, I'm sorry. And I mean, so, like, we had our back and forth.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

I would say Light got more in than I did. Although, you know, I could, like, say my stuff in the team meetings and all that and piss them off. But, you know, like, practical jokes. He killed me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

It would kill Dante, too. He got Dante worse than he got me because it was the same type of thing. You know, he got some technology thing. Dante would. You know, he had the. The little mouse thing, right. And he'd go to the mouse, and they would shock him. Like, it was like a little shot.

[Big Cat]

You're just obsessed with mouse pranks.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, no, it was the.

[Big Cat]

There was the computer one and.

[Bill Belichick]

Yes. Yeah. But he had a little attachment he put on it where it gave you, like, a little shock.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And you know, Dante, and he picks the thing up, he turns around, he throws it right at Light because He knows. He knows what it is. You know, we've all been like. But you know, light would just. Light would just think of this stuff. Like, I swear to God, he stayed up at night doing this. But I'm telling it. Best one he ever caught. The best one he ever got on Dante. So Dante, you could not get to the. You could not get to the stadium before Dante. It was impossible. I could get there at like 4:30 in the morning. His truck's already parked there. But you could not beat him there. So needless to say, Dante's truck was always in the parking lot. So we're at Gillette Stadium, which is like, you know, not. Not a dump, but like it's borderline middle of nowhere. Yeah, yeah. And so light takes like three bags of garbage and kind of like cuts them open and throws them in the back. Back of Dante's truck at like 7am all the seagulls and all that, they come in. And so light goes out there at lunch and he looks out, it's like 50 seagulls. And it's like, oh, boy, this is working right? And so now Dante comes out at like 10 o' clock at night, right at the end of the night and hears all this in the back of his truck, you know, seagull everywhere. Like the biggest mess you have ever seen. And we leave, you know, before Dante. Like, you go out there and like, oh boy, I don't want to be here when Dante sees this one. This is going to be bad. That was actually one of. That was one. I mean, but that's light.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, he thinks up stuff like that. Oh, man. And I mean, it just destroyed Dante's truck. Just totally destroyed it. And he didn't do a damn thing. He just sat inside and let the seagulls.

[Big Cat]

Major. Take its course.

[PFT Commenter]

Thank you, coach. Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right. Good job, Hank. There's. There's one other guy I wanted to ask you about in particular. He's a close friend of ours, Danny Woodhead.

[Bill Belichick]

Woody.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Woody. So we did Vanny Woodhead. We got a. Yeah. 1987 Gladiator.

[Bill Belichick]

So Woody, like, I was this close. This close. The caddying for him in the US Open.

[Big Cat]

Right, right.

[PFT Commenter]

He's.

[Big Cat]

He's trying to qualify again this week.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay. But he was like, I don't know,

[Big Cat]

real close, whatever it was.

[Bill Belichick]

He was really close.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And he said, hey, if I, if I qualify, would you caddy for me? Like the US Open? Yeah, sure. I mean, yeah, no problem. And so I think he, you know, he Lost the match, like, I don't know, one up or something like that. And whatever it was, he. He didn't qualify.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

But I was set to caddy for him in the US Open if, you

[PFT Commenter]

know, we gotta have that.

[Bill Belichick]

Not that I could have helped them, like, there's no chance I could have helped them, like, read a putt or anything, but he's gonna be the one in Boston too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's.

[Big Cat]

I think that's the year that he came really close. It was going to be the Boston US Open. And.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, was it a country club? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. That makes sense.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we, so we were actually talking. He was looking for sponsors. We were going to put our podcast logo on his hat. But having you on his bag would have been incredible. And it does speak to, like, people always say what a, like a scrappy, like, you know, really hard worker Danny is. I'm sure that's all very, very true. They sleep on how freakishly athletic of a guy Danny Woodhead was as well. And I, I was curious because when you first picked him up, I think a lot of people thought it was more of gamesmanship to the Jets. Like, okay, he's, he was just on their training camp roster. He's got some insight that he can give us to how they like to run their offense. But I'm curious to know, like, who, who decided to bring him in and then why did you decide to keep him?

[Bill Belichick]

The crazy thing about Woody is I want to say we opened with the jets that year, or I want to say we opened with them maybe it was the second game of the year. But, you know, when you open with a team in the NFL, you watch every preseason game, you watch the first one, which nobody watches, but if you open with that team, you watch it like, okay, let's see, what are the first plays they put in, you know, and who is this guy who's like their second string or third string tackle, but he ends up making their team? And yeah, if we got to play against this guy, you know, here's the deal on him. So we watch literally every play of the jets offense. And Woody's playing receiver, he's playing receiver, he's their slot receiver. And we're like, you know, he's not really a receiver, but he's good with the ball in his hands. He's tough. He's not really that fluid as a receiver, but, you know, maybe as a sub running back. And so we claimed him thinking that he might be able to return kicks and, and I forget what happened. Running back. We. We need to run him back, and we need a kind of a third down back. I think that was like, we had Moroni and some of those guys. Anyway, we end up getting them, and then he, you know, you play him and then you find out he's actually pretty good. You know, when you watch him practice, you're like, yeah, it's not that fast, you know, and he's little, but he ducks under tacklers and he's quick, and he's just got a way to make yards. And so we put him in the game. He starts making yards and, you know, Tom's like, look, let's get this guy in there. Like, we'll give him the ball, like, he'll make some yards. But he was actually played receiver. I think he played running back in college. Where'd he go to college?

[Big Cat]

Chadron State, I think.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. Okay. So I think he played running back there. The jets played him at slot receiver, and then we moved him back to running back. But all the film we watched of them, he was. He was, I think, played receiver.

[Big Cat]

Did he ever get into your doghouse? Do you have a doghouse?

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, not for very long. Yeah, I'm sure he did at some point. He must have fumbled or missed a blitz pickup or something. But, yeah, I mean, look, you love guys like that because he's super competitive. He's a great kid. He's a team guy all the way. Do whatever you would ask him to do. I mean, you can't get pissed off at those guys for very long.

[Big Cat]

No. And he's still trying to qualify. I think it's this week.

[Bill Belichick]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

He's playing in the. The sexual. So, yeah, if he does make the US Open, is that. Did he tell you like that? Offers on the table. As long as, you know, we really

[Bill Belichick]

haven't talked, I don't think since that. That came up. Yeah, I mean, not out of, like any hard feelings or anything. It just. I don't know.

[Big Cat]

He's in your doghouse because he didn't make the US Open.

[Bill Belichick]

No, that's not true. That's not true.

[Big Cat]

I'll let him know. I'll text you. Him right now, say, hey.

[Bill Belichick]

True.

[Big Cat]

Okay. I'll say, coach really wants to catch.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. Woody was, you know, he was one of those many guys that we had that a lot of people look at it and say, you know, this guy's really not that good. And, you know, Chris Hogan and, you know, all these guys, and then all of a sudden, you know, they Just keep making plays and producing and it's like, you know, you know what you see. He can actually play.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to bring it back to UNC real quick. So this year is your first year where you get a full recruiting class, you get a full transfer portal where you've been here. What are you most proud of in terms of the guys you've brought in and what you expect from them this year?

[Bill Belichick]

Well, what I expect is for, for us and them to get better every day, you know, to get stronger, to get faster, to be more explosive, to be better fundamentally, to be, you know, better technique football players. That's what I expect from them and then, you know, as a team. But, you know, they're. We have a good group of kids. They work hard, they are, you know, they're pretty smart. I mean, they, you know, go to class, they do well academically. They, you know, they try to do what we ask them to do. And the group yesterday, last year, I mean, I wouldn't say they were like disrespectful, that's not the right word, but it was just different. It was like they were recruited by somebody else. They came here for somebody else. You know, I was new. They were leaving. You know, it wasn't, I mean, it wasn't a bad relationship, but it wasn't a great one. It didn't have as much, I would say, you know, there wasn't the same kind of adhesion that there is two guys that you bring in that come there because of you, because they want to be with you and then, you know, you grow together.

[PFT Commenter]

And I would imagine, like the player development side of it is, is probably a very strong selling, you know, point to a lot of these players that you're recruiting, like, hey, I will, I will make you a better football player. Like, I've, I've read some stuff where, hey, I'm not a rah rah guy. I'm not going to whoop it up. I'm not going to give you some speech that's going to have you run through a brick wall. I'm going to tell you how to get better day by day.

[Bill Belichick]

Absolutely. And, and we'll deliver on that. You know, our strength program's good, our nutrition, our chef is good. Like, good food, good rest, good recovery, good training. Physically, they'll be much better. And they already are much better. And then from a football standpoint, like our fundamentals and the techniques that we've used and coach the greatest players from the Tom Brady's, the Randy Mosses, the Dante Hightowers, the Stefan Gilmores, Talib Ty, Law Seymour. I mean, guys that are in the hall of Fame guys are some of the greatest players ever. This is how we taught them. This is how they did it. And these are the plays that we're running it. We're running the same plays that they ran and watch them do it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And so. And they. And they're very receptive to that. You know, they're like. They're receptive. And I'd say appreciative of, like. Okay. You know, I'm learning from somebody who is really, really good at this skill, whether it's a guard, a tight end, you know, quarterback, whatever that, you know, we have great players literally at every position that can exemplify how to do certain skills.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you've got some good tight ends, by the way. We saw. Yeah, we saw some of the practices. It's a good number for a tight end.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. Yeah, he's a beast.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I also saw your mantra. Tough, smart, dependable. How so? Great mantra. How do you, like, teach that day by day? Because I need help. Because at barstool sports, I don't think we check any of those.

[Big Cat]

No, we're tough. It's like, you know, we're weak, we're

[PFT Commenter]

tough, we're dumb, and we're flaky. That's what we got on our wall. So how, like, you know, when it comes to, like, actually enacting that and telling people, this is not just. These aren't just words. These are what we actually need to do. How. How the hell do I do it? You're talking to a guy like Nicky Smokes an absolute, you know, one of those guys that are a mincey.

[Big Cat]

You got.

[PFT Commenter]

I got morons that I got to teach them how to be tough, smart, and dependable. I can't do it.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, I think tough starts with, you know, being physically tough and being mentally tough. It's not. It's not going to be easy. It's not easy to win a football game. Nobody's given those away. Those aren't door prizes. You know, you got to go out and earn it. So there's a toughness that. That's going to be necessary for you to win. And from mental toughness standpoint, like, something's always going to go wrong. I mean, you know, kid comes here, he goes to the NFL, there's going to be an injury or he's going to have a professor doesn't like him or he's going to break up. His girlfriend or what, it's going to be something. And what's your mental toughness? You know, how do you work through that? You know, whatever it is. So that's the kind of the tough part. Smart. I mean it really starts with don't be yourself. You know, like, don't go out there and make mistakes that are. We control on a number of levels. Right. Whether it's taking an illegal substance, whether it's academically being ineligible, whether it's, you know, doing something that causes you a problem on the football field that you control, pre snap penalties, post whistle penalties, all those things. Like we, we have to control those. And then dependable is, is, is consistency. It's earning every day. And so we have to earn each other's trust daily.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And that's how you trust and, and you know, have be a good teammate is, you know, you're there every day, you're consistent. And now we get in a tough situation and, and I can count on you and you can count on me because we've done it for each other, you know, on a regular basis. Practice is harder than the games. So our thing is, you know, if you can do it in practice and do it consistently in practice, we're going to make it harder than the game. You know, instead of 40 second clock, we have a 35 second clock. You know, instead of a dry ball, we have a wet ball. Instead of no crowd noise, we have a lot of crowd noise so you can't hear anything and so forth.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Bill Belichick]

And we try to make it harder than what it's going to be in the game. So when the game comes, there's not. And what your volume is in practice. Right. So if you run, you know, 4,000 yards in a game, then maybe you're on 45 to 5,000 yards in practice.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

So we don't want to get into a game situation and feel like closely hard. I don't know if I could do this. No, we do it every day. Yeah, I'm sure that's why at New England, the sign we had on the door about what our, what our, what we tried to do every day and it's the same here because we're in the stadium. It doesn't matter whether you're in preseason camp, training camp, a preseason game, a regular season game in October or the AFC championship. Like our goal for the day is the same.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Bill Belichick]

Work hard, pay attention to details, put the team first. Right. Like those team, those are, are. That's our mantra and we do it every day.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And so we get into a big game, we get into a champion, whatever. What's the same. It's what we've been doing. We're not asking you to do, you know, to do something I've done before. This is what we do.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I feel like that. That works on recruits, too, because it's like, there's a lot of probably some recruiting that's, you know, tells you what you want to hear and you're telling them, hey, no, it's going to be tough, but we're going to make you better.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

100. Yeah. We're not on the hype. You know, we're not going to have, like, the dancing elephants and a trapeze act and let everybody. Yeah. You know, drive a Maserati around the block. And, you know, we just don't do that. Like, we. We tell our recruits, here's what we're going to do, here's what we're going to deliver, and if that's what you want, we have it. If you're looking for something else, then, you know, this is probably not the right place for you.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to push back a little bit on the not a rah rah guy, because you gave a great, great speech one time that I saw. It was at the Patriots super bowl victory parade, and it was massive crowd in front of you, and you got. Everybody started with a no days off chant. And I think it was like on a Tuesday. So everyone that was at that rally, they were taking a day off and they. But you're such a good coach that they all started chanting, yeah, he's right. No days off. As they're taking a day off work. That was incredible. Just a, a, a great job of motivation on your part.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, it's funny because the no days off, honestly, like, most people don't really understand what that means or what it meant to us. I should say what it meant to us. What it meant to us was when you come to work, you go to work. You don't come to work and dilly dally around. And like, I was here, I broke a sweat, I showed up and go home. That's a day off. When we said no days off, we meant you come to work, you're ready to work, you're prepared, you put in a good day's work. Okay, maybe tomorrow's an off day. That's okay for a cover day. That's fine. We're not saying, like, don't take a day off. We're saying don't come to the stadium and take a day off.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And so the no days off was when you come in here, man, we expect your best, and we expect you to work at it. When we're done, we're done. And, you know, you're with your family or you're, you know, whatever you're doing, sure, there's days off, but don't take them here.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, makes sense.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, that was. I mean, that's the, you know, Brady and Edelman and Hightower and those. David Andrews and those guys were like, don't come in here and screw around. Like, we're not here to screw around. We're here to win.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And if that's what. And if you don't put enough into it, then we're, you know, we're pissed off at you. Like, we're not going to accept that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And that's really the no days off.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And. And. And so if a guy was kind of, you know, if he would, like, jump offside or do something, you know, dumb, then they would kind of get on him and be like, you just come in here and fool around and take a day off, like, just don't even come here then. Like, if you don't care enough, then just don't show up because we can't trust you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And that was kind of the connotation, but of course, you know, in the hype train of the Patriots, you know, I'm sure it sold towels and some, you know, beer mugs or whatever, and it was used in a different context.

[Big Cat]

My no days off beer mug. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Those people were cheering their heart artists, so they were not taking a day off.

[Big Cat]

That's true. It's important. Yes.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, it's. It's. It's. That's not what it was. But if that's what they want it to be, like, that's fine.

[Big Cat]

It was. It was just.

[Bill Belichick]

It was kind of a marketing thing where it's like, do your job, no days off. Stuff like that turned into marketing hype.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

More than it was getting away from

[Big Cat]

the meaning in the core. Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

It wasn't really what it was intended, and we kind of laughed about it was like, they don't really know what it means, but if they want to talk about no days off or do your job or whatever, like, that's fine. Like.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I was going to ask you about. About coaching here at UNC and connecting with, you know, much younger players than you've been used to connecting with over the course of your career as a coach and curious to Know, like, is there, are you aware of the fact that you're, you're Bill Belichick. Right. And so you're coming into a place like UNC and a lot of the kids that are playing football for you, they look at you as being like a legend of the game. Is there anything that you've done to try to like make yourself more approachable? Because I could see myself, I mean, obviously I can't see myself being like an 18 year old, five star football recruit because I'm five foot eight and I suck. But if I, if I was you, if I was, even if I was good, I could see myself being like a little intimidated to go talk to you about something if it's an issue I'm having or like, like, hey, I think we could be doing even something better. Is that something that you think about? Like, hey, these kids might have like a block in communicating with me at times and I need to be proactive in overcoming that.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, you know, I think it varies from kid to kid. I mean, again, you know, it's really about building relationships and building trust. I think if they think you're helping them, then they're going to be receptive. If they don't think you're helping them, my experience has been, you know, they're probably going to turn you off.

[PFT Commenter]

Off.

[Bill Belichick]

So I try to, you know, help everybody know. Sometimes it's maybe not in the most comforting way, but if they're actually committed toward reaching their goals and dreams of playing professional football, being a really good player, then that's what I'm, that's the spirit that I'm saying it in. It's not personal. It's just, you know, if you want to be good, here's what you need to do. You can keep doing it this way. It's not going to work. It's no good. Don't take my word for it. You watch a bunch of other people do it this way, it's not going to work for them either. If you, here's the way you need to do it. And so why don't you commit to doing it that way? If in the end they don't want to do that, then, I mean, you know, I've done kind of all I can do. Yeah, but that's not. It's rare. Most of them, they really, they really do want to. Now some don't have enough staying power and they like. Well, they do and then they kind of drift off and then they come back again. The guys who are more. But we had Those guys at the NFL too. I mean, trust me, everybody in the NFL is not, you know, Tom Brady and Julian Edelman and Dr. Hightower and Deb McCordy. Like, that's far from it. Yeah, maybe we had more than most, but they're not all like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I, I root for the Redskins. So, yeah, there's. I know what you're talking about.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Was there, was there a moment? I, and this has been so much fun, honestly. We could, could do this for the next five hours. I don't want to take all your time. So I really, really. We really appreciate this. There's so much football history. We just love football. So we'll wrap it up very soon. Was there a moment, though, early in Tom Brady's career where you're like, okay, this is different. This is, this is different than what I expect. Like, he is going, he's on a trajectory to something different than what I might have expected when we drafted him.

[Bill Belichick]

Again, if, if you, if you spend time around Tom, you, you understand how totally committed he is and how he just day by day takes incredibly small steps that eventually, but never backwards, that eventually lead to a very high performance. And I mean, really, he was our fourth string quarterback. You can't name another fourth string quarterback, I would say in any level of football, college or pro. I mean, there isn't one very few. So that's how far down he was. I mean, you couldn't get any further on the bench than he was. He was a fourth string, never even played, never even dressed. And then I brought in Damon Hewitt because I didn't think he was good enough to be the backup. And he beat Hewitt out and then Bledsoe got hurt and then he didn't lose games. He didn't win many, but he didn't lose them. And we want him on defense, we want him in the kicking game with Troy Brown's pun return, the block, field goals and so forth. And then he kept. And by 2003, 2004, we won games because of Tom Brady. And from 2004 on, not only did we win games because of Tom Brady, but every week he was the focal point of our opponents is we got to stop Tom Brady. And what's our game plan to stop Tom Brady? And that's the real greatness, is when they're doing something to stop you every single week and there's a target on your back and you're still producing an eye level.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

But I always say Tom wasn't great, wasn't even really good. But he became great. Gronkowski, same thing. Rob wasn't great. He wasn't even really good, but he became great. Julian Edelman, I mean, for five years, I mean, do anything. He returned puns. He was a very good pun return, but he wasn't great. He wasn't even good. He didn't even play. And then he became great. And so that process of day by day by day by day after month after year after year. Okay, now you finally. And it's very gradual, but it's consistent. It doesn't, you know, jerk up and down. It just, hey, things he couldn't do. Now he's starting to do him. Now he's starting to do him pretty good. Now he's actually starting to do some things at a level that, you know, what he wasn't able to do before. And that's what makes Tom Brady great. The biggest thing about Tom, and, you know, I told him this all the time, and he took it to heart. I'm like, tom, we can't gain any yards until you give the ball to somebody else. You're not gaining them. You got to get the ball to somebody else for us to gain yards. Hand it to him, throw it to him, pitch it to him. But as long as you have the ball, we ain't going anywhere. He's like, you don't tell me that. So get the ball. And so that's what he did. How do I get the ball to Julian Edelman so he can run with it? How do I get the ball to Rob where he can catch it? Where the guy who's, even though the guys are draped all over him, Rob can catch it and the other guy can't? How do I get Danny Woodhead productive? How do I make Kevin Falk productive? How do I make James White productive? How do I make. And he's kind of like a point guard. Like, he could distribute the ball with great accuracy and decision making. In through all those years with Brady, we were the least penalized team. We had the fewest negative runs. We had the fewest sacks, we had the fewest turnovers. He never killed the team with those plays. We didn't go backwards. He'd throw a quick pass out for our yard and it's second and nine, but at least it wasn't second and 13. And if we, you know, he got rid of the ball so quickly that he didn't get sacked and we didn't have dumb false start penalties and like that because of sloppy play, like, he would make sure that, you know, the play was run right, or we were set, or we, you know, two guys are in motion. Ho. Stop. Whoa. Okay, now you go in motion, things like that. I mean, there's such little things. But when you listen to him broadcast the game, you'll hear him say over and over, they're going backwards too much. This team's. They need to go. They're losing too many yards. And that was it. We didn't lose yards. And he didn't ever put the team in a bad situation. Every play wasn't an 80 yard touchdown, but he didn't put the team in a bad situation. And he got rid of the ball so that somebody else could gain yards because God knows he wasn't gaining them.

[PFT Commenter]

That's. By the way, you're. You're not even good to good to great. That's. That's the recruiting pitch that you know anyone who's coming to unc, like, that's, that's it right there. Like, hey, you might not be very good right now, but we can day by day get you to great 100.

[Bill Belichick]

But that's the way it was in New England. These guys will come into New England and they look at Tom Brady like, oh, my God, look at Devin McCourty there. Oh, my God, look at Edelman like, oh, my God. Gronkowski like, oh, my God. I'm thinking to myself, you don't know that these guys weren't any good. They're just like, you. Like, you're no good either, but you can become great. But, you know, this is what you're gonna have to do. And it's going to be a process. It's not going to happen overnight. It didn't happen overnight for Rob. Didn't happen for Julian Brady. Then McCourty played corner, and then he ended up playing his whole career at safety. And, you know, 12 time captain. I mean, I'm, you know, I'm just. Stephen Neal never even played football. You know, three Super Bowls started for eight years, never even played football. So he was no good. Talk about no good. He was terrible. But he became, you know, a really good player. So people don't understand the process, and they think that Rob Gronkowski was always great. Far from was. To the point where Brady and I sat him down and said, rob, we can't put you in the game. You're too undependable. You run the wrong route, you fumble the ball, you know, you make too many mistakes. We can't play you. Okay, what do I need to do? Okay? And then he Became great where he was, you know, as dependable as any player we had. Never fumbled, always did the right thing, was a great teammate, was a good blocker, understood by blocking. It created play action opportunities for him that wouldn't have been there if he didn't block and so forth. I mean, but, you know, it was such a process, and those guys all bought into it and. And they deserve the credit for it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And that's what we're selling with our guys. Absolutely. We're selling the same thing with our guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

But people think that when you look at Brady, you think, you know, in 2016, 17, 18 rookies come on the team, and they're like, oh, my God, this guy's so great. Yes. But he wasn't. He was. You were actually further ahead than he was at the start. That's how bad he was. But they don't realize that. You know, they're like, oh, man, I'll never be that good. Well, you could be if you do what McCourty and Chung and guys like that that even players like that Nobody wanted, like J.C. jackson and Malcolm Butler, Rob Ninkovich. Rob Nikovich was a backup snapper. We signed it because we needed a backup snapper because our snapper got hurt. We had no intention of keeping him as a snapper because once our guy was healthy, we don't meet Rob. And Rob comes in there and, you know, first day of practice, it's like he knew light. It's like, yeah, hey, do you mind if I do a couple pass rushes? Rob, you're like a long snapper. That's matte lighter. Starting left out. Yeah, go ahead, take one. Boom. Walks right by him. Dante goes crazy. Wait, it's a long snapper. Can't block this long snapper. Get back in here. Boom. Goes up on again. And of course, light. I mean, you talk about taking some heat now, like, getting run by a long snap, but Ninkovich had played against them at Purdue with them. Not against him, with him, Purdue. And, you know, he kind of like, hey, like, I know how to rush this guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

And then all of a sudden, it's like, wow, Now, Rob wasn't a great player either, but he had 10 sacks a year for five years in a row.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

By just doing things right and, you know, being disciplined and like, all the things that he did. I mean, he's just like. He's no Lawrence Taylor. I'm just telling you. Yeah, but 10 sacks a year for five years, I mean, you know, it's pretty damn Good.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Do you think maybe Light let him beat him a couple times?

[Bill Belichick]

No, no.

[Big Cat]

Like, he's like, hey, man, I really need this job.

[Bill Belichick]

No, no.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

No, Light. I mean, I mean, Matt is so competitive. Matt's such a tough kid.

[Big Cat]

Would you say that, that Rob is the most improved player that you've coached?

[Bill Belichick]

No, Steve Neil never played football.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Steve Neal didn't even know where the huddle was. Steve didn't know where to go at the end of the play. Like, what do I do now, Steve? Go. Go back here with these guys. They'll tell you what to do. Oh, all right. You know?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

You probably had to be really patient with them then. Like, you saw something in him, Steve.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, he's 6 5. He's 295 pounds. He's a championship wrestler, and he ran 4, 9. All right. And he's tough. I mean, this guy is all day tough. Like, a lot of wrestlers are all day tough. You could not wear Steve Neil down. He was all day tough. Tough as they come.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, well, this has been awesome. I have one last question. We'll finish with something a little lighter because. Because this has been so much fun. Roback question. Rho, B, A, C, K dot com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code take. So, yeah, I'm, I'm honest. Like, we, I, hopefully we can do this again because we could. Honestly, like, I, I got to like, maybe 10% of my questions, but I thought we'd end with something light. And because you are such a great coach and we, you know, in doing this podcast for the last 10 years, we have guys that we, we don't coach them, but they become part of the program and maybe they slip up and we got to figure out how to motivate them. So what would you do for someone who maybe sleeps in a couple times every couple months and misses some things? Zach, why don't you come over here,

[Big Cat]

come talk to Coach Zach.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, come talk. Come talk to coach. Tell them maybe what the issue is, and then. And then we can maybe get to the bottom of it and figure out the South.

[Big Cat]

So to put this in NFL terms, like, what would Zach would be? Like our first round pick.

[PFT Commenter]

Zach is. Zach would be the definitions. He's been with us for a year now, and when he. We got him, he wasn't. He wasn't good. He was bad. He was bad. But he's become great. Okay, but he's got an issue with sleeping in. So Zach, you want to explain to him? And Zach is great.

[Zach]

Now, how are we doing today, Coach? How are you?

[Bill Belichick]

I'm great. Yeah, I'm awesome.

[Zach]

I. I love to hear that.

[Bill Belichick]

And I. Congratulations on your ascension to greatness.

[Zach]

I just appreciate being a part of the program, Coach. I thank you for your time today. I. There has been some instances where we had scheduled things to take care of and I wasn't there and I should have been there and I wasn't there and I overslept and I've been working on it. I've been trying to work on it and I'm doing my best to make sure it doesn't happen again. And I just wonder. I get. I guess if you have any advice for somebody who could about overcoming objections of time and when you're asleep.

[PFT Commenter]

Good question, Zach.

[Bill Belichick]

Right. Can I answer? Frankly, certainly.

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, do you care?

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[PFT Commenter]

Which.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Bill Belichick]

So you care?

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay. Do you have an alarm clock?

[Zach]

I do. Yes, sir.

[Bill Belichick]

Well, then how do we get two more?

[Zach]

Okay, we'll do. I can do that.

[Big Cat]

Exactly.

[Bill Belichick]

I mean, you set one alarm for 655, one for seven, one for 705. And if you don't hear the first one, the second one goes off the third one. Like I would invest in an alarm alarm clock or a watch or whatever and get a backup so you don't oversleep back up.

[Big Cat]

How many do you have?

[Zach]

I do currently have three.

[Bill Belichick]

And you still sleep through them?

[Zach]

I have. Yes. I really. I know it's pathetic, I know. But I haven't making it.

[PFT Commenter]

He has one that's called the bomb alarm. That's how loud the alarm is.

[Big Cat]

Coach, he's probably going to get evicted because his alarm is too loud. His neighbors calling, noise complaints on.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay, well, I mean that. Okay, so we need to find another solution.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay, well. Well, I'd say talk to somebody who knows more about sleep than I do and see if there's. I mean, look, obviously you're a hard sleeper. I mean, yes. Earthquake could come through and you. You'd sleep through it.

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, we've all had those days. So do you have a sleep like apnea or a sleeve issue?

[Zach]

I don't believe so. Maybe I may I do that. Maybe I check out with a sleep doctor. That might be great. Fantastic advice, Coach. I appreciate that very much.

[Bill Belichick]

Look, there's gotta be a solution to it. I mean, the other thing I would say is do you live with anybody or is there somebody that is On a similar schedule that you are on.

[Zach]

Not. Not currently solo in the apartment.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah, but. So if somebody. So if somebody called you, would that wake you up? Phone call.

[Zach]

I've been doing that with my. I've been. I'm so sorry for starting up my words. User. Better vocalization out of me. Won't happen again. I do want to apologize for that. Yes, I've implicated a phone call setup. Phone calls have been working out. It's a good way to. I've been catching up with my family early morning. My dad's been calling me shot. So that was a great call.

[Bill Belichick]

That's another option is to get somebody else to assist you with, you know, if. If that wakes you up.

[Zach]

Thank you for the advice, coach.

[Big Cat]

That was great.

[PFT Commenter]

That was great, Coach. Thank you. We can't thank you enough. This was an interview we wanted to do for a very long time. We love football. We loved being here. We saw, you know, the.

[Zach]

The.

[PFT Commenter]

The practice was awesome, seeing you in the mix and incredible things you got going on here at North Carolina. So thank you very, very much and best of luck this year. And hopefully we can do it again because like I said, I think I have, like 90% of my question sheet is still there. So we. We threw it after. Out after the first 15 points.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah. All right. Appreciate you guys being here. Appreciate you calling some good defenses for us today.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Bill Belichick]

All right. That was awesome. And it has a lot of fun sitting there and chopping it up with you. So thank you. All right.

[Big Cat]

Thanks, coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Thanks so much.

[Big Cat]

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[PFT Commenter]

Agreed.

[Big Cat]

Kick that season off. Kick that league off correctly. If you're not holding a twisted tea in your hand while you're drafting that league, then you're not a man. I'm just gonna say it. You aren't. Max, grab a refreshing twisted tea today.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay? Wrap up the show. Zach, your star. Great job with Bill Belichick interview. The ending was very pft. Said it, but I was crying as well. So funny. You also had a couple of moments this week. The pub sub. We're in. We're in your home state, Florida.

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[PFT Commenter]

You went. You gave us a questionnaire. We. I said, I don't want to tell you my order. I want you to decide what pub sub matches us. So you gave us, like, a buzzfeed questionnaire and then got us pub sub subs. You crushed it. What is it about Florida that everyone likes to get their subs from a grocery store?

[Zach]

So part of it maybe accessibility, just because, like, it's close, it's familiar, but also it's so friendly. When you go online in public. Spit cat. Everybody's smiling, having a great time. They. They don't rush you through the options. There's some sub change that kind of push you through. You know, they let you take your time at the Publix.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So that's why I enjoy questions that. That you sent us. So maybe you can walk us through some of these. How much range of motion do you typically like to have after a meal? I think I get. I understand that one, but you relied on that one pretty heavily, I think.

[Zach]

Yeah, I thought that was important just to understand, like, how heavy of a sandwich you wanted to.

[PFT Commenter]

That really was. Was that. Tell me if I'm wrong. That question was essentially, do you want the chicken tender sub or not?

[Zach]

That's what that question was. If we're gonna just. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Because the chicken tender sub was incredible.

[Zach]

It's good, but it's heavy.

[PFT Commenter]

But it's very heavy in hindsight. Like, how many.

[Hank]

How many good subs do they have there?

[Zach]

I think they have a really strong top five.

[PFT Commenter]

But also, you knew the top five,

[Hank]

and then you were like, backtracking list.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, Max,

[Max]

I really liked this. I think we do it again tomorrow on the drive. What if you do.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, so we're stopping. Whoa. Whoa, Max. That's a stop, dude.

[Max]

What if you do Wawa Hoagies for the. For. For everyone for the next stop.

[Big Cat]

We're not in Philadelphia, Max.

[Max]

They have wawas all throughout the drive from here to our next stop.

[Big Cat]

I feel like that we're alone.

[Max]

Well, I was. I was looking for wawas.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

We're a long way from home, Max.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Do you also.

[Max]

Is A is a frequent flyer of

[Zach]

Wawa, the Wawa sandwiches. Sandwiches are good, but we just set the bar so high, right?

[Big Cat]

Publix is so good. It's like, I don't like to order seafood if I'm in grocery store stuff.

[Hank]

One thing.

[Big Cat]

We're a long way from a Philadelphia gas station.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, here's the thing, Zach.

[Max]

Don't let them.

[PFT Commenter]

Hold on. Here's the thing, Max. The beauty of this drive tomorrow, it's so long, we're gonna have to have two different meals. So we could do both. We could do a Publix and a Wawa.

[Big Cat]

Whoa.

[Hank]

We already did pub.

[Big Cat]

What about Waffle House?

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's Waffle House.

[Max]

Wawa.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, but then we got to sit down now. We're really stopping now. We're not going to get there, but

[Big Cat]

not for very long with services, so.

[Hank]

Taco Bell.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, well, we. We'll think about it. Either way, the pub subs were good. Cool. The. The chicken tender. Well, Hank, here's the problem with Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell. You love Taco Bell. Every time we get taco bell, 10 minutes after we get Taco Bell, you're like, I need an emergency bathroom stop. Yeah. Okay, so that's.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Or nap.

[PFT Commenter]

Right? So we could do it.

[Hank]

I'm napping.

[PFT Commenter]

Either way, we can do it. But I. Like, we know we can do it. I. I've been thinking, like, what if we should.

[Zach]

We do.

[PFT Commenter]

I think we should bring enough water bottles that, like. No stops. No stops until the gases. Till we need to get gas. No piss stops.

[Max]

See, there's the thing about Wawa is you can do both.

[PFT Commenter]

That's true. No pit stops.

[Big Cat]

I'm down. I'm down to pissing about pit stops.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, because the van doesn't go that fast. We forgot about that part, too.

[Big Cat]

Zach, this was another good question that you had on the list, which is, when shopping in your everyday life, do you. Do you find yourself in more yellow or white cheese situations? So you correct it. So you admit that cheese is yellow.

[Zach]

So that was more. So there's. I know there's an argument on which color cheese could be, but if. When it comes to your everyday life, I would. The question is more so asking, like, which one you encounter the most, like, in your meals. I was thinking, like, what do you see while you're eating? Just to kind of get an idea of what. Visually, what do you usually see on your sandwich?

[Big Cat]

I like that. Zach, Instead of saying, like, what do you like better? He's like, which One. Do you find yourself around more?

[Zach]

Yeah. Like, what do you. Because I couldn't ask, like, sandwich specific questions.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Questionnaire. So, yeah, I was trying to go off eyeball tests from your meals.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a good question.

[Max]

Zach actually apologized to me the other.

[PFT Commenter]

Other day about.

[Max]

He said, max, I'm. I. I would like to make an apology to you, sir.

[Bill Belichick]

And I was like, about what?

[Max]

He goes, I had a meal last night with five different cheeses. They were all white.

[Zach]

They were.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Zach]

The pizza, the jalapeno popper filling, the mod sticks.

[Max]

What.

[PFT Commenter]

What was this meal?

[Zach]

It was a pizza spot.

[Big Cat]

It's a lot of moths.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, how many would you eat?

[Zach]

Just a pizza which has the white cheese. Moth sticks have the white cheese in the house. Philippine poppers had the white cheese, and it's kind of a bell went off, and I was like, I will.

[PFT Commenter]

Max, what else did you have? These are five white cheeses I may have.

[Bill Belichick]

Oh, exactly.

[Zach]

That was a. That was three, but it was across every item, so it's like I owe him an apology.

[Big Cat]

Cheesecake.

[Zach]

That's a great one. Great point.

[PFT Commenter]

That's definitely white cheese.

[Big Cat]

Max makes a lot of good points.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so we'll do. I would like to get another pub sub. I like the chicken tender sub.

[Zach]

It was very good. And you can do it.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm a pub sub guy.

[Zach]

You can do them hot and cold. You know, it's versatile.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He's like, I got another. Another question about these questions that you sent us.

[Zach]

Yes, sir.

[Big Cat]

This one says in. In the early 2000s, movie Holes starring Shia LaBeouf, spelled S, H, I, L, A, first name and then last name, B, U, F, F. Shia LaBeouf.

[Zach]

Tricky name. I definitely didn't go birth certificate correct on the spelling, but we knew kind of who we were talking about.

[Hank]

Did you know who he was talking about?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

But that's not. That's not my question. Yeah, no, let me finish my question.

[Hank]

A little insulting.

[Big Cat]

I was reading it.

[PFT Commenter]

I was reading it for accuracy.

[Zach]

It's understandable.

[Big Cat]

I was reading it for accuracy.

[PFT Commenter]

This whole couch.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I know, but, like, it's phonetics.

[Bill Belichick]

This is.

[Big Cat]

I get it. I get it.

[Hank]

We're hooked on phonetics.

[Zach]

Never got the hooked on phonics.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, I can't believe that you just corrected Hank. Everyone knew what he was talking about when he said hooked on phonetics, and then you had to correct him like that.

[Bill Belichick]

Zach.

[Zach]

Oh, no, I thought it was two different. Two different programs.

[Hank]

It was.

[Big Cat]

No, phonetics was different. Than hooked on phonics. Yeah, that's wild. But Zach's question was, were the jars of sploosh appetizing? As a man who has not seen the movie holes. Yeah, that's Shia LaBeouf.

[PFT Commenter]

I had neither.

[Big Cat]

I don't know if the jar looks better. Of sploosh. Is it. We're appetizing. But what. What was the reason for that question? Like, what sub would have been indicated by Yes, I find it appetizing.

[Zach]

So initially off memory, I thought the jars of sploosh in holes were onion based, but I was corrected by Shane.

[Big Cat]

They're.

[Zach]

They were peaches. Based on.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

So that question was to determine if you wanted onions on your sandwich. But I had the wrong food group in that original question.

[Big Cat]

But also, Shane is notoriously anti onion, so he might have fed you some

[Zach]

propaganda, but he is well versed on movies, so there's a crossroads there.

[PFT Commenter]

Movies and corn dogs.

[Big Cat]

He sleeps with an onion.

[Hank]

It's basically like do foods that. That reverse a generational curse intrigue.

[PFT Commenter]

You got it.

[Zach]

Your palate.

[PFT Commenter]

It was. Great job, Zach. I want. I want another pub sub. Do they have them in Louisiana? Publix?

[Zach]

I don't know. I don't believe so. They may have one, like, on the fringe.

[PFT Commenter]

So we got to get one before we cross the state border.

[Zach]

They have to.

[Bill Belichick]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

We got to go. Just gas station food in Louisiana. There's good gas station.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's true. And then the last thing. Zach, you. So we love you, Zach. This is. I. This all comes to a loving place because I admire you. You. We've been trying to get you a little bit out of your comfort zone out in the public. You're a sociable guy. You're a great guy to be around. You're an awesome hang. When we went to the Cubs game, I was like, zach is such a fun hang to be around. And then our guy Dante tweeted a video on Friday night. He has a club in the West Loop in Chicago called Goodnight John Boy, which is kind of like a dance party club. And it Was what time?

[Zach]

3:00am, 2:00am it was closing, so I

[PFT Commenter]

think it's probably around 2 2:00am and Dante was like, zach is just here. There was a whole entire table of barstool people, but you went to the club by yourself and just danced your ass off for a few hours by yourself.

[Zach]

So last. Last summer, spring, you guys kept telling me to go outside, and I kind of took it for granted. I was like, I won't need. There won't be A five, six month stretch where it's just way too cold. You have to. You have to stay inside. I never experienced that. So I took the spring and summer for granted. So I've been trying to tell myself, I think it's important to like, you know, get out there a little bit and take your guys advice. So, yeah, just. I went to the bar, had a couple of beers, and then went to the dance club. I don't dance very well, but it's. It's fun to bust a movie where you dance.

[Bill Belichick]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Not poorly.

[PFT Commenter]

And you were just by yourself. That's awesome. That's like a. That's a move. I. I don't think I have the balls to do that.

[Zach]

It was incredibly uncomfortable, but it was like, it felt good to like just, you know, get out there a little bit.

[PFT Commenter]

And.

[Zach]

Did you meet any women at the dance club? It was more. I was more so dancing solo. I did met. I did meet someone at the bar. We talked a little bit, watching a movie at the bar. It was fun.

[Big Cat]

Oh, what movie?

[Zach]

X Files.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you get any numbers?

[Zach]

No, no, just.

[PFT Commenter]

Did anyone offer you a number?

[Zach]

Some good combo? Yeah, there was like an attempt at like exchange on the way out, but my Uber was coming. So like, it was just bad timing

[PFT Commenter]

if she was offering you her number.

[Zach]

Yeah, she was like, we can. We can hang out sometime. And I was like, but she had also previously said that she's always at the bar. So I was like, oh, well, we'll just see each other like at the bar again.

[Bill Belichick]

All right.

[Hank]

So Zach, having a good Uber rating is important. You don't want to take.

[PFT Commenter]

This is why he's the bestest girl was basically asking Zach out on a date. He's like, I'll just come back here and see you if I want to see you.

[Hank]

Circle back.

[Zach]

She was adamant that she was there quite often. I'm not here very often, so that'll probably sync up.

[Big Cat]

You were, you were, you were on your way out.

[Zach]

Yes, like, I was leaving to go bust a moon.

[Big Cat]

You already stood. You. You stood up and you were walking out.

[Zach]

And she was like, yeah, like, it's coming. You know, it does like 2 minutes, 1 minute. But then it's like a one way. So like, all right, we'll just loop back it. Time was of the essence to get

[Big Cat]

your phone vibrating, saying like, it's nearby.

[Zach]

I was like, this?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And she was like, hey, let me throw my digits.

[Zach]

And I real quick fumbled a little bit and I was like, yeah, well, we'll See you next time. And I. But it was fun. It was a good time.

[Big Cat]

Zach, do you want to intense situation

[Hank]

with someone else and they can go get the Uber and you can grab the number, but it's like if you're

[Big Cat]

by yourself, some room for the fact that Zach. Maybe Zach wasn't into her. Like, were you into her?

[Zach]

I had a good time at the bar. I don't know if I would like. If I would seek out additional conversation outside of the X Files.

[Big Cat]

Watch.

[Zach]

Party.

[Big Cat]

There you go.

[Zach]

But it was fun.

[PFT Commenter]

There you go.

[Zach]

I do. I do feel bad. Shout out to aws. AWS all the bar. Nice guy. I feel like I may. May have ruined his date because we talked for too long. I could see his date was getting. His date was getting physically upset that

[PFT Commenter]

we were chopping it up.

[Max]

Yeah, but that's not the same girl that asked you for the number.

[Zach]

No. No.

[Bill Belichick]

Okay.

[Zach]

I felt like an invert block for that guy because. Yeah, we just started talking like we're friends.

[PFT Commenter]

How long were you at the club by yourself?

[Zach]

Probably two hours.

[PFT Commenter]

I love dancing. Yeah.

[Zach]

I just dance. I'm a bad dancer. Big cat. But it's fun.

[Big Cat]

Did you meet up with any of the other people from Barcelona?

[Zach]

No, no. I heard that they might have had table at the bar, but like the table situation, you don't get to dance as much, you know, it's more. It's like hanging out, drinking, which is fun, but like, you know, I'm just trying to.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like Studio 54. Shit. He went to dance.

[Big Cat]

What's your go to dance move? Like, right when you hit the dance

[Zach]

floor, there's a lot of shoulder because my. My feet don't get into it as much, you know. So white guy dancing. Yeah. It's a lot of. It's weight. It's too much hands, to be honest with you.

[PFT Commenter]

Doing a lot more.

[Zach]

I'm not. I'm not opposed to a lawnmower maybe, you know, get in the pot a

[Big Cat]

little bit, but you. You stir the pot.

[Zach]

Yeah. Little seasoning, you know, Maybe a little.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, you did some seasoning.

[Zach]

Maybe a little over medium egg. No good moves, but some moves.

[PFT Commenter]

I love it. You're doing a little of this too much shoulders. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You have any idea how many steps you got in with the dancer?

[Zach]

I don't know. Stop tracking, though.

[PFT Commenter]

Good for you, Zach. Good for you.

[Zach]

May we have a boys dance night one time? That could be fun.

[PFT Commenter]

But we all should go solo. Oh, eight.

[Zach]

Eight or nine different spots and then report back.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Then Meet up and be like, how'd you guys dance tonight?

[Big Cat]

I mean, that's fun. This is how girls plan their hangouts together. They're just like, let's just go dance. Yeah.

[Zach]

They might be up to something.

[Big Cat]

Let's just go dance. Zach, good job.

[Zach]

It's free in pft.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. All right. Good show, boys. Great week. Get excited. We got. We got a lot going on. We're on the road. We're gonna. We're gonna. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this trip. Max, you got this trip. We got this.

[Bill Belichick]

I'm.

[Big Cat]

I'm confident Max is being a big baby. And let me just say for the record, Max would not. Max would not have lasted a second on this show in 2016 on Grit Week.

[Max]

I'm just trying harder, organized.

[Big Cat]

It was way harder trying to keep us organized. Yeah, Max, you're capable guy. You can handle. You can do all things.

[Bill Belichick]

Yep.

[Max]

Agreed.

[Big Cat]

Don't be a baby.

[PFT Commenter]

You got this.

[Max]

You got it.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, numbers. I got the. Pardon my balls. Shout out that guy. Shout out 2. 26, 77, 56. Jonah.

[Bill Belichick]

18.

[PFT Commenter]

18 it is. It's such a cool sight that he made 66. 66. Any birthdays at any point? Because, Max, homeless birthday's in November.

[Big Cat]

Maybe I was just. Maybe it was early. Are we sure it's in November?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

One of the websites had it as May 14.

[Max]

You're stalling right now because you don't have it.

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Big Cat]

You want to bet? I got birthdays right now. You want me to start? I'll start. Happy birthday, Travis Hunter.

[PFT Commenter]

Happy birthday, Hank's mom.

[Big Cat]

Happy birthday to Hank's mom. Happy birthday to Vince Young. Happy birthday to Mr. October. Reggie Jackson got fooled by an AI video the other day. Then on Tuesday, happy birthday to, I believe your dog Stella.

[PFT Commenter]

Stella's on Tuesday

[Bill Belichick]

cooked.

[Hank]

That's my mom's birthday.

[Big Cat]

Oh. Happy birthday to big Cat's dog and to Hank's mom. Also, happy birthday to Archie Manning. Kevin Garnett. London. Fletcher Baker. Mario Chalmers. Jojo Siwa. Sam Smith. Andre the Giant. Malcolm X. Shout out Malcolm X. Happy birthday on Tuesday. Is he still alive? He is. Shout out Malcolm X. And then also today, as we're doing this podcast, it's Matt Ryan's birthday. I made a list.

[PFT Commenter]

Let me see.

[Big Cat]

I made a list that somebody also helps me.

[PFT Commenter]

Is someone sending you all of these?

[Big Cat]

I. I have a list.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not.

[Big Cat]

I say, I don't want. I don't want to talk about who sent me the list, because then I

[PFT Commenter]

just went like this and they. Dude, someone's just sending them. All of them.

[Big Cat]

Max Homo might have been on the list from last week, so I don't want to throw this guy under the bus.

[PFT Commenter]

This guy. Whoever you are, do the right thing. Do the right thing and keep, keep.

[Big Cat]

Now we got to find a new guy. Yeah, now I got to find a new guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Keep doing it. Throw some random ones in there.

[Big Cat]

So that's a lot of birthdays.

[PFT Commenter]

Memes. What? Oh, no. I had the wrong day. Pulled up. I thought he missed Jaden Daniel's birthday,

[Bill Belichick]

but that's December 18th.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, okay. Yeah, well, he'll probably say it next week by accident. Happy birthday, Tina Fey.

[Big Cat]

Hit out the park.

[PFT Commenter]

Shout out Tina Fey.

[Big Cat]

Well, you got to think for Tina Fe. You guys look like you could be brother and sister.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, see everyone on Wednesday. Love you guys.