Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski, Adam Schefter At The Combine, National Sports Podcast Talk And Fyre Fest Of The Week

Summary

Pardon My Take – Episode Summary

Episode: Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski, Adam Schefter At The Combine, National Sports Podcast Talk And Fyre Fest Of The Week
Date: February 27, 2026

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Episode Overview

This lively episode of Pardon My Take brings together hosts Big Cat, PFT Commenter, and crew for a content-packed journey through NFL Combine week. The gang covers combine stories and quirks, shares tales from Indianapolis, discusses weird sports stats, debates modern sports podcasting, and celebrates the upcoming 10-year PMT anniversary.

Special guest segments feature an in-depth conversation with new Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski, exploring his transition, coaching philosophy, and classic “word salad” media answers. In addition, ESPN’s Adam Schefter joins for the annual combine sit-down—covering quarterback carousels, NFL rumors, coaching moves, and the business of sports, all delivered in characteristic Schefter style. The show closes with its traditional “Fyre Fest of the Week,” where the boys swap personal and professional mishaps.

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Key Segments & Timestamps

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1. NFL Combine Week Banter & Vibes

[02:00 – 18:34]

• The crew recaps their week in Indianapolis, sharing stories from dinner with friends (including IndyCar’s Conor Daly and ESPN’s JP Finley), combine measurement obsessions (arm length debates), Robert Saleh’s “she gets me while I'm sleeping” quip about his wife and eight kids [04:19], and the monotony of certain combine narratives.
• Discussion of road trip hijinks, third-eye blind singalong, seating hierarchy in the PMT “travel squad,” and pre-stream nerves ahead of the PMT ten-year anniversary live stream (with tattoos on the line) [11:01].
• Tattoo talk: As the pod approaches its 10-year anniversary, Big Cat and PFT debate new tattoos to memorialize their journey, with Hank reflecting on his own history of regrettable ink [12:07].
• Quote (on anniversary gifts):
  “There’s a wood one that’s like, wood might be wood. Yeah. Year by year. Let's figure this out.” – Big Cat [12:54]

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2. National Sports Podcast Talk

[18:34 – 35:53]

• Big Cat goes semi-nuclear on sports fandom, after losing sleep over Wisconsin’s defeat by Oregon due to late West Coast games:
  “You're a 41 year old grown man, and you're laying in bed angry about a fucking game that took place on the West Coast. Like, figure it out.” – Big Cat [19:05]
• Max commiserates over Villanova's bubble-watch anxiety, leading to a cathartic breakdown of college basketball seasonal stress and the futility of bracket obsession [21:05].
• Betting musings: Alabama’s “cheat-code” offense, St. John’s epic second-half collapse against UConn [23:56], “just take the over.”

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3. NFL Trades, Free Agency, and Rumor Mill

[25:24 – 33:49]

• Jets-Titans mini-fire-sale & trades: the value of rookie contracts and chess-piece defenses [25:30].
• NHL randoms: Connor McDavid’s media grill session and awkward post-national-team reunions [27:10].
• NBA “Crunk Juice” story time: Deandre Ayton’s motivational water bottle, Lakers’ weird psychology [29:40].
• Golf gossip: Bryson DeChambeau’s company-ownership overreach, and the perils of crossing “stubborn rednecks” in business [32:32].

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4. Interview: Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski

[37:05 – 74:55]

Main Topics & Insights

• Stefanski opens up about his 12-day unemployment, interview gauntlet, and finding the right “fit” in Atlanta, highlighting his steak dinner at Arthur Blank’s house—“He was outstanding on the grill.” [38:25]
• On not coaching next year:
  “I was totally open to all of it…if it’s not the right fit.” [37:49]
• Press conference jiu-jitsu:
  “You kept on just saying in press conferences, I understand the question, and then not answering the question. It’s a skill.” – Big Cat [44:31]
  “I understand the question, but I would not characterize it that way.” – Kevin Stefanski [44:36]
• On the new Falcons uniforms:
  “I love them. Big Cat won’t love them.” [47:34]
• Navigating the Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and front office dynamics; riffing on “President of Football” titles [43:18].
• Philly ties:
  “The fact that he’s from Philly doesn’t hurt…knowing what is important to Matt…a huge draw.” [44:01]
• Tricky journos – the “Truth Serum” game:
  “I understand the question and I respect that you’re asking it. I’m probably not going to answer it.” [45:00]

Notable Quotes

• On player relationships:
  “How I feel about those six seasons—were there things I wish I did differently? Of course. But I can’t tell you how lucky I am to coach…those three guys you just mentioned. Amazing people, and they did everything I asked them to do.” [50:55]
• On coaching philosophy:
  “Score a lot of points and control the football. …You better have a curveball to your fastball.” [62:27]
• On the ever-present “fake punt – punt” play concept:
  “If you fake the punt, everyone comes up and then you punt. They never expect it.” – Big Cat
  “I haven’t faked one since. You have some scars.” – Stefanski [70:03]
• Playoff win loophole debate:
  “You won a playoff game similar to how I won multiple national championships playing NCAA 14.” – Big Cat [65:17]
• On James Winston:
  “I love the person. He was so good to me, to our team, to that meeting room…he’s been in so many different systems…” [64:07]

Fun Bits

• Philly scumbag humor, arcane uniform teasers, tattoo dares, and wild personal stories (including COVID-era basement coaching, [66:37]).
• Debates about whether he “won” a playoff game during COVID while calling plays remotely [65:11].
• A PMT stat: Kyle Pitts’ annual single-touchdown increment—will Stefanski commit to “exactly 6” in 2026? (He will not, for the record) [54:09].

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5. Interview: Adam Schefter at the Combine

[76:25 – 134:56]

Main Topics

• Annual combine interview tradition: Schefter reveals airport/flight struggles, PMT boys gush over his legendary Christmas fleeces.
• NFL offseason rumor mill:
  • Andy Dalton market “buzz.”
  • Kirk Cousins’ and Mac Jones’ possible futures [80:31]—Minnesota, Jets, Niners.
  • Tua Tagovailoa’s Miami future and what a massive cap hit release would look like [82:02].
  • Early look at 2027 QBs, Arch Manning speculation—will another Manning force a team power play? [84:00]
• Draft dynamics—Mendoza consensus #1, when the “draft actually starts” [101:14].
• Ownership & stadium talk: Seahawks rumored $10B price tag post-Super Bowl win; Bears’ stadium location [103:20].
• Media/ESPN-NFL merger implications: Will ESPN have to soften criticism of the league if they absorb NFL media? [98:17]
• Schefter’s year-in-review: Right & wrongs, including the “McCaffrey first in three award categories” correction [95:48], and the Michigan coaching drama.
• Reporter life: Christmas list, Twitter beefs with Ian Rapoport, the burden of being an insider, and existential “are you happy” moment.

Notable Quotes

• “You can’t have all home run hitters. You’d have some singles hitters. And Andy Dalton… play defense.” – Adam Schefter, on boring NFL news [78:43]
• “The job is always evolving, and it’s a blessing to do…but it’s also a burden.” [131:41]
• “Would Jerry [O’Connell] rather win a fantasy football title or an Oscar? One he has a chance at.” [134:21]

Fun Bits

• PMT crew offers fake breaking news about Max Crosby trades; prompts a tongue-in-cheek chain of escalating trade “reports.”
• Town Hall Q&A—including why the Jets might struggle for years, why steakhouses make everyone old and gassy, and why Zach is now unreliable for ice cream tips.

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6. Fyre Fest Of The Week

[137:36 – End]

• Everyone’s Fyre Fest:
  • Hank forgets WiFi, mends fences, gets heartburn.
  • Big Cat contemplates “breaking up” with steakhouses after overindulgence and order regret [144:01].
  • PFT experiences a heartbreaking sundae letdown—Zach's bad hotel ice cream tip leaves him forlorn at the bar [151:15].
  • Zach, embarrassed by the ice cream gaffe, also possibly exposes himself accidentally to Indianapolis [160:09].
• Meta banter:
  • Debates over edit ownership in the PMT crew (Max vs. the world).
  • Allegiances over the Big Dom Philly saga.

Quotes

• “Every time I go [to a steakhouse], it's the same exact experience. I need to divorce myself for a little bit so I can fall back in love with it.” – Big Cat [144:01]
• “It was the most embarrassing I’ve ever felt about my health…having inaccurate sundae information and then being sad about it.” – PFT [153:31]
• “If I can make PFT laugh, he can make me laugh, we’re doing a good show.” – Big Cat [141:25]

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode features the classic PMT mix of sports obsession, absurdist banter, confessionals, and genuine insight. No one is safe from good-natured ribbing—not guests, not each other, not even the construct of sports fandom itself. Both Stefanski and Schefter are treated as “friends of the pod,” and play along with the hosts’ boundary-pushing questions and games.

Whether you come for the combine gossip, NFL rumor mill, or purely for the laughs and hijinks, this episode is overflowing with the PMT spirit—a celebration of sports weirdness, friendship, and hard-earned podcast wisdom.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• “You're a 41 year old grown man, and you're laying in bed angry about a fucking game that took place on the West Coast. Like, figure it out.” – Big Cat [19:05]
• "I understand the question, but I would not characterize it that way." – Kevin Stefanski [44:36]
• “Every time I go [to a steakhouse], it's the same exact experience. ...I need to divorce myself for a little bit so I can fall back in love with it.” – Big Cat [144:01]
• “I love the person. [Jameis Winston] was so good to me, to our team, to that meeting room…” – Kevin Stefanski [64:07]
• “You can’t have all home run hitters. You’d have some singles hitters. And Andy Dalton… play defense.” – Adam Schefter [78:43]

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Recommended Segments to Listen To

• Stefanski Interview: [37:05–74:55], especially tattoo talk [11:14], press conference evasiveness [44:31], and COVID-playoff win conundrum [65:11].
• Schefter’s Combine Segment: [76:25–134:56], including QB carousel [80:31], fake trade wars [87:00], and existential job reflections [131:24].
• Fyre Fest: [137:36 to end] for a classic dose of self-deprecating humor and behind-the-scenes PMT flavor.

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PMT delivers laughs, insights, and a unique snapshot of the NFL landscape and sports culture in this episode—a must-listen for dedicated fans, occasional listeners, and anyone interested in what really happens at the combine.

Transcript

[Big Cat]

Hey, pardon my take listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. On today's part of my take presented by DraftKings, we have a twofer for the people. We have an awesome interview with Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski, our good friend. Great, great time with him, hanging out with him. Tell some good stories, some good non answers in a very good Stefanski way. We kind of tried to ask him some tough stuff. We also have our annual review with Adam Schefter breaking down the past year. What he got wrong, what he got right. What's going on at the combine. We're going to do Fyre fest. We got some national sports podcasts to start and it's all brought to you by our friends at Game Time. The Game Time app gives the advantage back to fans hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. It's incredibly easy to use. The game time guarantee means you can Trust you'll get 100 authentic tickets on time at the best price. Plus fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay. We're looking at tickets for.

[Hank]

Hank, we are looking at tickets for. My phone is frozen.

[Memes]

Oh no, your phone froze.

[Big Cat]

Zach, you got some tickets.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Not good.

[Big Cat]

Zach, you got some tickets you could

[Zach]

get in this Sunday to see Bucks at bulls for just 59.

[Big Cat]

Wow,

[Memes]

it's the worst.

[Big Cat]

That's an amazing game time deal for great seats only on game time. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account use code PMT for $20 off. Your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account redeem code PMT for $20 off. Okay, let's go.

[Memes]

Part my take.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, part of my take. Welcome to Part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Friday, February 27th and boys, combine week is over.

[Memes]

What a combine week. What a week. What a just news breaking left and right at this combine we we have

[Big Cat]

great interview with Kevin Saansky and Adam Schefter. Pft, you stayed in Indianapolis an extra night. Do we did you glean any information? Did you get who'd you go to dinner with? What you do?

[Memes]

Yeah, I, I, I talked to a number of league circles and sources. I did go to the steakhouse. I went up there, I said yes, we have a reservation for cats. I believe it's a party of up to 8, but we have fewer than that. And they looked at me and they said sir, we don't have a reservation for cats. But it's all good because I ended up getting a reservation there on my own.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

From a good friend of the pod now, Connor Daly.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[Memes]

An IndyCar driver who was sitting there just having dinner. He said, what's up? He came up to me, goes, hey, my name is Connor Daly. I'm. I'm good friends with. With Oldie and one of your guest bookers, Jordan Berry. Nice. I was like, those are two great names to drop.

[Big Cat]

The best.

[Memes]

So had dinner with them. Rossini joined for a little bit. My good friend JP Finley from D.C. stopped by. So it was a good dinner.

[Big Cat]

That's weird. It says reservation completed.

[Memes]

Yeah, they said. They said, sir, we don't have a reservation.

[Big Cat]

Someone went there.

[Memes]

Someone took your. Your resi.

[Big Cat]

Someone took my res. He says, reservation completed February 25, which was Wednesday night. Huh. Okay.

[Memes]

But I'll say I didn't lose any

[Big Cat]

points on open table.

[Memes]

I'll say this Connor Daly, he is now the official IndyCar driver of part of my take. Love that he's the man. And all of his enemies are our enemies now.

[Big Cat]

So who else did you. Did you bump into anyone important? Did you talk to. Who'd you go to dinner with?

[Memes]

I just rubbed some elbas. Well, I sat down with. With Connor and. And his friend, and then Rossini and JP Finley from Nice from DC Stopped by. So. Yeah, there's really not a lot going on. Again, really, the big story was all about arm length. I just heard people talk about arm length as it pertains to Bane. Now he's the. He's a new arm length king, and they're comparing him to Aaron Donald. Maybe not so favorably to Aaron Donald, but it's like, if you're a defensive lineman, how much does arm length really matter?

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

Unless you're going up against somebody who's got short arms of their own on offense.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't. It didn't feel like. There was a ton of. A ton of, like, new news this week other than Robert Sala saying he might be. He might be assaulted in his sleep. He saw that, but he was asked, how many kids do you have?

[Memes]

He said, 8.

[Big Cat]

And the reporter asked, still going. He said, she gets me when I'm sleeping.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

So I don't know what that's about, but that was interesting. Kind of just like.

[Memes]

Kind of having a terrorist that lives in your house.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And then the other one was. I totally forgot this, but Derek Carr is still. That's a weird one.

[Memes]

He's Just.

[Big Cat]

That's a Jet.

[Memes]

Yeah, He's a name that people just kind of throw out there and they're like, hey, you remember this guy? He could still play.

[Big Cat]

Matt Memes, Jet. I take him at this point. Yeah. Wait, we got Ruben Bane's arm length.

[Memes]

We do, yeah. The arm length is his. Well, his hand is nine and an eighth inch.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

And he's got 30 and seven. Eight of an inch arm length.

[Big Cat]

Is that small, short.

[Memes]

It's 2 inches shorter than Aaron Donald. Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

I think he's the third shortest in NFL history. History.

[Memes]

In history. But they.

[Max]

Since 1999.

[Big Cat]

1999.

[Memes]

Sorry, apologies. But he's still a beast, is the thing. I think I was talking about offensive line play the other day with our good friend Sam Schwarzstein and how, you know, arm length doesn't always dictate everything. If you have a guy that's got short arms, that's playing tackle, it's not the end of the world. Unless maybe you also have a quarterback with tiny hands, in which case it's like synergy factors, right. Where if the guy with short arms can't block the guy and then the guy with tiny hands gets hit, more likely to fumble.

[Big Cat]

That's true.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's a fact.

[Hank]

How tall are your arms?

[Memes]

How tall are my arms? I don't know.

[Hank]

How long are your.

[Memes]

I don't know. When we did the measurement, I was one of, like, only two people. Frank the Tank had the best wingspan.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Wingspan ratio. But I had a positive wingspan ratio, which means I would guess like 5, 9.

[Big Cat]

Are you thinking about drafting PFT?

[Hank]

I was just curious.

[Memes]

What position?

[Big Cat]

I guess kicker.

[Hank]

I don't know.

[Memes]

Yeah. So you don't even really need arms.

[Hank]

I mean, if we had to draft

[Memes]

them, but how tall are your arms?

[Big Cat]

That sounded a little bit like you don't believe in PFT as a kicker.

[Hank]

I don't believe in PFT in anything.

[Memes]

How tall are your arms?

[Hank]

Taller than yours. Longer than yours. I got a good wingspan, big hands.

[Big Cat]

Good. By the way. We had a good. So. So the rest of us drove back on Wednesday afternoon night. I. I regret to report Hank slept through the entire windmill portion of the drive. Just didn't. Didn't see any of the windmills.

[Memes]

I as bad obsc.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't.

[Memes]

Those are your enemies. Hank.

[Big Cat]

And he was out. I asked.

[Memes]

He had to drop on you like.

[Big Cat]

I asked him a question. We were talking. The car was me, Katie, Che, and Hank. So Hank was sitting behind me. So I asked him a question, and we were talking. About something. And then maybe like 20 minutes later, I was like, hank, look, the windmills. And Che was just like, dude, he's been asleep for, like, 19 minutes. Like, he. He basically answered my question and then just, boom, powered down.

[Hank]

So I do remember being like, hank's asleep. And I'd be like, I'm not asleep.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He yelled at me because there was this one stretch of the drive where it looked like we were driving into a windmill. So I wanted my boy to see. I was like, oh, yeah, this is sick. We're driving into a windmill. I was like, oh, no, Hank's asleep. He's just angry's like, I'm not asleep. Not asleep, dad.

[Memes]

Swear to God, Hank just got bodied by the windmill, so.

[Big Cat]

Hank, you asleep?

[Memes]

You got to keep an eye open around those things. Yeah, I. I did do something incredible this morning. I checked out of a hotel.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[Memes]

I checked out. I was just. I got off the elevator, I walked past the desk, and I thought to myself, there's nobody in line. There's a guy that's, like, watching me walk past him. So go. Hey, room 901. Check it out.

[Big Cat]

And the guy.

[Memes]

The guy's like, thank you.

[Big Cat]

Oh, nice.

[Memes]

And so it took about three seconds.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[Memes]

Out of the hotel room. I feel like I did my good deed for the day.

[Big Cat]

That's huge.

[Hank]

I mean, credit to big Cat.

[Big Cat]

He does.

[Hank]

You guys both have sick cars now, but Big Cat's got heated seats in the back.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah, that puts me right. Right out.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Finally got the sick car. Sick cars tag from Hank, which felt good. We also continued our second year, second annual tradition of. With an hour dry hour of the drive left. We did third eye Blind, self titled, no skips.

[Memes]

That's good.

[Big Cat]

And it was awesome. Stephen, Che, and I just singing every single song. It's great. Great vibes.

[Memes]

It's really good.

[Big Cat]

Great vibes. So, yeah, it was good, good, good. Combine week.

[Hank]

Max Ubered Zach home.

[Big Cat]

You did?

[Max]

Oh, no, that was. That was when we were still at the combine.

[Big Cat]

Oh, we had to.

[Max]

We had to go for. We had to go for a drive. It was just me and Zach, and Zach decided to go exact Uber style of. There was an open seat.

[Big Cat]

He went back, and he went.

[Max]

He went back. Passenger seat.

[Big Cat]

Damn.

[Zach]

We were loading the trunk, so my brain just went back to road trip mode. I thought I was supposed to, like, get slotted in the spot.

[Memes]

Yeah, yeah, you're.

[Big Cat]

You could have been a front seat guy. You're big enough.

[Zach]

I got short legs, but it's almost. It would be like we were going.

[Max]

We were going from one destination to another where it was just the two of us.

[Big Cat]

But like the front seat guy is. It's. I think status is one like PFT sits in my front seat when we drive somewhere. And then biggest guy too, like kick sat in the front seat. I think that's what you have to do. If a quick check of like status then. But then size. No, but I think if it's like

[Hank]

if, if, if someone's getting in the car first, they, they just kind of get it.

[Memes]

Status doesn't really. I always.

[Hank]

Look, status only applies if you're all getting in at the same time.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

And also if I'm getting into the car at the same time, like if Max is on the same ride or if Katic or somebody tall, I'll be like, yeah, I'll sit in the back.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

It doesn't make sense for me to sit shotgun.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was good, but it was a good trap.

[Memes]

Great trip. Oh, and also so at dinner we're just chilling and friend of the program Daniel Ricardo called Connor Daly during the day.

[Big Cat]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Memes]

And he said to give his best to Big Cat and also to glasses McAdams.

[Big Cat]

Oh, nice.

[Memes]

I guess what he calls me Nice. That's a pretty good nickname. I think if you say an Australian accent, I'm sure it sounds great. Very cool places. McAdams.

[Big Cat]

Boys, how are we feeling? We're. We're mere hours away from the stream starting. So how are we feeling overall? The stream is starting 8am on our YouTube Central Time. Zach and Max in the, in the office. How are we feeling?

[Max]

I feel great. I'm excited. I think it's going to be fun.

[Big Cat]

The.

[Hank]

Do you have 36 hours planned? Yeah.

[Memes]

Are you guys going to be doing all the things together? Like is this a partnership?

[Max]

Well, I'm only there for 18, so

[Memes]

in those 18 hours, your partners and.

[Max]

Yeah. Yes, we're. We're doing a lot.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

What about if we come in? Are we partners?

[Max]

Everyone's going to be involved.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay. PFCI are going to get tattoos at some point, which I don't think will be. You guys will. I don't want us getting tattoos. Probably boring. Maybe it's just us getting tattoos in the background.

[Max]

That's probably what.

[Big Cat]

What it'll be which I think is better. But yeah, we're gonna.

[Memes]

We'll.

[Big Cat]

Because we're getting. I think. What is it Sunday or Saturday is the official 10 year anniversary of Pardon my take the first. First recording a part of My takes. I'm going to get Vanny Woodhead on my arm.

[Memes]

The vaniversary.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I'm excited.

[Memes]

I'll get the, the back tire.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Hank again, another chance.

[Hank]

I've had a tattoo of part of my take long before you guys.

[Big Cat]

Right, but you don't anymore. But any chance to maybe make this, this whole relationship official.

[Hank]

I'll think about it.

[Big Cat]

We'll see.

[Hank]

We'll see when he gets here. I don't know. I, I, I, I've gotten a tattoo removed and I don't really want to get another one.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

Why would you get one removed?

[Hank]

Because I got it on my inner thigh and it was of a dead goldfish, not an alive goldfish. And I got it so that I could wear shorts and it covered it up.

[Big Cat]

What about like.

[Hank]

And then the short shorts trend came back in and all of a sudden I was wearing shorts and had a half dead goldfish poking out. And then I would have to explain to like people like, what is that on your leg?

[Memes]

And I just got sick of it.

[Hank]

So I got it removed.

[Memes]

Yeah. I'm saying why would you have to get another one removed though? Like this time?

[Adam Schefter]

I don't know.

[Hank]

I didn't think I was gonna have to get the first one removed.

[Memes]

Maybe this time you just don't get a corpse on your body.

[Big Cat]

Should we maybe get like, do you want to maybe get us like a necklace or something? We could all wear a friendship bracelet.

[Memes]

What?

[Big Cat]

To the 10 year anniversary. What's the, what's the, what are you supposed to get for 10 year anniversary? That's a you guys question.

[Memes]

Silver 25, I think.

[Big Cat]

So you want us to get you something? All right, let me see. Anniversary gifts. There's a wood one that's like wood might be wood. Yeah. Year by year. Let's figure this out.

[Memes]

Get your subscription to Roman.com.

[Big Cat]

okay. Wood, Tin, aluminum.

[Memes]

Oh, okay. Get some tin, some beer.

[Big Cat]

Why don't we get some.

[Hank]

I'll get a, I'll get a lighthouse. I'll get a small lighthouse.

[Big Cat]

You're going to get a lighthouse tattoo?

[Hank]

Somewhere in my body.

[Big Cat]

Let's go. That, that's meaningful. I love that. What are you getting?

[Hank]

Pfd.

[Memes]

I'm gonna get the, the back tire of any woodhead. Yeah, it's gonna maybe the first line of Freebird if there's enough time.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, I think I'm gonna get some lyrics too. I'm gonna get, I'm gonna, I'm gonna end up with. I think I just, I like having tattoos I don't know.

[Memes]

I'm gonna end up with a full sleeve.

[Big Cat]

I don't know if I'll ever end up with full sleeve, but I'm. I'm. I'm probably gonna end up with about five or six.

[Memes]

I'm thinking about doing a plaid half sleeve at some point. That'd be awesome.

[Big Cat]

That'd be cool. Okay, so stream going to be set, tattoos set. Anything else?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Clerical work. Anything.

[Big Cat]

Anything else we got to be ready for for the stream. Get excited. It's going to be awesome. We'll pop in every now and then.

[Max]

The part of my Annie Paso has been made.

[Memes]

Love that.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[Memes]

Zach, are you doing any. Are you planning any pre sleep?

[Zach]

I'm thinking good night rest this evening so we can go in full charge batteries tomorrow.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Max]

Zach's also gonna be able to sleep while I'm still there. He's gonna. He's gonna sleep.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

And we're gonna. We're gonna get him all set up in the booth.

[Big Cat]

I would like to test out. If we could do. If I could make a request. I would like to test out Zach telling Zach a specific time to wake up. And let's just see. We'll give it. You know, obviously we'll eventually wake him up. So you can't sleep the whole time, but let's just say he falls asleep at 2am and be like, Zach, you got to get up at 6 and just see if his alarm clock. Body. Alarm clock is even close.

[Zach]

So don't use the alarm clock.

[Max]

Yeah, we were thinking about the bomb so that people could see.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think you do the bot like. So let's say it's two to six, Right. I think you set the bomb for seven and see if Zach can somehow get up on his own in that six to seven range. Just see.

[Zach]

So you want my body to wake up at 6, but the alarm to go off at 7, right?

[Big Cat]

Right. Yeah. Like just. Just test it out. Just give you a specific time and. And we could have people in the chat be like, guessing to see if they're close. Like, give us your exact time prediction for when Zach's going to wake up between six and seven. No, he's going to get up at seven, but let's see if he can get up at, you know, we'll say 6, and it's like people guess 6, 10, 6, 12, you know, whatever.

[Zach]

You want some insider info?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

My body has no chance awaken of no alarm.

[Big Cat]

That's some good.

[Zach]

I'll keep things honest.

[Memes]

What if you go to bed at like 9, though.

[Big Cat]

That'd be a terrible stream.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That'd be bad.

[Zach]

I think that'd be a bad time.

[Max]

He is going to bed at 9.

[Big Cat]

He's going to be at 9pm Because

[Max]

I'm leaving at 2am oh.

[Big Cat]

So it'll be. So he's got to wake up. So he was going to go bed at nine. First of all, there's no way you're going to bed at 9 knowing, you

[Zach]

know, I don't think there's a shot I fall asleep at 9 o' clock with. We're going to head to pillow at nine.

[Big Cat]

All right, so we'll say one o'. Clock. You have to wake up and then the bomb will be set for two. So we're going to try to get your body to wake you up at one. Naturally.

[Max]

Yeah, we'll do 1:30. We'll give them. Give them 30 minutes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we'll give you extra 30 minutes.

[Hank]

Fun fact about the actually less the first episode of part of my take One week before I was in Latvia.

[Memes]

Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

What's the actual date that it was Posted? Is it March 1st?

[Hank]

I have a promo for March 2nd.

[Big Cat]

I think it might have been posted March.

[Hank]

We were in the airport March 1st leaving Austin.

[Big Cat]

So then we recorded February 29th.

[Hank]

Yeah. But I think it got posted March 2nd.

[Big Cat]

Got it. Okay, so that's the official post date of the first. You all the hottest takes the stomach of your brain can handle live.

[Memes]

I would like to kill John Coon just so other people can realize how much they've loved them.

[Big Cat]

You're wrong about everything you know about sports.

[Memes]

A tombstone is just a participation trophy for dying.

[Big Cat]

Who has time for sex these days?

[Memes]

Listeners are incredibly stupid.

[Big Cat]

Okay, that was.

[Hank]

That was the problem.

[Big Cat]

Great promo. I cannot believe this worked.

[Memes]

Initially. Original.

[Big Cat]

Holy.

[Memes]

Not an intercourse.

[Big Cat]

I would never listen to that podcast. Okay, before we do some national sports podcasts and we get Kevin Savansky And Adam Schefter, DraftKings DraftKings sportsbook puts you right in the middle of basketball's biggest star driven moments. The moments when the ball finds the superstar and the game turns in a heartbeat, stars heat up. Stars take over. And with DraftKings, you're ready to move when they do. Bet player props bet. Live. From the opening tip to the final possession, every bucket, every dime, every takeover matters. And DraftKings sports for keeps you connected as the action unfolds. And when a game turns fast, DraftKings has your back with early exit. If your player gets injured anytime in the first half, your Bet stays alive and once it settles, you'll still get paid in cash. That's built in protection for star driven bets backed by DraftKings new customers. Bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you'll get 200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use code TAKE so you're ready for the moment. That's code TAKE. Turn five bucks into 200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER, NEW YORK. Call 877-8-HOPE and WHY or text HOPE and WHY CONNECTICUT. Call 888-78977 or ccpg.org on behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required for additional terms and responsible gaming resources. See DKNG Co Audio limited Time offer.

[Big Cat]

Okay. National Sports Podcast. I briefly retired from sports this morning. Last night I. I briefly retired from sports.

[Memes]

Why is that?

[Big Cat]

Well, first of all, fuck Kevin Warren, fuck TV executives for making the west coast teams join the Big Ten. I stayed up till midnight watching the Badgers lose a game they should never have lost to Oregon. And I went to bed. When I say I went to bed angry, I went to bed furious. I was actually furious that they had lost that game. And, and the whole time I'm thinking to myself, what are you doing, dude? You have a great life. You have three wonderful kids, you have a great wife, you're happy, you're healthy, all these things. You're a 41 year old grown man and you're laying in bed angry about a fucking game that took place on the West Coast. Like, figure it out. So I retired. I retired in my head.

[Memes]

You had a bad loss.

[Big Cat]

And I woke up in the morning and I was still retired. I woke up. You know the thing where it's like, hey, I got to take some time away from the game.

[Memes]

You slept on it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I slept on it, woke up, still retired. I unretired around like 8:45 this morning. But it was just, it was a debacle. I was even. I have like a group text with all my, my like best friends from college and some of them are like, you know, some of them watch every game, some of them don't. One of the ones that doesn't watch every game texted, oh, I didn't re. Like the start of the game was like, oh, I didn't realize Oregon's this bad. And then I'm pretty sure he just went to sleep right away. So then he woke up to about 20 texts from me being like, fuck you, dude. Why'd you say that? You jinxed us.

[Memes]

That's actually a great life hack to just fall asleep when, when your team takes a lead.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

And as far as you know, when you go to bed, you won.

[Big Cat]

But it's just so in max, you, you're going through a similar thing where this is the time of year where it's, it's, it's pathetic when you have a college basketball team in the tournament, on the bubble, wherever it may be. It's pathetic. The amount of energy I spend, like pouring over brackets, pouring over net rankings resumes. It's so fucking stupid. I gotta find a hobby. I gotta do something else. But I'm actually unretired, so I'm not gonna do anything else. But like, I, I spent all, all week being like, oh man, if they can win out, we'll be like, oh, maybe a five seed, maybe a four seed. Now it's like, oh, now we're six, maybe a seven and eight, max. You're going through the same thing right now with Villanova.

[Max]

Villanova and Wisconsin are the exact opposite teams in that like Villanova beats every single team that they should be.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

Can't beat a good team and then you guys lose bad games but have like the best wins in the country.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Max]

So it's like, it's very frustrating. Like, it's very frustrating for me when I get really excited for a big game and it's like, this is when we're finally going to win and then we lose. So that gets frustrating. But like, I don't have the highs that you have, but I don't have any of the lows.

[Big Cat]

Like the not being able to sleep and being angry. Yeah, but so Villanova is getting fucked because they basically are just going through the exact same thing where last week UConn lost the Creighton. Then they had a very classic bounce back game against Villanova on Saturday. This week, if you watch the St. John's Yukon game on, on Wednesday night, St. John's was maybe the worst team I've ever seen in that second half. It was terrible.

[Max]

I think they made, I think they made two field goals in the second half. That might be an exaggeration, but I,

[Big Cat]

I think seven, they had seven points with five and a half minutes left.

[Max]

I think it was like up until this point, they, they for like 16 minutes. They'd made two baskets and.

[Big Cat]

And Rick Patino actually, like, he gave a hint to it in the fact that he did you see the tweet he had earlier in the day where he's like, we had breakfast as a team with the chaplain and all this stuff, and everyone was on their phones. The most bad vibes tweet ever. And I thought maybe he was doing it as, like a misdirection. No, he was spot on. Yeah. Here it is. Just finished breakfast in Hartford with the team. Thirteen players, five coaches, and a special priest all looking at their phones. No conversing, next to discussion. Coming with my wonderful group.

[Max]

Is that a shot at this? At the priest?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it sounds like he was on there, too.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

What if the priest was just doing, like, Candy Crush? The priest was on Tick tock. Priest was keeping up with clavicular.

[Memes]

A special priest.

[Big Cat]

Special priest.

[Memes]

So is this. It's not the normal team priest, substitute

[Big Cat]

priest, but yeah, this is the time of year if you're. If you're a fan of college basketball, if you have a specific team and you are anywhere in that five to bubble. Every game just feels so demoralizing if you lose and so great if you win. It's just. It's just hard to. I mean, that we had. What was the other. Oh, Alabama, by the way, is a cheat code if you want to get in on it. It's just betting their overs. They just never stop missing. This has been like, oh, two weeks now. They're over. Under for the first half was 45 and a half points last night. They scored 69 in the first half. In the first half in Florida. I'm going to keep banging the drum for Florida. Florida just goes. Florida was in it with Texas. It was a tie game at like 61. Then you looked up and they were up by 15.

[Memes]

Yeah, I'm all in right now. The Cougars, the Jayhawks. And I think I might hit the Huskies, too.

[Big Cat]

I hit the Huskies.

[Memes]

I might hit the Huskies.

[Big Cat]

Offense is scary to be able to trust in a. In a single elimination tournament, but their defense is awesome. Here's the stat. St. John scored 14 points in the second half. They made two total field goals in the second half and did not hit a single shot for the last 17:28 of the game. UConn was up 41:26 at halftime. They could have dribbled out the shot clock every possession and still won the game. 41:40. That's insane.

[Max]

Ryan Hammer.

[Big Cat]

I think Ryan Hammer's awesome. Yeah. No, he's Great.

[Memes]

It's also crazy that this is. This is the exact same problem that St. John's had last year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

It's like they don't have anybody that can make a shot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

And Patino has. We're just running back. We're just going to do the same thing, expect a better result.

[Big Cat]

Can I give you another team to just kind of just little tickler file. If you want to. If you want to look. And I think this would be a very fun tournament storyline if this happens. Arkansas has been playing some really good basketball.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Really good basketball.

[Memes]

Got one of the best players in the country.

[Big Cat]

They lost that game in double overtime to Alabama where they basically ran out of guys. But since, you know, outside that one, they've won five of six. Now the SEC is a little down this year, but Cal. Cal in the Final Four would be great.

[Memes]

It would be great.

[Big Cat]

It would be fantastic.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Great.

[Big Cat]

So, yeah, college basketball is fun.

[Memes]

Another.

[Big Cat]

Unless you. Unless your team loses at midnight. Kevin Warren.

[Memes]

Another national sports podcast. Congratulations Memes. I think. I think the jets fleece the Titans. Is that a 4?

[Big Cat]

What did you guys do?

[Adam Schefter]

I think it's a win, win, win, win, win plus.

[Big Cat]

For the Jets, I'll say win plus.

[Memes]

Win plus.

[Big Cat]

Win plus.

[Memes]

What's a win plus?

[Big Cat]

So they traded for Tavandre Sweat. He has two years left on his contract.

[Memes]

Jermaine Johnson only had one year left on his contract. That's the plus. Got it. And that's the reason why you traded Jermaine Johnson. Because he was on a. He was on the last year of his rookie deal. You weren't gonna offer him, so you got.

[Big Cat]

Might as well get something for him. Got it. Did you guys like a chess piece?

[Memes]

They're also.

[Big Cat]

They're also having a mini fire sale right now.

[Memes]

A mini fire.

[Big Cat]

Mini fire sale. A quick little mini fire sale. Mini. Did you guys see the very mean question that the reporter asked Connor McDavid?

[Memes]

No, but I. I have seen some speculation that maybe Auston Matthews is not happy playing in Canada anymore.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Well, it's funny watching these guys go back to their.

[Memes]

Yeah, well, hey, Austin, we'll take you if you want to win. If you don't want your manager all up in your videos. Mm. Come to the United States.

[Big Cat]

Brady Chuck was funny. We're just like, yeah. It's like I, you know, they hated me. I was the villain. But now I'm back. I'm gonna do. It's just pretending. I don't know if it was him specifically who said to close the borders but it might have.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, I love Brady Tkachuk. This was the question. Can you go back? Can you get the question in this. This is a question that Connor McDavid was faced with when he got back to the Oilers.

[Memes]

Let's see.

[Hank]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Play it a hard question, but, you know, Stanley Cups found Gretzky and Crosby and those guys. A hard question, but, you know, Stanley Cups found Gretzky and Crosby and those

[Kevin Stefanski]

guys and gold medals and found.

[Memes]

And put yourself in position, and it's not finding you. Did you think it would be this hurt?

[Big Cat]

Nice question. Thank you. Yeah.

[Memes]

It hasn't found you yet.

[Big Cat]

It hasn't found you. Did you think it'd be this hard to win?

[Memes]

Do you think it's looking for you? Oh, are you doing. Doing everything you can to help it find you?

[Big Cat]

Brutal question.

[Memes]

You got a tag on? You got your GPS turned on, Connor? Yeah, that's. That's a terrible, terrible question. Yeah, I'm just. I'm glad that I'm getting my. My boy Tom Wilson back away from the bad influence that. That thug Sidney Crosby, and he'll get back to playing good, clean hockey instead of doing that. That just absolute trash stuff that he was doing on. On the Canadian team.

[Big Cat]

It's got to be a little awkward going back if you have teammates that you just went against. I saw there was a reporter for the Sharks posted a picture from 2010 after Canada beat the US and it was all the. It was like Joe Thornton and a bunch of guys who had just won the gold medal for Canada, and it was like all the Sharks taking a picture with their medals, and they made Joe Pavelski take a picture with the silver. It was like, five gold medals. Than him standing there with the silver

[Memes]

sounds just as bright.

[Big Cat]

It's fucking brutal. Brutal.

[Memes]

I hope a Stanley cup finds him at some point.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I hope he, like, bumps into one.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Just happens. Ryan Whitney, we're rooting for you, dude. We got your back, man. Ryan Whitney, we got your back. He's. He deserves some. I do think we're getting to the point where I actually would be happy for Connor McDavid because it has been so much heartbreak.

[Memes]

I would, too.

[Big Cat]

He's lost the cup two years in a row and lost the gold medal and has two MVPs to show from it.

[Memes]

I would. I would love to see him with the Stanley Cup. I think it'd be even better if it was for a different team, though. I think that that would really piss Whitney off the most.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Last thing I had. Unless anyone else has anything else. You guys see deandre Ayton because, you know, he. Yeah, he needs. He needs motivation to play basketball.

[Hank]

This is what you. It sounds like what you would do for your kid.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So, deandre Ayton, the story goes that the Lakers training staff has wrapped his water bottle in tape and they write Da's Crunk Juice drink this to unleash the beast. So they're basically tricking him into drinking water and also tricking him to being like, hey, this will get you to actually try.

[Memes]

Is that true? Is that real or did you get settled?

[Big Cat]

I did. I.

[Memes]

This feels like it could be a sentence.

[Big Cat]

I don't know if I got sent old. I'm going to.

[Memes]

I hope it's real.

[Big Cat]

Let's see for the record. No, that's. That's a real reporter. That's a real reporter. No, that's. Yeah, David's a very real reporter.

[Memes]

Da's crunk juice.

[Big Cat]

Da's crunk juice.

[Memes]

Drink this. Unleash the beast.

[Big Cat]

He also so funny.

[Memes]

He kind of looks like he's like 50 years old too.

[Big Cat]

All right, I'm gonna look, I'm gonna make sure. Yeah, this, this was a. This was a real report from Dave McBennamin. I love that. They also. Did you see the Lakers hired Tony Bennett?

[Memes]

I did see that. As a consultant. I don't know how he's going to consult because it looks like the Lakers might be broken right now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

So it's kind of a. Unless it's for next year. Like, what are you doing the off season to rebuild the team? I don't think he's going to fix anything right now because LeBron and Luke are just. They don't play well. Disaster. Yeah. They're both doing pretty good when the other guy's not on the court.

[Adam Schefter]

This is.

[Memes]

There's just one ball, though.

[Big Cat]

This is so funny that this is actually.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

The Lakers have stoked that ego to Rob Polinka, team President, Basketball Operations General Manager commission a black T shirt with a gold screen print depicting half of a lion's face and half of Aiden's face that he presented to the 27 year old members of the training staff. Rap Eaton's water bottle and athletic tape and write Da's Crunk Juice drink this to unleash the beast. So they're just.

[Memes]

I love it.

[Big Cat]

They're at the point where they just have to do. It's almost like college football gimmicks to try to get him to play basketball.

[Memes]

Here's the hydration chain. DeAndre.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

You drink some water, you get to wear the necklace.

[Big Cat]

We're very close to having to have deandre Aiden show up in a blue collar, actual blue collar. They might actually put a blue collar around the jersey and be like, hey, man, we really need you.

[Memes]

The Bucks did that for a little bit. They. Yeah, you could do the. The name on the shirt. Like you work at a mechanics, but you could physically clock in and clock out. Didn't. Didn't tips do that?

[Big Cat]

Tips did that.

[Memes]

Yeah. Like an actual time.

[Big Cat]

No, that was Jim Boylan.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Jim Boylan had an actual time.

[Memes]

Yeah. Punch in, punch out. Like a give out the lunch pail award. You can, you can do this all la. You can. You can handle this for the rest of the season. It's just not going to work for you.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man.

[Memes]

There's another.

[Big Cat]

I just had to think about Jim. Growth plates. That was his big, big thing. Growth plates.

[Memes]

There's another. A golf story that maybe we want to discuss. Bryson and LA Golf.

[Big Cat]

What happened?

[Memes]

They broke up.

[Big Cat]

Wait, L. A Golf is.

[Memes]

It was run by the same guy,

[Hank]

like an equipment company.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, got it.

[Memes]

It was run by the guy.

[Big Cat]

I thought it was a live team.

[Hank]

No. You know how he has like all his custom, like 3D printed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Shafts and all that.

[Big Cat]

Weird.

[Memes]

Yeah. So it's run by the same guy that. That does those bats. The custom bats from Louisiana.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

What are they called, Hank?

[Hank]

The Mizunos.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So I know that guy. I like that guy.

[Memes]

So Bryson.

[Hank]

This is hilarious.

[Memes]

Bryson tried to take over the company. So he was. He was. He had like a partnership with his 2% ownership. A 2% ownership. And then he said that he was going to walk away from the deal unless he got 51. So his business, Bryson's business consultant coached him to try to get 51 of the company.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

That he had a 2% deal with. And the other guy said, you. And they just broke up. So now Bryson doesn't have any merch. Now his merch is going to be trash for a little bit until it's gear, his equipment. So like, like clubs, clubs, everything. Yeah, that's tough.

[Big Cat]

So he just came in and just said, I want the company.

[Hank]

The article said that he hired. I think it was from the interview is from the perspective of the. The owner, the LA Golf owner was like, yeah, he hired this new agent or representative or whatever who was like super Hollywood and like a finance guy that just came in and was like, we want 51. And he was like, no, no.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Yeah, so it was. It's a consultant that Bryson got in and he. He tried to get the 51, and then the guy that runs the bat company said, I don't think he realized that he's dealing with redneck. There's no path for that. They played chicken, and now we're gonna have to part ways.

[Big Cat]

I love that.

[Memes]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[Memes]

Love it. I'm team Redneck. Yes.

[Big Cat]

Big time. By the way, Brady Chuck confirmed. Did not say close to Northern Porter. Yeah, he did an interview. I just wanted to make sure I got that right.

[Memes]

Okay. Yeah, good, good.

[Big Cat]

Someone else did. Who cares? Who cares? Stan Lee. Who cares? But, yeah, this is. This is great. That Bryson. So he's. He got in a battle with a redneck that he just couldn't win.

[Memes]

Couldn't win. You can't win a battle with it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

No.

[Big Cat]

Good for that guy.

[Memes]

Rednecks will walk away.

[Big Cat]

Stand up to him. What the. Why would you. Come on, man. Bryson, don't be a dick. Oh, wait, he is.

[Hank]

Yeah, that's right.

[Memes]

Don't start.

[Hank]

He comes back.

[Big Cat]

Good. We kind of need him to be a bad boy again.

[Hank]

Not a bad boy, just a. Yeah.

[Memes]

Guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Yeah. We need him to be the doofus again.

[Big Cat]

It is fun when he's a dick. What's the. What's the Big guy? Is there a golf tournament this weekend?

[Memes]

Small one.

[Hank]

Cogs Brooks is in it. Okay, Big one.

[Big Cat]

And Max.

[Memes]

Max.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we gotta get it going.

[Memes]

I bet on Max this weekend. Come on, Max. We believe in you.

[Big Cat]

What? What? What is it?

[Memes]

Cognizant, right?

[Hank]

I think there's, like, four people that played in last week's tournament. In this tournament.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Which means it's. It's kind of like. Because last week was a signature event.

[Big Cat]

Let's just get it. Let's get the boys in shape. Yeah, let's get the boys going. Okay. Let's get to our interviews. We got great interviews. Kevin Stefanski and then Adam Schefter. Before we do that, a quick word from our friends at Twisted Tea. We love Twisted Tea. Well, listen, I didn't. I didn't love the Oregon Wisconsin game or any part of it, but I would have loved if I had some twisted teas. I should have had some twisted teas. Last night would have been less angry. Twisted Tea is the best. It's a refreshing, hard iced tea made with real Brewed tea and 5% alcohol. Twisted tea is a perfect drink to keep the good times going all day and all season long. Whether you're hanging out at a friend's house, catching a game at the stadium or at the bar or day drinking with friends. Twisted T is there to turn your day up a notch and make a good time, a great time. Grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today. We love the original. We love the half and half the Peach. They're all great. It's Twisted Tea. It's almost Ritz Ritz. Getting there.

[Kevin Stefanski]

The, the.

[Big Cat]

I think it's gonna be 60 degrees in Chicago on Friday. It's Twisted T season, big time. We're also brought to you by our friends at Chevy. Football season might be over, but you know how it goes. The minute the big games end, we're already talking about what's next. Free agency, the draft, who's getting paid, who's grinding. Because for football guys, there is no offseason. And that's exactly why they roll with the Chevy Silverado. Silverado is a truck that shows up every time, built a haul, tow, and take a beating. But smartware accounts with modern tech that makes life easier. Big screens, available, camera views that help with the. The towing and parking, and a cabin that feels right. Whether you're road tripping, heading to practice, or loading up for the weekend. During the season, it's the MVP of the tailgate. After the season, it turns into your training camp truck hauling gear, tackling home projects, and doing the work that never stops. Because the grind doesn't take breaks and neither does Silverado. Check out the current offers and build your own chevy [e-mail]. okay, here he is, Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski. Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest. Recurring guest. He's just in a different place now. It's Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski. Coach, great to see you. First question, you were unemployed for 12 days.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Was it, was it 12?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, 12. I counted.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. I was on the road quite a bit. I was in and out of buildings, talking to different people. But, yeah, it felt longer than 12.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, 12 is pretty quick. That was. You were a hot commodity. That had to feel. That had to feel good.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You know, it was cool, honestly, just getting in other buildings and talking to other people. Like sitting down in Baltimore with Eric Dacosta, with Ozzie, knew some, like, great people going down to Miami, meeting with. With those guys, Tennessee, obviously, with Atlanta, like, they're good people throughout this league and to be able to be. I zoomed with Tom Brady and the Raiders like that. The fun part for me was just getting to talk shop with other teams and because there's good people everywhere.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Did you think that, like, for a moment, like, maybe I just won't coach next year?

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Oh, without a doubt. You know, right when everything went down, I talked to my agent. I'm like, listen, I'm ready if an opportunity comes up. I'm also ready to sit out if it's not the right fit. I could go be an offensive coordinator if that's what. What comes down. Down the line. Like, I was totally open to all of it. When you start talking to everybody and then you get to Atlanta and you start talking to Matt Ryan, like, Matt and I are wired very similarly. Just how he thought about the game and spent time with Arthur Blank and understand the resources that he has for this football team. The fit was there for me.

[Memes]

And he cooked you a hell of a steak. How good was their blank?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Outstanding. I gotta give Arthur credit. He was outstanding on the grill. And I thought he was kidding. He's like, I'm gonna go grill. I'm like, there's no way Arthur's going to grill these steaks. And sure enough, here he comes back in with this. I saw him. He had him on the grill himself. Brought him back in. I'm like, that's pretty damn impressive.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Was it medium rare?

[Big Cat]

Rare.

[Kevin Stefanski]

We went medium. I think most of the table went medium.

[Memes]

Kept it safe.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that's kind of easy.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Hey, I wasn't asking. We weren't at Capital Grill.

[Memes]

Well, he's got. I would imagine that he has the best grill, being the Home Depot guy.

[Adam Schefter]

Right.

[Memes]

He probably has several grills.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It was a pretty good grill. Has. Also has good wine, if you believe it.

[Memes]

So.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, they treated me very nicely.

[Big Cat]

Who initiated afterwards when you guys took the picture of the hands on the shoulders.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You are so obsessed with pictures.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

And. And the. And where I am in these pictures.

[Memes]

We'll get to Jim Schwartz's nipples in a second.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That's another thing. Maybe I need to consult with you, like, in any picture. Maybe it's like a quick FaceTime.

[Big Cat]

Listen, I mean, the coach's picture's coming up. I would still like to give you an outfit. My outfit that I tried to pick for you. Came too late. I. I don't know if you'd still look. You're. Maybe we'll do it next year when you've.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Does everybody know this story?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Well, I think I've told it that we're. There was a year. I do the coaches blog every year, and Coach Stefanski was nice enough. He's like, hey, if you pick me out an outfit, I'll.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'll try to. I'll try to work it in. Within reason.

[Big Cat]

Within reason. I did not do it. Within reason. I think it was, like, brown and orange plaid. I got, like, Scooby Doo suit.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I got the Tasmanian devil. Cat sent me pictures or T shirts with pictures of the old pictures, the coaching pictures on them, and then some of these shirts, which I'm sure were cool.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

But I'm looking at these. Like, I can't wear the shirt. So we go down there to where was this couple years ago? Orlando. So I'm like, I can't do this. Like, this shirt is. I said within reason. I'm gonna hurt Cat. Big Cat's feelings. I'm not gonna wear it. So, sure enough, this is a true story. So it's like this. It's like Monday. This coach's picture is on a Tuesday. And I'm like, man, I hurt Cat's feelings. Not gonna wear the shirt. And then the woman comes in. She says, hey, we're do the picture today.

[Big Cat]

I'm like, yes, yes.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm out of it. So I texted Dan. I'm like, hey, man, I apologize, but, hey, we took the picture a day early.

[Big Cat]

I need a redemption.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So the within reason. I'll totally. I, I, I side with you on this. I think I stretched within reason.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You did.

[Big Cat]

I, I. But we can figure out something that I thought the one where it was the. Because I remember I printed the. The shirt of the old picture wearing that, like an inception move. I thought that would play.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Do you think?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think so.

[Kevin Stefanski]

For your blog at play.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Maybe it's. Maybe it's. Maybe we do it. I'll make a shirt of all the times that you've been in the picture. Just you. So it's just all your years.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Is that within reason?

[Big Cat]

In my. Within my reason?

[Memes]

If you want to. You want to ingratiate yourself to Atlanta a little bit, right?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I do.

[Memes]

What about a giant, like, airbrushed, ludicrous T shirt?

[Kevin Stefanski]

That would be not a bad idea.

[Memes]

Big white tea.

[Big Cat]

Would you turn down a kangal backwards?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I could. Could I rock it? I mean, I'm serious. Check with you guys first to see

[Memes]

if it makes Bruce only wears it forward. So you could be the sideways guy. You could be, like, the artistic sideways guy.

[Big Cat]

What about a fedora?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm open to all of it, but I do get the sense that I have to check with my. My consultant.

[Big Cat]

Yes, yes.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So maybe there's some.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to send you some more stuff. I'm going to send you some more stuff. But, yeah, the picture you took with. We talked about it, and this is not your fault. But as guys, we always do the arms around each other, like after a golf round.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

And it's just. It always makes us all look awkward.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, the other problem I have going is I got Matt Ryan, who's six foot four.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

In Cunningham, our new GM from. From your Bears.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay. Six foot. Former offense lineman, six foot four. So, you know, I'm standing next to these guys in a bunch of pictures. Like, not good for me.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Do you understand where I'm coming from?

[Memes]

I know exactly where you're coming from. I work around a bunch of weirdos that are 6 foot 3 and above. And it's. It's never a good visual. So you either have to dominate the foreground or that's actually the best strategy, is just make sure that you're in front of them for every other picture.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay, done.

[Big Cat]

By the way, I have a question about Ian Cunningham. How involved is he in the draft process and how many picks do you owe the Bears?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Ian is very involved in the draft process. I know what you're getting at. Listen, I would say this. He's a stud. He's so deserving of that role. We didn't know each other. We have a lot of mutual friends and stuff, but just watching him operate these past few weeks and seeing what he's about, man, he's the right person for that job. I'd also point out when you talk about pedigree, he was with Baltimore, cut his teeth under Ozzy and Eric Dacosta, goes to Philly under Howie, then goes to Chicago with Ryan Poles and like, the. What they've done there in Chicago. So he's had unbelievable experiences.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so he's very involved. Like, so involved that we got to look into that as the NFL.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Sure, Whatever you say.

[Memes]

What about Matt Ryan? President of football is just a job title. Like, I don't know how he just. Everyone else is like, executive vice, vice president of football operations. He's just president of football. I feel like we have to even acknowledge his office.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I haven't seen that business card yet. I'll see if I can get one for you guys. Yeah, Matt is a great guy to have as a boss. Like, I love on the org chart, he's my boss.

[Big Cat]

Oh, now you're doing.

[Memes]

Now you're playing games.

[Big Cat]

I see what you're doing.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. I'm the head coach of the football team. But I report to the president of football.

[Memes]

That sounds like you might be vice president of football. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. I don't know if there's, like, a. A succession plan when it comes to, like, vice presidents to presidents. I'm not sure.

[Big Cat]

But incapacitated, you become president of football. I don't know.

[Memes]

You should write that in your contract. Yeah. So there was a lot made of you guys both being from Philly. Is that actually, like, a reason why you took the job? It's like, I need to be around another Philly scumbag.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Oh, my God.

[Big Cat]

Max is shaking his head. He doesn't.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Like, we could kick his ass, you know? Yeah. Honestly, that. Not the fact that he's from Philly, but I know what he's about. I know what Matt's about. I. You know, I know the things that are important to him. The fact that he's from Philly doesn't hurt, But I just. Knowing what is important to Matt, what's important is winning and how to put a roster together. That was a huge draw.

[Memes]

Makes sense.

[Big Cat]

I noticed this year you started using a ploy with the media that I genuinely loved. Do you know what I'm getting at?

[Kevin Stefanski]

No.

[Big Cat]

You kept on just saying in press conferences, I understand the question, and then not answering the question.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It's a skill.

[Big Cat]

So there was one that was. You were asked if there's a scenario where Watson plays this year's DeSean Watson. You said, I understand the question, but I'm really focused on the week. And then there was one that was asked if Dylan Gabriel's height is a factor in failing to throw to wide receivers. You said, I understand the question, but I would not characterize it that way. This is pretty good word salad right there. Yeah, this is. You're getting good at this.

[Max]

Thank you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You know what you try to do, and the truth is, and we have our PR people here, you walk away from every press conference, and you're like, what was the headline?

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Because you just don't want headlines. You want to be. You want to give as much as you can without also then inserting yourself into it. So when I say understand the question, it's more so. I understand. I respect that you're asking it. I'm probably not going to answer it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Has any reporter ever raised their voice at you?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Not yet. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to try it now.

[Memes]

If we raise our voice, you got to. You got to call us out.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You can do it.

[Memes]

Okay. What would you like this headline to be. If you're thinking about. We're walking away from this interview. What do you want the headline to say about Kevin Stefanski?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm waiting for you to raise your voice.

[Memes]

Well, you haven't answered a question yet.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, I'm just trying to. Respectfully, I understand why you're asking the question, how you're asking it, but I'm just.

[Memes]

I understand why you're answering a question.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, I understand that you understand that I understand it, but I want you to ask it in a different way.

[Memes]

I feel like I'm the coach now and you're the.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Are you raising your voice? Is he raising his voice? What do we have? Decibel meter?

[Big Cat]

Dude, this is on camera.

[Memes]

It's on camera. Dude, everyone heard it. Did you see that? Did you see interview with.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I did see it.

[Memes]

Listen, do you think yourself, like, I have the same profession as coaches.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Like, after those losses, there are, you know, sometimes that's a tough spot to be. Like, we're human. And listen, I'm sure I've had my moments where I wasn't at my best, but it's such a raw time after games to be answering questions.

[Memes]

Yeah, Yeah, I do have a tough question for you here. This is from one of our Falcons fans at the office. His name is Big T. He wants to know, if you score A touchdown down 14 with four minutes left, do you kick the extra point or do you go for two?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I think it depends. I think going for two is going to be the logical choice most times, but I think it depends on how much time is left in the game, how many possessions there might be when it comes to decisions like fourth down, going for two, those type of things. To me, when the math is overwhelming, that's when you go with the math. If the. If it's not overwhelming, then you're with your gut and you're going to decide based on where you are from a football team. Like in that scenario, like, do I like my two point play versus them? Is there two point defense? Is there low red zone defense? Outstanding. Then all the things start to factor into it.

[Memes]

Right. He also wants to know if you will show him the new uniforms early.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I've seen them.

[Memes]

Oh, can you get. Just explain them to us.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, well, me and Matt Ryan were in the other day and we went back. It was like under lock and key with the equipment manager and I could explain them to you, but I think I'd probably get shot or would they get shot or I'd get shot.

[Memes]

Who's Getting shot.

[Kevin Stefanski]

One of us would get shot.

[Big Cat]

Are they.

[Memes]

I'll take a bullet. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I love them.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I love them. I don't want to go to my

[Big Cat]

fashion choices, so now I.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That's fair. Yeah, I love them. Big cat won't love them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Because they're not leopard print.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh.

[Big Cat]

You should wear them in the coach's picture.

[Memes]

That would be sick.

[Kevin Stefanski]

With, like, pads on or just. Yeah. Or maybe, you know, they sometimes do, like, the. The at the Pro bowl where they wear the uniforms with no pads on. It just looks totally ridiculous.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Coaches should go. Shirts and skins in the picture.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that would be good.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You want to pick whose shirts. Whose skins now or.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Andy Reid. Skins. You can wear a shirt.

[Memes]

Mike McCarthy. Skins.

[Big Cat]

Skins.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

What?

[Big Cat]

I. I do want to say thank you for getting hired so quickly because we defended you throughout this entire last thing. Kevin Saman is a good coach, and we got accused a lot of times from Browns fans being like, you guys are just friends with him. We actually were proven correct because you got hired right away. So thank you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You're welcome. I will say this. Browns fans are awesome. Like the dog pound you guys have been to a game. I mean, they're incredible. So, listen, losing is hard and not, you know, coming up short from where you want to be is very, very hard. I'm a former fan. Like, it's very. It's never going to be when fans are upset. Like, I get that I'm not so far removed from my own fandom that I don't understand where fans are coming from if their team falls short. Now, me and Max, were we calling in the WIP and, you know, bitching. Yes, we were. You know, that's just. That's just how we were raised.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I wouldn't call scumbags.

[Big Cat]

Was there a moment, like, at the end of the season, were you, like, it's over, or did you. Did you feel it? It has to be a tough thing to deal with inside the. You know.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, I was. So. I was told of the decision the Thursday before the last game, which I was very appreciative of. Then I could prepare my family for that and that type of thing. And listen, these are not lifetime appointments, these jobs, you know? You know that you're not. You're not signing for. For your lifetime. You understand that it's a results business, so I respect that they made their decision. You know, I have no ill will towards anybody there. It's just. It's part of the gig.

[Big Cat]

Do you think. Was there a Small part of you that was like, maybe they'll rehire me once you realize that you actually had two Pro bowl quarterbacks this year.

[Kevin Stefanski]

No, but I was happy to see Shador go. Happy to see Joe go. That was pretty cool.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, very cool.

[Memes]

There's. There are three things. When you got. When you got fired, I. We did have your back, and I think we've had your back this whole season. I think you're not a good head coach. I think you're a great head coach. And so it wasn't a surprise you got rehired.

[Kevin Stefanski]

But I knew there was a but.

[Memes]

I said at the time I was ready for it, that I. I want truth serum answers from Stefanski about three things. Okay, so I'll give you all three things, and then you have to pick one of them to be truthful about.

[Kevin Stefanski]

The other two answer, and then you have to decide what I was truthful about.

[Memes]

Which one was that? That's a good game. Okay. The first one is the whole Baker saga. What happened there. The second is the whole DeShawn thing, all that stuff. And then the whole Shador thing, drafting Shador. It's really the whole thing around all those three guys. Because I'm sure that the real story about what happened in all three of those circumstances is kind of crazy that none of us really have the full picture about. But if you were to pick one of those three.

[Kevin Stefanski]

This is journalism at its finest.

[Memes]

Two things. And then tell me the truth about

[Big Cat]

him with the line first.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Which one?

[Big Cat]

I understand the question.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I respect the question, and I understand why you're asking the question. I would tell you over the course of six seasons, like, I'm so appreciative. And this is the truth of, like, every single player that's played for us and played for me, like, the things that they've put their body through, you know, it's incredible. So I kind of. How I feel about those six seasons were the things that I wish I did differently, of course. But I can't tell you how lucky I am to co. Like those three guys you just mentioned. Amazing people, and they did everything I asked them to do. So I have zero ill will towards anybody in that organization.

[Big Cat]

I think it was kind of Baker.

[Memes]

I think. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It was like talking about the body.

[Memes]

The body. Put their body through a lot of stuff.

[Big Cat]

Do you think you should.

[Kevin Stefanski]

All those. I mean, seriously, if you're playing.

[Memes]

Baker kind of backed off some of the mean stuff. He was being kind of a meanie the other day about you.

[Big Cat]

You should squash that, by the way, because Baker, you know, Baker, if he's got a chip on his shoulder about something, you're in the division. You should squash that.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Listen, he's as competitive as they come. I got to coach him for two seasons. We get to compete against each other twice a year. Like, that's. That's the fun part of this business. And truthfully, you go against guys that you coach. You go against guys that you've coached with. Like, you go against your friends in this business. That's the fun part of NFL football, is, like, you try to kill each other for three hours on a Sunday. That's the fun part.

[Memes]

So you didn't mention how you would intentionally let Shador get sacked this preseason because he didn't want him to start. What was up with that? Why'd you do that?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I will say this. I love Shador. I loved coaching him. Seriously. He's got the right makeup for this game. He was wired the right way. I wish that we won more obviously, but if you saw how he played down the stretch, I mean, he's a young player that's getting better. I'm not coaching him anymore, so. So I know I have to be careful about talking about other players, but I am rooting for him.

[Big Cat]

Are you intentionally trying to get white bearded dudes in your coaching staff?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Me and Brick's got a sick white beard.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you got.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Mine's blonde.

[Big Cat]

Jeff Ulbricht, and then. And then Dave Huxtable, too.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Hux. Yeah. Hucks.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So what's up with that? You got three guys with. With some. Some severe, you know.

[Memes]

Where are you coming from?

[Kevin Stefanski]

You're coming from a.

[Big Cat]

Well, I'm getting salt and pepper. I dye my beard sometimes, so I'm thinking I can get a beer.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Do you really dye it?

[Big Cat]

Every now and then I'll touch it up.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So back in high school, it kind of probably goes to my family, which you won't be surprised to hear, but my cousin was going gray early and we went to CVS to go get him hair dye. My. My wife, when we were, you know, high school kids and we just got black, we didn't realize that jet black was different than black, so we dyed his hair jet black, and he looked like it was like a Lego hair on top. So be careful the colors that you choose.

[Big Cat]

Yes, that's true. By the way, speaking of that, your dad was obviously the GM for the Nets and big into basketball. Did you ever get, like, a trade rumor at, like, dinner table?

[Kevin Stefanski]

So my dad was in the NBA or Still is in the NBA working with the Suns. Now. I didn't grow up around NBA basketball. He didn't get into the NBA till I was almost in college.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Now, he was around college basketball growing up. He played college basketball, was a high school basketball coach. So I grew up in a basketball family, but I've never been to an NBA practice in my life.

[Big Cat]

Wow. Yeah, huh?

[Memes]

This is very important. It's a little bit of advanced analytics that we put together actually going into this last season. But you should be aware of, as coach of the Falcons, I just saw a report that you guys are going to franchise tag Kyle Pitts. Sounds like that's going to be moving forward. Great player.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Another Philly guy.

[Memes]

Are you aware that in his first five seasons in the NFL, he's had one touchdown, two touchdowns, three touchdowns, four touchdowns, five touchdowns. Will you commit to next season?

[Big Cat]

We actually proprietary, like, we found this that out ourselves.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Incredible.

[Memes]

Can you commit to him scoring exactly six touchdowns next season? At that point?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Not more.

[Big Cat]

No more. You cannot do more.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So if he gets to six early in the season, because our shut him down, our argument is he's going to

[Big Cat]

be a Hall of Famer if he plays 20 years. Because then he'll have a 20 year like his 20th year in the NFL, he'll be 40 years old. And he scored 20 touchdowns.

[Kevin Stefanski]

In your 20. It's 20 touchdowns.

[Big Cat]

Right? He's going up one a year. It's a great stock.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I can't commit to it.

[Memes]

You should, because you might be just throwing it all away. Like, what if. What if he scores 10 touchdowns this season and then after that it's like all his touchdowns are gone.

[Big Cat]

The human body is at home with

[Memes]

so many like, like eggs. It's like he only has so many touchdowns in his body.

[Big Cat]

It's a battery.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You just waste my concern. If he gets to the number, are we supposed to not put him in the red zone for the rest of

[Memes]

the correct soft benching? He could play anywhere between the twenties

[Kevin Stefanski]

and the reason for this would be to just stay true to the stat. Y.

[Memes]

Because it's funny.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Makes a lot of sense.

[Big Cat]

It gives us like three minutes to talk about the podcast content.

[Memes]

Yeah, exactly.

[Big Cat]

Are you. Are you like, what are you thinking about when you. When you take the job and you're like, I get to coach Bijan because he's awesome?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, you know, I had Nick Chub for a bunch of years there in Cleveland, and Bijan, just the person, the way he's wired. Have you guys spent any time with him?

[Big Cat]

No, no, man, it's actually Bijan. We screwed that up.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay, yeah, whatever. He wants me to call him, I'll call him because he is a. He's a stud human being. He's a stud football player. There's no shortage to the things that we can do with him. You know, the coaches are on the board right now just drawing up plays and it's like, all right, I want him to touch the ball a lot. He can't touch it every play, you know, why not? Well, there's 17 plus games that we got to get him ready for. Is there, is there a. Do I have a limit? Is there a governor on the number of touchdowns?

[Big Cat]

We actually would like you to have him touch it on everybody.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Good to know. Okay, good to know. Yeah, he's but an incredible human being.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he's awesome, electric and fun to watch.

[Memes]

This might be a very dumb question, unlike the others, which are really smart, but is there anything different about coaching a left handed quarterback? Like you're getting yourself into a lefty situation now, do you. Do you have to have experience coaching lefty Dylan Gabriel?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Dylan's a lefty. Obviously, Michael. Yeah, the. There are. We talk a lot about steps for quarterbacks and when you're going to your right or you're going to your. Like when you open to your left, it's going to be an even number of steps on those play actions when you. For a righty quarterback, because he flips his feet around. So we do catch ourselves sometimes talking like, hey, if we're running this protection and it's a lefty, it's actually his dominant hand. So as quarterbacks or as coaches, it does take us a second to recalibrate.

[Memes]

But besides that, like there's.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, the ball spins different but you know, I haven't found a player that told me that that's hard like to. To go from a righty catch into a lefty. I think the guys are. The spin doesn't bother.

[Memes]

Have you figured out which. Which rivalry you hate the most? Like in the South? Do you already have a hatred for the Saints?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, I know just if you talk to our fans, they're certainly. The Saints is probably the top of the list. Listen, I'm coming from a division in the AFC north where those were battles, you know, every single game I expect no different versus these three opponents.

[Memes]

Were you hesitant to take the job because you have to play shuck twice?

[Kevin Stefanski]

He's a great player. We spent a lot of time with him. I respect the question, by the way. We Spent a lot of time with him in the pre draft process. Great kid, man. He.

[Adam Schefter]

He.

[Kevin Stefanski]

What we did with all the players that came in, we put him through an install and then went to a walkthrough. He was like a coach out of the walkthrough, like lining people up.

[Big Cat]

He.

[Kevin Stefanski]

He was very, very impressive.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You're gonna get shucked up. Like it's just gonna happen.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Spell it.

[Big Cat]

S H O U G H. Yeah. E D. Shocked, shocked, shocked.

[Memes]

Everybody gets shucked up. It's just how. How do you respond?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, right. How do you get off the mattress? We actually do have a guy who got shucked up multiple times this year. Steven Che, who's a Bucks fan. Do you have a question for coach Stefanski or get up here.

[Memes]

Maybe a warning up here.

[Big Cat]

Get on up here.

[Steven Che]

Do you believe in the best availability or the best ability? Is availability bad question?

[Memes]

Great question.

[Steven Che]

It's a follow up.

[Big Cat]

You know, it's setting you up.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm ready for it. It's a classic one. I was in Minnesota all those years and all There was a lot of talk about those purple people eaters. Those guys never missed a game. And you know, think about the hall of Famer. So yeah, it is important.

[Steven Che]

As head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, you should know that Chick Fil A was open for two games last year. And while the season isn't out, projected low availability for this coming season. My last question is a yes or no.

[Big Cat]

Wait, what?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Did you have a stroke?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

What was that?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Steven, what the hell just happened?

[Big Cat]

What was the setup that I just

[Steven Che]

wanted to see if he was. If he was aware of the Chick Fil A situation. A lot of people are.

[Big Cat]

You're talking about Thursday and Monday night games?

[Steven Che]

Yes. They were open two games last year. As the head coach of the Falcons, you should be aware of a problem in the building.

[Big Cat]

So you're breaking news to him that they're going to play most of their games on Sundays.

[Steven Che]

Is he aware of the Chick Fil A problem?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm aware that they're closed on Sundays. Yeah.

[Memes]

Chick Fil A is closed on Sundays? Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

Are you suggesting that they turned their back on their religious beliefs?

[Steven Che]

I mean, you could do something about that. I'm sure the fans that question on anyone. No, I didn't.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Yeah, we should.

[Kevin Stefanski]

We should be a screening process.

[Big Cat]

We drove down here for three hours. You couldn't throw me that one. So I could have been like, hey, let's go back to the drawing board.

[Steven Che]

I have just the yes or no. Question. And I am a Buccaneers fan, so I'm loyal to Mfield.

[Big Cat]

But. Stephen, for being for the podcast listener, Steven is head to toe in Bucksky right now.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Steven Che]

2022 off season for the Browns. Obviously a big change. Yes or no, Would you. Going back in time, would you want to do things differently? You guys obviously acquired Deshaun Watson, got rid of Baker Mayfield.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. I respect the question and understand why you're asking it, and I'm not going to give you a yes or no. I would tell you all those decisions that were made, you learn from all of them, and those are tough decisions that are made for rosters and those type of things, but can't change the past. Only going to focus on the future.

[Memes]

How was that? That was a great question.

[Big Cat]

Answer. He's good. He's good.

[Memes]

This is the old question that we used to ask everybody. Haven't for a while. Who's the most famous person on your cell phone?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Oh, man, I don't know. You know, it's probably somebody from the football circles that we all run in the most famous. Can I answer that in a different way?

[Memes]

Sure.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Condoleezza Rice was a.

[Memes]

She almost took your job. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, she's a huge Browns fan and she grew up huge fan of the Browns and Jim Brown in particular. So I was very lucky to develop a relationship with her from being the Browns coach. Now she's a partial part owner of the Broncos.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So she's not with the Browns anymore, but she's somebody that I can email, I guess, if that counts.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

It's kind of crazy that. That she was rumored to have the job before you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

She probably would do great. I have zero doubt in my mind that she would do great at anything she tried.

[Memes]

Football coach in the NFL, if.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I have zero doubt that she would. She would succeed in anything she does.

[Memes]

What about Secretary of State?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Would she succeed at it?

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yes.

[Memes]

Some people would disagree. The whole Iraq war thing wasn't great. She was not allowed to invade a

[Kevin Stefanski]

country I think she's excellent at. She's a very intelligent person. She's capable of doing anything.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right, I got another famous person question. St. Joe's Prep, where you went to high school, A lot of famous alumni rank these four people in terms of their rapping ability. Marvin Harrison Jr. DeAndre Swift, Kevin Stefanski, Adam Frone, Roan.

[Kevin Stefanski]

1.

[Big Cat]

Oh, there we go. That's all I wanted. Okay. You know, whoever else.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You said two and three. Me, four.

[Memes]

All right, Good respect.

[Kevin Stefanski]

On row.

[Big Cat]

He beat out Marvin Harrison Jr.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So I have three. I have three brothers. My older brother didn't go to St. Joe's I went to Archbishop Carroll. Then my two younger brothers went to St. Joe's so they know Adam.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. And Bob Lang.

[Memes]

Bullet.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Bob Lang.

[Big Cat]

Bob just song the best.

[Memes]

Is he a rapper, too?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he's a rapper. He's actually probably the best rapper.

[Memes]

Rowan is like the most talented person that we work with. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. All the stuff he's good at. Can you describe your football philosophy to us? Offensive philosophy.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Score a lot of points and control the football. And control the game by controlling the football. I do believe in this day and age and you guys talk to Mike McDonald and the defensive coaches are so damn good in this league. You have to be able to pivot week to week because a guy like Mike is going to go into a game or some of these defensive coaches are going to say, we're going to take away what you do best. And as a system or as a coach with an offensive system, you better be able to pivot into something that you better have a curveball to your fastball.

[Memes]

He did say that that great defense beats great offense. Do you agree with that?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Well, I'm the head coach of the team. I'm not the offensive head coach, so I don't. I can't lose. When the offense plays well, it's good for me. When the defense plays well, it's good for, like at practice. I don't have a. I'm rooting for both sides.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

You were the head coach of the all time sac record. How cool was that for Miles Garrett in week 18?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Incredible. That. That whole. Just that whole season and I don't. I've tried to make this point. I don't know if people get this. The degree of difficulty to which he's doing that is insane because every team goes into those games saying, we can't let him wreck the game, and he still does. It's like, it doesn't compute. And when you see they put a tight end over there to chip them. Now we play them this year, so I have to be careful in saying too much here, but they chip them, they slide to him. They put a running back over there. The ball comes out quick. We saw it in certain games where it was to the detriment of the offense because they changed how they played because of having Miles out there to still do, to still get it done, to still get the record with all that against him was incredible.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I know. You can't talk about players on other teams, but James is the best.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I love Jameis. I can talk about Jameis. Okay.

[Big Cat]

I mean, he should be a starter.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I love the person. He was so good to me, to our team, to that meeting room. I mean, the energy that he brings every single day. And also, what I appreciate about Jameis is he's been in so many different systems, so the way he sees the game, he's great both as a starter, but as a backup, to have tips for young guys and just the coaching points that he's had over the course of his career. Think about, you know, he came in top pick, had some struggles, bounced back. I mean, I've seen him play it at such a high level, even recently.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

But I love the person.

[Memes]

That snow game was incredible.

[Big Cat]

The best.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That was crazy. The first half, no snow.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Second half, the game, as you're watching it, you're having a hard time seeing it. You know, our coaches up in the booth, they were, like, useless in the second half, they're like, 32 yard line, question mark. Like, they didn't know where the ball was, and they're like, I think it's on the left hash. You just. They couldn't tell. It was incredible.

[Memes]

Yeah. He is the best. I want to see James starting somewhere at some point. The. The league deserves it. The fans deserve it. We've had a debate about. About your history on this show in the past. Did you win a playoff game?

[Kevin Stefanski]

You. You. I'll let you guys debate that one.

[Memes]

Well, we have. It's tough.

[Big Cat]

I think you want to play.

[Adam Schefter]

Where did you land?

[Big Cat]

I think you won a playoff game similar to. I won multiple national championships playing NCAA 14.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I also.

[Big Cat]

We both did in our basements.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Fair. That experience, man, that was. I don't ever want to do that again.

[Memes]

No.

[Big Cat]

Who gave you Covid?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Shoot. Great question. I don't remember.

[Big Cat]

We have to find that person. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. That was. That was brutal. But talk about control. Like, as a coach, you have so much control. You're calling plays or you're making decisions, then that leaves you, and you're just watching your team play. Now, you script the first 15. You put the game plan together, all those type of things. But. But once you get to. I remember there's a moment in the third quarter. Alex Van Pelt, who's our quarterback coach in Atlanta, was calling plays that night, and I. I knew I could, like, see his. I could see his brain working. He got to a screen late in the game, and I. I was kind of staring at it on my call sheet, and AVP and I were, like, thinking about the same thing. He called the Screen. Nick Chubb. Next thing, you know, 50 yards, you know, to. To for a touchdown. It was like, man, that. As fun as that moment was, that was excruciating, that experience.

[Big Cat]

All right, I'm. I think you want a playoff game.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Because you. Sounds like you, like, basically implanted it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I wish I had that ability. I didn't have that ability, but I have a have. I'm surrounded by great coaches.

[Big Cat]

But you would have also called the screen.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Who knows? AVP should get all the credit for that.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Were you.

[Memes]

Did you have, like, a different stream down in the basement when you were watching?

[Kevin Stefanski]

So this is a true story. I. At some point, I'm downstairs in the basement. My wife is, like, leaving food for me at the top of the stairs. Like, I'm in prison and, like, closing the door. My kids are upstairs. And at some point during the pre game, I must have got up to use the restroom. I press pause on the. You know, on the tv. So I come back and I, you know, press pause. Don't think of it. Well, here we go. First play of. Of the game. They have the ball. Roethlisberger's in shotgun, and they're, like, breaking the huddle and all. I hear all hell breaking loose upstairs as they're breaking the huddle on my feed, and I hear my son scream. I'm like, what the hell just happened? I'm like, did he throw in there? Like, now? I'm like, oh, shit, I'm behind. I'm like, he must have thrown an interception. I see the ball go over his head, but I was tipped off by my kids upstairs. Oh, that's brutal.

[Big Cat]

Spoiled on your own playoff.

[Memes]

We deal with that sometimes in the gambling cage.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We'll hear, like, rogue screams from the other side of the office.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Why? Because it's the physical.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

There's a couple that aren't matched up and be like, what just happened? So we. We banned that in the office.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It's got to have respect. You got to be totally uniform across.

[Memes]

Across the board.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Had you. Did you reach out to. To Mike Tomlin after the season?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I did.

[Memes]

Were you like, hey, tough business. Not a lifetime appointment, apparently.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That's a good line.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So Mike T. And I go way back. He was a defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings when I was at Minnesota as a young coach, so. Loved competing against Mike all those years. A good friend. So I'm rooting for him for Whatever comes next.

[Memes]

Yeah, I mean, it was. It was kind of crazy what happened to that division.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah. Zach's the last man standing.

[Memes]

Last man standing? Was he. Did you reach out to him? Were you like, hey, man, you might be next?

[Max]

Just.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, like, don't get too caught up. That's great. Now that's. That is the fun part. Like, you try to kill each other on Sundays, but Harbs, great dude. Mike T. Great dude. Zach, great guy. I mean, like, we all. You're friends outside of this building, but you're also outside of the. The moment. But doesn't change the fact that you're trying to kill them for three hours.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have I pitched you the fake punt?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Punt, probably, but let's do it again.

[Big Cat]

No, you know what? I don't. I don't respect that answer.

[Memes]

He doesn't want to hear it. Yeah, he doesn't want to hear it.

[Big Cat]

I don't want it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I don't want it.

[Memes]

He doesn't want. Can I interest you in downfield laterals?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yes. You love the downfield.

[Memes]

I know. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You need him on your team just to get in the open field and just constantly pitch it.

[Big Cat]

It works.

[Memes]

I would actually say that.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Did you play rugby?

[Memes]

I did, yeah. The way the Falcons roster all decade, no big deal. The way the Falcons roster is constructed right now, you might be the most ready team to fully embrace the downfield lateral movement.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay.

[Memes]

Like, just get the ball to Bijan more.

[Kevin Stefanski]

And if he has the ball, is he supposed to pitch it?

[Memes]

Yeah, he hit Drake. He can hit Kyle. You can throw it back to Michael. Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins would be great running the downfield lateral offense. But, yeah, you guys have so many good playmakers. I feel like you could really take advantage of that.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, I don't know that we're going to go. I think we have some other things we're going to try and get good at. I don't know that the downfield laterals can be one of them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

All right, come on. Fake punt, punt.

[Big Cat]

You pretend that you're going to do a fake punt and then you punt. They never see it coming.

[Kevin Stefanski]

How about the one. Did you guys see the kid? It was high school where they threw it under on the punt. They threw it underhand and the guy down, they went down and caught the ball. So it was a pass?

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, maybe that one.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

But seriously, field positions, very important. If you fake the punt, everyone comes

[Kevin Stefanski]

up and then you punt. When you're faking, are you faking the run part?

[Big Cat]

Your Puncher kind of runs or like, gets. Gets. You know, gets ready to throw and then everyone comes up and then he punts.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. They never expect it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

All right?

[Big Cat]

It always ends in a punt.

[Memes]

I don't think you fully understand.

[Big Cat]

No, I don't think you get.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Please. So I'm a little scarred. First game of my head. Coaching career at the Baltimore Ravens. Okay. We faked a punt in the first quarter. I think of the game. I don't know if it was the first. It didn't work.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I haven't faked one since.

[Memes]

Oh, so you're afraid of fake punts now?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I. I have some. You have some. I have some scars. You have some cocoa butter for me. I'm scarred up.

[Big Cat]

But no one's expecting it now. Especially the fake punt.

[Hank]

Punt.

[Memes]

This is actually a great way to fake a punt because you end up punting anyway. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You can get yourself used to it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It's kind of like the. The. What's like a gateway drug.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

You're using yourself in.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Have you. Do you have it like. So you did it the first time and you've never called it again. But don't you have checks that your punter could potentially.

[Kevin Stefanski]

We do. Well, attempted another fake punt. We have not attempted another fake punt.

[Adam Schefter]

Wow.

[Memes]

That's kind of crazy.

[Kevin Stefanski]

First game as a head coach. It didn't work.

[Big Cat]

Why did you do it the first game? That was stupid.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It was. It was. It was stupid. That's a. That's a result.

[Memes]

I'm gonna take the league by storm.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I respect how you feel about that, Dan, and I'll take that into account.

[Memes]

Yeah. We have a guy that's trying out. Actually. He was. He's a great college center. He played at Indiana. Mike Katic. I just want you to take a look. Look at his pass. Set.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

My case.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Real butter. Okay. What kind of line calls can you make for me?

[Memes]

What's. Okay, Max?

[Kevin Stefanski]

What's your. What would you use on a 5. 0. Was your tap the head.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that was for six. Six man.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, we.

[Big Cat]

I'm not gonna.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Poker.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Poker.

[Memes]

Five man. Which is 5. 050 with signal to the back.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Is this riveting stuff?

[Memes]

Yeah, it's awesome.

[Big Cat]

For me.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It is.

[Max]

For me.

[Big Cat]

It is my. Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

603. Won 315 pounds.

[Big Cat]

Started 50 games at Indiana University.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Make a call for me before you. Okay.

[Big Cat]

So are we in six man?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, we're in sixth man.

[Big Cat]

So what do you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Is there any pressure? We got Will Free safety. Are they rotation yeah, opposite the call. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so the quarterback will in at iu.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Quarterback will make the flip call, Fernando. All right, flip. So we got 48 the mic. Hey, laser, laser, laser.

[Adam Schefter]

White 80.

[Big Cat]

Oh, just pause, pause, pause.

[Kevin Stefanski]

They're gonna run a TT twist too. How much time do you think we have? There's a play clock, guys.

[Big Cat]

White 80.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Shut up.

[Big Cat]

Switch.

[Kevin Stefanski]

It's actually pretty good. I like the hands to be a little bit higher when you come up and just get that. Yeah, a little. Just more power from the ground.

[Big Cat]

I was always a crap. I was always a grab.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Snatch him. Snatch guy. Yeah, One arm and then catch. Can we pull you in the run game?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I would pull as a center.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I actually had a great block in the college football playoff against Notre Dame a couple years ago.

[Memes]

But did you guys win that game?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Oh, my God.

[Big Cat]

Of breath.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Oh, no, we lost.

[Big Cat]

He. He blocked for Michael Penix. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's ready to go.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay. Did Michael ever take a snap from under center with you?

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay, there you go.

[Memes]

So.

[Big Cat]

So his hands were opposite, I think.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, he was left hand on top. That's exactly right. And I'm a center that likes the

[Big Cat]

guys get right up in there like balls on the knuckles. So our.

[Memes]

He's actually a great fit for quarterback.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Coach says that gets your hands. It's, you know, want that. That finger in the center's notch is the term he uses. The notch term. I'm not sure what that means, but he's like right in the center's notch.

[Memes]

Yeah, I mean, that's important. You could probably blindfold Michael Penn, get under K and he'd be able to

[Kevin Stefanski]

tell you like a taste test.

[Memes]

This is my guy. Yeah, that's my guy. Feels like home cooking.

[Big Cat]

I know it. I know it. Oh, man. All right, well, coach has been awesome. I got one last question for you. Roback question. Rho, B, A C, K.com promo code.

[Zach]

Take.

[Big Cat]

PFT is wearing some roback right now.

[Adam Schefter]

They got everything.

[Big Cat]

Q zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code. Take. You want to give us a prediction on the season?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm not in the prediction business. I. I leave that to you guys. But I will say this.

[Big Cat]

10 and 7.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I leave that to you guys, but

[Big Cat]

I feel like 10, 7.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I feel very strongly about the coaches we have, the players that we have and that we're adding. But we will. We will keep our focus on what's in front of us. I like that.

[Memes]

At some point, would it get insulting to win Another coach of the year title?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you got two.

[Kevin Stefanski]

That's not. Listen, there's hardware I'm interested in. That's not it.

[Big Cat]

Actually, you're an incredible trivia question. This coach won two Coaches of the year titles and has never won a playoff game.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Holy. Didn't we just say that? I did.

[Memes]

You just raised your voice.

[Big Cat]

Don't raise your voice. It's on camera.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Dude.

[Big Cat]

Damn it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I made it this far.

[Big Cat]

All right, I'm sending you some new shirts. We're gonna try to get it.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Within reason.

[Big Cat]

Within reason. And a kangal. Maybe a fedora. What about a chain wallet?

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm not opposed to it. I'm not. All the I'm not opposed to everything comes back.

[Big Cat]

What about rollerblades?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Let's get weird. Let's go.

[Memes]

Jenko's would be awesome. All right. Big ass cargo shorts. The more you say within reason, by the way it comes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Well, coach, you're the best. Thank you so much.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Appreciate you guys.

[Memes]

Kevin Stefanski was brought to you by BetterHelp. Sometimes it could feel like everyone else has it all together in their love lives. Whether married, dating, or single. The truth is most of us are still figuring it out and finding our way. And no matter where you are in your romantic journey, therapy can help you find your way. To help you determine what you want, what feels heavy, how you can take some pressure off yourself, BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on all your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs, your preferences, and our 12 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means we typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any time from any of our tailored recommendations. Sign up and get 10% off. BetterHelp.com PMT that's BetterHelp.com PMT and Kevin Stefanski was also brought to you by Microsoft Copilot. We got to tell you something that helps people focus on what's most important. That's Microsoft 365 Copilot. The world moves fast. Your workday moves even faster. You're pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 copilot is your AI assistant for work. It's built into Word, built right into Excel, built into PowerPoint and other of Microsoft 365 apps that you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to all your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365Copilot it's Microsoft.com M365Copilot and now here is Adam Schefter.

[Big Cat]

Okay. As is tradition, we welcome on a very, very, very, very, very special guest. Recurring guest. I think this is like our seventh year in a row doing it at the combine.

[Adam Schefter]

But we have broken the tradition.

[Big Cat]

We have.

[Adam Schefter]

I have.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Usually I bat lead off.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Adam Schefter]

Now I'm in the nine hole.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Adam Schefter's here. He had to. He was having a hell of a time with the flights, but he's here. He came straight from the airport to our interview. That's how much we love him. He loves us also. Thank you for the wonderful Christmas gift. Great fleece this year.

[Memes]

Holiday gift.

[Big Cat]

Incredible.

[Adam Schefter]

Did you like the fleece or not?

[Big Cat]

I like the fleece. The fleece.

[Memes]

You're a massive cashmere guy.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, you know what? It's this company. I could give them a shout out. Cashware.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

So what happened was one year I went to the ESP's and it was probably the only time I've been invited to the ESP's. And they bring it to this gifting suite and they gave me this robe and I brought it home for my wife and she, like, she loves it. And all of a sudden, every time we're ordering gifts for people, I'm going to call cashware. So she calls them. So blankets. We got blankets.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

So she's like, why don't you do the three quarter zip or the quarter zip or whatever the hell it is. So that's what we did. And great company out in Arizona. Mary Glecker, the owner. Awesome job.

[Big Cat]

All right, shout out to Mary.

[Memes]

Softest stuff that I have in my house is courtesy of Adam Scheft. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Courtesy of cashware.

[Memes]

Not me of cashware.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so we're at the combine. Let's start from the top. Let's start with what? What's the biggest story in your mind that you're going to be digging after or talking about?

[Adam Schefter]

Digging is a bad word for me this week. Ok?

[Big Cat]

That's.

[Adam Schefter]

I just dag out dug out my driveway for two straight days to get here.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

And look, I think we always go to the quarterbacks. It's always about the court.

[Memes]

Andy Dalton, massive news. You just broke it.

[Big Cat]

You did.

[Memes]

On the way. Were you in the car on the way here? And you said on the way here, Andy Dalton is generating a lot of buzz.

[Big Cat]

Does that bum you out when you're like, I Have to tweet that the Panthers are getting calls about Andy Dalton. Because, like, I saw it and I was like, oh, okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah. Well, listen, there's a lot of that stuff. That's fine.

[Big Cat]

Like, that would bump me out a little bit. Like, not of all of them can be hitters, and that one certainly is not.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I thought that one sent reverberations around the NFL. I guess it didn't.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No.

[Memes]

Sometimes you gotta eat your vegetables, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

It can't all be T bones.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Adam Schefter]

My dad said, you know, I. Yeah, exactly. You can't have all home run hitters. You'd have some singles hitters.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Play defense.

[Big Cat]

I don't.

[Adam Schefter]

And Andy Dalton.

[Big Cat]

I don't think that's even a single. I don't think that's a single.

[Memes]

Take one for the team, Andy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

He's a good guy.

[Big Cat]

He's a great guy.

[Adam Schefter]

I think he'll end up in an interesting place. It may not get you going, but maybe where he winds up may get you going.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Oh, is he gonna. You think he's gonna come back to Chicago?

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, I hadn't thought about that one. But if they move on from Tyson Bajan.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. They trade Tyson Baja. Need a backup.

[Adam Schefter]

No. But, like, he worked with Frank Reich in Carolina Jets, Jesse Nicole. And there's the perpetual team that's out there, the Minnesota Vikings. Like, that would make a. He'd be the Perfect guy for JJ McCarthy.

[Memes]

He looks like a Viking.

[Adam Schefter]

Perfect guy for JJ McCarthy.

[Big Cat]

You know what he'd be perfect for, too, is the Colts moving off from Daniel Jones and being like, we got to keep the stretch of doing a different starting quarterback every year.

[Memes]

Andy Dalton would fit Kirk Cousins as well. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

We could turn this into the Andy Dalton podcast and see how he would fit in each particular city with a quarterback opening. Yeah, that'll be a lot of fun.

[Memes]

Just based on vibes. I could see him. Yeah. As a Minnesota Viking. I could see him as a Jet, too. Are you thinking Jets?

[Adam Schefter]

I could see both those places. I kind of like the Vikings.

[Big Cat]

Okay. And then where's Kirk going to go?

[Adam Schefter]

You know, I don't know that Minnesota ever was very viable for Kirk. I know people have made that connection, and it could happen. That'll be an option. But I didn't get the sense that that was, like, top of the list. Like, a lot of people would think it would be. You hear he's being released on the first day of the league year, has a house in Minnesota, fits in well with the organization that was My thought initially at the super bowl when I was talking to some people and I thought, kirk Cousins, Minnesota. But I didn't get the sense it's going to wind up as Kirk Cousins, Minnesota, and we'll see how the offseason plays out.

[Big Cat]

What are the other options for Kirk Cousins? If you had to guess, just throw out some names. Well, I mean, there's always a Kyle Shanahan, but Mac Jones is there.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't think they're going to trade Mac Jones.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[Adam Schefter]

They just have not. They like him too much. And Brock Purdy runs around. He's an active guy, and he's missed some time. And when Brock Purdy missed time, Mack was able to step right in.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

And the offense hummed along. I think they really like Mack Jones. Too much.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, to move off of right now.

[Big Cat]

Too much. Maybe a soft benching of Mac Jones.

[Memes]

A soft benching of Brock Purdy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, Brock Purdy. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

These are quarterback Purdy, too. They had two quarterbacks they love.

[Memes]

But the way you just said it, like, too much.

[Big Cat]

Too much.

[Memes]

It sounds like Adam Shaft. Too much.

[Adam Schefter]

Still move him.

[Memes]

Quarterback controversy in San Francisco.

[Big Cat]

Too much.

[Adam Schefter]

Stop the presses. Quarterback controversy, soft benching for. No, they. They just like both those quarterbacks.

[Memes]

I got a city I'll throw out there. Phoenix. What about. What about the Cardinals for old Kirkey?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, they need some kind of veteran. Right. And we don't think. We don't think Kyler will be back there. By the way, lunch just arrived.

[Big Cat]

Lunch just arrived.

[Adam Schefter]

Here are the bags in the back.

[Memes]

That's my kid.

[Big Cat]

To the wrong location. Yeah. And so listen, we got big boys. We got to eat.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, we got Arizona, Cleveland, the Jets, Miami. There could be some teams that need backups after they move on from their backups. Minnesota. I don't know where Kirk is going to go.

[Big Cat]

What about.

[Kevin Stefanski]

So what.

[Big Cat]

What is Miami going to have to do to get rid of Tua? Like, are they going to have to trade a pick with Tua?

[Adam Schefter]

It's. I would think. First of all, I don't think he'll wind up being traded. I know they said all options are on the table, but the contract is so large and there's so much money involved. I think that's a very difficult contract to give. I think they probably just have to wind up releasing him. And the question is, how do you want to take your medicine? You want to take it all at once? One year, 99.1 million. The largest cap hit in NFL history. You want to spread it out. Make them post June 1st. To me, I haven't seen their books for this, and next year they got some smart people there doing that. But I would just take all my medicine.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

All at once.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Especially because you're rebuilding. You got a new coach, you're rebuilding. Like, just. Just eat it for one year, maybe be bad for one year, and then you can try to find your next quarterback.

[Adam Schefter]

And not only that, not only eat it this year. If your team is struggling and you have a new head coach and a new gm and you're going to be patient with them now, you're set up to have a great pick in the 2027 draft that supposedly is going to be loaded with a lot of quarterbacks. So I take all my medicine. If it were me, I think it's a tough contract to trade. If they were able to find a way to trade it, it would be a Brock Osweiler type. I don't even see it happening.

[Big Cat]

I just.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't see it happening.

[Memes]

Can we get ahead of a story that might happen a year from now?

[Big Cat]

Oh, I like that.

[Memes]

Because you're talking about next year's draft, Right? I feel like this year in the draft, we all kind of know it's gonna be Mendoza.

[Adam Schefter]

Right.

[Memes]

He's gonna go number one. What's interesting to me is, but you

[Adam Schefter]

never know a year in advance. You never know that guy's gonna be.

[Memes]

You never know a year out. But I like to write a little bit of like. Like look into the future. Crystal ball fan fiction.

[Adam Schefter]

So just like a fun prediction for next year.

[Big Cat]

Crystal ball or crystal ball?

[Memes]

Crystal ball.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

Crystal ball fan fiction. Next year we could have a Manning going first overall in the draft. Is this Manning? Do you think this Manning would be comfortable going to any team in the NFL, or would this Manning pull a Manning like we've seen in the past,

[Adam Schefter]

hold up for next year?

[Memes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

We got Dante Moore, Arch Manning, Brendan Sorsby, Lenora Sellers, Trinidad Chambliss, Matt.

[Big Cat]

He's probably going to go back for another eight.

[Adam Schefter]

Julian Saiyan, C.J. carr, Sam Levitt, UCLA's quarterback, Nico Lamalev.

[Memes]

You got it.

[Max]

I'm a Leo.

[Adam Schefter]

Okay. And John Mattier. Like, I like John Mateer. There are a lot of guys next year and usually, like, where people are trying to peg the quarterbacks a year out, and they're always guys that rise up. Like, you never would have seen Cam Ward go number one. You never would have seen Fernando Mendoza go number one. And there are guys that slide down. See Shador Sanders last year, Cade Klubnick

[Big Cat]

was, you know, when he started at Clemson, everyone was like, Drew Allen was

[Adam Schefter]

going to be a top 10 pick this year. Right. Initially a lot of people thought, yep. So these two, it's kind of fool's gold rating them a year out. But it certainly seems like there are a hell of a lot of good quarterbacks in 27. And if I were a team and I had to swallow some money, I'd want to get myself in position to get one of those quarterbacks. Especially if I were in a division with Josh Allen and Drake May.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

And the jets have the first round corner next year anyway.

[Memes]

They do.

[Adam Schefter]

So you got to do something to get in there.

[Memes]

They do. But do you think that. That the Mannings would do the power play like they did last time, or is that just strictly like an anti Chargers bias that they have?

[Adam Schefter]

I think at that point that was. I think that was an anti charger bias. I think he didn't want to see him go to that organization. Arch Manning is a very smart guy. They know the reputations of certain organizations at that time. He did not like what he heard at that time. And he was looking out for his son.

[Memes]

We can have that conversation in a year. It's a long ways in the future. But you talked about the jets, how they're in good position this year. Next memes is very curious to know, I'm sure, because he was out of the room when you first talked about possibly Andy Dalton to the Jets. Do the jets have something else cooking? Like can we expect the jets bigger than Andy Dalton?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What's bigger than Andy Dalton?

[Adam Schefter]

You know, here's the thing. Justin Fields is still on the roster.

[Big Cat]

He is, right?

[Adam Schefter]

Tyrod Taylor's still on the roster, Right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

I mean, and again, we've got this group of teams all in the market. Only one of them is going to get Malik Willis. And Malik Willis is the top free agent quarterback this year.

[Memes]

Crown jewel.

[Adam Schefter]

The crown jewel. I just think it's a tough year to be in the quarterback market and it's hard to predict how that's going to shake out when there aren't a whole lot of options out there.

[Big Cat]

Tyson.

[Adam Schefter]

Patience the demand and greatly exceeds the supply as usual.

[Big Cat]

I want to do a favor for you. Okay. You ready for this? Because we love you so much.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Good.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to give you some breaking news. Do you want some breaking news?

[Adam Schefter]

Always love breaking news.

[Big Cat]

Okay, here's some breaking news. And this is factual. We could Be backed up by multiple people in this room. John Spytek, Michigan man.

[Adam Schefter]

Yep. Great guy.

[Big Cat]

Raiders gm, had a conversation today about Max Crosby and potentially traded. Trading him.

[Adam Schefter]

That's big news.

[Big Cat]

Is that breaking news?

[Memes]

Can I add on to that for pmt?

[Big Cat]

Well, we actually were the ones who had the conversation with him, and we were just pitching him fake trades. So that is the conversation.

[Adam Schefter]

That's big.

[Big Cat]

I was. True. I was willing to trade him Tyson Bajan in a first rounder for Max Crosby. He laughed at me. He actually didn't even respond. So John Spy Tech. Let me correct that. John Spytek laughed at trade talks about Max Crosby or.

[Adam Schefter]

John Spytek was listening to trade offers.

[Big Cat]

He technically was kind of like cornered him and made him.

[Adam Schefter]

You could tweet that. That would be accurate.

[Memes]

I didn't say that he's fielding offers because there were. There was a competitor's offer that got put on the table that he did not turn down.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, the commander's offer. You. The commander's office.

[Memes]

An unnamed team was. They heard that obviously Max Crosby was involved in conversations. Trade trade wise. And another unnamed team offered Duron Payne and a first round pick for Max Crosby.

[Big Cat]

And there was a third team. It was an aggressive bidding war.

[Adam Schefter]

Let me guess. New England?

[Big Cat]

No, it was actually Tampa. It was Tampa. Tampa came over the top and said, we actually have a better pick.

[Adam Schefter]

What was.

[Big Cat]

The Bears, I think they. They offered the 15th pick. And in a third, which is laughable off.

[Memes]

And I think Stephen Chase. Next child will be named Max with two X's.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Adam Schefter]

And. And. And I'm just surprised that Hank didn't get in here.

[Big Cat]

No, he wasn't there.

[Kevin Stefanski]

No.

[Big Cat]

I don't know where he would have. He would have gotten it.

[Memes]

Resting on his laurels.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

After a Super Bowl. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

He felt like the team is.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yes.

[Adam Schefter]

In the right direction and didn't need to do much.

[Memes]

Also, John Spycheck, he had a. Or Spy Tech, had a. A conversation with people regarding Fernando Mendoza's college center, who had nothing but glowing things to say about Mendoza being one of the boys.

[Big Cat]

So John Spytek's doing his due diligence on Fernando Mendoza and doing his background check where we just.

[Adam Schefter]

Have you met Mendoza yet? Yes, right.

[Big Cat]

We have. Yeah, I have. But we. Basically, this conversation was simply, hey, you see that fat guy over there? That was the center before Mendoza came, but he helped recruit him. Said he's a good dude, one of the boys. So that was. That was the entire conversation.

[Adam Schefter]

So the Raiders are looking.

[Big Cat]

The Raiders.

[Adam Schefter]

Mendoza and his center. While Listening to trade offers from Max Cross.

[Big Cat]

Not the center. They're not looking at the center. The Raiders have been made aware that Mendoza is a good dude per reports of. Another good dude.

[Adam Schefter]

I could have reported that at the Super Bowl. I could have reported that at super bowl because I happened to spend about 20 minutes with Mendoza.

[Memes]

What was that like?

[Adam Schefter]

I thought he was a very impressive kid.

[Memes]

Are you smitten?

[Adam Schefter]

Am I smitten?

[Memes]

You seem like you really like Mendoza.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Are you going to draft him?

[Adam Schefter]

My daughter is smitten with it.

[Big Cat]

How many flippings did he drop? Did he drop any flippings?

[Adam Schefter]

No. No. But it was. He was a very engaging, personable young man. Very polite. Very, very nice. Very impressive. So that was relayed to the Raiders that. That. That kid was pretty impressive.

[Memes]

They're doing their background research.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Character.

[Memes]

No character concerns.

[Adam Schefter]

Exactly.

[Memes]

With Mendoza. Per us and you.

[Adam Schefter]

Correct.

[Big Cat]

Confirmed. Since we do this every.

[Adam Schefter]

Is this like. You're both in your phone so either more text about Max Crosby trade talks or you have a list of questions to fire off.

[Memes]

I do have. We've been playing nice, but we do. We do have.

[Big Cat]

I don't have it.

[Memes]

That we like to do with Schefter. Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Yep.

[Memes]

Congrats on breaking the Pope news.

[Adam Schefter]

That was. That was fun.

[Memes]

Was it fun?

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Memes]

With the white smoke.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Did you get caught up in the. The conclave and all that?

[Adam Schefter]

I was waiting for the announcement. I had. I had people stationed outside the Vatican, and they were able to come through and provide me the information I needed to get that news out as fast as I possibly could.

[Memes]

Yeah. I think a lot of people sent

[Adam Schefter]

it out in the ESPN alert system.

[Memes]

I know people got alerts on their phones. Like, per Adam Schefter, there's Taylor Swift's

[Adam Schefter]

engagement and Travis Kelsey's engagement as well.

[Memes]

That's pretty good saying.

[Adam Schefter]

Like, I didn't expect to be getting the news of their engagement on the ESPN alert.

[Memes]

You're also doing golf reporting now, too.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, I love that.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

Is there any, like, can anyone else have a job, or do you just want to do everyone's job for them?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, if Mike Tirico's gonna do everything and do the super bowl and then fly the Olympics, and we've got all kinds of people who are doing all kinds of things.

[Big Cat]

NBA Johnny. Johnny Fanta.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, he's in college and NBA Johnny Fanta. Actually, I emceed a charity event for this company the last few years, and this year was the first year in a few years that I didn't get to emcee at BTIG in New York City. And I'm like, you don't need me. Like, no, you can come. But John Fanta's mc, well, that was

[Big Cat]

probably because John Fanta was like, I can deliver you Kevin Willard at this event. So that was. That was.

[Memes]

Went to his wedding.

[Adam Schefter]

That's how it goes.

[Memes]

Have you been to any coaches weddings?

[Big Cat]

Good question.

[Memes]

Yeah. That's a yes.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Memes]

This is a yes.

[Big Cat]

Currently.

[Memes]

This is a yes.

[Big Cat]

You're going to get us on technicality, not, say, current coaches or not head coaches. But you have.

[Adam Schefter]

I've been to weddings of people related to coaches. That's what I was thinking.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

What?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Who could that be?

[Memes]

Weddings of people who are related to coaches.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

Like children of head coaches.

[Big Cat]

Oh, got it.

[Adam Schefter]

I've been to their wedding.

[Big Cat]

Steve Belichick, do you think you'll be invited to Bill and Jordan's wedding?

[Adam Schefter]

I hadn't thought about that.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Are they.

[Memes]

Are they secret married?

[Adam Schefter]

I'm unaware of that.

[Memes]

Okay. Is that a secret that you would keep? Would you sit on that? If you had that information, that would

[Adam Schefter]

be pretty big information, right? That would rival the Pope.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Oh, big time. Bigger than the Pope.

[Adam Schefter]

It would be like Travis is our Pope. Yeah, Be like Travis and Taylor getting engaged. Yeah, Same kind of thing.

[Big Cat]

All right, so we're doing the year in review.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, yeah.

[Memes]

Usual year in view.

[Big Cat]

Okay, what's next? You were kind of right about Sean Moore, but also very wrong because you. I do think there are people out to get him at Michigan when you had that report, but they kind of were right to get it to. Out to get him because he was an assistant and going crazy.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, that was a. Obviously a very serious situation with serious allegations.

[Big Cat]

Oh, you're doing a serious voice and

[Adam Schefter]

a lot of emotions involved. I'm just being honest.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No, no, this is smart.

[Adam Schefter]

Am I wrong?

[Big Cat]

No, no. Make it serious. You're right. But you were right and wrong.

[Adam Schefter]

That's fine.

[Big Cat]

There were people out to get him, but they should have been. They should have been out to get him harder.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I understand that point of view.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. We'll close the book on Sheron Moore.

[Memes]

Yeah. There's a very End of a very serious conversation.

[Adam Schefter]

Yes, sir.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

But as a Michigan man, do you think. Do you feel like this is a bad time to be a Michigan man?

[Big Cat]

Institutional chaos is what people are saying.

[Memes]

Tough year to be a Michigan man.

[Adam Schefter]

That all sorts of organizations or sports teams go through trying times and then it's how they come out of that. And I have never met Kyle Winningham, but by all accounts, from everybody I've spoken, they love this guy.

[Big Cat]

He's a good dude, great coach.

[Adam Schefter]

And the funny thing is, back in the day, somebody texted me about him like, it was in early December. And they're like, hey, can you mention something to somebody in Michigan about Kyle Winningham? And they sent me like this, all these accomplishments. And I went into Sunday countdown and Alex Smith was there. I'm like, hey, what do you think of Kyle Winningham? He's like, love that guy. Love that guy. I'm like, you agree with all this? Like, somebody sent me, like, bullet points of this guy. He's like, guys are outstanding. And since they've hired him, I think it's. It sounds like it's gone great. I've never met the guy. The interesting part to me also is if the Sherrone Moore situation had unfolded a week earlier, a couple of weeks earlier, I wonder if they would have been in on Matt Campbell. And if it unfolded two weeks later, I wonder if they would have been on Kalen deboer, because they lost the day before the transfer portal opened on January 2nd.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

So it's set up perfectly for Kyle Winningham. And the people in Ann Arbor are really excited about it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, you guys upgraded a coach just on the basis that I don't think Kyle Whittingham will be dming chicks during halftime of the Ohio State.

[Adam Schefter]

Kyle Winningham, to use your freight, is a serious dude.

[Big Cat]

He's a serious dude. You know what? He might be more Michigan man than you.

[Adam Schefter]

That.

[Big Cat]

That.

[Adam Schefter]

That wouldn't surprise me.

[Big Cat]

That's probably serious.

[Adam Schefter]

He's certainly more serious than I am.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Memes]

This is a game called Would you like to correct this tweet? Adam Shafter. We play this game. We play this game.

[Adam Schefter]

Before you even say it, let me just say this. Can we count up in a given year how many tweets there are?

[Memes]

Like, the ratio of tweets that you don't have to correct?

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, go ahead. What did I have to correct?

[Memes]

Well, Here's a tweet. 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is believed to be the first player in NFL history to be a finalist for MVP, Offensive Player of the year, and comeback player of the year all in the same season.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah. I forgot about Joe Burrow the year before.

[Memes]

Forgot about Joe. It just happened. We just had Joe Burrow. Was there anybody else, or was it just Joe Burrow?

[Adam Schefter]

I think there might have Been somebody else. But you know what it was? I called around a couple people like, is there anybody else still? Like, the NFL did not keep that stat. They haven't kept that. So if you say believe to be, then it's believed to be.

[Memes]

Believed to be by you.

[Adam Schefter]

Believed to be. But it turned out that it was unbelievable.

[Memes]

It's not. Yeah, it was very temporarily believed that he was.

[Adam Schefter]

Exactly.

[Memes]

I feel like that must have been even somebody else.

[Adam Schefter]

Stand corrected.

[Memes]

The fact that it was the guy that it happened to the year before was. That was the top part of it.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah. Well, yeah. I stand correct. I'll eat it.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

My fault. We.

[Big Cat]

We're going to play another game. It's called who Won the Beef? Who Won the Beef? You versus Rapport. When?

[Adam Schefter]

What beef was there?

[Big Cat]

Well, there was the Harbaugh lost the locker room beef.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh. I feel very confident what I reported.

[Big Cat]

You said he did not lose the locker room.

[Adam Schefter]

No.

[Big Cat]

And there were also Ravens players potentially maybe crying when he left.

[Adam Schefter]

That's correct.

[Big Cat]

I would say that you won that beef.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't look at it as a beef. I look at me reporting what I'm going to report.

[Big Cat]

Is there a chance Ian Rap Board is going to be joining you at ESPN soon?

[Adam Schefter]

I do whatever my employer tells me.

[Big Cat]

That wasn't the question.

[Adam Schefter]

I have. No one knows. No one has any idea how any of this is gonna work. Like, nobody said to me anything. I'm gonna keep doing my job as long as they allow me to keep doing my job. I've been there for almost 17 years. 17 years. Wow. And I've loved my time there. And I've always. Not to be serious on you.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

No, no.

[Adam Schefter]

But I always do what they tell me to do, and I work with the people they tell me to work with.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So you should haze him if he comes to espn.

[Adam Schefter]

We. We haven't hazed too many people.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Like, but he's someone you should hate.

[Memes]

That's.

[Big Cat]

You should put him in a basement, you know, like the kids in Iowa. Yeah.

[Memes]

You should start hazing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Let's haze. Let's haze Rap Board.

[Memes]

Yeah. You're. You're combining two. Giant Forza, espn, NFL Media. Is that. I don't think that there's going to be anything different about, like, your Don Van Natas of the world, because they're going to report what they're going to report. I don't think that the NFL is going to tell them, hey, stop doing xyz. But there are people that are concerned that ESPN is going to have to be less critical of the league if NFL media is joined in with them.

[Adam Schefter]

I worked at NFL Network, and the only. I. The only time I ever remember being told I couldn't say something was when I was saying something about, like, a hoodie that Bill Belichick was wearing and they were, like, sponsoring the show or something like that, but no one ever said anything about anything, so. And that was when I was at NFL Network and certainly at espn. I've never heard that from a single person in my 17 years there.

[Memes]

They might get. Yeah, I remember people getting mad about somebody referring to the Microsoft Surface tablets as being.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Memes]

Knockoff iPads. They're like, hey, Microsoft just paid like 600 million. Can we try to not call them iPads? If we could try. But I. I think that, for example, like, there's things. There's room to be critical of the league, for sure. Right? Like, you've been critical of the league. We've been critical of Roger Goodell in the past. Are you going to be allowed to be like, hey, Roger Goodell is a buffoon for trying to send a Super bowl overseas. Are you going to be allowed to say that kind of stuff again?

[Adam Schefter]

I don't. I've never. I feel like I've never been instructed what to say or silenced or influenced or. And I don't anticipate that changing.

[Big Cat]

Do you think there are too many international games?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, now that they're going to be on espn, I guess. No.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Is there going to be a Super bowl in another country?

[Adam Schefter]

Sounds like it's going to go that way.

[Big Cat]

Fuck that.

[Adam Schefter]

By the way, you don't think eventually that might be a cool thing?

[Memes]

No, no, it sucks. It's our game that's the worst. No, it's not cool.

[Big Cat]

It's ours.

[Adam Schefter]

Like, next year. Next year we have the Super bowl, right? ESPN.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, ESPN.

[Adam Schefter]

And it's on February 14th, which is the latest that a Super bowl has ever been played. And just the idea of that. That it's so late in the year, like, that just starts bleeding. Like, are we going to the combine the next week after that?

[Big Cat]

I think so.

[Adam Schefter]

Are we going from la, right, to Indianapolis for the combine? Is that how it's going to work? Yeah, because. What, it's February 25th right now. I mean, it's going to be.

[Big Cat]

So you didn't answer the question. We're going to. We're going to do a European super bowl, and you're going to be okay with that?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, they've. They've Brought up the idea that a European international super bowl one day could be possible. I have no idea how soon it will be. I mean, it doesn't sound like it's anywhere near.

[Big Cat]

I don't want it. I don't want it.

[Memes]

It doesn't sound cool at all. It sounds like the worst thing, by the way, that you could ever say.

[Adam Schefter]

What is cool is a Super bowl on the Sunday night before President's Day. As late as. I don't like the late start to the Super Bowl, I like in early shroob. Like the draft this year. April 23rd, 4th. Sign me up for that.

[Big Cat]

That's awesome.

[Adam Schefter]

Let's get that wrapped up as soon as we can. And let's get to May 1st with a relatively clear calendar other than OTAs. That's. That's awesome.

[Big Cat]

Are you going to be tipping picks this year?

[Adam Schefter]

Absolutely.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Love that.

[Big Cat]

Love that. Stand with the ten toes down. Yeah. Yes.

[Memes]

All right. So can we say, like the Raider, The Raiders aren't on the clock.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

We know they're going to take Mendoza.

[Adam Schefter]

I mean, unless some team makes an offer that they can't refuse, which I don't think anybody is anticipating or imagining. You never say anything is absolute. But, yeah, we think we could report, we probably could put on the bottom line. Fernando Mendoza is expected to be the number one open.

[Memes]

So who is on the clock? When does this draft start? I love when people are like, the draft actually starts.

[Adam Schefter]

Here's the interesting thing about it is, again, and so much of this is always driven by quarterbacks. Like last year, we weren't expecting the trade with the Browns and the Jaguars. With the Jaguars going up to two from six. So the draft starts at two with the Jets. Now again, I could see the jets and the Titans both taking pass rushers at 2 and 4. We'll see how that shakes out. Three is the Cardinals, I believe. I mean, if there's an offensive tackle there, that would be worthy, great. We'll see. Just very early. But when does the draft start? At 2, after Mendoza goes.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

This episode of Part of My Take is brought to you by McDonald's Hot Honey Sauce. Hot Honey Sauce is at McDonald's for a limited time. Your favorite orders just got better with hot honey sauce. You can try the hot honey snack wrap. It'll beat what you thought was your favorite. I love the hot honey on anything. Dip it. Dip the McNuggets right in there. Put on the sausage, egg and cheese biscuit. Put on the egg McMuffin. It all works with the hot Honey sauce sauce now. McDonald's for a limited time and limited time only. You don't want to miss it. Try the hot, the hot honey sauce at McDonald's. And now back to more Adam Schefter off season news. The Seahawks are for sale. Yeah, that's kind of crazy, right? Like you win a Super bowl.

[Adam Schefter]

Somebody told me $10 billion.

[Memes]

That's why that is that.

[Adam Schefter]

I, I'm just, I had, I had an.

[Big Cat]

Who told you that?

[Adam Schefter]

Roger told me that owner, of course,

[Big Cat]

who directly benefits from.

[Memes]

Yeah, yeah, I heard, I actually heard 20 billion. It's kind of crazy.

[Big Cat]

I actually heard. I actually heard $1. So report that next time you talk to her.

[Memes]

There's a guy from Green Bay.

[Adam Schefter]

Adam, we should, everyone in this room should chip in and then we can come up with the trade offer to go get Max Crosby.

[Memes]

Yeah, okay.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right, wait, so who's going to buy the Seahawks?

[Adam Schefter]

I have no idea.

[Big Cat]

Like, who has that $10 billion? Because don't you have to put.

[Adam Schefter]

What is it, Jeff Bezos?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but like there's not a lot of guys out there who have 3, 4 billion dollars in liquid that they can just hand away.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Right?

[Adam Schefter]

You know, listen, you're buying the defending super bowl champion. That's never happened. Right, right. You're buying an organization that's run very well. They've a great headquarters, sound structure. It's a, it's a great buying opportunity.

[Big Cat]

Okay, where, where, where are the Bears going to be playing?

[Adam Schefter]

That's odd, right? The Indiana Bears?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I don't think it's gonna happen,

[Adam Schefter]

but like at one point in time there were people who thought the Patriots were gonna go to Hartford.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

And then all of a sudden the deal came through. My guess, without knowing the inner workings of this, is that when push attempts to shove in the end, somehow they'll figure it out.

[Big Cat]

I agree. Arlington Heights will be. I'm not actually like even thinking they're gonna be play in Indiana, but a follow up question is how much of this is pressure from the NFL being like, hey, we want you to get a new stadium so that the $10 million price tag becomes real.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't know how much the NFL is ever involved in that.

[Big Cat]

But, but the other owners being like, hey, we all want to maximize the franchise value.

[Adam Schefter]

Just go and look. The stadiums have been one of the biggest benefits to these teams through time. Like, I remember being out in Denver and they had this petition, this drive for a new stadium that turned out to be. What is it? Empower Field? I don't even know what it's called. Empower Field at Mile High. So he'd lose old Mile High. Now they get the Empower Field, and now the owners are building another one. With their money.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Adam Schefter]

With their money. Now, you don't see that happening where it's 100% fully financed by the owners, because somehow these cities have been able to extract public tax dollars. And that seems, I mean, that. That's where these owners have made out big time, right? Because the value of the franchises have gone crazy and they're getting stadium benefits, tax benefits, where, like, it's. There's big benefits to owning a football team.

[Memes]

Do you think that the value of the Seahawks increased notably because they won the Super Bowl?

[Adam Schefter]

It didn't decrease.

[Memes]

Right?

[Adam Schefter]

It didn't decrease.

[Memes]

If you were to say, and I don't know, you're not, you're not. Not an economist or anything, but, like, what. What is winning a Super bowl worth?

[Adam Schefter]

It's a great question.

[Memes]

The value of that team.

[Adam Schefter]

That's a great question.

[Big Cat]

Thank you.

[Adam Schefter]

That's a.

[Memes]

Thank you. Appreciate it.

[Adam Schefter]

I'd like to ask some people that question.

[Memes]

You should ask that question. So I would like to know the answer. Because if it's significant, then you're going to have idiots like me being like, was this all rigged to win the super bowl? So the value goes up like $3 billion and every other owner makes an additional billion dollars in equity for their team.

[Adam Schefter]

Hold on, let me text somebody right now. Okay, love that.

[Memes]

Okay, love that. Let's get to the.

[Big Cat]

By the way, congratulations for winning a sports Emmy. I had that on there. See, it's not all bad. It's not all bad.

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, before we get to it.

[Big Cat]

No, no, we're done. I moved on from that. I moved on from sports Emmy.

[Memes]

Congratulations.

[Big Cat]

I threw it in there.

[Adam Schefter]

How much would you say the value of the Seahawks went up with their super bowl victory?

[Big Cat]

Are you texting? Just AI.

[Memes]

I text.

[Adam Schefter]

I texted. I texted a guy in finance.

[Big Cat]

Do you do that? Do you do the voice of text? Yeah, that's. That was unsettling.

[Adam Schefter]

Hold on.

[Big Cat]

I don't like to see you like that. I don't like to see you, like,

[Adam Schefter]

two Novembers ago, around Thanksgiving, ESPN is going to play the Harbaugh Special. So my family's around. I'm like, hey, wait, Aunt.

[Big Cat]

This is back to the sports Emmy. We moved on. I was like, I thought you were telling me about the voice of text.

[Adam Schefter]

Watch with the family.

[Big Cat]

Okay?

[Adam Schefter]

My in laws are over and I love my in laws. They're awesome people. My mother in law has no filter. And so we watched the special, it gets done, and my wife and my kids, it was really nice. Really like that, really good. And my mother in law just says, yeah, it was okay. It wasn't that great. It's exactly what she said.

[Big Cat]

Good thing she doesn't like sports edits.

[Adam Schefter]

It was okay. It wasn't that great. My wife looks at me, she's like, okay, well, the piece that wasn't that great was the first time in my 35 years in this business that I've ever won a sports Emmy. All I could think of was my mother in law as I was walking up to get the award.

[Big Cat]

That's perfect. Congratulations, though. That is pretty awesome.

[Memes]

That's nice because if she ever gives you a compliment, you know she means it, correct? Right? Like if she's shitting on the sports. Yeah, but you'll get it.

[Adam Schefter]

You'll get it one day. It's not too late. I only remember 19 years. Haven't heard one yet.

[Big Cat]

AJ Brown, is he gonna be on the Eagles? You said you leaned that way.

[Adam Schefter]

I lean that way, yeah. How do you know I said that?

[Big Cat]

Because I have all the notes about everything you've said that's.

[Adam Schefter]

You have a huge step for.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

Look, there's a lot of ways that could go, but there's a huge cap charge if they trade him. And I don't know that they're willing to take on a huge cap charge and get rid of a great player now, if the right offer comes in, sure. They're always listening. Is that gonna happen? It's gonna be tough. I think at one point in time last year, he clearly would have liked to have been traded. It didn't happen. I would think he's not traded, but that's what the offseason's for at this time. If we were sitting down last year and gets it to me, is Micah Parsons gonna sign in Dallas? I would have said, yeah, that deal's getting done. We wouldn't even broach the idea of a trade. So that's the great part of the great reality show that the NFL is things happen that you don't expect. And there are twists and turns and drama that allow us all to have jobs and talk about this sport on a regular basis.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Coaching carousel. Oh, you got a text back.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

What does it say?

[Adam Schefter]

Okay, so here's the answer. Probably 5 to 15% already a usable franchise to own, in my opinion. Coach is good. So they'll win for a while. That's probably more. I don't even know how to say this word. A C, C R E T I V accretive. Or maybe he's like voiced a text accredited then a one off super bowl win. NBA decision regarding Seattle also probably a factor.

[Big Cat]

Ah, five play. Bennett's gonna buy the team.

[Memes]

Howard Schultz something.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Jordan Schultz.

[Memes]

Yeah. The way that his, his numbies going up. Yeah, that was, that was crazy.

[Adam Schefter]

Last year, right after we got done

[Memes]

the, the fight that went down, I

[Adam Schefter]

went through a Starbucks. I walked through a Starbucks. Here I was.

[Memes]

Were you jealous that you weren't a part of that? Like if you were there, would it have gone down different? Would you have stepped in

[Big Cat]

like hey guys, we can't be seen like this. We took a code.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

As newsbreaker this. Who's back?

[Memes]

Whose back would you have had?

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, I, I'm all for peace and justice in the American way.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so you're Switzerland.

[Memes]

Let them, let them destroy each other.

[Big Cat]

One less competitive and then I'm more powerful. Yeah, yeah. Okay. In terms of coaching carousel, real quick, who is the guy who was oh so close to getting a head coaching job that should get one next year?

[Adam Schefter]

I, Nick Cheelhouse will get a coaching job next year. And aside from the fact that, well, we had no black head coaches hired in this cycle, like that's, that's not a great look. And Nate Shielhaus is a big uptime coming coach. He's going to be successful. But 10 openings this year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

You could put it down next year. Five, six openings next year.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

Not as many.

[Adam Schefter]

Not as many. It'll definitely. There's no way they're doing 10 again. No way.

[Big Cat]

They could.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, they could do whatever they want. Of course.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Right.

[Adam Schefter]

They could. They got stadiums.

[Big Cat]

Right, Exactly.

[Adam Schefter]

They could do whatever they want. They can use much money, but you don't get double digits back to back years. That does not happen.

[Big Cat]

Is there one hiring that shocked you? You're like, whoa, did not see that one coming. Didn't think they were going to hire this guy.

[Adam Schefter]

It always seems to fall into place. Like I was flying to the super bowl and the Clay Kubiak news comes down and then within 15 minutes later, Michael Flor, like you just know. It just kind of lays out like, okay, well Clay is going to go.

[Big Cat]

Clay.

[Adam Schefter]

Clint.

[Zach]

Clint.

[Adam Schefter]

Clay's his brother in San Francisco. Clint is going to go to either Vegas or Arizona. We think everybody thought it would be Vegas. It was Vegas. Okay. Arizona. Arizona wasted no time. Mike LaFleur, Cleveland with Todd Monkin was interesting.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that one was a little kind of weird.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I think they went through it and I think they had their eyes on a lot of different guys and they loved Todd Monkin all along. And in the end, it just came back to Todd Monkin. That's where it finished up.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

What about Tyreek Hill? Where's he going to be next year?

[Adam Schefter]

You know, here's the thing about him. As great as he was in 2020, I don't think he's close to being ready this year. Like, he's going to miss some time to open the year. I think he starts the year out physically unable to perform. List. When's he going to be ready? Is it the midway point? Is it later in the season? What's he going to look like? And so there's a lot of medical questions. And so I think teams are going to be slow to sign him. I don't think we'll get a deal for Tyree Kill until well into the offseason. That ain't going to be one of those day one. First of all, he's free right now. Like, he could sign right now.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

But you're not going to see a deal quick with him.

[Memes]

I don't believe what's going to happen with Brandon Aiyuk because he is an interesting case.

[Adam Schefter]

He'll be released on the first day of the league year.

[Memes]

I would think as soon as possible they're going to wash their hands. Brandon Ayuk. Are other teams scared away from signing Brandon Ayuk?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I think. Look, here's the thing. They had so many trade conversations with so many teams, and I think that they probably have gone back to many of those teams. But the math is different. The situation is different. The way he behaved this year with some of the social is different. Everything's different. So I think teams are curious and before they would do anything, they'd want to have to check out his knee because that was its own devastating knee injury and they wanted to see where he's at mentally before they would move on. So there's a lot of questions there. But we know he's not going to be in San Francisco.

[Big Cat]

He is. He seems like he's in that spot where you just believe anything because it's so crazy and it's gotten so weird. Like I saw the fake report that he went on Instagram live and held the ice cream cone and just watched it, held it till it melted for eight minutes straight. And I was like, that's fake. But it could be real. Like, that could be real with how he's acted to driving around the facility and stuff. Like, it's weird.

[Adam Schefter]

You know, it's honestly a tough situation. Some guys, when they don't have that structure and discipline and the camaraderie and the teammates and the support, when you're away from that, it's not always easy to overcome that.

[Memes]

Where did it fall apart?

[Adam Schefter]

I mean, that's a tough question to answer.

[Big Cat]

Tough question.

[Memes]

Yeah. Like, that's what I do. I asked tough questions. It's called journalism. Now that you are with NFL media, you're not allowed to ask those questions anymore. Yeah, yeah, we're going after. No, it just feels like he's. It's been so weird there for so long. I would expect that the market for Brandon Aiuk might not be robust, but I think in the NFL, if you can. If you can run a route and catch a pass, there'll be guys lined

[Adam Schefter]

up, don't know what he's physically going to be like this. And he was shredded.

[Memes]

Yeah, right. I guess what I'm fishing for, and I'm really just fishing, is can you tell me that the Commanders are not going to sign Brandon Ayuk?

[Adam Schefter]

Well. Well, I can't say that because him and Jaden Daniels are close.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

And Jaden may push for him. So I think that's a possibility. And just go back and look at the teams that the Niners spoke to when they're having trade talks. The Steelers, the Commanders, the Patriots. So I would think all those teams would at least check in on it. Now, who's going to move forward? That's a hard thing to say.

[Memes]

Yeah. You said that there's some guys that won't be like Tyreek Hill. Not going to be a day one guy. Who are the day one guys? Guys this spring for free agency.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, let's see what happens with Indy. Alec Pierce, I think is a guy that's going to get a lot of interest.

[Memes]

Yes. I love Alec Pierce.

[Adam Schefter]

He'll go quick. I would think that Elijah Vera Tucker is an interesting guy. Malik Willis, obviously, I would think would move quickly a day or two. What's going on here?

[Big Cat]

Weems, you've set a jet, so let's start the form. Let's start the town forum.

[Adam Schefter]

Kenneth Walker.

[Memes]

Can you give me three teams that'll be interested in Alec Pierce?

[Adam Schefter]

Patriots, Bills, Colts. Obviously trying to think of a wide receiver. Needy team Octava. Who's got cap space? Cleveland.

[Memes]

Okay, okay.

[Big Cat]

All right, town form time. We got some questions from the gallery. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is good. All right, Memes, go ahead.

[Memes]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Laid on me, Chefs.

[Memes]

Or how are the jets this season

[Big Cat]

and going forward for like the next five seasons?

[Memes]

Good question. Be.

[Big Cat]

Be honest with him. Don't sugarcoat it.

[Adam Schefter]

Just.

[Big Cat]

Just a couple Long island guys.

[Memes]

Just stand up guys.

[Adam Schefter]

Get it. I'll just say I feel bad for jets fans. I really do.

[Memes]

Like, sad for you.

[Adam Schefter]

It's hard. I was walking through the airport with somebody today coming out here, and this guy was telling me how he grew up a Jet fan. And all I can say when I hear that is my condolences because I live in an area where all these Jet fans are. I have so many Jet fan friends that are texting me and they don't understand. With all due respect, I don't care that they're struggling. I got enough problems of my own to deal with that. I have to worry about who the hell the jets are going to sign and how they're going to get back to the play. Like, they're not in a great spot.

[Big Cat]

So how many years?

[Adam Schefter]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man. It's not going well. Memes.

[Memes]

Are the Sabres going to make the playoffs in the NHL before the jets did?

[Adam Schefter]

Are the who?

[Memes]

The Buffalo Sabres.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't follow hockey, although I did watch the game on Sunday and that was incredible. Yes.

[Big Cat]

Oh, wow.

[Memes]

Because that's like all memes has going. They're having a good year. Is the Sabres.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no.

[Memes]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Do you have a follow up question?

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, sorry to disappoint you.

[Memes]

No, no, it's fine.

[Big Cat]

I'm always disappointed.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Memes]

How do you get someone to sell a team? Good question.

[Adam Schefter]

Talk to Jody Allen.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, let's figure it out.

[Memes]

I've got some experience in that department.

[Big Cat]

Buffalo right now is in the playoffs. If the playoffs started today. They're having a good season. Yeah, they're having a good season.

[Memes]

Sabers.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

So I was right.

[Memes]

Yeah, good question.

[Adam Schefter]

I'm a hockey insider in that too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you are. All right, Che.

[Memes]

Che.

[Big Cat]

You want to apologize? Chef first.

[Steven Che]

Oh, that was messed up.

[Kevin Stefanski]

They.

[Steven Che]

We texted after. Then you guys made me do that. Chef actually has influenced my home. We are Kodiak breakfast waffle people now.

[Adam Schefter]

Love Kodiak.

[Memes]

Love Kodak.

[Steven Che]

Chef. I want to.

[Big Cat]

I mean, that's just classic changes. Like Sheer told me what to eat for breakfast.

[Steven Che]

Well, we tried them and they're great.

[Big Cat]

We should take this farther. We should see how many things you can tell him to do.

[Adam Schefter]

They're the sponsor of the Adam Schefter podcast yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

All right.

[Steven Che]

A couple guys I want to ask. And just give me best guess on team landing. This guy's not talked about enough. I feel like Trey Hendrickson,

[Adam Schefter]

I. I think that he would love to be in Tampa. And I'm not just saying that like, I think he would love to be in Tampa. He lives in Ponta Vidra. I don't think the Jaguars have the necessary requisite cap room for him.

[Steven Che]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Tampa would be a great fit. I think in a perfect world. I think in a perfect world, Trey would like to stay in Florida if he could. No state tax, but he's also open to going to the best possible situation. There'll be a lot of places that are interested in him. How about, could Dallas afford him? That would be a great spot for him.

[Memes]

How can he stop the run, though? Jerry needs a guy that can stop the run.

[Steven Che]

Interesting.

[Adam Schefter]

Jerry needs a lot of things on defense, though. Yeah, he does, right?

[Big Cat]

He does.

[Adam Schefter]

So I like that. I think if Trey has his pick, he'd like to end up with you. But we'll see if it works out that way.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I like that.

[Steven Che]

I'll ask two more quick ones, then I have a real question.

[Memes]

Two more.

[Big Cat]

Two more quick ones, and then a dumb one.

[Memes]

That's three more.

[Steven Che]

Well, just headline for agents Kenneth Walker.

[Adam Schefter]

You know, first of all, I said, and I still believe that it's unlikely that they tag him. And again, you just never know how these things are. Like, they could look at the market, talk to other free agents, see Zach Charbonnet struggling, and decide, okay, you know, we're put the transition tag on him, so we'll see how it shakes up. But my guess is, in the end, he's going to be a free agent. And if he's a free agent, where does Kenneth Walker go? Like, Houston makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Yeah, like Houston. Houston is. Houston needs to help CJ Stroud. What's the best way to help CJ Stroud? Get one of these frontline running backs. There are a lot of good running backs in this free agent class. The free agent running back class is pretty loaded. So Kenneth Walker, my guess is some team will be offering him enough money to dangle him away.

[Memes]

Follow up on that real quick. Did we ever find out what happened with Joe Mixon? That was weird.

[Adam Schefter]

I. I mean, he had. No, no, no.

[Memes]

It seems like it's something, but you

[Adam Schefter]

could tell right away, like, I'm just telling you, like, in the summer, I'm calling people saying, can I report that? He's not expected to play this year. And people were like. But you knew it, right? Yeah, you just knew it, but nobody would confirm it.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

It's very weird. It almost makes me think that it's something that we don't want to talk about.

[Adam Schefter]

No, I think he had. I think. And again, I certainly have made enough calls and enough inquiries. My own theory is he had some sort of setback while training for the off season, some sort of foot injury and never got better. And I was initially told, nobody ever admitted it, that it was like a necrosis kind of thing, blood supply. Now, again, no idea if it's true or not, but that theory was floated to me last summer. Nobody confirmed it.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Steven Che]

And the one who's near and dear to all of our hearts, George Pickens.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, that's an interesting one because you're going to see this off season, big headline. I think you're going to see Puka Nakua and Jackson Smith and Jigba both get paid. Like last offseason, if we remember, was the off season of the pass rush game. You're not going to get that number of wide receiver deals, but you're going to get two huge deals at the very least, Puka and Jackson Smith. Now, if you're George Pickens, you're probably saying, hey, I may not be exactly them, but I went to the Pro Bowl, I'm almost as good as these guys. And if these guys are getting 40, 40, what's George Pickens worth? Let's just. We'll throw out a number. 30, 35.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Okay. Well, now, what's CD Lamb at 36. And Dak, he's gonna have to restructure his contract and they need more cap space. It's a tough number to fit under the cap. So they've got some bookkeeping to do. That's gonna be a challenging situation. Same agent as Micah Parsons.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

They gotta sign Brandon Aubrey, by the way, that's an interesting one, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. 10 million he wants.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, he wants a lot. We don't know the exact number, but the highest paid kicker, I believe is six' four Harrison Butk. He's going to be the highest paid kicker when he gets a new deal. So I think what they're going to do is they're going to tender him. And when they tender him, that may give another team the option to go sign him. Now, if you're another team, wouldn't you want the Bears or the Commanders or the Patriots to go sign Brandon Aubrey? Oh, yeah.

[Memes]

How much do you think Brandon Aubrey Would go for like in a trade. If you were to assign a draft pick to him.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, he gets on the offer sheet right when they tender him. And I forget if that locks in the compensation, but to me he's a major weapon. Like, I don't care what. Like I could argue that that guy's worth 12 million. 14 million. Like you're paying running backs.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, 12.

[Adam Schefter]

Like Kenneth welcome may get 12, 13, 14 million on the open market.

[Memes]

So you get past midfield, you got three points in the bank.

[Adam Schefter]

That's it.

[Memes]

Now with Pickens, are they going to tag them?

[Big Cat]

Him?

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Memes]

So if they tag him, how does that work? If. If they tag him before the other wide receivers sign their contracts, they'll probably save some money or.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, they. No, they tag him. The tag price would be $28 million.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

But he'd have to sign that to be paid. He's not going to want to sign that because once he signs it, he's obligated to come in and. And you want to negotiate a long term deal. He wants, he doesn't want one year. He wants. He wants a four, five year deal, whatever it may be. Three, four, five year deal. He wants big money. He doesn't want the one year of 28 guaranteed. He wants, you know, the hundred million guaranteed, whatever it may be.

[Memes]

So you got the dumb one or

[Big Cat]

is it still the real question?

[Steven Che]

One real question is that with such a focus on international games, obviously we're seeing more and more the way it's structured now. The super bowl doesn't even kick off till like 11:30 or midnight in a lot of these markets. Could you see the NFL moving it to Super Bowl Saturday?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I think that they're moving it more towards Super Bowl Sunday with President's Day so that the country has a national holiday the next day where everybody could be up late the night before celebrating their team's win, watching bad Bunny doing whatever they're doing, and then have the next day off at work. I think that's the model more than anything else.

[Steven Che]

Wouldn't that still neglect the foreign markets, though?

[Adam Schefter]

Listen, I don't think it's hurt their business so far, although they do want to grow it internationally.

[Big Cat]

Boo. All right, who else got a question?

[Adam Schefter]

Come on up, Hank.

[Big Cat]

Get there.

[Memes]

This is gonna be a good one.

[Big Cat]

This is gonna be a great one.

[Memes]

Hank is locked in.

[Adam Schefter]

Drake made the best quarterback from the 2024 draft class.

[Memes]

Do you think that's his question?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Great.

[Hank]

That's a great answer.

[Adam Schefter]

I was anticipating the question before it was asked.

[Hank]

I have a serious question. I appreciate the. The sweater. One of my biggest flexes is being on your Christmas list. How many people are on your Christmas list?

[Kevin Stefanski]

List.

[Adam Schefter]

Ooh, it. It fluctuates. It's usually about 100, 120, 5, hundred and fifty.

[Hank]

It's an honor.

[Memes]

Who. Who got dropped off?

[Adam Schefter]

People get dropped off.

[Memes]

What's an example of something that somebody would have to do to get dropped off?

[Adam Schefter]

You know, it's more like, honestly, I'm more forgetful. Like, like, sometimes, like, oh, I forgot that guy. Like, that guy was very kind during the year, and he helped me out, and I forgot to include him.

[Big Cat]

All right, Hank, your other question.

[Adam Schefter]

Yes.

[Hank]

Will Stefon Diggs be a patriot next season?

[Adam Schefter]

Ooh. I. I hate to give you an answer that I. I don't know.

[Hank]

Like, there's a lot up in the air still.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, that.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Up.

[Adam Schefter]

Like it. Like, like my travel plans here. Up in the air. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right, Zach, go.

[Hank]

What's going on?

[Adam Schefter]

Adam, how are you today?

[Zach]

Just got a quick question. If you're ever misinformed, how many strikes does a guy get before he's out of the network?

[Adam Schefter]

Oh, you know, it's not that it's misinformed, but I always say it's a great question, Zach.

[Memes]

Great question.

[Adam Schefter]

Coaches remember plays and reporters remember stories.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

And you remember certain things, how they play out and how they don't play out and who steps up and who doesn't step up. So you're always taking notes and you have little reports on people. It's not that anybody is ever out of the network or excised, but.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, if they get something wrong, I'll remember that.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, if they get something wrong, then you know that the next time you're making an extra couple of calls before you're putting something out there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And if you needed to, how would you go about sending a message to someone that they're out?

[Big Cat]

No cashmere.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, exactly.

[Memes]

You're just waiting for the gift that doesn't arrive.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Katie, do you have a question? Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

He doesn't.

[Hank]

Nice job.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Good job. I do not.

[Memes]

I have a. I have a Washington related question. You reported that. That Trump is trying to get the new stadium named after him. Is that. Is. Is that just like a wait out the clock situation? Like, hopefully he'll move on to something else, or is Josh Harris.

[Adam Schefter]

I think that that was a. Considering it. I mean, people were, like, tiptoeing around that sort of story.

[Big Cat]

Yeah,

[Adam Schefter]

I think they're still going through that process. I don't know where that's at. I haven't followed up on that. So that'd be a great story if you guys want to go get it like that. The stadium is not going to be named after him or it is going to be named after him.

[Memes]

It should be RFK Jr. Oh, that should be the name of the state. Or actually just the Coliseum. I think it'd be cool to have a Coliseum.

[Big Cat]

That would be awesome.

[Adam Schefter]

It opens in 2030, I think.

[Memes]

2030. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. The Coliseum would be sick.

[Memes]

And then it's probably going to get a Super bowl or.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Are we just going to. What's the future of the super bowl look like out? Let's pretend that the. The foreign super bowl is never going to happen. Is it going to be the same rotation of cities? Are we going to add in, like, if you get a new stadium, then you're guaranteed to have a Super Bowl.

[Adam Schefter]

I think most of the time when there's a new stadium, the super bowl follows there.

[Big Cat]

But Buffalo's not going to get one, right?

[Adam Schefter]

I don't think so.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

That would be very funny.

[Adam Schefter]

I don't think so. I don't. It's sort of like I wouldn't be surprised if the draft goes to Buffalo

[Big Cat]

at some point because that makes sense.

[Adam Schefter]

The draft is like. It's like there's not enough hotel space in the city.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

For everything that going goes on for a Super Bowl. But we'll give you like the draft, like Green Bay last year, we're in Green Bay and that was a great experience. But I don't think that there's going to be a Super bowl in Green Bay anytime soon. I don't think there's going to be a Super bowl in Buffalo despite a new stadium. But a new stadium in Nashville. I'll bet you there's a Super bowl in Nashville. There's gonna be a new stadium in Denver. I'll bet you there's a Super bowl in Denver, there's gonna be a new stadium in Washington. I'll bet you there's a Super bowl in Washington and you begin to integrate those places with the la's. New Orleans, Vegas.

[Big Cat]

It should be Vegas every year.

[Adam Schefter]

That was a wild one, right?

[Big Cat]

It was fun.

[Adam Schefter]

You like that?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Vegas is set up for that. That's what they're set up for. Hotels, everything thing, they're set up for a Super Bowl.

[Memes]

What about the combine? Is the combine, is that going to move? I know it's locked in here for the next two years.

[Adam Schefter]

Well, you know, the Backstory. They put it here initially because it was the center of the country, so this was easy for everybody.

[Big Cat]

That's actually not true, but whatever.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, it is true.

[Big Cat]

Nebraska is the center of the country. If you want to actually go, like, if we're dealing in facts or Shafter facts, like, what are we doing?

[Adam Schefter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Okay. I don't want to have to correct you next year when that's fair.

[Adam Schefter]

Okay, that's fair. You win that beef.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right. Thank you.

[Adam Schefter]

And so. But they put it here because it was in.

[Big Cat]

Centrally located to a lot of the

[Adam Schefter]

teams and hospitals and medical centers. And so that's what this was all about initially. And I remember starting to come to the combine. It's amazing. The first Kanban I ever came to, you could look it up right now. Simeon rice went number one. Kevin Hardy went number five that year. So I think that would have been 1993. That was the first Kanban, I think 93, 94. I'm going to guess off the top of my head. And they used to have literally seven or eight reporters in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, and we wait for the players, and you'd ask them questions. I always remember Kevin Hardy. We were asking him about all the weird tests that he took. You ever hear the story about Kevin? It was one of the great answers. And they said, what was the weirdest question that you got on any of these tests? And he said, the New York Giants asked me if I like tall women. Like, what you. What you answer? He said, I crossed off the T, but I like all women. Nice.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I like that.

[Big Cat]

Yes, dog. All right, Chef, this has been awesome. We love having you on. I got one last question for you. Roback question. RH O-B-A-K.com promo code.

[Adam Schefter]

Take love. Roback.

[Big Cat]

Love Robot.

[Adam Schefter]

Purchase love, Kodiak.

[Big Cat]

Or you can't just do all your ads, right?

[Adam Schefter]

No, no, no. Well, yeah, Rollback, I guess. No, I don't think they've. They've advertised.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we got to get you on Roebuck.

[Adam Schefter]

I love Robot. I love Roebuck, and I love Kodiak and Cash. Weird. We just. Yeah, yeah, she's very nice.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so robot question. Would you love.

[Adam Schefter]

Actually, I. I'm very. Next year, I'm coming in a shirt advertising.

[Memes]

Yeah, like a NASCAR driver.

[Big Cat]

I think you did well this year. I think there wasn't a lot of stuff that you messed up, so.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, that's good.

[Big Cat]

It was a good year.

[Adam Schefter]

I was a relatively clean year.

[Big Cat]

Relatively clean year. But my last question Is. Are you happy?

[Adam Schefter]

That's a. That's a very heavy.

[Big Cat]

It is. But I consider you a friend, and I want to make sure. Are you happy?

[Adam Schefter]

I think you begin to be happy in the life that you come to know. Like, I think, by and large, I am happy. Yes.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Okay, good.

[Big Cat]

I want you to be happy.

[Adam Schefter]

Everybody wants everybody to be happy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Well, no, that's not true.

[Memes]

Hank doesn't want anybody.

[Adam Schefter]

And I love. And I do love the job. Like, done it for 36 years. And the job is always evolving, and it's a blessing to do there, but it's also a burden to do the job right. It's just a lot, and it. And it feels like it's more than ever. But am I happy? Yes.

[Big Cat]

Good.

[Adam Schefter]

Healthy. Great family. Got two sick dogs. That's bad.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Bad. But, yeah, I would say. I mean. I mean, that's a heavy question. That's a really interesting question.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Are you happy?

[Big Cat]

I'm very happy.

[Adam Schefter]

Are you happy?

[Memes]

I'm very happy.

[Adam Schefter]

Happy and handsome.

[Memes]

Thank you. Appreciate it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Yeah. I actually think that you have. You seem to have a great perspective on things, and if you weren't happy, you would be able to acknowledge that you're not happy and do something about it. You seem like well adjusted as far as insiders go, because I know that the life and job of an insider, it actually lends itself to make you kind of drive yourself crazy with the competitiveness of it. And I feel like you more than most have that. Like, you can look at the total picture and kind of determine what needs to change in your life. I think you've done a good job of that.

[Adam Schefter]

That. Let me say this. That is a very nice, thoughtful, appreciated compliment, because I think some people take it so. And I take my job very seriously.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

But I also think I understand what it is.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Adam Schefter]

What it's about. And I think some people have gotten very serious.

[Memes]

They don't get that. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right.

[Memes]

Last.

[Big Cat]

Last question.

[Max]

Last.

[Memes]

Last, last. Last.

[Big Cat]

Last question. What was it like working with Jerry

[Memes]

o' Connell in this fantasy?

[Adam Schefter]

One of the great honors of my life.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yes.

[Adam Schefter]

One of the great honors of my life.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Memes]

Did he send you any real dark web shit?

[Adam Schefter]

No. But the good thing about Jerry is he's just. He's very calm. He's very reserved. You know, he doesn't need to vape or anything or smoke or anything like that. It drives his wife crazy. Right. He's just.

[Big Cat]

Just.

[Adam Schefter]

He's a calm, cool, collected customer.

[Big Cat]

So we didn't win. We didn't win the championship. I think we would. I think we would like you to remain with you. I. You're not going to be his manager, but I think you're part of the. The. The trusted inner circle of this team,

[Adam Schefter]

and that is an honor. An advisor that I do not take lightly.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you're.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You're.

[Big Cat]

When. Whenever a team would. Would hire Cory and give him, like, $3 million to go hire one of his friends.

[Adam Schefter]

I am like Troy Aikman to the Dolphins.

[Big Cat]

Exactly.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I think we want to keep you on that because we got to win a title like Jerry. I love Jerry to death, but we got to win a title like this is one of those years where I think if you. If you ask before the season, is there a hot seat? The answer is yes.

[Adam Schefter]

Would Jerry rather win a title or. Or an Oscar?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, one is real. Like, one he has a chance at.

[Adam Schefter]

Yep.

[Memes]

They're not doing scream 19. You know, I don't think that's going to be in there. Kangaroo Jack 4, probably.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Yeah, maybe Kangaroo Jack 5.

[Adam Schefter]

Right.

[Memes]

Might be when they take a turn for the series. No, we're going to win this year. You will be. When we hand the trophy out like Roger Goodell, we'll let you touch it first.

[Adam Schefter]

I'm on the podium.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And guess what? If we win the title this year, we're going to 11 in Miami and

[Memes]

we're going to party, and then we're going to.

[Adam Schefter]

And we're going to ask McAfee to pick up the bill.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Yes.

[Memes]

Then we're going to the White House.

[Adam Schefter]

By the way, my son was down there that night at 11. At 11. And he said to me, it was very weird because I had this guy that I used to work with at espn, great guy by the name of Brendan Kaminsky. And Brendan helped my son get in there that night. And so my son text me. He's like, hey, I think Brendan paid for my drinks at night. I said, no, I think Pat McAfee paid for your drinks.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's the best place on earth.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Do you know that there are strippers there at 11? Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

I did not know that.

[Big Cat]

Oh, wow. I just got your son in trouble.

[Adam Schefter]

Is that right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No, listen, it's not a strip club. It's a club with strippers.

[Memes]

If they have dancers.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, dancers.

[Memes]

Your son saw nipples that night.

[Big Cat]

Your son probably got a lap dance.

[Memes]

Maybe he was. He had a great time.

[Big Cat]

Your son had a great time. He had a great time. Really good places.

[Memes]

Your son Is happy.

[Big Cat]

Yes. He made memories for life at 11

[Adam Schefter]

so that we knew.

[Big Cat]

Yes. All right, chef. You're the best.

[Adam Schefter]

Hey, guys. Thank you for having me. Truly appreciate it. Great honor to be with you. And I'll bet first, last, whatever you need. Any.

[Big Cat]

Love that. Love that. Thank you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

You,

[Memes]

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[Big Cat]

Okay. Wrapping up the week with fire fest of the week. Henry, would you like to kick us off?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No.

[Hank]

It's been a short week. Still don't have WI fi.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Anything else?

[Hank]

No. We mended some fences, made some peace.

[Big Cat]

Maybe be a partner.

[Memes]

Had a sit down.

[Hank]

Did not have a sit down.

[Memes]

Stand up, stand up, stand up.

[Hank]

Dab sesh.

[Memes]

Get an eye to eye.

[Hank]

Eye to eye. Hot to hot. That's my best. I can't do that again.

[Big Cat]

You can't do that again. You're trying to do. Max is trying to stop us.

[Memes]

Yeah. Hank was just nailing it right now.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that was classic Max.

[Memes]

Can't have Hank looking that good, Max.

[Big Cat]

Classic move. Okay, Fire fest of the week, wrapping up the week.

[Memes]

Hank, my Firefest is.

[Hank]

I just gave a great Firefest and Max made us do it over because the lights weren't on.

[Adam Schefter]

Put this in.

[Max]

We'll just put it back. We can just use that. We can just use it.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

My Firefest is at. Max has become a terrorist with recordings as part of my take, where now he's just threatening to edit out everything he doesn't like.

[Hank]

Yeah, I would never.

[Memes]

Well, pft.

[Hank]

Just.

[Max]

Yes. Last night was like. We have an all time altercation that happened on part of my take last night or today when we all agreed that we were cutting. What happened?

[Memes]

No, but we talked about it on the show.

[Big Cat]

But you.

[Max]

The way you worded that tweet made it look like the. The altercation happened on.

[Hank]

Yeah, that's my clarification.

[Memes]

Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my tweet was worded. I'll get. I'll get future approval from you about my.

[Max]

Then everyone just assumed that I cut it without us all talking about.

[Big Cat]

I think we should because, you know, combine week's fun. We all come here, we do a big dinner. It's great time. I think we got to remember, though, that, like, we're all. We're all partners in this.

[Memes]

Agreed.

[Big Cat]

We're partners.

[Memes]

Just a fact.

[Hank]

We're all in this together.

[Big Cat]

We're all in this together. Max, you. Would you say you're a partner? Yeah. Say it. Yeah.

[Max]

Rico. You say Rico.

[Big Cat]

Rico, say you're a partner.

[Hank]

Rico.

[Big Cat]

What?

[Max]

You sound like Bosco. You're doing some weird Bosco impression.

[Memes]

Why are you doing Bosco bits? Bosco's not in this room.

[Max]

Big cat just keeps doing Bosco.

[Big Cat]

I was asking if you think you're a partner.

[Memes]

We're talking about Hank being a great guy mending fences with Big Dom. I'm sorry that I promoted the podcast, Max. I did. I think in the gift that I put out, it was Macho man and Hulk Hogan shaking hands there.

[Max]

I just didn't like this.

[Big Cat]

We've moved past it. We're in good, good place. But there was something that. We were basically replaying what happened with Big Dom and Hank. And some people might have pointed out that Hank, you might be a little bit of a hypocrite.

[Hank]

How so?

[Big Cat]

Because Big Dom just exists. What has he ever done? He exists.

[Hank]

He said I wasn't allowed in the city of philosophy. He was gonna take me out.

[Big Cat]

If I showed up, he can't exist.

[Hank]

So that was a personal threat on me. So, Yeah, I. I did take that personally.

[Big Cat]

It was a warning. Yeah, that's not a threat. It was.

[Memes]

He was being a good guy. Being like, you're not well liked in Philadelphia. I wouldn't set foot there if I was you.

[Hank]

Yeah, but again, it's not like. It wasn't like he's existing. I'm taking pot shots at him. He came at me. I responded.

[Max]

Well, you came at him first.

[Big Cat]

You did come at him first.

[Adam Schefter]

You.

[Big Cat]

You.

[Hank]

Whatever we. We have

[Max]

we posted. I don't know why you keep saying that. We posted.

[Big Cat]

The.

[Max]

The handshake. It's all good there. A stupid little giggle. You think you're so funny. You haven't even got a smile from any. There's so many people in this room

[Big Cat]

smiling right now,

[Memes]

smiling at me. I am. There's a Max smile, to be fair.

[Big Cat]

But.

[Memes]

But I. I.

[Big Cat]

Why did. Why did Max react? You're smiling at Max's reaction. Who caused the reaction?

[Memes]

You poked him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

And we've said from the beginning, we've been doing this podcast for 10 years. If. If I can make PFT laugh, he can make me laugh. We're doing a good show.

[Max]

No one even knows what you're talking like. This makes no sense.

[Big Cat]

What you're saying makes no sense.

[Memes]

Okay, Max, for some reason, you've been on edge all week. It started. I could tell something was up on Sunday. I was like, I don't think they're going to ban the tush push. And you were like, yeah, who gives a fuck?

[Max]

I was hungover on Sunday, midday.

[Memes]

Okay, so that. But you're on edge right now. What happened yesterday was a beautiful moment in between Hank and Big Dom. And Hank is. Is trying to be a good teammate.

[Big Cat]

He's never going to talk about Big Dom again.

[Hank]

If it's up to me, I'll never talk about Big Dom ever again.

[Big Cat]

Agreed.

[Max]

Yeah, we should.

[Memes]

That's.

[Max]

That's fine with me. I can talk about Big Dom.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but then Hank can respond.

[Max]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You see, you. You are the worst. You are the worst. You're.

[Adam Schefter]

You're the. It. Honestly, the.

[Max]

The rankings of, like, anti Big Dom in this.

[Big Cat]

No, no, no, you won't.

[Adam Schefter]

Zach.

[Max]

Zach is on my side. Actually, no. Memes is. Memes is the only one fully on my side.

[Memes]

That's not true.

[Max]

Zach, you're close.

[Kevin Stefanski]

How did I.

[Zach]

How did I get unclose.

[Max]

Well, Big Cat did that lie like, you were about to fight him and you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Let's go.

[Max]

And you took that as like. Yeah, I really did that.

[Big Cat]

He was. He was locked and loaded.

[Zach]

I'm just saying there's that.

[Max]

That's the only reason you're not fully on our side.

[Memes]

Because you call that a lie.

[Adam Schefter]

Because that didn't actually happen.

[Big Cat]

We had made that up, and Zach was like, yeah, I try to gas

[Memes]

up my board halfway back to Chicago, when Big Dom came in the room, you sprinted away. How do you know what Zach did?

[Kevin Stefanski]

That's true.

[Big Cat]

That's a fact.

[Max]

Also, I was gone for 45 seconds, and I was standing right over there, hiding, hiding, hiding. Yes.

[Hank]

Yeah. Is the people that I. I am in charge of hate me and want me dead.

[Memes]

Bed, sleeping with the fishes. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But the people that are in charge,

[Hank]

the two people that are on Big Domside are directly report to me.

[Big Cat]

But the people.

[Hank]

That's something I have to deal with and maybe address.

[Big Cat]

But the people that are in charge of you, Me, pft, Zach, we all love you.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Memes]

You're protected.

[Kevin Stefanski]

We're good.

[Big Cat]

You're protected. It's the big three. Me, Pft, and Zach.

[Hank]

My other fire fest that I. I dealt with in Orlando and I dealt with last night, we did have a fantastic meal. I've never been more full. I ate a lot, but I have. I've got heartburn issues. I'm just old.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Woke up, middle of night, severe heartburn. Thought it happened in Orlando. So I, I. There was a point where I woke up, I was like, am I having, like, a heart attack? And I was like, no, it's just heartburn. So last night I was more prepared. But, yeah, I gotta start traveling with Tums sometimes.

[Big Cat]

Let me. Let me do my fire fest off yours, because it's. It's related. And this is going to be very hard to say, and I've thought about it a lot, and I'm ready to say it publicly because I'm gonna get killed for it. But I think I need to take a break from steakhouses. I'm just kind of staked out. They're all kind of the same experience every time I overeat. And I've gotten to the point, too, where I. I order so many appetizers that I don't finish my steak all the time. And it's like, I feel like a. I think I need to, like, just have a break. Like a two months, no steakhouse. I've just been doing too many steakhouses, and it's the same thing every time. Like, why. Why can't we go out to Chinese?

[Max]

Let me. I have found something recently that has changed steakhouses forever for me. Everyone doesn't eat their own steak.

[Big Cat]

Oh, everyone doesn't care. I like.

[Max]

You get, like, the tomahawk for a couple people. Everyone gets a couple bites.

[Big Cat]

I like that. You don't. That's a good communism.

[Max]

Then you still get all of the sides and everything else that comes with. With a steak. Steak. But once you see, it's daunting to see a full steak right in front.

[Big Cat]

And it's every. Every time, it's the same thing. I get there. I get, you know, five appetizers. I get the soup, I get the salad, and then the steak comes, and I eat, like, all the bread and the steak comes. I'm like, I can't eat this.

[Max]

You only need a couple bites of the steak.

[Big Cat]

Yep. I'm.

[Memes]

I'm of the mindset now that you don't need any appetizers at steakhouses. It's a good place to run. Zero apps.

[Big Cat]

I don't know the app.

[Memes]

Hear me out. Because that's sides. You get. You want to maximize your sides. If you look at how good appetizers are at steakhouses compared to how good the sides are, sides shine. At steakhouses, sides could usually be crab cake. Last night, the crab cake was good.

[Zach]

You just.

[Memes]

You don't need the calamari steakhouse because it's good. Calamari.

[Hank]

Calamari.

[Adam Schefter]

Ever.

[Memes]

It's never great calamari, but the. The seafood towers. The seafood towers are great, but they're never like great seafood towers.

[Hank]

They're always

[Max]

like, the best part.

[Memes]

The sides at a. At a steakhouse are elite. The mashed potatoes are always elite. At a steakhouse. The twice baked potato, always elite. At a steakhouse. Cream spinach, always elite. Even the. The brussels sprouts that they make there, always elite. Asparagus, always elite. But Mac and cheese, always elite. At a steakhouse, you want to maximize your sides to go with the steak. And that way when they bring the steak by, you're not filled up on, like, slightly above average calamari.

[Big Cat]

But here's. Here's my biggest problem is. And again, I love steakhouses. I just. Every time I go, it's the same exact experience, which is a great experience, but I think I've overdone it where I need to. I need to divorce myself for a little bit so that I can fall back in love with it. Does that make sense?

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, I was Thinking about the other night, like going to Italian meals.

[Adam Schefter]

Great.

[Big Cat]

Going to Chinese, going to Greek, like all these other things that we don't, you know, we're just like, oh, steak is kind of of the auto option that you pick when you're like, we're gonna go out to a nice meal.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

I think I might have to break up with steakhouses for a minute. Just for a minute. I almost ordered chicken parm last night

[Memes]

and then I got the chicken parm.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Zach did. And then I looked across the table, I was like, well, I can't be like, look at this guy.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I can't be him.

[Zach]

It was fantastic.

[Big Cat]

I gotta get a steak.

[Memes]

This is steakhouse season too, but you

[Zach]

get to enjoy the appetizers, the sides and the full entree. If you go chicken parm, like, I

[Big Cat]

wasn't like, it's something about ordering chicken at a steakhouse is like, it makes me want to like kill myself.

[Memes]

The Andrew Luck.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And that's what we got here.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So I stopped myself.

[Memes]

Zach's going to retire, you say.

[Max]

I really think the share. The sharing of.

[Big Cat]

I know, you're right. This is the best part about it

[Max]

is you can also order like the best. Like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Because you're not going to. You always feel like an asshole if you're like, oh, I'm going to get the $150 wagyu, blah, blah, blah. But if you're sharing it, then it's like, yeah, we all get a piece of this and we don't over.

[Big Cat]

This is also, I should say this is also coming off of super bowl week, into vacation, into combine is like prob. The stretch where I'm at a steakhouse the most. It's not like I go like every week to a steakhouse, but that three week stretch is like too many.

[Memes]

It's steak season.

[Big Cat]

Steak for sure. Okay. Pft. Also, I kind of. You know what it is too. I need the weather to turn because I want to get back on the grill. If I could grill my own steak. Yeah, you know, it's different.

[Memes]

It's different. You always have room for your own steak.

[Big Cat]

Right. It hits different. So I think that's really what it is. I need to get back on the grill.

[Memes]

I've also noticed steakhouses, they're. They're getting heavy handed with the salt. Reason recently. Oh yeah, it's been more salty. Maybe that's just me getting older. But Hank, to your point, like when I travel now, I. My backpack is like. You ever see that? Movie flight with Denzel and John Goodman. He's a banana boat guy. He rolls in with all the drugs. That's what my backpack has become, except with different forms of antacid. I've got Pepcid AC in there. I've got Tums. I've got Rolaids. I've got Pepto Bismoliquid. I have like, it's a far. I'm a walking pharmacy of stomach acid.

[Big Cat]

You know what? You know what the other thing that I realized last night? Night. Similar to the, the stomach acid and, and heartburn. Like we always. Guys always talk about, like, you know, going to a hotel room. What do you do? You know, put on the robe, maybe get some lotion. You jerk off. It's a nice jerk off in the hotel room. It's something different. I'm now of the age where I look forward to a hotel room because I can just bomb that place with farts. It smells so bad in my hotel room. I just sit. I just lay in bed and just. It's. It's like nuclear warfare going on in my room. Like, it's my room. No one can say anything. I'm just letting it fly. Yeah, it's great.

[Memes]

It's good.

[Big Cat]

That's pathetic of me to say, but I don't care. We're all partners.

[Memes]

The, the. The non stomach, actually kind of stomach version of my fyre fest this week is Zach lied to me yesterday.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no.

[Memes]

And it sucks because like, Zach, I love you, Zach, and you've been a great part of the show and you're always very truthful and you try to do the right thing. Thing.

[Hank]

Great part of the show.

[Memes]

Big pot of the show. And you kind of lied to me yesterday. And it broke my heart because when I was checking in the hotel last night, Zach came up to me and he was like, hey, just so you know, they got Sundays at the bar until 11pm and I was like, that's a great, interesting fact to know. Thank you for sharing that, Zach. That's something that I do want to know about. If there's like a. At that, at the main focus of the lobby, the bar, they will serve you a Sunday until 11pm so we go out to dinner, have a couple beers afterwards with the boys, and went home at about 10:30 thinking about this Sunday at the bar. Went up to the bartender, I was like, hey. And there were people around, by the way. And I was like, hey, I hear you got sundaes. And she looked at me like I had three heads. And that's a pretty embarrassing situation I found myself in where now the whole bar just watched this guy come up and ask, order a sundae. And the lady is like, what did you mean? Ice cream sundae at the bar? And I'm like, oh, I guess I'll just go back to my room now. And she's like, yeah, we don't have Sundays at the bar. She showed me the whole menu, made a whole thing about. I was like, I was lied to. And I was told that there would be a Sunday here. She felt so bad for me. She took me and she walked me outside the hotel out onto the street to show me a different restaurant that's down the street that I could go to and get a sundae if I wanted. But I was like, that's kind of embarrassing. It'd be the walk of shame because I just walked past that restaurant. I don't want to, like. Like, walk past a restaurant to my hotel, then turn around, go back to the restaurant to get a sundae. And so I was like, it's really not even the fact that. Because she was concerned, I looked upset. And I was like, it's not the fact that I'm not getting a sundae. It's the fact that there's a guy that I trust that I work with that told me about the sundae, and I feel like he's not reliable anymore. It kind of broke my heart.

[Zach]

Not only did I feed you bad information, I fed you bad ice cream information, which is just like, yeah, not good.

[Hank]

Not.

[Memes]

Because what's good with cream team? Like, you are the most reliable ice cream guy.

[Big Cat]

We gotta take one of his pinstripes away.

[Zach]

That's fair. We got to the hotel. Look to the right. There's like, a little cafe situation. They had cereal treats out front. So in my head, I'm thinking, maybe this is like a sweet treat parlor. I go in.

[Big Cat]

No one said it to you.

[Zach]

I asked the gentleman behind the counter, do you guys have ice cream? He goes, no, we do not serve ice cream, but they do at the bar until 11. And I was like, that's great info for the team. I'm going to tell the team this. Me and PFT are in line to. It's not even worth getting into. It's. I gave you ice cream information.

[Memes]

It is funny, though.

[Big Cat]

Did you say ice cream sundae?

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Memes]

Sunday was specific. Sunday was specific.

[Zach]

I fed the same information to Hank on our walk home. So he could have very well also went to the bar.

[Memes]

And it could have been designed,

[Hank]

ordered Seven cookies.

[Big Cat]

Hold on.

[Hank]

And ice cream for the table.

[Big Cat]

Yes, I did.

[Hank]

And then left like I was basically eating a personal giant cookie with ice cream.

[Adam Schefter]

So good.

[Memes]

Didn't stop me from asking for a Sunday.

[Big Cat]

So good.

[Hank]

Zach walked home, like, maybe 10 minutes later, and then he's like, I'm going to get an ice cream. I was like, I'm going to bed. Yeah, that was aggressive.

[Big Cat]

The ice cream.

[Zach]

It's the perfect way to end a great day.

[Big Cat]

We had just done that.

[Memes]

Zach, did you get an ice cream?

[Zach]

I didn't get an ice cream.

[Big Cat]

No.

[Zach]

I had. I had ran into a different problem when I got there.

[Big Cat]

So we didn't end a great day. We did have a giant.

[Hank]

You did have a giant cookie.

[Memes]

To the. Well, there's. I do like the idea of Zach whenever we go somewhere, well, somebody's got.

[Zach]

Just leave all these cookies out.

[Big Cat]

That's.

[Zach]

We got.

[Memes]

Somebody's got to take those down. Service advanced scouting for us. We go into a hotel, and he clears the lobby by checking, like, okay, where's the nearest ice cream down here? So he can share that with us later. That's great foresight and pre planning, but.

[Zach]

But not when it falls short.

[Memes]

It could have been a disaster last night. Hank could have gone to the bar, too, and asked for a Sunday. And it's like, sir, a second. A second patron has requested a Sunday that we're unable to fulfill.

[Big Cat]

This is like the basement in the Alamo for Pee Wee Herman. Everyone's just going up and asking, and they're like, there's no basement in the album. There's no Sundays of the Omni.

[Memes]

It was. It was a. It was a disaster, Zach.

[Zach]

I got that text last night. This morning, when we. When we got to the lobby, I went straight to the cafe to look for the guy. Not there. Not on shift. Hopefully he's on shift.

[Memes]

I don't know. So embarrassed.

[Big Cat]

I've never.

[Memes]

I listen, I. I don't consider myself to be a fat person. I'm not in great shape, but I'm not overweight. But it was. It was the most embarrassing I've ever felt about my health last night. Having inaccurate Sunday information and then being sad about it. And that poor lady had. Having to let me down gently. So what was. You alluded to something, Zach. Like things didn't work out well for you when you went for Oscar.

[Zach]

Oh, I didn't. I ended up pivoting to a different small issue I didn't bring up. I left my phone charger here, so

[Memes]

I had to get.

[Zach]

I Got bang for a phone charger downstairs, trying to look for one that was. I had to pivot to like, a recharge.

[Adam Schefter]

What does that have to do with ice cream?

[Zach]

I was going in for ice cream, and then I had like, a crisis. Like, if the phone dies, we got it. You know what I'm saying?

[Big Cat]

You wouldn't wake up.

[Memes]

My brain completely shifted.

[Zach]

Yeah, my brain completely shifted. We have to get this phone back online.

[Max]

I have one more question for you, Zach.

[Zach]

What's up, Max?

[Max]

Yesterday we had to be at the office at 6:30 to make sure that we got here on time. What time did you go to sleep on Monday night?

[Zach]

I didn't get much sleep on the day.

[Max]

I would like you to further clarify how much sleep that you got.

[Zach]

I probably got like, two hours of sleep.

[Big Cat]

You went to sleep at Maxes?

[Memes]

Yeah. Well, he didn't sleep.

[Big Cat]

Did he make.

[Memes]

Here's a question.

[Zach]

I like that.

[Hank]

Did you make fun?

[Max]

No, I'm. I'm not making fun of Zach.

[Hank]

This is like ratting on him.

[Adam Schefter]

No, this is like snitching.

[Memes]

This is a.

[Max]

This is like a pat on the back. Like, he's so dedicated to the show.

[Memes]

Show.

[Max]

He was scared. He was scared of not waking up, so he just.

[Adam Schefter]

Did you go to sleep?

[Hank]

Doesn't matter.

[Big Cat]

Did you make it on time?

[Memes]

Yes.

[Hank]

That's all that matters.

[Memes]

Hold on. Why are you bringing this up in fyre fest if it's supposed to be complicated?

[Big Cat]

Time out, though, to defend Max here.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yeah, the.

[Big Cat]

Did you not sleep because you played video games too late, or you didn't sleep because you were scared that you wouldn't wake up?

[Max]

I was like, you.

[Adam Schefter]

You need to be commended for this.

[Big Cat]

You were so scared you wouldn't wake up that you were like, I'll just not go to sleep.

[Zach]

We guys got to think. I was just. I was just over seven days on the biggest week of the year. So I can't go straight into another. Another big week. Like, it's just like.

[Big Cat]

That is commitment.

[Max]

That's all I was trying to say.

[Memes]

How'd you find out?

[Hank]

He'll just blow it up on the podcast and just expose you this.

[Max]

That you're the one who took that negatively. I thought that was just like a funny story for the. For the listeners that Zach. Zach was so committed to being on time on Saturday or on Tuesday, he just chose no sleep route, which is great.

[Zach]

Like, we were all supposed to be there at seven. We all got there by seven.

[Memes]

Yep.

[Hank]

It was good. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Good work.

[Memes]

Zach and Zach to Be clear. I'm not mad about the ice cream thing. I'm just disappointed I let you down. Yeah. Yeah. Just disappointed. It's because I expect so much from you. As. As are you senior member of the cream team.

[Adam Schefter]

We.

[Zach]

There's no.

[Big Cat]

I would.

[Zach]

There's a hierarchy chart, but when it comes to team or 3. Man. When it comes to maintenance, we've got a front office, obviously.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He's a general. Is he? He and Jacob are generals. I think Owen's a corporal.

[Max]

Okay, well, they're the founding members. They're the founding membersy was also one of the founding fathers.

[Big Cat]

No, Miny's. Mincy's a guy who got shot in the battlefield, and we did not go back and get him.

[Memes]

Missy's the last guy that died in World War I. Yeah. By the way, fun little treat. Everybody out there, Google the last person to die in World War I, one. And just look at the picture.

[Big Cat]

Obama.

[Memes]

Just look at. Look at it. Last guy to die in World War I 1.

[Big Cat]

By the way, I also have one other fire fest. Last guy to die World War I. Not that we were gonna probably get him on Sir Henry Nicholas Gunther.

[Memes]

Look at the picture.

[Big Cat]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Billy Football.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Holy.

[Memes]

It's pretty crazy.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man. Oh, that's so funny. The. Not that we were gonna have a good chance of getting him on, but I don't think we're gonna get John Shire on, because at dinner. So I left the dinner. Hank. When I left the dinner, after the cookies, I went downstairs the same restaurant, because I was having dinner with my friends Waddle and Sylvie, who do ESPN radio in Chicago and some of the other Chicago media. And. And Sylvie's, like, very good friends with John shire. So he FaceTimed John Shire after the win. Duke beat Notre Dame.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And was, like, handing me the phone and was like, hey, Big Cat, say hi to John Shire. And I just immediately was like, hey, just so you know, Coach, I will not sleep until we find this UNC staffer who punched one of your guys. And I. He didn't think it was that funny, so. But also, you shouldn't have handed me the phone.

[Memes]

Well, also, in those situations, me and Big Cat have. Have done things like that. We're about batting a thousand percent on. On saying the most inappropriate thing to somebody in a situation. Just like that.

[Big Cat]

Just like that.

[Memes]

But we can't help ourselves. Like, I would feel like such a fraud if I was in that situation.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

And somebody like, FaceTime me and. And brought up, like, I don't Know my. Who's my biggest current sports enemy right now? Besides Hank. Yeah. If somebody brought up Hank or just, like, Drake, some put Drake. May.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

On the other side. And I. I was like, hey, you seem like a great guy. Your wife seems lovely. Love her bacon.

[Hank]

You'd be like.

[Memes]

I'd just be like. Like, hold your hand up to the screen. Let me see if your hand covers the entire phone, Drake. Those nine inches.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So it was John Shire, to his credit. Did say. I was like, hey, we'd love to have you come by the office. He's like, if you invite me, I'll come. So I. I'm inviting him right now.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

So I'm inviting John Shire and we. And also I'm gonna. I'm gonna double down on it. Coach Shire will not sleep. I will not. I'm gonna be like, Zach, I will not sleep till I find this guy.

[Memes]

You know what? Let's put a bounty on it. Yeah, I. I will offer.

[Big Cat]

Thousand dollars.

[Memes]

I. I'll match.

[Big Cat]

Okay. $10,000 if anyone can find the UNC person who punched a Duke staffer after the game.

[Memes]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

$10,000 cash.

[Memes]

Give us the footage leading to their arrest.

[Big Cat]

Yes, we want to arrest them.

[Memes]

Yes, we will.

[Big Cat]

Citizens arrest. Yeah.

[Memes]

Podcast arrest.

[Big Cat]

Podcast arrest.

[Memes]

That should be a. That should be a thing. If everybody on the podcast agrees to arrest somebody, they should be allowed to do so. Yeah.

[Zach]

Virtual arrest or physical arrest?

[Big Cat]

No, Podcast arrest.

[Max]

Audio arrest.

[Big Cat]

You are arrested.

[Memes]

You have to just like encircle them and make them sit down. Then they have to do an interview. You've been podcast arrested.

[Big Cat]

Podcast arrest. Zach, finish us off.

[Zach]

I mean, huge firefights this week was losing all credibility when it comes to dairy. I guess secondary. The default setting for the hotel, I guess, was blinds open. Didn't know that. So I unfortunately may have given like, like full nude get ready with me to whatever whoever was outside of my window this morning. It was.

[Big Cat]

Wait, did you sleep with the blinds open?

[Zach]

I. I guess it was dark when we got home. I didn't really think.

[Big Cat]

You didn't think to close the blinds?

[Zach]

No.

[Big Cat]

So what time did you wake up?

[Max]

Sleeping with the blinds open is good.

[Adam Schefter]

It's natural.

[Max]

Natural wake up.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but I don't want to wake up at the ass crack of dawn.

[Memes]

I'll.

[Zach]

In full transparency, I give no thought to the blinds until I saw that they were open.

[Big Cat]

And so what time did you. What time you woken up?

[Zach]

Probably nine.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay.

[Memes]

That's not bad.

[Max]

It's good.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's good. That's A. That's a normal time on the road. And then you just let your dong hang.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

For Indianapolis.

[Hank]

Look.

[Zach]

Tiny dong.

[Adam Schefter]

But yeah.

[Zach]

Luckily, if anyone have podcast. It was bad. It was bad.

[Memes]

Zach, I'd like you to. Can you find an alternate dairy angle for tonight for us?

[Zach]

I can do that.

[Memes]

Like, I want to know the best ice cream in any Indy.

[Zach]

Okay.

[Adam Schefter]

Get it.

[Memes]

Oh, you guys are going? Yeah. For. For me.

[Zach]

Private or public?

[Memes]

What do you mean?

[Zach]

Like if there's a republic.

[Memes]

You see?

[Kevin Stefanski]

Yes. Private.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Memes]

Private room.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He didn't stutter.

[Memes]

Exclusive. The most ice cream in Indy.

[Zach]

You got allergies?

[Memes]

It's like. No.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Dress code.

[Big Cat]

All right, Max, you have one fire fest.

[Adam Schefter]

No.

[Max]

It's been great week.

[Big Cat]

Great week.

[Adam Schefter]

Really good week.

[Big Cat]

You've enjoyed every minute of it.

[Steven Che]

It.

[Big Cat]

All your boys are partners.

[Memes]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

We'll kick it to ourselves. Do the lottery ball.

[Memes]

Big Cat, you make me laugh.

[Big Cat]

Thank you.

[Memes]

That was very funny.

[Big Cat]

You made me laugh too. Bft.

[Memes]

Thanks, Big Cat.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Time for the lottery ball, by the way. Totally forgot. I apologize. Clock's changing this weekend, so. So make sure that you remember that. Clocks spring forward, spring back. Clocks changing this weekend. Make sure you change your clocks. Get that. Do not that up. You don't want to be late.

[Memes]

You know, on kind of a sentimental note, one thing that I've really enjoyed about doing this podcast over the last 10 years is we evolve. So you don't stick. You don't stay doing the same thing year after year after year after year. And I've been really proud to work with all you guys and to see the show kind of change and kind of get smarter over the last 10

[Big Cat]

years, big time smarter.

[Memes]

But yeah, don't forget your clocks. That would be a disaster.

[Big Cat]

Yes. So daylight savings this weekend, which means we get more sun. Hank.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Hank]

You're a what?

[Big Cat]

Six. We get more sun. 23, 54, 56, 55.

[Adam Schefter]

Shane.

[Max]

Almost got it.

[Memes]

43, 86, 77.

[Adam Schefter]

He's running back the same number 10.

[Big Cat]

Zach, I need you to be on this daylight savings thing because I can't have you this. Could you up for a week or two? I'll make.

[Zach]

I'll make sure to stay on top of the clocks.

[Big Cat]

Yes. It's this weekend, Zach. Yeah, write that down. Saturday night, we're gonna have to switch all these clocks 2am Sunday. Technically, Sunday morning.

[Max]

Yeah, you change there, Zach.

[Big Cat]

Technically, Sunday morning. Let's get someone on the board.

[Memes]

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

[Big Cat]

Oh, 16.

[Adam Schefter]

Damn. 16.

[Hank]

You got to spread my wings.

[Kevin Stefanski]

16.

[Memes]

Love you.

[Kevin Stefanski]

Guys. Guys.

[Memes]

And happy birthday to. To Luca Doncic. Happy birthday, Luca. Go ahead, have that, have that.

[Big Cat]

Second, no, don't eat the cake.

[Memes]

Have that, have that. Extra order prime rib, Luca, You've earned it.