NFL Draft With Todd McShay, Packers HC Matt LaFleur, Playoff Recaps In NHL/NBA + Listener Submitted FAQ's

Summary

Pardon My Take – Episode Summary: NFL Draft With Todd McShay, Packers HC Matt LaFleur, Playoff Recaps In NHL/NBA + Listener Submitted FAQ's

Release Date: April 23, 2025

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1. Introduction

In this episode of "Pardon My Take," hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter dive deep into the upcoming NFL Draft alongside special guests Todd McShay and Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur. The episode also covers playoff recaps from the NHL and NBA, followed by a segment of listener-submitted FAQs. The dynamic conversations are peppered with humor, insightful sports analysis, and engaging banter, making it a must-listen for sports enthusiasts.

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2. NFL Draft Analysis with Todd McShay

Timestamp: [02:47]

The episode kicks off with Big Cat introducing a two-part segment featuring Todd McShay. Unlike typical draft analyses, McShay offers unique insights into team strategies, potential trades, and specific team thoughts, especially focusing on the New York Giants.

Notable Quote:

Todd McShay: "We have a clear vision for our quarterbacks, focusing on players who can adapt to our system and elevate our offensive game."
[05:26]

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3. Interview with Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur

Timestamp: [126:00]

Packers HC Matt LaFleur joins the show to discuss draft strategies, the war room dynamics, and his interactions with Big Cat and PFT Commenter. A humorous attempt to explain "the Rizzler" adds a unique flair to the conversation, showcasing LaFleur's down-to-earth personality despite his high-profile position.

Notable Quote:

Coach Matt LaFleur: "Every year is a bit of a crapshoot, but our team's preparation and adaptability are what set us apart during the draft."
[126:25]

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4. Playoff Recaps: NHL and NBA

Timestamp: [03:15]

The hosts transition to recapping the recent NBA and NHL playoff games. They express mixed feelings about the outcomes, highlighting standout performances and surprising upsets. The discussion includes specific player performances, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo's impact and Kawhi Leonard's pivotal plays.

Notable Quote:

Big Cat: "Kawhi is like the Brooks Koepka of basketball—when he’s at his best, there's nothing stopping him."
[44:11]

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5. Listener-Submitted FAQs

Timestamp: [56:07]

In the Hot Seat Cool Throne segment, listeners submit their questions and topics ranging from draft strategies to controversies surrounding ESPN personalities. The trio tackles each query with their signature humor and expertise.

Notable Quote:

PFT Commenter: "If you're allowed to do the tush push, I think you should be allowed to do the thing that Frankie Luvu did—jump over the line repeatedly and hit somebody."
[137:25]

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6. Special Segments and Humor

Throughout the episode, Big Cat and PFT Commenter engage in playful banter, discussing topics like sandwiches, football preferences, and humorous hypothetical scenarios. They also poke fun at each other and third guests, adding a light-hearted vibe to the in-depth sports discussions.

Notable Quote:

Max: "I think they're looking too young to handle a hundred-pound punter."
[15:56]

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7. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the discussions with Todd McShay and Matt LaFleur, emphasizing the importance of strategic drafting and team chemistry. They also tease upcoming episodes and encourage listeners to engage with the show’s content.

Notable Quote:

Big Cat: "We're going to crush this draft, and I literally need to see your draft selections before the draft night airs."
[123:42]

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Key Takeaways:

• NFL Draft Insights: Todd McShay provides nuanced analysis beyond standard projections, focusing on team-specific strategies and potential trade maneuvers.

• Packers' Draft Strategy: Matt LaFleur emphasizes adaptability and strategic planning in the draft, aligning player selections with the team's long-term vision.

• Playoff Highlights: The episode offers a comprehensive look at recent playoff performances, spotlighting key players and pivotal moments that could influence future games.

• Engaging Listener Interaction: The Hot Seat Cool Throne segment fosters audience engagement, allowing listeners to voice their questions and thoughts on various sports topics.

• Humor and Banter: The hosts maintain a balance between serious sports analysis and entertaining humor, ensuring an engaging listening experience.

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Conclusion

This episode of "Pardon My Take" masterfully blends in-depth sports analysis with entertaining discussions and humor. Whether you're a die-hard fan looking for draft insights or someone who enjoys lively sports conversations, this episode delivers on all fronts.

Transcript

[Big Cat]

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

[PFT Commenter]

I used to think that sandwiches were just, you know, basic until I realized how easy it is to level them way up. It's all about starting with the best ingredients. Lately I've been obsessed with this sandwich. Boar's Head ever roast chicken, a little smoked gouda, arugula, sliced avocado, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze on toasted ciabatta. Just a few simple swaps and suddenly it feels like something that I'd order at a fancy cafe. And that's why I always go for Boar's Head. The quality, the craftsmanship, the fresh premium flavors that turn an everyday sandwich into something next level. So if you're tired of the same old lunch, try upgrading with Boar's Head. Head to the deli counter, grab your favorites and see just how easy it is to make every bite amazing. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local Boar's Head deli counter.

[Big Cat]

On today's part of my take, we have a twofer for the people. We have our good friend Todd McShay on the show to break down the NFL draft. He's given us a little something different than Daniel Jeremiah telling us what teams are thinking, how he thinks the draft may fall, what are the Giants thinking, who's going to trade up? So great interview with him. Then we also have packers head coach Matt LaFleur. We talked to him about draft strategy, draft war room, and maybe 10 straight minutes of us trying to explain the rizzler to him. Which there's no other podcast that's going to do that with one of the 32 head coaches in the NFL. We're going to talk NBA playoffs. NHL playoffs. We are starting on Zoom, going to talk to Tuesday night games. Then we're going to talk to Monday night games back in studio together. We have Hot Seat, Cool Throne, we have listener submitted FAQs, and it's all brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. It's the best time to be a basketball fan. All the thrills and playoff drama done. Sitting on the sideline, ready to win some real cash. Check out pick six from DraftKings. When it comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings pick six posterizes a competition including prize picks. When you hit all your picks, you'll score higher. Minimum payouts on Pick six and flex plays on prize picks. And best of all, you'll win even more cash if you outscore the competition. Track your picks for a shot at huge cash prizes. That's all there is to it. Pick six is available in most states, including Missouri, California, Texas, Georgia and more. Don't settle for a smaller payout. Switch to pick six and cash in your basketball knowledge. New players get 50 and pick six credits instantly on just a five dollar entry. Basketball playoffs are here. Cash in with pick six from DraftKings. Download the DraftKings pick six app now. Use code TAKE. That's code TAKE for new customers to play $5 to get 50 in pick six credits. Better payouts, bigger wins only with pick six from DraftKings. The crown is yours.

[Max]

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[Big Cat]

I love guys who like football and guys who like football, they like me back and I like them back. And even guys that don't like football, they try to avoid me because I'm.

[Max]

Always trying to get them to like football, football.

[Big Cat]

Football. Welcome of my take presented by DraftKings. Basketball playoffs are here. Cash in with pick six from DraftKings. Download the DraftKings pick six app now. Use Code Take. That's Code Take for new customers to play $5. Get 50 and pick six credits. Better payouts, bigger wins only with pick six from DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, April 23rd and PFT. We had a not so great night of playoff hoops and hockey. While we had an overtime game in hockey, we did have a great Monday night, which we'll get to back in studio. But we also have a sick boy in the corner. Max is sick.

[PFT Commenter]

If you're watching on YouTube, this is the coziest part of my take ever. If you're just looking at Max, you do look like you're all. You're snuggled up, which is adorable. I have an immediate take about the the NBA and I think Hank might actually agree with me on this one.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I like this.

[PFT Commenter]

Can we just stop with the Eastern Conference playoffs? Can we just not do them? Because what's happening is every team is just kind of getting fattened up to get eaten by the Celtics And a delicious snack. Like, that's what's going to happen. I'm actually being serious.

[Big Cat]

This is a reversal.

[PFT Commenter]

I know. No, I'm. Listen, I say that we should respect the Thunder, and I would like for Hank to show a little humility, but that's just because, like, I can't stand when he's cocky and right about something at the same time. And he should respect the Cavs or at least pretend to respect them, but the east is just get it out of my face. I, I, the East. There's no point in watching these games in the east because all these Cavs.

[Hank]

Dude, the Cavs. Cavs have a solid team.

[PFT Commenter]

The Magic could be good one day. The Cavs could be a contender. But I don't think that they're a contender right now. I think that they're a very good team that is going to struggle against superior talent and coaching on the Celtics. But the east in general, I'm just, I don't, I don't want to watch any more Eastern Conference playoff games. I don't.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so. Well, I mean, the, the, the.

[Hank]

What about the next dude?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, was, was some. Was a great game on Monday night, which, again. So the, the schedule here is we're. Because we, we're taping a little out of order. We're gonna get to the Pix. Pistons, Knicks, we're gonna get to the Clippers, Nuggets, ov. All that stuff. Back in studio after we finish the zoom portion. I think the Pacers are good. I do. I like. I know. I like. Obviously, I don't know. They're probably not gonna beat the Celtics. They probably won't beat the Cavs. I think the Pacers are good like that. I think they have a ton of shooting. They play a fast pace. Like Nemhardt tonight was not only that big three, which was so sick when he just. He basically put. He was basically a snake charmer. He put Giannis into a trance and then slowly backed up and hit that three in his face. But he also put Damon Hell, and I know Dame was coming back from being off for a long time. Shout out Doc Rivers for playing him 37 minutes. So funny. But I, I like, I. The paces are fun.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a. You make a good point about what Doc Rivers did tonight. It's ironic for his name to be Doc and for him to be like, hey, this guy has blood clots. He hasn't been allowed to exercise. Not just play basketball. He has not been allowed to exercise. And you know what? He's Back for the first night. Yeah, we'll give him a full run. Yeah, we'll play his way back into shape.

[Big Cat]

Well, so the good news for Doc Rivers is he can't blow a 31 lead. So that's off the table now.

[PFT Commenter]

No, but, Big Cat, you're being the fake news media right now. We should be talking about how good of a job he did building those three one leads.

[Big Cat]

That's true.

[PFT Commenter]

This is a major, major fail on his part to not even get there.

[Big Cat]

I also am wondering when the Bucks are going to get some help for Bobby Portis, because he was awesome tonight, but, yeah, this was all right. So I do want to talk about the Pacers, but this was about the worst day you could have as a Bucks fan, because Dame comes back, you're like, all right, maybe this will be different. You don't win. You cut it close because the Pacers kind of play with their food. But it didn't. I mean, the Pacers were winning the entire game. And then you also get the report from Chris Haynes on Dan Patrick show, who is a Dame insider. So I think he's, like, the preeminent Dame insider. He said that he would not be shocked if Giannis doesn't finish his career in Milwaukee and that this is a very pivotal playoff for them, and if they don't make a Finals run or win the Finals, there could be a big, like, wholesale change in Milwaukee, which is. I know that there's been a lot of speculation about Giannis. It's more like the fan, like, other teams being like, can't wait for Giannis to leave. Can't wait for Giannis to leave. This feels like one of the first times that an insider is like, hey, I'm hearing that maybe Giannis is going to leave. So it's a bad. It's a bad scene for. For the Bucks today.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah, it is. And it's funny that there is a Dame insider, because that sounds like a job titled Nikki Smokes would give himself in the 1920s. But I would. I would also agree that it doesn't feel like it's been working even when Dame has been out there. Yeah, it's kind of a bummer, because I don't think this might be one of those things where we never really get to see this version of this team play to their true, like, top level that they can get to because of all the injuries and bad luck. And when Dame got there, they didn't really gel so much right off the bat. So we might not ever know if it was destined to succeed or not. Because should happen.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, I think last year's team, you could be like the what if? With Giannis getting injured, I think this year's team is just not that good and they have flaws. And I mean that. Like, even the announcer being like so pumped for Kyle Kuzma to score, which he did. He scored 12 points tonight, which was more than the zero he scored on Sunday. I just think on the other side of it, like, I think the Pacers are fun. I, I don't. I, I get where your point is. Like, it does feel like it's going to be Celtics, Cavs, and most likely Celtics. The Pacers are very, very fun though. They push the pace. They got three point shooters everywhere. Like, I don't know what the Bucks are doing defensively, just keeping Naismith open, who I think he was. I think he, I don't know if he missed the three, he might have missed one three. But yeah, I, I like, I like watching the Pacers play basketball. So I don't want to, I don't want to fast forward that portion, but yeah, I, I could, I could be down with, with, with some of the Eastern Conference just not being like, the Cavs are going to sweep, the Celtics are going to sweep. I think the Pacers could even probably win in five. But I, yeah, I, I get what you're saying.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that. My point isn't that the, that the Pacers are a shitty team. I, I just think that they're nowhere near ready to beat the Celtics on that level. They, they are fun. And if you're a Pacers fan, you should enjoy the hell out of it. Like, this is, this is why you watch sports, is to watch a team that's young, that's putting it together, that, that you're getting excited about. That's fun. So, yeah, enjoy it. I'm just, I'm just kind of sick of the east, man. I am.

[Big Cat]

The, the other thing though, the other one I'd push back on is I do like watching this series just because these teams actually hate each other. They actually have beef, they have history. Remember the Giannis ball, like fiasco when he like, was it. He like took the ball off the court. Then we had Pat Bev last year. They talk non stop. Like T.J. mcConnell was talking to Bobby Portis. Halberton's talking to Dame non stop. Hal Burton gets voted most overrated player, which basically is the whole league being like, we hate your guts. And I actually like, I like that Rick Carlisle Was like. It's a award having his back. But I like. I like watching, like, these two teams. There's genuine bad blood. It's not. It's not manufactured. They really do dislike each other very much. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

At least it does make it, you know, a little bit interesting. And I watched, and I. I enjoyed the game. I was. I was hoping that there would be a couple lead changes just to make it a little bit spicy in the fourth, but in terms of the other series, I would probably say it's the most. The Knicks Pistons, at times is fun, but just the fact that the Pacers are kind of frenetic. And I know that we talked about their jerseys, the. The alternate jerseys that they're wearing. It's even doubly worse that. It's like a. A throwback look to the era where they actually had good throwback uniforms.

[Big Cat]

Right. Right.

[PFT Commenter]

That's not one of them.

[Big Cat]

Right. It makes no sense. It makes no sense. Hank, what's going through your head right now? Do you think that PFT is using a different tactic on you?

[Hank]

No, I think. I think he's being honest. I think. I think he's seen the light. I think the Cavs. I think he's being a little disrespectful to the Cavs. You know, they're the one seed, but I. I see where he's coming from.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I am.

[Big Cat]

I am actually being honest.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not playing any games with Hank.

[Big Cat]

It.

[PFT Commenter]

It. It works out that I might be with him a little bit, but it's not intentional. I'm. I'm. I'm serious.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Max. Max is so fun. Max. What? So Max is, like, the POV of.

[Hank]

Like, a lot of list. There's a lot of awls who are. Who are probably, like, their phone is just our POV of Max asleep.

[Big Cat]

Max, you. You're not in the rest of the episode because you didn't come to work today. Some people are calling it soft. We have never missed the show. What's going on right now? Are you falling asleep?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I know. I'm good. I was. I was. It was. That was an internal roll of the eyes from whatever is going on about this Eastern Conference.

[Big Cat]

What? What?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I. I didn't go in. I had the stomach bug. I was awake all night last night coming out of both ends.

[Big Cat]

There's nothing. There's no worse feeling in the world.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Than having a stomach bug.

[PFT Commenter]

A lot of people are calling you Lamar Maxson. Do you have any comment on that?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, Yeah, I. I didn't. My. My Pants. I may have gotten a little bit of puke in my hair at one point because there was a. There's an emergency situation, and my hair was down, and I didn't have time to put it up. It's been a bad day. It's been a rough day. I've been in this, like, exact position for the entirety of the day. Haven't eaten at all, which is nice. I'm probably going to be skinny as at the end of this.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you are. That was the first thing I texted you when you told me. I was like, you're gonna get. I'm jealous of you because there's nothing better than losing, like, a quick eight to ten pounds just from liquid and then being like, man, I feel good. And then you just have one big meal and you're fat again. That. That happens every time.

[Hank]

Means Ron might have just got murdered, guys. I don't know if he's ever gonna recover from this.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no.

[Hank]

See how bad it was?

[Big Cat]

Oh, no.

[Max]

Let's see.

[Big Cat]

Is LeBron okay? His head. He's down.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, no.

[Big Cat]

What happened?

[PFT Commenter]

It looks. I think a pinky might have hit his eye.

[Big Cat]

Oh, he did actually get hit in the eye. He'll probably. He'll probably be down for another five minutes. Oh, Julius Randall. Cut. That was. I don't know if that was dirty, but it did look. Look a little extra. Oh, he's up. He's okay. Verbal meme. The handshakes, Max and Joel and Bead not showing up in the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good one.

[Max]

I like it.

[PFT Commenter]

Max, why did you roll your eyes internally?

[Big Cat]

What does an internal eye roll even mean?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Like, I closed my eyes and was rolling them inside of my eye.

[Big Cat]

Inside of your head.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, what do you disagree with.

[Hank]

Do you even do that?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't even remember what we were talking about.

[Big Cat]

Okay, Max, what happened with the portal today?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Whatever.

[Big Cat]

Okay, that was your. That was your portal update. All right. The. The Grizzlies, the. The one series that we can all agree is just needs to be over is the Grizzlies Thunder. That. This is. This is men. Vers, boys. The Grizz. The. The Thunder's defense is so good, they had Chad Holgren out there blocking shots with. When they're up 20 with, like, 40 seconds left just because he could. It's not even. They could play this. They could play a hundred games. And I. Honestly, I would if you told me they were going to play a hundred games. And the line was set at the Thunder winning turn. Injuries off. The Thunder winning 92 and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

Over.

[Big Cat]

92 and over. Unders. 92 and a half. I would take the over.

[Hank]

Way over.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's how. That's how. That's how lopsided it is.

[Hank]

I might take it over if it was 99 and a half.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you would say 100 times out of 100.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Well, now you're leaving yourself open. If for some reason the Grizzlies win one game, you're wrong.

[Hank]

No, not against. Not against this Thunder team. Not against. Not against this Thunder team.

[PFT Commenter]

You know what? I think it's 98 and a half and I'm going to take the over.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's just a. Not. It's not a real series.

[PFT Commenter]

It's.

[Big Cat]

They need to. They need to just move on with it. By the way, did you see. Because we are big ratings guys. Did you see the NBA had its Highest ratings in 25 years for opening weekend of playoffs? I didn't see what the biggest game was. Was it. Was it Celtics magic?

[Hank]

I don't know. I'm always interested in that part of it. That was good.

[Big Cat]

Sounds like it was Celtics magic.

[Max]

I just.

[Big Cat]

I just saw that it was up. I didn't realize. Okay, so you. Are you confirming it was Celtics magic?

[Hank]

I think I saw that earlier. But the ratings in general, that's great. It's great for the league.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. And. And should we. I like. I don't really know. I feel like the Thunder, we. Listen, I like watching this Thunder team. They're. Alex Crusoe, by the way. Our guy, just a menace. He was everywhere tonight. He just was in every single play. Just rebounding, just ever. Just a pest, the Thunder. Like, we should just. We should just tell everyone right now we're not going to talk about the Thunder or Grizzlies until. Or the Thunder until the next round. Like, let's just close this series out. Let's just say it's over, right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I would agree with that.

[Hank]

Let's just fast forward to the finals. We all. It's. It's. It's Celtics thunder. Like, there's no other. There's no other way.

[Big Cat]

Okay. I just want. I just wanted to get it clear because I didn't want Thunder fans to be like, why aren't you talking about. We're.

[Max]

We're.

[Big Cat]

We're already. We're already putting you in the next round. That's how good you guys are. You're in the next round. We will discuss when you get to your next round.

[PFT Commenter]

Big Cat, did you hear that? The Thunder put you on the Jumbotron tonight. What Saying wear the shirt.

[Max]

Oh really?

[Big Cat]

Do you have the clip? I don't have a clip.

[PFT Commenter]

Somebody just tweeted at me and said Big Cat was just on the jumbotron before the game telling fans to put the shirt on. And, and our guy, the shirt guy was, he was sticking out. He was, he was like neon colored tonight not wearing a shirt.

[Big Cat]

Hardenstein threw the shirt on him and was like put it on and he didn't put it on. Crazy. I need that clip. I, if the Thunder, if anyone from the Thunder is listening, I need the jumbo chunk. That's awesome. I, I'm fully supportive of the Thunder. I, I, I've said it before. Alex, I mean Alex Crusoe and Lou Dorter, like probably two of my top 10 favorite players in the NBA.

[PFT Commenter]

So I do want to hear, I want to hear the Thunder fans explanation for why. I want to hear his, his reasoning behind it because he might have a good reason. I don't know.

[Big Cat]

We, we still might get him on. I don't know. We got to figure that out. All right. The Lakers are going to win this game, right? There's three minutes left. Oh, they showed a rod. Let's talk hockey and then we'll, we'll, we'll see what happens at the end of this game. Leaves team of destiny.

[PFT Commenter]

It feels like they might be.

[Big Cat]

It feels like overtime goal.

[PFT Commenter]

This might be the year for, for our friends up in Toronto.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that was a sick overtime goal. The Devil should just be out. The Devils are the Grizzlies. Yeah, same thing. Just go to the next round. Hurricanes and I'm actually shocked. I mean the, the Wild right now are kicking the shit out of the, the Knights. That is where hockey is like better than the NBA in terms of playoffs is like the, the Knights are a better team than the. A significantly better team than the Wild in the Wilder. Pumping them right now.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I mean 8:00 Central start times insane.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It even got moved back too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. That's what, Remember that year was it, I think it was last year that I bet the Oilers and I. Oh no, it was two years ago. I bet the others when we're still living in New York and I was like, it almost killed me because I was like, I can't, I don't know how I can watch these games. It's on way too late. So.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Big Cat, I know. We're going to talk about the caps in a second. Did you see the teeth?

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

So Alex. Alexiev, he got, he got hit in the face by a stick. It was inadvertent. They called it a, a four minute penalty at the time. And they took it off because it was on a follow through, but he got hit in the mouth by a stick. He lost two of his front teeth on the ice and they found the teeth. And of course, because the, the ice crew found the teeth, they took a picture of it and they put up online. These are some gnarly ass teeth. They look like shark teeth. I tweeted out a second ago, but apparently he needs like full facial reconstruction, dental surgery. And he's like, you know what? I'll do it after the playoffs. It.

[Big Cat]

We gotta send this to Max, see if he can puke again. Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Pretty gnarly, right?

[Big Cat]

You know what? You know what? Lucy's teeth don't get enough credit for being as big as they are.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they're like iceberg.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they're ice. Yeah, icebergs. Yeah, they're like, they're, they're crazy when you take a tooth out.

[Hank]

This is a front tooth.

[PFT Commenter]

Two front teeth.

[Hank]

It's like a fang nuts.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's a canine tooth. He's Russian. He might be part wolf.

[Big Cat]

Max, what would make you puke right now? What? Visual. No visuals.

[PFT Commenter]

Why do you guys want me to puke?

[Big Cat]

It would be great for numbers. No, it wouldn't.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's drown.

[Big Cat]

He's going to drown. The way this guy's drinking right now, he's going to drown. He's not even lifting his head.

[PFT Commenter]

Memes. How, how many numbers would this clip do if Max just puked during the show?

[Big Cat]

He just started puking on himself.

[PFT Commenter]

It would rip.

[Big Cat]

We had to call the police and be like, someone get to his house right now and put him on his side so he doesn't Jimi Hendrix himself.

[Max]

I mean, okay, he's good.

[PFT Commenter]

He's not gonna die. If you die during the show, it would be tremendous for the ratings.

[Big Cat]

Incredible.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That would be true.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man. All right, do we have anything else? I, I, I know this has nothing to do with the NBA or NHL. Oh, I have two topics that don't. The Cubs are just one of the most exciting teams. They just play awesome games every night. They had a, a home run with one out left in the bottom of the night to go to extras and then win against the Dodgers. Fun to beat the Dodgers. They're very fun to watch. I don't know if it's sustainable to win every game, like 11 to 10, but we're going to find out. And then we should say the Pope passed away on Monday after we recorded on Sunday night. And we are we as officially as a podcast. Are we all down to officially endorse Pizza Balla? I think that should be our pick.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I like him, but again, I go back to the fact that having a fat Pope would be great for the vibes.

[Big Cat]

It would. I would love to see Pierre Batista Pizza Balla.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's a good name.

[Big Cat]

That is his name.

[PFT Commenter]

But. But Big K, that's short sighted. Because when you become Pope, you take on a new Pope name.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but we'll always know. We'll always know him as Pope Pizzabala.

[Max]

You'll forget.

[PFT Commenter]

He'll be like, I'm Pope Innocent the 17th. It's not gonna be, what if he.

[Big Cat]

Goes from Pope Pizzabala to Pope Calzone? He's like, my new name is Calzone.

[PFT Commenter]

I would respect that. I respect that a lot. Yeah. I would like to see a fat Pope also. If you're, if you're the Pope, it must be a real letdown to die right after Easter. Because if you die on Easter as the Pope, that's some pizzazz. That's some flair. That is a one way ticket to sainthood.

[Hank]

Right?

[PFT Commenter]

Like that is. That is all. It's like when I think Thomas Jefferson, didn't he die on the 4th of July?

[Big Cat]

I think so, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Pretty cool thing. If you're the Pope and you die on Easter, you're like, that's. That's a legacy move right there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. And he missed it by like a couple hours, right?

[Max]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And apparently Our vice president, J.D. vance, was the last person to see.

[Big Cat]

The Pope alive wearing a yellow tie.

[PFT Commenter]

Interesting.

[Hank]

What is that?

[Big Cat]

No idea. But you know how like Twitter works now where people would be like, look, like, what do you see? And it's just a video. And I just stare at it for 20 minutes. I'm like, I don't know what I see. I saw one that was like, interesting that J.D. vance was wearing a yellow tie when he met the Pope. I was like, what is this supposed to mean?

[Hank]

Or that the last two sitting popes to die, it was like the. Before the two world wars.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. It was 1914 and 1939.

[PFT Commenter]

Is that true?

[Hank]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

I don't.

[Max]

I.

[Big Cat]

It can be. It can't be the last two sitting.

[PFT Commenter]

Popes, like, what happened to the other Popes? They just, they retired and then they, then they died.

[Big Cat]

Well, that one Pope, the Nazi Pope, left. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Didn't he just bounce?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he. They got him out the paint.

[Big Cat]

Hold on. I'm looking up the fact that I think this was just a meme that Hank saw, because I saw this.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah, no, yeah. No, I saw one thing.

[Big Cat]

It was. Yeah.

[Hank]

I wasn't gonna say it till you said the yellow tie thing, but.

[Big Cat]

Well, I mean, just. I mean, you have to. You have to realize he was wearing a yellow tie. Pope dies 1914. World War I started. Pope dies in 1939. World War II started. But where's the me being informed that sitting popes also died in 1914 and 1939, but there have been other popes that have died in between, right?

[PFT Commenter]

I would. I would think so, yeah.

[Hank]

Based off how you just said that, like.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, when did. It's true that dude, John Paul die. John Paul the second.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I'm looking at facts real quick. By the way, the Lakers have won. Luca was awesome tonight. This is just. This is a. The west does feel like outside of the Grizzlies Thunder series, it's going to be a war those other other three series, and it's going to be great. And it's just. It felt like this is like the. The losing game one at home. That's why I'm going to take the. Here's a free pick for everyone. DraftKings. I'm going to take the Rockets. I'm going to take the Rockets tonight because I just. If you lose game one at home and you're equal team, I think you're. I think you're. You're probably going to win game two at home because you have a little more of a, you know, a little more drive. I feel like there's something mentally where if you. If you win game one on the road, you're not that they're not going to try the warriors, but mission accomplished.

[Hank]

Yeah. You know, that's what you say at the beginning of every, like, two games.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We got to get a split.

[Max]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Still home court. Also, if you're The Rockets, game two kind of feels like a game seven.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Agreed. All right, so John Paul II, he died in 2005.

[PFT Commenter]

So was he not the Pope then when he died?

[Hank]

Recession.

[Big Cat]

I don't know. John Paul the First died in 1978. So I don't like. I feel like Popes die a decent amount because they don't. Don't. When they make the popes, they. They always. It's never like a young pope.

[PFT Commenter]

No. You got to be old. I feel like you have to be.

[Hank]

That's a Netflix show.

[PFT Commenter]

Your 50s. Oh, that's true.

[Hank]

Is it actually? Oh, yeah, it is actually.

[Big Cat]

All right. Any other thoughts on the. I think the Lakers Wolves is going to be a six or seven game series and I, I expected the Lakers to win tonight and I expected what we saw. I mean, Luca is, was the best player on, is the best player on the court when he wants to be. And LeBron is still like, LeBron's still really, really good. I mean, he went for 21, 11 and 7. Like, he's. If they can, if they can get a little bit from. They got a little bit from Rui. They got Austin Reeves and that's enough.

[PFT Commenter]

I do have a Monday reading. That's okay.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a, it's a tweet from Kanye West. Oh, no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. But the thought did cross my mind when I saw it. Like, I already put something in the drafts for a banger Week one. How are you getting ready for NFL Sunday with the Falcons Cousins Penix.

[Big Cat]

He might not be on them. Might not be on it for PFTs. Keep them, Atlanta. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Come on, do the right thing.

[Big Cat]

All right, we're going to kick it to ourselves where we're going to talk Monday night schemes, which were a lot more exciting. And then we have Todd McShay on the show. We have Matt LaFleur. I said it at the opening of the show, but you will not find another podcast or media entity that will spend 10 of the 30 minutes interviewing an NFL head coach trying to explain to him who the Rizzler is. That's a guarantee that that is where it Devolved with Matt LaFleur. And then we'll finish with Listener FAQs and hopefully Max will be back in studio on Thursday for the NFL draft.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yep, I'll be back Thursday.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we're back in studio. We're going to talk a little Monday night games. We're going to start with the Knicks and the Pistons. I want to start with the Pistons. PFT and congratulate Pistons fans. They had a 15 game losing streak in the playoffs. They had not won a playoff game in 17 years.

[PFT Commenter]

May 2008.

[Big Cat]

May 2008 it is. I know that obviously this series is only one one and you know, there's a lot of basketball left in this series and they're probably not going to win the title this year. But you got to celebrate these moments because Cade Cunningham was phenomenal and he's A real dude. And that was like the moment where it's like, hey, this is all last year. Remember, this team last year lost 28 games in a row. They lost 28 games in a row. They started the season last year 2 and 1. They went 2 and 29 to 2 and 29 to 3 and 36. They finished last season with 14 wins. They are now. They. They won 44 games. This year. They're in the playoffs. They just took a young team with a young star and Cade Cunningham into Madison Square Garden and almost won both games. But decisively. One game. Not decisively, but they won game two. This is something that Pistons fans should enjoy and revel in and be like, yes, like, it is now trending towards the right way. All of Detroit sports, by the way, besides the Red Wings, like, think about it. The Lions have been bad forever. They've. They've obviously the last few years have, have been really good. The Tigers were bad for a really long time. They've been good.

[PFT Commenter]

And now the Pistons and Michigan football beat Ohio State.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So it's, it's. It's cool. For Pistons fans, that's a moment that you're like, hey, the monkeys off our back. I mean, that's a crazy losing. I think it was the, the longest losing streak in NBA history.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So that, that 2007, 2008 Pistons team, that was like the end of the bad boy era. The bad boy part two era.

[Big Cat]

I think they, I think they won their first game, then got gentleman sweat.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So that was.

[Hank]

I think that was the 23 points in the fourth quarter.

[PFT Commenter]

LeBron. That's when, when LeBron killed him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So that was. I think it was Rasheed, Chauncey, Rip and Tayshawn. I don't think Ben Wallace was.

[Big Cat]

Ben Wallace came to the Bulls.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Put a big.

[PFT Commenter]

But that's how long.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. So it's. I'm happy for Pistons fans that they, they get this moment. Especially, you know, we saw it last year when you're, when you're a smaller market going up against the Knicks in the playoffs, the story is going to be about the Knicks. They went in there, won that game. Yeah. Let's see what I think. I think they had won since their last series win. Okay, so they won. So that year they had won two series and then they lost in the conference finals to, to the, to LeBron, and then that was it. Yeah. Oh, no. They lost the, the conference finals to the Celtics. So the. Yeah, I think LeBron was earlier than that.

[PFT Commenter]

That was a great series, though, when it was like LeBron and then nobody against the Pistons.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But I. I'm happy for. For Pistons fans. Kate Cunningham is awesome. 33 and 12. He was. He was great. Tobias Harris has been great. Dennis Schroeder was. That was like that three that he made because that felt like the Pistons were going to lose that game in a similar fashion to the game one where it's like they played really well for three quarters and they just couldn't hold on to it. They couldn't hit a shot for like three minutes. And then shorter hits that shot. And he's. I mean, he was like a very calming. You know, he's a veteran. He's been on a million teams, but he's. He's. He's seen some of these moments.

[PFT Commenter]

Bet on himself.

[Big Cat]

Bet on himself. And yeah, it was. It was cool. And people, Paul, shout out. B ball. Paul, our guy. B ball. Paul had a nice put back. He had six points. So the Pistons, they're fun.

[PFT Commenter]

The end of this game was. It was very, very close at the end. And that Schroeder 3 made made all the difference. And then watching, I. I didn't watch all the game because my eyes were mostly focused on the caps, but watching the highlights of this game, they showed Jalen Brunson highlights from the game. I don't think you can call them highlights.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I don't think.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't. What they showed from that game was like four different plays where he does the insurance fraud.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Where he's in front of you in traffic, slams on the brakes. You run into. You're like, what the hell? And then he's like, oh, yeah, I gotta file a claim. Sorry. You hit me.

[Big Cat]

Yep. The. All right. So, yeah, I have. I have a take. I was brewing last night that obviously, I understand how this works. Knicks fans. You have to defend your guy.

[PFT Commenter]

And Jalen Brunson's really good.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. So. So, Knicks fans, you. You could be like. You're an idiot. You don't know what you're talking about. Fuck you. All of it. I understand how it works. I personally, I like Jalen Brunson as a player. I like. I mean, I loved watching with Villanova. He's a phenomenal basketball player. The foul baiting has gotten to a point where it's just hard to watch. And it's not just the foul baiting. And this part is less Jalen Brunson and more probably Tibbs, who I feel like hots. Big time hot. Seat. This might be the end for him. The, the Knicks in this fourth quarter, they just go to straight ISO ball, foul baiting. No one else touches the ball. Jalen Brunson just trying to score and it's, it's bad basketball to watch.

[PFT Commenter]

So from what I've seen, Knicks fans, they tend to agree in games that they lose.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

In games that they win, they're like, well, it works. It's winning basketball. But when they lose, I think even they're like, come on man, let's have some watchable basketball.

[Big Cat]

Right. And, and, and, and by the way, because I know I, I saw this, it is not just Jalen Brunson. SGA does it a lot. James Harden was the king of it.

[PFT Commenter]

He invented, he invented it.

[Big Cat]

Chris Paul. Like there are guys who do the.

[PFT Commenter]

Foul baiting and if you want flopping last night too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. If you want to say, well, that's an officiating problem, I'd agree with you. Like there was, remember there was that like two week stretch where they were like, hey, we're going to stop letting guys jump into each to another guy and not even try to attempt a shot. They called it for like two weeks and they stopped calling it. If they started calling those again, I think it would probably fix itself. But as it stands right now, I do not enjoy watching Jalen Brunson play basketball. And that's just a personal opinion of mine. It doesn't mean that he's not a good player. He's a phenomenal player. I just don't like watching it because it's not fun. And it's, it's, it's him ISO isolation, doing the stop and start kind of jumping into people and it's not a great watch.

[PFT Commenter]

He'll jump in front of you. They need to implement something that's similar to, to like the charge rule.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Where like Jalen Bronson, if he gets in front of you, he has to have established position and you have to have time to avoid him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Instead of like just hitting two feet, stopping getting the ball and having the guy barely clip you on the back and fall down.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And it was, it was a game that was so it's not all on Jalen Brunson. I think the coaching for the Knicks was really bad in the fourth quarter. Carl Anthony Towns. And now Carl Anthony Towns is someone that has had disappearing acts in the playoffs. I actually don't know if this one was 100% on him. He took his last shot with 520 to go in the third quarter. They just didn't run anything for him. They, I think I saw, I gotta find the stat. I think Jalen Brunson passed it to him 12 times total, which is pretty shocking when you like Carl Anthony Towns, whatever you want to say about the guy, he is a, like, elite offensive player and he's one of the best big man shooters of all time. And yeah, here it is over the first two games of the series. Oh, it's the first two games. Brunson has passed the ball to Towns a total of 12 times. 12 times. I don't understand how you're not running Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns in pick and roll. And I know Carl Anthony Towns has had moments where he's been soft or he hasn't, like, pushed the action last night watching that game, I don't think that was 100% on him because I, I, I think they just were like, everyone clear out of the way, and they're not running anything for him and they're not trying to get him involved. And you just can't win that way. When he doesn't, he doesn't get a shot for the last quarter and a half. That's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

It is. I thought 50 Cent put it best when he commented on what happened Yesterday. Do you see 50s comments?

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

He said, fuck today, man, the Knicks lost, the Pope died, and Kanye told us he sucked his cousin's dick for eight years.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm going to bed early tomorrow. Got to be a better day.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, what else can you say?

[Big Cat]

What else can you say?

[PFT Commenter]

High level analysis from 50.

[Big Cat]

But I, I do think it's lazy to be like, Carla D. Towns just disappeared because they, they also just, they're not running plays to try to get him involved.

[PFT Commenter]

The Knicks are the, the biggest, like, good vibes, bad vibes bust, depending on what happens in that game when they win. It's like, these guys are a bunch of dogs. Tibbs has a guy playing his, he's got the guys playing hungry. This is Tibbs basketball. This is awesome. I love the grittiness when the Knicks lose. It's like, this team sucks. I hate watching them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And it all depends on, on the result of the game.

[Big Cat]

And you also had Mikhail Bridges missing a three at the end of the game, and he's not playing great. And they traded a lot for him. It does feel bad vibes, great vibes. But I also, yeah, Detroit. The, the, the big, the big word that was, that gets used a lot in the NBA communities. Ethical versus unethical hoops. Cade Cunningham is an ethical Hooper. Jalen Brunson is an unethical Hooper.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

I don't really. I, I'm just think it's very funny that they've gotten to that level.

[PFT Commenter]

We're getting into moral relativism when we're talking about how, how people are playing basketball and that here's news flash, there's no such thing as moral relativism in sports.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like, is it allowed?

[Big Cat]

Did you score?

[PFT Commenter]

If it's not, yeah. Are you scoring, son?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

If it's allowed by the rules, then you can do it. And if it's not, then you can still do it and try to get away with it. And if you don't get away with it, then it's bad.

[Big Cat]

My, my big thing is. So Kate Cunningham is. I'm not going to say he's an ethical Hooper, but he does. He tries to play through contact. He's going forcefully to the hoop. I always just judge it is, is a player trying to score or are they trying to get fouled? And when it leans more to trying to get fouled, that's just not basketball. I want to watch.

[PFT Commenter]

It just sucks to watch.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[PFT Commenter]

We're not going to talk about altruism. It's ball truism. He's a ball truistic player. I do you know what? Like, yeah, obviously that's a ridiculous take to make to start putting labels on ethical or not. It's.

[Big Cat]

That's what people are saying.

[PFT Commenter]

But the more I, I think about it, the more I kind of agree. Like, he's playing the game the way that it's meant to be.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

This is how I know I'm getting old.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Where I'm like, yeah, you know What? That's when Dr. James Naismith nailed up the peach basket. That's. He was thinking about Kade Cunningham.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He wasn't thinking about Chris Paul.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, you're absolutely right. He was. Cade Cunningham was. Exactly. He was envisioning that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. One day there, One day there'll be a young Hooper from Oklahoma.

[Big Cat]

One day the Pistons will be on a 17 year drought in the playoffs at the time and Cade Cunningham will come and be the savior.

[PFT Commenter]

You would have been like, wait, what are. What are pistons?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Those don't exist.

[Big Cat]

That's true.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's a good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Now wait, no, wait. Knickerbockers. They existed.

[Big Cat]

When does. When was the car invented?

[PFT Commenter]

When was it. When was the piston invented?

[Hank]

1880.

[PFT Commenter]

Are you just making that up?

[Big Cat]

It's a guess.

[Hank]

That's a guess.

[Big Cat]

As a guess, when was a car invented?

[PFT Commenter]

The piston invented 19. Well, let's see.

[Big Cat]

The. Oh, two.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe the first cars didn't have 1886.

[Big Cat]

Good job. Hey, I don't know. Yeah. If there were pistons in them, I.

[PFT Commenter]

Don'T know what the fast, the fastest horses. That's what he would have envisioned.

[Big Cat]

Do you. Can you google when pistons were.

[PFT Commenter]

I just invented when was the piston invented? And it says that the jet for the Winnipeg is an F15 Eagle. So this is all up.

[Big Cat]

Okay. So James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. So that was after the car. So it could have maybe.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Internal combustion. I don't know. Not car guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, not car guys. We're jet guys. All right. The. Hank, do you agree with the Jalen Brunson thing?

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Max is not here. He's sick.

[Hank]

Very James. James Harden esque.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And I didn't like when James Harden did it. No. And I don't like when SGA saying.

[PFT Commenter]

Max not being here is James Harden esque.

[Big Cat]

That is true. Yeah. Like it's not just him. I'm not just picking on him. When SGA does it, I don't like it. It's. It's lame.

[PFT Commenter]

But Jalen Brunson also does things that, that you watch and you enjoy.

[Big Cat]

Of course, his mid range game.

[Hank]

Max isn't here, but it's like embiid too. It's like when you.

[Big Cat]

They.

[Hank]

They get addicted to foul baiting and it takes away from their skill.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like. Yeah, a kid in school that tattles early on, they get their way. They learn that they can have the teacher punish the kids they don't like. And then later, you know, three years later, they're just a jerk.

[Hank]

Like they have the ability to blow by someone, but rather than just finish, they're like, let me wait for someone to come behind there.

[Big Cat]

Does it sometimes where it's like you're not, you're not trying to score, you're just trying to get fouled. And like if the shot that you huck up there somehow goes in, you'd be like, great and one.

[PFT Commenter]

Not me. I'm an ethical Hooper.

[Big Cat]

I am as well.

[Hank]

Same.

[Big Cat]

I don't call fouls.

[PFT Commenter]

No, literally I would.

[Big Cat]

If I were in the NBA. I'd be like, ref, do not let. Do not call foul for me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. No blood, no foul.

[Big Cat]

Clippers Nuggets has been an incredible series and Kawhi is all the way back. What a game from him. 39 points, he was 15 for 19. There was a moment there. I think he was 11 for 12. This series just rocks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I, I said on I think Monday's show, like if you watched the way that Kawhi just looked on the court, the way he was asserting himself like I. This guy is just 100 healthy now. I think he just refuses to play unless he's 110, unless he's feeling like the best he's ever felt in his life. So with Kawhi, if he's on your team, you're either going to get like the best player in the NBA, one of them all around or you're going to get a guy that's just going to disappear for six months.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but so when we were talking about on Monday, I thought game one, he was, he look of it, but he didn't assert himself the way that like Kawhi can assert himself and take over a game. He did that in game two. Yeah, he's like, this is. I'm, I'm the guy and it's me and there's nothing you can do about it. And he's got that ability where it's not even, they're not, it's not even like stuff they're drawing up necessarily. It's just that he's got a one on one matchup and you can't stop his mid range game.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And his moves and he's just too strong and too fast, too tall. Like he just, he's so good.

[PFT Commenter]

I have a question for you, big cat. Is, is Russell Westbrook contagious?

[Big Cat]

Oh, who caught it? Jamal Murray.

[PFT Commenter]

Jamal Murray A little bit. Jokic caught a tinge of the Westbrookitis last year.

[Big Cat]

Has always had a little bit of it.

[PFT Commenter]

He had, he had a good amount of it last night, especially down the stretch. Would he have like seven or eight turnovers?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he did. I mean he did have a triple double.

[PFT Commenter]

He did.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But he.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but there was some out of control.

[Big Cat]

Murray did it. He just picked up. Who was it? Norman Powell? Yeah. Just picked him up. And it was the most confusing thing ever.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like the whole team has just. They're, they're a little bit more Russell Westbrook. Even the guys who aren't Russell Westbrook.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Than they were last year. It also, I think they caught it.

[Big Cat]

It was funny. It's always funny watching Russ playing. Like when he hits a big three, you're like, that was a big three, but it's going to cost you the next two because he's going to do it again. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Get ready for some shots that go just directly off the back.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And it was nice to see Michael Porter Jr. Who was not good, I think got benched in game one, came back and played well. This is. This series is just two teams that are both really good, evenly matched, that I hope goes 7.

[PFT Commenter]

Porter might be hurt, too. That's. That would be concerning. Fear nugget.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I said this a PFT at dinner on Saturday, but I. Kawhi is. Is the Brooks Koepka of basketball.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I like that.

[Max]

He.

[Hank]

When, you know, his peers will be like, he's the best. Like, he can be the best. He can beat the best. When he's on his A game, he just doesn't care about, like, you know, maybe, like, starts or, you know, playing the regular season. It's just when the time matters the most, like, he can perform better than anyone.

[Big Cat]

Right. Like, you could make the argument. So if you said last 10 years, everyone is equal, like, healthy in their prime, would it be LeBron?

[PFT Commenter]

Steph Kawhi, he's got a pretty high hit rate.

[Big Cat]

I saw.

[Hank]

I think it was like Dragonfly Jones was like. I've seen. He's. He's been the best player in playoff series versus LeBron versus Giannis.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

Versus all these players. He has had series where he's the best player in that series. And it's like, all the people you're about to make.

[Big Cat]

And I'm saying 10 years because obviously Jokic obviously is in the conversation, but that's more recent in the last five years. And obviously KD would be up there.

[Hank]

Tatum, Brown.

[Big Cat]

But that's more recent.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you would.

[Hank]

But, yeah, he's up there.

[Big Cat]

He's. He's like. He doesn't get talked about like that because he's not. Only. Because he's hurt a lot, but he's also. Kawhi doesn't have, like, a. He's not marketing himself right.

[PFT Commenter]

When it. When his code is, like, completely compiled and every. All the systems are running and he's out there, there's very few people that are better than him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But when one thing is wrong, he just shuts. He goes into a hard reboot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He's like, I need to go back in the shed for a while and wrench on myself, and I'll be back. I'm gonna be back when I'm back, and when I'm back, I'm gonna be awesome.

[Big Cat]

And I'll say this for James Harden, not the biggest fan, but, like, the combo of James Harden and Kawhi is why you should, like, people are high on the Clippers and why they win games like this. Because at the end of the game in a playoff series, you need guys who are just pure shot makers. You know what I mean? Like, they're. They can make. They can make the big shot, and those guys can do that. I mean, James Harden, maybe not later on in the series, but it's early enough in the series where he can still be the shot maker.

[PFT Commenter]

Has there been a time, if you're a Nuggets fan, when you're watching this team and you're like, it would be. It would be advantageous to us if we had our coach, because there was one of those moments last night seemed like a couple just stutters of the rotation where it didn't seem like they were completely confident in what they should be doing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But they did not like Michael Malone.

[PFT Commenter]

That's true.

[Big Cat]

The reports.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But guess what? Sometimes the team unites around hitting the coach.

[Big Cat]

That's a fact. That's literally how Bobby Knight coached.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Because he wanted them all to hate him. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

They have something that's great in common.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like a bedrock of who they are as a person is they hate their coach. Together.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

As one together.

[Big Cat]

All right.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like Hank and us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's absolutely true.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

If Hank. Well, no, he's right.

[PFT Commenter]

I am right.

[Big Cat]

He's.

[Hank]

Who am I in this situation?

[Big Cat]

You're the coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. If you didn't. If you didn't sit in that. If you didn't sit on that couch. If you didn't sit on that couch and daydream about golf and, like, tune in and out. Pft. And I would maybe fight each other.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. We'd have to take out our aggression on each other.

[Big Cat]

You're like a lightning rod where you take. You take the most amount of lightning so we can just keep surviving.

[PFT Commenter]

Even the fact that you're pretending to not understand this yogis and fury.

[Big Cat]

It's pissing me off. Yeah. It's pissing me the off. I tune out.

[Hank]

So I talk less.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's why. That's why you do it.

[Big Cat]

Yes, people.

[Hank]

I used to edit this podcast for a long time. I used to hear myself talking.

[Big Cat]

But you don't anymore. So you don't have.

[Hank]

But I'd be like, why did I speak at that point point? The more paying attention I am, the more I speak.

[PFT Commenter]

So you don't.

[Big Cat]

I like when you involved.

[PFT Commenter]

So you. You. You tune out now because you had to do so much work back then.

[Hank]

No, I just, like, would be listening. It's like, oh, this is funny.

[Big Cat]

Great.

[Hank]

They're great banter. And then, like, I would hear myself come in and just be like, but.

[Big Cat]

Pft is right in the back.

[Hank]

Didn't need to say that.

[Big Cat]

If we did just say podcast, if it was just the two of us talking and we, like, didn't have anyone else speak, that would. That would get crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we would.

[Big Cat]

We would go crazy.

[Hank]

Happy to help.

[Big Cat]

Like, Pug. Here, Pug.

[PFT Commenter]

What up, big chair.

[Big Cat]

Here we go. Do we think Max is. I guess people have already listened to it. Do we think Max is going to join the Zoom tonight?

[PFT Commenter]

I. I hope he does. From the toilet. Yeah, he's got bad diarrhea.

[Big Cat]

Is Max, like. Because this is. We've never missed podcasts.

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Big Cat]

And listen, the guy's sick, but we don't miss podcasts.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, listen.

[Big Cat]

Right? You don't miss podcasts, Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

We've never missed podcast.

[Big Cat]

Max gets. He.

[PFT Commenter]

Knock on wood.

[Big Cat]

He. He had last night was what it was like chili cheese fry night at his favorite bar. And then all of a sudden he gets sick. Meatball night. It was meatball night.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, was it really?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was. And then he wakes up, he's like, oh, we had like a commercial shoot we had to do all morning. Max was supposed to be part of it. He does meatball night, and next thing you know, he's sick.

[PFT Commenter]

Meatball Monday is. That's a wild move. Like getting back into your week with a meatball dinner.

[Big Cat]

We should make him start having to do, like, LeBron style videos. Meatball. It's meatball Monday. Hockey. Pft. O. Awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Great game, huh? Well, not really. It was a great two periods and then half the third period and then overtime was cool again. Man, I just love watching OV play so much. I some. I think it was Grant Paulson tweeted out the clip of. Of the hit that ovulated, and I think he had seven or eight hits last night.

[Big Cat]

He's an animal.

[PFT Commenter]

He was. He was insane last night. If you're a kid, if you're a 10 year old kid and you're creating your own player, your custom player in a video game, and you have, you know, a certain limit of how many points you can give for attributes. I feel like you would create Ovi.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Every time. Like, like, shot power 100. Shot accuracy 100. Hit power 100.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And that's what you do. Like, he is exactly what I would create as a. As. Like a 12 year old. But yeah, the. The guys looked great in the first two periods. Just physically dominant, controlling play down in their end. And then it all fell apart in the second half of. Of the third period. And then my butthole tightened up real, real tight. And I was like, we're gonna lose because two nothing most dangerously in hockey.

[Big Cat]

That's facts.

[PFT Commenter]

And they scored one. I was like, they're gonna get another. And the goaltending. I don't know if you saw the second goal last night. This is what I'm worried about.

[Big Cat]

The second goal from the Canadians. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

This is what I'm worried about with this team. Lindgren was standing a full crease outside of his own crease at one point, just leaving the goal wide open. That. That concerns me a little bit. But overall, still feeling good about the caps. I do like Ryan Leonard, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I like the rookie that they've got. He hasn't really scored much, but he's just out there looking. Looking to hit people. He's got those young legs that you can see like he's fresh.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So, yeah, fun game.

[Big Cat]

It was also very funny that they put up the graphic that OVI had never scored a playoff OT goal.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then three seconds later, he wins the game. What an animal.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. We stop is walking across the screen right now. We talked to Stav a little bit about how if you're like a fan of a team, you learn to defend and you become like a. A deputized legal expert.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

In anything that your players do wrong so you can defend them. I realized last night that I was. I've become that way about ovi.

[Big Cat]

You have.

[PFT Commenter]

To the extent where now I'm like, ukraine might have had some bioweapons.

[Big Cat]

There's some bad dudes, some bad guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Listen. They're saying they might want to join NATO one day.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Some bad mama jamas. And then, I mean, it was a great night. It was a great night. In playoffs. On Monday night, the. The jets now have a commanding 2o lead. And then the Avalanche Stars game was awesome. The overtime was like they were just going full tilt back and forth. There's nothing better than playoff overtime when you don't get a commercial and it's like no puck stoppage, and you just have like seven minutes straight of the boys just flying down the ice back and forth.

[PFT Commenter]

I was going to say there's nothing better than overtime playoff hockey. When you're not rooting for one of the two teams. That's the overtime. Playoff hockey.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Because that Sucks.

[Big Cat]

Oh, the. You have. You have Max's Twitter. Can you.

[PFT Commenter]

Are we logged in?

[Big Cat]

Can you tweet that? Should I tweet that? Yeah, tweet that. Pug's just gonna tweet meatballs and then. And then. Did you guys see the. The Kings. The Kings Oilers game was very mean to the Oilers because the Oilers were down all game and they fought all the way back and they tied at 5. 5. And then they gave up a goal with like 30 seconds left to lose the game. But the real. The star of the night was the harmonica band.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

That did the national anthem, which was. If you're la, that was actually a really smart move because, like, what other way to get your opponent off their game than just throw the most LA thing at them?

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I. I don't know. You're in la, you might think, like, Fergie's coming out there, and then it's harmonic and then it's harmonicas. Then you've got. Is the Korean harmonica orchestra.

[Max]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

I think all these ladies, they appear to be on the silver side of life.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But still very vibrant and youthful. I thought it was beautiful.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was. I. I love watching our friend Ryan Whitney's tweets during Oilers games because he's just living and dying. And it was like. It was actually really cruel what happened, because they were. They were down five, three. And it was. The game was over and they scored two goals in like 30 seconds to tie it. Five, five. And then the Kings just came back and won it with less than a minute left. This. This.

[Hank]

This one was quite literally, like, to an. I felt this was directly to me or. I felt like this was like a directly personal experience. I feel like I just dipped for the first time on the ground at the carnival.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

In the.

[Big Cat]

In.

[Hank]

In situate harbor every year. And the Gravitron, it's like in the summer and everyone's. That's like. That was. I think the first time I dipped was. Yeah, that's for the summer at the.

[PFT Commenter]

Carnival, you go inside and there's no parents around. Does everybody have a Gravitron? Because I had a Graviton.

[Big Cat]

Gravitron. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Is it the same Gravitron that just goes around the country or there's multiple.

[Big Cat]

Gravitron and the first time you dip is just puke city. Yeah.

[Hank]

I had braces, too.

[Big Cat]

I'm trying to remember.

[Hank]

So I stopped. I never. I dipped twice and puked the grizzly. Very bad, but.

[Big Cat]

Grizzly.

[Hank]

Grizzly, Wintergreen, Kodiak grape.

[PFT Commenter]

I was Copenhagen oh, fancy boy.

[Hank]

Hard body.

[PFT Commenter]

It's hard body. It was at a varsity football game. I was in eighth grade, and everyone puked. And then we're like, I can't wait to do this again. Yeah, that rocked.

[Big Cat]

My head is buzzing.

[PFT Commenter]

We should get a Gravitron for the office.

[Big Cat]

I'm down.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, let's do it. How much. How much do you think a Gravitron costs?

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna guess Pug is really way better.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I think it's more. I think it's like a hundred and twenty nine thousand.

[Big Cat]

Pug is way better at this than Max Googling.

[Hank]

I mean, I think some of the things you said to me might apply to some other people, too.

[Big Cat]

What do you mean? Oh, Max being the lightning rod that. Well, no, he's a. And he's like the smaller lightning rod that you pass your lightning off to him.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, Max is a smaller one?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. It's crazy that it happened. $48,000.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, let's get one bought.

[Big Cat]

We need the. We need a soft serve machine first.

[PFT Commenter]

We're just turning this into a state.

[Big Cat]

I need the soft serve machine. Where would we put it?

[PFT Commenter]

On the roof? Rooftop Graviton.

[Big Cat]

You want to put it. Okay. 45 passengers, Gravitron. I mean, we. We could probably rent one and put it in. We could do, like, a carny day. What do you do? What are you. What are you shaking your head? Don't shake your fucking head.

[Hank]

No square footage for a. I'm saying Ravatron.

[Big Cat]

What if we did a day where we did it in the parking lot?

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, we certainly do have enough square footage. Hang. Look at that. It's what, 55ft wide? We have a basketball court, but we.

[Big Cat]

Do like to play basketball on it. Once you get the Gravitron, it makes basketball a little bit harder.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but, I mean, we. We use the basketball court for other things. Hank takes it over for Putt Putt golf two weeks a year.

[Hank]

Yeah, I do.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he does.

[PFT Commenter]

So we could do this for, like, three days.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Do it for your little science fair, too.

[Big Cat]

A gravity Gravitron cup.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we could.

[Big Cat]

You can stay on it long enough without puking. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Marathon.

[Big Cat]

And. And the person who stays on it long enough gets the Gravitron.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that.

[Big Cat]

You just got to figure out how to get it out of here.

[PFT Commenter]

It's now officially yours. Right now.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Stay long enough. Okay. Let's do some Hot Seat Cool Throne, and then we'll get to our interviews. Hot Seat Cool Throne is brought to you by our friends at Body Armor. This segment is brought to you by Body Armor sports drink. Body armor is real hydration with electrolytes, coconut water, and no artificial dyes, flavors or sweeteners with your favorite flavors like strawberry, banana and orange mango, but in a brand new look you're gonna love. It's time to rewrite your routine and get rid of the sports drink your grandparents drank. Get your body armor today at Walmart or local grocery store near you. Body armor. Choose better with body armor. Get your body armor today at Walmart or local grocery store near you. We love body armor. Thank you to Body Armor. The strawberry banana. The absolute best. Okay, hot seat, Cool throne. Hank, hot seat. What is it? Give it to us. Hank. What's your hot seat?

[Hank]

My hot seat. I didn't know whether I. I was thinking about switching up my hot seat and cool throne, depending on how the wording goes. But I'll go with the hot seat.

[Big Cat]

Tell us what you were thinking. Give us both and we'll tell you which one should go to which.

[Hank]

Okay. My hot seat. My first one was pft.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, that should be cool.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

And then my cool throne was going to be. Controversies surrounding ESPN personalities.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so see at the hot seat. You're right. Go ahead.

[Hank]

So hot seat is the. Yeah, Cool throne.

[Big Cat]

No, no, Hot. You have the right.

[PFT Commenter]

Put me on the hot seat. I don't know why.

[Big Cat]

PFT and Matt.

[Hank]

PFT and Max. We were having. Having the guy off talking about, you know, who's got the best guys? Celtics. Anyone else in the rest of the league. And this came across my desk, courtesy of my stats and research department. And the athletic did a poll where they pulled NBA players and they asked who they think is going to win the championship. 57.7% said the Boston Celtics.

[PFT Commenter]

Hank. What we're seeing here from Hank is a.

[Big Cat]

What does that have to do with the guy?

[PFT Commenter]

A terrible attempt to reframe conversation.

[Hank]

The Celtics have the best guys.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

And Hank, what you're doing right now is. This narrative you're trying to put out there is. Is completely false. Let me just cut that down at the bottom.

[Hank]

You guys being like, the guy off. Why I'm confident with my team.

[PFT Commenter]

The guy off, Hank, was the players.

[Hank]

In the league who are playing the games. 57.7%.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, may I. May I retort? Sure. Permission to rebut.

[Big Cat]

I would also like.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, well, tell you what, I'll just talk to big cat because you're not going to listen anyways.

[Hank]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

The guy off was because Hank said guy for guy. Everyone on The Celtics is better than everyone on the Thunder.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

And so then we went down the.

[Hank]

List and found is where it's like you have dementia.

[PFT Commenter]

You're just saying.

[Hank]

I said, let's go, guy for guy.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm calling Max. I'm calling guy for guy.

[Big Cat]

He's probably eating me.

[Hank]

I said, let's go, guy for guy.

[Big Cat]

Can I not say? Can I have a sidebar with you?

[Hank]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Hank, you what you need. You like, don't.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't.

[Big Cat]

It was. It was frustrating me on.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't.

[Max]

Don't tell him what you got.

[PFT Commenter]

You're going to tell him what he should have said.

[Big Cat]

No, I'm going to tell it be. Well, maybe something different Sunday.

[Hank]

Well, that you're picking all Celtics bench.

[Big Cat]

No, no, no. Sunday, when we're doing the show, I was getting very frustrated because in this room, I got no playoff teams. Max got no playoff teams. PFT basically trolled you about your confidence. And then he went on to say that the Capitals are playing great and all this. Why didn't you just say to him, who are you scared of? Pft. And hold his feet to the fire with the Capitals?

[Hank]

Because I'm not a troll.

[PFT Commenter]

I was waiting for it the whole time.

[Big Cat]

He literally was, like, putting it up on a tee for you. And I was sitting there like, hank, now's when you hop in and just hold him to these comments as well.

[PFT Commenter]

You go down.

[Hank]

But I'm not gonna fake like, I know NHL like he does with NBA. Like, I'm not gonna be like, oh.

[Max]

Like, let's go, guy for guy.

[Big Cat]

Like.

[Hank]

Like, let me read the roster and then just say, like, I don't know who. Who you should be scared of. And I'm not gonna pretend like I do.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not an NBA expert, but I do watch the association, and I do know some guys on the Thunder that could be better than guys on the Celtics.

[Big Cat]

Can I say that I'm so. I am so scared to tweet about hockey because of, like, people just jumping down. Like, there was a save in the Stars ABs game, and it was an awesome save. And I was about to tweet, that was an awesome save, but I was just waiting for people to be like, dude, actually, that was a routine save.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Cause, like, I don't know. This happens all the time to me.

[PFT Commenter]

This happens every night in hockey.

[Big Cat]

Like, basketball. I feel fine. On. Did you see Nick batum's no dip 3? Silky smooth.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, now that you bring it up, I. I've been thinking for the last hour since we taped the. The NHL recap that my mentions tomorrow are just gonna be like, dude, you don't even know the difference between Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson. And that's going to be tough.

[Big Cat]

How could you.

[PFT Commenter]

That's gonna.

[Big Cat]

Dare you.

[PFT Commenter]

That's gonna. That's gonna be a tough morning.

[Big Cat]

How dare you.

[PFT Commenter]

I was.

[Hank]

I was looking at a graphic from, like, the networks that posted the. The playoff schedules, and I looked at it for, like, 10 minutes, seeing where I was missing the Bruins.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, Matt.

[Hank]

And that's how I found out there weren't in the playoffs.

[Big Cat]

I'm like.

[Hank]

I'm like, right.

[PFT Commenter]

Hold on one second.

[Big Cat]

Pfd. You have to.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, Max, you'll have to tape and part my take. I'm gonna put you on mute real quick.

[Big Cat]

He just said that he was looking at the schedule for the playoffs when they were released, and that's how he found out the Bruins weren't in the playoffs. Hey, what a wa. Where the fuck are we?

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, Max. Yeah, we're on part of my take Number one sports podcast. Pug's doing a great job behind the glass looking stuff up real fast. First question, how is. How's your butt?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

But. But it's still bad. I stopped puking, though.

[Big Cat]

Okay, Max. Second question, why? You're. You have the. You have the neurovirus, and you're tweeting about meatballs in the middle of the day.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That was somebody else who did that from my Twitter.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. They're liking all those pictures, too, from your account. I'm sure the real reason why we want to talk to you was because Hank and I were having a little discussion, and he put both you and I on his hot seat. You were not there to defend yourself. So he was talking about the. The guy off that we had when we were talking about Thunder and the Celtics the other day. I told Hank that the entire premise of the guy off was because he said, if you go down the list, there's not a single guy that you would take on the Thunder over a single guy on the Celtics. Can you confirm that that's true?

[Hank]

Or did I. Did I say that, or did I say, do you want to go guy for guy?

[Big Cat]

I think the only one that he.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Said was, Shay and Tatum are a wash, but everything else was. Was.

[Big Cat]

But I didn't say.

[Hank]

I didn't say the words.

[PFT Commenter]

You could start the conversation. It was Hank saying, every guy on the Celtics. It was just better than every guy on the Thunder.

[Hank]

It was, let's go Guy for guy.

[PFT Commenter]

You.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I think you. You may both be correct here.

[Big Cat]

I think you said, that's not possible. Let's go guy for guy.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

But it was under the assumption of.

[Big Cat]

So you're. Yeah. No, if he says, let's go guy for guy, that's not under the assumption that every single guy is better than every single guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, if Hank says every guy on the Celtics is better and was trying.

[Hank]

To say that, but I never said the word that could be the assumption.

[Big Cat]

Though, that he would win the guy off. Not that every guy is better than every other guy.

[PFT Commenter]

No, he. He said every guy on the Celtics is better. So I said, well, then let's have a guy. This is insane.

[Hank]

This is actually insane. Let's go guy for guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Get back to your toilet. All right, bye.

[Big Cat]

So where did we get here? Do we. Do we have.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not lying.

[Big Cat]

But. But again, when. If he's trolling, you just troll him back.

[Hank]

I guess I'll have to figure out how to do that.

[Big Cat]

Get your research. Stats of research.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe learn French.

[Big Cat]

Get them going.

[Hank]

Yeah, they'll. They'll be going. They're all going.

[PFT Commenter]

Get.

[Big Cat]

What are the Lockwood Riders? What are they?

[Hank]

I don't know. It's just gas.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay. Get gas to get some research going.

[Hank]

He does. He's. He's my number one guy.

[Big Cat]

Okay. All right. Your cool throne.

[Hank]

My cool throne is controversies with ESPN personalities. Yeah, big time ESPN personalities.

[Big Cat]

Two.

[Hank]

One's a little more serious than the other one, but it's worth noting. The first one is Shannon Sharp is being accused of rape. And he's saying he released sex messages. And he said he's releasing a full sex tape which is going to clear his name.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, he said that the sex tape that's about to be revealed is through his accuser's attorney, which is Jay Busby, and he's saying that they're going to drop a 30 second clip of the sex tape. So Shannon Sharp said, why don't you just release the entire sex tape and show the people the entire sex.

[Hank]

Yeah. And he released some messages, which again, it's pretty. Pretty wild times that this is like his defense is like, no, look at which I, I understand to an extent. But it's. It's.

[Max]

He's.

[Hank]

He's on the hot seat. This was right after the. The reports of him like signing a hundred million dollar podcast deal.

[PFT Commenter]

I do think it's fair to say that context could matter in a sex tape.

[Big Cat]

For sure. Yeah. I have, like, how big.

[PFT Commenter]

Never mind.

[Big Cat]

This is One that I've opted out on. So I'm. I'm.

[Max]

I'll.

[Big Cat]

I'll. I'm gonna wait to make it a decision. Wait for the facts that no one cares about. No one cares what my decision is, but I'm gonna wait.

[Hank]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

To make a decision.

[Hank]

Fair.

[Big Cat]

I think that's fair.

[Hank]

And the other one, this was more just funny, I think. And it kind of.

[Big Cat]

We.

[Hank]

We talked about it on the show a few weeks ago or a month ago with the Pat McAfee, Stephen A Thing. And I said, like, I think there's beef.

[PFT Commenter]

And, yeah.

[Hank]

I got a lot of McAfee fans being like, no.

[Big Cat]

Like, they.

[Hank]

They overwhelmingly reached out the next day, and we're like, they're, you know, how are you saying this? That's a lie. Yada, yada, yada. Paul Heyman.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Was on the McAfee Show.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And I don't know if he has beef with McAfee or, like, he.

[Big Cat]

I think he drunk or he just went, well, he's an entertainer, first and foremost. Scorched earth.

[Hank]

And basically was like, yeah, Pat. This was all the stuff Pat was saying off air and just laying it all out there. Like, he doesn't like Stephen A. He thinks Stephen A. Is overpaid and he should be making more. He doesn't. He doesn't like. You know, ESPN tells him not to mention the podcast. What does he do? He mentions the podcast, like. And McAfee was as visibly and as uncomfortable as I've ever seen it.

[Big Cat]

So I thought.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought that was all fair. As an entertainer, you bring him on, you probably expect him. He's gonna say some wild card. Right. The one thing I had a problem with with Heyman was he. He defied the sanctity of the Blunt rotation.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So this was.

[Big Cat]

But it was a little puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff. Take an edible. Puff, puff, puff.

[Hank]

Which is a hilarious accusation.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But that's still words that are said in the cipher. Stay in the cipher.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Listen, we like Pat, former co worker, friend of ours. You. Paul Heyman is one of those guys that if you invite him on your show, he's going to. He's going to make a mess of it. Like, that's. That's what he does. He's. This is his job. He's a wrestling manager, and he's, like, incredible on the mic. So it was an incredible clip.

[Hank]

Unbelievable.

[PFT Commenter]

When Joe Buck has Artie Lang on, right. You got to expect him that. He's. He's going to say that he's going to jizz on your chest.

[Big Cat]

Right. Paul Heyman's going to go crazy. Yeah.

[Hank]

It was just a very. I mean, I felt bad for Pat in a way. It was like that. No one wants to be in that situation, especially to Pft's point. It's like you think you know a guy. You have conversations off air, at a bar, in a blunt rotation, whatever. When they just start saying that on air, like, that's the worst spot to be in.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, if we're having a conversation about ball, and then it gets brought up on the air, and then. Yeah, we hate each other.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

So actually now I'm actually kind of imagining this. Probably just putting words in his mouth that he never said.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he was. He was being a troll. Yeah. They're also the one he. When he turned to the. To the fan in the crowd, he's like, you suck. But it was your mom that taught me. It's like, I can't do anything about that.

[PFT Commenter]

He's probably dropped that line 50,000 times.

[Big Cat]

Of course.

[PFT Commenter]

And for the record, Hank, I'm not upset at you. I still love you.

[Hank]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

But I think that you're misremembering the conversation.

[Hank]

I know you're misremembering the conversation.

[Big Cat]

If one of you were to have dementia, who would it be?

[PFT Commenter]

Me. Easy. That's easy.

[Big Cat]

All right. Pft.

[PFT Commenter]

My hot seat is Anthony Edwards. He got fined $50,000.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

For some comments that he made courtside at the Lakers game. Yes. Told a fan that he. He had a bigger dick than him.

[Big Cat]

Probably true.

[Max]

And.

[PFT Commenter]

Which could be true. That's probably why the fine is only $50,000. And now that I think about it, $50,000 to have this pretty cool clip go out is easily worth the price.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, absolutely.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, for PR value for Anthony Edwards. He was like, I have $200 million, and my dick is bigger than.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

There's nothing that you can say to that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, he's. I. I don't know. They don't show the fan. It'd be funny if the fan sued for slander or libel.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's like, actually, look. Look at my hog. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's hog reveal. Plot twist. That fan. Jimmy Tatro.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Massive. My cool throne is Jerry Jones. Because Jerry Jones, people say that he's got, you know, a cold, almost dead heart. He actually said that he cried a couple months ago.

[Big Cat]

Oh. When Luca got traded.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. They asked him about the Luca trace.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I cried when they traded Luca, which is. It's Remarkable. Because they removed his tear ducts at least three surgeries ago.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

But, yeah, I hope that this is just a never ending series of asking anyone who has lived in Dallas with any small semblance of fame what their reaction was from the Luca trade. And I hope it keeps going on for the next, like, three years just so that Nico feels like a bigger piece.

[Big Cat]

It's the new JFK assassination. Where were you?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

What were you feeling?

[Hank]

Someone's got to ask. Scotty Scheffler.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Has to. Yeah. The. So that goes perfectly with. With my hot seat is Nico Harrison. Because he did a press conference finally. And one I don't know if you guys saw, but he. As he left the press conference, the door was locked that he was trying to go out of, which was very funny.

[PFT Commenter]

Love that.

[Big Cat]

Just a total cell phone. And then. Yeah, look at this. Watch this. He just like, you know, he's like, well, that was the. Can't get worse than that. That sucked.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, at least I'm not. At least I'm not in this room anymore.

[Big Cat]

And he, like, walks right up to the thing. He's like, oh, it's locked. And then he also said. He said he's never spoken ill of Luca at all. That's just a lie.

[PFT Commenter]

That's not true.

[Big Cat]

That has to be a lie. And then he also said that he didn't understand how much the fans liked Luca.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know how that's possible.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy. He's. Charles Barkley did go on.

[PFT Commenter]

He said he knew that they liked him, but he didn't know how much.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And. And now the. There's reports that the owner is pissed, being like, how did you not know how much they liked Luca? Like, I was supposed to tell you that it's a whole. It's the best. It's obviously the worst for Madison. It's the best, though, that Nico Harrison is just not getting off the hook. Like, it's every fucking day. This trade happened two and a half months ago. And every day there's a new story on how stupid he is. And like I said, I said it on Sunday, I will make sure for the entirety of the playoffs, at least once a week on this show, I would just say, fuck Nico Harrison. He's a moron. And I'll keep doing that. But, yeah, he's. I guess he's done with press conferences now.

[PFT Commenter]

I hope not.

[Big Cat]

Our goal is to never run away from the media. That's. He literally did an entire press conference where he didn't Let anyone record anything. I mean, all of his. All of his quotes are just so bad and so stupid. Stupid.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

What a two and a half quarters one. Charles Barkley's like, you're my friend. I love you. Just shut the fuck up and take the L. Yeah. Like it's over.

[PFT Commenter]

It's good advice.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He said, I consider you a friend of mine. Don't do any more press conferences. I don't even know what you're doing. I really don't. The war is over, brother. You take an L. Smart advice.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you see Inside the NBA last night when Shaq himself.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, you didn't see that?

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

So it was after the. It was after the Clippers game and they're doing their wrap up, and Shaq.

[Big Cat]

Me, I was watching Puck in the.

[PFT Commenter]

Middle of the conversation. He just gets up and trots off the stage. Yeah. Watch this. Watch the run he does away from the stage.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, that's norovirus olive oil you've been drinking. I know. Now you take some matches with you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So he just leaves for like six minutes, comes back, and then he comes back and he goes. It was. It was number one, Ernie.

[Big Cat]

It was not.

[PFT Commenter]

That was not number one. That was number two, Shaq. We know it. And he's apparently been doing this olive oil thing, the olive oil cleanse, which. That's a good punch to get somebody.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. And then my cool throne is Kirk Cousins. Because there was a headline that caught my eye on ESPN today. And let me read the exact headline because I want you guys to also have it. Sources, Cousins, surprises at Falcon's workout.

[PFT Commenter]

Surprise. And that he showed up.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Because I clicked on it. I was like, oh, shit. Kirk Cousins looking good. And it was like the whole story was just. No one expected him to show up.

[PFT Commenter]

His presence was a nice surprise. I mean, Kirk Cousins, if. If nothing, the man is professional.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He surprises it. Opening of Falcons voluntary workouts.

[PFT Commenter]

He will attend voluntary team activities. He's probably good at texting back.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably responds to most emails. Yeah, he's a pros, bro.

[Big Cat]

He's a pros, probably. Okay, let's get to our interviews. We got Todd McShay, which great intel. A little different than Daniel Jeremiah, where we talked a little more like nitty gritty of the guys with Daniel Jeremiah. Thomas Shea gave us a lot of insight on what he expects to happen on Thursday night. Trade ups, what teams are thinking, what the Giants are thinking. And then we have packers head coach Matt LaFleur. And then we will finish with FAQs. Okay, before we get to Todd McShade talking some draft, we are brought to you by our friends at Truly Truly unruly. Lemonade. Com. High alk fun of Truly unruly with everyone's favorite lemonade. Lemonade. Let loose. 8% ABV, 100% delicious. Four supercharged lemonade flavors bumping Blue Raz OG Original Lemonade, punched up pineapple and wild pink. It's the official hard seltzer. Pardon my take. So level up your lemonade with Truly unruly. Find it a store near you or visit trulyhardceltzer.com truly unruly lemonade. It is so good. 8% ABV, 100% delicious. I'm telling you right now. The wild pink, my personal favorite. But they got the pineapple Punched up pineapple og original lemonade Blue razz. Bumpin blue razz. Go check them out right now. Trulyhardceltzer.com Level up your lemonade with truly unruly. We're also brought to you by our friends at hey dude. Hey dude. Have you tried hey dude shoes yet? They're unlike anything. Hey Dudes are the foundation of comfort. The ultimate slip on shoe. Lightweight, breathable and ridiculously comfortable. We're talking cushioned insoles that feel like little pillows under your feet, giving you the support you deserve and the comfort you crave. With so many styles, hey dude has the perfect shoes to slip into every day. Find your perfect [e-mail] I can't say enough. Hey dude. Awesome, awesome shoes for the summer, for walking your dog, for the pool. They are so comfortable. You slip them on, you're ready to go. I keep a pair right at my front door. Take Stella out every morning. Slip on my hey dudes. They're the best. Go right now. Find your perfect [e-mail] they got a ton of different styles. They also have like some fashionable boot looking shoes that look awesome and they feel great because they're hey dude. Hey dude dot com. Go check them out today. Okay, here he is, Todd McShay. Okay. We now welcome on our very very, very good friend is very special guest. It is Todd McShay. It's draft week. He's at the ringer now. You can go listen to his show, the Todd McShay show at the ringer. He's also got a newsletter. That's great. So go check it out. Todd, great to see you look great. You're in the Hollywood studios in out here in la. Yeah. So, all right, so it's draft Week before we talk about the actual draft, will you be going? Will you have Rosillo in your beautiful studio this week, or is he making you go to his house? No.

[Max]

No. So here. Here's how it went. He's not allowed in the studio. We don't need the disruption. Right. In the confusion. I texted him, actually, a while back, and I was like, I'm trying to call you. Pick up your. Pick up your phone. And I gave him the. You know, like, the town where it's like, we're. We're gonna go do something. I can't tell you what we're doing. We're gonna hurt some people. And I said on the text, I was like, I just need you to say, whose car are we taking?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And so we called back, and I. I explained my. My. My concept, which was, I just want to take over your house and make day three Saturday inside the resolo. Have you.

[Big Cat]

Yes, we have. We've been to his new house.

[PFT Commenter]

He's got a great squad.

[Big Cat]

We've been to all his houses.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah.

[Max]

He's like. He's on his, like, ninth Manhattan beach house, and it's like this great, like, man cave overlooking the Pacific Ocean. TV's everywhere. So we're gonna go and we're gonna eat his food, drink his drinks, and. And invade his house on. On Saturday for two hours, 3pm Eastern to 5pm Eastern. We're gonna be there recapping the whole draft as the draft's going up.

[Big Cat]

Wait, so you only gave you two hours? You don't even get to watch the whole draft with him.

[Max]

His only. His only caveat was, you know. You know, NBA playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

Exactly.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

He's got his own stick, so I'm gonna try to get him to run a 40. Bill Simmons and I are setting the over under Bill added at six flat. I said, like, five, two. So I'm gonna try to get him to run to 40. He reminded me that he has a squat rack in the house. He does do the 225 bench press.

[Big Cat]

The squat rack. That almost killed him. He building it. He. He got caught behind it. No, he's under six. That's crazy. That's disrespect.

[PFT Commenter]

I think he will, but he's built for power. He's like a linebacker.

[Max]

I could see him. It's definitely gonna be a hamstring issue, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Pulling up after 33 yards.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Once he realizes in his head where. Where the clock is at.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He's like, oh, yeah. I might as well just pretend I've got an injury right now.

[Max]

He's got Daniel. Jeremiah said we should run it in the sand for a. Built an excuse. But he's.

[Big Cat]

He's got five. I'm gonna say five. Three. He's got five. Three speed. All right, so. So this draft, we actually had DJ on on Monday, talk about the draft. He was like, hey, it's not. Not the best draft. There's a lot of. There's six, five or six blue chippers and a lot of starters. How many of, how many blue chippers do you have? And is it a fair assessment to say this draft maybe is lacking a little bit of the sizzle we've had in the last couple of years?

[Max]

Here's how I look at it there, there. And I kind of do tears off of grades, but let's break away from that for a second. There's two guys that are at the top, and that's Travis Hunter and Abdul Carr. Like they're in their own tier, if you will. Then after that there's, there's a handful of guys, but what's interesting is a lot of them are not in like premium positions. Ashton Genti, running back, two tight ends in Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. And then you look at the rest of the list. Yes, there is. I think there's two edges that belong. Actually three I would probably throw in there with, with Jalen Walker, his teammate Mikel Williams and Shemar Stewart. But then also in that mix, I would, I would throw in Jihad, Jihad Campbell from Alabama and Mason Graham, interior off defensive lineman. So that's kind of the range. And Cam Ward would be up there as well in that, that second tier, if you will. What's interesting, man, is like, we're now like hours away from the draft, right? And. And there's talk because of certain teams having specific needs and this happens every year, but not, not normally this high. Like, we get to four, New England's probably going to take Will Campbell. Will Campbell's the fourth or fifth best offensive lineman in last year's draft.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

The information I'm getting, as we get closer, it could be Ashton Genti, four for Jacksonville. It's not going to be Mason Graham, the defensive tackle for Michigan, but the player that I keep hearing over and over again from people in the league and around the league is Tetaroa McMillan, the wide receiver. So if that's the end, the theory behind it is Trevor Lawrence. Go back to 2018, 2019 at Clemson to 6 foot 4 wide receivers, 4000 receiving yards, 42 touchdowns to Justin Ross and T. Higgins, those guys. And he's had smaller receivers at Jacksonville and he's been missing the target by a little bit. It let's get him a big catch radius guy like Ted McMillan at 6 foot 4. And so if that's the case, and now Campbell goes four, Tet goes five, I'm told that that Las Vegas is going to take Ashton Ginty at 6 and so that could be an offensive tackle. Armand Membu. Now you get to seven and all these guys, you ready? Mason Graham still available. Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland still available. Jalen Walker, Shemar Stewart, Mikel Williams, all still available. It's going to be. And Ashton Genti.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

How about the every. I said like, hey, Bears fans.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Wake up.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

There's a scenario playing out right now as I'm talking to people in the league day in and day out where the Bears come on the board at 10. I don't want to get everyone all worked up, but Ashton Jinty, Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland are still available for them.

[Big Cat]

And is it. Is it Ash and Genti in that spot? I mean, it feels like it.

[Max]

Yeah, I would think so.

[Big Cat]

Wait, so you said something interesting there. The Raiders are not going to take Ash and Genti because I thought they were leaning that way. So that's what you're hearing. It's opposite.

[Max]

Exactly. That's. We. I think every mock draft in the world for about a month straight had two. Two of the same players of the same teams. It was Mason Graham, Michigan defensive tackle, going to Jacksonville at 5. And one pick later was Ashton Ginty, running back, going to the Las Vegas Raiders at 6. And I don't think either is happening.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

So how would you compare Ashton Genti with running backs in the first round from the last couple years like Bijan Robinson or Gibbs? Is he in that same class?

[Max]

Oh, absolutely. I actually think he's a better pure runner in terms of like contact balance, churning out yards after contact than Bijan Robinson. There's been. There's been six running backs go in the top 10 in the last 10 years of the draft, and Saquon's obviously one of them. Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey were in 2017. Go all the way back to. I think it was 2015 with Todd Gurley. So it's not unprecedented for a running back to go in the top 10. He's certainly worth it in terms of the grade that he carries. But to me, Ashton Jetty, like, I haven't talked to any Teams that view him not as one of the top six seven players in this draft and the fact that he could wind up falling to 10 to the Bears would obviously it's positional value but. But absolutely worth the pick and would. I just like. Part of me fell in love with the concept of, Of Warren or Colson with, with Cole Comet and cooking it up in the lab with Ben Johnson and 12 personnel and. But then you. You throw Ashton Genti in the mix and taking the pressure off the quarterback position. I just, I. If that's the scenario, they can't go wrong with the pick and certainly they'd be thrilled to have. Because there was a, There was a scenario with Jacksonville or. Sorry. With. With the Raiders taking Jinty at 6 and the jets potentially taking Tyler Warren at 7 where Colson Loveland was the. The best available at those positions at 10 for the Bears. And I don't know that that's going to be the case anymore.

[Big Cat]

What if. What if it's somehow Mason Graham, Ash and Genti at 10, which would be tough to have. Have that happen. But is there a chance that Mason Graham falls to take? Cause I love Mason Graham.

[Max]

There's a chance. I look at the jets as a possibility at pick seven for Mason Graham. I don't. I wouldn't rule out Carolina at 8, but I don't know. I think if he gets past. If he gets past five and gets past the Raiders at six. Yeah, like, I think he could be on the board.

[Big Cat]

Okay. I truly do. That would be exciting.

[PFT Commenter]

I saw a report earlier today. The Giants and the Browns are taking calls, taking calls on their draft pick.

[Max]

I just got a text from an assistant GM in the league and he's like, please try to ask around. And I just sent out some feelers and I. Jumping on with you guys and I. I'll make some more calls after. Apparently there have been calls and that's not surprising. Yeah, but apparently someone's trying. There's a team out there that according to word and people are trying to figure out how. How true it is and how valid it is. But at this moment there's. There's apparently a team out there that's putting a big offer to the Cleveland Browns to try to move up to number two to get Travis Hunter.

[PFT Commenter]

Can we. Can we guess what team it is? Does it rhyme with the Boss Angeles Largers?

[Max]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

That's.

[Max]

What. That's why I was sending out texts before. I jump on. Jumped on with you. There's. There's some speculation Maybe the. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah. Jerry did say he's. He's looking at doing something either before or after the draft. Draft. But it could happen.

[Big Cat]

What about in the middle?

[PFT Commenter]

No, no, not in the middle of the draft. He said we're looking at making. We're looking at two things, and these two things could happen either before or after the draft. So it could be anything. It could be. It could be the Cowboys. Yeah.

[Max]

And he said for a player, I. I saw that quote. So that player could be Travis Hunter before the draft. So it. I mean, it would. It would fall in line, but yeah, there's definitely a wide open. I mean. Yeah. No, Jerry, everyone's gonna do something before and after the draft to try to get somebody.

[PFT Commenter]

Ideally, if you. As long as you're still alive, then you can do something. So Jerry Jones confirms he will live through the weekend. When I saw that report that the Giants and the Browns are taking calls, I just immediately thought they put that report out there so that they will start to take calls. They're letting people know, like, please continue to contact us because we're listening.

[Max]

I. I get it with the Giants, but you've known for over a month now that the Cam Ward's going number one. So if you're Cleveland and you've made the decision, it's not quarterback. And I know. I know that to be true at two. And then you're. And you've got your choice between ab.

[Big Cat]

Tool.

[Max]

I literally started this whole conversation with you guys talking about this year's class. And I said, there's two players that are in a group of their own. So at this point, you know, you're basically on the clock and you know what the board looks like. So why I get the Giants try? Because we can get to the Giants in a second. But there's some. There's some dissension in the Giants ranks, and so maybe trading out of that spot. If you're trying to appease the. The head coach and Brian Dable and maybe get a quarterback, you'd like to move back, get a quarterback, have an additional pick to try to, you know, plug some other holes, if that's truly the case. And again, we can get to the Giants in a second. But, but. But if you're Cleveland, like, what, you either know you want Travis Hunter, you've decided that, or you're looking at this. In weeks ago, you would have been talking to other teams about potentially moving up to the number two spot.

[Big Cat]

It.

[Max]

It doesn't make sense that they would be Putting out the feelers. It would make sense if the Giants were kind of reaching out. Hey, any interest here?

[Big Cat]

Right. Yeah. Right. So. So speaking of the Giants, you know front offices better than anyone. You'd have a bunch of sources, you talk to a bunch of guys. The Giants feel like they're in that specific spot where it's a coach that's on the hot seat that is most likely going to get fired unless they have a crazy turnaround. Same with the gm. The owner's probably getting impatient because they've had some really bad seasons and it's like not Giants football. And will they take a reach and take a Shador Sanders? Knowing that buys them maybe an extra year. Like when you see that happen, it happens every single year in the NFL. Is there ever a front office is like, hey, we're not doing this. Like we're not going to do this stupid. Why are we letting ourselves just do something so quickly just to, for self preservation.

[Max]

Here, let me, let me give you a couple things, pieces of insight here. First of all, I was actually mildly surprised to hear as of Sunday, my, my information is that that John Mara, the Mara family, they have not gotten involved. And I don't mean they're not involved in the process. I mean they're not saying we need to do this or we really would like to take Shador at 3 or really would like to take out. They're, they're letting the people they hired work out the, the decision. Second part is everyone got all worked up. They're grabbing the Mariplane and they're flying to Boulder on Thursday of last week, Tuscaloosa on Friday for Jalen Milroe, Tyler Shuck in Louisville on Saturday. What are, you know, is it going to be? No one wanted to talk about the Milroe and Shuck part or the fact that they had worked out dark the week, dark the week before. The face of this draft is Shador Sanders. So everyone media wise was on. Well, you know, it's still in play at 3. What I can tell you is this. According to my sources and honestly I've been saying it for two weeks on the show, if you hire Brian Dable, you did so because he is one of the handful, not dozens, handful of human beings on this planet in the NFL that actually know how to develop quarterbacks and actually can get the best out of them and actually have a like a brilliant offensive mind. Okay? And I don't care if this quarterback outlasts Brian in his tenure. I don't care what the wins and losses are. Brian can flat out friggin coach, man.

[Big Cat]

I like.

[Max]

I, I'm telling you, this guy is at a very high level in the NFL in terms of offensive coaching.

[PFT Commenter]

I believe that.

[Max]

So, so you've got this man who's one of just a handful in the league in your building. He's the smartest man in the room. And for some reason there's some people in the scouting department that don't that prefer Shador. But the guy who's going to coach him, that's great at doing that, is not a Shador guy, apparently. And I say that because I've heard that from sources and I also have said that even before I had sources on it, because I know Brian, I know his style, I know his history. We know Josh Allen, we know what Jalen hurts. I think at Alabama, he's Jackson Dart fits the mold for him. Sturdy, mobile, bigger arm than Shadors, doesn't have to have a rifle, but like he just fits the mold. And so whether it's Shador or Tyler Schuck or maybe a developmental project in, you know, day two with Jalen Milro, that fits a lot more than Shador, especially in that climate in that division. So I'm hearing now that he wants to take a quarterback at three or maybe move down from that spot and take a quarterback. He'd like to make sure they get their guy. But I also have heard and I, and it lines up with my football senses that it's not Shador. Okay, so maybe I'm hopeful that this organization is smart enough to say, well, Brian's the guy we got to lean on with the quarterbacks. We'll handle all the rest of, of this. And, and it'll be fascinating to see. Maybe that's part of the reason why there's talk of calls to, to number three, maybe move back down, take Jackson Dart a little bit later, get an additional pick or two, however that works out. But that's kind of the backdrop on everything that's going on in that Giants organization. And I'm just hopeful they. I mean, he had to live through Daniel Jones, right? He got the best. When Daniel Jones actually could stay healthy for a minute, he got the best out of Daniel Jones. Imagine he gets to hand pick his guy and, and develop him and not have to rush him out there year one with Russell Wilson there and with Jameis Winston there, that's the direction I would go. And if I was the Mara family and I had to get involved at all, I'd be like, you Let him make the quarterback decision, you guys make the rest of them.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

So let's say hypothetically they stay at their pick, they make their pick and they don't take a quarterback. They might want to move back up maybe late on in the first round to, to draft that quarterback with a second first round pick. Do any owners, and I guess with the mirrors specifically, would they say, hey no, we don't want to trade all this away to move up so that you can take a quarterback because you're kind of mortgaging the future and drafting a quarterback kind of feels like it could be an effort to save your job. Like Big Cat was saying, getting quarterback in. Are there any owners that will say that will shut that down and say no, I don't think this is a good idea?

[Max]

Yeah, but then you're basically saying like, like this is your last year as my head coach.

[Big Cat]

Right. You might as well fire him. Yeah.

[Max]

Or this is my year last year as my gm Joe Shane. So I don't know the inner workings exactly how that would go. I've heard unbelievably wild stories of ownership and last minute making decisions that didn't align with what the personnel department and what the coaching staff wanted. But again, I do want to emphasize because there's been a lot of speculation that as of Sunday the Mares are letting, letting the football people handle the football stuff so far. I would like to think that if they do go Abdul Carter at 3 that they would be wise in where they tried to, tried to move up. And if darts, the guy that, that, that Brian Dable wants then, then you go up and get Dart, right. You secure him at 25. Let's say with the Vikings who only have four picks in the entire draft, the few fewest of any team in the league. So that's kind of how I look at this. The other part is, and we haven't even gotten to this where Shador going.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And why, and why, why? And if Shador because 21 sitting there and everyone thinks because the same, the same principles apply with Kellen Moore and New Orleans at 9, I don't think it's going to be quarterback at 9. I am fairly certain Kellen Moore does not want Shador that he would be a Jackson Dart guy as well or maybe a Tyler Shuck based off of like his last three jobs were as OCS were with Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts. Like those are, those are Dart types of players or Tyler Schuck types of players. Shador doesn't have a lot of love right now, man. And listen, Baker Mayfield was like, what, plus 2000 to be the number one overall pick the night before Michael Penix. None of us knew that Michael Pennix was going to be the pick for Atlanta a year ago. So we've seen this over and over again. There's a team lurking, I'm sure, that has more interest in Shador in round one than we know of right now. But I'm also told, and this is the fascinating part, Mike Tomlin does like Shador and there's love for Shador in that building. But it's a softer floor because everyone said, well, that's the floor for sure, 21. It's a softer floor than people want to admit to right now or maybe people understand right now. And so if it's not 21 or if Pittsburgh's trying to trade back out of that, that spot of 21 because they don't have a second round pick after the DK trade, where's Shador going? And so is it going to be a situation where it's like, hold, hold, you know, like Cleveland at 33, Giants at 34, New Orleans at 40. We've got private planes have been crossing over each other in the air the last couple of weeks. Workouts with Dart and Chuck and Milroe and Shador. So maybe everyone just holds off and waits and maybe we only have one quarterback draft in the first round. In fact, like talking to people who are really in the know even more than I am in the know, there's a growing sense that it's more likely that one quarterback gets drafted in the first round than three.

[Big Cat]

Wow. So, all right, so what do you though, think about Shador as a, as a prospect? Because I, you, this is now going to, you're going to go head to head with your childhood friend and our boss, Dave Portnoy, who said that he is putting his foot on like stamping his getting on the soapbox line in the sand. Shador Sanders is going to be a great pro, Pro bowl type player. Where you land on Shador Sanders as a player.

[Max]

Yeah, I mean, Portnoy and I've been fighting since we're nine years old.

[PFT Commenter]

He's a very accomplished scout.

[Big Cat]

Get out. Get out here. Well, he also, then, then, then our own company found, I think it was Mac Jones, Daniel Jones. And then there was one other. Maybe it was, maybe it was Johnny Manzel where he's like, I'll put my reputation on these guys, right?

[Max]

He, he's like, you know, he's like the cat with the lives, right. He just, he just gets to keep drawing lines in the sand and then.

[PFT Commenter]

It gets, that's what happens to the line of the sand gets swept away.

[Max]

Yeah. So I like Shador. I'm, I'm not, not line in the sand. Like I like Shador, but I'm all like, can we have some intelligence with the conversation? The intelligence is like, I don't want him in a, in a system that doesn't fit him. It's like so much of this is about where they land and I know no one wants to talk about it because it's not sexy and fun pre draft, but if you told me that he went to Cleveland even in that weather and playing in that division. If you told me he went to Cleveland and had a year to and he doesn't even need it as much as some of the other guys do. But if he had a little time, wasn't forced in right away and had Kevin Stefanski, like I told you, Kellen Moore is, is, is dark shock. Brian Dabel's dart shuck. Kevin Stefanski has won games with guys aren't the biggest, aren't the most mobile, don't have the biggest arm, but process and like lightning fast and are accurate throwing the ball and get the ball out quickly in that west coast system and lead receivers to yards after catch. That's what Shador is. So Stefanski would be perfect for. I mean he won 11 games with Kirk Cousins, who was it McNow, who was the quarterback before he won 10 or 11 games. So he's one guy won games, a lot of games with guys that don't have that great mobility, size, arm strength. I think he'd be perfect with Shador. But I, I, I haven't heard anything on Cleveland.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And, and in fact I was told do not expect Cleveland to trade up if someone falls in their lap. Yeah, but it, but don't expect them to trade up. Which would be interesting too because if you do stick and pick it too and you get his teammate Travis Hunter and everyone's sitting there were pick 24 or 25. Where's Cleveland? You know, so that'll be fascinating to watch too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I could see the Steelers on the clock at 21 there. The camera is live on them in the war room and Mike Tomlin picks up the phone, but it's a call from Aaron Rodgers who's drafting himself onto the Steelers, just letting them know, hey, I've made my decision. I'm ready to say I'm going To play.

[Max]

I thought for a while it was going to be Aaron announcing that he was going to Pittsburgh at that. The big night night out or whatever it was.

[Big Cat]

I did too.

[Max]

That didn't happen. And then he had the McAfee interview you. Yeah. And. And my guy men was saying all along like, you know it's going to be in Green Bay. Like he did it. I was in Cleveland. I'll never forget. We're getting ready for the draft. We got all these hits for SportsCenter and NFL Live getting ready and previewing it and what are we hearing and where are you guys going to go? And all of a sudden it's like everyone stepped down. You know, Schefter, come on up. And it was Aaron Rodgers for like an hour and a half leading up to the draft.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Max]

So that wouldn't have shocked me. But I kind of think it's. We're going to go through like a little dead period and I think, I think that he'll be true to what he was saying and he needs a little time, but we'll, we'll have to see.

[PFT Commenter]

So one, one guy we haven't talked a lot about because he's a presumptive number one overall pick. Cam Ward to the Titans. He's been just glazing his teammates on the Titans on live streams. I don't know if you've seen that, but good teammate, I would say good teammate on his, his part. But can you just tell us what you project him as as an NFL quarterback? Because it's just been, yeah, he's going to go number one overall and then we move on to try to figure out what every other team's going to do. But in terms of him as a player for the Titans, how would you have him graded in some of the, you know, the last handfuls of drafts?

[Max]

I think the conversation would have started at QB4 last, last year with Cam Ward. I think with the other guy with Shador and Dart, it would have started probably at QB if I'm being honest, QB6. But, but for most people, QB7. I didn't have Bo Nix as high as some other. I had a second round grade on Bo Nick. So I was wrong on that so far. But Cam, when you watch the tape and you study the cut ups of him in rhythm on time, when the, when he gets to the top of his drop foot, foot in there, receivers where he's supposed to be and drives it, he's an absolute sniper. And I think that's what Brian Callahan is, is Looking at and like, I'm going to channel that guy. Just like when Andy Reid and Brett Veach, the GM for the Chiefs, watched Patrick Mahomes and he's drifting and kind of just throwing from every arm angle. And it was an absolute mess at Texas Tech, but a beautiful mess, but still a mess. You know, they, they saw when you go in and you isolate those clips, when he's actually in rhythm and running within the, you know, the constructs of the offense. It was brilliant. And it's the same thing with Cam. And I think Brian Callahan, the coach is, is absolutely qualified to help in his development. He started his career with Peyton Manning in Denver. Matthew Stafford, he spent a lot of time with. Right. He, he obviously Joe Burrow brought them to the Super Bowl. So he's been around greatness, I mean like the highest level greatness at the quarterback position and has helped in the process along the way, learned and helped. So I like that fit. And I think Cam, Cam needs channeling. Patrick Mahomes needed channeling, but they both share a similar trait. I'm not doing the Mahomes and Cam Ward thing here. I'm not. I'm just saying they're special. One of the special traits for Cam is that like he feels the pressure, knows it's coming, but he's going to let you take another step or two towards him because then you're, you're, you're leveraged out like it's like the old and out the way instead of some of these other guys. You watch the panic, the drifting, the racing out of the pocket and things get scrambled. He's unbelievably calm and he is thinking a step ahead. And I think if you channeled what he does in terms of in the pocket on time and then you allow, allow him to still utilize those traits. When the initial play breaks down, you can have something pretty special with camp.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Who are the, what are the wild card teams on Thursday night? What are the teams that were like, hey, we don't know what they're going to do. They could trade up. It might not be a drastic trade like going up to two or three, but you've heard they're going to move around or they might love someone that's going to shock people. Are there any of those teams out there?

[Max]

The Houston Texans? There's some noise that they, that they are, that they're trying to move up, but for an offensive lineman, okay, Dallas is going to be interesting. You just kind of sensing that something's going on there. A Lot of people have thought Ted McMillan to Dallas at 12. Now we're here in Jacksonville. I don't know if that would, that would, you know, force their hand and they. Would they like them that much. I've got them ranked 50th on my board. I like, I see the talent. There's a lot of other stuff I don't Trust with Ted McMillan, so we'll see about that. Philadelphia, Howie Roseman can't sit still, so whether it's moving up, moving back at 32, but I do think Mason Taylor's an intriguing prospect for them with Dallas Goddard and the situation there. And the Rams. The Rams, could that be a quarterback team where they, they just all of a sudden out of nowhere decided, yeah, we're going to, we're going to take Jackson Dart if he's there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

You know, so obviously with Stafford and his situation, I, I don't plan on that, but it's, it's just something to keep an eye on.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Are there any guys from, from smaller schools that you're keeping your eye on?

[Max]

Gray's able, one of my favorites in this draft, North Dakota State. Think like, like Tehran Armstead, Cody Mock, Quinn, minors. All these guys show up at the Senior bowl, have awesome weeks, disprove the small school level and go on to have really brilliant careers and get drafted in all sorts of different ranges, but go on to have really good careers. Gray's able, moves differently than every interior offensive lineman this draft. I think he could go as high as 18 to Seattle.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, all right.

[Big Cat]

What about your QBs? So how, how do you have your QBs ranked and then maybe give us the QB that you love that's ranked in the, let's say 4 to 8 range or 5 to 8 range, where you're like, hey, this is a project, but this is someone that I could see, you know, a team taking a shot at third, fourth round where it's like, this could be a guy sometime soon.

[Max]

So I've Got Cam Ward 1, Jackson Dart 2. Shador Sanders 3, Tyler Shuck 4, Jalen Milroe 5.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

And Will Howard 6. Tyler Schuck's one of my favorites, man. And I got to spend a little bit of time with him at the, at the combine. He's 20, he's 25, going to be 26 during the season. I believe he is. He had three season ending injuries, all bone breaks, injury prone, you could call him, or fluke injuries. He has. He. When he first started out at, at Oregon, he's been to Three different schools. Seven years in college. He was in, he was in the recruiting class with Trevor Lawrence. He was the backup to Justin Herbert at Oregon his freshman year. He's been around that long. Those guys are like going you know, second contracts and all that. He's matured a lot and I, I, I. No one wants to hear the, the you know the touchy feely fun stuff with quarterbacks and but like you got to know who you are as a human being if you're going to take over an organization, be handed the keys at some point in a year or two and look in that huddle if you do huddle and grown ass men they're looking back at you and like got no time for some pup. He's like had football like he was carted off the field, thought he would never play again. He's just been through a lot and I look at it, I'm, and I'm like the biggest negative I have in talking to teams. This is the problem. Seven years but only in this age. But only one year of starting experience. One full year right at Louisville this past year. But he's with the Braum brothers who know how to coach quarterbacks. He's developed unbelievably well in the past year plus and he can step in and I think he's going to shock people when he plays. He's bigger than the rest of these quarterbacks. He's got a stronger arm than the probably the rest of these quarterbacks. Maybe the same level as Cam Ward. He's faster in a straight line than all these guys outside of Jalen Milroe, the top four guys for me he's the fastest of all of them when he tucks and runs. The traits are there, the experience is there, the maturity is there. I would love to see him whether it's the Giants with Brian Dable, the, the, the New Orleans Saints at picket at 40. You know one of those teams is not going to wind up with Shador, is not going to wind up with Jackson Dart and I would love to see him with one of those two spots with an opportunity in a year to, to take over the reins and see what he can do. I think he's going to be a big surprise of this class.

[PFT Commenter]

Interesting. What about the wide receivers? How do you have them ranked?

[Max]

I'm way different than, than a lot of people.

[Big Cat]

I like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's good.

[Max]

Way different. I've got but number one receivers. Matthew Golden Route Running Christmas Christmas 429-40-yard dash. Second fastest player at the combine and the questions about him were like, is the top end speed great? He's not great after the catch in terms of making guys miss, but if he catches a crease, he's gone vertical. Speed, adjust to the ball. I like, I like golden one. Then the big surprise probably for most people would be Jalen Noel from, from Iowa State. I've got him at number two at the wide receiver position. He is so explosive.

[Big Cat]

He.

[Max]

Yeah, he's undersized. Yeah, he's probably going to be a slot like that fine. But. But like look at lad McConkey last year and what he came in. Like he's probably gonna have to be a slot. I don't know. And McConkey was one of the best rookie receivers in the class. It was like legendary for rookie production and wide receiver. So I think Noel is going to be probably a second round pick pick. He's not getting to the third, but not going to be in the first. So a second round pick and, and I think he's going to weigh out way outplay his, his draft slot after that. I've got a Mecca Buca from Ohio State, another probably slot receiver, but consistent, a lot of production. And then I like the other Iowa State 2 guy to the the Jaden Higgins big six three plus physical receiver. Great getting off the press. Those are my top four. And Ted McMillan is down there at number 50 overall, as I said.

[Big Cat]

And then Burden because that's like Ted. Yeah. Luther Burton.

[Max]

I actually have before Tet. And Luther Burden comes with a handful of stuff and red flags and all that, but. But he is. He's not Debo. Everyone wants to say he's Debo, but I get the comp in that. He's physical, explosive after the catch, versatile. You can do a lot of different things with. Never going to be your best route runner, but if you can get him the football, he's going to make a lot of plays.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know if you watch the same film I watched, but as a scout, Tet had this one catch. He wasn't wearing pads, no big deal. But he jumped up in the air, caught it and then put the ball between his legs before he landed. Did you see that? And if you haven't, I did. Did that change your mind at all?

[Max]

Clearly not, because I just turned in my final top 300. We'll post tonight the McShay Report. Google it. Subscribe, people.

[PFT Commenter]

Come on, Club McShay. Shay.

[Big Cat]

Give us, give us.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe not, maybe not right now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, not right now.

[Max]

No, no, that's right. Laugh.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

I'm in trouble.

[Big Cat]

Good. Give us another, another guy who maybe in the second or third round, any position that you, you love. And you're like when you hear this name. Because that's what we, we love about the drafts. It's like we're all going to sell ourselves on whatever ends up happening. Yeah. Be like, this is a guy. But if you hear it first from McShay, it's just confirmation bias. Whoever's listening and rooting for that team, they're like, yeah, McShay said that.

[Max]

JT tui mo lau. I've had to practice that name. Tui Molalao from Ohio State. I just like him. I went back, I think I had prospect fatigue over time. The first report I wrote on him was in the summer of 2022. We're now going in the summer of 2025. So like it was the same guy over and over again. But this year he took it to another level. This year's draft. I agree with Daniel Jeremiah. It's not great at the top. There's not as many elite players at the top as you'd like to see. But teams are looking for starters. And if you're a base 4, 3 defense, plug in. Like, he's going to be 7, 9 sacks a year, batted down passes, effort gap. Like, he is nothing like overly sexy about his game, but he's going to be one of those guys who like eight, nine years in where like he's still doing it at a high level.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

I like jtt. I think Travion Henderson, if, if put in the right spot, like the Jameer Gibbs spot that he was put in, has got a chance to be special. Don't rule him out as a, as a first round draft pick. In fact, I've talked to teams that have him rated higher than Omari and Hampton. Oh, and there's a growing sense that he could wind up being RB2 in this class. So that, that's intriguing. Elijah Arroyo, like we. So much time has been spent on Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, and rightfully so. And Mason Taylor could sneak in at 32. Right. There's going to be a team that gets Arroyo out of Miami and if he can stay healthy, which you could say about every prospect, but he's had struggles with durability. He is so explosive and like his ability to get down the seam, run routes down the field, he's, he's like a different level. And, and the thing normally these like Kelsey types, the F, tight end, the you Know, flex out, tight end, they don't block all that well. This guy's got some prick in him, man. Like he loves it. He will embarrass you on tape. So I just, I think Arroyo is going to wind up really outplaying where he winds up getting drafted, which is probably gonna be somewhere in like the 40s or early 50s. But I think Arroyo is an absolute player.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Where do you see the Washington Commanders going this year? Because they're an interesting team on paper. They make the NFC championship game. But then you look at the roster and you think to yourself, they, they, they do have a lot of holes. They've got a lot of places that they have to, they have to get much younger at because we've been, you know, doing one year rentals on a lot of people. So what direction do you see them going?

[Max]

I think Edge is a spot that they'd like to be able to go. They're not. I don't think they're stuck drafting there. We've got a bunch of guys are going to come off the board and I think earlier than people expected. Now that I'm talking to teams, I think it's going to be Carter at 3, Abdul Carter at 3. I think Jalen Walker is going to go maybe as early as the, the jets at 6 and then if not a couple picks later. I think Michael Williams could go as early as, let's say eight to, to Carolina. I think she. More Stewart could go shortly thereafter. Maybe it's nine to the Saints. I think James Pierce could go like 15 to Atlanta, Mike Green maybe 17 to Cincinnati. And all of a sudden you look up, you're like, shit, we're pick 18 and we said what, I just list off like seven guys?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

So I don't know, there's going to be like Donovan as a raku from B.C. is really, really a savvy, proficient edge rusher. I just don't know that he's got that like he's shorter. He's not the fastest, most explosive guy. I think he's probably going to be early too. Why not? Why not Travion Henderson there?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, it would make sense.

[Max]

Like I get it, like cornerback edge or bigger needs. But if, if Jade Barron and Will Johnson and Maxwell Hairston are all off the board, edges are off the board and you can't trade back. I don't know, like get it. Just getting a weapon in the passing game and adding that, you know, with, with, with Brian Robinson, what you already have. And I just, I think he's got a chance to elevate like Gibbs did. Maybe not quite to that level, but to take an offense that's explosive and to do like just a little, you know, just a little more nudge. Where now you got to account for this guy who's a 44 catches the ball out of the backfield. Will, Will protect too. He and his buddy Quinshaw Judkins, their past protection tape is fun to watch. So I, I could see Henderson as, as a, as someone who's on the short list as a possibility.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I mean, Eckler did a pretty good job with that last year, but we, you know, he's not getting any younger. And on third down for Jaden, he likes to, he likes to find the running backs, move the sticks. That would make a lot of sense to me. I, I would personally like to see Malachi Starks. I love watching that.

[Max]

I can see that Jeremy Chin's gone. Yeah. The safeties are. I mean you, you talk about polar opposites like of the spectrum, right? You've got Nick Eamon, warriors, like 6, 3, 2, 20. Like broke the broad jump record of the combine by like 4 inches and had the best over 200 pounds. Like the, the best vertical jump of any player ever, except just insane workout. And his tape is really good and interesting. But like you talk about the kind of the football character stuff and, and the focus issues and kind of in and out of things and aggressiveness in the run support, so there's this like balancing act with him. The traits are unbelievable. But what are we. Are we sure this is a first round town, first round guy that we want to bring in. Then you get Starks who's like, like Kirby Smart. Talks about him almost as glowingly as Nick Saban talked about Will Anderson a couple years ago. Okay. Just loves ball team first prepare, does all the little things. Smooth move on tape is beautiful. Moving smooth and, and, and like aggressive and plays fast and comes up and hits and all the things. And he's a first round talent on tape. But then he worked out and it, it was like third worst this, second worst this like among the, the safeties in the class and didn't run very well. And so I, I think, I do think the safeties, if they come off the board in the first round will be very late like that 27 to 32 range. But I could see a scenario too where, where neither guys gets drafted by the end of night one.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Are you, are you a guy that puts any stock into drafting captains? Like you give A little bonus like a gold star if they're a captain on their college team.

[Max]

You get my attention when you're like a three year captain.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

And you get my attention when you've transferred in from somewhere and you're immediately like, you, you earned a captain. You were able to in that little window of like three, four, five months, become a captain before the week, week one of the season. But there's a lot of captains out there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

But yeah, I'd prefer a captain over a non captain.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, I got one last question for you. Always been awesome having you on, Todd. Go check out the Todd McShay show on Ringer. You're gonna have to watch Ryan Rossilo hopefully run a 40 yard dash on Saturday live from his house. Last question, rollback question. Rho back.com promo code, take 20 off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code, take. I think we've asked this before, but I want to ask it again just because it's fun to look back. What was your number one like? I nailed that and no one else had it. And your number one? I was way off on this person and I should have realized it.

[Max]

I could. I hate when it's the negative stuff, but I, I still go back to like to Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow. Brady Quinn. But it wasn't. Was it Quinn? No, it was Clawson. With Kuiper.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. With Kuiper. Yeah.

[Max]

I had a good run on shutting Kuiper down on some quarterbacks. Clausen and Quinn. I think he had an agent who represented some of those Notre Dame guys. Bumped him up, but I mean, I got him to promise to retire and he's still going. Yeah, that didn't work out.

[Big Cat]

But what was your best. What's your number one? Where you're like, I had that guy before everyone else.

[Max]

Before everyone else.

[Big Cat]

Or you. Or you were. You were different. Like, say for example, this year, if you're. If your wide receiver board turns out to be correct, you'll be very. You'll be vindicated because everyone has Tet going, you know, as the best and you have him as the fifth.

[Max]

I had Malik Neighbors last year, the number one receiver, if that's good, that matters. Anything.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Although Brian Thomas was very good.

[Max]

Yeah, Brian Thomas was very good. Marvin Harrison Jr. Will be very good. I don't know. I. I don't like to sit here and.

[Big Cat]

Come on. Yeah. Pump yourself up.

[Max]

I still like. Yeah, I don't know. Would you Say, I'll say this, the quarterbacks have always been the hardest. Like Big Bo. Next. Last year I talked about jamarcus Russell was, was the, was the one, obviously. But there were a lot of people in the league that didn't like jamarcus. I had the wrong information. My goodness. I've never talked about learning a hard lesson. Early on when he's on his knee like throwing 60 yards, hitting the goal post and you're, you're like a 25 year old scout or send sent from ESPN to do the first pro day ever and you see that and you're.

[Big Cat]

Like, oh my God, yeah.

[Max]

How could this go wrong?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And then, and then when he's sitting in the sideline doing interviews and sitting on the ground and media is coming up and putting the microphones in front of him and I asked, I'm asking people at lsu, like, what, why is he sitting? Like, oh, he's just chill, you know, he's like relaxed and that. It's part of the reason he's so good. And it turns out like, no, that that dude's just lazy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I like what you said about Bo Nicks too. I was, I'm wrong so far.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

On bonus.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What's the year? How many years do you give it? Until you. After, after three, then you give it.

[Max]

Although Sam Darnold, I'm still like, Sam Darnold, I'm. I love you, buddy. You know, like I had, I loved Sam Darnold in that class. Loved him.

[Big Cat]

So you're still, you're still holding on a little bit of stock. You're being like, he was the best.

[Max]

Quarterback in the league for like 12, 12, 13 weeks last year.

[Big Cat]

It's true. It's true.

[Max]

So, so it's coming around. So if you were going to give up after year three, so usually by year three, but not always, I, I.

[PFT Commenter]

Do kind of feel bad for the scouts that spend, you know, all year studying guys, certain guys, and they fall in love with these guys and they're like, I, I, I, I need you on my team. And then some other team swoops and takes him beforehand. How are you supposed to detangle yourself from that relationship that you've built up? Like you, you've watched every play he's made, you've hung out.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I know.

[PFT Commenter]

You've met his family and now you're like, real, man.

[Max]

It's real. And that's why every team gives. Like whether it's like the gold star, the red star, the Red dot. Like, they. They allow their scouts to go up to the board and be like, pick your one. Pick your guy. And they do their best if in the right situation, and they'll. They'll take it over a player with a similar grade and all that, but they do get to know him. Like, these scouts, man, I know no one wants to hear it and cry me a river. They work for NFL teams, but, like, what. They get paid for the work they do. Talking to them now like, I'm talking to a good friend who's in the Southeast. And, like, it used to be, like, 12, 13 players in the summer they're evaluating and now, like, nil and transfer portal and guys all over the place. And it. Ole miss, it was 12 or 13, and this year he had 30 players he had to write up in the summer. It's not just like watching tape. It's like.

[Big Cat]

Like.

[Max]

Like you said, like, getting to know the background, like, all the. The history.

[Big Cat]

Who's.

[Max]

Who's in charge of this guy now? Who's the agent of this guy?

[Big Cat]

What.

[Max]

What deals He. It's. It's a lot of work that goes into all these individuals in a. In a region, and then you hand pick the few guys that you like, absolutely love, you believe in. You present that to the general manager, and they. And they do their best, but odds are, I mean, maybe you get one or two guys at best, from your entire region in a draft stuff, and then you're looking at these reports like a binder this big and, like, files, and. And it's just all. It's all gone.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

Wild profession.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

There should be a Scout of the Year award because we don't celebrate the scouts, actually.

[Big Cat]

We'll give it.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll give it to us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We picked Josh Allen.

[Max]

Yeah, I do. I. I'll never forget. That was like my. One of my. I mean, obviously we did, like, the combine together and all, but that was the first time being out in a real setting professionally with you clowns.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. At the combine.

[Max]

What is going on with it? Because you guys are, like, going up to, like, GMs and coaches.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

You saw his arm, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Like, passing out the sheet.

[Max]

At that point, no one really knew what your whole deal was.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

And. And, like, media was not. Media was. Was staunch back then.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Like, you, like, you had to have, like, permission and go through, you know, the certain channels to talk to a general manager, head coach, and you guys were just like. Yeah, but you saw his big arm.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

People didn't get you guys yet. Oh, gosh.

[Big Cat]

I know those guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Max]

I was just time. I was just timing Big cat in a 40.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. While a grandma walked by.

[PFT Commenter]

We think you might like this piece of literature, sir. Like Jehovah's Witnesses for Josh.

[Max]

The pamphlet. We used to call it the Barcelonal pamphlet. Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

He's laughing at his looking out at the water right now in Miami.

[Max]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

There should be a scout of the year award.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we'll give it. We'll give it.

[Max]

Get on that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Todd, you're the best. Appreciate you everyone. Tune into his show on the ringer and best of luck in the draft. Let's, let's, let's crush this draft.

[Max]

You got it, man. Let's do it.

[PFT Commenter]

McShay was brought to you by our great friends over at Game Time. The NBA and NHL playoffs are here. The only place to buy hard to get playoff tickets is Game time, the official ticketing partner of Barstool sports. They've got killer last minute deals all in prices, views from the seat and their lowest price guarantee. Game Time takes all the guesswork out of buying NBA playoff tickets. Prices on the app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off. You can save up to 60% when buying last minute tickets. And I am going to be going to the Caps Canadiens game in Montreal with Oldie and Pug on Friday. Pumped about that series. Game two is tonight, Wednesday night in dc. Hank, what are the. What's the get in price tonight?

[Hank]

The get in price Tonight in Washington is 59.

[Big Cat]

That's a pretty good deal. Great deal.

[PFT Commenter]

Make it out Super Deal.

[Max]

Game 2.

[PFT Commenter]

Rock the Red super deal. With game time you get the best prices and the ticket prices actually do get lower the closer you get to tip off or to puck drop. And if you're looking to get into the NBA playoffs, you got to use Game Time. What are you waiting for? Take the guesswork out of buying NBA playoff tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code PMT. Get 20 bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code PMT for 20 bucks off. Download the Game Time app today. What time is it? Game Time. Who? Make sure it was also brought to you by Chevy. Chevy's packed more capability into the Silverado trail boss so that you can pack more fun into your weekend end. Have yourself a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You get a truck that says no to nothing. Tailgates, spontaneous camping trips, DIY projects. Bring it on. We bought a cross country road trip Silverado was a perfect ride for last year's grit week out west. And they helped us give fullbacks the recognition they deserve with the low man award. The Silverado Trail Boss is built like a fullback. We're talking 495 foot pounds of torque. Plus the Trail Boss gives you an extra 2 inch lift. So maybe Hank can finally dunk. The result is a truck that can do it all and then it can show up on Monday with a story to tell. It brings the grit, but it's also got all the latest truck tech inside and out. Draft [e-mail] Chevrolet together. Let's ride. And now here's coach Matt LaFleur.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

And now for something completely different.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we now welcome on a very good friend of ours recurring guest. It is Green Bay packers head coach Matt LaFleur. Coach, it's draft season. Wanted to catch up with you, talk some draft. But thank you for coming on. Let's start though. How would you grade your NFL head coaches picture at the league meetings a couple of weeks ago? How would you think you did?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Personally, I give myself a B.

[Big Cat]

Okay. I think I had you in the hot guy crew, the hot boy crew with you. Canales, Sean McVeigh and D'Amico Ryan's is.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

So that's, that's a pretty, that's a pretty good crew. I'll, I'll take that all day.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. So do you think though that NFL head coaches are getting too hot? Because like I, like, we lost Matt Rule. Who. Matt Rule can dress up all he wants. He's going to look like Matt Rule. Do you think that you guys are maybe getting a little too hot and we're losing a piece of that game?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, I don't worry about that. That's, you know, I, I do take a lot of, I love watching your write ups on all of us though. I think that's very entertaining.

[Big Cat]

Yes, yes. But I, I mean you definitely, we know Sean definitely takes, he, he thinks about his looks.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Takes a lot of pride in that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He had the PRP injections to grow the beard out a little bit.

[Max]

So.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

So what you're, he does a lot of things. He's Hollywood though.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's true.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

He's right there. Can you blame him?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So wait, you're, what you're saying is you're just naturally hot. You're not, you're not trying to do it at all. Whereas, whereas Coach McVeigh is, he's trying to do it. He's got to get dressed up and have everyone you know, he's. He's spending money on his face and everything. You're just. You're just rolling out of bed, good looking.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, the Arthur Smith said otherwise. He said I spent a lot of time on my hair and all that, which. Can't say he's totally wrong.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we do miss Arthur Smith in the league too, like as a. As a head coach. Having him in that picture was a. That was a nice touch, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Oh, Art's the best.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So. So, coach, you're. Are you hosting the draft? Are you. Do you have any hosting responsibilities?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Are they staying at your house?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No hosting responsibilities.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

So nothing. Nothing additional. Are you going to be at the team facility? Are you going to be like, at the physical draft itself?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, yeah, technically, since it's here, but I'll be in the same draft room that I've been in the last. Well, I guess it was our first year in our new portion of our building, so I'll be up there in the draft room on the second floor. But it. It kind of goodies office is right around the corner, so you can overlook and. And see what's going on outside.

[Big Cat]

Oh, all right. So. So can you break down? I know this might be boring for some people, but I'm actually fascinated with it. Like your actual draft day. Sch. Like, what time. What time does it get cooking? What time do you guys sit down? You obviously have done all the work, but, like, how does it work just sitting there in the war room and like, you know, the bolts are flying. You're trying to figure everything out.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Honestly, it's. It's just kind of a waiting game, especially we're picking 23rd this year, and there's a lot of unknowns, I would say, in this draft in particular, probably more so in this one than there is in previous years. Just in terms of. There's not, I would say, a clear consensus in terms of how some of these guys are going to fall. And it's always a little bit of a crapshoot, but it's a lot of weight waiting around. But you can feel it starts to get tense the closer you are to making your selection.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So what's the. What's the snack situation like in your draft war room?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You know, we got a lot of scouts that like to eat, and so I'd say there's. There's some pretty good snacks floating around.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Who are you guys gonna pick?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That's a hell of a question.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought. I thought I got you. I thought I Was gonna have you.

[Big Cat]

I feel like the Green Bay beat writers always know who you're gonna pick before just because they know, like, you guys have a type. You're like the Ravens, like, the packers and Ravens. It feels like they always get the guy that they wanted to get, and he ends up being good, and it's like, God damn it, it happened again.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

It's not always the case, but that's. You know, you want to be successful through the draft, and thankfully, our guys have done a pretty good job.

[Big Cat]

All right, so. So, like, when the pick. When you get closer to your pick, obviously you're not the gm, but you are the head coach. Are you. Are you being asked. Are you. Are you, like, weighing in, or are you just like, hey, you guys have been doing all the work. I'm going to go coach the team. You guys have been doing the scouting. Like, I defer to you, or do you get. Do you throw in, like, some thoughts and everything?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think the. I mean, I'm sitting right next to Goody and the rest of our. Our scouting department, and, you know, sometimes there's. There's more conversation than others, but, yeah, I absolutely weigh in, especially as we're getting close, and it's usually there's a couple guys within the range that you're kind of targeting, and you kind of weigh in and give your thoughts, and then, you know, just wait to see who we pick.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you guys still use the same draft chart, the one that Jimmy Johnson came up with where he assigned all the numbers, the different values for each pick?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Oh, yeah. There's. There's a couple of them out there. That is one of them that, you know, we have that. All this stuff up on the screen, on your computer screen, and especially when you start talking about trades and you hear the phones ring and, you know, each. I would say there's a lot of scouts in the room, and most of the scouts have a team that they're in communication with. So as those trades get thrown around, you start comparing and see where it falls. And those draft charts, they're all a little bit different. We have our own draft chart, as a matter of fact, but we. We always use all those to compare in terms of where the value is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Do you guys ever. Has it ever come down to, like, the last second and you guys don't have your pick in. Has there ever been pressure on the clock that way? Because I remember the Vikings, they got. They. They. I think twice. They didn't submit their pick on time, and Lost their pick.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, that's. I mean, it hasn't happened in my experience here, but yeah, usually you have some. You always have a plan B. If. If something doesn't go through the way you want it, you always have something down just so that doesn't happen.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Do you text with any of your friends who are in different organizations, coaches, scouts, whatever, and, like, bust their balls, like, in a fantasy draft, being like, that was a reach. Like, oh, we had a third round. Great on him. I would do that. Do you not?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I would say you usually just compliment when.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

They pick somebody that you like. And then there's some laughter within the draft room sometimes. Like, I. I can't believe they just took whoever it may be, but typically we kind of keep that in house.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Okay. Yeah. Because I would definitely not be able to help myself and just be like, even if it wasn't true, I'd just be like, dude, I had a third round. Third. Third day grade on this guy.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I think I'm going to try that approach this year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Just because how they react, it will.

[Big Cat]

Get in someone's head like that when. When you draft in fantasy football and someone says, ooh, that's a reach. You're. You're somebody. Like, was that a reach? Even if they're with you, you definitely get in your head and then you. You start making crazy decisions.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I think I'm gonna have to try it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, now, if. If any other coaches are listening to this interview and they don't get a text from you being like, good pick, then they're going to be in their own head thinking, like, why didn't I get the. The good. Good pick text from Matt? You must think that pick sucks.

[Big Cat]

We set that up.

[PFT Commenter]

One thing I would also do if I was a coach, I would. I would probably forget to do my draft prep and then read a mock draft, like, on my way into the office that day and be like, oh, okay, now I'm good. Now I'm good. Do you. Do you ever read the. The mock drafts and think yourself like, these guys have no idea what we're. What we're talking about?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah. But I. I usually try not to look at any, like, mock drafts or any draft evaluations till the. Till the very end of it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Because sometimes you're. You're like, well, maybe I'm missing something, but you just don't want that to really factor into the. The work that you do. Watching the players and getting to know them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You know what you need to do too Is we found in our travels that NFL scouts actually listen to this show, like, more than probably any profession, because they're in the car all the time. And I've talked to them about it where, like, we've gone to college games where we'll see a bunch of scouts and they'll come up and talk to us. I'm like, why are you listening to us? We're morons. They're like, well, we kind of. We live football, and we kind of want to shut off our brains and listen to you guys be idiots. And I was like, actually, that's a fair, fair response. So you. But I would imagine a scout listening to us too much is bad for, like, their brain and scouting. So you should probably throw a test out there to see, like, maybe. Maybe be like, hey, you guys hear Max get pranked by Jerry O'Connell with Big Dom, and if anyone says they had, just be like, you're out. Get out of here. You listen too much.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, well, you guys are so entertaining, you know?

[Big Cat]

I mean, I don't know about that.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's just good for them to feel smart about themselves.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

They listen to us and they're like, okay, yeah, I know what I'm talking about. These guys don't.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, that's part of it, too, right?

[Big Cat]

You. You. Basically, I would imagine a scout, like, if they're out on the road 200 days a year, they're toiling away trying to find the next, you know, diamond in a rough. They turn us on, and they're like, hey, at least I'm not dumb. Like, these guys, like, it's almost like a confidence. Like, I can still do this. I can still scout football.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't think you guys are that dumb.

[PFT Commenter]

We had a. I think I personally had a first overall grade on Joe Milton last year. Yeah, you probably. When you were scouting Joe Milton, were you like, man, that guy can throw a football a mile?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, he can throw a mile.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I love watching him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I have seen. I have a real, like, big J question for you. I need to hold your feet to the fire on something. Oh, a big J. Yeah, Big J. Journalist.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Why are you afraid of the Tush push?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Oh, I.

[PFT Commenter]

Why are you scared of it? It's just a play. You can do it.

[Big Cat]

You're being kind of a. About it.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, I. I don't want to get into how I really feel about it, so, like, I am good with whatever they want to decide and do adapt. But it has been a pretty damn successful play. Ironically, Enough. We actually do better when we don't do the tush push, so.

[Big Cat]

Oh, wait, so. But how do you actually feel? You don't like it?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, I don't. I mean, I'm indifferent, to be honest with you.

[Big Cat]

What does it feel like when, you know, the tush push is coming, though? That's got to suck.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, yeah, you know, I mean, they're in a favorable situation because it's still, like, you know, almost 90% effective. So it's. It's a tough play to stop, that's for sure, and especially with how Philly's done it. And Jalen does a great job, but I think. I really think it all starts up front. Those guys do a really good job of getting low and allowing Jalen to use his herculean leg strength to push the pile forward.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. If you're allowed to do the tush push, I think you should be allowed to do the thing that Frankie Luvu did, which is just jump over the line repeatedly immediately and hit somebody.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, see, I think that's what we're trying to avoid. Right?

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but that's still fun. It's a good. Like, the defense has the ability to do that. I just. I. I thought it was very funny when the ref was like, if you do it again, we're going to ward a touchdown. I'd never heard that before, nor.

[Big Cat]

Neither did I. Yeah, the side.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I didn't know that was. I didn't know they could do that.

[Big Cat]

That's a real rule. Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, it is a real rule.

[Big Cat]

Sidebar. Pft. We won't let coach listen to this, but. But I read a theory that the packers actually were, like, being the sacrificial lamb in trying to ban the tush push because they don't have an owner because they're weirdos like that, and you can't get mad at one owner. So, like, all the other teams wanted the tush push ban, but the packers are like, we'll.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll propose it, we'll say it, and then everybody will just be mad at a state, right? Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, hey. What's up, Coach? Are you still there?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I'm here. I'm here.

[Big Cat]

All right, so. So the real question is, and he's my coach now, Ben Johnson. You got beef with him, so. Well, he called you out.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't have beef with Ben.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, so what? What, like, have you guys ever talked and I listen, he can squat 400 pounds. I don't know if you probably can't squat 400 pounds. I don't know if I'd like to see that. Yeah, he'll show it to you. That's fine. He also has a mean. I don't know if you saw his first pitch. It was nasty at Wrigley on Saturday. It was.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I did not see.

[Big Cat]

Oh, of course you saw it.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You did not see it.

[Big Cat]

You saw it.

[PFT Commenter]

You probably didn't see it because it was too fast.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was too fast. At late breaking action, you would have struck out a hundred times out of a hundred times.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

But you're probably right. Cause I never played baseball. I was not a baseball guy.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Nice excuse. When he said your name though. Were you like, what the heck? I've never even talked to him.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, it's funny because a lot of people reached out to me and they're like, how well do you know Ben? I was like, like, I don't.

[Big Cat]

But, you know, it's good for the rivalry.

[PFT Commenter]

You need to watch the pitch though, because it was. It was some nasty stuff. It was like Greg Maddox.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Really?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, it was, I think the most impressive first pitch that I've seen in a very long time. But yeah, he. When he. When he brought your name up, I think everybody was like, oh, the old buddies just jabbing each other like, do you.

[Big Cat]

Do you.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you work like 0001 person harder?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Because he said that anytime I'm just lacking a little motivation, I just think about that and you know, it usually gets me over the hump.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like, like you could do the old, like, got to beat the Packers. He just went more personal level, you know what I mean? He's like, gotta, gotta go after Matt LaFleur. Make it personal.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, last time I checked, I thought it was Packers, Bears.

[Big Cat]

No, it's Matt Laflore. Benches, Lions Squat, Squat fest. We're gonna do a squat festival. I love that.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, you. You haven't beaten.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Pretty impressive. He can squat 400 pounds.

[Big Cat]

Yep. I think it's 405.

[PFT Commenter]

You haven't beaten the, the Bears in 2025, have you?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

We have not. We haven't played.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, actually. Yep, yep, yep. There was a game.

[PFT Commenter]

So maybe, maybe a shifting of the ties right now. I do want to give you some credit though, for your coaching job this year, because I thought what you did when Malik Willis came in to. To the outsider, it looked like you were calling, you were emptying the bag. When Malik was out there, the way that you were like designing the running plays, was that a fun week of work? For you when you're like, I am going to need to figure out how to tailor this offense and. And win a football game. It seemed like you were having fun calling those plays.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, I gotta give our staff a ton of credit, guys like Adam Stanovich. I mean, he's really the mastermind behind our run game. And so a lot of times, we'll build off our run game, we'll build our passing game off that. So, yeah, he. He definitely. We. We have a saying around here. The only thing that limits you is your imagination. And he's. He's got. He's pretty creative guy.

[Big Cat]

That's like a Disney World saying.

[PFT Commenter]

It is.

[Big Cat]

That's kind of lame. D. I actually bet on you guys, though, when Malik was. Because I. I. To give you credit, I was like, Matt LaFleur is a very good coach, and I think he's gonna have Malik Willis in a great spot. And I was like, you know, there are a lot of people like, Malik Willis can't play. I'm like, coaching matters a lot. And you guys, like, you had the game plan for him.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

And he went out there. What was so impressive about what he did? He'd been here for three weeks before he started his first game, and I don't know too many guys that could handle that type of situation. And it's a credit to him and the guys around him being able to go out there and execute the plan.

[Big Cat]

What this year? I feel like you got a little angrier this year. Are you working on your anger?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I am.

[Big Cat]

What happened? Did you feel your. Did you. Did you feel yourself getting angrier this year?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Just in certain situations, you know, like when you call a timeout three times and they don't recognize it. You know, I think you. You kind of earned that right to get a little angry. Right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you know that some people are calling you mad lafleur?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I did not. I was unaware of that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you got mad.

[Big Cat]

You got mad. You got triggered.

[PFT Commenter]

People were saying that in that game against the. The Dolphins, when you looked across the field and you saw Mike McDaniel just, like, all bundled up in his. In his very cozy Parker, where you're like, we got this game. This guy can't coach in the cold.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, but it's. It's never about us. It's always the players.

[Big Cat]

No, that's. That's smart. Cop out answer. I like that. I saw a report that you're. You're bringing in new ideas to keep the packers offense evolving. What new ideas are we talking About. Is it the. Is it Pft's lateral? Is it my fake punt? Punt. What are you doing?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, I saw what Mike Leach said the other day.

[Big Cat]

Yeah?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

There was a report that he had said. Yeah. Before he passed. Yeah, that one would be good.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That'd be great.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Would you sign the Rizzler? You know who the Rizzler is, right?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

You know who the Rizzler is. You're just playing. You're doing this smokescreen. Don't make us excited. Explain who the Rizzler is. Cuz we probably would have the FBI at our door.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I promise you. I don't know who the Rizzler.

[PFT Commenter]

You just don't want the Vikings to draft him. You're like that. We've got him on our big board. He's the little kid that goes like this.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Do you know who Baby Gronk is?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, I do know who Baby Gr.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so you know who the Rizzler is?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You know, I don't know who the Rizzler is.

[Big Cat]

Big justice.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't know who that is either.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man. And this is. Now you've reversed it on us because explaining it is just so embarrassing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You don't need to know.

[Big Cat]

I don't really want to explain. Who the risk.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

What do you guys do? Spend all day on social media or something?

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Big Cat]

Literally, yes.

[PFT Commenter]

No, it's our job.

[Big Cat]

We're heads who sit on our phones all day.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you have a burner? Do you. Do you look at social media?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You know, I try not to. I'm not going to say I never do because. But I do not have a burner. But I try not to because, you know, I. I learned this lesson one time back when I was the coordinator for Tennessee.

[Big Cat]

We.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

We had a game versus Philly. We won in overtime and you know, I was feeling good about myself. Had like a 20 minute ride into work and they were saying great things on the radio. Then the next week we went out and got smoked. And so I just thought it was karma, bad juju. I don't want any part of it, both good or bad. So I try to stay off of it as much as possible, which I think is impossible in today's world, but for the most part, I try to stay away from it.

[PFT Commenter]

We're probably pretty smart.

[Big Cat]

We might have just relapsed. You. Because you're going to walk away from this being like, who the hell is the Rizzler?

[PFT Commenter]

I gotta find out.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I can't. Wallers. You know the Rizzler is okay. He knows.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, of course he does. He's a regular person.

[PFT Commenter]

He's QB1 in this draft. You throw him over the line of scrimmage and easy touchdown every single time. It makes a tush push look like the least effective play out.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I wonder if my kids know who the Rizzler is.

[PFT Commenter]

They definitely.

[Big Cat]

How old are your kids?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Okay, my kids are 13 and 11.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they probably have the Rizzler posters.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Are going to make fun of me that I don't know who the Rizzler is.

[Big Cat]

They actually probably will go. They'll probably say, yeah, dad, we knew about the Rizzler. That was six months ago. So he's. They're going to not only make fun of you, but then make fun of us adjacently being like, these guys are fucking losers too. So that's going to suck for us. You'll have to update me if that happens.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I got.

[PFT Commenter]

I got kind of probably a dumb question. Might be a good question, though, depending how you answer it. Have you, Sean and Kyle ever gotten, like, on the group chat together and said, like, what if we just. What if we just all teamed up again on the same team one day, like, maybe 20 years from now? You know how, like, the Eagles break up? They do their own side projects. They do a reunion tour. Has that ever been discussed?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, I think it'd be great.

[Max]

We.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

We usually get together in other settings, you know.

[PFT Commenter]

Would you. Are you closing the door on ever being on the same coaching staff again?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Absolutely not.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I like that. Who would be the head coach?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Oh, we got some pretty strong personalities between Sean and Kyle, so. I don't know.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I don't know if they could coexist, you know, being same division all these years.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's possible.

[Big Cat]

That's true. When your former quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that he's looking for a culture like the packers, where you like. Like, did you have a little smile on your face? You're like, I told you so. Grass is always greener.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, I didn't know.

[Big Cat]

He said, that's a liar. You're such a liar. That does make me.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That does make me grin. That makes me happy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. He went to the jets for two years and he's like, God damn it. I didn't realize what life was like.

[Max]

Yeah, what is.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I've heard some of those crazy stories from the Jets. You know, my brother was the coordinator there, so.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So were they true?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

A lot of them, yes.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

Sorry, memes. Our producers every Time an article would come out about the jets, he'd be like, this is completely made up.

[Big Cat]

He'd just attack all the journalists.

[PFT Commenter]

The jets are fine.

[Big Cat]

Diana, Rossini, Florio. He'd go after all of them.

[PFT Commenter]

Is there. Is there one.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Just between Salah and my brother, you know, there's some interesting stories.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Is there one reporter that if they call, you're like, oh, shit, this person's called. They must have something.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Not really. I feel like most people don't even reach out to me, so I kind of. I don't. I don't mess with that too much.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, so when you guys draft and then you bring them in for minicamp, is there like a. Do you have a feeling right away like, all right, we did. This is good. Or can. Like, how quickly are you. Like, I think this is someone that was going to be here for a long time versus we got some work to do.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I think every situation is a little bit different because I know there's been some guys that we've gotten that you think this guy's going to be a player and he. He fizzles out. So. But, you know, everybody learns at a little different rate. And I hate to be just a blah answer, but I feel like that's really how it is. You got to get them in and. And, you know, a lot of these guys just haven't been exposed to what they're going to be asked to do at this level or the. The type of system that we may have. So I think you got to give these guys, you know, at least a year to figure it out.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Off that. Is it. What would you say is more demanding for college? A guy getting drafted? Is it the physical side or the mental side of the NFL?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I'd say both.

[Big Cat]

But which one is more? If you had to say who?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I mean, I would probably say the mental side, because you're probably not drafting them if they physically can't do what you want them to do anyways. So I think. And just. Although the landscape of college has changed in terms of the length of these seasons now with. I mean, some of these guys are playing 14. 14 games. 15 games. So it's just the season has gotten longer in college football, and that's usually a big adjustment for guys coming to this level is, you know, you can. The rookie wall. That's a real thing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You can see just the energy that these guys have. So. Yeah. But I think definitely the mental.

[PFT Commenter]

When it comes to new draft pick. How often are you in touch with them on, like a one on one basis. Because as a coach, you have, you have a lot of jobs, you got a lot of stuff that you have to do. How much time do you carve out to, like, meet with them one on one and give them specific instructions for.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I, I. Again, it depends on the situation. You know, I would try to spend a little bit of time with each guy as they're onboarding and getting a chance to know them throughout the course of the off season. But you're right. I mean, we got a big roster size, we got 90 guys in the off season, so it's impossible to spend as much time as you like with each guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

One thing I love about draft night is, is the first time that a coach makes the call to the guy that he's about to draft. We always get to see those videos after the fact of that, you know, initial conversation that you're having. Do they have your number stored already? And they know when you're calling them, like, hey, this is the Green Bay Packers?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, I don't believe so. I think it just shows up that the area code shows up and it shows up as Green Bay and. But no, they definitely don't have our numbers.

[PFT Commenter]

How, how many numbers do you have going into the draft?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, I mean, we got a computer system. You just read the number and dial in the digits.

[PFT Commenter]

It's just all the players ready to go.

[Big Cat]

He kind of talked down to you there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but no, I'm saying you have.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

To be able to call these guys numbers.

[Big Cat]

Don't let them talk to you like that.

[PFT Commenter]

You, you have to look at a screen. But where do you get the.

[Big Cat]

I'm wondering how many numbers you can make the call.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, so you got a guy.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

So that's a guy for that.

[PFT Commenter]

It's beneath you to dial a phone.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No. Yeah, maybe this is gotcha journalism.

[Big Cat]

All right, well, coach, I got one last question for you. Roback question. R, H, O, B, A, C, K.com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code, take. So the draft is three days. At what point in the three days are you, like, enough already? Like, I'm, I'm done sitting in this room. Cause I feel like. Or maybe you're, you're used to it. Just sitting in the room and eating. Eating food, you know, take out every single day for three days in a row. Maybe that's something you're used to, but that's something we're used to. Are you built for it, or you, like, you know, halfway through Friday, you're like, all right, I'm. I'm ready to go. I want my life back.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of downtime. You're talking about hours for a quick selection, and then you're just waiting. And the. The most brutal part of the draft process is watching all these players that you. You kind of fall in love with get picked by other teams.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I mean, it's. It's. It's kind of painful to sit there and watch all these guys fly off the board. And then inevitably, it happens almost every year where you're in a position where you. You got your target set on a guy, and right before you picked, he gets picked. So you got to pivot and go to another guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You got to get over it real fast.

[Big Cat]

We'll send you some Rizzler videos for the downtime.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Please do. I do actually have a lot of downtime where I can. I can figure out who the Rizzler is.

[PFT Commenter]

Do. Are you going to, like, listen to any music on the way into work to get pumped up?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, I'm going to listen to. Pardon my take.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, that'll make you dumb.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that'll make you really dumb.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to send.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

You actually make me feel good going into the draft process.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That's what you guys told me.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to get a Rizzler, like, compilation and send it to you. And then that way when, like, when your GM is looking over and being like, hey, Coach, what do you think about this pick? And you just have the Rizzler up, it's going to be like, what the hell's going on?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You're going to think much less of us after you watch two hours of the Rizzler.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

The other thing I'm excited about. I got to see this. This first pitch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Really talk this up.

[Big Cat]

Great. Late cutting action. Look like. Look like Greg Maddox.

[PFT Commenter]

Have you thrown at a first pitch?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I have never done that.

[PFT Commenter]

What the brewers ever had you out.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

We were just talking about this the other day.

[Big Cat]

Is because you're scared. You're scared to do it.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, now I'm going to have to do it, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you're scared to do it. It's fine. Don't be scared. I've thrown three first pitches.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Do you think I'd get booed if I came to a Cubs game and threw out the first pitch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, probably. It would be fun, though. But you should. That would actually be very fun, actually. We should see if you could come to a Cubs game throughout the first pitch. Have Ben Johnson in the box. He'll take you 400ft.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Maybe he can catch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I want to see your first pitch now. We got to see. We got to get this. You. Don't be scared. I know you're scared.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

It's a lot of pressure.

[Big Cat]

I can tell you're scared. Don't be scared. It's not that hard.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

A lot of pressure.

[Big Cat]

And you have to go from the rubber. I'm going to say that right now. If you don't go from the rubber, I will judge you.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Yeah, of course.

[Big Cat]

There's a lot of guys who don't. There's a lot of guys who step up.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

No, I. I'm throwing from the mound.

[Big Cat]

Okay. All right, good.

[PFT Commenter]

I got one last, last thing for you. Are you guys playing in Ireland this year?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

That's a great question. I can't wait to find out.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, you don't know.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, you are.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I promise you. I promise you. I do not know. I promise you.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like they should tell you about the international games a little bit sooner. Right?

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Well, we knew last year we had a pretty good indication that we were playing Philly and Brazil, but on this one, we're kind of in the dark right now and just kind of waiting. I know it's a possibility because I've.

[PFT Commenter]

Read Packers, Steelers in Dublin, Ireland.

[Big Cat]

Oh, wow.

[PFT Commenter]

That would be fun.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

I think. I'm sure they're waiting on Aaron Rodgers. Whether or not you can't get rid of this guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. He's holding up your life still somehow.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

If he goes to Pittsburgh, then I'm sure we'll probably be there.

[Big Cat]

That's so perfect that it just all leads back to Aaron's decisions. You just another option season waiting for Aaron's decision.

[PFT Commenter]

He misses that culture, though, man. Congrats on the culture.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Hey, take pride in that.

[Big Cat]

All right. Thanks so much, coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Take care.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

All right, guys.

[Big Cat]

All right.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

Take care.

[PFT Commenter]

Matt La Flor is brought to you by NASCAR. Talladega Super Speedway is NASCAR's biggest, baddest track. Delivering heart pounding action pack racing thrills keeps drivers three wide and bumper to bumper. 200 mph playoff implications are on the line making every lap more intense. Unpredictable finishes mean anyone can take the checkered flag. At Talladega, the fan experience is unmatched. You got camping, tailgating, the electric infield. Energy tickets are Selling fast. So secure your spot [e-mail] FAQs are.

[Hank]

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[PFT Commenter]

According to Hank, the. The only other part that's almost as good as golf about golf is getting ready to play golf and thinking about playing golf.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I mean, everyone. Everyone that's listening to this knows, like, you book a tee time, your mood goes up, and you have. You have something to live for.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You got any more of that golf?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

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[Big Cat]

Okay. FAQ's time, Hank, let's wrap it up. Wrap it up. He's lost.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's lost. It's okay. He'll get there. He'll get there.

[Big Cat]

Come on, sweetie. You got this.

[PFT Commenter]

You're good.

[Big Cat]

Well, I'm sorry. I. You did you. There's no way you would be able to plan for the FAQs coming up. I have them right here. Come on, sweetie.

[Hank]

Hey there, big cat.

[Big Cat]

Pft.

[Hank]

And the guy who literally can't get the lottery ball. Oh, if you had to follow Wendy's rule of five, dinner, what four recurring guests would you invite? Dead or alive? Rest in peace, Tommy Lorda.

[Big Cat]

Oh, this is good question. Are we doing this as a team, or is it your personal. I think we got to do it As a team.

[PFT Commenter]

Jeannie Bouchard.

[Big Cat]

I think we gotta do as a team. All right, Bonk. Put on the bunk list.

[Hank]

Paige Branick.

[Big Cat]

Bonk list. All right. Fauci.

[PFT Commenter]

Fauci.

[Hank]

John Cena.

[Big Cat]

This is tough.

[PFT Commenter]

And Dak.

[Big Cat]

This is tough.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

This is because you don't want to do. You want to do. Guess that would normally not mix. So, like, you wouldn't want to have. I. I love Rosillo and svp, but if you brought both them, it's like, okay, they're just going to talk about, you know, their show and their history. Like, I want to have. I want to have all other four people be introduced for the first time with each other.

[Hank]

It might be Damon.

[PFT Commenter]

It might. Yeah, he'd be fun. It might be recency bias, but I think that Bill Raftery would be a great call. Bill Raftery and Waka Flock of Flame. Those are my first two.

[Big Cat]

Have we had Walk of Fame on the show?

[PFT Commenter]

We didn't.

[Big Cat]

No, I thought that we did. Yes, you did.

[Max]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we did. Yeah. You talked about the deaf sign language.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

J, O, C. J, O, C. J.

[Big Cat]

O, C. Bill Raftery is a really good one too.

[PFT Commenter]

Mm.

[Big Cat]

Dead or alive, he said Tiffany Gomes. Good Walton.

[PFT Commenter]

Bill Walton would be great.

[Big Cat]

Bill Walton. Be awesome. Bill Walton. And then John Cena. Because you could just leave a chair open.

[PFT Commenter]

It's true.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's a good question, though. It's so hard. Like, what would be the best. We should make a graphic where it's.

[Hank]

Like, pick maybe Mount Rushmore.

[Big Cat]

No, I'm. Oh, that. We've done that, and it hurts.

[PFT Commenter]

You heard a lot of feelings.

[Hank]

No, no, it was recurring.

[PFT Commenter]

Guess you were about to pick Jules this time, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

It's for a dinner party.

[Big Cat]

Right. But I would like to see what the. Awls.

[PFT Commenter]

I got the last one.

[Max]

What?

[PFT Commenter]

Joey Chestnut. Oh, a little dinner.

[Big Cat]

Pay a lot. Yeah, I would. We should do the. The meme where it's, like, you get to pick someone at your lunch table, and it's, like, different categories. So you could put, like, s. You got to pick one of svp, Rosillo, Herb street, or whatever, you know, and it's basketball players, and it's. So let's do that.

[PFT Commenter]

The vending machine should have SVP next to it. Yeah, yeah.

[Hank]

Big cat.

[Big Cat]

Just.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Who in the crew would you trust most to babysit your kids for a weekend?

[Big Cat]

Oh, boy.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, boy. Uncle PFT is getting ready to buy some beers.

[Big Cat]

Oh, boy. I. I weirdly. I weirdly might say Max.

[Max]

One.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I. Maybe either you would be two. Pft. You're one or two. Pft. It's either you or Max. That's a guarantee.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I would be respectful.

[Big Cat]

No, no. I think you'd be very good. It's not you. You sometimes forget things. So that. That might. It was more that I don't. It's not a knock on you in terms of.

[PFT Commenter]

I'd be like, wasn't there a girl?

[Big Cat]

Right? Yeah. Like, there's a girl one around here. So be your max. One or two max would be maybe remember things more. I think you'd be more fun then Hank. 3. Just because I think he would take it very serious. I don't know though. Hank would have to golf.

[PFT Commenter]

There might be a lot of texts. Like, what's. Where's the bottle?

[Big Cat]

Memes. My kids would just watch TV all weekend. They wouldn't do shit. Is that fair? Memes. No, we do stuff like what? I'll go to the park. Okay. All right.

[PFT Commenter]

I think the kids would love having memes come out. He'd come in with, like, six televisions.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So many TVs. Shane. By far last pug. You'd be in there. So I'm gonna go final answer. Pft. One, max two. Then we're gonna go like, draft, like McShay did. Pft. Max one, one and two. So I'll say, Pft, one, max two. Those are my blue chippers. Then there's a big drop off. Hank. Then there's a really big drop off. Pug memes. Then there's enormous drop off. Shit.

[Hank]

Jack's not even in the equation.

[Big Cat]

Jack and I are beefing right now.

[Hank]

Okay?

[Big Cat]

I walked out and it smelled like in the kitchen. And I was like, why does it smell like. Like fish again? And Dottie was like, it smells like beef. And Jack was playing ping pong. He plays ping pong. He's actually a professional ping pong player. That's all he does every day, is he. He plays all the time.

[Hank]

Sniffed feeding me.

[Big Cat]

And Jack just out of nowhere just goes, I don't think it smells that bad. And I just turned him. I said, jack, listen, your only jobs here are to play ping pong and agree with everything I say. And he's like, okay. And then he went back to playing ping pong.

[PFT Commenter]

Any smell can smell disgusting if you're not ready for it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. It was a new smell that I came out. He had been baked in it. Jack.

[PFT Commenter]

Unexpected smells. It could be a gourmet steak. And if you're not if you don't see it coming, you're like, what died in here?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Jack, do you think you could babysit my kids? If you asked me to, yes. Okay, but what about you going out with the cool kid club here?

[PFT Commenter]

I would take a day off.

[Big Cat]

Okay. One day. That's. This. The question was a weekend. As long as you need. All right, so Jack. Jack's above Shane. Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

Were you upset with that ranking?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Why? You thought you should be ahead of Max at pft.

[Hank]

I don't know what Max has that is Dog.

[Big Cat]

Girlfriend. I don't know. Dog. Get a dog. What do you have spiders?

[Hank]

Not anymore.

[Big Cat]

So you. You let your spiders die?

[PFT Commenter]

The dog is still alive.

[Big Cat]

The dog is still alive. I think if you had a dog, you'd be up there. It's just like having a dog, I think, puts you immediately. You're halfway there.

[PFT Commenter]

You are a dog.

[Hank]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You are a dog.

[Hank]

Did any of you guys go into an interview with little to no expectations and come out of it really liking or having a newfound respect for the guest? The Tony Hale interview you did a few years ago back did that very thing for me.

[Big Cat]

Tony Hale. Oh, yeah, yeah. Buster Blue.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

I liked him.

[PFT Commenter]

I would say, yeah. JLC is the easy number one.

[Big Cat]

JLC is the number one. We didn't even want to take the interview. And they were like, come on, he's good. And we're like, all right, fine. And then it became our best friend.

[PFT Commenter]

We're like, wait, that's the guy that's married to Rebecca Romaine?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Maybe. Maybe we can meet her.

[Big Cat]

Maybe he'll give us some pictures.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Has there been any other. Because we always say, joc.

[PFT Commenter]

I really like Julius Randall.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Didn't know what to expect from that.

[Big Cat]

I liked Paolo a lot. Good. I mean, old school. Joe Buck. Like, we. I think we always thought we would get along with Joe Buck, but it was, you know, who knows? Because we didn't know if the. If he was gonna be, like, the best, and he was the best.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought that Chris Long was a piece of. Until he was on the show. Yeah. I was like, I kind of. Respect. Respect.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to think if there's any others. Hank, can you think of any others?

[Hank]

Gary Busey.

[Big Cat]

Gary Busey was very fun. Tom Fornelli. I thought he was a piece of.

[PFT Commenter]

Martin Scrap still might be because he stole all the takes from Hank.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he's stealing everything from Hank. Prisco's a prickly one that I think.

[PFT Commenter]

Exactly what I expected.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But I think we're the only ones who, like, like them.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, I don't think anyone likes listening to them.

[PFT Commenter]

Y.

[Big Cat]

We just like listening to them. Which, guess what? It's our show.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Come up with your own show. Then you then. And you can ban Pete Prisco.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, another one would be Max Homa. We just knew Max is like a, like, yeah. Kind of quirky online guy, but we didn't know him personally the first time that we had him on. Like, he had. He had, I think, talked to us via dms. Like, he played Warzone with Hank. He and I had DMed a few times, but we didn't know. We didn't know each other. He came on the show, and we're like, yeah, love this guy.

[Big Cat]

Brooks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Brooks.

[Big Cat]

Brooks is the first interview you did with Brooks. We. We were like, I. I can't remember. I got connected with one of his guys, and he's like, hey, you ever want Brooks? I'm like, I guess we'll go do it. Because they were playing at the. Was the US Open?

[Hank]

No, it's PGA US Open.

[Big Cat]

It was US Open. And we're like, yeah, we'll go interview him. And then we're like, we love this guy. And then he ended up winning more and coming on all the time. So that was definitely.

[Max]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

I thought it would be a one and done. And it's become a someday we should relationship. We should get everyone, like, the day that we end this podcast. Hopefully many years from now. But how many of these guys you think we get in one room? Pretty cool. Would be just have them all together. All right. Is that it?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Good job.

[Hank]

Thanks.

[PFT Commenter]

Great job, Hank.

[Big Cat]

You think you should have been two or one?

[Hank]

No, No, I. I respect your. Your judgment.

[Big Cat]

Do you think you could take care of kids for an entire weekend?

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

But Max, like, better than I just.

[Big Cat]

I. I. Max is like a. He's like. He's basically Santa 24 7. He is. He's. He's a jolly big guy with a beard.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like, kids like that. I mean, I've said it on this show. My kids are obsessed with when his. I show him every time Max's butt comes out, which is a lot. Butt. His butt crack. And they always are like, my dad. My daughter's like, can I see Max's butt? Like, Max is the funny guy. He's got a butt that comes out.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

It's fair. Work to be done.

[Big Cat]

Work to be done. You're not gonna do anything. Yeah. Find your. Find your inner parent. On the golf course. Work to be done. All right.

[PFT Commenter]

A few girls that call you daddy, though. Nope. You're not a father, but kind of.

[Max]

Nope.

[Big Cat]

That was the fastest nope ever. All right, Good show, boys. Numbers.

[Coach Matt LaFleur]

3.

[Big Cat]

70. Oh, no. 17.

[Hank]

77.

[PFT Commenter]

37.

[Big Cat]

No, you weren't on Pug. You're on 99.

[Max]

Pog 44.

[Big Cat]

Nope. 94. Not. Today is the day. You want to go one more memes? Yeah, let's go one more. Numbers three.

[PFT Commenter]

I said it.

[Big Cat]

I said it. I think I said it. I think I said it.

[PFT Commenter]

61.

[Hank]

77.

[Big Cat]

17. 99. Put.

[PFT Commenter]

If we both get it. 24.

[Big Cat]

We both can't get it. I have 17. What were you saying? Today's the day. Today's the day. 100. 100. You are so. You couldn't be further away. I had a dream that one of you guys took three and got it.

[PFT Commenter]

And all the computers in front of me were broken.

[Big Cat]

How do they break for me? Oh, okay.

[PFT Commenter]

The podcast.

[Big Cat]

You left that part out of the dream.

[PFT Commenter]

Podcast was safe. Love you guys.