HOUR 3 - Social Media Trend has Us Pining for a Doc on the Easterby Experience + Thoughts on JV Retiring

Summary

Payne & Pendergast – Hour 3

Episode Date: July 13, 2026
Main Theme: Houston sports talk with sharp analysis and banter. Hour 3 spotlights a viral social media trend pining for a Jack Easterby “documentary,” thoughts on Justin Verlander’s retirement, and a lively animal discussion before returning to Texans analysis.

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Episode Overview

Sean Pendergast and Seth Payne, Houston’s favorite sports talk duo, kick off Hour 3 reacting to a viral TikTok trend featuring DeAndre Hopkins joking about the Texans’ infamous “Easterby Era” and whether it’s ripe for a Netflix-style documentary. The tone quickly mixes irreverence with reflection, as the hosts unpack what made that period so chaotic, why it still fascinates fans, and why a tell-all documentary is unlikely. Later, they bounce into the animal kingdom for comic relief, debate the upcoming Texans season, and evaluate Justin Verlander’s legacy after his retirement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The DeAndre Hopkins TikTok & The “Pastor Turned GM” Era

[01:30–09:16]

Viral Trend Hits Houston Sports Trauma

• Sean introduces a TikTok meme: DeAndre Hopkins seated “Netflix doc style,” captioned "preparing for the Netflix doc on surviving a pastor turned NFL general manager" — a shot at Jack Easterby.
• Seth explains the TikTok trend: “Yeah, there's a trend on TikTok…like you’re conducting a Netflix documentary.” [02:16]
• Both hosts note Houston fans’ mixed reactions—some laugh, others feel “PTSD.”

Notable Insight:
Sean: “They’re in such a good place now…if this is what you had to go through to get to where they are now…Okay. It would have been nice to not…but if the price…is it, you’ve got the roster they have now, you’ve got [DeMeco] Ryans as your head coach, front office seems to be in pretty good shape, too.” [03:38]

Would There Ever Be an Easterby Documentary?

• Both hosts agree a doc would be fascinating, but “people are still paranoid about saying anything about him”—the wounds are fresh and Easterby’s reputation for retaliation lingers.
• Seth analogizes the Easterby era to “having a psychotic ex-girlfriend that made you realize, oh, I need to date a woman who ends up being your wife.” [04:18]
• Seth recalls early skepticism: “The big red flag...when I called and asked people in Jacksonville about this Jack Easterby, they were like, ‘Your guess is as good as ours, Seth. I have no idea who this guy is.’” [05:36]
• Both hosts share stories of atmosphere of fear and confusion within the Texans organization under Easterby.

Memorable Quotes

• Sean: “The irony in the whole thing…” [04:16]
• Seth: “Just because something’s outside the box doesn’t mean it’s a good idea…when you have out-of-the-box trade after out-of-the-box trade, after a while, you’re not outside the box—you’re just homeless.” [07:55]
• Seth on Easterby: “People were so intent on claiming that the media was misportraying this and everything. Meanwhile…players…were so terrified to…say anything about him because he was so adept at just creating this tapestry of misinformation.” [05:41–06:39]

Paranoia Lingers; Transparency Still Lacking

• Seth: “People are still paranoid about saying anything about him…because he might pop up again or what?”
• Seth: “I would love it if he would sue me, because I’d love to get this dude deposed.” [09:01]
• Both hosts stress that Easterby's power and manipulations sowed lasting distrust.

Reflecting on the Franchise’s Turnaround

• Pendergast points out the compelling narrative arc—Texans’ transition from dysfunction to stability—which would make a great documentary if people were willing to talk.
• Seth highlights the moment Jack Easterby was marginalized (with the hiring of Lovie Smith) as a key turning point, suggesting the organization finally recognized the extent of Easterby’s disruption. [10:29–11:32]

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Animal Power Rankings: The “Looks Docile, But Will Kill You” List

[12:08–19:43] A comic interlude as the hosts riff on a viral animal attack video and create a “power ranking” of deceptively dangerous animals.

Highlights:

• Discussion centers around a viral video of a Yellowstone bison tossing a man (and trauma to his Dolphins-fan grandchild).
• Sean’s “looks friendly and docile, until it’s definitely not” animal power rankings (with ChatGPT involvement):
  1. Bison: Look “like a giant fuzzy cow,” but deadly fast.
  2. Moose: Often mistaken as calm like deer.
  3. Hippopotamus: “Cartoons don’t do justice…they’re faster than sprinters, very territorial.”
  4. Elephant: “Many are gentle giants—but a wild bull will charge at 25 mph.” [17:13]
  5. Elk: “During mating season—total psychos.”
  6. Brown bear: “If you’re not scared of a grizzly, you’re a damn fool.”
  7. Cassowary: “A six-foot tall dinosaur…with dagger-like claws.”
  8. Canada Goose: Aggressive and territorial.

Notable Quotes:

• Seth: “When you have out of the box trade after out of the box trade… after a while, you’re not outside the box, you’re just homeless.” [07:55]
• Sean: “It looks like a giant fuzzy cow and it often just stands around eating grass.” [15:31]

Honorable Mentions:

• Swans, Sea Lions, Cape Buffalo, Wild Boar, Seals (Seth is most suspicious of seals after bad past experiences).

Dolphins: The Most Overlooked “Dangerous” Animal

• Both hosts agree dolphins, though not deadly, are surprisingly “hypersexual and aggressive.”
• Seth shares a hilarious anecdote about “not being hit on by a dolphin” during a swim encounter. [32:10–33:08]

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Texans Offensive Leaps: Who Needs to Step Up?

[22:56–29:23]

The Supporting Cast Question

• A listener (Texans Jacob) poses a question: of the Texans’ supporting offensive players, who needs to “take a leap” in 2026?
• ESPN’s position-by-position rankings are out, Texans have “marquee” pieces at some spots but few recognized at supporting roles.

Player Candidates (Excluding QB Stroud)

• Ariante Ursary (LT)
• Jaden Higgins (WR)
• Jalen Noel (WR)
• David Montgomery (RB)
• Ed Ingram (RG)
• Keelan Rutledge (OL)

Seth’s Take: David Montgomery is the obvious answer: “It's really like a three-for-one there…If the offensive line does improve, that's how it has to happen.” [26:13–26:39]

• Picking an RB means the line must also improve.

Sean’s Thoughts:

• Excited for Jaden Higgins; if he “takes a leap,” that implies Houston’s offense is rolling.
• Both agree Ariante Ursary’s leap at LT would be huge, but needs to be more than just “average”—top-10 territory.

Tangent: ESPN’s Defensive Rankings

• Kudos to Texans’ defense (Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter).
• Seth: Lassiter “criminally underrated”—should be top-10.

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Cassowary: The Bird of Nightmares

[29:26–31:38]

• Producer Ben cues up the terrifying “cassowary noise.”
• Seth: “Sounds like a movie dinosaur…Alien dinosaurs.”
• Both hosts vow never to tangle with Australian wildlife.

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American Wildlife: “Exotic” to the Outside World

[39:03–40:37]

• Reddit thread: Non-Americans find squirrels fascinating; Americans take them for granted.
• Sean suggests alligators and hummingbirds would “wow” tourists.
• Seth: “Fireflies…didn’t realize they weren’t everywhere.”

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Justin Verlander Retires – Astros or Tigers HOF Cap?

[40:54–48:01]

Verlander’s Houston Legacy

• Sean: “Verlander saying yes to coming to Houston [in 2017] was the first validation for the golden era of Astros baseball.” [41:52]
• Both discuss that Keuchel deserves credit for recruiting Verlander.

Revisiting Myths

• Chandler Rome's column recalls Verlander’s “seminal speech” in 2017—Seth debunks this memory: “Not a damn person was paying attention to Verlander…It got built up in people’s minds…” [43:28–43:57]

Favorite Moment:
Sean (Deadpan): “You ever driven past a median where there's just some psycho homeless person there just ranting and raving? …There were people…just walking past Verlander like he wasn't even there.” [43:48]

What Team Should Verlander Represent in Cooperstown?

• Rob Parker (Detroit writer) stumps for Astros over Tigers due to championship success.
• Brian Kenny points out Detroit tenure is far longer but Houston tenure more successful.
• Sean and Seth note: Only “time served” (years, innings) is better in Detroit—everything else better in Houston. [45:30]
• Seth: “If you take 20 years of my life and I spent 15...in prison…do I prefer to be remembered for the five years…outside?” [46:12]
  (On how the “good years” in Houston should outweigh the “longer tenure” in Detroit)
• They conclude the Hall picks the logo; blank caps are possible (Greg Maddux, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Fred McGriff).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Seth on Easterby’s reign: “People were so intent on claiming that the media was misportraying this and everything. Meanwhile…so terrified to…say anything about him because he was so adept at just creating this tapestry of misinformation…” [05:41–06:39]
• Sean on animal misconceptions: “Looks friendly, until it’s definitely not.” [15:31]
• Seth on out-of-the-box thinking: “After a while, you’re not outside the box, you’re just homeless.” [07:55]
• Seth on Verlander’s 2017 speech: “There were staffers just walking past Verlander like he wasn’t even there.” [43:57]
• Sean on the HOF cap debate: “Do you want to go into the hall of Fame in an Astros uniform or a convict jumpsuit?” [46:32]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:30] – TikTok/Netflix documentary meme on Jack Easterby
• [05:36] – Seth identifies the first red flag with Easterby (“assistant GM” claim)
• [07:55] – Out-of-the-box thinking run amok
• [09:01] – Why an honest Easterby documentary will never happen
• [10:29–11:32] – When the Texans marginalized Easterby
• [12:08] – Bison attack video and launch of “Looks docile, but will kill you” animal rankings
• [15:31] – Power rankings: Bison, moose, hippos, elephants, more
• [22:56] – Texans supporting cast: Who needs to take a leap in 2026?
• [29:26] – Cassowary “monster noise” demo
• [39:03] – American animals that fascinate the rest of the world
• [41:52] – Justin Verlander as the validation of Astros’ golden era
• [43:28] – Seth & Sean debunk the “Verlander rally speech” myth
• [44:46] – HOF cap debate: Astros vs. Tigers
• [46:12] – Prison years metaphor for Detroit tenure vs. Houston

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Tone & Style

Fast-paced, conversational, and irreverent, Payne & Pendergast blend insightful analysis with sharp humor. They skillfully balance deep-dive sports nostalgia with tongue-in-cheek references (“homeless outside the box,” “drunk cassowary,” “dolphins are hypersexual creatures”).

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Summary Takeaways

• The Jack Easterby era remains a source of fascination and trauma among Texans fans—a Netflix doc would be compelling but is unlikely due to lingering paranoia.
• The Houston Texans’ turnaround (and playoff potential) can only be fully appreciated with context of past dysfunction.
• Fan engagement and media perceptions are shaped as much by viral moments (real or fabricated) as on-field performance.
• The local sports conversation is as much about laughter (animal rankings, dolphin anecdotes) as gridiron Xs and Os.
• Justin Verlander’s legacy is hotly debated; the hosts argue his Houston accomplishments overshadow his Detroit longevity, though the Hall will technically make the cap decision.

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For the next segment: The hosts tease further discussion on recent Texans workouts and a look at a controversial player—plus more on legacy, nostalgia, and what truly shapes Houston sports identity.

Transcript

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[Sydney Sweeney]

All right.

[Sean Pendergast]

I had not seen this TikTok trend that's been going on, but I think it's funny now that I know it exists. I was it was brought to my attention by Seth C. Pain, who sent me the tweet from Chancellor Johnson, Formerly of Channel 2 here in town, who posted the video of former Texans wide receiver Deandre Hopkins sitting down on a stool in what looks to be his kitchen, which is, I guess, where he would sit if a documentary crew were in his house to interview him. And the caption on the caption on the short TikTok video where DeAndre looks to be kind of talking to an interviewer is preparing for the Netflix doc on surviving a pastor turned NFL general manager.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there's a trend on TikTok where they just do. Yeah. Like make it look like you're. Like you're conducting a Netflix documentary.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And it's, it was, it was out of nowhere a nice little reminder to have one of the most traumatic ordeals that this young organization has been through. And a lot of people laughed at it. A lot of other people cited PTSD, and they were mad at DeAndre for even bringing it up.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think it's okay. Like, if this team were still. This is how I feel about it.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And. And we can talk about how compelling this documentary would actually be, because when you sent it to me, Seth, I didn't know about the TikTok.

[Seth Payne]

I assumed you knew it was. I didn't know.

[Sean Pendergast]

I mean, I was pretty good at staying off the grid on this vacation. Better than normal, so I hadn't seen it. Amy probably had.

[Seth Payne]

I think she got super excited. You thought it was going to be a real documentary?

[Sean Pendergast]

No. I could tell just by the nature of the video. Like, this probably looks like a joke. I just didn't know for sure.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

But part of me. I even said to you, when I replied in the text, I'm like, it would be a pretty good documentary. But. Yeah, so. So, yeah, DeAndre sitting down here, my. My reaction when it comes to people bringing up Easter B era stuff, because obviously that's who he's referring to here, the pastor turned gm, is that they're in such a good place now that if this is what you had to go through to get to where they are now.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Then. Okay. You know, it would have been nice to not have to go through that. But if the price you pay is it, you've got the roster they have now, you've got d' Amico Ryan's as your head coach. Front office seems to be in pretty good shape, too.

[Seth Payne]

Well, and it was. And it was really. I mean, it was. He's the reason that Casario is the GM of the.

[Sean Pendergast]

Ironically. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

That's so. I mean, so depending on how you feel about Casario, I think that. I think the meter is still pretty positive with most fans on Sario.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Right now. I mean, it is. It is one of those kind of things that in a long and winding path to get to a good spot.

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[Seth Payne]

There was a lot of weird and crazy stuff that happened along the way.

[Sean Pendergast]

There was. Yeah.

[Advertiser]

That.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's the. The irony in the whole thing.

[Seth Payne]

So kind of almost like the. The way you. You had a psychotic ex girlfriend that made you realize, oh, okay, I need to. I need to. I need to date a woman who ends up being like your. Your wife, you know, like, oh, okay, I've learned some lessons about what not to do.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. What was the low point for you during that whole thing? Like, the whole Was it just one big low point for you? You. You. I will credit you. You were one of the first ones to point out the sociopathic ways of.

[Seth Payne]

Well, the biggest. I mean, immediate. I was kind of going through this in my head and like, okay, when did I realize there was something off about Easterby? And originally there were two things. One was that they were touting him as this guy who was so good at relating to the players, and guys would confide him and everything, but that he was also the guy that was reporting everything to Bill o'. Brien. What do you think this is a recipe for disaster? It'd be like if you. Like if your psychologist was also going to tell every single thing to your boss that you relay to your psychologist. But the other one, the big one, the big red flag for me immediately was that the. He was listed when they first hired him as the assistant GM in Jacksonville. And when I called and asked people in Jacksonville about this Jack Easterby, they were like, your guess is as good as ours, Seth. I have no idea who this guy is.

[Sean Pendergast]

He worked for the Jags in some.

[Seth Payne]

No, he was like an intern for a little bit.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's what I mean. But he was like. He was.

[Seth Payne]

He didn't even work for. He called himself the assistant gm. And it was not anything close to that. Yeah, not even close to it. Nobody knew who the hell he was. It was for like a few months or something, and then it was just. Still, stuff would start to filter in it. But I got to the point where I just laid off of it because people were so. People were so intent on claiming that the media was mis. Portraying this and everything. And meanwhile, I'm talking to people in the organization and players and everything who are so terrified to, like, they were. It was almost like it felt like wartime. They're like, people knew that this Easter be guy had so much power and would say anything to get what he wanted, that people were very, very careful to. To say anything about him because he was so adept at just creating this tapestry of misinformation that would. That he could. That people got rolled out of the organization for speaking up.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah. The thing that. The. The part that I think of, there's two things. One, I think back to the very beginning when he was here, and there was, you know, it was like OTAs or something, and somebody from the staff. I was talking to somebody from the staff who's no longer with the team. So it's not anybody who's still there, but they were telling me, like, boy, he was Pursued by however many teams around the NFL that off season, you know, like, he. And he had hired an agent, I think the same agent that a lot of guys have in that patriot tree and things like that. I think Bob is it. Bob Lamont is his name.

[Seth Payne]

So.

[Unidentified Male]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Bob Lamont Kingmaker.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Yeah. And. Yeah. And. And here, you know, he. What. Whatever you want title you want to give Easter be. That was the other thing, too. Is it anytime anybody asked you what his title was or what he did, nobody ever gave you a straight answer.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right. Nobody could really tell. He was just all over the place advising everybody about everything.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's something to be said for titles and job descriptions.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. You know, there's.

[Sean Pendergast]

There is something to be said for guardrails.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, no, no, no. And he wanted to go in, and he was just. The biggest thing about him, the. The impression I got was that he was one of these guys that he loved outside the box thinking but meant would. But take him to an extreme. That means, like, you're reinventing everything all the time.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like, not. Just because something's outside the box doesn't mean it's a good idea.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

So, like, when you have out of the box trade after out of the box trade after out of the box trade trade, after a while, you're just. You're not outside the box. You're just homeless.

[Sean Pendergast]

You're.

[Seth Payne]

It's a. You're just like. You're elegantly framing this thing. We're like, no, we actually have no roof over.

[Sean Pendergast]

You don't even have a box anymore.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So I want you to pay off on your tease because.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, I don't think there will ever be a documentary.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, yeah, originally I had asked a question. Like, I. When I saw DeAndre Hopkins sitting down in this chair doing this Internet meme, I'm like, that'd be a pretty good documentary, I think, actually, like, especially if the Texans went on to win a Super bowl anytime soon.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like, going for, like, the. The whole storyline arc of just how bad it was then and how good it is now.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think, like, from a compelling standpoint, maybe be more compelling to people in Houston than it would. Obviously, it would be more compelling to people in Houston than other places. But it's a fascinating story. I think it'd be a solid like 8 or 9 out of 10. But you don't think it'll ever happen?

[Seth Payne]

I don't think it, no. Because people are still paranoid about saying anything about him. That's the whole. I. You know, people like because he might

[Sean Pendergast]

pop up again or what?

[Seth Payne]

Get to the point where you're just like, I don't want this guy out waging whatever whisper campaign against me. I would love it if you would sue me, because I'd love to get this dude deposed. I would love to have him answer various things that he said. What are the odds?

[Sean Pendergast]

What are the odds that he would just go ahead and perjure himself?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Oh, the odds on that. Oh, I would take that bet. Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Sean Pendergast]

Minus 1,000, right?

[Seth Payne]

No, no, no, no. Because you talk to people in the organization, it was always one of those things, this classic, like, the kind of person that you find out that he claimed you said something. Let's say Easterby is person A, and then person B is somebody else in the organization. And Easter B tells you that person B said something about you.

[Advertiser]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

But meanwhile, Easterby tells person B that you said something about person B, and you're like, wait a second. Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. Let's all three of us get together. That meeting would never happen. You know, like, there was, like, when it came time to actually answer for the. He had a. He had a very good way of dodging here and there and to and fro to where he just always had an answer for when he was called on something that he had claimed. And those people. Those people are. Sometimes you just have to wait them out in an organization, it's very frustrating. Or sometimes you just have to just quit. And there were. There were some good people in that organization that either got fired or just quit because what the hell's going on with this?

[Sean Pendergast]

It's tough, man.

[Seth Payne]

Ye best part, no, my favorite moment of the Jack Easterby era was when they hired Lovey Smith, and it was clear that, okay, that was a pivot to an extreme degree.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hired him as the head coach, you're saying.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. To hire him as the head coach because something happened then. Because, remember at that point, one of the finalists in the job was. What's his face there?

[Sean Pendergast]

Brian Flores.

[Seth Payne]

No, no, no, no.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, Josh McCown.

[Seth Payne]

Josh McCown. And they end up bailing on that. And remember when they introduced Lovey Smith, you could tell, you show up at that thing, and all of a sudden, Jack Easterby was marginalized, like, where he had been around and involved in everything before that. All of a sudden, Jack Easterby was just kind of lingering in the wings on various things, and it was just a matter of time before. I think by that point, what had happened is that I know that at least a couple people in the organization, and I suspect Lovey Smith as well, although I don't know about that for sure, had basically just like opened the McNair's eyes to what exactly Jack Easterby was and how he was operating.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And maybe to a certain extent, Nick Casario too. Like they had to. Sario had to have his eyes opened about what Jack Easterby was doing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Because you know Jack. Basically. Yeah, he brought him here. So that's. Yeah. I think it would be compelling that when you combine that with the whole Desean Watson saga as well, like the, like the 2020 through whatever this Texans era ends up yielding, period of time is one of the more interesting timelines in a, in an NFL team's history. No doubt about that. For good and bad. Okay, did you see the guy. I know you did the guy get tossed in the air by the bison in Yellowstone Park? Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

That was in. How many times.

[Sean Pendergast]

How many times you have to watch something like that before you like to confirm that it's not AI? Like how many sources do you need to go to on something like that to make sure it's because this is, this is cartoonish.

[Seth Payne]

I had, you know what I think? And I think an actual news source or something had tweeted it. So I figured. I didn't suspect that too much. It was AI. That's a good point. I probably should have. I. I know that from watching people get thrown by bulls and wild animals, I know that it always looks way worse than you even imagine.

[Sydney Sweeney]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like you imagine somebody getting tossed by a bull and in your mind you're like, oh, this is going to look pretty bad. And it does. Even before I go, oh my gosh, how did he flip this guy this high?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, I thought so.

[Seth Payne]

The other thing I suspected though, when I was about to watch this video was like, all right, I'm going to see some jackass who is taunting the bison or something. No, this is just some poor old guy who had been like he had been at the parking with his family or whatever and this bison was just going crazy.

[Sean Pendergast]

For those who, for those who haven't seen it, we'll. We'll give you the 30 second description of it. There's. It's Yellowstone Park. It's in a part of the park where there are cars driving on a road and the road set. The road actually separates the grandfather and his grandchild. They're standing, I would say at least maybe 50 to 75 yards from this bison, something like that across the street, just looking at it, you know, may taking a picture with their phone. This gigantic bison is laying on the other side of the road and catches a glimpse of them. And then the tell, apparently, from what I learned from all the zoologists on Twitter. Seth, is it when the bison started wagging its tail. That means trouble's coming. When it stands up and its tail goes erect, like up in the air, that means you better get the hell out of Dodge. And this. You brought this up off the air. The grandfather, who's gotta be in his 70s or 80s, did a pretty nice job of avoiding this bison by kind of running through the trees for a little bit.

[Sport Clips Announcer 2]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This little cluster of trees kind of trying down a little bit.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I think then I thought that strategy was working out pretty well, but then I think he tried to make a break for it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And there's a.

[Seth Payne]

There's a thing, though. It's because I think, if I. If I read correctly, it said that they're entering the rut up there, which is like the breeding season.

[Sean Pendergast]

It is. So.

[Seth Payne]

So the bulls are super aggressive. They got all this testosterone coursing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And they're just so. He looked at old grandpa as like some kind of competitor.

[Sean Pendergast]

I asked.

[Seth Payne]

Ain't trying to make love to you, man. Leave Grandpa alone.

[Sean Pendergast]

Taken. Yeah, he's taken. The other thing I thought was gramps grandchild that was there. I couldn't tell from a distance if it was grandson or granddaughter, long hair, but like, kind of like maybe 13 years old. So it was. And they were in a distance. But I could tell they were wearing a Dolphins jersey. And I'm like, this poor kid's been through enough. You know, being a Dolphins fan, they don't have to watch their grandfather get tossed 15ft in the air by a bison. That had to be traumatic. I asked Chat GPT the power ranking of looks friendly and docile until it's definitely not animals.

[Sport Clips Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. So the especially maybe cartoons have led you to believe. Right, Right. Fun, goofy character or just the personality

[Sean Pendergast]

of it 99% of the time.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. I think with bison. With bison, it's. I think there's enough of it where you're kind of like, oh, yeah, cows are generally pretty gentle creatures. Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Bison was number one in the power rankings. Probably a little recency bias there. Like, looks friendly until it's definitely not. Why people underestimate them. It looks like a giant fuzzy cow and it often just stands around eating grass.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah. They don't look like they're. They're about it, but they just look like they're just. They're just thinking about grazing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. But if they. They weigh up to £2,000 and they can run 35 miles an hour.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So the public misconception. He looks chill. Number two. You ever run into a moose before?

[Seth Payne]

No. And there's no way I would ever think that I shouldn't be concerned about seeing a moose. But, you know, I've never, like. What do you mean run? Like, I've seen him stand. I've seen him standing by the side of the road before.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like, where you just realize, like, oh, my God.

[Sean Pendergast]

So you've seen one. I've never seen one live.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, I've seen them in zoos. Plenty of time.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And they're just. They're massive.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Just ridiculously big. I don't see how anybody would ever look at a moose and think, like, oh, no, that, like, that thing might. That thing might murder me without even trying.

[Sean Pendergast]

The common misconception is people think they have the behavior of deer. You know, that's the.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, they're going to run away or they're.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah. They're scared or whatever. Yeah. So that's number two. Number three, hippopotamus.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah. And they're nasty.

[Sean Pendergast]

The most dangerous large mammal in Africa looks fat, sleepy, and kind of goofy. And I think the cartoons here in the United States, that's definitely an animal. The cartoons don't do justice for the hippo. They're faster than Olympic sprinters over short distances. They're that fast. And they're very territorial. Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, they're. Well, remember Pablo Escobar? That's one of the big problems in his old estate. He had all these hippos.

[Unidentified Male 2]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

And. And now they're just running free.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. Number four, elephant.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

People think elephants are gentle giants. Many of them are. But a wild bull elephant will charge at 25 miles an hour.

[Seth Payne]

You know what I wonder, though? I wonder how much of this is dated by this point. Because now, because of social media and just reality TV show. Not reality shows, documentaries and everything, we've all seen a lot of examples of people being charged by these creatures. Yeah, I bet.

[Unidentified Male]

I bet the.

[Seth Payne]

I bet the prime time for people getting murdered by some of these animals where they just didn't know any better was back in the 80s 90s.

[Unidentified Male 2]

No.

[Sean Pendergast]

Nature.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Animal Planet wasn't a thing. And it was all Dumbo was. Your impression of elephants was Dumbo the flying elephant.

[Seth Payne]

Right. Hippos is like hungry hippos.

[Unidentified Male]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like I control them, they don't control me.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's exactly right. Number five, elk.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, I could bet. Yeah. Especially with elk. I think elk. I might be guilty of that because more so than the moose, I might think they act like deer.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, okay. They're just, look, they're just big deer.

[Sean Pendergast]

Apparently during their rut, their mating season. Total psychos.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

During their mating season, number six, brown bear. Okay, how are people.

[Seth Payne]

How is this six. Oh, you know why? Because people assume that that's actually dangerous.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

You see a grizzly.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

If you're not scared of a grizzly when you see it, you're a damn fool.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I had never heard of this animal before. Number seven. Am I pronouncing this right? Cassowary.

[Seth Payne]

I don't know if you're pronouncing it right, but that's a bird, right?

[Sean Pendergast]

The big black bird, the world's angriest bird. It looks like an.

[Seth Payne]

Is it in New Zealand?

[Sean Pendergast]

It's. It is. It doesn't. Australia.

[Seth Payne]

Australia.

[Sean Pendergast]

Australia basically treats these things with the respect they deserve is what it says. The reality. It looks like an oversized turkey. Reality is it's a six foot tall dinosaur with dagger like claws that can deliver powerful kicks.

[Seth Payne]

Mmm.

[Sean Pendergast]

Man. Cassowary. And then, and then Canadian geese apparently are Canada goose. Yeah. Canada. Yeah. Canada goose.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, Yeah, I know. I didn't know. I know. Your temptation is say Canadian goose. It's Canada goose.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's Canada goose.

[Seth Payne]

Canada goose. Well, those things have gotten like, they tried to repopulate those and now, and now they become. Used to be like, oh, wow, Geese.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

How majestic, how cool. Yeah. Now there's like 400 of them on your little league baseball field. And, and they're, they're kind of territorial.

[Podcast Announcer]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

Honor five honorable mentions. I'm going to rapid fire these to you. Tell me which one you would be most scared of. Honorable mentions, swans. Sea lions, Cape buffalo, wild boar, Seals.

[Seth Payne]

I'm terrified of all those seals would be the one that I'd be most guilty of. Like not addressing it, addressing it properly with the proper. I used to get chased around by a swan on my dad's farm. Our neighbor had a swan who was super nasty and I was terrified of that swan. I've known about them. They're pretty and all, but I'll ring its neck, I'll kill it dead. If you come anywhere near me with your swan, that thing is going home snapping that neck. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes. There's a video that surfaced this weekend of a couple of Sea lions chasing beachgoers in San Diego over sea lion

[Seth Payne]

would scare the crap. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And there's a ton of them in San Diego.

[Seth Payne]

I would be killed. Yeah. Of all those ones that you just listed, a seal would be the one where I'd be like, oh, I just want to see what it's like. I want to see what its fur feels like. It's all slick and everything.

[Sean Pendergast]

You pull out the beach ball and toss it to it like, aren't you supposed to balance this on your nose? Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Hey, are you the one that helps swimmers when they're drowning, or is that dolphins? Oh, you're drowning me yourself.

[Sean Pendergast]

Where's the dolphin?

[Seth Payne]

Dolphins are another one, though. The dolphins are a big one where people don't realize that they'll. They'll try to make love to you.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

They're not gonna kill you, but they're gonna love you. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. All right, coming up next, if you can pick one of these Texans supporting players on offense to take a leap in 20, 26, you get to pick one. I've got five names. I actually got six names. Which one would it be? That's coming up next.

[Sydney Sweeney]

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[Sean Pendergast]

and pender gast with you. Let's circle back to some Texans talk here. Appreciate everybody's text on the previous segment with the power rankings of animals that look docile and calm, but you don't want to approach in society out there.

[Seth Payne]

Sean and I haven't spent the break watching cassowary videos. Yeah, we're not, we're not going to be messing with no cassowary. No, no.

[Sean Pendergast]

These are vicious creatures. We'll read some of your texts in a minute. You can text in 713-57246 10. Seth I will credit Texans Texans Jacob with this question. And I linked the the wrong tweet in the rundown, just FYI. But he was, I'll paraphrase, Texans. Jacob basically said, hey, the Texans have, you know, they've got a marquee receiver. They, you know, they've, they've, they've done some good things to build some depth on the offensive side of the ball, but they're going to need, they're going to need some of these supporting players to take a leap here.

[Seth Payne]

And I'm guessing, I'm guessing he did. Part of this is like because now the ESPN unnamed executives and coaches, the top 10 positions or top 10 players at each position are coming out and then quite a few of these, lo and behold, as they've worked their way over to the offensive side of the ball. Don't feature any Texans.

[Sean Pendergast]

None.

[Seth Payne]

Interior offensive line, the running back, the offensive tackle Dalton Schultz got a few votes. He received votes yes or vote.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

We're not sure if it was vote or vote Right.

[Sport Clips Announcer 2]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

But he wasn't even at least he was listed.

[Seth Payne]

At least I could command f his name.

[Sean Pendergast]

Got to see his name. Yeah. Got to see his name. Yeah. So far, defensive side of the ball has been pretty good so far. You know, Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter,

[Seth Payne]

both in the top five deer they haven't gotten right. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

The Derek Stingley second among cornerbacks.

[Seth Payne]

Derek Stingley second among cornerbacks. And Kamari Lasseter was first among the honorable mention.

[Sean Pendergast]

Criminally underrated in my opinion. I think Kamari Lasseter is a top 10 cornerback in the NFL. And yeah, granted he's probably 11th on their list because he's first of the honorable mentions. But still, I think he's in the top 10 and I think he's better than some of the guys that are in their top 10. I digress. Back to the offensive side of the ball. So if you can pick one, he Texans. Jacob listed about. He listed a half dozen guys. One of them was CJ Stroud. Cause the question I'm going to ask you, Seth Shroud would be the obvious answer to this because he's the quarterback.

[Seth Payne]

Well, he says. He says supporting players.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So. Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So I'm going to leave Stroud. But Stroud was on his list, so I, you know, so I'm going to leave Stroud out for a second. But of these guys, non quarterbacks that if you could pick one to take the leap to where like lists that you're talking about, Maybe not top 10, but top 20 or 25 at their position, which I don't think any of these guys are right now, maybe necessarily. Yeah, Ursary might be, but whatever. If you could pick one of these guys to be in that having taken a leap conversation at the end of this coming season, who would it be out of these guys? Ariante Ursary, left tackle, wide receiver Jaden Higgins, wide receiver Jalen Noel, running back David Montgomery, right guard Ed Ingram. And I'm going to throw Keelan Rutledge in there just because I think he's going to have a role on this offensive line. I don't think we know what it's going to be yet necessarily, but I think he's going to have a role on this offensive line. Who would it be?

[Seth Payne]

This one's too easy. This one is very simply and easily David Montgomery because it's really like a three for one there. That would mean that. That would mean that Ariante Ursary and Ed Ingram were also playing really, really well. And so I wouldn't worry about whether they're top 10 or not. If without an improved offensive line, there's no way in hell David Montgomery is going to be in the top 10 next year.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

If the offensive line does improve, there's a. Then that's how it has to happen.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

So.

[Sean Pendergast]

So I think that's very efficient of you. Right?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Yeah. Bang for the buck.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So I'd be a good gm.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like I just got taken. I was going to flea market and the set guy came in and fleeced me.

[Seth Payne]

I think though, if I, if I had to choose one who I think based on youth and what it would have meant for the team.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I think for Jaden Higgins to be. To be on that list next year, then it's only going to happen if the Texans offense was pretty impressive. Yeah. That. That meant that look like. And let's say Nico's healthy and everything and that's the big thing because he.

[Sean Pendergast]

Because if Nico got hurt, Higgins is your number one all of a sudden.

[Seth Payne]

That's true. It's hard to make the. It's hard to make the list of top 10 receivers and be the number two guy on your team.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, but I would even say like just being in the article on there, like getting votes, you know, like. Like none of these guys would get votes right now for. For any of this stuff.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, just.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. He just wants them to be in the top 20 to 25.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. Right.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Jaden Higgins and Ariante Ursula, my two

[Sean Pendergast]

Irishry is the first one that came to mind for me. I almost though with Ursula it would be like I. But I need him to be like close to top 10. Like I need him to be like at the. At worst case, like in the honorable mentions of offensive tackles next year.

[Seth Payne]

That's true. I put Ariante Ursary as I think he's got the potential to be a really good left tackle. So it would almost be a little bit of. Okay, top 25 just means that he's, you know, average to below average almost.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, no, it's a good point. It's because you're right. My question is a little bit flawed because if Higgins is In the top 25 wide receiver conversation, that's a different thing altogether because you play three of them at the same time.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You only play one left tackle out there, you know.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, but they would. If you're. If you're saying left tackle or offensive tackle, then that opens it up to.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's true.

[Seth Payne]

64 starting offense.

[Sean Pendergast]

I like your Montgomery thought, though. I like your Montgomery thought a lot on that. You know, if he's floating around there, it means he had a pretty damn good season. And I don't think this is a. This is no disrespect to David Montgomery. I don't think this is a Joe Mixon situation where I think Joe Mixon almost on sheer will and his own skill set was able to get into that. I mean he was. Joe Mixon was the 58th best player in the top 100 last summer, running behind the Texans offensive line the year before.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Sean Pendergast]

The Monk Montgomery runs physically I don't know. He's got the same juice that Joe Mixon does.

[Seth Payne]

Right. So. And we saw that he's going to

[Sean Pendergast]

need help from his line to do that.

[Seth Payne]

Right. The Lions offensive line was not as typically stout as they had been last year, and that was one of the things that led to just a little bit of a drop off for him, I think. And that's what you hope. You hope it was more of the offensive line than him aging or anything like that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Sport Clips Announcer 2]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

Text weighing in now, someone said that. Ben, do you have that, that, that noise?

[Seth Payne]

Cassowary.

[Sean Pendergast]

A cassowary. Now, for those. I had never heard of a cassowary before you and I went through the power rankings of animals that look.

[Seth Payne]

Look like they might be able to pet them. Yeah, but don't. But don't.

[Sean Pendergast]

They're really violent because cassowary look like turkey. And I don't know, you'd walk up to a wild turkey, but they don't necessarily look like they would harm you.

[Seth Payne]

They look enough like an ostrich to me. And I know that you got to be careful with ostriches. You know, the ones at the petting zoos are all cool and everything, but ostriches can get pretty nasty.

[Sean Pendergast]

And they're big. Yes. And apparently cassowaries make a noise that is terrifying. Ben Gary, our producer, has found the noise. Here's what a cassowary sounds like. Dude. A horse. It's. I mean, it sounds like a monster from.

[Seth Payne]

Sounds like a dinosaur. It sounds like a movie dinosaur. I know they've used that. I bet they use that sound in science fiction movies to replicate.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

Alien dinosaurs.

[Sean Pendergast]

If you didn't. If you, like me, didn't know what a cassowary was, there's no way I

[Seth Payne]

would think it was a bird.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's no way.

[Seth Payne]

I think it was based on that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Based on that noise.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I didn't know what it was. Someone said it looks like a wild turkey, but then it stands up and it's got sharp claws and it can kick you.

[Seth Payne]

It's six foot tall.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's six foot tall.

[Seth Payne]

It can be six foot 170.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's. It's so.

[Seth Payne]

It can be Conor McGregor.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, but tougher.

[Seth Payne]

Look at how scary he is.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. With working limbs, it can kick you harder than Conor McGregor. So imagine a wild turkey all of a sudden standing up with this vicious look on its face and making this noise. Sounds like a science fiction movie.

[Seth Payne]

Screw that. Screw that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

No, no. And that's that. That whole damn continent and all of the Australia and New guinea and New Zealand down there. There's too many scary creatures.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, my God.

[Seth Payne]

And I didn't. Yeah, I didn't even really put cassowary on the one that. I tend to worry about the spiders and everything down there.

[Sport Clips Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This thing's a beast.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's a beast. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And it kicks you. Like, it shows you guys. You watch videos of him, like, doing it. Honestly, I'll go, like, successfully pulling off those kicks that Conor McGregor was trying to pull off, but with more power and ferocity.

[Sean Pendergast]

Someone said dolphins need to be on the list. You pointed that out at the very end.

[Seth Payne]

Dolphins. Okay, so this is. This is what will drive you crazy, Sean. One time in my life, I swam with the dolphins. It was awesome. Loved it. But they have to be very careful, and they select for the dolphins that do well around people.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Dolphins are hypersexual creatures. They want to hump everything. And they tell you very clearly, listen, don't pet down below, like, a certain portion of its torso, because we don't want to arouse these things.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But when you go swimming with the dolphins, half the people there are still drunk from the night before, or they started drinking rum. Drinks on the boat, ride over the dolphin place.

[Sean Pendergast]

Treat those instructions like a hungover person treats the airline instructions.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So there's this group of women, and they weren't even doing it, like, in a scandalous way. They just weren't paying attention. They were not listening to the people. And I'm watching them pet these dolphins, and I'm like, this. This thing's about to turn into a Ron Jeremy film. I got to get the hell out of here. I got. I'm staying the hell away from that dolphin there. No, I did the thing where they push you through the water and everything. Like, they. They put their noses on. They put their nose on your foot and push you through the water. You, like, rise up out of it like a Viking ship.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And this is when I weighed 310 pounds, you know, they were able to do that. Yeah. It's crazy.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, so they're strong creatures.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. None of them ever hit on me, though, and I felt a little bit

[Sean Pendergast]

left out, especially when they're that horny all the time.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Won't shut up about how horny these things are. And meanwhile, I don't even get a wink out of one.

[Unidentified Male 2]

Didn't want you.

[Sean Pendergast]

You were the ugly chick at the bar, man.

[Seth Payne]

That's why I lost all the weight when I was done.

[Sean Pendergast]

Dolphins wouldn't Hit on me.

[Seth Payne]

I don't want to be ignored the next time I go swim with the dolphins.

[Sean Pendergast]

Apparently, there's a seal in Cabo that'll follow boats all the way to the marina for food. He's attacked a few beachgoers this year. They named him Poncho.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, Poncho.

[Sean Pendergast]

Poncho the seal in Cabo, Apparently. Evidently.

[Seth Payne]

I mean, really, any animal, any wild animal, they all look cute.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I mean, for the most part, but you just know some of them look. Some of them look more approachable than. Than. Than you should look at them.

[Sean Pendergast]

Someone said kangaroos should be on the list. You don't see a lot of kangaroos just out and about, though.

[Seth Payne]

You know, I rarely see one in the U.S. yeah. Yeah. It's just driving down the road, trying

[Sean Pendergast]

to remember the last time.

[Seth Payne]

The last time I had to yell at my family, hey, get away from that kangaroo when we're at a rest area.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, right, right.

[Seth Payne]

Well, no, but kangaroos are like one of those things where, like, what are the animals? Okay. If you go to. You go to certain countries and, like, people are. People look at monkeys, like they're just a nuisance or a pest, you know? Whereas us, we look at monkeys, it's like, oh, my gosh. Holy crap, I saw a monkey. Yeah. And likewise with kangaroos in Australia, they're like, yeah, it's a fricking kangaroo. They're annoying. We see a kangaroo and we flip out.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So what are the animals in America that people freak out if they see? Like. Like, oh, my gosh, I can't see. Like, I can't believe I saw a deer.

[Sean Pendergast]

Tell you. I'll give you one now. The damn cassowary. After hearing that.

[Unidentified Male 2]

Damn.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, that. It makes.

[Seth Payne]

No, no, no. I'm saying an animal. That's an American animal that, like, people from other countries would say, like, oh, my gosh. Wow. The exotic. Whatever. The exotic Wild Turkey, probably.

[Sean Pendergast]

Probably the. Like the bison that. That. That threw that guy up in the air.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, moose.

[Seth Payne]

But see, bison are still kind of exceptions for most of us in the U.S. yeah. Because they're not out there. A moose, for sure.

[Sean Pendergast]

Deer, like, maybe deer. Deer.

[Seth Payne]

So deer.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like deer with the big antlers, you

[Seth Payne]

know, and then a lot of it.

[Sport Clips Announcer 2]

Well, deer.

[Seth Payne]

Even people that live in certain areas, like if you live in a city or in some suburbs where there's no deer at all.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

They go out. I know when people come out to the country, they're like, oh, my gosh, look at all these deer Dude. Meanwhile, if you live in the country, you're like, yeah, no freaking deer.

[Sean Pendergast]

The name.

[Seth Payne]

I can't keep them away from my garden.

[Sean Pendergast]

Can I just tell you, right, the neighborhood our Airbnb was in in Montana? Yeah, the. It was, you know, the houses are pretty spread out. The, you know, the, they were pretty spread out, but they all had nice front yards. There were deer every day. Just deer grazing in the front yards like they were cows. Not even scared of people. Like, it was like they were.

[Seth Payne]

No, no, I know.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So that's like, see, that's notable to you where a lot of people that live in the country, it's like, no deer are pain in the ass. I think there are, there's moose in Asia, I think.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, but they're so. Yeah, but somebody from like somebody that lives in like down near the equator, if they go up to Maine and they see a moose, yeah, that's a big deal.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, top of the hour. We'll circle back to the Terry and Arnold story. The Texans worked him out last week. The former Lions cornerback who's recently been accused of four felony kidnapping charges and four robbery charges. Texans kicked tires on him last week. I'm going to tell you, top of the hour. The one thing that annoyed me the most about him in the athletic story and has nothing to do with, with the robberies of the kidnapping. Tell you what, that is at 9 o'.

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[Sean Pendergast]

Up next, Justin Verlander, who I was surprised by this opinion given the location of this person. What cap should he be wearing going into the hall of Fame in five years? We got that for you. Coming up next.

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[Seth Payne]

for so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had.

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[Podcast Announcer]

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[Sean Pendergast]

in Pendergast with you on a on a Monday. Good to be back and appreciate all the texts rolling in about how did you frame the question? Seth?

[Seth Payne]

Animals that people who aren't from this continent. Yeah, People who aren't from North America or South America. Like what animals do they find most interesting that we might think are second nature.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Like so because we were talking about there's some places in Australia or like any country that has a lot of monkeys. The monkeys are no big deal to them. They're kind of a pest.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Where we see a monkey out in nature and we're like holy crap.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So it's. You know what, this is a good exercise in gratitude because one of the things that a lot of people are bringing up I'm on a Reddit thread of things animals that non Americans find interesting. Squirrels that you know, squirrels we don't think much of. We do think they're cute. I think a lot of people feed the squirrels and everything, but a lot of people from other countries see squirrels and they're just fascinated by them.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Where it's like for us it's just like the least. The least notable thing you could ever imagine.

[Sean Pendergast]

Totally.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Podcast Announcer]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

Does this one fit the question? Then we'll get to Justin Verlander here. People from Europe would be pretty impressed by an alligator just walking around in a neighborhood in Texas on a golf course or something.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that. You see that just. Yeah, I bet. I bet. Yeah. See? Well, yeah, even from I. Because I grew up. Up north, and then when I was in Florida seeing alligators and people not freaking out about it. Yeah, that. Yeah, that's. Or just. Or swimming in a lake.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Where, you know, there's a boatload of alligators.

[Sean Pendergast]

Little eyes popping up over the.

[Seth Payne]

Took me a while.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

It actually took me about three hours in the Florida sun before I was like, all right, I'm going. I don't care. I take my leg. I don't give a damn.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know what? I've seen guys wrestle alligators before, so just hummingbirds, too. Hummingbirds. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Hummingbirds are pretty incredible. Like, pretty miraculous. And, you know, and it's not like we take them for granted, but still, if you've never seen. And fireflies.

[Sean Pendergast]

Fireflies. Also, I didn't realize that there aren't

[Seth Payne]

fireflies all over the world.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, Northeast, there are. I remember seeing a lot of them growing up. Justin Verlander announced his retirement late last week. And just some general thoughts. Okay. First, I wanted. I laughed. Chandler Rome has a really good piece about what Justin Verlander meant to the Astros. And I think. And you. You said this too, Seth, and I agree with you. The first thing that pops into my head with Justin Verlander is I thought that the trade for Verlander was. That was like the first validation for the golden era of Astros baseball, that Justin Verlander. Justin Verlander waving his no trade clause with the team that he grew up with, that he won an MVP and a Cy Young with that he'd been with his whole career to go to a team that had never won a World Series before, and it just, you know, two, three years prior was one of the. Three years prior was one of the worst teams in baseball. That was the first validation I thought of the golden era, the Justin Verland Verlander saying yes to coming to Houston.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that was. And that was. Remember after Dallas Keiko had criticized sized management at the trade deadline, the. The first trade deadline for not doing anything.

[Sport Clips Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And they went out and they did it. Well, that's where Dallas. Dallas Keiko doesn't get enough credit for kind of openly complaining about and maybe putting pressure on the organization.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know what? Let's give Dallas Kaikal and acknowledge me. You're right. Because he. He did the. Reportedly, he kind of gave the sales job to. To Verlander to get him to waive his no trade clause. Also, he was a big part of the sales pitch.

[Seth Payne]

And I'm glad you pointed this out. There are parts of the Justin Verlander legend, though, that are. Yeah, they're a little bit. There's a collective memory about it that only pain in Pendergast has been able to correct.

[Sean Pendergast]

Unearth. Exactly. Maybe how non significant it was. Yeah. Chandler says this in his piece. Verlander's impassioned speech to Houston's dugout after exiting Game two of the World Series with his jersey off and his undershirt exposing his arms is remembered as one of the most seminal moments of that postseason run. End quote.

[Seth Payne]

That's what I used to think.

[Sean Pendergast]

Not by everybody.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

That response. That was Jose Altuve in an interview on Pain and Pendergast a couple years ago in response to Seth Payne, specifically

[Seth Payne]

asking him about that moment. Seminal moment. Seminal moment.

[Sean Pendergast]

That is remembered. Remembered as one of the most seminal moments of the postseason run. Seth Payne asked Jose Altuve, what do you remember about that?

[Seth Payne]

So I was so embarrassed after I asked that question. I feel better that Chandler's bringing this up now because I felt like when I asked him that, I felt like, am I in it? They're like, am I a complete idiot? That was a big deal. People talked about it and everything. I went back and watched it. Not a damn person was paying attention to Verlander.

[Sean Pendergast]

They're walking past him.

[Sydney Sweeney]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You ever driven past a median where there's just some psycho homeless person there just ranting and raving? Can you just drive by him? There were people.

[Seth Payne]

There were staffers just walking past Verlander like he wasn't even there. There was nobody, Nobody. Nobody in the shot looked like they even knew Verlander was there. But it got built up in people's minds. Like, like, like.

[Sport Clips Announcer 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

That was a moment. It rallied everybody. Yeah. L2. They didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Oh, my God.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey, real quick, let's get to this bit of audio, too. Justin Verlainer is going to. He'll crab walk into the hall of Fame. They'll walk in backwards in there like a.

[Seth Payne]

Like a drunk cassowary.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah. Making that noise. This was Rob Parker, who is from Detroit, and he was on mlb. He's a writer he's covered Detroit sports for a long time. He was on with Brian Kenny on MLB Network. I was a little surprised to say this is who he thinks. Verlanders. This is the hat Verlander should wear going into Cooperstown.

[Unidentified Male 2]

And you're saying he should go into the hall as a what, as a Houston Astro.

[Seth Payne]

And I say that being a guy who of course was a sports columnist at the Detroit News when he broke into the big leagues and covered a

[Sean Pendergast]

lot of his career up close.

[Seth Payne]

I was at the ballpark America all the time watching JV pitch.

[Sean Pendergast]

But you can't.

[Unidentified Male 2]

No, no, Rob, let me jump in. You take a toll. Yeah, you can. I mean it does. It's 14 years and seven years. Right. And he did voluminous work for Detroit. It's now like. Well, he was languishing and then he won titles with Houston. He was great for Detroit. Detroit was a powerhouse team. Didn't win a World Series. It's got. Here it is. What's happened. The era, the innings.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, it's got to take it down here, Ben, just for six. Let me just illustrate something here. The graphic that Brian Kenney calls for there. The only thing that's better about Detroit than Houston is the amount of time, the amount of innings he pitched. He was just there longer that that graphic also had his era, which was like a run better in Houston than it was in Detroit. And also the postseason accomplishments.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Two World Series championships, multiple ALCS's. Never won a World Series. Went to one World Series in Detroit and lost to an 83 win Cardinals team in 2006. I think you're 2000. Whatever it was. Yeah, like it was.

[Seth Payne]

If you take 20 years of my life and I spent 15 of them in prison. Ask me which five years were the like do I prefer to remember? Like, ah, I think, look, 15 years in prison did. They did shape me as a man, but I kind of. I prefer to, I prefer to be remembered for the five years I spent.

[Sean Pendergast]

Do you want to go into the hall of Fame in an Astros uniform form or a convict jumpsuit? Which is it gonna be? That wasn't that bad in Detroit. But, but I, I and I. And I think he's gonna go in as a Tiger. And I, and I, and I have no issue with it.

[Seth Payne]

And there's a little bit of like, there's the, the phrasing of it. Not to do too persnickety about this, but you don't go in as a member of a certain team. The, the, the, you know, you get listed with all of your teams that you played for and everything. But the question is whether the logo on the hat right there.

[Advertiser]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

And that's the big. The biggest thing is. Okay, so what's the logo? You. Blank cap.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

No single team. Best representative.

[Sean Pendergast]

I don't think he'll do that.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

The hall picks which cap you wear. The player does not. That's something I did not know the hall picks the cap you wear.

[Seth Payne]

I thought they. But they have the choice to not have a picture.

[Sean Pendergast]

That may very well be. But if you. But if you're gonna put something on the cap, I believe it's the hall that chooses the team that goes on there. So. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Do they choose Astros?

[Sean Pendergast]

Do we lobby for the Astros? Do we spend time on this, Seth. Do we bring a Hall of Fame person on the air and say, hey, man, here's the case for the Astros. That would be kind of cool if he went in with an Astros thing, I would think. Ty. I think the fact that he signed with the Tigers in his final year in baseball here is pretty indicative of what he would probably choose.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Verlander. Although I think he loved it here in Houston.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Since 2000. Okay. So blank caps. These are the players that have blank caps. Greg Maddox, Mike Messina, Roy Halliday, Fred McGriff. So it's not. It's. He might very well go with it.

[Sean Pendergast]

He may.

[Seth Payne]

Blank cap.

[Sean Pendergast]

He may. He may. All right, coming up next, the Texans worked out Terry and Arnold last week. Do. Are people surprised with this anymore? With the. The latitude the Texans have with the players that they'll look at here? And I will tell you the one thing in the article that listed all the things Terry and Arnold allegedly and his crew allegedly did on the night they committed allegedly all these crimes. The one that pissed me off the most had nothing to do with their crimes. Oh, I'll tell you what it is coming up next.

[Sydney Sweeney]

Hey, it's Sydney Sweeney. Sid for short. For summer. I'm in the mood for comfortable. What am I wearing? Where am I going? What's the vibe? The short answer, American Eagle shorts. They're cute and go with everything. They just work. It's Sid for short. An American Eagle for summer.

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[Advertiser]

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[Seth Payne]

I remember telling my boss it'll be

[Unidentified Male]

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[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it wasn't.

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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