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Bobby Bones
Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcasts. We got lots to say. We got lots to say? We're glad you're here and we hope you stay.
Matt Castle
Cause we got lots to say.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. So he's Matt Castle, I'm Bobby Barnes, and we're doing this PO question for you, Matt. We have known each other for about a month now. Obviously, I've known who you are.
Kurt Warner
Getting closer by the day.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, very much. Very much so. You're my best friend. Whenever the call was made to you, hey, you should do this podcast. Think, like, what did you even know about me? Or. And be completely honest, what did you know about me? And what did they tell you about me?
Kurt Warner
Okay, so I knew that you were a radio personality, but I'm not gonna lie, when I got the email along with, like, just kind of general introduction, they put your whole resume underneath.
Bobby Bones
Oh, they were selling me. Let's go.
Kurt Warner
Oh, so. So I sat there, I'm reading. I'm like, holy, that's God. Goodness.
Bobby Bones
All right.
Kurt Warner
So it was like, seller twice. Big bullet point, big bullet point. Big bullet point. Like all your viewers on social media and everything else. I was like, oh, this is pretty big deal right now. I was like, I don't know. I'm still trying to get over 30 on mine.
Bobby Bones
Right?
Kurt Warner
You're like, 3.4, I think, was the stat. And so I was like, well, I've been interested in doing a podcast in a long time. And then I was like, yeah, I mean, I've got nothing but time and lots to say.
Bobby Bones
Love it. And for me, it was because one of the guys at NFL, they were like, hey, come. Come on. And I went to the NFL headquarters and they were like, do this show. And I was like, I don't wanna do it without somebody that has credibility. Cause I have none. I just have big opinions and I'm kind of funny. And they're like, matt Castle. And I was like, oh, the guy. When Brady got hurt, he went in. Whatever happened to him?
Kurt Warner
That's exactly right. They didn't send my resume at all.
Bobby Bones
You're like, but they didn't need to with me. They had to, like, convince you. So, as you're hearing, this show is called Lots to say. We're gonna have guests from the world of entertainment and the world of football. Please subscribe if you don't mind. You might be our very first ever subscriber. You could be our number one. First subscriber, please check it out on YouTube. Matt Castle. Bobby Bones. This is lots to say. Terry Warner coming up in just a little bit. Hey, what are these guys thinking right now? They're going to the playoffs? If they've never been in the playoffs, what's the week like leading up to the first playoff game?
Kurt Warner
Well, you know that the intensity ratchets up and a whole nother level, right? Because, you know, you're really at that point in the season that you've been trending toward. And for some of these teams that got in, that had to win that last game, it's. It's exciting. You know that everything is about to come to a head right now, and the biggest thing for every player, and I think every organization, is to try to stay within your routine, not make it bigger than it is. Even though as a player, it's undoubtedly, you know that this is going to be the biggest game of the year. And, you know, if you win, you advance. If you lose, you're one and done. So there's a lot that goes into this week. The preparation, I don't want to say it changes. It's just. You don't want to leave any stone unturned. So you want the review, everything, the attention to detail that you have. You're super focused, and it's an exciting time. I mean, I think that the guys and players that sometimes don't play as well is because they make the moment bigger than what it really is. Because at the end of the day, you still have to go out and execute. You just know that your margin for error shrinks dramatically when you get to playoffs, because these are all great teams that are going out, and their. Their ultimate goal is to go to the Super Bowl.
Bobby Bones
In baseball, the wild card tends to do well in the post season because they're playing hot as the season's ending. Like, you're competing for that wildcard spot, right? So you're at the elite level, the best you've played all year for the most part, and that rolls into the postseason. How does that translate into football? Does it. The teams that just hold on or just crawl, like Denver, like, they had to win to get in. Like, would you rather be a Denver? And we'll take personnel out of it, but would you rather be a Denver who's playing hot right then, or a team like Buffalo? Now, they sat their guys and.
Kurt Warner
Right, they sat them and they got an extra week of rest. You know, it's interesting because I think the teams that excel in the Playoffs are the teams with momentum. And it comes down to the health of your team, right? It's the health of your team, the momentum that you've built. And if you get hot at the right time of year, which is if those teams even going back to 2007 Super bowl that I was in with the New England Patriots, we played the Giants, we played them the last game of the year, and both teams played all their starters. It was a heck of a game. I think we ended up winning 38, 35, something like that. But they crawled into the playoffs, but then they got hot and they went all the way to the Super Bowl. We met them back in the super bowl four, four weeks later, and they ended up beating us. So it's all about, can you build on that momentum? And then that confidence comes by winning one game, winning two games. And if you get hot at the end, become a streaky team. I mean, the sky's the limit.
Bobby Bones
Was that Super Bowl, Andy?
Kurt Warner
That super bowl was in Arizona. And gosh, I can't believe they won that game. I mean, Eli throws that ball late in the game.
Bobby Bones
Is that the David Tyreek that.
Kurt Warner
Yeah, on top of the head. Rodney Harrison, basically, Eli was in the clutch. He throws up a Hail Mary in the middle of field. David Tyree catches the ball. Rodney Harrison's right there, like the all time great safety, catches it on top of his head for. I think it was like a third and 15 conversion. Maybe it was fourth down. And then they go down, throw a slant, go to Plexico Burris on that drive, take the lead. And we never were able to recapture. We had like a less than two minutes to go down the field and they were able to close it out. It was. It was devastating considering where we were at in the year 17 and oh, going in. Or 18 and oh, going in. That. That sucks. Oh, that sucked.
Bobby Bones
Does that one hurt to think about?
Kurt Warner
It does. Just because of the historical value of that game and what it meant if you win that game, you're the best team of all time. And instead we had to go back and lick our wounds. And we had the greatest afterparty planned. And we still went to the after party like Snoop Dogg was there. Earth, Wind and Fire. I think Rihanna was there. Then we had. Who was it? Lionel Richie's in the other room playing just privately for parents and families and stuff like that. And I'm sitting there and I was the backup quarterback, so I didn't play. And I was devastated by the loss, but I enjoyed myself that night. Still because it was an incredible season. But imagine if we would have won, how much fun it would have been.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I don't know if I would be able to go out. Is the pressure because your family's with you 100%.
Kurt Warner
You've got so many people at the house.
Bobby Bones
I think I'd be so sick that I wouldn't even want to go out and have a good time.
Kurt Warner
And people were sick. You're sick to your stomach because you're a minute and 20 seconds away from winning the super bowl and completing a perfect season. And to go through that season and we dominate early on, but then we had some adversity late in the year where we overcame some games. We beat Baltimore on a last second play. I mean, it was an incredible season all around. And then to go get to the super bowl and be at the cusp of greatness and not be able to complete the season, it's. It's stung.
Bobby Bones
What about you playing in the playoffs? You have, you want Kansas City a.
Kurt Warner
Year, Kansas City a year, Kansas City year. We played Baltimore in the first round and unfortunately Baltimore beat us pretty, pretty badly. I mean, it was, it was close in the first half, I think it was. We might have even gone in with a tie ball game in the second half. It got away from us.
Bobby Bones
But that week leading up to it, intense. Like a different kind of intensity.
Kurt Warner
It's a different type of intensity. You also, you know, you're going up against Baltimore and Baltimore always. I was never really intimidated by players. You're intimidated by units because you know it takes your best every single play, every single quarter to. To overcome and beat a team like that. And the caliber of players that they had with Suggs and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, they just had players across the board. And so, you know, it's going to be a grind, you know, it's going to be a challenge. And like I said, a small mistake here or there that makes all the difference in the world. And that's what happened in the second half. I think I threw an interception. I tried to fit a ball in there. Ray Lewis, of course, with his big eyes, I thought he was going this way. He came back and baited me and intercepted the ball. But. And then when that game ends, it's just, you know, you've got a really good team and you got to that point, but it abruptly ends and it's over. And you're just sitting there going, what could have we done different? And you're always second guessing decisions that you made or plays that you want back. And it's. It's a tough pill to swallow because now you have all off season to kind of chew on that and try to reevaluate. How do we get better for next season?
Bobby Bones
Let's take game film out of the equation as far as looking ahead. And I've. Wait, I'm not gonna announce it yet, but I have a comedy specialist coming out on a TV network, which is very exciting. We just.
Kurt Warner
Heck, yeah.
Bobby Bones
Haven't signed. Signed it. But have signed it. But I can't watch it back, right? I don't need to watch it back because I don't need to improve because I'm on the road right now. So I'm asking about a playoff game that you don't need to improve from. Do you watch the tape back?
Kurt Warner
Honestly, no, I do not go back and watch that game because it hurts too much now. It might take some time. I might do it five months down the road, but once that game was over, it was like, it's too hard to go back and evaluate it right away because normally you're used to coming in after every game, good, bad or indifferent, and coming in and evaluating, and you get the grade sheet. How'd you do? And sometimes you grade out really well. Other times, you know, you're sitting there and second guessing what your coach really wrote down as a negative. You're like, wait, this is why I did it. But you don't have any of that after the playoff games. You literally come in, there's no forward momentum, right? There's nowhere to go. There's nowhere to go. And you know that next year's team is going to be completely different than this year's team. Coaches are going to change, players are going to change, and so it's going to be different. So you don't reevaluate that game. It's just kind of. You wrap a bow on it. You have your individual meetings with your coaches, with the head coach. You know, the only time that you really go in and talk to the head coach and maybe some of the other personnel guys is if you're going to be a free agent, they want you back and they're still doing contract negotiations and that is what it is. But it's really saying goodbye to all your buddies and. And then all of a sudden you're cleaning out your locker and the next thing you know, you're figuring out what you're doing for the off season.
Bobby Bones
This is going to be a weird question, but whenever we would wrap a season of like My adventure show, Breaking Bobby Bones or American Idol or whatever, you get people gifts, right? Because it's like the last time you probably talked to them a little more, see them, you give them a little gift. When I finished Dancing with the Stars, I gave Sharna like a ipod or phone or something.
Kurt Warner
Let's be honest. You gave her a new car, you guys won.
Bobby Bones
Yeah. No new car, but I remember. Yeah, we got, we got each other nice gifts, but we didn't get the money then. I don't think, think about Dancing with the Stars. It's, I think end up making like $400,000 from that show. That's outstanding because I won though. Because. Oh yeah, week one is 10,000. Everybody gets it. Everybody goes to week two. Okay, that's 10,000 and then it gets to 25,000. If you last 25,000 and then like the last two or three are 50, 50, 50. So.
Kurt Warner
Oh, there's major incentive there. No wonder why.
Bobby Bones
Absolutely.
Kurt Warner
Got a torn labrum. You're like shooting up every. You're like, look, I did.
Bobby Bones
There's a little bit of money, but yes, the money. But we didn't get it right then though. But I guess my point is we bought each other gifts because we might not see each other again. Does that happen at all on a team at the end of the year, do you walk around and give the little gifts to your buddies?
Kurt Warner
Well, season's still ongoing and at the end of the year you've got Christmas. So as a quarterback.
Bobby Bones
Oh yeah.
Kurt Warner
Like the quarterbacks now, I heard, are just absurd with what they're getting. The offensive linemen or some of the primetime running backs, what they get guys, Rolexes, cars.
Bobby Bones
I mean, Purdy did the trucks, but that was a commercial.
Kurt Warner
Right, but still.
Matt Castle
But you got.
Bobby Bones
I agree, but your boys.
Kurt Warner
Trucks.
Bobby Bones
Even like, even like the iced out chains.
Kurt Warner
Yeah.
Bobby Bones
That's freaking crazy. You get all the guys. I.
Kurt Warner
Absurd.
Bobby Bones
What did you have to do? Do that?
Kurt Warner
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean I got big, big screen televisions one year. I got iPads one year sucks.
Bobby Bones
We.
Kurt Warner
Well, that's the other thing is you gotta evaluate. No, you can't like get em a.
Bobby Bones
Little small black and white.
Kurt Warner
Hey guys, it didn't go so well this year. I got sacked 35 times.
Bobby Bones
No, what about backup lineman? Do you have to get. Do you have to get everybody?
Kurt Warner
Anybody that is on that team as a quarterback, you're obligated to. And I still apologize to the lineman for the Patriots because the year I took over for Brady, like, I wasn't used to or accustomed to getting any of these gifts. I didn't really know the lay of the land. So all of a sudden, season ended and I was like, I got traded to Kansas City and I never got my boys at the Patriots any gifts. And so they still, this day, they're like, you're the cheapest son of a bitch I've ever been around. I'm like, I agree with you. I apologize. They're still coming. But I had so much respect for those guys. At the end of the day, though, you will hear it because it's something that is expected. You like that Regardless of whether or not you had a successful year at the offensive line or they blocked really well or great. It's just. It's what you do in the NFL.
Bobby Bones
I liked Burrow and the swords. Yeah, they wanted guns and Burrow got him swords. Like with all with an individual story. Thought that was kind of cool. Jared Goff did all the stakes, did the wagyu with the big yeti ice chest, I believe. And people were giving them crap because they said, well, you can't give him a truck. But again, Brock Purdy makes, relatively speaking, no money compared to other starting name quarterbacks. It's a lot of money in general, but we're talking just with his peers. Starting quarterback doesn't even make a million bucks a year. So they were like, how did he buy Toyota Tundras for his whole life? And it turns out it was part of a commercial. But you're right, like, there is an expectation.
Kurt Warner
There's an expectation.
Bobby Bones
Like my staff expect me to give them a massive gift every Christmas. And it got. The expectation got so big, I stopped getting any gift for anybody.
Kurt Warner
Well, there's. It's a lot of pressure. Well, it's a stupid expectation and it's absurd.
Bobby Bones
So I will one off them things privately, but I don't do the whole, I got everybody this.
Kurt Warner
I got all you guys the greatest gift you'll ever imagine because every year it just gets bigger and bigger.
Bobby Bones
It ends up being you have to beat yourself the last year as well. Yeah, but again, you were the. You were the star neighbor. You were the backup. So I don't feel like that should be the same on you. Like Brady should have still got the guys the gift.
Kurt Warner
But that year I started every. I mean, other.
Bobby Bones
Not every. The first game.
Kurt Warner
First game. And I didn't even get credit for that one. He got credit for that win. It was 00 when I went in the game.
Bobby Bones
Wait, you didn't get the win because.
Kurt Warner
He started that's how it works in the NFL. If you start and play one snap, the first step, the first snap, even though you might get hurt on that snap, and then the other guy comes in and they win the ball game, he gets the credit.
Bobby Bones
You would think it would be a snap, a snack. Because in baseball, if you start, you've got to go five innings, right?
Kurt Warner
To me, if it's 00, it's the.
Bobby Bones
Quarterback that played the most.
Kurt Warner
It's the quarterback that played the most or scored the most points for the team in order to win.
Bobby Bones
When you get the rulebook, we need to go. Yeah, let's go to Capitol Hill.
Kurt Warner
Brady. I want my win back.
Bobby Bones
Let's go. All right, Coming up, Kurt Warner. We'll talk to him. Do you know Kurt?
Kurt Warner
I do, I do. I played in his charity event before. Great, great event. Flag football event. I've known him for a long time. He's an incredible person.
Bobby Bones
Never met him. I'm excited. Kurt Warner coming up here in second.
Matt Castle
Playoffs.
Unknown
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Matt Castle
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Bobby Bones
We're about to talk with hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Kurt is known for having a great redemption story. Undrafted player, hall of Fame, one of the best analysts in the game. You can watch him every Sunday on NFL game day morning at 9am Eastern on NFL Network. A big thanks to Kurt for coming on. I know this is your boy, so I'll let you guys. All the athletes. This is going to be what I just have to just deal with. The athletes are your people, right? And. And. But then the artists are your people. I know. It's not even that. It's just I. I'm just jealous. I just want to always want to be part of the cool athlete club, and I'm not that. And I just get reminded of how I used to get stuck in the locker.
Kurt Warner
No, but, but, but you are.
Bobby Bones
You stuck me in a locker many years ago in a different time.
Kurt Warner
Do something like that. I was always a good teammate.
Bobby Bones
Kurt. I'm talking about the bully. And just in general, I wasn't on the team. Just shove me. Kurt Warner, here he is. We love this guy.
Kurt Warner
Kurt, what's up, buddy?
Matt Castle
How you doing, man? What's going on?
Kurt Warner
Life, man. Life is great. Got the five kids rocking and rolling. Doing the college football thing. I did that this year with NBC. But all in all, man, can't complain. Just getting through those holiday seasons, as you well know, with all these. All these kids and then family coming into town, it was just chaotic. It's kind of nice to get back into a normal routine and setting.
Matt Castle
Gosh, it makes. Makes it fun, though. You got kids, little ones. Makes everything worthwhile. So that's awesome. Well, good. I'm glad you're doing well. It's good to see you.
Kurt Warner
Yeah, it's great to see you, too.
Bobby Bones
But how do you guys know each other?
Kurt Warner
Gosh, we've known each other for a long time.
Bobby Bones
We competed against the secret fraternity of quarterbacks.
Kurt Warner
Secret fraternity. We compete against each other. And then in addition to that.
Matt Castle
Yeah, I just think when you're both playing and then obviously me covering the league for so long that we've crossed past a million times that, yeah, he woke me up in New England one year, which is one game that I'd like to forget.
Kurt Warner
I wasn't playing.
Matt Castle
If I could forget one game in my. My NFL career, that would be the one I'd want to forget.
Kurt Warner
So I think it was the perfect storm. Literally the perfect storm. Because they come up to New England that year. It was late in the year and it is a full snowstorm. I mean, the entire. The entire field, you couldn't even see anything. And it was freezing cold. And it was just. The elements worked in our favor and we got on a roll early. I mean, I threw a few slip screens is all I had to do really, in that game. Next thing I know, Randy 80 because.
Matt Castle
We did absolutely nothing. So it was awful. But you're right, you know, coming from Arizona, we roll in, in that snowstorm and we're just like, what are we doing? And, you know, we didn't know. We didn't know all about the Vaseline and putting stuff on your shoe, like we're sliding all over. And this is awful. This was awful. But yeah, it was a beat down. So he's always etched in my mind in my career in that one game that, that I'd love to give back if I could.
Bobby Bones
We were talking a few minutes ago about quarterbacks in Christmas, and Matt was talking about how he kind of screwed over his linemen whenever he went in for Brady because he, we got, you know, he left, didn't get him gifts. But we started going through all the gifts this year. What was that culture like for quarterbacks whenever you were playing, did you have to buy them crazy gifts?
Matt Castle
Well, I mean, we bought them gifts, but like, you know, we didn't make $50 million a year. Like, I mean, we still, we still make good money, but we didn't make $50 million. I mean, guys are getting cars and like, it's, it's ridiculous. Like, you know, I gave away some big screen TVs to my guys, which was a big deal back then, like portable DVD players, you know, those things that were kind of in style again, that was a long time ago for me. But yeah, so we gave them gifts. But like, this is ridiculous, you know, because now they reflect back on it, like, hey, what did you give us? And it's like unfair for us.
Kurt Warner
Matt, I agree with you. I mean, it's gotten so out of control. And now all the linemen that we play with, I almost look at them around that Christmas time when I talk to all my buddies and stuff. I'm like, I'm, I'm sorry. Like, I didn't know that it was going to get to this stage. I mean, it's gotten out of hand.
Matt Castle
Well, and the other thing is, is linemen now make more than we made as quarterbacks. Then like, the linemen are making ridiculous. Like, it's ridiculous. I don't know why we, we have to buy them gifts. As much as I love them and as much as I appreciate them, it's like, and everybody makes great money now.
Bobby Bones
I don't, I don't know who's trending up hardest right now, not who's the best going into the playoffs. Who's trending up the hardest?
Matt Castle
You're saying a team as a whole.
Bobby Bones
Yes, as a whole.
Matt Castle
And that is a, that's a good question. I don't know if we have that one team that's just kind of running and necessarily hit their stride because a couple of these teams I think took a little step back. But I'm still going to say the Lions are like after that big win on Sunday night where I think a lot of people had questions and all the injuries and they dominated another 14 win team going into the playoffs, I would have to say that they're, they're trending up. Right. We've got the Eagles that have some questions because their quarterback hasn't played in a couple of weeks. You got Minnesota that obviously just took a big loss there. You know, the other teams in the NFC you don't really, you're not really excited about. And I look at the AFC and I just think it's so much about matchups. Like I could see the Bills beating the Chiefs, but the Ravens beating the Bills. And I, I don't know, it's going to be fun to see how that plays out and who wins and who loses and what the matchups are over there. But I think that big win for the Lions and to finish the season with just two losses with all the things that have gone wrong, I would probably say they're the one team that, that continues to trend up for me.
Kurt Warner
Now in the afc you obviously have the Chiefs and they're going for their three peat right now and they've definitely got some concerns obviously at the left tackle position, the health of some of their guys. Patrick Mahomes, has he played well at times this year, but not the dominant nature that we've been necessarily accustomed to of watching him. But at the Same time they're 15 and 2 and they didn't even play last week. Do you think that this is another season in which they get to the playoffs and they're the team to beat in the AFC just, just to see the landscape and how it's gone this season for them and a lot of close wins, but at the same time they haven't had the dominant, they haven't played at the dominant way in which they were kind of used to seeing.
Matt Castle
Yeah, I still think you have to say that the team to beat because they continue to find ways to win. And then the other thing I would say is that, and even I just mentioned the Lions as maybe the team trending up. I thought the Chiefs, the last game that they played with all their guys a couple of weeks ago, was the best I had seen them play all year long. And so, you know, you just wonder because they're one of those teams that always seems to kind of hit their stride at the end of the year and into the playoffs. So home field advantage by really only one loss on the season and playing their best football at the end of the year, I do think they're still the team to beat. Do I believe they can be beaten? Of course I do. I think there's a couple teams on the AFC side that I just mentioned with, you know, with Baltimore and, you know, and also with the Bills that definitely could beat the Chiefs. So I don't think this is a lock by any means, but I do think they're still the team to beat.
Bobby Bones
The Chargers, being in the same division as the Chiefs, they've played twice already. That could end up being a matchup, obviously before the AFC Championship game. Like a guy like Harbaugh, third game, like, does it give them a bit of an advantage, like going time number three, he knows his team, his personnel a little more.
Matt Castle
I just think, you know, because again, you look at the way teams are playing, both the Chiefs and the Chargers, and both of them really play kind of low scoring, muddle it up type of games. And it's really going to come down, I think in the AFC a lot of times to who makes that drive down the stretch, who makes that play down the stretch to win a game. I'm not sure I'm believing that the Chiefs, even though they're the team to beat, are going to blow out anybody. I still think they're going to be in a bunch of close games now. They've been better in those moments than anybody else, so. So you give them the edge. But I think it's really going to come down to in a lot of those games, Chargers, Chiefs, if they played, I believe it would be a one possession game. And which team makes those plays either side of the ball down the stretch to win the game will win the game. I just, I think it's going to be that way in a lot of games on the, the AFC side, especially where the Chiefs are involved. It just happens to be that they're so much better in those moments than everybody else. But you know, I sit here like, I think a lot of the pundits out there or fans that have watched it look at the Chiefs and say, can they sustain these one possession wins through the playoffs against, like, can they keep doing that? You just almost Feel like it's got to catch up to them where there's just one game where it's close and Patrick doesn't make the play or, you know, they don't block the kick or the defense doesn't like, you just feel like that will catch up to them, but they've just been better at it than anybody else, so. So you lean in their direction.
Kurt Warner
Kurt, you've been in both situations where you've had the first round by been the number one seed, and at the same time, you've been a team that has had to play in the wild card round. Talk to us a little bit about the mentality of you're playing well at the end of the season, you get in it as a wild card team and all of a sudden you catch fire in the momentum. And the advantage of that versus obviously there's an advantage to having that extra week, to have that week off to rest your body, have that extra week of preparation. But talk to us about that team and the mentality of the wild card teams coming in and if they can build that momentum and what the importance is for teams like that and for them to go deep into the playoffs.
Matt Castle
I believe the mentality is built off of where you are, Matt. Yeah, you know this, like, if you're the team getting the buy, your mentality is, yeah, we've earned this. We get to buy. Everybody else has to play. They're going to beat each other up. We don't have to play as many games. This is awesome. And then if you don't get the buy but you're playing really well, the mentality is locked. Like, we're playing great. Let's just get out on the field. We're going to beat everybody that we play. And so that becomes so important is the mentality that goes into making that run. And, you know, in good teams or teams that are playing well can build that mentality however they want to build that mentality. And so that's exactly what we did. No matter, you know, which team I was on or what situation we were in, we would always try to, you know, change the narrative to, oh, we don't want to buy. Like, we don't want to buy. We're playing great. We don't want anything to slow down the momentum that we had. Let's just go make a run. And then obviously, on the other side, like, we earn the buy. We're going to be sitting back, we're chilling. Everybody's getting beat up and has to play an extra game and travel on the road. So, you know, so much of this game is as much mental as it is physical, and convincing yourself that your situation is the best situation, you know, whether that's, you know, seating who we have to play, like, you know, I'm sure there's, you know, I'm trying to think right off top of my head that are playing against the Texans, right? The Texans aren't playing very well, so I think it's the Chargers, right?
Kurt Warner
Yep.
Matt Castle
So the Chargers are like, okay, I know we're a wild card team, but, hey, we got the best matchup in the first round of the playoffs because we're playing against the team that's, you know, been kind of limping down the stretch. So it's just part of the nature of us athletes is, okay, where do we. Where can we create that narrative that fits what we're trying to do? And we're just going to. We're going to pound that narrative because that's going to be the reason that we make a run.
Bobby Bones
Talk about the human nature part of this. Like Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator with the Lions, who's, you know, didn't head coach last year, he said, I want to stay. I believe in the offense, so I'm going to stay with Detroit. Great decision. He's killing it. He's going to have whatever job, probably he wants. However, these jobs are open right now. They're interviewing right now. He's not interviewing because he's. But still, you're a human, and it's like, that's got to be on your mind as well as you enter. And I looked a few minutes ago. The Lions are favored to win the Super Bowl. They're the number one team right now as far as, like, the odds. Like, that's the human part of that's got to be difficult for somebody, right?
Matt Castle
I. I would. I would think so. Like, I. I don't really know. You know, especially when, you know, you are. We use Ben Johnson as that example is like, you've never been a head coach, so this is like your moment, your opportunity. You. You got to be ready for these interviews. You've got to be thinking, like, okay, if the season's over and I get one of these jobs, like, who's going to be on my staff? Who am I going to take? Like, yeah. And then all of that while whatever your normal schedule is to prepare and create and build a game plan. I mean, yeah, I don't know. I don't know how you balance it. I mean, you know, we always said as players Too. Like, you know, family was kind of that other side of it. So we talked about Ben Johnson, like, head coaching spot and his current. Like, for us it was. Or for me, it was the family. Like, okay, so this is the amount of time I'm going to spend, you know, preparing for football, and then I need to shut that off and try to, you know, be a. A dad or a husband or. Or focus on family over here. And it was really hard to do, you know, it was hard to, you know, for those things not to get all mixed together. And me thinking about football when I should be at home, or me thinking about, you know, family and something that was going on when I should be at football and. And balancing that out. So I would have to think that would be a huge. I mean, I don't think you can, you know, if. If somebody's calling me today and going to do a, you know, head coaching energy interview with me today while we're getting ready for a playoff game a week and a half from now. Yeah, I mean, I think you're fully focused on, okay, how do I get this head coaching job? You know, what do I need to do and how do I have everything in place? And your current team has to take a little bit of a backseat in that regard. So figuring out that balance, I think, has to be key. But I think you're 100% right. Human nature is going to say, okay, I'm going to lean towards, you know, I'm going to have to lean into both of them and probably take some. Some time away from, you know, the current task at hand for the future task at hand.
Kurt Warner
You played in a lot of these playoff games, and we are having this discussion before, but he. Bobby was asking me, how does it change going into playoffs, like, your mentality, and you know that the intensity goes up tenfold. But were you one of those players that had a specific routine and tried to stick to that routine, not make it bigger than it was? Were you also one of those quarterbacks? Look, I hated that feeling I used to get before the game. I always got those knots in my stomach. Oh, would overanalyze, do all those. But once you got out on the field, you get hit for the first time and you start to process and you go, hey, this is just football. I got to be reactionary, rely on my preparation, what I need to do. But what type of mentality do you have going into these type of weeks?
Matt Castle
Yeah, playoffs was different. And so I was one of those guys that was really good at focusing and so my kids still joke to this day, like, you know, even if I'm. If I'm sending you a text, Matt, and my kids are in the room with me and they're like, dad, dad, Dad. I don't hear them because, like, I'm focused on what I'm trying to say to you in the text, and I just tune out all the other noise. And they're like, dad, we're trying to get your attention. Like, you're. All you're doing is texting. But I had an uncanny ability to. To focus, which obviously a lot of guys at our level, and especially playing quarterback with 70,000 people, you know, have that ability to focus. But during, you know, the normal week, it would come about 3:34 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, and my wife would be like, all right, he's in the zone. Go to the hotel, go to your room. Like, no reason for you to be around anymore because you're a different guy. When I got into the playoffs, it was always like, I had to tell my wife, okay, honey, I know in the past you've given me 24 hours, 48 hours. Now I need four weeks. Like, I'm not going to be a good dad. I'm not going to be a good husband. I am locking in for the next four weeks, and it's going to be all football, and it's all focused on trying to win a championship, and then we can celebrate and go on trips and do that afterwards. But it was. It was really that kind of change for me, Matt, where it was like I could never get it off my mind and I didn't really want to. Like, I didn't want to separate it at that point. Like, I knew it was all about the regular season's great, but the regular season was just setting me up to have a chance to win it all. So once we got into the playoffs, that was it. Like, everything else is gone. Everything else is pushed out. I'm sorry, but this is my focus. And you know, and just like we were talking about, you know, the split focus and bound, I wasn't even looking to balance anymore. My mindset was, okay, we're playing Sunday. I am not taking a minute off in terms of my preparation so I can be the best that I can be on Sunday. And, you know, obviously my mindset was, I want to do it for four weeks because it's going to end up by us being in the super bowl and hopefully winning it.
Bobby Bones
I want to talk about the Steelers for a second because it feels like they are always one like. Like the halfway house of. Of winning. They don't lose enough. Because in the NBA, if you're. If you're mid in the NBA, you do not get a top draft pick. You do not get better. If you're.
Matt Castle
You.
Bobby Bones
If you're winning.500, you're just going to stay. You almost have to bomb out to get way better. The Steelers never do that. They always. Tomlin has a winning record every year. And so here they are again, not playing well now, but they're in the playoffs. But do. Do they need to lose and get a top pick in order to move forward? Because I feel like they're in the same spot every year.
Matt Castle
Yeah, I mean, right now for the Steelers, they need to find a quarterback like that. That's just the nature of our business anymore. Like, you either have one or you don't in terms of having one that you believe can win a championship or you don't. And if you don't have one of those guys, it's going to be a struggle week in and week out, and it's going to be a struggle come playoff time. And so, you know, when Big Ben was there, they were always competitive and they always had a chance to win in the playoffs. And, you know, and since Big Ben, they just haven't had that guy. I still think, you know, I still think they're a couple pieces away, but I think they have a good football team. Like, if you took Patrick Mahomes and put him on this team, I think we'd be looking at this team completely differently. And I think we'd say this team has a chance to win a championship. You know, you put Josh Allen on this team with, with that defense and that run game and a couple of the playmakers on the outside, Lamar Jackson. So I don't think it's a huge overhaul for them. I think they need to add some pieces on the outside. They're still players. But I think as much as anything, I look at this league every year, I look at the playoffs every year, and I say, who's got a chance to win a championship? Who's got a chance to win in the playoffs? And it's all based around having a guy at that position that is different and, you know, can be different in a lot of different ways, but that's different than everybody else. And I think that's more than anything else what, what the Steelers are missing right now.
Bobby Bones
But to get a quarterback, especially even like this year, a shitter or a Cam Ward, who's going to go 1, 2, 3 and 2 of those top three spots. Last year you saw like to get one of those top picks you've either got to trade something valuable or suck. And it's they, they have a lot of great players but like you said, they cannot find that quarterback.
Matt Castle
Well, I mean I know that's how we look at it in the big picture and that may be the case this year. But let's also look at Bonix. You know, Bo Nixon's got his team in the playoffs and he was a mid range pick. Lamar Jackson was the 31st pick in the first round and we know what Lamar Jackson has been. And so I don't think there's, you know, I don't think it has to be a top pick. You know, I just think again the landscape is different, you know, around the NFL or in the draft every single year. But you've got to find one of those guys. I mean maybe it's going out and maybe it's Sam Darnold, you know, again, I don't know. He's had one great year. I don't know if that's going to be Sam the rest of his career, but maybe that's the guy. You know, obviously they went out and got a couple quarterbacks this year in hopes that one of them was the guy but, but that's not the case. So I just don't think there's only one way to play it. You know, maybe Sam Darnold stays in Minnesota and maybe Pittsburgh goes and gets J.J. mcCarthy and maybe that's the guy that they find a way to build around. So yeah, when you're in the middle or end of the first round, you probably have to be a little bit more creative or a little bit more convicted or dive in a little bit deeper to, to finding a guy that maybe isn't the top pick in the draft, you know, but you know, Matt and I might be able to sit here and tell you like there's some of those guys out there you don't.
Kurt Warner
Need to be, I mean you don't.
Matt Castle
Need to be that were drafted in the top five. So you know, so I think there's other ways to do it.
Kurt Warner
I mean when you look at this rookie class, you got two rookie quarterbacks playing obviously in the playoffs with Bo Nix and then you got Jaden Daniels who's having a phenomenal year. But then you look at some of these other quarterbacks that were drafted in this first round. Pennix played late, obviously Drake may went through his struggles. But how Much of the success of these young quarterbacks coming into the league because, you know, not always the college offensive scheme correlates to the NFL. And I've heard you say it before, like, it's hard to watch film sometimes on these guys and see how it's going to translate to the next level. How much of it is system fit, in your opinion?
Matt Castle
I think most of it is system fit, but I think the problem, Matt, is that we don't always know what the perfect system fit is for a quarterback.
Kurt Warner
Right.
Matt Castle
Until we see it, you know, so, like, C.J. stroud was a great example to me. Like, I thought CJ Was really good at Ohio State. I didn't know. I thought he could be transcendent based on what I saw at Ohio State because of the way in the nature of how they played the game and, you know, throwing the ball down the field more and doing some that, you know, big passing game. And then his first year in Houston, and they were asking him to read and get the ball out and throw it quick and, and do all this intermediate stuff. And I was like, oh my gosh, this. This guy's way better than I thought. He, like, I didn't know he had all this in him, but I didn't know because he didn't get a chance to show it to us. I think Drake May was the guy for me this year that, you know, coming out of last year, you know, I didn't like his footwork and, you know, I thought he was kind of all over sometimes on the reads and, you know, so I really didn't know how he was going to translate to the NFL. I saw some of that stuff in preseason, but when he actually became the starter, he played really, really good football in terms of consistent with his throws, that his eyes were in the right spot most of the time in terms of making reads and, and getting there on time and. And I was kind of blown away with what I saw in New England and they had a lot of limitations around him, but I thought he played really, really well this year. If you're just looking at the quarterback position and what you want your quarterback to be seeing and when you want him to be throwing it in and the decision making that he had, I thought he was really good. And it wasn't what I saw, you know, specifically last year. You know, it was a little bit better the year before in college, but last year in college it wasn't what I saw, so I didn't really know. And then I guess we could use a jaden Daniels, who. This is exactly who he was in college. You know, like, you know, if you're taking a guy and said, okay, this is exactly what I saw, and then you place it and you're like, oh, my gosh, it's the same guy. And he's in a system that seems very similar, but he's doing all of those things. Which is the other question that you always fight with as an analyst or probably as a coach, is like, okay, he's really good in college, but, you know, he can't be the same guy in the NFL, can he? Like, you know, because it's different. He looks like exactly the same guy. So the guy that won the Heisman last year, that was the best player in college football, is the best rookie quarterback and, you know, is one of the top quarterbacks in the league. And it's because he's doing the exact same things that he did. And it's obviously why it's such an inexact science, is because you don't know if what we're seeing in college is the best that they've got. You don't know if the system fits them. You don't know how it's going to translate. And sure enough, we've got a bunch of guys that have played really, really well in the pros, you know, already this rookie year. And, you know, I think there's some different elements there, but I think fit is extremely important. And, you know, the quarterback being able to see the game the way the play caller designs the game, or the way the play caller calls the game. If your quarterback sees it the same way, it gives you, you know, a much better chance of succeeding, especially early.
Bobby Bones
I tell jokes. That's how I make my living. So my NFL personnel scouting is not tip top, like, probably yours, or MATS is how. So this question is really just like a dude asking, how do they miss? How do you miss on a quarterback? How do you miss when It's a top 5, 7, 10 pick and then they end up not being what you thought they were after all the time? Money, effort, science.
Matt Castle
Well, I mean, I think, you know, I think there's, you know, a couple ways to look at it. I think, first of all, you know, we throw around, especially come draft time, this guy's ceiling. Oh, this guy's ceiling is so high. And my question is always, how do you know his ceiling unless he's been there? Like, how do you know what a ceiling is until he's shown us what his ceiling? So we throw around this word ceiling. As if somebody is going to get infinitely better at the next level. I have no idea why we do that. Like, because a guy can run really fast and throw really far, we think he's ultimately going to be able to think really fast and process really well. And. And like, I don't know. But. But that's the term we've. We've come to use for all of these guys. And a lot of times it's the really athletic guys, right? Because we. We say to ourselves, they've got this unbelievable physical skill set that now if their mental skill set matches their physical skill set, their ceiling is way up here. But we have no idea if that's ever going to happen. And so that's how you miss. Is that we project the guy's ceiling when we don't know what his ceiling is. I have seen plenty of college quarterbacks come into the NFL, and five years, you know, into the NFL, they are the exact same quarterback they were in college. They didn't get better. They didn't improve in any area. So now they get swallowed up in the NFL because what they were in college is just. Isn't good enough in the NFL. And we've seen other guys, like a Tom Brady who was, you know, good college quarterback. Like, you know, he wasn't even a great college. He was a good college quarterback. And we saw him come into the league, and every year he got better. Like, he's like 57 years old, and I'm not sure he's hit his ceiling yet. Like, I don't even know. Like, he could probably come back and be even better. Like, it was. It was amazing to watch because you're like, how does this guy get better? How is this guy throwing 40 touchdown passes at 45 years old? Like, you just couldn't figure it out. But. But that's the other side of it, is that average quarterback. Like, we've all seen the pictures at the, you know, combine, and we've all know where he was drafted overall because he was average in college, but just got better and got better and got better. And, you know, you could probably say the same about me. Like, I sat on the bench for four years in college, so people didn't even know who I was as a quarterback. But, you know, playing in arena football in Europe, I think helped me to develop so that when I got back into the league, I was a better quarterback. I was closer to my ceiling at that point. But nobody knew that. Like, all everybody would see is like, well, the ceiling's not very high. Because he sat on the bench for four years at an FCS school. He must not be very good. But we don't really know. And that's why we miss is because, you know, if there was a chart out there that said, okay, Matt Ceiling is right here, and he's playing at this level, then we could go, oh, okay, he's only got a little ways to go. Let's go find the guy. But, you know, it's not out there. And so it's just a crapshoot most of the time.
Kurt Warner
Kurt, you're like, one of the greatest redemption stories of all time, and then you've got guys you have to appreciate, I'm guessing, as an analyst, when you see a guy like Baker Mayfield, what he's done over the last two seasons, or a guy like Sam Darnold, who these guys were high draft picks but were written off, you know, just a few years ago. And then they come back, they get into the right system, they have the right offense, and all of a sudden, they excel. Even Bryce Young this year gets benched early on. Everybody's saying, oh, this kid's going to be a bus. He's not this, that, or the other. And then he comes out and plays tremendously well down the stretch. Do you love what I mean? I know I do, but do you love and appreciate that aspect of the NFL and for guys like that and what they've been able to do this season?
Matt Castle
Yeah. Yeah. And I think different stories, different ways. So, like you said, I can, you know, associate with the Jared Goffs and the Baker Mayfields, who are guys that, in their first spot, I believe we're starting quarterbacks in the NFL, like, really good quarterbacks. Like, Baker should still be in Cleveland. You know, I understand the Rams and getting Matthew Stafford, and, you know, you can say what you want there, because obviously, staff is incredible. But Jared led them to a Super bowl right in, you know, his first few years, I mean, was playing really, really good football. So he was a good player. And so I understand that because I played really well in St. Louis. And then they kind of said, hey, yeah, we're gonna. We're gonna go a different direction. And then being able to come back and show people like, I was never not that guy. Like, I don't know what you saw or why you decided that, but I was never. So I. So I love those stories. Like, I love, you know, Baker and Jared and the success that they're having and kind of going, I don't know what you guys were thinking, but this is who I've been all along. And then I can also relate to, you know, the Sam Darnolds, you know, that I was cut by my first NFL team and had to journey around and fight my way back. And. And I can appreciate that for. For two different reasons. You know, that there's one reason where, you know, you do wonder about circumstance, right? You wonder about where the jets were and they drafted him and did they give him a real chance to compete. And so it's nice to see him having success in a situation now, if that was the case. And then I can also associate it with the other side of saying, maybe Sam wasn't ready at the time. Just like, I'm not sure I was ready at the time that I got my first opportunity. And. And so there's something to being able to step away from a situation and go, okay, how do I need to get better? You know, instead of just saying, oh, this was all the jets, so this was all the packers cutting me, and nobody recognizing my talent may have been the case to some degree, but I think there was also part of it where I had to go, okay, but if nobody's seeing it, what am I missing? Like, what's the problem here? And where can I get better? So when I do get my next opportunity, I'm ready for it. And so I can appreciate all the different levels of that. You know, I sat down with Geno Smith this year, and I was asking him that same thing, you know, like, where were you and why did this happen and how can you be so good now? And. And he goes, because I needed to learn, you know, and he used a phrase, and I always love this phrase. He said, I didn't know what I didn't know. And that is so true with so many guys. As you get into the NFL and everybody expects you to know everything, and you think, oh, I know everything. I was really good in college, so I got it all. I know it all. And then you realize, oh, gosh, I didn't know that. Oh, and I didn't know that. And I needed somebody to show me that. And so, like, you mentioned Bryce Young. What. What a great example. Like, you know, he's starting for, you know, a year and two games, and then he gets bench because he's not playing very good football. I mean, flat out not playing well in at all. You know, holding the ball too long and, you know, not being able to see it and all this stuff. So then he sits behind Andy Dalton for a few weeks. The ultimate pro in Andy Dalton and now he comes back at the end of the year and he is literally a different player. Like, I watch him and I'm like, could five or six weeks on the bench really, you know, change all of that? Like, he's getting it out on time, he's making throws that he made in. You just, you're kind of odd by how bad it was at the beginning of the year and how good it is now. But, you know, I sat down again with him because we covered one of his games and, and he said that was a big part of what he did, was step back and now there's no expectations. And he just watched kind of how Andy did it and how Andy played and how the offense was supposed to run. And now he's come in a completely different player because of that. And so I just, I appreciate that side of it too. Like, it's okay to say I wasn't good enough. I didn't have all the tools. I didn't know what I needed to know the first time around. And I appreciate guys that have taken on that run. Said, but now I got it. Now I've learned it. You know, I've accepted that I was around this coach and that player, and they helped me. And now I see what I didn't know. Now I know it. Now I've got a chance to put my best foot forward like a Sam Darnold is right now. And so I do appreciate that side of it too, because. Because I was there.
Bobby Bones
Final two questions in mine is how you look at me. I'm like a 6.5 on the look scale. I know I'm no beauty, but I'm okay. I'm okay. No, I'm. I'm better than average, but I don't. I'm definitely no beauty. Where I look at Kurt like a nine, right? And I would be. I would be so frustrated to be good looking and have to wear a helmet when the other sports. Your face is out there. If you're good looking, it's more. Did you ever have the need to like rip the helmet off like after a touchdown so people could see that face? So you get those shaving deals.
Kurt Warner
Kurt had more personal, like the, the penalty, the 15 yard penalty for taking his helmet off on the floor. He's like, check this. I got this.
Bobby Bones
I just wonder what good looking people feel like when they have to cover their face up.
Matt Castle
Yeah, I don't really know. That is, I think, a question for people that don't play football, because that was never anything that I actually Considered at any point in time in life. But to your point, though, I mean, you see it now all the time with, you know, guys that are on commercials. Like, I think that was one of the things that the NFL, There wasn't as many guys doing commercials, you know, back in the day. And I think that was a big part of it, was because people didn't recognize us. Like, they recognized, you know, guys that were on a basketball court because they didn't have the helmet on. And so there was only a select few guys that got those commercials. That's kind of the cool thing now is we see all kinds of different guys getting commercials now. So, you know, it's more about personality than it's about anything else. But I gotta say, never once crossed my mind I need to rip my helmet off so people can see.
Kurt Warner
Yeah, you would have been the first.
Bobby Bones
Face that have been a.
Kurt Warner
For sure.
Bobby Bones
Here we are, Lions, Kansas City. When we talk about breaks, there's. There's the break and then there's the super break where a lot of those guys, you know, Jones and Mahomes, and they didn't even play week eight. That's when it starts to feel to me like there may be too. Too long of a break. Now, again, I mentioned earlier, I tell jokes. I don't know. Personnel, that's just. That's just the coaching. Knowing the personnel. Right. And knowing who can take off two weeks and still bounce back three weeks later.
Matt Castle
I think so. But I mean, look, I mean, you tell jokes, you say that. So, like, if you take time off from doing.
Bobby Bones
I'm rusty as crap.
Matt Castle
I'm the worst. Yeah, I know.
Kurt Warner
The last one's pretty good.
Bobby Bones
Yeah. If I'm off, if I don't tell jokes for two weeks and I go, if I'm touring, you get back on stage, I'm rusty as. As awful.
Matt Castle
Yeah, that timing element, right, that. That just kind of feel for. You know, and so I always felt like that when I was playing. Now, the thing you have to do, you have to remember, though, is even though it's like 23 days off or whatever it is for Patrick Mahomes, like, he's still practicing every day. He's not playing in the game for those three hours, but he's still going through every practice just like he always goes through the practice. So it's not like taking 23 days off from playing football, and then we're throwing him out there for a playoff game, and we're expecting him to play. Well, that's the first part of it. But I also, when I look at Kansas City, they're not like a real timing oriented team. They're just kind of like it's kind of all over and it's kind of based on a feel more than it is timing. For me, 23 days would have been a long time. Like I was based off of hit the back foot, let the ball go, trust your receivers, see, you know, the body language of the defense to know what, what's going to be open and where you. So timing was like, vital for the way that I played the game. I couldn't make up for it with all these other skills. So that would have been a long time. Like, I would have probably been asking Andy Reid, hey, can I, can I at least play a half? You know, can I go into this game and just, just get my feel, you know, kind of like a preseason game. Let me get my feel, let me get my comfort. Like, okay, I'm. I'm here. I'm good. Mentally, I feel good. Then you can take me out.
Bobby Bones
But.
Matt Castle
But I do think that's a long time to be off. But I think if there's one team based on the way that they play, and I wouldn't even say one team, like, I could see the Ravens doing that too, like Lamar Jackson, because it's not, you know, it's not like, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know, from an efficiency standpoint, it's more like feeling the game because I don't think Patrick Mahomes is going to forget how to feel the game. I don't think Lamar Jackson is going to forget how to feel the game. They're going to go play the way they play. But for guys that are more like me, you know, and there's probably some on the Chiefs that are more kind of rep guys that need to be out there, I could see that being, you know, a little bit of a. Of an issue in their first game back.
Bobby Bones
You guys can watch cart every Sunday on NFL game day morning at 9am Eastern on NFL Network. I am a massive fan. I know you and Matt know each other.
Kurt Warner
Massive fan.
Bobby Bones
We're both massive fans for different reasons. I was always, you know, when I watch, I was like, take your helmet off, man. You're so good looking. Show us your face. So thank you. Real thanks a lot for the past half hour. Really appreciate it. We'll be watching you coming up this weekend, Kurt.
Matt Castle
I appreciate it. Good luck with this. And I appreciate you guys having me on.
Bobby Bones
We need it. Thank you.
Kurt Warner
Thank you, brother.
Bobby Bones
Thank you, Kurt. I watched WWE On Netflix. And I was a wrestling kid. I'm really not. I don't want to say I'm not a wrestling guy now, but I don't keep up with it now. Like I used to as a kid. I was Die Hard. I'm from Arkansas. We're hillbillies. Like, it's. I had Jeff Jarrett earlier today, who is in the WWE hall of Fame and is still, like, part of wrestling, in his 50s, and was just talking to him about back in the 90s and 2000s. And. Were you a wrestling kid?
Kurt Warner
You know what? I was in the heyday. So it's the whole. Colgan, the junkyard dog, dude, Mount Rushmore.
Bobby Bones
Give me four.
Kurt Warner
All right, I've got Hulk Hogan for sure. Because he's Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair. I used to love the Junkyard Dark. I used to love Sergeant Slaughter. I mean, Sergeant Slaughter, when he turned.
Bobby Bones
Bad, when he turned, like, yeah, Middle east, start Slaughter. Yeah, that was weird.
Kurt Warner
Yeah. And then Andre the Giant.
Bobby Bones
But now you're doing more than four.
Kurt Warner
No, you said five.
Bobby Bones
Mount Rushmore's four. You do him four plus.
Kurt Warner
No, no, I'm doing five. Because Mount Rushmore is going to add somebody up there someday.
Bobby Bones
I'm not even the President.
Kurt Warner
It's the wwe, man. I mean, we've got to add somebody.
Bobby Bones
Give me. So say your five again out loud. Hulk.
Matt Castle
Hulk.
Kurt Warner
I had Andre the Giant, Ric Flair. I did. I named a lot more than I needed to. Sergeant Slaughter. Let's just go with those four. Well, who are you? Who is your good friend?
Bobby Bones
Did you ever go, though? Did you ever go to a match?
Kurt Warner
So my first match I ever went to, which was random because I don't think I went to another match. My entire childhood was in Cincinnati, Ohio. We were going with my cousins, and guess who comes out but? The Hulk himself.
Bobby Bones
Did you know he's going to be there?
Kurt Warner
No. No idea. I didn't even know who Hulk was at that. I mean, I was a young kid, and I. I am a real American, for sure. Yeah, it was. It was epic.
Bobby Bones
You remember anybody else there?
Kurt Warner
No, not one other person. Not one other person. But I remember the Hulk and that song. And it just was epic. You know, it's. It's amazing because forever, you know, as a kid, you're sitting there watching these guys beat the hell out of each other, and you're like, how do they do that? Like, how do these dudes go in there and fight? And then as you get a little bit older, it loses a little bit of luster for you. Just because you're like, they still beat each other up. And it's amazing what they do week in and week out, but at the same time, they're really not beating each other up.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I think it loses the luster of. They're not really fighting, but as you get older, older, it gains the. Oh, my God. The. The athletes that. These guys.
Kurt Warner
Freaks.
Bobby Bones
Freaks. Cra. The. The. The like flips, the landing. Just the landing on like your back inside. Even that little padding on the floor they're jumping off. They're 250 pounds, 270. The athleticism is wild.
Kurt Warner
It is wild. And then to get up on the top ropes like you see, and you see these guys do backflips and land on somebody, or get thrown out of a ring and land perfectly in the middle of a full table and break the table just for entertainment value. I mean, it's phenomenal how athletic these guys are. And as. Especially at their size.
Bobby Bones
I was Jeff Jarrett, the guy was talking to today. He. I was like, hey, if somebody gets hurt in a match, like if your right shoulder gets hurt and they communicate under their breath or some speak in carney. There are all these languages they can speak in the ring. So people don't know that they're talking. Like, will you then protect, like their right shoulder if they're at the right shoulder? So you're only working on their left side. He goes, dude, that's almost every match. Somebody gets hurt doing something. And you're like, right ankle. So the guy knows, just kick him in the left ankle. Just. But it's a dance.
Kurt Warner
It's wild because the court, it can't all be coordinated. Right. They have to constantly.
Bobby Bones
They call it. That's what we're talking about calling it in the ring.
Matt Castle
Yeah.
Kurt Warner
And the cadence of that and to make it look real and then entertaining at the same time. It's pretty amazing what they do. And then also when they get up in front of the audience and they go on their rants.
Bobby Bones
Oh, yeah, I think it's good. Promo Spectacular.
Kurt Warner
Spectacular.
Bobby Bones
I would go Sting as my favorite all time, especially blonde hair. Sting. Sting. Aside from wrestling, there are four people that I've tried to have sit down and do an interview with me in person that I have not been able to get. And only four is the White Whales. David Letterman is my hero.
Kurt Warner
Yes. I remember you saying that.
Bobby Bones
Mark Grace is my favorite ball player ever. Baseball player, Chicago Cups first baseman. Never met him tried. Sting is one of them. And I've never met Sting in my first Book that I wrote. He, like, signed it and sent it back, but I never sent it to him to begin with, which was weird because I wrote a whole thing about him. I wrote a whole thing about him in the book and I get a mailed back to me and he signed the page that I wrote about him. Didn't write a message or anything. He just mailed the book back. And I was like, that's really cool. But that's really weird because I never sent it. And maybe write a note because I love Sting.
Kurt Warner
No, no, bro. You just get a signature over, like, his name.
Bobby Bones
It was the wildest thing.
Kurt Warner
Bobby, thanks for writing about me. Nothing. Sting.
Bobby Bones
Love Sting. We got to go hang out with Stone Cold Steve Austin at his ranch.
Kurt Warner
How was he?
Bobby Bones
He was awesome.
Kurt Warner
Love that dude.
Bobby Bones
Dude, whenever we called him from the truck because we flew in. And I'm never late anywhere, right? Like, not that talented. So I got to be disciplined on when I'm gonna get somewhere, where I'm gonna get somewhere. If I say it, I'm gonna be about it. So we're like, Mr. Cold, we're gonna be at your ranch, Mr. Cold, at 2pm and he doesn't live near airport. So we flew private into a small place. And then we're going to drive like 30 minutes over to his ranch. There were so many clouds over the airport, we couldn't land. I'm humiliated because I'm like, we're right. We're not going to make it. We can't land. We got to fly to a different airport another half hour away. And so we call him. He's like, yeah, that's all right. I'm just at the ranch anyway. Just let me know. So I'm nervous. I'm nervous about even showing up late. And I'm like, I just want to tell you, Steve, I'm sorry. I should not have been late. And he's like, mom. And he curses nonstop. And he's like, ranch. Anyway, we sat with him. He could not have been a nicer, warmer, more generous. It was amazing.
Kurt Warner
That's amazing. Yeah, you love people like that, too. And he's authentically real, too, right?
Bobby Bones
Especially super elite in their field who are constantly celebrated because they don't have to act like that yet. They still do. And I find that a lot, though. Like, the more famous the person, the nicer they are because they have nothing to prove, right?
Kurt Warner
They're more humble. They're past all the other minutia.
Bobby Bones
I would go, sting. I would go, stone Cold Steve Austin. That was Right when I was like checking out or watching it every week. But he's massive. Macho Man. Randy Savage.
Kurt Warner
Oh, Macho Man. I forgot it. Oh, brother.
Bobby Bones
Who was the greatest athlete? So he played maybe minor league baseball or college baseball.
Kurt Warner
Did he really?
Bobby Bones
But get this, he was, let's say right handed. Broke his arm. So he just played with his other hand and had to learn. And so then what? Didn't pitch anymore. Like played first base but started to play with his other hand. He broke one of his arms and then used his other arm. Had to learn he was that kind of athlete.
Kurt Warner
That's absurd, dude.
Bobby Bones
It's absurd. That's what we're talking. These guys are like crazy. So Macho man is there and probably like a Ric Flair just because of what he meant to the sport.
Kurt Warner
I mean, Rick's pretty special.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, I was watching the Netflix thing. It's cool that they're wrestling has gotten so big.
Kurt Warner
It has.
Bobby Bones
It's back into pop, like pop culture, even like the sports, like they hold up the championship belts for like an interception and stuff. Like it's back in.
Kurt Warner
I mean, I'm telling you, I took the kids down to the SummerSlam here in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. It was incredible. Like just the production and everything that goes in. We sat two rows behind and it was Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar in the main event. And I mean, it was awesome and people love it. I mean, that stadium was packed to the gills.
Bobby Bones
Oh, yeah. And it's a football stadium too.
Kurt Warner
It is a football. But then they also put the seats on the field. So you're talking about further capacity than what you get for even a football game. I mean, it was packed and it was awesome.
Bobby Bones
This has been our very first ever episode. Thank you. We're not sure the microphones have been on. We could have just been talking to ourselves. So if anybody is actually hearing this, thank you for listening. Hey, Kevin, run us each game. We'll pick each winner in each of the playoff games and we'll call it a day. We do have Tim McGraw coming up in the next episode or two. Jared Allen coming over. So we hope that they resign us for another episode. We weren't kidding. We're on a one week contract. Game one. Let's go AFC side first. Kevin, you got Chargers, Texans, Chargers, Texans.
Kurt Warner
I'm going with the Chargers on the Chargers. Yeah. I like the Chargers. Justin Herbert. And just what, what they bring, the physicality which they play with. I just, I like the Chargers a lot.
Bobby Bones
Down arrow on the Texans right now as Far as, like, trending up or down, I didn't really get season two from Stroud. Unfair to expect better than his rookie year, but you just expect growth one to two, as they say. The most growth happens between one and two.
Kurt Warner
Right. But I think Houston surprised a lot of people last year with the rookie quarterback and. And all. They have a young team and the way that they came in and just kind of took over that division last year. But then this year, people, the expectation level rises and they're expecting this team to be really good. And then all of a sudden, people kind of were like, okay, we got to get up for this game.
Bobby Bones
Bad division, though.
Kurt Warner
Bad division. Really bad division.
Bobby Bones
I'm. I'm agreeing with you, though. I'm just. Because Texans down more than Chargers up, but Chargers are going to be really good in the next couple years, I believe.
Kurt Warner
I mean, Harbaugh, look, he's a stud, man. He wins everywhere he goes.
Bobby Bones
He's going to getting like a Tyreek, who's not the Tyreek of five years ago, but Tyreek's like, I'm leaving the Dolphins and he's going to have a wider, a big number one, not just McConkey, and they're going to be awesome. He only wins. All right, next game, Steelers, Ravens. It's an easy one, right?
Kurt Warner
Yeah, Ravens.
Bobby Bones
But you know, the Steelers are going to play them closer than they should because they always play them closer than they should.
Kurt Warner
They will. And this is the third time they've met and it was recent that they played, so they're so familiar with each other. But I just think the Ravens, Lamar Jackson, the way he's playing and Derrick Henry and just all the weapons that they have.
Bobby Bones
What about the pressure on Lamar? Because he's got it.
Kurt Warner
He's got it, man.
Bobby Bones
Is that a real thing to him now? Like everyone says, I do not perform when it comes to the playoffs.
Kurt Warner
Well, I think they've earned the right to say it's super bowl or bust. I mean, because they've been such a dominant team for so long during the regular season and they get to this stage and to take that next step as a player and to become the lead of the elite, which he already is. The elite, elite in the regular season. Now he's got to go win a Super Bowl.
Bobby Bones
Next game, you got Broncos, Bills, Broncos, Bills. This is just a. Which quarterback is far and above the best quarterback? And I mean that. This is just a quarterback game. Right?
Kurt Warner
Right. Really, to me, it's the Bills. And plus, they're at home and you know that there's going to be conditions, and I know that Buffalo's used to. Buffalo's cold. I mean, the Broncos. I mean, the Broncos, yeah, Denver's cold for sure. But at the same time, it's just a different environment up there with the Bills mafia and everything else going on. And when you have Josh Allen back there pulling the trigger, I mean, it's going to be a difficult game for the Broncos to go into that stadium and beat that team right now.
Matt Castle
Yeah.
Bobby Bones
Ditto marks. That's all I need to say. Ditto marks. On that one, I agree. Next NFC time, Packers at the Eagles. That's a fun one. I'm going to go with the Eagles. Hey, so is he out of concussion protocol yet? Do we know, like, Jalen Hurts.
Kurt Warner
He's still. He still was in concussion protocol. What I. What I read now, that could have changed today.
Bobby Bones
Yes. And we're recording this late Tuesday. This is going to go up early Wednesday. So he could be out right now.
Kurt Warner
That would change the dynamics of this game dramatically because Green Bay. Green Bay's got a stout defense.
Bobby Bones
What's up, Kevin? He's still in. As of two hours ago, he's still in. So we're expecting him to be out. So let's just say everything. Still going to go Eagles. Green Bay, though, like you said, if.
Kurt Warner
Jalen Hurts is out, I'm going to go Green Bay.
Bobby Bones
Okay. If he's out, I just. There's no way he misses.
Kurt Warner
There's no way.
Bobby Bones
There's no way. So we're both going to go Eagles. Hey, what do you think about Sirianni?
Kurt Warner
So Nick Sirianni, I call them Pipes. He was with me his first year in the league in Kansas City.
Bobby Bones
And with you as a player or coach?
Kurt Warner
He was a coach, first year coach there, and he was, you know, like the bottom of the barrel but awesome. Dude walked around with these tight shirts, always flex in on people and all that stuff, but he's made his track up now. I'll tell him this through his face. I'm like, dude, what are you doing bantering with fans on the sideline and doing all that stuff? I'm just like, come on, Pipes. What are you doing, Pipes? I mean, but at the end of the day, you can't take away his track record. I mean, the dude wins ball games. And that team is as good as they are in the NFL and they've been for quite some time. So if they're at full health and we've got Hertz playing, I'm going Philly.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, me too. Next Commander's Bucks.
Kurt Warner
This is the. You know what? This is the game that you sit there and you go. You could go either way.
Bobby Bones
I'm going to go bucks again. If it's either way, I'm usually going to go quarterback. And if quarterbacks are tied, I'm going to go to quarterback then. And coach.
Kurt Warner
Yep.
Bobby Bones
And I'm going to go Bucs Baker do for 4,000 yards. Baker's also not a rookie. And from my time playing in the league, you never know what rookie's going to do when the lights come on.
Kurt Warner
Right. And when you look at Washington, their defense has struggled a little bit down the stretch, and they've got a rookie quarterback, but he's amazing. I think they'll be able to put up some points, but I just believe Baker Mayfield, the way that he's playing, and especially these last three games, I mean, I believe the Bucks are going to win at home. Last one here.
Bobby Bones
Vikings at the Rams. See, this is the one to me is the.
Kurt Warner
This is a. Yeah.
Bobby Bones
This is the mystery prize. I'm going to go. And this is that game. And I know KOC is your boy.
Kurt Warner
He is.
Bobby Bones
I know KS your boy. So I'm going to go first, and I'm going to go Rams, because again, if I'm going to go. It's close. I'm going to go quarterbacks first. And I'm going to go Stafford and Darnold. I'm taking Stafford. And if I'm going to go. Coaches, listen, Koc is from the McVeigh tree.
Kurt Warner
He was an apple off the tree. He is. Exactly.
Bobby Bones
So I'm going to go with the Rams.
Kurt Warner
They're familiar with each other. I mean, in. They're coming off a devastating loss. At the same time, when you look at the Vikings, what they achieved this year, they played earlier in the season, it was a heck of a game. And Stafford, he was like 75% that game and played out of his mind. I'm going to go with my boy.
Bobby Bones
Yeah, you should.
Kurt Warner
I'm going to go with my boy. I'm going to go with the Vikings. And, you know, the fact that they're. What were they, 14 and three this season, and they're playing an away game right now.
Bobby Bones
Crazy. That itself is crazy.
Kurt Warner
It's kind of nuts.
Bobby Bones
Yeah. All right, thank you guys for listening. We will see you guys again real soon. And we have a theme song on the backside, too, so hit that theme song. Please follow us like if you see us in your town Just follow us in your car. Subscribe on YouTube. I don't even know where these buttons are, but push one of them. All right, bye guys. Lots to say With Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcast. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Podcast Summary: The Bobby Bones Show – "Lots to Say: Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and NFL Playoff Picks!"
Release Date: January 8, 2025
Host: Bobby Bones and Matt Castle
Guest: Hall of Fame Quarterback Kurt Warner
[00:00] Bobby Bones & Matt Castle
Bobby Bones and Matt Castle kick off the episode with enthusiasm, introducing their guest, NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. They highlight the show's focus on entertaining and insightful discussions from the worlds of football and entertainment.
[00:21] Bobby Bones
Bobby initiates a conversation about how he and Matt connected with Kurt Warner, emphasizing the rapid development of their friendship.
[00:37] Kurt Warner
Kurt shares his initial impressions upon receiving an invitation to join the podcast, expressing admiration for Bobby's resume and social media presence.
[01:30] Kurt Warner
He reflects, “I’ve been interested in doing a podcast in a long time. And then I was like, yeah, I mean, I've got nothing but time and lots to say.”
[02:35] Kurt Warner
Kurt delves into the heightened intensity during playoff weeks, emphasizing the importance of maintaining routines and focusing on execution.
"The biggest thing... is to try to stay within your routine, not make it bigger than it is." [02:35]
[03:49] Bobby Bones
Bobby draws parallels between baseball wild cards and NFL playoff teams, questioning whether momentum translates similarly in football.
[04:25] Kurt Warner
Kurt discusses the significance of momentum and health in determining playoff success, citing the New England Patriots' dramatic Super Bowl loss as a case study.
"They crawled into the playoffs, but then they got hot and went all the way to the Super Bowl." [05:18]
[05:20] Kurt Warner
He reminisces about pivotal moments in his career, including dramatic plays and the bittersweet memories of near-victories.
[07:50] Bobby Bones
Bobby transitions the discussion to present playoff scenarios, prompting insights into team performances and upcoming matches.
[12:14] Bobby Bones
The conversation shifts to the culture around gifting in the NFL, highlighting the pressures quarterbacks face in rewarding their teammates.
[15:19] Bobby Bones
Bobby humorously touches on the complexities of NFL rules, specifically regarding how wins are credited to quarterbacks.
[20:34] Matt Castle
Matt and Kurt explore the challenges teams face in drafting and developing quarterbacks, emphasizing the importance of system fit over draft position.
[27:13] Matt Castle
Matt discusses the mentality shifts for wildcard teams versus top-seeded teams, highlighting how perspectives and narratives shape playoff runs.
[29:40] Matt Castle
The topic expands to coaching dynamics and personal challenges faced by teams and individuals during high-pressure playoff seasons.
[31:42] Kurt Warner
Kurt provides an in-depth analysis of current playoff teams, focusing on strengths, weaknesses, and key matchups. He emphasizes the Chiefs as the team to beat in the AFC due to their consistent performance and ability to perform under pressure.
Notable Quote:
"I still think they're the team to beat because they continue to find ways to win." [23:48]
[35:09] Matt Castle
Matt critiques the Pittsburgh Steelers' perennial struggles to secure a franchise quarterback, suggesting that finding the right QB is crucial for their championship aspirations.
[32:24] Matt Castle
Matt shares his personal strategies for maintaining focus during playoff seasons, highlighting the importance of isolating distractions to perform at peak levels.
Notable Quote:
"I was locked in for the next four weeks, and it's going to be all football, and it's all focused on trying to win a championship." [33:04]
[38:28] Matt Castle
Matt and Kurt discuss redemption stories in the NFL, appreciating quarterbacks who have overcome early career setbacks to excel in favorable systems. They cite examples like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, emphasizing the significance of perseverance and adaptability.
Notable Quote:
"There’s something to being able to step away from a situation and go, okay, how do I need to get better?" [46:11]
[51:26] Bobby Bones
Bobby lightens the mood by humorously rating himself and Kurt on a "look scale," leading to a playful exchange about football helmets obscuring athletes' appearances.
Notable Quote:
"If you get one of those top picks you either have to trade something valuable or suck." [43:04]
[55:08] Kurt Warner
Kurt reflects on the discipline required in the NFL, sharing humorous insights into the challenges of maintaining performance after breaks.
[56:10] Matt Castle & Kurt Warner
The hosts engage in a nostalgic discussion about wrestling, sharing favorite wrestlers and memorable experiences at events like SummerSlam.
[59:57] Bobby Bones
Bobby recounts a humorous and humbling encounter with Stone Cold Steve Austin, highlighting the genuine personalities behind the larger-than-life wrestling personas.
[63:27] Kurt Warner
Kurt provides his playoff predictions, backing the Chargers over the Texans and expressing confidence in the Ravens' dominance over the Steelers.
[64:42] Matt Castle
Matt supports the Chargers, praising their physicality and strategic play under head coach Harbaugh.
[66:26] Kurt Warner
Kurt favors the Bills over the Broncos, citing Josh Allen's performance and the challenging environment the Broncos would face.
[67:35] Kurt Warner
He discusses the impact of key players and coaching strategies on playoff outcomes, reinforcing his predictions for various matchups.
[70:16] Bobby Bones & Kurt Warner
The episode wraps up with final playoff picks and a light-hearted farewell. Bobby expresses gratitude towards listeners and teases upcoming episodes featuring guests like Tim McGraw and Jared Allen.
Notable Quote:
"Thank you, Kurt. I watched WWE On Netflix. And I was a wrestling kid." [56:57]
Playoff Intensity: The playoff season demands heightened focus and routine adherence to maximize performance.
Quarterback Impact: The success of NFL teams heavily relies on finding and developing the right quarterback within an effective system.
Redemption and Growth: Quarterbacks overcoming early career setbacks demonstrate the importance of perseverance and system fit.
Team Dynamics: Momentum, health, and strategic matchups play crucial roles in determining playoff success.
Human Element: Balancing personal life and professional demands is essential for athletes during high-pressure seasons.
Humor and Camaraderie: The hosts infuse humor and personal anecdotes, enhancing the engaging and relatable nature of the show.
"The biggest thing... is to try to stay within your routine, not make it bigger than it is." — Kurt Warner [02:35]
"I still think they’re the team to beat because they continue to find ways to win." — Kurt Warner [23:48]
"I was locked in for the next four weeks, and it's going to be all football, and it's all focused on trying to win a championship." — Matt Castle [33:04]
"There’s something to being able to step away from a situation and go, okay, how do I need to get better?" — Kurt Warner [46:11]
"Thank you, Kurt. I watched WWE On Netflix. And I was a wrestling kid." — Bobby Bones [56:57]
This episode of "The Bobby Bones Show" offers an insightful blend of expert analysis, personal anecdotes, and humorous exchanges, making it both informative and entertaining for fans of the NFL and beyond. With Kurt Warner's seasoned perspectives and the hosts' engaging dynamics, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the playoff landscape and the intricate factors influencing team performances.
For more episodes, subscribe on YouTube, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.