Lots to Say: Tomlin steps down, 8 teams left, and 3x SB Champ Ed McCaffrey!

Summary

The Bobby Bones Show: “Lots to Say: Tomlin Steps Down, 8 Teams Left, and 3x SB Champ Ed McCaffrey!”

Date: January 14, 2026
Hosts: Bobby Bones & Matt Castle
Guest: Ed McCaffrey (three-time Super Bowl Champion)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into breaking NFL coaching news, analyzes the remaining eight NFL playoff teams—focusing on their quarterbacks—and features a rich, personal interview with former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. Discussions cover Mike Tomlin’s unexpected departure from the Steelers, shakeups among NFL coaching ranks, in-depth playoff predictions, and McCaffrey’s journey from old-school football to his new ventures in nutrition.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mike Tomlin Steps Down as Steelers Head Coach

(Begins ~[01:50])

• Breaking News: The episode kicks off with the immediate reaction to Mike Tomlin stepping down after 19 seasons with the Steelers (193–114 record), equaling franchise legend Chuck Noll's win record.
  • “Something just broke, and something big. 193 and 114 is Mike Tomlin's record and he's now stepping down as the Steelers head coach.” — Bobby Bones, [01:50]
• Comparison made to John Harbaugh’s similar, recent exit with the Ravens.
• Speculation about Tomlin and Harbaugh’s coaching futures: possible hiatus (“gap year”) or jumping right into other opportunities, including media.
• Implications: Top-tier coaches re-entering the pool raises the quality for teams searching for new head coaches, benefitting even historically dysfunctional franchises.

2. NFL Coaching Carousel & Organizational Dysfunction

(~[04:44])

• Focus on candidates like Kevin Stefanski, Mike McDaniel, and Matt LaFleur’s situation in Green Bay.
• “He knows that there's a lot of coaching vacancies out there and he's not at the bottom tier of this list...” — Matt Castle, [04:03]
• Detailed critique of poorly-run organizations (e.g., Titans, Cardinals), emphasizing how competent hires at the top could shift fortunes.
  • “Titans are not a well-run organization...but if the number one doesn't know what they're doing...everybody else just falls in line.” — Bobby Bones, [05:13]

3. Remaining Quarterbacks Ranked: Bobby’s Playoff QB Power Rankings

(Segment start: [09:15])

• Structured countdown with commentary:
  1. Josh Allen (“The guy is Superman” – Castle): Praised for toughness, leadership, and physical resilience [09:31].
  2. Matthew Stafford: Lauded for playmaking and “no-look” throws even late in his career [10:52].
  3. Sam Darnold: Recognition for leadership and recent consistency despite struggles [11:28].
  4. Drake May: Highlighted for rapid growth and big moments in clutch [15:41].
  5. Caleb Williams: Dynamic, clutch, but team struggles in first halves [18:03].
  6. Brock Purdy: Efficient “game manager” with sneaky athleticism [19:19].
  7. Bo Nix: Solid but unspectacular; benefits from strong supporting cast [21:07].
  8. C.J. Stroud: Noted regression; offense hampered recently [21:30].
• In-depth banter for each pick, with both hosts alternating insight into teams’ strengths, weaknesses, and playoff outlooks.

4. Playoff Weekend Preview & Predictions

(Divisional preview: [28:12])

• Straight talk predictions, often leaning on QB play and weather as key factors:
  • “I'm going when it's close with the best player on the field. And that's Josh Allen.” — Bobby Bones, [29:12]
• Matt Castle’s breakdowns pair X-and-O’s with personal experience, including the impact of frigid weather and travel conditions (e.g., Rams flying into cold Chicago).

5. Interview: Ed McCaffrey

(Interview begins: [34:28])

NFL Then & Now:

• Stories from Ed’s 1991 rookie camp, lining up between Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.
  • “Bill Parcells was my head coach. My locker...was right between Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.” — Ed McCaffrey, [35:13]
• Evolution of player safety: fewer pads then, no targeting rules, longer training camps.
  • “It was a tough, physical league back then. They didn't have any of the player safety rules they have today.” — McCaffrey, [35:14]
• Discussed the importance of blocking as a wideout.
  • “Rod Smith and I...used to have little side bets on who could decleat the most DBs in a game.” — Ed McCaffrey, [42:30]
• On the impact of good coaching (Mike Shanahan) in building his late-blooming career.

Fatherhood & Coaching:

• Reflections on son Christian McCaffrey’s game-winning plays in windy conditions.
  • “He went out there and competed...That one catch...to track it and then have it move on you...for a running back to be able to do that is pretty unheard of.” — McCaffrey, [46:21]
• Praised how Kyle Shanahan puts players in position to win by deeply understanding both sides of the ball.

Life, Nutrition, and Business:

• Nutrition philosophy from his playing days to launching McCaffrey Protein Bites with the family.
  • “Protein is important. A lot of people are deficient in protein. So gluten free, non GMO, high in protein. And most importantly, it tastes great, man.” — McCaffrey, [51:12]
• Childhood stories about making weight and early lessons in fuel and performance.

6. Lighthearted Segments & Personal Lists

(~[59:31])

• Bobby ranks the remaining quarterbacks as if they were his personal friends, blending spirited banter, inside jokes, and behind-the-scenes color:
  • “At number one, he's number one in both lists. I have Josh Allen...based off a friend's recommendation.” — Bobby Bones, [59:41]
  • Conversations touch on trust, privacy, and relatability with players both on and off the field.

7. Final Banter & Closing Thoughts

• Some behind-the-scenes on their personal lives (carpool struggles, beard maintenance, anecdotes about celebrity neighbors).
• Endearing mutual ribbing about their looks, local community, and the camaraderie in the NFL brotherhood.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

Mike Tomlin’s Departure:

• “Wow, end of an era, it just resets again. All the coaching candidates and the hierarchy...” — Bobby Bones, [02:37]

On Dysfunctional Franchises:

• “When your owner has to release a statement saying we're now going to let our general manager general manage—that's probably a good idea.” — Bobby Bones, [05:03]

On Josh Allen’s Heroics:

• “Some of the throws that Josh Allen made down the stretch…he throws that poster out to Brandon Cooks...takes an absolute shot right in his chest...it's plays like that you just sit there in awe.” — Matt Castle, [09:54]

Ed McCaffrey on Blocking:

• “A declares when you knock a guy on the ground…we’d usually have three or four would be the winner, one or two would be the loser, and five $10 bets to see who could declinate the most players.” — Ed McCaffrey, [42:30]

On Nutrition and Life After Football:

• “Best way to fuel yourself is to do it intelligently and with moderation…five to six meals, spread out every two to four hours...” — Ed McCaffrey, [52:26]

Bobby’s Friendship Ranking:

• “Number one in both lists, Josh Allen...because he is the only one that I have friends that are friends with him.” — Bobby Bones, [59:41]

On Ageing in Football:

• “If you are [healthy], you probably didn’t play that much.” — Matt Castle, [68:50]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:50] – Mike Tomlin’s departure & record, NFL coaching carousel discussion
• [05:03] – Organization dysfunction: Titans, GM/owner misalignment
• [09:15] – Playoff QB Power Rankings (detailed throughout [09:31] to [22:23])
• [25:29] – Cinderella teams: 49ers, Bears playoff potential
• [28:12] – Playoff Weekend Preview & Pick ‘Em games
• [34:28] – Ed McCaffrey Interview (NFL stories, player safety, transition, family)
• [46:21] – Ed’s perspective on Christian McCaffrey, the modern 49ers, and coaching
• [51:12] – Nutrition philosophies and launching McCaffrey Brands
• [59:31] – Friendship power rankings for playoff QBs; closing banter
• [67:38] – Family/van stories, beard talk, and final reflections

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Episode Tone & Style

• The conversation is lively, insightful, and full of inside NFL knowledge, but also approachable and laced with banter, joking, and personal anecdotes.
• Bobby Bones leads with enthusiasm and curiosity, while Matt Castle brings a pro’s perspective and self-deprecating humor.
• Ed McCaffrey brings warmth, humility, and deep perspective as a player, parent, and entrepreneur.

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Summary:
This episode is a must-listen for NFL fans tracking the coaching carousel, playoff narratives, and the personal journeys of both league icons and emerging stars. It delivers news, expert insight, player storytelling, and candid reflections about life at and after the highest levels of pro football.

Transcript

[Bobby Bones]

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[Ed McCaffrey]

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[Bobby Bones]

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[Matt Castle]

Your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Partner of the NFL.

[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?

[Matt Castle]

We're glad you're here and we hope you stay?

[Bobby Bones]

Cause we got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. And here's Bobby and Nat.

[Matt Castle]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show.

[Bobby Bones]

What did the no. What numbers 193 and 114 mean to you?

[Matt Castle]

193 and 114.

[Bobby Bones]

By the way, for everybody listening, we are recording this at about 3:00 Eastern, so just so you have a little time stamp as to when we're recording this. So what we're about to talk about fits as to what just happened. But the numbers 193 and 114, I don't know. Just take a stab at it.

[Matt Castle]

Take a stab at it. I'm looking into your eyes. I'm trying to search into your soul. I'm thinking, is there something around the room? It's not 114 in the afternoon.

[Bobby Bones]

All right, 193 and 114. Kevin, do you know what it is? I was thinking draft pick number first. Do you know what I'm about to.

[Matt Castle]

No, I have no.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know either. I don't know anything.

[Matt Castle]

I have no idea.

[Bobby Bones]

As we're recording this right now, something just broke and something big. Yeah, something pretty big. 193 and 114 is Mike Tomlin's record and he's now stepping down as the Steelers head coach. So by the time everybody's hearing this, it's been out for half a day. However, it just happened. And so Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers are separating after 19 seasons. Tomlin was hired by the Steelers in 07, was 193 and 114, tying the legendary Chuck Knowles franchise record for victories.

[Matt Castle]

Unbelievable.

[Bobby Bones]

Both the Ravens and the Steelers same year, both their coaches.

[Matt Castle]

I never would have guessed that coming into this year. I mean, Tomlin, it's been, you know, rumors over the last few years because of their inability to win a playoff game. Harbaugh was a Shock to me when that happened as well.

[Bobby Bones]

But wow, end of an error, it just resets again. All the coaching candidates and the hierarchy, because 100% you're looking at Tomlin and Harbaugh, that they're the upper tier of the coaches for sure. And they may not both, they may not want to coach. I mean, Tomlin may want to take a year off. I don't know. This just broke.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. So Tomlin would be outstanding on one of these shows as well. Go take a bridge year, do something like that. Any show in America would want to.

[Bobby Bones]

Have that guy on a gap year. A gap year. Just like kids do.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, just like kids do now when they're in eighth grade.

[Bobby Bones]

And that top tier, Harbaugh, Tomlin, and that second tier, close. But second tier, I think is Stefanski, who again won coach of the year twice with the Browns.

[Matt Castle]

With the Browns. With the Browns and with a disastrous quarterback situation.

[Bobby Bones]

So then you have Mike McDaniel, you have all, you know, all these head coaches that have been fired or have left that will easily find another head coaching spot because they're all valuable. So, yeah, Thomas.

[Matt Castle]

And there's still these question marks about Lafleur, whether or not they can work out a deal because he's on one year. He's got one year left on his deal. They said that they would want him back. But what does that look like? What does that deal look like that Green Bay is willing to present to him? Is it going to be fair market.

[Bobby Bones]

If it's a one year? Because if they're wanting to extend him.

[Matt Castle]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

That means obviously he'll coach next year in the last year of his deal. But if they're wanting to go one plus one, I don't know if I take that if I'm left floor.

[Matt Castle]

No, because he knows that there's a lot of coaching vacancies out there and he's not at the bottom tier of this list either. He'll be up there close to Stefanski.

[Bobby Bones]

I think he's in the Stefanski, I think he's in that tier.

[Matt Castle]

Right. And so he's sitting there going, well, if you guys don't want to pay me, some other team is going to give me a three or four year deal making anywhere from, I'm guessing 12 to 15 a year. And so it would be one of those situations where they'd come insult him with a, a low ball offer or maybe a one or two year deal like you're saying. And he says, no, I'm good.

[Bobby Bones]

I think that's Good news for these really bad teams that are looking for a coach because that makes the whatever coach they get is going to be even better.

[Matt Castle]

Mike Tomlin, the Tennessee Titans, baby.

[Bobby Bones]

Can you imagine like there have been Harbaugh to the Titans rumblings, right? Because, and look, the Titans are not a well run organization. They aren't. I know you played there. You may, you may argue with me. They are not a well run organization.

[Matt Castle]

They have no alignment. I feel like from top to bottom.

[Bobby Bones]

When your owner has to release a statement saying we're now going to let our general manager general manage, that's probably a good idea. That was the state.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

Well, you did hire him for a reason. Right.

[Bobby Bones]

And it's top down. So again, you've been in the organization, you can speak to it more than I can. But I'm not a Titans fan. Just because I live in Nashville and I look at the organization and go, man, they do not know what they're doing. That doesn't mean they all don't know what they're doing. But if the number one doesn't know what they're doing, the owner, and if they don't have good vision, everybody else just falls in line, right?

[Matt Castle]

And you, at some point you have to trust in the GM who you hire and you go out and you say, hey, we're bringing you in here to run this organization. That means, okay, we're going to hire a coach, we're going to go out and get players. But you can't be one of those owners. That's reactionary, Right. If things don't go well in the first year or first year and a half, we're not going to fire you. If Mike Vrabel comes in and has all this success and then for two years we have down years because of whatever reasoning behind it. But during that time period, you fire your gm, then you fire Mike Vrabel. Now you're on to the next coach and now the next coach and the next gm. That it's just, it's not a recipe for success that is anywhere sustainable.

[Bobby Bones]

Vrabel and Derrick Henry and Kevin Byard.

[Matt Castle]

Who'S in Chicago right now, who led the league in interceptions this year, who? AJ Brown, while he didn't have his best outing last week in the playoff game, still superstar number one wide receiver for the team while he was here, all these guys are not in the building anymore.

[Bobby Bones]

And my point with the Harbaugh to Tennessee rumors, and I think they're just light rumors, but Tennessee's getting a new stadium, right? Tennessee Has a quarterback, a young quarterback, that I think if a coach sees a. If they're optimistic about a quarterback, getting them one year into their deal is excellent.

[Matt Castle]

You got four more years because you also can build that team around him because he's on the rookie.

[Bobby Bones]

You're not spending any money, right.

[Matt Castle]

You're not spending any money on your franchise quarterback. You live in Nashville, draft picks.

[Bobby Bones]

So it. It. Nashville is a good job if the owner lets the rest of the management team do their jobs.

[Matt Castle]

Football people need to do the football job. And that's my opinion on it.

[Bobby Bones]

Man, if I was an owner, I'd.

[Matt Castle]

Be doing all the jobs, guaranteed. I'd be calling players, micromanage all. You'd sit up in the booth like Brady and we'd be like Oregon with.

[Bobby Bones]

New uniforms every week.

[Matt Castle]

You'd be like, run it, Run it.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, But I think teams like the Titans and the Cardinals and these teams that are known as being a bit dysfunctional, I think all these good coaches being back in the mix helps all of them because it's just going to lift, right? The quality of head coaches. They're going to get a better coach because even if they get the bottom of the barrel in this cycle of coaches, the bottom of the barrel just got better because the top of the barrel is higher.

[Matt Castle]

Right. Because you're always. You're always looking for that young offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator to come in, take over as your head coach. Right now you have a pool of candidates that have head coaching experience, not just head coaching experience, but have won consistently and have. Are proven winners. And anytime you can bring that type of individual into your organization, it gives you an immediate lift. It not only rallies the players around you, but how just the perception and how these coaches go about their business allows you to know, hey, we have the ability to be very successful, but we have to follow this regiment.

[Bobby Bones]

We have the great Ed McCaffrey coming up, which is pretty cool.

[Matt Castle]

Really cool.

[Bobby Bones]

Obviously, McCaffrey was a dog back in the day. It was just weird to see a white receiver when I was young.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. But it made me appreciate the wide receiver. Like somebody that was white could still go out and do it. I mean, but he was a physically imposing guy. You think about him. He was 6, 5, 2, 30. Go out there and he'd do it in the run game, do it in the pass game. And it was always fun to watch him because he played at such a high level and he played like you want to see somebody play maximum effort every. All the time.

[Bobby Bones]

He walked so Cooper Dejan could run.

[Matt Castle]

You mean sprint.

[Bobby Bones]

Did you see the clip where his. Philadelphia has two white guys in their secondary. And I forget what.

[Matt Castle]

What.

[Bobby Bones]

Who the player was. And he was like, no, no, I'm not Cooper Dejan. I'm the other one.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Bobby Bones]

That was.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, he's like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm the other one. And the guy goes, my bad.

[Bobby Bones]

All right, I'm going to start us off now. There are eight quarterbacks left, and I'm ranking them.

[Matt Castle]

I'm shocked to see who will go 1 in this list.

[Bobby Bones]

Power Rankings.

[Matt Castle]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Of the 8 quarterbacks left, according to me, I love ranking things. We're going to go number one, Josh Allen.

[Matt Castle]

That's shocking. The guy is superman.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. That tush push. It did not result in a touchdown, but it was very close.

[Matt Castle]

It's like 10 yards.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Like a. That, to me, was the essence of what was happening that game.

[Matt Castle]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

And the fact that they. That Brandon Cooks has to be the dude just tells you they don't have anybody.

[Matt Castle]

Just. I mean, Brandon Cooks has got to be in year. I'm guessing 14, something like that. Obviously takes care of his body. But some of the throws that Josh Allen made down the stretch when he's got. They've got max pressure coming. He's got a free runner in his face, and he throws that poster out to Brandon Cooks, I mean. But takes an absolute shot right in his chest as he's staring it down. And it's plays like that that you just sit there in awe of a guy like that, of that stature, because he got beat up early in that game. You saw when he hurt his knee or got it bent back early on, he was wobbling around a little bit. The guy just keeps coming back for more and more and more.

[Bobby Bones]

12 years.

[Matt Castle]

12 years.

[Bobby Bones]

Feels like a hundred. Because he's been everywhere.

[Matt Castle]

He's been everywhere, wasn't he? And he's been with the Patriots. He's been with the Texans.

[Bobby Bones]

Dallas Cowboys.

[Matt Castle]

Dallas Cowboys. And everywhere he goes, he becomes some. Somehow. Some way he has a role, but he's impactful. Like, he's a guy like, oh, Brandon Cooks.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know. Cowboys. I think they thought he's going to be a number two. He just never really showed up over there.

[Matt Castle]

He showed up a little bit there.

[Bobby Bones]

Number two, Matthew Stafford.

[Matt Castle]

Number. I can't debate that at all. Yeah, Stafford's one of the best quarterbacks in the league, period. Even at his age. But the. Some of the throws he makes and how he's Able to manipulate the. Manipulate the defense. He was doing it when I was in Detroit with him. But it's just wild because I don't know how you practice something like that. It's the no look pass. You never. You don't see really anybody else do it.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, guys like us, we just have an instinct.

[Matt Castle]

No, I stare at the wide receiver and be like, hey, please don't get there beforehand. I'm going to try to move you, but then I'm going to move my eyes back inside to try to make sure I see where that target is.

[Bobby Bones]

Number three, Sam Darnold.

[Matt Castle]

Sam Darnold, number three. All right. I like it.

[Bobby Bones]

And I have to give Sam Darnold a lot of credit because the narrative around Sam Darnold was he kind of wilts and all because of the end of the Minnesota run. All because of that.

[Matt Castle]

All of it.

[Bobby Bones]

And they won a big game against San Francisco at the end of the season. But you're talking about as many wins as he's had in back to back years. I think Brady is the guy, only the only guy to ever do that Back to back.

[Matt Castle]

14.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. 14 wins.

[Matt Castle]

14 wins.

[Bobby Bones]

14. It's Darnold and Brady. And so I'm putting Sam Darnold at number three because the Seahawks are just legit. And I think he's good. I don't think he has to be as good as he is at times because there are seasons of seasons where he doesn't have to win games.

[Matt Castle]

Right. And he's got to know what his team is right now. Their defense is dominant. They've got a good running game, they've got good wide receivers. I think when he started out this season, he, he was as hot as anybody. He could be in that MVP conversation midway through the year. It hasn't been as good in the latter of the. Of the season. There's no doubt about that. He also leads the league with 20 turnovers this year.

[Bobby Bones]

He's had some bad picks.

[Matt Castle]

He's had some bad picks, but he comes back from those picks and understanding who their team is and going out again against an opponent that you're familiar with this week. They lost in week one. They come back in the last week of the season, they only score 13 points, but that defense absolutely shut down the 49ers. And I think it's going to be something similar to that game plan going in to this one this weekend.

[Bobby Bones]

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[Bobby Bones]

At number four, the quarterback with the best nickname of the eight remaining. Can you name that quarterback?

[Matt Castle]

Best nickname? Yeah, I don't even know nicknames. I know names. Drake May.

[Bobby Bones]

Drake. Drake May May.

[Matt Castle]

What's his nickname?

[Bobby Bones]

Drake. Drake May May. A guy so good his nickname is just his name.

[Matt Castle]

Okay, I'm with it.

[Bobby Bones]

You haven't heard of Drake? Drake May May.

[Matt Castle]

Have you heard of this? Of course.

[Bobby Bones]

It's everywhere.

[Matt Castle]

Oh man.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, it's his name because he's that.

[Matt Castle]

Dude and people think this is cool.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, I just say it's cool.

[Matt Castle]

Drake May.

[Bobby Bones]

What happened? Is your nickname your own name like your own? You are so cool. You don't need a cooler name.

[Matt Castle]

It is a cool name. It is a cool name. I'll say that. And he's playing at a really high level. I don't care about his nickname. I just know that he's A student.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I. He's just second year guys. I struggle a little bit with that.

[Matt Castle]

I know you do. I know you do. There's a lot of them on the team.

[Bobby Bones]

He's my leader in my second year, guys.

[Matt Castle]

As he should be.

[Bobby Bones]

He might be the mvp and he's not the mvp. I don't think he won the mvp.

[Matt Castle]

Met Stafford, but he.

[Bobby Bones]

He was second team all Pro. The only reason I say that because I wasn't bullish on both of those guys. Had excellent seasons.

[Matt Castle]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

But whenever Drake may win second team all Pro. Kevin, you see that? Patriots fan. Yeah. I think that kind of to me says he's not going to win the mvp.

[Matt Castle]

So first team all Pro. Josh Allen.

[Bobby Bones]

No, Stafford.

[Matt Castle]

Oh, Stafford. Yeah. Well, isn't there an NFC and an afc?

[Bobby Bones]

No, I think, yeah, it's one.

[Matt Castle]

God, you figured new stuff out every day. I've been around the league for a while. Just one All Pro. Well, Stafford's deserving. He'll win the mvp.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I think so too.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

At number four, I got Drake, May, and both of you guys, being a former Patriot and a Patriot fan, ugly at the beginning, but man, May looks good, but he just. When you need something, he gives it to you.

[Matt Castle]

The throat of Hunter Henry, I mean, that's phenomenal because he makes plays like that all the time. And they're very reliant on the pass game because they need the pass game to get going in order to get that run game going. And he continues to perform at a high level and what they need in different situations. And he keeps coming back for more. He had the turnovers. He's got to eliminate that. It'll be interesting this week though, against Houston.

[Bobby Bones]

Big shout out to that New England defense, man.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, they came.

[Bobby Bones]

How about that Milton Williams dude?

[Matt Castle]

Signed him and he big boy can come on back because he was out for what, six weeks? Six weeks with a high ankle sprain. They also got Christian Barmore back in the middle. So they got healthier in the middle of their defense because I don't think that they have any true dominant defensive ends who are going to rush the passer from the edge. But what they do do is run a ton of games. They've got tremendous speed and a really good secondary.

[Bobby Bones]

At number five, Caleb Drake. May Williams.

[Matt Castle]

Caleb. Making his way up the list, huh?

[Bobby Bones]

He's look, he's str. It's. It's a struggle. Most first halves. That Bears team all year has been a struggle. Most first halves.

[Matt Castle]

God, it looked awful. Down 21 to 3.

[Bobby Bones]

Bad, bad. But holy mother, is he dynamic. Does he make the throw? If it's fourth down and anything above nine and the game's on the line seven times in a row, he's going to hit all seven of those passes.

[Matt Castle]

The throw to his left. People don't realize difficult it is to roll left and flip your hips as a righty, let alone to roll left.

[Bobby Bones]

Doomsday pass to 17. Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

I mean, his feet are off the ground and that guy is fading back and the ball hits him in his hands for a huge conversion. If they don't make that, game's over. Game's over. I mean, he's. He's special.

[Bobby Bones]

If I'm a Bears fan, even if they lose next week, I'm so fired up for next year. You. You saw so much growth. Not even with just Ben Johnson and the team in general, because you did that team, they flipped the coin completely.

[Matt Castle]

No doubt.

[Bobby Bones]

But Caleb Williams, from where they were at in camp, whenever he was making low, not highlight, low, light tiktoks because he's missing these throws by a mile.

[Matt Castle]

Just put him on blast for play at practice.

[Bobby Bones]

It's a different dude.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay. Next up, Brock Party at number six.

[Matt Castle]

Brock Purdy at number six.

[Bobby Bones]

He does what needs to get done. And sometimes you start to think, well, this guy's just a game manager. And then you're reminded, dude is an athlete.

[Matt Castle]

Dude's an athlete. He doesn't have the same personnel that they anticipated going into the season. Obviously. Brandon Aiyuk hasn't been out in the field. George Kittle's been hurt. Juwan Jennings has really stepped up to be their number one wide receiver, which was a surprise, I'd say, for most of us going into this year. And, and then Christian McCaffrey, when you look at that and the way in which he manages the game and then still makes high end throws consistently, he doesn't do it with the most powerful arm. Right. What he does it with is anticipation. And he knows where to throw the ball, when to throw the ball. And he's like you said, he's a great athlete. He makes plays with his legs that people. I think it's very understated for a lot of individuals.

[Bobby Bones]

The play that he made, he was running around the left. He stepped in, the two linemen kind of came together and then he blew through them.

[Matt Castle]

Sick.

[Bobby Bones]

It was just pure athlete.

[Matt Castle]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

And it's hard to be the athlete when you have McCaffrey there with you.

[Matt Castle]

Right?

[Bobby Bones]

Because that dude, that guy is an animal. What are they Just going to have to throw to use check. And Juwan Jennings.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, why not? I saw, I heard something that the other day, that Jus check is a 10 time Pro Bowler.

[Bobby Bones]

But aren't there on like three fullbacks in the NFL?

[Matt Castle]

Yes, but that works to his advantage. But nonetheless, yeah, no, I mean, as.

[Bobby Bones]

Soon as Kittle was hurt, it was just throw it to use check. All the plays we would usually throw it to Kittle. Somebody so versatile like that.

[Matt Castle]

It's a tremendous asset. Especially a guy that lines up a fullback but can play the tight end. Really the F position is what we like to call it. He's not going to hold down the line of scrimmage, but he's backside cut off, but can still release out into a pattern that's adds depth to your team for sure.

[Bobby Bones]

Knicks at 7.

[Matt Castle]

Bo Nicks. That guy.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, he's fine.

[Matt Castle]

Does he have, does he have any nicknames?

[Bobby Bones]

Bo, Drake, May, Nicks.

[Matt Castle]

Everybody's going to be Drake, Bay, Nick.

[Bobby Bones]

And Knicks is fine. He's good. Yeah, he's fine. Broncos are good. They have a great defense. He's doing what he needs to do. I just put C.J. stroud last because, man, I don't even know what's happening. It feels like. And obviously that Texans defense is so good. Is CJ Stroud getting worse every year?

[Matt Castle]

You know, he's just never been able to recapture what he did that rookie season that he had. It was a phenomenal rookie season. They've won. He's won what, two out of four playoff games or something like that during his career. So they're in the playoffs every year.

[Bobby Bones]

Am I wrong though, to say that?

[Matt Castle]

Because I feel like there's times where I'll watch him. Like there's times this season where I'm like, wow, there's the CJ Stroud that we talk about consistently where we say if he can capture that in a bottle, that lightning in a bottle, he could be a top 10 quarterback easily. But then there's too much inconsistency. And that showed up in the last playoff game where you're sitting there and some of the throws that just blatant misses. And let's be honest, Houston didn't have really any offense going against Pittsburgh all, all game. It was the defense that went out there, dominated, scored points, scored more points in Pittsburgh and that was the difference. And so I would, I would agree with you that right now I'd put him at 8.

[Bobby Bones]

So Nico Collins went into concussion protocol. Now it sucks. They played on a Monday night because that they don't have as many days now before Sunday.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. And that was always the thing about the Monday night game. And I know it's television and contractual agreements and all that stuff, but I just think it's unfair to a team to play on a Monday. You're still going to come back on a Sunday, but it's a short week. And to get ready for a playoff game to not potentially be at your best because you got your one less day rested. I don't think it's necessarily makes much sense. Gonzalez also is in Patriots.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

So.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

But there's a difference.

[Matt Castle]

I agree.

[Bobby Bones]

Because without a number one wide receiver, that's different than a corner. Because I think Matt could probably test.

[Matt Castle]

This, but you can make up for a little bit with a corner out.

[Bobby Bones]

But as far as a receiver, that kills everything.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

I mean, you want your dogs out there in any game, let alone in the playoffs. Especially because he's become the go to wide receiver for a struggling quarterback that sometimes needs you to. Needs to be picked up by that wide receiver. You're not going to have him. So you have to rely on other assets. It's. That would be a big blow.

[Bobby Bones]

They also got an extra day. New England did. True.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

So that helps. Yeah. I never been in the protocol.

[Matt Castle]

I've definitely been in the protocol.

[Bobby Bones]

You have?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

Just kind of take it week by week. As Coach Belichick would say, what do.

[Bobby Bones]

You do when you're in the protocol? Do you just sit in a dark room?

[Matt Castle]

Well, that was the one that I had when I was in Kansas City where I got knocked out cold. And then that week was the first week where I had been hit in the head, where I had like an actual concussion that they diagnose as a concussion, where I'd go into a room and just go to sleep and sleep for long periods of time. My wife's like, I am seriously worried about you. Because I've had. I been banged up before, but within one, two days, the symptoms kind of go away and you're actually out there. Back at practice, this was the first time lethargic, didn't feel good. Headaches throughout the week. So I didn't play that week. I was able to come back the following week, but it was just a weird. It's always weird when you take a hit like that and you know that you're concussed, but you just think you're automatically going to bounce back like you did before, and to have these lingering issues that just makes you feel not superhuman.

[Bobby Bones]

I guess, yeah. Especially being an athlete like you, where you have been superhuman physically your whole life. Like you have played the highest at every level. You're physically bigger than all of us, you're faster. And then it's like the first time, it's like, welcome to reality. You are not, you're now not, you're.

[Matt Castle]

Not so physically gifted.

[Bobby Bones]

You can get through this.

[Matt Castle]

Or, or it's. You know, it's one thing to have your knee get hurt or something like that, but when you get hit in the head, which we all take blows playing in the NFL, but it was the first time that it actually was like a wake up call, like, oh, wow. Like this is real. This is a little bit more serious because, you know, they do the, they always do the CAT scans and this, that and the other. But that was the first time that I had lingering effects where I was like, huh, maybe this game can present some, some harm to you.

[Bobby Bones]

All right, what do you have over there?

[Matt Castle]

I go back and forth because, you know, if you think of two Cinderella teams for this season thus far going into the playoffs, you have to go with the 49ers. What they've had to overcome, injuries, all the different circumstances. We've talked about it at nauseam, of course, or Chicago, of which one of these two teams have the potential to move on and still keep that Cinderella story going. And I look at the 49ers going to Seattle and I, and I think this is going to be a hard one for them to overcome.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

And I just. Seattle's got an extra week of rest. That was a hard fought battle against Philadelphia. So, you know, for the 49ers are already banged up. Then I look at it and I say, these two opponents know each other so well. That's always going to be a dog fight. 49ers are not going to lay, roll over and give up for anybody. And when you go back to that Week 18 game, they're missing Trent Williams, which has a tremendous impact on that offensive unit. They've got to be able to run the ball. In Seattle, on the other hand, yes, outstanding defense. There's still some question marks about the offense. And when I say question marks, I mean 49ers held him for 13 points. And that 13 points is not a lot. That's two score game. And so I think that'll be an interesting matchup. And then when you talk about Chicago, I mean, gosh, I don't know if they can keep doing it the way that they're doing it, but they Keep showing up in the second half each and every week. It's like, hey, let's not even play the first half. Just give me an opportunity to come back in the second half.

[Bobby Bones]

Both of those are the Saturday games too.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

No, that's not right. The Niners and Seahawks is a late game on Saturday. They're both the NFC games. The other game Sunday, right? Yep, that what it is.

[Matt Castle]

But I think the Rams right at Bears. I know that home field advantage will definitely be for the Bears because it's going to be a cold weather game. I saw the today actually. It's going to be high of 24. That's, that's a tremendous change from coming from LA because you can't practice that and you can't assume, you can't simulate that in practice. But the Rams I still think are probably the most. One of the most well rounded teams still left in the playoffs. Now I think that they showed some weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball against the Panthers last week, but that offense, I mean they can score at will whenever they want to.

[Bobby Bones]

I think the Rams could possibly be the best team in the NFL right now. What's crazy is they had to go to Carolina. They got to fly back home now. They got to go back to Chicago and play a. A momentum. That Bears team is. They have heavy momentum right now.

[Matt Castle]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

That city is just loving it.

[Matt Castle]

Rocking. They weren't loving the first half of that game.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't think they love the first half of that game.

[Matt Castle]

They ended up getting it done in the fourth quarter.

[Bobby Bones]

It's time for the weekend preview presented by DraftKings. From first touchdown score to anytime. Touchdown Props or the thrill of live in game betting. Every snap is loaded with opportunity. Let's go through the divisional round. Bills at Broncos.

[Matt Castle]

Oh, I'm going to bet on Superman.

[Bobby Bones]

Same.

[Matt Castle]

I mean, Josh Allen is proven throughout.

[Bobby Bones]

His career, but we pull up lines.

[Matt Castle]

Kevin even more recently. Just that he can overcome any circumstances. And as good as that Denver Bronco defense is, I, I still look at their offense and say, look, they're not a juggernaut. Especially when you go back to week 18. They weren't good in that game at all offensively. So to me they're not operating at a high center Now. They had a week off to try to correct some of those things, but you can't do that all in a week. And the Bills are riding some momentum here. Winning in Jacksonville. What's.

[Bobby Bones]

What's the line? One and a half.

[Matt Castle]

Denver.

[Bobby Bones]

I mean, neutral. That's about Even. Yeah, I'm going when it's close with the best player on the field. And that's Josh Allen.

[Matt Castle]

Yep.

[Bobby Bones]

So I'm with you there. Let's go. Texans at Patriots. What's the line, Kevin? New England 3.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Wow.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm a little surprised it's that high. Texans and Patriots. I'll go first. I'm going to go with the Patriots. That offense. I have not seen anything recent to make me think the Texans can score points unless their defense does it. And Drake May has been playing so well that I just. He hasn't turned the ball over a lot.

[Matt Castle]

And that's going to be the key to the game for the New England Patriots. I'll go with the Patriots as well. They know that this is going to be a game. And Josh McDaniels, I've been in the room with him. When they're game planning, doing all this, they understand that the edges are problems. Will Anderson Jr. Daniel Hunter, those guys can get after the quarterback. When I go way back and kind of date myself, when we used to play the Colts back in the day and they used to have free knee and man Mathis, they were a problem. But what did we do? We made sure that we put presence on the edge. We're trying to get double teams. First and foremost is going to be protecting and protecting the ball, protecting the quarterback and protecting the ball. And somehow some way, hopefully you start to lean on these guys, get that run game going and take your shots downfield. Look, there's not a weakness on this Houston. Houston's defense, period, they're good in the secondary, they're good at the second level and they've got an outstanding front. However, if I'm going to put my money on somebody, I'm putting my money on Drake May this offensive unit that has performed throughout the year and as you stated, Houston to me hasn't shown me enough offensively to make me fearful of anything that they do.

[Bobby Bones]

And if we're going to talk about a home field advantage and weather, we have to talk about this game too. You're taking guys from Houston and sending them up to friggin Boston where it's going to be one degree.

[Matt Castle]

There's nothing more brutal than playing in that type of weather.

[Bobby Bones]

49Ers and Seahawks.

[Matt Castle]

I love the 49ers story. I love who they are and how they compete. I just think that environment and the way in which Seattle is playing is going to be too much for them. I'm going to go with Seattle and.

[Bobby Bones]

Not really a weather game. But man, you're right about Seattle at home. It is mayhem.

[Matt Castle]

Well, you take that defense and then you add the 12th man, so to speak is what they call it. It is one of the loudest stadiums I've ever played at. Almost so deafening that you can't even hear yourself talk on the sideline to a buddy that's sitting right next to you.

[Bobby Bones]

Probably helps a bit that San Francisco has done it once this year. Just played there.

[Matt Castle]

Right. These guys are familiar with it. They've got to definitely have a veteran team that have played there before. They are going to understand the environment, what they need to do and how to mechanically get through that at the line of scrimmage, especially for their offense. At the same time it doesn't make it any easier because everything's non verbal at that point. When you got to check a play, when you have to signal, everything has to be demonstrative. You have to be able to signal instead of verbally. Verbally give cues to everybody.

[Bobby Bones]

I like verbably when talking about verb.

[Matt Castle]

You verbally Drake, maybe nickname it.

[Bobby Bones]

I am going to go with the 49ers but I just don't think they have the health to maintain nobody.

[Matt Castle]

Everybody said that. But if they win this game in Seattle, I agree. Yeah, they got a chance against anyone. I don't care what the circumstances are.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm going to 49ers because I got too much money to not. I want to push that over. And then finally Rams at Bears.

[Matt Castle]

I got to go with the Rams on the road. I think the season that the Bears have.

[Bobby Bones]

What's that line? Three and a half. The Rams only.

[Matt Castle]

Only three and a half.

[Bobby Bones]

The Rams three and a half in Chicago. You say only on the road in Chicago. Cold. You gotta remember break some hand warmers.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, I'm going with the Rams. I'm going with Stafford. I'm going with. Just let's we've talked about before the weapons that they have the offensive line. Now defense didn't have the best outing against Carolina but at the same time I think they get it done.

[Bobby Bones]

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[Matt Castle]

Gambling problem.

[Ed McCaffrey]

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[Matt Castle]

Bet must win to receive reward.

[Ed McCaffrey]

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[Bobby Bones]

See dkng.co audio back with Ed McCaffrey in a second. Foreign. Let's go over now and talk with three time Super bowl champion Ed McCaffrey. Ed played 13 seasons in the NFL for the Giants 49ers, obviously the Broncos. He had over 7,000 receiving yards, 55 touchdowns in his career and was named to the Broncos 50th anniversary team. One of my favorite players, Ed McCaffrey. Ed, thanks for coming on with us.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Well, my pleasure. Thanks for having me on the show.

[Matt Castle]

And you came in A league in 1991. What was the league like back then? Because you always hear about these different stories from different eras. But talk to me about 1991 coming into the NFL.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Were you born yet?

[Matt Castle]

I was. I was a fat, chubby kid hitting baseballs.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah, we have that in common. I played a Little League baseball. I think we were 20 some years apart, but I did play Williamsport in basketball when I was a freshman at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. That's about as close as we overlap, but couldn't hit the curveball, unfortunately. But yeah. So 1991, Bill Parcells was my head coach. He drafted me. My locker during training camp was right between Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.

[Matt Castle]

Wow.

[Ed McCaffrey]

That pretty much tells you all you need to know. Phil Sims was the quarterback. They just won the super bowl and I think the time of possession is still a record for a Super Bowl. New York Giants beat the Bills, first of their four losses. So it was a tough, physical league back then. They didn't have any of the player safety rules they have today. Very competitive, very physical, very tough. Training camps were long and tedious and you really had to, you know, earn your stripes. It brought a lot of guys into camp and it was hard to compete for a position. I went to a team that was the oldest team in the league at the time and they had all the receivers back from the year before. I was a third round pick, so I felt good about it. But back then wasn't uncommon to see second or third round picks cut if they didn't pan out in training camp. So it was a lot of fun it was a dream come true for me to be drafted and to go to a team that just won a Super bowl and to play with some of the greatest players in the history of the game and definitely some of the greatest New York football Giants. You know, Phil Sims was our quarterback. Jeff Hostetler was on the team. Both those guys won Super Bowls. And then LT and Carl Banks and right on down the line.

[Bobby Bones]

You know, Matt Castle talks about how quarterbacks now, you know, they. They have a bit of invincibility around them. You don't want to hurt them. You know, it affects the bottom line. And as you mentioned here, the wide receivers back in the day did not have what they have now. How do you think you would have played different if all those shots couldn't have been taken on you?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Well, I'll tell you what. You know, I was known by the end of my career as being the player in the league that wore the least pads of any player in the league. I wore, like a pair of punter shoulder pads. And Matt knows what those are like. You could fold them up and put them in your back pocket. I wore a helmet, and that was it. Cleats, that was it. No pads. But when I first started with the Giants, I had every pad in the world, including a neck roll that I was forced to wear about halfway through the season because I was breaking up the wedge on a kickoff coverage unit. And, you know, they used to have offensive linemen set in the wedge back then anyway, tweaked the neck and ended up with a neck roll. Every team in the league, the receivers on their team would come up to me and said, man, you're giving. Look, you got to get rid of that neck roll. But our trainer, Ronnie Barnes, who's still there, by the way, he's a Hall of Famer, said he wouldn't let me play without wearing the neck roll. I'm glad he did. So, even though we didn't have player safety rules, you know, luckily I had a guy looking out for me who didn't want me to hurt myself any worse. I'm all for protecting quarterbacks. You know, it's tough when you get down to your third or fourth quarterback. Not all quarterbacks are equal. Sometimes you get lucky and you have a diamond in the rough. Other times, it affects the game, especially even if they're talented because they don't get the reps throughout the season. So I'm all for protecting quarterbacks and protecting players. You know, as a father now with kids that play in the game, you want to see the best players on the field, and you want to see guys stay healthy. And even from a fan standpoint, right, your fans want to get used to the names of the players on their team. They don't want them, you know. You know, getting injured and leaving, and then they got to buy a new jersey.

[Matt Castle]

You know, you played for multiple different organizations, and some people would even consider you during your career a late bloomer, so to speak, because you go to Denver and you probably had your most success there. What was it about Denver that created this culture of success for you?

[Ed McCaffrey]

That's a great question. I think the short answer is I found a coach that believed in me and gave me an opportunity, and that was the key. Mike Shanahan believed in me and gave me an opportunity to get on the field. You know, it was interesting. I think every player grows and develops the longer they're in the league. Obviously, your rookie season is your first season. You're new. You played at the collegiate level. You never played against the best players in the world. It's a more complicated game. They spend every day, all day, getting ready to play football. That's all they do. They don't go to class, they don't have a job. It's all about football. So it's a much higher level of competition. And so, you know, that takes, you know, an adjustment, getting used to that level of competition. But also, you know, you have, at the time, you know, there were more games and it's a longer season and. And even physically, right, you get bigger and stronger. Up till about age 25, 26, so you're still growing physically from college to the NFL. But in New York, you know, I went to a really good team and, you know, I did get the, for what it's worth, New York football Giants, you know, rookie of the year for my team. But I went to a team that didn't throw the ball a whole lot. You guys will appreciate this. The leading wide receiver, wide receiver on the team the year before, the year they won the Super bowl, had 26 catches on the season. Oh, my God. So, like, a lot of people look at your success in terms of just your production, right? I mean, people that don't know the game, they'll just look at stats, how many catches, how many yards, and I get it right, that's one way they can compare across teams. But when you're on a team that only, you know, that targets their leading wide receiver maybe 50 times in a whole season, and they have 26 catches, you're not going to have stats. So I didn't. I didn't have great stats like as a rookie. But I also went to a team that just won the super bowl, that had a dominant run game and a dominant defense that didn't throw the ball a lot. My second year, led the team in receiving. I was excited. I'm like, all right, led the team in receiving. I think it was like 40 some catches. But that led the team. And then, you know, the following year, we went through a coaching change. So Bill Parcells was my coach. He stepped down before the first season. He said he had heart problems, stepped away from the game for a little bit. Then Ray Hanley became our head coach. We were an older team. Guys started retiring, and we lost. We went 8, 8, 6, and 10. He was let go. And then Dan Reeves was hired. And Dan Reeves is a legend in Denver for all the great seasons he had there. But he didn't like me. He cut me. And so after one season there as a backup, I was. I was cut. Then I. You know, I had to make a really tough decision, what team to try out for. And I wanted to go to a team that had a chance to win a Super Bowl. So it was by design. I was very proactive about it. Had a handful of teams I wanted to try out for. One of them was the 49ers. Went to try out for the 49ers was in a camp with 14 receivers and all four of the receivers, by the way, they only kept four receivers, which is unheard of. But when two of them are Jerry Rice and John Taylor, you don't need a whole lot of them, I guess. So Tried out for the team, luckily made it. That's a whole nother story. Made that team, got to be on a Super bowl championship team. Mike Shanahan saw me in practice, and because I didn't get in the games a lot, right. Backing up Jerry Rice at the time. So brought me to Denver with him, told me he'd give me an opportunity to compete. That's all I needed to hear, and went out and competed and got that opportunity. So thank goodness, you know, I went to the 49ers, got to win a Super Bowl. That was pretty cool, even as a backup. And then, you know, you never know who's watching you, Right? Mike Shanahan barely talked to me during the season. Right. He was always coaching the starters and installing the offense and talking to the team, but fortunately, he noticed what I was doing in practice. I worked really hard and had a lot of fun brought me to Denver, and then we won two more Super Bowls in the next five years, and the rest is history.

[Bobby Bones]

You talk about not a lot of receptions because they didn't throw the ball as much whenever you were in the NFL, at least at first. But when you were at Stanford, were you doing a lot of blocking from the wide receiver position? Did that help you transition into the NFL?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah, you know, I took a lot of pride in blocking, you know, when I was in seventh and eighth grade. I know, Matt, maybe you were a little chubbier as a kid. I wasn't really chubby, but I did. I was tall. I was a big kid. So I got moved to offense and defensive line in seventh and eighth grade. So I played a little O and D line and I promised myself I'd work as hard as possible playing wide receiver so I didn't get bumped back down the O and D line. And so I was on crazy diets and everything else, but I learned how to block, you know, as a little, a little kid play in line. And then when I got to Stanford, it's something I took pride in. I was always, you know, borderline tight end, you know, six, five. I was 238 in high school. And they were always trying to bump me down to play tight end, but I kept losing weight so they'd keep me at receiver. And I remember there was a game at against UCLA actually, where I got in the game. They weren't going to throw a lot of passes to me, but I had a stinger in my shoulder and I couldn't really move my right arm and I had to block just with one arm. So that's when I really, I think, understood how important technique was. I knew I had to get my body in the right position between the ball carrier and the defender in order to be able to stock block just using one arm. And it made sense to me. So then, ever since then, you know, I took a lot of pride in it. It's. It's all about leverage and technique and a little bit of want to. Right. There's a lot of receivers that kind of believe that the shoulders are made for suits and not for blocking or hitting, hitting defensive guys. But, you know, for me, one, I took pride in it. I thought it could help the team win. And two is a great way to get on the field, is kind of how Rod Smith and I, Rod's ringer, famer with Denver, we won some Super Bowls together. He, you know, he and I used to have little side bets on who could decleat the most DBs in a game. And we'd usually have somewhere between 3, 4 decleader in a game. And for the listeners that don't know what that is, a declares when you knock a guy on the ground, he has to be off his cleats and on the ground doesn't count if you just hit him hard. He actually has to physically be on the ground. And so we'd usually have three or four would be the winner, one or two would be the loser, and five $10 bets to see who could declare the most players. And we, you know, in the beginning, we were backups. We were backing up two first round draft picks with Denver, and it was the way that we could get the coach to stop the film, right? It's like all of a sudden you're in front of the team watching the film. Somebody makes a play, and they rewind and say, what's going on over here? And they kind of notice one of us knocking somebody to the ground. And then once you start doing that in the run game, all of a sudden they forget you're in there, right? And they throw the football and you catch it, and then you catch it again. And then next thing you know, they don't mind leaving you in there on pass plays. And that's kind of how we both began our careers with the Denver Broncos and went from two backups to starting on two super bowl championship teams.

[Matt Castle]

The real question is, when you did get declet, somebody did you let them know, hey, daddy, Daddy just took you down to the ground?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Oh, man, usually it was them that was talking the smack. I was never a big smack talker, but yeah, every time I'd knock one of them down, they would. They'd have something to say. And I remember there's one particular DB who we had to face twice a year who had all kinds of creative names for me that he would call me. And I said, oh, come on, man, don't be a baby. And he's like, that's all you got? And he went into another rant of expletives, inappropriate things to say. And then I'd say, okay, don't be a. Don't be a big baby. What do you want me to say? Like, I'm trying to catch my breath between plays. I just ran a block. I'm like, I don't have time to smack talk.

[Bobby Bones]

What'd you think of Christian's performance this last week?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Oh, I was so proud of him, man. That was a hard fought battle. You know, they've battled each other plenty of times the last couple of years. Couple of times in Philly. Tough atmosphere. It was cold, it was really, really windy. And he went out there and competed. I was proud of him and his team. I thought Kyle did a great job of coaching the defense. Found a way to make a play and win the game at the end. And they had to work for everything that they got. That defensive front is phenomenal. They're really, really good. D line and linebackers, wasn't a lot of room to run, but then they started getting it going a little bit in the second half and then they had to win in a really windy environment. The winds were like 30, 40 miles per hour sideways, which is why you saw a couple of missed, you know, extra points. And they were. It was swirling wind. So that, that one catch, I mean, what a great play call by Kyle. Great throw by Juwan Jennings. And then Christian really had to adjust. You get, you know, when you throw a football and the wind's taking it, you know, you try to track it and then all of a sudden the wind pushes it 5 or 6 yards the other way and you got to retrack it and make an over the shoulder catch. I don't know if as a receiver I know, but I don't know if everybody understands how hard of a catch that was that he made in that stadium in that environment with the win. To track the ball and then have it move on you and have to readjust and make an over the shoulder catch for a running back to be able to do that is pretty unheard of. So I was really glad he made that play. That was a really difficult play. And then of course, you know, he's able to make another one later and, and score another touchdown. Was.

[Matt Castle]

Which is pretty cool.

[Ed McCaffrey]

But I think this 49ers team is the epitome of team football. I mean, think of all the guys they've lost throughout the season, right? You know, obviously Fred Warner and Bosa and so many other guys were injured going into this game. Bethune and lost so many guys on defense. And then, you know, it's heartbreaking to lose. George, right? Kittle. I mean, that guy is. He is the heart and soul of that team. He's been there forever and every time he touches the ball, there's energy. He's such an unselfish player. And we're watching the game with his family and, you know, we're competing, we're all cheering and then he gets hurt. And it was like, you know, it feels like A funeral there for a while. And they are so. Such incredible people, such a great family. They're still cheering on the team, but you can see in their eyes, they're so upset that George is hurt, and, you know, your heart's broken for him. You know, I've been in that position. My kids have been in that position. It's a horrible place to be while your team's still out there playing. So it was really just the full gambit of emotions watching that game. But to answer your question, I was happy that Christian competed, happy that his team competed and found a way to get a really tough win.

[Matt Castle]

What is it about Kyle Shanahan that makes him so special, that in the face of so much adversity that they had this season, that he's able to keep this team together and keep moving the right direction and winning games?

[Ed McCaffrey]

I think he's really good at evaluating the talent that he has on his team and trying to put those guys in position to win. He's one of the coaches in the league, and there's not that many of them that speak to the whole team, meaning he understands every single assignment of every single player on the team at all times. So he'll have a team meeting, and he'll talk offense and defense once during the week. He'll talk run game once during the week. And he's talking to both sides of the ball, the offense and the defense, and, you know, offense in terms of their responsibility, defense in terms of their gap responsibility and their assignment. And I think when you're a coach that can do that, every guy in the room kind of sits up because they know he sees you in the heat and, you know, he knows what your assignment is, and so there's no hiding from him. And I think that's the kind of coach that garners a lot of respect. And it also is the kind of coach that is able to put in great game plans for his players because he understands their ability and their assignments. So I think that's what makes him great. I know he's. He's a. He's a lifer, right? You know, he's the son of Mike Shanahan. He was the ball boy when I played for the 49ers back in 1994. So he's grown up around football his whole life. He's completely obsessed with it, and he committed his life to the game. And, you know, they say it's not work if you love what you're doing. I think he just. He loves what he's doing. And, you know, he pulled a play out the other against the Eagles that he hadn't called, like six years or something. He had it in his back pocket until he needed it. But he's an encyclopedia of information and he's a real technician and tactician in terms of, you know, expecting the little things to be done right on both sides of the ball.

[Bobby Bones]

So I'm trying to always get my protein up, keep my protein high, you know, and we're a protein society now. Like, it's starting to be really rewarded and the nutritional value is starting to be celebrated. And you have your McCaffrey protein bites. Like, this is what I would expect a McCaffrey to have. Protein bite. There they are right there. So when did these happen? Yeah, look at that.

[Matt Castle]

Beautiful packaging, too.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Got the whole family on there. Yeah, well, Lisa and I, you know, when our kids were younger, we were, you know how you're always scrapping to put together like a meal for them and it's hard to. Can't eat a cheesesteak at halftime of a Little league football game. So we'd be running healthy snacks down to them at. In high school and when they were in Little league and we had. Lisa had a special concoction drink that she put together. And then we try to get healthy snacks and a couple of our kids have allergies. So our whole lives we've really been trying to put together a super healthy snack high in protein. That's for everybody. It's not just for athletes. You know, you're driving carpool, keep it in your console. You're going to work. Keep it in your briefcase. You guys are doing the podcast, have them, you know, on the side if you get hungry. And protein is important. A lot of people are deficient in protein. So gluten free, non gmo, high in protein. And most importantly, it tastes great, man.

[Matt Castle]

I want some. Yeah, it's like one of my favorite snacks is a protein ball. Don't kid yourself. But it doesn't look like it comes in that packaging. It's like mine are falling apart because I don't put enough peanut butter in there. But speaking of nutrition, obviously nutrition was a big part of your life through your playing career, but obviously after. When did nutrition come to the forefront and who helped introduce you to the benefits of being nutritionally sound, so to speak?

[Ed McCaffrey]

Well, I think as a pro athlete and you know, even before that in high school and college, I always. Your body's your temple, right? That's what you're going to battle with. Football's a tough physical collision sport and you need to be at your best if you want to play at a high level. So even in high school, you know, I tried to do what was right. I don't know if you guys remember, you know, Weeders weight gainer, but I would take like, you know, the Weeders protein in the Weeder's weight gain or not knowing what I was doing necessarily. That was one of the few products out at the time. And I would load it with peanut butter. I was drinking raw eggs like Rocky. I was trying to do all the things I thought I was supposed to do right. So it was important to me. But I might, maybe I wasn't as informed then in height. In college, you know, they tried to move me to tight end multiple times. And today tight end would be a great position at the time at Notre Dame and Michigan, you're blocking, right? You're blocking DMS for most of the game. And I'm thinking it's a little more fun to play wide receiver. So I really had to lose weight and I had to go from about 238. I got down to 224 when I showed up at Stanford. And then they tried to still try to move me to tight end. So I got down to 197. So. So that was probably not a healthy weight for me. But I learned about, you know, tracking my grams of protein, carbohydrates and fats, staying hydrated, you know, eating high protein foods. A lot of times they were not very tasty foods. You know, you're eating very low fat or non fat turkey and chicken and cutting the carbs and not eating any desserts and then monitoring your calories. So I. And then working out like crazy four or five hours a day. So I did that to get an incredible shape, probably, you know, 3 to 4% body fat at the time, but I was probably too skinny. So, you know, I erred on the heavy side, aired on the light side. And eventually I just came to the conclusion that the best way to fuel yourself is to do it intelligently and with moderation. So for the most part, eat healthy foods if you can. Right? You know, five to six meals, believe it or not, spread out every two to four hours. Fruits and vegetables and healthy protein sources and minimal carbs and definitely low glycemic carbs if you're going to eat them. And then unfortunately, like, we can't all walk around. Some. Some pro athletes do, right, with their own chef. Not everybody has their own chef. Not everybody can walk around with Tupperware, with all their chicken and turkey that's cooked up for them and eat that, you know, four or five times a day. So it's really important to have some kind of additional food intake when you're on the go. And that's why we came up with our protein bites. And so they're super healthy plant based protein, low calorie, high protein. Again, very easy to digest if you're gonna, you know, take them before a sport or at halftime or post game. And, and the timing of your food intake is important as well, in addition to what you're eating. So, you know, if you're an athlete especially, but really anybody, you don't really want to go more than four hours without eating. I know people will debate that, but you start converting food to fat, if you go too long without eating, your body goes into starvation mode. So you don't need to consume huge meals five times a day, but you do need to consume something to keep your body balanced and so that you have ongoing energy. So that's why the protein bites can be, you know, I eat them at least once or twice a day, usually before lunch and dinner. When you go through that long stretch, you start feeling hypoglycemia, you start getting tired. If you're in class, if you're at work, you know, that low you hit in the middle of the afternoon, that's where they come in really handy for me. But I've also substituted them for a dessert because they taste really good. But I mean, that nutrition's always been important to me. You know, if we want to go further back, I think the time that was really a difficult time for me in terms of weight was when I was in little league before I got moved to offense and defensive line because I was a big kid, wasn't really fat, but I was a big kid. I got put on pretty much the Atkins diet. I was eating hot dogs and sauerkraut. That's what I had for almost the whole football season. And it was crazy, I mean, because I had to make weight. And then I remember my coach and family, they'd all be waiting with like candy bars and all this other kind of delicious food after the weigh in. Because in Pop Warner you weigh in every week. But by that time, you know, you're so starving you can barely even eat candy. It'll make your stomach ill. And so after going through about a year and a half of that, I remember my parents tried to use a little verse psychology on me and they said, you know, what if you don't want to make weight, then go ahead, eat whatever you want. And I took them at their word and I ate whatever I wanted. And I showed up about 15 pounds overweight the next week. And my coach, who I think was trying to Jerry rig the scale, was just shocked. He's like, what? The scale can't be right. And it was right, no matter. There was no amount of Jerry rig in that scale that was going to get me to make weight. So then I was the kid who sat for the rest of the season. I'm on the sideline with my jersey turned inside out because I couldn't play. I played the last game of the season because they let all the heavy kids play. It didn't make weight, but I mean. So Even as an 8 and 9 year old, I started to become aware of the fuel that I put into my body, and I wanted to make sure we're moving forward. I continue to try to learn more and more about proper nutrition, and it becomes increasingly important the further you progress as an athlete. But it's really important for everybody. It affects people's moods. Any parent knows that their kids, right, they're. When they act up, they're usually, what, tired, they didn't get enough sleep or they're hungry because they went too long without eating or. And. Or they ate, you know, bad foods that made them. Made their stomach upset. Or today there's so many allergies out there, they eat something that they had an intolerance to. So it's always been important for me. It's important for my wife. Lisa, who was a college. College athlete is important for our kids.

[Bobby Bones]

And the protein bites are@mccaffrey brands.com if you guys want to get some of these mccaffrey brands.com Ed, we appreciate the stories. Thank you so much for your time and looking forward to watching the 49ers and the Broncos. I mean, both those teams are just in the mix right now. So. Yeah, I really appreciate the time and I hope you have a great rest of the week.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Well, thank you all. Hey, I'd be remiss if I didn't. We also have mustard. It's so different than protein bites. When I was talking about all those lean turkey burgers and chicken sandwiches that I had, we started with this back in 1998. And King Supers, Safeway, big partners of ours, Dick's Sporting Goods has the protein bites in addition to going [e-mail] and they're on Amazon as well. So you can find them almost everywhere, which should be national. Within the next year or two, you should be able to find them just about anywhere.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, if they're on Amazon, that's national.

[Matt Castle]

Are you kidding me? I'm getting it tomorrow. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, they are. I'm big mustard guy. I'm big mustard guy. Yeah. All right, Ed on the show. Thank you very much. Hope you have a great rest of the week.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Thanks, guys.

[Bobby Bones]

I have another list for you. I have ranked if all the quarterbacks were my real life friends, who I would like to be at one, all the way down to.

[Matt Castle]

Oh, this should actually be a great list.

[Bobby Bones]

At number one, he's number one in both lists. I have Josh Allen.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Why?

[Bobby Bones]

Because he is the only one that I have friends that are friends with him. I have multiple friends that have played in the Tahoe golf tournament with him that have played rounds of golf. They're like, he's the coolest dude. He's very normal. You would like him. So based off a friend's recommendations, I'm going to put Josh Allen at one.

[Matt Castle]

Okay. I'm totally fine with that.

[Bobby Bones]

The only reason, number two, Caleb Williams.

[Matt Castle]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Because he does not seem like your typical athlete. He likes art. He likes the arts. He is an odd guy. I like that. I think I could go hang out with Caleb Williams. We'd probably either not get along at all or be totally in love with each other.

[Matt Castle]

One of the two probably totally in love each other. You guys go on like scooter rides together.

[Bobby Bones]

Absolutely.

[Matt Castle]

Go to an art gallery.

[Bobby Bones]

What's that hockey show called where the two guys are gay?

[Matt Castle]

I don't know.

[Bobby Bones]

It's like, it's a massive show on HBO right now. Whatever. It'd be our version of that.

[Matt Castle]

That's your version, but straight.

[Bobby Bones]

But still close enough. You know, we'd love to see.

[Matt Castle]

He is a really interesting guy. Even when you see him in post game interviews, he's so thoughtful in his answers. He waits and he doesn't jump the gun at all. He thinks about what he's going to say and then he says it in such a way that you're like, wow, that's pretty profound. I like it.

[Bobby Bones]

He did rivalry. There you go. It's crushing right now.

[Matt Castle]

He did rivalry.

[Bobby Bones]

Two hockey guys and they are in a gay relationship. And a lot of athletes are apparently reaching out to them going, hey, I'm a closeted athlete. Oh, yeah, yeah, that'd be Caleb and I. Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

Closeted athletes.

[Bobby Bones]

We're not closeted, but I just guess.

[Matt Castle]

We'Re never going to get him to come on the show.

[Bobby Bones]

No, I'm just saying we don't care. We don't care. People think about it. Yeah, we just live our lives.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, we just live our lives.

[Bobby Bones]

Next up, Sam Darnold.

[Matt Castle]

Sam Darnold. Okay.

[Bobby Bones]

Very private guy.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't have to worry about hanging out with Sam and him taking a bunch of selfies and posting them on the Internet. We just go and live our life and be private.

[Matt Castle]

Philippe Beach. You know those are two USC guys at 2 and 3 for you.

[Bobby Bones]

That's fine.

[Matt Castle]

Something in common.

[Bobby Bones]

Bo Nix at 4.

[Matt Castle]

Bo Nix.

[Bobby Bones]

And here's why.

[Matt Castle]

Talk to me, daddy.

[Bobby Bones]

His dad Patrick was the head coach at Henderson State when I was there. And I was calling a lot of the games, traveling around, doing play by play.

[Matt Castle]

You called the games?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

You never told. Did he ever bring this up?

[Bobby Bones]

Maybe not.

[Matt Castle]

Never once on this podcast have you.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Told me you were playing.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't think did it.

[Matt Castle]

Let's get in and let's start calling games together like Netflix specials. But we could say whatever the hell we want. Like that would be sick.

[Bobby Bones]

Like we do here, kind of.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I would call, I would do play by play and then I would have color at home. But we couldn't afford a travel team, so I would travel and do play by play and color.

[Matt Castle]

You do them both?

[Bobby Bones]

I'd have to because we didn't have. We couldn't pay for a tour.

[Matt Castle]

You're such a savage. And that's why you're hall of fame radio gods. You live up in with Thor and them up there.

[Bobby Bones]

Fair enough. I'll accept it. I have Bo Nicks at number four. At number five, I have Drake May. You know, I feel like his wife would bake us some pretty good stuff. He seems non problematic at all. We could sit around, watch some shows. Maybe he did rivalry. Who knows?

[Matt Castle]

I love that. That's what your good time would be. Let's sit around, watch some shows.

[Bobby Bones]

What am I going to do?

[Matt Castle]

His wife will bake for us.

[Bobby Bones]

Yes, Quite the baker.

[Matt Castle]

That just fits your personality. How? Like, hey, I don't really want to leave my house. I don't want to see anybody else. If I like you enough to be able to sit and watch a show with you, dude, that's totally fine with me.

[Bobby Bones]

And eat some banana bread or something. Yeah, that'd be perfect.

[Matt Castle]

Banana bread.

[Bobby Bones]

At number six, C.J. stroud. Why? Yeah, his dad's in prison. A lot of my family's been in jail over the years. We could talk about that.

[Matt Castle]

Relatable.

[Bobby Bones]

Absolutely. You know, I'm not a big Ohio State guy. I'm being honest with you.

[Matt Castle]

You're not a Buckeye?

[Bobby Bones]

Nah, not really.

[Matt Castle]

You seem like a Buckeye fan.

[Bobby Bones]

I think we both come from difficult backgrounds, and I think we'd have that.

[Matt Castle]

And you rose above. Above it.

[Bobby Bones]

He did, for sure. I'm still over here.

[Matt Castle]

Oh, stop.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm trying right now. At number seven, Matthew Stafford. Now, he's way down the list, and I know you know him and you love him, but anybody that doesn't go by Matt and makes you call him Matthew, that already feels a little weird.

[Matt Castle]

You know what feels very formal? When you play that long? 17 years and you've been doing it for a while. Call me Matthew. That's my given name.

[Bobby Bones]

And then also, I don't want to, like, end up as some fodder on his wife's podcast.

[Matt Castle]

That's fair. That's fair. I see that.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. But you like him.

[Matt Castle]

Love him. Love him. I think he's one of the greatest dudes.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I didn't give him the Josh Allen treatment because I knew Castle loved him.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. So you're like, I'm over whoever Castle likes or has hung out with. I am absolutely over him.

[Bobby Bones]

And last, I have Brock Purdy.

[Matt Castle]

You still don't think you guys would get along? I don't know anything about generational gap. Maybe a generational gap. He's engaged.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, but it's like there are generational gaps with Knicks and Drake. May. May. May. Drake May.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, but those guys are, like 28 years old.

[Bobby Bones]

But with. With Purdy, I don't know enough about him to even know. I don't even have a bonding point because I just, like, what do I know about him immediately? And I.

[Matt Castle]

Underdog story. You guys could immediately. I think you sometimes say that you're an underdog story.

[Bobby Bones]

What do you mean sometimes? Say I am the ultimate.

[Matt Castle]

Thank you.

[Bobby Bones]

Quintessential.

[Matt Castle]

That's what I'm saying. You've got that. People want to doubt. People want to doubt you. People want to do this. They want to maybe. No, you're going to overcome all the naysayers, and you're going to go put yourself in a position to be successful. That's why you two would get along great. Less of friends.

[Bobby Bones]

They all seem decent.

[Matt Castle]

You guys, you should invite him over for dinner, all the group together, and see who you really would get along with.

[Bobby Bones]

Say, does he live here? Because a lot of those guys live here.

[Matt Castle]

I heard Purdy was actually moving here. Yeah. Last offseason he was looking at houses.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't even feel like it's like the weird rumor anymore. If somebody says that I'm a gather, I mean, that's why you stayed? Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

There's so many guys that are here. I mean, Jared Allen who came on the show.

[Bobby Bones]

Kiddo lives right down the road.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

Way out there. Right.

[Bobby Bones]

I got his mail once.

[Matt Castle]

Come on. On this street. Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah. He's got. He'll be coming back here soon to start racing.

[Bobby Bones]

He lives right around here.

[Matt Castle]

Did you hear the story about Kittle? He goes in and asks for a bottle of tequila. It's pretty gangster.

[Bobby Bones]

That's when you know you're not coming back.

[Matt Castle]

That's when you know.

[Bobby Bones]

After the game. No, during the game.

[Matt Castle]

No, during the game. While he's sitting there. When he found out like it's an Achilles, he's done, like it. All set in. I don't know if he asked for one or they just brought him one.

[Bobby Bones]

The owner brought him one. Nice.

[Matt Castle]

And the fact that the owner did it, I think makes it even more gangster. I. I changed that pick. 49ers over Seattle.

[Bobby Bones]

Aaron Rodgers is building a house here, if he's not already here.

[Matt Castle]

I did hear that as well. But that's been going on. Somebody told me that three years ago.

[Bobby Bones]

There'S a new neighborhood around here that they've been. What I have heard is he bought land there.

[Matt Castle]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

And that neighborhood's not even fully built yet.

[Matt Castle]

Not at all. I looked. I went over there and looked at some of these.

[Bobby Bones]

You would know your baller like that.

[Matt Castle]

No, I went and looked at some of the lots. I'm always, you know, I entertain myself. I go. I go to open houses on the weekend.

[Bobby Bones]

You're a diner.

[Matt Castle]

You're a 69 East Natural. I'm like, oh, you guys got any crackers and cheese? Let me have a. You guys serving champagne at this place or no? Hors d', oeuvres, anybody?

[Bobby Bones]

You're playing.

[Matt Castle]

Can you feed my kids too? They gotta check out the spot too. I want to make sure that they're comfortable in this space.

[Bobby Bones]

I showed my wife your van today.

[Matt Castle]

Oh, you did?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, yeah. I said, look at that massive camo type green sprinter van out there. She was like, dan, that's cool. Who's is that huge? I said, yeah, it's Castle. Just because he's got five kids.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, that's why I brought it today. I'm picking up all five. I'm like. And the reason I specifically bring that vehicle is, quite frankly, they get to spread out and they're not on top of each other. And I'm telling you, after school is the worst time, a lot of times for the kids because they've been good all day, right? They're behaving at school, then all of a sudden they finally get in the car and they're just like. And they're touching and they're talking smack and somebody's mad about this. Somebody's mad about. They're probably. What did Ed say? Probably just had enough to eat.

[Bobby Bones]

Hungry.

[Matt Castle]

They're hungry.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Castle]

And so I get that van, spread them all out a little bit more. Joy comes to our life on the way home.

[Bobby Bones]

Baller van.

[Ed McCaffrey]

For sure.

[Matt Castle]

You'll be there soon enough, my friend.

[Bobby Bones]

Take us home. Give us one final topic.

[Matt Castle]

Honestly, I think we should end on that topic right there, because that was a solid topic. Mine is like, well, what did you.

[Bobby Bones]

What did you have over there?

[Matt Castle]

I'm looking at.

[Bobby Bones]

You wrote something down.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, I wrote something down. But let's be honest, this is like football stuff, which that's entertaining. Mine was like, you know, can the Patriots offensive line hold up against the Texans? Will Campbell came back. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I mean, what you think of Will Campbell, huh? How'd he play?

[Matt Castle]

I thought he played pretty well. Yeah, he's still coming back, but.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, he's still what, his second game back? Is he healthy?

[Matt Castle]

He's still rookie. Yeah, he's getting there.

[Bobby Bones]

Now, is he healthy?

[Matt Castle]

But is anybody healthy enough to come back out on the field? So I guess he's healthy. I mean, he's a great option to have. And even when your first game's back is in the playoffs against a good team, you're going to have some plays that make you look a little bit foolish. At the end of the day, consistency factor is going to matter. And the fact that he got his feet wet last week and now he goes into this week probably stronger, healthier and more ready to play will be a good thing for the Patriots.

[Bobby Bones]

Is anybody healthy right now?

[Matt Castle]

If you've played all season, Ooh, that's a great question. If you are, you probably didn't play that much. And everybody's got their little nicks and bumps, bruises, everything that you're dealing with. Some people are healthier than others. I do believe the teams the biggest advantage for having the buy I always say this is you have a week to work on your body to get healthy to. It's not so much your mind as it is your body because that extra week actually really helps get your team healthier. Especially the guys that were on the cusp that might go, might not. If they get that extra week and they're say 85% versus 50% and couldn't go, that's a huge factor.

[Bobby Bones]

Final question. How long are you gonna leave the beard? Because I think it looks great on you.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. I don't know. I go back and forth because, you know, it's getting that stage in life where you see. But do you see the little whites?

[Bobby Bones]

No.

[Matt Castle]

No, no.

[Bobby Bones]

You do because you look at yourself in the mirror a lot.

[Matt Castle]

No. My wife came up and said, look at those cute little whites.

[Bobby Bones]

My wife says, how about those blondes in your beard? I'm like, you're just saying blonde because you know they're white.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, yeah, it's a great beard. It's a few whites. Looks good, man. Yeah, I'm not scared about rocking it. The last time I actually grew out my beard even a lot bigger than this, it was during COVID And then my agent calls and says, fox wants you to do an interview for calling games. So I can't go to the studio. I set up a iPad in my room. It was iPad or desktop or something like that in my bedroom. And he says, they're going to see you, so you need to shave and get. So I put on a little coat, button down, shave my beard that I had going for like two months, I thought looked pretty good at that point. We get on, they don't see me at all. I just see the game film. And I have one producer in this ear, and I have the play by play in this ear.

[Bobby Bones]

Audio only, audio only.

[Matt Castle]

Shave my beard. I had been growing this thing out for two months and I thought it looked dirty. Didn't see me at all. I'm dressed up by myself, clean shaven, with a suit, like a coat top on and a button down, thinking, hey, they might take a look in the camera. Maybe I can wow them that way. No. All verbal.

[Bobby Bones]

Look good, feel good, though.

[Matt Castle]

Look good, feel good. Yeah. I would have kept the beard, though.

[Bobby Bones]

I had a guy. I'll end on this. I was doing a guest spot on a sports show this past weekend, and one of the guys that was hosting the show was based in Kansas City. And they asked about you. They said, how's Matt Castle doing? Is he still great looking and charismatic? That was his question.

[Matt Castle]

That was a nice. Great looking. You're like, well, he's aged a little bit.

[Bobby Bones]

I did not. I said, he's even better looking and more charismatic than you would even know in person.

[Matt Castle]

What. What was this for?

[Bobby Bones]

It was a Westwood One national sports show. They were.

[Matt Castle]

I was just.

[Bobby Bones]

They asked me to be a guest.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And they got. The guy was in Kansas City. He led with. Is Matt Castle still great looking and charismatic.

[Matt Castle]

Wow. What a nice guy.

[Bobby Bones]

I guess he remembers you in Kansas City.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Being great looking character.

[Matt Castle]

Great looking, charismatic. Yeah. Well, tell him I said hi.

[Bobby Bones]

I can't. I already finished it.

[Matt Castle]

Yeah. He'll call you again, though. All right. He'll call you again. We're done.

[Bobby Bones]

Thank you to Ed McCaffrey. Thank you to Matt Castle. Thank you to Drake Maymay.

[Ed McCaffrey]

Thank you to kickoff. Kevin.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm Bobby Bones and we will see you guys next week. Bye, everyone. 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. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.