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If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions and sleep duration. Then every morning it combines these factors into an easy to understand score from 1 to 100 so you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from okay to very high. Know your sleep score With Apple Watch iPhone 11 or later required Zootopia 2
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has come home to Disney. Let's go get ready for a new case.
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We're gonna crack this case and prove we're the greatest partners of all time. New friends you are Gaby Da Snake and your last name Da Snake Dream Team Hidden New Habitats Zootopia has a secret reptile population.
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You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly working at Zootopia 2.
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Now available on Disney Plus.
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Rated PG.
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All right, so last things first. In honor of the 2026 NFL season ending in SOFI Stadium, I'm hereby ready to announce my pick for Super Bowl 61. And yes, it's a sequel to my 2021 Super bowl prediction. That's right, I'm doing it. Rams v Chargers. Once upon a time in Hollywood or Inglewood. Either way, it's a sequel. And I'm copycatting myself if that's a thing you can do. I was half right the I said this five years ago. This time Valentine's Day 2027. Love is in the air. LA's all in. Both sides. Not one team playing a home game, but two. Three words for that. Ooh, LA and LA. Real quick though, if you aren't aware or if time has just gotten away from you, we're now a decade into the Prodigal Sons, both wearing blue and gold. Coming home. Related it gets weirder every month, remembering one of the best teams of the entire super bowl era played in the St. Louis Dome. Has the tenure in LA been a success? Sure, for the league. Sofi's in the super bowl site rotation. Don't you know it's the most exclusive sports clique since the front row at a Knickerbockers game. And while I know sofi's two teams don't necessarily love the color of the jerseys, the ticket buying fans wear, and the towels they wave up in the stands, the seats are notably full. Yeah, there have been some mistakes. And I don't just mean the Rams purposely making their logo look like it says lac. But for the most part, the Rams have had more to cheer about over the last 10 years, and Stan Kroenke makes 10 times more money than his SOFI tenant, Dean Spanos does. Rams fans have gotten to see their team win a Super bowl in their home stadium and witness the guy who might be the greatest defensive player of all time. Okay, that's not accurate. That was Lawrence Taylor. But still, Aaron Donald was very, very good. The Rams, of course, also made it to another super bowl, plus won the greatest regular season game of all time in the Coliseum. High five for those of you who remember that one. Now, on the charger side, they, well, they have better uniforms and now they get a red shirt to go along with those uniforms. Yes, I'm giving Jim Harbaugh's second season a red shirt. Why? Because I'm society's greatest empath. And the real turning point for his teams in Palo Alto, San Francisco and Ann Arbor was that second season. And he requires big, strong fellows who lean good on 300 pound defenders. And his two tackles were hurt last year. So red shirt. Yes, both teams are a success a decade in, even more so if and when my prophecy comes true and they play each other in SOFI on Valentine's Day 27. Problem is, the 800 pound silver and black gorilla, even is this. The Raiders might be more popular still. In fact, a great what if or NFL what if the Chargers and Raiders would have just switched places. No way. The Raiders would rent space in Stan Kroenke's ballroom. So who knows where they'd be playing right now. Maybe an upgraded Colise or, you know, memory. If my memory's correct, Fernando enjoyed his time in the Rose bowl and the Chargers would be in the Big Roomba in Vegas, except it'd now be powder blue. All fun to consider, but let's get real. Super Bowl 61 in SoFi. Chargers, Rams, Cliff Booth doing the coin toss. Let's start the show. Yes. Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to Football America, presented as ever by our pals over at DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours. And before anything else. Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe. Why don't you send a text message right now to your best pals and to your mom and tell them all that they need to subscribe. I think that's a great idea. I don't care if it's in the audio podcast or the YouTube page. Football America with the exclamation point. Better Both. How about that? I just told you, both LA football teams are going to finish their Season at home in Sofi. Let's say hello now to our pals Mike Fuentes and Buddy Budowski. Sad to report Geno Fuentes homesick but we haven't a moment to spare here. I'm going to start with you, Mike Fuentes. You heard my pick. It's not a home or pick. It is where I live. Rams and Chargers. How say you who's playing in 61 fella?
C
I like the Rams.
A
I don't know.
C
Chargers, I'll never see it as long as Justin Herbert there is their quarterback. So I'm going to go with the Los Angeles Rams.
A
Oh, how lame is that? I just said Rams and you jump in with that. I don't know what that is. I don't know what that's The Los
C
Angeles Rams and I'm going to go ahead and see. Say ooh, Ethan, do I want the bounce back. Patrick Mahomes, you're coming off injury or
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do I want the buff?
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Why are we on the same page? Why are we on the same page?
C
You know what? We're on the same page.
B
I hate it.
C
Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes reclaims the afc. Oh no. Oh no, no.
A
That would be at this point I think that would count as a cool story. You know. Yes, I agree with you. Do we. Is that right that the Chiefs have now fallen back just a tick and with the return from. From. From the injury and everything else that we now.
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I mean my God, I keep forgetting he's coming off a torn ACL. Dave. Every time I remember it I'm like DraftKings.
A
I think draft. I mean DraftKings hasn't completely knocked them but they. Their aren't as short.
B
Yeah.
A
As the front runners.
B
Fuentes is on that.
A
Bills.
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Fuentes is on that right now. But yeah, I think it is a great story. I mean look, every superman has fallen. Right. Like the Chiefs have not won back to back Super Bowls. I think this is their longest drought if you want to call it in this since Mahomes has started winning. And well it. Okay, they've evened it now because they took two years off in 2020 and 2021 as well. But I mean we haven't seen them this low. Right. Like now they've missed the playoffs. Mahomes is coming off an injury. Like this is the first real adversity that we've seen him face.
A
And just as a reminder for anybody who may have a little bit of amnesia, they were missing the playoffs before the injury.
B
Of course.
A
Like yes. Don't mind. Well he was hurt. What were they going to do?
B
Correct.
A
They, they missed the playoffs and then he got hurt as the exclamation mark
C
on the season right now DraftKings sportsbook they are the third best odds in the AFC behind Buffalo Bills, Bills and Ravens.
A
I just said so.
B
Which not even the Broncos. That's interesting.
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Well, that's another.
B
I wonder, right. I was going to say I wonder how much weight they're putting into the Bo Knicks injury there because the early reports on that are highly concerned are concerning that he might never be the same.
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Well, I think that there's 2,000 right now plus 2,000. I think legitimately that that is one of the considerations from the Rodgers side of things. I don't know if you guys heard. Aaron Rodgers is officially back. Really big Steelers, really 26 and it's his last season. I mean I've never felt like a bigger curmudgeon than I do around this because since that announcement, I mean it was pretty clear all along that, that this is the way things were going to wind up here. But Mike McCarthy into a microphone says on, on, on Wednesday everybody in the locker room was so excited and now a lot of people nationally and otherwise. Is there going to be. Is there going to be a farewell tour? Is there going to be. I. It feels anticlimactic. Didn't it feel like Aaron Rodgers career ended a year ago and three years ago when he tore the Achilles. So I'm underwhelmed by, by the feel good story I guess. But we'll dig in on that a little bit. So Buddy Budowski, have you given us a proper pick here yet? Because I'm ready to start firing through. As I was thinking about Chargers like I, I can definitely make a case and just attempted to make a, a quick one for them year three of Harbaugh and all that. Mike McDaniel with Justin Herbert. I like that as well. I can make a case for. I wonder how deep the list goes on the AFC side of things, of teams that could plausibly win the Super Bowl. I do not think the Steelers are one. I do think Ravens and I do think the Bengals have a chance in this freshly constituted team. Joe Burrow seems kind of comfy with it in terms of, in terms of the top to bottom roster. The one that's the wild card is the South. I could see the Jags doing it and I could see the Texans doing that. Is that, is that crazy?
B
I think that's a big leap for the Jags and the Texans. I mean a Team that hasn't been, I mean, slightly mentioned is the Bills, but it kind of feels like last year, like, was that was their missed opportunity. Right. Was their big missed opportunity. It's hard for me to pick the Bills if they couldn't get it done when Mahomes wasn't there. And it's the same thing, to be fair, with the Ravens and the Bengals as well. If the. And the Chargers, if they couldn't get it done when Mahomes wasn't there, who can? You know, I think the Patriots probably take a step back this year. I don't think they'll return to super bowl form. Their schedule will be a lot tougher.
A
I guess they could, but I. It's funny that I would leave them off. They were in the super bowl, as you say, I kind of leave them off the list of teams that I think agreed are going are real contenders for the Super Bowl. This year it's the Bills and then the. The. The west is the. Is the division of heavyweights. I guess you could make a case for the north if you count the Steelers and Bengals as being prominent enough in contention. Go ahead.
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It's also.
A
We have a lot to get to. Let's go.
B
It's also so hard for me to pick teams that have been back to back.
A
All right, all right, all right, all right. Move on.
B
All right, I'm gonna go with the Chiefs. I'm gonna take the Chiefs to get back to. I think Mahomes returns to form and I hate to do this.
C
All I needed to do was say that part.
A
I'm gonna go with what's wrong with you?
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I'm gonna do with the Eagles.
A
I'm gonna do the Eagles.
B
I'm gonna do the Eagles. Chiefs rematch. I think the Eagles bounce back this year, too, without A.J. brown. They're still really good. That roster's really.
A
Yeah.
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Loaded.
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The guy who struggles as quarterback. Let's take away his best weapon. He'll do better for sure.
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There's not anything. Yeah, but they're. They drafted Mai Lemon. Like, I still think they're going to be a really, really good team.
A
That.
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That roster I also want to get.
A
But you know, Rogers and all of that. Plus I want to get to the second week in a row of over under talking about things that are overrated and underrated, both in football and the game of life. Quickly, though, I think the signature story of this week was the game one performance from WEMBY against okc. And we'll see how that hash gets settled on that side. Of things. And the Knickerbockers winning that all time rally against the Cavs is good news for the NBA. You know, as is true almost every spring it the Stanley cup playoffs have overall been more entertaining than the NBA playoffs. But I also think that we'll know once and for all if this is in, if this is in doubt for anybody that the sports gods just prefer pro basketball to hockey. If you do wind up with the Knickerbockers getting there and they catch really either way, either the, the whole dynasty of okc that's that's the one side of things, or Wemby. And the performance by Wemby in game one has been sort of like this is the arrival, the alien has landed and all of that. Obviously, if you've been watching any pro basketball the last couple, he's just a freak to your eyeballs to look at. And let alone that physical freak making 30 footers and all the rest of it in big spots. And it made me think of it. It's borderline. One of those things of when you were watching that game one and he's over 40 and he's 20 something rebounds and all of that and you feel like boy, this is going to change the game forever. It will never be the same. Like I keep saying, I absolutely not to be a cynic, could see when be getting hurt. But short, I mean he just seems like every trip up and down the floor he's going to break. And same goes for, for Chet. But if that doesn't happen, I feel like when you're looking at this you feel like, well this, the game will never be the same after watching that. And then that got me thinking, what is the NFL comp to that? And I have a short list here. To me it started in 1984 with Dan Marino in his second season. There was an effect watching those games. You know, I'd been watching football for I don't know, half a decade there at that point. Vaguely aware as a little boy of the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the the two Super Bowl 13 and 14. And so I'm steeped and I love football and I'm going to pit games and watching Dan Marino and then he should have gotten drafted by the Steelers, but he goes to the Dolphins instead. And he plays in his rookie season and is real good. But then when he hits the ground running in 84, it's unlike anything you've ever seen before. It felt like he was throwing a touchdown pass every time after that I think Bo Jackson's arrival Makes the list. That game in the kingdom, Trucking, Bosworth.
C
And, Dave, I don't know if you hear the music, but you mentioned Dan Marino and you mentioned Hit the Ground Running.
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Look who's back.
C
That's me. Hello, everyone. It's the count from Pennsylvania. That was very weird. David.
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Pennsylvania.
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Yeah, I don't know. I'm gonna assume because Transylvania pointed out on a map. Anyway, Dan Marino, in his massive career, known for throwing the football. Dave, do you want to take a guess on how many rushing yards Dan Marino had in his illustrious career?
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Dan Marino rush yards. That's not what we're talking about. I'm talking about 48. Touchdown.
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The ground running, Dave.
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He could run. He could run. Before he had that Achilles injury. And then he got the big butt. Then he got that real big butt, even more so because of those hip pads he wore and everything. Dan Marino, he could run. He was a good athlete when he was at Pitt. I'm gonna go with grand total 700 rush yards in his.
C
Oh, no, you're only off by about. Let's see some quick Math. Carry the two. You're only off by about. Looks like 623 yards or 613 yards. Sorry, I haven't done math in a long time. Wasn't my best subject. I took communications. That's why I'm here. That's what count. Yes, the count.
A
The count is bad at math, of course. Wow.
C
I just realized the irony. That's crazy. Okay, one, two. Now we'll be here all day. But no, Dave, in reality, he actually had 87 rush yards for his entire career.
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That can't be true.
C
That's right.
A
That can't be true.
C
18. 18 NFL seasons or 19. Dave helped brother out.
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Don't spell that in C in seashells. It's close enough. It could get you. Oh, the 87. But wait a second. That's got to be 87 career rush yards. There's no way that could be right. Unless they're doing the thing of. Including the loss yardage of sacks.
C
I don't think they do that. I don't think they do that in the NFL. I think there's strictly. In college. Am I correct, Ethan? College, where I was bad at math.
B
Well, let's see here. So they must, because there's a lot of negative.
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You don't know. You don't know. All right, buddy? There's a lot of.
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We also mentioned earlier Lamar Jackson, a South Florida native, where Dan Marino played his career. He very likely watched dan Marino on TV.
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He had over 87 rush yards in his career.
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Yeah, I would say.
A
Yeah, maybe, because.
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Do you want to take a guess how many he had in his first career start?
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Oh, that's crazy. I mean, it's going to be sad if it's over 87.
C
Oh, it's way over. 87 days.
A
95.
C
He had 119 rush yards in his first NFL start, not only eclipsing Dan marino, but about 150% more. How many? One, two. Skip a few.
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Skip a few.
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119 rushing yards from Lamar Jackson and his first career starts. Thank you, Dave. Bye.
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Today I learned from Fuentes, again.
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I always like when he gives us some numbers. I had no idea that he's. That he is fighting through. It's sort of like he sacrifices himself to share math, since he's bad at math.
B
Today I learned. By the way, Dave, just bouncing off the count today I learned that Fuentes did theater in middle school.
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Yeah, I did. I was Michael Jackson in a rendition of the Wizard. I played Scarecrow.
A
Oh, we must dig up videotape of that.
B
Couldn't believe it.
C
It does exist somewhere in a dusty vhs.
B
Dude, I've gotta find that. That'll be so great for Mystery Crate.
A
Yeah.
B
Or here.
A
Basketball. It's never the same after Wemby. Football's never the same after Marino. And I can't imagine the whiz.
B
Broadway was never the same after Fuentes did the Whiz. What? What middle school?
C
The North. North Miami.
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All right. I'm a completionist, so I'm completing my list here.
B
Yes.
A
The other ones that would be on my. I felt like watching it sitting there. I thought, man, sports changed forever. Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick in the divisional round game in Candlestick against the Niners, of course, when he was running away. And these. This was a great packers team. This is a height of their powers, Aaron Rodgers and everything else. And Kaepernick, who takes over, which is also sort of crazy, too. That's a sort of foot on the gas approach of Jim Harbaugh. But it's pretty wild that you had a team that played in the previous year's title game. And were it not for the punt returner Kyle Williams fumbling twice, the Niners would have gone to the super bowl with Alex Smith. And yet, halfway through the following season, in which they're succeeding, the Niners are good. Jim Harbaugh nevertheless says, I think we can be a little bit better. Let's put Kaepernick in there. And he's proven Right. Because when you watch that divisional round game, he just is running away from guys. And it's sort of like I was talking to Soup Campbell producer about this, and he said that it's reminiscent of Vince Young in those Rose Bowls, running away from Michigan and otherwise. And that's exactly right. Kaepernick is running and his style isn't like he's going balls out to run as hard as he can. He just had a certain kind of has a certain stride to him and he's pulling away from NFL level defenders who I'm pretty sure are all fast. So that was one. And you know, I do think talk about what if and stuff, if he completes that last throw to Michael Crabtree in the corner of the end zone to beat the Ravens in that super bowl, there's no way Kaepernick is pushed out of the league. There's no way that the Niners move on as quickly from Kaepernick as they did. So it's fascinating to consider that one play as a massive inflection point of the last 15 years in pro football. Right.
B
You forget how good he was, Dave. Like, he, he was.
A
I don't. He was old revelation.
B
Yeah, no, I know, but for me, like, it's. His career has been so overshadowed by obviously everything that had happened since, but he, yeah, he was a revelation and he, he did kind of usher in that new era of quarterback. Right. Like when you said Colin Kaepernick changed the game, I was like, oh, yeah. That moment when, you know, it kind of started breaking through in the news when he was kneeing on the sidelines and stuff. But no, you're absolutely right in that regard. That, that rushing style of play, like that became a big thing after. Only after him. Right. He was kind of the first one.
C
Like, Vic was already doing it.
B
Vic, yeah, but Vic was a one off. Right. But now it's like, no, but Mike see these guys doing it more and more.
C
I'm sure if Colin Kaepernick, you sat him down and asked him, hey, like, who'd your model stuff after. I'm sure Mike Vick creeps in there. Mike Vick was like the original guy, but I mean, until in that playoff game, 181 yards on the ground and they end up 263 in the air, like, but lost in that game, Michael Crabtree, nine catches, 119 yards, two times.
B
Those teams were so good. Those defenses were so good. Like they didn't end up winning.
A
We're not a great people. Forget it's such a weird stretch that six week stretch that Flacco had because he's carrying the Ravens. The defense is fine. It's. It really is not a signature Ravens defense. Ray Lewis is in there and becomes the story. And by the way, ask any of the Ravens who were a part of that team, hey, did you. Did you feel like that the entire thing becoming about Ray Lewis was a little offensive to all the other guys on the roster and they'll all raise their eyebrows and roll their eyes a little bit at old Ray Ray getting all the attention for that when he was on his last legs. It really was about Joe Flacco and all the rest of it. That is Also Super Bowl 47 is one of the five best Super Bowls ever played. Somehow it has slipped through the and I hate the Ravens. Obviously I'm not rooting for the Ravens, but credit where it's due. That's one of the best back and forths you'll ever see. But Mike Vick properly is the guy who is that sort of what in the hell are we looking at kind of thing. Even back to Virginia Tech. It was a one man game against all of mighty Florida State in that title game and he still kind of kept him in it. Then he goes to Atlanta and you think well I mean he's not big enough. And what evidence is there of running the ball around and succeeding doing that in pro football? The best runner, the most successful high end quarterback who ran around a lot up to that point. The, the, you know Roger Staubach did it and Steve Young did it but Mike Vick smaller and all of that but pulling away from guys.
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It was.
A
It again was a phenom. And then that brings my head to the Tim Tebow experience. Was. Was a much shorter run that was
B
talking about it the other day story
A
than a novel electric.
B
It was.
A
You know what it was? It was NFL's version of Lynn Lynn Sanity in New York. You knew it wasn't going to make it forever. You didn't think it could make it forever. But while it was going on you're like again again. He did it in the last couple minutes for those couple months. It was. It was something to behold. In fact my team got got by Tebow and at the end of I
C
was at the Fleet. We all remember the two completion playoff win yesterday.
B
No 10 completions on 21 attempts for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
C
I just remember Demerius Thomas run with nobody near him.
B
Right. Right on the slant. I was at his. I was at his first start arming
A
my guy, Ike Taylor.
B
Yeah, his first start was here in Miami. And my mom and I got tickets like the day of the game because we heard Tebow was going to be starting and we went and he did the same thing. He led the. The Broncos back in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins. And the crowd was so anti Tebow that my mom and I turned on the Dolphins and just started rooting for Tim Tebow to win because we were so fired up against this crowd that was obviously a bunch of canes fans rooting against Tebow to, to. To win. And it was electric.
A
It's funny.
B
So much fun.
A
I'm still trying to wrap my head around how the Florida based football fan experiences things and rooting interests and all of that. I felt like. It feels to me like you guys will get behind anybody who makes the Sunshine State look good. So I'm glad to hear that actually that some you fans were not on the side of Tim Tebow because Tebow is in the con for greatest college football player anywhere in football in America, let alone in Florida. Better overall career.
B
He's not just in the discussion. He is the discussion. He is.
C
Cam Newton exists. Sorry.
B
Yeah, but Cam Newton had one season. Tim Tebow played all four years. He won two national championships.
C
Well, he wasn't going to.
B
The one Heisman was the first underclassman ever to win the Heisman.
C
Somebody's got to win it.
A
Stitch fix. Stop shopping. Get styled. Not today, sweatpants. Somebody's wearing jeans that fit.
C
Wow. No photos, please. I'm just a regular dad who happens to have a stylist.
A
I really look my best when someone else makes the decisions. Hey, we can all see you two way mirrors. Just share your size, style and budget. And your stylist sends personalized looks right to your door. Stitch Fix, get started today@stitch fix.com. i want to hug you. I'm going to hug you. I'm coming. I'm coming in for a hug.
C
Pool days call for cookouts and lots of laundry. This Memorial Day at Lowe's. Save $80 on a Char Broil Performance Series 4 burner gas grill. Now just $199 plus get up to 45% off. Select major appliances to keep dishes, clothes and food fresh. Having fun in the sun is easy with us in your corner. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Ballot to 527 while supplies. Last selection varies by location. See associate or lowe's.com for details.
A
Okay. Did I forget anything? What? What? What are the ma. The Ones that was like, oh, my God, I can't believe what I'm looking at right now. The. I. I mean, I. I vaguely remember when I was allowed to stay up for the first half of Monday Night Football listening to Howard Cosell and everybody. I remember speaking of playing against the Dolphins, I remember Earl Campbell's breakout game on Monday Night Football against the Dolphins when he ran for, I think, four touchdowns, but it seemed like the three of them were all up the right sideline, him just running away from guys, and he was huge for the era, so it was striking to see that. And the catch is, as I always say, I think, one of the three biggest moments in the super bowl era because it. It essentially ends once and for all. The Cowboys reign over the NFC for a decade and replaces them in that moment with the San Francisco 49ers. So that was massive. Am I missing any?
B
I have. Are we doing football only, or are we going elsewhere?
A
You'll do any sport. Mario Lemieux, obviously, you know, two that came to mind.
B
For me, this was before I really got into F1, but Max Verstappen won his first start in a Red Bull as a teenager, and that was immediately. Like, every F1 fan was. Was like. Every F1 fan was like, this kid has arrived.
C
Trying to see what I can hit him with. What I don't care about.
A
I'm not talking about rich guy hobby.
B
Okay, you want to talk. You want to talk one of our sports? Okay. Stephen Strasberg.
A
Yes, please.
B
Steve. Steven Strasburg. Stephen Strasberg's first start, when he arrived with the Nationals, that was, like, an event that they were, like, breaking into Sports center for that. And I think he, like, struck out 12 against the Pirates in five innings or something.
A
I remember that, actually. That's a good one. Carrie woods, when he first made the scene in Chicago on the north side, and I was staying in the basement, like Laverne and Shirley lived, you know, below, and you could see the feet walking by. I lived with Johnny the Wussie and the Hog. They lived down there, and I stayed with them for a while after graduation, and we would watch the feet walk by, and you could hear Wrigley Field. You could hear the organ and the crowd and everything else. And that day, you could hear the crowd going wild on a rainy day. One hit. Carrie Wood, 20 strikers. Remember who they were playing?
B
I think the Astros.
A
You know what?
B
The Astros in those old. In those old blue and, like, navy and gold Astros uniforms. Yep. Broadcasts.
A
What I remember is Kevin Ori. The third baseman allowed a hit that really could have been called an error and then it would have been a no hitter and then that would be the greatest pitched game of all time anyway. Anything else besides stupid F1 crap?
C
Yeah, I have a team. I know it's like kind of goes against what we're talking about with individual athletes or whatever, but I remember watching. I, I don't remember the exact year. I think might have been 07. I might be wrong, but watching the Brady Randy Moss Patriots. 077.
A
Oh well, Randy Moss period when he's a rookie in Minnesota.
C
Well, I don't know. I mean but that's, but I remember watching.
A
But that was just all deep shots like he kind of.
C
Again, but you're watching, you're like, no one's ever going to stop this.
A
This is, this is right.
B
Yeah, the game I remember.
C
How is this a thing that can be stopped? It is unstoppable.
B
The game I remember from that year is they played the Titans in the snow and they wore the PAT Patriot red uniforms and they were throwing through the snow and Randy Moss was scoring like 50 yard touchdowns. And I just remember. Yeah, it was somewhere right in the middle of the season and that was kind of the game that was like, okay, this is a great start. Now this is. We might be witnessing history here. That's when the undefeated.
A
Well, that's Buddy. Well, I guess your, your mutual point. The, the thing that was crazy was, you know, because the meaning of upset has been diminished by parody. Which is why I am so resentful of parody. Because what is an upset anymore when every game feels adjacent to a coin flip that you take away the meaning of that and it makes us all cynics. But I mean the Giants, it wasn't like going into that game, the Patriots, undefeated as they were, were like, man, the NFC rep though, pretty formidable too. But people like the Giants got to the Super Bowl.
C
Yeah, but people forget that in week 17 of that year they played each other and I remember very close, by three.
B
Yeah, very close game.
C
But, but back to my original point, these guys didn't play a close game until week nine. All right? Like, like they, they scored 48, 49 and 57 in three weeks and then they ended up playing Peyton Mannings Colts in Indianapolis and it was 24, 20. Then the next, then they go on by, they come, they go to Buffalo and they beat that team 56 to 10. It's like, how would you think anyone's gonna beat this team? And then.
A
Oh, you know what? I Have to mention the greatest show on turf. How did I forget them? The greatest show on turf was watching that in the moment. Those first. That first, like, month or even two months, because as I'm sure everybody kind of sort of remembers Trent Green. Dick Vermeil is the head coach, and they get Trent Green, the Indiana guy who was a legit good qb, you know, hamstrung as he was with the talent around him at IU at the time. And you thought, okay, wow, he's starting quarterback is pretty good for a guy out of Bloomington. So as a grad, you know, some reflected glory there. But. But then he gets running, by the way. That's why you. You cannot talk. The people who talk about Rodney Harrison going to the hall of Fame just go watch that preseason game intentionally. Just kneecaps Trent Green and essentially ends what might have been his story. But then the bag boy comes in and they're just talk about unstoppable. When you watch them play, it was sort of like, what? Me as a little kid watching Dan Marino in 84. You just thought they score every time they touch the ball. This is insane. I mean, nobody has any answer for them. And I guess it made sense with the pass catchers they had, plus Marshall Falk back there. Sheesh. Also Tiger woods, if you're having this conversation right now. But he's beating everybody by way. He's ahead by 78 strokes right now.
B
That's the 97 Masters, I'm assuming, is the. Is the moment you go to Dave for Tiger's arrival.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
C
So, Dave, I'm here looking at the. The 1999 season for the Rams. Their bye week was week two.
A
That's.
B
That's inhumane. So they had to, literally, they had to play.
C
What is this, like, 15 football games in a row?
B
Wasn't the. Wait, wasn't there a year recently where the Dolphins had to do this because there was a hurricane, I think. Yeah. And they had to. They, they, they moved the game because of the hurricane, and they were like, that's your bye week. Like, you're screwed. And they had to play like 13 games in a row or something like that.
C
We know the roof might be getting blown off your house, but hope you enjoy the break. You know, it's a. That's crazy, Dave.
B
When you talk about Wemby, the guy that came to mind for me in terms of, like, just freakish, never seen before, was Calvin Johnson, Mega Megatron. And there's not. To me, there's not like, like Wemby had his moment the other night. There's not like one moment to me that I specifically remember. I was very young when Calvin Johnson emerged. But he's the guy I think.
A
Are you?
B
I am.
A
He just retired.
B
I was, I believe I was 8 years old when Calvin Johnson was drafted. But yeah, he's the guy that I go to that was like, we have literally never seen anybody like this before. And you can't stop him. Like you just throw. Matt Stafford throws the ball in his vicinity and he is going to cut, going to end up catching the ball. And that, that, that's what it feels like to Wembley. Like I watched that game the other night. They need a bucket at the end of the game and the shot clock's running down. They just throw it up to him. He catches, turns and dunks it over Chet. And I'm like, I've never seen anything like this before. Like he, you literally cannot stop him. And to me, that guy in the NFL was Calvin Johnson fair.
A
And the numbers bear out what you're saying. I always just felt like he was. That they had his measurements down and had his gold jacket ready to go before he even played a game in Detroit. He always had that vibe to me that he was. He was so heralded that they sort of. That the machine talked him into greatness before he actually had achieved it. Not to say there weren't great moments, but then he does really have one of the all time stretches for about five years. So it's impossible to push back on. All right, let's do over under and then we can get into Aaron Rodgers here because you, you Buddy Budowski, bring me to that with, with the Wemby mention once again. And there was a moment when Wemby that Chet moved over to him a split second too late and he got I guess what you would call posterized. And then of course they had to say, oh my God, check out posterized. How humiliating. And this is something I've mentioned before and I'm going to bring it up to you now. I think over being posterized is so overrated as a humiliation. Just in basketball, you know, in football, like sometimes the guy tries to sack in your pants, get pulled down and your bum comes out. That's embarrassing. I think getting stripped of the ball, you know, is embarrassing. If you're carrying the ball and somebody knocks it out of your hand. That's kind of a pathetic look for you. In basketball. I think I would much rather get post. What? What? Somebody tall who can dunk. And I got up to the rim with him. And I was a split second late. So I'm in. The picture with him is not nearly as embarrassing as getting, let's say, crossed over by Allen Iverson and falling down on the floor. Right.
C
Well, I told you my take about this the other day, that Wemby will never be able to posterize anybody in his career because the only way you can posterize somebody is if they are the same height or tall.
B
That's a good point.
C
Yeah, that's a good point.
B
Sorry, Wemby.
C
You're never going to have a poster. You're supposed to dunk over the guy that you're five.
A
Right. You're being anti heightist. No, no, no.
C
I think my ass. This guy has everything. He's tall. He can shoot threes from 30ft. He can do everything.
A
That's why he's not going to have embarrass me if you post.
C
He's not going to have this one thing. Dave, I already decided. He can never posterize anybody. That's it.
A
Okay, you know what? You know what?
B
He kind of makes a good point.
A
Fuentes. The. The. Because the Starks. I'm trying to think of the most famous that I think you're. You're right. Everything is not. Maybe you're right. Everything cannot be declared posterizing.
B
Yes, yes.
A
It's bad. Like Michael Jordan doing that to Patrick Ewing. That's humiliating.
C
Great poster.
A
Because Dwyane Wade has seven inches on.
B
Right, right. Dwyane Wade kicking Anderson Veris out in the chest, bouncing off of him and still throwing down over him for throwing
C
down on a 6 foot 10.
B
Although a good ex of taller than but still posterizing was DeAndre Jordan on Brandon Knight. That was unbelievable when he threw the ball in over him.
C
Like when soaring over. When LeBron dunks on Jason Terry, you're
B
supposed to do that electric.
C
Jason Terry was never going to have a chance to block that ball. So no, no, no. If you're taller than the guy that you're dunking on, you can't poster.
B
I think. I think also a poster has to have some sort of an effort to block the ball. So if it's just kind of like you go through a guy like LeBron did with Jason Terry or DeAndre Jordan did, like they weren't going up for it. You kind of have to get them going up and like making an attempt to block. But also, do kids put posters in their rooms anymore of like our posters still a thing
A
we have here at the house. Hoover Damascia. He has like his. He has a one piece poster, but he has. Oh, you know what? He does have an NFL poster in his room. I hung it up there. But it's a picture of the 32 helmets. It's good. That sort of thing insinuates itself into your brain before you even know what's really happening. You come to understand what the logos are and then you see them on tv and now you're all the way in. That's how you create fandom. Or at least that's how I'm trying to do it in this house. Psst. It's Mushrooms with Matty Matheson. Let me tell you the secret of how to look like you know what you're doing. Use mushrooms. Toss them in, eggs, noodles, boom. It's delicious. It's not magic. It's mushrooms. Hit up mushroomcouncil.com and get cooking. Rasheed Rice. People who root for the helmet that you see, the red one with that arrowhead on it includes Rasheed Rice on its roster. Do we just skip over the rationalizations? I think it's underrated how quickly people just move to the rationalizations about why this is all going to work out for your team. It's because he's good. I mean, can't we just say that out loud? Why? Why is that? Why have we moved on from just the ability? I think it's because as I have floated this before, I think the crossfire type talk shows, the political shows from 30, 40 years ago, beget, pardon the interruption, which is well intentioned. Hey, I'll take this side, you take that side of the binary conversation, the debate. We'll take both sides and we'll at it. This muscle has been developed culturally now and is now what TV still is doing, which is you take the side of why the ballroom is good and you take the side of why the ballroom is bad for America, and it becomes who's good at rhetorical argument, who's good at debate club. And it's removed the ability to just in a straightforward say like, well, yeah, the reason the Chiefs are going to try to keep him is because he's good at football. I mean, he's an asshole, clearly has no business not. I couldn't care less. Somebody's burning tree, obviously in their free time. But when you're on probation and your career is hanging in the ballast, this indicates that you're immature at minimum. And why can't we just say that and have the chief say, listen, we can't have this says it all the time.
B
This is. This is literally like your number one argument.
C
I would love for, like, Andy Reid to just come out and he has a board and there's a bunch of papers on it, and he goes, well, you know, why are we keeping them? Well, look, these are our splits when he's not in the lineup, and this is them when he is. And that's. That's why he's on the roster. And he's gonna miss OTAs and we're gonna throw him some obligatory fines, and that's gonna be the end of it. I mean, next question. That's it.
B
The clearest example right now in sports, Dave, is the Hawk, the Canada Hockey, Canada 5. One of the players made it back to the NHL, and it's a player that the NHL organizations decided was valuable enough to resign despite everything that followed them. Right. The four other guys are playing in, like, Europe, and Carter Hart is playing for the Vegas Golden Knights and unfortunately playing really well in these playoffs. And that's just how it is. Like, if you're valuable enough to us, we will put up with it. There are certain organizations that won't, and there are plenty of organizations that will say, we'll put up with it because you will contribute to winning. And that's our bottom line.
A
Hey, I think that one more for you here. I just remembered, with Geno out, I failed to take care of business. This is episode number 65. We didn't honor the player who wore the number 65. Best in NFL and or sports history. Do we have any Buddy Badowski?
C
Well, I was going to remind you earlier. I'm not Buddy, but I was going to remind you earlier, but you were on a roll. We were on a roll. We were talking about the path. That's fine. So.
A
Well, because Buddy just mentioned hockey, and that takes me to the. To the obvious answer.
C
Yeah, well, for football, really quick, because we're still in offensive lineman hell, according to this random website that I brought up. Gary Zimmerman, hall of Famer, played for the Vikings and Broncos. Elvin Bethea, another one and the best name, I believe, on this list. Dave Butts, tackle for Washington.
B
Great name.
A
That's the name of my butt
B
65 in hockey. Dave, you'll love this one. Eric Carlson, defenseman, future hall of Famer, likely Norris Trophy winner, Eric Carlson, right in the 65.
A
Still, you think that might. You think that might happen?
B
There are always some. There's always somebody that's going to disagree with you when you say that guy's a Hall of Famer. So I always preface it with likely or probable. Unless it's a guy like LeBron or you know, somebody else.
A
Let me tell you, 2020-5, Dave would have not made not would not have been happy because it had been a failure. But Eric Carlson, I mean had the greatest single month. I know it's hyperbole. Greatest month I've ever seen for an NHL defenseman in March and 36 years old. So maybe there's still some meat left.
C
Stay tuned for Is it hyperbole or are you a prisoner of the moment?
A
It o to say that that's the best I've ever seen. Yeah.
C
This past, this past March. I probably.
B
That's probably both. No, no, they're not. They're not the same thing.
A
Prisoner of the moment.
C
I mean, well, you become a prisoner of the moment and then you go on to hyperbolize. There you go.
A
Oh, by the way, the Youngs. The Youngs are guilty of, of being prisoners of the moment. And the olds lie.
B
Yes.
A
Mysticize to a ridiculous this degree and as we. I've provided a number of examples but today's is Michael Wilbon saying you think that Aaron Rodgers can hold a candle athletically. I'm not talking about deeds, I'm just talking about athletically to John Elway. Michael Wilbon, you think John Elway, but I mean just across the board is a superior athlete there. And Rob, what are you talking about? He's bigger. That's about it.
B
Didn't he run more and have a bigger win? Did he run? He was a. He was a guy that got around.
A
Didn't run more. He could run. Yeah, he was a great scrambler. He wasn't better than Aaron Rodgers.
C
I mean I know he was a two sport athlete and everything and he might have been a great athlete, but he's making it seem like Aaron Rodgers like some kind of bum. Like he couldn't run at all. Like he was a statue.
B
I forget that, no, I forget that Rogers could move around. I'm so used to Aaron Rodgers of the last three years. Like five years ago Aaron Rodgers was still doing the thing where he was so athletic. Yeah.
C
Threat with his legs. Legitimate.
B
Yeah, that's a great point. I totally forgot about that.
A
I. I'm so glad you did that you said it that way because I think this, as I say, I feel like a curmudgeon that I'm not in on the celebration that some percentage of I guess football Americans, it's not just Steelers fans, but some people are really optimistic about what Aaron Rodgers can do. And I should say that I think that the Steelers should be. I don't know if the record will bear this out because it really depends, you know, how the, the ebbs and flows of a football season. And we're assuming good health for Aaron Rodgers, which is a big assumption for a 43 year old person who still has in the, in the rearview mirror, not too far back there, the Achilles. And plus he broke a wrist last year. Is that what it was abroad? I can't remember exactly what was going on with his throwing hand there, but either way, this is what happens to older men. I think on a piece of paper, I think if, I think if the 2026 Steelers as constituted right now played the 2025 Steelers, I would take this addition over last year's. The schedule sets up in such a way, kind of like it did last year, that they should get out of the gate in good shape. But then there's a gauntlet awaiting them around the halfway point back half of the season. So we'll see about that. I do think that this team should be better offensively, more dynamic. I think finally Andy Wytle, the assistant gm, has sufficiently loaded up at the line of scrimmage, specifically the offensive line, that it should not just be people. There's a weird psychological or sociological thing that happens in the QB league where the, where the fans have a hard time really pouring it on the QB. And so it can't be the QB's fault because it's Aaron Rodgers and he's a Hall of Famer and a first ballot and look at all the great things he's done. It's got to be the offensive line's fault. That's what stinks and that's where they've been let down. You know, if you believe in advanced analytics and their ability to assess the quality of an offensive line, they have the Steelers last year in the upper half of the league and I suspect it's going to be even better this year. Michael Pittman comes along, Jeremy Bernard, I think that they are in better shape than they were a year ago and the defense should also be good and I think better because of Patrick Graham. Here's the thing I think that is really strange that is underrated or under covered about the whole Tomlin press conference whenever it was two, three weeks ago to introduce him as the new Sunday Night Football analyst, he said, yeah, it just made sense because we haven't really done anything in the playoffs lately. And I know that. I think it was Jason McCourty said, Look at all that Tomlin has done with the lousy rosters he's had. He's really pulled them up higher than they deserve to be. And I have championed the idea that Mike Tomlin is the greatest floor raiser of the century, but he also imposed a ceiling on how far the Steelers could go. So I guess this leads me to the idea. Do you buy the idea? And I guess, first of all, specifically to answer this question, as we talk wins and losses, I always say I'm not big on advocating, hey, you should spend your money because I think this is a good bet. Two exceptions. One, every super bowl, you should bet on a safety because it's fun. The safety is in play to the last snap of every super bowl and it pays out like yo11 does on the craps table. It's a fun bet to make around the Super Bowl. One and two, the Steelers are always going to go over. They're always going to go over their season win total. I can complain as much as anybody about this and that and I can nitpick, but one thing I have always known is that they're going to go over their season win total. Right now it's at eight and a half and even money, no less, just like it was last year. I don't understand what goes on here, but then I had to remind myself, oh, you reflexively take the over with the Steelers because of Mike Tomlin. Does that still exist with Mike McCarthy? How say you?
C
Well, I think when it comes to Aaron Rodgers, it's a saying that's an entourage, once a star, always a threat. So I think fans want to believe that their guy can put it together for one last run into the sunset, especially Rodgers, because he already announced this his last season. So it's like this is the big hurrah, the last goodbye. And he has the old ball coach, the guy he won the super bowl with, he can make a play and the team's going to save and culture and we're the Steelers, so they're going to think that. But I think really it's just like, how do we put this together one more time? You know, how. How can we get the best, the last vestiges of Rodgers?
A
I don't know, though. I mean, of course not. The irony is, but the irony is with McCarthy versus Tomlin is I think I know that I'd rather have in the year of the Lord 2026, Mike McCarthy is my head coach than Mike Tomlin. I think Mike Tomlin more or less kind of like that, what he's Doing is has not worked. And as I have said for two years, as one of his greatest supporters, whether you agree with that statement or not, I have in fact been one of his most consistent supporters. Is the idea that, that he is outmoded, that his approach is not working at this point in the pro football cycle, in the super bowl era and all the rest of that, and treating quarterbacks like an afterthought. You know, the roster is good and Omar Khan and Andy Wydell deserve credit for having built it up, but it's also a little bit easier to do when you specialize. To the extent that we're not going to focus on the quarterback, we're going to flesh out this roster, we're just not going to address the most important position. It's sort of like celebrating Dennis Rodman as the greatest rebounder and defensive player you've ever seen. Well, yeah, he's not doing anything on the offensive side of the floor. He's not attempting to be involved offensively outside of attacking the glass. So it's easier to do well in other areas when you just completely eliminate one of the dimensions that is essential to success for your team. Right. I mean, up what I'm laying down.
B
I just think my, my fear with McCarthy is like, he burns out really fast and it's just, what do you want to be as the Steelers? Like, do you want to be a team that bottoms out? And there's a legitimate risk that with Mike McCarthy it's ended ugly in a couple places. And I guess he never really like, bottomed out, bottomed out, but it ended bad with the Cowboys. It wasn't pretty at the end in Green Bay either. And aren't you kind of afraid like, Dave, like, okay, this is the last year with Rodgers. Obviously nobody seems to know what the plan is after that. You have to imagine they'll draft a quarterback or they'll just keep going for these stopgaps after. Don't you get a little afraid of, like, being the Detroit Red Wings who made the playoffs for 26 straight years and we're trying at the very end just to keep making the playoffs? Just to say we keep making the playoffs, like, and then have bottomed out and have missed the playoffs for the last nine, ten years now? Like, do you get afraid that the Steelers will keep trying to keep up this. No. You know, no losing seasons, all winless seasons or whatever it is, and eventually you'll just bottom out and won't return to the playoffs for 10 years.
A
For the record, I think that that talk about overrated, underrated, overstated is that that is something that matters to Art Rooney the second or anyone else in the building. I think that is the result of always trying to playing at 30,000ft and never take a season off. The result of that has been no losing seasons because the roster is good enough and Tomlin is a coach who can get you, as I say, to a high floor. The, the, the issue has become obviously after nearly a decade without a playoff win, that what is the ceiling on this team and is it worth it to not to just never take your foot off the gas? That's why I Advocated for Mike McCarthy. Why I or not advocated when they announced him as the hire, I embraced it because specifically where they are, they are in need of transitioning to the only position that matters and developing that guy for the next 15 years. And Mike McCarthy is better suited to do that than Mike Tomlin was, obviously. And when I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. Like Jerry Orbach at the end of Dirty Dancing. I did not anticipate Mike McCarthy needing a year to sort of show some success. And now there are some whispers and I wonder where I'm wrong. I say I'm wrong because that building did not used to leak. But now there are whispers once again, as we've heard in the last couple of years, of Mike Tomlin whispering that was an Art2 pick and Omar Khan whispering that was a Mike Tomlin pick and it never used to come out. But now it's that Drew Aller was maybe more of an R2 pick than he was a Mike McCarthy pick. Either way, I hope hope that Mike McCarthy is enthusiastic about Drew Aller's potential because here's what I don't believe can happen. Yes, you can do something that ultimately is self defeating to the to the roster and its chances of success as injuries happen and the season wears on, which is keep all four quarterbacks. You're not going to keep Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, who has to be the backup. If you I disagree with this sentiment of the Steelers, but the Steelers perceive themselves as super bowl contenders. So if that's the way you're approaching things that that's your your thought process. You do not turn it over if the old man gets hurt to either Will Howard, the sixth round draft pick or Drew Aller the project because Steelers fans must get comfy with this idea. One or both of those guys might end up being viable starters in the NFL. But as it stands now, they're both crapshoots. They are both the equivalent of rolling a hard four. You're not, I mean the seven is way more likely to come up than either one of those guys being a viable starter for you. You never that let alone a high end starter for you. But I do think Mike McCarthy is equipped to maybe get one of those guys there. I do expect and maybe I'll be proven wrong. I think Will Howard's going to end up being the, the odd man out because they need Mason Rudolph as the backup in the short term to Mesa to Aaron Rodgers, which is again what I'm talking about with self defeating and why it might be better for them to take a season off because now right out of the gate you have to give up up a guy who at least they say out loud they believe in Will Howard, Andrew Aller turning into quarterbacks. You're going to have to give up one of them in all likelihood because you signed the 43 year old man to be your quarterback this year. So that is already an indication or proof that things that they're building towards the future is not absolute because they're worried about right now and backing up Aaron Rodgers, who as we've already seen has a habit of getting hurt this late in his career here. Last question for you is this one, fellas. Do you think Mike Tomlin is rooting against the Steelers this year?
C
No, I think he has like too many friends in the organization. I don't think.
A
You think so? Yeah, I think this is one of my favorite questions to ask people involved with teams for a long time. I asked Brian Erlacher that after he retired, you want the Bears to do well this year. It's like, yeah, of course, of course I have a lot of friends on the team. But you don't want him to go to the super bowl without you. Right. That would be embarrassing for you if the year you leave they're better without you. Right. He's like, oh yeah, I don't want him going to the Super Bowl. That's got to be Mike Tomlin's head, right?
C
So. So by this logic, the Vikings felt,
A
imagine how bad that would be for Mike Tomlin. How do you.
C
I really think terrible.
A
If the Steelers, if the Steelers go to the super bowl and win it this year, do you still then make a case for Mike Tomlin as a Hall of Famer? Because it does kind of make it a little bit murkier, right?
B
No, yeah, you absolutely make the case. Yes, of course. He coached 18 seasons, he won a Super bowl and he never had a losing record.
A
But you're picking up what I'm laying down, right?
B
I get what you're saying. Yeah, it's the.
C
It's the, like, cynical fan.
B
It's right. It's the Belichick only was ever that because of Brady thing. You know, I mean, like, Brady went on and won a Super Bowl.
C
It's like they say that, like, Russell Wilson was a Hall of Famer, but then he played himself out of the hall of Fame because he's been so.
A
Well, I got great news for you, Coach T. The Steelers ain't winning the super bowl this year. All right, listen, I think we've said enough at least this week. We will be back as soon as Tuesday. If you haven't found it yet, please correct that and find it asap. We continue to Kibbitz, and then we put the leftovers up there for you on Tuesdays on YouTube. Football America is where you can find that. Subscribe, if you would. Do us a solid. Leave us a comment while you're at it. It and subscribe to the audio podcast. We'll be back one week from today. In the meantime, make sure you're checking out the Dan LeBatard Show. I'm on there every Friday. And all the great stuff on the LeBatard network. Until next time, for my fellow football Americans. Thank you. Our football. Our fellow football Americans. I think that's what I meant to say. Yeah, that's what I said. It's been a thin slice of heaven, Sam.
Podcast: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Date: May 22, 2026
Main Theme:
A lively, often irreverent roundtable on the sporting world, focusing on the 2026 NFL off-season, Super Bowl prognostications, legacies of great players (with lots of historical perspective), and the eternal optimism (and skepticism) surrounding Aaron Rodgers’ final season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The episode is driven by predictions, nostalgia, and the group’s unique blend of pop-culture banter and statistical deep-dives.
(Segment begins at 01:00)
Dave launches the show by boldly predicting a Rams vs. Chargers Super Bowl:
“Rams v Chargers. Once upon a time in Hollywood or Inglewood. Either way, it’s a sequel. And I’m copycatting myself if that’s a thing you can do. I was half right the I said this five years ago.” (01:11)
Reflects on a decade of LA football:
Chargers-Raiders “what if” – imagines alternate NFL universes.
Prediction is set for Valentine’s Day 2027, “LA vs LA.”
“Three words for that. Ooh, LA and LA.” (01:19)
Mike Fuentes:
Buddy Budowski:
“Every time I remember it I’m like... DraftKings.” (06:24)
(Starts ~11:11, peaks at 13:00–24:00)
Inspired by Wembanyama’s (“Wemby”) monster NBA playoff debut:
“It’s the arrival. The alien has landed and all of that… When you’re looking at this you feel like, well, the game will never be the same after watching that.” (12:24)
NFL equivalents:
Historical Tangents:
“Dan Marino had 87 rush yards for his entire career.” (15:34)
(Segment begins around 33:48)
Posterizations are overrated:
“I think being posterized is so overrated as a humiliation. Just in basketball, you know… In football… your bum comes out. That’s embarrassing... In basketball, I think I would much rather get posterized.” (34:02)
Debate: Can Wemby even “posterize” anyone?
Homages to Calvin Johnson:
“We have literally never seen anybody like this before. And you can’t stop him.” (33:08)
(Main section begins at 43:44, highlighted again at 48:07)
Panel expresses mixed optimism and skepticism:
Tomlin vs. McCarthy:
“The Steelers are always going to go over their season win total. I can complain as much as anybody… but one thing I have always known is that they’re going to go over their season win total.” (47:33)
Is this “the last hurrah” for Rodgers?
“Fans want to believe that their guy can put it together for one last run into the sunset, especially Rodgers, because he already announced this is his last season.” (48:07)
Cultural Coda:
(Begins 54:56)
Does Tomlin want the Steelers to fail in his absence?
“You don’t want them to go to the Super Bowl without you. Right. That would be embarrassing for you if the year you leave they’re better without you.” (55:22)
How does a Super Bowl win post-Tomlin affect his legacy?
Final word: “Well, I got great news for you, Coach T. The Steelers ain’t winning the Super Bowl this year.” (56:07)