Mikey (3:11)

God bless football, Mikey. Eh?

Mike Golick (3:13)

God bless football.

Stugatz (3:14)

Billy.

Mikey (3:14)

Gil hello, everyone. Hello, world. It's Monday, January 20th, 2025. Here we are. We made it. Look at us. We made it through another round of the NFL playoffs. It is National Championship Day. Martin Luther King Day, too, by the way. Happy Martin Luther King Day. We had a big weekend of sports. We, we're gonna try this morning to do what we normally do. Also coming up, we have what is not necessarily the nicest thing that we've done to someone in the past. We have an exclusive interview. Golick will be joining us to preview tonight's national championship game. Stugats will be with us for that interview as well. And Stugats did his thing where he. We had a surprise guest for Golic. And if you listen to it, you should know that at the time, if you're listening to the audio, Mike Golick was wearing an Under Armour shirt with the Rocks logo on it. And maybe I led him to believe that it could be the Rock. And then spoiler alert. And I'm going to tell you because when he comes on and we just say his name, you may not, you're.

Mike Golick (4:21)

Not going to know who it is.

Mikey (4:23)

You may not know based on name alone, but it's the, it's the coach of Northern Illinois football team, the only team to beat Notre Dame this year. And we kind of wanted to get the X's and O's, the how Ohio State can beat Notre Dame tonight. And we were really just trying to agitate go look, if I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. And he was a lovely man and I think we fell in love with him and he's probably rooting for Notre Dame today. Oh, and we get to the bottom of one of life's most pressing questions. And I don't know why I'm giving away all of the goods now, but we find out what Marcus Freeman smells like. So if you, for one, did yourself, what does Marcus Freeman smell like? Stick around. You're going to hear that a little later today. Also, I just want to say God Bless Football is presented by Spiranoff. We do game days. Please drink responsibly. So we have winners and losers coming up. I have big board bets in a somewhat abridged version of God Bless Football. Because, you know, it's, you know, we're down a couple people. We're down the holidays. People were traveling. You know, some people said, you know what? I'm going to sit by my tv. Yeah. One of the biggest football weekends of the year, national championship, four big playoff games. We'll take this one off. Maybe sitting around watching the inauguration today, I don't know what people are doing. It's snowing everywhere. People probably snowed in as well. I mean, probably not as many people from our office are snowed in, since we live in Miami and it doesn't really snow here, but snowed in. Right after this, Mikey A. Has to go out. He has to plow some snow so he can save his, his family from being trapped in.

Mike Golick (6:01)

You know what it's more of. There are things that we plan to get done today, and nobody can get out of the garage until I, I clear a path. And, you know, some of us are. Some of us said they were going to be here and then decided not to. Not naming any names or anything like that. But me and Billy are here. And Billy, I'm watching these. I'm watching these snow games because it feels like all the games were in either bitter cold or snow or indoors.

Mikey (6:32)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (6:32)

The last two games. And I'm wondering, like, is that something you would want to do? Like, like if we could go to the Bills game or the Chiefs game or even the Eagles game, where it looked for those of us that live in snow, you know, there's snow and there's that wet rain snow, and it's. It's very different than, Than actual big flakes of snow. Is that something you'd want to do? Like, would you. Would you be okay if I was like, hey, Billy, I got two tickets to the Bills game. You want to go?

Mikey (7:05)

Well, so amongst just us friends here.

Mike Golick (7:09)

Just me and you, say face.

Mikey (7:11)

It's already happened. I'll confess to you that I was working on something the last two weeks and really last week came up with a good plan and I had plans to go to Buffalo for the game. And we have, we have someone that we work with, Taylor, who went to college with Mac Hollins. So he had assured me that if we were to go, we were going to on Saturday. And I'm sure he didn't run this by Mac, but the plan was on Saturday to interview Mac. And we would just be walking through the snow barefoot as we were doing the interview. So, like, we'd be hanging out with Max just walking around in the snow barefoot, which would have led to me being very sick, but probably worth, probably worth it. And then we probably would have done like the idea was like, have a content, a quote, unquote content house. And it was really just because this was like our cost efficient pitch was like, well, if we get like an Airbnb and there's like three of us going, three or four of us going, we just put everyone in the same thing. We save hundreds of dollars on hotels that way. So it's like, ok, well, we'll just like, we'll say we'll do this interview with Mac, which he claims he was going to get done, and then we'll like, I don't know, live. Watch along, you know, this, the Saturday night game or something, I think Texans Chiefs, right? And there was it. No, Commander's Lions. Wow, what a game that was. We'll get to that in a minute. And then on, on Sunday, because we didn't get approved for credentials, it was almost a benefit because it was like, okay, cool. Like full party mode in the snow, in the Bill's parking lot. And then maybe I pay some penances for my sins against Josh Allen. Maybe I go through a table. Maybe it's on fire. Who knows? Just try some ketchup and mustard. That was probably going to be.

Mike Golick (9:00)

See, I draw the line there. I draw the line there too.

Mikey (9:03)

Like, that was going to be my line. Just because I then have to, like. Because then it becomes like ketchup and mustard, icicles on me all day long. And like going through a table. Okay. Catching on fire. My wife's not listening. Okay. Like, I'm fine with, with these things, you know? Yeah. Eat a disgusting amount of like, food and, and like, since, you know, I'm not credentialed, maybe, you know, consume any drink that I'm handed. Like, fine, that's part of the job that day. But the ketchup and mustard was going to be my line, so it didn't end. Spoiler alert. I'm here in my house. That trip didn't get approved, so it never happened. But to answer your question, yeah, the idea of it for a day seems like fun. So as someone who's not like a snow person, obviously because of where I live, my wife a couple years ago was like, I want to see snow. She had never seen snow, so she wanted to see snow. So I told her, pick a place. And this was for, like, a birthday present. Her birthday's in December. So I said, for your birthday, pick a place and we'll go to, you know, hopefully see snow, like, you know, after Christmas this year. So she ended up picking Chicago. And we had no idea how terrible Chicago is at that time of year.

Mike Golick (10:22)

I already see where this.

Mikey (10:24)

The wind chill.

Mike Golick (10:25)

I already know where you went wrong.

Mikey (10:26)

Wind chill is like negative 15. It's on a lake. If you know this. And the wind really. The Windy city really picks up. There is horribly cold. So my. My thing on snow is it's fun for like the first hour and a half. And then it's like, okay, this is terrible. Why did we do this? And I don't know if you're the same way. I mean, you need to. You need to save your family. You're trapped in the house. Are there any errands? Let me ask you. And we're guys, I promise we're going to get to football. But sure. This is the important stuff. The errands that are not being done today because you're snowed in until you go out and clear the path, are any of them your errands?

Mike Golick (11:03)

Of course not.

Mikey (11:04)

Okay.

Mike Golick (11:05)

Of course not.

Mikey (11:06)

So it benefits you to go out and do that. And then you theoretically would have the house somewhat to yourself, or you will, like, the busy bodies will be gone. Maybe kids are off today, so, ah.

Mike Golick (11:18)

Same errands are going to get run by my wife solo, and the kids are going to stay home with me. And honestly, that's. That's kind of what I'm putting off because while they're ready to go run and frolic and play in the snow for hours, I am with you, where it's like, okay, this was fun for a half an hour. Up. You hit daddy with a snowball. I hit you with a snowball. Let's go in. They're like, no, let's now build a snow fort and a snowman and go sledding down this minor hill. And then let's drive to the big hill where we can go sledding a thousand times. And my little guy is gonna go 100 miles an hour and I'm gonna have to run down the hill to make sure he's okay and then have a heart attack trying to walk my fat ass back up the hill so that you know that's what it is. And so I would much rather run errands and shovel snow than deal with a kid's snow day for the Entirety of the day.

Mikey (12:18)

Why don't you volunteer to do the air and say hey to your. Like, hey, you know, like, you could. You could really use a break. I. I see. Like, you're. Why don't you. Because my wife knows.

Mike Golick (12:27)

Because my wife knows. Like, it's. You're not fooling her. You're not telling her. I'll run the errands to give you a break. She goes, no, the errands are the break. She knows.

Mikey (12:38)

You know what's funny? And by the way, Texans 14, Chiefs 23. Patrick Mahomes continues to just get every call even when he's not getting hit. It's roughing the passer on Patrick.

Thomas Hammock (12:47)

You know what?

Mike Golick (12:48)

Listen, I. I want to get back to the snow stuff, but that. That fake flop he did where he was trying to get the call and didn't get one, that's the kind of thing that'll make you not like him because you get every call. You don't need to sell one. You get every call. And I'm. I get it. The refs did this. Okay? I get it. But like, you don't need to make a bad situation worse. The perception is already. You get every call. Don't flop. Please don't flop.

Mikey (13:16)

Well, the one. The one where the two Texans hit themselves in the helmets and he ducked under both of them and Troy Aikman nearly lost it. He was just kind of wandering around there in the middle of the field looking to get hit, it felt like, which is kind of. It sounds like a crazy thing to say, but, like, once you see it and you're looking for it, it's like, okay, he's. He's trying to. To just get hit here, like, hard, soft. He's just looking to get hit, which, by the way, and we'll get to it in, like, our friend Josh Allen. Not immune to that criticism either. He just doesn't get the same number of calls that Patrick Mahomes gets for whatever reason. Also, big storyline of that game. Huge storyline of the game that we haven't gotten to yet. Kaylin Clark was sitting next to Taylor. Taylor Swift. So that. That has now been covered from big time Swifty to now, I guess, friend for a day. Caitlin Clark and Taylor Swift.

Mike Golick (14:11)

How did that happen? Like, I called who to be like. Like, did Taylor say, hey, Caitlin, you should come to a game with me one day?

Mikey (14:19)

No.

Mike Golick (14:20)

And Caitlyn was like, so the playoffs? And he was like, oh, I don't know that we're. We're playoff suite friends. I was Thinking more like week seven against the Panthers. You should come to the game.

Mikey (14:33)

So I'm thinking. And I don't know this, obviously. How. How would I know this? And. And we have. We have. We'll get to winners and losers. This is going to be a winner and loser. We'll get to that in a minute. I think what happened there was. And I could be wrong. I would imagine that there was somehow a Kelsey connection there, right? Like, maybe she met Jason or someone crossed paths with Travis, and then they're like, oh, we should get you out to this game, and I don't want to. Look. I think. I think it's documented. Taylor Swift was not a huge sports fan before this. Right? Like, we kind of know this. So I'm gonna say that maybe they met yesterday or they had maybe met once or twice in passing before, but I'm thinking maybe Saturday was their first, like, time hanging. And as you could see, like, it started out like Caitlin was in the back of the booth, and then it was like, hey, right up here, up front next to Taylor. Maybe they, you know, trying to stay warm, had a couple drinks or whatever, just hanging out, just became close friends, and then they're hugging at the end of the game. And really, you know, I like to. To say shout out to Brittany Mahomes, who just, you know, just delivered a baby. They just had another child. The Mahomes family. Congratulations. What a blessing. But I was seeing. I was seeing early and. And early Taylor and Brittany vibes there between Caitlin and Taylor. So hopefully, you know, Brittany doesn't get out of the picture for having a child. That would be horrible. And I. I hope. Thoughts and prayers, that's the situation.

Mike Golick (16:16)

I. I still want to see if Taylor will stay with Kelsey if. If they lose.

Mikey (16:20)

She's only kind of winning.

Mike Golick (16:22)

She's only known winning. And it's really bothering me because I. I don't really want the Chiefs to lose, especially considering who they're playing now in my allegiance. But at the same time, part of me wants to know if Taylor. Like, if Taylor's on the cusp of breaking up with. Just hypothetically not reporting anything. Please. If she's on the cusp of breaking up with him, like, it's a bad look if she waits till after they lose, because, yeah, like, well, you were just in it for the Super Bowls.

Mikey (16:53)

Well, she could. She could be the villain in that story, especially if they make it to the super bowl again and then lose the super bowl album about it. Well, then she's the bad guy. Wow. Imagine like a Taylor Swift heel turn, you know, like she becomes like nwo Hulk Hogan. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that her fans would. I don't think our fans would allow that to happen, though. You know, like she's gonna be the wrestler that never goes bad, which, like, there's not a ton of them. Hey, Joe Mixon had 88 yards in a touchdown, huh? What a game. Where did, Where. If we were to rank the games from this weekend, Rams, Eagles, Texans, Chiefs, Commanders, Lions, Ravens, Bills. That was probably the worst of the games, right?

Mike Golick (17:31)

That was the worst of the games.

Mikey (17:33)

It wasn't bad. It just. This is, this is no coming off.

Mike Golick (17:36)

This was a big makeup week from last week.

Mikey (17:38)

Yeah. Coming off of a couple bad playoff weekends. This was a good. This was a good playoff weekend.

Mike Golick (17:44)

Four games.

Mikey (17:45)

And I'm including the college. The college weekends in those because the College Football Playoff weekends were dreadful.

Mike Golick (17:52)

At what point do we start sort of looking at the Texans because they make the playoffs every year and they've never seen a championship game. Like, at what now, in their defense, I can't ever remember watching a Texans game where I thought they're the better team and they should win. And they.

Mikey (18:10)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (18:11)

And they didn't. But at the same time, like, the Texans make the playoffs every year, it feels like, because of that terrible division, but they never win.

Mikey (18:23)

I think that the Texans. So, like, it's similar to the Steelers, right? The Steelers get there and then are out early. But the Steelers have obviously, you know, a great history and a very passionate fan base. And I am putting myself now in a bad position and I don't want to be like enemy number one of the Texans fans. I feel like part of it is because they're the Texans. You know what I mean?

Mike Golick (18:46)

Yeah, I get it.

Mikey (18:47)

Texans. So it's like, ah, we're kind of just happy to be here. Like just two years ago, they were terrible. Before they had C.J. stroud. So it's like, okay, like we're. We're still kind of winding up. I think 1. I think next year might be the year that if CJ doesn't get a playoff win, it starts a little bit. It's like, okay, C.J. like, we're making the playoffs, but now we need to, we need to win in the playoffs.

Mike Golick (19:09)

I mean, everybody knows going into, like, when they start releasing when the schedule of playoff games is going to be, you get to circle that Saturday, that first Saturday, 4:00 game, you know, that's going to be the Texans, you know, they're hosting that playoff game because they're the team that they just like, all right, I guess we got to put the Texans in their usual slot and then they're done. And it's like, okay, congratulations, you. You made it to the Saturday playoff game.

Mikey (19:38)

Well, they made no. This year. They. I mean, they won a playoff game this year.

Mike Golick (19:41)

I know, but I mean, it's. It's. They. They're never, they're never a threat. They're not like, we're never talk about them like, oh, man, who's gonna beat the Texans? Like, even when they're good, like, they're. You're not. You've never seen a championship game.

Mikey (19:57)

I. Coming into this season, it felt like we were going to see some of those games in the regular season where it's like, oh, the Texas is going to be hard. And then like they had so many injuries and CJ wasn't as good this year, seemingly as he was last year. So. Yeah, I mean, the thing is, is the afc like, I just. What are the Texans going to have. This is not where I thought you'd be today, but what are the Texans going to have to do in the AFC to become a team like that? Because the Chiefs, I'm not going to say, are kind of, you know, on the way down in their dynasty. But if the Chiefs lose next weekend to the Bill, spoiler alert, the Bills beat the Ravens. If you didn't watch any of football, but you're listening today, that happened. We'll get to that in a moment. But if the Chiefs lose to the Bills and don't make the playoffs, while they will fail in their quest for the first three peat ever, I don't think it will be entirely surprising if they don't beat the Bills. And I also, and this sounds weird, don't think it's a failure of a season for them if they don't repeat and win the super bowl because they. While they had the best record in the afc, they snuck by a lot and it felt like they were just kind of hanging around for this time. It's like the weird. It. I guess like the way you think of like load management in the NBA is what the regular season felt like for the Chiefs, but somehow they still won all of those games. You know what I mean? Like, it felt like we were kind of just Chiefs were coasting through the regular season and then come playoff time, they're going to turn it on. And by the way, anyone who's worried about Travis Kelce, you're an Idiot. Because he was incredible. Incredible in that game to the point that it was almost negligence by the Texans to let him be so open so often. I couldn't believe how many times in that game Travis Kelce was just standing wide open in the middle of the field.

Mike Golick (22:00)

It almost feels like we got cheated. Like, he could have been doing this all season. Like, could he have been doing this all season?

Mikey (22:06)

Load management.

Mike Golick (22:10)

I don't think you're wrong. I think they were just like, hey, here's a really good play where Travis will be wide open, but we're going to save this for the divisional round because there's just no reason to use Travis Kelsey until then.

Mikey (22:23)

Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any more thoughts on this? You want to move on to the next game? Because you were just saying about saving plays. Ben Johnson pulled out a play that shocked everyone that I don't think anyone had ever seen, and he. He was putting on a show. For any team that had interviewed Ben Johnson. The way they were doing some of these trick plays, you're like, oh, oh, that. That could be my next year. Like, oh, okay, let's do that.

Mike Golick (22:48)

It was such the story of trick plays where he ran two or three of them in the game, and the first two worked really well. There was that one where they pitched it to David Montgomery or then did a shovel pass, and you're like, oh, this is amazing, Ben.

Mikey (23:05)

That was. That was. That was the play. I like where you're going.

Mike Golick (23:09)

And then he does the other one where Jameis Williams, for some, just throws an interception because he's. Jameson Williams throws an interception when Jameson Williams should A, not be throwing and B, should not be throwing in that situation? And you're like, oh, yeah, bad day.

Mikey (23:28)

Can I tell you the roller coaster of motions I went on? So first trick play that we just talked about, I was like, oh, okay, like we're showing off. And then the second one, I. I seriously turned and I said to no one because my wife is not paying attention at all. But I. So I guess I turned to my wife, and I turned and I said, guy's gonna cost himself a job on that. On that failed trick play. I'm like, stop getting cute. You're gonna cost yourself a job, buddy. Like, you're fine. You don't need. Everybody wants you. Don't. Don't do this to yourself. We don't need to do this. Dan Campbell crying after the loss. Commander's 45, Lions 31. In case you didn't know the score of that game, it. It was Unsurprising or surprising?

Mike Golick (24:07)

You said Dan Campbell crying is not surprising.

Mikey (24:10)

No. He seems like a very emotional man one way or another.

Mike Golick (24:13)

Emotional, dude. Yeah. Like, he might have cried if they won. Like, he might have been like, I'm just so proud of these guys.

Mikey (24:23)

Yeah. Tears of joy after halftime, I feel like it was Aaron Andrews, but I could be wrong. Said I spoke to Dan Campbell, he lost. He barely could talk to me. He almost lost his voice. I'm like, that's. That's it, though. Like, that's. That's the state his voice is probably always in. Like, I would hate to hear Dan Campbell's May voice. You know what I mean? Like, give him a couple months off. Let it recover heading into, like, you know, the summer workouts post draft, he's now had a couple months. Maybe he has some tea or whatever, and his voice is like, I. I don't want to hear that version of his voice. Like, I want to hear his Doc Rivers voice at all times. Exactly. Right.

Mike Golick (25:00)

I won't recognize it. Yeah. Like, what does he. What does he sound like when he's just ordering breakfast in June?

Mikey (25:07)

Yeah. Oh, man.

Mike Golick (25:09)

Yeah. Like, hey, give me. Give me two eggs.

Mikey (25:14)

It would be funny if he had like a really high pitched voice. We just had no idea because he's just always. The thing is, is, like, I don't like mine. I don't.

Mike Golick (25:21)

According to K. Funk.

Mikey (25:22)

Yeah. I don't. I don't view him, and I'm. I'm sure I'm wrong about this. I don't view him as like the tyrant yelling coach, like, on the sideline, like, particularly, like, if you think of like the college coaches, like a Saban or whatever. Like, just like berating his players, yelling them, like, that's not how I view him losing his voice. Like, I view him just like, doing everything, like, very intensely. Like, you go up to the Lions facility in the morning, he's like, just really excited about, like, everything's like, who's ready to work? Calm down, Dan. Like, relax. Also, for those of you who were not part of this, which is everyone in the world except me and Mikey, because we were having this conversation privately. We were talking about coffee this morning, Mikey, and I don't want to betray him here. Bit of a coffee snob.

Mike Golick (26:09)

Very much.

Mikey (26:10)

And he was talking to me and realized coffee not super huge down here in Miami. We got some Cuban coffee. In fact, I will tell you this, and this is. I don't want to do like the whole thing where it's like, Miami is The only place that says this, but I don't think it's super common. I guess it is, but, like, we will refer to coffee as American coffee. Like, like everywhere. Like, no, that's American coffee. Just because, like, we have a lot of Cuban coffee down here. It's like, do you want American? Like, I'm like, I want coffee. And they're like, american coffee. Like, yeah, American coffee.

Mike Golick (26:40)

So if I were. If you just plucked me down right in the middle of Miami and I said to a random person, where can I get a coffee? Would they send me to a place where I can get an American coffee or a Cuban coffee?

Mikey (26:54)

Depends where they send you. Is American coffee the way that it's. It's described in a lot of places? It might be. I'm just unfamiliar.

Mike Golick (27:01)

I would imagine a lot of the. Like, when I. I'm saying, like, you.

Mikey (27:05)

Never say American coffee when you're getting coffee. No, yeah, yeah. I don't. I mean, I don't think. Yeah. Hartford area, Connecticut. I don't think there's a ton of Cubans up there, but it could be wrong.

Mike Golick (27:17)

I'm not sure there's any.

Mikey (27:18)

Well, I mean, if they work for espn, maybe they're in the, you know, area. Who knows? The commanders in the Lions game. Best game of the weekend. I mean, Bill, the other two were so good, too. These three games we have to talk about silt, Rams, Eagles, commanders, Lions, Ravens, Bills. They were all very good. And they were all very good. I think for different reasons. Yes, I think that the commander's Lions was like the shootout with not the best defense, Jared Goff. Multiple interceptions coming out. Party for Jaden Daniels. If you haven't been watching him all year long, you're like, whoa, who is this guy? Oh, actually, I'm adding this to my list. I have. I have a new. A big loser for the weekend. Winners and losers presented by smearing off the world's number one vodka, Please drink responsibly. You know what? Let's just do this right now.

Mike Golick (28:12)

Just.

Mikey (28:13)

Winners and losers presented by smearing off the world's number one vodka. Please drink responsibly. The first win or first loser of the weekend, Sut's friend, Joe Shane. Because for the rest of time. For the rest of time, Joe Shane is the GM of the New York Giants. For those of you who don't know, and he knows to guts because they were part of the same country club. Joe Shane, for the remainder of time. Every time Jaden Daniels has a big game, we will see the clip of Hard Knocks, where his, I believe, teenage son was telling him, you should really trade up to get Jaden Daniels while he's going around and asking all of his children on the weird Hard Knocks that we've never before. It was basically Hard Knocks, Joe Shane. We just put a camera in Joe Shane's office and see what it is that he's up to in the off season. Kind of like creepy, if we're going to be honest with you. So it's just kind of. We're just seeing what it is that the. The Giants front office, so you can get a good idea of how to run a franchise the Giants front office is doing in the off season. And now we have the famous clip that we've seen over and over again of Joe Shane's teenage son telling him, you know what? Trade up and get Jaden Daniels in this draft. And he literally says to him, you're only going to get this job once. You might as well try to win. And he says, you know what I'm going to do? Trade Saquon Barkley or let him go. Like, I don't.

Mike Golick (29:33)

I don't let him go.

Mikey (29:34)

We don't need Saquon, we don't need Jaden. We got Daniel Jones. We're perfectly fine. He's going to be here a long time.

Mike Golick (29:40)

Jets fans would trade right now for his teenage son as opposed to Woody Johnson.

Mikey (29:46)

Wow.

Mike Golick (29:46)

Could you imagine who gets all of his, you know, ratings from Madden?

Mikey (29:51)

So I think. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong here, Mikey, I think Joe Shane's teenage son is the only person that hasn't applied and been interviewed for a job with the jets. Because every single person on the face of earth has completed their interview with the jets. Because we're told every single day someone else has completed it. Some of them in person, some are on zoom, but every single person is applying for every single jets job, and they're letting us know about every single. Was Kate McCown the latest one? Did I see him?

Mike Golick (30:23)

Josh McCown.

Mikey (30:24)

Okay.

Mike Golick (30:25)

Josh McCown. The. The. The funny thing about the. The really funny part about it is Woody Johnson is paying a consultant firm.

Mikey (30:33)

Oh, that's to.

Mike Golick (30:35)

To give him, like, names to interview and be part of the interview. And I'm sitting here going, what are you paying for? Because they literally gave you a list of everyone ever associated with the NFL. Ever.

Mikey (30:48)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (30:49)

And they're like, hey, here's. Here's the list of people you should look at. And it's 19 pages long. And remember, we get Paid by the hour.

Mikey (30:58)

Yeah. So there's two moves by consulting firms, I think, and I've never been part of one, but I aspire to be part of one one day because it seems like quite the legal rac. So there's two moves. There's that move that they pull off where they just give you a billion options and then at the end of the day Mike Tannenbaum gets the job. Or, or. And I don't know if you've seen this yet, Mikey, but if you want like and if you're a listener, Google this now at home. Google the old Walmart logo and the new Walmart logo and I'll give you a moment and I'll fill. But Google like the new 2025 Walmart logo and the old one. And you will then see the second function of consulting firms because this is quite the magical move that I'm sure they were paid hundreds if not millions, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars for this move where they basically just highlighted the text and hit bold and then in the little sun looking thing that they have, they just made that a little bit thicker and moved it a little bit closer together.

Mike Golick (32:03)

Yeah, you know what? This is the job I want. This is the job I, You've. You've changed the course of my life. I want to be a consultant to say, you know what you guys would do, you know what would drive your sales Bold.

Mikey (32:20)

I think the hardest part and it's like the like the Elaine Bennis of a job where it's like, okay, now write 30 pages on why this is different and why this represents the present standing of the company. And they will just. The new bold look really envisions the direction of the future that this company wants to go. It's more, it's really. And if notice it's slightly closer together. That represents the unity within the company and within the community and really within America moving forward. That we aspire to bring everybody together. While shopping through or exactly while you're shopping through our aisles. We really unifying front. That's why they seem slightly closer together. And the yellow, we didn't change that. That was fine.

Mike Golick (33:07)

No, that was, that was like yeah, race our past.

Mikey (33:11)

That's part of our. We kept company's rich history. We kept the exact same colors to not gear too far off of our unified vision and really honoring the legacy of Sam Walton. Like thanks guys. Perfect.

Mike Golick (33:24)

With one eye on the past and one eye on the future.

Mikey (33:27)

Exactly right.

Mike Golick (33:28)

That's why.

Mikey (33:30)

Okay, so the lions did kind of what the Lions do. And they, they, except for last year and they, they blew it. And the commanders now, are they, are they going to be not the favorite on the field, but the rooting favorite in the nfc, easily up against the Eagles? Is that just like area bias for you? Do you hate the Eagles?

Mike Golick (33:50)

So I, I think as someone who grew up a New York sports fan, even though I'm a Boston hating New York fan, not a Philly hating one, I, I can't, I'm with them in, like, I don't like Philly. I was, I was wondering, like, for you, this college football national championship, which we'll get to in a few minutes with, with Mike Golic, you said, like, there's no good outcome for me. Like, I, I, I'm gonna have to watch either Notre Dame or Ohio State win.

Mikey (34:21)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (34:22)

And for me, like, I, I, it's an easy choice for me. I'm rooting for Notre Dame even though I'm neutral about Notre Dame. It's an easy choice for me, but I'm looking at the teams left for the NFL and I'm wondering, like, what's best case scenario for me? And the clear answer is Washington.

Marcus Freeman (34:42)

It.

Mike Golick (34:42)

Yeah, but like, I, I will be upset if pretty much any other team wins.

Mikey (34:48)

Huh. So you, the Chiefs is just, you're tired of the Chiefs?

Mike Golick (34:53)

It's that I'm tired of them. It's like, and I, I, Patrick Mahomes is kind of becoming a little bit of a sports villain in, like, the flop. The flop is, is kind of the kind of thing where you go, all right, I'm sick of this. I'm, I'm a little, I'm a little over it.

Mikey (35:12)

Huh? I will, I will remind you and I'll say, tread lightly. Chief's kingdom embraced us earlier this season.

Mike Golick (35:18)

Listen, I, it's not them. It's not even the team. It's, it's, it's fatigue. And, and I don't think any Chiefs fan would be like, yeah, I don't know. I don't see that.

Mikey (35:30)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (35:30)

Yeah.

Mikey (35:31)

So the Chiefs obviously are in. The Bills beat the Ravens. We haven't gotten to that yet, but we'll get to that. You, you don't like the Bills.

Mike Golick (35:38)

You can't listen, you can't be a Jets fan and be like, yeah, go Bills.

Mikey (35:41)

Yeah, let's do that. Yeah, that's, that's true.

Mike Golick (35:44)

Somebody asked me if I would rather the Dolphins win the super bowl or the Patriots. Oh, I just left. I couldn't answer that.

Mikey (35:52)

Really?

Mike Golick (35:53)

Yeah, I just left.

Mikey (35:54)

You don't like the Dolphins that much. I kind of thought that the Dolphins were irrelevant to everyone at this point in time.

Mike Golick (36:01)

The Dolphins were the. Were the biggest rival for the longest time.

Mikey (36:07)

Yeah, but that's such a long time.

Mike Golick (36:09)

So. Good.

Mikey (36:10)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (36:10)

So, like, it's. It's. It's.

Mikey (36:12)

But those Patriots don't exist anymore. Those Patriots. Yes, that's right. That's why we still use the yellow.

Mike Golick (36:19)

Yes.

Mikey (36:20)

Because of the Patriots. All right, well, the commanders now are everybody's darling favorite team. And they've gone from a team that is playing with house money to a team that now everybody is hoping and praying beats the Eagles next round. I think. I think.

Mike Golick (36:35)

I think outside of Philadelphia, I think pretty much everybody, because, like, even Cowboys fans and Giants fans who are like, I can't root for my rival are like, yeah, but if I had to root for one of my rivals, it'd be that one.

Mikey (36:50)

Yeah. Yeah, I made the mistake yesterday. In fantasy, you can compete against this. In Fantasy, go to DKNG CEO/Smirnoff. Our fantasy contest is presented by Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka. Please drink responsibly. When we're this late in the game of fantasy and you only have four games, there's very little variance in who everybody is taking. A lot of people are just taking the same people. So you have to go out on a limb and. And really find where the hidden gems are. So I thought everyone is going to do Josh Allen this week because, you know, it's easy money. So I went with Jaden Daniels, which ended up working out. Except. Except he was doing this cute little game where he was passing the ball up until the two yard line and then they were running everything in, so we were not getting any touchdown points. So while he had a great game, he didn't get me what I needed. Jameer Gibbs. Oh, Jameer Gibbs. Oh, Jamir Gibbs. I thought he was going to carry me to fantasy heaven. And then I made the mistake of taking Derek Henry over Saquon Barkley. Because my thinking was this is my thought process. I had looked in the weather and I was like, buffalo's going to be a messy game. They're going to be running all day long in Buffalo. And sure enough, it was okay. It was pleasant enough. Josh decided, I'm passing today. And he was going to throw also. So. So did Lamar, to his detriment. But Josh decided he was going to pass today. I can't imagine. And we've now skipped a game. We'll go Back. I can't imagine catching a ball in that weather because it must be like catching a bowling ball. And Mark Andrews. Oh, buddy.

Marcus Freeman (38:29)

Wow.

Mike Golick (38:30)

Maybe they should have let the air out of the ball a little bit.

Mikey (38:33)

Maybe.

Mike Golick (38:33)

You know, some, some. Some hall of Famers would say the best way to combat that is to let a little air out.

Mikey (38:41)

Some say that. You say. Some.

Mike Golick (38:43)

Some say that.

Mikey (38:44)

I, I have thought this year. This is completely obviously unrelated to what we're talking about. I have thought this year. Tom Brady's been fine. People are very anti Tom Brady. He's fine. I mean, I, He's. I'm not gonna. Let me put it this way. I'm not gonna not watch a game because of Tom Brady taking some sort of stand to bring Greg Olson back. Like, I'm okay. I. I'm watching the game. I'm fine.

Mike Golick (39:10)

I want him to be better. I want him to be better.

Mikey (39:13)

He can be better.

Mike Golick (39:13)

That he's not good. I'm not saying. I feel like. I feel like what he does is he analyzes every play, and I'm like, you know what, Tom? Some plays are just a one yard run, and they can just be a one yard run. Whereas he's like, no, see, here's what's happening. And it's like, I don't, I don't need to know. Maybe just give me a little personality and a little less analytics there.

Mikey (39:35)

Now here's the tricky part. Who tells him that? Because I think that may be where we're at. I think that may be where we're at with this experience. It's like, like, Tom may come in. I don't know if he's going in. And he's like, how'd that go? And everyone's like, that was great. That was perfect, Tom. He's like, okay. And then he goes home. Or he's just like, I'm Tom Brady. I got this. But it's probably somewhere in the middle, right? Like, no one wants to be the person to sit down, be like, Tom, listen, let's see what's.

Mike Golick (40:04)

What's so funny about that? A little, little behind the scenes. A little, little, little bts, Little bragging on my part here. Worked with a lot of former athletes.

Mikey (40:12)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (40:13)

A lot of good ones, a lot of great ones.

Mikey (40:16)

Ah, no.

Mike Golick (40:17)

And here's the thing. They all still want to be coached. They still want the film room Monday. They still want you to say, hey, here's what you did. Well, here's what you got to work on. Here's how you do it. They all still want that.

Mikey (40:32)

Yeah, but I don't think there's many people telling Tom, Tom.

Mike Golick (40:36)

Well, you have to, you have to get over. You have to be willing to coach. Tom.

Mikey (40:40)

Yeah, here's. Wow.

Mike Golick (40:42)

Hey, Tom, Tom, I'll do it.

Mikey (40:44)

They bring in Bill Belich.

Mike Golick (40:45)

I'll do it.

Mikey (40:46)

Bill Belichick, media coach, after a year in the media himself, he's, he's won. No one was giving him tips on, you know what I mean? It was like, whatever Bill gives us. Bill gives us. Like, I'm not, I am not sitting.

Mike Golick (40:56)

Coaches don't want to be coached.

Mikey (40:58)

Coaches don't want to be coached. No, not gonna happen anyways. Rams, Eagles. We got to a point, Rams seemed to have put that one away. Or sorry. Eagles seem to put that one away. Ramps got right back in that one. I don't know how they managed to pull that one off. That Saquon.

Mike Golick (41:16)

That was the best game of the weekend. Like, yes, you asked before. Washington and the Lions was the most entertaining, but the best game of the weekend was the one that went down to, to that. Oh, maybe Buffalo.

Mikey (41:32)

No, because here's, here's, here's. This is, this is what I will tell you about Buffalo and, and the Ravens. That game was not as exciting and fun as the Commanders and Lions game. And I don't think was as good as the Rams and Eagles while they seem to have been playing in worse conditions in Rams, Eagles, Ravens, Bills was a little bit sloppy. Like it was, it was a close game, but not a classic game, if that makes sense. Like, like I feel bad for Lamar Jackson because Lamar Jackson, aside from, you know, turnovers, but Lamar did what he had to do to win that game. And now that will be forgotten within a few weeks and then next year in the playoffs it will go back to. And, and there'll be, you know, the videos and the notes of how Mark Andrews was a big loser. In Winners and Losers presented by Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka. There'll be a slight note, but history will forget that Mark Andrews had that two point conversion, dropped that he had that fumble and it will just fall back on Lamar not being able to get it done, unfortunately, because again, he did everything that he could do and he is going to be the victim in this narrative because they did not lose because of him. But that's not how it's going to be remembered.

Mike Golick (43:05)

And here's the other thing I'll say about that game. It went down to a failed two point conversion because Mark Andrews Forgot how to catch. And I don't think it could have lived up to the hype. I don't think anything we could have gotten in that game could have lived up to what we thought we were going to get in that game.

Mikey (43:23)

Yeah.

Mike Golick (43:23)

And then we came off of a really good game. I think maybe that's why I don't view it as the best game of the weekend because I was expecting so much more than I got and I still got really good.

Mikey (43:37)

Yeah, no, this weekend. This weekend was great. Yesterday's games were great. Again, the fact that we were saying Texas and Chiefs was the worst game of the weekend, that wasn't even a bad game. It was just. There was three really good games this weekend setting up if the season ended today. Mikey, great matchups. Next week we have the Commanders and the Eagles, which you have already told us you want the Commanders to win the Super Bowl. You're rooting for them. And then we have Chiefs and Bills, which I think this is only the second time that they're playing each other in the conference championship with Mahomes and Josh Allen because I think they always end up running into each other around sooner. So I think this is the first time since 2020 the Bills are going to be in the AFC championship game and it's lining up nicely for them because as we mentioned, you know, result of this week's game aside, the Chiefs do seem to not be the Chiefs that we've seen, even though they looked pretty good, but that could just be that they were playing the Texans. If the Bills were to make it to the super bowl on somewhat of a, a down year on his 15 and two Chiefs team, I think this works out great for everyone because that even Patrick is like, well, you know, now he can go home, spend time with his kids and you know, the pressure of the three Pete is done. And then next year's a kind of a bounce back year, whatever, but we'll see. I'm excited about that one. That, that one is the Sunday night game next week, I believe.

Mike Golick (45:03)

So are you saying, are you saying that if the Chiefs lose the AFC Championship game, it's a good loss? Is that.

Mikey (45:13)

Oh, it's a, it's a good loss for the Chiefs. Yeah.

Mike Golick (45:15)

Good loss.

Mikey (45:16)

It's a good loss if they lose.

Mike Golick (45:17)

To lose the AFC Championship game, you're saying for the Chiefs. Because that's going to set them up for the next five years.

Mikey (45:23)

It's a good loss. Yeah, it's a quality. Yeah, quality loss by the Chiefs. Okay, let, let me Say this, the Chiefs are the team of the commanders. Because if the commanders lose, they weren't supposed to be there. And by the way, by the way, people of the world, I believe if you go back, and I'm asking you not to do so, but I believe if you go back about five or six weeks ago, I said the commanders might be frauds. So don't go back and look into that.

Mike Golick (45:54)

Don't do that.

Mikey (45:54)

You have no reason to go back.

Mike Golick (45:56)

I forgot that. You should, too.

Mikey (45:57)

You have no reason to go back six weeks and listen to old episodes of Godbus Football. That stuff's dated. I would appreciate it if you did. But don't do that. We don't need that. Just. But like Walmart, we're just focusing on the future with our new. Our new look here. Exactly right. Well, no eyes on the past in this situation. Both eyes on the future. If the commanders lose, man, you know, whatever, they weren't supposed to be there. If the Eagles lose, people are going to want to fire Sirianni again. Obviously, that's what's going to happen. They're going to want to immediately fire Sirianni. If the Bills lose, you start having that conversation of. I saw a clip of Peyton Manning talking to Kevin Clark about Josh Allen, and he was saying that Josh is facing some of the same things that he would face in his career at this point in his career where it was, Peyton Manning is really good, but. And Josh Allen is really good, makes all these great plays. But. And he was saying how Josh needs to remove the but, which is kind of where this game is. Is this is a game to get to the Super Bowl. If he doesn't win the super bowl this year, he made it to the Super Bowl. And then there's like, okay, we'll be back. Whether they are or not, it doesn't matter. But the thinking will be, okay, we'll be back to the Super Bowl. This is a great step to make it to the Super Bowl. Not how we wanted the season to end, but a great step. If he loses this game, you're kind of right back in the exact same position. It's the first time again in five years that they've been to the AFC Championship Game, but you're back in the same position of here we go again, which is unfair to him because going into the season, no one thought that they would be anywhere near this position. They thought that this was going to be an off year for the Bills. They got rid of Stefan Diggs. What are his weapons going to be So I think he's got to win, which is why Chiefs. Good loss, maybe. Good loss for the Chief, maybe. You see, even though now, now we're in it now, now they might as well go all the way. You know, if you're the Chiefs, because you're not. What are you getting two weeks off, like, that's. I'll play two more weeks. What's difference does that make? And if you don't make the playoffs, you get a whole month or you lose the first round, you get the extra week. Now you might as well. Two weeks. Anyone can do two weeks, right?

Mike Golick (48:07)

Sure.

Mikey (48:08)

Okay. There's a national championship game tonight. We haven't really talked about the Rams and the Eagles again. Well, all we've really said is Saquon so good. And I don't know how much more needs, much more needs to be said about that game. So national championship is today. We're going to talk to Golic and we're going to talk to the head coach of Northern Illinois. Illinois, I don't know what happened to me there. The only team to beat Notre Dame this year. But before we do that, Mikey, I thought it'd be fun if I gave you. Because it's Monday, obviously need it. I thought it'd be fun if I gave you a little BBBBB National Championship Edition. So the first one that I'm gonna.

Mike Golick (48:44)

Do here is this the first ever BBBBBB College. I can't remember you ever.

Mikey (48:50)

I think. I think this is the first college edition of this game. And if I'm gonna be honest with you as to why it is that I'm doing it, besides the fact that it is Monday, it is. Because right now my record on the season is 47 and 29. And in my dream fantasy world, I go 3 and 0 and I hit 50 wins and then I am sitting pretty and maybe moving forward, this then becomes for the last two weeks of the season, maybe this will become a Friday situation. But I'm leaning towards no because Stugats doesn't seem to like me doing this and he doesn't seem to like when I win these things because he'll just tell you how great his record has been even though he changes the lines in every single one of the game. So I may this may be the last one of the season to be determined. We were talking about Ohio State and Notre Dame before Mikey, and you were saying how you have become a Notre Dame fan. I was at a. Instead of Buffalo, I was at a three year old's birthday party yesterday. Which was a surprise birthday, didn't know about but then found out like oh, we are going to a birthday party in two hours so and oh, can you go buy a present for said birthday party? Which I had to do. So I, I went to this birthday party yesterday and I was talking to, you know, some of my brother in law was there, I was talking to some of the dads and, and they like you are rooting for Notre Dame which I thought was weird and I think is just an age thing down here because Miami has a unique hatred for both teams. Sure, the older generations remember Notre Dame and the Catholics versus convicts and they hate Notre Dame. I don't like Notre Dame because I think they're annoying but I don't have the same passion because also I don't really care about the University of Miami. Now Ohio State has like a. Miami still believes that they were robbed a national championship to Jim Trestle and Ohio State. So they do not want Ohio State even though Ohio State has won a national championship since, they do not want Ohio State to win the national championship. So down here it's kind of interesting because of the whole University of Miami dynamic with both teams. So anyways, I am going to take the over 45 and a half points.

Mike Golick (51:04)

So all that to say you're not picking a team yet.

Mikey (51:07)

Well, this is what I'm going to say. I'm taking the over of 40 half, 45 and a half points. Why am I taking the over, you ask? Because I have done terribly this year when I take the under at anything. So I have told myself, billy, stop taking the under. Just root for an entertaining, entertaining game. So I'm gonna take the over of 45 and a half points. That's my first one, my second one. Jeremiah Smith anytime. Touchdown.

Mike Golick (51:32)

I like that one.

Mikey (51:34)

I'm just doing that one for Mikey because Mikey said take Jeremiah Smith anytime. Touchdown last week. No, it's fine, it's fine. And then Fuentes said take Jeremiah Smith over everything. But I trust Mikey more than I trust Fuentes. So Jeremiah Smith anytime. Touchdown. And finally and again we're going to tie Mike Golick on here next. And I want to thank Jess and Lucy because I reached out to them to see if they wanted to join today. I had both were willing and I ended up saying, you know what it is early on, Martin Luther King, go ahead and enjoy. Yeah, well they're both going to the national championship game tonight. So I said, you know what, you guys just enjoy this week, enjoy this game, enjoy the national championship. We'll catch up with you later this week. So shout out to them because they were willing to come on and partake in the fun today. And again, the fun is not stopping. We're going to talk to my colic coming up next. And I'm really going to try to agitate him if I'm going to be honest with you. My final pick headed into agitating. Mike Golick. Notre Dame plus eight and a half. Yeah, it hurts me. It really hurts me to do it. Wow. So many points. And, and selfishly, I, I don't, I don't know if they're going to win. I want both teams to lose, but I selfishly just want a good national championship game because there have been some stinkers as of late. I just want a close one. Eight and a half points is a lot of points. So anyways, coming up next, as we've teased a billion times by now, Mike Golick gets us ready for the national championship game with a special guest.

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Mike Golick (53:55)

The world is on the brink of war.

Mikey (53:57)

Comes Captain America. Brave new world watchers myself. You're not Steve Rogers, right?

Mike Golick (54:04)

I'm not.

Stugatz (54:05)

On February 14, one symbol stands for all Captain America.

Marcus Freeman (54:13)

You don't even know what this is.

Mike Golick (54:15)

You want me?

Stugatz (54:16)

Come and get me.

Mikey (54:18)

Captain America.

Stugatz (54:19)

Brave New world in theaters February 14th.

Mikey (54:21)

Get tickets now. This film is not yet rated.

Mike Golick (54:25)

This episode is brought to you by Amazon. Sometimes the most painful part of getting sick is the getting better part. Waiting on hold for an appointment. Sitting in crowded waiting rooms. Standing in line at the pharmacy. That's painful. Amazon One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy remove those painful parts of getting better with things like 24. 7 virtual visits and prescriptions delivered to your door thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon one medical healthcare just got less painful.

Mikey (55:03)

So, Mike, I have a theory on the national championship. I want to share with you that I'm not sure you're going to be too fond of, but I've been floating it out there, all right? I believe that it is best for business for you for Notre Dame to lose the national championship this year. And I'll tell you why.

Mike Golick (55:22)

Hear him out, Mike. Mike, hear him out on this. Hear me out, because this isn't, this isn't, this isn't a bad theory. He's been peddling this for a while. And to be honest with you, originally I had your reaction. I was like, come on, man. Mike's wants Notre Dame to win, but he's got. He. There's some logic to this.

Marcus Freeman (55:38)

This is going to take something from you here, Billy.

Mikey (55:41)

Okay, well, here's. Here's the deal. Naturally your heart wants you, wants Notre Dame to win the national championship, but your head may not. And you just don't know it until I now give you this theory of mine. I believe that once Notre Dame wins the national championship, I think some of the opportunities that you get as a distinguished Notre Dame name are going to start going to the Riley Leonard's of the world. You know what I mean? They're going to say, you know what, let's get, let's get some national champions on here. And I feel like then maybe they're going to disrespect all of what you've done for the university for all the years, for all these Johnny come lately. And I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. So I, because I care about you, am rooting for Notre Dame to lose so that you get to still have your sterling standing within the community.

Marcus Freeman (56:34)

I appreciate that very much.

Mikey (56:36)

Welcome.

Marcus Freeman (56:38)

I disagree.

Mikey (56:40)

Hey, give.

Marcus Freeman (56:41)

Give the, Give the fruits to the people who won the title. If they get the accolades, they deserve it, so be it. If. If I have to take a step back, so be it. I still live within a block of the campus. It's not like I won't be around. And I doubt all of a sudden I'll stop being led into practice to watch. Now if that happens, you know, I'll raise an eyebrow, but I don't. No, no. I am all for giving the love to those who win it. So while I understand and I appreciate your concern for me, I still hope that they win the title.

Mike Golick (57:16)

What about, what about the, the. The crop that isn't part of the national championship team but like the Kyle Rudolph's who you like. You didn't win a national championship, but you're just newer to the Notre Dame community.

Marcus Freeman (57:32)

It'll be interesting how Now a lot depends on how much you're around. Right? You can't just, you can't just show up, you know, once a year and expect to have the red carpet laid out for. You have to kind of be around. You have to be a games, you have to be at practice. You have to, if you're invited to talk to the team, talk to the team. So you have to stay involved with the team.

Mikey (57:54)

But this is my concern, Mike, is I feel like now you're, you know, six month commitment to Notre Dame is going to have to become a year round commitment where maybe we spend a lot more time at the South Bend estate. You know what I mean? Or maybe they say, you know what, this is nice, you're a block away from campus, but this is for winners. You're gonna have to move three blocks away from campus now. You know what I mean? Like, here's the thing. I believe, I believe that you believe that they're not gonna do this to you, but I believe they're not gonna stab you in the front. I think we need to keep an eye on them because it's the ones that you love the most that can hurt you the most. And I think that if, if we're not looking out for you, they may, they may break your heart. And I don't want you to be heartbroken.

Marcus Freeman (58:34)

I appreciate your concern for me and not worried about it. I have too much respect for Marcus Freeman that he wouldn't do that to former players because he's made such a point of bringing former players back into the fold. But it's noted. I do appreciate your concern.

Mikey (58:52)

Yeah. How do we feel about, about Father Dowd.

Marcus Freeman (58:58)

As far as.

Mikey (58:59)

Is he one that would, that would hurt you?

Marcus Freeman (59:01)

No. No. How about Father Dowd, the new, the new president of Notre Dame and people vacua, the new AD of Notre Dame. Here they are their first year in the G on the. In the gig and, and their team's playing for the national championship. I mean, that's pretty damn impressive.

Mikey (59:16)

Yeah.

Stugatz (59:17)

Mike, is Billy trying to convince you Notre Dame should lose that? Yeah. Yes.

Marcus Freeman (59:21)

Well, which isn't shocking, but, but they are for nice reasons.

Mikey (59:25)

Right. Thank you. Yes, thank you.

Stugatz (59:27)

Right. He has the Govik family in mind. That's exactly right.

Mike Golick (59:30)

Yeah, he does. He does.

Marcus Freeman (59:31)

So I. Well, I do appreciate that. I'm not too worried. You know what it's a good problem to have.

Mikey (59:37)

Well, it may not be. That's what I'm getting at is it seems hypothetically like a good problem to have until we have it. So I'm trying to avoid it, you know? Yeah. I have a golden heart for the Golden Domers. You know what I mean?

Marcus Freeman (59:49)

I'm willing to roll the dice.

Mikey (59:51)

Okay. All right.

Stugatz (59:52)

Mike, are you worried about Marcus Freeman leaving your school?

Marcus Freeman (59:55)

No, no, not. Not at this point. I don't think he wants to go to the NFL just yet. He just signed the extension with Notre Dame. They're paying him good bucks. I do think he'll be around. I know his name has been attached to the Bears, but I don't think that he wants to. I'm not sure what his goal is, if he wants to coach in the NFL or not, but I don't think he wants to right now. That would be my guess.

Stugatz (60:21)

You know, Billy, it was interesting because Mike did not come down here for the Orange bowl for the semifinal game. He is going to the national championship game game. But I found it interesting that, you know, we were discussing whether or not Mike Golick wanted to stay over at your house, sleep on that couch right behind you. I thought Mike was a lock for. For the Orange bowl, but I think it was Billy's house that scared him away.

Mikey (60:44)

So I don't know what happened, but it did happen.

Marcus Freeman (60:47)

It was that staying at your house, Billy, and the fact that I have PTSD about that stadium in Notre Dame. They played there for the title when my boys were on the team in 2013, that stadium, and got smoked by Bama. So I didn't feel like revisiting it.

Mikey (61:06)

Looks very different now, Mike. You wouldn't even recognize it from that game. They have the roof on there. Like, it's a totally different vibe, but I. I get it. I get it. Not the house thing. I don't understand why you don't want to stay at my house. But I get the whole PTSD from the state. I'm gonna assume it's that. It's more that.

Marcus Freeman (61:22)

Look at that couch. How inviting is that couch to lay on till my legs could hang over the end of it?

Mikey (61:26)

Oh, no, that's a sofa bed that pulls out.

Marcus Freeman (61:29)

Oh, that would be great.

Mikey (61:30)

Yeah.

Marcus Freeman (61:31)

Like, they all have that bar in the middle. On the bar. That would be awesome.

Stugatz (61:37)

He's going to lay down on it now. As he's laying down, I'm gonna ask him to sit.

Mike Golick (61:42)

Poor comfortable dog. Yeah.

Stugatz (61:47)

He cares about you so much. He has a Chris Sims jersey. Mike. But you notice he doesn't have a Mike Golic senior jersey.

Marcus Freeman (61:53)

No, he doesn't.

Stugatz (61:54)

Right?

Mike Golick (61:54)

Yes.

Marcus Freeman (61:54)

No, he doesn't. Oh, he's.

Stugatz (61:57)

Billy's playing like a champion today. I gotta be honest. I mean, the bar.

Marcus Freeman (62:02)

The bar just would be right in the middle of my back. I would just get a horrible night's sleep.

Stugatz (62:07)

We're supposed to have a special guest for Michael. We're hoping that special guest appears here on God Bless Football. If he does, he does. If he doesn't, we will have to reschedule it. But since I have time and Billy's putting his bed back together. Oh, he is coming in here, Mikey.

Mike Golick (62:22)

Yeah, they just emailed the. Do. Do they want to get him on now? And I said, yes, please. So.

Marcus Freeman (62:27)

Yeah.

Stugatz (62:28)

Yes, please.

Mike Golick (62:28)

Any second here.

Mikey (62:30)

Okay?

Stugatz (62:30)

At Golick, we will have you out of the time that you need to be out at. I promise you. But you'll.

Marcus Freeman (62:35)

I look forward to this guest.

Stugatz (62:37)

Well, it's. It's a special guest.

Mikey (62:39)

It's.

Mike Golick (62:40)

Any guesses?

Stugatz (62:41)

Yeah, you want to take a guess?

Marcus Freeman (62:42)

Listen, knowing you guys, I have no clue. Zero clue.

Mike Golick (62:46)

Knowing us, you kind of have a clue, though.

Mikey (62:48)

It's nice that you wore that shirt today. I'll just say that.

Stugatz (62:51)

Yeah.

Mikey (62:53)

He's wearing a shirt of the Rock for everyone who's listening. Wow. Yes. Yeah.

Marcus Freeman (62:58)

Wouldn't that be something?

Stugatz (63:00)

We have someone coming on. Listen, I think he thinks, guys, that it's Andy Reid.

Mikey (63:04)

Really? Yeah.

Stugatz (63:06)

Because I think.

Mikey (63:07)

I think he thinks it's the Rock.

Marcus Freeman (63:08)

Now, I. I would have thought it would be someone associated with Notre Dame.

Mikey (63:13)

Yeah, well, maybe. Who knows?

Stugatz (63:14)

It might be.

Mike Golick (63:15)

Maybe.

Mikey (63:16)

I have. I have a question for. I have a question for you, Michael, that I. That I want to get to the bottom of, because Jessica told this story on the show a couple of weeks back. So she was there for the first playoff game. Yes. Where you guys were. Were hosting Indiana.

Marcus Freeman (63:33)

Yes.

Mikey (63:33)

And then she told us that there was a gathering at your house after the game where some former players were there, and she ran into Shane Gillis, who was just kind of hanging out at your house. Now, not at the house was you or your son, because you both went out of Dodge right after the game, had flights to go, and you weren't there, but still hosted a house party for a who's who of Notre Dame people.

Mike Golick (63:57)

Yeah.

Marcus Freeman (63:58)

That was a turn. And I didn't even know that. That Shane Gillis was there. I had heard that he wanted to.

Mike Golick (64:03)

Well, you weren't there.

Mikey (64:04)

I mean.

Marcus Freeman (64:04)

And have a couple of beers. But Mike and I had to go work the Penn State SMU game the next morning. So we had a 1am flight that. That we took and our son, my son Jake, was at the game as well. He drove us to the airport. So while we were all going to the airport, Shane Gillis, Kyle Rudolph was over the house. Braxton Cave was over the house. And, and, and they were with Shane during the game. And Shane, as they were, they used our house as kind of a place to wait for an Uber. Shane came by and was just hanging out. And. And Jess Matana, who we're talking about, she was staying at the house. We had her stay at the house for the game. She walks in and says, there's Shane Gillis sitting there having a beer. I mean, I, I thought I, I had heard he might come over, but I knew we weren't going to be there. So. Yeah, we just kind of host people even if we're not there.

Mikey (64:58)

Not everyone. Not everyone is hosted. Sometimes we ask to come and we're not invited. Yes.

Marcus Freeman (65:04)

Well, no, that's on purpose, right?

Mikey (65:06)

Well, I just opened my couch for you. Hey, there he is.

Stugatz (65:11)

This is the coach of our national champion, Mike.

Marcus Freeman (65:15)

Wow.

Stugatz (65:16)

Because Notre Dame is headed in, we have the head coach of Northern Illinois. He is on with us right now. The only team to have beaten Notre Dame. He is the national champion. Their team are. You're a bunch of national champions, Coach. And here's why, Mike. We think they're the national champions, and we're going to have coach kind of give us the keys to beating Notre Dame since his team is the only team that has beaten Notre Dame, but. But not only did they beat Notre Dame, not only did they beat Notre Dame on your field, Notre dame paid him $1.4 million to kick your ass. So he is a true national champion. Thomas Hammock joins us right now. Coach, are you with us? You're the national champions if Notre Dame beats Ohio State.

Thomas Hammock (65:59)

Well, I appreciate you. You guys having me on. Hopefully I can get in less trouble, but I'm certainly excited to watch that game on Monday night.

Marcus Freeman (66:09)

Coach, let me tell you, I was at that game. I was very sad at that game. But I mean, as a. As a former player who played for, you know, a number of coaches, I was extremely. When I sat down and got over the sadness of Notre Dame losing, I was so happy for your players and you as a coach. I mean, for coming into the stadium. I mean, at what. What were you saying to the team on the sidelines at halftime? When you were. We kept expecting Notre Dame to come back and they weren't.

Thomas Hammock (66:41)

Well, I think going into the week we knew it would be a physical contest and we are. We built our team inside out so, you know, we could withstand the physical, the physicality of the game. We felt like we had a chance. And I thought, you know, when they scored that first drive and then obviously the next kickoff, we started at the two yard line. When we had a chance to score that touchdown. I think we settled into the game and it wasn't going to overwhelm us physically. And it just, it was just about playing clean football and giving ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter.

Stugatz (67:12)

Do you guys think that he's really happy? Do you think Mike in the moment was Billy?

Mikey (67:16)

No.

Stugatz (67:16)

Billy is questioning your sincerity.

Mike Golick (67:19)

It'll take a win on, on the championship game for Mike to truly be okay.

Mikey (67:24)

Yeah.

Marcus Freeman (67:24)

Oh, no. As I said in the moment, I wasn't happy. But then, listen, it's the reality. Northern Illinois won the game. I was happy for the players. And I know he had some injuries. He got hurt in that game. But Antario Brown, wow. I mean, he was so big in that game. I mean, rushing and caught a couple of balls for over 100 yards. I mean, you needed a guy to stand out and in that game anyway, he really stood out.

Thomas Hammock (67:51)

Yeah, you know, he was a difference maker for us. He has been a difference maker for us in our program and he allowed us to even the playing field with his ability to create explosive plays. So he certainly gave us a chance. And then obviously our O line and D line played really, really well that day and the rest is history.

Stugatz (68:10)

So coach, coach, as the only team, is the only coach, only team who has beaten Notre Dame, please give Ohio State and Ryan Day the keys to beating this Notre Dame team.

Thomas Hammock (68:20)

Yeah, well, I think, you know, Notre Dame is obviously a great football team. The way they've been able to overcome our loss and get better each and every single week, I think speaks volume to Coach Freeman, his staff and the players. They are very, very gritty. You know, defensively they play a lot of man coverage, which, you know, I think that's going to be an interesting matchup with Ohio State and their receivers. That's going to be the key to the game, in my opinion. Obviously, Texas played a little more too high last week, but if they stick with man coverage, can their DBs handle those receivers? I think it's going to be a matchup to watch. And then obviously Ohio State is very, very good on defense. I think the quarterback has to neutralize the pass rush. Texas quarterback couldn't run last week. Obviously Riley Leonard can run and extend plays, so if he can have a chance to keep, keep them in normal down and distance, I think they'll give themselves a tremendous chance to win.

Marcus Freeman (69:16)

So when you're, when you're game playing and Notre Dame plays about as much man as anybody in the country and with Jeremiah Smith and Ameka Buka, I mean that, that's going to be a difficult task as a coach. And this is for Al golden, the D coordinator. Do you change up and say we're going to have to play more zone or do you say, hey, we're in the national championship, we play mostly, man, we're just sticking with what we do.

Thomas Hammock (69:41)

I think that's going to be the interesting thing for that game, right? It's hard for a team to change what they do. In one particular game. I think they played what, 15, 16 games already. They are who they are. I just think it comes down to if they can guard number four. Those other receivers, even Tate played really, really well last week. So you got three guys that can be explosive and dynamic in the passing game. I think really that's going to be the matchup of the night, Coach.

Stugatz (70:08)

So are you with us? Here's what I'm proposing. Okay? If Notre Dame, okay, beats Ohio State, they win the national championship, okay? We think Notre Dame should have to go to Northern Illinois and play you guys. Do you agree with that and do you think we can make that happen?

Thomas Hammock (70:25)

Hey, listen, I think that'd be fantastic to bring Notre Dame the Husky Stadium, I'm sure to be a sold out event. You know, if they want to play us at Husky Stadium, I'm all about it.

Mikey (70:36)

Okay.

Stugatz (70:36)

Would the school be willing to give back the $1.4 million to make this happen?

Mikey (70:41)

Double or nothing? Double or nothing.

Thomas Hammock (70:46)

You know, unfortunately, I think that money is already spent in an athletic department, so. Although I'm sure I don't know, they may be willing to give that money back to getting Notre Dame to come.

Stugatz (70:58)

To Husky Stadium, that'd be interesting. I'd be, I'd consider raising the money to make this happen.

Mikey (71:04)

Coach, Coach, when you guys beat Notre Dame and you go after the game and you shake hands with, you know, Coach Freeman and, and you see some of the other players you like go up to any of the Notre Dame players and say, you know what, like we got room for you next year on this roster if you want to join a winner, like any of that.

Thomas Hammock (71:18)

Happen, you Know, to be honest, I was hoping they didn't come up to our players. You know, just, just, just from the standpoint of, you know, obviously, I'm sure the NIL budget is extremely high, and for us to beat them means we had some guys that can play at their level. And I think, you know, I was more concerned about that. But certainly, I think after we beat him, I think there was a lot of, a lot of teams across the country that really started to scout our roster, which is always a tough thing in this, in this day and age of college football.

Marcus Freeman (71:51)

What did, what, what, what did you say and what did Marcus say to you after the game in the middle of the field?

Thomas Hammock (71:58)

You know, it was kind of a blur, to be honest with you. You know, my emotions was running all over the place. But he said, hey, great game. You guys played extremely tough and physical, and he said, you deserve to win. So for him to say that, you know what, first of all, his humility and who he is as a person is unbelievable. And I don't know him well. Just had a chance to meet him when we played him, but the way he carries himself, obviously, you know, he's 39 years old, as James Franklin pointed out, which I thought was very, very interesting, but, you know, he handles himself in the most utmost way. And what a great representative for Notre Dame.

Stugatz (72:42)

Is he as good looking in person as he is on tv?

Thomas Hammock (72:45)

I mean, you know, I think the thing that's funny, and I've never told anybody this story. You know, when we talked before the game, I was just thinking to myself, you know, man, what type of cologne do you have on? I said, I'm sure I can't afford it, but you, you smell really, really good before a game. You know, that's what I was thinking when I had a chance to meet him, but obviously, you know, he, he's a, you know, great looking guy and, you know, handles himself well. And, and, you know, I'm hoping for the most, the best one.

Mikey (73:17)

You shouldn't have a rooting interest in the national championship game, but I, it would be fair to assume that you'd like Notre Dame to win, correct? Just because of the fact that you would then be the only team that beat the national champion.

Stugatz (73:28)

I. His kids are aware of it, right?

Thomas Hammock (73:31)

Well, I think, you know, I think I, you know, I think I'm a Marcus Freeman fan. So the way he embraced me have a lot of respect for him. He didn't have to do that. And obviously we played them and we have been the only team that beat them. So, you know, I think that would be a fitting in if they won a national championship and we were the only team that beat them.

Stugatz (73:51)

Yeah. You should hang a banner. And we are willing. Listen, I am telling you right now, we will come up to Northern Illinois and we will throw you a parade. Are you interested in that? At Go Golic. He'll be in. He'll be in.

Mikey (74:01)

Wow, Golick, you will.

Thomas Hammock (74:03)

No, I'm not interested in that whatsoever. We were good on that particular day, and we'll always have that moment.

Marcus Freeman (74:11)

You will. You'll always have that memory. And that's something that'll last for you and the kids for a long time. No doubt about it.

Stugatz (74:18)

Coach, what were you doing to James Franklin there? I mean, what happened?

Thomas Hammock (74:22)

What you mean?

Stugatz (74:24)

He made the comment about Marcus Freeman being 39 years old. James Franklin, who still hasn't won a big game against the AP top five. He's won three more than I have in my career. What were you doing there? He took a shot at Marcus Freeman. His age, like James Franklin, shouldn't be taking shots at anyone. That's what I said.

Thomas Hammock (74:40)

I'm definitely not trying to get in trouble today. I thought it was an interesting dialogue back and forth because obviously, your age doesn't mean anything in the coaching profession is what you do, your body of work. And what Coach Freeman has done over the last three years or so speaks volumes about, you know, what he is and what he's about. And that's the only thing that should matter.

Marcus Freeman (75:04)

Agreed.

Stugatz (75:04)

Well, Coach, thank you for doing this. It was fun. We, if you don't mind, this show will declare you as national champions if Notre Dame was, whether you like it or not.

Mikey (75:14)

Yeah, we're going.

Mike Golick (75:15)

Your hour between you and Michigan this week.

Stugatz (75:18)

I maintain beating a team that you shouldn't beat on their home field that collected $1.4 million to do so is actually better than winning a national championship.

Marcus Freeman (75:29)

Coach, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

Thomas Hammock (75:33)

You guys edit this really well and make me look good. The last time I said something, they edited it out and it said, you know, it was the best dump of my career. So I'm. I'm sure.

Mikey (75:45)

Well, what was the second best dump of your career?

Marcus Freeman (75:49)

Oh, God. Stop it, Coach. Just go, Coach, go. I appreciate you stopping in. Leave before it gets too crazy.

Thomas Hammock (75:57)

Hey, appreciate it. Thank you.

Marcus Freeman (75:58)

Thanks.

Mikey (75:58)

All right.

Stugatz (75:59)

Thank you. We appreciate you doing this and having some fun with us. Thank you.

Marcus Freeman (76:04)

What a day. In all honesty, what a day for them. That had to be.

Mikey (76:07)

Wow.

Marcus Freeman (76:08)

Yeah.

Stugatz (76:09)

What a day Monday will be. If you could. If you guys could take care of Ohio State, huh?

Marcus Freeman (76:13)

Yeah. Yeah, we'll be. Not many people giving Notre Dame a chance, that's for sure. But, hey, we're in the game, and I think. I think it'll be a hell of a game.

Mikey (76:23)

Yep.

Stugatz (76:24)

Mike, we'll let you go here in just a second. Just back to Marcus Freeman, NFL.

Marcus Freeman (76:27)

I.

Stugatz (76:27)

He'd be crazy. He is good, Mike. If you win a national championship at Notre Dame, it will never get better and bigger than that for him. He'll never be more relevant than he is again.

Marcus Freeman (76:37)

It comes down to what your goals are. If you want to. If you want to coach at the highest level, that's the NFL. If that's a goal of Marcus Freeman's, and eventually he gets the chance to, he may take it, because that's a goal. It's just like a player. A player would like to play in the NFL. That's the goal. And to hope to make it. So if that's a coach's goal and they get the opportunity and he takes it, I, I, I would be bummed he left Notre Dame, but I would be happy that he got to. To achieve a goal.

Stugatz (77:02)

All right, I'm torn now, man. I, like, I'm with Billy on. If Notre Dame wins, it's bad for the Golic family, and I. And I desperately want to annoy.

Marcus Freeman (77:11)

I'll risk it again. I'll risk it being bad for the Golic family, believe me.

Mikey (77:17)

Wow.

Stugatz (77:18)

Yeah. But suddenly, Kyle, I'm worried walking down Radio Row, and he's doing the beef jerky diabetes thing.

Marcus Freeman (77:24)

I mean, that's okay. I've had a good run.

Stugatz (77:28)

Thank you for doing this, Mike.

Mikey (77:29)

We appreciate it.

Marcus Freeman (77:30)

You got it, guy.

Stugatz (77:31)

God bless football. I know.

Marcus Freeman (77:32)

God bless football.