The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show – Best of July 21, 2026 iHeartPodcasts & Dan Patrick Podcast Network

---

Episode Overview

This episode mixes Dan Patrick’s trademark blend of sports insight, humor, and lively banter with his crew (the Danettes) and features two standout interviews: Nick Pappas, the NFL’s field director, and Hall of Famer Drew Brees. The show covers the science and economics of NFL playing surfaces, memorable stories from inside football, and a deep dive into NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and college sports business with Andrew Brandt.

---

Key Segments, Insights & Memorable Moments

1. NFL Playing Surfaces: The Great Grass vs. Turf Debate

Featuring: Dan Patrick, Nick Pappas (NFL Field Director), The Danettes
Timestamps: 02:26 – 16:56

• Why Is Field Surface Still an Issue?
  Dan explores why some stadiums still use turf over grass, especially since soccer tournaments like the World Cup showcase beautiful grass fields.
  • Nick Pappas explains his role is “to manage all things NFL fields,” covering game day compliance, planning for tentpole events, and leading research toward field improvement. (04:19)
  • “Soccer and football are not apples to apples…what’s right for the World Cup may not work for the NFL.” – Nick Pappas (05:49)
• The Science of Turf
  Nick details the evolution from AstroTurf to modern “infill 3G style systems,” noting massive improvements but insisting, “We’re just cracking the surface, no pun intended.” (07:27)
• Player Safety vs. Owner Economics
  Artificial turf isn’t increasing injuries now, which allows owners to prioritize affordability and flexibility for multi-use stadiums. But, says Nick, “The players say they want it to feel more like grass. So that’s what we’re chasing.” (10:09, 10:58)
• Audience Calls and Danette Stories
  • Callers and Danettes recall infamous bad fields, like playing football on baseball diamonds (Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum), the painted fields at Lambeau, and a Big Ten title game where turf had to be patched live on TV.
  • “Dude, you can have grass anywhere you want…it’s all about the bottom line, basically.” – Connor, a listener and golf course superintendent (16:24)

---

2. Drew Brees – Hall of Fame, Football Stories, and Player Insights

Featuring: Dan Patrick, Drew Brees
Timestamps: 24:52 – 37:56

• Writing the Hall of Fame Speech
  Drew draws from years of journals and personal notes. “How are you supposed to summarize a 20-year NFL career in six to eight minutes?…You want to give them something to laugh about, cry about…and walk down memory lane with you.” – Drew Brees (25:24)
• Field Conditions
  On worst fields he played on: “2005, Kansas City…torrential rain, Arrowhead became literally a mud pit…How are you throwing the ball?” (26:07)
• Players’ True Preference
  Asked if NFL players prefer grass: “1,000% grass…that’s how football is meant to be played.” (27:00)
• Training Camp & Team Bonds
  Drew describes the locker room as “where you’re building that brotherhood. The greatest teams I was ever part of were the ones that loved each other the most.” (28:43)
• Rookie Hazing Stories
  Some are innocent; some less so: “One guy skipped rookie chores…they taped his car keys into a volleyball-sized ball, dropped it in the cold tub.” (28:46)
• Quarterback Stats, Rule Changes, and Running Backs
  Drew notes: “It’s not apples to apples…stats are different, but rules like better field position are lowering yardage even as TDs might rise.” (31:24)
• “The run game establishes everything…having a guy who can tote the rock, or running back by committee, is still vital.” (32:41)
• Drew’s Longest Run (It’s Not a 60-Yarder)
  “My longest run? 22 yards. I had a 60-yarder called back for holding…I was too busy throwing completions.” (35:00)
• Quarterback Speed Ranks
  Dan pushes Brees to admit: “I was faster than Brady…Peyton’s ten yards behind me. But Ben [Roethlisberger], probably not.” (35:43)
• Will He Cry at His Induction?
  “Absolutely. I’m trying to get them all out.” (37:36)

---

3. NIL & The Business of College Athletics with Andrew Brandt

Featuring: Dan Patrick, Andrew Brandt
Timestamps: 43:54 – 56:02

• NIL Chaos and the Future of College Sports
  “Everyone’s frustrated…Who are you bargaining with? Football, basketball? Which players? Which schools?...Right now, everyone’s blowing past caps with supplemental NIL.” – Andrew Brandt (44:13, 47:43)
• Contracts & Player Free Agency
  “Agents laugh at two- and three-year deals. Why? They have free agency every year…and that creates leverage that creates money.” (45:03)
• Insider Figures
  “Biggest deal I’ve negotiated: $4.5 million, for a current college basketball player.” (49:45)
• On Pro Sports Salary Caps
  Brandt argues baseball needs one: “Payroll disparities are so big—Dodgers at $400M, others under $100M. A cap forces a minimum spend.” (46:13)
• NFL Negotiations & Ego
  Recounting Packers days: “With Brett [Favre], it was less about money and more: are you treating me like Troy Aikman or Drew Bledsoe? Successful negotiation is often about respect.” (51:01)
• On Tom Brady’s Post-NFL Life
  “After 20 years under the Belichick mushroom cloud, he’s making up for lost time…he’s everywhere now.” (52:37)

---

Notable Quotes & Highlights

• “Soccer and football are not apples to apples…what’s right for the World Cup may not work for the NFL.” – Nick Pappas (05:49)
• “The players say they want it to feel more like grass. So that’s what we’re chasing.” – Nick Pappas (10:58)
• “1,000% grass…that’s how football is meant to be played.” – Drew Brees (27:00)
• “How are you supposed to summarize a 20-year NFL career in six to eight minutes?” – Drew Brees (25:24)
• “Everyone’s frustrated [by NIL]…Agents laugh at multi-year deals. Why would I do that? I get free agency every year.” – Andrew Brandt (44:13, 45:03)
• “Payroll disparities in baseball—Dodgers at $400M, five teams under $100M. That’s not fair.” – Andrew Brandt (46:13)
• “It’s not apples to apples…rules have unintended consequences, like yardage now going down due to kickoff rules.” – Drew Brees (31:24)
• “After 20 years under the Belichick mushroom cloud, [Tom Brady] is making up for lost time.” – Andrew Brandt (52:37)

---

Additional Lively Moments

• Dan challenges the Danettes and callers to recall the ugliest playing fields (e.g., Oakland’s baseball diamond, painted Lambeau).
• Banter about quarterback running speed devolves into good-natured ribbing between Brees and Dan—“I was too busy throwing completions.”
• Listeners ring in with favorite sports nicknames and joke nicknames for the Danettes (e.g., “Spirit Week” for Dylan).
• Brief talk on NBA free agency and LeBron’s pending decision, with Dan noting the timing is perfect for “maximum content” (22:51).

---

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [02:26] – NFL Grass/Turf segment with Nick Pappas
• [24:52] – Drew Brees interview: HOF, football stories, QB experiences
• [43:54] – Andrew Brandt on NIL, contracts, and pro sports business
• [16:24, 41:01] – Listener calls and fun nickname talk

---

Conclusion

This episode dives deep into both the technical and human elements that shape football and college sports today. From the granular details of NFL field management and the emotional legacy of a Hall of Fame career, to the evolving, messy world of NIL and player business, Dan and his guests deliver insights with honesty and humor. Whether you’re here for the sports talk, the ribbing, or the behind-the-scenes stories, this episode reflects the heart of The Dan Patrick Show.

Transcript

[Fred Armisen]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, Portlandia fans.

[Kerry Brownstein]

Kerry Brownstein and Fred Armisen here.

[Fred Armisen]

The dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form.

[Kerry Brownstein]

We're launching Podlandia AO Rewatch our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

[Fred Armisen]

And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life, guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Krisel, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more.

[Kerry Brownstein]

Kyle is going for it. Here you fully improvised not just words, but a song about.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, I thought you were all going

[Caller/Listener]

to write a song.

[Kerry Brownstein]

I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia AO rewatch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ari Chambers]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

[Sam J]

Hey, what's up, y'?

[Caller/Listener]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J.

[Ari Chambers]

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports.

[Sam J]

We're breaking down the biggest headlines.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi Osaka showing out shout outs to you, Naomi. The viral moments.

[Sam J]

I've been obsessed with Chrisean Rock's boxing journey. She looks good, her combos are swift.

[Ari Chambers]

And the stories everyone's talking about across

[Sam J]

women's sports because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on

[Ari Chambers]

the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

[Sam J]

you get your podcasts.

[Drew Brees]

This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea.

[Dan Patrick]

Every week the news gets worse, the

[Caller/Listener]

world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here

[Drew Brees]

to tell whoever's responsible you're the problem.

[Fred Armisen]

Do you know I just who Sydney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men do better or do less so I don't have to do so much.

[Sam J]

I'm Yamanika and I'm out.

[Fred Armisen]

Listen to youo're the Problem with Yamaneka on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Patrick]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping Boba to crafted sod like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Drew Brees]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on FOX Sports Radio.

[Dan Patrick]

Hour two and it's Tuesday. Dan and the Danette Stan Patrick show. We'll talk grass coming up. Specifically NFL grass fields, not weed grass. We got the NFL giving us their field expert because why can't we keep these soccer fields? And even in cold weather climates, is there a better alternative to the Astroturf or that field? Turf. The turf. Now, some of these places has little pieces of rubber ground up. So you'll see guys when they, you know, get tackled or they make a sharp cut and there'll be some, you know, debris that kind of pops up there that I think is supposed to soften the fall. You know, when you hit that turf, you just walk on that turf. If you stand on the turf on the sidelines, your knees and your hips and your ankles are aching by three. Marvin, you've done this. When you're on the sidelines and you just stand there all game, you haven't really done much. But just standing on that, walking on that stuff, it'll, it'll bang you up a little bit.

[Marvin]

Absolutely. And on top of that, when you take off your shoes, there's just the pellets just all in your socks and in your sneakers the entire game.

[Dan Patrick]

877-3DP Show Email address [e-mail] Twitter handle @DP show say good morning if you're watching on Peacock. Thank you for downloading the app, by the way. The action heating up. Final stages of the Tour de France as they make their way through the heart of Paris. You can get coverage live next weekend on NBC. And Peacock, he is Nick Pappas, he's the NFL field director who joins us on the program. Nick, good morning. Can you give us an idea? I got your title. What is your job? Morning, Dan.

[Nick Pappas]

Appreciate you having me on. My job is exactly what it sounds like. Manage all things NFL fields.

[Dylan]

Right.

[Nick Pappas]

So I look at that as overseeing essentially three pillars with the league and that's one kind of our game day compliance as it, as it serves all of our regular season games and playoffs.

[Dan Patrick]

Right.

[Nick Pappas]

That's at all of our club stadiums where I support our club field managers, obviously. Then there's the tentpole events which is your international games as we know that continues to expand. Super Bowl, Pro bowl, the upcoming hall of Fame game, all those kind of tent pole events. Last piece is the research, the health and research understanding how we can improve our standards and continue to improve our services.

[Dan Patrick]

How do you become the field director? How do you become an expert?

[Nick Pappas]

I went to school to Learn how to grow grass at the University of Massachusetts. So I have an agronomy degree and then started working for some different clubs, worked across mlb, mls, NFL. And I've been doing it over a decade now, and I'm fortunate to have made a good career out of it.

[Dan Patrick]

University of Grassachus. It's. I think that's it that we should call it. Okay, help me understand. We've had these beautiful soccer fields, you know, the Meadowlands, which historically has had some issues, I think, with players with that turf. Why can't we keep that grass field there at the Meadowlands?

[Nick Pappas]

Yeah, I think that the question's bigger than why can't we keep one field in one spot at any given time, though? It's.

[Caller/Listener]

It's.

[Nick Pappas]

How do we ensure that we develop fields that are going to be right for our purpose, Right for the NFL.

[Dan Patrick]

Right.

[Nick Pappas]

What we saw the World cup do, and cheers to them and the team that put things together to ensure that they had a solid tournament was remarkable. But we need to make sure that we all understand here that soccer and football are not apples to apples. And there's a lot of things to consider when ensuring a surface is right for our NFL athletes.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, but explain that. Why would a soccer field not work with the NFL?

[Nick Pappas]

Yeah, we've seen this before, right, Dan? Especially when we've traveled internationally. And there's nothing that states that those services for the World cup wouldn't have worked. It's just that we don't know that they absolutely would have worked in the same setting, the same climate, the same time of year, the same way that our buildings are used. Obviously, as we saw FIFA take over exclusivity of these buildings, that was their primary use on those services was just the soccer tournament, which is obviously why we're talking about this now.

[Dan Patrick]

Right.

[Nick Pappas]

So how do we look at that from the NFL's perspective? It's. Could we have, especially when you talk about MetLife, could we have one or two NFL teams playing on that? Could they play in August through January rather than obviously June and July, when the growing and the weather and the climate is different? Could we understand how MetLife operates as a facility and still make grass work? Those are things that really would have to be looked at. And obviously a big conversation would have to be had to determine, is it

[Dan Patrick]

possible the turf itself in some of these fields? Newer, but yeah, I go back to the old days with AstroTurf, and that was, you know, concrete with carpet on it. But the advances in technology, where. Where are we now with Trying to make it as close to a friendly surface for these players.

[Nick Pappas]

Yeah, we're. We're tenfold beyond where we started. When you look at the old Astroturfs as Astroturf kind of had the original. The original product, right? But when you look at it now, these infill 3G style systems have come so far, but quite honestly, Dan, I think we're just cracking the surface, no pun intended, on some of this, right? Largely, we've left it to the industry, to the artificial turf industry to come to us with products. Well, the NFL and the NFLPA are the only group that's really complaining about these artificial surfaces. We don't hear a lot of it coming out of the power four conferences of ncaa. We certainly don't hear a lot of it at the municipality or the high school level. But we're the ones who are pushing the artificial turf industry saying, hey, we want better, but what is better?

[Caller/Listener]

Right?

[Nick Pappas]

We've got to quantify better. How do we do that? And to our benefit, we've got what is called our joint field surface safety and performance committee. This is a committee between the NFL, NFLPA that's tied to the collective bargaining agreement where we sit down regularly and discuss surface improvement. And we're able to go back and apply pressure to the industry to say, this is what we mean when we say better. These are the target metrics. This is how we're measuring fields. These are how we're objectifying what better is. That way we can start to actually see those changes.

[Dan Patrick]

I'm not sure where you stand on this excuse or maybe reason, but you have owners who say, look, we have multiple events on our field, in our stadium, and if we're having concerts there, you can't have natural grass. Is that a legitimate reason to not have natural turf?

[Nick Pappas]

Yeah, I think the way it's been evaluated, obviously when we look across injury data, right. We no longer see this as an injury issue.

[Caller/Listener]

Right.

[Nick Pappas]

In the past, there was concerns that turf was driving up the injury rate. When we look at the injury rate and the severity of injury, and what do I mean by that? I mean the amount of ACLs, the amount of extended time loss injuries, those real burdensome injuries. When we look at that, it's a split grass versus turf. Right? So it becomes just the injury rate of playing football at this point. That's kind of been a part of the decision making to say, well, if it's not going to cause more injuries, and it is just as safe, and it does give those facilities the opportunity to make Good on whatever promises they have to the local communities or whatever they deemed the way that they need to operate their building, then it's been a great option for them to use because it does allow for higher use, case avoidance of adverse weather conditions, so on and so forth. Now, does that mean that that won't change?

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

No.

[Nick Pappas]

There's an opportunity to say, yeah, there's an injury perspective, but how can we get it to feel more like the players are asking us to make it feel?

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Nick Pappas. He works for the NFL as their field director. I'm going to let you pick the stadium where you can get tackled. On what turf surface do you want to be tackled on?

[Nick Pappas]

If I'm getting tackled, I don't want to get tackled by any of these. Any of these guys. I've seen them all up close. But for me, quite honestly, I know from, from. And I'm biased here, I know from mechanical testing. When you talk about surface hardness, they're all within the same level of compliance. All of our fields are within the same range. So any given Sunday, Monday, whatever day of the week you want to play, you can pick any field you want. I've got confidence that the field managers there have ensured that it meets compliance. And I don't think one's going to be harder than the other.

[Dan Patrick]

So you have no soft landing spot that you would say turf or natural grass?

[Nick Pappas]

I think this is where there becomes some confusion about what we feel and what's being described. Right. A number of years ago with the nflpa, we did a player survey and we actually went out and ask players, tell us which fields feel hard, which fields feel soft. Right. And what they gave us in a response was inverse to what our mechanical testing was telling us. With that, we redeveloped the tools that we use to measure the fields, and now we know that what may feel, quote, unquote, hard is actually more of a amount of energy returned to the body. So from a surface hardness perspective, they're all within the same compliance. What we're now chasing is how do we get that amount of energy lost to the surface or amount of energy gained back to the surface to feel more like grass. Obviously, that's the target margin. Now, unless for some reason we can determine that there's a, an injury correlation to it, but that's what we hear. The players say they want it to feel more like grass. So that's what we're chasing.

[Marvin]

Now.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you have carpet in your office?

[Nick Pappas]

I do.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay. But not field turf.

[Nick Pappas]

I do not have a, any Sort of artificial turf surface in my, in my office? No.

[Dan Patrick]

Or you could have natural grass in there.

[Nick Pappas]

I could put some grass in here. I could call it my local sod farm and put some grass in here. And it would become more of my full time job to maintain the surface within my office than it is to be able to sit here and speak to you on these matters.

[Dan Patrick]

So you had. Who was the Marquis de Sade?

[Nick Pappas]

George Thoma was the predecessor to myself and Ed Mangan prior when they used to oversee the Super Bowl. So slightly different role, but yes, sir,

[Dan Patrick]

I was shocked when I went to Lambeau many, many years ago and they were painting grass on the field. There was. They were painting dirt green. What do you make of that, Nick?

[Nick Pappas]

Well, you know, I don't know how many, many years ago this was, but our, you know, our standards.

[Dan Patrick]

Red Favre was playing okay early in

[Nick Pappas]

his career or late in his career. He had a long tenure.

[Caller/Listener]

Late.

[Dan Patrick]

Late in his career. Late in his career.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah.

[Nick Pappas]

You know, our standards have come so far over the, even the last, just the last decade. And that's the beauty of our joint Surface committee is the fact that we sit in a room regularly, from the top down and talk about what are the things that matter? How are, how do we actually get better? How do we define surface improvement? What are the things we need to look out for? And player safety is at the top of that. That is always the North Star. And then from there it's determining how do we co fund and jointly do research to determine what. What are the meaningful steps we can take to making meaningful change?

[Dan Patrick]

Great stuff, Nick. Thank you. And good luck with the job. Congrats on all those degrees you got. What were the degrees at UMass?

[Nick Pappas]

I did a, an associate's degree in turf grass management through their Stockbridge School of Agriculture. And then I did a Plant, Soil and Insect sciences bachelor through the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you judge lawns in your neighborhood?

[Nick Pappas]

Everyone's but my own. I travel far too much and spend too much time on the road, so I try to keep my job quiet to my neighbors. Otherwise I would be heavily judged.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, Nick. We appreciate it.

[Nick Pappas]

Appreciate it, Dan. Thank you.

[Dan Patrick]

That's Nick Pappas. He's a big deal with the NFL. He's their field director. All right. Feels like, yeah, maybe if you get tackled on grass and natural turf, you know, kind of figured this thing out.

[Dylan]

Yeah, Dale, that sounds about as qualified as you can be for that job. Just based on his major, he could

[Dan Patrick]

have made it up. I Have no idea. You know?

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, Paul, that's a really cool job. I mean, some people go to school for golf course management, lawn, lawn care type of stuff, but this is high level stuff.

[Dan Patrick]

But it feels like it's a thankless job because somebody's going to be complaining about it. And this was when Farve people thought he was going to retire. And I went to Lambeau with my son and I went down on the field and I was like, oh, my God. Like, this is Lambeau. And they were painting the field. They were playing Seattle and Matt Hasselbeck. I said, and you get tackled on this. He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, Paulie, remember

[Caller/Listener]

the 2017 Big Ten title game, college football. And a piece of turf got pulled back. I think it was OSU Wisconsin. A guy on national TV had to run the field guy, the stadium guy had to run on TV and patch it back together in real time to get the game going on national TV.

[Dan Patrick]

I remember Super Bowl, Bengals and the 49ers in Miami. That field was horrendous. When RG3 got hurt when they were then the Redskins, that field was. That. That was an embarrassment to high school football. Yeah. Dill.

[Dylan]

Well, and like golf courses will. Will paint the grass too. Like Augusta, I think before Masters week will go and kind of touch up little. You know, obviously the grass there is about as perfect.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but you're not falling on that.

[Dylan]

You can.

[Dan Patrick]

You're trying to know him. Like, I don't know if anybody's drunk at the Masters. Who's playing?

[Dylan]

Oh, no, not playing.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, yeah, well, they were. They were painting the outside of the green in Tahoe. When we were out there, it was like, all right, all right, I'm fine with that. Connor in Chicago. Hi, Connor. What do you have for me?

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, bud. Five, nine and a hard ish 175. So, dude, we're talking turf, man. Yeah, bottom line, it's. It's cheap. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Nobody likes to spend the money working in the golf course industry, man. Assistant superintendent probably for like six years now. Oh, dude, you can have grass basically anywhere you want it. It's just. How much money do you want to spend? It's all about the bottom line, basically.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I don't think that surprises anybody, but there are certain owners who aren't going to spend that money. Certain owners who will spend that money. Yeah.

[Dylan]

Do I always think back to the. The Raiders playing on a baseball diamond forever? How I wonder what the injury data on that would have been.

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know, that was terrible at the Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland A's, like, it was just weird when you're watching the Raiders and you know, like, there's a catch behind second base. Dave Casper is going to get a first down here. You know, you'd be like, oh, that first base line.

[Dylan]

Yeah, Dylan, it looks so bad on TV, too. Like, you literally were like, I don't

[Dan Patrick]

know where, really bad in person. It looked really bad in person, too.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, Paul, I'm looking at a picture. I don't think I remember how bad it was. The infield is right at the 50 yard line, a semicircle. Then both end zones have dirt on them.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, terrible, terrible.

[Dylan]

The warning track.

[Dan Patrick]

All right, Drew Brees set to join us. We'll take a break. Back after this.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button, smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of Joe. Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Stu Gotz and company Live, Cavino and Rich, the Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington, the Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon and the Ben Mahler Show. Fox sports radio on YouTube.

[Dan Patrick]

Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.

[Fred Armisen]

Introducing B of A Rewards a new way to reward your every ambition. It all starts with a Bank of America checking account and grows from there. You get cash back deals on brands you know and love, plus a credit card rewards bonus, helping you earn more rewards on things you buy every day. Join B of A Rewards today for rewards tailored to your lifestyle. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America Open or enroll your [e-mail] B of A rewards bank of America corporation. All rights reserved.

[Ashley Iconetti]

This is Ashley Iconetti from the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast. Ben. I've been reflecting a lot lately on how many big life moments our listeners have experienced with us.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, it's pretty wild.

[Ashley Iconetti]

They've watched us go from dating shows to engagements, weddings, babies, buying homes. Every stage comes with new decisions.

[Nick Pappas]

The milestones are the fun part, but

[Dan Patrick]

the planning is where things get real.

[Ashley Iconetti]

That's why Klarna stands out. Klarna gives people smarter tools to help manage everyday money with flexible ways to pay cash back that builds automatically everything in one place and support that makes everyday decisions feel less overwhelming.

[Nick Pappas]

Since life moves so fast, the right tools can help you feel more confident. Download the Klarna app today or visit

[Dan Patrick]

klarna.com to learn more.

[Drew Brees]

California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California finance law license and MLS number 1353190 KL Klarna balance account

[Fred Armisen]

required to be eligible for cashback points.

[Dan Patrick]

Limitations, terms and conditions apply. Have to admit, sometimes I take it for granted. It's always there. It's always going to taste great. It's my friend. It's Miller Time. But let's say you're running late to watch the game and your buddy has already found seeds. That's a Miller Time mvp. How about a person who brings enough Miller Lite for everybody? I once had a friend who brought a 12 pack of Miller Lite, but there were only seven beers in it that he drank the beer before he got there. So he said he brought a 12 pack. It was a seven pack. But I can't blame him. He didn't want to wait. Miller Light. Yes, Dylan.

[Dylan]

That could have been me, actually.

[Dan Patrick]

And you're. And you're proud to say that I am an American Pilsner. The original Miller Light. Been doing it since 1975. Miller Time in America this summer. You know, Miller Lights. The perfect beer to kick off the summer. End the summer, start the fall, end the fall, start the winter. You get what I'm saying here? 96 calories, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. It's a great choice without weighing you down. Miller Light, a true American Pilsner. They've done it for 50 years. We all have that one friend who makes every game better. Now's the time to give them their moment. Head over to any of Miller Lite's social media pages to learn more about being a Miller Time mvp. And pick up some Miller Light. Pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Ari Chambers]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

[Sam J]

Hey, what's up, y'?

[Caller/Listener]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J.

[Ari Chambers]

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together. And I heart women's sports because, let's

[Sam J]

be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

[Ari Chambers]

So Kelsey Findler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

[Sam J]

My first thought is just like, what's up with the snacks like, what are we?

[Drew Brees]

What are we eating?

[Ari Chambers]

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

[Sam J]

timeline and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

[Sam J]

Shout outs to you, Naomi, you get the Palm.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi, you get the Palm for that.

[Sam J]

Because we're not just interested in what happened, we're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

Final hour on this Tuesday, Dan and the Dan x Dan Patrick show new poll question recap the first two hours of the program as well. 8773 DP show operator Tyler sitting by. He'll take your calls. Stat of the DAY is always brought to you by Panini America. The official trading cards of the program. Europe's only senior major championship will be coming up next week. It'll be Saturday, Sunday, 12 Eastern on NBC. And Peacock 877-3-DP show email address tpdanpatrick.com Twitter handle the DP Show Good morning. If you're watching on Peacock, download the app if you haven't done so. The updated odds according to DraftKings. Your favorite for LeBron, the Miami Heat. It was Cleveland last week and Miami was a distant third. Now they've moved up, they've taken the pole position there with LeBron. If you're looking at the window of when you announce, these rosters have pretty much been filled out, at least with the big ticket items and apparently he has no time frame, which I don't think is true. I think he knows the team and he knows the time that he'll announce. This feels like here's your window because training camps open up next week. I, I'm in the content business. This is a quiet time. So if you're LeBron, you want to make sure that you get if you're going to make your decision, you want to make it now where you don't have any competition. World cup is over. You, you know, baseball not heating up, you know, with the pennant runs, pennant stretch, summer league is over, the open championships over. Now you have your opportunity this week to make your announcement. But right now it looks like it's the Miami Heat. Drew Brees, he'll be inducted into the Pro Football hall of Fame coming up on August 8th, and he's joining us on behalf of Nephi. He'll tell us about that coming up. Who helped you write your speech?

[Drew Brees]

You know what, I've, I've, I've probably written about 10 speeches and, and continue to tweak it. You know, honestly, I feel like it's something I've been working on for about five years now. I'm, I'm kind of a voracious note taker. So, you know, whenever I listen to a podcast or read an article or just hear a quote that that's meaningful or that, you know, causes me to have a reflection about something, I'll just, I'll journal it down. And so I've just got pages and pages of notes that basically is, is going to become my hall of Fame speech.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you have a time element attached to this of 10 minutes?

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Drew Brees]

I mean, that's the hard part is it's, it's, you know, they give you, you know, what, six to eight minutes, you know, so how are you supposed to summarize, you know, a 20 year career, NFL career in, in six to eight minutes? It's really hard. You know, it's impossible to thank everybody you want to thank. And I think you're also trying to make it entertaining for the people that are there because there's a lot of people sitting in the hot sun, you know, in Canton, Ohio there, and many others, you know, so you don't want them suffering out there. You want to give them something to, you know, laugh about, cry about and, and certainly be able to walk down memory lane with you.

[Dan Patrick]

We last hour had the guy who is the field director, he, he, Nick Pappas, he takes care of the grass and the turf. Quality control, worst football field you ever played on. And the NFL was where what was the worst?

[Drew Brees]

Well, it was, it was more so the conditions. I, again, you know, you're kind of going through pictures and different things of, you know, during this hall of Fame process. And there was a game in 2005 in Kansas City where it was, it was basically torrential rainstorm and so Arrowhead Stadium became literally a mud pit. I mean, it was like six inches of mud. I remember Jared Allen was a young player and he kind of got after us that game and. But I remember seeing pictures and literally like you could hardly see the charger bolt on my helmet. This one, I was playing for the charger. Mud, mud on the face, mud all over my hands. And my, how are you throwing the ball or even getting a snap? Those were, those were some of the worst conditions and worst field conditions based on the Elements, obviously, but if I

[Dan Patrick]

took a vote with the players. You want to play on a grass field or field? Turf?

[Drew Brees]

Well, 1,000% grass. And that's what was interesting about this World Cup. Is it? Is it? You know, I went and saw Spain and France play in, you know, Texas Stadium on grass. It's like the minute you walk in the dome there, you could smell the grass. And I mean, it just looked like the most unbelievable playing surface. And I mean, look, that's what guys want to play on. Certainly the statistics would show you, you know, reduced chance of injury and just better on the joints and the body and everything, but it's just the way football is meant to be played.

[Dan Patrick]

Did you dread training camp?

[Drew Brees]

I loved it. I loved it. Now, look, I'm not going through the abuse that a lot of, you know, other positions are, you know, with the physicality of it, but I loved it from the perspective of watching the team come together and, you know, you've gone through the off season where you've tried to make these strides, you know, in regards to strength and conditioning and, you know, just a bit of time with. With the new. The new guys, the free agents, the draft picks. But then this is really the time where you start stacking the bricks to. To get ready for the season, for week one. And it's like, it's a race. It's a race to see how good you can be by week one. And I just. I just loved. I mean, the things that you miss about the game now it's the locker room, and it's the feeling on game day when you run out of the tunnel after all that preparation is behind you and just feel invincible, you know, with ultimate confidence run on the field. But that time in the locker room room was, you know, that's where you're building those bonds and that brotherhood, you know, and the greatest teams I was ever part of were the ones that loved each other the most. And that's where those. That's where those moments were fortified.

[Dan Patrick]

Did you get hazed?

[Drew Brees]

You know, I mean, I did all the stuff I was supposed to do as a rookie, you know, to avoid that. I think it's the guys that. That choose to. To fight that a little bit that, you know, it maybe becomes a little bit more difficult for, you know, in most cases, it's pretty. Pretty innocent. It's like, hey, rookie, get my coffee, get me a donut, get my breakfast, clean that up, car pads, that kind of stuff. Now, there was one guy in particular who chose not to perform those duties that, that rookies are supposed to. And so they, during training camp, they took his car keys and they wrapped them in athletic training tape like that you tape your ankles with, right to the point where it was like the size of a volleyball. And they dropped it in the cold tub and it sunk to the bottom of the cold tub. So if he wanted his keys to drive to the team meeting, which was at the, you know, the hotel down the street, he was going to have to dive into the cold tub, unwrap his car keys in order to get there. Lesson. Lesson learned.

[Dan Patrick]

You want to tell us who it was?

[Drew Brees]

Well, it was a young, it was a young receiver, so I can promise you he, he didn't make that same mistake. These things that you do with the guys around the. Off. Around the.

[Dan Patrick]

No, no, no, I don't, I don't. I didn't haze anybody in.

[Drew Brees]

The man that didn't have. Have a rite of passage of some kind.

[Dan Patrick]

A pie to the face maybe. But I remember somebody telling me somebody got tied up naked to a goalpost, a goal post.

[Drew Brees]

Yeah, that happened in college.

[Dan Patrick]

In college. Not to you.

[Drew Brees]

Not to me. Not to me.

[Dan Patrick]

Damn.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Drew Brees]

The good old days, the 90s.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. You can't get away with it.

[Drew Brees]

You get away with that stuff, do you?

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know if we're doing this with quarterbacks yet, but we're going to do it with starting pitchers in baseball where we have to kind of alter what the hall of Fame numbers are because these starting pitchers now aren't going to have complete games. They don't go past six innings. I don't know if we get to the point where quarterback numbers, if you get to this level, you're a Hall of Famer, or you get, I don't know, it feels like the criteria. I don't know if it's changing yet because Everybody's throwing for 40 and $50,000 yards here. It feels like it's, you know, everybody's got that opportunity. If you're playing 10 to 15 years, yeah, it's.

[Drew Brees]

It's not, it's not apples to apples, right? I mean, if you compare, if you compare the statistics of any position now with what it was 40 years ago, it's quite a bit different, you know, but the game has changed, the style of play has changed. Here's what I think is kind of interesting that's happening with quarterbacks, actually, is that, you know, maybe the touchdowns are going up, but I think the overall yardage is going down a little bit. And I attribute that to the new kickoff rules, you know, the starting field position is actually 10 yards better now than it used to be because of the new kickoff rules. And so what does that mean? That means you have 10 fewer yards to go on a drive. Well, if you average 10 yards or 10 possessions a game, that's roughly 100 less yards that you're having to go. We'll just subtract that, you know, from the overall yardage now. It's going to result in more points, potentially some more touchdown passes. But I think if you look at the statistics, even with 17 games now, you know, guys aren't throwing for the same number of yards that, you know, 10 years ago we were. I don't know where the touchdowns are, but certainly, you know, teams are averaging in the, you know, mid to low 30s, probably more teams than normal. So the point. The number of points goes up. So I don't know, every little rule change has maybe some unintended consequences as you start, you know, looking at it play out.

[Dan Patrick]

And also the return of the running back.

[Drew Brees]

Well, yeah, I mean, look, I think the. There's ebbs and flows, right? I think what, what every team finds out, especially, you know, in some case the hard way, is that, you know, the run game establishes everything and sets up everything for an NFL offense. I mean, I would maybe point to the Philadelphia Eagles. This, you know, they made that. That made that great super bowl run, you know, with Saquon Barkley. And the compliment of Jalen hurts being able to, you know, I mean, they just have so much variety with what they have with two really effective runners back there. But it seemed like they kind of abandoned the past, the run game, in order to maybe, you know, give Jalen some more opportunities in the shotgun and, you know, throwing the football and that they weren't as effective of an offense, especially with a weapon like that back there. So, man, having a guy who can tote the rock like that. But more so, it's. It's kind of turned into running back by not many guys, you know, that are carrying the ball 30 times a game. It's more so now you talk about touches, you know, it's. How can we get the ball in his hands. It's a combination of screen passes, you know, check downs, balls on the perimeter that you throw to him where he's one on one, where maybe it's not quite the same abuse as running between the tackles, but we're also going to hand the ball to him 15 to 20 times a game.

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Drew Brees, tell me what you're talking about today, Promoting today.

[Drew Brees]

Yeah. You know, so I actually had pretty severe allergies, you know, at times during my career, you know, peanuts and other things. And it's not something I feel like is talked about enough. There's a lot of people, over 40 million people that deal with severe allergies. And you know, truly the only medication for that is, is epinephrine. And up till this point, it's typically just been in injectables. But. But I'm working with ARS Pharma and they're the maker of Nephi epinephrine nasal spray, which is now a nasal option that is designed to be very easy to carry, easy to use, obviously needle free. So for, you know, kids and others that, you know are dealing with the, the threat of severe allergies or a severe allergy attack or, you know, a life threatening anaphylaxis, this becomes a very safe and effective option. But definitely talk to your doctor to see if nephew's right for you. Learn [e-mail] to understand the side effects.

[Dan Patrick]

N E F F Y. He's Drew Brees and Hall of Fame speech coming up. Longest run of your career, 22 yards. That's crazy.

[Drew Brees]

Cincinnati Bengals.

[Dan Patrick]

Was it a design run, Drew?

[Drew Brees]

No, it was not. I. Look, I had a 60 yard. It was called back for a BS holding call. I'm, I'm, I'm. Yeah, but I can't claim it, unfortunately. It's not, it's not in the stats, not in the stat books, are you. And I was more elusive. I was more like a pocket elusiveness guy. I was more of like a buy time.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Drew Brees]

I mean, people ask me, why didn't you run the ball more? I says, because I was too busy throwing completions, you know.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Wow.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, so you weren't a Michael Vick, Steve Young, Randall Cunningham kind of running threat?

[Drew Brees]

Not, not, not to that degree. I would have, I would have loved to have that, that speed and elusiveness, but yeah, I kept it to just the pocket movement for the most part.

[Dan Patrick]

You faster than Brady?

[Drew Brees]

Oh, yeah, yeah. He's five yards behind me.

[Dan Patrick]

Faster than Peyton? Oh, yeah, he's 10 yards behind you. Who has a longer career rush, Brady or Breeze?

[Caller/Listener]

Brady, I think is 29. Peyton 33.

[Dan Patrick]

Peyton had a 33 yard run.

[Drew Brees]

Scamper. Can we, can we like triple screen those and like put them all,

[Caller/Listener]

like

[Drew Brees]

feel, feel the speed, you know, that, that we were witnessing on the screen.

[Dan Patrick]

Peyton would be like a giraffe running, you know, arms and legs and that long Neck there.

[Drew Brees]

But, yeah, I wouldn't say we were the smoothest of. Of. Of runners, but, you know, I think we recognized what was. What was going to help us survive, and that was not it.

[Dan Patrick]

What about Roethlisberger? You faster than Ben?

[Drew Brees]

No, probably not. Big Ben was. He was. He was quite the athlete.

[Dan Patrick]

Underrated. Underrated as an athlete.

[Drew Brees]

I'd beat them all in the mile. I would beat them all.

[Dan Patrick]

Great to see you, and good luck. What's that? Next week.

[Drew Brees]

That's all. Are you gonna be there?

[Dan Patrick]

No, no.

[Drew Brees]

Come to the party. Hey, come to the party.

[Dan Patrick]

I got a wedding. My daughter's getting married.

[Drew Brees]

Okay, well, I'll forgive you for that, but I did send you an invite.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, you did?

[Drew Brees]

I did.

[Marvin]

Absolutely.

[Dan Patrick]

Todd.

[Drew Brees]

Yeah. Oh, Todd's withholding it from you, huh? I'm gonna have to take another look in the drawer.

[Marvin]

Maybe it's in the back.

[Drew Brees]

Oh, Todd, that's messed up.

[Dan Patrick]

Very weak.

[Drew Brees]

Very weak by me.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, that's very nice of you to send that to me. I. I did not know that, but good luck. Have. Have fun. And. Are you gonna cry?

[Drew Brees]

Absolutely. I'm trying to get them all out,

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

but

[Dan Patrick]

boys wrestling around.

[Drew Brees]

Right, right, right. Bring a little violence to the enshrinement.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes. Have them up there in pads tackling each other. Thank you, Drew.

[Caller/Listener]

All right.

[Dan Patrick]

That's Drew Brees. Todd. Did I get an invitation? And you.

[Drew Brees]

I haven't seen it. Why would I not give you the advice? What would I have to g. The invitation?

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know.

[Drew Brees]

I'll take another look in the back, though.

[Dan Patrick]

August 8th in Canton. And joining us on behalf of Nephi, N, E, F, F Y. Now, you get these guys. Well, Drew's very competitive, so you get him talking about, you know, running against Brady, Peyton, Ben. Ben. Ben was a tight end, you know, and then he. You know, I think Ohio State wanted him to be a tight end, and then he went to Miami of Ohio to be a quarterback. But that dude, he was. He was like King Kong, like, knocking people away. He's just a huge dude. It's just like Cam. Cam. When you're around Cam, you're like, golly, he's a big man. Yes. Morph.

[Marvin]

I think the first guy I saw that could have been a D lineman or a tight end. Dante Culpepper.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. And, man. Well, he and Drew were in Miami, and that's with Saban, and they took Culpepper, and that's when Drew went to New Orleans. How about that?

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, Paulie, The Peyton Manning career high run is 33 yards. It's one of those naked bootlegs. The defense still hasn't reacted.

[Dan Patrick]

Let's take a break. Back after this.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

[Dan Patrick]

We'll sneak in a couple of phone calls and then we'll welcome a guest who always makes us smarter. Andrew Brandt. He's got a new book called Smarter About Sports My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media and the Business of the NFL. He's a former front office executive for the packers, worked with the Eagles as well. And we'll talk to him about Smarter About Sports. Coming up here in a couple of minutes. Zach and Knoxville. Hi, Zach. What do you have for me today?

[Caller/Listener]

Thanks for taking my call. I got a suggestion for a nickname for Dylan. Do you remember when in high school you do Spirit Week, where you'd have like Waxing Hair Day and Hawaiian Shirt Day and Pajama Day? I think Dylan does that every day, just being himself. So I think Spirit Week would be a good nickname for him. And what's one of your favorite nicknames in all the sports?

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, way too many nicknames. Like, when I was growing up, it felt like you had real nicknames where you go, it's not a derivative of somebody's name. It'll be like, they're calling that guy the Red Rooster. And it was Rick Burleson had red hair. And I guess people thought he looked like a rooster. Former shortstop for the Red Sox. I still like Magic. A Magic Johnson. It fits. Yes. Yes.

[Marvin]

Marv Yellow guys like Oil Cambodia.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And those were the beers that he used to drink.

[Caller/Listener]

Is that the genesis of it?

[Dan Patrick]

I think so. I think so. I think he drank a beer that looked like an oil can. Yes. Dylan.

[Dylan]

Yeah. It's like the Foster's can.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Dylan]

Big wide one, I think. Who is it? I like some of the names that are derivatives of the person's name, though.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

You do?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Dylan]

Like, like Darren McFadden. Run DMC.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, no. But I'm talking about shortening a name. Yeah, Run DMC was good.

[Dylan]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. He didn't run as long as I would have liked it. I loved him at Arkansas. Run dmc. Any other nickname that comes to Mont.

[Dylan]

Yeah, I mean, if you had Austin Reeves and Andre Karolenko on the same team, you could have AR15 and AK47.

[Dan Patrick]

That's true. Let's see. Brett In Florida. Hi, Brett. What do you have for me?

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, guys, how you doing? Thank you for everything and thanks for taking the call discussing the heat, as you were mentioning earlier, because we have LeBron, Bam and Yan.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

If you fill it in with Andrew Wiggins and you fill it in with Tim Hardaway Jr. And you fill it in with someone like you have a developed talent, I firm belief that Ryan Conwell could be a shooter. So with that being said, I'll take the weight of my championship flag. I just think that it would be enough with those guys to compete in the East. That's all I'm saying.

[Kerry Brownstein]

And I had.

[Caller/Listener]

I know I'm biased. Ask Marvin. I want Marvin's opinion, actually, because he's the aficionado.

[Dan Patrick]

Marvin, you're unbelievable.

[Caller/Listener]

I don't know how you know so much basketball. No, he's not, Stan.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Caller/Listener]

He's incredible.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, I know. I apparently knows more than I do Marvin.

[Marvin]

I never said that. But.

[Dan Patrick]

But Brett did.

[Marvin]

He did. Thank you, Brett.

[Dan Patrick]

No, go ahead, help me, help me understand the Miami Heat roster here.

[Marvin]

You know what, I'm kind of going to have to disagree because like we said in the first segment, he needs spot up shooters around him like when LeBron was really successful in Miami. Mike Miller, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, James Jones, you need guys like that are just going to stand there and shoot

[Dan Patrick]

and wait for you to do something. Yes, for sure.

[Caller/Listener]

You got.

[Dan Patrick]

You do all the work and I'll just stand here with my foot ready to go. All right, let me bring out Andrew Brandt, the author of a new book, Smarter About Sports. He's been a guest on the show periodically. It's my life, navigating athletes, agents, media and the business of the NFL. The businesses sports podcast. Also he writes for the Athletic Sports Illustrated. There he is, walking in, acting very important, very regal there. You look like an executive there. You got your golf shirt on. You look like maybe you're doing a corporate outing or something.

[Andrew Brandt]

I did one last night. That's why I'm up.

[Dan Patrick]

Hold that closer to you. Good to see you.

[Andrew Brandt]

Really good to see you. And thanks for having me up. I was in the area last night doing a corporate golf event, speaking for those people, and they wanted to hear all about NIL and the crazy world we're living in in college sports. So I contacted you guys and here I am. And I appreciate you talking about my

[Dan Patrick]

new book, where are we going with Nil? Like, why is that a hot topic for these people?

[Andrew Brandt]

Everyone's frustrated. You know, I've been Doing consulting. I've been in pro sports my whole life. I never thought about getting in college sports. But a couple athletic directors have called and said, can you help us? Can you help us with this cap and contracts and unlimited free agency? And people want to know, where does this end? What's going to happen here? We've got legislation. It's, it's a bill. It's made it through the Senate floor, it's now on the full Senate. We hopefully have a vote this week, move to the house, etc. Is it perfect?

[Caller/Listener]

No.

[Andrew Brandt]

But we need some regulation.

[Dan Patrick]

What feels like college athletics has screwed this up. Yeah, they didn't heed the warning signs. Now they're asking Congress to help them out. That's my feeling with this Andrew.

[Andrew Brandt]

I think Mark Emmer had his head in the sand for so many years. Charlie Baker's doing the best he can. But I'm a lawyer, as you know, there will be lawyers. Everything you try to do to restrict the lawyers come at you. The transfer portal is unregulated because somebody went to a judge and say, hey, judge, Eddie's an engineer. He can transfer every year. Susie's a math major. She can transfer every year. Why can't athletes? And judges are like, you're right, we don't have the regulation we have in pro sports when I do these contracts. Someone just mentioned Ryan Conwell. I did his contract last year for Louisville. And when you say to an agent, hey, let's do a two year deal, three year deal, they laugh at you. Are you kidding me? Why would I do it to your dealers? I have free agency every year. I have optionality. That creates leverage, that creates money. Why would I do that? And that's what we're dealing with in college sports. Made. This bill has a one time transfer policy. This bill has agent regulation. Agents. I'm dealing with mothers, cousins, AU coaches, you know everyone.

[Dan Patrick]

So can you see, okay, we have salary caps in certain sports. Do you think we need a salary cap in baseball?

[Andrew Brandt]

I do. Because the payroll disparity in baseball is so different than the sports we talk about. Mostly where you have the Dodgers at 400 million. You have five teams under 100 million. That's not.

[Dan Patrick]

But as long as we have a minimum spend, well, that's why we need a cap.

[Andrew Brandt]

A cap has not. People talk about the ceiling with a cap has a floor. So minimum spend would force the A's and the Pirates and the Royals and whoever those teams are to upspend. But the union whether go back to Marvin Miller and Michael Wiener and Tony Clark and now Bruce Meyer. They're like, we would rather have the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, unlimited spending than worry about upspending the Pirates. That has been their, their. They don't care about a floor. They just don't want to gap. So it's going to be contentious. I mean, starting December 1st or wherever it is.

[Dan Patrick]

But is this a strike? Like, does this feel like there's going to be a work stop?

[Andrew Brandt]

It does. Okay, but December, January, February, who cares?

[Dan Patrick]

Yes.

[Andrew Brandt]

So we'll see about March and you know my saying deadlines for action. We'll see.

[Dan Patrick]

Do we need a. Will we have a salary cap in college athletics?

[Andrew Brandt]

We do. I know, but people are blowing by because we have this supplemental nil, which is basically. You can deal deals beyond the revenue share. I write revenue share contracts between the school and the athlete, but they're still supplemental nil. You just have to get it approved. And sometimes it gets approved, sometimes it doesn't. Teams are ignoring it.

[Dan Patrick]

We're see. Did Indiana win the national title because of nil?

[Andrew Brandt]

No, partially. I think they developed players at James Madison that went, yeah, went to Indiana and they actually stayed under the cap. But yeah, they just signed a 5,6 million dollar quarterback to replace Mendoza. I mean, this is where the money is right now, in the power power for conferences. And do we want.

[Dan Patrick]

It doesn't stop illegal payments though, Andrew. That's the thing. It's above board. But then there's stuff that's on the, on the periphery that is still happening here.

[Andrew Brandt]

I think we need a larger cap that's truly enforced and not have the CSC worry about $600 deals for lacrosse players. Let's get to the big deals and then you can do your Adidas deal. You can do your Nike deal outside the cap, just like pro sports. Yeah, but we're so worried, as we should be, I guess, about the cheating and you're coming here, but you're really getting this side deal under the table.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, it's frustrating. But then, you know, you start to hear the SEC saying, you know what, maybe we just go on our own here.

[Andrew Brandt]

NIL now stands for, now it's legal. I can't believe I'm writing contracts between universities and student athletes for millions of dollars. There are football rosters over 40 million. There are basketball rosters over 25 million. Think about that. You know, five years ago Nal came on board. We were talking about thousand deals, $1,000 deal, shouting out on Instagram. Now you're getting paid to play. And we have Insulated that in a license contract because we don't want to get in the employee employer thing. And by the way, collective bargaining, people say, well, just collective bargain.

[Caller/Listener]

No.

[Andrew Brandt]

Who are you bargaining with? Football, basketball, baseball, hockey, what players D1 power for? And then who you bargaining on the other side? Is it conferences, is it commissioners, is it the nca? Is it the school? And states don't even allow collective bargaining for public employees.

[Dan Patrick]

What about biggest contract that you've negotiated

[Andrew Brandt]

so far in college? 4 and a half million for a quarterback? I can't say. Why basketball?

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, basketball.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Andrew Brandt]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Current player.

[Andrew Brandt]

Yes.

[Dan Patrick]

How contentious does this get with agents

[Andrew Brandt]

with these negotiations when you're negotiating what you're trying to do in the school point of view, and that's me. I'm sort of management like I was with the Packers. You're trying to protect having to continue to pay if their transfer. Having to continue to pay if they voluntarily. Red shirt, not medical, Red shirt, voluntary to get an extra year, having to continue to pay with breach, with morals, all those kind of things. But again, the most contentious thing is, can I please get a second year? No, no. No one will let me get a second year in these contracts.

[Dan Patrick]

The book is Smarter About Sports, My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media and the Business of the NFL. We had Jerry Jones get involved in contract negotiations. I thought that that was against the cba, but he wasn't held accountable for that. Why is that?

[Andrew Brandt]

Well, I think the CBA requires that a team negotiator doesn't deal with the

[Dan Patrick]

player directly, but he was.

[Andrew Brandt]

Yes. And I don't know where the discipline went with that. This was back in the day where you'd have Carl Peterson, the Chiefs, you had text ram. Some of these people, like we called it hot boxing. You know, you get the player in a room, hey, we're all good, right? We're all good. You don't need an agent. And the only player I think he did that with is Parsons. You know, they let the Lamb and Perk and Prescott contracts go on forever. And then they gave him top of the market. I thought that would happen with Parsons and something personal happened there. They. He shut out the agent and that led to this, this divorce later on. But, you know, my negotiations then I, as everyone knows, I was the only team that didn't have an owner. We had incredible autonomy. I felt like if I did a 5 million dollar contract or 50 million contract, no one's going to say great job or not a good guy. So I just understood working for the packers was like working for a public trust. You really like, what would the shareholders want here? And you negotiated Favre's contract and Aaron's first contract. And, you know, with Brett, this is the story of the book. It's not so much about numbers. It's about ego and relationships and insecurities. And Brett wanted to know, am I being paid similarly to at that time, Troy Aikman, Drew Bledsoe, Steve McNair, not so much. Do I have to get 20 million, 21 million, 22 million? So that's a learning experience for me to realize these players are really all about. Are you treating me like that team's treating their star? Not so much the numbers. It's really relationships.

[Dan Patrick]

What is Tom Brady doing?

[Andrew Brandt]

I don't understand it. You know, I thought he'd be this. A list celebrity that's kind of out of sight, out of mind. Except for his TV appearances for Fox and this thing with Fanatics and Fan Fest and fighting Logan, Paul or Jake, whoever, Paul, he's fighting to set up some WWE. It just. I surmise that after 20 years under the Belichick mushroom cloud, he's making up for lost time. He's got personality that was shunted in New England, of course. And I don't know what's going on with him now. He's everywhere, and he's playing a game.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but I go back to the roast.

[Andrew Brandt]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

I would have told him, I don't care how much money, don't do it, because they're going to go after your wife at the time. And I think they told him they weren't. But those comedians, they're out for a laugh. They don't care. And if it's live. And I was like, you can't go into it thinking that you can trust them because they. That's why it's a roast. They want you uncomfortable, so you do that. And then you. You're setting up a WWE moment here. And I. I just like you graduated as the greatest. You're with the Raiders. Conflict of interest, in your opinion, that he's broadcasting and he's with the Raiders.

[Andrew Brandt]

You know, I think that it's a little silly that they won't let him, you know, go to meetings, but then he's on the field talking to guys before the game, and his partners will tell him whatever they find out. I don't get too upset about that. I just think with the. Michael Rubin, the CEO of Fanatics is kind of a puppet master to these mega celebrities. I was just shocked to See Novak, Djokovic and Brady and even Messi and all these guys show up for money. Of course it's for money. But they don't. You can always say they need the money. There's never enough.

[Dan Patrick]

But why, but they're gonna pay Messi what, a million bucks to show up for 10 minutes? Yes. I mean, why wouldn't you?

[Andrew Brandt]

I guess, I guess.

[Dan Patrick]

But they do show up.

[Andrew Brandt]

But at least he didn't have to do that.

[Dan Patrick]

No, he didn't have to perform. It'll smack anybody. The best run organization in all the sports is who financially, I'd love to

[Andrew Brandt]

say the team I worked for, the packers, because it was so football first. You know, there's no owner diverting resources to a boat or yacht or, you know, something else. It was all football. And obviously there are other well run organizations. I look at teams like the Eagles and the Patriots and the Steelers and so many teams that make it about the product and not all these other things. And say what you will about Jerry Jones, he's invested, you know, and he bought the team and he's going to run the team and he has a family owner. People talk about, well, if so and so sold for 10 billion, what's their. They're never going to sell. You know, the Patriots are never going to sell. Those Bengals are never going to sell. These are family businesses that are now worth $10 billion. And the continuing popularity and profitability NFL never ceases to amaze me. I mean, 110 billion in media contracts, that's going to go way north, way north in a couple years.

[Dan Patrick]

He's Andrew Brandt. The book is Smarter About Sports, My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media and the Business of the NFL. It's available now online wherever books are sold. It's great to see you again.

[Andrew Brandt]

Great to see you.

[Dan Patrick]

Good luck with the book.

[Andrew Brandt]

Thanks so much. Hope you enjoy it.

[Dan Patrick]

We'll take a break. We're back after this.

[Fred Armisen]

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.