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- [00:00]
Dan Patrick
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Paulie
Guaranteed Human hey, it's Covino and Rich.
- [00:06]
Dan Patrick
Ready to tackle your financial goals? We Bull makes it simple to start investing, no matter your experience, whether you're actively trading or building. For the long term, We Bull gives you the tools to invest your way. Trade stocks, options, ETFs and more, or explore cash management and retirement accounts to help your money work harder in the long term, all in one platform. With advanced trading tools and an intuitive.
- [00:26]
Paulie
App, Webull helps you stay informed and in control. Don't sit on the sidelines.
- [00:30]
Dan Patrick
Download the Webull app today W E.
- [00:32]
Paulie
B U L l or visit webull.com.
- [00:35]
Dan Patrick
Webull Financial LLC member SIPC Finra Investing involves risk. For more information, visit webull.com disclosures I'm Bowen Yang. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys Five Rings podcast in the lead up to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi Brian, Hi Nap. Hey Elmo.
- [00:59]
Paulie
Hey Matt. Hey Bowen.
- [01:01]
Dan Patrick
Hi Cookie.
- [01:02]
Paulie
Hi.
- [01:03]
Dan Patrick
Now the Winter Olympic Games are underway and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have?
- [01:23]
Paulie
Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at you're going to.
- [01:29]
Dan Patrick
Become overwhelmed with such good feelings.
- [01:31]
Paulie
Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you?
- [01:34]
Dan Patrick
I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused.
- [01:37]
Paulie
Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious mind games.
- [01:43]
Dan Patrick
A new podcast exploring nlp, AKA Neuro Linguistic Programming. Is it a self help miracle, a.
- [01:50]
Paulie
Shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio.
- [01:55]
Dan Patrick
App, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:59]
Paulie
Over the last couple years, didn't we.
- [02:01]
Dan Patrick
Learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of what happened in Alabama?
- [02:06]
Paulie
This Black History Month, the podcast Selective.
- [02:08]
Dan Patrick
Ignorance with Mandy B. Unpacks black history and culture with comedy, clarity and conversations that shake the status quo.
- [02:15]
Paulie
The Crown act in New York was.
- [02:16]
Dan Patrick
Signed in July of 2019 and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B. From the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [02:32]
Paulie
You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, nobody loves love the way I love, love our one on this Thursday. Fritz, he's here. Seaton, Marv, Paulie, yours truly and of course the back room guys. Stat of the day is always brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the program. First hour brought to you by True Green. Don't waste another weekend doing your lawn care yourself. Partner with the official lawn care treatment provider, the PGA Tour and get a golf course quality lawn the easy way. Sign up@trugreen.com then sit back and relax. Poll question, Play of the day, Stat of the day all of that forthcoming Good morning. If you're watching this program, which you can do on Peacock, download the app or the NBC Sports Network. And Good morning to iHeartRadio Fox Sports Radio in over 400 cities that carry this award nominated program. Chris Sims will join us on loan from NBC Football Night in America as we look at the off season with the quarterbacking positions and who's going to try to fill those voids with free agency or the draft. So Chris will join us in 20 minutes from now. Chris Mannix covering the NBA. We'll talk about tanking and also the All Star game coming up this weekend. This is not going as scripted for the NBA because I thought the world versus the United States was a wonderful approach, maybe a last ditched approach to have a little bit of competition with the All Star festivities. But now you got a few players who won't be playing in the game. Kevin Durant was asked a question yesterday. I'll give you the question and his answer and then we'll talk about it.
- [04:13]
Dan Patrick
I saw you saw the rosters were revealed and said you're on that old heads team. Do you think the old heads will compete and try to win the whole tournament here?
- [04:21]
Paulie
You should ask the Europeans, the world team, if they gonna compete. I mean, because if you look at Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, now let's go back and look at what they.
- [04:30]
Dan Patrick
Do at the All Star Game.
- [04:32]
Paulie
Is that competition?
- [04:34]
Dan Patrick
So we haven't questioned what they've been.
- [04:35]
Paulie
Doing, but we gonna question old heads and Americans. But these two dudes out there, Luka and Jokic, they don't care about the game at all.
- [04:45]
Dan Patrick
These dudes be laying on the floor.
- [04:46]
Paulie
They shoot from half court. But you gotta worry about the old heads. I can read between the lines, bro. Oh, Durant, he's funny. He's funny, he's feisty. But you know, it's a fair point. He's saying, hey, we play hard. They don't. But the reason why Joker doesn't play hard in the All Star Game is that's not his style. The All Star, the way that's played up and down, dunking, that's not his style. Luca, that's not his style. So he might single them out as not playing hard. I'm going to guess if they are playing this weekend in the All Star Game, they will play hard because they're playing for their country or countries. And I think you'll see a more spirited. I hope it is and I'm. I'm not asking too much. It's not going to be the way it once was, but I would like to see some competition and maybe we'll get that with this format. We're running out of ideas when it comes to the All Star Game and it's not mandatory or the future of the sports at stake. You know, it's like the Pro bowl and I said that for years. They don't want to play in it. When it was in Hawaii, you wanted to be awarded the opportunity to go to Hawaii with your family and oh, by the way, we'll show up, run through a couple of plays, hopefully we don't get hurt. That's it. You just wanted the designation of being a Pro Bowler with the All Star Game. Do I want to see them go out and maybe make it like Olympic competition? I'd love to, but it's not going to happen. So maybe you get something that is a reasonable facsimile of a pickup basketball game? Yeah. Seaton?
- [06:24]
Dan Patrick
Yeah. I think the first problem is trying.
- [06:26]
Paulie
To make this mean something. Yes, that's the first problem. So that already we're starting from like a deficit there.
- [06:31]
Dan Patrick
But I don't.
- [06:32]
Paulie
Do you think the NBA did enough.
- [06:36]
Dan Patrick
To get the format, the tweaks to the format out there so people understand what this All Star Game is going to look like because it is significantly different?
- [06:45]
Paulie
Well, you have three teams. You have two teams from the United States and then you have the world team. Right. And then what?
- [06:51]
Dan Patrick
Each. You basically play like 12 minute quarters in like a round robin kind of.
- [06:56]
Paulie
Yeah, I don't even understand it, Seaton.
- [06:58]
Dan Patrick
Well, I don't think it's complicated to understand. I just don't think that people know.
- [07:02]
Paulie
That it's changed that much. Well, that you have three different teams in the quarters. Even then, like I'm going to tune in and go, okay, maybe explain this to me a little bit further. But I Thought it. You know, when you have three teams and you have one game, but trying to combine three teams into one game, and it's the All Star weekend and then you have the rising stars and now we just found out that Cooper Flag is not going to be playing in that this isn't going as scripted for. And then you got the commissioner who is going to be under fire this weekend about tanking because these teams, they're not hiding it anymore. It's like, yeah, you know, we're going to play our starters until the third quarter when that ends, and then we're going to sit them down. Hey, we might win, we might not. But it just feels like it's. Well, it is. It's not a growing concern. It's a concern here. And I can't imagine what David Stern would be doing right now if he was the commissioner. Maybe it's not fair to Adam Silver, but David Stern would not be putting up with this. But I don't even know what you can do. You know, all the media rights, I think it was a total of like $70 billion over the next 11 years. They're swimming in money. They don't know what to do with all the money that they're making. And if I'm a player, and let's say I applied this to Larry Bird, Larry Bird tried to eke out a 10 year career, back issues, and he had to retire. What if Larry Bird played today and he did have a back condition and I could maybe get 14 years out of Larry Bird instead of 10 and maybe he played 65 games? Wouldn't you want that? Do I want Steph Curry to be able to play longer? Do I want Kevin Durant to be able to play longer? LeBron James to be able to play longer? And the answer is yes. I don't think the NBA cares about us. If we say the following, well, I go to one game a year. The NBA doesn't care about that. Now we do. As you know, parents, where you say, oh, I want to bring my kids to a game, but the NBA is worried about filling up the seats every single night. They want repeat customers. They want. The people are going to show up and then you got the TV money as well flowing in. But I, I don't know if I got Commissioner Silver in a private moment and said, hey, if you're looking at the longevity of great players like Cooper Flag, he's going to have load management at some point in his career. They all do. Now at 19, you can run all day, but he gets to be 26 now, seven years, you know, on those legs, and then maybe you're going to have load management. It happens. But if I can extend Cooper Flag four more years by limiting him and, you know, maybe he's only playing in 65, maybe 70 games. It used to be a badge of courage, like you wanted to play as many games as possible. Charles Barkley won the MVP of the All Star Game, and he played on a stress fracture. He shouldn't have been playing in the game. Imagine Michael Jordan breaks his foot and then comes back and you know you're going to play the Celtics who are going to beat you in the playoffs. They never would have let Michael Jordan back in today's NBA. They just wouldn't because they'd say, that doesn't make any sense. We're going to sit you down, we're going to get into the lottery, we're going to tank, and we're going to be better. So the philosophy has shifted. I never, ever worried when I tuned into a game if the stars were going to play or not. Growing up, it was a great luxury. And about 10 years ago, maybe a little longer than that, it all changed. But I understand it from a player's perspective. If I can imagine if you add four more years to Steph Curry's career, that maybe it would have ended, you know, at 36, that's over a hundred, $130 million by just being economical, smart, taking care of yourself, getting your rest. And I know we don't like it, but, you know, we're in a completely different world. What it was like when we were growing up, you know, Bill Russell played every game. And you know, Bob Koozie played every game. Yes. But in today's NBA, they're looking at this from a business perspective. The NBA has business and entertainment. But the player is thinking about, I'm going to sit out. I mean, look at Giannis. He's had a cafe. I don't know how serious it is, but he's been out for a while. And we don't even blink anymore. We're like such and such isn't playing like Kawhi. I'm always surprised when Kawhi's playing. Be like, oh, and Kawhi's having an unbelievable year. He is, yes, Marvin.
- [12:12]
Dan Patrick
But also, you got to put this on the team. Also because they're protecting their investment because these guys are making so much money. Hey, this guy has a stress fracture or he has a bad calf. Not going to throw them out there. Hey, let's keep them out here an extra two games.
- [12:25]
Paulie
I know. I get it. I get it that this is. It's business. It's our entertainment, but it's their business. Yeah.
- [12:33]
Dan Patrick
Paulie, you know, you're completely right about it. It's like a ship that's going one way and you can't turn it around. But if you look at what most fans think of it, they compare it to the NFL and they'll always compare the NBA, which is considered not as rough and brutal as a sport, fair to say. And they sit out all the time. And football players, they can't sit out because they have fewer games. But if you look at the ratings of the NBA Finals the past 15 years and load management, they match each other. The Finals keep going down and down and down compared to a generation ago. And that's a real problem.
- [13:03]
Paulie
Yeah. Seed.
- [13:05]
Dan Patrick
I think from the team perspective, too, though, I think. I think it's pro important to remember that when you're the team and yes, you're protecting your investment, but no one is bigger than the team. The team is going to keep going on after all of these people retire.
- [13:18]
Paulie
There's, you know, after Larry Bird, there's.
- [13:20]
Dan Patrick
Always going to be another Jason Tatum and then there's going to be another guy. There's always going to be another guy that comes down the pike. And that's what teams are thinking about. This one guy is not bigger than the team. I don't really care who they are. They're not bigger than the team. LeBron James is not bigger than the Lakers.
- [13:35]
Paulie
Yeah, but you want to extend them. You want them to play four more years.
- [13:39]
Dan Patrick
Definitely.
- [13:40]
Paulie
You want them to play four more years, for sure.
- [13:41]
Dan Patrick
But also not to the.
- [13:43]
Paulie
The point where the team feels like.
- [13:46]
Dan Patrick
We need you more than you need us.
- [13:49]
Paulie
We'll settle on a poll question here. Chris Sims will join us. We'll look at some of these quarterback situations here and, man, there's some wild things that are out there. And, you know, they're not really reports, but it's kind of a. What. What was the word you used, Paulie, where we try to get around saying it's a report.
- [14:08]
Dan Patrick
Linked.
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Paulie
Oh, link to. Yeah.
- [14:10]
Dan Patrick
Yes, Joe Burrow is linked to.
- [14:13]
Paulie
There was an article, I don't know if it was on the mothership, but it talked about Joe Burrow and being linked to other teams. And you're going, okay, wow, what's. And I said to Fritzi, all right, read it to me. And he go. I said, where's the Joe Burrow stuff? He goes, well, no, it's like the second, you know, part of the article.
- [14:32]
Dan Patrick
Yeah. Had Trey Hendrickson about Colts, Cowboys, what.
- [14:34]
Paulie
Teams he's going to go to.
- [14:35]
Dan Patrick
And then a little blurb towards the end is like, about Joe Burrow. And Joe Burrow is not going anywhere. He's their franchise quarterback. But like, what is that? Yeah, Paul, it is from Yahoo Sports. Bengals already have Trey Hendrickson replacement lined up amid Joe Burrow trade rumors. As if they go together at all.
- [14:50]
Paulie
And then you read it and then they say the Bengals aren't trading Joe Burrow, but it's that link and then you click on it, it's clickbait. And they got me. They got me. That's where you want to respond to somebody. You know, you want to yell at somebody like, hey, stop that. You're better than that. But no, gotta click on. Yeah.
- [15:10]
Dan Patrick
Paulie, a big thing in journalism air quotes these days is say link to. It's in lieu of saying there's a report that Trey Hendrickson is being pursued by blank, blank. Like, if you said today that you know what would be a great place for Joe Burrow to be? The Miami Dolphins, they would use you and say link to the Dolphins.
- [15:28]
Paulie
Yeah.
- [15:29]
Dan Patrick
And they tag it to Dan Patrick when you're not reporting.
- [15:31]
Paulie
Yeah, that would be good though, if Joe Burrow went to the Dolphins now.
- [15:36]
Dan Patrick
He just. You just aggregated yourself. How's that?
- [15:39]
Paulie
They were all in on him. That, you know, it was weird that we had heard that leading up to the draft they were going to offer like five first round picks for Joe Burrow in Miami. And then of course the Bengals, you know, took him. But. And then it came out like earlier this year that the bank or the. The Dolphins were trying to get Joe Burrow at the draft. I'm like, this is old news. They, they did. They desperately wanted to get Joe Burrow and now you got tua. Maybe you don't even have to. So we'll talk to Chris Sims about a lot of these situations here because they're fluid. You're not quite sure we know what the Raiders are doing, but after that, is there a quarterback that somebody's going to go all in on and say that's our future? Because I don't see that. The parade yesterday, it was great to see probably 800,000 there. Beautiful day there in Seattle. They're feisty. The Seahawks are got that chip on their shoulders still. You know, don't come at us. And don't be saying something about my quarterback and Sam Darnold. Just like, hey, thank you for believing in me. There weren't a lot of people believed in Sam Darnold when they brought Sam Darnold in. To be fair to the situation here, if you go back to when Sam was going to Seattle, it's not like it was, oh my gosh, we got Sam Darnold. It was, wait, we got rid of Gino and we got Sam Darnold? A lot of people said that. A lot of people said that. Alrighty, we'll get a poll question. The Play of the Day is coming up. Stat of the Day is always brought to you by Panini America. We're back with Chris Sims after this Dan Patrick Show.
- [17:22]
Dan Patrick
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports.
- [17:29]
Paulie
Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
- [17:34]
Dan Patrick
Here.
- [17:34]
Paulie
I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have.
- [17:39]
Dan Patrick
Brought it here to Ihvar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my.
- [17:45]
Paulie
Wife wanted to kick me out of the house. And it's called Stagatsu company Live, which.
- [17:49]
Dan Patrick
Is available in podcast form right when.
- [17:51]
Paulie
The show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls, I love you guys show.
- [17:59]
Dan Patrick
It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugats Co. And Stugatson Co. Live. So listen to Stegotson Co. Live and our original podcast.
- [18:15]
Paulie
Please support, subscribe, rate and review Stugats Co. And God bless football.
- [18:20]
Dan Patrick
Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games.
- [18:39]
Paulie
Ocala, Florida might seem like an unlikely.
- [18:42]
Dan Patrick
Home for a Winter Olympian, but Erin Jackson is a sprinter in a league of her own. After making history as the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal, she returns to the ice faster than ever. A former inline skater, she dominates the 500 meter sprint with explosive power and arrives in Italy to defend her crown for more Winter Games gold. Search olympics on the iHeartRadio app I'm Bowen Yang. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys Five Rings podcast, in the lead up to The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi Bowen. Hi Matt. Hey Elmo.
- [19:20]
Paulie
Hey, Matt. Hey, Bowen.
- [19:21]
Dan Patrick
Hi, Cookie.
- [19:22]
Paulie
Hi.
- [19:23]
Dan Patrick
Now the Winter Olympic Games are underway and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:39]
Paulie
Segregation in the day, integration at night.
- [19:44]
Dan Patrick
When segregation was the law, one mysterious.
- [19:47]
Paulie
Black club owner had his own rules. We didn't worry about what went on outside. It was like stepping in another world.
- [19:55]
Dan Patrick
Inside Charlie's Place, black and white people danced together.
- [19:59]
Paulie
But not everyone was happy about it.
- [20:02]
Dan Patrick
You saw the kkk.
- [20:04]
Paulie
Yeah. They was dressed up in their uniform. The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him.
- [20:20]
Dan Patrick
From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's Place, a story.
- [20:25]
Paulie
That was nearly lost to time.
- [20:27]
Dan Patrick
Until now.
- [20:29]
Paulie
Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing. It's an all out manhunt for John Ajay. Every search and rescue team in LA.
- [20:49]
Dan Patrick
County has been called in to help. Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department.
- [20:54]
Paulie
The ruler around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of.
- [21:01]
Dan Patrick
Is this the story of a man.
- [21:02]
Paulie
Who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
- [21:09]
Dan Patrick
A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent.
- [21:15]
Paulie
Who does that?
- [21:17]
Dan Patrick
Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [21:24]
Paulie
Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance? I wouldn't do it alone.
- [21:32]
Dan Patrick
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is. You can decide who takes home the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards Podcast of the Year by voting at iHeartPodcastAwards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at iHeartPodcastAwards dot com Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
- [21:59]
Paulie
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts and originals all in one easy app.
- [22:04]
Dan Patrick
Audible.
- [22:05]
Paulie
There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial@audible.com seat and poll question first hour. What are you thinking about?
- [22:13]
Dan Patrick
Well, I'm sort of workshopping here.
- [22:14]
Paulie
1.
- [22:14]
Dan Patrick
I just got to get the right number of letters to fit it in.
- [22:19]
Paulie
But would you rather more games per season but less seasons or more seasons.
- [22:25]
Dan Patrick
But less games per.
- [22:27]
Paulie
Yes, Paul.
- [22:27]
Dan Patrick
Okay, I see where he's going. How about you could have a star player on, a superstar player on your favorite NBA team, 10 years, he plays 80 games a season or 15 years for 65 games per season as an average.
- [22:43]
Paulie
If he's staying on my team the whole time. Oh, yeah. Then I'm going to take, you know, the extra years.
- [22:49]
Dan Patrick
Even though you get to see him less?
- [22:51]
Paulie
Absolutely. The time that I really care about seeing my superstar player is in the postseason. And if that leads to postseason success or availability, absolutely. Will I miss 17 games that he wouldn't be playing in during the regular season? Yes. But if that means I've got four more, five more opportunities to win a championship, absolutely. Chris Sims joining us on loan from Pro Football Talk Live. He's co host with Mike Florio. Also was there working the super bowl for NBC Football Night in America. Do you think we'll ever get to the point where there is load management in the NFL?
- [23:32]
Dan Patrick
No, I don't think so.
- [23:34]
Paulie
I don't.
- [23:34]
Dan Patrick
I mean, it just, you know, the league is so close. One game is equal to five games in the NBA or 10 games in the NFL. I mean, in Major League Baseball, right. So, no, I mean, I think the only time you get to load management is with certain star players. Maybe if they have some injuries and teams that are smart, bring them along the right way. But no, I don't think that's ever going to be a thing in the NFL.
- [24:01]
Paulie
Then explain to me what the Raiders did with Max Crosby or is that tanking?
- [24:06]
Dan Patrick
Well, I think that was more tanking. I think. Yeah, I think it was that maybe more than anything is tanking. He was dealing with a little bit of injury. Maybe they're saving himself from himself. But yeah, that's not, you know, a load management thing there. The Max Crosby situation in general is going to be fascinating here as we.
- [24:26]
Paulie
Go into the off season.
- [24:27]
Dan Patrick
Right. Because you usually sit there and go, wait, you don't trade a player of the caliber of Max Crosby and do that. But yet this is one of those where you can look at it and justify it a little bit or at least go. I could see them doing it. It's 29 years old, as we know. Hey, there's a, there's a formula in the NFL. Most defensive players hit 30 teams don't want to give them big contracts, new contracts there. And the Raiders have So many needs on their football team. Wouldn't be shocked if he. He does get traded this offseason. I.
- [24:54]
Paulie
He's one of my favorite players because he wants to play and he plays hard.
- [24:58]
Dan Patrick
Right.
- [24:58]
Paulie
But if I'm the Raiders, I absolutely trade him. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I. I hate giving up on that, but I can't bring in a rookie quarterback with a rookie head coach and not have a good offensive line.
- [25:10]
Dan Patrick
Yeah, no, I hear you there. And you got to wonder, Max Crosby's got. Crosby's getting to a point of his career where. Yeah, I don't know if he wants to sit around for the next two years and be a part of the rebuilding process, so. Yeah, I'm with you there, Dan, in a lot of ways.
- [25:24]
Paulie
All right, let's look at some of the quarterbacking situations. What's the biggest question mark you have? What team? What quarterback?
- [25:31]
Dan Patrick
Well, I think the obvious one is probably Pittsburgh a little bit. Just as far as where they go, a playoff football team. We got no idea who the quarterback is going to be. I mean, Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy. It didn't necessarily seem like it ended. Ended the most perfect way when it was in Green Bay and now here they may be thrusted back together and then off of that. Yes. Do they bring them back? But is he going to understand that, like, the quarterback of the future is not on the roster of the Steelers? So, like, if they bring him back, is he going to be okay if, like they draft Ty Simpson in the first round and then if they go two and five to start the year, is Ty Simpson going to be in and is he going to be able to deal with that? Right. So I mean, that to me is probably the most intriguing one. I haven't thought about it as a whole, as a league here yet. I'm still kind of transitioning at a Super bowl mode here, but I think that's the one probably I'd still pick if you let me think about it even, even more.
- [26:23]
Paulie
Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the Vikings sit. Yeah, right, right.
- [26:26]
Dan Patrick
That's going to be tough. No doubt they're in a spot. They really are because as we talked about last year, their team, right. Was playoff ready, maybe even super bowl ready. Like, I do think of Sam Darnold played on the Minnesota Vikings last year. Yes. They would have gone to the playoffs, definitely. Now they got to the Super Bowl. I don't know about that. But yeah, they're in a spot where they definitely have to bring somebody that's, you know, tried and true. And proven to a degree, not only because if J.J. mcCarthy gets hurt, which is going to be. Is becoming a. And if he doesn't play well, you got to have a guy there that can at least come in, in those. Those scenarios and hold down the Ford a little bit. But I also think you need a guy there to kind of have the hot poker next to JJ McCarthy every day a little bit, to be like, hey, you got to be good today. You got to be good today. Got to be good today. This guy's coming, he's practicing, he's a pro. He knows how to practice and look good in front of the rest of the football team. And I do think there's value in that for, for young quarterbacks.
- [27:20]
Paulie
If I said you had to extend one rice, Young or C.J.
- [27:24]
Dan Patrick
Stroud, gosh, I would have gone no brainer. C.J. stroud right before the playoffs or the end of the regular season, like, no brainer.
- [27:35]
Paulie
But what happened here, Chris?
- [27:37]
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I mean, there it was questionable towards the end of the regular season. You know, I've had people go, oh, they think his concussion in the middle part of the year was still affecting him.
- [27:49]
Paulie
Right.
- [27:49]
Dan Patrick
He has been in some different offensive systems, but, man, he really lost his way towards the end of the year. Lost his way with decision making, feel for the game, you know, the proper type of throws, forgetting what his team was. I mean, I said to Mike Florio before, and I think this is why, you know, we were kind of talking about the Patriots, and maybe there won't be the biggest bullseye on their back because of how the playoffs and super bowl went, going in the next year. And I made the comment, yeah, I mean, hey, the Chargers game is underwhelming. The Houston game, you kind of felt like if CJ Stroud just kneeled on the ball the whole game, Houston probably would have won the football game. Just kneeled on it every play. First, second down, third down, kneel on it. Defense will set us up for a field position. At one point, we'll kick a field goal and win the game that way. Like, I'm joking, but I'm not joking. It was that crazy. It was that bad. So I sit here now, I guess, giving the edge to Bryce Young, but don't feel necessarily great about that. I mean, I know Carolina went into the year going, hey, we like where we're going, but we don't have our quarterback yet. We don't really know. We don't think we got the guy. We don't have the guy. Now, how he Played better, definitely. How do they feel about that? I'm sure they feel better, but I wouldn't sit here and just go, oh, we're. We're just golden at quarterback with Bryce Young. I'm not ready to say that yet.
- [29:04]
Paulie
You know, the draft is kind of sparse with what we think will be franchise quarterbacks, but I'm wondering about Mac Jones or Malik Willis. Feels like they could get that kind of. I don't want to say Sam Darnold, but they could get that. Hey, we've gone through, you know, the washing machine a couple times, right? Maybe now it's our turn. Now we're at an age where we can handle this. Yeah.
- [29:26]
Dan Patrick
No, I think Malik Willis is a superstar, right. I would think he is the, like, the crowning gem of guys that's going to be out there as far as free agents that you can get no compensation, trading, any.
- [29:37]
Paulie
Like, why wouldn't Pittsburgh go for Malik Willis?
- [29:40]
Dan Patrick
That I. If I were them, I'd be looking at that. Exactly.
- [29:44]
Paulie
Right?
- [29:44]
Dan Patrick
I mean, Malik Willis has proven. I mean, he's got special talent, he has a special arm, he's got special mobility. He knows how to run the offense and do all of that. So, yeah, you know, he's a great story here. And again, another story of like, we looked at the draft and, you know, again, I was a Malik Willis fan coming out and it was like, okay, yeah, I know Kenny Pickett can play in the pocket and he's very good in the meeting room. And I'm so sick of that damn dumb discussion all the time with some of these quarterbacks. And I'm gonna go, oh, yeah, how did that meeting in the pocket work for you? Pittsburgh, Philadelphia Raiders. You know, how about the guy that has a ton of talent and can make game changing plays and just needs a little polish and needs to be coached a little. And that's where, you know, the league misses out on guys like that.
- [30:28]
Paulie
But do you like Malik Willis more than Jordan Love? I.
- [30:33]
Dan Patrick
It's closer than I ever thought it would be.
- [30:36]
Paulie
Right.
- [30:36]
Dan Patrick
I. And I'm really a Jordan Love fan. I mean, again, I'm. I'm the one that was like, jordan Love, I think is going to be better than Tua when he was coming out in the draft. Right. So. So I'm with that. But Malik Willis, I'm not going to say he's better than Jordan Love right now. I will say that I think he shows more potential to be a greater player than Jordan Love that. That's what I would say right now. But I got to see a little bit more before I say he's better.
- [31:01]
Paulie
Than Jordan love and he's $40 million cheaper.
- [31:04]
Dan Patrick
That helps too. But he won't be $40 million cheaper after this offseason. That, that, that I think will change.
- [31:10]
Paulie
What about Mac Jones's future?
- [31:11]
Dan Patrick
Well, Mac Jones is first off shown that he's capable of being a starting quarterback. We know that. Right. And the guys like Shanahan and McVay and you know, the Ben Johnson's in the world, the guys who have these unbelievable, intricate, hard offenses are always going to like Mac Jones, just like Shanahan and McVay, love the Kirk Cousins of the world and those guys because they can handle all the tricks that they have to offer to make the offense look tricky and awesome.
- [31:38]
Paulie
Right?
- [31:38]
Dan Patrick
So that's where you know there's always going to be love for Mac Jones. Now he can't carry the team, right. You put him on crappy Jacksonville for two years ago with all that was going on there. Yeah, he's not Josh, Allen, Lamar or Mahomes or just go, hey, get on my back guys, I'll get us through this time period here. No, he's not that he needs system, he needs help. And when he does do that, you could see he could play at a high level. But at the same time, I don't think the 49ers and Shanahan are just going to give him away. And not only will they have to be blown away by the trade, but the 49ers as we know are good. And with healthy, like there might be a Super bowl team. And I knowing my buddy Kyle Shanahan, I don't think he would leverage the future of the team and get rid of Mac Jones unless he's very comfortable with who his backup quarterback is. And I don't know if he's there with Curtis Rourke, right. Who came off the ACL injury coming from Indiana and being there and being that guy to hold down the Ford if something did happen to Brock Purdy.
- [32:33]
Paulie
We're talking to Chris Simms, Pro Football Talk Live co host, Football Night in America analyst, and his podcast Unbuttoned. If Mac Jones was Seattle's quarterback this year.
- [32:46]
Dan Patrick
Yeah.
- [32:47]
Paulie
Okay.
- [32:47]
Dan Patrick
I mean they'd be in the playoffs for sure.
- [32:50]
Paulie
Okay, so you're not saying they would. They would still have won the Super Bowl?
- [32:54]
Dan Patrick
No, I'm not going to go there. You know, I think Sam Donald's talent is better than. There's a reason, you know, Sam Donald was the number three pick and People thought he was going to be the slam dunk number one pick. Really? If you go back to that time. Right. People were shocked that it was Baker Mayfield. Everybody thought, what, Sam Darnold's going to Cleveland. But you know, he's got better physical ability than he gets credit for.
- [33:13]
Paulie
Right.
- [33:14]
Dan Patrick
You've heard Josh Allen talk about how Sam Darnold spins the ball. I mean, it's a perfect spiral that spins tight. His arms a little more explosive than people realize. You saw on Super Bowl Sunday. His movement and getting out of trouble a few times was kind of special that way. So I do think he's capable of making some, some plays that maybe Mac Jones isn't capable of making.
- [33:35]
Paulie
Let's go back to the Super Bowl. And it felt like, and I said this a couple of times on the show, if you said to Patriot fans, beginning of the year, you're going to the super bowl, but you're not going to be competitive, would you sign up for that? And the answer is, of course, yes. Yes. But man, it really feels like morale is low after the way they were beaten. Your first round pick at left tackle gets, you know, mana handled Drake May didn't look good through the entire postseason. So now handicap the Patriots going into next season knowing you have this super bowl loss hangover.
- [34:11]
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I think they're still going to be really good. They still got a lot of room on their cap space. Kind of like what you alluded to. I mean, they were playing with house money. The fact that they got this far is incredible. I don't think they're going anywhere. I think they're going to continue to be a really good team now. I mean, can they get back to the super bowl and go 14 3? I don't know. They're going to have a first place schedule next year. And if you look at the teams they're going to play next year on the road and all that, it's like, whoa, okay, Whoa. Yeah, it ain't going to be the same. And I think, yeah, morale is down because of like what you talked about. They didn't play very good football in the playoffs. I don't want to use the phrase they lucked into things, but things, certainly with C.J. stroud's play, the way Stidham, the Broncos, the snowstorm, yeah, that, that definitely helped out. And I think to your point too, and to me, the biggest story going into the game was that the guy that was one vote away from being the MVP was historically bad in the playoffs. Like, historically. And same with the left tackle. And then we got to the halftime of the game, and it was like, whoa, again, the guy that was one vote away from being the mvp, it's historically bad in the first half of the game. Made. Made one real throw in the first three quarters of the game. He stepped up and threw a deep curl route to Stefan Diggs in the first quarter. And I would say that was the only throw he made in the football game until the touchdown drive to make it 197 to start the fourth quarter. That's crazy when you say that out loud. Right. And that's why I think morale is a little down overall. And they were dominated in the game, and it just didn't look good. But I. They shouldn't be down for long. It just should be about the game. And the future is bright for the New England Patriots.
- [35:49]
Paulie
Yeah, but why. Why didn't they make adjustments? You got 30 minutes at halftime, Chris.
- [35:54]
Dan Patrick
Yeah, right. Well, here. Here. So here are my. I really. I watch the game and on film and, you know, this is what I do. And the. The podcast and Chris Sims. Unbutton first. I think the Patriots knew. They knew they weren't the better team. I could tell you in the pregame warmups that they didn't. They knew they weren't the better team. I said this to Rodney. Devin McCourty. You went to either side of the field. The Seahawks were out on their field. Like, we're about to show everybody today. It felt like the Patriots are a little bit like, I hope we play our best game and maybe we can pull it off. Right? That. That's kind of what it felt like on the field on Super Bowl Sunday. And I know Rodney and Devin McCourty kind of felt the same thing to the point where you're like, seattle so psycho. Rodney Harrison was like, I hope they don't run out of energy before the game's over. And I was like, rodney, Devin Witherspoon could not sleep for five nights in a row. He ain't gonna lose energy today. I was like, they're young and full of it, and they're ready to go. But I do think the Patriots went in the game knowing that they weren't the better team. They knew they had to take chances on the defensive side of the ball, which is what you saw early on in the game. Right. I mean, Sam Darnold threw some passes.
- [36:57]
Paulie
You're like, whoa.
- [36:58]
Dan Patrick
Oh, my gosh. I mean, they were going to go for it on that side of the ball. And I think they knew between the shaky play of their quarterback and the way and how good Seattle was that they were just hoping to muck the game up, make it ugly. Oh, it's nine, nothing.
- [37:13]
Paulie
So what?
- [37:13]
Dan Patrick
We'll put a drive together, make it nine to seven. Maybe Sam Darnold will make a mistake. And now we go up 10 to nine and now it's 13. That's what I think. They went into the game thinking that was the only way they were going to be able to do it. But the fact that they couldn't run the ball at all then kind of shift the, the onus onto Drake May and the passing game and the pass protection and a bunch of other things, you know, that went along with it led to, you know, some really tough sledding in that department.
- [37:41]
Paulie
It's an eight hour pregame show and you have a run, you have a rundown meeting where you get all the analysts together. But at what point do you look at the rundown and realize that Rodney Harrison is going to question Tony Dungy's hall of Fame vote? Was that scripted? That, that. That was in the rundown?
- [38:01]
Dan Patrick
It was, it was, it was, it was, I think, kind of thrown into the rundown. And I'm not privy to all these conversations, but I think it was thrown into the rundown when the hall of Fame made the most egregiously stupid tropic thunder decision in the history of their, their, their, their hall of Fame with not putting Bill Belichick in with the most obvious, should be first ballot hall of Famer ever. So then it was like, well, we got to talk about this. And of course, Rodney and Devin being from the Patriots and all of that. And then, yes, throughout the week, you know, people started to question whether Coach Dungey definitely did that and all that. So, yeah, I think it kind of came organically and Rodney wanted to question Coach Dungey on, on that situation. And I didn't get to see the segment in total, totality there, but it sounded like it went pretty good. Even though Coach Dungey didn't quite answer the question all the way.
- [38:54]
Paulie
Should he answered the question?
- [38:56]
Dan Patrick
Well, you know me. I mean, I'm a big mouth to tell says everything. So I, you know, yeah, he should answer the question. I would have liked him for him.
- [39:04]
Paulie
To answer the question by not answering.
- [39:06]
Dan Patrick
Isn't he answering right by not answering it? He answered it exactly right.
- [39:10]
Paulie
I would have called Rodney for targeting. I, I would have had to flag him on that.
- [39:14]
Dan Patrick
Well, I thought Rodney might go harder, you know, I thought, you know, Rodney, Rodney, as we all know, like Mike Tyson at times can be like a pit bull on the loose, and you're just like, oh, so he's in that mode. Watch out. And I was kind of hoping the pit bull might get unleashed during that interview, but he, he kept tame there and, and, and, you know, stayed on leash, I guess.
- [39:33]
Paulie
Thanks as always for joining us the entire season. We'll leave you alone for a little while.
- [39:38]
Dan Patrick
All right. Just for a little while. You know, we got draft and free agency to talk about, so, you know, I'll be game for that whenever you're down.
- [39:44]
Paulie
Thank you, bud.
- [39:45]
Dan Patrick
All right. Thank you. Tell those jerks I said hi.
- [39:47]
Paulie
Hey, jerks. He says hi. Chris Sims, Pro Football Talk LIVE CO Host Football Night in America's podcast is Chris Sims unbutton. Play of the Day up next, Fox.
- [39:57]
Dan Patrick
Sports Radio has the best sports talk.
- [39:59]
Paulie
Lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows@foxsportsradio.com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.
- [40:09]
Dan Patrick
Oh, my God. The play of the day.
- [40:15]
Paulie
This is the play of the day. Check this out.
- [40:19]
Dan Patrick
Clippers find Kawhi looking to be the hero tonight. Leonard down the left alley, spins of the free throw line.
- [40:25]
Paulie
Right elbow jumper for the lead puts.
- [40:27]
Dan Patrick
It in with two seconds left. Kawhi Leonard is lethal here in Houston. And the clippers up for 104, 102.2seconds to play.
- [40:38]
Paulie
19 of his 27 came in the fourth quarter. Kawhi scored at least 20 points in 33 consecutive games, a career high. Those aren't consecutive games that he's played in, though. That's courtesy of AM570, the Clippers Radio Network. That's your Play of the Day. Play of the Day brought to you by. They've been doing it for over 40 years, helping you find the right tires for how and what and where you drive ship fast and free. Backed by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like mobile tire installation. Tirerack.com the way tire buying should be. There's a stat, a graphic that's making the rounds this morning. It goes like this. 2004, the Eagles lost the Super Bowl. 2005, the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl. 2006, the Bears lost the Super Bowl. 20 years later, the 2024 Eagles won the Super Bowl. The 2025 Seahawks won the Super Bowl. The 2026 Bears.
- [41:54]
Dan Patrick
Why would you do that? Let's put collectively our salaries on it right now.
- [41:57]
Paulie
What kind of odds would we get? Let's go. What's the payout on that? Yeah, can we find out the Bears odds of winning the Super Bowl.
- [42:03]
Dan Patrick
It just sounds like 100.
- [42:04]
Paulie
We just found them out. Paulie, you feel good?
- [42:07]
Dan Patrick
I don't. I don't like it said aloud. I like quiet, simmering hope. If that's a word, a phrase.
- [42:15]
Paulie
Seaton. Update the poll results, please.
- [42:18]
Dan Patrick
That's the best. I'm all in. I'm all in on that.
- [42:22]
Paulie
I'm a sucker for crap like that. Would you rather a player 60 games for 15 years or 82 games for 11 years? Okay, it's basically 900 games.
- [42:35]
Dan Patrick
One of them is 902 games. But it's basically the same thing.
- [42:38]
Paulie
Okay.
- [42:39]
Dan Patrick
Right now, 68 of the audience would.
- [42:41]
Paulie
Rather 82 games for 11 over.
- [42:44]
Dan Patrick
60 games for 15.
- [42:45]
Paulie
Oh, no way. I want you ready for the postseason. If you say you're going to play 60, but you're going to be ready to go for the postseason, I'll take that If I got 14 years of that. Absolutely. Do you have the Bears odds?
- [43:01]
Dan Patrick
First of all, I want you tired and banged up and dragging clearly the Bears odds to win the super bowl next year. You can get that for around. And Dylan is checking other places. 25 to 1. Okay, should we throw a grand on it? What is it? So what does that mean? If you put a thousand dollars on it? 25,000. You get $25,000. It's a good chunk of change.
- [43:21]
Paulie
It's not enough. That's what. Let's put a hundred thousand, maybe not get it. That's. Put a hundred thousand on. You're talking to the wrong room of people. Yeah, that's. That's your other group of friends, Vince in Austin. Hi, Vince. What's on your mind today?
- [43:37]
Dan Patrick
Hey, guys. Good morning.
- [43:39]
Paulie
What an awesome, awesome interview yesterday with.
- [43:42]
Dan Patrick
My homeboy Drove Drew Brees. I'm from Austin, Texas. He's from nearby Westlake. He went to Westlake High School. I went to Travis.
- [43:50]
Paulie
My freshman OC was Ron Schroeder, who.
- [43:54]
Dan Patrick
Left the next year to go to Westlake. He became a legendary football coach in the state of Texas. He started us doing the four wide, no huddle, the shotgun snap, and drove us crazy because we ran the power eye and we had no idea what we were doing. But hats off, man. He represented himself well yesterday and what a great career and getting good to.
- [44:19]
Paulie
Be associated with that, man. All right, well, thank you, Vince. Opening up your scrapbook there a long time to tell that story on the show. Yeah, I gotta. I gotta get an opportunity to tell the four wide. And we ran, you know, the power I.
- [44:32]
Dan Patrick
All right, this is my window right here.
- [44:34]
Paulie
Yep. Now's my turn. Rich in Chicago. Hi, Rich. What's on your mind? Hey, Dan. How are you today? Good, bud. Good. Good. Hey, you just see J. Stroud two days in a row and I think you're just wrong. His offensive line is ranked 27th in the NFL. He's got no skilled player that's ranked in the top 10 in any category. He's got two seconds to throw to nobody open. And I. You guys are just wrong about your assessment. This isn't my assessment. This is a team has to decide if they are going to do something with him. You saw Drake May got his team to the Super Bowl. You trying to tell me he's got skilled position players? You trying to tell me he's got a good offensive line? And C.J. stroud, they.
- [45:20]
Dan Patrick
They traded away the one of the.
- [45:22]
Paulie
Best left tackles in the.
- [45:23]
Dan Patrick
In the NFL and got nothing for him. They got a second round pick and a couple third round picks.
- [45:28]
Paulie
They have paid zero attention to the offense over the last three years. Okay, but do you think I'm the only one bringing up CJ Stroud? And are you going to extend him? Yeah, absolutely. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, so I'm the only one bringing up. Is there a question of extending him? You Sims, who's just bad. The one that surprises me is Golick. I think.
- [45:50]
Dan Patrick
I thought he would know better, but in.
- [45:53]
Paulie
Darnold is the perfect example.
- [45:55]
Dan Patrick
He goes to the jets, the worst.
- [45:57]
Paulie
Franchise in the history of the NFL, and people are saying he's a bad quarterback. It's like they can't put two and two together. The Texans were a playoff team the previous year. Tell me the additions they've made to.
- [46:10]
Dan Patrick
Their offense besides Stroud.
- [46:13]
Paulie
Yeah, but why aren't you yelling at the Texans? They.
- [46:16]
Dan Patrick
They.
- [46:17]
Paulie
This is malpractice then, Rich, the people.
- [46:20]
Dan Patrick
That you know incorrectly put the blame on C.J.
- [46:24]
Paulie
Stroud. Well, he does take some blame, don't you think? He looked horrible. He couldn't hold on to the football. I mean, those are some of the worst games that we've seen in recent memory for a quarterback. Now, you can bring up the offensive line, but he was fumbling the ball. He couldn't hold on to it.
- [46:46]
Dan Patrick
Listen, he did not play well.
- [46:47]
Paulie
But to. To.
- [46:48]
Dan Patrick
To say that there's some doubt about.
- [46:51]
Paulie
His future over that is. So you're going to give him 55, 60 million dollars a year moving forward? Give it to. Would you give it to Bryce Young? No. Comical.
- [47:03]
Dan Patrick
Okay, so who else would you give it to?
- [47:05]
Paulie
What are they going to do? They're going to go back into the draft? Is that what you're saying? No. Maybe you get him for 35 million. Maybe he realizes that he's not getting 60 million, and. And. And maybe you do salvage something here, but. Am I giving. You want to give him 60 million? Go ahead. I wouldn't. I wouldn't give Bryce Young $60 million a year, but that'll be the going rate. If you really love him, you think he's a franchise quarterback. Hopefully they build around him. You pay him what he's worth, and you don't beat people over the head for things that don't. That they are out of their control. You're going to leverage him because they've.
- [47:42]
Dan Patrick
Got a crummy offensive line.
- [47:43]
Paulie
You're going to leverage his ability to make money because they've got a crummy offensive line. Well, you then pay him 60 million. Good luck with that. Rich. I'm glad you're the president of the CJ Stroud fan club there. This isn't personal. Got stay in your lane. Yeah, I know this isn't personal. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.