Hour 1 – NBA Finals Preview, Aaron Donald’s Rumored Return to the Rams

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show — Hour 1

NBA Finals Preview, Aaron Donald’s Rumored Return to the Rams

Date: June 3, 2026
Host: Dan Patrick with the Danettes (Todd Fritz, Paulie, Marvin, Dylan)
Guests/Calls: None in this hour (teased: Reggie Miller, Ryan Russillo)

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Episode Overview

In this lively and insightful episode, Dan and the team celebrate the 24th anniversary of Todd Fritz joining the show, reminisce about show memories, and dive deep into the NBA Finals preview between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. They also explore the possibility of Aaron Donald returning to the Rams and what impact that could have on the field. Throughout, the panel weaves together personal anecdotes, humor, and sharp sports analysis, staying true to the show's signature style.

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Main Themes & Segments

1. Show Anniversary Banter & Reminiscing

[02:14–03:37, 33:05–39:14]

• 24 Years with Todd Fritz:
  • Dan announces the 24th anniversary of working with Todd. The Danettes joke about anniversary gifts (musical instruments per modern gift tradition).
  • Quote:
    • "We just keep cranking them out. We keep cranking the shows out, that's what we do." — Todd Fritz [03:00]
  • Shared anecdotes: Todd's history of packing up his desk daily, carrying old media guides, and being known for eccentric notebooks.
  • The team recalls show moments (sausage-off, practical jokes, personal quirks) with frequent self-deprecating humor.
  • Callers join in to share favorite show moments and jokes about what milestones lie ahead for the duo.

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2. NHL Stanley Cup & NBA Finals Preview

[03:45–17:14]

A. Stanley Cup Finals Update [03:45–05:00]

• Dan recaps the Vegas Golden Knights’ come-from-behind win in Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, noting NHL stats favoring Game 1 winners.

B. NBA Finals Deep Dive [05:13–17:14, 20:24–32:47, 41:15–46:04]

• Setting the Stage: Knicks (underdogs, facing Spurs) and the unprecedented worldwide visibility for the Finals.

• Key Storylines:

  • Victor Wembanyama's transformation into an NBA global face.
  • Knicks’ road performance and Jalen Brunson’s leadership.
  • The youthful Spurs (second-youngest Finals team ever).
  • Defensive matchups: OG Anunoby's potential role covering Wemby, and depth reality checks for both teams.

• Quote:

  • "Wemby is officially the face of the NBA... this is what [the NBA] wanted because you're trying to transition yourself out of the LeBron and Steph era." — Marvin [13:26]
  • “How many of these kids in their twenties even know that it's the Larry O'Brien trophy? ...Wemby cares.” — Dan Patrick [13:49]

• Discussion on the cultural impact, drawing parallels to the Dream Team’s legacy inspiring global talent like Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker.

  • “The Dream Team gave us Wemby, gave us Luka, gave us Joker... and the NBA is reaping the benefits of that.” — Dan Patrick [15:54]

• Experience vs. Youth:

  • Debate over whether the young Spurs will be fazed by MSG's pressure compared to seasoned but less dynamic Knicks. Dan suggests pressure swings back to New York at home.
  • Marv predicts a defensive battle, spotlighting Anunoby, Bridges, Hart, Robinson, Castle, Harper, and Champagne [32:26].

• Legacy Stakes:

  • Parallels drawn between Wembanyama/Brunson and legends like Magic, Duncan, and LeBron achieving Finals glory early.
  • "This is really, really important... for Jalen Brunson, the debate is over. He is here, he's real, and he is consistent." — Dan Patrick [29:35]

• Callers add their Finals predictions and discuss what a win would mean for each franchise and for coach Mike Brown.

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3. NFL: Aaron Donald and Rams Roster Moves

[05:13, 24:02–29:35]

• Dan dives into rumors of Aaron Donald possibly returning to the Rams, referencing text conversations, Pat McAfee’s coverage, and Sean McVay’s latest comments.

• Quote:

  • “If I'm the Rams... What do you want? ...there's no downside. ...Have you play 35 maybe 40 plays... ready for the postseason. I would just gear up as if you were on a minute’s restriction with him.” — Dan Patrick [05:13, 24:26]

• Discussion of championship windows, player motivation, and past cases (Gronkowski/Brady). The show consults with JJ Watt for perspective on returning from retirement.

• Parallels between legacy defense in NFL (Miles Garrett) and the championship narrative in the NBA Finals.

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4. Globalization of Basketball

[15:46–16:59]

• Paulie and Dan discuss a USA Today article noting Dream Team’s influence on players like Nowitzki and Parker.
• Quote:
  • "That's when I said, this is what I want to do." — Dirk Nowitzki (read by Paulie) [16:46]

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5. Listener Calls & Community

[33:05–39:14, 40:22–46:04]

• Multiple callers check in with show memories, predictions, and jokes.
• Fans discuss what it means to root for a long-suffering team (what age counts?), differences between Bulls, Yankees, Knicks fandoms.
• Anecdotes: infamous "Lady in Red" bus moment, sausage-off/travel stories, and Todd's work habits.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "We keep cranking the shows out... that's what we do." — Todd Fritz [03:00]
• "Wemby is officially the face of the NBA... this is what they've wanted.” — Marvin [13:26]
• “Wemby cares… he says the Larry O’Brien trophy means so much to me.” — Dan Patrick [13:49]
• "The Dream Team gave us Wemby... NBA is reaping the benefits." — Dan Patrick [15:54]
• “If I'm the Rams ...have you play 35 maybe 40 plays... ready for the postseason.” — Dan Patrick [05:13, 24:26]
• "This is really, really important... for Jalen Brunson... he is here, he's real, and he is consistent." — Dan Patrick [29:35]

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Important Timestamps & Segment Guide

• [02:14] — Show opens, 24th anniversary celebration with Todd
• [03:45] — Stanley Cup recap: Golden Knights comeback
• [05:13] — NBA Finals preview (Knicks vs Spurs): experience, pressure, matchups
• [13:26] — Wemby as new face of the NBA, transition from LeBron/Steph
• [15:46] — Global impact: Dream Team legacy, international stars
• [16:59] — Legacy-boosting for players in Finals; Dream Team inspiration stories
• [24:02] — Sean McVay on Aaron Donald returning; strategy for potential comeback
• [26:03] — NFL parallels: Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Miles Garrett's “legacy boost”
• [32:26] — Defensive keys in the NBA Finals
• [33:05] — Callers/fans share anniversary memories and sports jokes
• [41:15] — Discussion on what qualifies as a "lifetime" sports fan
• [43:54] — Cultural/fan memory of sports milestones (age and fandom)
• [44:24] — Lady in Red bus story; more anniversary moments

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Tone and Style

• Warm camaraderie, inside jokes, and authentic sports debate.
• Emphasis on legacies, sports history, and the fan experience.
• A mix of statistical analysis and breezy, relatable conversation style.

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In Summary

This hour of The Dan Patrick Show delivers a rich mix of anniversary nostalgia, thoughtful basketball analysis, compelling NFL rumors, and endearing sports talk. Dan and the team not only break down the critical X’s and O’s for the NBA Finals but also reflect on why these moments matter to fans and players alike—tying together 24 years of broadcast history with the personal and communal joys of sports.

Transcript

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this is an iheart podcast guaranteed human

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when you own your own business you own every decision catch the red eye

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[Dan Patrick]

for more details lot to celebrate this summer and why not take the beverage with you that loves to celebrate with you keep it classic it's miller lite whether you're toasting the birth of our nation our soccer team or maybe just a warm evening on the deck it's miller time in america that's why i reach for a miller lite and you should too all american summer starts with an all american beer go to millerlight dot com patrick find delivery options near you or pick up miller lite pretty much anywhere that they sell beer it's miller time celebrate responsibly miller brewing company milwaukee wisconsin ninety six calories three point two carbs per twelve ounces

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[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

to the dan patrick show on fox

[Dan Patrick]

sports radio it's hour one on this wednesday dan and the dan at stan patrick show glad to have you on board if you're watching if you're listening if you're doing both it's an anniversary on this show twenty four years ago todd fritz and i met and we have not been separated since then even though i've tried you tried multiple times but twenty four years ago we were united wonderful and all along i thought

[Todd Fritz]

it was june second and paulie corrected it a while back that monday was june third in o two sunday was june second so i look up like june second june six actually june third

[Dan Patrick]

yes well happy anniversary todd happy anniversary youtube i don't know what you get each other for the twenty fourth year

[Todd Fritz]

we just keep cranking them out we keep cranking the shows out that's what

[Dan Patrick]

we do now two more years two more years hopefully we'll get to twenty six years totally yes paul i hesitate

[Paulie]

to bring this up for the twenty fourth anniversary the modern theme is the gift has to be something related to a musical instrument oh okay i have

[Dan Patrick]

some ideas i have a bunch of guitars behind me i'm not going to give those to you todd i have

[Todd Fritz]

a cello with the trunk for you it was hard to get it in there i had to put the back seat down but we'll work it out

[Dan Patrick]

yes dylan do you give a musical

[Dylan]

instrument to each other or is it like a one sided thing i don't know just trade yeah you can trade trade cello for guitar todd we try

[Todd Fritz]

to one up each other like i give him a harmonica and he's like harmonica i got you this fancy violin and then i feel bad i would

[Dan Patrick]

get you a symphony that's very i would that's very sweet i would alrighty todd's here dylan's here marvin paulie backroom guys pizza oven is fired up it's a wednesday so i said to dylan come on it's an anniversary how about some pizza here lobster goat cheese pizza lobster fried diablo pizza sausage and pepperoni vodka pizza sausage margarita pizza who has it better than we do nobody stat of the day brought to you by panini america the official trading cards of this sometimes award nominated program first hour brought to you by the great folks at panini hottest rookies biggest superstars the all time greats the only place to collect them all panini trading cards the official trading cards of the dan patrick show you can start or continue your collection now panini america dot net play the day poll questions stat of the day all of that forthcoming my golden knights come from behind down a couple of goals and beat the hurricanes five four up one zero in the series in fact the golden knights first road team in nhl history to win a game one stanley cup final after trailing by multiple goals also keep in mind the team that has won game one of the stanley cup final has gone on to win the series sixty five of eighty six times and if i do the math that's a little over seventy five percent of the time it was exciting it was fun you know nine goals scored and game one in the books game one tonight the knicks are a four and a half point underdog against the san antonio spurs eight thirty eastern on abc we'll talk to reggie miller a little bit later on get his thoughts on what he thinks will happen in this series ryan rosillo barstool sports he'll be covering the nba finals he'll join us as well is it the rams versus the field we'll discuss that we'll hear from sean mcveigh and get his thoughts on maybe getting aaron donald out of retirement there were a couple of reports yesterday including some text messages pat mcafee reached out to aaron donald of maybe getting him back i'd be all in on this if i'm the rams what do you want there's no downside to this i would say to aaron donald you want to play home games you want to play we're not going to have you play sixty or seventy plays we're going to have you play thirty five maybe forty plays that would be it we want you ready for the postseason and i would just gear up as if you were you know on a minute's restriction with him a play restriction with him have him out there certain situations and if you could have aaron donald even aaron donald half the time even just home games i would say absolutely sign me up because you got that guy with miles garrett now you're ready to go and a defense that got roughed up i think five or six times last year gave up over thirty points including two games against seattle all right eight seven seven three dp show email address dp at danpatrick dot com twitter handle at dp show we say good morning if watching on peacock thank you for downloading the app and we say good morning to our radio affiliates as well victor wim benyama hits the worldwide stage tonight it's one thing when you have somebody during the regular season you'll see some highlights you might watch a game or two but for the most part i think most of your nba fans consume highlights not games unless it's your team then you're going to be watching the totality of a season a game but this is different because now you're on the big stage it's not just about highlights this is about watching the entire game and that's fun for me i like when you get you're almost forcing people to watch a game instead of just a clip because somebody can watch a highlight and go man you know who's great and you go who and then they'll tell you and you go did you watch the whole game no i saw a highlight well that's how we're consuming sports now and sometimes we think something is boy that was a great game i'll go no no no a great finish that doesn't mean it's a great game like even the western conference finals it was a battle those weren't great games i mean the first game overtime and wemby had an unbelievable performance i didn't think they were great games where it came down to you know diagramming one last shot it was okc when they look great they won when san antonio looked great they won you know the knicks it was interesting when they faced the hawks when they're down two one after that it wasn't interesting i mean cleveland where you're down twenty two and then you come back and that was pretty much the series because i didn't think cleveland was anywhere near what the knicks were as far as talent goes and they ended up getting swept of course now you got a battle here i expect this to be a battle i think now let's separate the knick fan from reality here if you can do that and that is i think the knicks are a great team i think they they figured out cohesiveness they figured out roles i i don't think they're deep but i do think that they're really good and san antonio is really good as well and i know we're going to talk about experience or lack there of well the knicks haven't been here like i know they've been in the nba for a while they're older players in fact san antonio is the second youngest team in nba finals history they average around twenty four years of age the portland trailblazers in nineteen seventy seven seventy eight were the only team that were younger than them i know the experience you already went through okc at okc in a game seven i think you're going to be okay oh the garden okay well castle was played there he played college games there harper has got nba pedigree wemby's played in the olympics i don't look at that and go boy these guys are going to be uptight if anything once it gets to the garden it feels like the pressure is on the knicks because that that crowd they they you better be good you better be great we came out we we spent all this money to watch you play you better be great san antonio that's that fan base is not turning on you on and maybe turning on you is kind of a harsh description with the garden but the garden does demand great basketball and they will want that when this series goes back to new york but san antonio if you look at the history of teams that have come off multiple seven game series before they get into the finals they normally don't do well the knicks are rested i know maybe you know this is one of those rest and rust conversations we can have after game one but san antonio might be on just adrenaline alone you know have the edge going into game one because you might say well the knicks are rested okay i think san antonio is on that high that they had against okc and it wasn't that long ago it's not like seven days ago now you're ready to go we know what it means to wemby these younger players it doesn't feel like the moment is too big now i've seen that before with chad holgren the moment was too big for him and you could say well he is young well he played in the nba finals he's played in a couple of game sevens it shouldn't have been too big for him i expect to have a lot of conversation about just how great jalen brunson is wemby the i guess different things that he could do at both ends of the floor but i hope that you get you shine the spotlight that dylan harper stefan castle de' aaron fox carl anthony towns changing his game bridges is the guy who got you know traded for five players first round picks og and anobi i think might be the guy that decides this his ability to be able to try to cover wemby if that's possible so there's a lot of different storylines here and i'm excited about it i mean i like the indiana portion last year just because indiana it felt like they were on this historical run and maybe they had fate on their side but okc winning its first championship so that you're looking for storylines every year that i covered the nba finals what is the storyline now you know i was treated to jordan so the storyline was gonna win another one gonna win another one gonna win another one but we did have seattle storyline we had charles barkley storyline malone in stockton storyline so you you have that but you want to have the best basketball on display and i think if you were going to script this i think the nba now it's not scripted i would say that they did a pretty good job if they could script it if you can't get the lakers in there having the knicks against san antonio that would be high on my list yes marvin yeah this

[Marvin]

is the best case scenario for the nba because wemby is officially the face of the nba right

[Dan Patrick]

yeah this is

[Marvin]

what they've wanted because you're trying to transition yourself out of the lebron and steph era yeah or we need somebody who's must see tv joker sga great players but this guy you gotta see

[Dan Patrick]

him yeah i don't know if there's anybody else on that list like anthony edwards does not want to be the face of the nba he said it i think he's a great player i just think people don't watch him during the regular season you see him in the postseason and we all say the same thing man he kind of reminds me of jordan and then it goes away john morant i don't know if he wants to be professional zion same thing i mean he got guys who got in got paid i don't know if they care wemby cares like when's the last time you saw somebody and yes he did cry after winning the western conference finals get over yourself nothing wrong with a grown man crying i do it all the time he won the western conference finals he said man he's he says the larry o' brien trophy means so much to me how many of these kids who are in their twenties even know that it's the larry o' brien trophy that they hand out like who's larry yeah wait is this larry o' brien byrd what's this trophy for i love that i love what it means i love how the garden is going to just be thumping it's going to be great having been in that place for a variety of events no nba finals but to be in there for playoff games hockey college basketball big east i know what it sounds like this will be unlike any other event that's been in there in the last thirty or forty years even going back to nineteen ninety nine i mean and wemby wasn't alive in nineteen ninety not even close tim duncan was twenty two at the time but i don't think many people thought the knicks had a great chance against that spurs team yes marvin yeah the city's going

[Marvin]

to be rocking the knicks this is the only time in my lifetime where the entire city will be behind one team the only time that's even been remotely close is the two thousand one yankees and that was because of nine

[Dan Patrick]

eleven yeah yeah good point yeah paulie

[Paulie]

the nba finals will be broadcast to two hundred fifteen countries in sixty languages

[Dan Patrick]

and you don't know what this game will mean on players who are going to be watching this when they're young because that's where i go back to the dream team the dream team gave us wemby the dream team gave us luca they gave us joker they they gave us these players from around the world and the nba is reaping the benefits of that i mean david stern god rest his soul he knew what he was doing he wanted he wanted global expansion and the only way you were going to do that is if you humbled the rest of the globe and they did that with the dream team and those countries realized can we have a michael jordan or charles barkley or larry bird and you see yes they can yeah paulie there's this great

[Paulie]

article from the usa today a few years ago about the dream team in ninety two and dirk nowitzki says that's when i got into basketball i was good i was decent but that's when i said this is what i want to do tony parker of the spurs said the same exact thing let's take

[Dan Patrick]

a break we'll settle on a poll question we'll hear from sean mcvay after a press conference yesterday also miles garrett will talk about the pressure that he's facing going into the la rams we're back after this dan patrick show be

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sure to catch the live edition of the dan patrick show weekdays at nine am eastern six am 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 and 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 gods and company lie cavino and rich the odd couple with rob parker and kelvin washington the jason smith show with mike harmon and the ben maller show fox sports radio

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on youtube subscribe hit that thumbs up

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icon and comment away

[Caller/Listener]

i turned off

[Dan Patrick]

news altogether i hate to say it but i don't trust much of anything it's the rage bait it feels like

[Paulie]

it's trying to divide people we got

[Jonas Brothers]

clear facts maybe we can calm down

[Todd Fritz]

a little

[Dan Patrick]

nbc news brings you clear reporting let's meet at the facts let's move forward from there nbc news reporting

[Ryan Seacrest]

for america hey it's ryan seacrest for albertsons and safeway summer is here and the sun is out make sure you take care of your skin this summer now through june twenty third shop for uc save days and get great savings on all your favorite skincare essentials and earn four times points shop in store or online and save on sunblock from neutrogena sun bum hawaiian tropic banana boat and coppertone and earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas offer ends june twenty third restrictions apply offers may vary visit albertsons or safeway dot com for more details

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[Jonas Brothers]

the jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news huge news we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podc well we didn't invent it we we just contributed to it first people to do podcasts pretty yeah pretty wide range of podcasts but this one's extra special

[Dan Patrick]

so how did we how do we

[Jonas Brothers]

actually come up with the name hey jonas guys i honestly don't remember i

[Dan Patrick]

think it was on a call about

[Jonas Brothers]

what we should call it and well we were thinking i'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before jonas brothers this is how you guys remember it going down yes i have a very different memory of this we were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast people could call in and say hey jonas and then i wrote down on my little notepad hey jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast but thanks for remembering that guys listen

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to hey jonas on the iheartradio app

[Jonas Brothers]

apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast just listen we don't care where

[Dan Patrick]

you hear it reggie miller a little bit later on in the jalen brunson era the knicks are two and oh in game one on the road and won both playoff series in which they did not have home court advantage also in the brunson era the knicks are seven one in playoff series in which they win game one and oh and two in the series when they lose game one start of the day start of the day start of the day start of the day this is the that's the kind of stat that i like because it has to do with jalen brunson not the new york knicks in their history are whatever in game one doesn't match i don't care willis reed's not coming out of the tunnel neither is walt frazier bernard king i want to know what this team or at least that guy does in a playoff series yes paul the other thing

[Paulie]

you hate is when like seven years later they say super bowl rematch bills versus broncos that was eighteen years ago

[Dan Patrick]

yeah yes dylan yeah you see that

[Dylan]

with a lot of the like gambling stats where they're like on the third wednesday in april they're about eleven and

[Dan Patrick]

four against the spread eleven yeah doesn't mean anything to me todd you went simple today with the throwback dp show

[Todd Fritz]

yeah why not i wanted to do something dan patrick really i wear a lot of dp gear anyway but i figured today would be a good day to wear something dan patrick oh for

[Dan Patrick]

the anniversary but you're a knicks fan

[Todd Fritz]

i am a knicks fan and i'll wait and see what happens before i take out the brunson jersey you know you know how i play both sides like that if they win tonight then maybe tomorrow's the day to wear it

[Dan Patrick]

okay by the way we're inching closer to you getting a wedding cake in the face because the taylor swift wedding details are starting to leak out a little ramping up yeah just saying todd that was the bet you guys all thought it was a publicity stuff that's

[Todd Fritz]

a lot of layers of wedding and

[Dan Patrick]

i said no nobody nobody loves love like i do and taylor swift and travis kelsey i guess this summer yes

[Paulie]

paul multiple reports say the swift kelsey nuptials the first week of july this

[Dan Patrick]

summer okay i'll plan accordingly we actually

[Paulie]

heard from a source that semi confirmed that to us yesterday really as someone who who knows okay who knows the kelsey's okay and the kelsey's summer schedule

[Dan Patrick]

okay well good yeah well we're on

[Paulie]

the news team's always on at the

[Dan Patrick]

end the i team i'm steering clear of rhode island in the first week in july i believe you love love i do love love but i don't like traffic it's gonna be a mess yes dylan would you say you're like

[Dylan]

the love detective like can you tell based on the eye test if it's real or not yes yeah yeah what

[Dan Patrick]

about todd and i yeah i think it's it's there there's sparks no i think there's a mutual affection admiration for one another that's fair that's fair yeah yeah attraction we're not shy about it yeah alrighty so stat of the day brought to you by panini america miles garrett shows up at the rams press conference and he had this to say on what motivates him since the very

[Sean McVay]

beginning it's always been about winning and it just breaks down to know the the timing of everything what does it realistically look like to be a winner now and to have a opportunity to do that you know immediately no that was an opportunity that was just too

[Dan Patrick]

difficult to pass up sean mcveigh on if aaron donald is interesting and interested in coming back here's what i would

[Aaron Donald (via Sean McVay)]

tell you guys overall too is you know aaron's a guy that i stay really close in touch with and i know respect that he has for miles talk to him about the opportunity to be able to bring him on board if aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of thirty five i bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip

[Dan Patrick]

yeah and paulie reached out to jj watt and asked him what would aaron donald be facing what are some of the hurdles coming out of retirement hadn't played in a couple of years now he hasn't had serious injury like jj watt did i don't think aaron donald had any of those career interrupting injuries but it like maybe at the end but i don't know if there there was anything that was considered possible career ending but i think you can have him play thirty five plays maybe thirty to thirty five plays now i'm paraphrasing jj watt thirty to thirty five plays use him strategically you'll get back in football shape you'll get back to that feeling of contact and i don't know if there's any real downside to it other than do you want to do it like your motivation he's already won a super bowl how much money are you going to pay him does he want to see the problem is i would have to knowing how competitive aaron donald is i'd have to say we we together have to decide how many plays are smart for you because week one week seven week nine week seventeen i want you in january i want you in february in this stadium playing in the super bowl how do we go about doing that this isn't how many sacks are you going to have this is about you just being there in the lineup for x number of plays giving that opposition another thing to think about yeah paulie remember in twenty

[Paulie]

nineteen rob gronkowski retired then he came back the following year to tampa and i can remember us covering that season we're like you know kind of a slow start for gronk not a lot of reps not a lot of targets and someone said one reporter you had on said they want him in january

[Dan Patrick]

yeah yeah that's all you want i want you for the playoffs at this stage i want you for the playoffs that's why i never cared about tom brady's regular season stats and the only time i did was when they didn't win the super bowl when they had randy moss because you couldn't ignore those numbers all i cared about was is brady going to be ready to go in the postseason peyton manning can throw fifty touchdowns patrick mahomes fifty touchdowns i mean those are all nice all i care about is what did you do when you got to the postseason stay healthy that's it that's all you care about but we do get caught up in the regular season numbers and they do hand out awards for the regular season all i want to know how healthy are you when you go into the postseason and i think if the rams could get aaron donald thirty to thirty five plays maybe you bring him on in on you know strategic downs but i just want to give you one more thing to game plan i want you to have one more thought when you go to the line of scrimmage that where is he ninety nine is right there ninety five is right there and i know a lot of people got caught up in i still can't believe that they got miles garrett for one first round draft pick jared verse his defensive player of the year odds are the seventh best in the nfl this upcoming season like you got a really good young cheaper player and this is what the browns need to do you can have a showcase piece it's like man i got this great engine but the car's all banged up and the tires are flat but come on out and look at the engine that was miles garrett and i didn't understand it he wanted out he said winning was important it's not it wasn't that important because once he got that salary he's like you know okay i think i could get used to this again now it is this is legacy boosting for miles garrett from the standpoint of most of your great defensive players greatest defensive players of all time had success in the playoffs they won super bowls or they won nfl championships or afl championships miles garrett he doesn't need this but this moves you up the ladder you know reggie white is there and lawrence taylor ray lewis ed reed like there's so many great players mean joe green you're winning super bowls or championships miles garrett now this is sort of like shohei ohtani was going to be a hall of famer he just wasn't playing in any big games now he is we've seen what he can do now that legacy boost is what he got it's just like jalen brunson or victor wembanyama in the nba finals this will be a legacy boost for these two and maybe carl anthony towns like somebody's going to get that legacy boost where we look back on this and maybe you know victor at age twenty two we've had players you know what magic did when he was twenty still amazing but duncan was twenty two you know what was lebron when he took that ragtag team to the nba finals twenty two this is this is really really important in the vacuum of what are you going to do and certainly for jalen brunson like this is one of those okay now he stops all the conversation of you know he was a nice player in college he was a nice player in dallas can he be that star in new york the debate is over like he is here he's real and he is consistent and he wants it that's what you want and i hope wemby cries if he wins the championship i hope brunson cries if he wins the championship whenever i you know covering those bulls teams when michael won the title every year that he won the title it was as if it was the first time he won the title but his pressure was unlike anybody in the history of the game he was supposed to win he was favored to win expected to win it was relief jordan when he celebrated it's almost exhaling if malone had won or barkley had won or sean kemp had won in that run they would have had pure joy excitement because they weren't expected now you got both of these teams and i know the spurs are a slight favorite but i look at them both as underdogs i do because the knicks have lacked success san antonio hasn't had success you know in in quite some time but they have had it as a franchise and going into this year what did we say or at least i did i think they're a year away and i was wrong the knicks i think we thought if not the celtics then the knicks will be the team to beat in the east i'm not surprised at all but i am surprised at how well they play you know cleveland wasn't you know a consistently good team we saw i mean he gets swept atlanta not a good team seventy six ers not a good team meanwhile you got the spurs going through minnesota and minnesota you can't go well it's minnesota minnesota always in the playoffs going to the western conference finals denver getting rid of okc like you went through the gauntlet now you got to keep your foot on the accelerator now the knicks have to ramp up their game because what they played against in the playoffs as opposed to what they're going to play in starting tonight completely different this is a great defensive team a team that wants to play you got kids who want to play defense led by wemby kids usually don't want to play defense but this is different yes marv i

[Marvin]

think this is going to be a defensive battle because both teams they do basketball camp like defensive drills where you got an anobi mikel bridges josh hart mitchell robinson those guys make their money on the defensive end of the ball and just like you said with the spurs with castle and harper and victor and vassal and champagne that's how you

[Dan Patrick]

say it champagne champagne champagne yeah champ

[Marvin]

i'd go champagne or something i would

[Dan Patrick]

too champagne but he's one of those

[Marvin]

guys where he's going to have a twenty point game in the finals like

[Dan Patrick]

man who's this guy i know andrew in washington good morning andrew what's on

[Caller Andrew]

your mind good morning thanks for taking my call i really appreciate it just wanted to talk a little nba finals but with your twenty four years with todd today just wondering two things it'd be great if somebody got together and found out how many thank you todd's there were over twenty four years if somebody can do that electronically secondly what is the most memorable content moment that you've had with todd mine for the show between with todd is the sausage off that still gets me every time it comes around we replay it i just die laughing but just kind of wanted to know that but real quick i just had my nba finals prediction it's going to be spurs and six and i don't know if the room's going to get around to doing their nba finals predictions but i'd like to

[Dan Patrick]

hear that yeah we'll do that the end of the show todd you have a favorite moment in the twenty four years that we've been together i don't

[Todd Fritz]

know if it's a specific moment but i enjoyed when we did those like

[Dan Patrick]

frank williams junior but we need specifics

[Todd Fritz]

a specific moment would be that was just you and i are just one in the history of the show well

[Dan Patrick]

it's our anniversary yeah i'd have to

[Todd Fritz]

give that some thought okay i don't want to just say something and then it's like actually the seventh best moment that i had that's something that would

[Dan Patrick]

require a little thought well the anniversary of sausage off that was a ten year anniversary that was just a couple days ago i know the worst moments

[Todd Fritz]

sausage off related was the sausage race where i almost had to go to

[Dan Patrick]

the emergency room you weren't going to

[Todd Fritz]

the emergency room it was i was getting very lightheaded we were all in

[Dan Patrick]

the same outfits i'm bigger and sweatier

[Todd Fritz]

than you guys and i couldn't get into that thing and then we had to do then it was like one hundred degrees that day trying to run in that thing it was just brutal

[Dan Patrick]

lucas in texas hi lucas what's on your mind hey dan good morning good

[Caller Lucas]

morning you know i want to spread a little positivity here i want to shout out a couple of listeners first off you know the eyes are turning on texas a little bit here but it's good to know how texas feels about each other so i just want to shout out david in ohio i just love that there is some man in the middle of a north or midwest state that is just cooking up anti cowboys content every single day i just want to you know game recognize game there a little bit also y' all play it every day the stat of the day the kind of nineteen seventies funk that is just top notch it is a i think that's the best fan submission musically at least that i've heard and in honor of david i'm gonna give an attempt at my own big swing at a at a corny joke dan this is anniversary season and it's good to plan ahead so you know that the twenty fourth year you get a musical instrument the twenty fifth year is all about silver and the twenty sixth anniversary is all about a restraining order okay thank you lucas

[Dan Patrick]

is he talking about you with the

[Todd Fritz]

restraining order we don't get to the restraining order because that's june twenty eighth and the super bowl week is february twenty eighth so we come up short of twenty six years on the restraining

[Dan Patrick]

order yeah yeah twenty four years though

[Todd Fritz]

something to be said for that yes

[Dan Patrick]

yes and your ability to hang in there and not lose your mind there have been moments where i've had some discussions with my wife about you and our relationship and and you as as well with your wife talking about our

[Todd Fritz]

relationship but for you to continue doing the show for that long with me on the other side of the glass that says something for patience for all you guys and you know not being in some kind of institution or something

[Dan Patrick]

yeah yeah i mean you know it's i love you i just don't don't always like you can be very passive

[Todd Fritz]

aggressive i send a lot of emails and texts i you know my shtick sometimes gets old or i could be boisterous like i could then get very quiet i got a lot of stuff

[Dan Patrick]

a lot of baggage thank you todd

[Paulie]

you're welcome yes paul i started on the show just before todd did about a week or so and i had not met todd but i'd heard about todd so his first week he got the cubicle right next to me and i was getting to know him a little bit and then what i noticed every day is he would take out this big briefcase this big seventies barney miller looking cop briefcase and he would take out all his stuff at the end of the day he would put everything he owned back in the briefcase and go home i was like okay he's getting used to the place he did that for the next decade his desk had nothing on it yes having

[Todd Fritz]

a picture of the family because that's when the blue book and the black book for those who don't know those media directories that have phone numbers and ways to get in touch with teams and their pr that wasn't online it wasn't in a pdf so i had to carry all those a co cider book for college sports information that was all books that had to be taken home and taken with me everywhere i

[Dan Patrick]

went yeah he had all these media guides and they'd be in his briefcase and if if you looked at his desk you would have thought somebody got fired and they cleaned out their desk every single day todd did that and he would load up his satchel and he would take all of those books home yes dylan yeah if you look

[Dylan]

at todd's notebook you'd think he's the unabomber and if you look at his desk you'd think he's the zodiac killer

[Dan Patrick]

there's just nothing there the movie seven yes exactly like that that is the first time i saw his notebook and scribbling and i i i did worry like i was like who does this

[Todd Fritz]

the beautiful minds kind of thing not

[Dan Patrick]

so beautiful no it hey there's certainly a method to it which makes you the best at what you do but who that one scared me a little

[Todd Fritz]

bit i will admit there are times where i've looked at my notebook i'm like i can't read with my own handwriting and it meant something at that moment but i couldn't make it out

[Dan Patrick]

it feels like there's an encryption there like there's something in there that like there's a message within the message within the message and i do feel i did feel i have to be honest that i thought i might be asked one day by police how well did you know todd fritz and then i'd have to distance myself you know he seemed like a nice guy obviously not

[Todd Fritz]

well enough i didn't think he was capable of doing all those horrible things

[Dan Patrick]

he kept to himself yes dylan and

[Dylan]

then they pull up the quote from tonight that we're celebrating our twenty fourth anniversary together like seems like you knew

[Dan Patrick]

him pretty well let's take a break our play of the day is next

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

fox sports radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation catch all of our shows at foxsportsradio dot com and within the iheartradio app search fsr to listen live oh my god the

[Dan Patrick]

play of the day

[Sean McVay]

this is the

[Caller Andrew]

play of the day check this out

[Dan Patrick]

three and a half to go hurdle into the dots assist it's back for hurdle he scores too much hurdle then it's five four vegas with three twenty four to go sean mcdonough on the call courtesy of the mothership hurdle's second goal in a stanley cup final his first came ten years ago when he played for san jose as my golden knights take game one play of the day brought to you by liberty mutual why pay full price when you can customize and save switch to liberty mutual they'll customize your home and auto so you only pay for what you need jeff in tampa good morning jeff what do you have for me today good

[Caller/Listener]

morning okay well i am much like paulie i'm a suburban chicago guy navy aurora area so i'm unlike most of chicago who are michael jordan fans i'm actually a chicago bulls fan and we're long suffering and i was just wondering what you think maybe we got the number four pick so we got caleb wilson we got maddox bruisellis josh giddey and now we also we got more

[Dan Patrick]

cat money jeff jeff i can't do the bulls roster and salary cap and draft picks and not today not today not today yeah maybe call the score maybe maybe call tom waddle ask ask waddle about this but thank you jeff just not today

[Paulie]

and the twins bullpen is a mess what do you think

[Dan Patrick]

yeah but the twins are playing now at least it's the off season for the bulls yes todd but you covered

[Todd Fritz]

the bulls all those years you have a special affinity towards chicago basketball the

[Dan Patrick]

number of people covering the bulls back then in person yeah i'm like i i never saw you yep i covered the bulls yes marvin now i'm still

[Marvin]

laughing at just all what do you think josh giddy i was like that is not a name we're trying to

[Dan Patrick]

talk about right now i don't think so i don't think so yes dylan

[Dylan]

you were devastated when they traded kobe white to the hornets i was remember

[Dan Patrick]

that i haven't gotten over that yet

[Paulie]

yes paul i was thinking about this i was talking with our guy rob one of our producers in the back and he is completely anxious about the knicks game tonight not excited but anxious and it's understandable and he said something the other day because i just want one in my lifetime as a knicks fan you want one i think everyone gets one so if you're like a bulls fan or some of these dynasty teams it's like you're full you almost shouldn't ask for anymore yeah i don't

[Dan Patrick]

want to hear long suffering bulls fan i'm sorry if you're if you're twenty two years of age okay your entire life but i don't want to hear long suffering oh i'm a long suffering yankees fan yes dylan does the like

[Dylan]

paul said you just want one in your lifetime particularly if you root for certain teams like you know chicago sports mets whatever when does that count do you have to have been not born or if you're like three and they win a title does that i think

[Dan Patrick]

you have to be aware of it

[Dylan]

you have to be yeah that's kind of what i think like ten i

[Dan Patrick]

would say eight nine ten where you know the starting lineup you get to stay up you maybe go to a couple of games i would say that probably be what be my criteria red and georgia is back hi red what do you have for me today hey

[Caller Red]

thanks for taking the call dad dan i want to talk about the finals and how we start the finals out especially when you're refereeing this final i think the refs have to set the tone early in which way those viewers can appreciate the game and call it however they gonna call it just keep it consistent and dan when they come

[Caller/Listener]

to these knicks don't this validate mike

[Caller Red]

brown career if he wins this championship

[Caller/Listener]

in a way that if he just lose and he's just going to be

[Caller Red]

another mike brown basketball team that didn't get to accomplish the final goal and thanks for taking the call dan and dan remember you could be nine years old because i remember marcus allen turning around in the middle of the field at nine and that's when i became

[Dan Patrick]

a raider yeah like eight or nine yeah i think you get to that point where you get to stay up late you get to go to a couple of games you can name the starting lineup but thank you red david in ohio hi david

[Caller/Listener]

hey what's up dan happy anniversary to you and todd i think maybe in the running for best moment between you two might be when you guys were on your way to the emmys and i believe todd had the bus driver play the lady in red for your wife i think that's in the running there so thank

[Dan Patrick]

you that was weird why is that

[Todd Fritz]

weird i thought that was kind of

[Dan Patrick]

fun cute thing i know i was

[Todd Fritz]

trying to do something nice and she looked very nice in her red dress and i'm like and i said to one of the guys who was controlling the music play lady in red i know and it wasn't meant to embarrass anybody it wasn't meant to be inappropriate it was supposed to be a cute fun moment i know you're turning it

[Dan Patrick]

into something uncomfortable i know but i

[Todd Fritz]

don't i saw her smile she got it maybe smiling uncomfortably but she got

[Dan Patrick]

a kick out she didn't i don't think she understood what was going on and then i told her and then she goes why i go i don't

[Todd Fritz]

know i wasn't the one that made us pull over to have to use

[Dan Patrick]

the bathroom that was tyler oh my god these guys are pounding beers on this bus and i keep thinking there's no bathroom on the bus and it's about a two hour ride and it's rush hour and then tyler tyler's like you know and if you've ever been around like a two year old and they're like squirming and you know that was tyler he's like hey i could we i i can wait i can wait i go what do you want he goes can i can could we pull i have to i have to i have to pee i go okay all right then we'll pull over so we pull over it's traffic crazy going into new york he runs a quarter of a mile to get behind a bridge so nobody will see him and then he comes back and then he's fine ready to go but i was like did you not understand how long it takes and you guys are pounding four or five beers on the way there yes dylan not this camel back

[Dylan]

here dan i was good although that traffic starts to go real slow when

[Dan Patrick]

you gotta go ryan rosillo from barstool sports will stop by momentarily talk about the nba finals can wemby be the face of the nba if he's not from the united states reggie miller in the final hour i'm in the confessional

[Jonas Brothers]

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