The Dan Patrick Show – Hour 1 – The Royal Engagement, NFL Hot Seats

Air Date: August 27, 2025
Host: Dan Patrick with the Danettes (Fritzi, Seaton, Marvin, Paulie)
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network

Overview

This episode dives headlong into two major themes: the engagement of NFL star Travis Kelce and pop icon Taylor Swift—prompting a deep, humorous debate about love, sports, and celebrity culture—and the looming hot seats for several NFL coaches heading into the new season. Dan and the Danettes banter about their own on-air bet regarding the power couple, discuss which NFL coaches are most under pressure to deliver, and field listener questions, all while offering their trademark mix of sports insight and levity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Engagement: Love Wins… and Bets Remain Unsettled

• Dan’s Love for Love: Dan opens by declaring, “Nobody loves love quite like I do.” He feels vindicated after long defending the authenticity of Kelce and Swift’s relationship, following skepticism from the Danettes (00:40).
• The Legendary Bet: Dan recalls a previous on-air bet with Fritzi: when (not if) Taylor and Travis get engaged, Fritzi receives a wedding cake to the face. The catch? They’re searching for the exact audio evidence (“audience, help us!”), as Fritzi’s wiggle room rests on whether the bet specified ‘engaged’ or ‘married’ (01:30).
• Notable Exchange:
  • Dan: “It was obvious to me, it was obvious.”
  • Paulie: “I’m Mr. Semantics… was it ‘engaged’ or ‘married’? Those are two different things.” (03:25)

The Audience Joins the Hunt

• Listeners join in, with one caller (Ryan) finding video evidence indicating “some discrepancy… Dan said engagement, Fritzi said wedding,” leading to mock legal discussions and jokes about lawyer intervention (26:03).

Wedding Cake Content

• Dan plays old audio (approx. 60:20–63:00), revealing the ambiguity: the words “wedding” and “engagement” are both thrown around, keeping the comedic tension alive.
  • Dan: “How serious are you—wedding cake to the face—Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce don’t get married?”
  • Fritzi: “No, I need to be going down the aisle and exchanging vows. I need an engagement.”
• Ultimately, the Danettes defer settling the bet for “two and a half years,” unless the couple actually weds. More bets, including “double or nothing” cake and jokes about eating an entire cake, ensue.

NFL & Pop Culture Crossover

• The hosts muse on the implications of the royal engagement for the NFL (“Is this the last year for Travis Kelsey?”) and the league’s marketing powers:
  • Caller (Chris): “What angle might the NFL take to make a little money on it?” (70:55)
  • Dan: “The NFL loves love, too, if they can find an angle to profit by it.”

2. NFL Coaches on the Hot Seat: Who Must Win Now?

• Poll Question #1: Is Travis Kelce more likely to retire now that he’s engaged?
• Poll Question #2: Which NFL coach must win a playoff game or risk being fired?

Top Coaching Conversations

• Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins):

  • Dan sets up that McDaniel is the odds-on favorite in Vegas to be the first NFL coach fired this season (13:50).
  • Paulie: “Two years ago under Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins had the second ranked scoring offense… last year a little banged up, 8 and 9—got to improve, got to make the playoffs.”

• Brian Daboll (New York Giants):

  • Seaton and Dan both agree Daboll is up there with McDaniel for job insecurity: “I would probably say Brian Dable, because I don’t think they’re going to be that good soon enough for him to hold on to that job unless he’s already been told ‘you’re coaching next year.’” (15:10)

• Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers):

  • Todd wonders whether Tomlin is on the clock, though Dan notes, “They don’t fire coaches in Pittsburgh. But the fan base is fired up.” (16:00)
  • Dan speculates it could be the last year for both Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers.

• Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals):

  • Taylor’s Super Bowl run fumes are running thin: “You can only live off the fumes of going to a Super Bowl for so long.” (16:50)
  • Paulie: Bengals are loyal—only two HCs in 24 years—“no losing season, but got to make the playoffs after all the money spent.”

• Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills):

  • Needs more than a playoff win: “Bills need to go to the title game at least.”
  • Dan: “A lot of pressure on Sean McDermott… you have Josh Allen, but you just can’t get over the hump.” (21:35)

• Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions):

  • “Super Bowl or bust” pressure. Marvin argues, “Going off the 24–7 lead you had in the NFC title game, it’s time to get back.”
  • Dan sees more scrutiny on McDermott, but Campbell has the greater recent disappointment.

Other Names

• Kevin Stefanski (Browns):
  • Dan—“Expect a little bit more… but if (Joe) Flacco doesn’t stay healthy, then it gets interesting.”
• Brian Schottenheimer (Dallas Cowboys):
  • On short leash contract—“Four year contract, low money, with easy outs after two years.”

Categories of Coaching Pressure:

• Coaches trying to build something (e.g., Shane Steichen, Colts) vs. those “wasting an opportunity” (e.g., Zac Taylor, Sean McDermott).

3. NFL Draft & Roster Moves: First-Round Blunders & Small School Snubs

• Cole Strange Example:

  • Dan and Paulie discuss the Patriots drafting Cole Strange (Chattanooga) 29th overall in 2022, despite a third-round projection.
    • Dan: “Shouldn’t Belichick’s name be in parentheses when they say released a first-round draft pick who didn’t make it to his third year?” (43:42)
  • Paulie notes small-school players almost never go in the first round—making Strange a true outlier.
  • Dan: “I’m all for surprise picks, but I don’t like a surprise in the first round, especially at quarterback.”

• NFL Draft Trends:

  • The group agrees that physically dominant college players, especially from smaller schools, only rarely get first-round attention; the NFL usually sticks to big programs.

4. The Lighter Side: Inside Jokes, Food Fights, and Listener Calls

The “Jacked Off” Contest

• Danettes joke about a competition to get fit for Formula 1’s Las Vegas event. Hilarious food temptations and sabotage stories abound:
  • Marvin: “I’ve been putting on a facade… grapes for everyone, but then I had a Swiss cake roll after.” (67:54)
  • Fritzi, defensively: “If there happens to be some food left after I’m done, then everyone else gets a shot at it, too.”

Callers and Taylor Swift in Broadcasts

• Listeners weigh in on NFL coach firings, the Vikings’ QB prospects, and Taylor Swift’s football impact:
  • One caller jokes: “Taylor Swift got engaged before the Cowboys could even date another Super Bowl trophy.” (72:48)
  • Dan is baffled that anyone would want TV to avoid showing Taylor Swift—comparing TV coverage of her to that of Robert Kraft or Jerry Jones, and arguing that “It’s a TV show!” (78:15)
  • Fritzi’s “journalistic” demand: “Show both sides of Taylor’s emotions! Not just high-fives and smiles. Show the sourpuss, too!”

5. College Football Kicks Off, Beer Flows at Army

• Paulie shares: “Army games will now have alcoholic beverage sales!”
  • Dan: “Great environment… put it on your bucket list. West Point will not disappoint.” (49:45)
• Classic Army anecdotes about undersized players and old-school offense.

6. Stat of the Day, Play of the Day, and Closing Banter

• Baseball stat: Clayton Kershaw, age 38, maintains sub-2.00 ERA in August (98:43).
• Fun NFL Stat: 31.25% of Week 1 starting QBs have a first name initial “J” (99:39).
• Play of the Day: Mets walk off Phillies; celebrations described with “shower of water and sunflower seeds” (97:43).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Dan, on the bet: “I made a bet with Fritzi that when they got engaged I would hit him with a wedding cake in the face. But we can’t find the day that I said that.” (00:57)
• Fritzi (on semantics): “If I’m due a cake, then so be it. It's fun content” (27:35)
• Dan: “The NFL loves love, too, if they can find an angle to profit by it.” (70:55)
• Dan: “You can only live off the fumes of going to a Super Bowl for so long.” (16:50)
• Dan, on TV coverage of Swift: “It’s not a football game to us. It’s a TV show. If the stars are there, we're going to put the stars on TV.” (78:15)
• Fritzi, on TV coverage: “Show both sides of the emotion… the journalist in you is offended. Exactly. OK to see some sad Taylor too!” (79:50)
• Paulie: “Army games are such a throwback… they brought back the option offense.” (53:57)

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |----------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | Dan recounts skepticism about Swift/Kelce engagement | | 03:25 | Bet semantics and debate | | 13:50 | NFL coaching hot seat: Poll Qs & discussion | | 21:35 | Bills & Lions coaching pressure | | 26:03 | Listener finds “wedding cake bet” audio | | 43:42 | Discussion of Cole Strange/pats drafting conundrum | | 49:45 | Army allows alcohol at football games | | 60:20 | Old audio clarifying the wedding cake bet | | 66:00 | "Jacked Off" contest and food sabotage banter | | 70:55 | Caller asks if NFL will profit on Kelce/Swift wedding | | 78:15 | Taylor Swift coverage on NFL broadcasts | | 97:43 | Play of the Day: Mets walk-off | | 99:39 | Stat of the Day: NFL QBs with “J” |

Recap

For fans of sports, pop culture, and genuinely comic debate, this episode delivers it all. The hosts dissect NFL narratives, reminisce about offbeat bets, and welcome fan participation. Amid jokes about wedding cakes and “jacked off” weight loss schemes, listeners walk away with real insight: which NFL coaches should worry, how pop culture encroaches on football, and—above all—the sweet unpredictability of live radio.

Missed it? Now you’re caught up on the cake, the coaching chaos, and every “wellish” moment in between.