Ross Tucker (3:20)

National championship at Indiana University.

Caller/Listener (3:24)

It can be done and I'm so happy for our fans. I can't.

Dan Patrick (3:31)

Words can't describe can be done. But it would be hard to replicate this because imagine you don't have one of the top budgets as far as collectives to spend. You also have a program that historically is one of the worst in college football history and you're not getting five star, four star, three star recruits. Fernando Mendoza, transfers from Cal. It didn't lead SportsCenter. I don't even know if it made Sports center that night. You're not getting great players. You didn't get great players. He did get players who followed him from James Madison and he also maybe got that one or two star guy who he thought I can coach you up to be a four or five star. And he's done that. And by all accounts they will be formidable coming up next year. Alrighty. He's Ross Tucker. The Ross Tucker football podcast. He was in the booth for Westwood One for the Bears and the Rams and he'll be on the sidelines for Seattle in Seattle for the championship game with the Rams. Look at you, the peripatetic Ross Tucker.

Ross Tucker (4:44)

I don't know what that word means.

Dan Patrick (4:45)

You went to Princeton.

Ross Tucker (4:48)

Yeah, but you got to give me a heads up. I don't know what that word means. Is peripatetic good?

Dan Patrick (4:53)

Yeah. Yeah. You're all over the place.

Ross Tucker (4:56)

Yeah, I'm crazy peripatetic. I always have been.

Dan Patrick (4:59)

Yeah. So it's a good thing you're all over and you're covering college football. Also, how many of the Dan.

Ross Tucker (5:04)

How many of the Dan it's right now could spell peripatetic?

Dan Patrick (5:11)

Todd?

Todd Fritz (5:12)

I don't think so. I won some spelling bees in elementary school, but I'd probably end up selling it like parapathetic or something like that.

Dan Patrick (5:17)

Okay.

Paulie (5:18)

Yeah, Paulie, I tried in my head and I had two things wrong.

Dan Patrick (5:21)

In the first four letters you got the first letter. Right. You got P, Right? Okay. The last letter, C. Yeah. Parapatetic. Not pathetic. Okay, Ross, let's see. Where do you want. Let me start. In Buffalo, Sean McDermott got fired because.

Ross Tucker (5:39)

Because the organization decided that being good was not good enough. I actually think it's a fascinating dynamic when you consider where Buffalo is versus what Green Bay is doing with Extending Brian Guta Kunst and their head coach, Matt Lafleur, I don't really like. I think, Dan, you can make a strong argument for. For both instances, you know, and, and this is something I think everyone listening or watching on Peacock can relate to in life. Is being good good enough? Or should you take a risk in life to strive to be great? It's funny, I mean, you could probably speak to this as well as anybody, Dan. You, you would have been good if you stayed at espn. You know, you would have made good money. Things would have been good there. Like, you would have been fine. But you took a big risk because you wanted to do some. See if you could do something really special. And you've done that with the best radio show in the world. Right? Like, you decided, you know what, just being good isn't good enough. I'm going to try to do something really, really great. And I think on some level, that's what the Ravens are doing and that's what Terry Pugula and the Bills are doing. Whereas the packers have decided that being almost good enough or close is good enough. And I don't, I'm not begrudging them of that, but if you look at the packers, they've been just good enough to not be good enough to get to the Super Bowl. So for a long time now, I mean, it's been a long time, they've had high level quarterback play and they haven't even gotten back to a Super Bowl. Whereas Terry Pula and the Bills said, you know what? We, we want to try to win this thing. And by the way, there's a risk. Maybe they hire Brian Dabel. Maybe they go the wrong way. You know, maybe they, maybe they, maybe they have a chief season and they win six games next year. This is a risk, but it's one that obviously Terry Pugulo felt comfortable with.

Dan Patrick (7:50)

What? Why did you have a problem with Sean McDermott's post press conference?

Ross Tucker (7:57)

Yeah, well, so I think there's probably a couple of reasons why he did that. I think in fairness to him then, he probably knew he was on the hot seat. And so by going that strong on the officiating and the Calls, you know, maybe he could defer blame, get it off of his shoulders, move it to the officials. Maybe that would be enough to save his job. Or maybe that would be enough to. Even if he's going to lose his job anyway, Bill's fans will remember him fighting for Buffalo, darn it. And that the officials, you know, gave them a raw deal. I just, Look, I have two young daughters. They're 12 and 13 now. I'm a huge believer in life, in personal responsibility, personal accountability. You know, they're both playing volleyball or tennis or whatever. You know, I don't like when people blame others. I watch that game, you know, I got the helmet right there. The Bills are my favorite team that I played for and I have a strong affinity for the people in western New York. Josh Allen's probably my favorite player. But then they need to play better. I mean.

Dan Patrick (9:12)

Yeah. How much of that is on Sean McDermott? He didn't throw the interceptions and he didn't fumble the ball a couple of times. He didn't have a catch turn into an interception. Like, what. What is it that he did that was so egregious in that game? Where you go, we got to get rid of him.

Ross Tucker (9:29)

That's a fair point. And I don't think it's just that game. I think it's just the compilation of all of these years. And there have been coaching issues that were, I think more noticeable in other years. And I think they would probably even say to you that they're not ready to be a wild card team. And for the Patriots over the course of the season to have overtaken them in the AFC East. But you're a thousand percent right. Josh Allen, not only the turnovers, but Josh missed Dawson Knox for the game winning touchdown. He had other misses in that game. And by the way, everybody's complaining about Brandon Cooks and was it a catcher? Hold on to the ball. Don't let him rip the ball out of your hands. Like that, to me, epitomizes our society. You can either choose to say, that's a catch, we're getting screwed. That's a raw deal. Or you can say, our guy should hold on to the ball.

Dan Patrick (10:28)

Yeah, we want to blame the official instead of, if you hold on to the ball, you don't factor in the official.

Ross Tucker (10:34)

Exactly correct. Thank you.

Dan Patrick (10:37)

Talking to Ross Tucker and he was there in the booth for the Rams and the Bears. What did you think of, like, if you're the Bears coming out of that game, you lose, but you're feeling about the Bears is going to be what next year?

Ross Tucker (10:55)

Highly encouraged and optimistic because by far the two most important individuals in any NFL organization is the head coach and the quarterback. And I think you're feeling really good about both those guys. And I've told you this before, in particular, your ability to get it done no matter what the situation is. Latent games, I believe that's worth a win or two a year, maybe even more. The belief that is throughout that entire locker room, that entire building, no matter what the score is in the fourth quarter, they believe they've got the guys, the head coach, and more importantly, the quarterback that finds a way to get it done in those situations. I don't know how he does it. And let me just say this, I'm going to call it right now. Dan would not be surprised if there's a step back from the Bears next year. I think you're encouraged and I think if you're a Bears fan like Paulie, you should be encouraged. They're not going to win seven games in the final two minutes next year. Yeah, they're not going to have by far the most takeaways and be plus 22 next year. The Bears next year feel very similar going into the season as the Commanders this year in the sense that there's a lot to be excited about, but you're probably going to see some regression in a couple areas. To the mean.

Dan Patrick (12:26)

Yeah, I think the Bears were a better story than they were a team, and I agree with you. But they, they got. They felt like they got further than they were expected to. Maybe a year ahead. Like the Commanders felt like they were a year ahead of schedule. You got the Rams now against Seattle again. How do you think this one plays out?

Ross Tucker (12:50)

I like the Seahawks. You know, I, I thought the Rams were the best team most of the season. It kind of feels like ever since the fourth quarter of that Seahawks Rams game, that Thursday night game, whatever week that was, 14 or 15, feel like the Seahawks have been the best team. You know, Stafford has not played well under pressure in these last two playoff games. Wait till you play Seattle. I mean, those guys, they come at you, Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence and Byron Murphy and Mike McDonald's probably the best defensive mind in the NFL right now. And I just think the Rams, it feels like they're running out of gas a little bit, whereas the Seahawks came flying out of the gate. They're young, they're healthy, they're playing at home. The only way in my mind the Rams win that game is if the, you know, the disparity of quarterback is that significant? Well, Stafford has to play MVP caliber and Darnold has to be average or below for the Rams to win.

Dan Patrick (14:01)

It's incumbent upon Seattle to be able to run the football, to put Sam Darnold in a position where he doesn't have to be Matthew Stafford.

Ross Tucker (14:11)

No question, it'll be a little bit tougher. You know, ZACH Charbonnet, torn ACL. You know, Charbonnet was huge against the Niners, Week 18. There's a lot to be said for having that one two punch. Walker's probably a little bit more gifted, but he's injury prone. Can he carry the entire load by himself for the entire game? That. That is one thing that helps the Rams out a little bit, that the Seahawks don't have that one two punch to come at you in waves. And those guys have different styles. So it's almost like two pitchers throwing different pitches at you.

Dan Patrick (14:47)

When you block for your quarterback, as a former offensive lineman, blocking for Bo Nicks, blocking for Jared Stidham, is it still the same?

Ross Tucker (14:59)

Yeah, I think the only difference would be Nix is more mobile, so you're more aware of having to hold your block a little bit longer. You're more conscious of him escaping the pocket and making sure you don't get called for a holding penalty. And. And so you're a little bit more aware of those type of things. Stidham is more of, you know, a classic pocket patch. He can move a little bit. I gotta tell you, Dan, I. I don't think he would ever verbalize this, but this really works out well for Sean Payton. From a coaching legacy standpoint, if they lose without Bo Nix, it's like, okay, look, they're starting. Quarterback got hurt. We understand. It's almost like he's got a free roll of the dice. If they win with Stidham, Payton's gonna get the lion's share of the credit. Especially if they go on to win the Super Bowl. For Sean Payton's hall of Fame candidacy for his legacy, this almost couldn't have worked out better.

Dan Patrick (16:04)

I'll leave you with this. There was a moment with two minutes left where an offensive lineman for Indiana last night got called for a false start. When you go into the huddle, how many times are you told by your quarterback, whatever you do, don't flinch, don't jump. Make sure you go a little later, not early. You must not jump. And we saw that last night in a moment that could have changed the national title game.

Ross Tucker (16:33)

Well, it depends on the quarterback. Depends on the composition of the offensive line. I'm guessing that they mentioned it, but you're 1,000% correct. That could have been and almost was the difference. It's interesting because nowadays in the NFL, Dan, on second and one in a clock killing situation, sometimes the defenses, they'll intentionally jump off sides to give you the first down so that then they can use the timeouts on the first. Like in other words, they're going to concede the first down because they don't want you to have four or five plays to finish the game. They only want you to have three plays. Now, you can decline it or whatever if you're that smart. And I was thinking that Miami might do that. That's the counter argument. That's why you don't do that, because they might drop the ball, the running back might slip or the offensive lineman might fall start, which changed everything.

Dan Patrick (17:32)

Do you have a false start story from your NFL career?

Ross Tucker (17:37)

You know, the one that I'm trying. No, actually. So I do have a couple false starts. I don't remember them being that big a deal. It is a weird thing though, because you feel like such a dummy when you come back to the huddle.

Dan Patrick (17:52)

You know, do you apologize? Do you apologize? Like what do you. Yes.

Ross Tucker (17:56)

You say my bad and everybody's just like idiots, you know, because you're at the line. You're the only one that did it. You go back to the huddle, you. Sometimes they say stuff to you, sometimes they don't. It's interesting because I thought I had a false start as a goal line tight end once, but I didn't. I was just laid off the snap. Because what people don't tell you is when you're a center, obviously you can hear the quarterback. When you're a guard, you can too. You get to tackle a little bit tougher when you're a goal line tight end. I could not hear Bledsoe. I could not hear the quarterback, so I was a little bit late on that D end. He ended up making the tackle. We lost the game. Probably the reason why we didn't make the playoffs. No big deal.

Dan Patrick (18:44)

Great to talk to you. Safe travels as always, the peripatetic Ross Tucker. Thank you, bud.

Ross Tucker (18:50)

I'm going to write down how I think you spell it first and then Google it right now.

Dan Patrick (18:54)

See you Ross Tucker football podcast. Follow him on social media. Ross Tucker, NFL. And he'll be on the sidelines for the game in Seattle, the NFC title game. We'll take a break. More phone calls coming up. We're back after this Dan Patrick Show. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Hey is Cavino and Rick from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and rich live on YouTube every day. All you got to do Search COVINO and Rich FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube search COVINO Enrich FSR. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe hit that thumbs up icon and comment away from taco night in Tulum to sushi in Tokyo.

Ross Tucker (19:51)

Make every bite rewarding with gold from AMEX wherever you die four times. Membership rewards points at restaurants worldwide are piling up. Learn more@americanexpress.com Explore Gold terms and points cap apply.

John Paulk (20:04)

I'm John Paulk. For years I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex gay who married an ex lesbian and traveled the world, telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. Once upon a time I was on 60 Minutes, Oprah, the front cover of Newsweek, and you might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. So join me as I peel back the layers and expose what happened to me in the midst of conversion therapy to shine a light on what the X Game movement does to people and the pain it continues to cause.

Todd Fritz (20:45)

I had lost £150 because if I couldn't control my sexuality, I was going to control myself.

Dan Patrick (20:51)

It sounded like, and this is the word I used, a cult.

John Paulk (20:55)

And as I look too at the harm I did from within, listen to Atonement, the John Paulk story on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dan Patrick (21:12)

New Year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt and I'm Joel. We are from the how to Money podcast and every we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to how to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there.

Ross Tucker (21:41)

This is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of.

Dan Patrick (21:43)

The Men's Clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Poulter, a psychologist with over 30 years experience helping men unpack shame, anxiety and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys are a toxic, they're immature or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes.

Caller/Listener (22:24)

Empathy and some compassion.

Dan Patrick (22:26)

If you want this to be the year you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mail room on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favorite shows. Ross Tucker brought up something interesting about Sean Payton with Bo Nicks being out and now you have Jared Stidham. Kind of a built in excuse if you happen to lose. I'm sure he would never admit that publicly, but if you think about it, if he gets Jared Stidham and the Broncos to the super bowl, even if you lose or if you do win now, you're firmly cemented as a Hall of Fame coach. Super Bowl MVP odds Sam Darnold still leading the way. Then Drake May, Matthew Stafford. Then it jumps considerably to Kenneth Walker III, Jackson Smith, Najigba Pukinakua and Jared. Jared Stidham's odds for Super Bowl MVP 2000 Todd, you're going to throw some money on Jared Stidham?

Todd Fritz (23:30)

I'm not a betting person, but I am optimistic that he's going to perform well on Sunday. I will say that.

Dan Patrick (23:35)

Would you bet on him performing well? That the Broncos would be I'm not asking for a pie to the face.

Todd Fritz (23:40)

I would consider putting down a few bucks. I just, I don't. I'm not a better so I don't bet on anything that's even like a sure thing. I just never bet.

Dan Patrick (23:46)

But what about the back row Seaton Patriot fan? You a Bronco fan? Pie to the face. Pie to the face. Straight up.

Todd Fritz (23:55)

It's a little unfair since it's Drake May against Jared Stidham and not Bo Nicks. That's I should probably say now you.

Dan Patrick (24:00)

Don'T believe in Jared Stidham. You just told me you did.

Todd Fritz (24:04)

On the surface, the Patriots should win that game, but I still think Denver's Going to do it.

Dan Patrick (24:09)

Back row. Pie to the face. Pie to the pie. By the way, if I was an offensive lineman and I was in the huddle and my quarterback said, hey, by the way, don't jump off sides or don't fall start. Yeah. I would be like, okay, great. Oh, and don't throw an interception. I would be like, dude, shut up. No. Crazy. Well, you think I forgot? Oh, I'm not supposed to go early. I would be so pissed at that guy. Jeremy in Michigan. Don't fumble. Jeremy in Michigan. Hi, Jeremy.

Caller/Listener (24:38)

Hey, good afternoon, guys. First time, long time. 511 and a tone. 175. All right. We all love wordplay. I love it as much as you guys. I have a T shirt idea for you in the Danettes. Okay, Dan.

Dan Patrick (24:54)

Okay.

Caller/Listener (24:54)

I need you guys to decide if it's a good T shirt concept or if it's Perry pathetic.

Dan Patrick (25:01)

Okay. All right. Okay. Oh, okay. That wasn't the punchline. That was just a. An add on. Okay.

Caller/Listener (25:07)

Yes, yes. Here is. Here it is. Think of a character of coach Signetti, and underneath it it's sig. Natty, N a T, T, Y. What do you guys think?

Dan Patrick (25:18)

I like that. Yeah. Winning the natty round. A round of applause there for Jeremy. Some of our best people on that. He won the signati. I'll do that right now. Ryan in Detroit. Hi, Ryan. What's on your mind today?

Caller/Listener (25:33)

Yeah, hey, Dan. Six seven and a. Reducing 230. Hey, quick request. I'm an old time listener. I want to bring back the Gilbert Godfrey ding for the height and weight. Just putting that in there. And then second thing, when I can, I try to get you guys on peacock. And the clips in between when you guys go to commercial break are awesome. And it just amazes me how quickly you guys can make those clips relevant to what's happening each day. So just wanted to throw a kudos out to the. To the group that does that. I don't know how it happens, but it's pretty great.

Dan Patrick (26:14)

Yeah, that's Rob. Rob does majority of the work on that. And he'll look at storylines, he'll look at guests, and then he'll have the appropriate archival clips in there. He does a wonderful job. Yes. And the Gilbert Godfrey ding, that was the home run bell, not the height and weight bell. Because back in the day, this show used to be on from one to four, so you would get day baseball, and anytime there was a home run during one of those games, we would play the dang. And it was Gilbert Godfrey. And there was. Was it Faith Hill who had the grand slam? Well, and she went, da, da, da, ding, ding. I forgot all that. That was fun. Tony in California. Hi, Tony. What's on your mind today? Hey, guys.

Caller/Listener (26:56)

Good morning. So, Dan, I got a poll question. Little context. The Clippers are still the hottest team in the NBA. 132 big game over the weekend in Toronto. Kawhi's return unfortunately didn't play. Flew back to la, but James Harden and our rookie center Niedenhauser out of favor. College dominated and we're still on the winning streak. So my poll question is, if the Clippers continue to be hot and win the championship, would it be a better story than Indiana biggest sports franchise turn around.

Dan Patrick (27:28)

It would be a great story. I don't know because it's NBA and it's the Clippers. Like if the Lakers were able to do something like this, then yes, but you know, the Lakers win, Clippers don't. It would be. That would be a great story. It wouldn't be a great story to more people than Indiana is. Yeah, pulling.

Paulie (27:51)

I think the Hoosiers have a better chance to win the NBA title than the.

Dan Patrick (27:54)

Wow.

Paulie (27:55)

The Clippers, by the way, 19 and 23 won six in a row, eight of their last 10.

Dan Patrick (28:01)

Yeah, I mean, they have players that they should win. Like, we're, we're kind of surprised when they win. We're like, I Clippers. Amy. I mean, here they go to Toronto and Kauai can't even play on the big return to Toronto. Jeremy in Indiana. Hi, Jeremy.

Todd Fritz (28:22)

Hey, Dan.

Caller/Listener (28:22)

I appreciate you taking my call on 59185 last night. I have to say I was not rooting for iu. I'm a Purdue alum. My wife is a Purdue alum. I've got a long family history at Purdue. To be honest, I do not know if this is just me being jealous or if I'm legitimately right to not root for iu. I kind of lament the state of college football. If you hear the broadcaster say how many years the players have been with the programs now it's like one year. We all know they're getting millions of dollars. Especially with the case, I think, of the quarterback, they're not even enrolled in the school. They've been graduated for two years.

Dan Patrick (29:02)

But if Purdue won the national title and they had some guys who were in their fifth or sixth year, they were 23 or 24, how would you feel, Jeremy?

Caller/Listener (29:10)

Well, I don't think that's ever going to happen. I'm Safe to assume that, but it's totally right. I mean, to be honest, I didn't really like Tom Brady until he went to the Buccaneers. And I'm a Buccaneers fan. So at that point I was totally fine with Tom Brady. So I don't know if that's just me being jealous. I also personally have a problem with fair weather fans. I think everybody should be as miserable as I am during football season as a Purdue fan. So there's a lot of different psychological stuff going on. But I was not rooting for iu. I. There was no possible way I would ever root for iu.

Dan Patrick (29:44)

Well, I get that because of the proximity with Purdue and IU and the rivalry there. I just. I don't know if an Ohio State fan or Michigan fan or Oregon fan, USC fan, was rooting maybe for Miami or rooting against Indiana. I would think that you would go, hey, we have, you know, three years in a row, three different schools who've won a national championship. And you probably don't look at Indiana the way you do Michigan or Ohio State or Oregon and say, you know what? They're going to be there every single year. You might look at them as a novelty and therefore you might have rooted for them because what it means for the Big Ten.

Ross Tucker (30:23)

Yes, Marv, I think if you're Michigan or Ohio State.

Todd Fritz (30:26)

Oh, man, good for them because they've won national titles recently.

Dan Patrick (30:28)

Yeah.

Ross Tucker (30:29)

If you're Penn state, you're like Indiana.

Dan Patrick (30:31)

1, Eric and Rochester. Hi, Eric. What's on your mind?

Caller/Listener (30:36)

Hey, how you doing?

Dan Patrick (30:37)

Good.

Caller/Listener (30:39)

5 foot 9, 180 pounds.

Dan Patrick (30:43)

Yeah.

Caller/Listener (30:43)

I had a suggestion for how you could eliminate the confusion about the officiating in the NFL. So take, take the refs have a couple reps in New York, like three reps sitting in a room. They don't have any context of what's going on with the game. They obviously know it's a playoff game, but they don't know, you know, if it's the fourth quarter, whatever. If there's a. If the game's on the line and then they just have like a light will pop on, the monitors will show the plays and then they make a determination whether it's catch, no catch, whatever the call is, and it's just 2/3 vote, whoever. You know, if they get two of them right, then that's the call. There's.

Dan Patrick (31:22)

It's just.

Caller/Listener (31:23)

That's the decision. They can have a, you know, Xboxes on the monitor or something like that and say catch, no catch, or whatever, whatever you want to have It. But they'll add a little drama, too.

Dan Patrick (31:34)

As long as it's televised. That's the point I've been making. Let me. Let us hear it. Let's be transparent about it. I mean, there's billions of dollars being gambled. We need transparency here. I want to know what you saw and why can't you share that with us? It's just like the College Football Playoff committee. I'd love to kind of see what goes on. I'd love to see the hall of Famers sitting around talking about certain candidates. Now, that's not going to happen. The College Football Playoff committee probably is not going to happen. But this. Let us. Let us know what's going on. Just tell us. Hey, got a better angle? I need a better angle. Hey, my feeling is that that's a interception. We don't have a better angle. All right, all right. Let me get together with everybody here. Okay. I mean, that's great tv. And you're getting to the bottom line is get the call. Right? That's all. Now they did get the call. I think that was an interception in the Denver game. I do. In the moment. I did not think that replay, you know, they didn't spend a lot of time on it. Yeah.

Paulie (32:49)

Paulie, I both totally agree with you and still think the NFL will push back against that and not do it for a long time.

Dan Patrick (32:57)

The transparency part, well, the NFL doesn't really agree with me on anything.

Paulie (33:01)

Right.

Dan Patrick (33:02)

To begin with. I, I like when I can hear, you know, plays being called out. I. We're not going to be in the huddle. You know, I'd love to hear coach or OC talking to a quarterback after the fact, but then you're going to give out terminology and you can't do that. But I would love just to hear, you know, XY4.0 zip banana peel onto, like, just. Just to hear. That would be kind of cool. It's all about bringing the experience, bringing us closer to the game. It'd be great. I'd love to. I'd love to have that. I'll settle for the officials. They'll settle for us. Them letting us know, what are you looking at? And even if you have the home office in New York and they go, hey, look at it again, that's a catch. That. That is a catch. Like, you're helping them in real time. And if that's the goal, I know we love this, like baseball with umpires, and we're like, I'll be damned. Eric Greg, man, he has a really wide Strike zone. That's awesome. Why don't we just have one strike zone? Why is it. Hey, that. That umpire, man, he's going to squeeze you. That umpire is going to allow you. How about we go? No, just. You got one strike zone. But we've. You know, that's part of the folklore, the charm of baseball. He's got his own strike zone. Okay.

Todd Fritz (34:35)

Yes, Todd, I know there's other officials that can be part of the conversation, but imagine there's. There's that one guy. He never calls holding. That guy never calls best interference. Yeah, that would be insane.

Dan Patrick (34:44)

But they do that. You'll get certain officials like NBA officials. If Scott Foster is doing a game, what happens? Everybody freaks out. Probably the only official where somebody goes, wait, who's calling again? Oh, my God. Scott Foster. Yes.

Ross Tucker (34:59)

Or in NBA circles, he's known as the extender.

Dan Patrick (35:04)

The NBA has to love the extender. That'd be like Jackson Brown, the great pretender. The great extender. See what I did with that time?

Todd Fritz (35:12)

Yeah, that was all right.

Dan Patrick (35:13)

Wow.

Todd Fritz (35:14)

I'm just upset because I was trying to talk to you in the break, and you just closed the door, and you still had 40 seconds.

Dan Patrick (35:19)

I did not.

Todd Fritz (35:20)

I looked at the clock as you closed the door. There was, like, 38 seconds. We were going back on the.

Dan Patrick (35:24)

Was it show related content.

Todd Fritz (35:26)

It was related to Stidham having this great game a few years ago for the 49ers. We went, like, 23 for 35 with almost 400 yards and three touchdowns that someone sent to me, and I wanted to share that with you, and I couldn't get eight seconds of your time. You had to close the door because it takes you 35 seconds, I guess, to put your headphones on. Whatever.

Dan Patrick (35:43)

Todd, the number of times you say things to me that are meaningless and worthless is more often than not. Yes, but I did have a little.

Todd Fritz (35:50)

Window of your time there. You just closed the door. You didn't say, I got to get back inside. Hold your thought.

Dan Patrick (35:54)

You know, why don't you do this? Hey, before you close the door, I got something really important.

Todd Fritz (35:59)

I think I took a little too long to get to the point, and.

Dan Patrick (36:02)

You were, like, done with taking too long. What do we have coming up next, Dan? I don't know. What do we have coming up?

Paulie (36:11)

I want to hear that Stidham story again.

Todd Fritz (36:13)

Yeah, I texted you the stat line anyway, so you're still getting it from me.

Dan Patrick (36:16)

What stat line? I mean, it's an interaction that five people in the world know happened. And what are you telling me about. You texted to me. I don't.

Todd Fritz (36:26)

I texted you a picture of Jared Stidham, box score.

Dan Patrick (36:28)

But I don't have my phone when I do the show.

Todd Fritz (36:30)

It's not urgent for the show as I often send you give you things that have nothing to do with the show.

Dan Patrick (36:34)

So it doesn't have anything to do with the show. You texted to me, but now you are upset that I didn't listen to you.

Todd Fritz (36:39)

Fair enough. I could have waited till after the show, but I was upset in the moment that you blew me off.

Dan Patrick (36:46)

If you'd like to join us in San Francisco, the Super bowl, you can. First come, first serve will be at the China basin, just by the ballpark there. Beautiful spot. Big German is packing up the TV truck. We got the Penske trucks that we were loading up yesterday. Well, we weren't. Backroom guys were loading up the Penske truck to take a lot of equipment out there to San Francisco. So if you'd like to join us, 6 to 9am Eastern. Dress appropriate appropriately.

Paulie (37:18)

Yeah, Paulie, the weather right now, we were on air is 44 degrees.

Dan Patrick (37:21)

Okay. Yeah, but that's right at the end of the show.

Paulie (37:24)

Yeah, it was 41 at kickoff.

Dan Patrick (37:27)

Okay. Yeah, I think we're going to be low 40s all week long. And as I tell the Dan Eds every year, nobody wants to hear anybody complaining while they're at the super bowl.

Todd Fritz (37:41)

Todd, I may complain a little bit, but I'll try to do that off camera.

Dan Patrick (37:46)

All right, gonna take a break. Last call for phone calls. What we learned. Maybe some more Jared Stidham stats right after this. Fox sports radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows@foxsportsradio.com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live. Former tight end now broadcaster Greg Olson on the show tomorrow, as will Reggie Miller. Stopping by. No football tonight. Last call for phone calls. What we learned, what's in store tomorrow this day in sports history as well. Jody in Virginia. Hi, Jody.

Caller/Listener (38:24)

No, where you talk with a great Dan Patrick. Yeah, I just find it kind of funny, you know, who would have fought in, you know, my lifetime. I'm in my mid-50s. I never thought in my lifetime Indiana football would ever win anything. And here they're national champions. And lo and behold, Brian Kelly. You know, he can't even win an SEC championship down in Baton Rouge. And they ran him out in less than two years.

Dan Patrick (38:46)

Wow. All right, Jody, Shots fired. Yeah. If you're over the age of 50. That's why this. This story is going to resonate because you're thinking in your lifetime. I mean, Indiana was always the game you would schedule for homecoming. You knew that you were going to win or Parents weekend. Who are you facing? Indiana. Okay, we can leave by halftime. Josh in Denver. Hi, Josh. What's on your mind today?

Caller/Listener (39:13)

Hey, man, I just want to tell you about all the crazy hype in Denver for Steady, man. I think Steady's gonna. Gonna bring us promised land this year. It's crazy, man. People are coming out of the woodworks.

Dan Patrick (39:24)

Really? Really. They're coming out of the woodworks for steady, huh? Yes.

Caller/Listener (39:29)

Did he. Man, I think Sean Payton and him have a. Have a rapper poured and he knows what he's capable of.

Dan Patrick (39:36)

Wait, they have a rapaport?

Caller/Listener (39:38)

Yeah.

Dan Patrick (39:39)

Okay.

Caller/Listener (39:39)

Yeah. You know, he's been there for a while. He couldn't cut him loose, but he kept him there for a reason.

Dan Patrick (39:45)

I probably has a rapport with him as well.

Todd Fritz (39:49)

Yes, Todd, if he can manage things on Sunday, it's Steady as she goes.

Dan Patrick (39:53)

Thank you. Todd Lucas in Texas. Hey, Luke.

Caller/Listener (40:00)

Hey, Dan. Thanks for calling me back.

Dan Patrick (40:02)

Yep.

Caller/Listener (40:04)

I just wanted to give an illustration to Todd for, you know what it means for Indiana to win this national title. Hopefully this helps. If Travis Kelsey is Ohio State and Todd Fritz is Indiana, we know who the national championship is. And I just want to say once again, the craziness of the statement. Indiana has won the national championship.

Dan Patrick (40:27)

Hey, Todd.

Todd Fritz (40:29)

There you go. It's been put in perspective. A whole different look on the whole thing.

Dan Patrick (40:34)

Todd just sent me a poll question after being called for a false start. Would you rather be called an idiot or ignored altogether? In the huddle, I'm going to say idiot.

Todd Fritz (40:44)

I hate to be totally ignored in life and in the huddle.

Dan Patrick (40:47)

This. This feels passive aggressive on your part. Yes, because I ignored you last commercial break.

Todd Fritz (40:54)

But it's being called. I don't want to be called an idiot. No, I just wanted you to acknowledge and say, I got to get back in.

Dan Patrick (40:59)

I called you an idiot and I ignored you altogether.

Todd Fritz (41:03)

I guess it was a little passive aggressive. 5 minute poll question there. You want to answer it or.

Dan Patrick (41:09)

Todd, I. I'm sorry, I'm not here to serve. Just you.

Todd Fritz (41:13)

I want. This is for everyone. I'd like everyone to weigh in on that. I'm glad you threw it out.

Dan Patrick (41:17)

I know that the Jared Stidham game against the Niners and I was kind of listening, but I got a fine.

Todd Fritz (41:22)

I moved past that. But I would like to know if you'd rather be called an idiot in the huddle for all of you or be ignored after you screw up with a full stunt?

Dan Patrick (41:28)

I'd rather be ignored. Yeah.

Paulie (41:31)

Paulie, I think if you're a very good player and it's not happening that often, you'll be ignored. No one has to say anything to you. And also, you don't have to apologize. Everyone knows you're sorry.

Dan Patrick (41:42)

Yes, everybody knows you're sorry, Todd.

Paulie (41:45)

Okay, then depending how you flex that, everyone knows you're sorry, Todd.

Todd Fritz (41:50)

If they say jokingly, come on, idiot, you know better than that, then I'm fine with it. But if they actually angrily say, idiots, what are you doing? You're gonna cost us the game, then I'd be devastated. I wouldn't play anymore.

Dan Patrick (41:59)

I don't think they do that. It's not eighth grade.

Todd Fritz (42:01)

But some rookie, though. They haze rookies. Why wouldn't you say, idiot, you're gonna cost us the game. Come on, what are you doing? Eight year veteran.

Dan Patrick (42:08)

If you were the quarterback, is that what you would have done?

Todd Fritz (42:11)

I would not. I'd say, come on, you're better than. You'll get him next time. You won't move next time on the line.

Dan Patrick (42:18)

All right, Jeff in Montana. Hi, Jeff.

Caller/Listener (42:24)

Hey there. Hey. I just Quick thought and get your thoughts on this. Do you think John Harbron is kind of kicking himself or signing with the giants now that McDermott's gone, or do you think the Bills are kicking themselves for not firing McDermott before so they could get John Harbaugh?

Dan Patrick (42:40)

Well, we can look at the Giants and say, why can't they do what Mike Brable did? You got a rookie or a quarterback on a rookie deal. You got some talent there. You can make the case. The Giants may have as much talent as the Patriots did starting this season. And if you go to Buffalo, Buffalo is. I got. I got Josh Allen. I gotta win now. I gotta go to the AFC title game. Harbaugh's gonna come in. He's got a couple of years to be able to build that team into what he wants. And it's not like you're going to, you know, some bum franchise. You're going to the Giants. Yeah, Seaton. And when did John Harbaugh become, you know, prime Bill Belichick? I don't. I don't understand why he's sort of like this guy, like, oh, my God, you gotta hire John Harbaugh. He's perfect for this. Why? What? I want to see who Buffalo hires. And is it somebody who has A lot of experience. They're going to go with somebody young, a young coordinator. Yeah.

Paulie (43:36)

Paul, The Bills have a lot of free agents and not a lot of cap room because of the contract with their quarterback.

Dan Patrick (43:41)

Yeah. This day in sports history.

Paulie (43:44)

Just got a couple for you, Dan. 1949 free substitutions were adopted in the NFL for a year.

Dan Patrick (43:49)

They used to charge you before that. Now they were free.

Paulie (43:52)

Thank you, Dan. Of course. Yeah. The most watched super bowl in history was Dolphins versus the San Francisco 49ers in 1985. 1995. The NHL season was only 48 games due to a strike. And Patrick Wa, because I know you love that name, became the first goalie to play in 1000 games in 2003.

Dan Patrick (44:12)

1996 Fox introduced the Fox Track Hockey Puck at the 1996 NHL All Star Game. The blue halo around the puck made it easier for us to see. The puck produced a red tail on shots of 50 plus miles per hour and a green tail on shots of 75 plus miles per hour. I don't remember the red and green or blue and green. I don't remember that. I remember the puck and the blue halo.

Todd Fritz (44:45)

Yes, Todd, that was a little ridiculous. The red and the green. There's like maybe you do that on Christmas time, but that's not the other time. You don't.

Dan Patrick (44:52)

Tom in Florida joins us.

Todd Fritz (44:53)

So you just did that. It's a blow off thing. I make a statement.

Caller/Listener (45:00)

Five years ago.

Dan Patrick (45:01)

Hey, Tom.

Caller/Listener (45:02)

That Florida is a basketball school in Indiana. Is now a football school.

Dan Patrick (45:06)

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Tom. Yeah. Indiana football school, right?

Ross Tucker (45:14)

Yes.

Dan Patrick (45:15)

Yeah, sure. Why not? Not necessarily a basketball school.

Ross Tucker (45:20)

Yeah.

Caller/Listener (45:20)

What.

Ross Tucker (45:20)

What have they done in the past 40 years?

Dan Patrick (45:24)

When they've done a few things in the last 40 years.

Ross Tucker (45:26)

Played.

Dan Patrick (45:27)

Yeah. Well, they've won a title, right?

Ross Tucker (45:31)

Oh, in 1987.

Dan Patrick (45:32)

You're right.

Ross Tucker (45:32)

You're right.

Dan Patrick (45:33)

Okay.

Todd Fritz (45:33)

So the past 36 years.

Dan Patrick (45:35)

Okay. Forgive me, forgive me. Okay. I'm just saying, Marvin. And why everybody kind of going at each other here? Everything okay?

Todd Fritz (45:43)

Everything's fine.

Dan Patrick (45:44)

All right, Todd, what'd you learn today?

Todd Fritz (45:48)

After winning the national title last night, Indiana head coach Kurt Signetti is suddenly a 25 year overnight sensation.

Dan Patrick (45:53)

Seaton, what'd you learn? Indiana is a football state.

Ross Tucker (45:56)

Marvin, you watch Nebraska twice this week.

Dan Patrick (45:59)

The movie, Paul.

Paulie (46:01)

Kind of a big story.

Dan Patrick (46:02)

Todd, what did I learn?

Todd Fritz (46:03)

A different Jeremy in Michigan with the T shirt idea. Signati. Love it.

Dan Patrick (46:06)

Thanks for joining us. Our pleasure to serve you. We'll try to do better tomorrow. This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.