The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show: The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

Date: August 28, 2025
Host: Dan Patrick (with Paul Pabst, Todd Fritz, Seton, Marvin)

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Episode Overview

This lively “Best Of” episode of The Dan Patrick Show revolves around the arrival of football season, the shifting college sports landscape, humorous team banter, and a deep-dive interview with ESPN’s Chris Fowler on the history and evolution of College GameDay. The hosts mix sports analysis with nostalgia and light-hearted locker room storytelling, threading in debates on when fall officially begins, insights into NFL broadcast ethics, and some classic school-lunch memories.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Football Season Kicks Off (00:00–10:22)

• College Football Slate: Dan and the crew run through the night’s college football matchups and weekend highlights, such as Ohio State vs. Texas, Alabama at Florida State, and LSU at Clemson.
• The Poll Question: Early debate centers on “When does fall start?” Is it September 1, the first day of college football, or the official equinox? The consensus: for sports fans, fall means football, and September 1 just feels right.
• Pacing for Football Overload: The hosts discuss how to approach the deluge of games – sample everything or save energy:

  “I'm not going to be like all wall to wall seven o'clock till midnight watching... That's being honest.” (Dan, 09:51)
  Paul jokes that watching football all night is mandatory for their line of work—and just “awesome.”

Sports, Statistics, and Some Mets Hype (10:22–13:32)

• NFL and Player Updates: Quick notes on Micah Parsons’ situation in Dallas, Richie Rice’s return to the Chiefs after a suspension, Terry McLaurin back at Commanders' practice, and a dominant Shohei Ohtani pitching line.
• Mets’ Nolan McLean Rising Star:
  Dan gushes over the Mets rookie pitcher:

  “Man, we need to find out how many [of his strikeouts] are swing and miss...” (13:32)
  Dan likens McLean’s slider to an interstate lane change and considers nickname options—Todd’s “the ball breaker” is quickly workshopped out.

When Does Fall Really Start? (16:17–29:06)

• Listener/Expert Call—Meteorological Fall: Brian, a meteorologist, chimes in: “June, July, August—those are your summer months. September, October, November is your fall.” (15:10)
• Nostalgia—School Lunch Stories:
  The guys bond over their lunchboxes (Evel Knievel, Dukes of Hazzard), the contents of their grade-school meals, and trading up for better snacks.

  “I was embarrassed at lunch. I really was. And then my mom one day says, well, why don’t you buy your lunch?” (Dan, 17:27)

• Labor Day as the Seasonal Turning Point: Todd wonders if emotionally, people just want to hold onto summer, while Dan wants “more fall, the better” (28:33).

Tom Brady: Broadcaster and Minority Owner – Ethics in the Booth (29:06–36:41)

• NFL Grants Brady Access to Production Meetings: Dan discusses headlines about Tom Brady being allowed inside team meetings as a Fox analyst despite minority ownership in the Raiders.

  “He shouldn’t be in these meetings. You’re a minority owner of the Raiders…” (Dan, 31:52) “If I’m a coach and I play the Raiders at some point this season ... how forthcoming do you want to be here?” (Dan, 33:23)

• Conflict of Interest?: The team agrees this sets an awkward precedent; Paul draws a parallel:

  “Imagine if Brady was still playing... and [the announcer] had a piece of the Jets. You think he’s going to hold back a little extra?” (Paul, 34:02)

• NFL ‘Rules-Until-They-Don’t’: Seton vents at the league:

  “There are rules in place for a reason. Until they don’t need to be in place. Well, no, they do still need to be in place. We just don’t want them in place anymore. Yes. Well, for Tom.” (34:49)

Listener Fun – Superstitions and Nostalgia (36:41–43:18)

• Listener Calls:
  • Michael from South Bend asks about the show’s live appearances and likens missing bagels to McDonald’s breakfast cut-off times.
  • Keith in Charlotte offers wild numerological coincidences (Panthers’ Super Bowl runs, Ohio State championships, and Jennifer Lopez divorces in the same years).
• 30 for 30 – SMU Football Documentary:
  Dan recalls the outlandish booster payments, tying it to the current world of NIL and college football’s unchanging booster culture.

  “What has really changed? Boosters, they want their team to be good. What’s it going to take?” (Dan, 42:17)

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Feature Interview: Chris Fowler (49:03–64:26)

College GameDay Origins: A Campus Revolution

• Convincing ESPN to Go On-Campus: Fowler shares that initial reluctance was high—management doubted anyone would show up for a remote broadcast.

  “We didn’t know what we were doing ... people were kind of wandering by. Let me check out the Heismans. Wait a minute. What’s going on over there?” (Fowler, 51:54)

• It Worked Instantly: Kids love cameras; the “magic” was clear from the jump.

Lee Corso Memories and Headgear Lore

• Corso’s Brash Takes:

  “He was like a hot take guy before that existed. Right. But he did it, you know, with taste.” (Fowler, 55:25) Not yet the “lovable grandpa,” early Corso “pissed off players, coaches, fans.”

• Birth of the Headgear Gag:
  The famous mascot head tradition began with reluctant schools. Kirk Herbstreit’s wife helped secure Brutus Buckeye’s head for the first time.

  “The minute he puts it on ... we’re onto something.” (Fowler, 56:20)

• Celebrity Picker Mayhem:
  Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn all wanted to riff with Corso. Bill Murray’s chaotic guest stint left Corso nearly “atomically” tackled and an actual spear tossed off-set.

The State of College Football

• Transfer Portal/NIL Chaos:
  Fowler’s take: The lack of transfer/order bothers him—“can’t have the chaos of unrestricted free agency”—but he’s not one to whine about change. He likes the new playoff format as is.
• Dion Sanders and Coaching Characters:
  Comparing Bill Belichick’s move to college ranks (now with North Carolina) and Dion’s spectacle at Colorado—one a compelling entertainer, the other less so, but still a ratings draw for curiosity.

Tennis: US Open (59:10–59:46)

• Men’s Game: Strong new rivalry emerging post-Big Three (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic), centered on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
• Women’s Game: Wide open and “least predictable event in sports”—every major seems up for grabs; Coco Gauff as the rising star.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On When College Football Season ‘Officially’ Starts:

  “I think you have to base it on temperature in the Midwest, east coast. And you woke up today and it was about 53 degrees—that’s football, right?” (Dan Patrick, 07:50)

• On Tom Brady’s Dual Role:

  “You’re either a minority owner who is very active from what I’m told, or you’re going to be a broadcaster.” (Dan, 33:23)

• On Corso as a ‘Hot Take’ Machine:

  “He would say stuff that would piss off players, coaches, fans... And that helped spark things, helped get eyeballs and interest on the show.” (Fowler, 54:26)

• On College Football’s Transfer/NIL Era:

  “You can’t have the chaos of unrestricted free agency with multiple windows... There needs to be some order.” (Fowler, 59:52)

• On Nostalgia and Lunches:

  “I had a paper bag ... my mom would just say, bring it home, Danny. And I go, okay. I never had a book bag or a lunchbox.” (Dan Patrick, 15:37)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–07:38: Football opening banter, poll question teased
• 07:38–10:22: Debating when fall begins, fall and football nostalgia
• 13:23–13:32: Mets rookie Nolan McLean discussion
• 15:10–17:14: Meteorologist Brian calls, lunchbox nostalgia ensues
• 29:06–36:41: Tom Brady access to NFL meetings / ethics segment
• 36:41–43:18: Listener call-ins, SMU 30 for 30, NIL talk
• 49:03–64:26: Chris Fowler interview (GameDay, Corso, state of college football and tennis)

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Conclusion

This “Best Of” episode pairs football fever with fun stories and some sharp sports commentary, topped with a meaningful, inside-baseball interview with Chris Fowler. Discussions around the start of fall, nostalgia for school lunches, and evolving football traditions offer listeners plenty of laughs and food for thought, while the team’s reflections on Tom Brady’s broadcast ethics, NIL, and the future of college football keep the conversation relevant and insightful. The Chris Fowler segment, rich with ESPN lore and Corso anecdotes, is a can’t-miss for any fan of sports broadcasting history.

Transcript

[Dan Patrick]

This is an iHeart podcast. Hi, I'm Buzz Knight, the host of the Taking a Walk podcast. And join me for an upcoming episode with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, talking about his new Frank Sinatra music project.

[Paul Pabst]

Anyone who loves music would salivate over something like this. The biggest question for us was, what's in these boxes? Really, the most thrilling part was hiring an orchestra and just playing what was in these boxes. Listen to Taking a walk on the.

[Dan Patrick]

Iheartradio app, Apple PODC, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why are TSA rules so confusing?

[Paul Pabst]

You got a hoodie on. Take it all.

[Dan Patrick]

I'm Manny. I'm Noah.

[Paul Pabst]

This is Devin.

[Dan Patrick]

And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called no Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do now if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it, you know. Lock him up. Listen to no Such thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. No Such Thing. Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. I'm Jay Colfer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access? Should you? That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand. Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, the saying it this is for the ones who had to survive and still show up as brilliant, loud, soft and whole. The Unwanted Sorority is where black women, femmes and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence rewrite the rules on healing, the support and what happens after. And I'm your host and co president of this organization, Dr. Leah Tritate. Listen to the Unwanted Sorority. New episodes every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. Hour one on this Thursday football tonight Friday night Saturday and night Sunday, Monday night. Come on in. Stay a while. Gangs all here. Fritzi. Oh, big day for Fritzi. We'll talk about that. An anniversary of sorts for Fritzi. So Fritz, he's here. Seaton, Marv, Paulie, yours truly in the back room, guys. Stat of the day brought to you by Panini America. The official trading cards of the program. And if you're in Columbus this weekend, you might might see Seaton. He's headed to Columbus today and he'll be out there for the big game. It's Ohio State against Texas. These Fox Sports Radio tailgate Tour. Head to danpatrick.com to follow along this first hour brought to you by Rapid Radio. Seton will have his with him when he goes out to Columbus. The official walkie talkie of the DP show. Push to talk nationwide LTE coverage. That means no subscriptions. Business owners. Stay connected with your employees anywhere. Visit rapidradios.com and save up to 60% off. You get free shipping. We got a poll question. Play of the day. Stat of the day. Phone number 877.3dp. Show operator Tyler sitting by to take your phone calls. The NFL is a week away. I think the next 48 hours are really important for Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys. For some reason I have no intel on this. I just get the sense the next 48 hours, maybe 24 hours are going to be really important on what's going to happen for the Dallas Cowboys. Certainly that opening night a week from tonight against the Philadelphia Eagles. So nice slate of college football action coming up tonight for entertainment purposes only according to DraftKings. Boise State, South Florida. Spicy. Yeah, I like that. Let me see, what else will I want? Nebraska at Cincinnati. Nebraska getting six and a half. Boise State getting five and a half at South Florida. Ohio versus Rutgers because you do want to take advantage of the New York market. Everybody, everybody wants to schedule Rutgers so they can take advantage. I, I laughed at that when that when Rutgers joined the Big Ten and I read reports where the big ten wanted to have the New York market. And I said there is no New York market for college football. There's not. And it wouldn't be Rutgers if it was. But they wanted to get the New York. We want to get in the New York market. We want Rutgers because that great history of football with Rutgers football. East Carolina, North Carolina State. That's a, that's a good rivalry. East Carolina getting 14 against NC State. I'll take the Pirates there. Nice. Elon getting 33 and a half at Duke. See, I'm okay with that matchup with the first week because you're not going across the country. Akron's playing Wyoming. Stony Brook is playing San Diego State. Ridiculous. Thank you, Todd. Buffalo at Minnesota. Miami of Ohio getting 17 and a half at Wisconsin. Hey, it's football we'll watch. And then you have the games coming up this weekend. You have, well, you have the big one coming up with Ohio State. Ohio State favored by one and a half. And that might be a pick them at game time. Let me see. Alabama favored by 14 at Florida State. Let's see. LSU plus three and a half at Clemson. Boy, that's a hammer to come out of the box. Notre Dame minus two and a half at Miami. So a lot of interesting matchups here. And you, you don't say must win situation because it feels like now with 12 teams in the playoffs, like you can afford two losses and still make the playoffs here. And if you're looking at strength of schedule, if you do lose a game, did you lose a game on the road? And how much did you lose by that? Nice slate night? Slate of college football games coming up. Let's see. Seaton, got a poll question for the first hour of the program? Heck yeah, we do. I'm just putting this one up there right now. The first day of fall is September 1st. The first day of college football. Or with an eye roll, September 22nd. September's the only thing yet. Well, Todd, being the guy who graduated second in his class in high school, he would probably say it'd be September 21st or 22nd. Todd? Yeah, you gotta go based on the, the moon and the stars and the galaxies, the way it all lines up to the thing. Okay. From a non sports standpoint, I think it's the beginning of September. I think that's if that's fair to say. September 1st, that's when fall starts. Yes, Paul?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, Dan, that's a correct answer. Because you understand fall and football. Back when the, the equinox was built or the lunar calendar, they didn't have foliage, they didn't have college football. They didn't know. I don't blame them.

[Dan Patrick]

So are we saying the start of the fall is today or the first? Well, it's floaty. There are two different options in the poll question. Yeah, the first day of college football or September 1st. Okay. I think you have to base it on temperature in the Midwest, east coast. And you woke up today and it was about 53 degrees that's football, right? That's football weather. But I, I would say September 1st because we had football last week and we didn't say it was fall. I think let's, you know, make it clean. It's September 1st. It's fall. I hit 55 last week while you were in Maine. As did I. That's why I'm saying September 1st. But I do think we're getting to football weather. It's crisp. Crisp, yes. Todd, what about the thought of a Labor Day or the end of the Labor Day weekend that's the official end of summer slash start of fall. A lot of people kind of recognize it's school. You already committed to September 22nd. Did I commit to it? I was just giving the argument towards those who think that it would be September 22nd. We're not, we're not going to wrestle. I've always looked at it as once the Labor Day weekend is a wrap. That was your last shot at doing something by the beach or whatever. And now it's fall. Deal with it. Which kind of, you know, leads into September 1st. It doesn't always fall out on September 1st, though. Sometimes I'm almost positive I just heard Todd say the word equinox, which. Yeah, I'd never say.

[Paul Pabst]

Paul, he said equally. That's a to tell.

[Dan Patrick]

I said the stars and the moon in the galaxy. Clearly the word autumnal equinox. Oh, okay. Okay. Any other, Any other. We can ask Chris Fowler when he joins us. Yes. I have another question. How much do you dive into all these games tonight and today, Thursday, Being that, do you need to pace yourself with the amount of college football and NFL we're going to consume? Do you dive right into it today or do you take a little peek at a couple of games? What are you going to do? I'm going to take a peek at a few different games. I'm not going to be like all wall to wall seven o' clock till midnight watching his five hours of college football. That's being honest.

[Paul Pabst]

And I'm a big sports fan.

[Dan Patrick]

What else will you be doing? I will probably watch Wheel of Fortune in Jeopardy. I will see if you know anyone one of those network shows that catches my eye. Know Date Line, a rear Dateline, Forensic Files. I'm big on on cnn. Yeah, Paul, you could do that in late July. That's true.

[Paul Pabst]

You can do that in early August.

[Dan Patrick]

I just want to get burnt out. I got to pace myself.

[Paul Pabst]

Now watching football all night is exactly what you should be doing, mostly because we work here. But Also because it's awesome.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I, I mean this is college football. You, there's a lot to sample. I think there's a game, it starts at 5:30 Eastern. Awesome. I'm like, okay, sure. Early bird special. I'm fine with that. All right. 8773 DP show email address dpdanpatrick.com Twitter handle @DP shows Chris Fowler, ABC ESPN college football and tennis announcer will join us coming up. In or out? We'll play in or out. And the Chiefs are getting Richie Rice back. You, you might forget how dangerous and good he was. He got a six game suspension and I think they said he accepted a six game suspension. I think they, I think he realized it could be a whole lot worse with the six game suspension. Terry McLaurin back at the Commander's practice as well. And Shohei Otani pitched five innings. He had nine strikeouts. He got the win. But the pitcher that I have been watching, his name is Nolan McLean. He allowed four hits over eight shutout innings. And the Mets had a win against the Phillies. This guy has got like breaking ball stuff that is wicked, as the kids like to say. Filthy. He has 21 strikeouts and I, I'm curious how many are by swinging because it feels like when he throws it. And these guys, they got no chance. His first three starts, his ERA is 1.19. Oh, actually it's 0.89 after last night. 0.89. It breaks Tom Seaver's franchise record set in 1967. Stat of the day brought to you by Panini America. You watch this kid with his breaking ball. It's wicked. It is it. And it's always in the dirt. You know, that's one of those that's coming right here. And then zoom goes down and away and, and I'm trying to think who has a breaking ball? A right handed pitcher who has something that's that sharp. John Smoltz had the best stuff on the Brave staff. It wasn't the best pitcher, but he had the best stuff. But I'm talking about one of those breaking balls that is just a sharp dive. It's one of those where, you know, sometimes you get on the highway and somebody will be in the right lane and all of a sudden they want to go over three lanes to get into the HOV lane. That's what it feels like. It's just that kind of zip breaking ball and nasty and it's down. And those are hard to lay off of because they're meant to look enticing. They're meant to look like. Man, that's coming right down Main Street. I am going to hop on. What? Wait, Where'd it go? And it's in the dirt. Yeah.

[Paul Pabst]

Paul, we got to check this kid out for the Mets. He's 20, just earned 24. He was drafted out of Oklahoma State university. He's got 21 strikeouts, four walks.

[Dan Patrick]

Man. We need to find out how many are swing and miss strikeouts, because I'm going to guess three fourths of his strikeouts are probably swing and miss. Yes, Todd. Can you call him the ball breaker? Is that safe? Is that not family friendly for. You know, we always like to have little nicknames for our players. We can workshop that. I don't think that's terrible, but thanks, Don. Brian in Milwaukee. Hi, Brian. What's on your mind today? Good morning, guys. Just hearing your talk about fall meteorologist here in the Milwaukee area. And as much as I like to back Fritzi, a lot of times, astronomically, fall begins the 21st. Between September 1st, it's. We're closing the books. June, July, and August here. So there's summer, September, October, November. Thank you. I think his signal is falling. Did he agree with us at the beginning of September? I think that it wasn't the. The autumnal equinox, Todd. Yeah, it sounds like he's saying June, July, August. Those are your summer months in the begin. September, September, October, November. That's your. Your fall. So it should be the beginning of September. Yeah, I'm fine with that. Yeah. Football season feels different. Back to school and all that stuff. It's all happening right now. I know. I never had a book bag when I was in grade school. High school. You just made all the nerds carry your books for you. No, I. I never brought any books home. You know, my mom would say, why don't you bring books home, Danny? I go, I did. You know, all the. I'd study. I'd study hall, and I didn't study and study hall. But I don't know when book bags became important or, like, you had to have even a lunchbox. Like, I had a paper bag and. And then I had to bring it home because my mom would say, hey, don't throw it away. I'm gonna use it again tomorrow. I go, okay. You know, it had, like, food stains in it. Didn't matter. My mom would just say, bring it home, Danny. And I go, okay, all right. But I never had a book bag or a lunchbox. Yes, Todd, not to brag, but my lunchbox had all the AFC helmets on one side, all the NFC on the other. This was before the Seahawks and Buccaneers joined the league. Like, in 75, 76. An NFL thermos. I thought I was pretty important there in the lunchroom. Yeah, but you grew up with a, you know, a silver spoon in your mouth. You did. I didn't just have the slice of thin slice of bologna I had. I had the Devil Dogs and the Ring Dings and the Yodels and the Twinkies and the pie sandwich with at least three pieces of meat on my Wonderberry. And what's interesting is you have the same diet now. I do. I absolutely do. I can't argue about at all. Marvin, did you have a. A. A backpack when you were in high school? In high school, yeah. Just a regular black jam sport.

[Paul Pabst]

But in elementary school, at the ultimate warrior Book bag.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, man. Yep. Okay. Se. What about you? Did I have a backpack? Yeah. Or did you have a lunchbox? I. I had a Dukes of Hazard lunchbox at some point. I had a GI Joe lunchbox as well, I think. See, but that. I had a Trapper Keeper one year, and then I really settled into backpack culture for sure. Heavy backpack guy. I think I just started using a backpack the last year. Finally got around to it, and I'm like, damn, where's this been all my life? Matter of fact, I'm still a backpack. Yeah. Yeah. When we go on the road now, you know, I take the backpack. Yeah, it's the best. Yeah, it's pretty good. Paulie as a kid.

[Paul Pabst]

Evel Knievel lunchbox, Trapper Keeper. Like Seton. In high school, we didn't have the backpacks yet. I was like you. I just didn't bring books home. I hate to admit it, but I just didn't.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, it wasn't for books. Yeah. I carried one every day, but there weren't any books in it. Right.

[Paul Pabst]

I used to bring donuts to school and leave them in my locker, and people used to come over and have munchkins. That's all I brought to school. No books, just munchkins.

[Dan Patrick]

You guys grew up with a silver spoon, man. Thank God I got nothing. Such luxuries. Yes. Hey, that was status back then because I'd walk into the lunchroom and no one wanted to exchange anything in my lunch bag. No one. Yeah, it was an apple, maybe. Maybe you'd get one of those little pudding things, and then you would get a piece of white bread, and you would get bologna and then a slice of American cheese, and that was it. And then you would get White or chocolate milk? That was every day? Yes. Todd, did anyone ever make fun of you or points like, haha, I got this. They tease you or they pretended. Just you right now? Just me, yes. Thank you. I don't know if they just kind of. Don't look over there and make them feel bad. He's got that little thin piece of baloney. Again with the apple. Don't look. He's terrible. But I would. And I stopped doing this because I. I was envious. Like, there was lunch envy on my part. And I would just watch people. I go, they got Hostess Ho Hos and that looks good. What kind of sandwich do you got there? I don't know. I think it's roast beef, I think. And what kind of. Kind of dessert do you got there? I don't know, it's. I think it's a pumpkin pie or something. I don't know. Yeah, the. I remember in like, the lunchroom, Carrot Toscano used to bring in a bagel with cream cheese. And it was like she brought in caviar the way that me and like, these two other dudes fought over it like every day because she never ate it. And we'd be like, oh my gosh, dude, a bagel and cream cheese. It's the best thing. I was embarrassed at lunch. I really was. And then my mom one day says, well, why don't you buy your lunch? And then I go, oh, my God. My God, this is awesome. You get tater tots and a, you know, dry piece of pizza. And man, this is awesome, man. Like, I was proud to sit down because I got. Look at this. I got tater tots. Yes. Marvin, the square piece of pizza. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Shepherd's pie on Wednesdays. Yeah. Even the lunch ladies were surprised. We're like, oh, you're getting a hot lunch today. I go, yeah. My mom gave me 250 or whatever it was. Happy birthday. Yeah. All right, let me take a break. It is an anniversary for Todd. We'll have that for you. Coming up. We'll get to phone calls. Chris Fowler in an hour from now. The final appearance on Leak, Lee Corso on college game day. We'll talk to Chris about that. When game day started, there wasn't a lot of fanfare at the mothership. In fact, they were really cautious about would anybody show up when they went on campus. Because you had Chris Fowler, Coach Corso, Kirk, Herb street, and they didn't know if anybody would show up on campus. Now, now it's a foregone conclusion. Thousands and thousands will show up. But we'll talk to Chris coming up. 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, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course on social media, that's Covino and Rich. This Labor Day, say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Anabe, the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Annabe's pet friendly stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic, high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site [e-mail] Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop [e-mail] Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Hi, I'm Buzz Knight the host of the Taking a Walk podcast and join me for an upcoming episode with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, talking about his new Frank Sinatra music project.

[Paul Pabst]

Anyone who loves music would salivate over something like this. The biggest question for us was, what's in these boxes? There were a few unplayed gems that we had been alerted to by Charlie Pinion of Sinatra Enterprises. So we knew that certain songs like Shadow of youf Smile, which actually is not on this record, it'll be on the next one. Seth MacFarlane, Don Rickles went up to Frank Sinatra and he said, listen, I'm gonna be having dinner with this lovely woman and I, you know, would you come over and say hi? And just so you know, Cause I feel like if she sees that I know you, it's gonna make me look really cool and, you know, I might have a good night. During the middle of dinner, Frank walks over and says, don, hi, how are you? And Don goes, frank, please, I'm in the middle of dinner.

[Dan Patrick]

Seth MacFarlane on the taking a Walk podge.

[Paul Pabst]

Listen to Taking a walk on the.

[Dan Patrick]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dan, he's Ty. Hello. And we're the Solid Verbal College Football podcast. College football season is here and you know what that means. Your team is going to break your heart three times, probably before Halloween. Uh huh. But fear not, the Solid Verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback. Join us all season long, all year long, as we ride the roller coaster of this ridiculous sport. Whether you're a diehard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all the chaos and of course, celebrate the madness.

[Paul Pabst]

Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you.

[Dan Patrick]

Won'T hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan. We don't just love college football, Ty, we live it. Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.

[Paul Pabst]

Or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, I'm John Lithgow.

[Dan Patrick]

We choose to go to the moon.

[Paul Pabst]

I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast. It's one small step for man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of.

[Dan Patrick]

You're a great pilot, Buzz. As far as I'm concerned, the best.

[Paul Pabst]

I've seen, that's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't predisposition.

[Dan Patrick]

To depression, alcohol abuse and suicide.

[Paul Pabst]

We'll see.

[Dan Patrick]

Buzz.

[Paul Pabst]

Try to overcome demons.

[Dan Patrick]

What do you say, Buzz?

[Paul Pabst]

Another beer and triumph over addiction.

[Dan Patrick]

Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin.

[Paul Pabst]

Good luck to you and become a true hero.

[Dan Patrick]

Buzz and I will proceed into the.

[Paul Pabst]

Lunar module not because he conquered conquers space, but because he conquers himself. Buzz, we intercepted a Soviet radio transmission starring me, John Lithgow. Can you put it through? Can you Translate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Patrick]

Columbia. Check out behind the Flow, a podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club.

[Paul Pabst]

We go behind the scenes and explore.

[Dan Patrick]

The stories of those involved. San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a game changer because this region has been hungry for a men's professional soccer team. We need veteran players and we need young players. Like you're building a team from scratch and so the succession plan of long term success needs to be defined. We need to embrace this community. When I was 13, my uncle took me to to a qualifier and we watched Paraguay against Chile pouring rain. Just watching the fans jumping up and down, I think that was definitely a watershed moment for me. Not only was that going to be my game, but it was going to be my life.

[Paul Pabst]

Listen to San Diego FC behind the flow now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

A lot of football coming up tonight. Chris Fowler, the original host of College Game Day. We'll talk to Chris, of course, the final game day appearance for Coach Corso with Ohio State in Texas on Saturday. Your phone call is always welcome. 877-3-DP Show Email Address dpdanpatrick.com Twitter Handle it DP Show Stat of the day is always brought to you by the great folks at Panini America. They're the official trading cards of the show. Tailgate tour Seton going to Columbus this weekend. He'll be part of the Fox Sports Radio tailgate Tour. Head to danpatrick.com to follow along. All right, so poll question. Let's clean up the first hour. Seaton. And what are we going to go with an hour or two? It's a controversial poll question right here. We've got up there right now, the first day of fall is September 1st, the first day of college football or September 22nd. Obviously it's September 1st. We don't need an autumn autumnal solstice or anything. I don't know what this says about our audience. Yeah. But right now, with 39% of the vote, September 22nd is winning. Then there's a two way split. Right down the middle. Tie between September 1st and the first day of college football. I'm just saying, if I'm choosing my group of friends from these results, there's 39% that I'm leaving out. Those are the book smart people. Okay. I know exactly by the rules. We got it. Yes. Todd. Is it the books, more people, or is there a portion of the audience that just doesn't want to let go of summer and they want those extra few weeks and they can't accept that all of a sudden, September 1st, we're calling it the end of summer break and sun and beaches and vacations, all that stuff. Well, it's 52 degrees this morning. I know, just psychologically, but sometimes, you know, after Labor Day, they can, all of a sudden you get one of those hot days in earlier mid September, you know, before it actually stays cool for the, you know, the rest of the next several months. I'm just wondering if that's a psychological thing. I need to hold on to summer to the last possible day. Don't rush it. I like to get into fall sooner. Yeah, More fall, the better. Yeah. For me. Yeah. Paul.

[Paul Pabst]

I'd be in favor of canceling the last five days of August to get us to September faster, though. I don't know how you do that. Yeah, but people who love summer, if you bump fall up to September 1st and we bump summer up to June 1st, they get three more weeks of summer.

[Dan Patrick]

I'm fine with that.

[Paul Pabst]

Problem solved.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. What if we just made September have 35 days?

[Paul Pabst]

Now we're talking.

[Dan Patrick]

We just say September actually goes to the 35th and then we're taking 5 off of August. Yeah, August only goes to. Yeah, what, the 25th? Okay, whatever. 26, maybe. Who do we propose this to? I got a guy I know. Maybe President Trump. Everybody's calling for it. Everybody says they want it. It's funny.

[Paul Pabst]

This could get traction. The next thing you know.

[Dan Patrick]

This is exactly the kind of thing they get done like that. The Brady rules are basically done. The NFL will allow Tom Brady, the Fox Sports analyst and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner, to take part in production meetings with coaches and teams this season. This is according to the Athletic Brady's first year as a broadcaster. He was banned from the information gathering sessions for just about the whole season, and the rules were put in place due to his ownership stake. The NFL relented for the Super Bowl. Brady's play by play partner, Kevin Burkhart and other crew members would inform Brady of what was said in these meetings. The sessions with Coaches and players can reveal nuggets that can be used during the broadcast. Sometimes they take place over zoom, sometimes in person. Brady is still not allowed to go to team practices. Fox and the NFL declined comment. All right, he shouldn't be in these production meetings. You're a minority owner of the Raiders. Now, whether he. He was. He was still involved with a team that was involved in the two biggest cheating scandals of all time, correct? He was involved in. Well, his team was involved in Spygate, there was Deflategate. He shouldn't be in these meetings. It's just pick one or other, the other. The NFL wants Tom to be there during the games. I get that. But, you know, now you're kind of changing the rules just so Tom can go into these meetings. And he does need to be in these meetings. If you want to be a broadcaster, be a broadcaster, go into those meetings, be professional, and they're going to treat you as such a professional. But I mean, if I'm a coach and I play the Raiders at some point this season, and I don't know how many times this could happen, do, I mean, how forthcoming do you want to be here? Tom can ask you anything you want. Now, you don't have to answer that. But I don't know, somebody's, this guy's got a banged up ankle, probably be that way all season long. Or this guy, you know, can't count on him. It feels like, you know, he's. Or man, he's not very good at the end of season, who knows what information comes out. I just think you got to be fair to being either a minority owner who is very active from what I'm told, or you're going to be a broadcaster. And keep this in mind how competitive Tom is. I don't think this is like a summer, you know, vacation for Tom where I'm, I'm going to be a broadcaster for a little while. He's going to want to be great and you're going to want to get information. He, he wants to get somebody who's going to tell him something, then he's going to be, oh, do you hear what Tom said or do you hear what Tom found out? And he does need these nuggets. I mean, Tom is learning tv. He knows football. There's big difference. There are guys who aren't great football players who are really good analysts because they understand TV as well, and Tom is understanding that. And I think if you want to be successful, be in the meetings, go to a practice. I mean, that's why Collinsworth is the best in the business. He's there, he's going to the practices. He knows who these players are. You know, there are some analysts. The further you get away, the less you know when you were playing and you're a couple years removed, you know who these players are. You get 5, 7, 10 years away and you're like 57, 32. It's not what you should be doing. But if Tom's going to do it, I think you got to say to Tom, decide what you want to do. But the NFL is going to bend the rules here because they want Tom to be part of the Fox broadcast. I understand that. I don't think it's, I don't think it's right because he, he's sort of going to the meetings or he's sort of involved in the game, but he can't go to the practices. But then everybody who's there is going to tell him everything that went on. So really he's kind of there by proxy. Yeah. Pulling.

[Paul Pabst]

And is it fair to Fox as an organization if Tom walks in to talk to a franchise and they're less than forthcoming because they're concerned about this? Now Fox suffers by not getting information to use on game day. Imagine imagine if Brady was still playing with the Patriots and he was doing a sit down production meeting with blank announcer who had a piece of the New York Jets. You think he's going to hold back a little extra? Of course he is, because it's a competitor and he wouldn't trust that medium.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, this is.

[Paul Pabst]

The roles are reversed.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, I agree. It's a great point. If Peyton Manning was part owner of the Broncos or the Colts and he's going in there, is Tom going to share information with him? Maybe not. Yeah, Pauline.

[Paul Pabst]

And this goes back though to the NFL being at fault for allowing this to happen. You know, you don't even need a rule in place that says you can't be an announcer and an owner. There probably is one, but it's so obvious that you shouldn't have allowed it to be done. But they wanted Brady involved in everything. His brand, with their brands.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, well, okay. The NFL who knew about the commissioner's exemplate, like, you never know, they could be like, you know what, we're going to change the rule here. Okay. Yeah, see, like that's what drives me crazy though is that there's, there are rules in place for a reason. Until they don't need to be in place. Well, no, they do still need to be in place. We just don't want them in place anymore. Yes. Well, for Tom. Correct. Yeah. We don't want that pesky thing in place. But if. And you're not going to have somebody else do this. I don't want Jerry Jones doing Eagles games.

[Paul Pabst]

I actually do. I think. I think I would tune into that. Third and seven.

[Dan Patrick]

This is why I didn't take this guy. What if Fox hired Jerry Jones and said, we want you to be an analyst for a couple of games. But. But we need you to go to the production meetings and with the NFL, allow Jerry Jones to go in there to the Eagles production meeting.

[Paul Pabst]

They've set precedent with Brady, so Jerry.

[Dan Patrick]

Would be allowed to do that. Right.

[Paul Pabst]

Jerry may take that job. More air.

[Dan Patrick]

More air time. Yes.

[Paul Pabst]

Marvin, I'm looking at the Raider schedule.

[Dan Patrick]

What's going to happen if Tom Brady has this game?

[Paul Pabst]

It's the Raiders at the Commanders on Fox.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, he has the commanders in the Giants game first week, I believe. Correct. Let me check. I think that might be his first game. And then you're going to have the Commanders against the Raiders later in the season. It just. You're kind of screaming out, you know, conflict of interest here. But they've allowed him to do it, so. Great. Congratulations. Now go learn some things there. Give us some nuggets there.

[Paul Pabst]

Yes, Paulie, he's on the commissioner's non exempt list. He's not exempt. He's not exempt from anything.

[Dan Patrick]

A couple of phone calls in here. We'll talk to Chris FOWLER in about 10 minutes from now. This is the fifth anniversary of the Fritzi meltdown. In the drive through of a bagel chain store, they did not have onion bagels and they did not have tuna fish as well. And it was 15 minutes before closing time and Todd had a meltdown. And we had a listener who just sent in onion bagels. And Todd is. Wasn't sure because he didn't know if these were tainted bagels. But I said, go ahead. I said, todd, I'll eat half a bagel. How's that?

[Paul Pabst]

A period of time has passed since.

[Dan Patrick]

A number of us, including myself, have partaken, and I think we're okay. Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Just thanks to Jeff. That was a very thoughtful thing, especially on the anniversary. This guy gets it. And that was kind. All right. Michael in South Bend. Hi, Michael. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Yeah, I just want to comment about the bagel situation. I have a wife who's about 32 weeks pregnant. That reminds me of When I get to McDonald's at 10:01am and they stop serving breakfast and I have to hear about it the rest of the day. But also wanted to comment about you guys coming in for the USC game. South Bend wanted to see if you guys were doing a live audience or if you had a place to do the show. A recommendation of mine would be o'.

[Paul Pabst]

Rourke's Irish Pub, right across from the stadium.

[Dan Patrick]

My wife will be one week out from her due date, so her last request would be to come and see you guys live. I could always visit her in the delivery room. Oh, Dan, we'd welcome that. We would. I'd let you up before my parents. I don't know where we're going to be. We're going to be outside the stadium. We're still working on this and we'll let you know if we can have an audience. We have to get security. Like there's a lot more that goes into it. It's not just we show up and come out and you can rage. We want to make sure that it's a little bit organized here, but thank you, Michael. And whatever your wife needs, supply it. Keith and Charlotte. Hi, Keith. What's on your mind? Hey, Dan, thanks for calling me back. Yep. Hey, so I know that we are talking a little bit about stars aligning and equinoxes, and I heard this little tidbit about a week ago, so. And I have some hope for the Panthers now this season. I'm hoping that this will come through. So in 2002, Panthers have a losing record. Ohio State wins the national championship. Jennifer Lopez files for divorce. 2003, Panthers go to the Super Bowl. 2014, Panthers have a losing record. Ohio State wins. Maddie. Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce. 2015, Panthers go to the Super Bowl. 2024, Panthers have a losing record. Ohio State wins the Natty. And Jennifer Lopez files for divorce. The Panthers go to the Super Bowl. I say put your money down now. I love that, Keith. I'm going to bring that up on the gambling podcast. I'm sure Shay and Irving, he'll put some money down on that. I don't know if it's that big a deal that JLO files for divorce, because that seems to be a common occurred. Something less common. Yes, yes, that. That's happened quite a few times. I have a little more teeth to it. Yeah, yeah, she's. She's plowed through a few husbands there. Yes. Todd. I thought numerology was interesting. He took that to a completely other level. I love that. That's awesome. Andrew in Pittsburgh. Hi, Andrew. What's on your mind? Hi, Dan.

[Paul Pabst]

Just calling in the wake of the.

[Dan Patrick]

Gold digging patent filed by Bill and his girlfriend. The entire thing will likely end poorly for Bill, but I can't help but feel the 30 for 30 is going to be absolute fire. So I got a pitch for you. Okay. What if I told you that you could strike gold on a 747, that even goats could become domesticated? And the Panthers weren't the only kitty that Bill was pounding ESPN 30 for 30. Oh, no, no, no, no. Andrew, no, no.

[Paul Pabst]

Get a little loose.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, can't. Can't get loose. And turn. That's over the line. Yes, it is. That was over the line. Yeah. Family show. Yeah. Bill being the goat can be domesticated. That's. That's what he meant. The other line. I don't need to explain that. I did watch the 30 for 30 on SMU football again last night. They're just, they were so brazen. And the fact that Eric Dickerson gets that gold Trans Am from Texas A and M and then doesn't have to give it back, he just kept it and went to SMU because Texas A and M can't report that. Hey, we gave him that Trans Am. Just what went on in that conference. Oh, my goodness. And Ron Meyer that, you know, that's one of those. Hey, I gotta get. I gotta get out of town here. I'm gonna go to the Patriots. Hey, that's how hot it is right now. I gotta get out of here. And all of a sudden. And look, they were a really good team. Really good team. But you have Eric Dickerson, Craig James, the quarterback, Lance McElhenney, I think.

[Paul Pabst]

Yep.

[Dan Patrick]

He was a artist, a magician and small guy. But you're just watching this and they talked about the oil boom and so much money and boosters and I mean, what has really changed, you know, boosters, they want their team to be good. What's it going to take? And the main booster at smu, I don't even think they got him on camera to talk. He was like, had nothing to say about it. He didn't want to be involved, I guess, in the 30 for 30. But you're. You're watching. And Eric Dickerson, that running style, one of his teammates said you could put like a drink on his helmet and he wouldn't spill a drop because he ran so upright. And Craig James, I remember Craig James telling me a story that his brother would bet people when Craig was going to run the hundred yard dash in high school because he was usually the only white guy. And he would be betting people that Craig was going to win and then Craig would win because he, you know, was a track star or, you know, had track speed there. But smu, man. Yeah, Paulie.

[Paul Pabst]

One of the best parts about the documentary is one of the ways they got caught. They were paying players with cash and the envelopes had SMU athletic department letterhead. Not hard to trace it back.

[Dan Patrick]

But everything is on the up and up now in college football. Yes. Marvin, right? Absolutely. Yes. Come on now. Conference realignment. Let's go. Yes.

[Paul Pabst]

Nil.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes. Let's take a break here. Chris Fowler will join us on loan for the mothership. More of your phone calls as well. We're back after this Dan Patrick show. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows@fox sportsradio.com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live this Labor Day. Say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Anabe, the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's pet friendly stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life. Now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site [e-mail] Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in luck, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees. Every penny back. Shop [e-mail] Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Hi, I'm Buzz Knight, the host of the Taking a walk podcast and join me for an upcoming episode with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, talking about his new Frank Sinatra music project.

[Paul Pabst]

Anyone who loves music with Sal elevate over something like this. The biggest question for us was what's in these boxes? There were a few unplayed gems that we had been alerted to by Charlie Pinion of Sinatra Enterprises. So we knew that certain songs like Shadow of your smile, which actually is not on this record It'll be on the next one.

[Dan Patrick]

Seth McFarlane.

[Paul Pabst]

Don Rickles went up to Frank Sinatra and he said, listen, I'm going to be having dinner with this lovely woman tonight. You know, would you come over and say hi? And just so you know, Cause I feel like if she sees that I know you, it's gonna make me look really cool and, you know, I might have a good night. During the middle of dinner, Frank walks over and says, don, hi, how are you? And Don goes, frank, please, I'm in the middle of dinner.

[Dan Patrick]

Seth MacFarlane on the taking a Walk podcast.

[Paul Pabst]

Listen to Taking a walk on the.

[Dan Patrick]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Paul Pabst]

Hello, I'm John Lithgow.

[Dan Patrick]

We choose to go to the moon.

[Paul Pabst]

I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast, that's One Small Step for Man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space. You're a great pilot, Buzz.

[Dan Patrick]

As far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen.

[Paul Pabst]

That's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't predisposition.

[Dan Patrick]

To depression, alcohol abuse and suicide.

[Paul Pabst]

We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons.

[Dan Patrick]

What do you say, Buzz? Another beer.

[Paul Pabst]

And triumph over any addiction.

[Dan Patrick]

Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin.

[Paul Pabst]

Good luck to you and become a true hero.

[Dan Patrick]

Buzz and I will proceed into the.

[Paul Pabst]

Lunar module not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself. Buzz, we intercepted a Soviet radio transmission starring me, John Lithgow. Can you put it through? Can you Translate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts?

[Dan Patrick]

Columbia, I'm Dan, he's Ty. Hello. And we're the Solid Verbal College Football podcast. College football season is here and you know what that means. Your team is going to break your heart three times, probably before Halloween. Uh huh. But fear not, the solid verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback. Join us all season long, all year long, as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport. Whether you're a diehard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all the chaos and of course, celebrate the madness.

[Paul Pabst]

Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you.

[Dan Patrick]

Won'T hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan. We don't just love college football, Tyler, we live it. Listen to the Solid Verbal college football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out behind the Flow, a podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club.

[Paul Pabst]

We go behind the scenes and explore.

[Dan Patrick]

The stories of those involved. San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a game changer because this region has been hungry for a men's professional soccer team. We need veteran players and we need young players. Like you're building a team from scratch. And so the succession plan of long term success needs to be defined. We need to embrace this community. When I was 13, my uncle took me to a qualifier and we watched Paraguay against Chile pouring rain. Just watching the fans jumping up and down, I think that was definitely a watershed moment for me. Not only was that going to be my game, but it was going to be my life.

[Paul Pabst]

Listen to San Diego FC behind the Flow now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

Chris Fowler, busy man, ESPN college football tennis host, commentator. He'll be on the call Saturday night. It'll be LSU at number four, Clemson. Herbie will be there. Holly Row, Molly McGrath. And then week two, you got Michigan at number 18, Oklahoma. Also part of the US Open broadcast. ESPN airs all 15 days of the U S Open on all of its networks. You got the women's singles final Saturday and the men's singles finals Sunday. That'll be the seventh on ABC and espn. Departez. Good to see you, Chris. How are you, bud?

[Paul Pabst]

Thanks for the extended promo. Hope that wasn't part of the deal getting me on.

[Dan Patrick]

It was. You're very generous. It was. The PR machine at ESPN said we got two plugs for Chris. I go, okay.

[Paul Pabst]

So I meant to text you belated congratulations. Your team's triumph on Celebrity Family Feud, I guess we watched it last month, but it was, it was a stirring performance. You guys showed. You're very in tune with the people. Very in tune with the people, Dan. So it was good.

[Dan Patrick]

We had fun. But it's one of those that you say, yeah, let's do it. And then I got on stage and all of a sudden Steve Harvey comes out. I've got my Dan name tag. And I go, oh, bleep. What am I doing here? I just kept thinking something's going viral. And when it goes viral, it's usually bad. And thankfully it did not. But there was some trepidation for the wrong time to have trepidation when you're on stage with Steve.

[Paul Pabst]

I would freeze out there. I think I'd choke. If you gotta hit the buzzer and come up with something, some crazy person. You did well.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, we Went through rehearsal. I got yelled at because I screwed up. You're not allowed to have your hand up, and you have to have your hand down. And I got. It was a false start. And then they go, hey, no. And I go, all right. And then you weren't allowed to talk to each other. Somebody's in the audience and they're saying, hey, no talking. You can't talk. I. We were. I thought we were going to get. You know, you guys are running roughshod.

[Paul Pabst]

Over the rules there.

[Dan Patrick]

We were. We were. Take me back to game day now. I'm going to go off memory here. When I was at the mothership, I remember the thought of you guys going out to a football game was met with some great hesitation, like, is anybody going to show up? Like, why would we do that? You know, it's fine here in studio. They don't need to be out there. Who's going to show up? And I just remember that there were a couple of members of management saying that. And I thought, if you have a camera, people will show up. If there's a camera, people want to be on tv. That it was the only thing I said to John Walsh, our boss, I said, if you got cameras, kids will show up.

[Paul Pabst]

What kind of three of them? I think we actually had three of them that day.

[Dan Patrick]

No.

[Paul Pabst]

Well, they had to spend some money. I think it was the grand total, something like 50 grand to take the show the road, which is like, that's about a segment's worth of today's cost. No, we had to convince folks we'd done it at bowl games, but never on a campus. Finally had Florida state, Notre Dame 1 versus 2 in November in 1993, and it was a game worthy. They thought of getting us out on the road and. And, you know, we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know how to make it. We were pretty clueless. It was indoors at the hall of Fame, and people were kind of wandering by. Let me check out the Heismans. Wait a minute. What's going on over there? And they didn't know exactly what we were doing, but it was evident, like, from that very first show, Dan, that, hey, you're right, there's cameras, there's people. We're on a campus and we're onto something. And next year, we went on the road more and more. And after that, every week.

[Dan Patrick]

When did you know that all of a sudden this is clicking with America.

[Paul Pabst]

On game day on the road shows?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Paul Pabst]

I mean, there were signs. The first time I Mean, Lee Corsair came out of the pep rally at Notre Dame on Friday night, and he had picked Florida State all week, you know, the alma mater. And they were the favorite. And he said, can I change my pick? We had just seen stir out of Regis or somebody was in there doing their thing. And Lee saw so much spirit at Notre Dame that he immediately wanted to change his pick. And that. Which is funny, you know, it was. Craig James was there, you know, the pony was doing his thing, and. And Lou Holtz, they won the game. And he made a beeline for our set, which was just down the hall from his office, and just jumped up on the set. Corso jumped up, tried to give him his microphone. Like I said, it was pretty raw back then, but we knew we had something. And then year after year, they began to draw bigger crowds and campuses wanted to outdo the other one and break the record. And it was wild. It was fun from the morning. The post game shows were a blast. We'd just be sitting outside the stadium and the students would spill out and run to the set. Kind of. Those were the days when it was. It was simpler, shorter, smaller, but also very raw.

[Dan Patrick]

Your first memory or first thing that comes to mind with Lee Corso back in the embryonic stages of college game day.

[Paul Pabst]

I was thinking the other day, I was doing a show with Lee. Wisconsin had blown a game. Something had happened late in the game. Coach's decision. And I'm the only one on the desk with Lee at that year. And he says, Barry Alvarez, the coach at the time, should walk into the locker room, stand in front of his team and resign immediately.

[Dan Patrick]

He should quit.

[Paul Pabst]

It occurs to me I'm the only one here. Like, I have to say something about that. There's no. Craig James wasn't on the show, that Beano wasn't there. No one was there but me. You have to say something like, lee, you're not serious. Ah, nothing I say is serious. So he was kidding, but I had to be the only one there to check him. Dan. Now there's about seven guys on game day to check him. But he, in the early days, he would say stuff. Well before he became like the lovable grandpa figure that everybody smiles when they see. He would say stuff that would piss off players, coaches, fans, that, you know, he was a polarizing guy. And. And that helped spark things, helped get eyeballs and interest on the show. And he and Craig would go at it, and then later Kurt came on and they would go at it and. And that was the early Years of Game Day. It was kind of. He was like a hot take guy before that existed. Right. But he did it, you know, with taste.

[Dan Patrick]

And then the headgear.

[Paul Pabst]

Yes.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, women. That's insane.

[Paul Pabst]

I mean, the minute he puts on, you know, Brutus Buckeye head is sort of this. It's a nut. And I think back in the day, it was. I don't know if it was in mint condition when he got it, it was kind of beat up. But he. This thing on was a tense negotiation with Ohio State to get them to give up Brutus's head. The story is part of Game Day mythology, but Kirk Curb Street's wife Allison had been a cheerleader. Ohio State. They said, no. Sorry, but no. Later in the week. Are you sure? Can we be pushed? And they said, okay, fine, we'll do it and we'll see how this goes. And the minute he puts it on, I mean, it's silly looking, but you knew, oh, wow. Suit, tie, Brutus head, and we're onto something. And then every other school saw the magic of that. And then they were. Most of them were willing to cooperate. Now they all cooperate, of course. But, yeah, that was. It was instant. We knew we were onto something.

[Dan Patrick]

Best celebrity picker that you had.

[Paul Pabst]

Ooh, that's tough. Because these celebrities, especially the comedians, wanted to come play with Lee Corso. I mean, that was the reason, I think, why they came on the show. The pick segment at the end, you know, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, some of the funniest people on the planet wanted to come sit and play off of him and have him say, not so fast, my friend. Bill Murray was, Was, you know, well, he was unhinged. He was a Clemson fan. They were playing Florida State. Lee put on the Seminole stuff. We had a little mound of dirt in front of the set so he could throw a spear in the ground like Chief Osceola. Bill Murray basically undid that whole plan. Like, he knocked him to the ground, did an atomic knee drop on him. Lee wasn't young then, okay? He's 90 now. He wasn't young then. And Bill would grab the spear and he threw it. This is a real. This had a real, like, spear tip. This wasn't a prop. He threw the thing over the heads of these people who were gathered by the Home Depot guests, I guess. And it landed on this demo field of it harmlessly, thank God. I mean, somebody could have been in pain. I just think about the Alice Cooper, all these characters that you would think would have nothing to do with the sport and certainly wouldn't be in the same frame as Lee Corso, but he's sitting there with these guys. I just have beautiful memories of that.

[Dan Patrick]

What about the musket at West Virginia?

[Paul Pabst]

What about all the firearms? I mean, in the Big 12, every school has a firearm involved. And people think, you know, oh, you guys were soft. Oh, you're reacting like it's, you know, it's a canon in your head. Well, as you know, there's a lot of microphones around the set, all these effects microphones that go into your headset. The headsets are cranked up really loud so you can block out the noise and you can hear yourself. Back in those days, I think we had. We had headsets before we got earpieces, but the earpieces are airtight, too, so you can't hear anything else. When he shot the damn guns, I mean, it was beyond definite. Like, you just couldn't sit there and not flinch or duck or something, you know?

[Dan Patrick]

Chris Fowler joining us, and he's got Saturday night, it'll be number nine, LSU at number four, Clemson, and also the US Open. State of tennis right now.

[Paul Pabst]

At the top of the men's game. It's compelling as ever. I mean, you got two guys that jumped into the immediate aftermath of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in Colorado Southwest and Yannick center, and they've got this rivalry already. They're pushing each other. We're seeing tennis we've maybe never seen played before, and that's saying something given the fact that those three giants elevated the game so much. So I think the men's game at the top is compelling. Got to have some guys join them. Got to have some guys show they.

[Dan Patrick]

Can compete with these two.

[Paul Pabst]

So it's not predictable every final. I mean, most people would expect those guys are going to play again in New York, as they did at Wimbledon and Paris. But you want other guys to compete and join the party. Women's tennis is wide open. It's the opposite. There is no dominant player at the top. It's a free for all. A different player wins every major. It seems all eyes on Coco Golf here in New York. But if you like unpredictability, and I think some of these major finals have been the least predictable events in sports. You know, picking 100 to 1 shots, 80 to 1 shots, winning Wimbledon on the women's side every year.

[Dan Patrick]

It's crazy. If I said you could change one thing in college football, what would it be?

[Paul Pabst]

I wouldn't turn back the clock. I know we talked about, you know, Nil and Portal. I'm not one of those guys that sits around whining about the modern realities. I'm uncomfortable certain parts of it. You know, players are, they finish the season or they don't even finish the season. Their team's in a bowl game, they're looking for the next spot. They go play spring ball somewhere. They don't like that, they transfer again in the summer, and they're at another campus, probably taking another bag of money from another school in the fall. That. That I don't like. I mean, you can't have the chaos of unrestricted free agency with multiple windows during the year when you can do it. There needs to be some order. I'd like to see that cleaned up, but this isn't going away, and I think it's kind of fun. And you get into a new season. Some of these teams, Belichick's got what, like 70 new guys in North Carolina, they have a completely new team. I mean, that's kind of interesting to see how they're going to gel. So I try not to whine about the unintended consequences of reform, which is what we're dealing with. I think there's going to be some order restored. I like the new playoff format. I don't want to see it expand. So I'm kind of good with where we are right now.

[Dan Patrick]

You got North Carolina with a standalone game on Monday night with Belichick. But I think we could tune in and watch Dion at your alma mater because he had his son there and he had Travis Hunter, and Dion's good tv. Bill Belichick's not good tv.

[Paul Pabst]

You don't think so? No press conferences for good tv.

[Dan Patrick]

But I like, it's weird. I would tune into Colorado and I knew I would see his son and I would see Travis and I'd see Dion and the atmosphere and just felt like Dion was an entertainer. Bill's not an entertainer. Now it comes down to, is his team any good? You're not like, I'll tune in to go, okay, does he have a cut off Carolina blue hoodie on? Okay, he does. All right, now let me see if, you know, he can coach college football.

[Paul Pabst]

But don't you think when he said the Patriots, I mean, people would watch them because they wanted to see them lose. It didn't happen that often, but I think people will want to see how his team looks. And I think some people want him to succeed and some people want him to fail. And so there's a. There's a compelling tune in reason, at least early in the season. They're expecting big ratings for that. That Labor Day night game, TCU and Carolina there a lot of curiosity watchers. I think that, look, no one knows how that team's going to gel. I think they should be well coached. But in the acc, it's pretty balanced. Games come down to the finish. Can Belichick make a difference on Saturdays? Can he make a difference with adjustments? Can they win close games? If they can, they can be in the mix in the conference. They're not going to be the most talented team. That's Clemson and then Miami. But, you know, I'm interested to see how they do overall, not just Monday night.

[Dan Patrick]

But you think people tune in to see him fail? Were they tuning in to see Dion in a similar situation of failing or succeeding?

[Paul Pabst]

Some were. I mean, I think he captured imagination of a lot of people who weren't necessarily huge college football fans. And that happened right the minute he got to Colorado. I mean, I was at the spring game is for a sure 50,000 people in a snowstorm. We're watching a spring scrimmage. They came into town to watch it. These were not all locals. And I think. I think you saw massive TV ratings even when Colorado began to lose and the story began to change and shift from, hey, Dion's doing some magic, to hey, it's a reality check. They still watched. I mean, and they still do watch. So, yeah, I'm going to be interested to see how they do Friday night. I'll be in Columbus tomorrow night. There's a big Corso luncheon there, which will be a cool event. And then I'll go watch the Buffs that night to see how they look against Georgia Tech. They're underdogs in the first game. Nobody's expecting them to do anything this year, but I think that they get a ship on their shoulder.

[Dan Patrick]

But I wonder about that, though. Has the not. Will the novelty wear off there of with Dion there?

[Paul Pabst]

It has worn off, I think. I mean, no more Travis Hunter. Shador is gone. I think you've got. You've got a team of talented players. I mean, they're. They're better than people think. They're not going to be 10th in the Big 12, in my opinion, but I'm always going to be watching. And he's just a compelling figure, Dan, the way he dealt with cancer this summer and was so open and transparent and vulnerable. Not a lot of coaches sit there and talk about, you know, having a. Having a cafe or having a portage on the sidelines because they need it. I mean, it's, it's refreshing. His messaging his team, if you're around him, is really old school and valuable stuff. I think he's making differences in their lives. So I'm a fan for sure.

[Dan Patrick]

Great to talk to you. Safe travels. Have fun. Saturday night, LSU and Clemson and then part of ESPN's coverage of the US Open. My best of the family. As always, Chris. Thank you.

[Paul Pabst]

My pleasure, Dan.

[Dan Patrick]

Chris Valor hi, I'm Buzz Knight, the.

[Paul Pabst]

Host of the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

And join me for an upcoming episode with Seth McFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, talking about his new Frank Sinatra music project.

[Paul Pabst]

Anyone who loves music would salivate over something like this. The biggest question for us was, what's in these boxes? Really, the, the most thrilling part was hiring an orchestra and just playing what was in these boxes. Listen to Taking a walk on the.

[Dan Patrick]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions of and give you new insight on the people around you. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Why are TSA rules so confusing?

[Paul Pabst]

You got a hoodie on?

[Dan Patrick]

Take it off. I'm Manny. I'm Noah, this is Devin, and we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called no Such Thing Thing where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? Well, I can't expect what to do now if the rule was the same, go off on me, I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to no Such thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No Such thing. I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eater's Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access? Should you? That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand. Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. From tips for healthy living to the latest medical breakthroughs, WebMD's Health Discovered podcast keeps you up to date on today's most important health issues. Through in depth conversations with experts from across the healthcare community, WebMD reveals how today's health news will impact your life tomorrow. It's not that people don't know that.

[Paul Pabst]

Exercise is healthy, it's just that people.

[Dan Patrick]

Don'T know why it's healthy. And we're struggling to try to help people help themselves and each other. Listen to WebMD Health discovered on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.