PMS 2.0 1330 - Feel Good Draft Reaction Friday With Matt LaFleur, Roger Goodell, Dustin Poirier

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1330

Episode: Feel Good Draft Reaction Friday With Matt LaFleur, Roger Goodell, Dustin Poirier
Release Date: April 26, 2025

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I. Introduction: Electrifying NFL Draft in Green Bay

The 2025 NFL Draft kicked off in Green Bay, Wisconsin, transforming the town into a vibrant hub for football enthusiasts. Host Pat McAfee welcomes listeners to what he describes as an "electrifying" event attended by an astounding 205,000 fans (02:00). The atmosphere was charged with excitement as teams made strategic selections, focusing heavily on both offensive and defensive trenches.

II. Draft Trends and Team Strategies

Pat McAfee notes a distinct trend among teams opting for strategic drafting, emphasizing interior linemen over high-profile skill positions this year. "Feels like it was the most logical draft that has happened in a long, long time" (00:00). This approach contrasts with recent years where flashy quarterback picks dominated early rounds. Notable discussions include:

• Josh Jacobs Drafted by Green Bay Packers: Jacobs' selection is lauded for bolstering the Packers' running game, aligning with their offensive strategy.
• Will Campbell’s Emotional Reaction: Campbell expressed his commitment to his new team, stating, "I’m willing to die to protect Drake May Connor" (03:29).

III. The Shador Sanders Phenomenon

A significant talking point was the absence of Shador Sanders in the first round, sparking conversations about draft expectations versus team needs. Dustin Poirier emphasizes resilience: "This happened, you know, for no reason. All this is fuel to the fire" (05:10). Roger Goodell adds insight into draft dynamics, mentioning:

• SEC and Big Ten Dominate: "26 players from the SEC and the Big Ten were drafted in the first round" (07:09).
• Trends in Player Selection: Emphasis on teams selecting "big boy football" with a focus on linemen.

IV. Interview with Green Bay Packers’ Head Coach Matt LaFleur

Coach Matt LaFleur discusses the Packers' draft strategy and the development of new quarterback Jordan Love. Key highlights include:

• Jordan Love’s Progress: "He has really fought through a lot of adversity. I was proud of just, you know, the guy that he is and how he leads" (16:55).
• Transition from Aaron Rodgers: LaFleur shares insights on managing the quarterback transition, ensuring Love is groomed effectively within a supportive environment.

Notable Quote:

"Once you draft O line, D line, I think it's a good pick. Especially with the modern NFL." – Matt LaFleur (05:26)

V. Insights from Green Bay Packers’ Coach Mike McCarthy

Coach Mike McCarthy delves into team development, leadership, and maintaining high standards:

• Team Maturation: "When you transition from a vet team to a younger team, you really, truly have to lead" (24:17).
• Accountability and Character: Emphasizes the importance of character in team selection, stating, "Our organization values character... you have to have a good head on your shoulders" (24:53).

Notable Quote:

"Every play is so valuable, so critical. You got to maximize each and every opportunity." – Mike McCarthy (24:38)

VI. Rule Changes and Safety Initiatives in the NFL

Dustin Poirier, a UFC legend, provides a unique perspective on ongoing and upcoming NFL rule changes aimed at enhancing player safety:

• Flag Football Growth: Poirier discusses the expansion of flag football, highlighting its potential to increase female participation and global reach.
• International Expansion: Plans to host regular-season games internationally, with aspirations to grow the NFL's global footprint.
• Safety Enhancements: Introduction of replay assists and other technologies to aid referees in making accurate calls, focusing on reducing injuries.

Notable Quote:

"Our officials have to be accountable... we have to stay up with it." – Dustin Poirier (88:41)

VII. International Expansion and Growth of Football

Poirier elaborates on the NFL's efforts to globalize the sport:

• Global Market Penetration: "We can be worldwide with our games, but we also have to have this other activity around them" (86:14).
• Building Fan Bases: Emphasis on engaging local communities through flag football and year-round activities to foster a robust international fan base.

VIII. Conclusion: Positive Outlook and Upcoming Developments

Pat McAfee wraps up the episode by celebrating the successful draft event and expressing optimism for future selections. The discussions reflect a collective effort to strengthen teams strategically while expanding the NFL's reach both domestically and internationally. The episode sets the stage for continued coverage, including upcoming interviews with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Final Thoughts:

"We need the fans because that atmosphere was electric." – Matt McCarthy (49:38)

Pat McAfee emphasizes the significance of fan support in sustaining the NFL's vibrant culture, underscoring the mutual relationship between the league and its passionate audience.

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Key Takeaways:

• Strategic Drafting: Teams are prioritizing strategic picks focused on strengthening defensive and offensive lines.
• Quarterback Development: Green Bay Packers are investing in the development of Jordan Love, ensuring a smooth transition from Aaron Rodgers.
• Player Resilience: Shador Sanders not being drafted emphasizes the unpredictable nature of the draft and the importance of resilience.
• Safety and Expansion: The NFL is committed to enhancing player safety and expanding its global presence through international games and flag football initiatives.
• Leadership and Accountability: Coaches like Matt LaFleur and Mike McCarthy highlight the importance of leadership, accountability, and character in team building.

This episode provides an in-depth analysis of the 2025 NFL Draft, offering listeners valuable insights into team strategies, player developments, and the NFL's future direction.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the host of this year's NFL Draft. And also this feel good Friday, April 25, 2025. This program starts now. NFL Draft. That's right. That's why we're in this great city in front of this legendary stadium with the fine people having their dreams come true that get drafted to the NFL. 32 men got drafted last night, none of them Shador Sanders. We will spend the next three hours talking about just like every other program has through the entirety. That is not the case, actually, with this particular program because we enjoy the hell out of what all the teams did last night. Feels like it was the most logical draft that has happened in a long, long time. Feels like there isn't a lot of chatter about anybody making too big of a reach. Feels like a lot of teams are pumped about who they got on their team now. It was a lot of trenches. It wasn't as much offense as it has been in years past. And I'll tell you, the atmosphere that the Green Bay packers fans and the people that traveled to Green Bay for night one of the NFL Draft last night, electrifying. I think the weather was probably as good as you could have asked for. Green Bay, Wisconsin, as today has turned into a little bit of a misty, breezy, cold, chilly Green Bay, Wisconsin afternoon here in April. But last night was spectacular. I believe the number was reported already, and if not, I heard that the number was 205,000 people here last night. And the thought of how big this parking lot was, whenever we were looking at it before it got filled up with the fans, we thought it was an egregious, aggressive amount of space to give for fans to travel to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the first round of the NFL draft. And then as we started seeing those shots from the super cam that they have and the jib that they had and the sky cam that we had, this place filled up for four plus hours. These fans were electrifying. It wasn't that long ago that Roger Goodell was in his basement eating peanut M and Ms. For the draft. Here we are five years later, 205,000 people coming to the beautiful town of Green Bay, Wisconsin. And that obviously only continues this evening. Roger Goodell will join us in the next hour. He'll be sitting right here in a few minutes. Matt LaFleur, the head coach of the Green Bay packers will join us. And also joining us today, Diamond Dustin Poirier, legend from the ufc. So we got a great chatter coming up and it's not Just me. Obviously, the boys are here. Talks to tables here at BostonConnor and Ty Schmidt. Ty, good to see you. Missed a good one last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

I know. I mean, I saw it on T. It looked like a, you know, a raucous environment. And obviously, you know, not just that. Coach McCarthy being here, that was incredible. And then, you know, like. Like you mentioned, kind of feels like everyone kind of got what they needed. You know, maybe some people weren't happy about Cheddar Sanders or whatever, but, like, as a Packers fan, they take a receiver in the first round, you know, first time in 20 plus years. Like, last night all around was incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

Con man, you guys started the trend. Oh, yeah. Picking up a left tackle. And you wouldn't be the only ones. Last night, a lot of offensive linemen drafted, a lot of defensive linemen drafted. You were pumped. And Will Campbell, after being drafted, had an interview on the stage. This is what it sounded like. Don't have that. We do not have that video. Will Campbell talking about getting emotional, basically about how much work he's put in to get to this point. And then he said he's willing to die to protect Drake. May Connor, you were pumped about Will Campbell whenever it happened. I think New England Patriots f they feel. And then after the interview, what is the thought for the New England Patriots?

[Boston Connor]

I believe Patriots fans who kind of understand football kind of get what they're trying to do here, loved it. Will Campbell, you mentioned, he said, you know, I'm going to fight and die for this team in this, you know, organization, which you love to hear. You also love to see some of the other things, too. The walkout. Some people were kind of nitpicking. I saw a clean dap with Maxwell Hairston. Oh, yeah, a lot of dap hugs in that situation. But Will Campbell had the full clean dap that you love. And then, yeah, of course, him being 21, Drake may be in 22. And then the country boy, the Gator in him, if you will. You know, a lot of people talking about his arm size, I would say it don't matter when you were born on Gator.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Boston Connor]

Him being a Louisiana boy, I loved. And then, of course, Mike Vrabel. Mike Vrabel came out and talked about after, you know, hey, I put the pad on. Okay? I felt this kid and I kind of understand what he brings to the table, his punches, which is very vital, especially if you do have arms that might be considered a little undersized. I feel very confident in that. And Vrabel also said, hey, if that tape ever comes out of me versus Will Campbell, someone's getting fired.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we saw that quote make its way around last night on the Internet after the pick. And I love the fact that Vrabel's like, I'm gonna get hands on these people. All right, anybody's come and join us and please don't online. I need to feel how they feel. And I assume, and joining us, the all time leading tackler in the history of the Green Bay Packers, A.J. hawk, Ohio State man just like Mike Vrabel. I assume he long armed him like I assume Vrabel was acting like a D end pass rusher towards this Will Campbell guy. And with him saying he hopes the tape never comes out, that means Will Campbell bodied Mike Vrabel. So he's going into that building potentially the alpha. I love that that's the case, A.J. and it wasn't just Will Campbell. Trenches everywhere last night for a lot of teams. And just like Mike McCarthy said, every time I think it's a good pick. Any time you draft O line, D line, I think it's a good pick. Especially with the modern NFL. That was a trend last night. For real?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it was a trend and that's what makes your team better. It is weird though, to draft like you're. You want like a superstar everybody's heard of, like most fan bases do. But you, you're right. You over and over and over again we heard Mike McCarthy talk about I like to pick. Look at the Super Bowl. Eagles are able to get a four man rush and shut the Chiefs down. Like I think that's very, you know, it's in people's minds still. And what Saquon Barkley is able to do as a running back, like if you win the line of scrimmage battle, you're probably winning that game.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Tone. What was the big takeaway from last night's draft reaction? Obviously she door didn't get drafted. I heard and I heard Shador talk to his family and his friends at his draft party afterwards last night. Love the mindset. Love that he keeps going forward. Think obviously they're built for it. And yeah, here he is right here, Shador talking after last night's first round ended. He was not selected. We all didn't expect this, of course.

[Dustin Poirier]

But I feel like with God, anything possible, everything possible, I don't feel like.

[Pat McAfee]

This happened, you know, for no reason. All this is, is of course fuel to the fire. And under no circumstance, we all know.

[AJ Hawk]

This shouldn't happen, but we understand we.

[Dustin Poirier]

On the bigger and better Tomorrow's the day we're going to be happy regardless.

[AJ Hawk]

Legendary.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right. Legendary. Way I sign out. Love that and obviously his fam. Very supportive. His friends, very supportive. I appreciate that. Saying we all know this shouldn't have happened is because he thinks obviously he's a first round talent. The entire NFL said he wasn't though. So that's a little bit of an interesting take on it all. But I still believe in Shador. I like Shador. I think Shador is mentally tough. I think he's physically tough. I think he's able to spin it. But that seemingly was the only conversation for a lot of people. What were the other storylines of last night's draft?

[Roger Goodell]

Tone Diggs the other storylines that we've already kind of talked about was the big boys 18 offensive lineman and defensive lineman. Edge 19 if you want to throw in Tyler Warren because yeah, he can move and he can catch, but he's also, you know, a six offensive lineman out there. One of the funniest, the funnest facts that I saw last night, 26 players. Guess where 26 players came from? The SEC and the Big Ten. Okay, so teams were drafting big boy football. SEC set a record with 15 guys in the first round. Big Ten had 11. So that was a storyline and a big thing last night and it was moving pretty quick.

[Pat McAfee]

Not bad.

[Roger Goodell]

Like the team needs a lot of the time met the same best player available. So like the draft was moving because I think teams were like, oh our guys there. So the Cards were coming in quickly. It was awesome. Like get big boy draft. The Shador story and then like team needs me. Oh other ones. Falcons trading back in to get James Pierce giving up a first rounder last year and then obviously the Jags just make a huge move at the top to go get Travis Hunter.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that was a nice little splash to start this entire thing. Love watching Travis Hunter celebrate. Love watching Travis Hunter get celebrated. Yeah, you know, because he was getting loud there at the end of the year last year for everything other than football. So to watch him last night be celebrated universally by everybody in football was awesome for him. Love that. Gladstone said, hey, I come from a place where we them picks and just let the Jaguars fans know we're very comfortable and if this guy is he said he was a first round wide receiver and a first round db. I'm okay. Giving up another first rounder to go make sure we get him. And what an explosive play By Gladstone. What an explosive play by Liam Cohen. Love that. The cons, obviously, we're all in on this town there, and they needed a spark, you know, so you got AFC South 1 and 2 in that draft last night, and then the Indianapolis Colts get to steal the draft. Tyler Warren, about 14 or whatever the case is, Loveland becomes the first tight end off the board earlier in the night than Tyler. There's a lot of little storylines throughout the entirety of it.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, it's insane. And the quarterbacks, like, the Giants still getting their guy, but it kind of goes to like what Brandon Beaner was saying when he came on last night. Like, hey, this isn't a heavy quarterback draft. So now all those players, all those, like, team needs, those teams, instead of maybe taking a shot on someone else or, you know, even some of those teams that are kind of middle of the pack might need a quarterback in a couple years. Instead of taking that qb, they're just taking the dudes that they need. And that stinks for the teams at the end. But that's why, you know, like, the Texans traded out, I believe, and they took. And that's where Jackson Dart went for the Giants. So you got to be pumped. If you're just taking trenches with the way football is going and there's still so many good guys left, it feels like too, you know, so many Ohio State dudes.

[Roger Goodell]

A lot of.

[Boston Connor]

A lot of that.

[Pat McAfee]

Both running backs from Ohio State still available.

[Boston Connor]

Both of them. Sawyer Howard. I'm not sure if they're still.

[Pat McAfee]

Luther Burden.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he's a guy that changes the game, changes the math.

[Roger Goodell]

Before the season, like, people would have been floored if Luther Burden would have made it out of the first round, even out of the top 15. Yeah. Him and those Iowa State wide receivers are going to make a run. The Ohio State running backs are still there. The Ohio State ends in jtt and Jack Sawyer, who you just talked about. Mike Green out of Marshall, who led the NCAA in sacks last year. Desmond Aziraku out of B.C. had 16 and a half sacks last year. Like, there's a. There's a nick Eamon worry who's 63230. The safety out of South Carolina who ran a 43 9. He jumped 43 inches. Still out there. A lot of guys out there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. This is what they meant whenever they said from like 10 to like 70, right? Yeah. Yeah. Is pretty deep because a lot of names we know on that still available board. A lot of names. Yes.

[AJ Hawk]

A lot of these guys could turn out to be very, very good pros.

[Boston Connor]

At one point in the draft process, Will Johnson was.

[Pat McAfee]

Yep.

[Boston Connor]

Pretty sure. Projected top 10. I'm pretty sure he was mocks to New England in some mocks earlier at 4.

[Roger Goodell]

At 4, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And he's still on the board. It's awesome. I'm pumped for tonight. I think tonight's gonna be great.

[Pat McAfee]

We can hear you just fine. You sound amazing. I know you can't hear yourself, so just know that your microphone is working and you sound. You said I saw you messing with it a couple different times. Yeah, you're good, you're good. We can hear you. I know you can't. Gonna be a miserable day for you. Good luck, whatever. Throughout the entirety of that. Yeah, there's a lot of names still left and a lot of people we didn't know about. Gray, Gray Zabel, this guy that got drafted to Seattle Seahawks out of North Dakota State. I'll tell you what, I'll take 53 of this guy.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Pat McAfee]

Here's his interview. After he gets drafted to the Seattle Seahawks out of North Dakota State and what he was planning on doing last night, what's next?

[Mike McCarthy]

What do you do tonight, what do.

[Boston Connor]

You do tomorrow before the Seahawks send you out here? Man, I'm probably gonna start diving into these bush lights and have the 12 hour rule. We get to celebrate it for 12 hours when we get back to work. So I got an unbelievable crew here. My head coach, my offensive line coach, they're all down here and a lot of friends and family.

[Pat McAfee]

So they were talking about him potentially transferring a couple different times. And I guess there were six figure offers for him to transfer. And he said, nah, I'm going to stay with people that believed in me from the beginning. And then immediately after getting drafted he goes, I'm going to dive into some bush lights here. I got 12 hour rule. Yeah, I'm going to celebrate. This is exactly what you want as an offensive lineman. I love what Schneider did up there.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, he was a guy I talked about last night who just rented 250 acres of land next to his parents farm because he wanted to, you know, start planting corn and do that for after his career. But now you get those, those North Dakota State, those FCS linemen, those guys like that. He's exactly what you expected, exactly what you wanted. He's a dog. And yeah, he did have a bunch of offers to go to the FBS level. He stayed at North Dakota State, started all 16 games at left tackle, led them, I believe, to a national Championship or to the national championship game. Yeah, he's a dope.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolute dog. We talked to John Schneider who is from Green Bay, Wisconsin last night and what a treat was to talk to him. He's in the middle of a full rebuild retransition into a new culture. I feel like that's a good guy to start it with, especially with your first round draft pick. Draft an offensive lineman. A lot of people did that. There was a draft pick last night that got a massive reaction.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Big pop from this place.

[Boston Connor]

Huge.

[Pat McAfee]

Mark Murphy went up there and cut a promo. He did pick 23. Never would have expected him.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Welcome to everybody, Green Bay. Then he even said for the first time since 2002 in the packers fans, Paul, we know what this is. Draft Matthew Golden. Now, Ty, you weren't here, but mad Mel Kuiper had quite a moment last night. And if you look through the history of, you know, mad Mel Kuiper's reactions through some of the Green Bay packers draft picks last night, it felt like Mad Mel was the most exciting. But it wasn't just him. It was all 205,000 that were out here, brother. Why do you think that's the case and why did you guys get so excited? 1 Packers faith will get so pumped up about it.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, I just think you. You saw like 20 years worth of catharsis coming out. It's like, you know, for so many years there growing up, it's like, hey, this will be a year we'll grab a receiver and that'll kind of take the packers over the edge. They'll go win another super bowl. And it just never happened for whatever reason, you know, and obviously Big Mike mentioned it last night. You know, you get guys like Devonte and Jordy and Randall Cobb. So like it ended up working out. But you just, you know, a lot of people out here were waiting for that last night. I think if the packers would have drafted alignment or whatever, like there are needs elsewhere but like just having it be in Green Bay and making that selection, like nobody was going to be pissed about that. Like the roof was going to come off this place. It did. I think it was just like 20 years worth of waiting that finally came to fruition and it was incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

Matthew golden dropping to 23 was wild. Yeah, I mean that was not a thought. It was like a lot of players had that. Joining us now is the man who's going to be tasked with not only drawing up place, but also leading golden and the Green Bay packers to another Super Bowl. Ladies and gentlemen, the head coach of the Green bay Packers, Matt LaFleur. Yeah, coach.

[Roger Goodell]

Great shoes.

[Pat McAfee]

Great shoes. Great hair. I mean, the whole thing. Jeez.

[Dustin Poirier]

The beard.

[Mike McCarthy]

I got it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Hold on. Let me put this out of your way here. Let me get this over.

[Mike McCarthy]

All right, all right. Somebody got to get me straight all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Well, speaking of that, let's talk about that. We'll talk about the pick last night and how pumped you got to be for that.

[Mike McCarthy]

I don't know. I don't know if I was as excited as Ty, though.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he was jacked up.

[Mike McCarthy]

You were really jacked?

[Ty Schmidt]

Pretty excited.

[Pat McAfee]

Were you watching the reaction, the whole place? Oh, there was people throwing stuff. I mean, it was. I'll tell you what it was.

[Mike McCarthy]

The draft room was ecstatic. It was electric. But I think out here was times 10.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so we'll talk about what you're going to do with Golden Guy who runs a 4, 3. Obviously, a lot of. We talk about what's going on here. The fade is phenomenal. You are on a list of whites that have great fades all the time. Justin Timberlake always had a good fade. Tim Tebow always had a good fade. Marty Smith always had a good fade. And you quickly, once you came into national prominence, was a guy like that. Guy's always got a great haircut. What are. How do we. You look phenomenal. Let alone the beard. The beard is unbelievably on point. Is this every day you wake up? Like, I don't. We get a haircut every day?

[Roger Goodell]

No.

[Mike McCarthy]

You know, once a week, usually. Maybe two weeks.

[Pat McAfee]

Do the boys. The boys recognize this? I assume in the locker room how nice the fade is?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, we got a great barber in town. Hand can and does a great job.

[Pat McAfee]

Hand gang.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great work.

[Pat McAfee]

Title time. Gotta have good. Gotta have a good barber. All right, let's talk about the Green Bay packers and the addition of golden Jordan Love. Obviously, the move is made. We've obviously talked about it. The whole world has talked about it. You guys deciding to move on with him first year beginning, trying to get some reps. Then it gets very good, then obviously settles in. What are your thoughts on Jordan Love's development and what is golden going to be able to do to help that offense, you think?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I think Jordan come along nicely. I think, you know, it started off a little rocky. I think we were all just trying to get adjusted together. Myself as a play caller and the head coach and him just getting his feet wet. But I think he's done a nice job. I Think he's really fought through a lot of adversity. You know, that first year we were sitting at 3 and 6 and I was thinking, are we going to win any more games? And we went on a run and beat some pretty good teams at the end of the year. Went into Dallas and, and had a pretty strong performance there and unfortunately fell short to the Niners. But I think you look at last year, just what happened week one definitely took a toll on him throughout the duration of the season. And you know, he battled through a lot of things, but I was proud of just, you know, the guy that, that he is and how he leads and I think there's more out there for him. But add in a guy like Golden, I know he was ecstatic. You know, I facetimed him last night and, and he was just, he's like, oh, I gotta get. Yeah, you know, that's, that's tough to throw to 429.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, it's, it's great news for a play caller and a play designer, I assume to have a guy that has 429 out there, especially with Josh Jacobs. So you guys move on from Aaron Jones. Obviously that's a massive decision. He ends up with the Minnesota Vikings. You guys bring in Josh Jacobs and you had been going with like two headed monster, basically, then you got him. Just turn over the reins to Josh Jacobs. Why was Josh Jacobs the guy that you wanted for your offense and what did he mean for your style of play calling?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I think Josh is exactly what you want in a running back. He is tough, he is rugged, he's going to, he's got great hands out of the backfield, He's a really good pass protector. And as good as he is on the field, he's even better in the locker room. And as you know, as a former player, that is a key piece of it.

[Pat McAfee]

We Talked to Mike McCarthy for the last couple days about the transition period from Brett to Aaron and how he had to balance a lot, you know, and how it was like it was a focus of his because it was good for the entire team. For you having to go through the Aaron Rodgers transition to Jordan Love, as a young head coach, do you think you learned anything from that process? Do you look back on that and say, you know what? I feel like I did this good or this good, or do you just kind of just keep it moving and not even think about what is happening?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, I think you always, you have to be conscious of all your experiences, both positive and negative. And you know, we had a lot of great times here with Aaron. Aaron's done so much for this organization. And so it was a tough transition, but I think, you know, collectively as an organization, we felt like Jordan was. Was ready for that challenge because I think people probably don't realize how tough that is. I mean, yes, you go from Brett Favreau to Aaron Rodgers and now you're up. Jordan Love. There's a lot of pressure that comes with that position.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think the foresight to draft, I mean, obviously we killed you guys, whatever. Oh, man. Murdered you guys. NFC championship. You give up like 180 yards before contact. And then we got first round draft pick. It's like, all right, we're going to get a D lineman, we're going to win a Super bowl, then Jordan Love is the pick. And obviously, I think you've probably seen Mad Mel's reaction and everybody else's reaction through it all, but then as it starts to kind of unfold, it's like the Green Bay packers are always seemingly ahead of this, more so than everybody else. Watching a young quarterback watch a veteran, I think is crucial. We had Andrew Luck in Indianapolis and obviously we moved on from Peyton before Andrew Luck got in the building. But I still to this day believe that if Andrew Luck was able to watch Peyton for one year as his backup, how he operated in the building, how he talked to people, how he talked to coaches, how he talked to play caller, what he's allowed to say, what he's not allowed to say, I think that would have benefited Andrew Luck and sped up his career maybe five, six years. Do you think same thing happened with Jordan and what do you see from Jordan as a leader? You talked about him growing as a leader. How is he in the building and has he been like a vet since the day he's become a starter because of the time he had behind?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I think, I mean, there was so much to learn from Aaron and Aaron does so many things so well, but, you know, he had a front row seat to it. So he was able to just sit there, watch and learn. And I think a lot of quarterbacks, there's very few that come in this league and just dominate the way. I mean, Jayden Daniels did a hell of a job last year, but I mean, shoot, even Pat Mahomes sat for the majority of that first year. I think he had one start as a. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Last game because they already had playoffs seated.

[Mike McCarthy]

So I think a lot of guys get thrust into some bad situations and then they flame out and they just I don't think they ever get a chance to develop because it is a different game than the college game. And for him to have, and for us to have that luxury to kind of groom him at that pace, I think is paid dividends.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but you got to manage. Because he wants to play. I assume at some point, you know, he's first round draft pick, quarterback. So you got to manage that behind the scenes while also managing the older quarterback. I mean, listening to Mike McCarthy talk about, I couldn't even imagine, like, legitimately the amount of respect for that, handling that situation behind the scenes that I never even really thought about, couldn't even imagine as a young head coach. Ty has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Coach, I think, like all last year, I think you really came into your own as a play caller and like, we finally saw like, what you want to do. We were talking all year about, like, hey, it's time to give this guy his flowers. Okay? It's a little bit overdue because I think early on you dealt with all the bullshit of like, hey, well, Aaron's won two MVPs in a row. How much is it him? How much is it the coach? You look at your winning percentage and it's unbelievable. But how do you feel as a head coach this year as opposed to when you first got the job? Like, how, how much do you feel like you've matured and how confident are you in your abilities as a head coach now compared to when you first got the job?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, it was. When I first got hired, it was like drinking water out of a fire hose.

[Pat McAfee]

So Extreme Bay Packers.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of pressure. There's an expectation here, which is, it's a, that's a beautiful thing to come here. And you know, we're going to celebrate championships and that is the expectation. But. But it was a lot to take on. I think I leaned on a lot of our veteran players, you know, early on. And when you have a guy like Aaron, that's a luxury. And we had. It wasn't just him. I mean, we had a lot of great guys. But yeah, this transition's been interesting to go from a vet team to a younger team where you really, truly have to lead. And thankfully for me, I think we got a great staff around myself, I think one thing you learn as a head coach, although you might want to do it all, you can't do it all. So you better lean on the people around you and empower them. And we've got a lot of great people in this building. I think AJ can speak to that in terms of just how the organization values character. I think it is important because at the end of the day, you're dealing with people and you're dealing with a lot of people and they have to make a decision. Do they want to get on board with the vision and what you want to set out and accomplish or go their own way. And that's always a challenge in our sport. When you're dealing with a 90 man roster in the off season, you know, obviously 53 in the regular season, but you got a practice squad, there's equally a part of the team as anybody. And then, shoot. Now nowadays we got 25 coaches. So there's. There's just a lot of humans, you know, involved in this whole process. And then you talk about our scouting department, our equipment staff, our training staff. Everybody has to be going in the same direction.

[Pat McAfee]

It's hard to win the NFL. Yeah, it's hard to win the NFL. You have done a lot of that. Go ahead, A.J.

[AJ Hawk]

How do you feel as a play caller now compared to, I guess, maybe say five years ago? I say a lot, all the time on the show, like the offensive, whoever's calling the offensive plays has the ability to impact the game more than any coach on the staff, obviously, I think. But how do you feel now? Are you more comfortable? That's something I think that people don't understand how difficult that might be. Some coaches just look at their sheet and guessing, oh, third and medium, here we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

Let's do this. Like, how do you feel now compared to earlier?

[Mike McCarthy]

I feel a lot more comfortable. I think that first year in Tennessee, I'll never forget. You know, Mike Vrabel was always in my ear, hey, next play, next play, next play. But that was a good thing because you, you got to stay one step ahead. Otherwise you're going to get caught in some bad spots and make some bad calls. And I think there's. You can't waste plays in this league. Every play is so valuable, so critical. And if you make one bad play call, you're setting your team back. And there's very few possessions. So you got to maximize each and every opportunity.

[Pat McAfee]

I like watching you get emotional on the sideline. You think you're the best crowd fire upper.

[Mike McCarthy]

You know, I kind of stopped doing that.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty hated it.

[Mike McCarthy]

I got so mad I stopped doing it.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, why are they not welcome?

[Ty Schmidt]

And now I love it.

[Mike McCarthy]

You're welcome, Ty.

[Pat McAfee]

You know why Ty hated it?

[Mike McCarthy]

Just for you.

[Pat McAfee]

You know why Ty hated It Ty hated because Ty was basically like, this guy doesn't think we're already loud, but.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I think there's another level.

[Boston Connor]

Getting better.

[Mike McCarthy]

We're talking about expectations here. We have high expectations, so I think there's more in the tank.

[Ty Schmidt]

I respect that you're gonna hold me accountable just like I'm gonna hold you.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor has a question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Coach. You just brought up Mike Vrabel, and I'm Patriots fan. I'm pretty hyped up about the interview, if you couldn't tell.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

I'm just realizing now I got the hat absolute NFL draft mark. But what should, you know, Patriots fans expect from Mike Vrabel? Because there is this narrative out there, you know, Mike Vrabel, people kind of hype him up, and it's a lot more hype than it is reality because of his overall record and all that, that people kind of go into. But what can, you know, Patriots and New England fans expect from Mike Vral, the coach? Because obviously we know Mike Vrabel the player. Guys catching and, you know, touchdowns in the Super Bowl.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah. I mean, that's not the only thing he did, right?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah, he did a lot.

[Mike McCarthy]

Primarily a cigarette smoker.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. A beer drinker.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Roger Goodell]

Tobacco.

[Mike McCarthy]

That shocked me when I first met Mike. Darts down Broadway. So that is the truth.

[Pat McAfee]

He was doing that when he was playing. AJ Used to sell.

[Mike McCarthy]

That is impressive.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they. They.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's old school.

[Pat McAfee]

Way old, man. They used to tell stories about him in Ohio State. I guess he would literally be smoking on the fuel while they're warming up, and then he'd be winning. The gaskers dominating everybody.

[AJ Hawk]

Gassers every day, talking to all of us, telling us how we're soft.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

I will say this. You can expect every time you play a Mike Vrabel team, they're going to be tough as shit. So there's no doubt about that. I think he does a great job of holding everybody accountable. He's going to expect the most out of the guys that are getting paid the most. That's just the way it works. And. And he'll. He'll keep people on the edge of their seat for sure.

[Boston Connor]

Love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Go ahead, Tom.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, Coach. I don't know if you've looked at any of the quarterbacks in the draft at all or why you would. But, you know, one of the things like Camward, everything was great except for people were saying it as a negative. He's got a little bit of gunslinger in him. Jordan Love, I feel like, is the Same way he's got a little bit of old school gunslinger in there. Do you think that is a positive or negative? Would you rather like them make throws that they think they can make and be like, hey, maybe don't do that. Would you rather have a guy who like, you know, is going to hit 1, 2, 3, go here, go there, or do you think the gunslinger thing is a positive?

[Mike McCarthy]

I think it can be a positive. I think you got to harness it. And you know, I always tell Jordan because Jordan wants to throw it down the field, which I appreciate, and I said you got to earn the right to throw it down the field. So you got to make the easy ones and take the ones that are there. But. But it's crazy how this league has evolved and you're seeing a lot more soft shell, two safety defenses. That's why we leaned a little bit more with the running game and try to stay ahead of the sticks and be in those favorable situations. But I kind of like that mentality because I'm not coaching that.

[Roger Goodell]

Correct.

[Mike McCarthy]

And so there's going to be plays made that we're not necessarily coaching. It's just you got to try to be calculated with those risks. I think Cam, I think Cam Ward has what it takes to be a real quarterback in this league. I mean, he's a natural thrower. I think he's fearless in the pocket. He can he make the off schedule plays and so it'll be interesting to see how, you know, he performs.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, let's talk about everybody seemingly took the trenches last night, which is why Golden, I think, got to you guys. There was a run on tackles, there's a run on defensive linemen. You see what the Philadelphia Eagles said. You talked about the two shell there. Do you feel like it's coming back as a play caller to a run more run heavy league like the Eagles, I think ran it 200 more times than they threw the ball last year. First time that type of separation has happened in a long time in the NFL. Do you feel like because of the two shell is the reason why this is happening or do you think it's because the player type that is coming into.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I think it's all the above. There's so many variables as you know, that go into this game. And I think when you look at how they're built, they got one of the best offensive lines in the league. And then wouldn't you want to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley as well? Yeah, he's pretty dynamic when, when you Give him the ball. So, yeah, I think it's. It's all those variables come into play.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about the NFC North. Wow, what a division. All of a sudden. Vikings, Lions, playing for the number one seed in the nfc. The second loser of that game goes to the five seed. Almost changed the rule, I think, almost changed the rule on the playoff seeding because of it. With everything that's happening in the NFC north, what does that do for you, Daley? And how do you feel about that? Because Ty, he refused to admit that the NFC north was anybody other than the packers until, like, last year. Maybe still won't. Lions are a real deal up there, brother.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, let's see him do it for more than three years.

[Pat McAfee]

Chicago Bears fair deal all of a sudden.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, every year, the Chicago Bears are the real deal.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you're talking about Kevin O'Connell. Kevin O'Connell. He could throw with the past or not if he has to.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm not worried about Vikings.

[Pat McAfee]

That's how he thinks. Now, in the building, though, division's most important thing.

[Mike McCarthy]

You. Absolutely. That's where it starts. That's the starting point, because that guarantees you a home playoff game. And we all know how hard it is to come into, especially here in January and win football games. So, yeah, we got a great division. You can't discredit what the teams have done. And I think Chicago's done a nice job of adding to their roster, and you get a. A good football coach as, as he said himself and Ben Johnson. But no, I do respect Ben. You can't.

[Pat McAfee]

He's.

[Mike McCarthy]

He's one of the best play callers in the game.

[Pat McAfee]

I like, I like, I like talking there. I like that rivalry still existing, too. Ty, is another question for you, coach.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Roger Goodell]

How.

[Ty Schmidt]

What's it like now, as a Packers fan, you know, in terms of, like, the defense? It seems like that's what it was every year. You know, we watch these playoff games and the offense is scoring 45 points, but then it's still like, last possession. Here we go. Somehow, you know, the defense is out there and they need to stop to win the game. But what Jeff Halfley did last year, like, it seems like the packers all of a sudden now have one of the best defenses in the NFL to go along with the offense. How much does that make you sleep easier at night knowing, like, hey, I think we got the guy calling the defense for one. And then some of the young guys that you brought in last year, some of the young guys who are starting to kind of, you know, make a name for themselves. Like how.

[Pat McAfee]

What.

[Ty Schmidt]

What does that do for the team whose identity for the longest time has been, hey, this is like, you know, we have a hall of fame quarterback and the offense is going to be what wins this football game.

[Mike McCarthy]

It definitely makes me sleep easier, but you can never get complacent in that, in that mindset. I think that the one thing I love about Half is he came and went in with a certain vision, a certain style, and we totally morphed and evolved. We were going to be an over front, you know, rush four, play a lot of three deep, and that certainly wasn't that where we got into multiple different fronts. You know, I thought our defense kind of held it together for us in that game versus Philly. Unfortunately, we had a bad special teams miscue to start the game, and then offensively, we just couldn't get anything going. And when you turn the ball over four times in a game against a team of that caliber, I mean, you see the end result. So I think Half does a great job. He loves ball. He's got a great vision. He understands how to use players and put them. And I think that's our job as coaches, is ultimately how do we put whatever player and play to their strengths and do it collectively. Among all 11, you know, you got guys, some young guys you mentioned, like Edron Cooper. I thought just to see his evolution. He is a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Dog.

[Mike McCarthy]

He is a dog. So it was fun to watch him, the progression that he made because early on in the season he was hardly playing for us. And then you go to the end of the season and I mean, he was playing as good as anybody out there. And you got. We added guys like Xavier McKinney and we got a lot of young guys that I think are going to take that next step, like an Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, you know, Lucas Van Ness. I think, you know, our front alone, guys like rg, he's far from a finished product. But I think I'm really excited about what we have in store. A guy like Quay Walker, you know, I think he's still scratching the surface, so I'm optimistic about our defense for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

What did Salah do here last year whenever he stopped by after getting kicked out of New York like everybody else?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if you heard the story. He got kicked out of there.

[Mike McCarthy]

I think my brother got kicked out of there too.

[Pat McAfee]

So everybody, everybody got kicked out of it. What did Salah do last year and how nice was it to have him back around. And how pumped are you for him to potentially get his joy back in football with the Miners?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, we just hung out, you know, I'll tell you what it was. It was great. Obviously, we've got a long relationship. We were roommates as gas at Central Michigan University and got a lot of war stories from back in the day.

[Pat McAfee]

I could imagine. Yeah. Especially with that good of a haircut and the way Salah looks.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I didn't look.

[Roger Goodell]

I didn't.

[Mike McCarthy]

I didn't look as good back then.

[Pat McAfee]

Didn't have the barber every day. I get it. Yeah, I get it.

[Mike McCarthy]

But my wife who's here, she. She. I guess I looked good enough for her, but.

[Pat McAfee]

Thanks, Mama. Oh, yeah, thanks, Mama. Solid. Just had eight kids. His eighth kid.

[Mike McCarthy]

Eight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's why.

[Mike McCarthy]

And then he goes with Junior at number eight. I guess he ran out of names, so that's. That's a wild one. But just to have him around, I mean, he had great insight. You know, just sitting in that seat can be lonely at times, but he had great insight. And we implemented a lot of things that he would. He would do in New York. And I thought it made a difference for our team. Just showing the progression. I think it's so important to show these players the importance of everything we do, from taking a walkthrough rep and how it transfers to individual and how it goes from individual to team and then ultimately how it shows up in the game. And we did a lot of that stuff and just trying to build our players up, especially, you know, we've. We've had some young players two years in a row, the youngest team in the league. So I think we're there. We're constantly trying to show them the importance of everything they do because. Sound like we're in there a long time. I try to. I try to be efficient with our schedule and try to get guys in and out. You know, hey, we got some yinzers on the stack.

[Pat McAfee]

Kind of nailed that, actually, to be honest. Good attempt at that whole thing.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, we try to be efficient and, you know, maximize our time.

[Pat McAfee]

You. You move it on from the D.C. big decision. Like, that's a big decision for anybody to have to make, especially in Green Bay. He assumed it was never going to happen just because that's kind of what happens with Green Bay. Then you bring in Salah. Then your defense shows so much improvement. I love the moves you're making, brother. In between the fades on either side of your head there, there's a good brain going now. There was something you guys were petitioning against that a lot of people, you know, were kind of. It was literally 50. 50. Go ahead.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, Coach, in about half an hour, we're having Commissioner Roger Goodell on the show. And nobody hates the tush push more than you guys. Is there anything you want us to tell Commissioner Roger.

[Pat McAfee]

Good.

[Roger Goodell]

To argue your point on banning it?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I think he's on our side. I don't know.

[Curtis Martin]

We'll see.

[Mike McCarthy]

But, you know, it's. It's more of a rugby scrum, but, you know, whatever. Whatever the league decides, we'll adjust to. How about that?

[Roger Goodell]

Good answer.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, with Jordan Love, too, with how big and strong he is, I don't think you guys are against, like, quarterback sneaks. Right? We're just the.

[Mike McCarthy]

We actually use Tucker Kraft quite a bit. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Whenever he gets in, motions in.

[Mike McCarthy]

Look sweet, like tuck his lobby into. Throw some passes. This year.

[Roger Goodell]

I'd love.

[Pat McAfee]

I think he's earned it. Don't you think he's earned it?

[AJ Hawk]

Do the Tebow, the fake. You know, fake run the red.

[Mike McCarthy]

I meant to talk to you about this. So Rich Bachi, I just saw him. He brought up J.K. scott. Well, when you were playing in Dallas, I believe you brought a corner cat.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

And he threw to your flyer. Threw a great ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Mike McCarthy]

Guy dropped it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Right, right.

[Mike McCarthy]

And then he said you were palms up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, that was. That was a check with me, too. That was first. First drive. First series, we lost a yard, and I think I was back when touchbacks were at the 20. So it was fourth and 11 on our own 19, first drive.

[Mike McCarthy]

Good. You got that Sean McVeigh memory right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, let me tell you why. So Orlando Scandreck, I believe, was the corner. He comes hot. As soon as I see that, we immediately check to zebra. Okay. I'm throwing this thing. Had the green light. We practiced it 80 times. Probably no problem at all. I was so pumped. Got that thing. I don't think I had laces either. Nobody's talking about it. Quick out. Boom. I do draw. I do put it on him. I mean, I do put it on him. Hit him in the chest. He drops it. They would go on to score. On that next play, first person 10 from the 19 going in. And then I think they scored 50 unanswered against us, so. Yeah, I'll never forget that.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, he definitely mentioned that they kicked your ass.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. And it was potentially because of that play, which Chuck Pagano canceled on Monday meeting. Yeah. I don't Care if he's wide open, we're never throwing the ball again. I'm like, chuck, people drop the ball all the time. He goes, not on fourth down.

[Mike McCarthy]

Okay, so process over results.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what I was saying. I went into his office, I gave him a full speech. I'm like, so we're just gonna. Are we gonna stop throwing the ball to this guy? Cause he dropped it. He's like, no, that's first down. Second down though. We still have an out. This is fourth down. You gave him the ball in the 19. I'm like, I didn't. Weed was a team thing, but yeah, that was. Bisach is a dog. What a great addition to your staff.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, he's, he's. He is old school and I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Kick returns, though. You guys started having returns for like the first time, long time. Whenever Versace got there, right field position really became like, absolutely an asset.

[Mike McCarthy]

He does a great job.

[Pat McAfee]

He's.

[Mike McCarthy]

He's old school. He coaches him hard, but he loves them up. That's the same time. So I think a lot of everybody respects him.

[Pat McAfee]

AJ has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

What's it like? Do you have like a message to the team every offseason now with off season programs just started, do you have a thing, do you think up over the winter, like, oh, this is how I'm really get my point across of these guys? I know coaches are always trying to find creative ways to get guys engaged and I guess to buy into whatever the vision is.

[Mike McCarthy]

Some years I just think every year is a little bit different.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

How do you make it not corny and cheesy?

[Roger Goodell]

He likes to start with the clothing on it.

[Pat McAfee]

That's exactly why we're super anti motivational speeches here.

[Mike McCarthy]

If I feel like it's corny, we're not doing it. And I'm sure I am corny.

[Pat McAfee]

You have to coach.

[Mike McCarthy]

I got to give the guys something to, you know, joke around and, and create some bonding in the locked room.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Coach really? Yeah, Coach really selling that shit today.

[AJ Hawk]

I can really bring a team together. Bring a team together to talk about how the garbage a coach might be spewing to you. I'm not saying garbage. Every once in a while, a coach comes up with something. A T shirt that says something.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but you're talking to adults. You just talked about having the youngest team in the NFL the last two years. Like, obviously you have to give guidance. You have to do the coach speak and everything like that. But it's also grown ass men too. Like It's a tough. The room is a tough room to have to speak to. Do you. How do you pull inspiration from what you're gonna say? I know Chuck does a lot of. Chuck did a lot of reading, and Chuck did a lot of, like, searching and things like that. How do you find inspo for what you're gonna.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I would say that I'm definitely in tune and read a lot of different books. Matter of fact, I just found out AJ's brother was. Wrote one of the books that I'm reading right now.

[Roger Goodell]

Ryan Hawk.

[Pat McAfee]

You're reading a Ryan Hawke book right now? Holy packers of the super bowl, no questions asked.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, there was. There was a part about him in there, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I should have put two. Two together. I can't believe I did. We talked about it yesterday, so it's a. It's a great book, but we're always trying to. I'm always trying to find different things, whether it's things on social media and that's relevant to our players. What. Maybe it might be the NBA. I mean, you can never go wrong with guys like Kobe Bryant. I mean, everybody can respect what he was able to accomplish and Michael Jordan. So use a lot of basketball references. And, you know, our staff does a good job of when they see something. Bringing it up.

[Pat McAfee]

How much do you sell? This is the Green Bay packers because we can feel it. We were driving around yesterday. I stayed. I stayed in an Airbnb here in one of the tailgate houses, I guess is what they are described as, where these houses just get flipped into setups for everybody to have a good time. They just shoved beds in there like, I was sleeping in the basement of this house. Had four beds randomly placed, two showers in the whole house. Garage was set up nice, but then there was just cars parked in front yards from where the house was all the way to the stadium. The place was alive. How much do you tell the team about how special it is to be a Green Bay Packer and how special this place is? Because we have felt it. I mean, he got his ass booed last night.

[Mike McCarthy]

As a Patriots fan, that's surprising. Usually our fans are a little too welcoming.

[Pat McAfee]

No, they're not. That's why he's. That's why he's doing this one.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. A little bit too much hospitality out here. Let's make a little bit of noise. But how much are you explaining how special of a place Green Bay and the Green Bay packers are?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, this is one on one I mean, it just. I've been, I think, five other organizations, and there's nothing like this place. And I think it starts just with our structure, you know, not having an owner or having thousands. I was gonna say thousands of owners. I'm an owner, too, so. Touche. Sometimes I boo myself, but I'm writing.

[Pat McAfee]

An email as owner now. Coach, the hell's going. That's awesome.

[Mike McCarthy]

The hell were you thinking out there? But no, what a great place. I mean, we're in a neighborhood, and here, this. This crown jewel sits in Lambeau Field. And there's not too many places like this. And I think AJ can attest to that. And you probably could, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, we all can.

[Mike McCarthy]

How many times you play in Lambeau?

[Pat McAfee]

Three. You remember it? Yeah. One was preseason. Two were actual. We took an opening kickoff back to the house one. One time in here, preseason, we lost, I think, by 75 points. And the place stayed. The place stayed packed for all four quarters. And then I called my first ever game here. Lions. Packers.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And Lot. Aaron got a concussion.

[Ty Schmidt]

I like the first play.

[Boston Connor]

Prater.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Prater threw a touchdown in the corner, but the place was. You guys are getting blown out. Place was packed the entire time. And then the way it's described is like, obviously, everybody here is a Packers fan, but packers fans just fly in for the week, and it's, like, set up perfect. This whole Lambeau title town, bars, restaurants. It's like. It's a perfect. It's a football movie. It feels like we're in a football movie whenever you're here.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I coached at Notre Dame for one year, and it's the closest feeling I have to anything in college in a place like Notre Dame.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty has the last question for you here, Coach.

[Ty Schmidt]

You mentioned, you know, the team being the youngest team in the NFL for two years in a row. And I think a lot of fans were saying, like, okay, like a veteran receiver. You know, anytime, like, a guy like Cooper cup becomes available, fans go crazy. And it's like, oh, hey, they bring him in, he can bring the receiver room along. But we hear a lot around the league of, like, teams having guys show up late, miss stuff, you know, just like. And you don't hear any of that stuff with you guys with the packers, like, it hasn't been like that for the longest time. Did you feel like, while we are young, like, these guys are maturing enough that it isn't like we gotta panic, we gotta bring in a bunch of vets to kind of bring these guys along? Like, does it feel like with what you've added in this off season and then in the draft, like, hey, we're ready to go win a Super bowl next year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

I actually love that we're a young team because I feel like we got a lot of guys that have a lot to prove and there's some non negotiables in regards to people showing up late to the building. Like, you're going to get fined and it's not me finding you. I don't want these guys money. But you're finding yourself. So I just think there's some standards that you have to have in place, and I think most good teams have those standards in place and certainly we're not going to deviate from what is expected. Expected.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you, it's nice to hear for you guys. We're hearing stories from other places. I'm sure you are as well. I don't want to say about this modern athlete because it's obviously not happening everywhere, but there are buildings right now that are just like. I mean, openly admitting.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, free fire.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Guys can't. How many times you want me tell guys to be on time to team meetings? It's like guys are just showing up late to team meetings all the time. It's only so many times we can tell guys not to miss treatment. It's like professional athletes are missing treatment on a regular basis.

[Mike McCarthy]

You just find them and you keep it moving. And if it becomes too much of a problem, at some point, you got to get rid of them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but they're. McDaniel came out. McDaniel came out in his press conference and said, I can find him as much as I want. If guys don't show up, I don't know what to do. And it's like, I can't believe this is happening in an NFL building. Like, because being late to a team meeting. And I was punter, scariest thing to.

[AJ Hawk]

Think about as a player.

[Pat McAfee]

So, I mean, you're like scared to death of accidentally potentially missing an alarm and just walking in there. Like nowadays, does it feel different? You've been around a long time. You look very young, but you obviously been around a long time.

[Mike McCarthy]

I appreciate these compliments, pat.

[Pat McAfee]

You do.

[Mike McCarthy]

45 years old, but dang, it's unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially with the stress of your job. I have no idea how you got a good. You got to go moisturizer routine. You have to. Yeah, you papa too.

[Roger Goodell]

Skincare routine.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, gotta be.

[Pat McAfee]

You use a Papatouille. You use Papatouille. Don't you.

[Mike McCarthy]

What is that?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, don't play.

[Mike McCarthy]

I don't know what that is.

[Pat McAfee]

It's Dwayne Rock Johnson's facial routine. I've been trying and I have not become a Samoan yet. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. But the conversation about the modern athlete because the nil, yada, yada yada. It's just a different level of entitlement, potentially accountability or that lack thereof. Have you experienced that? Obviously not with the guys that you have here.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I will say that. And I talked about character earlier. Our organization. Goody does a great job. Him and his staff do an unbelievable job of getting guys that are in our building that have high football character where it's important to them. And I think in order to get the most out of anybody, it's got to be a priority to them. They got to love the game. They got to have a good head on their shoulders. And that is a priority for us. So I don't feel like we get as many problems here. And plus, look around. There's outside of this place a whole lot to do. Not a lot going on.

[Pat McAfee]

I ate a 15. A 15 year age cheese last night. Felt like that was a big celebration. Yeah. OG's is packed out. Bucky's is that place called. But what was it called by your guys's comfort in barbecue and pizza?

[Roger Goodell]

Bucky's is the gas station.

[Ty Schmidt]

Porter John's.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, something like that.

[Mike McCarthy]

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great establishments, but we don't have a lot of clubs. And, and well, we've heard.

[Pat McAfee]

We've heard about the Oval Office coach. Yeah. You don't know about that.

[Roger Goodell]

AJ lived there.

[Pat McAfee]

And I said last question like four questions.

[Curtis Martin]

Been there.

[AJ Hawk]

I actually have not. I've mentioned it many times. One of my two brothers has been there.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe the author. Yeah, maybe might have had some inspo in that book from the Oval Office. I said last question like four questions ago, but Connor has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

You said Green Bay has everybody, everything. And I. And I would agree, but one thing we learned last year is that they don't have long enough runways to travel long distances. That's when you guys were going down to Brazil. Allegedly. That was a thing. And that was obviously the first game of the year now, you know, coming up. I. I assume you don't know. I assume it gets announced soon. Steelers, packers in Ireland.

[Roger Goodell]

We go in Ireland.

[Boston Connor]

Most likely.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw you talking to Big Cat. Pft.

[Mike McCarthy]

I don't believe so, but who knows? I think everybody's waiting on what Aaron's going to do.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Boston Connor]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw you talking to Big Cat and BFT about the bft. Like you're still waiting around on Aaron's decision. Because if Aaron goes to Pittsburgh, you would assume. Yes, Pittsburgh, Green Bay. Okay. And that's. That was kind of the assumption, I think is what's being chatted about. I don't know if that's what get down.

[Mike McCarthy]

I'm not privy to those conversations, nor do I want to be involved, to be honest.

[Pat McAfee]

So did Aaron ask you if he should go to Pittsburgh or.

[Mike McCarthy]

He did not.

[Pat McAfee]

I did not know. Okay. Coach, we appreciate the hell out of you stopping by. I think Green Bay did a great job last night. I don't know.

[Mike McCarthy]

Tonight we need the fans to come out. We need to double down on last night. It is going to clear up, but we need the fans because that atmosphere was electric. I thought. I thought Mark Murphy did an unbelievable job.

[Roger Goodell]

Great speech.

[Mike McCarthy]

Great job. So I think we're really proud of the product that we can put on here. And the NFL should be proud as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely. If they fill this place up here tonight with the way this even happens right now. Yeah, if it is.

[Mike McCarthy]

What else are you gonna do, man? Well, that's get a couple beers and come out and enjoy the Cards couple game.

[Roger Goodell]

There's gonna be so many hunting jackets out here tonight.

[Mike McCarthy]

A lot of camel.

[Boston Connor]

A lot of camera do in this town. No, I'm just not.

[Pat McAfee]

Nothing to do. It's passion football.

[Boston Connor]

You can't play pool somewhere and watch it. I don't know. That's just.

[Pat McAfee]

It is a misty cold. It's.

[Mike McCarthy]

It's going to get better. You got to layer up.

[Pat McAfee]

How have you not gained 75 pounds with the food out here? Legit.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

A lot of discipline.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why I could tell by the haircut. Goody also has good hair.

[Roger Goodell]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Remember he popped up first time we seen him, we're like, damn. Did not know Goody had it like that. We've been burying him for two years. He's a good guy.

[Mike McCarthy]

He's a great guy. I think he does a great job. He works at it as hard as anybody. I've been around in that position and he's got a great staff around him. And so I think I'm really happy with our scouting department.

[Pat McAfee]

We appreciate the hell out of you. Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Green bay Packers, Matt LaFlou.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah, coach.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you so much for Stopping by. Yeah. Prejacked. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, coach. Thanks. I am prejacked. Thanks. Yeah, I've been working on it.

[Roger Goodell]

Thanks, Coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Appreciate you been working on it. See you, too.

[AJ Hawk]

We'll try.

[Pat McAfee]

Set.

[Boston Connor]

All right, Coach.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if you saw it. Sorry about it, Coach. I don't know if you saw that. Yeah, not just the front, coach. Thanks. Appreciate you, man.

[Roger Goodell]

Thanks. Family.

[Pat McAfee]

See you, family. Yeah, see you, family. Thank you for coming by.

[Boston Connor]

Family.

[Roger Goodell]

Family.

[Boston Connor]

I saw AJ's boy size up La Flor's boys.

[Pat McAfee]

No offense to the floor. I'm picking the Hawk kid every single time. I'll tell you what he needs work on his ball security, though. AJ, he does 10 does.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, man.

[Pat McAfee]

How old he. How old's he?

[AJ Hawk]

He's 12 years old. Getting the ball. Yeah. Slapped out of his hand every time.

[Roger Goodell]

Multiple times.

[Pat McAfee]

I brought.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, we got two footballs. We got a vortex football here we've been throwing around.

[Roger Goodell]

You should be like in. Oh, no, I was gonna say tape the ball to his hands. Just punch it out.

[Pat McAfee]

Or tape him to.

[AJ Hawk]

He might do that next.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what Tim McAfee did. Tim McAfee taped me to a fence.

[AJ Hawk]

For how long?

[Pat McAfee]

Couple days, I think.

[AJ Hawk]

What did you throw rocks at you?

[Pat McAfee]

What.

[AJ Hawk]

What do you.

[Pat McAfee]

No. So when I was a boy playing soccer, I guess I don't remember this, obviously, but I. Maybe eight years old, nine years old. I forget the exact age. Some kid hit me with a faint, like a fake kick, and I did a full. I was probably playing up like four years, too, if I had to guess. And I did like a. Huh. One of those. Well, not. That's not happening again. So Tim actually asked me, what's the worst that gonna happen? I'm like, ball's gonna hurt. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Break my nose, take me to a.

[Pat McAfee]

Fence, threw some soccer balls at me.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it was a pretty good day.

[AJ Hawk]

Did it keep you from flinching again legitimately?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I was at that moment, going forward, I was born in the dark. I was absolutely ready for it. I was Pittsburgh dead, so. Exactly. So I'd like to let you know if you want me to tape that kid up, throw some footballs at him and make sure he's got it. I will certainly do that as a sign of passing on the baton here, but he's got size 20 shoes. That kid might be seven foot tall. How old is he again?

[Roger Goodell]

12.

[AJ Hawk]

12. But, you know, he's in the sixth grade, so he's like all legs and feet. He's Like a giraffe growing into his body right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But we need to understand what's coming. He is going to be very. I've heard he's got a good. Right.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Football. Football, basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

All he wants to do is. He loves the ball, needs to hold on to it.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's hold on.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, I forefinger.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Right. As soon as I told him when he.

[AJ Hawk]

A couple times he was throwing the ball in the air to himself, catching it and people were knocking it out and saying, I got it. I said, you can kick them in the balls next time when I'm just throwing the ball in the air. That's not what. That's not a ball.

[Pat McAfee]

No, it's when you're holding ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're walking around. Who did that? Who did that?

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know. A couple people did.

[Pat McAfee]

Who? Not ball guys. No. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm not sure I did it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Big Mike.

[AJ Hawk]

Big Mike. Not Big Mike.

[Boston Connor]

Now Graham Harrell. Yeah, he's a joke.

[AJ Hawk]

Graham Harold.

[Roger Goodell]

Probably Brucer.

[AJ Hawk]

Nah, I don't know. But you're right. Ball security is. Is, you know.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope it's held in high regards. Absolutely.

[AJ Hawk]

Always is. No question.

[Pat McAfee]

It's been great to hang out with you, buddy. Last night he's passed out on the couch and we're having a wrap up. AJ wakes him up, he's still half asleep. AJ's like, we gotta leave. He's like.

[AJ Hawk]

He turns into a zombie.

[Pat McAfee]

He said, I'm not going anywhere.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I was like, this kid's awesome. I was like, buddy, you can stay here if you want, I guess. And AJ's like, get your ass up. He literally did. Yeah. You've been awesome, Hendricks. Yeah. Your ball security needs to be better though. For sure. Coach Mike McCarthy was awesome last night.

[Roger Goodell]

Yes, he was.

[Pat McAfee]

Draft was awesome last night. Roger Goodell will be in. The next hour is going to be great. We have a couple minutes here. We need to talk about what happened in basketball last night. Oklahoma City was down 29 at halftime and ended up coming back and win. Biggest comeback in playoff history. There's a lot of NBA stuff that was like majestic last night. Nuggets got their asses beat. I mean, what happened in the NBA last night in the playoffs?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Thunder 30 lead now. I guess. John Morant took a nifty fall, hurt his hip. He went out and then the thunder kind of came roaring back. Tough one for the Grizzlies. John Morant's hurt. It's kind of all she wrote there it is yeah, that looks vicious when you can jump, you know, 20ft in the air like John Moran can. That's going to happen sometimes, especially when bodies are getting thrown around in the playoffs. But that was a, yeah, tough go for the Grizzlies. Thunder 3.

[Pat McAfee]

0.

[Boston Connor]

That you can kind of put a bow on that series. That one's about done. You mentioned it. The Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, they are really kind of hitting their stride. They take a 21 lead. Jokic, I believe he had 23, 13 and 13, another triple double. Unbelievable. Still. But the. The Clippers are kind of spreading the ball around, too. I think they had four guys with 20 points, three guys with 21 with 19 with Zubak, but. But they are fantastic right now. Harden, Kawhi Harden, Kawhi Norman, Powell and Zubok in the middle. Obviously he's gotta defend Jokic, but then he's still getting it done on offense.

[Pat McAfee]

The.

[Boston Connor]

The Clippers are a team that's kind of scaring people, I'd say, because you talk about The Thunder being up 30 and Clippers nuggets, by no means is it done whatsoever.

[Pat McAfee]

But that game was at the ends with Dome too.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That is a. The wall. That is a advantage.

[Boston Connor]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

I think as they continue to go. I was watching highlights and I've obviously been in that building. Built for noise.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Debuted the playoff wall last night, which was. This is their first playoff game. I believe in this arena and you just like that environment. If a team like Oklahoma City were to come in, you know, they're a young team, this would be a much different environment than what they're dealing with in Memphis. And then also look around the Clippers, they got a ton of experience like the Thunder, they're kind of the inexperienced young team, next one up. But if they were to play the Clippers in the next round, which if the Clippers get it done, that's who the matchup would be. It's like, hey, they got Kawhi Leonard, who's been there. They got James Harden, who's played in the conference finals. Like the Thunder don't have that experience. And we've seen that in previous years. Be a massive thing going down the stretch, especially with kind of those younger teams. The Celtics had to deal with it. They couldn't get it done until they got to the Finals. But the NBA draft, excuse me, the NBA playoffs are absolutely rolling right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, love that. The NBA is happening. The NHL also happening. We'll cover that in the next hour and then we'll Have Commissioner Roger Goodell joining us live here in person.

[Diamond Dustin Poirier]

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[Pat McAfee]

Race the rudders. Race the sails.

[Boston Connor]

Race the sails.

[Mike McCarthy]

Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.

[Roger Goodell]

Over.

[Pat McAfee]

Roger, wait.

[Boston Connor]

Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Pat McAfee]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the.

[Mike McCarthy]

Right people by industry, job title and more.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. NFL Draft is what we are currently celebrating here in a parking lot outside of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Last night, 205,000 people were here to watch 32 Dreams Come True. The environment was electrifying. The weather was spectacular and superb. And I believe that most teams, if not all teams, made the right selections last night. Now, there are certainly some great players still available for round two, which will kick off tonight. They've already started turning on the music here, hoping the fans will start to file in like they did yesterday, 11 hours before the draft kicked off. The weather is much different today than it was yesterday. We'll be excited to see what the turnout is here tonight to celebrate more dreams coming true, more NFL franchises getting better, and more football conversation and chatter. We'll continue that this hour with Roger Goodell joining us in a matter of about 10 minutes or so. The talks and tables here at Boston. Connor and at Ty Schmidt, con man. Wonderful time out here. Weather a little different and that Plexiglas might fall on your head.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, yeah, that'll be okay. I'm expecting a hefty, hefty check from ESPN or whatever if that does happen. But no, it is a little different today. I still think the people at Green Bay are going to show up, you know, after yesterday and seeing how many people made the trip, because I assume it's not just Green Bay people. You know, you saw a lot of jerseys out there last night, but yeah, it's such a great environment. And we mentioned how many more picks there are and dudes still left on the board. It's going to be a great second and third round.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty make good appearance by Mad Mel Kuiper last night. How do you feel? Maybe getting a haircut?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I cannot wait to get a haircut. Have been growing this out since like December, so it's time. Four months at this point. I mean, I still, I can't get the hairspray out of my hair. Used quite a bit last night. I just, I'm ready for it to go. I mean, obviously I love doing it. Love doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

The hair.

[Ty Schmidt]

As, as we, as we get into these late months here especially, you know, because it's not just that, you know, you go places, you look in the mirror, it's like, oh, I look like an asshole and I kind of just got to eat it. Well, only got so many hats you can wear.

[Pat McAfee]

Love that you're a method actor.

[Ty Schmidt]

You got to be, you know, I mean, what are we doing this for? You know, it's once a year.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to one half of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Tone, I'll tell you what, you and Shriggs last night in the draft cave absolutely crushed it. The addition of Shriggs on our show was outrageous. And I said this at the beginning of the show. I saw some rats say it on the Internet. The fact that Shregs was available for our particular program and not on any other show.

[Roger Goodell]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Was wild. A travesty. But we were certainly thankful for it. You and he killed it down in the draft cave.

[Roger Goodell]

Thank you. I appreciate it. It was awesome. Like being next to Streggs and how happy he would get when one of his mock draft picks were right to where he thought it would be was. Was awesome. And then you watch Shregs, he started in a three piece suit, okay. Jacket came off, vest came unbuttoned, shirt came untucked leg was up underneath by the night. It was awesome. He was texting guys all night long. GMs, whatever in the league. He knew like, he knew when those trades were coming like, and he would whisper it to me or whatever. And I was like, he was, he was so dialed in. He knows every gm, every single pick we had. He had a story about a GM or coach that he talked to a few days before about the player. Shregs was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

I enjoyed the hell out of last night's draft spectacular. It was four hours plus still, which it didn't feel like it. The crowd kept it alive with the sing alongs and their energy and I think the picks. I don't think any of us knew what was going to happen and we didn't tip any picks AJ which we're not going to get enough credit for, but I'm certainly going to tell Roger Goodell that we didn't do. But also it felt like the Internet wasn't doing it as much last night as well almost made. I think it made the draft better to be honest.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, did. I guess I didn't know what to expect coming into this draft. I didn't expect the, the in person environment to be as electric and amazing as it was. Whoever's like the pacing of the draft felt like they kept it moving. The music that was in here, like, yeah, there's a whole, there's like a science behind keeping everyone engaged and keeping everything going on track. It was, it was really impressive.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I, I enjoy it and I think you mentioned it earlier tone felt like they were making picks quicker.

[Roger Goodell]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

It was in you know, four hours. Still a long for sure. But it did feel like we weren't waiting the entire clock for everybody. It felt like it was like proper properly timed. I wonder if the NFL understood like okay, we can maybe get ahead of the tipping of the picks if we actually just do this whenever the picks are kind of made as opposed to trying to drag it out. I think last night was a enjoyable experience for the people that were here. 205,000 people staying in a parking lot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Watching dreams come true. If I was to just rate. I think people had a blast last night. Like I think last night was a great party. I think it was a great spectacle. I think it was a great show. I think the NFL should be very proud about what happened.

[Roger Goodell]

The crowd was having a great time. Also the DJ playing all the perfect sing along songs did not hurt at all. But we had Jon Schneider on Seahawks general manager and he you asked him a question like, hey, is there a lot of calls going on right now? And he said, no, there's not a lot of calls going on right now. Everyone's kind of going by their board. So I think that's. That might be the reason why it went so quickly, because when you get the trades and you got people waiting till the 9th minute to put the. Put their pick in because they're trying to listen for calls, that's when it gets real long.

[Pat McAfee]

Also, a lot of good players available, I assume. I assume that is what, like, a lot of teams. Like, I can't believe I. I know the Colts are probably like, we can't believe. Tyler Warren. No doubt. Matthew golden for the Green Bay Packers. I assume there's a lot of teams that are like, we can't believe this person is available. And it was a nice, smooth roll through the evening. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Even, like, at. Towards the end of the draft, like, the Eagles went up to one spot just to get Jihad Campbell and then some of those other guys that just fell down the board to some teams, it was perfect. And it felt like those first 17 picks, especially, were done in an hour and a half. Like, it was one of those things where you look at the clock. We're on, I think Seattle or even Cincinnati, and we were like an hour and a half in. And then maybe that second half lasted a little longer because some of those teams were trying to trade out towards the end there, especially, you know, like, the Texans. But even those trades seem to kind of go by pretty fast, and everyone is happy. You know, I feel like last year maybe there were a few teams that especially, you know, Atlanta, where it was like, what the hell happened? What's going on here? But everyone seemed to get the player they wanted and the need that they had.

[Pat McAfee]

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the man who announced all 32 picks last night rode a bike.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And also, I think the man that is potentially, like, we can make this a great show, which is exactly what it was. The commissioner of the NFL, ladies and gentlemen, Roger. Good times. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Right?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, okay. I appreciate you bringing some warm food.

[Ty Schmidt]

Look at that.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you so much. Hey, we got something for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You look a little thin right now. I don't know if you're still doing this.

[AJ Hawk]

He's in good shape.

[Pat McAfee]

What's up?

[Boston Connor]

Commish Commission. Good to see you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You look jacked.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Holy hell.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. These are for you.

[Boston Connor]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Remember, have them how? I don't want to. I don't Want to put you immediately on the spot here, but here, I'll put this wire behind you. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Right shoulder.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Wrapping around. There you go. Not your first rodeo.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, you know, professional.

[Boston Connor]

There you go.

[Dustin Poirier]

There we go.

[Boston Connor]

There it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Command.

[Boston Connor]

Shay.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't put you on blast, like, immediately. How old are you?

[Dustin Poirier]

66.

[Pat McAfee]

You look unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

Unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

You look absolutely unbelievable.

[Dustin Poirier]

Does that also mean I'm old?

[Pat McAfee]

I guess that is kind of a. Yeah. Anytime you precursor with that, I guess it is saying that, but you do look absolutely unbelievable. And I would like to say, as a person that hasn't been on a bicycle in a very long time, you riding that thing on a stage. I think we got some. McCarthy sent me some footage of you practicing from a couple days beforehand. Look at him stick out his left leg here. Just like super comfortable.

[Ty Schmidt]

Veteran move.

[Pat McAfee]

Have you been training for this? And also, at what point did you realize that because of the Green Bay packers training camp tradition of riding a bicycle with kids, it would be a good move to do that? And the start of the draft feels like it is always something that is very well orchestrated, put together. How long are you piecing that together and how comfortable were you on that bike?

[Dustin Poirier]

So the piecing together, I would say we work on the draft years out, ultimately.

[Pat McAfee]

Really?

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah. As soon as we know we're going somewhere, we're always coming up with different ideas. The staff is unbelievable. Not just in the execution of the plan, but just being creative. And the club also helps a lot. I mean, the packers, you know, they share all those different ideas. They want you to really celebrate their legacy ultimately, and that's a big part of where they are. So that they were a little worried. Some of our folks were worried I was going to write off the stage. It's not improbable, but. And that was really just fun for us. And so the bike rides, I do that all summer. We live in a place where we. All we do is bike. When you go around.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so you're a natural biker.

[Dustin Poirier]

That was about natural. I've done it.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so let's talk about their fat tires, too.

[Dustin Poirier]

They helped a little, and it might.

[Pat McAfee]

Be a little bit decompressed, too. My worry would be the slick. Yeah, the stage on the turn. You handled it like a. A champion. Last year, we talked about Detroit and how awesome it was. Because if we look back five years and we got some photos from McCarthy and the reason why we gave you these peanut MMs is because literally, that's what we went through. Covid with you in Your basement, on your leather chair, Beautiful leather chair with you housing peanut M and Ms. And we talked about how this used to be in New York and then how they booked something, how you had to take it on the road. And obviously last year was incredible. 205,000 last night here. We don't know what tonight's going to be. Does it continue to blow your mind on what it is?

[Dustin Poirier]

It does. You know, and I made the point last night. But it's, you know, this is a small town. People are coming out from all over Wisconsin. They're also coming from all over the country and all over the world. The number of people we had. Somebody came up to me this morning. I flew all the way, 29 hours from Australia to come to the draft.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez signs. And they're standing out here 11 years or 11 hours. I mean, they're standing out here like 11 hours.

[Dustin Poirier]

It's unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

In the parking lot.

[Dustin Poirier]

It's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

And I'd like to let you know, I mean, and they opened the gates. I guess we are realizing that they, they opened the gates and the boys are out here and we appreciate that. But it's like, I don't think I knew what to expect here in Green Bay, especially with the weather. You know, I didn't know what the weather was going to be last night. Felt like the weather was perfect, the environment was perfect. We need to compliment you though, and your team that flowed, that felt like a good show last night. Did you agree whenever you looked back.

[Dustin Poirier]

On it, it was hard for me because you're going so quick. But you know, I, I started thinking last night we got to shorten it. So I'll give you guys some thoughts. You, you're always very creative about it. You know, should we, should we have time that you can save? So it's a. I'm making it up. Seven minute first round. Oh, and, but you can, you can get a 2 minutes extra if you need it. If you need it, you could call it. But then you don't get it again the rest of the draft.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so it's like a timeout thing where you get 12 minute, 1 extension. I like that. It felt like last night you were making picks before the clock was up, which is abnormal from years past.

[Dustin Poirier]

Usually average in a 10 minute. So first round, it's. I think it's like six and a half. So a lot of teams, I think only one team went to full 10. I think I heard last night. And you know, if you're in the middle of a trade you might want to use your card play two minute set extra. But it's, it's just try to come up a little more strategy.

[Pat McAfee]

I like that a lot. Gamesmanship, especially with all the cameras in the war rooms. So them having to show the card and get the extension, that's even more drama. That's even more drama. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

You can move it to five, build up the drama and then instead of doing a two and a half minute.

[Dustin Poirier]

We talked about five minutes. We talked about that last night. But I was so tired last night. I had came up with some crazy ass.

[Pat McAfee]

No, that's when you need to do your most thinking. Whenever you're most loose, which I do obviously. And you might have seen a video that was CBD and vitamins that were happening over here. Don't you wait, that was not what you think it was as it was going. Let's talk about the league as a whole. 32 dreams come true. Feels like there was a lot of reaction from a lot of fans that they were happy with kind of who their team picked. Are you happy currently with the state of the NFL and the reason why I ask that is a lot of trenches picks last night. Offensive lineman, defensive lineman, Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl. They were a run heavy team, defensive line heavy. Feels like we're getting back to a little bit of ground and pound football. Do you agree with that and how do you feel about it?

[Dustin Poirier]

I do and I think there are always trends in the game and it just, it moves and then, you know, I think we're a little bit of a copycat league. But I think, listen, I still think this game's about controlling the football and being able to play good defense and you know, sure, quarterback plays important, but you got to control that football. At the end of the game you want to give it back to somebody else.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor's question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Commish. Obviously a big conversation we were just having with Matt Lafleur was the whole international games and you just mentioned a guy flew from Australia. 29 hours.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Maybe that gets Australia football game.

[Dustin Poirier]

I don't know if they already got it next year.

[Boston Connor]

Oh yeah. Okay, there you go.

[Pat McAfee]

Preseason or regular season?

[Dustin Poirier]

Regular season. We're starting the season off over there next year.

[Ty Schmidt]

Boom.

[Dustin Poirier]

26.

[Pat McAfee]

So two buys for that team that goes over there because that's a no.

[Dustin Poirier]

They'll be going a few days earlier.

[Roger Goodell]

Rams or Chargers? Is that.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Oh yeah.

[Dustin Poirier]

Rams are the host team.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Boston Connor]

So that's awesome. Ireland for the first time. Also happening. It'd be really cool if you tell us who the Steelers are playing. I know Diggs wants to fly over there for that game, so. Gonna break that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we'd like to set up a set over there, too.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Kind of promote the game now, if you tell us, maybe that'll be perfect, transition into that. But how many different countries do you think can you kind of foresee how many times you guys are going to go to different countries and try different things out? Obviously, Germany was a. Has been a massive success. Is that going to be something that you just continue to do until maybe one time it doesn't work? And then you say, like, okay, maybe we don't go back to that country? What do you think?

[Dustin Poirier]

Well, we're sort of hoping that doesn't happen, that we pick our. The cities and the countries the correct way and that we're not looking to be a circus when we go in. We want to be there and we want to. We want to put roots in there. We want to start getting kids playing flag or tackle football. We want to have engagement all year round. We need media coverage year round. We need our sponsors and partners activating throughout the year. And so we're really looking to build this over the long term. I do believe we can get to 16 games, and I think then you'd be in 16 different markets where you might double up, like we're doing in the UK right now. Germany is a strong market, too. We had a great experience in Brazil last year. We're looking forward to going back there. We'll be back in Mexico as soon as the stadium's done. They're redoing it for the World cup, and I think we'll get to Asia pretty soon. So I think, wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Dustin Poirier]

We can get. I think we can be worldwide with our games, but we also have to have this other activity around them.

[Pat McAfee]

You send. You sign an extension, right?

[Dustin Poirier]

At one point. I mean, I don't even know I'm still under contract if that's.

[Pat McAfee]

How many more years, though, do you know?

[Dustin Poirier]

I think it's two.

[Pat McAfee]

It was made a big deal, I think whenever you signed the extension and there wasn't a single person that was like, shouldn't happen. Like, everybody is at the point of. I think. And there's obviously people that are going to be mad at you for making a decision against their team at some point, which is what a commissioner has to do. But we think with the vision that you've had for football and for the league is wonderful. Like, I think you are great at what you do, especially whenever you compare you to the other commissioners. But a lot of the things you just said there feels like you, you are just scratching the surface of what this game could be. International play. Then you brought up flag football. And I was obviously very lucky to be a part of a campaign during the super bowl for girls flag football getting sanctioned in every single state for high school. I think that's happening, actually. I think there's going to be a pro flag league that's going to happen. And I think the Olympics obviously with flag football feels like there's still so much growth for the sport and for the game. Even though you guys are seemingly at the top of the mountain. You agree with that?

[Dustin Poirier]

I do.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that exciting or what is the kind of the mic?

[Dustin Poirier]

Listen, I'm the biggest believer in this game. I just think this game has so many attractive features to it and I think as people understand more about this game, it'll be even more popular. So when we, when we go over to a market, it just explodes. And that means there's a demand for it and an interest in it and a curiosity. And so yeah, sure, we have to, we have to build our fan base. But I'm confident, confident that our game is so great that we can be popular on a global basis. I really do.

[Pat McAfee]

Flag football I think is a big deal. I have a two year old daughter. I have a two year old daughter and it looks like at the moment, watch her walk around the house, her flags are going to be tough to get. I think she's got a lot of.

[Dustin Poirier]

Wiggle around that couch. Pretty move.

[Pat McAfee]

And she's got a little wiggle too, a little bit of moxie. I think she'll probably get some excessive celebration penalties which is going to come, that's going to come whenever you're excited. But I think that is a huge development.

[Dustin Poirier]

And to the, to the young women playing this game, it's an incredible experience. And Steve Young, I don't know if you know, he was coaching his two daughters and he brought them up, I think it was last year 35 women brought up stairs and we had big picture and spent time with them. And these are high school, just really incredible young women. And they said what this game means to them to play it. And not just his daughters, it was all 35 of them. We understand the values of what you're talking about. Teamwork, confidence building, overcoming obstacles and you know, that kind of spirit that you get from playing this game. And young women are talking about it and what it meant to Them and I just think it's going to be an explosion for young women.

[Pat McAfee]

I watched that Pro bowl all star game. They had a high school all star game.

[Dustin Poirier]

I think they're great athletes.

[Pat McAfee]

Not just great athletes. They're playing ball, great plays. The play design on offense was wild. And I was watching safeties dissect plays and call audibles. I'm like, I had no idea that this is what flag football was at all, let alone high school flag football. It feels like that's a great avenue to continue to develop the game. AJ has a question for you, coach.

[AJ Hawk]

We had Matt LaFleur on earlier and he said he thinks you may be in line with him when it comes to the Tush push. Where are we with the Tush push? How do we.

[Dustin Poirier]

How do we get a little conversation in gym at the end of me. Yeah, I assume.

[AJ Hawk]

Where are we with the Tush push?

[Pat McAfee]

What do you.

[AJ Hawk]

What do you. In the next three, four months, is anything going to happen?

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah, we're going to bring it back up. The competition committee, we've been talking about it and we, you know, I think the idea is to look back about our history, right, since 1920 to 2005, you couldn't push or pull a player anywhere on the field. And is that a football player? Is a good question. I know a lot of coaches would tell you that's not part of football, Right. It may be rugby, but it's not us. The second thing is really the safety of the game, and that's primary of importance to us. Is it a play that is unsafe when you're in those positions where you're getting pushed or pulled and you can't control where you're going. And so that's. Those are the two factors. On the other side, you know, there's a. There's a legitimate argument that everyone can do it and, you know, if somebody does it better than the others, that's the way the game's played. So I understand that argument, but that's also the great thing about the league. We have 32 clubs. There'll be 24 votes. If it's 24 votes, that means people have a pretty strong view of what should happen.

[Pat McAfee]

It was split, right? 16, 16. Allegedly.

[Dustin Poirier]

There were different concepts that were discussed. I would say there was a split. There wasn't an overwhelming push either way. But I think there's a, you know, as people see the different things that the committee's been considering and hear the conversation, I think that the door actually develop a consensus, you know, how we.

[Pat McAfee]

Talk about this is if Roger Goodell wants something to go through, it's going to go through. And so we assume the same thing with the Tosh push. Whatever the iteration is, whether it's. You can't have two people pushing one person. Put whatever the.

[Dustin Poirier]

Or should it be all over with the field Pat, go back. Should we go back to the old rule where you couldn't push or pull a player anywhere on the field?

[Pat McAfee]

Special teams has it already. Field goals, obviously that is precedent. I think it has happened before with the dragging of players over POWs. But we view it as if Roger Goodell wants something, he's going to inevitably get it because you were seeing it from a more 30,000 foot view. Kickoff was something that whenever we talked to Riz and all the special teams coaches, you told him flat out like, hey, we need an alternative to the kickoff or we're going to have to get rid of it. You didn't want to get rid of it, which is why I think you were open to so many ideas. That dynamic kickoff last year, towards the end of the year, I think started proving to be exactly what everybody thought it was going to be. Adjust the rule to the 35 yard line for the touchback, which I think will entice more teams to kick the ball into the landing zone. Huge success. Are you viewing it as in a change?

[Dustin Poirier]

I think huge success because we proved we could make the play safer. We saw that the injury rate on the play went back down to pretty close to where the line of scrimmage play is. And so that, that got us to the point where we feel comfortable the changes are safer. So obviously moving to 35 to your point, the analytics show they're gonna, they're gonna kick it in the return area because you're not gonna give the ball at the 35, you're gonna try to hold them from getting that far. And so we see that as there's gonna be a significant increase in the amount of return. We think somewhere in the 60 to.

[Pat McAfee]

70% it was electrifying whenever they got going towards the end of the year because whether it was weather or guys couldn't get it for a touchback, guys were even bringing it out. It felt like from 2, 3 yards deep because of the setup and everything. The first time they did it though, you thought it looked weird. We all did.

[Dustin Poirier]

It's hard visually to get used to it, but you know that'll happen over time, right? And if the, if we can bring that play, the excitement back to that and keep it Safe. Which we think we can. I think people will get over the look and they'll just get more comfortable and say, that's an exciting play, which is what we really want. 33 yard, 1700 plays, basically, we took out of the game at one point. That's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. And the 33 yard extra point looked weird, too. And then now it's just normal standard operating procedure.

[Dustin Poirier]

How about moving the goal post when they were on the goal line? I was watching some old films the other day.

[Pat McAfee]

Good idea.

[Dustin Poirier]

It might. No, my girls were looking at it, going, what did they do that for, dad? And then they're right. And. But, you know, we moved it back and I'm sure that was an adjustment for people, visually.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But as long as the game keeps going strong is the only thing that matters. Tone has a question for you.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, Commissioner, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe from this past owners meeting, the Lions proposal to potentially change the seating of the playoffs got tabled to the next owners meeting. I think I thought we were surprised just because, you know how successful the NFL is and how much people love, you know, if you win your division, you're going to get a home playoff game. Where are we standing on the Lions proposal to potentially change the seating of the playoff.

[Dustin Poirier]

So I think the Lions proposal, honestly, I think that's probably more than we're going to be able to get in the first step. I think a proposal that came out of the discussion, which is a healthy discussion about how you should do that. I think there is a general view that the first thing you're going to do is win your division so you qualify for the play else.

[Roger Goodell]

Right.

[Dustin Poirier]

That's how you start. Yeah, that's the first thing we got to do. The question is, at some point, if you're not. 500 or better, we like. Do you deserve the ability to have a home game, too?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we like that and we did that.

[Dustin Poirier]

I think that's pretty hard to argue with.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's a nice little clause.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's a good caveat because I think it was going to be hard, as you would know, to sell the owners on. If you win your division, you're not going to get a home playoff game because I think every owner that's.

[Dustin Poirier]

I think that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Every year going in, it's like. Like, if I win my division, I get an extra home game and the revenue that comes alongside of it and.

[Dustin Poirier]

The fan base and fans deserve it. The fans, really, because the revenue's pooled so it really doesn't matter to the individual team. It's the fact they're playing at home, the advantage of being home. So that's.

[Pat McAfee]

So what about the concessions that I'm buying at the playoff game?

[Dustin Poirier]

Does that go to part of that? Might be. That might be a little bit benefit.

[Pat McAfee]

But that's coltslaughter prices on those chicken tenders. But yes, I think, like, ownership or teams, fan bases, too. Like, every year we have a chance to win our division, we get a home playoff game. Like, that's kind of been the basis of the entire league. So we thought it was gonna be impossible to sell that to people. Then whenever the caveat came in, like, if they're under.500, though, I think fans would even understand, like, yeah, we didn't. We didn't really deserve that. I like the way you guys lob something in and then seems like there is genuine conversation. Do you feel like you guys are the Titanic, though? Like, do you feel like you set seeds not going down? Sorry about that. I want to talk about the vastness of the Titanic, not the end of the Titanic, but it's like you got to set seeds in and then you got to, like, kind of slowly turn because how big the operation is. Do you feel that way?

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah, I think the Detroit proposal is a great example of that. Right. You take. That's. That's. That's a running start, man. That's way down the line. We need to take a step in the right direction. And when you do that, then you sort of. You improve the concept a little bit. And I think that's. We've done that so many times, and you got to be careful of being that ship that's too hard to move. The thing that's going to keep us great, I think, is continuing to look at our rules every year. How do we improve them from a safety and excitement standpoint? How do we look at doing things better? It's just like, it's our mantra, always get better. And, you know, you might make some missteps, but you can. You can adjust to that.

[Pat McAfee]

But I love the nimbility you're talking about because our company pretty nimble, so. Our company pretty nimble because we're small. You guys so big, hard to be nimble. But you're talking about how we also need to be effective and efficient whenever we're changing as well with the times. I think every role that you've made has made football better. Even the old heads, I think, are coming around on a lot of what you have changed for the game. Do you feel at this point the state of football is in a spot where the rules we have on the field, changing of the kickoff. That's a. I'll say. That's a. I don't even know what that rule change would be classified as.

[Dustin Poirier]

It was. It was driven by safety.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. But safety.

[Dustin Poirier]

But it was driven by safety. But wanting to not have a play that we take out of the game. It was really an exciting play.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, let's talk about all the other plays. One through four, first down through fourth down.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you feel like we're at a spot in the game now where the health is good, medical good. We still got big hits. I think we're all seeing. We're still seeing explosive plays. We're running the ball now. Again, I feel like the rules that you guys have struck constructed have got us to a good spot in. You agree with that?

[Dustin Poirier]

I agree with that. We like to balance. We like the points. We think that the running game is coming back. Obviously, that's a good thing. Listen, more. More teams going forward on fourth down. I think that's exciting. Oh, yeah. So I'd like to change. I know it's taking punters out of the game a little bit.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's not be too positive, Roger. Influence on these people. That's not. Yeah. Need to run more fakes. Need to run more fakes. Keep the punter in the game. But I feel like the game is at a very, very, very good spot right now. And speaking of that, note, you talk about setting precedent or trying concept and everything like that. Feels like Christmas is a great day. Ty has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Commish, we've talked about this ad nauseum, how for the longest time, you know, The Christmas was NB was NBA's day. And then you guys, rightfully so, came in and just kind of said, hey, this is the NFL's now, which is the way it should be. Last year, obviously it was a smashing success on Netflix, but we were all saying, like, after that second game, we're. We're wishing there was one in that night slot. Obviously, this year it falls on a Thursday, so we're going to have the prime game. Do you envision in the future we're going to get a Christmas Day game in every time slot? And what does that do in terms of like a potential international package with Netflix when you already have that relationship existing with Christmas?

[Dustin Poirier]

Well, it was one of the reasons we went with Netflix, to be honest with you, is because of the worldwide audience, the global. It was our first partner. Really has a global reach in that sense. Amazon on Thursday night also has global reach, but this was designed specifically for the global reach. And I think we will clearly have three games every year. We feel.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, that feels like a big announcement right now. That's.

[Dustin Poirier]

That one Will definitely.

[Pat McAfee]

And Adam Silver just sat in his office and said, oh, come on. We.

[Roger Goodell]

We apologized to him. We did.

[Pat McAfee]

We did. We told him he's a Christmas Eve league now. Congratulations. We need you on Christmas Eve. Because Christmas smack. The numbers were crazy. The games weren't that.

[Dustin Poirier]

But we didn't have the best games that day. That wasn't our best.

[Pat McAfee]

Stars were playing, though.

[Roger Goodell]

That was a Steelers.

[Dustin Poirier]

But, you know, a little bit in AJ Probably. You know, you've got to learn. When we brought Thursday Night Football in, it took a while for coaches to understand how to prepare the team. Right. How to coach for it and the players, too. So there's an adjustment period. I think now the Thursday night games have really become competitive because coaches do understand how to do it. I think the same thing. Christmas was the first time we did a Wednesday other than during COVID Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wednesday afternoon football. Laugh. We remembered waf, but we were able.

[Dustin Poirier]

To move those two games from Sunday back to Saturday and do it Wednesday and still give them the same rest days.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so the Chiefs allegedly want to do Christmas. Is that a real report? And will you do that with like you have with the Lions and the Cowboys with Thanksgiving, will you pick teams that potentially become synonymous with Christmas?

[Dustin Poirier]

Listen, a lot of teams now want to play on Christmas because it's a great platform. The Chiefs definitely do. Will we get back where it's a tradition that, you know, you always have that game? I don't think we'll do that. I think we'll continue to rotate.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Thanksgiving games with the tradition of Detroit playing. Now they're winning. Congrats, Foxy.

[Boston Connor]

Hell, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Foxy's pretty. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. You know, the people in Detroit are like, can't wait spend a holiday watching our team not win. Now they're. Now they're good. But that tradition of the Lions and Cowboys, I think, is just like a part of Americana now.

[Dustin Poirier]

You know, I think it is, too. We're gonna move one little small change. We're probably gonna move from a 12:30 eastern start to 1. So we'll go back. We'll go back to the traditional windows.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Dustin Poirier]

But they won. Roll right into Dallas and then roll into the prime time.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor has A question for you. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

You mentioned getting better as a league. Something you guys did this offseason was the accountability initiative with the refs. And you let, you know, three refs go. What is kind of the like standard when it comes to that accountability? Is it more so the calls on the field, something missed, things of that nature. And will that continue to kind of grow over the years? Because obviously the full time refs and things like that have been a conversation for a while with the NFL, but now having, you know, an accountability type thing, that almost crossed that out because then guys still have to be, you know, on their A game, which they always want.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah. But coaches and players always raise us. You know, they're accountable. Our officials have to be accountable. And by the way, I'm a biggest supporter of our officials. I think they do an incredible job. But listen, you're out there and you know, the speed of the game is so quick and there's so many things that you see now on television you couldn't see 20 years ago. We do have to, we have to stay up with it. And I think that's why there's an expansion of the replay assist. So can we use the technology to help the officials when they thought they saw something, but they can see it on video? That'll clear it up. So it's a little balance of using the technology, training the officials better, training them differently, giving them everything it can. I don't, I still don't believe that it's going to change if they're full time officials. Because what are they going to do?

[Pat McAfee]

We need full time.

[Dustin Poirier]

What are they going to do in the offseason?

[Boston Connor]

Reason?

[Dustin Poirier]

Train. What do you mean?

[Pat McAfee]

Like I train? Like you train.

[Dustin Poirier]

You'd be, you'd be shocked at how many guys are doing that and they're, they're looking at the video and the whistle. Yeah, they're getting pretty good at it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Too good. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Speaking. Speaking to an entire audience.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I will say this. It feels like the refs weren't really. And we brought this up a lot. I would like to let everybody know that we are a fair journalist. I feel like, because we as players understand the importance of refs.

[Dustin Poirier]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

And how a ref can get people fired, how refs can change the trajectory of a team, a city, an organization. But this past year, it felt like the refs were not a part of the conversation every single Monday where it had been in years past. I think the advancement of technology and the usage of AK helped them without telling anybody other than the teams. Are you guys doing that more like. Because it felt like there was a little bit more. After further conversation, we changed it.

[Dustin Poirier]

If we, if we. If we see something that can be helpful to them, they can. They can go down to them. Yes, but it's in certain categories. We're careful. We're not in their ear every time and saying, you know, watch for holding on the other side. These guys are. They got a lot going on on the field. We're there in very specific circumstances which all the clubs know. And that's what we call replay assist. And if we see the one of expansion is going to be. You saw it last year on quarterbacks running out of bounds. If they're. If they get the wrong call and they throw the flag, we'll pick up the flag. Now that's one issue that we're still debate a lot about is we can't throw a flag through replay.

[Pat McAfee]

But if a flag is thrown.

[Dustin Poirier]

But if a flag is thrown, we could correct it if we think it's wrong.

[Pat McAfee]

Interesting. So I wonder what the mindset will be for refs there.

[Dustin Poirier]

I'll tell you what it. Well, some people say that'll be. They'll be more likely to throw a flag inclined. I don't think that's true because I think they're out there. They're making judgments so quickly. They want to get it right. We haven't seen that, but I will tell you that at some point there's a lot of complications to it. But being able to correct an obvious call where a flag didn't go down and we've had games like that, including playoff games, where you just don't want a game to end that way. And can you come up with some concept where you can actually have replay change it even if a flag didn't go on the field?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, I think the advancement of technology and also the refs accepting it because I think there was a time there where they had too much pride and they're like, we don't want to step on anybody's toes or anything like that. Now it feels like it's more of a hybrid situation, which is great for the league, especially with the technology we have. We know you have a very busy day. I need to ask you because we asked you last year about it and I think you even had the schedule set up 18 game season. Okay. Would that add a buy? I don't know if there's been a development in the conversation. So right now it's 17 games of the buy. Obviously not everybody is guaranteed a Thursday night game anymore. They used to be guaranteed a Thursday night game, so they had a mini buy on the back end there. Now it's not like that. If you go to 18 games, will there be two buys? And what do you think the conversation is like with the NFLPA about potential 18 games? Because if we get another weekend of primetime games that you're able to sell to any of these platforms, feels like the salary cap and money that's going to come in is only just like flag football and international. You're only scratching the surface with these specialty games that can be added. How important is the 18th game to a season and how far along are we in that conversation?

[Dustin Poirier]

Well, listen, there's no question, right, that the general public would say I'd rather have a regular season game than a preseason game. So I think 18:2 makes sense from the quality of the game. The core function for us though is can we keep the game safe for our players and can we minimize contacts in the off season and training camp during the season where we can do it where we think safely. And that's the core issue. And I think that gave us the ability to go from 16 and 14, 17 and 3. 18 and 2 would be another extension of that. And as you know, we used to have a 14 and 6, but guys played every preseason game. Every preseason.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know that actually.

[Dustin Poirier]

I just learned that you were playing 20 games. So I think. And that was a time when you had double sessions in camp.

[Pat McAfee]

You were had a lot of terrible pads, terrible helmets.

[Dustin Poirier]

And I think all of those things have improved. I think the equipment, the rules, the way we train players has changed significantly and makes it possible to do. We still have to deal with the players association. They have a right to approve it. So that's going to be really important for us in having that conversation. Say yes, we can grow the pie. This is. And they get a percentage of it, as you know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Dustin Poirier]

And so is it. Is it the right step? I think we feel strongly that it is, but that may be is something that will have to happen over a longer term. It may not be a shorter term.

[Pat McAfee]

You talked about sharing a percentage. I think it's 49 and a half or something like that. I forget what the exact CBA 48.

[Dustin Poirier]

And a half, but.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah, take another percentage. Yeah. So let's talk about that. And I know you have to go, so I appreciate you taking time here. Relationship with nflpa.

[Dustin Poirier]

Great.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So when I got drafted, I went to the rookie symposium and it was demori Smith's first time addressing the players. And it was like we're going to war, we're going to war, we're going to war with the NFL. Then a lockout happens.

[Dustin Poirier]

And it wasn't just the NFL, it was yours truly too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, exactly. But I didn't think as a person that is very interested in business since I'm like a little kid literally started selling cigs in fifth grade. I don't know if shouldn't have done that. I agree. But the kids were gonna smoke cigarettes anyways. I at least should profit off. Nonetheless, I don't know if that's the best way to go about doing business. Now granted, I've done business with people and done that and I am willing to give up my business with those people to do that. Is there a way where the NFLPA and the NFL, I don't say good business partners but like do you feel like it is a much more positive relationship with this? Yes, definitely. Listen, you need each other, right?

[Dustin Poirier]

Like legitimately we do and they make us better. And I believe that we get, I get so many suggestions from players not just through the union but individually. We just met with a group of vets this morning with a couple of our. We met with all the rookies yesterday. We're always looking for input of how we continue to make the game better and stronger for all of us. And I think, you know, there's no question in my mind that you couldn't have had two successive 10 year CBAs. You couldn't have done that. If we didn't have a partnership that was working for the players, for the clubs, for the fans. And we have. And that's no other leagues come close. No other industry has had two successive 10 year CBAs that I'm aware of and that, you know that came through a lot of pain. Right. We went through a lockout and Jeff.

[Pat McAfee]

Saturday sat down and said let's get this settled.

[Dustin Poirier]

Jeff Saturday was instrumental. I can remember going to his house that spring and to get him involved because he was such an incredible leader and smart and he, he helped us get to a place where I think we found the right balance. But you also don't wait 10 years to do that. We're making those changes. If we see something that we can improve, we'll sit down now and fix it.

[Pat McAfee]

That's good business, I think. And McCarthy told me yesterday you talked to the rookies and I don't know if you do that were at the draft. I don't know if that Happens every single year.

[Dustin Poirier]

Does.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so what was your message to them yesterday, if you don't, don't mind sharing with the public?

[Dustin Poirier]

Well, a lot of it is just one. We're here to celebrate you, obviously, around the draft, but it was sort of a, It's a difficult message when you're sitting there as a rookie and you're about to get drafted. And my, my point of view, as I said, listen, this is going to sound funny, but you got to start thinking about when you're not an active player, when you retire from the game, how you're going to transition that game. And you need to think about that while you're on that platform. And I think, you know, a couple, we had a couple of vets there, Curtis Martin was there, Troy Vincent, you know, they, they were taking it in and I think they were understanding it. But so we want people to think about, yes, we want you to be a successful NFL player, but we want you to be successful in life. And so what we need to do is help you transition. Life's all about transition. Transition into the game, transition out of the game, but also be prepared. You're going to retire a young man, do something, find a career and work that, and develop relationships.

[Pat McAfee]

Find what you like, you know, figure out what you like. Develop relationships. And networking is the most important part. When you're in the NFL, especially as a first round draft pick, you're gonna have a chance to shake a lot of hands, obviously. Focus, keep the main thing. The main thing. But thinking about the future is not a bad thing at any moment, especially where we're at right now.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Roger, actually, on that note, did you tell Clay Matthews to go into stand up comedy last night or no.

[Dustin Poirier]

Just for the record, I didn't know anything about that. And by the way, it was funny because he came over and he goes, commish, you pissed? And I said it was a moment. And you know what, those guys gave a lot of thought to it, but, you know, it was probably appropriate, right?

[Boston Connor]

It was fun.

[Dustin Poirier]

And Bay, right?

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, while you were talking just a few seconds ago, a Bears fan was lifted up on somebody's shoulder and they all started booing his ass out of the city. So I think what Clay did was probably a good thing for the crowd, good thing for the Pop. Can't wait to see what it is tonight. Congrats on all the success.

[Dustin Poirier]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

We appreciate the hell out of you, man. And also, I know that you, McCarthy and others had a lot of say in us being here and you talked about talking to the rookies about transitioning and what you do in your future life. You have been nothing short of godsend to us in our company. So thank you so much for everything you've done for us. Thank you for everything you've done for the league and congrats on all the success.

[Dustin Poirier]

You guys deserve it. And by the way, you didn't come to the office yet and do the show, so let's meet in Ireland.

[Pat McAfee]

Who's playing?

[Dustin Poirier]

I know Pittsburgh's playing.

[Boston Connor]

Come on, just tell us.

[Mike McCarthy]

Good.

[Boston Connor]

Try playing again.

[Roger Goodell]

Wait, Commissioner, last year I asked you, I said the draft's going to be in Pittsburgh next year. Right? And you kind of confirmed it. We. You want to announce where the next one is?

[Dustin Poirier]

You know what? In about a week, I will.

[Roger Goodell]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Another football town, obviously.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's been paying off.

[Dustin Poirier]

Yeah, maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Nashville is amazing.

[Dustin Poirier]

Detroit, it might be a little different than the Midwest cities, though, that we've been in, which I. Which I think is awesome. But it's really important.

[Boston Connor]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

New England, it's a non Super Bowl.

[Roger Goodell]

Is it a. Is it a mile high or something like that?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Dustin Poirier]

You know you're on a mile high. No, I didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

Great laws. All right. Anyways, we'll follow along. We appreciate you so much.

[Dustin Poirier]

Thank you, guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen.

[Dustin Poirier]

Appreciate it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you.

[AJ Hawk]

Appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

Karthi, don't let him forget these peanut M M's. McCarthy, thank you.

[Boston Connor]

Appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

Do not let him forget these people.

[Boston Connor]

That boy McCarthy.

[AJ Hawk]

Appreciate it.

[Roger Goodell]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Commission.

[Boston Connor]

Good work, McCarthy.

[AJ Hawk]

Curtis Martin, right here.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that. Hold on.

[AJ Hawk]

Curtis Martin, obviously can't. Still could run the ball right now.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hey, he's a yellow jacket.

[Boston Connor]

Holy yellow jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

Great to see you. Thank you so much for coming. Appreciate you all.

[AJ Hawk]

He can still play.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely. Curtis, great to see you. Look like you're 25.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez Louise.

[Roger Goodell]

Speaking of Pittsburgh Legends, guys.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Wanted to go.

[Pat McAfee]

Curtis. Way to go, brother. Thank you for representing the Injuries. Start raining in here.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You see that?

[Boston Connor]

Been getting a few drops.

[Ty Schmidt]

I was going to say I'm getting pissed on. Pretty.

[Roger Goodell]

That's delish or what?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So, first one a little dry. I will say. You need to add cheese curds. You need to put a little sauce on it. Yeah, they were warm at the beginning. All right, I'm sorry. Let me give you a little better. There you go. Here we go. Here we go. Hold on. Dude, get the other eye. What are you going to do?

[Boston Connor]

Get a black eye.

[AJ Hawk]

Get the other eye.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, now let Me?

[AJ Hawk]

No, you got to make it now.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God.

[Ty Schmidt]

Dude, with the light.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't. I know I hit you in a lot. Do three times.

[Ty Schmidt]

You need a ball mit to block out the lights.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Big Mike McCarthy. Be watching my arm. All right, enough. I'm just. I mean, I feel pretty good about my cheese, Curt.

[Roger Goodell]

Pretty good.

[Boston Connor]

The second one hit me right.

[Pat McAfee]

The tongue. Yeah. By the way, they chewed for Commish whenever he got up here.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I think. I think it is a fun thing to do at the draft. Whenever he comes up, boom.

[Ty Schmidt]

This guy sucks.

[Pat McAfee]

Last night, we didn't even ask him about it. The people he was going up on stage with. Yeah. Good strategy. He had really good strategy last night, and he said he thinks he has two more years or whatever the case is. It's like, I don't think anybody would be bummed out if he continued to move forward as the commissioner. People down here, and he's signing autographs. I mean, Fox, I don't know if we still have the outside camera with the rain and everything. He's literally down here signing autographs, taking pictures with the fans. There's a Vikings fan, packers fan, Bears fan, Colts fan, everybody. And the commission's out in the rain right now. Yeah, I mean, it is very. To your right, Foxy down here in the front. Yeah, him. And McCarthy needs to be signed some autographs, too. I don't know why he's not doing that. Great commission dude. He's ERA that he is.

[AJ Hawk]

He's from, like, the old school, like, Brett broadcast network into now into the streaming situation with Netflix and Amazon. Like, he has a lot on his plate.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. And then you talk about flag football and international football.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And everything like that in Asia soon. Like, that's.

[Roger Goodell]

That's.

[Boston Connor]

That's wild.

[AJ Hawk]

NFL is king.

[Pat McAfee]

So the thing is, I would assume, you know, we just saw the sumo wrestlers. Japan, I mean, I think Japan, I think. Yeah, obviously, But I think Japan, with what we saw with those sumo wrestlers, if they learn the sport, that's the big thing. He said, like, we got it. The more they learn about the sport, the more they're going to like about the sport. Like, I think soccer fans, even though soccer doesn't have a lot of goals, they. The way they view football at the beginning is like, it's 10 seconds, and everybody stops. Like, what are we even doing here? Then the more they learn about the strategy and the more they learn about, like, the physicality, and the more they learn about everything that people go through, I think the more you like the game, which is what he was basically saying. So, like, their first initial bump into a country probably nowhere near what they know it's going to become. But with those sumo wrestlers that we watched, I think Japan is a country that would certainly appreciate and respect what was going on, especially with what football is becoming, with the O line, D line kind of happening in there. I think, personally, that's just after beating Ichi and Hiroki. That's kind of my. We need to get Ichi out there actually at left tackle.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly. I also think a guy like Otani, like, they obviously love baseball, but he. You know, you become a fan of the Dodgers, then, like, you're more open to be like, oh, you know what? I actually like these American players as well. Like, dookie bets and stuff like that. Like, I think they.

[Pat McAfee]

They.

[Ty Schmidt]

It like American culture enough where, like, if a game went over there, like, I think there is a good chance that, like, they would show. I mean, and what. I mean, what was it?

[Pat McAfee]

The.

[Ty Schmidt]

The Colts played a preseason game in Tokyo right when Andrew and James wasn't going.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

That was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Closest you're gonna get to me is at a hibachi bar. And then I think somebody called him and was like, you're going to Japan. You were going over there to Japan.

[Boston Connor]

Yellow jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

You figure out yellow jacket. He is first ballot. Yellow jacket. Edrin James. Great title for hall of Famers.

[Roger Goodell]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Big Mike McCarthy acting like we were supposed to know what the hell that meant. That's the first time I've ever heard that saying.

[Ty Schmidt]

Me too.

[Pat McAfee]

Time. Is that what. Is that how he describes them? When did he come up with that, you think?

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know if Big Mike's had a lot of things like that over the years. When I. I was here in Green Bay with him for nine years to where you knew it wasn't exactly how people normally say it, but you understood why he was saying it or what he meant.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't believe these people are out here.

[Roger Goodell]

Football time.

[AJ Hawk]

These guys are.

[Roger Goodell]

It's early, too.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Way too early right here. I mean, is. Aren't they.

[AJ Hawk]

These young kids should be in school.

[Pat McAfee]

Nah, actually, I think some people got.

[AJ Hawk]

Out of school today at Dream Bay. I took my kid out of school.

[Mike McCarthy]

Last two days.

[AJ Hawk]

Last two days. He got out of school.

[Boston Connor]

Year.

[AJ Hawk]

Hey, this is a special situation.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a very special situation. We appreciate everybody stopping by. Cam ward went one. Josh Simmons won 32. All the other picks in between. Congrats on a dream come true. We did not talk about the NHL. That is currently happening in the playoffs. A lot going on in the Stanley cup playoffs. Boston, Connor. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Minnesota Wilds kind of the story right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Really nice.

[Boston Connor]

They're up on the Vegas Golden Knights. We all know Jackie Ace's stoner and Stoner they got the. Of course, Tomash. But the Wilds kind of showing up, showing out, beating the Vegas Gold Knights last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

They.

[Pat McAfee]

They.

[Boston Connor]

They got a 21 lead. That's massive. The battle for Florida. The Cats, they won both games in Tampa Bay. Tampa was one of the better units as well this year. But the Cats have kind of showed up ready for war. Marchand playing very well for Florida. Tkachuk, he came back, he scored two goals.

[Pat McAfee]

Dwight. I was told Kachuk wasn't playing.

[Boston Connor]

That was the way on the street. But you can't. What?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Well, they started the series a week.

[Roger Goodell]

Later and everybody else.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a nice touch. Okay.

[Roger Goodell]

That was a good.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody was. These cheese curds are very good. Pretty delightful. I appreciate the commission bringing these out here for us. They were warm at the beginning of the conversation. Yeah. Coach. What's the coach down there in Florida? We know him. He's been on a program. Who's coach of Florida?

[Mike McCarthy]

Paul Maurice Mo.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach Mo. Coach Mo comes out and says, everybody's available. So we're like, holy hell, Kachuk's playing. That's what that means. If everybody's available and Gumpy goes there lying. Kachuk's not playing. Kachuk's on the ice with Marshawn, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they are.

[Boston Connor]

They're incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a team. That's an annoying team, too. Not just a good team. That is a. That is a thumping team and an annoying. That's a playoff hockey team. Right. Like Florida might go back to. Back here.

[Boston Connor]

And that's the. The other guy on there, Sam Bennett.

[Roger Goodell]

He'S also scored last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

Rascal.

[Boston Connor]

When you talk about a guy who. Similar to Boston, where everyone hates Martian. Sam Bennett was that guy as a Bruins fan where you hate him. But you know how much the Florida Panthers fans absolutely love him because of what a pest he is. Another kind of surprise. So far, the LA Kings are up 20 against the Oilers. McJesus and the boys not really skating too well. So that's. That's a big one. And what we mentioned, the. The Capitals. We talked about how much we needed the Capitals. I want to get this here. I want to get this here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Roger Goodell]

Well, Pat is.

[Pat McAfee]

Might be an angle.

[Boston Connor]

Actually sliding cheese curds under the Perfect throw kind of under the arena, if you will.

[Pat McAfee]

Ah, it's hard. It's a tight little hole. Oh, yeah, yeah. Great work, brother.

[Boston Connor]

Eat it.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, that's. That's what. That's like scoring a goal there. Yeah. Find a tiny little spot. Yeah, you do Perfect.

[Boston Connor]

But Ovechkin in the capital is up to awesome for us. McJesus and the boys in Edmonton kind of on the ropes a little bit. Need a massive win tonight. And then Caroline is dominating New Jersey.

[Pat McAfee]

And then the NBA. We talked about the end of the first hour. There's great series is everywhere. How the Lakers do it.

[Boston Connor]

Lakers are 1:1 going to Minnesota. I believe they play tonight.

[Roger Goodell]

Pacers are dogs.

[Mike McCarthy]

Dogs tonight.

[Boston Connor]

They're dogs tonight in Minnesota.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Pacers are up 2. O. Celtics are up 2.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They're.

[Boston Connor]

It is boom. Pacers, bucks once again. Hey, we don't want to watch you play. Go to NBA tv.

[Pat McAfee]

So hold on. I asked Tyrese about this. What the heli. I said, yeah, I gave him a call. I said, what the helly? What the helly? They're really buying in on that. I love that the entire Pacers organization has bought in on the. What the heli. What the helly, Barry. What the heli, Burton. I asked him, what the heli. Why can't I find your games? I'm living in Indianapolis and I cannot watch the Pacers playoff games because I don't have NBA TV or whatever the case is. I'm trying to find where it is. So I'm like, why is the disrespect. You're electrifying, obviously. Giannis Dame is Dame time. Tyrese and Dame kind of getting into it.

[Boston Connor]

That was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

That'd be good television. I'm like, why are they disrespecting you? He said since he's been watching the NBA, four, five, almost always on NBA tv. That is four or five series almost always on the NBA because they don't want the 1, 2, 3 seeds not being on national television. He said that that is kind of just was expected almost as the four or five game in the first round is what. What the hell?

[Roger Goodell]

He said, even said Clippers Nuggets have been on NBA TV because they're four or five on that side.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So he said that's kind of a normal type thing for four, five, because I was telling him, NBA don't want to see you succeed.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

[Pat McAfee]

The NBA doesn't want to see the Pacers on primetime. The NBA doesn't want the entire country to understand that the Pacers are. It's exciting to watch. Yeah. Not gonna happen. Yeah. I. Okay.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Just want to let you know that's not. That's not how it's going to go. It might be Pacers in four. Pacers in four. It might be in this entire thing. Go ahead. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Giannis did say post game, someone asked him something about. Because they had the clock guy doing his.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

He was like, yeah, like, it is what it is. I know what I have to do. So if you're making a bet on anything, I wouldn't bet on the Bucks money line, but I bet on giannis.

[Pat McAfee]

To score 50 points tonight, which I think he has. Hasn't he scored like, 30?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, 36, 38. Yeah. He. He's doing the deed. Unfortunately, it's just him and the Pacers are kind of like, hey, go ahead, Giannis, score 50 points because the rest of your team stinks out loud.

[Pat McAfee]

Rick Carlisle. Good ball, coach.

[Boston Connor]

Respect.

[Pat McAfee]

Pacers are a good basketball. Respect. Pacer a good basketball team. They are. And I think everybody's kind of figuring that out. Every playoff run. That is kind of the con. Nobody talks about the Pacers except for us.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Tyrese Halliburton, most overrated player in the NBA, says New York Times Athletic. Okay. From a poll that they did. Nobody really watches the Pacers. Then they get in the playoffs, and it's like, this team's kind of fun to watch and seemingly likable. Are they shooting at bigger hoops? They're a squad. I mean, for real. Boston Celtics, obviously. Celtics. Is Tatum gonna play?

[Boston Connor]

I'm not sure if he's playing tonight. I haven't got an update. I'm assuming. No. Just because we beat the Magic without him.

[Roger Goodell]

Jalen Brown had it.

[Boston Connor]

Might as well rest up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Jalen Brown had 36 points. But no, to your point, the. The next rounds on both sides of the playoffs would be Cavs, Pacers, Celtics versus the Knicks or the Pistons. Then the west is just loaded up.

[Ty Schmidt]

So absolute scenes.

[Boston Connor]

NBA is going to get going.

[Pat McAfee]

It is cinema. Shout to the NBA. Shout to the NHL. Shout to the NFL. That has their second round of the NFL draft here in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I think if these people come out here, we need to pay a lot of respect to the people. I think they are, and I think they're going. I mean, this is very early. They are hours away from those drafts. We are lucky to be here. Have an incredible weekend. We will see you on Monday. Be a friend. Tell A friend, something nice. It might change their life. We continue on YouTube. Goodbye. Pretty good sign off there. I think I'd feel good. I think it was pretty good sign off. The clock kind of came up there pretty quickly. To be honest. It kind of moved pretty quickly. I felt like one of the teams last night didn't know what I was going to do.

[Ty Schmidt]

Get his picking.

[Roger Goodell]

Extra two.

[Pat McAfee]

Big weekend though. Got playoffs in the NBA and the NHL. We got draft with a lot of big names still left. I assume there's golf tournament. Is there a golf tournament?

[Roger Goodell]

There definitely is, but it's probably not a big one. They actually. They actually schedule pretty well around things to not go compete against the NFL.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So we got a lot of great sports this weekend. And on the other side of this break, we got some big news coming out of the fight game.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, Diamond, Diamond.

[Pat McAfee]

Dustin Poirier is going to be joining us. I think he's making an announcement. Okay. I think we are lucky enough to be a part of a pretty big announcement coming out. Diamond dust Poirier. These people are already drinking and I appreciate that. What's the beer from out here? Spotted cow Spot Kyle. I don't know.

[Roger Goodell]

Hey, Spot C. Hey.

[Pat McAfee]

She's wearing a kiss.

[Roger Goodell]

Right there.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, right there.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how they got it in here because we tried to get some booze in here last night for the end of the first round and Ty wanted a little booze last night. People knew a spotted cow. Yeah, they knew. They knew who we were talking about there. The NFL patted down the booze and said that's not going in there. We're like, the boys wouldn't share unless we buy.

[Roger Goodell]

Unless we buy it from here.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I don't think. Think. I don't know if spot accounts for sale out here either because I think it's a Bud Light event.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So however that got in here. So what I'm saying is there's a little bit of work.

[Dustin Poirier]

Easter.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a little bit of work. Maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Probably.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't know. They love spotted cow out here. They do. We don't know how much. Maybe that much.

[Boston Connor]

All right.

[AJ Hawk]

You got it.

[Boston Connor]

Dude, my eyes.

[AJ Hawk]

It's got to hit your tongue.

[Roger Goodell]

They're selling the 25 ounce kind.

[AJ Hawk]

That's a good thing right off.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

There you go.

[Pat McAfee]

Good work. Same to you.

[Diamond Dustin Poirier]

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[Pat McAfee]

Now. NFL draft it's happening out here and to be clear, I have no idea how many people are going to be here for round two tonight because this weather is miserable. Coach Matt LaFleur said. It's gonna blow over. It's gonna get better. It currently sucks. These people are sitting out here. We appreciate the hell out of you guys legitimately. Very, very kind of you to do that. Last night people hung out with us for four plus hours. The draft was spectacular. There was a lot of storylines and obviously there's still a lot of great players available for round two tonight and then into the weekend. It's not just me. The talks tables here at Boston, Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Feels like packers fan sat a great night. You think they show up here tonight?

[Ty Schmidt]

I think so, yeah. I mean we talked about it too. There are so many good players left on the board. Like there's a, there's another potential starter out there that the packers might get. I mean there's not a whole lot to do here. And this weather, I mean like if you're from Green Bay, if you're a Packers fan, like this is nothing. You know, it's like it's kind of a. It's just another Friday. So yeah, I think people are going to show up in droves tonight. You don't get the opportunity to come watch the you watch your team's draft in their city very often. Who knows when it'll be back. So I think a lot of people will show up.

[Pat McAfee]

Feels like a game day out here. Yesterday felt like it. I don't know what it's like on game day. Obviously I've just played here. A bus right to the stadium and never really got to experience it. All the cars in the front yards everybody. Yeah the amount of easy out parking with mom. Yeah living at the house they had paint in their front yard drawing up parking spots. I saw one place had six cars parked in its front lot and its front lot had the capability to hold six cars. I mean like perfectly designed to get maximum 100 bucks just a quick 600 bucks just for having a house in the area. And everything was filled. It was, it was a nice piece of business last night I think. Let's go to 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys AP Tone How'd people do betting on the draft last night was did the books win? Did the people win? Who do you think really had won over on the I think it was an unexpected first round draft pick especially with the amount of trenches picks.

[Roger Goodell]

It was you know they lost on like the the teams like where potentially are going to the team for Travis Hunter because he obviously they everyone had him go to the Browns at 2 but if you bet on him to go at 2 you still had him there. Abdul Carter at 3 everyone had him there at 3. So like if you were betting on places to go genty at six everyone had him there. So those early ones I think you, you, you want on and then but later like later like Tyler Warren if you had him his over under you definitely lost on that one. Him dropping to the Colts and them getting an absolute steal there. But no as far as like betting went if you had the if you were betting on the top guys Will Campbell go to the Patriots, stuff like that those Mason Graham going five like the top the first six basically went in the order that they were supposed to different teams. But if you had those first six betting on those you, you definitely won over.

[Pat McAfee]

Under was two and a half for quarterbacks in the first round. We assumed that was going to go over. Yes it did not and that became a big talking point basically since pick two all the way through on the other draft shows from what I heard. Yes we obviously didn't get a chance to watch the other draft shows but I guess there was quite a. Yeah people weren't happy. There was quite there was some dramatics I guess three and a half hours from what I heard about that entire we thought the over under two and a half over was going to hit for quarterbacks because the way the NFL is right now it did not and that became a storyline obviously on tv.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah we did because we talked about quarterbacks getting getting pushed up into the first round just because of need and there was a lot of needy quarterback teams that didn't go quarterback. So tonight when we're looking at chedeur, Browns have 33 and 36, the Raiders have 37, the Saints are at 40, and then the Rams are at 46 if they're looking to find their like future guy. But then after that, like you, you might see these quarterbacks go dropping down to the third round. It's going to be very interesting tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And you wonder just because the, I mean I feel like last week it kind of got loud. Hey, next year's QB class is going to be unbelievable. And that being a conversation like I wonder if the Rams, McVeigh, unless need have some master plan with the two first round picks they have next year now to kind of start thinking about how they're going to get one of their guys that they like that's coming out like that. That's honestly what I'm thinking. I wonder if Shador is even next.

[Pat McAfee]

How about the Atlanta Falcons trading back and we thought people were going to trade back in at the end to potentially get a quarterback. They get a DN and give up a future first rounder because of it. That was wild. I think that was kind of a head turn. Two years in a row now the Atlanta Falcons have made moves that we go, wow, we'll see if it works out for them. They only interviewed defensive players, the Atlanta Falcons at the combine. Turns out they take two of Congrats. Atlanta Falcons doing what they want to do. But we thought that was going to be a quarterback at the end of the first round gets traded for that did not take place. Ole Miss Jackson Dart ends up the New York Giants draft pick at quarterback position. He's the number two quarterback of this draft class. A lot of quarterbacks still available. Let's go to a man who's the all time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, AJ Hawk. AJ Biggest surprise last night for you in the draft?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean Ted McMillan was a bit of a surprise, wasn't he going number eight overall? I don't know if you could say that was a reach, but I think in the moment it felt like that was maybe a little bit of a surprise.

[Roger Goodell]

Just because everything we had heard about or like it was more of a negative campaign for him recently.

[AJ Hawk]

There wasn't who, yeah, I guess who starts those narratives. That's the thing.

[Boston Connor]

Straight had him at, you know, 19 to Ted McMillan. And I mean Tony, you were down there with him. It felt like he had a pretty good grasp on what GMs were thinking. I mean, Mason Graham was kind of a shocker. It felt like he thought at five to the Browns as well, because he heard his name dropping down. I know he had him in the teens, too. So there were a couple that, you know, were kind of out of nowhere.

[Pat McAfee]

Big news coming out of the Tennessee Titans camp with Cam Ward, obviously, formerly the Houston Oilers, number one is retired in that organization because of Warren Moon this morning. If we could drop that lower third. Warren Moon actually said, all good, brother. You can wear the number one. Kind of gave us permission. That's a huge deal. And obviously, Warren Moon, phenomenal football player. I've got a chance to hang out with him. Good time, good time. Great dude. And this is a big deal, I think, in Cam Ward, probably, who has handled everything perfectly. Seemingly every conversation, Even last night, the draft, there's a lot of conversation about how he represented himself. He was playing catch in the back with some people. It's like, guy loves ball. This is probably a massive moment for him and for the Tennessee Titans. Good for Miss Amy. Good for everybody down there trying to get it right. Feels like Cam Ward's going to be a guy. Speaking of a guy, we have a guy joining us now who is a UFC legend. Tomorrow, he'll be making the pick for the New Orleans Saints, which is obviously from his hometown. Ladies and gentlemen, a man who I just learned over 50 fights in his career.

[Ty Schmidt]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Not one call flyer, two of them. Ladies and gentlemen, Diamond Dustin Poyer. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Diamond.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate you. Yeah. Hell, yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hey, they love you.

[Curtis Martin]

I love them.

[Pat McAfee]

How could you not love you? To be honest with you, the way.

[Curtis Martin]

Oh, they're standing out in the freezing cold rain.

[Pat McAfee]

This makes no sense.

[Curtis Martin]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I, I, as a man from.

[Curtis Martin]

With respect to you, I was walking here like, maybe I shouldn't do this.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, with respect to you, we were thinking the same damn thing. If you were to cancel, we would very much understand. We appreciate the hell out of these people. And I think if you listen to the Green Bay conversation, I guess this is like a nice day here. It's. It sucks out there, the fact that these people are standing out here. We're very, very grateful for the fact that you've joined us. We're pumped up about. Nice watch. You've done well for yourself. 39. 1 is the official record for you. You said over 50 fights. And we were chit chatting earlier. Did you. At the beginning of this entire career, when did you know you were going to be A guy and was in front of like 10 people. How did you kind of roll in to this career and get started, Bro?

[Curtis Martin]

I didn't know I was going to be a guy. People talked about with fighting. I just knew I loved it and just showed up at the gym every day. Was going to find out how far I can go with it. I was going to train and try to be the best I could, but I didn't know I was going to be here at the NFL draft and fighting on pay per views one day.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So here at the paper or at the draft? Let's talk about that. You're making the pick for the New Orleans Saints tomorrow.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, tomorrow.

[Pat McAfee]

Congratulations. That's a big deal. The Saints had to pick you. Obviously. There's a lot of people that are probably from that area that they could potentially pick. The fact that they chose you, what does that mean? And are you a massive Saints fan?

[Curtis Martin]

I assume I am. And no, it's an honor. I've been a Saints fan my whole life through the bad times and the good. And the good time.

[Pat McAfee]

The good time. What are you in right now?

[Curtis Martin]

The Saints transitional phase. We need a. We need a quarterback. Derek Carr can go back to Los. To Vegas. I was hopeful at first, like I said earlier. I was hopeful at first, but I don't think it's working out.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Well, his shoulder. I think he's made the decision for all of you tomorrow. Third round draft pick will be very important. Let's make sure we get the name right. Yeah. Okay. Because I made an announcement for the Indianapolis Colts and the way they gave me the card, the way the name was pronounced, I guess is how Bobby pronounced his name at the time. Then he changes the pronunciation of his name like a year later. So I look like the biggest asshole of all time out there. I'm saying it can go wrong for you tomorrow. Just know.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, yeah.

[Curtis Martin]

Hopefully we get some. Some runs of saying it a few times before they put me on stage.

[Pat McAfee]

Nope. You will get a card.

[Curtis Martin]

Well, I did the draft in Vegas two or three years ago when we drafted Alonte Taylor. Me and Cam Jordan drafted Alonte Taylor.

[Mike McCarthy]

Dude.

[Curtis Martin]

And he's still crushing it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So you're good luck. You are good. Okay. We like that. That's good news for the Saints. And also you're joining us now and we are honored to be a part of this, especially with everything you've given and sacrificed for our entertainment over the years. Inside the Octagon. I think you have a massive announcement to make as well. With the city of New Orleans and yourself, right?

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Curtis Martin]

We're coming back to New Orleans. The UFC is coming back to New Orleans in July. July 19th. It's going to be my final fight. I'm going to lay the gloves down in Louisiana, where it all started for me. The whole journey started there. And I'm just honored to have the UFC on the same page and the state of Louisiana on the same page to make all this work. I didn't. I didn't know if it was going to all come together, but it did. July 19th, me and Max Holloway are going to fight five rounds, main event, pay per view, for his current BMF title. Max is a legend. I said legends only. There's not a better guy I can think to fight in my retirement fight. I was his first fight in the UFC back in 2012, and he's going to be my last fight in the ufc, so it's an honor. He's a legend, former champion, undisputed current BMF champion. So we're going to put on another war.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, let me tell you this. Thank you for your service to all of us. Your last fight, obviously coming up on July 19th. Every other fight that you've been a part of, must watch, because the way you go about doing your business, we are very appreciative and respect that so much. You and Holloway obviously have met two times before. Has been a war every single time, I believe, you know. Oh, yeah, right here is where we want to do. This is a Holloway move. What are you expecting here? July 19th. And have you already started training or when does training begin for this particular fight?

[Curtis Martin]

You know, training for what I do is. It's a lifestyle. It's not like a season.

[Pat McAfee]

You want some cheese curds?

[Curtis Martin]

I'm cool.

[Pat McAfee]

It looks good, though. Okay.

[Curtis Martin]

They look crispy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So life, you're in gym, it's a way of life.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah.

[Curtis Martin]

We don't have seasons. It's a year round sport. You can get a call at any moment. People get injured all the time. You got to be always ready to take advantage of opportunities.

[Pat McAfee]

So we talk about football players giving up. Like Aaron Rodgers, for instance. He's 20 plus years into this and.

[Curtis Martin]

He was at my last fight was.

[Pat McAfee]

Did it go well or no?

[Curtis Martin]

No, the last one didn't go well.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. It wasn't because Aaron, Aaron will probably get down in the world.

[Curtis Martin]

Him and Mercedes Lewis was sitting right there, cage side.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I remember the. Yeah, I do remember that evening. Now, I wish you would have won. So it would be a good memory.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, me too, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Aaron will bring a different rock.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Mojo. Different aura. Down to the next one in New Orleans. But whenever we're talking about Aaron and we talk about these players that play for a long time, you figure 50 plus flights, you say it's a lifestyle. Whenever we think about them retiring, we understand that they are also thinking about what life will be like without this thing that has kind of driven their entire lives. Like, for Aaron, I think the thought of retirement is something that is broached. But the life that you live after you retire and you're no longer. This is your purpose. This is your meaning. Have you thought about that? You've obviously had to face that. And do you think you'll just train forever? What do you think life looks like whenever you're not a professional. Professional fighter here after.

[Curtis Martin]

And honestly, it kind of comes in waves. Like I'll think about it, then kind of push it off. Because I still have another training camp and a huge test in front of me July 19th with Max. So I still have that. It's. I think after it's gonna really hit me. But you know, I have multiple businesses outside of fighting. I have stuff to keep me busy. But nothing is gonna fill that void of. Of being on a stage and traveling across the world and fighting somebody in on pay per view in front of the world. I've done it for longer than I haven't. I've been fighting since I was 17 years old. You know, I'm 36, so I'll just deal with it as it comes. But I think it's going to be a big thing to get emotional, man.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's going to be very emotional. And my last question before the boys are going to have theirs. That's a tough decision. Thank you for doing it and announcing it here. Obviously that is in honor of ours. I need some tips. Okay. I don't know if I'm going to be fighting a big Austrian man, but I'm not happy about what a big Austrian man man did to me on Monday night. He popped my head like a pimple. Had me in a rear naked choke. Came out of nowhere. Did not expect it. I was trying to go back and do my job. Blindsided me like I was going to do to you here. Yeah. What's me in a rear naked choke. Okay. I had my hands in there. I thought that was the right play. That's.

[Curtis Martin]

That's the first. That's the first Mistake. You want to use your hands, but you need to get that top hand. So a renegade choke is in front of your neck, obviously behind your head. You need to get that top hand that's behind your head down.

[Pat McAfee]

So that's why, like a little one.

[Curtis Martin]

Two on, one down. Break that grip. You have to. You.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so if he tries this again, here it is.

[Curtis Martin]

That's easy to get out of all day. The hands on your forehead.

[Mike McCarthy]

You could have grabbed that.

[Boston Connor]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

Sunday, bro.

[Curtis Martin]

Hit me up for private lessons.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. All right, all right. So.

[AJ Hawk]

Still got him.

[Pat McAfee]

And I don't know. He still got me. I'm dead, dude.

[Curtis Martin]

See, that's amateur right there.

[Pat McAfee]

No, you need to tuck that hand.

[Curtis Martin]

With a choking hand in front of your face. That's so easy to grab.

[Pat McAfee]

Put that behind the head. Okay, so you're telling me I need to grab pop in two on one. He's still got a boom. Get over me. I'm hot right there. Okay. I'm sleeping right there. I want to let you know I'm in a different world. My body's there. Consciousness is elsewhere because.

[Curtis Martin]

Airplane mode.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're right. I was on airplane. No Bluetooth, brother. No, I mean, it was. It was problematic. So you're saying top hand, top hand, pull down. No problem. And then what am I scurrying out? And I'm getting that top thing. Yeah, I'm doing what?

[Curtis Martin]

He's gonna pull this down and probably try to get your arm where it's under you. Then you can start working on the grip that he has around your body. The body lock.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's big.

[Ty Schmidt]

Austrian.

[Curtis Martin]

But the good thing is, after that, he's squeezing you.

[Pat McAfee]

Get out. He's probably tired.

[Curtis Martin]

All the muscles need a lot of oxygen, a lot of blood. Then you can start getting to work. Now, this is where you shine.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, because I had a good elbow, they didn't show it in that video there. He attacked my friend Michael Cole, and I didn't like that.

[Curtis Martin]

The big guys, third quarter, fourth quarters, when you put it on him.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's my problem. I don't have a lot of cardio either. So, yeah, I'm. I'm here for a quick time. Not a long time. So I just hit him in the head. Can we go back to the beginning of that clip? Yeah. So he's choking out my friend. My call. My call. 60 years old. He's gonna kill that guy. We need to go two on one. Did you see that?

[Roger Goodell]

I saw that diamond.

[Curtis Martin]

That was nice. Yeah, that was nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you. Thank you. I was just trying to break it up. I wanted peace. I wanted love out there. And then he chokes me out of nowhere. So you're saying I need to go 2 on 1 on top lever and I need to wiggle out of there? Yeah. I'm gonna think about you. Do you see? Do you see that? You see the little bruise there? You see that?

[Curtis Martin]

I see that.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought I got cauliflower on Monday. I did legit. I have a little bruise on my ear right now. You do?

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought for sure I was like, sweet, I'm gonna have cauliflower. I thought I was gonna look like you. Turns out, I don't think it's gonna happen just from one thing.

[Curtis Martin]

These are years and decades of getting smashed up.

[Pat McAfee]

Can you showcase yours very quickly, please?

[Curtis Martin]

One. One was still bleeding from the other day.

[Pat McAfee]

Look at those things, dude. Can you hear, like, how do they work? Yeah. Do your ears work?

[AJ Hawk]

Did you ever get them drained early on?

[Curtis Martin]

Dude, I've had them drained probably 10 times over the years. I've even had them Lance, where they left a catheter in overnight for it to drain. But it's just once it starts, I mean, incredibly painful when they first happen. Now it's healed, it's solid, you know, like cartilage. It's hard.

[Pat McAfee]

Two badges of honor walking around on the side of your head. I see them as. I assume you view them the same way. AJ has a question for you. Diamond. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I know you. You and Daniel Cormier seemed to have a great relationship. He's.

[Pat McAfee]

We see what he's doing in the.

[AJ Hawk]

Media world as is like an organ is playing behind us.

[Pat McAfee]

This is beautiful.

[AJ Hawk]

Gates of heaven or something.

[Ty Schmidt]

Baseball game.

[Curtis Martin]

Majestic.

[AJ Hawk]

Are you ever, like. When it comes to broadcasting and talking about fights, we know a lot of fighters are getting into that, and I think the UFC does a good job. There's obviously other organizations. Are you looking at doing any of that?

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, and I have been. I just worked maybe last weekend, the.

[AJ Hawk]

Weekend before saying full time 314.

[Curtis Martin]

I would love to. I've been on maybe six times with ESPN. I went to Bristol, worked the desk there. They've been bringing me on as a desk analyst. I would love to continue doing that, especially being retired, man, staying connected to the sport, because live TV gives me those butterflies, you know, you can't mess up. You have to be on point. There's no teleprompter. It's just off the rip.

[Pat McAfee]

I like that we mess up a lot. Just want to let you know that there is chances to mess up on live tv, just like in the announcement of the draft pick tomorrow. But your Diamond Dust employee.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

You will get it done.

[Curtis Martin]

I'm going to pronounce the name.

[Mike McCarthy]

Name correct.

[Curtis Martin]

I'll pronounce the name correctly.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, see, you're from Louisiana. You guys got that. You know the way. You guys. You a gator eater?

[Curtis Martin]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You ain't gator your whole life. Yeah, Gator nugget. What was your favorite? Yeah, fried.

[Curtis Martin]

I've never had it anyway, but. Fried.

[Ty Schmidt]

Fried gator.

[Roger Goodell]

You know, I do.

[Pat McAfee]

You know. Does he ever make you any gator down there?

[Curtis Martin]

He invited me to his. He does a big gator hunt every year.

[Roger Goodell]

Of course he did.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you go?

[Curtis Martin]

No, I didn't make it to the last one, but hopefully next he invited us.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we should go die every year. Okay, so this is what you do that. Yeah, we should definitely go data hunting with. With you down there with Governor Jeff Langdry. Tone Diggs has a question for you. Diamond.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, I am a quote unquote casual. So I just have, like, a broad question that I've. I've kind of noticed these Eastern European guys, they just come out of the womb wrestling. Is that how that works?

[Pat McAfee]

What's.

[Mike McCarthy]

What's going on?

[Pat McAfee]

I don't.

[Roger Goodell]

I don't love it.

[Curtis Martin]

But the Russian guys.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

Is it Russia? I don't.

[Curtis Martin]

I mean, from, like, from Britain, Europe, that area, the wrestling is not too prominent. But the east, but Dagestan, obviously.

[Pat McAfee]

Those guys.

[Curtis Martin]

The mountains out there. Yeah, those guys grew up wrestling bears like Khabib, and it's a lifestyle from a very young age.

[Roger Goodell]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Are they. Feels like that's what the U.S. yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Why don't we do that?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, why do. Why don't we have young Americans wrestling bears so that we can fight in UFC better?

[Curtis Martin]

I don't know. Maybe we should.

[Pat McAfee]

Are we in a transition era, the UFC right now, you think?

[Curtis Martin]

I think we're in, like, a changing of the guard. My era, you know, I got to see the era before me that I was growing up was. I was a fan of these guys like, like George St. Pierre, B.J. penn, Chuck Liddell. I got to see that kind of get transitioned out to this new era, and I think we're going through a little bit of that now. You know, I'm on my way out. Justin Gaethje's on his way out. Kamaru Usman has a few left. Like, it's a changing of the guard right now.

[Pat McAfee]

How about Chandler in his performance that he put down there in Miami? What was Paddy two weeks ago with Patty to batty? It feels like Patty's an upcoming star. Obviously, Chandler from your generation. I think a lot of fights under the belt.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, I fought him in Madison Square Garden a couple years ago.

[Pat McAfee]

Who won?

[Curtis Martin]

Me. He didn't grab the top hand.

[Pat McAfee]

I renek.

[Curtis Martin]

You joked him.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay. Ty has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

So you talked about fighting all around the world and how, like, you know, retirement's coming. We were just a WrestleMania talking to some of these retired wrestlers who, like, I don't want to say they're chasing it, but, like, that feeling of coming down the ramp, like, you. You kind of chase that forever because nothing that you can possibly do is ever going to kind of reach that peak of doing that. Have you thought about that at all? Like, obviously you have other stuff that you're gonna do, but, like, will you ever be able to match the feeling of, like, when you get in the octagon and they close that door and it's like, oh, shit, it's fucking go time.

[Pat McAfee]

And what is going through your mind while you're walking to the octagon and they shut the door?

[Curtis Martin]

I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to find something to fill that, you know? Never make me feel like that again. It's kind of tunnel. I mean, during the walk, when you walk out the back into the stadium and the fans are crazy and you see the ring and your music's playing, I mean, it's kind of tunnel vision.

[Pat McAfee]

You're just.

[Curtis Martin]

You're not thinking. You're just going. You know, you definitely. It's tunnel vision. But, God, I hope I find something.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, because they shut that door, though.

[Curtis Martin]

They locked that door. And you hear it. Oh, yes, you're in there. Nobody's coming to save you.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. That's. I assume that's a feeling. Oh, yeah. That I don't. I would not like to experience. That is a gladiator like, feeling that only few men have and women have. I feel like that is a feeling, though, that you enjoy. Like, that sound, of course.

[Curtis Martin]

And to be honest, I'm scared to death in the moment, but I just. I love it. Nothing ever is going to feel like that, you know, I don't see how it could.

[Pat McAfee]

You have sweet tattoos all over.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Roger Goodell]

You know, you could do you work at a zoo and feed, like, the lines and tigers and stuff. And they lock the gate.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Just you.

[Roger Goodell]

And then it might be a Similar feeling. I don't know. I've never done it, but. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Ask Governor Jeff Landry if you can feed that tiger down.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, just go alligator hunt.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's.

[Curtis Martin]

That's probably pretty dangerous.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. In the water, though.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah. Now I'm staying on the boat.

[Pat McAfee]

No, we need to chase the feeling.

[AJ Hawk]

You gotta choke out the game.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't even know.

[Curtis Martin]

They don't even have a neck, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's. You tell me you're trying to find it.

[Boston Connor]

Find that button.

[Pat McAfee]

I think if you pull, those guys.

[Curtis Martin]

Can rest bears, we can wrestle gators.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. Yeah. Landre is trying to do that. I think if you put them on their back, you can rub their stomachs.

[Ty Schmidt]

They go to sleep, they fall asleep instantly.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think that is what I seen on the.

[Curtis Martin]

I think that's a lizard.

[Roger Goodell]

Is just a big list.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't. I don't know if you ga. As much as. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Diamond.

[Boston Connor]

Something I feel like that happens in UFC is like, after the fights sometimes, like, you and whoever you fought or, you know, you know, and other guys as well. Well, like, go, you know, show respect and then maybe get a drink after, kind of yuck it up about the fight. How is your relationship with other fighters and how does that go sometimes when it's like, hey, I just trained for, you know, three, four months thinking about you, hating you, and now that the fight's over, like, yeah, let's go, you know, share an ice cold beer.

[Curtis Martin]

I would say 95% of the time it is that we think about each other every night. Going to sleep, wake up thinking about this guy trying to train to hurt me. I'm doing the same. And then we go out there and push each other to our limits and experience something that only us together can bring out of each other. So it's kind of special moment between us, pushing each other to the limit. And then after, we can shake hands and just be normal people. We don't have to be the fighters anymore. We can grab a drink and talk about fighting, talk about life, and it's cool. But sometimes in the lead up to some of these fights, there's no coming back from some of the things said.

[Pat McAfee]

And.

[Curtis Martin]

And, you know, we'll fight again if we run into each other after. Yeah, but not like I said, 95 of the time. It's respect.

[Pat McAfee]

Cool. Yeah, I know who you're talking about. I think everybody knows who you're talking about in that particular case, and we don't need to talk about that now. But when was the last time you got in a fight outside of a cage? You can't, right? You go to jail forever.

[Curtis Martin]

I haven't fought someone outside of of an octagon since I was 17 years old, probably.

[Ty Schmidt]

Did you beat the out of that?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

AJ said he wanted to roll around a little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

Come on now.

[Curtis Martin]

I would love to, man. I worked out this morning. I'm good.

[Pat McAfee]

What is the training routine right now? I asked you about the dieting. What is the dieting? Whenever you're getting the lifestyle, you say.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, right now back home, I'm just kind of skill focused, like doing jiu jitsu, doing kickboxing, things like that. I'm not in training camp. I'll start in May, go to South Florida and do my whole training camp there. I would do nine weeks, but I'm still in Louisiana right now. And I'm bouncing around to my buddy's gyms. I have a private gym. We'll set up personal sessions where a good couple of good guys will come into my gym, we'll roll around for a while, work on small things. But I'm always running, always lifting, and always in the gym. But I'm not specific fight focused at this moment. When I get to South Florida in May, me and my team will sit down, watch some footage, and kind of start prepping.

[Pat McAfee]

Weight cutting. You've been in two different weight classes, obviously. Is there for this fight coming up, are you going to have to cut massive amount of weight?

[Curtis Martin]

Honestly, I'm pretty. I'm probably like 177, 176 pounds right now, this morning. So that's 20 pounds away. That's not bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so 20 pounds is not bad?

[Curtis Martin]

No, this is great.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Especially this far out.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, this is perfect.

[Pat McAfee]

Would it be a gradual weight loss until the fight, or is there something like the last week that is hell, both. Both.

[Curtis Martin]

So I'm gonna probably start camp around 177, 176 pounds, about what I'm at right now. And then over the next eight, nine weeks, I'm gonna be on a calorie deficiency through the whole training camp. And I'll probably show up to fight week around 168, 167. And I'll cut 11 or 12 pounds of water. Dehydrating that week.

[Pat McAfee]

That's like a real science, right? That entire. That's a massive part of the fight game. People hate it. It's a very, like.

[Curtis Martin]

It's the. It's the worst part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you wrestle in High school, I assume.

[Curtis Martin]

I didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

You did not wrestle in high school?

[Dustin Poirier]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

So you're just walking around fighting people in Louisiana?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

That is awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are awesome. You fighters are the best. I would let you know that. That the weight cutting, though, in high school wrestling, I think, is a big topic of discussion. Obviously, in boxing, it's a big topic of discussion. Ufc, it's a big topic of discussion. It's just part of the sport. Is that just kind of.

[Curtis Martin]

Otherwise, you're undersized. If I fought at 170 pounds, I'd be fighting guys who weigh 190, 200 pounds. So I'd be at a disadvantage, you know, and maybe at the beginning levels, it's. It's not as crazy, but once you fight the best, like all my fights, I'm fighting the best guys of my era. I'm fighting the best guys in the world. 20 pounds is a big deal. When somebody's on top of you in the third, fourth, fifth round, you know, it's just. You're at a disadvantage. You have to. I'd rather not do it, but I have to.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm 240 pounds right now. AJ, what are you.

[Curtis Martin]

You'd be a 205.

[AJ Hawk]

240.

[Pat McAfee]

I'd be a 205.

[Curtis Martin]

Light heavyweight problem.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So I'd be fighting everybody that's. They throw bombs.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Light heavyweight is the.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, they're big, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Pereira.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, exactly. These guys are walking around 230, 240.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Curtis Martin]

But now some of them, not all.

[Mike McCarthy]

Now, you know, you got the Chico.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't wait to do that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I'm. I'm a call back to this moment. I'm going, say, Diamond Top in this. Get out of that whole thing. Well, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your announcement of your retirement fight. July 19th. Max all the way. BMF title on the line in New Orleans. Tickets go on sale May 14th.

[Curtis Martin]

Tickets go on sale to the public.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I assume that's going to sell out very quickly, especially you going back home for your last ever. Congratulations on an incredible career. Congratulations on what will be a very electrifying final fight, and thank you for everything you've done for us, putting your body through hell for our entertainment.

[Curtis Martin]

I appreciate it. But we got one more hell to walk through. July 19th.

[Pat McAfee]

I like that. Go out. You got to make sure you go out on top. Yeah. As somebody that retired after making the Pro bowl, you know.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Punting a little bit different.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Punting a little bit different. But I'll tell you ending and I'm.

[Curtis Martin]

Going out on my terms, man. I'm not getting squeezed out of this. I'm not letting the sport retire me. I'm retiring from the sport and I'm.

[Pat McAfee]

Going to let you know this. There's a lot of people that can't do that.

[Curtis Martin]

Yeah, I know a lot in our sport.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a lot of people that can't do that. I was a punter, so I don't want to compare myself to anybody else. It is really nice whenever you're done for the next 10 years to be like, still got it, you know, Especially because you go out on top. Those guys that kind of fall out, I think forever, they have a doubt in their mind. If you go out on top, you forever have a confidence about, like if I needed to, I could still go back.

[Curtis Martin]

Exactly how beautiful is this? I get to go out on top. Potentially getting my hand raised, leaving the sport, retiring from the sport with the world championship belt on a pay per view. Come on, man at home, let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You need to make it a fairy tale, not a nightmare brother. Good luck on all the work. Can't wait to watch your training camp and can't wait to watch. July 19th, you and Max Holloway battle for the BMF title. For a five round battle Holloway Poirier three for the BMF title July 19th in New Orleans. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, Diamond Dustin Poirier.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, show them.

[Ty Schmidt]

Little teach tape here.

[Boston Connor]

Careful now. Careful with those ears.

[AJ Hawk]

Boom.

[Boston Connor]

Uhoh. Smart street magician, smart.

[Pat McAfee]

Thanks, buddy. Appreciate you.

[AJ Hawk]

Good luck.

[Roger Goodell]

Thanks man.

[Pat McAfee]

That was awesome. He has a great watch.

[Ty Schmidt]

I appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

She shout out we appreciate you. Huh? David Payne.

[AJ Hawk]

David Payne.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Oh, I like that bar. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Little bit.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

If you were taking my David Payne the magician, steal your watch and break your n like.

[Ty Schmidt]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

David Payne. That's good dog, dude. We appreciate you, Dustin. July 19th, it's perfect. In the summer it's gonna be a thousand degrees down there. Better be A.C. where's all the way from?

[Ty Schmidt]

Hawaii.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so he's used to.

[Ty Schmidt]

He'll handle it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Got from the north maybe. July 19th, New Orleans. Oh, oh, that's gonna be 120.

[Roger Goodell]

We were there in February and it was.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how you. I don't know how you whites do it down here. I'll be honest. If I was in New Orleans, I. I would not be able to exist like it's like Florida. My body type is not meant. Yes, definitely thick. So thick down there.

[Boston Connor]

Is that gator?

[Pat McAfee]

It is a gator down there. That's what you need to worry about. We appreciate you, man. Thank you. Guy with great mustache and team over there. We appreciate you guys. Okay, let's wrap up today after, before we head into the weekend. I thought I had him.

[Roger Goodell]

I thought you did.

[Boston Connor]

You did. When he had l. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He didn't expect these.

[AJ Hawk]

He did expect these.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, I, I. You know, I want him. I want to keep that on. On our feet.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think I want to get to the ground, but you could tell I wasn't worried about it.

[AJ Hawk]

No, no. You probably should have been, but natural, I would have been worried.

[Pat McAfee]

So I had that thing in there. Yeah. Could you imagine if I actually. Actually did tighten that up and just piss him off? Oh, no, put him down. No, I would have put him down. Yeah. Definitely pissed them off just enough for you. Look, look, I was. I had him right there. I think I had him. I think I had him. Look, I think.

[Roger Goodell]

Yep, you do look calm.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, there's a chance. I had some vitamins. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. We're not. We're having a good time here.

[Roger Goodell]

He was eyeing AJ up earlier. He's like, oh, big tree. Fall hard.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, right. Because somebody said that AJ was looking to wrestle him.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, he was. Earlier. I saw it. I know. Gunter's shaking and his claws.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, J, you want to attack him from behind? Me?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, I wouldn't take on 120lbs.

[Pat McAfee]

MMA fighter, let alone 170lbs going into his retirement fight. He's 36 years old, 50 fights under his belt.

[Boston Connor]

Legend.

[AJ Hawk]

One of the best ever to do it, like, ever.

[Boston Connor]

Let's get out.

[Pat McAfee]

And also a gentleman.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Roger Goodell]

And a scholar.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see the king of diamonds? That was so cool.

[Roger Goodell]

Thought about getting it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, me too.

[Roger Goodell]

I don't know what it means, but I'm thinking about, hey, what's the king of D?

[Pat McAfee]

A diamond, obviously.

[Boston Connor]

Diamond.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the diamond king. That tattoo. Sweet.

[AJ Hawk]

You're the king.

[Pat McAfee]

That's cute. We love romance. We love love around here. We'll have tattoos matching. See you guys. Thank you. Congratulations.

[Ty Schmidt]

That guy's yellow jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

First ballot, yellow jacket.

[Roger Goodell]

Yellow jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

As soon as he lays the gloves down, he'll probably come in with a yellow jacket Over Holloway, he was the one that said, yeah, let's do it.

[Boston Connor]

Gaethje, right here, right?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why he's the bmf.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's gonna be a great fight. That's great.

[Boston Connor]

It's going down.

[Pat McAfee]

The ufc, There's a lot of conversation about the UFC in the state that they're in right now with the fighters, the style of fighting, who the fighters are, everything like that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think they're going next.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

For a new deal.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Dana is, I think, in the middle of. I don't. He. He talked about the eras kind of turning over, but I think fight styles. I think there's a lot of change happening over there. And you. I'm a casual, but I do watch, so it's like, I do watch all the fights. I appreciate the spectacle that it is. I. Obviously we know him because how many fights he's been in, I don't know the ins and outs of it. I mean, I think I could tap them out right there. Sure. You know, just from all my activity of watching this entire thing. But I appreciate the hell out of the mentality of being able to walk into a cage for our entertainment. And obviously he's done it a lot of times. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, he's one of the goats.

[Pat McAfee]

He talks about the sound of whenever the cage shuts. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

The click.

[Pat McAfee]

That click, I assume, is like Pavlov's dogs.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Type thing. It's like a killer be killed. We talk about, you know, Oklahoma, drill, bull and ring, all that stuff in football. And AJ's mindset, literally his entire life has been, well, it's either me dying or somebody else. That's their actual.

[AJ Hawk]

It's real.

[Pat McAfee]

That's their actual feeling in this entire thing. You used to be MMA guy, weren't you?

[AJ Hawk]

I actually. I co hosted an MMA show kicking. Oh, yeah, there you go.

[Roger Goodell]

That too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yours kicks actually a little better than mine.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot better than mine. Isn't that what you did, though? You did a whole.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, it was just a workout type that we weren't like. We weren't technical at all by any means. Hopefully they don't have it in the back to pull it up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we didn't find that video. Some mixed martial arts.

[Roger Goodell]

But you hosted MMA show on series.

[AJ Hawk]

For like two years. Yeah, man, I loved it.

[Pat McAfee]

It's called the AJ Hawk workout.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Queen.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm like a rock.

[Mike McCarthy]

There it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Look at this. That's a punchy one. We need to get to the kicking one. It was the best. Mike Durant knows his strongest.

[AJ Hawk]

One, two and a bootle little tackle.

[Pat McAfee]

Get to the kicks. Oh, I got swim. Yeah, there it is.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, oh, look at those shorts.

[Pat McAfee]

We need two people to attack me from the side. I got it figured out. Bang. Stay back.

[AJ Hawk]

I wish I would have known what I was doing.

[Pat McAfee]

You look good.

[AJ Hawk]

You should have someone teach me. We were just working out, trying to get tires.

[Roger Goodell]

Mike Durant taught you the one two tackle. That was.

[AJ Hawk]

That was a little good tackle.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Maybe you need to do that on the field. Not flip people off like a. A jag off.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I tell you what, seeing Big Mike's face when I came in there like he was. So we didn't see.

[Pat McAfee]

Get on the same page here. Sore straight. What we doing?

[AJ Hawk]

What are you doing?

[Pat McAfee]

Anything else? We haven't talked about that we should talk about Jimmy Butler being hurt for the Golden State Warriors. Feels like a big deal. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Massive deal. And the Rockets just kind of beat the bag out of him once. Jimmy got her too. So that.

[Pat McAfee]

That series, whole different team. How he's like actually injured, right?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, he's actually injured. I believe it's a. Yeah, here's the play, Chase. Yeah, it was pretty vicious. And I believe it's a pelvis. There it is.

[Roger Goodell]

It's a pelvis bruise.

[Pat McAfee]

So you would hope that maybe that would be. Any bruise you have on a bone is obviously incredibly painful. Yeah, I think I heard Chuck talking about it. I heard him giving a quote about Toradol and everything like that. I don't know how severe this bruise is, but you would hope there'd be some sort of pick because without him, they're a completely different team this year. I mean, that's why the trade was such a big deal, is because he's such a dog, him. Draymond. I mean, that's a far fall there. Yeah, that's wood. That. That is. I don't know how that doesn't happen more often.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

In basketball, to be honest. Obviously saw with jaw, with his hip, and then we see Jimmy Butler get low bridged here and that's like a real.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That changes the course of the entire playoffs. Right?

[Boston Connor]

For sure. Especially with, you know, I think there are 8, 18 and 4 with Jimmy. And what they did game one where you know, people were like, what's going to happen here with Jimmy? And Steph both won the ball. They both did. Unbelievable. Jimmy Butler had like 21 points in their first initial play in game. But yeah, that'll definitely alter the Western Conference. But they've been a little different with the days off. So far in the NBA playoffs. It hasn't been as consistently every other day as it was in the past. I feel.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let's. Let's wrap up some NFL draft news. There was a very powerful yet sad story happening around the Pittsburgh Steelers. Draft pick. Harmon, D tackle, gets drafted to Pittsburgh Steelers. He then drove to the hospital. His mom was on life support, I believe, to go tell her that he got drafted and everything like that. I guess they are reporting potentially, you know, passed away. Yeah, like, that's a.

[Roger Goodell]

That's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Obviously, a powerful member. Jerry Dulak, who's been reporting on the Pittsburgh Steelers for a very long time in Pittsburgh, says that Derek Harmon's mom, who was on life support, passed away shortly after he went to the hospital and got to tell her he had been drafted by the Steelers. That's incredibly emotional. I couldn't imagine what that's been like for the family and everything like that. And, yeah, that's a weight that Derek is going to carry, I assume, for the rest of his life. And just know that in Pittsburgh, brother, you're going to have a family of people around you. And that story is tough. That's a very tough thing to learn about, especially last night.

[Roger Goodell]

Super tough. Yeah. He was originally played at Michigan State, stayed close to home because of his mom's health. Entered the transfer. Porter originally decided to stay at home again because of his mom. And the story goes, she was like, go to Oregon. Do your thing or whatever. Obviously gets drafted. And, you know, it's crazy. There's tons of stories of people holding on just as long. Like, she was probably holding on until draft night, he tells her, you know, hopefully she passed peacefully, however that goes. But no, that's a. That's a tough, bittersweet situation is what he said. But, yeah, that's. That's. That's tough for the kids.

[Pat McAfee]

Derek, another city of Pittsburgh's gonna rally around you, bro, and they're pumped to have you. Now, I know Shador was potentially projected to the Pittsburgh Steelers at 21. They spend that pick on a D lineman. Feels like that was the story of the first round. What will the story of the second round be? Will it be more of the skill positions? Will it remain in the trenches? What will tonight be like? Tone, what are the projections?

[Roger Goodell]

So, obviously off the top, Shedor is the favorite to go to the Browns.

[Pat McAfee]

By who, though, exactly?

[Roger Goodell]

The books, however. You're right. 100% right there. But the Browns have two.

[Pat McAfee]

That's real. That's real.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They need to have a real conversation about this.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, well, it's all speculate, so you know what a lot of the. A Lot of the reaction this morning was from people with level heads was. And Strangs was saying a lot last night. He should have never been mocked that high because none of the teams actually said he was going to go that high. So that it was a lot of, you know, they're saying unfair to Shador. Unfair to Shador. A lot of media driven and then a lot of fans are reacting today like, you know, like he should have gone there when a lot of none of the NFL team said he would have. So here we are maybe going in the top of the second round, maybe where he should have been. But no DJ said there's could be a run on a lot of wide receivers early in this draft or early in the second round. Luther Burdens out there, who is, you know, going to be a great draft pick coming out of last year. The Iowa State wide receivers. There's a ton of wide receivers. You know, there's a ton of Ohio State talent. Both running backs, both DNS. There's a lot of guys left out there. Quarterbacks all the court. Milro like Schneider might not even be the next one.

[Pat McAfee]

Well hired could be Milro.

[Roger Goodell]

Tyler Shuck still out there. Like, there's a lot of talent out there. A lot of teams are still going to get better in the second and third round tonight.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, we should have known when, you know, this past week where it was kind of talked about where the Browns and Giants were open for business at 2 and 3. Like, if that was the case, then they're probably the ones early on, Giants and Browns that are pushing the Shador Sanders kind of narrative, if you will, just because it was, hey, this guy's going.

[Pat McAfee]

Or maybe just insiders and media people are like, this is Deion Sanders kid.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That has to carry some sort of weight. And then just like kind of one thing leads into another and then all of a sudden, Mel Kuiper had the number. He was the number one player on the board.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Mel Kuiper, I guess spent 15 minutes before the draft even started yesterday talking about Shador. And then I guess he had an aneurysm last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

On tv about. Should know. We didn't get a chance to see it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm just seeing everybody's tweets to us Twitter, because we're getting a lot of tweets saying like, thank you for not just focusing on Shador Sanders not getting drafted because I guess that was happening in other places. We celebrated. Literally every person got drafted because it was a huge night for everybody. And Congrats to everybody that got drafted. But there was a lot of people on TV that just assumed that this was going to go this way. And once again, we don't think that was very fair for Shador, like Prime Shador. Everybody in Colorado said like, this guy is the guy, this guy's the guy. Right. Move. I think teams are supposed to do that. Media people that are insiders, that have connections should not have been fanning that flame if that was never the case, which I think we are learning from all of our sources. Like, hey, it was never. This was never really a discussion that we were having. It was just discussion that was happening on tv. It's like, how can that be? Whenever these journalists are so in, in all these conversations and will there ever be a. Never mind. I'm not even. No, I'm not even gonna, not even gonna ask about it. But legit. I think it's unfair to Shador. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean you look at every single and. And again, it's not the end all be all, but it's what we have and it's kind of what we go by. Every single mock that came out, not Triggs, not well, not Shreks, but. But he still had him going to the Steelers at 21. Because he didn't know.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, he didn't know. He said, I'll just throw him.

[Boston Connor]

But.

[Ty Schmidt]

But regardless, we didn't see anything that said, hey, Shadur is not going to go in the first round. Literally everything was like, well, he, he might slide down to the Saints at 9 or you know, the Steelers at 21. There was no one who's allegedly in the know that was saying, hey, like this kid's not going to get drafted in the first round. People don't think he's a first round talent. Luckily he didn't come here, you know, because then, I mean, if it would just magnified everything if he would have been in the green room and then he's sitting in there all night last night, they're showing him non stop and. And he keeps sliding down the board. So at the very least, at least he could do it at home around his family and kind of be on his own terms. I mean they still did the. When the Giants traded back up and when the Steelers.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they were painting both of them.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Going to him. But. But you're right, I mean, you start reading everything like he starts reading everything. There was probably no way in his mind that he was slipping out of the first round.

[Pat McAfee]

I appreciated his messaging afterwards. And we'll just Use this and tomorrow's a new day and move forward. And there's been a lot of draft picks that have dropped.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, in. In the draft. And it's going on to be a great story. I'll be excited to see where he ends up. I'll also be excited to see where we'll hire ends up.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Amen.

[Roger Goodell]

Me too.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that mean?

[Roger Goodell]

Thinking maybe. Maybe he's in black and gold tonight. Third round. We don't have a second round pick, you know, because we used it on DK Metcalf. Congrats to us for getting DK Metcalf in the second round tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Great draft pick.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Paying them 30 million a year.

[Boston Connor]

Smart.

[Pat McAfee]

It was. Great draft pick, you guys. All right, let's get the hell out of here. Thank you to everybody that helped set this up at espn. Great work. Great work setting us up here. Not a lot of time, you know, because I said, oh, we're not going. Thank God we came.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Last night was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

That would have been a bad decision by that 100% on me. We would have been in.

[Boston Connor]

The Thunder made the right one.

[Pat McAfee]

Watching the seed, we would have been so pissed. The sing alongs ever happened.

[Dustin Poirier]

Happen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God, what a moment. Thank you, the NFL, for making this happen. Roger Goodell, McCarthy team up here.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, right.

[Roger Goodell]

Not here.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to this, the spinner guy. He's one that's tossing us cheese all the time. Tossing that pillow.

[Roger Goodell]

So sick of that.

[Pat McAfee]

Can you go to the wide shop, please?

[Boston Connor]

Jesus.

[Ty Schmidt]

Spins.

[Pat McAfee]

No, the. There he is.

[Ty Schmidt]

There he is. Cheese to spin.

[Pat McAfee]

We put a little heat on him last night. He dropped a. Dropped the pillow.

[Boston Connor]

He did.

[Pat McAfee]

He's a good spinner. Hey, hey, hey. What was those things back in the day?

[Boston Connor]

The sticks with the tummy?

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, no.

[Boston Connor]

You throw it up.

[Ty Schmidt]

Smack the thing in the middle around.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, there's no. There was no.

[Boston Connor]

I thought there was like that thing that had like a. It was like two back and forth and it like rolled back and forth.

[Pat McAfee]

No, there was no string.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was like another piece of wood almost.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you remember those smacking around?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, I never had one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I don't think I had anything.

[Boston Connor]

The pressure's not on.

[AJ Hawk]

It was like a circus thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You battle and then you hit it up and it did what this guy's doing.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

But it was with the stick. How about those servers? Servers can, like, spin.

[Ty Schmidt]

Darlington.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Jeff.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I forgot. He just sit there, spins everything in the background. Yeah. Oh, you like his book? Boom.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

I have not seen you can spin a person.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's done it on talented human being.

[Pat McAfee]

He can spin you right now.

[AJ Hawk]

He's friends with Brady Quinn, my brother. Was he spin Brady?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I certainly puts Brady up on his little knocks. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Don't ask how.

[Pat McAfee]

Brady's actually up and down like this, so. I get it.

[Boston Connor]

I get it.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you Boys in the truck. Great work this week.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good work, boys.

[AJ Hawk]

He's up and down.

[Pat McAfee]

AJ Hawker. AJ Hawk, ladies and gentlemen.

[AJ Hawk]

Man, that's amazing, people. Been great.

[Boston Connor]

Look how wet.

[AJ Hawk]

They're soaking wet, everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

Man, the we never went to the moon sign has been a little bit. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

From the start of the show.

[Pat McAfee]

That right there, that thing sitting over Raj Goodell's shoulder.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Certainly something. Can't wait to see what people write about that. Obviously, we wrote that sign and put it out there. You know, that wasn't that guy that did that. No free will.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot. Yeah. Allowed to do that, but I'm sure it'll be somehow. Nonetheless, boys, great work. Mad Mel, fantastic job. Coach Mike McCarthy was awesome. Triggs was awesome. Green Bay was awesome. And they continue here throughout the weekend. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Hey, Hendrix. Ball security.

[Boston Connor]

Hold on, kid.

[Roger Goodell]

Ball security. Kid.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, will you. Will you come out here? What is his middle name?

[AJ Hawk]

Knight. Hendrix. Nighthawk.

[Pat McAfee]

Awesome.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, step brothers, once we saw step brothers came out. It's with a K, but.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you should bring the ball there for sure. We did it.

[Roger Goodell]

Nighthawk.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Bring the ball for sure.

[Roger Goodell]

God, that's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, you did great work this week, buddy.

[AJ Hawk]

These guys ears in. He gave him some ears today.

[Pat McAfee]

Can you hear us right now? You can. Great work. You passed out on the couch last night. Refusing to leave was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Never want to be that guy at the party, but I do appreciate you having that mindset of. You know what? I'm comfortable right here, dad. Get out of my hair. Thank you for hanging out with us the last couple days. You're welcome here whenever and whenever you're 6 foot 5. I hope you beat the shit out of your dad. Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

I tell them all the time. They all my boys all ask me, I can't wait to do Oklahoma drill. I said, you're gonna be bigger than me eventually, and I'm still gonna dominate you until the day I die.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Cause you'll put that thing. You're gonna have the same. I think. I think he's gonna have chance.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he's trying.

[Pat McAfee]

I think he's gonna have a knock.

[AJ Hawk]

On his head every once in a while, see how hard it is, and hopefully it's hardening up.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got two hands on that ball right there.

[Roger Goodell]

Yeah, he do.

[Pat McAfee]

I tried to shake your hand up here to get the one hand. I was gonna. Oh, I was gonna get you. But I appreciate what you're doing. Mike Foss, great work, brother Faso, Great work. And let's get the hell out of here. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Shout out to these people. Thank you all so much. We're in a sing together here.

[AJ Hawk]

Go ahead.

[Pat McAfee]

Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three, team. Goodbye. Have a great weekend.

[Roger Goodell]

Hey, I'm Brad Milke.

[Pat McAfee]

You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast. Start here. But I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm gonna make it happen. Every week, I'm gonna unpack the biggest.

[Roger Goodell]

True crime story that everyone is talking about.

[Pat McAfee]

ABC's got some unique access here, so I'll talk to the reporters and producers.

[Roger Goodell]

Who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll bring you the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best. Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame and power until a all came crashing down.

[Roger Goodell]

Federal investigators raiding two homes owned by.

[Pat McAfee]

Hip hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal contributor.

[Pat McAfee]

As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall. And what could be next? Listen to Bad Rap the Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.