PMS 2.0 1332 - Bills GM Brandon Beane, Rams GM Les Snead, Jeff Passan, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1332

Release Date: April 29, 2025

Guests: Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills GM), Les Snead (Los Angeles Rams GM), Jeff Passan (ESPN MLB Insider), Darius Butler, AJ Hawk

---

1. Introduction

Pat McAfee kicks off the episode with his signature energy, teasing an upcoming wrestling match against Gunther scheduled for the following Saturday in St. Louis. He sets the stage for a day packed with sports discussions, featuring prominent guests like Bills GM Brandon Beane and Rams GM Les Snead. Pat emphasizes the blend of insider expertise and relatable antics that characterize the show.

Notable Quote:

• Pat McAfee [00:00]: "Sports are happening all around us, and we're so incredibly lucky and thankful that we get to talk about them every single day."

---

2. Wrestling News: Pat’s Upcoming Match

Pat delves into his wrestling storyline, describing his confrontation with Gunther. He humorously recounts Gunther’s intimidating reputation and Pat’s preparations for the match, including unconventional training methods like hitting his chest with bamboo to build resilience.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [03:50]: "Gunther is a beast. Gunther is a dog. Gunther's in his prime."
• Pat McAfee [03:58]: "I'd rather get my ass kicked for standing up for my friend than to be a coward."

---

3. National Hockey League (NHL) Playoffs

The conversation shifts to the NHL playoffs, where Pat and his co-hosts discuss thrilling games and standout performances. They highlight key moments such as Ekblad’s impactful plays for the Panthers and the Stars’ dominance over the Avalanche, emphasizing the intensity and unpredictability of the postseason.

Notable Quotes:

• AJ Hawk [07:34]: "He buried Hagle. No penalty called."
• Pat McAfee [08:36]: "Feels like you got the D line figured out. It feels like that is..."

---

4. National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs

Pat and his guests analyze the NBA playoff landscape, focusing on teams like the Warriors, Cavaliers, Pacers, and Celtics. They discuss Jimmy Butler’s return to form, Steph Curry’s stellar performances, and the Pacers' impressive run led by Tyrese Haliburton. The conversation also touches on the Cleveland Cavaliers' historic playoff sweep against the Miami Heat.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [10:14]: "Jimmy Butler's back. Boy. Well, a lot of people are going to be getting out of Miami."
• Ty Schmidt [10:54]: "You gotta fear him. You gotta have a healthy fear."

---

5. Buffalo Bills' Draft Strategy with GM Brandon Beane

In an in-depth segment, Brandon Beane discusses the Buffalo Bills' approach to the NFL Draft. He emphasizes the importance of building a strong defensive line and the strategic decisions behind selecting tight ends like Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid, and Zach Davidson. Beane elaborates on the team’s focus on culture fit and the meticulous process of evaluating prospects based on both talent and character.

Notable Quotes:

• Brandon Beane [25:04]: "We kind of build our board that way. You start and you're building your board in the fall just off of what you're watching on film."
• Pat McAfee [25:04]: "They need to start knocking on this man's door."

---

6. Los Angeles Rams' Draft Insights with GM Les Snead

Les Snead joins the conversation to share insights into the Rams' draft strategy. He highlights the significance of defensive line selections and the Rams' commitment to strengthening their front office. Les also reflects on the emotional and collaborative experience of drafting at a firehouse, underscoring the team's dedication to honoring first responders.

Notable Quotes:

• Les Snead [78:11]: "How's it going, guys?"
• Les Snead [87:12]: "He was just a pup and he wasn't there yet."

---

7. Major League Baseball (MLB) Discussion with Jeff Passan and Adam Pierce

Jeff Passan and Adam Pierce provide an analysis of the MLB season, focusing on standout players like Aaron Judge and emerging talents such as Paul Skeens. They debate the evolving strategies in pitching and batting, including the controversial use of torpedo bats and the impact of advanced analytics on player performance and injury prevention.

Notable Quotes:

• Jeff Passan [131:05]: "Paul Skeens is so good as a hitter, so much better than everyone else as a hitter, that I think he's a little underappreciated."
• Adam Pierce [132:56]: "There's nothing out there at this point that anyone knows that for certain is going to keep pitchers healthy."

---

8. George Kittle’s Contract Extension

A significant moment in the episode is the discussion surrounding George Kittle’s new four-year, $76.4 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Beane praises Kittle's performance and character, noting his status as one of the best team builders in the NFL despite the absence of a Super Bowl win. The conversation underscores the value of Kittle’s dual-threat ability as both a blocker and a receiver.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [20:09]: "George Kittle has earned this. There were stats that came out about George Kittle last season."
• Jeff Passan [22:37]: "If I'm Kincaid, I might want to think about getting in there early."

---

9. NFL Draft Strategies and Cultural Fit

Brandon Beane and Jeff Passan delve deeper into the intricacies of draft strategies, emphasizing the importance of selecting players who not only perform on the field but also enhance the team’s culture. They discuss the challenges of balancing immediate needs with long-term team building, and how trades and draft picks are maneuvered to secure the best talent.

Notable Quotes:

• Brandon Beane [26:26]: "We have some of those, especially when we get inside five picks."
• Jeff Passan [27:55]: "I like that you got his impersonation down."

---

10. Final Thoughts and Upcoming Episodes

As the episode draws to a close, Pat reflects on the diverse range of topics covered, from the NFL and NBA playoffs to the ongoing MLB season and his wrestling match preparations. He teases upcoming episodes featuring more general managers and highlights the show’s commitment to providing comprehensive sports coverage infused with humor and relatable commentary.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [161:34]: "Have a great time, tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together."
• Pat McAfee [164:29]: "Every week I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about."

---

Conclusion

This episode of The Pat McAfee Show offers a rich tapestry of sports discussions, blending in-depth analysis with Pat’s trademark humor and personal anecdotes. From strategic insights into the NFL Draft with top GMs to passionate debates on baseball pitching strategies and the excitement of upcoming wrestling matches, the show delivers a comprehensive and engaging experience for sports enthusiasts.

---

All notable quotes are attributed with approximate timestamps for reference.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this I'm fighting Gunther next Saturday, Tuesday. This show starts now. Sports are happening all around us, and we're so incredibly lucky and thankful that we get to talk about them every single day. Obviously, there's NFL news that are always popping off. And today we have a couple general managers joining us. Brandon Bean of the Buffalo Bills will join us in about 20 minutes. You might know him from running the Buffalo Bills. You might run know him from, you know, the draft that he just did this past weekend. You might also know him from a local radio hit that he did yesterday with Jeremy and Joe up there where he said, I'm about sick of you guys bitching about wide receivers. Did we not just put up 30 points? Why are you guys upset? In 2018, you guys wanted me to draft Josh Rosen over Josh Allen. Okay? So now we're doing the same thing. Brandon Bean is a human who happens to be friend of the program who also happens to be one of the best team builders I think that there is in the National Football League. Has his team won the Super Super Bowl? No, but they're certainly working every day to get there. He'll chit chat with us in about 19 minutes. I can't wait to get his take on everything that happened during the NFL draft. And in the second hour, we got Les Steed.

[Les Snead]

Ooh.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Yeah, Les, the Los Angeles Rams general manager will join us as well. We're going to have a conversation about baseball at the end of the show. Jeff Passon is going to join us, fresh off of his Monday night raw appearance. Last night, him and the Passen boys looked like they had an absolute. But let's go, let's go. He said Hart. Otc. Otc. Okay, okay. Otc. I thought he was giving a heart there a little bit. He did acknowledge his tribal chief, which I respect and appreciate. Had great seats. And last night was a great show. Great show last night. Seth Rollins, Bron Breaker, Paul Heyman. I feel like they're gonna be a problem. Yeah, I feel like they're gonna be a problem. How about Becky lynch is saying, yeah, I jumped Bayley. So what? Deal with it.

[AJ Hawk]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So I could be tag teamed with Lyra Valkyria, and then I would attack Lyra Valkyria. Becky lynch, literally, in a matter of two moves. Pum pum, pum pum was a champ again. She's back now she's at the top gun for the title. It's like super genius type stuff. Yeah. Obviously, she and Seth freakin Rollins could be scheming at all times around their child that they have together in their family while they're cooking. And also, I forced Smackdown's version of Adam Pierce, Mr. Aldis, who former champion in his own right, handsome lad, great middle manager, to allow me to fight Gunther, which I will be doing next Saturday at Backlash. So last night was electrifying. Last night was fantastic. And last night, I got to tell the world that that guy sitting down there next to me, he's the Goat. And if you want a piece of listen, you're gonna have to go through me now. Gunther is a beast. Gunther is a dog. Gunther's in his prime. Gunther literally only spends moments of his life trying to beat up other people. So while I'm here talking about sports, having a good time with the boys, following along with everything else, all Gunther's doing is preparing to hurt people. I understand that, but what he needs to know is I ain't no. Huh? What? Michael Clark, this ain't no okay. Especially if you're gonna mess with the Goat, who happens to be one of my best friends. I don't think so. So his ban has been lifted, and we have a match now in St. Louis at Backlash. And I saw his response. He put a little laughing face at it. He's like, okay, Gunther. Okay, Bob, listen, I understand you got an incredibly strong jawline. I understand your presence is wild. But I want to let you know, been hitting my chest with bamboo.

[Darius Butler]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Been hitting my chest with bamboo since last Monday, thinking that this is possible. Just been banging bamboo off of my chest like I'm Karate Kid getting this thing ready. He is a guy that likes to thump.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He is a chopper, a slapper, a puncher. He is a meaty man that's not scared to beat you down. Well, guess what? I could become that, too. Hell, yeah, I'm ready for that.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Huh? I punched that punching machine over there. Game buster. Harder than ever. Harder than anybody in the history of the world.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw some guy on the Internet hit one of these things at a weight room. I don't know if you saw this guy. He looked like he was, I don't know, 290. Completely jacked up. He got all jacked up about a 9:15 or something like that. It was like, yeah, 9:15 is fun. Me and Bruce do that left handed, you know, in this entire thing. So if he wants to go ahead and get into the chop world, I think I may work some of those as well because you can turn a knockout punch, which I have one. I don't have titanium in here, but this thing has been around town a couple times. He just opened that thing up. What if I'm a what if? What if I didn't even know in my preparation of Gunther in this chop world that maybe I got an okay one as well. We're going to find out. There's a chance I get my ass kicked out. There certainly is. But just know that I'd rather get my ass kicked for standing up for my friend than to be a coward and back away whenever some bully comes in and starts messing with a 60 year old goat. So I'm excited. Last night was awesome in Kansas City. Great crowd. Yeah, great crowd in the home of the chief. They went with me.

[Darius Butler]

They did.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know if I had the. I got really hit the rhythm here, you know. They went completely. There's a lot of signs around there. I. I enjoyed the hell out of Kansas City last night. Very thank. As we continue on the Wild World of Professional Wrestling. Lucky to be a part of the WWE this Friday, I'll be live from New York Times Square. The ring will be putting on a fight. I think you've heard about it. There's five fights actually happening in Times Square. I'll be doing a nice solo ISO setup from there. Doing it. I think we're gonna have some special guests. I think a lot of people are coming through. I think a lot of people are coming through. And just the thought of being able to do a show live from Times Square, I said I'll do that.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So that should be fun on Friday. Getting in the boxing world.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

In the big apple. Friday, May 2nd in the big Apple in Times Square with one of the biggest boxing events of all time. Is it the biggest card of all time? No. Garcia's on there though.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Garcia's on there. And I think he's just, he's good again. I think he's just like Ryan Garcia.

[Darius Butler]

Just a human normal guy.

[Pat McAfee]

Ryan Garcia, best camp of his life.

[Connor]

What do you mean?

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure he is.

[AJ Hawk]

He's not doing all.

[Pat McAfee]

He had the most insane camp I've ever seen. He had the most wild promo that I've ever seen. He won. That certainly was an interesting dynamic, you know, because whenever you see people crash out, appear publicly, especially in the fight game, you think to yourself, this person's got no chance because the other person has not been crashing out. And instead Ryan Garcia Public crash out seemingly through the entire promo and then he wins the fight. It was like, whoa, was that a work? Was that all? Was that all a work? Was that all for promo? I'm not sure this one fully focused. Obviously it's Times Square. There's going to be memorable moments, there's going to be memorable shots and I'm lucky enough that I'm going to be, you know, right there, I guess standing right next to the ring. Yeah. Okay. Should be a fun time. The talks at tables here at Boston, Connor and at Ty Schmidt, one half of the Hammer, Don Cowboys AP Tone is here. Nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. We'll be talking football obviously with the GMs, but there's other sports taking over right now. Con man. Last night you said you watched all of the NHL.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Panthers, Lightning. It was probably one of the best hockey games I've seen in a long time. That wasn't four nations and wasn't Bruins game. It's, you know, one nothing. And Ekblad for the Panthers, who's just coming back off a 20 game suspension. He buries Hagle. No penalty called. John Cooper, the head coach of the Lightning, pissed off Lightning respond in a big way. Scored twice in I don't know, 30 seconds, maybe a minute. And John Cooper, who is an NHL hockey coach and as we know NHL players, they don't show much emotion in general. John Cooper loses his shit on the bench after they score this second goal to go up two, one.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

Fist bumps.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right. He's yelling. That's right, bitch. Basically to.

[Pat McAfee]

That never happens at Hawk.

[AJ Hawk]

Never happens. Especially a guy like.

[Pat McAfee]

I love it. We need more of this.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, incredible. And then unfortunately for John Cooper, then the, the Cats come back, they score twice in about 15 seconds to win the game. Ekblad with the first one who kind of started this entire thing with his hit on Hagel. And then right the next face off, they come down score again. 3, 2. They get an empty netter. Panthers win. 4, 2. This is a muffin. I mean you got to save this. You can't really let a goal like that go in. But when Marchand is in front of you, it's hard not to get distracted. But it was a hell of a night for hockey. And then the Stars Stars beat the piss out of the Avalanche again right off the opening face off they go down. Another muffin just kind of squeaks by for the Stars. And they go up one nothing. Right here it is. Bang. That's nine seconds into the game.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't have it.

[AJ Hawk]

Stars win six two in their barn.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Can't have that happen. Maybe Texas hockey isn't terrible. Gump. No, we're rolling now. Ran and scored his first goal for us. Our big trade deadline acquisition. Used to play for the Colorado Avalanche. Legend. He got rolling. We're looking to get a couple guys back as well. Let's hope we can finish this off Thursday night in Colorado. Okay, so currently The Panthers are up 31 over to Lightning. We saw that the Stars are up 32 over the Avalanche. Colorado Avalanche were being discussed as a team that could maybe win the Stanley cup, which is why people are hoping that Sidney Crosby would get traded over there.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Very similar to the NBA. The west for hockey is all 22 or 3 2. Now that the Stars have played in the east is all 3 1. So the Western Conference, very tight. The Eastern Conference, not as much.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so wild at Golden Knights tonight. 9:30 ESPN series tied 2 2. Oilers at Kings tonight at 10pm on TBS. That is tied 2 2. Devils will take on a Hurricane. 7:30 on TBS. Canes are up 31 could put them away. And then the Maple Leafs are at home taking on the Senators at 7pm on ESPN. Leafs are up 3:1. They could put it away. So a lot on the line tonight in the NHL. Can't wait to continue to follow along with the NHL playoff action, which is spectacular. And now let's talk about the NBA that's in the middle of its playoff run. Jimmy Butler's back. Uh oh, Jimmy. Oh D. But the warriors of old are the warriors, warriors of today. Steph goes for 38 the other day. He's playing like old school. Steph, Jimmy Butler's back after a little bit of an injury. Is this team the team of the west that people need to talk about what is going on in the NBA?

[Ty Schmidt]

You gotta. You gotta fear him. You gotta have a healthy fear. And whenever Steph can have, you know, the lack of offensive output that he had last night and still find a way to get a win, it was a great game too. I think they need to find another consistent scorer. If you're the Rockets outside of Shangun, who's an absolute monster, a dog. But yeah, Jimmy Butler just kind of took over this game. You can tell. Not 100% healthy. Q. Rich said it yesterday, if he misses a game, he's truly injured. But he came back, he battled, and he kind of, you know, just took control of the game late in the fourth quarter. Steph still did his Thing. But, yeah, the warriors are a formidable opponent any night they go out there, and they can definitely win it if everybody, you know, plays their type of ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Jimmy Butler wanted out of Miami. Boy. Well, a lot of people are going to be getting out of Miami, I think. Cavs blow out the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, and they end it with a 128 to 83 dub in the playoffs. Game four. This was. I turned the game on last night as I got home late or I was watching maybe Sports center highlights. I forget what it was. Maybe Sports center highlights. And they showed the score.

[Connor]

It was like 60 to 20.

[AJ Hawk]

It's insane.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Then the first quarter, probably 30 to 8.

[AJ Hawk]

First quarter, it was, all right, I'm not watching this.

[Pat McAfee]

It was like, what the hell? This is not what I thought basketball in the playoffs could be. This Cleveland team is a real deal.

[Ty Schmidt]

Real deal. Real deal. And whenever you get a sweep and obviously get some risk, they're kind of banged up. So when you have extra days off, pays huge dividends for teams. And, you know, 122 points, I believe was the margin in this series. And I believe that is an NBA record. So we let Jimmy walk. It was that. That relationship. It kind of got to the point where both. Both sides needed to go their separate ways. But I think Bam said it after the game. It's going to be some big, big changes in Miami with how Pat Riley usually does business.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that. That Giannis thing we talked about yesterday, it does feel like more so than ever, Miami will be in on that. But Cavs, Pacers, if the Pacers win tonight, that series is set.

[Pat McAfee]

That.

[AJ Hawk]

That's kind of the one in the east now. That is the biggest one, of course, because the, you know, the Pacers, they run and gun. And then the Cavs, they've just been dominating teams. And the Cavs are kind of like the Celtics. They're. So the Pacers could, you know, as cool of a story. The first round is. Pacers come in, they run and gun. They might run away with it against the Cavs. I'm gonna have a rematch in the Eastern Conference finals.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, and who would that be?

[AJ Hawk]

Pacers. Celtics.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, the Pacers made the Eastern Conference finals last year. Yeah, they did. Oh, I forgot about that. Nobody seems to talk about that ever. You know, the Boston Celtics are untouchable. Okay. Hey, maybe Cleveland Cavaliers, they're the team of this season, right? Maybe Chance, New York Knicks, they got the most clutch player of the year in Jalen Brunson. Josh Hart, obviously, they're in the big out. Here we go. They're a team. Okay. Miami Heat. They're dealing with Jimmy Baller, whose team might not even be okay. Is anybody going to talk about the Indiana Pacers? No. Doesn't. Is anybody going to talk about the team that has only gotten better as the seasons went on? Literally, maybe not that great at the beginning. And I think Tyrese Halliburton would be a big part of that beginning of the season. For whatever reason, Tyrese couldn't find a bucket. Tyrese just wasn't Tyrese Halliburton. Then he doesn't get selected to the all Star game. He takes a break and I think during that break he went to work. And then on the other side of that, this Pacers team led by Tyrese Halliburton, Miles Turner, Spicy P. T.J. mcConnell and Rick Coach, Rick Carlisle and the boys, they have gone on a run epic. In February, I think they had the most wins in the entire NBA. That continues into March, obviously into April. Now it's like this Pacers team's hot. They're playing their best ball. They play physical, they play flashy. They can shoot it. They can get in and get underneath. They got guys that aren't willing, that are willing to fight people. It's like. Like the Pacers are a real deal, brother. Like, that is. That is just. And I know we're speaking about it because we're in Indianapolis and Tyrese Haliburton, friend of the program and everything like that, actually FaceTime me and Michael Cole like a minute before we were live on Raw and he said, is this going to be a good show? It's like, see ya. Yeah, it is going to be a good Raw tonight, Tyrese, but he's been halla balling and the Pacers have been damn, damn good. And if they make it to the Eastern Conference finals yet again and we spend another full offseason or another season not showing them any respect, I'm be upset about it. D Buck, I want to let you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Know that they're undeniable. And Halliburton, he is unbelievable. I think the best, just true, you know, kind of old school point guard in the game right now as far as keeping everybody involved and just the pace that they play at, like, that's tough to run up and down with them. Everybody's always involved. The ball doesn't stick with one guy's not just sitting there like, you know, like a James Harden or. Or Luka where you're pounding the Ball. The ball's always moving. Guys are cutting, guys are catching alleys, and then defensively, they're playing defense. And Miles Turner, if he can continue to protect the rim like he's doing, they can definitely go out and beat anybody. I'm curious who Connor would rather face, huh? Pacers or the Cavs?

[AJ Hawk]

When it came down to the Celtics are banged up. You know, Drew Holiday hasn't played and he's not playing tonight. So it's three straight games with the hamstring. Tatum's got his wrist, so that's not as. As big of a concern. And Jalen Brown's got the knee, and the Pacers just sprint up and down the court. Like, I personally would rather play the Cleveland Cavaliers, especially after last year.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, if you're banged up.

[AJ Hawk]

If you're banged up and last year you can say, well, the Celtics swept the Pacers. Like, you go back and look at that.

[Pat McAfee]

We were supposed to win three of those. Yeah, it should have been bound pass, a dribble. Just. There was a ghost on the court. I have no idea. It might have been cousy.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

To be honest. I mean, there was a lot of things that happened where the Pacers, the way that season ended, there was no. They weren't allowed to be happy with what they did. Just made it to the Eastern Conference finals. Nobody thought they were going to make it to the Eastern Conference final. They trade for spicy P. Middle of the season, he fits in perfectly. Yeah, I mean, he really takes them to the next level. Let alone TJ McConnell and everything he's done for the city since getting here in the team and everything. And he's not. He's not scared of moxie and swagger right in people's faces. I think he lifts the grit level up. And the way Carlisle expects them. Carlisle expects them. Hey, we don't got egos around here. This is how we're rolling. It's like the Pacers are a fun team and a good team for the state of Indiana.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, and that's the thing about the Pacers, too, is like last year in these Eastern Conference finals, they're young. Right. First time there. This year would be, hey, we've been here before. We know what this is like. Versus the Cavs. The Cavs haven't been there. So for the Celtics playing the inexperienced team, you would just rather do that.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I'm happy to watch the NBA playoffs become what it's becoming. I saw a lower third headline. Do the Lakers have what it takes to win a championship? This Year. It's like they're down 31 and they played everybody the entirety of the second half in the last game. I think it's going to be tough. I think it's going to be tough for. I think it'll be tough for the Los Angeles Lakers. With that being said, is Luka up now or is Luka back next year?

[AJ Hawk]

I think he, I thought he had one more year. I thought he was.

[Darius Butler]

Elliot, leave it for one more year.

[Pat McAfee]

For the supermax Super Max. Max contract conversation was the big one over in Dallas, and then there was people that were like, well, what if Luka ends up leaving LA to potentially go play somewhere else? How will this all be viewed in the grand scheme of the trade down the road? So if Luka's back next year, we're going to assume LeBron's going to be back next year. J.J. redick's back for another year of coaching. Their culture is seemingly already set in. You would think that the culture set in. Maybe the Lakers will be set up for success next year, but it doesn't feel like this is the year for them. But what do I still pull over it? Yeah, it's not over.

[Ty Schmidt]

What is it?

[AJ Hawk]

Plus 1100 to win a series for them to win the series still.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I mean, LeBron James has done this before. Oh, yeah. And Luka Doncha can do this to anybody.

[AJ Hawk]

He's done it before, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And it's like, maybe, maybe they do just come back. Backs against the wall, have to win, no more mistakes. Let's do this. And JJ Reddick says, yeah, we're not stopping for the full game. You thought, you thought one half was.

[AJ Hawk]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

You thought one half was a lot. Wait till the boys are playing the whole damn game. He looked down on his bench a couple times and he said, I'm disgusted. No problem. Looked right back out on the court. I, I'm, I'm thinking that J.J. redick, while he was playing, because I think he made the playoffs like 10 of the 11 years.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he did that crazy run.

[Pat McAfee]

There's some stat that he had where he made the playoffs a bunch as a player. If he was on a team, they were going to make the playoffs for some reason. Maybe he's pretty good little team guy. Maybe he's pretty good coaching guy. Maybe pretty much understands basketball pretty good. So whenever he was hired as a head coach, maybe it isn't just because he drinks wine on a podcast. Maybe this guy was supposed to be a coach. Yeah, maybe in this entire thing. But there's definitely been games where he's been sitting on the court and a coach has made a decision to sub somebody out and he's going, the fuck's that gonna do? How is that gonna help us? And in his mind that crawled back up the other night and he said, I've always wondered if this is the right move. Turns out those last couple minutes, that's gonna be tough. Especially whenever you're taking on a guy like Ant, who seemingly always has energy and a former defensive player of the year in Rudy Gobert who elbows you in the back of the head exactly once. You're already a little bit exhausted. You could tell they retired.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

At the very end of that game. Now will they be able to recover? We assume science will be able to get them for that. But the question of, well, does this. It don't look good. Does not look good for Los Angeles Lakers this year. Does not mean that the Luca trade is a terrible failure. It just means them boys look tired and if they're able. Was that a part of the thing that Nico was saying that? I don't even want to get into that. Would Nico take a celebration? For sure. He played a whole half, couldn't even play the next game. Isn't that interesting? So much drama, the NBA showing up for us though. Let's go to the NFL and congrats. The front of the program, ladies and gentlemen, George Kittle. George Kittle just signed a new four year deal. $76.4 million in total, 19.1, which is 0.1 more than the second highest paid tight end. He has $40 million guaranteed, 35 million at signing. He got that literally today as he signed 5 million in 2027 coming. Congratulations to George and congratulations to the bus. And with the boys. Boys down there in Nashville breaking the news now with that being said, the NFL did not give them credit.

[Ty Schmidt]

Whoa.

[Pat McAfee]

I believe there were some other people that did not give him credit. Welcome to Thunderdome. They'll yell at us about journalism, Dale. Remember that. Because we're just the dumb jocks. They'll yell at us about all this shit. But they operate in a much. There's a different set of rules seemingly for them, Will and Taylor, seemingly a different set of rules for everybody. But with that being said, George Kittle has earned this. There were stats that were coming out about George Kittle last season. First in yards per game, second in touchdowns, third in yards, fifth in receiving. Did we talk about the Niners or George Kittle at all last year? No, he's first in Yards per game at tight end. Now, obviously this has Travis Kelce having a downer year last year and everything else like that, but Brock Bowers broke some rookie records. Well, he didn't come close to what Kittle was, and now he's making 19.1. Trey McBride just signed last week. He's at 19 million. Travis Kelce now seemingly underpaid even though he signed his deal last offseason. T.J. hawkinson 16.5. Dallas Goddard at 14.25 million. Hey, we're happy as hell for George. I saw him at WrestleMania. He was. He's such a good positive light and.

[Ty Schmidt]

He was jocked marking out.

[Pat McAfee]

He's in great shape. He's in great shape.

[Darius Butler]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

He even acknowledged how great a shape he was in. He's huge. I was like, man, you look like you're in great shape. He goes, yes, I am in very good shape right now. Yeah, I, I've been working out very hard. I think he is very excited for this season. I think he assumed that this deal was going to get done. There was conversation about what the deal was supposed to be worth and he said, your sources aren't correct. It's come out that it is the highest per year. Right. So I don't know who's going to say they're right and who wasn't right. But I'm happy George got paid over there in San Francisco.

[Connor]

It's crazy because you talk about the Niners and George Kittle getting talked about and you know George, he did have an incredible season. Brock Bowers was first team all pro. George was second team all pro. But if your team's not good, like if the Niners were good again, Kittle, we would have talked about Kittle every single week. Yeah, but if your team's not good and it's not your fault, but it's not your fault, like it's. That's just kind of how it works. But yeah, people kind of forgot about how good Georgia's season was. And I love when you get paid just 100,000 more than the highest paid guy. That's my favorite thing going on.

[Pat McAfee]

I love when there's a little pettiness amongst the agency and, and the general manager. Okay. Put the highest paid tight ends back up there with. Okay. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who has tight ends by the name of Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid and Zach Davidson. And they are all so good at what they do. They need to start knocking on this man's door. Ladies and gentlemen, general manager of the Buffalo Bills. Brandon Bean. There's a new high score at the tight end position. That's good news.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'd say he's. I'd say his door is locked and bolted, so Congrats to the 49ers for getting him done. He's a heck of a talent.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, but if I'm Kincaid, I might want to think about getting in there early. Yeah. You know, I want to think about now that the tight end market is what it is.

[Jeff Passan]

Hey, don't be riling up my guys trying to get.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's be doing that, buddy. Let's talk about your team. How do you feel coming out of the draft? Obviously, in the first round, you get what seems to be the most electrifying guy in the draft room. I don't know if you saw the video. I assume you did. Literally every person that got drafted had to dap up Maxwell Hairston because he was so damn happy for him. And also, where they put his room was right next to where the tunnel would go. Obviously. He could have just sat on his couch, kept everybody, like, kind of behind him and not interrupted. He felt obligated, it feels like, to celebrate alongside every person that had a dream come true. I assume that was among many factors, including the fact that he's fast as shit as. Why he was the guy for the Buffalo Bills for you in the first round.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I mean, that's who he is. He loves being around people. He's an energetic person. Obviously, you see his energy on the field and his speed. But I actually asked him about it. I was unaware of it till after my media that night. Somebody brought it up and I saw some video and he was just like, no, I was right. There he goes. I've met a lot of these guys through training and through the process along the way. And so he was just like, man, I was genuinely happy for him. He was like, it's pretty cool. And I was in a perfect spot. They had to walk by me and I was going to love him up. So a lot of credit to him. That's just kind of his personality. So it was cool, you know, when he got his moment and people were dapping him up after he had done it for everyone else.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think if I was you, I would. I mean. Cause nobody's asking him to do this. This is just him naturally feeling this way. And everybody else wanted to gravitate to him, too. You know, it's like for you just to feel like, yeah, everything we thought about this guy's Right. Just in that one moment in my eyes, whenever I saw that with everybody, I'm like, everybody likes him, and he likes everybody. That's somebody we want in the locker room. You talk about his energy. Do you think you've got a bunch of guys that fit your culture? And how important is that as you're going through these picks? Cause I know, you know, later rounds, middle rounds, there's a lot going on. I don't know how many people you have on your board, but maybe the person before you took somebody that you want. How often are you scoring, like, fit in our culture, in our building, while making all of these picks? Or how do you kind of judge that going into the draft?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, great question. We kind of build our board that way. I mean, you start and you're. You're building your board in the fall just off of what you're watching on film. You really haven't met these guys. You're getting background on them. You're kind of. Of putting the puzzle together of what they are as a person, their habits, their DNA, their learns, their medical, all that stuff that we're doing through the. Through the spring before we get to April. And so, you know, you would love it if they all check out as characters. Sometimes. It's like, the guy's not a bad guy. We got some work to do. His talent is in the second round. Don't love everything about him, but we think he's trending up. Maybe we drop him down a little bit and say, we're going to lower the risk here if we don't like him. But we still think our culture, our building can fix them so all those things can weigh into where you put them on the board. But once we set that board prior to the draft, we just play off of that and we go with it. Even to your point, if someone gets, you know, we got our eye on a guy and he gets taken off right before we pick, we look to the next guy and we kind of have those, especially when we get inside five picks. Are you. This is choice one. This is choice two. This is choice three and beyond. And you just, you know, you get two picks, away you go. All right, here's choice A, here's choice B. You make the pick or you trade out.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you watching the feeds of the draft and then. Or do you have a phone that's just open to everybody? What is the setup in the. In the war room?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, we have the feed. So we got a couple TVs on NFL Network, ESPN. You got it Kind of low, but you're. You're paying attention. And then there's an open line that every team's on and you're hearing the league run it of, you know, they'll say, baltimore is now on the clock. And then you see their clock start. We have a clock in our room. And then as soon as they'll say, pick is in, Minnesota is now on the clock. And then all of a sudden, we'll get it advertised to us before it's on TV so that we can go ahead and start preparing, you know, again, that's one pick closer to our next one.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, got it. Got it. So that's how picks get tipped.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly how picks get tipped. If somebody with a team has it well before, especially as you go later in the draft, and they're kind of coming up with their own stories, Sometimes a pick's been turned in and it's eight, nine minutes before it hits tv.

[Pat McAfee]

We had to deal with that because, you know, we do the Internet show that you're not watching. Apparently. It was good. Good. Schrager was in there. Coach Mike McCarthy, you're on it. You joined us. You were part of it. Obviously, you can't watch it. I understand. Probably tough with the tech there, too, to get YouTube up. Yeah, you know, I wanted to put.

[Jeff Passan]

It on, but they told me no. I wanted to.

[Pat McAfee]

That's probably Boyco. Yeah, I understand.

[Jeff Passan]

Hey, that damn Boyco, he's. He's a hard ass.

[Pat McAfee]

I get it. I get. I thought we. I thought we did a good draft show, just for future reference. So there was some words said, you.

[Jeff Passan]

Know, how was Mike McCarthy on there?

[Pat McAfee]

Hilarious. Just really? Absolutely. At the beginning, it was a little uncomfortable, so he wasn't understanding that TV was happening around him. So, like, I'd ask him a question, and then I'm pressing a button right here, Right. So I press a button on the thing and I'm talking to the back room right now. Everybody in the back room can hear what I'm saying, Right? And that's either Foxy communicating with me, Zito communicating with me, me communicating back with them. Oh, I want to see the film that we had here. I think there's a video of this. Zito will show me a video. I like that video. Let's do that. Let's rewind this. So that's all happening while people are talking. Okay. That's just a standard show. Okay. That's. I have board here. I have one. Whenever I'm in at any of these Places, a game day. I have one whenever I have wwe. It happens whenever we're live on stage at the draft and McCarthy's right here. So I ask him a question, he starts giving his answer and I'm going immediately to, to the back room and I'm going like, hey. Whenever he talks about this, we need to get to this and this. And McCarthy goes, huh? Cause he can't because he can hear me through the headphones.

[Connor]

You're good, coach.

[Pat McAfee]

But so I had to go, no, you're good, you're good. He goes, okay. And he just kind of turned. Then he kind of just turned this way so he didn't see me. So like him being like naturally uncomfortable with like what TV or what is happening around him was like why he was so good because he got like real comfortable. Just started like telling stories, just started chit chat about decisions, telling stories. He's a storyteller, that guy. Whenever he's done been around, they will pay him to come to businesses and tell stories and he'll get paid very, very well for that because of how good he is. But yeah, you can tell he loves football, loves the players, and he loved the draft and he loved the trenches getting taken. He loved big dudes getting taken, which was seemingly the story of the night. AP Tone has a question for you.

[Connor]

Yeah, Bean, I got to ask you about your third round pick, Landon Jackson. He was one of the stars of the combine, 66260, ran a four, six, eight, I believe, jumped 40 and a half, which is just absurd. Him and Shemar Stewart were the stars of the combine. Shemar Stewart goes in the first round, even though Landon Jackson has a lot better production, 13 sacks in the last two years at Arkansas. Were you surprised a guy like that, with that, that production, that athleticism was still there in the third round?

[Jeff Passan]

Well, I think it's one of those. Listen, we were very happy and, and I think the depth of the draft helped some guys like a Landon fall to the third. And so we tried to take advantage of it. We knew going into this draft that there was going to be depth at D tackle in dn and even if we got someone early, which we traded up in round two for TJ Sanders, if it was something still there on the D line, we weren't going to turn away from it and you know, pivot to an offensive position or a skill position on defense. So he, you know, his tape, I would say if I was going to define him, it's relentless motor. That's what you see on him, whether it's run or pass. He's a three down player. Obviously had sack production that you mentioned.

[Michael Cole]

And just.

[Jeff Passan]

I will say he surprised me with his testing. I knew he would test well. But at six, six, you know, his measurements to jump 40 and a half and run what he ran, I was. That was a wow moment for me sitting in India.

[Pat McAfee]

When did you know that it was going to be a trenches first round?

[Jeff Passan]

Well, I just felt like the depth of this draft, I mean, those guys get paid. You, you know, the game as you know Pat is won and lost up front. And we got away from that though.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't you think. Don't you think football kind of got away from that there for a little bit?

[Jeff Passan]

I don't think it's. I think people try to put it with fantasy football, but at the end of the day, if you go to who is usually hoisting the trophy, they were good up front. And you just go to this year's team. Philadelphia has had a good O line. How he's done a great job there. And their D line got after the Chiefs. And that's. And that's not a new thing. I mean, I go back to the two Super Bowls that I've been in in my time in Carolina, all the way back to 2003, we had a D line of Julius Peppers, Chris Jenkins, Brenton Buckner, Mike Rucker. Al Wallace was our fifth and he was a. He was a stud. And then you go to 2015, we got.

[Pat McAfee]

He put the wall in Wallace. I remember.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like all those guys, though, it's. It's built up front. Both of our teams, those super bowl years had good O lines and good D line and. And that's. No matter how the game evolves and changes, I still think it starts in the trenches. That's. I agree with Mike McCarthy. That's. I think that's where it's at.

[Pat McAfee]

He celebrated every single one. Yeah. Listen, I don't know how many times I'm supposed to say this. I like the picture pick. He said I need to look up different ways to say things. I like to pick.

[Jeff Passan]

You got his impersonation down. I like that.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, he said he's my dad. Yeah, I agree. He sounds exactly like he does. Basically. I don't know a thousand dudes that I've met in my life. So when he goes, I don't sound like that. It's like, oh, dude, you do.

[Ty Schmidt]

This is exactly how he meet Matt Mill a couple hours before the Show.

[Pat McAfee]

The whole show. You're gonna. So what do you mean? And then you said to him, well, coach, you can't win the big one down. There he goes, jeez.

[AJ Hawk]

So I got canned.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez. That's what. Yeah, he did one of those. Yeah, he's just like, awesome. I. I think just from chatting with him over 24 hours and, you know, all these football people, you're one of them. He. He's going to get back into ball, you know, like it is. There's no for sure questions about it. Obsessed with ball.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

What do stories revolve around? Ball. What are we comparing everything to Ball.

[AJ Hawk]

The barn.

[Pat McAfee]

We got a barn for ball. Like, everything is just about ball for Mike McCarthy. And when we were around him, I think he would have no problems relating with any generation.

[Ty Schmidt]

Agree.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, you know, like, that is a real thing. And I don't want to say he was okay with leaving Dallas, but he has no hard feelings towards the people of Dallas at all. To us, unless he's one of the greatest thespians of all time, which he actually told us a story about not being an actor, because he was told. I don't even know if we can. It was a great story. Anyways. The reference to the story was somebody once told him, okay, throughout his coaching career that they were a very good coach. They were acting like a coach, basically. That is what they were doing. They'd wake up in the morning and they would act like a coach. They were basically a professional actor. And the person then asked Big Mike McCarthy if that was his style as well. I ain't no actor, bub. You know, basically answer. It was like every story he told, it was like, this guy is through and through. So he was a lot of fun, but he loved every Trenches pick. He loved every big body that was taken. And we do, too. You know, we have AQ Shipley come on the show each week and we call it in the Trenches and we do that whole thing. It's the most important part by far. I'm happy that the Philadelphia Eagles won because now I think it, like, legitimizes that you can be an old school football team still and win in the modern era. So I think that's only going to continue now. Speaking of the modern era, you need weapons, a lot of weapons. Connor, New England Patriots fan has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Mr. B. Yeah, Brandon, thanks for bringing up 2003. You know, those are good. Those are good memories for Patriots fans.

[Jeff Passan]

All right.

[Pat McAfee]

All right.

[AJ Hawk]

And also, you know, those. You went on a radio show earlier this week, and these two fine gentlemen who I thought made some good points about, you know, the fact that you guys kind of needed wide receivers, and turns out you disagreed. Actually, you buried them and kind of let them know.

[Pat McAfee]

Great promo on that.

[AJ Hawk]

It was so good. Averaged over 30 points this past season. You know, you actually even said, hey, last offseason, if you guys brought this up, I could understand, okay? But now bringing it up is kind of bullshit. Why didn't you draft a wide receiver? And why do you think, you know, now with where Josh is, you know, you don't really need to have that guy in that role room.

[Jeff Passan]

Well, I mean, you look at. Look at Tom Brady. We were talking about some of these teams that won Super Bowls. Look at New England. How many, like, great, historic receivers did they have in their super bowl teams? And so, but the Patriots, they were good up front. They had a good quarterback. They usually had a. Some type of run game, whether it was Corey Dillon, whether it was Falk in the, you know, white, a lot of those guys. And so there's, there's. There's 100 different ways you can build it. Okay? And we're not against good receivers, but again, as we were talking about earlier, we want to be strong and certain if you. I would love to have a Pro bowl quarterback, you know, an all pro offensive line, all pro running backs, all pro receivers. But when you're paying Josh Allen what you're paying him, you got to make some concessions somewhere else. And so I think it's just, just, again, the narrative, since we moved on from Steph a year ago, I, I understood it last year, as you said, I understood why people were questioning, hey, do they have enough at receiver last season? But when you. As my point was, I thought they were kind of breaking down our draft, and that was their takeaway was, why didn't you take a receiver? That's the part I didn't understand. Like, we just showed that we could score 30 points a game for eight straight games. We averaged over 30 points. We had. We scored the most points of anyone last season when you include the playoffs. So why are we talking about receiver? If anything, you know, they didn't bring up that we had already added Josh Palmer this offseason as a free agent addition. We extended Khalil Shakir. So, again, yeah, again, like, we like our receivers. We feel strong about our receivers. And in our opinion, it wasn't the deepest receiver class to be trying to, you know, peg to peg a player that would fit in our top four.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you said there we're scoring 30 and we're losing. So obviously maybe it's the other side of the field that we need to chit chat about. When do you make that decision that that is what the entire off season focus is going to be? Because I think we heard that the Atlanta Falcons were only interviewing defensive players at the conference. It was like, well, I guess Atlanta's loading up on D. Like I guess that is what Atlanta's doing. And lo and behold, they trade back into the first round when everybody thought people would be trading for a quarterback to get another defensive player. So it's like, do you know that an entire off season is going to be shaped towards one particular side? Or how do you kind of balance that kind of. I don't want to say mission, but goal, I guess, of the free agency in combine draft season?

[Jeff Passan]

Well, when you look at our roster coming out of the season, Pat, we had a lot of guys on offense that were returning to their positions. I mean, our whole O line or you know, top seven, eight guys on our whole line are back, Our top two tight ends are back, all three running backs are back, our quarterbacks are back and most of our receivers are back. And so. And we did add a Josh Palmer. So again we knew going in there's going to be more transition on defense. And, and you know, we just felt we needed to kind of add some free agent depth, which we did in free agency. On the D line we added Joey Bosa, Michael Hoyt, Larry Ogun Jobe. But then we looked at the depth of the draft and as like I said, when we started in February, we felt like there was going to be a good number of D linemen, that we would have an opportunity at some point early in the draft. Not necessarily first round, which we got a corner, but the next two picks lined up for us to take D lineman and so we weren't going to turn away from it with the value that we had on our board.

[Pat McAfee]

Corner, D tackle, DN D tackle, D tackle, tight end. Welcome to the team. 19.1 million now is the the new going rate for a tight end. If anybody on the Buffalo Bills that plays tight ends, 19.1 million is the.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kiddo was the fifth round round pick too.

[Pat McAfee]

K absolute dog. Corner, D tackle and then wide receiver. So it's like we're loading up on the defense. I'm excited to see you kind of execute a plan. You said something there early in your answer that had Connor almost jump up out of his seats. You said he Got all three running backs returning. Is that right? Huh?

[Jeff Passan]

Yes, we do.

[Les Snead]

Yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

Why wouldn't we?

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know. I've been seeing Zillow.

[Jeff Passan]

What's. What are you looking for a house in Buffalo or what?

[Pat McAfee]

Beautiful Buffalo.

[Jeff Passan]

Are you guys moving the studio to Buffalo?

[AJ Hawk]

I vacation there sometimes. That's a fact.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe for a month or two. You know, I. I know how cold it can get up there in Buffalo, and I do respect snow. I appreciate that. I. I'm comfortable where I am with snow, but Buffalo's not a bad place at all. Up there, whenever there's sun out, they.

[AJ Hawk]

Try not to tell people about it. I mean, on the lake, during the summer.

[Pat McAfee]

Great.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Seven one six.

[AJ Hawk]

One of the best.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's a good spot. So you got all three running backs back?

[Jeff Passan]

Yes, we do. Yep. James Cook, Ray Davis, and we brought Ty Johnson back.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Ty Johnson. Hell yeah. We love that Ray Davis. Wow.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He's coming out of there making catches that I. He made a catch late in the season. That was Kentucky. Absurd. Yeah, Kentucky guy. I know Ray Davis. And then you're gonna let James Cook there in the kitchen up there in Buffalo for a little bit. I'm happy to hear that. That's good news. We should assume that James Cook is going to be a Buffalo Bill and play Buffalo Bill football.

[Jeff Passan]

Yes. Yes, he will be here this year and, you know, hopefully beyond. I mean, we're focused on the season, but, yes, for 20, 25, we'll have all three backs. And again, we love James and, you know, we would love nothing more than to keep him here longer term. But in the immediate, you know, point right now is we got all three guys, including him, back for this season.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you what, him and Joe Brady's offense has been awesome to watch. And then obviously pair him with Josh Allen, who is a running freak. What a combo. What an offense scoring 30 points. You guys are complaining about wires. Can we please relax a little bit? I asked you about when did you know what your strategy was going to be going into the draft? You said basically immediately. With everybody returning those draft, when do you know? Questions seem to be popping up more and more each year. Deebot has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. And it's a great situation when you're going into a draft and you don't have to worry about the quarterback position. We know how important the trenches are, defense and everything else, but you're not going to win the championship without the quarterback. And you got one of the best ones in the league. And obviously we just got through the draft process, but I guess when did you know that was a deep draft in 2018 for the quarterbacks? When did you know that Josh was probably going to be the guy you want to bring in and build your team around?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I mean, we spent a lot of time with all those guys through that process. I can remember it like it was. Was yesterday. And it was. It was a fun process, a stressful one, because you. We were sitting at 21 and 22 early in that spring. And so it's like, man, how are we going to get up there and get a guy like Josh? And he just, every step of the way, he just became more attractive to us beyond the physical skill set, which we just saw a young man in the making that was competitive off the, you know, just unbelievably competitive. Really, really smart. We did a lot of stuff from the mental side of things. And then just a quick processor, which we know the speed of the game, you got to be able to understand pre snap, but then you got to process when things change, the ball to snap. And so he had all that. We just thought the biggest thing he needed to do was work on his mechanics, work on his feet, his base, arm angles, all the things that he continually worked on. And this guy, everywhere we got, he was going to be a tireless worker. You don't need to challenge him. He challenges himself way more, and he's always been that way than we've ever needed to. And. And so we just felt like, this guy's going to go back to my opening press conference when there was questions about Josh Rosen, you know, that we got. We brought that up yesterday, but, you know, is there was a lot of questions why we took Josh Allen over Josh Rosen. And I was explaining in that press conference, you go back, this guy is Buffalo through and through. He is blue collar. You are going to love this guy way beyond the player of how he fits this community. And, you know, they. After that and they gave him a chance, they embraced him. And he loves Buffalo as much as Buffalo loves him.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he is. He's special, man. Like, especially with the way he handles Buffalo in the way your teams have had to evolve with him at quarterback in Buffalo. And you talked about his work ethic. It's like from year one to year two, insane jump, Year two to year three, insane jump, year three to year four, insane jump. Usually there's like one big growth from somebody. Oh, they learned this. Oh, they figured this out for him. It was like four straight years of like, oh, this guy's getting even better and better. So much so that now people call him, like, the prototype. Like, what are you. You're looking for somebody that is like, Josh Allen has the ability to run power and speed, has the ability to throw very far, and has touch, has a teammate's locker room that loves him and works his ass off. Seemingly, from all accounts that we've been able to witness from the outside, he becomes a prototype. Was it always a high football IQ operation with Josh Allen as well? Tone has a question for you.

[Connor]

Yeah, Bean, we. We actually showed yesterday on the show, Brian Daboll running through quarterbacks, through last year's draft board work and stuff like that. You're shaking your head. So I assume you saw it was Day Ball doing that to Josh and those quarterbacks back then in 2018.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I mean, we. We had a whole thing, and what we said we were going to do was we're going to treat each quarterback the same as far as how you test them, what tests they're gonna. You're gonna send them them. Like, Davo would teach them stuff and then send them a test. And then when we got there, they would have to perform a test on their own, like a written test. And then we go in a meeting room and Dave all would. Would teach him stuff on the board and have them go up there. And some of it would be time, some of it wouldn't. But Josh, I mean, he just, you know, no one picked it up quicker. No one. And there were some. These were some smart guys, but he really stood out from a mental stand standpoint, which was impressive. He was definitely smarter than, you know, I would have imagined a rookie would have been at that time. And so it was just a matter of this guy had played at junior college in Wyoming, and some of these other guys had played at more major programs, so how long would it take him to transition? And honestly, we were hoping his first year, that we didn't have to put him out there right away. Week one, we didn't. We got smoked. And guys in the locker room were looking around like, hey, put that wild Bronco that's running around the practice field. Throw him on the field. We'd rather lose with him than what we're doing right now.

[Pat McAfee]

I remember him jumping over Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, Bar, I remember that one because I was standing straight up, seemingly. It was like.

[Jeff Passan]

That was his second start. Yeah, we lost to the Chargers, his first start at home. And, you know, it wasn't pretty, but he kept fighting, made some Plays at the end. And then we were like 17, 18 point underdogs going to Minnesota and same thing. That's, that's when the leap, you know, took off.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you talk about him being great in that day ball meeting. We were watching those day ball meetings. It was like, geez, that would be. You got no ball. I mean you're gonna find, you're gonna get exposed in there if you don't know ball. Like that's gonna be very evident. I don't need you to bury anybody, obviously. Obviously. Okay. But story of this draft, one of them, especially on networks, I believe you were watching Shador Sanders drops from like top three pick to a fifth round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns. People thought the Cleveland Browns would take him in number two. They take him in the fifth round actually. So then there was anonymous reports, which we all hate. Just like let everybody know. Anonymous reports, anonymous sources get out.

[Jeff Passan]

And I agree. I hate that too.

[Pat McAfee]

It affects your job too a lot though, doesn't it?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, let's just, if we're gonna do anonymous, let's just say it out. If we're gonna take shots at people, boom.

[Pat McAfee]

This is what I'm saying. Okay, so you probably heard this. So anonymous sources were telling people that he had like the worst meetings that have ever happened or worst meeting, team one on one meetings that have ever happened. How would a meeting go bad if a meeting was to go bad? And what does that mean if that is true? From what is anonymous source are saying in your eyes, in your world, not with Shador, but in your world, if it's ever happened.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

You know, I don't know, I would say maybe if, if a guy was just kind of half assing it through the like, like hey, you know, sometimes you see, hey, my, my work spoke for itself. Like they're kind of not like you either like me or you don't, you know, kind of thing. I would, I could see that happening. You know, beyond that, the only thing that could really hurt would be where if you don't think mentally, you know, you have to be very smart. You got to be able to call the play, understand the play. You got to know where everyone's lining up. You got to be able to know what the defense is doing. There's so much mentally on these quarterbacks plate. And so there is a threshold that you're like, man, I don't know if that guy is smart enough to run our offense at the, at the level that we. That would be the only. Other than being disrespectful or nonchalant, like, you know, take me if you like me. If you don't, then I'm fine, You know, that would be the only other way.

[Pat McAfee]

What an interesting thing, because there's stories of, like, Peyton interviewed teams whenever he was coming out. Allegedly. That's. Allegedly. That was like the old fairy tale or folklore about what happened then. Gronk said he had a terrible meeting. Horrible, horrible.

[AJ Hawk]

Fell asleep.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. With the New England Patriots. Won somehow, and he got drafted there. And then you hear stories of these types of. Of meetings happening, and then a guy who's supposed to be a top five ends up in the fifth round. I mean, that was a wild. Yeah, that was a wild, wild situation.

[Jeff Passan]

We had a quarterback one year in Carolina that we brought in. I'm not going to name him, and he met up with a receiver that he knew they were. They didn't play at the same college, but we had the receiver in on these 30 visits. They met up and they went out the night before. The receiver was flying out and he was supposed to meet with us, and we couldn't find him for like three hours. That morning he was. He was in his room and he was passed out, and so we. We put him on a plane.

[AJ Hawk]

Brady Quinn.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's a bad meeting. I guess that would be a bad meeting there.

[Jeff Passan]

So that was a. No meeting. And we. We took him off the draft board.

[Pat McAfee]

But he did.

[Jeff Passan]

He did get drafted. He probably learned a lesson and, you know, he played in the league.

[Pat McAfee]

I had to. He did play in the league.

[Jeff Passan]

He played in the league. It didn't turn out great, but he did play.

[Pat McAfee]

Did it. What did it turn out? How you were projecting it.

[Jeff Passan]

After that? Probably. Probably so.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, not before that, though. Thought was going to be potentially great.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I had some talent. Yeah, he wasn't a great athlete, but a pocket passer with a strong arm.

[Pat McAfee]

It'll get you. It'll get you. It'll get you down in Charlotte, you know, Charlotte will get you good con down. It's a good con down there, there. Ty has a question for you. Mr. Bean.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, Bean, just curious. I know you guys don't really give a. About draft grades, nor should you, but I. I'll have you know that you guys are pretty much getting praise.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. Congratulations. Congratulations. Wow, what a job.

[Darius Butler]

Everybody thinks you knocked it out of the park, but are. Is there any point, like, throughout your career where immediately after the draft you either have, like. I don't want to say regret, but, like, you're Uneasy about it, or do you always feel great about the picks you made post draft just because, you know, you. You are. You're okay with how much work you put in on your board going into the draft?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I mean, we're genuinely excited about the guys we got. We stack our board. Especially if you trade up and get a guy like, man, I really like that guy. But there's always times where you're like, man, a guy's fallen to you and it's a perfect match with a position you need and someone trades right in front of you or, you know, the team in front of you had no idea. You're kind of paying attention to their needs. You don't think they really care for them, and you sit there and they take them. That happens, you know. You know, to most every team, I'm sure, and it's definitely happened to us. Those are some of the ones you're like, man, should I have traded up five picks and secured that guy? And that's, that's kind of why my history, I've been a trader is like, I'll tell myself, listen, and at some point here, I'm going to be mad if this guy goes. I know some people are going to say I shouldn't trade up, but I just want to go to bed tonight and know I got this player. And so those are probably the biggest, you know, right after the draft. Now, listen, two years later, you're always studying and the guys that worked either on your team or another team and the guys that didn't, and you're trying to evaluate your process. If a guy's doing better than you thought, what's the situation? What did that happen? You know, you're always trying to learn from it. And so there, there's also separate of the immediate kind of self grading how, how the draft went. There's always a couple, two or three years down. You're like, man, if I had, if I knew that now, I would have taken that guy, you know, or something like that.

[Pat McAfee]

I respect the. How did I miss this? How did I confuse one with the other? And then trying to figure that out for future drafts, that's the part that I never even considered. That's the most important part of the entire thing. It feels like. How does it feel like the team did? Were they morale high? Everybody take a break. What is the scouting department? What is after the draft happens? What is the scouting department do now that just their super bowl has ended? Right.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah. So we send the college crew back home for a few weeks. And then meet up.

[Pat McAfee]

Go live.

[AJ Hawk]

Go see your family, live their life.

[Jeff Passan]

Hug their, hug. Hug their wives and kids and all that good stuff. And they got about three weeks off. And then we kind of restart getting ready for the 26 trash back out there.

[Pat McAfee]

You got about three weeks and then we're.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. We need to find. We're chasing greatness here in a new stadium too.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

Connor, One more year.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you. What are you been here.

[AJ Hawk]

I heard and this is just through the grapevine that the buffaloes have been.

[Pat McAfee]

Shrunk down to the Vice bison.

[AJ Hawk]

The. The bison have been shrunk down to five foot.

[Pat McAfee]

No. No way. Yes.

[AJ Hawk]

They're gonna be tiny.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not the case.

[AJ Hawk]

People are going to be able to ride them.

[Pat McAfee]

No, you're not riding bison.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. You put a quarter in and it'll move. No, no one said.

[Jeff Passan]

No one said you're putting a quarter in.

[Pat McAfee]

It's doing the pony.

[AJ Hawk]

That's what those two radio hosts said. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Jeremy and Joe.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How are. Where are we and we're a year away from that. And how.

[Jeff Passan]

We're your way just. Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Have the bison been started of construction? Because if they have, we need an update. If they haven't, I assume there's going.

[Jeff Passan]

To be updates because believe me, I've been lobbying. I've been lobbying hard to make sure these things are big. I told him I put my name out there with you guys. So it's. We're still working on it. You know, what size do we. Are we looking for here?

[AJ Hawk]

We have 25, 30ft, 40, 50ft.

[Pat McAfee]

I have. Don't the dims. I think you guys are at 18, right? Isn't it 18? Yeah, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

The stomach is 12.

[Connor]

Need to be over 20.

[AJ Hawk]

The head is 18.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I think if you could say it was a 20 foot bison. Yeah, I think that is the goal. Don't you think?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, two stories. Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How many of them are there? Three of them too. Are they like running right? They're doing a run.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah. I think there's three of them.

[Pat McAfee]

The herd. Oh my God. I heard a 20 foot bison. Well, there's a little baby down there, so. The baby. The baby.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't think that's a photo family.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, I don't think. Yeah, the two. I think the parents, the parent bison.

[AJ Hawk]

Mama and papa bison, if you will.

[Jeff Passan]

If we get these bison to size, are you guys coming for the unveiling of this thing or.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Only if that happens.

[Connor]

Yeah. We're getting a house.

[Pat McAfee]

No, we would come. We come.

[Adam Pierce]

When's it gonna be It?

[Jeff Passan]

The stadium opens like next July.July of 26, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

Walk it in.

[Ty Schmidt]

Perfect.

[Connor]

We'll play around a golf with you, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, let's go. Well, I would like to go to the driving range with you, too, the night before. Okay.

[Connor]

July 4th, you host us for dinner.

[Ty Schmidt]

Real handicap.

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I'm in.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm in.

[Jeff Passan]

Let's go. Get up here.

[AJ Hawk]

July 4th in Buffalo. Could play.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Right there on that lake, huh?

[Jeff Passan]

Lake Erie.

[Pat McAfee]

And then I'm getting golf lessons from Bean, who's a stick. How are you playing now? Now the time you're playing, huh?

[Jeff Passan]

I got to get going. I gotta. I got some. Some events coming up, so I need to get my swing going.

[Pat McAfee]

Events. Gotta go shake some hands. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time, man. We really do congrats on a great draft. We assume we'll tell you that in two or three years. You're the man. General manager of the Buffalo Bills, friend of the program, Brandon Bean. Thank you, man. See you. See you. What a dog.

[AJ Hawk]

Agent.

[Les Snead]

I didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

As we're in the middle of that conversation, I was like, oh, yeah, this is a great conversation to have right now. This is the conversation we should be having with him, your entire draft process. Because I feel like I just learned a lot about the Buffalo Bills draft.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They got three weeks and then we're, guess what? Back in it. 26. Who's going to be the next. Yeah, because we got bison coming in. 26. 20ft. Bison, I think, is the right place.

[Darius Butler]

Have to do it. Have to do it.

[Pat McAfee]

One of them has to crack 20.

[Tony]

The basketball playoffs are here on prizepix. The best place to cash in on the action. Whether it's points, rebounds, or assists, don't miss your chance to cash in as the league's best fight for playoff glory. The app is really simple to use. Pick two or more players across any sport. Pick more or less on their projection, and you could win up to 2000 times your money. With millions of members. Prize pick prizepix has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. Prizepix offers Venmo, MasterCard, Apple Pay, and more for quick and easy deposits into your account this sports season, join Prizepix, America's 1 daily fantasy sports app available to play in more than 40 states, including California and Texas. Download the prizepix app today and use code TPMS and get $50 instantly. When you play $5. That's code TPMS or prizepix picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks for just playing.

[Pat McAfee]

Guaranteed.

[Tony]

Prize picks run your game must be present in certain states.

[Pat McAfee]

Visit prize picks.com for restrictions and details. Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company, seniority, skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a 100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results.

[Adam Pierce]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Pat McAfee]

Sports Basically, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and there's a chance you're gonna get your ass kicked. But if you don't do it, who are you? Coward. So my friend got attacked. I stood up for him. Guy got banned. I asked for the band to be lifted. Shout out to Nick Aldis, he lifts the band. I got a match with Gunther who bullied the greatest commentator in the history of wrestling, Michael Cole, right in front of my eyes. I don't like it one bit. He also threw me around here. I will say there was a lot of wires. Well, yeah, wires and chairs, lot of stuff. And I'm in those boots, you know, I'm in those boots. And how it all he slippy.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you for he didn't know.

[Pat McAfee]

But nonetheless, he's an intimidating man. He's a strong man. He was world champion about a week ago. That intimidated the guy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I mean he would attacked you when you were looking at him if he was that true.

[Pat McAfee]

That's on point. Yeah, you're right. I mean his aura is certainly one of intimidation though. I'll tell you, I've been in the arena a few times with him and when you see him, he's certainly. But hey, listen bub, I ain't scared there.

[Darius Butler]

Come get some.

[AJ Hawk]

Got new tariffs on Austria.

[Pat McAfee]

Couple 100, couple of these. No, I've been working, I've been working, I've been running. I've got a lot of things going on. I even got a special treadmill, anti gravity treadmill, so I could run again, you know, because I've only had like four surgeries, five surgeries on my knees, you know, I kicked the ball against the side of my house for a hobby as a kid. I didn't play video games. So the amount of kicks of balls of things is. Is high. Played soccer obviously for a long time. Then obviously I kicked and punted in college and then I punted and kicked off in the NFL. So I have a lot of surgeries on these. Had a dislocated patella the last nine games of my last year of my season. May Pro Bowl. May Pro bowl that year with being said knees though have a lot of missing stuff. I'm not the only. A lot of people have this issue that are athletes in this thing. So they make this treadmill that basically gets you back on there 85% of your weight. Take a little bit of the weight off so that the meniscus that is missing from your knee and in between your joints and your bones, it can kind of be softened a little bit. I'm back to. I feel I'm back to jumping. We were jumping the other day, Coach McCarthy's barn. It's like I feel very, very good about where I stand as a physical being at this point. It's a fun little place to be. I feel like I'm Darius Butler.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. That's why I feel like I'm Darius Butler. Not as jacked, obviously. I'll be there I think in maybe a month or so. I'll be in a month or so. Month. Yeah, I think so.

[Ty Schmidt]

Wait, what's today? You got like days, brother.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, but I'm talking about looking jacked. I'm talking about being jacked. You know, I'm. I'm having. I'm having some patent for Gunther. Sure.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

There's shots coming. You know, I gotta. I should maybe even think about bulking. Bulking up. Maybe the next couple. Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

To take on the. Maybe I wear. What If I wore 50 tank tops or football pads. Maybe the. Maybe the flag. Yeah, those ones.

[AJ Hawk]

Pad padding.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Then we can even put some on right here.

[Darius Butler]

Put like a metal plate right there or something.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. With spikes. I don't know if that would be legal. Well, hey, I think that would be.

[Connor]

Is this a no holds bar?

[Pat McAfee]

So I. It's just sanction match. I believe cuz I asked for fight. You know it was a sanction match in WWE ring. I think I should layer up. I think I should layer up. Up on top. Now that just hit my mind. I think we should have been thinking this city street fight. It's in St. Louis. It's not a St. Louis street fight either. But thank God it is just a.

[Adam Pierce]

Sanction WW lunatic street fight.

[Connor]

The Arch City street fight.

[Pat McAfee]

Right. Are you talking about an M I. Crooked letter, crooked letter. O, U, R. I want to do it better. Hey, yeah, you can find me what A Rod Nelly ad and a Saint Lunatic.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Unbelievable. They loved Air Force Ones.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, they did.

[AJ Hawk]

Still do.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom. Thank you to the St. Lunatics, you know, for the introduction.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

To the all white Air Force ones. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, gentleman. Is a man who is going to give me motivational speeches every single day until my match next weekend in St. Louis.

[AJ Hawk]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the type of guy he is. That's the type of friend he is. I'm thankful for him. He's a college football national champion, a Super bowl champion, a Rider cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. hawk.

[Michael Cole]

Can't wait.

[Pat McAfee]

A.J. now is your time to kind of deliver your positive message for me. Just, you know, less than two weeks away from a big match with Gunther.

[Michael Cole]

Well, I did see it first off. That was great, you know, standing on the desk. Great promo to the whole arena and to all the WWE Universe. That was. That was the thing of beauty. It's not easy to do, that's for sure. But I don't think you need any motivation for this guy. You know, that, like, he's like the big, strong, silent type that wants to slap your chest. Ty was right. Get a metal plate with some spikes underneath your tank top. He goes to chop you once. That's the last time he chops you.

[Pat McAfee]

But I'm saying. Stuck to me now. Yeah, you said spikes underneath, blood everywhere.

[Ty Schmidt]

Little shocker.

[AJ Hawk]

You need the spikes.

[Pat McAfee]

There you go. Yeah, I. I probably catch a. Maybe a stem. Maybe I do put a little icing stem in there. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

I didn't know the same thing. Here we.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, warm me up. That was from when I was warming up. He. He doesn't just chop you there though, too. I mean, he's got kicks.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He. He got.

[Michael Cole]

He's got an arsenal. He's got an arsenal that he can attack you with.

[Pat McAfee]

He flies through the sky.

[Darius Butler]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

Flies through the sky. Guy.

[Connor]

Big man.

[Pat McAfee]

Fall hard, though. He's so big. Yeah, you're right. I gotta. I gotta. Yeah. We gotta move.

[Darius Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

We gotta move, don't we? This is classic. I gotta move.

[Connor]

I gotta move distance with the jab and then get out.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Mobile, agile, hostile.

[Pat McAfee]

I have to tire him out.

[Ty Schmidt]

Maybe I throw some sweet science in there.

[Pat McAfee]

You know what I have. I have to do this for Michael Cole. Yes, you do it for Cole.

[Ty Schmidt]

Gotcha.

[Pat McAfee]

Do it for Cole.

[Darius Butler]

Do it for Cole.

[AJ Hawk]

Are you gonna wear.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Is single Singlet as kind of a tribute.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[Connor]

Afterwards.

[Pat McAfee]

That might be one of the layers. What are you talking about? Yeah. You think I'm going out there with.

[AJ Hawk]

One layer that can hold it all together?

[Connor]

Was Cole supporting you after?

[Pat McAfee]

What do you mean? He was like.

[Connor]

He was kind of questioning your decision making.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, I think he was at. Because I talked to him afterwards. I'm like, what is your problem? Why are you doing.

[Connor]

Yeah, bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what I said. And then afterwards, he said, I don't want you to feel like you have to do this because of me.

[AJ Hawk]

No, he's worried. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Seems like he is a bit worried. Worried. Don't be worried, Cole. We know we sound good for.

[Michael Cole]

How's he gonna call the fight? I mean, I know he's done it before, but it's gonna be tough for him to call that fight.

[Pat McAfee]

He's an on biased journalist.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, he'll be right down the middle.

[Pat McAfee]

He's not making a pick before you. He's got a Syracuse University degree, brother.

[Michael Cole]

That's true.

[Connor]

It's like Herbie calling Ohio State.

[Pat McAfee]

Kid, you should have seen me run last night. I'm running on this thing, smacking the out of myself.

[AJ Hawk]

I like it.

[Darius Butler]

Gotta get right ready.

[Pat McAfee]

Smacking the out of my. Need it just like. Cuz. I mean, that could take your breath away. I was in war games match. Yeah. With the entirety of the undisputed era, if you do recall.

[Ty Schmidt]

Of course.

[Pat McAfee]

And I got hit with a chair there. Boom. Chair right to the back. Okay. Holy. That. That one. You know, and then I turn and cow O'Reilly.

[Jeff Passan]

Oh.

[Pat McAfee]

Goes. Oh, yeah. And I. Oh, yeah. He gives me a left kick to my gut. He got me out of you. Yeah. Caught the wind out of me. And I was like, oh, we're. We're fighting in here. I. I did. I did not know everything. We are. We are. Yeah. We are fighting war games. And it was. It was war games. I put somebody through a table through there, hit somebody with a chair off the side of a cage, and I think I went off the top. She did hit that thing. I think they fell from the rattle from me here hitting the mat clean.

[Darius Butler]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw another video similar to that on the Internet. Oh, boy. The rattle from hitting the ground.

[Michael Cole]

Some big bumps. There's some big bumps going around the Internet now in this Internet, this wrestling world, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. The algorithm has tapped into. Into the wrestling world. And that dude doing a Swanton front flip.

[Darius Butler]

Geez Louise.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez Louise. Yeah. Off the moose down there. A.J. francis down there. I forget the whole group. There's obviously. That's a lot of pop. $. Yeah, yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Ripped his arm off.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a devastating. Well, that's what he was trying to do to him. He was trying to rip everybody's arms off. Like that gorilla. Like that gorilla. Have we slept. We've slept on it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Connor]

Weed.

[Pat McAfee]

Wib.

[AJ Hawk]

I think I'm on. I think I'm on Team Humans. Me too, but I think I'm just watching. I don't think I'm one of the 100.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, no, no. What?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you're not signing up?

[AJ Hawk]

No, no, I'm gonna watch, but should be. I think the humans win about 75 die.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so 76 with the gorilla.

[Ty Schmidt]

Gotta be done.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so how do you select who the first. Is there a random drawing?

[Michael Cole]

I mean, the first. The first 50 might as well just be complete birds. They don't matter.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't give up.

[Michael Cole]

They're all getting. They're all getting sacrificed.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't give up.50. I think we give up 10 first. Now there's a 10 good men, okay? And we appreciate their services to the human. They're on a death mission. Yeah, those first 10, they're gone. They're high. As we watch them. Yeah, we. We watch.

[Michael Cole]

Well, everybody's got to be on meth. All the. All 100 need to be on.

[Pat McAfee]

We need people all in.

[Connor]

I think you go to a pen.

[Pat McAfee]

You need zombies, get 100 guys.

[Connor]

Say, hey, you want to get out early?

[Pat McAfee]

Whoever can get Steve Austin's movie Death Race. What do you say, Fox? Whoever can get the eyes.

[Tony]

Whoever get the eyes, they have to go first. You got to get the eyes first. Once they got foxy.

[Pat McAfee]

That's point. I know.

[Tony]

That's why you need a tactician in there. You need a high flyer jump on the head, get the eyes out, and then you keep it moving.

[Pat McAfee]

Herbivore more. Which I. My favorite thing here is the more humans think about it. The more humans are all in on us winning. Hey, shout out to us. Team. On us. Team. On us.

[Michael Cole]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

One, two, three. Team.

[Michael Cole]

Team. I'm not on us.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm not with us.

[Ty Schmidt]

Gorilla.

[Michael Cole]

No, Come on now. You tell the. The first guy runs up there gets his arms and legs ripped off, and then everyone else turns and runs.

[Pat McAfee]

No, we got the hunter, right, men.

[Michael Cole]

Like the old Mike Tyson fight. Yeah, until someone gets their arms ripped off in front of you.

[Pat McAfee]

Those people know that's happening to them. Part of the plan, okay?

[Michael Cole]

Until it happens in front of you. I think it might be a little different than in theory and how it feels like it might. Okay. I'm going to just keep going no matter what.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm fighting blinders, brother. We got to execute. We could also send a guy with no arms.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. The night before. By the way, guess what they're watching for hype videos. People getting their arms and limbs ripped off. Hey, you're going to see us tomorrow also.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[AJ Hawk]

So get mentally prepared.

[Connor]

Gorillas are only five foot like £400. It's basically like fighting Jay Glazer.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Which I think they're a little tall.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't want to do that either. 100 people.

[AJ Hawk]

Vers J. Laser.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of. Hold on. Speaking of. Yeah. We have a trailer for a fight movie that I think is going to be unbelievable. Yeah. Debuting in October. Trailer released this morning for Smashing Machine. Probably looking at my eyes. How did that happen? Well, have you ever heard of the Ultimate Fighting Championship? The ufc? That's the bloody thing they're trying to ban. This guy is the best he has ever seen. Do you hate each other when you fight? Absolutely not. How do you know Mark Kirby?

[Michael Cole]

We go way back but he's a.

[Pat McAfee]

Buddy of mine, so I. Come on, baby. Too much. Never too much. No. Please welcome in his Octagon debut, Mark. Winning is the best feeling there is. It's 40, 000 people and they're cheering you on. There's no other high like it in the world. No contract. No money. No money on. Do you have any stronger pain medication? Advil. Advil. Advil. Don, would you like. No. They're handing them out like candy. Let's all get in. Let's all. Everybody get in. Don, can you take this picture for us? Yeah. What are you thinking at the beginning of the fight? It's simple. Am I going to hurt him before he hurts me? This Grand Prix to crown the greatest fighter in the world.

[Jeff Passan]

He has come back from the brink.

[AJ Hawk]

Let's see if he can pull out.

[Pat McAfee]

A victory over Mark Coleman at East. Spoken to either. About fighting. Such a good friend for a life changing amount of money.

[Les Snead]

I just need you to let me in.

[Pat McAfee]

Always about you. Only about you.

[Ty Schmidt]

You.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's.

[Connor]

My big strong man.

[Pat McAfee]

I love you. Thinking. Watch your autograph. Sure, no problem. No fighting. October 3rd. Hey. That's like a real. He's gonna. That's like. Cause he's got this mob movie coming up as well. That feels like super serious acting for the Rock. And the amount of commitment I heard behind the scenes working out the Whole buy in for him from WrestleMania season all the way through. I think like eight, nine months or whatever. I mean, it was like a full life commitment from the Rock. Emily Blunt, obviously a big deal, but from what I'm watching there, this is gonna be like a pow. Like they're a power movie, it feels like.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you can obviously still tell it's the Rock, but like in all his movies, like it's Dwayne Johnson on the, on the poster. Like that's kind of the point of it is like, hey, you want to see the Rock in like a big action movie? Like, he's kind of unrecognizable there. Especially in some parts of like that trailer. It's like, wow. Like he, you know, he, like the amount of makeup he probably had to do and then, yeah, a 24. The studio that's doing it, they put out a lot of like, kind of prestige type movies. Benny Safdie, the guy who wrote it and direct it, him and his brother, they did uncut gems and they've did. They've done like, like movies like that that are. I don't want to say award spotter, but you can tell, like this is. Is completely different than anything the Rock has been in up to this point in his career.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's got a Godfather movie coming out and he's got this movie coming out. Moana is going to be good forever.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Live action.

[Pat McAfee]

Live action. Moana is good forever. Terra Mana, right? Delightful. Papatui is unbelievable. Zoa Ustus.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Got a new line.

[Pat McAfee]

Project Rock way shoes. Jeez Louise.

[AJ Hawk]

Still bringing it.

[Pat McAfee]

And his social media got it. Yeah, still. And his social media is the what? He's the big, biggest, most followed American male. Well, I see the announcement. It's absolutely wild.

[AJ Hawk]

And he's the final boss.

[Connor]

He's the final boss.

[Ty Schmidt]

Truly in high chief and high chief.

[AJ Hawk]

Most importantly for now.

[Pat McAfee]

Otc.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's a trap.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see what Seth freaking Rollins was doing last night?

[AJ Hawk]

I do.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's talk a little football. George Kittle got signed to a four year, $76.4 million deal. 19.1 million per year. AJ, your thoughts on George getting paid into busing with the boys? Boys breaking the news.

[Michael Cole]

Yeah, I did. I. I like Will, you know, taking Ian for a walk like he does. That was, that was nice to see him to. To get his. Get the recognition they deserve.

[Pat McAfee]

But. Yeah.

[Michael Cole]

Was this ever a question though? Like, I. This seems like common sense. To me that they would get George.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know. You missed something. There was a conversation wasn't happening. There was reports that there was maybe a little bit of a thing happening contractually. But yeah, I feel like George Kittle is The San Francisco 49ers kind of heartbeat and I think he's beloved by everybody over there. From what we understand. We know the NFL loves him. And then you looked at his. We looked at his stats for the first time since the season. Yeah. Did you know he was first in yards per game? I didn't.

[Michael Cole]

I didn't until all this.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Does so much that, you know, doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet too. Like he's like an extra old lineman in the run game and whenever he's. The only thing that has ever gotten in his way is health. There's some injuries, but as long as he's been healthy, he's always been in the conversation as the best tight end in the league. Obviously you have Travis Kelce and what he's been able to do, not only regular season but postseason, been able to step it up. Huge super bowl moments. But George Kittle is unbelievable in both phases of the games. And you know, know, obviously he's a great locker room guy as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I forgot about him being a pancaker.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And laughing about from day one.

[AJ Hawk]

Road grader.

[Pat McAfee]

And any Shanahan offense is going to need a runner, you know, so that's a big deal. AJ George Kittle is a. He's a. He's a. I was going to say.

[Michael Cole]

You can almost say that for real. A guy that can block as well as he does but also is such a threat and is so productive in the past game. Yeah, I mean they don't. They don't make him like this very often.

[Pat McAfee]

And his vibes, he's old school but so upbeat. Saw him at WrestleMania a few times. So much fun. Chug the beer as soon as he gets on there. Still absolutely jacked and shredded. Got a chance to hang out with him and Claire and a couple of their friends after Mania. Good vibes. Just great vibes. Immaculate vibes. Comes from Kittle. I assume he's like that in the locker room and that is a gift whenever it comes to a long NFL season.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Gift for Purdy too. So now they're saying Purdy is next up in the 50 million dollar range. And it wasn't expected until they traded Deebo because there's that conversation last year. Hey, they have all these guys coming up. They Got to make a couple decisions. They move Deebo Kittles first and now they're saying Purdy should get done within the next few weeks in the $50 million club.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so congratulations to all quarterbacks. Congrats, Brock32, Mr. Rovitt. They did. It's nice to revisit that. And did you see they brought out. It was celebration, the Mr. Irrelevant. I don't know what company it was, should have. It was definitely a sponsored thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah, because it was for New England too. I forget the company.

[Pat McAfee]

They said come out and see us in somewhere in California because I think they have a parade for Mr. Irrelevant and give him the. I think he gets a watch. I was. I was eyeing Mr.

[AJ Hawk]

Pretty Close.

[Pat McAfee]

Ryan Suck Up Kicker, SC, got drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs, I think. I don't know. I think potentially they were thinking about it from what I was being told. So I was Learning about this Mr. Relevancy as the draft was rolling on parade. I think you get a ring, a watch. Oh, I think there's like. I think there's like a full on community like if you want to buy into the entire thing. So that was back whenever I was coming out. So then, you know, you go through the years, I'm like, has that died off a bit? And then when Brock Purdy does such a good job, it almost gets overplayed then. Yeah, Mr. Irrelevant's overplayed now. One of the best quarterbacks in the entire league was picked last. We get it. Which goes back to the point of the draft. It doesn't matter where you get drafted.

[Ty Schmidt]

It just matter what you do when you get there.

[Pat McAfee]

It's just that you're in a building. It's the only thing that matters. Joining us now is a man who's picking who's coming and going from his building. General manager of the Los Angeles Rams, ladies and gentlemen, Lesney.

[Les Snead]

How's it going, guys?

[Pat McAfee]

Is there a drawing? Is there a drawing I can't see? Is there a drawing over your shoulder?

[Les Snead]

You know what?

[Pat McAfee]

We.

[Les Snead]

You know what? Hold on one second. I'll leave the screen. It's right here. There we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I thought I caught it, but we took it down.

[Les Snead]

It was. It was. You know, the building said, you know what? We've had enough. Take that one down. Go back to. Go back to the DL.

[Pat McAfee]

You know what I mean? I like that. Celebrate.

[Les Snead]

Who needs a has been punter on the wall?

[Pat McAfee]

Amen, brother. Put that D lineup. That's incredibly young and is an absolute problem for the NFL. For the rest of time, we would assume, how do you feel coming out of the draft? And before we get into that, shout out to you guys for doing your draft at a firehouse, I believe, there in Los Angeles. And I assume that that was a very cool interaction for everybody, for all parties. And anytime you can showcase some appreciation to the badasses who are serving our communities, especially firefighters. I have family members that are firefighters. We're talking about sprinting towards, you know, the flames. You know, the flames are a natural. Run away from her for everybody. Every repellent. Everybody runs away from flames. Firefighters run towards them at all times. So mad respect, especially with everything going on out there for you guys to do that. How'd that idea come about and what was it like as an experience?

[Les Snead]

You know, it was very. I think, living it. It was. The ideas on paper was like, wow, this is really cool. Based on all that Cali's been through, not necessarily this year, but in. But California is used to this. Like, as you said, mother Nature throws its best pitch, and these first responders run right toward it. So.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Les Snead]

But going there and living it with them, I can't even paint the picture of how really, really cool and emotional because they really appreciated it. They do some. Like you said, when you. We. We. I think Sean and I did that. That. That video, and there was a whole thing about making that call. And I think at the end of the day, when you. When we dial that number to call them, we're not. We're not calling them to say, you know what? We appreciate all you do. We're calling them to go, oh, my mother Nature's coming at us.

[Pat McAfee]

This.

[Les Snead]

We're gonna run the other way, but we need you to run into it. So that's an important call. They are badasses.

[Pat McAfee]

Badasses. And I think, you know, I don't. I don't think I've ever been for an air fire department. Never been there. A lot of good chefs in there, you know, because they're all cooking. Some of them cook for each other.

[Les Snead]

Our draft room, obviously, it's a fire station, and it was a. It was a big hangar because it's where the helicopters. It's where they go fight. Fight the fire. You know, the. Let's call it the wildfires or whatever we call them out here. So big hangar, but there was a kitchen right there. And what was it? They were always cooking. They have a weight room. They're kind of like you. They. You know, they're wearing some tank tops, look a Little buff.

[Pat McAfee]

Love the boys.

[Les Snead]

And then what was really cool was at the end of the night, all of them did the cleaning. Like, all of a sudden, we were leaving the firehouse. That was one of the moments. Like, wow, I think I am spoiled because as we were leaving, everyone who was there fighting fire by day, on call at night, you know what, they're mopping the floors. They're cleaning up. Really, Really. I think we could all go to spend a year with the fire department and get better.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah.

[Les Snead]

Better people on the other side of that.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. Thanks for your service. Thanks for your service. Okay, we'll talk about your first pick that you made from the fire department. You go with a tight end end. Why was this your decision? Was it best available in your eyes, or are we trying to load up even more on an offense that is already successful?

[Les Snead]

Little bit of both. I think we went into the draft, especially where we were positioned back in the late part of the first round, and often call it the cost of winning sometimes because you're picking. You're always picking a little later than you want. But we did have some positions that we thought would help us more, and if the right player fell at those positions, let's. Let's go attack. And I think. I think obviously we have a really good tight end room. We have a lot of veterans. Everyone in our room right now has played football. Tyler Higby's been with us since Sean's been here, but I know there's an element of Tyler being at the end of his career who's going to replace him, and then just adding another tight end to the field. I think when Sean McVeigh came to us from Washington, they weren't. The commanders then. Don't know if I could say their own nickname.

[Pat McAfee]

Football team.

[Les Snead]

Yeah, the football team. Well, they did a lot of 12 personnel, so maybe we will. We'll add a little bit of that to our repertoire, but end of the day, good position. We like the player as well.

[Pat McAfee]

I love. Whenever you think about getting even more dynamic, especially whenever you're talking about a Sean McVay offense and Matthew Stafford there for yet another year in that offense. They seemingly know each other inside and out at this point. Get them another weapon. Go ahead, A.J.

[Michael Cole]

Les, I believe you guys traded up three times on day three. Can you talk us through, like, what kind of. I guess how that happens and continues to happen throughout that day. And is. Is that pretty chaotic? I would assume that kind of keeps your attention and keeps you locked in on every single pick.

[Les Snead]

It definitely kept our attention. I think it was a draft. It's cool you made that point, AJ that we. We went into draft thinking, you know what, we're going to probably trade back. That's. That's probably a scenario. That's very probable. But we also felt like we would be gaining picks in this draft. It was just fortunate for us that the Falcons really wanted to move into the first round. So we delayed our gratification when we were. When they were. When they gave us that future first round pick. So we delayed gratification. We passed a little bit of the marshmallow test and we received the pick for next year. But we lost a pick this. In this year's draft when we had already been one short with the pick we gave for Fisk last year. So I called this draft. Once we were down a pick, it was like, oh, our board's a little thinner. If it was a baseball game, I would tell you this, A.J. you know what we were going to do in this draft? We were going to hit a single, we were going to have to steal a base, we were going to bunt the guy over the third, and we were going to sack, fly him in. It was just one of those drafts where you really had to work and maneuver to. To. To grab the players, to attack the players that you felt like could come in and contribute in.

[Michael Cole]

In a.

[Les Snead]

In a role, in a vision that we have for them on the roster that we currently have.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so I didn't play baseball, but the metaphor that you just gave seemingly was, all right, we're going to give up a little bit here, but we're going to get something basically right.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Giving up two there, but you just got the guy home with one hit. Okay.

[Les Snead]

I can't believe I confused everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I'm not a base everybody.

[Les Snead]

And you just, you know, it cleared it up for.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I was really. I was hoping that I was right. Is that. Is that what he said? I'm not a baseball guy at all. I know Paul Skeens sliced up the Dodgers when he was playing them. Tell your friends over there in Los Angeles, from what I've been saying, from what I saw, at least, I don't know how great it was. Yeah, I don't know baseball that well, but that was a great, like, indicator. Is it like that every draft or just because of these specific players and big boys seemingly getting rewarded more in the draft?

[Les Snead]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

I think.

[Les Snead]

I mean, but big boys, it's Bill Parcells. You say that it's a big Man's game, right? But I think not every draft's like this. If you have, if we would have had more picks, sometimes you can allow the draft to come to you. You can wait on it a little bit, and your board's a little thicker instead of thinner, and you can pick off players. That right. There's a lot of buy in because every time you go to pick, there's, there's always, you know, more players on the board than one. But based on the nature of our board, this draft, what positions we wanted, it was a little bit thinner. So we did feel like, okay, we need to, to score runs in this baseball game, we're gonna have to give up something. We're going to give up some outs to score runs, but you know what? We're going to count on our pitching to hold the other team down. Hey, A.J. if I was a defensive coordinator right now, you'd be like, you know what? Can you just tell it? Give us something simple. Let us go play football. You confused the heck out of us.

[Pat McAfee]

That's home run. I think we got it.

[Michael Cole]

We got it. We got it, Les. No worries. We got it. Trust your process.

[Pat McAfee]

It's good wood right now. Everything that you're putting out there. Speaking of good, Goodwood, how about stoner down there in Jacksonville? Did you hear his promo? Whenever he introduced Travis Hunter and why he made the decision that he made to trade up to 2 and give up what he gave up. He said, you know, football is built to have its boundaries be tested in belief and everything. And he said, travis Hunter is belief. Travis Hunter is all this thing. And the way he sold like it was a move. It was a statement to all of Jacksonville.

[Les Snead]

Amen.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you expect that? Did you expect that from him?

[Les Snead]

You know what? James is really gifted, definitely with, with. Let's call it a monologue, a prologue, whatever we want to call that. So he's gift for gab. He's really good at it. I mean, I, I, I would come on this show and if I could. What did he say? I forget what. If I could embody my James Gladstone, I would. I just don't have that in me. Mom, dad, God didn't give me that gab gift, the gab like James did, but he really did sell it. He's always been a very articulate, you know, human being, so. And he's been passionate. So when he says something, he believes it.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel about him moving up the two and making that play for his team?

[Les Snead]

You know, I, I think that they were Passionate about that player. I think they wanted to not only add a football player, but add competitiveness to their ecosystem. So they felt like, right, you know what, we got to go attack. Let's go. Let's go grab this player. Just don't let the draft come to us. Let's go get the person we want that we think can not only help us on Sundays, but also add. Give an edge to the culture they're trying to engineer down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let's talk about somebody you added. Go ahead, con man.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, less devonte Adams. You guys added after losing Cooper cup, and you know, Puka Nukua gives up his 17 for Devonte. Did Stafford have anything to do with Adam Devonte or what was that process like bringing him in for your squad this year?

[Les Snead]

You know, Sean always, let's call it collaborates with Matthew on some of the skill, and he was definitely all for it. So, interestingly, I think Puka was going to give up 17 for 12 before Devonte got in the building. Maybe he should have held that secret a little bit and maybe gotten Devonte to give him a tip for that number. But he was already in the process of going to 12 based on a family history of that number, so it's perfect, right? Oh, man, we got jersey 17 open. What NFL player can we sign who wears 17? Holy cow. Let's go, Devonte.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, really? That's how it all worked out, huh?

[Les Snead]

That's how it all you. You know, it's a. It's not. It's not always as complex as you think.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I actually got a box arrived from the people at Los Angeles Rams facility over there in LA. I have a Poconic autograph. 12. Okay, Jersey. The letter said this might be one of the first ones from Puka. So shout out to the 12. Looks nice.

[Connor]

Looks real nice.

[Les Snead]

I'm not used to that yet. I'm just not used to it yet. Gonna need to see him catch some balls in there.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, is it gonna be weird for you, training camp 17 just a little bit different.

[Les Snead]

You know, Cooper cup went from 18 to 10, so we had to get used to that. So I think that, you know, we're going to have to get used to 17 to 12.

[Pat McAfee]

Tone has a question for you, Les.

[Connor]

Yeah, Les, I do. Jay Glazer reported before the draft that teams, you know, normally have columns or things for an injured player or based or potentially, you know, off the field issues. But he said this year a lot of teams became more prevalent that they had to add a category for doesn't love ball. Is that a real thing that's happening in this Nil, Eric. Because guys have already been played, the teams are now more focused on finding guys that just love football.

[Les Snead]

That would be interesting if we added that because of Nil, maybe it's a little. It's come to life a little more because of NFL and all the. Right. When you make a change. And I always say this, I think Sean McVay would say a good story. I think one time when he was a young, young coach and he went to. To maybe interview, I forget which tight end. And the guy ended up being a really good player. And it might have been Niles Paul who played tight end for them in Washington all those years. And Sean says, I was trying to ask him if you love football, you.

[Pat McAfee]

Know what I mean?

[Les Snead]

And basically got down to money. And I think Niles asked Sean, hey, would you coach for free? So I don't want to ever make money that you don't love football. But I do think we're always trying to find out if someone truly loves football. Because if you truly love football, if you truly love something, whether it's football, whether it's you, Pat, in this show, hell yeah. If you love something, if you're passionate about, you're probably going to suffer. Right. You're going to go. You're going to go through stress and drudgery. Right. To. To have the Pat McAfee show be one of the best that it can be. That's because you love it. You're pat. Same for football players. If they love the game, if they love their team they love, they're going to suffer, they're going to sacrifice, they're going to give a little. And that usually then compounds over time with all the behaviors that go into. Right. Being a pro and, and not just being right on the depth chart or not just, you know, hanging around, if we call it right. Eating food but not producing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Waste the laundry detergent. The whole. How do you know if a guy's a dog or not?

[Les Snead]

Yeah, that's a. You know what? That's a. That's a great question. What is even the definition of dog? We even say sometimes, Jared versus dog. Is it a. Is it a D, a D, a W, G or a D, O G? Right. And if you're in football, if you're in a football locker room, you kind of know it. And I do think there is this blend of. Of a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Right.

[Les Snead]

A positive dog, a net positive, dawg. I think there's an element of Their behavior Monday through set, let's call it Monday through Saturday. But a lot of times you do see that dog come to life. I think someone mentioned on your show, Jared Verse, right, You. Hey, when you watch Jared Verse, when we were playing, right, The Vikings at Arizona in that playoff game, because of these fires, right? I think anyone who tuned into that game go, wow, Jared Verse, that defensive line, there's some dogs on that line. And I give that net podcast positive.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think that's a net positive as well. You saying dawg or dog? If you've ever been in a building, you know the answers to these things. I'll see a graphic every once in a while, and they'll say dog on it. And I'm like, we're not talking about the. Right? We're not talking.

[Les Snead]

You know, every now and then we say, you know what? Someone's just a pup and they're growing into being, you know, somebody's. They're growing into their feet.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about your dogs on the D line.

[Les Snead]

AJ's smiling right now. He's going, you know what? I remember this guy. He got highly drafted back when we were the packers. And you know what? He was just a pup. He wasn't there yet. We still had him on the Lee. You could just, you know, I could see a smile.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not going to ask you to.

[Les Snead]

Say who came to your mind first.

[Pat McAfee]

Aj. Yeah. Who was it?

[AJ Hawk]

Somebody.

[Pat McAfee]

Who was it? That's a good question, actually.

[Michael Cole]

That's a great question. I don't know. I. I don't know. I couldn't tell. I have a hard time telling if someone does love ball or not, but it's. I think sometimes people can oversell it verbally, that they love ball for sure. You can tell by their actions and how they carry them.

[Pat McAfee]

Less. Less. Did you know that A.J. hawk and Kuhn, the fullback, for, what, how many years? Nine years. Yeah.

[Michael Cole]

Eight or nine.

[Pat McAfee]

Eight or nine years in the CTE era. Okay, eight or nine years. Aj, middle linebacker. Him, fullback, for eight or nine years together as teammates, not one time did either of them say, hey, today we don't have to go. Full go. Jeez. Wednesday, Thursday. I assume fast Friday. You guys weren't doing that, though, right?

[Michael Cole]

No, no, we were smart. We took care of each other.

[Pat McAfee]

No, you didn't. That's exactly what you said you didn't do. Wednesday, Thursday, eight to nine years straight, every single week. Boy, think about that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Inside run.

[AJ Hawk]

No, thanks.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's.

[Michael Cole]

Look at John's head. You can't brother in law John. Look at his head like there's no he knows one speed.

[Pat McAfee]

But whenever you say people can sell that they love ball better than they could show it. It's like eight to nine years straight running your head into a guy who loves ball. You know you are looking for dogs that love ball. And you talked about that D line. Hembo just sent over some stats here to put you over most sacks including playoffs from the 2023 draftees. Number one, Will Anderson has 22 and a half sacks. Number two, Kobe Turner, 20 and a half sacks. Number three, Byron Young, 17 sacks. Well, how about the 2024 draftees? This is most sacks including playoffs. Braden Fisk, 10 Jared Verse, six and a half. Nobody else near them. So four out of five there are your picks. Feels like you got the D line figured out. Feels like that is which we talked to McCarthy during draft night. Mike McCarthy, he said you need four ones at D line. You need four ones. You need to be able to do four, seven. Obviously that's what the Eagles were able to do on defense. D line, very important. Obviously. And why do you think you have such a high hit rate?

[Les Snead]

We've always valued defensive line. We knew we, we needed to continue valuing especially with when, when, when, when Aaron did, when Aaron Donald did decide to retire. I think I mentioned it the last time I was on this show that, you know, with those guys you just mentioned, we spent five top 100 picks on four players. So whether they're ones, twos, what we do know is, you know what, they're our type of guy. They're dawgs. They, they, they get up the field. They definitely try to create a little stress and drudgery on the qb. But we do think philosophically the way the game is that if you can, especially as the game goes over, if it's 60 something plays that each team usually gets and especially when you get play against these elite QBs, you can have some players up front front that causes that qb, that offensive clock to, to maybe get a little bit discombobulated. You got a better chance of beating that team than you don't.

[Pat McAfee]

I'd say so, yeah.

[Les Snead]

You know, I talk about love in football though. Think about Kobe Turner. Kobe Turner goes, I'm going to walk on at Richmond. Okay, we're not, not University of Virginia, not Virginia. I'm going to Richmond. And then he does what he does at Richmond. He says I want to go to Wake Forest. And then he's not even going to get invited to the Combine, so. Oh, by the way, we're going to make the pick. But that's someone who loves football that he didn't have to play. No one paid his education to play. He decided, I love it so much, I'm going to Richmond to walk home. And you and every one of those defensive linemen and even the young man we drafted from Michigan the other night, Josiah Stewart, they all started at a. Let's call it a lesser level of football. Whether it was verse at Albany, whether it was Fisk at Central Michigan, Western Michigan, I'm going to get that. That wrong. Whether it's by heck at Georgia Military, whether it's Josiah Cola, they all. They all loved it enough that they were going to not. Let's go. Go to the power fives to start. They didn't have that op. Let's go somewhere first and then let's transfer up. So that's one of the positives of the transfer portal, per se.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you what, that might be a good trait to be looking for, actually, at certain positions.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, like having to grind through that and wanting it. That's a want to type thing there. That's a great trait to have, especially if you're looking for people that love football. It's working for you. Kobe Turner walked on at Richmond, you said now 20 and a half sacks. Okay. In his first two years. Pretty good. How about zero star Cam Ward?

[Les Snead]

I don't know if you saw him either. He can sing pretty good. I think he did.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Les Snead]

You got to go back to. Oh, mad singer. Go, go, go. Pull out The Google highlights, YouTube, wherever you go to get your highlights.

[Pat McAfee]

Did he win?

[Les Snead]

He dominated Matt, but he's. He's got an opera voice. This guy could. This guy could be. He could be. I guess we call it in New York. Broadway.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's.

[Les Snead]

He's got Broadway career after this.

[Pat McAfee]

He's a. He's a dog with Broadway pipes.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Les Snead]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

He won.

[Les Snead]

That's it. I tell you what, there's not many of those humans on the planet.

[Pat McAfee]

No.

[Les Snead]

Like Dawgs that can do Broadway, too. That's. That's rare. We're at rarefied air.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, that's why you do the research before the draft.

[Darius Butler]

Exactly.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hell of a combo.

[AJ Hawk]

Just him and Tom Cruise.

[Ty Schmidt]

Cruise, yeah, Tom Cruise.

[Pat McAfee]

Jordan Myotta.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Did he win?

[AJ Hawk]

I'm pretty sure he won. Yes. In 2023. Yeah.

[Les Snead]

I should know this, but he. He, you know, I mean, he. Whatever. I don't know if I'D have dressed up like this, but you know what?

[AJ Hawk]

Like 90.

[Les Snead]

He did a Lakers national anthem at the Lakers game. And that I. That. That's worth a listen.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Les Snead]

I mean, if y'all are sitting there and you're on your show and you're like, oh, geez, we're an hour however many, and this thing's getting a little dull, Pull out a Kobe Turner national anthem from the Lakers and you know what? Maybe you get a little ratings bump there at the end.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you watch the show?

[Les Snead]

I do not watch the Mads.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no, this show.

[Les Snead]

You know what the. The interesting thing, I don't necessarily tune into it, but you get a lot of clips from moment.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Les Snead]

So. And it's own in the building at times, so you'll pass by.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but you're.

[Les Snead]

But you're not yet. Just, hey, must see TV for myself yet.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. No, but a lot of people send.

[Les Snead]

Me clips of you.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, but when you say, like when you have the down times and you need to fill, sound like you were a watcher.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because there are times coming up. Yeah, yeah, you. We're staring it down, brother. We're about five minutes away from it. So that would be a perfect time. I mean, if you want to add EP executive producer to your title, you can certainly do that. Not a bad thing. Maybe we do salute the United States of America with Kobe Turner whenever there's a downtime. That's a brilliant idea and a brilliant concept. I appreciate you bringing it. I can't wait for the first time we all stand for Kobe Turner, guy who has 20 and a half sacks over the last two years. All right, last question for you here, Les. Need. We appreciate the hell out of you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go ahead, D. Bud, I don't think Les is watching too much, too much TV with that mad singer. Yeah, he's locked in. But I believe this is your 14 15th year now in charge of personnel over there. With the Rams winning this GM and Rams history, is there any particular lesson or book or maybe anything early on that kind of stood out to you in your tenure that you took me, you kind of hold on to now?

[Les Snead]

Oh, man, there's plenty of the lessons I've learned on the job are usually, let's call it mistakes. So you. You gotta. You gotta figure out why there was a mistake and you apply it. I'll bore you. This is probably not a McAfee sub subject. Probably the one book that I've kind of lived by. It's called Good to Great Jim Collins. So Jim Collins was a professor at Stanford, but he was a big business writer back in the day. Wrote this book, good to Great. Studied a lot of companies that.

[Pat McAfee]

Right.

[Les Snead]

Had a really good run, let's call it, in terms of stock, and let's say maybe I forget how many years. And they had a good. Let's call it a decade of good company. And then somewhere along the way, they took it to grace. And so what he tried to research is the lessons of how you go to good to great, which we all know those are now. You're now in the margins, so that's. That's harder to do. You know, it's probably easier to go from average to good than it is to go to good to great. So that's probably the book that. That I've always held on, try to reread once a year. Been fortunate to get to know Jim, Mentor mine, but maybe not. McAfee content. Don't want to. You know what I mean? Jim Collins and W. He doesn't really. Greatness level.

[Ty Schmidt]

Five leaders.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we had. We had the second largest book club maybe on earth, behind Oprah. Congratulations to her. She had a great book club. We had the Aaron Rodgers Book Club for numerous years. Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline. Jim Collins. That's a bar.

[AJ Hawk]

There you go.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a bar right there.

[Les Snead]

I bet you AJ's got a copy of that on the bookshelf behind him.

[Pat McAfee]

Pull it out.

[Michael Cole]

Not on this, actually. My college coach, Jim Trestle actually had us read that when I was in college. Great book. No, I just have Ayn Rand back here. Atlas Shrugged, Aaron Rodgers recommended.

[Les Snead]

Oh, that's a great one as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. You're an avid reader, huh?

[Les Snead]

You know, have you ever read. Oh, Atlas Rugs, Pat, you know, that's a good summer read. And I mean, I bet you.

[Adam Pierce]

Summer?

[Les Snead]

Yeah, I've seen the Instagram. When you were doing your Hawaii vacation, maybe. I bet you had old Ayn Rand there laying beside you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. Books. Me and books have tough relationship. Yeah. Sun Tzu. Rest in Peace. When I found out that Sun Tzu was dead, I was devastated. What a book. Art of War, you know, And I've only seen excerpts out of that thing, but the excerpts that I seen. I get it. I get what he's saying. Rich Paul's. Rich Paul's book. Memoir.

[AJ Hawk]

Memoir, if you will.

[Michael Cole]

Bill's book coming out.

[Pat McAfee]

Bill's book also. Let's not get it twisted. Have you Ever. Ever read anything from Margaret? He.

[Les Snead]

Oh, I don't think so.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, okay. Well, let me teach you something about books.

[Les Snead]

Yeah, let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Uncharted here. Okay. How to Navigate the Future by Margaret Heffernan. Okay. He's a great book. Because every day we're thinking about the future. You know, every day we're thinking about the future. Future is uncertain, so it certainly is.

[Les Snead]

Certainty brings anxiety. Life.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, well. But also decisions. You know, uncertainty brings decisions. Flip to that page, and then if you really dive into it, it's just figuring out the whole life. The issue with me having this book is I thought it was this book. You see the Art of Winning by Bill Belichick. So I was sent the wrong book with the wrong cover just yesterday. And I'll tell you what I would have never known about Margaret Heffernan, but she makes some good points here.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, she's dog.

[Pat McAfee]

She makes some good points.

[Les Snead]

You got to give her public publishing company credit for pulling this off. You know, everybody's ordering the Bill Belichick book, and you get Margaret's book. I mean that.

[Adam Pierce]

You.

[Les Snead]

If you think I gave you a good idea with the Kobe Turner national Anthem, Somebody deserves a raise in that publishing company.

[Pat McAfee]

We need to put. Start putting sleeves around Harry Potter's.

[Darius Butler]

There you go.

[Pat McAfee]

Cool. You know, it's not a bad idea, people thinking that. How did this happen? I don't, you know, the book world. Well, how would this have happened? This is happening.

[Les Snead]

I don't know what. I think that's intentional. Let's go. Let's give him Gary.

[Michael Cole]

Gary V. Marketing plan, probably for.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a left hook. All right. We appreciate the hell out of you. Great draft. Can't wait to see what you do this season. And thank you for taking time.

[Les Snead]

Always appreciate it. Enjoy. Have being old.

[Pat McAfee]

The ladies and gentlemen, the general manager of the Los Angeles Rams, Les Need. Shout out. Les Need. Yeah, that thing in the fire department was cool.

[AJ Hawk]

They're.

[Pat McAfee]

I wonder how that had to be pretty chaotic.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Set up a little room.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because like these war rooms, we're getting a lot of photos from these draft rooms. We're getting a lot of video from the draft rooms, the conversations. Obviously, a lot of big time decisions are being made. Millions of dollars, billions of dollars at stake. Yada, yada, yada. You know it. Having all that going on around them. I wonder how that did go for them. The Los Angeles Rams, Les need and Sean McVeigh. They've been fun out there in Los Angeles.

[Les Snead]

Yeah, that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

They've run in houses. They. They've kind of moved their draft stakes around town. And to honor and pay tribute to the fire department who has obviously been serving at a large rate. I don't know how they ever beat it. There's never, I don't know. Once one's done, it feels like another one comes out out there. So for them to, you know, recognize and then go to their place of work. Chit chat. I assume great conversations were had. I assume there were some photos taken. Ca MC a legend and a superstar are. And I hope there was obviously some inspiration given to the Los Angeles Rams by the firefighters who are absolute badasses. Shout out to everything out there. But I wonder how they. Because what, you know, favorite war room.

[Ty Schmidt]

Picks this year, this draft.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw the Colts had one. Did you see everybody was wearing the coral color? Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

So that was in honor of the wife of. Of a senior scout for the Indianapolis Colts. So there was multiple. I guess she passed away, I don't know, very recently. I'm so sorry to the family. I forget the coach's name. Matthew. Coach. Our scout, Matthew Some. He's with the Colts. Been with the Colts. He's senior scout, college scout. Maybe his wife passed away recently. So they made these coral shirts. I don't know if it was for a cause, but you saw some other rooms were doing it as well. Well, so it's nice to see some of that happening there. We're getting a lot of access to these.

[Ty Schmidt]

So Carly was sitting on like the, like the BOSU ball. Yeah, it's good, you know.

[Michael Cole]

Yeah, Good core strength. Yeah, good core.

[Pat McAfee]

Whatever happened to those seats, those office seats that had the kneel and then the butt? Do you know, like you squatty potty. It was like, it was.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, it had like the indented office chair.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it was like a little.

[Michael Cole]

You're like your knees are bent, right? And you're. You like sit with your knees in front of you and you're.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're like riding on. You're like sitting like this. You never seen it?

[Ty Schmidt]

No. Sounds ridiculous.

[Pat McAfee]

That was changing the world.

[Michael Cole]

It is.

[Pat McAfee]

I walked into a place, seen that and I was like, wow, this is the future. Sat down. Wasn't terrible. Felt unsafe. Sure felt unsafe. Cuz you do bounce around a little. So there's a chance you can move out there. But yeah, squatty party. Chance game. Nordstrom brings you the season's most wanted brands. Skims, Mango Free People and Princess polly. All under $100. From trending sneakers to beauty. Must haves. We've curated the styles you'll wear on repeat this spring. Free shipping, free returns, and in store pickup make it easier than ever. Shop now in stores [e-mail]. if you want tools that stand the test of time without testing your wallet, Harbor Freight is the place for you. Expert engineers design and rigorously test Harbor Freight tools to bring you top quality. Whether your next project is big or small, Harbor Freight carries a wide selection, from hand tools to power tools to automotive tools and welding equipment. And with prices lower than other top brands, but with the same top quality, you're getting more for your money at Harbor Freight. There are over 1,500 Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. so come see for yourself. Whatever you do, do it for less at Harbor Freight. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a guy who is the voice of a generation for a sport that I think is having a resurgence. He was at Monday Night Raw last night in the Chiefs. Kansas City, Missouri, Ladies and gentlemen, MLB Insider for espn. Jeff Passin.

[Adam Pierce]

Gentlemen, how are you?

[Pat McAfee]

How are you doing? Jet? Thank you for coming out to Monday Night Raw last night. I hope you and the fam had and friends had a good time.

[Adam Pierce]

Dude, it was awesome. Pat, I gotta be honest, I am terrified for you and backlash. You have to take Gunther chops.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Pierce]

It's not gonna be great.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, I had to do what I had to do here, Jed. I had to do what I had to do. Can't just do that. Let me sit there for everything that I'm about. Can't have it happen. So, you know, and it did settle in a little bit last night as I was traveling home. Oh, great. Oh, great. Here we go. But, you know, I appreciate your kind words and yeah, going through laughing about it. I don't know what that's all about. Okay. I don't know what that's all about. About. He ain't ready. He ain't ready.

[Les Snead]

He's just a.

[Adam Pierce]

He's just a jobber. Anyway. Come on now.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom. That was Jeff passing. I'd like to have everybody know that I did not say that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I agree with you.

[Pat McAfee]

You come to a lot of. You come to a lot of Monday night Raws into WWE events. Last night felt like electrifying crowd legitimately. The Kansas City crowd, I think was electric last night.

[Adam Pierce]

Oh, yeah, it was awesome. And listen, your. Your promo, I mean, you were born to do this. Pat McAfee, it was phenomenal. And everything you said. Loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it.

[Pat McAfee]

Top to bottom, there Was two words I could have left out.

[Adam Pierce]

You know, maybe we're on Netflix, though.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, kids, you know, a lot of things I didn't even think, you know, and it wasn't until, you know, shortly after was I reminded by Cole. You know, he just wrote it down on thing right next to her.

[Ty Schmidt]

I go, ooh, blacked out.

[Pat McAfee]

It just felt natural. So I do apologize for that. But nonetheless, yeah, I had to get some things out. You know, a lot of people don't know a lot of things about me. I just wanted to remind some people, not only them, but to myself, who I am, what I am. You know, I had to do that. And especially if you're gonna challenge a guy like Gunther to a fight and you're gonna call out general manager and say, hey, listen, lift the band. Let's do this thing. Okay. All right, let's.

[Adam Pierce]

And did you. Did you forget Nick Aldis name? Cause you just called him Smackdown. Adam Pierce, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Nick Aldis is a good man. Former TNA champion. Okay. He's very handsome.

[Adam Pierce]

Totally forgot his name.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, no, no. Do you know my relationship with Adam Pierce?

[Adam Pierce]

Yeah, he's middle manager.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. So you think I'm gonna give credit to middle manager from other show?

[Adam Pierce]

That's very fair. Very fair.

[Pat McAfee]

I think I even.

[Adam Pierce]

I will say this, Pat. I was sitting.

[Pat McAfee]

I did miss Adam Pierce last night. I did miss Adam Pierce last night.

[Adam Pierce]

I was sitting right in front of Quentin Lucas, who is the mayor of Kansas City, who was there last night. And when the. When the f bombs were dropped, he. He was like, whoa. Like, he was. All of a sudden, it got him going a little bit. Like, he was into it. He didn't know the back. He didn't know the background either. And so when he learned the background, it was fantastic.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh. So the mayor says, hold the phone over there in Kansas City, okay? In the home. I'm happy they went with me. Happy they went with me. I did not know if that was a good way to start the entire thing. They did. Let's talk baseball. Baseball. Last time we chatted about it. We're having a great start. Great season. Superstars are playing well. Haven't talked about it in about a week. What's going on in the baseball world? Everything's still going great.

[Adam Pierce]

Everything's always going great in the baseball world.

[Pat McAfee]

Nope. That is not true. You know what I'm talking about? About.

[Adam Pierce]

Oh, fair enough. Fair enough. Look, we can talk about Paul Skiings. You know what I'm going to do first? I'm going to fix my camera because it is about to fall apart. And that looks like it's much better right now. All right, so in the base. Oh, no. That did not help at all.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, goodness, no.

[Adam Pierce]

Come on, guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Back.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, there it is.

[Adam Pierce]

There we go.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll see.

[Jeff Passan]

That's better, right?

[Adam Pierce]

Maybe, sort of.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I think you look good. I think you look Good. All right. 7:12.

[Adam Pierce]

You know, we got all kinds of things happening in baseball. Paul Skeen's doing Paul Skeen's things. Aaron Judge looking like Babe Ruth. Los Angeles Dodgers still a machine. The New York Mets look like the best team in baseball. Baseball right now. And it. We're a month into the season and typically in baseball, I, I don't take a whole lot out of the first month. It's a long season. I mean, it goes six months. And so that first month tends to give you a little insight into what's going on. But you can't take away too many things from it. Right now, though, I love what the New York Mets are doing. Like it. They just got good vibes around that team right now. And they're doing it without Juan Soto playing like a $765 million player. They're doing it without Sean Mania and Frankie Montas. They're doing it because Pete Alonso, the polar bear, is off to a red hot start right now because they're starting pitching top to bottom has been incredible and because Francisco Lindora, their captain, is there.

[Pat McAfee]

His.

[Adam Pierce]

And walk off home runs and just bringing great energy to the team. And the thing is, the Mets want to be like the Dodgers, Pat. No, like that's the goal at the end of the day to take Steve Cohen's money and leverage it into something great. And they're not there quite yet, but what they're building right now, Mets fans have a lot of reason to feel good about this team going forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Are they the. Oh, are they the. You said they want to be the Dodgers. A little bit out of focus, but you still said it. Everybody automatically thought they're trying to be the Yankees. Are they the.

[AJ Hawk]

Whoa.

[Pat McAfee]

Are they New York's? Are they, Are they the kings in New York?

[Darius Butler]

No.

[Adam Pierce]

Yeah, they're the best team in New York right now.

[Darius Butler]

But like you said, Jet, we're, you know, 30 games into the season, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly.

[Adam Pierce]

You think that the Yankees at the end of the season are gonna be better than the Mets.

[Darius Butler]

I don't know if I'd necessarily say that. I still, I mean, the Yankees, their, their pitching is enough to just drive me insane. But but if the, if the Yankees get to the playoffs and, And Judge performs better than he has in years past, like, I mean, you, you said it. You know, Judge is. He's unbelievable watching this guy night in, night out, and, and it's very frustrating that, you know, they have about two other guys on the, you know, in the lineup that are batting over.200. But, I mean, no, I, it.

[Pat McAfee]

We're.

[Darius Butler]

We're 29 games into this thing, you know, so I, I'm not ready to say that the Mets are the, the Kings in New York yet, but they have been hot.

[Pat McAfee]

Aaron judge is batting over.400 still.

[Darius Butler]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

That's high school, like, stuff, right? Yeah, that's what people in high school do. Like, good, good players in High School are. 400. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. I mean, yeah, maybe like great players in high school even.

[Pat McAfee]

Pass it. You. You were holding up your high school. You were batting.400 at high school.

[Adam Pierce]

No, this is not. This is Pembroke Hill School, where my son plays and where, I believe there are five players in the lineup, including my child, right now, batting over.400.

[Pat McAfee]

14.

[Jeff Passan]

And 14 and 3.

[Adam Pierce]

Go Raiders.

[Pat McAfee]

But no, nobody's batting over.500 on that team, though.

[Adam Pierce]

No, nobody is over.500.

[Pat McAfee]

But.400 is absurd at any level. Level of baseball.

[Les Snead]

It is.

[Adam Pierce]

But, but especially like Pat. Especially in the big leagues, and especially for a guy like Aaron Judge who's striking out, you know, a career low at this point, 20% of the time. But think about it. When you take away that 20% of plate appearances that you're striking out in, right? That means you have to essentially bat.500 on all of the other balls that you hit in order to have a.400 average. So I don't think Aaron Judge is a threat to hit.400 necessarily. But if you go back and look at the last calendar year for Aaron Judge, he had a bad April last year. So let's go, like beginning of May to the end of April this year. Aaron Judge is batting over.360. He has hit 60 home runs. He has driven in 156 runs, and he has put up 13 and a half wins above replacement. Now, WAR is a statistic that tries to encapsulate everything a player does. His offense, his defense, his base running. And it's useful because you can compare over generations how players are doing. And so last night I went and looked, what is the best WAR season in baseball history? Of course, it belongs to Babe Ruth. He put up 14 wins above replacement one year. Second best year was 13.7 wins above replacement. After that, there has not been a player in history who over a calendar year has had 13 and a half wins above replacement like Aaron Judge. So what we're looking at right now, you know, we give Shohei Otani all the love, but the truth is, Aaron Judge is so good as a hitter, so much better than everyone else as a hitter, that I think he's a little underappreciated and taken for granted because he is so damn good at what he does.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, we appreciate the fact that Aaron Judge says, yeah, I'll just take a yard and I'll have the highest batting percentage. You know, I'll hit it the furthest and the most often and the most consistent because there's people that just bat for average. Right. And they're not hitting dingers.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And he's hitting for dingers and his average is better than everybody. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

And his on base percentages. So he's getting on base over half the time, which, you know, like Jet would. I mean, it hasn't really been like that this year because the guys batting around him haven't been great. But like when Barry Bonds was in his prime, like, there would be times where he would maybe get like one good pitch to hit like an entire series and he'd hit a home.

[Adam Pierce]

That's exactly right.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

And that's kind of what like Judge, he. He had the hot start. He hit a bunch of homers and he's been, he hasn't been hitting homers at the same clip over like the past like two weeks. But, but he, like, he just, he's not getting very many good pitches to hit. And when he does, like, he's either hitting homers or he's getting base hits. And it's just like, it's remarkable to watch night in, night out.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of homers, D but has a question for you, Jet.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Casuals like myself were kind of enamored early on the season with the torpedo bats. Are they still a thing? Are you, Are people still knocking them out of yard? That's first question. And then secondly, are we sure about those numbers as far as war? You sure, Jack? Jackie. Jackie Robinson didn't have Jackie Robinson. Josh Gibson, he had.

[Adam Pierce]

Yeah, Jackie. Jackie Robinson was awesome. Jackie Robinson never put up a season like Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds, man. Sorry. In. In. In terms of the tour. In terms of the tour, Jackie Robinson was the most important player in baseball history. So not taking away anything.

[AJ Hawk]

Ted Williams.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe United States. Maybe United States.

[Darius Butler]

Todd Van maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Anyways.

[AJ Hawk]

David Wells.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a big.

[Adam Pierce]

Fault in terms of torpedo bats. That's a great question. I. I actually dug in a little bit on that too. Looking at the Yankees opening weekend, when Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, you know, going a jazz chisholm, going off and hitting home runs, since then, they've. They've been terrible. Now, that doesn't mean that torpedo bats don't work, you know, Cal Raleigh, for example, the Seattle Mariners catcher uses torpedo bat. He's a switch hitter, but he uses the torpedo on the left side. Been cranking home runs all over the place, you know, Stephen Kwan with The Cleveland Guardians, batting.350 right now, uses a torpedo bat. What it is, is it's more a matter of comfort for guys. Like, how are they going to find the tools that allow them to be the best baseball players? We got to get you a torpedo bat.

[Pat McAfee]

That I, I agree, because I. I think I'm a torpedo bad hitter. Sure, because you are.

[Adam Pierce]

You hit absolute nukes.

[Pat McAfee]

I felt like I broke my thumb on that jam.

[Darius Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

That old buddy gave me. They just moved that thing down to here, you know, which is a big skinny top there.

[Darius Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[AJ Hawk]

Gone all the way down?

[Darius Butler]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, just this area. Just. Just make that the torpedo and then just thin that side out. So then I'm literally just throwing. They're just throwing my hands at, you know, and then that's torpedo right there. It's gone.

[Adam Pierce]

That's what they tries to talk, basically.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what they do, right? Yeah. I mean, you were saying a lot of things there where I'm like, as a non baseball person, I. I do want to understand what's going on in your conversation, but I don't fully comprehend it. I thought the torpedo bats fixed baseball. Why the. Can't they hit with the torpedo bats anymore? Why are we not. I thought that was a game changer. And then all the people that know baseball were like, they've been around for a long time. It's just a fad. Why is it, is baseball and is it like always changing? Like, are there always, like little intricacies always changing? Is there, like, because we've learned about all the sport and everything, you know, the stickiness, the hat stuff, the traditions, this. We've learned about all that. Is there just always, like, little things changing? Like the ball. I remember we've changed the ball now like five times. Juice balls, Spider tech. We can't have spider tech, but we're allowed to lick and we're allowed to have rosin. But if you Lick the rosin at the same time. Can't do that. And also you're gonna get full body bat. Oh, now we're gonna have a smaller pitch clock. You can only step out one time unless it's two times. Like, there's always like little things. I felt like the torpedo bat was the new one of those. Okay, we just move the wood to where the ball is gonna be. Is there any more of those down the pipe? And is there a chance that the torpedo bat does come back and make a run? Because, like D butt, I enjoyed thinking that they were walking out there with wiffle ball bats and they were just hitting bombs every night. It reminded me of the summer.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

The summer of bombs. The summer of Maguire. Yep. And Sosa.

[Jeff Passan]

That's right.

[AJ Hawk]

Summer steroids.

[Adam Pierce]

Things Pat. Things are always changing in basement. And it's one of the things that I love about it. It's that, you know, in a. In a game where everyone has the same type of information, what they're doing is looking for these tiny little minuscule advantages. Because that tiny little minuscule advantage could lead to an extra win or two, which could lead to a playoff spot, which could lead to a World Series. And the curiosity of people inside of baseball is, to me, the best part of it. They're always looking for something. And it wasn't just torpedo bats. You know, there are guys out there with knobs on their bats that are shaped like hockey pucks and they feel like they swing better that way. They're always testing and iterating and trying to figure things out. So, yeah, Torpedo bats aren't going anywhere. They're just not going to be the thing that changes the game permanently. I mean, we're in a state right now where pitching is so far ahead of hitting because of the technology, because pitchers in the off season can go into a lab where they have these units called Trackman and Rapsodo that they track pitches and essentially tell you down to the rpm, how they're spinning, the angle at which they're spinning, how fast they're going to the tenth of a mile per hour. And pitchers going into these labs and designing new pitches to try and get swings and misses and to try and become better pitchers. And hitters just haven't had that thing to even things out. So that's why the batting average in baseball right now is below.240. That's why offense is kind of stagnant at this point. And so baseball's always looking for something to get offense better because fans want.

[Pat McAfee]

To See runs scored, okay, so they should let them bang on garbage cans. That. And on that note, I guess with everything you're saying, what Aaron Judge is doing right now needs to be remarkable. Lauded and applauded even more so. And let's talk about the pitching in the exciting pitching that we got to see firsthand. AP Tone has a question for you. Jet. Yeah, Jack.

[Connor]

Let's talk about the pitcher, Mr. Vogue, Mr. GQ, Mr. Paul Skeens. We all know Shohei Ohtani, who we.

[Les Snead]

Just got so nasty.

[Connor]

So nasty. He is the face of baseball. Aaron Judge is the face of baseball. But as far as Paul Skeens going, goes with the gq, with the Vogue. I just saw a trailer for about his four hour warmup, which I believe is coming on a documentary. I think you might even be involved in it. Is he the next face of baseball and is just, Is there even a ceiling for Paul Skeens at this point? And when is he leaving Pittsburgh?

[Les Snead]

You know what?

[Adam Pierce]

I hope the answer is not so soon.

[Connor]

I agree.

[Adam Pierce]

I, I just, I, I want to see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates. I want to see a fan base like the Pittsburgh Pirates fan base be rewarded and get to see the brilliance that Paul Skeens brings on an every start basis. And the, the like Skiings right now he's just getting better. Like that's the terrifying thing for hitters that this is. A guy who throws six different pitches can throw them in any count in any situation. You see the high fastball there, you saw the slider to Ohtani, I mean, right down the middle there. And Freddie Freeman can't catch up to it. And Paul Skeens right now is finding out the kind of pitcher that he can be. And it was interesting after that start against the Dodgers, you know, he goes 100, I think 107, 108, 109 pitches. After that game he talked about, I feel like I can go 140, 150. And I wrote a story about skeet teams a couple weeks back where, you know, I sat down with him during spring training, talked to them for like almost an hour and a half. It was great conversations and really thoughtful, interesting, intelligent guy. And, and he was telling me about the conversations that he has with players who he respects and how important it is to try and learn from them. And one of those was Randy Johnson. And Randy Johnson's a guy who would go and throw 140 or 150 pitches in a game. Nowadays if a guy gets to 120, like there's panic And I personally don't think that's right. I think there are too many restrictions placed on pitchers who are held to a standard of average when they are exceptional. Paul Skeens body might actually be built to handle 120 plus pitches regularly, but because of the fear of injury, I don't think we're ever going to get to find out whether that is a reality for him. And that's the problem right now with pitchers. Front offices are scared of the elbow. Front offices are scared of the shoulder. They're scared that these incredible assets that they have that bring so much value to their team are just going to get run over like pitchers of generations past. But we have so much more knowledge right now that I think if the training is proper, if the pitcher understands what his body is capable of doing, maybe we need to listen to him rather than hold him to some strictures that are put in place because we're obsessed with round numbers. Like if a guy gets to 100 pitches, it's not necessarily danger zone if the guy is conditioned to throw a hundred plus pitches.

[Pat McAfee]

I love everything you're saying right now because we are a. Analytics are good show, but they're not necessarily the final boss or final call on everything show, which I think is the right place to be. And I know you wrote a book, I believe you wrote a book about kids and how much they're throwing. And whenever you talk about restrictions, professionals, yes, obviously got to have the conversation. But we need to put restrictions on the younger kids because the kids as they're growing up through baseball, they're the ones that are putting so much damage on their elbows and on their arms through wasted reps almost whenever they're growing up. We know because he's been on the program and told us and I think you've obviously reported this numerous times. Paul Skins didn't start pitching until what, high school or something like that. He was a, he was a catcher. He didn't start pitching until late. So his arm is literally like kind of young in the entire pitcher baseball world no matter where he's at. So it's like you look at how big he is, you look at like the history of his arm. Obviously you would think this guy could go if he wanted to go, you should let him go. They're saving him for years. Like they want him to be able to throw for years. What would a successful career look like for Paul Skeens if the saving him for the future worked like them saving him for the future. How many years is that of Paul Skeens as Paul Skeens in the mlb.

[Adam Pierce]

Pat, the problem is that there's a fallacy that the less a guy throws, the healthier he's going to stay. That has not proven true over time. And so it's why we need to look at the individual and what he can bring as opposed to the history of, you know, all of the arms that are in graveyards everywhere. I mean, we go back and look at guys who were like Paul Skeens, Kerry Wood and Mark Pryor, for example, with the Chicago Cubs. They were supposed to be the ones who led the Cubs to glory. They got overused, they got got hurt, didn't work out for them. Their careers were cut short accordingly. But this is, you know, I feel like you got to give some autonomy to the players. And if Paul Skins wants to go more, then let him go. Like, this is his career. And I get why teams are hesitant. It's just not backed up by any data or any science. And that's the frustrating part about this. Paul Skeens is like the scary part with him is that he throws really hard. And there's an extreme correlation between hard throwers and elbow injuries. It almost feels like an inevitability with some guys. But there are outliers. And for me, what does a successful Paul Skeens career look like? It's not so much the number of years he throws. It's not the number of strikeouts he has has. It's not any of those counting sats. It's does he stay healthy or does he not? Because if he stays healthy, Pat, he is going to be in the hall of Fame. He's going to be a first ballot hall of Famer. That's how good he is. But it's just a matter of trying to keep him healthy as best you can. And the reality is, I wrote a book called the Arm. I spent four years studying this, researching it, trying to crack it, and unfortunately, at the end, it was a dissatisfying conclusion. I didn't know a whole lot more than I did when I started reporting the book. There's just, there's nothing out there at this point that anyone knows that for certain is going to keep pictures healthy.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying situations are situational and that I am human. Bodies are maybe constructed differently. And elbows, every single one of them are a little bit different in ligaments and torque and tear. And it's more so if it's going to happen, it's going to happen type thing as opposed to, hey, let's Only let him pitch 60 times tonight because he might have to pitch again in the future. And we talked to Randy Johnson, I believe, and cc, I believe. And both of them are like, I didn't want to give up the ball because like just competitor too, like who, who am I giving this ball to? You know, Paul has that. Like Paul definitely has that. So I'm excited for him. Do hopefully get a chance to experience that. And you said you hope he's at the Pittsburgh Pirates long term. Man, it's like we all know, dude, the whole arena knew at big night Out. The whole arena knew everybody in there. Yeah. And unless that happens, we got no shot, brother. We got no. And then Michael Cole comes out and goes, you need to get a real owner like Steve Cohen up in New York and everybody booze him. But it's like, yeah, that would be what it would have to take to keep Paul skin in Pittsburgh, what, three years from now. When's he due to make a decision? Two years.

[Adam Pierce]

Oh, he's got, he. The Pirates still have him under control for a while because he didn't start with them in the big leagues last year. Now he won rookie of the year, which gave him a full year of service. Right. So after this season he's going to have two full years of service. You get free agency after six years. So after this year they've got another four years left. Left. But generally speaking, if you don't feel like sign a guy long term, you're probably going to trade him after that fourth season just to try and maximize the value. You know, it's difference between a one year rental and a guy that you've got for a couple of years. I, I hate, I hate talking about this though. We should not be having this conversation.

[Pat McAfee]

I know.

[Adam Pierce]

Baseball should not be the sport where a star gets built up in a small market and it feels like an inevitability that he's going to go somewhere else. And it's not always the case. I live in Kansas city. Bobby Witt Jr. Signed an 11 year, $288 million contract to stay in Kansas City.

[Jeff Passan]

Why?

[Adam Pierce]

Because John Sherman, the owner, stepped up and said, we are going to pay you what you're worth. And frankly, the fact that the Pirates have not done that with Paul Skeens yet and there's no sign that they have any intention to do that. It's a shame.

[AJ Hawk]

It really is not indifference, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, nutting has learned of our program, I have been told. Oh, has he? I guess, I don't know. There's conversations. He's a big fan.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think he likes it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I know he loves it.

[Connor]

Well, normally he just reads news.

[Pat McAfee]

You talk about the parts, let's talk about the.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, that's the thing about skins too, right? It's like CC and Randy. Like at least when he passes the ball on, they're not like blowing his starts or anything.

[Darius Butler]

Bingo. Yeah. That bullpen, he knows what's coming.

[Connor]

Scoreless sign all against the Dodgers.

[Pat McAfee]

So. Oh, you tell me. Maybe the Pirates bullpen is hot, right?

[AJ Hawk]

That was the only game they won though, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think in that series.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Dodgers are good team. They are. I saw a payroll tweet. The Miami Marlins.

[Darius Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

40 million. Is that their number?

[Ty Schmidt]

We stink.

[Adam Pierce]

Sounds about right.

[Pat McAfee]

69 million 476 million for the Dodgers. 69 million million for the Marlins. What are we doing?

[AJ Hawk]

Rockies might be 40 million.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why. No, the Rock. I'll tell you what.

[Adam Pierce]

The Rockies are playing like a 40 million dollar team. But they actually are spending I think 128 this year. Like they, they. The Rockies spend money, they just don't spend it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, how does that even.

[Pat McAfee]

So the Rockies are on pace to be very, very, very historically terrible, right?

[Darius Butler]

Worst ever.

[Michael Cole]

I didn't know it was that bad.

[Adam Pierce]

Yeah. Last year we saw the most feudal team in major league history, the Chicago White Sox, lose a record 121 games. Their reign as the worst team in history might last one year.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Paul Rod, go get it. Go get it. Rockets.

[AJ Hawk]

The Farmer's hands.

[Pat McAfee]

You might as well just be the worst instead of second to worse, you know?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's just 4 and 24. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

It's ridiculous.

[Pat McAfee]

That has to be a miserable place out there in the Rockies. What is that? 50 Cent tickets on Seatgeek?

[Darius Butler]

Probably. Yeah.

[Connor]

Larry Walker camp.

[Adam Pierce]

No, you know what though? I. I give. I give credit to Rocky's fans. They still show up, man. They're still putting 30 plus thousand people into that ballpark.

[Pat McAfee]

How much? How many?

[Adam Pierce]

Yeah. 30,000 plus a night.

[AJ Hawk]

There's no way.

[Pat McAfee]

That ballpark is beautiful.

[Adam Pierce]

Unbelievable. Gorgeous.

[Les Snead]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

30,000 people are going to Rockies games. They're 4 and 24. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

I mean dollar tickets to drink ice cold beers at mile high.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

Right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Mountains are blue, brother.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, of course. Light stadium, right? Isn't it?

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out today's sponsor, SeatGeek. The greatest ticket buying platform on planet earth and the moon. Right now you use PAT 30. That is PAT 30 to get $30 off any type of ticket, whether it's for the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs, concerts, comedy, maybe a Rockies game to celebrate the beautiful city of Denver and and watch a team definitely lose 4 and 24. Historically terrible start. You can get a ticket to get in 14 bucks.

[Darius Butler]

It's also BOGO hot dog night tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a big one. Buy one, get one and they might even add in an extra one. Just because you came to watch the 4 and 24 Rockies. Now I will say that $14 ticket you cannot utilize. Or the 16 or the 19 or the $17 ones you cannot utilize the code pat the number three, the number zero. Pat. 30 for $30 off any of the tickets restrictions do apply. Like for instance if the ticket costs less than 30 bucks. Could be new or repeat purchaser with our friends at seat geek. Over 30 million downloads now. Wow. They're at 28 million. That's good growth. Good growth out of se.

[Ty Schmidt]

You get Savannah banana tickets on there.

[Pat McAfee]

81,000 down there at Clemson. Watch the bananas do their thing.

[Ty Schmidt]

Watch them before the Rockies.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw it. I think I would too.

[AJ Hawk]

And the Pirates.

[Pat McAfee]

Unless I saw. Did you see the second at bat? Hit it the length of a football ball field. Outfielder has it. Has it. Punches it up in the sky with the glove, takes off the hat, catches the ball in the hat, flips it up, puts it in his hand, throws it back. They're the real deal.

[Connor]

It's entertaining.

[Pat McAfee]

Basically. That's in front of 81,000 plus that's the first inning. Wow. Think about the moxie. Think about the moxie on that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Showman.

[Connor]

J. AG Impressive.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolute showman. Have you been to Savannah Bananas? And are any of them going to get signed to the MLB before playoffs?

[AJ Hawk]

They better still.

[Pat McAfee]

What? No.

[Adam Pierce]

They'Re. They are I believe for the most part like they're. They were good college players, but if. If they were great, they would probably be with an organization.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so what is the baseball thoughts of the Savannah Banana business? Because I'll say this great business. 81,000 Apple watching him play baseball.

[Adam Pierce]

Pat, if anybody inside of the baseball industry is hating on the Savannah Bananas, they're wrong. They're absolutely wrong. I don't. Just because it's not major league baseball, just because it's not, you know, playing to win necessarily doesn't mean it's not great. They're not packing stadiums if it's not fun and if people don't love it. And frankly, anything that that brings people to baseball, even if it's a different brand of baseball or different style of baseball, I'm all for it. Love what the bananas are doing and love the passion that they have from their fans. I mean, it's. It's impressive what they do and the way that they are able to pack these big league ballparks and in some cases football stadiums.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, in this case, Clemson, 81,000. So many people. That's their biggest house that they've had thus far. Is this it? No, it's the top.

[Michael Cole]

These umps get caught up this, this, this up behind the plates.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a huge out right there on the top of the night. What a play. What a play up there. Row 25. Yeah, legit. You got. He can't be hitting that foul ball into a place where it looks like there's some athletes out there. Snag. How you doing? That's an out. See you.

[Ty Schmidt]

They're definitely playing the win, too.

[Connor]

Party animals are.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Party animals don't.

[Pat McAfee]

No. The bananas are playing to win. This is the top of the ninth.

[Michael Cole]

Do they switch teams? They're always on the same team.

[Connor]

Always on the same team.

[AJ Hawk]

You think Hosley's going to put on a party animals jersey?

[Pat McAfee]

What was that right there? That was. That was curveball.

[Darius Butler]

Slider. Yeah, a little, little slide piece.

[Pat McAfee]

What was that?

[Adam Pierce]

Another slider.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, okay. So this is his pitch. The slider is his pitch.

[Darius Butler]

He's junk baller.

[Adam Pierce]

He's feeling it.

[Pat McAfee]

He was college pitcher that probably did well, but wasn't MLB speed.

[Adam Pierce]

Three straight sliders.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, nasty.

[AJ Hawk]

What a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

We have the hat catch, too, from the outfielder. I mean, this is the second at bat. You think about maybe a little bit of little nerves? Sure. Little bit of. Oh, no, I don't want to mess up. This guy's backpedaling in the middle of the sun in front of 81,000. Oh, what a shot. Big shot. Length of the football field. Couldn't hit in a worst spot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah. Drop the sunglasses. Who cares? Get the ball out of here.

[Connor]

Cape guys. Cape guy hit a bomb earlier in the game, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Cap Guy's moxie is ridiculous.

[AJ Hawk]

Why didn't he aim that to left field?

[Pat McAfee]

What a play. That was a second pitch. Second pitch of the night, dude.

[AJ Hawk]

Dog headed to left field.

[Darius Butler]

I do love the exceptionally short porch in left field.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, short porch over right is good spot. Spot there, huh? Yeah.

[Connor]

Football fields.

[Darius Butler]

Big time.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Who's won in the World Series?

[AJ Hawk]

Red Sox.

[Adam Pierce]

Not the Red Sox.

[AJ Hawk]

Come on.

[Adam Pierce]

But the American League is wide open. Right?

[Pat McAfee]

Of course.

[Adam Pierce]

And Connor, can I. Can I say something?

[AJ Hawk]

They're doing it Connor, you look, you.

[Adam Pierce]

Look good today, man. I'm digging the jersey so bad.

[AJ Hawk]

But thank you.

[Adam Pierce]

You might sound bad, but you like. It's a good look for you, right?

[AJ Hawk]

Thanks, brother.

[Adam Pierce]

And, and look, the Sox, the Sox are playing some ball this year. Christian Campbell is the real deal. Alex Bregman has been absolutely fantastic. They need some pitching, but I agree with those odds. To me right now it's. It's still the Dodgers and look they are banged up. Blake Snell, $182 million signing on the injured list right now. Tyler glass now signed 136 and a half million dollar extension when he got trusted traded there on the injured list now. Ohtani still not pitching. You know, they've got Yamamoto in their rotation, Roki Sasaki and Dustin May. But this is what the Dodgers do, Pat. They value depth so much to the point where they have Tony Gonsolin who hasn't pitched since 2023 because of an injury finally coming back this week. They have Ben Kaspari is a guy who was in the bullpen up to 99 when coming in after Tyler Glasnow came out of the game and he could be in the rotation. They could go with Landon Knack, they could go with Justin Rubelski. Like they've just got so much depth that even when they have a dozen pitchers on the injured list, they still have guys who are better than most teams pitchers. And it's that depth I think that at the end of the day is going to carry the doctors.

[Pat McAfee]

No Pirates on.

[AJ Hawk]

I thought that's on bottom right.

[Pat McAfee]

I had to look twice.

[Connor]

Pirates could just dominate the Dodgers though.

[Pat McAfee]

So beat the Dodgers, run through the Cubs, no problem.

[Darius Butler]

Cubs have actually had quite the start.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, wait till they see the Paul schemes training the hundo boys. You know they're hanging and Cutch. Cutch is getting after it. Big pitchers duel tonight, actually. Mikey Managa against Andrew Haney. And that's the teams they play for are Buckos and the Cubs.

[Adam Pierce]

He's actually got a 1.9 er.

[Pat McAfee]

We're playing the Cubs tonight. We got game three.

[Adam Pierce]

He's been dealing, dude.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Skin has the Cubs number. That's one of the only teams he got to play twice last year. I think if I recall from talking to Paul Skin, he got to play the.

[Adam Pierce]

You do.

[Pat McAfee]

He got to play the Cubs twice because it was one of the first series he had whenever he got in then he had you guys late and he talked about how he remembered how batters were the first. The second time that he got A chance to go against him. That's why whenever he's taken on Shohei, I don't know if that's the first time he's taken on Shohei. But like Paul Skeens is like calculating in there on Shohei and I'm assuming he's doing the same thing to Paul. We need them in the off season just to do a one on one.

[Darius Butler]

Shohei and Skins.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, just give him a stadium against you.

[Darius Butler]

They've had a pretty good. Shohei took him deep last year. He obviously he fared much better. Better this year in his first start against.

[Pat McAfee]

Would they ever both be full go in the off season? That's. I know their off season so short, but would they ever have both have a day where it's like I'm doing a full hitting workout today and Paul Skeens would be doing a full pitching workout that day?

[Adam Pierce]

100%, yes, no problem. Paul schemes, takes off three weeks in the off season and just does nothing. Doesn't touch a weight, nothing like that. Three weeks down and then he's back after it. We're doing it and so yeah, gotta.

[AJ Hawk]

Make that happen in Japan.

[Pat McAfee]

100 pitches it'll be. I don't know what is the normal workout? How many work, how many pitches does he normally do?

[Adam Pierce]

Depends if he's throwing a bullpen. Like a typical bullpen session is like 30, 35 pitches.

[Michael Cole]

But if he's working on something, you know, bat too. Yeah, but in Skeens will be behind the. Behind the L, the the net and Skins will pitch for running that age.

[Pat McAfee]

I like where we're at in the brainstorm. I don't want to bring an umbrella, but let's make sure we're letting the boys be the boys here.

[Darius Butler]

Let's get a gorilla out there too.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel?

[AJ Hawk]

Beat him.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel, Jet, about the gorilla?

[Adam Pierce]

You know, we could add the gorilla. Sure, why not?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you don't know?

[Adam Pierce]

No, I don't know. What's the gorilla?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, it's, it's, it's, it's got a problem. It's 100 dudes from my perspective. Perspective. Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[Adam Pierce]

The hundred guys versus the one gorilla.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Adam Pierce]

Oh, the, the, the gorilla loses against the hunt.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go. You get it. I saw on three. I saw on three. Humans. One, two, three. To be clear. I didn't know what to say. All right. We appreciate you, man. Ladies and gentlemen, senior baseball insider for ESPN and pundit, Jet passing. I'm gonna beat Jet. I like when we talk baseball with Jet, get like my update, know what's going on, check in quarterly if I just so happen to be scrolling or see something on late night. Oh, the Yankees are playing. Sweet. Aaron Judge is batting better than any human in history of baseball at any level. He's got T ball like average right now. Batting in the big leagues when everybody else stinks because the pitchers are so good. Maybe I should check out a Yankees game. Oh, we're at a different part of the order though. Aaron Judge isn't hitting for two more hours. That is what it feels like. Yeah, sometimes that is what it feels like. Yeah. Doesn't. If you accidentally get there right after, right after he went like, all right, I guess I got another hour and a half until the big kind of.

[Connor]

A break in baseball. Right now though, you have your, your opening few weeks where we're all super excited. Then the NBA, NHL have their playoffs and, and then you know, then baseball season kickback.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Tonight, big night for both leagues actually. Con man, go ahead.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, huge. For NBA it's kind of the three one night. Buckskin or sorry. The Pacers can close out the bucks, that's at 6. The Knicks can close out the Pistons, Celtics can close out the Magic and then Clippers, Nuggets, two, two kind of the game of the night and of course it starts at 10 o'clock so probably see most of that game tomorrow. But Bucs, Pacers, Magic, Celtics on NBA TV unfortunately.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah, they're four or five, you know, and had a chance to be on late night the other night and it was fun to watch. Yeah, Pacers are electrifying whenever they get onto national television. Hopefully after this series you should check them out.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they have to win too because the Cavs already won. They're already through. Kind of get some rest and make sure the Cavs don't rest too much. Same for the Pistons, Knicks and Celtics. Magic is winner of those two series. Play each other.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jalen Brunson healthy?

[Darius Butler]

Never.

[Ty Schmidt]

Who knows what is he playing?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, oh, he's definitely playing. He'll get banged up and then he'll get a new ankle in the locker room and then he'll be.

[Pat McAfee]

Jalen's a dog. Jalen Brunson is a dog.

[Ty Schmidt]

Big body brunch.

[Michael Cole]

That Knicks, that Warriors game was legit. Sorry. That warriors game last night, I, I didn't plan on. I stayed up to the whole thing, watched it all because I was hoping I'd see like a, a bench clearing brawl eventually. This game was very chippy. All night. It was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that Houston and and Golden State are getting going and I think Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green on the same team. We assume it'll get chippy in. Yeah. Dylan Brooks play.

[Michael Cole]

Dylan Brooks, I mean they play. Steph has to work so hard. Steph has every guy in the arena guarding him every single play. Like it's unreal how much this guy has to get like to work just to get open.

[Pat McAfee]

His cardio is a part that doesn't get talked about a lot. And I love the atmosphere. I like the NBA playoff game. Games whenever they're good. Yeah. I don't love when the Miami Heat are playing well.

[Ty Schmidt]

We don't have to worry about that anymore. They got the way for the Panthers. Yeah. Good on them.

[Pat McAfee]

What's going on? Donner, Pat Raleigh. Don't know. Ball.

[Darius Butler]

He's out of town.

[AJ Hawk]

Apparently.

[Ty Schmidt]

Rouse got to figure it out. Got a lot to figure out.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are moving on from Riley.

[Ty Schmidt]

Need a big no. I think he's earned the right to step away when he's ready to step.

[Pat McAfee]

Away and he's not. He's building a new team because I think Bam said there a lot of new faces.

[Ty Schmidt]

He knows how the guy with the white hair operates. So he expects a ton of changes this offseason. There are some big fish potentially out there. Greek feet. Greek freak. Kd. So hopefully Garza always.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he available?

[Adam Pierce]

They're not letting him.

[Darius Butler]

I mean no. But if you guys put together a decent package for him, I'm sure you might be able to buy 25.

[Connor]

The other night against Lakers.

[Ty Schmidt]

We can't give up enough to get.

[Pat McAfee]

Him, I'll tell you that. Lakers team gotta be exhausted.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How many games in a season? Okay, so we got those done. Everybody's tired, I assume. Sure. Beat up joints. We got a lot of ice packs, rack wrapped around knees and ankles and everything like that. Traveling to overnights, back to backs, different cities, you know. Guy to move mid season, had to find a place. Los Angeles, brand new spot.

[AJ Hawk]

Moving stinks.

[Pat McAfee]

And then you get into the play chaos. It's like, hey, everything's bronze 40, 40 plus years old.

[Connor]

You know who else played the entire second half?

[Pat McAfee]

Who's that?

[Connor]

And Edwards. He didn't look tired.

[Ty Schmidt]

He should.

[Pat McAfee]

He didn't. He looked awesome.

[AJ Hawk]

He's a young boy.

[Pat McAfee]

He's fun to watch. Yeah, he is very fun to watch. I hope they become like a very good team too. Yeah. Just because Ant is. He's old. He's old school. Yeah, he is an Old school player and does not care like that is who he is. There's clips of him talking to President Obama, you know, telling him he needs to. He needs to recognize basically what's going on here in front of him. I mean it is an awesome amount of confidence, cockiness, arrogance and then showing up. And that's good for the NBA. Oh yeah, that is good for the NBA. All characters welcome. Especially if you're going to be great at what you do. I'm worried about the Lakers. I'm worried Lakers. I'm worried about them. I think this one's going to be a tough one.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, they better start hot.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think they could. I think they could. Could. You're a hater though. Foxy. He's tones, notoriously. Yeah.

[Tony]

If any of these teams that are down 3, one could come back, it's going to be the Los Angeles Lakers. We all know LeBron's going to be the one that's going to do it.

[Pat McAfee]

What's going on with the Pistons? Knicks? You guys still mad? Well, yeah.

[Tony]

I mean we're over it at this point. We're in New York to tonight. So let's assume that these refs are going to close it out.

[Pat McAfee]

Gentlemen. Sweet.

[Tony]

But I mean the Pistons, they're the youngest team in the league. Cade Cunningham, young super bummed out. They'll be okay next year and then they'll get better and better and better.

[Michael Cole]

Why is he so down?

[Pat McAfee]

And why do you say the refs are going to win the game tonight? I'm okay.

[Tony]

The Pistons last year won 14 games. The first team in NBA history to triple their wins in a season. So this season was a bit of a surprise to everyone. So they made it to the dance. They've learned some lessons and we're just going to build on this one.

[Pat McAfee]

This is the Lions of a few years ago.

[Tony]

Bingo. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

So now this is the expectation of the Pistons.

[Tony]

Yes, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys had a coach, you paid the coach the most money in the history, moved on from the coach. Now you're in the playoffs.

[Tony]

Yeah, we're in the playoffs. And we actually hired the Cavs old coach and so he's done a fantastic job. And then it's weird because the Cavs hire a new coach and they've done a fantastic job. NBA is just weird.

[Pat McAfee]

So you guys just fight people, right? Yeah, yeah.

[Tony]

We're literally we're back to the bad boys pistons, the 04 pistons. And now we got this new generation of fighters and this has been a big problem in the series Beef Stew, our fiercest guy, has been out the whole time with injuries.

[Pat McAfee]

We need him back. Need beef stew. Yeah, exactly. Need beef stew. How about. How about Knicks fans there? Are there any Knicks fans back there? How do you feel about the toughness your team has shown fighting the mighty, mighty Detroit Pistons?

[Michael Cole]

No, it was a great test to sort of survive the physicality. The Knicks are like sort of at a different place in their build, obviously. They were third this year, 51 wins. That's great. But didn't really have a signature win. So going into the playoffs, it was like hard to really believe that we were like a true bonafide contender that can take down the Celtics or the Cavaliers or in seven games. But no, I mean, Brunson is an elite playoff riser. He is the clutchest player in the NBA and, you know, behind him anything's possible. If you're down 12 in the fourth and he just rattles off eight straight, you're back in every game.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but what about the refs on your guys side? Foxy's been telling me the refs are on your guys. You still have that clip, Foxy?

[Tony]

Yeah, actually, I think I do.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Pod that up.

[Michael Cole]

So on the rebound, you'll actually see Tobias Harris foul Josh hard and then step out of bounds before passing the ball to Tim Hardaway. So if we want to.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm excited to see if we want to go. If we want to go back through it.

[Tony]

That's the foot footage, Bruce.

[Michael Cole]

Foul out of bounds. He's out of bounds and passes the ball to Hardaway.

[Tony]

Let me just reiterate, this goes back to the Mickey Moss New Yorkers that are not.

[Pat McAfee]

Hold on, hold on. Foxy, go back. Bruce, you're saying it should have been blown down.

[Connor]

Josh Hart's fouled.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go box.

[Connor]

Where? Right there.

[Michael Cole]

And then Harris is out of bounds.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a double hand shove underneath. I don't know if they'd come call it. And then you're saying he's touching ball while sitting out of bounds.

[Michael Cole]

Yeah, no, I'm just talking about, you know, missed calls that you could go back and, and say they were probably called.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not a.

[Tony]

This is what we're dealing with right now, boys. This is exactly what we've been dealing with. Bruce said that if the refs were. Were normal, if they were just straight up, and keep in mind the Pistons got screwed, but if the refs were normal, that the Knicks would have won every game by 30 points.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I love the fact that coaches are saying it's. I think JJ came out out and said it. I think other teams, coaches have come out and said it. The NBA is currently in the middle of a people kind of being done not saying that. These refs are making some decisions. LeBron came out, thought the hand was the ball. I don't know. You tell me. I thought the hand was the ball. They said, well, the thumb is technically a part of the wrist up at the top of it.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

When does wrist become hand and hand become wrist?

[Ty Schmidt]

That's new to me. I've been using that hand part of the ball for 30 plus years. LA Fitness hands part of the ball part of the ball, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

I hate to break you. Well, you hit me right here on my wrist. Touch the ball, your hands touch your wrist. So if I got you in a forearm, I don't understand what you're saying, but wrist kind of is the transition process into hand there. Sorry. That was a big call.

[AJ Hawk]

Huge, huge.

[Pat McAfee]

This was a huge. Lakers getting ball going out instead, Lakers getting balled down three. After Ant makes two shots, they would have been down one. All we need is a layup and let's assume that guy at the bottom 77 would have made something. He is so good at basketball. Defensive side, people don't give them a lot of positive vibes. They're playing the whole half. Exactly. Bingo. They're playing the whole half. What do you want me to smack.

[Ty Schmidt]

The wood, make excuses for him? Sure, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

77. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Or anybody that doesn't play on the other side of the court.

[Pat McAfee]

There was a couple times used guys, he said, I'm not going to stop this guy anyways. If I was to try.

[Michael Cole]

Really good.

[Pat McAfee]

Good move, dude. Just kind of going around. You live with that.

[Darius Butler]

If he hits a three at the other end of the court, if he's.

[Pat McAfee]

Gonna score 40, it's all good. Exactly. And if you're expecting him to play the entire half every once in a while there's gonna be a. All right. Yep. Okay, let's go. Help, help, help. It's also just a group of people itching to say that Nico Collins might have been right. Right. That's not his name. I got this wrong.

[Adam Pierce]

It's his name to me.

[Pat McAfee]

What is it? Yeah, whatever. He was wrong, you know.

[Ty Schmidt]

We'll see.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll see. We won't.

[Adam Pierce]

You could have got nine first round picks for Luca.

[Pat McAfee]

Mikal Bridges went for what, Bruce five Five first. Yeah, you could have got nine first round picks for Luca.

[Ty Schmidt]

We don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

The only people you could have got.

[Adam Pierce]

More than you got the only people.

[Pat McAfee]

That knew about it were Sean's. They would have told other people that it was potentially available.

[Connor]

Maybe shopped it.

[AJ Hawk]

Don't do this.

[Pat McAfee]

No, not don't do this. But also, somebody came around. What are they giving you? Anthony Davidson. Huh?

[Darius Butler]

We'll trade our whole team for him.

[Pat McAfee]

You got a percentage of the. Yeah. You guys own two teams now. Congratulations. Down three, one. Luca and LeBron come back in the first round.

[AJ Hawk]

That's 1100.

[Tony]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

Wait a minute, A.J. what do you think?

[Michael Cole]

I would. I wouldn't count them out. That's for sure. I'll be watching.

[Pat McAfee]

He will be watching.

[Connor]

He'll be tuned in.

[Michael Cole]

I've watched more basketball than I have in the, like, definitely in the last five years. I've watched more recently. It's been like. It's been legit fun. Even if I don't really care about the two teams playing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It's just on. There's nothing. What is on? It is on. So I start watching.

[Michael Cole]

They play hard, man. Like these dudes. Super hard, super physical.

[Pat McAfee]

And there's going to be a highlight at some point in the first 30 seconds of me watching. There's going to be something that'll captivate me. And then it's not bad for background, too, if you're scrolling or doing anything else in your life. Good sound whenever there's obviously something big. Good replays coming. You can check it. It has been a good watch. I agree. Late night, though. Late, late, late. They play late.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, the only good game tonight's at 10.

[Pat McAfee]

Those Clippers Nuggets games have been unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

That'd be good.

[Pat McAfee]

Clippers Nuggets tonight, 10pm Eastern Western on TNT. And True TV, the home of impractical jokers and Lizard Lick towing.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Michael Cole]

Joker's going on.

[Connor]

No, they brought it too hard.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Michael Cole]

What do you mean? What does that mean?

[Pat McAfee]

The Impractical Jokers were on every single 30 minutes on true TV. I think different. Yes. And it was the Lizard Lick toeing. They had their run.

[Darius Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

And then there was. What else was over there?

[Darius Butler]

They do a lot of JLo.

[Michael Cole]

Wasn't JLo part of this show? She produced it or something?

[Pat McAfee]

She. She knew stars. She knew Stars immediately. If she had. If she.

[Michael Cole]

I think she was.

[Pat McAfee]

She had a golden eye for talent. I think she would have wanted to get on board with this for sure. Was Live PD on True tv? Live PD had a little bit of a run. It was in my neighborhood.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is. What would you do? Going that channel.

[Connor]

Sorry, What.

[Pat McAfee]

What would you do? Is on abc. That's a great show. That was a great show.

[Ty Schmidt]

I like those shows.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, that's real scene in there. Yeah, there's some real. They put some people in some real pickles. Hey, let's see what type of human you are real quick. 45 cameras.

[Michael Cole]

You're the bad human. If you're. You end up being the bad human and not, you know, doing the right thing.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't want.

[Michael Cole]

Don't sign that waiver. Don't let them show that. Don't want to air that episode.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Let them blur your face if they have to. Yeah, you need to. You need to get. You need to survive that one. Yeah. I mean, that is a. What a spot. But also good human.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. A lot of good humans on there. Does bring you a little bit of hope. What was I watching last night? There was something. Oh, yeah. Braun Breaker spearing Sammy Zane in half.

[Michael Cole]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Makes you feel good.

[Michael Cole]

So painful.

[AJ Hawk]

Makes you feel good. Makes you feel good.

[Pat McAfee]

Sammy could have just won the smackdown, got a chance at the title. Could have. He said, no, I'm not running from anything. Thing. Respect.

[AJ Hawk]

Teach him a lesson.

[Connor]

I think Bron could go one on one with.

[AJ Hawk]

With the gorilla.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I thought about that last night when I seen him. I'm like, what if we got 40 of him? Yep. You know?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

There aren't 40 of him.

[Darius Butler]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Big Papa Pump offered me some help for my match against Gunther. I saw that.

[Connor]

Take it.

[Pat McAfee]

I want to let him know I. I don't think I got enough time. Big Papa Pump, for whatever you be able to. I mean, maybe mentally you'd be able to. Yeah. Any information, Any. Any tips available. Big Pop a Pump. I would love strategy. Love strategy. Thoughts, ideas, Vitamins. Yes, sir. Good shout out. All right. What a day today. Tomorrow's a big one, too. More GMs. Yeah, let's go. Huge day. More GMs tomorrow. AJ. We'll actually say hashtag, because you can't really do the apostrophe there. Who will it be?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

On the. In the hashtag.

[Darius Butler]

Who will it be?

[Ty Schmidt]

Any clues? We going to give any clues?

[Pat McAfee]

General managers.

[Connor]

Oh, football teams.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's a good call. Do they.

[Connor]

We said we've said too much.

[Ty Schmidt]

Are they tenured? Are they young? Are they old?

[Pat McAfee]

See, now you're doing the whole mustache.

[Michael Cole]

What's it rhyme with?

[Pat McAfee]

Huh?

[Michael Cole]

What's it rhyme with? Their name, Their last name.

[Pat McAfee]

We're not doing it.

[Connor]

Boner.

[AJ Hawk]

Manager Boner.

[Pat McAfee]

It's two gms that weren't today's gms. Hashtag, who will they be? Get them both, right? Oh, you want some free merch?

[Darius Butler]

Boom.

[Connor]

A Subway gift card from me.

[Pat McAfee]

Holy. Okay, slow down.

[Connor]

Just got one last week for Easter.

[AJ Hawk]

It's got bent on.

[Pat McAfee]

Could not wait to re gift that. This is his first opportunity he saw to re gift that thing. Boom, boom.

[Michael Cole]

Love some.

[Pat McAfee]

Some free merch and a Subway gift card. Wow. That's at least 30 bucks or 25. 30 bucks.

[AJ Hawk]

You might have used it.

[Pat McAfee]

25 bucks? Yeah. All right, 25 subway. Yeah. Have you used any of it? No. Don't. Wow. Because they don't have five dollar foot longs. No, they don't.

[Connor]

They have completely changed their business model.

[Pat McAfee]

Which I don't love.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, they kind of had to.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Had to pivot.

[Michael Cole]

They had to pivot.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. All right, we'll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow's a big day. Hashtag, who will they be? If you get both of the general managers correctly, you will be automatically put into a pile of people to be randomly selected to win some of our merch. And one lucky winner randomly selected will win a Subway gift card from our friend, one half of the hammer. Don Cowboys. Ap to you all are the greatest people on earth. Thank you for allowing us to do this for a living. AJ Great work today. Boys in the back. Great work. Box the table. Yeah. Way to battle. Way to keep battling.

[AJ Hawk]

Battle.

[Pat McAfee]

Ton. Good job today. Thanks.

[Connor]

You too.

[Pat McAfee]

Look at you showcasing, you know, the philanthropical side.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Connor]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Philanthropic tone. Donating back a gift that you got just a week ago.

[Connor]

I was inspired by your promo last night, talking about how much you give back.

[Pat McAfee]

So there we go. Oh, you. You don't see it every day, but get it yelled at you.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was cool seeing those lacrosse kids.

[Pat McAfee]

So cool.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was.

[Pat McAfee]

That was awesome. How sweet was that?

[Ty Schmidt]

That was dope.

[Pat McAfee]

That was really cool. That got me choked up.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Pat. No problem. Lucky to do it now. Pat Kavanaugh. You know, obviously, a little bit of slice and dice.

[AJ Hawk]

And Liam Entman.

[Pat McAfee]

Liam Entman. I knew his last name was Entamon, cuz Cookies. I. I forgot. Liam, I apologize. Like. But best goalie in the world or whatever the case is. That was an awesome thing to watch.

[Ty Schmidt]

I see some future dogs with some sticks.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you what. Lacrosse is sport. Lacrosse's sport. Physicality got to be fast. Obviously a lot of strategy. I think it bodes well for the American athlete. I. I think great schools. That's why everybody says it could be future, future, future sport. Because I think that our country would do good at it if more people played it. Ain't that right, Connor?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, no doubt. It's in the Olympics now, so hopefully that does kind of bring some more eyes, give you more of a path and reason to play.

[Pat McAfee]

They all said, thanks, Pat, which was cool. One of them had one microphone and the kid just screamed in it. I like that kid's mom. He's probably a long sticker.

[AJ Hawk]

Probably a captain. Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Probably got a seal on his chest. No problem at all. Lucky to be a part of it. And, yeah, it feels like, you know, if you tell people that you give back, people say, well, you sound like you're, why'd you even give back to begin with? It's like, well, maybe I could inspire other people to want to give back. You know, like, this is available. You can do this. You can give 600 lacrosse sticks to kids around the city of New York City and I assume many other places and hopefully spur a dream or spur an opportunity or introduce a game or a sport that could change a life forever. You can do this. And we're lucky that we get to be a part of so many cool things. And the only reason is because people like you watch us and we will see you tomorrow. We got a big one. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Goodbye. Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a king maker. He had wealth, fame and power.

[Ty Schmidt]

Welcome to New York.

[Pat McAfee]

Until it all came crashing down.

[Connor]

Federal investigators raiding two homes owned by.

[Adam Pierce]

By hip hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal contributor. 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. Hey, I'm Brad Milke. You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast. Start here.

[Adam Pierce]

But I'd like to add aspiring true.

[Pat McAfee]

Crime expert to my resume.

[Adam Pierce]

And here's how I'm going to make it happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Every week I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about. ABC's got some unique access here, so.

[Adam Pierce]

I'll talk to the reporters and producers.

[Pat McAfee]

Who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We'll bring you the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Out follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.