PMS 2.0 1357 - Shams Charania, Mark Messier, Peter Schrager, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show – Episode PMS 2.0 1357 Summary

Release Date: June 10, 2025

Hosts and Guests:

• Pat McAfee – Host
• AJ Hawk
• Darius Butler
• Ty Schmidt
• Mark Messier – Six-time Stanley Cup Champion, NHL Legend
• Shams Charania – Senior NBA Insider at ESPN
• Peter Schrager – Emmy Award-Winning Analyst

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1. NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Florida Panthers Dominate Edmonton Oilers

Overview: The episode kicks off with an in-depth analysis of the recent NHL Stanley Cup Finals game where the Florida Panthers thrashed the Edmonton Oilers with a commanding 6-1 victory, taking a 2-1 series lead.

Key Discussions:

• Panthers' Strategy Against Stu Skinner:

  • Pat McAfee highlights how the Panthers have systematically exploited goalie Stu Skinner's weaknesses, particularly targeting high shots on the stick side.
  • Mark Messier emphasizes the Panthers' disciplined play and their alignment with their culture and identity, contrasting it with the Oilers' lack of composure.

• Panthers' Cultural Strength:

  • Messier praises the Panthers' commitment and unity, noting their ability to maintain discipline and execute their game plan effectively.
  • Pat McAfee echoes the sentiment, stressing that the Panthers' tough, old-school hockey style is a key factor in their success.

Notable Quotes:

• “This is incredible what the Panthers are doing and the energy and the commitment that are playing with three straight years of the finals there.” — Mark Messier [34:42]
• “Toughness to stand in front of a goal, sacrificing your body so you can score. That’s what toughness is.” — Pat McAfee [53:17]

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2. NBA Finals: Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Overview: Transitioning to the NBA, the discussion focuses on the ongoing Finals series between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the Pacers holding a 2-1 series lead.

Key Discussions:

• Pacers' Performance and Star Players:

  • Shams Charania remarks on Tyrese Halliburton's pivotal role, noting his ability to score crucial points and lead the team effectively.
  • Mark Messier discusses the Thunder's deep roster and coaching strategies under Mark DaGano, highlighting their defensive prowess and versatile lineups.

• Coaching Insights:

  • Messier and Shams Charania delve into the coaching dynamics, praising Rick Carlisle of the Pacers for his direct and effective communication with players, fostering trust and confidence.

Notable Quotes:

• “Tyrese Halliburton was seen limping. Out of his press conference. This looked like he was a little bit sore.” — Pat McAfee [03:27]
• “The Thunder team has been changing their lineups year after year. They have a very deep team.” — Mark Messier [25:51]

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3. NFL Offseason: Minicamps and Shemar Stewart's Contract Saga

Overview: A significant portion of the episode addresses the ongoing NFL offseason activities, particularly focusing on mandatory minicamps and the contentious contract situation involving Shemar Stewart of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Key Discussions:

• Mandatory Minicamps Protests:

  • Pat McAfee and AJ Hawk discuss the trend of veteran players skipping mandatory minicamps as a statement against unsatisfactory contract negotiations.
  • The conversation highlights the financial motivations behind such actions, where players prioritize owed compensation over mandatory participation.

• Shemar Stewart's Contract Dispute:

  • Mark Messier provides insights into Stewart's holdout, explaining that the Bengals are attempting to introduce a new clause that would void all remaining guarantees in future contracts if a default occurs.
  • Shams Charania and Messier express support for Stewart, criticizing the Bengals' approach and emphasizing Stewart's value as a proven player.

• NFL Contract Dynamics:

  • The discussion extends to broader NFL contract structures, comparing Stewart's situation with other players and highlighting the challenges teams face in balancing contract offers within the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Notable Quotes:

• “If you have a Chance to be around them. It’s like a moment. You’re like, what the? Like, it doesn’t make sense.” — Darius Butler [09:01]
• “I think what you’re doing is very disappointing for Shemar Stewart, but as soon as the deal gets done, he’ll get on the field. He’ll be a beast.” — Pat McAfee [05:15]
• “There’s a way to be tough and a way to play tough, but being tough is going back under pressure when the guy is bearing down on you as a defenseman and taking the body check.” — Shams Charania [41:50]

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4. Additional Insights and Player Spotlights

NHL Insights:

• Mark Messier discusses Connor McDavid's potential injury and its implications for the Oilers' chances in the finals. He underscores the need for the Oilers to regain discipline and cohesion to compete effectively against the Panthers.

Basketball and Other Sports:

• The hosts briefly touch upon various basketball personalities and events, including discussions about Aaron Rodgers' integration into the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bucking expectations, and the dynamics of team cultures across different sports.

Notable Quotes:

• “Connor McDavid will play. We’ll find out what he’s actually going through whenever this series is over.” — Pat McAfee [17:52]
• “They play hard nose old school hockey that we haven’t seen and it’s working.” — Pat McAfee [34:42]

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Conclusion:

The episode offers a comprehensive analysis of the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Finals, highlighting the Florida Panthers' strategic dominance and cultural strength. Shifting to the NBA Finals, the focus remains on the Indiana Pacers' impressive performance and coaching excellence. The NFL segment delves deep into contract disputes, emphasizing the struggles between players and management within the Bengals' organization. With expert insights from legends like Mark Messier and insiders such as Shams Charania, listeners gain a multifaceted understanding of current sports dynamics across major leagues.

Final Remarks: Pat McAfee wraps up the episode by reinforcing the discussions, expressing optimism for the Panthers' dynasty potential, the Pacers' championship aspirations, and the resolution of NFL contract issues, particularly Shemar Stewart's situation.

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Note: Timestamps are indicative and correspond to significant segments within the episode.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome on this off Season Football. Tuesday, June 10, 2025 this program begins now. Sports are fantastic and there's a lot of them happening in real time. Last night the NHL continued the way the NHL has gone the last two years. The Florida Panthers put an OSP beating on the Edmonton Oilers to go up 21 in the Stanley cup finals. We will talk about that today with moose. Mark Messier joining us in about 30 minutes or so. Obviously he's an NHL legend. He was teammates with Wayne Gretzky way back in the day, became the captain of the New York Rangers and a man who played I think 55 years in the NHL and won a hundred Stanley Cups. Can't wait to get his thoughts on this Florida Panther team, how they play, why they play and if this Oilers team is going to be able to answer. And is there a tell on Stu Skin, the goalie of the Edmonton. Feels like five out of six of those goals, one sticks right here, right here, right here. So we see in the playoffs of hockey they get a scattering. Report the book on the goalies. I'm not saying they don't have it all season, but in the playoffs, best of seven series, they are doing a lot of research on where this goalie sucks and where this goalie is great at. If you look at most of these goals, except for whenever Stuart Skinner was out of the net, that thing was going high, he was out of net there. That doesn't count. Go to the second goal, please. Please go to the second goal. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Boom bang. Bardowski actually off the top, third goal. Boom high right on the goal. Stew skin. Boom high right. Stu skin, stick side, high side. How you doing? Keep it moving. I think he's in trouble. I think the Florida Panthers have figured it out. Last night, 61 win in dominating fashion. We'll talk to Mark Messier. We'll also have Sham Sharania joining every goal, basically going to the same exact spot. Now granted they're sniping, oh yeah, big nip. I mean those potentially going in on a goalie that is very good on stick side. But it feels like they were aiming one particular direction and putting it in. His Florida Panthers team looking to go back to back for the eighth time in the history of the NHL. A dynasty in South Florida is certainly a conversation piece. Now let's talk a little bit about the NBA because we know tomorrow night here in Indianapolis, Indiana, Game 3 of the NBA Finals will be taking place. We Will be live from outside of Cambridge Field House at noon tomorrow. Come hang out with us. Great backdrop over there, right?

[AJ Hawk]

Nice weather.

[Pat McAfee]

Bicentennial Plaza is what it's called. It's right outside of Gainbridge. This is a covered area, so it should have some shade in there on the beautiful weather. The backdrop is beautiful.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Most shots of Indianapolis don't have this particular backdrop. So whenever we are offered up the opportunity to go down there again, we are incredibly pumped and thankful for it. We'll be there tomorrow. Come hang out with us. Even if you're in town from the Oklahoma City fan base, you guys have done a great job with your arena. Coach Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers actually said, these fans here, really, they're loud. He said that was a big deal for this game. Whenever we lost game two, he said, we hope our fans understand the mission, understand the task. I hope so, too. We'll be in there tomorrow night, so hopefully we'll set the table tomorrow. A lot of people traveling in town. A lot of people are going to be on the show tomorrow. I hope you will come join us, but Sean Sharania will join us in about 10 minutes or so. What should we be thinking about as we look ahead to this game three? What should we be thinking about as we look ahead to the show tomorrow? Sham's join us live in person. We assume he'll be boots on the ground out here. This dude's unbelievable. Tyrese Halliburton was seen limping. Oh. Out of his press conference.

[AJ Hawk]

Didn't look good.

[Pat McAfee]

This looked like he was a little bit sore. That doesn't look like anything problematic to me, because if it was, I don't think the Pacers people would allowed him just to walk. There would have been at least an arm, maybe a crutch. We're in the middle of the NBA Finals. But watch Seams what he knows about this and any other storylines brewing ahead of this. NBA Finals Game three tomorrow here in Indianapolis, Indiana. And then football is happening all around us. Mandatory minicamps are happening all around the league. There's some people not showing up.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

There's some people not happy about their contracts. There's some veterans that have proven themselves in this league that say, hey, excuse me. We are supposed to get a deal done. You have not gotten a deal done. I don't care if it's mandatory. You know what's mandatory? You pay me. That's what's mandatory. I'll take the $17,000 fine. I'll take the $30,000 fine for missing these mandatory minicamps because what you owe me is a lot more. So this is becoming a statement for some of these players or if you're the 17th overall pick in the draft where it is, it is. It's pretty slotted, cut and dry on what you're going to get. I mean, that is kind of a part of the cba. It's like, here's the amount of money that the number one overall pick will get. Now there are some conversations about the guarantees, when the money comes, when it will be deferred to all those things. There are some negotiations, but at 17th overall, they kind of got it. They kind of got it pretty much figured out. He has an agent out of laa. Young lad. He might be some sort of super genius that is working the system in the CBA differently than everybody else. But this dude missing all of this and this dude's saying like, numbers weren't where I wanted them to be instead of like what I was told they should be, has made himself a bad guy in a city that he was going to be. You know, I mean, in Cincinnati, that's a place that they will hold you. They will judge. Like, this is just overall bad in my idea. In my eyes, this is not great for Shemar Stewart, but as soon as the deal gets done, he'll get on the field. He'll be a beast. That's what Shemar Stewart is. We understand he'll be great. But the Cincinnati Bengals draft him 17th to replace Trey Hendrickson potentially because they can't get Trey Hendrickson to show up to anything. Now their 17th overall pick isn't showing up to anything. They got problems on that D line over there. And the only way it's going to get settled is money, I guess, and negotiations and maybe because they get rid of Pratt yesterday they opened up some money to sign Trey Hendrickson and maybe the super agent that Shemar Stewart has, he's able to snoop his way around the CBA to give more money than anybody else in the history of that particular pick was supposed to get with the rules and regulations that have been implied in collectively bargained agreement for the NFL. So there's a lot of problems around the NFL. We'll certainly talk about that with Schrager in the next hour. He got his mind blown by O's. O's been doing a lot. Ohs has a book, nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler joining us.

[Darius Butler]

Yes, sir.

[Pat McAfee]

O's has blown our minds. Yes. Oze walked up to you, told you to Bring your phone out, scroll through your phone, book contacts, stop. Look at a name in your contacts. And then he wrote down on a dry erase board the exact name that you were looking at in your phone. But not just the name. Yeah, you said the name, I believe, was Boogie.

[Darius Butler]

Wasn't even real name. It was my daughter's nickname.

[Pat McAfee]

Boogie was on his phone. He says, boogie. He writes that he already had Boogie wrote down. Then he had something else. He said, and, and, and. And then you said, black heart emoji. And he turns it around, he goes, exactly, Boogie. And it was just like, wait a minute. Then he looked at me. One to a hundred. Think of a number. And I go. I think of a number. 77. And I go, Whoa. Too easy of a number. 77. That's easy. That's got to be the easiest one. Two sevens. Seven is a lot of people. Lucky number. That seems like an easy one. I went to like 54 or something. I'm like, what a shitty number. Give me to me. I'm going to a shitty number. He says to me, bang. You thought of 77. Then you move to a lower number, right? Lower number, yeah, 54. And then he walks away. I'm like, only I know if that was right or not. And it was fucking right. Then he came on game day, this guy, and he told me to think of a card. So I thought of one card, and then I switched it last second. I'm like, not gonna let him do it. He called my ass out. He's like, you were thinking of this, then you went to this. And I'm like, what's this? He's a demon. And more people need to understand he's a demon. He tried to do a trick at Big Night out that would have required 12,000 drunk people to follow along with their calculator. That was a big swing. A lot of times that was a big swing by O's. But every time I've seen this dude operate, it is mind blowing, mind boggling. And you think to yourself, this thing isn't real. And there's more and more people getting a taste of it.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And what he did this morning with the get up thing here, Outrageous. And a lot of people say it's all rigged. It's like, no.

[AJ Hawk]

Nope.

[Pat McAfee]

We're trying to catch him.

[Darius Butler]

This group right here would. I don't think we would let anybody like.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you. I would like a little bit more.

[AJ Hawk]

Respectable super bowl aj. Yeah. Put half the deck of cards into his pocket to try and screw with O's and Then O's saw it and made him take them all out.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, it's just like, yeah, he's a demon. He's got a book, though. He can teach you how to be a demon. Oh, that's what I think.

[Darius Butler]

I don't know if I want that. But nobody. Best a thousand. So the big night out was tough, but today on Get Up, I believe he broke Bart Scott's brain and definitely broke Greeny's brain. He might still be in that studio, stuck right there because you talked about the 77 and then throwing him off, going to 54. He did the same thing with the coaches to spell out get up this morning. It was wild. And knowing it, seeing it on TV now, knowing it's not a gimmick, knowing it's not a fugaz, because I definitely would think it if I didn't experience it my own. Scrolling through my phone, he got me maybe two or three more times. I think I don't want to be in his presence ever again.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's how I feel every time I'm around him. And then I'm, like, kind of oddly fascinated by what's going on here because he did the game day thing where he had me close my eyes and he said, a school will come to your mind.

[Darius Butler]

Okay, Greeny.

[Pat McAfee]

Then he had Herb street do something else. Think of another thing. Think of another school. Think of another. So then Herb street says he thinks of Clemson or something like that. And I thought of Georgia. So at the moment, I thought, ooh, we got him. He fucked this one up. Like, this is not right. Cause I said, georgia Bulldogs. And then Herb street turns his thing around and says Clemson on his dry race board. I'm like, oh, no, we just ruined your whole thing, buddy. And then it turns out, no, they actually played each other. What was the final score? Oh, it was exactly what Saban did earlier and what Rhys Davis did earlier. That was the final score. Those were the teams that played against each other. And there was some date. It's like the levels of shit he, like, tells a story with all of his tricks, they're never done. They're never done. Seemingly, he just keeps going. We would just like to let the world know that he's very pessimistic about these types of things. And maybe they're sick of CNOs, because I have seen that on the Internet. I've seen people say, we're sick of seeing this guy. Just know that we can understand why you're sick of seeing them. But if you have a Chance to be around them. It's like. It's a moment. You're like, what the? Like, it doesn't make any sense. So I think that's why everybody's kind of captivated, that is in TV world, by him. Because we all want it to be fake.

[Darius Butler]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

We all want it to be bullshit. And then he walks right into that batter's box. And seemingly each time, he takes a bigger bat. Well, I'm a tie. Actually, this guy over here, his shit ties into here. They spelled get up this morning with the first letter of all the different names that were thinking of. He got somebody's ATM pin.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

From an offensive lineman at the Cincinnati Bengals. But first it was Joe Burrow throwing it randomly to two people throwing a ball randomly to a team meeting. And it was their numbers where that guy's pin did it with the Bills too.

[AJ Hawk]

Did that multiple times.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that not just like.

[Connor]

Yeah, that's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

How does that fucking work? I don't know how it works.

[Darius Butler]

Got Rogan too.

[Pat McAfee]

Got his pin.

[Darius Butler]

Not amused.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that is one of those things.

[AJ Hawk]

Where I got your pin.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, my pin. I had to change it. Thank you so much. Actually fucked me because I don't use my pin much, you know, had to get money out, put my old pin in. Didn't. Fraud twice. Didn't work twice. I thought I was gonna lock it up. I'm like, that is my pin. It has been my pin. And then immediately little O's pops in my head. Ha ha. It's not your pin anymore. Remember, we did it in front of a million concurrents. We were doing the numbers for big night out between YouTube x TikTok. We had throughout a million concurrents throughout that show. So how many people heard my pit what if?

[Darius Butler]

All of a lot for sure.

[Connor]

Probably all of them.

[AJ Hawk]

And then the reruns.

[Pat McAfee]

There's no reason for him to do that to people. You know, can you pick something that isn't as detrimental. Yeah. To society. They're just losing it all. This guy's Social Security number right now. That's a crazy thing to do. Anyways, we'll talk to straight about that and everything happening around the NFL and what he is hearing about some of the big names that are still available because remember, Shrek slept on the catches of a lot of these guys that are now in charge.

[Connor]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Senior bowl. Having a good time down Mobile, Alabama. He's a young buck trying to meet people. All the people he met now are basically running the league. So he happens to have A lot of information that other people don't have. Although he doesn't consider himself an insider, he is certainly that. We can't wait to catch up with him. The talks tables here at Boston, Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Con man Ohs is a demon. But this Panthers team might be unstoppable. Yeah, I know they're at their third straight finals. I know this is potentially their second straight Stanley Cup. Connor McDavid, dry sattle and the boys still exist. I'm not saying they don't, but when you watch the Florida Panthers do what they did last night, it's hard not to be like, this is a wagon for the foreseeable future. And they just got Marcian on their team.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, exactly, Marshan. I mean, you. You just said it. Him and Sam Bennett together have been ridiculous. I don't know if you remember the movie Hancock, but in Hancock, Will Smith's a superhero.

[Pat McAfee]

Fun fact. Back when Facebook was a thing. Favorite movies. Hancock was on there.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

NFL Films was filming me one time, asked me my favorite superhero. I said, hancock, the drunk one. Next question. I am a big Hancock.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay, so then, you know, Hancock loses his powers when he's near.

[Pat McAfee]

Around another.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, around another. It's kind of the opposite of Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett. When they're around each other, they almost become better. Sam Bennett now is the favorite to win the Con Smythe Award, which is crazy because McDavid was the favorite at minus 2. Something coming in. Marchand. A minute into the game, you know, he scores his first goal. And then it was basically. That was kind of all she wrote, damn near verheagy, ridiculous snipe. And you mentioned over that right shoulder, that stick side high on stu skin. Gump's been telling us for a while, hey, stu skin will turn into a pumpkin. I'm not saying that happened, but I'd be surprised if we see Stewie skin again. The problem the Oilers are doing is that they're trying to play Florida Panther hockey.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, I see that. They're trying to bully.

[AJ Hawk]

They're trying to bully. And granted, that's because the Oilers went and they grabbed Trent Frederick, who started the backyard brawl, if you will, last night. It's five to one. The Oilers are just getting absolutely shit pumped. And because of that, they're trying to get into the heads, into the kitchens of these Florida Panthers. Little do they know, that is where the Panthers live. Trent Frederick right there. Sam Bennett, he's been the superstar. So what's Tred Frederick do? Hey, let's screw with this guy, I'm going to break my stick over his back and let's just start throwing hands. And that's what happens. But that's what the Florida Panthers thrive off of. The Oilers are probably going with Calvin Pickard now, who got hurt earlier in the playoffs as 5 on 5 in.

[Pat McAfee]

The Stanley cup finals. We'll fight. I mean, what are we even talking about? This is 5 1. This game is over. There is the only reason this would happen is because the Edmonton Oilers just are trying to get under the Panthers again. Do you think that's going to happen to this Florida Panthers team? Absolutely not. Blood gushing down that guy's face. Couple cross checks from Frederick on Sam Bennett, one in the lower back, then breaks his stick across the wrist of Sam Bennett, the guy who's going to win the con spike the MVP of this entire thing. So obviously the Panthers, like, I don't think so. This is all happening right in front of the Edmonton Oilers bench. I once again cannot reiterate the fact enough hockey is awesome and the fact that you can just get a full 5 on 5 brawl in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2025 should make everybody say this sports the greatest of all time. There's only three refs out there. Yeah, there's five different fights, three refs. There was multiple times where that fight would go down the ground, guys would catch their breath and say, we're not done yet. They get back up, start fighting each other and the ref would have to come over. Then one ref would be struggling with one big time fight. We'd call in a friend stripes. Hey, two refs, one fight. There's four other fights happening and only one ref to break it all up. This thing could have gone all day and night if they wanted it to, but the boys ran out of gas, the boys ran out of steam. And I think the boys proved themselves that, hey, you're not just going to disrespect us. The Edmonton Oilers said, we ain't no rollover around here. We will put up a fight even if we're losing. And the Panthers say, is that right? Okay, we'll beat you 51 and beat your ass on top of it. As a Florida Panther fan, you got to love everything about it.

[Darius Butler]

Loved everything about it in post fight. You know, seeing a stick taps up against the wall. I mean, yeah, it's just, it's the height of obviously playoff hockey. The physicality not only between the whistles, but after the whistles as well. And you knew this was coming. You know, this was coming from the Oilers. Once they were down five one pretty much gave up. I feel like in the second, second period, it's one thing to be talented, but then to be talented and then be deep as well. You know, you mentioned Sam Bennett and Marshan, but you know, Barky and Chucky, like, they haven't even been giving him the production that you expect them to at this level. You're still getting all these weapons getting in there. Carter Hagee, Swaggy, he's always going to put pucks on net, especially when it comes to playoff time. And then Bob. Bob is standing on his head.

[Pat McAfee]

Bob Brovski, the goalie for the pounds.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, Bobby, you know, standing on his head, man. So I loved everything about it. And that pop from the crowd, you know, obviously Marsha got to start it very, very early on. I think the earliest Stanley cup championship goal in Panthers history. And then once Carter followed it up, that crowd was in it and they never left.

[Pat McAfee]

One half of the hammer done. Cowboys AP Tone.

[Ty Schmidt]

The one thing we do need to worry about is Connor McDavid and potentially an injury. Ekblad lined him up a bit last night and then he went to the locker room. So, like, if. If McDavid's not 100%, are they going to be able to beat the Panthers? Like, that's the huge thing to watch going forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Forward.

[Ty Schmidt]

It didn't look like much there, but then the more of the replays they show he got a little bit of a knee to knee on that hit. So it's definitely something that we need to watch moving forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And McDavid getting. Oh, back knee there. A little bit of a trail. Him ending up on the ice. Obviously never good. Not expected because of how great of a skater he is. Do you know how strong you have to be to skate as fast as he skates right now? That's the thing about McDavid. He's so explosive, but he's also so durable, seemingly. Edmonton oilers without Connor McDavid, obviously this thing is signed, sealed, the delivered to the Florida Panthers. But if he can stand, they will put him out there. That's the difference between hockey and every other sport. If you can get into your skates and get vertical, if you can stand up and down like six o' clock shots, Q Rich, they will push your ass onto the ice and you will finish. So Connor McDavid will play. We'll find out what he's actually going through whenever this series is over, which is per usual in the hockey world. Joining us now, ladies and Gentlemen, senior insider for the NBA at espn, friend of the program, the always handsome ladies and gentlemen, Sham Charanya. How you doing, pal?

[Peter Schrager]

I'm good. I have news. I do have news. I will be in the house tomorrow in Indianapolis outside Cambridge field house. I will be there. It's up to something season. So if you're there live in person.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Peter Schrager]

What's coming your way. But you gotta be in person to get it first, though, right? I think that's how it works.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Peter Schrager]

I think you get it on social media, but you got to be there in person.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I think person to person is certainly the fastest form of communication still in 2020. There is some telepathic stuff that goes on with O's. I think that's faster. I think that's probably fastest.

[Peter Schrager]

Then I need to learn how to do that. I feel like I would get more information quicker if I. If I knew how to do that.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you think vocal communication or sign language is faster communication?

[Peter Schrager]

To me, it's. It's all. It's always vocal. It's always vocal.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But if I do that like you see you.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's pretty quick.

[Pat McAfee]

That's. You know what I mean? True. That's. That's better than. That's quicker than. Good.

[AJ Hawk]

Good job.

[Pat McAfee]

The eyes are closer to the brain, I guess now the ear is pretty close.

[Ty Schmidt]

If your ears are.

[Connor]

There are some pretty complicated signs, though, where people will be going for 10 minutes and it was just like, yep, that sounds good.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. If you had to guess what this means, what would you say that means?

[Peter Schrager]

Do it again. Do it one more time. Hammer down. Is that. Is that what that is?

[AJ Hawk]

Not a bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Shit happens, brother. Let's move along. Okay. So you'll be here tomorrow. Let's talk about this series. Oklahoma City versus Indiana. We cannot wait to see live in person. We appreciate every time you travel to beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We'll be outside Gainbridge field house tomorrow starting at noon. Shopping season.

[Peter Schrager]

Up to something season. That's all we got to say. That's all we got to say.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Sean's might be starting a new business. Maybe it's a hair product. Not a bad idea for a good shot. His hair is. Let's talk about the series here. Oklahoma City, Indiana. Tyrese Halliburton was seen limping a little bit, getting on and off of his press box. Press conference box there. They have footage of him at shoot around today. He. He's been moving around. He is there in the pink shoes, obviously. The Halle ones brought to you by Puma he had a hell of a debut in those shoes. He had a game winner in the finals. Next game, Game two, not as great, obviously, for the Indiana Pacers. Game three tomorrow night. What should we be thinking? And what was that with Tyrese? Or is it a big nothing Burger?

[Peter Schrager]

Everyone around this time of year is banged up dealing with something. I'm sure Tyrese Halliburton is dealing with some levels of soreness. He went through full practice today. I'm told he was feeling a lot better yesterday going into today, so I am hurt. Any concern level for his actual game status for game three in Indianapolis on Wednesday? But listen, everything about Tyres Alberton's postseason this year, he's had the highest of highs. There have been obviously some lows too, like there is on any playoff run, but his numbers are staggering. In wins versus losses in this, in these playoffs, they haven't lost a ton during the playoffs, but in wins, he's averaging almost 21 points over 10 assists. And the losses, about 12 and a half points and about seven assists. So clearly, when he's performing better, when he's more aggressive, when he's putting up numbers, they're a much better team, obviously. So I, I think how he comes out back at home, that's going to be a big sign. But I thought in game one, the, the Thunder got 19 turnovers out of Indiana in the first half and they still lost the game. So to me, it's like Oklahoma City could clearly feel going into Game three that they should be up two zero. Indiana gets one. So they took care of business. But their defense, we've seen it in both of these games, not only just in, in game two, where it was absolutely stifling, like I, I games, but the way they were able to get Indiana to get turnovers and put them in uncomfortable positions and guarding, like the way they're able to switch every single play, it's. It's the most elite defense in the league right now. And that's why you have to give them a great edge for the rest of the series. But playing again in, in Indianapolis, to me, I know those crowds are going to be crazy and packed, and so you have to feel good if you're Indiana going back home now.

[Pat McAfee]

Dejano obviously incredible coach, as is Coach Carlisle. You talk about Dagano.

[Peter Schrager]

Dagano.

[AJ Hawk]

I thought it was a little different.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought it was Dags.

[Ty Schmidt]

This is his fault.

[Peter Schrager]

Just call him Dags. Just call him Dags. Just give him a nickname out here.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Dags. I like Dags. Mark Dag Dag's a great coach.

[AJ Hawk]

Too strong.

[Pat McAfee]

Dagano is a great coach. Obviously young, out there in Oklahoma City with a team that could be great for, I don't know, the next 10 years if they are somehow able to keep everybody together. But they're a young crew. Let's go to Coach Carlisle on the other side. Obviously been around a long time. He's top five. I think it wins in the playoffs. If he wins another title, he'll obviously have a title with two different organizations. He's a guy that I think coaches hard on the Pacers. Do you think he's hammering home the message about Tyrese Halliburton to be more aggressive? Because I feel the way Tyrese plays just by watching, he just kind of lets the game come. And if it's not right for him to kind of be aggressive, he'll let somebody else do it. Do you think there is maybe a little bit more of a messaging to Tyrese within the Pacers organization that he needs to think about putting a team on his back, back very early? And how do you think that gets handled?

[Peter Schrager]

I think they have full trust in him. But listen, Rick Carlisle, I've talked to players that, that have played for him in past years, whether it's in Dallas or in the past in India. In India, he's a very direct coach. So if Rick Carlisle brings you to the office or has a conversation with you, he'll be very blunt, he'll be very direct. So I'm sure him and Tyres Halberton have had some very direct conversations and Tyres Halberton will listen to his coach. But I think there's a great level of trust for Tyres Halberton to feel out of the game.

[Mark Messier]

I.

[Peter Schrager]

And I do think you, you in the playoffs, Pat, especially in the NBA later in these games, even when it's a blowout, you try to see what you can find. Any type of momentum is good momentum. And I think people will make of Ty Alburn's fourth quarter and second half play is like, all right, he put up points in garbage time when they were already down 15 plus points. But listen, he did score, I think 14 points in that second half, in that fourth quarter, you know, being a big one. So maybe he found a rhythm there. Maybe he found something there. And we'll see in game three pretty early on how he feels. But I will say Mark Dagenau, we were just talking about him, he went and changed his starting lineup. He took out Isaiah Harnstein in game one, put in case in Wallace And I think there was some feedback, some flack that he got and I think he could have went back to the double big lineup, but he stuck with Casen Wallace in game two. They end up winning that game by a landslide. And I think, you know, this is a Thunder team that has been changing their lineups year. They're, they're, they're, they obviously have a very deep team. They have a guy named Jalen, Jalen Williams, Pat. They have a guy named Jalen Williams who literally has shown that he can get triple doubles in games and he sometimes doesn't play, but these guys are ready. Andrew Wiggins, you know, he has a nominal role in game one. Then in game two, he becomes this unsung hero. So they have such a talented deep roster that I think Mark Dagna, I wouldn't surprise anything with, I wouldn't be surprised with anything he does in Game 3 with his rotation.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, good luck to Dags figuring it out here in Indiana. Okay. Because it's going to be tough. Is it going to feel like a finals game? When I watch it though, how does the league feel about the lack of the trophies on the court and on the broadcast and how it used to be something that was a big deal. Now it feels like, okay, we just got a title on the line here as opposed to visually any big time changes. Has there been any conversations about that? Because I saw people are not happy about the, I believe they were calling them bush league ass or, or, or amateur ass.

[Peter Schrager]

I mean it's, was that AI, is that like, like what is that even called when you just self impose that in there? Like I, I, I think, I, I think, yeah, I'm sure the fans would much rather it be a real part of the court, a real element of the court. Because listen, you could put it on the, on that version of it, but then you see and you're actually at the arena and you see that that trophy is not actually there. And the other thing is whenever they show those the highlights, the trophy's not actually there either.

[Ty Schmidt]

So.

[Peter Schrager]

Mickey Moss, I think, yeah, I think this is a better question for, for, for other executives, not me or the league. But Adam Silver did do media last week in, in OKC and, and he did say that they are going to look at this in the years to come. That I think he understands how much this means to the fans and that they're going to take a look at it. I saw there was a quote I think a decade ago where they said it was, it was safe for the league it was more safer for them not to have that decal there. But then you watch the in season tournament and there's this big in season.

[Pat McAfee]

Tournament where they changed the entire boards. They changed the entire court for the in season. I, I think Adam Silver said, we're definitely going to talk about this going forward. Yeah, any team you see in the finals going forward, we're going to remind them pretty clearly, like, hey, is a big. Remember that in season, Mickey Mouse.

[Peter Schrager]

You wanted to have the feel, though. You wanted to have that nostalgic feel. And I, I remember growing up, even in the playoffs, there would be this like playoff logo on the court for, for all rounds.

[Mark Messier]

And then when it got to the.

[Peter Schrager]

Western Conference finals, there would be a Western Conference or Eastern Conference logo. And then the NBA files, there would be some, you know, this cursive NBA finals logo with the trophy. Yeah, there you go. With the trophy in the middle. Like, there's definitely some nostalgia. The league has gotten away from that over the last several years in the finals.

[Pat McAfee]

The Super Duper Cup's got a whole new court.

[AJ Hawk]

It does the Super Duper.

[Pat McAfee]

They made an entirely different court for the in season. Super Duper Cup.

[AJ Hawk]

That doesn't even count.

[Pat McAfee]

And then the actual one, the actual end of season one. Okay, I guess that's what we'll call it now. We have an in season one, big deal. Super Duper. And then we have an end of season one. That as. As a. It's like, come on. That feels like a oversight. That feels like an oversight. That feels like somebody not doing or paying attention to the situation or understanding the moment. That's what that feels like to me. And that could be a. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

[Peter Schrager]

We gotta start the petition, Pat. We gotta start it. Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam might show up. Adam might show up to the live set. You never know. You never, never know.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that Adam speaking of Adam Silver? Is that who you're talking about?

[Peter Schrager]

You never know who might show up.

[Pat McAfee]

We can't wait for a brainstorm session with Adam Silver. If he comes to the show, we would like Adam Silver to know we appreciate him. Him. We're a big fan of his. We believe he does great jobs.

[Peter Schrager]

He did say, he did tell me once that he watches this show during lunchtime. Now, I don't know if that was talking about my passion for lunch or he or actually watching at lunchtime because it shows up at lunch. I think it's the latter. I think it's the latter. I don't think he knows about my. My interest in fetish for. For lunch periods.

[AJ Hawk]

Excuse me?

[Pat McAfee]

Fetish. I didn't know you're doing. I see. Rubbish lunch. I don't think I fully understand how those work, so. Remember the gray. What was his name? Christian Gray. He had a lot of. He had, like, peacock feathers and stuff.

[AJ Hawk]

Sean's got that with, like, forks and spoons and deli meats.

[Pat McAfee]

Deli meats and good bread.

[AJ Hawk]

Don't catch him.

[Pat McAfee]

Bread.

[Peter Schrager]

Sometimes you're scrambling, Pat. You're scrambling. You know, you have alerts on your phone to drink water. Sometimes you're just scrambling. You have oatmeal. I think that one time I had oatmeal, I was eating it with a oatmeal.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Peter Schrager]

That's desperate times.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Peter Schrager]

For desperate measures.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we appreciate you. We'll see you tomorrow. Shams, you're the man. Good luck with that fetish of yours. I know we're eating into the time. 12:30. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right in the middle of fetish time.

[AJ Hawk]

That's what we think.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my gosh. Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate you. Senior NBA insider Sean Sharan. What was that all about?

[Connor]

Yeah, I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

We know what he's doing with, you know, his pork sausages.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[AJ Hawk]

Let's just say he's beating his meats big time.

[Pat McAfee]

Sounds like he's pine a little meat diner.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Deli meats.

[Pat McAfee]

He loves lunch, though. He does. Sets an alarm for lunch. Yeah. And then he tweeted out a bunch of times, Yay, it's lunchtime.

[Connor]

Yes, he did. While in high school.

[Pat McAfee]

Every day. It was a tweet about lunchtime.

[AJ Hawk]

Finally.

[Darius Butler]

Lunch every day.

[Pat McAfee]

Every day. Yeah. I think there's like. I think there's like hundreds and hundreds of tweets of Sham Charani going like, time for lunch for.

[AJ Hawk]

Shoot.

[Darius Butler]

Is it like a picture of him actually, like what he got or just.

[Pat McAfee]

Just time for lunch, exclamation point. He doesn't even know what he's getting yet. He just knows that he's headed to lunch.

[AJ Hawk]

Some of them have like 50 exclamation points.

[Pat McAfee]

And then he would use a fork, I think, for his oatmeal. Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

And ice cream.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel about that?

[Darius Butler]

That's. That's interesting.

[Pat McAfee]

What was the comedian that was the very deep thinking guy? Gary Goldman, maybe. Yeah, it was him. He said, if I walk into your house and I see fork marks on your ice cream, I know so much about you. I already know everything about you. I know that on numerous occasions you've been laying on your bed trying to get the corner of the fitted sheet and you've been jumping trying to get that thing on there. He said, I know your pillowcase halfway off your pillow if you're using a fork to eat ice cream. I know the way you live your life already. Shamshirani, I think is the complete opposite of the type of person that you would assume uses a fork for ice cream, especially in that entire building bit. But he's, he's an interesting guy. Sean's an interesting guy.

[Darius Butler]

How would that ever be moved if you have.

[Pat McAfee]

No, exactly, that's the thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. All your spoons are dirty.

[Darius Butler]

I mean it takes what, two seconds clean a spoon?

[AJ Hawk]

No. Yeah, but those type of people we're talking about aren't cleaning their spoons.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but Sean Charani is the type of guy I think would clean his spoon.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, he's more like American Psycho.

[AJ Hawk]

I could see him hand over fist.

[Connor]

I mean.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen is a man who's a 25 year NHL veteran, six time Stanley cup champion, absolute beast. Incredible. On ESPN's coverage of the NHL, ladies and gentlemen, Mark Messi. How you doing, brother?

[Shams Charania]

I'm doing good. I'm not going to eat my ice cream with a fork, I can guarantee you that.

[Pat McAfee]

Have you ever.

[Shams Charania]

I can't remember ever doing that, but I don't cut my pasta either, so I'm not going to do that.

[Pat McAfee]

Your what? You don't cut your what what?

[Shams Charania]

My pasta. Some people cut their pasta. I mean, who does that?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so is a Canadian thing to say pasta? Yeah. Okay. So sorry about. We're eating pasta. Okay.

[Shams Charania]

I lost, I haven't lost my Canadian accent.

[Pat McAfee]

That good. That's great news, especially in the world that you're in now. Moose, let's talk about the finals here. Let's talk about this Florida Panthers team. Obviously last night was just a full ass beating. Both fighting, I would say at the very end. And then also in the game of hockey, what are your thoughts on what the Florida Panthers are doing and was this just a bad game for Edmonton or is this a sign of what the rest of the series is going to look like? You think?

[Shams Charania]

Well, it's incredible what the Panthers are doing and the energy and the commitment that are playing with three straight years of the finals there. This is a very impressive hockey team that we're watching right now. They are completely aligned in everything that they do. You talk about a couple culture, you talk about having an identity. Well, we're seeing it firsthand with the Florida Panthers right now. What that looks like, what a culture looks like, what an identity looks like, how they play to their systems and how they play to their, to their talent. This is incredible to watch, to be honest with you. It was not a good night for Edmonton. They completely lost their composure. They completely lost what they do well in this game. You know, they basically took the two greatest players of our generation, of their generation out of the game by taking just undisciplined penalties, not playing with any discipline whatsoever. And it was not a good night for the Edmonton Oilers. Having said that, the series is a long way from being over. I know the Oilers are going to regroup, but they can't afford to continue to play like they're playing right now. That was not a good look for the Oilers. They weren't playing tough. That is not tough hockey. What's tough hockey is watching the Florida Panthers play. They're playing tough hockey from whistle to whistle. And all the other stuff that the Oilers were doing after the whistles is not, in my estimation anyways called tough hockey.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, and the Florida Panthers answered all the after the whistle stuff. That was happening too. That's kind of their M.O. they love being in the mud down there in the ice. And I like the fact that the team that is the best in hockey right now is a tough team, an actual tough team, this Florida Panthers team. And they take pride in that style of hockey right there. The last highlight we showed was Sam Bennett getting two hits on two different guys. Then I think back checking or whatever, then going down and scoring on the other end. Just a sequence here that basically embodies who the Florida Panthers are here as a team. And this is in the Stanley cup finals. Go ahead, Mark.

[Shams Charania]

Oh, you just hit the nail on the head where you talk about embodying what the Florida Panthers are. This guy is that that in every sense he plays with emotion, but he doesn't lose composure by doing it. He plays a 200 foot game. He can wall a few with a body check like we see on the clip right here. But then to have the legs to get up ice or get back down the ice after the, you know, long shift. This guy is playing at a high, high level right now that I don't think anybody really thought that he could get to. He played great last year. He played great in the four nations. You can see the courage that he had in the four nations thicken up. And fighting for his country against a much bigger opponent. Brady Katruk this is a great hockey player that is really having a great series so far. A great playoff in total. But wow. What, what, What a performance he played last with last night.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's a favorite to win a consmyth right now and it's been fun to watch that entire team. Marshand just seems to fit perfectly down there. Now with all that being said, last night they had six goal. Five of them seemingly went to the same spot, stick side, high D. Bud has a question for you.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. You talked about being physically tough, but mentally tough obviously is very important when you're playing that goalie position. Have we seen the last of Stuart Skinner starting in net for this series?

[Shams Charania]

I don't think so. I think they gotta go with Skinner again. You know, game four is going to be a must win for the Oilers there and they're going to have to put Skinner in there and hope that he can get the job done. He didn't have a particularly good night, but I don't put it all on Skinner, to be honest with you. I don't think the team played well in front of him. We know Skinner, if he gets some time and he can get him speed set, he can make saves there. But they spent the majority of the game, you know, killing penalties and you know, Florida did move the puck around really well towards the end when the game was out of hand. But they have to ride Skinner at this point, there's no question about it. I don't see them going, making a, a change in goal. There were some short side goals that you talked about.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, go.

[Shams Charania]

No goalie wants to get beat on the short side on some shots that he was beaten on last night. But let's not forget those are pretty good shots. A couple of up in the top corner like, you know, where, you know, you got to thread the needle up there. But ultimately Skinner's gonna have to play better. He's gonna have to match Bob Rosky. But ultimately the players themselves, the team in front of them got to put him in position to be successful. And they didn't do that last night.

[Pat McAfee]

Stu skin all year, great. Got hot during the playoffs. Great. Then you get let six past you. I do wonder mentally how you're able to do that, but that's your point. They were all snipes, barred down, posting in everything hitting.

[Shams Charania]

He's done that. He's done a great job of that the last two years of not playing well and being able to bounce back and come in there and shrug it off. You talk about being mentally tough you talk about being a tough hockey player. That's the kind of, of toughness that we need to see from the Evans and the mental toughness that they have to play with to get back to their game, including Skinner. They got to regroup. This is a team that has the ability to win a Stanley Cup. They got all the experience, they got all the tools that are needed. They got to go out there and find a way that makes them successful against a very confident, battle hardened Florida Panther team.

[Pat McAfee]

It's going to be tough to answer the call here, but I think if anybody could do it, it McDavid Drive, saddle Stu and the boys can figure it out now. They did show signs of life at the very end. Go ahead, Tone.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Moose. They, they started a 5 on 5 fight when they were down 51 towards the end. I've, we've seen this time and time and time in the series this year. If a team is down a ton of goals, they're like, screw it, we don't care if we get a power play against us, we're going to start a fight. Is that an unwritten rule that if you're down 5:1 in a, in a game, in a series, you just start fighting?

[Shams Charania]

Look, I just don't see the benefit of it, to be honest with you. I think that if the Oilers want to play tough, they should be playing tough when the games is still in the balance from the opening face off. But the fact is that both teams have to be more disciplined. I thought both teams actually took way too many penalties. Needless penalties, careless penalties, undisciplined penalties. And that should have played well into the Oilers hands, but it didn't last night they took too many of their own. The Oilers, if they're going to win this series, have to be on the top side of the, of the specialty team units right now. And right now they're not. They didn't weren't particularly good on the power play last night. Their penalty killings struggled and, and if it continues that way, the Oils are going to be in tough in this series there. They have to get back to playing a disciplined hockey game using their balance of that of what we've seen in the playoffs. They were getting balanced scoring in the first three rounds of this playoff series because they were staying out of the penalty box. They were playing discipline. They were giving themselves an opportunity. And when you got two guys like McDavid and Dreisa, I'll give them an opportunity to make plays in the game. Give them an opportunity. Even if the Game is closed. They should feel comfortable playing in that kind of game because they can make plays all over the ice and when, when it matters most, towards the end of the game. But right now they got to regroup. I, I, I highly suspect that they are going to regroup. They have too much talent, they have too much experience now. They got to really kind of look at what they did in this game and park it, file it, and get themselves ready to play the kind of hockey that we've seen them played throughout the season and the playoffs.

[Pat McAfee]

On that note, Moose, Ty has a question for you.

[Connor]

Yeah, Moose, obviously you mentioned, I mean, it's still early in the series, this thing's not done yet. But when you have a situation like last night where you not only get your ass beat up on the scoreboard, but you try to mix things up a little bit and kind of get your, you know, your lunch eaten in a fight like that, are there any residual effects moving forward for a situation like that?

[Shams Charania]

I don't think so. I mean, like I say, I don't see the benefit of last night. If I were the Oilers last night, I would have much preferred to see them playing a hard game between whistles, continually taking the body. It was 7:1 and the Panthers were still finishing their checks, legally finishing their checks. That's the kind of commitment they put into their team game. I would have much, instead of this, I would have much rather seen the Oilers really playing hard hockey towards the end, really trying to finish their check and punish the Oilers and try to look at this as it's going to go seven games and get the benefits there. But by slashing people in the back of the legs and taking cheap penalties, that's not tough hockey. That's not doing anything to the Florida Panthers other than embolden them to what they're doing, working.

[Pat McAfee]

I love to hear how passionate you are about not only Edmonton and Weathers, which obviously you have history, but just the game itself. Like, hey, this is not how you're tough. This is not, you're embarrassing yourself here. This is not what we need in this entire thing. That's you shaking your head even more as I say that. That's exactly what you're saying here.

[Shams Charania]

Well, I'm saying exactly like that. There's a way to be tough and a way to play tough, but being tough is going back under pressure when the guy is bearing down on you as a defenseman and taking the body check and moving the puck, that's tough. Being tough is getting in front of the Net and taking a pounding to score a goal. That's tough. This stuff is not tough. That's not tough hockey. And this is not going to win it for you anything at this time of year. This is. The Florida Panthers are playing to their identity. The Oilers got to play to their identity. This is not the Oilers identity. I haven't seen the Oilers. They consider themselves a much bigger, stronger, more aggressive team. But this is not a way. The way to be aggressive in the playoffs. You know, this is not doing anything to the Florida Panthers, in my. In my opinion, anyways, there. I think the Oilers have lost composure. I think they feel a feeling that they're being bullied. The Florida Panthers are just playing hard hockey, hard nose hockey. They're finishing their checks every time. The Oilers got to respond, they got to be able to take a. Get themselves up, pick themselves up and give it back in the same way between whistles, hard hockey. Get to the front of the net, take a check to make a play. That's tough hockey.

[Pat McAfee]

We just heard the captain speak to the team. It feels like. That's what I felt like I was in the change room with you there. I feel like after the game that is exactly what you would have said. That's what you want Connor to say basically in there to the boys. Hopefully the message finds its home now. Now away from the series. There's other stuff happening around the NHL. Obviously it is a professional league. There are people that get fired. There are people that move on. There's new jobs. Connor has a question for you. Moose.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Moose, did you see Pete DeBoer's comments after these Stars were eliminated about Otter? I know a lot of people, especially Stars fans, weren't happy about it. What did you think about all of that? He kind of threw Otter under the bus. And then things got contentious, I guess, in the exit interviews with players just around their feelings about it. And do you think that's probably the right move for the Stars to go in a different direction just because they haven't been able to kind of get over that hump since DeBoer's been there?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Look at Pete.

[Shams Charania]

DeBoer is a great guy. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. His record speaks for itself. It was a puzzling move that he made at that point. As a leader, you're looking for your leader to stabilize things. To me, it seemed like a rash decision. I'm not sure why he did it. There may be some frustration, but I think the players and everybody else were just as Much a shock as we were, and obviously that's what happened. But, you know, composure is very, very important when the pressure's on and when the pressure gets to its highest levels and you're looking for your leaders to make really good decisions and keep a level head and keep the, that, you know, everything kind of simmering and give the team confidence that you believe in them. I didn't think it was a good move and ultimately he paid for the price for it.

[Pat McAfee]

How much going to coach change things. For instance, I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins fan and I, I seen coach muse for the first time on a photo that.

[Darius Butler]

You know, beast, he's changing things.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

You heard his voice, though.

[Pat McAfee]

I heard his voice too. He's got a deeper voice and it's like, okay, I know nothing about this guy. I think I probably, probably should, but I know nothing about him other than this photo in one 30 second clip of listening to him speak. Whenever you get a new coach in town, what should we be looking for? Like, if he's had success in previous places, his style of coaching, like in hockey, what is the most important thing for a coach to be able to do? More specifically this Pittsburgh Penguins team getting back in the Stanley cup conversation?

[Shams Charania]

Well, you can throw away all the X and O's there because I think it's pretty much a copycat league. And everybody's trying basically doing the same systems. And whether you can communicate that well is another thing. To me, it's all about, can you inspire a player? Can you help the player believe in himself? And then the team, can you give them a roadmap and a belief system that what we're going to do and how we're going to approach this year is going to bring us success and then see success on top of that. That, to me, is what makes a great coach. And I think that some do it very well. And we've seen history of coaches that have lasted a long time. You know, I just have so much respect for the coaching institution and the people that do it really, really, really, really well. And it's not easy. There's a lot of things that coaches have to deal with. But ultimately you're talking about interpersonal relationships as a head coach. You're talking about how to, to can I get the best out of this player? You have to get to know that player on a deep level. Because sometimes players need a kick in the ass, other times they need a pat in the back. You can't treat every player the same. There's so much that goes into the psychology of coaching and to get the best of your players. But the guys that do it well. And we're seeing a classic case of this happening in Florida right now with Paul Maurice, a seasoned veteran coach has had a lot of failures in his. In his coaching career. He's learned a lot. But when you see the coach and the player relationship that we're seeing in Florida right now, that is a higher level as it gets. The synergy, the belief, the trust, the inspiring relationship. And what you're seeing, the net result of that is the way they're playing on the ice and collectively together. The coach gives the players a voice in the room. There has to be peer pressure in the room, and if there's not, the coach can't fix that. The coach has to let the players drive the bus. Maurice has done an amazing job of doing that, all the while giving them guidance and correction along the way. But that's what it looks like in its purest form. And I know there's many other examples that we've seen in other sports and with great coaches from Phil Jackson to Pat Riley and all the greatest coaches that ever, ever coached. You know, Bill Walton talking about the great coach and in UCLA saying that they never used to even talk about basketball. They used to talk about life, you know, and that's one of the greatest coaches of all time. So, yeah, we're seeing a really great example of it in Florida right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Mo seemingly speaks for the group. The culture in football, normally driven by the coach. Coach will want to set the culture. You know, GM gets the players. Coach sets the culture. Players have to institute culture. Players always have to police themselves. Every sport, we're adults, locker room has to control locker room. But the coach is the one that's basically saying, hey, this is the type of team we're going to be. This is what I want it to be. Here's the thoughts. Same thing in hockey. Like that Florida Panthers culture. Marshawn goes down there. We know exactly what their culture is. We watch what the. We watch them. We know exactly what their culture is. Is that Mo setting a tempo and then Tachuk and the boys taking it to as their own.

[Shams Charania]

Well, I think it goes from ownership right down to the general manager, right down to the coaching staff. And they have a belief system of what the culture is going to be and then how they're going to actually play the game. And then you identify players that can fit into that culture. And then when they come into the team, you have the leadership that that enables Those players to come in and be themselves and their own personalities, but actually play to the system. There has to be a belief system inside the locker room that what we're doing is correct. The way we're going to play, the way we're going to try to win a Stanley cup is correct. And so far the Florida Panthers have done a great job identifying a way to win in the league as it sits right now. They play hard nose old school hockey that we haven't seen and it's working. They're big, they're strong, they're skilled, but they're most, most, most important than anything. They're dedicated to the system, they're dedicated to the culture, and they got the leadership to can spread the word. When they have new players assimilate into the, into the system like they have again this year, eight or nine or seven or eight new guys again this year that have been brought in, wrapped their arms around them, bring them into the fold, show them what the Florida Panther way is on and off the ice that's building a culture. You know, sometimes culture gets way too overused and nobody even knows what the hell they're talking about when they're talking about culture. But we're seeing it right now with the Florida Panthers.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's trying to get one. Only a few have it. And those people are the ones that play the longest seasons in all the leagues because they're the ones that are winning. Let's talk about winning. Let's talk about what you're doing today. I believe you are golfing at an outing for Answer the Call. I just looked up this information. New York Police and Fire Widows and Children's Benefit Fund who has been supporting heroes and their families of the New York Fire Department. New York Police Department, papd. I don't think I know what that is.

[Shams Charania]

Port Authority. Port Authority.

[Pat McAfee]

Port Authority. Okay. Police Department since 1985. Thank you for doing that. And thank you to Answer the Call. How long have you been working with Answer the Call? And what does today look like for you?

[Shams Charania]

Well, today is always an amazing day when we're here supporting the families that have lost their loved ones in the line of duty to protect all of us.

[Darius Butler]

Us.

[Shams Charania]

I've been on the board somewhere around 10 years now. Maybe, you know, shortly after 9 11. Rusty Staub started this charity way back when to help the families that have lost their fathers or mothers or sisters or brothers in the line of duty after 9 11. It put so much pressure on the charity to come up with the funds to actually Take care of these kids and these families. New York has supported this charity unbelievably through the years, obviously for all the right reasons. New York has stood up and been counted when it matters most. And it's been an incredible experience for me, the relationship that I have with the NYPD and the Port Authority and the FDNY. But most importantly, supporting these families, especially after 9, 11, when it puts so much pressure on all these families financially.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell yeah, Moose, we appreciate you doing that. We appreciate, obviously, those who serve our community because, you know, those who run towards danger as opposed to away from it, are a superhero. So you paying tribute.

[Shams Charania]

I agree with that, buddy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You paying tribute to them and their families and helping them out. You're a good man, Mark. We appreciate the hell out of you. We'll talk to you soon. All right, Moose.

[Shams Charania]

Yeah, man. Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. That's. You've given two, three speeches today that. It made me want to put the boots on and skate through a wall. Ladies and gentlemen, six time standing cup champion, Mark Messier.

[Darius Butler]

Six times.

[Ty Schmidt]

Six times.

[AJ Hawk]

25 years, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

He lived in a change room.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, he's still it.

[Connor]

That was awesome.

[Darius Butler]

He's still in it.

[Connor]

He's gonna hit the ball 400 yards off the tee today. He's pissed. He's pissed at the Oilers.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not what toughness is. Tough isn't slashing or hitting guys behind the legs or on the wrists, getting your ass beaten. Fights. Toughness to stand in front of a goal, sacrificing your body so you can score.

[Ty Schmidt]

Take a hit, move the po.

[Pat McAfee]

Tough. This is knowing that you're going to take a hit still, dude.

[Darius Butler]

Finishing your check.

[Pat McAfee]

Listen to him. Like him in the change room, you can see him doing one of these. You think you're tough. You think that's not tough. And then you. All you're doing is empowering them. That is what they want to do. That's awesome. That was. That was literally him just getting dropped right back into Edmonton. That. You think that stuff. Think about him watching that game. Oh, God, these mother.

[AJ Hawk]

So pissed. The amount of pride he has for Edmonton, too. Like, he's, you know, not biased, but he's definitely pulling for the Oilers.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we have some updated. Without a doubt, Connor. I think they're gonna rally. Maybe. It might not be. I don't know. I think Connor's gonna gather the team and say to him, that's not tough. That was awesome. He was literally giving him a speech. Yeah. Hey, I don't know if you're listening, Dry saddle stew, you need to stop. I'm making all the excuses right here. Need to stick by him. He's the guy.

[Darius Butler]

Get his ass back out there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's done. That's Florida Panthers fan.

[Darius Butler]

No, no. Get him back. Hey, look, he's. He's showing a bounce back, you know, and play hot. Someone in Gumpy said he would turn back into a pumpkin. I'm glad he did, but we'll see if he bounced back.

[Pat McAfee]

Gumpy also not good. Concave loses to the number two team in TST in a semi. My finals. I don't know if you saw the finals last night. Electrifying.

[AJ Hawk]

So good.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely electrifying. Bad pitch.

[Connor]

Bumpy pitch. The lads from Bumpy Pitch.

[Peter Schrager]

Glad to see they were calling slide tackles last night.

[Pat McAfee]

So Gumpy and the refs of TST certainly have a relationship. I don't know if it's necessarily a great relationship, but it's certainly a relationship. Gumpy told me because I was not able to be there. Gumpy told me that the refs told him I missed the call. I forgot the. That was the rule. I'm so sorry. And then Gumpy says, you're terrible or something. And then the guy said, I was just trying to tell the truth, man. And Gumpy said, you shouldn't have. You should have lied to me. He said he forgot the rule.

[Peter Schrager]

And then his assistant said, I told you the rule three times in your ear. And he said he didn't hear that too. So it was a few things there.

[Pat McAfee]

And then that got to where we were. And then a ref goes, I was just trying to tell the truth. And Gumpy goes, you're shy, and you're shy.

[AJ Hawk]

Total.

[Ty Schmidt]

Did you hear the other ref story? The picture went out of the. Of the concave team, and Conor texted Gumpy and said, why are you not in this picture? He said, I was yelling at the ref.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Whenever we got a whole team photo, Y. Yeah. Gumpy was over there in middle of the pitch, just letting him have it. We won that game.

[AJ Hawk]

Huge win. Apology, too. Sorry, Brick.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

You are not long in the tooth. I told you.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, hey, Grella.

[AJ Hawk]

Time to hang up the boots, lad.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no. He played that ball in the Brax. Winner, dude. All right, we got to correct the story. Shemar Stewart. We said his agent must be a super genius. Yeah, it's kind of slotted in there. What are we doing? You're the 17th overall pick. The CBA has this thing. Pro football talks. Mike Florio has reported as previously explained. So I guess he has done this before. Not enough people saw it and that is what he is saying. The Bengals have decided to wedge a new clock clause into Shadar Stewart's deal. The clause would turn a default in any given year into a void of all remaining guarantees in prior Bengals contracts. Avoid wiped out only the guarantee for the year in which the default occurred. Stewart refuses to be the guinea pig for the new term and the Bengals refuse to blink. As a result, she mars Stewart will be less prepared for training camp than he would have been. Okay, so the Bengals are doing Bangles.

[Darius Butler]

I respect it now.

[Pat McAfee]

I like what the agents do. I'm not going to be the first one. What are you. How am I supposed to tell? He's also a young agent.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So I'm a young agent. I'm supposed to just tell this? Yeah. For the first time ever, we're agreeing to something. No way. Why are the Bangles doing this?

[AJ Hawk]

They're the worst. That's they do.

[Pat McAfee]

And to Shamar and the agent. We apologize for not knowing that before Florio tried to tell us. Hello beautiful people and welcome back to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this offseason football Tuesday, June 10, 20205 hour 2 of the program begins now. Sports are happening all around us. We just got a chance to chit chat with Mark Messier. I read one person on X who runs like a coaching leadership university say that Mark Messier just put on a master class on building culture, leadership and coaching others on this particular program and I agree. There was three different speeches he gave that I wanted to go run through the nearest wall and go get the job done. Will the Edmonton Oilers adhere to his advice, adhere to his leadership and answer the call after the Florida Panthers win 61 last night down in Florida and take a commanding 2 to 1 lead in the Stanley cup final. They could go back to back as Stanley cup champions for the eighth time in the league's history. They'd be a dynasty that people would be forced to talk about forever. And are they done just after this season? I don't think so. They're seemingly continue to be on the rise down there in Sunrise, Florida with Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and all the boys buzzing. But Connor McDavid, Draisaitl, Stuart Skinner and boys from Edmonton have a chance to represent all of Canada to be the first Canadian franchise to win the standing cup since 1892.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Jeez.

[Darius Butler]

Wait, what was that?

[Pat McAfee]

Salem Witch Trials 199093 feels like it's been since 1814 since the Canadian program has won the Stanley Cup. Their game, our league, we win again. The Florida Panthers obviously filled with a bunch of Canadian players. No Canadian players down there. No Canadian products, no Canadian accents, no nothing on that Florida Panthers team. With that being said, Connor McDavid on each other side. Worth a watch, and I'll be excited to see how he answers. I assume there's some cameras behind the scenes somewhere. Can't wait to see how the entire year has kind of this guy that's in the Stanley Cup Final against the Stanley cup champions against that Dynasty team. I was just chitchatting about. That could be that was against that team in one of the biggest games of the entire. Hi. Hi.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, come on.

[Pat McAfee]

See, that guy's on the other team. And the Florida panthers beat them 6 to 1 somehow last night. Will they be able to continue this run? We shall see. The NBA Finals continues tomorrow night here in Indianapolis, Indiana. We will be live outside the site of tomorrow night's game, the Gainbridge Field House at Bicentennial Plaza starting at noon. Beautiful backdrop. We would actually do the show there every day if we could because of how nice the backdrop is. The nicest backdrop we've ever had. So getting a chance to go down there and celebrate the NBA Finals. If you're in town from Oklahoma City, please feel free to stop by. Obviously, if you're in the area not working, which could be a difficult thing, please come through. I believe summer has hit for a lot of schools. College and high school and everything like that. I think tomorrow should be a fun day. Beautiful downtown Indianapolis with perfect weather. Yeah. Celebrating this Indiana Pacers team who obviously is tied in the NBA Finals. Game one's ours. Tyrese Halliburton called game. Game two. They. They kind of did their thing. They did their thing to the Indiana Pacers. Now Oklahoma City's favored by five and a half in Indiana. We shall see. We'll be kicking it all off tomorrow. The talks tables here at Boss Connor at Tyschemic. Go ahead, comment.

[AJ Hawk]

OKC's 07 against the spread as a favorite on the road, I believe was the stat that was sent in one.

[Ty Schmidt]

Half of the hammer done the other side. The Pacers are completely defeated in game three. So one of those is gonna have to.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the game three thing with the Pacers is very real.

[Ty Schmidt]

They've been up 20 in all the other series, I believe.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, they've stolen them on the road because they were obviously lower ranked than everybody else that they've had to play against because The Indiana Pacers beginning of their season was us. Oklahoma City has been playing great since the beginning of the season. Oklahoma City is the team that everybody said we should be talking more about. SJ is going to be the mvp. He was. Chad Holmgren is not just good for bad commercials. He's also good on the court. He is this Coach Dags, which people are calling a lot of different names. Wizard Genius. This Oklahoma City fan base. Best in, best atmosphere in the NBA. People have been saying that all year about this Oklahoma City team for the Indiana Pacers. Nobody's been saying that but us. Although since February they've had the best record in the NBA alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were kind of outcasts. Overrated is what everybody said. No chance of going on a run. Well, now what in the finals 11 first home game comes coming. I'll be excited to see how the Pacers answer after a loss. Haven't lost back to back game since March.

[Darius Butler]

It's a long time since March.

[Pat McAfee]

Haven't won a game three. So that's going to have to give as well. Nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here.

[Darius Butler]

Don't come down that man right there. It's going to come down to Halle. How does he set the tone? Obviously with this series he's going to have to score more. He's going to have to be aggressive from the jump to get his team going. We know how he does. Distributing the ball but turning it up and turning up his aggressiveness on the offensive end late in the game. I don't think that's going to work against this OKC team because they just keep on going, going, going the whole 60 minutes. So I'm sure Carlisle will have the boys ready to roll. And I'm excited about this matchup tomorrow for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Me too. Gamebridge should be buzzing. I believe we'll be in there. I cannot wait to feel that. You know the finals atmosphere.

[Connor]

Oh yeah, it's different.

[Pat McAfee]

Just like the conference finals final, final four minutes. Connor pointed it out and was like, hey, this is it. This is it right here. There's a buzz that is palpable throughout this entire arena. The Pacers are going to the finals. Holy hell. We just won the Eastern Conference. Last year we made it to the Eastern Conference finals. Nobody expected us to do it. Nobody talked about it because we got swept by the Boston Celtics who inevitably go, we're back. We win it now we're going to the actual finals. How do you feel? We feel great. I think that's how Oklahoma City fans feel as well. Well, it's a great time for us to be fans. We're going to enjoy the out of it. It's going to be loud, it's going to be a good environment. It's going to be a great game. Pascal Siakam going bananas would be sweet too.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, one of those.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that would, that would be very cool. Watch him do a couple of those wild whoopty woos that he does those things with. He is absolutely spectacular to watch in person because he's way too tall to be moving the way he is. Can't wait to see this guy. Six foot six they say. True SGA with the way he moves and everything he does. Cannot wait to watch. It's going to be fun. Should be exciting tomorrow night. Okay. We start at noon tomorrow. Come join us outside. Joining us now live from an attic in Ohio is the main is college football national champion, super bowl champion, Ryder cup winner, Father 10 Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawker. Hawker. Obviously big news around the sports world last night. The Panthers get a big time win. They're up 2:1. The NBA Finals continues tomorrow night. Will be live noon outside Cambridge. A lot of football talk, AJ A lot of football talk. And let's start with a man that is your best friend. Aaron Rodgers went to a golf outing yesterday. All of Pittsburgh's buzzing. They love him. They love that he's there. Have you gotten a sense from Aaron on how he feels? And this morning Zack Frazier was speaking to the media. He's the center for the Pittsburgh Steelers out of West Virginia University, formerly of Morgantown High School where West Virginia Virginia University is based. Absolute dog for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He said Aaron Rodgers addressed the team this morning and told him he's all in from here on. Wasn't able to commit. I think Aaron's message has been very clear this entire offseason. If you were willing to listen now if everything he says you think to yourself, oh bullshit, I hate this guy, you're never going to hear this. But if you listen to what he says, he's been telling truth the entire time. I'm not able to commit to anybody through ota, so I can't do that. That is just something that I in my life I cannot do right now. After OTAs I can make a decision then if you're cool with that. The Steelers I guess behind closed doors created an offense for Aaron Rodgers. I guess they had a lot of faith that Aaron Rodgers was going to commit after OTAs they were very okay with a 40 plus year old 20 year plus future first ballot hall of Famer, Mount Rushmore football player missing the voluntary OTAs. So they've been ready for him. Seems like he's probably been ready for him. And now in Pittsburgh, after he goes to Cam Hayward's golf outing and meets people and showcases a little bit of, you know, positivity in the city and embracing the city, I think all of Pittsburgh's excited for him. Age. What are you hearing from Aaron?

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, I mean, I think Aaron is very engaged and he's, he's juiced. I think anytime you have like a change of scenery, anytime it's something new, like, think about that walking into a new facility, like, everything is new. Even though you're what, 20 years into your, your NFL career and you've won the Super bowl and MVPs and all of this, I still think something new and novel can, can energize you. Now, I know we, we said this about the jets hole situation. We saw that worked out. That was obviously a brutal situation with the Achilles to kick it off. But I don't know, I think maybe people's expectations aren't as sky high as they were when he first joined the Jets. So maybe we're, you know, we're on the path for some good things for this Pittsburgh Steelers team.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I absolutely agree with what you're saying. I don't, I don't think anybody outside of the Pittsburgh Steelers, maybe locker room in family members are saying, let's win a Super bowl with this team. You know, every team has to have that mindset. Every team in the locker room is like, hey, we're going to win a Super Bowl. We're going to have a team that's going to be able to do it. Joe Thomas, legendary. Cleveland Brown never made the playoffs, never even thought about making a playoff. No, he's a Hall of Famer, this guy. For one team, he said every year they went into the season thinking they were going to win a Super Bowl. He said there was never a moment where he was like, you know what? This team is going to end up being completely defeated. Now as the season's going on, I'm sure those moments cracked in. But in training camp, in the offseason, at some point you have to believe that what you're doing is right. So in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room, I assume there's a lot of belief like, hey, look what we were able to do without Aaron Rodgers. We get Aaron Rodgers in here another year with Arthur Smith's offense, our defense is always going to be Good special team is going to be good. The AFC north is obviously going to be difficult, but why not us? If we get in, we can go on a run. But I don't think there's many even Steelers fans like saying going definitely going with the super bowl this year. I think they're going to be better. I think Steelers fans think they're going to be better. I think they're going to win more games. I think they're going to have a chance to do a playoff run. But I don't think anybody's like guaranteeing a Super Bowl. Like what was kind of happening with the Jets. Oh yeah, that was kind of happening with the jets because of how desperate the jets fans have been to feel that feeling. That was like the first time, long time they've even been able to be like, yeah, we, we can win a Super Bowl. That was the jets world, Steelers world, vastly different. It's just like think we can be better, think we can win some playoff games. But it's not like a guarantee that a Super bowl is coming. Like what it felt in the Jets.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I haven't seen any Steelers fan saying like, oh, we're definitely going the super bowl because we got Aaron Rodgers. The majority of them are pretty level headed and thinking that Aaron definitely gives them them a better possibility to win football games, maybe get a playoff win. But no, I haven't heard anyone say that they're going to the Super Bowl. But it's awesome to see Aaron assimilate himself so quickly with the boys. What was there like 25 guys at the golf outing in that photo shots?

[Pat McAfee]

Cam Hayward, by the way, continuing to be a pillar in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Legend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and also legend in football guys future hall of Famer. Good on him. Getting all the boys there, but getting.

[Ty Schmidt]

All the boy like it. It shows you just how great of a leader he is. He's also former Walter Payton man of the year. So he does. He's always doing stuff for the community. Hell yeah. But to see Aaron there, to see Aaron, that Aaron's comfortable enough to stand up in front of the team today, say that he's all in. He's locker mates with Fire Muth and I saw a report that he's going to go with Muse to the US Open as well this week.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittsburgh's alive.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's already part of the team.

[Pat McAfee]

I think Aaron said he, he wants to go plum High school too.

[Ty Schmidt]

He does, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You want to go see the Mustangs a little bit? There's somebody in Plum that heard that, that thinks that's real. I'm not making that up. Okay? He is not.

[Mike Florio]

They should do a training camp practice from Plum. I know the Bengals used to come to Centerville High School and have a whole day of. Of camping full pads at our high school. It was a gigantic event.

[Darius Butler]

Don't do anything the Bengals do.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm sorry.

[Mike Florio]

The players, actually. I'm sorry to the players, actually. I don't want Pittsburgh to have to get in buses and travel and dress in high school locker rooms.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're on that. And then, you know. Yeah, But. But if they were to do it, Plum would be a great home. Hey, Plum, would love to have you. Joining us now is a man who probably knows more about what's going on in Cincinnati than we do. I would hope he does. I don't know if you read the same report that we did about Florio and what Florio is reporting about the number 17 overall pick not agreeing to a deal yet with the Cincinnati Bengals the way Florio is reporting it. As previously explained, I've reported this before for. Okay. As previously explained, this ain't the first time. I'm.

[Mike Florio]

Nobody listening to me, obviously.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. He's like. Everybody keeps saying the wrong shit, which we were one of them. So we appreciate him saying that. He has reported this before and we missed it. We apologize for missing it. Yeah. The Bengals are exercising a new clause. We dug through the cba, figured out that we could actually void all the years remaining instead of just the year that the. Whatever takes place happens. So we're gonna try this out with the number 17 overall pick. And his agent said, I'm young, but I'm not that dumb. Can't be doing that to me. So now there's no end in sight because I assume the Cincinnati Bengals would like to set precedent with this deal. This is what we would like the future deals to look like. And Shemar Stewart and his agent are like, no. How is that. Why is that our life? And then I assume his agent is saying, why don't you guys figure out Trey Hendrickson, too, if you're gonna be trying to sneak new clauses into our world. Joining us now now, insider, analyst, Emmy award winner, friend of the program, New York Knicks superfan, ladies and gentlemen, Peter Schrager. Shreks. Okay, so we saw Florio say, as previously explained, which was him saying, you should have seen this or known this a long time ago, the Bengals are trying to put in a new clause into Shemar Stewart's contract. This has not happened with previous Bengals draft contracts is how Florio's reporting it. Do you, have you heard anything out of this and what are your thoughts on this? I thought the CBA regulated exactly how much everybody's getting when I guess that's not the case.

[Mark Messier]

Shreks well, it used to be the assumption the last several years that where you're drafted is kind of what you're paid. So the idea of a rookie holdout would be completely illogical. You're going to get paid what you're owed just based on the structure of it now, I think. I think she More Stewart's agent's an interesting guy. Zach Hiller's his name. He's also joined James Cook's agent and he was Dalvin Cook's agent. And he's a young cat. He's about 30 years old and he kind of beats to his own drum and he's saying what he's saying and the Bengals are saying what they're saying. And if you're going to take it for its word, you would look at the Bengals handling of the Trey Henderson situation, saying, well, that seems pretty unorthodox as well and a little unkosher with how that's being done. But they weren't just going to take the deal that was given to Shemar Story. He hasn't stepped foot on a practice practice field. And that was including rookie minicamp and that's including this minicamp. And guess what? Training camp's right around the corner. And you almost think you draft the 17th overall pick as a defensive end and a physical freak to be the guy who could ultimately replace Trey Hendrickson. And there seems to be contract issues with both of them. Not the case in 31 other training camps, but it seems to be the case in Cincinnati.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so we see where Shrag sits in this entire thing. For that last thing statement. A lot of Bengals fans are saying, why you guys got to bury us? It's like, because this shit does happen with you guys and it seemingly doesn't happen anywhere else. Now, would Duke be able to take care of it? I assume. I assume when push comes to shove, this wall gets sorted. This wall get figured out. Like, I think the Trey Hendrickson deal will get figured out. Like, I think that will happen. I think there will be some sort of agreement or maybe it gets traded. I think there will be a decision that gets figured out. Shemar Stewart has to be on the field for training camp. I mean, this isn't even like number 17 overall. I feel like they get it figured out. Why do these teams continue to push things down the road, though now? I guess we could say Shemar Stewart could have taken a deal earlier, too, so we could put blame on him. But let's look at the Pittsburgh Steelers. We always talk about Aaron Rodgers being there. Cam Heyward putting things together. T.J. watt missing minicamp. Terry McLaurin missing minicamp. There's a lot of guys that are missing minicamp for one reason or another. Most of them just business reasons. What are your thoughts on how some of these teams handle things? And when you look at these guys, what do you think is probable outcomes for any of them?

[Mark Messier]

Well, I really appreciated Mike McDaniel's candid honesty today, saying, john New and Jalen aren't there and I don't have updates on the trades. And it's unfortunate they're not there because of business. And for John who Smith's case, it sounds like he was sick and tired of hearing his name mentioned in trade talks. I'm not going to come to this. McLaren, obviously, contract situation. Stewart rare rookie deal. Hendrickson contracts. Interesting. Then we got TJ White. You had JJ in there a week ago, and JJ was like, I'm not talking on this. Obviously something's brewing. TJ Watt probably saw the off season in which Miles Garrett got paid what he got paid, saw some of these other top pass Richards being paid and says, well, what about me? Fortunately, he's got years left on his contract. Fascinating when you get these that go and bleed into this, because the last thing you want is for it to dominate your training camp. And that is what the 49ers have had the last several years. So this year they decided to nip it in the bud and pay their guys. Purdy, Warner, Kittle. Before we even get to this point, two different strategies. Do you play hardball? Do you play chicken? Do you let this thing drag on as a team? Or do you say, well, we want you. You want to be the. Let's get it done now so we can avoid any drama heading into the season. I believe a lot of 49ers people thought what was going on with Brandon Ayuk last year that bled all the way into late August had a direct response to how the season went because everyone was dealing with that all summer. So to me, it's fascinating how these front offices work. Omar Khan obviously pulled a rabbit out of his hat, and I think the Rodgers situation might not have been as seamless as everyone wants, but right now it's kumbaya and you'll see him speak today and all is good. This one though, if you're a Steelers fan, is almost more important because it's T.J. watt. It's one of ours. It's our guy is our defensive player of the year and that's the heart and soul of our team. Can we take care of that as well?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Aaron getting $10 million guaranteed I think is great news for Pittsburgh Steelers fans and how they view it. T.J. watt, the last person introduced whenever the defense is introduced onto the field for at home games. So obviously he's a pillar piece. But him potentially getting 35, 40 million a year versus Aaron getting 10 million a year is certainly the, the, the piece of the conversation in the entirety. I'll be excited to see how Omar Khan gets TJ to sign it. Cuz everybody assumes TJ remains with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But what if he isn't? What if TJ Watt isn't a Pittsburgh Steelers? What if TJ Watt is playing somewhere else? What's Joan got?

[Mark Messier]

What's he got?

[AJ Hawk]

J.J. love Houston.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's not possible. He's a one helmet guy. Omar is going to get it done. Like you said you talked about, we haven't paid the quarterbacks in what, three years? We haven't had to pay a quarterback since Ben retired. Really top of the, top of the market money. So like the money's out there. TJ's gonna get paid. He's gonna get what he deserves, which is a dollar more than Miles Garrett and then we're just gonna play football.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe it will be an actual dollar more. Now another guy you mentioned there, AJ has a question about.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, Shrigs with Trey Henderson. Personally, I don't, I don't think they come to, to terms and find a way to get him a new contract. I just feel like with what's been going on, he, him showing up in the golf clothes and speaking to the media to let him know everyone knows like his side of the story. I don't see a deal happening. What do you think personally happens with Trey in Cincinnati and can they trade him? Where could he possibly go? Like what, what do you think happens here before the season?

[Mark Messier]

This one's sticky because he's beloved and he's beloved in the locker room and the team really likes him. He mentioned on your show he met his wife in Cincinnati, he had his kid in Cincinnati, he wants to be a Bengal. And simply saying, look at the market. It doesn't make sense for what I'm being paid. I can tell you the Bengals approached this Offseason with two priorities. Somehow, some way, getting T. Higgins and Jamar Chase to remain at Cincinnati Bengals in their free agent contract years. And guess what? They did it. Then they get this bomb dropped on them around the combine that Trey Hendrickson wants to be paid 30, 40 million, and they didn't budget for that. They didn't prepare for that. Now they've had some time with him not only speaking on your show, but also speaking to the local media, showing up in what appeared to be a golf attire, that here I am, I'm going to talk to you guys openly. There has been enough time. If they wanted to get this done, they could have figured this out and found a way to find the budget and the numbers before training camp. They haven't moved heaven and earth to do that. So they're at a standstill right now. And he's gone about it in such an unorthodox way. He's not going through an agent. He's not going on some podcast.

[Pat McAfee]

He's not.

[Mark Messier]

He's like, I'm going to show up in my golf attire, be on the sidelines, and I am also going to go on McAfee and going to speak with Pat directly about how I feel. Everyone feels. He's. He's a good guy, and he's done this right. He's turning 31. They look at dollars and cents, and they look at a pie as a budget. And does this pie make sense to have that much of our salary cap devoted to a guy who led the league in sacks last year, but we don't know if he's the future of this franchise?

[Pat McAfee]

So Trey Hendrickson saying, with that being said, let me go somewhere else. Else. Yeah, let me go somewhere else. Let me figure that out. And the Bengals are like, nah, you still under contract with us, I think. Isn't that kind of. You want me to trade away the sack king? Yeah, Right. Yeah, Right. And Trey Hendrickson's trying to do it the right way, like, but it's the wrong one. Trying hard.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

It's so against the thing.

[Mark Messier]

I think that's interesting. So the right way might mean not necessarily still. But, yes, he's talking openly and being transparent and putting his heart on his sleeve. He's also not living up to his contract.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, he would say, I lived up way past my contract because I'm the sack king with how much I got paid in the entirety of it all. But then with you saying he's missing mandatory minicamp, like, that's also part of the contract. And then Trey Henderson would say, well, I was here for a voluntary day. He saw me. I was in golf club. So we can make one of those days go back to the other side. His mindset, like, every time he comes home with us, he's very obvious that he does not want to. Like, I do not want to have to do this, but I have to do this. Like, I have. This is the way the world works now. Him following up and talking to local media, I like, I think that was kind of unexpected on our end. But it's like Trey is. I think Duke knows. I think the. The Brown family knows. Katie, I think that, like, is Trey gonna. Will Trey hold out? Trey will skip games. We'll see.

[Mark Messier]

I hate testing a guy's loyalty like that. And you know, very quietly this offseason, like Sam Hubbard's, like the heart and soul of that building. And then you had Pratt yesterday. Like, these are. These are guys that, that were instrumental in beating the Kansas City Chiefs that year in the AFC Championship game, instrumental in getting them back to the AFC Championship game the next year. You don't just snap your fingers and say, okay, we found those guys. At the very least, the thread to those defenses that coach Lou and Arumo had to this Al golden defense could be the sack champion in Trey Henderson. You'd like to see them him figure out a way. And the fact he wears his heart on his sleeve endears the fans. But it might not to the Blackburn ladies and it might not to Duke Tobin.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we shall see. Trey Henderson is a hell of a player. Going to have a lot of teams interested, including Luann Ruma's new team. There'd be some interest in that. Now, let's talk about the Indianapolis Colts because there is a situation brewing with the number four overall pick in a quarterback that is in an open competition with Daniel Jones. Go ahead.

[Darius Butler]

Debug quarterback competition here with Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. Some unexpected news, at least from my. For me, Anthony Richardson. Richardson still dealing with this shoulder injury and then Kirk Cousins showing up in Atlanta to the mandatory stuff. Any chance if Anthony Richardson can't go this year, that Kirk Cousins makes his way to Indianapolis?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, that's a.

[Mark Messier]

You know, I like that you would even suggest that. I respect it. I don't have any word of that from right now. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Cousins, with his no trade clause after Rogers the seat is fulfilled, is going to be an Atlanta Falcon and he's going to be the backup to Michael Penix and he's going to collect every last cent of that contract.

[Pat McAfee]

That's such a Kirk Cousins move. What do you know about Anthony Richardson situation? Because Albert Breer was on the Rich Eisen show yesterday and he basically said that Anthony is going burning sage getting bad vibes especially because we're talking about this.

[Mike Florio]

Get him out of here.

[Pat McAfee]

Need good vibes for this particular storyline because this is seemingly becoming a repeat episode here. He's going to see Dr. Neil Ellatroche is what Albert Breer reported on Rich Eisen's show to get a second opinion. Now Obviously we know Dr. Neil Ellotroche for creating the Achilles factory where Aaron Rodgers was. He's also Shore dude Neil Altrosh, Neil Altroz, great hair, great suits, really good vibe, big brain, a lot of success rate. He did the surgery on Anthony Richardson's shoulder that has been re aggravated. Do you know anything about this and what do you think expectation levels are heading into training camp for ar?

[Mark Messier]

It's a setback and look Ellatrosh is the top of the game. I don't need to do a commercial for Neil Alatroch but we're talking about Matthew Stafford swears by him. You're telling Andrew Whitworth swears by him and of course Tom Brady also swears by him. So you're talking about this, this particular. It's not just an Achilles guy. He's created the factory for Rogers and Dobbs and that's fine. But he's also the shoulder guy and the throwing guy so he's going to the right person. He's doing it. But I'm telling you there's something about bringing in a Daniel Jones who was a former sixth overall pick and has now got a giant chip on his shoulder and there's something about vibes and gear three of Shane Steichen and what do we do? And Chris Ballard is now on to another quarterback where sometimes the momentum in the locker room can shift. Even if you didn't do anything wrong, you're just not there. This could be Daniel Jones grabbing this team by the collar and saying hey look, I'm going to be the one that leads us. And if he's not here and he's not on the field, give me that opportunity in July and give me that opportunity in August. Anthony Richardson. Look, Ballard and Steichen their names on this fourth overall pick, their name is on that. That is no doubt. But Daniel Jones could also be the hot guy and also the guy that has something to prove and just takes this team by storm in July It's a true quarterback competition. And this is not good news for Anthony Richardson, no matter how you look at it.

[Pat McAfee]

Anthony Richardson missing reps, obviously not great. He needs reps. That's what he's needed his entire career because he didn't play that much in high school and college. His upside, obviously, immense injuries have kept him off the field. Other things have taken him off the field as well, including being tired. I mean, there is a lot to learn for Anthony Richardson at the quarterback position, legitimately on the field and off the field. We knew that, though, whenever he got dressed, drafted. I have been frustrated in the past by the way some things have gone because I'm at every single game. So I watch, I see what the sideline is. I see what's happening in between the huddles. I see what's happening in between the plays. I know who's talking to who. I know how things go because we're literally on the field. So I have a little bit of a different perspective. I also care deeply about the Indianapolis Colts. I think that was pretty evident over the last few weeks how much a lot of people care about the Indianapolis Colts and that Ursay family as a whole. Whole. So whenever we're seeing it kind of get mismanaged or mistreated or seemingly getting taken from or being let down, it's like there's a lot of people that are bummed out about the way some of the operations had gone from the quarterback position with Anthony Richardson, but then you automatically get reset and saying, like, he was so young. He was. So this was a part of the process. This was a part of the process. And I had changed my mind that I was going to be openly supportive of Anthony Richardson because that would be the best thing for Anthony Richardson, and the best thing for Anthony Richardson would be the best thing for the Indianapolis Colts because of his upside. But if he re injured the same shoulder that he got surgery on, you have to wonder then, did the surgery not take? Is there some setback in rehab? Is there a reason it didn't work? Like, there's so many questions now because all these reps matter to the development of Anthony Richardson, which is the only thing that we can kind of hang our hat on is that Anthony Richardson is going to develop. So then he immediately turned like, well, is Daniel Jones going to be the guy I got a chance to see him. He's huge.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he might be.

[Pat McAfee]

He is gigantic. He's also young. You know, I think you're only paying him 10 million bucks this year or Whatever the case is, he still is like 28, I think, or something like that. You can play younger, he can play another 10 years if he.

[Mark Messier]

Yeah, and, and I'll say something about this. You look at what Kevin o' Connell and those guys did last year with Sam Darnold, you know, who joined that team mid season and put a really good bunch of practices on paper. So good that the Vikings were pursuing Daniel Jones to resign as a backup quarterback, knowing that there was a chance they would not be able to resign him because there would be a demand, there was a market for Daniel Jones. The Vikings, the Colts and I know a couple other teams were all very interested in Daniel Jones. So this isn't some guy on his last stop. I think the Giant situation went as it went, got paid, didn't live up to the contract, got hurt. And then I think last year, taking that year, that half year of the humble pie of what happened in New York and then signing in Minnesota and being in that room for a little bit, learning from o' Connell and then being courted as a free agent like this is a new lease on life for Daniel Jones. And I think there's a lot of maturity that goes into that. I'm not sure if Anthony Richardson has been through all of that yet as an NFL player.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, and there's a chance Anthony Richardson and once again I'm hoping it is just soreness that they're over, over cautious about. And he's back by training camp and we can have an actual quarterback competition because once again Anthony Richardson's upside is. I mean you're talking fade away 72 yard.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Texans throw.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean that's first game of the season. I mean and him running his speed, everything that he has now Daniel Jones too. Yeah.

[Connor]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Daniel Jones runs hard. Daniel Jones is fast. Daniel Jones over on rush yards. Every single game is basically a lock because even the odds makers look at Daniel Jones and again know 2% ain't going to be able to run over 17 yards. And then he gets into open field and if a line doesn't trip him, which sometimes yard line have got him before happened, he's wide ass. I mean he is a threat on the ground and let alone he is big, boom boom boom. And Shane, that's a tough run. Yes, that's a tough one. He's huge. And in Shane Steichen's offense, like your quarterback being able to run is a massive, that's almost a bigger deal than the throws. And if Daniel Jones obviously gotten better, maybe our offense will be able to go. And if Anthony Richardson is out, I will be eager to see what they do at quarterback position and if they bring or try to bring anybody in. Okay, let's talk about some moves that were made over the last 24 hours or so. The Green Bay packers now all of a sudden thin, very thin at a position. Go ahead, Ty.

[Connor]

Yeah, Shriggs. What ultimately happened with the Junior Alexander situation? Obviously, we've talked to you a little bit, and you had dinner with Matt La LaFleur the night before we saw you in Green Bay. And it sounded like after this whole thing started and he was going to be gone, then it. It was like, no, he's coming back. He's going to be a packer. Obviously, he got released yesterday. They cleared up quite a bit of cap space. But what are you hearing about this situation and where are some potential landing spots for Jair Alexander? Because I've already heard Minnesota and boy, would that fucking suck.

[Mark Messier]

First, let me raise my hand there. It wasn't erroneous reporting. However, I was wrong. I thought they would figure it out based on my conversations not only with lafleur, with people on both sides and knowing that it was just a money issue. Let's figure out the money issue. At the end of the day, Jair Alexander didn't want to take a pay cut, and the packers thought it was fair after two years of him only playing so many games that we talk about a contract restructure. And to his credit, Jair Alexander said $17 million is not top of the market. When I'm on the field, I am worth that. And I am not taking a pay cut based on injury that I have unfortunately been able to deal with the last couple of years and play through in a lot of ways. So he's going to bet on himself and the Packers. They said, well, we're not betting on that. We don't think you are available for us. And they have three young corners who they really like. That said, they're in minicamp right now, and I'm seeing Bo Melton, receiver out of, you know, Rutgers, being played at cornerback because they're so thin right now. There you go. You have it kicking her up.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't want to do that. He either.

[Mark Messier]

That said, I wasn't wrong when I said things were trending the right way. What I was wrong was that I was assuming that they would figure things out to Jair Alexander's credit. You don't want to take a pay cut. I think I'm worth that. And let's see if he can make more elsewhere because the packers are going to eat a huge amount of his salary cap regardless with dead space I.

[Pat McAfee]

Do wonder if it was the hold up on the sea could have been.

[AJ Hawk]

Makes sense.

[Mark Messier]

Want to be captain? The game was in Charlotte. Shouldn't you know better lafleur.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's his home. I just don't think before new is my home.

[Darius Butler]

I mean you. You can't be happy. Yeah Boat Milton.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about?

[Darius Butler]

It's the Green Bay Packers.

[Connor]

Get the guy we drafted in the sixth round to players and just toss him out there and hey maybe he'll be our. Our starting cornerback next year. What are we doing?

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about? Travis Hunters. That's all the rage right now.

[Connor]

Yeah, he's a generational talent.

[Peter Schrager]

He's not a mountain.

[Connor]

He's not a six round receiver out of Rutgers for Christ's sake. You kidding me? Go get Jaylen Ramsey. Stop around with this. Bo Melton is going to play cornerback for the Green Bay packers next year.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think so. I thought this is one rep.

[Connor]

He's had a couple. I mean look at the way. Well, never mind.

[Mark Messier]

I thought Ty was all good after the Matthew golden draft. I thought we put this to bed. Mad Mel was. Mad Mel was gone. We found happy Mel, we found happy time. But here we're. We're. We're reverting back to our old selves here. It's June, dude.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it is. We got a lot of time to find corners.

[Connor]

Yeah, you're right because there's a bunch of good ones.

[Pat McAfee]

Stefan's out there. Gilmore's out there.

[AJ Hawk]

Gilmore.

[Mike Florio]

Xavier Ramsey makes sense.

[Pat McAfee]

J. Alexander's out there.

[Mark Messier]

He is out there.

[Connor]

We already got Bo Melton.

[Pat McAfee]

No, he might be available though. He's six round pick. There's no promise. There's no promise. He might be out there. You know the Colts, Lou Anaruma might need to look at some Bo Melton tape and also other teams might need to start looking at the fifth sixth wide receiver and be like how's your drop?

[Ty Schmidt]

It works out.

[Pat McAfee]

How's your drop? Hey, let's get you a. Rob Domovsky has posted a great rep of Bo Melton.

[Darius Butler]

That is a good break.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, that's six. Yes. He just cut off.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I mean Richard Sherman started is.

[Pat McAfee]

A wide, tall, lanky boat. Put those paws on. He's from Ruckers too. You know Rucker.

[Connor]

Tough, physical, hard nose.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's talk about some players that are at camp that I think are a little bit of a surprise. Go ahead, Tone.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, my ears perked up when you mentioned James Cook earlier and you talked about his agent being in the Shamar Stewart conversation. It was a little surprising that he was reporting today. Maybe it's because he has not made as much money yet as all the other players who are not reporting. Was this surprising to you and is this, do you think this will be like a potential hold in situation or do you think, do you think something eventually gets done with James Cook before the final year of his contract?

[Mark Messier]

I'll tell you, I'm pleasantly surprised. I feel like James Cook and his representatives have been quite vocal about their desire for a new deal. And judging by the way things were going, I didn't expect him to show his face. But he's there and I respect him. It, I respect it. Whether he's doing, you know, 20 drills or not. The fact that he's there I think has a lot to do with that. He wants to be a Buffalo Bill. But we've talked about this. The numbers, they did not make sense to Brandon Beane when we were talking about it at the combine. They did not make sense to Brandon Bean. We're talking about after they re upped all those other guys to new extensions. They're not going to give him Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley money. They're just not. I don't see that happening. It's just not what they're budgeting for. That said, I think they would love to have James Cook, who is maybe their best offensive player outside of Josh Allen on the field.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Mark Messier]

So let's see if they can figure it out. But a good sign, even if it's just an olive branch, you know that, hey, I'm going to be there and present as now one of the veteran leaders of this offense, but he is grossly underpaid now. But for what numbers that we were hearing tossed around, those didn't really add up with reality for what they were looking to spend on running back.

[Pat McAfee]

New OC up there. Mr. Brady loves James Cook. Yes. Absolutely loves James Cook. I think James Cook Cook loves where NFL football is headed as well. Obviously he saw the Saquon Barkley led Philadelphia Eagles go win the super bowl, then Saquon get broken off. I think James Cook loves everything about that. If James puts up another great year and I know this sucks, especially at the running back position with how many hits you have to take and how dangerous it is, you know, if he doesn't get a deal done now he puts up another massive year. There's going to be big market for James Cook. I mean, obviously I'm speaking something that is very obvious, but that is probably what I assume Bean is saying to James Cook. I assume James Cook's agent has also said, like, hey, if unless we really hold out, which we don't want to do, there is big money around the corner for a James Cook in this current NFL. It's just like, hopefully he gets that money sooner than later because I love watching him play for you.

[Mark Messier]

Well, I love him on that team, too. I think he fits that team. And he was so good in that AFC Champion or the AFC Championship game. He had that run fourth day. It's one of the best runs you'll ever see where he extends over the goal line. And it's like he belongs about. This is the one. I think it's the most under. Maybe this and Julio's catch in the super bowl are like the most underrated plays in NFL history of just athleticism, just sheer amazing balance from him. And no, no other player can do that right now. That is James Cook. He's that good. So let's get this done. Let's keep him in the Bill's uniform. But at the number that they were asking for, I don't think it was even close.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, what was the number they were asking for? I don't know.

[Mark Messier]

But from what I remember hearing from people in Buffalo at the combine there, it was like out of hand how they were even talking about it. So hopefully we can figure it out and make a number that's more reasonable and in line with what the running back position makes. That said, if the Eagles are paying Saquon and the Ravens are paying Henry and they're that age, why not pay James?

[Pat McAfee]

And if that's how you're winning games, I mean, that's a whole another conversation. Yeah, another conversation about paying people. And I don't want to go back to it. Sheriff Seeley's got no shot with that College Sports Commission.

[Darius Butler]

No chance.

[Pat McAfee]

We thought about. Have you thought about that anymore, A.J.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, no chance. I mean, yeah, he's going to get sued from 5,000 different players.

[Pat McAfee]

How does he. How do you say no to a deal? Like, how do you say that isn't in a proper market?

[Mike Florio]

Someone offers it. If someone offers you this amount of money for this, for this, these terms, like, then how can you say, hey, no, that's not in line with what he is worth.

[Pat McAfee]

Believe me, our deals that have not been properly represented publicly have Been said to be way overpriced. Little do people know. The number is, you would think even more so, I think for some of the deals that I've negotiated. But who says that that's not the proper number? Especially because we've already earned that money back for said companies that we already know about. But if the deals that I was negotiating with companies had to be present, presented to some other dipshit who's never done a deal or that's the only amount of money that they were able to negotiate or they weren't able to think of ideas to regain that amount of money for the company that you're negotiating with, how is that even anywhere near an acceptable process? I don't know.

[Darius Butler]

Anti American it is.

[AJ Hawk]

Do schools control it? Could they do it that way?

[Pat McAfee]

The schools control the salary cap, which is going to be like 14 and a half million. These are all the nil deals that have to get approved. Approved by a committee that makes it in the fair market range. It's like who says what the range is. Myles Garrett got $40 million. Softball girl.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Nigel Kennedy.

[Pat McAfee]

Nigel Kennedy guy, she got a million bucks. So what's the going rate? 50,000, 100,000. I don't know what it is. Maybe 25,000. Even less than that.

[Mark Messier]

Then that Cooper flag number real. I thought that was a little bit inflated. Would they say. I don't even know who reported it.

[Pat McAfee]

He said 28. I think there was shoes. I think there was a lot of maybe like five year deals that were.

[Ty Schmidt]

Potentially his Converse dealer. Whatever his shoe deal was, I think in that number.

[Pat McAfee]

But that might have been a three year deal too. That might have been just company. But whatever the case, still a lot of money. But the softball girl, Nyjer, and she delivered.

[Mark Messier]

She was awesome for them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but what when they present that to a committee and they say, hey, they want to pay him a million or pay her a million bucks. Everybody else is making 150,000, 200,000 a tie in. It's like, like who says that a million isn't enough? But we all just agreed she was definitely worth it.

[Mark Messier]

I never heard of Texas Tech softball until this weekend. And I'm watching because of her. And you got my homes in the stands like cheering like she was that dominant. It was worth every penny.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. But whenever they would have pitched that number, which I think they were, other schools were saying, we're not paying that. No way that rain. That committee would have said, no way will we do that. It's like, I don't know How. And I genuinely don't know what the answer is. I don't want to be just the person saying, like, hey, this ain't going to be good, but because I don't have any answers. So I'm part of the problem, not a part of the solution. So I apologize for that. But it's like they're going to have to figure out how that works because I don't know how you say no to a company wanting to pay a human. Yeah. Amount of money.

[Darius Butler]

Sheriff Sealey figure it out.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. He'll crack down.

[Pat McAfee]

He's going to have to.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sheriff will get it done.

[Pat McAfee]

I, I, I appreciate this man saying, I'll take him on the task.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But this better him than me. I mean, hey, man, Trent. And that was happening with Saban. Remember, people were pushing Saban's name out there. Saban's about to do it. And I was talking to people, not Coach Saban himself because I didn't want to put him in a spot to give me an answer. Then I would have to say, you know, I talked to him, but people directly around him were like, we're signing Coach Saban up for that at 70. We're signing him up to fix all the college. That's a, that's a deep job. Good luck. CEO. I still don't know how you turn down a any offer. I don't know how that's going to happen. Legally, that seems impossible. But if we were to make a bet, it would be on what Schrager's brain says. Wouldn't that be the case? Without a doubt, with the draft. And also, I think he picked the Super Bowls for a while. And then also he seemingly understands the cultures in different buildings and where they're at. Go ahead, con man.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Shrigs. Last year in the preseason you said, hey, don't be be surprised if the Washington Commanders go on a hell of a run and turns out they end up going to the NFC Championship. Do you have a read on your favorite kind of dark horse team out of nowhere this year? Loved what you said on get up this morning about the Chargers. They're still in the Chiefs division, so who cares? But who do you think is one of those teams that kind of rises from the ashes this year and revitalizes their entire team?

[Mark Messier]

Yeah, look, I said last year everywhere before the season that they would have a Houston Texans like turnaround. I didn't think they would go to the NFC Championship game. And the commanders, what they did was they just said, let's rip it all down and build it all up. Now that started with a head coach, an offensive coordinator, a new gm and then they got a new quarterback. The closest thing that you're going to find to that right now is the Chicago Bears in that they have all new coaching staff, all these new players, a new offensive line, and they have a quarterback in Caleb Williams who it seems is all there. But I have to see and learn a little bit more and see how this Ben Johnson, Caleb thing goes before I jump in. On paper, they're the team that did it. On paper, they're the team that gave their quarterback everything. On paper, they're the team that rebuilt the whole franchise in a matter of an off season. And that's what I always look for. That's what d' Amico did with CJ Stroud and they got Will Anderson, right? So it's all there. But like, I'm not sold on Caleb yet. I got to see training camp because Ben Johnson's offense and I've known Ben for a long time, he's a cerebral guy in that, you know, he and Goff had to put a lot of time into that where everything was timing based. Everything is like you count to three here, you look there and everything that Caleb Williams has been up to this point has been freestyle, off schedule, willy nilly, freelance. Let me use my athleticism. Can you combine the two and get that Mahomes Andy Reid marriage where it's like here's the play and I know you've got all the athleticism, but if we could put this together and you could just trust me on timing, we can make this work well then yeah, the Bears will be that team. I have to see it first before I make that prediction. But on paper, the Bears are your Texans from two years ago and your commanders from a year ago.

[Pat McAfee]

Celebrating back there the big fist bumps from Zito. Raising the roof. Roof, roof, roof, roof. Raising the roof. Where are you guys going to play football? Football at? We shall see. We don't know. We don't know. Jared Goff. Jared Goff like the epitome of a robot quarterback, you know, but he did it perfectly. Hell yeah. Everything that he is great at, Ben Johnson used and made perfect. And Ben said, I think I've never had a quarterback with the ability that Caleb has as well to kind of add in the off script stuff. I can't wait to watch him too. And they invested in the offensive line. They seemingly invested in everything. That's good too. Shrek. I'm sorry. Sorry.

[Mark Messier]

I'm Sorry to jump in. It's like some of the stuff that used to drive Kyle Shanahan nuts with Garoppolo is that it's like, hey, just throw to point A, point B. And Jimmy would have to, like, do something crafty in the pocket and try to make something more of it. And that would enrage Kyle Shanahan. Then he gets Brock Purdy, and it's like Brock Purdy throw here and Brock Purdy throws there. He's like a robot sometimes, is what Kyle wanted. That's going to be Ben Johnson with Caleb. Does Caleb. Can Caleb play within that framework of.

[Pat McAfee]

Of.

[Mark Messier]

Don't go off script. Don't do what you think is necessary for the extra bigger play. Just trust me and we'll get there. I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

But extend the play when it is available.

[Darius Butler]

That's also why he was hands down the number one pick, because of that ability. And even Brock Purdy, like, he's a guy that can play within the system, but he's also a guy when it breaks down, can scramble for 16 and break it back. So all the things they did in the off season right there were straight, especially Loveland, too. Going up and getting Loveland, pairing him up with Kemet. Rome's going into a big second year. DJ Moore coming off a career year. So, yeah, all the pieces are there for Chicago.

[Pat McAfee]

Quarterback's got to be the hardest. I mean, it's so impulsive. Yeah. Just the amount.

[Mark Messier]

And look at who they drafted second and third overall. You got Jaden and Drake Matus, like, breathing on them. And that's the same city that, that, that Trubisky was taken before Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. So, like, they've been down this road. I think there's a lot of believers in Caleb. Ben Johnson would not have taken that job. He could have gone to any of these jobs. He would not have taken that job if he didn't want to be with Caleb Williams. I just personally and I. I'm not hating. I just need to see it first. I haven't seen it yet.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it sounds like anytime you say I'm not hating on him, you're hating on him. Sounds like there's a little bit of that. And with Caleb, I think he. He understands that the NFL world, you know, because in college, he's obviously spectacular. Comes in at Oklahoma. I think he came in the Red river rivalry game and took that thing over there chanting his name. I remember, remember that was a moment in college football that year. Then obviously he goes out to USC with Lincoln Riley becomes a spectacle, showcase that he is, comes undoubtedly the number one overall pick. He even had people saying, like, are you going to be the team that passes on Caleb Williams? Like, that's how Caleb Williams was being talked about coming out of college in the NFL. Goes to Chicago. It goes how it goes. He's already on his third offensive coordinator, I think. Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Third offensive coordinator in this story.

[Mark Messier]

Baldron Thomas Brown. And now. Now we've got this. And.

[Pat McAfee]

And you got. Obviously, that's a lot of shit to go from like the God to like, okay, now you gotta, like, humble yourself in the middle of this entire thing.

[Mark Messier]

And Pat, they didn't. They didn't even meet with Jaden Daniels. They didn't even meet with Drake May. This was handed to him in a way that is very unorthodox in the draft where it's like, you're the guy. You don't need to take another pro day with anybody. You don't need to visit anybody. You're our guy. So there's a.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a lot.

[Mark Messier]

There's a lot. There's a lot that goes.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a lot going on with this guy. It's a big city. It's a big city. Big fan base.

[Darius Butler]

Big market.

[Pat McAfee]

Big market, Big franchise. Hasn't been great for a long time. They've invested a lot. Ben Johnson has been great. The expectation is Ben Johnson is going to be good. Will the quarterback be good?

[Mark Messier]

I like that. I like that version of him that fired up. I want to see that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Yeah. A little fire. He has a lot of pizzazz. Pizzazz with the fire. Fire position.

[AJ Hawk]

The cool bear claw.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Remember those days? Oh, yeah. Those are fun days.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. I haven't seen you in a while.

[Pat McAfee]

That was like the pre jets season started with Aaron Rodgers days.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you remember how much fun those days were? Oh, my God.

[Connor]

Knocks.

[Mark Messier]

Yeah, I jumped all in. I dove in, like, dove in. I was like, oh, my gosh. He took Solomon Thomas to a Broadway play.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm in that one drive he had against the Niners and we week one down the field.

[Mark Messier]

So good.

[Pat McAfee]

How. How are you as a swimmer? Shreg's pretty good swimmer or no. Pretty good.

[Mark Messier]

Pretty good, yeah. I could swim. I could do a little medley. Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, really? All four? You got them all?

[Mark Messier]

I could butterfly.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll butterfly that ass.

[Mark Messier]

Let me go.

[Pat McAfee]

We need you to get on some juice. Juice. We need to get you in these. We need you to butterfly that ass. In the enhanced game. Imagine Shregs on all the juice showing up to that thing. Oh, my God.

[Darius Butler]

Mountain.

[Pat McAfee]

Is this the butterfly?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Over the top.

[Mark Messier]

That's the butterfly?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. This is the breast? Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep. Back smoke and then freeze forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Just.

[Mark Messier]

Little elementary sidestroke too. If you want slow, you just gotta do this.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[Mike Florio]

Your Navy seal.

[Mark Messier]

Take me to Paris Island.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go straight Shregs. I'll tell you, I don't know if you want to go down Paris Island.

[AJ Hawk]

Just take your boy, man.

[Mark Messier]

I don't think I would last a second.

[Pat McAfee]

It was. It was. That was. That place was incredible. The place was absolutely incredible.

[Mark Messier]

Dude, I commend you. Hats off to you so much for even go. I mean, that had to be a life changing experience. I did for. I did Fort Bragg a couple years back with Fox and it was, it's still to this day, one of the coolest experiences of my life.

[Pat McAfee]

I went on a USO tour over to Japan. Went to a bunch of different bases over there. Obviously here in Indiana, there's a couple different bases. I've done a lot of stuff with the military. Very thankful to get to know a lot of people that have been in the military and all that. First time ever at a boot camp, you know, know. So that's my first time kind of witnessing it. Thank God they're still around.

[Mark Messier]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, thank. I thought. Yes, sir. That I said this yesterday and I don't want to reiterate it too much, but I thought. I thought that wasn't around anymore. I thought there wasn't any of that. We're going to be okay. We're going to be a. Okay.

[Darius Butler]

I think Shregs can make it. I mean, I would love to see Grock put Shregs in those yellow footprints right next to you.

[Mark Messier]

Come on, Grock.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you Grok. Make sure you understand what the. Make his footprints extra yellow. You know, make those things extra.

[Mike Florio]

Don't let him pee his pants. Do not have a pee stain on his pants.

[Pat McAfee]

Or poop. They thought about calling him Brown Prints, but yeah, obviously the pants. Can't kind of keep those in. AJ Has a question for you. Shregs.

[Mike Florio]

Shregs, with Aaron Rodgers signing in Pittsburgh, what are your expectations for this Steelers team this year? Obviously, it feels like it's a little, I guess Steelers fans might be, I don't know, like, not getting too far, not look, you know, putting the cart before the horse, whatever you want to call it, they seem to, you know, they kind of rein it in. But what do you expect out of this team?

[Mark Messier]

Yeah. I have two big thoughts on this that I, that I'd love to share with you guys. The first thing is this misnomer that, like, Rodgers wouldn't fit in in Pittsburgh because he's this like, crunchy, granola, Northern California guy. I've known Aaron a long time when it comes to football. And A.J. you know this. There is no one more dialed in. And furthermore, who are the, the, who are the coaches he's really connected the Most with? Mike McCarthy, Western Pennsylvania, Tom Clements, Western Pennsylvania, Alex Van Pelt, Western Pennsylvania, Frank Signetti, like, we can go down Ben McAdoo. All these guys are Western PA guys and they've hit it off with Rodgers in a real way. So I think he will fit that city and will fit that culture. I also like the fact they're not asking him to be the savior now, of course, you got to be the quarterback number one of the Pittsburgh Steelers. All eyes are on you. That's all going to come with it. But, like, it's not the Jet situation where it's like, it's all on his shoulders and he's going out to dinner at Carbone in New York City with Sauce Gardner, who's 21 years younger than him. Like, it's not. There's Cam Hayward, there's TJ Watt, hopefully there's DK Metcalf. There are guys there and there's Mike Tomlin. So I think for one year, $10 million with incentives. This is a no brainer. And all the stuff that we were moaning and groaning about in the media the past three months, trust me, Arthur Smith was building an offense for Aaron Rodgers, whether he knew he was coming or not. It's not like they got caught with their pants around their ankles saying, oh, wait a second, we got. Oh, he's signing. Let's go build an offense. Like they've had time to build this thing. It's just an install now. And hey, don't worry about all the other nonsense. We got football and you've got one year. Let's make the most of it. I like it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we like it as well. And I think most Pittsburgh Steelers fans have come around on the fact that this is a much better off option than anything else they had at this particular point. And there's also a chance at the end of the season last year, Aaron Rodgers, Achilles out of the Achilles factory, was just getting healthy for the first time and he was moving, throwing the jets offense looked like how everybody had fantasized that that jets offense would look two years prior to that for like four games. Way too little, way too late for that jets run run. But if you carry that into the Pittsburgh Steelers with some of the guys that are still available, you know, I.

[Ty Schmidt]

Mean they are loaded at every single spot on the defense so hopefully the defense carries them while the offense and Aaron you know kind of learn each other and they, they can run the football which we know already wants to do. They added some running backs this off season as well as DK Metcalf. So I, yeah I think things are high right now in Steelers town.

[Mark Messier]

Look at, look at those first four weeks though.

[Ty Schmidt]

By the way Craigs, the fact that you didn't tell Orlovsky to off the other day when he's when he said oh he said maybe, maybe the Browns in the first six weeks. No it's a. As far as the schedule goes it sets up really nicely early for them to get well.

[Mark Messier]

I love, I love Dan and Dan, Dan is the guy that I would like consider you want to talk about you know someone you love doing TV with. Dan's great on TV and he's fun to barter with Banner with. He was saying like there's no way in hell they could be. He wouldn't say hell. He's a religious man. There's no way in he double hockey sticks that you could see that the Steelers could beat the Ravens in the and I'm like I just watched the commanders playing an NFC championship game. Like I just saw it my own two eyes it could happen. Not crazy the NFL. I saw the Jaguars play in an AFC championship game in Foxborough and come one Stephon Gilmore play away from going to the Super Bowl. Like I've seen it. It's crazy. That's the NFL.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, agreed. And the Pittsburgh Steelers win games and the Pittsburgh Steelers know the Baltimore Ravens pretty good. Good. Those games are always going to be one score games. I mean there's a some stat about stats about some spreads over four and a half or five and a half in between the Steelers and a Ravens.

[Ty Schmidt]

Game like three I think it was.

[AJ Hawk]

Three and a half.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah three and a half I guess anything over three and a half you take the points in the Raven Steelers. That's how those games go. So yes playoffs I got the crap.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kicked out of them. They ran for 700 yards but we got that figured out. There's only been one losing losing quarterback under Mike Tomlin. Who is that? T.R.

[Pat McAfee]

Mitchell.

[Mark Messier]

Trubisky. What's up Mitch?

[Ty Schmidt]

Can't believe you couldn't Think of that today.

[Pat McAfee]

He.

[Ty Schmidt]

He said it was Duck.

[Pat McAfee]

It was Duck. I just took him to the playoffs. Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack. That's what they were saying. Go. When Doc Hodges was the quarterback. And now he's living his best life.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Mark Messier]

Wonderful life. I mean, his wife is a superstar in country music and Duck Hodges is doing his thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are they married? Is that not right?

[Ty Schmidt]

Or at least I thought.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Engaged. I didn't think they were married unless.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry.

[Mark Messier]

I like my serious. Highway 56. I like listening to that. But I don't know anything about the guy. Awesome. I got nothing else.

[Pat McAfee]

Duck's out there calling Duck. Still, I do know that every once in a while he'll remind everybody. You remember the name Duck is because I'm a world champion duck caller. Yeah. World champion. Best duck. World.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Mark Messier]

Amazing.

[Pat McAfee]

Like two times. Yeah. Dude, those ducks have no chance. They think he is an actual duck down there. They're flying around and he's down there just working these ducks up the. Like. Holy.

[Mark Messier]

So that's tight.

[Pat McAfee]

They go down there. They think it's not. It's Doc with a shotgun. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Falling.

[Darius Butler]

What's familiar.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's duck football.

[Pat McAfee]

Duck football. Then he put him in a football game for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he just finds a way to win.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Mark Messier]

Remember that Monday night against the Chargers? I remember it well. In la. In la or in San Diego. And duck Char. Duck Hodges lit him up.

[AJ Hawk]

Legend.

[Pat McAfee]

That's Duck Hodges football. Yeah. So I don't know if he's doing real estate or insurance, but whatever he's doing, if he's selling it, we're buying it. Hell yeah. Quack, quack. Buddy, you done good. As have you, Schrager, you Emmy award winning handsome lad who's a good swimmer. We'll swim our way into the digital only version of this particular program. We'll be back tomorrow. Be your friend. Tell the friend something nice. It might change their life. As Shrag's phone falls has that. What is that?

[Mark Messier]

That's that weird AI thing. I got like the update on it where like it follows you. There you go. It's doing it again.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[Mark Messier]

I gotta turn it off.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a ptz. That's foxy in the back on my side.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[Mark Messier]

All right.

[Pat McAfee]

Yours is like tracks you. Right. That's an iPad.

[Mark Messier]

I know. Yeah. It's something I Don't know. The government's following me. I have no idea what's going on.

[AJ Hawk]

You have no idea.

[Pat McAfee]

It's been there all day. Karen. Yeah, you.

[Mark Messier]

Oz the Mentalist got me today. And now my iPad is following me from all angles.

[Pat McAfee]

We have that. We have. We have that. Ready?

[Mark Messier]

Then I saw the beginning of your show.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[Mark Messier]

That's crazy. Crazy, man. I was with the people online, like, enough with the O's a little bit. And then I got it and it happened to me and I just. I'm. I'm dangerous forever.

[Pat McAfee]

It was incredible strikes. We were. We're the exact same way. We saw him on tv. He was getting a lot of hype. Schefter's like, hey, I'm kind of his manager or whatever. Like, oh, great, now this guy's getting force fed.

[Mark Messier]

I didn't know that.

[Pat McAfee]

And every single team, I think he's a friend slash manager or something along those lines. Okay. So then he's at every single team. He's putting out clips with everybody. We're like, like, we get it, dude. We get it. Then you experience it for the first time. Was that your first time live around him?

[Mark Messier]

Yes, first time ever meeting him. He's a. He was on Rogan this week. I happened to listen to him for three hours. I'm like, I've got my fill in my cup. And then he did this to me in person. And I'm like, I'm absolutely blown away. This man is very, very impressive.

[Pat McAfee]

Did he. Did he fuck with you a little bit off camera, too? Because that's when he really gets you to understand that this is the real deal. Like, we told this story earlier about what he did to Darius, what he did to me. I think there was some stuff off air with AJ that happened as well. Just kind of off the cuff. Hey, how you doing? Let me let you know that I fucking know everything you're thinking right now really quickly. And that was.

[Mark Messier]

That was the weird part. Like, I, like, I'm good. I don't need to do any, like, pre. Pre show stuff with O's. And then they're like, go, go, go chat with O's. I'm like, all right. So I'm chatting with him, and he's just chatting, but we're not talking about any of the stuff he brought up onto the show. And then we're doing small talk about me. And I'm like, all right. Then we get out there and he's like, think of an NBA superstar, which is a Very vague term. Could be anything. And I'm like, all right. And for whatever reason, I'm like, I'm gonna go. Draymond Green, which might not even be considered. I mean, in Today's climate, there's 10 other players, and we can talk about who, but, like, that might not be one of the guys. And he's like, write down the name of any NBA superstar. And I wrote down Draymond Green. And he's like, you're thinking of Draymond Green.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm like, what the.

[Mark Messier]

It was crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

It makes no sense. And the off. That little off convo that he's having with you, I think he's trying to figure out if he can crack into you. And then as soon as. As soon as he finds out, he's got no time for you. All right, let's get him the out of here. Let me just make sure this isn't the same thing as me. Hey, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me. What's your favorite? Yeah, I got it. Okay. Thank you. You can leave now. You can go ahead and get.

[Mark Messier]

That's how it was. He didn't want it. Like, you weren't looking to get coffee?

[Pat McAfee]

No, that was.

[Mark Messier]

That was quick.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He just wanted to find out if he can crack your skull or not. That's all he got me.

[Darius Butler]

And he did to plant Draymond Green because he spelled out get up, so he had to know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that. That was the crazy. Isn't that how it all kind of comes together, too? It's Wild guy.

[Mark Messier]

I mean, if you were to ask. I mean, any of you guys to name an NBA superstar. Any of you thinking of Draymond Green off the top of your head?

[Pat McAfee]

No, I was thinking Bob Koozie. Smart.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Goat, maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Could you imagine if you. If you drop a Koozie reference. There's been a couple times where he's asked me a question, and I hadn't been paying attention. Close enough, because I was still trying to figure out what the fuck he just did. So then he's. He asked me a question. I'm like, oh, I was not paying attention. Were there any precursors on what I'm supposed to think? Because, like, I need. That's a piece of information you do need. Like, what am I supposed to think of here? Because what if I'm thinking of something that isn't even in a category, then I clearly am ruining the entire gimmick. That's happened to me three times now with him. Because I'm thinking about the previous Thing that he did. Then he asked me, like, oh, I thought we were done. No, you need more from me.

[Mark Messier]

Well, what was Bella? I remember watching it in real time, but, like, off camera. What was Belichick's reaction to that guy?

[Pat McAfee]

I think he said, man, a couple times.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know. He was calling Sean.

[Connor]

He wasn't calling Sean Payton during the whole thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, he just predicted first date. Oh, wow.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, cool.

[Ty Schmidt]

I got Sean Payton on the phone.

[Pat McAfee]

It was the thing. All right, Shregs, what should we be paying attention to that we're not paying attention to right now? You think Whole world.

[Mark Messier]

I'm curious to see how. I'm curious to see how this jets thing goes this off season. They tore it all down, and everyone's flying high. But there's some questions here in New York as to whether or not this young coaching staff and the young GM and the young quarterback, it's all going to come together. There's no expectations with the jets, so they might be a little sleeper team as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you like them as a dark horse?

[Peter Schrager]

They're probably steak.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

All right.

[Mark Messier]

Sleeper is in. Like, no one's talking about them whatsoever. And the spotlight's off, and let's see how these young guys play. Look, the fact that Sauce and Garrett Wilson showed up today with their contract situations up in the air, I like that also.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, me too. I like Aaron Glenn.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. No one's talking about the New York City teams. No one does that.

[Pat McAfee]

It's never, never a conversation. Speaking of, how are you enjoying the finals? You watching the finals? They said, lowest game two since 2000.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, his fault.

[Pat McAfee]

He's not watching after watching.

[Mark Messier]

I'm telling you, I thought game one was one of the greatest finals. That was the coolest thing. And I said to everyone I was with, and I was with a group of people, I'm like, I will never count this team out when they're down nine with seven minutes left. And they did it again. They're a special team, but this Thunder team, when they get it going, it's like a locomotive. So you just got to stop them from getting it going.

[Pat McAfee]

Here's game one.

[Mark Messier]

I've really enjoyed this matchup. I think it's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Tyrese Howell ball game right there. 3 seconds left on the clock. How you doing? Keep it moving. John Halliburton in the building. No selling the entire thing. I think there's a chance if he was courtside, we would have seen a little bit of something. Something out of Pops. Hopefully he's back for game three. Nonetheless, Tyrese Halliburton has made a lot of big shots. Game two didn't make anything until fourth quarter whenever he really turned it up. But even then, you talk about never counting us out. We were down like 15 with like 2 minutes left, 3 minutes left. I was like, wait a minute, can we make a run this thing? And then we subbed everybody out, and it was like, you know, time of day. Yep, time of day. 3 minutes left.

[Mark Messier]

New York Knicks fans now are freaking out over who the next coach is going to be and whether it's Kevin Durant and that's the life of a Knicks fan. Every off season, it's of what's next. We turn the page. But to me, let's. Let's enjoy Isaiah Joe taking on Obi Toppin for four more days.

[Pat McAfee]

Who is going to be the coach over there? Jason Kidd.

[Connor]

I heard right what they're saying.

[Mark Messier]

That's what Wendy was saying.

[Pat McAfee]

And I don't know. Is. Is.

[Mark Messier]

Is that red or red hour back? I don't know. I mean, everyone's freak. Like, oh, Jason Kid is what? Sure, it's fun. I don't know. That's what I'm saying. I'm with you on that. I don't know. Is Jason Kid suddenly going to be the one that gets us over the top?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he gets Cooper Flag and Anthony Davis and Kyrie and running away for.

[Mark Messier]

Maverick's gonna let him out, go to New York.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Why would he leave? And then let's talk about Malone. Wouldn't Malone. Malone be the guy?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, you'd think so.

[Mark Messier]

Malone might be the guy because his dad, Brendan Malone, was a longtime assistant in New York and he's got all these awards. But, like, if you think Tibbs runs guys hard and is tough on playing young players and getting. That's Mike Malone's whole rap. I don't know if we need to go down that road again.

[Pat McAfee]

Who did Stephen A. Smith say? Mark Jackson.

[Mark Messier]

He did bring in Mark Jackson, New York City guy. I don't know if that's happening. I like the guy. I like the guy in Houston in May Adoka. But it sounds like they're not going to ever let him out out for anything. To me, that's who I would be.

[AJ Hawk]

Why would he.

[Pat McAfee]

Again, Houston, young, loaded.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they got money.

[Mark Messier]

Don't you want to be in New York with all the bright lights in the New York City?

[Pat McAfee]

Like, that's the whole thing?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. Yeah. That's what you want to do. You want to get Fired?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Just let Rick Brunson run the show.

[AJ Hawk]

He already is. Just make it official. And they're talking about getting Kevin Durant. They don't have any picks. They got a trade cat. And if they.

[Pat McAfee]

They want him, that's the trade cat.

[Mark Messier]

Which I'm not sure. Although I'll say this, Durant. I like Durant. I've been, you know, Durant's a killer on offense, and if any snap of a finger, he could score 21 points in the fourth, like, I wouldn't be so opposed to it. I know a lot of my Knicks fans are, like, running for the hills from Kevin Durant because 37 years old and isn't exactly a defensive stalwart anymore. But to me, you're never out of a game with Kevin Durant, especially if he's got a chip on his shoulder.

[AJ Hawk]

I would take Durant, just get another lanky wing player.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about? Another? You're calling Kevin Durant just another?

[Mark Messier]

He's not Mikhail Bridges. He's a little different.

[AJ Hawk]

They got Bridges, they got og. They. I mean, they just went to the conference finals and they're like, hey, we gotta blow up this team. If we don't blow this team up, we'll never get back here. It's like every year we talked about this with the Pacers.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not happy for Timothy Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, Pete Shraggs, Miles Teller, John Mellencamp, all the Knicks fans about, like, how excited, exciting of a run you guys had. And then, you know.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

We're thinking we're doing it again next year. It's hard to just rebuild, I think, change.

[AJ Hawk]

It's. It's easier to do it again next year when you do what the Pacers did and you just keep everybody continuity and you trust it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, let's work together and do that.

[Mark Messier]

Here's the fear. It's like, we've seen it, like, Steve Kerr was an upgrade from Mark Jackson, and what they needed, Phil Jackson was an upgrade from Doug Collins in that situation was what they needed. So we've seen it happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Win.

[Mark Messier]

But, like, if you don't have that guy in your back pocket, that's a pretty rash decision to make. I assume that those other teams had that in play, and that was like, so I'm just gonna let go of.

[Pat McAfee]

The wheel and see.

[Mark Messier]

And see how it ends up before I judge.

[Pat McAfee]

I trust Jalen Bronson on a court. If he's playing, I think you're in it. I think that's how Nick's fan should feel. This SGA guy, I'm watching him a lot. He's 6 foot 6, AJ Young. I know legit every angle.

[Mike Florio]

How do you stop?

[Pat McAfee]

Off the back of.

[Mark Messier]

How do you stop? It's unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

I have no idea how you stop it. And then I appreciate people. Now, granted, I did not watch enough of the Oklahoma City Thunder this year.

[Connor]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Hand up on me. The narrative was this guy just gets a foul line. So I thought we were going to watch James Harden at Houston basketball. Like, I thought it was just going to be like that type of stuff. It's not. No, it's a completely. He is a play. This dude is a beast.

[AJ Hawk]

Stud.

[Pat McAfee]

He's. They call him a foul artist. It's like he will expose you if you are close enough for him to steal one off of you. He will certainly do that. But he's creating his own shot. He's shaking. He's taking it to the. I mean, he is. It's not like a floppy thing. It's like he would certainly play the game and get a foul on you. I understand that. And some people think that's a little shady. Especially whenever you somehow have more foul shots than our team. Every single time. How does that work out that way? But it's like he's attacking. This dude's unbelievable.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. You go down a list of great scorers, they all got to the foul line. That's a part of it. Putting the defenders in bad situations. When you have elite scorers like that, there's always going to be the haters. Just like when it's like great quarterbacks, when it's Brady or Manning or whoever. Pocket quarterbacks. Oh, man. When they get hit, they get all the flags. They get all this. Yeah, they're great. And when they don't, they're going to tear you apart. So that's what SGA does and what he's been able to do on the biggest stages. You know, winning the MVP, getting 20 a level he's never been to and his team has never been to. And every time these lights are bright, he shows up like, that's. That's impressive. I'm sure his line is what? What, tonight? To score probably 30.

[Mark Messier]

It's always 30 at least. Yeah, that's what Carlisle said.

[Darius Butler]

That's crazy.

[AJ Hawk]

34. It was 34 and a half. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

That's nuts.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Rick Carlisle said you can put 34 on the score sheet for SGA already before the game even starts.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he has. I think they did it on get up. He has 83 games now with 25 plus points this season.

[Connor]

Crazy 83.

[Ty Schmidt]

Even money to score 35 plus.

[Mark Messier]

I watch college hoops like he wasn't that guy at Kentucky. I don't know when this happened. Like he was good, he was fine, but he wasn't that guy.

[Pat McAfee]

It'd be cool to be 6 foot 6 and then just have it snap that you're supposed to just take over games.

[Darius Butler]

Work ethic.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Has to.

[Darius Butler]

Brunson too. Brunson. I mean he was a dog obviously, but you just getting. You put in the work and you become like. Like great. You only do that by putting that work in. And he's obviously done that.

[AJ Hawk]

And his mentor was Chris Paul. When Chris Paul came over to okc, he was supposed to. They were supposed. I think they're over under for Wins was like 20 and they ended up winning 45 games, going to the playoffs, being the 4 seed when Chris Paul was at the 1 and he's kind of the guy that took SGA under his win.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Chris Paul. Good on our program.

[Mark Messier]

Great on your program. Live in the rain from Carolina. I loved it.

[Pat McAfee]

He talks too.

[AJ Hawk]

That's a back.

[Mike Florio]

Where's he gonna play Shrek Craigs next year?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What are you hearing?

[Mark Messier]

Sounded like on your show that he wants to be a clipper. It sounded like it and that's how he wants to end it, but I don't know how that all works out. I. I can't.

[AJ Hawk]

That's how.

[Pat McAfee]

Why? What are you. What are you talking about? It's Chris Paul.

[AJ Hawk]

They got James Harden stuff. Chris Paul needs to come to Boston.

[Pat McAfee]

You want him to be as far away from his family as possible.

[AJ Hawk]

It's never. He needs to bring his family there too. Oh, I don't know. What's the best school in the country? Harvard. You want to be close to that Harvard.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, you a big heart.

[Mark Messier]

Harvard for kindergarten.

[Ty Schmidt]

Look, you're a big Harvard guy.

[AJ Hawk]

I said Harvard because it's more mainstream. I'm an MIT guy. Let's go to technology guy. So I don't know what you guys are talking about, but also Cambridge. I don't know. One of the most upand cominging areas. Not up and coming. One of the most expensive areas in the world to live in. That's why. That's why. If not as uppity as you think, but that's why if Chris Paul were to come off over, I think it should be a match made in heaven.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, that's awesome. We got you. All right. Hey, Shreks I appreciate the hell out of you, man.

[Mark Messier]

Guys, congrats on all the. The cool stuff with the concafa stuff too. I was following.

[AJ Hawk]

Almost a perfect. Come on.

[Mark Messier]

I watched, I was supportive. You gotta give me something. Carry Carrie, North Carolina. My. My passport hasn't been there, but I will be. If you ever invite me, I will get in goal office and go goalie for you.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? Yeah. Count it. Tonka. Has Stoner stood on his head?

[Connor]

He was the best. He was the best.

[Peter Schrager]

One goal. The whole tournament was the last game.

[Pat McAfee]

Stoner was unbelievable. I guess Stoner also plays. Stoner's our goalie from. Yeah, very carried out. Yeah. Yeah. He stopped one with his face this year. Actually just ate one with his face. I guess he plays striker too, on some club teams. What the hell?

[AJ Hawk]

Why wasn't Stoner in then?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, so I guess he. I guess. Guess his foot. His feet are good as well. And then Philly was obviously joined our team. Former MASL goalie of the year.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Do they allow five hole goals in MASL competition?

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see how they. Did you see how the tournament ended last night? Strikes bump. No, I didn't.

[Mark Messier]

I did not see this.

[Pat McAfee]

This the highlight. This is for a million bucks right here. Bang. Ban it around a guy. Go.

[Mark Messier]

Oh, what a shot.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I like the smoke that they added.

[Connor]

Yeah, that's cool.

[AJ Hawk]

And the stat.

[Mike Florio]

If old buddy used his hand to stop that, would it continue the game or does the goal count? How's it work?

[Mark Messier]

The question is that a penalty kick in the box?

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, in the box.

[Pat McAfee]

He would have been good. Did he have a penny on?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, the guy running on the field has a penny.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the guy who was designated the goalie had a penny on right there. He was holding it in blue. He actually was the one that turned the ball over before this. On the other side, they tried to sub him out to sub new goalie in. So that guy right next to him is subbing in for the other goalie. Terrible substitution by Pumas Dalla. But this was a bauble. This was a botch by their bench in subs. This was a substitution error is how they lost a million bucks. They could have taken a shot earlier too. There. There might have been a time to maybe.

[Connor]

Yeah, maybe like have one. Maybe a good opportunity. Maybe have one here. Let's have one.

[Pat McAfee]

But there's a couple of those where they could have.

[Connor]

Yeah, they could have had one. They could have maybe really went out there and. And ha. And had one. I mean, that's in this tournament, you have to have one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Especially if the ball comes over. And it's a perfect situation, too, you to have one.

[Connor]

You know, you have that ball, you know, tied around. You know, your left boot may be a good opportunity to have 1. Especially 77 for Pumas big boots.

[Peter Schrager]

Fat Tony.

[Connor]

Yeah, Fat Tony.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not his name. That is his name. That's what he's called. He's a legend. He had. He had like 11 Tony.

[Connor]

It was awesome.

[Peter Schrager]

I can't believe he didn't let it rip, dude.

[Connor]

I cannot believe he did not win. Win the Golden Boot of the tournament. I actually need to talk with someone from TST and also Puma State, Alabama, Their. Their skipper, their gaffer coach of the tournament, and he has the biggest gaff of the whole tournament. They lose. So let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

It was a substitution. Air Gumpy. We all watch. While we're watching alive, I see Scrap like other goalie running off field. Illegal substitution as well. Just. Just so we know. The other goalie was not fully off the field in the substitution era as the new goalie was being subbed on. So, I mean, it was. It's chaos.

[Peter Schrager]

The longer you play in this tournament, you realize that the ref in the middle actually does nothing at all as well.

[Pat McAfee]

I learned that when I asked, what.

[Peter Schrager]

Does that guy do when Nani threw a punch at Brecc, they said, oh, he's just there to monitor subs, not.

[Pat McAfee]

Actually help or, you know. You're talking about on the sideline? Yeah, in the middle there.

[Peter Schrager]

He just stands there.

[Darius Butler]

He's great.

[Pat McAfee]

They also rule if it's inner bounds or out of bounds downs on the near sideline. I think I've seen a couple of those calls made. Gumpy hates the refs at the tst.

[Mark Messier]

I love that.

[Pat McAfee]

And I don't know if I'm looking great. Why'd they throw that trophy? I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

So everyone can get a piece of the trophy.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, like everybody at the tournament. All the kids. All the team.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, the kids. Bunch of players on the team. They were all picking it up and, like, celebrating with their piece.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like cutting the net.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't. I don't know. What are you supposed to do with that thing in one piece? I would have had that thing on.

[Peter Schrager]

A flight home with me.

[Darius Butler]

We'll figure out when we win it next year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're going to hang that thing in a Thunderdome right from the middle. It's going to be like a disco ball.

[AJ Hawk]

Smash it with a sledgehammer I can't wait to see the team next year. Grella out. Let's bring in.

[Darius Butler]

Come on.

[AJ Hawk]

Let's bring in Big Tony. Who else?

[Mark Messier]

Tony Meola.

[AJ Hawk]

Who else do we like?

[Pat McAfee]

Tiny Meola is already trying to do.

[Darius Butler]

The GM of the year.

[AJ Hawk]

I would never. Look, I. I'm not built for it, man.

[Pat McAfee]

I got.

[Peter Schrager]

There's one man that we need.

[Pat McAfee]

You see down there at the bottom. Shregs.

[Mark Messier]

Who's it say?

[Pat McAfee]

General manager of the tournament.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Mike Foss.

[Mark Messier]

Mike Foss. How about that?

[Pat McAfee]

We have concave has two representatives. Shout out to Big Ruggles. Congratulations. A couple big time goals. Also, I think he had two or three yellow cards. I think he had three. They only documented two, so he could have got another one. Because if you get three yellow cards, you got to sit out the next game. So he definitely had three yellow cards, but they only kept. So he got a bonus yellow. And he was certainly trying to exercise that, right? Sure. He is a. He has the gift of the gap. And he said he gets people very upset. Very, very. He was actually walking one guy right off the field to fight him. And then as that guy was walking off the field, boom. We slide in right behind the guy, score a goal. I mean, it was like his. His mental game in mental gymnastics. He's a chess player out there. Yeah. His dreads does not like when his dreads are pulled.

[Peter Schrager]

They got a red card. I was super happy for him because.

[Pat McAfee]

He played on Nani's team last year.

[Peter Schrager]

And they never invited him back. So when we knocked them out, he was.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he was. He didn't have a team. Yeah, we. We got lucky. That. That's Porch, who's an absolute dog. There's. There's me celebrating alongside First Sergeant Pack Harlan, who gave the boys a motivational speech before the game. It was great to see him. Porch was unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[AJ Hawk]

He's filthy.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how he didn't make the team as well. Porch ran a lot around people Zeppelin. He was. This was a great tournament. It was a great time. We were lucky to be there. I can't stress enough how much better this style of soccer is than normal soccer. It's about 10,000 times better. Always. Always a walk off. Always a walk off. Game has to end with somebody scoring a goal. No ties. Yeah. Black Boots came back this year and there's a gorilla assist, by the way.

[Mike Florio]

Nice pass.

[AJ Hawk]

Who is that again against. Was that the first game or the second game where you guys won seven nothing. I was.

[Pat McAfee]

No, this is Soccer roof.

[Peter Schrager]

Yeah, that was round of 30.

[Ty Schmidt]

Didn't grow. Assist the Breck Shay goal too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah. Real good assist. It went off the goalie. Let's.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's not put it in the mixer, brother.

[AJ Hawk]

Act like Grella fed him on his boots, okay? He basically shot a little rinky dink shot. And then Breck Shea, being the superhero that he is, came in and cleaned it up.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, big Meat. Thank you for your service to concave for this year here. The boys are buzzing. All right. We appreciate you Shregs. Maybe next year you are a mascot or a goalie.

[Mark Messier]

Yeah, I'm in.

[Pat McAfee]

What's the name of the team?

[Mark Messier]

Con.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Scher.

[Mark Messier]

I got.

[Pat McAfee]

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[Mark Messier]

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[Pat McAfee]

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[Mark Messier]

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[Pat McAfee]

Whether your next project is big or small.

[Mark Messier]

Harbor Freight carries a wide selection from.

[Pat McAfee]

Hand tools to power tools to automotive.

[Shams Charania]

Tools and welding equipment.

[Pat McAfee]

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. AJ I don't know if you saw it. Phil Steele did a little ranking of the Big 12. Did you see it?

[Mike Florio]

I actually did not see.

[Darius Butler]

He feels du.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Phil Steele, the guy that's been doing call college football doing it. Yeah, exactly. He doesn't know. Hey, Phil. Oh, boy. He is one of the most respected names out there. It's when he's putting a list together like this and it's crop shite, you gotta call it out. Hey, Phil. Don't lose the fastball, bub. Now is not the time. You're.rich Rodriguez. Oh, okay. Did Neil Brown come in dead last of the Big 12?

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[Connor]

I'm sure he did.

[Pat McAfee]

Did. No.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm assuming how many times?

[Connor]

Some point.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Two or three.

[Darius Butler]

No, no, he did not.

[Mike Florio]

Every year.

[Pat McAfee]

But.

[Connor]

Color me shocked.

[Mark Messier]

I was a good question.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that was a layup.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think he ever did.

[Connor]

Okay, my apologies.

[Pat McAfee]

More specifically, last year, he did not. Okay, so Rich Rod's gonna get there and we're gonna get worse is what Phil Steele thinks.

[Ty Schmidt]

No chance.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on. Come on. It is a little interesting though, that we went and checked the betting odds of the Big 12. Turns out West Virginia is ranked 12th in those out of 16 teams. You think Big 12. There's only 12 teams. No, there's 16 of them. And we're ranked 16th in Phil Steel's eye. Don't love that. But I want the Mountaineer boys to understand. Phil Steele thinks you're shit. Expectations are nothing. We know the work you're putting in. Yeah, good luck out there.

[Ty Schmidt]

How about Jaheim White just shouting out his teammates for all their hard work?

[Pat McAfee]

Offensive line. Jaheim White's a beast by running back. Oh, we're gonna run the ball. Yeah. Jaheim White's gonna matter. Yeah. 16th in the big 12. What's Phil still doing? He's hanging out with that Chef Chang.

[AJ Hawk]

Around together.

[Darius Butler]

Don't put Phil still the chef. The same conversation.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they're hanging out. Nah, they're brainstorming together. They're thinking of the same dumb list together. Phil Steele and Chef Chang out there just tag teaming to make people miserable with their wrong ideas and opinions.

[Darius Butler]

I do hate that he couldn't just land on one. Top team. Got three ones up there. Didn't love that. Make a decision, stick by.

[AJ Hawk]

I didn't know that.

[Pat McAfee]

See, Phil Steele has lost his fastball. Two, three fourth places. Yeah, okay.

[AJ Hawk]

He doesn't know that.

[Pat McAfee]

Doesn't work. And also, do we know if Phil still actually did this or would this guy just tweet this?

[Darius Butler]

I assume he'll be doing it for.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great Question magazine comes out soon.

[Pat McAfee]

So whatever the case, West Virginia, you need to know there's somebody saying you guys are dead last. Get to work, boys. Get to work, boys.

[AJ Hawk]

What year is Jaheem White?

[Pat McAfee]

I think he's his last year.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay, because. Because he's transferring or because he's a senior?

[Pat McAfee]

I think he's senior, junior, senior.

[AJ Hawk]

So you gotta hold on to him.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, well, hold on for dear life because I thought your best. Your best player went to Ohio State. Right?

[Pat McAfee]

That was another acj.

[AJ Hawk]

The portal.

[Pat McAfee]

The portal is closed. Right, right. Yes. But Also, that was C.J. donaldson. Yeah. C.J. donaldson, very good player. Very, very good player. Very good running back. Obviously, he went to Ohio State. He's a very good player. I will say. Jaheim White, though, good player. Good player. Dog. Dog, they had a split backfield. You know, those are two ponies back here running. Jaheim White, good player.

[AJ Hawk]

Got some big boys up front.

[Pat McAfee]

I think Jaheim White, if he was to hit the transfer portal, I think he would have got a big.

[Ty Schmidt]

For sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I think he would have got a big. But he didn't. He said, I want to do the work. That hard edge I want that hard edge. Yeah. I do appreciate those that stuck around. Now. I think there was a large group of people that we. And by we, I'm talking about the West Virginia football team going forward. Wanted out of there. Always like, hey, pretty evident you're not supposed to be here. You're a little slow. Don't you kind of see how everything here is fast? Everything we're doing, speed based, you're slow. Everything we're doing here, toughness, you're soft. Everything we're doing here, football, you're a content creator. So there's a lot of that.

[AJ Hawk]

Good.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a lot of that going on from. From my understanding. I don't know if there was a lot of content creators, but everything else I said, I think was happening behind the scenes, trying to get. Get the culture in there. You know, we got to get our guys in there. But those who stay will be great.

[Ty Schmidt]

They're not going to finish 16th.

[Pat McAfee]

No.

[Connor]

And if you finish 11, a massive success.

[Pat McAfee]

We're not going to finish 11.

[Connor]

I'm just saying.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I don't know what we're talking.

[Mike Florio]

Over, under, over, under for them.

[AJ Hawk]

Two and a half, five and a half.

[Pat McAfee]

Phil Steel, Big 12 Conference, really hard to read, but you see 16 there and then what West Virginia five and.

[Ty Schmidt]

A half is the.

[Pat McAfee]

In 23. Neil Brown and West Virginia were motivated by being picked last in a Big 12 media bowl. The Mountaineers were a powerful run game, a strong defense to a 94 record, including a 3010 bowl blowout last year. They rated a shell of. What does that say?

[Ty Schmidt]

Minus three and a half.

[Pat McAfee]

Three minus three and a half. And did not get to. Did get to six and five before a blowout lost to Texas Tech and Browns Let go. Rich Rod returns and does have. Have 14 returning starters. When Rich Rob was at Jack State, I picked them last in a conference. Okay.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, he might.

[Pat McAfee]

And they went 9 4. So I am wary of picking them here. But it seems like a third of the team was not even in yet by the summer, so that's a lot of movement. Phil Steele hates Rich Rodriguez. Certainly.

[Shams Charania]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. He doesn't believe in the hard edge.

[AJ Hawk]

Fair.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Phil Steele. Okay, we appreciate your transparency there, but you. So you gave it away. We just read it. Go ahead.

[Ty Schmidt]

You see his running back rankings down there, bottom right. Number one running back in the Big 12, Jaheim White.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So Rich Rodriguez's offense is a running offense.

[AJ Hawk]

He did it again. Number one in Baylor, number one in Kansas State, number one Iowa State.

[Connor]

Yeah, but what he Also has is West Virginia having the 15th best old line. So if we have a great running back, but we got him up front.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you got to remember Rich Rod's offensive line. We're moving, brother.

[AJ Hawk]

We're moving some time to get his.

[Mike Florio]

People in there, though.

[Pat McAfee]

We're moving, though.

[AJ Hawk]

Not. It didn't take time in Jacksonville.

[Pat McAfee]

State took a couple years.

[Mike Florio]

I mean, they went nine and four. That's pretty good. Last year, like, honestly, who? West Virginia. They were nine or four last year.

[Pat McAfee]

23.

[Mike Florio]

My bad. Okay. Can I say Neil Brown gets fired after 9 and 4? I don't think so.

[Pat McAfee]

Last year was 6 and 5 and then blown out at the end there.

[AJ Hawk]

The Penn State lost.

[Pat McAfee]

Just really set the tone for how everybody was going to judge West Virginia.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was the weather's fault.

[Pat McAfee]

And then they were.

[Mike Florio]

They almost made the national championship, though.

[Pat McAfee]

We're on pace before the game season started.

[Connor]

The hay was in the barn when we were there and that water bottle fell down and he almost had a heart attack. That was kind of me.

[Ty Schmidt]

That one was on me.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but think about when we were there for that the day before Penn State. Think about the energy that was on that campus.

[Connor]

It's incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

So much. It's awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's ain't soon's fault.

[Pat McAfee]

I have no idea how many people were there. I don't even want to put a number on it. But that place was fucking packed out. Ready for football. Ready for the football season. And then Penn State, there's a weather delay and that kind of offset everything because we were prepared for one particular game. New game came. It was a lot longer. How are we supposed to deal with this? Even though we got nicer locker room and nicer everything, we didn't deal with that well. And then it just kind of carried.

[Ty Schmidt]

In the rest because they were making tiktoks playing video games. Today's got me so fucking juicy for football.

[Pat McAfee]

So juice a lot of football today. Drake. Drake May said he's bum football's ending. Connor. I know you saw the clip. Drake May was asked about, you know, mandatory mini camp coming to a close in the offseason workout schedule. Ending this. What he had to say. Good.

[Shams Charania]

I think I'm starting to kind of, you know, really kind of find a. Find a stride and kind of kind of bummed out we're about to leave.

[Pat McAfee]

But no, it's fun. Anytime we're going against a great defense. They got good players, two great corners. Corners. I tell Gonz every day I'm gonna test him. I'm not gonna not throw at him or. Yeah. Or cd. You know, two of the, you know, I think the best corners and one.

[Shams Charania]

Of the best duos in the league.

[Mike Florio]

What an opportunity for us to go out there every day and throw against those guys.

[Pat McAfee]

He was just finding a groove and now it's over. Is he gonna be able to find it again when the season starts or is it.

[AJ Hawk]

He was not just finding the groove and now it's over. He now has McDaniel's new offense locked in. You know, he also was one of those guys that has to completely restart this year, but he's not, not scared. Stefan Diggs comes in, he's giving kids pop rocks and, you know, enjoying his time. Kind of showing everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think there were kids, they.

[AJ Hawk]

Were calling him daddy. And his. His locker is valid right next to Drake May, which is really cool. Got that, you know, established number one ride receiver. Got that O line. You know, I. I don't want to put the cart before the horse here, but we got a white boy from Eastern Washington who plays wide receivers and his name's Effton Chisholm. Holy. This guy.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy is the one's got the pizzazz.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he's got the. He's got the Chiz ass. Chiz allegedly has led basically all receivers in catches over this time. So. Yeah, look, drake, man went 11 to 14 two days ago, 16, 18 yesterday. Today he probably went 20th. So if I'm you guys, all I'm thinking is, God, I hope the patrons aren't that surprised team that comes all the way back this year because if it is, I'm probably fired by week three because I'm going to be. I'm going to be the worst to be around. If you thought I was bad in the suite when the Celtics were playing the Pacers last year, just wait to see what happens. If the patriots start off 6 0.

[Pat McAfee]

Could you imagine you as a Patriots fan having that high of the high greatest dynasty of all time and then Dallas round. We're rebuilding and then you build it back faster than like the Colts.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Or like any of the other. You would be so arrogant.

[AJ Hawk]

It would be.

[Pat McAfee]

We did what you guys have had tried to do for the last 30 years. We were able to do it two years. What's so hard?

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, we had to bring back with Mike Vrabel. Are you kidding me? You guys bring back Jeff Saturday. That almost worked. We bring back Mike Vrabel. Holy. We're already going back to the afc.

[Pat McAfee]

This hasn't happened yet. You're running your mouth a little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

It hasn't happened yet but I, I think everybody in here knows there's a real chance it happens now I'm not there yet just because new, new offense Drake.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, you are. You're there.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I'm, I, I.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, we're all kind of there which is the fear like cuz we all believe in Braves I think, right? Yep, we all believe in Braves for sure. It's just like yeah, I assume the Patriots are going to win games again and we just have to be prepared for that as a society that the mass holes are going to be just that again and they're going to have a reason to be loud.

[AJ Hawk]

And the silver lining of last year was Drake May and now it feels as though the only question of this year is Drake May. So if we can just put ourselves back when we saw that big son of a throw that touchdown pass to Kaan booty down the sideline against the Texans, I think we can all be there like oh yeah, they might win 12 games.

[Pat McAfee]

Anthony Richardson had a 72 yard ball to Pitman I believe or Alec Pierce.

[AJ Hawk]

But that's the thing, we should put ourselves there.

[Pat McAfee]

How about the fourth quarter drive against the Patriots two minute drill.

[Ty Schmidt]

How about Penny Dimes's playoff victory where he went for 350 and 100 Russian.

[Pat McAfee]

Who was that against? The Vikings. Oh, I'm there right now brother.

[AJ Hawk]

In Minnesota.

[Pat McAfee]

I do remember that 350. How about Jordan Love? We'll see.

[Connor]

I mean we got Bo Melton the CB one right now. So that's a kind of, that's, that's a little more pressing concern then Jordan Love's gonna be just fine. We got a six round receiver, you know, trying to lock down Justin Jefferson. That's a bit of an area of concern.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought you had belief in the entire place.

[Connor]

I do. I mean give him hell Halfley. He'll get the boys in line.

[AJ Hawk]

But oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh but I mean what do we do?

[Connor]

This ain't Pop Warner. This ain't high school.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a bad ball. Go to the other rep. Go to Breakers. Go to Rob Damofsky. I think he's covering them.

[Mike Florio]

Could he play corner with number 80 on?

[AJ Hawk]

Would they let him?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Troy Brown did it.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah.

[Mike Florio]

You can do whatever you want now. I guess there's no rule. There's no rules on numbers anymore from positions.

[Pat McAfee]

I feel like this a good one. Ah. Break. Oh. Didn't come directly back to the ball but he was see six invading the.

[Connor]

Defender you can't say there's a guy right there makes a miss and then takes back Glad you guys are all.

[Ty Schmidt]

Having a bunch of fun. Did you guys see that edit of Aaron Rogers? You know see the edit of Aaron Rodgers Steelers put out.

[Pat McAfee]

You're talking about the video we've run here a couple times.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh have we?

[Pat McAfee]

I note I ran it a lot. Yeah probably four or five this one at least. How about when he spins the ball at the number eight it's coming. Boom.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tell you what when those boys over there at the graphics department over there at the Steelers get three or four months and know a guy's coming they.

[Darius Butler]

Will put together some fox come up.

[Pat McAfee]

How about the darts on a dartboard.

[Ty Schmidt]

Wait till the ball turns into signed where Right here.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

Agree to terms they said agreed earlier.

[Pat McAfee]

When that was on. Yeah I had a moment too when I said it I'm like God damn that ball says what I just said right there.

[AJ Hawk]

That was cool.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought it was greed. I was like are they saying he's greedy bastard? What are they opposite. Oh he's going to be doing a.

[Ty Schmidt]

Lot at him Any of you guys got a four time MVP at quarterback?

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't think so.

[AJ Hawk]

We do Patriots do Tony. Oh just check back in in 10 years.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Danny Dimes. We don't know what's in store for Danny Greatness.

[Connor]

I think he's going to be comeback player of the year this year and he might win it.

[Pat McAfee]

No, remember that's not the thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah they changed the rules but.

[Ty Schmidt]

Are the Fins even at doing training camp this year?

[Pat McAfee]

You guys playing football or. All I've heard is just people potentially leaving.

[Darius Butler]

We are John New Smith isn't there Mike. I I actually like Mike Bean. I think Shrags might have mentioned it earlier or. Yeah I think Shra mentioned it. I liked his answer when he was asked by John New and and Jalen Ramsey but yeah they're there. They'll. They'll compete and won't win a playoff game and you know be extend our I think believe 26 year streak now. So yeah kind of bummed out about that but it's a playoff win.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

We can't ask Buch about about teams though. He doesn't give a yeah about the Dolphins.

[Pat McAfee]

What well he does.

[Darius Butler]

He only gives a Dolphins lid on yesterday.

[Pat McAfee]

A Panthers game Dumpy cares about the Dolphins.

[Mike Florio]

Don't be super positive towards them always.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Peter Schrager]

You want to know why I care so much about Conca? Because of this football team. You know that's the closest I was going to get to winning something. That's why I was losing my mind.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. I'm happy Gump showed up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. DY was bummed out about the concave loss, and I appreciate that type of passion and emotion. He wasn't the only one. Faso bummed out. Talked to Jeff Cameron. Bummed out. Meat sent me a message. Bomb bum dot.

[AJ Hawk]

Gordo Gers has boozing since we don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

Gordo is an impressive. Gordo had a very good tournament.

[Peter Schrager]

He was a workhorse.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's a wagon. Yeah, Gordo is a wagon. Ledesma sent me a message.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, I love Ledesma.

[Pat McAfee]

He's so good.

[Connor]

Yeah, he is good. Great addition.

[Pat McAfee]

He was. So he said, I'm so sorry that I did not play more for you.

[AJ Hawk]

You say, damn right, son. Get back in the gym.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I had one leg, dude. I said, Ledesma, you scored several goals. He was so good. Yeah, his boy too is one of the coolest kids I've been around. He's got a 12 year old, I think that was hanging around team Dan. Ben. Oh, Benjamin, Benny. I don't get the name wrong. I apologize. He was hanging out with us the entire time. He was cool. Ledesma should be in the mls. What?

[Peter Schrager]

Like, I guess he played one year with Cincinnati and now he just runs.

[Pat McAfee]

A bunch of academies. Porch Meat, all those guys. We have so many good soccer players.

[Connor]

Yeah. Black Boots was beside himself.

[Pat McAfee]

Mario. Yeah. Playing upside down.

[AJ Hawk]

Water Bug.

[Darius Butler]

Working where they're my porch. Where's he. Does he.

[Pat McAfee]

He plays.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

It's crazy.

[Connor]

That guy isn't in the mls. So how fast and quick he is. It's.

[Pat McAfee]

How about just watching that tournament? How many good players there are? It's like. So none of these guys are.

[Ty Schmidt]

Makes you think how they lose.

[Darius Butler]

Well, we don't.

[Ty Schmidt]

How good are the mls?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, we. We don't. Yeah, exactly. You go out there and play with a scratch golf, you're like this guy.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[Peter Schrager]

I watch a lot of mls. I'm telling you, there's room for Chad.

[Pat McAfee]

Porch on that field.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, what about Ledesma?

[Peter Schrager]

Yeah, Legit. I don't know why. The DESM only played one year. I think Porch, basically he had a tryout right before COVID and he got hurt. And then he never got a chance.

[Pat McAfee]

To go back after Covid with MLS so good, I mean, there's like so much town. Our team. Team has so much time. Every team that makes it has so much talent. And he watched me. Like, there has to be a reason, like what happened here. And we're lucky for it, though. I'm thankful because if they're in the mls, they wouldn't be allowed to play. It's like a pro contract at the highest level. You're not allowed to be there. Right. That's why, like, Arena League guys. Fine. Yeah. Are allowed to be in there because it's not considered the tier one. That was just for.

[Peter Schrager]

He won rookie of the Year in the Arena League. It was his first year. Him and Pacheco were on Baltimore.

[Pat McAfee]

Pacheco.

[Connor]

Water bug.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Water bugs. A junkyard dog. Did grow. Reach out and say sorry or.

[Pat McAfee]

He sent me a message.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he.

[AJ Hawk]

Is he bummed at all or.

[Pat McAfee]

He is bummed.

[AJ Hawk]

My cash hasn't checked. Is that what he said to you?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh.

[Connor]

Jacket. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know. It's a joke.

[Pat McAfee]

Damn it. You nailed it. But no, Grella was bummed out. They're all. Every. Everybody was bummed off. Yeah.

[Connor]

Gump did say that Grella jumped in the car with his kids right after the game and drove back to New Jersey. So I think he's had a. I mean, I can't imagine that he's.

[Pat McAfee]

They all wanted to win.

[AJ Hawk]

Grella didn't give a. I could see it in his eyes.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[AJ Hawk]

I could see in his eyes.

[Pat McAfee]

You weren't there but two days.

[AJ Hawk]

We were there on Thursday before the most important time. And I could tell just from the.

[Pat McAfee]

Look on him now, you were taking a shot at different people. People you remember. Grella is the third person on your list. You've taken shots.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I said sorry to Breck earlier. And then it's just been Grell.

[Mike Florio]

Talk about the outlaw.

[Darius Butler]

Deserved it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Talk about the Outlaw bit.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I did not look. I think the Outlaw can look himself in the mirror and say, how the am I leaving this place scoreless? Okay. I assume the Indianapolis Outlaw knows he underperformed, and that's why the Outlaw is probably working right now. Grella doesn't give a man.

[Pat McAfee]

He was in. Grella was in better shape than he was last year for sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, lost 20 pounds.

[AJ Hawk]

That didn't show me anything. If anything, we needed him a little more beefy.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to away from soccer. Let's get back to football. Ashley Washburn is reporting from Brian Goons. It's just something we're going to take a look at, see if it's a possibility. He's talking about Bo Melton. No. So don't lose your Mind, they're just seeing there, no stone left unturned.

[Connor]

I get it. I mean, it's just one of those things where you kind of have a knee jerk reaction, say, what the is that guy doing out there playing defense?

[Pat McAfee]

You know that guy for the Green Bay Packers?

[Connor]

Exactly. You know, I mean, went to the playoffs last year thinking May, hey, May, this might be the year they take another.

[Pat McAfee]

Have one.

[Connor]

Yeah, maybe have one. Now's the time to maybe have one. Maybe think about having one. But instead we got Bo Melton out there playing defense. I'm not going to overreact yet.

[AJ Hawk]

But.

[Connor]

But I tell you what, if they. They go into the season and I. If I see this again in two weeks, I'm going to be beside myself.

[Ty Schmidt]

Luckily for you, not till training camps. You got a couple weeks. You could just rest.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it won't happen in a few weeks.

[Connor]

N. Yeah, you're right.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe not going to see. We'll. We'll show you the video the next couple weeks. Y. Yep, we'll let you know. This was happening in June. Training camp's right around the corner.

[Connor]

Well, I get it too, cuz. Bo Melton had a. About 40 drops last year on offense. So maybe we should move him to defense and see what he can do over there.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, he did have a drop on defense.

[Connor]

I know. That's okay. You're not, I mean, you know, a pick isn't, you know, expectation.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. After.

[Ty Schmidt]

After these mini camps. Mantary minicamps. I feel like you've told the story before. Everyone is just smoking tires out of here for six weeks.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Like I think, except Drake. Man, you guys shorten the weekend, right?

[AJ Hawk]

I think so. Because I. I thought we started coming.

[Pat McAfee]

Kind of early, but coaches will do that if there's high attendance for the voluntary ones. Like we were for instance, at the Colts. I think we were like 99% attendance for the volunteer. There's one player that was not there. Pretty important piece. Was paid a lot of money. He showed up at mandatory minicamp. He was injured. Okay? So basically we had already done everything throughout the entire voluntary. So Chuck cut off a day in the end because the only reason why mandatory really mattered was because this one player who's going to be a starter, who has paid a lot of money, who showed up at the weight of a different position, not fat, more muscle, and was injured, was not able. Bingo. Was not able to do the mandatory minicamp. So it's like we already got all our work in. So, like, I saw some people talk about the Patriots Shortening mandatory minicamp and being like, I saw some people talking on it. It's like, no, that means they've already got all the working. Yeah, that's a good thing. That's not a bad. That means that's like a faster practice is a good thing. A faster practice means they've got through everything right. As opposed to having restart. It's like the longer practices are bad, the longer camps. Not saying that a full mandatory mini camp is bad. And there's some people that probably have 100, 100% attendance that would do a full camp. But I think more often than not, a lot of the shit's already done. The mandatory is just like, if the guys aren't there, they're like, forced to kind of be there. But if everybody's already there, cutting short is, like, not a problem at all.

[AJ Hawk]

It's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

So you'd almost want your team to be at a point where they cut it short. Like, we know our. Let's go ahead and get one more extra day of break here before training camp because it's going to be a long haul for us. And as soon as everybody's getting out of that parking lot, I mean, there is.

[Darius Butler]

It's an important stretch, though.

[Mike Florio]

Coaches, too.

[Darius Butler]

Yep. Always get that speech, you know, don't. Don't be that guy. You know, between this stretcher, you got four, five, six weeks off. You don't want to be in the news for anything. Obviously. You want to show back up to training camp in shape. You don't want to show up to training camp and get a soft tissue injury, you know, one, two days into camp, and it just throws your whole season off. So this is a critical point in time, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. Don't get arrested.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that too.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, I did that.

[Mike Florio]

There will be plenty. There will be plenty.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's why a lot of people want to change the way. Way the NFL calendar is. It's like, hey, don't we think we shouldn't have six weeks before the most important. A lot of people want to move it to later and lead right into training camp. Have you seen that? Yeah.

[Mike Florio]

I mean, we're adults. Come on now. Like, we're adults, so we got to be able to treat them like an adult.

[Pat McAfee]

You're hearing guys that want to have summer.

[Darius Butler]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike Florio]

Coaches need. You need that. You don't.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't need to.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, I don't need to extend the season by six weeks by doing that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's exactly. That was being pitched, remember? Because after. During COVID that's how it kind of went three weeks or four weeks into the season and everybody's bodies said they felt better and all that.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Once you show up, be a pro.

[Mike Florio]

That'S all it is. You got.

[Pat McAfee]

You.

[Mike Florio]

You should, like, technically you should be able to handle a little bit of time off when you should work out on your own and then not, you know, kill somebody.

[Pat McAfee]

Stefan Diggs met with reporters for the first time since the boat video says Phil A. Perry. What was in the bag? Obviously it's a conversation that's happening internally. Says I can't have too much conversation about it.

[AJ Hawk]

Boom, he gets it.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a conversation happening inside of me right now. Can't. Can't talk to you too much.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Nope.

[AJ Hawk]

He's just back in Maryland with his girlfriend.

[Pat McAfee]

He was also doing some sort of camp, I believe. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Bingo. Yeah. Maryland.

[Pat McAfee]

He was doing a football camp. Okay. So that's where he was back in Maryland. I didn't not know that. And then he runs on a field and he's just so fast.

[AJ Hawk]

He's unbelievable. Wait till you see Afton Chisholm, though. This guy, man. I'm not even kidding.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying Shaz is the one. I'm.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm saying there's a real shot here. We got an Edelman, a Cooper cup diamond in the rough. If you.

[Pat McAfee]

There seems to be a couple similarities between those comparisons.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, well, he also. He also has a. A lot of Wes Walker in him.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, really?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, there's some of that.

[Pat McAfee]

I would have never guessed him.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike Florio]

About like Golden Tate. Like a slot like Golden Tate, maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Here he is.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh.

[Darius Butler]

Oh.

[Pat McAfee]

Cheers. Coach had great coverage on him, that coach.

[Mike Florio]

In his hip pocket.

[Darius Butler]

What school. What school do you go to again?

[AJ Hawk]

Eastern Washington.

[Pat McAfee]

Ewu.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Woo. That's what they do.

[Pat McAfee]

And then Chiz Ass comes in and breaks him up. She does like the Jabbawkis. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Big go.

[Pat McAfee]

Dang.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Chazz. Good luck out there. He's a rookie.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Undrafted free agent. So we're going to have to put on our boots, if you will.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure. Go to work and maybe.

[Connor]

Maybe think about having one.

[Pat McAfee]

And then if you. If you don't at this exact time, maybe in the future you. Yeah.

[Connor]

You can maybe have one a little.

[AJ Hawk]

Later at some point, but at some.

[Connor]

Point you're going to want to have one.

[Pat McAfee]

How. How did 77. 7 not have one?

[Connor]

I. I still don't know. Jose Antonio Medina Alvarez, whatever the. His name is. Something in that ballpark. He needed to have one. He needed to have a few more.

[Pat McAfee]

Something in that ballpark.

[AJ Hawk]

Big boots.

[Pat McAfee]

They were calling him Fat Tony earlier, which they do call him, I believe. I don't know if he accepts that name, but I know they were calling him that around the tournament. He's so good. His. You look at him, he's not supposed to be that good. No. He's kind of short. Definitely round soccer. Want to be able to run a lot. He is very flexible. He is. He's special. That whole team was filled. I guess they play in tournaments around the world. They go play in tournaments and win them. They weren't able to beat Bumpy pitch.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, nobody was.

[Mike Florio]

Where are they from?

[AJ Hawk]

They won the women's and the men's.

[Pat McAfee]

The Bumpy pitched it.

[Connor]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

U.S. women's National Team 1 Carly Lloyd.

[AJ Hawk]

Nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Carly Lloyd. I don't know. I was watching the highlights. I was following. She was in the same hotel we were in. Every time I walked by her, I said, legend, very nice to meet you. She was with her family each time. Legend, very good to see you. Legend, very good to see you. Because what she did with the U.S. women's National Team, like, real deal.

[Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I forget how many years she was on the women's national team. At some. She played forever, basically, and she still got it. I think she had like four goals in the tsd. I think she had one of the championship games.

[Connor]

She did, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Hope Solo's team, Solo fc. She made the all TSD team. Hope Solo did. I guess she caused a penalty kick and then saved the penalty kick. Yeah. Classical solo football.

[Connor]

Exactly.

[Darius Butler]

Legend.

[Pat McAfee]

That tournament was great.

[Darius Butler]

It was really was long, man.

[Connor]

Very long.

[Pat McAfee]

But it has to be, I think, for survival. Oh, yeah. Because at the end there, your legs.

[Ty Schmidt]

They do it as quick as possible.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. Like I think those elimination rounds have to be that way or nobody will make it to the final.

[Connor]

Or the games would just suck and be not entertaining at all.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Or whatever team's in best shape will win.

[Connor]

Which still, yeah, kind of holds true.

[Pat McAfee]

Which is kind of the NBA. And I don't think that gets talked about enough. Teams that are in the best shape in the NBA win. I don't. I don't think that is chatted about nearly enough whenever it comes to roster construction or team building. The reason why the Pacers have been so damn good.

[AJ Hawk]

Good.

[Pat McAfee]

Obviously they got a lot of talent. They're in the best shape. Oklahoma City, you watch them? Same exact thing. SGA. Looks like it's game 41 right now. They're like 100 games into the season. This has been a long ass season for these guys. It's a lot of running, too. And I'm not saying the those haven't done it in the past, but it's like watching the New York Knicks team slowly die while they were playing against the Pacers, which is clearly what happened even in the games. Fourth quarters. Oh, the Pacers come back in the fourth quarter. The Pacers come back in the fourth quarter. It's because of how good a shape they're in. It's because, like, what they. That's like a part of the strategy. Like, let's keep it close until the 4th, and then we should be able to to wear on them. It's like the OKC team has the same. They have the same mindset. So maybe when you're thinking about your NBA team, you should see are they in good shape or not. And maybe that's why Nico down there in Dallas was like, enough is enough.

[Mike Florio]

That's why Reddick saying that. Reddick saying they need to be in championship shape.

[Ty Schmidt]

Date Luca. I saw Luca.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, squatting.

[Ty Schmidt]

Squatting a thousand pounds.

[Pat McAfee]

I love the video.

[Mike Florio]

Just post the video.

[Pat McAfee]

We got some video of Aaron Rogers taking some drop backs as a Pittsburgh Steeler SEO.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, my T shirt.

[Mike Florio]

Or is that a jersey?

[Ty Schmidt]

Jersey?

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's a shzy. I think he's wearing a shirzy Nimble.

[Ty Schmidt]

Look how nim nimble is the right word.

[Pat McAfee]

They got yellow sleeves. He's wearing a T shirt underneath the jersey. Classic Aaron Rodgers. Man, he looks good.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, shut up.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, look at the handoff. It's like he's been there all voluntary.

[Mike Florio]

Oh, geez. Back up. There's running backs.

[Ty Schmidt]

You see Will Howard.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, get back, get back, get back. Go to go to the. Go to the handoff there where he does the carry out the fake.

[Darius Butler]

Still. Still.

[Pat McAfee]

Watch. Pause, Pause.

[Mike Florio]

Oh, no.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, get back, get back, get back. Jeez Louise. What are the other quarterback. Other quarterbacks obviously aren't carrying out all.

[AJ Hawk]

The way up Mickey Mouse.

[Pat McAfee]

They just think they're comfortable in that spot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Aren't the quarterback. Quarterbacks are studying Aaron.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, that's the running backs. Yeah. Get the out of the way. Jeez Louise.

[Ty Schmidt]

W's going first, obviously.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, who is that?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ty Schmidt]

What's the number?

[Pat McAfee]

Rolling ankle there to lunch.

[AJ Hawk]

That's his number.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, we got another championship this weekend.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, good luck to the Steelers. Looks like he's AOK. By the way, Aaron looks like the voluntary OTAs maybe weren't important. What were you saying?

[Darius Butler]

Final bosses league.

[Pat McAfee]

What's going on?

[Darius Butler]

Oh, you guys weren't aware. Okay, There we go. UFL championship. D.C. defenders.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't even think about it. Come on, Rock there. That's on me. Sorry, Dwayne. UFL has their championship.

[Darius Butler]

You knew that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, I did. You can watch it this weekend on Fox. Fox? On Fox on Saturday.

[Connor]

Saturday.

[AJ Hawk]

Sunday.

[Darius Butler]

I'm gonna make it a whole weekend.

[Pat McAfee]

D Bucks, will you cover it for us? Thank you. Cool boots on the ground. Darius J. Butler will be down the UFO championship where the defenders will take on the Michigan Panthers. Michigan Panthers, obviously very good because they had a kicker last year that was making 60 plus yardage. This year they said we're not just a kicker. No, no. We're a team. They have Puka's brother and don't even get into the. The. The beer snakes with the D defenders. They play good football. Yeah, they will be playing on.

[Connor]

I believe it's Saturday on. On Fox. It probably might be Sunday. It might be like 10am to be honest. They might slide that thing in early so people can go about their day. Watch the US Open.

[Pat McAfee]

Darius can't make it at 10am if it's at 10am he will not go any other time. He. He is good to go.

[Darius Butler]

Gotta go to Canada.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Darius Butler]

Canadian. Montreal. Grand.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah.

[Darius Butler]

I gotta cover qualies Saturday.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I don't think they do qualies in F1. It's just make sure you get the car on. Take selfies with them. Is that what the F1 do? Take selfies with all the cars?

[Darius Butler]

Qualify?

[Pat McAfee]

Yep. You qualified. You can take a photo with the car. You can certainly do that. Tone has been looking for a long time. On the date of this one, it's 8pm on.

[Ty Schmidt]

On ABC. ABC on June 14th.

[Pat McAfee]

ABC, 8pm June 14th, which is Saturday night.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kirk and Fowler, which is also flag day.

[Pat McAfee]

And you can find that. Happy flag day to everybody.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you. You too.

[Pat McAfee]

Being a sports fan isn't easy. Especially if you're a UFL fan. Finding these games, finding the championship even took a little bit of some research. But it'll be on ABC. You know where you can find ABC? YouTube. TV. YouTube TV gets the avid sports fans to feel more at ease knowing they have access to all their favorite sports and live TV in just one easy app. MVP features also put game highlights, stats and scores all in one place. Making it even easier to be a fan. And also.

[Darius Butler]

Damn it.

[Pat McAfee]

Highlight stats, score.

[AJ Hawk]

I haven't Been gambling.

[Pat McAfee]

Me neither, really. I feel very proud of the fact that I've not put my money down on things I know nothing about. Me, too. I'm very happy that I no longer bet on things that I feel like I want them to win. Like a year ago, probably this Pacer series. We're talking about heavy bets. Sure, Heavy bets. Every single game. Because my mindset would be they only got a few more games left regardless, so we might as well get it in. And then all of a sudden, OKC wins by 15. And it's all of a sudden I'm a different animal the next day. Yeah. And then I text Tyrese, Bob, take it to the rack. When you're gambling, you need to know what the hell you're betting on.

[AJ Hawk]

Always.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a smart idea. And I'm not saying you need to gamble on sports. You can obviously enjoy sports without gambling on it. Many of us have. Many of us are right now, currently. But if you're looking to do a little YouTube TV has all the stats, scores and everything you need to know in one place. They're trying to make your life better. And if you're a fan, wow. How much more informed are you? Because of our friends at YouTube TV, Mucho. You can also use multi view to watch up to four games at one time Sunday. So you can have the F1 Grand Prix standstill photo up in one side.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

You can have the UFL championship on abc. On another side, you can have maybe the Ocho, which has the slippery stairs race. That's right on the lower left. And then you can also put some talk show on the lower right. Shout out to YouTube TV being the first to do something that every network and platform is going to do going forward. They mastered the multi view. Shout out to YouTube TV for that. That's a huge development in the world of watching entertainment, no doubt. You can scan this QR code and score YouTube TV for 59.99 per month. For two months. Good deal right here. 59.99, First Sergeant. 59.99. Scan that QR code right there. Two months. It's a great deal. That's a great deal.

[AJ Hawk]

Great deal.

[Pat McAfee]

Because they just want you experience YouTube TV.

[AJ Hawk]

Come on in.

[Pat McAfee]

59.99. What is that? That's a smoothie, a wrap and a coffee in the morning with the express delivery. Definitely getting the express delivery too. I don't need my food and drink. Taking a tour around town before it gets to me. That's what it costs for one month of YouTube TV right now. If you scan that QR code. Wow, that's easy stuff. You'll enjoy the out of YouTube TV also. It learns about you. It does. So as soon as you get on there, they'll be like, hey, just a heads up, this is running right now. Oh, you missed this. Would you like to see this? Or you can go to the live feed feature. Boom. And it's all in there. YouTube TV makes watching TV convenient and it makes being a sports fan easy. Shout out to YouTube TV. Shout out. And shout out to you guys for watching this program. Shemar Stewart fired back today. I'm 100% right. Should be a no brainer in Trey's case. Should be a no brainer too. I'm not asking for nothing y' all have never done before, but y' all Bangles just want to win arguments more and winning games in my opinion. Opinion. What? Whoa.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's a good start.

[Connor]

That is a good start.

[AJ Hawk]

Love it.

[Pat McAfee]

That's from Ari Mirov at my Sports Update. He is an actual aggregator of actual NFL news, so I don't think he got hacked here. Do we know anything more about him saying this anywhere?

[Darius Butler]

That's it's a lot.

[Mike Florio]

Does he mean the Bengals organization or like the Bengals fan base?

[Pat McAfee]

I think the Bengals the organization. Organization, yeah, for sure. Paul Dana Jr. Is reporting the Shemar Stewart conversation as locker is obviously not great. Clear the frustration is bubbling up from a small annoyance to something more long lasting. Most notable, something very simple to fix. It's kind of disappointing. So Shemar interested to see the disenchantment with the organization's handling of this coming through so clearly now? I can't say what I really want to say. It's their contract. They can do what they want with it. Some very frank and direct comments from Shemar State Stewart and why he continues to feel he's 100 right to sit out. Clearly very upset and frustrated with Bengals that he's not signed and on the field. Let's go to that. Let's go to the beginning of that clip and let's see what he had to say here. This is 3 minutes and 35 seconds long. You can pause that. Go full screen on it. Here we go.

[Darius Butler]

I actually have no idea. I really don't know what have you.

[Mark Messier]

Been doing to stay locked in and you know, there's only so much that.

[Pat McAfee]

Can replicate on the field reps. But what have you been doing to make sure that you're actually locked in when you're out there knowing that you can't do anything. Great question.

[Darius Butler]

I still go to meetings, I still study my playbook, you know, taking down the right notes. And then whenever I get some free time, I'll go out to train at Black Sheep.

[Pat McAfee]

Is it fair to say at this point that you will not step foot.

[Shams Charania]

On the practice field and practice this until you're signed?

[Darius Butler]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Good question.

[Darius Butler]

Very bad. I mean, I've been doing this for most of my whole life and then all of a sudden it's gone over. Something very simple to fix. It's kind of disappointing.

[AJ Hawk]

Have they given you any answers as.

[Pat McAfee]

To why they're choosing this year and.

[Mark Messier]

You to set a new precedent?

[Darius Butler]

If I really wanted to say, yeah, I can't say what I really want to say, but it's their contract, they could do what they want with it.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, that means something you think from a player standpoint to be on the.

[Darius Butler]

Field for training camp, it's very important. I mean like you gotta get your body somewhat prepared to play football. Especially me coming from college to the NFL is a way physical game, even though I play in sec, which is very physical. But nothing compares to actually playing in NFL. So I thought it'd be. I thought I'd be on the field by now. That's what I thought.

[Pat McAfee]

Representation, family, friends.

[Ty Schmidt]

Obviously you've got to lean on a.

[Pat McAfee]

Lot of people to kind of get through a difficult time like this.

[Ty Schmidt]

What have they been telling you to help them?

[Darius Butler]

You know, just take it day by day, pray to God, you know he's always going to stand with me no matter. No matter what what. And just know you're doing the right thing like some people say. We all agree Trey will be right, right? But technically still 1% wrong for being under contract, so. And in my case, I'm 100, right. So it should be a no brainer. And in Trey's case, I think it should be a no brainer too. I mean, mean, he led 17 and a half sacks for two years back to back. If I was the GM or I was the owner, take all my money, but I guess they don't operate like that. But.

[AJ Hawk]

Have you experienced?

[Darius Butler]

I talked to him the last time he was here, but other than that, no.

[AJ Hawk]

Has this experience soured your taste with the Bengals?

[Darius Butler]

I'm not going to say that. I mean I'm still new here.

[Mark Messier]

Here.

[Darius Butler]

That's the. We still have a lot a long future ahead of us.

[Pat McAfee]

Communication with Zach Taylor been like through.

[Mike Florio]

This seems very reasonable.

[Pat McAfee]

I like this kid a lot talk here and there.

[Mike Florio]

Yeah, me too.

[Darius Butler]

Do you Feel behind mentally? No. Physically? Kind of, sort of. Not really, though. I still work out. I feel like I'm still in good shape.

[Mark Messier]

How do you make sure that you're.

[Pat McAfee]

Ready to go whenever that time goes?

[Darius Butler]

Oh, I'm always ready to go. I've been. I've been staying ready to go. I mean, it's my job now. I got no choice whether you're ready to go. Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you.

[AJ Hawk]

Optimistic is the wrong word.

[Mark Messier]

But is it realistic that you could.

[AJ Hawk]

Practice tomorrow if something gets done?

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, is it, is it that quick?

[Mark Messier]

Do you think it's going to be like a.

[Pat McAfee]

A light switch?

[Darius Butler]

Let's see. We got what, 20 hours? Let's see what happens. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Appreciate it. I think he handled that very, very well. Shout out to Trags on X. By the way, for posting that, Mike Petraglia is the one that posted there. Even though there was a lot of media surrounding him at that moment. I'll tell you what. Calm, composed. Yeah, yeah, I'm working out. I'm down at Black Sheep. I guess that is probably a gym near there. Because if it's voiding the entire contract, if something happens. He doesn't want anything to happen. Obviously there's some sort of in him saying their contract. I wonder how many times the Bengals have said, you're coming to our team, this is our offer to you and this is how it's gonna go. And then they ask, have you ever done this before? No, this is the first time we're doing this. Well, I don't think so. And then him talking on Trey's situation. The guy got 17 and a half sacks. I guess if I was a GM and a owner, I'd say have my money, but I guess that's not how they do around here. Has this soured your taste? No, I guess we're going to have a long relationship. I mean, everything about him, I'm like, I like the way this guy perfect. I like the way this guy operated. I mean, that was a real baby face move right there.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Cuz that's a really, really, really tough spot to be in. Like he said, you are taking that huge jump and you got to just stand there and look like the asshole on practice. It's not doing what everybody else is doing.

[Pat McAfee]

And.

[Darius Butler]

And we always say control the controllables. When you come in as a young player and you have a team around you that you want to trust, seems like he's controlling the controllable and he answered some tough questions there to be in that spot. So I'M frustrated for the young kid as well. Hopefully they can figure it out, but this is probably bigger than just him and his agent. I'm sure the PA probably reached out to his agent as well. Like, absolutely not. Don't accept that. So hopefully they get this figured out sooner than later. He's already missed so much valuable time, especially, especially with a guy that you, you know is going to have to make a huge jump production wise on the next level if he's going to live up to his draft slot. So hopefully it works out. But watching that clip, it kind of completely changes my view of him in this situation. Not that I had a fully negative one, but just hearing him talk and answer those questions definitely has me 1000% on his side.

[Pat McAfee]

I was a punter, seventh round draft pick, so I shouldn't have an opinion about anybody really publicly whenever it comes to playing the sport of football, especially if you make it to the NFL. But in my mind, when I heard about this, I was thinking to myself, rook, ass, rook, shut up. You know, like, this contract is not the one you're getting rich off of anyways. Like, the next one is the one you want. We need to be trying to get everything we can get done to get to the next contract. That's where you get rich. Like the first one, obviously great, but we want to get to the next one. And as a rookie, you are no longer the guy. Like you're in a room full of the guys. I mean, it's a whole new thing. So my natural reaction was like, this dude thinks the NFL revolves around him. He has no idea how this goes. Then I listen to him talk and I'm like, hold the phone. I love this guy. I would like this guy on my team. Actually. Why won't the Bengals get it done? I feel like I'm very happy we listen to that. And also Shemar, hey, staying on business over everybody. You stand on your business. I wouldn't want to be a guinea pig pick for a new clause either, I don't think. Now how many other teams do this? You know, like that's, that's the next question. Are the Bengals the only team doing this?

[Mike Florio]

He's protecting the next year, the next couple first round picks. Because the Bengals slip this into his contract, they can show next year's first round pick. Well, this is kind of what we do. And they can kind of pressure their agent, whoever the next pick would be. So I do wonder if any other teams are trying to put this clause in.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm assuming they're the only one, I'm assuming. If it's something shitty. Yeah. Then the Bengals are the. The only team doing it. The. The little tidbit Florio release, too. That kind of completely pivoted the entire thing for me, even before hearing that. Just because once you realize all the Bengals are just trying to screw over their first overall or 17th overall pick, their first rounder, there's no point in agreeing with the Bengals in any situation. Is there a president of. Like him.

[Pat McAfee]

Mr. Of.

[AJ Hawk]

Of. Mr. President. President. Yeah, press it in whatever. Is there a situation where a first rounder has just never Bosa.

[Pat McAfee]

Right. The Boses. I think something happened with the Boses.

[AJ Hawk]

But I mean, like, never. So theirs was money in bosa sign like of week one. Like where he. No one. You just never signed your first.

[Pat McAfee]

Wasn't he drafted to a team in the Raiders maybe? And he just didn't go. He went.

[Connor]

I think it was like the Bucks or something. And he told him before they drafted him, like, hey, if you draft me, I'm not gonna.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm Joey.

[Pat McAfee]

They want to play baseball. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Joey missed all the preseason games. His contract didn't get done until.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, both of them, I think both of them.

[AJ Hawk]

But I think that's when it's money. That's one thing. Because it wasn't their whole dispute guarantees money. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

This one is a clause on future voids.

[AJ Hawk]

And they. They were both top three picks. This is the 17.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, shout out to the young agent reading through that thing and finding Claus.

[Mike Florio]

He had to send it. I would assume he sent it to multiple other agencies. Friend. Hey, is this. This isn't normal, right? Like, we can't be signing this.

[Pat McAfee]

You gotta remember those lawyers too. They'll sneak a clause in there. Deep. 30 pages, 40 pages in, 20 pages in. You know, they do that. So other lawyers are forced to be hired to read through these things. Whereas. Whereas. Whereas. Whereas we're four pages in and whereas has only said one fucking thing. But who wants to sit here and do all this? Oh, other lawyers do. So you need to hire another lawyer to deal with the other lawyer. So then lawyers always have, what, work, billable hours. And this agent and the lawyers that read through it, if it's not him. If the lawyers for the agent read through it, whatever found it and were like, nope, that's good deal. Good for them.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm happy they did that. Jake Arthur at Jake Arthur. NFL is reporting that first series of 11 on 11. Daniel Jones, 3 of 3 hit Michael Pittman for a touchdown. Hall of fame. Wow.

[AJ Hawk]

Over Justin Wally.

[Ty Schmidt]

That competition was short.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what it's all about.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's Dan's house dj.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Three for three.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Justin Wally's a player, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He's always got good eyes on fades. That's why they had him in. He is a red zone defender.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He's in there for the fade, actually. And Daniel Jones said, catch his fade. And he said, wally, I'm doing it. Wally had no shot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Pit's a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Pitman's fishing with Riley Leonard already. Yeah. It feels like team's more together than it's ever been.

[AJ Hawk]

Kind of low.

[Pat McAfee]

They got some weapons, though.

[Darius Butler]

Man. Drafted Tyler Warren, Pittman Downs.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittman never speaks to the media. Dog would break his back on a football field for the Indianapolis Colts. Yeah, and he tried.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it has almost did.

[Pat McAfee]

He tried and he would. Hey, talk about dark horse teams. I think that's what they call Daniel Jones is the dark horse.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it's his nickname.

[Darius Butler]

I thought it was Vanilla Vic.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is, but.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's a whole nother nickname.

[Ty Schmidt]

He is many.

[Connor]

He's going by Indiana and now Jones. Yeah, sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

In Dan.

[Pat McAfee]

In. Yeah, yeah. In Daniel.

[AJ Hawk]

In Daniel Jones.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, then you're inside of him.

[Ty Schmidt]

We trust.

[Pat McAfee]

Indianuel Jones. Indian Jones. You'd get there. Indiana Jones.

[AJ Hawk]

Hopefully he starts.

[Pat McAfee]

Who else? Riley Leonard. I'm okay with that.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, is that cowboy still there?

[Pat McAfee]

Who?

[AJ Hawk]

Sam Ellinger?

[Pat McAfee]

You're right. I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

I think.

[Pat McAfee]

What about.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, who was there last year that you loved in the preseason?

[Connor]

No. Jason Bean.

[Pat McAfee]

Jason Bean was a dog. Bean was a dog. Why were we getting rid of Bean? I don't know. I didn't fully understand that one. I did not fully understand understand why we got rid of Bean. Bean was a little bit of a dog. How about the YouTube TV ball right here? Pretty cool.

[Ty Schmidt]

Pretty cool.

[Mike Florio]

Oh, okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they get it. Thank you.

[Mike Florio]

I mean, stats and workout videos can really paint a picture in the off season for you. I mean, stats from practice.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you. Are you talking about for me or for everybody?

[AJ Hawk]

It translates everybody.

[Mike Florio]

You know, like, hey, something happened. I don't know. Oh, you put out a picture of you lifting weights, all is well.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. Stefan Diggs put out a video of him working out with his route doctor, whatever it was. And I was so impressed that he was able to go from knee injury to yacht to that practice all within seemingly three days. I was like, this guy, this guy's a superhero. He's in great shape, and he shows up at OTAs running around. Yeah, you're right. I will change my mindset. Cam Newton. When I saw him do that one workout video, I knew too. Everybody needed to sign him before the Patriots. Yeah. Yeah. And I'll tell you what. Maybe didn't work out as well as it should have, but it's a good start.

[AJ Hawk]

He hurt your shoulder?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he got hurt. What do you want from him? He launched a new video or a new show.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. He was part of the BET Awards last night. Him and Ashley Nicole Moss start a spin off of 106 Park. 106 Sports.

[Pat McAfee]

Really?

[Darius Butler]

I'm sure it'll be some blend of sports.

[Mike Florio]

Oh, that was huge in the locker room.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

106 in park. Big generation last night, I guess. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Bow wow performed Lil Wayne performed some old oh t Pain. So, yeah, it was very targeted to our generation, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. 106 and park had a hell of a run. Yeah.

[Connor]

Freestyle Friday.

[Pat McAfee]

So good. So good, man. I thought about Bow Wow because he re showed up at 106 and Park. I think that's where he re entered my life from back in the day. Basketball. He's my favorite sport, you know.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Like Mike, I like the way they dribble up and down the court.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Like that was bow right when he was. When he was a little guy.

[Mark Messier]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Just a little Bow Wow. And he popped back in life at 106 and Park. I was like, holy, he's an adult now. And he was awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

Also in the Fast and Furious franchise. He popped back up. But yeah, it was 106 in park or TRL when you got home from school. Whatever videos was.

[Darius Butler]

Was rocking at the time.

[Pat McAfee]

That was great times.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, to be young again. Oh, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Probably so.

[Ty Schmidt]

And home improvement came on.

[Connor]

What was right. What was right before 106 in park? Was it the basement with big Tigger?

[Darius Butler]

It was Big Tick.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell of a run.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was.

[Pat McAfee]

These young bucks have no idea.

[Connor]

No idea.

[Pat McAfee]

You have no clue what it was like back then. It's a shame, you know what your world now back than ever. That's what we'll say.

[Darius Butler]

They got streamers now.

[Connor]

Yeah. Watch Minecraft.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, those.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Sweet Minecraft. Great movie. They said everybody saying. I'm sure they did.

[Ty Schmidt]

How come streamers always have weird names?

[Darius Butler]

Be catchy.

[Pat McAfee]

What's a stage name? What are you talking about?

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, it's always like, I can't even. I'm not even going to try to come up with something.

[Mike Florio]

You can try a few of them go Ahead.

[Pat McAfee]

First of all, I would like to say Kai and Drewski joining Kevin Hart last night. Banger. Anytime there together. I'm a big Druski fan. Got a chance to watch him operate. He is hilarious. His white guy good?

[Mike Florio]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Solid, solid. So good. How's my Uncle Ed? He's dressed up like my Uncle Ed. Rest in peace. He was my Uncle Ed in that. In that entire thing. Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Kai in speed.

[Darius Butler]

They want to run.

[Pat McAfee]

Run. I don't know how much that's got to be so much. Just. What are they watching me live? All right. Every day they gotta go. Jake Paul and Logan. Paul used to do that. It's every day, bro. Yeah, it's like. It is. The. The work ethic, I don't think is talked about about these streamers. Congrats to them. They're also all in love. What happened at Streamer University. There was a lot of love that was going on. See a lot of drama down there.

[Peter Schrager]

I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

I think there's some drama going on in love world.

[AJ Hawk]

Some drama yesterday because Kai didn't know who Wale was. It was a little bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I heard Wally went up to him and say he made me look like a dumb. Dumb.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he did.

[Ty Schmidt]

He doesn't know about Left Hand Up.

[AJ Hawk]

He said, who's Wally?

[Pat McAfee]

Kai said that? Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Did he really?

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, I'm dead serious. Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then. Oh, not good. Yeah, not good. Maybe Wally will go back into the booth. Maybe that'll send wise money, name, wallet. And they keep saying whale is an old line.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Now I can say, why is my name Walley? And these youngs call me Wally. Yeah. And he goes right back in there.

[AJ Hawk]

Hopefully.

[Pat McAfee]

You ever listen to Waka Flocka these days? Holds up.

[Connor]

I haven't. And a walk always.

[Ty Schmidt]

He always goes harder.

[Pat McAfee]

Whenever he was going to be at Monday Night Raw, I was trying to explain to my Michael Cole who Walka Flocka was. He said, who is Walka Flocka Flame? I said, bangers only. He said, what do you mean? We're on the bus. Loud sound system. Just straight to walk. His top five. They all sound pretty much the same. I. I did not turn it up, though.

[Darius Butler]

I didn't know he had a diamond record until when he was showing on Raw. And they had, I think on it. On his. The diamond.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. No hands, I think.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So good.

[Darius Butler]

Might have been that one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Think about how many.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, yeah. Everywhere.

[AJ Hawk]

Art in the paint.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a party. It's a party. It's a grocery Party? Yeah, absolutely. There's another one. He got a whole lot of money coming for me. It's a party. It's a party, It's a party. And then he just stopped. Out of Nowhere, they started DJing. I watched them do a DJ set here in Indianapolis, Indiana. Just press play, and then just literally two hours straight. Who? Nick? Were you with me when that. Yeah, I think you were with me. Yeah. It's quite the hustle to watch. It was awesome. It was incredible.

[Darius Butler]

What do you mean?

[Ty Schmidt]

Who did we do that with in Vegas?

[Darius Butler]

He wasn't on the ones.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, it's Jermaine Dupree.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he might have been on the ones. He might have been on the ones and twos. I'm not 100 sure, but he was just playing bangers, and then he was just sitting up there going nuts. Yeah, just going. And then I think he was flying out there to go hit another gig afterwards. I'm like, wow, great, G. This is a good. I would like to let him know where. We watched him do his thing. Place was lit. I mean, the party was he Mission accomplished. Then he hopped in a plane. One did it somewhere else. I think he started with, it's a party. It's a party. His dreads just flying. It was crazy. That's a good gimmick if you can get it. Why don't you guys? We need to make some music.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, let's do that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Someone should, though, because, you know, after a while in that era, music kind of died.

[Pat McAfee]

Morgan Wallen's got like a hundred songs.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hip hop music. Hip hop music kind of died.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, I know little Nobu is cool.

[Pat McAfee]

That's my name. Ma Boo. I had no boo the other day.

[Darius Butler]

Who the is that?

[Pat McAfee]

Little Sushi? The Sushi from Nobu?

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wasn't bad. It was actually pretty. You don't know who Lil MAU is?

[Darius Butler]

No clue.

[Pat McAfee]

You know you're about to.

[Connor]

Then you don't know you're about to give Ms. Hands in a second.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you know Little Man Jay?

[Darius Butler]

I've seen him in the chat a couple times, but I don't know. I couldn't recognize this song.

[Pat McAfee]

You know why you saw him in the chat? Debone is disrespectful song of the summer, dude. Let me hear it, Gump.

[Peter Schrager]

I just want to pick you up.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you talking about the new one? Sipping whichever one. Hello, Man Jay. All right, let's get the out of here. You guys are the greatest. Aj we'll see you tomorrow. Be a friend. Tell a friend. Something nice to my. Change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team goodbye.