PMS 2.0 1359 - Pacers Win NBA Finals Game 3, Adam Schefter, 49ers GM John Lynch, Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen, Henrik Lundquist, Quentin Richardson, & AJ Hawk

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1359

Release Date: June 12, 2025

Hosts and Guests:

• Pat McAfee (Host)
• AJ Hawk (Co-host)
• Ty Schmidt (Co-host)
• Boston Connor (Co-host)
• Darius Miles (Co-host)
• Adam Schefter (ESPN’s Senior NFL Insider)
• John Lynch (General Manager, San Francisco 49ers)
• Henrik Lundqvist (Hall of Fame Hockey Goalie)
• Quentin Richardson (Guest)
• Liam Coen (Head Coach, Jacksonville Jaguars)

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1. Indiana Pacers' Dominance in the NBA Finals

The episode kicks off with Pat McAfee expressing excitement over the Indiana Pacers' current standing in the NBA Finals, leading the series 2-1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Key Points:

• Team Depth and Versatility: Pat highlights the Pacers' remarkable depth, emphasizing that it’s not just the superstars making an impact but a multitude of players stepping up consistently.

  “It's been six to seven different players showing up on different nights and doing their thing.” [00:51]

• Standout Performances:

  • Tyrese Haliburton has been aggressive and effective in scoring.
  • Pascal Siakam demonstrates exceptional wingspan and defensive prowess.
  • Obie Toppin electrifies the crowd with his performances.
  • TJ McConnell disrupts the Thunder's offense with steals and high energy.
  • Ben Mathou shines off the bench, displaying a beast-like mentality to take over games when needed.

  “TJ McConnell was in their heads the entire night.” [02:05]

• Coach Rick Carlisle's Strategy: Carlisle’s focus on fitness and running a high-paced game is taxing the Thunder, possibly leading to fatigue in later quarters.

  “The pace that the Pacers set is tiring. It is exhausting. I don't know how how Pacers are able to do what they do.” [02:54]

• Implications for Game 4: With the Pacers up 2-1, the discussion centers on the importance of maintaining energy and strategy to secure another win and advance.

Notable Quote:

“Oklahoma City hasn't lost back-to-back games since 2024.” [00:46]

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2. City Celebrations and Fan Engagement

Pat McAfee and co-hosts reflect on the electric atmosphere in Indianapolis following the Pacers' win.

• Crowd Energy: The Gainbridge Fieldhouse witnessed an explosive crowd reaction with fans flooding into the streets, showcasing the city's passion for basketball.

  “There is a chance until 1:32am on a Wednesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.” [05:58]

• Cultural Impact: The Pacers have reinvigorated the city's sports culture, breaking a 25-year absence from the Finals and uniting fans across generations.

  “Now we're two wins away from it. It's hard not to get electrified.” [06:52]

Notable Quote:

“This Pacers team is ready to win. And a lot of people thought OKC was going to maybe get a gentleman sweep after giving up game number one.” [03:52]

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3. NFL Updates with Adam Schefter

Adam Schefter joins the show to discuss the latest NFL developments, focusing on player contracts and team strategies.

Key Topics:

• Aaron Rodgers Signing with the Steelers:

  • The Steelers confirm Aaron Rodgers' move, sparking discussions about TJ Watt's contract negotiations.

  “Aaron Rodgers is going to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.” [18:18]

• TJ Watt Holdout:

  • TJ Watt remains unsigned due to ongoing contract negotiations. Schefter explains that while the Steelers are optimistic about resolving the situation, the holdout has become a distraction.

  “They feel comfortable that they'll be able to work out something eventually with TJ Watt.” [18:46]

• Cincinnati Bengals' Contract Issues:

  • The Bengals face challenges in signing rookie Shemar Stewart due to unusual contract clauses that deviate from standard rookie agreements.

  “It's not a normal clause. That's why Shemar Stewart is objecting the way he is now.” [21:22]

• Colts' Quarterback Situation:

  • Anthony Richardson's injury raises concerns about the Colts' quarterback depth, potentially accelerating Daniel Jones' role.

  “There’s a lot of smoke flying around there about the condition of his shoulder.” [26:13]

Notable Quote:

“The Bengals wanted to include that clause... that would essentially nullify some of those guarantees if he got cut.” [20:22]

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4. San Francisco 49ers Off-Season Moves with John Lynch

John Lynch provides insights into the 49ers' off-season strategies, focusing on contract signings and draft picks.

Key Points:

• Major Contracts:

  • Signed Brock Purdy to a five-year, $265 million deal, prioritizing him as the franchise quarterback.
  • Extended contracts for George Kittle and Fred Warner, securing key players essential to the team's core.

  “We all looked at each other and said absolutely. And we went to work on doing a deal.” [35:10]

• Balancing Salaries and Draft Picks:

  • To afford the high-value contracts, the team had to release several free agents and focus on drafting young talent, acquiring 11 draft picks to infuse youth into the roster.

  “We had to watch some really good players go. Fortunately, we had 11 draft picks.” [35:59]

• Draft Strategy and Team Culture:

  • Emphasizes the importance of drafting players who are not only athletically gifted but also possess strong intangibles like competitiveness and mental fortitude.

  “Who are they as people? Because as you know, Pat, the NFL seasons, they're long, they're hard.” [38:47]

Notable Quote:

“I think if you watch this team, you can't help but be entertained.” [03:38]

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5. Hockey Insights with Henrik Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist discusses the current NHL Finals, focusing on goalie performances and team strategies.

Key Topics:

• Goalie Comparisons:

  • Andrei Vasilevskiy (Bob): Praised for his technique and ability to recover on broken plays.
  • Stu Skinner: Recognized for his resilience and ability to bounce back after tough games.

  “He has a method where everything he does leading up to a game in warm ups or in preparation, you know, it's about finding that place.” [117:12]

• Team Dynamics and Defense:

  • Lundqvist emphasizes the importance of a strong defensive strategy and how goalies play a critical role in maintaining team focus and performance under pressure.

  “Goaltending is about making decisions under pressure and you can afford any mistakes, really.” [118:32]

Notable Quote:

“I put my money on Florida tonight.” [117:52]

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6. Final Thoughts and Predictions

The hosts and guests share their predictions and thoughts on upcoming games and the overall performance of the teams.

NBA Finals:

• Game 4 Anticipation: Focus on whether the Pacers can extend their lead to 3-1 and potentially secure the championship, or if the Thunder can adjust their strategy to regain momentum.

  “We shall see tomorrow night here in Indianapolis, Indiana.” [60:03]

NFL Developments:

• Steelers' Future: Optimism about Aaron Rodgers' impact on the team and the resolution of TJ Watt’s contract situation.
• 49ers’ Prospects: Confidence in the newly signed and drafted players to build a strong and competitive team.

Hockey Finals:

• Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers: Lundqvist predicts a win for Florida, citing their deep roster and strong organizational culture.

Notable Quote:

“That's a good one.” [60:31]

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7. Humorous and Light-Hearted Moments

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in playful banter, share personal anecdotes, and discuss non-sports topics, adding an entertaining dynamic to the show.

• Host Interactions: Teasing between Ty Schmidt, Boston Connor, and Quentin Richardson regarding hangovers, grilled chicken sandwiches, and humorous miscommunications.

  “You just gotta let it.” [162:27]

• Cultural References: Discussions about pop culture, technology issues with iPhones, and playful interactions with guests like Henrik Lundqvist.

  “Toxamuka. Thank you.” [122:31]

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8. Conclusion

Pat McAfee wraps up the episode by highlighting the Pacers' impressive run in the NBA Finals, expressing anticipation for Game 4, and acknowledging the contributions of guests like Adam Schefter and John Lynch. The show maintains a balance between in-depth sports analysis and engaging, light-hearted conversation, ensuring an informative and entertaining experience for listeners.

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Overall Themes:

• Underdog Success: The Indiana Pacers' surprising and impressive performance in the NBA Finals.
• Team Strategy and Depth: Emphasis on team depth, versatile player contributions, and strategic coaching.
• NFL Contract Negotiations: Insights into high-profile NFL contract situations and their implications.
• Goalie Performance in Hockey: The critical role of goaltenders in high-stakes hockey games.
• Entertainment Value: Balancing serious sports discussions with humorous and relatable banter among hosts.

Notable Quotes:

• “We're a group of dogs.” – Pat McAfee [02:00]
• “You have to have the mental fortitude.” – John Lynch [40:47]
• “It's about making decisions under pressure.” – Henrik Lundqvist [118:32]
• “That's a good one.” – Pat McAfee [60:31]

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of The Pat McAfee Show episode 2.0 1359, detailing the key discussions, insights, and entertaining moments that make this podcast a unique blend of sports expertise and relatable humor.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this, the pacers are up 2 to 1 in the finals. This program begins now. Sports are happening all around us and I don't know if you saw last night and if you didn't, you missed out on an absolutely magnificent evening here in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers are currently up 2 to 1 in the NBA Finals over the number one overall seed, Oklahoma City Thunder, who are a great, great ball club sga. What a talent. Yeah, Chet Harvesting. They're massive animals who are great at basketball. Love everything they're doing over there. Coach Daggs, super genius.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he is.

[Pat McAfee]

Oklahoma City only lost 14 games all regular season. Holy hell. Oklahoma City hasn't lost back to back games since 2024. Something to think about as we look ahead to tomorrow night's Game 4 of the NBA Finals. But with that being said. Oh, who's the hottest team in the NBA since February? Oh, who's the team that's been shown no respect? Oh, who's the team that has been talked about being dog walked in every single series of this playoff run? The Indiana Pacers put on a show last night in Gainbridge field house in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. And it wasn't just the superstars. And that's what makes this Indiana Pacer team so damn great. All season long, since post all star break, since they've got onto this run, it hasn't just been one player, hasn't been two players, hasn't been three players. It's been six to seven different, different players showing up on different nights and doing their thing. Pascal Siakam was aggressive early. He said, I'm going to put this team on my back. I'm going to do my thing. Tyrese Haliburton started scoring. Obie Toppin was electrifying. And then whenever you think about Obie Toppin, you have to immediately think about the bench. Oh, the bench. How'd it do? Oh, T.J. mcConnell goes absolutely absurd. The young Yinzer just starts stealing inbound passes as if this was high school basketball and he was a varsity player taking on a junior varsity team. This is the NBA Finals. TJ McConnell was in their heads the entire night. And then let' about Ben Math, absolute beast. This guy has the ability, has the skill, has the dog mentality to take over any games for us. He happens to come off the bench, which we're incredibly lucky for. He fits in perfectly. And whenever he gets rolling, everybody on team understands. Hey, yeah, Matheran's hot right now. Let's Go ahead and feed him. They're an unselfish team. They're a group of dogs. And Coach Carlisle has them running people out of the gym. Don't look now. Don't look now. Last year during the playoff run, Pacers playing all hurt teams, remember, everybody gets hurt. Everybody gets hurt. Well, they wouldn't. Well, they wouldn't. Well, they wouldn't. Then this year. Well, they wouldn't. Well, they wouldn't. Do you think there's a chance that the Pacers are in better shape than you and the reason why your team potentially gets hurt is because the Pacers are going to run you out of the gym? Oklahoma City has a lot of depth. Oklahoma City obviously in incredible shape. Oklahoma City also not going for a lot of offensive rebounds. Watching live, you see a guy shoot and they're just banking on that falling as three guys fall back so that they don't get caught in transition, which is what the Pacers have been doing every other team. But if you look late in that fourth quarter, I think there was even a shot of SGA with his hands on his knees. The pace that the Pacers set is tiring. It is exhausting. I don't know how many bodies can keep up with it. To be honest. I don't know how the hell the Pacers are able to do what they do. If you watch their games, they are running. It is gassers for four quarters for NBA basketball and they've done it all season long. And I think there's a chance Oklahoma City's getting a little winded. I think there's a chance. We've seen it with the Knicks. We've seen it with the Cavs. We've seen it with the Bucks. You go last year to the playoff series. Everybody but the Celtics.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And in that Celtics Eastern Conference finals series, the Pacers were up three out of those four of those games. I think the Pacers thought they should have probably won two to three of those games. Instead, they get swept. 4.0Take that lesson into the offseason. Coach Carlisle told us that his main conversation with the boys this offseason was like, hey, we need to be in better shape than everybody. And they are. They're a fun team to watch. They're a scrappy team. And these finals games have been electrifying. And it's a battle, obviously, the two best teams in the NBA. And I liked Adam Silver chit chatting about how our Finals games. Everybody's comparing the numbers to what they used to be when more people were watching Linear television. Everybody's talking about how the numbers are down. Well, back in the day, they wouldn't be the number one thing on television that night. Now, NBA Finals games are clearly the number one thing on television. They're outrating everything else other than sports that are taking place. We're in a transition era of linear and digital and social and everything else that's taking place. It's like the world is interested in this particular series because of how great the basketball is, even though the numbers linear wise, aren't as big, I guess, as it used to be. Adam Silver is like, we're in a great spot for where the current world is of entertainment. And if you watch this team, you can't help but be entertained. Tyrese Halliburton, back aggressive. Love it. Pascal Siakam, he's. He's got a wingspan of maybe 8ft. He tried to take off from the foul line on like two dudes last night. Miles Turner also tried to do that. Now, granted, it did not work out as well for Miles, but on defensive end, Miles Turner becomes the all time leader in blocks in the history of the Pacers. It's like, this team is fun. The Pacers team is ready to win. And a lot of people thought OKC was going to maybe get a gentleman sweep after giving up game number one. It feels like now there's a little bit of a tide turning that maybe this Pacers team is for real. All they got to do is make it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, make it to the finals this year, have a lead in the Finals this year, and people here maybe, hold on, maybe they're not bad at basketball. Think about all the storylines around the NBA all year, all the superstars that have been talking about around the NBA all year. Not one of them was an Indiana Pacer. Nope. Not one of them was about any of our superstars, which we have many. And not one of them was about a team that's up in the NBA Finals right now. Two to one, our city is abuzz. Last night was electrified. I couldn't even sleep after the game last night. I was up to like 3:00am Just thinking about how electric Gainbridge and then how awesome our city is going to be today going into the weekend. And then let's not even start thinking about it.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, don't start thinking about it.

[Evan Fox]

Don't start thinking about it.

[Pat McAfee]

No point.

[Boston Connor]

Don't do it. I did last night as well. Don't start thinking about it though.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to the toxic table at Boston Connor and at ti Schmit, con man. Obviously, the Celtics have the most titles in the NBA history. Yeah. You've obviously experienced a parade or two because of the Celtics. Also because the Patriots and the Red Sox. I get it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bruins.

[Pat McAfee]

But here in Anna, Bruins, certainly. It seems like those are long, long gone. Long gone. Yeah. Marshawn's still doing it for you guys, though. Yeah. So don't worry about it first. But whenever you think about, like, parades, the Indiana Pacers have never won. Never. This is a state of basketball, a city of basketball, a city that loves this Pacers team. This Pacers team represents the city of Indianapolis. Have never won. Now we're two wins away from it. It's hard not to get electrified. It's hard not to get excited about it. I think that's where Indianapolis is right now. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's impossible to put into words, like the parades that I have been able to experience with New England sports teams. What it really means for some of these people, like just the 25 years since the Pacers have been to the finals. Think about, you know, some kids have just never. Who are 25, 24 years old is the first time they're experiencing it. Think about the dudes who are 50, 50, 55. I mean, there was a tweet during the Knicks series of, you know, Ron from Fishers, Indiana, sitting next to Timothee Chalamet, you know, clapping. That was for the team. That guy. That guy probably lives and dies.

[Pat McAfee]

His kids got him tickets.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bingo. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I just so happen to be right next to Timothy Chalamet and he's in every single photo. It's like, that's our dad sitting next to Timothy Chalamet, lifelong Pacers fan. We got him a tickets for as a gift because how much he loves it just so happened to be against right next to the next biggest movie star on earth at this game. It's like the city is loving.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, the. The city. This. The state. I mean, the crowd last night, I was joking around during the program yesterday saying these Patriots fans are pretty quiet. The crowd last night was unbelievable. After you cut your promo, they went on a 167 run. But immediately after your promo as well, they played welcome to the Jungle. And that just kind of whole place was going nuts. And that was perfect. I actually went to the bathroom after that little run they went on, and you could hear the crowd from the bathroom. That's how impressive it was. Very proud of all those people. But when it comes to the parades, I really can't even. And Ty Said it. Don't even think about it. Don't even think about it. And I agree.

[Pat McAfee]

Pacers aren't thinking about it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I know.

[Pat McAfee]

They're thinking about it. I'm thinking about it.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. It is what it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Ty, a lot of people are saying you had maybe nine to ten Jack and Cokes last night. Because I saw you reenact.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I posted you reenacting math runs.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Huge. Huge.

[Boston Connor]

And one big. That was a momentum.

[Pat McAfee]

This was early in the game. It was. We knew Matheran was about to have a night.

[Boston Connor]

We did.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think a lot of people know Benedict Matheran. I, I, I don't think a lot of people know his style. I watched him against the Knicks subbing for Tyrese, and they took over the game.

[Ty Schmidt]

It hurt last year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It's like we have a lot of guys on the bench that are understand their role. I think they appreciate their role. And whenever they get in, they get their opportunity. They take over the bench. Won the game last night by far. Now, Tyrese, one rebound away from a triple double.

[Ty Schmidt]

Whoa.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a he he, everybody. Yeah. I think from Tyrese Halliburton and that dunk, whenever he stands over the ball, I thought there's a lot of people calling for, like, a delay a game because Oklahoma City Thunder were nowhere.

[Boston Connor]

They're way back.

[Pat McAfee]

They were nowhere near the entirety. It was like that place. The roof blew off a few different times. Thank you to the Pacers for allowing me to have a microphone once again. Expensive suite.

[Ty Schmidt]

Was it a suite?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they created a suite for us to be in. That's very kind of them.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

Put up drapes, charge us suite prices. For sure. Had a great night with the entire team, obviously. And then they go, hey, will you do the thing? And I'm like, sure. What an honor. NBA Finals. So you have to think what you're going to think about. There was a small OKC contingency over to our left, and they were rather loud.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I actually, I thought to myself, like, they are a passionate bunch over there. And you watch on TV in Oklahoma City, their fans are a part of the game. Coach Carlisle's come out and been like, hey, this fan base is part of the game. Players have been like, hey, OKC is the best place on earth. And I think, like, Pacers fans are like, what are we, chop liver?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. What.

[Pat McAfee]

What are we? We're chopped liver over here. Do you, do you think we're not like a college team? You don't think we're like a small market team that absolutely loves our team. You don't think we're a group of fans that are incredibly pumped. For the first time in 25 years we're hosting a finals game. And I'll tell you what, it did get a little deafening in there.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was.

[Pat McAfee]

That felt pretty good. Oh, yeah, Nice little reaction.

[Ty Schmidt]

I was pumped.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to Grady too. Grady, former PA ANNOUNCER Mike Grady, former PA Announcer for the Indiana Pacers. He went over, did the Nets job. I forget where he's at now. He's an Indiana guy, black dude, handsome, great voice, great voice. Friend of mine back in the day, he's the one who created the Indy. And everybody say and happy. Everybody rolled with that. But that is kind of a daunting chant. We need to keep that thing around. I think we need to keep that moving. Even though Grady moved on and this Tyrese Saliburton led Indiana Pacers team, they're locked in. They understand what happened last year against the Celtics. Everything they chat about is like, we got three more wins, two more wins, four more wins. Last year was like, hey, we're six wins away from an NBA title. They seem to be locked in. Coach Carlisle is locked in. This series has been electrifying. The Oklahoma City Thunder are favored by six and a half tomorrow night in Indiana. They have not lost back to back since 2024. So we're obviously six months into 2025. That has been a long time for them to lose back to back games. But we shall see how the Pacers respond. How Pascal Tyrese, Miles Turner. Nice. Smith, Such a good shooter. Oh yeah. He should change the name of three Smith. That'd be, I mean, no questions asked because there was a couple where he's off balance and he's just like shoving it and it's like falling. It's like this guy is the truth. He might be one of the best shooters in the league. Never gets talked about.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

This entire team never gets talked about. Anything they do. Never gets talked about. Now the world is kind of being forced to recognize a little bit that the Pacers are a ball club. So is Oklahoma City. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

And Rick Carlisle, like, I think that was a big takeaway from watching the game. They changed how they regarding SGA. Like, everyone see an SGA nine to 20, only had 24 points. Only had six, you know, free throws. But the Carlisle was starting to double them when they did that kind of ISO situation. And then it kind of led to a bunch of rush shots. So you Talk about, you know, Udonis has them saying yesterday, hey, we got to the finals, then Rick Carlisle just throws out this zone. It's like, well, this is kind of happening with SGA now. Now all of a sudden, he's getting doubles when he's going to those corner ISO spots where usually he does just get to the hoop, get free throws. And it's unbelievable for him.

[Pat McAfee]

UD said, you need to look for the pick and roll with the big man at the elbow. Tyrese and Miles Turner ran the same pick and roll at the elbow 10 times straight in the second half, I think. And it was like, you. What you did. Hey, we need UD on a program more.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Guy knows ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to Q. Rich coming by. Darius Miles coming through. Sham Sharan, you broke some news, pissing people off. I don't know if you guys saw.

[Boston Connor]

Giannis said, he certainly pissed Giannis off.

[Pat McAfee]

I miss Woj. Yeah. Oh, shut up, Giannis. We do not. Okay. And this has happened before with Jimmy Butler news.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

In Miami. You know, Sean's gets tried because he's a young buck. He looks younger than everybody else, and he's new to this game in some people's eyes. It's like, we'll see. We'll see. I think that's Sean's big thing. We'll see. A lot of these insiders know stuff before everybody else. That's kind of their job. And there's been plenty of times where insiders say something and even the direct people that are part of it, like, no, no, no. And then the insider just sits there like, okay, I think it was Rapaport one time, had a guy injured, saying, this guy's gonna miss first two weeks of the season or something like that.

[Boston Connor]

Is it J.K. dobbins?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And J.K. cap. Cap. That ain't real. And rap was like, okay, we will see. I assume Rapp was talking directly to the doctor or to the trainer, and then all of a sudden, lo and behold, it was like the first four weeks or something like that. And Rapp's just like, yeah. I mean, it gets hot in the kitchen every once in a while. Happened to Shams with the Miami Heat, with Jimmy Butler. I think Riley came out and even said something against him. Coach came out and said something against him. I think Jimmy Butler even came out and said something against him. And Shams just sat in there saying, we'll see, we'll see. Everybody on TV started attacking Shams. This guy doesn't know shit. This guy doesn't know shit. And then Lo and behold, Jamie Butler's traded Golden State warriors. And everything he said was right from the beginning. We'll see on this particular case if he is still swinging hot bat. But shout to shams coming through. Everybody that came, Terry Crews, I think was here in Indianapolis last night. A lot of people came through the city. We're very thankful you came. And to those Oklahoma City fans that traveled out here. Hey, thought you had a good performance.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good on you.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to one half of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Toad. It's not just the NBA Finals. It's not just the Stanley cup finals, which continue this evening. Can't wait to watch that. Four straight days of final sports.

[Ty Schmidt]

Of sports. Yeah. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, all sports. And then Sunday, of course, you got the US Open final, so. And then Monday, we're back in the NBA Finals.

[Pat McAfee]

On that note, US Open is happening in our hometown zone. You used to be a caddy at Oakmont. What is happening this morning? It feels like guys are shooting better than I thought they were going to.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah. 125th U.S. open at Oakmont Country Club. Look at the merch on this was a gift from Coach Diggs for Christmas. He knew. He knew what he was doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Thanks, coach.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah, thanks, coach. I like that you said, you know, it seems easier than people thought. The course is about as getable as it's going to get this morning. The dew hung around a little bit, but boy, when Okamon is going to show her teeth this afternoon. Guess how many guys are under par.

[Pat McAfee]

There's 80 guys on the course, I would say. I saw the leaderboard. I'd say at least nine. Eight. Wow.

[Evan Fox]

Eight guys under par on 80 guys on the course. I mean, it doesn't feel like a lot, but it is kind of gettable right now. They said the dew stuck around a little bit. It's gonna dry out later. It's gonna get really, really quick. Your leader right now is JJ Spawn. He's the 25th ranked golfer in the world. Here he is making a birdie putt to go four under. He sticks at four under right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Four birdies in the front nine.

[Evan Fox]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

For Spawn to start for his U.S. open. That's a hell a of start.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Evan Fox]

And then the other couple big names, we talk about the majors and like the majors. The big names are going to win. Scotty won a major this year. Rory won a major this year. The big names, Rory, he is battling right now. He's even. He's. He's in ninth place right now. But that's him saving bogey. There's a lot of good bogey saves on the course this week. He saved bogey there to stay in the top 10. And then Bryson, who is also the other big name on the course who won the US Open last year, this is him also with a huge bogey save. He misses that. That goes 10ft past the hole. That's a bogey save there. He is plus one. So, like the big names right now, they're hanging in there. But J.J. spawn is your current leader on the course.

[Pat McAfee]

U.S. open is a wonderful time because the courses are always so hard. Oakmont this year has been heralded as the most difficult course that it has been in a long time. Eight guys under par out of 80. Scotty tees off this afternoon.

[Evan Fox]

125, I believe.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So we'll be excited to watch him. He's the odds on favorite to win this thing. And they also gave a shout out to Plum during the broadcast, which I respect. Shout out to Plum. It's where the ballers ball and the players play.

[Evan Fox]

It's where the ballers ball the players play. I showed the boys. Oakmont east was on the broadcast earlier, which is all in plum. 90% of the course is in Plum. But the clubhouse sits in Oakmont. That's why it's Oakmont country.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And Tirico, you know, he mentioned Plum. Let's make sure we're. Let's make sure we're pointing over Palm Burl Mustangs here. Hey, Rudy sobs Mustang. Let's make sure we're, you know, let's make sure we're acknowledging Plum is the place that's holding it down.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Oakmont is a beautiful little town.

[Evan Fox]

Beautiful little.

[Pat McAfee]

Beautiful little town. Used to have a great time down there, to be honest.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oakmont, sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of great bars.

[Evan Fox]

They got a nice little strip.

[Pat McAfee]

Beautiful, beautiful setup down there in Oakmont. With that being said, everybody that's Oakmont usually hangs out with people from Plum. And Plum will hold down grittiness. You know, that Oakmont course is trying to be like it's from Plum. Sure. It's trying to be tough. We shall see how it holds up all weekend. Thank you for the update. Speaking of an update, I learned a lot about my business this morning and another article which has been a great news. Seems like that happens all the time. I don't know if it's just normal par for the course. I guess it's just life these days. There's so many of them. It's hard to keep track of. But when that rat writes something, you know, it is nice to just be like, well, that's bullshit. Immediately. Joining us now, a band man, ladies and gentlemen, senior NFL Insider for ESPN friend of the program, Michigan man Adam Schefter.

[Adam Schefter]

Pat, as I was saying when I was so really interrupted three months ago, Aaron Rodgers is going to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Pat McAfee]

You're on top of it, Schefter. You're on top of it. Great to see you. Hope your offseason is going swimmingly. Let's talk about some of the news that has certainly happened around the NFL. Aaron Rodgers officially with the Pittsburgh Steelers. TJ Watts contract, I guess, would be next. What are you hearing out of Pittsburgh and what are the vibes like with the trigger man, number eight, in town?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I think that the Steelers feel comfortable that they'll be able to work out something eventually with TJ Watt, but this has been going on for a while. This is not something new and sudden other than the fact that he decided to stay away from the mandatory minicamp, which is a simple statement to make. It cost players about $107,000 to make that statement. And when they put that into the collective bargaining agreement in the most recent cba, it seemed like a lot of money. But when you're Talking about upwards of 30 plus million dollars a year, $107,000 is really a small pittance for these guys at this point in time. And sometimes they feel like it's more important to make a statement to the team about how they feel than it is to show up and avoid being fined. James Cook, who's still on that rookie deal, he has to go in because he can't afford the fines and he wants that money. These guys have made money and they're going to make a lot more money. And so they could afford to stay away. Whether it's J.J. watt or Trey Hendrickson or even Terry McLaurin, they can afford that $107,000. Tougher for a guy like James Cook, but I think Pittsburgh and TJ Watt will figure out a way to get it done and then get him in the fold. And whoever would have thought that on the very first day that Aaron Rodgers would practice with the Steelers that he wouldn't even be the biggest headline. It would be the absence of the heart and soul of that team.

[Pat McAfee]

T.J. watt, T.J. watt, last player introduced When a defense is introduced for Pittsburgh Steelers home games, obviously a pillar, it feels like everybody thinks it's going to get figured out. TJ Is holding out Though, so TJ still I think saying it's going to get figured out. Okay, we shall see. I hope it is because the Steelers having a chance to make a real run at it is seemingly reality. You mentioned Terry McLaren. Tone is going to ask about that in a matter of moments, but I would like to talk about you talk about people leaving minicamp in the finding what it is. Cincinnati has an interesting situation brewing and I know Bengals fans don't like us pointing this out, but it seems like this is a big time Bengals move. Trey Hendrickson obviously situation happening. We've covered that pretty much in great detail. Who knows how that ends up playing. Shemar Stewart though, number 17 overall pick. Whenever we heard him talk for the first time and he said like, yeah, the numbers weren't right for me or whatever. It's like, okay, dude, you're a rookie. Shut up. Just show. That was my first reaction then. Now we start reading and learning a little bit more. There was some clause that was wedged into this contract that the Bengals had never done before. And then it's basically going to void future years of contracts instead of just one year of a contract. And Shemar and his agent are like, we're not going to be the guinea pigs of this entire thing. So I'd just like to ask for a little bit more clarity from you. Is this a normal clause that other teams have? Are the Bengals the first team to do this and why are we currently in this situation and how does it end?

[Adam Schefter]

It's not a normal clause. That's why she Mars Stewart is objecting the way he is now. It's a little strange to me the fact that as an unsigned rookie first round draft pick that he's in the building with the team and I know he wanted to be with his teammates, but who's not a team employee who's not under a contract that goes in to work and shows up there like the biggest statement you could make is not being in the building. And that's why I believe this morning he was not there. He, he's not showing up anymore until he signs that contract. The Bengals wanted to include that clause in there that basically said that he would have to forfeit bonus money, guaranteed money, if he was not on the roster through the length of that contract. And these rookie contracts were guaranteed through the last cba. That was one of the stipulations. Rookie salaries, first round draft pick salaries went down, but they became guaranteed. And now the Bengals wanted to apparently insert a clause that would essentially nullify some of Those guarantees if he got cut, which he didn't want to sign. I understand that. Like, he doesn't want to be the guinea pig here. He doesn't want to set precedent over some rookie. And I would imagine if he holds his ground, he'll eventually get what he wants, of course. But it creates a very difficult situation for a guy who needs the work with coaches to be developed. They need him as a player to be a major part of that defense. The defense had question marks as it is. They already don't have Trey Hendrickson in there. They certainly could use their rookie first round draft pick who you would think would be easy enough to sign, but alas, not so easy to sign him. Not so easy to sign Trey Hendrickson. Neither player is there and you lose some of the momentum that you built up when you got Jamar Chase and T. Higgins signed together this offseason.

[Pat McAfee]

It feels like, you know, the Cincinnati Bengals are certainly taking steps forward, become a 21st century franchise, you know, an organization, obviously, we've talked about it, they have an indoor bubble now. They sold the rights to their stadium so they can make some money off it. It felt like Katie Blackburn was really moving the Cincinnati Bengals into a positive place as opposed to the bungles conversation that everybody was kind of forced to have. But every once in a while, and I don't know what the gun laws are in Ohio, I think I do, actually. They pull out a big one and then they just shoot themselves right in the foot. Like, this feels like an unforced error almost. They just thought that they were going to sneak this by and then now it becomes a big distraction almost. And then you got people outside looking in like, only the Bengals. And it's like, I don't think the Bengals have been operating like that for a couple years, but now with the Trey Hendrickson situation and this situation, it's hard not to just be like, why are the Bengals always the Bengals? You know what I mean, Chef, do you got to feel that way?

[Adam Schefter]

And well, Trey is really frustrated and very upset and disappointed and he just feels like this should have been done and it should have been. Like, he has wanted this deal for two off seasons and he wanted to be traded before the draft last year they said just come in, produce. He led the league in sacks. They didn't get the deal done at the end of the the season, in the off season. And all that's happened since then is other pass rushers have gotten paid and if anything, it's given him more leverage, boosted his price. But Cincinnati in a more difficult spot. Shemar Stewart is a case where it should not be difficult to sign a single rookie draft pick, period. There's no excuse not to get a deal done with a rookie draft. The CBA has made it a lot layup, like, we could we be able to do that deal in three minutes. And yet it's turned into an issue where we had the player at the facility questioning the organization, saying they care more about winning arguments than games. We got a guy who's never played a snap for the team, who's never been an employee for the team, questioning the front. It's not a great look. It's totally unnecessary.

[Pat McAfee]

Totally unnecessary. And also, after I heard Shemar Stewart speak, I was like, I'm on that guy side. Yeah, it was. It was hard not to because he was just like, calm, composed. And he mentioned this is their contract a couple times. So it's like the Bengals are saying, we know what the CBA says, but this is our team, this is our franchise. And it's like, you could tell that was a sticking point. So we hope it gets settled because Bengals fans, you guys are very passionate, very loyal. I don't think you deserve any of this, but the players don't either, and that's kind of where we're coming from. Now let's talk about some other stories around the NFL. Ty, your co host of the Adam Schefter podcast. We'd like to ask you a question.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Shefty. What is the latest on Anthony Richardson? We're starting to hear a lot of, you know, different things come out. Albert Breer mentioned that he thinks it's more serious. We know he had to go meet Neil Ellatroche. I know you said on your podcast that, hey, it might be a little bit more serious than people know. Like, are we. Is the expectation moving forward now that Danny Dimes kind of has the fast track to be the starting quarterback here? And if Anthony Richardson is out for an extended period of time, is there a chance the Colts bring in someone else to potentially back up or compete with Daniel Jones?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, there's a few things going on here. First of all, I think there's a reason that Daniel Jones picked Indianapolis, and I think there's a reason that Indianapolis paid Daniel Jones more than the Pittsburgh Steelers are paying Aaron Rodgers because they knew that at some point in time, they might have to rely on Danny Dimes. Now, as for what's going on with Anthony Richardson, I think when you consider his injury history and consider the fact that this shoulder had surgery his rookie year, and now it's an issue where they're shutting him down till at least the start of training camp. I think it's problematic now. I've gotten a few texts from a few different people, and every time I get one, I go with that information to somebody who would have some information about the Colts quarterback, and they keep saying, no, that's not true, that's not right. But I'll just say that there's a lot of smoke flying around there about the condition of his shoulder, about screws in his shoulder, about the soreness in his shoulder, about how long it might last, about when he might throw again. And every time I go to somebody that would be in a position to know, they say, no, he's fine. He should be ready for training camp. And so I just think for right now, it's just one of those lingering questions that's out there. I have questions about whether or not he will be ready for the start of training camp. We don't know when he'll be back there, but in the interim, they've got a guy that they believe in who, by the way, I think has a lot more respect around the league than people realize. I know the Giants wrote him off, the Vikings were interested in having him back, and I could tell you that there were a handful of teams out there in precarious, peculiar quarterback situations that if they had lost their starter or somehow things didn't work out the way they wanted to, Daniel Jones was square on their radar. They were looking at that guy as a potential starter. So the Colts signed him. They're paying him more than Rodgers. Obviously, they're paying him more than Rodgers for a reason. I think they believe that they're going to have to rely on him, at the very least, at some point in this season, quite possibly early in the season.

[Pat McAfee]

Daniel Jones is the size of a barn door. Yep, he is gigantic. I don't think people fully recognize the size of Daniel Jones until you see him in person. I ran into him here in Indianapolis. It was my first time meeting him, and literally, I'm in my cowboy boots, so I got an extra inch and a half, two inches on me. I'm standing like six, two, six three, probably in those boots. And I'm looking up at this guy and his shoulders. Gigantic. And then you think about his running ability, and it's like Shane Steichen's offense with how big and strong Daniel Jones seemingly is, could be a great fit. With that being said, everything you just said about Anthony Richardson is a bummer. Like legitimately a bummer. I've obviously been pretty outspoken about how this has all gone thus far, how Anthony Richardson has operated as a professional quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts in the past. But then I'm reminded how young he is and how much development was required whenever he got drafted after only playing like five games in college or something like that. So there's like a development thing that is needed for Anthony Richardson. But if you're not healthy and you can't take reps, you can't develop. And it seems like that has kind of been the carousel that we've been on here because we see all these highlights. Like the upside of ar. Outrageous. It is outrageous. You're talking about maybe one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, which is why I think everybody holds on hope that are Anthony Richardson fans. But man, at some point your best ability is availability. And it hasn't really happened with Anthony Richardson since he's gotten here. Hopefully he gets healthy, if not excited to watch Daniel Jones put on a show. They're putting highlights in DJ right now. He's spinning it. He's spinning it. We shall see. Okay, let's move to a couple other stories around the NFL. You mentioned him earlier. Go ahead, AP Tone.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah, Chef. We talked about the other guys not at minicamp. Like tj. I feel like we know a bit about that situation, Trey. We don't know how it's going to end, but we know a lot more about the situation. Feels like things have been kind of quiet about Terry McLaren and him not being at minicamp. Like is is the sentiment around around the team and him that something is going to get done or is this something that could turn into more where there's a chance he's not a commander?

[Adam Schefter]

Look, I think that there are various vantage points in any situation like this. There's the player side, there's the team side, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. And I think the team feels like it's going to get something done with Terry McLaurin. I think Terry McLaurin clearly is frustrated with where talks are at because not only did he not show up for the mandatory minicamp, but he hasn't participated in any of the team's off season activities. He's been a no show for that. And here's a guy that is immensely respected, widely beloved within that organization and city. He has been the face of that franchise until Jaden Daniels came in and essentially took that crown, but elevated the play of Terry McLaurin, when you look at his numbers, they're as good as most any receiver around the league. We've seen huge deals given out this offseason. T. Higgins and Jamar Chase in Cincinnati, DK Metcalf in Pittsburgh. And so with the numbers that he's put up with, what he means to that team, that community, that city. Terry McClure is obviously trying to get paid now. He's scheduled to make about $19 million this year. He's headed into the last year of his contract. He wants a new deal, certainly deserving of a new deal. And I believe that the two sides will find a way to figure it out at some point in time. They're just not there right now. And it's easy to rattle the Sabers and no show on June 12 and make a lot of noise. It's a different thing when camp's beginning or we're getting close to the preseason. If this is going on on August 12, then it becomes a major concern. Until then, I think we could just sit back and I think wait for the situation eventually somehow to resolve itself.

[Pat McAfee]

We assume that the new ownership is want to get Terry McLaren back in the building, especially with the greatness that they had last year. We're about to have John lynch on any questions you have for him that we need to ask.

[Adam Schefter]

They've had a nice, peaceful off season for them, right? Like, they don't have any drama lingering into the preseason and regular season. I think one of the things that people haven't talked about with the 49ers enough is the transformation of this defense. It's a very new defense. They lost a ton of ton of talent at all three levels, and they've made a number of changes. And they got really fortunate because Mikel Williams slid to them in the draft. He was a player that they were hoping would make it that far. And a lot of people thought he wouldn't make it past New Orleans. Turn at number nine. He made it to San Francisco. They added a big defensive tackle in the third round. They traded for Bryce Huff. They've added a lot of different parts. Nick Bose is really like the only holder over on that defense. And then you lose Dre Greenlaw, you lose Talanoa Hufanga in the defensive backfield. Like, they've lost a lot of defensive.

[Pat McAfee]

Question marks over there, right?

[Adam Schefter]

But, but, but they've added. They've done a great job of finding reinforcements and bringing back Robert Saleh, and it's just going to be a different defense this season, different Than we've seen in other years. But I think it has the potential to be a good defense.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, band man, we appreciate you so much. It's great seeing your face. You're the best.

[Adam Schefter]

Thank you, guys. Nice to be with you. My pleasure.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, you're the best. Tell Seth we know. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Adam Schefter. All right, ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a man who's in two NFL teams, ring of honors. Okay? Super bowl champion, hall of famer, big ass brain, incredible athlete, the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. Guys got brand new defense. Whoa, whoa. Is that keeping them up at night? Look at it. We shall see. Ladies and gentlemen, John Lynch. Wow. Holy.

[John Lynch]

What's up, fellas? What's going on?

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, this looks cinematic right now. You got a little blurry background. You're in like 8K. You look jacked. Great shot here, John. I just want to let you know. Much better than Shefty's. That was a much better. I might have to ban his ass for looking as bad as he looks looks with you. How you doing, John?

[John Lynch]

I'm doing well, I guess you're a big deal because whenever I go on your show second time now, 49ers studio comes and takes over my offices. So this isn't like a. An iPad. This is like a big setup for you.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's because you're John lynch, brother. Okay? You deserve nothing but the absolute best. And we're thankful that you come on our show. The last time you came on our show, you told like three different stories that both had us inspired, motivated, and entertained. We appreciate you taking time. You were great on TV before you became this general manager. Let's talk about you being general manager. Massive off season for you. Schefter just talked about the defense. We'll get into that in a little bit. I want to talk about all the money you gave out. Okay. Obviously. Brock Purdy, five year, $265 million deal. Everybody thought that was lingering. You get the job done. That's a big number. You were still able to pay George Kittle, Fred Warner, two pillars of your team and who have been. How do you balance who you pay when? Because to Schefter's point, this has been the least drama that you've had in an off season, but it's also like the most expensive that you've had since you got there. How do you balance it all and how do you kind of put priority on who you pay when.

[John Lynch]

Well, these guys were Pretty easy decisions. You know, Brock's our quarterback and that, that was a, you know, an easy kind of think take session like going into this off season. And is this guy we want to be our quarterback. We all looked at each other and said absolutely. And we went to work on doing a deal. And Brock wanted the commitment from us. He has shown tremendous commitment and ability to lead our team. And so it was just, it was too much like right as they say, and we had to get it done, so we did. We were also able to get two of our, our franchise's best players ever. And that's saying something here with the Niners, with Kittle and Fred Warner. Shefte said Bosa is the only holdover on our defense. I think Fred Warner would, would have a little beef.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, hey, I'll bear.

[John Lynch]

Shefty is, is on everything, but I know he's got a lot to cover. But Fred, those two guys, you know, one we got in the fifth round from Iowa back in our first draft, and in our second draft, Fred Warner came in here, third round pick from byu. And they've really kind of been the standard for who we want to be as a team. And so to be able to lock those guys up, our, our third contracts with them was a big deal for us. And so really excited with the work we got done this offseason. You know, in order to get guys done like that and, and pay them the way we did, we did have to go through a little bit of a transformation. We've had pedal to the metal since we've been here, paying a lot of great players, and it's a good problem to have sometimes. If I ever complain, I try not to too much. Some other GMs will say, well, I'd love to have your issues. You know, you've got a lot of great players and we've been able to do that and. But these were core guys. Prior to that, though, in free agency, we watched, you know, a record number in terms of finances of free agents leave here. And that's a, that's a hard thing because we've always been adders during free agency. But, you know, you can't pay everyone. And so to be able to pay this core, to be able to pay our quarterback, we had to watch some really good players go. Fortunately, we had 11 draft picks. And it also coincided. You know, you can't get old as a team. And so we had to let some guys we really loved and we had to get younger. And I think with the 11 draft choices there's going to be a ton of of opportunity for those young players to show who they are. And we like it right now. I always tell folks, ask me in a couple of years and we'll tell you how we did, but we like what we were able to do on draft day and infuse some youth onto this roster of core players, future hall of Famers and such, and see, see what we can get done this year.

[Pat McAfee]

You talk about other GMs saying they'd love to have your problem. There's been other teams obviously that have had great success for a long time that have to rebuild their roster. You obviously pay the top end and you need young guys to hit. The draft is vital in those teams success. You look at the Patriots for a long time, obviously they had to turn over the team a bunch. The Buffalo Bills have had to do this with their team. The Kansas City Chiefs have had to do this. You guys are obviously having to do this seemingly year in, year out. What is it like whenever you go into a draft? Like, do you obviously you say, ask me in a couple of years if this was a good hit or not, but you're going to need these young guys to show up with the way you're paying a quarterback. Like that is just a matter of fact. When you're looking at guys to pick them, what is the biggest takeaway? Is it their love of ball? Is it their production? What is your big, like, kind of point of emphasis whenever you're trying to build or add somebody to your culture?

[John Lynch]

Yeah. First of all, I tell you that, like, in this job, people ask me, you know, what's your favorite deal? And I think game day. Even though I can't do a damn thing, I just kind of say, let's go, boys. You know, have Adam. So I love watching our guys compete, but the draft would be second. And I think the reason why, I know the reason why is because our entire organization comes together for the draft. And when you're talking, you know, personnel, coaching, R and D, analytics, the chefs who are feeding us, like everybody comes together to. And we all know how important the draft, it's the lifeblood of your organization. And, you know, so it's really a cool. And it's a good question, you know, what is the, you know, what is like, at the top of the list in terms of what is a 49er? Who do we want to be 49ers? It's really interesting, you know, something I find every year I challenge our R and D guys, our data, the whole World, the world's about data right now. What's the data say? You know, what translates into a 49er better than anything? And you know, it's really who these guys are as people. You know, all these guys, we always say they got to be in the club athletically in terms of a football player, I think we've gone to great lengths to define what we want at each position. But it's their intangibles. Who are they as people? Because as you know, Pat, the NFL seasons, they're long, they're hard. Nothing about this game is easy. So it's the people that can endure the times when they're going to get tough. The practice is when they're going to get tough. Do we do two a days and all that anymore? Do we go six week training camps? No, but it's still a tough sport. It's uncomfortable. And so who can. Who has the mental fortitude? Who has the physical attributes, but who has those intangibles, the competitiveness, the, the absolute fear of failure or just not allowing themselves to fail. That's who succeeds in this league. And that I don't think that will ever change.

[Pat McAfee]

You talk about the season being long. It's Groundhog Day too, you know, so it's like who can wake up every day as if it's the first day? You know, like that mentality is a big deal. Being a good locker room guy is a massive ordeal. That's why like, obviously we love Fred. He's been on our show a couple times and has lit it up every time. But George Kittle feels like the perfect like locker room guy. His energy is somehow always at 100. He's always positive. I saw him at Wrestlemania, I think it was a few days before you guys got the deal done. He looked more jacked than ever. And I told him that. I was like, you look like you're. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'm in great shape right now. I think your entire team understands that last year wasn't what your guys standard it is. Last year was an anomaly as opposed to the regular. And I think last year the expectations of your team changed like four days before the season started. As somebody that drafted Christian McCaffrey in the first round of my fantasy football draft to learn just a few days beforehand, like, hey, this might be a little bit different year for the Niners. Ty has a question for you, John.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, John, when that news came out and everyone was saying, actually, you know, it might be a little bit more serious than people thought, anytime you Hear Achilles. Even though it was just tendonitis, it kind of made everyone pause and that ended up kind of, you know, derailing you guys season before it even started with how big of a, you know, a factor he is in your offense, how's his health going into this year? What have you seen from him? And do you expect to have the Christian McCaffrey of old back this year?

[AJ Hawk]

We do.

[John Lynch]

And that's, that's really good news for us. You know, I remember when we started, when we started looking at Christian as a trade target, you know, and Kyle and I, I was letting him coach the team, but I would go down there every now and then. Usually when we were traveling and saying, hey, I think we might have an opportunity. We're going to have to stretch, we're going to have to give a lot, but he's worthy of that. Like, what do you think? And I remember the thing Kyle said, He said, this guy can understand, unlock our offense. And like, what's that mean? Well, it means that Christian running the ball, you see him here, he can, he can bust the long ones, he can get the gritty, tough yards. But then in the pass game, that's, that's where he is. Not just a runner, he's a difference maker. And if he's not getting the ball, he's attracting attention. When, when Christian McCaffrey's on a check down, the linebackers aren't going to get quite as deep. Well, what's that do? That it opens it up behind for guys like Ayuk and Kittle. And so, you know, I think that's what Kyle was speaking of when we were, when we talked about potentially grabbing Christian and that's exactly what he was. And so yes, it was a tough blow when he wasn't healthy. We had players step up. JP Mason, who now has moved on, had a tremendous year, but Christian's different. There's very few needle movers, Pat. That's something your old gm, Bill Pollian, you know, and I have talked about, you know, absolute needle movers who change the game. Christian's one of those guys and he's been that for us. And he's healthy. He's out here. Christian's a guy who can't get enough work. But it's so good for us to see him, you know, healthy. He'll actually speak to our team before we leave. It's like school's out for summer today and our last day and we always have someone speak about the importance of 40 days away and Christian's going to give that talk today, but I think there's no one better because the way he attacks it, Kyle says he's like, he's like a walk on who's like one of the most talented players in our league. But he's got that walk on mentality. His dad was the same way. I played with his dad in college back when I was a quarterback throwing passes to Eddie McCaffrey, the wide receiver, and his dad was very much the same way. They're maniacal in their, in their work ethic. And I'm talking about Christian a lot because he's an easy guy to talk about.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, absolutely. And how easy he is to talk about is how mind blown we were that he wasn't going to be playing. It was like, wait a second, the whole NFL took a hit whenever it was like, Christian McCaffrey is not going to be as present as he has been in the past. You just said he's healthy, he's out here, he's feeling good.

[John Lynch]

Yeah, he's doing great. He's doing great. He's taken a part of every OTA we've had, every off season practice. I mean, that's one thing you talked about it certainly not our standard. Embarrassing, you know, what happened last year, a lot of reasons for it, injuries to Christian and whatnot. But ultimately those are just excuses and we had to own that and we had to take a hard look and say, where can we be better? And when I knew our players took that to heart was day one of off season program and we had 100% attendance and for something that's voluntary. And that spoke to me that our players understood we fell way short of our standard and the work's been excellent and now they got to continue that work away from here. But these are really important weeks and they're, they're weeks. You kind of cringe as a, as a gm, as a member of this, as a player. This is when I always knew I had an opportunity. Because when you're all here, I think everyone's on the, on a level playing field field when you leave. That's when I knew, okay, I can make up now because we're on our own. And what are you going to do with that time off? And so I hope our players take advantage of it, I think, and have a really good feeling that they will by the way they've approached this offseason knowing the opportunity we have in front of us.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, Christian McCaffrey is going to give a great speech too. Yeah. Boy's probably not even going to leave. You know, normally, last day of OTAs, that parking lot afterwards sounds like a screech vest, you know, and that's not just the players. That's the coaches getting the hell out of there, too, you know, for the break. But after Christian McCaffrey talks, I've heard that the expectation is they're calling for more OTAs. Yeah, that's what I heard about the Niners this year. You mentioned a name there with iuk maybe opening up behind whatever. Christian gets his linebackers to get sucked up, you know, sucking up those linebackers. And then I, you know, we're saying, John. Yeah, former quarterback and safety, you know, all about those linebackers getting sucked up in there. But let's talk about iuk. Obviously, much different this year than last year. And, you know, Shefter brought up how there isn't a lot of drama or distractions. Felt like that one was loud last year, you know, and I. I think you would probably even admit that. I think with the way it was being covered, with the way showing up at practice, the way things are going, seemingly leaving, this wasn't going to work. It was loud. It was loud. It was loud. How is that relationship now and how do you view that time looking back on it with Ayuk?

[John Lynch]

Relationship's good. You know, Brandon's been here. He had a tough injury. He, he, he. You know, everyone saw that play against Kansas City. It. It was crushing for us because Brandon's such a big part of who we are. You know, looking back on the Brandon situation, I think every situation that you go through in life and family, football, in this job, it's a learning opportunity. You know, I look at things like that. Like, what could we have done differently to have made that a little more seamless? And sometimes those things are tough. They can be contentious. There's things that I learned that. That. Yeah. Would. Would we have done some things differently? And I think Brandon and Brandon and I have had these conversations that. Are there things he would have done differently? Absolutely. But one thing I think in families, you know, you have little spats and then you give a big hug at the end and you work together, and that's where we're at. And Brandon's doing a tremendous job coming back. You know, these. These guys that are incredibly skilled athletes, they tend to heal a lot faster, and it's kind of incredible how well he's healing and, you know, he's putting in the work. We're proud of Brandon, and we're looking forward to him being Part of this team moving forward. We made a big investment in him. We're. We're proud to have him part of our franchise and, and, you know, looking for big things from him, and we're going to let him get right before we get him back on that field. But he's a big. He's an important part of this team.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Him still being there is obviously great for Brock Purdy. Whenever you talk about weapons, you lost a weapon of yours that you've had for a long time. Go ahead, con man.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. John, how's the relationship with Kyle Shanahan going since you traded Deebo Samuel and drafted three defensive players in the first three rounds? Is that something you guys have kind of gotten gone back and forth about? And how has that been this off season?

[John Lynch]

Well, Debo was special to all of us. You know, you talk about the draft and a great draft choice. I mean, Debo has been that guy for us and, and, you know, things happen and, and, you know, Debo's in a great place in Washington. I think he's going to thrive there. As for picking the. The three defensive players, Kyle was right on board, I promise you. You know, that's one cool thing about Kyle since we've been here. You know, everyone would think the guy that calls the offensive plays, he's also the head coach of this team. And he knows, I think that's one thing we really bond on. Like, you know, and I think it goes back to our roots. I obviously played and, you know, for. In Tampa for Monte, Kiffin, Dungy, all that group, and then Gruden in. In Tampa. Well, Kyle's first job in the NFL was in Tampa, and he was on the offensive side of the ball, but I think spent most of his time with Monte Kiff and Lovey Smith, Rod Marinelli, Mike Tomlin, that whole group. And so a lot of our beliefs on football and how you succeed, how you win were kind of probably formed through there. I also played for his dad, and so we got a lot of similar beliefs and we challenge each other and try to put the. The best team out there. But Kyle was on board on those defensive players, and we're fired up about those guys.

[Pat McAfee]

How about that staff you just mentioned down there in Tampa? Absolutely absurd. And also, anytime there's something that's Tampa too, you know, like that place is known for phenomenal defense, feels like that's coming back in the world that we're in. High shell Tampa too, seemingly. The time is a flat circle in this entire football world. I love that you guys focus on defense so much, because that was my big takeaway. Whenever I watch you guys play Seattle, it's like your defense flies like flies to the ball. Now, obviously, you being one of the leaders of team, we would expect that because of your expectations and everything like that, but the players are bought in, and it feels like your defensive coordinator spot is one that is highly regarded and you got a familiar face back in the building. Go ahead, Tone.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah, John, does it make it easier for you and coach to draft those young defenders when you know that coach Salah is going to be back running the defense and it's someone that you're super familiar with and have had a lot of success with? So when you draft those guys that you know they're going to be coached right?

[John Lynch]

Absolutely. You know, Robert was a big part of this thing. I'll never forget when Kyle and I were first putting this thing together. Kyle was still coaching, and we had a good idea he was going to be our guy here in. In San Francisco.

[Pat McAfee]

And. Whoa, sounds like some tampering.

[John Lynch]

Kyle, you know, asked me, hey, could you. Could you meet with this guy, Robert Sala? You know, I think he's got the goods to be a defensive coordinator. They were QCs together at Houston. And I remember Robert came down to my house in San Diego. Linda lynch, my wife, went and bought a grease board from Staples or something so that I could interview him and he could draw some stuff up and. And we sat there for like three hours in San Diego. I remember his bald head sweating. We were outside on a nice day, and we just talked ball for about three and a half hours. And I became a huge fan of Robert Saleh, the person, the communicator, his energy and then what's in here? And so Robert did great things with us. Kind of, you know, put together the foundation of a defense that, you know, became a really successful one for a long time. And then Salah went on to great things, you know, in becoming a head coach, he earned that opportunity and, you know, to come back and have the opportunity to bring him back in the fold was huge for us, and it's been a big lift to our building. We got to get back to being a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the football. We slid a little bit last year. We got to get that back. We're intent on doing that, and Robert's a big part of that.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, what does the next 40 days look like for you as you head into training camp? Hayes in the barn or are you still. There's a lot of free agents still out there. Yeah, ton of a lot of free agents out there. What does it look like for you over this break, if you will?

[John Lynch]

Well, I'm gonna go listen to Christian McCaffrey, get a little inspiration and then we do a team barbecue. But, you know, I think I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that I. I don't know how many people do that because literally everybody's trying to get out of the building on those last days.

[John Lynch]

We always close it out. This has been a tradition since we've been here. We get bouncies and stuff for the young kids. We serve some adult beverages, make sure everybody's got a good, safe ride home. But it's a good way to kind of send people their own way. And we always close it. We've had Jerry Rice, we've had Fred Warner. I spoke one year on the importance of the 40. We don't call it 40 days off. We call it 40 days away because you better be working and smart. It's a critical time. So, yeah, you're always trying to get better as an organization, but you do know the commitment that comes with these seasons. So you do have to. You have to mentally get away a little bit. And so I think sometimes just to remove yourself. We're San Diego folks, so we'll get down there, see my parents and my in laws and a bunch of friends down there and, and see our kids as much as we can and get ready to come back here in this season and get back to our standard here in San Francisco.

[Pat McAfee]

Enjoy it all. We can't wait to watch. Are you a peloton guy? Do you run? What do you do? You look jocked right now. You look very jocked.

[John Lynch]

Yeah, I'm struggling, Pat, because I've always been a runner. I've enjoyed distance, like, since I retired and this was the year. 53 years old, my knee just said not anymore. And I always had good knees and it just. My knees said not anymore. So. So little pickleball. I got back on the peloton because I can't run and been lifting more because I can't run. So.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, maybe we're bulk season. John Lynch. Maybe you're coming out there. How's the pickleball? We got pretty good touch on that thing. We work in the kitchen.

[John Lynch]

I like pickleball. My wife was a tennis player, so I get humiliated in tennis. But pickleball is like an equalizer. You can compete in pickleball and it's fun.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's A little bigger ping pong. Yeah, it's a little bigger ping pong. I feel like the tennis people have you because they're found fundamentals, their serves. No chance the serves are going to beat you every single time. Yeah, I mean, that is. They're beating you regardless. Like, whenever you go golf with somebody that played high school golf, it's like they know what they're doing. You do not. Pickleball is a great equalizer because your athleticism can kind of make up for it. I assume you feel.

[John Lynch]

Yeah, I still get whooped, but. But I can compete and.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's what it's all about. All right, I'll see you on the peloton. This off season on to 40 days away. I'm gonna get in there. I'm getting a little fat. I've been in bulking season for 10 years. I need to maybe tighten it up a little bit. New standard in town and I can't wait to watch you guys get back to your standard. You're the man. Thank you for the time, John.

[John Lynch]

Yeah. Good being with you guys.

[AJ Hawk]

All right.

[Pat McAfee]

Please tell everybody we said hello over there. Ladies and gentlemen, General manager of The San Francisco 49ers, John Lee. Two ring of honors. Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Pretty good.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Legendary.

[Pat McAfee]

Two franchises like. Yeah, we. We would like to. We'd like people forever to know that he was a member of our team.

[Evan Fox]

He might be in a third eventually.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, probably the Niners.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Stanford brain, too. Wife's a tennis player. I bet you she was beating his ass. He was so mad, you know, he's like super calm there and he is like intellect, you know, but competitive. You don't get into the hall of Fame, super bowl champion, two ring of the monitors without being a freak.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Competitive, you know, without.

[Ty Schmidt]

Destroyed some rackets.

[Pat McAfee]

Just. We're taking these things off the ground, I assume. Can't. I just can't return or serve. I don't know what the I'm supposed to do. Mac, is there a different version of this thing? Pickle ball, babe.

[Boston Connor]

Let's do it.

[Pat McAfee]

He's just staying up at this.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, those shoes would look pretty good on a pickle ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you talk about the gold Hallies. That's what we're looking for. Yeah, these are Larry lebron, gold bub.

[Boston Connor]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Sports, tell you what. Those. These gold shoes are loud. Yeah, I just saw. I just saw them for the side. They are loud, but I'm supporting Halle. That's right. I may hal a big balls supporter from the very beginning. Feels like he is on his. Feels like that entire Pacers team is ready to shock the world. Throughout the entirety of this playoffs. Everybody that has a microphone in front of them on television, other than us and you, Donis Haslam, have picked the Pacers to lose. It was like that against the Bucks. It was like that against the Cavs. It was certainly like that against the Knicks. And now against Oklahoma City. Yeah, well, somebody's going to get them. And now this Pacers team is just stacked. Chips, stack chips, stack chips. Continue to play basketball the way that they play, which is. Yep, hey, a lot of this, A lot of this. I talk to some people that maybe live out there in Hollywood, you know, and they say, what is it about this Pacers team that you think I go, hey, they fucking run you. They will run you. We're going to find out if you're in shape. We're going to find out if your team can keep up. The Oklahoma City team definitely can. I'm not saying that they can't. That's why they are in the NBA Finals. But if you look in that fourth quarter last night, just like in the past series, is there is a chance that the Oklahoma City team is starting to feel the effects of the pace that the Pacers set in these games? It is a wonderful brand of basketball to watch. We are lucky to have them here in Indianapolis, and last night was a great time. I haven't been a part of a live event like that in a long time. Everybody dialed in, everybody having a good time, and immediately afterwards, everybody standing up, everybody in our arena as they were exiting, flooded into the streets. That continued in the entire city. There is chance until 1:32am on a Wednesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana. Obviously, the NBA Finals are always going to bring a great atmosphere. But whenever you got two small markets that have been discredited, and I'll say that about the Oklahoma City Thunder as well. 14 losses during a regular season. Didn't hear a lot of conversations about this Oklahoma City Thunder team. It was always like, can they get the job done? Can they actually do it when it matters? It was never like, hey, SGA mvp, this young team plays on a string. Coach Daggs has it figured out. It was always like, nah, we'll believe it when we see it. And the Pacers, they just had no conversation. They might as well have been in the wnba. They might as well have been in the mls. They might as well have been in the G League. They didn't even talk about the Pacers. They Wouldn't even put their playoff games on national television. That was actually happening. They were putting it on off channels because they thought nobody would want to watch this Pacers team. Au contraire. This Pacers team is electrifying. And they are currently two one over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA finals. And Miles Turner on the defensive side last night. Remarkable start out. Not great for our team. We had a guy shoot off the back side of the backboard early that might have been blocked. We had a couple air balls early and it was like, whoa. Oklahoma City was up like 10 very early. And all the people that were thinking Oklahoma City had figured out what Indiana is after that first game loss that they gave away. This is going to be a gentleman's sweep. They were empowered early in that game. And then the Pacers do. Did what the Pacers do, which is keep fighting, keep chipping away, keep running, keep playing their style of ball. We'll get a subs substitution in. That'll ignite something in this Pacers team. Now two wins away from the NBA final. Wow.

[Evan Fox]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Championship. There's a parade.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Don't.

[Boston Connor]

Don't think about it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Don't. Yeah. Think that, you know, you should think about.

[Pat McAfee]

Huh.

[Ty Schmidt]

Those chance that were going till 1:32am on a Wednesday night. What they'll be on a Friday night.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Games on Friday night.

[Ty Schmidt]

Think about that tomorrow night.

[Pat McAfee]

Games on a Friday night. And bars here in Indianapolis. I don't want to snitch on anybody. And I think all the cops and alcohol enforcement knows this. They seemingly don't have a last call after a big event.

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

So that is. That is something about our city that is spectacular. You know, we are obviously home of Hoosier hospitality. Sure. There are massive sporting events. Shout out to John Ku.

[Ty Schmidt]

Which we've learned about.

[Pat McAfee]

We were reminded of. We were reminded of all the big sporting events that happen here in Indianapolis, which there are a bunch. Final Four's, national championships, Super Bowls, you name it. Olympic trials happen here. There's like Big Ten titles, Big Ten championships. Like so many things happen here in Indianapolis. Easy to get to have the hotels. Everything's connected. All the restaurants and bars are ready for people from out of town to come into town. Like very, very, very much a perfect city to host things. But whenever something awesome happens late, the entire city also knows like okay, so maybe two 30s normally seemingly that thing will run till 3:34am you know, they will. They'll give a little bit of a Runway for people to have a good time if they are Looking to do as such, safely, obviously monitored. Everybody needs to be home safe and have a good time here. But with the conventions that come into town, let's say a bunch of farmers roll into a place, you know, 1:32am looking to have a good time on a Thursday because they just had the greatest convention that they've ever had. Indianapolis will say, you know what? Yeah, let them have a couple more beers. Sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

Enjoy it.

[Pat McAfee]

And that happened last night. And if it happens tomorrow night. Now, the Oklahoma City Thunder haven't lost the back to back game since 2024, which is a different year than the year we are currently in the middle of. Yeah, okay. That's a long time ago time. So if the Pacers were able to win back to back games against his Oklahoma City team, that would be something that has never really been done against his Oklahoma City team. And that would be something that would be worthy of a celebration. But inevitably they're going to have to at some point. Something's going to have to give with both of these teams. The Pacers hadn't lost back to back games since March. The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't lost back to back games since 2024. It's like, who's going to budge? Who's going to give? We shall see tomorrow night here in Indianapolis, Indiana, the talk stables here at Boston, Connor and that Ty Schmidt. Ty, how you doing?

[Boston Connor]

Not great. I was just gonna write down red alert both ends. I don't know what it is, but I don't know if it's us talking about the, the Pacers because I was very excited last night. I will say, if you're a Pacers fan and we talked about this a little bit, I don't think they, they haven't particularly played their best game either. I kept looking up and like, look, not yet. Yeah, the three points shooting stats and it's like, you know, they'd be up by 10 and you. And it's like they're only shooting 30% from 3. Like they still, they still haven't reached their peak. So I think if you're a Pacers fan, like that's, that's what you're pointing to. It's like, hey, everyone's kind of counting us out still and we're still, you know, underdogs in every single game. Like they still haven't played their best game yet.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of people were predicting this potentially from you last night whenever they saw you on the Internet doing the math or any, you know.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

I think the first comment was actually Ty thought about having one and actually had one. Were you thinking about having one last night?

[Boston Connor]

I was thinking about having one, but you guys can all attest. I had two drinks last night. That was it. I mean, it was. You know, it was a Wednesday night. What am I. What are we gonna do? But no, I had a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch, and I. I was battling, you know, pooping my pants and throwing up that. That whole first hour, and I'm kind of still in the throes of it right now. I'm just trying to hang on as long as I.

[Pat McAfee]

Good news. You got khakis on.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, and there's no wrestling ring for you to slide through, so that's good.

[Boston Connor]

Well, that's. This. This one was actually going to be through this door because that. That's what. That's how. Red alert.

[Pat McAfee]

Red alert.

[Boston Connor]

That's how. Red alert.

[Pat McAfee]

We're talking one half of the Hammer Cowboys ap. Tony might have to slide out of the way as tied to size, attic and basement. Here we go. Hand her off. It is 108 here at the Thunderdome as.

[Boston Connor]

I'm gonna be as quick as I can.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good luck, man.

[Boston Connor]

Like, get this thing off.

[Pat McAfee]

There was, like, 50 comments last night.

[Evan Fox]

I know.

[Pat McAfee]

On the Instagram and on X. Like, Ty's gonna be in trouble tomorrow. Ty's gonna be. He said he had a grilled chicken sandwich. That's obviously what the problem is.

[Ty Schmidt]

Of course.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He only had two drinks, too.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah, I drove him home. He was not drunk. I could. I can. I can attest to that.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good friend.

[Pat McAfee]

I swear. These are good people. These are good people. Thank you, Tony, for being such a good neighbor and driving Ty home.

[Ty Schmidt]

We mix it up a little bit. I mean, if Ty only had two drinks, I feel like I had a few.

[Pat McAfee]

We got that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Fun.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like that.

[Pat McAfee]

You.

[Ty Schmidt]

You weren't joking. That environment. I haven't been in something like that. And of course, like, I never been to a finals game in general, so. Thank you for having us. But seriously, Seriously, the. The amount of, like, meaning in the game itself. I haven't been around that probably since I went to the Patriots Super. Super bowl against the Rams. Thank you for that as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You could feel it. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Like, you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You're welcome. One of my favorite basketball games I've ever been to. And I feel like our entire suite, we were fired up. We're. And it wasn't just us. It felt like everybody was dialed in. It was so awesome for the entire. It was. It Was a great experience. And shout out to the Pacers. They're seemingly their. Their organization. They're doing it right, too. It's like they very much are worrying about the little things. Things like they would like this to be excellent. They would like halftime.

[Evan Fox]

Not all the little things.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. The halftime was.

[Pat McAfee]

So we need the same national anthem. Okay. Which we did not expect that to be an NBA Finals national anthem. I agree. Started out terrible. Got better as the song went on. Good. Closer. Okay. So it started out a little bit rough. I think everybody in the arena went, this is the NBA Finals. Then we go backwards. Let's play respect to the flag here. And then as the song continued, got better. Yeah. I think at the end we were like, all right, way to close that one out.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was good.

[Evan Fox]

Could have got worse.

[Pat McAfee]

The halftime. The halftime decision. That's Red Panda. That is. You roll out Old Faithful there. You put red Panda out there. Rest in peace. I don't think Quick change is still around, but you need to put something out there that we know is a smash. Now. Kevin Lehay. Ken Lehay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kenny Leahy.

[Pat McAfee]

Kenny Leahy with his bike and what he did last night, certainly impressive. Awesome. Okay. He was doing big time bunny hops. He was rolling around on a front tire. He was jumping from a wheel to a square, to a thing, to a ladder.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jumped over the pacemates.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Six pacemates he haulied over. That was pretty good. That was really good. But where we were sitting, it was hard to.

[Evan Fox]

That was an NBA.

[Pat McAfee]

It was hard to see that. That was very scary. That was a Tuesday night. November against the Atlanta Hawks. Halftime show. King Kerr. So we don't know who booked the halftime show. Right. Okay. We don't know if that was the NBA because they kind of take over the building. We don't know if that was Disney, espn because they run the show or if that was the Pacers that were actually booking that. So we will get to the bottom of that. The national anthem was not what we thought it was going to be for the NBA Finals, Although finished it well. Halftime. Halftime show. I think we just didn't fully comprehend how extreme he is. You know, how it was hard to exactly. Really calibrate from where we were sitting in the arena how difficult and crazy what this guy was doing. Because when I was a kid, we. We had a lot of bikes. Yeah. We were in a bike with pegs, people riding around. We're grinding, you know, and every once in a while you take the brakes. You take the brakes off. So you don't have the wires going around the front. And you could really do some shit on those bikes. You know, you could put that thing up on the front wheel and then you can roll around with your foot on the back of that front wheel. I don't want to say I was doing that as a 10 year old, but potentially 11 years old. I was doing it in Plumburu. And I wasn't the only one. You know, I actually have a scar right here on my jaw from taking a bike off a big time jump that I thought I was preparing for.

[Evan Fox]

Sick jumps in the woods.

[Pat McAfee]

Sick jumps in the woods. I. I mean, I tried to jump over a crick. We're crick boys. I tried to take one of these bikes up over top of it. Boom. I bust chin, we're in a bad spot. So I am a fan of bike riders, BMX riders. I am a fan of what you're able to do. Piece of metal, two wheels. I just think it was very difficult for. There's a lot of people just walking out. Okay. Because it was like. I don't know how difficult this is.

[Evan Fox]

There's no fire.

[Pat McAfee]

Some jumps and ramps would have been sweet. We grew up in the Matt Hoffman.

[Evan Fox]

Dave Mira BMX era, so we've seen all that stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

But he was doing some basic flatland.

[Evan Fox]

BMX stuff out there. And it was like. I don't even think he had metal pedals. Like, there was no.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, there's no fear of the shins getting back. Yeah, he was a talent. He was a 10. Like, he very. He was great. So he was very, very, very good.

[Evan Fox]

But a Red Bull helmet, so you know he's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You don't just get that throw.

[Evan Fox]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't just get that crown.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm sorry, decals.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. They're not just throwing that helmet on anybody. So I think he did great. But we were certainly sitting up there going, right. Panda rolls out here, she not available. Six balls.

[Ty Schmidt]

That. That's a good thing though, is that, you know, we're after a finals game. We're talking about the two things being maybe not great from it. And it's not the basketball, it's the team.

[Evan Fox]

Maybe she's a Friday night act.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Hold on. I'm watching a video right now. This guy doing other tricks. This would have been impressive. Like, this is not what he did. He did not do. Now he's bouncing off the bob off the. The back. But if he. He didn't do this. No, he didn't do any of that. It was a Different setup. It was more of a.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was like three boxes.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

You guys not see him jump the.

[Evan Fox]

Six Pacemates now with when he had the one laying like a star and.

[Pat McAfee]

He was dosey doeing over top of her back tire, front tire, over your torso, over your leg. Let me dance over here.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was cool.

[Pat McAfee]

It was. That was. There was a lot. He had a lot of talent, but we think we should have had one there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, no doubt about it.

[Pat McAfee]

One of the finals.

[Ty Schmidt]

Silver lining, though, from this entire thing, you know, because the Pacers are in the finals, going on a run here and there's a chance, you know, everybody in the city's tasting that greatness. The Colts are going to look at this and be like, okay, now this is what we are kind of looking to become. This is what we want to be. There's nothing like kind of cross town pressure from your other sports teams that can really actually valid those teams. Okay. Hey, we can't be the. The joke of the city. And I'm not saying the Colts are a joke. Their halftime shows are reminding me that their halftime shows were a joke. That's kind of where my brain went to when talking about poopy halftime shows. But for shoot, the. The Pacers being good is very good if you are a massive Colts fan, because that will cause them to city.

[Pat McAfee]

Lifts the city.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Expectations, pressure, wanting to contribute to city. I think that is. And you know, I do believe some of Colts ownership was in the building last night. The Colts ownership, the Ursay family, massive supporters of the Pacers. Yeah, I mean, massive supporters of the Pacers. Always have been. Love everything they Last tweet. Yeah, his last tweet literally is like, hey, go get him, Simon. Let's go do this for the city. So it's like the cold Colts and the Pacers have a great relationship. But to your point, I heard there were some Colts players that were in that building last night. And you can't help but kind of feel like, hey, this is what it could be.

[Ty Schmidt]

You want it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Especially if you're a quarterback that's new to town.

[Ty Schmidt]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

And you're potentially, you know, experiencing Indy for the first time. He was at the Indy 500. Got a chance to feel that, got a chance to experience the city. Now he's at an NBA finals game in Indianapolis. It's like he is fully fit. And I like that Daniel Jones is out and about. Yes. I like that he's trying to learn about the city, experience the city. Last night he was a part of Chance last night on the streets after the win. It's like, I love everything about what's going on. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who is in an attic in Ohio. He is a college football national champion, a Super bowl champion, a Ryder cup winner. We missed him yesterday, but thank God he's here today. He's never been banned, but if he says one more.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, we. We know.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, Agent Hawk.

[Quinn Richardson]

You tell me a guy at halftime doing big time bunny hops was not. Didn't live up to the expectations you had.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know it was big time bunny hops guy coming in, so I didn't have any expectations. And when he rolled on to the court, I was like, he's on like a mountain bike.

[Quinn Richardson]

He's not. That's not a Dino or a mongoose like we had back in the day. That's like a mountain. Mountain bike.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're right. It is like a mountain bike. But the seat very low. Obviously don't want to get it in the way. And if. Oh, he did a little bit of that. He did a little bit of that when he was doing the dancing right there. He was dancing. That's cool. A pacemate. He had a pacemate laying down on the ground, starfish like such. And he was bang, bow, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Bouncing over her head, even. And then he dropped that thing, right? Yeah, there it is. There it is. There's somebody in it.

[Quinn Richardson]

Like a knife. Like when you spread your hand out and you do the knife real fast in between your fingers.

[Pat McAfee]

You remember when everybody started doing that? That was a bad time.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was a fun game.

[Quinn Richardson]

Bad idea.

[Pat McAfee]

The pencil was. Was already problematic enough. And then the people who would take it outside of their fingers and think that we didn't see that, it's like, hey, we know you're not putting that thing down in between your fingers kind of bullshit right now. Shout out to the Pacers. We missed you yesterday. A lot of people asked where you were. I told everybody that. I said, aj, no reason to travel out. We only have so many chairs. Q Rich traveled in. Darius Miles traveled in. I don't know if you got a chance to feel it through the screen. Indiana is alive right now, AJ and we do need you over here.

[Quinn Richardson]

It's amazing. Well, first off, the show yesterday, I mean, Q Rich, I agree. Shooting in 20 degree, 20 mile an hour gust, that's pretty tough to do.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's kind of rude of us. Looking back on.

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah, double rim, rubber ball. I get It I shoot out. My daughter shoots outside every night. I'm rebounding for in the wind, so you got to figure that out. But it's awesome. Like, I know you guys were there, but it definitely comes through on the tv. Like you can tell, like this is a. There's a moment. There's a moment happening right now in Indianapolis. And I mean now that are up 2:1. Like you definitely can let your mind wander into what this might look like here shortly.

[Pat McAfee]

We're thinking about having one here. We're thinking about having one. You know, ty, Ty left 10 minutes ago, by the way.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Quinn Richardson]

So there's a real grilled chicken sandwich. Always gets you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's grilled chicken sandwich, no bun, lettuce. I think that's what caught me. Yeah, Ty, I think so. Okay, we pivot away from the NBA finals and let's chit chat a little bit about the NFL. There was a team during the draft that made a massive move. New gm, new head coach, new era. We're going to make a statement with a trade that we're going to make in the player that we're going to draft. With that, they go up to number two. They take Travis Hunter. And now the expectations are an exciting brand of football. It's not just Stoner as the general manager. No new face down in Duvall. Run it. Foxy Duvall, ladies and gentlemen. Liam Cohen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Liam.

[Pat McAfee]

Liam.

[AJ Hawk]

Hey, what's up guys?

[Pat McAfee]

We had to get it there. Had to get it there immediately. Okay. Have to address it. Let's talk about it. Nick Sirianni at his opening press conference, he said less thinky, more athlete takeovery. We're planning to seeds in menor. Dan Campbell in his opening press conference said, we're going to be a team. You knock us down, we're climbing. We're not kneecap, man. And he got mocked and ridiculed. You have the Duvall situation that we all talk about. Whenever you exit that press conference, does somebody tell you like, hey, that's you just kind of remix that thing yourself here or how does that kind of all go from your standpoint as a first time head coach? First opening press conference and trying to make a statement and set precedent for what you're going to be down there.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, I appreciate you guys having me on, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you for jumping.

[AJ Hawk]

You know, hey, you walk out of there and you know, ultimately every quarterback, former quarterback, has a cadence and it's just me learning a new cadence. Right. You know, you got to get used to it. Hey, blue 80, blue 80s, you know, you got to get a new cadence. And hey, the good things, Ben, is being able to connect with the fans because every opportunity they get to correct me has been pretty consistent. So great opportunity to connect with fans of Duval County.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you what, if you win, yours is going to be the new one. That is. That is how it kind of goes. Let's talk about winning down there, though. Obviously, everybody knows the story of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville Jaguars have been very good against the Indianapolis Colts at home for the past recent history, but not really good against everybody else. Seemingly have the parts, but now can they piece it all together? What were your thoughts when you got the job, take the job, and how do you feel about the team where you are right now?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think when. When you look at the roster entirely and you see you have a quarterback that. That's showing the ability to play at a high level. You've got multiple defensive players on the edge, specifically on the front, that can disrupt the game and impact the game in a positive way. And then also you've got a star in Brian Thomas Jr. At the receiver position that ultimately can win at all three levels of the defense. So you see some pieces, right? And then there's obviously parts that we need to help with, right? Can we continue to help with the run game? Can we continue to get turnovers on the defensive side of the ball to ultimately help the quarterback, right? This is all about getting Trevor Lawrence to play at his highest potential. And we do have some pieces in place. We've continued to do so throughout the draft and pro free agency, and ultimately we'll see what happens. Throughout training camp into the fall, you've.

[Pat McAfee]

Had a lot of success calling plays. We assume that will continue. And Stoner, general manager down there, the. I call it a promo. Whenever you speak in a. In an extended period of time and you have a directive or a mission. The promo he cut about why you guys drafted Travis Hunter as a statement and what football can be and, you know, breaking down boundaries and what the future and everything like that was unbelievable. When did you guys decide that we were going to make a play for Travis Hunter? This is a must have for this Jacksonville Jaguars team. And when did you decide you were on board with the Travis Hunter experience as the head coach of the football team?

[AJ Hawk]

I think about a month prior to the draft, we started having some. Some conversations, right? James came in to our office, was Tony and I sitting in here, and he said, hey, what would you guys think if we could go and make this thing happen. And when you go through the evaluation process of Travis on both sides of the ball, and you'd say, yeah, I would take him as a DB and I would take him as a receiver. Right. And so those conversations started to become a little bit more realistic about a month prior. And then, okay, you have to go through all the different scenarios, right? What happens when we give up this pick? What do we end up having to do to pivot? And ultimately, it just came down to, look, we want to get a player that wants to come in here and obviously be the best player that he can be. He feels as though he can do some phenomenal things in this league on both sides of the ball, which we appreciate, and we want to be able to give him that platform, while also knowing that when your best players are some of your hardest workers and the guys that truly love the game, that love every aspect of it, that eat, breathe and sleep this thing, you know, that's who he is. And we do have a lot of those guys in this building. But continuing to add to that is what was really important. And those are the things that he.

[Pat McAfee]

Brings a month before the draft being like, so this guy's our number one DB and our number one wide receiver. So this is not, you know, why not? I kind of popped up on draft night. I don't think anybody was predicting that. I think you guys kept that very tight. Right. I mean, that had to be on purpose.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it was. It was pretty consistent throughout that we wanted to keep it quiet. Obviously, you didn't know specifically with the first pick of the overall draft that may have some implications. And ultimately, just, I think, you know, both organizations did a great job of keeping it professional, doing it the right way. You know, obviously we would love to have, you know, kept a little bit more of our building inclusive on some of the decisions, but ultimately, you have to make those decisions that are best, and it all worked out for the best.

[Pat McAfee]

I think the Arizona Cardinals traded for, like, Hollywood Brown or something.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

On draft night a few years ago, and nobody knew about it. He was even on a plane over there. So, like, the Jacksonville Jaguars trade it not coming out. I think it's good news for your culture, personally. I think that is good news for the state of your entire program. Go ahead, A.J. coach.

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah. As far as Travis Hunter, like, heading into training camp here, five, six weeks, whatever it might be, do you guys have a plan in place that you're going to build and put together for what you're going to put, like, on this guy's? Plate. I mean, it's a great problem to have. Like, hey, where do we get him reps, which side of the ball, how much do we put on him as far as the playbook and everything? Like, is there a plan that you guys sit down with Travis and think about what might his, what his training camp could look like?

[AJ Hawk]

Absolutely. That was exactly what we did for the off season program as well, where, you know, we kind of built a plan and then sat him down and really talked through it. And, you know, how does he learn what is the best ways that he learns? We did gain some of that information throughout the draft process. But when you actually sit down with him and kind of get a feeling, well, he likes to walk through more than sit in a meeting room setting. So let's do more walkthroughs. And we really kind of okay. Every day he was on offense. He also met with the defensive staff in the afternoons and vice versa. And so typically throughout this offseason, he was on one side of ball in practice and he didn't flip flop. Today he did. And he played both sides of the ball in practice today. And that will have to continue on throughout training camp where he's playing on both sides of the ball and getting that mental and physical endurance throughout the training camp because that's what he's going to have to do in game. So ultimately, we're building a foundation right now of both sides of the football, but he's going to have to do both in practice because that's what the game is going to be like. And we'll sit down and kind of reevaluate what we did this spring to see what's the best moving forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, no pressure. You got a once in a lifetime player who wants to play on both sides. So, head coach, let's make sure we're monitoring reps, let's make sure he stays healthy, let's make sure he's prepared for two impossible jobs. Corner, maybe the hardest job in football, and then wide receiver. Yeah, everybody's got to be on the same page. Hey, make sure you do it, dude.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good luck.

[Pat McAfee]

Make sure you do it. You said he played on both sides today at practice for the first time.

[Darius Miles]

He did.

[Pat McAfee]

How'd it go? How do we feel? Good. Good.

[AJ Hawk]

He, you know, it's one of those things where he's, he's learning, continuing continuously as we do the. As we go through the install. Right. And today we tried to keep it really tight with the install. Let these guys go. On the last day of Minicamp, feeling confident, feeling fresh, and he was in the right spot alignment assignment, and not a ton of balls came his way when he ended up playing on defense. And you know, that happens as you're playing the cornerback position. But he's been great. The coaching staff, as you mentioned, Pat, like, this is an organizational deal, right? From the training staff to the equipment staff to the strength and conditioning to our sports science, Everybody has to be on board and understand what his process is and what's the best process to get him to play at the highest level on Sundays. And that's what it's been. It's been a group effort so far.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you like the young vibe that you have? Obviously, we thought Stoner was a 12 year old. Yeah. His face popped up on the screen and we said, what this guy? General manager. And then McVay came on. Obviously ties you all together there. McVeigh goes, don't sleep on my boy Gladstone. Do not sleep on my boy Gladstone. Feels like there was a mission from the Kahn family saying, let's get our young group in here and let's grow with them. Is that kind of the mindset that you're seeing as well? A little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, I think ultimately, yeah, we did have a little continuity being in L. A for a few years, and, you know, the vision is very similar. And so James definitely has a little killer in him. I mean, he's a coach's son, and so at the end of the day, he's all about ball. The things that, you know, you guys would really appreciate and respect about the evaluation process with the draft. Like, those are the exact things that he really benefits from in terms of what he values in players. Being football smart, savvy. Not just all height, weight, speed, understanding the game. Do they love it? Do they live it? Those are the things that he really values in these players, and those are the same things us as coaches just naturally want in our players. So it's been great so far. He definitely has that young look, but, man, he's wise beyond his years.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, coach. You guys are supposed to suck, though, down here. I don't like. I don't like hearing what you're saying. Okay. I don't like hearing what you're saying. We're looking for dogs. We like people that love football. We're trying to do things right way. We don't need that okay, in Jacksonville at all. We don't need that at all. Especially as an Indianapolis Colts guy. We do not need that at all. And it feels like every answer you're giving is one that makes it a little bit bigger of a nightmare that down there in Duvall. Yeah, you got it. There might be a real monster being built. Go ahead to coach.

[Evan Fox]

Does it give you confidence coming from Tampa that it feels like the talent on the Jaguars is similar? You're going to have two incredibly talented wide receivers, multiple backs that kind of remind me of the of the bucks backs down there. Former number one overall quarterbacks on both of those teams. Does it give you confidence or some sort of like reassurance that like, hey, as long as we kind of do what we did there, we're going to have success down here as well on offense?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, every team's different, right? Every season it's a new entity. Every offense is different. But there are pieces of things that we could learn from last year that can hopefully help us as we go. Right. So we had those pieces in place. We had very good talent at Tampa and Baker was an absolute stud to work with and we kind of had a mentality. We were going to be one version of ourselves in the run game. Early on in Tampa. We were trying to run zone and a little duo and then that wasn't working four games in. And so ultimately we had to pivot and I think that was the learning moment was, man, these guys, ultimately it's all about what they can do, what are they best at. Let's continue to try to do those at a high level. Yeah, we got to improve the things we need to improve. But we ended up pivoting to being a little bit more of a gap scheme team in the run game. And that was something that we learned that you can take in every team that we got to play to your players strengths and ultimately do what they do best so you can get the best version of them on Sundays.

[Pat McAfee]

X's and O's. Play calling. Obviously one thing, head coach, there's a lot more to it. I assume you knew that coming into the job and are experiencing that right now. Connor has a question for you. Welcome back, Ty Schmidt. Thank you. Coach Cohen, I don't know if you know this. This man was missing for 22 minutes because he had, you know, potentially a couple jack and diets last night and then a grilled chicken sandwich this morning.

[Boston Connor]

I tell you what, I think I got E Coli from the lettuce.

[Pat McAfee]

I think Connor has a question for you. Sorry, he's battling this one. Hey, Grit. Hey, we're trying, hey, we're trying to build up this you know, grit John, and he's battling, and we appreciate that. Go ahead, Connor.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Coach. Coming from Tampa, obviously, obviously, you need to kind of establish your own culture. I'm sure you picked up things there and with. And with the Rams and, you know, things like that, from all the places you've been. Go Minutemen, by the way. Shout out UMass.

[Pat McAfee]

What.

[Ty Schmidt]

What is your culture, would you say? How do you kind of establish that culture? We kind of see behind you the, you know, fast acronym there. But what exactly would you say is your culture, and how are you going to get that implemented with all the players on the team that have been there for a while who have gone through a couple different cultures?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's a great one. We want mentally and physically tough players that love to compete, and that's really what it comes down to. Right. We definitely have a style of play and what you see behind me, and that's something that ended up taking along the way from things that you pick up from Sean and from Todd Bowles and as much as you can learn from these guys that have led winning organizations, winning teams. And so we want to be as mentally and physically tough to have the mentality that we'll play anybody anywhere, and we got to go in a dogfight that you don't want to line up and play us because we're going to be physical. And those are the things that we want to try to instill, to compete and do right longer. Those are the things that we're really trying to emphasize, and it's a lot, man, you're trying to install new systems on two sides of the football. We kept continuity, which was really important within the special teams group, having Heath Farwell and our specialist stay consistent, who's a total stud. So, you know, we're. We're instilling culture. We're going through those processes, our style of play, how we want to operate, and also doing, you know, installing new offense and defense. So these guys have done a great job. Ultimately, we want them to come to work every day and enjoy it, truly come to work pulling this building every day, which is amazing. And say, man, I can't wait to get to work. I can't wait to work with these guys. And ultimately, in the fourth quarter, when you got a. Everybody's got a why, everybody plays for a reason. And ultimately, you know, at some point, I want those guys out there to say, you know, I want to go play my tail off for those guys, those coaches as well. And those are the type of relationships we're trying to create.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that. And getting guys that love ball, I think that is so important. I genuinely. I don't know how you find who loves ball. Travis Hunter. Everybody says this guy loves ball, and also he's incredibly talented. If you get a building filled with players that love ball, all the extra shit they'll do because they want to do it, it's like they enjoy doing it. If you get somebody that's just viewing it as work, then you got a problem. I think the culture is much easier to instill whenever you have guys. That love ball feels like stoner. It's got a good eye. Feels like stoner's got a good eye for that. Which, once again, I hate. I cannot say this. I cannot say this. And you talk about your beautiful facility. Oh, I've heard. Yeah, I've heard a Khan family is going to build up an entire city within Jacksonville to make the semen out of that. I hate that. I will let you know, I do not like that. But I love it for you, and I love it for the Jaguars faithful. Go ahead, A.J.

[Quinn Richardson]

Coach. Yeah, I assume a big reason why you wanted that gig is because you have Trevor Lawrence already there as the solidified quarterback. I guess in your short time working with him this spring and summer, I guess, what do you. What do you like about this guy and what do you see him doing this year?

[AJ Hawk]

Man, this guy has leaned into everything that we've tried to coach since getting here. From the moment that we arrived, it was, man, how much time can I put into this thing? All throughout, all the phases, phase one, phase two, phase three, you know, calling the plays, multiple play calls, checks, protections. This guy's been up here in the building as much as possible, taking the work home with him, even though he's got a new baby at home, and. And he's working his tail off. And then you see him out here, and he's a natural thrower of the football. I mean, he can put the ball in places where he wants it to be. And now it's just about, hey, how can we play at a consistently high level game in and game out and also help them, right? We've got to improve the run game to be able to create a little bit more balance so that every throw isn't the biggest throw of the game and then be able to turn the ball over on the defensive side, side of the ball to help him as well. But, man, been really impressed with his work ethic, his recall, his attention to detail, and he's doing everything we've asked so far and, and, and see nothing but good things for him moving forward.

[Pat McAfee]

He has seemingly handled himself like a professional since high school. I mean, I remember the first game he went in for Clemson, they were talking about him being the next one. That's a lot of pressure. Whenever you're a teenager and they're saying you're the next one, you're the next one, you're the next one. He has handled it. We're getting to the where. Point. Point now, you know, where there's another word that some people are throwing out. Do you feel the pressure of that getting the most out of Trevor Lawrence?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think it's, it's natural. Right. You feel the pressure to. You always as a coach, want to try to get the most out of your players and when you don't, you feel like you fail. Right? Like that's, that is our job. Our job is to put these guys in the best position to be successful. And you're constantly evaluating that process to get you there and to get these guys playing at the highest potential. So is it pressure? No, I think it's exciting. I think it's a great opportunity for him to show who he really wants to be. Right. Like he, he has it, he has shown it. I mean, he led one of the best, you know, comebacks in playoff history. I mean the guy's got grit. He's played through a ton of injuries throughout his career. He's mentally and physically tough. He has these skill set. So it's ultimately just about, man, just go let it rip. Go play free of failure. Go play with a supporting cast that we can continue to improve and just go cut it loose.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you like to do as a hobby? You're a golfer. Most quarterbacks. Golfer. You're a golfer. You're good.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I mean, I'm going to Scotland actually on Monday. My dad and my father in law are going on a trip. We got St. Andrews, Turnberry, Troon, Tarnousti and Kings Barn.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you're a stick. You, you. What's your handicap?

[AJ Hawk]

I'm a nine.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so we're coming. Are we coming out of the. What are we, Are we coming out of the pocket? We short? I'm.

[AJ Hawk]

My putting game is tough. That's, that's where I, I tend to fall apart on the green a little bit. Typically you have to practice that and don't have a ton of time to do it and don't enjoy just sitting there practicing putting, but it'll be fun, man. This is, this Is a great. This is like been our dream with me and my dad and my father in law. His family is actually Muncie, Indiana, so he's a huge fan, bro. Huge fan.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, well, tell the father in law shout out. And I hope he beats you and your dad out there over there in Scotland.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go, sirs.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? And go, sirs. Shout out if he's Muncie, Indiana. Who do you think wins the US Open? Who do you think wins the US Open?

[AJ Hawk]

Man, I gotta go. Dark horse here. Harris English okay, okay, I'm gonna write that.

[Pat McAfee]

I've never heard of this guy. So very dark. Hearst horse.

[AJ Hawk]

Harris English George Jackson. He's Georgia. He's been down here. Got to know him a little bit, man came to the draft and he's just been a great friend so far. Just getting to know him a little bit. I don't know a ton of the pros out there on the PGA Tour, but he's been a good one for me.

[Pat McAfee]

You still spin it a little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

From 15 and in. I'd say there's probably a consistent accuracy. Once you get past that, I probably lose a little velocity. We did a goal post competition today. I did not win.

[Pat McAfee]

Who won? Logan Cook, the new rich punter you guys got down there.

[AJ Hawk]

Dude, he could. If he was in it, he would probably have been right in the competition for it. What a stud. Really, really pumped to get him in the boat. Extended him and just exactly what we wanted Jacksonville Jaguar to be. I think Nick Mullins might have ended up winning it today, though.

[Pat McAfee]

Mullins is a dog. That is what Mullins does. I appreciate the fact that your first press conference went the way it did and obviously you had sick loafers on, if I do recall. You had some awesome loafers on. Yeah. Yeah, you did. You look sweet. I mean, everything about it was, you know, attention stealing. Like, damn, look at how this guy. Damn, look how young this guy is. He only has five year coaching experience. He just remixed Duvall in this first thing. It's like it was all a lot of noise. A lot of noise. And now that you've kind of settled in, now it's time to build the program. I appreciate that you guys said we need to pay the punter immediately. That's good football. You guys know ball down there.

[AJ Hawk]

Respect that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, massive respect. All right. Good luck in Scotland. Good luck with your first year as a head coach for the Jacksonville Jack. Not too much luck, you know, but you understand what I'm saying and thank you for joining us, coach.

[AJ Hawk]

Thanks, guys. I Appreciate you having me on.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Tell everybody we said what's up down there, Including Stoner. We love Stoner.

[Ty Schmidt]

Huge fan.

[Pat McAfee]

That whole.

[AJ Hawk]

Keep it going, man. Keep it going.

[Pat McAfee]

That speech he gave about drafting Travis Hunter and it being a statement in, like, what football can be like. I listen to it. I'm like, hey, this high school kid, this guy, he's a dog through and through. Good luck down there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Him spinning the ball. Practice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, you're right. I forgot about.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, he's spinning the ball.

[AJ Hawk]

Jacksonville's got a ball, dude. He can throw it. He can catch it. One hand. He went out, I think beat Boseli one on one in hoops yesterday. I mean.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, he started.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah, he's like that.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Do good, but not too good. Liam Cohen. I liked him.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sounds like.

[Pat McAfee]

I like Liam.

[Ty Schmidt]

Gladstone is him, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

It does sound like it.

[Ty Schmidt]

For real.

[Pat McAfee]

Hamstone, bro.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hamstone.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. There it is. I mean, unbelievable. He. I mean, to be fair to us, the Duval thing. Okay. That happens.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Then Stoner pops up in the picture, and it's like, what?

[Ty Schmidt]

Kidding me?

[Pat McAfee]

What is going on?

[Evan Fox]

I mean, heavy. Gladstone has got it.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[Evan Fox]

Himmy Gladstone has it.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you're right. You're talking about old himmy. Him. Him. Gladstone. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

And just the stuff around the hiring. Remember the whole Bucks thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. They're not happy. They're not letting interviews take place.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Be able to get a staff. I mean, there was just so much. And it was like, oh, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Jacksville Jaguar. That's what they're doing. And then Sean McVay, who everybody was trying to hire, like, the next Sean McVay comes on and goes, you guys need to watch it without. You're talking about my guys here. These are. These are two of my guys. And then we started, like, hearing from people around the NFL and they're like, yo, got one of those brains. Liam Cohen, I understand he did the Duvall thing, but let's not. Let's relax here a little bit, what he's been able to do. And then Stoner usually have people from different teams being like, hey, everybody kind of knew this guy was going to be fast tracked into it. It's like, oh, the Jacksonville Jaguars making good decisions. I don't love that. I don't love that at all. Because obviously got Houston Texans down there doing their thing. Cam Ward appears to be a guy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. All signs are pointing to Cam Ward being a junkyard dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So what happened he talked some. I guess so.

[Ty Schmidt]

J.C. latham, he kind of talked about how there's, you know, in the huddle. It's great how he commands it, but. Yeah, the big one was Brian Callahan talking about him while you giving Cam Ward a play. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not. I'll be honest, I wasn't used to. I'm not used to calling plays to a quarterback as usual. He's still talking when I'm talking to him, and that's great.

[Pat McAfee]

And so I asked him after practice.

[Ty Schmidt]

And I said I just, just help me out here. Do you need me to wait till you finish or. And he goes, no. He goes, I'm listening. So he, he, he's hearing what I'm telling him. And it was a pretty remarkable to see all the things going on and how much he's talking, but like his brain is still like, with me, I guess is the best way to put it.

[Pat McAfee]

Like when I'm calling him play, it's.

[Ty Schmidt]

All he's doing, all he's doing, but he's listening to everything I'm telling him. And he enters right into the huddle and he calls a play and doesn't scrub the play call. And I thought that was actually kind of remarkable.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

I couldn't do that.

[Pat McAfee]

So that's just kind of who he is.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's his personality. And again, if it was something that I felt like was detrimental to his ability to manage the offense and call.

[Pat McAfee]

It and huddle and all that, I'd.

[Ty Schmidt]

You know, I'd probably have a couple things to say to him. But he didn't miss a beat when it came to calling the play and.

[Pat McAfee]

Being on top of it and then.

[Ty Schmidt]

Executing when it came time to execute.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, it was new experience for me.

[Pat McAfee]

But it was fun. We do not need the Titans to be good, too. Yeah, okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bad news.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't need. What's that, A.J. okay.

[Quinn Richardson]

Pretty good division.

[Ty Schmidt]

Pretty good.

[Evan Fox]

That's what everyone says.

[Pat McAfee]

All of a sudden. All of a sudden AFC south problematic and, you know, what a ball.

[Quinn Richardson]

What a ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but then him talking shit to the db. That's what he is referring to. He's referring to him talking shit to the defense while he's calling a play. And he's, he's. I mean, his plays are not easy to remember, especially for a rookie quarterback trying to take in a brand new offense. And he just has to let a guy know, hey, that was on your head. Callahan's calling in. Then he goes right into the huddle bang, here we go. And Callahan's brain exploded. Yeah, while that's all happening, I mean, that's a good feeling. That's probably a good feeling for Coach Callahan, but it's like this dude seemingly made to be a guy. And it wasn't really like a foregone conclusion when the season ended that he's a guy. But then as the draft season kind of continued to roll around, it's like, this is a guy. This is clearly a guy. The amount of football he's played in college, from incarnate words all the way to the U, and all the success that he's had, all the different locker rooms he's been in, all the different offenses he's been in, and all he wants to do is play ball. It's like, what a win for the Titans to get this guy seemingly at this point. AJ Yeah.

[Quinn Richardson]

I love when Callahan says, I had to pull him aside and say, help me out here. Like you ever heard coaches do help me out here. They're usually pretty pissed off when they do that. And for Cat like, it is. It is kind of amazing because you know how long sometimes these play calls are to have that coming in his speaker as he's talking to the dbs, like, that's a talent, man. That's something that not everybody could do.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's a. That's a. That's QB1. Yeah. That is a new dog. And I don't love that. Obviously, he already has a dance and now he's already picking up the NFL offense pretty quickly. And Nashville, Tennessee is a spectacular city. I mean, I cannot stress that enough.

[Ty Schmidt]

New stadium coming.

[Pat McAfee]

If the Titans were to be great. Okay. And I'm not saying that's gonna happen because obviously they're in the Colts division. And also Liam Cones and Stoners, let alone Casario and d' Amico run. Okay? So. But if the Titans were to become great, that city would be. Must travel to like, that is a place like Vegas. Everybody's talking about Vegas. Like, well, if your team's playing in Vegas, you need to go watch. You should go watch. It's a great getaway. It's like Nashville is like the city to go spend a weekend and watch your team at. So we need to make sure that Cam awards good, but not too good. Okay. Because it feels like Nashville could become a real.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

NFL say, especially with the new stadium coming in, the new mindset coming in. His dad, obviously the offensive line coach. They're going to play a tough brand of football. It's like taxes. Everything's Tennessee with no tax. State income tax. That's like 7, 8% there. Yeah, it's like, hold the phone on this AFC South. I don't like what's happening at all. What I do like, though, Ty, is your back. That was a 21 minute trip.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, that, that one was not great. You know, a lot of times we, we have fun with it and it's like, oh, you know, I waddle across there because I really, like, I really am going to like poop my pants. That very rarely do I have to exit out this back door because that's, that's business time. That's. Hey, we. We got no time to mess around. And I haven't, I haven't exited out, out both ends in like quite some time. It was pretty violent. Pretty quick.

[Ty Schmidt]

Through the legs. Well, through the legs like that.

[Boston Connor]

No, no, no. Like, you get out. What you got to get out from the back side. And then it's like, okay, now you just, you plug up very hard because you know that I'm gonna be exerting a lot when I, you know, go to puke.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Quinn Richardson]

Are you flushing before you puke, I hope?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Or did it ricochet?

[Boston Connor]

You don't really have time to think about that.

[Evan Fox]

No.

[Boston Connor]

So you kind of just gotta. You kind of just gotta let it.

[Pat McAfee]

Whose toilet is this? Is yours, Bill? Yeah. For.

[Boston Connor]

It's mine now, gentlemen.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. It is. It is. Happy you're back, man. Sorry. Sorry. That grilled chicken got you.

[Boston Connor]

No, I'm. I'm dead serious. I mean, digs. Digs. Can he. He can, he can bet. He can attest to it. Like, I, I did not. I wasn't. I could have got very bombed last night with how that game was going. It would have been very easy to just keep walking back out there, getting another double, walking back in, finishing that, getting another double, walking back. I could have done that, but I did not. Because, like, you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

So you only had two doubles.

[Boston Connor]

Didn't even get doubles. And I should have because, you know, those drinks, you know, for $18, take a little booze, Take a little booze with that pop.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ridiculous.

[Boston Connor]

But no, that's neither here or nor there because we were talking about it. We were so invested in the game and I was. But what I was going to say is while I was my brains out and puking, I wanted to hate Liam Cohen.

[Pat McAfee]

I did so bad.

[Boston Connor]

He's. He's likable.

[Pat McAfee]

Preach army.

[Ty Schmidt]

He is funny.

[Boston Connor]

Pretty funny. But on the floor as awareness, you're Saying we can't have all these other team. You know, all these other teams are looking at these videos coming out of the Colts and they're saying, Jesus Christ. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

He's on run exactly three quarters, right.

[Evan Fox]

They just put out a dart he threw to Tyler Warren. It looks like it was down the seam. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Completely forgot about Tyler Warren being on. I know. Until it was tweeted like last night, like, Tyler Warren's having a great camp. I'm like, of course he is. That's Tyler. That's what Tyler Warren does. We got a bunch of additions on defensive side. So, Cam, I like what you're doing. I respect what you got going on. Callahan, Liam Cohen, surprisingly, I guess that's. That kind of sounds like a shot.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's got a chance.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't mean that. Sound like a shot. Unexpectedly. I'm a big fan of Liam Co. Yeah. Unexpectedly. After chit chatting with him. And I can only tell when people come on here, like pretty quickly, like, okay, do we fake like this person? We actually like this person, you know, and if we fake like the person, probably not gonna see him for a while. They might get banned.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, they could get banned.

[Pat McAfee]

You've been banned.

[Quinn Richardson]

Not another. Not another.

[Pat McAfee]

You better watch your mouth. You're close.

[Quinn Richardson]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly.

[Darius Miles]

Zip it.

[Pat McAfee]

Zip it. Yeah, you're close. Getting banned. Okay. Ban, ban, ban. You're bad. You're banned. Exactly. We've been doing that a long time. So there's a chance. Love Liam Cohen feels like would love Cam Ward and shout to the NFL conversations that we've been able to have because he's mentored many games.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Shout out to John Lynch. Joining us and ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a hall of famer, a man who's Olympic gold medalist for Sweden. He's five time all star, maybe one of the most handsome professional athletes of all time.

[Ty Schmidt]

And best trust actually voted in Sweden.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. In Sweden is a super good dress place.

[Evan Fox]

Super good.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, King Henry Lundquist.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Hey, what's up, guys? How are you, King?

[Pat McAfee]

We're good. Our friend Ty here is battling. I think you got a chance to hear that. We are happy he is back though, King. We are happy he is back. Yeah.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

That was an interesting conversation. I was listening into here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Our show is terrible and that is just part of for the course there. But we are happy Tai's feeling better. He had a terrible grilled chicken sandwich that really sent him into a downward spiral. He won't do that again.

[Boston Connor]

I won't.

[Pat McAfee]

Never fried Chicken only go forward.

[Boston Connor]

You're right.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's you. That's what you get for trying to be like King Henry.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk a little bit here. Obviously you were incredible in between the pipes. You on TV great as well. I want to let you know that your guys crew over there at TNT is phenomenal. We appreciate you giving back to the spot sport in which you were great at. Let's talk about. Let's talk about the goalies because the goalies end up being the story. So like in our sport, the offensive lines end up being the conversation whenever it comes to playoff time, super bowl time. The best offensive line in football won the super bowl this past year. That is normally the case in hockey. I feel like you don't really have the goalie conversation until the playoffs. And that's like, hey, you have to have a goalie to be able to win. When you look at Bob and you look at stuff, who's more set up right now, you think to have a run here to hoist Lordo. And what do you see out of both of these goalies throughout this series?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Well, I would say I rank Bobrovsky ahead of Stu for sure in terms of technique and how he moves on the ice. He's so good at recovering on broken plays and get across east to west. The thing with Stuart Skinner, I have to say I'm impressed how he can bounce back. And I think that's. That's a major thing to have when you're a goaltender, be able to come back from a loss or a tough game. We've seen it this year in the playoffs. We saw it last year in the playoffs. So if you're just focusing on that, the mindset, the focus goal it requires to have, you know, especially in the playoffs, under so much pressure. There's definitely some positives for Stuart Skinner and Edmonton, but in terms of ranking these two guys, Bob is ahead for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Bob's been there too. This is the third straight finals, obviously, long, long, long seasons. And I know they talk about goalies like they talk about kickers or they talk about pitchers, about how the mental warfare against yourself is almost the hardest opponent that you're going to have. You have to have the ability, you have to have the skill, but you also have to mentally be able to show up every single night. How do you think Bob has handled it all? Because obviously they're the reigning champs. And why do you think he's been able to handle it all?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Well, I think we all as goalies have different ways of getting to that place where mentally you're sharp, you're able to handle the pressure. I always say goaltending is about making decisions under pressure and you can afford any mistakes, really. So obviously you know that you can feel that pressure. And with Bob, I think he has a method where everything he does leading up to a game in warm ups or in preparation, you know, it's about finding that place. Mentally, he looks very calm. And it's interesting as a goalie, probably similar to a quarterback, you need to be calm in your mind, but at the same time, you need to be on your toes. It's not like as a goalie, you can try harder. As a forward, you can go out there and, you know, be physical and just skate harder, but as a goalie, you can't try harder. You just need your focus to be in the right place and allow the game to come to you. Which is a big difference. Being a goalie versus a skater.

[Pat McAfee]

God, that's a great point. I used to say that about my position as a punter. I used to play soccer growing up and let's say I didn't have a good touch or my. I was having an off day. I could at least put pressure on people. I could like, run full speed of people. I could give effort for punting. I hit a shank or I don't have it one day, it's like, hit a shank, get booed off the field, sit there for 35 minutes, and then you got to go back out there. You know, it's like, it's an interesting thing. I didn't even think about that. For goalies, that's very, very real. If you're not seeing the puck, there ain't shit else that you can benefit the team with. That's. That's quite a. I assume that's a little bit of a stranglehold on your brain. Now on that note, Connor has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Hank, big fan. Loved your Slow mo video. Barry and Biz, as you walked into the arena the other day, that was hilarious. One thing we talked about, I think it was Big Rig who kind of brought it up was, you know, teams will watch film and they'll kind of find the, the spots that goalies are, you know, weaker out when it comes to saving players pucks. And for Stu Skin, it felt like stick side high in that last game was very apparent. And granted a lot of those goals are, you know, bar down, piping in and everything, but it's still. It felt like they were attacking the Top left side of the net. His stu skin's right King goalies kind of fix that. Is there a way to kind of figuring out your own tells and then going back to next game and having an emphasis on, you know, getting that shoulder up, watching that side of the net, or is that just something where. That was one game, we're on to the next one. He just needs to bounce back as a whole.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Yeah, I would say, obviously, after every game, you analyze your performance. What do I need to improve? You can see their tendencies. And it's interesting. In the playoffs, you do a lot more video. You're watching the other team's power play, penalty kills. You know that team a lot better during the regular season. You just don't have that time. But going into every new series, you spend a lot of time looking at maybe their top players, again, tendencies on their power play. Where do they like to go with these passes or even shots sometimes? So you have a lot of information, and then after each game, you, you know, you break it down quickly. You can't spend too much time on it or energy, but you do want to get a good understanding of what are they trying to accomplish here. And to your point, you know, there were a lot of east west plays, and there was a lot of high shots on the blocker side. So if I'm the go goalie, I need to make sure in positioning wise that I'm not, you know, cutting short on my. Especially my pushes to my right to. To cover that short side. But there was something we talked about on air actually, with Stu, like, the difference between him and Bobrovsky is just the east west play, and Bob is. Is a little bit better there. More power and more control, especially going east to west.

[Pat McAfee]

Go ahead, A.J.

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah, their nights were where you just aren't seeing the puck. I mean, we got the US Opens going on right now in golf, and some days you just don't have your A game. Or did you ever have that when you're a goalie? And how do you fight through something like that?

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. He said yes. Yeah.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

I mean, good question. How do you fight through it? I. I think as athletes, sometimes you just have to fake it to yourself what you're telling yourself. Even when things are going wrong or bad, you got to stay confident. If you're talking in between games, I would definitely lean in on great practice practices to regain that confidence, the touch and. And the focus. But if you're in. In the actual game, a lot of times, all it takes is one or two more Saves where you feel good and regain that confidence. But again, sometimes you just have to fake it to yourself. Like, you got this, you feel good, you feel fast. What you're telling yourself is, is so crucial. And sometimes you forget that.

[Pat McAfee]

They said you got to watch what you're saying to yourself because you're listening, you know? And what DeBoer said was a otter. You give up two goals on two shots, take a hike, and that's all he's going to be thinking about for the entire off season. Excited to see him come back. We end here on ESPN. We'll continue digitally, YouTube, ESPN plus Disney plus and TikTok live. Tonight, Oilers Panthers, 8 o' clock on TNT. We continue with King Henry. Okay, that was, that was very professional host stuff right there. King Henry. I don't know if you saw that. It happened right in front of your eyes.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

I mean, right there, that was impressive.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, thank you. Well, you, you as well, because you backed off. I think you had a little bit more of an answer. I think you heard the music. Calm, cool. Some pucks flying. Let me go ahead and get this out of here. I appreciate you. Let's continue to talk about goalie play. Go ahead, Tone.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah, Hank, I had a question. I saw that Bob is second all time in saves through three games in a Stanley cup final. So he's seen a lot of pucks as a group goalie in these games, in these finals games. Do you like to get a saver too early? Like to kind of get the feel of the game is like if, if you're going like 12 minutes into a game and you haven't seen a puck yet, is that something you hate or like?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Yeah, I, I would say I prefer a lot of shots early on, but it's different between seeing shots and seeing great A's. Right, that, that's what you want to minimize the, the big opportunities. But if, if the team plays a lot of structure, you're giving up shots. I would say that's the perfect combination because it's. There's not. You don't have time to overthink anything. The instincts takes over and you're just locked in. I would say it's tougher if you know you have to wait 10, 15 minutes for that first shot, that first touch. So I think also as you get into the big games, the nerves might be a little higher, but the excitement is higher too. You just want to be involved. You want to try to make that difference for, for your team. It's. It's a great feeling.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, A glove snag feels like one that'll really get the. The juices flow like a clean high. Or is it a slide east to west? You're talking about a slide. It feels good. Like, what is a good one to get the. Like, the momentum rolling almost.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Well, the glove saves, a lot of times, they're the easy one where the fans might think it's the tough one, and it's like.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's like, oh, what a save.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

But it's actually. You see it the whole whole way, and you can kind of read and react, and it's. It's a routine save, but you can make it look like an incredible save. I would say the broken place are the tough ones where. Hold on. Someone is calling me here.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you're King Henry. Well, yeah. Yeah. A lot of people trying to get a hold of you. We're lucky we got you here.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

How do I get back here? There we go. I'm back. Yeah, I'm back.

[Pat McAfee]

Hall of Famer.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

So the broken place, sometimes the tough ones, where you're. You're really locked in and something happens, touches your D and goes to your right and. And stay in that control. So the more open shots you can get, the better.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you. You can't see, right. Some of those shots. Like, I'm watching some of these replays.

[Quinn Richardson]

And they're blocking you, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. There's somebody in front of you, and it's getting touched. Like, are you guys just. I don't want to say guessing because at this stage, I assume it's like second nature for you to know or instinct to know where it's going as opposed to saying guessing. But are you just guessing or your instincts are saying. That's probably deflecting this way. Like, the guys can't see a lot of those pucks that are coming through, and there's a lot of traffic, right?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Yeah, that's true. It's a big part of the game, trying to find and fight through those screens. The best thing that can happen is if you can actually see the release of the shot. That's the most crucial part of the shot. If you can see the release, you can kind of read where that puck is going, and you move your body towards it and kind of make you as big as possible. But if you don't see the release, then you're kind of guessing a little bit. But that's really where you read the shot. It's when the puck leaves the stick, and I can kind of predict where that puck is going to end. Up with my glove or my body. And so that's what you're trying as a goalie to always find that release spot from. From guys when they're shooting.

[Pat McAfee]

Were you a big blocker to the back of the guy in front of you guy or No, I was more.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Sick on the calves. Like hacking and whack on the calves. Yeah, that was. Because that was harder to see for the reflection.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

If you're up with the gloves up around the heads, that they would see that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I like that. Hockey is so much little shit inside of it. Hockey is so much shit.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Inside of the sport, it's still. It's like the most. I think it's the most original, traditional sport that we have still going, you know, and it's. It's a beautiful game, great sport. You guys are covering it magnificently. Now, there is a team in a big city that hasn't been around for a while, but obviously you have a lot of history. Go ahead, Ty.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Hank, just curious. When you play a position like goalie, we always hear, you know, mental toughness is one of. You have to be able to just flush things and kind of move on if you have a bad game. But when you played in a city like New York, I mean, we've seen what happens. You know, the Knicks make the Eastern Conference finals and they lose, they fire their head coach. The Yankees lose in the World Series, they want to fire Aaron Boone. You know, it's just like the. The expectation is that you win because you played for the Rangers so long. Did the kind of pressure of playing in New York ever amplify, like, the stress and the anxiety and kind of, you had to lock in even more. Whereas, you know, some of these other goalies in these. These cities that maybe aren't as hockey crazed or like expecting to win, maybe they can flush things a little bit easier.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

I have to say, I felt from day one, I felt that pressure. It didn't matter if it was a pre season game or regular season or playoffs. Always felt like you had to earn your spot, earn your or your, you know, your respect in a way. And I love that it felt like you were under fire all the time. And walking into Madison Square Garden for 15 years, it became home for me, but I never took it for granted. I definitely felt that pressure, but it also made me feel alive. I miss that. You know, now being away from the game for four or five years, I realized how much I loved it. Even though there were days where, wow, there's A lot of pressure here, but man, it made me feel alive.

[Pat McAfee]

Does this make you feel alive right here? Clap bomb coming. Clap on. Oh, yeah.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Take it, take it.

[Pat McAfee]

Thunderdome. Need to get you a Thunderdome. See rifle, some shots at you. We think you are phenomenal on television. Obviously you had a great career in between the pipes. And how do you think tonight goes?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

This is a big one. You know, I had Edmonton in six going into the series. But after game three, you know, the way Florida took it to Edmonton, I'm definitely not so sure anymore. And I have a feeling Florida is going to take this one. They just looked so good. They're deep and I think, you know, there's a lot of focus attention on Conor and Draisaitl. But the reason why they're here, they actually did have a really deep lineup that helped them get to this point as well. They're going to need their help to turn this around for sure. It's not just down to Connor and Dry Sardo to get this one, but I put my money on Florida tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

How about them be in the state of hockey now?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Florida, listen, it's impressive. Third straight final. Before that you had Tampa. Great organization. You know, they've had a good team for many years. But I would say when they signed Kachuk three years ago, there was something clicked in terms of their approach to the game. Attention to detail, the will to win. And now you look at this, you're adding Jones and Marshan and they've just done a great job building that team and create. I think that's one of the most important things, is to create the right type of culture and listening to them speak after games or even how they approach games. They've created an incredible environment, incredible culture in that locker room, in that organization right now. And it's paying off.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't you think Batman should have nixed the trade from Marshy to go down? Didn't that. Didn't that feel like as soon as he went down there, I think all of us that kind of follow along and know the same Florida Panthers team and know what Marshy is, it's like that feels like. That feels like it shouldn't be allowed, that he fits there perfectly. I mean, he absolutely fits there perfectly. We talked to Kachuk about it after the trade and Kachuk was like, it does feel like he was kind of born to be a Florida Panther. Now, the Bruins fans obviously don't like hearing that, but it is real. He fits their culture perfectly. He's got championship pedigree and obviously The. The boys love him. As soon as he gets down there. That feels like a great trade. Great move. Perfect move for the Florida Panthers to continue this dynastic run that they're on.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

I was shocked, just like most of us. But to your point, he fits in perfectly. He has that grit, that mentality that we just talked about, the winning mentality. Yes, you need great players, but more so, you need the great mindset and those small little plays you look at. Kachuk is making. Oh, Bennett and now Marshan. They have a bunch of players. My first reaction when I heard he was going to Florida, one more guy like that there, I mean, it's getting packed in that locker room with a similar type of players, and. And they're having a lot of success because of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's becoming a monopoly, and I don't love that. We need the Pittsburgh Penguins back. You know that King Henry and I think Musil got to certainly handle that. And we'll watch you tonight. We appreciate you for your time and great work all season.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Have a good one.

[Pat McAfee]

A. Swedish is the native language. Yes. Okay. What is. What is Swedish? Similar to. How do I say hello and thank you in Swedish?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Hey, Taximuka.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey. Excuse. All right. I didn't know we're doing that. I thought. I thought we finished it. Hey there. I gotta lock back in. Hey. Hey. Okay.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Toxamooka.

[Pat McAfee]

Toxamuka.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Very good.

[Pat McAfee]

And very good Toxamuka is. Thank you.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Thank you very much.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, King Henry talks a muka for your time. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, hall of famer Henry Lundquistamuka. AJ.

[Quinn Richardson]

How would you write that out?

[Pat McAfee]

In my head. T O, X, I, M, U, C.

[Evan Fox]

A. I think that's exactly what it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Toxamooka. Hey, did you see the kid who won the spelling bee? Oh, it's already over.

[Ty Schmidt]

The goat.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. His dad said he's the greatest of all time. This really? That's what his dad.

[Boston Connor]

He said, he's the goat.

[Ty Schmidt]

He knows everything.

[Quinn Richardson]

I didn't see it.

[Pat McAfee]

You didn't see the final word? Final word comes up and just some immediately, as soon as the word comes out of his mouth, boom, bang, pow.

[Evan Fox]

Might have been toxamuka.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it. It did have a little toxamuka to it. I don't think that's in the English spelling.

[Quinn Richardson]

Be Swedish origin, maybe language origin.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. His dad came out and said, like, the kid's the greatest. I don't know how you could beat him, to be honest. He Knows every word in this dictionary. So all these kids are having fun. I get it. But my boy, there's not a single weakness.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's Jordan.

[Pat McAfee]

Here he is. This. Yeah, that's him.

[Quinn Richardson]

Goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

C, I, S, S, E. Go back to the beginning. Can you go back to the beginning? Your word is A Clair, C small A cla C small E, C, L, A. This is the winning thing. R, C, I, S, S, E, M.

[AJ Hawk]

E, N, T. That is correct.

[Pat McAfee]

Your word. He's the dog. He's the greatest. Guy's really good.

[Ty Schmidt]

He didn't even ask what if they dinged him Sentence.

[Pat McAfee]

What if they what?

[Quinn Richardson]

What if they dinged him and said hey. You didn't say the little tilde situation over that.

[Pat McAfee]

E. You don't have to say that wrong. E. You said basic ass. E. It turns out it's actually one of those dancing.

[Ty Schmidt]

Learn the rules.

[Pat McAfee]

Which one's which. I never know. I always try to do it like resume. What am I doing? Is that one going up to the right or up to the left?

[Ty Schmidt]

They have different names.

[Pat McAfee]

Up to the right, up to the right.

[Evan Fox]

It's not until day.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, that's like whenever the slash. Forward slash backslash. I think people have always had those backwards as well. You know. Cuz it's all which one's lean in which way exactly? Yeah like forward slash is leaning forward. Backslash leaning backwards. But I think like people say backslash to forward slash all the time.

[Ty Schmidt]

They do.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know the ease. And I'll tell you what, when the Apple keyboard just became like if you hang on to bit it little a little bit longer, you can get all the A options.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great.

[Pat McAfee]

All the U options. All the E options. I wish it would be a little bit smarter and say hey, for what you're trying to do here, you're going to want the third one in because God damn, there's a lot of options. Yeah. And what is that? Our language?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no French.

[Pat McAfee]

So how's air Claire? See the world.

[Boston Connor]

Technically it is. But you know, that's why they ask like the language of origin. Cuz like it's not. It's not an American word that no one has probably said that word in ever. 20 years, maybe 50.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ever. What. What just came across the. The. The deck there.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's not worry about it. Hey, I think you should read it. Pacer up two one in the. In the NBA finals.

[Ty Schmidt]

What just came across the wire to be.

[Pat McAfee]

We need to do a little bit more research.

[Evan Fox]

We can't talk about it here.

[Pat McAfee]

This is this is a new. This is a new era of us. What? Yeah. This is bad for both. We're going to do more research on this. We'll talk about tomorrow. Oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. We don't know if that will talk about this later. We will talk about this later. AJ Episode of Seinfeld like this. This is kind of. It's kind of a very late ask a request that might have been. Why you now?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I need the batch number now.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So, A.J. will you come over to Indianapolis tomorrow? Yeah.

[Quinn Richardson]

We're doing the show from out there now.

[Pat McAfee]

So there is thunderstorms called for at the Bicentennial Plaza. We don't think it's smart to do that. Even though it's covered here in Indiana. If the thunderstorms are scheduled for 3 o' clock, 4 o' clock, those could easily be 11 o' clock or 7 o' clock. So I don't necessarily want to put people through that, but we are going to go live from the arena, I believe so we will be at the arena. You know, if we get an opportunity to do that and the Pacers organization has invited us to do as such, we will certainly do that. But we don't want to be putting people out in the middle of a thunderstorm. I think that's probably a bad idea, especially with how big the night's going to be. So let's not have the afternoon ruin the evening. Game four tomorrow night here in Indianapolis, Indiana, Oklahoma City, six and a half point favorites against the Indiana Pacers. Indiana Pacers love that. The Indianapolis people love that. We will be live from the arena tomorrow. I do believe that has not been confirmed.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

But I'll make the announcement as if it is the case. Just put a little bit extra. It has been confirmed. Okay. We have got a thumbs up from Fossil over here. We appreciate him letting us know that. And yeah, we'll continue to sell the out of what has been a great series.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, it has. This NBA playoffs has been spectacular. Yeah. I mean, just think about the Knicks knocking off the Celtics. Nobody thought that was going to happen.

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

In the west, the amount of storylines that kind of came and went, it has been a wonderful run. And now there's only two teams remaining and they're clearly the two best teams in the NBA and they've been playing great games against each other. And if I'm the Pacers, I don't think I played my best ball yet. No. And if you're Oklahoma City, you think you gave away one at home this Thing should be tied up or they should be up to one. So I'm fascinated by who shows up tomorrow night. And we will be live tomorrow from the arena. Sorry to the fans. They were potentially going to come hang out with us. But the thunderstorm thing, anybody that's from Indiana understands, yes, like this, we cannot be. It's covered. I get it. Like I heard some people from out of town were saying that, that that thing goes sideways. I think it goes sideways quick here in Indianapolis. So we will try to do our thing to continue to bring energy, but we don't think it's smart to have that set up outside tomorrow.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, not at all. Very much like the Warriors Raptors series, if you think about it, because the warriors that, you know, they had kd was all those teams and then Siakam's team, actually with Toronto kind of winning that entire thing. Like this series is almost playing out like that where one team is so heavily favored with all the guys, the MVP and everything. And then the other team is, you know, the one, the underdog showing up. It. I can't wait for tomorrow night. The buzz is real now. I'm a believer now I wasn't, but I'm a believer.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially with how the game started. Yeah, like if you went into last night's game thinking like, Oklahoma City is going to take control of this series, the way that game started with how bad it looked for the Pacers, I mean, there was dribbling off the foot. I mean it just looked like, like, what are we doing here? And then the Pacers just continue. You know, in Carlisle, never once. Yeah, dog, never once is that guy like this. They zoom in on him whenever he calls a timeout and he's always walking across the court, squinting, looking at something, and then he just looks like he's about to chew some ass out.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, he's intense.

[Pat McAfee]

He's so intense. He is so intense. We love him. Just Indiana, love Coach Carlisle in this entire Pacers team. A guy that has been against the Pacers since the beginning. Friend of the program, 13 year NBA vet, man, who traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana yesterday alongside his co host of the Knuckleheads podcast, Darius Miles, ladies and gentlemen. Super smart guy, huh? Q? Rich. Yeah. Oh, how you doing, Q? How's it going? What's going on?

[Darius Miles]

What's going on? It's going good for me, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I just thought maybe you saw what happened in that game last night and thought to yourself, you know what? I felt the energy of those people yesterday. I got a chance to Be boots on the ground in that arena. Maybe this entire time, I should have been showing a little bit more love to this Indiana Pacers team. How do you feel about last night and what do you think happens for the rest of the series? Q.

[Darius Miles]

Hey, listen, I felt like that, first of all, yesterday was awesome, man. Appreciate you and the boys for having me come out. That was dope. Me and Black had a dope time. Amazing time kicking it with the fellas, boots on the ground, as you said. But nah, man, they did. They did what they had to do. And if you look at it, we always talked about everybody, it's a lightning rod, whether Tyrese is a superstar or whatever. How many points does he need to get last night? 22, 11 and nine. And you know the record when he gets over 20. So I think, you know, I was listening to Magic Johnson said earlier, Magic said, you got to kind of listen to it. He need. He needs to be more of a scorer in this series. Still doing his distributing thing, but he needs to try to be more aggressive like he was last night, I think. Yeah, I think everybody saw the difference in him, just the way he played last night in front of that crowd. The crowd was amazing. Like you guys said.

[Pat McAfee]

They.

[Darius Miles]

They brought the noise. I felt them.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I like that through the screen. You felt it good. I like that because we were feeling it in there and we were all locked in. Ty felt it today as well, you know, because of what he was able to accomplish last night. There was early in the first quarter, Tyrese has a shot right inside. The logo has certainly made it before. And he had a shot, thought about taking it, then he passed it and we were like, oh, no. Oh, oh, no. Like, that was in the first quarter. I wanted to, like, yell at Tyrese.

[Boston Connor]

And be like, hey, maybe think about having one here.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's, let's.

[Boston Connor]

Let's maybe have one.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's have.

[Boston Connor]

About having.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's have a few here. And instead he set up somebody else to have a wide open shot or whatever. And then you saw him settle in and be like, like, okay, here we go. I'm finding time. And the way Carlisle was getting him free, the picks that they were setting, they did the elbow pick and roll with the big guy. There's a lot of movement kind of happening for Tyrese to get some separation, get some opportunities, and I, I love watching him take advantage of it. What do you expect out of tomorrow? Oklahoma City hasn't lost back to back games since what, 20, 24 or something like that?

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, yeah. That's. That's. That's the one stat that stands out in my head. So I feel like obviously tomorrow will be a bounce back game. They gonna try and bounce back strong. I felt like they did. I felt like the Pacers did a great job. Man of tiring SGA out. I've never really seen him Link bent over holding the jorts, the shorts like that, and he looked fatigued to me. So, I mean, the fact.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh.

[Darius Miles]

It was earthquake in here. It was an earthquake.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you.

[Darius Miles]

But no, the fact that. The fact that they. It's only one day in between. I mean, and to me, the Pacers need to try to take advantage of that, like, you know what I'm saying? Go right back at it, get after him, get guys up into him. Guys were pressuring him, making everything as difficult as possible for him. And I think even like you said, they hadn't had those plays where if the Thunder score, they still get a quick run out. They got those plays yesterday, the Thunder could score. Then we right back running back down, y' all back and scoring. So I think all of those things tied in with the crowd and the atmosphere, man, I think they really got a chance to try and break that streak tomorrow. But we know that after the bl. After a loss, they. They. They win big. The Thunder half. Historically, this. Since the Twins 2024k riches can't try to be the bearer of bad news.

[Pat McAfee]

He just can't get it. He just can't get his lips to say. He just can't get his lips to say, go ahead, A.J. q.

[Quinn Richardson]

Is there. Are there big adjustments that can be made? Like, say, if you're Oklahoma City, can they do, like, I don't know, schematically or with your personnel? Can you change much in the middle of a series that can be, you know, hopefully turn the tide in their favor if they want it.

[Darius Miles]

Absolutely. Absolutely, you can. I mean, just like.

[Pat McAfee]

You just.

[Darius Miles]

Just like Pat just said, Tricky Ricky is what UD called him. He did a great job for Game 3, doing different things to get Tyrese freed up to where they couldn't be as much into his body. He came off the ball, he ran off screen. They set screens up the court where he didn't have to worry about being hounded the whole way. So, I mean, the same way with sga, man, he's such a prolific scorer and he. He himself, I've heard him talk about how he dissects each game and heard the coach talk about how he breaks down games after games. And he's able to separate things. So I think, you know, overall, they'll, they'll, they'll do their due diligence to try and come back this next game and look a lot different than they did last night.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach Daggs is a great coach. We expect him to make some plays. Coach Carlisle also, the same damn thing. And it's a nice battle.

[Darius Miles]

He's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

He is.

[Darius Miles]

Carlisle is the man.

[Pat McAfee]

He really is. UD told a story about the zone or whatever that Carlisle dropped him into whenever he was with the Mavs and how, like, yeah, for whatever reason, we just couldn't crack this zone.

[Darius Miles]

And that was a long time ago. And this is 2025 now. That was like either 06 or 11 when he did that to them. And like I said, man, Carlisle has been a great coach for a long, long time. And, like, when he's done, he's going to go down as one of the best.

[Pat McAfee]

And we hope that when he's done the last three, three quarters, I guess that he wears, because that's kind of his thing, is a Patriot one. We love him in this city, and I think he embodies everything that this city likes about basketball. Hard nose, accountability, smart basketball. And also, we don't pout. There's no pout, no pouting. Somebody scores on us, we're running that the other way. Pascal is a problem when he gets running Gazelle, he's behind the other team. And Tyrese's first thought is, how do we get full court to Pascal? It is a beautiful thing. Now it doesn't matter who goes off for the Pacers. That's kind of been the story of this particular Pacers team last night. Leading scorer, a man that doesn't get enough credit. Go ahead, Ty.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Q. Rich. Ben Matheran took over the game last night every time he was on the court. So now at this point, OKC has one game where their bench has kind of won them the game. And I. You could argue that, you know, the Pacers bench obviously won him the game last night with his performance amongst some other guys. Well, will the, the Thunder be, you know, very conscious of, like, hey, we can't let this guy do this again? Or do you think this was just like an otherworldly performance for him? Because we know he is a bucket getter when he gets minutes, but do you see him having another impact like this on Friday, maybe potentially?

[Darius Miles]

I don't know that he has another 27 point night, but, I mean, since he's coming to league from day one, man, he's not. Lacked any confidence. This kid has come in, he, he's got the body of a grown man from day one. He doesn't back down from anybody. And like I said, he doesn't lack confidence. So I don't think he has. He's shy, like, lacking belief in himself at all. So I think he's definitely. He comes in and he plays a certain way. He plays that way. Like you said, he's a bucket getter. He's always looking to score. The other game he came in in like 13 minutes and had like 21 of these games. I don't know if it was this series or the series before, but like, yeah, yeah, he can, he can put the ball in the bucket. So I mean, I definitely think that, you know, the Thunder will be more conscientious about him and pay more attention to him when he comes in the game because he's had a, he's had the ability that when he comes in, he's instant offense. Just add, add him to the mix and he gonna get it in.

[Pat McAfee]

They can focus on Ben and then look out, there's an exciting white coming through. AP Tone has a question for you.

[Evan Fox]

There is a six foot exciting white from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, out of Duquesne University, TJ McConnell. Like, how do you, how do NBA players feel about like going up against TJ McConnell? Who, you know, he's a, he's a junkyard dog, he's a lunch pail kid, He's a coaches kid. He's going to work hard. He stole like three inbounds passes. He had five seals total. I think, like he said, for the first time ever, 10, 5 and 5. Like, how do other NBA players feel about a guy like TJ McConnell just dominating last night?

[Darius Miles]

He's the, he's the guy that you hate to play against, but you love to have on your team. And even when he's on your team, you hate to play against him in practice. You only want him on your team and on your team only. He is like the gnat at the barbecue. He's never gonna stop. He's never gonna go away. And I said this yesterday when we were on the show, I said, listen, he's the dude. He's a fan favorite. He doesn't have to score 20 or 30. He can get in there and get a steal, dive for a pass. The crowd is gonna explode and erupt and everybody's gonna go crazy. And those type of things have the propensity to, to, you know, propel team forward and he He. He's been that guy since he was in Philly or wherever other stops he's at. Because I remember when I was in Detroit with Stan Van Gundy, and Stan used to. To hear Stan like, God damn it, like, TJ McConnell. And it would be like, yes, TJ McConnell just came in and flipped the whole table on our game and ruined the game. And now we lose. That's what he does.

[Pat McAfee]

So right there at the end of the half, he had the ball and Tyrese is on the court. I forget who I think Pascal is on the court. And it was a play for. For T.J. mcConnell to end the half. And he gets to his mid range spot. He will dribble into the paint somehow find some space. He'll get lost in the sauce somewhere. Coaches, kid, I think he understands basketball pretty well. And then he has this little mid range fade that he always makes, seemingly.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's how we ended the half.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I was like, so impressed that TJ was given the keys. Like, yeah, here it is. 10 seconds left. Go ahead, TJ Tyrese is running on the screen. Go ahead. Go ahead, T.J. mcConnell. Why don't you take us in the half here, bud? It's like wild. And I think at the end of another quarter, he was handing the ball and he threw a hail Mary and missed everything entirely. Hit somebody in the front row. But it was still like, he has given a lot of the keys to the offense. Like, Carlisle has a lot of trust. The boys have a lot of trust. And when he gets in there and he starts bopping that wood. Yeah, he starts bopping that wood, you know, the place goes berserk. And here's the stat that Tone was mentioning there. 10 points, 5 assists, 5 still games off the bench. First time ever in NBA Finals. I did see a lot of people underneath that say, we're just making up stats now. It's like, well, that's a good one.

[Evan Fox]

First time ever.

[Pat McAfee]

That's first time ever, brother.

[Darius Miles]

I think that speaks directly what UD was talking about when it. When it comes to Coach Carlisle. I mean, he. To have a guy like T.J. mcConnell, like you said, Tyrese is right there next to him and he's got an ISO going and he's got a, you know, Olympian next to him and he's going about his business like, no, I'm about to go do my thing and get my bucket. And I think that speaks to how your coaches empowered these guys. And, you know, for a guy like Ben to constantly come off the bench and have the supreme confidence that when I get the ball, it's about to be my time, I'm about to go to work, get into my mid range, get to the basket, whatever that speaks to the confidence. That didn't just happen overnight. It didn't just flip on as a switch. That happened throughout the whole year in the season, in practices and games, over and over of the, you know, not only the coach Carlisle, but the whole staff empowering those guys, telling them that's the shot you can make. Take that shot, do this, do that. And now you see it's just instinct. When those guys get in, they going.

[Pat McAfee]

The bench won us that game. I think that is very evident. But winning that game has big implications on the entire series. I think it's like the stat, we all saw it. You win game three and you go up two one or something in the finals, you win 80% of the time. That's a wild stat. That is a wild stat. That is a big number. I guess it has to mean something. But the next game, in my eyes, let's, let's think about having one here. Connor has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Q. Yeah. Q. Rich, with just one day in between, kind of a quick turnaround before game four, do you think the Pacers are kind of looking at this game with kind of a higher intensity? Do you think they'll treat it more so like a game seven just because, you know, if it's three one and you're coming back to Indy knowing that you can kind of not take game five off, but knowing, hey, if you lose game five and this goes three two, we're coming, we're coming back home. Do you think they're looking at this with a little bit more of, hey, this is almost a must win game for us, or do you think it's just kind of another day at the mill?

[Darius Miles]

I think Coach Carlisle is definitely pressing that point and I think the guy, I think the players actually know, man, they know what it's like to go into that arena and have to play an okc and they know how it would be going in there if they up 3:1 as opposed to tied up, because now the pressure is against the wall and it's a lot of numbers that come into the factor as far as percentages of who wins the series, if they go up three to one and all those things too. So those go along with it. So for them, I know they have to have that urgency knowing that we got a chance to get another one on our home floor. And when they stole Game one, I think they. They knew that these, the game three and four were going to be important for them to try and win. To try and win this series.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Q. Rich, who's going to win the series?

[Darius Miles]

Hey, man, I'm coming a little closer, but I still gotta. I gotta go with OKC right now, man. I think. I think they get game four, and then it's gonna be the best out of three, and they. They have the home court advantage. Two of those final three will be on their court. So. I know you guys don't want to hear that. For the record, again, I don't have a horse in the race, so I wasn't, like, upset last night when, When. When Indy won. I was. I was at home. I loved it. It was a great game. I enjoyed the game. High competition. That's all I asked for. I'm not. I'm not out here. You know, I might be different if the Magic were in it because, you know, I do some broadcasting for the Magic, so I do a little home.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we know that's not as far. Yeah, we know that's not gonna happen.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, that's how you gonna do city.

[Boston Connor]

Beautiful things.

[Pat McAfee]

I love Orlando, though. I do love Orlando. Orlando. I've spent a lot of time in Orlando. Love that city. And also Disney World.

[Boston Connor]

Disney's the best.

[Ty Schmidt]

Best universal epic world is here now.

[Darius Miles]

The. The new Nintendo World and all of that stuff is open. That's got to get down there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Harry Potter World. Ever heard of it? Changed my life.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's the most Caucasian place on Earth.

[Darius Miles]

Avatar, ride out of this world.

[Pat McAfee]

Avatar, ride.

[Darius Miles]

Avatar is out of this world.

[Pat McAfee]

Those little dirt bikes. I'm in there. I'm in Pandora, bro. They're. They're misting my face. I'm bopping water and everything.

[Darius Miles]

Avatar is unreal.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What was the one? What was the one? I went to that other place.

[Ty Schmidt]

Space Mountain.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no. Is that what it was?

[Boston Connor]

Mountains? The goat.

[Pat McAfee]

But watch Mountain. No. There's a new roller coaster. Remember they asked me if I wanted my own train. I didn't know what that meant. Yeah. And then they. They made everybody wait as me and my wife walk in this side door. We have our own. Dude, that one.

[Darius Miles]

You did it right. Then you had the VIP take you around. That's the best you once. You can't go any other way. You got to go with the vip.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. I completely agree. That is the right play. And shout out to Mike, who took care of us down there. He's actually a Columbus, Ohio Lad. He is a host down at Disney World for, like, the last 10 years. He was spectacular, but he. He did not explain to me whenever I was asked, do you want your own train? I thought that was the transit to get to the roller coaster. And me and my wife were like, yeah, we'd love train. I. Yeah, Fuck, yeah. You know, instead of it'd be better. We got mackenzie. It would be better than walking. And then we get there and everybody stop, please. Two really important people. I had to walk in front of a thou. That whole place was packed. I walked right in front of all of them, and me and my wife sit in the front row, empty roller coaster.

[Boston Connor]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Everywhere else. Nobody else is allowed to get onto things. We felt we had to. I had to push down my guilt, which I definitely felt. I definitely felt. But, boy, once we got out of that station.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And we're just in. Oh, yeah, it was a great ride.

[Darius Miles]

They're, like, the best people on the planet, man. Those are the best people ever. They make sure you don't have one worry in the world. They take care of everything. So that makes it, like, super worth it. It costs a lot, but, I mean, those are some of the best people in the world, those VIPs that do that job.

[Pat McAfee]

Amen. I, I, I was. I didn't go to Disney World growing up. Never, Never took a trip down there. I don't know if you would have seen Tim McAfee down. I don't know.

[Boston Connor]

He'd love Space Mountain, though.

[AJ Hawk]

He would.

[Pat McAfee]

He would, you know, he would love. He would fucking love Avatar, right?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, no doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

And he would have been acting like he had a fucking bow and arrow, that entire thing, you know? But, like, I've only been there with that experience. So I talked to, like, other parents because we took mackenzie down there. And you're like, Disney's a lot, right? And I'm like, actually, it's the best.

[Boston Connor]

Day of my life.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't want to sound like a prick here, but it certainly costs a lot. But we did get the bang for the buck, I will say.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And, yeah. The only bad experience is whenever a thousand people thought we were the fucking biggest pieces of. And we learned that. We learned charges to the game. I do apologize to everybody that was in that room. I assume you have a different view. And I tried to put the hat down, so you didn't know it was me. There was a couple people like, that was McAfee. That was. I know. Who was that guy? All right, Q, we appreciate you, man. Thanks. For pulling for okc. Tyrese needed to hear that. You're the man, ladies and gentlemen.

[Darius Miles]

All right, fellas.

[Pat McAfee]

13 year NBA vet Quinn Richardson. All right, let's get out of here. Age. We talked about it yesterday. The ring on Aaron's finger, wedding ring. Has been there for a few months. A few months. He did take the congratulations from people. That's good news. Yep. We congratulated him yesterday. We'd like to do that again.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Aaron, we didn't know if you wanted to take the time to do the same thing.

[Quinn Richardson]

Congratulations. Yes. I've told him many times, congratulations.

[Pat McAfee]

You have? Okay, because we asked you about it a few times.

[Quinn Richardson]

I said I don't have any clarity on the situation. I have no idea what's going on. But congratulations on the wedding ring.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, congrats on the wedding ring. That's awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

His wedding ring.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Pittsburgh loves them, dude. Pittsburgh loves him. You know, there was a couple. A couple. There was a lot of daughters in Pittsburgh. Jag off. I don't think they would consider themselves jag offs. I think they were thinking Aaron was a jag off. Yeah, like, hey, bub, I don't need you see you shooting water gun down there at a concert, doing a q and A on a fucking picnic chair in front of people. Whenever you're telling me you can't fucking play football. Oh, you got time for three and a half hours with Joe Rogan, huh? Is that right? You don't have time to show up at our fucking facility? A lot of that out of Pittsburgh. That's classic Pittsburgh. That's how that was going to be. But I think Pittsburgh people were putting that guard up just in case Aaron was to not become a Steeler. Then they could say, I fucking never. Maybe Tallman was confused. There was a lot of that happening and Yinzers understand that. I understand what was probably happening there. But as soon as it actually happens, pen to paper, he goes to the golf outing. Everybody's talking up. They're showing clips from practice. He's doing his thing. Like Yinzers are like, hold up, we got a four time NFL MVP now. We got, we got maybe a squad. No defense, going to be good. Got to take care of TJ1. Want by Aaron. Artie Smith May DK. We're paying 30 million for a guy. Downside, it's like it happened almost immediately. But I think with the clips that are rolling out, Yinzers are all in on Aaron Rogers. If I'm reading it accurately, you're.

[Evan Fox]

You're 100% right about the lead up and, you know, kind of how we treated it just in case it didn't happen. We were not going to be caught off guard with our pants down and be like, oh, no, we always wanted Aaron.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that was always going to be him anyway. Yeah. There was never going to be a setup for Pittsburgh people to be like, oh, this guy that was never on our team broke our heart. That was always going to turn into. We fucking never wanted him. That is just how he is.

[Evan Fox]

100.

[Quinn Richardson]

That helmet is gross.

[Pat McAfee]

Disgusting. He knows it too. Yeah.

[Quinn Richardson]

Oh, it's so big.

[Pat McAfee]

The company that made this helmet actually sent a message and said, we can get you overnight in brand new helmet Aaron's wearing. I'm like, I don't think you want us to. To have that here.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because what we will say is, Jesus Christ, this guy looks like a astronaut. What the hell is going on with the. He needs a guardian cap on there too. Yeah. Yeah, he does.

[Quinn Richardson]

He's moving well, though. It looks good.

[Evan Fox]

Moving, moving great. He's throwing great. I mean, all the videos coming out are awesome. Unlike Joe Flacco, he. He said he is going to mentor the younger quarterbacks on the roster. So, you know, kind of a good guy in that situation. Always better than the Browns. No, we are very, very excited. Listen, GP is awesome. He's a great wide receiver.

[Pat McAfee]

Happies with Cowboys.

[Evan Fox]

Happies with the Cowboys.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great.

[Evan Fox]

You see DK running around out there in that number four jersey and he's got 1% body fat and you know what he's done and you know why? He's made 30 million. That's awesome. Like the whole off. There's a. Everyone feels like kind of like how John lynch was talking about earlier. There's a lot of reports coming out of Pittsburgh that everyone came in, you know, in the best shape they have in their careers with a renewed focus for this season. So, yeah, it feels like things are positive.

[Pat McAfee]

The standard was the standard until it wasn't standard anymore. Now we need to get back to the standard. That's right. And I got a chance to hang out with a couple of Steelers, a couple of the younger Steelers. I let them know it was their generation that brought in guardian caps. That is something that they're just going to have to deal with. That is a fact. That's a matter of fact. Now, they did point out some other stats and facts too about said guardian caps for me. But if you listen to them talk and hang out, it's like, I like the way this team operates. I like the way they talk, I like the way they hang out. They love ball, that team loves football. And it's like very evident you're going to have to in Pittsburgh because if you don't, it'll get sniffed out by everybody and then you'll get run out of town. It's like the, the energy around that Steelers team. And I know every year there's a thought that the Steelers can win because they will have a winning season. And if they win a couple more games, you may fuck, you might have a home playoff game. Like they're always in that. But it does feel like, especially with how Aaron's been looking, it's like, why not the Pittsburgh Steelers? And I think that's a good thing for Aaron to have. And the way he answered the question about what would it mean for you to win another championship? And then he looks, he goes, that would be seven for Pittsburgh, right? Yep. That'd be pretty big. It's like Pittsburgh people are like, it's not about him. Yeah, it's like literally, I think everything he's doing right now is really, really good. I hope you tell him that. And I wonder, you know, his appreciation of the city of Pittsburgh is, is long and I think that's a big part of this whole process as well.

[Quinn Richardson]

He's been a die hard Pittsburgh guy from day one. I mean, Mike McCarthy helped. I mean, we had so many people with Pittsburgh roots on the staff in Green Bay during his time that he's always been, you know, intrigued and loved talking about Pittsburgh. But think of like the team now and the coaching staff, they, when they, they break mini camp and you go off to this little break that you have in the summer, like think of the, like, they're probably all bopping out of there. They're all like, they're all light on their feet. They're all very optimistic, very confident going into their off season program now because if he wouldn't have shown up, yeah, you still have the same kind of, but it's just not the same now. It's like, man, I can't wait till we come back and we put pads on and we see what we look like.

[Pat McAfee]

I like that he signed before the mandatory mini camp and Ian Rapaport was asking for that so he didn't have to work any other time. But I, I like that he signed for what you just said. That would have been just dangling over everybody in the organization, the entire city, just for like, like kind of a cloud. Now it's TJ Watt that they're Going to have to get done. But everybody has said they're going to get.

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah, have to.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what Everybody said. But TJ's, like, when they.

[Evan Fox]

They've done it before. TJ got it done right before training camp or whatever, he'll kick the door down, and that's why he's going to kick the door.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think that's why Yinzers are like, TJ will be there.

[Ty Schmidt]

It'll be there.

[Pat McAfee]

That little ayahuasca hippie guy, we didn't know, but now we know he's going to be there. That's good news. I. I'm excited for the Pittsburgh Steelers faithful. Legit. I. I am very pumped up for Steelers fans because that is a city that, you know. What's your problem? What? What's your problem?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I'm. I'm. I'm hyped up for him, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, your face said either you're not hyped up for him or it's a false hype.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think it's. It's June 12, and it's one of those situations where, you know, you look around and it's cool. It is. But the only team that the Pittsburgh Steelers respect in that division is the Baltimore Ravens, and there's a reason for that. And Baltimore, basically, everything they've done has been.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying Baltimore still exists. I think Buffalo still exists and Kansas City still exists. And the Chargers are, you know, potentially eventually going to do their thing.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no. The Chargers fall into the same category, as I'd put the Steelers, where it's like, hey, they're going to be solid. They're going to be really good, but when it comes to those, like, tiers of teams, they're not in the tier. Yeah. Yeah. That's what. That's what I mean.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I can earn their way. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like. Like the Steelers play the Patriots Week three. And if you're a Steelers fan, I know for a fact you're thinking, if we better be The Patriots Week 3 in. In Gillette.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he just put a W on a.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exact. Exact. If you're a Patriots fan, you're looking at it as like, okay, if the Patriots beat the Steelers, then we might have something here. And I'm. That's not a shot at Pittsburgh, and I don't think it's a shot at New England either, because I think that's just the state of both teams. But I do think there is that reality of, you know. Yeah, having Aaron's awesome, but because of how terrible the last two Years. The last one year because two years ago was an injury. Injury. How terrible last year was with Devonte and Garrett Wilson and Breeze hall and all these incredible, all these incredible players. The one thing that the jets didn't really have was a. Was a veteran O line. And the one thing the Steelers have is a young online listen.

[Evan Fox]

You know, you know the jets organization doesn't count.

[Ty Schmidt]

Completely agree.

[Evan Fox]

Just like if he. If he was on the Browns, it wouldn't have counted there either.

[Ty Schmidt]

Completely agree. But if, if they were scoring 30 points a game with the jets and then, you know, the defense was giving up 35, that'd be one thing.

[Pat McAfee]

He had 30 and 10. His Don years are career gears for other guys.

[Evan Fox]

Look it up.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's a fact.

[Pat McAfee]

Him. Tone has been the great depiction.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Of. You're right, he has been a great. He even got caught up in the microphone. Live show. I don't want this Jag off done with us. And I'm like, yo, we are live right now, bro. This is not off air conversation 1202. Yeah, we are on air right now because. Because like off air. Every day that went by, he would read everybody saying, Aaron's going, Aaron's going. Then he would see Aaron doing something else and he like every other Ginzer would react to the same way. I'm done with this guy.

[Evan Fox]

I think that was Monday after the lawn chair on the stage with Stud.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And you were like, I'm sick of this guy in Pittsburgh, people. This guy hadn't even been on the team team yet. Why isn't he at practice? Well, he's not on the team. We're sick of it. We're sick of him not being on the team. It's like, well, he's never been on the team. Yeah. But now he's supposed, you know, it's too much. And then Tone took that energy from over there onto the show.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep, yep.

[Pat McAfee]

And I had to remind him like, hey, people are hearing what you're saying right now. And to was like, it needs to be said. This is how we feel. And as soon as he signs now, Tone, listen to research. He's got 30 and 10. He has a four time MVP. He's. He's done like he's watching that. He's watching that Enigma documentary going, that's our fucking corner.

[Evan Fox]

I think everyone should watch. It'll change your opinion. The best part is he was actually had 28 and 12, but 30 and 10 sounds so much better.

[Pat McAfee]

He's already lying for this guy. He's already lying for this guy. I sent Aaron a text that when you win in Pittsburgh, like, Yingers will murder people for you for the rest of your life. And that's a matter of fact. But you potentially were the person that they wanted murdered before you. Yeah, even. That's what it should be.

[Quinn Richardson]

That's how it should be.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got to respect that great football town. I'm from a town with the great football team. Banana. He didn't know Sticks. Whoa. He said they play a song.

[Evan Fox]

It was.

[Pat McAfee]

And a third quarter, fourth quarter. Really?

[Evan Fox]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And it's like. I think he knew. I think he was just. Could you imagine if he would have been sitting up there? And he just. He just goes. We go, how does it feel to be a Pittsburgh Steelers? And he goes, the only song I'm listening to is Sing Along. If you not. Oh, mama, you got a Caboli Kaboli.

[Quinn Richardson]

Starts break dancing right in front of him.

[Ty Schmidt]

I thought they were changing the song. Mike. Mike stuff. Stud's newest breakout single.

[Quinn Richardson]

What's that called?

[Pat McAfee]

There's a Chance.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think it's called Renegade.

[Pat McAfee]

What if Mike Stud does a remix of Sticks? Renegade.

[Darius Miles]

Oh, mama, I'm in fear for my life.

[Pat McAfee]

He doesn't. That's not. He's more of a smoking word guy. No. Yeah. We can't sing like him.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know. We just ruined it.

[Quinn Richardson]

Slam poetry.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

From the long off of the Law.

[Pat McAfee]

Manus Put an end to my run and I'm so far from my home.

[Ty Schmidt]

There he goes.

[Pat McAfee]

Papa.

[Quinn Richardson]

I hate that version.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, get used to it. You're gonna do it like that?

[Pat McAfee]

I'm out already. You haven't heard yet.

[Quinn Richardson]

I'm out already.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry. Jelly Roll. Asking me to sing that song in front of 45,000 people was certainly something.

[Quinn Richardson]

You sang a good amount of it. You sang much more than I thought.

[Ty Schmidt]

You were going to.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I was looking for. I was looking for a. When you're in water and they throw you a.

[Boston Connor]

Life preserver.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I thought that was happening, you know, And I don't think I asked enough questions before we went up on that stage. Like, hey, when are you professional singer? You know, Pretty big stage. When are you gonna start the walk to get out here? Because pretty lonely island out here, you know, Big stage.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bigger. Big stadium.

[Pat McAfee]

Big ass stadium.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Actually is what you guys are calling it. And what a song. I mean, that song is awesome. The Sticks people sent us some beer, right?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, they did. Renegade.

[Pat McAfee]

How is it?

[Evan Fox]

It was really good.

[Ty Schmidt]

Really good.

[Boston Connor]

I wouldn't say it's really good.

[Quinn Richardson]

How's it stack up to the real American beer?

[Boston Connor]

No, I mean it's one of those goofy ass beers that people like to make. You know, it's like 14 alcohol or something. I mean, it's, you know.

[John Lynch]

Yeah, sure.

[Boston Connor]

You drink one. Yeah, exactly. It's got like the grapefruit finish. It's just not for me. If you like IPAs, you'll probably love it.

[Pat McAfee]

It's called oh Mama.

[Boston Connor]

Oh Mama. You know? Yeah. Old Mama. I don't need another one of these. Is is what I call it.

[Evan Fox]

But as long as the label says what what it is.

[Boston Connor]

It is. It is a neat looking can. I'll give him that.

[Pat McAfee]

It is a neat looking can.

[Boston Connor]

It is.

[Pat McAfee]

Great song, great song, great song.

[Boston Connor]

I love sticks. I just.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great band.

[Pat McAfee]

Every time you open one, you go, oh Mama.

[Boston Connor]

Funny you mentioned that. I. I did that, you know, verbatim this morning.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no. Okay. I didn't know. I didn't know if it was grilled chicken and old mama.

[Ty Schmidt]

8:30. Old mama.

[Boston Connor]

No, I listen, it's what, Thursday night. I might have couple pops tonight because I. I was very responsible with how many pops I had last night.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm proud of me. Yeah, exactly.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Last night could have been a little bit of a runaway.

[Boston Connor]

It could have been a runaway. I could have really dedicated to making it a runaway. But I said, you know what, we got a basketball game to win.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

I want to remember this moment. I want to remember everything that's going.

[Pat McAfee]

On around and you were max efforting for us.

[Boston Connor]

I was.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, talk had a couple moments when he wasn't given max effort, energy. Did you see that?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Talk would sit down every once in a while. He was clapping when everybody else was yelling defense. He was.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that just kind of just couldn't get in there.

[Evan Fox]

Human being.

[Pat McAfee]

He was clapping during a defense bar. I looked over at him. I'm like, talk. You're not helping anything. You're actually hurting the whole thing.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

It's kind of what talk does.

[Evan Fox]

That was his first yay sports event.

[Pat McAfee]

Yippee Kai. What are you.

[Evan Fox]

No, like he was at this event. Like, yay sports.

[Pat McAfee]

No, he's pulling for the Pacers hard. Yeah, he's pulling for the Pacers hard. He was actually show jacked up. He just took gumpy seat. It was awesome.

[Evan Fox]

Gumpy loved it. He was really pumped about it. He hasn't talked about it all today.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Gumpy. Oh, no, Gumpy didn't.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

I actually thought it was. I asked him If I was allowed to come back to his suite on Friday.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Gumpy standing there, sweet towel underneath a hat looks.

[Evan Fox]

Why were you wearing the towel?

[Henrik Lundqvist]

We're getting beat early, so I put the towel on.

[Pat McAfee]

Then what happened? O' Rally Cap. Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

He was supporting the Pacer.

[Evan Fox]

What was it? Oh, yeah, he was supporting the Pacer.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you mean? What do you mean?

[Ty Schmidt]

You haven't been able to watch a certain bin Laden, Doc? But of course, Tyrese's nickname.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, the Pacer.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, that wasn't his nickname, actually. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

What would they call it?

[Ty Schmidt]

Tyrese. Well, Tyrese's nickname has been.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, I know that. But bin Laden.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bin Laden, they call his nickname was the Pacer.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. Because they saw him from Drone walking back and forth.

[Evan Fox]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And they thought that was him. I need to watch that doc. It's good. It's so good, man.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's one of the best dogs I've seen in the last.

[Pat McAfee]

Likewise. Okay, what's tonight? Hockey Sunday. Oh, golf.

[Ty Schmidt]

Post golf, post golf, and then, I.

[Pat McAfee]

Mean, post golf Sunday.

[Boston Connor]

And around five or so. Five, six.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's open. Might be later, you know?

[Evan Fox]

Know three episodes I did in a day.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Unfortunately, we might. I mean, there's a chance hockey's over by Sunday, so.

[Pat McAfee]

King Henry thinks so.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He said his Flora Panthers seem too good.

[AJ Hawk]

Stu skin has never lost a game.

[Pat McAfee]

Four, surprisingly. Oh, Toxicaba for that information right there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Toxic muka toxama.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. When I go to Sweden, I need you to remind me of that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Toxic caba. I think think is a different word. You don't want to know.

[Pat McAfee]

That could happen, too. Every once in a while, I try to roll the dice on different languages when I'm on, like, WWE commentary. Sure. And I'm like, the people who actually speak this language are going to hear this, so I always back off.

[Evan Fox]

Well, then at one time, you. You didn't roll the dice on.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't understand what you're saying.

[Evan Fox]

And they got mad at that, too.

[Pat McAfee]

They said I was racist. I don't understand Spanish. Not all of it. I understand all. Hola, Kia stalmos. But if you're bingo blanco. Yeah, right. I understand a lot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Quesadilla.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Certainly cerveza. I mean, there's a lot of in there. Cervezas. Oh, Mom.

[Boston Connor]

Yes. Ice cold.

[Pat McAfee]

But if you're gonna speak an entire sentence at me that seemingly is demeaning towards me, and it's in Spanish, and it's very quickly, like Raquel Rodriguez was speaking, it's like, yo, the message isn't landing. I. These ears, this brain. You're saying stuff. I don't know what it is. Yeah, I'm going need you to speak English. If you.

[Evan Fox]

You should have your translator app up on your phone next time.

[AJ Hawk]

Just hold it up.

[Pat McAfee]

Speak English speaking. And then I. Hold on. I don't want to hear say in Spanish. Is there an app that does that?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Evan Fox]

Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

They. The new Translate app.

[Quinn Richardson]

The new thing.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[Quinn Richardson]

I heard the new. I heard the new, like, whatever operating system for iPhone will real time translate your text if it's in any language. I don't know if voice.

[Darius Miles]

Voice.

[Quinn Richardson]

I don't know if I can voice the text and do it though.

[Pat McAfee]

Aside, I like that advancement in technology. Sure. That'll certainly help bring the world together more, which is good. I need my iPhone to stop turning down the sound of my fucking alert alarm. Okay. No reason at all. Haptics. Why do I know that haptics and sounds is a setting in my phone? Because the haptics and sounds just get turned down on my alarm out of nowhere. Out of nowhere. It's like a new thing. I gotta set an alarm. Then I gotta go check my sound and haptics for my alarm to make sure it's of noise, you know, because we got my. My daughter's.

[Boston Connor]

Monitor.

[Pat McAfee]

Monitor. Yeah, monitor in there. And she's got white noise.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah. Obviously drowns everything out.

[Pat McAfee]

So there's white noise pumping through the bedroom. So whenever my alarm just gets turned down to low, I'm not in there. I'm not turning it down to low. I can't hear my alarm, that I've missed my alarm now for the first time in my life, like two times in the last week because of this goddamn iPhone thing that's going on. And also, stop putting my photos in the photo gallery from when the photos were taken. I saved the picture today. I don't need to go back two months to find it. Why'd I save it? I'm. There's Tim. Tim Apple has done some good things, and we are appreciative of Tim Apple. There's some things that happen with this phone. I'm like, it's supposed to be smart. It's the dumbest I've ever seen in my life. Why are you making my life worse?

[Ty Schmidt]

The photo thing, I have learned. If. So you're saying, like, you saw a photo from March 15, 2025, and.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I saved it. Yeah. No, I, like, Bill will send me a photo.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

From, like, Three days ago. Yes, I will save photo. It'll then go into my gallery from three days ago. They say you can turn down a little setting down on the lower left. Yeah. That says date saved as opposed to picture taken. But I've changed that and it just skips back to its own shit. I'm like, what are we doing?

[Ty Schmidt]

I use the search in photos more than anything.

[Pat McAfee]

So you tagging these photos?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, I just search the dates that I, like, remember it from. So, like, if I never in a million years.

[Pat McAfee]

What if you.

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah, I mean, what if you don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't believe you do that. That's unbelievable. Yeah.

[Evan Fox]

What are you, Rain Man?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, you just think about the stuff that was going on around that, like time. Because it's a specific photo.

[Pat McAfee]

Man. I'm gonna open that thing and just scroll down. I'm a scroller. And let me get that. And every once in a while, hard some. I got some favorites. Obviously.

[Ty Schmidt]

Of course that. That's what drives me insane is I'll go back favorite one, then go into my favorites and it's not the newest favorite.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It's whenever it was.

[Ty Schmidt]

That pisses me off. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Tim Apple will get to the bottom. Yeah, that was a bad update. The haptics and sounds thing. I've never heard of that one.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tim Apple even made an iPhone yet.

[Pat McAfee]

Nope. I think with his hands. He did. They asked him one time. He got a screw.

[Ty Schmidt]

It feels like we're still on the Jobs iPhones. I'm just going to say that now.

[Pat McAfee]

I would say there's a lot of. I will say advancements. I assume a Tim Apple would tell you that you're not paying attention to. Cameras are getting better and that's really all we care about. Somebody had a go. That's what you care about as a cameraman. The Somebody had a Google Pixel phone yesterday.

[Evan Fox]

So nice.

[Pat McAfee]

One of the guys that was at the show.

[Ty Schmidt]

Very nice camera.

[Pat McAfee]

It was very nice. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

They rave about those cameras are great.

[Pat McAfee]

Heavy rig, though. And to be clear, I took a picture with the guy and I took his phone and I wanted to see how much better the camera is.

[Boston Connor]

Not that much better.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if it's worth giving up a blue text.

[Ty Schmidt]

No chance. No, that for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Got a green text from somebody this morning. Loser. It's tough for me to respond to if I don't know the number and it's green, I apologize, I'm out. Then I get. Then I get a. A like a guilt trip message about oh, because I'm not conforming to. You're gonna get hacked. I'm not. It's like, actually, they say your guys.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I'm not gonna get hacked.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Tim Apple been pretty good at that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm sure Tim Apple was pounding the pavement in the security room.

[Pat McAfee]

So we're not giving him credit for anything. Like, what does he get credit for? Does anyone use AI features on their iPhone? No, because I don't. But he added that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I've heard that. I've heard the chat GPT app rather than the actual AI functions on your phone are much better. But I use Grock all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

I use Grock. Yeah. I'm straight to Grock. Just right there. So easy. You can ask. You can ask Rock anything.

[Ty Schmidt]

I asked Grock for image of Aaron at his wedding.

[Pat McAfee]

And what it. What is what it show?

[Ty Schmidt]

You pulled it. Pulled something up.

[Evan Fox]

Was it the actual one?

[Ty Schmidt]

I. I don't know if it was.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe. We don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Evan Fox]

Aj, were you there? Were you the best man?

[Pat McAfee]

Did you speak?

[Ty Schmidt]

That's why AJ's so pissed.

[Quinn Richardson]

No, I don't know. Was there a ceremony? What'd they do?

[Pat McAfee]

I hope they do have us. You tell us you would be there in. In the ceremony. If you get a chance to speak. If they have, like, a reception or something later. Which we have seen before. Some people have four weddings. It's a good move. But what's the anniversary? We found out what the anniversary was. It was not the third wedding. First one. The anniversary. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

So boxy owes me 200 bucks.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. Because we weren't at the wedding. No, it was something else. Yeah, bingo. Exactly. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Layup.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So whenever you speak at the third wedding that you guys have, maybe before the fourth wedding they have. You need to. Oh, mom, you need to start with a little. Okay. Yeah. Aj, test them out.

[Ty Schmidt]

Maybe I will.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you coming out here tomorrow?

[Quinn Richardson]

Yeah, I'll be there.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Safe travels. I think there's gonna be some rain. There's gonna be some.

[Ty Schmidt]

Definitely.

[Quinn Richardson]

I'm a great driver in the rain. Rain keeps me awake. It's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, rain makes corn, Corn makes whiskey. Ty only had two of those last night.

[Boston Connor]

I did sign Seal deliver my. My mouth to God's ear.

[Quinn Richardson]

I mean, the dump with the puke over top in the same toilet. That's tough.

[Evan Fox]

Maybe it was.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got thin. He's got skinny legs.

[Evan Fox]

What was the brand the first week? Sailor Jerry.

[Boston Connor]

No, not have a Sailor Jerry and Pacers were in the NBA finals. Okay, this Was a supposed to be some VIP event. Allegedly. Me and Tony kind of just got shuffled in there when we were to go up the suite.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Oh, were you down below?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Oh, did you see the NBA finals?

[Pat McAfee]

What? No.

[Boston Connor]

What I saw was the flower.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

No, there was two.

[Pat McAfee]

Two.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

Two ladies dressed up as the Larry o' Brien trophy.

[Boston Connor]

We did see them. They said, have a nice night. That was great. What else? What? What I did see though was the bottom shelf booze selection. They were. I took one look at it, said, jesus Christ. I haven't had Sailor Jerry since I was a sophomore in high school. You kidding me? That's what we're serving. So, no, I didn't have a booze cocktail there.

[Henrik Lundqvist]

They didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

You had to wait till we got upstairs and.

[Boston Connor]

Thing. And so, yeah, you know, I had a couple Jack and diets, but they were very liberal with the.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, very.

[Boston Connor]

You're getting one shot in here, okay. And then you're getting three fourths of a can of Diet Pepsi. You know, maybe that's what it was.

[Pat McAfee]

You think it was all Diet Pepsi?

[Boston Connor]

I think it was the Diet Pepsi.

[Pat McAfee]

Instead of Pepsi is good.

[Boston Connor]

With the Jack, I think Diet Pepsi, I don't think.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree, but with the Jack I think it's better, personally.

[Boston Connor]

See, I'm just so conditioned to Diet Coke though. Me as well that like, maybe you just threw off my equilibrium.

[Pat McAfee]

Is it Diet Coke though?

[Boston Connor]

What?

[Evan Fox]

Is it Diet Coke?

[Boston Connor]

Diet Coke. We're not talking about it, aj.

[Pat McAfee]

We appreciate you, buddy. The.

[Boston Connor]

Am I doing all right?

[Pat McAfee]

You're the greatest. We will see you tomorrow, boys, in the back. Great work.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great work, boy.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to cute Rich answering a cold facetime. Knowing that we were going to talk him relentlessly. Shout out to Henrik Lundquist, Liam Cohen, John lynch and the band. Adam Schefter. Yeah, Just think about me banned list.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay?

[Pat McAfee]

A bunch of names.

[Quinn Richardson]

What do you do? You send a text or an email band. That's what you do.

[Pat McAfee]

Just a heads up. Six letters, brother. B A and. And Ed. Never forget it. The out. All these people that talk about our business are very interesting because in a lot of situations, and this is going to sound very narcissistic, there's only one person that has the answer, okay? And that would be me. And I don't talk to that fucking guy. So how would he ever, you know, speak rat? I think I could though. I'm soft. There you go. Oh, that is what it is, isn't it? Yeah. So that's an interesting thing. You know, it's like I don't really get it. We're three years into this thing, too. Burke Magnus gave a great quote.

[Boston Connor]

He knows. I mean, you know, you put that, your picture next to Chef, these on there. Shefty's banned from that show like that. Everyone's clicking on that. He knows what he's doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I guess the naivety of whenever we started licensing our show through espn and once again, full creative control. Still own my company 100% still, you know all that. But partner with ESPN in the green, by the way. I remember a lot of articles about how grotesquely overpaid we were. Okay. And I've learned about the lack of business knowledge that a lot of these writers have, including the one who wrote about this morning and how this whole works. It's like I. I thought there was going to be like a, you know, like a, hey, we're coming in here to do that. And instead, that's like three years ago. And then now somebody in ESPN at Highland. We know who it is. He knows. We know who it is, too.

[Quinn Richardson]

Oh, okay.

[Pat McAfee]

He knows, you know, we all know. Everybody knows who it is. It's like, listen up, you little rat. Okay? This is the future, I think, of what people who are much more important to the company than you are are thinking. And we are just trying to be an additive to sports media. And it's like, if you just continue to shit stories out of context, so many missing parts of things just to try to make it look. Make us look bad. Like, three years into this, it's like, come on, we've made money for the company. I think we've done good things for the company. I think there's been some awards that have been given to some shows that we've been. I mean, there's just like. Like, come on, you know, at what point are we just gonna fucking just leave us the fuck alone? Almost you know, just whenever I wake up, yeah, there's another thing being written about you being a piece of shit. It's like, great. It's fucking great. Can't wait to continue to do it. But I appreciate Burke Magnus going to bat for us. You know, that was the most definitive statement that has been made by actual people with power at that company. And there's this level right below there, but probably a couple. Maybe a little bit low, that they all think they're somebody. Y' all motherfuckers are dinosaurs, bro. You are about to get run the into extinction, and you know it. And it's only a matter of time before everybody else does it. With that being said, let's enjoy this life. We're lucky to do it. We'll be live from gamebridge field house tomorrow. That has been kept confirmed. And we appreciate you all so much that follow along like you're the greatest people on earth for allowing us to do this and we'll continue to try to be an additive to sports media and society as a whole. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team goodbye.