← The Pat McAfee Show
The Pat McAfee Show
PMS 2.0 1383 - TJ Watt & Cam Heyward, Aaron Rodgers, Mike Tomlin, Danny Smith, Gene Steratore, Omar Khan, Pittsburgh Dad, Mark Kaboly
02:22:07
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Pat McAfee
And welcome to the hallowed grounds of St. Vincent College. On this diner Wednesday, football. This lovely place, home. Since 1966, this beautiful Catholic college has been the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Training camp. Every Pittsburgh Steeler that has just crossed your mind has worked their ass off on the fields behind us here today. Just like this team that has been reimagined in a brand new way to put a press for a Super Bowl. The boys are buzzing. The city is electrifying. And this is one of those things that if you're a football fan, you have to experience. The lines to get into this training camp every single day are hours and hours. The inserts travel from all over the country to come watch the boys put in work here at St. Vincent College. And if you think about Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is a hard working city. You think about Western Pennsylvania, you think about dogs. That is what training camp is all about. Coach Mike Tomlin will be here today. TJ Watt will join us today. Cam Hayward will join us today. Harry Rodgers will join us today. Danny Smith will join. Omar Khan, the general manager will join us today. And I think we'll have a show that'll be able to showcase one of the greatest football towns in the history of this sport for a few hours before they kick off their first full padded practice here at St. Vincent College. Now, West Virginia, my mama, take me home, country road. You're gonna have a lot of people from West Virginia here as well, because the Mountaineers are all the way back as well. Now. It's not just me, obviously. I have great group of people around me. The toxic table is here at Ty Schmidt at Boston. Connor, we'll start with you. Ty. Ty, we've been back to Pittsburgh a few times. Got a chance to go to a Pirates game, obviously. We had big night out a few months ago. It was electrifying. It was awesome. This place is great. We've been to a Penguins game. Sell the team. Sell the team. Whoa. The Penguins back to Mario. They're talking about the Pirates, I believe. I think they're still talking about the Pirates. I don't think it's the Penguins we're talking about. No. Mario's cheers. Mario is trying to buy it back. That's the owner of the Pirates. They're talking about the Pirates. Okay. All right. So now we move forward. Pittsburgh is a football town through and through. That's what it is. And it's a beautiful experience here at St. Vincent College to celebrate all of it. Yeah, it's the best. Tony and I talk about this all the time. I mean, what else needs to be said? The energy, the atmosphere around here. It's incredible. I'm a Packers fan. This, this. I mean, if I was a fan of a different team in the NFL, the, the easy counterpart. If you're a Packers fan, you look towards the afc. It's the Steelers. It's Steelers. I mean, the two organizations that are run a very similar way. I mean, you're not getting this everywhere. You're not getting this everywhere in the NFL. It just, it feels like we're ready for football. Feels like the season starts on Sunday. It's incredible. And it's a testament to all these fans that came out here today. Yeah. And they're not the only ones. There'll be thousands more that'll litter through the both the fan zone, the merch area. There's a other gathering. I think there's two youth teams from around Pittsburgh that come every single day. They go through some drills. They get a chance to meet the boys. It's been here for almost 60 years. Let's go to one half of the hammer. Don Cowboys, AP Tone Pittsburgh resident, Die Hard, Steeler fan. Tone, you've been getting a, you've been getting a rash, a little bit of zipper burn all morning. And obviously the people showing you love here and at big night out has been beautiful to watch. I'm proud of you. But this is really an important piece of the entire puzzle. A lot of new faces on this Pittsburgh Steeler team. This team is being constructed differently than any other Steelers team of the past. Feels like training camp matters a little bit more right now. Yes. There it is. There's one of them. There's one of them. Not to mention one of them. One of them. Jalen Ramsey, John Hughes Smith, Darius Slay and Aaron Rodgers. All the others. But no, I went up and down. Boom. Aaron Rodgers. These guys have been with the team for two weeks and they're already loved around here. Because if you become a Steeler, you're loved around here. I mean, we've. We landed here this morning. You could just feel the Lombardi's coming out of these sweet rolling hills. I looked at the roster the other day. We are better in literally every single position than we were last year. It is super bowl or bust this year for the Pittsburgh nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. We're back at training camp. We're in a dorm up here. We're in a dorm up here. Just kind of before the show had air conditioning. That was nice. It's hot as Shit. Here in these hills of western Pennsylvania. And actually Mike Tomlin was on the record of stating last year they practiced in the morning and he said it wasn't hot enough. Let's move it to the afternoon. We let the environment kind of harden the boys. Oh, yeah. Before they head out there for a season. But it has been nice to feel like we're in training camp here for the last like five, six hours. Yeah, these are the dog days. This is when the foundation of your team is building. Every year, every year the team is different. You bring in a new quarterback, you got all these different players. This you stand on the campus, you sticking with each other, you spending time with each other, you really build that foundation for the season. I can't wait till after the show to actually get up, get a chance to check out this man City guys. Yeah, it should be fun to see the new guys you're talking about Jalen. I can't wait. I think one on ones are happening out here. Him and DK will be box office, if that's possible. There's also one on one, so we'll see the D lines get after it. We'll see the running backs and the linebackers get after it. And on that note, Jalen Ramsey, absolute beast, flies around like he's like a pterodactyl. Like the way he moves, it's outrageous. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, a college football champion, a Super bowl champion, a Ryder cup winner, a man who's a former former president of Ohio and loyal Cincinnati Bengal, ladies and gentlemen, A.J. hoffman. Early thoughts on St. Vincent. Why did he do that to you? Hey, St. Vincent is beautiful. This okay? I respect it. They say the same thing back, obviously, but Pittsburgh's had a lot of success against the Bengals. I agree. I understand it's a respectable organization, but if you mentioned your new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, mentioned when he got here how much he loves this dorm. I think he stayed here night before he even had to. It's like St. Norbert's what they used to stay at in Green Bay, they still do from back in the day when Bart Starr was there. So a lot of similarities, a lot of carryover, I feel, brother, you know who's been around these parts? How about Mean Joe Green? You could feel it. How about Lynn Swan? How about the wheels on the bus go round and round and round? Jerome Bettis used to run his big ass all around these hills and they'll run all over people. Hines Ward and the incomparable Ben Roethlisberger found his way As a Steeler here. And joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is two men that'll go down as Pittsburgh Steelers forever. Guy's been here for 15 years, the other's been here for nine. They just got a deal done with one of them. And the other one is the Walter Payton man of the year every single year, ladies and gentlemen. Joining us now, perennial All Pro TJ Watt and Cam Hay. What's up, everybod? Ladies and gentlemen, one more time, Cam Hayward. TJ1 Cam, baby. Cam. Anybody can get it right now. And that's what training camp is all about. You're entering your 15th year, I do believe. All here with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I believe that's a carryover from the previous chant right there. If you're wondering, tj, Any facial expression that you make right now will be judged by everybody in Cleveland and across the NFL. But it has to feel good to get the love from these people and also get your business handled before you get here and have a magical training camp. Best fans in the world. Man, I'm glad we got the deal done so I could be here in front of everybody. Man, there's no place like LA, man. Let's talk about a cam. 15th year, you're going into it. Mark Caboli, obviously Steelers correspondent for our show. So he's been coming up here 20 years. This has been the hottest it's been up here. Do you feel as if this camp has been a little bit hotter, a little bit more grueling? What are your thoughts on the current camp thus far? Man, the weather's been a little bit wild, but I guess. I guess in the time being, I think it's been the hottest we've ever had. So it's a lot of fun, though. Okay. Enjoying the team. You have a lot of. Everybody loves Cam. Launch bait. Man of the year. Been here for 15 years. Gives back to the community. Dad a part of the team, brother a part of the team. I mean, it's. The Hayward family has certainly done a lot for the Steelers. Now let's talk about your off season a little bit. Mine or his? Yours and yours in a second, Cam. So after you talk about Aaron Rodgers. Okay. You then said. That's right. You then said. You said, we're getting a little older, and I think everybody kind of feels that we need to go for it. You said that on your podcast, which is great. Not just football. Shout out. Great show, great interviews, great conversations. Hayden, Richard, Sherman were awesome. But on that note, does it feel as if this year everybody's kind of focused on one thing. We're going all in. Has to, right? I think every year we're like that, you know, every time we get a chance to lay some up, you got TJ over there. You know, years past we've had Ben. You know, I don't take it for granted, but I. I have the privilege of every year we try to compete, and I'm very thankful to have Mike T. And Omar doing that for us. Your relationship with coach Tomlin is awesome to watch in Hard Knocks. Basically they're going in for halftime. I forget what game it was. And Tomlin looked at you and was like, hey, if your group starts playing well, we're going to win this game. He looked at you as like an assistant coach, obviously. Fifteen years here. You and Mike have been through a lot. Elder statesman no longer though, because old ass Aaron's here. How does that kind of go? He's old on that side of the ball. I'm old on this side of the ball. The ball with Mike T. He knows if my. My group's getting called out, I'm going to respond to it. And, you know, I live and die by guys like him. So if they play well, I play well. Yeah. I love the relationship you have with Tom. Let's talk about TJ. TJ, so rich. So rich. Wow. TJ Walker. 108. 108, 108. That's the amount of millions you signed for. Obviously. Congratulations on that. Business out of the way, full focus on season whenever that's all going on. How much do you let, like, agents and other people deal with it and how much are you worried about getting yourself ready for a season? I'm always getting myself ready for the season, regardless of what is happening. I think the second time around, you're more involved with your agents than the first time, for sure. Just because you're older, more mature, you know how the business works. But we always knew a deal was gonna get done. I'm glad it got done when it did. You guys added somebody on the back end. That's a free DBOT has a question for you. Yeah. Jalen Ramsey obviously added DK on the offensive side of the ball. Bring in Jalen Ramsey. How's it been so far? Because, look, you guys are our favorite friends on the back end. But how has his energy been with the team so far? It's been huge. And it goes both ways. I mean, he's a Swiss army knife of our defense right now. You're going to see him playing every position. You're going to see him playing, man, and anytime those guys lock down just for an extra half a second, we love it because it allows us to get to the quarterback. Yeah. I think just with Jalen, it's not just what he does does when the play is snapped, it's what he's doing before the play. His disguise, his level of professionalism is just on display for everybody. And so like that first pick Aaron threw to Patrick Queen, that was because of Jalen. So seeing him out there, I'm excited to see what he's gonna do this year. Yeah. And obviously the world reacted to Aaron throwing a pick to somebody in training camp. You know, a lot of reactions in training camp. That's kind of a part of the world that we're in. Especially whenever you get thousands of people at every single practice. Go ahead, A.J. yeah, for both you. But T.J. first, what's it like with Aaron in camp? Like, what has it been? Obviously the hoop wall that surrounds a guy like him, but then actually going against him in practice. I think today is what, first day of pads probably. So you get a really good look at it. But what's that like having a vet like him come in here? Frustrating because he talks a lot of smack. He really does. He saying subtute the line of scrimmage. Yeah. And I think a lot of the no look past passes are things that we're getting used to. I like to bat down a lot of passes on scrimmage and he's able to manipulate the defense good. So that's been very frustrating. Hopefully today we get the better of him. What about you, Cam? Is it annoying to go against him? He talks a whole lot of strength. How about his cadence? He's been trying to get you with the cadence. Yeah, I'm trying to learn the cadence right now. His cadence is, you know, deadly. The thing he does better than anybody, he knows how to abuse a play clock. So we have it out during practice and it's ridiculous, but it's gonna make us better. Yeah, but you gotta remember too, when that play clock's going down and you guys got him, there's a fucking quick. He's the fastest one of these at like.05 or whatever. He is getting it wants to understand everything that's going on. And I, as friend of Aaron and guy that has watched him and followed his career and watched him last year with the New York jets. Towards the end of the career, I think the narrative was like, ah, this guy doesn't got it anymore. It's like if you watch the back half of that season, they became what everybody thought they were going to be. What you're seeing out here, how does it feel to watch them spin it? We're still at an elite level. And is there any talking between you and he? Because you did remember, Tell him you either come to the team or get the hell out of town. Go to hell. He came to the team. But, you know, I think when you talk about Aaron, he talks a lot of crap, but, man, I love how he goes about his work. He approaches it the right way. He's asking questions. He's been asking us about week one, how to prepare for that night meetings. You know, he's all about being locked in with this group, which is great. Yeah. I heard he's terrible teammate, though. You know, it seems like that is. That is what everybody but his teammate says about him in the media. Go ahead, tell him. Boys, first and foremost, Father Paul just blessed us up there. So I think I could say God bless all of you. God bless. Oh, there he is. There it is right there. Father Paul dressed like a monk, but he is a priest. There are monks here, though. There are monks on this camera. Do you know that? There's. There's. You gotta have a microphone, tj. Jesus Christ. Explain the difference. But we all know we've seen it many, many times from your brother, J.J. watt. He knows how to post an Instagram photo with the lighting, with the oil and everything like that. You recently posted an Instagram photo after your workout with Herbie. And you've got quads attached to your shoulders. Now, is this the biggest you've been coming into camp or no? That's the power of the pump, my friend, okay? If there's anything JJ's taught me, it's a stand on the. On the outside. Always stand about a half. A half yard in front of the next guy and get the absolute pump as late as you possibly can before the picture. Look at you. You look like you have a quad on your arm. Cannot wait to watch your work. Thank you for stopping by. First day of full pads. Good luck on the season. Congrats on the incredible careers thus far. And 108 million is a lot of money for anybody. You're the man. You've earned it. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go. As Cam Hayward and TJY exit the stage. I will say TJ just threw a hat out into the crowd, and I believe we almost had our first full scrum. We almost had our first full scrum. Yeah. Good catch by that kid. Saw the Whole thing. He's got good flow too, cuz if that hits the ground. Ladies and gentlemen, good to see you. Four time NFL mvp. Love you. Super bowl champion. The starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aaron Rodgers. Wow. Hey, hey. Helmet, helmet, helmet, helmet, helmet, helmet. They're selling yellow. Don't roll your ankle on a helmet. Daddy Rogers. Mr. Rogers here. We told you. And you know this because of how many Pittsburgh people you've been around and your respect and appreciation for the sport and the league as a whole. You knew Pittsburgh was a football town. Always have. Now you get a chance to be the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Has that been a cool thing for you? Like legitimately, has that been a cool moment? I've seen the pictures. They're posting you in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform. And as a kid that grew up here, that's like a really cool thing for us to see. I'm wondering on your side of it, being a Pittsburgh Steeler, how it feels. I mean, Pittsburgh is one of the cornerstone franchises in the NFL. Everybody knows who they are. There's only a few of them. But it's just different here. There's a level of expectation based on the excellence that's happened here where you kind of come in and you expect to fall in the line to embody what it means to be a Steeler. I really appreciate that. Appreciate that. Because I've been in green bay for 18 years and it's the same thing there. Yeah. Because Green Bay, that's literally what Ty said. Ty said if I look from the NFC over to the afc, I would say the Green Bay packers of the AFC is the Pittsburgh Steelers just storied franchise to get season tickets here. It's like a 30 year waiting period, just like it is at Green Bay. Away games, you'll see terrible towels in every stadium. And now they're attacking your previous employer, which I certainly love these people. I told you this whenever you signed here. I said, hey, you want to see super bowl for the city of Pittsburgh? They will murder people and bury the bodies for you. Yes, you tell me where brother do that. Anyways, now they're already chanting your name. You've been here for two weeks. How has it been with the fans and the Insers in experiencing life here at training camp at St. Vincent? I love the. I love the Insers. I've been around them my entire career. You guys know Big Mike was on the show. There's just something special about the people from this area. You know, there's. There's something in the water maybe, but Rust but steel. Yeah, they just. They're beautiful. Maybe they're built a little differently. Yeah. And they love their Steelers. They love you already, man. And they will love you forever if you go do what you're going to do for them here in a couple weeks. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah. You've been here for a few weeks. I mean, you had. You had a little bit of time back in the OTAs or minicamp or whatever, and then now you've been here for two weeks. I feel like you kind of knew what DK was working out with him. Some of the boys went out to California. Is anyone surprised you so far in camp that you've been thrown to? No. I mean, I think that the coolest thing is just what is going on right now. My hand out like this, Literally like this. And a guy threw a marker, landed right in my hand. He's got touch like Aaron Rodgers. This guy right here got a touch like Aaron. It's a great throw. Hopefully he fought. He got that. I mean, this place is crazy. It's crazy. Like, it's hot as hell out here. These folks show up every single day. Yesterday they were rolling down this hill because it was raining like crazy. But there's just something special about this place. You can feel it. I, you know, I love being here in latrobe. We did 14 years at St. Norbert's in Green Bay and then kind of went away from that. But there's something special about the camaraderie that actually gets to happen. I think every coach talks about, you know, training camp is when you come together and you, you know, you're building that team chemistry. But, but honestly, when at places that don't go away, when 7 o' clock hits or 6:30 or whatever the time is, guys go home. Now here, guys go into Head's room. Cam, he's got a huge head. They go in his room and hang out. You know, last night we were in Highsmith's room hanging out. Guys come in my room and talk ball. So there's actually real camaraderie that happens at a place like the Trope. So I give a lot of credit to. To Mr. Rooney because there's a lot of buildings with his name on it around here. He's on the board here actually, for putting the money into it. But. But the opportunity that we have here to spend time together and actually come together is pretty cool. And also with Mike's schedule, practicing the midday, I know we got some issues with the, with the weather, but. But I enjoy the opportunities to, to truly develop that training camp. Callous. Training camp's been here since 19, 1966. You, they're saying, bring us seven, which was one of the answers that you actually gave. Whenever your first press conference happened, you were getting rapid fire questions. And I believe the way it was phrased was if you were to win another super bowl, what do you think it would be for your legacy? And you said, well, it'd be seven for the city of Pittsburgh. I think is what we're trying to do here is that the mentality of the entire locker room, when you were talking to Tomlin throughout the entire process of whether or not you were going to play again or if you're going to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you're kind of in the process of that. You talk to them on a regular basis. Was it like, hey, this city of Pittsburgh needs another one. We need another. What is those conversations like, and what is expectations? Yeah, they're like 10 more if you could, next 10 years. I mean, everybody's. Everybody's 0 and 0 right now. There's 32 teams that feel like they can win a championship. But you guys know, covering the game, there's only a handful of teams. I always say like 6 to 8, but it's really like 8 to 12 because there's some of those teams like the Redskins, sorry, the Commanders last year. Oh, my God, this son of a bitch. I just said I was behind you. I saw the side. That's what got me. I was just talking to Ty about the San Diego Chargers playing. You know, when you're old, as old as I am. You played in so many different stadiums and against different team names. We, you know, we beat the St. Louis Rams. Yep. That team doesn't exist anymore. But, but there's. There's a history of excellence that exists in only a few places around the league. And thankfully, I'm here at one of them. Tight, A.J. they love it already. Hey, Arthur Smith. What did you know about him coming in? Did you have a relationship at all before? You're obviously your offensive coordinator here. And what's it been like the first seven, ten days with him? I love Art. We started talking. You guys love Art. He's on the show a lot. He's got a great mustache. Great mustache. Salt of the But. I met him a couple years ago and we had a friendship and would send messages back and forth. But once the opportunity started to become a possibility, we talked more. And he's just a great dude. You know, he's very. He's the opposite of rigid. You know, he wants to do right by the team, and whatever the best scheme is for the guys that he's got, he's going to implement that. So whether it's me at quarterback or bringing a guy like John, who's had in the past and finding ways to get him involved, obviously, DK being our number one, making sure he's involved in progression. We're moving him around to give him different looks. And then we got a bunch of little guys who were trying to figure out who's going to kind of step up and be that the second receiver, who's going to be a third, who's going to be a fourth. But guys like Calvin, Austin, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller, you know, guys that you can move around. Obviously, I'm talking about receivers right now. Yeah, we got a lot of tight ends. We got four great tight ends. We can actually do 04 personnel, which. Which you know is four tight ends on the field. When you could put John. Ooh. And Darnell and Pat and Connor on the field, it's pretty. Pretty special. So he's great at kind of using the skills that each guys had have and implementing them in the offense, but he's a great dude. You know, he had a tragedy that happened this offseason with his dad passing away, who meant a lot to him, but. But he's been great. He's great in front of the room when he's installing plays and. Yeah, give it up for our dog. Hell, yeah. They weren't doing this with the previous offense coordinator. I will let you know that. Yeah, they'll come back around potentially. I saw you throw a pic to Patrick Queen, and then I saw everybody say that you lost it. How much do you love people thinking that you lost it? How much do you love that? How much? How much do you love people thinking that you lost it legitimately? How much do you love that? Oh, I don't give a about that. Yeah, Yeah, I bet. I bet it's been awesome to watch. Spin it again, brother. Legit. Go ahead, D. Speaking of spinning it, how does the. We're about a week in the camp. How does the body feel? How does the mind feel going into this season right now? Body feels great. D.B. we just got two days off. Okay. That never happens. We had a day off and then we had a rain out yesterday, so I feel great. Today's going to be a monster. What? Today's going to be a monster. First day I got two days off and it's this hot out here. Practice you think it's going to be a Gruden grinder today out there? For sure. What should we be looking for today in practice? We'll be down there. So we start every practice with what they call seven shots. It's seven plays, fourth and two from the two. And that play, that period is live as his team run. I haven't been around a lot of tackling in training camp in my career, really, ever. Maybe with Big Mike early on. Pittsburgh tough, you know? Yes. Hell, yeah. Maybe a couple times. But. But those two periods will be real, real fun to watch. And that's how practice starts. We start with seven. Seven shots. Yeah. Oh, my God. That's a good way to start. A little bit of physicality to ground. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah. I hope you're still, you know, caught up on all the conspiracies going on right now, because there are some gems out there, but you talked a lot about the offense. What about that old line? We talked to Alan. Jesse. That's a Jesse J's versus the best. Sure. Oh, yeah. Again. Hey, Steelers fans all. Aaron wasn't here. He doesn't give a about that. But what do you think? I do. Of course. Of course. 2017, man, what a year. When you think about that O line. Very young, kind of similar to the Jets. But AQ said, you know, just yesterday. Of course. New color broadcaster for the Cardinals. He said just yesterday. Steelers. He expects to take a massive step up. How has that been kind of working with the young O line, you know, sweet West Virginia boy, Zach Frazier. Hopefully he has a towel for you today with all that swast that's probably going on. No, he's actually a light sweater, so we're good on that. Wow. We're good on that. Is he getting the ball up to you yet? Yeah. At least back there it's light. You know, it starts and ends with that kid, though. I mean, he's got a. He's got a chance to be really special in the league. You know, a lot of the great centers I've had were also wrestlers, and he was a great wrestler in high school, but he's super smart. He's a mountaineer. Yeah, he's. Hell, yeah. We're back. He's a little too smug for my liking, though. He's out there making calls for me right now, tell me if I got the wrong check. So I got to get his ass in line a little bit, let him know who's in charge. But no, seriously, Zach's done a great job. Job starts and ends with him. 13. 13, 13 time. 13 what? 13, 13 time. 13 time what? They don't know what the hell they're talking about. What are they talking about? You know? But I. I like. I like the battles that we got going on right now and the depth that we have. Those guys, you know, we'll be in work in progress as we go. We haven't put the pads on yet, but I think I'll be interesting today. We're all taking side bets on who the first fight's going to be. And if I'm a betting man, I'm saying that either Zack Frazier or Mason McCormick will be involved in the first fight. Okay? They go Everywhere together. Mason McCormick and Zack Frazier both heard that. And they're also like, okay, now Aaron's expecting us to throw some hands and do that. We all view that way, we all feel that way. It is awesome. Over the last few years, us covering training camp, remember a few years back, I think Aaron Donald took a helmet at somebody. They were calling for, like. Like, lawsuits and, like, cops to show up. And then fights are happening. It's like, hey, fights are exhausting for players during training camp. But also it shows how together your team is, how tough your team is, what they stand on. I think it's a big deal. Now, I don't think Tomlin is promoting fights, but if you have no fights, I think that's a problem. He's definitely not promoting fights. You know, it's one of the rules. No fighting. But if something starts, whip his ass. Get it on, baby. That's everybody. I think every good coach view it that way. Big Mike did. You said working Mike. You know, Big Mike loved. Loved. He didn't promote it? No, he didn't promote it. He was never in a bad mood after. No, he was not. I legitimately think if your team doesn't fight, you should be worried. I always knew if we fought in practice that night, that was back when we had two days, Mike would be texting me after practice saying, hey, come on over and have a couple ICs, couple iron cities. Have you had any mangoes? I'll tell you what. The Iron City mangoes. There it is. The nectar of the gods, that is. They pull it from the rivers of dead bodies here. Obviously, you got the Alani, the Monongahela, they come together for the Ohio. Okay? That is the point, Dante. Three rivers. And they would get water out of there, put some booze in it, and that's the nectar that is Icy Light. Every kid drank it as a Teenager here in Pittsburgh. It is the nectar of the gods. Nectar of the gods. You should have a couple. You said work in progress. How much do you know the offense? Did you show up knowing the offense because there was a report that Arthur Smith was quietly making an entire playbook for you and yada, yada, yada. You're obviously an incredibly intelligent person. I haven't seen that playbook yet. Okay, good. You're obviously an incredibly intelligent person. Celebrity Jeopardy Champion. If you had to, you'd win against actual Jeopardy. People. I'm on your side for that. Had a 500 page report in 2020. People don't remember that. Everybody remember everything else. But how do you feel about how comfortable you are in the offense and yeah, I'm getting more comfortable as the days go on. There's not a. There's not a. My own playbook and Arthur. It's Arthur's playbook now. I'm finding, you know, ways within it to. To add, you know, little stuff here and there, but it's Arthur's playbook and I like it. I like it a lot. But they got this going on over here. I mean, these are Yenzers, brother, trying to camp. They're the best. This is how it's going to have their own agenda. Here we go, Steelers, here we go. Spitzberge's goin to the Super Bowl. Here we go. We got Aaron throwing the ball deep. There we go. And a guy named Artie. There we go, Boswell making kicks like he does. And we're looking for seven in the fucking house. Here we go. There it is. Banger. Absolute banger. Do you know Renegade yet? Did you learn Renegade on guitar yet? There's a mic on his face there. All right, last question. Everybody can hear what you're saying. There's a mic on AJ's face. Ty has a question. Question for you, Aaron. Aaron, we talked about this a little bit off stage. And through the last several years you've been on the show, you've talked about how much respect you have for Mike T. How has that relationship been so far? Is there anything that's been, you know, like maybe kind of surprise you now that he's your head coach and he's just not a guy you. You respect from afar. Where's my camera at? Could be any of them. Here's the gym. They were gonna do a sweet artsy jib shot on you. Zoom in on Aaron slowly. Just do a two shot. Me and Age. Okay, okay, never mind. Mike T is the man. Any hate disrespect and the ilk is complete and utter. Hell yeah. Mike T is the man I, from day one, that we talked on the phone in the off season, I was never talking to a head coach. I was talking to a friend. I respected the hell out of that. I have crazy respect for him. The way that he leads the room, the way that he talks in the team meeting, the way he is at practice. The surprise has been just what a great dude he is, what a great leader he is on top of what I already expected, which was already high based on what I thought from afar. But being able to see it in person is incredible. He's the type of guy that every great coach makes you want to play for. And what I mean to expand on that is you care so deeply about the person. You don't want to let them down. And that's, that's the aura and that's the respect that Mike has from his players that you do. You want to play for this guy because you know how much he cares and you don't want to let him down. You've been on a championship team before. You've had a lot of great, great, great, great, great teams that you've been on. Yeah. We beat the Steelers. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Wow. Should already had seven, you could say. Oh, man. How'? Different day. Different day. It's a new day. It's a new day. It's a new day. Yes, cuz. AJ was using steroids. Nick Mordo. AJ was drinking his piss. Yes, we know. Okay, you confirmed that. I said that to people. Look at this guy. You think he hasn't drank his pee in the last five years? All the stuff he's been into. Chewing bark, drinking piss. Hey, great answer the other day, by the way. Phenomenal. And that guy would drink your piss? He said. That's what I'm talking about, though. That's what Pittsburgh would do for you. Aaron, you need to know that we appreciate you so much for stopping by. Can't wait to watch. Yeah. Come on, give him a standpoint. Did you have a drug test this morning? How's the piss? Get them up here. Aaron, I can't wait to watch you work out there. Can't wait to watch this season for you. I can't wait to watch you experience a year with the Endzers. And will you be joining us on Tuesdays or no? Did they tell you you can't? We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. You talk to Bert over there? Uh. Oh, I appreciate you guys. Good to see you all as usual. Good to see you in person. Have fun in Canton. San Diego Chargers. That's right. But it's gonna be a fun year. It's gonna be a really fun year. I'm just really. If I can sum up my feelings, being in Pittsburgh is just gratitude to be in such a special organization with Mike T. The leadership of the football team and to play for a fan base that cares as much as these guys do. Do. Hell yeah. We're lucky to have you here in Pittsburgh. I speak for the city at this moment, but not always. You're the man. I love your claim in Pittsburgh. Now you claim indie when you're back in. Indie. I'm like the rock, baby. I got two homes. You should send me down to Morgantown too. I. All that money you got? Yeah, got homes all over the place. Aaron. All right, thanks, guys. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, four time NFL mvp, the starting quarterback of the Steelers, Aaron Robert. What you put on there? Did you draw dick? You signed it. AJ Hawk. Did you sign it? You did a spaceship? No, he didn't do a spaceship. Oh, see it again. He just, he just wrote in there what his status is. Still to this point. And I just wrote in what his status is. It's a long word. I'm not talking Facebook. I got you. Oh, nice. He subbed an X in there. Just dropped an X. Oh, yeah, none of that. It's a one on one and it's throwback. Hey, he, he mentioned a lot of times about being synonymous with winning and greatness and a team that's all aligned and going in. And we got a chance to talk to Mr. Rooney earlier today. And I said, hey, you're writing a lot of checks. I like that. I like you're writing a lot of checks or whatever. He was like, he excited for the season. This has not been how the Steelers have ever been tone. This is such a draft drastic difference than what the Pittsburgh Steelers were of yesterday. Now them firing Matt Canada midway through the year. Sorry Matt had to do it. Knew it was be a pop. They fired him mid season. He was the first coach that was a head coach or a coordinator that got fired in the history of the Steelers, one of the oldest franchises in the history of professional sports. So they make that move. It's like, wait, is this a new day? Then Omar Khan gets in following Kevin Colbert, who has a fire pit up here that I guess all the boys hang out at at night. They really bring the team together. It's a beautiful setup. But Omar Khan is really, he's, he's drawing this up in his own way. And the stars are out here in Pittsburgh to. Yeah, I mean Colbert was here for 20 plus years. Multiple super Bowls. Kevin, Kevin Colbert is an all time hall of Fame gm. But like you knew once like free agency came around, like you didn't have to pay attention at all. Like day one, day two, even day seven, you weren't going to get anyone in free agency if you're a Steeler because they build through the drafts and they built, built their own guys. But then, you know, Omar came in and was kind of like, hey, that's, that's not really working right now. And obviously this fan base is, hasn't been happy with, you know, 9 and 8, 10 and 7, stuff like that, first round playoff losses. So Omar got very, very aggressive this year. Went out. You know, the first one was dk. Like he was even in conversations for IUK last year that came out that was reported like he. They are not resting on their laurels right now, Pat, or their Yannis. And we're going in for a Super bowl right now. That was a good Internet run there. Just like the black dress, blue dress, those really had a good time. We need those days back. Somebody needs to find a new one there for the Internet. And I think the city has responded in a positive way. You know, sometimes whenever you do something in an old fashioned way, an old school way, there's going to be old heads that hate it. Any change, The Steelers spending all this money we don't need. You think they need to do this to win in the past, this is a desperate move, yada yada. That hasn't happened at all. Everybody in Pittsburgh's like, yeah, yeah, we're spending money finally. Yeah, we're bringing in stores. Yeah, we're taking advantage of stuff and like I think the players too. AJ Cam Hayward, year 15. He's been pretty vocal about like, yes, don't know how long we have left. TJ. I know he's still got hopefully six years left, 10 years left, whatever it is. He's in year nine. A lot of these guys have been around here a long time. They're making a push to win is good for all parties. It's great for the NFL, I think, and obviously for Pittsburgh. But you got to evolve, like, yeah, you can still hold that old school, the core, the tradition, everything that is the Steelers and then evolve into like the new age of the NFL and spend money. I mean, look at one of the greatest, actually the greatest college football coach of all time. Nick Saban, he was constantly evolving what he did on offense and defense because he's like, I want to win. I don't want to be stupid and just be stuck in my ways. That's what losers do. Yeah. And we're not like that far removed from this being the way to win a Super Bowl. Like, sure, the Chiefs and the Eagles have won more room recently, but you look at Stafford, you look at Brady, you look at Payton, like we've, we kind of pointed to that for a couple years as maybe this is the way to do it. You get Aaron for cheap, you bring in dk, you bring in Jaylen, you bring in Johnu. Like it really is one of those things where it feels like a 2021 LA Rams, maybe even the 2020 Tampa Bay Bucks, where this old veteran, something to prove, not run out of the building, but had to fly across the country and got kicked out of the building 10 minutes after getting there. It is one of those like damn near spite years that we're approaching here for Pittsburgh. As we wait here for Coach Tomlin to join us in a matter of moments, a lot of people singing his praises. I can't wait to experience that because the last couple years he's been getting talked to him relentlessly and then we get a chance to watch his hard knocks and it's like, I love that guy. I hope they get a chance this year to go on another run. Let's we're going camping here in Latrobe. Or I'm sorry, La Trobe, as the locals say. Let's go camping around the NFL, shall we? Let's go camping tripping. Let's start with the Green Bay Packers. Highlights from training camp are getting us going. Ty Schmidt, you lost your mind on draft night when they drafted Golden. Are you excited to watch him catch a deep ball here from Jordan? Love the training camp. Yeah, without a doubt. It looks like things are rolling like they should be. I mentioned this to you guys earlier. This is the first piece of content in general that I've seen from packers camp. So I'm pretty jacked up that it's a 60 yard touchdown. They need this guy to be an absolute force this year. Jordan Love stays healthy all year. It looks like he's finally got his. His number one guy. I'd love to see it. I love that they're talking shit to their fans who are asking for them to post videos of the first round draft pick. That hasn't happened in like 40 years or whatever. That's a Wide receiver thing. Social media admins have all the brains. They got it going on. Without a doubt. They're the Green Bay packers, actually. Yeah. Yeah, that's how these social media people operate. Not saying the Green Bay packers are doing that. No, I think Ed Policy runs the Twitter account count. Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure he does. Okay, so he was one that did the every other capital letter. Exactly. What do you mean you want to see our first round draft pick run faster than everybody, you dipshits. It's social media. You're not supposed to see anything. Not on my watch. Not on my watch. We're trying to keep this the. The best kept secret at training camp. Hey, thanks for posting social media degree Haver. We appreciate you doing that. Helped us out and helped out Green Bay Packer owner. Now let's go to a Green Bay packer record holder, A.J. hawk. Have you seen Marvin Harrison Jr. In Arizona just one day after another? Freak show catches. Rookie year wasn't fantastic by anybody's account, but now it feels like Kyler's gonna throw him the rock regardless. Catch radius. Insane contested catches is his thing. I think him and Kyler had to get on the same page with that notion going in through the offseason. Yeah, and Marvin's like the old school, quiet professional. He's not real flash. He doesn't say a whole lot, but if you saw, you know, notice what he put on. 15, 20 pounds of muscle like a couple other guys throughout the league. Yeah, the guy's an absolute stud. And the Carters are one of those teams that could possibly, I think, jump up and. And surprise a few teams if they can keep Kyler healthy. And obviously Marv has a big year. Kyler with great ball there, you know, not going to get talked about, but that is an incredible ball there. Obviously. Kyler remarkably gifted athletically, both on the ground and through the sky. Will this be the year where it all comes together? Will this be the year that it clocks? Shout out Justin Bieber. We're talking about him having the population of the United States. States of America basically follows him on Instagram. What a life he's been living. But is it clocking for that Arizona Cardinals team to make a run? AQ Shipley will be on a call. Moon Township. Great. Hopefully they're not shite for his sake. Now let's go to Indianapolis, Indiana. Anthony Richardson, a man who's drafted number four overall for the Indianapolis Colts, has had an underwhelming start to his career. But this training camp, throwing dots all over the place, he's looked much more accurate. He's looked much more confident. He's been putting in a lot of work. This is what he had to say after practice about how his mindset has changed this year versus years past. After last season, I felt like I needed to do more, you know, not only for the team, but for myself. You know, if I want to so called be great and I want to be in the hall of Fame one day, you know, I have to do more. You know, I have to go do the things that other people won't do. So I just been doing that, you know, just taking it day by day. Not necessarily trying to, you know, you know, change anything mentally or anything like that, but just taking a deeper dive and studying my playbook a little longer, you know, asking more questions, you know, going through my footwork, you know, walking through the plays by myself, you know, just stuff like that. Just trying to do more. Okay. I love to hear everything that he's saying right there. There is a group here from Monroeville, I believe went to Gateway High School behind us here. They started chanting that he's too tired. Okay? Because now I am from this area, okay? If you were to ask any of these people standing here, here, hey, the starting quarterback for your team on a third down into red zone against a division opponent in the middle of the regular season is going to tap out of the game because he was too tired, all these people would say, get him the out of our city. What are you talking about? You're too tired. You're a football player. And I had a similar reaction, okay? I had a similar reaction. And it's like, hey, why? You can't be saying. And even if you're at the mental point where you think you're comfortable enough, enough and confident enough to say that publicly, it's like you're way too content. I was very vocal. Now this year, what we have seen, he's slimmer, he's fitter, he's acknowledging how he needs to be different. He's taking the pre practice mental reps by himself. It feels like he has matured immensely after a very tough start to his career growth, maturity. He's doing and saying all the right things. And when guys show up to training camp or the off season workouts, they don't have to say much. You can look at him and come kind of tell what they've been doing in the offseason. You look at him, he looks great physically and we know what he can do on the ground, you know, with his physical traits. But to win in this league and to win the big winners league, you got to be able to play from the pocket and that if you run that highlight back again, that's like a simple throw but that's a whole shot cover too. Pittman gets up there, get up the sideline, you got to put that ball on him on the line. And he did. So I love what I'm seeing from five right now in this QB battle. Yeah, that throw is incredible. He's had a few. It feels like that have come to out during training camp where it's like the Week 1 against the Texans kind of shocker. It it. I agree with you guys but doesn't it kind of take away from the fact that the big thing going into the offseason was hey, he's going to work out with Josh Allen's guy and then while training camp starting you think that he did and then he says he didn't do that. He. He actually didn't. I don't care. No, I'm genuinely. He was going to do that laser treatment to get more accurate. If he has got more accurate without the laser treatment, I don't think we care. Okay. Okay. This is a results oriented business business. Now if his gets outrageous again, everybody's like hey, your mechanics and your footwork and everything is off. That's why you have the lowest completion percentage in the history of the NFL and you chose not to do something. I think then it becomes a conversation. But right now he's putting it on guys. And he looks like an actual passer. Yeah, he'll play in the preseason. Like that's a big thing. Like I'm saying, should he. He should get a good chunk of playing time in each all four games. Colts social media got their agenda and they're sticking to it. Yeah, I haven't seen Danny Dimes too. I think Danny Dimes is cool with it too. We're all cool with the competition. The only thing we worry about now with Anthony Richardson and I mean this is what I guess sports media does is he's in such good shape, is he gonna be able to withstand the hits now? You know he still is £240. I assume he's a monster. We'll see how that goes. Now let's go camping to the AFC North King, the team that is favored to win the AFC North. A team that is known for crab cakes and football. Let's go to the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar Jackson running wild all over. Baltimore Ravens trying to get Lamar Jackson obviously an MVP looking to win a Super bowl, looking faster than ever. They still got Nuke on their team as well. I think everybody has forgotten that front flips in training camp have Lamar Jackson's in mid season form. They are the second. They have the second best odds in the entire NFL to win their division. What the hell is that? J? What are you talking about? He was celebrating. College teammates, they're buddies. He's happy for him. So this does lead to a conversation. So with these training camp highlights, when Lamar Jackson's running wild, the Baltimore Ravens fans are going crazy. When Aaron Rodgers completes a deep ball to DK Metcalf here today for 65, 70 yards, place is gonna go crazy. Yes. That's the defense getting dunked on right there as a defender. DBut you know that going into training camp, that your own fans are gonna be pissed if you guys have a great day. Road game every day. It's a road game every day. Bring your own energy. You obviously coming out there, you want to whoop their ass, but the crowd's behind them. Look, they're always gonna cheer on the touchdown scores. And look Jair right there running down, celebrating. You know, if that guy was on my team, I'd probably accidentally do that too. But I. I love this. I love this. Obviously from Lamar. He had an unbelievable season last year. MVP caliber season, his best season so far. He's motivated to go get that big one. Obviously this team here has had a ton of success against him on the big games, but I'm excited to see what eight in that Ravens offense and that Ravens team. I've completely forgot about D Hop. Likely he got injured, but it's not as bad as we thought. Zay Flowers. I can't wait to see what they do this year. All right, let's stay in the AFC North. Let's move away from Baltimore. Let's not talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why would we talk about Cleveland? Hey, don't look now. Jerry Judy's in better shape than he's ever been. Talking about the Cincinnati Bengals. Trey Hendrickson has reported to camp. He missed seven days of camp. He was fined $50,000 per day, $350,000 in total fines. He is now back with the Cincinnati Bengals. AJ what does this say to you? This says to me that he is what, like you said, is he. Is he tucking his tail and walking back in saying, hey, I heard that's not the case. But I mean, I figured maybe Mike Brown's opinion, maybe Mike Brown promised him this time, said, hey, I gave you My word, if you come back, it shows goodwill. We'll give you what you want. Said that before. None of the ownership has said anything positive. I think this is potentially a new move, maybe an extension of an olive branch because Trey Anderson loves football. Ty. There's a lot of people saying, though, yeah, when I saw this, I said, man, did Trey Hendrickson really show those guys? He really showed the Bengals. Hey, guess what? I'll squeak. Scalarian. You know, you guys mess with me 16 to 17 more times, I'm going to tuck tail. I'm going to get out of here. You're not going to see me. And then when I realize nothing's going to change, I'm going to come right back and shake everybody's hand and say, look who's back. We don't know if there's anything happening behind the scenes. Seemingly not. But maybe this will change the entire future for them. Let's pivot away from the Cincinnati Bengals. Back to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ladies and gentlemen, a Super bowl champion, a future hall of Famer, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. What's up, coach? How you doing? I'm sweating my ass off. I appreciate you. Yeah, he gets it. Yeah, he gets it. Yeah. Go chicken. Could use this one if you want to coach. First of all, thank you so much for stopping by. How do you not love that? I know it's real. It's very real. When you were hired as a head coach 45 years ago, you look the exact same. Shout out. I guess cliches are real in certain things. Yeah. Yeah, I guess that is. That is a real thing. I evade aged, you know, like a grape. Over the last few years, you knew what Pittsburgh was. I think you knew what it was. But the way you have embraced this city. We see you at Penguins games. I think you're even stopping by Pirates games. I feel like you call yourself a yinzer and consider yourself a yinzer. What is it like to be a part of this every single year? And is it like a perspective putter about how great these fans are every training camp? I'll tell you this first. It never gets old. You know, I have the same level of excitement that I had in 07, probably even more so, to be quite honest with you. I love being a Pittsburgher, man. My kids grew up in Pittsburgh. They call Pittsburgh home. I'm proud to call it home. I drink the Kool Aid. Yeah, absolutely. And with that Kool Aid, you understand the city, you understand the expectations. I'm not going to say anything. You probably don't know, it got loud there for a little bit. And obviously you were asked by Kyle Brand about winning, having a winning record every single year. And you had a great line, something along the lines like these guys were in baby seats. I think whenever they were in car seats, whenever you were growing up, it did get a little bit loud. Do you hear that stuff? You block it out. How much does that affect your day to day life or how you go about your business? You know, I hear it, but I don't because, you know, I'm here to win. You know, I share the same sentiment, the same level of pissed offness. You know, that's just who I am. And so, like, I don't take it personally. It's motivation for me. I'm here to deliver for them. Omar Khan, vastly different than Colbert, seemingly from the outside looking in. What are your thoughts on it? Because Tone and I have chit chatted about how this is so abnormal. First of all, all you're not going to like that this is going to happen because it was probably a very difficult decision because you know the person personally. We just mentioned it. You firing a coordinator mid season never happened in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Okay. That was a big conversation for us in the offseason. Free agency never really a thing for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Making moves, bringing in obviously Aaron Rodgers, who you recruited. Sorry, texted for a couple months. How does it feel this way of doing things versus maybe what it had always been with the Pittsburgh Steelers? You know, I'm not resistant to change. I don't think you can do what I've done as long as I can do it. Being resistant to change. And so I try to be open to doing things differently, to taking a different approach. It's refreshing for me. I'm excited by it. Certainly made moves that we deem necessary in the effort to position ourselves to be what they need and want us to be. Yeah. Hell yeah. AJ Has a question for you, Coach. Coach Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, obviously here. You're back in, let's say for Jalen. I've heard you guys call him like a Swiss army knife. He can do anything. What is he going to bring to the defense? For me, as a fan of watching, I love physical corners and they obviously can play every position back there. But I love dudes that can be getting picks and are physical and not scared to tackle and they seem to thrive in that role. And I feel like he's going to be very physical here. There's no question, man, he brings A demeanor, man, that's contagious. His versatility, obviously, you guys will see today. But his attitude, his approach to businessman, his professionalism, him, like, this guy's as impressive in the classroom as he is on the grass, man. I've been blown away by his approach to the business. That's awesome. D bot has a question for you, Coach. Yeah, Coach. You've been here, obviously, a very, very long time. We've all been in locker rooms, and now we're in the media now. And sometimes you say, oh, maybe that coach is. And you. I've heard it now, maybe that the words are getting stale with the team. How do you keep it fresh? How do you evolve when you are the leader in the face of a franchise and standing in front of those guys for such a long time? Cam was here 15 years, TJ9. Like, how do you do that? That's a tough thing to do, you know, for me, I try not to focus on me, to be honest with you. My job is to be what they need me to be, and their needs are ever changing because of the makeup of the group changes, the places they are in their careers as individuals. And so for me, I probably avoid being stale, at least from my perception, just by simply focused on being what they need me to be and working to meet their needs. Please. Gotcha. Ty has a question for you, Coach. Coach Pat mentioned it a little bit earlier. What was that kind of recruiting process like with Rogers? We've had him on the show several times or, you know, for the last several years, and he always talked about how much respect he had for you, and kind of. We've seen the clips of you giving him that rise. Yeah, you guys winking at each other, calling the timeout when he was trying to maybe get you. But what was that recruiting process like? It was kind of a bromance, you know what I mean? You know, for me, man, I was just excited to get to know the guy on a personal level. And so that's how I viewed it, man. We had some cool and interesting conversations about football, about life, about where he is in his career, and what he was potentially looking for. You know, I slow roasted it, if you will, man. I didn't try to microwave it because I didn't feel like that would be effective anyway. And so I just enjoyed getting to know him over the course of those conversations. And I just felt like if we did it and did it consistently and lay a nice foundation for our relationship when we started working together. What are your expectations for him as a Human. Did you lay all that out as a player, as a guy in the locker room, do you have all those conversations and why was Aaron the guy that you wanted for this particular team? You know, just through our conversations, man, he expressed his desires and they, they are in alignment with mine. And so, so those come to Jesus conversations weren't even necessary, man. He's here and here in a mindset that's aligned with us. He's here and here to win a world championship for this group. And he wants to impart wisdom and share his experiences with young players, man, and give back to the game. And so that's just a beautiful place to be. And those guys are good guys to work with. We were on a plane earlier today, flying in high and high, just thinking about it all, you know, Aaron, when he went to the jets, we talked about this. Any legend that starts at a new place, a lot of brand new eyes watching you for the first time, your practice habits, how you do in practice, how you go about operating, how you communicate, you gotta, like, reprove yourself. Aaron doing that for a first ballot hall of Famer, I assume is something that has driven him in these practices. For you too, though, with Aaron, is there a similar thought, like, hey, this is Aaron's first time experiencing my shit as a head coach too, because there's rarefied air that you two are breathing, breathing that not a lot of people in the history of football breathe. I like, I like the responsibility of having to deliver for him, you know what I mean? Just the energy and the charge I get for preparing messaging and things of that nature. But not only him, but guys like Jalen Ramsey and other veteran guys, man. I'm sensitive to the delivering of the message, man, and making sure they understand how we go about our business, the things we value, and how they can be a part of it. Is there any shit he's done yet that make you go, oh, okay, yeah, that's the Aaron Rodgers that. That's the guy. Is there any of that? Hey, I like to know, look past this, man. You know, we've seen a couple of those just about every day, but, man, the way he interacts with the defensive leadership, man, the way he competes with them and challenges them, it's a breath of fresh air, man. We just feel like we're going to be positioned to be really good because of that iron on iron, that competitive spirit, the things that are happening day to day, man, and he's, he's a central part of that. On that note, Tone has a question for you. Yeah. Coach. With. With all due respect to everyone who has played quarterback since seven, they're a Steelers, so we love them forever. But does it feel different when you look across and you see 8 like it? I mean, Cavoli said this is the most crowded it's been in the last 15 years here. It felt like to him, but like, so it feels different to the fans. Does it feel different to you when you look over and you're like, okay, since Ben. That's Aaron Rodgers. You're damn right it does. It feels pretty good too. Yeah. But you know, just the possibilities, man. To have a guy like that man in your huddle, in your locker room, a part of your group. It certainly gives us all great confidence. Yeah. I'm trying to remember one of your hard every Hard knocks was awesome. Yeah. I want to let you know that I think we talked about it while it was happening, about all the good that you were giving away for free. Basically, we were hearing motivational speeches just being dropped, gems being dropped. People were write books with all of the onliners that you were doing. Are we coming up with those still every single day? Is there new coming out? Is there more Tomlin isms? Or is it all basically like a pool that you kind of pull from, if that makes sense. You know, I don't chase it. It just kind of happens. Of course. Yeah. There's one right there, by the way. That is bar after bar after bar. I wish I got a chance to play for you. You told me in one. Warmups. I'm gonna get you when you're old and cheap. Damn right I did. Did you. Did you have those conversations with Aaron, too, throughout his career? I wish I had. I wish maybe I'd have got him sooner. All right, have a great practice. We appreciate you. Congrats on all the success. These people love you, man. Thank you, guys. Ladies and gentlemen, cut. Mike Conlon. I appreciate you so much. Thank you, coach. Great to be with you guys. Good luck. Good luck, good luck this year. Congratulations. Thank you, coach. Thank you. Appreciate. Ladies and gentlemen, that's coach Mike Tomlin. And there's a man standing off camera that I don't know if he's ever done an interview before. I don't know if he gets any requests. Special teams coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Yenzer. Oh, my God. Tattoo on the outside of the shin. Go shady, dude. Good. Hope I. Hell yeah. How about this here? Hey, we got a local guy, big time. He comes back to Pittsburgh to do a live show for us. He come home for us. Us to do this show. Hell, yes, sir. That's your mic. That's you. They don't need a damn mic. I appreciate you doing that for me. That was not needed. How about this local guy comes back to coach special teams for the Pittsburgh Ste. For all of us, and he chews through 200 pieces of gum every single game. Danny Smith is here, ladies and gentlemen. All right, Danny, we have, like, two, three minutes. I know you love doing media, and this is something you really enjoyed. You had the. I don't know if it was the best unit in the NFL last year, but we looked up stats. You got a lot of number ones and a lot of top 10, a lot of top fives. Special teams is something that is respected here in Pittsburgh because it's a football town. How many years have you been here now? This will be 13, 13 year for you here as a Pittsburgh Steeler. How do you feel about this particular team? How's the energy? You know, I mean, it's an honor. I don't know if his mic's on. Did you turn it off? Give him that other one. Give him that other mic there. AJ Right next to you. Right next to you. Try that one. Jesus. Try that. There we go. Come on, A.J. there it is. Really, it's an honor and a privilege, man, to come back to your hometown and coaches, okay? And to clean up. We were number one, and that ain't me, man. That's the players that I coach, okay? They come out with rankings and that. I got good players, man. Man, this organization will supply you with people. You got to know what you're doing. You got to give them a direction, and these players will work their butt off if you know what you're doing. And really, it's a credit to our players. I got good players, man. I got good players that work their butts off. Those of you watch practice, you see it, and it's an honor and a privilege to be a part of it this year. Is there a different buzz with how much Omar Khan and the front office have gone all in with this particular team? Have you thought about that? And do you know, I get puzzled in the media when I watch some of this stuff. They say, like, what coach is on a hot seat? What about, man, I'm on a hot seat every day, okay? Like that? I'm on hot seat every day. This stuff changes so quickly. So I don't feel no heat, no pressure. I put the pressure on myself. I expect us to win, and I expect us to win it all every damn Year, and I don't change. AJ Has a question for you. Coach. Coach, what are you trying to. In training camp right now, today, first day of pads? What are you trying. What are you looking at? To see some guys maybe, that you haven't seen tested yet, you know, and you did it, you know, for a living. We got a. We got a movement, you know, who moves, who could cover in space, who has some agility. There's no real game planning at this time, so you don't really get to mentally check on them, but you get the physicality of it and the physical part of it with the change of direction, the hand placement, the foot work, you know, the pad level and things like that. So I'm consistent, constantly watching other drills, too, along with my own, to evaluate them. Yeah. Can you talk about how guys need to get a heads up that the way they're going to make it in the league is through special teams and your messaging to them for that? It's changed a lot, you know, over my years. But our head coach, heads up, you know, Mike T. Does a great job. Mike T. Is great with me supplying me time, supplying me players, okay? Then it's up to me to get it done. And that's as simple as I can put it. But a lot of guys, that's the only way they make it. I tell them all the time, I say, okay, I want you to be the starting linebacker. I want you to be starting running back. Damn, I want to be the head coach. But that ain't happening, okay? I ain't the head coach, and you ain't the start running back. So we got a pretty good job. Let's take care of it. That's what I tell. That's a great message. That's a great delivery. Hopefully they get the point. Go ahead. I was blessed to play with some great special teams coordinators. Scotty o' Brien in New England, big man in Indy. How have you. You've been doing a long time. Time. And Pat just mentioned you got to relate to the entire roster. But how do you get that juice? How do you bring that same juice every day, you know, and, you know, you. There's some great names right there, man. They're predecessors that helped pave the way for me. I mean, they really are. And. And I. And I respect them so much. And it just. It's a mindset, you know? It's a mindset. You better come out all the time. And, you know, if. If I supply the energy, man, they'll follow. If you let players Met around. You played with them players middle round. They will. Okay? How am I going to ask them to give energy if I don't? I just. That's the way I coach, you know, I really believe in that. What I tell them all the time. I want you to know what you're doing and why you're doing it. Then you're a better player. Yeah. Coach, why'd you have Antonio Brown in the fourth quarter? Return punts whenever you're up 21 points with six minutes left. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. Let me tell you a quick story. Please do. Pat always brings this up on the times that we got him. He don't ever bring up the time he got me. Yeah. Yeah. Thanksgiving, baby. Okay. Thanksgiving. Yeah. A lot of people. Yeah. You ruined my damn dinner. I go home from India, my damn stomach. I'm puking on the damn bus on the way home. I can't eat Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah, good. Okay. Cuz he runs a fake. Cuz he got big balls and will do things like that. And he's faking, faking fake. And throws a pass for a first time and it's on me. Me. So there's two sides to those stones. Okay. Has a question for you, coach. Yeah, Coach, before you show fakes to the team, do you have to run them by Coach Tomlin? And what's that meeting like? Okay. When you're running fakes. Hey, when you try to run a fake or do something running them by Coach Tomlin, what is that? Like I've always said this, like when I was young in the NFL, I have a good arm. You, you saw that? You experienced that. I'm also punt passing kick champion here for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Troy Palomar showing up over there feels like you guys had film it or practice you now with that being said, always had a good. Always had a good arm. Always had a good arm. When I was young in the NFL, I wanted to run more fakes. I'm like, hey, I'm watching these punters throw these balls and everybody's talking about how athletic they are. I could just. Let me spin one here. Let me do it. And Ray Rich Lesky, who was the head coach and Jim Caldwell was the head coach. Special teams is ra. He said, so let me get this straight. We're going to take Peyton Manning off the field. Okay. We're going to take Peyton Manning off the field. Field. We're going to take Reggie Wayne off of the field. We're going to take Dallas Clark off of the field. We're going to take Joseph Adai off of the field and then we're going to have you do the offense for us. That makes sense. And if it doesn't work, they're going to go the other way. Usually good teams don't do a lot of trickery. Now you do your own returns, fakes drawn up. What are those conversations like with Tomlin? And how aggressive do you think you guys are compared to the rest of the NFL? It just. Great point and pat. The way I do it is this, man, there are fakes and there are trick plays. And the way that I define that is this. A fake is something that we see that we want to take advantage of. Okay? We saw something on tape. They're weak over here. They don't cover this or they don't like we were going to do against you for Troy. Paul Muller ruined it all when I was going to score. But I knew. I knew because. So we covered that stuff and we didn't let it get away with it. Now trick play is I come out with some crazy formation or something and I'm trying to trick you and sometimes the trick's on me. Yeah, okay. For real. And that's what it is. If I don't know where you're going to align and things like that. It's a trick play. And I believe in fakes. I don't believe in trick plays. Got it? Okay. So with that in mind, we cover that stuff, okay? And we'll challenge each other on that. I'm talking about players, coaches, everything. If the players are comfortable and confident in running. It takes a situation to get it. We'll go in the game with all the of fakes, okay? That don't mean we're running one every week. This ain't a trick of dick and lick. You don't win like that, okay? You gotta beat him, you know, you gotta beat your opponent. Okay? We gotta do field position, we got a block kick, we gotta return balls. We got to do those things to win, okay? But every now and then, like a Peyton Manning and the names that he's mentioning, we try to steal the possession, sir, you know, it's like a turnover. You can't give Peyton Manning the ball all the damn time. You can't give Joe Burrows all his reps. You can't give those guys all the reps. You try to steal a possession, possession, it's a turnover. So we'll run something like that, all right? Immediately upon hearing Joe Burrow's name, they send him their best wishes luck. Joe, right? I'm going through a lot out there. Last thing I would like you to hit upon. And I assume if you didn't, they would talk about you. Can you tell me about Boz Johnson and Kuntz, your kicker, punter, long snapper. You guys got dog. You got dogs across the board. That is a comforting feeling, I assume, for the. We're good there. I mean, we really are. And boss is special. Nothing is too big for him. He wants the big kick. He gets pissed off when we don't do the 56, 57 in that range. So I'll piss him off in practice. I'll put the ball at the 35, which would be a 53 yard field goal, and I'll call for the punt team. And he calls me every name in the book, okay? And I always say, hey, just heads up here. Watch. Watch balls. Watch his balls. And he ain't paying attention. He's watching, walking. And I say, all right, ball's on the 35. It's fourth and three. Let's go, let's go. Punt, punt, punt. What do you mean? And he goes crazy. So that's good to see. So he got, you know, he's good player and he'll be good. We got a punt battle. We got a punt battle. We got a punt battle. Cam is a great punter, okay? Cam has got credentials. Cordless come in last year and did a great job. We got a battle in camp, man. We really do. They are great players. They are great guys. They are great teammates. They are great workers. They're two good players, man. They're two NFL punters. And I'm blessed to have them both. Hell, yeah. And at long snapping, you know, Christian is as tough as it gets. Okay? Well, he's a duquette. We got other people in there. We're going to have competition in there and things like that. But Christian don't miss snaps. Christian don't miss games. And you know how that is. You know, when you got the continuity, you should be better. We got continuity. We will. With the Venmo debit card, you can Venmo everything. Your favorite band's merch. You can Venmo this or their next show. You can Venmo that. Visit Venmo me debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank and a pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated, the card may be used everywhere. MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply. After zoomies at the dog park, it's time for drive up At Target, in goes a big bag of kibble and one squeaky chicken toy for the good boy. Drive up. That's ready when you are. Only in the Target app, just tap Target Football. It's happening in a big way here in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about an hour east of Acrisure Stadium. The artist formerly known as Hines Field. I will say earlier, before the show, I went on to my maps to see exactly how far we were from the stadium downtown. I put Hines Field in there. It did not show up. End of an era. Now that's, that's, that's Timmy Jobs, Timmy Apple doing that. So I went over to Google, you know, and maybe it's just my app. Acrisure is the only thing showing up. Hate to say down at the shore, hate to say, hour and eight minutes from the. From where we are right now. And in this batch of hills here. And this is the most western Pennsylvania thing of all time. Stages built on the side of a hill. All the guardrails are like this. Yeah, you got people kind of crouched down here. There is a drop off of a cliff on the other side of that over there. People lined up on a hill here. And at the bottom of this hill are two fields. Field one and field two where the Pittsburgh Steelers have worked their asses off since 1966. Wow. Father Paul, the CEO priest of this place, came in and chit chatted about this entire unit or this college and everything that's happened here. They're thankful to be the home of the Steelers. They're the right home of the Steelers. And this is one of the things that is just synonymous with the NFL training camp at St. Vincent College. Let's go to the toxic table at ty Schmidt at BostonConner. Connor, they've been chanting things from 2017 at you, which I appreciate, but football people respect football people, am I right? Yeah, I appreciate it as well. I mean, the rules are rules. Some Steelers fans, you know, get it, some don't. It seems they're. It's kind of a mixed bag out there today, which, which has been nice, but it's a pleasure being down here at the Trove, as they call it. It's hot as hell. I don't know if. I don't know if it's translating through the television. Probably. Probably one of the hotter, hotter programs we've ever had, but it is awesome. There's nothing like this, you know, like taking the program on the road. I forget what the hashtag was. I wish I remember what it was from the home run Derby. But it's a. Doing these live shows with you guys is so much fun and it's just great seeing football on the field. You called it the truck trobe, I believe for Latrobe. I called it down there at the Troll. Okay, I got that. We should say day trove, I think because the way they say is lay true. But remember the showdown in Morgantown? Remember it got so hot that it went off air? Yeah, the generators blew up. We were a little worried today as the heat was rising in what Kaboli said about this particular heat that we're gonna have a similar issue. But this is exactly one Tomlin wants is exactly what Congress once and if we know the cut of the jib of this particular team, this is exactly what they want. Let's get it hardened out here. You guys kind of sound like Euros, like Europeans complaining about the heat. You watch the first half in the. In the locker room because it's too hot. Yeah, it's too hot. What is this? That's not. A guy can't be cold. A guy can't be hot. What the 30 degree. Just be a guy. Just be a hot. AJ's got black pants on, black shirt. He's hot as. That's AJ Hawk, nine year NFL vet who's also a Broad county hall of Famer, which is south Florida, which is always 120 degrees. Darius Butler and one half of the Hammer and that's feel pretty cool. Cowboys AP Tone I think it's a beautiful day out here in Latrobe. Tone. It is awesome. I mean you guys are talking about hot, cold. It's football weather. Is football weather. Whether it's 15 or 95, we all know these fans are going to show up. We all know Steelers are going to go for the Sevens. Lombardi these like looking out into these like we grew up, most of us grew up around, you know, these parts or whatever. You can just kind of smell it in the air. Like this time of year you kind of smell the football in there. You. I can only imagine what the locker room smells like and brings back all those memories. But being here, coming here as a kid and into high school, like this is the best. This is awesome. I agree. It's been a nice trip down nostalgia lane for us. We can't wait to watch practice. Immediately after this show ends, there'll be practice out on this field. We will head down there and watch the the boys do their thing and we'll try to hold back AJ throw physicality for AJ Hawk. Let's Talk about some NFL news. Big news broken on our show by Adam Schefter is that Christian Wilkins playfully kissed the teammate on the forehead. Sure. Then I said, they went to HNR and they get released. Now $35.2 million in guarantees with the handling of a surgery or non surgery is in limbo. And this story is obviously blown up because it's such an abnormal type headline. What we were told was a kiss on the forehead. Now you got every other media person that's been stooping around with it going, that ain't what all happened. There was more that took place. Weird scene over there in Vegas, but this is maybe the most ridiculous training camp story that I've heard in some time. Yeah, we've had some ridiculous ones over the years, if you think back. But it can't just be one thing, right? Like there's usually there's things leading up to situations like this. It could. If it's one thing, then this one thing has to be more than a kiss on the forehead or a kiss on the top of the. What are you saying? To get someone. I'm saying there had to be something. We like say allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. But I'm not. I mean, I'm not. I'm not saying anything even about Christian. But like, it's tough there. One thing is the final death blow on someone. Okay, you're gone. See you. We already pay, you know, $35 million or whatever. Could be the cherry on top. Cherry on top is what I'm saying. Literally, big time player like that. And you. We always talk about the sanctity of the locker room, and that's our locker room. Like coaches aren't even really allowed in there. So with something like whenever you bringing up hr, I don't think I can remember any instance in my career. I brought up H and R though, so. So a lot of people started running. That was in the report though, right? No, Yeah, I don't think it was hr I think what coach or GM probably. Okay. Okay. Which is basically I felt hr I thought I saw. I did Schefter's podcast with him yesterday, and I believe he said that whoever came forward did go to HR Never even. Oh. So when I said H, I didn't. Yeah, I was. I was kind of like, yeah, tongue in cheek. But I believe that is actually what happened. I was doing kiss on cheek there. Like the playfully. You go to H and R for these types of things in the NFL. I didn't even know that was possible. Exactly. So there's so Many things a part of the story that are wild. We'll continue to monitor it because we are journalists. Let's chit chat a little bit about other stories happening around the NFL. We briefly mentioned it before Danny Smith and Coach Tomlin came on. Trey Hendrickson is back with the Cincinnati Bengals. He really stuck it to us. That's a joke. That's embarrassing. Okay. And I get it. It's great for the Bengals. He's there. All that, that stuff. He folded like a flip flop. All right. And. And I just have to say, too, he came on the program during the Super Bowl. Hey, the grom. If you will. Hey, I really, really don't want to do this. I really don't want to do this. Supposed to be Trey. And then. And then sounds just like if you didn't, you know, hopefully he gets a response. He doesn't because the Bengals front office there. Mr. Brown promised him something. He promised him. We're gonna get. Treating him like a bag of. Actually, no. Mr. Brown said, yeah, I mean, at some point you got to be, you know, at least a little grateful. I think he called him Trey Henderson as well. Like watching what Mike Brown said, watching what has happened since his first initial interview in February gives him no reason to show up today. Absolutely not. If anything, it should kind of harden his stance. But again, Trey, Trey. We don't know how it's going to work out. No, we do. I like transit would be on the Patriots. I. I think everybody up here. He's unbelievable. And that's why it's one of those things where. Okay, so Trey Hendrickson is kind of acting like a wuss and it sucks to say, kind of being a little bit of a no business. He's trying to do business. He said, all right, I'm gonna do what others have done in the past. I'm gonna leave. Okay. I'm getting find $350,000. I assume that'll get taken care of on the next contract. I think the way he is doing interviewing it, we would hope is like, hey, let's get back to this. Let's try to sort this out. Because he's probably missing ball. If I had to guess. That's definitely part of the business. But I understand that holding out a part of it is. You're going to have to miss ball. Of course you miss ball. Yeah. That's what you do. That's kind of the way it goes. I think there is also a chance, and I said this from the start, he may be just resetting the squeaks Galore scale. All right, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, 16 to 17. More opportunities for them to rip on him and then, hey, Robert's gonna meet the road. Yeah. He's a coward. He's a man of the cloth, Grimes. Yes, exactly. That's why I'm saying this. But I also have to acknowledge the facts. Term but fair. He's acting like a coward. No, he might get a deal done. We shall see. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a western Pennsylvania legend, I'll say it. The greatest official in the history of officiating, basketball, football, you name it. Paisano. Gene Stereotor. Good to see you. Good to see you. Seeing you. I want to be a ref. You hear them? They're talking about me, brother. Yeah, yeah. That's for you, Gino. Hey, you got a mic Right over there. Thank you very much. Congratulations on. They just. CBS just announced all the crews. You're right down there, lower left corner rules. Analyst Jean Starator back for cbs. I love it, Patty. I love it. I love it. We're sight for another year. But listen, before we start, if I may, you know in Pittsburgh, we bear gifts. Yes, you do. Yes, we. For everybody here, this is special, so if we can pay attention. It's like having that announcement, you know, it's really important. Okay, so we got everyone's attention. We're great gift givers here in Pittsburgh. We're also legendary lovers of the game. That's right. And we know you are as well as a Western Pennsylvania person. This comes from the athletic director at St. Vincent College, D.P. harris. That was gifted to him that he would like to pass along as a gift to you and the guys. Holy. That is a Pittsburgh Steelers signed football by the one, the only, Mean Joe Green. That's awesome. Wow. DP Harris right there, Patty, Right there. Dp. That's a classic dp. That is sick. Yeah, this will make the desk. I. I appreciate that. Dp. Great, great. Delivery through Paisano, who we love. Okay, Gino, thank you for that. You're the man. I've always been a massive fan of yours. Before I got to the league, while I was in the league, now that I'm retired. You're the greatest ever. You. I think there's a couple you Ed. That's about it. There's a few others that are your friends, I assume, but not of them really popped up in my mind. And I think it's because you're such a skilled communicator, but I think also because of how much you love the Game. How much do you think being a western Pennsylvania guy and also paisano, I mean, you just said, we love football, we love giving gifts. All look really good. How much do you think being from this area has helped with you becoming the football guy for all of us? You are the authority. Something happens in a game. What happened here? Let's go to Gene Stair. Gene, what is going on? You are the voice of football for a lot of people. How much do you think growing up in this area is a part of that? Oh, you know what? I think it's a tremendous part of it. I mean, I was, I was a sophomore in high school in 1978. 79. Right. Look at that. Italians might have the same. And just really what, you know what it is? First and foremost, it's this amazing facility and we're in the hills of Pennsylvania. It's the community, it's blue collar people that look you in the eye. It's blue collar football. It's checking in with your fan to put in the dorm window. So it's kind of everything. And yeah, I think that's the foundation for it. And then officiating was in my blood. My late father was a ref with 30 plus years of both major college football and basketball. So all of that combined and I think you said it right, Pat. It's, it's the love of this whole game and what it means to players, coaches, and just people. Right? It's, it's, it is, it's, it's everything. Football is the greatest. Obviously, you're an incredible basketball official as well. This has been spectacular as people are filling in for practice to watch. Are you working these practices? What are you doing? Because I know back in the day, race refs used to get their reps in at training camp, then there would be a meeting afterwards. You led one that I watch. All right, guys, this year we got this going. What is the messaging from officials to players this year? Actually, my role today is to come down here to see you and the fellas and to just say what's happening. Welcome home to those that are on the road and, and really kind of get the feeling that the NFL is definitely here. It's back again again, another year. A lot of new stuff in an officiating window. There's a few new nuances that I know you guys have gone over a little bit. No, no. We would like you to talk about. Yeah, I mean, I think the one that affects that. I know you could talk to a bunch is the touchback being at the 35. You know, a lot of people think 30 to 35 is not a big difference. That five yards is huge. It means a ton. If you get two first downs or even one and then you're even punting field position, you know that. So I think that's a big one. They also condense those formations a little tighter. So space and speed are even more limited a little bit with the kickoff play. And I think what you're going to see now is the talented kickers like you were, Pat. Thank you. You know, they're going to put that thing between the five and the one. So we want to increase the returns. We want that activity to happen. So I think it's a. It's a. It's a big step for that reason. And I think it ran pretty well last year. 1600 more players plays is what they were pitching last year whenever they made this. But that was when it was a 35 yard touchback. Whenever they softened it, moved it to 30. I thought that was a bad idea. I was literally loud. And you talk about that 5 yards being a vast difference. If you look at the percentages of scoring when you're at the 35 versus when you're at the 30 versus when you're at the 25. Vast difference. That's why I think the 35 was the right play all along. Happy they're there. That does look explosive. How about the Hawkeye technology? Straight in my heart a little bit. Okay. I mean, I can't pull the penalty card out now. No, I did want to pitch that. Could we just get an animated, you know, come out maybe on a close one. Right. And then. And then put it down. But listen, it's going to make the game more efficient. Measurements take almost two minutes of downtime. So we want to move through that rather quick, get back to the snaps. So I'm digging it. It's. You know, we're embracing technology. Let's get this done. I do like the chain crew though, man. Special bond that we had as refs with that crew. We can't take it out last year. We got to keep them there. You never know when maybe technology doesn't work. So we want to keep. In the event that we have a breakdown and western Pennsylvania here, we don't want to be taking jobs from anybody, taking any chain crew, especially AI. Yeah. We don't need to be. We don't need these robots taking any jobs out here in western Pennsylvania. Here is obviously the index card moment. What a moment in the history of this sport, I guess. You could say, this will never happen again. Just like I did a couple of surprise onside kicks. This will never happen again either. So we'll just go down as the greatest of all time. Now, on that note, AJ has a question for you. So as the white hat, when you have the mic and you're announcing to the world in the stadium and all the millions watching on tv, you're probably the best to ever do it. Was that something you actually, actually had to work on in practice? Is that. Do they teach you when you're coming up, when they're training, do they teach you, hey, if you're the guy, you need to enunciate. You need to put on a good message and be crisp and clear. What we're doing. Is that part of referee school or whatever they do? Yeah, I mean, it really is. And I leaned on the legends that were before me. Aj, I was very fortunate that Jerry, Mark Bright, who was really like the first true, I think Tunny, Mark Wright, Cash, and they were the first, like, referees that had to speak on the mic. Right? So that really, it's a daunting task for some people to think of, like, hey, hey, here we go. One shot on me. I got to explain this, right? Let's face it, man, that's. That's live television. That's right on your waist. You get one take. Oh, yeah. So there's a lot of little news. Only 50 million people watching you deliver a monologue that's bigger than any late night show host, that's bigger than anybody else that has a one shot on national television. And you're speaking for the game like you are representing the game. You stutter, whole league looks like an. You get it wrong. The game looks broken. Like for new fans, like, that's a lot of pressure. And some of them do melt in the moment. It feels like. I feel like that should be something that is taken into. We need a little moxie from there. I think the other thing, too, quite honestly. And we talk. We all talk, right? I mean, officials all talk. When we retire, we want to give back. We want to continue to pass the message. There's a bridging in the NFL. NFL. That's different with other sports, with the referee announcement. You are that bridge a little bit between the production of the game, the talent. Yes. So there's a. There's enough information. And quite frankly, I talk a little bit too much. Everyone. No, no, no, I think it's good. Maybe it was a little too much. So I think there was that good Balance where officials do become part of the production of that show for that moment. Right. So own that space, control it, but try to keep your individual personality involved as well. And it's not an easy subset. You guys know what it's like, right? Well, what you do is not easy as you're. And we know, we've seen other people try and not do. What's kind of hard is after you kind of missed a 50. 50 play and you guys were a lot closer than you feel like you are now. To me. Yeah. And then you had to kind of click and become one with the living room. You know, that wasn't always easy to do right in that space. But yeah, the interactions between players who are pissed at you and then. Excuse me, I gotta talk. 50 million people. Actually, this guy right here, we all saw it. I mean, it's a moment. You need to have confidence. And if you don't have confidence, I. I think the game isn't taken as serious. Like, I legitimately think that white cap speaking to the audience is one of the most important parts of the game. It can ruin the entire league. How do you feel about now? Connor has a question. Yeah, I mean, my doll. It feels like right now, the refs. There's a new ref accountability initiative, kind of. And I think it was last year, maybe there were two refs left let go. I think Roger Goodell kind of talked about it a little bit at the NFL draft when he came on the Grum. But how do you feel about it when it comes to people wanting referees to do a press conference or do something? I know they released the sheet of paper and explained to stuff like. But sometimes that kind of gets missed. What do you think about kind of that future? You know, I mean, the first point of it, I would tell you from the audience, the accountability portion of it, it may not be like public consumption, that type of knowledge. The accountability level to the officials in the NFL is of such a high level and the scrutiny is so detailed for the right reasons that they're held accountable to a place that you really could not imagine unless you live the a week of an NFL ref and watched how that process took place. So it's really there. And like most things refs do, it's not for public consumption. I know the world wants to see officials stand up and take questions from a podium. Right. And get. And get through that place. To me, listen, there's a window of what we. What officials do in every sport that, look, if we called this game by the legend of the Law. But what you said, look, in the book it says this, it's a foul. You could have 10 questions in the last three minutes of every game and by the book say those are fouls. Right? I know, but the art of what we did was it was that 3 to 5% of that gray that understood the second part of it. Yeah, he did get held a little. They also ran the football nine yards away from him on the other side. I would have got there. You always have to take the individual into the. Do it as well. Milk a piece of that, you know what I mean? Would have got there. That's, that's knowing the game though. That's just the way that I go. Jean, Jean, what you're talking about is knowing the game though. Well, that's part of this whole process, Patty. And really the nice part about football, as opposed to my hoop life in hoops, you see a play, you, you just have a fraction. You either blow the whistle or pass football. You could digest for two seconds, right? Like watch the thing evolve because flags happen in plays finish and hoops, you blew the whistle and it was over. You needed to like step up. Right. But a lot of those, yeah, I think it is part of understanding the game and quite frankly, that's the majority of the training that's done. With new officials moving to this level, it's a little different. Don't we just need a pipeline of ex players just to do full time, go to a university, go to academy, work around the corner knowledge, get a pool, make them full time. Not saying we need to eliminate all full time reps, but don't we think ex players would be great refs? I, I've always thought that. Do you think they would understand the game? I mean. Yes. So there's, there's that, there's that portion of that. And I think most people that are into officiating in some capacity were part of organized sports to some level. But then there's this whole other piece, Pat, and that's managing these, these individuals in this environment. Environment. Understanding when that game needs to kind of pick up a little bit. Right. Like let's keep the. Look, you'll go to training camp, you'll be here today, that horn goes off and we're playing things within seconds all day. You guys are programmed that way. When you were practicing officials, a big part of what they do is when that play ends, get that football back in there, get it down and get out of the way and let them get into that rhythm of efficiency. That's how They've been programmed, if they. We are lax as an officiating group in being not efficient. There. Things get choppy, right? We have another chop, you know what I mean? We get down on ourselves. And also, if there's a flag, a holding, we don't need four straight penalties, you know, unless it's a full giveaway. The feel that you're talking about, it seems. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Feels like the officiating need feel. I think the only way you get that is from reps, which I think a couple years ago a lot of those young reps were ass. Last year it wasn't a lot of hey, these refs sucks conversations by us on Monday. I think that's good, right? Don't you think? Patience, patience, patience. I don't got it. I lost because you guys can't call a goddamn. I remember two of them in prime time. Remember team winner James Mahomes and his face ripped off? Yeah. You guys can't make a call. I lose a bet. I hate the refs, but there's about 100 different moments where the refs make the right call and we don't give them any credit. So I think last year was a good officiating year. Yes, I agree. Knock on wood. Knock on wood. Knock on. They never want to be the conversation, but talking about understanding the game. I know as players and even playing for Belichick, we would kind of go over the referees and what calls they call, what do they stay away from? He would always say, do business as business is being done. Coming into the game. When it's certain, maybe like a Raven Steelers game, do you come in and say, hey, we're going to kind of let it. Let. Let the players kind of dictate the outcome of this game and kind of stay out of it. Fourth quarter overtimes, fourth downs. I feel like. Is that a conversation with rest before games, before quarters? I gotta be honest with you. I know how you guys scouted us and it was right for that. You knew who was coming in. You knew what percentage of holds we called. You knew where we were because that's who you are. That's why you lived in that space. We did the same thing. Did it every game. First it was a team, team matchup, then it was individual matchups, and then it was talking to each official or creating a playlist from previous games to show what this matchup is going to bring to you as official. That's on a lot of scrimmage. Who has a number two receiver in the slot plus a left Tackle today. Like this is how your matchup is. It's his rookie left tackle and it's TJ Watt on the edge, right? So make sure that rookie left tackle's up on the line of scrimmage. Don't let him creep off, but make sure TJ doesn't have his hands creeping in the neutral zone either. We're going to keep it cleaner. That was my matchup. So yes, you constantly are building matchups that way in preparation for what's going to happen the next day. Because just like you guys when you focus in practice and you went to those 10 bullet points that we got to do to win when they started happening on Sunday, the level of calmness and confidence that we prepared properly for this game, that was taking place in real time and we were telling each other that on the sideline the same thing was happening with me and my crew, right? We'd go over that two or three plays and now that play happened on Sunday at 2:15. First thing I was doing was pressing my button, letting that crew know. We just talked about that at 3 o' clock yesterday in a pregame. Remember elevation of that. And then I think I always went to the alpha. What I felt was the alpha on each side of the ball. Many times it was the quarterback because he dictated the tempo for me as a referee. But I wanted to find the alpha on the defensive side to let him no play on the edge. That's what made you great. But trust me that if I think you've gone over that edge and it's not good for the game, that if I just can check you back down one click to get back on the edge, then we all live in that space. When that trust occurred between player, referee, then manage the game and let the players do what they do. It's why they played it and steal the Ravens. Not because they're from here. Toughest regular season matchups. Oh yeah, kind of for me and again not because I'm here. But I was part of that Monday night game with Hans and Ed Reed and Rashad Mendenhall fractured his shoulder on the second play and we went into overtime and I flipped a coin and it didn't flip over and it hit the ground and I left my ref hat on the bed the day before at my home and Coach Thomas actually knew I left my rap hat on the on the bed. He wanted to let me know that as we went into overtime like I might not have been always there. So yeah, there was just in that space and living in that environment Is. Is quite frankly, what. What we all love. It's why you still talk about this the way we do and the passion. Because that's kind of what we were all addicted to, right? Living in that high altitude of space and being and so aware of everything around you that only that space maybe can put you in is kind of what I know. That. That's why I did what I did. All right, Gino, last question here from fellow paisan AP Tone. Yeah, Gene really saved the best for last. Big, big Z. Now wait a minute. Come on, I gotta go there pinky ring for a while. Listen, the sauce is thicker than the blood today. I know Coach Tomlin is bringing. I know Tom is bringing refs out here today. Yeah, what position group when you're out here in training camp, talks to you guys the most? Punter. You mean like out on the field? What position? Not during a game. No, no, no. Like the position. Like a player position today. Like, is it dbs, the DV start talking before it even starts, right? They're talking while they're stretching. So, yeah, the DBs coach here, stay away from Danny Smith. He's my main man. I called a penalty my rookie year. Real quick in Washington when they were called a different name. I announced on a punt that the hold was on 44 against Washington, right? I was a rookie referee. Second game, Danny Smith starts running down the sideline screaming, who's the foul on rookie? Because they know. I said, I told you, it's 44. He goes, really? I said, yeah. He goes, you know who 44 is here? I'm like, who held? He said, no, look at the ring of honor. It's John Riggins. You just called a penalty on John R. Because I had the number wrong, you know, But Danny, one of the best. And those interactions are what you miss. Yeah, well, we all miss you on the field. We're thankful you're on TV for yet another year. Thank you for the gift from the dp. Dp. The dp. Thank you for always being so kind to us. You're the man. You're a legend. You're actual goat, ladies and gentlemen. Appreciate you, Gino. Hey, I appreciate you, man. Thank you. Thank you, Gino. All right, Appreciate it. Good luck this year. Great to see you. All right, Madon, I got you good looking house. You guys playing botchy. It's good looking hats, a lot of love you G. Text coming from people around Pittsburgh. Gino's living legend now. Speaking of living legend, there's a man who is creating his own Path for an organization that is riddled with tradition and history. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who is simply known as the con artist, the general manager for the Pittsburgh Stern. What's up, man? What's up? How you doing? Omar? How you doing? How you doing? Good to see you. Appreciate you, man. Hell, yeah. You got that handheld right next to you there, Mr. Khan. Great congrats on a hell of an offseason in training camp. Sorry. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, so thanks for having me on. No, thank you for joining us. Thank you for the hospitality. Thank you for everything. Okay. How about these fans, man? They're the best, man. Oh, yeah. Everywhere. The best there is. It's been amazing. I was here as a child. I think Tone was here as a kid and as a high schooler. It's basically the pilgrimage that every Yinzer feels like they have to make since 1966. The place has been here since the beginning of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have operated in one particular way. And I know you've heard a lot of this, I assume, because we've chatted about it a lot. A lot of Steelers fans have completely different offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Was that the mindset going into the offseason? Was it like, hey, we're going to bring in a top tier free agent in DK Metcalf and pay him $30 million. We're going to make a trade for Jalen Ramsey and John Oo Smith. We're going to bring in four time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Darius Slay is going to come in. You're hunting stars in paying guys. Very abnormal for you mindset going into the offseason or how did we kind of get here, you think? Yeah, I think. I think going. Going into the offseason, you know, we reflected on how things ended last year and that wasn't good enough. And some things had to be different. And, you know, every one of those things was a case by case situation. They love you, buddy. They absolutely love you. They were all. They were all case by case. We just. We just got to be better, you know? And I don't necessarily want to say we tried something new, but. Because every one of those situations was unique. But we just. We just got to be better. You know, the way last year ended up left a bad taste in our mouth and you know, that's unacceptable. And Yinzer's fans are all behind you. These moves that you've made. I haven't even heard any old miserable Yinzer say that they hate that you're spending money in the way that you're spending and everything like that. Get the TJ Watt deal done as well. I mean, love tj, man. So much stuff that was, was that always going to happen? Because the way the insiders talked about it whenever they would come on our show, they're like, TJ and the Steelers are going to get a deal done. We all know that. And then he holds out of the man inventory minicamp in your eyes. Always going to get done. It was just a matter of when it was, you know, we, we felt confident. It was always a goal of ours. You know, TJ's one of those guys. I mean, how awesome is TJ, man? He's just awesome. Awesome on the field, off the field. And he's one of those guys that, you know he's going to be a first, first a first ballot hall of Famer. And you know what the reality is? He should be a one helmet hall of Famer. And to have him to get the deal done and you know, hopefully that's not the last deal we do with him. We think he's got, got a lot of football left, but that was important to us and I'm glad we got it done. Especially before camp. Was there anxiety though? Had to be. You know, it's these things always take a little longer than you hope. I was always confident we'd get it done. It's just a process, but you know, we got it done. That's all that matters. You know, he's, he's a Steeler. He was happy too. We saw him earlier and myself, Cam D Butt and AJ and the boys all talked about how much money he has now. So just know that we let him know that he got a great deal, but he's earned it, obviously through it all. Well deserved. Last question for me before the boys have some. So the rumors now out on the Internet are that you guys are maybe one of the favorites for Terry McLaren. Not going to ask you about that because that would be a stupid thing for you to answer on our show. But the fact that your team is being mentioned to be a part of the teams that could get him means that people have looked at your salary cap and think that you could get Terry McCarthy Corin to become a Pittsburgh Steeler. Now, whether or not he is going to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or any other team, how have you been able to navigate the salary cap gymnastics to pay everybody and still have room if you were to sign another big time player and you have 12 picks in next year's, draft that is being held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They call you the con artist. And the business that you've been able to do here is absolutely. Jesus. Pine con. Thank you for the pine cone. We'll smoke this later. The, the entire thought of how have you been able to navigate it and what are you focusing on when you're getting these deals done? 30 million to DK, 41 million to TJ. Jalen Ramsey's here on Monday. Patrick Queen just got paid, let alone Cam and everybody else that you have that's worth money. What are you focusing on while you're doing this? And you think you're not getting enough credit for the salary cap gymnastics that you're doing that others have done in the past? Yeah, well, with respect to the credit, you know, until we win a Super Bowl, I don't really deserve any credit. But the reality is we, you know, our goal is to win a Super bowl this year and every move we make is reflective of that. And, you know, we understand we can't sacrifice the future. But, you know, we won a Super bowl this year and the moves that we made and how we structured these contracts, it's with, with that goal in mind. Are you done? I mean, you never say you're done, but you know, I really like the group that we have here year and you know, we've, we've done a lot this off season and you know, we'll, we'll see if there's ever an opportunity to improve the team. You know, we'll, we'll think about it and talk about it, but, you know, we feel good about the team. Pat. Yeah, but your phone works here, you're saying? Phone does work here though. Always. It works in La Trobe. AJ Has a question for you. What's it like when you first introduce the idea of say like all that you got, you got, you sign these big time players, say DK Metcalf. When you first float that idea to Coach Tomlin, how do those, how does that initially you know, come about and then like the process of that. I would imagine he's a pretty fun guy to go through a process like that, trying to go after these big time stars. Coach T. And he's, he's awesome. Him and I work great together. And you know, the, the, I don't remember if we heard about or we inquired how exactly it came about, but we, you know, we like every big decision. You know, Coach and I'll get together with our owner, Art Rooney, and we'll talk about it and see if it makes sense. And that was one of those where, you know, it worked out and, you know, we watched DK in action and, you know, to have the opportunity to have an impact player like that, it just made perfect sense for us. Whenever Mike Tomlin is recruiting Aaron Rodgers via text, are you telling them, hey, let's slip in there like, hey, we want to build a team too with the deals? Or was money something that was kind of figured out early in the entire process of potentially getting Aaron Rodgers? You know, with respect to. I don't really want to get into the contract too much, Pat, but one thing I will say with Aaron is we had great communication contrary to wasn't reported out there. You know, I don't know everything but him. He communicated great with us, and we communicated great with him, and we were very upfront as to what our goals were and, you know, he was upfront about his and, you know, it just worked out. I'm glad he did. He's. He's been awesome. Just getting to know him has been great. $11 million in starting quarterback contracts the last two years. No big deal. That's con artist football. Baby Tone Diggs has a question for you. Can you. Can you kind of walk us through the Jalen and then the John. Ooh. And then Minka going to Miami? Because, like, that whole. That came out kind of came out of nowhere. There was John who rumors a couple weeks, months before that, and, you know, kind of people just kind of. And then they went away. And then out of nowhere, it was, hey, Jalen. And then, oh, Minka's going there too, and John who's coming. Like, it was weird how it all came out. How did that all come together? Sure. You know, there was word out there about John who being available. This is before the draft. And we. We inquired about it and, you know, the conversation just sort of continued. And it was a few weeks process and a couple months, I guess, and it just kind of came together and we just felt it made sense for us. You have a. To get two Pro bowl players, two impact, one on offense, one on defense events, and it just made sense for us. So much money spent this off season, a lot more than you probably could have predicted at one particular position. Go ahead. Con man. Yeah, con artist. You kind of got to the key early with the DK Metcalf deal. It seemed after that, some of those other wide receiver deals exploded. With the TJ Watt one, it was kind of the opposite. You know, Miles Max. I think there was a couple other passengers. Yeah, there you go, Danielle. And now, of course, coming on the other end, here's Micah. Probably not Trey Hendrickson. What did you think when you see those numbers, when you see Those massive deals? $40 million. How much does that change everything for you? Were you. Was there any point where you're close to getting a deal done with gj and then, boom, you know, Miles or. Or Max crosby signs for 100 million guaranteed, and then your deal changes? Like, was that going on? Was that when all those other contracts were happening? You know, without going into specifics of the negotiation? I'll just say it's, you know, it's obviously part of it, because the players, you know, it's important to the players, but we also have to be careful and understand the structure of our roster and the contract and what's coming forward and all that. So you take all that into account. But, you know, with tj, I'm just so glad we got it done. Like, it meant a lot to him. Meant a lot to us. And like I said, he deserves to be a one helmet hall of Famer, and he represents us so well. And do you guys have him on? Oh, yeah. I mean, he's awesome. He's about as good as they get, is he? Not like. I mean, he just. Yeah. Let's talk, though. Yeah, about that question. All right. You see that Haslam has given out another gigantic, gigantic deal at a position that you have to work. That certainly changes everything for you, right? Does it not? Not whenever the market changes that big. I mean, it went from, what, 32 to 40 to 40. Yeah. Like, there was. No. Usually things climb, especially at that position, but it goes all the way up to 40 all of a sudden. And now you got Yinzers and Steelers fans. They all know immediately, that's tj. Now, what is. How is this gonna work? You get a deal done, but that does change it, right? Whenever the market changes. I mean, I'd be lying if I told you it didn't come into account as part of the conversation. I mean, it's. It's. It's natural. But, you know, that's. That's how this goes. And like I said, at the end of the day, the goal was to get TJ done, and we got him. You getting a text from somebody, Go ahead and check it. Go ahead and look what happened. Haslam, what position? The end. The one. How big? Biggest of all time. All time. Any position. Anyway, you need to do it. So it's a beautiful thing. D Butt has the last question for you. I know every GM Is kind of different in their principles. Some people are just numbers guys. But how much do you think about when you sign a free agent or when you trade for somebody, how they're going to impact the guys already in that meeting room? Like signing the Jalen Ramsey and bringing Darius layover with JPJ and they're developing Muth. You're bringing in John Usman. How much do you think about factor that is? It's a big part of it. You know, we don't just. Just throw a dart and hope to sign a guy like. Like it's all props to make sure they fit in. They're Steelers, right? You grew up here, Tone, you know what. What it's like to be a Steeler. Like, it would take us two days to go over all the characteristics and how special and unique that is. But every one of those is a case by case. And you know, we evaluate to make sure they're not gonna. That it makes sense for us. And those guys all have. You know, we're excited to have. I don't know if you guys had gotten to know a lot of those guys or had them on sale. I don't know who you guys had on, but we had a great, great locker room of guys right now. And I'm excited like this. I'm excited about this season and, you know, ready. Excited for first padded practice today. You remember those days, right? How awesome is that first day of padded practice. It's as exciting for all of us as it is for that. Everyone wants to see people get knocked out cold. You guys want to see me drafted, see if they're the real deal. And we've obviously seen it in shorts. It's a big day. Is it your birthday? No, no, no, no. I don't know where that. But I mean, I'm happy to take. Take the happy birthday wishes. I was about to have everybody singing. I'm happy with you. Not me. Happy birthday, Omar. We missed a few. You know, we missed a few. Thank you so much for stopping by. Busy. You're the man. Thank you for the hospital. Come back and visit next year for sure. Have you guys. Hey, I have a question. Let's hear it. Aaron Rodgers on Tuesdays, how do the Pittsburgh Steelers organization feel about that particular script? You know what? We have a PR director, Bert. I'll let you discuss that with us. We got our answer. Ladies and gentlemen, the general manager, Pittsburgh Sailors. I'm Mark. Have a great day, man. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Good luck this year as we Wrap up here on ESPN. We'll continue digitally on YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney plus and Tik Tok Live. What a day it's been here in Le Tr, Pennsylvania. Big shout out to the fans that have hung out with us here on either side. This side over here has been in a pretty good spot. They got his big ass pine tree that's kind of giving them some shade. I appreciate you guys for hanging out. He just put a. He's put a sandwich in his possum. There's a chance that the Pittsburgh Steelers actually do go to the super bowl this year. The AFC is absolutely stacked and loaded. The reigning AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs. Oh, yeah, don't forget Josh Allen in the Buffalo Bills. Oh, yeah, don't forget Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Joey Burrow, Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals. Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. It is a murderer's row in the AFC in the Pittsburgh Steelers. And their fans do not give a damn about any of them. All they want to see is seven come back to this city. The seventh title coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers is what's on everybody's mind here and it's been an honor to experience it. From all of us here in Latrobe, Pennsylvania to you watching wherever the hell you may be, we can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living. You're the greatest people on earth. Here we go, Steelers. Here we go, Pittsburgh. Nailed it. All right, we're off. All right. Sweet. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for a 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com this episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm personal price plan can help you save when you you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer availability amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now digital. And I never thought that I'd get an opportunity to do this, but our dad is here. Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for Pittsburgh dad, please. Welcome to the extravagance, guys. Yay. So is it Latrobe or La Trobe? Dad, you know what? That. That's a judgment call on your part. What did Mr. Rogers say? I don't remember. I was trying to think about it, honestly, because my dad says La Trobe. Diggs's dad says Latrobe. Says Latrobe. Yeah. So what do you think? What are your kind of the. I would say Latrobe. It sounds more like Yinzerific that way. Yellow Latrobe. Speaking of Yinzer rific, how often do you come up to training camp? Is it every day? Every single day. I quit my job in the summer, I come up here, and I sit with Steeler Nation. Get the team ready to get number seven. How do you feel about this year's team, dad? You know, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, Pat. I don't want to, like. I don't want to get too overreactive, but I'm going to go ahead and say 17 0. Oh, really? We got Aaron Rogers now AJ Hawk. We got Aaron Rogers. Okay. So expectations very high for Pittsburgh, Dad. Is that normal for you or. No, no. You know, sometimes it can. It's. It's normal. Absolutely normal. Yeah. We're going to win all the time. All the time. Every time. But what if there's a little hint of negativity that happens? What happens? Well, I'm just saying, Browns fan in the audience there. I don't think there's any Browns fans out here, dad. There's a Bengals fan. Get them to hell out of here. I don't need that negativity up here. We have to start the whole camp over. No, actually, not a bad idea. Pittsburgh Dad. I. I think that'd be fun. I have a Pittsburgh dad. Everybody has Pittsburgh dad. You are very similar to them. And we know that if Aaron Rodgers throws a pick to Patrick Queen on one of the first days of practice, it might be a little. Little bit of. Just like we said, this guy's old and out of touch. Is that how you are? I heard that. I heard that he threw up. Interception on the first play. I was the first to go. And if you email an Omar Khan and tell him to get him out of here. But then I calmed down, and I think he's still going to do a good job. Okay. Okay. Because he owes us a Super Bowl. I forgot about Super Bowl 45. I forgot about how the packers greased up the ball with Wisconsin Cheddar. So. Man, hall fumbled it. I forgot about that. I forgot about that. Dad. I didn't know that happened. Tone has a question for you. Dad. Yeah, dad. Obviously there's been some favorites over the years. Chris Fumat Malu. That's not his name. Chris Fuamatu Mal. Yes. Fatu Ma. You put too many syllables in that. Kimo Von Olhoffen. There's been others. Dan Crider favorite. Dan Kreider. Is there a. Is there a Pittsburgh favorite on his roster yet that you've discovered as. Like in that ilk of those. Those type of guys. You know who I really like to watch? And he. He's getting his chances year in and year out here. The last couple years. I like Nick. Her big. Yeah. Every time that guy, every time he gets his chance, he makes a. That's a good call right now. He's going to get more and more chances and he's going to make his year this year. I love him. I. I saw him at the Jelly Roll concert. He's electric. He's an electrifying human being and great actor. Schedule release. Remember he was a part of that video. That's right. A.J. hawk has no idea what's going on here, I don't think. No, I do. Aaron's been a big fan of yours for years. Aaron loves you for a long time. But he did tell me you obviously played ball in high school, most likely college. Did you get a scholarship? Were you a quarterback? You have the physical build of a guy that played in the. Well, you know, it's under wraps, all that kind of stuff. I don't like to discuss the old days because you know, as soon as you start putting your name out there, when someone gets on a dark web, it steals all your Giant Eagle fuel perks. You know what I'm talking about? I got my Giant Eagle water right here. That's all you need. You don't need that. You don't need any of that fancy stuff. Get the stuff in, Johnny. I got my turn. A lot of them today. You got your Iron City. I saw the guy chugged in Iron City out here earlier. I don't have to have beer out there. You just. You keep it low. No one can see that. Bring back the sign. Are you a permanent guy or Rudy subs guy? I'm a Fermandi guy all the way. Put the fries and slaw everything. I put the fries and slaw my baby when he was baptized. Dee has a question for Rudy. Subs guy but we got this phenomenal gift from Mean Joe Green. What's your first memory of coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp? First memory coming to Pittsburgh Steelers training camp that season. That's year 1994. That's whenever they. Whenever Neil O' Donnell was at the hell that piece of. We had a lot of hope for that guy. Got cannon. We had a lot of hope. We threw the Super Bowl. He won to a Super Bowl. Right to Larry Brown. He went right to Larry Brown. And it passes. Two easy interceptions. And that's the first guy I see when I come up here. Didn't sign my football card. You know who did? Cordell Stewart. Bingo. Slash, slash ahead of his time. Slash way ahead of his time. He's the Lamar Jackson. And if. If there's a fountain of youth, that's the first person I'm giving it to. I think there's is actually. Science has found it. AJ's been on it throughout his entirety, which is why they might have won the Super Bowl. Ty has a question for you, dad. Yeah, dad, I've seen a lot of rumors out there. I don't know if this is true, but when all that stuff was going on with TJ and he wasn't here and he hadn't signed yet, didn't you like, publicly say, like, hey, tj, it's time for you to pack your up and get out of town? I think you're looking at the wrong account. You're looking at some Bangles guy. Account for Trey Hendrickson. That's not how we do in Pittsburgh. And if that is how he. Dude, that was done in private down in my cellar over a couple irons. That was never put out there on the Internet for anybody to see. Why you judging? Why you making up lies about this? I saw it about this guy. Listen, AI, these days. AI, these days you can never trust anybody. Oh, yeah? Watch out, AI. I'll tell you what. Too much New York. We're out of the darkness. Retreat. We're in the light of Pittsburgh now. Bingo. You an ayahuasca guy, Dad? I. I don't know if that's my dad's big ayahuasca, guys. I heard about that. Is that some kind of tea? Yeah, that's a stronger tea. Yeah. Yeah, it's like a Turner's tea, but also like. You flavor a Turner's tea. I think they do have the Turner One of those and watch a game. See how that goes. 11 lemon flavored ayahuasca. I think. You think I'll get mad watching the game on that. No, I don't think you'll know much. I don't. Yeah, I don't think you're watching any games. I'll try one of them. I'm always down for new. New tea or. You're going to. You going to Kennywood after this? I already. I already done the Kennywood trip. Trip. I'll tell you what. We went down there. We rode to Steel Curtain. Yeah. We sat down and prayed at Steel Curtain because that's where the log jammer used to be. And now it's not there. Rest in peace. We all missed the log jammer, but we made ready for a Steelers ride. We still haven't gotten a playoff win since that ride's been there. So I don't know. We're gonna have to have a petition to get that ride removed. Start to think about it. We'll see. Did you see Cedar Point? Had that one get stuck up there. See, nothing about Cedar Point because that's over in Ohio. That whole state needs to be abolished. I need to get away from me. It's too. It's too close. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. That line of demarcation is too close to Pittsburgh. Well, actually Wheeling, I think kind of splits it. West Virginia. I'll let West Virginia slide. That's okay down there? Yeah. Yeah. You like West Virginia? I like West Virginia. Yeah. You don't mind West Virginia? I like it down there. How about the Mountaineers? Maybe back. You know, I don't mind the Mountaineers either because I think there's a good portion of the pit. Fans of Mountaineers fan who really love Steeler Nation. All of them. Yeah. West Virginia, I think there's a lot of mountain years I love. Last question here from Boston. Connor. Dad. Yeah, dad, of course it's football season. We're all football. But 20 years. Today the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Sydney Crosby. Crosby. Seem as though the. The Penguins might never win again. Do you think they should trade Sydney Crosby because you're from Boston? This is a Boston talk over here. Now out of here. Trade Sydney Crosby in that. Yeah. I said, you know what? Just because you lost Tom Brady, he couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Don't mean our stars are ready to leave. They want to stay here. They want to be buried here. They want to enjoy it here. Yeah. Buried at nine and eight graves. No, no. Hockey's 82 games. Did I see Gene Ster come up and down here? Yeah, the ref was here. Oh, my gosh. And I saw him handing out gifts. He was giving you a gift? Mean Joe Green. Oh, that's amazing. Sit. And since he's handing out gifts, let's get him back up here. As an official, the NFL to decree now that Jesse James caught that ball. Ladies and gentlemen, Pittsburgh Dad. Appreciate you, Pittsburgh regular season game. Sell it to you, Bob. Sell it to you. All right. Pittsburgh dad. Thank you, Pittsburgh dad. You're the man. What a living leg. Thank you, dad. Thank you, dad. Thank you, dad. Thank you, dad. Look at this. Look at this guy. We're going to be the one seat. How's going it? Regular season game have that much real estate for. Because they got screwed, brother. We're gonna be the one. See, that was 17. That was going Super bowl year. Six titles. They will never forget getting screwed by the rest. That was the killer beast. That was the one who let it go last year. Yeah, Pittsburgh Dad. Okay. I think at the beginning of Pittsburgh Dad's run, everybody in Pittsburgh, myself included, wanted to hate Pittsburgh Dad. Like, this is. This is terrible. Then you just keep going. He's like, this guy actually is kind of like my dad. And then everybody in Pittsburgh's like, hey, Pittsburgh dad is like all of our dads. Close my eyes and hurt, Tim. Yeah, it's like a perfect. It's like a perfect thing. He is. And he hasn't tried to go national. No, he has not, like, tried to become. He is very content being a Pittsburgh guy. I think he also has a job. We love Pittsburgh Dad. Hey, dad. Hey, Good work, dad. Congrats. He has a full career. Bruce Till, ladies and gentlemen. Joining us now is actually debone his dad. The guy who is the Pittsburgh Steelers correspondent for the Pat McAfee Show. Bonds, baby. Ladies and gentlemen, living legend Mark Caboli. Yeah. Rock stairs. Drop his glasses. Drop his glasses. Ty, help him out. He's got pres. Oh. Oh, yeah. Rudy. That's a Rudy sub put in my pocket. S. Thank you. Thank you, cabals. Oh, thank you very much for the catch with the kid in his hand. All right, guys, check. See what it is. Santa Claus. Cabo Sanishes. Jackie. For all these people. Somebody got in there. You need one. You need one. You need one. You get it some. You get it some. How many he got there? And obviously, Kaboli's got his pocket. Who wants that one? Yeah, make sure you eat that one. That was dangerous. Mic. Oh, we have another one. He was probably got a third in there somewhere. He was double strapped, you know. That's his hog. Shout out to CFO Phil. Shout out to CFO Phil. Grabbing those. Shout out. Out to Rudy Subs. Appreciate you guys. Hey, Rudy subs and pizza 286. How can I help you? I'd like a whole Italian hot lettuce on your mayo. Sorry, we're out. You're gonna have to go down the street. That's what got me fired from Rudy Subs. But I still eat there. There's a microphone next to you. I don't know what you were planning on doing sitting there without one. The Caboli. Your microphone's off, Kaboli. Boom. That one, buddy. What's up? Yeah, you come bearing sandwiches and obviously great vibes. You look good. I see the haircut. You look like you're fighting shape here. How has training camp been thus far? I saw your tweet about this being the hottest by far as you can tell. It's kind of warm out there. If you guys get to go down there later, you will find out we are right. Let me tell you something. All the water just lays there from the rain the past couple of days and you can see the heat just coming up on your legs. Oh, yeah. And I did the old man thing the other day. I went to the tent in front of the fan. Really take it anymore. You just parked it, started eating the fan. Do you have the mister behind the fan? No, I only think I was permitted in there, but I just snuck in, had to do it. Cavali, you own the place. You do what you got to do. Both Achilles are intact this year, which is incredible. Yeah. Let's talk about the team. Seemingly everybody healthy, knock on wood. Training camp. Football happens. What have you seen from this team? Is it going to live up to the hype from what you've seen thus far? Yeah. I mean, everything seems to be going as planned right now. I mean, Aaron Rodgers has made, I think, a huge difference already. Just the overall morale of the team. Confidence level, you mean. It's unbelievable. Just his smooth attitude and his not getting excited over, you know, silly stuff. I think he brings the calm through the entire offense and the defense. There's not a one person I've heard something say, something negative about the guy. Where you been, Kaboli? Well, within the organization and the fans, sure. Well, I don't think you've heard that in a lot of places about him legitimately, because how he shows up, he's definitely different you know what's not different? This Rudy subs hits like a bunch of pot. There isn't lettuce, onion, mayo on it because I think the travel, you don't want the lettuce to get kind of chopped up. If you come to the Pittsburgh area, obviously, grab some Permanis. Okay. You got to do permanent do the primies. It is our thing, obviously. Putting the fries in slaw on the sandwich. The steel workers didn't have a lot of time to eat their lunch. So we put this into one sandwich, and then we keep it moving. Then you go to Rudy subs and you get yourself an Italian. Best sandwich in the world. Best sub in the world. And thank you for. For bringing. You got the pocket version, so you're special. No, mine was in the back. Yeah, Somebody out there got the pocket. AJ Has a question for you. I love reading everything that you. You write, and I think of you sometimes. Like, you put these tweets out that look like they're, you know, 16 pages long or these. These stories that you write. I think of you as a writer. Like, what's your process like? Because when you're speaking, like, your words per minute isn't off the charts. Speaking super fast. So when you're. You're saying, I can't talk monotone like. So when you're typing, though, how long does it take for, say, one of your tweets? It feels like it could take a. Take a couple minutes. You're doing a great job. It all depends if you have a good idea. But are you a home row guy? Are you picking and pecking through your, you know, your keyboard? I struggle with the tweet on the phones because the fat finger, small keys type of thing, so. And if you try to voice tweet it, it comes out. Who knows what it comes out? But actually ready. I mean, I've been doing this for 23. Three, 24 years now. You pretty much know what you want to write as you go into it and you get things. Like today I was talking to the wide receiver coach, Zach Ezzani. You pick up different things. You see what it's important. A lot of people are interested in. Wide receiver two. So he talked to Roman Wilson, but it doesn't. What are you looking for today when you watch practice? Oh, it's absolutely pad day. Yeah. I mean, they're going pretty reacts. They're going straight. Straight from individuals to seven shots to backs on back, back on backers to probably team run. Boom, boom, boom. And you back on backers. I suggest AJ if you ever. AJ's never done it before. Actually, Kaboli has a question for you. You just talked about wide receiver too. Are there any other position battles you're looking at closely during this camp? There's a battle. No, just so I told us, Danny Smith is actually, I mean nothing against Presley Harvey. He had a great season last year. That's not what it is. There's a massive Whiteman. What'd I say? You know what, he tweeted something of mine the other day. That's why I messed that up. See, those are both black punters too. Yeah, yeah. Cam Johnson is a difference maker. Cam Johnson can punt the living crap out of the ball. I think he's a difference maker. I think Danny just wants to create competition right here with Cortland. Any other positions? You're looking a lot of backups. You're looking. Who they going to go running back, right? Is it going to be Jalen Warren? Is there no. Caleb Johnson is going to be a mix of the two. Not quite sure yet of that. But they're pretty much set path that. I mean you look at that defense and there's not much in the way of battles. Maybe free safety, but I don't even know how much you're going to use free safety. I mean they got three shut down corners. Massive balls against Jugs brother. Jugs brother. I was about to say just massive. Yeah, I think we got Jugs. I think the punters are off today. You talked about not a lot of battles. It's all kind of sorted at the top. You'll figure it out. I know there's been a lot of battle amongst wrestling fans, you know, about something that has happened. Connor has a question for you. Mark. Yeah, Mark, obviously it's still real to me. Damn it. And the WWE Unreal show on Netflix now is kind of, kind of removing that curtain. Kayfabe seems to be dead. So in my mind I'm gonna have to re evaluate myself. When I think of myself as a WWE wrestling mark. I know I'm. I'm bummed out about it. I will always, always acknowledge. But when, when it comes to Odie Odes and some of the other guys, I mean look, I'm not here for it. I don't want to hear about Kevin Owens and Cody setting up this match, brother. So what the hell's going on? Did you, did you watch it yet? Yeah, man, I watched it and I turned it off. Off. Cuz it finally two people have sex. Oh what? Yeah, like you're not supposed to do that. So you had to cover your eyes like this. Like, no, no, Mr. H. I don't want to know this. I. I just don't think they revealed as much as they could have rebuild. I think it made me. I got. Excuse me. You wanted more. I only got through two episodes so far, and it seemed like me wanting to come back for more, just wanted to see. It's a great. It's a great show. I will say, say it is a phenomenal show. Like, I think a lot of people that aren't wrestling fans or might just say, like, oh, that's wrestling. Might learn, like, hey, there's a lot of psychology going on right now and a lot of business and a lot of big brains going on. But I just. It is tough. It is tough. Like, I think about Michael Cole's the goat at it, but I think about commentating, like, a day after one of those episodes is released, and it's like, these two guys hate each other. I. I know you saw him yesterday on Netflix. I think 20 million people saw it. It's one of the biggest shows that Netflix has ever had. But, like, I just. It's an interesting dynamic. We're in a very new world now with the wwe, with this unreal. I think, personally, I mean, even stuff like you saw Triple H even talking to Michael Cole during the scene attorney. He's like, you didn't even know, did you? He goes, no, I didn't know. And I think that's interesting. I don't think they pulled the curtain back as much as they could have. I think they did a nice, happy meeting. I feel like there are some people. And Todd made this point the other day, like, it's a mature show. So they're saying everything. They're not bleeping everything. So those younger kids aren't going to get it. But I don't know. Just. Just personally, this is just how I feel. It's almost like that's. It's cooler to see it in an AEW dog or not. Aew. Excuse me. A. E dock down the road where Stone Cold. You mentioned this Stone Cold in the Rock. Like, them talking about when, you know, they're in the ring and Stone Cold in Rock have the moment of like, I love you and then that. Now it doesn't matter. Now we know. I think Kayfabe has been dead for. Since the Internet, right? Oh, you. To. To a degree. That's what they're telling you to take it off. Take your. No, not the hat. Suicide. D. You must Be joking. They're being serious for you. Serious. I want to let you know I think you're doing great work on hat. Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. You keep us all very much updated. How have you enjoyed it? Have you enjoyed being absolutely great? I mean, I can do what I need to do. I don't. I can write what I want to write and not be constricted by the newspaper rules. That's great. I think you're doing a great job. We're appreciative of everything you're doing. Yeah, you and D Bone work great. Oh, Debone's great. He's your dad. He's your kid. He's your kid. He knows that as well. All right, we're gonna wrap up from here as practice has. Has begun down here for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're gonna head down there. Remember to follow Cabo. He deserves a follow. He tells us too much about his personal life. Yeah. How's it all been? How's it all been? Everything been good? Yeah. You know what? Yeah, it's been pretty good. Other than the fact that they, A wipe company reached out to me and offered me free wipes today. It was kind of interesting. You should do that. You want that, right? I know. I don't know. It's kind of weird. No, it's good. You want money? Deal. You want. They was going to send me, like, a case of wipes. I guess that's good. Not wiping your ass is weird, man. No, but somebody reaching you out, you don't know who it is, and said. Well, what you just said there. Yeah. An individual or was it a company? That was a company. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, so I'm not going to say it. If it's cottonell, you do it now. Right now. Is that Dude Wipes? It was Dude. Yeah. You should take the dude wipes. For sure. Yeah. I just posted a picture of, like, the hillside, and they're like, I think you need dude wipes. I'm like, yeah, I probably do. But yeah. One per flush. Yeah. You know, sometimes throw it in the trash. Yeah, I'm you. I'm throwing them in the trash just because. Well, I'm not talking about after you do your business. I'm talking about to dry it up a little. Yeah. Yeah. You. You try it out. Let. Let it get all hard and crusty. You'll be down there, you'll see what the swamp ass is all about. Come on. I already got this swamp ass, but I ain't wiping My ass and throwing in the trash can. What are you talking about? Didn't you know? Guy. Yeah. West Virginia. Yeah. Yeah. We had a guy. There was a guy who came from. I think he was in New York somewhere, and he. They're talking to you. Cabo. They. Can I flip them off? No, no, no. They're injuries. You should not flip them all. These are good people. He did that. He. He wiped his ass and he threw the toilet paper into the trash because he didn't want to clog the toilet or whatever. Yeah. So the entire place smelled like shit. Right. Goddamn animals. I walked in, I was like, what? What? Why does it smell so bad in here? And they're like, what are you talking about? And I, like, literally sniff it out, and I go to the bathroom, and I'm like, is your. Is that ass toilet paper in the trash? Like, yeah, we don't want to crack the pipes or whatever. I'm like, you flush that fucking toilet Paper. Paper. I didn't know. I need to tell you the same thing. You need to be flushing your toilet paper now. If it's one per flush. No, it does not depend where you are. Oh, if I'm. If I'm in a public place, it's going wherever. If I'm at home, maybe that's. You are wherever. Animal in a toilet, act like you've never done this. No, we wipe our ass and we flush it. That is what we do. Not all the time. The only time. I don't see it. What are you talking. Wait, wait, wait. Come on, aj, Back me up. This guy was raised by the country bears. On the bar, ladies and gentlemen. That's it. That's it. That's been the show. We're gonna go watch practice. Kaboli, that's unbelievable. You need to know that. That is unbelievable that you do that. Just wear a diaper. You need to be putting your toilet paper and your dude wipes into a toilet after you wipe your ass. Okay. Shove them at the bottom of the garbage can. They won't know. Oh, so I'm Kaboli for us. All these people practice about stuck. We're gonna head down there. Thank you to Burt Lawton and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thank you to the production crew that set all this up here on the side of a hill. We appreciate your incredible work. We appreciate the inserts and the people that traveled to hang out with us. Tomorrow we'll be live from the Pro Football hall of Fame, right next to a highway chitchatting with the entire class of this year. For the Pro Football hall of Fame and other legends, you all are the greatest people on earth. Thank you for allowing us to do this for a living. Our swamp pass in our toilet paper that we're flushing down the toilet. I don't even want to look at this guy. That. That's. That should be death by fire. Yeah. This is a fireable offense. Oh, yeah, a fight. You can light him on fire too. Yeah, I think we should make him go walk in the highway and get hit by a semi. If you're actually doing that, just don't look at that. Don't look in that trash can right over there though. That was good TV show from myself, Ty Schmidt, Boston Connor, 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Town 9 year NFL vet Darius J. Butler, super bowl champion Ryder cup winner AJ Hawk. A man who needs to take his shirt off. Mark Caboli to everybody. Back in the truck. Great work, boys. They got a four season setup in that chicken. Nice setup in that truck for the boys they deserve. Boys. Yeah, we know, we know. You guys do great work. Fossil, great work. Bruce, really good job. All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. We're live from the hall of Fame tomorrow. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Goodbye. You've seen the headlines, heard the debates. The three point ball has created a monotonous rhythm to the game. Has the three pointer ruined basketball? And how did we get here? The rise of the three point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric Kansas genius named Martin Manley, whose story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined. I decided I wanted to have one of the most organized goodbyes in history. 30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. 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