← The Pat McAfee Show
The Pat McAfee Show
PMS 2.0 1401 - NFL KICKOFF THURSDAY, Cowboys vs. Eagles Preview, Adam Schefter, Peter Schrager, Mike McCarthy, & AJ Hawk
02:21:16
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- [00:01]
Pat McAfee
Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the ThunderDome. On this NFL kickoff Thursday, September 4, 2025. This program begins now. Football is happening tonight for the NFL. It has been 207 days since the super bowl where we saw the Philadelphia Eagles become world champions in a dominating fashion over the Kansas City Chiefs. Now tonight they will have their banner celebration as they host the Dallas Cowbo in an 8 1/2 point spread. Kickoff to an NFL season that is going to be the greatest in the history of the National Football League. Dak Prescott and the boys head into the city of Brotherly Love to take on Jalen Hurts, an offensive line that has been touted as the greatest of all time. And Saquon Barkley. With coach Sirianni locked in for the future are the Philadelphia Eagles in the middle of building a dynasty. We shall see if they kick off in a great way tonight. So many storylines, so many things to talk about, so many things to be excited about because tomorrow, Chiefs in char, Chargers down in Brazil. We get Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift's future husband.
- [01:11]
Ty Schmidt
That's right.
- [01:12]
Pat McAfee
And Jim Harbaugh all on television for something that matters. And then Saturday is going to be a packed day of college football greatness. And then Sunday we have a full slate and we have Scott Hansen in the Red Zone channel all the way back. Now we made some news yesterday. We had Scott Hansen on the show. Got a chance to see the setup that he has behind the scenes. The green screen, the podium that he stands at. Turns out there was no bottle or catheter in there. That's right. Looked like there was a tube down at the bottom, something weird that he maybe peed into. But he promised that it was just for electrical purposes to keep maybe a light on the podium or whatever. But he confirmed that there would no longer be seven hours of commercial free football starts now. It'll actually be seven hours of red zone football starts now. Obviously that became a firestorm across football viewers world. On the Internet, a lot of people are saying they're pissed off about that. I responded to Scott Han, we don't care. Now, when I said we, I did think that I was speaking for a large portion of people. But when I said we don't care, what I meant was we're still going to watch. We're still going to watch. And the only reason why I say that is because they started rolling in advertisements in Red Zone channel last year. Started with L raps. They had Christian McCaffrey out there looking cool. And as soon as I saw the Christian McCaffrey l rap on there, which every once in a while we'll do here on this commercial free Pat McAfee Show. That happens every single day whenever we're live, Monday through Friday, hour long commercial free. But if you look right around us here, that would be considered an advertisement. That's right. So I think what had happened was whenever the Red Zone channel started running this, which is run by the NFL, by the way, I was called an ESPN and a Disney Shield for saying we don't care about the commercials being added. What I don't think I said properly was obviously it's not as good if we're adding commercials. Whenever it was just pure with no commercials and we had paid for an upgrade of a product so we don't have to see commercials, that was better. But as soon as they started seeing a little bit of money from those lraps, I think all of us that have seen or been around the NFL for a long time just assumed that the commercials would be on the way. I was calling ESPN at Disney Shield for saying that. Look at this tweet. I mean, look at this tweet. I miss you. I miss. When you weren't paid by ESPN to lie, says Kenny with a middle finger to me. Okay? With a middle finger. There was thousands of those calling me. And ESPN and Disney don't even have Red Zone channel next year. I think it's two years, they might not even have it. So ESPN and Disney aren't even involved with the Red Zone channel at this exact moment with this commercial being added, it would actually, I think, be Google in YouTube TV. So unless Disney, Google and YouTube TV and say, hey, can you guys add some commercials? So when we get it in a couple years when our show, this show right here might not even be with ESPN and Disney. Whenever the time comes for Red Zone to be with ESPN and Disney. So that would be like Google would be the one making that decision. If you thought it was the advertiser or the, the networks are making the decision. The Red Zone is an NFL operated thing. The NFL was the one deciding who's doing it. They were just licensing the content that's coming through. So I was attacked a lot of different ways. I'm out of touch. Okay. Because I say I don't care about it. It's like what I meant to say is we'll still watch. Sure. Because we will. Yeah. Don't get it twisted. The Red Zone, now they're saying it's going to be A play through method where they're going to run a commercial while you're still going to be able to see everything happening on the right side. Golf started doing this a lot. A lot of the play through stuff. Brian Rolatt, former head of the media of NFL now actually the president of the PGA or the chairman, I forget his title, whatever. He has moved over to the pga. Big golf fan. So maybe there is a play through type situation that's happening. So I'd like to apologize for saying we don't care in pseudo representing a lot of people. What I meant was we're gonna watch. And if you had a brain, you knew the NFL was gonna do this. And me shilling for ESPN or Disney. That's interesting. Just listen to the show kind of every single day. The toxic table is here at Boston. Connor and at Ty Schmidt, one half of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Tone, who's here? Connor, I'm gonna start with you, buddy. You've been floating as you've been rolling around this Thunderdome. You woke up this morning just singing a different tune. You were flapping your wings pretty damn good. What an exciting day. 207 days since last time we got to say there's an actual NFL football game. That one was the Super Bowl. This one kicking off the greatest season of all time. It's a beautiful day, Con man.
- [05:23]
Connor
Yeah, it's the best. And really nothing can bring me down today. You know, I drove into work this morning and I was feeling great. Had the windows down. I thanked a soldier for his service. He told me basically, shut up, because the way I look, which if you could picture in the morning, I also have purple sunglasses on. So I was really feeling myself. And I got all the happy dogs on because it just feels like this is what today's all about. The more I thought about football coming back, it's just the more you think about the emotion of the game. You know it sucks when your team is terrible. You know, it sucks when your team you think should be better. And it's great when your team is amazing. And it feels as though everyone on this stage, everyone in the back, everyone in this building, everyone in the world thinks that their team can be good this year.
- [06:09]
Pat McAfee
Right now, hopefully the athletic actually put out a meter and they pulled a bunch of NFL fans from around the league and asked them, you know, if they're optimistic or pessimistic up there. Broncos fans, 99% optimistic. Now, once again, these are people that signed up to do this survey. Sure. Probably very active on the Internet. If I had to guess. And also very active fans online. Broncos most optimistic Philadelphia Eagles 98%. We'll see if that continues. Yeah, we like the way Philadelphia Eagles fans kind of easy come, easy go. What have you done for me in the last 10 minutes type fan base. Remember the last time they had a banner night in Philadelphia? Team was getting booed in the halftime.
- [06:46]
Ty Schmidt
That's right.
- [06:47]
Pat McAfee
You won super bowl last year. What have you done for me this first half? Nothing that could happen again. Nick Sirianni is saying he didn't even know it was banner night because he doesn't want any of the distractions. Love that their fans are at 98% riding high. The Super Bowl World championship. You should do that. Buccaneers, they love Baker down there. Ravens good. Lions, good. Bills, good. Rams. They were like, hey, everybody's talking about how great the Philadelphia Eagles were. How about us last year in the playoffs? We're one possession away from beating the Philadelphia Eagles and ruining that entire story. Chiefs fans, I feel like always going to be optimistic with Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and them Texans fans back up there. We had a bad year last year. That's not going to happen again. Vikings, Bears fans. Okay. Outside of Chicago, I don't know if there's as much optimism inside Chicago. Love that there is optimism. Seahawks fans never talk about Seattle. We appreciate that you guys are jacked up. Patriots fans. We see that the 19%, I think, are just naturally always going to be a 19% around the city of Boston, New England area.
- [07:35]
Connor
Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
- [07:36]
Pat McAfee
There's always going to be a 20% group of people that are like, nice shit ain't good. Like that's going to happen. I think then you just start rolling through the rest of the list. Who's down there at the bottom?
- [07:44]
Ty Schmidt
Oh, no.
- [07:45]
Connor
Oh, shoot.
- [07:46]
Pat McAfee
93% pessimistic Indianapolis Colts fan. I will say the people that are taking these surveys I think are probably big time believe ours.
- [07:56]
Ty Schmidt
Okay.
- [07:56]
Pat McAfee
Because we ran into a lot of these people not from Indianapolis. They picked up the Colts as their team, I think because Anthony Richardson came here and how exciting Anthony Richardson was going to be. Young group of Colts fans, I don't think they know a lot about anything that has happened before or didn't experience it before, but they were very passionate and we respected and appreciated that. And then when it goes the way it goes with AR and everything kind of happens, they get very pissed off at everybody else. But ar, sure. You know, so they're mad at obviously Chris Ballard. They're mad at Coach Steichen for not developing him. They're mad at ownership of the building. So obviously I think they are very upset with the Indianapolis Colts as a whole. And hey, I don't think the Colts have done a lot over the past. I don't know how many years that should say you should be that optimistic. But I think there is certainly a group of fans that would definitely take an online survey that would say this Colts team is the dumbest franchise in history because they potentially believe that AR was going to be the greatest quarterback of all time. And you could put me down as a believer at the beginning. Sure. And at the end, in the middle, when I was hearing things the way it was going, I wasn't necessarily all in. Still young still has a chance. But Colts fans that jumped on board because of him, they certainly think that everything's downhill. Danny Dimes knows that. 93% betting against him.
- [09:00]
Connor
Exactly.
- [09:01]
Pat McAfee
Same with DeForest, Buckner and the boys. But what we're saying is all these teams, no matter how optimistic their fans are, all have a chance to go win a Super Bowl. One half of the hammer done Cowboys AP tone is here. Your Pittsburgh Steelers have a chance this year. It feels like got to beat the Jets. Oh yeah, got to beat the Jets. Justin Fields and the jets got to beat the Jets. Week one. Aaron Rodgers is locked in. He's given interviews talking about just the next game. It's first game. Let's keep it moving. Let's talk about tonight's game eight and a half. Brett. That's big. That feels very big for an opening night, especially a banner night. Something that could play a little cagey. What are the people on right now and why do you think it's so big?
- [09:31]
AP Tone
Yeah, so it opened the summer at seven, which, which you know is a classic, you know, super bowl hosting a team that was didn't make the playoffs. Seven felt good. A lot of people early were on the Eagles. It got bet up to eight and a half. It's kind of settled in there now. 62% of the people are on the Eagles. It was as high as 80% at one point. So there has been some Cowboys money coming in as of late. I think it's just we, I mean we looked at the graph right there and like yes, that's the fan base but that's also the total NFL fan base. I feel like right now just because of what's everything that's happened over the off season, everyone is still very, very high on the Eagles and very Very down on the Cowboys because of everything that's happened with Michael Parsons, everything like that. So, yeah, everyone, majority's on the Eagles tonight. Eight and a half.
- [10:11]
Ty Schmidt
It's.
- [10:12]
AP Tone
That's a hefty line. It's a hefty line for sure.
- [10:14]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Opening night eight and a half is crazy. A lot of people would say, why would you pick the Cowboys to be the Eagles opponent on opening night if it's going to be more than a one score spread in the sportsbook size? And Jerry Jones would say, because, because, because, because you do put the Cowboys on opening night if you can. If you haven't been seeing the documentary. Yeah, if there's a division game that's going to be a kickoff opening of the NFL season, the Cowboys are going to be in it. You're welcome. And the sportsbook say, well, that's good, but it's not going to be a one score game. Yeah, eight and a half point spread is how it's going to look. And I know that the Philadelphia Eagles are obviously the best team on paper and in the NFL right now. So I don't want to say they're North Carolina, but everybody at that game was talking about North Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina. TCU had a lot to pull from. Sonny Dykes had a lot to pull from. That entire team had a lot of chips on their shoulder and they just steamrolled unc. Is there a chance that this Dallas Cowboys team, who's been viewed as the dumbest team in the NFL, Kenny Clark has been brought in there? Who cares? What does that even, what does that even mean? Mike is the only player that matters to this team is how Shoddy could spell this. That is how he could spin this to his team. It's like eight and a half is a lot of points for any NFL game, let alone an opener with a division rival. Now, Shoddy's first time doing Thursday Night Football, first time as a head coach, obviously kicking off the entire season. Sirianni is 3 and 1 on Thursday nights. I believe 4 and oh in openers. Jalen Hurts is 4 and Jalen Hurts is 4 and oh in openers. So there's a lot of stats saying that the Philadelphia Eagles should be good. Now being an opening Thursday night, I don't think it's the same as like a middle of the season Thursday night because you only have four days to prepare. This one, he had 207 days. Okay. That is literally how long he had to prepare for this particular game. So it's tough to look at what stat matters the most. But, like, this Philadelphia Eagles team loaded. And the Dallas Cowboys have been told that. And they've also been told that they don't matter because number 11's out of the building and he's in Green Bay. A lot of motivation, potentially from the Cowboys, Ty.
- [12:09]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I mean, talking about it in terms of, like, the parallel with North Carolina, I think is good because that's like a bunch of college kids who we don't. We have no idea, like, and have never seen them play. Like, the Cowboys have a lot of good players on their team still. So it is interesting that it's like you lose Micah Parsons and it's like, hey, he's the worst team in the NFL. These guys are going to get killed. Like, they have Dak, they have cd they have George Pickens, Kenny Clark, you mentioned him. Like, they still have a lot of good players. So, yeah, we don't see this in an NFL game very often. At least going into it. Like, like you mentioned, everyone understands how good the Eagles are. But, like, a lot of people thought. But the Cowboys, before the, you know, the trade of Micah, a lot of people were picking them to win the division and go deep in the playoffs. So it's like, let's not sleep on the Cowboys. They're obviously still very talented.
- [12:52]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Their fans are sleeping on them. Because if you go by the athletic, I think Cowboys had the third lowest optimism rate from their fans, which could also just be people on the Internet saying they're Cowboys fans saying, this team's ass. This team's ass. You know, you never know what's real and what isn't whenever you have anonymous surveys. But I think it is pretty telling on how people feel about the team as a total. And Dallas Cowboys, everybody's out on. I mean, we turn on TV and we're included. Jerry Jones, this guy's the dumbest guy of all time.
- [13:18]
Connor
No doubt.
- [13:19]
Pat McAfee
Two first rounders and Kenny Clark. And people are saying to Kenny Clark.
- [13:22]
Ty Schmidt
Kenny Clark, long in the two.
- [13:23]
Connor
Yeah, exactly.
- [13:25]
Pat McAfee
Two first rounders. What? Yeah, right. You got a dumb guy running a team, you got no talent on a team, and you got a head coach that has no idea what he's doing. That is literally what has been said about the Cowboys. Now, if the Eagles come out, then just smack the Cowboys around.
- [13:39]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
- [13:40]
Pat McAfee
Which is certainly possible. Eagles have done that. Two teams in the past. And what they can do with their front four, the Philadelphia Eagles defense, they can make any team look stupid anytime. You could have the best pass game in the entire league. If their front four are just destroying your offensive line, it doesn't matter. You might have a great run game. But if those two, Jalen Carter and the boys in the middle just two gap and hold that thing up, you have no run game. It's like if those front four want to demolish and destroy your offense, they can do that, and they have proven that time and time again. Will tonight be a night that they can? We shall see. And then whenever you think about the offense, it's like that offensive line is still the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line, right? Oh, yeah. And Landon Dickerson was full participant in practice. Right. We'll talk to Schefter here in about a minute or two to see what the update is on him. But if that offensive line's back, that's been around and if Saquon Barkley's back happy because he got paid. Right. They paid him two years early. And Jalen Hurts is now super bowl champion. It's like they could be very confident bunch walking onto that field. It's like Philadelphia Eagles could just smack the Dallas Cowboys around. And then tomorrow morning, Jerry's the dumbest of all time.
- [14:43]
Connor
Oh, yeah.
- [14:44]
Pat McAfee
Oh, my God. It is getting fired incredibly loud. That's why this is a perfect kickoff to the NFL season in my eyes.
- [14:50]
Connor
Yes. So juiced. But you brought up the Cowboys defense. Like Eberfluss being there, I would assume helps definitely to start, but without Micah, they still have Diggs and Bland at corner. That's got to be one of the better cornerback duos in the NFL. Kenny Clark, people saying he's long in the tooth. He's got to be the most angry guy in America because he essentially got the Anthony Davis treatment during the Luka trade. Except even more so because the team that he's going to is so stupid for doing what they did. And he's the guy that is getting traded for like. That adds into it, too. It just feels like the college thought as well. Like if this was a college spread and it was eight and a half points, you could kind of see it. But the NFL spreads being that much anytime I. Or not anytime. Because sometimes those 14 point spreads and the Lions will beat, you know, some dog team by 50. But these big spreads and these big games in a divisional game, it just never feels like they get covered.
- [15:48]
AP Tone
It's a big.
- [15:51]
Pat McAfee
Sorry.
- [15:52]
Ty Schmidt
Sorry.
- [15:53]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, that's all right.
- [15:54]
AP Tone
I had to crack open a can. So you don't want to. I don't care. It is the biggest spread of the weekend.
- [15:58]
Pat McAfee
It Is the biggest spread of the weekend. Week one. Normally KG affairs. Yeah, normally people trying to feel it out early. But with the Philadelphia Eagles try to fill it out or will they go for it? There's a clip coming out of NFL Films, America's Game 2024. I forget what they call it. There's a clip coming out though of Jaylen Herz and Nick Sirianni on basically the dagger of the game. The play call dagger and Philadelphia. Tell me if this sounds familiar. Guess who called the play. Basically. Go ahead, run it, Foxy. I go to coach Sirianni on a Thursday practice and I pretty much give him this list and I'm like, hey, I'm just letting you know, you know, like you call these, something good's gonna happen. And the dagger was on that. I go into the coach's office at halftime and I get an opportunity to talk with him one on one Coach Sirianni and I say don't forget about the dagger. Don't forget about it. You come up with these plays together, you talk through things for hours. For a five second play. It is cool just to think about.
- [17:12]
A.J. Hawk
All the preparation that went into getting that called. At the right time, we score.
- [17:17]
Connor
Yeah.
- [17:17]
Pat McAfee
I don't just, just call it.
- [17:19]
Mike McCarthy
Just call it.
- [17:21]
Pat McAfee
I see the video of him saying just call it. And it, you know, that excites me. The confidence to call it. The execution. Being able to put the dagger in the game and end it.
- [17:33]
Connor
The Eagles get it back.
- [17:34]
Pat McAfee
Looking to run some clock or maybe just throw the dagger. Hurts going deep. 4 it all.
- [17:39]
Connor
Devonta Smith.
- [17:41]
Pat McAfee
He has got it. Touchdown. Almost gets clothesline right here. Watch. Wow. Yeah.
- [17:53]
Connor
From the call to the protection, from.
- [17:56]
Pat McAfee
The pass to the catch, the dagger was how you win. Pretty great quote. I love when they doubt you, they can't with you. How about that, huh? Listen to the offensive lineman talking to Jaylen in the Super Bowl. By the way, I assume all that is carried over. Joining us now, senior insider for the NFL at espn, Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Schefter. I just got like chills watching that back yet again because you know an entire season leads to that moment and then you hear about the finer details. You can't help but love the sport of football in the NFL tonight, Landon Dickerson. I guess his big question there for that offensive line that obviously is a pivotal piece of the Philadelphia Eagles offense. Full participant yesterday, I do believe couple of weeks ago he was drinking beers with the Cleveland Browns offensive lineman. Thought that was an indicator that he's going to be back where do we stand with him and what about the health around the Eagles as a whole?
- [18:54]
Adam Schefter
Well, he's off the injury report. He's going to be out there tonight. I don't think there's any question out there tonight. It's amazing because we go back to the night he was hurt. He was hurt in a practice at the Link. It was a late night practice and everybody went down. And I remember Eagles fans being despondent, like they may have just lost this behemoth of an offensive lineman, maybe the best guard in all of football, to a season ending knee injury. That was the fear at the time. He went. He had knee surgery, arthroscopic surgery, got it cleaned up and a month later or so he's going to be out there tonight. Is he going to be at full strength? I would guess not, but he's going to be out there playing just as he played in the playoffs last year when he wasn't healthy, just as a lot of these offensive linemen do when they're not fully healthy. And Landon Dickerson will be out there trying to open holes for Saquon Barkley against a Cowboys defense that has struggled against the run in the past and has made a move that we've heard a little bit about in the last week to try to upgrade that with the addition of Kenny Clark.
- [19:50]
Pat McAfee
That's literally all Jerry kept saying is, I know we're going to run the ball playing against the Green Bay packers, we're going to try to get the lead, we're going to run. Okay, that's what we're going to try to do. Jerry Jones has been very adamant about not being able to stop the run, saying, hey, that's what we have to do. Eber flu's first year back, how's the defense responding to him behind the scenes? And what should we expect from Kenny Clark, who's probably highly motivated to make a great first impression here with how much he's kind of been cast aside?
- [20:15]
Adam Schefter
Yeah, well, I think that's where the Cowboys hope is right, that Matt Eberfluous has done a really good job in the past with defenses and he can come in and implement his scheme and his system and you hope for the type of improvement that Dallas has been seeking. And again, when Jerry sat down after the Micah trade to explain his thinking on it, that was really one of the big takeaways is that they felt like they really had to do something with their own defense and was interesting because they didn't really draft anybody in that area until I believe the Seventh round. So if it was such a priority now, it should have probably been in April as well. And they didn't address it the way they wanted to or needed to in the draft. So by trading for Kenny Clark, they feel like they got a run stopper. And, you know, of course, I think Matt Eberfluss knows Nick Sirianni.
- [20:59]
Pat McAfee
Well.
- [21:00]
Adam Schefter
I. You guys would know this probably better than me. I'm guessing this up top. I. Hey, weren't they both coordinators in Indianapolis at the same time together?
- [21:06]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Frank. Frank.
- [21:08]
Adam Schefter
Yeah. Sirion and Ibroflus, they know the way that each other thinks pretty well. And Ibroflus will be up to implementing his system, and it's up to him to make sure that this Dallas defense, which was really poor last year, is much better. And look, they've been worried about their own defense. We'll find out tonight. Because they're going up against a team that runs the football about as well as any in the league.
- [21:31]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Better than anybody in the history of the NFL. Most rush yards for an offense after super bowl, obviously got to count the playoffs and everything like that in the history of the NFL for Saquon Barkley. And also, if you were to just account for Saquon Barkley's yards before contact last year, he would have been a top five rusher in the NFL. So saying that they got to stop the run is not just because they feel like that's a weakness for the team. That is also the strength of the team in their division who is currently the super bowl champion. I remember stories from back in the day. Houston Texans took Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. And the gm, Charlie Casserly. Charlie Casserly. He got fired. And he said the reason why he got fired is because he drafted Mario over Reggie Bush. But he said Reggie Bush isn't tackling Peyton Manning. I'm trying to beat the Indianapolis Colts. I'm not trying to do anything else. I'm trying to win the division, to get into the dance. So I got Mario instead of Reggie. And nobody. The fans didn't really care. They didn't want to hear that. But that is really how a lot of these people who are putting teams together think is if we win our division, we're in the dance, we get in the dance, we're good. Good. Who's at the top of our division? Oh, the best in the world. And they run the rock all over the place. I can respect Jerry Jones saying that. I think he could have got another one. I. I think he could have. I think he could have leaned. Yeah, I think he could have got a little lean on him at the very end. Hey, you give me one more one, this deal's done.
- [22:47]
Adam Schefter
You know, but, you know, you say that. It's funny. I had somebody call me yesterday, and they're like, you're going to tell me that Jerry Jones at the last moment, had said to Green Bay, okay, you're giving us two ones at Kenny Clark, you know, to close this out. We need another three. We need another three.
- [23:02]
Pat McAfee
Another one.
- [23:03]
Adam Schefter
Green Bay would. Oh, with that, they would have thrown it in.
- [23:06]
Pat McAfee
Yes, definitely. That's. I actually said the exact words this morning as I was in here. It was like, jerry maybe has lost his fastball. Because at the very end, everybody's happy. We're almost close to a deal getting done. Ba da da. And then it's like, second gets this thing done right now, actually, another one gets this deal done right now, we're going to throw this away. Overall one, you guys got a deal done with Micah. You already got that figured out. We already got the other assets figured out. One more one. Three years from now, that ain't gonna be.
- [23:31]
Adam Schefter
Well, I don't know if they would have gotten three ones, Pat, but I. I think at that moment, you.
- [23:35]
Pat McAfee
You.
- [23:35]
Adam Schefter
You make a request for one more pick. I. The way that somebody explained to me was I would have asked for a third, and I. I think that that's plausible. You want to ask for something, but not a ridiculous amount. You have the trade in play. Hey, guys, to close, I need another three. I'm talking about my people. Just throw in another three, and we'll close it out. Mike is yours.
- [23:53]
Pat McAfee
Okay, so there was also a report that another team was involved. I think that was. Was that you that reported that? I'm not 100% sure. And it was the Eagles. Howie calls in and goes, hey, heard you have a problem over there. Didn't know if you wanted to trade him in a division. Is that real?
- [24:10]
Adam Schefter
That's real. And yeah, I reported this morning. Basically, the way I understand this is, is that the Eagles definitely were in on Micah. Now, again, I want to be very clear. I don't think the Dallas Cowboys ever were going to trade him, but that was not for a lack of effort from the Philadelphia Eagles. And there are a few things that I find really interesting about it. Number one, there are a lot of teams out there that say, look, we'd love Micah. We just can't afford it. We can't make it happen. Well, here's the Philadelphia Eagles who have paid Jalen Hurts, who have paid Saquon Barkley, who have paid A.J. brown, who have paid Devontae Smith, who have paid people on their defense like Zach Vaughn, and they're saying, you know what? I know we can't pay, but we're going to. It's Micah Parsons, and we're going to find a way to pay. And I don't know what they would have done, but I think it's common sense to think. We're just talking about what the Green Bay packers wound up giving up to the Dallas Cowboys. Two ones in Kenny Clark. I don't know the Eagles specific offer, but I would bet anything it was a richer, more lucrative offer than what the Green Bay packers offer. Because it had to be. Because if the Eagles were even going to get the Cowboys to think about trading him in the division, which I don't think they would have done for the record, it was going to be an offer that the Cowboys couldn't say no to. And even then, they would have said no, probably. So, yes, the Eagles tried. The Eagles tried on Mike it, but they were told no.
- [25:37]
Pat McAfee
Jerry, I got to tax you. I mean, in the division. No way. We got to go double everything. If you do that in the division, especially with the rivalry, you know, the Eagles. Cowboys rivalry. Over the years, Cowboys fans would. I mean, it was loud to begin with, going to the packers, you know. Yeah. If. That. If Micah would have ended up with the Philadelphia Eagles.
- [25:55]
Ty Schmidt
Oh, man, it would have.
- [25:57]
Pat McAfee
I love that how he's just snooping around, though. Hey, how's everything? What do you got going on down there, Jerry? Everything okay? I don't know what hotel you're staying in whenever you come up for opening night. I got a new place to open up. I think it'll be great. Also, Micah, what are we. You guys moving on from Jerry going. I can't. I can't. No way can I.
- [26:14]
Adam Schefter
Well, what if we imagine Micah back in Pennsylvania, where he grew up playing with Saquon Barkley?
- [26:21]
Pat McAfee
I mean, they'd riot on that D line with that D line already. I mean, it would be.
- [26:26]
Connor
They would go to Jersey.
- [26:28]
Pat McAfee
This is Kevin Durant heading to Golden State. You know, that is a. Because he would just be able to do whatever he wants on that defense.
- [26:34]
Connor
Him and Jalen Carter.
- [26:35]
Pat McAfee
Hey, we'll take care of everything else. He's not good against the run. Okay.
- [26:39]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, don't eat him.
- [26:39]
Pat McAfee
That's not why you're here. Yeah, you guys gotta go do whatever you need to do. It is a. That Would have been insane if that would happen in the division. Obviously it didn't. Green Bay packers now have Micah Parsons. How would that work out? We shall see. We'll talk to coach Mike McCarthy in the second hour. Can't wait to catch up with him on his thoughts. Thoughts on everything. Tone has a question for you.
- [26:57]
AP Tone
Chef D. Yeah, Chef D. Another pass rusher got paid this morning. Nick bonito got a four year extension, 120 million, 70 million guaranteed. We were talking a little earlier before the show. That 70 million guaranteed, 120 total is quite the discrepancy. Do we know anything about the situation there as far as incentives or anything like that? And then also, do you know any other team besides the Denver Broncos that everyone is so high on coming into the season?
- [27:21]
Adam Schefter
Well, they certainly are one of these picks that's a little bit trendy and a little bit hot right now. And I think part of the reason they're hot and trendy is because they have done such a great job of keeping their own players. They give Bonito that deal. It comes out to be the highest paid non quarterback in Broncos franchise history. They went and paid Cortland Sutton this offseason. This summer they went and paid Zach Allen. So they've kept their core guys that have been important to this team. I'm again, there are some people that are picking them and when you're in a division with the Chiefs, everybody usually underdog. So you know, here's you, here's where you can pick a great team and you say, okay, well they're an underdog to Kansas City. They're in division with Jim Harbaugh on the Chargers Harbaugh game. So I mean that division is loaded in the eight and the other team is coached by Pete Carroll who will become the oldest coach in NFL history on Sunday when he goes up against the Patriots. So it's, it's a great division and the Broncos have done all the things they want. And again, I don't know the specifics, specific incentives, Tone, but I would just.
- [28:27]
Pat McAfee
Say this, that's a lot.
- [28:29]
Adam Schefter
Yeah, it's 70 million guaranteed. So you know, read into that whatever you want. Like I'm sure maybe the deal isn't exactly, but it's, it's going to be a damn strong deal. And these owners in Denver, Greg and Carrie Penner, they are going to make their mark and they are going to be around a long time and they are going to be amongst the best owners in not only in just football but in all of sports and the pockets that they have that enable these deals to happen. They're building their own training facility. They're going to get a stadium built there in Denver. These people are big time, big time. And they're going to mean a lot to that city in that franchise.
- [29:07]
Pat McAfee
Walmart. Pretty. Pretty good little business. Yeah.
- [29:09]
Ty Schmidt
Not bad.
- [29:10]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, it ended up being okay, didn't it? Yep.
- [29:12]
Connor
He's slashing prices.
- [29:14]
Pat McAfee
The Walton family, that is the daughter, I do believe, who you just referred to, who is acting owner of the Denver Broncos. I'm happy they're investing in football. I like that. I appreciate the fact that they're investing in the NFL. We also saw there was maybe 106 million in total from Spotrac, but he had a year left on his contract. That's still a lot of incentive based money. You know, like I, I'm excited to see.
- [29:35]
Adam Schefter
There's a lot of ways you could look at this and I know Tone asked that question and I saw last night we reported that the Niners sweetened Juwan Jennings deal. And I want to bring that up for Tone on purpose because I think it's a situation like that. And there's the deal. Basically, Juwan Jennings wanted a new deal. He's going into the last year 49ers offered a multi year deal. He opted to take this particular arrangement, which is 3 million more of incentives this year, which could boost his salary to about ten and a half million, which is still for number one receiver, a great deal for the Niners. But if he balls out this year, he's going to crush it on the free agent market and have a chance to really get paid. But I bring up this deal for Tone because I wonder, I wonder if the people in Pittsburgh.
- [30:22]
AP Tone
Yeah, of course.
- [30:23]
Adam Schefter
Paying attention.
- [30:24]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, well, people in Pittsburgh are looking for a wide receiver any way they can get it. But whenever you talk about that Juwan Jennings deal, that's 3 million in incentives. That's a lot. 3 million is a lot in incentives based each year. 5 million. A lot. Over $10 million in incentives each year is crazy. That is. That is a crazy number. Like I'm. What is cure cure cancer? Like what is the cure?
- [30:47]
Connor
Covid 35 sacks.
- [30:49]
Pat McAfee
Like 10 million is a lot of money in. Because he kept saying up to. Up to. Up to. I think that was AJ's first reaction whenever he read the thing. Up to. Like that's a lot of money. $50 million that's being reported is a lot of money. That's almost 100. I mean, what is it? 80% of what but no, but, you.
- [31:06]
Adam Schefter
Know, no defensive player gets his full deal guaranteed. So up to 120, 70 guaranteed. I mean, I don't know.
- [31:14]
Pat McAfee
70 is good. 70 is good. I just didn't know if we knew the incentives. You got to win a Super bowl, you got to have three touchdowns.
- [31:19]
Adam Schefter
The Devil will be in the details. The devil will be in the details. But couple pick sixes be a strong deal.
- [31:23]
Pat McAfee
Need a pick six in the super bowl to pick up two and a half million, you need it like that. Ten million is a lot of money. Nick Bonito is certainly a game record and I don't love that this was the first highlight.
- [31:32]
Connor
Sure.
- [31:33]
Pat McAfee
I mean, I just got run every single time.
- [31:34]
Connor
That's a good read.
- [31:35]
Pat McAfee
Okay, rookie. He didn't know what he was looking at. A guy popped up out of nowhere. He said, is that Troy, Paul Mallow, Ed Reid out there? Who the hell is this?
- [31:41]
AP Tone
Why would you do that?
- [31:42]
Pat McAfee
No, it's Nick Bonito out of Oklahoma and he's a dog. And he just got paid 70 million guaranteed.
- [31:46]
Connor
Shefter with some of these players, did they to tell them last year, like, hey, we're so strapped for cash because of the dead cap. Like, you need to wait till next year and we'll take care of you.
- [31:56]
Adam Schefter
Well, which players are you talking about?
- [31:58]
Pat McAfee
Broncos.
- [31:59]
Connor
Yeah, Broncos like Cortland Sutton, Zach Allen, like all these guys, they paid a lot of them, you know, vet leaders. Is that why they.
- [32:06]
Adam Schefter
This is the choice that I think all teams make. Right. Like you, you try to figure out when is the best time to sign your guys. And, and the price, if you wait and the guy performs and he stays healthy, usually goes up. And look, by the way, let's look at it at the flip side too, right? Sometimes it goes the other way. Elijah Vera Tucker is going to be a free agent here. And he tears his triceps in practice on Tuesday. It's not ideal. So now you know, when you're Elijah Vera Tucker next year in the free agent market, you're probably have to sign a deal, a one year deal and get back to that point and then try to hit the free agent market again in 27. So sometimes it makes sense for players to wait, sometimes it makes sense for players to sign an extension. Everybody's different. You have to factor in the player, their history, what the offer is. There's a lot of different factors at play. There's no simple answer to any of that.
- [32:54]
Pat McAfee
There's also what, 60 million in dead cap for the Broncos last year or whatever.
- [32:57]
Adam Schefter
Yeah, by the way that's probably a big part of why they had to wait to pay these guys, because Russell Wilson was getting his lion's share of that. And by the way, I think there's still money left over now this year on Russell Wilson.
- [33:11]
Pat McAfee
32. 32 million. Good question, O', Con, man. Yeah.
- [33:17]
Adam Schefter
You know, any other excellent insight from Pat bringing up. That was very good, Pat.
- [33:22]
Pat McAfee
Oh, thank you. Yeah, we try to do a little bit of that around here. You know, try to do a little bit of something people don't believe it, but we try to do. We're just a Disney show for something that isn't on ESPN for two years when we might not be on ESPN at the time that that is even happening. For Red Zone, what are your thoughts on the Red Zone news? The commercial? I accidentally said we don't care without context of like, we're still going to watch. Whenever they put the play through Red Zone commercials in there. Lrap and play through commercials is what they're saying. Obviously would be better without any of that.
- [33:50]
Ty Schmidt
Sure.
- [33:51]
Pat McAfee
Give me the. Give me the. Give me the shit.
- [33:52]
Connor
Yes.
- [33:53]
Pat McAfee
Give me the full. But we. You've been around the NFL how long now?
- [33:57]
Adam Schefter
This is my 35th or 36 year covering the lake since 1990.
- [34:01]
Pat McAfee
Okay, so you've been around the league for 36 years. I grew up in Pittsburgh, which is NFL town. Had a very lucky opportunity to be a part of it. Feel like my brain operates in, like, a little bit more of a business fashion than some people. So as soon as I saw the NFL get a little bit of cash from those L reps on that Red Zone channel last year, I was like, oh, they are starting to. Oh, that is starting. They were definitely going to put something in there, if you. Is what my thoughts were.
- [34:27]
Adam Schefter
But I'm just. The NFL makes the decision to charge for the current. What to put in the corner. It's not espn, it's the NFL.
- [34:33]
Pat McAfee
It's not on ESPN for two years. This happened last year, too. Yeah, it was happening last year as well. So it's like the amount of things that I had said to me that were very, very rude. I would like to let everybody. They're very rude, but I'm built for it. I'm supposed to take these things, I guess because I. I guess because I signed up for this, I'm supposed to just be told things that aren't true and terrible about myself on a regular basis. But it's like I did say, we don't care. We do care. We would Much rather it not be in existence. But we're still gonna watch. I guess people are saying they're not gonna watch. It's like, okay, prove it. Okay. Red zone has become a necessity, basically, which is why it's the most ingenious concept that the NFL or any sport has really come up with. And I do think that people are such big fans of it. Like, we are like, don't ruin it. You're gonna ruin it. You're gonna ruin it. You're gonna ruin it. Well, if somebody ruins it, it's the NFL because it's their product and it's a genius product. And I think we all knew they were going to try to profit a little bit more off of it, which is not great, I'm saying, but I'm just saying I'm still going to watch.
- [35:29]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, and you can also say that. And. And we'll see what you're doing when that first Sunday comes along when you know your local affiliate isn't carrying a game at 1pm so you got nothing but like news on. And then guess what? The 4:00pm time slot. Oh, no, that game sucks. It's shit.
- [35:43]
Pat McAfee
You know who you got seven hours of red zone football with? Scott Hansen. Yeah, they got us. They know they got us. They were definitely going to try to profit more off of that. So I. When I said we don't care, I missed that. I should have said we would rather it did it.
- [35:58]
Ty Schmidt
It's not the end of the world.
- [35:59]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, we are gonna watch.
- [36:01]
Ty Schmidt
Yes.
- [36:02]
Pat McAfee
And they know we're gonna do. We're part of the problem. But we are definitely gonna watch.
- [36:06]
Connor
And people who watch the grum know what you were saying, like when you. If. If you don't fall the program, then it. It would be hard to understand that. But the way you said it wasn't like, well, nobody cares. There's commercials. Everyone. Everyone is okay with that. Like, that's not what you were saying. And people who took it like that. I'm not going to say the word, but it's a word they use in England and Australia and I'd like to use it, but those people suck.
- [36:27]
Pat McAfee
Okay. Okay.
- [36:29]
Connor
That's growth, baby.
- [36:30]
Pat McAfee
It rhymes with.
- [36:31]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
- [36:35]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I think so. In other countries, country is very normal. Yeah, yeah. Ain't not good descriptor of these particular situations. But here we will never do that. Okay, let's talk about tomorrow. Chief Chargers. I heard there's bad practice field down there. These boys are trying to do a walkthrough down in Brazil and they can't do it because the field, shit, it is absolute shite. Now. Whenever we went and played in England, we were staying at a hotel slash golf course. We did our practice and walk through on, like a field that was kind of in the back. It was obviously not a desirable football field, but it was kind of like a park situation. And we weren't really going hard. I mean, it was just like kind of test out the legs a little bit. Let's move around. They're probably doing walkthroughs out here. Still have to get work done. What is the conversation around? That guy's locked in, by the way. That guy is not. Don't even think about it. Don't even look at the grass, actually, with that guy. They're lucky they're filming with that guy on patrol, to be honest. What is the conversation about Brazil? How does everybody feel about how the game's going to go? Because obviously the track last year, a little slick during the game as well.
- [37:36]
Adam Schefter
It's a repeat of last year is what it looks like. I would think that it should be and would be better this year. I have not gotten any firm reports about the field condition being an issue, but if there are early complaints, as you're saying, that's not an encouraging sign. That doesn't look great right there. But I think you. I think you understand that when you step outside of our country into one of these games, you just don't know what you're gonna get. And the elements are different all the time. Remember the teams there last year? This year, they're told to just stay in the hotel. They don't want them leaving, they don't want any security concerns, they don't want any security risks. It's a strange thing, and I. I think week one is such a unpredictable, challenging week for so many people. And when you introduce a game like this, it becomes that much more challenging and difficult to navigate. But here you have two great teams where they have excelled and shined in spots like this. Andy Reid has been superior when he's given extensive time to prepare for an opponent the way he is in an opener with the chargers and Jim Harbaugh's 5, 0 in opening day games in the NFL. He's done a great job getting his teams ready. So two AFC west juggernauts going at it and in probably a little bit less than ideal conditions. But the league wants to continue to grow the sport all over the world. They were very pleased with the experiment in Brazil last year. Their backs again this year. And I would Imagine they'll keep going back there and keep growing the sport.
- [38:58]
Pat McAfee
I remember we were doing some business with Dazn and they talked about countries that love the NFL, that they have the international rights for. Brazil was always one of those countries that they were like, hey, they love the NFL down in Brazil. Last year, you know, had a green team involved. That was a big conversation. This year they said, we're not doing that again. Smart. Send a blue team down there, send a red team down there. Let's go ahead and get this all cleared up. We appreciate the fact that our game is being spread throughout the world. And shout out to the boys. They seem jovial over there. Here's Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in their opening press conference from Brazil.
- [39:29]
Ty Schmidt
We've had a plan for this all summer long and now we're just ready to play football again.
- [39:33]
A.J. Hawk
Travis, what was last night like at the airport?
- [39:35]
Connor
Oh, man, it was crazy.
- [39:37]
Pat McAfee
It was, it was.
- [39:39]
Mike McCarthy
It was a lot of fun seeing all the fans there.
- [39:41]
Pat McAfee
And he had that one coming for telling everybody. I didn't know where Brazil was on the map. There was a little geography conversation between Pat and it sounds like jovial. And I think they get it too. Like, hey, we are the current. We are the team, like world. The NFL is going to want to shop us. Yeah. The world's team in the kingdom. They are going to want to shop us around. They're going to want us to be on opening night. And if we're not on opening night because we didn't win, okay, we're going to create a Friday night game and you're going to be playing down in Brazil, showcasing it to the world. I think they appreciate that honor and opportunity. Justin Herbert, Derwin, James Harbaugh and the boys out there, I'm excited to see if this is the year they all piece it together. That should be a fun Friday night.
- [40:21]
Adam Schefter
You bring up all these football stars and they are football stars and football standouts. But when you take a step back and look at it, is there any bigger celebrity in the NFL right now than Travis Kelsey? In all honesty, nobody. Like, I think his worldwide popularity right now exceeds Patrick Mahomes.
- [40:40]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would say so. Yeah. Which is crazy to think about because I think the reason why he was perfect for Taylor is because he was in Patrick Mahomes shadow for so long. Like tight ends. Tight ends don't care about being the star. Tight ends are literally offensive lineman women. They're never going to be the one that is being promoted, which is why I thought he was perfect for Taylor. It's like he's not going to be scared that his lady is a lot more popular and powerful and influential and every. And liked way more than he is because he's a tight end. Like, that's how that goes. So I thought that was all good. But now that you mention it. Yeah, I do think he's probably more well known. Yes. Well, especially if he's out on a date night anywhere in the world. Yeah, they're gonna. They're gonna be tracking him. Him. Congrats. Just. Kid from Cleveland. Yeah, kid from Cleveland.
- [41:26]
Connor
I hope Mahomes doesn't mind.
- [41:28]
Pat McAfee
Oh, you think Patrick Mahomes is gonna be a little sour?
- [41:32]
Adam Schefter
I think there might be more worldwide interest in Travis Kelce than any NFL player.
- [41:37]
AP Tone
He has more Instagram. Travis has more Instagram followers.
- [41:39]
Pat McAfee
I don't know. Oh, but then if we start doing that, then we start getting into all the soccer players and then nobody really matters. Dwayne Johnson, that cricket player. Julian Joel. Yes. Super famous.
- [41:50]
Ty Schmidt
We're talking about those two.
- [41:52]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. But as they grow the game, there was a thought, maybe Australia, as somebody that did that trip, I think Australia would be great for the NFL. I think they would love our sport. I think it's a combination of both their sports. They like with a little bit more padding and everything like that. And a lot of Aussies have been doing American football because of the similarities to Aussie rules football with punting and how good it is to get into our sport. So definitely going to grow in popularity in Australia. Like, how would that work? It's so far. It is so far. That's 16 hours from LA. You know, the one, the one thing.
- [42:22]
Adam Schefter
That I've Learned with the NFL, like, I went to Australia back in the late 90s when the Broncos were playing an exhibition game there against.
- [42:29]
Pat McAfee
Oh, this has happened before, you're saying. Okay, got it.
- [42:31]
Adam Schefter
Oh, yeah. No, no, they. They've done it. It was in the preseason. I. I went to Australia with the Broncos when I covered them back in the early 90s, they played a preseason game there. So, look, here's the deal. If the league feels like it's worth its while and it's going to make enough money to go play a regular season game in Australia, it's going to go play a regular season game in Australia. And I would think that it's only a matter of time. The time difference, they'll figure it out. Maybe there's a buy on the back end. Maybe there's a Thursday night game the following week or like, they'll make it work so that it's doable if it's attractive enough and produces enough revenue.
- [43:11]
Pat McAfee
I would say nowhere.
- [43:12]
Adam Schefter
Nowhere is off limits, Pat. Nowhere.
- [43:14]
Pat McAfee
I understand. Worldwide. Yeah. And they're gonna try. They're gonna try. I think we're gonna get Elon's trying to get them up there to do a game, you know, at least to Mars, in its entirety. If we could do more with Australia, I think that'd be good. Australia is a beautiful country. It is just so far. It is so far in the time zone are completely backwards. I mean, they're winter right now going into spring. Okay. We're obviously summer going into fall here. Just everything completely backwards. I was a day ahead of everybody. I was letting them know what tomorrow looked like when I was talking to people back here in Indiana. So it's like figuring the logistics. That would be crazy. But I think that country would be great football fans. Now, let's talk about the NFL a little bit with some more injury information. Go ahead, Con Man.
- [43:57]
Connor
Yeah, sure. Jeffy. Cj, GJ got hurt during training camp, and I think we all assumed that he was gonna be out for the year. Is reported as a very serious knee injury. And then you reported this week. I forget if it was yesterday or earlier in the week that he's actually going to be playing on Sunday against the Rams. Is this another Wolverine blood situation when it comes to healing quickly, or did cj GJ not have as serious of an injury in. Is the rehab facilities at the Texans just better than everybody else?
- [44:27]
Adam Schefter
Well, first of all, kind of. I love that cj gj, like, that is an awesome thing. It kind of flows off your tongue.
- [44:31]
Connor
Yeah, I just invented it, brother.
- [44:33]
Pat McAfee
Put on a T shirt.
- [44:34]
Adam Schefter
Patent it should patent that right now.
- [44:37]
Connor
Okay.
- [44:38]
Adam Schefter
But when he went down with a knee injury in training camp, I believe it was Thursday, August 8, off the top of my head. And there were some reports that he had torn his acl. The team was concerned he tore his acl, but that was never the injury. The injury was such that it just wasn't as bad as some people thought it was. And they always felt like there was a chance that he was going to be back in the opening game. And obviously a credit to cj, GJ that he made it back this quickly. But he could be out there for the first game of the season for the Texans. He'll be playing safety. I'm sure he's going to be starting and he's going to be Looking to make some plays against a tough Rams team.
- [45:16]
Pat McAfee
Shafty, I don't know how big the rock is that you live under so that you can do the job that you do, but I do appreciate it. Don't we?
- [45:22]
Ty Schmidt
Oh, yeah, without a doubt.
- [45:23]
Pat McAfee
Always. You never hear in cj, gj just means you're so locked in that you don't even got time. I don't even got time in this entire thing. He's a tone setter, though. Oh, yeah. He is a guy that when you bring him in, you know exactly what he's bringing. When he's absent, I assume not only can he feel it on the football field, locker room, sideline, everything, what a boost he brings to everybody and the other team. Hey, him.
- [45:43]
Connor
Yeah, immediately, by the way.
- [45:44]
Adam Schefter
And, and, and conversely, if we're going to tie it all together, the Texas have cj, GJ on Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles are like, without cj, gj.
- [45:56]
Pat McAfee
Oh, oh, we caught the tail end. You froze there in the middle, but we still got the punch line. That's good news. I would like to see Vic Fangio's Philadelphia Eagles defense without cj, gj. He was a beast. I'm pumped for tonight. What is your. We have another question. But like, just as we're talking about the Eagles here, what is your feel for tonight? I think this can go both ways. I think this could be a very close game. Dallas Cowboys can pull a lot of motivation from being, hey, this is the dumbest America's team has ever looked and yada, yada, yada, they haven't won. And I think the Eagles could maybe blow them up. Like, I, I have no idea how it's going to go, which I think is a good thing. Sportsbook saying, eight and a half. That's the biggest spread of the weekend that being opening night is Jerry Jones saying, doesn't matter. I am on opening night. The biggest numbers. You need me. What are your thoughts from talking around the league on how people see this all going?
- [46:43]
Adam Schefter
I think that opening weekend is always very difficult to predict. We go back a year ago. I remember my father. I'll give him a little shout out. Jeff Shefter telling me, are you kidding? I got my survivor figured out that Cincinnati Bengals are a lock and lo and behold, the New England Patriots go in and beat Cincinnati in Cincinnati. So the one thing about opening week is really these teams, there are some results that always come out and shock people. Now maybe it's Dallas going into Philly tonight. I think super bowl champions since 2004 have a 155 record in this game. Dak Prescott has played very well against the Philadelphia Eagles. He didn't play in either game against the Eagles last year. And so Dakota, when he's played against the Eagles, has been at his best. So I think Dallas is going to play with him tonight. And I can tell you that some people within the Eagles organization are uneasy because you just don't know how this is going to go. It's the opening game. Everybody's going to be fired up. You know, is Dallas going to be fired up to prove a point without Micah, or is the defense going to suffer without him? But they have, obviously Kenny Clarkson. It's just a lot of changes, a lot of unpredictable predictability, a lot of uncertainty as we go into the open. Look, Philadelphia is at home. There should be a ton of emotion and energy. They should find a way to win the game. But I don't see it being a blowout at all.
- [48:01]
Pat McAfee
Eight and a half's a lot of points, especially for an opening week. But what if they all come out fired up? The Eagles and their offensive line just picks up the Dallas Cowboys D line and just walks them down the field. And Saquon Barkley's doing his from night one.
- [48:16]
Ty Schmidt
There's a chance.
- [48:17]
Pat McAfee
There's a chance that that's going to happen. I mean, that could certainly take place. Kenny Clark, though, can say, I don't think so. Excited for tonight. It's going to be beautiful. Last question here. Let's stay in the NFC East. Go ahead, Ty.
- [48:27]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, Shefty. It was reported that the Cook Coke family is. Is buying, you know, 10% of the Giants for a billion dollars. We've seen this happen a couple times now, you know, with a few teams. Why isn't every team currently doing this? And are you surprised that the Giants are now, what, the second most valuable team in the NFL, if this is to be correct?
- [48:53]
Adam Schefter
Well, I am surprised that not every team's doing this like some teams have done it. Jeffrey Lurie with the Eagles did it and made it such that whatever he paid, he got back more and still retained 90%. Oh, by the way, back to before, it's got a text that the league announced super bowl week that they're playing multiple games in Melbourne, Australia beginning in 2026.
- [49:14]
Pat McAfee
Okay. Yeah, that's what we're saying. So how would that. Nevermind.
- [49:18]
Adam Schefter
So, but Rams are the designated team. But back to the Giants. Yes, I'm surprised that there aren't more teams. Like every team is not selling 10% of their team getting back a billion dollars or whatever it is, putting that money in your pocket. There are some teams that could absolutely use that cash. A number of them have done it. It seems like the sharper teams have done it and they still control 90% of the team. So it's a no brainer with some of these private equity deals and these companies that are now allowed to buy into the NFL. I don't know why more people aren't doing it.
- [49:51]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. As soon as they pass the rule that, yeah, you can take VC money right up to 15% if you want. That was them voting. Hey, we're allowed to just snag few hundred million, maybe a billion dollars, right? Yep. Okay, deal. We all say yes. Yes. I thought it was just going to be everybody kind of doing it. Now the Cook. Is it Cook brothers or Coke brothers? How do you spell that? How do you say that?
- [50:10]
Adam Schefter
I mean, I don't know how to pronounce it.
- [50:13]
Pat McAfee
I think it's Cook.
- [50:14]
Ty Schmidt
I've heard both.
- [50:15]
Connor
I, I've heard Coke.
- [50:16]
Pat McAfee
So we had a Cook John that spelled it that way at our high school.
- [50:20]
Connor
Sure.
- [50:21]
Pat McAfee
K O, C H. Could shoot the three ball. He was a beast. He was a beast on a soccer field too. I mean he was way too bad. Yeah, he was. John Cook was old. Older than me. Protect. He looked out for me as a freshman soccer player. I appreciate Mr. John Cook a lot. I think he's just outdoorsman right now. He's probably in the woods trying to kill something as we speak with a. He's probably got. Yep. I would assume top. Ambulance across the top and cope across the bottom if I had to guess with him. But he said Cook Koch.
- [50:51]
Connor
You never really know.
- [50:52]
Pat McAfee
They're saying it's Coke though, in the back.
- [50:54]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I, I thought, I, I thought I heard Coke.
- [50:58]
AP Tone
Could be Koch.
- [50:59]
Connor
It's not cock. Yeah, those Coke industries and like that.
- [51:02]
AP Tone
People would like a cola.
- [51:04]
Connor
Yeah, exactly. And that, that was the confusion. No.
- [51:07]
Pat McAfee
Is it? No, I'm.
- [51:08]
Connor
No, I'm serious.
- [51:09]
Pat McAfee
Whatever. Welcome to the NFL. We have no idea who you are, but way to go, Way to go. We're happy for you. And congrats to the Giants. Mara might not be able to sleep, but his team is now valued up over 10 billion in actual valuation. Because how, what he was able to sell it as opposed to just, just, you know, pontificating on what the value is. Congrats to him. Congrats to us. We made it to NFL season. We appreciate the hell out of you shefty guys.
- [51:30]
Adam Schefter
Have a great Week. Enjoy the first game of 272 tonight. Should be awesome.
- [51:37]
Pat McAfee
When you say like that. It's going to go so quick. I know. Don't put a number on it. 271 starting tomorrow morning. Jeez Louise.
- [51:43]
Adam Schefter
The countdown. The countdown to the super bowl begins. That's the way it works. But you know what? Then there'll be more next year. So that's 272 regular season, Pat. Then we get the playoff games, too. So there's even more. So don't worry about it.
- [51:56]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Yeah. What the hell. Yeah. All right. We appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen. We'll see you on Monday. Adam. Chef dude. Yeah. Chef D. Love chef D. The man. I love shifty a lot. You know what else I like?
- [52:08]
Connor
What's that?
- [52:09]
Pat McAfee
We don't take commercial breaks, but there are a couple advertisements.
- [52:11]
Connor
Yeah, that's right.
- [52:13]
Pat McAfee
Only for companies that we. We really like sell out. Certainly. Somebody's got to pay for this set.
- [52:19]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, exactly.
- [52:22]
Pat McAfee
Ram truck. Let me tell you what. The V8 is back. What? It's not just a V8.
- [52:28]
AP Tone
No. What?
- [52:28]
Pat McAfee
Say a Hemi V8. Oh, no. Fired up and get in on it. Motor trend has chosen the Ram 1500 as its truck of the year for 2025. Wow.
- [52:41]
Connor
Let's go.
- [52:41]
Pat McAfee
Motor trend's handout awards. Awards matter.
- [52:43]
Connor
That's a big deal.
- [52:44]
Pat McAfee
Motor trend says, hey, who's the greatest? Boom. Ram trucks. 1500.
- [52:48]
Connor
It's like the Oscars of trucks.
- [52:50]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And those. Those meet. Those matter. Oh, big time.
- [52:54]
Ty Schmidt
Legacy definers.
- [52:55]
Pat McAfee
The people that are voting on it.
- [52:56]
Ty Schmidt
No, they do.
- [52:57]
Pat McAfee
If they would have asked us that, we would have said Ram 1500 truck. That thing is like you're riding on clouds. It's got all the technology you need, but still can haul anything you want. That 1500, whenever I hit that gas pedal. Sounds like a ramp. But it's not obnoxious. You see, I still want to be able to go down main street, stop at a little cafe. Now I want to be able to hop back in there and go to the farm. I want to be able to pull some hay. I want to be able to pull a truck. And I want to be able to live large and ride high. That's ram trucks to a T. That's 1500 Hemi V8 Ram truck available now. Ram trucks are also back on the track and returning to NASCAR craftsman truck series for 2020. Hell, yeah. Good luck to all the other trucks in the craft craftsman truck series. Might as well not even show up.
- [53:40]
Connor
You're screwed.
- [53:41]
Pat McAfee
I wonder if your truck's gonna quit once it hears the, that's the best truck down the line.
- [53:48]
AP Tone
Ain't that the truth.
- [53:49]
Pat McAfee
That's Ram trucks. All right. Some things we did not talk about. Damon Payne, who currently plays for Michigan, defensive lineman, it's not good for Kaylin DeBoer. He was allegedly in a conversation and said, yeah, man, I feel better this year because we actually work out at Michigan. Yeah, that's basically what he said. Said Alejandro Zuni J. I don't know. I don't know how to say the name. It's 100% on me. Michigan D line coach on Alabama transfer Damon Payne. We talked this week because we're playing Oklahoma. They played him last year when he was at Alabama, and there's a couple clips of him on tape. And I said, man, you look different on Alabama team versus us. And he goes, coach, we run a lot more here. We work out differently. I feel way better.
- [54:30]
Ty Schmidt
Better, man.
- [54:31]
Pat McAfee
Uhoh. The hits keep coming for Kaylin D. I can't guess. This is Michigan. Oklahoma. Kaylen Deoer is in his office down there. Very clean. Just the whole world is spinning around. Boosters are reaching out to on three. We're about tired of this guy. He's just sitting in there trying to figure out how to win a game. Gets all the way through the week and he's like, all right, I got everything Alabama related out of the way. We got to have a big one this weekend. I get it. But at least last week's done. And then bang from Michigan, Oklahoma game. Wow. Alabama doesn't work hard down there. Questioning their entire culture out there. This is just one hit after another for Caitlin DeBoer. And whenever you lose, especially one of these high profile schools, they're gonna be looking and seeing everything. This is a story, though, because Alabama fans are gonna see this and go, what we do. Michigan, they don't work. They don't work hard under Kaylin DeBoer. And then they immediately go, you think safe Saban's boys ever said, we're not working hard around here? No way. Saban's in that building still. You know, that's because he's so addicted to ball, still addicted to his routine. I don't think he wants to have all of the responsibility of being a head coach anymore. He's 70. Feel like he's given enough to the game. He's already won enough. He wants to help. He wants to be around. But Caleb walks down that hallway and just sees his office and goes, that's the ghost I'm hunting.
- [55:45]
Connor
Yeah, yeah, the guy was good.
- [55:47]
Pat McAfee
Walks on his way and he comes back, how'd you do it? How'd you do it? How am I supposed to do it? And then just puts his old visor on, then just walks away. All right, Coach and Nick Saman's like, all right, you got to at least work out, at least have him working out out there. This guy's got to be in shape.
- [56:10]
AP Tone
I just, look, they've had the same strength coach since 2020, so it's not like Deborah brought a new guy. But did he tell the, the old guy, hey, hey, let's not work these boys as hard as Saban did.
- [56:17]
Pat McAfee
Well, with that being said, I think we have same strength coach from when Neil Brown was there now with Rich Rod and I do believe there's been a little bit different direction, different cultures.
- [56:27]
Connor
Yeah.
- [56:27]
Pat McAfee
Hey, you know, C.J. donaldson had to lose £20 when he got to Ohio State. Let's not have that happen.
- [56:35]
Connor
Sounds like that's close to what happened with Payne here. From Bama to Michigan.
- [56:39]
Pat McAfee
Kaylin, we're fans, we're sorry you're taking shrapnel. But also, I know, yeah, you know.
- [56:45]
Connor
And you know, no pressure. You lose another game, it's over.
- [56:50]
Ty Schmidt
There's a lot of pressure.
- [56:52]
Pat McAfee
We'll be back on the other side. That's Alabama football, baby. Yeah. Amen. Roll Tide, this is Joe Button. You and I make decisions every day but on prize picks. Being right can get you paid. So I'm here to make sure you don't miss miss any of the action this football season with Prizepix where it's good to be right. With millions of members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, Prizepix is the best place to put your daily fantasy takes to the test. The app is really simple to use and available in 40 plus states including California, Texas and Georgia. Just pick two or more players across any sport. Pick more or less on their projections and if you're right, you could cash in. With simple stats and fan friendly policies, prizepix is the best place to make your appearance. Picks. Most importantly, they don't play about your paper. All transactions on the app are fast, safe and secure. Click here to download the prizepix app today and use code TPMS to get $50 in site credits after you play your first $5. That's code TPMS to get $50 in site credits after you play your first$5 prize picks. It's good to be right. Must be present in certain states, visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details.
- [57:59]
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- [59:15]
Pat McAfee
Football is majestic and we're so incredibly lucky that tonight we have an NFL game. The Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys to kick off the greatest season in NFL history. An 8 1/2 point spread for the Hunter home team. Will they be able to cover and be dominant like they were in the Super Bowl 207 days ago? Or will this scrappy Dallas Cowboys team, who's been counted out all offseason without Michael Parsons, go into the city of brotherly love and keep this thing close? That's what we're all trying to predict as we lay down our wagers on this NFL Kickoff Thursday that talks to tables here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt. It's glorious day, Ty.
- [59:57]
Ty Schmidt
It is glorious day. You know, listen, the last several weeks I've been trying to kind of keep my mind occupied and saying, hey, listen, I still got the Yankees. I'm excited about that. I got Iowa football. This is great. I woke up this morning and I felt alive. I really did. And listen, the packers aren't even playing tonight. We have NFL football back. I mean, you hate to say it because a lot of what you do in your life matters, clearly, but it feels almost like nothing really matters until you wake up this morning and you understand that the because we've been waiting.
- [60:24]
Pat McAfee
On Thursday night that's Is that debuting tonight? New Sunday Night Football song. Let's hope because Sunday Night Football is on this evening. It is. We love the off season. We love sports. We appreciate sports.
- [60:38]
Connor
Derby was fun.
- [60:39]
Pat McAfee
Derby was home run. Derby was elected. Thank you to the MLB for allowing us to be a part of that NFL season. Just feels special. Let's go to 1/2 of the hammer that Cowboys AP tone. Happy NFL Football Day to you and to you. Thank you. What are your thoughts on tonight's spread?
- [60:54]
AP Tone
Tonight's spread. I think it's. I was gonna say I think it's a little high, but as we've talked about.
- [60:59]
Pat McAfee
What's your chat GP tone say?
- [61:02]
AP Tone
It's funny you say that. The NFL one started processing this morning. It's not done yet.
- [61:06]
Pat McAfee
So late to the dance.
- [61:12]
Connor
Little late to the dance.
- [61:13]
AP Tone
You're right know caught up in college football. I will if it. If it finishes by the time the show's over.
- [61:18]
Pat McAfee
Whatever.
- [61:18]
AP Tone
It's still, you know, percolating in there. I will let you know. What?
- [61:21]
Connor
What's that? The shovel and coal at the chat.
- [61:25]
Pat McAfee
Oh, I'm sorry. Somebody doing the math or something.
- [61:28]
AP Tone
Oh, boy, you are. They're not gonna like you.
- [61:32]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. You should watch what you're saying about these things. These things listen and these things like to gossip.
- [61:36]
Connor
I talk to mine every day and we're on a great, great relationship.
- [61:40]
Pat McAfee
I'll tell you what. Mine wasn't bad. I. I asked it how many days it was since the Super bowl popped up.207. Then I immediately don't believe it. Sure. And I go search it somewhere else. Yeah. So I feel like I have trust issues with my potential AI. I operate with Grok. I haven't gone to the GP Tone yet, but I do appreciate that you're over there trying to get the books for us.
- [61:58]
AP Tone
If I had to take a guess, I would assume it would have the spread be more than seven. Just because right now it's using stat stats from last year and last year Dak didn't play. Okay. They didn't have a running game. Their defense was terrible.
- [62:10]
Pat McAfee
All. All.
- [62:11]
AP Tone
I mean, but this is a new Cowboys team.
- [62:12]
Pat McAfee
Okay.
- [62:13]
AP Tone
When you have CD and GP and Ferguson and Javante Williams comes over the Broncos and you got Dak back. I think the offense is. I, I'm actually. That's not who I normally am.
- [62:23]
Pat McAfee
I might take the over. Whoa, whoa. Really? We're gonna score some points. Even though normally opening game, a little bit of a cagey affair on the offensive side is. Everybody tries to feel it out. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who has the most tackles in the history of the Green Bay Packers. He's Michael Parsons going to be chasing him.
- [62:39]
Ty Schmidt
Yes, he will.
- [62:40]
Pat McAfee
He's a college football national champion, a Super bowl champion and a Ryder cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. hawk is here. Happy NFL football day to you, A.J.
- [62:48]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, it's a beautiful day for everybody. But is anybody going to pick the Cowboys tonight?
- [62:52]
AP Tone
And you.
- [62:53]
Pat McAfee
For what? For spread or straight up?
- [62:55]
A.J. Hawk
Straight up. Is anyone going to pick. You know, when we see the things the pregame shows are going to be.
- [62:58]
Pat McAfee
All Eagles, over the past two days, I have not seen a single star pop up on any of the predictions. It's not just this game, though. There's a lot of games where everybody feels the exact same way. And I think that goes back to what Shefter was talking about. And we all agree with him early in the season. We have no idea. That's like, why Coach Lee Corso going perfect College Football Week 1 is insane because nobody has a clue who's going to show up except for Coach Corporation. But nobody has a idea of what team's going to be what. Of course, you assume the Philadelphia Eagles are just going to pick up where they left off last year at the Super Bowl. Of course you're going to think that the Philadelphia Eagles learned who exactly they were during that playoff run when they were very dominant, and they're just going to carry that into the season. There's still a bunch of new pieces. There's new operations, there's a new feel. It's a new time of year. There's so many different new things that you have to have a question mark around all the things that we assume to to be true. And then for the Dallas Cowboys, it's like they could be very motivated. Yeah. And motivation is a big deal in football, especially with how physical it is, especially on opening night where things can be a little bit ugly, maybe not put together. It's like Shotty getting his opportunity to lead the Cowboys. It's like, you're welcome for the amount of shit that you could just pull from and motivate the boys. I have no idea what's going to happen tonight, genuinely, but I think the safe thing and the easy thing to do is just the Eagles are going to win. And that's what everybody has done on these game shows or on these shows that are picking A.J.
- [64:20]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, I mean, I know the Eagles, believe me, they are absolutely stacked and loaded when it comes to talent and where everybody is but the Cowboys, this is like a win win situation. They could have a moral victory if they keep it close and look pretty good. So I think for the Cowboys, like they have great day. Hey, guys, nobody's giving us a chance. Here we go. We can make. We can shock the world here week one.
- [64:38]
Pat McAfee
But what if they lose by 20?
- [64:40]
Connor
Yeah, yeah.
- [64:41]
A.J. Hawk
Yep.
- [64:41]
Connor
That's when lose tough.
- [64:43]
Pat McAfee
It'll be loud. Exactly. And I think that's a possibility. Like, I think there's so many possibilities for this game. Like unc, tcu. I actually said during my pick this could go very different directions.
- [64:54]
Connor
Yep.
- [64:54]
Pat McAfee
You know, like, could Bill Belichick figure out how to out fundamental and out scheme tcu? Maybe there's a chance. That first drive. Here it is. It's happening. We knew TCU's offense was going to score, so were they just going to battle Pack? Possibly. But then for TCU to blow him, I was like, that was always a possibility. Nobody had a clue who was on this North Carolina team. Feels like for this game, anything's possible. This Dallas team has won right. On a regular basis in the regular season. Like, that is what is done. This is a regular season game. Getting eight and a half points in of itself disrespectful. The entire world calling your team dumb for letting one guy leave the building. And I haven't heard a lot of people coming out saying, we miss them. No, no, not.
- [65:35]
Ty Schmidt
Nobody has.
- [65:36]
Pat McAfee
I haven't heard that now. Nobody's been asked. Maybe they've been told not to say anything. I think Dak was like, nothing needed to be said and like just kind of move along. We don't want to cause any more drama. There's already been enough drama. There's a chance that that is very real, but it feels like both sides happy with the trade, team included. So if you're shoddy, you're sitting in a good spot for things that you can put up on the bulletin board to let the boys know about.
- [65:58]
Connor
Yeah, like, aside from the broken horse heart tweets from. From a couple of them, there really hasn't been the glowing like, hey, without Micah, we're going to miss him so much. He meant so much to this team. There hasn't been any of those. But even just looking at the Cowboys offense as a whole, it could be Dax, best offense he's ever had. You know, we've never seen Shotty as a play caller, but just when you're thinking skill. George Pickens, CD Lamb, both. I mean, you could argue cd. Cd definitely. Already in his prime, George. You could argue. You kind of get in there maybe. This will probably be the best quarterback he's ever played with. George Pickens. Ferguson just got paid a bunch of money. We always talk about that year one to year two jump for rookies. Their rookie alignment booker from Alabama. He's supposed to be their dude this year up front. So who knows? Eight points is a lot.
- [66:44]
Pat McAfee
Eight points a lot. Connor's heavy on the Dallas Cowboys, as you can hear through him talking through the first hour and eight minutes of this show. Once again, we are commercial, commercial free for this second hour. What Terrible guy, Coward, sellout. Commercial free. Now, it doesn't mean we're advertising free, but we are commercial free. It's almost as if that is what we would prefer, you know, in most things, as if we stood on a table for that to be a thing. And we do it every single day. With that being said, the ESPN bet is taking bets now for anything that you potentially want to wager on this Evening's NFL kickoff. ESPN bet is there for you. Bet 10 bucks, get $100 in bonus bets. That's what it says. You should look into it entirely, see how you get that. $100 in bonus bets. That is your smart. And use promo code. Get 100. Yeah, definitely. Look at the asterisk though, to see how you can get that.
- [67:35]
Ty Schmidt
Without a doubt.
- [67:36]
Pat McAfee
And whenever you're betting on that, know that this first week it's going to be tough to predict anything.
- [67:39]
AP Tone
It's very.
- [67:40]
Pat McAfee
A lot of heart betting here in the first couple weeks. And that's not where you want to be if you're trying to really be cerebral April in your sports gambling world. But right now, it's all in your heart what you think. Do you believe in Nick Sirianni and the boys? Yes. Yeah. Do you believe Shotty will have the boys be able to keep this a fight? Connor says yes. Does everybody else? We shall see.
- [67:59]
Connor
Well, that's the thing, like you just said it right there. You know, betting with your heart early on, this isn't, this isn't hard. This isn't like, hey, Cowboys have so much pull through from this is an Eagles, you know, fall off Super Bowl. This is strictly like eight and a half points points in an NFL game like we, we talk about all the time when it's week 12 and one of the teams is two and you know, 10 and the other is 12, two and it's a 14 point spread. Okay. But it's week one like we, no, we have no idea. So saying like, oh, yeah, definitely this year's Eagles team is the, you know, the eight points better than this year's Cowboys team. It just feels like with the Mica stuff, with the Jerry stuff, also with how good the E Eagles have been, it's easy to do that.
- [68:39]
Pat McAfee
The year we were two and 14, I think it was nine games that were one score games. So if we end up winning those ones that we lost, like we have 11 wins right there. You know, it's like if the ball bounces that different way happens to bounce up into deep. I don't think Debo was on the team. No, he wasn't on the team. He came afterwards, happens to bounce up into Gerard Power's hands and he scores a touchdown late. We win. Win. It's like it's very difficult to blow people out in the NFL because everybody's professional football players. But boy, you listen to the Internet a little bit. It feels like Dallas Cowboys are going to get absolutely murdered. Go ahead, Tone.
- [69:14]
AP Tone
Yeah, and this stat I'm going to give you is not 100%. It is 60%. Since 2010, when teams are underdogs of six points or more, they have covered 60% of the time. Now, 60%, not 100%. Okay, it's not 100% stat, but and gambling, we like to live.
- [69:29]
Pat McAfee
This feels like fourth down graphic on the screen saying six, go for it.
- [69:33]
AP Tone
We like to live in the margins. 53% will get you, get you home and get you a winner for the season.
- [69:37]
Pat McAfee
So joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who has a prediction Special airing at 3:00 clock on ESPN. Friend of the program, former guest host, Emmy award winner, ladies and gentlemen, Peter Schrager. Shregs. Shregs. Good to see you. Happy NFL Kickoff Day.
- [69:53]
Peter Schrager
It feels so good. It feels like a holiday. I'm in Bristol, Connecticut, where Pat, A.J. you'd be happy to know I already got a corner office with a view and everything.
- [70:02]
Pat McAfee
Is that Foss's office you're in? It is.
- [70:04]
Peter Schrager
It's sister Foss's office. We're here at the big boss's office and I'm using it as my studio here for the Pat McAfee Show.
- [70:11]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, well, we appreciate Foss lending that corner office for you. He does have a good view, I believe right outside that if you look to your left, right there, there's a wall of windows and then there's a bunch of people out there, huge fans of ours. Tell them we said hello.
- [70:24]
Peter Schrager
All those people I'd rather not.
- [70:27]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Hey, good to see you guys. It's good to see you. Foss. Boss. Don't make any noise out there. Foss. Foss is the man. Everybody behind Foss. Fans of ours. Yeah. It's good up there.
- [70:39]
Peter Schrager
Come on.
- [70:39]
Pat McAfee
Happy family.
- [70:40]
Peter Schrager
One on time here. This is it. Everyone's been very nice.
- [70:42]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. To you. Sure. The. So let's talk about tonight's game and let's talk about the prediction special that you have at 3 o'. Clock. Is it predicting tonight's game or what exactly does the prediction special with Peter Schrager at 3pm on ESPN and Tail.
- [70:57]
Peter Schrager
So every year when I was on Good Morning Football, I would bring out this super bowl prediction with great pomp and circumstance, and I have been very accurate. I had the Rams winning the Super Bowl. I had the Bucs going. I had the Chiefs all these years. And I came to espn, I said, I kind of like the flavor of that. Can we put a group together and we do a special around actual official predictions? And it's not just a Super bowl prediction path. You got to tell us your seven teams in the AFC and your seven teams in the nfc, seed them out and let's go. And guess what? When you do that, there's going to be a lot of fan bases that say, hey, wait, you said all offseason.
- [71:29]
Pat McAfee
We were going to be good.
- [71:30]
Peter Schrager
Why didn't you pick us? It's easy just to say every team's going to be great. Now, you put your money where your mouth is and your name where your heart is. And I have got my seven teams in both conferences and I have my super bowl pick, which I will unveil.
- [71:42]
Pat McAfee
At 3pm Okay, I can't wait to see that. Who all is doing this with you? Just you who's signing up to get their shit shins bashed by.
- [71:48]
Peter Schrager
That's exactly what it is. It's like, it's not pleasant. Like, I was gonna ask you guys, I'm like, there's no win to doing this. But here's the group. We got Jason McCourty, who's been through this wreckage before. He worked with me on Good Morning Football. God, Orlovsky. He said he's gonna do it. He doesn't know any better.
- [72:05]
Pat McAfee
Let me piss off how many people? Yes, I'm in.
- [72:08]
Adam Schefter
That's it.
- [72:09]
Pat McAfee
And then field Yates is smart.
- [72:11]
Peter Schrager
I'm like, let's go with him. He'll say no. He didn't say no. He's like, yes, let's do it. So Field, who is maybe the nicest guy on the universe, is going to do it and is going to find some hate online after he doesn't pick everyone's team to make the playoffs.
- [72:21]
Pat McAfee
His hair, though, is going to be tough for people to hate on him with how he looks right now. He is truly phenomenal. Cannot wait to watch that, see all the predictions from everybody and see who they pissed off or omit. Let's talk about tonight's game. Shregs, how do you see this evening going? Obviously you talk to a lot of people. We know that whenever things get close to action actually happening, that's when you have the most information. Okay. Yeah. And.
- [72:42]
Peter Schrager
And go ahead. Go on.
- [72:43]
Pat McAfee
No, no, I was gonna say I was gonna give you credit and flowers for draft night and everything. About a week before draft night, you might not have all the answers. Draft day, you have all the answers. Before kickoff day, maybe don't have all the answers. How everybody feels. Kickoff day feels like you have it all. Feels like you don't try to rush your you just say, hey, when I get it, I'll have it. What are you hearing about tonight? What are your thoughts on NFL season kicking off as a whole?
- [73:06]
Peter Schrager
I so appreciate that. It's why I don't do a mock draft in December. It's why I don't make my Sewal prediction until about three hours before kickoff. Because I like to see everything and I like to know. I will say this.
- [73:16]
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
- [73:17]
Peter Schrager
As much as this network and every other network has been destroying Jerry Jones over the last two weeks for this trade, and maybe rightfully so, the Cowboys don't feel like their defense is going to be 32nd in the league. In fact, the Cowboys feel pretty darn good with their defense even without Micah Parsons. Now, there might be egg all over that face of theirs, but I have heard a lot of people in that building tell me, you know, you guys are underestimating what Dante Fowler can bring, what Sam Williams can bring. We drafted a kid of the second round at a Boston College who can rush the passer. There are several different voices who feel like this Cowboys defense might be okay without Micah Parsons and this isn't going to be the worst trade in the history of the NFL Up.
- [73:57]
Pat McAfee
There's a lot to pull from if you're shoddy and eber flu, obviously his first year back with Dallas and obviously they got stars on their team still, but they've been disrespected heavily in the point spread. Eight and a half is certainly just the latest of the disrespect that the Dallas Cowboys can try to spur some motivation from. Go ahead, A.J.
- [74:16]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, Shrigs, when you're looking at this, this Cowboys offense, I feel like Dak has kind of flown under the radar throughout this offseason and I think he might be poised to have a big year. What do you expect in this offense tonight? And and ultimately can this offensive line hold up? Because I feel like they have so many weapons on the perimeter that they could do some great things.
- [74:33]
Peter Schrager
That's going to be the big question. They've got such a young offensive line with all those first round picks that are going to be playing, whether it be Guyton or Smith and of course Booker now, like you've got youth all over that offensive line. If they can hold up, this is going to be an explosive offense. They have continuity with Brian Schottenheimer now as the head coach. He was the obvious play caller last year when he was doing it with McCarthy. And then now you look at this and you add George Pickens, who has a carrot at the end of the season of you can get a monster contract like you just saw Terry McLaurin get or you just saw DK Metcalf get if you have a good season. George Pickens is in the final year of a contract. They did not renegotiate his deal. The rap on him is that he is a bad vibes for the locker room guy. So far in Dallas he's been great in the locker room. He goes out there and he takes some of the pressure off CD Lamb time. There is a great reward for him. A a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And Dak was second in the end in the MVP voting two years ago. So A.J. i'm with you. Like I don't know where this thought of Micah Parsons was the entire Cowboys identity. I know that thing was ugly and it got weird and when they traded him it was like, well, the Cowboys aren't doing anything. They don't feel that way. And that's all I can say as far as the vibes coming out of Dallas right now.
- [75:42]
Pat McAfee
And Jerry said we got four first round picks over the next two drafts. Don't, don't think I won't just do something right now. Stay tuned. We'll see how it looks on Thursday night. Say we need another pass rusher. Maybe I go hunting. We got four first round picks.
- [75:59]
Adam Schefter
Did you watch the doc, the cherry.
- [76:00]
Pat McAfee
Doc or no, I've seen, I've seen portions of it. I have not gone all the way through it. Darius is watching it for a second time. Everybody in here, Peter Berg. Peter Berg said it's the greatest sports doc that he's ever seen up there. I mean, yeah, there is. There's a lot of people that really, really love it that have been telling me I need to watch it. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to try. I'm going to try. I'm going try. But I want to really commit to it before Sunday, you know, because I think, yeah, now that the season is starting. Yeah, I have to get into it. Yeah. So I'm going to try. I think a lot of.
- [76:29]
Peter Schrager
A lot of what you're seeing the last two months with this Micah thing is explained in this documentary with how this man lives his life, how he goes about his business. Business. And how when the haters and those who dismiss get louder and louder, it makes him want to zag even more. It's not stubbornness all the time. Sometimes it is ingenuity, but sometimes it is stubbornness, and sometimes it is, I'm going to do it my way through hell or high water. And it worked early on. Question is, at 82 years old, is this trade going to be their undoing or not? They don't think it is.
- [77:00]
Pat McAfee
He was 50 million in debt and he was still trying to get. Get more money. Jerry Jones is going to sit in the pocket. I think that is a trait that he certainly has from the parts that I've seen. But, yeah, I think it's all been on display and even on the red carpet of the, of the documentary out there, Netflix, he goes, if they're not talking about something, I'll give them something to talk about. You know, it's always nice to have the Cowboys in the conversation. Which then leads to Cowboys fans saying, jer, maybe at one point when you were trying to build the business, that was good. Now we are an established business, business. Let's try to win the Super Bowl. Well, their fans voted allegedly on the athletic. Connor has a question for you.
- [77:36]
Connor
Yeah, Triggs, we are. We have a Hopo Meter article. And this was taken, a survey basically from people who do surveys online. And it's basically just optimism for the season and then pessimistic season. The good teams, I assume are great, but is there anything for the bad teams that you got here? Not the Colts, because we know, know, hey, the Colts are obviously, you know, they're gonna figure it out. They're just upset with the believers. But what about these teams down there? I think you see the Cowboys.
- [78:05]
Pat McAfee
Cowboys Are third lowest. I mean, I mean, go ahead.
- [78:09]
Peter Schrager
That's ridiculous. Cowboys are a good team. They're gonna compete this year. I see two other teams that I'm very high on that are awfully low on this thing.
- [78:16]
Connor
Yeah, the fins. Your fins are up there. That's what you said last time.
- [78:19]
Peter Schrager
My fins are 82% in the tank. I mean, come on. The Miami Dolphins bring back just about everyone on offense. They have a healthy team for the first time. They had 100% participation in their off season program. And they get their two great veteran defensive players, Bradley Chubb and Phillips back from injuries who didn't play last year, in addition to Chop Robinson. I don't know why everyone's so down on the Dolphins. I like the Dolphins. I'm high on the Dolphins. The other team a couple notches above them. Why would people be down in the Bengals? They did everything you asked them to do and they finished it and they got it done before the start of the season and they're finally healthy. So Dolphins and Bengals. I'm very high on, despite what this athletic confidence O meter.
- [79:06]
Pat McAfee
People are up there. Now I do have to add in because one of the only classes I went to is a sociology class with professor or Nancy Feather and I appreciate the hell out of her.
- [79:15]
Connor
Nancy? Yeah, that's a great name.
- [79:18]
Pat McAfee
She was great. She was awesome. She was g. Massive class or like.
- [79:22]
Peter Schrager
Small 20 person lecture. What are we talking?
- [79:24]
Pat McAfee
Pretty big class. Pretty big class. I'm sitting like left hall there.
- [79:27]
Connor
Professor Feather.
- [79:28]
Pat McAfee
Professor Feather is so cool in the hand.
- [79:31]
Peter Schrager
Or passive.
- [79:33]
Pat McAfee
Me, I'm not in the room. Yeah, I'm hands down like this and I'm just take. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm learning. You know what I mean? I'm learning, learning. I'm trying to learn. It's not my world. I should not be speaking in here. You know, I would like to understand what's going on here. I don't go to a lot of classes. I've heard this one's interesting. I would like to hear you speak. She was. She was very interesting. I appreciated sociology as a whole. I think it's helped me out as I've kind of moved on. But one of her first classes was about polls being absolute. Basically she was like, you just need to understand the polls are absolute. If you were to go and survey 100 people here in Morgantown versus 100 people in Pittsburgh and then you just said you surveyed 100 people, don't you think both those people would have complete opposite answers? So you always have to think about who were the people that were filling out the poll, like, who was going to the athletic, reading the athletic and then deciding to vote on this. You know, like, you have to. You have to categorize the human who is the pole and then realize that's how these humans feel about the poll. But I don't think you can just dismiss it completely. I don't think you could just say, like, like, nah, those people don't represent the rest of the fan base. I do think this was a pretty good take on how basically the teams make sense the vibes of the team. I. I do think it was very like. So I. My natural reaction is normally, polls are. That is normally my reaction, but whenever I looked at this, it was like, feels like you could certainly find a significant group of every fan base that does feel this way. So I, I think it's good.
- [80:57]
Peter Schrager
The feather choler. What is it called? The choler. What, Ty Schmidt, smarter than me.
- [81:02]
Pat McAfee
What is it?
- [81:02]
Peter Schrager
What do you call it? Like, corollary. I'm going with the feather corollary here. And I'm going to say this is all bs. It's all before the season. And every year, Pat, we get turnover of four to five different playoff teams, and we never go back and revisit what the August vibes on ESPN talking head shows were. Right. Like, to me, I look at the rosters, I look at the continuity between the Bengals and the Dolphins. I would also add in that conversation, the Cowboys, that with the exception of Micah Parsons and Zach Martin, you know, they pretty much brought all their stars back and they're healthy, so I would feel better about those teams. And as for the Broncos, look, Sean Payton's one of my closest sources. Sorry, gave it away. One of my favorite people. Sean Payton's been been talking, doing a victory parade all off season about how good they are, and it seems like everyone just went with that. And it's like, well, Sean Payton says to the local media that we feel pretty good about Bo Nix. He must be going to the hall of Fame. So I'm going to put the pause signal up there just for now and say, let's see it before we go all in and say they're 100% optimistic they're going to dethrone the Chiefs this year.
- [82:01]
Pat McAfee
AFC west obviously loaded Broncos, everybody likes. I think your interview with him in the Schrager Hour didn't hurt anything. I think it went over pretty positively. Congratulations on the Schrager Hour being announced and happening. New podcast 2025 new podcast is the right time. Time. That is the right time to do that.
- [82:20]
Peter Schrager
I felt like there weren't enough out there. Like it's just this kind of little niche thing, the podcast, where the marketplace hasn't fully been. So I figured that's what people need, another football podcast, and that's what I'm gonna do.
- [82:31]
Pat McAfee
Well, Shregger, anything you do, we're happy about it. We're watching so. And listening. And I think a lot of people feel that way. But I do appreciate that. Like, there was a big announcement for another pod. Look at the photo for another podcast. Yeah, it's like, yeah, I appreciate Shreks. Anything you do, you're going to be great at. We want you to know that. But you interviewed Sean Payton. It was good and I think it was super positive. But that AFC west is crazy. Chiefs, Chargers, Friday night, what are your thoughts going into that? Obviously, Harbaugh is looking to institute his full culture. Andy Reid and the boys are trying to get back on track after getting blown out in the Super Bowl. In the biggest stage, they're still the AFC champions, you know, they're still the best in the afc. They have been. Will be. Everybody has a sour taste in their mouth because of the Super Bowl. Is that what you're thinking whenever it comes to the Chiefs? And.
- [83:13]
Adam Schefter
Yes.
- [83:13]
Pat McAfee
How do you feel about Friday night?
- [83:15]
Peter Schrager
I think people forget that, you know, Patrick Mahomes last year for the majority of the season was throwing catch with Sky Moore and Justin Watson and, you know, a beleaguered offensive skill set positions that he usually had loaded rosters with. And that's nothing against those guys. But DeAndre Hopkins being acquired midway through the season and, and, you know, Kareem Hunt being taken off the scrap heap in Week three and being asked to start and play big roles, that's not ideal. I think this year. You come in, you got a fresh and oh, can you hear me?
- [83:50]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, you're still on. You're still clear. You're still very clear.
- [83:53]
Peter Schrager
I got a. We've got a fresh, you know, a fresh Hollywood Brown, a rejuvenated Isaiah Pacheco who's coming off the injury and is apparently looking great. Like, I think they feel. Feel very good about their team. And just because they lost to the super bowl, to the Eagles and lost that way doesn't mean that they're suddenly off a cliff. They still won the afc. That said, this thing is. Is a wild card. The fact that it's being played in Brazil and we don't know the playing surface and we don't know the travel situation and we don't know it's the ultimate neutralizer when you go to a field in a stadium in a country that's 12 hours away. Like the NFL is promoting this international stuff big. They want this to work and it's great, right? This is not arrowhead or sofi. There is a giant variable and whatever team adjusts quicker and can make a couple plays early on and get their footing, I think is going to make a big impact in this one.
- [84:41]
Pat McAfee
You would think back to back years for the Chiefs probably helps them out a little bit, right? Having to go on a road play do something like that. You would think it would help them. They seem to be pretty jovial. They understand that they are representing the NFL everywhere they go and I appreciated the fans last year. Place is packed so let's see if it happens. Yeah, let's see if it happens again. All right. Year. Last. Last question here from a team you're also very close with out there in Los Angeles. Go ahead, Tone.
- [85:04]
AP Tone
Yes, you are Shregs. And it was reported this week that Matthew Stafford is fully healthy and ready to go. What do you think the sigh of relief is is with that Rams team, especially with now they have Puka and Devonte and that offensive line running everything that that team has. What's your vibe coming out of Los Angeles from that, from that staff?
- [85:24]
Peter Schrager
If Matthew stays healthy, they've got a shot to win the whole thing thing and that's the huge if. And as much as he's healthy Week one, we don't know if he's going to be healthy. Week 4, Week 10, Week 15 this is a long season and people know now that there is a guy who's got back stuff going on underneath under center. So that is going to be the topic of the day for them every time they go and take the field. Can Matthew make it through the week? Truth of the matter is Jimmy G was out there all, all summer while Matthew wasn't and was lighting up defenses too. They did the inner camp practice with the Cowboys. I told you guys Jimmy G looked incredible during those few days and they feel like they've got a really capable backup. But to your point, Puka, Devonte, Williams, you got two, two as your speed guy. They feel like the rookie at Oregon at tight end, Ferguson's going to be a star. Like they feel very good about this team and this offense and the defense exceeded expectations. So it's, it's really to me just who's standing at the end of the season. And if Stafford's under center, I wouldn't want to face him.
- [86:18]
Pat McAfee
All right, you want to give us a couple, couple little sneak peeks at some predictions from the prediction show at 3pm AJ don't you think we should maybe get a couple little predictions?
- [86:27]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, maybe one or two, I think. Shregs.
- [86:28]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Let's go, Shregs.
- [86:30]
Peter Schrager
A.J. a couple predictions. Number one, I don't have the Detroit Lions making the playoffs.
- [86:36]
Pat McAfee
This. Wow. All right, Shregs, what happened? Whoa. Whoa. They were the number one seed in the NFL. Wow. Number one had a hundred injuries. Don't hate him. I don't hate him. I love him.
- [86:52]
Peter Schrager
I think that NFC north is loaded, and I think the loss of two coordinators is not being discussed enough. Those two men are absolute GS at what they do, and that's Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, arguably the two best coordinators in all of football last year. And I think we look at a healthy Aiden Hutchinson, we look at a healthy, you know, couple players, we say, okay, well, they're back. I think there's going to be a steep drop off without those two men calling plays on offensive.
- [87:16]
Pat McAfee
He's dying on Detroit. Wow.
- [87:19]
Connor
I see that come going.
- [87:20]
Peter Schrager
But this is why we do the prediction show, because it's easy just to say, here's my super bowl teams. I like the Bills and I like.
- [87:26]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah. Number one seed in the nfc. You take big swing and welcome to espn. Welcome to espn. Shregs. Yeah. Take the hat off. Let them see you in your eyes. Let me see your eyes. All right. Do you have another team you want to piss off or a team that you want to make happy or anything like that?
- [87:42]
Peter Schrager
I'll make you want another piss off one. I'll do another piss off one.
- [87:45]
Pat McAfee
Jeez.
- [87:45]
Ty Schmidt
Yes. Love it.
- [87:46]
Pat McAfee
Oh, my God. Shrek. You just told Detroit that they're the same old lion. He's wrong. Not the brand new lines that were the number one seed in the NFC last year. Okay. They're not gonna make the playoffs due.
- [88:00]
Peter Schrager
To 15 and 2. 15, 2.
- [88:02]
Pat McAfee
That's Peter Schrager. That's Peter Schrager's prediction show that you can watch.
- [88:05]
Peter Schrager
It's so easy to go on any network and just pick the chalk. It is bold and it is fun to take a risk. And I'm going to take the heat from the Lions fans. I hope I'm wrong, of course. Another prediction. Another prediction. Here we go.
- [88:20]
Pat McAfee
From the office of Peter Schrager via Mike Foss.
- [88:25]
Peter Schrager
The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the playoffs and Joe Burrow will be your league mvp.
- [88:32]
Pat McAfee
Let go. That's a big prediction. Made a lot of money. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Boom. Crank that soldier boy dog. Maybe a little bit more of a build up on that one. There you go. There you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You got it. Okay.
- [88:54]
Peter Schrager
Do you see that John Harks jersey behind me? One of the great American soccer players of all time. He played with courage. He played with pride. That's what I'm going to do at 3 o' clock Eastern on ESPN on the worldwide leader.
- [89:05]
Pat McAfee
Good luck. Strikes. We're pulling for you. Where's the shin guards, ladies and gentlemen, Pierce Scherboy. Wow. Jeez. Wow. I mean, that's just a classic new school dude pick. He doesn't care about grit at all. He doesn't care about trenches at all.
- [89:20]
Connor
All right.
- [89:21]
Pat McAfee
The Bengals are not tough. Probably the least tough team in the league. And then he says the Lions fans, the most tough team in the league, aren't going to make the playoffs. That makes no sense. Cincinnati's eating actual rubble for lunch at work. Trevor's doing this to Foxy right now. He's just playing him like a puppet. He's got a big time. That's what you're doing to him, Shreks. You got. You got Foxy just like this. He's playing you like an absolute puppet over there, Fox. And you know what? Mcdc is just gonna show that to the team and say, look at this on espn. He doesn't believe in you guys. Let's go beat Greenback. All right, Shrek. We appreciate that, Shreks.
- [90:02]
Adam Schefter
I love you guys.
- [90:03]
Pat McAfee
I love you guys.
- [90:11]
Connor
Lit last one.
- [90:12]
Pat McAfee
Love him. Same old Lions. Yep. Joe Burrow winning the mvp, that'd be big deal.
- [90:20]
A.J. Hawk
I mean, if their defense was pretty good, he would have won it last year.
- [90:22]
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
- [90:23]
Connor
And is that why they're going to give it to him this year if they make the playoffs?
- [90:26]
Pat McAfee
You earned it last year. Actually. It was a two year thing. Age. I want to let you know, a lot of chatter from the boys before we started this commercial. Free hour.
- [90:36]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah.
- [90:36]
Pat McAfee
A lot of chatter from the boys about your hair, about you sticking with it and how proud we are.
- [90:42]
Connor
I'm firmly in the camp of, hey, keep going, bro.
- [90:45]
Pat McAfee
Brother.
- [90:45]
Connor
Fight the good fight, man. Don't give up.
- [90:48]
A.J. Hawk
There's nothing to do either way. I'm just growing my sides out. Yeah. Going to be weird for a long time.
- [90:52]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. There. Yeah. A long time. Yeah. But what we're saying Is there's going to be a lot of mornings you're going to go and look at that mirror. You're going to go, jesus, this hair is just not doing anything that it should do.
- [91:01]
A.J. Hawk
That's every day.
- [91:02]
AP Tone
Just take a compliment.
- [91:04]
Pat McAfee
It's not.
- [91:05]
A.J. Hawk
I don't know if it was exactly a compliment. I don't know if you guys can tell I'm a bit sweaty. This room is 82 degrees. We're waiting on a few pieces for our furnace, so there's no window to crack. Yesterday. Hey, yesterday it was going, I got a little thermometer over there. I see that. That sucker hit 82. So I'm trying not to sweat profusely on here.
- [91:20]
Pat McAfee
Well, I don't. If you were to start sweating profusely, we would respect it. Just want to let you know that. 82 degrees, no window to crack. Furnace has a couple issues. What's the issue? It won't turn off. Is that.
- [91:31]
A.J. Hawk
Is that kind of, you know, I'm up in the attic and it won't blow cold air. So the dude came out and had to shut it all the way down now to get the new part tomorrow.
- [91:38]
Pat McAfee
Okay, so you're just kind of sitting up where all the hot air rises to.
- [91:42]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, there's nowhere. Yeah, there's no. If you could crack a window, it'd probably be all right. But, you know, I don't. Who knows where the closest window is?
- [91:47]
Pat McAfee
Well, probably right behind that book shelf.
- [91:50]
A.J. Hawk
Behind the shelf. This is the shelf up in the attic. So there's no, you know, there's no windows around me. It's probably. That'd be terrible, actually. Room for a tornado at the very top of the house.
- [92:01]
Pat McAfee
You wouldn't be able to see it coming, though. Wouldn't be able to see it coming, which is certainly an added advantage. I appreciate. Appreciate you being as gritty as you are today, showcasing that toughness. Wearing long, thick sleeves, sweatshirt inside, 82 degrees.
- [92:18]
DraftKings/YouTube TV Announcer
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- [93:36]
Pat McAfee
Void.
- [93:37]
DraftKings/YouTube TV Announcer
In Ontario, bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com promos NFL Sunday Ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use excluded restrictions. Apply additional NFL Sunday ticket terms at YouTube.com go NFLSundayticket terms limited time offer.
- [93:58]
Pat McAfee
There'S nothing more satisfying than finding the.
- [94:00]
AP Tone
Perfect green paint for your living room.
- [94:03]
Pat McAfee
Except maybe popping open that can of Valspar Ultra and rolling that first smooth stroke on the wall. And there's nothing more satisfying than admiring your freshly painted wall. Except maybe peeling off the painter's tape to see those crisp edges. But the most satisfying part of all, Valspar Ultra's price tag, starting at 29.98 a gallon, affordable, durable, available at Lowe's. Price varies by sheen. A former coach of yours is going to be incredibly proud of you. If I had to guess, there's a Yinzer that has represented the city in football so damn well as a head coach for 17 seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously, you all came to love this man as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. He's a Super bowl champion. He's a Yinzer legend. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us every single week on Thursdays, coach Mike McCorson. Yeah. Go. You look awesome. Wow. Holy hell, this is. Yeah.
- [95:01]
Mike McCarthy
Thank you. No, it's great to be on Pat. I missed you guys. Good.
- [95:06]
Pat McAfee
You look. Did you know this is how he was gonna look? I am so sorry. I'm so jacked up. I had no idea you were gonna look this cool. The backdrop, awesome. Beautiful. Super bowl championship. The hat, the button don. Kind of the loose casual with the night photo in the back. Coach, you look. Come on. Awesome. We want to let you know that. And we appreciate the help out of you.
- [95:27]
Mike McCarthy
Okay. I mean, I don't even know what to say. What the hell would you expect Me to look like A.J.
- [95:31]
Pat McAfee
Help me on.
- [95:33]
A.J. Hawk
You got a great camera set up. I think your. Your production value is very high. You look great, Coach.
- [95:37]
Pat McAfee
You look amazing.
- [95:37]
Mike McCarthy
Oh, thank you. Well, I got a lot. Yeah, a lot of people give credit to there. Obviously, my wife Jessica took care of me behind me, so I'm in good hands.
- [95:45]
Pat McAfee
Great artist, great artist. We've been in there before. An incredible artist. We appreciate you joining us. Today's a great day to have. Have you on. Obviously, Dallas Cowboys opening up the NFL season tonight, taking on the Philadelphia Eagles. You obviously understand that rivalry. You understand that NFC east better than anybody that would be talking into a microphone at this point. What are the emotions of this evening, and how much do you think Shoddy and the Dallas Cowboys are drawing on? How much? Everybody has kind of counted them out since the Micah Parsons trade.
- [96:15]
Mike McCarthy
Oh, I think they're enjoying it, clearly. I think just like anything, this is a huge division game. It's a rival game. I guarantee everybody in that locker room is expected to go out there and win tonight. So I'm looking for a super competitive game. I know they're excited about it. You know, obviously, last year, you know, the way the two games went, you know, the outcome of the last year's two games, but, yeah, this is going to be a hell of a football game. I'm excited to watch it.
- [96:40]
Pat McAfee
If you're shoddy, are you thankful for everything that has happened during your short tenure thus far? Obviously, trading away Micah has created a lot of noise around the team. A lot of people saying it's the dumbest franchise, a lot of people saying they have no chance, a lot of people kind of burying them. If you're shoddy, do you like that as a coach that you can draw from it, or what are your thoughts on having that be the start of your coaching career in Dallas with all the chaos that kind of took place outside?
- [97:06]
Mike McCarthy
You know, I think the thing for Brian is he understands it. I mean, there's always two components that you learn when you work there, and the pure football part of it's excellent. I mean, there's so much to love about this Dallas Cowboy football team, and I know he realizes that, so. And when you just keep it about football, there's, like I said, this is a very good football team, a very young football team. And, you know, this is always a great game, you know, Philadelphia and Dallas. So I think you just got to keep it more about that now. All the other stuff that goes on that's. That's part of the environment There, you know, that's part of the content driven business that Jerry's the master of. But and you just got to learn to separate that. And you know, personally, it took me a couple years and frankly, it was a, it was a conversation that I had with Jerry. I think it was after the 20, it was about 2022, where just, you know, everything we talk about right here, that's what counts. And all the other stuff is business. And I think when you, when you want, when you, you realize that, and I think the players there now realize that to the current players, because this is a hell of a locker room. I'm really high on these guys. I know we, we've talked about these guys during the draft, you know, the draft visit, but I think this is a young ascending football team. I like the additions that they made. So I look for a super competitive game tonight.
- [98:23]
A.J. Hawk
Okay, go ahead, AJ Coach, we, anytime we've been around, you're very high on Dak Prescott and everything that he does as a quarterback and as a leader of that team, I guess. What do you expect from him not only tonight, but the rest of the season?
- [98:36]
Mike McCarthy
Number one, stay healthy. He stays healthy. He'll reach every, every goal that he has set out for for his, his team and himself. I do believe that in heart of hearts. I think Dak is clearly what I would call full operational quarterback. You know, when you, when you get into the, you know, the postseason, you start building, you know, your offense for the upcoming year, the concepts you're looking to, to build off of the variations that you want to change. He's full operational. There's nothing that you really get out of now. He obviously ran more in his younger days and frankly, once he received a bigger contract, we tried to be more selective with that. I'm not sure what direction they're going here in the future here, but he's full operational. I thought we increased the three step emphasis. I thought he was excellent at that. So the play action that he keeps and all that. So really like him in this situation. Everybody talks about his leadership and his hard working, but this man's a hell of a football player. I just love the way he stands in there and makes those throws and doesn't blink.
- [99:33]
Pat McAfee
Okay, so let's talk about him standing in there and making those throws. You've obviously had to game plan against Vic Fangio's defense, this defense that is currently with the Philadelphia Eagles. What do you think Shotty Dak and that offense are going to try to do tonight to this Philadelphia Eagles Defense, how do you have success against them?
- [99:50]
Mike McCarthy
Well, the biggest thing too is it always starts up front, no matter who you play. And it definitely starts up front when you play against this Philadelphia Eagle defense. You know, when I view defensive lines, this is a group that can apply pressure inside and out. So with that, you just got to be very aware when you're talking about time clocks and expectations. And personally, I prefer to throw the ball on them up in Philadelphia on the grass than then inside, because I did really. I can remember a safety that Fletcher Cox had in the earlier games in 21, I think it was, where, you know, when you have that combination of inside and outside, you got to be smart with the way you throw the ball, you know, And I'm talking now particularly to your pass sets. You know, you have to. You have to make sure you short set these guys more than you probably would think. So, I mean, I think that's something that will definitely be the storm. I know that's what I'll be watching. I'll be watching the up front. I'll be watching the fits, I'll be watching the chipping, you know, the edges, if, you know, if they're making Dak throw off his back foot and so forth. But, you know, this will start in the trenches, and it'll start with running a football and having. Having the opportunity to take advantage of that run game on first and second down. But when it comes down to the situational stuff, you know, you got to block them. And this, this is a hell of a defensive front.
- [101:06]
Pat McAfee
You said something in there that was kind of just a throwaway comment for you, but I think he's very interesting. You said you'd prefer to play them on grass, that D line up in Philadelphia, as opposed to maybe turf. Is that what you were trying to get out there? Because maybe the footing's a little bit more loose now. It's obviously opening night Philadelphia Eagles and everything like that grass is going to be. I mean, it's going to be immaculate. It's going to be immaculate tonight. But it is. It does have the possibility to be a little bit more slick than like turf or maybe in a dome or something like that. Is that what you were getting at there with playing against his Philadelphia?
- [101:36]
Mike McCarthy
Yeah, I'm not even talking about slickness. I just think it's the reality of playing on grass versus turf, you know, and compliments to the Philadelphia ground screw.
- [101:44]
Pat McAfee
It's.
- [101:45]
Mike McCarthy
They do a great job up there. I mean, the grass is great up here. In November, December, when we went up there. So. But I just think it's more about. They're at that level of the defensive front. You know, when defensive fronts have the ability to apply pressure inside and outside, you got to make sure you really change up the pass sets and those types of things. You know, it's not like, oh, I prefer to play them. I mean, I prefer to throw the ball in Philly and not in Dallas. And that's. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you just got to be conscientious in the game plan and more particularly in game to make those adjustments. Because, you know, I think you saw them in the super bowl, you know. You know, that game was on turf and that. I mean, those guys. I mean, they were applying pressure from the first quarter all the way through. So I just have a lot of respect, respect for their defense, a lot of respect for Vick and. But it starts up front, always does.
- [102:32]
Pat McAfee
DC Fangio goes from Miami where he was told it was Fangiover basically can't relate to the modern players. Then he goes up, Philadelphia wins Super Bowl. Then he's got everybody back and they got the Dallas Cowboys on opening night. Are you guys going to be able to repeat the success you had last year? We shall see. Connor has a question for you, Coach.
- [102:52]
Connor
Yeah, Coach. And another new OC for Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, obviously, when they have a lot of success, those OCs are going to go and be head coaches. Kellen Moore, you know, being the most recent one who you were with for some time. But what do you expect for Jalen to kind of struggle and go through early on in the game if he struggles at all with the new offense? And do you see them just continuing to kind of lean on Saquon in the O line, and no point to change what they have done done, you know, the past two years.
- [103:20]
Mike McCarthy
Yeah, I'd be very surprised if there's any struggle from a systematic approach. I mean, the first OC is still there. Nick. I think Nick's done a great job. You know, not only the overall football team, but keeping the formula for success intact. I mean, they definitely play to their strengths. I mean, ground and pound and control that clock. And they got a dynamic offensive perimeter group that can play with anybody. So I think that, you know, the operations part of it will be seamless. You know, the biggest thing in my experience is September football. The things I'll be watching for is, you know, just the fundamentals that, you know, the time clocks, the timing, the combination blocks, you know, the pad level and footwork and those types of things. And that's, that's for both teams. But I would think Jalen would just, you know, I'll be surprised if they don't kind of pick up where. Where they left off and, you know, hopefully they've had a good camp. But yeah, I don't think that the OC change is going to be huge, in my opinion.
- [104:10]
Pat McAfee
As we wrap up for tonight's game and move on to other NFL stories, we'd be remiss if we didn't ask you about the entire Micah situation. Obviously, we assume you have a different view or perspective on this as somebody that was literally in the building in a very prominent role and have a relationship with Jerry Jones. As you're watching this from outside in and kind of all unfold, what are your thoughts, especially with the release of the documentary where a lot of people are learning that Jerry, he is the consummate businessman and promoter and kind of learning his ways. While all this is taking place in the news, what were your thoughts on it as former coach there?
- [104:45]
Mike McCarthy
Well, I mean, honestly, personally, I tried to get as far away from football as I possibly could since, you know, my time ended there in Dallas and was able to accomplish that for the most part, as far as what people would allow me. And just the quality of time that I've had with my family is, is something I've never had before. But I will say this. I did have an opportunity to meet with Jerry in June before we moved back to family, moved back to Green Bay. And you know, one of the first things we talked about, just, you know, the off season program, you know, how excited he was about the draft class. And he talked about Micah. I mean, he was, he was excited that, you know, he felt that him and Micah had, they had a deal and in his future and, you know, and he's earned that. And I think we all recognize, you know, the impact in, you know, the performance from a performance perspective on, you know, Michael Parsons earned his contract. I mean, there's no question about that. So I mean, that was my position on, I would say early June. So I just. And obviously being there, I mean, this is a contract, you know, from a cap management standpoint, you're talking about the last two years. I mean, then, you know, you got Dak, you got cd and now you got Micah. So, I mean, these contracts are obviously affect your approach or outlook on other contracts. So I always anticipated it would get done as far as that meeting in June. But, you know, one thing I've learned and you know the old saying in business, you know, time kills deals. And as training camp got going and people were asking me and what was going as I was trying to, you know, get some boat time up here in Door County, I just, I just always felt, hey, no, they're going to get it done, they're going to get it done. Just Jerry's, you know, this is the businessman Jerry, you know, keeping the, you know, the Cowboys at the front of the news cycle and just really didn't pay much mind to it. But you know, as this thing went on longer and longer, you know, I think anytime, you know, business transactions, you know, are held up, you know, the decision makers, there's more emotion that comes into play here. Opinions are heard more and more and I mean, this is what could happen. So this is just my opinion. I'm not acting like I have any inside information, but I just felt this was a, this was a deal that took too long and then, and frankly, I think both sides will benefit. I think Green bale benefit here in the short term. And I think Dallas, I like what Dallas is doing. You know, I love that Daron Bland got a contract Hunter, you know, these guys, I mean, he's, you know, as I'm looking here at AJ He's a perfect example of it. You know, the draft and diversity process is built on second contracts. You know, how many second contracts are done on your, on your draft class. And I think Dallas is now in that, you know, on that path. And so, you know, where the past. You may you lose a guy or two because you are projecting these big contracts. So I think these are two good young football teams. I clearly see, you know, Micah making a huge impact because regardless of what you think about him, when he gets off the bus, he's getting double teamed, he's getting shipped, he's being identified, he's making the whole front, you know, the whole front seven is better because the opportunity he's. That he's, he is creating for them. And that's just the facts. I mean, there's no ifs and buts about it. So Green Bay now has that, you know, so now what does Dallas have? I mean, Dallas has five real pass rushers. You know, I'm excited about those guys. You know, Sam Williams, it's his time. I mean, Sam was ready last year. You know, he had that big knee injury in training camp. So we were excited to see Sam and Micah, you know, line up last year and you know, it didn't happen. So, you Know, these teams got depth. Both Green Bay and Dallas, I'm talking, so it'll be exciting to see the course of the season. But I'm telling you, don't, don't, don't. You know, the emotion of what's surrounding the Cowboys right now, I never, you know, put too much into that. I think when you just look at the brass, you know, the brass facts of football. I think Dallas Cowboys got a really good football team.
- [108:39]
Pat McAfee
Cowboys plus eight and a half tonight.
- [108:42]
Mike McCarthy
I'm taking Cowboys all day long.
- [108:44]
Pat McAfee
Come on, Cody. All right, let's move off of tonight. We appreciate you addressing Micah and also you saying that in June when he talked to Jerry, Jerry was like, hey, Micah's going to be a Cowboy and be a deal. And then you saying, time kills all deals. Feels like there was a lot of things that happened in that time and then a lot of avoiding each other. It felt like anytime you get that public, that started coming out, too. That's never a good thing. But, hey, Jerry could have made magic at the end, decided to send him to Green Bay, and now packers fans are excited, and now maybe he stays in your house up there. Tone has a question for you about another Green Bay legend.
- [109:17]
AP Tone
Yeah, coach, I do. Obviously, you were with Aaron for a long time up in Green Bay, and I. I wanted to hypothetically put you in Steelers offense coordinator Artie Smith's shoes. They have a young O line, they have a young running back, they have talented tight ends, and obviously DK on the outside. If you were the offensive coordinator in week one, how would you handle this offense with Aaron, and what does he do for a young offensive line in particular?
- [109:42]
Mike McCarthy
Well, I think the biggest thing is, you know, with. With Aaron, you know, playing with. With. With new members of an offense is just getting the rhythm of it. I mean, you're talking about a cadence. It's probably one of the best weapons in offensive football that I've been around. I mean, he regularly used, you know, nine cadence variations in our time together. I just think the fact that you're able to use that. So, I mean, how much of that are we going to do is where I'm going with this? So just get into a rhythm, get these guys started, get, you know, get them off on the right foot. I'm excited about Pittsburgh because, you know, lifetime Steeler fan, I can. I can open, openly root for him this year. And I'm excited to see Aaron, you know, in the black and gold, too. And I. I like their formula. You know, I love what Mike Tomlins Stands for. You know, he, I think, you know, trust your tradition. You know this, this team's been about defense since the 70s. So I mean I think they got an outstanding defense. You know, play to that and you know you're going to be in every football game and I guarantee you there's no one that's run more two minute drills than Aaron Rodgers. So I think they have a, they have a really nice formula to be successful.
- [110:47]
Pat McAfee
Going to be KG affairs. The cardiac Steelers back for another game, another season. They spent a lot of money on a lot of people seemingly going all in. Hopefully Cam Heyward is a part of the entire things. Also Chris Boswell. They have a couple things that have kind of been lingering overhead business wise. But if they put that team on the field and everybody's there, very evident that they're trying to make a run this year. Steelers fans are pumped. But if it goes south, Coach, you know how Pittsburgh is. Go ahead A.J. go ahead A.J.
- [111:12]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah coach, you mentioned Aaron's cadence and just makes you think like what You've been around some great quarterbacks obviously in your time. What does he do that separates himself from other people? I've seen it firsthand, I know defenses, it drives him crazy. But like what is he doing? How is he using inflection of his voice? How is he different than other quarterbacks?
- [111:28]
Mike McCarthy
Maybe well, great, great as far as the variation. But the South, Scott, I think he, I mean, I mean all the way back to the early years, I mean obviously we built that over time but you know, his ability to self scout throughout the season, you know, being totally on top of, you know, Chicago week one, you know Chicago week 12. So I think just the. Because you know, obviously since they put the microphones on the center and guards, I mean the audio out there, you know, everybody's aware of it. But I think just being on, you know, the variation is one thing, but the percentage of the variations and more importantly, you know, the timing, you know, you know, young, young defensive end in the game. Okay, great time to you know, go double count those types of things. So I just think his experience is, I mean top of the line, been around a lot of great quarterbacks. I think his application of information at the line of scrimmage is as good as anybody that's ever played the game. I mean his ability to absorb of information, you know, there's times and You've been there, A.J. he's, he's almost on the sideline of the other team because he's over listening to the defensive coordinator Talk to the, you know, to players and he's acting like he's over to BSing. So, you know, he just. His ability to gain information during the course of the game and apply it and I always thought was very unique.
- [112:47]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, the last second time out too, whenever he can't figure it out, that shit's dancing one. Yeah, look at you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It does get real. Yeah.
- [112:57]
Mike McCarthy
One of got blamed for this all the time.
- [113:02]
Pat McAfee
Hey, when it gets to three or two, can we make a decision as opposed to at the half every single time. It was fantastic. Hey, Green Bay Packer owner, who lived those rides with you? Ty has a question.
- [113:12]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, Coach, the last several years, the only thing we've talked about, you know, with the Bengals at the start of the season is like, hey, Zack Taylor doesn't have these guys prepared. They, they don't start fast. And with how good the AFC and the NFC are now, a lot of teams can be out of luck if they start 04. Is there any way going into a season you can ensure, like, hey, we're going to start fast this year and we're not going to put ourselves in a hole where we have to win, you know, six or seven games down the stretch to get into the playoffs.
- [113:40]
Mike McCarthy
Blame it on the CBAs. That's what I would say. No, I, I'll tell you, it's tough. It really is. I think training camp is, is the most important time of year as far as training your football team. It's the only time really, the offensive line, who are at a huge disadvantage in the training, you know, in the training formats that are out there because they really don't get into the real training, into the, you know, the fifth practice of a training camp. So I think you have to coach September football a little differently. You know, September football is not the best of the year, you know, and I think that, you know, the fact that you have 17 games, I'm actual thankful for it because you still have opportunities because, you know, you see it every year. The fundamentals are, you know, they're just not as good as they, they were in the early days. And that's just probably a product. A guy that's been fortunate to be in the league for, you know, for three decades. But, you know, I think some of that, I'm not trying to make an excuse for any coach. I just think you do have some of that September football. And as far as being ready, you know, there's change. You know, each team, every year you talk about another great division, you Know, I mean that's a tough, hard nosed division as any in football too. So, yeah, I don't think there's a, you know, a right way and a wrong way to go about it because you got to train your football team as hard as you can in training camp. But it's really, you train them to the, you know, to the health of your team too. So that's the, you know, you got the mechanisms of GPS and all those things that go into it. But, you know, that's, that's, it's, you know, your time, your timeline of training camp. Getting a team ready is a bit of a challenge for everybody.
- [115:15]
Pat McAfee
That's good self, Scott, especially with all the mechanisms that we got out there. Yeah, Coach, we appreciate you. This was wonderful. We know you're on the Cowboys. We appreciate your takes on that and we can't wait to chat with you next week. You're the man. We appreciate the hell out of you.
- [115:30]
Mike McCarthy
All right, thank you, man. Look forward to next week. Have a great week.
- [115:32]
Pat McAfee
Ladies and gentlemen, super bowl champion who looks very cool right now. Coach McCarthy. Love that. Did you expect him to pop up in front of a nighttime picture?
- [115:43]
A.J. Hawk
I think it was a big screen. Wasn't that a big old screen? He might change it next week. It's going to be something else next week.
- [115:47]
Pat McAfee
His wife is an actual artist, like a painter and everything. We got a chance to see her studio. She has a massive studio and it's like he's like, yeah, wife did all. It does look pretty cool. Done it. He didn't even see that. No, he sat down there, had no idea.
- [116:00]
Connor
We good, we good.
- [116:02]
Pat McAfee
I'm sitting here. He's the best man. He was great with us at the draft.
- [116:07]
AP Tone
Yes.
- [116:07]
Pat McAfee
Hanging with us, the whole thing. We're thankful he'll be joining us every Thursday. He's making selections, Cowboys plus. I don't know if he's planning on doing that, but we just got one out of him. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see how it goes. We are one minute into a heart out here on espn. Remember, Peter Schrager has his super duper prediction Special coming at 3:00 clock Eastern on ESPN. We'll be live tomorrow. Overreacting to everything. I'll be live in Oklahoma. Oh, nice. Tomorrow, Friday. Obviously, we're kicking off another incredible college football weekend. Oklahoma, Michigan is taking place in just a couple of days, obviously. Tonight, Philly and Dallas kick off the NFL season. Tomorrow night Chiefs and chapters, Dodgers. Sunday night Ravens, Bills. Are you kidding me? We're in it. We did it, AJ It's a great time to be alive. We're lucky to be here.
- [116:57]
A.J. Hawk
We're absolutely lucky to be here. I mean, tonight, tomorrow night, everything.
- [117:00]
Pat McAfee
Yes.
- [117:01]
A.J. Hawk
This is a beautiful time. And we are just at the beginning, just scratching the surface. So I can't wait.
- [117:05]
Pat McAfee
It is just the tip, isn't it?
- [117:07]
A.J. Hawk
Just the tip.
- [117:08]
Pat McAfee
Not even yet. Not really.
- [117:10]
A.J. Hawk
Almost.
- [117:11]
Pat McAfee
It's about to be and we're about to feel how great it's all going to be. We are very thankful for that. And remember, we don't love that there's commercials, but it was obvious it was coming and we're still going to watch. That's a red zone. Nailed it. Nailed it, Nailed it. I was getting attacked for that ESPN Disney show. It's like, I don't. They're not even on Disney. It's not even on ESPN Disney. And also it's on Google currently with YouTube. They're not the ones deciding that either. It's the NFL is deciding that. And as soon as we saw the L reps, we all knew, oh, here we go. What was coming. People are, don't love it. I don't love. We're still gonna watch it.
- [117:45]
A.J. Hawk
As long as you don't go to like, even if it's like sometimes when they keep the game going and they split screen, I'm like, just do that. I don't.
- [117:51]
Mike McCarthy
That's what they're fine with that.
- [117:53]
Pat McAfee
They're doing four of them, 15 seconds long, allegedly, over the seven hour period. That's it. Come on now. Now, I did see Brandon Perna, Denver Broncos fan and YouTuber. I guess he came out and said, am I marketing genius? I think so. Bud Light should just say, commercial, free football presented by Bud Light. I think Bud Light would have a lot of people that maybe were still about Bud Light. Yeah. Going, hey, actually, you know what? All right, maybe, you know, there's Honey, Bud Light likes football. They don't want me seeing these commercials. There's a chance that that is a thought, but if it's not Bud Light, another one of the league sponsors could come in here and really be Verizon, be a hero.
- [118:38]
A.J. Hawk
Great opportunity there. Great opportunity.
- [118:40]
Pat McAfee
Door Dash coming in and saying, hey.
- [118:43]
AP Tone
You'Re telling me people were mad about one minute over seven hours.
- [118:46]
Ty Schmidt
It's.
- [118:47]
Pat McAfee
That's one more minute I could have had. I got some terrible things said to me. I got some very terrible things said to me for this. I. I did not expect it. And. And as soon as I was like, as soon as I started reading them and they're like, we don't care. Care. We do care. You shill. And I'm like, I obviously would rather not have it. I mean, my show has none. The one that I negotiated, the one that people were pushing for, for me to have them. I obviously don't want it. It's not on espn. But we're still gonna watch, aren't we? Are we all still gonna. Are you gonna not watch? They got us.
- [119:21]
A.J. Hawk
They're not cutting away. They're not cutting away. Away from the. From Hanson will be on screen the whole time, Correct?
- [119:26]
Pat McAfee
Yes. Play through is what they're saying. Allegedly.
- [119:29]
A.J. Hawk
Come on, play. When it's played through, I'm all for it.
- [119:31]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, we all are. But. But we'd rather it wasn't, though, to be clear.
- [119:36]
A.J. Hawk
How's the world work?
- [119:37]
Ty Schmidt
It's also not 1992, like, where it goes to a commercial and you're just like, I gotta sit here and just watch this commercial now. Like, you can take your phone out.
- [119:46]
Pat McAfee
Exactly.
- [119:46]
Ty Schmidt
You can go take a piss, you can go grab a beer to eat.
- [119:50]
Pat McAfee
Like, how about the other quad bucks if you have.
- [119:52]
Ty Schmidt
Exactly. Oh, okay. I'm just going to watch the local game or I'm going to watch this game that I don't.
- [119:56]
Pat McAfee
Once again, we don't. We're not happy that it's happened. No, but we knew it was going to happen just by knowing the NFL. So the NFL's cash cow. That's what they are. That's why they're the number one league on earth. Yeah. Players are getting a lot of money because a lot of these deals. It's. As soon as the NFL saw that they could sell maybe one game for a holiday to one of these streaming platforms, it was like, how, how. How much money is how many hundreds of millions for this one? Oh, we can certainly cook up a Black Friday game. We got a Christmas Eve game. We got four Christmas games, don't we? Yep. What other days can we make up? We make up an NFL day, we make up a Wednesday afternoon. Well, as soon as. That's what the NFL is. That's why the league is headed where it's headed. Which is why, you know, we don't love it that they are just capitalizing on absolutely every dollar that they know they can get. And we're not going to change our watching style. Like, they put those 15 second commercials up there and it's play through. Okay. We're all going to still watch. And they knew that. And they were like, how much More money can we get? Do we think these NFL fans are going to stop watching because of these? Nope. All right, so we're leaving money on the table. We don't do that. Give us that. Now everybody is worried that once you do, once the NFL does that, maybe they'll then start doing the breaking commercials and they'll like, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, keep going. Certainly a possibility. And at that point, we will certainly raise hell by, hey, we can't be doing this because we did a college football Red zone and commercial every four minutes and it turns out it sucks. Yeah, it does turns out it sucks. So I hope the NFL understands that that is why Red Zone is Red Zone. That's why people are paying a subscription fee. But as soon as they started marketing on it, it was like, that was seemingly inevitable for the NFL. And I'm still going to watch. Yeah, I don't love it. I don't love that I'm that easy and that I'm that committed, and I don't love that they're doing it. But it was obvious they were going to do it.
- [121:48]
Ty Schmidt
You can have the best of both worlds.
- [121:50]
Connor
You can still watch.
- [121:51]
Ty Schmidt
And then when it goes commercial, you can tweet like it's the NFL.
- [121:56]
Pat McAfee
You got to have good service, though, because that. To get that tweet typed and sent by the 15 seconds.
- [122:00]
Ty Schmidt
Exactly, exactly. Exactly.
- [122:01]
Pat McAfee
But it's a fun little game.
- [122:02]
AP Tone
We should do something. Not we or I. I don't know who would do this, but whoever. Like the people that are super mad about this, if they go to take a piss at all during Red Zone, someone should come out of their closet, just punch them right in the face. Okay?
- [122:14]
Pat McAfee
Say they're missing it. Yep, yep. Yeah, but it's on their time.
- [122:18]
AP Tone
Okay?
- [122:19]
Pat McAfee
It's not on air. It's not on Red Zone's time. And Red Zone, by the way, operated by the NFL. The NFL is one making a decision to do this. We all knew the NFL would do this if they could do this.
- [122:27]
Connor
Which is why people mad about this aren't NFL fans, cuz I don't think so.
- [122:31]
Pat McAfee
No, they're not.
- [122:32]
Connor
I mean, we're. Nobody who is actually mad about this will hear this. And nobody who's actually mad about this will watch Red Zone every week. The people who are mad about.
- [122:41]
Pat McAfee
You're talking about what I'm saying right now, explaining myself. They did not hear. They're just.
- [122:44]
Connor
No, no. All those people on the Internet, whenever.
- [122:46]
Pat McAfee
They go to get Red Zone the first week Here and go Disney. These. I say it's not on Disney. Actually, it's on another platform. One. Wait.
- [122:53]
Ty Schmidt
Oh, well, them still thought about it.
- [122:56]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Yeah, they would have. Okay.
- [123:00]
Ty Schmidt
Where we live in. God help us all.
- [123:01]
Connor
Exactly.
- [123:02]
Pat McAfee
We're lucky to be here.
- [123:03]
Ty Schmidt
That's right.
- [123:04]
Pat McAfee
We get to be here.
- [123:05]
Connor
We do.
- [123:05]
Pat McAfee
It's fun reading. Walk into traffic. Because I said that I'm still gonna watch Red Zone.
- [123:11]
Ty Schmidt
This guy likes commercials.
- [123:12]
Pat McAfee
You believe this piece of. Thank you, dude. Sorry I said. Said it. This goes in. They're not going to do any commercials.
- [123:21]
Ty Schmidt
Okay.
- [123:22]
Pat McAfee
Boom.
- [123:22]
AP Tone
That'd be sick.
- [123:23]
Ty Schmidt
High stakes.
- [123:24]
Pat McAfee
I'm trying, man.
- [123:26]
Ty Schmidt
Exactly.
- [123:26]
A.J. Hawk
Big shot, big shot, little strong.
- [123:32]
Connor
Look good.
- [123:34]
Pat McAfee
The NFL making money off something. They're going to do that. I'm bummed out. All right, let's run through the stories that we have not covered or given enough attention to and let's make our picks and let's enjoy the Hell.
- [123:45]
Ty Schmidt
Hell, yeah.
- [123:45]
Pat McAfee
Out of NFL Kickoff Day. Con man. What have we not talked about that we definitely should be talking about? Yeah.
- [123:50]
Connor
There's one thing we definitely haven't talked about that we need to be talking about, and that's because you studied night and day yesterday to come up with your top five players of the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys rivalry.
- [124:02]
Pat McAfee
That's a great call. Actually, I. I was almost going to maybe not do it just because what? It was so much pressure. So much pressure. How do you think your top five favorite players that played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys just in the history of the teams, your top five favorite players combined. Combined. It was not easy. It's a lot of pressure. We don't do a lot of lists. But to kick off this season, the greatest season the NFL is ever going to have, I couldn't help but pay tribute to guys that have dawned these uniforms, put on these helmets, and built this rivalry and these franchises to what they are today. Let's start with number five, Jason Kelce. Now, listen, Jason Kelce is the youngest guy that's going to be on this list. I think he. It was all retired players. It's not active players. He's recently retired. We love Jason Kelsey. Yeah. Guy slams beers. Obviously he's representing football in a huge way, not only with his podcast, but with everything he's doing. And he was a dog on the field. Undersized, but could outrun you and out grit you. He actually went. Would gnaw on your Achilles. He would gnaw on your Achilles to get a good block and then he would talk to the Boys and he'd get emotional right in front of them because they're such a damn tight family. And then he would motherfuck somebody and then he would hop on a ball, score a touchdown, and then they would create a play called Tush Push. That would be right. Literally his ass being pushed by other men that are being pushed and create something that's unstoppable. Jason Kelsey, phenomenal Philadelphia Eagle. And as somebody that is not an Eagle, Eagle or a Cowboys fan, I would say he's in my top five favorite Cowboys and Eagles. AJ do you agree with the pick of Jason Kelsey in the top five?
- [125:34]
A.J. Hawk
Absolutely. He's an absolute legend. And people, I think because he is so, you know, he's out there and he's so good in the media, people forget this guy was an absolute monster on the field.
- [125:43]
Pat McAfee
Absolute monster. All Pro. One of the greatest centers, if not the greatest center of all time. That's like Travis Kelce, one of the, if not the greatest tight end of all time. Time. Ed Kelsey's got two goats.
- [125:55]
Mike McCarthy
Yep.
- [125:55]
Pat McAfee
Yep.
- [125:56]
Connor
Three sounds like.
- [125:58]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Hey. Oh, maybe many more. Who knows? All right, at number four, top five favorite players, Randall Cunningham. Oh, hell yeah. Jason Randall Cunningham, obviously, let's go through the stats here. He's a college football hall of Famer. He's a four time All Pro, threw for 207 touchdowns, had 35 rushing touchdowns, and oh yeah, at one point in his career, had a 91 yard punt down there at the Meadow Lane. Third longest punt in NFL history backed up. Got to get it off. Randall Cunningham says, don't worry about it. Let me fucking bomb on down here. 91 yard punt. AJ for quarterback Randall Cunningham, who led the Philadelphia Eagles 2. A Super bowl not to win one, but shout out to Randall Cunningham for all he's done for kicking, punting and quarterbacking.
- [126:46]
A.J. Hawk
I, I was, I'm old enough. You guys aren't old enough. I was old enough to remember Randall Cunningham and watch him play in person. He was ahead of his time, man. Super athletic and can throw the ball about 7, 000 yards.
- [126:56]
Pat McAfee
I don't know if he made it to a Super Bowl. Is that what we're saying?
- [127:00]
Connor
Oh, oh, no. We were saying that wasn't a 91 yard punt.
- [127:04]
Pat McAfee
Oh, that was not it.
- [127:05]
Ty Schmidt
I mean, that happened if you count.
- [127:07]
A.J. Hawk
From the end zone. If you count the end zone, yeah.
- [127:09]
Connor
So basically, if you count what? They don't count.
- [127:11]
Pat McAfee
Oh, so it's an 81 yard punt.
- [127:12]
Connor
Yeah, well, the guy. And the guy returns it. I don't Know if it.
- [127:15]
Pat McAfee
Cuz no, it's just gross, gross punt.
- [127:18]
Connor
Well, the ball kept going past 91 yards then.
- [127:20]
Pat McAfee
Okay, so that ball snapped from the one.
- [127:22]
Connor
Yeah. And I think it goes all the way down to like the seven.
- [127:26]
Pat McAfee
That's not. That's. Yes.
- [127:27]
Connor
Yeah, yeah, to the six.
- [127:30]
Pat McAfee
So yeah.
- [127:32]
AP Tone
Oh, well, they, they did count it.
- [127:33]
Pat McAfee
To where I turned it. Six minus one would be a 95 yard punt and then he returned it.
- [127:39]
Connor
To like the 13.
- [127:40]
Pat McAfee
I think he has the record then because they counted as a 91, I believe. Right. I think it's longer than that.
- [127:46]
Ty Schmidt
Unless there is another clip of him hitting another.
- [127:49]
Pat McAfee
Another punt preseason. So that, that's from the one yard line. So if he was to hit it to the end zone, that'd be a 99 yard punt. It gets stopped six yards from the end zone, right? Seven yards from the end zone.
- [128:01]
Connor
Yeah, yeah, right in there.
- [128:03]
Pat McAfee
So seven yards, seven.
- [128:05]
Connor
Yeah.
- [128:05]
Pat McAfee
So that's 92 yards. Right. 99 minus seven would be a 92 yard punt. So he got ripped off a yard. I don't think it would be record.
- [128:14]
Connor
Yeah, the record we saw was like 98 yards. But again they're not including the return. Like if you punt the ball, that.
- [128:21]
Pat McAfee
Would be your net punt. This is gross. Gross punt, gross punt, net punt. Nonetheless. Randall Cunningham. AJ's gone.
- [128:28]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, he's sick of it.
- [128:29]
Pat McAfee
I'm tired of talking about punish. All right, let's go to the number three overall player. Whenever it comes to Eagles and Cowboys, Michael Irvin. Yeah, the playmaker. Absolute dog. Obviously on the field there's highlights galore. All the way back to his draft night where he was told the Green Bay packers were going to draft him out of Miami. And he said, I'm not going just because he didn't want to go up there. Told him he'd go back to school and he would not go there. Kind of force his way to the Dallas Cowboys. Throughout the documentary of Jerry Jones business life and the Dallas Cowboys build as a whole. Michael Irvin's really a superstar in there because not only on the field was he tearing it up. Off the field he was as well. The guy was wide open. He was always himself. And then whenever he would transfer into television, he'd be one of the most electrifying people on a microphone. Michael Irvin has to be listed in one of our top five favorite players. Whenever we're talking Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles had him in number three. I don't mind it. I like number three overall and I think people will respect where we put him at.
- [129:28]
Connor
Yeah, I think it's perfect. Especially when you look at the, like, the total players in this. Like, it was very hard just to get down to five, let alone thinking about, you know, the, the legends that have played in this type of rivalry.
- [129:40]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Because I mean, to is somebody that we respect and like a lot. Obviously he's a big part of the story. T romo, obviously a guy that we spend every single Sunday with while watching games. I mean, there's just numerous amount of superstars that we could have picked from this rivalry. How about number two? Who do we got? Oh, yeah, the one, the only Deion Sanders. Deion Sanders. Now, he had five punt return touchdowns as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. He had a couple pick sixes. He had a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and he had a receiving touchdown. Whenever he was there, he was there from 1995 through 1999. Became an absolute problem. Massive piece of the documentary as well. Especially with them trying to get back onto the mountaintop. Bringing in Deion Sanders and him becoming prime time for Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys. Obviously he just kicked some ass in the offseason. Battling an illness. Back on the sidelines for the Colorado Buffaloes. How's this season going to go for them? We don't know. But what we do know is this dude is certified. We appreciate the hell out of pride. You look good, you feel good, you feel good, you play good, you play good. They pay good, they pay good. You live good. You live good, you die good. Shout out to Deion Sanders for what he's done for football and also as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. It was awesome to watch them on TV every single week. AJ I think this list is coming together nicely. Don't you think so, pal?
- [131:00]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, you got me eagerly wondering who your number one pick may be. There's so many to choose from from here.
- [131:05]
Pat McAfee
Yeah, there's a lot of people that we really could have kind of gone with. A lot of people that represent both teams so perfectly. You know, couple offensive linemen on both sides could have got picked. Couple defensive linemen could have got picked. You know, it's strictly players, so we didn't think about adding, you know, Big Dom. Could have been, but he's not a player. You know, Nick Sirianni, obviously he's active, so we wouldn't have been able to pick him, but we loved his coaching style. And Andy Reid. Not going to get paid. It's just strictly players only. And there was only one player that depicted its city and its team better. Than all of the others. And we searched and scoured every roster, every player since the beginning of these teams. Our favorite player in the history of the Cowboys and the Eagles organization. Drum roll ties on Vince Papali. Wow.
- [131:58]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
- [131:58]
Pat McAfee
That was a bartender.
- [131:59]
Connor
What?
- [131:59]
Pat McAfee
That was a bartender. Guy was a fucking bartender. Excuse me, in Philadelphia. Worked his ass off, went to a tryout, made the team. Not only did he just make the team, the guy became the special teams captain for the Philadelphia Eagles. You're talking about the city of Philadelphia playing for the Eagles, reincarnated in one Italian man with a sweet name in a sweet flow. NFL Films is able to give us some footage, maybe footage that you have not seen before, of Vince Papale calling his own shot, calling his own number on a punt. Knew it was going to happen because earlier in training camp he learned a vital lesson of if the knuckles are red or their knuckles are white, it means they're coming or going. He saw their knuckles. He breaks free, lets the guy straight at the punter, gets down the field, sees the punt returner, eyes it, times it perfectly, it's a catch, not a muff. That means that's a fumble. Vinny Papali. The city of Philly's going crazy. That's our guy. Holy shit. That's our bartender. Hey, yo, barkeep. They're saying at the moment, the Pisons are losing their mind. He scoops it. No way this fucking guy is gonna score a touchdown. The city of Philadelphia. From barkeeping bar back to glory. Pay dirt. Vince Papali is the Philadelphia Eagles. Vince Papale is Philadelphia as a whole. And Vince Papale, he's a touchdown scoring captain of Philadelphia Eagles. So I think that is really a tough list to put together. Other people that did not make the list but should have the garbage picking, field goal kicking Philadelphia phenomenon.
- [133:41]
Ty Schmidt
Great pick.
- [133:42]
Pat McAfee
Barney Gorman.
- [133:43]
AP Tone
Yes.
- [133:44]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
- [133:46]
Pat McAfee
Barney Gorman almost made it. Should. Okay. He was this close.
- [133:50]
Ty Schmidt
I'm actually embarrassed I didn't push for him harder.
- [133:52]
Pat McAfee
Pre show this close. Barney Gorman. Okay, because it was a specialist as well. What position was Barney? He's the garbage picking, field goal kicking on Philadelphia phenomenon. I'm not familiar familiar with Barney.
- [134:06]
Ty Schmidt
Oh, Jesus.
- [134:07]
Pat McAfee
He's a field goal kicking Barney. Garbage picking man from Philadelphia. Same story as Vince Papali. Just not a bartender. Just a guy who happened to wear a boot, a working boot, and boot the out of a football for the Philadelphia Eagles. So Barney Gorman almost got the call in the top five other specialists that could have made it. David Akers, obviously a dog sav roka. An absolute Beast out of Australia. So a lot of people almost in there, including Barney Gorman, but Vince Papali takes the cake because of how much he represents what it's all about to be an Eagle, I think. And then Dion, Michael Irvin, Randall Cunningham who had got ripped off on a yard, I think for his punt. And then Jason Kelsey wraps out the top five. AJ and to be clear, I don't think anything's ever been more right.
- [134:51]
A.J. Hawk
Yeah, I mean credit to NFL Films for giving you that footage. That's amazing footage we got from, from the field and all the, those. Yeah, amazing coaches and, and shout out to the Eagles as well. They were ahead of their time. They had, look at this. They got field Turf from like 1978.
- [135:05]
AP Tone
See the knuckles?
- [135:06]
A.J. Hawk
Pretty amazing. Yeah, we got field turf back in the day before it was even invented. NFL Films was, was doing great.
- [135:11]
Pat McAfee
N. It was grass.
- [135:12]
Ty Schmidt
What are you talking about? It's natural grass.
- [135:14]
Connor
Yeah. Open your eyes.
- [135:15]
A.J. Hawk
Oh, my bad.
- [135:16]
Pat McAfee
For all the seeds with all the in it. Oh, you're right.
- [135:19]
Connor
I was pretty unfamiliar, medically modified and.
- [135:22]
Pat McAfee
It'S hard to call that in the middle of a punt as well. I think modern day it's going to be tough to make a check like that.
- [135:28]
A.J. Hawk
Are you playing wing or what position is he?
- [135:30]
Pat McAfee
He was a gunner, lined up at wing and then he lets a guy go right at the punter. He said you take the punt, just go ahead. Yeah, he did. He kind of just threw him at the punter. I'll tell you what, that'd be a one way trip out of town if I was, if I was stated back there in charge, which I would not be. But I like that he made the play. Knew that he could kind of rip and toss around, have a clear shot to return her and then that ball popping out, that was nothing. But the football gods blessing Vince McPoly for doing something right.
- [135:56]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, exactly.
- [135:57]
Pat McAfee
And we're thankful it happened. We're very thankful.
- [136:00]
Connor
How long did Papal play for?
- [136:02]
AP Tone
10, 12 years, something like that.
- [136:04]
Pat McAfee
I don't think that is accurate.
- [136:05]
Ty Schmidt
I think it was like three years he played. I believe he played in 41 of 44 games for the Eagles.
- [136:10]
Connor
Oh, is this Vince from the Philadelphia Bell?
- [136:13]
Pat McAfee
No, he played in the Philadelphia Bell before he played for the Philadelphia.
- [136:15]
Connor
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
- [136:16]
Pat McAfee
He was, he was sharpening his sword cuz he had many on his brain. His, his, his hands were. Yeah. His feet, his hair.
- [136:27]
Ty Schmidt
Lightning tougher than a $2 steak.
- [136:29]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And then his feet obviously like shore bird. Yeah. If you need it. But he's going to bring the thunder right here though. And he's going to say Gazi the whole time. Vince. Probably number one overall. That was the easy decision. Yeah.
- [136:41]
AP Tone
He's a kick.
- [136:42]
Pat McAfee
Barney Gorman, though.
- [136:43]
Ty Schmidt
No, no, that was, that's, that's strong.
- [136:45]
Connor
I'm surprised Kelsey made it. Now when I look back on and think of Barney.
- [136:49]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Well, that actually I'm not gonna get. I'm not gonna say anything. That's my list.
- [136:53]
Connor
Okay.
- [136:54]
Pat McAfee
Barney Gorman. 5A.
- [136:56]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I think so.
- [136:57]
Pat McAfee
Donovan McNabb also in there.
- [136:59]
Ty Schmidt
Sure.
- [136:59]
A.J. Hawk
Reggie White.
- [137:00]
Pat McAfee
Nah, no Reggie White. I remember him more as a packer, but I agree. Should be in there. I love Reggie White. Should have made the list. He wasn't a bartender.
- [137:09]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, yeah, and that's or sanitation work.
- [137:11]
A.J. Hawk
Not over Papali or Tony Danza. Tony Danza just edged him out for five bay.
- [137:17]
Pat McAfee
Barney Gorman. No, there's multiple five ace Tony Dorsett.
- [137:21]
Connor
Pittsburgh. There's a few of those guys.
- [137:23]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. For the, for the Cowboys. I like him. Yeah.
- [137:27]
Ty Schmidt
Carol Moose Johnston.
- [137:28]
Pat McAfee
Danouch. Darrell Moose.
- [137:31]
Connor
Cooper Kush.
- [137:32]
Pat McAfee
Cooper Kush. Definitely Y. Andy Dalton had a run there. I saw him the other day. I like him.
- [137:37]
Ty Schmidt
Sean. Sean Payton.
- [137:39]
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
- [137:39]
Ty Schmidt
Sharp Sean. Or what's Sean Lee? No, not Shawn Lee. Jason Garrett. Excuse me? Jason Garrett, you know, great, great quarterback.
- [137:48]
Pat McAfee
Great on tv.
- [137:49]
Connor
Rabbit out of the head, coming back, you know, the second time.
- [137:52]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Unbelievable.
- [137:53]
AP Tone
T. Martin.
- [137:55]
A.J. Hawk
T. Martin.
- [137:56]
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Tennessee Albert Haynesworth. A lot of great players.
- [138:00]
Ty Schmidt
So many.
- [138:00]
Pat McAfee
Pac man, maybe Pac Man Joe. Holy. I remember him as a Bengal. I should have put him on. Yeah, that's on me. That's on me.
- [138:09]
Connor
Marion Bar.
- [138:09]
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
- [138:10]
AP Tone
But he'd be cool with it because you stood on.
- [138:11]
Pat McAfee
Oh, yes, I did. Especially at the Vince Papali pick. Nobody saw Vince Pal's number one. But then once I explained it, it kind of makes sense. Yeah. All right, let's make our picks for the night. Peter Schrager, super duper prediction show coming up in about 42 minutes right here on ESPN.
- [138:25]
Connor
So pumped for it now.
- [138:27]
Pat McAfee
Detroit Lions not making a playoffs. Sorry. I love that. Just hopping right into fire.
- [138:32]
AP Tone
I don't want to put you on the spot, but sincere dude, you, you doing super bowl picks?
- [138:35]
Pat McAfee
I, I, I do. Don't do that. I live in a moment.
- [138:37]
Connor
Amen.
- [138:39]
Pat McAfee
With that being said. Really like the Eagles, but the Chiefs is still the Chiefs. Okay. And Danny Dimes. Don't let them look at the hopo meter and get too much motivation, you know? And what is going to happen? Let's start with the toxic table at Ty Schmidt. Your pick tonight is the Cowboys are eight and a half point dogs on ESPN BET to kick off the NFL season.
- [139:01]
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I was on the Cowboys all morning and the more I look at it, I'm just seeing the potential of saquon rushing for 175 yards. So I'm gonna flip and I'm gonna. I'm gonna go with the Eagles and I think they cover okay.
- [139:12]
Pat McAfee
You like the Eagles covering eight and a half?
- [139:14]
Ty Schmidt
I think so.
- [139:15]
Pat McAfee
A little bit too much positivity for the Cowboys on this particular show. Yeah.
- [139:18]
Ty Schmidt
I don't know, it's just weird.
- [139:19]
Pat McAfee
What?
- [139:19]
Ty Schmidt
When so much of the consensus is these guys have done everything wrong for the last several weeks. These guys suck. This one player was their entire team. But then a lot of. I mean we. We talked about their offense, their defense. They still got a lot of good players. I just. Man, I can just see the Eagles really going belt to ass tonight.
- [139:35]
Pat McAfee
Okay. That is certainly a possibility in everybody's eyes. Boston Connor, you've had one pick all morning. Feels like all show. You've been feeding that narrative. I don't know if he is kind of flippy FL floppy like you potentially had on this particular game. Con man, who do you like?
- [139:48]
Connor
No, I'm steadfast. Eight and a half. I don't think anybody knows this team better than Mike McCarthy. He was just there. So if he feels good about it, I feel good about it. If you're going to bet a underdog that is greater than 7 though, throw in a touchdown for the other team. It'll help the algorithm, give you better odds. So like a Cowboys plus eight and a half. Jalen hurts Touchdown will really give you a little juice for tonight.
- [140:09]
Pat McAfee
Okay. Jalen hurts. We assume. Assume is going to get a tush push special at some point. 1/2 of the hammer don. Cowboys AP tone don't want to give away too much for hammer Don. Just going to be electrifying today, but who do you like in the game?
- [140:22]
AP Tone
I was. I also waffled a bit. I didn't know coming into the show but Big Mike really convinced me to ride with the puppies tonight. And the Cowboys plus eight and a half.
- [140:30]
Pat McAfee
Okay. Tones on the Cowboys plus eight and a half. So is Connor. Ty says Eagles blow them out. A.J. your third thoughts?
- [140:37]
A.J. Hawk
I mean Big Mike does. He does sway whatever you're thinking. I think when he's so die hard on the Cowboys. But I was leaning Cowboys. I'm definitely taking the Cowboys plus eight and a half. I'm going to take the over as well.
- [140:47]
Pat McAfee
Okay, I will pick the Cowboys plus eight and a half as well. Okay, I.
- [140:52]
Connor
You jump in on that over.
- [140:53]
Pat McAfee
No, no, no. I mean, yeah, sure, why not?
- [140:56]
Connor
Last year, just so you know, 47 and a half. I think it was the same last year. And the score was 27, 20 when I. Isaiah likely ended up. So they. They're on it when the over unders early.
- [141:06]
Pat McAfee
Okay, well, I'll go with the over as well. I. I enjoy the over. I like the Cowboys plus eight and a half. I was Philadelphia Eagles as the show started. And then the more and more I thought about it was like, it's going to be a cagey affair, dude. Divisional game, doesn't matter. Like, it's going to be tight, I think. Can the Philadelphia Eagles blow them out? Definitely. We are big fans of Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia Eagles win. Cowboys. Keep it tight. Jaylen Hill hurt scores a touchdown. And the overheads, I mean, that's what it. That is. That is how I feel like the game is probably going. Does that mean that's going to take place? Absolutely not. Could be the complete opposite. We could be in a more fest tonight or it could be anything. That's why the NFL is the greatest. We have some news out of the NFL. Amari Cooper has announced his retirement from the NFL. He signed with the Raiders at the end of camp, it says, hopeful for a reunion with the team that drafted him. Now he is headed home from Las Vegas. Amari, hell of a career, buddy. Oh, yeah, hell of a career. Quiet, right? That's what everybody's at. Super quiet. Loves ball. Obviously. He was with Coach Saban. We learned about him through him. He's bounced around a little bit, but he's always a playmaker. We appreciate him coming to the decision of retirement. And if it's forever, just know you did great on a football field, pal. And if you end up coming back, don't feel bad. You're allowed to do whatever the hell you want. Amari Cooper, with that being said, said, all eyes are on tonight. Let's get excited for tonight.
- [142:23]
Ty Schmidt
Hell yeah.
- [142:23]
Pat McAfee
Let's get excited for the time that we are currently alive. There's a lot taking place over the next few days, and that just kicks off a season of wonder that we are about to have. I cannot wait from the road from tonight all the way to February, I cannot wait to see who becomes a superstar, who becomes the villain, who gets screwed over and who defies all the odds. That's football in a nutshell. We're lucky for it. Tonight's gonna be electrifying thank you to all that are covering it. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together and we're probably gonna watch no matter what they do to NFL red zone. Sue us. Don't actually Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three, Team. Goodbye. Talk about stepping up. It's time to level up your game. Introducing. Introducing the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. The electricity is palpable. Step up your game. With no annual contract required. It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For More on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com Sign up now. You've seen the headlines, heard the debates. The three point ball has created a.
- [143:44]
Ty Schmidt
Monotonous rhythm to the game.
- [143:46]
Pat McAfee
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.