PMS 2.0 1524 - LIVE From The NFL League Meetings, with Peter Schrager, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Brandon Beane, Braylon Mullins, Coach K, & Mike McCarthy

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 Ep. 1524 – Live from NFL League Meetings

Date: March 30, 2026
Location: The Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix, AZ

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Episode Overview

This special live episode finds Pat McAfee and his crew—AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, "The Toxic Table," and Tone Digs—broadcasting from the NFL League Meetings in Phoenix. It's a behind-the-scenes, insider look at the business and future of the NFL, with rule changes, CBA talk, and major updates looming. The episode features interviews with NFL owners, GMs, coaches, players, and legends, sports commentary, and a healthy dose of March Madness reactions. Expect a blend of candid NFL talk, irreverent humor, and moments with some of football’s biggest decision-makers.

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Main Segments & Key Discussion Points

1. Setting the Scene at the League Meetings

[00:00-07:40]

• Pat opens by celebrating the sights and energy in Phoenix, describing the NFL League Meetings as a "celebration of sport" and a crucial moment for future-defining decisions—rule changes, CBA negotiations, and networking among owners, GMs, and coaches.
• Quote [00:39]: “This is a celebration of sport and also a very integral part of the NFL season… a lot of people chatting about what the NFL is going to look like in the future.” —Pat
• Guests previewed: Carly Irsay-Gordon (Colts), Brandon Beane (Bills), Peter Schrager, Braylon Mullins (UConn hero), Coach K, and Mike McCarthy (Steelers).

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2. March Madness Recap & Braylon Mullins’ Heroics

[01:02-04:20]; [63:13-72:02]

• Breakdown of the Final Four: UConn’s 18-point comeback against Duke, Arizona’s run, and Michigan’s dominant win. Pat celebrates Indiana-native Braylon Mullins and Coach Hurley's leadership.
• Memorable Quote [63:43]: “Braylon Mullins: 0 for 4. No more splash. Punch your ticket back to Indianapolis. UConn will be making it to the Final Four, toppling the number one Duke squad.” —Pat
• Interview with Mullins: He talks about his game-winning shot, Coach Hurley’s inspiration, and Indiana basketball culture.
  • Mullins: “You gotta shoot it with confidence… That was the one that I made yesterday.” [63:50]
  • On Coach Hurley: “He wanted to keep the positivity with the group and just keep the confidence high…” [64:44]
• Visit from Coach K: Discusses managing heartbreak, team leadership, and the surge of experienced international talent in college hoops.

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3. NFL Hot Topics: 18-Game Season, Referees, and CBA Issues

[05:57-13:53]; [14:53-17:16]; [22:41-25:08]; [58:51-61:39]; [146:39-148:28]

18-Game Season Momentum & Bye Week

• Owners (Bob Kraft, Carly Irsay-Gordon) voiced support for 18 regular season games and an extra bye week.
• Players’ health and safety remain central to the debate; negotiations with NFLPA on expanded rosters and scheduling are underway.
• Pat [06:20]: “It feels like 18 games is inevitable… two more weeks of primetime games that they can sell.”

Referee Labor Negotiations & Accountability

• Looming threat of replacement refs, talk of training D3/high school officials as contingency.
• Push from the league on accountability: “If you suck, you need to be fired. It's not a Supreme Court justice.” —Pat [25:01]
• Innovation talk: Drawing parallels to MLB’s new “ABS” (automated balls and strikes) and public accountability for umpires.
  • “I think every fan really enjoyed watching the ump be wrong publicly.” —Pat [17:04]
• Darius [09:47]: “You need the best in the business out there on the field… I just hope it gets done in the safest way possible.”

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4. NFL Insiders’ Roundtable: Rule Changes, Future of the Game

[17:40-28:47]: Peter Schrager Interview

• Schrager gives behind-the-scenes insight into coaches’ press sessions, rule-voting protocols, and media etiquette.
  • “It’s a 30-minute breakfast session… you don’t do that. You dress in a shirt and tie or at least a jacket.” —Schrager [19:35]
• Notable rumors and headlines:
  • McVay’s transparency with players (Adams trade rumors).
  • Kirk Cousins potentially joining the Rams.
  • OBJ possibly returning to the Giants: “He is a superstar and a supernova in that city.” —Schrager [27:04]
  • Malik Nabers vs. Terry McLaurin debate.

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5. Owners & GMs Speak: Interviews with Carly Irsay-Gordon & Brandon Beane

Carly Irsay-Gordon [29:55-40:54]:

• Key points: Momentum for 18-game season, new NFL fan engagement strategies, personal accounts of growing up in a football family, and the evolving game-day experience.
  • “An even number would be nice to get to... the preseason product isn’t quite what it used to be.” —Carly [30:29]
  • “Just hearing from fans… what is important to them, how it’s evolving…” [31:34]
  • On stadium events: “No one does it better [than Indy]. But… now, if you’re going to spend thousands of dollars, you might want to be by a beach.” [38:51]
  • On ref negotiations: “I have tremendous respect… we always need to be trying to get better in every way.” [39:38]

Brandon Beane [42:05-56:46]:

• Talks draft prep, the stress of “all-in,” and the pressure to win a Super Bowl in Buffalo.
  • “At the end of the day, we’re hired to win championships… that hasn’t changed this year.” —Brandon Beane [46:17]
  • On 18-game season: Need for larger rosters, balancing health, and the economics of extra games. [44:12]
  • Discusses adding DJ Moore, Joe Brady’s energy, and learning from draft scouting controversies.
  • “You want to play a certain way… with that comes a different thought process.” [128:05]
  • “We’ve got to make sure teams that make the playoffs have the best players playing.” [44:39]

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6. Coaching Carousel: Steelers’ Mike McCarthy Interview

[115:29–139:34]

• McCarthy returns to Pittsburgh as head coach—emotional homecoming and vision for the Steelers.
  • “To be with them [his parents], you know, at this point in their lives… it's been really cool.” —McCarthy [117:51]
• Discusses updating playbooks (keeping some Pittsburgh terminology), merging “yellow and blue,” and fostering team confidence.
  • “At the end of the day, it’s about communication and connection… football is all about who’s the most confident when the ball’s snapped.” [122:08]
• On Aaron Rodgers rumors: “I talk to Aaron regularly… and we’re just working through it.” [124:06]
• Recruitment, culture reset, draft strategy, and the expectations of coaching an iconic franchise.
• Emphasis on adapting offensive plans to weather (outdoor Pittsburgh vs. indoor Dallas).
• “As a head coach, when you bring something specific to the table, your team reflects that.” [128:18]

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7. Sports, Culture, and Relatability: Golf, Security, and Social Moments

[41:06–56:46]; [98:45–103:23]

• Pat and crew trade golf stories with GMs and guests—atmosphere at the league hotel (security, VIPs everywhere).
• Laughter around “credentialed media” status—security describes the NFL's insularity and the surreal environment.

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8. Baseball’s Automated Umpires, Ref Tech, & Officiating Accountability

[13:53-17:16]; [149:36-153:53]

• MLB’s new ABS system introduces "public executions" of umps on disputed calls—NFL could benefit from greater officiating transparency.
• Pat: “We love refs that don't want to make it about themselves… we need them in the NFL.” [145:22]
• Darius: “We’ve got to have the best guys out there covering and calling the best product.” [148:42]
• Discussion on mental toughness for refs and “callusing the skin” with constructive criticism.

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9. Final Segments: NFL Scheduling, Closing Thoughts, Thanks

[154:00–156:02]

• The crew wraps with birthday wishes, reflections on the event, and a team cheer.

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Notable Quotes

• “This is a celebration of sport and also a very integral part of the NFL season… a lot of people chatting about what the NFL is going to look like in the future.” —Pat McAfee [00:39]
• “If you suck, you need to be fired. It's not a Supreme Court justice.” —Pat McAfee [25:01]
• “You gotta shoot it with confidence… That was the one that I made yesterday.” —Braylon Mullins [63:50]
• “At the end of the day, we’re hired to win championships… that hasn’t changed this year.” —Brandon Beane [46:17]
• “At the end of the day, it’s about communication and connection… football is all about who’s the most confident when the ball’s snapped.” —Mike McCarthy [122:08]
• “If we had a permanent home for [the Final Four], it would be [Indianapolis].” —Coach K [95:37]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–07:40 — NFL League Meetings overview, guests.
• 01:02–04:20 — March Madness, UConn’s comeback.
• 05:57–13:53 — Owners talk 18-game season and CBA.
• 14:53–17:16 — MLB umpires, technology, ref parallels.
• 17:40–28:47 — Peter Schrager’s insider media recap.
• 29:55–40:54 — Carly Irsay-Gordon interview.
• 42:05–56:46 — Brandon Beane interview.
• 63:13–72:02 — Braylon Mullins and Coach K on March Madness.
• 115:29–139:34 — Mike McCarthy (Steelers head coach) interview.
• 146:39–148:28 — Referee negotiations and NFL officiating.
• 154:00–156:02 — Closing, birthday wishes, team cheer.

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Memorable Moments

• The entire crew’s excitement (and sometimes awe) at being credentialed and surrounded by NFL power brokers.
• Lively, sometimes comic discussion of media etiquette at the meetings: “You don’t need to be eating your fruit plate and your berries… No, you don’t do that.” —Peter Schrager [19:33]
• Pat joking about the “voice of God” effect on headsets [29:54].
• Cake presented to celebrate a birthday live on air by Coach McCarthy [116:20].
• Genuine moments of humility from Coach K, Brandon Beane, and Carly Irsay-Gordon.

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Tone and Language

Consistent with The Pat McAfee Show: irreverent, conversational, humorous, and peppered with inside jokes, but offers genuine insight and respect during interviews with high-profile guests. The hosts balance “stern but fair” sports journalism with fan excitement and candid discussion.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

If you want a real (and really fun) sense of the NFL’s future straight from the League’s biggest annual meeting, this episode delivers. You’ll get high-level updates on scheduling and CBA changes (the push for 18 games), honest dialogue about officiating and new rules, and exclusive interviews with league power players—all wrapped in the McAfee crew’s signature style. The episode also weaves in NCAA basketball drama, coaching wisdom, and moments of comic relief from life inside the NFL’s inner circles.

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Summary Table

| Segment | Guests/Topic | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------| | NFL Meetings, Context | Pat, Crew | 00:00–07:40 | | March Madness Recap | Braylon Mullins, Coach K | 01:02–04:20; 63:13–72:02 | | NFL Season/Ref Debate | Crew, Owners | 05:57–13:53; 14:53–17:16; 22:41–25:08; 58:51–61:39; 146:39–148:28 | | Peter Schrager Insider | Peter Schrager | 17:40–28:47 | | Carly Irsay-Gordon Interview | Colts Owner | 29:55–40:54 | | Brandon Beane Interview | Bills GM | 42:05–56:46 | | Mike McCarthy Interview | Steelers Head Coach | 115:29–139:34| | Baseball & Officiating Parallels | Crew | 13:53–17:16; 149:36–153:53 | | Event Atmosphere, Golf, Culture | Crew, various | 41:06–56:46; 98:45–103:23 | | Final Reflections & Cheer | Crew, all | 154:00–156:02|

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For more details, see specific timestamps and read the direct quotes above.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. More specifically, the Biltmore Hotel, the home of league meetings on this overreaction Monday. This program begins now. Sports are magical. We're the luckiest people on earth that we get a chance to cover sports every single day. And for another couple days here in the last month, we get a chance to head out here to the desert. And it was cold as hell back in Indianapolis. And we think that spring is about to spring sprung in Indiana. We hope that the coldness is behind us. But every time you come out here to beautiful Arizona, you can't help but think to yourself, wow, what a beautiful city. The weather seemingly hot as hell and perfect. And every time we come out here, something big's going on. Now here in this hotel right behind us, everybody in the league is here. Owners, GMs, head coaches, all the local media that we just walked into in a room or a building, I guess on the other side. This is a celebration of sport and also a very integral part of the NFL season. They'll be voting on things in here. There'll be some rule changes happening in here. There'll be some decisions made in here. And there's a lot of people chatting about what the NFL is going to look like in the future. We have Carly Ursay Gordon joining us. The owner of the Indianapolis Co Colts, Brandon Bean, the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, will be joining us. Peter Schrager, who might be the mayor of this place, will be joining us here in a matter of moments. In a second hour, we'll have Coach K joining us. We'll also have Braylon Mullins, the Indiana kid who splashed the 35 to 40 foot three yesterday for UConn to topple Duke. Duke once had a 19 point lead. At halftime, they were up 15. And then Kaden Boozer could have took in a foul. Instead, he throws it away. Mullins, freshman, 0 for 4. No more splash. Punch your ticket back to Indianapolis. Yukon will be making it to the Final Four, toppling the number one Duke squad. And once you see Hurley's parents react to the shot, it all makes a lot more sense. Dan Hurley's mom looks exactly like Dan Hurley.

[Tony Pauline]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

She actually says, holy shit. And then dad goes, whoa, we won. And then there's a video of what Dan Hurley did through this entire time. Well, he obviously swagging a little bit. And then he, yup, how you doing? Keep moving, ref. Trying to talk to him. He said, what's that?

[Darius Butler]

So ask him a question.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa, what's that? Issa what's that? Hey, I heard you. You try to get us. You try. You were a Duke fan all day. Well, how you like me now? Some people say maybe I was a technical foul.

[Tony Pauline]

Maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Some people say maybe Duke goes to the line there. Point three seconds left. Knock it down. All of a sudden, Duke steals the victory to the Final Four. In Dan Hurley's antics are the reason why. But instead, they. That ref was just trying to talk to Dan Hurley. Our source have told us that Dan could not hear what he was saying, so he just leaned in, happened to go forehead to forehead with a guy he has a lot of respect for. The guy has respect for him, understands the magical moment is happening. Ref says, hey, we're just. We got three seconds left. He walks away. But could you fathom?

[Tony Pauline]

Oh, my God, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Could you fathom?

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, I could.

[Pat McAfee]

If that. Dang. All of a sudden, Shire's like, is it this? A funny little turn of events. Sends their shooter to line. Got to shoot. Two down, one. What a moment. Their first one falls. Dan Hurley sitting over there. Oh, no. Second one falls and they get the ball back inbound. Throw up. UConn no longer in the final four. Duke, the number one overall seed who everybody hates, moves on because of an incidental potential contact with forehead to forehead from the head coach, but instead, doesn't matter. Braylon Mullins hits one of the greatest shots in the history. 18 point comeback for UConn as they punch their ticket. They're not the only ones. Obviously. Michigan beat the absolute dog out of Tennessee. I mean, that was a pounding. It was kind of bad for March Madness. Yeah, it was kind of bad for March Madness, but Michigan does their thing. Arizona beats Purdue. Now that's another one. Hey. Hey. Arizona's problem. Good ball club. Arizona is an absolute problem. Cannot wait to watch them in Illinois. Those itches are good. Those itches are good up there in Illinois. I. I don't. It's personal preference. I don't like orange.

[Tony Pauline]

Sure.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[Connor Rogers]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I just don't like the color. Sure. So I think since birth, I'm not supposed to like the way they look sometimes because there's a lot of orange up there. But the way they play hoops, I love it. Lil Stojakovic. Oh, this guy is awesome. This guy is awesome. Love the way they're playing. They got a kid from Indiana as well with the ponytail. Love everything about that. And then obviously, Illinois knocks out Iowa, which obviously sends the Hawkeye fans into. Into massive heartbreak. So we got a chance to cover everything. And what Braylon Mullins joining us. I believe Coach Hurley will be on tomorrow with us. Cannot wait to get a follow up with him about the forehead to forehead. But who cares? 19 point comeback. He never wavered. That's great coaching. That's good culture. We now have our final four in Indianapolis. We cannot wait to be there. Now let's turn our attention to the place in which we are. It's not just me here. And shout out to the entire crew that pieced this together in a parking lot in Arizona. It was 195 degrees.

[Tony Pauline]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Lady named Holly who's at basically every single show. Yeah, she yesterday she see Ashley's bit brew. I won't let you know. Yesterday was a bit brew. Scott Cajun man who's on the jib. Scott is an incredible talent. He's one of our guys now. He was on Jib from Louisiana. Hot as hell down there he goes boy. Yesterday about 111312 o'. Clock. Yeah. We're cooking out here. So thank you to everybody for your hard work to make this happen. We're lucky to be here. It's not just me. Talks to tables here at Boston. Connor at Ty Schmidt. Con man. League meetings here. We're out front of this building. Shout out to the NFL for letting us do this. Shout out to the ESPN folks for piecing this whole thing together. Faso getting us invite. We're actually credentialed now. Okay, love that. Credentialed to be here. Which is great news. A lot of news coming out of here though. Con man. A lot of people talking right now.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, it feels like everyone's very comfortable being out here. Which makes sense just because of how nice it is. But I to your point about everyone talking? Bob Kraft, he's already kind of been out there. Hey look, we're doing 18 games. We're doing two preseason games. Those don't mean anything. Don't even why we're doing two. Amber doing two. Bye week. So the marching orders it seems is hey, get ready because this 17 game thing is cute. 18 games is going to be even better.

[Pat McAfee]

Carly Ursay Gordon, she came out this morning. Whenever she spoke as well. Same thing like the 18 games. Talked about the health and safety though the players. But also talk about the importance of preseason and ramping up during training camp about building a team. Remember Parlier say Gordon boots on the ground for all this. I think she literally has only learned through players coaches perspective and how she should be running an operation. Has to make a lot of decisions her Kaylin and Casey, obviously at the helm of this thing, but she came out with the 18 game as well. It does feel like there's, hey, NFL fans, we know what you want. You love ball, right? Hey, and if we had a bye week, that's two more weeks of ball. Okay. And now you got J.C. treader, the new executive chairman of the NFLPA. Going to have to kind of figure out how this deal is going to get done, how much more money, what are they going to give up, what are they going to take. That's always the back end of it all is a negotiation, especially with the CBA. But it feels like 18 games is inevitable. An extra buy is probably inevitable. So that's two more weeks of primetime games that they can sell. Love it. Con man loves it. You add those at the end of the season, too. Whenever college is doing its two month off thing, that's Saturday night, that Saturday afternoon. That's Sunday afternoon, that's Sunday night. You could potentially roll that thing into Friday. I mean, there is a lot of massive money to be made off of two more weeks of primetime. So you can see why that is a point of emphasis here. Also talking about the refs, let's go to one half of the Hammer Cowboys, ap. Tone. Tone. Good to see you. You're glowing. Good to see you. Thank you. You're glowing out here.

[Tone Bell]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Two chains, but you got you a few on. Sunglasses look spectacular. Really good look for you here at the league meeting.

[Tone Bell]

Baseball's had a real effect on me as of late. I saw a couple pitchers wearing necklaces similar to this, so I decided to throw and do that. And once you're out in Arizona, you

[Pat McAfee]

just gotta feel it, baby. Yeah, you can. If you can feel it, you can chase it. Yeah, that's right. It feels like you've got two different movies going on right now in your life. But I appreciate that you're doing that and I do like that you kind of just blend in with whatever you're watching. That sleeve right there is because the World Cup.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, it is. And then I watched Pinky Blinders movie last night. I started this morning with an accent. Eventually it came out.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

Probably gonna smoke a couple cigs after the show.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm gonna have to do it.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Have to. Yeah. This is spectacular.

[Tone Bell]

I'm a chameleon.

[Pat McAfee]

Isn't crazy. We're out here, though.

[Tone Bell]

It's insane. I was walking in there, saw Mr. Cronky, I saw Mr. Kraft, and then, you know, Ryan P.S. was walking. Everybody is here. And that was Just when I was taking a. Like they're everywhere around here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And to go to take a. Remember you got to walk by all the billionaire security.

[Tone Bell]

Yep, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

You got. Every billionaire here has their own security. You got dogs out here, you got league security. You got. This place is pretty crazy. Very lucky to be credentialed. There's a band that we have working for us on this particular thing that has a calf tattoo and a wrist brace, bowling brace and also an elbow brace. This guy, I'm happy he's on our team.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And these billionaires need to know that if this guy's here, nothing's getting past.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So we are thankful that he is on our team and somebody's going to tell him we were just talking about him and we will expect him to take on any bad guys that come in here. Nine year NFL vet, one of the smartest dudes I've ever talked to and that you've ever heard talk about.

[John Shirey]

Ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Darius J. Butler's here, baby. D Bu let's talk very quickly here. Refs potentially being called in from New York is getting voted on here 18 game season. Seemingly getting really pressed in this particular time. The ref association negotiation is going to be a big part of. Hey, we're not talking about it here because it feels like it's getting very real. There's even a thought that they're going to start hiring replacement refs soon so they can give them like a crash course and basically not screwing up at a billion dollar league. D butts your thoughts on everything that's kind of being chatted about both the 18 game season and the refs relationship with the NFL.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, obviously we need the refs situation taken care of obviously for the fans. Just the product that we watch and then the product that people are betting on, betting their hard earned money on you. The best in the business out there on the field. But as far as the 18 games go, you know whenever I hear news like this my first thought is obviously players with the, with the health and safety element, the component of it adding that extra game. Are we going to have more players injured? Are we going to have more quarterbacks injured when it's time to get into the playoffs where the games really matter. But you know where I am now sitting here in this chair and talking.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly.

[Darius Butler]

Extra game, the extra money for the players. All those things are obviously important as well. So. But like comment said, they kind of got their marching orders. They're kind of always in lockstep these owners. So it will get done I just hope it gets done in the best way possible, the safest way possible. That extra buy, we could obviously be huge and everything else that comes along with it. But I mean, extra football, if the games are good, which we assume they will be, and obviously, you know, the different packages and different partners that will be out there, I'm excited about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It's not like expand expansion conversation with the NBA. Different.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because, like, is there enough good players.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

For the teams. Is there enough good teams right now? Because we're watching NBA games, it's very

[Tone Bell]

clear that the answer is no.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. There's. There's eight of them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So expansion, your immediate question is, do we have like, when the NFL went through expansion, I assume the big question is, do we have enough good quarterbacks to have more teams? Because if we don't have enough good quarterbacks, all of a sudden, we're the US xfl. Russ Dick put on a hell of a show.

[Tone Bell]

Yes.

[Connor Rogers]

As always.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, he certainly did. So more games, you think? Do you have enough talent for that? Yes. Will people be able to hold up? That's the huge question. That's why there's so many different clauses coming out. Like maybe players other than quarterback can only play 17 games in a season. So there's mandatory some sort of body management. It's like, well, how do you pick and choose when you're going to have Myles Garrett on the field? When you have Miles Garrett on field, maybe it's over a certain payroll. You got to play certain games because then it becomes part of negotiations. I have no idea. But the attrition of the league is certainly one that will be talked about. That's why the health and safety is so important.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Anytime you hear an owner come out and speak about this, they're going to say health and safety is the only thing.

[Tony Pauline]

I just want my players to be okay.

[Pat McAfee]

First things first. And safety, please. Now, on that note, these preseason games, they're not really hitting each other, right? So we can get rid of a couple of those.

[Mike McCarthy]

Practice.

[Pat McAfee]

What do they practice? They don't need to practice, do they? Get them out. We don't need a practice. We're getting two more primetime games. Remember that? That's where we're getting billions of dollars here. We don't need any of this stuff. And then you get rid of all that stuff because you want more of this stuff. And all of a sudden this stuff actually is what calluses you so you don't get hurt. It's almost like there's a potential zoom in conversation about, well, we need to get rid of stuff because that's where they get hurt. It's like, well, what if that's actually saving them from getting hurt in the future? So you need that. So how they end up getting to 18 games with an extra buy, I have no idea. It feels like that's going to be a lot of conversation, a lot of discussion. But us as football media, we appreciate it. Speaking of being football media, we would like to say we are doing some super journalism here. The league invited us here. The league. The league gave us credentials here. That's right.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I think they provided us with the water refreshments here today.

[Tony Pauline]

Really.

[Pat McAfee]

So I would like to say we will be stern but fair with these ref. Yeah, yeah. Association negotiation. Right down the middle on that. Will be fair.

[John Shirey]

Both sides.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Fair balance.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't be having a face mask end the game on Thursday Night Football and lose the bet because of that and then not have to hear from the ref and not have any accountability and that ref not get fired and that ref not have to get better in the spring and that ref be able to disappear after a Super bowl without having to talk about anybody. Okay, we can't have that. On that note, can't have the refs getting shortchanged by the NFL. They are a very important part of the entire game. You ask any player or coach, they would say the refs are the thing you got to get figured out the most. People's asses have gotten fired, legacies have been ruined. Families have not been able to fulfill their entire dreams of being at the very top of the football world because they've had a couple bad calls go against them, inevitably get their asses kicked out of the league. So I know that the refs are very important. The refs know they're very important. But we also need to evolve a little bit here. Refs.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Okay. Because I don't know if you're seeing what's going on in baseball. We need that.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, baseball's new to us. Me, I don't speak for everybody.

[Connor Rogers]

Me too. You can say us. I'm in there as far as day to day.

[Darius Butler]

Not these guys. These guys.

[Pat McAfee]

These two guys just bought mitts yesterday because they heard they saw nice, bought two new mitts, but I'm new to the baseball. Okay. So I like what they're doing over there. Love it. We got shorter games. We got bats getting flipped. We got out out. We got outfielders pimping, robbed home Runs. And now we got catchers who I assume since the beginning of baseball have been telling umps that they're wrong. I assume these catchers and umps have been having a conversation about strike zone since the beginning of baseball. And the ump is always the authority.

[Tony Pauline]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

So catcher always has to come on. And the ump goes, oh, is that. Why don't you shut up? Catcher throws it back, frames one, calls a ball. Come on, dude. Guy goes, hey, I don't need any of your shit now. This is incredible.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Four straight pitches. I do believe. Or. Three straight pitches, catcher going right after ball. Is that right? Yeah. Fucking run it on the Jumbotron. So now the entire place, 40,000 people are watching. Salvi. Congrats to him, by the way.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Venezuela, he did it with them. He was a great leader. He got a tattooed on his thigh. Yeah. Winning the World Baseball Classic. Boom. Just like I said. Puts the helmet back down, sits back down. Next pitch, ball. Now we're doing a scan. It sees. All right, Run that thing. This guy goes undefeated against this ump. Yeah. This ump now has to sit here.

[Tony Pauline]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And take this entire thing. They've never had to do that in the history of baseball, right? No, the umps have always been the.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, yes.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why. That's why that Dominican Republic game where the ball was so low and he called a strike. What baseball people said, the ump just gets to do whatever he wants. Now they're getting publicly executed by these catchers. I love it. Boy, these humps are gonna hate this, though.

[Tony Pauline]

Oh, yeah, for sure. But it should. You know, and I don't even know if you can say it's gonna hold him accountable, because I think guys kind of just have their zones and they're gonna. They're gonna get killed either way. But, like, yeah, CB Buckner, who they were talking about during the Reds and Red Sox game, I think he had, like, six or seven Reds win five for five. Yeah, exactly. So, like, that, obviously, that might make them say, like, hey, this guy can't be umping behind the plate. But it really has added a new element to the game because it's not only the. The catchers are, you know, mostly the ones who are challenging stuff. But sometimes, like, the pitchers have been going off the mound and challenging it, too. It kind of just. It ratchets up everything. We saw our first ejection related to it yesterday. So, you know, it's one of those things where they were wondering how this was going to end up Fairing. And I think through, you know, one week of the season or a couple days here, it has been a rousing success.

[Connor Rogers]

There was a guy that basically pimped a walk. Like he got called strike three. He challenges right away and then starts. Yeah, Rosarin. He starts walking down the first baseline. Takes off his. While they're still reviewing. Taking off. Yeah, his ankle, shin guard, whatever. Taking off his gloves, the whole entire thing. And then by the time he's on his way to first base, ABs comes in. Yep, that was a ball. So it's almost as if you can pimp walks now as well. It's sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that. And now these refs are kind of in the negotiation with the NFL and we're seeing what's going on in baseball. That's going to be a fascinating dynamic because I think every fan really enjoyed watching the ump be wrong publicly.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I would assume every player in the history of professional sports who's ever been bamboozled by an officiating call saw this abs and said, yes, this is everything that we love. Speaking of everything that we love, ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a guy who is. Might be the mayor of this entire place. He's a man who knows everything about everything. Peter Schrager.

[John Shirey]

Good to see you.

[Pat McAfee]

Shrek, this is yours, bro. Thank you for coming. You look unbelievable.

[Darius Butler]

Shs.

[Pat McAfee]

I like the sunglasses. The mayor make sure that wire is.

[Peter Schrager]

How's that look?

[Pat McAfee]

I think your wire is up in your microphone there. You got to go under. I think the other way.

[Peter Schrager]

Amateur.

[Darius Butler]

Just throw it over your right shoulder.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Like a continent. It'll show.

[Connor Rogers]

Look like a movie star.

[Tony Pauline]

He's a movie star.

[Pat McAfee]

Peter Shraga. Maybe the. Maybe the mayor of league meetings here. Shregs, thank you for joining us. Great to see you.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you for the recommendation of the pizza place last night. Let's talk about it, dude. Mr. Bianco. Pison Bianco from Pizzeria Bianco. Last night in the end of a plaza, like a shopping mall. Walk in there. Unbelievable.

[Peter Schrager]

You got a. You got a twin peaks. You got a massage envy. You got a few things. We walk right into a shopping mall, strip mall, Pizzeria Bianco, Chris Bianco, the chef, one of the greatest pizzas you'll ever have. And Pat, I loved having dinner with you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

It was. It was an. We had no plans, and then all of a sudden you had plans, and it was like, yeah, we will do your plan. So we're very thankful for that. The pizza was spectacular. Let's talk about you understanding that and also knowing this place better than anybody. You told me that the NFC coaches will be sitting in there and we could go in there because we're credentialed media and get an interview with them. That place was packed out, but we're getting quotes from everybody right now. This feels like a big time for the quote getters of the NFL.

[Peter Schrager]

You only get so many times in the offseason to speak to these coaches. Typically it's the combine, but they can opt out of that. They have to speak at the league meetings. And if you see this room, it is a monstrosity of media all over the different coaches, but they each have their own table. There's a couple rules as unspoken ones. It's a 30 minute session. You get in there, you ask a few questions, you let others talk. But one thing that I'm always disgusted by.

[Pat McAfee]

Disgusted by.

[Peter Schrager]

It's a 30 minute breakfast session and some of the reporters feel the need to bring in their eggs and just shovel food in their mouth for 30. You have 30 minutes.

[Pat McAfee]

Showing respect for the event, of course,

[Peter Schrager]

but do you need to be eating your fruit plate and your berries and then worse, the syrup with the pancakes in front of the coach? No, you don't do that. You dress in a shirt and tie or at least a jacket. And some guys didn't. But you know what, Pat? There's a lot of great quotes and we get some information. You guys are obvious.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we should have shown a little bit more respect to the room. I have a bathing suit, shorts on right now. Okay. Because I didn't pack enough good clothes. It is so hot out here. I don't know how you suits do it, to be honest. Out here, the suits of Arizona, that's off. This is a mental tough group out here. No doubt out here for sure, with how hot it gets. Okay, let's talk about some of the quotes that come out. McVay came and said, yeah, we were thinking about training Devontae. Devontae knew about it the entire time. Feels like McVay has always been super transparent about everything that he's thinking.

[Peter Schrager]

Well, he said he's learned. He said, like I wasn't always this way when I was younger. And I've learned that the best thing to do is just come to the player right away and tell them straight up, like, hey, yes, there are conversations being had. Devonte Adams, 33 year old player, he's been to five NFC championship games. They knocked on the door, they love Devonte Adams. But he said, yeah, people have called about you, your contract situation. We have had conversations, but we love you and we just wanted to let you know if you heard it from a third party that we have had those conversations, I think that's the way to go about it. I think you'd go, early in his career, he was a big time swapper, big time trader. Maybe he didn't handle the Jared Goff situation the best way possible.

[Pat McAfee]

You're talking about in Mexico diner with Jay Clayton. Yeah. They were jumping into hot tubs with Andrew Whitworth, celebrating and all this stuff.

[Peter Schrager]

Not necessarily the best way to go about it. So he's just like, I'm always going to be up front. I'm always going to do that. Now, One thing that McVay did, I was at that table for a while, which I thought was pretty funny. He walks off the table and everyone says, all right, we're wrapping up. His PR guy, artist says, we're wrapping up. He goes out of his way to go by the Seattle table, sees Mike McDonald and they're not like best friends, but they're competitors. And he's like, did you ask him about that two point conversion play? And just kept on walking.

[Pat McAfee]

And all the Seattle reporters were like.

[Peter Schrager]

And McDonald's had something in return. But like, that's good chirp, good rivalry. And a good chirp from two boys from Georgia.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Very young, very offensive guy, very defensive guy. I love that. That's cooking in the NFC West. That was filled with everybody that hates our guts. That. That is the local. That is the we are journalist room if I've ever seen it. Fun time walking around there.

[Peter Schrager]

Did they give you dirty looks, though?

[Connor Rogers]

No.

[Peter Schrager]

Everyone embraces, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Hugs all around.

[Pat McAfee]

That's how it goes. R. And I am very just like, yeah, I forgot what you said. I'm very much like that. Yeah, I think that's a good thing. I. I don't think I fully realized that about this place. Yeah. Like what we signed up for here. I don't think I fully understood who we're going to be around as much as we're going to be around.

[Connor Rogers]

Good learning experience.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's a good learning.

[Peter Schrager]

Every coach, every gm, every owner, every coach, gm, owner's family. And then you also have every working journalist that is credentialed here. So it's this giant convention, but there's no players, no agents, and there are league officials, which is why you're getting a lot of that league news this week.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I missed that last one, the every credentialed journalist in the league. I missed that last one when I was going through the box to check of how many people are going to be here, but I thought we're getting some special access.

[Connor Rogers]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

Turns out we got an awesome set, though. Yeah, we did. Very, very grateful for it. Very, very grateful for. But I did not expect to walk in that room. DBut has a question for you.

[Darius Butler]

Straight. What's your feel so far on this referee deal? Do you think it's going to get done? How is it going to get done? Are we going to actually have replacement refs in the NFL coming up?

[Peter Schrager]

Well, I'll tell you, this is the behind the scenes a little bit. Everyone, everyone in the league got a memo saying, don't talk publicly. If you're a team official about this, let's leave this for 48 hours. Don't have any comments. Try to dismiss. That was from the league. A memo from them. So already you feel like, okay, well then that means tensions are heightened. And then you got some talking points that everyone got the same people that always get all the same information. They all got the same information about what the league has opened up as far as conversations go. And then Scott Green, who's the officials union leader, he came out and was like, that's bs. Here is this, this, this and this. So it's very public right now. Everyone's kind of chirping back and forth. But the league learned its lesson in 2012 when they went through the replacement ref situation. A lot of those people were unprepared. So I would not be shocked if you see some D1, D2, D3 officials getting a little bit of extra work, maybe during training camp or potentially during OTAs at these teams, just to see if we can get those balls in motion if this thing doesn't come to be.

[Pat McAfee]

Not actual D1 or D2 refs, though. No, it would not be. This would be the D3 in high school because none of the D1, the D1 refs think those still gonna make the NFL. So they're not gonna piss off the refs.

[Peter Schrager]

Interesting.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You gotta remember that.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They're not gonna. Anybody that thinks they're gonna be able to make it to the NFL as a ref will not do it because they don't want to scab.

[Peter Schrager]

They're crossing the picket line like the 87 NFL draft.

[Pat McAfee]

That's real. Yeah. Yeah. That's a real thing.

[Darius Butler]

Think about that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's. Why do you know that's I haven't thought of that. Do you know how I know St. Falco? Because I was in. Exactly. I was in the league whenever the last ones happened, 2011. And these assholes had no idea what they were doing, like, clearly. And I. So I had a couple chatters, you know, with a couple of them just like, hey, how do we get.

[Peter Schrager]

They were usually like high school gym

[Pat McAfee]

teacher, like, how do we get. Literally, how do we get here? And they're like, well, to be honest, I know I'm not referen in the NFL, so I wasn't really dream to kind of ruffle the feather.

[Peter Schrager]

You're right. It's a breeding ground, the college game. They take the best college officials and they bring them to the NFL. That's a great point. You don't want to be a scab. You don't want to have that on your resume.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. And all those refs are there for 100 years, which is a part of the thing that the NFL wants to change is like, hey, you don't just get a job and keep it for

[Peter Schrager]

not a Supreme Court justice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. If you suck, you need to be fired. I think it's being part of now granted, the NFL Ref association can come out and say we do fire people. It's like, I don't think so.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, no you don't.

[Peter Schrager]

You've been big on the ex player movement though. And I think a lot of the. There's a few of them and they have been highlighted. I did a Monday night game, Texans versus Seahawks where there was an ex player official who kept jsn. That was great. Jones former player. Right. So was he a teammate or.

[Darius Butler]

No, no. R. Rucker's guy.

[Peter Schrager]

Rucker's guy. That's right. But that is an interesting pipeline of maybe you don't have to go through all. And we can kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

And also we hope the refs understand that they are valuable and we hope the association does that for them and

[Connor Rogers]

how hard their job is.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, we understand that. But also we need to. We need to make this best for the game. Okay, last question for you as we have an owner waiting. Just go ahead, Tone.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, straight. Because McVeigh also brought up Kirk Cousins is potentially a backup to Matt Stafford. I know there's been rumors about him maybe going to Raiders to. To bring in Mendoza. Is he viewed as a backup now, do you think? Or is there potentially other places where he could still be?

[Peter Schrager]

I think you get the carousel and you fill the seats and Kirk Cousins is not going to do a one year, $1 million deal. He still wants to get paid. The Rams, of course, have a history with them. Sean McVay had him in Washington way back when, when he first had those breakout years and they were franchise tagging him. I think it makes a lot of sense. And if you're Kirk Cousins, this is exactly what you want to hear because everyone just assumes you're going to the Raiders. Well, now you can have a little leverage play and say, well, I could actually play for a contender and finally get that ring instead of just mentoring Mendoza. So very good opportunity for Kirk Cousins when you have two teams that are viably looking for you. And I don't think McVay is just saying that. I think he would actually love to have him in the team.

[Pat McAfee]

Biggest news that we haven't brought to you yet that you have heard right now as you get out of here,

[Peter Schrager]

obj, possibly a return to the Giants. Oh, just spoke with John Harbaugh. He said he's one of his favorite players he has ever coached, one of his favorite people he's ever coached. And also at that flag football deal, OBJ was going and telling anyone in the media who could possibly have a microphone that he still believes he can play. So you think about the Giants. They lost Wanda Robinson, of course they have Malik Nabors coming back from the injury, a fellow LSU wide receiver. I think that would be a wonderful, wonderful bookend to OBJ's career. Who has a Super bowl ring with the Rams and yet it ended so weird with the Giants the first time around. He is a superstar and a supernova in that city. It would be pretty cool to see him back.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, you are obviously a journalist, you have no bias, but you would like the Giants to have success.

[Peter Schrager]

Yes, it would be good for the league. It would be good for me in New York. They've been in a relevant franchise with that one Daniel Jones miracle.

[Pat McAfee]

You remember you said Malik Neighbors was better than Terry.

[Peter Schrager]

Terry McCord. Yeah, McCormick said I was crazy. I still think he's better than Terry

[Pat McAfee]

McCormick, like at the combine, like when he's running. Yeah, but what big games, football field,

[Peter Schrager]

what's he actually?

[Pat McAfee]

What big games? We think he has a chance. He has a chance.

[Peter Schrager]

Malik Davies was a second year player. Terry McLaurin was 4:30. I, I think that you're looking at like what are you getting over the next 10 years and what are you getting over the next two con.

[Pat McAfee]

No, that was not the conversation. That's not your conversation was that he was Better than Terry McLaren Did Terry

[Peter Schrager]

McLaren light up the league after making all that money.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, Gez did what? What big games did Mendoza win? All right. Hey, Dano. Smart move, Dan, by the way.

[Peter Schrager]

Dano owning it.

[Tone Bell]

He ended it.

[Tony Pauline]

Smart move.

[Connor Rogers]

I know. It wants me to joke.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, we appreciate the hell out of you. Lazy. ESPN Emmy winner. Yeah. And now NFL Live and our show, I believe, Emmy nominated again.

[Tony Pauline]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Appreciate you. Thank you for that pizza last night. That was excellent. Delicious.

[Tone Bell]

That was delicious.

[Pat McAfee]

I was a little boozed up. This guy.

[Peter Schrager]

No, he wasn't.

[Pat McAfee]

No.

[Tony Pauline]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

I was a little booze.

[Peter Schrager]

We were talking comedy, weren't we?

[Tony Pauline]

We were.

[Connor Rogers]

Who's your favorite?

[John Shirey]

Certainly.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, come on, come on. I'm a Dave Attel guy. Come on, come on. Yeah. Please, please, please. And you're trying to take this somewhere it should not. Yeah. Unbelievable conversations at dinner last night. Ty was doing the loudest, fakest New York Italian accent he could in front of this guy that owns the restaurant.

[Mike McCarthy]

Now that's coming.

[Pat McAfee]

How you doing? Screaming in this place. The guy's right behind him. Ty, go.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, sorry.

[Pat McAfee]

How you doing? Nice. Shakes his hand. It was a good time.

[Tony Pauline]

And what'd he say?

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Carly Urse Gordon. Thank you so much for joining us. Good to see you. Handshake for me, Hug for dbuts. Standard operations. How you doing, boss?

[Peter Schrager]

Great.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

How are you?

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you for joining us. We're kind of your thing now. Hey, Debo, you hold that. So roll out. Yeah. Don't fall off. Hey, seriously, cannot have that. You cannot be dying here. That cannot happen.

[Tone Bell]

That'd be bad for the show.

[Pat McAfee]

That'd be bad for the show. That'd be really bad for the program. That'd be bad for a lot of things. I think it'd be bad for the NFL as well. You can't die here. Yeah, you can put those on whichever year you would like. I like that. So why'd you go with the right ear? I am intrigued to hear this. Okay, guys, so you went on your right side. I like the way you're thinking, though.

[Darius Butler]

She's smart.

[Tone Bell]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, she does. Loud. Do you want to lower?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How's that?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

It's like the voice of God.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah. That's what we're trying to do around here, you know, trying to get that all happened. Congratulations on being a badass here at this. Not that you weren't before, but now, like, real conversations are happening and your quotes are going viral. Anything you say now at this point, because you are face of league at this point is going to be a massive conversation this morning. 18 game conversation went viral after a conversation you had. Robert Kraft also mentioned it. It feels like it's been lingering, you know, over the last couple years. Do you think that's a main focal point of the conversations here this week or what are you guys basically trying to get done, you think, at this particular league meetings?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

So I think we went to the 17 and 3 model. You know, obviously since then we've been having that conversation because it's hard to remember and it's a little wonky, you know, AFC one year, NFC the other. It's hard to plan for revenue, you know, and you have one less home game and all those things. So I think an even number would be nice to get to. And obviously I think the preseason product as far as we always are thinking about what is best for our fans and you know, the commissioner's been open that the preseason product isn't quite, you know, what it used to be. And I still think the players need it, you know, for some development if they, if the coach actually plays them.

[Pat McAfee]

But yeah, well, I'm excited to see what Shane Steichen does. And you know, you're down there, maybe you send some guys in there as well for the preseason games. So if it goes to 18 games, they'll go to another bye week. Obviously that'll be an exciting time for us as fans. We get two more weeks of awesome football, which is spectacular. The league's hotter than it's ever been. You guys understand that? I would assume whenever you're chit chatting in there or what are the conversations like behind the scenes amongst you owners about where the state of the league is right now?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Well, we just left the session with the guy from YouTube that's in charge of trends, which would be a fascinating job. That would be an amazing job. It would be a hard job, I think. But you know, the Thanksgiving games, having, you know, 50 plus million viewers for that Thanksgiving game is just, that's amazing. Just seeing the success of the super bowl and every year, you know, we just keep raising the bar. So I think we're just continuing to focus on, as my dad would say, give the fans what they want and paying attention to what's important to them, how it's evolving. You know, it's such a. You know, when I was a kid, my grandmother used to, she was a die hard fan and she would have people in her suite and if people were kind of getting up and milling around and eating the food, she's like, you didn't come here to eat my free food. You need to sit down and watch you just miss this play. You need to sit in your seat right now. So I think it's the. I think we have those avid fans that like that, but then we also have people where our game is such a unifying experience.

[Pat McAfee]

Community.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

And just hearing from fans about, you know, I met my wife here or just the memories that they have with their kids and the traditions that they carry on. I mean, even for us, it's so many of my memories growing up. You know, Christmases in Arizona because we were playing there or, you know, when we hit that playoff game in the Kansas City Chiefs and just being able to travel with my dad and, you know, we didn't have the same kind of Christmas break, which when I was little, it was. That kind of sucked.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. Yeah, there is all the fall holidays are much different for a football group. But NFL is now, yeah. Just a part of culture, just part of society. They have the hundred top rated TV things. The NFL has 94 of them or 95 of them every single year. You guys are crushing it. Your league is crushing it. Let's talk about your team. Last question for me before the boys have some about all the badass shit that you're going to be doing in here. Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce, let's go. Huge. You want to give fans what they want. You said, I'll tell you what, I like what I seen with what you guys did this offseason with your free agents and getting your guys back in there. You had a quote that said it was like we were watching a movie last year and then we had to hit pause on it. And then I'll tell you, that movie went real bad at the end. Seven straight just like this. Now we're getting a chance to pick it back up. That is the mindset. And whenever they're pitching you to sign Daniel Jones to a potential two year, $100 million deal or Alec Pierce to the highest at the time, free agent, wide receiver deal, how did those conversations go and how excited were you to get them both back?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

I mean, first I was very excited to get both of them back. And I think they both wanted to come back together. And I think it's important, as I've said that, you know, talking to a lot of the guys, like, how did they feel? Who. How did they feel?

[John Shirey]

What.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

What did we need to keep moving forward? And they, you know, most of them overwhelmingly agreed you know, Daniel was the right person and obviously what he went through with his Achilles, I mean, that as players and broken leg.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I mean, it was.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

And he played with that, I mean, for multiple games. And I just remember them saying, like, how can you play with a broken leg? It's like, well, your fibula only supports 15% of your weight. I'm like.

[Pat McAfee]

And I'm like, oh, okay, this is normal. No, it's not normal. Okay, all right, well, we appreciate him doing that. And then the Achilles goes. But it did just. It felt so good. Lucasol Stadium felt special. I mean, everything, like, felt special there for a bit. I can respect the fact that. Let's run that thing back. Good luck to you. Good luck to us because we're going to be in there as well. DBut has a question for you, man.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, speaking of Lucas Oil Stadium, we always get great reviews on, like the game day experience. Obviously you talked about the different types of fans. Some of us show up and all we care about is the football. And a lot of us show up, especially kids, people with families, they care about the overall game day experience. How did you kind of attack that coming in once you took over?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

So I think, fortunately, I've been able to, growing up in the business and working in IT for over 20 years now. I think that a lot of the pieces that we had in place, we're just going to continue to capitalize on some of those efforts that we've been doing. But obviously there's a lot of stuff that we've been able to evolve with digital media and performance marketing and making sure in a non creepy way that we're, you know, that we're understanding what, what our fans want and what those different cohorts want. Because, you know, what kids want versus what women want versus what a casual fan wants, which is versus what an avid fan wants. It's all different. And I think that's okay. And I think there's a way that we can, you know, kind of serve each one of those groups and make sure that they're having an amazing time and an amazing experience.

[Darius Butler]

Another quick question. Your fashion is always, what do we got today? Is there a stylist? Or is this all you? Just your closet, your mind, your vision? Or do you have stylists who dress you?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

I mean, I don't think having a stylist would feel so weird. It'd be like having someone that picks out, Darius has one. You do.

[Darius Butler]

They would not have packed the hoodie out here.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

At least you have that air Conditioner.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. I'm Florida boy. I'm good.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

No, I just think that for years, you know, my dad would always. He would call it being proper, you know, on. On game days. You know, game days are very serious, in a serious and in a good way. Right. It's like, we only have so many of them in our league compared to. I mean, that'd be expensive. If I worked in baseball, it'd be a lot of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you look so cool, though. Could you imagine walking into 81 home games, 162 on the road?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Hey, a lot of fits.

[Pat McAfee]

Some of the fits. Hey, some of the fits. So when you put one on, you go, yep.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, yep, there's a winner.

[Pat McAfee]

You do that, and then there's some. That you go.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

And you know who I've actually gotten advice from is sometimes, like, I've texted Kenny, like, more what about these shoes? Or I've talked to E.J. speed. I'm like, could I wear this with that? And he'll be like, no, you know, don't do that.

[Connor Rogers]

Heads up.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor has a question for you, boss.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, speaking of the stadium, you know, right now is kind of the time where it's like, yeah, this city, you know, Vegas wants to host a Super Bowl. Minneapolis wants to host the draft. Is that something that, you know, Indianapolis or you are even, you know, thinking about whether it be the draft, because the draft now is such a massive event, and Indy's so great at hosting things like the combine. Every single year is amazing. Is. Is that something that you consider or even think about, or how does that go as far as those types of bids? Just because we see it almost every week now, a different team wants to, you know, build a new stadium so that they can host a Super bowl or a draft. Now, what is that process?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

We're definitely interested in hosting a draft, and I think, you know, you guys have experienced Indiana and the Final Four is going to be there. Just. I think a really cool part of Indianapolis identity that we need to lean into is just their sports tourism, and no one does it better. But I think part of. With the draft and some of these other tentpole events, we've sort of modified our model around the Super Bowl. I mean, I think it used to be if you built a stadium, you would get a Super Bowl. It was kind of like a handshake thing, but I think, you know, the part, you know, and obviously we're in a cold. We got so lucky. The weather was apparently amazing when we hosted our Super Bowl.

[Pat McAfee]

It was.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

It Was. We got lucky. But I think that, again, going back to what fans want, if you're gonna spend thousands of dollars on tickets, you might want to be by a beach or, you know, you might want to go to the pool or go to do slot machines in Las Vegas. I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you. Would you do a slot machine in Las Vegas? Then you're like, that's your thing. No blackjack?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

None. Nothing? No, Nothing of chance over there?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Love that ochre back locked in.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

It stresses me out.

[Pat McAfee]

How about poker? Would you play poker? A little bit more control.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

I mean, like, maybe with my kids and, like, some marshmallows or something.

[Pat McAfee]

What about chess or checkers? You play either of those?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

I love chess.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, yeah. We like what we're doing. Okay. Speaking of chess, I know you're not allowed to move the pawn whenever it comes to closed Sicilian conversation about the refs. So you guys got an email that said don't talk about it. Is that what happened?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Well, I think. I think that anytime you have ongoing negotiations, I would say best practices, you know, you don't comment on that, and you let the league people handle it. But one of the things I will say is that I have tremendous respect and regard for what officials have to do. I know we all have various opinions depending on what side of the decision they're making, but I think that as a league, we always need to be trying to get better in every way. Like, I should be getting better. All of us should be getting better all the time. And I think that's one of the things that the league does a good job of. We're always trying to innovate new technology, health and safety, all that stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

Unbelievable answer. You said nothing, but you said, good. That was really good work there, and I appreciate you kind of dropping some game there. Hey, anytime there's any negotiations going, you probably shut up. Yeah, that we will. It'll be tough for us to do that, though. I will say. You say you're getting better every day. We're just trying not to get worse. Absolutely worse. So we appreciate your service not only to our city, but also to the league. Good luck this weekend. And I'm excited to see what. What ends up coming out of this weekend. We're going to be okay. You're not gonna say anything? We're gonna get it. No, I'm not gonna say. Well, I'm trying to push some of these rules, how they're gonna go through, but we just want to let you know, we're. We Trust the hell out of you. And we appreciate you stopping by, Ms. Carly.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

No problem. Have a great one. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, owner of the Colts, Carly. Perfect.

[Connor Rogers]

Really cool fit.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, great.

[Tone Bell]

Just great outfit.

[Connor Rogers]

Unbelievable shade.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good ownership right there.

[Tone Bell]

Like the shades at the gas station. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's where we park them. Yeah. Love that. I love that move. Hey, as long as you keep doing that, we're very grateful. Yeah. Ms. Carley, thank you so much. Yeah. Don't fall off, please. Well, hey, once again, watch. Of course. Please do not fall off. Cannot. Our show will be over forever. All right. We appreciate you have a great weekend. Thank you, Ms. Carly.

[Tony Pauline]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

As we transition from one of the owners of the NFL here at the Biltmore. Hey. There's gonna be so many movies about her.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

I got to say, to say.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Hey, thank you, Colts. Thank you, Colts.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Maybe the Colts if they win.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Conti. Really good work. Conti, baby.

[Connor Rogers]

He big duck, Bruce. Yesterday.

[Pat McAfee]

Good. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is not an owner, but a man who has a damn good golf swing. Damn good. Hey, you need to move your microphone back just a little bit.

[John Shirey]

That.

[Pat McAfee]

It was. It was.

[John Shirey]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Perfect. It was perfect.

[Mike McCarthy]

It was.

[Pat McAfee]

Great job. Ladies and gentlemen, general manager of the Buffalo Bills, friend of the program, Brandon Bean Bambino, fresh out of an absolute drumming of AQ Shipley and Evan Fox on the golf course. Oh, and aq, an absolute drum.

[Tone Bell]

I heard Q sucked.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Hometown.

[Pat McAfee]

He had a tough day.

[Connor Rogers]

Dog hook.

[Pat McAfee]

He would say that he ended up winning the last Wolf round because me and Foxy just kind of. So we're kind of done with this one. We played 17 holes. We played a long time. We had a great day out there. We appreciate you joining us. We appreciate. Appreciate your friendship, too. Let's talk about being out here. Everybody's here. What are the general managers doing out here? You guys are meeting with each other, trying to get deals done. Still, as free agency lingers and the draft is kind of upon us, what is your kind of entire goal of this particular week out here?

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, I think it's just the leagues, you know, gives us a lot of data, you know, health and safety. Carly was just talking about it. Some of the new and, you know, up and coming things, whether it's AI, just where our league's headed, how they pertain to your job as gm, we're, you know, yesterday afternoon, and we're going to continue this morning, combo meetings with the head coaches. Just Some of the rules, rules on the field, but also some of the roster rules. There's a game in Australia this year, probably moving, you know, when we cut the 53 down just to make sure those teams can get their roster set before they have to travel over there. So just a lot of logistical things and then everyone, you know, kind of shift back, travel home and get ready for the draft.

[Pat McAfee]

It feels like a very positive vibe here. Everybody on the same page. Has there ever been heat at this place? People get any heat at this place. I walked into a little journalism room and it was good to see everybody. It's good to see you, but there's a couple people I don't like in there. I thought to myself, like, just be positive. We're at the league meetings. Feels like everybody is kind of on the same mission out here.

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, I think, listen, free agency is mostly done. People are kind of seeing players change. You're seeing, you know, hey, you run into a guy, hey, you signed this guy. Hey, you're going to love this guy. This is how he does best. You know, some of those conversations happen and like you said, it's. It's usually calm. It's kind of a good lull between free agency and, you know, what's happening in three weeks.

[Pat McAfee]

Will players be able to survive 18 games?

[Brandon Bean]

I mean, it's a good question. I mean, it's one more. I think you obviously probably would lose a preseason game. You know, I think you would have to talk about expanding rosters and then game day rosters, you know, from 48. I think we need to talk about getting, you know, 50 north of 50 to be able to accommodate another game.

[Pat McAfee]

So the fact that you said that feels like that is something that's probably in the conversation this entire piece. Yeah, you're going to have to get the players to agree to this. More players on active rosters means more contracts, which probably means a little bit of a give and take there. Sounds like.

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, I mean, obviously you would go to 18 games for, you know, the revenue piece of it and cut one out of preseason. It's going to be more revenue. And so ultimately you're going to have to, you know, make sure you got the right players to. Because you do want to make sure teams that make the playoffs have the best players playing. So how do you get through a season so that you're, you know, the rosters aren't depleted.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Bo breaking his leg right before the AFC championship is just like drumming. Obviously, it happens to everybody with injuries. Football is a very Physical and demanding sport. No matter how many rules are changed. 18 games would be a long time, especially for the big guys. Last question for me before the boys have questions. By the way, great day on the course.

[Brandon Bean]

That was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Foxy. How's it going back here? You owe me. You owe bean. Oh, $100. Definitely still owe bean 100 bucks. I only had 500 cash on me, but Bean is a gentleman, gentlemen. So he said, you know what? You keep that.

[Mike McCarthy]

You're good.

[Pat McAfee]

No, that's negotiation.

[Connor Rogers]

Foxy.

[Brandon Bean]

Keep that on her, buddy.

[Tone Bell]

That was fun.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Keep that 100 until. Which leads to my question. You gotta win a Super bowl or what? Like, so was. We talked about this yesterday. You know that this is the only conversation about you publicly, right? You understand that? Yeah. This guy's gotta win a Super. It's the same thing for Josh. Same thing with Lamar. I feel like you understand that as in your position, and I think we talked about it the other day. I think you are very much. We got an alien at quarterback now. Granted, you drafted him. Okay.

[Tone Bell]

Nice job.

[John Shirey]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Great draft. Yeah. Decided to go all in on him when there was other options and he didn't look as good early. Decided to continue to build around him. So it is kind of, you know, your thing, but also you have the thing and you have it. New head coach, new dc. You can feel it, right? That's what all anybody's ever going to talk about with you until it happens.

[John Shirey]

Yeah.

[Brandon Bean]

I mean, listen, at the end of the day, we're hired to win championship. We're not hired just to win games or put, you know, butts in the seats. We're here to one goal, and that's to win a championship. Bring the first championship to the Buffalo. Buffalo Bills. Bills Mafia, everybody. And so that hasn't changed this year. Obviously, we have a new head coach, Joe Brady. We're excited about the energy he's brought, and I know Josh and crew will be excited when we get this thing started here in a couple weeks. Offseason program is crazy. It's already here, like April 7th for us. But, no, the mission hasn't changed. We know. You know what the expectations are?

[Tony Pauline]

No.

[Brandon Bean]

No expectations. Expectations on the outside are going to be more than what I put on myself or, you know, or what Josh or Joe or anyone else.

[Pat McAfee]

So you're not trying to win. Okay, so you are trying.

[Connor Rogers]

Interesting.

[Pat McAfee]

You're trying to win. Okay, I didn't know that. That's crazy. You're trying to deuce Flash. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. Well, you just Kind of mentioned the draft. We're a little more than three weeks away right now. How, like, how set is your board right now? What can change as far as players or prospects to move them up or maybe you take them off obviously outside of some, you know, freak accident or injury away from the field.

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah. So prior to Indy, you know, we had our kind of our last set of meetings with the scouts and we pared it down at this point. You know, the scouts have been, they went to Indy pro days, we've had privates. So I'm bringing them in this Thursday. We'll spend four or five days just kind of talking through each, each players, where they've been, where they're at, the medical information that we now have, you know, from Indy. And so all those things will go into kind of, you know, there's maybe there's guys, DB that hey, you really like the player. But we've learned they struggle mentally and we're worried that they're going to be able to, you know, handle the magnitude of the playbook. And so all those conversations come in. Then we'll kind of bring our coaches in. Our coaches have not had weighed in on any of these guys. They've been meeting them, zoom pro days, privates. At some point they got to be around them to kind of feel the personality, feel the intelligence to learn. So they'll come in, say their piece and then we kind of see where we, you know, where we see things alike and where we see things differently. And the ones that we see things like those are easy check. You know, we keep where they're at, the ones we see different. Now let's get in a room. What do you see? What do we see as scouts and let's make sure we're aligned.

[Pat McAfee]

When do you guys bring Dan Orlovsky in?

[Connor Rogers]

Well, why is that funny?

[Pat McAfee]

What's the deal?

[Connor Rogers]

That's not funny.

[Pat McAfee]

Dano doesn't deserve that.

[Darius Butler]

Whenever Dan could get around staying out

[Brandon Bean]

of the Dan Orlovsky, you already got my son, you know, going on that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, his son, his son went to Alabama. He saw with Alabama, so loves Ty Simpson. What happened with Dano happened with his boy at combine. Told you for like 45, 50. I mean everything Dan was saying, I'd already been there, done that with his boy at combat.

[Brandon Bean]

He pulled the trump card and FaceTime

[Tone Bell]

Nick Saban, which just ended.

[Pat McAfee]

It was the only one his kid wouldn't stop. It just he kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. It was just like a non ending. I was shocked. Showing highlights and all these stuff. He's like, yeah, Ty's one of Saban's guys. I was like, what do you think Saban says? And he goes, if Saban says that Fernando is the top quarterback prospect, I'll believe it. So, all right, FaceTime. Saban, the answer is it, Coach, who's number one quarterback prospect in this draft? He goes, what? I go, who's number one quarterback? He goes, fernando, you got one national championship. Thank you. And I turned it right to his face and right to his kid's face. And he goes, thanks for everything, Coach Saba, you know, hang up on him. And then he goes, I disagree with Coach Saba. It's just like, Dan. It was only just like. And I respect and appreciate because it's like, I think Dan has found some traits in Ty that he loves. He's like, hey, this is my guy. Your boy. Same thing. Because he's an Alabama fan does that. How do you separate that, though? Like, is that why you have to have everybody in a room?

[John Shirey]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, what are the conversations? Has there ever been, like, two very huge. Like, Josh Allen when you drafted him?

[Brandon Bean]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Was there, I assume, there's people in your room that were very either against that or wanted somebody differently.

[Tone Bell]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

And how do you kind of get through that entire process other than just making memes out of the person? Well, that's what they did. They were lost.

[Tony Pauline]

That's right, Joseph.

[Darius Butler]

They.

[Pat McAfee]

They. We did not

[Darius Butler]

ask questions.

[Pat McAfee]

That was not us.

[Brandon Bean]

You guys are lobbing softballs, though.

[Tony Pauline]

You know it.

[Brandon Bean]

Listen, I think the one thing, like, we're obviously not in the quarterback market, but if you're these teams that are in that, the one thing that someone like us can't answer right now is you're meeting with these guys in multiple settings. And, you know, I think that's where Josh really stood out, you know, for us when we're making that decision. Just, again, the leadership. There's so many pieces to the quarterback other than what we see, that, you know, you're the tip of the spear of your organization, your team, if you have a franchise guy. So do you feel this guy can walk into a grown man's huddle? Let's say he's got all the physical. You know, all those things are part of this. So I have not met Fernando. I've not met Ty. But to me, those are some unanswered questions that people on the outside really don't have the, you know, the keys to be able to answer that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And it sounds like from our understanding, is Fernando is just. He's installing the Raiders offense right now. So I think Tom. You know, Tom was there for a lot of this stuff. It feels like that's that way, but we want Todd to be successful, too. Oh, yeah. Anytime. He could bring everyone. Dan or. Hey, Dan. Way good. Daniel had a baby.

[Tony Pauline]

Dan.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Dan. They said they run your takes in the film room and they say who agrees or disagrees. Yeah, they're not the only one.

[Tone Bell]

And then they fire the people that agree with no.

[Pat McAfee]

Tony has a question for you. Bino.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, I do.

[Tone Bell]

It came out this morning, I believe. Congratulations, I think. Is this how draft picks are judged, that you picked up the fifth year option for tight end Dalton Kincaid? That came out this morning. I don't know if that's true or not or if that's been confirmed by you, but is that kind of how an organization potentially judges a first round draft pick if they get to the second contract, whether it's a draft pick that worked out or not?

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, I mean, I think you. You want to be excited, you know, and we are. You want to be excited to say, hey, this is a guy we want to continue. And listen, at some point, you know, he's played three years. You can, you can also extend him. You know, we picked up Josh's fifth year and some of these other guys and then later extended them, but it just goes ahead and confirms to him that, hey, we're committed to you. We know right now, you know, you're going to be a Buffalo Bill for at least two more years and excited about what Dalton's done. You know, the one thing that's, you know, he had a little knee deal that's, that's, you know, hampered him and we had to monitor kind of his reps. We're hoping this year that we can get back to kind of a normal set of reps with him.

[Pat McAfee]

Congratulations. Appreciate that. Let's make sure he's paid top of the market.

[Connor Rogers]

Most money ever.

[Pat McAfee]

Ever.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, right.

[Brandon Bean]

Don't be negotiating against me up here.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's make sure we're taking care of that guy. Let's make sure we're taking care of that guy.

[Connor Rogers]

Sings Mr. Brightson.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Ty has a question for you.

[Tony Pauline]

First and foremost, kudos on the Buffalo, on the Bison out front, because we were going to give you hell for it. Like it was solely your response.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, don't.

[Tony Pauline]

Don't think I didn't know.

[Brandon Bean]

Don't think I wasn't in the back asking questions. Dude, I cannot go on McAfee show again, if these Buffaloes are weak, man,

[Tony Pauline]

they're gonna kill me.

[Pat McAfee]

Nice, big strong buys coming out.

[Tony Pauline]

Curious though, when it comes to DJ more, everyone's making a big deal about that. And you kind of told us, you know, previous trade deadlines, like you'll call around, like was that. And. And everyone was saying, hey, you know, Buffalo was in on waddle or so. And so all these different receivers, was that something you guys looked at last year? And do you feel like he is kind of the piece to take that offense to the next level where you guys are trying to get?

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, he was one of the guys that we called and checked. I mean, we checked a lot of guys just to see. And Chicago shut it down. They were, they were trying to make a run, but I think they at least knew there was interest and they reached back out, you know, when we got to Indy and said, hey, you know, maybe we'd be open if something made sense. And we, you know, fortunate to be able to figure that out. I've always loved DJ's skill set. Adds another player, a big playability, run after catch. Shakir, one of the best things he does is run after the catch. I think this adds another guy that, that's played, you know, some big time football, big time games. And so he'll be a good addition for us. I think.

[Pat McAfee]

D.J. moore's 2350 receiving yards in 2021 with Joe Brady. Yeah. Was the seventh highest total in the NFL. He's had success with that white guy. That has a good fade. Except for whenever he comes on our show. It's combine. What have you seen from. Still love everything about Joe Brady's energy.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Brandon Bean]

I mean, Joe, you can just feel it.

[Pat McAfee]

Can I mention our building, I mention this, you know, you have to win a Super Bowl. Everybody knows you have to win a Super Bowl. You're the one that hires Joe Brady. People attack you for hiring Joe Brady. I think it's fascinating that, you know, like this is the guy you went with. Watching him work, understanding what he's like in the building, knowing that, hey, career potentially online here in this entire thing. I love that show of commitment to a guy in your building. But what you've seen from him since that moment of hiring, how have you felt about it going rookie head coach?

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah, I think, listen, Joe's, Joe's a young guy, but you don't feel, you can feel him naturally stepping in this position. He's showing great energy. He's, you know, he's. I love the staff that he's Hired. You know, when these guys enter, come in an interview for a job, you lay out plans and you say you're going to do this, this, and this, but how many people actually stick to the plan? And I give Joe a lot of credit. You can throw names, hey, I'm going to hire this guy. I'm going to get this guy. And then, you know, you're kind of questioning, are you really going to be able to get this guy? And I think Joe, you know, he went through some of the guys that he really wanted to target on his staff. You know, a guy like Jim Littard.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Brandon Bean]

Who's bringing. Obviously played, you know, dog, you know, really good.

[Peter Schrager]

Yeah.

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah. Really good baller as a player. And then was at Wisconsin, you know, went to Denver, was part of that staff. Great defense. And so he. Jim's been fun to get to really know. I only knew him as a player. And so I just think a lot of the guys that Joe has brought on staff are kind of carrying out his vision. And like I said, we're starting in a couple weeks, and it's going to be excited to see for our players to walk into the building and feel this positive energy.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying people lie about who they're going to be able to hire for their staff. That'd be awesome. Come in. How about this? Parcells Binslabar sells.

[Brandon Bean]

Saban.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Listen, he's gonna consult, but also he said he'll do DBs during off season. Yeah. And then you having to pick through what's real and what's not real. Spectacular part of the entire job, everything you do. They're just gonna wonder if he wants. That's all they're gonna say. And that's crazy that that's what the business is, and that's where you are. You've earned that, obviously, and congrats. We appreciate the hell out of you taking the time. Foxy has one last thing he wants to say to you about your golf game.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Bean, you deserved every bit of that 500. I know. I owe you another hundred. So Con man on stage actually has that for me. He'll give it to you right after this thing.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, right.

[Pat McAfee]

It's nice of you, Connor. Thank you.

[Connor Rogers]

It ain't coming from me. It's gonna be like talking about the Bills is fun and we're talking Super Bowls. Better come get the division back in New England.

[Pat McAfee]

That's all you're gonna hear. That's all. That's the business. That's the job. There's only 32 of you. And we're very lucky that you're a friend of ours. Ladies and gentlemen, Brandon Bain, general manager. You got something in a minute. Thank you for taking time with us, dude. All right, hour two, we'll roll on on the other side. This guy's unbelievable at golf.

[Tony Pauline]

Absolute stick.

[Pat McAfee]

Started playing when he was 13.

[Connor Rogers]

Could have beer with the guy, you know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I can definitely have a beer. He did not. I would like it to be known he was dealing with us being pretty boozed up. He was not. Shout out to him. Hour two is on the other side. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice might change your life. Are the greatest. Scott, great work on the Jib, ESPN people. Phenomenal job on the setup here. And we are at the Biltmore, the home of the NFL's league meetings. Every owner, GM and coaches in there alongside their local media as we try to figure out what the future of the NFL looks like. While everybody is shaking hands and kissing babies, as networking is at an all time high, here is hot as hell. Arizona. The views are impeccable. The Gulf spectacular and the information that's going to be tossed around in this wall back here is going to be something that's going to change the way the biggest league on earth operates, at least for the foreseeable future. We're so incredibly thankful and lucky to be here. Obviously college hoops is happening all over the place. Final four has been decided. UConn breaks the hearts of Duke on a 40 foot splash city. From Mr. Indiana, Braylon Mullins, who will be joining us here in about three, four minutes or so. Obviously everybody saw this. The shot seen round the world splash. 19 points. UConn were down at one point in this game, 15 at the half. They end up winning by one. And Dan Hurley has another final four and his record is getting outrageous as we are introduced to his mom and dad in the crowd. Also, Illinois beat the hell out of Iowa. Sorry about it. It sorry about it. Arizona beat the dog crap out of Purdue. Michigan pounded Tennessee. The final four might be more talented than it's ever been. We'll have Coach K joining us here in a matter of moments. We believe Coach McCarthy from the Pittsburgh Steelers will be joining us this hour and this should be spectacular as it continues to be awesome to be here. The talks to tables here at Boston. Connor at Ty Schmidt, con man. What did you learn from Bino and Carly there in our conversations? Sounds like like 18 games is coming right around the corner.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, no doubt about it. That feels like the biggest News. Especially when you think about the NFL telling basically all the streaming services and all the networks like, hey, we're going back to the table because we want to change these deals, maybe, you know, adjust them a little bit, make a little bit more money. Now it all is kind of making more sense. You know, those Friday games we talked about that don't exist right now. They might exist in a month. And then those games, you know, who knows who else gets in the entire deal? Like, is Apple gonna come to the table? Does. Does, you know, Amazon?

[Pat McAfee]

Does Apple get involved? Maybe this.

[Tony Pauline]

I don't know if they even want to.

[Pat McAfee]

Why not?

[Tony Pauline]

They have. I mean, how much money did they spend on F1? I don't know if they're like F1 in baseball. F1. Baseball, real sports.

[Connor Rogers]

You're gonna love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, granted, soccer, I got some bad news for us. What do you mean? Our team sucks. What?

[Connor Rogers]

What do you mean?

[Pat McAfee]

5:2.

[Tony Pauline]

Oh, it's a friendly.

[Pat McAfee]

It wasn't very friendly. What the Belgium team did to us. I'm sorry. Belgique did to us. They smacked our cheeks. That and we might be cheeks is what Belgique showed me in the international friendly. 5 2. We have a nasty goal early. Holy hell, we're doing this. Yeah. Usa. Usa. Usa. Tied. Halftime, second half, we get demolished. Now Gumpy, who follows soccer much closer than I, says, we subbed out all our good players at halftime, put all our trash plates, and we lose. On that note, I want to let Paunch, you know, I, I, I, I believe. Yeah, but I can't be watching that anymore.

[Tony Pauline]

Well, no, it's nice. Is so like, when a situation like that happens for me now, I will not pay attention to the U.S. men's National Team until the World cup kicks off. So you can put them out of your head. These guys, they got to prove it. They got to prove it. They got it. And I agree because I'm a paunch guy as well. I will show up. I will ride into the mists of Avalon with him. But now I'm just gonna pay him no mind until the World cup kicks off. And then if we don't make it out of the group stage or we get beat or we get embarrassed, we can go told you so.

[Connor Rogers]

These guys stink at this point, too. We're in on baseball. Soccer is kind of an ass.

[Pat McAfee]

Goes we like everything.

[Connor Rogers]

Expectations are now here, okay? If we lose five, two every game.

[Tone Bell]

Listen, like when, when we're watching preseason football and the Chiefs are playing and Mahomes play the first half and they're 17 to three. And then some team comes back in the second half against some nobodies.

[Tony Pauline]

Do we.

[Connor Rogers]

We say the team?

[Pat McAfee]

No, we don't care. We're still on.

[Tone Bell]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

I say there's no reason for you to say f these guys. These guys are wearing. They're wearing a bag.

[Tony Pauline]

No, I. I'm not f these guys. I'm just. I'm not going to pay them any. I'm not going to let. Let them get into my brain or, you know, any thought. Aaron. Yeah, exactly. Until the World cup is here. So next time we have a friendly and if we win four, nothing you're gonna hear. I'm gonna be mum on it. You know, these boys got to show up. And they will, they will once World cup gets.

[Pat McAfee]

Team USA flag football showed up. Team USA Hockey showed up both in the Paralympics and the Olympics.

[Connor Rogers]

Baseball, our skiers kind of showed up. Our baseball team, which helped, but they didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

Nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. D. Butch, what's he talking.

[Darius Butler]

You know what? Honestly, I care less about any of this. Any of this.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you care about?

[Darius Butler]

I got two Final Fours to prepare for. One out here with the women out here in Beautiful Phoenix, our 25th for women's side. And then another one for the men.

[Connor Rogers]

Third and four years free furniture.

[Darius Butler]

I will. And a lot of people pouting about Darren Hurley after the game. Yeah, he was a little juiced up with 0.3 on the clock. Wouldn't you be if mullins hit a 40 footer in your face? So just an unbelievable performance. I'm still elated. I'm still on cloud nine. I can't wait to see these boys host another one.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm happy that the Huskies are having success. Sure.

[Connor Rogers]

It's cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Because when our coach left for Dubai State.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, Colorado State.

[Pat McAfee]

Colorado State happens. Which, hey, listen, sometimes you just want to get away, go see the mountains and do that whole thing. The way people were Talking about a UConn coach, though, just taking that job was like, not good for UConn, I thought. Then the whole meme with Dano UConn, there was a lot of. Right.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then Coach Orem is making the other coach quit saying, yeah, I don't want to do this anymore. Now Dan Hurley, 19 point comeback in the Elite Eight against the most powerful,

[Connor Rogers]

the most talented, but overall number one seed.

[Darius Butler]

Everybody saw over. They got two free throws. They would have went down there, pissed down the leg and missed both of those.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. They would have chosen.

[Tony Pauline]

You might be Right.

[Darius Butler]

This Duke Yukon, baby. That's all it's about. Basketball capital of the world.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's from the basketball capital of the world, Indiana. Okay, okay. In Mystery, Indiana, punch the ticket back to Indianapolis for a Final Four. An absolute legend forever was 0 for 4 in the game until you couldn't see an ounce of worry in his soul. Splash to the Final Four, ladies and gentlemen, Braylon Mullen. How did it feel? Good.

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah, I appreciate it. Appreciate you guys having me.

[Pat McAfee]

That had to feel so good that it feels. So as it was coming out, you knew as it was coming out, and.

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah, you got. You gotta shoot it with confidence. What?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So I heard your teammate say, anytime he's shooting it, confidence going in. You obviously hadn't had your best night shooting, but as this thing is leaving your hands, you know it's going in. You feel.

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I knew once I had the ball, there was like two seconds left, so I had to put one up and it came off. Came off the hand pretty well. I just. It's crazy. That was the one that I made yesterday.

[Darius Butler]

But,

[Braylon Mullins]

yeah, I'm still. I'm still full of emotions. It's still crazy to process it. And, man, we're going back to Indy now.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We can't wait to have you in the city. And obviously, congratulations. We wish you would have stayed in Indiana. Don't know how that happened. Today is obviously a weapon. There's a lot of conversation about how he operates and runs a program. You guys are down 19. You're down 15 in that game at half. What is his messaging to you guys? And why do you think your team was able to kind of rally?

[Braylon Mullins]

I mean, yeah, I think coach just. He wanted to keep the positivity with the group and just keep the confidence high. And I think just coming out of halftime, we just had to chip at the lead, just dug the hole that we. That we dug in the first half, and I think we got it to single digits like 10, 12 minutes into the second half, and I think we got to. Got it to a game manageable for us. And we were just. We knew we worked too hard for it, and we were just. We knew it was like you got clawed back into it.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you think every Caucasian in Indiana can shoot?

[Braylon Mullins]

Absolutely. What?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so, too. That's what I learned whenever I got drafted to the Colts. You just go mess around with LA Fitness. You got large, you got small, you got fat, you got. I mean, you Got all types of whites from Indiana. All of them. All of them have a jumper. It does feel like the state creates Hoopers. You potentially next legend coming out. We appreciate that. D butt, Yukon Husky alum has been singing your praises, obviously.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, obviously, playing for Coach Hurley has been unbelievable. But, like, what was his messaging throughout the game? Because I'm watching the game, and regardless of what the score was, he's pumping the crowd up. He's staying engaged. What was his messaging throughout keeping you guys on point? And then that last play. Cause you guys are pressing and foxy. If you run that clip and kind of pause it as he throws the ball, it's five on three in the back court. What was the message on the sideline going into this play?

[Braylon Mullins]

I mean, yeah, just going into that play, I think we were just trying to foul the worst free throw shooter on the floor. And, I mean, you could tell in the front. We tried fouling Sar, and Boozer ended up turning the ball over. And I was like, I mean, I'm gonna try to get the ball to ak. He had just hit one, and we're gonna let him take the last shot. He threw the ball back to me. I was just like, man, I knew I threw it to him with, like, four seconds left. I was like, we got to get a shot of. I'm not gonna go out with no shot. And, man, that was the one time that went down.

[Pat McAfee]

So can you tell me immediately afterwards, you guys dump a bunch of water, is Hurley always showing up in the post game locker room in his towel and.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Tell me about the celebration afterwards. The boys had to be elated, obviously.

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah. I mean, coach is used to that. The water. The water spilling and everything. Yeah, coming. Coming in there with a towel. I've never seen that. He's one of a kind.

[Pat McAfee]

What if he pooped his pants? Do you think he maybe pooped there? Whenever you make that he was so possible, there's a chance you'll never know. You'll never know. I. I heard he wears the same suit. We'll find out next game, I guess. Ty has a question for you, brother.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, Braylon, just curious. Obviously, a certain kind of player gets attracted to go play for a guy like Coach Hurley because he is a psycho in the best way possible. I don't know what your high school coach was like, but, like, get it.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you.

[Tony Pauline]

Were you fully prepared for everything that he was gonna, you know, kind of demand of you day in, day out when you got to UConn? And what's that kind of process been like.

[Braylon Mullins]

I mean, yeah, I think when I was with my high school coach, and, I mean, my dad coached as well, so they kind of resembled a little bit of how they pushed you to the limit. And, I mean, going to play for coach early, I thought it was just an easier transition. I knew I was going to get. You're going to get yelled at. That just happens. But it's just like, I knew he was going to push me to. To my max, and he's going to make. Make sure I'm better and get better and. Yeah, he's. He's my. He's my role model. He's the guy I look up to. He holds the standards. I mean, I wouldn't want to play for anybody else.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, I think your generation gets a lot of shit talked about you, about how you can handle coaching. Do you think that's fair or. No? Obviously you don't think that because you're with Danny. You just call him your role model and you like good, hard coaching. But does it feel like your generation maybe gets mislabeled a little bit? Because every college coach we talk to is like, we're accountability, accountability, accountability. But your generation gets a lot of shit talked about you guys. Do you hear that? Do you understand that?

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah, I do. I mean, you'll see that on social media all the time. Like, we can't take the criticism, them from the coaches, the media and everything. So I think just playing for somebody like Coach Hurley is just like, man, you. You gotta. You gotta take some of that criticism. It just makes you a better person and a better. Just better at life. So.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, see, that's a good perspective, though, that they say your generation died.

[Tony Pauline]

Even he's mature beyond his years, you can tell that.

[Pat McAfee]

What if they all are, though?

[Tony Pauline]

I don't know, because they're all.

[Pat McAfee]

They gotta handle business, these guys.

[Tone Bell]

It's like every generation. Some more. Some more.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We're having a conversation about you while you're here. We're appreciative that you're a dog, dude. Connor has a question for you.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, Braylon, you're just mentioned your dad's a coach. Have you had a chance to kind of talk with your family, Have a moment with your family? I assume it's been about, you know, you being a basketball star Your whole life, Mr. Indiana, the whole thing. Have you had a chance to kind of talk to them and have you rewatched the clip back just on your own and kind of watch it in disbelief, or are you still kind of not there yet. Don't even want to see how ridiculous of a shot it was.

[Braylon Mullins]

I mean, yeah, I got thinking. Think I didn't get to watch the first clip until, like, after we were out of the locker room. Midnight, 1am it's just crazy how everything unfolded, but it's just like. Yeah, I get to get to look at. Back at that every single year. I know that that shot's gonna be. Be in history. Yeah. I had to celebrate with the family. Called my. I think I was on the phone with my dad probably 15, 20 minutes before this. He's back at work in Indy because he was at the game yesterday, so. But yeah, he's. We're all. We're all excited.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, dude, we're all excited. March Madness. Having that moment in it this year is a beautiful thing.

[Darius Butler]

Feels like the final 400 tickets.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. A lot of cousins, you know.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Coming out of the woodwork.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

And you're getting paid now, too, so we're gonna expect you to pay for it, brother. I mean, that's. Welcome to the life, you know? Welcome to the life. Can't wait to see you back in Indy. Final Four is spectacular. Go ahead.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, it is awesome. Speaking of the Final Four, we always make a big deal about now that you're going to the Final Four, shooting in Lucas Oil shooting. And it's huge stadium in the shooter's eye. Have you guys talked about that at all? And is that actually something that. That we should think about going into this Final Four?

[Braylon Mullins]

I mean. Yeah, I don't think we've gotten too far down to Lucas Oil. Like, I mean, we kind of. Kind of just preparing now for Illinois, man. I mean, Lucas Oil is a one of a kind place as well. I got to watch some games, football and everything, so I know the environment. I'm kind of used to it and. But it's just, man, I'm so excited to play in front of the hometown and just be able to show what we're all about.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, Kaden Curry came back. Yep.

[Connor Rogers]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

With Ohio State. I think he's from Greenfield area, too. No, no. Where's he from?

[Tone Bell]

No idea.

[Connor Rogers]

We're not sure. But the kid from Illinois now, another

[Pat McAfee]

Indian, he's from Lawrence as well. You guys are all over the place. Hey, you're not at Indiana, but you guys are all over the place. And it's been an honor to watch you, brother. There's also been somebody that. That hasn't been able to listen to this entire conversation, but he's been, I think, seeing It. He can hear me. Can't hear you. I think he has something he wants to say. Coach K, you here? Coach K. Coach K. Here I am.

[John Shirey]

I wish I could first bring one and not you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, okay.

[John Shirey]

But congratulations, son. What an amazing moment. And how about your senior leader, Caravan, having the confidence in you to make it a historical pass before the historical shot.

[Pat McAfee]

Congratulations, Coach K. He actually couldn't hear you either, so I will spread that information. He said, wow. How about Caravan passing you the ball? Must have incredible pressure or belief in you. Congratulations. Coach K. Said, you're the man.

[Braylon Mullins]

Thank you. I appreciate you, Coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, safe travels back home. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. Thank you for showing up for basketball, for sport, for Indiana legend. You name it, brother. You're the band.

[Braylon Mullins]

Hell, yeah. I appreciate you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Kou, we're sorry you had to hear us instead of Braylon. Braylon was giving a lot of good answers. He was complimenting Dan Hurley. He was talking about how he's his role model, he's his idol, he likes getting coached, knew that he was going to have to get coached, and he said every shot felt good. What a winner for them. That's a story they're going to remember forever. Now, you on the Duke side, obviously, not Great, but down 1915 at half. Can you describe what Dan Hurley and his team was able to accomplish there and how legendary of a moment it is for them?

[John Shirey]

Well, the moment was set up because of outstanding defense. You know, ironically, the last. Last shot occurred because of a turnover. And throughout the second half, Duke, we turned the ball over too much. We were outscored 16 to nothing on after turnovers. And it's because, you know, Connecticut played great defense and they never quit. And, you know, it's to their credit that they. They hung in there and we could not knock them out. They would not allow Duke to knock him out. And. But it was defense, and they played tremendous defense, which Danny's teams play all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they're bopping wood all the time, aren't they? Smacking wood out there. They're, you know, slapping a baloney around whenever they have to. And that was a magical end for the Connecticut folks. Okay, that was a magical end for the Connecticut folks and for the basketball fans. Yeah, I mean, that was exhilarating. I felt alive watching that thing fly and then go in. It's like, this is the March Madness. Let's go to the other side. And obviously, you're not the coach of the Duke team anymore. Shire is what is his messaging to his team after that? Obviously, everybody's talking about the collapse and everything like that, and they live in a world where they're going to see it and feel it, I think. How does he kind of deal with that, you think, going forward?

[John Shirey]

Well, you just saw Braylon, how happy, you know, his smile went from ear to ear. You know, the joy of winning, but really the despair and the agony of. Of losing and dealing with that with your team. I think John's primary concern, and he does a great job of this, he and his staff, making sure you take care of those young men. They had a magnificent season, one of the best ever. And you lose. It's brutal. It's so abrupt. And from the joy to the agony. And to especially make sure that you embrace collective responsibility, that you win and you lose together so that no one individual player bears the burden of that alone. And I felt so bad for Kaden Boosier because I felt the interviews afterwards, one, he was man enough to do the interviews, and he took individual responsibility for it. And hopefully, I'm sure his teammates and his coaches hugged him afterwards and said, listen, man, we were there. Hey, you're 15 points in the first half or the reason that we were up by 15 points at halftime. He was playing. He played an outstanding game. And step one, one turnover. But it wasn't one play. I'm telling you, we turned the ball over too much because of Connecticut's defense. And what happened? Connecticut had a hard time scoring. But when you get live ball turnovers, you. You have a numerical superiority going down to the offensive end, and you take it to the hole better. And they got their offensive mojo going. And really, two of the biggest shots was from Demerit. You know, duke was up 10, and he hit a corner three. One of our kids, Nick, trumped it with a, you know, to go back to 10, and boom, he trumped that by hitting two threes. And those were. You talk about huge shots. Those were amazing shots.

[Pat McAfee]

You talk about numerical superiority. They were one of 18 from three in the first half. Dan Hurley found out about that in a postgame press conference in real time. He had a hilarious reaction, both hands to his face of embarrassment after such a huge win. He said, the assistant coaches were telling me it was bad. I did not know we were 1 for 18 in the first half. Then he said, at some point, we're gonna have to start knocking down a three if we're gonna want to win this game. You talk about the numerical superiority. What you're saying is Whenever you play good defense, you get turnovers, you get high percentage shots. So if it's not fallen, all of a sudden, it's a gritty way back into the game, and then they end up four or five down the stretch for three. So they get hot late, they bop the wood. That's classic Dan Hurley football, it feels like, in the end. And on that Note, D Butt, UConn Husky has a question for you.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, Coach, I was just talking to Braylon about this. Kind of in the midst of a game, whether you're down big, you know, Hurley side, UConn side, you know, I kind of. I think it's. Feel like it's easier as a player, I know, to keep fighting, stay hungry. But on that opposite side, when you have a big lead, maybe some complacency. How do you handle that as a coach? What is tougher as a coach? Being up, handling that success in the middle of a game or being down kind of still chasing those guys?

[John Shirey]

Well, I'd rather handle it when we're up. That's. That's a hell of a lot better. But what you hope is you can knock them out. And some teams allow themselves to get knocked out. Danny's team did not allow themselves to get knocked out. They. You know, we talked about this last week about making adjustments, and whatever Dan did at halftime with his defense, they were a different team defensively in the second half and seeing the ball go in, and they were aggressive offensively then and got Duke into some foul trouble. So they saw free throws go in and they saw some layups go in, and that gave them the momentum. But that really, to Connecticut's credit, that they. They were. They were not going to get knocked out, and. And our guys did a great job, but we. We turned it over too much.

[Pat McAfee]

Heartbreaker for Szeczef Skville.

[John Shirey]

It was. It was heartbreaking. I'm telling you. I. Even at, you know, I haven't coached for four years now, but, you know, again, it was a great, great basketball game. Not a good one. It was a great game, and I had a heart. I. I could not fall asleep last night. I felt like I was part of that. And. And then you're thinking about all these individual kids and how you're going to take care of them, and. And there's such great empathy for. For our guys. I mean, I'm a. Obviously, I'm a Duke guy and.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[John Shirey]

And have concern for. For them and. And still do, because that's a tough one to get over.

[Pat McAfee]

How old are you?

[John Shirey]

I'm 79, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Still staying awake. Four years removed. Yeah, that's gonna happen forever.

[Tone Bell]

Love of the game.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's gonna happen for. I don't know. That's why we're talking about with your hair, you know, look like if you're staying up, not sleeping, you know, to 79 for a game, you're not even coaching.

[Tony Pauline]

Just built different.

[John Shirey]

But let me make one other point. For my entire year and time as a coach, I love being in the moments of those players. The highs, the lows. They kept you young because you were in their moment. You weren't watching their moment. You were in their moment. And Danny and John Shire during the moments of their players. So you know what Danny was doing after the game. I'm going to send them a few diapers as they go forward. That's in the moment. And John Shire was in his moment, taking care. And so that's the kind of thing I kind of relived last night. And even though it was bad, it felt good to be in that moment with our team.

[Pat McAfee]

Aren't sports the greatest coach? They are. Sports are the absolute greatest. And obviously you talk about the joy and the heartbreak, but for us as fans, it was a magical game. Let's talk about the rest of the Elite Eight in the Final Four. Now let's head to the Big Ten world. Go ahead, Ty.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, Coach. Before last night, you know, I think you could argue that the Big Ten kind of stole the weekend. And then obviously, you know, we talk about that, and it was. It was insane. But I want to go back to something that you've been talking to us about kind of for several appearances now that we've had you. When it comes to Illinois, they were just. I mean, they have all these European guys who are older, they're so much size, so physical. Do you think we're kind of seeing in real time that this might be a blueprint that a lot of teams will try to employ going forward? Because, boy, I tell you what, Iowa kind of gave them everything they had early, and it. It really didn't matter. They were just so physical and so dominant inside. Do you think we're kind of seeing in real time like, oh, this might be something that a lot of these schools kind of try to rely on and. And use to go deep into the tournament in the future?

[John Shirey]

Yeah, most definitely. And it'll be a combination because the Arizona. Arizona and their game against Michigan will have the international players also. Arizona and Illinois have the best combination, actually. Illinois has a few more of International, a young player, a freshman and some older veterans. That combination and what, what it produces because of the portal, if, if you get a transfer, they're older, the international players are older also. And so what we're seeing is older good teams, older good teams. And as long as Nil and Rev share are there, we're going to continue to see it. Unless in a couple years if there's NBA Europe, what kind of contracts would come from that? Right now the international players are able to make more money here than they would be in the Euro League. And you're seeing great basketball. The product is unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So let's talk about the international players getting more money with NIO now because wasn't that kind of the alternative for high school players that were no longer allowed to go straight to the NBA? I think one of the ball brothers went over and played in Latvia.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Australia, something like that. And they talked about how you can get money over there while also learning how to play against pros and everything like that. Now the Nil money is more than what those leagues were going to be. That's, that's a fascinating little.

[John Shirey]

And Rev share, you know, Rev share is what schools can pay, but Nil is, is added to it. So look, these, these young men are making a lot of money. God bless them, they should. They're putting on a great show. And that's the model from now on, you know, and then, yeah, like a big, a big phrase, A big term is roster management. And so in the next few weeks with the portal opening up, who's going pro, who's transferring, how these teams manage their roster, you can come back. If you're a big time program, you can come back in one year because you could, you could bring 10 new

[Pat McAfee]

players in Coach hypothetical here, and I know you're not in there, but let's say somebody at West Virginia, Virginia was an alumni.

[Tony Pauline]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Wanted to take maybe a Euro trip. Okay, I want to go take a Euro trip. Check out some of these European pros. Naturally, I found four of these guys that I like. These guys be good Mountaineers. How much are these guys making actually? How much money are these guys making in college hoops right now? Because the money around college football was like, there was like a six, six and a half, seven coming at the quarterback position. Now obviously that is, that is a different animal and who knows what's real because nothing needs to be actually reported, which is kind of a part of the entire problem, because what is the market? Everybody just kind of makes it up as they go. But I think people kind of have a sense for basketball. I'm not talking about a Duke, but let's say a basketball. What is the going rate for like a top guard or a top big or a top. Something like that? Is that already been figured out?

[John Shirey]

Yeah, it'll. Well, it's seven figures and what level of seven figures it is. The thing that you mentioned though, you would not be able to just go over and watch them all play in Europe. They don't. Now wait a minute. You would have to do a tour because we're able to see high school kids when they go to AAU tournaments. You know, a group of them together, the international players are all over Europe. You know, you might go and see one, then see another or, or whatever. So really the, the job under Coach Underwood's done at Illinois is fantastic. He seems to have fallen in love with the Eastern European player. And, and they're, they're good. And you do that, it means his staff must spend a lot of time or a member of his staff going over and visiting different places and having contacts in, in Europe. How you recruit now is so much different than when I recruited. It's so much different. That's why John Shire's done a much better job than I would have done in putting this whole thing together.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think that's true. I'm not gonna let you say that. I like you complimenting Shire because he's probably taking a lot of heat right now in your world. But you would have figured it out. You know, you would have figured it out.

[John Shirey]

Well, I would have had him as an associate helping me figure it out.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly, exactly. He would have had it figured out. So, so I understand what you're saying. And this is just like Saban too. Saban's like, I don't think I would have been able to. It's like you would have, you would have been able to figure it out.

[Darius Butler]

That's a, that's a whole different beast. Like going European, obviously Coach K would figure it out, but going over there, knowing which leagues, because like you said, the AAU circus here, you know, you're going to get top players playing against the top players. Now going over there, language barriers, I'm sure people around like, it's, that's a whole different area.

[Pat McAfee]

What was that talk?

[John Shirey]

They're men too. They're men. They're men. They're not 18 year old boys and they played against men. They've been pros for X number of years. 2, 3, 4, 5. Years. And so, you know, when it says on the rosters some of the international players are freshmen, look at their age, okay? Look at their age.

[Pat McAfee]

They're not 18. What was that movie where they went to Spain and Balboa? Yeah, yeah. And then there was a documentary down in Africa, too. Right. I think there's, like, basketball academies down in Africa is what.

[John Shirey]

Yeah, like basketball academies all over the world. And the NBA. I've worked for the NBA now for the last three years. The NBA has done such a great job of global management of the game and the teaching of the game. And so there are just more good players in the world than ever. Than ever. And college basketball now is not us. It's the world, for crying out loud.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, West Virginia needs to get a little worldly. West Virginia needs to get a little worldly. Worldly.

[Connor Rogers]

They're focused on.

[Tony Pauline]

They got that Canadian guy.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about over air, okay. I'm not talking about up air.

[John Shirey]

There are a lot of great Canadian players.

[Pat McAfee]

Steve Nash, I got respect, okay. Justin Bieber can obviously shoot well. Yeah, I got a lot of respect, okay, for the Canadians. But what I'm talking about is the. We want the Luca.

[Tony Pauline]

You want the Euro step.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You know, and I know Stoyakovich is from here, but I want.

[Connor Rogers]

No, he's got that flair.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

What you guys win the. The thingamajig out there?

[Pat McAfee]

Have you heard about this new tournament that's gonna rival the Final Four, the super duper other crown? West Virginia's playing against Toronto Blue Jays this early. Look at this bracket. Not yet. The.

[John Shirey]

You guys have to publicize that all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's get back to the Final Four. Tone has a question for you. Jeez.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, Coach, I have a question about Michigan. There's. They have won by 21, 23, 13, and then 33 against Tennessee yesterday. As a coach, like, does that concern you at all going into the Final Four that they haven't played a close game in this tournament yet? Or do you believe that it's a good thing that they're playing so well that they're blowing out teams? I feel like UConn might have done that a couple years ago, where they just blew out teams their entire run.

[John Shirey]

Well, your points about Michigan are well taken.

[Pat McAfee]

They.

[John Shirey]

They're on a roll. They. You know, they lost their backup point guard about a month or so ago, and it took them just a little bit to regain their continuity. See, continuity is key. I thought it hurt Our team with the injuries to have continuity going, being in the tournament. They are on a roll right now. They are having fun together. They have eight guys who can play. Lindenborg is really as good as anybody in college. I still vote for our guy for national player of the year. But London Borg's right there. And Maris, unbelievable. I mean seven three from Spain.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what I'm talking about.

[John Shirey]

And they block about six, seven shots a game. And the beauty yesterday was not just their defense. They were passing the Dan. They made the extra pass all the time. And it looks like they're having a lot of fun playing I that their game against Arizona, you're going to see eight against eight. And I'm not talking about officials. Both teams have eight solid players in that combination of international young us and old us. And they're, they're both amazingly well coached and they have continuity. They have continuity going in and so does. Well, all four do now.

[Pat McAfee]

But I love the final four that we have. I, I think we've got a gritty, talented, exciting dogs. Like, I think we got a group that'll fight. Which, you know, that goes back to the question you just asked about Michigan there. It's like, I think they haven't had to prove that yet to us yet, but I feel like they will.

[Tone Bell]

And they went through the whole Big tens.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, exactly.

[John Shirey]

They're playing great. They're not playing well. They're playing great. And they have a. And Dusty, they have a coach that's been there, you know, he's been there before.

[Pat McAfee]

Indiana. Yeah, he's Indiana guy, you know, he's a manager.

[John Shirey]

He's a manager for Coach Knight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then just kick him out of the building and then Marlins. Mullins is Mr. Indiana. He's a Yukon now. You know that kid with the ponytail from Illinois, Davis, he's literally from right where the Thunderdome. These kids could all be playing.

[Tony Pauline]

Gotta recruit your state.

[Pat McAfee]

You could be wearing the.

[Tone Bell]

Gotta recruit your state.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we'll see. That's what you gotta do. You know what you need to recruit.

[Tone Bell]

Where's that?

[Pat McAfee]

Europe. Okay. I understand Indiana is kind of the Europe of America. It comes to creating basketball talent. Now let's get to some more conversation about the top here of college hoops as a whole. Good con man.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Coach, you mentioned Dusty there. And it feels like right now, looking at these four teams, all four, you know, leaders, all four head coaches are, you know, very in your face type coach, kind of old school like we say, but they've led their teams in their respective to win their region. What is this week like? You know, how much of an advantage do you kind of give Hurley just because he's gone through it more recently than some of these other guys and he's won kind of on his own with that back to back run UConn had? Or do you kind of think maybe some of these other schools, Illinois in particular, they're so young there, they don't even have to think about it. And I say young as in their run in the tournament. None of these guys have the pressure or thought of, like, what to expect, even though they're much older European players. What do you think about that aspect? Do you kind of think UConn might have a little bit of an advantage just because they know, hey, this is going to be the media day, this is going to be the stuff they're going through? Or where do you kind of see that going into this weekend?

[John Shirey]

Well, it's a good point about Danny. I mean, obviously he's won two national championships, so he's driven that road before and driven it really well. It's a long week. It's, you know, everyone is euphoric around you. I think these first couple days probably to enjoy it a little bit more and find out when you stop enjoying it, you know, like later in the week. Is it the Wednesday or the Thursday? When do you get there? You can get there too soon. Danny probably has. I don't know if he's done the same travel each time, but. But how do you do that? How do you get adjusted there? And then while you're there, what access do you give the players to everyone else? Because everyone's going to want to. Want to, want to be around them. You know, you guys brought up a point about Lucas Oil and being in the Dome and shooting. It's. That's as good a place to play the Final Four as there is. I can remember our last Final Four there. We won three championships in Indy, two in Lucas Oil. And I remember walking up for the. I get chills thinking of it, walking up for the championship game and how beautiful it was. Like I'm saying, holy crap.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you for saying this.

[John Shirey]

This is magnificent. I think, I think it'll lift up all, all the kids. It's, you know, like Saturday some a moment in time for all these teams and four champions under one roof. It's the best day in college basketball. And to do it in Indianapolis where you can feel the tournament all the time, wherever you're walking, eating in Lucas

[Pat McAfee]

Oil, man, I'll tell you what, you're 100, right? Indy should host all of these.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, they should.

[Pat McAfee]

Every single time. Does Coach K have any say? He should. Here is the first look. Hey. Lucas Oil Stadium as it is getting pieced together. You know, that stadium has hosted many things. Olympic swimming trials, they put an entire Olympic sized pool in there that was deeper than Francis pool. I think whenever they put in a stadium, anytime they did basketball in there, your immediate thought is. I always hate the way a court looks inside stadium. It looks stupid. They have that thing executed perfectly. They shut that thing down. It just looks like a massive basketball arena. It doesn't feel like you're too far away. It feels alive. And I appreciate you saying that, Coach. As somebody obviously played in there. That means a lot. Obviously, coming from you. It feels like it's a great venue. It does feel like it's a great venue.

[John Shirey]

You know, it nothing against all the other venues, but if they ever had a permanent home for would be there.

[Tony Pauline]

Wow.

[John Shirey]

By the way, the people who own the tournament are the nc, that's the ncaa. The NCAA owns the tournament and that's where they're at. You know, and maybe while the tournament's going on, they could meet and figure out how the hell to put guardrails and transparency.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, what the hell's going on? Let's not try to deflect this because Duke's not in the Final Four. Okay? We know there's a lot of things to figure out. Final Four in Indianapolis will be incredible. Shout out to Scott Agnes on the photo there for it coming together. And we appreciate the hell out of you, coach. Thank you for joining us. Please send our positive words to the Duke Blue Devils. And also a reminder, that was one of the biggest moments in the history of basketball last night. What happened.

[Connor Rogers]

Huge.

[Darius Butler]

That was gigantic in there, you guys, is positive words.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[Darius Butler]

I'm a Husky man.

[Pat McAfee]

He was no positive words to Shire from.

[John Shirey]

No, he should be proud, man. I mean, and well, look, one of the reasons they won is on the court leadership. Caravan is magnificent. For him to make that shot the three before and then have the presence of mind to throw it to Mullens. Not throw it, pass it to him. That was one of the. To me, one of the great play is the pass, not just the shot.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, there's pressure, there's a turnover. Mullins gets it actually says, let's give it to the senior. The guy that Coach Hurley has said the greatest player he's ever coached. And Mullins gets ball back and say, you know what? I guess I gotta do it.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yep.

[Darius Butler]

Ready?

[John Shirey]

It's a big time on the court. Leadership. He's as good as there is. The caravan.

[Pat McAfee]

Have you ever forehead the forehead a ref and say, you know what?

[Darius Butler]

I think what?

[Connor Rogers]

Time's up.

[Pat McAfee]

I think we won the game, didn't we, bud? Zach, you ever did one of those?

[John Shirey]

No, but I'm glad. Roger Ayers, the official handled it right.

[Pat McAfee]

That would have been cat catastrophic for college. Maybe it's something on his nose that would. Yeah, we don't know. We don't know if he said. What if they.

[Tone Bell]

Coach, his nose was itchy.

[Pat McAfee]

What if that's their handshake? Could be they've got a really good relationship, good game. Instead of, you know. Because Covid was taking us completely away from handshakes.

[Tony Pauline]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Whenever they. They got on the other side of COVID they decided we're gonna kind of counter that we're gonna be as close as possible every time we. Yeah, every day. Nosies. They do every single time they see.

[John Shirey]

I think it's bopping heads.

[Pat McAfee]

It is bopping heads, isn't it?

[Tone Bell]

Well said, coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, first you bop the wood, then the heads start popping. Then he got some real stuff going on. We appreciate the hell out of you, coach.

[John Shirey]

All right. See you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, coachefsky. I should have been proud of the putts I made yesterday.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, he would have, huh?

[Connor Rogers]

I feel bad for coach.

[Darius Butler]

Golfer. He's bummed out.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

He's scratched.

[Tony Pauline]

I would assume so.

[Pat McAfee]

He's scratching all these. I don't know.

[Connor Rogers]

He's so like saving.

[Darius Butler]

Saving.

[Pat McAfee]

Golf's a lot different sport now that he's retired. He does a lot of the golfing. I think that's kind of his thing. There's a really cool looking guy kind of walking around in air forces. Have you guys seen him in Canada, this guy?

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. He looks really cool.

[Tony Pauline]

Like Michael Imperioli.

[Pat McAfee]

And then, yeah, there was three cops that showed up. Very, very, like stern looking as they walked down this part here. I had eyes on them. I was wondering what's going on? And then you got to remind yourself there's 32 billion, 31 billionaires here. And they all have all their families here. So all of the securities.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That all of them have are all here. And you could. You can send sense it that we are in a place that is good luck, serious people. So the fact that we're in here is outrageous, I would say, Todd.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, without a doubt. You know, it kind of just, it sets in when you're walking up there and they got these dogs sniffing everything. It's like, hey, this isn't some, you know, Mickey Mouse dick around thing. This is very serious business. How much money do you think is in this hotel right now?

[Pat McAfee]

Total. I mean, like, I thought about that as I was walking through because I see one billionaire walk by or the damn. Actually here. I'd say actually here because I assume this would be one that a lot of people would just say, no, I'm not doing whatever. But it feels like this is one where everybody like, hey, yeah, we actually got to do it now. I think they have it to a point where it's only in a couple spots, which I assume it is like.

[Tony Pauline]

And selected.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, like, hey, we need the rooms. We need this. We need this type of stuff because obviously these people are living very good lives. Their leagues the biggest on planet Earth. And coming into the league, some of these owners, wealthiest humans to ever exist.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So to have all that and for us to be here is pretty outrageous.

[Tony Pauline]

It's wild.

[Pat McAfee]

Very lucky to be here. Very thankful to be here. And the decisions that are made here are literally a big deal. And I will say Joe Buck I just saw walk by. Oh, really? Me, Joe Buck McDonough was here.

[Darius Butler]

Saw Turo Mike.

[Tony Pauline]

Italian Mike's here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yep, Collinsworth was here.

[Tone Bell]

Shut up.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, all the stars are at Triggs Craigs.

[Connor Rogers]

He's around here.

[Tony Pauline]

I guess it's Brady's. Got got to be here then too, right?

[Pat McAfee]

He's owner, right.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

Do they bring birdie's 1 percenters? Like is Lynn Bin here?

[Darius Butler]

Oh, I for sure here.

[Tony Pauline]

Lyn Ben owns this place, actually. The Biltmore.

[Tone Bell]

I didn't know if one Lynn Ben,

[Pat McAfee]

1% purchaser of the Miami Dolphins recently for 125 million, which is a 12 and a half billion dollar valuation for a team that hasn't won a Super bowl since 73. 1973, 74 maybe. Did you guys win it after. After the perfect year as well? I don't.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

That we had an actual 72 perfect 73 season.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, sounds good. So it has. It's long time.

[Darius Butler]

71 playoff game in what, 26 years?

[Pat McAfee]

Gumpy, how's it going back there? Paul had a little bit of a day yesterday. Gumpy did a little golf, did a little chat and did a little insider, did a little network and him and Sal Capaccio caught up for a bit of a while. Gumpy. How we doing back here, Paul?

[Darius Butler]

Pretty good.

[Mike McCarthy]

A little Bit of a runaway yesterday.

[Pat McAfee]

It was about a 12 hour shift. I'd say. Pretty good run there. Pretty good run, boys. I took a nap in the middle of it. I came back for your late shift. You know, the old school days, the shipyard painting days. When you're doing the. The third shift.

[Mike McCarthy]

Close.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you, I haven't seen guppy like that in a long time. You look like you had one yesterday. How could you not? We're celebrating football in the middle of March.

[Darius Butler]

Amen.

[Pat McAfee]

Right, Gumps?

[Braylon Mullins]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

It was a hell of a day on the course. Like I've never seen a performance.

[Tone Bell]

That was the best round of golf I've ever seen. It was legit.

[Pat McAfee]

10, 10 putts. It was insane to watch. I was just driving around in the cart. And Bean. Bean's hitting three woods.

[Darius Butler]

He's as advertised around trees.

[Pat McAfee]

You're so good.

[Tone Bell]

Did you bring those shoes or.

[Pat McAfee]

I bought everything you see there, I bought there.

[Tony Pauline]

That's a great looking outfit.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Darius Butler]

Came together classic. You happy to see you out there, man?

[Pat McAfee]

Size 35.

[Tone Bell]

That cow print. I'm just.

[Pat McAfee]

Flowers.

[Tone Bell]

Okay.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I brought the flowers to the desert. You know what I mean? Shoes. Unbelievable. I would say pro shop was a 10 out of 10.

[Tony Pauline]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Arizona Country Club is the name.

[Darius Butler]

Floppy.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a flop right there. This one might have a little bit of a role. Is the kid gonna be able to knock it down? Yeah, he will. No problem. See you later. There's Beano going. There's Foxy saying, what's going on, man? And then Everybody knows it's Spider X250 Plus Unlimited and whatever. I'm holding that thing like a hockey stick. I'm rolling that thing. And I did a lot of research. Strictly from my mention. There's me and Beano having a good time. I guess everybody's using this putter.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I was going to take it home because it was a rental thing. After the round I went and put it on the counter.

[Brandon Bean]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

At the pro shop. I said I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I need you guys to figure out what I need to pay you for this.

[Connor Rogers]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Come back out of the bathroom. They say 100 bucks. I say what you could have got.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

You're the proud of giving you that club.

[Tony Pauline]

5,000.

[Pat McAfee]

So now that golf club with no head cover. Okay. No, nothing good. Certainly used. Is now in the hotel room room right now.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, nice.

[Connor Rogers]

Boom.

[Tone Bell]

Don't forget it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I'm. I'm going to have that thing forever. Best round of golf I've played.

[Tony Pauline]

Looked like it.

[Pat McAfee]

First round of golf I played. Maybe we're doing golf this year, boys.

[Connor Rogers]

Here we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe we're doing golf putters used by PGA Tour winners. Spider. Spider. Spider. Phantom. Spider. Spider. So, wow. I think it makes sense. I think that thing. I don't know what it was doing, but it felt like it was kind of rolling for itself. And we had a great time. Way mo and a spot, no driver in there. Speaking of. Hey. Hey, Tiger.

[Tone Bell]

Perfect timing.

[Pat McAfee]

Tiger. Enough, dude, okay? For society, for your legacy, for everything. You suck at driving, okay? You're ass at it. I don't like this. This is not. I don't like the conversations that are being forced to happen about you, okay? This is reckless 2026. We got this shit just fucking pulling up here. This thing had to get through two security checkpoints, stopped, put a hand up, waved, got itself through there. That's where we're at in 2026. Come on.

[Tone Bell]

You probably put that technology in his

[Pat McAfee]

Buick or Rolls Royce or fucking anything.

[Connor Rogers]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Like that. That is the conversation that. I think that's my take on this. Incredibly dangerous. I've had friends, obviously, that have passed away from DUIs, but driving and victims of the entire thing. I've been around the generation of people that thought they were okay driving as they were completely intoxicated because, you know, through our lives, this has basically become something that's very real. And it's like, dude, you suck. You suck at it. Like you're just not. You're not. This is nowhere near a thought that should continue to happen. And maybe, you know, who knows what's going to come out? Maybe he just fell asleep. Maybe something like that happened. But whatever the case, feels like I hear about it too much and I'm done here hearing about it. You're the greatest golfer of all time, okay? You worked your ass off, dude. You worked up. Woke up at like 3am every single day to do all the. That you did. You carried golf on your big red shoulders every single Sunday. You're on the prowl for the golf. You took it to a place that was crazy. What you are in the sports conversation as an athlete is goat, goat, absolute goat of everything. So let's stop with the. That doesn't have to happen, okay? Because this is not something that you should be doing. It's not something that we should be trying to let other people know. It's okay. We got robots driving. Yeah. Everywhere right now. Figure it out. That's what I would like to say about Tiger woods feel like we had to talk about it because I love you, Tiger. Yes, exactly. That is where this is getting like, hey, dude, come on. You are huge for sports. You are huge for our story, for every. For golf, for everything. So let's figure it out. Time. Yeah, I figured this. I don't like seeing it.

[Tony Pauline]

No.

[Tone Bell]

I just think that driving, like, it makes maybe feel normal or.

[Darius Butler]

Tony, stop it. All right.

[Tone Bell]

Come on.

[Darius Butler]

Serious moment.

[Pat McAfee]

There was an interesting reaction.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, there was.

[Pat McAfee]

There certainly was.

[Darius Butler]

I hope he does figure it out, though. Whatever. Whatever that is.

[Connor Rogers]

Who knows?

[Darius Butler]

Who knows? The entire story. I know he blew triple zeros and the cops said they felt this and that about him, but hopefully he figures out whatever. You know, he obviously is an all time great athlete. He's human. He has his battle. So hopefully he figures it out. And, you know, we need you around Tiger.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, we do. You don't want. Sick of seeing and hearing about him potentially dying as he's driving. I don't. I don't like this.

[Tony Pauline]

Exactly. You don't want the first thing associated with Tiger to be this type of stuff. Now, like, you know, I mean, he. Obviously, he's had his issues in the past, but, like, you don't want to ruin your entire legacy where the first thing people mention with it is not how many majors it's won. It's like. Like, this guy has 10 DUIs.

[Pat McAfee]

Have. Have Sunday Red. Okay. Get a robot vehicle.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Tiger mobile.

[John Shirey]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

The Sunday Red mobile. You can maybe create it. Yeah. Just you. You own the car. Congratulate. You have a vehicle you can sell for other people.

[Connor Rogers]

Orange with stripes, you know, I mean, like, this is something that.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh. Cause the tiger.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought you were thinking maybe red, because that's kind of his entire.

[Connor Rogers]

That'd be cool. Cool, too. I just figured Tiger moving. Yeah. I feel like they probably had this conversation with, like, Babe Ruth, like, a hundred years ago. Like, hey, baby, can't. You can't be driving. It's 20, 26.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, we got this thing, this robot showed up right here. Sure.

[Connor Rogers]

Or, you know what? You could actually probably pick someone you like. Just give. Give them a salary and have them drive you around that. That you enjoy being around. Like, what are we. What are we even talking about here?

[Peter Schrager]

Here?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Tony Pauline]

Come on, figure it out.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on, dude. That's real. Come on, man. You're great for sport. You did incredible things for golf. Every time you're around, the needle moves for sport. Let's continue that. Okay? Let's be smart. Let's not die. How about that? And let's not kill anybody.

[Tony Pauline]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

That, that would be, that would be, that would be great. Some other things we have not talked about are some quotes that have come out of the meetings behind us. Now these meetings are, they're all in sessions right now. They are literally all in sessions right now. There's actual voting and presentations happening. Now the YouTube Trends person, I didn't know that person's doing it.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, I like to see them.

[Pat McAfee]

That was kind of an interesting little drop there by Carly. We don't know who's all talking there, but we do know a lot of people talked this morning. Andrew Barry, Cleveland Browns gm, He had this to say about the Miles Garrett's going to be traded because they renegotiated and redid his deal. One of the greatest lines I've heard in some time time.

[Tone Bell]

I'd say this, Mary Kay Miles is a career brown.

[Mike McCarthy]

He is one of the faces of our organization.

[Pat McAfee]

I think we've been very clear both past and present in terms of our feelings on that.

[Tone Bell]

So I, I, I understand all the questions.

[Darius Butler]

I'll be honest.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't really want to waste a ton more breath on the topic. Sure. There's only a limited amount of air around. Okay. I'm done wasting breath on this topic. I love that he came out that strong and I assume that he is telling the truth.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why I know Andrew Berry. We knew Andrew Barry whenever he was with the Colts. He does look more jacked.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

Happy birthday.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy birthday, Andrew Berry. Birthday Andrew.

[Darius Butler]

Andrew.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy birthday, Andrew Barry. But it sounds like he's about done with it all and it sounds like they're going to be keeping Myles Garrett no matter what they do with the contract.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. And those conversations will kind of, they'll be here at least for the foreseeable future because of who Myles Garrett has been, how he attacks his social media when he wants to get messaging now and then. Whenever you rework a contract, you're always trying to look and see, okay, what's the writing on the wall? So that's what he's saying now. I believe him. Shefte last time he was on here he said it as well. And obviously we know things change. So next year could be a different conversation and different answer or the year after that. But you have one of the all time great defenders at a very premium position. So yeah, I would think the Cleveland Browns and Andrew Berry want to keep him as long as humanly possible.

[Pat McAfee]

Possible. And Andrew Barry, he's Been through it? Nah.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He got hired really young. We thought he was potentially going to get the Colts gig. Whenever the general manager he was been like, 25, maybe 24, would have been very early, but always very obvious that he was on the trajectory to become a general manager. Former quarterback at Harvard, I do believe. Cut his teeth in the scouting world. Used to drive around, would spin it during workouts for the. The. You know, like. Yeah, like the free agent workouts, whatever the case is. He. He loved ball and everybody loved him. I. I don't remember a single person that had anything negative to say about him. I've seen him have a good time, too. Like, I think he. I think he's, like, built for the job.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, the job that he has done and had, tough. There's been some shit now, really. There's been. There's been a quarterback that took you to this, to the playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs, and then you kind of kick him out. Then, obviously, there's a deal that changes football forever. In the Desean Watson $230 million negotiation, fully guaranteed that David Mulligetta did for the Cleveland Browns. To get back in the conversation, get desean with everything that was happening around it, and that being said, that it came from ownership. So he's been hamstrung by this deal forever. It's like Andrew Berry's run as general manager has been very fascinating. And I, as fan of his and old friend of his, I think he's got a future that I think he's being told he has by ownership. Okay. Like, because of the desean deal, I think that has kind of been promised. If Stefanski's out, this is obviously like your thing. I don't know how long it's going to take. I don't know if they know who their quarterback is. I don't know if they know anything. But I think he does know that Miles Garrett's going to be his guy, and we paid him 40 million a year to do as such.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Well.

[Tony Pauline]

And also, like, the Baker stuff, we don't. Everything we've heard is that that was kind of like a Baker Stefanski thing. So he may not have even had any say in that. So it's kind of difficult when the most important position in sports and the most important position on your team, you don't really have any say in who that guy is, because. And then you have to answer all the questions when you're not any good. It's like, well, you know, there's not A whole lot I can do here.

[Tone Bell]

And now that he's got his draft picks back, like last year, he had Mason Graham, who was unbelievable, and then Sweatinger one defense player of the year, and then Quinn. Sean Judkins was the best rookie running back. One of the best rookie.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

And, like, they had a. They had a great, great draft class. Like, so. Yes. When he has not been hamstrung, he's been a. A solid gm.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, can spin it, too.

[Darius Butler]

Got a couple years here to build it, too. You got a new head coach, so you got a completely new chapter. And we just had Brandon Bean on here. He's under a different type of pressure. You got to win it and win it now. And then, you know, Andrew Barry, he's got to build that winner because Cleveland, I mean, they've never had that. So you just want to see some hope and get better and better.

[Pat McAfee]

Listen to Bean, talk to us, you know, because we're in a little bit.

[Brandon Bean]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Having a good time. Of course, being you're gonna win a Super bowl up there, you know, just kind of drop one of those. He goes, believe me, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. He knows. It's like everybody in there knows. Hopefully everybody in their knows, Especially with the way the league is going. This is an incredible time to be a part of football, and we're lucky that we are a tiny little part of it. Now, we will be here tomorrow after tonight's big networking event. What will we learn? Who knows? See that?

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yep. Little cliffhanger. Camelback mountains. Got me thinking about the cliffs.

[Tony Pauline]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

I was thinking about hiking the tall part of that.

[Tony Pauline]

No, don't do it.

[Connor Rogers]

That'd be sweet.

[Darius Butler]

How long that thought last?

[Pat McAfee]

We had some serious combos about it yesterday.

[Tony Pauline]

Are you going too?

[Darius Butler]

Y' all were boozing for real?

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

Why don't we climb that thing tomorrow?

[Pat McAfee]

We were told 1. One hour up, one hour down. It's not too bad. I said, yup, up. Sign me up. Yeah. And I. I said, I do. One hour up, one hour down. And then Bailey McCumbus this morning was like, I was actually poking around. Five hours round trips. What he said, it's like, well, who's lying? Somebody's lying out here.

[Tone Bell]

Who told you? One up, one down.

[Pat McAfee]

Aq.

[Tone Bell]

Oh, that guy's definitely.

[Connor Rogers]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

Why does everyone say that about He's a bird.

[Darius Butler]

Aq. Looks like a hiker.

[Pat McAfee]

He is a bird. You're right. He knows the ins and outs. Camel back, remember?

[Tone Bell]

Wait, was that sarcastic?

[Darius Butler]

What?

[Tone Bell]

That you said he looks like a hiker.

[Darius Butler]

He does. He has the body built for hiking. You think about hiking, you look at it and say, that's.

[Tony Pauline]

He does have those. Those gimmick shoes that he can like,

[Pat McAfee]

you know, I don't think he's in that stage of his life anymore.

[Connor Rogers]

Maybe like a boulder on a hike.

[Pat McAfee]

He. I'll tell you what. He took care of us out there at Arizona Country Club.

[Tone Bell]

How do you play?

[Pat McAfee]

He took. He took care. He. He was doing a lot of talking. He was talking pretty good there early. He had a lot of good talking. Shadow, you would say fox. Yeah. Moving the shadow over the whole. He played good. I think I even played good. You guys just played outstanding. It was honestly very fun to watch. It was a great round of golf. Yeah, well, it was. I couldn't drive for anything. I. I got two drives that we used. But Beano pounds the ball.

[Tony Pauline]

That's why you got beo. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Pounds the ball.

[Darius Butler]

Fair teams.

[Tone Bell]

What did Gump shoot?

[Pat McAfee]

I think it was fair teams. Gump had a perfect game. Gump didn't. You have a perfect game now? You missed that one. Oh, I shot an 18, I think. Oh, it.

[Darius Butler]

It's pretty. Good day. Oh, speaking of perfect day.

[Pat McAfee]

I wish. All right, we're gonna take a break. On the other side, we got coach Mike McCarthy, the Pittsburgh Steelers joining us. He just hopped through a bush over here. Hey, I just watched him pop. Put that there. Can you go to this back camera? Oh, no, no.

[Peter Schrager]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Yeah, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna take a break real quick. Is that okay? All right, we're gonna take a break. You put this back camera on to show these bushes that are just right down this. This. This camera back here. That's one second. Okay, that's all right. We'll get it next time. Yeah. So those bushes right there, I just watched Mike McCarthy hop out, Bushes start shaking, and him bat himself off right there, literally, as we were speaking. I think he's pretty pumped to talk. We cannot wait to catch up with him.

[Tone Bell]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

New head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Yinzer legend, Super bowl champion Mike McCarthy, will join us live from the league meetings here at the Biltmore. And beautiful, beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Take five. Are the greatest. And ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a living legend, a multiple super bowl rare winner, a man who's a friend of the program, a Yinzer who is now in charge of. Of the injuries team, head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers. Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Mike McCarthy. Oh, he's bringing a gift. Oh, he's bringing a gift. He's bringing a cake.

[Peter Schrager]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Oh, no. We got a little lighter, too. We got a little lighter, too. We can do this.

[Tone Bell]

Is that for Andrew Barry?

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. It's not for Andrew Barry. Wow. Not for Andrew Barry, Coach.

[Tony Pauline]

No idea.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you for doing this, Tone from city of Pittsburgh. Happy birthday. Before the wind does. Of course. Yeah. Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Coach. Happy birthday dear to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to.

[Tone Bell]

Thanks, boys. Thank you, boys.

[Connor Rogers]

I kept that secret. I kept that secret.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah. I feel like a real happy birthday, Tony.

[Pat McAfee]

You didn't know.

[Tony Pauline]

No, I didn't.

[Connor Rogers]

I was hoping Nobody knew 10 minutes ago.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach, I know with your size brain, this could be offensive, but put that up over top of there.

[Connor Rogers]

Why don't you grab a fistful?

[Tony Pauline]

Perfect.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach, thank you for bringing that cake for Tone.

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

He's gonna obviously love that even more because Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, let alone a yinzer, who is the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. We saw your emotional press conference. Okay. We've obviously gotten a chance to follow along. You are the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How is it. How. I don't know how many days you're into the job, but how has it been kind of acclimating yourself back to being super Yinzer, which is what the head coach of the Steelers is basically?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I mean, it's. It's great to be back in Pittsburgh, but I think it's like anything else. You. Once you get past the press conference and you dive in there and get to work. So the organization's been phenomenal, and just hiring a coaching staff, just go through the everyday stuff, but it's really still surreal in a lot of ways. I can see my neighborhood from my office window. So I'm back living at home. I live in the basement with my parents. That's really cool. But to be with them, you know, at this point in their lives, you know, they're 88 and 84 years old, so. Yeah, it's been really cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It felt like that was a really emotional trigger for you at the press conference. And then I think a lot of yinzers started seeing, like, the human that you are, the Yinzer that you are. And you talk about being able to see your neighborhood. I think AJ and everybody's told us that you had pictures of your neighborhood in your other offices at other places. So we're happy you're getting a chance to experience Being back home as the head coach now, obviously got a lot you got to figure out. Team won the AFC north last year, but obviously did not do well in the playoffs. That has been the story of the Steelers for a long time. What has been your mentality as you address the building, on what the expectations are and how do you kind of get to that?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I think it's, you know, this is my third time doing it, so I think through experience, you definitely, when you walk in there, you know, there's so much greatness just as you come up the steps every day. And I think you just got to be in tune with that. You know, to have the opportunity to work in Green Bay, with an incredible history and tradition, the same in Dallas, you have to, you know, you got to embrace it, but also you got to make it your own. You know, you got to build your. You got to build your program. So, you know, working with, you know, Art Rooney, Dan Rooney and Omar, we've just really. Just gone step by step and looked at everything and, you know, a lot of things you want to keep and build off of what they've done in the past, but then there's. There's a new way, so. So there's a new language. Really looking forward to getting with the players here next week. They'll come in for phase one and hopefully get to see all those guys and just tell them this is just the way we operate and want to connect and get our program in place. Because we all teach. We all teach fundamentals as coaches, we all have similar plays, but it's how you do it. It's your process. Everybody has a plan, but, you know, we teach systems. You know, we want to get our system in place and everything we do be proactive with our adjustments and get that in the hands of our players as fast as we can.

[Pat McAfee]

You win a lot. I mean, that is well documented that you win a lot in Dallas. Got to win a Super Bowl. Doesn't matter if you win 12 games a season, which is crazy to think about. Yeah, multiple times, it's crazy. Three times three. It's crazy to think about that is the case, but you got to win a Super Bowl. That is what it's like at the places that you've only head coached. Green Bay, Dallas and Pittsburgh. There's gonna be a lot of pressure. You talk about meeting with the guys here whenever they get into the building. Have you been texting guys facetime, like, what. What is your kind of role with. Especially with the stars of the team or studs of the team.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I think it's important, you know, one that want to touch bases, which is really nice, is as guys been coming in town, they. They stop in. So, you know, as the coaches were being, you know, the staff, as we were coming together, you know, it's, you know, trying to touch base with everybody, you know, as we get acclimated. But to be honest with you, really taking a hard dive, you know, going through this a third time. Like, for instance, on offense, you know, I end up keeping more of the terminology and language of the past, just trying to. Because I am conscientious, you know. You know, you've been through that. You don't want to make it totally brand new if you don't have to,

[Pat McAfee]

you know, I mean, so you're learning their lingo.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I mean, like, on defense, you know, that system's been there since 1992. You know, Bill Coiron on Capers put it in dawn work for us in, you know, in Green Bay. So you're very familiar. We have guys that have played in that system, coach in that system. So, you know, we don't want to just tear it all down and call, you know, yellow, blue when it's been yellow for. Since 1992. So. But just being in tune with, you know, because at the end of the day, it's about communication and connection. So as soon as we get the communication and the connection right, then the confidence comes. And. And at the end of the day, I think, you know, football is all about who's the most confident when the ball snapped.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because it gets a little slippy when you get in town, and communication's kind of down, down there. You know what I mean? Then you put a gumband around it, and then you kind of circle back to that thing, and then you're talking about this and that. You know, you got a lot going on down there.

[Mike McCarthy]

Down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Ain't that kind of what it is, like. Yeah. Did you put it in the buggy? Did you put it in the buggy down there? Did you? Yeah. Okay. You have a good time. You are super Yinzer Raider, you know that? You.

[Mike McCarthy]

I'm a Pittsburgh guy.

[Pat McAfee]

No, but that's.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's what my generation is called, so I just like to correct him when

[Pat McAfee]

I give it to. Just know your hero, Yenza, right now. Living everybody's dream. You talk about talking to players whenever they come down, whenever they get in the town, Don or, you know, can we talk about you talking to your potential quarterback that you might know a Little bit. AFC coaches sit in a really uncomfortable room in a building right over there. Tomorrow morning. Yep. Okay. I walked in there this morning for the NFC one.

[Mike McCarthy]

What's so uncomfortable about it?

[Pat McAfee]

What? How many people. I didn't know. How many people. Did you know how many people were in it? I guess you would. I had no idea. It's every local media person, basically, from every single city is here. Every. Look at this. It is packed up. I thought we were going to go in there. I've seen. I've seen pictures before of, like, coaches sitting there and nobody around them. I thought that's what I was walking into. I thought this was like a super.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah. That's not a good sign, though, for you tomorrow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah. I hope there's no one in my time.

[Pat McAfee]

No. It's going to be a lot of facts, but I'm. You know what you're going to get asked the entire time.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you know what you're going to get asked, though?

[Mike McCarthy]

You know, just what a great job you did on the McAfee show, hanging

[Pat McAfee]

out with you guys. Okay, that's first question. Let's go to the next one.

[Connor Rogers]

But you did.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to the next one. You did do that. That would be an accurate report.

[Mike McCarthy]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you think the next question would be?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, I mean, you always talk about the quarterback, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And they would say, quarterback league. They say, hey, Aaron Rodgers said that. I haven't even really heard from this. Everybody wants me to make a decision. I really heard from the Steelers, which led us to believe, like, okay, maybe they're both kind of going through processes right now to figure it out. Aaron trying to figure out whether or not he wants to play. You guys figuring out when the right time to talk to Aaron. Obviously, you have great relationships with Aaron as well on what it is. How do you kind of juggle all that that's happening right now? Because that is what you're going to get 100 questions about that tomorrow.

[Mike McCarthy]

You know, I mean, I've talked to Aaron regularly, and we'll continue to do so.

[Darius Butler]

And.

[Mike McCarthy]

And we're just working, you know, we're just working through it, you know, and when it was. When it's time to, you know, fully address it, we will. But it's, you know, it's a process that he's going through, and I'm comfortable with it. But we've had very, very positive conversations on a, you know, on a weekly basis.

[Pat McAfee]

His offense that he loves is the offense you put into his Life, he's called it many times. Beautiful. The west coast offense is beautiful and it does this. And he says the modern game is missing out on this. He, like, I think he would write maybe a book about the beauty certainly of the West Coast. Like, I think he would actually do that. The way he's talked about it in the past, that is obviously an offense that you know very, very well. That feels like simpatico conversations that you're having or are you going to take because you just talked about systems that have been in place versus what it hasn't been in place. If Aaron's your quarterback, it feels like you have everything you're disposal right. In the history of your offense. Is that true or is your offense definitely.

[Mike McCarthy]

I mean, the offense is, you know, it's, it's. It's what I believe in. It's, you know, obviously what he believes in. So, you know, that, that, that part's already being built on a daily basis with the coaches. So we're just, you know, we're getting geared up for when we can meet with our guys next week.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's doing it right? It's got to be. It just makes too much sense, 100%. Why would he not want to showcase the offense that he has been singing the praises of every single time he spoke about it? You know, especially with winning the AFC north last year, with how the bunch

[Tony Pauline]

of his former former, you know, former head coach and a bunch of other guys who are in Green Bay, who he presumably has good relationships with. Seems like it'd just be a fun year.

[Pat McAfee]

That feels like.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, no, it's.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that what you're saying to him, though? Is that like the conversations you're having a part of everything?

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, yeah, he's. Yeah, he knows, you know, he talks to the coaches that are there, and there's a lot of very positive, healthy communities, communication going on.

[Darius Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Positive Health Weekly. Good for you.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, we've talked about your previous stop. So now Packers, Cowboys and now Steelers. How is it addressing the team for the first time as a head coach? Because obviously you know the building, you know the city, but now this is, this is your team. We always talk about presence and commanding room, which obviously you have no problem doing that. But how do you go? What's that process leading up? Is it something you write down? Are there notes? Do you practice it in the mirror? Like, how does this go?

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, yeah, no, that's a great question because, you know, I could, I could still remember. I think it was March 15, 2006. You know, first time, you know, I addressed the full team, and when I walked in there in Green Bay and I was a little under the weather and I stood up front, I think, oh, shit, there's a lot of people in here. Because I've not been a coordinator, but, gosh, it was just, you know, it was a moment. It is actually something I've shared with all the assistants that have worked with me, and we have a program, you can call it that. We have general of the week, where we let the assistant coach Talk on Fridays, eight to 10 minutes, and he gets to present his why or, you know, something in line with our messaging. And it really came from that experience because I thought, boy, if I could. If I could give an assistant coach, because as a coordinator, you get to talk in front of a big group a lot. But for a position coach to do that, and. And it's been awesome to watch younger coaches over the last 20 years do that and see them do it the first time and do it the second time so forth. But to answer your question specifically, I'm looking forward to it. I really am. And every team meeting room is different, and it's no different here. But, yeah, I'm ready to go. And what I've learned is less is better. Less volume, more creativity is a coaching principle I believe in. And I think it's important, you know, because I think we all get up there and you only want to talk and say more than we probably should, so. But yeah, I'm looking forward to getting in front of the team.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, once we're on a scoreboard up. I know. I know what we all want. We all want to run scoreboard up. Certainly. Yes, you certainly.

[Mike McCarthy]

When I'm calling the plays. That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's right. What you're back doing, right? Yeah. Yeah, You're. You're calling plays next year.

[Mike McCarthy]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel about that? Because you were calling plays and you weren't calling plays. You're calling plays, not calling plays. You could be a CEO is what they always say, if you're not calling the plays.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, you know, it's philosophical, clearly. You know, I didn't call them twice in my career and don't. And I think they clearly were the right decisions, you know, when I did in 15 and did it in 2020-2022. So, I mean, you learn from that and so forth. But. But, you know, I think it's important to, as a head coach, you know, when you bring something specific to the table that your team reflects that. And, you know, and when I did, you know, when I did make a decision, the other two times, you know, I felt like the offenses were successful, so I didn't feel like it, you know, it was not the right decision. So. But, you know, this is. We want to play a certain way on offense. You know, we're an outdoor team, you know, with some back to the Green Bay days, as opposed to being an indoor team in Dallas. So, you know, with that comes, you know, different thought process and how you may look at certain things. So. But yeah, that's why. That's why I'm going to call.

[Pat McAfee]

You see, there's no PFF for that. Congrats, Collinsworth. By the way, there's a big, big acquisition that just happened. 100 million bucks. I don't. I didn't read the article, but I saw 100 million and Chris Collinsworth and PFF in there. Congratulations to him.

[Darius Butler]

Still bringing it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, still bringing it.

[Mike McCarthy]

Great product.

[Tony Pauline]

You being sarcastic?

[Mike McCarthy]

No. You don't like it?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, I know. I know. Mathematics players don't. The universe of.

[Mike McCarthy]

Language. Of the universe.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I like it as a tool as well. It's a tool.

[Mike McCarthy]

It's a good tool.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think it's a good tool. I don't like the rankings of guys on Sunday Night Football. You know, I don't. I don't think. I love that.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's not what. I use a Foreman.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, if you watch, which we do as fans, I watch with sound. You watch without sound because you're watching film. I'm just watching the game in its entirety. But, yeah, congrats to the. This. You're watching the game. Sorry, I'm not. That's what I'm saying. You're actually watching. I'm just kind of watching if. If that makes sense. But the PFF can't judge. Like, hey, in Dallas, we have an indoor team. Okay.

[Braylon Mullins]

We.

[Pat McAfee]

Majority of our games are happening in great weather, great footing, great. Everything like that. Let's build the team as well. Such AFC north football, outdoor football, different. I think that's like the. You know, that's. That's the. That I think some people get lost in and don't have a. A good feel for, and inevitably it just doesn't work out. And people are like, why didn't it work out? It's like, well, you got to match the culture. I think of where you're at, that. That feels like something you definitely think about, which I like.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, definitely.

[Pat McAfee]

We all do.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah. I agree with everything you said, you

[Pat McAfee]

know, which is, Pittsburgh's gonna be proud of your team.

[Mike McCarthy]

It's part of the fabric. I mean, you know, it's so neat when you do sit down with some of the younger people is, you know, when you're in the facility, you're literally sitting where a steel mill used to be. You know, because when I was a kid, you know, I drive down Greenfield Avenue, Second Avenue, across the Mellow Bridge, and go down Water street to go to work every day. That was all Mills, you know, back in the 70s and into the mid-80s. So it is part of the fabric, is the point I'm making. I mean, it's there. There's an identity of how Pittsburgh Steeler football is, and it's. It's. It's at the core, and I'm just. Just thrilled to be part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

What's your alarm? Is it.

[Mike McCarthy]

You don't even practice this stuff, too?

[Pat McAfee]

We practice live all day. That one's happened a lot. But that's three songs we haven't got you to buy in. Happy Birthday. The other one now, one we'll get Happy Birthday sung because he felt. Birthday boy has a question for you, Coach.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah, Coach, obviously, Coach Tomlin was there for a very, very long time, 18 years or whatever, and had a lot of success. And then you have guys who were with him and Cam and T.J. like, when you go in there and I. And you get the feel of the building, will you use those veteran to. I don't want to say change the building or change the locker room, but maybe we'll use them to kind of instill what you believe in and things differently maybe, than Coach Tomlin did.

[Mike McCarthy]

Definitely. I think you got to use everybody and, you know, they have an experience and, you know, their assets to what you're trying to build. No doubt about it. But also, you know, we have 12 picks. We have 12 draft picks, you know, and. And A.J. hawk was my first, you know, first ever draft pick.

[Connor Rogers]

Good pick.

[Pat McAfee]

God bless him. You see him on the spray tan? He looks good still.

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, really?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Huh?

[Mike McCarthy]

Spray tan, huh?

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he did. He showed up on Friday with one. It was crazy. He looks so handsome.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, that's real.

[Tone Bell]

You'd be proud of him.

[Pat McAfee]

His teeth so white. Spray tan. Nice little trick for colored folks as well.

[Mike McCarthy]

I'll have to get to that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, maybe. Maybe. First game, come out spray tan, spray tan with this teeth.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But what you're saying is, great draft

[Mike McCarthy]

pick, great draft pick, great draft pick. CD Lamb was our first pick in Dallas.

[Darius Butler]

2, 0.

[Mike McCarthy]

Definitely I just think at first class is important. You know, when you're, when you're building a program, you know, the veterans and what's there, and when we start next week, they will impact, you know, the success of our football team in this upcoming year. But, you know, to get them guys connected and show this young group coming in is. It's extremely important. Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

Coach, speaking of the draft, obviously, you know, this is. I don't know if it changes anything with it being in Pittsburgh, being the host city. I'm sure there's a lot of other that you have to do that maybe you wouldn't normally have to do Wednesday

[Pat McAfee]

night, by the way. We need you.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, exactly. But when it comes to this, you know, you were on the show with us in, In January before you got the job. Like, how much have you kept up on this particular class? Is that something where you're relying on the scouts a lot more than maybe you would in the past? Like, like, have you really. I mean, I assume obviously you've doven in quite a bit. The draft's right around the corner. But just looking at this draft class, like, how did that process go? Is there anyone you really like and was it different than years past?

[Tone Bell]

Do you take it.

[Mike McCarthy]

I mean, it's, it's.

[Pat McAfee]

And who are you taking? You know, a draft spectacular. That would help us out a lot. Yeah, please.

[Mike McCarthy]

Speed now. Yeah, keep you on there. But I think the biggest thing is, you know, every. Every opportunity has been different for me. You know, Green Bay, Dallas and. But yes, we spent a lot of time in the draft process. I was able to sit in with the scouts before we went to the combine. You know, we took a lap through, you know, most of the positions, didn't get to many, as many of the pro days as we had scheduled. We originally scheduled to go to six of them just because of a bunch of other things moving around. We just made the one down there in Georgia. But, yeah, we're very, very involved. And when we get back, you know, we have our draft meetings, our final draft meetings, we. With the coaches that we'll go through. So, yeah, we've been working hand in hand, working, you know, splitting our time, not really splitting our time, probably 60, 40 on, you know, football, you know, versus draft. So. But yeah, this is, this is a big draft for us. But as far as being in Pittsburgh, you know, you're just so locked in with what you're doing, you know, and it's a couple miles down the river there, so. But it's looks to Be incredible. I know. I mean, hey, they cancel school.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. People aren't happy about that. That. Don't get it. Yeah, I don't even. They don't get it. That's why the football town. Wednesday night. We'll see her. We need you to come through.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, definitely. Oh, definitely.

[Pat McAfee]

No, and I don't get it. Don't ruffle any feathers. Of course, we don't want any of that, but we would love to have you there. Football time.

[John Shirey]

What's that mean?

[Pat McAfee]

Like if.

[Tony Pauline]

Like if you're supposed to go some hobnobby.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You're supposed to. Some uppity, you know, with suits.

[Carly Ursay Gordon]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. A lot of them in there, aren't they? They're all in there.

[Mike McCarthy]

I like my new job.

[Pat McAfee]

Pat Connor has a question for you.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Coach, draft, free agent. You know, also adding players through traits this offseason for you guys, especially establishing culture. Did you listen to everything Pat had to say about Michael Pittman Jr. Last year? And then just say, okay, I'm going to go ahead and tell Omar, come we need to bring this guy in for our own culture. And also, how much does it help having kind of two number ones being able to partner him up with DK Metcalf or whoever? Or is a quarterback having those two guys going to help out a lot?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, definitely. I mean, Pat's influence is huge. Personal decision that we make.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. I would like a fee. Yeah. Yeah. I would talk to you. Bert. Figure that out.

[Mike McCarthy]

No, Bert will get it done. But no, Michael, I frankly loved him coming out in the draft. You know, he was someone that we had rated very highly in in Dallas, and if you cd, you know, fell to us, you know, which we thought so. But yeah, watching his career and just, you know, the way that whole deal came available, you know, you got to give Omar a ton of credit. You know, he was watching that situation and then, you know, it timed up great. So he's going to be. He's perfect. He's the way I love to play. He's a bigger target. Can play all three spots. You know, you play the XZ and the F. You know, move him around. So. And that's just the way we like to play football. We like to play concept football and keep moving our guys around and try to create matchups.

[Tone Bell]

You just said bigger target. Have you imagined what you're going to do with Darnell Washington yet?

[Mike McCarthy]

Big target. Big target. No, in Pat. Also tight ends, outdoor football, which Pat's already alluded to. I think it's Important. And that's the way the team is supposed to look.

[Pat McAfee]

You alluded to it, not me. I'm just a parrot. Just speaking what I'm hearing. And what I'm hearing is the insurance are excited for the McCarthy era. I can't wait to watch you and Renegade do that down there at Acreshire.

[Mike McCarthy]

We gotta get to work. Yep.

[Tony Pauline]

Oh, I'm in fear for my life.

[Mike McCarthy]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm working with you on the sideline in the shower. Yeah. That's the right place to do it. Yeah, you're right. The coach's photo is about to happen, I think. Right. Are they setting up for that? Do you. How do you plan who you sit next to? Is it assigned seating? Are you trying to find somebody to sit next to do push ups before

[Connor Rogers]

you need to sit down both the floors.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Body and both.

[Mike McCarthy]

Nah, you just find your spot and take the pictures. Don't really put a whole lot of thought into it. I got more important things to do during the day.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What are we. We figuring out the refs. We figuring out 18 season. We got what. What type of stuff do the coaches handle here?

[Brandon Bean]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

I'll tell you what, I've always enjoyed coming to the owners meeting because it's very informative. You know, obviously there's a lot of dialogue. You see the direction, you know, of how things go. I think my first one ever in 2006 was here at the Biltmore. So it's. It's always a good experience. I mean, there's not a lot of topics compared to other years, you know, this year. But yeah, it's a lot of things that you just, you know, it's not my responsibility to talk about outside the room.

[Tony Pauline]

Do you get to stand up there and like, talk in front of everybody about the refs and basically say, like, hey, I went through this once before. I got a loss on my record because of the film.

[Pat McAfee]

Mary.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, exactly. Like, I mean, they should be listening to you maybe more so than anybody else on this.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, Well, I mean, I think technology would take care of that today. You know, I'm being, you know.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

Optimist.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Mike McCarthy]

Because I can't.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

I can't say they can't go back.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I don't. Lose your job. We get it. I think you're missing a photo, actually, as we speak right now, the boys are all dapping each other up.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's the GMs. I think I go first.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, I see Andy. I see all the coach.

[Mike McCarthy]

All right, well, I got to go to yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers, Friend of program. We appreciate you. Proud of you, ladies and gentlemen, Mike. Oh.

[Connor Rogers]

Love you, coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Good luck out there. Make sure you can get a good spot out there. Let's not be next to Dan Campbell or Vs. You know what I mean? La Flor is super attractive. Maybe don't sit down it. You know, get next to Liam Cohen. Looks so cool.

[Connor Rogers]

Look at those pants.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God. Liam Cohen looks so cool.

[Tone Bell]

Look at him.

[Pat McAfee]

Look how cool this looks. Dude, you look so cool. Hopefully you'll join us.

[Connor Rogers]

I bet him and Salah already won forehead to forehead.

[Pat McAfee]

They're doing the hurley. That's what they're calling it. Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Hurley.

[Pat McAfee]

I like do the hurley. You want to do the hurley? As the boys file in for the notorious annual head coach's photo, Liam Cohen just shook the hand of Jim Harbaugh. Obviously looked incredibly cool. Burt Lawton is in the seat there, walking behind Mike McCarthy as they make their way. Burt Lawton, the Endzer legend and Pittsburgh Steelers staple. He has a bald head. Not worried about the Arizona sun. I thought that was an aggressive decision. We'll see who sits next to who, who likes who, who hates who. That was going to be the question I was going to have for the NFC coaches when I went in there.

[John Shirey]

Huh?

[Pat McAfee]

Wasn't able to ask it because the place was too packed.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, Coach Mike got on the edge.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah. He just wouldn't sit on the edge.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, Nick got him.

[Connor Rogers]

Mike McDonald right in the middle. This is my league now, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Caboli posted a photo of Sirianni who just walked by. Everybody there.

[Tone Bell]

It was breaking.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah. It did not look as flattering as him walking.

[Tony Pauline]

No, pretty.

[Pat McAfee]

He looks pretty jacked right now. Yeah. Like he's got some diesel, maybe some science running through his vein. That was a rude photo cabal. And if he's super jacked and has any tub at all, he's obviously gonna look like he's sitting down. Sirianni was exposed here. What we just saw him walk by. I think we got a little diesel. Yeah, he's absolutely jacked.

[Tony Pauline]

And you just mentioned it. I think we know, you know who Sirianni's first doing the hurley is going to be with. He's going to walk over to Kaboli whenever he's done with this and get in his face.

[Pat McAfee]

Dan Morgan straight back here in front of the hotel. I don't know if we should be shooting everybody. Actually. There's a lot of. There's. Dan Morgan has a twelver in at least. Probably two of them, if I had to guess. All right. It feels like it's really getting after it. We're gonna go say hello. Oh, fre.

[Tone Bell]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Photo ball. Yeah.

[Darius Butler]

Front center.

[Connor Rogers]

Jacked.

[Pat McAfee]

Go back to the coach's photo, please. Can we go back to the coach's photo?

[Darius Butler]

Going wide.

[Pat McAfee]

Scott's.

[Darius Butler]

Happily.

[Connor Rogers]

I was gonna say white pants on. How you doing?

[Tony Pauline]

He's making Halfley both his knees together. Sean right next to Sean Payton.

[Tone Bell]

And SW Shorts.

[Pat McAfee]

Sean Payton's gonna body him back. I would assume if I know anything about Sean Payton, he's not gonna let that happen. Yeah. He's going.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Braves has put on the armrest. He has put both on the plane.

[Darius Butler]

Imagine him in the middle seat on

[Pat McAfee]

the plane, on the bus. That's my headbarco.

[Darius Butler]

Aaron Glenn, kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

Now we got Guy just standing right. Okay. He looks sweet. Congrats to all the coach. These guys are head coach in the NFL. Variable is not much. No, he's not.

[Tony Pauline]

No, he's not.

[Pat McAfee]

Sean Payton's gonna have to work. He's gonna have to get leverage there.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He's gonna win.

[Tone Bell]

See Braves ripping up. I believe it was Iheanacho, the left tackle from Arizona State or right tackle.

[Tony Pauline]

He was. He was doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I wonder about that actually, because that's quite an advantage.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That he's able to get an actual hand now, granted. I don't want to say it.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Get your weight up. Other coaches.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, he did it to Will Campbell as well.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So maybe he thought Will has it somewhere because Will obviously struggled with something. But Vrabel is the only guy that we see getting after it with these offensive linemen who would, in theory, technically be able to feel if guy knows leverage, power, what type of feel he has. So with that being said, I have faith in Will Campbell in the long term. And if he likes this guy, I assume he's going to have it because Vrabel's literally had to do it for his entire career.

[Darius Butler]

I love seeing coaches like this get hands on. We always see clips year in and year out at the combine, some coach getting ran up over by either running back or a tackle or some like this. But I love seeing Braves really getting in there. Nick Casario GM over there, he pretty much ran my pro day, so he put me through all the drills, through all the passes, so you get a little more. And obviously the Patriots went on to draft me that year, so I would definitely keep my eye on this guy. Going to the Patriots.

[Pat McAfee]

Andrew Barry just walked by. He is jacked. So is Frable. We don't have Aaron Glenn just walked that way.

[Tony Pauline]

Said, I'm not.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't know. Right. Go take it.

[Tony Pauline]

I'm not taking the picture this year. I think that's what he said.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he can do whatever he wants.

[Tony Pauline]

He can. He's an NFL head coach.

[Tone Bell]

Coach reads in his classic Hawaiian button down.

[Darius Butler]

The real.

[Connor Rogers]

I can't tell, actually.

[Darius Butler]

What if he does just sit?

[Pat McAfee]

I would like to say we, as a program thought the Dan Hurley head to head thing was AI we called.

[Darius Butler]

I believed it. I never faltered.

[Tone Bell]

You're right.

[Darius Butler]

Maniac. Oh, you believed it, too.

[Tone Bell]

I mean, it's Dan Hurley football.

[Pat McAfee]

I believed it. That's why I want triple platinum.

[Connor Rogers]

I thought it was a perfect video. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We're like, wow. AI is really doing it. AI is really doing it. Because it seemed to have no glitches, no flubs, and it was at the end of a very long video. The original video is like a minute long. So I was like, man, if some editor used AI to add that at the very end of that, that'd be a great.

[Darius Butler]

How's the nut?

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how it's not honestly crazy.

[Darius Butler]

What is? History of refs, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I'm telling you, I think his

[Tony Pauline]

nose was just itchy.

[Tone Bell]

You saw him.

[Darius Butler]

I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

It might have been there. We don't know if that was their handshake.

[Tony Pauline]

Can you imagine what would have happened, though, if, like, the ref came in just, like, a little bit faster or he did, like, he's headbutting that guy and breaking his nose.

[Pat McAfee]

Both of them. Both of them bleeding.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Automatic boom, boom, boom.

[Pat McAfee]

He was juiced in a moment. Wow. Then I miss those two.

[Tone Bell]

I appreciate it.

[Tony Pauline]

It's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

And I love that it. It went the way it went. Which leads us to this. We love good officiating. Yeah. We love refs to get it. We love refs that don't want to make it about themselves. We love refs that say, you can't. All right? You need to not. Is it worth me winning this game for this team right now?

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And the ref deciding not to do that. We like that type of feel.

[Darius Butler]

Unreal.

[Pat McAfee]

We like that we need them in the NFL. That's the type of shit we need in the NFL. So with these negotiations that are currently happening between the refs and everybody in this building in here that has been very kind to us, very hospitable to us, and put us up in this entire Situation at a different hotel.

[Darius Butler]

So nice hotel, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Nice.

[Tony Pauline]

Nice hotel.

[Pat McAfee]

Kind of got our own hotel over there. But on that note, different hotel. I've been seeing who's been staying here. Fascinating. So we certainly have a. We are. We like the league. We fucking like the. I like the NFL. I love the NFL. I'm very grateful for the NFL for what it did for me as player, what it did for everything. I would like to see the NFL to continue to prosper because the NFL is good for society. We're in Australia now. It's fucking good to be everywhere. It's like, this is good. This is unity. It's good for the game. The refs are a very important part of this thing, and I just hope it doesn't become what always happens in these CBA negotiations, where it's just like fighting over everything and not just like, maybe expanding your horizon, being like, all right, maybe better. We could do that maybe. Because it feels like there is very heels dug in, which is every cba. And it's like, hey, especially with what's going on with Abs right now with the umpires, it's like, I think we as esports are ready for the advancement of officials as well.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And we know it's a hard job, but we're tired of having to say that. So if we can get to a point where we can all be very good and consistent at a more rapid clip, and then we can utilize their current technology as well to help it. And then we can also hear why you made the calls. That'd be big, I think, for you guys. Even though you guys think it wouldn't be good for you, I think it'd be good to hear why you made the call that you made that we never have to actually hear from. I just hope that they get to a point where this ain't gonna fucking ruin the league, because it can't. Yeah, it really can.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Even if it's. It's. Oh, it's only. It'll only be four games. It's like, okay, playoffs don't get decided by some game that happened week two, week three, week four, some loss, some string, some fail marry happens, and it's just completely like, we can't have any of it, especially at this time. It's like, we got to make sure we get this right. But it sounds like both sides are ready for war. I don't love that.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, exactly. You can hope as much as we want, but the reality is what. What you just said at the end, like, in. In the Most likely scenario it does feel like will be a year with these refs they're calling up.

[Tony Pauline]

Man, I hope it's not that long.

[Pat McAfee]

That's can't be three high school refs that don't think they'll ever make it to the NFL.

[Connor Rogers]

And if they add that rule though, that the comic competition committee proposed, like, hey, one year of a eye in the sky Jean stereotype calling in when they're obviously wrong, then that would be a great step to, hey, when this does get done, let's keep that rule in and then help these refs even more.

[Darius Butler]

I don't like that either, honestly, as a player, like, we know it's a tough job. We talked, I think Todd mentioned it, how tough the job is. But like these are humans. These are the guys on the, on the field. You know, sometimes it's a field game you don't want. I. I wouldn't be a fan of an ABS system and that's even as a db, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's because of pass interference with how. No, you guys, that goes both ways.

[Darius Butler]

If you slow down any play down the field, it's going to look like passing fe going frame by frame. I remember the year they tried to do that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they were terrible.

[Darius Butler]

We got to have the best guys out there covering and calling the best product simple.

[Pat McAfee]

Full time too.

[Darius Butler]

Got to.

[Pat McAfee]

We would like you to fully focus on this. Please. Please, please. We. We're fully. I mean, look at us. Yeah. And we have no outcome power. Okay. We don't need you selling cars.

[Peter Schrager]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't need any insurance.

[Peter Schrager]

No.

[Connor Rogers]

Get the calls right.

[Pat McAfee]

We need to. We need good flags.

[Brandon Bean]

Yep.

[Tone Bell]

Great flag.

[Pat McAfee]

We need the best flags. We need that Team USA flag.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Control.

[Tony Pauline]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

These guys are unbelievable.

[John Shirey]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So we need these refs have a little moxie too. You're talking to 50 million people potentially. You're speaking for the game. Let's make sure that we have things going on in the spring where we're getting better at that. Hey, here's promo class. Hey, here's a little bit of this. How about we do trust falls. Okay. Together. So we build up a little camaraderie, a little chemistry here. Then let's talk about it after we fuck up a game.

[Tony Pauline]

Callous the skin. Maybe just have someone come in and just berate and yell at these guys and be really mean for them to

[Pat McAfee]

like an hour also in that session, make them scroll through tweets about them.

[Tony Pauline]

Yep.

[Tone Bell]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Make them see it.

[Tony Pauline]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Make them feel it. That's how you get hardened.

[Tony Pauline]

Exactly.

[Tone Bell]

Bingo.

[Connor Rogers]

Grow up a bit.

[Pat McAfee]

Gotta be shirtless in a cooler.

[Tony Pauline]

That's right. Yeah, exactly. This guy's gonna come here, he's gonna beat the out of you guys for an hour. We got toughen you guys up, harden you up, couch you up. It's gonna be okay, though. On the other side, you're gonna love it.

[Pat McAfee]

See, we don't know if all these will get instituted, but what we think is springstorm. Can we not all have. You know, we need the refs, but also we need the refs to want to be the greatest. Like the hockey refs. I like them. I don't know what they got going on over there, but I like them. Have you ever seen the hockey refs? Yes, they are the best.

[Darius Butler]

I do like them. I'm starting to. I know they get a bad rap, but umps in baseball, I kind of like the umps. I met a couple at the airport. Jordan. Jordan Baker. Shout out to Jordan Baker. MLB been around for a long time.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's see what his abs scores.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, we'll see me, but look him up, please. A house walked up to me, the airport. I thought he was like a former coach or maybe a former teammate of mine. Left tackle, huge. But yeah, I like the cut of those guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, we're loading a photo right now as we speak on Jordan Baker stats and content. He's a 93.9 accuracy right now. Boom. David, can we get a picture of said Jordan Baker potentially height, weight? I do believe he's probably a house. I'll tell you what, there's one ump out there who's really been getting cooked and Salv's been cooking them. I think on the most, these dudes are going to get exposed. And women, right? There's a. There's a woman on pr.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah, she got exposed pretty bad on her first call.

[Pat McAfee]

They said it was right down the middle.

[Tony Pauline]

Literally right down the middle.

[Pat McAfee]

That would happen to any ump. Happen to be the woman ump. Yeah. Hasn't happened with anybody else, I guess with the abs, but it happened to her. They were all. They will all be getting judged.

[Darius Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

By all of us. The fact that it's happening in front of 40 some thousand people.

[Peter Schrager]

People.

[Tony Pauline]

It's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how we got to this point where it's happening, but boy, players and coaches are celebrating mightily here.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, because like in tennis when they do the Hawkeye thing and it's whoa.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah. They all clap waiting for the decision.

[Pat McAfee]

The person that's down there making that call. Like not really known.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Umpires known, NFL officials, if this was somehow to happen, known. So the entire stadium being able to pull point and be like, you bum. This guy has no idea as it's being shown up there. Crazy new added element to the sport. Great. And if Salby's going to be seeing these, this strike zone the way he's been seeing it, I think a lot of these umps are going to be getting got around here.

[Tone Bell]

Catchers are seeing it.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Tone Bell]

Obviously because they're in the. They have the best advantage, but they have. The catchers have been seen at the best because obviously the pitchers are moving a lot. The batters. It's a tough angle. Catchers are at a. Like, if the catchers challenge it, it's most likely going to be right. But this, this, this umpy for the Reds game and Eugenio Suarez got back to back pitches where they said he struck out and he challenged it and he absolutely did not strike out. But this, this hump was the one that, that took it the worst.

[Pat McAfee]

Buckner, he can't be C and B. Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

That's the thing though is like this will probably like he missed a bunch of calls. Like, I assume that is something where the league will go to him and be like, hey, we know like, it's not easy, but like, like this can't be happening. It just, it, it can't. Otherwise, you know, you're maybe gonna, we're gonna have to put you at third base and kind of just stick you down there.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw some ALCS game of the past.

[Tony Pauline]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

From like 2000.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah. The Marlins.

[Pat McAfee]

He might have been refing that or umping that he might have been the one. Because it looked like the strike zone that he'd been given out was.

[Tony Pauline]

That was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

That was when there wasn't a single strike. I saw a three minute video.

[Tony Pauline]

Not even close. I mean we're talking like in the middle of the right handed batter box. Bucks for a left handed.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

And just immediately too rigging these guys up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

Levon Hernandez, pitching legend. One of these curveball. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Ponche. Look at the Atlanta Braves guy thinking, yeah, there's no way. What? My bat doesn't even reach out.

[Tony Pauline]

And you can see why guys used to get ejected because back then it's just like, you know, you. Are you kidding me? This is 10ft outside. But there's nothing they can do about it. And now they can.

[Pat McAfee]

And now it's awesome.

[Tony Pauline]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's get out of here. We're back here tomorrow. I feel like tomorrow is gonna be a pretty wild day. I don't think the meetings are set up as the same as today's art.

[Tone Bell]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

With that being said, I wonder if we're allowed to drop into any the meetings.

[Tony Pauline]

My guess would be no, but.

[Connor Rogers]

But maybe that was gonna be my guess.

[Tony Pauline]

You might be able to get in.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I feel like I would like to learn some of the stuff that

[Tone Bell]

they're probably like if you just walked into a meeting with Big Mike and just kind of sat down in a chair.

[Pat McAfee]

So me and Foxy walking that way three different times. They said, media's doll out here. So I think there is like a pretty.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, I try to get into the block Nike gifting suite.

[Pat McAfee]

What'd they say?

[Darius Butler]

They saw my credit. No media here.

[Connor Rogers]

Damn.

[Tone Bell]

So we just go back without her?

[Pat McAfee]

Could I take that off?

[Darius Butler]

I would say also sign right there. Must have credentials to enter.

[Pat McAfee]

Only credential I got is so confident.

[Connor Rogers]

I'm the D.C. of the Colts. Let me buy.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey. Happy, happy birthday. Happy birthday, Tom.

[Tone Bell]

Thanks, Foxy.

[Pat McAfee]

They didn't sing in the truck.

[Darius Butler]

Happy birthday, Tony.

[Mike McCarthy]

Hi, birthday.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy birthday, dear Tony Happy birthday to you Hammer down, brothers. You know, nobody else sang back there. It's.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Tony Pauline]

Well, Bone still patting so, though.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow, Bone, Tough days. I mean, you took it worse than Coach K. Yeah, I did. Coach K. Couldn't sleep. You couldn't breathe, basically. I mean, this guy was in a bad spot last night. Potting all over the place. Bone, have you gotten over the fact that Duke's probably never going to do it?

[Darius Butler]

Have you seen that list of players?

[Pat McAfee]

He didn't have anything to say, though.

[Connor Rogers]

Talk about a.

[Darius Butler]

That list of players that.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of good players.

[Darius Butler]

No chips sucks. Video guys. That program. Blue blood, huh?

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you all for setting this up. We'll be back tomorrow. Let's get out of here. Tell friend something nice. Might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. You think I get that, Officer Law? Come on. Team on you. Come on. Come on, Officer.

[Tony Pauline]

He has no idea.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on.

[Darius Butler]

There we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Put it up.

[Tony Pauline]

Keep it up there.

[Brandon Bean]

Put it up.

[Pat McAfee]

Team. Team.

[Darius Butler]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Team on three. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Great work, Officer.