← The Ryen Russillo Podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NBA Tales From the Couch, Alex Smith on Mentoring Mahomes, and Today's QB Challenges. Plus, Catching Up With Dierks Bentley.
02:06:20
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- [00:11]
Ryan Rosillo
A little Tales from the Couch basketball style for you first few nights in the league. Just want to go through some thoughts including OKC's win at Denver. We've got Alex Smith on quarterbacks finding a way to make it later in their career much like him. He was awesome. So I can't wait to talk and we're going to catch up with old friend Dierks Bentley met him 30 years ago. He's famous and he has a new whiskey out and we'll talk about his origin story and we've got life advice with just Kyle. And the alliance marches on. It's our first edition of Tales from the Couch. The Rams won against the Vikings. Okay, let's talk NBA. I'm going to run through a bunch of different things here. I'm going to try to go faster on some stuff towards the end, but with the games last night we had stuff worth watching. Right. So we've got OKC at Denver. This game turned in the third quarter, although there was a run that we'll get to kind of in the first quarter as well. Chet was terrific last night. 25, 14 and 5 four blocks. It's his third season but not his third season. It's the second season. We talked about the third score for OKC because I still think that that's something to like make them absurd. You know, when you start thinking about like there's the regular season viewing and projecting the world look like in the playoffs and sometimes it'll be the same, sometimes it's different. Right. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's easy. But you know, there's a reason why Chet was consider the prospect that he was and potentially even going number one where now I think taking him one wouldn't have necessarily been a mistake. Even though Paolo was terrific for the Magic, right? But he was only taking 11 and a half shots per game last year. Last night he took 18. I know he missed a bunch of threes, but he's 37% from three so I'm not worried about that. But there is a scenario here where I think the really good players and certainly the special players. So I'm not like saying that yet about Chet, but like the really good ones, you'll see a significant jump from year one to year two and even more likely perhaps because you got to, you know, after the injury be around a team. So it wasn't like he was the truest rookie even though last year was first year he was playing. So that's something to look for. And it looked really good last Night. Denver. Oh, another thing with Chet, he only played 29 minutes a game last year. Denver. This is going to be about the bench, guys. I don't know. I don't like what I saw last night. And again, this is all. Which is one game in, but, I mean, there's there's some pretty, like, tough projections here based on, like, what you're seeing with the bench options here for Denver. So Jokic comes out in the first quarter, and they were up 18 10, not right when he came out. So this isn't. I don't want to make it out to be like, this guy comes out and this group comes in. But they try to line up with Jamal Murray staying in with Russell, Westbrook with Sarich and then Watson and Strother. OKC closed the quarter 21 to 6. Again, Jokic was in there for some of that. So it wasn't like 1810 comes right out and then that's the problem. But yeah, that's not great. They tried it again later on with Murray, Russ, Strother, and then Jokic was in there. Watson, and then Sharic comes in to close the last cull movement. It's the third quarter when Jokic comes out. His standard pattern, depending on, like, how Denver's feeling about the night, is when they'll bring Jokic at you in. In the fourth quarter. But there's just no spacing on this. There were 7:38 on threes. They're not going to be that bad every night. Right. But if you look at the numbers here, Watson's 30% for his career, Strother's 29%. Westbrook's been below 30% eight of his last 10 seasons. There's one season that's a shorter sample of like 21 games at the Clippers. But again, that's not the full season where he was like a 35%. I've heard people kind of argue like, oh, Westbrook's actually, you know, from corner threes. Like, there may be some corner three numbers there. But the problem is, is like, look at how the defense lines up. Like, there were lineups that Denver was throwing out there where there was three people that nobody was ever worried about closing out on. So when Jokic isn't in there, it's already an issue even during these championship run years. But when he's not in there and you're trying to keep Murray in as the other great offensive option to work with all the other guys, there's just not anybody out there that anybody respects unless a Strother or a Watson, you know, it's still very early in their careers to develop into something. But like, whatever you say about kcp, which I would admit, like on the lower end of stuff, like he can be on first team. Is he in the game and not really notice him, but at least you had to respect it. And so now to replace that with some of these combinations where there's just not that much spacing. Like, look, Westbrook will be great on some kind of cut where Jokic is going to find him and feed him. It'll be terrific. So this isn't all on just like Westbrook being pretty bad last night. It's just the concept. Like, let's map it out over six months now. Maybe the point for Denver is just keep going. Probably still win 50 games because of Jokic and, you know, shorten rotations and hope you have something. But in today's game, like, I almost feel like I'm going to start writing teams off. Like, where is the shooting? And that's a lot of non shooters in today's game to all have on the floor at the same time. OKlahoma City's won four straight against Denver. I thought Murray looked much better physically than what we saw. This summary didn't shoot it well in those four straight. Murray played all four. Jokic missed one. So sometimes you can look at the season series stuff and everything and be like, oh, this guy missed it. I didn't feel like going through every single box score this morning. Bench guys for OKC. Let's hear for Usman Yang immediately paying dividends. Corner 3. Caruso, Wallace, Wiggins, 15 points. Who's like the unherald? He's like the uncool OKC depth, but he's also like just pretty good. And no J will too from them. Dallas, San Antonio, spacing a theme here. We'll get to it. But to start, Clay looked great. It wasn't just the shooting. I thought he moved pretty well.
- [06:32]
Alex Smith
Yes.
- [06:32]
Ryan Rosillo
He's never going to be the same guy he was defensively again. I think we're talking like five years ago now, so I think it's okay now. He was 6 to 10 on threes. You know, you look back on it the way he's been talked about, he missed two seasons back to back, and since those, the last three that he's played, he shot 39, 41 and 39% from three. He's 34 years old. All right, the bench thing. Last year he was only benched for 14 of the 77 games that he played in you're right. It doesn't look the same defensively, but people that are throwing around like Clay being washed, you're just wrong. I know. I never understood. I mean, look, the world is a nasty place on social media. I'm reminded of it from time to time. But I think the overwhelming like negativity towards who Clay is arisen, like his life's going to be really easy. And I, I'd say last night I even saw him kind of getting into his shot with the ball a little bit more than we're used to seeing. All right, Wembanyama. With Chris Paul on the other side, this was actually kind of disappointing. Last night came one game, so who knows, whatever he finished 5:18. I was charting it through the 3, 3/4. Only four of his 14 shots were at the rim. Dallas did a really good job with Wembanyama last night. Lively Wemby got him once at the rim with that absurd up and under where you're thinking he's too far out. No, his arms are still going and he made a bite. That was really the only time, like the only time he kind of got him. Lively played more than Gafford because of Gafford's foul trouble. Gafford still starts, but it's a really nice one two punch that we saw pay dividends through the back half of the regular season into the playoffs form. So that's not necessarily surprising. And I like Dallas's top eight better this year than last year's. I just do. But back to the Wembanyama part of it. I think Dallas did a really good job and I also think San Antonio does a bad job with him, at least for a game. I don't like where he starts. He was even bringing the ball up a few times in the first half and then sometimes they get the ball back to him. He's in the triple threat at the three point line. I understand at his size and his combination of skills, this unicorn that we've never seen before, like the fun part is that he can catch it from the three point line and drive and do all these things. But you know, sometimes it comes back to an issue with spacing. Like Champenny is a pretty good shooter from three, 37% from, from the line. Last year Chris Paul was 37%, but he's just not going to shoot enough. And then Barnes is actually 38% of his from his career from 3. So in theory you're looking around and they didn't have the cell last night, so, you know like, all right, maybe there will be enough shooting. But watching the way Dallas defenders, they just stayed big. They cut off like off ball paths for when Binyama, if he was trying to get better position, they would just be tough with him. And I also just don't think San Antonio did enough stuff where there was one ball screen where women. Yama rolled against the switch and then he got the pass and I think he may have gotten free throws out of it. And you're like, all right, a little bit more of that. I imagine Chris Paul are going to figure some of this stuff out and maybe Chris Paul is going to have to take more threes. But even with some of the three point shooting numbers, I don't know that Dallas was necessarily like afraid of it. And it just allows guys to trickle off and look with a selling that'll add another element to it. Castle was fun as far as his energy was little. I mean, look his first NBA game, he's a young kid. So yeah, there was a little reckless at times there as well. And Keldon Johnson, I remember liking him, I do. And I know I've said that last year, he looks like he's in better shape, but I think San Antonio, I'm not going to sit here and be like, oh, they need to do a better job with Lambanyama. I just thought at least last night with Dallas and the way they defend him, just being smart about it, staying big, just trying to like throw big bodies, stay in front, try not to go for all the stuff that's really exciting with Limanyama. But I also don't love like where he was initiating his offense from through much of the night. He missed a million threes. I don't know if he was settling or whatever, but you know, I don't know that it was like great contest either. I just think he was missing shots. The best game was Minnesota at Sacramento. It's 8171. Sacramento late third. Minnesota goes small with Ant DiVincenzo, Nas Reed Randle, who had 33 last night, was much better than the Lakers game. And then, nah, this is not a look at that. They took Gobert out and went small and they came back in the third quarter because they did come back in the third quarter. But it's, it's not that. Trust me, I'd be willing to do that if that were the case. But it wasn't because when they brought Gobert back in, it was still, they were still down. It was 87, 87, 78. And then DiVincenzo Nas, Ant, all hit threes, and that put the run together. The Go Bear factor part of this, like, if you don't like Go Bear, it's worth looking at some of that fourth quarter. I know nobody's going to do this, but I. I've talked about Go Bear plenty of times, the good and the bad. And him not being an asset offensively is just a really frustrating thing. And you can see same thing happening in Utah, happening in Minnesota. You just don't always want to throw the ball down. He's just not strong with the basketball, and if the other team goes small, he doesn't make you pay for it with his offense. Okay, all right. But on the defensive side, not that this is breaking news. This is going another defensive player of the year. Look at when he's out, how excited the drivers get on the opposing team. Okay? It is a completely different attitude from the opponent. It's like, oh, he's gone. This is great because Rudy is so good at switching onto the small guy and then still retreating and then changing the shot. Right. It's just something to remind yourself of if. If somebody who is in your friend group. And I'm not the biggest fan, right, because of the contract with trade and some of that other stuff, but just watch when he comes out, what the ball handlers do and how happy they are. And by the way, DeMar DeRozan, when Gobert was in, had one of the best drives on Gobert you're going to see because he was anticipating Rudy kind of playing two. So ball handler showing on DeRozan, but then also retreating and keeping the rolling big within arm's distance. I think Sabonis was cutting down the left lane, and DeRozan drove it and just gave him the slightest move to make him think he might be giving up the ball, which kind of froze Rudy in this absurd thing. We ask of these centers to play two guys at once, and yet he still got the shot off on Rudy on the right side. And Rudy still kind of like came back and contested a little bit. It was the most, like, delicate thing that the Rosen. It wasn't some massive move, jab, step up, fake, all this stuff. He just got Rudy thinking, like, you got to stay honest to the right side of the lane here. And he got the shot off against the. Which doesn't happen a lot. DeRozan was really good. Hit a million free throws. Keegan was terrific. Sabonis was really good. He had three or four threes. He's taken one three a game for his Entire career. It's a bonus because you can see him pass on that open foul line shot because these other teams scout it. And I mean, this has been going on since, like, I don't even know. I think it was really ugly in that warrior series where Draymond just was like, I'm not even leaving the restricted area when you catch it free throw line. You would just think with Sabonis touch and all this stuff, like, he just needs to take it, needs people to respect that. And they don't. And yet then he pulled it out and started hitting huge threes. Not a great Fox game, whatever. But the ant it mode is the best thing in the NBA. It can't be matched. He just kind of went off there at the end and ended up getting the free throws to win this one after getting fouled. And he did get fouled by Sabonis. Like, point four left on the shot clock, two seconds left in the game. A couple things, though. Bigger picture here with Minnesota because I was talking about, like, the Randall part of it of does Finch start Randall? Because It's Randall. And NASA's already come off the bench to appease everybody, keep everybody happy. But Randall's still going to. Whatever you think of him. Certainly there's nights I don't love him. He's going to be talented enough to get you buckets. He's also been a really good passer going all the way back to Kentucky. So you think he might be able to fit in a little bit better. But I do like that Minnesota feels like they have a couple different options here. Whether it's that they want to take Conley out in the closing moments and put in DiVincenzo if they want to go Nas instead of Randle. But then last night they actually closed the last few minutes because I thought, oh, DiVincenzo is still in there. Then they brought in Conley, but then they put. They took McDaniels out. So again, something to look at there. DiVincenzo, Conley and McDaniels all played 27 minutes last night. All right, rapid fire. Ben Simmons looked better in that Atlanta game on Wednesday. He just looked better. Also had some bad plays, monitoring, benched the last, I think, six minutes of that one. And it was a close game. I love the Pacers closing with Benedict Matheran. I'm a Matheran fan. I just think he gets to the rim constantly. He's another, like, offensive threat you have to worry about. I'd rather close with all these offensive threats, but NE Smith is going to be in there for his defense and end the shooting. In theory, N.E. smith might be the only guy I think the league like plays too hyped. Nismith foul trouble. I think he could foul out of every single game. If you wanted to call the fouls on him, they probably just go, we can't call all of these. But I, I don't know if that's something that Carlisle is going to do with the Pacers. I would be in favor of it because I just think Mather gives you so much more offensively. But I'm sure that there's a defensive drop off. But, you know, that might be one of those, those taxes that you would pay and giving up some of that defense to have another guy that as soon as you like swing it opposite to him and then he gets some momentum and starts driving, he's making a bucket or he's getting free throws. Like he really is that good at it. The Magic might be really good. One seed good. No, I can't fathom anybody beating Boston after what we've seen from Tatum shooting to start the year. And that's not exactly brand new news. Lamello was the best player on the floor in Charlotte's win at Houston. He was fantastic. I think there's probably some lineup confusion that'll happen here with the Rockets as Udoka tries to figure out what he wants. I thought it was funny to see like Amen Thompson kind of come in and go, yeah, you know what, I'm not going to kind of sit around anymore. I'm going to give you a little like prime Jalen Green and start going for it. I thought he was really aggressive. There's also some shangoon sub patterns that are worth paying attention to because he's probably the most skilled player on the Rockets and they just did his contract. And by the way, credit to the Rockets for doing the Jalen Green contract the way that they did it. Like, okay, we're going to give you the huge bump, but we're not doing the full thing. We're not sure yet. And you have an option where you can reset the whole thing and make even more. So it's kind of a win win. Even if the standard is if I'm this high of a pick and I'm the leading scorer, then I'm supposed to just get the five year, $200 million. Like, what are we doing? But I thought credit, credit to the Rockets for doing something a little different that I think a lot of other teams would have just maxed out. Jalen Green Even if they didn't know if they had the answer on if he's actually going to be the guy. Jabari Smith's handle looked a little bit better. Stat line did not 2A 78 points, 5 rebounds, 33 minutes. Definitely getting frustrated with my position in the Jabari portfolio. Ja from Memphis looks like Ja Morant. I guess he's just. He should, right? He's still young enough. He's this ridiculous athlete. But game one, like, yeah, hey, look at that. Looks just like Ja Moran. Because it is. If you don't like Zach Edey, I don't know that you can take the victory lap of him fouling out in 16 minutes. You go back and watch those fouls. It's not him getting caught in a switch against a smaller player and getting exposed defensively the way that I think if you were on the four. Closing is something that you're going to see and he's going to have to figure out a way to survive it. But the fouls were just kind of like reaching in frustrated a couple of times. They were I think for the most part pretty legitimate. But it wasn't because he was switched onto a smaller ball handler and being exposed. Suns win in overtime. Harden was hardened again and then he was harden again. 10 of 28 with the final stat line 29, 12 and 8 could harden lead the league in scoring? It's going to look. It's going to be a little slower, but it's going to look a lot like the Houston Harden years. If opening night was any indicator. Clippers also play really hard and shout out Kai Jones at center. You want to talk Kneesmith Energy, Phoenix Love already the rotation and what it what it looks like. O'Neill, Allen, Plumlee, Morris. They've got two rookies playing and done and Igoodara who can do a little bit more with the ball if you didn't watch him at Marquette. And then final two thoughts here. Scoot Henderson off the bench, can't phase him. 18 shot attempts, got to the free throw line a lot. I'll tell you what, he looks bigger, he looks taller. He's getting so big. He looked a little quicker to me but you know, took a lot of free throws. Final thought. Just a thought. Moving forward, I'd like to present a new rule. If you're doing a jersey swap, should you reach a minimum points threshold the night of said swap? Yeah, I'm in favor of it. The jersey swap should be limited to. I mean is eight points too nice? How about 10? How about 10 points for a jersey swap. And if you score nine, it's like, hey man, you're just gonna have to get 10 the next time. Pick up a Win this NFL game day on FanDuel, America's number one sports book right now, all customers get a profit boost every single NFL game. That means you can pump up your gridiron winnings multiple times a week. FanDuel has tons of ways you can get in on the NFL action. You can bet on money lines, player props, game day specials and more. Plus, with super simple live betting, lightning fast bet settlement and instant withdrawals, FanDuel makes betting on the NFL easier than ever before. Just visit FanDuel.com Ryan R Y E N to download FanDuel today. 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Discover the full Defender lineup at land Rover USA.com that's Land Rover USA.com this is the first time I've ever talked to Alex Smith. I'm pretty sure that's true through the ESPN years. You can lose track. But he joins us now and he's now working with espn. He's doing some awesome interviews. We're going to talk to him about that. Also has a new podcast out the Glue Guys with Shane Battier and Ravi Gupta. So what's up man? It's good to see you.
- [22:04]
Alex Smith
How's it going? I feel like I've talked to you before because I've listened to the pod. So like I, you know, you do make this connection as a podcast listener. So I do feel like I know you. So yeah, it's cool to talk to you.
- [22:16]
Ryan Rosillo
It sucks that cerulean traveling today because ceruti is one of your biggest fans ever. And I'll just come clean. I think there was a time where it was like a graphic where it was like, here's the all time winning and it was like Brady Manning and then Alex Smith. And I would like whether it was a pre show meeting or on the air. So if you listen to me, like, I just always have to be honest, I'd be like, come on, you guys, like, we can't do that with Alex Smith. And then Cerudi would just jump in and be like, he's way better than you think he is. And I'd be like, yeah, but what about. So, yeah, just in full transparency here. I hate that he's not here because he's been one of your staunchest defenders of anyone I've ever met.
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Alex Smith
Oh, next time we'll have to do it again.
- [22:54]
Ryan Rosillo
What's this been like for. I know it's been a few years now. Usually those first two are tough for somebody who's had a life in football, but what's it been like as you've kind of really fully transitioned and understood like the next chapter of your life?
- [23:07]
Alex Smith
Yeah, I mean, transitions are hard. They're hard. And the walk away from professional sports is such a unique thing. You know, I'll never forget like entering the league and all you hear is NFL. Not for long. Right? Like the average career spans, you know, two years. And you know, I was playing as a young, you know, top pick and it was just, it was a lot. Those were like dog years, right? I could, I, I remember thinking that like, you know, man, if I could ever make it 10 years. And that seemed like that was a thousand years away, right? Like that was so far away I didn't think I would ever make it. And then to end up playing 16 years, you know, obviously just so incredibly lucky and grateful for that to happen. But then you, then you walk away and there were, you know, I had all these interesting things that I'd always wanted to go do that I got to put off. I got to like kick the can on just because football kept going and going and going, you know, and, and then here's my opportunity. And at the same time, all of a sudden I'm, you know, middle aged and got have kids. And football at that point was always kind of a means to an end. Right. Like you're sacrificing so much. You know, I put so much into football all those years and it was always knowing, right, like, this is going to last forever. So my wife knew It. Everybody knew it. And. And then you kind of. You unplug from football for a while and decompress, but you quickly realize, like, I can't just play golf every day, you know, Like, I can't do nothing, and what the hell am I going to do with the rest of my life, you know? And so just trying to find that balance. And I still feel like I'm on that mission. I still. Still trying to work it out. I don't have. I don't have the answers at all. I am enjoying my time at espn. I never thought I would do TV ever. I don't know if you knew this. When I played, I was like, the most boring interview of all time. Like, just. I was like the epitome of getting on the podium and the microphone and just like. Just verbal vomit like, there. I didn't say anything of meaning. And that was kind of.
- [25:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Cause you're coach, right?
- [25:09]
Alex Smith
Like, you're coached to do that. Just don't give them any ammunitions. Say less is just like, walking cliches. And I kind of never thought I'd have something to say on tv. And it's so funny narrative, you know, I really. I really do enjoy the challenge. Doing the Sunday countdowns now, getting ready for that, like, gearing up. I listen. There's so many people that have crazy stuff to say during the week that, like, just amps me up and fuels me for Sunday. So it's been fun.
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Ryan Rosillo
Okay, so you touched on something. Like, I usually, you know, the Brady timeline for me is kind of funny. We're close to the same age. He came into the league. I was a huge Patriots fan back in the day. I moved to Boston right when it all started, you know, from Massachusetts. And I remember thinking, like, Belichick has the perfect muse in Brady, because Brady was just buying into all of it immediately. And, like, Belichick didn't want free thinkers, right?
- [26:03]
Alex Smith
Yeah.
- [26:03]
Ryan Rosillo
No, but the part that I've admired with Belichick, even if I didn't love all the interviews, is that he just basically was like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to do anything that you want me to do, because it's all pointless, so why give you anything? But then there's always probably, like, a moment of you getting a little bit older, and you're thinking, there actually is a personality in here. Like, if I were a player, you know, and like, I. And we're seeing it with Brady, you know, but it took, like, 20 years, and now we're seeing it with You. I still think it's the right approach because outside of the locker room, knowing what it's like being in the media, we lose our minds over the dumbest shit that doesn't mean anything. But I do wonder if you ever replay it being like, maybe I didn't have to be like that.
- [26:49]
Alex Smith
Yes. No, absolutely. So two things. A lot there, like, even think about Belichick and Saban now, right? These guys were, like, the most stoic. Head coaches don't say anything, right? They were, like, cut from the same cloth. This is this old school. There even was, like, the media was. It was the enemy, right? Like, even when they. Like when they, you know. And now they're, you know, they're all over the place in media, and you're seeing their personality come out. And it's actually been this, like, very fun experience. And no different with Tom. You know, you and I talked right before the taping, like, about the interviews, and this is where it hits me the most. Ryan likes when I go sit down with these quarterbacks and I get asked to do this from espn. And I get it because it was the same thing. Like, when I was playing, like, they would send a quarterback. Cause I think they think you'll say yes to the sit down, you know, and it works. And, like, there's nothing worse than I'll go interview somebody who kind of was me when I was playing. And you leave it and you're like, man, that sucked. You know, like, it just. Like, that was a crappy interview. I didn't get anything. It was like pulling teeth. And then I'll go sit down with a guy like Baker, and I'm like, this is awesome. Like, this guy is so refreshing, you know, like, he just kind of is who he is. It's so honest and authentic, and I really love that. And I do reflect back on when I was playing and certainly the back half of my career when I probably could have walked the line better, on being myself and not providing fodder for anything, you know, like, not becoming a distraction to anything. And. Yeah, so, like, you know, live and learn. But I do. I do. That thought definitely comes across for me as I reflect back on my career.
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Ryan Rosillo
I think the problem with sharing more is that if you're not playing well, then the reason you're not playing well, part of it becomes your personality. And Baker's a perfect example of that. Like, whether or not you liked him coming out of the draft, you could use his personality as an asset, and you could use it against him. I mean, really, he was. He was probably hurt way more than we realized. When he was at Cleveland, there were certain plays where I'd see him running around being like, dude, he doesn't even look right. But it wasn't working. Right. And it wasn't working. You know, he goes to a place like the Rams, it's not like he's going to take over Stafford anyway. But it is funny. And I think this gets back to, like, a flaw that we have in the media, but I also think it happens with fans, is that now that it's working for Baker, his personality is thought to be this incredible asset. Like, it's a great part of his makeup because he's so relatable and all the guys rally around him. He's just a guy's guy. Like, I'm hearing, he's no different, but the way it's talked about plays out entirely different, just based on wins or losses on Sunday.
- [29:24]
Alex Smith
I couldn't agree more. Yeah. You know, and I think. And I battled this when I was really young, and I guess this is the thing I do appreciate about, you know, even Baker specifically, is, like, he's not trying to get everybody to like him. And I know for a fact, like, if you'd go back into those Browns locker rooms and the Carolina locker rooms, like he was, his teammates felt no different about him. Right. Like, that certainly is at the core of a huge motivation. In fact, probably is, like, the greatest respect. Like, you want your teammates and even opponents to respect you. Right? Like, that's. That's like the greatest compliment, you know, and certainly the outside world is not a part of that. But, you know, when you're young and you're a high pick, you want everybody to like you. You want to justify the pick and that you were good enough. And. And so you, like you. You're starved for that and you crave that, which is actually like, this horrible motivator. But for sure, every. All everybody sees are the results, right? Like, all everybody sees is the output. So when they see the wins, you know, and they see Baker's, you know, personality, they correlate it. And no different when it's not going well. And the truth is, obviously, it's. One has nothing to do with the other. You know what I'm saying? Like, he. This is who he is. And, you know, personality is we all. This is part of. Especially as a quarterback in your leadership role within a team, we all do it a different way.
- [30:46]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay? So there's a few different things that I could go to off of that and I'm going to get to all of them. But I want to start on something I was thinking about when I was thinking about your career. Because if you go through, you know, granted the team wasn't doing well, right? I don't think it was until the sixth season you played, you had missed one with the injury, where it from a one loss standpoint. You know, honestly Alex, like I wonder if in today's age if you would have been the starter therefore I wouldn't have.
- [31:10]
Alex Smith
Yeah, no, I just, I like watching the Bryce Young thing and I think the leash for quarterbacks has just gotten even shorter and shorter, which is crazy. And like watching Sam Darnold is this like perfect example of this. Never given a chance to reach his potential. Like this guy's gifted and it's in there, right? And he's drafted as a 20 year old kid to a dysfunctional organization. It's a disaster. And everybody, there's this belief out there that it's like just this binary thing. Like you either have it or you don't. Right? That's it. You know, you come in as this young kid, you're, you're a top pick. So you inherently go to a bad football team. You play right away, right. You don't have great stability around you. There's even this, this process obviously for you as a young kid to adapt to a pro game and learn and make and be able to make mistakes and, and that mindset isn't present at almost all teams and organizations now. The really good ones it is. And that's why they're good, because they can develop guys, they can like they have a growth kind of mindset. But the vast majority of places, like as soon as you make a mistake and it starts to compound a little bit, you don't have a lot of room for error and it's like, well, he can't do it. We missed bust, like, and that's just. Everybody rushes to judgment, you know, and especially as a quarterback position where you're so dependent upon everybody around you, right? Not just the other 10 guys in the huddle and your defense, but again the guy calling plays, the guy building the scheme. Like there's just so many compounding factors that I think are hard to measure. But all we see is the guy with the ball in his hands out there, right? And when you're the quarterback, there's nowhere to hide, right? You could be a guard, you could be a top pick guard and kind of hide sometimes like you're QB man. Like everybody sees the stat line. They watch it like it's, it's, it's out there. And then to think about Sam, like his first two teams, then he goes to Carolina Panthers, which may be more dysfunctional than the Jets. I mean, this is a team that like, had Sam and Baker walk through that doors. They've mowed through five, five or six coaches in the last couple years. They couldn't identify a qb, you know, if their life depended on it. Look at what's. I mean, they've just destroyed Bryce Young. Like, it's been a disaster. And so we all rushed to judgment. And then, oh, Sam Darnold goes to a year and with Kyle Shanahan and kind of rehabs a little bit now and goes to Kevin O'Connell and oh my God, we turn on the tape and like, if you're a Jets fan or Carolina fan, you're like, what? What the hell, man? Like, you know, but that's, that's just the way that the NFL is right now, unfortunately for the vast majority of teams and the really good ones, again, do it a different way.
- [33:41]
Ryan Rosillo
So I've, I've talked like, Matt Leinert's a buddy. You know, we live near each other, see him all the time. And we were talking about it once. I was like, you know what, what do you think happened with you? And he was like, I was in the wrong system for the way I played. Immediately. It was like a complete, like it wasn't even the right fit. And I think people would be listening to this, okay, well, maybe he wasn't good enough or whatever. And, and he's very honest about things. He goes, look, I'll just tell you, Ron, like, by year five, that's when I finally felt comfortable, right? But at that point, like, as he knew, as most people know, it was over. It's too late. Like, it's just, it's not going to happen. But you mentioned Baker and it clicking for a couple different reasons. Darnold was a draft pick or as much as I just kind of shrug when it comes to the QBs, based on the history, I was like, there's no way he's going to be bad. And now you're like, was I right? And you have Goff, who, you know, the Rams, granted, they felt like they were upgrading the Stafford, they won a Super bowl, but they still traded somebody they made a Super bowl with, which, you know, is fairly rare. So I don't know if this is a new way of doing things, because it is kind of rare for guys that Jump as like, top overall picks to go somewhere else and then have playoff success and actually win playoff games. It hadn't happened for a really long time. And now we have this group where it's happening. We'll see what happens here with Darnold. And then when I think about, like, when it clicked for you, you can't tell NFL teams, hey, you've got to give it five or six years if you're taking somebody this high. But, like, what was it specifically for you when you realized, okay, this is what I need to do? I mean, I know there's probably a really long answer in there, but I think we're seeing it all over again.
- [35:17]
Alex Smith
I think a couple things happened. I mean, one, I had seven offensive coordinators in seven years. And you just never.
- [35:23]
Ryan Rosillo
Is that bad.
- [35:24]
Alex Smith
Yeah, you're just never going to get to an advanced level of play, like pressing reset every year, right? Like, it's like you're only. You're only in, you know, football 101. You never get to, like, the advanced graduate school level football because it's just like pressing reset and learning a new system and like, a new philosophy in a new way. And a couple things, like, I do think I needed to kind of learn and hit. I, you know, definitely kind of hit rock bottom a little bit as far as, like, trying to get everybody to love me and like, justify the pick. And I was consumed with that for a long time and like, finally letting go of that and, you know, and focusing on what matters. And again, dude, I. I do think it. Mindset is such a funny thing, especially as a quarterback and confidence. And it did coincide with Jim Harbaugh. Like, I flat out, like, Jim coming in. There's a guy that played quarterback for 15 years. He played for the Chargers where I grew up. I watched him play. And he was such a great example of me, for me, of just like, letting go of all that.
- [36:24]
Ryan Rosillo
And what does he say to you? Like, what does he say to you that. That we don't hear?
- [36:28]
Alex Smith
That's not the clip. No, it's not. Just. It is that, though, because he, like, he talks about it, man, I've talked about this before. Like, his last words before the entire team took the field were, don't worry. Right? And like, all I did was worry. I'd spent seven years worrying, six years worrying, right? Worrying about what they're going to think about me, what are they going to say about me, what are they going to write about me in the paper? What did they boo me? Like, all this crap like, and again here I'm getting ready to play a football game when you should be like dialed in, man, to the deep, to the little things, right? Especially as a quarterback. And again I'm consumed with all this crap that doesn't matter and bad self talk and doubt. And Jim, again, the expectation too. Like I had played, I had played for some defensive coaches where I felt like they thought just quarterbacks had this magic dust that just made everybody better, right? Like that you just go out there and just, it's on you, you gotta do it, you know. And I felt like I had to be more than myself, right? Like I had to be more. I couldn't just do the little things. I had to do this extra stuff. And like, well look, it was always pointed out, like, look Peyton, like, look what he'd done. You know, he gets, he just gets the ball out so fast and like all these things and I had never, I had never seen up close too, this is part of this. Like I had never seen a quarterback play at a high level up close. Like I never got a mentor. That never happened. And Jim finally, like, I think probably there was that and it was like, dude, you don't have to do anything. Like you just run the offense, man. Like that was it. Like, and it was, I remember thinking like, huh? Like I just have to throw the stick route, like that's all you want me to do. And he's like, yeah, like that's the offense, man. Like don't, you don't have to do anything extra. And I remember this like big weight I felt like was shed off of me because that was the expectation. All of a sudden now just like go run the offense. You, you, you know, it's the guard's job to block. It's the tight end. You know, like the offense works for you and you just go run the offense. And kind of finally there like playing well and building confidence, right? And again this confidence and mindset is such a big part of that and that, that was the big difference maker for me.
- [38:28]
Ryan Rosillo
When you're doing the sit down interviews, you know, I know you had the one with Harbaugh and I went back and watched the Aaron Rodgers one this morning and you know, there's just, especially with you and Rogers, the history coming in the same draft class and then, you know, he waits his turn and then he turns into one of the great quarterbacks ever. I mean he just, he was so much better with you than most people I would see him in that kind of forum with. Do you notice that when you're interviewing, I mean, you and Harbaugh have the relationship as you just referenced here. So you. You walk in the room with it. You may not have studied it the way others have, but you walk in with an advantage very few of us have in those settings.
- [39:09]
Alex Smith
Yeah. And it's. You know, I still feel like I'm learning. In fact, would love some advice, but, like, it's a delicate dance because, like, the Aaron one. Right. Like, I've known Aaron for 20 years. You know, we're both 40 now. We were 20. Like, my first college start was against Aaron and Cal. Like, we go back a long time and have remained.
- [39:28]
Ryan Rosillo
Were you friends?
- [39:29]
Alex Smith
Yes. And have remained friends over the years. Like, very much like a very honest, real relationship. We're not, like, crazy close, but, like, when we see each other, there's a real connect and real conversations kind of about our journeys and we've, you know, and very much a respect there. But I do realize, like, now I'm coming in with cameras. Like, I get it. I know why they sent me, and I appreciate certainly that. You know, obviously, Aaron's a tough. You know, like, he's not saying yes to everything at this point, and I understand why I got asked to come out and talk to him. And, you know, I think the fine line, too, of you're getting prepped from my producers and, like, what do we want to get them to talk about? And topics and questions and things like that. But certainly my ownership over that. Right. And how I get to certain things and the angle you come towards with them, I guess, so to speak. And then I think in the great thing in these. I guess I've realized in these interviews is you can prep all you want. The best interviewers are, like, great listeners. Right. Like, in the moment. And you can't be. You can't just be, like, worried about your next question. You gotta listen, man, and follow up. And, you know, I do think there's, you know, they leave breadcrumbs out there for you oftentimes. And you gotta listen for them to kind of, you know, dig or dig a little deeper at certain things. And so. And again, I think to try to maintain that respect is also at the core. Right. Like, he and I are still friends, and I don't ever. I don't want to. I'm not going to cross a line. I value that. And so just trying to strike that balance.
- [40:59]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. This will be a tougher one. How different were the scenarios for you losing the job to Kaepernick versus losing the job to Mahomes. Yeah.
- [41:18]
Alex Smith
Well, for one, you know, obviously, one experience lead, you know, helps you with another. The Cap thing.
- [41:25]
Ryan Rosillo
You were having such a good time.
- [41:26]
Alex Smith
Yeah, you know, it's tough. I'm like, lead. I was, like, leading the NFL and passer rating and. Or whatever, and I feel like finally, you know, again, I gone through so much turbulent time. All the coordinators and the dysfunction and head coaches, and then all of a sudden, here we go, you know, and. And I felt like I. It was worth it, man. I put in. I. You know, I hunkered down through all that stuff, and now it's paying off, and here we go. And the team was so good. I mean, we. We were loaded. And I was loving, loving playing for. For Harbaugh and Greg Roman and the entire team. Vic Fangios, our decordinator in the core of that locker room that had been through all that crap, you know, that, like, now coming out the other side and, you know, obviously then to get the concussion and watch Cap go in and roll, and I don't. I don't. People, I think, have a twisted view of those. Like, Cap's first eight games were historic. Like, the run he went on there was ridiculous. Through the playoffs, Green Bay looked like.
- [42:23]
Ryan Rosillo
They had never seen anything like that.
- [42:24]
Alex Smith
They still don't know who has a football, you know, and then all the way to the super bowl and, you know, to go to the super bowl, listen, I was a team captain. I still had to see on my chest, right? Like, I. The only time I stepped on the field was for the coin toss. Like, it's embarrassing, you know, and to watch that pass me by, you know, it's hard. It's frustrating. And at that point in my career, I still wasn't, like, totally solidified. At least I hadn't felt like it. And I think it was kind of a, you know, for me, a pivotal point in my career. After everything I'd gone through, as distracted as I'd been, you know, I distracted myself for so long with the number one pick thing and the weight of it that I. In that moment, I remember, like, very much thinking, like, I. I'm pretty confident at some point, I'm in another opportunity. I don't know. I don't know if it's gonna be here as a niner. I don't know where it's gonna be or what it's gonna look like. But, like, the only thing I do control is if I'm ready for it, you know, and I'm not gonna be distracted. Anymore, all the noise around the media, me not playing in the Super bowl bowl and get my job back and cap and, you know, all this stuff. Like, I'll never forget the media day at the super bowl and the frenzy that that was. I just wasn't going to be distracted by that stuff anymore and just was going to put my head down and work for the next opportunity and obviously grateful that it came in the form of an Andy Reid phone call, you know, which, you know, what's that phone call?
- [43:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Like, what's that phone call?
- [43:42]
Alex Smith
I mean, I'll never forget the first thing he said to me. You know, he asked me if I could run 22z in. You know, like, it's like, that's like West Coast 101 for everybody out there. That's like day one install. And I'd been in, you know, a couple different versions of west coast at that point through all my coordinators, and just laughed at it. And I'd played Andy. It felt like I played the Eagles every year of my career. And it was like, through the Eagles, good years, and it was a lot of painful memories. You know, I mentioned hitting rock bottom as a player, and it was actually like at Candlestick against the Eagles when the entire stadium was, like, chanting the backup quarterback's name. And so, you know, I'd always been a fan of his from afar and the offenses and everything they had done. And so he had just got the job in Kansas City and, yeah, like, jumped at it. Coach, I'm ready, man.
- [44:32]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm.
- [44:32]
Alex Smith
You know, and again, everything I'd been through and certainly the stuff, obviously losing my job, it really does make you grateful for the opportunity, right? I had kind of been spoiled as a number one pick, and just like the leash I had right to make mistakes and still be the starter. And again, like, losing it, it was. It was a learning experience, right? I was like, dude, you know, like, how quickly this may end. And that was also part. I think the cool thing from Jim, you know, Jim, like, was, so I felt like he wanted to play one more game, you know, And I thought, I always found that, like, endearing when I played for him. I was like, man, this is going to end, right? And, like, you better freaking, you know, make the most of it and enjoy it while it's here.
- [45:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Do you think Jim thinks he could convert a third and seven today?
- [45:21]
Alex Smith
I don't know what he would say, but, yep, I just threw with him, man. That interview, we. We played catch. He could still spin it. He's one of A kind and yeah, I think he could go, he could definitely go convert. Yeah, one more play.
- [45:36]
Ryan Rosillo
I know. Next time, next time I don't need to help you prep your interviews. They're fantastic. What's your favorite Mahomes story of him? Maybe in his rookie year when you start the whole year he plays. What in that last game was there a moment where you were texting one of your buddies or somebody? You just went, this dude is ridiculous.
- [46:02]
Alex Smith
There were, gosh, I'm trying to think like it's, it's funny. There was never one like aha moment probably, you know that it just was this like kind of slow wave that just came on over the course of the, that season and certainly by the end of the season when he started, you know, we, we had the last game of the year, we had already clinched the playoffs and couldn't move, you know, we couldn't get any higher. So you know, a bunch of the stars didn't play. And he started with really a limited again none of the starters are playing right. He's out there playing, playing an NFL game with, with you know, a bunch of kind of backups and just how, how easy and prepared he was for that. And, and I think over that entire year to go back like Pat beat me in the building most mornings, right. And at this point I was year 13. Like I was so dialed in to my preparation and how seriously I took it and I would like how structured it was and man, and Patrick was just like, was like glue to that. The way that quarterback roomed. Everywhere I went, everywhere we went, you did it together. Tyler Bray was the third and was just like, I mean from eating together, training together, working out practice, film dinners at night with like the girlfriends and wives, like it just, you know, so many things and the stories are true, man. We'd go to a steakhouse and this guy asked for ketchup, right? Like we go out to drink and it's Coors Lights. Like that's. That stuff's all real and was certainly I gave him a lot of crap about it. But again to go back to football, just the slow wave and it's probably about halfway through the season where you know he's running scout team and he's going against our defense and our defense was good at that point and you know, stout and like I remember he started no looking slants, which is like one thing, you know, it's a three step drop. And then all of a sudden he starts no looking like dig routes, you know, like a 20 yard dig route. And he's like. And you're. Dude, you're a rookie. You know, like, if I were like, flashback to my rookie year, like, again, my head was spinning. Dude, I. It was such a disaster. And here's this kid who, you know, starts like humming and the confidence and I think division and understanding of the game to go do that. And again, he was so dialed in when he made that start, week 17. I think the little things jumped out his control of protections. I don't think Patrick gets enough. Like, all everybody sees are the trick plays, which they're, you know, jaw dropping. But like, he's so dialed in up front. Like to watch what he did against Baltimore last, you know, in the AFC Championship game, on the road, like, just dissecting him. And again, every protection, you watch him up front, he's so. He's so good. Seeing what the defense is doing, analyzing it, you know, protecting himself, getting the ball out, like, just never caught off guard. And that, that stuff jumped out in that Week 17 game, you know, against Denver. So which, when then when I lost the playoff game, you know, what is it the next week or two weeks later, it was very apparent that, you know, what was. What was about to happen.
- [49:09]
Ryan Rosillo
Did they tell you as the season was happening, like, hey, he's taken over?
- [49:12]
Alex Smith
No, no, it was apparent. We knew he was, how good he like, was playing, you know, the throws he was making, I'll never forget, like, you know, like Eric Berry coming up to me, like, damn, did you see the throw he made at practice today? Like, going and watching it.
- [49:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Thanks, Eric.
- [49:26]
Alex Smith
So. And it was cool. We had a good environment then. Like, it wasn't, you know, it was such a healthy place. But I knew once I had lost in the playoffs again, like, that was kind of my M.O. there at that point. Like, hey, great playoff run. I mean, sorry, great regular season runs, but you know, coming up short in the playoffs. And so obviously I knew they traded up for him and how ready he was at that point.
- [49:48]
Ryan Rosillo
I'll tell you though, and I had heard this, it just your role in it and you know, I don't know. You know, I don't know if Mahomes starts immediately somewhere else without you, without Andy Reid. I mean, I think he's so special that I might agree if you told me, like, probably he figures it out wherever he goes, he's that special. But, you know, that relationship that you had with him, you deserve a lot of credit for it. Because when a guy is still, you know, in the league and he's Got some years left and the team spends a first round draft pick on a quarterback. I don't know that I would blame the quarterback for, you know, maybe thinking about, like, I need to do everything I can do to keep my job. And I know like I'm supposed to everybody get along and mentor and do all this kind of stuff, but like you, you have to be a certain kind of person to be willing to do that for the greater good of the franchise and for this other guy that it's, it's not his fault that the team drafted you. Like, I'd heard stories about, you know, back when Rogers used to still like Van Pelt. He would tell us about. He would. Well, I didn't. Van Pelt didn't do anything. It's just that Rogers was very like, he used to come on with us a couple times because he liked Scott. And I'd asked about sitting behind Fav and Rogers. Like, this is the part that I do like about it. He just wasn't screwing around with it. Like, he basically let you know without saying it that Farve was awful about it. Okay. Like, just wasn't. Which I also understood Far's position. I think I remember was it when Mason Rudolph was drafted in, Roger had some quote. We were like, okay, like they're not going to be roommates. It takes a really, like, maybe because everything you had been through and you know, it doesn't mean you're less of a competitor. I just think it takes a really special combination of a person to be able to help someone that may be replacing them. I'm not. I don't even know if I could do it. I don't know. Like, I'm not saying I'd be a dick, but I don't know if I could do it. And you deserve a lot of credit for it.
- [51:48]
Alex Smith
I appreciate that. I mean, I think I agree with you. I often, I think people give too much credit. I think, you know, certainly if there's somebody that could have played pretty early, it's obviously Patrick. I mean, maybe, you know, he's in the conversation for the greatest of all time. I think a couple things. Listen, my experience as a, as a top pick certainly played a big role in this. Right. Like again I mentioned, I. It was turbulent, right. There was no plan. I didn't get to watch anybody. And you. And again, when you get drafted, you don't get to pick where you go, man. Like, they just send you there. Right. And he and I had no influence over the position we were in. Right. He didn't get to pick. I didn't get to pick. And yet we're there. And so certainly for me, I was empathetic about I'd been a top pick. And I understood what that was like coming into a new building and it didn't need to be that way. Right. And I think another thing, again I mentioned the distraction. I had spent so many years distracted even then. I remember when he got drafted and again the media, right, Every time I talked to him, they took your replacement, they moved up to the 10th pick. How does that feel? What's that like? And I wasn't going to be distracted by it anymore. I wasn't going to look over my shoulder here. I knew I had the starting job. You know, Andy had made that, you know, very clear. And again, it was like year 13 for me that you're not guaranteed anything at that point. I knew if I didn't play winning football, regardless of them having drafted Pat, like they're going to go find somebody at the end of the year. And so I knew I had the opportunity before me and again determined that I wasn't going to be looking over my shoulder at all. And so that definitely played a big part of it. And I think this, honestly, like if you're pissed off, like to go back to the Brett thing, you're distracted, right? Like if the pick, if you're so to the point, like every time you see this guy every single day that it's upsetting you and like you're got this vendetta and like you're, I'm not going to help him. Like you're distracted, like you're not, you're not doing your job, which is getting ready to play. And then I think that's the other thing about mentorship. It wasn't like I. Hugs and kisses, you know, it's not this, like, that's not what mentorship is, man.
- [53:52]
Ryan Rosillo
He got a new shirt, he got.
- [53:54]
Alex Smith
An up close look. It was nothing I said. I wasn't whispering him secrets to playing quarterback in the film room. He got an up close look for an entire year to seeing about. And again, I had year 13. Like I, my schedule, I had down to the minute, right? Like I was, I had three kids. I, I was so efficient with my time and so committed to be being the best I could be. And he got an up close look at that. Everything I did, he was right there and that was the instruction and that's the way the QB room worked in Kansas City. And that's what makes this so Brilliant, everybody. You do it all together. And so again, he got to take from that what he liked, right? That what fit him, what he saw, how I went about my business. And again, I don't. I also don't think it's a coincidence that I had my career here, right, like, as a motivator, you know, Like, I don't think that that's a coincidence at all. And so that's the brilliance of it. And it's not awesome when you're in it, right? Like, it's not that you don't love it, but it's certainly you can respect. And I know I do as a football fan. And again, my journey, like, Andy had a plan and not many teams do, right? Like, they look, they just throw them out there and cross their fingers. And the brilliance of what's going on in Kansas City right now that you know everything about it, it's. It's rare and obviously it's working.
- [55:19]
Ryan Rosillo
Last thing. Weird isn't the right word, so I'm going to try to frame this better. But you have this terrible injury at the end of your career, and then we have access to your story. And I don't know that I've ever seen, like, a collective concern. People were really moved by your story, and the payoff of that is it's probably the highest your approval rating ever was throughout your entire career. Like, it just felt like a full circle moment where people were like, you know, who's. It was pretty good was out, you know, man, I really liked him. It just. Everyone got on the same page because once they learned more about you, it seemed like everybody liked you. And I felt. I felt good for you in that moment bit.
- [56:08]
Alex Smith
Yeah. Thank you. I mean, I'm so grateful that I got to come back and play after. After my injury because, like, the prognosis for so long was obviously so sideways, you know, as they're like talking about cutting off my leg for a long time. And. And it was all kind of, you know, even though I was documenting it at the time, like, it. No one knew about the infection and how serious it had gotten and where I was at. And then obviously the, you know, the E60 airs kind of during COVID before I made my. My comeback. And so all that did finally get put out in the open. Everything that I'd been dealing with and the feedback, obviously, and support I got, I think from football fans and teammates and, you know, opponents was like, overwhelming. And then, so to go take the field that later that fall and people understanding kind of the Gravity of the situation was really cool, but also overwhelming in the sense that I never thought I'd actually take the field, Ryan. Like, I, I, I, I was chasing it, but I, I never thought again. My leg is so messed up. Like, I never thought it would be in the cards. And so for that to finally my, for my rehab to have progressed far enough that it was, it's crazy. And you know, to run out there, that Rams game when I first played, you know, as the backup, and then I run out there and, you know, getting sacked by Aaron Donald and, you know, on live TV in front of the country and getting back up. Right. Like, knowing that I'm okay, I'm not fragile, you know, obviously changed my life, but more so again, I go on to start six games and the freedom I played with, Right. Like, again, I never thought I'd play football again. I thought I'd lost it. I thought my career was over and the gift to get to go back and play one more time, you know, like you said about Jim, like, I got to play six games and I played, man, you want to talk about carefree? Like, every play was a gift, right? Like, I played like it was my last. Like, they're not going to let me do this again. Right. I would call my wife and tell her that every single game, like this is probably going to be the last. They're not going to, you know, and I didn't care what they said about me in the paper. I didn't care what anybody, you know what I'm saying? Like, so to juxtapose it, to have come, you know, really full circle from how I started my career, overwhelmed with that crap, you know, as, as the top pick. And then my career in such a free space was such, such a gift for me that I'll, I'll take with me for the rest of my life. And again, grateful for it, grateful that I got to say goodbye to the game. I got to go out on my own terms. Those things matter. And, you know, not everybody gets that gift. And again, how, how lucky and grateful I am for it.
- [58:51]
Ryan Rosillo
And think about this. I mean, I know you mentioned golf and everything, but what an unbelievable excuse if your wife's like, you're playing a lot this week and be like, you know what? I could have lost my life.
- [59:01]
Alex Smith
Totally. Totally.
- [59:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
- [59:02]
Alex Smith
You know, like, there's not much I say no to. Every day's a gift as a physical challenge. And yeah, like, that also has for sure changed, changed my perspective the rest of my life, no doubt. But when I started losing on the golf course. I do start. I will occasionally just start limping. You know, I can work another stroke out of whoever I'm playing.
- [59:22]
Ryan Rosillo
You can see his great interviews on espn. And again, he's got a podcast out with Shane Battier and Ravi Gupta on a lot of, like, leadership stuff. What makes teams work. New episodes have just come out, so they're out every week. And if you have a final plug on. I don't want to cut it short or anything, but if you want to add anything to it, that's fine. If you don't, that's also fine.
- [59:43]
Alex Smith
Yeah, it's fun glue, guys. We talk about. It's not a lot different than this interview and talk. We just had this conversation, you know, and we talk about all kinds of fun stuff. We have awesome guests on, man. We got to bring Urban Meyer, my college coach, who, you know, just this crazy core philosophy about team building and his, you know, obviously affected my career and just fun conversations like that between sports and business and different amazing leaders and people. And so it's. It's been a ton of fun. And obviously, Shane and Ravi are like, they're unbelievable. So this is. It's been super cool.
- [60:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Alex, this was incredible, man. I can't thank you enough. This was just. Just a great interview. I honestly, you just. You. You're really good at this, so I'm sure the podcast do well. I can't wait to check it out. And thanks for the time today, man.
- [60:28]
Alex Smith
Appreciate it, man. The feelings mutual.
- [60:35]
Ryan Rosillo
This is going to be a lot of fun. I always get excited about the chance to catch up with one of country music's biggest stars, Dirk's Bentley. 18 number one hits. I was researching him this morning. I was like, damn, that's a lot. Even longer. I met him over 30 years ago, back when we were just a couple skinny kids trying to figure it out. Dirk's Bentley. What's up, man?
- [60:57]
Dierks Bentley
How you doing, buddy?
- [60:59]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm good, man. It's great to see you. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that I want to get to, and it's been a little while, but I got my bottle of row 94 whiskey fresh off the shelves, ready to go. Probably not going to drink it during the interview because it probably get out of hand here a little bit, but.
- [61:12]
Dierks Bentley
Make a little more fun.
- [61:13]
Ryan Rosillo
I know you drink, I'll drink.
- [61:14]
Dierks Bentley
The two of us.
- [61:17]
Alex Smith
What?
- [61:18]
Ryan Rosillo
What. What went into this, man? What? I know. I know how you are. You. You were on it early, so full circle here.
- [61:24]
Dierks Bentley
Well, yeah, you know, I opened up. I mean, there's. I don't know really where to start. I mean, it's going to start with that. I opened up a bar called Whiskey Row in Arizona in 2012, but then I really have to probably take it back to Vermont with you and the boys, and it's all the fun we had up there. I definitely drank a lot of bourbon in those days, and really even further back to just getting. Falling in love with country music when I was about 17. And the guy I really liked was Hank Jr. And Jim Beam was kind of synonymous with Hank. I mean, it still is in some ways. So probably that's when I first really started to get into the bourbon. And back then, it was more about just how quickly can you get it to your liver? And for many years in the road, a lot like that, too. But during COVID I always wanted to have my own, you know, whiskey and my own bars. It's kind of. I just didn't have time to. I needed to kind of really get into it. During COVID I was able to really kind of use that time to start just thinking about opportunities and exploring avenues to kind of make it a possibility. And, yeah, so this is the result of that. Last four years, I've really put a lot of time into just obviously finding the right, you know, juice and going to a lot of different distilleries to, you know, find what I wanted to find and then work with a buddy to try to get the right price point and just little business side of it as well. So the fact is out. The fact you have a bottle in your hand still kind of is weird to me because I've been. I just can't believe it's actually out after all this time.
- [62:48]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, look, Whiskey Row has been a lot of fun, especially I think we hit it up right when it had opened and we had done. We had, like, super bowl week that week, right, In Arizona.
- [62:57]
Dierks Bentley
That's right.
- [62:57]
Ryan Rosillo
So we. We were post. I've had, like, two runs.
- [63:00]
Dierks Bentley
I carried my wife out of the bar that night. I remember that real well. I think there's a fight broke out between Kid Rock and somebody. Or maybe Aldean and somebody else.
- [63:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, Aldean was. Was in your corner. And it was funny, too, because I was with a couple people, and we had texted, and I said, we're good. And it was mayhem, right? It was mayhem. Yeah, you're your. Your bouncer. I was like, look, I'm texting with him. I know you get a million of these a night, but he's like waiting for me to come in. And the guy was like, if you're bullshitting me. And I walk you over to him, like, I'm gonna. I'm taking you out. And I was like, totally, totally understood. Totally understood. And then we get over there and there was a slight delay on the processing. And he looks at me like, what? And then it worked out great. And you're right. Like, Kid Rock was, was next to us. And it was funny because Darius Rutger was, was with you guys. He's a huge sports fan, so he was really nice to me. And then he was like, where are we going to next? And then I think Kid Rock grabbed him and he was like, you're out. And I was like, yeah, I would go with Kid Rock, too.
- [64:00]
Dierks Bentley
You got a great memory, dude. That's unbelievable.
- [64:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, you know, that was. That was a big moment for me. That's just a nice. You've been doing another night on the road.
- [64:07]
Dierks Bentley
The stats and highlights over the last, you know, 15 years. And I've been just 20 years. I guess I've just been drinking alcohol and losing my memory. So I think you made the better choice of long term health of your mind and body.
- [64:22]
Ryan Rosillo
I love the story and it's really cool that this is happening now because I was with all the UVM guys that you'd met. For those who don't know, Dirks and I went to school together for a year and I didn't really realize it at the time and certainly trying to fulfill certain things in my career. And I know we talked about this, I think over 10 years ago on ESPN. So if you don't mind doing it again with the audience, where I imagine over 90% of these people don't know it is that. And I'll tell part of the story, but I've told the story to other people. I've told it on the air because it's incredibly inspirational and it speaks to kind of like knowing what you think your purpose is in the face of. Like, this probably isn't going to work out, but Dirks, you know, we hung out all freshman year. We're good friends. And then just at the end of the year, Dierks tells an entire room of guys in our fraternity. He's like, hey, look, music is in my heart. I need to follow it. And I'm going to Nashville and I'm transferring to Vanderbilt. And dudes are like, what are you out of your mind? Like, you do karaoke by yourself and you think. And it's just guys can be really tough on guys, especially that group.
- [65:21]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [65:21]
Ryan Rosillo
And to think 30 years later, like, where this has gone, where you just knew you knew something earlier than most people ever know. And it's something all of us still talk about. And I think about it and it's. It's. It becomes more inspirational when I realize what that was. For you to decide to do that.
- [65:38]
Dierks Bentley
Well, yeah, I still remember. I think it was jp, he's like, you know, we have cmt. You just watch CMT up here. I'm like, yeah, it's more than that. I. I actually want to be on cmt. But, yeah, it's crazy. Look back on it. You know, I have older kids now that once learned to drive. And you try to think about that from their perspective compared to the parent looking down and going, they don't have any fear. They just have all the confidence in the world, and they're just getting behind the wheel of the car and doing things. And as a parent, you're going, oh, my God, it's so dangerous. And I think back about that time of just in UVM and just making that decision. Yeah, there was no fear. It was all just like being almost being pulled along by a dream. More like a. I almost didn't even have a choice. I was just being dragged forward in some ways. And I feel. Always feel really lucky to have had that dream and the chase like that. But, you know, just. Yeah, looking back on it, it's pretty. There's a big leap of faith to take. But, you know, you find something you love, and I feel really lucky about that. Just like you have a lot of our friends have, and you find that thing that you love, it's so. You feel so fortunate because it gives you something to aim for, to shoot for, and whether it works out or not, you know, like a lot of songs talk about the journey is sometimes more important than the actual results and just to go chase something and take a shot at it. There's a lot of guys that, you know, I'm here on Lower Broadway. I'm in my bar right now here on Whiskey Row in Nashville. And I think about a lot of guys that I used to play with on Lower Broadway back in the early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s. And some of those guys didn't go on to, you know, to get a major record label deal and all that stuff, but I still see them now on the backside of it all, you know, and they got kids and they've been. They're coming back from hunting or something. Or I see them at a sporting event. You know, life's kind of the great equalizer where you all. You all meet up again at some point down the road, right? No matter what you did, you want to. And you know, the stories you want to tell are like, hey, you know, what did you go for? What did you shoot for? You know, tell us. Tell us how high you went. You know, no one wants to hear about the landing. You know, what did you take a shot at? And so I feel fortunate that, you know, I had this thing to chase down same time. There's so many great stories out there, and I love catching up with people I haven't seen in a while and hearing about what they did. But yeah, just. It was wild how it all. How it all worked out for me, for sure.
- [67:53]
Ryan Rosillo
But just to put it like, fully in perspective, you're 18, and we've gone through our freshman year. You weren't in a band. You just really liked country.
- [68:02]
Dierks Bentley
I loved it.
- [68:03]
Ryan Rosillo
So did you have internal debates and just for the record too, like, Dirks was actually like, book smarter than all of us too. But did you have. Yeah, you. You were.
- [68:15]
Dierks Bentley
I never, you know, I know my. I look back at my GPA in high school to see what I had. I was. I was like a 27 cumulative. And then in college, though, that freshman year at UVM, I knew I was going to transfer. I think I got my highest GP ever, which was like a3.4. So I wasn't that smart. But I was smart for the one semester that I really needed to be smart, which is that fall semester at uvm. I just retook a bunch of courses over again.
- [68:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, what you did was. Was legendary. Guys still talk about it is.
- [68:41]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [68:42]
Ryan Rosillo
You would. You would hit up all of us, be like, hey, it's Tuesday. You want to do something? Like, it's Tuesday. Like, you can't do anything and be like, how is this guy going to pull any grades together? And like two weeks before finals, the guy would disappear. He would go in a hotel, like, study his mind, like, and then he would take. I think you took all of your exams, like on the same day, so then you could ski the rest of exam week. We're all freaking out. Yeah.
- [69:03]
Dierks Bentley
I wish I just stayed. We just all stayed in Vermont. I mean, it's. What a great state. You know, looking back on it now, I mean, there's just so much outdoor living in Vermont. But, you know, Nashville's a big city.
- [69:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, A few more. Few more recording studios there. But whenever I'M back. I usually go back every summer. And if I go to JP's and then it comes up that, like, no one will ever believe me. I'm like, he started right over there doing karaoke, but none of us could ever get in. I usually go back for almost a. I had a grandmother, you know, she passed. She was 94. So it's. You know, But. So I always had family that was up there. But then I don't know how much, you know. But when I. When everybody left and it graduated, I still had another semester.
- [69:38]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [69:39]
Ryan Rosillo
So I stayed. And it was funny because I'd always thought that everybody said, like, oh, uvm five years and it's going to be great. All these guys. And everybody graduated on time that year. Like, nobody was. So I was still there going, dude, everybody's gone. Like, what happened to the plan that. So I became like a local for a couple years. I was running another bar for somebody else, and I was finishing it up. And then I took a sports internship there at the local station. And it was starting to plant the seeds.
- [70:06]
Dierks Bentley
There we go.
- [70:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. But then it still took like another three years for me to go, okay, you actually need to leave this place. But I. When you were having, like the internal debate with yourself, like, hey, can I actually be a country music guy with my background? Like, were there moments earlier where you told yourself, okay, this is insane, like, I can't actually do this. And then you had to talk yourself.
- [70:28]
Dierks Bentley
Well, so many moments like that. When I first moved to town, you know, everyone was kind of dressed a certain way and looked a certain way, and I certainly did didn't look that way. You know, a lot of people wearing cowboy hats, starch wranglers. And I was like, oh, man, maybe I don't belong here. You know, But I just.
- [70:40]
Ryan Rosillo
The north face pull up.
- [70:42]
Dierks Bentley
What's that?
- [70:43]
Ryan Rosillo
The north face pull up didn't work.
- [70:44]
Dierks Bentley
No. North face pull up in the mountain bike wasn't. They weren't. That was. Not a lot of people running around town like that. But I just love the music, man. I love the music. I can't. I mean, how many nights I spent Harlan, you know, listening to Hank Jr. Drinking, you know, Jack and Cokes or beam of Coke. I just. I just love listening to it. And so I got a job at the Country Music association the first day I got here. An internship just to kind of try to find a route. And really what happened for me, you know, I was listening to music all over town, trying to write songs, but I walked into a Bar called the Station Inn, which is a bluegrass like hole in the wall. Acoustic music, dive bar and popcorn and cold beer. But all they serve in there holds about 200 people. Looks like a jail cell on the outside. It's still here. Surrounded by multi billion dollar, you know, high rises now, but back in the day, it was the only thing in this part of town. I walked in there, there's a bunch of, you know, guys my age playing, you know, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and they're singing bluegrass songs I'd never heard of. But they're also doing a bunch of Johnny Cash and George Jones songs as well, so. And just a great community. It wasn't about your clothing, wasn't about your starch wranglers and your cowboy hat. These guys were wearing tennis shoes and baggy jeans. You know, it was all about the music. It's about the love of the music. And I fell in with that crowd and that's kind of where I got the foundation to do my, you know, to start from. So, yeah, Wild, wild ride. No, there's definitely no course planned out or, you know, agenda or help. I didn't know anybody here at all, but just really just followed my muse and followed the love of the music and it. Let me, let me to hear talking to you. Catching up, drinking some. Drinking some bourbon.
- [72:26]
Ryan Rosillo
What was the first. Okay, I'm actually going on stage to do this moment. Like for you?
- [72:30]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah, for me, it really started just little random gigs where I'd play for somebody's crawfish New Orleans, you know, national party for Mardi Gras or some sort of wedding thing or a backyard barbecue or a tailgate party where I had a, you know, my PA system was very small and powered by a generator where every time I touched the microphone, my lip, my lip would like get numb from a shock because it wasn't grounded properly. But I remember the first time, and I don't remember much. I mean, my memory is so bad, but I remember the first time I walked out of the house I was staying in with my guitar in my hand, holding the case of the guitar and thinking, I'm, I'm walking up to a gig. Go get paid. I remember thinking how cool it was to actually be making money with my guitar. I was like, wow, this is crazy. This is so cool. I'm actually going to a gig right now. I'm going to get paid because I've walked to the house many times to go do riders nights and go perform in places for free, but actually have a gig and that was a good feeling.
- [73:33]
Ryan Rosillo
I've always wanted to ask you this because, like, there has to be that adrenaline rush, that feeling being on stage where. And I didn't even really like country music. And then the first few times I saw you, and part of it was just being so proud of your friend, but another part of it was just, you're so much fun. Your shows are so much fun. I was talking to Sully about it this past weekend, and Sully was like, sully comes to a lot of shows.
- [73:55]
Dierks Bentley
He's great.
- [73:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. He's like, I've been over 20 times, and I don't even like country music that much. He goes, I just have so much fun. Like, you created an atmosphere, fun atmosphere with these shows. Do you ever have. You have to, because all of us, like, granted, I'm just on air talking about sports, but be like, I don't have it today. What are the days like when you have to go out on a stage? Like, just, I am worn out. And yet everybody's expecting you to be at your best.
- [74:20]
Dierks Bentley
I am tired a lot. In the road, I was. I talked to Keith Urban. I were talking about, like, what does it take to be a country singer? And, like, the first requirement is just like, are you able to get by without a lot of sleep? You know, for any probably traveling salesman, which is kind of what we are. I mean, you're riding the bus and just, you know, I don't sleep well on the bus. Never have. I used to think I slept well, but that's back when I was drinking a lot more than I am now. And I realized I was just passing out for about, you know, solid 10, 15 years. And then when I stopped drinking as much, I'm like, oh, I really don't sleep well on these things. And that led to all sorts of other problems. But, yeah, you know, it's so fun, though. Yeah. A little tires, everyone's tired, the crew's tired. You know, those guys get up so early to start hanging lights and. And sound. And so we're all kind of in that same weird space together. But, you know, come, you know, 5:00, I usually do a little performance for some VIP folks, and I do some meet and greets and showtime. You start mixing a drink and walk out on stage and boom. It doesn't matter if I haven't slept for days on end or if I just had the best night of sleep ever before. It's always the same feeling of, like, pure adrenaline, Excitement, joy, wonder, gratitude, fear. It's all mixed Together, and you're just. For the next two hours, it's just a total roller coaster. It's the only time in my life where I'm totally present. And I've read a lot of books on presence. The older you get, the more you kind of get in that whole mindset of trying to be present where you are. I'm not very good at it. I'm bad about being on my phone. I'm not good at it. But when I'm on stage, I think part of the fun of entertaining and doing that is that. Is that you're just, like. You're just there. You're nowhere else. You can't be anywhere else. You have to be, like, in the moment. You can't think too much about the song or the lyrics or start forgetting words. You just have to be totally present in what you're doing. And that's probably my favorite thing about it all. But, yeah, it's like anybody else that works. There's so many people who work so many hard jobs.
- [76:16]
Ryan Rosillo
This is.
- [76:17]
Dierks Bentley
Thought my. My daughter one day was telling somebody, ask somebody ask where I was. And she goes, you know, he's singing. And they're like. And like, she. He's not at work. He's singing. You know, they don't. I don't think they consider what I do work. And they're. They're right. I don't really consider that. That either. So fun doing what. What we do. And. Yeah. So, yeah, I love it.
- [76:40]
Ryan Rosillo
It took me a while, as you can attest to, of, like, we get so excited, like, hey, Dirks is in town. And then as I got older and realized, like, some of the demands that I had, I was like, wait, this guy has to do this? There's a me in every city that he goes to that thinks like, hey, this is my night. But, like, you're just. Yeah, this is the stop. And then we're going somewhere else. So it took me. I think there was one late night that we had where. I don't know. Did you ever get it? I sent you a Sega Genesis with 94 in it as a thank you. I sent it to the Nashville address.
- [77:15]
Dierks Bentley
What?
- [77:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I wanted it for you. I wanted you to have it on the bus. That was years ago. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to do something. I was like, you've done me so many favors. I go, I'm going to do Dirks a favor.
- [77:25]
Dierks Bentley
And 94 shoved in it.
- [77:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, with 94.
- [77:30]
Alex Smith
Yeah.
- [77:31]
Ryan Rosillo
For the bus.
- [77:31]
Dierks Bentley
And you don't even tell you, you guys don't even talk about hockey on your show, but you still did that for me. Wow.
- [77:36]
Ryan Rosillo
We did a preview with Bucci the other day. Yeah, we did. Well, I'll send you the link to it. I guess the point of it all is, is like you're something that everybody else is so fired up about and you at some point have to be like, hey, I've got like 40 of these, right?
- [77:59]
Dierks Bentley
No, no, I love it. I mean, having friends at the shows when you come out and friends come out, it really is what makes the shows unique for us. And I just, I have to. At a certain time of the day, you know, the show, it's managing the cell phone and which just summer requests because you got people who come to the show that night, you got people that are hitting you up about a show in two weeks, people hitting you up about a show in a couple months. And there's several interactions back and forth per text. That's just something I had to kind of categorize and do in a certain time of the week. But no, I love walking in the room and seeing who's there and I guess spend a half hour, whatever it is, sometimes longer, catching up with people sometimes, sometimes after the show too. It really makes the show fun because you see the show through your friends eyes. They're so excited to be there and they. And stuff you kind of don't take for granted, but stuff that just kind of feels commonplace now. You get to see. You get. I get to borrow like your excitement when you come out or Sully comes out. I get to borrow his excitement and make that my own for a little bit. And certainly makes you, you know, when you're performing on stage, you know, there's. There's almost like a couple different shows going on while I'm on stage. There's a show amongst just the guys in the band. You know, we all have inside jokes and stuff that's happening on stage. That's kind of like our own little show. And there's a shows happening for the people in the first like six rows where they can kind of catch the little subtle, mostly stupid bits that we've come up with over the years. It's like trying to like. It's just dumb stuff that we do. Like little fights are going on, you know, between us during the show. And then there's obviously the big show. I'm performing so much for my crew that watches the show every single night. You know, I get self conscious of doing the same things over and over on stage or saying the same things over and over, because I don't know, there's like, I want. I want my crew to love watch the show, too. But then certainly for your close friends that come out to the show, there's that performance going on as well. So I love it when friends come out. It really makes. It makes. It does make each stop unique in that way, for sure.
- [79:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay, we'll finish up here and we'll get another plug for the whiskey.
- [79:58]
Dierks Bentley
But I always like asking maybe row 94. Row 94. College tuition coming up.
- [80:05]
Ryan Rosillo
When I think about, like, you know, a writer who writes this amazing movie out of the jump, like, I. Sometimes I'll think about, like, if you're. If you're wired that way and you want to be creative and you want to try, like, maybe the first thing you've been thinking about for so long that you have it figured out and then you've got to follow it up. And for some people, music that certainly doesn't happen. They have the one song, it pops, and then you never hear from them again. Yeah, creatively, to be this many years into it, this many albums into it, what do you search for? Where you feel like, you know, I'm not taking such a departure that the fan base is thinking, what the hell is Dirk's doing here on this one? But yet you feel fulfilled and you feel like you still have that creative energy, that creative vision that you had when you first started.
- [80:47]
Dierks Bentley
Oh, man, that's a great question. I just shot something this morning for CBS Sunday Morning. Hence, I don't know if you can see all my makeup. Not good. I look.
- [80:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Ryan, great.
- [80:56]
Dierks Bentley
You always look good. We're just downstairs in the. At the bar, and the guy I've known for a while, he's a producer of the show, and he goes, man, your last album, I just. All your albums, you go, they really. They really speak to me. Because you and I are the same age. We're kind of, you know, maturing at the same level. And he goes, your albums always seem to hit me right where. Where I am in my life. And I said, yeah, because I try to make records that reflect where I am now. Not. There's a lot of country music's nostalgia and a lot of songs about when you're running hard, you know, when you're 17. And I certainly have some of the songs. But I do try to make records that reflect just what I'm feeling now. And that's what interests me, trying to make a record that, you know, Speaks to me. I try to make music that's for me. I'm not trying to make a record that you like or somebody likes, not chasing that. I'm trying to make something that I will, you know, 10 years from now. I can pull that back off the shelf and be like, I was really proud of that record, really reflected where I was at the time. And not to promote the whiskey, but it's the same thing with that, you know, it's like something that. Like, I drink something that. I made it for me from the label, obviously, the juice to the label. Everything about it is for me, and I hope people like it. But I ultimately kind of made something that I would like, so. But, you know, so just the music, like this next record, I'm working on it. I'm always waiting for some sort of theme that excites me. So the last record, gold, the record before that was called the mountain, and I had moved to Colorado and lived there for a little while. Gold is kind of that song. It might be gravel, but it feels like gold. That always made me think about Nashville, you know, coming back to live here. There's a lot of things I did not like about Nashville. I kind of just. I've been there too long and kind of grown a little weary of some of the big city stuff. But it's such a great town, you know, And I think that song was one of the last times we wrote for the record. It was a little bit of just like, man, there's a lot of gold in this town. You just kind of. I kind of need a little bit of a break from it. So this next record. This next record is going to come out in June, so I got a little ways to work on it. But the feeling right now is just about songs and about the writing community in this town and how many great songwriters are on this town and how the song always seems to find you. There's always a song out there that comes and, like, finds you and takes you back to a certain place in your life or in the past or present. And so it's really. I think, songs. We're going to focus just on songs and just how they. How they hit me and how they really steer. Steered my life and kind of a. Some ways. A love letter to Nashville, all the great songwriters here.
- [83:22]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, I can't wait, man. I mean, you've gotten me to dig in a country in a way that I never would have when we first met.
- [83:28]
Dierks Bentley
It's hot, man. Country music's never just can't get any bigger. It's like. It's just everywhere right now. It's crazy.
- [83:33]
Ryan Rosillo
I. I had to drive for, like, 12 hours straight. I was in Iceland. I couldn't find a hotel on one side of the island, so I had to go all the way back. And I just was like, you know what? 12 hours. And the sun wasn't going down. It was just right at me.
- [83:45]
Dierks Bentley
What were you doing?
- [83:47]
Ryan Rosillo
I just went, man. I went for, like, 10 days. Explored the whole thing. I drove the entire outer ring of Iceland in 10 days. Yeah.
- [83:55]
Dierks Bentley
You go by that airplane, the Black Beach? The airplane that crashed on the beach?
- [83:58]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I almost got my Land Rover stuck there.
- [84:01]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [84:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Wow.
- [84:03]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah, I was there for about 72 hours maybe, and working, but I'd love to go back and hang.
- [84:11]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, we'll do it to Iceland.
- [84:14]
Dierks Bentley
National's getting a direct flight to Iceland. Isn't that crazy?
- [84:17]
Ryan Rosillo
It's. It's not that far. I flew from LA to Minneapolis, and then from Minneapolis to Reykjavik. It was, I think, four and a half hours. I started thinking I might meet someone this week, and then I'll just commute long distance. Iceland.
- [84:32]
Dierks Bentley
That's the thought that's never crossed my mind in about 20 years. But I'm glad you're out there living the dream.
- [84:36]
Ryan Rosillo
All right, so final word on row 94. I like that you said you like it. So that means, because I know you, that you weren't going to do this unless you liked it. I'll tell you what. Next time you're doing the Redondo beach thing or whatever.
- [84:48]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [84:48]
Ryan Rosillo
I'll organ. I'll organize a little tasting party for you in town.
- [84:53]
Dierks Bentley
It had to be something that was like 4 years old. So it's like. It's old. It's not like new whiskey. A lot of.
- [84:58]
Ryan Rosillo
A lot of.
- [84:59]
Dierks Bentley
There's a lot of stuff out there that's being promoted that I know the guys aren't drinking behind the door when the door is closed because nobody's drinking young whiskey. So it's. It's four years old, and it's from the. The 10th oldest distillery here in. Up in Owensboro, Kentucky. And to me, I would say you. Country music, where is in Nashville and bourbon's in Kentucky. It was not Kentucky. I don't want to. I don't want to drink it. But I love the way it turned out. It's good enough for a fancy place. It's Good enough for JP's there on Main street in Burlington, Vermont. And it works. And it works in all that it works everywhere. Red Solo cup or rocks? Glass. So I love the way it turned out. And I'd love to have some with you. Love to hear what you think of it.
- [85:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, we're going to get. Yeah, I do. I would say there's. There's a. It's not my go to. Because it's a special occasion, I think. The Jim Beam run that we went on. Yeah.
- [85:44]
Dierks Bentley
I didn't drink brown. I didn't drink brown liquor for a while after. After those years.
- [85:48]
Kyle Ceruti
But.
- [85:50]
Ryan Rosillo
I remember. I remember. I think it was like 10 years after. And somebody's like, you used to drink BMO Coke all the time. I was like, do you want one? And I go, you know what? I loved him. Let's do it. And then, you know, you're a little bit older, you go, how did we drink this?
- [86:03]
Dierks Bentley
I know, man. Well, the Coke just kills it. That sugar is like, I can't believe we drank it that way.
- [86:09]
Ryan Rosillo
What the hell's wrong with us? Well, at least we figured out the answer at some point. Again. Row 94. Check it out. In stores now. We should get a case up to JP's. And. As you know, every time I get a chance to catch up with you, man, I'm just so happy for you.
- [86:20]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah.
- [86:20]
Ryan Rosillo
Proud for you, man. It's.
- [86:21]
Dierks Bentley
Thanks, dude. Likewise your success, man. Absolutely.
- [86:25]
Alex Smith
Yeah, we're doing all right.
- [86:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Not good. Not good at all. Are you more of a hockey guy still? People don't know this.
- [86:32]
Dierks Bentley
I love the time. I wanna. So the Titans in 98, right? We went to the. I think it was 98. Went to the super bowl. And I was there for all that. And I just. And I. I followed them throughout the years. And I love the Titans. I just. Man, it's hard. It's hard. There's. They make it hard, and I wish they didn't make it so hard, but I do feel like now is a good time to get in for anybody that's moving to town because we've got the new stadium going up. It's going to bring new energy into the city. There's no reason why we shouldn't have a great team. And. I don't know, but. Yeah, more. A little more. My son plays travel hockey, and that's a little more of what I'm into.
- [87:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, you're way more of a hockey guy. And he used to play with the red wings in 94. You just yelled, dangle, dangle, dangle. In your face the entire time with Iserman. And he would just. He wouldn't even look at the screen. He was so good with the forwards. He would just go, dangle, dangle, dangle, dangle, dangle. He had a really just. It was an unnatural approach. So he was really tough. In 94, the Red Wings in 94.
- [87:26]
Dierks Bentley
You could jam the. You could jam the puck in from the side. There's a glitch in the games. You could just. You came around the outside and just went straight to the goal. You could jam the puck in. I'm going to have to find that game again.
- [87:36]
Ryan Rosillo
I always love playing with Pavel, so, you know, that's my. Yeah, so it was good. And then. I don't know.
- [87:43]
Dierks Bentley
I mean, my son has a PS5. He does all the fortnite the hockey. It's way too complicated. I might try to find that. See where you sent that thing. Maybe it's sitting in the office still. Because that would be probably.
- [87:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, you probably thought of some lunatic fan. It was like, is there a bomb in this thing? No, I. It's one of the most mature, nicest things I've ever done. You really did give me your address. And then I sent it and then I should have. I should have just sent it to an assistant or something. That way they would have known it was for me.
- [88:10]
Dierks Bentley
Yeah, my wife.
- [88:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Hey, man, you're the best. Congrats on everything. Row 94. Check it out now. And I'll see you soon on the road. All right.
- [88:18]
Dierks Bentley
Okay, buddy. Tell the boys. Hi.
- [88:25]
Ryan Rosillo
The alliance marches on with only two legions stationed. Saruti Borgon flying back Spotify week. Maybe we'll do a little recap of that before life advice. So it's just Kyle and I right now lost last week. Sorry, Kyle. You have everybody's picks then. I'll throw my pick in at the end and see where the payout is. All right. Yeah.
- [88:51]
Kyle Ceruti
Shout. Shout out to Alex Smith. Talk about playing free. I mean, I just. I don't care what anyone says about me at this point because it's just funny. Now I'm going to go with mine. I was trying to go with war gon's vibes because he mentioned that he was hot. And so I just took Penn State minus six and a half. That was actually his pick. And then as a gentleman, he was like, you know what? I like Minnesota, so I'm taking Penn State minus six and a half. Worn has just taken the Minnesota money line. Cerudi is dabbling in the alternates and he's going to take the over in Texas. Vanderbilt. It's alternate over at 47 and a half. And what is it that you have?
- [89:28]
Ryan Rosillo
No one likes this pick. Washington is plus six and a half at Indiana. Indiana's on the back of quarterback, but he's actually played Trace Jackson, Davis's younger brother. Huge kid. So he's actually gone out there and run around a bit. Washington just got destroyed Freud. So nobody would likely be betting Washington plus six and a half with the fan fair around Indiana football this week. But we're going to alt this one. So give me Washington plus ten and a half. And what's that payout?
- [89:55]
Kyle Ceruti
I mean, plus 538. I mean, we're usually aiming for the 450 and we just kept going up and up. It's like, how high can we take it? And yeah, yeah, right.
- [90:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Let's. Let's make it even harder. 538. Good election time. This podcast has been accused a few times the last few weeks of trying to swing the election, which I appreciate that you think our platform is that powerful. So look, that's what it is. Then run it back. Recap it for us one more time.
- [90:22]
Kyle Ceruti
All right, we've got Penn State minus six and a half. We've got the alternate over 47 and a half with Texas Vanderbilt. We are taking the Minnesota money line and we are Washington plus ten and a half.
- [90:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. All right, Couch money research. Here's what we've got. Couch. I'm so tempted to give out the giants under at 15 and a half. Prime time Giants. I kind of feel like I have to, but you know, as soon as I do, they're going to score like 28 points. So I'm going to go Bears -2 and a half. Daniels did not practice for Washington on Thursday. That line is clearly telling you people think not going to play by the time this taping. Maybe we'll even know or when this comes out. But as of right now, we don't know. That's going to be fun. You got Bears minus two and a half. Jaden's coming out of the tunnel, but this is really more about my Bears. And the disrespect towards Caleb is Jaden got off to this terrific start. So we're. It's a little more emotional maybe than just the couch. The money is fading. You want to talk about no. 1 on the Titans? 96% of the money. 90 plus percent of the bets according to Action Network are on the other side of this with Detroit. So no one is on the Titans. You are on the Titans plus 11 and a half. Although I was told this morning it Was like, yeah, be careful with that one. I was like, dude, be careful. Like I'm giving out the Titans against maybe what, the third, second, third best team in the NFL. And the research on this one is Browns plus eight and a half. Browns plus eight and a half. New vibe around the facility at home, divisional rival, the Baltimore Ravens. So open minus nine and a half. It's now eight and a half. So there's couch money research for this week. You can see all of these lines on sportsbook.fanduel.com youm want details?
- [92:28]
Dierks Bentley
Fine.
- [92:29]
Kyle Ceruti
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [92:33]
Ryan Rosillo
What's up?
- [92:35]
Dierks Bentley
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine.
- [92:40]
Ryan Rosillo
And best of all, kids, I am liquid.
- [92:43]
Kyle Ceruti
So now you know what's possible.
- [92:45]
Ryan Rosillo
Let me tell you what's required. Life advice, Just Kyle and the Ry guy. Dual threat, two seater. Yeah, let's go two seater. I was looking at trucks online the other night and I thought, you know what? Bring back bench seating Milton style. Because I used to have a truck that had a bench and my buddy was like, you have to drive through random towns in Vermont with your arm around your girlfriend just because Milton, Vermont, very. Almost no one will get the reference, but it was just like we used to call it Milton style. And she was, she was up, she was game, you know, she, she, she thought it was hilarious and thought it was cute. And I would maybe, you know, fresh off a plant pickup, hoops, shirt off, driving around on the pickup bench and just arm around her being like, let's get some soft serve and play mini golf in Georgia, Vermont.
- [93:45]
Kyle Ceruti
Maybe catch a drive in later.
- [93:47]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Right now I know some of you creepers are getting weird about, you know, that's not what we're talking about. Just two people in love and making sure people know as you drive around. So yeah, I started looking at trucks going like, and there's a bench option for this one. And I thought, bring it back, bring it back. Those consoles, just mints and sunglasses and fucking chargers and USB ports and all this stuff. What about love? Right?
- [94:18]
Kyle Ceruti
I argue with that. Who would argue with that?
- [94:20]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I don't even know how we got on this. The point is that everybody was here and Kyle came over to my house last night with Ceruti and Morgan, AKA Oregon. And I don't know, do we, do we have to do the full recap? I feel like we have to do the full recap with everybody because it wasn't. And it also wasn't that exciting.
- [94:39]
Kyle Ceruti
Yeah, I mean, they're going to, they're going to have different things, you know, I was like, you know, don't start opening his drawers and stuff like that. Don't do that. I was very curious. Obviously I held it together. Yeah, I'd read. I'd like to hear their. What they thought happened. So I think we can just wait for them. But it was great. Your boys got some golf clubs now. Dress golf. I'm not even going to golf today, but I just was like playing dress up right now in my office. It's pretty good.
- [95:04]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. So we hooked Kyle up with some used golf clubs from Taylor made. I would say both nice sets of irons, a really nice driver, a not so great driver. I think that Callaway fairway rescue was really nice too. And then I screwed up because I forgot that I had ordered this Titleist utility iron back when I was going full gear mode. And I couldn't find it in my garage for the longest time. And as I was packing up the back, I hated those areas.
- [95:30]
Kyle Ceruti
It kind of ruined the ending for me though. No, no, because you did it twice. The one thing, you were like, oh, fuck, I'm giving you that. And I was like, hold on, take it out. And you're like, no, no, you're good.
- [95:39]
Ryan Rosillo
It's in the bag.
- [95:40]
Kyle Ceruti
Okay. And then you're like, oh, shit, the utility iron is in there. And I'm like, here, let me grab it. And you're like, no, no. And I was like, wait a second. This is. It was 100% good. Now I feel like it's 98% good vibes. But if you're good, I'm good.
- [95:52]
Ryan Rosillo
The reason I don't need it is it's a four iron utility club.
- [95:55]
Kyle Ceruti
And dude, I love that. Just line drive that shit out of, out of a bad spot.
- [95:59]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't need it.
- [96:00]
Kyle Ceruti
Well, thanks so much.
- [96:02]
Ryan Rosillo
And it's custom. It's a custom shaft on that.
- [96:04]
Kyle Ceruti
So I'm going to unwrap it at Roosevelt.
- [96:06]
Ryan Rosillo
And I can't wait.
- [96:08]
Kyle Ceruti
I can't wait either. I've been golf poor. I was like golf homeless. Now I've got like, now I got that second beach house too.
- [96:15]
Ryan Rosillo
Like, this is great. See, that's what we all love about Kyle, simple pleasures. Because I don't even know if you're golf middle class with those irons, but I don't want to ruin the idea that you're not, you know, eating shrimp with all you can drink pina coladas in Fort Lauderdale. All right, we got a Lot of people really worried about Ed and Ed's wife. Yeah. Like this email, Ed 1,000,000% pumped his buddy's wife. It's a no brainer. Okay, thanks.
- [96:49]
Kyle Ceruti
That's like the worst, like the, you know, the worst demeanor, friends, you know, hearing the story and giving it that. Giving it that spin. Like, I think you do need to look into it a little bit. But it's just. I could just tell there's some guys in my group I would tell that story to and they would like enjoy saying what that guy just said.
- [97:06]
Ryan Rosillo
They would want it to be bad.
- [97:07]
Alex Smith
Yeah.
- [97:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. That. That frustrates me too with just the way guys can be. Is they. Some people just want to believe everything terrible there was. I read the email again this morning about Ed. So again, the emailer wasn't Ed. It was Ed was the new buddy that there was a mention in the email about her location being somewhere different than Ed's house. And then she said she was back at.
- [97:30]
Kyle Ceruti
Remember, did they go get more booze, you think?
- [97:35]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, that part's weird. I would have to know more about her. Like, is that in her DNA? That she could just get hammered on a Saturday and then not text you? Because that ever happened before. Because the good thing is if it actually has happened before, then you have less to worry about. Right.
- [97:55]
Kyle Ceruti
She's got a protocol here.
- [97:57]
Ryan Rosillo
It's a bit like Tom and cousin Greg where it's like I want the insurance. And then Tom says the insurance in fact makes you a threat. Whereas if you were uninsured, the irony would be that you were safe. But they are in fact not receipts. Okay. God's like. All right, Yeah, I caught that line. All right, slumlord, let's try this one. Long time listener, Jin. Gym stats not impressive. Former college athlete. Just trying to recapture maintain some of my former self. I'm 35, I live in the Southeast. Roughly five years ago, I turned a residence into a rental property. Since then I've acquired two other properties. Two and a half years ago, I purchased a single family home purely as a rental property. This is the only non condo town home townhome in a small portfolio. How about this guy though? 35. Just putting it together. The area of this town this is in is very much up and coming, which ends up being very important to the story. I do not use a property manager for any of the rentals. I actively manage them and deal with the issues in addition to my full time career. Wow. Well, good for you because I know like, you look into property management and you're like, man, is this worth it? It's definitely worth it if you don't want to deal with it. But if you can pull it off. I remember the first rental property. I was over there with fucking corkscrew and duct tape trying to figure out the garage door. And then I fixed it and I was so proud of myself. And the tenant was like, I can't believe you know how to do this stuff.
- [99:28]
Kyle Ceruti
Where'd you, where'd you put the corkscrew?
- [99:30]
Ryan Rosillo
That's a joke. But I, I got a call seven days later and she was like, it doesn't work. It's like, let's get somebody over there. Yeah, that has a ladder that doesn't rent ladders, owns them. This single family home is a property. Is the property I'm hoping to get advice on. I've had the same tenant in this house for the time I started renting, just over two years. And after the two year mark, I allowed the lease to be converted to a month to month lease with no change in rate. The only condition is that if I wanted the tenant out or if the tenant wanted to leave, there was supposed to be a 30 day notice. The tenant was almost always late in turning in rent. I always work with them and never charge a late fee. Just to be nice and accommodating. Definitely mistake. Yeah, you could tell. All right, so there's, there's one. Wherever the rest of this is going, let's make sure we hammer that lesson as well. The tenant told me to take to. The tenant told me a week in October, they were leaving the following week. They refused to pay me rent in October and ended up officially getting out of the house on the 20th. I think here comes the issues. I haven't been able to get a hold of my tenants. The last I heard from them was on the 19th saying they would have everything out by the 20th and would be ready to for a walk through. I've gone to the house every day and it doesn't appear anyone is there. There's furniture and trash all over the front yard. I've sent an eviction notice which I believe takes seven days to take effect in my state. Question for the guys, should I remove, remove all the stuff in there and take it to the dump legally? Because I haven't heard from them, I'm worried they have recourse to come after me because I didn't give them a 30 day notice. Additionally, they let their dogs into the crawl space of the house that destroyed the ductwork. Conservatively, it's going to cost me about 10k to fix it. Not to mention what I need to fix on the inside, as I haven't been in the house in a while. Should I take them to small claims court or just cut my losses? I can afford the repairs, but knowing that these people are getting away with this just kills me. Any advice would be helpful. I am certainly not educated enough, despite running a few places, to know what the legal ramifications are for this. And I think every state is pretty different. So look, the first thing that you learned is you can't be nice to anybody when you're going to be renting properties.
- [101:25]
Kyle Ceruti
Inch situation.
- [101:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, yeah, it sucks because you know, you're going to have great tenants. Great tenants, great tenants. You're going to have this, you know, because everybody you would think be like, oh, yeah, that's okay. There's a couple days late. Like, stuff happens, right? Like, oh, we're not sure what we're doing. All right, well, kind of just let me know, you know, try to give me a heads up. We don't need to get everybody involved in all this. And most times that transaction works out perfect because people are reasonable for the most part. People are not looking to take advantage of everybody. Then you get some asshole who looks at the opportunity is like, oh, this guy's like a little weak. Or he's a little understanding, he's a little forgiving. Like the one time I had a guy that rented a place for me and pissed on my mattresses, decided to deal with my realtor behind my back and do like a night to night prorated based on what the monthly rent was. And then he would let me know when he was going to move out and then ruined a couple other things. And then of course was demanding his security deposit like a day after he had left. By the way, when I was like, when are you leaving? He's like, oh, we're not sure yet. I was like, I'm kind of doing you a pretty big solid here. And this night to night thing being prorated on the monthly isn't really cool either. And guess what? That guy didn't give a because he got over on me. And then from that point on it's like, okay, well now I have to be strict about all of this stuff because if you keep renting properties, you're going to have somebody that takes advantage of it as far as getting their stuff out of there. I mean, I know what you're saying I don't have the legal answer. I would be at the dump with all of their shit immediately. I would also do. You must have somebody who's a lawyer, who's a friend that understand these law better. My problem, my concern would be, even if you go after them, if they're willing to do this, like, this is kind of like a. Who was it, George with the mattress? This is like a George situation where this guy's going to be completely unfazed by any letter of mail that comes to him. If you can even figure out where to mail him anything. They likely abandoned your place. They knew that, they trashed it. They're probably not coming back for that stuff. Yeah, I guess there's some path where you get a call in two months being, okay, where's my stuff? But I would, I would go after them assuming you were going to lose so that you're not obsessing over it. It's not something you're wasting a ton of man hours on. You're not wasting a ton of legal fees on. I would go after them thinking anything is a win because it's still probably going to be some kind of loss for you.
- [103:45]
Kyle Ceruti
Yeah, this classic Judy case. I mean, Judy's on your side, especially if you've got, you know, text and stuff like that. I don't know about. You know, I think there's a lot of protection for renters. If you're saying an eviction notice is only seven days in your state, I imagine there's less. And I imagine you're, you know, definitely not in California.
- [104:01]
Ryan Rosillo
Sounds like it's a little stricter than, than California.
- [104:05]
Kyle Ceruti
Well, less strict. Right. You would say, like, there's less rent protection in this state. They're saying a eviction notice takes seven days. Like, that's, that's not bad.
- [104:13]
Ryan Rosillo
No, that sounds pretty good. Yeah, I'm just being told that, like, people told me horror stories about California.
- [104:19]
Kyle Ceruti
Yes, that's what I mean. This guy said he's in the southeast, I believe. Right. So, yeah, it's not that southeast.
- [104:23]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm going to guess it's a little different.
- [104:25]
Kyle Ceruti
You know, this guy doesn't sound like he's particularly litigious.
- [104:28]
Ryan Rosillo
I love, I love the Judy call, though. Tell us more about how you see Judy.
- [104:32]
Kyle Ceruti
Well, this is the.
- [104:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Based on cases you've seen in the past.
- [104:36]
Kyle Ceruti
Okay. So that's easy. Like, usually what happens is a guy will go away for like two months and he's like, yeah, I went to go stay with my aunt in Florida or Something. And then I came back and I, you know, I'm missing a laptop, and I wanted, you know, I had some shoes, and it's like, you know, just. He left the shit there. And, you know, he's just like, that's my property. I want it returned to me. And Judy's like, you know, this guy's got all these texts of you not answering. And, you know, we know that your phone was on because you answered this one. You didn't answer these ones. Like, you think that this is okay. I know that you had a lease that, you know, that you said all these things were supposed to happen, but you abandoned the property.
- [105:09]
Ryan Rosillo
It was.
- [105:09]
Kyle Ceruti
It's clear. And so Judy would throw that case out immediately. That's just. I know what Judy would do. There's a bunch of different versions of the same situation. This, I guess the other thing I would say, is this guy, like, properly litigious? Do you think that he would actually go through, or is he more of a George thing where all that seems way too much for him and he's not actually going to go get a lawyer and take you to court, you know, to get, you know, what's 90% trash and maybe, you know, 10% valuables that he left in this place? So I guess. I guess maybe the thing that would set this guy off is if he's trying to get a security deposit back, and then maybe he might start sniffing around. But I think. I think you're probably well within at least common sense rights to be able to go and start, you know, undoing whatever damage this guy's done, especially if he's never going to come back, which it sounds like he's probably not going to.
- [105:57]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay, but a couple. There's two different things happening here. You're talking about the Judge Judy scenario. And by the way, shout out to your hours invested in Judge Judy for giving us perspective that I can't provide on this. But there's two different legal directions that you're talking about. One would be the tenant being like, hey, where's all my stuff? Oh, I threw into the dump. So you're saying get something on record. Let's see, all the text, string of communication, right? Send some emails, send a letter to the last known address, although I don't even know that you're going to know that. Text message constantly, hey, I'm going to throw this stuff away. Like, you need to let me know what's going on. All right, whatever. So in that case, you're covering yourself. But the other way, the other direction of him taking this guy to court for the duct work. I mean, imagine you have a security deposit, but $10,000 is probably not what the security deposit was on this property. I would, you know, you can go after him as hard as you want, but somebody who's willing to do this is. I mean, you hate to reward the asshole because this guy's so rewarded kind.
- [107:00]
Kyle Ceruti
Of that he's gone though, right? That's the other thing. The reward for this guy is kind of that this is the end of this road.
- [107:05]
Alex Smith
Maybe.
- [107:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. But if you own. Like when. When I had the tenant piss on my mattress because they took the mattress covers off and I put in like brand new Tempur Pedic mattresses, which is just stupid on my part.
- [107:15]
Kyle Ceruti
That was nice of you.
- [107:16]
Ryan Rosillo
And I was like, hey, there's. There's piss all over the mattress. And they were like, it wasn't us. I was like, it's 100% you.
- [107:23]
Alex Smith
You.
- [107:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Know, and, you know, I talked to my realtor about it. He was like, ah, more like, is.
- [107:31]
Kyle Ceruti
It worth it for you? Because it's probably not.
- [107:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, right, right. Because he didn't want to deal with it, you know, Like, I love, I love the just like philosophy on things. It's like, I'm telling you to not do anything because I really don't want to have to do anything. Yeah, I would. I mean, can't you keep. Unless you went month to month and you didn't. I mean, you couldn't have given the security deposit back. But again, there's no way, based on what you're telling us about this guy, about this property where the whole deal, there's no way the security deposit was $10,000. So it's not going to cover the duct work. You can go after them all you want, but it probably make you feel a little bit better. But don't be upset if it doesn't go your way on that part of it. But I love Kyle's Judge Judy scenario on all of the stuff that was left behind and covering your bases for a house that he is damaged and abandoned. And now you have to make dump runs and pay for removal to get the stuff out of there. Yeah.
- [108:26]
Kyle Ceruti
The thing I would say is if you end up going to small claims, right, you want to make sure you're not taking any liberties like entering the home early and stuff like that. That can be proven. That's the only thing. If you're like, you know, if you're not looking at it, it's like, oh, this is Good. This, this terrible mistake I made is finally gone and I charge it to the game. If you're like, I'm actually trying to recoup some stuff here and you know, it turns out that you didn't actually do everything, you know, as the exit agreement in your lease, then that could not be. If you're like shining a light on his shit, you might actually shine a light on you entering early and stuff like that. So if you're not, I think if you're not planning on going on record officially in a court system, then yeah, you know, open that door and start tossing out.
- [109:05]
Ryan Rosillo
There's also probably better people to talk to than us.
- [109:07]
Kyle Ceruti
Definitely.
- [109:07]
Ryan Rosillo
All right, next. 1-6225. 20 years old pickup comp. Poor man's Kevin Love used to be a bigger body and can get hot from deep if you don't close out. Sorry for the long email. This actually isn't even that long. Some of the other ones. Here's my problem. Today I got accepted to my dream school when I left high school and proceeded to get my dream job as a manager of a sport team there. He has told me what he's doing. It is very cool, very impressive. We will not share but it's big time. So he's like, you know, manager for a very high profile college sports ball team. Now it's becoming a what if as school was never really my thing but having my dream job and meeting great people made me stick around. Now the school part is catching up to me and I'm most likely done with school. Two and a half years through college as I'm in a tough spot with my grades. I'm going to finish out this semester just to get the credits. But now looking towards the future, I'm not going to be able to keep this job. Most likely we'll have to move home. And what should my steps be from here? Here are a couple options. Let me know what you guys think. Going to my dad's real estate business at home, just going home story, getting a decent job and living life from there. I've had to face that demon and for some of you it's great. You start with a massive advantage so, you know, not the same for everybody. Keep going to this school far from home and trying to work back my grades to get this job back. If possible, I'd have to retry out for this spot to do that. But knowing everybody here well, I think I'll feel pretty good about it. So he's telling us he likes his chances. So it looks like he's going to, because of his grades, be ineligible to be the team manager. I don't know how any of that works. He's telling us that. But he could potentially get it back if he improves his grades. Going home. Number three. Going home and just getting a simple communications degree in my local community college.
- [110:58]
Kyle Ceruti
There we go.
- [110:59]
Ryan Rosillo
Back into the sports industry. I. I so wish to work in. Possibly trying to get a job at a local radio station and being around the industry in some way. I have some connections that radio station. So it might be on the table if I reach out. Overall, I'm just kind of lost. After failing myself in this endeavor and just seeing what the gang's input is on this situation. How would you handle this? So yeah, look, this is pretty big time stuff. You seem to light up based on the communications school. Community college, the slash communication, community path.
- [111:31]
Kyle Ceruti
Yeah, well, this story is sort of an amalgamation of what was going on with me two years in. I'd still not really cracked any books, so to speak. And I turned my shit around from like a. Like a 2. 0 to like a 37 or whatever it was that by the end there.
- [111:46]
Ryan Rosillo
And I really got the big brains on Brad here.
- [111:48]
Kyle Ceruti
Yeah, I know. Well, I really. I just found out about the library. It sounds like maybe this guy's pouring all of his. You know. I wasn't pouring all my stuff into managing a sports team. I was pouring my stuff.
- [111:58]
Ryan Rosillo
Knife business, right? Speaking of knives, Shout out to Benchmade. Shout out our friends. They hooked the crew up. Kyle ended up with both his knife and Cerudi. It was a big night for Kyle. Huge. Ceruti could not pack his knife because he had a carry on. So we don't need. We don't need a knife charge on Ceruti here on a plane. But great craft.
- [112:21]
Kyle Ceruti
Benchmade, light as a feather.
- [112:23]
Ryan Rosillo
Fun knives, right?
- [112:24]
Kyle Ceruti
Really fun. Looking for something to throw them out of my apartment that like, you know, wouldn't damage anything anyway.
- [112:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Sure. That's what they wanted to hear. Is it going to be your everyday carry?
- [112:37]
Kyle Ceruti
I mean you wouldn't even know it's there. It's so much lighter than the other like four knives that I have. It's really nice.
- [112:42]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. Like I could wear it on a.
- [112:44]
Kyle Ceruti
Chain around my neck. That's how light it is.
- [112:47]
Ryan Rosillo
So back to the tale of two Kyles.
- [112:50]
Kyle Ceruti
Oh, my point is it's totally. Whatever you're doing, you're distracted from school. Right? That's fine. And mine was way less admirable than you know what you're being distracted with. But you can totally do it. Like, I was literally a flip with a switch was flipped. I mean, I was like, you know, if I got an 80th through high school, I was like, that's pretty good, right, dad? And he was like, you know, because that's where I was in the rankings. He was like, you know what? I guess that's pretty good for you. And, you know, I. I didn't really start trying for, you know, a hundred percent until, you know, probably like the beginning of my third year in college.
- [113:26]
Ryan Rosillo
It.
- [113:27]
Kyle Ceruti
And all I'm saying is, like, I thought it could never happen. And then I just changed my ways. And I think you just need to find time, like, go to the library, whatever. Maybe. Maybe you just need to not have this job for a semester and get it back. I wouldn't if you, if you went the college route. I think it's way harder to get back into it. My Buddy is now 31. He just graduated this last year, and he's just. He's like a different type of college grad, and he. He's really struggling. So, like, you're already kind of. You already did the thing. You already said, fine, I'll do this. Even though a bunch of people in America are yelling it's a scam, I still did it. I wouldn't give up on this. I would just try to crack the books and see, you know, see, don't sell yourself short, man. Don't just say, oh, fuck it, I'll get a communication job. Maybe I'll be HR somewhere. Like, I don't know. I think. I think you're already here. Just like, wait until they kick your ass out or, you know, you flunk out or whatever. Like, really, really try to see if you can crack these books. Unless, like, it's not like you hate college. You're just like, I hate failing at college. Right? That's what he's saying.
- [114:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, that's a really good point. Because the way I read it was, it sounded like there's a chance it's still salvageable at the current place, but you're just going to lose the student management position. But you could get it back. So here's what I would say is somebody who also up in college, massively his first year, his freshman year, well, that's me. I can stop doing third person. I took the wrong courses. And then later on I had something going on at home and I didn't do great. And a massive, massive thanks to Patty Corcoran with the University of month who didn't give up on me. Right. But I would tell you this as somebody that had to like fix it and figure it out because I felt like I can't just leave. Like, I've already owed this money and I have credits and now like, what am I going to do now? Like, I was always thinking in the back of my head, I was like, maybe I'll just become a general contractor or whatever. Right? That was kind of always like the default when things were pretty down, whatever, you know, not about that much different.
- [115:23]
Kyle Ceruti
Than our guy here.
- [115:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. But what I would say to the emailer is that you would be shocked how adults respond to somebody that steps up and gets in front of it. Okay? So I don't know if you're telling us like you're absolutely failing out after this fall semester and there's nothing you can do about it. Can you go to anybody right now? It's October, okay? The semester is not over. I actually, I don't know in the south how it works, but trimesters and whatnot. No. Well, they can, I think they may start early, but that's not the point. If you go to somebody that matters in your department, okay, this is, look, I fucked it up and I don't know if you're getting kicked out of school, if you're just losing this job that you want, like, what can I do? Maybe you can't salvage this semester, but like, what can I do to fix this? I need to fix this. Because most people, especially at that age, you just kind of put your head in the sand, you hope it goes away. And guess what? It doesn't go away. It doesn't go away. And because so many people have that approach, you're embarrassed socially. You know, there's some elements there that prevent you from just sitting. But if you are, you emailed us, you got this gig, okay? There's probably something about your personality that's outward enough. If you were to walk into the door to an administrator within your school and then maybe to somebody else and then talk to the coach. Just do an adult fest, okay, for a week while you're on campus and walk in owning every one of your fuck ups here, you're going to be shocked the way adults respond to you because they're not going to be used to seeing it happen where you're not making excuses, where you go in. I mean, sometimes actually helps kind of lay on like, oh, you know, whatever, deal with some stuff. But for the most part be like, hey, I've already, I'VE already messed up. I need to figure out a way to fix this. Get in front of what the next step is. I'm not giving up on this opportunity. You tell the coach, hey, here's what I did. I met with this person, I met with that person. I want to come back. I want to be a team manager and I want to make it a priority. And I know I'm can't be promised anything and I may have ruined this great opportunity, but I'm going to tell you, like, from this day on, and just like Kyle said, get in the fucking library. Like, whatever you think you can do or not do, it's not working. And I had to figure that one out too. I thought I was a lot smarter when I showed up to Vermont than I was. I was like this. I was like, this school isn't that hard. And I'll never forget, like, thinking I aced the first test I ever took and it came back was like 72. I went, what the fuck happened here? I'm like, I walked out of that room, like, shoulders back, going, I'm dominating this place. Like, this is easy. And then it was.
- [118:04]
Kyle Ceruti
Put my transfer papers in.
- [118:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, right. Like it was one of Dartmouth. They're not that far away, see what they're up to, probably walk on. So I don't. I don't. I know. I know what you're going. But if I could have ever. I don't want to do it over again. But if I were to do it over again, or if I were to have a kid dropping them off at college, I would say, like, before you fire up the PlayStation, before you start just whatever it is that you do now and doom scrolling and all the stuff and the fuckery of the dorms. That is so whatever those weird hands.
- [118:36]
Kyle Ceruti
That you guys are sucking on now, whatever the fuck that is.
- [118:39]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, right. I don't even know what that is.
- [118:40]
Kyle Ceruti
But anyway, it's like nitrous or something. I don't know.
- [118:43]
Ryan Rosillo
You lost me. But if you just decide to, like after a class, stay on campus to do work for an hour before the fun times.
- [118:53]
Kyle Ceruti
Crazy difference, dude.
- [118:55]
Ryan Rosillo
It's. It would change your life. And then I finally started doing that. I was like, before I get back. And somebody's like, you know, because when somebody. I heard the beginning of night. I could be walking down the staircase of my house, backpack on, truck keys in hand, ready to go outside. I would see the snow and then I would hear the Genesis turn on. And I would go, well, I not going to make it today. Not going to make it up there today because it was so much fun. It was just so much fun. But then, look, the point is to the advice. If you can show them a version that they rarely see from students going through this, I think you will be rewarded even if the payoff isn't immediately. If you actually want to stay at this place. But some of your email makes me think that you're kind of over it. And maybe you only liked being part of the team thing, but that team thing is major connections. I'm just basically telling you to do whatever you can to get your degree from this school and continue on the path of getting back together with this team because that's going to open doors that community college communications degrees are not going to open. Okay.
- [120:06]
Kyle Ceruti
I mean, essays and tests aren't fun, man, but doing, doing well actually is like outside of like, oh, maybe I can convince grades are cool.
- [120:14]
Ryan Rosillo
You're about to convince.
- [120:15]
Kyle Ceruti
Yeah, like you can. I convinced myself. I was like, God damn, look at the, look at Mr. 73 pulling off a 96 with some, you know, encouraging red pen on the paper. That's what I'm fucking talking about. And even though, even if that only lasts for, you know, 10 minutes of happiness, it's cool. You, like, you're not just showing them. You would be showing yourself. And just as a guy who felt like he didn't know where that switch was to flip it once you fucking feel around and find it like, it's like you'll be surprised at how much easier this thing will seem. It's not going to seem impossible. And how am I going to do another two years of this?
- [120:48]
Ryan Rosillo
So anyway, yeah, I know when you're going through the bad times for college and the grade, it's like every test you're taking and then you get something back and you just, it's like the doom of looking up your grade instead of. And then when it pivots to I can't wait to see how well I did. Yeah, it's a lot like the bench press. All right, that'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Kyle Ceruti Worgan. No thanks to them except for their picks but they're not getting a full credit on.
- [121:12]
Kyle Ceruti
And their knives.
- [121:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, they didn't even get knives out of the deal. They're going to have to pay full price from Benchmade online because Benchmade try to make it happen. But Kyle's now a two knife guy, so. Lookout world, thanks for listening. Check out our YouTube page and always subscribe Ryan Rosilla podcast for your Spotify WA must be 21 and older, present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem call 1-800- gambler or visit rgh-help.com, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York.