B (18:16)

Hated it. Was wanting to guys my eyes out. No, I'm just kidding. Look, it was rough. It was rough knowing that it didn't matter which team was winning that game, that one of them's going to be in Levi's Stadium. One of those teams is going to be in our locker room for that game at Levi's with an opportunity to win a Super Bowl.

A (18:33)

So it was rough.

B (18:34)

It was. But, you know, kudos to both teams. They earned it. They both have had phenomenal seasons. I think all year long, the narrative was that those are the top two teams in the nfc. Right. And so it was almost as if we were watching the super bowl right there last night in the NFC Championship, because those are two juggernauts that have played really well this season. But ultimately, Seattle just was too overpowering for the old Rams.

A (19:04)

What do you think of, like, Darnold's game? And I'm sure you. You pay attention to the other stuff that's happening because it's within your division, but did you see something different from him in being able to step up against the Rams in a way that, you know, he hasn't necessarily done in the other two games this season?

B (19:20)

Yeah, I mean, I don't think it could be spoken about enough what Sam has been able to accomplish in these playoffs to kind of get that monkey off his back that it's been there for over. What the. Over his entirety of his career of, like, not being able to win in the big moments. Right. I think that's been the thing that's. That's been his knock since entering the league. But look, Sam has always been uber talented, ultra talented. The things that I saw him do when he was here with the 49ers that year with us. The. The throws that he's able to make at different arm angles on the run, throwing back across his body, like, phenomenal. You see why he was drafted, where he was drafted. Right. You know, I think we can't speak enough about. And I would love to ask Sam this question, because there truly is a difference between a player who is confident versus a player who has a little bit of doubt in what. In their game and what they're doing. And the difference right now that I'm seeing with Sam is there's just this poise. There's this almost a calmness about him where he, like, he just fully trusts his abilities. He truly trusts the team that he's on, his teammates around him to be able to just go out there and play ball. And do what he's done his entire life, which is be a baller. You know, he, he, like I just said at the beginning, he cannot get enough credit because he had to make plays in that game to, to help his team win that game. It wasn't just another matter of like, oh, saying it was a product of the run game, product of a great defense. Like no, he threw that ball to, to spots of the field where, you know, to get it to jsn to get it to, you know, to different, different guys.

A (21:06)

He hit cup on the punt after.

B (21:08)

The Cooper Cooper Cup.

A (21:09)

Bobo.

B (21:10)

Bobo on the, it was a corner post that they ran for a touchdown. I mean he threw that ball last night, right? And I think it's, it's phenomenal to see, really. And like I said I would love to talk to him, to ask him what the difference has been, but you kind of see it in his interviews and everything that he's done all season long. Just like super focused anytime anybody asked him. Like, Sam, like, you're doing so amazing, man. I'm just worried about, you know, just you know, next next game and just doing it for my guys and just like super poised, like it. I don't, I don't know. So that's just, this is the difference I've noticed.

A (21:45)

Jerry. Maybe, I don't know if there's a story, but something from back to the time where he was taking reps against you guys in practice when he was with the team. Because you know, granted, physically, anybody that watched him at sc, you go, okay, I remember like that Penn State game with him where you just said this is ridiculous. Like there was a thought, could this guy even be the number one overall pick? And then maybe there was like a slight regression, but you have a little smile on your face. So it sounds like you have something for us.

B (22:09)

I mean look, he runs that same system over in Seattle that we run, right? They have Kubiak over there as their oc so they kind of run similar things. And one thing that our, our scheme demands of the quarterback is the ability to roll out of the pocket on, on bootlegs. On bootlegs and be able to throw the ball on the run, right? And the hardest thing for a quarterback is when you bootleg out to your left, you're running to your left and you're a right handed quarterback and you have to try to throw the ball while you're throwing left to right. You've seen Caleb Willingfield this year, you know, phenomenal athlete, make crazy throws going from his his left, throwing with his right. Sam, I think I remember him making a throw like that, going to his left, where he just has this ability to just flick that thing.

A (22:51)

And you see it.

B (22:51)

You've seen him do it all, all year long with Seattle, and you even saw him do it over in Minnesota last year. He just has this ability to flick that thing exactly where he wants it to go, rolling to his left. And few quarterbacks can make those type of throws. And like I said, that's. That's why he was drafted. What he was he a second overall, third overall his year or all year?

A (23:12)

Yeah, I think he was third.

B (23:13)

He was third overall back in 2018 when we came out together. And, you know, you don't get drafted that high unless you can make those type of throws. And so now he's able to really put it all together. That's the difference. You know, he very well could. Could be a Super bowl champion. It is crazy to think that he is the first quarterback in our draft class to make it to a Super bowl. When you have guys like Lamar Jackson, like Josh Allen, like Baker Mayfield, like, he's the one that's separated from the pack this season, you know, and so that's. That's a kudos to him, but you got to hit the cap.

A (23:47)

I want to just give a little love here to Kenneth Walker because he was a different running back in college and he changes the body type up and, you know, he doesn't get brought up with, you know, Peak Saquon or, you know, some of even your guy McCaffrey, because McCaffrey is just incredibly versatile with everything that he does. But that run where it looks like he's got three different players in the Rams to deal with and then busted outside, like the run that he's on, how important it is now with Charbonnet's injury. But is there something about him that is a little bit different when you're going up against him? You know, that maybe is lost on some of the other headliner running backs that we always seem to talk about all the time.

B (24:28)

Well, I mean, is it something that makes him different? Of course. Like, you watch him. This guy's an alien. He. He can do things with the ball in his hands and his body. Like, you see it all the time. Like, he's had. He's had plays. I don't know what year this is. I think it's his third year. He's had plays within this, these. These first three years of his career where, you know, every. Every week you get up there as a player, you're in the team meeting room and your head coach says at the beginning of the week, all right, this is what it's going to take to win the game. And he shows clips of the other team and we're in Seattle week and he's like, all right, defense, you got Kenneth Walker this week and he starts showing clips of Kenneth Walker and you'll see him take a, take a handoff. He'll run all the way to the left, backtrack, run all the way to the right, juga guy and just zigzagging all the way and then just finds a way to the end zone. Just like these insane runs. I remember last year when they were on the. There on the road in Detroit playing the Lions and there was a play where he like kind of either ran the ball to the flat or he caught a ball to the flat. A linebacker tries to wrap him up and he does like a somersault over the linebacker, sticks his feet, somersaults back and then keeps running. And I'm like, bro, nobody else can do that. I'm just telling you right now. There's, for some reason he has this insane body control to be able to kind of move in such weird different ways. You saw him make that move in the hole against number, I want to say it was 48 last night where he just kind of just juked him out. You saw him get to the pylon at like the, I think they were like the two or three yard line and he just broke, broke to the pylon. Outran Young to, to the edge. And so he has this insane change of direction in body control, balance, contact balance. But his Achilles heel has always been like just, just get getting vertical, like just finding the dirty yards. Like he always is looking for the home run. And so I, you know, this plays in that game last night. I'm watching where you see there's a ton of space for him to just get vertical and, and go get you eight yards. But then he tries to find the 80 yard or so, he ends up only getting one yard and it's like that's kind of the, the thing that he has to try to continue to find in his game is like, all right, when do I look for the home run versus when do I look for just that grimy four or five, six yard gain, Right? So yeah, dude, I mean he's, he's unreal, unreal talent. And yeah, they, they obviously are leaning on him more. He just hasn't had the touches like the, the guys you mentioned before in the McCaffreys and Saquon's all, that's it. He hasn't had those touches to really come into his own. And he has to earn that though. You can't just sit here and say, oh, he should have been the, the lead back this entire time. It's like, no, you got to earn that. Obviously, Charbonnet has shown that he can get those grimy yards. He'll put his head down and he'll run through you to get, to get that five yards that was only blocked up for two. So, you know, I'm sure it's been tough for them not to have Charbonnet, but. Okay, Nani, he running that pin.

A (27:21)

When you look at a game like last night and the personnel on Seattle's defense, because at one point they're up 11, I'm like, how is Seattle going to blow an 11 point lead in the second half at home? But then it's like, okay, then you see Stafford have that four play drive which, I mean, he's just throwing darts. That throw to Adams, I mean the Parkinson throw was nice. The throw to Adams is like the throw you, you hope you have a guy like that ever. You're like, this is just nuts. So like that series I pointed out in the open of just how special that series was, you're like, yeah, maybe they will blow this lead because it's Stafford. So it turns into this kind of shootout with a ton of great personnel on, on two defenses that I think all of us collectively really like. I mean, hell, you can make an argument Seattle, maybe not statistically with Houston or some of the other stuff, but like at the end of the year, I'll take that personnel over any other defense in the league. What's it like when you know you're good on defense, but it's just one of those nights where you know it's going to be a shootout.

B (28:16)

Yeah, I mean there I'm trying to think of when it felt this way. We had a really, a really great defense back in 2019. That was the year that we ended up going to super bowl in Miami. And there was a game, you know, midway to later in the year where we're playing on the road in New Orleans and we're going up against Drew Brees. This is the first time I'm ever playing Drew Brees in that offense.

A (28:38)

Right.

B (28:39)

And long story short, it ended up being a shootout, like a 40, 41 to 42 type of game. Right. Where we, we won that game. Barely. And we had, I think we had the top defense in the league, and this team just dropped 40 on us. And during that game, you would, like, the entire time I'm thinking, like, all right, they scored on us the first drive. Hey, guys, we just got to get in the flow of the game. We'll stop them, no problem. They score on us the second drive. All right, you started looking around. What, what happened? Did we just bust something? Was there a bus in coverage? Like, what was the issue there? Okay, whatever. Like, and then, and then you start. It just gradually gets more and more. Like, the intensity grows and like, the sense of urgency of, like, bro, what are we doing wrong? And that's when you start seeing guys starting to, like, you know, get on each other. Like, you know, dude, lock in. I, I, I thought I was locked in. It's just that sometimes it's just not your day, like, and the offense is humming and, Yeah, I mean, it's tough. There's a sense of hopelessness sometimes when you're out there and you're, you just can't figure out what. Because the, the group has to work as a collective. And it's just, sometimes it's just that one thing that was off in one play where now all of a sudden it's like, oh, two other guys switch up what they're doing because one guy just wasn't doing his job right. And it's just like, everybody's got to do their job playing a play out. But for the fans, that's what of course the fans love to see, is people putting points on the board. But as a team, you want your defense making sure that they're limiting the amount of points that you want. You want it to be a defensive battle, not offensive battle. As a defender. Yeah.

A (30:07)

I don't think you're ever sitting there as your unit, like, going, hey, it's just going to be one of those nights. Like, you're just constantly thinking, like, we are a great defense, like, this game. But, you know, sometimes the games just get out of hand a while. I mean, it happens. It'll happen in some of the college games that I'll watch where I like all the personnel that's on both sides of the ball, and you're just like, okay, what is this? Like, first to 50 is going to win the game because it just gets turns into a free for all. I got to talk about Tariq Wolin a little bit here, just because that was not a great set of, that wasn't a great series for him. He's got the dropped interception. It's fourth and what, 12. They're punting. He gets the taunting. And that wasn't just taunting. He was almost on the fucking Rams team bus. And then Stafford, I. I've seen it, discussed it. Like, Stafford's like, okay, he's emotionally worked up. Like, I'm gonna go at him. He also had Nakua one on one on that side. So I think that's a throw that he's gonna make anyway. Sure. That will now be forgotten because had they lost that game in Seattle, they're never gonna forget that. Oh, my God. And then I thought it was interesting too, because, like, he got into it with Eamon Worry. And I'm thinking, well, of course everybody's pissed at him on the sideline, but is that Woolen just feeling it going? I don't need to hear it. I don't need to hear it from a rookie on top of everything else and the crazy, like, I don't get to see what Woolen's doing. He does this all the time. He had done it earlier in the game. I mean, the ball could be overthrown by 10 yards and he's turned to the Ram sideline, celebrating the incompletion, doing all his stuff. So this wasn't new, but that was. I'm not even questioning the flag. I'm just kind of curious as a defender and somebody you've. You've seen a little bit what you thought of that whole run?

B (31:47)

Yeah, no, like. And you know, I say all this. I know reek. Like, I've. I've been. I was around him. When was that? Early on in his career, I think at the Pro bowl or something, I was around him. Good kid. You know, he's had ups and downs in his career. Being over there, like having been benched. And then, you know, now they've obviously started him a ton this year and relied on him a bunch. And he's playing with a lot of confidence. And of course he toes that line. He toes that line of. Like you just mentioned, like, early in the game, he's over there. I mean, but their whole defense, this entire. Their entire team does that where they kind of toe the line of like, of. Is it taunting? Is it. You know, is the refs going to let it go? Especially in a big game. You. In a big game like that NFC Championship game, you have to do something just egregious for a ref to throw a flag because they, the. The people don't want the refs to have the control of who Wins and loses that game. Right. So, and the refs know that. So they're, they're going to let the players play a little bit. They're going to let them, you know, chat chatter a little bit when it comes to, you know, talking mess. But like you just mentioned like he just overdid it and like, and that's a fireable offense if you, if they would have lost that game after what he did. I mean there's nothing left to do with that at that point. Right, but like you just mentioned like it does, it's going to get swept under the rug now. The stuff on the, on the sideline. The stuff on the sideline was completely fine. There's nothing, nothing like that's exactly how it should look after something like that happened. You got guys holding each other accountable and that's a really tight knit group on that side where you could just tell like their, their defense, their offense, their entire team has a very, is a very close knit group. And when you have that, you can now have the ability for guys to get on each other in moments where you know a guy's is messing around too much. Right. And I think for Seattle, I mean you gotta love to see it when the, when the rookie is the one that's doing that with, with, with Reek. So yeah man, I mean that's, that's super unacceptable. But he, Reek knows that and he, he was a man. He still, he stood up there with the media after the game. He could have easily walked out the locker room, been like, no, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna talk about it. But he stood up there in the locker room and talked about it after the game and said man, that's unacceptable. Can't have it. It's just sometimes it's a little too late to have that kind of conversation after the game. Like, because imagine you're standing there in front of your locker and your team just lost because of something like that. Right? And so, you know, they, if they go on to win a Super bowl, then it will all be forgotten and nobody will ever know that that happened. Right.

A (34:16)

So. Oh yeah. I mean, look, it's already going to be forgotten. I mean they got to the Super Bowl. I mean Seattle fans won't necessarily forget it, but that would have been one of those like all time the Rams come back and win that game.

B (34:30)

Yeah, because the Rams were, they didn't really have a chance before that, you know, I mean, not that they didn't have a chance, but like the fact that they had another chance now to go back on the field. And then Stafford drops that ball onto Puka on.

A (34:40)

On.

B (34:40)

Woolen is like, ah, golly boy, you can't make this up.

A (34:44)

Have you ever had a guy on the sideline step to you and you'd be like, hey, I can hear it from him. I'm not gonna hear from you. Um, has anybody stepped to me on the sideline?

B (34:58)

Nobody's. No. Because I don't make. I don't make decisions like that. Like all. All my. All my talking happens where they. They don't catch me. They don't catch me in the act. You gotta. You gotta make sure you play the game out there right. Like, if you. If you gonna do that, you gotta. You gotta pull. You gotta. You gotta make sure you're trying to get them to draw the flag by what you're doing, not the other way around. If you're. Because Kyle always says. He's like, I don't care if you taunt, but the moment that you get a flag for taunting, see, see at the door, pal.

A (35:33)

That was kind of the answer that I was expecting there. Before we move on with the show, a quick word on the tool that keeps people's workflow tighter than my takes. Microsoft 365 copilot the world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create, and summarize so you can cut through the clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot On the AOC side of things, we get some breaking news with some coaching announcements that I want to ask you about quickly here too, because you have a relationship with the coaches. But I can't. I can't believe this. I cannot believe. On that third and 5, 157 left, the May rollout runs it for the first down. From what I saw, it felt like there was one linebacker and not one of their best ones on that side. And then in the snow, having to try to cut that runoff where it just felt so predictable that it would be a rollout. May has the pass run option one read. If it's not there in those conditions, you're tucking it and running it. We don't want to risk the football. We don't want to stop the clock. And Vance Joseph has done such a Great job. So, like, I don't really even like doing this, but I guess it just was for me at home going, it's probably a May rollout. It just didn't feel like they were prepared for it and everybody shifted to the fake side.

B (37:32)

Well, you know, it's so you don't, you don't quite know exactly what the other team's going to do in those situations because. And that's the game. That's the game you have to play as a, as a player. That's the game you have to play as a coach. Because I've been in those critical situations in a game with, with, let's say, d' Amico or Salah in a playoff game. I remember we were playing against Dallas in the, I want to say it was the divisional round in 2021, and it was a critical third and long situation. And it was later in the game, maybe it was like in the middle of the game and he says, fred, if they cut, he comes in my microphone. He said, fred, this is d'. Amico. He said, fred, if they come out in triples where they have three wide receivers to the field, name a tight end backside, they're running stickers, where they're running all three of their receivers up to the, up to the sticks and they're going to just sit down and they're going to look for the ball. And so we're going to be in zone coverage. And if they come out in triples, I need you to match up that number three and tell, tell K1 Williams our nickel to match up that number two, because if not, there's going to be a void in there for them to throw that number two. And so I go and I tell K1, I'm like, hey, triples, they're running stickers. They come out and it's triples. And I'm like, there's no way this is about to be exactly what he said. They run stickers, Kayon Williams, he jumps the, the sit down number two for interception. And it's like, all right, that's kind of, that's kind of in this insane scenario that's not like the end of game scenario, but that's like a moment of like where you have complete trust in how prepared your DC is for a moment like that. And the DCs are always trying to play this game of what exactly are the OCS thinking? And then that moment yesterday with, with Denver, it's like, all right, all game long, people, you can't get your footing right. You can't hardly throw the ball later. This is all later in the game when the snow was falling like it was. And so you're probably thinking, like, all right, they're probably just going to try and play it safe to try to run the clock down as much as they can, because if they don't have any timeouts, if Denver doesn't have any timeouts and they just trying to run the clock down to ultimately, like, I don't know either. Pun it, punt, where they can have, like, 20 seconds left. Is that really. Is that really in. In Denver's favor to, like, get the ball back with 20 seconds all. With the ball punted all the way down there?

A (39:50)

No.

B (39:51)

And so. But the Patriots obviously were aggressive in using that type of call to roll out. But is it. I'm trying to think of, like, is there. Is there a downside to running that rollout play and maybe the handoff get, like, the fake gets kind of messed up and Dre falls down, Drake May falls down or something. I don't know. But were they prepared for that play and all? It didn't look like. It looked like the defensive end. Like, I think you were talking about that guy on the edge who had to kind of meet Drake at the intersection point, just couldn't really get his footing, couldn't really run him down. And Drake May is a good athlete. Like, he can run, so he's kind of outran him and gave him the stiff arm for the first down and ultimately a chance to go to the Super Bowl. So what do I say all that to say? It's kind of a cat and mouse game. Like, you're kind of trying to guess to see, like, all right, are they going to run that? Are they not? Because if you go playing for the rollout and you're not committing everybody to the run front side and they get the run front side, it's like, well, what were you doing? Why were you trying to play for the rollout when it was an. It was an obvious run situation with no timeouts?

A (40:55)

No, I understand. I just. I felt like, because it was long enough of a distance that they probably wanted it to look a little bit like something where, hey, what if a tight end shakes free? And, you know, it's the same thing as the Sutton throw that Stidham had, that's completely designed for Stidham to have one throwing option. Really? Because they're not going to ask him to roll out and then stop and in that crowded space is called to go. They're not going to ask him to like look on the backside or something like that.

B (41:25)

No, it was a great play call. I mean, you got to admit, you got to take those type of chances. You want to go to a Super bowl for sure. And I think it was. It was a great call. There was no pass option on that play. I don't think it was just literally just. And we're going to fake like we're handing the ball off. Drake, you keep it and get to the edge and get his first down. Yeah, no, no.

A (41:42)

I mean, I'm talking about like as they're setting up for it, like I was at home going, is he going to have the run the throw option on that? But then you're right. I mean, it was totally cleared out. So maybe that was the whole numbers game of we don't have anything even on that side. And that means that second defender. It just felt like it was going to be a really, really tough spot to whoever was containing that edge in the snow to contain May running to the sideline for five yards.

B (42:11)

Definitely.

A (42:11)

Yeah. Have you, have you played in the game or. The conditions dictated what the game was like? That much as much as we saw in Denver.

B (42:19)

Yeah. Last year, Buffalo Bills late in the year. Sunday Night Football, I think.

A (42:24)

Not a playoff game though, right?

B (42:26)

No, no. I mean playoffs. I played in the super cold in Green Bay at that Green Bay game, but it wasn't. It wasn't snowing like that. It kind of got snowy later in the game, but it wasn't snowing like how it was yesterday. That the only time I played in snow, snow, snow like it was yesterday was that Buffalo Bill game last year. And you. Yeah. You hate it. Oh, horrible. Horrible. Because you can't. You literally can't get your traction in the ground because your cleats. That's. That snow, since it's soft, it just packs on the bottom of your cleat. It just. It packs onto the bottom of it and starts to get hard to where you're. You no longer have those. What's it called, the little talons on the bottom of your cleat. You never had. You don't. You no longer have those kind of grip the ground way. It's just like you're on snow. It's like you're. You're out there just sliding around. You're just skating around. And so in between each snap, you'll see guys kind of just hitting their cleats together on. On the ground to try to knock some of that snow off, to try to gain Some more traction. And it's like you're not getting traction floating anything for what to go put your. Your cleat right back into some more soft snow. So it's horrible and it's. It's wild to think that, you know, that that's the type of game that you gotta play in order to go to a Super bowl is a snowball, you know what I'm saying? Versus the game we watched last night where you got a team in Seattle, beautiful weather, nice turf, you can throw the football all the way till the last play versus a snow game, snow flurry game, where it's like, oh, well, we're doing. We're going to turn passing off now that's. That's done. You can try to run the football if you want. And you know, defenders, good luck trying to go change direction or chase after these guys.

A (44:03)

If you looked at the talent then combined of these two rosters, right, Because I was touching on this a little bit and it's, it's going to be a big part of the next two weeks is like, if I'm looking at the town on Seattle, I think Seattle has better talent. Right. I don't think I even have to put a ton of thought into it. Um, but then it'll be the dismissive nature of like, yo, you don't understand the culture and brable and, you know, these just a bunch of guys like Milton Williams after the fact of that game's like, hey, nobody believed in this. Nobody thought we'd come into Denver. We're like, once Knicks was hurt, a lot of us, a lot of us thought liked your chances, to be honest with you, buddy, but look, the entire season. Yeah, you're right. Like, I, I just didn't think they were in the class of the ac. I'm shocked that they were in the Super Bowl. If you looked at both rosters, do you think it's overwhelming? Like, if you look at the top 30 players combined, if you did a draft of like, all right, let's go through the first 30 guys. Do you think it's decidedly in Seattle's advantage or you see it a different way?

B (44:57)

No. Yeah. Seattle is, is very, very much so. They have they. Yeah. If you look at their rosters, I think you're going to, you're going to choose Seattle. Now with that said, there's a reason why the Patriots have made it to this point and why they're in the Super Bowl. We're not going to sit here and say that they're just some misfits and they just. They just wandered into. Into a Super bowl at all. Like, they got some. They got lots of great pieces as well. Now, if somebody were to sit here and tell me, like, oh, it's the team that doesn't have as much talent, but has the culture versus a team that has a lot of talent, that's not the case either, because the culture that Seattle has built in just the short time that McDonald's been over there is legit. Like, they got the culture and the talent, which is why it's going to be really hard for the Patriots, in my opinion, because they, like, they. They just got everything that you want over on this side. But that's why you play the game, though. That's why you play the game. You don't just get to go out there and be like, okay, this team has better roster. They got better. Oh, okay, here, you guys get the trophy. We're not even going to play the game. You guys are just so much better than the other team. No, no, no, no, no. You got to go out there, you got to play who's the best team for that 60 minutes out there on that field. Because at the end of the day, back in 20, 19, 2020, when we went out there to Miami, I'm over here thinking we were the greatest thing since sliced bread. You looked at our roster, we were freaking loaded over there at the 49ers. I would even argue the same thing back in 23 when we lost it against Kansas City. But they. They were the better team on that, on that Sunday. So, you know, I think everybody's talking about how. How well Brable has prepared his teams for these moments and how situational, situationally aware he is in different parts of the game. And that. That does play a role. Vrabel, obviously, having been to Super Bowls, won them as. As a player. You know, knowing what that's like, I don't. I don't know. Has. Has McDonald's been to a Super Bowl? Has he. Has he coached one? Has he played one? I don't know. I don't know what those answers are, but, like, there are different things about that game that are different than just a regular, regular season or. Or a playoff game that you have to. That you gotta. That you gotta think about and put into play when. When talking about things like this.

A (47:17)

I want to ask about Robert Sala, your defensive coordinator, a couple different stints, goes off to head coach. Now he's going to be with Tennessee. Was it when. When a guy comes back and you guys Know that he's a really good coach, and then, you know, maybe you guys make jets jokes. I. I don't know. But when somebody goes through the head coaching experience, that doesn't work. And then you get reunited with them and they. They get the chance again. Like, how would you help us understand the timeline of your relationship with him and, and how. I don't know if he stayed exactly the same, if he was different, if it helped him know exactly what he was going to have, but just kind of your relationship with Salah and now him getting another opportunity.

B (47:58)

Yeah, no, I mean, it was, it was super special to get him back, even just for the year that we had him. I remember, you know, just getting that phone call this past offseason from him. He was. I think I was one of the first people he called when he accepted to come back to BRDC again over here. And it was just completely different this time around because back when he was with us, when. When he drafted me back in 2018, you know, I, I hadn't done anything in this league. I hadn't earned anything. You know, I was trying to figure it all out. Was just a deer in. In headlights. Like, it, it was. It was completely different because I was still trying to figure everything out. I only had him for, what, three seasons to start my career before he went off to the jets, and then now him coming back now this time was like, obviously, okay, now I'm. I know what I'm doing. You know, I've established myself. And now it's more of a conversation every week of him, him and I talking about, like, all right, what do we. What are we seeing? What are we thinking about the matchup? So what do we. You know, it was much more of a conversation rather than a coach just talking to a player. Right. It was just more. We had more of that relationship this time around. And so even though we only played, what, five and five and a half games together, I mean, it was, it was special and it was. It was dope to see how he evolved as a coach. Because when you go off and you have to be the head coach, head coaches have to now manage everything, not just from a. A, A team standpoint, but, like, from an organizational standpoint like this. There's different things that you have to. You have to manage. I can't even think of anything right now, but, like, things that have nothing to do with football, a head coach now has to worry about. Right. And so it's almost like a breath of fresh air. I'm sure I Don't. I didn't. You know, I don't want to speak for him, but it's kind of a breath right there. Just Be. Be able to focus on. On the ball part of it, you know, as a defense coordinator and try to build up your defense to be the best they can be. But, I mean, obviously, you know, the struggles that we dealt with this year with the injuries and trying to keep that group together, you know, and I think it was just opportunity that he couldn't pass up with Tennessee, where, you know, you got, I think, a lot of money going in that situation, not. Not being paid a lot of money you got. I think they have a lot of cap space to work with. You know, Cam Ward has a lot of promise. I think he's a really good quarterback. He'll be really good. Put some people in his corner to help him. Help him progress as a. As a young player. But, you know, I'm happy for him, man. I think he deserves another opportunity. He is a true leader of men and really does things the right way, so I think he'll. He'll set them up for success for sure.

A (50:27)

So it sounds like you are way more excited about him, kind of seeing his evolution through your relationship, like, now that he's already got the head coaching experience behind him, the way he was when he came back and now with Tennessee, like, that's just kind of what I'm picking up from you.

B (50:42)

I mean, I'm not sick. I'm sick that he's. That he left us for sure. Because obviously, I know we could have been this upcoming year if we had, you know, Robert Sala as our DC and going into a second year with him again. Right. But I just know how this business works. I've been around it too long to. To sit here and be like, what if. Right? Play that game. I know whoever we choose as our DC going forward would be a great fit, great pick by. By Kyle and. And we'll. We'll go on and do our thing.

A (51:09)

What did you think of McDaniel? Already back at. It was the OC of the Chargers.

B (51:15)

Yeah. I mean, that's. That's interesting. I don't. I don't know the whole. I don't know the whole story about what his interview process looked like. I don't know if he tried to get back in the head coaching game interviews and what. What. Not like that. But I think it's another situation for him where he's like, hey, I get to go co. I get to go coach Justin Herbert. Who's obviously one of the best quarterbacks in the league with a coach who's in. Who's developed a great culture and standard over there with the Chargers and Harbaugh. Why not? You know, I think that's a perfect trampoline again, to try to go do it and try and go get another head coach and job somewhere else if he, if he does it the right way.

A (51:53)

You just said that about Herbert. I smiled a little because I. I realized, like, there's some duds. There's basically an argument that Herbert is like this loved media quarterback and that the results and any of that stuff. You really think he's that good?

B (52:09)

Of course. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what. What the, what the knock on him would be. The fact that he. That he can't win in the playoffs. Is that what it is? I mean, yeah, at the end of the day, winning in the playoffs is a team's. Is a team situation. It's not necessarily just about the quarterback. Like, yeah, the quarterback's always going to take the brunt of that because they're always going to have the ball in their hands with opportunities to win a football game for their team. And so just like, they're good, they'll get all the praise in the moments that they do win it. They're also going to take a lot of the beating when they don't. When they don't win those games. But if you just look at. An X is an old stamp, an X is an O standpoint of watching the position and watching him play and the throws that he's able to make, and having played against him myself and seeing it up close and personal, like, this dude is. He's unreal. Like, he. He makes plays that a lot of quarterbacks in this league just can't make. You know that some guys do things that other guys cannot do. And he's like six, six can run toughness, like, he has everything you want.

A (53:12)

That's how I feel. I just wanted to hear a guy that has to play linebacker.

B (53:16)

He got it. He's got it.

A (53:18)

Final thing here. Did you think you were going to play in that Seahawks game?

B (53:27)

The Seahawks game? That was a push. That was a push. That was one of those ones where I'm having conversations asking them, like, hey, you know, will you guys be able to entertain this? And it was kind of shut down immediately because it was like, you're just not. You're not there yet.

C (53:43)

You need.

B (53:43)

You need that extra week. I had to push just to open my Practice window. Like, the. If you. If you heard Kyle in that, I think it was his press conference after we won in Philly, they asked him, are we going to. Are you going to open Fred's practice window? And he said no, because that. That it was true. Like, they. They hadn't talked about opening my practice window. And so I had to go to them, be like, hey, like, I. I would like to get back into practice so I can bridge that gap going in the next week if we win this game. So it's not like I'm just jumping out there for the first time, going to the NFC Championship and, like, you know, doing everything for the first time. Like, let me get out there. And so that's when they were like, all right, yeah, cool. Like, we're down with that. You do some individual drill, get out there at the walkthrough stuff.

A (54:22)

Sure.

B (54:23)

And so I think I made it interesting because when I did go out there and do the individual drills and all that, like, since I did look like myself and because I'm sure people are probably holding their breath, like, I don't know how he's gonna look three months out of having his. His foot facing the opposite direction. Like, we don't know. And then I went out there and actually looked like myself. It's like, oh, my God, is he gonna play? You know what I'm saying? So I even had players from Seattle come up to me after the game when we were out there saying, bro, we thought you were gonna play this week. Like, we didn't know. Da, da, da. It was kind of the combo. I'm like, well, guess we'll never know now. But, yeah, it just was. It was. It was too tight. It was too tight of a squeeze to try to make that game because we had to do everything, obviously, by the book, and. Well, I guess technically not by the book, because by the book means you would come back in, like, six months, not three, but. But, yeah, man, it was. It was still fun to chase it, though. Like, the fact that I was able to get back out there practice, you know, in January, was insane to. To feel and think about. And it. It was almost like I. I jumped in a. A time machine. And it was right back out there in October, the week of the Bucks game. Right? It was like I just jumped right back out there. But I'm looking around. Everybody else kind of just like, you know, has. Has the wear and tear of the season on them. And so it was good for me to kind of just be out there and kind of bring the juice a little bit.

A (55:47)

I'll close with this. It feels like in getting to hang out with you throughout this and just talking ball, but also about where you're at with your injury. It's a good reminder, I think for the next guy that's special, that's hurt and that you need something like that. You need to kind of lie to yourself as part of the rehabilitation to have this goal that seems absurd. It feels like it's part of it. And even if you know there's maybe that one sliver, you're like, this isn't happening, Fred. Like this, there's no way you're going to play. The recovery is much better if you convince yourself that it's still possible.

B (56:26)

Yeah, you got to live in this, in this line of business that we are in, in order to be the best at what you do, you have to live in a world of delusion. And that's exactly what I've lived in my entire time. Being a 49er is, you know, I was a third round draft pick out a BYU was, you know, comps as guys who never made it in, in the league, like guys who maybe were one offs who, you know, they just didn't make it. And that's what everybody thought it was that was going to happen to me. Even though I was a third round draft pick. They're like, nah, we don't really know where to put you. This, that, this out of the other. And at some point I just made it up in my mind. I'm like, nah, I'm going to be the best. Like, I want to be the best. I'm going to do everything possible to achieve that. I don't know if I'm supposed to be. I don't know if that's what was planned for me or, you know, people haven't talked to me, talked about me in that way. But why not, why not just put the work in and see what happens? And that's the same thing that in a rehab it's like, yeah, I mean, you're not supposed to come back in three months, but why not just put the work in and just be obsessed about it and see what happens? And that's exactly what I did, you know. And so from the moment I had that surgery, you know, people asked me if I wanted to do like a documentary type of thing where they kind of. They videoed me doing everything and I'm just like, it just sounded like so much work to have a camera walk, like following you around doing everything. So I decided not to. But looking back, I kind of wish that I did because the things that I had to do on a day to day basis in order to get, just get back on a practice field a couple weeks ago, it's kind of insane to look back on it now because now, you know, everything has slowed down a ton. But it just shows when your mo, when your mindset's right, you put the work in and just have an unwavering belief that you can do unimaginable things really.

A (58:13)

Well. I've enjoyed this a ton. I know you're going to busy week even though you're not playing because there's a lot of stuff out there, super bowl week, but I think maybe we'll have one more of these. But man, this has been a blast and I'm psyched that you're getting healthy and you're back to it. And I was thinking about you watching an NFC championship game last night, being like, I have to ask him how much this sucks because knowing you, I was hoping you. I didn't know if you're gonna be like, I actually didn't watch the game. So listen to afc.

B (58:41)

No, I, I had to watch. I had to watch. It was crazy to wake up that morning and be, and I said to my wife, I said, imagine had we won last week, I'd be, I'd be getting on a bus right now to go play in this game and depending on it would have been in LA had we beat Seattle. I'm like, I would have been going, getting on a bus to go play in SOFI right now. And that was a crazy thought. But hey, there's always next year.

C (59:07)

All right.

A (59:10)

Thanks, man.

B (59:11)

Yeah, appreciate you, buddy.

A (59:14)

Get in the game with college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% back at some of your favorite brands with Venmo Stash Rewards. Upgrade your Superfan status with special edition school designs so you can pay for your game day wings and rep your team at the same time. You can add your Venmo debit card to your mobile wallet as soon as you sign up and pay online and in store right from your phone. And the best part, the card is tied right to your Venmo account. Get paid back for dinner immediately access the money in your Venmo balance and spend it on what you want. Game day snacks, tickets, new merch. You can easily split purchases in the app and there's no monthly fee for minimum balance. Score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at venmo.com collegegrad the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Banco NA. Select schools available Venmo Stash bundle. Terms and exclusions apply at Venmo me stash terms max $100 cash back per month. You want details?

B (60:15)

Bye.

D (60:16)

I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up?

C (60:21)

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

B (60:23)

I have every toy you can possibly imagine.

A (60:26)

And best of all, kids, I am liquid it.

B (60:30)

So now you know what's possible.

D (60:32)

Let me tell you what's required.

A (60:33)

Live advice, life advice. Rrgmail.com Ceruti and Kyle hanging out on a Monday. Kyle, the floor is yours, man. I'm happy for you. Very excited.

D (60:48)

Sorry, did the mute thing again. I was just thinking about Drake May. I got nothing.

A (60:52)

I got.

B (60:52)

I got nothing.

D (60:53)

It was. It was amazing. It was really terrible. Um, all the snowstorm came out of nowhere. I thought I did my math where it's like, they're not going to get any of this. Meanwhile, I'm watching from. From Poughkeepsie and I'm. We're just getting absolutely pummeled all day, and then all of a sudden it shows up and I'm like, is this the same storm? I don't know. And then it's terrible. And that. It's just. It's like a weird gamesmanship. We're just punting to each other and hoping the Patriots to get a first down. So it was surreal. It feels strange. I felt a lot better, more excited when we were in the AF going to the AFC championship game. For some reason. I don't know, maybe it's shock, but listen, it's incredible. I don't even know what to say. I forgot to even text half my pats guys yesterday. I was just, you know, overwhelmed. And then we had to go out and shovel, so in between the games. So it was like. It was a strange day. But honestly, it feels amazing.

A (61:45)

Get some blankets back there today, huh?

D (61:47)

Yeah, this is my road setup.

A (61:49)

Yeah.

D (61:49)

There's an away game.

C (61:51)

Okay.

A (61:51)

Oh, you're somewhere else.

D (61:52)

I'm at my dad's house and there's a. There's a. What do they call it? A travel band. Dutchess county has instituted until 5pm today, starting at 5am yesterday. Told some of my buddies about it, and they basically called me a P word. But my parents were very, like. They were like, you better pick a spot and stay there. And then.

A (62:10)

So I told.

D (62:11)

Yeah, I Told my buddies and they were just like, who. Who are you? What's wrong with you?

A (62:15)

And I was like, I don't know.

D (62:17)

My parents just like, had me thinking one way and that's. Apparently the rest of the world is like, fuck a travel ban.

C (62:21)

This is what you buy the forerunner for? I can't believe that you got.

D (62:23)

I know.

C (62:24)

Stuck inside.

D (62:25)

Believe me, I said it. And they were like, why are you.

A (62:26)

Out of your mind?

D (62:27)

So. And whatever. I guess my parents love me.

A (62:30)

Law abiding, Kyle.

D (62:31)

Yeah, my parents are definitely rule false.

C (62:34)

Yeah, I could see that. I mean, we did get a ton of snow. I was the same thing. I was shoveling before we started taping today. We did bury the lead, though. Happy for the Pats. Happy for you, Kyle. But the alliance hit, so that's the most important.

A (62:45)

Yesterday.

C (62:50)

Pretty easily. Actually the only one that was close was the Pats one. Thank God Kyle took the alt spread there, you know.

A (62:54)

Yep, yep.

C (62:56)

People are accusing me of being too hostile and maybe. But maybe the hostility was the reason that we. That we ended up, you know, we ended up hitting.

A (63:02)

So, hey, we all. We need. It was great, though, because, I mean, that line started plus five and a half and then it just slowly, slowly, slowly worked its way down. Right now it's minus Seattle's, minus five. I thought I saw it at four and a half last night.

C (63:22)

I think it opened some three and a half.

A (63:24)

Did it?

C (63:24)

I think so, yeah.

A (63:26)

That seems wild to me. But we'll see. I mean, I know how disappointed Kyle gets. Are you upset because I don't like the Patriots more because I used to like them or.

D (63:37)

No, no. It has nothing to do with your past, dude. I was just. It's just I look to you for what you think about the NFL and, you know, I'm in the spot where I get to hear it, you know, first thing in the morning. And it's never good, so that's the only problem.

A (63:49)

It's never been good.

D (63:51)

And you actually did a really nice thing there, so. And the open. So this was probably my favorite one so far.

A (63:57)

And everyone you have.

D (63:58)

Yeah, I guess, like, I'm picking Denver. So it's just. It's not you. It's just this is my. This is my life.

A (64:03)

This is.

D (64:03)

This is.

A (64:04)

Well, I didn't pick Denver in this game. You did. But. Yeah, the two experts you have, Chase and Ted, both did. Yeah. Yeah. I was like that first pass, though. Oh.

C (64:14)

I was getting. I was like, all right, I'm in. Let's go.

D (64:16)

I was sick to my stomach. Yes.

C (64:17)

Yeah.

D (64:18)

He was so happy.

C (64:19)

This dude was so legit, you know.

D (64:20)

So freaking too happy. Smiling.

A (64:22)

It's like running around a little bit. Yeah, but yeah, that's. So were you pro snow or anti snow? You had to be pro snow.

D (64:32)

I was pro snow until I heard them talking about how this is going to suck for the Patriots. And I was like, wait a second, I forgot that they switched. He's like, once the. Once the fourth quarter starts, you know, it's like, this is going to be tough for the Patriot. I'm like, wait, why? And he's like, oh, you can't see. They can't see in front of them. But then I'm like, wait a second. The Patriots are wearing white jerseys. Maybe that's an advantage on defense. So I just decided to be like, the game is the game. Don't. Don't blame the snow for anything.

A (64:56)

Yeah, that block kick, man. Yeah.

D (65:00)

So glad it was blocked. Otherwise I would have just been hearing a bunch of bullshit.

A (65:03)

But anyway, yeah, you don't need that.

D (65:05)

So glad it was tipped.

A (65:07)

All right, let's get to something else here.

C (65:09)

Oh, yeah, no, quick update because we're taping this right after you tape your open. Apparently that the Pharaoh nickname, which is insane. I've also never heard that.

D (65:18)

Kyle, you Googled that?

B (65:19)

No.

D (65:19)

You googled that just now?

C (65:20)

Well, yeah, I googled it while he was taping it and he said, apparently so. This is. Again, this is from Google. It's a nickname that Brandon Spikes gave to Tom Brady during their time as teammates. He coined the term because Brady was a king like figure at the pinnacle of his profession, admiring his unmatched competitiveness, edge, and status as the goat quarterback.

D (65:40)

So I like Brandon Spikes.

C (65:43)

Shout out Florida.

A (65:45)

I love the backstory.

D (65:47)

Really nice job.

A (65:48)

One time.

C (65:52)

Yeah.

A (65:53)

Okay, we get a. We get a time for a few here. Let's see. 25, 5, 11, 25 years old. Player comp in those few years were Tomas Satoransky. Sorry. Was a pretty good player for the bulls. Recently put up 225 in the bench for the first time, which felt pretty good. Yeah, nice. 25. Let's go. Trying to pair that with a sub two hour half marathon this year after splitting up with a serious girlfriend of over two years in 2H25. Her choice, not mine. Oh, well, I think I'm ready to at least see what the dating world has in store. I work for a large financial service company in a fairly large northeast metro area. And here my best friend is a 50 year old woman, Jen. Names change, has five kids, all boys, and is straight out of central casting for an Italian woman from New England. Jen is more well traveled than me in terms of office friendships, so I've gotten to know some of her work friends, one of which is her best friend, Steve. Upon hearing that my ex girlfriend and I had broken up, Jen quickly began teasing a possible setup. Opportunities that she would have for me. Obviously, in the immediate wake of the breakup, I had no interest in this prospect and told her I'd let her know when the time comes. Now, as the months have gone, I took her up on the offer. She tells me that her most ideal candidate is Ashley, who happens to be Steve's daughter. Steve is a very nice guy and his daughter's very cute based off the pictures. But I can't help but hesitate to say yes to the Ashley setup. While Steve and I don't actively work together, I do rely on him for help with certain portion of my job relatively frequently. Dude, this is, I mean this is already.

D (67:43)

This is money. Money is the word.

A (67:44)

Yeah, I see him every day when he comes over to chat. Yeah, I see him every day when he comes over to ch with Jen. This closest connection to Steve would make things in all likelihood somewhat tricky to navigate. A few extra things to consider. Jen is very pretty and the office running joke is that Steve has a crush on her. Oh, the dynamics here. This has led to jokes from friends that Steve is pimping out his daughter to Jen's friend. Jen really likes me as a friend. I don't think she's ever, there's ever been a day where she hasn't given me a compliment. I do not know whether Steve is privy to this plan. Prior to the most recent relationship, I've always done pretty well with girls. Not great, but pretty well. But getting back out there when you're out of practice is tough. Let me know any thoughts you may have. Would love to hear any insight from you three wise men.

D (68:31)

Jen's got to be involved, right?

A (68:33)

You got to.

D (68:34)

If she's really. You're more friends with Jen than she is with Steve.

A (68:38)

Right.

D (68:38)

And there's a rumor that maybe Steve's going a little above and beyond because he has a crush. So maybe you could just level with Jen, be like, listen, there is a part of me that is into this and there's a big part of me that's worried about this. Can you do a little recon in a smart way? We don't give me away because I mean, there will be some Strangeness to this at all, but you don't know how strange. So maybe you can have Jen do a little recon for you. That's the only thing I can think of. Unless you just don't do any of this.

C (69:08)

What's the scouting report on Steve, too? Like, is he, you know, is he like an ultra marathon guy? Is he an athlete? Is he.

A (69:15)

Is he dude thinking about.

C (69:17)

Yeah, like, you know, like, is he just an intimidating guy or is he just like a kind of a normal whatever, office going guy and Jerry from.

D (69:23)

Parks and Rec, Right?

C (69:24)

Yeah. Like, is he. Is he kind of fun dad? Like, in a way, you know? I know he is a dad, but does he have, like, that dad vibe? Because that could be much easier to get in. No pun intended, buddy. I. I actually did not mean to say that. Yeah, I think Kyle is kind of right. You really have to lean into the gen thing if she's cute. The only thing is, it's so weird to be like, hey, I've been kind of casually dating your daughter and then just shooting her an email or shooting our guy Steve an email. Just being like, hey, do you have that report for today? It's almost more awkward that you only have limited contact with him, because every time you have the limited contact, it's gonna be incredibly awkward. So I don't know. I think Jen's gotta put in, obviously a really good word for you, but yeah, she's cute enough. And you're down. Like, I, you know, it's kind of weird. I don't know if I would do it. Have you guys ever been set up by a co worker? Because I actually have.

A (70:11)

No.

C (70:12)

And it was fine. It was like his. It was an ESPN thing. It was his. It was his wife's niece, so technically his niece, but they were blood related. And, you know, we had a couple dates. It was fine, but. But he, like, didn't really care, so it wasn't, like, awkward at all. He was like, hey, you work also a niece.

A (70:28)

It's not his daughter.

C (70:29)

It's different. Yeah, so I always thought that was.

D (70:31)

Like, for older people. I always thought it was fun people up.

A (70:35)

Some people love setting people up. Like, love it.

D (70:38)

Yeah. I always thought that was like 35 and up. You would be like, all right, he needs a little help. Or she needs a little help. Like, like twenties. No one's really, like, you don't have a boyfriend yet, and if you're in your 20s.

A (70:49)

Right.

D (70:50)

At least I don't think this day and age. But I always thought that was Something that, like, older people would, like, get together and try to figure this out. But I don't know. Maybe church groups are a little different. I don't know.

A (71:02)

It always seems like in TV shows and movies, the church groups are just always like, roofman guy showed up to donate some shoes, toys, like, here's a wife. I wouldn't do this. I wouldn't do this. It sounds like you want to get back on the saddle, which is something that we always emphasize. If it wasn't on your terms, it was on your girlfriend's terms. She dumps you, you're bummed out about it, you start doubting yourself.

D (71:33)

Did he mention if he's in a drought? Because that could totally work.

A (71:36)

He said he did pretty well. Not great, but he's been out of it for a bit.

C (71:40)

Yeah, it sounds like he's just.

D (71:41)

Because that could warp you over the ass.

A (71:44)

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. Are you in a bit of a cold streak? And the cold streak is simply because you've convinced yourself to be in a cold streak.

C (71:52)

Yeah.

D (71:52)

You put up 225.

A (71:54)

Yeah. So you should be feeling great. It's right around the corner. So if you had a lot of lonely people, we hear from them all the time. It sucks, right? Sucks to be lonely. So if you felt like I don't really have a ton of options, and I think I'd be a little bit more like, hey. But if you think once you kind of get back on the confidence saddle, that there'll be some other opportunities for you out there, and there will be, because you're 25, man. You made it this far. I mean, that's what I always love about that line from Swingers. When Mike's all bummed out and Vince Vaughn's like, he met her. You'll meet somebody else. He's like, yeah, we were in college, so everybody's drunk all the time, and it's like, oof. Yeah, maybe we'll never get any better. I mean, unfortunately, I don't want to really do this, but for some of you guys out there, post college, it's just. It's harder for you to operate outside of the dynamic that it's college, where it's just kind of like a layup, and everybody's supposed to be with somebody, and then you break up with somebody, and then you're like, oh, wow, like, these guys make more money than me, and they have blazers at happy hour. And, you know, now I. I gotta compete with these guys like this. This is like Real and it's really hard. It's like a wake up call to some guys and it'll never ever be the same. So I'm not telling everybody to get married in college right now, but it looked like Ceru. You want to jump in?

C (73:02)

No, I was gonna say like you, you know, then you throw in like the Gen Z stats where it's like, you know, half of like Gen Z dudes that have never asked a girl on a date. Like some guys just don't even, it's not even like. Yeah, it's not a thing. So if you're, if, if you're not in that category, then good for you, you'll probably be fine. But if you're like one of those guys, it's like, I don't really put myself out there. This is an opportunity. Maybe, you know, as awkward as it could be, maybe it's. Yeah, maybe it's worth it if you're. Especially, you know, some guys just like companionship, you know, like being lonely is a bummer. And you know, I, I don't, I, we don't often disagree. I feel like on the life advice thing, but like, I just think it's worth. Unless, unless the dad, unless the Steve guy is just like kind of a psycho and really intimidating. I think it's probably worth it.

A (73:42)

You could be a little bit like LBJ when he was a congressman early on he didn't introduce many bills because he didn't want anyone to know where.

C (73:48)

He pin him down.

A (73:50)

Smart, right? Can't ever.

C (73:53)

Can'T be criticized for your policy if you don't have anything.

A (73:55)

Nothing to beat me on. So yeah, I think we do disagree with a little bit. I think if you have. This guy's clearly going to at some point once he gets out of this a little bit maybe focused on me. Right. I'm just going to focus on me right now for a little while. It's like, yeah, let's smoke show out of nowhere. Likes you in two weeks. It sounds like if you feel like, because again, you will. You're 25, things are going to be fine. You're going to meet somebody else at some point. I don't love the day to day interaction with Steve because you're not thinking about, hey, sure, it might be fine in the moment. I love that Ceruti's totally worried about whether or not the guy's a badass or Jerry from Parks and Rec, like Jerry from Parks Rec, I hook up with his daughter, but I wouldn't even call her back. That's how I feel like, such little respect, Jerry. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

C (74:45)

I.

A (74:46)

What if it doesn't go well? What if it doesn't go well and then you're dealing with Steve day to day. You're gonna have to get a new job. So, I mean, I'm not 100% daughter.

D (74:55)

Going to like, give like play by play to the dad.

A (74:58)

I mean, we don't even know her.

D (74:59)

A lot of times.

C (75:00)

What does that.

D (75:00)

Mind their own business.

C (75:01)

Like, what if she just. What if she just took a couple dates in, she doesn't like you, and it's over? I'm like, all right, whatever. Yeah. No, I don't think the guy's gonna.

D (75:08)

Be mad at it.

A (75:09)

That's fine. That's one scenario. But there's also another scenario where you hang out a few times, you don't like her, and you cut it off and she's bummed out, she's talking shit and you're dealing with Steve every day.

D (75:21)

But if he cuts it off, he's in a much better headspace than he is during this email. So that's why, as the tiebreaker, I say if you consider yourself, if you can actually put the label of it that you're in a drought, I say you try to pull this off. If you're like, you're wait for something else to come along. I'd say I side with Ryan, but it really depends on where. Where you actually are right now. If you can look in the mirror and be like, this is the face of a guy who is in a drought, then I think you try to pull this off.

A (75:51)

We good?

D (75:52)

I'm good.

C (75:52)

I think so.

D (75:53)

Yeah.

B (75:58)

Out on the course, they're the PGA Tour's best players, but in the arena, they're prime time. And season two of TGL, presented by SoFi is back with lights, cameras, action. We're talking big moments, big personalities, big names in the stands, all on the big screen. Big time matchups with shot clocks, Hammer.

A (76:15)

Drops timeouts, overtime and playoffs.

B (76:17)

It's city versus city, squad versus squad. The sport just hits different under the lights. It's TGL present, presented by Sofi.

A (76:24)

Keep up. It's golf.

B (76:25)

Tune in to every match only on ESPN.

A (76:29)

Payment from Hot Girl 59175. No performance stats. My player comp is an aging John Lucas third. The third. That is super specific. Quick email. I'm a fan of the Miami Hurricanes football team, while a girl I work with is a fan of the Rebels. She went to Ole miss. We bet 50 bucks on the college football Semifinal. She refused over text to pay up on this bet. I just saw her out at a bar, showed her she refused and showed my cowardice by not bringing it up. Further context. I do not want to engage in a romantic thing with this girl in any way, but she's a good work friend to have socially. Am I a pushover for handling this how I have? And what would you do differently? And thank you to Ryan for covering my Bears run in the right way.

C (77:20)

He did it the right way.

D (77:24)

God.

A (77:25)

I don't know why I think that's so funny because I don't know what that means. I think is why I think it's so funny.

D (77:29)

I think it means you gave Caleb Williams a lot of slack and really talked up his positive parts in the fourth quarters there. Yeah, that's probably what it is.

A (77:38)

Probably the interception breakdown which will be used against him in August in the. And the knowers out there go, Yeah, a lot of those were in fourth down, though. Maybe that's what it meant. Anyway. All right.

C (77:52)

So he's asking, should he press this girl to give him his. The 50 bucks?

A (77:58)

Yeah. He's like, I'm a coward. So he saw she refused to pay the bet, he saw her out and he didn't bring it up. And now he's bummed out about himself.

C (78:06)

Yeah.

D (78:07)

You don't have any reason not to want that money. So I guess he's not getting that money.

C (78:11)

He's not. Yeah. What are we doing?

A (78:14)

That's not a real miss.

C (78:16)

Yeah. I don't know.

A (78:20)

Used like, you know.

C (78:21)

Yeah, that's.

A (78:22)

You think she's paying you? Come on.

D (78:24)

Also, like in a bar, maybe in some sort of. I mean, you never think you're being aggressive when you're being loud in a bar, but sometimes it might look that way, you know, Next thing you got guys pointing at you like, what's wrong with that guy? It was over money that you probably weren't going to get. I could see that.

A (78:37)

Yeah. Yeah. Great. Great way of describing third party. This third party stranger. You going up to her being like, so what the.

C (78:47)

What's up, bitch? Better have my money. Yeah.

B (78:49)

Yeah. What are we doing? Even if it's what you're about, probably.

D (78:52)

Has to be loud just to get your point across. Sorry. Sorry.

A (78:55)

The kids in the back seat that were sleeping. Yep.

C (78:58)

That's our bad. Well, this is.

B (79:01)

So you said she's a good friend.

A (79:02)

You can have. Listen to the monologue so they fall back asleep.

C (79:06)

You said she's a. She's a good friend. To have, though. So. Yeah, what you do is you. You kind of bring it up as a joke, and then you know it's kind of out there lingering, and you kind of use it as, like, a friendly thing. If you ever need a favor from her or, like, she needs to put in a good word for somebody, there's. There's a way that you could play this off to, like, where she knows, but she knows you're also not expecting the money. But it's like a funny, funny little thing, and it's like an IOU for the future. You never know. Yeah.

D (79:28)

If you liked her, would have. Easy would have been just like, all right, lunch Monday on you.

A (79:32)

Boom. Yeah, I know.

D (79:33)

That would have been easy. I got to say, I've got a little bit of a bet thing right now going on. Early in the season, I was very optimistic for the Patriots, and this guy was like, the Patriots were going to have a worse. I told him about my bet that I made preseason, where it's like, over and then make the playoffs or over and then win the East, AFC east, which was essentially making the playoffs. And he bet me, like, 500 bucks. And now he's getting divorced, and he had to get a new apartment. It's very new, and I moved away.

A (80:05)

But you're not interested in romantically at all, right?

D (80:07)

No, no, no. But I just know that I think divorce can be pretty expensive and dudes can get pretty down. And he was really, really dismissive of the Patriots early on, and I'm just wondering. I heard there's another guy who owes him money, and he's like, we're not getting that money for a while. I just haven't asked yet. I'm just wondering if it doesn't feel right to ask. I mean, it's. I think he's caught a couple on the chin lately, but I really want.

A (80:32)

To make him eat his words.

D (80:33)

Yeah.

A (80:34)

Be like, hey, man, this is my business.

D (80:37)

Yeah, I'll probably wait it a little bit longer, but might be a nice consolation prize if the Patriots get absolutely demolished in the Super Bowl.

C (80:44)

It's a guy that you are going to like. He's seems like to be on the west coast, you're not going to see this guy, really, right?

D (80:50)

No, but I like to keep strong connections, you know?

C (80:53)

So you're basically doing this via text, though.

A (80:55)

They've said that about you.

D (80:56)

Yeah, it would be probably via text. I doubt he would answer a FaceTime. I mean, you guys don't even answer my FaceTime, so.

B (81:05)

Yeah.

A (81:05)

How many of you sent us in the last year. One.

C (81:08)

One. Probably.

D (81:09)

Probably more than you'd like, it sounds like.

C (81:10)

But I am not a FaceTime guy. I'll be honest.

A (81:12)

Yeah, yeah.

D (81:14)

I'm a phone call guy. I like it, especially when something big happens. Like, you know, I'm probably calling you about that. I was probably. I don't want to, like, talk to you about, you know, my responsibilities day to day or something, but, you know, whatever.

A (81:24)

It's all right.

D (81:25)

We're not there and maybe we'll get there.

C (81:29)

Kyle, you can call me whenever you want. I'm just not a FaceTime guy. I'm just not a FaceTime guy.

D (81:33)

Well, I try to FaceTime you because I do call you to talk about work stuff, but I feel like a FaceTime. You're like, oh, this is actually. This is probably of a different nature. Probably something fun, but it's not the way either of you look at it. But that's okay.

A (81:46)

To the email.

C (81:50)

I buy that one. I can't say rhyme being a big FaceTime guy either, so.

A (81:55)

Oh, I'm not afraid to FaceTime every now and then.

C (81:57)

Oh, okay.

A (81:58)

Yeah. I basically only talk to Ceruti on.

C (82:03)

The phone, but we've never FaceTimed.

A (82:05)

We've never FaceTime. If you FaceTime, that makes me feel.

D (82:09)

A little bit better.

A (82:10)

You don't want me calling you as much as I call Saruti.

D (82:14)

Certainly not as much.

B (82:14)

Yeah.

C (82:15)

Ryan started leaving me voicemail, voice messages, voice notes, because he's just.

A (82:19)

I'm trying to do a Friday free through Sunday thing with me with Ceruti, with his family. Like, once Friday show is over, I don't. I don't want him to hear from me, even if I had some pretty good intel on a Giannis train. And I was like, hey, do you want.

C (82:36)

You know, I'd want to hear this.

A (82:37)

Yeah, Right.

D (82:39)

So that's where the voice note comes in.

A (82:41)

Not that one. Not that I.

D (82:42)

Okay.

A (82:43)

I'll have thoughts in my head about an idea or something like that. I'll just be like, hey, boom, boom, boom. Don't call me back. There you go. All right, look, I think the emailer. You're right. It's 50 bucks. It's a girl. You know, we. Maybe some hardos are going to email in and say, like, oh, no, it's, you know, bits bet or whatever. Like, we all know what this is.

D (83:02)

That's true. That's why he feels this way.

A (83:04)

Yeah.

D (83:04)

Yeah.

A (83:05)

But I. Here's what I would say. You shouldn't feel bad that you haven't asked for it and been more aggressive about it. You know, seriously, it's just younger, and I think there might be a little Southern thing there going on too, as well. No.

D (83:22)

Care to unpack that a little bit?

C (83:23)

No, I think you're right.

D (83:25)

What do you mean, Southern thing?

A (83:31)

I think there's, like, chivalry is the wrong word, but I think there's an expected thing from the male, female dynamic. By the way, it can be really great, too. So I'm not even necessarily being critical of it, but I think there's something.

D (83:46)

In this situation it might be working against them.

A (83:48)

Well, it's a great excuse to be like. Well, as a Southern girl, like, you shouldn't be acting. It's like, what the. You bet me 50 bucks and you lost, and now all of a sudden, because you're from greater Atlanta, you don't have to pay anybody. I don't know if I'm really funny, actually. I think the people that understand what I'm saying, and it's not like I'm trying to dance around anything. It's just that my experience has been, like, a girl from the south is expecting. Expecting more things. I don't know. That doesn't even sound right.

C (84:22)

Playful thing. It's like, that bet is not a real bet. Like, if that bet is made. Yeah. Like in New York City or Boston. It's different than that bet being made with Austin.

D (84:30)

I'll pull you out the barbershop.

C (84:32)

Here's the other thing I would ask you. Would you feel good about confronting her about this? Is that gonna make you feel good?

D (84:37)

No, because the two places, right, would be either work or a bar. Either one is not great for him for multiple reasons. So.

A (84:45)

Yeah.

D (84:48)

I think it's a joke. I bet she never bets you again. And if she does, I mean, thank God. I was hoping you would say this, because now I can get this out. But, like, other than that, I don't know.

C (84:58)

It's kind of like. This might be a terrible analogy, but it's kind of like when you. When you're playing pickup hoops with. With, like, a girl, and you're like, how. You know, do I play hard? Do I. Like what. What's the etiquette of it? And it's like, when you're making a bet, like, it's like, is the bet serious? Is it not serious? It's kind of not serious. Like, and you don't really know. Like, you don't know what the line is. But she could be really good, right? And then you're like wait, do I have to play good defense against her? And like maybe she's like a savvy better, who knows. But I don't know when, when, when she lost. Like I don't think you just go hounding women for money. That would be my opinion.

D (85:26)

The other layer that sucks about this more is that this was his team. It wasn't like, you know, she, she was an old fan and he, and it was someone else, you know, like a different team. And he was like, you're crazy. And they made like a bet based on the merits of sports. It was both like based on the team that they loved. So that, that sucks a little bit where it's just like he believed and, and it showed up and he doesn't get that little prize at the end.

C (85:48)

But well, he gets the, he literally his team, he gets the win.

D (85:50)

So maybe it's maybe like completely wrong.

A (85:52)

And then they lost. So that's erased because he's been bummed.

C (85:56)

Out by the whole thing.

A (85:56)

By the way, if, if the girl played D1 hoops and pick up, you get her in the action, pull her up in the screen, put her in the mixer. Let's go baseline. Other corner. Yeah. All right, let's get one more email in here. Should I start a fight with my in laws? 33 years old, 180cm 77kg lean metric, 45 kilogram incline, dumbbells for eight reps, sub three hour marathon. All right. War gone. It's got nothing on me. Yeah, this guy's a runner. Runner build, runner strength. That's a sick time, right? My wife and I recently welcomed our son. Been going through the grind that is new parenting. Siree should be familiar. I believe that he is. Our son is still waiting to get all of his immunizations. We've been quite strict and clear about close friends and relatives staying away if they have any sickness or symptoms. Everyone has been more than understanding. My in laws have made it a point to say that our baby's health is the most important thing and that they won't do anything to jeopardize his health or well being. Over the past couple months there have been little comments from my in laws that rub both my wife and I the wrong way. Usually these comments are in reference to the perceived limited interaction they've had with our son. They see him regularly but a few holidays and and sickness have spread out the time since they saw him last. What they did last week really got to me. My mother in law was proactive and let Us know that she's unwell, would skip seeing our son that week. We were pleased that they were being proactive. As a kind gesture, we decided to take him to a park near their house and stop by to show him from a distance. All caps regrets. The whole time they were addressing our son directly, saying things like, sorry we can't see you but your mom won't let us closer. Do you remember us? It's been a long time since we saw you. I could see how that could wear on a person. My wife and I were both pissed but chose not to escalate the situation and held our tongues. My wife was really annoyed and made it feel like they were trying to make her appear to be the bad guy. My question to the alliance is this. Should I intervene and address my in laws directly? Should I let them know our son is our top priority and they shouldn't be acting like children? To understand why what is truly important in the bigger picture. Any advice would be much appreciated.

D (88:21)

I think these people come from the age of ginger ale and tussin and when you're talking about social distancing, it would have probably just been better off to just skip the whole thing because I think they just think that the way that people do things now is silly. I understand that the pre immunization's got you all funky feeling about stuff. It sounds like maybe this is first child. Right. Where everyone's always a little bit more over cautious with the first one. And I think you mix that with a cross generational of like we don't believe in this stuff. I think it can be an annoying cocktail of things. That's all I have.

C (89:01)

Yeah. Without going into too much detail, it's really hard because Kyle kind of hit the nail on the head. The parenting style of our parents versus now is totally different. They probably all think we're super soft and you know, you know there's. There's a million different examples.

D (89:16)

No one's going to tell this kid to rub some dirt in it ever.

C (89:19)

Yeah, that's ever going to like they, they don't care. They don't rsv. Like was that a thing when. Probably not, you know. But that's something you're worried about and something your doctor's probably telling you about with the kid. Like RSV is a problem. You know, like I've. We had friends, kids that had to go to the emergency room because they had rsv. But like I don't know. Like it's. How. How often does that happen?

D (89:34)

I don't know.

C (89:34)

But some parents just want to avoid that. I think it sounds like they were blaming your way wife, not you. So I think their daughter. Yeah, their daughter.

A (89:43)

So you, she's got some buffer here because of that. So that's like.

C (89:47)

But I think it's, I think it's.

A (89:48)

Fair play also harder.

C (89:51)

I think you could probably read your wife though. Would she want you to say something? And you don't have to be like an asshole about it. You could just be like, hey, like we're just trying to do the best that we can. I don't appreciate you. Like she's already in a vulnerable spot. She just had a kid. You know, the postpartum stuff is obviously very real. It's very scary. For a long time after a kid like you just don't know, like you know every little thing you think, am I ruining this kid's life? Even though they may see, they may seem small to everyone else, but they're not small to you. I think that's fair to have that conversation with your in laws and be like you're kind of putting a lot of added pressure on her that she doesn't need right now. It's not that we don't love you, it's not that we don't want to see you, but like this is the deal right now. It will get better. The kid's gonna grow old. We want to see you but like you need to stop putting this pressure on your daughter. I'm saying this as your son in law, someone who cares about both parties here. Like this is not something that we could, that that's going to be sustainable. I think that's fair. I think they, that you know, if they're good people, I think they would respect you for, for looking out for the interest of their daughter, which you are in this situation. So I think that's probably the best way to do it. And, and again, like there's, there's always going to be like little disagreements about like whether or not, you know, someone's like with the level of sickness like we've had, we went through this with my parents. Like it's just different, man. Like when you grow up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, like those kids were always outside, you know, they were just like, hey, come home at sunset. Just not, that's just not the way it is now. And so I don't know, it's hard to blame the parents because that's the way that they grew up. But I think it's fair to have a conversation when you're coming from it from a standpoint of loving their daughter and caring about their daughter.

B (91:10)

Yeah.

D (91:10)

I broke my arm when I was 6 years old in this jumpy castle thing, like a bouncy house. And my grandmother was very upset because my mom's like, we're going straight to the hospital. And my grandmother was upset because she made sandwiches, and we were gonna miss the sandwiches at her house on the way back. And that's just like. This is like an old person's thing. She's like, well, I made lunch. And I was like, his arm is snapped.

C (91:31)

Yeah.

D (91:32)

He's, like, passing out in his car seat. I'm a little worried. And she's just like, well, what am I supposed to do with these sandwiches? It was just like, all right, so it's a little bit different, but I think you nailed it, Trudy. Where it's like, would your wife rather complain in the car on the way home about her parents, or would she rather you muddy this up a little bit where it's maybe more work for everyone? So I think you just figure out where she is, because she just might be someone who likes. Acknowledges her parents are a little difficult at times, Would rather talk to you about it and vent than you like stepping in between them and making shit weird in the future.

A (92:02)

Or you could just be a dick next time they do it. And you're like, yeah, right. He doesn't. He doesn't remember you. He's two.

D (92:11)

Done. Case closed.

C (92:13)

Yeah, see, that's not true, though. That's not true.

A (92:17)

Limited interaction still cuts the same. All right. Thanks to Sruti. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to. All right, guys, Kevin and Tom. And we will be back with Wednesday show and then Thursday show and then we'll get 10 good minutes as well on YouTube for the NBA stuff. All right, thank you for listening to the Ryan Rosilla show. Varsity of sports.

C (92:44)

Sa.