Divisional QB rankings, all-time athlete nicknames and Dontrelle Willis on Ohtani, Bartman, Pete Rose & more

Summary

Podcast Summary: Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara

Episode Title: Divisional QB Rankings, All-Time Athlete Nicknames, and More

Release Date: October 3, 2024

Hosts: Matt Leinart (Heisman Trophy winner) and Jerry Ferrara (Entourage star)

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1. Introduction

In this episode of Throwbacks, hosts Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara dive deep into the current sports landscape, blending their unique perspectives from football locker rooms and iconic TV sets. They engage in lively discussions ranging from NFL quarterback rankings to nostalgic reflections on legendary athletes, all while infusing humor and personal anecdotes.

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2. NFL Insights

a. Sam Darnold’s Revival and Nickname Debate

The duo kicks off the episode by discussing Sam Darnold’s impressive performance, sparking a conversation about the necessity of athlete nicknames. Matt Leinart shares an intriguing tidbit about Darnold's grandfather, the actor and Marlboro man Dick Hammer, highlighting the playfulness of nicknames in sports.

• Matt Leinart [00:22]: “I didn't know that Sam Darnold's grandfather was the actor and also the Marlboro man, Dick Hammer. Talk about a nickname.”
• Dontrell Willis [12:34]: “Dick Hammer. Can you be? Just imagine being called Dick Hammer?”

They explore potential nicknames for Darnold, brainstorming ideas like "The Red Hammer" and "Sammy Dimes," encouraging listeners to contribute their suggestions on social media.

b. Divisional QB Rankings

Shifting focus to NFL quarterback performances, Matt and Dontrell analyze current QB rankings across divisions, emphasizing the strength of the NFC West.

• Dontrell Willis [17:23]: “I like it. Geno Smith leads the NFL in passing yards second and completion percentage. He’s just playing good.”
• Matt Leinart [17:04]: “Geno Smith this past Monday night was so fun.”

They discuss key QBs like Geno Smith, Brock Purdy, Matt Stafford, and Kyler Murray, assessing their impact and the overall competitiveness of their divisions.

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3. NBA Developments

Knicks’ Blockbuster Trade for Shams Charania

Matt and Dontrell delve into the recent New York Knicks trade, acquiring Shams Charania. They dissect the implications of the trade, highlighting the strategic moves by the Knicks’ front office and expressing both excitement and concern over the timing and nature of the transactions.

• Matt Leinart [03:18]: “Shout out to Bree, she’s the MVP because I was on the soccer fields...”
• Dontrell Willis [05:17]: “The Knicks' starting lineup was five years ago. Cutting to five years later with this new lineup is formidable.”

They commend Rich Eisen’s analysis and emphasize the necessity of the trade for addressing the Knicks' needs, particularly in securing a center.

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4. Baseball Memories and Tribute

Pete Rose’s Passing and Legendary Stories

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to reminiscing about Pete Rose, a legendary figure in baseball whose passing deeply affects the hosts. Matt and Dontrell share heartfelt memories and anecdotes from their time at Fox alongside Rose, celebrating his contributions to the sport while acknowledging his complex legacy.

• Dontrell Willis [31:28]: “Pete Rose was one of the best to ever do it and one of the best guys.”
• Jerry Ferrara [33:25]: “He was a legend you can’t tell the story of baseball without talking about Pete Rose.”

They reflect on Rose's unparalleled knowledge of the game, his witty on-air presence, and his lasting impact on baseball fandom.

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5. Athlete Nicknames: Throwback Favorites

Top 3 All-Time Athlete Nicknames

In a nostalgic segment, Matt and Dontrell rank their top three throwback athlete nicknames, celebrating the rich history of memorable monikers in sports.

• Number 3:

  • Matt Leinart: “Eric 'Sleeping with the B Enemy'”—a playful nod to athlete interactions.
  • Dontrell Willis: “Mr. October”—honoring a clutch performer in baseball.

• Number 2:

  • Dontrell Willis: “The Big Unit” (Randy Johnson)—highlighting the intimidating presence of the legendary pitcher.
  • Matt Leinart: “The Kid” (Ken Griffey Jr.)—recognizing Griffey’s youthful energy and iconic status.

• Number 1:

  • Dontrell Willis: “Iron Mike” (Mike Tyson)—celebrating Tyson’s formidable reputation in boxing.
  • Matt Leinart: “Penny Hardaway”—appreciating the impact of Hardaway’s branding and athletic prowess.

They express concern over the decline of creative nicknames in the current era, noting that modern athletes like LeBron James and Stephen Curry maintain powerful imagery without the need for additional monikers.

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6. Personal Stories and Guest Interactions

Memorable Moments in Sports

The hosts share personal stories from their athletic and broadcasting careers, including attending memorable games, meeting iconic players, and experiencing high-stakes moments firsthand.

• Jerry Ferrara [41:03]: “When we won it, I never touched the trophy because it was too big for me.”
• Matt Leinart [66:06]: “I went to a Yankees Angels game and wore a Yankees jersey to meet the players...”

These anecdotes provide listeners with an insider’s view of the sports world, blending humor with genuine admiration for the athletes they’ve encountered.

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7. “Can’t Get Enough Sauce” Segment

Highlighting Standout Performances

In their recurring segment, Matt and Dontrell spotlight exceptional performances in various sports, using a playful metaphor involving sauces to describe their favorite moments.

• Dontrell Willis [23:38]: “My moment of the week is Bama vs. Georgia... It was a great, great college football game.”
• Matt Leinart [25:48]: “Jared Goff’s 18 for 18 game was garlic parmesan sauce—spicy honey barbecue for his touchdown catch.”

They applaud notable athletes like Jared Goff for their flawless performances, adding a layer of entertainment to their analytical discussions.

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8. Conclusion and Social Media Poll Results

Listener Engagement and Feedback

The episode concludes with the hosts reviewing the results of a social media poll regarding jersey trends, where 66.8% of respondents disagreed with Matt's stance on grown men wearing jerseys.

• Matt Leinart [65:56]: “That's 70, 30, 70% don’t agree.”

They encourage continued listener interaction, inviting fans to share their favorite athlete nicknames and engage with the show’s content on various platforms.

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9. Community and Charity Announcement

Sinclair Cares Hurricane Helene Relief

Before signing off, Matt and Dontrell address ongoing natural disasters, promoting Sinclair’s partnership with the Salvation Army to support hurricane relief efforts. They emphasize the importance of donations to provide clean water, food, and cleanup kits to affected areas.

• Matt Leinart [64:55]: “Donate at sinclaircares.com. Any little bit helps.”

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Notable Quotes

• Matt Leinart [02:03]: “Is Matt correct in saying that you can't...”
• Dontrell Willis [17:23]: “I like it. Geno Smith leads the NFL in passing yards second and completion percentage.”
• Jerry Ferrara [33:25]: “He was a legend you can’t tell the story of baseball without talking about Pete Rose.”
• Matt Leinart [65:56]: “That's 70, 30, 70% don’t agree.”

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Closing Thoughts

This episode of Throwbacks masterfully balances current sports analysis with heartfelt nostalgia, offering listeners a comprehensive and engaging exploration of the sports world. From dissecting quarterback performances to honoring baseball legends and celebrating iconic athlete nicknames, Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara deliver a rich tapestry of discussions that resonate with both long-time fans and new listeners alike.

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Connect with Throwbacks:

• Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify
• Follow on Social Media: @throwbackshow
• Participate in Polls and Share Your Favorite Athlete Nicknames

Thank you for tuning in to Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara. Stay connected and join us next week for more unforgettable sports stories and insights!

Transcript

[Jerry Ferrara]

This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the new prologue ev, there's a lot that could impress you about it. There's the class leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit honda.comev to see offers.

[Matt Leinart]

I didn't know that Sam Darnold's grandfather was the actor and also the Marlboro man who, you know, he played the Marlboro man, the cow, the famous cowboy whose name was Dick Hammer. Richard Hammer. Talk about a nickname.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dick Hammer. Can you be just imagine being called Dick Hammer.

[Matt Leinart]

All right, here we go, another episode of Throwbacks. Thanks to everybody for joining us and however you're taking in the show today, we appreciate it. Subscribe to us on YouTube, follow on Apple and Spotify. All the handles on social media are at throwbackshow and it's a worthy follow because we actually respond to you on social media, unlike other podcasts. And like, my esteemed co host, Matt Liner's been getting a lot of heat on, on the Twitters and the Instagrams for the jersey take to just buy it.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yet the gift keeps on giving, dude, every single day. I love it. Actually, my wife's best friend just texted me this week. Like we were on a group chat about getting the kids together and she just threw in a little oh, we won't talk about Matt's fashion because we know he likes to wear jerseys. Like, it was just like, I'm like, what now my wife's friends are talking about this.

[Matt Leinart]

Like, I had people saying to me on Twitter, both on Throwbacks and on my personal Twitter, like, you played a character who wore jerseys for like 10 years and you're not behind this? And I'm like, no, actually I'm not sort of siding with Lion. And we actually did a poll and we'll hit you with those poll results, which was. Is Matt correct in saying that you can't.

[Dontrel Willis]

I feel like it's pretty. I think it's definitely leaned more towards. It's allowed because of the, the, the fan, right? They want to wear jerseys to the game. That's been the big, the big pushback is like, we wore your jerseys, we're fans. So like, I understand that, but I would say, like, it's pretty close. Like, I've had a lot of people, even on my show on BIG Noon, it's like, oh, we side with you, dude. Like, I would. I think you hit a certain age where you're like, it's just not acceptable anymore.

[Matt Leinart]

But yeah, some good takes. Like, hey, you could wear, you could wear jerseys of someone who's like your dad or grandpa's age. So maybe that's how I mean to do it.

[Dontrel Willis]

Let's. Okay, we can move on from the jerseys, though. Okay. You did. You were just all over this week, the big weekend. I mean, we get Shams on an emergency pod, throwbacks to break down this, this blockbuster trade. Have you recover, have you. I mean, have you soaked it in?

[Matt Leinart]

Well, here's the thing I don't like about these Knicks and the way they're moving. I love the moves they're making. I don't love that they seem to be dropping all this at Friday night at 10 o'clock. I feel like the Bridges trade was also. I'm like, laying in bed, I just read Jacob a story thing. The house is calm, and then boom. That block was. Yeah. But to get Shams, you know, I know Shams for a lot of years.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, that was huge.

[Matt Leinart]

And shout out to. Come on. And by the way, my wife, shout out to Bree, she's the mvp because I was like, on the soccer fields. That was my Ari Gold moment where I got word, hey, Shams is going to come on live, get home. And I kind of had to leave my kids on the soccer field.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dude, shout out to Bree. Just understanding what, what was at stake. I mean, that was important, dude. And shout out to Shams. I mean, that was awesome, man. Like, to get that.

[Matt Leinart]

And if you haven't seen it, you can go to the throwbacks, YouTube. The whole interview's up there. But I pulled what I thought was the most important minute because he gave you the step by step of, like, how far back this trade goes. So let's throw up that one part of the Shams interview, and if you want to hear the rest, go over to throwbacks on YouTub. This pursuit of Carl Anthony Towns really picked up steam over the last, I think, week two weeks when the Knicks started calling Minnesota about him making offers, making concepts of offers, they were just given hard no's. Wow. No, no. And way back, even around draft time July and into, into the months of August, a lot of the offers that the Knicks were conceptually discussing from what I'm told were around Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. And that just from Minnesota's perspective, that was not going to get it done. And over the last week is when finally the inclusion of Dante DiVincenzo was made in this proposal, not Mitchell Robinson. So then you have Julius Randle, Dante DiVincenzo. But still, that was a no. Minnesota wanted an asset. And last night the Knicks, from what I'm told, finally put that first round pick from Detroit on the table. And we got wind yesterday that there were active conversations, ongoing conversations. But again, Jerry, like I didn't know until, you know, maybe 15, 20 minutes before the. We dropped the news, me and my colleague John Krasinski at the Athletic. I mean, yeah, I didn't realize that this was. We've heard Nick, you know, cat to the Knicks for like two years. I didn't know that this was going on for, for this long.

[Dontrel Willis]

So we, so we're on the group chat and the minute it happened initially, you're probably processing like, no. Yes. What does this look like now that the dust has settled, right. And you get a perennial All Star, you get a stretch five who can shoot and reunited with Tibbs. And again, maybe that works. Works well this time around as, as he's matured a lot, I'm sure, as a player. What are your thoughts? I mean, I, I was saying now my whole timeline is all Knick stuff and it's now they have the third best odds to win the NBA championship and arguably the best starting five in the NBA. It's settled. Are you happy?

[Matt Leinart]

Well, welcome to hell. That is Nick's Twitter, Matt. Welcome to hell. We brought you in to the depths of hell. It's an interesting place. Look, I had an emotional reaction at first and you know, shout outs. Rich Eisen. I love Rich Eisen. Rich. Hopefully we're going to get to be a guest on. I'll tell you what, I'm going to ask Rich Eisen right away because he went on his show, which is amazing, and basically was saying, all right, Nick, fans, f your emotions at this point because this trade makes sense. And you know what? He's right. Once the emotional response wore off, it makes sense. Here's what I'll end it with because now it's just time to. Let's just. We got to roll the ball out and play. There's no more analysis. When Leon Rose took over as the Knicks front office president or whatever his official title is, the Knicks starting lineup was Alfred Payton, Taj Gibson, Mo Harkless, Julius Randle and R.J. barrett. And that was five years ago. So you cut to five years later. I know it seems like an eternity to Nick fans, but it really wasn't now to be running out that lineup, which again on paper means nothing, is pretty formidable. And the bottom line is, and I'll end it with this, Matt. They needed a center.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

And they did. They didn't offer Randall the contract extension, which usually is the kiss of death. They didn't offer IQ one. That usually means we're not going to give you a contract. So they basically got something back for Randall, who probably wasn't going to resign barring a Finals run.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dude, that's how I feel. The Garden is going to be just.

[Matt Leinart]

We're going, baby. We're going. I'm taking you. You don't have to wear a jersey, by the way.

[Dontrel Willis]

I will wear a jersey. I'll wear a jersey to that. I'll wear. I got. You know what I'm going to get? I'm going to get Jalen Brunson from you because I know you guys are boys. I might even go Josh Hart, because Josh Hart was a Laker for a little while like Josh Hart. I'm aware of that. Jersey court side.

[Matt Leinart]

You're gonna get so much. You're gonna get. If they put you on the jumbo truck, you're gonna get booed. Cause everyone knows your jersey. Take now.

[Dontrel Willis]

No. Not wearing a Knicks jersey, though.

[Matt Leinart]

True. They'll. They'll love you for it.

[Dontrel Willis]

That's gonna be exciting, man. Yeah. Have you.

[Matt Leinart]

All right. Real quick. And we have a great show. I don't want to get too far ahead. We have Dontrell Willis D Train joining us.

[Dontrel Willis]

Who.

[Matt Leinart]

You could catch him on Fox. It. We're at that point of sports now where, okay, we're full in football mode and we have some good football stuff for you now. It's baseball playoffs, World Series upon us. We have really good teams in the mix. And then also basketball is now creeping in. So we're. We're getting ready to reach the sports utopia that is coming. But yeah, Dontra, you know, you have a little relationship with Doncha.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, Dontrella. So when I. I mean, I'm at Fox and now we're not in the studio. We're on the road every week. But a couple years back, before Big Noon kickoff became a thing, I was in the studio every weekend and, um, Don Charles a part of our MLB broadcast with those guys with a rod and Poppy. And now Jeter came over big Hurt used to be a part of that. And it was always the coolest time of the year because I'm a diehard baseball fan. And October would be awesome because we have playoffs on FOX in October. And our green room, which is called the Avocado Room, it would be our crew of college football you know, watching and all day, I'm talking from 6:00am to 9:00 at night. And then it would be those guys and it would be those guys and we're all in one room watching. We put the, we put the baseball game on the big screen and then the other 20 screens had all the college football games. And that's where I got to know D Train and just a great guy. And just the stories in that room with those guys. And then, you know, we lost Pete Rose. The baseball committee lost Pete Rose this week. Excuse me. And Pete was a part of Fox for a couple years and you know, just sitting in the room with Dontrell and Pete and those guys and the stories and just as a sports fan and a kid like the kid in me. And you've probably been in rooms when you're around athletes that you just grew up watching, you're like, yeah. Holy, dude, this is like, this is cool, man. So I'm looking forward to talk to D Train just about some of those stories. And, and he's, I mean he won a World Series.

[Matt Leinart]

He broke my heart in 03. Broke my heart.

[Dontrel Willis]

Beat the, beat the Yankees in the World Series and played with some of the greats and does a great job on tv, man. So looking fired up to hear from. From Dontrell.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, you mentioned Pete Rose and a lot of people have talked about the legend of Pete Rose. And then also this week we lost to Kembe Mutombo, who also incredible on the court, but also like some of the stuff he did off the court was unbelievable. But then I started thinking too, and I think this is because of what happened this weekend with our guy Sam Darnold. And we'll get into that. This is where I'm going somewhere with this. Obviously Pete Rose iconic nickname, Charlie Hustle. Oh, the Kembe Mutombo. Mount Mutombo. Really cool. Fitting. I'm getting a little worried, Matt, that we are losing the great lane that even the likes of Chris Berman once owned with some of these nicknames of what we have today versus what we had in the past. So I'm looking at Sam Darnold this week and go off against the packers. And I was giving him earlier in the year saying he can't win comeback Player of the year. What's he coming back from? No, he's just going to go out and win MVP possibly. He now has the third best odds plus 800 to win NFL MVP and looks totally like the real deal. And you know what? This is why I love getting to Know you, Matt, but it's so annoying because, like, you say stuff and I try to push back, but you're the athlete, and I. But I want to prove you wrong as the fan. But you've been saying forever, right, sister?

[Dontrel Willis]

I have.

[Matt Leinart]

Right Guy calling the plays. A couple of good wet. Like, it's all coming. Everything you've said, it's all coming together, and it annoys me because you're right.

[Dontrel Willis]

I'm glad I. I'm glad because my takes, my picks on Saturday have been awful with draftkings. So I'm glad. I'm glad I'm hit. I'm glad I'm hitting like a hundred. Hitting 100 here. So I'm just thinking of Sam Darnold. I'm thinking of nicknames right now. So his. Wait, so his grandfather is.

[Matt Leinart]

This is what got me thinking, right.

[Dontrel Willis]

Okay.

[Matt Leinart]

So I put out on Twitter, watching that game and all the games. I'm like, you know what? I think if Darnold keeps going this way, he needs a nickname. There's nothing wrong with the name Sam Darnold. It's a fine name, but we could do better if he's putting up these numbers. I don't know if he quite has the look. Tom Brady doesn't need a nickname that he sounds like a quarterback.

[Dontrel Willis]

It's just the goat.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, yeah, Tom. But Tom Brady, like that. It says enough even with Mahomes. Doesn't really need a nickname. Darnold, I think, could benefit from a nickname. So I started doing the deep dive on them. And I know a lot of jets fans from his jets days know this. I didn't know that Sam Darnold's grandfather was the actor and also the. The Marlboro man, who. You know, he played the Marlboro man, the cow, the famous cowboy whose name was Dick Hammer. Dude, just Richard Hammer. Talk about a nickname.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dick Hammer. Can you be. Just imagine being called Dick Hammer? I mean, this not the greatest name of all time.

[Matt Leinart]

Clearly someone who wasn't afraid of a nickname. Right? Hey, you know what they call people for short for Richard? Dick. You're gonna be Dick Hammer. He leaned right into that. So we got to figure this out for Darnold. Some people sent in. You got one?

[Dontrel Willis]

I got one.

[Matt Leinart]

Do you want to hear some of that people on Twitter?

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, let's hear what they said.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, I was trying to work in the Hammer. I was. Or maybe like the. The Marlboro Sam instead of the Marlboro man, something like that. But let me see. Okay. Yeah. Some people Had a few good ones. Max Mandel said Starn, not bad. A few people had slinging Sammy. Don't love it. Sammy Dimes, which is fun. But the one that stuck out to me, Sammy Darts. Because also Marlboro man, they call him Lung Darts. Smart on the dart. So what do you got?

[Dontrel Willis]

Dude, I got three.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay.

[Dontrel Willis]

You ready for this?

[Matt Leinart]

Yes.

[Dontrel Willis]

Okay. The Red Hammer. We got to stick with the Hammer, dude. We got the red. This guy's just slinging the Hammer. O. The Red Hammer. Redhead. Okay. I got the Red Hammer. I got the Ginger Assassin.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay. Oh, my God.

[Dontrel Willis]

And then this one I saw. This one is not original, but this one kind of made me laugh.

[Matt Leinart]

The Ghostbuster, because he was seeing ghosts on the side. Oh, I think. I think you're on the side with the Red Hammer.

[Dontrel Willis]

I can't get over just being called Dick Hammer. Like if we just start. We're going to start calling him Sam.

[Matt Leinart]

Hammer or Sam Sam Sam the Red.

[Dontrel Willis]

Hammer or the Red Hammer.

[Matt Leinart]

I tried to think of other Hammers besides his grand.

[Dontrel Willis]

We got Dick.

[Matt Leinart]

Greg the Hammer Valentine.

[Dontrel Willis]

Everybody listening. Like, send it. Tag us on all the socials of what you want Sam Darnold's nickname to be. I'm going with the Red Sam. The Red Hammer. Darnold.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm. I'm still. I am not locking into something yet because I think this is a nuanced conversation. I think this is important, Matt, because I. We then put out in our group chat, like, hey, let's talk about. Let's pick our top three, our throwback athlete nicknames of all time. And we're going to do that later in the show, which by the way, you do some research. There's about 4000amazing athlete nicknames. Which brings me to why I'm troubled. Who are some of the current active player nicknames that we love? I did a little research. I'm going to throw a few at you. All right. We know we got King James. It's a great one. But LeBron's, you know, he's 40. How much longer do we have him? Chef Curry, always cooking. Great one again up there in years. Slim Reaper for Durant. Great one, kind of self appointed. Gave it to himself. So other ones that I love that weren't maybe as high profile. Honey Badger, I thought was a really cool one. And the ones I like now, the Mo. I love Sauce Gardener. Yeah, that seems to have been his nickname forever.

[Dontrel Willis]

Forever. Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

I think Cheetah is amazing for Tyree Kill. I just think that's a cool one. It fits. And then like Hollywood Brown, we haven't really seen much. He's hurt. Danger. Russ is over. I mean, that's over. There's nothing dangerous about Russ.

[Dontrel Willis]

King. King Henry. King Henry. Derek King Henry.

[Matt Leinart]

Great one. Mad Max Crosby and Danny Dimes may very well have to give it back by the end of the year.

[Dontrel Willis]

The end. Danny, he's gonna be Danny. Danny Penny's coming up.

[Matt Leinart]

Sammy Dime. Maybe go Sammy Dimes.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah. I think you're onto something here. I think the basketball guys are better. Like Chef Curry's sick. King King James. I mean, and then, you know, he puts the crown on his head and all that kind of stuff, which is pretty badass. The football guys to like to me aren't as like it doesn't. It doesn't get me going. They your I Cheetah is fine. I don't know, maybe it's just because I'm just such an old school and like as you just said, like diving deep dive into the old throwback. Some of the old nicknames, like it's like, holy shit. These are like some of the best names of all time. And like, yeah, you think of this word and you think of that athlete and yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to dive into.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, I'm worried that we're losing it and it's all going to go away. So later in the show we're going to do. We're going to do that. But you know, being that I thought so much, the most I've ever thought about Sam Darnold was this weekend. And it got me looking around because we, you know, we love to talk quarterbacks and you are a quarterback, Matt. Start to go divisionally. Look around the divisions in football for your money, one through four in each division. What division do you think has the four best right now? Current, not all time current best quarterbacks.

[Dontrel Willis]

This one. This one's challenging because. Are you going based on record? Right. Okay. Are they one in three? Does that mean they're not playing well? Do you go based on stats or based on like, like circumstance with the team? I actually thought about this a little bit and I'm going to argue for the NFC West.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay.

[Dontrel Willis]

I like it. So you got Geno Smith right now three and one Game three and one. Yeah. Leads the NFL and passing yards second and completion percentage. Just playing. I mean he's just playing good. Like he's playing for good for them. And they're first in their division. You got Brock Purdy. Okay, so they're two and two but doing it without cmc. I mean, talk about the injuries. A little bit of disarray over there, but like, like we still believe San Francisco is a really good football team. He's second in passing yards. Matt Stafford to me is like Puka's out. Cup is out. He's doing. They're one in three now. If they can survive and kind of, kind of just hover over the next couple weeks. Dangerous till they get some of those guys back. Yeah, but he's an elite player, man. And he's been an elite player for a decade. And then Kyler Murray, the numbers are actually really good. Six touchdowns, one interception. They're one and three. I just don't think Arizona is a very good football team. But top to bottom, I think you could argue that the west. The west has really good quarterback play this year.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I'm with you. Geno Smith this past Monday night that, that Lions Seahawks game was so fun. You want. And also maybe it was highlighted against a really uninteresting Titans Dolphins game. But. And no, I mean injuries all over the place and Levis went out. But that game was so fun. And yeah, Geno Smith one of the truly a comeback story. All right, I'm with you. I have the nfc, but the NFC west is my number two. I tried really hard to make to be the contrarian and make the NFC south somehow work just again how they're playing now.

[Dontrel Willis]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

Baker was unreal last weekend. Godwin looks like a whole new guy again. All right, so we know we got Baker. I think Carr got off to the hot start, but he's starting to. He started trying to make the case. Kirk Cousins will always be able to make the case, at least in the regular season. A lot of fun, but then it just falls apart. Like I can't get as much as we love the Dalton story, we can't shoehorn Dalton.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dude, there's another Red Rocket. Dude, there's. He's the Red Rocket. Sam's the Red Hammer.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I couldn't really shoehorn. So I'm with you. The NFC south, that's my number two. For me it's the. It's. It's the nfc. What North. It's the North.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Again, it's. It's right now I'm not going all time and maybe this changes. What Darnold's doing is outstanding golf and we're going to talk about golf later when we talk about Wendy's unbelievable game for golf. I think Jordan love. I mean he got hurt which was unfortunate but He'll.

[Dontrel Willis]

He'll like, he'll be there. Like they'll be.

[Matt Leinart]

And he. And he. Look, he was. They were out of that game. He just started slinging it and brought them back in. And then it gets a little like, Caleb's the big question. I think he's getting better every week. It looks a little better every week.

[Dontrel Willis]

How's our boy Ashton Kutcher doing right now?

[Matt Leinart]

He is. Talk about wellness Check on. On Kutch Wellness.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, it is. It's rough over there for Chicago Bear fans.

[Matt Leinart]

It is pretty rough. It is pretty rough. All right, we're going to now do another part that I love before we say goodbye to the NFL almost for the show. Cause I'm going to really get into baseball and nicknames. All right, Matt, who needs it more this weekend? I don't know if you have the slate up in front of you.

[Dontrel Willis]

I have a team.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay.

[Dontrel Willis]

I have a team. And you just mentioned them because they were awful on Monday night. Oh, no, I'm going with the Miami Dolphins.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Dontrel Willis]

We see now how great Tua is and how good that team is when Tua's playing. Right. So first and foremost, want him to get healthy. He's going to be coming back in the next couple weeks. Ideally, the Dolphins are one in three. Okay. But their next three games, I wrote this down. The next three games, they got the Pats, they got the Colts, and they got the Cardinals.

[Matt Leinart]

Could be three right there.

[Dontrel Willis]

Could be three right there. Tyler Huntley kind of get going a little bit. Tyler Huntley's a good player. He played really well when he was in Baltimore, like obviously struggle Monday, but now as he gets some more reps and experience. So sitting at one and three, all of a sudden you, you, you win two of those three games, you probably get to a back for Arizona, I'm assuming. And then all of a sudden you're at what, you're maybe at three and three when you get your starting quarterback and you're still right there. So I just think for the Dolphins. Cause I do think it's a playoff team when their. Their quarterback is healthy. They have this window here where they just need. They need it, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They.

[Matt Leinart]

They could survive.

[Dontrel Willis]

One in four is tough.

[Matt Leinart]

One of curtains. Yeah, that's a good one. I'm. I'm with you. I. So I got the packers and for a very specific reason, you know, they're playing the Rams, obviously. We know the Rams are good, but wounded.

[Dontrel Willis]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

You can't let them hang around. They have to take control of this game. Being 2 and 2 so far, they're the. The team that's had the most like, hellish season with injuries and crazy stuff. So to come out of that two and two and LaFleur has shown me, not that he needs to show me, but what he did with Malik Willis was unbelievable. Getting two, who would have thought Malik Willis would be two and oh, and Jordan Love would be owing to but two sort of winnable games. You take care of business against the Rams and go three and two, you're on track. Because I worry about the packers and their defense has proven a lot to me falling too far behind. You go two and three. I think the Vikings are pedal to the metal. I think the Lions now are starting to say, all right, we got to flex on some people. And then The Seahawks are 3 and 1 leading that division. But you can't count the Niners out when they get healthy. So I'm looking at the playoff spots.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

And the NFC certainly seems to be shaking up. You might need 10 wins to. To grab a wild card spot.

[Dontrel Willis]

Well, you're just the division alone. Like, your chance of winning the division is. Is almost shot because of those two other teams. We know Detroit's going to be 11, 12 win team probably. And the way Minnesota's playing, I mean, why not like. Like that's four weeks in a row where they've been dominant. Like, dominant. Probably argue that they're the best team in football right now. I know the Chiefs are still undefeated. Buffalo. But yeah, again, it's. The parody is such. Excuse me. So crazy in the NFL, like, you just. You want to hover around 500. You get like, Malik. Winning those two games was huge.

[Matt Leinart]

Season saving.

[Dontrel Willis]

It's season saving because now all of a sudden, you win a couple more and then, well, you're four and two, you're five and three, and then you're right back in the mix. But yeah, you're right. I mean, and a lot of people had Green Bay shoot. I mean, winning a Super bowl this year, there were a lot of experts out there.

[Matt Leinart]

They were very trendy.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, they were the trendy pick. So, yeah, they need it for sure.

[Matt Leinart]

And now it's time for nothing. No one who really needed luck. Because this is one of my favorite segments, and this is all about some sauciness. All right. This is the can't get enough sauce moment of the week.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

Brought to you by Wendy's. It's just we cannot get enough of this player right now. The same way we cannot get enough of Wendy's New saucy nugs. And Matt, mine is. I'm just letting you know, mine is saucy. I'm dipping it. I got several sauces lined up for mine, but I'm going to let you go first.

[Dontrel Willis]

So I need several sauces because I'm actually going. I'll highlight a player too, but I'm going. A game. My moment of the week is a game. Okay. It's Bama, Georgia in college football this past week. And I don't know how much you saw, okay. But this game lived up to the hype. It had the star power, it had the moments. Bama's up 30 to 7 at halftime. Georgia goes up 34, 33 with a couple minutes left. And then Bama boom has a pass to ryan Williams, the 17 year old phenom, for 75 yards to go up. George is driving. And then they have an interception to win. Jalen Milroe, 491 yards, four touchdowns. The freshman phenom, Ryan Williams, 177 yards. Carson Beck was getting torn up on, on. On Twitter in the first half. The second half, he absolutely bald. That is my saucy moment of the week. The game lived up to the hype. The players were. The stars showed up. Man, it was a great, great college football game.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. Really quick on that. I, Williams did something. It's rare now. I see a player do something like. I don't think I've ever seen that.

[Dontrel Willis]

Before, by the way. He's 17 years old.

[Matt Leinart]

Right. I don't think I've seen a move in a very long time where I said, I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that. And then you, of course started sending me stuff about Milroe with my Giants. So very well might be the Giants quarterback next year. I got to start scouting. That's a good one. Okay. All right. I'm going to. All right. This is, this is so obvious to me. And I've been talking about this player and defending this player for years. It's Jared Goff. You want to talk about saucy dude, my guy was 18 for 18. That's honey barbecue right there. Not only was he 18 for 18, it wasn't 18 for 18 for 157 yards. It was just shy of 300 yards. That's garlic parmesan sauce. And my favorite thing, my guy caught a touchdown. That's spicy honey barbecue right there. So those are the three sauces.

[Dontrel Willis]

I see what you did there.

[Matt Leinart]

You see what I did there, by the way?

[Dontrel Willis]

And Campbell didn't even give him the game ball. Remember that? You see that after he was supposed to give, he gave someone else a game ball. He didn't even realize his quarterback had a perfect qbr.

[Matt Leinart]

He didn't realize his quarterback was basically saucy. So it's just so obvious. People have been hating on golf for a little while. I'm so happy. And I even remember two years ago there was a lot of Internet personalities who talk about sports saying, oh, they need to draft a quarterback at whatever they had six or the year they got Sewell. And it's like, like, I know quarterbacks are important, but this, this guy's close to top 10. And this is now, I think he's easily a top 10 quarterback. And he showed, he showed the whole bag. So that is my can't get enough sauce moment of the week. Jared Goff, you're dipping in several sauces, my guy. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, Dontrell Willis. What if I told you there was a way for your favorite team to keep scoring points even during timeouts and commercial breaks? You'd probably be all over that, right? Well, we want to help you do the same thing with your money.

[Dontrel Willis]

That's why we can't wait to tell you about our partners over at Cash App. The Money App.

[Matt Leinart]

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[Dontrel Willis]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Dontrel Willis]

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[Matt Leinart]

Is hard, but don't make it harder than it needs to be. Get on Cash App and start saving today. Deposit 300, and let cash App go to work because it pays to get paid. On Cash App. You've had Wendy's nugs dipped in sauce, but have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy's new Saucy nugs. Take the crispy and spicy nugs you love and turn them up to 11.

[Dontrel Willis]

You can choose between flavors like buffalo, you got honey barbecue, garlic parm, or if you're A real heat seeker. You try spicy ghost pepper only on Wendy's signature spicy nugs. I dare you.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm a heat secret. That's seven delicious ways to try the nugs you already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and prepare to nug like you've never nugged before.

[Dontrel Willis]

For a whole new way to nug, it's got to be Wendy's at participating us Wendy's. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse offer auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile unlimited premium wireless.

[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Dontrel Willis]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Dontrel Willis]

But to get 20, 20, I better get 15.

[Matt Leinart]

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[Dontrel Willis]

Just 15 bucks a month. So give it a try@mint mobile.com switch.

[Matt Leinart]

$45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only. Taxes and fees. Extra speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. He detailed all right. He was a 2003 Rookie of the year. He was the Cy Young runner up in 052 time all star. And for me, it was a little bit heartbreaking because I'm a Yankee fan. He' now you see him on TV with Fox and Apple tv and also has an amazing nickname. We were talking nicknames earlier. The D Train. Don Trell Willis joins the show. Great nickname. Do you. I hope you love it as much as I love it. Yeah, I love it.

[Dontrel Willis]

No, no, I, you know, he doesn't love it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what's so funny and I told Derek Jeter is I didn't love it until he said it. I mean, I mean, because this is nuance and you know, I mean, and a lot of people call me D Train, but they don't know my name. Like, hey, Dante. I'm like, that's not my name, but close enough. But, you know, nevertheless, that's a. That's a legendary thing. I appreciate it. And now my soccer player, we have to call her B Train now. So it stuck for a long time. So, yeah, I like it now. I like it.

[Dontrel Willis]

I. That actually, I. I'm going to call you D Train because I feel like we're close enough to call you. Didn't someone in the old avocado room at Fox call you Detrain? And you said, hey, you're not allowed to call me that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you got to know me first. You know what I mean? You got to come and say hello. You know me. I'm not going to walk up to him and call him Turtle, you know what I mean? You know, I mean, there's certain nuances and respect level that you have to earn that be able to call a nickname. But I'm also a legendary ball buster as well, so it's awesome.

[Dontrel Willis]

So, speaking of respect, D Train, the baseball lost a legend this week, man. And Pete Rose, we could say, complicated and layered and all those kind of things, but we all know one of the best to ever do it and one of the best guys. And you and I both spent a lot of time with him at Fox. You more than I. But I remember, you know, a couple years back before our show was going on the road, the best time of the year for me was October. Because one, I'm a diehard Dodger fan. I love, I love baseball playoffs. And I got to sit in that room with, with you and with Pete and with Frank Thomas and Papi and all those guys. And I just remember, like his presence in there, it was just felt. And he would, he would come in and talk about ball busters. He would talk about when I was playing games in college. Like he knew the lines of the games that I was still playing like 20 years ago. Like, he was just, he was one of a kind. And I, and I take those memories with me to heart, man, because it really was awesome to get to know him. For you, any memory or story that sticks out from your time with Pete during those years?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, first of all, you know, he, he's a legend. Even when he walks in the room with legends. I mean, he was somebody that gravitated and really, you know, he was one of those guys where everybody in the room just wanted to hear a peach story or hear one of his statistics. I mean, he was a very smart and witty old man, you know what I mean? Like, how many two hit games he had, he would know three hit games, four hit games. And really just a fun presence. And I put him up there with the Ric Flairs and the Charles Barclays of the world in the sense of he knew he was good, he was going to tell you he was good and he was going to get it done. And so he didn't care, you know what I mean? He was going to say exactly what he wanted to say, which was kind of fun and nerve wracking working with him on air because you didn't know what he was going to say. A funny story happened on air. Josh Donaldson, who's, who's my boy, gets hit with the ball in his elbow Guard. And he got this massive elbow guard. And so I'm like, oh man, he gets smoked by a baseball and he turns me on air and says, well, he's got enough armor to invade Afghanistan. I'm like, and what did you say after that? Like, what did you say? This is on national tv. And so I'm like, yeah, bottom of the second. Are you. Where do you go with that? And so he countlessly had comments of that all the time. But at the same token, when you talk about hitting and the nuance of the game, nobody better to talk to. I mean, he was literally this savant in the box and he loved talking baseball. I remember when I got to the Reds, I had a three hit game and he was just so proud. And so he gave me a call and so I thought about, damn, I must be a shitty pitcher because all he's talking about is my history.

[Dontrel Willis]

But.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This is a legend, you know, and so, you know, hopefully he gets in the hall of Fame because you can't tell the story of baseball without talking about Pete Rose.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, that clip that's been surfacing all week on like Twitter and stuff was him in the studio with Frank Thomas and A Rod talking about when you're slumping. He's like, I hold it back. Here you go in the front of the box, the bat and you're just watch. Even Frank Thomas and A Rob were like, we're all witnessing, like none of us think of it this in this way. And Pete's giving us some real knowledge. So yeah, we certainly all feel that. And I imagine too, like you said, working on live air with someone that, you know, could, you know, old man syndrome is going to say some stuff. You gotta be on your toes, dude.

[Dontrel Willis]

That's the hard part about TV is like, you know, and we all, whether show wrong, when you prepare, you kind of know what you're going to talk about or you're going to react. And I think one of our producers on Both of Bardia would tell me like, dude, he would have like no notes. He would just. You just. Yeah, you had to react and you had to be on your feet. And that's, that's what makes great television, obviously. But it also can put you in a weird spot, Dontrell, like, how the hell am I supposed to follow Pete Rose when he's talking about all other sorts of shit? You know, he barely had a pen, like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I'm sitting here with my laptop and my note cards and I'm looking at him and I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna follow you, you know what I mean? Because how are you gonna trump one of the greatest hitters of all time? You know what I mean? But when he really talked about the nuance of baseball and how to play hard, he was articulate. I mean, he was definitely somebody that did not hold back as far as, like, you need to go at it 100%. And really, he didn't really talk about that necessarily in baseball, but he talked about it in life. Now, he went at it 100% on and off the field, and some of that stuff got him in trouble. But in the end, you know, I mean, he's a legend to our sport. And like I said, I think he's deserving of being in the hall of Fame. I think Roger Clements is deserving of being hall of Fame. I think Barry Bonds, I think Oz, Rodriguez. You can put an asterisk around their name. It doesn't matter. But you can't tell a story in my mind of baseball without having these individuals in the game.

[Matt Leinart]

Well said.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Look, I'm going to bring something up that I've been getting a lot of heat about. Okay. I'm going to try to keep it short. I've made this pitch before. Matt thinks it's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, and I really don't think you're going to love it, but I have some questions for you based off it. So Lifetime baseball fan, grew up as a kid, my first love, Yankee fan, all that. And I still watch as much as I can, but I got two little kids, so it definitely cuts into the, you know, hundred and something game, season. I want to know, for you especially, all right. When you're at the Marlins and you're going to New York for the World Series, just the weather, change of. You're used to playing in these conditions. I think about this all the time since I was a kid. One day on the east coast, it's happening right now here you wake up, it was 80 last week, and you just wake up and it's 40 and the leaves are on the ground, and that's happening. You've been playing 162 games a certain way. Now you're walking into the Bronx and it's 40 degrees and freezing cold. Is that an entirely different game than you've played the whole season, or does it not matter to an athlete?

[Jerry Ferrara]

It absolutely matters. And so, you know, one thing I love about you New Yorkers, there's always a little home field advantage. And I never told this story, but when we placed them in the World Series, it was freezing. It was like almost like November at this point. So it was freezing. So, you know, I'm looking like an Eskimo. Like, no disrespect, like, you know, I'm freezing because like all of a sudden I'm in the bullpen and they had tears in the bullpen, so then the cold air would come in. So we're all around the theater and meanwhile we're looking at the Yankee bullpen and they're all toasty and all that. So I love that New Yorker home field advantage and what have you. But once your adrenaline kicks in, man, like, you know what I mean, you warm up like a microwave very fast. And you know, I remember I warmed up in game one. I threw eight straight balls in the bullpen and I'm in game eight, straight non competitive pitches. Like I'm like, my heart rate, you know, I'm a 21 year old winning the game. And so all of a sudden, by the time I ran all the way out there, I was sweating like Patrick Hewitt in the fourth quarter, like I was ready to go. And so when your adrenaline kicks in, you'll be just fine. But meanwhile there was a lot of coffee sharing and everybody holding hot cocoa and stuff like that. But I like what Yorkers did with a little home filled advantage, make these South Florida boys freeze a little bit.

[Dontrel Willis]

I was, I was telling Jerry, in 2008, I think we went out to New England and in November and it was a blizzard and I was backing up, but it, the funniest thing, you just, I'm just literally visualizing you out in the bullpen just with a bunch of grown men like, like, just like this. And, and I'll tell you what, we're on the sideline and I, we have these big jackets on and we have heaters in our seat and we have like fans. And like you're putting your, you know, you're putting your hands right next to that and we look like a bunch of little five year olds. Dude. Who never been in cold weather, man, it is hilarious.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know, you're almost looking like who's making s'mores in the bullpen? And all of a sudden you hear the phone ringing and they're like, Willis. I'm like, what? Like they had the wrong answer. Next thing I know, I'm literally out there and Jack McKeon's like, well, big D, go get him. And I'm like, this is Jason Giambi hit 30 home runs after the break. And stuff like that. So my adrenaline definitely in my heart rate got me warming up. But it's definitely difficult for some people to play in that type of weather. And I think, you know, you got to be New York tough. You got to be Northeast tough, man. And so that's why I think a lot of injuries start to plague both sides, whether it's the Mets or the Yankees. Also, I think being in that car for two hours a day and that traffic doesn't help your body either. But, you know, I think there's something to be said about the weather.

[Matt Leinart]

You know, we were talking off air, too, about golf, and that's why I was asking, because I even know, all right, I'm. Go play golf tomorrow. I'm. I'm not going to hit the. Not to hit the ball far. I'm going to lose like 7 yards because I just. It's just the weather. But even. Just when did it do anything to your pitches? Not even you physically, but just the weather. Do anything. Nothing matters. Zero percent.

[Dontrel Willis]

All right, Because.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Because to be honest with you, it was just cold. Like, the weather. The sun was out. It was just like. The sun was like, y'all on your own down there in the Bronx, you know what I mean? It just couldn't get all the way down in the warm up. Warm us up. But again, in that situation, though, like, I mean, Maddie could play the national title game, Iceland, and still be warm enough to where once you're. You're in the huddle, it is what it is. And so, yeah, you know, when you're in the game, man, and you're in the World Series and you're in the Bronx and not new Yankee Stadium. New Yankee Stadium is too nice. There's too many martinis.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm with you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This is old Yankee Stadium, where the rats weren't afraid of humans and stuff. This is like, you know, it was a home field advantage. And so for me, being a West coast guy, I thought this was like the cathedral of baseball, you know what I mean? Like, we're in World Series against the Yankees, bro. So it could have been a blizzard. We'd have been ready to compete out there at a high level.

[Dontrel Willis]

I was a pitcher growing up. It was my first love. I tore my arm when I was 14. But I think. And Jerry, you know, being a lifelong baseball fan, I think all kids dream of pitching in the World Series, man. Like game seven, bottom of the ninth. And you go through that moment in your head. You did, you lived it, you won it. That like, take us Back to that, man. Like, how, like, what is the celebration like? Like, the team, the locker room, it's got to be up there all time.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know, I mean, for us to play the Giants, the Cubs, and the Yankees, you. You can't script that any better as far as anybody that loves baseball. And so, you know, being part of the Barkman game, if anybody that knows baseball about that in Chicago and what have you overcoming the Cubs, I mean, could you imagine it was the Cubs, Yankees, World Series? I mean, now that I work at Fox, I'm like, I'm rooting for that, right?

[Matt Leinart]

You want that World Series.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But again, like, it was just surreal. And we really felt in our locker room that we could be world leaders. And we get to the Bronx and there's just countless videos of this, like, their history. And you see Yogi Berra, you see all these guys, and it's like, okay, this is when the road is going to end for the Marlins. This is the sad Disney movie that they go up to New York and they get killed. You know what I mean? So we took that personal, man. And we knew we had some talent. We knew we had to take the crowd out of it. But it was fun to be able to be in the box, man. Like, to me, when I got in game one, I tell everybody who was out of body, like, I know I was there, but I couldn't believe that I was seeing the people like Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter. I mean, I've had these guys, cards, and all of a sudden, now I'm at the highest stage going up against these guys at the highest level. And so when we won it, and I told Barty and everybody this, when we won it, I never touched the trophy because it was too big for me. Like, it was just like, I can't believe we did this. Like, I'm on my flip phone, like, mom, did you see us winning? That's how old I am.

[Matt Leinart]

Start. You're on the Star, by the way.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We're all.

[Dontrel Willis]

We're all like, the same age.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm the oldest guy in here.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, but again, like, I never touched the trophy. And so, yeah, I told everybody I boxed this, and they finally let me hold the trophy. And I remember all these memories and these feelings flooding into me and stuff like that. So it was surreal to be able to beat them. And every time I go back to New York, I always want my ring to kind of razzle up the fans and stuff like that. But they got 27 titles. They can give us one.

[Matt Leinart]

So you know you mentioned playing in that, you know, everyone calls it the B game. Little do we remember it was also game six. Right. Which is a huge game, right? You call it game six. And we all know the Cub fan reaction and everything there. And I don't think we really heard much on the other side. Like, you know, we know it was like some of the Cubs have spoken out. You know, when you're there and you see that, is it so quick that you don't quite know what happened? And was it a story the next day or did you know in that moment? Oh, we just gotta, we just got an extra life here.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Moises, a little, who's a good friend of mine. You cannot bring this up to Moises.

[Matt Leinart]

Like, I wouldn't, I wouldn't dare bring this up.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You ever see Moises in any of card signing, do not bring this up because from the first base dugout, he had that ball. He had it. He timed the jump perfectly. And when that happened, this energy came out of the stadium. Like, what? What just happened? And all of a sudden we started getting base hit after base hit after base hit. And then the crowd just started throwing stuff like, you know, I mean, they're not even paying attention to the game anymore. And so everyone kind of thinks that that Batman game is really a game seven. Really, it was a game six. And so when we won that game, we were all at the bar, at the wrestling, drinking like we wanted, because we were like, they messed up. They messed up letting us force a game seven. Because anything can happen in game seven.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So it was surreal. It felt like the Cub series felt more like a World Series than the Yankee series, to be totally honest. Like the intensity of the city, the fan base, they're finally there to where they can break a 100 year curse. And now this raggedy ass marlin team is in their way. It was surreal. And so for us to be able to overcome that beat Mark Pryor and Kerry Wood, who no one wanted to face back then, you know what I mean? They were the two best pictures in the game at that time. And to be able to do that, I remember warming up and I tell everybody the story of the Cubs intensity. I remember warming up and I saw this lady with something on her, on her lap and I was like, what is that? The lady had an urn. Who left what stadium with an urn? Like, the lady had an urn. No cap. Like they let her. It sent me shockwaves to be like, oh my God, the team. This is bigger. Like, this is Historic. Where a lady gotta earn and goddamn, you know, the stadium. And so this, seeing that, like it was like, okay, this is bigger than baseball. This is historic, and this is a series. Regardless of the outcome, people will remember for all time.

[Dontrel Willis]

Hey, you, you talked about some of the best pitchers. You know, Kerry Wood, Mark Pryor, usc. Guy really felt like that postseason was kind of a coming out party for your old teammate Miguel Cabrera. You got to have some story. I mean, maybe one of the, maybe the best. Top two or three best hitters of all time. One of the best players of all time.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, this a legend and I love that. People got to really see his personality towards the Tell Linda's career because he's hilarious, he's a funny guy and he loves messing with me. Even till this day. He sends me photos. Hey, Negro don't mean I'm super ugly. You know what I mean? Like, he's, he's a great teammate. I played with him since Able. I mean, the guy was hitting. The day I got called up to the big leagues, he was in double A with me. He was hitting.436 in double A, which is a joke, you know what I mean? Like, he was always just the best player. I have a lot of cool stories. Some I don't know, I don't know if I can say on air, but.

[Dontrel Willis]

No, you know, I think you could give us one.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You give us one, I'll give you two. The first day he gets called up, he's like over two with two pays and I'm sitting on the bench, it's like he's fine. Even as a rookie, I'm like, he's fine, guys, don't worry. Because it's kind of an energy on the bench. Like, can this kid handle all of it? And that was a game that he ends up hitting the walk off home run in. The rest is history, you know, I mean, and I'm the guy on the bench. Like, I see him do this shit all the time. Like he's obnoxiously good. He's that good. So another one. He's gonna kill me for this. But back in our day when we were young, we were playing the Atlanta Braves and how can I say this? Effects from the night before were blurred into the day game, if you will.

[Matt Leinart]

Sure, yeah. Yeah, that happened. Yeah. Oh, Biggie.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. He shows up probably an hour before game time with the stuff he has on. So he walks in.

[Dontrel Willis]

The Walk of Sharon.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Band club band man on his arm and everything bad on his stamps. So I'm the captain of the team. So, you know, we're already up Schitt's creek anyway. So I grabbed say, hey, get in the shower. He gets in the shower, he throws up. Everyone throws up absolutely everywhere. And so he's still in the line. So I begged Joe Girardi not to take him out of the lineup. So Joe Girardi, you know, Jordan, he's fuming at. I mean, he's turned red at this point. So he gets in the first to bat. He doesn't even sniff the pitch. And it. I think he has some monster game after what he, like, homers twice, and you know what I mean? I mean, he did all of this while he was half asleep. You know what I mean? So get on the plane. And he's my, like, plane mate, and he sleeps on the plane all the way back to Miami, and I'm just looking at this guy like, this dude is an X Men. He's, he's, he's, he's. He's not a bus, you know, I mean, this dude can do it at the highest level. And so I'd never been to Cooperstown before, and I promised him I would go when he gets his speech in because he's a really big brother to mine and love the dude's personality, but, I mean, he's a legend in his own right of what he's done on and off the field.

[Dontrel Willis]

Dude, Eric Carroll. I told you. Eric. Eric Carroll. So, you know, ek well, tells the greatest story about. And he would love telling us about being facing Greg Maddox one day. And he was like, dude, I couldn't touch this guy. I had like a lifetime, like 138 batting average. So the night before, he just got after it, right? He was like, I'm gonna go over four anyway.

[Matt Leinart]

Doesn't matter.

[Dontrel Willis]

He. The next day, like that, he goes 4 for 4 against Greg Maddox and says he would say this. He says he had a double and literally almost threw up at second base as he was sliding into second. And he was like, matt, I thought I wouldn't even touch the dude. You baseball guys are crazy, man. Cause when I was in Arizona, I used to hang out with, like, Connor Jackson. Yeah. And Burns and Chris Young was. Was those years. And like, they would party their ass off the night before, like, like a 7 o'clock game the next day, go the clubhouse, hit the sauna, hit the steam room, and they're playing. Dude, I was like, if we did that in the NFL, I would get cut the next day.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. You know, it's crazy because, you know, talking to other athletes and they're like, the first thing they bring up is you guys play every day. Like, you know what I mean? Like, wrap your mind around that. It's like, yeah, you basically start at Valentine's Day and you don't end until, you know, basically if you make it all the way to Halloween. So the grueliness of the body, everything you put yourself through. I mean, I used to, you know, after a start I would drink and then all of a sudden the next day run for 30 minutes and sweat all that Jim Beam out, you know what I mean? Like, it was something that our body got used to and what have you. So. But yeah, sometimes I see guys and I'm like, I'm not a gambling man, but if I saw guys that I'm like, yeah, they're not going to be tomorrow.

[Matt Leinart]

So let me, I've lost money that way before. Don. Not going to lie. There was a rumor one time about a player, not going to mention the name that was spotted out the night before a game and had to be like, carried out.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

And Bo was, let's just say he was a pitcher. He's pitching the next day.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Leinart]

We all, we all bet against that pitcher who threw a three hit shutout and killed all of us. Three hit shutout.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I took Tori Hunter out. I will tell him myself. I took Tori Hunter out, who's a big brother of mine. I took him out to the Hard Rock Cafe in Fort Lauderdale. I took him out all night. All night. He comes the next day and I look at the lineup. I stayed on because I'm not pitching. So I'm like, I'm sitting there eating sunflower seeds half the seat. Watch. He literally gets four hits off of five pitches the next day. And everyone's like, with you all day.

[Matt Leinart]

I thought, he is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I grew up twice, like, you know what I mean? So, yeah, some guys are just wired that way to where they can still perform at a highest level even after a nice little wind.

[Dontrel Willis]

We wanna, we want to get into Otani, but before we do that, you had what, a lifetime batting average.244. Is that, is that accurate?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Close.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

That'd be like third in the NL right now.

[Dontrel Willis]

By the way. I, I looked up, I was like, all right, we're gonna, we're gonna talk to D. I looked up like the best hitting pitchers of all time and not going back to like Babe Ruth and that or like Madison Bumgarner.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Dontrel Willis]

Zach Greinke could rake. Dude, you could rake, dude, you could rake.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what? You know, I was a baseball player like, you know, in imposter syndrome of a pitcher, to be totally honest with you. I just love the game of baseball. I'm a die hard Oakland A fan. I grew up right around the corner from the stadium. I just love competing at a high level, and whatever I could do to stay on the field, I was going to do it. And so I was utility All American in high school, where, you know, you play two positions and I just hated sitting the bench. And so, you know, whatever I could do to try to win a ball game, I was sincerely going to do. And I remember Bobby Cox used to talk to me about sliding head first. I'm like, bobby, you don't want to see me slide free first. He's like, well, damn it, detrain you're left arm, you're gonna break it. I'm like, well, so be it. You know, this is the way I play the game, you know, and so I always loved, you know, playing the game. And when I got a chance to meet Sh otani, Dave Roberts introduced me, like he used to be you. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was the lunch portion, Ohtani, you know, I mean, you're the dinner portion of it, you know, so. But I just love playing the game of baseball, man. It's really a sport that saved my life.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, you, you said the O word. You said Ohtani, right? So a couple of things. First, because you said something earlier where you said you'd like, you know, the studio TV version of. You would have loved to have seen like Yankees, Cubs, but. And we can't really comment because, you know, we're taping this and it's. It's early Thursday, so there's games going on. But just from you in the studio, who would you want, not even giving analysis, just pound for pound, entertainment. What. What's the best fan matchup, you think, for entertainment, for a world. For the World Series this year with the teams again, not knowing who might get bounced out for your money. Who's the best matchup?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, for the National League championship, I want to see Padres, Dodgers. I mean, what they've done down there in San Diego, they turned Peco into, from a tourist perspective to all of a sudden, one of the most daunting places to win a ball game. And the intensity is there in San Diego, and they're tired of being little brother to the Dodgers over there, you know what I mean? So I would love to see that. Yeah, absolutely. And so the World Series, obviously it'd be Yankees, Dodgers, I mean, Judge. I mean, I got a chance to call that game where Yamamoto went up against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. You would have thought it was a World Series. How many media personalities and how many people were there at that Series? It was. It was a level of intensity. It was a nice barometer to see where both sides were. And both sides wanted this matchup, you know what I mean? And so we always. We know the fan bases, they travel, you know what I mean? We saw a lot of Dodger fans in the Bronx. I was a little worried about that, you know, but everybody. But I think that will be a really big time matchup to see Judge, because Judge has been absolutely phenomenal. I mean, the year that he started being horrible and then all of a sudden having another MVP type year. And Shoei Ohtani is the biggest thing in sports right now. I've never seen. I'm a huge LeBron fan, but I don't think I've seen anybody have this much impact in Los Angeles on their first year, like, far getting on the team and being one of the best players. I'm good friends with Mookie Betts and Mookie. I was like, damn, Mookie, you seem like a side bitch now over there, that team.

[Dontrel Willis]

Seriously.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He didn't even take it personal because that's how good Shohei's been, to the point where we don't even remember him playing for the Angels. And he's won MVPs for the.

[Dontrel Willis]

Listen, thank God he's not with the Angels anymore. I can't. I grew up. I grew up in Orange county, man. And I mean, talk about. You got Mike Trout, right? Who in our generation maybe would go down. He has to stay healthy. Maybe one of the greatest to ever do it. You have Otani, who is this phenomenon, and might go down as the best to ever play when it's all said and done. And they just, like, just. They can't figure it out over there, man. And it bothers me, but how. I. I know Jerry spent some time with, like, Jeter and some of those boys at his event last week or a couple weeks ago, and just so Tawny, man. Like, you kind of talked about it, but, like, we've never seen anything like this. And even as a pitcher, like, how would you. How would you pitch to him? How would you describe what we're seeing in baseball now with him?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, you know, a lot like Steph Curry, he's inspired another generation because. Because now you're seeing a lot of kids that are two way players getting drafted high, you know what I mean? To be impactful, to be two players in one. How I would pitch him is first of all a lot of prayer and belief. He covers the baseball. I mean he hits the ball out to left center like he's right handed. I mean it's truly remarkable to see because he doesn't hit on the field. So for him to all of a sudden hitting the cage where no one gets to see him and then go into live pitching where you're the, you're the primary factor of everybody wanting to shut you down. And every time a pitcher makes a mistake, I mean he's hitting it onto the pavilion. I mean it's truly remarkable. His power, speed, play coverage. I believe the over and under for him to steal bases was 19 and the guy still 54.

[Matt Leinart]

Nuts.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So bananas, impactful and a phenomenal teammate. Understands the responsibility of the brand and not only for himself but for a whole nation. I mean it's nuts everything he's been doing and so it's truly fun to watch him continue to be the best player in the world and stay healthy doing it. So it's gonna be scary hours next year and if they make it to the World Series he might come out of that bullpen and throw for the Dodgers. They make.

[Matt Leinart]

Could you imagine Will back.

[Dontrel Willis]

Will he be back?

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll see. We'll see about that. But he's fun to watch and he's a phenomenal teammate and he's great for the sport.

[Matt Leinart]

Ah, you just gave me chills though thinking about. Wait a minute, coming out.

[Dontrel Willis]

Could he, could he be healthy enough to pitch?

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's already been, he's been trending and so that's kind of been the talk of this. Him being healthy enough now they're gonna have to do sim games because obviously the AAA season is over with. But if he's able to throw strikes in command, could you imagine him versus versus Aaron Judge coming out of the bullpen?

[Matt Leinart]

Just inject that into. Yeah, give me all that.

[Dontrel Willis]

Could you imagine we need pitchers 10.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Times bigger than him facing Mike Trout in the WBC in the final. I mean you remember that type of energy as a baseball fan. I hope to get, to get a chance to see something like that.

[Dontrel Willis]

Oh man, that would be awesome.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. I don't even know where to go from there.

[Dontrel Willis]

I, I wanna, I want to ask you a question. Question about hitters. The toughest hitter you ever pitched against, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, that's a great.

[Dontrel Willis]

Like, you just couldn't. You just, like, you couldn't get up. You're like, God damn it, I got a pitch against this guy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, that's a big frat. First of all, a lot of guys that have. That have my number, you know, like Albert Plujos hit two home runs off me in one game and then took me to dinner. I obviously made him pay.

[Matt Leinart]

So, yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This second lobster's on him. You know what I mean? I'm gonna give some Mac all that stuff.

[Matt Leinart]

Give me that dessert menu.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, give me all that. So, no, I. I was blessed to be able to play against the Larry Walkers and, you know, all these guys that are getting into the hall of Fame now. That's my era.

[Dontrel Willis]

So that's cool.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Seniors, you know, the Chipper Jones of the world, the Jim Tomes of the world. I mean, it was cool to be on the same field as those guys, man. It was really, really fun to play against those guys and. But Albert was just a machine, man. Like, he could cover the baseball. Never made the same mistake twice. Big Poppy was the same guy as far as you couldn't continue to beat him the same way. It was one of those things where those guys. You had to get the guys out in front of them so they couldn't do the damage to take over the game, if that makes sense. You know what I mean? So playing against these guys, like, you know, like Albert and Poppy and Ramirez and guys like that, where they can win by themselves, it was fun to watch, but I got them as much as they got me, though. They'll tell good stories about it, like, I've got them, and I let them know on the field, like, yeah, you owe me. But Barry, Bob, all of them. Barry was the best hitter of all time against each other. If I got a chance to strike him out, he would have to sign me a bat. And so Barry didn't always sign his own stuff. So, yeah, insider stuff right now. Barry didn't always sign his own stuff, but I struck him out when he was one home run from tying the record, and he comes down on the pole after the game and gives me a big hug and said, young man, you wouldn't have got me back in my younger days. I was like, yo. And stuff like that. So it was just fun to be on the same field with guys that were your heroes. But Barry Barnes was by far the best job ever gone against.

[Matt Leinart]

So you said it was right. He. He was one shy of tying. So is that Going through your mind of like, oh, great, I'm going to be a trivia question.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, I'm going to be a trivia question.

[Jerry Ferrara]

My family, they didn't even care about the game, so I'm from the Bay Area, so they care about the game. They were like, are you going to pitch the berry? I'm like, grandma, I'm going to pitch the berry. Okay, grandma. You know what I'm saying? So like the intensity of the whole stadium was there. I mean, that water looked like a bowl of cereal. It was so many canoes in there because. Give it up. You know what I mean? And so, you know, we had an open base and all of a sudden they had to switch out the balls because the balls had special barcodes on them and stuff like that. So this allowed the stadium energy to get up. And the first time I kicked my leg up, I almost fell over because it was like, like the whole stadium took pictures at the same time. So it's like I was like, oh my. And so, you know, again, another out of body experience to be involved in this. So I, I think my hardest pitches were 94 to 96 to him, the rest of the team. I threw 88. So he was pissed about it. So if I was gonna be a game show answer, he was gonna get, I was gonna be. Get beat with my best. And so. Oh yeah, be part of that was really cool. Cool. Pretty cool.

[Dontrel Willis]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Matt Leinart]

Unbelievable. Well, we're gonna let you go, man. I know you mentioned golf. One of these days. I, I'm not. I don't know if I can call you D train yet. I don't know if we're quite friends, but can we, can we get on the golf course soon? Because one of my main objectives in life is to get Matt golfing more.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Hey, we gotta get him golfing. You know, he'll be down there in Manhattan. Hermosa. We get it somewhere out there. We'll get on those country club. I love to do that, man.

[Matt Leinart]

That would be awesome.

[Dontrel Willis]

You're the man. Yeah, thanks for joining us, dude.

[Matt Leinart]

And keep up the great work. You're awesome on fox. Enjoy the playoffs and amazing career and amazing things going forward. Man, you were. That was awesome. Thank you.

[Dontrel Willis]

Thank you, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Thank you guys. I appreciate you guys. Want to shop Walmart Black Friday deals first Walmart plus members get early access to our hottest deals. Join now and get 50% off a one year annual membership. Shop Black Friday deals first with Walmart plus see [e-mail].

[Dontrel Willis]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Dontrel Willis]

That's what we cover each week on our podcast the Deal. I'm Alex Rodriguez, former baseball player turned business executive. And I'm Jason Kelly, chief correspondent for Bloomberg Originals. Over the next couple months, we'll hear from all stars like Jay Williams.

[Matt Leinart]

I want to be an owner one day.

[Dontrel Willis]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Dontrel Willis]

You'Ll be able to reach people who do.

[Matt Leinart]

Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com campaign to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

[Dontrel Willis]

LinkedIn the place to be. To be.

[Matt Leinart]

That was great stuff from Don Terrell Willis didn't know that he was almost part of Barry Bond's legacy there. But listen. Yeah. For a moment before we move on, we do have to just point out one thing. Obviously we've all been watching what's going on in the south and Florida and the Carolinas and all over. So I just have to point this out that Sinclair will be partnering with Salvation army for Sinclair Cares Hurricane Helene Relief. The Salvation army has teams operating in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. And their highest need is clean water as well as food and cleanup kits. So to donate, please go to sinclaircares.com any little bit helps. And again, all of our thoughts are with everybody over there and what's going on.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, just been just devastation and actually got, you know, we got married in Nashville, North Carolina. So we have some, some friends who have family out there. So just sending our love and, and hope everybody is doing okay. And again, sinclair's.sinclaircares.com to donate.

[Matt Leinart]

Yes, thank you. Okay, Matt, you're not off the hook just yet. I think this ends it. This will put a bow on it. Although this might live on forever. But we did have our poll. We put on the throwback show socials about the poll result about basically the question was do you agree with Matt Liner? By the way, Matt Leinert, qb, what a badass social handle. I'm jealous that you get to put that in there. We all get it. Do you agree with Matt Liner? That grown man shouldn't wear other grown men's jerseys. After the poll, we got a few thousand responses. I believe no was at 66.8%. It's actually a closer margin than I thought. And yes was obviously 33.2%.

[Dontrel Willis]

So I mean, that's not that close. That's 70, 30, 70% don't agree.

[Matt Leinart]

Are you ready for the unrelatable story of the day? I have an unrelatable story.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

I say this, folks, listening and watching on our YouTube channel. I say this knowing this is completely unrelatable and might make me sound like a D bag and will probably never come up again in my lifetime and most people's lifetime. But I went to a Yankees Angels game. This is probably an 08, maybe 07 with Kevin Connelly shout outs to Entourage. His own Kevin Connelly. We went to a Yankees Angels game. We always tried to catch the Yankees when they came to Anaheim, la. And I wore, I want to say it was a Jeter jersey, I think, but I wore jersey to the game. Something that 66.8% of people agree with me on. And I want to say Connelly got a text. Now I, I've known, I got to know Jeter over the years and I go to his charity. We know that Connelly knows him a little, you know, they've been friends for a bit. And Connelly got a text like, hey, some of the Yankees are like getting together after the game if you want to come by. And I'm like, we gotta go to that. So. And for all you out there, this was not some wild, crazy, I'm sorry to break your hearts. It wasn't some wild crazy party. It was a few people gathered together. It wasn't some wild like Hollywood afterparty. But that being said, you know, you're in there, it's Jeter, it's Clemens, it's all these amazing Yankees. And I'm in there like the fan who let the fan in with my Jeter. And I couldn't take it off Maddie, because I had like a tight white shirt and this, I was still chubby turtle. I wasn't turtle yet. So I couldn't go chubby white T shirt guy. So I had to rock the Yankee jersey in front of the Yankees.

[Dontrel Willis]

You. And I guarantee you that when you step foot in wherever, the restaurant, wherever you were at, you thought that that was in your, that was in your mind.

[Matt Leinart]

You're like in my mind completely.

[Dontrel Willis]

I cannot be wearing these guys jersey. They're going to think I'm a fanboy.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, you Want to go meet the Yankees?

[Dontrel Willis]

I'm like, yes, that's exactly my, Yeah, I get it.

[Matt Leinart]

But how often is that going to again, being self effacing? That's come up often for people.

[Dontrel Willis]

Was it a pinstripe? Was it, was it, was it, I.

[Matt Leinart]

Think it was a white, it was a white pinstripe. I wore the home whites even though it was a road game. Yankees won. I got to meet some awesome Yankees. And yeah, I, I, I, I. The good news is no one remembers that but me. That's the good news.

[Dontrel Willis]

That's what you think.

[Matt Leinart]

But you lost. You're going to be hearing about that for a while.

[Dontrel Willis]

Oh, all right.

[Matt Leinart]

Now we're getting on to some fun we mentioned earlier, you know, we started thinking about old school throwback athlete nicknames. These are not the current ones and I think the current state of affairs is in trouble. But we're going to do our top three throwback athlete nicknames of all time. Okay, now my disclaimer is I did not go with the obvious like Air Jordan, Tiger.

[Dontrel Willis]

No, me neither.

[Matt Leinart]

These are, these are like my childhood personal favorites. And I encourage all of you, go look through some of these nicknames. Do you, do you have them in the specific order?

[Dontrel Willis]

I, I, I.

[Matt Leinart]

It doesn't matter.

[Dontrel Willis]

We could just go, we can just go one by one.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay, we'll say number three.

[Dontrel Willis]

I'll say my favorite for last.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay, number three. Matt, who was your number three? Throwback? Is the throwback three.

[Dontrel Willis]

This was so hard. I would say two of my three are baseball because I was a baseball.

[Matt Leinart]

Baseball has some good ones.

[Dontrel Willis]

I'm going Mr. October. Yeah, I mean, of course, I mean I wasn't a Yankees fan, but to have a whole month of baseball named after you, the most important month of the season and just Mr. October, like I, I, it just, I just was like, and I was a little even too young to even watch him play. But like, I just thought that was pretty cool.

[Matt Leinart]

I almost, out of sentimental reasons, put Mr. November for Jeter because if you remember when they lost to Arizona the 911 year, all the games got pushed back and he hit the walk off after midnight became November 1st. So he hit the walk off on November 1st. But that's a great one. Mr. Has great ones.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, baseball is great ones.

[Matt Leinart]

I went with a fun one. I don't even think this athlete cares that this is his nickname or likes it. This is the one that made me laugh, that my friends and I have been quoting for years. It is Eric sleeping with the B Enemy. It's a Chris Berman special. I'm sorry. It's my number three. It gets the most attention. I loved Berman.

[Dontrel Willis]

I did not think you were going with that.

[Matt Leinart]

Eric. Sleeping with the B enemy. Berman had some bangers. I'm going to just read you a few quick bangers before we get to our number twos. Greg Mathematics. Awesome. Bert. Be home by 11. Incredible. Moises. We mentioned ALU earlier. Dontrell. Mo to skip to my ALU.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Joseph live and Let a die. And my personal favorite, Jake. Daylight come and we got a Del Homme. Jeff Brown. Paper Bagwell. Honorable mention. But that's my number three.

[Dontrel Willis]

Oh, God. I'm pulling up some of these. Okay, so that's good. I was. I didn't think you're going with. It would be.

[Matt Leinart]

It meant the most to me as a kid. We talked about that so much when we were kids. Who's your number two?

[Dontrel Willis]

This was one of my favorite players because I was a pitcher. I'm going with. With Randy Johnson. The big unit.

[Matt Leinart]

Yes.

[Dontrel Willis]

6 10, maybe taller. I actually met him in person one time. I was like, holy dude. And I'm 6 5, 6 10, throwing 100 miles per hour. Literally when he threw a pitch, he was halfway down to home plate, the sidearm and just the big unit. And you can, you can take that name however way you want to do it. But yeah, the big unit.

[Matt Leinart]

And I, I think between the nickname and the fact that he's like 611 but also is, you know, was he 75 on the mound? Just the most intimidating pitcher by far.

[Dontrel Willis]

Right?

[Matt Leinart]

Yes. Before my number two as well. Honorable mention. We mentioned it earlier, but yeah, Mount Mutombo, one of the. One of the all time greats in Charlie Hustle as well. All right. My number two. My number two. You ready for this?

[Dontrel Willis]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

It's a baseball one. It's the kid. Oh, yeah, It's Ken Griffey Jr. I think I love that one too because. Because I was a kid watching Ken Griffey Jr. I think it was the first junior anything like first basically kid of a player I once knew who was playing. And now I'm at the age I'm gonna start seeing grandkids start playing in the league. But the kid, I mean, the swing, the shoes, everything. The kid is a perfect nickname.

[Dontrel Willis]

I feel like he. Cause we're the. We're same era, right? Same. I feel like he was every kid in our generation's favorite baseball player.

[Matt Leinart]

Easily.

[Dontrel Willis]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

Easily.

[Dontrel Willis]

Like Ken Griffey Jr. Like I actually had an autograph baseball by him. I forgot. I don't even. I think my dad got it for us and we had. We kept it in, like, the little case and then that upper deck, because I collect the upper deck rookie card, which was like, the most famous card to get back in the day. Yeah, the. The kid. Oh, Griffey was the best, man.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. I really. He wasn't at the Jeter golf event this year because I wanted to talk to him if he was there and just say, we gotta. We gotta remake your baseball shoe and basically make it into a golf shoe that's very. Become very popular. You can get Kobe's now and they could put some spikes on the bottom so you can rock Kobe's on the golf course, but to rock the Griffeys.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, the Kid, man, he's definitely one of my. Like, I would have. Like, I met him. I actually met him. And on the field, he was a hitting coach, I think, for somebody a couple years back. And I was on the field at a Dodger game.

[Matt Leinart]

It was the Reds.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah. And we were talking. I was like, in my mind, I'm like, dude, I am just. Just the biggest. Like. Like, my. The little kid in me. It was the coolest moment. Okay, my number one.

[Matt Leinart]

Number one. Here we go. Drum roll. The throwback three. Matt Liner. It's number one throwback athlete.

[Dontrel Willis]

Nickname Iron Mike T. Okay. Does that not give you chills? Just. Okay, so pound for maybe the greatest fighter of all time. But. But Iron Mike Tyson, every time he stepped in the ring and that was like, fight was over before he stepped in. Five, nine, little like. But, like, built like a brick house. Iron Mike, man. I. He's just one of my favorite. Just. Oh, I can't even describe it. Like, he's another one I actually met. I met him in Arizona and I was like, my. My jaw, like, fells like, holy. That is Mike Tyson.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, we had. He did a cameo on Entourage. Couldn't have been nicer. I watched a fight with him in Vegas. I'm trying to remember what fight I watched might have been the Floyd Mayweather fight. And I sat ringside, just had happened to sit next to him. Yeah. By far. Doing this exercise. Boxers have the best nicknames. It's not close. Golden Boy, Sweet Pea, Prunell Whitaker, Marvelous. Well, the greatest. You know, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy the Hitman Hearns. Just some of the best. The best. I left boxers almost out because theirs are the best, but Iron Mike is just both.

[Dontrel Willis]

Just quick and to the point. Just Iron Mike. I was like, yep, all right. He was a bad, badass.

[Matt Leinart]

You ready for my number one? Which would not be anyone's number one because I don't even think this is a hall of fame. Same player. But this was an iconic nickname that led to also a business model, Penny Hardaway.

[Dontrel Willis]

Oh yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

If you think about Penny Hardaway. Okay. And those commercials, remember with Chris Rock voicing little Penny and a sneaker launch just as a brand, an athlete with a nickname. I mean, obviously Michael Jordan did it at the highest all time level. I thought it was so smart. Of course, you know Anthony Hardaway as his name. But everyone, that's Penny Hardaway.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yep.

[Matt Leinart]

And I was an icon. Icon. When he came in an injuries obviously shorted, but Penny Hardaway is my number one. I had the shoes, I had the Penny Hardaway Magic throwback. Well, it wasn't a throwback back then.

[Dontrel Willis]

Those jerseys were sick.

[Matt Leinart]

And I still remember, dude. I still remember that draft. And I again, this might make, this is. Might make us old heads and throwback, but Chris Weber goes one to the Warriors. Penny Hardaway goes three to the Magic and they trade on draft day. I don't know if we'll ever see anything like that again. It sort of happened with Tatum and faults. Although it wasn't draft day. It happened before. But on draft day, Weber for Penny Hardaway. Penny's going to play. Which. Have you ever done the, the thought in your head, like what happened if C. Web stayed on the Magic and it was C. Web and Shaq.

[Dontrel Willis]

Well, dude, remember if Kobe got drafted by the Hornets.

[Matt Leinart]

Hornets. I mean. Yeah.

[Dontrel Willis]

And then went to the Lakers.

[Matt Leinart]

He was ever playing for the Hornets. But Penny.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, Penny. Yeah. Shaq's always. Shaq said publicly, like if Penny, if they would have stayed together and he would have been healthy, they would have won titles like Penny was. Penny was a freak, man.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, they, they made the finals and then it's just an unfortunate situation. So that's my number one.

[Dontrel Willis]

I. I have a couple. I have a couple. I have a list. I'm going to name a couple because I really, I want everybody to, to hit us up, send us their favorite nicknames.

[Matt Leinart]

But I got honorable mentions.

[Dontrel Willis]

Honorable mentions. Or the Black Mamba. Kobe's my favorite athlete of all time. Of course, the great one, Wayne Gretzky. Just being called the great one. Sweetness. Walter Payton, the Glove. Gary Prime Time, by the way, Primetime Dion, who's now goes by Coach Prime. Like that's kind of badass. Like he doesn't go by his first name anymore. Say, hey, kid, Willie Mays, like, they're. There's so like, go down the rabbit hole and you will be like, oh, yeah, I remember this guy. Remember this guy? That was awesome.

[Matt Leinart]

You see what I'm saying though, right? We had it good. And this is non existent, this era.

[Dontrel Willis]

It is. Yeah. We need to see.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, let's bring it back. I'm with you, dude.

[Dontrel Willis]

We are with the Red Hammer.

[Matt Leinart]

The Red Hammer. Sam Darnold. Good luck to the Vikings. I wish so badly that the Red Hammer was going into Met Life. Cause that could have made the Ghostbuster a real thing if he goes and beats the jets in Met Life. But.

[Dontrel Willis]

I think they're playing overseas, right?

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, they're in London. I think so. All right. Two last things, Matt. Number one, where you going? Where are you off to? Where you headed?

[Dontrel Willis]

We are going to Penn State. Cla. Penn State for a barn burner.

[Matt Leinart]

But listen, Penn State's gonna be a fun place.

[Dontrel Willis]

Penn State's great. Happy Valley's great. Fans are always great. Penn State top 10 team, really good football team, have a chance to make the playoff this year. They have obviously UCLA this weekend. And then they get. They come to USC next weekend, which is a massive, massive showdown.

[Matt Leinart]

That might be the first. Would you say maybe that's the first game? We haven't really said this in college football yet, like playoff implications. Well, often we use that in other sports.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, we had Bama, Georgia last week. It's early, but you had, you had Michigan, Texas early on.

[Matt Leinart]

These two teams that might not get it right. They can, you know, they're fighting for.

[Dontrel Willis]

Their lives for sure. Next week, slay the games. This is when you saw that, like the meme and like going around like, don't get married on October 12th.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, if.

[Dontrel Willis]

Yeah, like this is that weekend. You got ou, Texas sc, Penn State. You got lsu, Ole Miss. You got like four or five ranked games. Like, it's gonna be fire.

[Matt Leinart]

It's so funny you say that because I. Like a month ago, I got invited to several watch parties for October 12, like a month in advance. That's never happened to me with college football or really any sport.

[Dontrel Willis]

Ohio State or Ohio State's going to Oregon next week too. So that's what I mean.

[Matt Leinart]

I got invited. Yeah, that's gonna be awesome. All right, well, that'll be fun. And then last thing. I think I know your answer. What are you watching this weekend?

[Dontrel Willis]

Honestly, I'm not. I'm watching. I'm watching the doc on Vince McMahon.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, you're gonna cat. Okay.

[Dontrel Willis]

I finished it, so I didn't finish it. So I. I started two episodes this week. A lot of travel for me this weekend, so I'm gonna finish it. I'm. I. I grew up a wrestling fan. Yeah. And kind of just then, like, didn't follow it for a long time, then kind of slowly got back into it again. Just because it's just. It's just incredible. I'm fascinated. So far, the first couple episodes. The Hulk Hogan and all that.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Dontrel Willis]

It all started because.

[Matt Leinart]

Keep watching it.

[Dontrel Willis]

That was before my time, so it's. It's a. That's what I'll be watching. How about you?

[Matt Leinart]

Yep. For me, playoff baseball for sure. Because when I start to wake up, playoff baseball. And then one of my buddies is in this too. And I've been super curious about the Penguin. The sort of one off for the Penguin character. Colin Farrell playing the Penguin. I'm hearing it has, like, Sopranos vibes. Because the Penguin in the Colin Farrell version in the movie is kind of. He's a. He's like a mob guy. Right. So I'm here, and it has Sopranos vibes. That's all I need to hear to be in. Of course, I'm plugging something for hbo, but, yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be starting the Penguin and.

[Dontrel Willis]

Basically shout out my daughters, baby. Let's go.

[Matt Leinart]

Let's go. All right, thank you, every. Thank you, everybody, for listening. If you haven't hit all the subscribe and follow buttons, go do it, because we will respond to you, and we'll see you next week.