Greg Olsen Talks Youth Sports, Miami, Cam Newton, what he misses most about football and evolution of the TE

Summary

Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara

Episode: Greg Olsen Talks Youth Sports, Miami, Cam Newton, what he misses most about football and evolution of the TE
Date: November 13, 2025

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Overview

This episode features former NFL star tight end and current broadcaster Greg Olsen. Leinart and Ferrara welcome Olsen for a wide-ranging, energetic discussion spanning youth sports and parenting, Olsen’s coaching philosophy, the evolution of tight end in football, his days at Miami, stories from the Panthers' Super Bowl run, memories with Cam Newton, and what he misses most about playing. The conversation is candid and packed with relatable parental anecdotes, athlete insights, and plenty of laughter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Current State and Prestige of the Tight End Position (00:29, 51:58)

• Opening Reflection: The tight end position has transformed from a default spot for athletes who didn’t fit at other positions into a marquee role filled by lifelong tight ends.
  • "I think what we're seeing now is kids are playing tight end their entire lives...Some of the biggest stars in the game are tight ends." – Jerry (00:29)
  • Greg calls this the "best era of tight ends," noting a cultural shift where kids now aspire to play tight end, in part due to media-friendly stars like Travis Kelce and George Kittle.

Notable Quotes

• Greg Olsen: “Some of the most recognizable faces in the league are tight ends...There's a higher value placed on the position because they realize if you get the right guy, his ability to move the needle is maybe greater than it's ever been.” (52:33)

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2. Youth Sports, Parenting, and Coaching Philosophies (02:17, 16:19, 23:38)

• Greg reflects on his passion for coaching youth sports and the mission behind his podcast “Youth Inc.”
• Coaching Youth vs. Pros: The importance of tailoring drills and expectations to a child’s development stage rather than running a “mini-NFL practice.”
• Balancing Athlete/Parent Identity: Matt asks about the tricky balance between being a dad and an ex-pro athlete—a line Greg admits he sometimes has trouble managing.
• Prioritizing Effort Over Results: Greg insists on teaching kids to connect results with effort, preparation, and process instead of just outcomes.

Notable Quotes

• Greg Olsen: “Connect the dots...There’s a cause and effect. Our job as parents and coaches is to connect the two—both when it’s good and when it’s bad—and develop those habits over time.” (25:19)

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3. Social Media’s Impact on Young Athletes (19:37)

• Greg details the challenging role of social media in adolescent sports and relationships, both as a danger (“one wrong post, one wrong message”) and as something parents must equip kids to handle, rather than avoiding altogether.
• He emphasizes teaching resilience and coping with failure—reminding children that “no one posts when you miss the game-winning layup.”

Notable Quotes

• Greg Olsen: “Social media has created this idea that everyone is good and they’re only ever good...You are going to fail, everyone’s going to have bad days.” (21:07)

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4. Dream Athlete Youth Coaches (08:18)

• Matt and Jerry debate which pro athletes would make the best youth coaches. Names include Steph Curry, Mahomes, Daniel Cormier, and Greg Olsen himself.
  • Jerry: “Steph Curry would be my number one pick. Relatability...what he’s done with the three-point shot, basically equalizing it.” (10:03)
  • Matt: “Mahomes is one for me...multi-sport athlete...and Daniel Cormier—you know, we’re not raising softies in my house.” (11:40)

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5. Coaching Kids: Practice Details and Attitude (17:44)

• Greg’s meticulous approach: every minute of practice logged in a file, complete with drills, schedules, and focus areas for each session.
  • “I could literally tell you every period, every minute from June 4th to October 14th. Every practice. Every play we ran.” (18:09)
• Olsen on winning titles, participation trophies, and age-based expectations: He adapts his competitive philosophy to different children and ages, citing his own varied household experiences.

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6. Navigating Social Change from High School to Major D1 Football (36:41, 39:39)

• From Jersey to Miami: Greg describes going from a “bubble” of New Jersey high school football (no inter-state games, no social media) to the hurricane of attention and expectation at the University of Miami—during one of its greatest eras.
• “My first practice, I break the huddle at the Orange Bowl...the defense is Antrel Rolle, Vince Wilfork, D.J. Williams, Jonathan Vilma—first round picks everywhere. I’m lucky they let me play on scout team.” (44:03)

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7. Cam Newton & Panthers Stories: Super Bowl Run, Huddle Dynamics, & Locker Room Camaraderie (59:04, 60:16, 63:42)

• Greg shares stories from his career with Cam Newton and the Panthers.
  • His role as de facto “play caller” in the huddle due to Cam’s adjustment to complex NFL language: “I would finish...sometimes would, like, finish the play.” (60:16)
  • On Cam’s secret: “In real time, his feel and vision...his real time processing was his secret sauce.” (62:19)
• What He Misses Most: The camaraderie, improvisation, chaos, and camaraderie of the NFL huddle—now largely lost as college offenses eschew huddles entirely.
  • “When that huddle is the right guys...man, there’s nothing better than that. I miss that.” (65:32)

Notable Story

• The Snap in Seattle (67:43):
  • Olsen recounts the chaotic game-winning touchdown catch in Seattle—no one was ready, clock winding down, pure improvisation and instinct. “Nothing about that was the way you teach it...It’s never perfect. But there’s beauty in the chaos that is addicting.”

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8. The Future of the Tight End & “Tight End U” (69:10)

• Tight End U, co-founded by Olsen, has become a thriving tradition bringing together elite and aspiring tight ends.
• Unlike some exclusive “star player” only camps, it welcomes everyone from Hall of Famers to hopefuls hoping to make an NFL roster. Quarterbacks of any age or fame are welcomed to throw, including “old camp arms” like Leinart or Fitzpatrick.
• The camp’s philosophy: help everyone, even a practice squad player, take the “next step.”

Notable Exchange

• Greg: “Not everyone has to be Kelsey. If a practice squad guy comes and something sparks, he can make the 53...there’s always another level.” (71:16)

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9. Broadcast Life & Dealing with Sports Fans (72:34)

• Olsen discusses the “Philly fan experience” from his broadcasts—hyper-passionate, sometimes crossing into personal. He maintains a respect for passionate fanbases despite the online intensity:
  • “I love so much about the Eagles, their roster...but sometimes you’re like, ‘oh my God, they truly hate me.’” (73:01)

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10. Listener Segment: Hollywood Trivia with Annie Agar (77:22)

• The back half features the recurring “Twisted Tea Trivia” segment with Annie Agar, featuring fun banter, Hollywood questions, and playful competition between Matt and Jerry.
• Key laughs: Jerry pulls through on a few obscure Hollywood questions, with Matt playfully protesting some “impossible” trivia.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Greg Olsen (on youth coaching):
  "There is kind of an art and a science to how to coach age-appropriate sport. What can we get the kids to know? That’s the only thing that affects the game.” (29:48)

• Matt Leinart (on multi-sport parenting):
  "We're not raising softies. In our house...you have full reign to defend yourself. Who not better than Daniel Cormier to come over and teach?" (11:51)

• Greg (on social media’s danger):
  “We all have said things in the locker room or with our buddies that we probably wouldn’t say outside...there is no such thing as a secret. Things are serious.” (21:07)

• On the state of the tight end:
  “Now, you can make an argument outside of quarterback, some of the biggest stars in the game are tight ends.” (52:33)

• On the Panthers’ iconic play at Seattle:
  "No one's aligned, no one really knows what the play is. We're snapping the ball before anybody's even ready to block — and we caught a 40-yard touchdown to win the game." (67:43)

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Timestamps for Essential Segments

• 00:29 – The rise of the tight end position
• 08:18 – Dream athlete youth coaches
• 16:19 – Coaching youth: practice planning details
• 19:37 – Social media’s influence on youth sports
• 23:38 – Balancing parent and sports role models
• 29:48 – How to be a great youth coach
• 36:41 – Transition from small-town kid to Miami Hurricane
• 39:39 – The decision to leave Notre Dame, Miami stories
• 51:58 – Evolution and current state of the tight end position
• 59:04 – Cam Newton, play-calling, and the huddle life
• 63:42 – What is missed most: camaraderie and the chaos of the NFL huddle
• 67:43 – Iconic Panthers-Seahawks touchdown story
• 69:10 – The rise of “Tight End U”
• 72:34 – Life in the broadcast booth, dealing with Philly fans
• 77:22 – Hollywood movie trivia with Annie Agar

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Tone & Style

The episode is lively, self-deprecating, and authentic. All hosts share personal stories, admit their own parenting and coaching “mistakes,” and approach even NFL strategy and locker room tales with humility and humor. The friendship and mutual respect—both as athletes and parents—shine throughout, translating big-league experiences into relatable, everyday lessons.

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Final Takeaway

This conversation underscores how the lessons of football—dedication, resilience, preparation, and mastering chaos—travel from NFL huddles to local youth leagues and back again. Greg Olsen exemplifies both old-school grit and modern adaptability, making this episode a must for parents, coaches, and football fans alike.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

The tight end position for the longest time was the position you kind of ended up playing.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I think what we're seeing now is kids are playing tight end their entire lives. You got Kelsey and Kittle and Gronk and now you can make an argument outside of quarterback. Some of the biggest stars in the game are tight ends.

[D]

Foreign.

[C]

Yes. And we're not throwing anything back. We're talking about the the now the actual present with my guy Maddie Liner. Matt.

[A]

We just got a little fired up on the call.

[C]

We were getting fired up off the.

[A]

Air like I love you dude but sometimes it's just, it's unbelievable the thought your thought process on stuff but go ahead.

[C]

Well, you did, you did the thing that us fans don't like. You called me a non athlet fans who pay your athletic salaries essentially us non athletes don't like when I know high end athletes call us that. So I'm offended already. But I love you. We got a good show for you today. We are joined by another athlete later on in the show. Greg Olson, one of my favorite tight ends of all time took him every year in fantasy. We did a little home and home with Greg his podcast Youth Inc. Which is awesome, all about youth sports. Matt and I went there on his and talked in depth about his coaching and Matt's coaching and all the stuff we do with our kids. And then Greg joined us and we had when you talk tight ends now, Cam Newton, some sick plays that he made with the Panthers. His days in Miami as a hurricane.

[A]

Yeah, Greg is awesome and just the youth sports thing, it's such a a hot topic and I'm living it. You're going to live it here in the next couple of years. He has just tremendous insight on coaching youth sports. I really admire, I really respect what he's been doing that especially with you think and actually got a lot of great advice from him too which is it's a must.

[B]

Listen.

[A]

We talk about tight end you and what it takes to get an invite to tight end you. So you have to stick around and See what he says, because I'm trying, I'm trying to be a camp arm on that. You know what I mean? Summer in Nashville would be amazing, but.

[C]

I'll come be a non athlete with a microphone and just do some podcasts out.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Their super bowl run. Some great stories from their super bowl run. Greg was awesome, man. It's a fun listen.

[C]

Yeah. And later on, as always, Annie Agar joining us for some twisted tea trivia. I think we're gonna stick with the Hollywood stuff. A very impressive performance by you last week. In my own category, you kind of defeated me.

[A]

I, I so I told you, I mean, I'm, I'm a man of many talents.

[B]

I'm versatile.

[C]

So let's talk for two minutes about what we just argued about again off the air. I said something a few weeks ago where I was just saying by in another few weeks. This was in the, in the past. I said, if this is still going this way for the Giants, they need to bench Dart. And what I was really saying was protect this guy from himself. He, it's the way he only knows how to play right now. He clearly hasn't been taught how to slide and he looks for the contact. Doesn't help that. Since I said that, Matt, he's led the league in design. Quarterback runs intentional, like, hey, we're down 14 to the Eagles in Philly. Let's go Dart on a off tackle, right. And see what he's got. And he just gets bludgeon. Four concussion protocols before the actual concussion. And you called me a non athlete. That's the worst you've ever heard.

[A]

So, but you. Okay, so let's, let's break this down. Your take was Jackson Dart should sit the rest of the year.

[C]

I don't like week 10 or 11.

[A]

Yeah, that's what you said.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And my take was you don't, you don't sit your star quarterback, your rookie quarterback the rest of the year and hopes and protect him so he doesn't get hurt. You, you don't. You, like, these guys are making millions of dollars. It is their job. It is their prep profession. So the way that you said that, I was like, no, that's stupid. Like, yeah, he's going to risk it. He's the future.

[C]

He's the future.

[A]

Yeah, but he needs to play. Like, what are you going to do? Just say, hey, by the way, the next eight weeks we're going to sit you, hey, well, let's have a full offseason together. Let's get ready for year two. And like start. No, like, like experience and reps are the greatest thing for a young quarterback, period. To your point about the quarterback design runs, I get that he is not ready to take on that because he doesn't know how to play at that level. In that regard, Lamar safely. Lamar Jackson is a great example. Lamar Jackson runs a lot. He takes. But he has learned to absorb hits. You learn how to get under hits. You learn. You do there. There is a skill to learn how to take hits and kind of get under. There's some.

[B]

You.

[C]

Can someone talk to Drake May in the off season? Because he really is the one that's figured out.

[A]

It's one. We used to practice being in the. Being in the pocket when you had somebody. We used to practice like, hey, get down, get your head down. So when you don't take. That's how I broke my collarbone. When you stand straight up, they're going to crush you.

[C]

You were standing straight up. Is that. That if you would have got down maybe with a.

[A]

Well, I mean, again, there's some plays you just. It happened so fast. But so my point is, is, yeah, like, you learn that in real time. And that comes with coaching. That comes with, hey, like Jackson, we need to learn how to get down. Like, we need to learn how to do this. There's a reason why day ball got fired. There's probably a lot of reasons why.

[C]

There's a lot. There's quite a few.

[A]

So that is what. So I agree with you in the sense of what are they doing with the play calling. But to sit here and say we should just bench. We should not play this kid so he doesn't get hurt, it's dumb. It's the dumbest take I've ever heard from you.

[C]

I. I guess what I was saying is because I didn't believe they would fire Dable during the season. I hope would be this kid's shown enough to show us, like, all right, he's got it full off season. You lose neighbors, you lose scatter.

[B]

Boo.

[C]

You're losing guys on the O line. There's already weakness at the skill positions. They're out of it. Matt. They blew fourth quarter. They're out. They have two wins. They're done.

[A]

But they also. But that's the thing. In the last couple weeks, they've also been in damn near every game. So, like, you want to play your best player and you t. You had this take four weeks ago when they're still.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

They.

[C]

They lost four in a row. And he got concussed yeah, but you.

[A]

Had this take before they went on this losing streak of all these games. Like, what if they win those three games? You guys are sitting there at.500 and literally have a chance to make a playoff. That's why I'm saying you're at the point. If we're in week 15 and this kid has just been in and out of the lineup and like, you're like, dude, we got two more weeks left. Like, let's just get his head healthy. Let's like, whatever. But you're in.

[B]

We.

[A]

You're week seven, dude.

[C]

So I guess what we both really said was the coach needs to go. And that really was the remedy for all of this. Well, now we got Jameis Winston Day.

[A]

Ball's come out and said. Or he basically said, like, hey, he's aggressive. This is the type of player he is. I'm going to utilize his strengths. I get that. They all know he was coaching for his job anyway. So selfish.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But he's going to try and put his team in the best position to win games. And honestly, it's Jackson Dart running the football is a big part of that. He's a really good. He's a good football player. He's a. He's a great athlete. He can make those plays. That's what he did at Ole Miss.

[C]

I just don't know how a coach goes from three years ago with Danny Dimes in week one versus the Titans. They went for two down, one for the win with no time left and got it. And The Giants went 10 and propelled them to a coach who. Fourth down on the half yard line. Bring in Graham G. Let's get the three here because we're two and eight. Let's get the three and put the defense back on the field. I don't know how that happens in three.

[A]

Listen. But it did. J J and Jamis, we trust now we got this dude is going to go out and throw for 500 yards, four touchdowns and four picks every week. Shout out to my boy James.

[C]

Yes. Throwbacks. Guest at the Super Bowl. Throwbacks.

[A]

Guess he's a legend.

[C]

All right, we're gonna bring on Greg in a second, but I have a very, I think a very appropriate Wendy's Fresh take of the week for. In thinking about it and we talked so much about coaching and our kids and stuff like that. So for the Wendy's Fresh take of the week, I propose a question to everyone out there and to us on the show. Which athlete could be former, could be current, Would you Want to coach your kid in whatever sport. You know, it's. We're not just trying to specialize whatever sport. Which athlete to you feels like would be the best youth sports coach. I have a few names. Do you want to take a swing first or would you like me to swing first?

[A]

Are we doing. Are we just doing one? That's what we could do.

[C]

One. I have like one honorable mention. And because I have to sneak that in and I have my number one pick and then I have another selfish one.

[A]

Go for it. You can go.

[C]

Yeah, well, my selfish one is I'm.

[A]

Gonna go with guess Jalen Brunson.

[C]

No, he would have me. He's on my all my five list. But my selfish. Hear me out. I'm going. I'm going. T.J. mcConnell. Hear me out. Okay, listen up. This is not my number one because.

[A]

He'S a short white guy. He's got a shot.

[C]

He is undersized. Okay.

[A]

Are we just going white dudes? That's what we want to do.

[C]

No, my. My true number one pick is not a white dude. He's undersized. He's had to fight for everything. He plays as hard as he can possibly play. Doesn't cheat the game. And I feel like because I'm going to have short white kids that he would be a good coach. So that's my selfish choice. Not my.

[A]

Yeah, no, that's a good one. That's a good one.

[C]

Well, my number one pick. I hope it doesn't step on yours. I just feel like I'm still debating. Would be Steph Curry would be my number one pick.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I just feel like relatability. Kids already love him. What he's done with the three point shot basically equalizing it for guys who don't have the full athleticism to dunk on you down the lane. I just feel like Steph Curry and he's probably really good in other sports by the way.

[A]

He's great in golf. He's great in golf. Yeah. I mean he's teaching.

[C]

I don't know if you saw he did this. Bryson DeChambeau does this Break Break 50 challenge right where they play from the red tees with. And he paired up with Steph Curry in a scramble to do. And Steph Curry was out driving Bryson Deschamps.

[A]

I saw that.

[C]

And outplay like they were on the same team. But he was just electric.

[A]

Gets me excited for golf in the off season.

[C]

What do you got?

[A]

So, yeah, so I. Well, I'll go two. I'll go. So Mahomes is one for me. And not because he's the goat, but because he was, he was great in basketball. You've seen those highlights. He was a great baseball player. His dad obviously played in the majors and he's obviously a great football player. So we talk about this with Greg a lot. The whole multi sport athlete. I played it, my oldest played it. My younger kids are going to play every sport until they possibly can. Mahomes probably, probably could have went pro in baseball, I'm assuming at some point. Throwing 96, 97. Sure, he has a great basketball. So the greatest of all, I would love my homes to kind of teach my kids at least the skill set and the work and all that. So. So my, my number one though, and this is shout out to our producer Eddie, because he mentioned the UFC fighter. So I'm just, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go Daniel Cormier and wow. And look, I could have picked anybody because I'm not raising a bunch of softies. I'm raising like me kids. I'm raising my kids to be able to defend themselves. And our rule in the house is obviously respect everyone. You be kind to everybody. The minute someone touches you, you have full, full reign to kick, defend yourself and defend yourself. So who not better than one of the best to ever do it to come over and teach some, some, some holds and teach some and just say, hey, if that, if that little kid comes up to you on the playground and he pushes you down, this is what we're going to do in response. We're going to treat everybody nicely. You know, we're going to do that.

[B]

We're going to respect.

[A]

But the minute someone lays hands on my kids and my daughter, they're gonna know how to defend themselves. It might be an arm bar, they might break a wrist, they might just straight up cold clock them right in the face. So yeah, I'm going, I'm going.

[C]

I think it would be really. Your kids are super athletic, obviously. I think it would be really interesting to watch you as a dad of a fighter. Like if one of your little boys grew up and like love the ufc, you know, they're gonna be big, strong dudes, like, but you as the sports that. Because that's, it's different than football. Dude, I know you're a tough.

[B]

I got nerves.

[C]

You know, you're not a wrestler, you're not a jiu jitsu guy. So I'd love to see you as the sports dad of like a kid who's fighting.

[A]

It's so funny. My case in my five, almost six year old is probably the one that's going to be a linebacker. He's tough as. He's, he's, he feels no pain, dude. He's got screws loose up in the head. We don't know where he came from. But the kid is. Kid is awesome, but he just, he just wants to ram his head into everything, right? But we got him into Jiu Jitsu and he hated it. He was, he was, he was. He's the kid that's going to like, if he gets hit in the face, he's just going to take it, probably not cry, but then he's going to go tell the teacher instead of being like, hey, if he hits you in the face, punch him right back. So. But, but he's tougher than the other one. It's so interesting. He did Jiu Jitsu and he hated it because he didn't. He. These poor kids tried to get him down. He just stood there like, like. But he wouldn't, but he wouldn't punch back. So he's the interesting one now, the little one. Cannon will literally punch you right in the face after he gets hit, but he's gonna cry his little ass off. You know what I mean? It's just so different. But I don't know. I don't know. I. It. Yeah, dude, I got nerves watching any of my kids play.

[C]

It was interesting watching our four kids on the beach. It literally was three against one.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

On Case and Kate, and you're right, Cason, just like Andre the Giant just stood there and was like, all right, what do you. Go ahead, do what you want. I feel nothing.

[A]

We weighed him, dude. He's 60 pounds. 60 pounds.

[C]

And he's not six yet. Right?

[A]

Dense like he's skinny. Like, he's not. He's just built like his legs, his butt, his. Like, he's like. Cannon's 38 pounds. Poor kid is just.

[C]

Daniel Cormier. If you're listening Cormier, call Matt Leiner and get to coaching. Shout outs to Wendy's. That's our fresh take of the week and the person we didn't mention because I didn't think it would be fair, but I would want Greg Olson to coach my kids.

[A]

Yeah, Greg Olson.

[C]

And you'll hear why on the episode we did with him on his. On you think and what we got coming up for you right now, let's bring on Greg Olson. All right, this week on Throwbacks, we're joined by the head coach of the undefeated Charlotte Christian Middle school team. The son of a state championship winning high school coach, our guest committed to Notre Dame but ultimately became a star tight end and first round pick by the Bears out of the University of Miami. Assisted the panthers in a 151 Super bowl run and he helped Cam Newton to an MVP in one of the great single seasons by qb. And not to mention you see him on Fox, the play by play Mastro himself, Greg Olson. How'd you like that intro, buddy? A lot of, a lot of things in there.

[B]

You're a professional dude, we gotta get you. Way to go Jerry. Get you on air. So that was very good.

[C]

Really quick. We were talking off air. You, Matt was talking about, he still remembers plays and obviously we're going to talk about you think for a little while and then you just said you showed us a picture of like all the plays and stuff and things you have drawn up on your desk, right? Looks like the desk of a head coach. Here's an idea for you. Just a book, a playbook for beginner coaches who are coaching their kids who don't really know like no football. But like I know a lot about football. I couldn't coach football, but I may want to coach like nine year old, maybe even flag football. Give me like a basic football, not football coach for dummies. Football coach for smart people who are dummies. That's my book idea for you.

[B]

I like it. I mean it's amazing how many questions we get from people saying like I played college football, I played high school basketball, college, whatever the sport. But like I'm coaching my kids team, I don't know how to organize a practice, I don't know what should we prioritize. And, and honestly like years ago when we first started coaching the young kids, like we didn't always know like how to best coach a fifth grader in football. I never coached a fifth, I was a fifth grader at one point, but I didn't, I've never coached one. And like how we, we wanted to coach them like it was the NFL. And then you realize very quickly that practice format doesn't work. Those drills don't carry over. So there is kind of an art and a science to how to coach age appropriate sport. So I, I like the idea, man. I, I got lots of ideas, lots of plays, schedules, I got it all saved. I got like big folders in my computer. I'm like a psychotic.

[A]

How do you, how actually curious because you coach with Luke Keakley, right? You coach with your former teammate and Jonathan Stewart. What is it, what is a Greg Olson led team practice look like? And, and preparation? Because we joke about like all the preparation and obviously if you dive into this for your kids or coaching, you want to give it your all right. Like you're not going to do them a disservice. As you said, what, what is, what does a practice look like for one of your teams?

[B]

Well, I could. All right, so I'll do this. Ready? I'll, I'll, I'll see that script. I have every single practice. I have a file. I have an entire. So it goes all the way back. So I'm gonna pull this file up. It goes all the way back to Tuesday, June 4th. It was an offensive emphasis. We started at 8am 8:10 to 8:30 individual O, line, grid, stance, QB footwork, quarterback, center, exchange, wide receivers, back, starts and stance and starts, 8:30 individual period, jet and toss. I have every single practice schedule. Wednesday, June 5th. And then our last practice was. See, we're gonna scroll the way down to the bottom. It's on this big ass document. Our last practice was a, was a Wednesday or Tuesday practice on October 14th, 3:15 warm up stretch. I mean I could literally tell you every period, every minute from June 4 to October 14. Every minute, every period, every play we ran, every drill. I have that for the last three years. Maybe that's the book.

[C]

That's what I'm saying. I'm, I'm buying that book. We just did, we just did your pod, you think? And obviously like, you know, Matt and I have kids and I encourage everyone to go listen to that because we went pretty deep in, in all of it. But there is one question I had for you that I didn't get a chance to ask you on there that I want to ask you now because it hit me when we were like loggin your show. How often, if at all, whether it's with your own kids or some of the kids you coach. Does like social media come up within teams? I know they're still young and every parent's different with how they handle that because I was just thinking we were talking about like me playing basketball as a kid and Matt's, you know, youth sports. And that's something we all never had to deal with at all.

[B]

Like, oh, it's huge. And we, and we're now at seventh and eighth grade. We're in the thicket, right? Like I got three teenage kids. I got. So I got 13 year old, 13 year old twins that are in seventh grade, boy and a girl. And then I have a 14 year old 8th grade son. So like we're in the thick of it. Social media, they all have phones, they all have Snap and Instagram and TikTok, they got it all right? So part of it is learning that it's a reality to life and that if you just ban it at some point they're going to get it and just not be ill prepared to use it. Our message to not only our own children but like the kids that we coach and stuff is like with that comes great responsibility, right? Like one wrong post, one wrong message, one thing that you think is a joke and maybe it is a joke amongst you and your friends, it is not a joke in the real world. And, and listen, like we all have said things in the locker room or on the set or with our buddies that we probably wouldn't say outside of our like very tight knit circle. Like I think that's fairly common. But those days are over. Like there is no such thing as a secret. There is no such thing as just a joke. Like things are serious. So we, we try to tackle a lot of that head on, you know, and, and then just from the social component of relationships and girls and it gets very complicated quickly and then from the sports side of it it's also very dangerous. And the message we try to tell them is yeah, like your buddy across the street, he posted his game winning home run or the mom posted, you know, the game winning three pointer. But like no one ever posts when you struck out in the bottom of the seventh. No one ever posts when you miss the game winning layup on a fast break or you know, so like don't get wrapped up in thinking that sports and the real world is all just the positives, right? Like you are going to fail, everyone's going to have bad days, there's going to be where you're the reason we lost. In your mind at least. Like those are all very real coping skills that you better understand and start getting out of the way now. Because if you're going to continue to play sports, I want my kids to experience failure and embarrassment and setback at 12 years old when they still come home to mom and dad and cry on the couch. I don't want you to experience it for the first time as an 18 year old kid and you give up a bases loaded triple to lose the state championship and you're standing on the mound and you've never failed before, right? You've never felt the real world hit you over the head. So social media has created this idea that everyone is good and they're only ever good and that no one has ever had a bad game, a bad play or ever been the reason they lost the game. And I think that's super dangerous. So sports related socially, relationships, girls and boys and dynamic, like social media is here to stay. Whether you like it, don't like it, the reality of the world, your kids are going to be exposed to it at some point. And learning how to deal with that is something that we harp on in our house and on our teams daily because it's real.

[A]

Excuse me. I love, I love what you're doing with. You think because of just kind of just creating more conversations about youth sports and parenting and coaching and how you handle that with your kids. I, I get asked this a lot and I'm curious at your thought of. Like, for me, it's, it's hard sometimes, the balance of especially having a son who's essentially kind of following in my footsteps, like Matt Leinert the football player, coach, and then Matt Leinert the dad. Right. Like, how do, like the balance between the two and then, you know, having those tough conversations with your kids on, maybe they went over three at the plate or they threw an interception and all those things, and trying to get them to understand, like, hey, this is, this is part of the journey. How do you approach those conversations with your kids on whether it's those challenges, whether it is social media? Because you, you had an illustrious career. You're still very, I mean, you're one of the biggest voices in the NFL. How do you balance that when you're dealing with your kids?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't always get it right. I mean, there's a lot of conversations that I look back on that I'm not proud of or that I go. I probably didn't handle that the way I should have in the moment. What the, the approach that I've tried to settle on now is bring everything back to the work. Right. Like, I'm fine with you being on your phone, but are you on your phone for two and a half hours and you haven't done, you haven't, your schoolwork's not done. You haven't gone hit in the basement, in the batting cage that we built. You haven't gone and done any of your mobility arm exercises, and then you're going to go out to pitch this weekend and you're going to be sore. Like, there's an order of operations to things. So, like, we don't put them you know, we don't lock them in the basement. We don't say, all you can do is sports. Like, we want our kids to be well rounded. We want them to be social. We want them to have phones and access. Like, we want them to experience all those things. But they need to understand if you say these things are valuable and important to you, show me. Like, show me that. That's what you wake up and you say, all right, before I get into anything else, I'm going to take care of the priorities. My schoolwork, my training, my sport, whatever it is, and then I'm going to go play video games, and then I'm going to go be a kid and do all the things that kids should do. So that's A and then number, and then B, not number two. So A and B, like, we try to not dive into the end result. You go over three, and Monday through Friday, you bet you battled your ass off and you were in the basement, you were grinding and you were hitting, you were doing all your drills, and it just wasn't your day. Fine. Yeah, but you can't do nothing Monday through Friday, and you didn't do your work and you skipped out on going to a practice because you. And then you go for three, and you want to be sad on the car ride home. Like, I have zero patience for that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, don't think you're going to have great results if you're not going to put in all the work that goes with it because you might have moments of success. We're not looking for moments, right? We're looking for, like, sustain. The ability to sustain excellence and grow and whatnot. So, like, we try to dial everything back. Well, did you struggle? Let's connect it to the work or lack thereof. Did you have a ton of success? Well, let's go back. Like, think how hard you worked after school on Monday and you came home from basketball and you were tired, but you still went in the basement and got your swings. Like, connect the dots. There's a cause and effect. Our job as parents and as coaches is to connect the two, both when it's good and when it's bad, and develop those habits over time that hopefully they then just consciously go, okay, my success is tied to my process. We're not hoping to have a good game. Like, I'm gonna have a good game because I did X, Y and Z. They're young. They don't get all of that at all times. I try to remind them. They probably are tired of me reminding them. But like it's just the only way it works. There is no other path. And that's our message to them as far as just connecting results to the process.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And not getting so wrapped up in the successes or failures.

[C]

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[C]

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[D]

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[A]

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[C]

So I'm very curious now. So say I read the the Greg Olson how to be a Coach book and then I show up to coach my team and I look across the field and the coaches are Greg Olson, Luke Eagley and Jonathan. What has been some of your interactions with other coaches you have faced who have definitely watched you guys play in Super Bowls and stuff? I imagine like they gotta be either A intimidated or B showing that they're not intimidated because they know that that's just food for you.

[B]

So I want to make sure I'm very clear because I say this anytime I get a chance. This is the secret to youth coaching. The secret to youth coaching is not thinking you have all the answers, right? It is not thinking that how this is not a competition between how much I know about football and the guy across the field. Some of the best youth sports coaches, basketball, baseball, volleyball, it doesn't matter. The sport did not play professional sports, did not play past high school. Like so many people focus on the knowledge of the game, your resume as a player and they just automatically say oh, I want them to coach my team. Like I've been around professional football players that are not great coaches and I've been around guys that never played past JV and I'd go man, they do a great job. Like their messaging, their clarity, they're very that they just get how to run it. So I don't think our successes or failures as coaches. Do we have a lot of football experience? Yes. Have we played a lot of football? Yes. I think I pull back on like my youth days and playing for my dad and understanding that NFL football sometimes does not connect to seventh and eighth grade football. What we did is not apples to apples for what these kids can do. So I think it's having like a little bit of an understanding and a self awareness of like what can we get the kids to know that's the only thing that affects the game. I'm standing on the sideline. So whatever we can get through to the kids and then have them be able to actually execute and make happen anything else that I know, anything else that I could draw up on a chalkboard or anything else I could talk about over a game has no benefit to any of our children if I can't get them to do it. So listen, do teams want to beat us? Yeah. They tired of seeing our Instagram videos. Yeah, but like, that's okay. We are going to lose. Like, we're not going to win every game. Like, sometime you're going to beat us and we're going to try to next game, beat your brakes off. Like, that's just the only way that we know. We take it serious. We coach the hell out of the kids, we ask a lot out of the kids. And in return, the last four years of doing this, we've seen a lot of these boys who we've coached all four years, their growth, their confidence, the way they stand, the way they communicate, their ability to be criticized, their ability to be praised. It's amazing the lessons that have come and the lessons that we've learned. Like, I'm a better coach now than I was four years ago, and there's still stupid shit that I do that I'm like, God, that was such a bad idea. It did not have any impact on the game. That was a waste of time. Like, we're always learning and we don't shy away from. We're going to try to be as competitive as humanly possible. And if we're going to play against you, we're going to try to beat you. And that's just the way it goes. It's not personal, but these kids need to learn how to compete.

[A]

I got, I got one real quick. Jerry.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Do, do you, do you believe in participation trophies for, for your kids are a little bit older, but like, you know, I'm dealing with this with my four, four year old son, my five and a half year son and all. They, they. Yeah, I know, but I'm just saying they like trophy. All they care about is the trophy at the end. And I'm like, and I get it. They're four and five. And I'm not, I'm not the intense coach or dad by any means, but I'm just curious of like, like, you know, like, at what point does that be like, all right, we're not in this to just participate.

[B]

Yeah, it's, it's age appropriate. I think it's kid dependent. Right, right. Like, I even just think in my house I had three kids, two boys and a girl, and at different stages of their Development. And at different ages, their competitive spirit was vastly different. And my daughter, who when she was a little girl was in high heels and pink skirts and princess dresses running around the house. Now she's playing competitive basketball and she's doing. She's learning to do like, the pentathlon, which is like a multi sport at the older ages. It's the, the. The heptathlon for girls. She's doing five as a younger girl. But, like, she's super competitive and she's big and she's strong and she competes hard. And like, if you would have told me this was going to be her five years ago, I would have said no dance. She would. Never wanted to go in the backyard with the boys, never wanted to go to their basketball. But it flipped. And like, I have two boys. My one son has every single baseball ring from winning runner up. Thanks for coming. Yep. Every. And in between, he's got him on a shelf in his room and I have another son that has like a couple of his plates. When you're like the MVP or you're the champ and every one of those other rings is probably in the garbage somewhere.

[A]

So, like, I love that they're all.

[B]

Different and it might change. And that's how we were as kids. Like, we have famous stories of my dad. Like, there was that we had this rival school in New Jersey. It was called Ramapo High School. Like, Chris Sims went there. Yeah, I know Ramapo's Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes. Very good athletics, very good at everything they do. They were like the neighboring town. So they were our big rival. So growing up, if you played Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, those were the kids we were going to play one day in high school at Ramapo and our school, there was this turn going back into Wayne that you had to take from those areas. And the joke, as we got older was like, my mom would say, do you know how many trophies are in the woods right there, smashed on the ground that your dad threw out the window? And like, I look back on it now and I laugh, but, like, it's real. So, yeah, I think to answer your question, there's an age element to it. And then I think you got to meet your kids where they are. Like, yeah, if your kids are super competitive and they want to be excellent and they want to win and they want to chase it, like, let him. Let them go. You can always reel them back in. And then if you have a kid who is just happy to be on the team and he's a great teammate, and he doesn't have to be the star quarterback and he doesn't have to be the shortstop. Like, if that's their personality, let them keep that ring, let them keep that trophy. Great.

[A]

Like, yeah, who cares, right?

[B]

So like I, I do think there is a nuance to it, but like, come high school, like we have a joke in our family. Like, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Like, those days are probably over. Like, if we're going to spend the amount of time by high school, we're going to spend the amount of time that this takes as a family. The sacrifice, the summers, the workouts. If we're going to do it, man, let's do it. Or else we're wasting our time. But like at four and Jerry year old is what, six?

[A]

Like six.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Being there is more than half the battle.

[C]

So I want to segue for a second because we talked about like the social media with young kids and then now I know you're a Jersey guy, by the way. Rambo Poe. I think hockey was like some of the greatest hockey players.

[B]

They got real. They got, they're good at everything. Yeah, they're good at everything.

[C]

So, you know, you go from you a coach in high school by your dad, right? So you go from there, no social media stuff like that. And then you and Matt are uniquely positioned to talk about this. Then you get put on a college football team that is over covered, highly scrutinized. It's not just like, oh, I'm playing college football, people are looking at me. Usc, Miami, those two teams everybody's looking at all the time. So what is that like for you going from Jersey to then now? Like, all right, I'm, I'm a hurricane right now. And there's a hurricane that comes with this team just from the history.

[A]

That was an era.

[B]

It's so true. And I came on like the heel, I came on the back end of that. So my junior year in high school, not before I went to Notre Dame, my junior year in high school, Miami won the national title. They beat Nebraska. My senior year, they lost Ohio State in overtime. But even more so than like just going to one of the premier programs in the country, a lot of eyeballs, a lot of draft picks, back to back national title games, you know, similar to, you know, very similar to Matt's time at usc. What even made matters more different back then is before I went to like the US army all American game as a senior in high school, I never saw a football player outside of North Jersey, we didn't play teams from South Jersey, let alone California, Texas, Florida, New York. So going down to Miami in those days where there was no travel, seven on seven, I was only playing local suburban football. It was a big eye opener to like, oh my God, these guys out here are a little bit different. Like, this is a little bit different than what I was used to, but it was really good for me. Like, get out of your comfort zone. You're back to the low man on the totem pole. I didn't know if I was ever going to be good enough to play there. So I think those struggles, those. Being very honest with yourself in those moments and saying, if you're not willing to do some things, maybe the other kids aren't willing to do, you know, skip out on that party because you got a 6am workout, or I was going to have to find ways to beat kids that were better than me and more athletic than me and more physically talented than me. And then to do all of that in a, on a, in a. Under a microscope and in a fishbowl where every game we had was now. My first ever game I started was Labor Day night on ESPN against Florida State. We were both five top five in the country. And the first two passes of the game, I dropped the ball and two critical third downs, I dropped it. And then I ended up having 130 yards and nine catches and had the best game of my career. And it was my first ever start. So, like, that was the reality of our world. Thankfully, we didn't have Twitter, we didn't have social media for those moments to last much longer than the game itself. But, man, you talk about a great learning experience as a young kid of what the real world looked like. That was, that was my, that was my time in Miami.

[A]

What's the story behind you leaving Notre Dame? I know you're there briefly, but why did you leave?

[B]

Yeah, so, so my, my, my story was always with Miami. So my dad. So at the time I was like a. So going into my sophomore year, the first ever camp I went to. So we grew up going to football camps with my dad. We go to Rutgers and Penn State. And whenever my dad would work in the summer as a high school guy, he would go make extra money and work these summer camps and bring me and my older brother with me and we'd sleep on the floor and just be like the young kids at camp. My first time ever going to, like, a real camp as like a true player myself. The summer going into my Sophomore year, my brother was going into his junior year. My dad knew Greg Shiano, who at the time was the defensive coordinator at Miami under Butch Davis. So Greg went to Ramapo again, all full circle. So Greg played at Ramapo against my dad, had me and my brother come down to camp, and that was the first time we had ever, like, gotten out of our little bubble of New Jersey and went down and experienced. But again, no pads, sleeping in the dorms. But, you know, it was a very casual compared to, like, real football. And so I loved Miami. They were the team of the country. Like, they were on TV every night. Tight end was a big thing. You know, they had Shocky and Winslow and Bubba Franks, and they were kind of at the cutting edge of, like, using their tight end in the passing game and stuff. So, long story short, my final couple schools were, were Miami, Notre Dame, because my older brother Chris was a quarterback. He went to Notre Dame, got it, the class ahead of me. So he went there with all of his buddies that I got to know as a high school kid. After my games, we'd jump in the car and drive to South Bend to watch my brother and be around the team and be around the school. And, you know, it was one of those things where I was like, if it's a tie, I'll probably just go play with my brother. They had a great year that year. Tyrone Willingham took the job, and they really caught it. So I was like, you know what? I'll go play with my brother. That'll be fun for my parents. Two of us back playing together, went through training camp. Shortly thereafter, they had. They signed Brady Quinn in my class. So I was with Brady and became pretty clear that Tyrone, like, he was going to be the quarterback of the future for Notre Dame. That was his first ever recruit. And my brother's like, hey, I'm going to go to Virginia and start fresh and go somewhere new. And I was like, well, I'm not. I wouldn't even be in South Bend if it wasn't for you. So I'm going to go down to Miami because that's really where I want to be anyway. And I left the day after freshman orientation. I never enrolled in class, got in the car, drove back to New Jersey with my mom, waited for the NCAA clearinghouse. Back then, you couldn't just, like, bounce around. Called my dad, called Larry Coker and was like, hey, do you have a spot for Greg? He's like, yep. I went down Friday of that week. I was late, like, a week or so. Into the semester I'd started and hit the ground running and talk about walking into a different planet. Like, I went from South Bend to Miami. We were like two in the country, and I was like, oh, my God, I'm never gonna see the field here, but this place is awesome. And the rest is history.

[A]

Gosh, what a time to be a hurricane back then, man. I mean, gosh, Antrell Roll and I were teammates.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In Arizona. And he used to tell me stories all the time. He was actually giant. Oh, Andrell was great. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. So my. So my first ever practice, right? So I leave Notre Dame on like a Monday. I drive back to Jersey, waiting for the Clearinghouse to approve my transfer. Thursday night, Miami opens up the season on like a Thursday night kickoff game against, I don't know, like Louisiana Tech or Louisiana Monroe or like something like that. And they win by 200. And I'm sitting in my living room and I'm watching, you know, at the time, you know, some. So I'll get to this part. So I. I go there on Friday morning, I fly to Miami. I'm sitting in this team meeting. You know, everyone's looking like, who's this random ass kid that didn't go through 2A days? He didn't. We don't even know who he is. And I'm sitting like in the front and like, they introduce you and you're just like, mortified. Right? Like, it's so embarrassing. And we had practice that afternoon, and it's at the Orange Bowl. So my first ever practice, I break the huddle. It's at the Orange Bowl. We break the huddle, and the defense is Antrell Roll. First round pick Vince Wilfork. First round pick D.J. williams. First round pick Jonathan Vilma. First round pick, Rocky McIntosh. Second round pick, Kelly Jennings, first round pick.

[C]

That's scary.

[B]

Was you guys.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm like, will. I will never. I'm lucky they let me play on the scout team. And that year, we. That next draft, we set the record. We had six first round picks at that in that one draft in 2004. And fortunately, I was able to play as like the backup tight end reserve guy in 2004. And then I was able to start 5 and 6 and it all worked out.

[A]

Was there, was there. We always talk about, like, welcome to the NFL moment. Was there a moment in college where you sort of like. Because I. I mean, we. I've been in those types. I've been in locker rooms and you go in there, you're kind of a fish out of water. You're like, who's this kid? There had to been a moment at the U where your teammates were like, holy, all right, we, like, we got one. Or was it just a grind over time where you earn the respect?

[B]

You know, I think what was so weird about my journey is like, everyone goes through that as a freshman, you know, like, you're the new guys, you got to earn your stripes. Maybe the guys bust your balls in the locker room a little bit more. And, you know, there's always the rookie kind of initiation stuff to any team. But what was so weird for me is I came by myself. So, like, by the time I got there as a freshman, the other kids in the freshman class had been there for three months, right? They got there in June, they went through all the June workouts, all of July, all of August training camp. So they had kind of earned their stripes a little bit and were a little bit more ingrained into the older guys and into the locker room. They knew where to go, they knew where the meeting room was. So I was literally the only kid who had no idea what was going on. So that was, that was a challenge. And I think it probably took like halfway through the year. You know, you're on the scout team and you start catching some passes and, right. You know, the coaches start talking to you a little bit different and all of a sudden you're in the weight room and Vilma comes up to you and he's like, hey, man, you're doing a good job. And you're like, yeah, I am doing a good job. You know, like, it just took one of those guys to like, recognize, all right, like, maybe I do belong here. Like, maybe, maybe I can do this in due time. And you know, again, it was in the day where if you didn't start as an 18 year old freshman, it was okay, right? Like, it was. There was the journey to it all that you had the ability to grow and develop and get better and eventually play. I think a lot of that has been lost in today's world. Like, there is no development. If I don't play year one, I just go somewhere else. I'm thankful for those hard times. I'm thankful that I was the scout team quarter tight end and then the backup tight end. And like, it wasn't until year three that I was like a, a dude. Like, I was a real big player for the team. But it took me three seasons.

[A]

Dude, we played. I don't even remember. So DJ Williams went to De La Salle.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

And so when I was at modern day, we had a guy named Matt Gruddy Good. Do you remember Matt Gruddy Good.

[B]

I know the name.

[A]

So he was. So he. So Matt was a senior and I was a junior. And so DJ Matt were the same class. They were one and two recruits in the country. So DJ went to Miami. Matt was either going to USC or Notre Dame. Those are the two. He ended up going to usc. He was an All American running back, All American safety. And I'll never forget my first year starting as a junior. We go up and this was in the middle of De La Salle's run, right? They won like 150 games. We lost him three years in a row. We go up there, we played at Pacific uop. And I'm thinking, like, I'll never forget that. I was so nervous. But we got Groots. Like, Groots is the best. DJs the best. And I go up to line of scrimmage. This was like, kind of my welcome to high school football. And I see D.J. williams, who, you know, very well, played with a girl. Like, everyone asked, like, who are the guys from high school to the NFL that have maybe made it? Adrian Peterson was one. And like, DJ Williams is one. And he's playing middle linebacker.

[B]

And I'm just.

[A]

And he had a visor and all this stuff. I'm like, holy, dude. Like, this dude. And by the way, he and Groots were like. It was like the whole game just going back and forth. They beat us 42 to nothing, dude. It was. It was the greatest high school performance I had seen from DJ Williams, your former teammate, man. But he was an absolute. And then he ended playing linebacker, right? I mean, played linebacker.

[B]

Yeah, they moved him. They moved. He played linebacker, but he was a fullback. His freshman year, he played all. He played some offense at Miami.

[A]

I think he was a great running back. Yeah, he was a great running back. I mean, he.

[B]

Gosh, yeah, he. There's some kids that, like, just like, wow, they're really good. And then there's other kids. You're like, okay, that kid just looks like he's on another planet. Yeah, that was D.J. williams. That was Sean Taylor. Like, some of those kids, some of those guys that we had at Miami. Then, you know, Sean Taylor worked out for the first practice, and you're like, who the hell is that guy? He's 6 4, he's 235. He's running all over the place. He's returning punts. He's blocking. I mean, just some of Those guys, you just, you quickly realize, you go, okay, we're not all playing from the same set of rules. We better. You better figure out something real quick to even the playing field. Or you.

[A]

That's what an athlete. That's what an athlete looks like.

[B]

Okay, so that's what it looks like. Got it.

[C]

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[B]

Well, no, it's your, the first part of your question, I, I'll get to both aspects, but the first part of your question, you're spot on. I mean that is just the reality of it. I think there's a few different reasons. I think the position has really changed in like the way it's perceived. I, I think for the longest time, you know, you go back to even when I first came into the league, you know, so 2007, there was a handful of really top, right? You had Gonzalez, you had Gates, you had Jason Whitten. It was on the heels of Shannon Sharp. Like there was some real dudes. But like the tight end position for the longest time was the position you kind of ended up playing, right? I was a quarterback as a kid and then I became a tight end. I was a wide receiver, but I'm not that fast. I became a tight end or I was an offensive lineman, but I didn't really get that big. Like it seemed to be the position that everyone fell back to and said, okay, I'm not a running back anymore, I'm not a wide receiver. I'm not, I'm going to play tight end and I'm just going to learn it. I think what we're seeing now is even down to like the grassroots level is kids are playing tight end their entire lives. There's a prestige now that star players are tight ends, right? You got Kelsey and Kittle and Gronk and it's now a big deal to be a tight end, which is very different than what it was when I came out. Like the stars of the league were quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, and then the top handful of defensive players, Brian or Lacquer. And the guys that I, when I came into league, that was pretty much the hierarchy of like stardom. Now you can make an argument outside of quarterback. Some of the biggest stars in the game are tight ends. Some of the most recognizable figures and faces in the league are tight ends. And then the Second element is teams have really realized the impact that that position can make on the field. Right. The ability to not have to substitute the ability of what it does for matchups on defense, especially the guys that are on the play, that are on the field for every snap and their ability to affect the run game and the passing game and matchups. And so I just think it's a combination of so many different factors that have all kind of aligned that I think we're really seeing like the. The best era of tight ends over the last five years or so in the history of the league. And I mean, you go back to Mike dicka in the 60s and John Mackey and Shannon Sharpe. I mean, you go back through the. Through the eras of football, there's always been predominant star players. But it seems to your point now, like every legitimate team has a star player at that position. I don't think. I think there's more of them. And then I also think there's a higher value placed on the position from these teams because they realize if you get the right guy, his ability to move the needle, his ability to play in today's game is maybe greater than it's ever been.

[A]

I mean, Brock Bowers is the guy, right, to think of as like kind of the next passing the.

[B]

Who.

[A]

Who I want to ask you about, you know, Cam and your time in Carolina, but who do you. You get to call these games? You see these guys. You guys do tight end, you. Which I think is great. So you get a chance to work with the young guys. Is there one or two guys that you're like, holy crap. Like the. This is the future of the position. Maybe outside of Brock Bowers, because we already know how to. Talented.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So.

[B]

Yeah. So Bowers, I. I think you could look at Bowers when he was a freshman in sophomore Georgia, and if he was allowed to come out after his second year, I think he would have been a top 10 pick. Like he was that good. Now, for him to have the production in the year he had. I think he had a thousand yards last year as a rookie is. Is unheard of. And again, there's a lot of factors with the Raiders of why. But he's unbelievable. I think we're seeing it right now with Tyler Warren in Indianapolis, out of Penn State.

[A]

I mean, Jerry's still pissed the Giants didn't draft him.

[B]

Yeah, I think there's a lot of teams pissed they didn't draft them. Right. I mean, the Bears took Colson Loveland, who I think's a really Good player out of Michigan.

[C]

But explain that. No meaning, like explain at from.

[B]

I think teams overthink it. I think they get so wrapped up in like, I don't think Tyler Warren. And again, I haven't studied his combine results, so I might be speaking out of my ass here, but like, I think Tyler Warren's one of those kids that when you watch them play, you're like, that kid's incredible. Incredible. And you hear about his background as a quarterback and at Penn State they were doing a lot of really cool things with them that were very creative. But then I think you go run a 40 yard dash, you go put on your T shirt and shorts and just run around and you're like, okay, is he as good as I thought he was on tape? Like, I don't know if he's that freak. When Brock bowers runs the 40 yard dash, it's freakish. He's 65 and you're like, oh my God, he's a gazelle. He's running away from SEC linebackers at 6 5. Yeah, he's like SEC defensive backs. I mean, so like, I think sometimes these guys overthink it and they get so enamored by like the, the times and the size and the wingspan and the hand. And at the end of the day, Tyler Warren is just a flat out football player. And is he a Y, is he an H, is he an F?

[D]

Who cares?

[B]

It doesn't matter. He's good, he's open, he's tough, he catches the ball, he can run after contact. So I think the young, you know, and then again the OGs of the world, you know, the Kelsey's and the Kittles, you know, we're on the heels of Gronk obviously, but like you look, you look around the league, there are a lot of really, really talented, versatile guys playing the position. And it's a really fun era to, to invest in and, and dive into the tight end position.

[A]

I think it's like, it's like the way I would describe it is like, it's just like it said, cool to be a tight end now. Like, it's like people want to do it. Like my oldest son, like he wanted to be a tight end and I was like, why? He's like, I don't know, like they're awesome. Like, look like, like Greg and Travis.

[B]

And all this probably started it.

[A]

Shocky. Yeah.

[B]

Like Shaza Jr, he got drafted to the Giants. I was like a junior or senior in high school, so obviously in that shadow of the Meadowlands or down the street in Jersey, like, went to Miami. Shocky was probably the first guy I remember that was like a star, right? He's dating Paris Hilton and showing up to Grammy parties and he's on the red carpet in New York City and he's got the long hair and tattoo. Like, he was a larger than life personality at the tight end position and was a pro Bowler his rookie year.

[A]

He was a stud.

[B]

He was good and a big personality, which I think led to kind of his fame. And, and, but I, I always think Shocky brought it into, like, mainstream media, mainstream attention.

[C]

And I agree.

[B]

You know, now the guys today, obviously Kelsey's arguably the most famous person in the league. Kittle, you know, Gronk, when he play. So, I mean, you could, you can name guys that have kind of crossed over from just being really good tight ends to being star NFL personalities that you would recognize walking down the street.

[A]

So I want to, I want to go back to Carolina and. And you played with Cam, who, who I love. Got to know him pretty well throughout the years. And we have a former mutual teammate, Ryan Khalil. So Ryan Khalil is my center at usc. He was obviously your center in Carolina. And I talked to him this week. I was like, dude, like, you got any good Greg stories? Like, just the time. And he, he and you were obviously a talented player and had a hell of a career, hall of Fame career, but also very cerebral. And he would tell me this, and I want, I want to, I want to see if there's truth to this, that Cam's rookie year. And I know this because I know how hard verbiage is for quarterbacks. I remember my fifth year in the NFL, my fifth year going to Kubiak System, which is Shanahan and all these guys now. And like, I'm getting taught this. I'm like, holy. Like, I can't even remember a play. Like, there was 20 words to a play, like, in the system. But I loved it once I got it. And he told me that Cam had struggled sometimes in the huddle with the first year and all that. And he said he's like, dude, Greg would literally recite. Greg would call the plays in the huddle for us sometimes throughout Cam's year when he struggled calling the plays. Is there, is there a. Is that truthful? Is there a story that you remember?

[B]

I would finish. The guys would bust my balls. I, I don't know if I called the plays as much as sometimes would, like, finish the play.

[A]

He said, like, like, what does it Start with Cam. What does it start with?

[B]

That was the line everyone used to bust my balls about because, you know, we'd be in there and Cam would get it going. And. And again, in fairness to you quarterbacks.

[A]

No, I get it. Yeah.

[B]

It's hard guys yapping in your ear, right? He tells you it's trips rights, key left. Seems 678, flat sneak. And then he doesn't stop talking. Hey, tell Olson that he's got to make sure he adjusts versus cover two. And tell the backside tackle and don't be afraid at the free safety. And it's like, shut up. I gotta call the play. So, like, I think that is an issue that makes it more challenging than maybe people care to admit, in fairness to you quarterbacks. But I used to have this joke. I'd be like, what's it sound like? Like, tell me. It was like charades, you know, like, that's what he said about what? It sounded like I had. I had a pretty good understanding of, like, based off the formation and how it started, I could finish it. So, like, if I knew it was trips right key left, 6 78F, flat sneak, like, I knew what was next. I don't know. It was just. I don't know where my shoes are. But, like, I always could remember football. I could remember plays. I could. I spent a lot of time, like, studying the game plan and whatnot. So, yeah, I mean, I listen. Everybody's got a role, man. Everybody's got a job. And Cam was so damn good. And he. When people ask me, like, what made Cam so good and. And I don't. And I don't know if you can teach this. Was he perfect? Reciting the plays? If you put him up on a chalkboard, who knows? But I'll tell you what, in the game, you talk about seeing things in real time clearly and it being right and. And. And seeing safeties while also seeing the front side corner and seeing them rotate shells and knowing the big digs coming open. Like, his real time feel and vision of now he was 7ft tall.

[A]

He's one of the biggest human beings of all.

[B]

Gigantic, A human. But like, his real time feel and ability to see coverage and movement and disguise in real time and react accordingly was his secret. Was his secret sauce. Like, he'd come to the sideline and he'd be like, hey, do you see that backside safety? And I was like, I. I think I did. Like, what did you see? And he would tell me, and sure enough, we'd pull up the iPad and we'd pull it and be like, yeah, that's exactly what the safety did. So like everyone has their strengths. Everyone has their, you know, their things that they hang their hat on. Like some guys are really good in the huddle. Like I remember Brian greasy my rookie year. I'm in, I'm in Chicago and Brian's a vet and man, he walked in the huddle and the way he called the play, he would like look at you with this voice and clarity and tell you like, why drag h check? And it was just like, I know. Exactly. And then other guys are like, and they're just spitting it out. So like everybody's got their thing. But man, in real moments in the game, once that play was snapped, Cam's ability to see and process was so good. We sometimes we had to fix a couple things in the huddle and that's okay.

[A]

How great I, I think people always ask like the locker room to me is what I miss. Right? Like you just miss the locker room, miss the guys. You look the, the bullshitting and all that. How great was a huddle though, dude? Like the huddle like cuz college is gone. Like college. Like these teams, it was, it was for that reason. It's the stories like so much Jerry. So much goes on in, in a huddle during timeouts and all this. It's like it was the greatest thing to be and it's gone now. It's like because now it's just a m. Oh, it's the greatest thing ever, dude.

[B]

Like the amount of going on, like you're trying to get the play in you're center, you know, Ryan's arguing with the guard because he didn't, because he didn't slide the right way. And guys are like, shut the up, dude. Like we're trying. Hey, play. Clock's running down. Like there's so much going on and, but man, that's the beauty of it all. It's, it's intense, it's emotional. There's a lot of really strong minded people. But like at the end of the day, and this was the beauty of our good teams in Carolina and when we had it, it was great and it's just hard to keep it. But like those dudes in the huddle, man, at the end of the day, everybody wanted their success and of course everybody wanted, you know, but man, our, the beauty of our team, we had a lot of really good players when it came to that huddle of just figuring shit out. Yeah, it didn't matter who called the play who threw the touchdown, who caught the touchdown? Like, everybody was so in it and connected and just living and dying for the success of everybody else. And that's not been every huddle that I've ever been in. And I'm sure it's not been every huddle that you've been in. But man, when that huddle is the right guys, those critical moments, those two minute drives, the chaos of the play being called or fixing and the coach call and you're figure like, man, there's nothing better than that. Like, I miss that.

[A]

God, I miss that too.

[C]

I just got to imagine too at some point, like you get the plane. But in those crazy moments, has there ever been just like the it dude, let's just go like, oh, we got. We think we could like, let's just. We gotta go. We gotta go. You're just flying by the seat of your pants.

[B]

So one of our most iconic. And I'm. This is Khalil's favorite story. So we're in Seattle 2015. We haven't beat Seattle. This is like the meat of the legion of boom. They've beat us every time, close games, but like just couldn't beat them at the end. They beat us in the playoffs the year before at their place and we just couldn't beat them. This is Sherman and Cam Chancellor and Earl Thomas and Michael Bennett. I mean, they're loaded. So we're undefeated early in our super bowl year. We're undefeated. We go to Seattle, it's back and forth, they're up, we come from behind, we have the ball down four in a two minute drive. So the irony of the story is I end up catching the touchdown. That take, that's the eventual go ahead touchdown with like a little under a minute that the play before the, that play before ends. And I'm arguing, I'm like sort of arguing with the Seattle sideline about something and I don't even remember what happened. They're accusing us of maybe being off sides or sub. I can't remember exactly, but I'm out of the huddle. So I'm actually the one slowing us down. So they're screaming, get in the huddle. We call the play late. We get up and there's a little confusion getting guys lined up. Well, I just glance up at the play clock and it's like three, two. And I start screaming at Khalil, snap the ball. Snap the ball. And Khalil tells it. He goes, I'm usually waiting for like a tap or a foot or he goes all I remember is looking right. Olson is screaming at me to snap the ball. Nobody is aligned up. Nobody knows what the play is. He goes, I said, fuck it. Yeah, I'm just gonna snap it. He snaps it. I was like, the only one to run a route. Everyone else kind of like, did you.

[A]

Run the right line? The right route?

[B]

Yeah, we caught a 40 yard touchdown to win the game. But, like, it's Khalil's favorite story, because in the chaos, nothing about that was the way you teach it. I'm late in the huddle. I'm the reason we're breaking the line late. No one's aligned. No one really knows what the play is. We're snapping the ball before anybody's even ready to block. And we got to block the best defense in football. And somehow magically, they busted a coverage and left me wide open for a touchdown. And we ended up, you know, winning the first 14 games of the year and going to the Super Bowl. But, like, those are the moments that you remember. Like, it's never perfect. It's never the way you draw it up, but there's something about the beauty of the chaos that is, like, addicting.

[A]

There, there. But there's. I remember last. We have one more question. Greg, we'll let you go, man. Appreciate the time. I remember a couple times, and Larry would tell you this. Fitzgerald, I play with them. And Larry was great. Larry was smart. He was so good. One of the best. But there would be so many times in the huddle. We're in there my rookie year, and he's like, matt, what I got on.

[B]

The backside of that?

[A]

Matt, Matt, tell me. Hey, hey, Matt, just throw, like, throw like. We played so much backyard. Backyard football that year because I had this guy that was like 6, 5. So it's like some of the shit you say in the huddle, man, you're just like. I'm like, larry, just go. Go deep, dude. It literally is more. It's like street football we played as kids. Real quick, dude. I have one last question for you, tight end. You has blown up. It's been amazing. I think it's.

[C]

It's.

[B]

It's.

[A]

Talk about the shift of tight ends. And you've got. You and Trav and. And George have really done that. What are the credentials that you need as a quarterback to get invited to that, to be able to throw the ball?

[C]

Too old, Matt. You're too old.

[A]

No, I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I. I still can throw.

[B]

You're in.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

No, you're in Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick's been there the last couple of years. Like, we got guys that are retired. We got old guys, young guys, rookies. We love. The beauty of TEU is this is not just a collection of, like, we're going to get all the star players to sit around and tell each other how good they are. The beauty of the event is we invite everybody. So we have Travis Kelsey and George Kittle, and we've got guys that are just hoping to God to make the practice squad as a rookie and have never logged an NFL snap and everybody in between. And from a quarterback perspective, like, we've had Josh Allen. We still have Fitzpatrick, who's however many years retired and just out there ripping it. Like, we want everyone to be a part of it. It's a really special event. The camaraderie, it's just enough mix of football, but also like hanging with the guys and going out for a beer and shooting the shit at the bar in Nashville. That's the beauty of the event is, like, it has such a cool, like, being with the guys, being with the families. Hey, when it's time to work, let's work. But like, let's also kick back and enjoy each other and enjoy a summer night at, you know, Luke Combs bar in Nashville and, like, let's hang out. You know, like, it's a cool event, but yeah, just the idea that the way we try to summarize it to the guys, our first message that we give them is like, whatever you've accomplished, our goal is we play a very small part in you reaching whatever the next level is. If you've been on a practice squad, hopefully this year you make the active roster. If you've made a Pro bowl, hopefully you make another one. If whatever it is. Like, there's always another level of your game based on where you currently are and whatever that next step is. And, like, we really try to hammer into that. We're not going to make everyone Kelsey. We're not going to make everyone kiddle. But if a guy that's been two years on a practice squad can come there and something sparks that he makes the 53, then all of a sudden he's active due to injury, he catches a couple balls, and next thing you know, he plays eight, nine years in the league, like, not everyone has to be a Hall of Famer. Yeah, not everybody has to be a Pro Bowler. Like, we're just trying to help guys make careers, make have a just. And we love it, man. It's a great event. It's fun. It's football. The same guys come back year in and year out. We get to meet their families. They're now married. They've got kids. It's. It's a really special event that we think is just going to continue to grow.

[A]

Well, if you need a camp arm, I got you, buddy. That'd be great.

[B]

Done. You're in. And, Jerry, if you're not there running routes next year in a headband.

[C]

I don't even know I was gonna say.

[B]

We could.

[C]

We could do as a gag, we could do the disprove or prove the myth. Can a very average to below average scrub get one yard? We could get some guys.

[A]

Hey, you'll be depressed, dude. We could get you to be.

[C]

I'll go full scout.

[B]

No, we'll use you in motion. We'll get you a free release into a soft zone. We'll body you up, get down. You'll be fine.

[C]

By the way, too, as we let you go and love you in the booth calling games. I'm with you on the Philly fan thing. I know they kind of. You said when you were calling games that they had some words for you, right? Did you say that somewhere?

[B]

Like, yeah, last year they were mad at me.

[C]

I can't deal with the Philly fan. Philly fans are the only fans that have ever hurt my feelings. Like, for real. I don't care about, like, sports trash talk. They genuinely almost made me quit Twitter over the Knicks 76ers series.

[B]

Listen, I. I love fans. I love fandom. I love it. Like, listen, you watch our broadcast, like, if your team does well, it probably looks like we're cheering for you. And if your team doesn't have their best game or the other kid, the other quarterback is playing his ass off. Like, yeah, we're going to be complimentary, and we're going to be critical, and we're going to be a mix of both. I've called a million Philly games over the last four years because obviously they've been really good. I called their super bowl game, super bowl loss a couple years ago. I just. I just called their game three days ago. Like, I love Sirianni. Like, he's my kind. He's like my spirit animal. Like, I love his intensity. I love that he doesn't give a. Like, I love so much about Philly. I love so much about the Eagles, their roster. I think Howie Roseman's sick, But, like, last year, they played Jaden Daniels. They were the best defense in the league. Jaden Daniels threw four or five touchdowns. They came back in a wildly entertaining game. And Jayn Daniels was really good. And Jalen Hurts had gotten, Jalen Hurts had gotten hurt. So they played with the backup. So it was like this whole thing. But, like, Jaden Daniels was a really good player all year, and that game he won the Rookie of the Year. In essence, like, he beat the best team in football, which was Philly, and he played great. That doesn't mean I don't think Philly is great. I said all year they were the best team in the league. So I like fans. I try not to let it get personal. I try not to let it bother me, but I, I get it. Like, at times you're like, oh, my God, they truly hate me. And I don't want them to hate me.

[C]

They brought Philly fans on Twitter, brought up movies that I've done that I hope nobody had ever seen, and they somehow knew about it. Brought up, hey, your performance in Battleship. Like, I'm like, well, why are we, why are we bringing that up in a Knick 76ers debate, man? No, you're, you're awesome. I, I, I gotta imagine calling Panther games is a lot of fun also. Probably enough to travel. Is there a team right now that if you saw in the schedule, be like, oh, I'd like to call one.

[B]

Or does, I'm excited to call, I'm excited to call the Bills. Yeah, we, we don't get. So, like being on the crew that I'm on, it's not as much anymore, but, oh, CBS had always gotten a lot of the AFC games. Traditionally, it's a little bit different now. There's a little bit more like teams blending over to different conferences and different networks. Typically when the Bills are on Fox the couple times that they are, it typically goes to the A crew just because of Josh Allen and whatnot. So for us, I've called Bill's games with the A crew in the past. For us to be able to call Bill's games in our one o' clock regional window with the, with the B crew is a unique opportunity to call the best player in the league and a Super bowl contender. So that's super cool. I think it's fun. You know, we call the Eagles a ton, the Cowboys a ton, the Giants, like, we call those, like NFC big market teams a lot, which is kind of the nature of our network. But I think it's fun to get the crossovers. You get the Kansas City's, you get, you know, the Bills, maybe teams that you watch A lot, but you don't actually get to call them. And so, so I'm excited for this week to get Buffalo. Know a lot of those coaches. Josh, you know, McDermott was our D coordinator for a lot of our success and been there a long time. Their GM is the first guy who ever called me when they traded for me from the Panthers, he was on our personnel staff. So a lot of good memories with those guys. And you know, anytime you get to call Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes or Lamar, whoever, those are fun games to call.

[C]

Well, dude, cannot thank you enough. We encourage.

[B]

Dude, let me tell you what, I, I follow it and see all your guys stuff. I watch it predominantly on social, like all of us, right? You guys do a great job, dude. Like, this show is fun. When they mentioned that we were going to do like a home and home, I was like, home and home go. I'll go on their show. But like, do they really want to come on mine?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Hell yeah.

[B]

We do youth sports. But no, man, I appreciate you guys coming on. I appreciate you guys having me on. You guys are fun. You guys do a great job. These are like my favorite pods to just like shoot the with the guys and just hang and bring up fun stories. So appreciate you guys having me. This was a blast today.

[C]

Sure. You think on YouTube, on all available podcast networks. You catch our episode on there. And I really like the big cat one. That one was pretty. Damn.

[B]

Yeah, he's fun. He's a good dude.

[C]

Go check it out. Good luck in the booth, Greg. Thank you again.

[A]

All right, Greg. See you, brother.

[B]

Yeah. Appreciate you guys.

[C]

All right. Joining us as she does each and every week, Annie Agar, courtesy of Twisted tea. Grab a refreshing twisted tea today. Hopefully I might need a few twisted teas if I don't win this week's trivia because I'm hearing that they're rolling out the tea for, for the kid who can't handle coach pitch just yet.

[A]

Everybody feels sorry for you.

[B]

Jerry.

[C]

What are you doing?

[A]

Picked on the, in the, on the playground.

[D]

Exactly. Yeah, we're doing all Hollywood based movie based questions this week, so. So now Jerry's got a fighting chance against Matt now.

[A]

That's fine. I, I honestly, I hope he, I hope he wins one. I, I really do. I might not even just say anything just so he automatically gets the dub.

[D]

It's like, it's like the Kevin meme from the Office. Just feels good to win one.

[C]

It's kind of you, Matt. Questions for you guys, a little trivia for the two of you, who on most gambling sites, shout out to Matt's hoodie. Who on most gambling sites. What is the.

[D]

Who are the.

[C]

What's the favorite matchup, odds wise, for the super bowl, off the top of your heads, without looking, unless you've looked, who's favored to make it to the Super bowl, not win it, make it to nfc, AFC representatives.

[D]

You know what? I just looked this up the other day, unfortunately, because I was looking at the packers odds just randomly.

[C]

It's not the Packers.

[D]

Matt.

[C]

Let me.

[A]

Let me take a guess before you know, because you know it then, right, Annie? Well, I, I would say Lions, chiefs.

[C]

Okay. You're 50% right. You got the Chiefs are correct.

[A]

Oh, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs.

[D]

Eagles. Isn't it.

[A]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Rams.

[B]

It's Rams.

[C]

Rams, at least. Well, maybe we looked at different sites or maybe the odds have changed.

[A]

I just saw them the other day.

[C]

Looked on the ones I just.

[D]

Well, it probably changed after the packers game, honestly, because I looked before the packers game with the Eagles. Yeah, I would definitely say.

[A]

Are the Chiefs gonna do it again?

[D]

I mean, are they gonna do it again over Seattle? You think? Do you think Seattle's gonna.

[C]

I mean, Seattle's up there kind of loaded. Do we think it's like, Bill, like, is it just going to be the storyline of Ken, Josh Allen defeat Mahomes because they looked horrible. Matt, is it rough going to Miami? Because, like, I can't imagine Josh Allen was out partying. That feels like a great place to go play a football game in November. Those guys look like they were still.

[D]

I don't think they're. It's like. It's like the opposite of Miami. Like, they can't play in the Heat because they're not used to it. Just like, can't play in the cold.

[A]

Have you ever played in Miami, you guys, come on.

[C]

Have you ever played Buffalo?

[A]

Can't play in the Heat. Yes, I've played in Miami. And. And to answer your question, this isn't baseball or basketball, Jerry. There's. There's a curfew in football. No one's going out before the game. I'll put it right there. And if they do, they'll be benched the next day. So.

[D]

Maybe. Maybe Josh Allen should be benched. Anyway.

[A]

Grown men getting bed checked at 10:30 at night.

[B]

Night.

[D]

Do they really do it like it's that.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[D]

That's wild.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

And you. And so, I mean, depending on who you play for, some share a room. If you're a veteran you usually get your own room, but it's like you're. You're like, rooming with guys.

[D]

That's wild.

[C]

And he's just the most frustrated. You've been with the packers all year.

[D]

Yes. Yes, Jerry. And guess who we play next Sunday. And guess who's starting if Jackson Dart's not good to go. Jameis Winston.

[C]

And he's all over you.

[D]

I saw that tweet today, and I was like, oh, cinema. I get to watch. James is going to be great. I was like, wait a second. I'm pretty sure we play them this Sunday. Yep, we do.

[C]

Well, that. That brings up a good point that I wanted before we get to the trivia really quick. Okay, obviously, Dable's gone, and we'll throw a few coaching names at you, but Matt and Annie, explain this to me. On the GM side, Mr. Joe Shane kept his job. They signed Jamo for Jameson James first, and then for a very reasonable contract, I think only like five and a half million guaranteed over two years with incentives. And then they go give Russ ten and a half million dollars. Jameis, by all accounts, is the better current quarterback. And we've known this going in for what he's got left. Isn't there something better you could have did with the 10 and a half million dollars and give it to Russell Wilson to play three games and then be a backup?

[A]

Russell Wilson didn't play that bad last year, though.

[D]

That's. That's what I think they're banking on, is that he was going to kind of lead this.

[C]

He limped to the finish line in Pittsburgh.

[A]

Yeah, but he won. He was 5 and 3 or something like that as a starter. Like, look, I think they played it right. They had three quarterbacks. A lot of half the team carries three. Half the teams carry two. You carry three and you get a guy like Jameis who now can come in and probably win a couple games or at least keep him afloat. Like, I think it was a good, good decision by them.

[D]

What I'm wondering is maybe they just didn't know with Dart, like, what, I mean, a rookie quarterback, maybe he wasn't even gonna see the field this year. So they.

[C]

Well, here's a perfect question. This is how I would have went into the season with which quarterback I was gonna start with. Annie, which quarterback would you rather face this weekend? Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston?

[D]

Russell Wilson, I'm pretty sure, threw a pass backwards one game. Like, I. I'm all in on playing. I would love to play against Russ Jameis is Going to put up 500 yards, probably 10 interceptions, but still it's going to be insane.

[B]

Would you.

[A]

Would you say that week one with a healthy Malik, Neighbors and all that if it's week one, Giants, packers, you'd rather. Still rather see Jameis Winston?

[D]

I think so. Because when James first signed everybody like he would feed neighbors, I mean that would have been the most electric games to watch would be him just launching the ball up every. Every other down.

[C]

The Giants haven't scored a week. The Giants haven't scored a week. One touchdown. Three years, bro. Three years. I don't think Jamus would have. I think Jamis would have found the end zone anyway.

[A]

Bigger problem, Jerry. It's a bigger problem over there for your.

[C]

I'm gonna throw you guys. I'm gonna throw you guys like three coaching names.

[D]

Okay?

[C]

And just tell me what you think. If you were in the Giants position number one, John Gruden, can you even get back to the NFL?

[D]

Everybody's saying he wants to coach and. And they're throwing ever.

[A]

I doubt he's ever in the NFL again. I think he'll be a college coach. Yeah.

[C]

All right, Matt, you. You were coached by this guy's dad. I don't know if he ever met a young Clint Kubiak. When you were coached by Gary Kubiak, did you ever meet a young Clint Kubiak and did he make any impression on you whatsoever?

[A]

I gotta be honest, Jerry, I don't remember. I'm pretty sure he was around. I'm sure he came.

[C]

Seattle OC Darnold Lee, like on a record pace for first and second down over 20 yard completions.

[A]

Young, high risk, high reward. I think never been a head coach. Doesn't necessarily matter. But what he's done in Seattle is great. I think that's definitely someone like him. I don't know if I'm. Joe Brady is obviously another one. Someone like that who's a great play caller and can mold your quarterback. I think that's. That's the key for this one.

[D]

That's what they need a quarterback guy because that's what Dable is.

[C]

You would think. But then, you know, you have a lot of pieces on the defense. Like. Like I look at Brian.

[D]

Have we given up on. Is it Kafka the. Your OC too or the.

[A]

Well, I just don't interim. But he's also not coaching Dart. I mean how. How long is Dark going to be.

[B]

Be out?

[A]

You know, the rest of the year.

[C]

They're going to probably take their time and Then the last thing, it's all over Giants Twitter and they definitely made this up. But it has happened most recently with Sean Payton trading for coaches who already have jobs. The names that keep coming up is Sean Payton is one of them like two first round picks for Sean Payton or a first and a second from Mike Tomlin. That doesn't. It happened with Peyton. You saw that too.

[D]

Yeah. The Tomlin one was crazy.

[C]

Someone's just making that up. That's based on.

[A]

There's zero chance either of those coaches.

[D]

There's no way Pittsburgh is. They're going to have. They're going to have another nine, eight season.

[C]

Why. Why would you.

[A]

The Broncos are like at 8 and 2. What are the Broncos.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Worst 8 and 2 team giants are Dumpster fire. Jerry.

[C]

But there it is. An attractive job. I would say it is in terms.

[D]

Of the talent on the roster. Like a healthy scatter boo and neighbors back. Like that's an insane roster.

[C]

And you're going to have a top five pick this year.

[D]

Right. But the front office, I mean that. I don't know that would make it.

[C]

You got Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeau. You need linebackers in corners in the worst way.

[D]

You have an older like a Carnell tape, somebody lineman.

[C]

You have a top five pick. You got neighbors Scaboo and Dart. Hopefully back healthy.

[A]

So. Yeah, I don't know.

[C]

All right, well, you're just trying to.

[D]

Talk yourself into some positivity here, Jerry.

[C]

Let's get to me. I guess I'm a. I'm a minus 200 favorite in the Hollywood twisted tea trivia. So let's see how this goes. Matt, give me all you got. Don't sit this one out. Don't take a knee. Give me all you got.

[D]

I'm in for this one. All right. This is an all Hollywood, all movie based trivia.

[B]

Gentlemen.

[A]

Are you ready? So are we. Are we. Are these people or movies?

[B]

People.

[D]

Ones. It's. It's very. It's a variation.

[C]

Already asking for hints. Already asking for mostly people.

[D]

Varied. Okay, question number one. What is the highest domestic grossing film of 2025?

[A]

I mean I haven't been to a movie in 10 years.

[C]

Lilo and Stitch.

[A]

No, not that.

[C]

Highest of 2025. What are you talking about? You made a billion dollars, Matt.

[D]

Gross.

[A]

Terrible. This is what you do.

[B]

You.

[A]

You blurt it out. And now I'm going to get a hint from Annie because that's how this.

[C]

Go ahead. So wait, I can't guess anymore.

[D]

No, I think if After Matt guesses, you get another.

[A]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

You want a clue?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

It's a half animated, half not.

[A]

And this is in the movie theaters or is this streaming? Because there's a difference there. We didn't. You didn't.

[D]

Pretty sure it was in the theaters.

[C]

Box office.

[B]

Box office.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Animated. I mean, dude, I have no clue. I. I could care less what movies are out right now.

[D]

I will tell you. I have not seen it, and I.

[C]

Oh, I know it.

[D]

What is it?

[C]

How to train your dragon.

[D]

No, no, no.

[A]

Okay, now I get another hand.

[B]

All right.

[D]

I forgot about that one. It's okay. I'll give another clue. It is something to do with a game or, like, a video game.

[C]

Oh, it's Minecraft.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Well, I won't take that one. But that was.

[D]

I know I was.

[A]

I saw that in the theater.

[C]

Matt, by the way, though, you clamp like. I bet you Lilo and Stitch is number two for the year.

[D]

It's gotta be.

[A]

I saw Minecraft. I took the boys to see Minecraft. I just feel like I saw. I took it, like, nine months ago.

[C]

Yeah, that was. Thousand. All right. Keep more of those. We like those.

[D]

Question question number two. Who was the winner for Outstanding Drama Series at this year's Primetime Emmys?

[C]

Adolescence?

[D]

Nope.

[C]

Oh, that's a limited.

[A]

Oh, you're so bad at this game. You have no.

[D]

I heard really good things about this series.

[B]

I know it.

[C]

I'll wait for Matt to guess.

[A]

I get a hint.

[D]

I get a hint, man. What do I do? Give me an actor and actress. It's a drama suspense show. I don't know who. Oh, well, it's. It's Outstanding Drama Series. That's not a very good hint.

[C]

I think I know it. I could give him a hand.

[D]

I don't know who the actor. I could look it up. I don't know who. The lead.

[A]

No. Give me a hinger.

[C]

If I. If I don't even know if I'm right. Okay. One of the. If I'm right, one of the actors had a hilarious part in Step Brothers. If I'm right.

[D]

I'm pretty sure that's. Yep.

[A]

I don't. I don't know. I don't watch tv, guys.

[C]

It's. It's severance. Correct.

[D]

No, no.

[A]

God, you're so bad.

[D]

Oh, my.

[C]

Oh, my God. I know it. Oh, God.

[D]

I'll tell you, here's my hit. People in the industry say this is the most realistic show that represents their industry.

[A]

Yeah, I was about to say succession.

[C]

No, it's the pin. It's the Pit.

[D]

Yes, the Pit. Who was the lead actor and actress? And I don't even know.

[C]

That's Noah Wiley. I thought it was Severance, so I gave you Adam Scott as a hint.

[A]

Yeah, I tried watching Severance. I couldn't understand why people.

[C]

All right, this is a real barn burner right now.

[A]

This is bad. We gotta come up with this. Yeah, this is.

[D]

Now we're on to actors and actresses. Who woke up the award for best actress at this year's Academy Awards.

[C]

Who won it? Best actress.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Sidney Sweeney.

[C]

I'm not gonna lie. I didn't watch the Oscars this year.

[A]

These are terrible. No offense.

[D]

I can give you a hint of what.

[C]

Yeah, go ahead.

[D]

I think it's either a show or movie. Better things. She was in.

[A]

Well, that's true.

[D]

And once upon a time in Hollywood she was into. I did not know this person. Full disclosure, I had to look her up.

[C]

Oh, Mikey Madison.

[D]

Yes. Mikey Madison.

[A]

Does that actually count?

[C]

Sure does. Well, I got it. I didn't guess and I got it.

[A]

She just said she was in this show and that show, the leading actress. That's pretty easy.

[C]

I didn't see either of those two shows.

[A]

The hit I got was. Oh, it's a drama. Suspense.

[D]

For the outstanding drama series one nothing.

[C]

Ferrara. We'll take what we could get for.

[D]

Matt just sucked this year. Okay, we now have pictures. Are you ready?

[C]

Good. Let's go.

[D]

All right, picture question. Who is this Oscar nominated director and producer.

[C]

Taylor Sheridan.

[D]

Yep. Wow. He's very, very like. If I saw him, I would know who that is.

[C]

Just signed a massive deal left parents.

[A]

That's a good one. I knew I knew his face. I couldn't. It was quick.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

By the way, that this round, the biggest asterisk of all time for your win. Just letting you know. I. I didn't know any of those answers. So you can take the 10 win.

[C]

I'm taking it.

[A]

But Matt. No, that's fine.

[B]

You can. We did.

[D]

We did do this for Jerry, so it was a.

[C]

It was a pillow fight. But I'm competitive.

[A]

I was gonna say we did this for you and you couldn't. I mean, those questions are impossible.

[C]

Yeah, but I was buzzing the tower with the box office one. I was buzzing the tower.

[A]

I. I Minecraft. I could have got.

[D]

Dang it.

[A]

I just. Yeah.

[C]

Annie, how do you. So you'll be watching Giants Packers?

[D]

Unfortunately. I think it's a. It's a early slate game. Right? It's a. Yeah. Game one o'.

[C]

Clock, you got the snowy game. Like, is it gonna be snowing over? You ready for all the snowy stuff?

[D]

I am, yeah. It's very. I've got my tree up already. I don't know.

[C]

I saw that.

[D]

Yeah. It goes up November 1st.

[C]

Was that for the video or is that a. A thing you do for your life?

[B]

Life.

[D]

I love Christmas so much. Like, it's. I think it's because the sun sets out here at 4:30 and we have nothing. So all we have is football and Christmas and I absorb it, like, inject it into my veins because otherwise we get seasonal depression. So, I mean, I get seasonal depression anyway because the pack.

[C]

You haven't started the music yet, right?

[D]

There may or may not be Christmas music playing.

[A]

I'm with you, dude. Mariah has started already in our house.

[C]

This is Annie's last week on the show. Everybody cutting her because of the Christmas. Amusing. All right, Annie. That was a. That was a fun little pillow fight we had. I got on the board.

[A]

That's. That's an embarrassing win for.

[D]

It was. Okay. You. You know, it's a win's a win. As a. As a Packers fan, I know that all too well.

[C]

We're on to Cincinnati. Like Belich said, we're on to Cincinnati. Thank you. As always, Twisted T. Thank you. And Matt, we're out of here too, till next week. Big shout outs to Greg Olson and I'm sure we'll find a few things to. To talk about next week because this slate is pretty ridiculous. And more to come. Peace.