Leinart Returns to the Rink, Lakers lifting off w/ Luka & Gary Owen on Bengals, Comedy & More!

Summary

Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara: "Leinart Returns to the Rink, Lakers Lifting Off w/ Luka & Gary Owen on Bengals, Comedy & More!"

Release Date: February 27, 2025

Hosts: Matt Leinart (Matty Ice) & Jerry Ferrara

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Introduction and Anecdotes

The episode kicks off with a lively anecdote from comedian Gary Owen, recounting his memorable 20-minute confrontation with a heckler during an open mic night. Gary shares how the heckler, flaunting his high school state championship ring, calmly dismissed him with the phrase, “Stay, baby” before walking away ([00:00]).

Matt Leinart, affectionately dubbed "Matty Ice," welcomes listeners and transitions seamlessly into discussing Jerry Ferrara's recent daring venture—skating at Crypto, home of the LA Kings. Jerry narrates his nostalgic journey back to his childhood love for hockey and his unexpected invitation to skate alongside hockey legends, including Kobe Bryant and Mark Messier ([00:55]).

Guest Introduction: Gary Owen

The hosts introduce their special guest, comedian Gary Owen, highlighting his significant contributions to the "Think Like a Man" film series. Matt reminisces about Gary’s early career and his dynamic presence in both comedy and film ([08:52]).

Gary Owen delves into his path in comedy, detailing his initial struggles and breakthrough moments. He describes his first significant gig roasting the USC football team, where he expertly handled hecklers and built camaraderie with fellow comedians, including a pre-Kevin Hart-era Gary himself ([30:32]).

Comedy, Cancel Culture, and the Evolution of Stand-Up

A substantial portion of the conversation centers around the state of comedy today. Gary Owen expresses optimism, describing it as a "golden age for comedians" where digital platforms like TikTok allow acts to go viral and reach audiences independently ([41:17]). He contrasts this with past dependencies on producers and directors for exposure.

Matt and Jerry discuss the impact of cancel culture on comedy, debating its nuances and implications. Gary Owen shares personal insights, emphasizing that stand-up provides a therapeutic outlet where comedians can address personal and societal issues without malicious intent ([43:52]).

Personal Stories and Relationships

The hosts and Gary Owen share humorous and heartfelt stories about their relationships with sports icons. Gary recounts his long-standing friendship with Shaq, including amusing interactions and behind-the-scenes moments from various events ([46:07]). They reminisce about shared experiences during the filming of "Think Like a Man," highlighting the tight-knit bond formed with co-stars and industry friends.

Sports Talk: Lakers, LeBron, Luka, and Bengals

A significant segment of the podcast delves into current sports topics. Matt and Jerry analyze the LA Lakers' performance, focusing on the synergy between LeBron James and Luka Dončić. Jerry praises Luka’s dominance on the court and LeBron’s veteran presence, predicting a formidable playoff run ([16:08]).

The conversation shifts to the Cincinnati Bengals, where Gary Owen shares his passionate fandom. He discusses the team's recent season highs and lows, quarterback Joe Burrow’s performance, and strategic prospects for future drafts. The hosts engage in spirited debate about player signings and the team's potential trajectory ([52:53]).

Mailbag Segment: Yankees' Beard Policy

Transitioning to listener engagement, Matt and Jerry address a mailbag question from James in Brooklyn regarding the New York Yankees' recent policy change on player beards. James inquires whether the new allowance for well-groomed beards aligns with their personal views and if such policies could influence team dynamics or player decisions.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt: “I never understood the Yankees clean-shaven thing... It just would have been awesome to see Johnny Damon with a long beard.” ([72:38])
• Jerry: “It's so dumb. It's about grown men telling a grown man what he can and cannot do.” ([74:05])

Both hosts express frustration with the policy, likening it to unnecessary control over personal appearance and athletic expression. They discuss the historical context of the Yankees' grooming standards and its impact on team identity.

Fatherhood and Personal Life Humor

The discussion takes a humorous turn as the hosts and Gary Owen share anecdotes about fatherhood and personal life experiences. Jerry reveals he is expecting his fourth child, leading to a lighthearted conversation about vasectomies and the comedic realities of parenting ([57:21]).

Gary Owen humorously describes his vasectomy experience, including the unexpected "fresh fade" he received from his barber, adding levity to the often-intimate topic ([58:26]). The trio explores the balance between personal life and public personas, infusing the conversation with relatable humor and candidness.

Rebooting Entourage and Future Plans

In the final segment, Matt and Jerry discuss the potential reboot of the iconic TV series "Entourage." They express enthusiasm about bringing back the beloved bromance and dynamic storytelling that defined the original series. The hosts touch upon fan feedback and the challenges of revitalizing a classic for contemporary audiences ([76:22]).

Matt references conversations with writer James Jim Miller about the absence of "Entourage" on streaming platforms, speculating on possible reasons related to changing societal norms and entertainment trends. They conclude with optimism, suggesting that cyclical trends in pop culture could pave the way for a successful revival ([78:58]).

Notable Quotes:

• Jerry: “You guys are together. It's magic, man. It's magic.” ([77:39])
• Matt: “And that's what we discussed on Victory... everything goes in a cycle.” ([78:58])

Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, Matt and Jerry encourage listeners to engage via their social media channels and mailbag submissions. They express gratitude towards Gary Owen for his candid and entertaining participation, highlighting the seamless blend of sports, comedy, and personal storytelling that defines "Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara."

Final Thoughts: The episode masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes, sports analysis, and comedic insights, providing a comprehensive and engaging experience for listeners. Notable moments include Gary Owen’s tales from the stand-up stage, interactions with sports legends, and the heartfelt discussions on fatherhood and the evolving landscape of comedy.

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Transcript

[Gary Owen]

And this guy was heckling all the open micrs. It was open mic night. And I went off on him for about 20 minutes. And he gets up, he's got his state championship high school, and he points it right at me. He goes, stay, baby. That's all I got to say. He walked away.

[Matt]

All right, welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. Everybody got a good one for you today. Most importantly, my. My guy, who we call Matty Ice. Matt, you literally were Maddie Ice the other day. Let's go right into it, because I think this is one of the most savage, confident moves I've ever heard anyone pull off. What did you get invited to and what did you do the other day?

[Jerry]

I appreciate that because my boys, all my kids and my wife thought otherwise. So how this. I. I got to skate at Crypto, where the LA Kings play with some of my childhood heroes because I was a die hard Kings fan growing. I'm still a Kings fan. I'm a hockey fan. Not as much as I've gotten older, but when I was growing up, I was super into roller hockey, rollerblades on the street, the whole shebang. I had all the pads, everything. And I was a big Kings fan. So that era of the early 90s Kings, Robitaille, Rob, Blake Granada. I mean, I can literally name 15 guys on that team right now. Tomas Sandstrom, Yari Curry, Dave Taylor. Anyway, so a good girlfriend of mine works for the Kings and she actually. This involves us. She had actually hit me up and said, hey, do you guys have interest in doing the pod kind of throwbacks on the red carpet like you did for fanatics? And I was like, I don't think we can do it. Jerry's not here. It was three days prior.

[Matt]

I love. That's like our thing now, though. Hey, you got a red carpet.

[Jerry]

Need a podcast immediately. I was. I said, can I play? I had no idea. And she goes, can you skate? And I go, I've skated before. I'm an athlete. I like to think that I could skate. In my mind, I'm thinking this is going to be just celebrities athletes, like one of those. Like a, like, Like a celebrity NBA all star game where you just get a collection of people more funny and fun than competitive fun and month fun and informal. Little did I know when I saw. Basically she goes, yes. And this is all for LA Relief, for the fires, for the first responders. Incredible event. And a lot of the first responders played on the teams. It was, it was a really first well done by the Kings. And Raised a lot of money for, for all of the families and first responders. So she goes, can you skate? I go, basically sort of lie, but yeah, I can skate a little bit. And within an hour she's like, you're in. And I said, I was, I was.

[Matt]

Got nervous.

[Jerry]

And then the teams get announced and I look at these names, Jerry, and I see Mark Messier. I see Theo Flurry back with the Flames, the Calgary Flames back in the day. I see Nelson Emerson and I remember him from the blues. P.K. subon was there. I see a lot of former Kings guys that I was, that I'm friends with from just living in the South Bay. And then I look at my team and I have Rob Blake. Marty McSorley was a coach who I know. Tony Granada, who I was a huge fan of when he was playing for the Kings in the early 90s. I start sweating. I was, I was like, I don't think. I can't do this. I'm going to back out. I told Josie. I was like, I'm going to back out. Something's going to come. I can't do this. And she goes, no, it won't be that bad. It won't be that bad.

[Matt]

It's different.

[Jerry]

It is different. And I'll tell you this, I'll never forget. I'm walking, I'm walking in there and I see Kopitar and I know Kobe a little bit from the South Bank. Kobe is a legend. And I go. I go. He goes, what's up, man? I go, kobe, I'm. I'm nervous as shit, man. He goes, oh, you'll be fine. You're an athlete. You'll be fine. Dead serious. I go, this isn't like just putting on football clips and running on the right.

[Matt]

You're not playing pickup.

[Jerry]

Skating on ice with. With Mark Messier, a top three player of all time. And by the way, I was on the ice at some point skating with Subon and Mark Messier and Taylor Kitsch. By the way, Taylor Kitch is a hell of a player.

[Matt]

He's a Canadian. Canadian.

[Jerry]

He could play, but he played like low level college hockey or something. So, yeah, my biggest thing, and I'll end it here, my biggest thing was I did a lot better than I thought, but I can't skate backwards. So any moment where I was like playing defense, I had to just skate forward and try and play a little defense. But I missed a one timer from Joe Mauer. That was the highlight. Joe Mauer.

[Matt]

We got post this video. I saw it he missed you. He didn't go store side.

[Jerry]

Great story real quick, Joe Maurer 2 We're the same high school grade. Joe Maurer was the number one player in football and baseball. He's a quarterback.

[Matt]

He committed number one in both at the same time.

[Jerry]

He was USA today player of the year in both sports. Never forget committed to Florida State and he obviously was. I don't know if he was number one pick but he was, you know, top five pick in the MLB draft and went on to have a great career for Minnesota Twins and all that. And we were talking and all this but he plays hockey like he's in Minnesota. So he has a rink in his backyard, his boys play and all this stuff. It was awesome. He's the one to pass it to me and it was a little bit between my skates and I missed it.

[Matt]

It was a bad pass. I saw it.

[Jerry]

The puck goes the other way and they ended up scoring and I took myself out. I said guys, I'm not playing anymore, I can't do this.

[Matt]

Of so a couple of things I got for you. Number one, it is such a savage move because like when you say you can skate right, you can't like hockey. Skating is different than like hey, I took the boys to the ice skating rink cuz like you said skating backwards, stopping all that and then you bring up roller hockey. I play, I loved roller hockey but I'm old enough to remember playing roller hockey before rollerblades were like invented. There was no roller but like I played on four wheels. The Wayne Gretzky roller skates which were these skates to have and pick up roller hockey which is very, very different than rollerblades which is then very, very different than skating.

[Jerry]

So I was a rollerblades guy.

[Matt]

I think that's our four year in those four year age gap between us is when rollerblades became I I think.

[Jerry]

I had the lightning. It was the lightning. And I remember I asked, I asked for Christmas. I for two years I was every day in the street. I think it was nine or 10 years old every day in the street. I had hockey nets and that was. And I lived on a street growing up that was kids everywhere and we would all congrate in front of my house. We would put, you know, the car, you know, whatever car you yell car.

[Matt]

Did you guys fight or no?

[Jerry]

We fought a lot in what this is when I was super fat. So at one point there's this kid named Kevin Stubby, I'll never forget St.

[Matt]

Putting him on blast. Let's Go.

[Jerry]

He was across the street to us, like three houses to the right. So pretty close. And we lived in like, you know, we're like a little middle class, like Santa Ana and on a residential street. And one time he was just ripping me fat. You fat, this, whatever. And my brother, my. I think my brother took a hockey stick and crossed my brother. My brother was five years older, tough, fought every. He was just. He always protected me. And he. No, I think he just went and he just straight whacked. Fucking whacked him in the face, dude. Broke his nose and he never made fun of me ever again. With. With one of the hockey. I used to tape the hockey sticks I had. I was. The experience was amazing.

[Matt]

And you got the two new hips. Did you worry about the new hips on the ice at all?

[Jerry]

No, because I wasn't going fast enough. I just didn't want to fall. At one point, I almost. I almost fell one and one of the guys kind of caught me. I did. I did high stick someone in the face, though. We were in the corner of the boards.

[Matt]

Oh, God.

[Jerry]

And it was like a little puck, you know, I was trying to get it and I was like. I was like trying to flick it and I. I got his helmet off and I was like, oh, my bad. I don't remember who it was. My bad dude. And in my moment, I'm thinking my whole. My whole thought process was like, these fucking guys, these athletes are crazy. Can you imagine full speed being on the ice? Like, I would die.

[Matt]

Doesn't get enough credit among, like, American fans. Shout outs. You did it. It's one of. And here's what I'll. I'll end it with this.

[Jerry]

So fun, man.

[Matt]

I saw the videos. I saw the pictures. You look like a hockey player, bro. Well, by the way, you're like, what, six, nine on six, ten on skates.

[Jerry]

Granado, Nelson, Emerson and Blake, who were the three? I was kind of hanging with and talking the locker room, but we were in the full locker room getting dressed. I didn't know how to dress. I was like, guys, I need help.

[Matt]

It was so someone pad me up, guys.

[Jerry]

And Granado. Granado looks at me, he goes. He goes, we could work with this. You could have been a fucking great defenseman. Yeah, because I'm six, eight and I'm.

[Matt]

I mean, long arms.

[Jerry]

Yeah. And I'm like, trust me, guys, in. In my. In another lifetime, I would have loved to play hockey. But.

[Matt]

Well, it was cool. Shout outs and great. Cause I'm glad you did that. We got A good one for you today. Our guest today is a friend of both of ours. We met very, very different ways. Comedian Gary Owen. Lots of movies, lots of shows. I did think like a man 1 and 2 with him. And we're going to talk about this in the interview. He used to come roast you guys at usc, right? Is that true? You bring like Kevin Hart even, and you just torch you guys.

[Jerry]

You got got to listen to him because 20. Gosh, was that 20, 20 years ago or so? A little over 20 years ago, he would come roast the team. Him and, and a pre Kevin Hart, before anyone knew who Kevin Hart was.

[Matt]

And he's had a great, he's had a great career. Big Bengals fan too, by the way. So we'll talk a little Bengals with him. And I just remember with Gary, like we did think, you know this movie Think Like a Man, which was based on this kind of romance, self help book that Steve Harvey wrote, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, right? And has all these rules. Like used to have the 90 day rule. Steve Harvey in the book, he says, my dad worked for Ford. He would not qualify for health insurance until he worked 90 days. So ladies, if you give it like, you gotta make your man wait 90 days before giving it up, or like if they make you wait 90 days for health insurance, shouldn't you make a man wait 90 days? So it's like stuff like that. This amazing producer, Will Packer, had the idea, let's make this into a movie with an ensemble cast. I got offered the part and I read the script, scripts really, really funny. And then I started hearing like, oh, Kevin Hart's involved. Gary Owen. And then I see, I, I have like this storyline where like my girlfriend in the movie wants badly to get engaged. And I'm like, cold feet guy. And then I find out, oh, they, we cast the girl too, who would play, you know, opposite you. I'm like, who is it? It's a Gabrielle Union. I said, I'm out. I'm out. I'm not doing it. And like, why do you not like Gabrielle? Like, I love Gabrielle Union. She's amazing. There's no one on the face of the earth that's gonna believe that she wants to marry me and I'm on the fence and don't want to do it. So of course, like we talked about it and we end up doing the movie. And what was cool about it was I think the movie, I don't know how much it was actually made for. 11, 12, 13 million somewhere in there by even numbers 15 years ago, that's not a big budget movie. And I remember this was like, right out of Entourage. You get tracking anytime a movie's coming out, right? So like the. The Monday or Tuesday before, hey, it's tracking to open at like 10 million, which would be really cool. Then it's 12 million. Hey, if it makes 12 million, almost get its budget back. That's a great opening weekend. Friday night, the movie's getting ready to open. By Saturday morning, we're getting emails. It might open at 30. And now I'm getting like, oh, yeah, Ari, the real Ari emailing me. Congrats. This is going to be huge. I'm getting all these emails. One of my agents from WME said the movie opens 30 million. Number one beats out a Zac Efron movie at the box office, right? Number one in the box office. Kevin Hart told me it was High School Musical.

[Jerry]

Was it High School Musical?

[Matt]

No, it was like one of those. Like, it wasn't the Notebook, but it was a Nicholas Sparks novel like the Notebook.

[Jerry]

I remember that one.

[Matt]

And I get a call from Richard Weitz, an amazing agent at wme says, we're going to the Lakers. Your Lakers courtside. It was Easter Sunday, Matt. So we're coming up on an anniversary soon. Just like out of Entourage got the number one movie in the country. And you're sitting courtside. So we go to the game. We're sitting on the floor. It was Lakers Thunder. This is so long ago. James Harden was still on the Thunder, if anyone remembers the game where Ron Artest met a world peace. He elbowed James Harden in the head and knocked him unconscious. Conscious, Harden leaves the game. So we go to the fourth quarter. Game is super tight, and it was season's almost over. Playoff position at stake. A loose ball comes right at my agent and I's lap, okay? And Serge Ibaka and Kobe Bryant are running full. This is when guys cared about the regular season. They are running full speed at us, and it's happening so fast. And we just start putting our hands up and Kobe and Serge dive into us. I by a half an inch miss getting decapitated. And Kobe goes shoulder first into my agent's face. Rips the chairs out from the court. My popcorn goes flying. We go in the air and they both land on top of us. People come peeling bodies. I remember Steve Blake was the one. Like, no one helped me up. We all picked Kobe up. And at some point, as we're trying, my agent is bleeding from the mouth. He has to go get medical Attention. Kobe and I, Lockeye. But he doesn't lock eyes with me. But he's aware that he almost killed us. And he basically is like, I guess he must have caught me. And he goes, oh, I heard the movie did good this weekend. Congrats. And went back onto the court. And the Lakers win the game. I forget what seed. And that was my real life entourage moment. And Gary Owen was a big part of Think Like a Man one. And then we talked a lot about Think Like a Man too. So that was story time from Uncle Jerry. And now it's time for us to do our fresh moves of the week, brought to you by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's. Taste the difference in a hamburger. Matt. I think there's only one place we could really go with the fresh move of the week. We just mentioned the Lakers from years ago.

[Jerry]

I was gonna say, speaking of the Lakers go From Kobe to LeBron, I.

[Matt]

Think we all have to take a moment and acknowledge. Of course, it's going to be peaks and valleys with Luka and Kobe and all that stuff, but that Mavericks game, which was two nights ago, which you were at.

[Jerry]

Correct.

[Matt]

You were there in the building. We're seeing some stuff from LeBron that's. That's different stuff that we didn't think he would do anymore, defensively and offensively.

[Jerry]

It's just. It's incredible to watch. We talked about this, and again, we talked about Luca trading how and why and all these things, and are they going to fit and all this? It's. It's. I mean, they're on a. And shout out to my boy, J.J. redick, who's coaching his ass off. And so I was at the game with Cole, and it was. It was incredible to watch because again, like you just said, regular season basketball and Lakers are. Lakers are with four seed right now or third or four seed right now. They're right there. And the thing that was the craziest thing to me was I was watching this with Cole, and who knows basketball as well as us? When Luca's on. When Luca's on the court with LeBron and even in Austin, Reeves or whoever, Luca dominates the ball, and which he should. And that's what LeBron has done. He's like, you guys. You and Austin dominate the ball on the court. You almost felt like LeBron wasn't even like. I went three or four minutes thinking, oh, my God, I forgot LeBron was on the court. LeBron James is on the court. I forgot LeBron was on the court. And then fast Forward to the fourth period where LeBron is on the court at one point with Gabe Vincent, Finney, Smith, like Goodwin, who we just signed, maybe Jackson, Hayes, like it was none of the starters and he went for what, 14 or 16 in the fourth quarter. And it just reminded you of his magic. But then it reminded you of these guys are going to be dangerous when the playoffs come because you have Austin Reeves. We talked about the best third option in the NBA. Someone said that this week. I don't know if it was Jalen Rose or someone on a pot. Austin Reeves is a star. Like he is a absolute star when he has the ball. This team, I'm telling you, man, this team is going to be. They're going to be, they're going to be dangerous.

[Matt]

And it was fun.

[Jerry]

It was fun to watch Lucas stare down the bench.

[Matt]

Well, that's a picture that.

[Jerry]

Yeah, yeah, it was, there was, there was good energy in crypto. It was fun to watch. And Luca, and he had a triple double. I mean, he was, you know, quiet scoring, but like 20. I think he had 20, 11 and 15 or something. Like, it was just. He's a beast.

[Matt]

It really is. I know this trade has been talking about ad nauseam.

[Jerry]

Nervous.

[Matt]

No, it's just like it's, it's the per. The perfect timing. I'm a big timing guy. Obviously, if Luca and LeBron played together five years ago, it would have been awesome because LeBron was five years younger. But it really does just look like LeBron is at a perfect place in his life and career where he knows how to help manage this situation perfectly and give what is needed at the right time. And even like the defensive efforts that we're seeing, which, come on, he has not been putting in hard. I don't blame the guy. I mean, I, I play pickup at 40 years old. 41 years old isn't even talked about. And the fact that one of those guys is going to be on the court at every point in every game is, Is scary. I do think there'll be some lulls here and there and they'll see 40 year old LeBron stuff. But yeah, man, I, it's. It's scary. And that is definitely the fresh move because it's also happening way quicker than I thought. They're way quicker.

[Jerry]

13 and 3 in their last 16 or they're, they're. They're going to be very dangerous. The size is still a factor, the lack of size, but again, p. I, I just, I would just argue the opposite. Who's going to defend Them, you know you're going to have to score.

[Matt]

And their defense is great. Their defense as of currently right now, now a lot of that carryover from ad but their defense is good.

[Jerry]

They have like, Rui plays good defense. Finney, Smith, Vanderbilt, they have a lot of guys they can throw at guys. And by the way, Jackson Hayes has been. He. He gets. He goes 4 for 4 every game with dunks or a layup and eight rebounds, like, at the end.

[Matt]

I like when you put Rui at the 5, too. That's such a fun look if you don't have a huge team. And the last part of it is like the fact that Austin Reeves was not involved in the trade, that is really the part that will go. Because you'd almost say, hey, if it was AD and Austin Reeves and Max Christie and a number one Max Christie is Max Christie's ball. I knew the minute that trade happened. I watched him at the Garden that night when they destroyed the Knicks. I'm like, he's. I'm not saying he's a good player. He should be in a Luca trade as, like a centerpiece, but he is a very, very good player. Goes great with Kyrie. Kyrie was awesome. But yeah, man. Fresh moves of the week, brought to you by Wendy's. It's the Lakers I hate. I know. I know. What he wants to hear it.

[Jerry]

But Lakers next Finals. Are we already. Are we just manifesting.

[Matt]

I was just on a. I was on Ian Begley's show. Listen, it is bad right now in.

[Jerry]

Nick, you're the three seed. You guys are. You guys are right there.

[Matt]

We're Knicks fans are just. We're not sane people. Right.

[Jerry]

Like, obviously, I've watched. I've watched you watch a game in person, but I see.

[Matt]

I'm not panicking at the 0 and 7 verse. The Cavs and the Thunder and the Celtics. Like, I knew going into the season that the Celtics are going to be almost impossible to beat in the East. Right. Take the west out for a second. The Cavs have been amazing this regular season. They have the best shot. But I'm also not panicking. At 30. We're 3720 and we lost two games in a row, so. But no, if you ask Nick fans right now, fire Tibs, get rid of Leon Rose. Cat's not the answer. Bridges needs to go to the bench. That's what's going on in Nick's Twitter right now. So anyway, I think we need a little laughter after some of that. And after that rant, let's Bring in our guy, Gary Owen. Okay. When it comes to making the best hamburger around, the basics matter. And Wendy's, they've, they've really got those burger basics on lock. And boy does it show.

[Jerry]

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[Matt]

So as long as you crave a hot and juicy hamburger, that will work. A hamburger made fresh just for you, not waiting for you. After all, the perfect burger doesn't spend its time waiting around. So when you want a hot and juicy hamburger made fresh just for you, it's gotta be Wendy's. Fresh is kind of their thing, you know.

[Jerry]

Fresh beef available in the contiguous U.S. alaska and Canada, not available in Hawaii.

[Matt]

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[Gary Owen]

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[Jerry]

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[Matt]

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[Gary Owen]

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[Jerry]

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[Gary Owen]

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[Matt]

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[Jerry]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Matt]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3.

[Jerry]

Month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate, first 3 months only, then.

[Matt]

Full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full terms@mint mobile.com Gary, thanks for coming on, man. We were just talking a little bit off the air, but before we dive fully in, you know, we met on Think Like a Man one. Okay, how. Bring me back to like, how did that part come to you? Because at the time, obviously you're doing well as a comedian, but like that was really wasn't your first acting job. But you, you came in, you had a pretty big part in that movie.

[Gary Owen]

I met Will Packer on a boat cruise and a boat crew.

[Matt]

Where are you guys going?

[Gary Owen]

Well, it was. Tom Joyner was a syndicated radio host, and so he did this boat because we hired comedians. He basically buys the whole boat, like a Royal Caribbean boat. And all the money goes the HBCUs. And so they hire all these people. Comedians, singers. And then that's where I, like, start talking to Will a lot. And this was, like 2009. And, you know, we. We filmed in 2011, think like a Man. And. And they. It just. I had a meeting with a guy named Rodney Barnes, and he was like, yo, Will Packer just brought you up the other day. I go, for what? He goes, some movie they're doing about some Steve Harvey book. So I called Will. I said, yo, what's this Brokeback Mountain 2 movie I've been hearing about? And then Will was like, no, no, no. He goes, we got this movie, and we got two white guys in it, and we need white guys that can hang out with black guys but not try to be black.

[Jerry]

He goes, so they call. They called you?

[Gary Owen]

They called me. I. I think I was on board before Kevin because he told me, I'm flying to Dallas to go see Kevin in concert. He goes. And I'm trying to get in his ear about the movie. And so I think I was one of the first.

[Matt]

You're the first one on.

[Gary Owen]

I know I committed. I mean, it wasn't like these big movies was knocking on my door like that. So I was like, I'm a comedian. I'm on the road. I get offered, like, small parts, like the waiter. And so, like. But to be a major role, I was like. I told Will, I said, yeah, just. I told my agent, I said, look, just don't mess it up. I'm gonna do it. Just don't mess it up.

[Jerry]

Jerry was telling me something about. So I just. I showed this picture, and we're gonna post this. It's. It's you guys.

[Matt]

Well, that's part two. That's part two.

[Jerry]

That's part 2. So Jerry was explaining, somehow, I think, what. And you might be better at this, Jerry. The girls and Think Like a Man one all came out of a scene. They look great. And then in Think Like a Man two, apparently you guys all had to, like, do some male strip thing or something. Jerry, what was that about?

[Matt]

I'll set the table for Gary, if you recall. Gary. And when we say all the girl, it was. It's Taraji. Hence it. It's Gabrielle Union. Regina. It's Amazing cast, right? The girls shot this scene and think like a man, too. The whole story of the movie is the guys are on a bachelor party, the girls are on a bachelorette party. They go off and have a drunken night, and they basically shoot, like, a fake poison video from Bel Biv Devoe. But they're all dressed up, having an amazing night. They all look great. We see these. This video, and we're like, holy shit, that's amazing. That's going to be great in the movie. And then the producer started circling, saying, now you guys are going to have to do something. We're thinking a male review at, like, a strip club. And Gary, I don't know if you recall this. You've never seen six dudes instantly be like, we got to get to the gym. Yeah, we got to get to the gym.

[Gary Owen]

We had that. We were on lock, like, for about two weeks. Like, I don't know why we thought our bodies was gonna miraculously get ripped in two weeks. But every night we would get off and we'd see all. Well, the five of us would be in the gym, and then Kev was at another spot, probably with the trainer. But remember, it was like Romany was doing these exercises I've never seen.

[Matt]

Romani was only deadlifting, but, like, with weird. He's doing, like, a Rocky in Russia workout.

[Jerry]

Jerry. Jerry's brought this up. It's like, I. I don't know if there's. We've said, is there more pressure of throwing a touchdown in, like, an NFL stadium or. Or getting ready for, like, either a sex scene or a shirtless scene in a movie, Especially when you aren't ripped. Like. Like, I'm not ripped. So I was there. Pressure just to look good or you just say it. I don't care.

[Gary Owen]

Well, good for me. I. I was playing a dad, so I was just sad.

[Jerry]

You look good in that pic.

[Gary Owen]

I have, like, an average looking dad bod. I wasn't. There wasn't too much pressure on me.

[Matt]

You know, one of my favorite parts of the movie, Matt, we're doing the scene in the jail cell after we do that male review. Gary's in a dominatrix outfit with, like, assless chaps on. We're all in this jail, a gag ball, and Gary was playing the only dad in the movie. And my character was like, we were thinking about having a baby. So he gives me, like, the advice, and then Gary goes over to the payphone for his character's one call. Next thing I know, I start hearing, like, are there any Dogs in the house. And like, I'm like, is he fucking doing Ray Lewis? And sure enough, tell it. Give me that improv where you're calling your kids from a jail cell.

[Gary Owen]

Well, I was in the van about the head home, right? And I kept telling, like, Tim and Will. I said, yo, I got, I got a pretty good Ray Lewis, man. I go, I think it would work good in this scene because there wasn't much to it, me giving you advice on being a dad, right? I said, man, I, I think this would work. And to Tim and Will's credit, I couldn't do it like, like in a room with them two just looking at me. So I was in the van, headed home, and they said, hey, Gary, come try this real quick before you take off. So I came back in and we were such a, all the guys, like, really, how can I word this? We went to bat for each other. Like, you weren't like, now I gotta get back to the hotel. We've already been here 12 hours. All the guys was like, if the scene's gonna work. Everybody stayed, everybody reacted, and scene ended up working. But it literally just me telling Will and Tim, yo, I got a pretty good Ray Lewis, because I did it. Ray Lewis used to have a charity event in the summer called Ray Summer Days in Baltimore. And he hired me every year. So that's where I started imitating him. Was at, at his event in front.

[Matt]

Of him, in front of him. Oh, God.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jerry]

So he had one of the great walkouts. One of the great walkouts of all time.

[Gary Owen]

Oh, no question. And Ray loved it. So I go, okay, if I got Ray standard of approval on it, you know, and I'm not an oppression guy is my standup. So I was like, let me try it. I just remember when I got done shooting it, I walked by Will and he just gave me a little fist pound, like, boop. And I was like, I think it's.

[Jerry]

Gonna make hell yeah. Do you? So I was telling Jerry this when we found out you're coming on. You remember the USC days when you said, when you came out? So I, I, I, I want to ask, I, I don't know if I've run into you since then. Reggie and I talk about you all the time because I think you're tight with Reggie, right? You still talk to him orever whatever that was. 2,000. Gosh, two, three, four. Kind of that air. We would go up one time, Wayne Hughes estate, who he was a big USC donor. Public storage. Al callings OJ's driver hired me.

[Matt]

A.C. hired.

[Jerry]

Okay. So, yeah, So I, I remember he hired you to do that for us.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, he's the one that contacted me.

[Jerry]

Oh, okay. I was going to ask you just how that came about, but I just remember like that that was early in your career, right? Very early in your career.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, I've been doing about five years.

[Jerry]

Five and years. I'll never forget, I think. And Kevin Hart was there.

[Gary Owen]

And it was Kevin. The second year.

[Jerry]

Yeah, the second year. And I remember the. I'll never forget this. Jerry's like, Gary was doing his thing. Everyone was like, you know, who's this white comedian? He was hilarious, all this kind of stuff. And then, then there's little old Kevin before Kevin became Kevin Hart. And I remember, I kind of remember like the whole team just roasting him. Like, who's this? Like, they got him really good. And now I'm looking back like 30 years later, I'm like, God damn. That was, that was Gary Owen and Kevin Hart. So how. I mean, you said al. But how do you remember much of that time? Like, that was so fun for us to, to be able to do that with you guys.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, I, I got a call and they said, hey, this. They're doing a private show for USC's football team. And then some middle agent called. Then I got on the phone with Al and he said, yeah, do you want to do it? I said, yeah. And I just, I don't remember. I don't remember the first year. Matt. Two comics went up before me and bombed. And I was like, yo, these are 18 to 22 year old dudes. They don't want to hear about your kids on the honor roll or if you are married.

[Jerry]

Who was it? Do you remember who it was?

[Gary Owen]

I know who it was, but I'm not gonna do that too.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Gary Owen]

So I said, well, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna do no jokes. I'm just gonna go in on people. Yeah, you did. Picking people off. And I remember Lee Webb walked up, he's like the backup running back. He got on stage, it was like touching me. And they, we had a good back and forth. Then they had these little two Asian DBs. I went off on them.

[Jerry]

The team brothers. The team brothers.

[Gary Owen]

Then you had an Asian offensive coordinator, Norm Chow. Norm Chow. So I said, yeah, I remember this joke because I go, I go, who's the Asian dude? And they was like, that's Norm Chow. It's our offensive coordinator. Go. Now it makes sense because I was like, he's probably telling Reggie, run through the three on three quarter hole. There's like, there's no such thing. It's three on four. He goes, no, it's there. You must find it, Reggie. I said, reggie. He going through the three and three quarter hole. So then it went great. So afterwards, Al was like, yo, they. They had me. Who was the donor? The. The house it was at?

[Jerry]

Wayne Hughes. He owns a public storage.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah. So Wayne had me up to his house afterwards, and we're talking, and he was like, yo, we're having you back next year. So they called me the next year. They said, bring somebody. At that time, nobody knew who Kevin was, but me and Kev was real cool. So I remember I said, Kev, $2,000. You want to do it? He was like. He's like, what, in la? I was like, yeah, I know, right? Right? I go, it's so much money at usc, bro.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

So Kev gets there and I tell him, I said, don't do no jokes, bro. They don't want to hear your jokes. I go, just start going in on them, and then I'll come in after you. And he goes, all right. Comics always think this. We always think, nah, nah, I'm gonna do my jokes. Yo, when I say it was. It was. It was crashing and burning on him. I remember, like, they was like. And you had a lineman. I'll never forget. We got him.

[Jerry]

It was. It was. It was Fred Matua.

[Gary Owen]

Is that. He yelled out.

[Jerry]

He was the Samoan guy. He actually passed away.

[Matt]

He.

[Jerry]

I remember it vividly. I'm almost positive. I remember Lee Webb got up there because he was. Lee was. Lee was from, like, Compton. Like, he got up when you were messing with him. I think it was Fred Matua because he was kind of our loud, like, energy, and he's pretty funny. I'm almost positive it was Fred that went in on Kevin. And I was like, oh. Like, this is. It wasn't going well for him.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, well, he said, I'll never forget. He said, yo, why is that sidekick look like a VCR on your hip? And Kev was like, oh, this is what we doing? And that was Kev saving grace. Because then Kev started going in on people. Then he got him, and then I went up there, got him again. And it was just after that, and I. I got done. I go, kev, I told you no jokes, dude.

[Jerry]

It was. He goes, you got. You guys. It was so much fun. I remember. I'll never forget that. It was like. It was a. We did a few. You Know, we go bowling and we do. We go to the AVP tour in Manhattan beach every. Every fall. But that kind of became. I don't know if you went back after that. I think I was gone the next year. But that was a fun couple years for us. Like, I'll never forget that. You guys were awesome.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, I went every year that Carol was there.

[Jerry]

Right. Okay.

[Gary Owen]

So even when you guys left, even in the Mark Sanchez days.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

John David Booty.

[Jerry]

Jdb.

[Gary Owen]

That was. That was easy. I said, can you get an easier last name for him? His.

[Jerry]

His nephew. His nephew's name is General Booty, and he plays in college football.

[Matt]

General Booty.

[Jerry]

General Booty, yeah.

[Matt]

Oh, I hope he goes to the NFL. I would love to hear that.

[Jerry]

Talk about some traps you can do with that.

[Matt]

The Bengals select General Booty even though they're never picking a quarter.

[Jerry]

Did. Were you. Did. I think. Did Kevin open for you on tour at that time or, like, what was the next step for you after that?

[Gary Owen]

No, he went over for. We were just, like. We were both at a level. Like, we were just taking gigs. So it was like, you get a phone call. Yeah, I got Kev and somebody else or something. And then, you know, Kev always brings us up to. He goes, dude, you were the. You were one of the comics that always put money in my pocket when a lot of. When I wasn't making a lot. He always brings that up. So it's nice to know, like, you appreciate it. You appreciate it years later. But no, we were just taking gigs. Like, my career was like, on a hamster on a wheel for about 10 years. I was doing good. I was headlining comedy clubs, but I kind of knew how many tickets I was selling every week. And then the perfect storm came was the 201011 timeframe, because I. I got on this show called Live from the Nokia with Mike Epps. And this is when the comedy. Comedy shows are going on DVD and being sold in Best Buy. And if you can get on one, you. I mean, that could take your career to another level. And they got on that, and I got Think Like a Man and then I had my special come out shortly after. It was like five things in about 18 months that really resonated with people. And so that was then my career kind of went. Took off, and then Cavs really took off after Think Like a Man.

[Matt]

Yeah, I feel like when we were shooting, so Think Like a Man came out, and much. Everyone's surprised. Made a lot more money than anyone thought. We did the sequel right away. And it kind of matched Kevin's ascension, who was already killing it as a comic. But Gary, you remember, like, we would shoot a scene, Matt, in Vegas on like a Friday night, wrap up at like 8:00 at night. And then we have to be back 6am Monday morning. And Kevin went to like four cities that week. He would leave Vegas and he was in Atlanta, he was in Florida. Boo. And he's back at 5:30am in the trailer, like, skipping rope, getting ready to shoot. So I was watching this crazy rise. Like, they almost felt like there was two of them. But, yeah, he always came back. And I still think every time I go to Vegas, Gary. I don't go often these days, but I still do. I look at Caesars because that's where we shot mainly Planet Hollywood. And I just look, I'm like, man, it was July. It was Vegas in July, as we all know, is kind of pure nightclub.

[Jerry]

You guys were good. You guys were hitting up here back in the day.

[Matt]

I don't even know if we were hitting up nightclubs. I think we were at one point it became like, we have to just make it through this alive.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah. Ely said it best. I caught Michael Ely just walking around outside Caesars like, like, like one of those. One of those old Asian men, like Ham behind his just. I go, mike, what are you doing? He goes, gary, you gotta get outside. You're breathing that recycled air. You just gotta get some air. You don't realize what it's doing to you. I think, Jerry, you said it best. When we did the. We did the table read for. Think like a Man one. And then we was like, yo, Kevin's got a lot of funny lines here. So when it came out, you said it. You said, yo, we did that first table read. It was set up for Kev to hit a home run. We just didn't know how far we was going to hit it.

[Matt]

Right.

[Gary Owen]

And he hit it. I think it's still going.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

You know what I mean?

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Sometimes that's where I think it becomes like sports too. Matt. I really do think sometimes, whether it's a film or a show, get that feeling where you have the group that all gets along and has the talent and has the chemistry. But you see like that one or two, like, oh, like this dude's gonna win mvp or this dude. This is.

[Jerry]

Oh, we got this year.

[Matt]

This is the guy we have, the rookie of the year. So, yeah, man, it's. It's still. I still get mad at Kevin because he used to always wreck My trailer. Did he get you too? He got me a couple times, yeah. He has this thing, Matt. Like, you, you know, you all have your trailer. I would walk into my trailer, and the whole entire thing would be wrecked. My backpack dumped out, couch C. I don't even know what he did into the. In the bathroom was disgusting. Like, just. The whole thing is wrecked.

[Gary Owen]

So I got him back. A couple years ago, we did a. We did a movie called Back on the Strip that absolutely nobody saw.

[Matt]

I don't think I support.

[Jerry]

Yeah, it's on Netflix, Gary. I'll watch it tonight.

[Gary Owen]

No, I don't think Netflix knows it's out.

[Jerry]

Roku.

[Matt]

Is that Roku?

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, it's better than Tubi, but not quite Netflix ready. But Kevin, like, two days on set, and I said, is he coming? And they said, yeah. So I went in his trailer, and when he walked in, I was, like, in my draws and a tank top, and I popped up from his fridge. I go, kev. I was all in his snacks.

[Jerry]

The best part of you said something.

[Matt]

On I. I love your relationship with Shaq. We just had a little run in with Shaq at the super bowl in New Orleans. He, like, we think he. With me. I'm pretty sure it's confirmed and we've.

[Jerry]

Messaged overthinking this, dude, he loves you, man.

[Matt]

The whole red carpet we were on Gary. We were doing the show from there. Everyone would come down and be like, matt, great to see you. And look at me and be like, oh, fuck this guy. I don't know why everyone was on me that day. I have no idea.

[Jerry]

Gary. Shaq comes up.

[Matt]

He was kidding, I think.

[Jerry]

Michael. Michael Rubin. Michael Rubin didn't recognize Jerry. Ruben just walked back 80 PO entourage. He's like, you were. That was you. He's like, you're skinny now. Sha Shaq comes up. Hilarious.

[Matt]

I've been skinny for 15 years.

[Jerry]

Shaq. Shaq comes up, and we're talking to him, and he's. He's looking at me the whole time. He goes, I don't like this guy.

[Matt]

Good point.

[Jerry]

I don't like. No, like, dead sir.

[Matt]

I don't like this guy.

[Jerry]

He's looking at me, pointing at Jerry. I don't like this guy. Like, three times. And I'm like, And Shaq's a big kid, you know? So I'm like, you know, whatever. Jerry's kind of look at him. Like, look at him going, like, why?

[Gary Owen]

Why?

[Jerry]

Like is that. And he goes, I love this guy. And he gave him this big hug, and then and then. But at the end, he goes, hey, Matt, anytime you want me on your pod, just. Just hit me up. It doesn't even acknowledge Jerry. And then go. And then goes and says, I gotta take a boys. I'm out.

[Gary Owen]

That's.

[Jerry]

That's literally what our interview was. But Jerry to this day thinks that Shaq was like, big time. And I'm like, I think there's like.

[Matt]

10 chance that he maybe thinks himself. I've had great encounters with Shaq over the years here or there, but I'm wondering, like, did I also. I talk a lot about sports. Did I ever say, like, Dwight Howard was better than Shaq? No, I never would say that because I don't know.

[Gary Owen]

You didn't say that. Nobody said that.

[Jerry]

Hell no.

[Matt]

Well, you went in. I mean, you had some good Dwight Howard stuff on Shaq's pod. I listened to that whole pot. But you said something really great on that podcast when Shaq was talking to you about, like, it must be hard being a comedian right now, because everybody's trying to. This is a year ago. I think you did it. Everyone's always trying to cancel you for a joke. And you said, basically, you're like, those people who try to do that weren't going to come see my show anyway, so it doesn't really matter. All they try to do is just maybe get other people to not see it. So I. You now, it's been a year since you did that, and you've spent a year on the road doing your thing. How do you feel like comedy and being a comedian right now? For me, I love it. I feel like the comedians are the last line of defense. Like, if you guys go down and start getting canceled, I feel like we're all, you know, like, we can't say anything ever again. How do you feel like it's been since. A year since doing that shack pod?

[Gary Owen]

I still feel the same way. I think we. We're in the golden age for comedians. I think you got more comedians right now selling tickets, doing theaters, doing arenas. Comedy clubs are packed because you. You don't need the quote unquote machine anymore.

[Matt]

Right.

[Gary Owen]

It used to be when I started, you needed a producer or a director or somebody to see something in you, to put you on something. Now, as long as you got your phone, you can record anything you want. And you can put any, any clip, stand up clip you want out there. And you never know what's going to go viral. I mean, look at the guy now. Is Matt Rife.

[Matt]

Yeah, he is. Ohio Boy, right?

[Gary Owen]

Huh? He's Ohio, Columbus guy.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

But he's a guy that, like, post something on Tick Tock, goes to bed, wakes up the next morning, it's like 70 million people saw this joke, and he's like, what just happened? You know? And all of a sudden, the clubs are just selling out. It's funny. Like, as long as I've been doing this, I remember I was in Hartford, Connecticut, and Kev was coming two weeks after me, and he was already sold out. And I go, kev selling tickets like that. And same thing with Matt Rife. I was in Atlanta and he was coming to a comedy club. This is like year and a half, two years ago, and he was already sold out. And I go mass selling tickets like that. It's funny how you can see it coming right in the comedy clubs, but to answer your question, like, it. It still holds true. Like, if you see a clip of somebody of a two, three minute bit and you don't like it, just keep it moving. Why do people feel like they have to. I have to say this right?

[Matt]

You know, it's similar.

[Gary Owen]

I'll give you an example. Like, my. My brother passed away of a. Of a heroin overdose. The week after, I'm watching Saturday Night Live, and they're doing a sketch on heroin, and I have more people hit me up, like, aren't you mad? You gonna say something? I said, they're not. It's not like they said, oh, Geary, Owen's brother died. Let's do this sketch.

[Matt]

Right?

[Gary Owen]

And by the way, it was accurate, right? It was how they acted. You know, like, my brother would have laughed if he would have saw it. So I think. I think people think we're talking directly to them. If we say, like, somebody in a wheelchair or somebody's got a big nose or whatever it is, you know, they're like, oh, he's talking about my cousin. And that's not what we're doing. We don't know you.

[Jerry]

I feel like the. I feel like the. The Tom Brady roast was like this. We're back. I don't know. I'm a fan of. I'm a fan of comedy. I watch guys like. Like you and just other guys, and I felt like watching that roast, it just. It had everything. Like, Nikki Glazer was great. I'm. I'm Hitchcliffe. He was just going in on it. I. I thought that was for me, it was like, damn, like, we're back. And again, I think you've always been there. But as far as just like, Nothing censored. We're going to fucking say what we want. It's on Netflix Live. Like, it was. I thought that event was incredible.

[Gary Owen]

I think it's the cancel culture starting to get, like, canceled.

[Matt]

Now they're canceling the cancer culture.

[Gary Owen]

People are sick.

[Matt]

We've jumped the shark. We've jumped the shark.

[Gary Owen]

I mean, you see it. You see, like, a guy named. You get. You see Andrew Schultz, or you see Shane Gillis and the way they're pushing the envelope and Tony Hedgecliffe and all that. It's like you can see, like, oh, this is what we want. We want to go into these rooms and be uncomfortable. We want this dark humor, and no one, like, you know, nobody's taking it personal. You know, there's no malicious intent behind it.

[Matt]

I should say, of course I watched the Brady Roast. I enjoyed the Brady Roast. I did flinch. Not because I thought any joke was, like, inappropriate. Like, well, you cross a lot.

[Gary Owen]

I.

[Matt]

And maybe it's because I have kids now, and we're going to talk about all our kids in a minute here. I got some. I got some questions. I got some things to get off my chest. But I was just watching some of it being like, oh, man. That his kids are going to hear about that one at school. That's where my mind went to. Like, I would have found that at, like, 15 years old, I would have went to school. And then, like, now we're gonna roast Brady's kid, you know? So I was just thinking about his kids walking in the next day after that roast. Not that I thought anything was funny, though. Dude, I was very funny. It was very too funny.

[Gary Owen]

I'll give. I'll give you an answer that. Jerry. So when we had. When I had my reality show on bet, right?

[Matt]

Yep.

[Gary Owen]

These couple girls was, like, talking a little stuff to my daughter, and she was like, she came home and she goes, you know, I. You know, I just. How they were talking to me and everything else. I said, hold on, hold on. You're on tv every week, they're at Panera getting a croissant. I said, you don't get judged. You judge them. I said, right now you on tv. I was like, they're at Panera. I said, no, they don't get to judge you. And she kind of looked at me like, all right, all right, I think I got it. You know, that's what I'd be doing if I was Brady's kids.

[Matt]

Who are you?

[Gary Owen]

My dad's Tom Brady, bro.

[Jerry]

Exactly.

[Matt]

When did your relationship. Because you guys go Back with Shaq. You guys go back almost since you started, right? Pretty much, like, early. Very early in your career.

[Gary Owen]

He. He introduced me to my first wife.

[Matt]

I did not know that he did.

[Gary Owen]

She worked for him at Twism. Shaq used to have a record label, a clothing line called Twism.

[Matt]

Yes, I remember.

[Gary Owen]

I remember she worked at Twism. And he. He brought a. He brought his staff to a comedy club. And I was open micing at the time. This is like 98. And he brought him out to the Comedy Store one night, and that's where I literally met Shaq and her in the same night. And then.

[Matt]

That's crazy.

[Gary Owen]

I started going to, like, the Twism warehouse in Compton, and he'd be there sometimes. I'd be ganking all these shirts and shorts. I was so mad when he left the Lakers because they were in half my wardrobe because he shut Twism down.

[Matt]

You have to go to Miami.

[Jerry]

There was just. I think just yesterday, there was a clip of a female comedian. I don't know if you saw it. I don't know her name. Just absolutely ripping an audience member. I think he was heckling her.

[Gary Owen]

I saw that. I saw that.

[Matt]

I was like, something like, being, like. Some of the vibes he was.

[Jerry]

He was heckling her, saying, probably normal that you would hear. And then she just lost it. And she started, like. She, like, lost it. Like, she, like. The comedy went away.

[Matt]

It wasn't comedic.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Has that ever happened to you where you're just like, I want to beat the fuck out of that guy when I leave this place?

[Gary Owen]

There's been a couple there. If you go on YouTube, there's one. It's a funny backstory. If you look up, like, Gary, Owen, Dusty. There was a guy named Dusty in the audience. And I was at the. I'll never forget, I was at the Dayton Funny Bone, and I went there to get ready for my Late, Late show with Craig Ferguson set. So I'm supposed to do five minutes clean. And I said, let me just run up here and work on this. And this guy was heckling all the open micrs. It was open mic night, and they just couldn't get through their set.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Gary Owen]

He was literally being a jerk. And I said. I told the man, I said, put me up and don't kick him out. And so he put me up and. And I went off on him for about 20 minutes, and I only got about 10, 15 on. On YouTube. But here's the best, and you guys appreciate this. Matt being an athlete this. This all you gotta know about Dusty. He gets up, he's got his state championship high school ring on every Valley View high school. And he points it right at me. Go, stay, baby. That's all I got to say. He walked away. Were you dying on camera? Because he's this close to my face, and I'm just looking at this Valley View, 1995 state championship ring. Keep in mind, this is 15 years later.

[Matt]

Is that Division 3? That's Division 3, right?

[Gary Owen]

View was worse than that.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

That was like Crossroads.

[Matt]

I can only imagine.

[Jerry]

Oh, I gotta watch that.

[Matt]

I always say, too, like, I don't know if you've ever been asked by a young comic or the whole, like, advice question, like, hey, what's a good. I get asked it with acting. And acting is, like, the worst way to give advice because there's no route. I always just tell people, look, whether you got to take classes, do student films, whatever, just go do it and see if you love it. Because the whole thing is designed to make you quit. And I feel like stand up is the same way. It is designed to make you do it and be like, holy, this ain't for me. I'm out and quit.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So the best advice is just go do it and find. Because if you don't love it, you will quit. I feel like sports are similar, at least at some point. You know, I'm sure, Matt, when some athletes turn pro and get on in their career, whether it's finances or whatever it becomes about. But at some point, you had to love it, or else you would have probably stopped. And I feel like stand up is one of the biggest reasons, like, just go. If you could survive those open mics with five people and more comics in the back and Valley View State champs tackling you, you're gonna be okay. If you could get. And you still want to do it, the next day, you're going to be all right.

[Gary Owen]

It's the. It's the. It's the strongest drug I've ever taken.

[Matt]

The rush. Insane, right?

[Gary Owen]

I've heard people that done numerous drugs and been in rehab, and they're like, it's just the rush and everything goes away. And stand up is very similar. No matter what you got going on your life, it's like the best form of therapy. It's. It's where no matter what's happening, whether the irs, your ex, wife, like, anything's going on in your life, you're like, oh, I didn't see that coming. You get on stage, it all goes away.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

And then we get to talk about it. Like, that's the beauty of it. We get to actually talk about our problems. And people are like, oh, I'm not.

[Jerry]

The only one there, there. When. When we do our show. I remember when I was getting into Fox and doing tv early on, I ran into Strahan, and he was. And I asked him. I kind of said the same thing. Say, Mike, like, you know, you're every. I feel like every ex athlete aspires to be someone like Mike. He's a crossover entertainment, sports. He's. He's a pro. And he goes, matt, he goes, I've been doing this for whatever, 15 years. And he's like, when that red light comes on, I still get butterflies. Every single Sunday or every single. When he's doing the morning show every day, Every day, he's like, when that red light, he's like, the adrenaline. Because there's nothing like, live. Like, doing, like, stand up is live. Like, my show is live tv. There's nothing like that. I'll never forget that I was in the hallway, and I'm like, God, Mike Strahan still. Because I was nervous. I was so nervous. I was trying to, like, be scripted in what I was saying. Like, okay, this. This is how I want. Instead of just reacting, right? And all that. And I'll never forget that. That was the best advice. He's like. He's like, no matter what, you still feel that. And that means you love it, right? That means you're passionate about it. That means you care. And still, to this day, I still get, like, the minute. Let's go. Five, four, and then we're on live. And there's, you know, however many. Sometimes there's like a hundred thousand people. Sometimes there's a million people watching us. But there's nothing better than that rush that you get before that starts.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, I agree.

[Matt]

All right, Gary, we. We made you wait long enough. We do talk sports on this show. I, I. Oh, I think of you every single Sunday. I have several fans. Yeah, he's holding up. If you're just audio only.

[Gary Owen]

He's done this, like, five times, this podcast. Just.

[Matt]

He's wearing a really dope Joe Burrow Joe Burrow shirt, so, you know, I have, like, a Lions fan in my life, My boy Justin. I, I check in the score. I always text. But you with the. You are not only, like, the biggest Bengals fan, I know you're probably in the culture of Bengals fans. You. You're up there. You have to be up there. Last year, Must have been one of the most frustrating years in the world for you because you have this amazing generational quarterback having an offensive year that rivals almost anyone's you got. And then it just didn't click and the run came way too late. So where did you leave off with this team? And let's talk about the future after that, of where they may be going.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, it was the funnest, disappointing season I've ever been across. I'd rather have it. I put like this. I'd rather have a team losing a lot of close games with a great offense than a great defense. Because, you know, if you're losing a lot of close games and the whole season's 13 to 10.

[Matt]

Yeah, I've been. I used to have that.

[Gary Owen]

Because you always felt like we were in it.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

Long as you got Joe Burrow and Jamar, you felt like, I don't care if we're down 21. But it went the other way. We could be up 21 and be like, this ain't over.

[Matt]

Foot on the gas.

[Gary Owen]

And there were so many. And, you know, I watch every game and then I rewatch it just for punishment. There were so many games like, that. People don't know, like. And you guys do, but, like, we're up 21 to 7 against Baltimore and our Chase Brown fumbled and we got the ball.

[Matt]

I remember that one.

[Gary Owen]

That was the one. I go, oh, we're about to put him away. They couldn't stop us. We're about to go up 28, 7. And he fumbled the ball and I went, oh, the other. The first Baltimore game.

[Jerry]

If you beat New England, what was the game? Week one. You lost in New England. That.

[Gary Owen]

I don't know what that was about.

[Jerry]

Yeah, I know. That was like, crazy.

[Gary Owen]

It was like banging an ugly chick. Like, we've all done it, but we're not really talking about it.

[Jerry]

Like, what was that like? There's.

[Gary Owen]

You can't tell me. Matt and Jared, there's been a. A time in your life where your boy's like, what were you doing last night, bro?

[Matt]

You just hope it doesn't cost you the playoffs, baby.

[Gary Owen]

Basically.

[Jerry]

The two. The 2am Strat. The 2am Straggler. Who's a bigger fan? Who's a bigger fan? You are. Lachey. Nick Lachey is a big.

[Matt]

Lachey is a big Bengals fan.

[Gary Owen]

He's big, but I don't think he's. He's as passionate as me.

[Jerry]

I don't think he is either. I don't think he is either.

[Gary Owen]

No, I'M eight eight up. I heard he got upset with me on one of those USC roasts because the year you guys played Texas, that's when the NCAA said I couldn't do a live show for you guys. I couldn't paint. And I guess Pete Carroll set it up where I did a video and you guys thought you were watching film. And I started bagging on you guys.

[Jerry]

You're probably bagging on me. Be being friends with Nick at the time, too.

[Gary Owen]

I did. I had. I had like you. I said. I said, Nick. I was like, I had him holding you in a rocking chair. I go hang out with somebody your own age, bro.

[Jerry]

By the way, me and Nick met at a bar called Guys in Santa monica. Go figure. Dudes 2005 Guys in Santa Monica.

[Gary Owen]

I think one of his bandmates told me, I think Justin Jeffrey said they were showing it and Nick was laughing. And then when it got to the part with you and him, Nick went like. He would never say it. He goes. His face was like, yo, you guys.

[Matt]

Have to be friends, man. You're the preeminent. Like, you're exactly who I think of every time I watch the Bengals.

[Gary Owen]

I guess I came out. He was not happy with that joke.

[Matt]

Right?

[Gary Owen]

It wasn't like he's not happy with me.

[Jerry]

But yeah, he's the only Bengals fan I know. I mean, outside of you, Gary, he's the only Bengals fan who's like, die hard, Reds, Bengals. He's all in every week.

[Gary Owen]

I'm so diehard. Cincinnati. Like, I don't know if you remember, like 10 years ago, Xavier and UC Bearcats got in a fight.

[Matt]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. You raised strap.

[Gary Owen]

I literally was like this. I go, oh, he stole on him. Then I was like, but you see where he took the punch, though. I was on both guys side. I'm ate up with Cincinnati. So we got a couple.

[Matt]

George Clooney, Bengals fan.

[Gary Owen]

Oh, he's from Cincy. Yeah.

[Jerry]

Since he's a great. Since he's a great. We did a Cincinnati Bearcats football game two years ago. It was my first time. I mean, I played there, but it was my first time actually, like kind of hanging out in the city. It's awesome. I was. I was surprised. I thought it was. It was cool town, cool sports.

[Gary Owen]

It's a fun city, man. Yeah, people always say that when they go, I took Reggie out and I took. Not gonna say the other guy's name. He's in a little hot water right now. Used to be for the Ravens and the Panthers. I took those I took those two guys out one night in Cincinnati and we had a ball.

[Jerry]

Yeah, he's not doing too well right now.

[Gary Owen]

I'm just. I don't want to tag on anything.

[Matt]

No, no, Definitely not. Can we talk?

[Jerry]

We gotta talk. We gotta talk. I. We got to talk about fatherhood because I. I have a question. I just had my fourth. A three week old. Jerry's. Jerry, listen. Jerry's on the verge to having a three. He can ask.

[Matt]

I'm in the crosshairs.

[Jerry]

It's happening. It's.

[Gary Owen]

Is she pregnant?

[Matt]

No. But every morning. Oh, he's getting pressure like coffee made. And it's like, just imagine if we had a little baby. I'm like, but we got two. We got two of them.

[Gary Owen]

You were going other direction, Jerry. I thought you're saying she's bent over the island in the kitchen, by the way, creaming your. I want cream in me.

[Matt]

Jerry. If I said that, she'd be like down. Let's go. As long as the ba. Yes, yes.

[Jerry]

Gary, you and I are in the same boat because we have older kids. I have an 18 year old. I think you're a little older. Your older ones. And then you have little twins, I think, right?

[Matt]

I can't believe you have twins.

[Jerry]

And I have five. I have 18 and I have five. Three and then three week old. My question is, are, are we getting a vasectomy? Do you have a vasectomy? Cuz I'm.

[Gary Owen]

Did you already got mine?

[Matt]

Yeah. Matt's man.

[Jerry]

Can you consider. I'm literally like, I'm asking everybody. I'm trying not to get it. I try. I try to like try to get her tubes tied during the. Whatever didn't happen. Is it the best? Were you knocked out or were you just full? Like full.

[Gary Owen]

I went under. Yeah, I went under. Just great. 20 minute nap. And I woke. Here's the thing you don't say about vasectomies though. Two things. Woke up. I didn't know they shaved your balls. And I looked down and I must have had a black barber because he lined my shit up. It was like, it was like a mid fade on the balls. I was like, dang, look how he blended it. It's a great cut I have not seen.

[Matt]

Is that a one tip or.

[Gary Owen]

So they don't tell you that. So I look down, I go, oh. And then you think you get a vasectomy and it's ready. No, you got to get like 30 or 40 ejaculations because. Oh yeah, you got to get all the extra Out.

[Matt]

You gotta. And then you gotta clean the pipes.

[Gary Owen]

You gotta clean the pipes and you gotta send a sample. That's the worst. Because you got to send a sample and just say, hey, you're clear. You know what I mean? Your. Your pipes are clean. When you send a sample, it's dry.

[Jerry]

So you're drinking off saliva. No, you're not jerking off in the hospital. You're just taking it in a cup, like, from mine.

[Gary Owen]

They. They smelled it to me, and I got to mail it back. And I had to write a note like, sorry if the box is sticky. But at the same time, it's the driest hand jobs you will ever have. You're like, this. That hurt worse than the vasectomy.

[Matt]

And then wait. You gotta wait on results to basically say, hey, this worked really well. You're good. Green light. You get the.

[Jerry]

You're in the clear.

[Matt]

It's like, basically giving a shit. Like, you know, like, it's basically giving. Shay, Gilda, Sal. Hey, green light, bro. Go get 40. Shoot as much as you want.

[Jerry]

I'm just.

[Gary Owen]

It.

[Jerry]

I'm just visioning, like, feet and stirrups, just full. Just full open and just. My boy, one of my best friends from high school, he. He lives in South Carolina, and he had a couple, like, he had, like, three nurses in there. And he goes, dude, yeah, he was up. I said, why were you up? I said, I'm getting knocked out. He was up. And he goes, dude. He's like, I felt like these nurses have probably seen some big dicks in their life, and I'm out here just spreading over my balls and my lips, nervous as hell. It's cold. Oh, he was. He was like, dude, it was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life. I said, why didn't you get knocked out? So I have this vision of just being in this room because I'm gonna have to get it done. I'm trying to delay the process, but I said, I'm just getting knocked out. My wife's like, why it's so easy? I'm like, you don't understand. I'm not trying to just have my. My. My dick and my balls hanging out in front of everybody.

[Matt]

I think my wife would divorce. I mean, I know the answer to this, but how up would it be if I was like, oh, I'm. Oh, I got this movie, Bria, I'll be back in, like, six weeks. Shoots in New Orleans. I leave and I got a vasectomy without telling her and came home, Been like, let's try for the third baby, it just doesn't happen. That would be the most up thing ever. I can't say I ever. I would never do that. But I thought about it for a minute.

[Gary Owen]

I'll tell you what I would. I would tell a lot of these athletes, these young boys, 20, 21. I'd be like, freeze your.

[Matt]

I think they.

[Gary Owen]

So you got boys and girls waiting, and then get the vasectomy. So you can just do what you do and you're not having all these problems later on.

[Matt]

I've never said this to anyone, like, publicly. I have heard. I'm not going to confirm this, but I have heard that that does go on. Go freeze some stuff. Get the vasectomy and go. And then you can also reverse it back, too, as well. I don't know how effective that is, but I'm going to say that that does go on.

[Gary Owen]

From what I've heard, you imagine, like, if you're a dude and you get the vasectomy and. And, you know, you're. You're. You know, you're. You're a star athlete. You're with the Knicks or the Cowboys or something.

[Matt]

Leave my Knicks out of these, bro.

[Gary Owen]

And then. And then you. And then a girl tries to call you. I'm pregnant. I mean, you could just like, oh, you lying. You can snap.

[Matt]

Unless you broke into the vault and thawed my stuff out.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, like, you could really snap on a girl. Like, I'm going to release this. Go ahead.

[Matt]

So it sounds like you had a good experience, though.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Matt]

All right, man.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

So basically, you walked away saying, dude, I got a fresh fade on my nuts, man. That was pretty awesome.

[Gary Owen]

Fresh fade.

[Jerry]

All right.

[Gary Owen]

Everything. And my. My doctor was a brother. And it was funny because I'm glad he made jokes because you got to do the initial consultation.

[Jerry]

So what is that?

[Gary Owen]

What are they.

[Jerry]

Yeah, what do they do with that?

[Gary Owen]

Is it just like your balls make sure the veins are in the right area and stuff? So we're having a Keller conversation. I look on the wall, and he's got, like, a University of Cincinnati degree. So that. That got me talking.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

And in the middle of us talking, because now I'm from Texas, but I did my medical residency at uc. And he goes, yeah, drop your pants in the middle of. I was like this. I mean, I just. It was so slow. It was like a stripper. The first day of the pole, I was like. And then he, like, literally, he checks my ball. He doesn't say anything while he's checking my. And then I want to pull my pants. He goes, yeah. He goes, I find it easier just to make a joke and just get it done. He goes. And then he told me, goes, dude, I see balls every day. Every day.

[Matt]

Nothing. To me, it means nothing. Nothing.

[Gary Owen]

This is literally 10 to 10:30 for me, and I'm going to lunch. Like, we're looking at, like, your whole day. Like, is he talking about me? Like, Matt's thinking and his boy.

[Jerry]

Oh, dude.

[Gary Owen]

They're just like, bro, same with them nurses. You know how many balls they've seen?

[Jerry]

Yeah, but they're probably. But you know, they're going home, having a glass of wine and just talking about the nuts they saw that day. For sure.

[Matt]

Matt, would it be bad, like, if you went for your consultation and you have, like, two or three nurses in there and you're doing your thing, or you just showing whatever, and then it's wrapped up, you're getting dressed on the way out. Like, one of the nurses has been like, I'm a huge USC fan.

[Gary Owen]

Oh, Matt's gonna hear is huge.

[Matt]

You're not anonymous. I'm a grower, guys.

[Jerry]

I'm a grower.

[Gary Owen]

You're not anonymous.

[Matt]

So, like, here we walk out, it's like, you're hot. Matt, I just want to say, Ms. Delight, your Heisman year was awesome.

[Jerry]

Oh, gosh.

[Matt]

What's. What's now. Are you on the road, like, currently? What's your schedule like these days? Are you.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah, I'm, I'm touring every week, basically.

[Jerry]

Are you, Are you out in the west coast, in la, or. Love to come see you.

[Gary Owen]

I. Let me see last time I did, I did Irvine, dude. I did Irvine right in the middle of the fires. Oh, the big belays. Fires hit, and it was crazy because I, I, I flew into John Wayne and it was business as usual down there.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

And then people were like, I can't believe you're performing. I go, no, it's. This is Orange county, not LA County.

[Matt]

Right.

[Gary Owen]

So that was, that was in January. That. I mean, that was still kind of wild because my hotel was overrun with people that were from staying there. You know, that was. That was the last time. I'm trying to think next time, I'm. I don't know. I'll let you guys know. I'll let you. I'll text you, Jerry, and stuff like. Like that.

[Matt]

Well, sure, man.

[Gary Owen]

Listen, where are you at, Jerry? What part are you in? Northern Ohio.

[Matt]

I'm in Cleveland, where my wife is from, so. I do have the Ohio, by the way, the Bengals, Browns, like, Obviously AFC north rivalry. But I feel like all the hatred in the division is still so much more for the Steelers and Raven. Like even the Bengals play the Brown. And you would know better than me, of course. Like I. I witnessed like the in laws and my friends out here in Cleveland are like, we really want to beat the Bengals. But it feels different when it's the Ravens and the Steelers. Is that like the same for the Bengals? Like when they play the Browns it's like, yes, we want to win division game, but when it's the Steelers and the Ravens, it just hits a little different. Is that accurate?

[Gary Owen]

Steelers way more than anybody else. Because you gotta realize they knocked us out of the playoffs twice and hurt.

[Matt]

Our quarterback and hurt your quarterback.

[Gary Owen]

People forget. Yeah, they hurt Carson Palmer in the playoffs, but they hurt Andy Dalton four weeks before the season ended. Yeah, and we were rolling.

[Matt]

Yeah, we were rolling.

[Gary Owen]

That. That 2015 team was rolling.

[Matt]

Good defense. Yeah, I remember that team.

[Gary Owen]

Oh, I mean A.J. green was in his prime. Yeah, we were rolling that year. And then Andy Dalton freak interception and tackles the guy and breaks his thumb. I was like, who is the.

[Jerry]

Who was. Who was the backup quarterback? Was that A.J.

[Gary Owen]

Mccarron? Yeah, he did good. He did good for us.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

But yeah, so Steelers. Yeah, they hit home and Ben was like 30 and three against us. He killed like we were literally like his stepchild. So it was so frustrating. It was so frustrating.

[Matt]

So your mandate though for the Bengals is sign. Ever sign. Sign Hendrickson, get Jamal and you want to your T. Higgins video. Look guys, if you haven't seen Gary's T. Higgins video, it was great where he basically was throwing him under the bus so no team would side go check it out on his insta and on his. On his Twitter account. So you just want to bring everybody back and then what? Drat. You got the 17th pick. Go defense with the pick.

[Gary Owen]

I don't know. I. You go at that point. You go. We need a guard.

[Matt]

Upright.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah. I hope they resign Gaseki too low key.

[Matt]

I know.

[Jerry]

He's nice.

[Matt]

A lot of good tight ends in the draft though too. A lot of good. I just like. I don't know. I. We need burrow in the playoffs. We just do not just burrow the whole team. But I just think the more quarterbacks like he's just. I just want him to be healthy. Not even because I'm a Bengals fan. You just want to see it. And he was kind of healthy this year. I feel like he's still. He's kind of banged up Though every quarterback's probably banged up by week eight. But yeah, I mean, you gotta realize.

[Gary Owen]

His rookie year, that was kind of freak. I mean, the. Yes, the lineman.

[Matt]

Did you go to the super bowl that year, though? The Super Bowl?

[Gary Owen]

Did you go one row? One, baby.

[Matt]

So if they go again, is that auto, like, hey, just take this money out of my account right now.

[Gary Owen]

Well, I. I made money because what I did was as soon as they beat Kansas City, you know, Gavin, Dwayne have the suite at Sofi.

[Matt]

Yes.

[Gary Owen]

So I FaceTime them immediately. It was like, yo. And so Dwayne was so cool. He was like, yo. I guess the NFL buys the sweets, but they sell you tickets. Eight tickets at cost. But you got really super bowl at cost is thousands on top of thousands.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

So he goes, how many you want to go all eight before knowing how much it was. I go, oh.

[Matt]

So he made that same mistake dealing with a pro athlete.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Gary Owen]

So he said, I need the money, like Monday, tomorrow. I said, it'll be there in the morning. So I wired the money. They send me the eight tickets. So I used four. But the four that I sold, I made my money back and then some.

[Jerry]

Nice.

[Gary Owen]

I got. I got a free trip to the.

[Matt]

Super bowl with Cincinnati Hustle right there. That's that Cincinnati Hustle you just did right there. I like that.

[Gary Owen]

Yeah. So I got row one. And here's the bad part. It was like on the. The. Between the 5 yard line and the goal line, right where Cooper Cup. Oh. And it. It was coming right at me, that little out pattern. I went, you got to be me right now.

[Matt]

That's still one of the weirder games, cuz I feel like everything the Rams tried to do was stopped. And at some point I felt like if I memory Sergey McVeigh was just like, just throw the ball to Cooper cup every single time. And they did, and it couldn't be stopped. And that was like the difference. That game right there. And they just force fed Cooper cup and it. It just worked. That was a good super bowl, though. It was the result for you. But in terms of entertainment, well.

[Gary Owen]

But three good Super Bowls and they. We lost.

[Matt]

Listen, man, we love you. Your kids are. Your kids are absolutely adorable. We're gonna close it out.

[Jerry]

We should have closed it on vasectomy talk.

[Matt]

Vasectomy talk. We'll. We'll cut all the bangle stuff.

[Jerry]

Great.

[Matt]

But thank you. You're the man, G. I'll see you soon.

[Gary Owen]

All right. I appreciate you guys.

[Jerry]

Thanks, Gary. I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve.

[Matt]

And it does without me lifting a.

[Jerry]

Finger so I can get in more.

[Matt]

Squats anywhere I can.

[Jerry]

1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit? Credit. 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI can companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do you get [e-mail] compatible with select apps requires Google Gemini Account results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.

[Gary Owen]

Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check the Jumbotron.

[Jerry]

First before attempting to eat a stack.

[Gary Owen]

Of supreme nachos in one bite. Now you're just a meme that everyone shares on game day. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate.

[Jerry]

First for a quote that could save you hundreds.

[Gary Owen]

You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Matt]

All right, shout outs to Gary Owen again with the with the tapered fade on his nut sack. Gotta love it.

[Jerry]

You left that hard.

[Matt]

So you will see that clip on social media. And speaking to social media, don't forget to hit us up at throwback show on all social media and we are officially starting the mailbag portion of the show. Okay, we, we got the account set up. It's feedback throwbackshow.com so we have one good email. We're gonna read from there. It's a nice question. So send us your questions, feedback, thoughts we like. We say we do read them and we will read them on this show. And maybe I'm a little biased for this one because this, for this mailbag question we got is about the Yankees and it's a guy named James from Brooklyn. I have a son named James and I'm from Brooklyn. It was not him though. He's only three and a half. But James from Brooklyn emailed us and said, what's up, guys? Love the show. Last week the Yankees changed their policy banning players from growing beards, saying that they'll now allow well groomed beards speak. I mean, it's funny how we transition from Gary's thing to this. Jerry, as a Yankee Van, are you cool with the change? And Matt, as a former athlete, would a policy like a ban on beards ever get in the way or you playing for a particular team, is there ever a ban that would prevent you from playing for a team? My first take.

[Jerry]

Go ahead. Yeah. That's so dumb.

[Matt]

I, I never understood the Yankees clean shaven thing. I, I got the chance to hang out with Johnny Damon in September. Lord, was it a travesty that Johnny Damon couldn't grow a beard as a Yankee. The dude's got flowing locks.

[Jerry]

Did you ever ask him about it?

[Matt]

No. I mean, I don't think he cared because they paid him well and he had a good time. But like, and he. Look, Johnny Damon's a handsome dude without a beard and a cut, but he was in the Bahamas, Matt hair down, like, way past his shoulder. Great beard. It just would have been awesome to see that we were robbed of Johnny Damon with a beard. And long.

[Jerry]

My high, my high school football team, modern day, we had to shave our head for. It was, you know, Catholic school. You all had to look, you had to have a buzz, crew cut, all kind of thing. No buzz. Yeah, it could be a six, it could be a two. I used to get a two. I used to have a full two around, but it was just to start training camp and then you could grow it out the rest of the season, but you had to have a buzz walking into the first day of hell week back in the day. These. I. This is so stupid. I'm glad they changed it. It's so dumb. It's about grown men telling a grown man what he can and cannot do. And like, I've always said, like, I've always looked at this from a locker room perspective and football is a lot different because there's a lot more guys. But it's like a lot of these guys are different. They have. Whether. Maybe they have tattoos, maybe they don't. Maybe they have dreads, maybe they have a buzz head. Maybe they like, like there's just so many different shapes, sizes, forms, like ways of, like, art, you know, like all of that kind of stuff. Whether it's a hair, it's just like, so let someone be who they want to be and go play the game. Like, it's just very simple to me. I, I gotta be honest with you. I didn't even know that was a policy up until it became a headline line.

[Matt]

Well, yeah, think. Really think about it. That's why Johnny Damon's like the perfect example. If you go look at Johnny Damon on the Red Sox, he looks like a mountain man, right? And then he comes to the Yankees, he's clean. Jeter posted the funny meme pic of himself. AI. I guess. Or Photoshop with the beard that we never got to see. I can't even make the case for it. I get. I know Steinbrenner said it back in the 70s and it was a thing. And I guess if you're trying to. This is how we run things here. You come play for it. It became like part of the mystique. No one gives a. I'll tell you.

[Jerry]

What, 25 guys, those oh four Red.

[Matt]

Sox who were bearded, scruffy, cowboy up sort of thing, like, they certainly killed that vibe of the Yankees and their clean cutting. So hopefully now I don't think any player though if the Yankees, Matt, were offering you, hey, why don't you come? We'll give you 8 years, 7 years, 175 to come play left field for us. But you gotta shave. I'm pretty sure you would have taken the race.

[Jerry]

The only thing athletes care about is money, right? And a lot of, a lot of it is depends on what state you're gonna play in.

[Matt]

Yeah, I don't think there's any.

[Jerry]

If you're going to Florida, hey, I'm gonna go to Florida because I don't know, it's nice weather. But hey, by the way, there's no state tax.

[Matt]

No state tax or I'm gonna go.

[Jerry]

Play in Texas because by the way, that, that's, that is a real thing that can. That athletes, at least I know football for sure think about when they have options for a destination.

[Matt]

So yeah, I don't think any play. I don't think any Yankees ever lost out on a free agent because of the shaving thing. But it's, it is stupid. And also I'm a big fan of growing like a playoff beard or stuff like whatever, like grow a beard, change it up. So I'm glad that's over. James from Brooklyn. And yeah, I don't think there's ever a band, Matt, that would have made you not want to play for a certain organization. So first mailbag on again, feedback at throwback show.

[Jerry]

Yes. Send us, send us, send us comments, thoughts, questions, relationship advice, whether you should get a vasectomy or not. You know, whatever.

[Matt]

Real quick, some comments that stuck out to me, Benny on Twitter. Oh, good. Liner can act too. About time something good happened for the guy. Obviously that's a lot of sarcasm. No, it's a lot of sarcasm, but I think he's basically saying, oh, you're good at acting too, of course. Like, great, you're good at something.

[Jerry]

Oh, no, I look at, I think, I think he's talking shit.

[Matt]

No, I think he's like, about time something good happened for that guy. Meaning, like, oh, what do you mean? I'm shocking Matt's like, good at acting too. Oh, great. Oh, yeah. Poor guy finally found something he's good at. I don't think he was talking Mike G. On Twitter. That was great. Is it really like that? Can it absolutely be brutal for new actors to have to read? Yes, Mike, but the. The thing now is auditions in person don't really happen anymore. That's a thing. Yeah, Covet kind of ended that. And then the Entourage episode went over well. A lot of people like the pitches of future episodes or what these guys are doing now. Adam McGee, I think this is on YouTube, said he would love to see it rebooted. Doug Allen could bring these guys back tomorrow. Vince, off the grid, drama star, Turtle, Rich, Whatever. Now, Matt, I will say, even since we dropped this episode, there's been a lot of chatter, the reboot stuff, and even something down on some pages, some writing.

[Jerry]

You guys are together. It's magic, man. It's magic. What are we waiting on? I think we. We asked Connolly, and Connolly was like, there's a lot. A lot, a lot needs. I know a lot of things need to happen, whether it's money, whatever money.

[Matt]

Someone's got to write a check to make the show more than anything.

[Jerry]

But, man, let's do it.

[Matt]

I will say, too, I went on to kind of cross promote to kind of crossroad. I went on Victory, the podcast with Dylan and Connolly and Doug, and we did discover something that is strange. And I even think. I think James Jim Miller, who wrote the ESPN book and the HBO book and the CAA and the Saturday Night Live book, one of my favorite writers, and he knows everything about HBO because he covers them. I think he was on Bill Simmons, and he mentioned, you know, HBO does this weird thing now with Max. Like, you. You can't find Entourage really on Max. Like, when you scroll the Max page for hbo and you'll see, like, all their new stuff, movies or whatever, and then you'll see, like, their whatever, classics or what. And it's like Sopranos, Sex in the City. Then they have some shows that were. I get kind of classics. Entourage is nowhere to be found on there. Like, you have to go into the search bar and specifically write Entourage to find it. And some say because they're still like, oh, it's a guy show. Toxic masculinity, all this.

[Jerry]

Oh, dude, that shit's. That shit's back.

[Matt]

My view. My view. And that's what we discussed on Victory, and if you haven't listened to it, go over there and listen to that. That is my view is that everything goes in a cycle. I'll.

[Gary Owen]

We'll.

[Matt]

We'll end with this. And I asked the audience this, too. Hit us on the throwbacks, Twitter, whatever, with your answers here. And, Matt, I'd ask you, is there a show currently on the air right now that is a. Like, we were dubbed a bromance, Like a bro comedy? Is there anything on the air right now either that you're watching or even know about that would give you those kind of vibes?

[Jerry]

Give. Give me Entourage vibes?

[Matt]

Yeah, but not even, like a Hollywood show. Just like. Yeah, it could be like. Even, like the Always Sunny in Philadelphia guys have it. But that show's been on for 30 years. Years. Like, that show's never been off the air ever. So you could point to that. But that's older than us.

[Jerry]

Yeah, I can't think of any because there isn't one. I know, so. Well, it's time.

[Matt]

Who knows?

[Jerry]

You said things come back in cycles. It's time. Let's bring it back.

[Matt]

They do. They do. All right, so mailbag is officially open again. Shout outs, Gary, Owen, go check them out on all socials. And we'll be back next week, everyone.