Torpedo Bats, Memories of the “Bush Push” & Justin Thomas Talking Masters

Summary

Podcast Summary: Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara Episode: Torpedo Bats, Memories of the “Bush Push” & Justin Thomas Talking Masters
Release Date: April 3, 2025

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Introduction to the Episode

In this episode of Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara, hosts Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara delve into a rich tapestry of sports discussions, blending personal anecdotes with expert insights. The episode is anchored by their engaging conversation with professional golfer Justin Thomas, exploring topics ranging from Pro Am experiences to the mental challenges of major golf tournaments.

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Pro Am Sports and Golf Culture

The episode kicks off with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara discussing the unique nature of Pro Am tournaments in golf. Matt compares Pro Am golf to other sports, highlighting its distinct social dynamics:

Matt Leinart (00:02): "Just imagine, you know, LeBron's out there getting ready for like game six of the NBA Finals, and he's got to have a fun little five on five pickup game against guys that suck at basketball. We're going to do it for five hours right before you play."

Jerry adds his perspective on the camaraderie and informal competition inherent in Pro Am golf:

Jerry Ferrara (02:07): "It's such a unique thing. No other sport has that."

Their discussion underscores how Pro Am golf fosters friendships and competitive spirit in a relaxed setting, setting the stage for their guest’s insights.

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Introducing Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas joins the conversation, bringing his professional golfing experience to the table. The hosts express enthusiasm about having him on the show, highlighting his recent successes:

Justin Thomas (03:29): "He's a big sports fan. He's such a great dude. He's obviously one of the best freaking golfers in the world. He's playing well right now, too."

Jerry and Matt discuss their anticipation for the upcoming Masters, with Jerry humorously mentioning his change in attire to accommodate Justin’s preferences:

Jerry Ferrara (05:23): "I didn’t want to wear my Augusta shirt in front of Justin Thomas. This is how, you know, I was overthinking it. I didn’t want to seem like a total nerd."

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Torpedo Bats and MLB Innovations

Shifting focus to baseball, Jerry introduces the topic of Torpedo bats, a new innovation adopted by the Yankees:

Jerry Ferrara (08:24): "The Yankees have the shortest porch in the MLB, too. So let's not."

They delve into the mechanics and implications of Torpedo bats, discussing their impact on gameplay and fan reception:

Jerry Ferrara (09:03): "Basically, someone within the Yankee organization ran a bunch of tests and figured out they could move the sweet spot and stack it. It makes the bat look kind of crazy."

Matt shares insights from his personal experience, emphasizing the universal availability of these bats across teams:

Matt Leinart (09:35): "My mom’s one of the few who doesn't necessarily like to pit. But she says, as long as it's available to everyone, I don't see what the big deal is."

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Justin Thomas on Improving Golf Skills

Justin Thomas opens up about his recent experiences on the golf course, seeking advice from Matt and Jerry on enhancing his game:

Justin Thomas (12:20): "I need advice on where to start. Do I just get to the range and hit, just get a feel for the club?"

Jerry responds with practical tips, drawing from his own golfing endeavors:

Jerry Ferrara (14:04): "Go to a range, try to make it fun. Hit those little 50-yard shots and get into a rhythm."

The conversation delves into the technical aspects of golf, including swing mechanics and mental preparation, offering valuable takeaways for listeners looking to improve their game.

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Mental Challenges in Major Golf Tournaments

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the mental fortitude required to compete in major golf tournaments like the Masters. Matt Leinart shares his personal struggles and growth:

Matt Leinart (41:02): "Losing a tournament could actually get me more success down the road than winning it."

Justin adds his perspective on handling pressure and maintaining focus during critical moments:

Justin Thomas (41:42): "The Masters feels a little different. It has to be a different mental approach compared to other tournaments."

Their candid conversation highlights the psychological resilience needed to excel in high-stakes environments, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of the competitive spirit in golf.

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Personal Anecdotes and Pro Am Experiences

The hosts and Justin reminisce about memorable Pro Am experiences, sharing stories that blend humor with heartfelt moments. Matt recounts playing catch with MLB stars during a lockout:

Matt Leinart (22:27): "Max Scherzer threw a curveball at me, and I had to miss it by three yards. It was awesome."

Jerry reflects on his own interactions in Pro Am settings, emphasizing the importance of camaraderie:

Jerry Ferrara (26:37): "No other sport has that. It's such a unique thing."

These anecdotes not only entertain but also underscore the unique social fabric of Pro Am golf.

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Mailbag Segment: Val Kilmer Tribute

In the mailbag segment, Matt and Jerry pay tribute to the late Val Kilmer, sharing their experiences working with the iconic actor on Entourage:

Jerry Ferrara (65:30): "He was playing Jim Morrison in The Doors. He never broke character as the Sherpa. It was a lot of fun."

They reflect on Kilmer’s dedication and talent, offering heartfelt condolences to his family and fans. Justin Thomas contributes by sharing his favorite Val Kilmer films, enhancing the personal touch of the segment.

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Closing Thoughts and Future Adventures

As the episode nears its end, the hosts and Justin Thomas discuss upcoming events and future golf adventures. They express excitement about continuing their Pro Am traditions and look forward to upcoming episodes featuring more guests and stories.

Justin Thomas (58:25): "We all did, but it's like golf. Like really, dude, you guys are.."

The episode wraps up with a sense of camaraderie and anticipation for future discussions, leaving listeners eager for more engaging content.

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Notable Quotes

• Matt Leinart (00:02): "Just imagine, you know, LeBron's out there getting ready for like game six of the NBA Finals, and he's got to have a fun little five on five pickup game against guys that suck at basketball."

• Jerry Ferrara (14:04): "Go to a range, try to make it fun. Hit those little 50-yard shots and get into a rhythm."

• Matt Leinart (41:02): "Losing a tournament could actually get me more success down the road than winning it."

• Justin Thomas (41:42): "The Masters feels a little different. It has to be a different mental approach compared to other tournaments."

• Jerry Ferrara (65:30): "He never broke character as the Sherpa. It was a lot of fun."

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Conclusion

This episode of Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara offers a compelling blend of sports analysis, personal stories, and expert insights. From discussing innovative changes in baseball to exploring the mental challenges of golf’s major tournaments, the hosts and their guest Justin Thomas provide listeners with an engaging and informative experience. The heartfelt tribute to Val Kilmer adds a poignant touch, rounding out an episode that celebrates both the triumphs and tribulations of the sports world.

Transcript

[Jerry Ferrara]

You mentioned, like, the pro ams. No other sport has that.

[Matt Leinart]

Just imagine, you know, LeBron's out there getting ready for like game six of the NBA Finals, and he's got to have a fun little five on five pickup game against guys that suck at basketball. We're going to do it for five hours right before you play.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. I almost wanted to start with hello, friends. My gym Nance from the Masters. Hello, friends. We'll get to that in a second.

[Justin Thomas]

You see wearing an Augusta shirt.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'll show you. I'll show you what we got. But thanks for taking in the show today, everybody. Just. You can subscribe on YouTube, follow on Apple and Spotify all our socials at Throwback Show. Email us feedback at Throwback Show. We've been reading a lot of mailbag stuff. Later in the show, we have another mailbag question we're gonna do, but we have a big guest. Yes, I am wearing and I'm showing it. If you can't see it, if you're listening only I'm wearing a Augusta 1986 Jack Nicklaus T shirt.

[Justin Thomas]

Your vintage. Your vintage shirt game is stepped up for sure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

By the way, I have a good vintage shirt. Game shout outs to homage and some other companies. 70s sports. I told my wife, Matt, I'm like, hey, babe, we got JT on the show. What do you think?

[Justin Thomas]

She said Justin Timberlake.

[Jerry Ferrara]

She said, oh, my God, you have Justin Timberlake on the show.

[Justin Thomas]

I said, no, no, by the way.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That is not JT anymore.

[Justin Thomas]

In the, in the. In the almost year, not even a year that I've known you, it feels a lot longer, Jerry. That's how good. That's how close we've become. Sign of a good friend. I have never seen you more nervous, excited. The tone of your voice, the tone of your text. Then when it was talking about Justin Thomas coming on the show.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And big shout out, name. What's your two boys names?

[Justin Thomas]

My boy, Drew Page. Shout out to Drew Page.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Thank you, Drew.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah. So Drew, he's gonna love this because he's always like, hey, dude, hype me up. Come on, bro.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Come on. So Drew is like one of my favorite people on earth right now.

[Justin Thomas]

He got Drew. Drew's wife and my wife are best friends since college. Like, and so they live like a half a mile from us. Drew lived in Jupiter where a lot of the guys are. Drew played golf at Oklahoma State with some of the guys on the tour. So he was. And he was. He was a pro, whatever. He works for Scotty Cameron. So he and JT became boys out in Jupiter and just played a bunch and stuff. So Drew hooked us up. JT's awesome. Awesome, dude.

[Matt Leinart]

Awesome.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Talk to us a week short of the Masters, you know, and we did the interview already. So if we're wearing different clothes, that's why. If you're watching on YouTube, I'm actually.

[Justin Thomas]

I actually put on my Travis. I did shout out to Travis because I couldn't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I didn't want to wear the Augusta shirt in front of Justin Thomas. This is how, you know, I was overthinking it. I didn't want to seem like a total nerd, so I didn't wear my Augusta shirt for when I was.

[Justin Thomas]

I'm throwing. I'm throwing cash on JT to win this.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, now we have to. Friend of the. Like, if he happening. What do.

[Justin Thomas]

And I don't want. I want everyone. I want people. The. The interview is awesome and I don't want to give it away, but I'm. I think we might get some type of special shout out if JT just goes absolutely nuts in the Masters next week. I'm not going to say anything else. I want everybody to listen to it because it's phenomenal.

[Matt Leinart]

He's.

[Justin Thomas]

He's a big sports fan. He's such a great dude. He's obviously one of the best freaking golfers in the world. He's playing well right now, too. I know He. You know, they won the TGL a couple weeks ago. He almost won the tournament a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, he fell short, but he's still playing really freaking good going into the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Masters, so I'm so excited for. To talk to him. For some reason, I had all my dates wrong and I thought the master started this week. I swear to God. When we were interviewing him the other day, I was thinking, like, he's in his house. Wow. He hasn't even left for. For Georgia yet. Like, what? He's so calm.

[Justin Thomas]

It's probably like the fir. It was probably like your first date with Bri, how you were just all over the place.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm way more nervous with just.

[Justin Thomas]

I was going to say this is like. I've never seen you like this. This. I've never seen you like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm smitten.

[Justin Thomas]

It's actually quite. It's actually quite funny.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And we now are in a group text together, and I can't.

[Justin Thomas]

Well, I was about to say the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Best thing you ever did for me, dude.

[Justin Thomas]

I know I did. I was like, I gotta put him on this. He's gonna love this. And by the way, we're gonna play golf together at some point too, which will definitely happen, even it means we have to go out to Florida.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's what I wanted to before we, and we're gonna, we're gonna get to our, our Wendy's fresh moment. But before I get to that, I was thinking about this too with golf. And obviously the Masters has come, and that's really ringing in the golf season for, like, casual fans, for die hard fans. You've been watching for a while. But the cool thing, we talk a lot about this with Justin Timberland, Justin Timberlake, Justin Thomas. Jesus, I'm a mess. But what I was thinking about, too, Matt, as you start to play here or there, Is there any other situation in the world where you, once you get obsessed with golf, where you would go hang out with three other people that maybe you barely barely know or know a little for four to five hours in a golf cart? Golf is the. Oh, I will go play with strangers. I will go play with people I've only met one time. Yeah, four hours. I, I, I can't do that.

[Justin Thomas]

I can't do that. I can't sit in a golf cart with someone I don't know. I, Sorry, bro. I will rip. I haven't had golf. Makes me think of vodka lemonades, dude. And I know all the guys listening out there are with me. It's the only time. I used to be a big vodka guy. I switched to tequila. It's the only drink I order on the course is a vodka lemonade and about one and a half in.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I am well the new drink that really, I mean, for the last two summers. There's always, like a new golf drink every summer. Not even like, there's always the canned ones, but transfusions have been the drink of choice on golf. Got a little grape juice, a little club soda. It's a little. Yeah.

[Justin Thomas]

Anyway, I started right on your parade. I'm not a big stranger guy on the golf cart. I think that's kind of weird.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I mean, the stranger thing, I'm, I'm more saying, like, maybe someone you've met one time. Right? And, you know, I just think golf.

[Justin Thomas]

Is that sport that, that like, like you, it brings everybody together. It's so freaking hard. Everybody's kind of on a level playing. Like it's, it is, it's, it's the ultimate. You know, they always say, what you do business on their social. Yeah, rip a cigar talk. Like, it is the ultimate social sport. In my opinion, that makes it very unique. And every time I play, even though I don't play a lot, that I love that part about it. I love smoking a cigar and having a vodka lemonade and yelling in someone's backswing. Like, that's. I just love doing that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You yell in people's backswings.

[Justin Thomas]

I mean, it depends on who I'm golfing with.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But football guys, man.

[Justin Thomas]

And by the way, I'm not even gonna. I'm not even gonna. I'm not gonna give the name of who we have on next week, which is gonna be a very exciting week for throwbacks and for us. But, um, I have yelled in this guy's golf swing many of times and he fucking sucks in golf. He's worse than me. But there's a teaser to next week's guest.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We're gonna get to Justin Thomas in a second. We mentioned to following subscribing all that stuff. And also I want to just again tell you the importance to you listening and watching, rating the show, reviewing the show really is helpful. We read them and we've even been reading some on the show and it's how we stay in the top 10. We cracked apple top five.

[Justin Thomas]

Five.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think this last week, coming off the Ray Felton episode, I think the more.

[Justin Thomas]

Which is awesome, the more we grow and the more we grow with everyone that's listening. Like, we love, I think Mailbag and we love the questions and even by the way, criticize us too. Like, we love that too. Like, we can tell us who you want us to talk to. Tell us what you want us. Want us to talk about. We obviously, you know, from. From Jerry, from you, from entertainment for me, from sports. But also just being dads at home, man, and just going through the chaos of life. Yes, Just awesome and a lot and all that. So don't be. Don't be bashful. Send us.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, like, like our. Like our guy G.E. h. 1980. Just simply put, man, these guys make a perfect combo because we try to.

[Justin Thomas]

Bring you peanut butter and jelly, baby.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Shake and bake. Are we becoming like shake and bake Like a little Talladega Nights?

[Justin Thomas]

Dear baby Jesus. All right, movie, great.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Let's. It's time now for fresh moves brought to you by Wendy's Head to the Wendy's app to get a $1 J or a $1 double stack with offer an additional per purchase. I got a fresh move of the week for you, Matt. And it's been all the talk. Baseball season is upon us. My Yankees in the Crosshairs again, the Evil Empire. Because their fresh move has been Torpedo bats, which, by the way, what a ridiculous name.

[Justin Thomas]

What's. What's worse, Torpedo Batter or Tush Push?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think Tush Push still Takes the Cake is the worst nickname for any professional thing. But Torpedo. Here's what I'm going number one.

[Justin Thomas]

Can I, can I, can I, can I inter. No, no, no. I want to ask you a question because again, like I said, my Dodgers are undefeated at the moment.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And no Torpedo bats either.

[Justin Thomas]

No Torpedo. No. No Torpedo bats. I love baseball. I will get certainly in the mix here as the season gets going. All I've heard about are these Torpedo bats. I have no, I have not read or researched what they are. Why they are all of a sudden implemented now. So before you go off on your tangent, can you please educate me on why Torpedo bats are happening at the moment?

[Jerry Ferrara]

If anyone listening to is unfamiliar because you don't watch baseball till September, which I've been guilty of. Basically, someone within the Yankee organization that believes from mit, they ran a bunch of tests and they figured out that they kind of just move the sweet spot and stack it. They were just basically taking wood from barrel part of the bat and the barrel's in a slightly different spot. And it does make the bat look kind of crazy. And when they. I think they ran a bunch of tests with Volpe maybe in the off season. And, and yeah, it's a thing now. Every. This is available to every team. This is not exclusive to the Yankees. Like, I don't know if it was Stanton or one of the other Yankees tried it. Hated the Torpedo bat. Aaron Judge has four home runs. He's like second in the league through three or four games, which not using the Torpedo bat.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Jazz Chisholm on the Yankees, who were struggling a little bit while in the World Series, is using the Torpedo bat and is absolutely murdering the ball. Here's what I'm going to say. My, My advice to everybody yelling who love to hate the Yankees, which is fine. Get over it. Get over it. I called my mom in this situation who's one of the biggest Yankee fans. She's the reason why I'm a Yankee fan, Matt. Okay? And my mom hates change. She. She does not like to pit. My mom's the one of the few. Doesn't necessarily. She likes the pitch clock, but she needed to be sold on it at first because the clock is great. Forget about starting the runner at second base and extra innings. So I asked her about it. She said, you know what, Jerry Charles. She calls me by my middle name. She's like, I don't. JC JC, JC or JC. I remember a time where 60s when they changed gloves, like, oh, the first baseman gloves gonna be five inches bigger. And so she's like, as long as it's available to everyone, I don't see what the big deal is. Everyone can go use it if you find it works for you. So my mom also. I don't even know if she likes the Yankees shaving. That's how school my mom is. She like. I mean, she still, like, wants them to shave, I think.

[Justin Thomas]

I mean, by the way, the Yankees have the shortest porch in the mlb, too. So let's not.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like, every stadium's different. It doesn't matter. Yeah. Torpedo bats remain legal. So as long as they follow the MLB Rule 3.02, which states, the bat shall be a smooth, round stick, not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length, the bat shall be one piece of solid wood. That's the rule in the rule book. That's it. That's a fresh move, though, because the Yankees got some pop now, baby.

[Justin Thomas]

Jerry, you got to be careful reading that quote again, if you know what I'm saying. Okay, let's don't clip that in, my friend. I'm going to. Since we're going into jt, my fresh move is just going to be my golf game and lack thereof. And I'm going to make this brief. I played. I played the par three little course over at Topgolf by the house, which we are going to play next week.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay.

[Justin Thomas]

There's 10 holes. Three holes are literally, like. There's a hole that's 52 yards. Like, it's short. There's a couple holes that you're gonna maybe use a nine iron. First time I've played golf in probably since June of last year in Cabo when I played in a tournament, Jerry. I pard five out of ten holes, which. It's not terrible, so. No, it's not terrible. It's not bad. I had three holes where I shot a nine on a par three, and.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I shouldn't even take a nine on a part three.

[Justin Thomas]

No, I didn't even write it down. I was like. At that point, I played my agent. I took money off him because he's terrible, but I actually felt bad taking the money from him. Like, dude, I don't deserve the 60 bucks that I won. But my fresh move is that I have to like, like, this like I keep saying, this golf game is just calling me this year. It's calling, it's calling me to just, just to get out there and swing the stick. So I, I need, I need advice on where to start. And I, and I, I, I should ask JT this but on where I start with my golf game from. You do. I like is it just getting to the range and just hitting and just getting a feel for the club? I feel like, I feel like this week I, I, I lost feel of my clubs. You know what I mean?

[Jerry Ferrara]

That, that will happen.

[Justin Thomas]

That happened. And I'm like, like my pitching wedge is usually like I, I have a good, pretty good wedge game. To be honest with you. My chips were awful. So I don't know man, I'm getting nervous because I want to take your money next week too, but I just don't know if it's going to happen.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Here's what I'll say and then, and we'll get to JT because you are an athlete, a professional world class athlete. I would suggest to you and you have a baseball background. I don't. I think driver and three wood and some of those clubs I think you're going to have an easy time with three word dude.

[Justin Thomas]

I've never used a three wood in my life because I can't hit it. I can't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well but what I'm saying is I think the learning curve for you with those clubs, you'll be able to launch it. You're not going to have like a distance problem. You're a big tall dude right for you. I think to get those nines away early is go to a range, try to make it for bring your air. Bring AirPods so you can pump some music or you can listen to whatever and just go out there on a nice sunny day and just like hit those little 50, 67. That's what I mean shots and like get into a rhythm and make it fun. Like it's not a workout. But if you go hit 100 shot like it's a good way to cap your day.

[Justin Thomas]

I think my problem, so here's my problem though is like I have a pretty, like I have a tight, my hips are great. Like no joke.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well you got the two new hips.

[Justin Thomas]

But my back is tight so I don't have a lot of torque in the right in the midsect. So like my swing is you know like here and not over there.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay, you got fine.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah. Which is fine. I think I swing too hard. And then someone, someone told me like, hey, just slow down your swing a little bit and be a little more smooth.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I love this, though. This is the beginnings. This is the. As we roll into the Justin Tim. Justin Thomas interview.

[Justin Thomas]

I'm sorry, I mean, you're teasing. Next week is what you're doing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This is the beginnings of someone catching a golf bug. This is it. You're watching it in real time. Everyone tweeted Matt Leiner at Matt Leiner. Just, just berate him with golf stuff.

[Justin Thomas]

You know those, you know those, you know those AI pictures that you see that where everyone's like, like my, my boy, my boy Clay Travis is getting crushed with. With playing a flute online. Everything. Let's start making some AI pictures of me golfing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Let's do it. Let's do it. And let's get to Mr. Justin Thomas. Thank you. Wendy's. Okay, it's March Madness and Wendy's is hyped. The courts are polished, the jerseys are on. There's a junior bacon cheeseburger or double stack for $1 with in app offer and purchase. The lights are lit again. There's a JBC or double stack just for $1 with in app offer and purchase. The shoes are shy. All right, all right. Sorry.

[Justin Thomas]

All right. Wendy's is the official hamburger of March Madness, which means more deals for you and more burgers for your face. It also means that, well, you know this. We've got a JBC or a double stack for $1 with an in app offer and purchase. Sorry. It's just hard not to get excited when there's an offer on two of the freshest, hot, off the grillest burgers that Wendy's makes.

[Jerry Ferrara]

The JBC with fresh beef, applewood, smoked bacon, cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato and mayo. And the hot and juicy double stack, two patties of fresh never frozen beef with cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion. The real champions of March Madness head.

[Justin Thomas]

To the Wendy's app to grab the $1 JBC or the $1 double stack with in app offer and purchase.

[Jerry Ferrara]

For the freshest deals in fast food. Got to be Wendy's. Limited time only at participating. Wendy's account registration required. All right, everyone, listen up. If you're ready to take on the off road, there's only one ride built for it. The allnew 2025 Nissan Armada.

[Justin Thomas]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Justin Thomas]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm telling you, this is the one. Get ready to adventure bigger in the all new Nissan Armada.

[Justin Thomas]

Let's go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Let's go.

[Matt Leinart]

Pro baller Lonzo ball for buzzballs ready to go. Cocktails take 12.

[Justin Thomas]

Buzz balls just dropped their biggest blue balls.

[Matt Leinart]

Script says Biggie's blue balls. Lonzo. Take 13.

[Justin Thomas]

Blue balls just dropped their biggest buzz.

[Matt Leinart]

Let's try a vocal exercise.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Buzz balls.

[Justin Thomas]

Biggies. Blue balls. Buzz balls.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Biggies. Blue balls.

[Matt Leinart]

Big balls. Just drop.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Get blue balls.

[Matt Leinart]

This season with buzz balls, please, you're responsibly.

[Justin Thomas]

Buzz balls available in spirit, wine and malt.

[Jerry Ferrara]

15% Alco Bavo and Buzz Balls LLC, Carrollton, Texas all right, well, let's dive in. I like where we're at right now, Justin. So, yeah, those of us just joining us, Justin, thank you for joining us. So you were saying too at one point, like you guys on, you'll talk in the locker room, like, can you get, was it a hit in the major league game or like a point off? I don't think you can get a point off, Federer.

[Matt Leinart]

I, no, I, I think that seems impossible. I think it's, I think it even is like literally returning a serve. I think it's returning a serve and maybe getting like bat on a ball or something. There's, there's a lot of nuances. And then that turned into, okay, if you had, you know, penalty kick, do you have a better chance of penalty kicks or scoring in like a, a penalty shot and, and all these things and you know, you get a couple of those big egos and guy's like, oh, I could make a penalty kick is 50, 50. It's like, yeah, that's. If you hit the net, it's 50, 50. But like you're not, you're probably not going to hit the net.

[Justin Thomas]

I think it was like, remember the, remember Jenny Finch back in the day, the softball pitcher? And I think a couple guys went.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Up against her from thought they could hit her. Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Thomas]

And she's throwing like 70 miles per hour, which is equivalent to like 110 from the MLB. And the guys couldn't touch her. It's the same. I think, I think hitting a baseball, God, I don't know. Roger Federer like 120 mile per hour serve.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I, I don't even think I could see that you could see it coming.

[Matt Leinart]

I think, I think I have a better, I think I have a better chance in baseball than I do tennis because I think, yeah, I feel like the luck of, of just, I mean I could just kind of go like this and I not saying that's going to be any kind of hit by any.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You could leg it out to first place.

[Matt Leinart]

Potentially chances of, of getting bat on ball are significantly better than I think in a. Because a tennis serve. It's like first off, I'm going to be so far back that Federer could.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Just spam that, that thing or he.

[Matt Leinart]

Could kick that thing over my head. Like I, I, yeah, it's, it's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Did you play a lot of tennis growing up or like what of any other sports or with golf?

[Matt Leinart]

I played basketball like up through middle school and then I, I realized I wasn't really any good at that. And, and if I should probably stick to something, I am if I want to play it for my life.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But see, that's the great equalizer with golf. And full disclosure, I'm. I'm just a golf nut, right? I love the game. And that's the funny part about golf is I can go to the same spot as you from 50 yards out and I could blade one and it could run up there accidentally and nestle up next to the hole. And then you can go hit this perfect shot that might be like seven feet away. That's such a, that to me, that's always been the fun part about golf is that I could accidentally hit a shot and get lucky and that shot will make me want to come back and play way more. And of course, over time you'd see how badly I suck. But I just don't think I'm touching any pitches or I still think I could do Matt's thing. I think I could complete a handoff. But that's the story for another day during the lock.

[Matt Leinart]

The MLB lockout. I guess it was like two years ago. I live down in South Florida, so like, you know, I got a couple teams that spring train down here, but they have a, some pretty big baseball facilities. And I've got to know some of the guys that, that come down through here, whether through my trainer or just golf fans or whatnot. And, and Paul Goldschmidt trains with my trainer and I got to know Anthony Rizzo. Pretty well from when he was on the Cubs. My guy would go visit him when I'd go visit my now wife. She's from Chicago, so I would always strategically go visit her during a little Cubs home stand and go watch the games. But. But they were again, during lockout. They're trying to stay kind of in shape, and they're literally 20 minutes from my house, kind of all staying into it, and they're like, why don't you come take BP with us for a day? I was like, I'd love to, but I want to, you know, I don't want to, like, get in Yalls way. And so I go out there, they're great, and I'm taking some bp. And some of the pitchers were there to try to stay fresh, too, and Max Scherzer was there, and they're like, do you want to stand in on Scherzer? I'm like, I mean, not really, to be honest.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's a great story, though. It's a great story on the podcast.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, like, I mean, like, again, you guys are here like you're trying to stay in game, kind of competitive mode. I was like, I don't want to. And they said, they're like, look, if you're going to face anybody, Scherzer might be the best. Not only does he have the best control of anybody, but he is the best. Probably, especially at the time. They were like, you should. I was like, fuck it. I'm doing it. Give me. I'm going in there. And I just. I was not taking.

[Justin Thomas]

Dude, how scary was that?

[Matt Leinart]

It was pretty wild. I got it. I got a video. I'll send it to you. Matt. It's. It was fun, man. I. I would have. I would have done that for hours if. If they weren't kind of in a little bit of a routine. But it was. He threw. I think they clocked, like, his. One of his fastballs at like 94 or something like that. It was. He threw this. He threw this. This curveball. I had to miss it by three yards. Like, it wasn't even close.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I love just seeing your heart rate when you step in and dig in. In the box.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I'm just kind of like, itching my way. Itching my way up there, but, man, it was. It was so cool.

[Justin Thomas]

Do you get a chance to play with those guys, like, when you. In the off season and stuff?

[Matt Leinart]

I've played. I played some pro ams with them. It's. It's funny. I feel like a lot of the sports are very similar like in terms of, of how. Although a lot of, especially athletes, a lot of them just hit these. They have crazy, crazy speed, but they just hit big cuts, big slices. Every baseball player, it's kind of similar to quarterbacks where it's like they're.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Like you get everything. Yeah. Very open. Or it's like baseball guys, they. They kind of all, you know, aim a little right and they slash across it because, you know, that's what, what they do forever. I'd say some of the hockey players are some of the best kind of consistently of, of like the crazy speed and somewhat straight. But, but man, that it's freak. Freak athletes. That's for sure.

[Justin Thomas]

I was going to, I was going to ask you who's. Who's the best because you always see like the, you know, like the pro, like the Tahoe tournament, right. Where all the athletes play. And I think John Smoltz is, is kind of one of the guys and Tony Romo, those guys are, are really good non professional golfers.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Who's.

[Justin Thomas]

Is there someone like that you've played with that you're like, holy, like this dude is really good or maybe they've beaten you or like who's the best?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Non strokes. JT's giving a lot of strokes to these dudes if he's losing.

[Justin Thomas]

Some of these guys are good, man.

[Matt Leinart]

I mean I've, I've played with Romo a good bit. Romo's really good. I, I would say just over, you know, if you, if you put all Those guys in 10 rounds, he's gonna have great chance. I mean, Marty Fish is really good.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

But man, if I, I still think if when Steph is done playing and he can play more golf, like he just the first. I played with him a couple times and he just did, did things and like hit those shots where you're like, you, you know, you know, you got freak talent. Like, it just, it's just crazy. Good hands around the greens and like just the, the little subtle adjustments and, and man, I think, yeah, if he, if he was able to put more time into it, I, I think he'd be probably the best consistent amateur at least athlete wise. But there's, there's definitely some good ones.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So that's the other thing that's always fascinated me. When I started playing too, you mentioned like the pro ams. I've been fortunate enough to play in a few pro ams, but, you know, I'm never going. That's how the whole conversation started when you jumped in about me taking A snap. You know, I could play a Pro Am with you, theoretically, but I'm not going to take snaps with Matt at us. There's no other sport in the world where I would get the chance to play for four hours with you and talk. And what I realized, too, is. And I've had two interesting experiences with Pro Ams, but I was on a golf trip down in Florida this past weekend, and one of the guys played in the Pro Am with you last year and was like, oh, you're going to love talking to Justin Thomas. He's the best, great guy. And then you realize, like, oh, we all talk after we play with you guys. We go back to our boys, and we're like, this guy is unbelievable. He's awesome. We're best friends now. It's such a unique thing. No other sport has that.

[Matt Leinart]

It's. It's wild. It's. It is. You know, it's. It's just kind of. It's one of those kind of traditions of the game of golf that. That we have. And, you know, obviously, bigger sports, they don't necessarily need things like that for. For income or for, you know, not that. Not that it's keeping the tour or keeping the. The tournaments afloat by any means, but, I mean, it's. It's some serious money that they're. They're raising, whether it be for the local charities or whatnot. But I always thought Jason. Jason Duffner said it best. He's like, just imagine, you know, LeBron's out there getting ready for, like, game six of the NBA Finals, and here's. He's got to have a. Play a fun little five pickup game against us, like, guys that suck at basketball, terrible athletes, and, like, yep, we're. We're gonna go out there, we're gonna do it for five hours right before you play.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I realized early on this is like, back in 09, when that Kapalua tournament used to be the Mercedes Benz I played with Jeff Ogilvy did not talk to me for four holes, right? I'm like, I heard he was a nice guy. Birdie's the fifth, and then he comes right over with a big smile on his face like, oh, I love Entourage. I'm like, dude, you had me nervous. Like, oh, sorry. I had to get my bearings. And then you realize, like, because that tournament counted for his score, I'm like, oh, you're playing for lots of money and a win, like, the first tournament of the year, and I'm over here, like, semi upset. You haven't Talked to me in four holes, the whole thing. Yeah. I've learned early on that I just try not to get in the way and I'm just happy to be out there.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, everybody's different. It's there. You know, some places are even different than others. But I've fortunately been on tour long enough where the Wednesday is kind of, you know, one of my practice rounds. I don't necessarily need to like go there Monday or Tuesday.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

To learn the courses like I did early on. So it's just kind of getting acclimated with the course. But I generally will set the tone very early with my pro am group that, like, hey, obviously I want you guys to play well. I want to play well. But, like, this is not make or break my week and like, we're out here to have fun. So, like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna make fun of you. I'm going to like, we're not putting putts inside of four feet. Like, you guys paid a lot of money to be here. You don't need to be grinding. Like, let's just have fun and have a laid back day because, you know, you'll have the guys, oh, let me play the back tees with you. It's like, why, why would you want to do that? That. That doesn't sound fun.

[Justin Thomas]

I usually play with a lot of gimmes. I get a lot of gimmies when I play 18 holes. I'm. I'm JT. I'm terrible, dude. I can't. I can't play golf. It's surprising. And our buddy.

[Matt Leinart]

Do you want to. I want. Is it.

[Justin Thomas]

And so, so this. So our mutual friend Drew has inspired me a little bit. Jerry has really inspired me.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm all over.

[Justin Thomas]

Started this podcast. He is all over me. And I love.

[Matt Leinart]

I.

[Justin Thomas]

When I play, I love playing. I just haven't. I just haven't like, found the itch, you know what I mean? Yeah. But I, I'm inspired and you're inspiring me and Drew's. And it's funny. Drew and I have a bet. And Jerry. Drew's our mutual friend. Drew. Drew was on the tour with you like, early on, right? You guys were together and then.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Justin Thomas]

How did you guys meet?

[Matt Leinart]

We were a couple. A couple years apart in age, but just. Yeah, he's. Yeah, he was good friends with, you know, a bunch of the guys that kind of lived down here in Jupiter and it's. I moved down here kind of around the same time he did. And we just, you know, we had a Kind of a big group of us that would just either play and hang out and whatnot. And. And now he's. Yeah. Coincidentally still, he's out working. Working for Scotty Cameron. So I get to. Now it's good. I get to boss him around. I'm like, actually, this is great.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right? That's right.

[Justin Thomas]

He said. He told me that he would spot me. He would give me 30 strokes. 30. And still beat me any course that I picked. So I'd have to shoot, what, a hundred and one hundred two or one hundred one. I said I would. I would. I said, dude, I can shoot in the 90s every time. I probably could hit in the 80s. But he. He thinks.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He thinks annoying about these athletes like him. He picks up one thing, and he's perfectly good at it.

[Justin Thomas]

No, I'm not. Okay, dude, we got off the rails here. We had this whole thing, but this is. Okay. Real quick, You. You said some. A couple minutes ago, like, the traditions of golf. And again, I respect golf. I. I enjoyed. I was obviously a massive Tiger fan, just growing up and all that, and you just won the tgl, and it's so much fun. Yeah, we were. We were sending the videos around. It was fun. It was, I think, like the ultimate fan experiences. I'm sure you could speak to better than us. And then, you know, we're just talking about all these things, like the. The full swing and just where golf is going. And I think it's really cool because it gives us a look into you guys, like, the personality a day in the life, and you can see the talking. You can see kind of what you guys go through. Where do you see golf going, like, in the next five years? Because I feel like. And Jerry's type of, like, the trajectory that you guys are on is like this, you know, where we've heard all this about the. The NBA All Star Game. This. Where I feel like golf is just on this trajectory.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. You know, it's interesting because, like, the game of golf is probably never been better. And it's. And it is. It's on a massive trajectory and. But we just have so much, like, unknown going on on the professional side of our sport of, like, what, the PGA Tour and live and, like, what. When's the steel going to get done? What's. Is it going to get done? What's it going to be? So it's like, that part about it is obviously frustrating because it's. You know, we're not the NFL. It's not like we can just kind of like, split up take like 30% of our fans and, you know, put them over here, and we're still okay. You know, it's. We want to be gaining all of that and taking advantage of this momentum. You know, I don't know. It's. It's. It's wild. Like, I played. I played a Pro am with. With. With Grant Horvat. He's a YouTuber. He's great player out in Phoenix. And it was like, it was mind blowing the amount of people that were yelling at him. And I'm just like, dude, don't take this the wrong way, but I can't believe how many people know who you are out here. I'm like, it's unbelievable. And that's. It's just. It's weird because I'm. It's weird for me, so I can't imagine, you know, like, the. The generation that, you know, was out on tour before me thinking it's even weirder of, like, this is just kind of where it's. Everything is going, you know, everything. It's. It's, you know, streaming, having now football games that are on Amazon or, yeah, Paramount plus, whatever it is, or it's like ESPN plus and then it's, you know, guys wearing microphones and stuff. And it's. It is. Because it's funny. Full Swing is interesting because it's, you know, it is great, and we've, I think, gained a lot of fans because of it, but as somebody who's. Who's on it, it's like, for. I don't. I like to. I want to keep my personal life and my wife and family out. Out of it. Obviously, it's their show, so they rightfully would love to be filming us film this right now. You know, they would do anything that I would allow, but just for us personally, I'm like, hey, guys. Like, I don't. I don't. My wife doesn't need to sit down, do an interview. She doesn't want to. Like, we just. We want to keep this part of our life separate. So once you get to a certain point, you're like, I can only get. I. I got. I'm not that interesting. I play golf, like, 25 weeks of the year, and when I'm not, I'm still practicing golf. So. But then, you know, as a sports fan, I'm watching these other documentaries on the, you know, the wide receivers or, you know, the NHL, and it's just like, it's so awesome. And I'm like, God, it's so cool. And I'm sitting here, I'm like, I'm a hypocrite. Like, I'm the one that doesn't want to almost, like, give it. But then it's. When I watch it, and it's just weird to. To think that that's what people think about us. You know what I mean? Like, it's. You know, the fact that I could have, you know, two. Two people like y'all that are like, yeah, we really love watching full swing. And, like, getting to know you guys, it's like, I don't like that. It's hard to almost, like, resonate and understand that. You guys could think or. Or anybody could think the same about that show. That, like, I thought about, you know, getting to learn about Debo Samuel on the wide receiver show. Like, it doesn't. It just doesn't compare to me, but it's the reality.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, I gotta say, I. I was happy you did it, you know, because you were a golfer. I followed for a while, but for me, I could tell you, and I feel like there's a lot of golf fans and sports fans out there. I hear you on the family stuff. I think if you, like, if your wife's not into it, doesn't want to talk, by no means. And by the way, I don't need to see that. What I mean is, like, yeah, I'm tuning in because I love golf. I learned a little bit more about. I'm more into, like, your mentality when you play. Seeing you with speed was super cool. I didn't know you guys knew each other for that long, so, like, you could still, I think, accomplish the goal with that part of your career, because that's so fascinating. And like, I always said, even with, like, entourage and stuff, like, that stuff's meant to be judged. Like, you want to say entourage suck. That's. You could say that you want to say it's great, but the personal stuff's not. If you don't want it to be judged, it shouldn't have to be. And, yeah, I'm glad you drew that line.

[Matt Leinart]

Today's day and age, too. It just. It's like how social media has gotten. I'm like, there's just. The negatives are highly going to outweigh the positives that are going to come from getting, you know, having them in our house all the time and have. It's just like, you know, it's just. It wasn't. It's not worth it. But in terms of. Yeah, how golf's gonna be, man, I don't Know, I just hope that. I think we have such a core group or I guess age group of fans, but being able to, you know, kind of get the younger crowd in and just understanding that, keeping the traditions of the game while also, you know, making some change if it needs to be done for the better, that. That gets more fans involved. And that's, you know, at the end of the day, all of these sports, they're. The reason that they are going is because of the fans. And I know that it can't be done without the athletes in particular, but the reason that the athletes are there and playing and the stage that they are are because of the fans that want to watch them type thing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So one thing I definitely thought of once I knew you were going to come on, and I got excited about, like I mentioned, I was. I was down in Florida on this golf trip. I kind of had a real chance on the last day to, like, win some money and really end it, and I didn't. So what I found, though, is hours later, we're all showered up, it was a good time, shake leave. I get on the flight home and I'm still thinking about it. And so I'm imagining. I'm like, all right, I'm still thinking about this. This meaningless on the plane all this time later, like, for you, you know, even if you look at, like, the Valspar, right, which I watched, and I was like, that was such a unbelievable tournament. You know, how much time do you kind of give yourself to say, like, man, I should have. Whether you're saying I should have won that, or like, is it because you have a tournament, four days later, you're right back at it. Like, do you allow yourself some time to be pissed or whatever your emotions are and get right to it? Or, you know, I just was always curious about that.

[Matt Leinart]

It's a good question. I think it. It depends. It's very. It's very specific, I'd say, to what it is, but also it probably depends on where you're at in your career. Like, it took me a while to understand that, you know, that. That losing a tournament could actually be. Could get me. Gain me more success down the road than actually winning that tournament. You know, I think you see it often of. Of, you know, maybe not like an unbelievable player, like a, you know, a Ludwig, a Jordan, whatever guys that. It's like, they're going to be out here and win a lot of tournaments for a long time, but you kind of have a good player that gets out on tour and they win like, in their first 15 starts or something. And how often you kind of don't hear a lot from that person anymore because it's like you just unfortunately going through those failures is how you learn, is how you can. You know, I'm sure, Matt, like, you went through how many times in games where it's like, God, I know, like, when it sucks, but it's just once you can actually sit down and just think about it. You're like, okay, next time I'm in the situation, I, you know, I may be pressed and forced the situation a little bit there when, if I just would have like, let it happen and maybe not taking this unnecessary risk, whatever it might be, then. Then it'll work out. So a tournament like Valspar, I, I was way. But honestly surprised myself. I was way better after the fact than I thought because I. Although I boogey two the last three holes, I. I didn't feel like any of them were from mental. I wasn't like, I was shying away. I wasn't like, yeah, I was nervous, of course I was, but it wasn't a. I didn't feel like I did anything stupid or forced issue wise. I mean, I stick with my strategy and game plan. Then I had the whole week and it's like, look, I. I did what I did, but he, he birdied 16 and 17 and those. I mean, it's easy to look at what I did, but I'm like, I. This, something like that is way easier for me to get over than, like, I lost a tournament to Colin Morikawa during COVID I bogeyed 16 and 18 and at Muirfield, and he birdied 17. We went to a playoff and I lost in the playoff. Like, that still pisses me off. Like, I did not handle that well. Like, I was thinking about winning after I eagled 15, I'm like thinking I'm on 16. And it's like, you just, you, you get out of that focus. The next thing you know, the tournament's over and I lost. And I'm like, what the fuck did I just do? I'm like, I just handed this over. And so something like that pisses me off way more than getting beat almost. And, or, or lack of execution is a lot different than, than like the mental clarity or making a mistake because you put yourself in that mistake. It's, it's a, you know, just hitting a bad shot. Hitting bad shots happen, but hitting one because you're not committed or you're scared to screw up or you're not in the Right. Mindset, like, those are two very different things.

[Justin Thomas]

The very last interception I threw in my career was to Luke Kuechley at Carolina, and it was just right in his bread basket. I was just, it was just like that, where's Justin That I live by? What the was I just thinking? I think my coach looked at me off the field. He's like, seriously? I go, yeah, man, I don't know. I, like, I didn't have an answer for you. It's just, it's just like, I just was, was an idiot. You said you get nervous, so I, I, the Masters is coming up and, and we're like, this has been awesome because we are. Not that we wouldn't root for you, but we are rooting for you, man. And good happens to, to guys and people when they come on this pod.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm telling you, Matt's had a charm. He's on the run.

[Justin Thomas]

The World Series, Lakers. I had a baby girl. Like, there's just a lot of going on. We're sending, we're rooting for you. But I love it like the Masters, to me, I, I, I'm, I feel like nervous talking to you about it because I can only imagine what it's like. I imagine the mental approach to that tournament has to be a little bit different than some of the other ones. Just take us through that week. Is that week similar? Is this week similar than others? Do you approach it like we all, you know, as an athlete, we always say, hey, just approach. I played in the Super Bowl. We approached that game the same practice week that we did game three. Right. You still want to have that approach, but I have to imagine the Masters feels a little different.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. Yeah. I think you, you said it perfect. It's. My caddy and I were actually just recently talking about that because it, the, it's, it's so funny. Everybody, A lot of people do it for a lot of the majors, but especially the Masters. The first one of the year, it's like, it's Augusta. It's a tournament everybody wants to win. It's the biggest life change or whatever you want to call it, but it just, the amount of over preparation, that's done for it, like, Right. And I've done it, I'd be the first to admit. And it's like, you know, hey, are you taking any trips this year? Are you going up there?

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's like, got to play it, got to play it.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

It's like, I've, I've never, I'm not this year because I have I've pretty much done it every year. It is, it is nice like when you're in the beginning of the career to kind of almost like get that awe factor out or just like kind of get to know the lay of the land a little bit. But now I've, I've never left that tournament feeling like, wow, if I just knew this course a little better, I think I would have played it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm like, they really surprised me on 14.

[Matt Leinart]

Exactly. I'm like, no, I just needed to putt it better. I need to chip or hit this. Like it, it's. At the end of the day, it's just golf, so. But man, it's so, so hard. And I mean, I'm still working on it. I'm like trying to treat it the same and just, you know, not over prepare because I, that's like my. What I struggle with the most is getting to tournaments like that. And I'm like the middle of the day on Tuesday and I'm like, I'm ready to go. Like, let's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're jacked up.

[Matt Leinart]

It's a day and a half and I just. And then by that time you're flat. It's just a different. So it's just, it's almost like kind of tapering a little bit of just, you know, just do a little bit here. And then the facilities are so good, you feel like you have to be out there. And next thing you know, you're like, I just had three straight 10 hour days and I'm exhausted before the week starts.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. I finally found something I could relate to to you on. It's definitely not a golf swing. But similarly, like with acting, if you have a. Whether it's a big emotional scene or whatever, like the big scene of the thing you don't. You do. Not on take one while we're in a big wide shot. That's why I say save it for the close up. Right? So that's gonna be my words to you for the Masters. Save it for the close up. Don't like guys, go hard. Take one. Take two. They're never gonna use that. Then by take four, when you're in your close up, you're exhausted, you're shot, the day should be over. Save it for the close up.

[Matt Leinart]

I like that. That's a good one. She get that stamped on a wedge.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, look, you know what, when you're putting on the green jacket, just say like, you know what to Ferrara. I saved it for the close up.

[Justin Thomas]

I mean, wait, Justin, we were, We Were talking about this because this is good vibes, dude. We're fucking sending good vibes. Okay. Tiger shot, right? The famous shot.

[Jerry Ferrara]

What is 20 years throwback stuff here?

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah, we like to do throwback stuff. So. 20 years.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I know, 20 years ago, dude, that's hard.

[Justin Thomas]

How old are. What are you? 30? You're. You're 32.

[Matt Leinart]

I turned 32 in a month.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah, so. So you were a young buck. Okay.

[Matt Leinart]

I like almost got an argument with my wife like a couple weeks ago. I was like, I turned 31 in the month, 32.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm like, don't ever say that again.

[Justin Thomas]

Damn.

[Matt Leinart]

It's like. You're right.

[Justin Thomas]

Wait till you get in your 40s, dude. That's when really hits the fan.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Plenty of time.

[Justin Thomas]

My thing, this is just you and this is, you know, listen, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. You know, you're not going to be thinking about us. But just the, the, like the fist pump and just the. Just like you. You showed it at tgl. You guys showed it at tgl. And I was fired up.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's horse and everybody crazy.

[Justin Thomas]

But all you guys were fired up, which I love that part about golf. I love that, man. When you sink a 20 foot pod or you just going fucking nuts. Just if you, if you, if you happen to think about us and you and you on your brain to win the Masters, a fist bump. And I'm telling you, dude, I'm telling you.

[Matt Leinart]

All right. Hey, I would happily.

[Justin Thomas]

It could be first round. Whatever, dude, whatever. You're gonna be locked in, but it's gonna happen. And I'm gonna be so fired up.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Have you ever my chest tried that chip that tiger 20 or like go to the spot and be like. Yeah, because like when you look at the clip too, like the funny thing is obviously all the, the. The scenario, it's like it's a 90 second clip from like the time he chips it and then it's so high it was rolling forever. Have you ever had that shot or just messed around in the practice round? Like, let me see if this shot is that difficult. I've.

[Matt Leinart]

I've definitely hit it in practice. It's. It's so hard to put into words how. How insane. Like the. It's not. It was not a difficult chip to hit inside of 10ft. Like it really is because of where he is in the slope. Like, it's. It's to get it to do all of that and like, and just the spin. It has to have and, like, getting the. And obviously, the moment is a whole nother thing, but I've hit it over that green a couple times with that pen, and that is not a good place to go and. Because it's going down the same slope. But not kind of like you said, Jerry. Like, that's the crazy part about golf. It's. You know how many people have gone to TPC Sawgrass and hit the putt from the back of the green to the front of the green because Tiger made it. And it's like, oh, I hit the putt. The Tiger hit.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's.

[Matt Leinart]

This is the wild, wild.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I know. I. I did that shot in the dark at Firestone because I'm over in Ohio, and they have, like, a plaque. Tiger head. And I had seen John Daly, like, next day, because at the Champions Tour or whatever, and I asked dealer because I'm like, you were there. Was it really that dark? Because the shot. It's 160 yards. You're in the rough. I guess the rough is thick, but it's pretty open. He's like. It was pitch black. So. Okay. I was like, yeah, look at me. Trying to debunk Tiger's shot in the dark. I hope he's definitely not listening. All right, I got. We got a few more things, and then we'll let you go because you've been very generous with your time. But Ryder Cup, I want to pitch you a rule change, okay? He's gonna. Matt's gonna hate this.

[Justin Thomas]

Jerry's all about. He's changing every rule of every sport.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I like to tweak rules, okay? I like to try to elevate things. So I pitched this to Joel Damon. He liked it, but, you know, we're talking to someone now who has Ryder cup street cred, so I always get frustrated. I only match play for me is where it's at. Because you don't want to play stroke play with me. The numbers look like a phone number. What if we're in the Ryder cup, okay, and it's you, and whether it's Jordan Spe, Whoever your partner is, and you win the second hole, now you're coming up to a really, really hard par three. The winds up, and the new rule change comes in where you can defer the tee box to your opponent. You could say, you know, what, Ludwig or whoever you got, you know, you guys hit and you get to sit back on a par three because, like, I feel like I get it. You want to go first because you want to put the pressure on you. Win a Hole. It's not always the biggest advantage than stepping up into a par 3 with not. Your opponent gets more information. Yeah, so that's my rule change. You could defer the tee box in match play at the right if you want. You could still keep the tee box. You could defer. Love it or hate it.

[Matt Leinart]

It's a marinating. I. I don't. I don't hate it. I think it. Yeah, there's. It definitely gamesmanship. Yeah, there's definitely some. Some strategy to it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Try it at the TGL first, maybe just. Just to workshop it.

[Matt Leinart]

We'll try whatever there, man. It's. We got hammers, we're throwing stuff. I. I did. People, everybody, all the other players laugh at me when it's kind of same thing. Talking about rule change. I'm like, what if we. Every week we had like a mulligan, A mulligan token. You just had one. You had one mulligan for a whole week. And people were like, I'm like, what? I'm like, I think of how you gotta go, think about when to use it. And I mean, how intense is it if it's. Yeah, you. Some guy maybe misses like a 15 footer, he gets pissed off. I should have made it. Yeah, like. But it's like, you could have some guy that's. He saves it late in the tournament, like, it'd be pretty interesting. So I don't know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Your official ruling is, though. Don't hate it yet.

[Matt Leinart]

Don't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Marinating Jerry.

[Justin Thomas]

His expression said it all.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He.

[Justin Thomas]

On the rule change. It's okay.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't know, man.

[Justin Thomas]

I'll tell him. What was it? What was it? What was it like? Shotgunning beers at Ryder Cup.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's awesome.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, man. It was. Yeah.

[Justin Thomas]

I want to go to that so bad.

[Matt Leinart]

It is. It is. A sports fan. You have to go. You truly have to go. It is. It's the. The coolest. I mean, it's. It's the. It's the closest thing that we feel to, like, anything that y'all went through, Matt. Like, you know, it's just the. The amount of. The amount of people. The nerves. Like, the first tee shot of my first Ryder cup in France was the most nervous I've ever been in my life. Like, I. I always say if. Because I hit five wood off the tee, which, when I hit it off the T, I don't actually use a tee, I'll kind of, like, put a little dent in the ground and just put it on top of that. And if I had to use A T. I don't think I could have got the bottom T. Like, really? I don't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Hands just.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. And I mean, we're like, walking to the T, and Jordan and I didn't know who were going to go first, and I was like, hey, I need to go. He was like, whatever. He. He'd been through that and he knew it, and that's why he was a great part. He. Many reasons, but why he was great for me that time as he's like, you know, I. He knew how nervous I was, and he's like, you got it. Go ahead. It's like, please. I. I need to hit and get off this tee right now. I'm so.

[Justin Thomas]

Are you. Are you more. Are you more nervous for that than like, the Masters? The first tee off of the Masters?

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. It's not even close. The. The Ryder cup is. Is another level of.

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah, it seems like it, man. Oh, God, it looks so electric.

[Matt Leinart]

The. The. I'm getting literally goosebumps just talking.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I am, too. I am, too.

[Justin Thomas]

Dude. You're a Ryder cup legend, though, though.

[Matt Leinart]

It's fun. It's just. It's. It's cool. It's like you were talking about the emotion and getting excited. Like, we don't get to do that at tournaments without kind of looking like an. And like, there you can. You don't even realize it. Like, it just. It comes out because it means so much and like, you're playing for so much more. And of course, you know these guys that you don't really want to play well all year you actually get to root for, like, I. I want Scotty to write it close and like, Patrick Hailey to make every putt and Xander to make it. So it's just, you know, it's nice to be on. On these guys team for a week because, you know, they're tough to beat once we're playing every week.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's what got me into golf and New York. You know, I'm a New Yorker, so I know a lot of my. I have family members already trying to plot their trips to Beth Page.

[Matt Leinart]

It's going to be out of control.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, he's got. I'm fired up now, man. The last thing we were talking about, too, I don't know, is this what your boy sent over, Matt? That like the mic?

[Justin Thomas]

Yeah. You're big. You play with Jordan a lot, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

You get some MJ rounds in. True story.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. Yeah, I.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's got to talk some shit, right? You would think.

[Justin Thomas]

What's the most amount of money You've taken from Jordan on the course. I, I, you know, he's gambling every time.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I, I mean, people unfortunately get upset when I tell him that. I don't think he plays for as much money as everybody thinks.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

He just has to play for something. Like, it's. Kenny's just.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right. It could be a dollar.

[Matt Leinart]

It's just the fact of, hey, we're. We're not out here just to, like, play golf. We're out here to compete. And, and when I've taken a couple thousand off of him a couple of times, but he's, he's taken plenty off of me as well. It's. He's hard to beat out at Grove. It's definitely really at his course down. I mean, shit, if I build a course, too, I would probably build it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like you did to Grand Horvat at Panther. I saw, yeah. Watch that last chip on 18. That was a brilliant moment. He just knocked it in. He didn't even see it. And you were talking.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, that was awesome.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But, yeah, isn't it, like, he built it? Because what does he hit? A fade or a draw, whatever. He hits it, like, most hole, or at least that. He has, like, urban legends about him in golf. And he's a bat. He's like the goat basketball player. And there's all these stories. You don't know if they're true or false with golf with him.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. I mean, he, his short game is unbelievable. Like his bunker game and chipping and putting. It.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's.

[Matt Leinart]

It, it's truly insane. It kind of goes back, like I was saying about Steph. Like, I just think a lot of athletes in general, but I mean, especially as basketball players, like, just their touch and, like, their, Their hands and how good they are to be able to kind of maneuver and figure stuff out, but the holes narrow up the further you hit it, so it's, you know, you kind of. You always have room to bail out, which is fun. I mean, I think it's good for any amateur golfer, but, you know, it tends to pinch in a little bit more where we hit it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you feel like you got to wear Jordans when you're playing with Jordan? Because I know there's so many, like, walked in on the Charlotte Hornets and told everyone at practice, take my Jordans or you guys aren't winning up. Take my shoes off. I would feel a lot of pressure. Like, I have to pull out my best pair of Jordans I ever owned in front of mj.

[Matt Leinart]

It's, it's funny you say that. I, I mean, I don't. Because I'm not with Jordan. Especially in golf, shoe wise. Like, I don't wear, don't wear them out there or don't ever wear them, but I love sneakers. Like, I have a lot of. I have a lot of Jordans.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

You know, here. Or just that I'll wear out. And just the way that the locker room, everything kind of works. My lockers right next to his. And it's the only course I go to that I am, like, looking in my closet of, like, what shoes am I going to wear to the golf course today?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

It's like, yeah, of course. No, I always wear these, you know, these Carolina Blue off whites to the golf course. Like, what are you doing, mj? Because I know that if I go in the locker room, they're going to sit outside my locker, and if MJ's there, he's going to see him. And, you know, I wanted to be like, all right, jt, It's. I. I got some respect for that. I can't be wearing, like, some flip flops or something. It's anywhere else, I wouldn't care. But I, I definitely think about it when I go there.

[Justin Thomas]

So we, we like to. Before we close, we like to. Usually when the athletes come on, we like to build, like, the perfect athlete for their sport. So we did that with. We did that with a couple people. We want to build the perfect golfer with you before we let you go. So.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And take yourself out of it, you know, yourself. We know you're the perfect guy.

[Justin Thomas]

We know you're breaking down four categories. Drive, chip, putt and clutch.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you could go present or you can go back in the day.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay. I mean, driving, I'm going, Rory, for sure. I mean, clutch, I'm going, yeah. Prime Tiger. That's. That's no doubt. Putting is, Is tough because I want to do that, too. But statistically, Denny McCarthy is. Yeah, he is a unreal putter every year after year after year.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I. Undeniable.

[Justin Thomas]

I gotta be honest, I don't know who that is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But see, Matt, we'll get you there, buddy. We'll get you there. I know exactly what you're.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, Chip Period's got one of the sickest short games I've ever seen. He gets, he's got. I've watched him get up and down from so many, so many different places, but, man, it's. It's hard to go against Jordan. I've. I've played more, just more rounds with him. So I've probably seen it more than I have, period. Or, like, Phil, but it's hard. I, I. I can never bet against Jordan short game, so I. I'll go with this.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That bunker game, too, is nasty. The bunker game's nasty. Well, listen, thank you for your time. Look, just save it for the closeup. That's all I'm gonna say here.

[Justin Thomas]

We appreciate you, man. Best dude. Kick ass at the Masters, dude. We're rooting for you.

[Matt Leinart]

Thank you. No, I appreciate it. And, Jerry, you'll appreciate it. We, Jordan and I, we've. We rented a lot of houses over the years together and, like, knows before the families came out, we literally would just put entourage beginning. It didn't even matter. We're like, what season do we want to start this week or where we want to? And it just would. It was. Oh, God, it was the best. We just have. Especially the COVID weeks where it's like, you couldn't go, right. We just would get back and just. Just hammer through it over and over again.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I feel like you brought up, too, when you were doing shot that thing for Grant Horvath's channel. You're talking about that famous round of you and Ricky and Jordan. Like, we got casually. I remember watching that in the moment. Like, this is. This is the new version of Entourage. Like, these guys are doing it. Like, I want to be where they're at. I want to be playing golf with them. So I literally had that thought as well, and that makes me very, very happy to hear, because we, believe it or not, like, even though none of us are very good golfers, we were always. We had, like, the golf simulator on the show 20 years, 18 years ago. You know, we had Mickelson on. We were hitting golf balls off the roof. Like, we love golf. So it was always. It's. It's very cool now to get the chance to talk to you and just see where golf's gone from then till now. So I appreciate that, man. No, that's really cool to hear.

[Matt Leinart]

Appreciate y'all. Yeah. Being a golf fan, that's what's. It's crazy, man. You. We'll play these pro ams or go places, and it's just, like, I don't understand, like, how are you a fan of me or a fan of golf? Like, it just doesn't. I think what. I don't know if it's just from whatever you do, it's. But, you know, it's like, obviously that goes around people like, oh, big fan. I love watching you play it's. Like no like it. Yeah, we all did, but it's like golf. Like really, dude, you guys are. You.

[Justin Thomas]

You guys are crushing, man. Like, yeah, and just like I said, the changes and just the, the access that I think a lot of just everyday people and fans get, it makes it. I think it makes it more exciting. So fired up, dude. Thanks for. Thanks for jumping on, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, enjoy. Have fun.

[Matt Leinart]

Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I was never really a runner. The way I see running is a gift, especially when you have stage four cancer. I'm Ann. I'm running the Boston Marathon presented by bank of America. I run for Dana Farber Cancer Institute to give people like me a chance to thrive in life, even with cancer. Join bank of America and helping Anne's cause. Give if you can@b of a.com supportan what would you like the power to do? References to charitable organizations is not endorsement by bank of America Corporation. Copyright 2025. Spring Fest and Ego days are here.

[Justin Thomas]

At Lowe's right now. Get a free select EGO 56 volt battery with purchase of a select trimmer, blower or mower kit. Plus shop today for new and exclusive.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Items you need for your lawn. So get ready for spring with the latest in innovation from Ego, the number.

[Justin Thomas]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

Only at Lowe's we help you Save. Offer valid through 4:2.

[Justin Thomas]

Selection varies by location while supplies last. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone. Paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate.

[Justin Thomas]

First 3 months only, then full price.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] all right, now it's time for all time adventures driven by Nissan. Take adventure to new heights in the allnew 2025 Nissan Armada. Go to nissanusa.com backslash armada to learn more. Matt, we're going to talk some adventures since we had Justin Thomas just on. I have a little fun golf adventure for you. Right? Okay, I take you back. Maybe like 15 years or so. I'm pretty new to golf. Me and Kevin Dillon ventured down to San Diego to meet Scotty Cameron. The Scotty Cameron. He fit us for some putters and then we Went out to play some golf, and it was unbelievable. But the whole time, Dylan and I know, like, oh, we'll be driving back from San Diego at, like, 5 o'clock. We're dead. It's going to be so much traffic. All good as we're leaving. We finished around. We're leaving. In walks into the clubhouse, Phil Mickelson. Now, the room stops. Me and Dylan like, oh, wow, it's Phil Mickelson. Crazy. And what does Kevin Dillon do? He's like, I got to go talk to him, bro.

[Justin Thomas]

Now, of course he does.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He just heads off. And it hits me out of nowhere. The very previous episode of Entourage, we take a shot at Phil Mickelson. The actual line in the episode is the Ari character says something like, honey, I got to go. Nikki's melting down worse than Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot, right? Dylan's walking over there. It's like slow motion. I'm like, no. I try to stop, and then, you know, I'm 20ft away. They're up there talking. It looks friendly. I. I finally come in there and, like, shake, shake his hand. And then Phil walks away. And I asked Dylan, like, what did he. What did he say? He's like, oh, he's the nicest guy. I told him he's got to be on. On the show. And he said, you know, I would love to. It's my favorite show. Although I'm not caught up yet on this season, so he has not yet seen the actual thing. So the whole drive back, obviously, we called Doug Allen. We're like, doug, Phil Mickelson wants to do the show. I'm like, can we figure out a way to shoot with Phil Mickelson before he hears this joke? And result was, he did hear the joke. He still did the show. And we did ask him when he was on set, and, like, you know, did you hate that? He's like, well, you know, it wasn't great. Like, sitting in bed, my wife watching my favorite show, and you guys just take a shot at me. That wasn't awesome. But, you know, it wasn't really. And, yeah, he didn't really care. He ends up doing the show. But that whole drive back from San Diego to la, me and Dylan were like, can we make this happen before he hates us? And here's this joke. So that was a fun little adventure that involved a little bit of golf for you.

[Justin Thomas]

I love that, dude. I don't have any great golf. I have a couple great golf adventures.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But you got some others, though.

[Justin Thomas]

I got the greatest drive. So when I think, honestly when I think of Nissan Armada, I think of my mom. When I think of my mom, I think of usc. And when I think of usc, I think about the greatest drive potentially in USC history.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So much better.

[Justin Thomas]

My story and, and I was thinking about it, I actually, I have to give this speech next week for a USC deal and this is included in it because a lot of Trojans love just the stories, right? And, and adventures and, and so I was going to talk a little bit about the 4th and N drive in Notre Dame and you know, Brady Quinn a little bit now so you can kind of get a feel. But we're first down and 10 on our own 20 yard line. First play is an incomplete pass. Second down, second play, second down, I get sacked for a nine yard loss. So wait, no, first down is incomplete. Yes. Second and 19, our third 19. We go the sideline, we get about half, bag a little check down to Reggie Bush. It's, it's now 4th and 9. We call a timeout. I'm on the sideline with Steve Sarkeesian, head coach, Texas, obviously. Lane Kiffin's in his year, head coach, Ole Miss. And Pete Carroll's right there. Pretty incredible staff. And I'm sitting there and actually another one, another buddy of ours that, who's going to be on our show quickly is, is, was on the sidelines of that game as well. But I won't mention his name at that moment. And I'll tell this, at that moment, it was the loudest I've ever heard Notre Dame Stadium in my life. Notoriously not allowed stadium. Cool history, tradition, but not like a, you know, like, not a, not a great home field advantage. I walk back in the huddle and it is just like boom. You can't hear anything I'm yelling at. I'm looking everybody at the eye and I call the play and I say be alert for this audible if they blitz, etc. Etc. And sure enough, it is loud. I'm under center Ryan Khalil, hall of Fame center. I'm in there, I kind of tap him. I start to, I start to audible. And the guys pick up the signs. Dwayne Jarrett runs a slant and go. And the ball. Lucky. I'm honestly lucky though. The ball just lands right in his bread basket. An inch either way. It's an incomplete pass. We lose. He gets it. He starts running like a, like a baby deer. Dwayne wasn't fast. He had long ass strides. He got hocked at like the 12, 15 yard line. Go a couple plays and then we score on the infamous Bush push game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Justin Thomas]

And the funny story about the Bush Bush is I'm sitting there and we're on the one, probably the half yard line, and there's eight seconds left. And if I don't get in, we lose. I remember. And that they were, they were. We were waiting for the whistle. Tom Zibakowski, who was the safety for them was. Became a professional boxer, like an amateur boxer, like a pretty, pretty good athlete. He was right in front of me, like, knew I was about to go up the middle. He just knew it. And I looked at him and I tried not to look at him. It's like one of those things. I'm like, don't look at him in the eye. Don't look at him in the eye. I'm coming right. It's like, it's like taking a penalty kick in soccer. You don't want to look at the goalie, right? And sure enough, I snap it. He likes like jumps over, like Levar Arrington style. Kind of hits me right there. I do my little pirouette and sure enough, my boy Reggie Bush pushes me in the end zone for victory. And then a birth in the national championship game in which we lost. But that was incredible. Drive, adventurous, all these types of things, man. Brings back great memories just talking about it. It's one of those things if you're a college football fan or you just watched. It's like one of those where everybody's like, I remember where I was when the Bush push happened.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes, I, I believe. Because we weren't shooting at that point because what is was that like December?

[Justin Thomas]

It was October. October 2005.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So we may have still been shoot. Usually we start finishing right around them. But I was definitely in la. Definitely. Well, I believe I watched that game. I might have watched it with Max Greenfield, by the way.05. I might have watched it with friend.

[Justin Thomas]

Of the show Basement.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, we were. It was Entourage days. It was Entourage days. But yeah, I think we watched it there. My God, how so? Ofas. What, you're 19? 20.

[Justin Thomas]

I was a senior, so I was 21. I was fifth year.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Not a lot of 21 year olds doing that. Well, shout outs to Nissan. Those are two adventurous stories. We'll have more each and every episode. Let's do a mailbag. And I had a little sneak preview of this one, so I kind of know it was coming. So Dan in Los Angeles writes, what's up, guys? You know, sad to see that Val Kilmer passed away. This week. What a legend. Just curious what your favorite roles were of his and if you guys ever crossed paths. Yes. Obviously saw the news. You know, heart goes out to his family. It's so sad. And he was sick for a while. Legend. But, you know, I had the chance to work with him back back in 04 on entourage, and he has one of the. You can't even call it so. Cameos are when people come play themselves. It was like a cameo, but he was the only one playing a character. And I even was like, texting with Doug. I don't even think Doug Allen believed that he was actually gonna show. We were just told he's gonna show up, he's gonna play this Sherpa character. He's gonna come in character, be ready. It's like, maybe this is season one, episode four. Like, it was very, very hard to get anyone to be on Entre. That's why I give shout outs to Ali Larder. Back in the day, Jessica Alba came on early. So Val comes on, and it was the first time. I was 23 years old. You know, you always heard about method acting and method actors, and I've taken classes, but the first time I ever saw someone show up in character and for not one second did Val Kilmer break character as the Sherpa. And then, you know, he probably got the script the night before.

[Justin Thomas]

What was that like?

[Jerry Ferrara]

He was just saying at one point, he just looks at me, he's like, turtle, you're a dove. You're a turtle dove. And then, like, pulls out a gun on. All this stuff is just happening. It's like one of the cool parts back then where, you know, you just knew, like, all you gotta do is just listen, know your character and just go where he takes you, because he's gonna take you on a ride.

[Justin Thomas]

When he's done. When he's done shooting that scene, does he break?

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you're like, I never saw him break.

[Justin Thomas]

You never saw him, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I. I texted some of the guys. No one is on record saying at some point he took off the beard and hat. Was like, hey, guys, it's Val. Nice to meet you. That was a lot of fun that that never happened. He's weird. Like, Kevin Dillon was in the Doors with Val Kilmer, which is arguably. Yeah, maybe his best. We could. We'll. We'll talk some of his favorite movies now. But, you know, played Jim Morrison in the Doors. Kevin Dillon was like the sec. He played John Denore as a second or third lead in that movie. And he didn't even break to say like, hello to Dylan. I don't think.

[Justin Thomas]

I mean he's, he's. If you obviously you've kind of seen the whole list of movies this week after his passing and. And you just realize like one of like legendary. Like he was a legendary actor that crossed. Right. Decades and decades and generations. My. My two favorite.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes. Give me your. Give me your two. I mean the standouts for you personally though, not whatever personally.

[Justin Thomas]

Like, he. He's probably had better performances than some other ones. But Top Gun is like my top three movements. That's my top three favorite movie of all time. It just is. And even the remake, the sequel, which just came out less than a couple years ago, where Valley actually played a very.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, there's like people cheering in the theater. Yeah, I saw that in the theater. That got a lot of.

[Justin Thomas]

That's just one of my favorite movies. So I just always remember Iceman and all that. And then Tombstone is. Is probably top five favorite movie of mine as well. And one of the best movies. And just like I'm your huckleberry. Like, it's like. And while he's literally white and pale and sick in that movie, he's just legendary. Obviously his Batman role was very good. Like, Like Heat was good. But like those are my two favorites. So we lost. Lost a good one, man. That's for sure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Heat stands out well also Heat is just such an iconic movie. Yeah, you and just. But he. And he. To be that good in an iconic movie, like the scene stealer in a movie like that is as high level as it gets. Yeah, Top Gun, Batman, you know, Jim Morrison at the Doors. Then he would play like John Holmes in Wonderland. Another stud one. Here's a sneaky one people forget about. I'm a big True Romance guy. Another Tarantino script. True Romance is an awesome movie. He was Elvis in True Romance. Like the alter ego for Christian Slater's character. He was Elvis. Like you never really actually even saw him. So, you know, obviously, you know, you give send love to his family. It sucks. He was pretty sick for a while, but I just don't think they're gonna make him like that anymore in terms of just the acting part. You know, I never got to know.

[Justin Thomas]

Him personally, but it's just something about that. Yeah. That kind of actor, which you know better than me. But just like just the roles he played. He was just. He was like. Like when you heard Val Kim, you're like, damn. Like, he's just. He was a legend. Like. And you saw it in his roles and how he acted and, And. And you never really heard a lot about him off screen, you know what I mean? Like, he just was kind of like, you showed up, you saw him be like, damn, like, he's. He's as talented as they come. And you never really, like, he was out of the new. You know what I mean? Like, you just never heard outside of the world other than acting, which I think made this more kind of a. More aura about him, you know? Know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I don't want to go out on a. On a low note, but, you know, and then also, if you just want to see some live go back. Anyone out there or Even go on YouTube, just pull up the Val Kilmer highlights of his time on Entourage. Some of the craziest.

[Justin Thomas]

I'm going to pull that up. We gotta. We gotta clip that on the page.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, he had. He had some. Some. So, Matt, I am coming to la. We are going to be in person next week. We have a big lineup of guests. We're gonna do some fun stuff. So next time I see you, well, I'll text you 10 million times before then, but maybe you'll FaceTime me 14 times. But next time I actually see you, we will be in person in la. Yes.

[Justin Thomas]

Dude, let's go. Can't wait. We got a full. We got a full week, buddy. Get ready.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Gotta get to work. All right, take care, everyone. Thank you.