Week 4 NFL Must-Win Teams, NIL Wild West, "Business Decisions", Ohtani the GOAT?

Summary

Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara: Episode Summary

Release Date: September 26, 2024

In this engaging episode of "Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara," hosts Matt Leinart, a former Heisman Trophy winner, and Jerry Ferrara, renowned for his role in Entourage, delve into a diverse range of topics spanning the NFL, collegiate sports' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) landscape, business decisions within sports, and the debate surrounding Shohei Ohtani's status as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in baseball. The episode also features insightful contributions from Matt's wife, Josie Leinart, an attorney specializing in NIL, providing legal perspectives on current controversies.

1. Week 4 NFL Must-Win Teams

Matt and Jerry kick off the episode by analyzing the pivotal matchups in Week 4 of the NFL season. They discuss the complexities of determining team performance based on fluctuating victories and defeats, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the league.

• Jerry Ferrara [23:26]: "I found myself trying to figure out which teams have true identities in this world where anyone could beat anyone week in, week out."

• Matt Leinart [24:51]: "Texas is ranked 1, and they have a big win against Michigan on the road. Ohio State has been dominant as well."

They emphasize the importance of team identity and consistency, noting that teams like the Chiefs and Buffalo are perennial contenders, while others like the Steelers show promise despite lower scoring games.

2. NIL Wild West: Navigating the New Landscape

The conversation shifts to the tumultuous environment surrounding Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in collegiate sports. Matt's wife, Josie Leinart, provides a legal analysis of recent lawsuits involving high-profile athletes like Reggie Bush and the UNLV quarterback controversy.

• Josie Leinart [46:54]: "This would really open up a bigger can of worms than we’ve seen before if these agreements aren’t being made properly."

• Matt Leinart [51:00]: "A lot of these deals are just handshakes, verbal, or promises. There are a lot of empty promises."

They discuss the implications of verbal agreements versus written contracts, the potential for increased litigation, and the necessity for better education and representation for young athletes navigating NIL opportunities.

3. Business Decisions in Sports

Examining the intersection of business and athletics, Matt and Jerry explore how public statements by coaches, like Antonio Pierce of the Raiders, regarding players' business decisions can impact team dynamics and performance.

• Jerry Ferrara [28:20]: "What's your feeling on when a coach publicly says stuff like that and then do players actually make business decisions?"

• Matt Leinart [28:31]: "Anytime a coach says that there's something going on in the locker room, there's something going on behind the scenes which isn't great."

They deliberate on the balance between personal business ventures and team commitments, emphasizing the potential for discord when players prioritize business decisions over team goals.

4. Ohtani the GOAT?

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing Shohei Ohtani's extraordinary performance and his candidacy for the title of the GOAT in baseball.

• Matt Leinart [11:05]: "I think he might win a Triple Crown and a Cy Young in the same year. That's possible."

• Jerry Ferrara [25:30]: "Mahomes turns into Mariano, coming out of the bullpen with one minute left. You just know, you give him the ball, it's over."

They compare Ohtani's dual-threat capabilities to legendary two-sport athletes, debating whether his unique contributions to both pitching and hitting set him apart from all predecessors.

5. Personal Stories and Interactions

The hosts share personal anecdotes, notably Matt's long-held Kobe Bryant jersey, which becomes a focal point of discussion. They reflect on their past statements criticizing grown men wearing jerseys, juxtaposing it with Matt's own history.

• Matt Leinart [68:05]: "I just always laugh when grown men are wearing jerseys."

• Jerry Ferrara [69:31]: "You’ve had it longer than we've been together, which is a long time. Like 11, 12 years."

This segment underscores the evolution of their perspectives and the humorous contradictions that arise from their own actions.

6. Can't Get Enough Sauce Moment of the Week

In this segment, Matt and Jerry highlight commendable actions within the sports world. This week, they commend Saquon Barkley for his accountability after a performance mishap and his gesture of congratulating his former teammate, Danny Dimes.

• Jerry Ferrara [40:39]: "Saquon calls Danny Dimes to congratulate him on the win and pump him up. I just thought that was awesome."

• Matt Leinart [40:59]: "He took full responsibility. Even though Sirianni and everybody else was taking, it is what it is."

7. Defending Their Initial Take on Jersey-Wearing

Towards the episode's end, Matt and Jerry revisit their earlier, controversial take on fans wearing sports jerseys. They play clips of their initial statements and engage in a spirited debate defending Matt's stance while acknowledging the public's reaction.

• Matt Leinart [67:40]: "I also don't understand, like, whether, like, a grown man wearing a jersey. I just always laugh when grown men are wearing jerseys."

• Josie Leinart [64:10]: "Matt is not. And I guess we both are this way."

They reaffirm their viewpoints, discussing the fine line between fandom and fanaticism, and humorously acknowledge Matt's enduring attachment to his vintage Kobe jersey.

8. Final Thoughts and Looking Ahead

As the episode concludes, Matt and Jerry share their personal viewing plans, including following the Dodgers' quest in the NL West and watching the incoming Vince McMahon documentary on Netflix. They also tease upcoming segments, including the inclusion of Josie Leinart as a recurring guest to discuss NIL-related topics further.

• Matt Leinart [75:55]: "I'm watching my Dodgers close this out, man. Like that, that's my team."

• Jerry Ferrara [77:48]: "I'm watching that this weekend. It's time."

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jerry Ferrara [23:26]: "Which teams have true identities in this world where anyone could beat anyone week in, week out."

• Matt Leinart [11:05]: "He might win a Triple Crown and a Cy Young in the same year. That's possible."

• Josie Leinart [46:54]: "This would really open up a bigger can of worms than we’ve seen before if these agreements aren’t being made properly."

• Matt Leinart [67:40]: "I just always laugh when grown men are wearing jerseys."

• Jerry Ferrara [40:39]: "Saquon calls Danny Dimes to congratulate him on the win and pump him up. I just thought that was awesome."

Conclusion

This episode of "Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara" masterfully weaves together insightful sports analysis, legal perspectives on emerging NIL issues, personal reflections, and lighthearted banter. Matt and Jerry provide a comprehensive look into the current sports landscape, making it an invaluable listen for sports enthusiasts seeking depth, humor, and informed opinions on the game’s evolving dynamics.

Transcript

[Matt Leinart]

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

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm just going to read a few brief ones at the Cam Hammer unfun take. If legendary player, sportscaster don't want fans wearing jerseys, hell, nobody should buy merch then. Matter of fact, let's lower the TV contracts and the salaries too. Wow.

[Matt Leinart]

I got a. What is it? Don James sports Horrible take at Matt Leonard qb and I love you like just the double sword. Just like God I love you, but you suc.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And here we go. Another episode of Throwbacks coming at you right now. I gotta thank everybody who is following us on all social media platforms. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Everything is throwback show. It's very easy. So yeah, subscribe to us on YouTube. But Matt, the social media interaction before we get going today.

[Matt Leinart]

What do you mean? What happened this week?

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know, you, you had a strong take and we're going to talk about it later in the show about grown men leaving the house in jerseys. And here you are today, if you're audio only. Matt is wearing a Laker jersey, by the way.

[Matt Leinart]

Not just a Laker jersey.

[Jerry Ferrara]

The Laker jersey.

[Matt Leinart]

The, the Kobe Bryant jersey that I've owned for about 15 years. Okay. I actually, actually there is a, there is a photo out there. I. Okay, I did wear this jersey to a Laker game. I did.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay, well, listen, save it there.

[Matt Leinart]

There is a picture out there and I will, I will post this. We will post this on the show. There's a picture out there of me wearing this J jersey talking to Kobe on the court. But that is the last time I wore this jersey in public.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, some might say that's a little hypocritical. A lot of you out there on. Just getting crazy though. We're gonna. We actually pulled your comments. Cause this is the first time either of us have faced public pressure from a take. Happens all the time to the takers, all those takers. But now you had a take and you're getting public pressure. Will Maddie ice back down? And also another fun thing for the show today. Okay, this is a, this is kind of a. We're featuring the liner. It's heavily. We have Josie liner joining us.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

On the show today.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, you know what? The, the wives are going to make a lot of appearances throughout Throwbacks. Right. Because we're going to talk, you know, parents and. And I mean, our better halfs. Listen, I think. I think we want to give the people, the listeners what they want. They want to hear the wives just talk down on us. Okay, that's fine. But my wife is also just a badass attorney and Nil and all these things, and just a big week in Nil, So she. She's going to kind of break down what all that means and kind of the world of Nil, which is going to. It's just fascinating because it's just. It's ever changing. I mean, daily, not just like weekly. Monthly. Daily.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, we're going to get a story a day. I feel like obviously all this. All. A lot of us are focused on UNLV now, so definitely want to ask Josie about that because it's going to be a story a day or at least weekly as it. As it all progresses. But you were just in Ohio. You were just in Ohio, right? You were at Ohio State.

[Matt Leinart]

I mean, I mean, listen, just easy dub for them. But more importantly, buddy, I mean, Jeter, I was gone. I was gone. How was the. I. I followed your life on Instagram. How was. How was the weekend?

[Jerry Ferrara]

So, yeah, I would have loved to have seen you in Columbus, but I went to the Bahamas. Now, look, folks, it still shocks me that I get this invitation. This is not like a, look how cool I am. I go to the Jeter invitation. I still can't believe I'm there. It takes everything to not.

[Matt Leinart]

Because once you're in, you're in.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right? But it's not. Yes. Although you could get banned if you don't act. If you don't act right, you could get a lifetime ban. But, you know, I grew up on those 90s Yankees team, so when you walk into a hotel to check in, and right behind you, it's like Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada. It's. It's just a wild experience as a baseball fan, and it was so fun to be there with all these hall of Fame baseball players and amazing baseball players. And then Ohtani does what he does. We'll talk about that later because we got to start locking into baseball as the playoffs are a week out.

[Matt Leinart]

What was. What was like, the best part of the weekend? I know you had. Wasn't it closest to the pin you. I. I saw you a little gambling in the casino. Like, yeah. What was the best part?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Now, I was also joined by my fellow entourage. Co Stars Kevin Connelly and Kevin Dillon. So it's always nice to, you know, in a land filled with athletes, to not be the only non athlete there. So that was cool. Closest to this pin, which we spoke about, what I did not know this year, last year, I didn't win. This year, I didn't win. What I didn't know is we were going to do. We were going to basically get roasted while swinging. Anthony Anderson, who we all love, was on the microphone with Ahmad Rashad roasting every player that came. It didn't matter who. It could have been cece Sabathia, me, Connelly. But sure enough, at one point, with like, four people to go, Kevin Connelly with his little hockey swing. Good, good little golf swing. Puts it on, and he's like six, seven feet away. It's like, oh, my God, I'm gonna have to hear about Kevin Connelly winning closest to the pin for the rest of my life. I was rooting for him, though. I wanted. I wanted one of us to represent. And sure enough, who do you think steps up the crime dog? Fred McGriff. Fred McGriff, one of the most beautiful, of course. He has a beautiful, of course, swing. And then he stuck it like four feet. He edged out Connelly by less than two feet, and they give him a champion. You get a championship belt.

[Matt Leinart]

I was going to say, what do you win?

[Jerry Ferrara]

You just get a championship belt.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, that's pretty cool.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you don't get a car.

[Matt Leinart]

You don't get a car or anything.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You don't get a car. You don't get any of that. You get. You get pride. But a few takeaways. There was a bunch of takeaways.

[Matt Leinart]

When you. When you get back together with the boys from Entourage, is it like, I know you talk to them. Is it like, dude, years haven't gone by? It's the same old shenanigans and all that with those guys.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes. So, you know, at one time, after one of the dinners, and so we went to go gamble, Kevin Dillon. This is as Kevin Dillon as it gets right here.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm already laughing. I don't even know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Hey, bro, we got to play some craps. I got a new method. It's called the Iron cross. I'm like, okay, let's go. So this. This sounds like an opening to a bad joke. It was me, Dylan Connelly, and Johnny Damon go walking up to a craps table. Now, Johnny Damon is, by the way, a stud. Loved hanging with him. Great fun. He's rocking on one hand. He's got the. The oh nine Yankees championship ring. On the other hand, he's got the O4 Red Sox championship ring. He's got them both on hair back, just looking amazing. And we all buy in for a bunch of money. And Dylan's telling us what to bet. And I lost my shirt. Johnny lost his shirt. Connelly lost. The only one who won was Dylan.

[Matt Leinart]

Wait, what's the iron? What? What's the Iron Cross?

[Jerry Ferrara]

The Iron Cross is basically, you're covering every number on the field. You're covering the field, you're covering the 6 and 8. You're basically not winning a lot, but you're also not losing a lot. And somehow, to the point where people were coming up to it, wasn't just us. Later, like Dexter Fowler and Cliff Floyd came up to Dylan and gave him the Iron Cross sign.

[Matt Leinart]

Isn't that the best around a craps table, when. When there's a couple guys, it gets rowdy, loud. All of a sudden there's just like 50 people just hollering, by the way, you can win a hell of a lot of money real quick. You can lose a hell of a lot of.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We got waved off at one point. I think there's some friend. I don't know if they were people at the event or there was. They're playing in the pit on the crap table, the high roller area. And one guy like waved us up to come hang out and another guy waved us off because they were on a heater. And I don't think they wanted us messing up the vibes of the table. But it was just, it was just awesome. Like, I played the first day with Cliff Floyd, the wife.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, Floyd. Yeah, Brie was there, right? Good. Little Brie was there. Guys, Brie was there on the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, I didn't really get to see her because the golf is every day, but Brie was at a water park. She was on the beach.

[Matt Leinart]

Did she get him? I mean, she's just chilling at that point. It's just like a vacation.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

You know, sealed friends, spend some time, have alone time and all that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But it was incredible, man. Yeah. And it was really humbling to see. Like I said, I mentioned Cliff Floyd playing with him the first day. And he's a good golfer. I don't know how long he's been golfing, but he's just ripping 340 yard drives. Just like, I don't need to hit in those situations. I'm just like, all right, we'll go play, we'll go play Cliffs. But you Matt have to just start playing for nothing else consistently, just to come.

[Matt Leinart]

I know, I know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It'd be good for throwbacks. It'll be good for throwbacks.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm telling you, the next time you come to la, we're playing in an event like that. Curious from your perspective, who, Who. Like, we talk about fandom and, like, hey, like, if I see an actor or someone, like, oh, dude, that's so and so. Who are you? Just like. I mean, Jeter is the captain. Jeter is kind of a God in baseball and sports. But is there someone that weekend that you're like, dude, that's. Dude, that's Fred McGriff. That's pretty rad. Was there someone there this weekend?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Last. Well, last year was Ken Griffey Jr. Yeah, I was. I was nervous.

[Matt Leinart]

He's a beast, dude. My favorite player.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I wanted to make golf shoes out of his old baseball shoe. I'm like, can we make that into a golf shoe? That would be amazing. You know, Jeter is always the one. And like I said, he's just always been very cool to me over the years. I haven't seen him a ton, but. Yeah. And what's cool about this event, they showed some video and it wasn't just like, oh, Jeter started doing really well with the Yankees and then years in, started this char. Like, there was a video of, like, him and his dad in 95 when he was you. I don't even think he had the ring yet. When he started, like, he was a. He was a child almost. He was like 20 years old. So turn two has been gone for a long time. And then the last part is the performance. The musical performance was Flo Rida, and, man, it's stuck in my head now for days. I can't get it out.

[Matt Leinart]

You posted. What was it?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Whistle. I can't get whistle out of my head. It's ingrained in my brain.

[Matt Leinart]

By the way, I saw Flow Rider in Vegas one night at a club. It was awesome. He's actually one of my favorite, favorite guys. Club can't handle me now. Underage.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you don't realize how many.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, he's got hits after hits.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, yeah. One after. I'm like, oh, my God. These are all. I remember being in a club when I heard this for the first time.

[Matt Leinart]

So it was a weekend, buddy. What a weekend.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. Got to see. It was really interesting to see Ohtani do some stuff and then all the, you know, all these baseball players and the vibe was very much, screw this guy, man.

[Matt Leinart]

It's not fair like this, because he's just so good.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He said, yeah, I. I mean, we.

[Matt Leinart]

Might get into it later, but I. I tweeted out, just like, I think he's the best player of all time. And I know he's got a lot of. Look, I know I. What? He's 36. Dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Is he 30?

[Matt Leinart]

I think he's 30. I think he's old. I thought he was, like, 26, 25. But look, I. I mean, Barry Bonds, in my opinion. I know you can talk about the asterisk, whatever. Like, Barry Bonds is just arguably the greatest player of all time. You can go back to Willie Mays and all that, but, like. Like, what he is doing, and he's not even pitching this year. That's the thing. Like, that dude could win. That dude might win a Triple Crown and a Cy Young in the same year. Like, that's possible. He's the only person on the planet that can do that. It's just that single. Single best performance I think we've ever seen in baseball, that game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, well, let's. Let's save it. We'll. We'll get into one, because I have a big question for you when. In regards to that and baseball and as we gear up for the playoffs. But I. I mean, big week in college football just passed, and we got a big week coming up. I figure, you know, I want to check in with you, and I know you. You know, this is what you do. You know, Big Noon is going. I don't even know where you're going. I can't wait to ask you where you're going next. But we're going to do liner. It's leaderboards. I'm just going to quick hit you a couple of easy questions just to get your temperature on what you're seeing. Okay. Because I can't do it the way you can. Are you ready?

[Matt Leinart]

I'm ready, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right. Liners, leaderboard. Who's the Heisman leader right now?

[Matt Leinart]

I think the Heisman leader, and this is based on the odds, is Cam Ward from Miami. Absolute stud. You know, came back to school, came from Washington State. Just has made Miami relevant again and a legit playoff team. I think he's playing really, really well. Travis Hunter is the other one. And we're actually. We're going to be at UCF Colorado this week, so be in Orlando for this game. Yeah. Which is cool. So Travis Hunter is just doing something that just. We don't see really, in any sport. We kind of just talked about Otani being A two way player, right, can pitch and can hit and all those things. But in football, what he's been able to do and we've seen a couple players in the past, you know, Charles Woodson is the one that won The Heisman in 97, I believe. But mainly as a defensive back. You know, he had a couple returns, had a couple things on offense, but like he just had one of those years and then he had that moment right where he had the part return, all that. Travis Hunter is elite on both sides of the ball. I think he's averaging like 130 snaps a game. Like think about that, dude, that is, that is mind boggling. And to be the best, like to be the best player on the field, arguably every time you're on the field, I, whatever side you want to go, hey, I'm going to be a corner today, okay? I'm going to be a top five pick in the court. Hey, I'm going to be a receiver today. I'm probably going to be a top 15 pick. Like it's bananas, dude. What he's doing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, his story is going to be interesting because you know, I again throwing it back to the days of Dion and Bo Jackson and two sport athletes. Something I don't think we'll ever see again.

[Matt Leinart]

Right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

And then you always hear about, you know, Russell Wilson. Yes, he's drafted by the Seahawks, but could have had a major league baseball career potentially. He was drafted. But this is different where you're doing two things in one sport. And is that even sustainable at an NFL level?

[Matt Leinart]

I don't know if it is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think that's a lot of snaps.

[Matt Leinart]

It's a lot of snaps. And again the, the, the step from college to pros is just different. You know, you're, you're lining up against Pro bowl receipt. I mean you could, you're just going to get worn out in the NFL. And that's not a discredit to Travis Hunter. It's just going to be for him to be an elite player on both sides of the ball at the next level. It's just, I wouldn't put it past him trying. I just don't see NFL is a different ballgame, man. It is a different ball game. And don't, don't you think this kid plays receiver, right? Think about this. He plays a series and he's running a couple routes and all that. Then all of a sudden the next series he's going, you know, like you don't think these quarterbacks are DK Metcalf or agent like, hey, dude, like, let's go pick on Trey. He just ran three go routes the series, right? Like, not like people are smart, they do that. College is a little different. So it'll be interesting though. He's a fascinating player, fascinating story. And I'm excited to see him see him this year.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what I wanted to ask you too. And I said this was going to be quick hit and now I'm starting to dive into.

[Matt Leinart]

It's fine, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know, you are unique in a sense because you know you won a Heisman and then you had a teammate win a Heisman, right? So at this stage, you know, four games in a third of the way in, a quarter of the way in, whatever you start here. And we all like to, like, we're talking about it today. Million other shows are going to talk about the Heisman. What is that like in the locker room when even your team knows, like, all right, you're a candidate. Yeah, you know what? I know you're not supposed to focus on that because it's a team sport and you guys are chasing championships as well. Some teams only really have the Heisman candidate. See, they're not.

[Matt Leinart]

It's pretty, dude, it's pretty cool. Like for me, I was obviously different, you know, the year, the year I won, I didn't really think much of it because it kind of like you always talk about like games and moments. My Heisman moment at that point was Notre Dame. And that was like, hey, national television. I threw for 400 yards, five touchdowns two years prior. Carson Palmer wanted at USC, kind of in the same game. So I kind of knew going into that game, like, hey, dude, this is kind of a moment. But I never really focused on it. And to be honest, that year now when I came back from my senior year, I had zero pressure on me about the Heisman. I was, I finished third. But I could care less for Reggie. We all knew our coaches, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkeesian, and they would probably tell you this, like, we were trying to get him the Heisman Trophy every single week. Like, that was like, Reggie, a, you go do your thing, you go be the best player in college football. The play callers are going to figure out ways to get you touches. They're going to figure out ways to make sure that you are having that type of season. Me as a quarterback, the same thing. We were all. So for your question, like, we were just like, hell yeah, dude, let's get Reggie. Let's have back to back Heisman. This is going to be sick. Like, we're like, he's going to get the Heisman Trophy now. It's, It's. It's more up to the player, obviously, to make sure you're focusing on, hey, like, if I play well, that's going to come regardless, you know, so it was pretty cool, man, to, To. To be. To share the backfield with him as a Heisman winner. But, yeah, I mean, there, There's. I didn't feel a whole lot of pressure, expectations.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So, yeah. So my only. My only experience of it is. Do you remember the movie, the program?

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, of course, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

To me, that's the best. That's the best. Even. I'll even say NFS is the best football movie of all time. But the way they handled the. The Heisman stuff with Joe Kane and against Tim, he could go all the wayman. But just how, like, oh, he had. He had one bad game, the team lost. His Heisman hopes are over. The only other way I try to relate to it is, you know, Adrian and I joke about this with Entourage all the time. Grenier and I were the only two who never got nominated for any Emmys or Golden Glob Globes. And it's funny, but I had a front row seat to Kevin Dylan, who we spoke about earlier, who had four nominations. I remember seeing a scene where I'm like, yep, that's going to be in his presentation reel. Oh, yeah, that's the one that they're going to. They're going to roll out.

[Matt Leinart]

But. But in. But in. But in a scene like that, like, obviously, when you read a. Okay, when you read a script or you're doing that day. Do. Do you. When you read it, you're like, beforehand. Because you don't really know. I'm trying to think like you. You probably envision how a scene is going to play out clearly, right? And that for you personally, like, when you're about to do a. When you're reading a script, you're like, oh, shit, dude, this is gonna be 100% great. This is gonna be great television. Or like, I'm gonna deliver the shit out of this. Like, this would be great. So you had that feeling. That's cool.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And it doesn't always work out that smoothly, but with Dylan, you know, I would always. We'd always go to the table reading and a scene would play and get laugh. You get a laugh in the table reading. It's usually funny. And I swear I took the approach of like a point guard, almost like I'm just Gonna feed these dudes lobs. You know, I'm just gonna, like, tee him up and see how far he could hit it because he's gonna. Yeah. Pivot. Won three Emmys in a row.

[Matt Leinart]

I was gonna say Piven was a pivot.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He repeated.

[Matt Leinart]

I mean, he was a genius. Like, he was.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So he three peed.

[Matt Leinart]

Does he? Does he. I love, like, how much. I think we've talked about how much improv was on that show. I know. I know that. I think you said, like, the Brady scene was improv, right, Or.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, some of it was. I do have to say, Matt, not as much as you would think. Yeah. Really was on the page. Like, those scripts were ready to go. I think what we always did was we get it as scripted.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And then we get, like, a free take and let it fly. And look, a lot of times the free ones suck. You know, it's a free one. So. No, there wasn't a ton. There was always some, but there was not as much as you would think.

[Matt Leinart]

I will save it, especially because when we get your boys on.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, we're going to get the boys.

[Matt Leinart]

Like, I am always, to me, like, when guys break character and just start laughing. And I'm sure you've been a part of that on that show. We don't. I want to get into. I want. When we're all together, because I've been on that. I've been a part of that with our show where it's just like, dude, you just can't stop. And live TV is obviously different than acting.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Way different.

[Matt Leinart]

But sometimes live, it's like, you know, it's like Barkley and. And Shaq and those guys sometimes. When it sometimes makes the best tv. I. I cannot wait to hear some of the stories of just like the behind the scenes and all that, because I can't imagine, like, dude, like, Dylan has got to just.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I probably got a bunch of straight face.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I have a list of stuff for when we get those guys. And we're going to do that one hopefully in person.

[Matt Leinart]

I can.

[Jerry Ferrara]

In our studio and do it like that. All right. Did you like how I said we're going to do quick hitting liner leaderboard. And we just.

[Matt Leinart]

This is what. Throwbacks. We just throw back all the time. This is what we're all about. We go. We can go from Heisman. Heisman candidates to reading scripts.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Next one for liners. Leaderboard. Who's the best team in the nation right now?

[Matt Leinart]

For you, dude. For me. So right now, Texas is ranked 1, and I would say. I would say they. I would say Texas. And I only reason why is because obviously they have a big win against Michigan on the road. I don't know how great Michigan is coming out. They beat USC last week. That's better than what I. And I would have Ohio State too. Ohio State has been dominant. I think Ohio State, when it's all said and done, once they kind of get into this, they might end up be that you can debate both those teams. I think Texas, even with Arch Manning right now, Quin Ewers nursing injury, probably number one. But at this point, look, Texas going to get in the meat of an SEC schedule. Ohio State's going to get into the meat of a Big Ten schedule as it usually does. It'll all play itself out. But those two teams are loaded, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Last one. What's your biggest surprise in the name? It could be a player or a team. Just something you're surprised by you didn't see coming coming in.

[Matt Leinart]

The biggest surprise. That's a good question. I, I kind of think like Tennessee to me is such a. Yeah, Tennessee, like Tennessee. And put it this way, SEC has kind of been Georgia and Bama. If what it feels like the last 20 years, mainly Alabama and then Georgia the last handful of years. Maybe it's a changing of the guard. I don't know. Like the 12 team playoff. There's going to get a lot of teams in there. But. But this year in particular, like Tennessee's really good Ole Miss. I think this is Lane's best team. So not necessarily surprised, but like just keep an eye on those types of teams. Also like Penn State is kind of flying under the radar and they're. They got a, they got a big one this weekend. But. And then. Yeah, I mean, and then, you know, usually then teams just aren't as good as we think they are in the preseason and all that. So. It's been fun though, man. And this is kind of like week four or five we're getting into now. It's starting to get like, like there's good games week in, a week out, which is exciting.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, it's getting to the point where it's getting very hard to figure out which is a perfect segue into our kind of final thoughts on week three moving into week four in the NFL. I am as confused as ever. I tried doing this like spiderweb approach where it's okay, so Giants get blown out by Minnesota. That means the Giants stink because Minnesota is not good. But then Minnesota beats San Francisco and go and wins Again, Minnesota is actually good, so maybe the Giants aren't that bad. But then they lose to Washington. Washington, we know stinks, but then Washington goes out, it beats the Bengals. So at the end of the day, we know nothing still.

[Matt Leinart]

That's how it always is, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But I found myself trying to. Okay, this is what I was trying to figure out. Which teams at least have identities in this world of parody that we live in, where anyone could beat anyone week in, week out. And that's going to probably be that way to the playoffs. But which team now have true. Hey, I know the identity of this team. I know what they need to do, what they want to do. And the question will be, will they do it? I have a few.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And I think they have staying power.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I think, I think the Chiefs go without saying, right? We don't even need to get into them. I think.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, but they're closers, right? Wouldn't you say that they're. They're identity is.

[Matt Leinart]

But we just. But yeah, we just know at the end of the day, the Chiefs will be in the mix to win a Super Bowl. Obviously. Health. Health aside, like that. We just know that. I think Buffalo is the same. Buffalo is in the same boat. Right? Buffalo's off to a great start. Now, have they had success in the playoffs and beating you? No, but I, I even would put the jets in there, dude. Like, I just. I just think the jets are 2 and 1. I just, I, I have a lot of trust in Aaron Rodgers and, and what they're doing here. Here's. Here's two teams that I'm not necessarily buying right now. And I'm curious if you agree. Seattle is 3, 0. They've beaten the Broncos, the Patriots and the Dolphins minus tua.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

So that's why, like, like, it's a good team. And you know, they're a top, obviously the NFC west, but like, that's why you just have to kind of wait and see. The Steelers. Now the Steelers, I think we might disagree on this. But the Steelers, I trust Tomlin, I trust the organization, I trust the culture. I trust all of those things. This team is averaging 17 points per game. They've beaten the Broncos and they beat the Chargers without Justin Herbert. So like, like, they're there. And by the way, but like, again, so sometimes you have to kind of like, like, by the, like, to your point, the Giants. The Giants might be better than we think because they, I mean, Minnesota, Seattle might not be as good as we think. I. I don't know. Like, do you agree on the Steelers?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like, I. I feel like, yeah. I. I think the Steelers, though, to me, when talking about identity, I think they, after the course. And Mahomes, who I equate now thinking about the other day, being around all these Yankees, it's like these are like the 90s Yankees like. And Mahomes turns into Mariano coming out of the bullpen with one minute left. You just know, you give him the ball, it's over. The Steelers, to me, have an identity. It's amazing. Defense, TJ Watt is a man possessed. Fields only one pick. He's been. I don't even think they've really let him go intentionally. They're trying to keep turnovers down. I think he's getting more confident. It's clear. They to me, have a very clear identity. And they got a nice little lead in a wild division.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, that. And that's a big thing with them is like, can. But can they. Can they win playing the way they are? I mean, I said they're averaging 17 points per game. Typically in the NFL, we always say if you're getting a touchdown a quarter, right. If you're getting 28 points a game, you're winning a whole hell of a lot of games.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Can you win 24?

[Matt Leinart]

Can you win that way, you know, consistently? And maybe they can because if you said, like, Tomlin is fantastic coach, I. I'm just not as, like, I just want to see more because I think Baltimore will end up coming back in that division. Cincinnati is in all types of trouble, dude. Like, I like Owen and now they got a battle. I.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Again, you can't script this stuff any better. The simulation is working really well. Dalton goes in and beats the Bengals.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, the red rifle is back.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So. Yeah. And I found such a hard time breaking down that, like, Commander's Bengals game was that bad Bengals or just really good Daniels and really good Commander? I. I think it was good Commanders. They were the better team.

[Matt Leinart]

I mean, Burrow played. I mean, they scored, what, 33 points? I mean, they played their ass off. How about real quick on the Red Rifle? I played against Andy Dalton when he was in the playoff game when I was in Houston when he was in Cincinnati.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Wow.

[Matt Leinart]

That's how old I'm getting, dude. 12, I think he was a rookie. It was either 2011, 2010, or 11. We were in Houston and we hosted them and they came and we beat them. We ended up beating them, but he was the quarterback of that team.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. If the Panthers and Andy Dalton beat the Bengals, then, whoa, that's going to be problem. We'll, we'll, we'll talk about teams that need W's, but also I the another just strictly confusing team are the Raiders. You know, they had that great come from behind win over the Ravens and they go just lay a stinker. And then Antonio Pierce, who is my guy, you know, he's a Super bowl champion. He was part of that 07 team. I have him near and dear to my heart. He was an awesome, awesome giant defender in the history books to me because he talked a lot and he backed it up now as a coach and he did the whole players are making business decisions and what's your feeling on when a coach publicly says stuff like that and then do players actually make business decisions? Look, personally I would. If this game's over, I'm not trying to be out here getting hurt, but I'm not an NFL football player.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I mean, listen, dude, it's all, it all depends on the situation. I'm not exactly sure. You know, maybe we can do a little research and try to figure out who he was talking about.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Has to be a defensive player, right? Has to be.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, one. Anytime a coach says that there's something going on in the locker room, there's something going on behind the scenes which isn't great. You know, obviously I think Minshew is starting this week, but he came out and said talked about the quarterback situation. So that's one thing that can divide a locker room. And then when a coach is publicly saying, hey, there's guys like that's going to now be addressed within the locker room. It's going to now be addressed in these team meetings. And by the way, I wouldn't put it past Antonio Pierce if he is literally dude. So the day after a game when we go into a team meeting, win or lose, typically coaches will pull a handful of plays and they will just call you out in front of the whole team quarterback. We cannot, we cannot, we cannot turn the ball over like this. To win a game, you got to get better liner. Whatever. Hey, devonte Adams. What? You know, like whatever, dude, that wouldn't. He might have pulled some plays up from the film and within that locker room and then what does that do? To your point, what does that do to the locker room? I have never been on a team where now if it's a contract year and there's a disgruntled player and there's, you know, those types of, types of circumstances, maybe they just say, hey, I'm my hamstrings tight Guys, my hamstrings tight, that stuff, that is a business decision. But during a game, I can't remember a time but, but an injury where say like, hey, I got a hamstring, I'm not going to play that hap. That happens more than you think.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So Raiders are at home against the Browns this week, which is just another mess. I was pretty.

[Matt Leinart]

The Raiders 2 and 1 or 1 and 2?

[Jerry Ferrara]

The Raiders are 1 and 2.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So Browns, as we know after my I, I swore to myself I'm not going to make this a Giants heavy podcast this up this week because. But it was a beautiful win. I barely got to see it. They were in Cleveland. I was not here. So I'm going to be watching that game because I think the loser of that game, I think Antonio Pierce maybe gets on the hot seat a little bit or if they manage to win and if the Browns are now one in three losing to the Giants and the Raiders back to back, do we start. You know everyone's going to start to have the Jameis Winston conversation, right?

[Matt Leinart]

I mean, I think that's probably already happening. Look, I don't know if you can. I mean, dude, you're paying the dude $50 million.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But at some point, I get that. At some point, if it's not working. And look what you, if you look what you did with Flacco, right? That's what wants the fancy coach of the year for a second time is because he had five quarterbacks last year. He managed to put 10. 10.

[Matt Leinart]

I think it depends on. It depends on how he plays. If they lose this game and they struggle because they they played decent last week, so they lose this game, then maybe there's some talks and it's early. Dude, I know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They were spotted a seven point lead. The Giants fumbled the kickoff, gave the Browns the ball on the eight. They score right away. They basically spot. And this is the Giants we're talking about. Spotted the Browns seven points and got a very conservative in the fourth quarter. But pretty much for three and a half quarters were in control of every moment of that game. And then they got real conservative and scared.

[Matt Leinart]

Deshaun Watson was 200 yards, a couple touchdowns, no interceptions. I'm glad I glad I benched Amari Cooper. In my fantasy he finally had a game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, also, I got to admit something. I was wrong. I know we're going to come at you for a take that is controversial. I had to take earlier. It might have been in the first episode of this podcast for all I know another team that has an identity is the Green Bay Packers. And what that Identity is, is LaFleur is an amazing coach and he's on his way to start getting some coach of the year talks because what he did with Malik Willis was great. I talked about, yeah, Jordan Love is going to be great. The receivers, they have a bunch of young guys who's going to emerge. Reed's kind of emerged. But the defense is a lot better than anybody thought. I.

[Matt Leinart]

What did I. What I. What I tell you with young quarterbacks and coaching, man, you get them in a situation where you play to their strengths, you don't put too much on their plate. Obviously, they have some good players around him. And all of a sudden, Malik Willis, you know, didn't work out in Tennessee. Now he's thriving and good for him because he's playing himself into a nice little contract somewhere.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Even whether it's backing up Love, maybe getting a shot, depending on. Yeah, I assume Love is back pretty soon.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Not betting against him again. I. I bet him against him for two weeks.

[Matt Leinart]

To your point, LaFlore and, and that system and Shannon, I can't. I can't pound the table enough for those. That tree of coaches and what they can do to a quarterback. I can't. It's. It's. It's unreal. OConnell as well with. With Darnold, well, that's going to be.

[Jerry Ferrara]

A fun matchup, too. We got our first real divisional game with some stakes with Vikings, packers, and Jordan Love may be back. Who knows? But either way, that's going to be a fun one. So that brings me to our next kind of fun NFL thing. Who needs it the most? It's so hard to pick one. So I have one, but you could almost pick any team.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, I mean, I already. I'm picking the Bengals. Dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're picking the Bengals?

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I mean, so they go 04. No team has made the playoffs going for. Since 1992. The only team who's done it, the Chargers in 92, I want to say.

[Matt Leinart]

And look, it's like. It's like they're.03 and now they play Carolina, who. There's. There's a little more incentive there with Andy Dalton and just, you know, that. That kind of makes it a fun story. Right? Or surrounding this game. Carolina, like, scored a lot of points last week and I just say this, like, the Bengals lost to the Patriots. We know the Patriots aren't a very good team. There's a lot of. There's a lot going on with Cincinnati. Right. Now, I would not. I mean, look, I would. I don't know what the, the spread is. I think it might be a touchdown. I just, I wouldn't be shocked if Carolina wins this game. And holy hell.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So that means if you lost, that means you lost to the Patriots, the Commanders, and the Panthers. And you haven't even started your divisional games yet, which I think are the week after against the Ravens.

[Matt Leinart]

I just think they, they, they need it because O and three, you're. You're. You're. You're hanging on by a thread. One and three. Okay. All right. We can build right then the next. I don't know who they play next week, but then you get. All of a sudden you're 2 and 3, and then you're right there. Like it's a long season.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're.

[Matt Leinart]

You're kind of right there. And you're in a division where, you know, the Browns aren't very good, obviously, that we talked about the Steelers, but the Steelers are, you know, they're not a juggernaut right now. So. Yeah, it's going to be interesting.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, dumb, dumb fan take, too. This is what fans like me think. If the Bengals find themselves owing 4.05. At what point do you start saying, maybe we like it? Burrow the rest of the year off. Get that wrist in shape. I know you don't do that.

[Matt Leinart]

You don't do that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I totally understand. You don't.

[Matt Leinart]

And he wouldn't do that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And he wouldn't do that. But it crosses my mind because I'm thinking of longevity. And I love Joe Burrow. I want him healthy. All right? For me, you're probably gonna hate this one, but it's the Bears, and here's why. I know the expectations work high going into this season for the most part, but things have looked so bad with the offensive line. DeAndre Swift has, you know, they spent a lot of money on DeAndre not performed. You know, they're playing the Rams at home. Rams are good.

[Matt Leinart]

And come on. Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But you lose this one, you drop down the 1 and 3. That's a big problem. But if you could somehow steal this one, if you're the Bears at home, I know you shouldn't be stealing games at home. And they are the favorites. I believe. You hold court at home. You go two and two. Then you got the Panthers, then you got the Jags. Who's another team who needs to win? The Commanders. The Patriots. So you get four more games in a row with winnable before you start getting into your division game. I think this is a big one.

[Matt Leinart]

For the dude, our boy. We had Kutcher on episode one. He texted. Yeah, he texted me Sunday. He's like, I take back my playoff. I go. I go, bro, you need an offensive line, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, you just know if they lose and they go one and three, it's going to start falling on Caleb and you can start hearing that chirping. The coaches for sure going to be maybe the next one or the first one on the hot seat. All the chirping is really going to start if they're.

[Matt Leinart]

That division is so hard, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Minnesota three and. Oh, Detroit two and one. We know Detroit's a legit team. Green Bay two. And I mean that, like, three teams from that division could make the playoffs.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's going to get ugly. It's going to get ugly.

[Matt Leinart]

And listen, it's a learning curve, man. Welcome to the NFL. You know, you. You. You take these years. You learn from them. But yeah, man, they. That. That's a good call because the Rams are. The Rams are sneaky good, even with all the injuries.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Really quick before we hit the break, too. I know the Giants play tonight against the Cowboys. They haven't beaten the Cowboys in 100 years at home. And I know the Giants aren't good.

[Matt Leinart]

Cowboys are coming out with a vengeance.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I know it's such a bad setup. I just wanted. I wanted the Cowboys to beat the Ravens just so they weren't coming into this game so pissed off and desperate.

[Matt Leinart]

You. Are you glued to the couch tonight?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm glued. They sucked me back in.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And my said, you buried Danny Dimes. You're off the wagon now. You're back. This is. They sucked me back in and I hate it. But I'm going to be glued tonight before.

[Matt Leinart]

Before we go to break, we're getting. We're going to get Danny Dimes on the pod and you're going to confront him and I'm going to.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I feel like he's going to confront me.

[Matt Leinart]

If they ran your mouth, he's too. That. He's too nice of a guy. But I'm going to stir the pot between you two for sure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you know. Do you have a relationship with him or you. Never.

[Matt Leinart]

I don't. I don't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

What better way to start? Just like us on the podcast. All right, we'll take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to get to our Wendy's can't get enough sauce moment of the week. And Maddie's, the wifey's wife. Josie who might become a permanent pod may kick Matt off and I'll do the pod with Josie. Coming up next. What if I told you there was a way for your favorite team to keep scoring points even during timeouts and commercial breaks? You'd probably be all over that, right? Well, we want to help you do the same thing with your money.

[Matt Leinart]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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

[Matt Leinart]

You can choose between flavors like buffalo, you got honey barbecue, garlic parm. Or if you're a real heat seeker, you can try Spicy Ghost Pepper only on Wendy's signature Spicy Nugs. I dare you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

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

[Matt Leinart]

For a whole new way to nug, it's got to be Wendy's at participating us Wendy's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium Wireless 3030 but you get 30 get 202020 but you 2020 but you get 151515 15. Just 15 bucks a month. So give it a [e-mail] Switch 45.

[Josie Leinart]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, it's time for one of my favorite parts of the show, the can't get enough sauce moment of the week, brought to you by Wendy's. Big shout out to Wendy's. Every week, Matt and I kind of highlight a player or team did something positive on or off the field. Matt, this one kind of pains me. I have to do it because I have to tell the truth, but this one hurts to say out loud.

[Matt Leinart]

Tell me.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm going with Saquon Barkley. I'm going with Saquon because, you know, you and I were on the Dan Patrick show a few weeks ago. Recently, after he had the drop, Saquon was scheduled on the Dan Patrick show the next day. Paulie, the producer, tweeted out that it was a cancellation. He wasn't ready to quite talk, but.

[Matt Leinart]

I don't blame him. I don't blame him.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, he reached out personally to the show. Something Paulie said in all his years, he never saw. And then after my New York Football Giants get their first win, Saquon calls Danny Dimes, his former teammate, to congratulate him on the win and pump him up. I just thought that was awesome. You don't hear stories like that much in the NFL. Saquon, you're my guy also.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, take it. First of all, taking accountability. You know, he dropped the ball and that they probably win the game. So he took full responsibility. Even though Sirianni and everybody else was taking. He. It is what it is. And then to reach out to the producer. I saw that too. That's. That's awesome. You don't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Fantastic.

[Matt Leinart]

Just. Athletes don't do that. And then to congratulate Danny Dimes for just what he's been through, the criticism, Saquon Barkley, all around. Great dude, great player. Crushing it, by the way. I know. I'm sorry for your Giants because they don't have him anymore, but I'm happy for him. All right, so I'm actually going to stay in the NFL. And dude, I'm going with the Red Rocket. I'm going with the Red Rifle. Okay? And we talked about this last week. We talked about Bryce Young and. And obviously that. And then it was. I think we said, like, what if Andy Dalton just goes out and balls, then what happens to Bryce? And that's certainly what happened. Three, what, 320 yards, three touchdowns. And now, by the way, this week, he gets to play his former team in the Cincinnati Bengals, which we're in the simulation.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We're in the simulation part of the.

[Matt Leinart]

Look, I think, I think big picture, good for Bryce. He gets to learn from Andy Dalton. But how about Andy Dalton? I think. And then I have two 300 yard passing games. In his only two starts for the Panthers, he started a game last year that's more than any of Bryce Young's 18 starts. Both. I know, but I wanted to give a shout out to Andy Dalton. It is not easy to be a backup quarterback in the NFL, especially after you played for a long time and he just went out there and just, just dealt. So shout out to the Red Rocket.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Can't get enough. And shout out to Wendy. Yeah, shout out to Wendy's. Thank you for sponsoring that segment. And hopefully, you know, our guest doesn't cancel on us like Saquon did. I feel like, though, we get a little inside info if our guest was going to cancel on us.

[Matt Leinart]

All right, how about this? So this is pretty exciting. You know, we talked about our podcast and we're talking about we're going to have our wives on the show and it's going to be mainly about why maybe they. Why we didn't pick up the dog shit in the backyard or what we didn't get the kids and all this and the chaotic lives that we live. And our wives are the best. But we are going to bring on my wife, and I don't even call her by her first name. I call her Babe, but I'm going to call her Josie Leinert. What's up, babe?

[Josie Leinart]

Hi.

[Matt Leinart]

Because my wife wears a lot of hats, okay? She is a super mom, a super wife, a super friend, a super daughter. She is everything but one of the big hats she wears. She is a lawyer and she covers nil and all things going on. And Jerry, this week has been a wild week in the nil space. We had my boy Reggie earlier in the week, talk about his lawsuit versus ncaa, usc. We'll see where that goes. But more recently, this UNLV story. So first of all, babe, thank you for joining the Throwback Show. How are you?

[Josie Leinart]

I am great. Thank you for having me. It has been one hell of a morning so far.

[Matt Leinart]

Please do tell. Why the boys crying this morning?

[Josie Leinart]

Honestly, I don't know about you, but I am a little terrified that our four year old is going to run into your room or my room. Fitzy's home sick from school. So that may happen. But we did everything in our power to keep that from happening.

[Matt Leinart]

I just I just gave him candy and said, stay here for, like, the next. Yeah, I don't care for the. You said, by the way, 9am you said, go tell him we're gonna take him to ice cream later. I said, okay, I'm gonna get. I'm gonna. I'm gonna give him candy anyway. Yeah. Jerry, what do we got, man?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, look, first of all, I want to thank you, Josie, because, like, you're tackling a subject that I thought I knew a lot about. I spent a lot of time this morning on your Instagram account. We are underscore nil, by the way. Go to that Instagram account if you really want to learn a little bit and figure out what's going on. But I'm not very bright and have a hard time following things. What exactly is Reggie Bush kind of saying here with this lawsuit? Like, what's. What's not. What's the point? What is he going after? Like, previous when he played or even years after he played?

[Josie Leinart]

Well, what Reggie Bush is doing is pretty much the same thing that we've been seeing with the House v. Ncaa. And then we also had the Michigan football players recently filed a lawsuit in Michigan. But that lawsuit and Reggie's lawsuit is slightly different because the statute of limitations for antitrust cases is 4 years. So. Which is why the House of Encaa case only applies. Well, that settlement only applies to athletes that played from 2016 to 2020, because 2020 was when that case was originally filed. Reg is kind of opening up a can of worms for athletes that played prior to 2016, same with the Michigan football players. So that is, you know, I think that when the House v. NCAA and Allison came out and all of those things, I think the NCAA was thinking, well, if we just get our arms around this lawsuit, if we just figure out how with this settlement, we can, you know, appease those players between 2016 and 2020, we'll be in the clear and we can move on. But now, this kind of through plot twist and the whole. Yes, exactly. So this would really open, I think, even a bigger can of worms than.

[Matt Leinart]

We'Re already in the big story. Which kind of brings us to this next story out of unlv. And there's a lot of he said, she said going on, and reports continue to come out. But as an attorney, and I've asked you this, the UNLV quarterback, basically what happened was, is he was promised something, a certain amount of money. It is alleged now it's about a hundred thousand dollars to play for UNLV to come. He hasn't been paid that apparently, according to his representation. And the big thing for me is there wasn't a written agreement, which I know you see a lot of these contracts. And so there was a verbal handshake. According. What. What does that mean? So, like, what grounds does he have? Can he. Can he file a lawsuit against the school? What does that mean if it's just a verbal handshake versus, obviously having a written agreement.

[Josie Leinart]

Okay. So there's something called the statute of frauds. And the statute of frauds that says that certain agreements over a certain amount of money have to be memorialized in a written agreement. And if it's not in a written agreement, then, you know, poo for you. That's what you should have done. And we're not going to recognize this. However, one of the exceptions. And so clearly, if there's no written agreement here, someone can claim statute of fraud. But one of the exceptions to the statute of frauds is partial performance. So here, I mean, obviously we don't know the terms and everything that. That transpired between these two parties, but you can imagine that there was more than partial performance. I mean, this guy allegedly moved to Las Vegas to play. He played, and he did receive a certain amount of money. He certainly didn't receive the full amount of money that he's alleging he was promised, but he was. He was compensated. So there's performance on both sides of the aisle. And, you know, I don't think that statute of frauds is going to be an argument here, so. Absolutely. Just because there's not a written agreement doesn't mean that there's not an agreement. And I'm sure that there's going to come out from here on out. We're going to see, you know, there's. Sure, there's email correspondence, text messages, and they'll piecemeal a. An agreement from those terms that. That counts. It's not formal. It's not the right way to do things. Absolutely. But it absolutely counts.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. I. Is this sort of opening the floodgates, though? Like, do you think we're just going to see a lot more because of the, you know, informal way some of these deals are being done? Like, this can't be the only case. Right. This is going to be a floodgate opening up with this? I think it's.

[Josie Leinart]

I don't think it's a floodgate opening up. I think that unfortunately, a lot of these nil transactions are going down just like this, which for me, I don't understand because NIL is such big business. There's. It's asinine to think that, like, companies are doing business on a handshake when people are moving across the country to play for a specific team. And, you know, it just makes no sense to me why these things aren't being taken seriously. But as it, you know, opening the floodgates. No, I mean, this is how a lot of this business is being transacted. And if it continues, you know, going like this, you know, where there's. These obligations aren't being fulfilled. Yeah, there's going to be litigation about it, obviously.

[Matt Leinart]

I talked to Josie a lot, Jerry, about just. And she. And she could speak better than I can, but just the bad. I think the one of the biggest worries for me when NIL became legalized was, okay, these kids need to be careful of the representation, the agents, the marketing, whoever it is. A lot of bad apples out there, basically telling them. And I told you before the show, like, there's. There's. There's these market values that these people go off of that are just phantom. They're phantom numbers.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right?

[Matt Leinart]

Like, it's not. This isn't NFL free agency. And these players hold out because, hey, the market is this. These are what the top 10 running backs in the NFL are making. This is what I'm like, there really isn't that. And a lot of these deals are just. Whether they're handshakes, they're verbal, they're promises. There's a lot of empty promises. And that's why we're seeing a lot of kids leave. We're seeing. But we're also seeing a lot of misrepresentation and agents promising, hey, you can do this. If you go to this school, and it just doesn't come to fruition. I want to call you Bay, but I'm trying to be professional. Gosh, the House.

[Josie Leinart]

The House.

[Matt Leinart]

The House versus NCAA will fix some of this, right?

[Josie Leinart]

Or some of it. Yeah, some of it. But as of right now, the settlement hasn't been approved. So there was no preliminary approval from the judge a couple weeks ago. And actually, the next hearing is tomorrow, so we're gonna see how the NCAA went back to the drawing board and came up with something else. Because there was a big issue. Well, the biggest issue that the judge had was their provision that there would be a third party that would kind of dictate, like, all agreements over $600 they would approve or reject. And that was, you know, the NCAA and, you know, all of the different conferences that are also co Defendants, that was their way to get their arms around the collectives. And the judge said, that is not going to fly here. So the defendant said, hey, this is probably going to. This could be a deal breaker for my client. So they were sent back to the drawing board and we'll see what they come up with tomorrow. Because if this blows up, then there is no settlement. Then we go to trial. And I don't see why the NCAA would ever go to trial because they're going to end up bankrupt.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Matt Leinart]

Can this. Can. Can. If he was promised and there's receipts and like you said, email threads or whatever, can he sue UNLV for the amount of money that he wasn't promised?

[Josie Leinart]

Yeah, absolutely. Of course.

[Matt Leinart]

That's wild.

[Josie Leinart]

That's how it works. But I just don't know how this stuff is happening without a written agreement. And I think, I think the problem. There are some collectives that are so well run. And now that the red tape was removed between the universities and the collectives, we've seen a lot of collectives go in house and are now, you know, under the umbrella of the university. And there's going to be a lot more regulation that comes now that there is that, you know, transparency between the university and the collective. They're working together, blah, blah, blah. But beyond that, like, a lot of these deals took place prior to that rule coming into effect. And I think that these collectives are just running by the seat of their pants and promising money that they don't have and are trying to scrap together, and agreements aren't being made properly. I wouldn't be surprised if we, if we see more of these issues, you know, come up as the season transpires. So we'll see.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I just think it's wild to be that age. I try to think back to even when I was, like, coming up with acting. And a lot of this brings me back to, like, I have an agent and a manager and a lawyer. And sometimes I'm wondering, what is everyone doing here? Right. Like, how. What. Yeah, what do you need all these people. But then you start hearing about something that's pretty brand new at this point and see how, you know, then the parents are involved. And I watched you speak a lot too, on the. On your We Are Nil Instagram account, just about speaking to the player. The kids, I call them kids. With all due respect, they're young men and women.

[Josie Leinart]

Yes.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And just what they. What to expect. And that's the work I, I want to see happen, too, because I remember being young And I remember even making some money and having a friend ask me to, hey, can I borrow a thousand bucks? I got a business idea. And I wish I had someone telling me, hey, for you to make a thousand, you have to make like 2200 to clear a thousand dollars. And I actually ask you for a thousand, they're asking you for 2200. And are we going to start seeing more like. Like I said, you guys spoke up about it on the Instagram account. I feel like we have to start seeing that more.

[Josie Leinart]

Seeing what?

[Jerry Ferrara]

More specific people talking to the people, whether they're lawyers, agents, taking accountability and not just helping the players make deals and make money. But actually, I mean, you parents. But not everyone has parents out there that also have the background to help.

[Josie Leinart]

Yeah, well, one of the things that struck me about this was because when this story first came out, and mind you, it's just been a couple hours. So even in the last couple hours it's been developing. I am, I think right now he's being repped by Equity Sports, which is a really big agency. I don't know if they were behind the deal back earlier this year and they brokered the deal. I don't know. Yeah, but my whole thing is I don't know how an agent brokers this deal and doesn't have something written like that's your job. That's why you go out and you hire an agent. Because you don't know any better. So you're putting all of your eggs in their basket and hoping that they friggin protect you. It was their job to protect him. I think that that was completely fumbled on the agent's, the agent's behalf, mind you. Again, I don't know who the agent was at the time. Whether that was Equity Sports or not, I don't know. But the fact that you don't have a written agreement that you can't come back and say, yo, these are the terms and this was not fulfilled, that to me is just. I don't, I don't get it. From a lawyer's point of view. I just don't get it. And if I had a son, I would never allow them to just follow through on a handshake.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, this is why you get married to a lawyer, Jerry. You just protect.

[Josie Leinart]

I'm getting upset. I'm actually.

[Matt Leinart]

My blood pressure, I would say, I would say, like, yeah, I think, I think all sides probably fumbled this based on what we've seen so far. And it continues to come out more and more stories. But I think Jared, to your point too, we're seeing, I think it's like an educational piece, right? We're seeing 17, 18 year old kids now in high school. Right. And a lot of states can make money off their nil. California included them. You know, we live in a state where these high school kids can make money. We are seeing more and more colleges offer up like financial literacy courses and just educational courses to what you're talking about, like whether it's learning how to what a contract is or whether it's taxes, like just basic financial 101. Because now they're all, they're like they're getting taxed. Like they're all these things that these kids have no idea what. Like I didn't know at 18, you know, obviously I wasn't making money, but at 18 I would have known what to do. And Josie and her firm are doing a lot like speaking across the country and speaking to classes and teams and all that and just educating them, which I think we need. Yeah, but it's wild. It's going to be interesting to see the precedent that this may start with. A lot of the, you know, this isn't the only deal in college football or college athletics where a school hasn't up, allegedly upheld their side of a deal. It'll be interesting. It's just we haven't seen it happen mid season. Right? Yeah, season, which that is what's wild. Like you talk about like holdouts in the NFL, they're holding out preseason and they're trying to get a deal done and maybe it leaks over to one game, but at the end of the day, usually those deals get done. This is three games in to a team, to a starting quarterback, a team that's undefeated right now.

[Josie Leinart]

So my question to you because obviously if again these are all allegations and things are developing literally as we're talking right now, but if everything that's come out thus far is true, he had grounds to do what he did, to pull out, to redshirt, blah, blah, blah. They didn't follow, they didn't fulfill the agreement. Fine. But I'm like, how does that affect you as a player? As how does that affect your future? Like if you're, if you do have hopes to go into the NFL and like how is this move perceived by coaches in the NFL or things like that? Like, that's a whole other piece that's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So interesting that's going to be part of like the interview process now when going into the NFL. Right. Because all these, this stuff's becoming Knowledgeable, you could, you could pick that apart and ask that question once more. Facts come out and use that against his draft status, you know.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, that too. And like also just from, from within a locker room standpoint, you know, the. Again, I, I'm using the NFL, but like professional sports are different. You know, these are grown men and women who are making a lot of money. There's contracts, like, there's all these things. Like this is still a form of amateurism, even though it's really not at this point. But you know, in that locker room, right, you have a 19 year old kid or 18 year old kid who's getting paid X amount of money starting quarterback for your team. Now all of a sudden it's like a piece which if, if this is all true, you kind of have. You understand his point, like, hey, I was promised something to come here. I left a school to come here. But how does the ripple effect that has from a locker room standpoint, the team, how it's viewed, how he's viewed across. Like. Yeah, it just. There, there's a lot to unpack there. I think for an 18, 19 year old kid who was just literally promised something that he wasn't given. You know, it's, it's, it's. Yeah, dude, it's wild. Get. Buckle up. I would say that. Buckle up.

[Josie Leinart]

I don't know. I would like, I, I don't. I think it's so ballsy to do what he did and I'm not saying that he didn't have grounds because it sounds like he certainly did, but I don't know, I probably would have said just finish, right? Finish out this season and then we'll, we'll, we'll sue them for breach of contract. You know, that's, I don't know. That's how I probably would have done it, but.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, there's gonna be a lot of eyes on that UNLV game coming up, that's for sure. A lot of people maybe weren't interested in running Rebels football are going to take it in. Josie, I got, I got. Go ahead.

[Josie Leinart]

No, I was just going to say I feel so bad for the players who are on this 3, 0 winning streak and like have all of these high hopes. Their top 25 team, like, God, that sucks.

[Matt Leinart]

The head coach is just like, by the way, guys, we just lost our starting quarterback. We're week four.

[Josie Leinart]

I know.

[Matt Leinart]

All right. Hey, buddy, you're next up.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Let's get you ready for the game. Let's get you caught up to speed.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, it's just wild.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, anyways, as a father of two kids who are clearly going D1, if you just look at me, you know my kids will be playing college football. I will. I will learn from all this.

[Matt Leinart]

And they got golf, buddy. They got golf. You don't need to be past 58 to golf.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I said that to Brie on the way down. I told her that we were talking to you today, Josie, and explained a little bit of it. She's like, this is something we'll never have to worry. Sorry, Jacob.

[Josie Leinart]

Deal with modeling contracts. Because kids are so damn cute, by the way.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, Al, two days? Five six, bro. You got a shot.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's my yearly Halloween costume. You know that, right? We've talked about this. People think I look like it or you do.

[Matt Leinart]

You do kind of look like it. Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So. And that whole Astros run in the World Series when they were knocking the Yankees out every year, was that when they were doing the side by side? So now I just throw on an Astros jersey and a hat and it's the easiest Halloween costume ever replaced Rudy. I used to go as Rudy, another short player, and now I go as Jose Altuve. But speaking of jerseys, real quick, Josie, before we let you go, you know our boy here, he's wearing. We told people at top of the show, he's wearing his Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey. And he stands by the fact too, he doesn't leave the house with it. Do you ever see Matt really going far outside the house with the Kobe jerk? Like, not coffee doesn't count. Sing like if he's going out for the day. Hey, I got a bunch of media, bro.

[Matt Leinart]

Zero chance I'll answer for myself. I've definitely.

[Josie Leinart]

No, I've seen him go out of the house with it to like, I don't know, maybe get gas, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's not leaving the car. Essentially still inside or maybe even.

[Josie Leinart]

I don't even think you drop off the kids with that. But he wears it constantly and it's by. It's older. How old is that thing? It's. You've had it longer than we've been together, which is a long time. Like 11, 12 years.

[Matt Leinart]

Listen, this is like my lounge. A long time. This is like my lounge. Where? At the house? Maybe gas, maybe coffee, maybe. Maybe. Maybe a store. Maybe a store run. I'm sure I've done that. But I will not wear this two way game, okay?

[Josie Leinart]

No, he was never.

[Matt Leinart]

I won't wear it. I won't wear it to the bar with my friends on a Sunday to represent My team and babe, I got. I just got crushed for this take this week. That's like, we're going away all our liner jerseys. I'm like, oh, yeah, I guess you have a good point. I mean, there's a different thing between being passionate about a team and all that. It's just like, I just wouldn't. I just.

[Josie Leinart]

Matt is not. And I guess we both are this way. Like, we're not. And this may sound bad. We aren't like, fanatics.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right? Like me. Right? You guys are like, fanatic.

[Josie Leinart]

We're not. And obviously he loves usc. Supports usc, but yeah, it's just not Dodgers. We're not fanatics.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This is why we're a good podcast couple. Matt.

[Matt Leinart]

Jerry's. Jerry's a fanatic.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Joseph.

[Josie Leinart]

Yeah. I don't understand that mentality, but thank you for.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I feel like I'm like, a little smarter after today because I walked around like, oh, yeah. And I get it. I did not get it because I did a lot of research getting ready to talk to you. And I encourage everyone to go to. We are underscore nil. If you want. Just. Just grace up. You tackle everything. It's not just the UNLV situation. It's everything. So that was awesome. And you're gonna be busy. I feel like for. I feel like there's gonna be a lot coming up every day.

[Josie Leinart]

It's getting very busy. Like, very, very busy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Josie Leinart]

As I progressively get more pregnant. So that's just the irony of it all.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, don't. We're getting you back up. That's a whole separate episode.

[Matt Leinart]

Don't worry. Jerry's right behind you. Don't worry. We don't. We don't have breaking news yet, but we will.

[Jerry Ferrara]

My wife went from acting to becoming a birth doula so we could discuss all that, too. Big transition. Yes. But thank you. Seriously, that was.

[Matt Leinart]

Thank you, Matt.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You want to call her babe one last time?

[Matt Leinart]

I just called her doll. I like to call her doll, so.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're the best.

[Josie Leinart]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Bye.

[Matt Leinart]

Bye.

[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Josie Leinart]

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[Matt Leinart]

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[Josie Leinart]

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[Matt Leinart]

Go to your happy price, Priceline. Behind the bright light and adrenaline of pro sport is an equally exciting world of negotiations and deal making. That's what we cover each week on our podcast, the Deal. I'm Alex Rodriguez, former baseball player turned business executive. And I'm Jason Kelly, chief correspondent for Bloomberg Originals. Over the next couple months, we'll hear from all stars like Jay Williams.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I want to be an owner one day.

[Matt Leinart]

Billie Jean King, learn the business and so many more. Listen to the deal on Spotify.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, we're coming back here. So, Matt, we have our first. I referenced it earlier. Our first sort of take where you got a lot of pushback. So it's all my first.

[Matt Leinart]

It wouldn't be my first time. Jerry.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Let's just quickly play the clips this way. If you didn't listen last week, shame on you. But here's what we're talking about. Let's play the clip of Matt saying what he had said.

[Matt Leinart]

I also don't understand, like, whether, like, a grown man wearing a jersey. I don't know, man. It's just like, a weird thing to me. Like, I could picture, weirdly, I could picture you wearing a jersey and, like, I think it's okay. But I've never understood, like, I would, I would never go. And I like, I love Jalen Brunson, but I would never go to a sporting event wearing a Kobe jersey or a, like, I'm wearing a Dodger T shirt right now. This is about as good as you'll get from it. I just always, these days, I always laugh when grown men are wearing jerseys.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Couple of things to unpack there as you sit there in your Kobe jersey.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, I wanted to give the fans what they want. I do own jerseys. Okay.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They are in my number one. I think that's factually incorrect. You have done it. And we just had a lawyer on the air, so let the evidence show you. Listen, Matt Leiner have in fact done that.

[Matt Leinart]

Yes, I did. And.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you were a kid, though. You were young.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I was 20. I was a grown man. I was 24. I wore a Kobe jersey to a Laker game. A white Sunday jersey, by the way. A White Laker jersey to a game and I spoke to Kobe on the court. Okay. And now I'm wondering and rest in peace, man, my favorite athletes. I'm. Now I'm wondering if. If he was judging me in that moment of me wearing his jersey. You know what I mean? It's kind of strange, but yeah, fan, it's a. It's a hypocritical statement, that's for sure. But that was also 18 years ago when I was.

[Jerry Ferrara]

True. Yeah, I will give you a pass. But you know who didn't give you a pass was everyone who follows you and me and throwback show on social media. I was going to read a few brief ones at the Cam Hammer Unfun take. If legendary player sportscaster don't want fans wearing jerseys, hell, nobody should buy merch then. Matter of fact, let's lower the TV contracts and the salaries too.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, wow. I got a. What is it? Don James, sports horrible take at Matt Leonard, qb. And I love you like just a double sword. Just like. God, I love you, but you suck.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, even. Oh, there's the list. What if my eyes aren't deceiving me? That's Maddie Ice in a white Kobe. Now, did they give you that jersey while you were there? Did you go to.

[Matt Leinart]

I gotta be honest, dude, I probably went to Staples at the time wearing that. And that's one of my. My buddies, Daniel, who look at the way, you know, look at the way he's looking at Kobe, dude. That is his favorite athlete and player of all time. We still. This picture was taken in 2006. Probably. He still every once in a while will send me this photo. He goes, dude, the greatest day of my life, by the way. This was greater than watching my kids be born. Like, literally.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you remember what was said? Do you remember what was said?

[Matt Leinart]

I don't know. But now, dude, I don't know but.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He was just probably telling you to get something to. Had to be sports related, right?

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

About football.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. This is off season. This is. This is before the game shoot around. I was probably sitting closer to the court. I just said go, what's up? And I had known him a little bit. He was awesome, man. And we got to know each other over the years like on a more personal level than just kind of sports and all that kind of stuff. So shout out to co. But yes, dude, I listen, I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to defend myself. I work in a business. I work in a business that is an opinionated business. I get paid to give opinions for the most part. I am not going to backtrack on my stance. I will say this. For me personally, there are two things that I just. It's just not in me to do. One is I will never. And. And I say never with an asterisk because if it. My kids are involved. Yes. I've never been the guy to go up to a famous person, a famous athlete to ask for an autograph. Right.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You don't fanboy.

[Matt Leinart]

I don't fanboy. And by the way, it's totally fine. I'm just saying for me, personally, I've just never been that, like, if I saw, like, Like I saw Michael Jordan, I would be like, I might be starstruck, but I'm like, I'm just not going to do that now. If my kid was there and it's like, then you have kind of like a cop out, all that kind of stuff. And the same goes with the jersey. Now, I know I wore that, but I'm still going to defend myself. I have not worn a jersey in public since that game. Never. Never. To a sporting vet. Not once. And there's no proof out there, so no one can see that. I just don't understand being a fanatic for a team in that regard, because I don't have that. I love the Dodgers. I love the Dodgers. But I'll wear a T shirt. I'll wear blue. I'll wear a hat. I'm not going to wear Clayton Kershaw jersey to a game. So I listen, I stand by it, dude. People can. People can burn my jersey in the trash, bro. I just, like, I appreciate the fans. What do you got there?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, is this acceptable? Like, all right, we got a Giants jersey right here.

[Matt Leinart]

Let me ask you a question. Have you worn that? Jack, you've pro. Have you worn that? Yeah. I mean, you got turtle on the back. That's kind of cool.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I wore this episode and then I found this tag right here. Basically, it's saying, like, the wardrobe department wrote, like, Jerry wore this with. This is what I wore for continuity.

[Matt Leinart]

Okay, but you worn. Have you worn that jersey to a.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, because it says turtle on the back. So I would just be no. But I have worn.

[Matt Leinart]

You've worn a New York Dick's jersey. Courtside, guaranteed.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I definitely worn Knicks jerseys. I've worn Yankees jerseys to Yankee games for sure. Look, I look at it differently. I understand what you're saying. For me, if you're wearing it to a game, I get it. It's I don't know, man. I don't know.

[Matt Leinart]

I just think it's funny.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I made a career off of wearing jerseys, so it's hard for me to hate on.

[Matt Leinart]

I get it. I just think it's funny. If I'm walking in my town on, on a Sunday and there's a sports bar and it's loaded with and I just see like a 50 year old dude walking in with a Jalen Brunson jersey on, I'm just like, it just makes me giggle, dude. That's it. Like I don't know how to explain it. So look, I, I took a lot of heat. I, I, Hey, I. Listen, I appreciate that. I appreciate the debate back and forth, but that's why I'm wearing my. For everybody that can see and the listeners, I am wearing my old school Kobe jersey. This jersey has made its rounds though. Like this jersey, it might, might be time to hang it up, but I'm holding on to it for dear life.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, Shaolin Sane also said on Twitter, note to self, don't meet Matt while wearing his jersey.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, this is going to be, this is going to be a thing now because I'm gonna, I'm gonna be out and someone's gonna be like, hey, do you like my jersey, bro?

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's gonna be a thing. I, I don't think the picture helps you, but we'll move on. I, I, you're safe for now.

[Matt Leinart]

But I, by the way, I will say this. I had a lot, you know, thanks to, to Andrew, our producer on here. I had a lot of guys who supported me as well.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So yeah, we didn't pull those. We didn't want to hear any. We didn't, we didn't look for hard for those, but they're out there.

[Matt Leinart]

I'm gonna start just, I'm gonna start rocking a jersey everywhere I go now, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's what I'm saying. You gotta zag while everyone is zigging and you're taking like now you.

[Matt Leinart]

By the way, it's reinvention.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Maddie.

[Matt Leinart]

By the way, when we have our three point contest, you best believe I will be wearing my Kobe jersey.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, who should I wear? That's a good question.

[Matt Leinart]

Because you can't shoot, bro. I'm already in your head. So actually, I'm actually surprised. I. Your, your, your highlights from the celebrity All Star game was not, was, was not bad. Not as bad.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I talked to quite a few people about this three point contest we're going to do in LA soon. And then I was reminded by One thing while I was at the Jeter, Cliff Floyd, who is not a professional golfer, I don't even know what his handicap is. He could move it. He was still able to hit it 330 yards because he's an athlete. Your, your three point shooting video is a little scary. It is a little. A lot of people have said, oh, that's, that's, that's, that's trouble. He's just flicking it.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, we're going to, I'm telling you, man, we're going to have an, we're going to do it at usc, the Galen Center. We're going to have an audience. I might even, I might even have USC's basketball team be there. I'm boys with the coach and we're just going to make this, we're going to turn it into an event.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, well, listen, it's time to wrap up. We like to end every week with what are we watching? What are you watching this weekend, Matt? It could be sports, could be TV show, could be anything. What do you.

[Matt Leinart]

I mean, yeah, I mean I think I'm gonna, I'm watching my Dodgers close this out, man. Like that, that's my team. Tight race in the NL west and Ohtani just.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No way he gets to 60, right, 66 and it's going to run out of games.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, they only got a couple games left, but wow. I love, I know we're going to bring in some, some baseball guys here coming up on the pod just to talk baseball, but I love. They're nothing better than the fall football but October baseball playoffs. But I'll be watching Ohtani and the Dodgers, man, they need to finish strong here.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Who's your top three? Do you have a top three or even just what box office must watch players. Ohtani, I'm guessing, is one currently.

[Matt Leinart]

I would say I have. Well, when I caught the first pitch for Reggie, I met Otani in the tunnel. That was, we posted there. That was, that was pretty amazing. Yeah, so Ohtani's one. I've seen him play, but yeah, that's just one like where every time he's up to bat, you're just like you're glued. Like every swing is like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I've seen him play in Cleveland when he's with the Angels and everyone's phone came out.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, it's pretty wild. I, I would say NBA, you know, I've never seen Steph Curry play in person.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Incredible.

[Matt Leinart]

That would be pretty cool. Even though now, you know, not in the prime anymore, but still tremendous. I think just the entertainment value. Gosh, who else, man, like Welles again, just.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I have my homes, I have Otani, I have Mahomes, and I got to see him in the super bowl. And it was pretty cool to see him get the ball back with a minute to go and win the game. But also Wemby. Go see Wemby.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I think too, for all. Everybody, you know, all the listeners and all that. Like, email us, talk to us. Like, who would you pay to see what. What athlete would you pay to see one time in your lifetime?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you know who else?

[Matt Leinart]

Simone Biles.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Simone Biles. Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

This I appreciate. I appreciate greatness. I appreciate greatness. And just like one of ones. You know what I mean? Like, just hard to replicate. Wemby's a perfect example. Like, we'll just. I mean, we'll never see another player like that. And he's only what year two. Like, it's wild. Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I still hold out hope.

[Matt Leinart]

Two for me.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I still hold out hope that Tiger will compete in a major again. I don't think we're ever gonna see it, but I hold up hope.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude, I saw real quick. I saw opening round US Open, Tiger, Tory Pines, the. The. The tournament. He went extra holes with Rocco Media when he.

[Jerry Ferrara]

When he had a broken knee.

[Matt Leinart]

And I was like, I saw for Father's Day, this Father's Day weekend. It was me and my pop. I think Cole was like 2 or 3. And I saw, I stayed. I stood on the tee box. It was the only time I ever done this. I stood on the teapox and watched Tiger hit hole one. It was awesome, dude. It was. It was totally awesome.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll never beat Peak Tiger. It just won't happen. As great as Scotty Scheffler is, and he's amazing to watch.

[Matt Leinart]

There's no one like him.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you know what I'm watching? Look, I'm. I'm obviously gonna watch my Giants tonight. I'm very curious to see Packers, Vikings and Bills Ravens. But going semi sports route, the Vince McMahon documentary on Netflix just dropped six episodes. I think I was a wrestler when I was a wrestling kid.

[Matt Leinart]

Me too.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I was younger. So my brother and I still send us like. He sends me like 80s wrestler memes all day long. I gotta watch that. That's something my wife no interest in. Zero interest. So I'm on my own with that one.

[Matt Leinart]

Dude I met. Speaking of autographs, I met one of a cool. I was a kid, I was like seven. I met the Ultimate Warrior. Remember the Ultimate Warrior?

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's my Favorite wrestler of all time.

[Matt Leinart]

I met him in lax, I think when I was, I don't even know. Five, six. I got it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Spot him without the face paint.

[Matt Leinart]

No, I got his autograph on a little like little just college ruled paper. I don't have it anymore, but I had it forever, dude. That world has that world. That'll be a fascinating doc. That'll be a fascinating doc.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I can't wait to watch it. I know he just released some quotes on Twitter or whatever. He put out a statement that he's just because he participated in it, but he's unhappy with some of the, with the takes and the version that the producers use. I think Bill Simmons is one of the producers. Didn't tell the whole story and told it a certain. Of course he's going to say that. I'm watching that this weekend. It's time.

[Matt Leinart]

We'll talk about it next week. Man, I'm curious.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. Thank you again, everybody listening. Thank you to Josie Liner for coming on, giving us shedding some light on the nil. And also, don't forget, subscribe to us on YouTube, throwback show and social media. All the handles are at throwback show. Give us the sub, give us the like, all that. And then, yeah, pay attention to social media. We're going to put up a poll because we gotta get to the, we gotta just close this jersey thing out. So we'll see you guys next week.

[Matt Leinart]

Later.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, wait, Matt, where you going? Quick, where you go? Where you going?

[Matt Leinart]

Central Florida. By the way, DJ Khed coming on the show.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Stop. Are you intro with him?

[Matt Leinart]

I'll probably not intro him this way. I got to intro Offset. But we got. Listen, DJ Khaled, DJ Khaled's coming on.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I, I, I played 1v1 with him in a golf match. Ask him, just ask him a golf question. He's gonna say let's golf right down the middle.