Wildcard Weekend Preview, NFL Predictions Revisited & Storytime with Dave Wannstedt

Summary

Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara Episode: Wildcard Weekend Preview, NFL Predictions Revisited & Storytime with Dave Wannstedt Release Date: January 9, 2025

Hosts: Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara

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1. Road Trip and Personal Updates

The episode kicks off with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara engaging in their signature banter, sharing updates about their current locations and personal lives. Matt is in Miami for the Orange Bowl, where he's been inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame. He extends gratitude to his teammates and Oklahoma fans, exclaiming, “Boomer. Sooner. We whooped that ass about 20 years ago” (00:44). Meanwhile, Jerry is enjoying a family vacation in the Bahamas, humorously describing his surroundings: “I keep sneaking off to the adult part... soaking wet” (02:25).

2. NFL Playoff Preview and Predictions

The hosts dive into the heart of the episode by discussing the impending NFL playoffs. They analyze various matchups, express excitement for specific games, and share their predictions.

• Favorite Games to Watch:

  • Jerry: “I’m really curious to hear yours. I’m really, really excited about that Steelers Ravens game” (08:56).
  • Matt: Highlights the excitement around Baker Mayfield and JD Daniels facing off, predicting a high-scoring game: “I think there’s gonna be a lot of points scored” (09:19).

• Betting Insights:

  • Jerry: Shares his betting strategies, focusing on moneyline parlays and prop bets, particularly rooting for the NFC games: “Anytime touchdown stuff, which is my favorite” (12:04).
  • Matt: Expresses enthusiasm for NFL incentives, comparing them to rewards earned in football, such as playoff bonuses: “You cash those checks, baby, let's go” (39:39).

3. Money Moments: Contracts and Incentives

In the "Money Moments" segment, Matt and Jerry explore the intricacies of NFL contracts, focusing on performance-based incentives and drawing parallels to the entertainment industry.

• Incentive Highlights:

  • Matt: Discusses Mike Evans’ incentive for crossing the thousand-yard mark, earning $3 million for achieving this milestone: “Mike Evans and he earned... by crossing the thousand yard mark on the final play” (33:03).
  • Jerry: Reflects on Geno Smith’s incentives, emphasizing how players are motivated by tangible rewards tied to their performance: “Geno needed over 185 passing yards for a $2 million incentive” (34:26).

• Comparison to Acting Contracts:

  • Matt: Explains how actors receive incentives based on nominations and box office performance, akin to NFL players’ performance bonuses: “When you have a career high in passing yards... you're going to get six mil” (40:10).
  • Jerry: Shares anecdotes from his acting career, highlighting the similarities between sports and entertainment contracts: “We did the first Most Likely to lose his Starting Job... it was like an NFL contract” (41:11).

4. Storytime with Coach Dave Wannstedt

The episode's centerpiece is the engaging conversation with legendary coach Dave Wannstedt, who brings a wealth of experience from his tenure with multiple NFL teams.

• Coaching Philosophy and Challenges:

  • Dave Wannstedt: Discusses the increasing volatility in NFL coaching positions, attributing it to younger, less patient ownership and the evolving media landscape: “You just have somebody that knows how to progress... that could really turn things around” (44:51).
  • Matt: Agrees on the prevalence of poor coaching at the highest levels, emphasizing the critical role of effective leadership: “You would be shocked... how many shitty coaches there are” (20:19).

• Team Culture:

  • Dave: Elaborates on the importance of setting foundational practices and ensuring alignment among coaching staff and players: “You're setting the foundation on how you want to run your program on a day to day basis” (46:47).
  • Matt: Reinforces the necessity of cohesive team culture, likening it to creating a successful project in the entertainment industry: “Just like in acting, it's about having a director who can turn everything into a hit” (20:19).

• Memorable Coaching Stories:

  • Dave: Shares a vivid story about his interaction with Jim Harbaugh, illustrating the intense and sometimes humorous dynamics between coaches: “He starts running onto the field...that's typical Jim” (57:09).
  • Matt: Remembers moments from his playing days, highlighting the impact of strong leadership from coaches and teammates: “He was the only player who could carry the team in certain moments” (56:32).

5. Dynamic Duos: Dream Hosting Teams

In a lighter segment, Matt and Jerry brainstorm their ideal hosting duos for the Golden Globes, reflecting on their favorite on-screen pairings.

• Matt’s Choice:

  • Vince Vaughn & Owen Wilson: Matt expresses his desire to see this iconic duo host, drawing from their chemistry in movies like "Wedding Crashers": “Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson doing some type of like bit in the monologue” (75:02).

• Jerry’s Choice:

  • Jamie Foxx & Ricky Gervais: Jerry envisions a dynamic combination where Jamie Foxx leads with his comedic prowess, complemented by Ricky Gervais’ sharp wit: “Jamie Fox is going to lead us through for the entertainment... Ricky Gervais” (76:07).

6. Throwback Three: Iconic NFL Playoff Runs

Matt and Jerry reminisce about some of the most unforgettable NFL playoff runs, highlighting teams that exceeded expectations and left a lasting impact.

• Matt’s Picks:

  1. 1985 Chicago Bears: Praises their dominant defense and historic Super Bowl performance: “The 1985 Bears with the greatest playoff run of all time” (84:54).
  2. 2011 New York Giants: Celebrates Eli Manning’s leadership and the team’s underdog triumph over Tom Brady’s Patriots: “Nick Foles, Eagles... beating Tom Brady” (80:07).
  3. 2017 Philadelphia Eagles: Highlights Nick Foles’ remarkable performance and the iconic "Philly Special" play: “Nick Foles catches the touchdown... the Philly special” (80:14).

• Jerry’s Picks:

  1. 2001 New England Patriots: Emphasizes the emergence of Tom Brady and their unexpected Super Bowl victory against a formidable opponent: “...the entrance into the greatest quarterback of all time” (80:05).
  2. 2008 Arizona Cardinals: Remembers their impressive run led by Larry Fitzgerald and Joe Mixon, despite not reaching the Super Bowl: “Larry Fitzgerald had an incredible run... amazing run” (86:06).
  3. 1985 Chicago Bears: Agrees with Matt on the Bears' unparalleled playoff dominance, solidifying it as his top pick: “The greatest playoff run of all time for defense” (84:54).

7. Closing Remarks

As the episode concludes, Matt and Jerry extend their well-wishes to listeners amidst the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, reaffirming their support and hoping for everyone's safety: “Thoughts to everybody out there in LA. Please stay safe” (89:35).

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Notable Quotes:

• Matt Leinart: “You would be shocked... how many shitty coaches there are” (20:19).
• Jerry Ferrara: “Anytime touchdown stuff, which is my favorite” (12:04).
• Dave Wannstedt: “You're setting the foundation on how you want to run your program on a day to day basis” (46:47).

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This episode of Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara offers a comprehensive blend of personal anecdotes, insightful NFL analysis, engaging stories from a seasoned coach, and lighthearted segments that encapsulate the hosts' dynamic chemistry. Whether you're a die-hard football fan or someone interested in the intersections between sports and entertainment, this episode provides valuable perspectives and entertaining content.

Transcript

[A]

Did we ever find out with Turtle how he made his money? It was a tequila, right? But did we ever really know he.

[B]

We don't know. We never knew how much he actually made.

[A]

No one knows.

[B]

He definitely has more money than Vince. And I'm convinced right now if we ever do the reboot Turtles broke now. All right. Welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. It's kind of a road game.

[A]

Road trip, baby.

[B]

It's a road trip for your boys. Matt. I'm not. I don't see the same Manhattan beach garage set up with the cash app sign. Where are you?

[A]

Well, dude, we're actually pretty close to each other. I'm in Miami. I'm in my. I've been in Miami all week for the Orange bowl that is going to be played tonight. Penn State, Notre Dame. So I got inducted into the Orange bowl hall of Fame, man. Wow. And honestly, I just. I want to shout out, you know, my teammates, but I also want to just shout out the Oklahoma fans, you know, who just absolutely freaking love me online. Shout out to the Sooners. Boomer. Sooner. We whooped that ass about 20 years ago. Uh, 5519 right here down the street. But yeah, in Miami this week. Uh, I. A little bit of a vacation. But you're on a family vacation, dude. Where are you, by the way? You look like you're in a. Like a phone booth, bro. What are you doing?

[B]

One of us is getting inducted into a hall of fame while the other is putting on a hall of fame dad performance.

[A]

That's all you can do.

[B]

Skidwater park down in Baja Mar. In the Bahamas. Yeah, I'm in a. I'm in my room. So the backdrop. You don't want to see the other side of this. It's just.

[A]

Well, my room's super dark, but whatever.

[B]

You. Yes, but I am looking out at the ocean. This is the same place where there. Derek Jeter. I've talked about that golf tournament where he has that golf tournament. Let me just say it's a little different being down here with kids when it's just usually Bri and I walking around Hank partying with Johnny Damon, and now I'm in bed by 9:00. So.

[A]

How many times. How many times have you been down the water. The water slide.

[B]

It's the best. It's the best. There's. There's a. There's an adult part that I keep sneaking off to. Like, where did. Where did dad go? I keep going on this one slide. That's adults only. It's I'm gonna go get a coffee. And I come back a half hour later soaking wet.

[A]

My boy was in Arizona this week and they had. One of the hotels had a big water slide and he got a. He had a sinus infection. And he was telling me his wife was all like giving him for snoring. And he's like, he's like. The other night, because he couldn't breathe, he's like, well, if you wouldn't have had me go down the water slide a thousand time with the girls, I would be all right. I was like, dude, those water slides, it's like, again, Daddy. Again, Daddy. Oh, man.

[B]

One thing before we move on to my three year old. You know, Baja, Mars, obviously a casino. There's a lot of gambling down here. My three year old last night sprinted through the casino, bumping into people, throwing dice, tried to sit at the blackjack table. Dude, you gave him the bug shirt off. Like, he's, he's like. He turned into Frank the Tank this weekend.

[A]

Well, his dad, his dad's a little bit of a degenerate gamble, so. Apple doesn't far all that far from the tree, dude.

[B]

So we have a really good show later coming up. We have, I mean, someone that you've worked with, but someone we all know, maybe one of my favorite coaches to watch. Coach Dave Wanstad's gonna be joining us.

[A]

Dude. So. So coach is the best man. Like, like, and also too, because where we're at in the NFL season with all these coaching firings, hirings, the carousel coach has been in that position. He covers the Bears. So I'm excited to kind of hear what he thinks about the Bears, but also just the coaching almost in a way like the epidemic, because we've seen first year coaches get fired. Like, there's not, there's no, like, hey, two or three years anymore. So it's such an interesting time. And then just when you look at like, coach, if you look at his resume, you're like, holy. Like Super Bowls with Dallas, coached at the U, with Jimmy Johnson and, and one, one there, Oklahoma State, pit head coach, Miami Dolphins head coach, Chicago Bears. Like, like, he's a living legend. He's seen a lot. I wanted to have him on, man, because he's just got the best stories, like, and he's a storyteller. It's going to be fun to talk to me. He's a great friend of mine and you're going to love him.

[B]

He was defensive coordinator right on that Miami, like the Catholics versus Con game, the documentary about yeah, With Notre Dame on tonight, too.

[A]

He was in that. Yeah. I mean, he and Jimmy Johnson are like best friends to. I mean, both of those guys, you get them in the same room, it's like one of those things. Like, you probably maybe get it at Jeter's event, right, where you sit at a table and you just hear people talk. But, like, he's one of those people. He's this big, like, Pit Guy, 64, commands a room. The minute he sits at a table, you're like. You're just like, okay, here we go. He holds shop. And he. I'll tell you what, man, he's got. He's got some stories. Stories. I hope. I hope. I hope he tells some of them because he's. He's a legend. But, yeah, Dave's coming on.

[B]

Well, coach will be on. There's a lot of coaching vacancies, too, which we're going to talk about with him, probably, and we'll chat about in a second. We have a good throwback. 3. Being that the NFL playoffs are among us this weekend, we're going to talk NFL playoff runs. Not just upsets, but who went on a run. Some that you might even least likely expect. But also, before we really dig in, you know, we're both. You're outside of LA right now. I'm away from home. Lived in LA for a very long time, too. We have to take a second and just wish everybody well out there with the fires going on, because it looks, you know, watching along, it looks. It looks pretty crazy. So we're really hoping and praying everybody's okay.

[A]

Yeah, just obviously the, you know, the first responders, the firefighters, everybody that's helping. And then, as you know, like, we've talked kind of this week, just like, I'm not there, but, like, you know, power went out by our house. We're okay. Our area's okay, but we know a lot of people up in the Palisades area and just in that valley where you. You're familiar with, obviously, and all of the mountains, and it's just a very dangerous, man when fires get going there, and. Heartbreaking, devastating. We're thinking about everybody and hope everybody stays safe, man, so hopefully they can get this thing under control.

[B]

I wanted to ask you, do you. For the Orange Ball hall of Fame, you get a jacket? Like, what do you get to get, like, a plaque? A jacket? Something I could borrow from you, put in my office. What do you. What do you get? Anything.

[A]

You know, she looked. I don't have no idea. I thought we Got a jacket. But I tell you what, you know when the Orange bowl committee is somewhere because they have their bright ass orange jackets. That's what I'm hoping for. I do, I, I do want to say this. I do want to shout out the hospitality. This week has been a plus. First class. The events, the people they put on. Just a great week for, for us. It's me, Vince Wolfork is in and coach Meyer who obviously is pretty fun. So you know, he's obviously one of my close buddies. So the three of us are getting, I think we get a big plaque because I looked at a couple pictures from last year so I think it's a pretty big plaque with a, like it's pretty cool looking. So if you want it, dude, I mean I'll ship it to you. If you want to put it in the, in the game room. It might go up in my, in my setup of the house in the garage. We'll see.

[B]

I was kind of hoping for the jacket but let's, you know something else that was cool too. We had my nephew on last week and he was texting me too. He un. Just happened to unlock you in Madden Ultimate Team 85 and the picture they use of you, you're. You're running quarterback in that picture.

[A]

You're clear. Clearly they have me, they have me mistaken for somebody else. They, I was an 85 overall.

[B]

It, whatever you got the liner card Matt on mutt and it's. You're 85 by the way.

[A]

By the way you're winning a Super bowl with me at 85.

[B]

5 easily definitely me too. The way I, you know, but, but.

[A]

You sent me that picture, dude, of me. It was me running. I'm like, what the, what is wrong with these?

[B]

It says Field General. That's how they categorize you. But you're sprinting like you're Michael Vic.

[A]

So listen, listen, I will say this. My Madden rating should be like a 50 something. My CFB rating probably going to be like maybe a 99 though, I think.

[B]

Oh, it's flawless. All right, so it's a big, it's, you know, the weekend's here. I'm still getting used to the fact that we'd have a Monday playoff game. But that's a story for another day. So we've all looked at the slate a pretty long time. We're not here to give the full like here's our picks because everyone's going to be doing that. I'm looking at these games and I'm trying to figure Out. Okay. Number one. What game am I just most excited to watch as a, as a fan? None of my, obviously my Giants are not in any of this. And for me, I'm curious to hear yours. I'm really, really excited about that. About that Steelers Ravens game, I don't think. Well, I, I don't think the Steelers are gonna lie.

[A]

I just think that the Steelers are so boring, man. But for me, I think, I guess third time.

[B]

Third time. And I think. Lamar, I think, because, you know, we're not really, we're not getting Mahomes. We, you know, he's on a buy. Josh Allen we're gonna get. But I don't, I don't think he's gonna have too much problem.

[A]

Dude, the Broncos are pretty good. Dude, the Broncos are pretty tough. That defense.

[B]

So what game are you most excited for then? To watch.

[A]

To watch the fans. Commander's Bucks.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Be honestly, because one, I love Baker, and two, to me, those are just two very exciting offenses. Obviously, the Bucks can soar with, with the way they've been playing, but the commanders with Jane Daniels, I think this, I think they squared off week one or week two early on, and Jaden Daniels is a much different player than he was then. So I think that one's just exciting to watch. I think there's gonna be a lot of points scored. 1. I, I don't know. Like, Chargers, like Jim Harbaugh, first year back. He's in the playoff, obviously. Vikings. Rams is an interesting one. Monday, Vikings coming off that loss.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now everybody, we talked about this, by the way, last week, Sam Darnold, now everybody's saying he sucks. Literally everybody is saying, like, oh, he told you so. We're like, well, wait a minute, dude. Like, it's one game. He didn't play great, obviously, in that game. But, like, everyone is now, like, saying, oh, I told you so, Mike. Dude, the body of work speaks for itself. But the Rams are dangerous. I feel like we've kind of been saying that. It's just like if they get in the playoff, they're dangerous. But I, I, is this not think about this for a second, because I know you're not a massive college football guy.

[B]

The playoffs have helped me. The playoffs have helped me.

[A]

Is this not the greatest week in football history? If you think about it, you have playoff game tonight. Penn State, Notre Dame. You got Ohio State, Texas this weekend. And then you got all of these NFL games. Like four, what, four straight days or five straight days. Thursday, Texas, is that Friday?

[B]

I think that's Friday, isn't it?

[A]

So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, five straight games. Five straight days of playoff football.

[B]

You know me, I do not love it. You already called me out for being a degenerate gambler, which you're by far not wrong. I also am looking at this slate of which games am I excited to bet on? Yeah.

[A]

So which one are you betting in the college football games?

[B]

Oh, for sure. I'm definitely. I got Ohio State going the whole way, so I'm just gonna keep riding that. But for me with the NFL playoffs, obviously I'm going to pick winners and stuff. I love the prop bets we. And I just look at it like I don't really see anything on that. Like I'm excited to watch Steelers, Ravens. I'm not excited to bet on that game.

[A]

I would stay away from that game.

[B]

NFC has all. Because I'm not an unders guy. I don't like betting under. I know that's the best bet. It's the, the smarter bet. But I like to root for scoring. All the NFC games are the ones I'm going to be all over because even like you said, Vikings, Rams, Commander's, Bucks, Packers, Eagles, which.

[A]

That, that one's an. That one's an interesting one, dude. I'm telling you. 1. I. I would not be surprised if the Eagles lose that game. Before we move on. What's your b. What's your best bet? Like, what are you betting on? What's the best bet this. This week?

[B]

That's tough. I. I do. In the end, I am going to be. I'm going to have a nice wager on the Bucks. Not only with some of their props, but I think the Bucks are gonna pull it off. I, I think that the Bills are gonna absolutely wallop the Broncos. So I don't know if I'm gonna. But I might not. It's a lot of points to give. So I might just try to figure out a way to do a moneyline parlay Bucks, Bills and I might throw the Steelers in there with the points because I do like that amount of pool. Maybe even do an alt line and maybe tease it up a little bit more to like 13, give up some juice there. So. But I tell you, like anytime touchdown stuff, which is my favorite favorite.

[A]

So. Great. Well, I tried to put, I try to put a. I don't know. We don't have. Oh yeah, I can't bet in the state of Florida right now, so. So.

[B]

Well, I'll tell you, flying down here.

[A]

9 person anytime TD score I was putting together Last night I was, well listening up and I like, yeah, I'm.

[B]

In a good state, I'm in a good state for that. So if you ever have any of those, give it to me. I'll get it in.

[A]

I might, I might, I might, I might look at it later today.

[B]

It did suck too. On the plane ride to the Bahamas. I was on the plane watching Knicks Thunder last week, which was a great game. Two of the best winning streaks in the NBA going. And then right when we crossed into like international waters is cut the feed.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

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[A]

I think that's more than fair, dude. I, I, I don't yeah. So like I don't think we were far off on some of these but then based on again, now we know what some of these guys did obviously throughout the year and I'm thinking like off season acquisition. We were pretty freaking stupid. We didn't pick a running back. Go ahead. What, so what do we got, man? What do we do? We did the first Most Likely to lose his Starting Job. So who do you who'd you have.

[B]

QB Most Likely to Lose his Starting Job. I went with the obvious choice and the one I actually won was was Daniel Jones. That was the obvious one. And it happened. You went. Do you remember who you went with?

[A]

Russell Wilson.

[B]

Russell Wilson. Weird ones. Yeah, I'm not counting it fully as a loss for you because he sat out the first four games of the year but Fields didn't do enough in those four games to still be so.

[A]

And then, and then Wilson ended up with 16. I mean Wilson's played great really and got him to a playoff. Sixteen touchdowns, five picks was in the MVP conversation for a little bit there when before they obviously they got a four game losing streak to end the season. But yeah, Russell Wilson ended up all right.

[B]

This one's not going to be great for you. Team Most Likely to Bounce back from a Down year. I had your Arizona Cardinals, which that's a loss. But I do think there was a moment where the Cardinals were no no top the NFC west at one Point.

[A]

You, you never, you never watched the Cardinals and said, man, that's a playoff team. You never watched that. True. You never watched that. You never.

[B]

But it was alive. For the first 10 weeks it was alive and then it died.

[A]

And they were death, which they always do.

[B]

Well, it's not going to be worse than the T. You picked the jets to have a bounce back. That's a big.

[A]

I'm. I'm living. I'm just dying on the hill with the Jets. I had Aaron Rodgers mvp, by the way. Aaron Rodgers making the mvp, jets making the AFC title game. You wearing a Joel Embiid jersey courtside at the Knicks. All for nothing, dude. So a couple, a couple teams that I made notes. The Vikings, obviously 7 and 10 last year, finished 143 with Sam Darnold. Chargers were a massive team in the Broncos. I mean, both of those team, all three of those teams, playoff teams bouncing back from, you know, Chargers are the worst one. Chargers 5 and 12 and 23 higher. Harbaugh go 11 and 6. I mean, that just shows you how great of a coach that dude is, man. Like everywhere he goes, he wins, which is just bananas.

[B]

You know, I often think about this. This is what happens in Hollywood a lot.

[C]

It.

[B]

It varies from, okay, there's times where the stars have the power, right? And then there's time. There's been eras where the agents were actually so powerful that I mattered more who the agent was of the clients. And it always goes in circles, I think similarly in sports like NBA, we had. While it was the big three. Now we're back kind of down to you need two guys and then a bunch of really good role players. NFL quarterback has been king for so long and still is. I don't think you're ever going to dethrone quarterback from being the most important thing. But has there ever been a more obvious. And you've been saying it since we started this podcast. Has there ever been a more obvious, yes, of course you have to have a quarterback, but it's kind of pointless if you don't have a coach who knows how to progress. And I know it's the most obvious thing in the world, but I feel like this is the first time where coaches have entered into that conversation where you could really turn things around with your coach, isn't it?

[A]

It's unbelievable, man. You would be shocked. And we've all. And I think any player, any former player, current player, be careful, but would tell you how shockingly bad coaching is at the highest level, right? Just. Just universally, whether it's some position coaches. Not everybody, but I've been around some teams and again, they could say, oh, well, you were like, I just been around. I've been around great coaches. I know what that looks like. And I've been around shitty coaches. I know what that looks like. You would be surprised how many shitty coaches there are at the highest level. And to your point, when you have a Harbaugh or, you know, obviously, like O'Connell, like, there's a lot of, There's a. There's a lot of very good coaches in the NFL as well. When you just have guys, man, and they just get it and it's one of those things. It's hard to explain. Like, if you, if, If I compared it to, like, your world of acting, it's like you just have, like, you have a director who you just. Everything he touches, it could be. He could have a shitty cast, he could have a shitty script. Somehow, some way, he's going to turn it into like, just a hit or something. Yeah, I mean, like, they just have that. They have a feel. They know how to control a room, they know how to manage. They know how then they know how to create and do all of these things. Like, the same with a guy like Harbaugh who's just like, it's just wild, man. You go all the way back to San Diego, you go to Stanford, you go to, I mean, Niners. Everywhere he's been, he's won, and it's, It's a testament to him. And again, to your point, like, and to your point, I'll say this kind of funny. I was on one team where it wasn't the coaches and it wasn't the quarterback. It was our freaking kickers who ran our team.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Oh, wait, the Oakland Raiders, bro. C. Bass, Sebastian Genachowski and Shane Leckler, who I was just taught. I was just texting with Shane Leckler the other day because Texas A M, his former school, played sc. Actually, I should text him back because we beat them, but we were, we were texting and he, he's maybe hall of Fame punter. Like, he's one of those that might, that potentially might get in when I, when I went there. And I remember Carson telling me this, because Carson was the core, but any Carson, the quarterback's leader, but Carson's like, bro, I, I've never seen anything like these kickers run the show here.

[B]

That's probably never happened before or ever.

[A]

It's just, I think ever. Like, it was like. And. But like, it was just like, holy hell. Like these guys, it's just like that's. That's Seabass. You don't. With him. He kind of runs the team. He's obviously played a long time. That's Leckler. He's a Hall of Fame punter. He's. He's not like your traditional kicker. Like a lot of these kickers are kind of different cats. Like Shane was a dude. Man, those guys were awesome guys. Yeah, man, it was. It was wild that that team was definitely not run by the coaching.

[B]

Tell you what, if Sebastian Yak was still around, I probably wouldn't have so many tweets eviscerating kickers and how annoyed by the way, by every kick we're.

[A]

Gonna have him on.

[B]

Oh, that'd be great.

[A]

Oh, dude, we gotta get him in.

[B]

Person if we could. I don't know where he is in the world.

[A]

I'd rather go through the screen. He scares me, dude.

[B]

So some other ones.

[A]

What else we have? Yeah.

[B]

Teams most likely to disappoint. We were both wrong on this. You said packers, which I was with you on that. I did not see the defense being as strong as they are. I think the defense is pretty good. Obviously.

[A]

I said, by the way, Chiefs, which.

[B]

I'm going to defend myself in a minute.

[A]

Lafleur. Lafleur, great coach. I mean, that's another. I mean, they won the games. Yeah. Case of point. Malik Willis won some games, finished 11 and six in the playoffs. So I mean. Yeah, he's a hell of a coach.

[B]

Let me just.

[A]

Yeah, the Chiefs.

[B]

Let me just defend this for a second. I said the Chiefs would disappoint. And if I go back to it, I. I didn't. I wasn't saying, oh, the Chiefs are going to miss the playoff. I didn't go full hot take and say the Chiefs are gonna miss the playoffs. But wouldn't if you were either just a fan or a sports better or whatever. They have been disappointing. Not with the record. They're playing a different game. They are only caring about the super bowl, which is a great thing to do. They could.

[A]

Which is all that matters.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

By the way, have you. Have you seen their offense the last couple weeks? Like outside the last week? They sat there, guys.

[B]

But would you say the Chiefs have been disappointing this year? Just.

[A]

No.

[B]

Not with results, but with the way they've played.

[A]

No, because I know how hard. I know how hard it is to win, man. It's. I don't. And. And for them to do it at this, it's like the Patriots, dude, it's like, like, shit. It's like your Yankees, man. You know how hard it is just to win. Year in, a year out. Like, things happen. Like injuries happen and attrition happens and scheduling happens and then you run into whatever, like, other teams are getting better, you know, like, and. And they still found a way to finish with the one seed, like, amongst all that. And I guarantee you, and we've said this, and this is. Everybody said you don't want to see him in the playoff, dude. And they start. They started turning it on a little bit there in the end of the year with the offense, like, they're getting healthier and you got Patty Mahomes. So, like, is it a disappointment? No. Like, it is so hard to win football games in the NFL. I don't care how good you are.

[B]

I knew it wasn't by the way, close, dude.

[A]

And all the. And all the fans, like, dude, you got a one seed locked up and home field advantage throughout the playoff. You're. You're fine. Josh Allen has to come to Kansas City. Lamar Jackson has to come to Kansas City where it is very, very difficult to win in the. In the playoffs.

[B]

Off season acquisition most likely to pay off. You were right for like five weeks with Kirk Cousins. You had a run there where it looked. We were talking. I think he was one of our Wendy's saucy players of the week. You had it for a second. I had Stefan Diggs, which that wasn't even. I mean, he also tore his acl too.

[A]

But why, why didn't. Why didn't we pick Saquon or Derrick Henry?

[B]

I think we were trying to go with the less obvious. Like, those were no brainers. I think we're trying to dig a little deeper. Here's one that you had that I was not on board with. That I. That worked out really well. Player who's not on your radar now but will be by the end of the year. I went Hollywood Brown and Nick Chub. I was trying to go bounce back from injuries. It didn't really happen. You went Khalil Shakir. Shakir. Third in Yak in the league. Third in Yak.

[A]

Shout. Led the Bills with 76 catches, 800 yards. Again, going back to the whole supporting cast. That's Josh Allen's best player. Shout out to your nephew. But he had a hell of a year. And, and I will say this, when I was doing all my fantasy football, shout out to Peter Schrags. Peter Schrager, who's fantastic, good buddy. He Was hell bent on Khalil Shakir being like a fantasy breakout star and just having a breakout season, which he did. I mean he didn't have eye openening numbers but he was their best player on the outside and yeah, so I, I, I stand by that. A couple honorable mention guys. Who did you have by the way for? Well, my breakout player. No, the breakout player I think I had.

[B]

Well it was, how do we word it? We word it like players not up, not on your radar, but will be by the end.

[A]

Oh, you had. Oh, you already said you already.

[B]

I kind of went like I was trying to go Hollywood Brown because I thought he was healthy and would really.

[A]

Which was a good one.

[B]

But he just didn't get healthy here.

[A]

Here are a couple, I got a couple Sam Darnolds obviously Jameer Gibbs had almost 2, 000 yards from scrimmage. Bucky Irving. No one wouldn't thought that. Trey McBride over 110 catches. Brock Bowers, Brian Thomas, Malik neighbors. Jerry Judy. How about Jerry Judy's bounce back here?

[B]

I the I not to bring up fantasy. I drafted Jerry Judy every single year until, until this year I finally cut bait and then he's like fourth in the league in receptions and yards and really the Jamis games just opened everything up for Jerry Jude.

[A]

Anytime Javis is in there, he's slinging that rock, dude.

[B]

Well, before we also get coach on, you know, end of season there's, there's now six coaching vacancies and we checked, we had, we looked around. I think the Most ever was 10. So we're not close to the record amount of coaching vacancies and we'll talk to coach Wanstadt about it too but. Anything really surprising to you? Not for me even like the Mayo thing people were, I could definitely say that's probably unfair to him, but not necessarily that was it.

[A]

I just, I, I kind of thought that was just an interesting hire from the get go. You know you always rooting for former players and it just, it just some, sometimes some of these hires feel so fast. It's like whoa, whoa, whoa. Like really like that's like so it's not surprising man, this is the time of the year. It's, it's equivalent to like, like cut day and at the end of training camp like you just know it's coming. It's going to happen for a lot of these coaches too. Obviously not as big as cut day because there's hundreds of players and all that, but yeah, I don't think there's any Big surprise. I don't think the Raiders, I don't think any of these teams. I think everyone is trying to chase for, for like that young, like, like, you know, the biggest name is going to be Ben Johnson for the Lions. You know, he was one that turned down a job last year to stay, which I. Continues to build his worth obviously this year with the offense and he's going to be, he's going to be the prize get. I think, I think everybody's going to go after him. I think Doug Peterson is a really good football coach. I think that's a shitty ass situation up there. You can kind of see like actually Jerry, like this is a perfect example. We've always talked about like being in alignment, right from the owner to the GM to the, all of that like kind of hearing this week with all those guys talk like it's a show over there, you know. And so like Doug Peterson's going to get hired by someone too. I think he's a really good football coach. So that one's not surprising. I think sometimes coaches are better off leaving places and going fine somewhere else.

[B]

You know, I think the biggest surprise is probably that my guy, Coach Dable and Shane are still with the Giants. It's probably the surprise is that they're still there and the fan base is certainly thrilled about it.

[A]

Are you thrilled? What do you think?

[B]

Look, I, I don't, I can't say I know enough to tell you. Like you could spot a good coach way easier than I could. Right. But for me, I think we've now seen the, the great year under Dable where he got so much out of players that with a team that had no real expectation and now we've seen the flip side of that where it's been as bad as it could be. So I do think that. How are you supposed to fully judge?

[C]

All right.

[B]

We've had, I do think the third year is necessary to tell. I think he deserves that much. As far as Shane goes again, I, I don't think if Hard knocks happen and we had that inside.

[A]

I was about, I was, I was about to say that.

[B]

Yeah, I think it did not, it.

[A]

Did not paint a good picture.

[B]

If we don't publicly see that, I don't think there's as much of an uproar that oh, that guy should lose. It's the fact that we saw the Saquan stuff and all that, but everything else he did.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, dude, but that's like, it's part of it. You got to take that's part of it, you got to be accountable. And I, I just, I, it's tough, man. It, look, I, I think when you bank, look at, you're, you're head coach, your gm, you're tied to your quarterback. I mean, that's what you, in the NFL, you're tied to your quarterback. If your quarterback plays well or shows enough like you're going to have a job for a long time. It's literally that simple in the NFL. And they've just kind of been flirting with fire, I think with Danny Dimes over the years. Like, like you said, they had that playoff, gave him all the money, obviously let Saquon go. Like, man, it's just so, so I, I, I like it. I gotta be honest. I think Dable's a good coach. I think maybe now they have a little bit of a reset. We'll see who they get in the draft. Obviously they don't have the number one pick, so it's going to be interesting.

[B]

All right, well, should we do money moments? I think it's time for some money moments because a lot of fun things happen with contracts and stuff. So right now we're gonna do money moments presented by our friends over at Cash App. Sending, spending, saving, splitting, tipping, donating, gifting, or just type in numbers, all with the number one finance app in the app Store. That's money. That's cash app. Lord knows I've been sending a lot of cash down in the bottom. This is not a very inexpensive place. But Matt, we saw all the crazy incentives and met and missed ones this past weekend. Which ones, if any, stuck out to you for a money moment? I have a few.

[A]

Yeah. So it was a while. I mean, like, a lot of people see the, the contracts are fascinating, right? A lot of people, A lot of people see the guaranteed money and the, and the, and the, the size, right? Like, oh, five years, 100 million, 60 guarantee. But they don't see all the incentives, which is pretty. Like there's, I mean, there could be hundreds. Like some you'll never hit, some you'll hit. And this week, I don't remember a week in football where it was like, just so publicized. And so like, everybody was talking about it like, oh, if they hit this or they hit this or they hit that, I, I, I think it's awesome. As a former player, I mean, you know, like, and trust me, players think about that like, like, like you want your money, even if you're making 15 mil a year, you want that extra. Yeah, mil. So the one I think the one awesome one was Mike Evans and he earned, say, earned what, 3 million by crossing the thousand yard mark on the final play.

[B]

They got him, but yeah, then they got him now.

[A]

So shout out to the Bucks, shout out to Baker, the coach. Every, like that was one thing, like, but that's also like the record too. What he beat like Jerry Rice's record of. What is it, 12 straight 1000 yard. Unbelievable. So for me, to me that was more about just like seen a record, like seeing his record. Mike Edmond's a great dude. But the 3 million, the biggest one. And I didn't realize this this weekend. How about Geno Smith?

[B]

I still. Is that re. I still can't.

[A]

I don't. Six million so and so apparent. So I got. So he needed over 185 passing yards for a 2 million incentive. So he hit that. So that was part of it. But then maybe by reaching career highs and passing yards, completion percentage and 10 wins. So like think about that in his, in his contract was like, if you have a career high in passing yards, a career high in completion centers, and you win 10 games this year, you're going to get six mil.

[B]

I know, but are you a little mad if you're the owner? Because you're probably thinking 10.

[A]

Oh yeah, you're mad. How mad? You're mad at the owner. But that's why you got a lot of shady owners out there, man. They don't want to see some of these guys hit those. Cooper Rush, Cooper Rush gonna hit that. He. They sat him. I don't hit his bone.

[B]

I don't know. Trey Lance played 77 plays. I think he had to play 70 or 72 plays to hit it. What I mean though is if you're the Seahawks owner, you're probably doing the 10 win incentive because you think 10 wins get you into the playoffs. He hit the 10 wins and it's.

[A]

A missed playoff and he's $6 million.

[B]

Six million lighter.

[A]

There were, there were a couple, I thought, like KYLER Murray needed 50 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown for a $750,000 incentive hit. He didn't hit that. So like there's a lot of misses too. But it was, it was wild.

[B]

It was hard not to go back to my entourage years when I saw the Geno Smith one because I could hear my character saying Turtle saying to Vince, like, if Aquaman hits 100 mil, what are we gonna get? And I could hear vids say, oh, if we hit 100 million, y'all getting something sick.

[A]

By the way.

[B]

Got the O line and the receivers, something.

[A]

Oh, dude. Oh, that's a. Yeah, that's a. Like, Christmas just came. That's another. That's another president. By the way, did we ever find out with Turtle how he made his money? It was a tequila, right? But did we ever really know? He.

[B]

We don't know. We never knew how much he actually made. But one thing we decided on before doing the movie was he definitively has more money than Vince now, which is really all you have to say to make it funny. It could be 100 mil. It could be 50, 40, whatever.

[A]

No one knows.

[B]

He definitely has more money than Vincent. I'm convinced right now. If we ever do the reboot, Turtles broke now. I think he lost it all.

[A]

I, I, he might have lost, like.

[B]

An NFT or something.

[A]

Is there, is there, is there, is there? So are there. I know there's like, are there incentives in the acting world? And, like, I know, like, the best part is like, residual checks, right? When your ship plays for years and years, you get that. But, like, are there, like, if you get a nomination or if you get, if you get a certain amount in a box office, like, do you guys get kickbacks for that? Is that in a contract? Or how does that.

[B]

So with television, the, the incentives that I didn't even know about. I remember Entourage gotten. I. We just had the Golden Globes this past weekend. Entourage, in season one, surprisingly, got a Golden Globe nomination. I don't think we were expecting to get nominated especially that early. And I remember my lawyer called me and was basically asking me where I wanted my nomination check to go. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Well, you know, the show gets nominated, you get this if you get nominated. Personally, I'm like, well, how much? I'm thinking, all right, was it five grand? Ten grand? This is great. Fifty grand for the best comedy nomination and I think for wins. I don't remember. I obviously didn't win, but Piven won three in years in a row. I think it either might be double that or even more. So you do get in tv, at least. We did with hbo. We always got incentives for nominations. With movies, it's all different. It's. The incentives are box office, right? And the two things to decipher between are there's first dollar gross, and then there's sort of back end, like, net points. You have to be a certain kind of actor to get those first dollar points. What that means is if the movie makes a dollar, you get 10 cents or whatever your percentage Is right. So even if a movie only made 10 million is considered a failure, you're still getting a percentage of that 10 million. On the flip side, actors like me maybe would get back end where hey, once the movie makes all its money back, makes this level profit. I remember with Think Like a Man, the movie I did with Kevin Hart early on, it had all these incentives. It hits 15 million, you get this. If it hits 20 million, you get this. So I'm getting all these emails, all right, we hit 20, all these incentives start rolling in. So it did very much feel like an NFL contract.

[A]

The bet the best. So the. So the way the playoffs work in the NFL.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is. So you get. Maybe it's more now, but when I was, when we went, you know, Arizona, Houston, so you get like 25 for the first round. 25k I think it was. And that's everybody on the team. So that's practice squad too. So it's really cool for those guys because they're. They're making more in a couple weeks than they would all year. And then you make it. Next it was 50. Then you make it to the conference championship 75. And then you make it to the Super bowl, it's 100. So that's a year super bowl you made. You made a 250 grand bonus just by going. And that was everybody. So everybody got.

[B]

Feels so good.

[A]

Everybody. It feels so, so good. So we're, we were like, you cash those checks, baby, let's go. But for so like for. I know before we take a break, like for. Because like so for acting. Because obviously my wife was an actress and all that. So you can get paid like on a TV show for like Entourage, you're getting paid per episode.

[B]

Per episode. Yeah. And then, and then you.

[A]

And then you guys obviously can negotiate every year. And then the only way you make incentive that is basically by nominations is.

[B]

Kind of for the most part with tv, like if you see an actor, like so many now that you see actors or producers, they could get that's back end points. Like typically when Entourage sells into syndication. Right. That really is for, you know, Doug and Lev and Wahlberg, like three guys who made the show happen. That's how they really get where we get the money in the episodes. They don't get as much for the episodes. They get more in great success. But yeah, for, for actors with tv, you don't really. The incentives really are just that. But you know, this whole new Netflix model, if it actually comes to fruition, where it's. They you know, they want to do it performance based. So and really quick I want to hit just some of the funnier contract stuff of all time that stuck out. I don't even know if you could do this in today's generation. But the Eddie Lacey and even Boris DL had weight clauses left and right. Like 100 Glen Baby Davis weight clause. I couldn't do that. Now maybe I don't know that that's.

[A]

Real by the way. And if you missed weight, you get fined. Like you get fined for every pound, like thousands of dollars. I've seen, I've seen players like that.

[B]

My favorite one because this is a hundred percent what I would do. Mo Harkless had a $500,000 incentive for shooting 35% from 3 toward the end of the year. He got to 35% didn't shoot a 3 for the last three games, which is 100% what I would do.

[C]

Hell yeah.

[A]

I get it. You don't think that dude knew exactly what he was doing. Of course you wouldn't.

[B]

I wouldn't even stand outside the three point line. There's been so many fun ones and then you know, this isn't an incentive thing. But the Bobby Bonilla thing in history is still one of the craziest contract whatevers of all time. And I think he still gets a million bucks with an 8% interest rate per year. So shout outs to all the players who hit their incentive. Better luck to the players who missed it, but hopefully you hit it next year. Take a quick break. We're going to come back with coach Dave wants that.

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Coach Urban Meyer, running back Mark Ingram.

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[C]

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever.

[B]

You get your podcasts. We are joined now by one of those rare coaches who's beloved by multiple fan bases. The Cowboys, the Bears, the Dolphins, Pitt, the one and only Dave Wanstead. Coach, thank you for joining the show. You're. We said you're in Chicago. It's five degrees out, so we're gonna try and warm things up in here for you.

[C]

Well, good luck, Matt. Matt will take it. Matt will get it boiling before I'm done, I'm sure. Yeah.

[A]

Coach, I'm in Miami. It's about 65 degrees here. The beach is right outside. I know, I know you're. I know you're. I know you're a pit guy, though. I know you're tough. You don't like the beach and the water.

[C]

And I'll be in Naples Friday. I fly out. That's all my commitment to all my NBC and Bear stuff up here. And I'll be Dino Friday, so I'll. I'm looking forward to that. Yep.

[A]

Coach, well, we. It's good to see you, man. We appreciate you coming on. We were. Jerry and I were just talking about just like the NFL coaching as, you know, this time of the year. It's. I think we said there's six.

[B]

Six vacancies this year. Yeah.

[A]

Obviously your Chicago Bears know you do a lot of work with the Bears still. Yep. Just a bigger picture question, like, kind of like an epidemic with coaching. Obviously we had a couple first year guys get fired this year. Just kind of the process of what that's like, what are these guys going through? And is there. Is that a bigger problem you're seeing in the NFL?

[C]

Well, yeah, it is, but I think the reason is twofold. One, you got a younger generation thinking of media from a standpoint of there's so many other outlets now. Everybody wants a, you know, have a story. Everybody wants to kind of have the shock treatment story of your team to keep their job and keep their interest up. And I think that owners are a little bit younger now, for the most part, new guys coming in. Back in the day, it was the old guard, you know, and those guys, you know, used to kind of be a little bit more patient, I think. And the other thing, too, I'll be quite honest with you, we didn't. When I got my job with the Bears, it was kind of a role, an unwritten rule of thumb that you didn't even get an interview for a head coaching job in the NFL unless you were a coordinator on a playoff team. And the majority of the jobs that went out went to coordinators of super bowl teams. And the thinking behind this, and that's what I'm banging the table on. I do. You know, two radio shows here in Chicago and I'm, excuse me. And I'm saying I want to see a history of a guy. And that's the, and that's why I think those coaches had a little bit better chance. You could see a guy calling plays, you could see a guy relating to the players, you could see a guy relating to the media over a period of a couple years. And I think, you know, now there's guys getting head coaching jobs that haven't even called plays that haven't been a coordinator. And now you're going to stand up in front of the entire team and you're, you're going to start setting a culture and you're going to start, you know, implementing a foundation. I, I hope the Bears, and we're, you know, I hope they go for somebody that's two or three years doing his job. So we all know here exactly, for the most part, what we're getting as a head coach.

[B]

You know, that, that word that you said, culture, that's, that's a word even us as fans hear so much. And I, I, I know what it means. But for you, someone who's coached at the highest level, what does that word mean to you? Like, when you're going into a situation, they say, oh, we need someone to change the culture. That's, that's a good thing to say, but how do you actually do it?

[C]

Yeah, it's overused. And there's no question about that, Jer. You know, really, you're just setting the foundation. To me, it's on. When you're practicing, the tempo of the practice, the meetings, are we going to be on time for meetings? Are we going to, you know, off season program? What's going to be the demand? So you're setting kind of the foundation on how you want to run your program on a day to day basis. And you have to have all your assistant coaches exactly talking the same language every time they walk out of there. And, you know, I get so sick of hearing this. We need leadership here. We need, you know, when I was at the Dolphins, I only, and even at Pitt, you know, when I was there and had Aaron Darnold and Shady and some of those guys, you know, I Had always a group of leaders, and I would meet with those guys. And one time, I remember specifically, it was Sam Madison, you know, who was a corner for me at the Dolphins. He's coaching at Dolphins now. And, you know, the locker room was a mess. I walked. I would always walk through the locker room, going to practice. I wanted the players to see me. I was not going to be hiding upstairs and show up and run back up after practice. I wasn't one of those type of guys. So I would walk through it and I called Sam and a couple guys and I said, what's this shit? You know, I said, place looks like a dump down there. And Sam says, you know, coach, I agree with you. I said, well, do something about it. And Sam went off in the next day in a meeting and just threatened to whip guys, you know, and just went crazy, and that was the end of it, you know, so to me, leadership has. Yeah, the coach has to set the foundation, but your players have to buy in and be leaders. And the great teams, you know, every national championship team, I've coached in three of games and Super Bowls, I mean, we've always had leaders that kind of carried the torch of the culture, carried the torch of the foundation. So it's, you know, the. The head coach sets it, he's got to reinforce it. But if you don't have your guys behind you, you got no chance.

[A]

Coach, I do want to get into Pitt and Shady, because you coach obviously some of the great players and had some good years over there. If you're. If you're the Bears, because I know you're close to the Bears organization in Chicago. What. What do you need. What do you need at the Bears? What type of coach do you need?

[C]

Well, we need. We need. And I'm not going to use the word culture. We just need somebody with a plan, a winning plan. I'm going to say that. And. And then the whole thing is with. With. You need to have somebody that's going to work with the general manager, all right? As far as priorities on the team, we couldn't run the ball last year. And I'm. And I know all those guys up there, and supposedly there's a couple assistants that were banging the table. We gotta. We gotta use a fullback, and we gotta be able to run the football with time for closer.

[A]

Coach, you're not using a fullback. Come on.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

This isn't the 1980s, coach.

[B]

This is a quarterback talking, though.

[C]

Let me tell you. Let me tell you something, Matt, okay? And I said this to you 10 years ago, and we worked together, the team. The best teams in football right now are running the football. Detroit, Philadelphia.

[A]

That's true.

[C]

Chargers, Charger, Baltimore. And whether you use a tight end moving, it's a blocker.

[A]

Yeah, there we go. We're running out of the shotgun, man. Come on.

[C]

Okay. 49ers, Kyle Shannon. What's he, though? He doesn't know anything.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Why would they keep a fullback?

[B]

Right.

[C]

But, you know, so your best teams in football right now run the ball.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And everybody. And some of these passing gurus, their lights going on. Oh, my God. What happened to Philadelphia? But they were running the ball about 30% of the time when they were getting their ass kicked. And now they're running the ball almost 60% of the time. Oh, my God. We're winning games. I mean, it's. It's not a. It's not a secret. Detroit beat Minnesota because they ran the football.

[A]

Isn't it fun? Isn't it funny how like the game. I mean, Coach, you and I joke about this all the time. And I was telling Jerry about, like, you're obviously old school, but defense still wins championships. Line of scrimmage still wins championships, even at the college level, even though the offenses and all the rpo and it's all spread out and that's. That's the game. Now, you still, if you run the football and you win the line of scrimmage, you're going to win a Super bowl or you're going to win a national championship. That. It never goes away. So you're right.

[C]

I agree. You throw the ball to score points, you're running the ball to win games. You know, I probably said that 15 times over my eight or nine years at Fox, but nobody listened. But I, No, I agree with you. You know, and that's when going back to the Bears, what Jerry said, you know, Caleb Williams, okay, we, we. We built this thing kind of backwards. You know, we go out and sign Kenan Allen and we draft the doomsday. I was banging the table. There was a center from Oregon that I love and a center from West Virginia, Frazier, that went to the Steelers. They're both starting and they'll be all pros for 10 years. And I said, we need an offensive. We need an O and Cruz on this team. We got to get with that knife pick. I want to take an offensive lineman. We, we didn't. We took, you know, this kid who's hopefully be a good player from Harvard. Okay.

[A]

You know, my Roma Dun. He. He went to Washington.

[C]

Yeah. No, no, no, I said I, I wanted to draft an offensive lineman here.

[A]

Of course you did. But by the way, Jim Harbaugh, everyone gave the Chargers for drafting Joe Alt. They should have drafted Malik Neighbors and look at all. These are freaking all pro already at left tackle, so.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So. Yeah. So it's. Yeah. And I, and I'm the wrong guy. And I say this all the time up here on these shows that I do. I said I'm the wrong. I mean, because I, I probably. I got fired for running Ricky Williams 356 times this time. Yeah. The longest game in pit history. Notre Dame. And the longest game in Notre Dame history. I'm going to give you a little truth was when Pitt, we played them up there in South Bend, this game was so long and it was like the fourth overtime that the sprinklers came on because they were on a timer during the game. True. They turn the sprinklers off and we get the ball and, and our quarterback was a freshman and he throws a ball, it bounces off of defensive backs and same thing. And I said to Matt Cavanaugh, Matt, that's it, man. Shady. No one gets the ball except Shady.

[B]

I don't want anybody.

[A]

Was that Palko?

[C]

No. Pelko had graduated, but I'd have done the same damn thing with Pelco, trust me on that. And he knows it. He knows it. My man Tyler. But. So the point was, yeah, I had a short views, but I, and, and by the way, we call 36 power. Same thing. We need about three yards of kicko. Game winning field goal with South Bend and we call 36 power, which was our, our best running play. And I call a timeout and Shady comes over. I said, hey, Shady, we got to run that thing. You know, we're going to block down, we're going to poke it. You got to run that thing up in that B gap as hard as you can and get us three yards. Can you do that? Yes, coach, I got it. Okay. They know what's coming. We're coming. Shady takes two steps, he starts running to the sideline.

[A]

He didn't want inside, Coach. Come on.

[C]

He, he takes an outside. Their safety comes up. I forget his name. He was a fourth round pick. Shady gives him a move, runs it down to the 15. We kick the field goal, win the game. Afterwards I call him, I said, shady, come here, my man. I says, why did you not. Why did you run outside on 36 par? And he says, because nobody was there, coach.

[A]

He was.

[B]

Good answer.

[C]

I, I learned A lesson that day. Yep. Coach, players, coach.

[A]

Speaking of Shady, can you. Can you what? What was it like Coaching him, Recruiting him? I know you got some good stories.

[B]

Yes, that's where I was going next, too, Coach.

[A]

Yeah, well, once you can tell. Once you can tell.

[C]

Once I can tell. Okay, next subject. Shady was nil before Nil was nil. No, no, I will say this. Shady was on the COVID of Parade magazine. You know, he was the number one player in the country.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And I had him, Doc. They had a great team up there. Bishop McDevitt. I think they won the state championship award in it again this year in Pennsylvania. Private school, you know, kind of one of those St. Thomas Aquinas. I don't know what it would be in la, but anyway, so I have him and about four of his teammates down to my summer camp. And I'm introducing, and he's standing in the back, and here's this guy, and I know who he is, obviously. And he's standing there and he's got a hat on sideways and he's got sunglasses, you know, the gold chain. And I said, what's your name, young man? And he says, they call me Shady. I said, I know who the hell you are, you know, and they. So. But then he told me up front, he says, coach, I'm. I'm not going to visit Pitt. I'm going to visit usc.

[A]

Coach, I hosted, by the way. I hosted him on his recruiting trip. Yeah, I wasn't paying him like you.

[C]

Were paying him, though.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

No, no. Well, he knows. So what happens is he doesn't even visit Penn State.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, and he's from Harrisburg. Harrisburg's an hour. And I are from college. And it's. It's farther from Pittsburgh about two hours, two and a half. So long story short, he. I still continue the recruiting process because we signed a couple of guys from their team. So every time I go by the school, I'd see him, blah, blah, blah, go to games, see his mom, see his dad, brother. Okay. So now, don't, you know, I get a call from the coach, he breaks his leg, and his mother calls me and says, coach, he's not. He's not going to school. He's not going to school any more classes. He's not. You get a flunk out or whatever. So I was. I said, I'll go by and talk to him. So I went by, he was laying in the nurse's office. You could tell him this if you see him out there. He had the shoe pulled up. Over his face. Okay. I said, what are you doing? And he says, coach, you know, I can't play anymore. Got a broken leg. I'm done. Pete Carroll, you know, I can't go to usc. He was going to go. Matt did a pantry. Fabulous job recruiting them. He told me, he said, but now, you know, I'm out. So, long story short, I end up taking him under my wing and we get everything. We get the leg worked out, we get school worked up, and the rest is history. We'll leave it at that.

[B]

Something I love to. You really have coached some of the more interesting players, I think, in the history of football, just to throw three at you. Ricky Williams, who we talked about a little earlier. Charles Haley. You coach Charles Haley, right? Jim Harbaugh. So first with Harbaugh, was that someone you coached that you thought, oh, this guy would make a good coach one day, or was that not even.

[A]

Was he always as strange as you? But he. Because coach is a different cat.

[C]

I. I thought that Jim was going to be a linebacker. Okay. That was my first.

[A]

He's tough as nails, man.

[C]

Oh, God. Tough and competitive. In my first year at the Bears, we. I was just. We're talking to Tommy Waddle the other day. Tommy Waddle was a receiver we had here, you know, from Boston College. Played a long time in the league. Well, he was the only veteran. And I had Ryan Wetnight, a free agent tight end from Stanford. Terry Obi, free agent slot receiver from Oregon. Carter's Conway was my first pick at a draft.

[A]

Yeah. Sc Se.

[C]

So. So. And then, then Waddle, who was like. He was a mummy. He used all the tape that we had in the training room. And, and, and we were 7 and 5. 7 and 5 my first year, guys. And we are battling and we. We can't throw the ball. It's blizzard A. You know, it's one of those deals. And Jim comes over and he screams. You know, he's screaming, coach, no one's getting open. And I said, I know, I'm watching the game. What do you want me to do? You know, and, and. But that. But then when he got the Michigan job and I really hadn't. And then Jim left after, you know, his contract was up. He left. We signed Eric Kramer and he. And I. So I didn't have much contact with him. And then when he takes the Michigan job, Matt will remember their first game was against Utah. In Utah. And. And John Ents, who was our vice president then at Fox or president. I don't know what John's Title was. He called me and says, we're doing this Michigan game and Jim refuses to do interviews. He says we're trying to get Colin Tower to going off. He says the only guy he said he talked to is you.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

I said, okay. So I. So I fly up there, I fly up to Ann Arbor and I had a heck of a story. This is the strangeness. And we. And you, you know, and. And that. And then after that, Jim and I would talk up until we took the job with the Chargers. In fact, even after he took the job, him and I would stay in touch, texting and so forth. We still do love Jim, but he. So I'm going to tell this story that when I was at usc, I coached at usc. Jerry. I don't know if Matt. He probably don't want me being associated with sc, but I did coach sc and we took our defensive staff into Michigan to visit them in the sprint and talk with their defensive coaches and back then coaches. That's the only way. I don't know how these guys getting better. They sit in their office and nobody talks to anybody and they just, you know. So we went out there to watch how they practice and what can we learn and exchange ideas. That's kind of how you did about that. So I'm watching practice. Jim's the quarterback. Bo Schumweicher is the head coach. And Jim throws the first pass and it's three feet over the guy's head. Throws a next pass it like behind him, you know, next one he throws it bounces off somebody at defense, slaps it down. Bo blows the whistle. I've never seen this in my life. And he screamed, if we can't throw the ball any better than that, give me the football with no air. And. And the manager opens up this chest. Jerry, I'm being serious now. He opens up a chess like it's not the first time he heard it. And he pulls a football out to deflate it.

[B]

Never been the first deflate gate, right?

[C]

And he starts running onto the field and. And Coach Schumpler says, put the ball down. Let's go full speed. Well, obviously they can't throw it. So the defense is like, you know, 15 guys at the line of scrimmage and they hand it off and it's just by bang with a defined ball. That's amazing. Wait, wait, wait. And then he, Bo says, okay, bring the football out. Bring the one with air out. And he puts it down. And he says, now if we can't throw the ball any better than we did. Then we're coming back to the other one. So Jim goes it. So I'm telling this exact story. I'm telling you guys to Jim on the air Fox. I'm thinking, this is going to be a great story. I'm going to break the ice. We're going to laugh. And he looks at me and says, coach, that is an unbelievable. That's a great story. I says, it ain't a story. You would have called him back.

[B]

He doesn't remember any of it.

[C]

And he kind of looks and says, yeah, I was, wasn't I?

[A]

You know, but, I mean, that's typical Jim.

[C]

Yeah. So that never made the error. But I was so excited that I had a great, funny story to break the. The ice with, you know, on an interview with Jim, his first time. And it didn't. It didn't work. Didn't work.

[A]

Coach, I think you told me we got a couple minutes left, man. I. I think you told me.

[C]

Okay. We. We.

[A]

What. What was. Didn't they. You had a funny run in with Charles Haley, didn't you? You tell one time when you were first coaching.

[C]

Yeah, I did. And, and again, Charles and I, we had a Super bowl reunion a few years ago. And, and I. And we're good. So.

[A]

Yeah, you guys are good. No, I know that. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. But now. But. So we would. At the end of training camp every year, Jimmy and myself, and at that time it was North Carter, we would get together and. And have some drinks and we would just say, okay, where are we at? You know, what do we got to do moving forward here? Camps over with. And so, you know, we're talking offense. We got to do this. And then defensively, I said, jimmy, you know, we. And we had some good guys up front, and we had Jim, Jeff Code, you know, but I said, we. I said, we don't. It's hard to get to the passer, Jimmy. It's hard. We could use another pass rusher. He says, oh, boy, you know, you know, money and this and that. And so we're all fine. About two days later, he comes in, he says, hey, you know who just did some crazy stop by to San Francisco was this Charles Haley. We. I might be able to do a deal with that thing. I said, boy, he'd help us. So four hours later, Jimmy comes in, says, well, Charles is coming. Now, keep in mind, we're opening up that week, Sunday night ESPN against the Washington Redskins at that time, who had just won the Super Bowl. We're going to open up against them And Jimmy said, I can get, we can get Charles in here tomorrow. And he says, you think you can get him ready to play? You know, and this was Tuesday before the game?

[A]

Yep.

[C]

I said, get him in here, we'll get him ready to play. But Charles shows up, give him the playbook. And you know, the defensive lineman always sat in the back row of our defensive meeting room. So I'm up there and back then it wasn't all just the screens now and you know, all the stuff, I mean, you, you wrote the game plan down. I did. Anyway, so I would write it on the board, explain what we were going to do. Players were taking notes and it was, it was kind of like the old fashioned classroom stuff. Matt's lived it.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

So I'm putting in the game plan for Washington and I hear this laughing and horsing around. I turn around and Charles is sitting between the best kid we got on a theme, Chad Henning. He was out of the Air Force, right? But the Cowboys drafted him back then. But he had to do his four year stint with the military because he was coming out of the Air Force Academy. So he was over there doing fighter jets. But he was, he was bigger than me. He was a monster. And I'll. We used to laugh about how he fit in those jets, but so now he's back with us and the guy's like a month. He's 300 some pounds, no fat, discipline. You talk about culture center. Yeah, there's your culture. So Charles and I says, hey, Charles, you know, well, we don't do that stuff here, you know, cut it up, turn around. Because I know Chad's writing down every word. Chad's like this. You're looking at the board and Charles, I don't know if he's opened his notebook yet, probably not, but. So I turn around and I start adding to the board. Same damn thing starts. So I turn around, I says, hey, Charles. And now I kind of go off on him, you know, this boom, boom, cussing bullshit, blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Silence. Meeting ends, I'm cleaning the board off, everybody's leaving. All of a sudden the door closes. I turn around, everybody's gone except Charles. Now Charles, I'm 64 and Charles Haley's taller than I am, legit 6 5. He gets this far from my face and he says, coach, I'm just going to tell you, you are lucky that I've matured or I'd kick the shit out of you right now. And I says, charles, I'm so happy You've matured, too. And we got to be on the field in 10 minutes. Let's go. Well, here. Here's the punchline. Jimmy is so excited that he got this Charles Haley done. He's standing outside the door like a little kid at Christmas, right? Gonna open his present. The door opens. Charles goes kind of flying by. Jimmy and I come walking out, and Jimmy says, how'd it go with Charles? I says, fantastic. And I just kept walking. And not until we were long gone. Years after that, I ever tell him the story, but I think he. And he threatened me in the NFC Championship game. Now, now, now, I take that on the sidelines. No, no, no. We were playing San Francisco up there. It had nothing to do with me. And we had another guy on a team that was a little on the edge. Tony could see us, you know, And Tony was like my son. I recruited him. I stayed at his house, trying to get him to come to Oklahoma State. He went to OU with Switzer. You can tell Switzer that story, too. I was sleep. I was sleeping in his house. That still didn't work. Tell Barry that. And so now he gets. He's got some problems in Atlanta. He was the first pick of the draft, okay? And he's got. But he's got problems. So we'll take him, and we'll take them. We bring him in at halftime. And George Seaford, they were running 36 power. And I swear it was one of those rainy, muddy, gray clay days, you know, in San Francisco, Old Candlestick. And we come in at halftime, and Jim Jeffcoat was our one starting thing, and his uniform looked like this white tablet. And here comes Charles, and he walks in, and he is covered from mud from head to toe. And they are running every power play because we used to unblock down. We would wreck it with the defensive end and kick it to the perimeter and run it down. That's how we played it. He is a mess. And he comes in, and we got, you know, 12 minutes at a halftime. This is. Go to the Super Bowl. And he gets this close for me again and says, coach, they are killing me out there. And it's just Seaford them. They want to run every play at Haley, you know, to get back at him for whatever, you know, we'll teach you. And I says, charles, I don't know what the. You know. So him and I start getting into. And I got stuff, but I got to go over. So I tell Tony, Cassias, talk to him. Get. Get him. So Tony grabs him, and they start wrestling and they kind of work their way to the back of the thing and they're wrestling around him screaming, I'm on the board.

[A]

I swear, the conference championship game, I love it.

[C]

And by the time. The time Jimmy, you know, the head coach yells everybody up. Two minutes. You know, they finally come up. They didn't. Neither one of those guys heard a damn word I said, you know, and we. We go out and win the Super Bowl. So Charles was. But we want to. Why without Charles? He's telling me right now what was the difference. And our. We ended up with the number one defense in the NFL and most categories and wouldn't have done it without him.

[B]

Coach, is there a game this coming weekend that you're looking forward to or do you have a good feel for these playoff games? Matt and I were talking about it earlier before we let you go. It's like there's some really good matchups, but also it could. Some of these games could go truly either way. I remember in the playoffs, like you had these dominant. The Cowboys, the Niners just knew what you could expect. And this week, to me this weekend is going to be pretty wild. I know. I like you with the running teams. Is kind of was my thoughts earlier.

[C]

You know, the team that I want to see and I like it to see if they respond the Houston Texans. I mean I'm. You know, they've been disappointment. Did they win their division? Yes. Do they have. You know, I mean, you can. They had a. People would be happy to win, of course, but. But C.J. stroud didn't have the same type of year. I think their defense has. And. And they. They added one of my favorite backs, Joe Mixon. We were talking Joe Mixon. Hey, Jerry. I used to say. I said, why do you like him? I said, me and Frank Thomas used to bet because Frank and I would fly out together when he was doing baseball. Yeah, I see Frank. Frank still does some shows here with. I see him in. In Chicago here. And he was always saying P. Ryan is the guy. I said P. Ryan. When P. Ryan. He's a great player, still playing. I said, but when he gets the ball, does he make you get out of your chair? And Frank said. I said, when Joe Mix. He gets that ball. Coach. Okay.

[A]

You're getting. You've been. Yeah, you have ever. All the Oklahoma days.

[C]

He loves running back so that they add him to the mix out there at Houston. And I'm anxious to see if they can come alive and if CJ Strout. Matt, you would know more than Anybody about the quarterback because he hasn't had a great year, can he just turn that switch on and get back to where he was last year? Because if he can, their defense is good enough to make a serious run here. But I don't know. I want to. That's one I'm keeping an eye on.

[A]

I was telling Jerry it's really hard, as you know, to turn a switch on like when you have a year like that all of a sudden, especially when they lost some receivers and Nico Collins is there, but. Yeah, we'll see. Coach, honestly, man, I. I missed hearing your stories. I was telling Jerry all week. I said, coach is the best. He's one of my favorite human beings. I. I want to say this right now. I would love to have you on every once in a while just to tell stories, because we're here. We do this every. Every week of the year. Coach, I know you might get a little bored there in the off season, so we want to have you back on to tell some stories.

[B]

I'll come to Naples, I'll play some golf with you, and we'll tell some stories. It'll be great.

[C]

I. The other college game, too. Real quick. Notre Dame, Penn State. I'm taking Penn State, but it's going to be a tough one. That's a tough. That's a tough call. But I can't. Jerry. Matt, probably. I do a TV show with the Big Ten Network every week, so I'm. I'm as up on the college stuff here.

[A]

Coach, do you like. You like Ohio State to win it all?

[C]

I do.

[A]

Yeah. I do.

[C]

I do. I. You know, when they got over that Michigan game, I'm so sick of the SEC and hearing all that stuff. I know. I really am. You know, when they. When they just dominated Tennessee and sent them home, you know, to me, that. That as a message. Brian Day did a great job because I wasn't sure how they were going to respond after that Michigan loss. So, you know, I really was.

[A]

So you got Penn State, Ohio State in the championship with the. With Ohio State winning it all. Big Ten, I love it, Buddy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Give my best to Jan, please. Appreciate you coming on, buddy. We'll talk to you soon.

[C]

Okay? All right. Sounds good, Jerry. Good talking.

[B]

Good talking to you, too. All right, now it's time for Dynamic Duos, presented by Wendy's. Two faves for just seven bucks. Gotta be Wendy's. Terms apply. So we're doing something fun now here. Each week at Throwbacks, we're going to pick a category and Matt And I are going to name our all time favorite duo pertaining to that category. For instance, if it was NBA duo, I doubt any of us would say Stockton and Malone, but that would maybe be in there some.

[A]

You would, you would do John Starks and Patrick Ewing.

[B]

Exactly, exactly. So this week in honor of the Golden Globes, we are going to do our dream hosting duos. So this won't be some a duo you've seen before. We're making this duo up brand new. So Matt, if you were going to attend an award show and you're getting honored this weekend, what's a hosting duo say for the Golden Globes? You would love to see.

[A]

Okay, so Gold Globes is what? Tv?

[B]

Yeah, well, it's everything. Movies, tv. That's a party one too. That's a drinking party. That's a drinking show.

[A]

Dude. This was actually a lot of fun because I just like obviously this is not, you know, this is more your lane. So I have, I'm just gonna throw a couple at. I, I want to get your reaction to a couple. Okay. This one is just more for shock value. Okay. Will Smith and Chris Rock. Don't you kind of want to, don't you kind of want to see like, see what would happen again? Like it's already been played out.

[B]

But that would be a huge ratings boost for all award shows. That is a great first start.

[A]

So, so, so okay. But my fa. My favorite one, and this is arguably my favorite movie of all time is Wedding Crashers. So I want to, I want to bring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson back and I want them to do. I know. And, and maybe Bradley Cooper makes a cameo from the crowd. Right? So you have all three and then that was like Bradley Cooper's kind of send off, right? Wasn't it?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. That's where he burst on in the scene.

[A]

Yeah, he kind of burst on the scene. Vince Vaughn. Owen Wilson doing some type of like bit in the monologue to open up about like weddings. Wouldn't that be frickin hilarious?

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

Yeah, I like yours. Yeah, that would be my number one would be Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. It's just like there's a million dude like duos. That would be cool. But that's my all time favorite movie.

[B]

So I really tried to think if I was going to attend say the Golden Globes, which I've had the pleasure of going to. So the first guy I'm going to bring up, he's never hosted the Golden Globe Awards. He's hosted some things but we just, and we just saw his Netflix special. To me, this man would be the greatest host for any award show because of his talents. Jamie Fox.

[A]

Yeah, he's a beast.

[B]

Jamie Fox does comedy. He's an Oscar winning actor and does unbelievable impressions and musically unbelievable. Yeah, that's the perfect host. So he's in like my anchor chair almost. He's the guy in there. But who you bring in.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know who's going to come in and eat up some innings just to up. We're bringing back Ricky Gervais. We all know Ricky Gervais's opening monologue. We see it on Twitter and on Instagram.

[A]

Shocking.

[B]

Lots of pearl clutching going on in the audience. So Jamie Fox is going to lead us through for the entertainment. But then when we want to really hit the casuals who maybe wouldn't watch the award show, Ricky. They'll show up for Ricky Gervais.

[A]

Dude, it's Ricky Gervais coming in like full of just guns blazing like he did last. Just the Hollywood elite just cringing in their. In their seats all time. Dude, that, that, that was. I don't really watch the Golden Globes a lot. I actually watched them this past week a little bit.

[B]

Nikki Glazer did great too. She was awesome as a host.

[A]

Yeah. And, and Shalam, right? Our boy, Our boy won.

[B]

Shalam.

[A]

Shalam. He's. We got to get hit. Let's reach for the stars.

[B]

Dude.

[A]

He's a sports fan. Jamie Foxx is great. His special was great. Glad he's healthy again. Was unbelievable. That'd be a fun duo. You're right. Yeah.

[B]

And go watch his special if you haven't already. Trust me, it's. You'll laugh, you'll cry for sure. It's very emotional and he put his whole heart into it. All right.

[A]

He really did.

[B]

Time for throwback 3. The NFL playoffs is upon us. We're gonna look at some of our. Our throwback three of just NFL playoff runs and whatever that means to you. Could be upset driven. It could be just favorite driven. Could be player driven. NFL playoff runs. Matt, would you like to start first with your throwback three?

[A]

Yeah. So my, my third. I'm actually a little disappointed in this one, but you're going to be happy. Eli Manning, 2011 Giants. Okay. Yeah. I wanted your reaction. I wanted to see your reaction.

[B]

I didn't know which year you were going, but I had to imagine one was being there.

[A]

Basically quickly beat Falcons, Packers, Niners and then super bowl against Tom. Not a little trivia question for you because when I Was doing some research here. There's actually a couple trivia questions that came out of my throwback 397 record going playoffs became one of three teams to reach the Super bowl with under 10 wins at the time. Can you name, can you name.

[B]

Well I, I definitely your Arizona. You said reach the super bowl. Your Arizona Cardinals.

[A]

Y.

[B]

And I want to say a team that I'm going to start off with with as my number three. I'm guessing here. So I'm previewing my. The 2001 Pats. No. They won 10 games.

[A]

79 Rams. Yeah, but. But obviously like that was. I think it was kind of Victor Ruse's Victor Cruz's kind of coming out party that year.

[B]

Victor Cruz.

[A]

Cruz sure.

[B]

As Ahmad Bradshaw in the backfield. Derrick Ward the defense with Justin Tuck and oh yes, yes.

[A]

Straight Strahan had just retired I think the year before. So like Tuck was like. It was just like one of those years where I don't think anybody really thought they were going to be that good and then they ended up going on a run at 9 and 7. So that's.

[B]

Let me ask before I give you my number three. The polarizing thing quickly but Eli, Eli's a Hall of Famer to you. Right.

[A]

First ballot.

[B]

Okay, I know. But to you for your, for your money.

[A]

1.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

1,000. There's not an argument against.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

In my opinion being in the hall of Fame.

[B]

I love arguing. That's. That was one of my favorite Twitter arguments back in the day. That's going to be gone now soon. But yeah, so yeah. Okay. So yeah, my, my number three was the 2001 Pats in the basically the entrance into the greatest quarterback of all time. That was a run just week by week grinding out those games all go and then going against the greatest show on turf. So 2001 pass easily could be number one here. But that is a run because no one thought a Tom Brady led Pats was going to win a Super bowl that year.

[A]

So that's my number one and started maybe the greatest dynasty in the history of sport if you. If you think about it.

[C]

All right.

[A]

Number two, kind of a no brainer. Nick Foles, Philly Eagles. Absolutely. I know Andrew's pumped. 2017 just a little bit of numbers three average 324 yards per game. I got my notes. Six touchdowns, one interception. They ran through Atlanta, Minnesota and then obviously the Patriots in the super bowl. He beat Tom Brady. Not a lot of people beaten Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. Carson Wentz goes down toward the End of the year, I think it was week 14 or 15 and Foles comes in and just like they don't miss a step, man. And he takes it. And then obviously the Philly special, which was the incredible. Where he catches the touchdown. And again, this is my other trivia question. Got some good stuff. I'm just turning this into trivia.

[B]

I know, this is great.

[A]

Three quarterbacks to catch a reception in the Super Bowl. Only three? He's obviously one of them. Can you name the other two? Oh, man, that's a. They came before him. So he was the third quarterback to catch a ball in the Super Bowl. Not a touchdown, just a reception. These other two. Yeah. I mean, you'll just take a wild guess.

[B]

I don't have. I was gonna.

[A]

They're both hall of Famers.

[B]

Not Big Ben, right?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay, I give up.

[A]

Tapping out Jim Kelly and John Elway.

[B]

Elway.

[A]

I gotta be honest, I don't know the game that was just popped up. But shout out to Nick Foles, Eagles that year. Foles had a great career, man. I remember him coming out out of Arizona, I think it was. But Eagles, Rams, Chiefs. Went back to the Eagles for that super bowl run. Jags, Bears, Colts. Play for a lot of teams now. He's like a professional pickleballer, which I'm jealous of because he's a stud. But what a great run, man. That was incredible. Anytime a backup quarterback leads to to a Super bowl win, it's got to go down as well. The greatest runs ever.

[B]

So my number two. Okay, this is my list. Okay. So you could, you could insult it as much as you want. I'm just giving you one in recent memory that stood out. It did not result in the super bowl. But to me, as far as there was a team making a run that didn't fully get to the super bowl. But do you remember the VRA Titans run on the road beating Brady in the patsy? Yeah. Then going into. I think it's 10 then going Baltimore as like we're seeing this week. Baltimore is almost a 10 point favor verse. They went into Baltimore, 10 point underdogs and beat the shit out of Lamar and the Ravings. That was the one where I think Ravel said if we win this game, I'll cut my cough and eat it. Something like that. He said to the players, said something ridiculous like that. I know it's a weird one for number two. There's another one I would have put in, but I'm leaving it for you. I think you're gonna Say it. Maybe you won't, I don't know. But that one just stuck out to me in recent memory. And I didn't want to make this all Giants. I didn't want to go 1990 giants on you. The greatest day of my life. When was one of the Giants. Well, when they beat the Niners in the NFC championship game with that mat bar field goal. My uncle and I were so excited. He took me right, this is the greatest 10 year old day, Giants win the game to go to the Super Bowl. Then my uncle takes me to the movie theater to see Home Alone. That all happened in one day for me.

[A]

What a day.

[B]

That was a day. But I don't want to. I don't want to make this.

[A]

You just talked about Home Alone. You made a dick joke. And the Titans and Rainbow all in one.

[B]

It's a wild show today.

[A]

Good for you, buddy. All right, number one. Now you're not gonna go on this. This is. When you look at this, it's obvious, but actually, after talking to coach Wantstead, I'm going with the 1985 Chicago Bears. Okay, let me give you a little history lesson here. Jerry Ferrara. Okay, Coach. Coach by Mike Ditka, right? 51 record. The only loss came to the Dolphins that year. The defense was led by who, The.

[B]

Singletary and, oh, Buddy Ryan. Oh, oh, the coordinator. Yeah.

[A]

Which. Then the 46 defense, which is the Bear defense, was sort of revolutionized. Right. And that's when we play mad and you see the 46. The bear defense, for everybody listening, is when the. No, when the center and both guards are covered, that is the Bear defense. And then it allows other guys on the outside. So when the center and both guards are covered, that is when you get a Bear defense or the 46 defense. Back then they gave up 12 points per game. They had 54 takeaways that year. Okay, but here's the greatest playoff run of all time for defense. In three playoff games, they gave up 10 points. They beat the Giants 21 nothing. In the divisional round, they beat the Rams 24 nothing. And then they beat the Patriots 46 to 10 in the Super Bowl. The greatest, arguably the greatest team to ever do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The 1985 Bears with the greatest playoff run of all time. Okay, I'll shut up now. Who you got number one.

[B]

But really quick, I know you didn't win the super bowl, but you lived. You played through a run like you just didn't want to. Was that you don't want to be selfish and say the 2008 cardinals.

[A]

Well, by the way, the two.

[B]

That's an amazing run.

[A]

Amazing run. And Larry Fitzgerald had an incredible run that for. So I think Fitz averaged like 150 yards receiving a game that run. He was incredible. Had the big Super Bowl. We went in. I told this story before real quickly that year. We were. I think we finished 8, 8 or 9 and 7. We were terrible. But we won our division. We played Philly on Thanksgiving, got our ass kicked. We played New England in late November in a blizzard against Matt Castle and Randy and West Walker. We lost like by 35. We limped into the playoff and then we made the run. And I would say set this run up. I think we played Atlanta or Green Bay one. And then we ended up Carolina was the number one seed or the number two seed. We beat Carolina that year in Carolina. They did not scare us. And we're like, dude, we're going to beat them. I think we beat. I think we beat them.

[B]

Is that dellam.

[A]

It was Jake Delome and we handled them up in Carolina. And then the way it worked out is Philly made the run as a wild card. So we ended. We ended up hosting an NFC championship.

[B]

Game at 9 and 7 or whatever.

[A]

9 and 7 against McNabb and the Eagles, who are really good. They were on their run and we beat him in the NFC title game. And then we end up playing Pittsburgh in the super bowl. And honestly, we should have won. If.

[B]

Should have won.

[A]

Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, it's a great run. It was a great run.

[B]

I left that one for you because that easily. That's why that would have been my number two.

[A]

I don't have the Cardinals.

[B]

It's just, it's the 07 Giants. It, it. I. I feel like you probably left that one for me. You did do 2011. I appreciate that. But. And what made that run so special, of course, was beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. But then that final week game, the thing that stood out was this whole play. Starters don't play starters. Giants could not improve upon their seed that year. They were locked in at whatever it was, six seed, whatever it was, five seed. But the Pats are going for undefeated. So Coughlin had that choice. Should I just rest my starters or should I play them and try and take out this undefeated season? And he played all his starters and it was a great game. The Giants, it was like. It's like a Moss 50 yard touchdown that iced it. But that was a game.

[A]

I think that's what the Giants learned, was that. That Mario Manningham Catch down the sidelines.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

No, no, no, no.

[A]

That was in the playoff run.

[B]

That was a super playoff run, which to me that's the most underrated throw. That thing is in the only spot that only Manningham could have caught it. So that propelled the Giants. But the thing that always stood out to that run was it was all on the road. They just were on the road in that game against Green Bay when I think it was Tines misses like four field goals that could have ended the game. And then it's just the best, it's the best run. Sorry to do it. And if you have better ones out.

[A]

It really, it's a great by the way, it's a great run. You're absolutely right.

[B]

And you give it to Eli, but it's hard to give it to just Eli because that team had so many things going on.

[A]

So somehow, some way our New York Giants find their way.

[B]

I just don't like I I I will replace my Vrabel Titans trying to be cool pick with the 2008 Cardinals. I thought you were gonna take it. I left it for you.

[A]

No, I, I, I, I had it I, it was in my honorable mention. But I was like eh, you know, I should have, I should have not.

[B]

Had the and hitting incentives the whole way, right? Each round getting them checks.

[A]

We all made a, a couple hundred GS that year and hey and sold my super bowl tickets. Shout out there too. I won't say to who, but I made a good amount of money on my super bowl tickets.

[B]

One day I'll get that out of you. Who you sold that to. Listen, enjoy the playoffs everybody. Enjoy college and NFL playoffs. And again, thoughts to everybody out there in la. Please stay safe and yeah, everyone be safe out there.