Transcript of Knicks To The Finals, Wemby Domination, Saints RB Travis Etienne, Saints Safety Justin Reid, Who’s Back Of The Week And More New

Hey, Pardon My Take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Stella Blue Coffee is more than just great coffee, it's coffee with a purpose. Introducing We Brew to Rescue, a nationwide campaign using proceeds from our new ready-to-drink cans to help fund 1,000 pet adoptions this year. Every can you crack open helps a real pet find a real home. Simple as that. Made with 100% Colombian coffee, each 11-ounce can delivers smooth, drinkable energy with a boost of protein. Available in Espresso Cafe Mocha and Espresso Sweet Cream. Built for mornings, long days, and everything in between. Drink Stella Blue, fuel your day, and help save a pet's life. You can follow our progress in real time throughout the campaign by watching the adoption tracker on our site. Grab yours now at stellabluecoffee.com, Amazon, and select retailers nationwide. On today's part of my take presented by DraftKings, we've got a twofer for the people, our Grit Week interviews. We got two more, uh, incredible interviews. Travis A'Chain formerly Etienne, uh, and Justin Reed. Awesome talking to both of those guys. We also have— I'm gonna say it right now, I'm gonna call my shot.

I'm Babe Ruth, I'm calling my shot. I think it's going to be an incredible part of my take today because we've got take buildup. We've got marinated takes. We have an extra day off Memorial Day. We had so much sports the last 4 days since we last were together that we have take buildup. And it's got to go somewhere. So it's going to go into your ears.

I'm backed up. It's about to explode. I have a lot of it. It's going to explode. It's going to be messy. It's going to be like, you know, smashing a watermelon in the front row. So put your poncho on.

I think if we can— with the Jimmy V, if we can laugh, if we can cry, if we can piss off a lot of people, I think we're going to try to do that this show. So we have Take Buildup. We have Who's Back of the Week. All the boys back in studio together. And it's brought to you by our friends at Planet Fitness. Everybody can get strong at Planet Fitness. High-value membership that supports any fitness journey, as low as $15 a month. Over 2,800 club locations, most clubs open 24 hours. We're all strong on this planet. Go check it out. We have the Planet Fitness corner here in Barstool Chicago HQ. Treadmill— I've been hitting the incline treadmill. We got the free weights, we got the hack squat with the Smith machine. We're all getting stronger this year. It's summertime. Get that body tight, get that body right. We're all getting strong on this planet. Join today in club, online, or in the free PF app. Hours, amenities, and offers vary by club. Check out planetfitness.com or stop by your local club for more information. Must be 18 years old to enroll, or 13 to 17 with a parent/guardian.

Okay, let's go! My take.

Yeah, part of my take.

Yeah, part of my take.

Yeah, part of my take. Welcome to Part of My Take, presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Tuesday, May 26th, and the New York Knicks are off to the NBA Finals after a commanding 2 games to 2 games, uh, victory in the Eastern Conference Finals. So congrats to the Knicks. Yeah, you did it, you won 2-2. How do you feel, Zach? The boys, they're buzzing. Absolute destruction in Game 4. We're taping this with 4:33 left in the third quarter.

It was over after the first 10 minutes of the game.

It was over after the first game, which we correctly— credit to everyone in the world who said it, but when the Cavs blew the first game this series was over.

But boys, I thought it was— yeah, I thought it was, it was over at that point. But then tonight there was a brief moment pregame where I thought they were going to get the gentleman sweep because they brought Delly out, and Delly is the break glass in case of emergency grit level that I thought they would play with a little bit more pride for Delly. They did not.

Yeah, uh, meme Zach, how we feeling? Your team is in the NBA Finals. Again, apologies that you only did it winning 2 of the 4 games, but still Incredible, incredible series.

Uh, series almost wrapped here. They got 3 up, third quarter here. Boys are playing strong right now, Big Cat.

They're looking good.

A lot of guys getting outclassed, a lot of guys getting outbodied.

Memes?

Uh, I don't think I've ever been able to say this. Knicks are the best team in the NBA.

They are right now. They are the best team in the world. They've won 11 games in a row. This will be the 11th. They are basically playing perfect basketball. Everyone is— Landry Shamet is like the greatest shooter of all time.

He's—

he just— they just keep on bringing him in in the fourth quarter. He just goes like 3 for 3, 4 for 4 from 3 and just ends games. It's, it's— I mean, Jalen Brunson, Mikael Bridges, ever since the, the 2-1 deficit to the Hawks, has been incredible. Josh Hart has had his moments like where he's just been everywhere. They're just They're, they're— and Mike Brown's been great. Means—

and OG Anunoby has been playing really, really good defense.

Every single guy.

Now, I, I'm gonna wait for all the advanced analytics to come out. Big Cat, you alluded to it. Yeah, I think that the Knicks should be winning this game on expected points. I, I think I've got them actually up right now with my own proprietary analytics. I've got them up 88 to 87 in expected points.

So what we're referring to, if people missed it— I don't know if anyone could have missed it— but, uh, Kenny Atkinson, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, said after they were down 3 in the series that analytically they've won 2 of the games. If you look at the shot quality, if you look at the expected wins, they've won 2 of the games. Now, I don't want to be hyperbolic here, but I think that is the biggest loser quote that has ever been uttered in professional sports.

I love it.

I really do. I do not understand. Find me a bigger loser quote than that. We've won 2 of the games. That's a quote that you throw out there in like mid-December, 12 games into the season, where you're like, hey, we're going to just trust our process. Like, the threes are going to start falling. Not game 3, game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals when you're getting your absolute dick stomped in.

I think it's one thing to do the expected— it's loser talk no matter what, but in basketball, basketball, it's worse. I was actually going to say, I was going to say, like, you know, we hear this sometimes in baseball when they talk about batting average on balls in play.

Yeah, when they play 162 games.

And you look over the course of a season and there is some truth to that. Like if you barrel up some balls and you happen to hit them to a left fielder, that sucks. It's not always like your fault. But in basketball, like everything on the court happens because of what you're doing over the course of that play. And even though most teams might make a shot from that spot on the floor, has nothing to do with playoff intensity basketball and the defensive adjustments that are being made against you. And for the coach to say that he's had two Hall of Fame loser quotes after games. The first one where he's like, I like to hold my timeouts, I like to keep all my timeouts and, and hold on to them and look at them and, and, uh, have them tell me how special I am. There was that quote, and then the quote of like, we're up 2-1 on expected points. And also, I, I, I don't know, I don't think it's possible for a coach to be more of a pathetic loser than that.

Also, expected points is literally, in, in the basketball sense, is literally just saying If our shots went in and theirs didn't, we would have won the game.

Yeah.

Which is the point of the game, is to put the ball in the hoop. And he's like, well, our looks were so good that normally if we— if all of our guys don't go 1 for 15 from 3, we'd win the game. No shit, dude. If you made more shots, you'd win the game.

Hey, do you ever fuck around with like expected birdies? Like, you know, I know I actually had 3 expected birdies over the weekend. Now they all turn into bogeys, but I played some of my best golf ever.

No, I— can I pause real quick? Because we're in, we're in a flow state, but Memes and Max's faces are making me very nervous. I don't know what's going on. I'm very nervous. They're, they're making faces like the cameras aren't working, that things aren't going according to plan. And I'm— I, I can read Max's face. He's looking, you know, when, when, when a garage door opens and your dog gives the side tilt, like, yeah, I didn't know that. How did that happen? That's what Max is doing to the computer right now. He's looking at it like a dog that has never seen a garage door.

It's not a big deal.

That's a big deal.

Based on your, on your facial reaction right now, I've got you. I've got that booth at plus 2.5 expected pips.

You listen, I said in the, in the intro, this is going to be an all-time PMT show because we've had all of our takes marinating. We're in a flow state and all I can see is Max Just—

I'm producing the show.

What's happening? Talk us through it. What is happening? What is occurring?

Something's going on with PFT's— the light. It's just the lighting is off.

What's the worst? Wait, wait, wait, wait. In what way? We do— I look— do I look pale?

We moved the desk forward a little. Is that the problem? I don't know what it is because we are like, for, for being the number one sports podcast, We can be derailed by moving our desk 6 inches.

How about maybe that?

Like, that actually weighs the whole thing down. It's the beauty of how bad it is. You do you want us to move it back a little? You want us to move back?

Is it funny? Is it so bad that it's funny?

Ready, PFT? We're going to move it back.

Hang on. Yeah, I want to send a picture to the group chat. Well, we just keep—

we just keep messing with it.

How's that look? Does that look better? Okay, sure.

Please tell me it either looks fine or it looks so bad that it's funny.

Hank, you want to come back here?

Oh my God, they're calling Hank in. Bring it on. Oh yeah, bring in the lefty. Yeah, Hank just patted his right hand.

He's got it. Hank is— Hank is the old man at the pickup game where he's like stretching in the side. He's like, I don't know if I could still do this. I don't know if I can still produce.

Hank, how's it look?

Yeah, he just looks bright.

Bright, bright.

Is it pale? Is it red?

I said it wasn't that big of a deal.

He's our shining star.

Look at these.

Is it red? What color bright are we talking about here?

You're just blown out.

It's just— I'm blown out a little bit. Is he the brightest boy on the show?

I'm blown out, but all the settings are the same.

The boys just blew me out.

Okay. But it's the desk memes. We did move the desk 6 inches, so that is a problem.

I don't know if maybe like the way that the lighting was set up before— You moved it up yourself?

No, we moved it on Thursday's— on Friday's show, we had to move it up because we had the Grit Week stuff behind us.

Got it.

So that again, bring it down a little.

Yeah, bring it way down. Bring it way down.

Do you guys agree?

It wasn't that big of a deal.

You're worried, like shaking your head. Yeah, you're just like, I know, and I need memes locked in.

We're talking about the Knicks and he's worried about PFT looking too bright.

Yeah, if he looks pale as fuck.

Do you guys agree that it is the biggest loser comment of all time?

Oh yeah.

Yeah, I don't know how you can be a bigger loser than Kenny Atkinson.

I don't know, like I laughed when I found out about expected goals in soccer and how like some teams were really relying on that. I was like, that's the biggest loser to do it in basketball where you're right, it's like if your shot doesn't go in, you're like, well, that shot normally goes in.

We missed open shots. That shot normally was in.

So if that went in, then we would have— we would have dominated this game. Like, I'm going to start doing that expected beers that I drank last night when I wake up in the morning. You can do expected anything and feel better.

It's just I don't know how he survives this. I don't know. Like the Cavs, it's just a brutal way for them. Game 1. It was Game 1. If they win Game 1, they— I don't, I don't think they win the series, but they at least have a little confidence and maybe things go slightly different. Knicks are the better team by far, even, even in exp— even in my analytics in expected wins. Uh, but yeah, that was— you're dead, you're dead after that. And Kenny Atkinson is to blame for that, uh, entire Game 1, or, or at least the ending. And then to throw on that quote on top, how do you bring that guy back? You can't.

I don't know. You've got a couple of silver linings for Cavs fans, and we're going to have a long time to talk about, about the Knicks because they're going to have probably like a week and a half off before the NBA Finals. But some silver linings for Knicks fans, one, or for Cavs fans. Number one, I think your owner did a pretty good job keeping the celebrities off the wood.

I agree.

That was a good move on Dan Gilbert's part. He was just like, no, I'm under. No obligation to make sure that Ben Stiller gets courtside seats.

People were calling this petty or loser. I think this is a— if I were an owner of a franchise, I'd be like, guess what? You can buy tickets to the second row. You can't put your feet on the wood.

I want to find out—

do that.

I want to find out where the line of celebrity was. Like, it'd be very funny if like Chalamet and Kylie showed up and Ben Stiller was there and Dan Gilbert's like, you can't, you can't touch the wood. And then Michael Rapoport walks in. What about me, Dan?

Yeah.

So, yeah, go ahead. Go right ahead.

Yeah. You can go there. Also, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were at Game 3, which I have an announcement. I officially think that they're dating because if you, if you bring your girlfriend to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers and James Harden get the doors blown off them and she's like, yeah, that sounds like fun, that's love. So I take back everything I've said previously about P&V and all that stuff. I officially, I should have said at the time If I could, if I could redo the P&V clip, I should have put a, put a disclaimer P&V or they go to a Cavs game where the Cavs are dead men walking and James Harden is there and Taylor Swift's like, yeah, this will be fun. Yeah, well, that's a good girlfriend move. Oh, I'm sorry. Fiancée.

Also digging in her bag to share gum. Yeah, that's a big time girlfriend.

And I think Travis Kelce also had a moment where he's like, I just hit my bet, which I love that.

Yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah, I like how she's like, oh God. You need me to go into my bag for something? That's, that's classic girlfriend behavior. I do believe it's real too. The other silver lining I was going to say is that this, this might just cause the Cavs to end the James Harden experiment.

Mm-hmm.

And it probably makes it a more attractive place if LeBron wanted to play there.

Yeah, right. Yeah.

Like, I feel like going out this way, it's like you've got really— they had one guy that was playing hard tonight. They had one guy, and that's Donovan Mitchell, and he's a fun player to watch. But man, they have— they are just such a bummer of a team. When James Harden is ball dominant and he's just, he just does not give a fuck.

I think they have to give Donovan Mitchell a big time extension too. So that's a, that's a tough pill to swallow. Yeah. Cause he's, he's a classic, like he's a very good player. Is he hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars?

Probably not.

I, but, but also what's the alternative? He's a very good player.

You still need like two, two big pieces.

He's a very good player though. That's the, He's a very good player. And then the Cavs, yeah, I, I did notice game 3, Richard Jefferson was trying to do anything to like make it, you know, hey, this, this— and Cleveland does have great sports fans and, and they're, they're diehard fans, and this, this sucks to have to watch these two games. But Richard Jefferson said something along the lines of like, yeah, I've, I've played playoff games in this arena, like you know, these, these fans will always believe. You just got to give them something. Like, dude, you, you play with LeBron James, a little different. No, I think Cavs fans had a right to, to be like, hey, LeBron will always find us a way. No, especially in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

No, it was the intangibles of the role players. That's, that's what the main difference was then.

Uh, Memes, are you good to talk about the Knicks now? Because this is, this is incredible. What I mean, like, it has gone from the Knicks started the playoffs down 2-1 and everyone's like, what is going on? There was, there was a moment where you said yourself, like, Trey trade the whole team for Giannis. Uh, and, and that was— I'm not saying like as a gotcha, that, that was just— down 2-1 to the Hawks felt bad.

I did say that.

Yeah, I did.

Yeah. And then, but then, you know, every single moment from then, you, you are living and dying with it. You love this team. And like, I think most people have been saying in their head, well, the winner's gonna come from the West, whoever comes out of the East, whatever. But at this point why not the Knicks? They are, they are playing perfect basketball. They're so fucking good, and they have the best home court in the entire playoffs. And their fans, I don't know if they'll be able— I don't know if they'll go to OKC or San Antonio, but they take over every arena. So it's like, why not? Why not the Knicks?

Yeah, I felt that. I definitely felt that way last year. Like, if they would have beat the Pacers, it was, it was, it was OKC's to win. But this year, like, every— everybody says we're gonna get blown out.

No, I don't—

you just don't watch basketball.

Yeah, I don't think they're saying that anymore. I think that they were saying, if you had asked like a week ago, week and a half ago, I think there were some people that are just saying like whoever wins the Western Conference, they're going to win the championship. And if you look at the odds, it's still looking that way too. But I think that the Knicks have been so good ever since that— that— I mean, you can take the entire playoffs including the losses I think they've set all the records for offensive basketball, for just team efficiency in terms of one team over the course of a single playoff. I think that what they've done through the totality of this playoff has never been done before so far in the history of the NBA.

And it's also, it's also the foot on their, on the gas. That's what's been most impressive to me. Like, you know, up 2-0 going, going to, you know, Philadelphia, up 2-0 going to Cleveland. That's a, that's a place that usually the home team wins one. Going to Game 4 where it's like, hey, we have a chance to sweep and get more rest. Those get tricky where it's like, hey, we can win this game or we can go back home and win it at home. The Knicks have just kept their foot on the gas and absolutely wasted teams. They're so good, Memes. They're so fucking good.

Yeah, they're the best. And Mike Brown deserves a ton of credit.

Oh, dude.

He's been coaching for, what, 31 years now? He's won 4 championships. So like all that experience, he was talking about what he learned from Pop. He said you save your players for the postseason.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And yeah, he basically— that's a little shot of tips. But also, I mean, like the simple things, like he's just been running circles around Kenny Atkinson where he keeps doing the move where he puts in Mitchell Robinson so that the Cavs go into bonus, then they take him out. Yeah, he's, he's just— it's crazy. He's, he's a foul magnet.

And they coached on the same coaching staff in Golden State like 2 years ago too, which is—

yeah, yeah, which also makes it pretty funny. I was thinking about this because the Knicks are fun. They're, it's— they're a very easy team to love. But obviously, like, a lot of the country has a large amount of fatigue with like New York sports media bias type stuff. I actually think that if it's the Thunder against the Knicks in the finals, you're going to look at the map of like where people are rooting for which team. I think, I think that the Knicks might be America's team. I think that it would be like across the board except for maybe Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, like the middle, the middle of the country. I think besides that, most people, I think, just find themselves rooting for the Knicks. Not if it's the Spurs.

Yeah, it just depends on whether— because with, with the New York media thing, they always have a chance to ruin it. This has nothing to do with Knicks fans. All it takes is like Stephen A. Smith coming out in warm-up, in the layup line in warm-ups, which ESPN will try to do, you know what I mean? Like something like that where Stephen A. Smith comes out of the tunnel and he's literally taking— he's throwing alley-oops to Jalen Brunson, and they're like, hey, we're just getting a little synergy going, and everyone's like, fuck this.

Yeah, there was— what was there, one Pacers fan who, who showed up in the crowd last year and got garbage thrown at him, right?

Everybody turned on, right? Remember the Stephen A preview of the, of the Pacers-Knicks game, and he didn't say— yeah, I don't think he said the word Pacers.

Yeah, that's all it takes. Stephen A. Smith did a walkout, like, going out the tunnel.

And again, that has nothing— Knicks fans are passionate, they're diehard, it's a fun team.

Yeah, and yeah, you're right, it would take they're probably going to have Eric Adams on Inside the NBA. Yeah, right. For a pregame show. And then everyone's like, okay, fuck this team.

Yeah, yeah. Or Momdani.

Eric Adams would be actually hilarious with that group.

All right, so Memes, now you get to rest.

Now we get to rest. More rest. I just think there's moments in your sports watching career where you just have to realize like this is your year and you just have to enjoy it.

Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the fuck out of the ride. Wherever it takes you.

Hank, you have a winning pedigree.

Yep.

Uh, what advice would you give Memes going into the NBA Finals?

You just gotta keep your foot in the gas. I mean, they're playing the best basketball in the league. They're— just get rested, get healthy. You're the better team. Play your game. I think it's Knicks in 5. It doesn't matter who they play.

That was, that was a soundboard of clichés. Yeah, you hit them all.

I mean, when you're, when you're making postseason runs, like, they're clichés for a reason.

Yeah, no, they're, they're— dude, the Landry Shamet— have you— Landry Shamet has like reached god level in, in the— for his performances.

He's been a stud all year, and then like the Knicks had a bad stretch when he went down, right? Like, he, he really— him and Mitch are the key to this team.

Yeah, I mean, those type of guys who have to come off the bench and be, you know, flamethrowers and, and give you that offensive burst he's been more than that this, this series. It's been insane.

Yeah, it's just the difference between last year and this year. Like, they didn't play the bench and he was on the team. Like, it could have been different, but whatever.

Yeah. Okay, well, congrats, memes. Um, as for the other series, we have a classic brewing that we haven't had a close game since game 1, but, uh, it has— it's 2-2, Spurs and OKC. We had— so since we last talked, Friday night was a quintessential, uh, championship pedigree night for the Thunder, where they were— the, the San Antonio was absolutely rocking. I think this— the start of the game was 15-0. Thunder just took that punch. SGA was getting doubled. He was, he was— had dishes everywhere. Took that punch, won that game convincingly. Then Game 4, it was the complete opposite, where Wemby was like, I'm the best player alive. I'm gonna take this game. Uh, I— it won't show up if you're a box score watcher. Steph Castle, I think he only had like 13 points. He was an absolute menace. Just like the energy that he brought to the Spurs team was— changed the game. And the physicality that the Spurs had in Game 4, I think, shocked the Thunder a little bit. And now we have a crucial Game 5 on Tuesday night. I'm very excited.

I don't think Castle had a turnover.

He was so good.

I was watching him and it was like, this is— he is— he's taking care of the basketball. He was in command of that offense and Wimby was just nuts. It was like, okay, when he does that, it's not fair. There's nothing that you can do at all to stop it. When he hit that 3 at the end of the first half.

Oh, dude, game over.

Game over.

I don't want to— I don't want to be LeBron here, but I don't know if you guys had the same experience.

I knew it was going—

as he was stepping into it, I was like, this is going.

I said it's going.

It just— he had the perfect rhythm to it and it was— it just felt like he'd hit that higher power. Of basketball. He's averaging 30 and 13 in this series.

And I think the Thunder just couldn't hit a 3 to save their lives in that game. So it was over. And with Wimby playing like that, you're not going to beat them. And then the crowd getting into it.

I—

hey, I think the crowd in San Antonio, that was the best crowd of the playoffs so far.

So I want to talk about that because I thought the NBC broadcast— we shit on broadcast. I thought the NBC broadcast was awesome because it was just— there was a moment and I might have I might have been a little high, so I might have also just gotten stuck in the moment, but it was like somewhere in the second quarter where they did a very long, uh, not feature, but extended conversation about the Jackals, the fan section. Loved that. Then it was like, it was like Jackals, Wemby incredible dunk, something about nuns.

Yeah, the nuns were there.

Chet's dog. And then right back to the big old fat titties behind Mitch Johnson. Yeah, it was like, dude, this is awesome. Like, this is a great broadcast.

There's the two sets of titties now behind Mitch Johnson, and they're, they're perfectly framed. Like, the artistic setup of that shot, like, cinematically is a beautiful thing to look at. And the guys in the truck, the boys in the truck know they got some gold because they'll like, at one point they cut to the nuns and then back to the table, correct? And it's like, nuns, titties, they got a little something for everybody.

All right, so This, this dumb idea, but I actually think it's not a dumb idea. We've talked at length that sports in 2026 have been difficult to follow because of the streaming. And there's— you have to have an app for everything. Why don't all the streaming services just guarantee titties behind the bench? You would buy the stream like you don't want to miss the titties in the wild. And listen, we're— we're— you're watching this on Netflix right now. Yep. What if we just put some titties up? Look at that.

I like that.

You like that?

Is that— is that the coach or is that Max Johnson with Max faces on it?

But the titties are right behind him. So we just have the titties right over my shoulder.

I think that the titties are like—

you tune in.

The titties are great. But a counterpoint. I actually think that Hank's staring at titties in the wild is— that's the magic.

Correct.

But if you were guaranteed titties, then it's like no longer the wild and it's It's part of the stadium.

Well, I think you just need to say, hey, look, like there's going to be a good chance there's titties if you, you know, tune in for— where's all the time? Yeah.

Like, you have to watch every shot.

We'll get some titties. I mean, at some point in the broadcast, you're going to need this subscription because there will be some titties.

I think you encourage the fans like, hey, no, no shame in the game. Like, it's hot outside. We know that building occasionally the AC has gone off in the playoffs. You're going to want to wear something comfortable for any, any temperature.

Yeah.

And then, yeah, just Listen, it was a great scene. I also think that the fans that were taunting SGA did a great job.

Oh yeah.

This one lady had an Oscar trophy that she brought with her.

Front row.

Front row, presenting him with the Oscar Award for flopping for acting. And then there was a whole group of people, I think behind the basket, that would hold up signs like it was figure skating judges. When SGA would hit the deck, they'd be like, okay, that's a 7.0. That was— it was a good home court advantage. Yeah, very good.

What are you going to say there, Max?

When did you get my face on there?

I texted Memes at halftime of the Knicks game. I said, can you put a face on there? Got it.

I was going to say, I— that was a new— that was a new— that was a new face. Which one?

Across your desk?

That one hadn't crossed my desk. So I was wondering.

It's a cross.

Wondering where that came from.

The rare cross-racial face swap.

Yeah.

You like it, right?

It just looks very Italian.

I'm looking at the titties. Hey, you know how I know you're gay? You're looking at your face. I'm looking at the titties.

Well, you know, it's my face.

All right. So Morty's all right. So I have a— I have a take that I wanted to throw out to you guys about this series. And it actually is kind of similar to what you said, PFT, about the Knicks and the Thunder, because on Friday's show I was talking about how I don't like SGA flopping. But I also think that it's gotten to a point where every single one of his flops has got 10 billion views on social media. And if you only consume the NBA over social media, you would think that SJ like 100% of the time flops. And he doesn't. He does flop more than everyone else, twice as much as the— I don't like the second. I don't like it. But you would— if you, if you just scrolled social media, you'd be like, that's all he does. That's— and, and my, my greater point was, was more that it's exhausting that we've gotten to a point where it's like, instead of watching the basketball, we are spending— or a lot of people are spending the postgame watching in slow motion SGA and I think it was De'Aaron Fox get in his landing zone, whether it was a foul or not, who the fuck cares?

Okay. That was so that was distilled into I love SGA and I want— I love— I have no problem with him flopping by people who hate SGA. And it dawned on me, the Thunder have such a white-hot hate for them right now that what I said on Friday quickly became I'm just an SGA apologist, which again, I don't like his flopping. I think, though, the white-hot hate for the Thunder— I think the Thunder are awesome for the NBA. What do you guys think?

Because people hate them?

Yes. I don't think they're hate—

they're not that hateable.

They're very hateable. They're not unhateable, though.

I agree. I think that people are a little bit sick of them. And that's why I'm saying if the Knicks and the Thunder play in the finals, I think most of America would be rooting for the Knicks. And there's fatigue any time that you see a team that wins one championship.

What, Matt?

You don't want to see them back.

What the problem is, it's Oklahoma City.

I understand that. I understand that. I understand.

There can't be like the real, real hatred.

I get it. I get it.

And its fans are from Oklahoma City.

I get it. I get it. I'm just saying there's a lot of hate for this team and there's a lot of hate for the flopping. I get it. And there's a lot of hate for— no, but there's a lot of hate for Lou Dort. There's a lot of hate for Caruso. There's a lot of hate for how they play. Nobody's—

I don't think anybody hates Caruso. They do hate Lou Dort occasionally. And Lou Dort hasn't been good. Lou Dort's been actually Bad. He's been very bad in this series.

Hold on a second. We love Alex Caruso. He's a very good friend of the program. There's a lot of hate for Alex Caruso. I don't think so. Yeah.

Yes.

Oh, other NBA fans definitely hate him. He put— I mean, the way he plays, he plays hard all the time.

Yeah, I think—

I don't know.

I haven't seen—

we're a little blinded.

I haven't seen nuclear levels of hate for Caruso. I do think that the SGA stuff, it's just annoying as fuck. That's the thing. Like you were talking about how sometimes he flops and they don't call it and then who cares? I think that's still annoying as fuck to watch when you have a superstar that's embellishing, trying to draw calls, and then when he doesn't get it, it still sucks to look at on TV and it makes it worse to watch. That's all I was saying. And yeah, if you only consume it via clips and you're like, yeah, okay, then you would think that all SGA does is hit the ground. But he does fall to the ground twice as much as the second leading guy.

Correct.

So he is on the ground a lot. Now, every shot, it's like, what, 27% of the time?

And some of them are flops, though. They aren't. They're just— he's just— he's just falling that way. Like, he's not fully flopping. But I— so my greater point though is that in sports, the, the best thing is when there is a truly hateable team. The Chiefs, the Patriots, LeBron when he went to the Magic, the KD when he went to the Warriors. When everyone truly hates one team. I understand that it's limitations because it is OKC. But I think there's— I think to your point, PFT, if it was Knicks versus OKC, I think America would be rooting for the Knicks, which is a crazy statement. But that is the hate that OKC like generates. And I think that that hate is awesome for the NBA because a lot of the discourse is OKC is bad for NBA because of the style of play and their floppers and everything. I think they're great for the NBA. You want a team that everyone can galvanize behind and be like, we hate them.

I still think that they're a fun team to watch. They play, I think, a very fun brand of basketball. It's just when they do the flopping, that's— that pisses me off just as like a— just somebody that likes to watch the game, you know? Like, you don't want to see guys that are trying to bend the rules and trying to like pull one over on the ref. That sucks to watch. But besides that, because again, it's not— you're right, it's not every time. And when they're dominant, they don't need to do that stuff. And they're still fun to watch when they don't. And they're still very, very good when they— when they aren't trying to draw those calls. Now, I think that there's definitely there would be a large percentage of America that would root for the Knicks if it was Knicks-Thunder. I think that it would be the other way around if it was Spurs versus Knicks in the finals. And that's— that goes back to what I was saying, that I—

that's why we need the Thunder.

I kind of want the Thunder to win because I'm not ready to start the clock on when I have to start hating the Spurs again.

And the hate for the Thunder will go up even another level if they win again. As for the flopping, I, I've I always just think like it's an NBA problem. It's not as much of a player. Like, people want to put on the players. I get it. It sucks to watch, but it's the refs. The refs. If the refs don't, you know, the same thing when James Harden was, was doing it. Like, the refs don't reward it. Or if there's some type of like punishment after the game where they can review these and be like, hey, this was a flop, you're getting fined, it would be out of the game.

That's what I'm saying. Yeah, but that's, but that's not—

I, I'm not mad at SGA for, for like a competitive advantage trying to find one. I'm mad at the NBA for not being able to figure that out.

They got to do— you got to be able to do techs after the game too. Like, if it's egregious, yes, tee a guy up if it's a flop. If it's like— if it's, uh, one of the— one of the crazier ones that there's absolutely no discussion about whether or not there was contact or anything, if it's egregious, issue them a technical foul after the game. You can do it. You can do it upon review.

Um, also, I don't know where this series is going to go because the Thunder are running out of dudes too. Like AJ Mitchell and J Dub being out, they don't— Chet needs to be way better and SGA needs to be better. SGA needs to prove that he's the best player and he's the best player. That's the problem. He's, he's, he's trying to prove he's the best player against the best player.

The Spurs also had Pop coming out of retirement to give him some, some words of wisdom after game 3, went into the locker room and cussed him out.

Yeah, he's been all around. He's been around. Remember when Wemby elbowed, he was the first one to meet him off the plane. Yeah, it's like a superpower. The Spurs organization, and they have just— it's crazy that they're doing that. It— because I always go back to, in the NBA, you can't— you can't climb the mountain.

You—

I mean, you can't get to the mountaintop before you've done a couple climbs up. And you've seen it every, every single time, every era, where a team, you know, will take their lumps and then they'll get over the top. Wemby might be just that good, that he's that different, that they could go with a team that is all like under 25 years old and potentially win the whole thing. It's nuts.

We're starting to get like little trickles of the, the like urban legend of Wimby growing day by day.

Oh yeah.

Like little trickles of nuggets from the time that he spent at the monastery and the different assignments that he was on, like doing the Kill Bill shit, walking up and down a mountain, dribbling a basketball. I can't wait to hear more about it. Wimby, he's fascinating to me as a player that's that big, that skilled. And that like much of a competitor too, and that coordinated for being that size. I want all the Wimby content. I love watching him play. I just don't want to start hating him until I have to start to hate him.

I might never hate him because he's— he might not even be French with how much of a dog he has. Like, he hates his opponents. He wants to embarrass his opponents. And it's awesome to watch.

He hates Chet. That's what I love too, is I know him and Chet have so fun, some actual hatred, and it's good.

It's also fun just watching a series where I truly don't like Caruso aside because we root for Caruso. I don't really have a dog in this fight. Like I'm just watching this series and it's fun to watch.

I like the Spurs.

I really— who doesn't like Wemby?

And I like their guards. I like a lot of things about the Spurs, but I just—

Steph Castle, dude, dog. I want absolute dog.

I want to see Nick's thunder. In the finals. And I want Memes— Memes, I want you to take it home. Like, there'll be a lot of orange and blue.

Yeah, it would be a horrible jersey matchup.

It'd be the orangest and bluest NBA Finals of all time.

It'll be— yeah, that'd be a really tough matchup for the eyes.

And I also— I don't think that Ben Stiller can hang with Thunder Princess and Thundor.

No, that's a fact.

I think they get him out the paint real quick.

Ben Stiller probably can't hang with the Jackals or the Titties.

Probably not.

There's a lot going on for that. The Knicks are just— they're going to win. They're winning this game by 42. This is— Chalamet is having the best time of his life. Chalamet, does he— is he like 1-1 life right now?

It's pretty good.

Who?

Without question.

OK, I was just thinking about it. Yeah, no, I did. He does. I guess maybe being a professional athlete would be cooler.

Nah, no, because he gets to go to the games.

Spike Lee, he's in the third row.

He's so, so big as an actor too. He probably just gets to tell— he's like, I'll do your movie. We're not doing it during playoff season.

Do you think Spike Lee has a little bit of resentment towards Chalamet?

No, because I used to be a tiny bit like he—

it was his thing and now Chalamet's got a little bit of it and the Knicks are going to the finals.

Like he didn't put in— he didn't pay his dues.

Just a tiny bit. I'm not saying— I'm not trying to cause a wedge. Just a little bit.

Yeah, probably.

There's got to be a little bit. It's like, I'm, I'm Mr. Nick, and now Chalamet is just smooching with a Jenner on the, on, on the wood, and everyone wants to be friends with him because he's the coolest guy ever. Spike Lee doesn't probably know the MAC Football Conference like Chalamet does.

Definitely not.

Okay, uh, we got a ton of other things we got to touch on before we do that. Uh, Quick word from our friends at Mountain Dew. It is summertime, boys, and that means Mountain Dew. Summer is coming. Summer's here. Memorial Day, summer's here. Grilling, uh, sitting by the pool, going to the beach. I just cracked open a Mountain Dew. I'm gonna take a sip right here. Nothing goes better with sitting by the pool and hanging with your friends in the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew was proudly born in the foothills of Tennessee Enjoy the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew, an American original. Grab a Dew, tasting great since '48. Just think about it, close your eyes, think about it. Mountain Dew, it's summer, it's hot, you open up the cooler, it's icy, it's cold, and there's a Mountain Dew there, and you crack it open and you take a sip, and oh my God, does it taste delicious. Grab a Dew, tasting great since '48. We also are brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. NBA playoffs are here, and DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, brings excitement to every game day.

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Restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Limited time offer. Uh, hockey. Well, we're watching the Canadiens right now. Oh, this actually might be offsides, but it's 1-1 and they're in the third period right now.

2-2?

Well, no, I'm saying it's 1-1 in the series, and the Golden Knights just own the Avalanche. I think that's 7 in a row in the playoffs for them, and, uh, V, sorry, VGK. I don't know if you guys caught that. McDonough on Saturday night or Sunday night just kept on calling him VGK. And I was, I was, I was getting a little upset, but they down 3-0 in an instant. McCarr back, doesn't matter. Knights, Knights are so good. They're absolutely rolling.

And Blutman cranking the alarm was so good too.

He had the—

he was so happy.

Ever.

So I'm rooting for VGK. VGK stand right now.

Let's go VGK. We have a hockey guest for Friday, so we'll talk. Oh, the goal was, was taken off. So it was offsides. Canadiens fans very upset. 2-2. We'll update that as it goes. All right.

That was a great overtime game on— was it Saturday night? Yeah, that was an awesome game. Yeah, it was in Carolina-Montréal.

What do you guys want to talk about? We have so many things.

I mean, there's a lot to dip into here.

Let's start with PFT.

Mm. Big Cat.

What do you have to say for the U.S. men's national team sending an email to all the cuts today?

How would you recommend that they do it? I don't know. I don't feel strongly one way or the other. I saw some people got upset about it.

Maybe calling, like, yeah, maybe give them a call.

A phone call would be good.

An email to get cut from the U.S. men's national team is a kind of ridiculous way to find out.

I would also imagine that maybe some people didn't get the email. Yeah, like it went to spam.

This is because, yeah, you'd also have to like— I don't know. I don't know about you guys, but I don't check email constantly. So you probably get a text being like, hey, did you get the email? Then you go check the email. Oh, fuck, I didn't make the team. Just give them a call.

So are we sure that there were no phone calls made? I did see that the email was sent out. Some guys had a problem with it. The big, the big news is Diego Luna was not put on the team.

Huge news.

Our guy Joe Scully is on the team.

Okay.

Thank God. Joe Scully made the team. There was a lot of, you know, Joe Scully, right?

I think that's pretty poor form to send the email. Just, just give him a call.

Yeah. I mean, it'd probably be pretty easy to do.

So do you disavow the email? It sounds like you don't.

I don't.

I'll be honest.

I don't really care about the email. I think that it's, maybe it's indicative of us not running a very professional organization.

That's kind of the bigger, the underlying point here. That could, that I could see.

I could see that argument, but as of right now, like, listen, we got one goal in the United States, and that's to get it out of the first. Well, no, it's the goal. It's just—

oh, there's one, one goal. Well, no, there's two goals, but one— defend one of them.

One that we're going towards, right?

We got to defend.

We're trying to achieve one, one of the goals.

Don't forget about the one we're defending.

Uh, we know the, the very, very bottom line for what we could consider to be success, I would say, is if we win one elimination game. That would be okay.

Yeah.

Still not that great considering that this was supposed to be the best generation that we've ever had for U.S. soccer players. So like a year ago, I would have said reaching the quarterfinals should be the expectation. We haven't played that well. You know, I'm just going to stick with it. Reaching the quarterfinals, that's okay. That's what success is for this team.

Okay. Staying with soccer real quick because it's so important. We're such a big soccer show. Tottenham not relegated.

Not relegated. They—

not really.

They got an impactful result. They won 1-0, I think. And then West Ham, my beloved Hammers, they did win 3-0. But I think the goal— first of all, they had to win. Tottenham had to lose because on— if they had tied, the goal differential, I think, would have favored Tottenham. So I made a lot of European soccer fans upset with my take on West Ham, pretty much saying that English soccer fans don't understand sports. They don't get momentum. And winning your last game of the season 3-0, you're going to have all the momentum going into next year in the EPL. Yeah, like you should contend to be at the top of the table. And these fucking idiot soccer fans don't understand that you can build off of a win at the end of a bad season. It's like rollover and then come out the next year and then, yeah, you're the hot team and everybody believes you get full buy-in in the conditioning programs in the offseason. So I expect, I expect West Ham, my Hammers, to finish in the top 10 of the table next year.

Kenny Atkinson starting the next year for the Cavs with an extra timeout. Yeah, it's the exact same thing.

It's going to be great.

Here's a stat that really I don't care about, but I saw it and I was like, oh, that's fucking interesting. This came from Richard Osman. He said that with West Ham relegated, this will be the first season in the entire 138-year history of the English top flight without a team beginning with the letter W. That's pretty cool.

That is.

Yeah. Well, I don't really know what teams other than West Ham— Wrexham. Wrexham. But are they even top flight?

No.

Been top flight. The, the Rangers. I don't know.

Wolves. The Wolves also got relegated.

Yeah.

Wolves.

Wow.

Wow. Winchester.

Weymouth.

Winchester. Worcester United. Weymouth.

Weymouth.

Yeah. The Wackers.

Is that a team?

Is that Boston City?

Yeah.

What?

No, no, Max. No, no. Search what? W teams in the EPL.

Well, I'm trying to find the, the EFL. I'm trying to find who's going up from the, from the—

Oh yeah.

Find us that.

That's so hard.

Are you, are you trying to think of the word promoted?

This is so hard. This is so hard.

I just don't know. I just don't know what that league is called.

Okay, there we go. West Brom.

Oh yeah, West Brom.

Wigan.

Um, good food in Wigan.

Yeah.

Standings.

Okay, again, we're probably spending too much time on this, but I—

well, Walsall.

Walsall.

But they're not— they're not going up.

They're not going—

they're not getting promoted.

Yeah.

The, the Dons.

Mk Dons.

Mk Don.

West Bromwich.

West Brom.

Yeah, I'm kind of in on the Mk Dons.

Sounds like a designer drug.

Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Yeah.

Okay, so that was, that was our EPL. I was talking soccer.

I just need the World Cup to get here. Yeah, we need that.

Yeah, we do. When is the start date? June something.

Mid-June at some point. You know, Gio Reyna also made the team. That was the other piece of big news.

Oh, thank God.

Well, he's, he's a guy that had real problems with—

that's right—

with Berhalter last time.

I did like that The Athletic wrote the story about the emails, and for some reason it was like, wait, I'm going to find the exact, the exact phrasing, because maybe this is just an accident, or they're like, hey, we want people to click on these stories about soccer in America. But it was, it was like all the guys, it was like two guys that made it, and then Messi was just in the picture. Yeah, he didn't make the U.S. team. No, what I found out—

no, even though like I was hoping that our coach being a fellow Argentinian was going to persuade Messi to switch his—

would have been nice. Yeah, would have been real nice. Okay. Other stories we got. Incredible Indy 500. That's about it.

Yeah. I mean, incredible. There was like there were a few cautions at the end and then the last 15 minutes or the last 15 lapses were just pretty much like balls to the wall.

Yeah.

With the restart. I like that. I like having a restart right before the very end of it.

It was badass. And the move— I don't understand the move, but it seemed like a couple sick moves by— line. Who was it? Who won?

Not Pato O'Ward.

Chris.

Not Connor Nyquist.

Nyquist. Who— Max is stuck on this table.

He's stuck on this table.

It's so confusing. The soccer's—

Who won the Indy 500, Max? Give it to us. Ronquist. I'm going to say Ronquist. Wrexham.

Felix Rosenquist.

I was close.

Q-V-I-S-T.

I think the guy who finished second, finished second last year too.

That's tough.

And it was American. Chicago kid.

It was like a super close finish too. Yeah. Brutal. The move at the end was, was sick. The guy was just like, I'm going to hit the gas.

I think, I think that's what they call it.

Just like, no, you hit the gas.

Yeah. Hit the nos.

Yeah, it was tough because I thought that Connor Daly got boned. He was in third place with, what, like 50 laps remaining? And then I heard one of the announcers say, like, you'd rather be in third place than you would in second or first because you can save gas. I was like, okay, so Connor Daly is going to win. Cool. And then somebody fucked with his mirror. We're still looking into that. Might be an inside job. Somebody tore his mirror off.

I also read one Twitter thread that said essentially that because the air was cooler unseasonably cool for the Indy 500, drafting was a lot easier, and that's why he was able to do that move. Ah, so that was cool to learn that.

I had Connor Daly had the highest expected miles per hour. So he technically gets a banner.

Yeah, we should give him some expected milk. Hank, the Byron Nelson. Do you have anything to say about it? Cupcake.

Mm. Shout out to Wyndham Clark.

Should we shout him out?

Yeah, he won. Everyone was playing the same course, right? Joke of a course.

But Wyndham Clark made some—

I mean, are you—

deep putts in that back nine?

How are we feeling?

It was sexual the way you just described it.

There were some deep putts.

How are you feeling about, you know, the, uh, on TikTok, like when girls are like, ooh, I got the ick, and it's just like one thing a guy does? I got the ick from Wyndham Clark. Why did you see the quote about how he's going to celebrate? Yeah.

A little grape.

Open up some grape. Open up some grape, dude. Well, who says that? We're going to open up some grape.

He goes, we're going to open up some—

sounds like a Stepbrothers quote.

He goes, sounds like the dad from Stepbrothers. Open up some grape and see where the night takes us.

I always—

a direct quote.

I read it and I went, ew, gross. Come on, Hank.

Yeah.

You go open up some grape.

I might.

Max, open up some hops. Fuck yeah. We're going to open up some tea. That'd be sick to say.

A little bit of grape.

Grape.

Open up some grape. I'm going to open. I'm going to open some grape and see where the night takes us.

I'm going to open up some—

what?

Open up some bag.

See where we go. Oh, man.

Open sack.

Open some grape.

I'm going to open some coco leaf tonight.

Open some grape. Okay. Other stories. I don't want to burn everyone's who's back, but do you guys have— I have a couple others if we want to talk about the Jason Williams, Mia Williams saga at the College Softball World Series. Super Regional was incredible. Jason Williams, our coworker, White Chocolate, his daughter played for Florida, transferred to Texas Tech. Texas Tech and Florida playing in the Super Regional. They hit Mia Williams 5 times in the series. She hit 2 massive bombs, and then everyone lost their mind because Florida didn't— they did the Detroit Pistons, they didn't shake hands. And people were saying that— yeah, this, this tweet, Zach Moore, I'm sorry, dude, I— you're probably a student journalist, you're probably trying your best, but calling Jason Williams doing the Gator Chomp an ugly scene, it's quite something, man.

That's the thing, if you have a signature celebration for your school, it goes with that responsibility that when you get your ass kicked, other schools are going to do your celebration to you in a mocking way. And the best— the horns down. Like, the lamest thing that I think has been done in college sports in a long time is how the University of Texas tried to make that like a— like an obscene gesture, right? Like, it should be protected symbol and you should under no circumstances demean the pinky index finger horn sign of a cow.

Yeah.

By pushing it down. If you have a chomp, if you lose, people are going to chomp you.

And it's very funny because Jason Williams is a Florida Gator, right? Which makes it even better. But yeah, his, his daughter Mia is a stud. Like to get hit 5 times in 3 games and then hit those bombs. Pretty damn cool.

His video, he posted like a long video explaining his side of the situation. And it was so funny because he's obviously an all-time shit talker and he basically was just like, Things got really heated. I said some things I regret. They say some things we regret. He like didn't really say sorry. He was basically like, yeah, that happens, you know, like that's how sports go. I was talking shit. They were talking shit. Maybe got a little out of hand. He like kind of said sorry, but he's like, but not really. Let's go, Tech.

Yeah. The best moment was, uh, I guess an old lady threw something at his younger daughter and he didn't say— he was like, I got no ill will towards that old lady. She's going to die soon.

Yeah.

It was just like God's going to take care of her. So whatever. But yeah, I like that he's standing on it where he's not apologizing. He's like, yeah, it's a fucking heated rivalry and we're shit talking each other. And my daughter's a stud and she transferred. Mm-hmm. Love it. College sports, college softball. Our LSU Tigers did not advance.

I saw that. I feel like maybe—

new vlog out, by the way.

Yeah, we might have just— we might have ruined their—

we'll be out today.

We'll be out today. Yeah, new vlog will be out today of us playing with Ella on the LSU softball field with some of the coaching staff, which was very, very fun. Okay. Any other thing? Any other stories before we do? Who's back? Does anyone have anything else?

Mine will probably be who's back.

Cubs stink. I should just say that there. I don't— I'm— they have two 10-game winning streaks and then they're working on a 10-game losing streak all before June.

That's kind of crazy, though. That's fun. That's, that's just a, yeah, a wild team to follow the season for. I'm really excited about the Nationals. The Nationals have the best offense in baseball. It's insane what they've done. Like with a young group like this, everybody thought that they would be absolute dogshit this year. The Nationals, if they had, if they had slightly below average pitching, they would be the best team in baseball. But they've got atrocious pitching.

Yeah.

So they're just like one game over.500 now. But right out of the wildcard. I hope, I hope that we don't trade CJ Abrams. I hope that he sticks around. I have a bad feeling that we're probably going to try to trade him because we don't want to extend him because we're trying to sell the team. And instead of looking at a player like that, that you have under contract as being an asset, especially if you sign the contract before the new CBA, I think they're going to look at that as we don't want to sign a guy to a contract because that'll make it harder for us to sell the team, which I think is misguided. I have a feeling that we're probably going to try to trade him this year and then kind of restart everything from scratch. But this is a very fun Nats team. If you haven't watched these Nats play, they are dynamic.

Booth boys, do you have any baseball takes?

Yeah, Christopher Sanchez is the most underrated athlete in professional sports.

There you go. Okay, that's a good take.

I think he's up to 37 straight scoreless innings now. He's the favorite to win the NL Cy Young. Over, over Paul Skeens. The rest of the world will never, would never know it with the amount of time people talk about Paul Skeens compared to Christopher Sanchez. He's an excellent pitcher. He's an absolute stud. 1.6 ERA right now. Christopher Sanchez, most underrated athlete in sports.

Okay, I have a question for you guys. Curse question, because people are saying that the Cubs are now cursed because of PCA saying suck my dick to the White Sox fan.

A curse, curse.

You can't curse. It can't be a curse if it happened after they started their losing streak. No.

Yeah, they had already lost a traditional curse or a traditional good luck omen like the, like Grimace for the, for the Mets.

Right.

It has to coincide with the tide turning.

Right. So PCA said this on, I believe it was May 17th. They had already lost May 16th. 16th, uh, that was when their losing streak started. Now maybe like, so, so you agree that it's not the PCA?

We don't know. Did he tell anybody suck his dick on the 16th?

I don't know. But would it be more appropriate, uh, and just something I'm monitoring, uh, the last time the Cubs won a game was, uh, the day that the original Billy Goat Curse guy died. That feels like that's more—

yeah, that's because they never won again.

It's more in line. Sam Sianis, he passed away on May 15th at he won. Incredible life. He was the Billy Goat Curse guy.

He—

that was the last time the Cubs won a game. That feels like the more appropriate curse.

Yeah. Listen, curses are real in baseball for sure. I don't think that curses really apply to football. I don't think they apply that much to basketball. But curses, I'd say that a vast majority of Major League Baseball games are won and lost based on superstitions and curses. Who—

who is the rapper that cursed James Harden? That one's real.

Lil Baby. The base guy.

Yeah, that's That is 100% real.

I think it is. I also feel like I have not looked into Lil B's whereabouts.

Mm-hmm.

He might be one of those guys that we look back on and we're like, that was very problematic that Lil B was famous. But again, I don't, I don't want to, I don't want to run afoul of the Lil B curse.

It sounds like you were destined for it.

What?

You're coming at him.

I know I've already overcome the Lil B curse.

True.

He tried to curse the, the Caps against the Penguins. Oh, and then afterwards he said, curse lifted, Lil B. Congrats.

There we go. Hank, I do have one last thing before we do his back. Would you like to say anything about Friday? Uh, TMZ shot multiple blogs.

Tripled the last hole, was playing really good golf.

TMZ wrote multiple stories about Hank's air out of his butt during the Kellen Moore interview, to the point that I had our lawyer, shout out Paul, write a cease and desist to TMZ to stop. They called it a juicy fart at one point. So we sent a cease and desist saying, stop saying that. It was clearly just the physics of his leg crossing and air coming out of his butt.

Wait, wait. First of all, it was a shared facility with the Pelicans. You have to start there.

Right.

You're right. We can read the headline.

I got the hat.

Yeah, that's how we got the hat.

Right, right, right, right. But that's important detail.

We can just read the headline.

The hat was important.

The hat—

that people needed to know I was wearing the hat.

Yeah, for sure. Part of my Take interview derailed by Hank Lockwood fart. Would you say it derailed the interview?

Momentarily, maybe a little bit. Yeah, absolutely.

We stopped the interview and we had— but it wasn't a fart.

It was not a fart. Yeah, so it's part of my Take interview derailed by air coming out of Henry Lockwood's butt. Normally, normally via physics.

Yeah, a lot of people are saying that's— you just described a queef. I did have— I was at— I was out, uh, like sitting on a patio on Friday outside a bar, and I was basically like on the corner of a street, like the street sidewalk was right there, and a woman just walked up on the sidewalk, very like— and like got so close, she just said it out loud. She's like, oh, are you the guy from TMZ? And I was like, yeah. And then she walked away.

No, the guy from TMZ, the fart guy, the juicy fart guy.

I guess people calling you the fart guy, Jeffrey. I've seen the—

everybody shits, everybody farts. I don't—

it's—

it should not be a news story. I appreciate you season assisting. If they do continue, I'll sue them. Jerry is just obviously farming for clout, has nothing else going on.

He's just like our good friend Jerry O'Connell.

He did a 7-minute interview which I didn't watch one second of because I just saw the video TMZ posted out like, hey, we've talking to like legal representative Jerry O'Connell, and it was a 7-minute interview.

Mm-hmm.

So you didn't watch it talking about the fart? No, I did not.

I think he was being very— he was being very understanding of the situation.

Yeah, of course.

I don't— I, I— that's all he does.

But Jerry is like I skimmed it.

I didn't watch all 7 minutes. I'll be honest.

I don't think anybody did. I think if you were to look at the analytics of that video, I think most people like maybe watched the first 15 seconds and then they saw the time at the bottom. It's like, wait, there's 6 more minutes of this? And then they click to the end and they say, oh, he's still in the car. Okay, cool. Now I can close it out. I think Jerry— Jerry is just like the neighbor that shows up when somebody in the neighborhood gets like arrested for being a serial killer. It's like, yeah, you know, like I knew the guy. I went over to his house a few times. Like, he seeks out the cameras.

Oh, the part of the part of the video I watched, he did actually say almost exactly that. He's like, I played golf with him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you, if you didn't know anybody, you would think that Hank just got arrested for something terrible. And Jerry's like, listen, he's a good guy. I know. I know this guy. I've been to his house.

Juicy fart was too much.

Way too much. Was not juicy at all.

No.

Zero odor.

It was actually. Yeah, it was actually dry.

Extremely.

It was very—

it was— it was also not a fart.

Credit to you being in New Orleans, like, you would most likely have a juicy fart, but you had a dry fart.

It wasn't even a fart. That's why, like, juicy farts are farts. Yeah, this was just—

you had dry air. You were basically— you're like in the desert.

That was—

that was an air— that was an exit of air that would be akin to Scottsdale, Arizona.

It was like, you know, when you would like dap someone up and sometimes it makes like the popping sound, like you just randomly get the right dap. It was kind of like that. Like, I just moved my leg and I just hit the right pocket of air with the chair.

And what are you saying, that you're like— your two butt cheeks tapped each other up?

It was—

it wasn't even that. It was just like— it was my butt. It doesn't matter. This is— this is— yeah, we've gone too long. There's so much to talk about.

Such a great—

this is kind of it. We went through a lot of stuff.

You want my who's back?

No, no, I mean, but that— this TMZ writing multiple times about it on Friday.

Yeah, they got nothing better going on. Like, they, they clearly are desperate for clicks any way they can. They're, they're leeching and forcing, like, forcing narratives that aren't true just to get clicks.

It's disgusting, right? Instead of forcing them out, they should just kind of move their legs and then let them come out naturally.

TMZ should just reposition themselves and then just see what, what comes. Oh, another, another Henry Lockwood blog came out. They like that. Don't, don't press the button. Don't press the fire button. I know you didn't push the button. It just came.

Yeah, I— my favorite was the subheadline, Hank blames physics.

That, that did make me laugh. Like, I was kind of— I was just like, you got to be fucking kidding me. Open it up and I got a chuckle. And, and then using the fucking picture, that's where—

that's—

that also is where I draw the line. That M45. Yeah, that is so far over the line. And like, I actually— that, that Yeah, that was insane.

You want to cease and desist that one?

Yes.

Okay, we'll do that.

We should become like the— like the— I might become one of the people that sues media. Like, people, we get sued for using pictures illegally. Like, I never gave rights to that picture.

That's true. They did update the blog. That was— what was the— what was the update? It was just like they said something like, we've been cease and desisted and it's not an actual fart.

So I had to send my grandfather the article. We were talking about that.

And he said, why did you send him?

He was like, he was interested. He's like, oh, there was an article? I was like, yeah. So could you send that my way? I was like, of course, here you go. That was embarrassing. But it's, it's, it's— oh yeah, update to move on.

Update 2:45: Barstool is taking umbrage with TMZ's use of the phrase juicy fart, and in a cease and desist letter claims we've mischaracterized what was simply Hank's butt releasing an odorless pocket of air. Due to the physics of crossing his legs. Translation: it was a SND, silent, not deadly. Duly noted.

But it wasn't silent.

No, no, we got a not silent, not that— it was NSND.

Yeah, super loud. Yeah, super disruptive. No smell.

Absolutely no smell.

Absolutely no. But at no point was there a smell.

There could have been a smell, but at no point— too far away. There was not.

There could have been a smell because it was a fart.

We'll never know.

But at no point was there a smell.

No, it was not a fart.

It's been legally classified as not a fart.

Legally not a fart.

It's in legal, legal documents.

Yeah.

I think it's disgusting that they use that picture of you from the workout, like, to try to monetize your face when you sent that to a group chat. I think it's the lowest of the low, and anybody that tries to do that should be ashamed of themselves.

Mm-hmm.

We buy a Hank dog toy for sale in the Barstool store, by the way. Oh, we should, we should definitely do the thing where we make it where you squeeze it and it farts, or you pull the string and it farts.

A Tickle Me Hank?

Yeah, you tickle him and just physics happens.

Anytime you're in the middle of a bad interview, just fucking squeeze your Hank toy.

Does your kid want to learn physics? Well, get the new Hank dog toy, and when you move its legs, it doesn't fart, but it makes a sound.

Okay, that was enough, right? Yeah.

Yeah.

You sure? Any more?

It's your guy's show.

You are a co-host. Shout out Gaz.

Yeah, yeah.

Did he have your back at least?

I don't—

I didn't really go. I kind of stayed— I haven't been online much.

Shot an 88. Yeah, but well, Stu finer.

He got upset with me for glazing you.

What?

Because I said— I said Hank is the funniest guy on this podcast, and Gaz was like, what, glaze? What's up with all the glazing going on? It seems like he might be turning on you.

Yeah. No, you are the funniest guy.

Now it's you guys.

No, no, it's you.

You fart.

That's you guys.

Funny.

It's your butt.

So fucking—

it's your fart.

Thanks for being so funny. But all right, let's do Who's Back of the Week. It's brought to you by Twisted Tea. Summer is right around the corner and Twisted Tea is coming in clutch to turn our day drinking up a notch. Their new summer party pack has a brand new Twisted Tea Lemonade made with real lemons and 5% alcohol. It's got that refreshing taste with a little kick. No carbonation and goes down smooth. Whether it's hitting the course for a round, pre-gaming a ball game, or inviting the guys over for some backyard grilling, the new Twisted Tea Summer Party Pack is perfect to keep the good times rolling. We had some Twisted Teas with Blake Bortles. Go watch that vlog we released on Saturday. We, uh, did some construction work, and nothing better than hot construction work, getting out of the sun cracking open a Twisted Tea. So grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today and let's activate the summer with Twisted Tea. Okay, Hank, my host back of the week is Joey Chestnut.

Yes, he—

he's good to go for July 4th. He will be competing in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition.

America's back.

Fuck yes.

Huge.

Fuck yes.

I don't know what was said to Joey. I'm going to say that Joey probably— he was, he was right to slap him. I'm going to say that allegedly.

Yeah, we stand with Joey.

No idea what was said, actually, but I'm going— I'm going to go out on that limb.

I mean, that's a sign like you're a high-level sports athlete when it's like, you know, if you're good enough at what you do, you can get arrested. And if you're that much better than everyone else, you're still probably going to be able to compete.

That's true. Yeah. Some guy was probably like, you, you probably can't even eat that many hot dogs, Joey. And he just slapped me like, what does 5 fingers say to the face?

Bang.

I haven't— I have PFTM. Probably has the other one I was going to do.

What?

Enhance Games?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's going to be one of mine.

They sucked. Sucked.

Sucked big time.

Bad. I don't know if it was just a bad— like the weekend to do them. It seemed it was—

it was so underwhelming. They had all these freaks just roided up to the gills and they were trying to present it. Remember, Hank, when we were talking to that guy and he was like, this is actually like biologically very important to study these people medically to see, you know, the future of human physiology. These are guys that are out there experimenting on themselves like heroes, and they just— no records got broken for the most part. There was one swimmer that broke a record, but that's because she was using like one of the suits that's banned.

Yeah.

And competition that Torpedo used. Yeah, yeah. And then there was the 100-yard dash. And then I think the person that won that, it would have been the world record in like 1965.

So these guys just suck.

They just sucked. They just sucked. And then the swimmer was the funniest, the guy named Magnussen. The best part to come out of these enhanced games is the before and after of the swimmer Magnussen, like pre-steroids and then post-steroids, and the absolute just hulking freak that he turned himself into.

But that wasn't even this guy, and that wasn't even— he—

that was what he became, and then he then lost more weight because he got —too big. He got not buoyant enough. Yeah, like, so he started to sink when he was swimming.

Also, that guy who's trying to live forever, what's his name? Oh, Bryan Anderson.

Bryan Johnson.

Johnson.

Okay, we got to stop giving this guy— I'm out.

Listen, cool, man, you're trying to live forever. You know what's not worth living forever? Every time you go in the sun having to hold an umbrella. Did you see his umbrella?

I did. I think this guy is playing a string.

I'd rather die than be like, hey, I can never look— I can never be in the sun again. They drink his son's blood.

I'm making that up. He monitored his son's nighttime erections.

And he also keeps tweeting about his girlfriend's vagina. Yeah, well, her vaginal biome. She's— she's got a, like, a 0.01% vagina.

Yeah, it's the top of the— it's—

it's the crème de la crème of vaginas. Yeah. You wouldn't get it.

No. Hot twat. It's the best.

It's fun. It's the fucking best vagina of all time.

Yeah. It's— these enhanced games are very, very funny.

It's actually really funny. Like, simp much, dude? He's just— he's just walking around being like, my girlfriend's got the best vagina. Well, okay, dude, I think— sure.

I think everything about this guy is just engineered for us to talk about him. When I saw the umbrella this weekend, I was like, okay, he's— this is just like the latest attention thing that I don't think he's actually going to try to live forever. I think this is all part of his plan to just get famous. I think he just likes the fame. He, he looks—

yeah, he's just— he's a freak. He's, he's the, he was the story of the Enhanced Games.

There we are. There's the before and after right there of this guy Magnuson. That's, that's awesome. That rocks.

Good for him. But yeah, Enhanced Games, total bust. Turns out, turns out getting a bunch of guys who lost as regular athletes, they're still not better than the good athletes, like the best athletes.

I couldn't believe that there weren't more weightlifting world records. That, that should be the one sport that would be like very easy.

But no, I think, I think I saw that the fastest— the guy who won the 100-meter dash would have finished last in the Olympics.

Yeah. Yeah. In the final, 9.97. Okay. I think that might have been— it might be the women's world record, 9.97.

Okay. Okay. So they got something.

But that's still crazy. Like, yeah, these guys just weren't very, very good. Also, my Who's Back of the Week is Dental health, oral hygiene, important. You know, we've talked a little bit on this show about the importance of flossing. But I also think that we should probably let our audience know because I found out today, you guys might have found out too. I've been brushing my teeth wrong my entire life and I just found out about it today. Mm-hmm. Bryce Harper put out a video just like him calmly talking to the camera about God knows what. And he squeezes the toothpaste directly into his mouth like he bukkakes himself with toothpaste. Yep. And then he puts the toothbrush into his mouth afterwards and then brushes for that. Honestly, it makes a— it makes a lot of sense. I thought it was weird when I first saw it, but the more I think about it, like, you're not wasting any toothpaste. You just suck it right in. It's never going to fall off the brush that way if you put it under the water after you put the toothpaste onto the brush. The water's not going to push it off.

It feels like— I think I've been brushing my teeth wrong my entire life.

I love the way you're going about this, PFT. I was ready to go. I was ready to go to war, but you're, you're basically doing my war for me. Yeah. And I appreciate that from you.

Oh, you want to go to war? I think it's fucking stupid.

Have you ever tried it?

No, I cannot. Yeah, yeah, that's— are you gonna try it tonight?

Tonight I will be trying.

Well, no, you, you only brush your teeth in the morning, right? What? I thought Memes told me that you're only morning guy.

No, he brushes his teeth at night. Then in the morning when he's in the tub, he just— he takes a big mouthful of water and swishes around.

Okay, that's what it was. Sorry. Yeah, I just— I— for some reason all the guys told me that you brush your teeth once a day.

Okay. I don't know where—

that's what they said. I can't wait to go back to the dentist. For the first time in my life, I've been flossing. I've been flossing like twice a day. I'm just— I'm going to walk in there with, like, so much confidence. Have you ever done that? Gone to the dentist when you're like, I know I've been really good for the last, like, 6 months? No, never happened.

Not 6 months. But when I was younger, like, I'll put together, like, a hot, like, 10 days. Yeah. When I— when I see the calendar coming up, I'm like, yeah, you know what?

Let's get serious for a second. Yeah. But Bryce, I think he— I think he just hacked dental health.

All right. I'm going to try it. I'm going to keep an open mind about it.

What's the problem with this?

The dry paste in your mouth. There's no way dry paste is to play.

Yeah, but then you put the water on, you put the water, the water gets in your mouth at some point, but it's so separated between paste and what you need unity there before you go in mouth, you know, but your mouth should be wet.

Like I've got a top 0.01% of mouth biome. And so it's like good lubrication. That's when the paste goes in. I feel like it just, it becomes the foam.

Memes, what's going on in your head right now? You just said, what if they never lose in the middle of this conversation? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, Memes, you need to get— I feel like because of the whole snafu with the camera, you didn't get your moment as much as you should have. Like, this is sick, dude.

I mean, they just showed on the TV, uh, every team that had an 11-game win streak wins the Finals.

How many teams were they? Uh, 5 teams. Okay, that's pretty good.

I mean, yeah, I would imagine that teams that win a shitload of playoff games in a row tend to— it was just a good graphic.

Yeah, it's a good graphic. And like, what if they just never lose again? Yeah. Listen, I—

everyone's like, there's people who think, you know, the Eastern Conference is— it's obviously not as good as the West, but who cares? There's wasting teams.

Yeah. And I would debate that it's just as hard as the West.

What?

I don't know about that, but you've won 11 games in a row.

You've done it in a— what I'm saying is I don't think the East is as good as the West. I don't think it matters with how good the Knicks are playing. They're killing teams like these are playoff teams.

Yeah, we just, we just dominated the highest payroll team in the league.

Yeah. What are you guys? Uh, 2. Oh, it is crazy to go back to being down 2-1 to the Hawks. It was scary hours. Because it did feel like a fork in the road because you guys, you guys traded all these picks for, for Mikael Bridges and the cat trade. It's like you got to just do it with these guys and you have. Yeah, no, that was, that was frightening. But now, now you're here. CJ McCollum's not walking through that.

CJ McCollum turned into God for 2 games.

Yeah. Um, all right, my Who's Back of the Week, uh, is the— I have 2. I have the San Francisco Giants. I don't know if you guys saw But they had their celebration get banned where they were— they were humping each other. But now they have a new celebration, which I think is under the rules, but it's awesome. One guy humps and it's like a kill shot to the other two guys. Watch this. It's just a— it's a quick boom and then he kills them. It's awesome.

Oh, like he's shooting a laser. Yeah. Yeah. It's sick.

I love the Giants. That's— that's a cool celebration.

I don't know why they weren't allowed to touch tips.

It's something about the kids. I mean, it's just boys having fun. Yeah. And then my other who's back is Hamburgers or Cheeseburgers, because I'm— I've declared it's the summer of burgers. I'm going to eat 100 burgers, probably more. I actually want to eat 200, but I'm also— my wife gave me a look like, what are we doing here?

And how many days?

The summer. Summer just started.

So summer started.

Yeah.

And then it ends Labor Day.

Labor Day. Yeah. About 4 this weekend. I just— I'm tired of I'm tired of, like, you know, pretending that, like, there's other things that we should be eating besides hamburgers. Hamburgers are the best. Cheeseburgers are the best. I don't need a chicken skewer. I don't, you know, like, I like a hot dog. I'm a hot dog guy. But cheeseburger is just the greatest. You know, I'm going to, I'm going to eat so many cheeseburgers. And I'm— and by the way, I'm grilling them. I'm not talking about ordering them from restaurants. I also, yeah, I went trust tree. The grill Twitter sucks. I was like, listen, I'll take my ball and go. I'll take my burger and go home. I'll just eat these burgers for the love of the game and not even tweet about them.

Post them in black and white.

Yeah, they love that shit. But I also have a take I've been thinking about. Do you guys want to hear it? I'm a little, I'm a little nervous to say this out loud because I think people are going to get very upset about them.

It's only 10 burgers a week, by the way, for the summer.

That's a lot of burgers. You can do it. No. Oh, I didn't say I'm doing 200. Yeah, I double up every time. I'm going to probably— I probably— I'm really in my— in the back of my head, I'm going for 200. And I'm not ashamed to say that I just love cheeseburgers and I love hamburgers and I love grilling and it's fucking awesome. What do you say?

Is that per patty or per sandwich on the count?

Oh, good question. Per patty. Got you. Yeah, but I'm not going to double up because that's where my take goes. I think Smashburgers are— I think they're fake. I don't think you can— I don't think those are real burgers. People are like, oh, you got to do Smashburgers.

This, this takes hot on the streets right now.

Oh, it is? Yeah. Okay, good. Yeah. All right. So I have some back. I have some support.

You have a lot of support.

All right. I think Smashburgers—

like, I like Smashburgers, but there are a lot of people online.

They're fine, but they're just like— everyone's like, oh, you got to do Smashburgers. You got to do Smashburgers. What happened to just a good old-fashioned American hamburger? Burger, right? Nice juicy— no cheese? No, no cheese. I, I say I, I kind of interchange the hamburger. I'm almost always putting cheese on it. Yeah, every now and then I'll be like, you know what, I want to just— I just want to eat some meat. It's like 1 in, I don't know, 20. Um, but yeah, smash burgers, get out of my face. I'm just not— you guys, I like smash burgers a lot.

I like them. They're, they're thin. They're like a little more crispy sometimes.

I just think they're—

I think, I think they're not real burgers for burger guys.

I'll eat any kind of burger. That's me. I just— I like— I take all burgers.

Well, no, I also think that the burgers have gotten— people have gotten away from what makes a burger great. You just need the meat, the cheese, maybe a little ketchup. You don't need all the fixings. Just a good old-fashioned grilled burger.

I've been getting into hot dogs, but hot dogs cooked like on a stick, like campfire style. Oh, I like over an open fire. I like that. I did that two nights this weekend. Good. If you have like a fire pit and you got the, the like skewers, it's hard to make any other decision for dinner if you've got the hot dogs right there and it takes you 2 seconds. It's really good. I love a good old-fashioned weenie roast.

Would anyone like to join me on my journey? Anyone want to eat 100 burgers?

A lot of bread.

I don't want to be married to the burger.

I, I love burger.

I'm gonna eat a lot of burgers. I'm gonna eat so many more hot dogs probably.

I also like to, I also like make my own burgers. Like, I like to get the ground beef. I don't like to just get the premade patties.

What's your fat percentage? I don't care.

Probably a lot. No, no, no. Oh, you talk about me personally?

I'm saying the fat's like— I was like, the ground beef, 34. Are you going 80? 34%. Are you going 80/20?

90/10? Technically obese.

Uh, I— 80/20 is the real conversion for a true burger. I think it's 80, but if you—

85/15. 15 is— yeah, that— yeah, because 80/20, I like 80/20, but it also sometimes starts fires. True. Yeah, but I also think if you're going for 100, like, you could go—

you could go 90/10, and that's like—

nah, I don't know, 90/10, but that's—

I mean, that's, that's a hell— that's a healthy meal.

I, uh, I also think I might be— I might be my grilling prime. I might have just entered my grilling prime. I think I've decided that. I think this is summertime. Finally there. No, but like in life, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to look back in 40 years and be like, yeah, somewhere in your early 40s, you were in your grilling prime.

Is your weapon of choice propane or charcoal?

You still got time though.

There's a lot of time.

There's a lot of time. But eventually you get to a point where it's like, I don't want to do the grilling anymore.

It's a fair question by Zach.

Electric? I have a propane. Propane.

I don't think you can be in your grilling prime if it's propane. I think to be in your true grilling prime, you think that you're in it right now. No, but right now you think that you're in it. But I think later on you're going to become such a grill guy, you're going to get the charcoal grill and you'll be like, now I'm in my prime.

Takes too long. Takes too long. Set it all up. Takes too long. I get it. It tastes better. All that stuff. I have a back patio. I like to go out there. I like to turn on the grill. I like to grill my burgers, and I'm gonna do it all summer long. I'm gonna eat so many fucking burgers. 200 is the real number. I just want that on the record. 200 is the real number.

What, what are you looking up, Max? I was just looking up charcoal grill.

Listen, I like charcoal grills. It's just, it is so much longer, and you have to like prep it. Yeah, you have to be like, hey, you couldn't do 100.

Yeah, charcoal grill.

I like to just be— we're going, we're going for quantity over quality, and I've just got, I've got it down right now. I got, my new grill is just great, and I got it. I got the timing down. I got— I've been just— I'm on a hot streak where I've just been hitting perfect, perfect grilling. You know, there's nothing better when you cook a huge, like, huge, like, everything and you just nail it all and you're like, fuck yes.

Can we get a grill for the office?

Yes, absolutely. I actually was thinking about that. If I'm going to hit this goal, I'm going to have to eat some weekday burgers. I'm down with that.

Yeah, that should be for lunch every day. Yeah, that's easy.

Well, no, then I'll blast through my goal. But I got to do some— I got to mix in some wheat.

One burger for lunch every day. That's easy.

That's a good— I might lose weight. Yeah, I know. If I just eat burgers, it might be bad for my health overall, but my weight might go down. 90/10.

90/10. I'm not even saying 96.4. You could go 96.4.

You don't want to do that.

I made 96.4 burgers.

Are they good? I don't think I've ever touched 96.4. No, 96 for you.

What's the point of eating them?

Because it's like a healthy weeknight meal.

Yeah, I know, but like, does it even taste good? It's like jerky. Yeah, no, jerky's great. Jerky is great, but jerky's jerky. I don't want jerky burger.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I'm not doing any of the fancy stuff. Everyone's like, hey, what are all the top— listen, right down the middle. Grill. I like to make— as our good friend Billy Football always said, let the meat talk. I like to let the meat talk.

But you put, you put salt on it.

Yeah, no, no, salt, pepper, a little crushed red pepper. But I'm saying like, uh, you know, people being like, oh, you got to put an egg on it or peanut butter, you know.

Yeah, the egg on the burger— that one person, one guy was really hungover, he's like, oh, it's so good on the burger. Egg makes a burger worse. I'm not afraid to say it.

I like pickles.

I like eggs, eggs on the side. If you're going to get an egg, I think don't put it on the burger. I like that take. Strong take. I like the tomato. I like the lettuce sometimes. Sometimes the onion. Pickles. Pickles. Ketchup. Mustard.

Pickles and onions is a good team.

I'm a simple man when it comes to my burger. Sometimes ketchup. Summer burger. Yeah. Everyone join us. I'm a very serious burger guy.

Let's bring back burgers. I'm a solemn burger. We as men should not be ashamed to be like, hey, you know what? Oh, you're grilling? I'll take 3 burgers. That should be it. That's why I like that everyone can say—

that's why I like the hot dogs, because with the hot dogs you can regulate your— like, 3 burgers is a lot. 3 burgers a lot.

But that's what I'm saying, I don't want to be shamed anymore.

And then you can also have another side if you got 2 dogs. That's just fat. Then you can go 3 dogs, and then that's the equivalent of 1 burger.

That's burger shaming. No, that's fat shaming.

No, 3 hot dogs, that's fine.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

When I say 3 burgers, everyone should be like, hey, you know what, fuck yeah, that guy rocks. The equivalent is going for 200 burgers.

3 hot dogs to 1 burger.

So the 100's out the window. You haven't said 100 in like 10 minutes. It's 200. Also, your wife is going to be disgusted when she hears this segment.

It's also dawned on me that, Hank, you were very much alike in this one respect. We are streaky eaters. It dawned on me as I was driving in, I was like, what if I'm just sick of burgers in like 2 weeks? We do do that. Yeah. Where we hit something hard, real hard. Not me. We had cheesesteaks for like every meal for like 10 days straight.

Yeah, I just go all in for like, all in. Yeah, I mean, 10 to 14 days and then take 3 months off. Yeah, at least.

When was the last time we got those wings? Yeah, we were getting those every day.

Yeah. All right, so this could be a big mistake, but guess what? I'm— people remember through, you know, hey, you'll remember the 20— what, 2014 when I ate hot dogs? I ate a hot dog every day. Try to get Carmelo to the Bulls. Didn't work, but I ate a lot of hot dogs. Also found out it was like the equivalent of smoking like 4 packs of cigarettes a day.

What kind of hot dogs were you eating?

I was just eating a whole pack of hot dogs every day.

Oh, like the— yeah, that's too many.

That's too many. Burgers are healthier than dogs, especially if you're making them.

Not necessarily. Yes, you get like a real good dog. A real good dog. Handmade.

Handmade. We're having a nutrition debate here. And I don't know, I'm just saying, I don't know the answer to this.

If you're making burgers, if you're making burgers at home, it's pretty— I don't—

I could not tell you which one is healthy.

If you— if you— yeah, if you grill the burger yourself and you cook off a lot of that fat, you don't have carbs with a bun. Are you gonna go buns every time?

Yeah, I gotta go.

Okay. Yeah, you get some of the keto buns. Yeah, no, I'm not doing that.

Come on, I'm just trying— I'm just trying to— trying to bring back being a man. Hey, I'll take 4 burgers. Now we're at 4. Give me— hit me with 4 burgers. 4 burgers is a lot of burgers.

3, 3, 4 burgers, a lot of burgers.

See how I'm sliding the negotiation? All right, Zach, who's your who's back?

Um, who's back this week is gonna be Johnny Manziel because he's back winning in a different arena this time. Yeah, Johnny Manziel, first round, uh, victory, or Bob Mannerino I didn't know Johnny Manziel could kick like that. Uh, he got in the ring, got it done. Uh, Brandon missed, uh, 14. It was actually a lot of fun to watch. I don't know if you guys saw any of the clips or anything, but is he gonna fight again?

It was funny.

It was a funny fight. I, I did say there was no chance in hell this fight happened, so credit to them for actually following through and fighting. The kickboxing, I think it's like when we do sports and stuff, it's like watching non-kickboxers trying to kickbox makes them look so unathletic. So unathletic. But it's funny to watch.

Yeah, the mouth guard was so funny.

Menneri was, uh, Dana White said that he had, he had seen him at like 4 AM at the casino where the Tunnel of Chaos was, the, like, the day before.

Yeah, yeah, they kicked him out the Red Rocks.

Yeah, yeah.

Did you see the mouth guard thing?

No. Well, he spit it out. Mouth guard.

Uh, Bob Menneri's getting his shit kicked in and his mouth guard falls out, and the ref notices that the mouthguard is out, and he picks up the mouthguard and puts it in Menary's mouth as he's getting— as he's getting his shit kicked in.

And then Menary almost immediately, immediately spits the mouthguard back out because he thought the fight would get stopped.

Like, I don't know what the plan was, but it was— it was very funny watching the ref like, like squat down to try and get this mouthguard back in his mouth.

I think like, if you can't breathe, if you're having a hard time and and you don't have great cardio, it's an instinct to just like spit whatever you've got out of your mouth. That's with the divers. Yeah. That go down below like you go down super far, you panic and you just have like a natural urge to pull the mouthpiece out and then you try to breathe in. That's what Bob Memory did. But he would just— he just breathed in some hammer fists. Yeah, that was—

that was tough. It was— it was not a good fight. Oh, by the way, I think we have— oh, Breaking News. Breaking News. The Houston Astros have thrown a no-hitter.

Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Wow. Fake.

Again, another one. That was— that's incredible, Max. Any thoughts on the Houston Astros throwing? How many hits did the Rangers get, Max? By the way, I bet on the Rangers, which— that's— yeah. How's that feel? Really bad. Good. How many hits did the Rangers get? Zero. So that's a no-hitter. Zero. Hmm.

That would be a no-hitter. Fake as fuck.

Proud Ranger fan, Ranger apologist, said if the Rangers get no-hit, I will delete my account, never return. Whoops. Sorry, dude.

Good thing he can keep his account.

Yeah, he can't. They got no-hit.

Zach, anything else? Also, I guess from the same event, professional actor, Ray J. He thought they had something set up pregame, and I guess it didn't fall through.

Professional actor?

Yeah, he's been a great filmmaker.

I've seen him in a film.

5 walks by the Astros, by the way. Okay, what? Fake as fuck.

How many hits? That has nothing to do with— Do you know what a no-hitter is, Max? Fake as fuck.

Are you thinking Perfect Game Max?

Fake as fuck. Perfect Game Max, that's what we call him.

The guy pitched 6 innings. 97 pitches, 6 innings, starter.

Okay. Terrible. All right. No hits. No hits.

That's kind of crazy. That's no hits, Max. That'd be no hits. Uh, okay. Good job, Zach. Should we get to our interviews?

Yeah. All right. Before we get to Travis Etienne, he's brought to you by our good friends over at Jose Cuervo. Meet the moment with Jose Cuervo. You know the moment you walk into a room, everyone reacts like they just got the same text at the same time. Everybody freaks out together. You're watching the game, everyone's locked in, everyone's on the same page. It is the best. Jose Cuervo, meant to be enjoyed with friends in moments where you stop checking the time. Suddenly the small, the small talk escalates to laughing so hard you can barely catch your breath. It's the Cuervo effect. It's a signal that everybody understands. It's a moment that anyone can join and a good time that just grows. All you have to do is keep it Cuervo. With José Cuervo. And Travis A. Chan is brought to you by SimpliSafe as well. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe changed the game. They've got effective 24/7 professional monitoring. It's affordable, no long-term contracts. The setup's super easy. You can expect, uh, something like that to take all day, but it only takes about 30 minutes. Fully customizable system. It will fit your exact needs.

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Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest. It is now New Orleans Saints running back, former Jacksonville Jaguar, Travis Achan. I think I screwed that up. Did I screw that up?

No, you got it right. Travis Achan. Okay.

Travis Achan. So we asked this, we're on Grit Week right now. We asked this to start every single interview on Grit Week presented by DraftKings. What does the word grit mean to you?

Grit. Grit means to me is just, just the ability to keep going, not give up for real. Just keep fighting no matter circumstances, no matter how far you might seem out of it. Just be able to just grind and keep going.

That's good. I like that.

Is there one part of your career where, where you felt like it was harder than most to keep going and to keep grinding where you wanted to quit?

Right, uh, I mean, I, I would say to pinpoint something, maybe, um, uh, maybe my rookie season when I had season-ending injury, just to be able to come back. But no, I never wanted to quit. I would say, uh, best way I could put it is like we played the Steelers one time and, um, I rolled my ankle real bad and I might didn't want to go out there and, uh, have to play anymore, but I just taped it up and just fought through after and fought through and we won the game. So Just being tough. Yeah, I never wanted to quit. Yeah. All right.

So we started— I started, I think, saying your name right. But it's crazy. You've been in the NFL for 5 years now and people just weren't saying your name correctly. What was going on with that? Would you— would you tell them and then they just wouldn't say it? No, no.

Honestly, it started in college. Okay. It happened in college, my freshman year of college. That's when I was trying to correct everybody for like a year and like 2 years, actually, just trying to correct everyone. And then at that point, you just gave up.

Yeah, that's not gritty. You should have kept that.

That wasn't great.

That wasn't great. But you gotta understand, at that time, if I had NIL, I probably would have spoke up. Yeah, so I was just trying to just get my name out there, honestly, uh, become a higher-rated, uh, uh, college athlete, really just, uh, boost my draft ratings. I wasn't really worried about who knew me outside, uh, the building. I feel like all my friends, all my close friends, my family they all knew who I was. So that's the only thing that really mattered to me. And the outside world, I never really cared, honestly. Yeah.

So it's got to feel good coming back here. Louisiana boy coming back home. Now everyone's going to say your name correctly because everyone knows how to— I feel like every name in Louisiana is, is said differently than how it's spelled. Is that fair to say? Oh yeah. No, most definitely.

And my friends, like, they give me crap about it. They be like, man, they say your name wrong because you left the state. Yeah, you should have never left the state. Yeah, they always tell me that.

So what? So here's a follow-up question. Were you close to going to LSU? What happened there? Because it does feel— we were, we were in Baton Rouge yesterday talking to Coach Kiffin and also Coach O, and we're talking about how, like, Louisiana is one of the only states, maybe Ohio, where kids from Louisiana go to LSU. Like, that's just what they do. Was that a hard thing for you to be like, I'm going to Clemson?

Uh, no, not really, because, uh, at the time, man, I was going to LSU like for 2 years, like my junior and senior year. I was there every weekend watching the football games, watching guys, watching, uh, Fournette. And so I feel like I already had the LSU experience, uh, in some sense. And then, uh, the I-formation, the offense they ran, I kind of knew my body type, my body style, and for what I wanted to, to be, uh, to— my goal was to get to the NFL. My goal wasn't to be, uh, just a college player, you know. Uh, my dream is to be in the NFL, and I felt like I knew I had to develop, uh, ways I had to develop my game, ways that LSU probably wouldn't have been able to develop my game at the time because the offense that they ran, the corners they had, right, it didn't really fit my, my scheme, my style. So I was just looking from like a business standpoint. Even back then, it wasn't, it wasn't no, uh, hard feelings, man.

I'm still an LSU fan. Yeah, I mean, and it worked out business-wise. You had a great career, signed a new contract contract with the Saints. The national championship game though, being in New Orleans against LSU, you're on the other sideline. Were you like, shit, like that? That— I mean, you probably had family who were probably close. Was it close family rooting for you, but then maybe some extended family being like, more Tigers?

Uh, close family, they always rooted for me, but like maybe like extended family, cousins, uh, they'll let you know like they're going for LSU. But, uh, I mean, nah, it was a tough game, man. Just looking back back on it because I remember like, like, man, just, just when Joe and just threw that ball to Jamar, they got clicking. And then we go out and just have 3 and out, this 3 and out. I'm like, maybe we keep giving the ball back to Joe, you know. And I was like, man, you gotta let them boys keep doing what they do. I felt like, uh, I'm not gonna get into that, you know, a long time ago. Yeah, uh, they won one, I won one. That's how it looks.

Yeah, you won one too.

Yeah, you walked away from it okay.

Yeah, you took down Alabama.

And then obviously, like, then, uh, that game game, I want to say I probably got the ball like 2 times in the second half. Yeah, yeah. And like one, one for a touchdown. So it's like I control what I can control in that moment.

So that's how I look at it.

That's what you got to say. You should be like, if they gave me the ball more, we would have won.

You just ran out of time. Yeah, yeah. You gotta lean on me. And then you, then you get to the NFL. What was the process like, um, coming to the NFL? You talked about like going to Clemson because it was a scheme that like you knew that you could be successful in, that they could work with you to prepare you for the next level. When you get to the NFL, was it harder than you thought it would be, or was it what you thought it'd be, or was it maybe, maybe it's like, oh yeah, this is easy, I can do this?

No, it definitely wasn't easy. I feel like when I got to the NFL, that's the hardest football ever been for me. When I got to college football was fairly easy, but when I got to the league, uh, you learn out real quick that they get paid millions of dollars to play, play football as well. And, uh, once you just lock in, you have to just learn the game, just learn a different style of football. But once you lock in and understand who you are as a player and just build your confidence back up because you're going to the league, just being a rookie again, you just got to start all over again. That's really what it is. You're just a freshman. You got to work your name up, work your way up and just, just believe in yourself. And I feel like the confidence and the game speed, the very fundamental sound, like it just, it just, you know, it's a different game. Everyone's here for a reason. Everyone takes their craft seriously.

Yeah. Is it, is it harder to adjust to the speed of not only the defense, but like your own, your own blockers on the offensive line? Like everybody's a little bit bigger. Everybody's a little bit faster. Faster, and you have to figure out where they're about to be so that you can make your cuts accordingly. Did that take you a little bit to adjust to that?

I, I would say it did. I'd say, yeah, it took me a little time to adjust because as a running back, you kind of, uh, just, just like, I know in college, like, I didn't have to watch film. Like, I didn't have to, like, be in there all day, uh, know the blocking schemes and things like that. But when I got to the league, I had to learn those things. And once I learned those things, and once I just started, uh, playing football above the shoulders, that's when I was able to get better in the league. Because you do have to know, uh, those things like, uh, the blocking schemes, where they're going, who they're targeting, and stuff like that. And just knowing what the players are designed to get. And, uh, most guys, you know, I feel like that separates the good and the great people. Like, like, yeah, like Tom Brady, like, he's a, he's a prime example. Like, he played a quarterback position, but he was always great at just taking what the defense gives him. You'll never see Tom Brady go out there and try to force things. No, he just played the game the right way consistently over time.

And that's why he was one of his— why he's the greatest of all time.

Yeah. When you were on the Jaguars, did you— were you— whenever you were on the sideline, maybe it's a blowout, maybe the game's like in the fourth quarter, would you ever look up and be like, why are people in the pool?

Nah, nah, nah, nah. It'd be like the first quarter, I look at them like, like, I wish I could get in that pool, honestly, because it'd be hot, bro. It'd be hot, especially the beginning of the season. Nah, it was steaming, bro. But I feel like that's always the cool experience, you know? And I feel like, you know, you don't see it nowhere else.

We just love— we love, like, every time they show it on TV, we'll just be like, you know, they'll come back from commercial and they'll be like people like having a vacation in the pool in the NFL game, wearing like a—

yeah, wearing like jeans. Yeah, like a hoodie dress, and they're in the pool just like having— it's 55 degrees, but I'm gonna get in that pool while I'm watching the game.

Yeah, no, no, no, I, I feel like that pool is a great— is a great idea. Honestly. Yeah. I feel like, uh, when I retire, I get older, I definitely gotta catch me a game in that pool.

Yeah, you should. That's good. Yeah. How awesome is it being back home?

I mean, man, it's the best feeling, honestly. Just, uh, just being back home, like, being around my family. I feel like, uh, my family is real important to me, and I really— I didn't realize how much I was missing them because I was just always so busy with work. I was always just able to just just distract myself with my job. But whenever I got home, it's like I'm— I still got my job, but I just got like this feeling of just like comfort, I guess, or just like this sense of just— I don't know, I just feel whole again, really, right? To where I may be like, I call my mom, tell her I'm coming home this weekend, she cooked me something up to eat. To where I'm in Jacksonville, man, I ain't making that. Yeah, then on the weekend, ain't no coming home.

What is she— what's her— what's the best meal she cooks?

Oh, I wouldn't say she have a best meal, man. I, I feel like that would be a disgrace to her cooking skills, man, because—

so it's all good? It's all great. What's your favorite? Great.

I would say my favorite— I feel like I go through phases.

Okay.

I mean, if it's like you're having a bad week and you're like, Mom, coming home for a meal—

if I'm having a bad weekend, I need something to pick me up. Yeah. To make me feel like a football player again. Yeah, I need that gumbo. Okay.

Yeah, that's the same, same for me.

That's why I eat 2 gumbos a day when I'm down here. All that red beans and rice with the fried pork chops on the side. Oh yeah, that's pressure too. But it don't matter what it is, man. That food in there cooked, it's gonna make me feel great.

Is it like an actual— maybe it's not a concern, but like you're gonna have to watch your weight being back home? Because that— the thing about being Louisiana, it's like every time we come here, it's like, this is the best place on earth. The food is so good, you can eat everything. Is there a little bit of you like, I gotta, I gotta make sure that I watch this because I mean, it's so good?

I mean, honestly, uh, not no more. But I feel like if, if I would have got drafted here and I didn't like learn things I learned just being in the NFL, I would have been terrible. Yeah, because like I would have just been eating like I ate in high school and still trying to do things, still trying to go out there and be a great football player. Where I understand now that your diet is a, uh, it's very much important, just like everything else is inside of your game. So I'm grateful that I learned over the course of 5 years in Jacksonville to where I ain't got to learn that discipline again, right? Yeah.

Um, and that's so true. Like, if you get drafted, anyone, I think, to New Orleans, you better have a good head on your shoulders because there's a lot— there's some opportunities to make some, some bad decisions, uh, in the kitchen, some bad decisions at the bar here. I want to eat and drink everything in the state whenever I'm here. Yeah. And if I'm like 22 years old with, with $30 million in my it. I'm probably gonna fuck up quite a bit if I'm here. But yeah, uh, so all right, it's great that you're back here. How much of a draw was it that you get to play with Tyler Shock?

I mean, uh, I feel like, uh, Tyler's amazing, man. I feel like, yeah, uh, I was excited, but I was really excited once I met him. Uh, once I met him, I, I feel like I understand why everyone has this, this belief about what he can do and who he is as a person. And that's because he is a great person first, and he's a leader, man. He's not shying away from it. And then he's been through adversity, man. Like, just his journey to get here to the league, uh, he's been through adversity. So like, you know, he hungry. He— since you sense that hunger on him, and he wants to be great, he wants to win, he loves the city, he embraces the city. So I feel like that is all things that make a great quarterback. Now it's just, uh, for him to just show that week in and week out, and I feel like this would be a great year Yeah.

Yeah. He's— I mean, catchable ball. Like, real catchable ball.

We love watching Tyler Sharpe. Did you— did you used to go to the Dome growing up?

Man, no. So I went to the Dome. I went to the Bayou Classic. That was really it. So whenever I play, that'll be my first game in the Dome.

First game in the Dome. That's going to be an amazing feeling.

Well, for the national championship. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I mean, I forget about that. You should have gotten the ball more.

Well, actually, things go different if you get the ball more.

Yeah. Always says, like, Travis Achan, he's in that building, he's unstoppable. Yeah. Not gonna lie, I suppressed that memory.

I don't even think about that no more. That game be long gone.

I suppressed it too, but that was mostly because we had like 16 hand grenades afterwards.

We were, we were in that game, we were very drunk.

Now after that game, I'm gonna have a hand grenade myself.

All right, so I asked Coach Moore this because we just taped with him. Um, you're from a small town, what, 10,000 people? Jennings, Louisiana. At what age did you realize you were the man?

Um, I don't think I ever looked at it like that, uh, coming out of Jennings, just because it wasn't that many people, you know?

Yeah, but what age were you like football-wise? That I was like going to the league? Oh yeah, that's different.

Yeah, I would say I didn't realize that until my freshman year of college. Okay, until I got around other guys and who wanted the same things as I did, because growing up in Jennings, man, like like not everybody has those dreams and goals to get to the league or even get to college. So I wasn't even— I, I was just playing football in high school just to be with my friends, just to hang out, be cool, kick with the guys. There was nothing else to do. And then when I got to college, after my freshman year, really, uh, man, we had— we, we played Alabama. We had the Sugar Bowl, man. Yeah, that stadium was bad to me before I got here. Yeah, but before it changed the name to Caesar Dome, it was no good memories in there. But uh, after that year and then like just going through my freshman season and then being able to get opportunities to play and make a splash. And I was maybe like 180 pounds, right? And just, uh, just knowing and just seeing other guys lay the blueprint out for me and then seeing those guys get drafted.

So I'm like, man, if I just do what they do, I can get drafted too. Yeah. And I feel like that's when it clicked for me, uh, my freshman year of college.

Yeah. Did you, do you have a game or a moment from high school though where you were just like, do you have a a crazy touchdown, like, amount of touchdown game or yards where you just put it on another team?

Um, I mean, uh, we played West Feliciana, uh, we played West Feliciana, uh, one game. I probably had like 400 yards, like 6 touchdowns, and we lost. Oh, okay. But no, so like that year of football in my life, we had the, we had the best offense in 3A and we had the worst defense in 3A. Yeah, that's fun. Like, uh, that game I had 11 tackles as Oh geez, I was playing both ways.

11 tackles, 6 touchdowns, 400 yards rushing. How many yards receiving did you have? No, I was at 400.

We were in, uh, we was in a splitback beer. Okay, so we probably had like 2 pass plays the whole game.

How is it possible that you gave up that many points on defense when you were running the ball every down on offense, man?

Because they, uh, they had really good players too. Uh, they got one guy, he played for the, um, the Chargers. Now he's a punt returner. Okay, okay. Uh, he played for— he played for them at that time and had a couple guys went to college. But like I said, I was playing with my homies, man. I'm playing my friends, right? Like, they're not getting D1 looks, they're not getting scouted. Like, these are my guys I play with in the backyard, right? It was good because I'm here, honestly. Like, that's why we was winning games.

11 tackles, 400 yards, 6 touchdowns. You had to have been so tired.

No, that year, that, that's like my, uh, that year I probably scored like 50 touchdowns and I was 30 yards away from, um, 3,000 yards.

Yards in only 11 games. And how many tackles in the season?

Uh, I probably— not that many tackles, but I did have a pick 6 that season.

Oh, Jesus Christ! Did you ever think about playing defense in college, or was it always, I'm gonna be running back?

And I was always— I was gonna be a running back. But if I knew what I knew now, I probably would have played a little defense. I probably would play a little.

Why is that? You just miss it? You miss hitting people?

No, Not, not, not that. It's just from like a, just a, just from a career aspect, a longevity standpoint, just a, just the way they, they, they treat defenders the way they treat running backs, just from that holistic approach to where I, I know I could have been a great DB if I worked at it tirelessly every day and just put my, put effort towards it. And like, you see guys like, like guys, I mean, everyone is great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like if you train and work hard on defense, it rewards you better in the end. So where you could put all your life and work into running back, and we really just starting to transition the, the position back to where it was when I was growing up.

Yeah, I was about to say, I think, I feel like it's made a slight comeback the last couple years.

Oh yeah, that's making a comeback for sure.

But were you on that Zoom call, the running back Zoom call where you got together?

And I don't think I made no plays.

I think the Zoom call was just like, hey man, the Sucks. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Let's see if we can do something about it. But yeah, I do feel like, you know, there have been some very, very high-profile running backs that have gotten good contracts now. So it might be on back on the come up. I got a couple of friends that are Jaguars fans and they, they loved you when you played in Jacksonville. I remember it was like 2022, it was a few seasons ago. I was talking to one of them. They're like, HN has a unique ability to cut and and we think it's because of his feet. Are your feet different than other, other running backs?

Hey, now somebody, uh, Devin Neal told me today in practice, man, he said you run like you're a figure skater. Yeah. And I was like, man, because like my feet, I just always, my feet was always like this growing up. I just always had like duck feet.

Yeah, they go out to the side. Yeah, just go out to the side.

And I kind of just learned to just, it's always been natural to me, but yeah, I guess it's not natural, but that's just always how I ran.

So I, and I did see a video where you were running and you're going really fast, but your feet are like pointed out and then you cut to the side. How do you make that cut? I I didn't see that cut coming. Oh yeah, it's because his foot was already pointed.

It was already like that. So like, I'm messing the picture and like, I must have caught the ball and I'm taking off and my foot was legit pointed sideways and I'm going straight. Yeah, it just happens, man. I just—

it's, it's a great ability that you combine that with all the hard work that you've put in. I feel like you were meant to play the running back position.

Oh yeah, not for sure. I mean, I mean, growing up I always wanted to be a running back. Uh, like I said, uh, uh, LSU actually offered me a, uh a, a, a safety. They offered me a safety. Cal offered me a, a safety position to play both, whatever. But, um, I always wanted to be a running back, man. I love offense. I love scoring touchdowns. Uh, I never, I never was one. I always wanted to keep my jersey clean after the game, you know. I didn't want nobody to touch me. I wanted to go out there, be clean, touchdowns, bring them and bring everything you want. You know, you see the guys celebrating, man. I was a big Odell fan. Uh, so just watching those guys just do they, do they dance whenever you get in the end zone, man, that just kind of And just always what I wanted to do.

It worked out for you. Yeah.

Yeah. Can we talk about the playoff game comeback against the Chargers? Because that was insane. You had— you had a huge game. I think you had over 100 yards rushing. What was there a moment at halftime where, like, what was said in the room where it's like, hey, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. There's been— I think it was like 3 interceptions or something. It's like, but we're not out of this. And then just piece by piece, how did that that all go down?

Nah, so, uh, I feel like the moment we kind of knew that game was changing, it was going into halftime. I think we scored a touchdown going into halftime, maybe like, uh, maybe like with 17 seconds left or something like that. And then we get in locker room, you're just looking around, you know the score is the score, but it's like, man, this is our season we have on the line. So like, just go out there and, and just play your hardest, man. Like, what you got to lose? Literally. Yeah, like, what you got to lose? And I feel like, uh, Trev locked in, man. He came out laser-focused, really, man. I feel like he just put us on his back. Whenever he give me the ball, I do what I do, you know, help him out. But Trev, Trev really, he locked in. Yeah. And he wrote all his wrongs from that first half, and he willed us the victory that game.

Yeah, and it was also like kind of like the Jaguars and Chargers are both similar organizations. Like the, you know, they haven't had Super Bowl wins, but they're, you know, some good seasons and some bad seasons. But I think you also probably looked at it like the Chargers are a bigger loser organization than the Jaguars. So like, we got to just win this game. What? Oh, he's a Chargers fan.

Our guy. I know you're a Chargers fan.

Yeah, yeah. But it is kind of true.

Like, you stare in the mirror like we're the same, but you are—

you're bigger losers than us. I feel like when I think about the Chargers, like, like you said, I feel like you got tiers of NFL teams and I don't— I don't put them over there in that top tier, you know? But I mean, great, great, great organization. I feel like every, every organization is is great. I feel like, uh, with the Jazz organization, just real young. Yeah. Uh, being, uh, started in '95, just a young organization. But I feel like we were able to transcend things, or just able to like just build a, build a foundation, just build like a, a standard. Yeah, it's going the right way.

And what, what was the reaction, uh, amongst the guys when Liam Cohen was introduced and he did the Duvall thing? Because it was weird. No, no, no, it was funny.

I mean, like, uh, my sister, she must have sent it to me and she was laughing, but I feel like he just didn't know. So I feel like no, no, no one really took it against him. We just laughed at it, you know. Uh, it was funny to us at the time, but, uh, it just showed you who Liam was, I feel like. But, but if you ask him to do it now, he's gonna do it the right way.

Yeah, yeah, he's practicing. It's like, it's not—

he just didn't know. Yeah. So, but, uh, but now everybody was happy with me about Liam, man. I don't know, just, uh, when you meet Lim, his energy is just different. Yeah, his energy is very contagious. He's just one of those guys and he's just able to just— he able to just meet you where you are no matter where you at. Yeah. And I feel like as a coach, that's what you have to have. And, uh, he was a great motivator as well. Like, he will find things to just kind of use to help motivate us to be better on Sundays and, uh, I feel like that's one of his greatest attributes.

Yeah. Did he ever give you a game ball? Yeah. You had a couple of game balls.

Yeah, I had a couple of game balls.

I heard that your coach here, Kellen Moore, he gives out game balls to everybody. If you show up on Sunday, you have a pulse, you get a game ball.

You get a game ball. There's game ball inflation.

So don't feel so special when you get a game ball. Yeah, they don't.

They don't mean as much. Yeah.

You look around and everyone will have a game ball. Yeah.

Yeah. Like you said, the kicker will have one. Be like, he did as much as me. No, no, no.

I feel like I treat every game ball Do you keep them? I appreciate them all. Yeah, I got them all. I don't have them like hung up or anything, but I got them all. They just be laying around. But, um, you're gonna need—

you're gonna need more. You don't appreciate them?

No, no, you haven't thrown them away?

I, I haven't thrown them away. Okay, they're somewhere. Yeah, like it's a game. Like, I don't know, I, I guess I just always been like an impactful player. Yeah. So like when you get to this level, like, I feel like that's my job, to go out there and impact the game. And like, I understand it's a game ball, but it's like, I want like, I want a Super Bowl, man. Like, yeah, I feel like that ain't something I'm gonna throw down. Yeah, I want a Super Bowl. I want, I want like things that's going to like make you be remembered forever. Like, yeah, nobody's gonna remember those game balls in 20 years from now. I'll be showing my son, like, it'd be a great accomplishment. But like, if I get a Super Bowl, man, like, they're gonna talk about that forever. That's facts. People will tell my son about that. I ain't gotta tell my son about the game balls.

Yeah. What's your son's name? Saint. Saint. That's, that's pretty cool. That's amazing. How old is he?

Uh, he just turned 1 April 3rd. Okay. So he's probably like, uh, 13 going on 14 months.

That's right. And he— is he named after—

nah, so I named— we, we, we, we picked his name out before I was even like officially a free agent. So like I had no idea I was even coming to the Saints.

Yeah, that's, that's so cool though. But now, now you're here and like imagine if you did win a Super Bowl and you got Saint right there. That's— oh no, that's a pretty cool moment.

Yeah, that'd be the greatest feeling ever. Yeah, I feel like, uh, that's what we're gonna get to right now, you know. So just gotta just dream it, and I feel like you dream big enough, God can make it happen.

Well, you say greatest moment ever, like, let's just do like a thought exercise. Let's say week 9, you guys win 24-21 against the Falcons, and, uh, you and 15 of your other teammates get a game game ball. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that might happen.

At that point, you're gonna be looking around, and if you don't get a game ball, you're gonna be like, my job— yeah, what's wrong?

Not gonna lie, if I don't get a game ball, then I feel like I appreciate them more because I'd be like, dang, like, I, I didn't do enough.

Pull some more material.

You should actually tell coach before, be like, I don't want a game ball all year. Just be like, just because then you just be like, then everyone, someone else can get it, you know, because you The way it sounds like, if you score a touchdown, you get a game ball. You score a lot of touchdowns, that's a lot of game balls.

Yeah, no, I feel like I, I just scored touchdowns and not got a game ball before.

Yeah, that's usually how it works. Not here though.

Not here though.

No, no. Yeah, just be like, be like, Coach, get my ball to taste him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But now, I mean, in the league, I feel like, uh, if you win, I thought everybody deserve a game ball. I feel like, because I didn't been to where we didn't win 3 games the whole season, you know. So it was no game balls going around there. Yeah, well, that was—

when you lose— yeah, your coach was a little, a little different there, Urban Meyer. Yeah, what was that? Co-worker of ours now.

Yeah. What was that? What was that moment like in Jacksonville where you're coming home after that Thursday night game and somebody takes out their phone and they're like, is this— is this his hand? That's— is this coach's finger that I'm looking at right now?

No, no, no, it was crazy. I, I ain't going to spend too much on that.

No, because, uh, he is a co-worker of ours now, so like, we should also not talk about it.

I, I don't care because it was one of the funniest moments ever.

You gotta understand, for guys like us in the show we do, it was gold. It was funny. It was better than a game ball, you know. It was just insane.

Yeah, I'm sure he appreciated that night more than the game ball.

Um, here, your other coach, uh, Dabo, is he weird?

Uh, no, no, uh, Coach Swinney is not— no, he's not weird. He just, uh, he's just a, a God-fearing man. I feel like he's a very loving guy, and I feel like to someone who don't know him, uh, probably, uh, take him as weird because he's just very caring. Like, he's loving. Like, I feel like he's a coach, like, he'll call me on FaceTime just randomly uh, to see like how I'm doing and checking up on me, just my mental, spiritually. And I feel like, uh, most coaches don't go that in depth with players. And not that he gonna do it with me, uh, but he does with the players who aren't making plays. He just— anyone he recruited or anyone that came to the organization, he's— he has a relationship with.

Okay, but what about when he runs down the hill before everyone else? That's a little weird. I feel like—

I, I want to say, I, I, I feel like that, that's how he tapping back into his young self, I guess. Okay. I don't know. I feel like as we get older, we start searching for them adrenaline rushes, and I think that hill gives him one, you know. I feel like me running down the hill, my biggest fear was, uh, falling. Yeah. So I feel like I would never run— I never ran down the hill like that. Yeah. Like, I would just skip because, like, running down the hill is not happening because, like, you hit that— hit up— nah, no, I think everybody coming.

Yeah, he wanted to— that was his way. It's his way of getting amped up for the game and to run out on the field, feel like he's still like physically a part of the game, not just like mentally on the sidelines, you know what I'm saying?

But if you really watch, he run down that fast.

He runs down that hill. He makes sure the camera follows him too.

Like, I'm, I'm surprised that he hasn't fallen down the hill. That has to be like a—

that'd be a real shame if that happened.

I'm surprised he hasn't though, cuz like he runs so fast. Like, yeah, you're only speeding up, man.

He's getting older, so it's like he's got to be careful, keep those knees tight, saying.

Yeah, like you start trying to slow down, man, Yeah.

Did you ever go down the slide?

I went down the slide a lot.

I went down the slide. I got yelled at. You got yelled at? It was only for players. I just went down the slide in the Clemson facility. They have a big slide and they were getting a tour and I just went on the slide and some guy was like, hey, you can't do that. Well, what am I going to do now? I'm down. Yeah, you're already down. You're like, I'm on the other side. We won't take it back. Yeah, climb back up.

Yeah.

That facility is insane, though. Yeah, that facility is nice. And then when So I was the first class inside that facility. So like, it was really amazing, just like seeing that and just being in that building and being able to see things go up. I was just real cool. And like, at that time it was one of the nicest facilities out there. So I'm grateful for that. Yeah.

How much of a difference maker was it for you going into free agency? And obviously you got family in New Orleans. You're very familiar with the city and the team, but was it like a 10% difference maker that you get to play more games inside now and air conditioning. You don't have to be in that sun all the time. Uh, I would think about that if I was running back. I'd be like, it sucks to be hot.

Yeah, it sucks to be hot, but for me it sucks to be cold. So I feel like I wasn't worried about the heat as much as I was worried about, uh, being somewhere where I'd just be freezing all the time, you know. Not all the time because like, um, when the season starts It's great weather, great football weather. But once you get around that, that December, January, the playoffs, man, that's when things get freezing. Like, it's a difference going, traveling out there to play a game for 4 hours, or whereas I'm out there all week. Yeah, inside the cold. Uh, gotta go to work every day freezing, you know.

What's the coldest game, coldest game you ever had to play in?

Uh, for me that I could, I could remember It was in Virginia Tech. I think we played like on a— it was in college. We played like there, uh, on Thanksgiving Day, man. And my froze, dude, like my froze went like numb. Like my froze was like my toes, they were like bricks. And I think, I, I think I— well, I honestly, I think I definitely subbed myself out that game. But not luckily. Nah, but luckily he was up. Yeah. So like coach wasn't looking for me, you know what I'm saying? But, uh, yeah, I was definitely done by the second quarter, man, like it was like it was no bueno. Yeah.

Well, Travis, it's been awesome. I got one last question for you. It's the Rhoback question. Rhoback.com promo code TAYK, 20% off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Rhoback.com promo code TAYK. This is Zach. Zach's a Bucs fan. How you doing, man? How are you today? Yeah, doing well.

I was curious, with your brother Trevor being on the Panthers and you now here with the Saints, kind of in the same division. Is there any pressure with game, like when game day is coming up, to like show Lil Bro kind of how it's done and perform, or is it all love in the family group chat leading up to the game?

Uh, I definitely got to show him how to perform, you know, because I feel like I can't take these moments for granted, to show them that I'm the bigger brother. So I feel like, uh, I'm definitely going to just continue leaning on that. And then I played him already, 1-0. I think I had maybe like over 150 yards, so So I definitely started great, but I got to continue to go and just— and now I get to show him twice. So now I'm the bigger brother, so I feel like there's nothing better than that.

Yeah, I'd love to hear that.

Setting a good example. And then also, uh, if it's cool, you're a Madden rating, you got 94 agility and 94 speed. I was wondering on an off day if you've ever maybe hopped on the game and just like absolutely cooked somebody playing as yourself. All the time.

All the time. Let's go. Like all the time, man. And honestly, I'm so excited to get on Madden this this year because my friends, they always just talk bad about the Saints, but now I'm on there, so I'll be able to, you know, get some stuff going. And, uh, I definitely see them all in Madden this year.

That's gonna be an unreal feeling. I love that for you. Thank you for your time, man.

Thank you. All right, well, Travis, thank you so much, man. We really appreciate it. Uh, best of luck this year, and, uh, love watching you play football. And, and, uh, you know, go— Tyler Shuck is our guy, so So you guys go kill it.

And if you run out of space for all the game balls that you're going to get this year, you can send them to us. I'll take one. Yeah, we'll take one.

We will absolutely. We'll display it. Yeah. Because you'll have by like week 6, you'll have like 10 games.

We would actually do like an HN museum in the corner, like in our weight room at the office, which is every game ball that you get. If you don't feel like you've got the space or the shelving to handle all those game balls, we'll take care of it for you. Yeah.

Yeah. Nah, nah. I got y'all probably, probably next year. I might keep all these this year.

Yeah, I don't think you understand how many game balls you're going to get. So we'll talk maybe midseason. You'll be like, hey, you know what, guys? I'm running out of space.

I'll send you a few. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thanks so much, man. Appreciate y'all.

Travis HN was brought to you by BetterHelp. BetterHelp wants you to know that this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and you don't have to be on your mental health journey alone. Lots of people every day try BetterHelp. Life is a journey. Some days feel good, others feel overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, no one has all the answers. No journey should be alone. Having someone with you to listen, support, and to understand you can make all the difference. They have quality therapists. They've got therapists that work according to a strict code of conduct. They're fully licensed in the US. BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals with over 30,000 therapists. BetterHelp is the world's online, uh, therapy platform. They're the world's largest online therapy platform. They've served over 6 million people globally, and they've got an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for live sessions based on over 1.7 million client reviews. Don't be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy.

Sign up, get 10% off. BetterHelp.com/PMT. That's betterhelp.com/pmt. And before we get to Justin Reed, he's brought to you by our great friends over at Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant to your work that works without leaving your workflow that you're already in. So it's built right into Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Copilot works where you work, helping you do more in the apps that you already use. In Word, Copilot helps turn scattered notes into a first draft. In Excel, it generates insights from your data. And in Outlook, it cuts through the noise to get you up to speed faster. The apps you know go further with Copilot. Learn more at m365copilot.com/work.

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very special guest. He is 2-time Super Bowl champion, now New Orleans Saints, and it is Grit Week. It's Justin Reed. It is Grit Week. Presented by Chevy. So we start every Grit Week interview the same. What does the word grit mean to you? Grit.

Grit to me is about tenacity. It's about being able to handle adversity. Like, hey, things get dirty and you just kind of dig your way out of it. You know, it doesn't need to be pretty. It just needs to get done.

Mm-hmm. I like that answer.

What's, what's a time in your sports career that you've had to battle through something where you've had to demonstrate high level of grit?

Oh man. I mean, that's, that's kind of what sports are. I mean, nobody, nobody has the perfect story, but my second year in the league, I tore my labrum in training camp and I played the entire season with a busted up shoulder. I didn't practice through the week. I had a red jersey on. I was non-contact. And the only time that I actually, you know, hit somebody was when we were playing the games on Sunday. And my guy who was behind me knew that any time I made a tackle that I had to dive to my right and like overextend, like he already started running on the field before, you know, I even got up because I'd have to come to the sideline. My shoulder would go numb for a little bit. It'd probably take like 30 seconds, a minute to come back. I'd wait until I can do push-ups. Like when I knew I could do push-ups again, then I knew I can go back on the field. When I could do a push-up, I'd run back out and kind of just did that over and over again for a whole season. And did you get the surgery afterwards?

I'm going to say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The doctor said, um, labrum ended up looking like string cheese. Oh, jeez. Afterwards, it was like they just— they couldn't fix it. They just took it out, and I ended up doing what's called a Latarjet procedure. It's some Frankenstein stuff, bro. They cut off your, your coracoid process and they drill it into your shoulder. Holy shit. As a, as a bony block. That's—

yeah. What was the rehab like from that?

Um, you know, first 2 months is, is not much, and then after that it's just a, a whole lot of range of motion, just a ton of BFR, a ton of stability stuff, band work. Yeah, you just kind of just got to do it. That's pretty.

So yeah, this is, this is— you're kind of underselling this. You had a torn labrum for an entire football season. So I'm assuming every single time you made a tackle, it was just excruciating pain.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like, I mean, I was getting loaded up on the Toradol and everything else to, you know, make my way through the game.

That's crazy. Yeah. So was there any part of you So like when you, when you get the torn labrum, there was no part of you is like, I got to get surgery now because was because you were in your second year, my second year, right?

And it was a year that I really wanted to come onto the scene and, you know, earn my stripes and, you know, have some pelts on the wall. And, you know, I was supposed to be, you know, I had a really good rookie season. I was supposed to be the guy that year. And, you know, I wanted to show up for the team and start making a name for myself. I didn't want to like, you know.

So was there, was there a guy that you would have on the sidelines like you'd make a tackle, I'm assuming, meaning your shoulder would dislocate every time you would hit something.

Yeah, okay, so sublux is like— not dislocation comes all the way out, a sublux is like a, a quick shift in and out, which hurts a lot.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it would just do that, it would go numb, and, you know, I wouldn't— I really would— I wouldn't even be able to lift it, but, you know, it's temporary.

Um, sure, yeah, temporary over and over and over again, over and over and over again.

Yeah, you And, you know, I was, what, 22 years old? I wasn't thinking about it. I just wanted to go out and, you know, play football.

Did you keep that to yourself or did like— did Spags know? No, this was with the Texans. Houston. Houston. Yeah.

The whole coaching staff knew. Yeah. Like I said, I wore a red— I wore the quarterback. I wore a red penny the entire week of practice. That kind of rocks. Yeah. The entire week of practice.

I did.

You know what I mean? I was still running and everything, but I didn't get— I didn't live with the team. I would be out there on the field, but I wouldn't touch anybody the whole year. And then, you know, you just show up Sunday and go play.

Okay, that's great. I think that qualifies as grit. Yeah. Yeah. We oftentimes talk about like we get kidney stones because we're old and fat and it's excruciating. But I'd say the torn labrum for an entire NFL season, probably a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to give you that one. I'm going to hand you that one. Are you a nerd? Yeah, I say so.

I like to learn.

So why did you go to Stanford over LSU?

Yeah, that's a, that's the classic thing because I'm a Louisiana boy through and through, right? My whole family went to LSU. My dad was an All-American track guy there. My brother was an All-American there. Mom went there, sister went there. But, you know, when it came time for my time and I grew up on LSU heavy, right? Heavy. I was going to Death Valley like every other weekend. And, you know, the expectation is if you play in Louisiana, you have a chance to go play at LSU, you go play there. But the situation just unfolded that my brother was playing for the 49ers at the time. My mom was travel nursing, 2 weeks in Louisiana, 2 weeks in Oakland, California. Okay. So it ended up being like a little pod. Got it. A little pod out there. And then part of it too was I wanted to make a name for myself. You know, I was at this point in my life, I was always Eric Reid's little brother. And, you know, I wanted to, you know, be called by my first name and make a name for myself. So Dwayne Aikina was over there, Coach Shaw was over there, was in love with those guys and, you know, pulled the trigger on it and haven't looked back.

And you— and you got— you studied, you got a degree in engineering. Like, that's— that's insane to be an engineer and a football player. Yeah, you're a nerd. But also, I wouldn't fuck with you. You told me that story.

Yeah, man, it's fun. And like, I kind of see— I kind of kind of see football from an engineering background in a way. Like, I see everything as puzzle pieces. And, you know, just the way I like knowing how the entire system fits together. I feel like I'm a better player whenever I know, okay, this guy's doing this responsibility, this guy's doing this responsibility, this guy's doing this responsibility. If we get a play that we didn't practice, then I know that, okay, he has to get that one, he has to get that one. That means I'm covering his back by going here. You know, that's kind of the way I see football.

Yeah. Yeah. How did you have have, like, how'd you have enough time in the day when you're getting an engineering degree from Stanford and playing D1 football? Oh, what did you— how did you do that?

Yeah, man, you, um, you just squeeze every, every second out every day. I don't really watch TV. Yeah, I never really watched TV or shows. Like, if I do find a good show, I'll probably binge it in a day or two. Like, I'll just watch the whole series in 2 days, but I'm not a casual TV watcher or whatever. I'm just always like, you know, doing whatever is the next thing. Yeah.

Are you a documentary guy?

I'll buzz through a documentary.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like when I hear you talk about things and I hear you say like, I don't really watch TV, I just think like, yeah, you know, I'd probably have all the same skills you have if I just didn't watch TV either.

I'd be in the league with Derrick Fox.

Even the way that you're talking about like the injury that you had, I— you might be one of the only people that can describe the different bones and how they were in conflict. Conflict and how it would sublex repeatedly, that would also put themselves through having that injury happen to them over and over and over again. That might— you might be a one of one when it comes to that. Yeah, you're, uh, you're a chess player too?

Yeah, yeah, I actually— I started playing chess because I had a teammate, um, I don't remember when I learned the rules, but I had a teammate named Philip Gaines and we used to call him Grandmaster Phil because he was always in his locker playing chess. And I want to relate to all my teammates, so I challenged him to a game one day and he whooped me, right? He smoked me. And then my competitive side came out to where I was like, no, Phil, you're not going to do me like that, bro. So then I started, you know, watching YouTube videos and stuff. And, um, yeah, I got to a point now to where I won, you know, NFL Blitz Champs the last 2 years. Yeah, that's—

so, so you're pretty—

what's your rating? Do you have a— do you have a rating? 1500.

Is that good? A modest, a modest 1500. Is that good? It's decent. I—

we don't know what the ratings are.

What is it? Would you say you score higher or lower than your—

if you're over 1,000, you're pretty pretty decent. Okay, over 1,000, pretty decent. If you start hitting like 1,900, 2,000, then you're like interim master, you're starting approaching grandmaster. Yeah, that type of stuff. Who's your GOAT in chess?

My GOAT?

Yeah, it got to be my coach, man, James Canty.

Oh, okay. No, that's the wrong answer. This is Magnus Carlsen.

Yeah, oh, Magnus Carlsen. Yeah, we got him on the show. Yeah, Magnus too, but he's the GOAT.

He is, he is the GOAT, and he's cocky about it.

He is the GOAT. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he'll show up, you know, timer start, he'll show up like 10 minutes late or whatever and then still just go, yeah, everybody, you don't like it, then beat them.

Yeah, exactly.

Simple as that. Yeah. Well, you know, there was that documentary that just came out too on the whole— yeah, what do you think?

Where do you stand on the, uh, ceramic anal beads?

That was a hit piece on Mac.

If an NFL player did that, Roger Goodell would suspend them for like 10 days. Hey man, good luck figuring that out. Yeah, you know what I mean?

Two buzzes is covered.

2, 3 buzzes.

I think in, in one of our dumber episodes that we had last year, we were trying to think of ways that like Indiana football could be cheating because everyone was, was suggesting that they were cheating. And I thought like, what if a quarterback did have the ceramic beads and the offensive coordinator's up in the booth and he just buzzes when there's a guy coming on the blind side?

That'll, that'll catch your attention. It could work. Yeah.

So what is, uh, what is the nerdiest thing that you've do? Is it chess? The nerdiest thing? I know that you're into photography.

Yeah, the chess. But I, I'll go down these rabbit holes of just like research and information, like latest thing, just random. Like I started like getting interested in planes, so then I started watching the whole series, hours on hours, you know what I mean? Like just the, just the different mechanics of planes and how it works, cockpit different. Yeah. What's your favorite plane? Um, you know what, my favorite Favorite would be the, um, I was actually looking at a TBM 980, um, but my favorite, if we're going to jet, I'll probably be like M2. The M2 is pretty good.

You know the TBM? I'm not familiar with the TBM 980. Yeah, I'm more of a, uh, I get interested in military turboprop. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a jet guy. Yeah, yeah. I like the F-22, I think, but obviously the F-15C is the GOAT. 104-0 lifetime, never got shot down. Yeah, um, it's some bad, some bad press clippings out there. It's its bastard cousin, the F-15EX, had some bad incidents recently. But F-15C, that is, that's the gold standard for military.

Um, I saw a clip on online like a couple days ago, like two, they're doing a flighter show and yeah, yeah, yeah, they went together. It looked like everyone's got their money's worth.

Yeah, it was the, uh, E-18G Growler, the electronic warfare planes. Nice. And then one dropped in on the other because it has a blindside under underneath the cockpit so it doesn't see it, dropped in, and then they got— it looked like they were mating. Yeah, like two words kind of stuck together. It was actually— it was kind of hot. Yeah, yeah. Uh, and it fell to the ground.

I took my pants off.

Yeah, of course. You just— you bounce from like interest to interest, and it sounds like you—

but you go on like deep dives deep into it. Like, I love— I love asking every question. I love getting nitty-gritty on the details. What other rabbit holes have you gone down? The photography videography route. Like, okay, I got injured last season and I had to miss a game. Like, I would come in early, like 6, 7 o'clock AM, but I finished my rehab by 12. But I wasn't— I had a knee thing, so I wasn't allowed to go outside when the guys practiced. So when the guys were out there practicing, I had to stay inside. And I just kind of found ways to fill my time. So I went and hung out with the staff upstairs and I had them teach me all about all the different cameras, Sony products versus Canon. And then, you know, we started talking about about the A7R V and FX3 and different lenses. And, you know, then, then I started getting educated on Adobe Suite and Lightroom versus Photoshop versus Premiere, and, you know, keyframing and all those different things. And that's, that's crazy.

The best part about that was you, you said you missed a game. Yeah, that wasn't, that wasn't like a month that you were rehabbing. Yeah, it was a game. That was one week.

You're like, yeah, man, when it, when it, when When that fire gets lit, bro, I just, I go, I pour all of myself into it. Okay.

When's the last time you just like sat on your couch and just chilled?

Just like watched TV all day? Years ago. I mean, I'll watch like a series, like if it's like, you know, the playoffs or whatever, whatever, I'll watch a game or something like that. But like someone would have to really tell me there's some series that came out that's really good or whatever. I heard something about like Nemesis lately or whatever. And usually I watch the first 2 episodes and if I don't like it and then I whatever, move on. If I do like it, I'll probably watch the whole thing in like 2 days. And then, you know, I just move on to the next thing. Move on.

What about vacation? When you go on a vacation, do you just chill out?

All of my vacations are work trips. So it's work trips that turn into vacations. So like we were talking about all the travel that I have coming up. Like each one of those things will be, okay, I'm going there to do some type of work, but I might stay an extra day and play a round of golf or go see somebody that I know in the area. And you know, that'll be, that's my version of fun.

Yeah. All right. Let me ask you a nerd question then. Uh, would you ever punt from the opponent's 34?

Would I ever punt from on the 34-yard line? Yeah. Um, I mean, the only play I could think of is like, say there's— I don't know, this is like mad scientist— maybe there's 10, 15 seconds on the clock.

It's first quarter. First quarter.

All right, I was about to say, because I'll take the ball and I would run back to my own end zone. Yeah, I just, I just zigzag to my own end zone. Kill the clock. Oh, that's the only way.

So first quarter though, would you punt from— okay, so why the fuck did David Shaw do it against Northwestern 2015 when you're on the sideline? That's a great question. That was— I'm sorry I had to bring this up, but anytime I find anyone who's like even one, two steps away from David Shaw, I'm like, I mean, the guy loved to punt. He loved to punt.

We had Jake Bailey as a kicker that year. Jake's in the league right now. Yeah, maybe we need to ask Jake why Coach Shaw didn't have faith in him to go out and make that field goal.

He loved to punt. Did you ever say anything like, dude, can we stop punting all the time?

Time. Either that was above my pay grade.

You guys love to punt.

Big Cat was having this conversation with somebody a couple months ago, and he was like, no, I think it was— I think it was a bad punt. And he looked it up, and when he said, uh, the 34-yard line— yeah, I, I gasped. Yeah, that's, that's a wild punt.

He punted from the 45-yard line, uh, the series before in that game. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it was just— you guys were just moving it down a little bit, then punting, then, then moving it down a little bit.

That's what Ended up losing that game too. Yeah, I remember the running back, Justin. His last name slipped my mind.

I don't remember any players. I just remember the punts. Yeah, yeah. Hey, drove me nuts. That's Big Ten football. I mean, listen, I mean, David Shaw, good coach, but he— the guy just punted so much. He would just punt like, you know, fourth and—

I think that was a Rose Bowl year, though. That might have been. It was that same year, though.

We ended up in the country 2015. Okay. Yeah. So you punt to go to the Rose Bowl, I guess.

Yeah, you don't win. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I guess it works.

Shit. So were you, were you also kicking on the Stanford team, or was that just— was that just a hobby? This is another hobby that you picked up?

Soccer is my first love. Okay. I tried too hard, but at that point they're like, no. I mean, you had Jake, who is playing professionally right now. We had some other studs. Uh, Kyron Ucaprina was the 2015 guy. Um, but yeah, I tried to but never had that chance. And then like, I've just always kept up with it. Like, I'll go out to practice early and I'll go mess around with the specialists and just kicking stuff. But that ended up being good practice, you know what I mean? Yeah. You know, keeping me fresh. Yeah.

Because you are the emergency kicker, right? Yeah.

It's actually— I wear that badge with pride.

Yeah. It's crazy how good you are at kicking. Like, as good as you are at— sounds like actually everything else might be.

It might be, you know, I mean, we might, we might add some years to my life. This new kickoff rule, the dynamic kickoff.

Exactly. So the longest that you've ever made, was it—

you made a 65-yarder? I made a 65-yarder in practice. Yeah. In the game, the longest I made was like a 45-yarder.

But that one was good. Was that the one in 2022? I want to say.

Yeah, that was Chiefs training camp.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, that one was good from deep.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Have you— I mean, it would be— wouldn't it be a benefit if you could have your, like, defensive back be the kicker as well? Like, from a roster standpoint, have you ever said that to Kickers are probably writhing right now. But yeah, you know, I mean, listen, I'm not trying to take anyone else's job, but if you're that— have you ever just said, hey, look, I can, I can kick?

Yeah, seriously. I mean, the kickoffs that I have done, I think I have like a 50% tackle.

Okay.

It's a numbers problem.

The kickoffs that I've done, I've made the tackle because I'm just running down unblocked. One-man show. Starting safety, you know what I mean? I know how to tackle. Yeah. It's going to run down scot-free. Yeah.

Damn. This guy's better at kicking than me. Knows more about planes than me.

I hate this guy. So we were talking to Kellen Moore. How many game balls did you get last year?

I don't know if I got a game ball last year.

What? Yeah, he gives game balls to everyone.

Yeah, he does. But unfortunately, my best games, you know, we didn't— we didn't win. You don't get game balls when you lose. Yeah. And then when you lose, I also feel like, you know, that Atlanta game. Yeah.

Yeah, he might be— as an offensive guy, he might be focused on those guys a little bit more.

Nah, he shares it, man. He's like Oprah, man. He's giving them out. Okay, okay.

He said— I think one time he gave out 8. Was that the most that you've seen him give out? That's a lot.

Yeah, yeah, that's a long time in the locker room.

The other places that you've been, what's the like NFL standard, like the normal amount of game balls? Um, Chiefs give out 3.

Okay, maximum. One offense, one defense, one special teams. Okay, that's it. It's never really more. Um, it has to be like, you know, a guy and a guy made a record or something. It has to be really special. Um, when I was with Houston, um, Bill O'Brien era, it was about 4-ish, 5-ish maybe. Yeah. So like, if it was, if it was, you know, worthy of it, he'll give them out. But it— yeah, yeah, candy.

What playing, uh, for the Chiefs, winning 2 Super Bowls, what was it like playing for Spags? Because it does feel like he is one of the the underrated parts of the Chiefs, you know, dynasty that they've had, where it felt like every time you guys were in a big moment, he would have the answer to whatever.

They made a whole t-shirt about him. Yeah.

So you were the one who made the t-shirt?

Yeah, I designed— I created that. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, man, he, he, he, he was a fun guy to play for. And his big thing was he loved— he loved doing things with the secondary, which made it really fun on my part in all the ways that where we, you know, spun around and guys switching positions and we just tried to, you know, wreck some havoc. And then, you know, half of the plays too, it was basically just to let Chris Jones get a one-on-one. Yeah. You know, so that usually works. Same thing we do with Chase Young here. Yeah. Yeah.

Did, did it feel though, like going into games that you guys had a superpower where it's like, we just like, he, we know he's going to put us in a spot that—

Yeah.

The other team's not going to expect.

Well, one of the things, one of the things we did too is we would, we would install special plays for teams we played, but we would not call it to the fourth quarter. Ah, you know what I mean? So they're playing against us this whole time, you know, we're throwing stuff at them. And then when it is that critical moment, the play that we installed just for them that they haven't seen all game, it's the first time they're seeing it. That's smart. We throw it at them in a high-stress situation and, you know, 9 out of 10 times they crumple.

Yeah, the high-leverage situation.

Yeah, we heard this, this last season a lot about Vic Fangio in Philly and the meatballs that he would pass out as like his game balls. Yeah. Did Spags have any sort of like secret Italian recipe that he would share?

Yeah, he did. He did. We had what was called a Cram Award.

Okay.

That was basically whoever had the nastiest hit of the game. And it can be taken on a block. It could be a hit on the ball carrier. It could be whatever. But, you know, whatever was the biggest cram, his wife Maria made this killer bowl of pasta. Pasta. Um, and guys, yeah, guys will fight over one to win this. This, it was a big honor to win this bowl of pasta, um, from Maria. So, um, did you—

how many times did you win it?

I wanted a good bit. Okay, nice. I wanted at least 6, 7 times.

Do you remember, do you remember the hit that, that won you your first one? You know what, no.

Um, I remember some of them. Um, one of them was like that the first time we played the Eagles in the Super Bowl. And it was like the 5th play of the game when I hit DeVonta Smith on the sideline. That had won me one. I think I hit—

You guys, you guys— Super Bowl cram.

One of it was Jalen Waddle when we played in Germany that I caught him on a bang route. We were in quarters and I was sitting on it and I was just waiting on that route to come the whole time because they just loved running bang routes. They'd run outside zone and they run a bang right off of it. They just did that over and over and over again. So we're just waiting on it. We just did double edge pressure. Pressure and waited on the bang eights. And it was like the 4th play of the game, smashed it, and they didn't run it the rest of the game.

That's got to feel good.

You beat, you beat the play out of them.

Speaking of Jalen Waddle, that, that playoff game against the Dolphins, how quickly were you like, they're too cold? Yeah.

You know, they came out with their shirts off and everything and like, that's always a tell. I was like, I was like, hey guys, you guys want to win pregame? You got it. Yeah. I mean, you guys can win that. I had on like— I went to the hunting store and I bought thermal layers from like hunters, and I was putting that on under my jersey because I didn't want to be cold.

Did you see— shirts off? Yeah, it just felt like it was one of those— sometimes we're, we're stupid how we watch football, but like we really did, like going into that game, we're like, the Dolphins are just going to be too cold. Like, just— that's, that's the entire handicapping of this game is the Dolphins are going to be too cold.

And it turned out to be Yeah, exactly true. When McDaniels walked out there and he had like 6 coats on and like a scarf, fogged up glasses. Yeah, it was like, this guy, this man is too cold to think right now. And then Andy Reid was like wearing shorts. Yeah, he's like, yeah, I got this. That was— yeah, that was neat.

But wait, that game ended up being like, like wind chill of like -25.

It was crazy, like deadly. Yeah. Um, in the Super Bowl, so you want to— you won the Bang Award, is that what it's called? Cram Award. The Cram Award in the Super Bowl, which is I imagine the best dish of pasta that you've ever eaten. That was the, the Sodfather game, right? Things were a little bit slippery. So was it— was that practiced in like install on Tuesday that week where he came in and he was like, I'm going to make the field slippery in this spot, that spot, that spot. Yeah, he had—

he kind of made it a joke to where he had like 7-stud cleats and it'd be like, you know, you do installs, you have a slide and you go through the slides like every 3rd or 4th slide. Slide, he will flash a picture of the 7-star cleats. So we're talking about, you know, oh, we're going to put in this play, whatever. Next slide, oh, 7 stars! How did that get in there? You know what I mean? Boom, another play. Watch 2 plays, 3 plays, boom, 7-star cleats, you know? So he really, really drilled it in. Yeah, you're ready.

Yeah, yeah, you guys had better footwork than the Eagles that game. That's a fact.

Yeah, that was— I mean, that was a hell of a Super Bowl. Was it— what was the moment in that game? Because that you guys were getting kind of torched for a little bit there. Yeah. And Jalen Hurts, like, he was, he was like balling out. Was there a moment that you're like, all right, we figured this out a little bit. Like, we've got this.

Yeah. Well, probably when we finally got a lead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, but I mean, that, that's when they're doing the whole, you know, whatever they call it, brotherly shove, tush push, whatever. But they were just killing us with that play as they were doing everybody else. Else for that whole dynasty. But yeah, I mean, we felt like we had a good calling card. If we can get them in longer than third and five, then we felt pretty good at it. But if we had like third and two, then they would just run that play twice. Yeah. I mean, they would just get in there, just keep on rolling.

Yeah. Yeah. And going into the rematch with the Eagles, I think I saw you say like we just weren't— we weren't ready for— or not, not ready.

But like, it just felt like, yeah, the D-line just ate. Yeah, their D-line went crazy. We had some injuries on our O-line too. It's where we had guys playing in different positions that they normally do. And I mean, they, they took advantage of it. They jumped on the game so quickly that before you looked up and the game was already out of hand. Yeah.

Yeah. Were you constantly in conflict as a defensive player playing with Patrick Mahomes where you're like, he just keeps getting flags for going like not going out of bounds and stuff like that? No, you're also as a defensive player, you're like, hey, this is bullshit. Yeah.

I mean, no, like, but you think about the 2 years prior, right? So this is us trying to go for the 3-peat at that point. But the first year, I mean, we won because Patrick was going crazy. Yeah. You know, I mean, that was the offense had dominated and the refs. Yeah, you can call it what you want. I still got the ring. And then the next year though, next year was really about the defense. Yeah. You know what I mean? And in that second year, Patrick actually humbled himself. And instead of trying to be Superman, like they leaned on us on the defensive side of the ball and punted a little bit more, you know, and it was like, hey, we'll let our defense, you know, come back, put us in good position and we'll just go finish the game there. You know?

So, I mean, yeah, he's done it all in every single way.

Yeah. So there was never a conflict about it. And Patrick is a great teammate too. So So, you know, it's hard to get mad at them for almost anything.

Was it— was there ever a moment where you're like, hey, maybe people are right and the refs are just giving us all the calls? Yeah.

You know, you watch it, you watch another game, and then everyone's saying, oh, they finally get what they deserve. You know, they finally get what they deserve. And then the next week, if things go our way, oh, the refs are cheating. Yeah, he does.

I saw a picture of Patrick Mahomes kissing a ref. Yeah, I did too.

Yeah, Andy Reid too. Andy Reid was doing the limbo. Leap and into the ref's arms.

And then I saw another one where one of the refs is holding up Travis Kelce's uniform after the game. They did a jersey swap after the game. Yeah. And it was the ref, and he's like, oh cool, I'm a big Chiefs fan.

So how can you explain that?

I'm gonna plead the Fifth on AI. You know, AI is crazy these days.

Yeah, no, you gotta understand, from a fan's perspective, we always make this argument because there's there's like, you know, people talk about robot umps and, and the refs becoming just all digital. It's like you can't do that because then from a fan's point of view, what are we going to do when our teams lose? Yeah, we have to—

somebody— yeah, we have to admit that our team's worse.

Yeah, that's terrible. We need to be able to say it was the ref's fault.

Yeah. I mean, you ever watch WWE? Yeah. There's always something scandalous that happens that, you know. Yeah. Hey, my guy didn't really lose. Yeah, right. This guy hit him with a chair. The ref was looking that direction. Yeah. Yeah. The referee wasn't paying attention. Then somebody just came in and, you know, RKO'd somebody and then ran off, you know? So. Exactly. Yeah. Deniability.

Plausible deniability. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So, so what are you, what are you getting into this offseason? Do you have anything like any new hobbies planned, any new places you're going to go? Like, I know you mentioned you're going to go on like trips for the foundation, but like any places that you've already circled, like, oh, I get to go here, get to do that. Like, what do you have?

Yeah. Um, a couple of them. Well, I have a good relationship with PGA, so I do some PGA stuff. I got to go commentate on the Zurich when it was down here, and then I'm going to do some promotional content for them coming up. Um, that's awesome. What's your name? Medina. And then, um, Coach Daly's— Coach Daly has a twin brother, by the way. I don't know if everyone— people know that. Twin brother.

Oh my God. Okay, I'm very interested.

Who lives, uh, in, in or near Pittsburgh. And he has a plug at Oakmont. So at some point I'm actually going to a wedding that's out at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Okay. And I was like, okay, while I'm up there, I already talked to Coach Staley about it. We're gonna go bounce over and go see if we can swing a few at Oakmont. And, um, oh, I'm getting, I do commercial real estate too. So, um, I get my real estate license in Florida cuz that's where I do a lot of, um, projects at. And, uh, so at some point I'm just gonna go to Tampa and already did all the online training or whatever. Just need to get get the, the final exam done in person.

Oh, that sounds like it. Yeah, loaded offseason. So how's your golf game?

I'm pretty decent, you know. All right, on a good day.

Yeah, this is gonna be so annoying when you say pretty decent.

All right, what's your handicap? Decent? I'm a 4.

Oh yeah, okay. Yeah, you're awesome. You're awesome.

What's the lowest round that you've ever shot? Lowest round I've ever shot was a 74.

Yeah, was that an easy course, like par 3 course?

No, I actually did that, I did that, um, at TPC Louisiana. Oh my God. Yeah, I did it Tips.

Okay, I shot a 72 at Shinnecock, so—

well, that's wildly impressive. Yeah, better than you. Yeah, that is.

I didn't actually— no, I, I literally just— I realized—

oh, did you play all 18 holes or was this like—

no, I realized after playing golf and playing really shitty golf for my entire life, you can actually just like give yourself whatever score you want. Okay, it's pretty cool.

Eraser— the eraser is the best.

Not even a race, I just literally just wrote down what I wanted and I wanted a 72 that day and I got it.

Yeah, my girlfriend plays by those same rules. It's awesome though.

Golf Golf is— people are always like, oh, golf's so frustrating, golf's so hard. No, it's not. Yeah, just fill out what you want. Yeah.

Hey, one of two things: either play better or drink more.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I always think that the, the best level to be at in golf is like around 90, like shoot around 90.

Yeah, that's what— golf is still fun before you get mad at yourself for all the mistakes. Exactly.

At that point, if you hit a good shot, it's a miracle. It's like the most— you feel really special thing that's ever happened to you, and like the world is perfect.

And then once you get better, then you start to expect every shot. Yeah. Start expecting it. Yeah.

And then you just get down on yourself after bad shots. So you're, you're 4 handicap right now, and I'm assuming— wait, when did you pick up golf?

I'm a COVID golfer. Okay. So yeah, yeah, pretty recent. Yeah. So that was a question I have.

So you just have a really awesome coaching.

I see coaching though, you know what I mean? I love having— like, I love information. I have a sim in my house. When I got my house here, I actually took a tape measure and a club and I measured the room because I wasn't going to get it if I couldn't put a simulator inside out of it. Smart. And then, um, yeah, I just have— I have some, some great coaches, man. Like, um, uh, Michael Watson is one of my— I actually texted him this morning. I sent him some swing videos, but he is son of Tom Watson. Okay. You know what I mean? So yeah, yeah, they live in Kansas, and he's one of my swing coaches as well as some other guys. And I just shoot them clips and they give me feedback. And that's pretty nice.

What are you working on now? What's the—

what's the next evolution of the thing I'm working on right now?

I should post a video yesterday on my Instagram about it. I'm trying to work on ground force, having my back to target a little bit longer, and then ground force with my lead leg to really square the club and get my hips open.

Yeah, you're gonna be awesome. You're gonna be like a— you're gonna be a plus handicap. Yeah, like, it's gonna be—

yeah, this is bullshit.

What was the last time you picked something up, something new up, and you were terrible at it and you're like, screw this?

Yeah, most of the time I start off shitty, but you know what I mean? I, I am motivated by improvement though. Like, I don't mind starting off shitty because it's like, hey, I get a little bit better. Like the camera shit, I was horrible at it. No, I didn't know anything about what I was doing. Everything was super grainy and pixelated and fuzzy. And then, you know, you just keep doing it over and over and I get motivated by getting better and that fuels me to keep wanting to get better. And then, then 3 days later, I'm a great photographer. Yeah, something like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I read, and maybe this is wrong, But your mom was a really good football player.

Yeah, my mom was a linebacker. Yeah. And tackle football, full pads. Badminton Wildcats. That's like 2003, 2005-ish, something around there. I was like maybe 5 years old.

That's so cool. Yeah. So she, she was a linebacker and also tight end, maybe. Okay. I saw—

I read tight end too. Probably. I'm sure they probably played both ways. Yeah. Yeah. My mom grew up with 6 brothers. Brothers. Okay. Yeah, it was just— she was the only girl. Grew up, um, in Opelousas, just out of Lake Charles. So, um, grew up in the country, man. And they just— yeah, that's so cool.

So would she like the driving force in your love for football, bro?

Like, when I was playing sports and everything, my parents let us all choose whatever sport we wanted to play. They didn't like push us one way or another. It's whatever we gravitated towards. But yeah, it'd always be like, hey, are you hurt or are you injured? You know what I mean? Because, you know, You're, you're injured. You better stop complaining. Get back out there. If you're hurt, you know, then that's different. We'll handle it. And then she's also in the medical field too. So she really, like, knew when something was actually wrong or not. And yeah, like, my mom would be the first ones, the first voice I can hear, just like cutting through a crowd, bro.

Like, get up, you know?

That's awesome. Yeah.

Have you watched tape of her? I haven't. Yeah, I wonder.

There's got to be some tape out there.

I want to see that. Like, has she told you about some of her best games that she's had?

No, but I'm sure she would love to tell everyone about it.

Yeah. So did you go to her games when you were a kid?

I was 5. Okay. I don't— I don't— I'm sure I'm— I actually know that we were there and we were just like playing off to the side. Yeah. Like, like kids do, like a little whatever football. Yeah. Something off to the side.

But that's awesome. She's going to mom's football game. Yeah. That's really cool.

We want to get Zach up here. We got— we got our new guy Zach. He's asking questions. Zach is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, so just a heads up. He tried to extract some intel from Coach Moore earlier.

Okay.

Yeah, but he's probably not going to ask you any secrets.

No secrets today, Justin. Great to meet you. Thank you for your time today. I do appreciate it. Hearing that you did— you do enjoy playing a decent amount of golf. I saw you did compete in the American Century Championship. Yeah. Did you participate in the karaoke night? And if so, did you have like— was there already a go-to song you knew right away, like, this is the one, or was it more of like a game time decision? Game Time Decision, 100%.

Okay, 100% Game Time Decision. I did, um, um, I did a Shaboozy song. Okay. Yeah, the Tipsy. Yeah, crowd favorite.

That's a strong choice. Great choice.

You know what I mean? You gotta play to the crowd, you know.

Entertainer at the day. Awesome. Thank you for your time, sir. I appreciate it.

So you got a follow-up question?

Uh, a follow-up question. If I were to have a follow-up question, I was curious, would you run that same song back or would you kind of get into a new one?

No, I think y'all got to keep the creativity Everybody wants to see something that's already all over the internet, you know. You gotta, you know, do something new.

Also, uh, you might be being a little bit too coy with the chess score. That's an insane rating on chess.com. Oh, yeah, you're a beast. I appreciate that. Yeah, well done. Congratulations on the board. That's crazy.

Yeah, I didn't realize that. You play chess?

I'm very bad, but I— but here in the— the rankings and everything. Yeah, what's your rating? Oh, I'm like a 4 or 5.

Oh, is that good? No, no, it's bad.

Yeah, that's not good at all. That's like, oh, he's better than that. I know he's better than that.

May have just downloaded the app and you can get there in a couple days. I've had the app multiple, multiple years, so just—

shit, just isn't for everybody. Yeah, for everybody.

Just, yeah, you gotta just always be improving a little bit.

They just get— there's so many new strategies. PFT guys just come out, it's like, oh, you gotta figure out how to block this, how to, how to get into this. You just gotta pick one opening first.

Don't try 100 different openings. What's your opening?

You want to play e4?

If you play e4, am I e4? I'm playing e4. I'm playing the Sicilian Defense. Fuck, I'm dead. Yeah, I'm playing either the Sicilian Samonov. I'm playing the Bishop's Pawn. Sounds delicious. Yeah. Okay. And otherwise, I like playing, I like playing, um, Um, if you did, uh, Queen's Pawn d5, then I would play, um, King's Indian Defense. Okay, okay. Whichever one you play, I always do the same thing, always the same thing over and over.

Just to frustrate me?

No, just because that's what I know how to play against. You do d5, I'm playing the King's Indian. You do e5, I'm playing the Sicilian. So it's automatic. I don't even— I don't even think about my first like 8 moves.

Like, it's all memorized. But you can recognize all the openings that your opponent's doing against you?

You know, you know all of them, but But the normal ones. Yeah.

Play me a rock, paper, scissors, shoot. One time.

All right, you're good. All right, ready? Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. All right, look at that. You got him. You know what I mean?

I'm the man.

Strong opening. Hell yes. That's a good opening.

Felt good there. Yeah. Felt real good. Who's the hardest guy to tackle in the NFL that you've had to deal with?

Um, let's see, Nick Chubb when he was with Cleveland. Like, like, really, the running backs that have really wide hips are all extremely hard to tackle, you know what I mean? Running backs with small, narrow hips, easy to tackle. Why is that? Just being able to get your arms around— you can't get your arms around them. Yeah, it's just hard to hold on, you know, and like, and then if you, you bounce a little bit offwards, like you're slipping off, like guys with narrow hips, you can just kind of wrap them up and fall down. But all those guys, um, so, uh, Kareem Hunt was on my team when I played for Kansas City, but I just saw guys slipping off of him left and right. All, all the, the running backs with thick waists, always the hardest guys to tackle. Yeah. Who's the easiest guy to tackle? Who's the easiest guy? Everyone else.

What's the, uh, the hardest hit that you've ever had?

That I have ever had? Um, so Eric Ebron is actually a buddy of mine. We golf like 3 or 4 weeks ago, but when he was playing for the Indianapolis Colts and we're playing them in the playoff game, and I think this was my rookie season, and they had come over the top and Andrew threw him a ball and I hit him in the end zone. I got the ball out, but in the process I jacked my own self up. They had like a cracked rib from it or whatever. I was done for the game. Ended up having to, um, I got sent out in the ambulance. Oh shit, the hospital. I was fine, but I was like, I had a cracked rib though. Yeah, yeah. So that Um, and then let's see, I hit Jarvis Landry pretty good on the sideline with, uh, Baker Mayfield threw him a ball. We were in cover 2. Um, I got a nasty picture of that one too. Of course, the DeVonta Smith one, the Jalen Waddle— I think Jalen Waddle— the Jalen Waddle one. Um, yeah, man, but I like being the old school safety, man. I like bringing in some of that, you know, hey, this is psychological warfare.

You know, at the same time I want guys to expect that, hey, don't throw me into a hospital ball because this guy is going to like—

yeah, yeah, tenacity. What's your favorite interception?

Um, that probably one of the two pick-six ones. So that Atlanta one was fun, but I really like my rookie year one that was 101 yards, um, guarding the tight end, playing Alex Smith. He runs an out route. I think it's supposed to be a 7-stop, but I guess Alex thought he's going to keep running the threw it right to me and I was just high stepping along the sideline. Were you tired after that, bro? What? Yeah, he's so tired. I don't understand.

I feel like you guys shouldn't be tired after that. You're— no, man, it's really—

you know what's really tiring is a celebration though. Oh, the run is fine, but the celebration is what really gets you though.

Yeah, like, listen, I'm not in great shape, but I'll say it right now, when I'm on my couch and I see like a 100-yard touchdown down, uh, and then the guy just gassed. I'm like, he kind of like, he probably should be in better shape. Like, I don't know, you're a pro athlete, like you should be able to run 100 yards. Yeah, I'd be gassed. Yeah, you shouldn't be.

Yeah, yeah, no, it's, yeah, but it's, no, I'm gonna end up on that gas tank, bro. Yeah, you do it, you celebrate with the guys, everyone wants to, you know what I mean, trying to give energy to everybody.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could see the celebration because you gotta, yeah, there's a lot of high fives, a lot of, a lot of jumping.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And now I'm thinking about getting like— I need the gas tank for when we high-five in our like gambling cave where we watch you guys' games.

So yeah, okay, we actually did, we did that for a little bit. We bought the, the canned oxygen for when we watched you guys play football. Yeah, like this is an exhausting, exhausting game to watch.

I'll stand up too fast and I'll get a little starry-eyed. Yeah, yeah. Does that ever happen to you?

Like you're getting off the bench and you, you jump up and you're like, whoa, I need to sit down again.

Yeah, like that lightheaded. Yeah, yeah. Um, was that Yeah, the bends.

The bends. Yeah, yeah.

You surface too quickly. Yeah. And now you're hearing— this is actually— people talk about the altitude in Denver, they never talk about the altitude in New Orleans. Like, you guys playing some thick-ass air down here. You get all the oxygen, you're like saturated with oxygen down here.

Yeah, all the, all the indoor stadiums though, if you're playing indoor, it's always dry. You're playing an indoor stadium, it's always going to feel dry. It's going to— yeah, dehydrated pretty quickly.

Do you love, uh, Tyler Shuck as much as we love him?

Absolutely. Cool. Yeah, he's got that— he's a charismatic guy, man. He's got that it factor. He talks a lot of shit, you know, um, but I love him for it. And yeah, good dude. Everyone in the locker room gets along with him. Throws a— throws a bullet, you know what I mean? You can just see the velocity with the ball comes off of his hands.

It's fun to play with. Is it more catchable for you too? Because we always say he throws the most catchable ball in the NFL for a receiver. But like, as a defender, it's like, damn, this ball's So I just stick my hand up there and I get an interception against him.

We're going to find that out shortly when we start getting into training camp. Yeah. You know, when he came in, it isn't a fair swing to talk about him training camp, his rookie year and everything else, you know what I mean? I never judge a guy on their first year because you don't really know what you got. You know, guys trying to figure out their way. But yeah, we're going to, we're going to try and get after him here in training camp and see what he's got.

All right. All right, Justin, this has been awesome. I got one last question for you. Rohback question, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20% off your first purchase. Purchase Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. rowback.com, promo code TAK. You ran a 4.4 at the combine. 4.38, but you know, that's so fucking fast.

Are you—

can you still— what would you be able to run if you ran right now?

If I ran now, I'm probably like 4.43, 4.43. You're faster?

Oh no, you were at 4.38 before.

I was 4.38 before.

Yeah, yeah, I was 4.38.

And you were out of breath from running 100 yards? I see that.

I was out of breath after that one too. That's Crazy fast. Yeah. There was only one guy, Troy Apke. Okay. He was the only safety that ran faster than me in my class. And I remember like he was like just like the white knight, bro. He was rolling. It was like, where did this dude come from?

Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, look, you two-time Super Bowl champion, do you ever put on your rings?

Yeah. On special events. Special events or occasions, places where I think people would like to see them. See, I would wear it casually though. Not really.

I'd wear them every day. Every day.

You, you'd get annoyed with them though, bro. Not me. Like, honestly, like, it's kind of a lot to deal with. They're clanking around everywhere.

No, that's how much winning Super Bowl means to a guy like me. Yes. I would never take them off.

Yeah, ever. Yeah, you take your Super Bowls for granted.

We wouldn't do that. We actually deserve it more than you. Okay, because we care more. Yeah, I would just go, I would be ordering a drink, like getting a coffee.

Oh, it doesn't deserve it, is You know, the Tampa Gate, the Tampa Bay fans. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Oh man, that's true. Well, also 405 Chess, I, I'm, I gotta look this up. I gotta look, see how bad that is.

I'm gonna download, I'm gonna download the chess app and we'll get after it. Yeah, we'll see.

Yeah, we got you. Yeah, man. Um, well, Justin, thanks so much, man. Appreciate it so much.

Yeah, appreciate you guys. Thank you, man. Okay, good show, boys.

Uh, anyone want to guess row 2 for the Knicks' first final? Finals game price for 2 tickets? Uh, I think it's for—

let's see, I'm gonna guess $10,000.

$71,000. What? I like that. I like— yeah, $105,000.

Holy shit. Cheapest ticket, $3,500. $3,500.

That's crazy. Yeah, I'm looking like row 3, $60,000. Holy shit, that's nuts. That's why they got to travel. That's why they got to travel. That's crazy. That is crazy. Okay, good shows. Reminder, we have a show. Our next show will be Friday. Friday.

What do you think is going to happen between now and Friday? That's a lot of shows. That's a lot of days during a week to go without a show.

No more Easter Conference Final. Yeah. Wemby. Maybe we're going to have hockey guests on Friday. Very special hockey guests. Very excited about that.

Maybe LeBron to the Wizards. Wizards before Friday.

LeBron to the Wizards. Crazy story.

Yeah, crazy story and reporting. Is that even possible?

Yes. Uh, I'd like to say for the record, I don't want LeBron on the Wizards. LeBron, yes you do. Keep your dough. I, I'm rejecting LeBron James, right?

You're not allowed to do the tweet where I can't believe this in my life. No, when you quote tweet it and then be like, oh no, LeBron.

You know what, you know what, that's more about the fact that there's now articles coming out about LeBron possibly joining the Wizards. The fact that we're talking about the Wizards You're talking about the Wizards.

It was, it was all trying to find the guy who did this.

Meme sent that to us. Well, we're the number one Wizards podcast. We are. We are.

And also, also, it's funny because we have to— it was like, damn, it's going to be crazy when LeBron wins the title with the Wizards. Went from 8th seed to title, haven't even played a game. Oh, with LeBron?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm saying it would be a tough day for the Jordan Listen, the Jordan fans— that's it.

He went that fast.

It was like if LeBron became a Wizard, then wins a championship with the Wizards, which Michael— Michael Jordan got fired by the Wizards. Yeah, you know how down you got to be to get fired by the Washington Wizards?

Listen, LeBron's got any— he can go anywhere.

Yeah, uh, but again, for the record, I do not want LeBron. You, you stay away from my, my young core. Get out. Get, get your ass off my young— minus Anthony Davis, he's part of the young Yeah, yeah, that was the minus the— yeah, no, he's part of the encore, but physically in terms of game minutes played, I actually think he's got a like a really old core.

Yeah, doesn't he always get abdominal injuries?

He's had some— he's had some sports hernias.

Yeah, yeah, okay, good show, boys. Show Friday.

Numbers: 11, 16, 5, 56, 14.

What was the last time the Knicks won a title?

Memes, what year? '88, '69, '73.

Knicks title, find it for me, find it for me. '73. All right, I'll go '73. Oh good, they got a robot on, uh 38. Anyone got 38? 38. Anyone? 38. All right, one more.

Did the Knicks win by 38? Did they? I don't know.

Uh, they did not. Wait, what did they win by? What are the Knicks— 36. 7. Oh, 37. Very close, memes. What an ass kick.

Shout out to Mavericks.

Yeah, nice work, memes. 36. Wow, 36. Uh, happy birthday to Jack Kevorkian, Dr. Kevorkian, and Micah Parsons. And on Wednesday, happy birthday to Harambe. Oh wow, those are big birthdays for the show. Happy birthday, Harambe. Uh, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Patrick Ricard, uh, Frank Thomas.

You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Happy birthday. Nobody else?

Again, if I, if I Kevorkian. If I don't wish Kevorkian happy birthday, you assholes be like, oh, you forget somebody? If you forget Dr. Death, did you forget someone? I'm not done yet. Okay. Happy birthday to Frank Thomas. Happy birthday to Patrick Ricard, Vontae Davis, Daniel Jones. Okay. When are these birthdays?

That was Wednesday because this is Wednesday. Yeah.

We're not going to have a show until Friday. So then on Thursday, also shout out Craig Kimball. Timberlake. Happy birthday to Kirk Gibson. Happy birthday, Jerry West. RIP, right? Happy birthday to Percy Harvin as well. All right. Good list. Good job. Did I miss anybody? Great list.

No, you didn't miss anyone. Great list for this show. You didn't miss anyone. Harambe. Yeah. Wednesday. Wednesday.

Harambe. Great list. Our sweet prince.

You're the birthday guy. Was he—

did he get murdered on the same day that he got killed on his birthday? I don't know. I don't know.

Stuff. Yeah, stuff. Stuff. You're the birthday guy. Birthday guy. Birthday guy. What'd I miss? Hey, Max, happy birthday today.

Thank you. That was very kind of you.

Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday. 31st birthday, huge day today as we're sitting here. Is it really? Today it's his birthday.

Happy birthday, Max.

Also, I've been looking forward to this day for the past month just because I knew that we were going to be be recording today. I— oh, I texted every single person here separately being like, do not tell PFT it's my birthday.

That's fucked up. That's fucked up. Intentionally not telling me.

As fucked up as you not following Shane on Instagram. Oh, that was the other thing that I heard. I don't know why that came up.

I think I probably follow like 60 people on Instagram.

Yeah, so it was like, yeah, PFT forgot Max's birthday. And then, and then someone was like, he doesn't follow Shane on Instagram. You missed it. You misheard that. Oh, why?

I was talking about his girlfriend because his girlfriend posted on her like happy birthday to him.

So I was like, we were trying to cover all of our tracks on how PFT would have found it.

I mean, that's, that's some bullshit.

You don't have to fall in shame. Got it.

That's some bullshit. Uh, it's not even listed on your Twitter.

Nope. Did you delete that? Uh, I don't think so. Oh man.

PFT, that's his big Max.

So basically, Max hid his, his birthday from me, and I was upset that you're the birthday—

you're the birthday guy.

You claimed you're the birthday guy, and then you forgot.

You also said that you had a list of, of all the employees' birthdays.

Uh, that's the— yeah, the producers. I don't think that— what? He is a producer. I don't think you were on this list though. I'll check.

But it, it is tough when you're the birthday guy.

It's very tough. I'm trying to be a The whole point of this exercise was to try to become better about wishing people happy birthdays. I don't think I've gotten any better.

You've got— hey, Jack Kevorkian.

Yeah, wait, we don't appreciate the medical professionals anymore?

I appreciate my guy Max. Thank you.

Thank you, Big Cat. I appreciate that.

Yes, real— he's—

he's a birthday guy right there.

See, look, no, no, Max.

How could this possibly be?

There's no Max on the bar stool. Let me take a look. Yeah, no Max on there.

Oh man. Yeah, this list has, uh, failed you like a bunch, don't you? Maybe we need a new list. Well, it's—

I think it's missing a lot of people.

Memes was on—

Memes was on top of it. He was go— he was going to call you out on the last show if you didn't do it.

I looked up Max D'Alente birthday and it says Max D'Alente celebrates his birthday on January 31st, a day that he has publicly shared and celebrated with peers like PFT Comedy Winter.

His name is Christopher.

His name is Chris.

Yeah, I'm aware.

Uh, I was looking for September 18th out there. Yeah. Oh man, this list is all over the place.

I know, I didn't make it. I think you should retire.

Also, it's a Greer's listed under here. It says, it says email address, what is your name, and it says Greer, and then what is your name, JJ9 McCarthy. That's what he put in his name. Oh, Hurricanes up 2-1. Wow. Overtime goal.

That's got to be a quiet barn, dude.

The Hurricanes— I feel like there was a moment there where the Hurricanes were facing like the— is it the same old shit? Yeah. And, uh, no. Commanding 2-1 lead. Back-to-back overtime winners. Wow. Good for them. That's— I kind of wanted Vegas. Of all the teams and franchises to take the Cup from Canada, Vegas beating Montreal would have been sweet. That would be fair. It would have been very funny to be like, this expansion team having 2 Cups.

They have a medieval times show before their games.

We're in the desert. Yeah. A southern state.

One of the more southern teams.

Yeah, by far. Far. All right, happy birthday, Max. You deserve it. You're the best. We love you.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

Happy birthday, Max. Thanks, guys. So close.

I already wished him a happy birthday.

I'm not doing it again. He's packing up his shit. Yeah, he's out of here. Fuck you.

I hope you have a terrible birthday.

Well, it's already over.

I hope it was bad. Hope you didn't get any presents.