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Zazz, I don't know if you know this.
Mm.
This episode of The Dan Levitan Show is presented by DraftKings Sports. DraftKings, guys, the crown is yours.
Tony, it is your time to shine. NFL preseason in full swing this week. All the teams are going to be in action. We had the Hall of Fame game.
Oh, you see my boy Haines King?
No, because I'm not watching Hall of Fame games, but I know what happened, alright? We had the Hall of Fame game this past weekend.
He wasted no time winning a game in the clutch and then officially being week to week. Perpetually week to week.
Panthers signed another quarterback to fill him in.
Oh, you know what? When you lay it all out on the line, sometimes you see—
That's right.
In the Hall of Fame game?
In Canton.
He doesn't know any other switch, Tony. Some of these guys taking it easy like, oh, it's the Hall of Fame game.
I'd like to have a beer with that guy.
Maybe two. Uh-huh.
That's my coach.
Tony, it is your time to shine. Top 5 NFL storylines in Week 1 preseason. Come on now.
Ah, feels good to have the music going. That means football season has started.
Woo!
Get straight to it. Number 5, Aaron Donald has worked out for the LA Rams but has not signed yet. I want to bring this up to you guys and ask you, is this a hard workout or is this an easy workout? Do you see here Aaron Donald, notorious for having workouts that are a little out of the box. I remember a couple of years ago he did the— what was the guy from Detroit who was like that cop where he had the knives?
Yeah.
Training with knives.
Training with knives. But it was that specific officer.
The disarming guy. Yeah.
What ever happened to that guy?
I don't know, but he's got a 5-gallon jug here and he's holding it up in his hand. Is that a hard workout to do, guys?
I mean, I need two hands and my chest to hold one of those. Hello.
I would say for him, probably not.
For him, not. But like, those things are heavy as hell.
Yes, they're very heavy.
So heavy.
I've got— I do this because I have a cooler in my house and I refill them. And so I got it right.
I have those in my house too. I have a cooler. I need— like I said, I need two arms and my chest to carry those. He's holding it with just his— like, that's a broken wrist for me.
What decade are you guys living in that you guys have those old school water?
Well, because I have a— I have a water machine.
It's just— I feel like that's an old school.
But Chris, that's because you only have 3 people who live in your house. When you have a bajillion people and they all drink a lot of water, You need that.
Gotta get that bevy.
I feel like— okay, so I want Tony to— Tony, you should try and do the Aaron Donald. Yeah. Do you have a pool in your house?
I do.
Okay, so we have a pool up here though.
I know.
I want a mean to do it.
You want a mean to do it?
I want a mean to do it.
Why?
I was like, a terror bicep?
You said that you'd do it.
I did not say that.
You kind of sounded like you were like, I'd have these things all the time.
I said I have them at home and they're heavy.
Yeah.
That's not saying he can do it at all.
That's an endorsement of like, yo, this is a really hard workout.
All right, I thought you downplayed it a little bit.
No, I didn't.
Tony, do you think you could do it?
I still want to see you do it.
I want to see me do it now.
I'm not getting hospitalized over this.
But he's saying he can't.
I know I can't. I can't. I got like, I got to waddle when I pick it up.
I would not be able to lift it for a second. Aaron Donald, I would like to see you do it too.
When I feel good, I don't know if you do this. When I feel good, like when I've been stretching and I've been like, active again. Sometimes I'll do a little military press on my way in the house.
Like, yeah. Oh, really?
But it's like a huge jug.
Yeah.
Tony, can we get you to try it at some point this week?
We could try it this week.
We get you to try it.
Okay.
That's not the way trying things work. When the person says I can't do it and then you kind of want to do it.
It's more funny if you do it.
Guys, Aaron Donald was shaking doing it. You think any of us is going to get close?
I mean, Amin seems pretty sure.
Here's the real question.
He can press it.
How many? How many gallons in there?
That's a 5-gallon.
No, but I'm just saying 5 gallons for him. For us regular people, 1 gallon. Oh my God. 1 gallon.
More. So close to 2 gallons.
Yeah.
3 gallons.
Yeah.
So more than halfway full, you could do it.
Yeah.
4 gallons.
He is not struggling at all.
Yeah.
Who said he's creating the tornado in the actual jug to make the water go faster? That's how strong he is. That he's not only holding it, he's rotating.
He's doing something else with his left hand.
Yeah, he's drinking, drinking, plugging in product. Well, product placement. Is that what this is?
Yes.
All right, Tony, we want to get you to do this. I mean, I guess we could do it at the pool here at the Elser as well, but yeah. All right, let's go. Keep going.
Number 4, Kirk Cousins, Max Crosby fight. Wow.
Wow.
Max Crosby hit Kirk Cousins a couple too many times where then Kirk was And I'll quote it, I'm going to whip your frickin butt.
I've never heard him cuss before.
That's what I'm saying. He would whoop his butt, though. Frickin, frickin whoop his butt.
So I don't think that it ended up being this whole skirmish, right? Like it was—
they broke it up. But, but I don't know if you saw this, guys. Head coach says, Clint Kubiak, both of you guys.
Yep.
Suspended.
Suspended for a practice.
Got strict rules.
Yeah.
I like Max Crosby. Pick the toughest dog in the yard.
Frickin whip your butt.
Well, here's the thing, though.
You don't think it's odd that— and I understand it's Max Crosby, but a defensive player is stepping to the quarterback and like the rest of the offense isn't jumping that guy?
But it's Max Crosby though.
I, I understand, I said that. But still, that's the quarterback, presumably the starting quarterback, and just a defensive player's allowed to step to him?
Did someone check on Fernando Mendoza?
Because I imagine he was horrified.
He was hiding behind Clint Cooper.
What happens to Bitsy?
Remember when Max Crosby was a Raven?
We never got to the bottom of that. We never got to the bottom.
We did. Sure we did.
Why did—
why? Because they failed the physical. Right. Why? Because they did not like the public reaction. Realize, oh, this is not a good trade for us. Let's fail him.
That's not the bottom of that.
That is the bottom of it.
I think there's more.
It was essentially like it was— they did take backs.
It's just really weird that he ended up back with Vegas.
Right, right. You would have thought Vegas would say, hey, all right, so let's find another trade.
He's already emotionally definitely prepared to move on from the franchise. And all right, I was moving either way, so what do we got? Yeah, same area. I'd go to Washington, but he's back with the Raiders.
What's the— what's the line on the Raiders this year?
You know, the market price on how the— yeah, wins?
I'd probably say 4.5.
Let me check it out.
I'll say 5.5.
You know what, 4.5 or 5.5, I'm taking over.
Wow, good division though.
I know. I think something's changing in Las Vegas. I'm saying it right here.
I don't think shit's changing.
From the man who predicted Geno Smith the season before he did the Geno Smith—
Where is Geno Smith right now, do you know?
Jets? Yeah, he's—
Bang, he's straight up where he belongs, bad boy. Where he belongs.
Yeah, I'm coming home. We can't do that anymore, right? We can't do that song anymore? I'm coming home?
Why not?
Well, the guy, the guy, the guy, the guy's in jail. And unlike R. Kelly, that guy does not have the whole Hey, when you play my music, it goes to the victims. Oh, he's getting all the money on that. So the problematic playlist lives on.
I don't have a win total yet on the DraftKings sports app down here in Florida, but I do have a prop for them to have the worst record in the NFL.
Interesting.
The market price is +733 there for yes. The, the leading contender to have the worst record according to the market prices here is the Arizona Cardinals. Yeah, difficult division.
Not the Dolphins.
Dolphins +270, they're at the second, uh, lowest, uh, odds. Oh, that'd be a great 3-leg parlay for all of them to finish like ties.
I could understand how this works.
No, if they all have the same dog, I'd be a millionaire, Tony.
Yeah, you would be a millionaire. Number 3, Nothing yet out of the Kevin O'Connell office. We've got J.J. McCarthy versus Kyler Murray. We do not have a winner in that quarterback competition as of yet. We've seen number 9.
Is this one of those where it's going to be, we're going to play 3 preseason games and then he's going to announce it? Like we're not going to know until the end?
Yeah, it'll be Kyler Murray in 3 preseason games because J.J. McCarthy is a fail.
But if you're a Vikings fan, fan, you want McCarthy to win it. Why? Well, because you already know what Kyler Murray is. You're hoping you don't—
oh, you know what Sam Darnold was, and then all of a sudden Sam Darnold turned into a Super Bowl-winning quarterback when you let him go because you had J.J. McCarthy. Now you have J.J. McCarthy, you know what he is, he's garbage.
Well, but McCarthy essentially won that quarterback battle because they drafted him. Like, there was no thought that Darn— that was not a QB competition is what I'm saying. So it's not like, hey, I hope this guy wins or I hope this— there was no competition. This is a QB competition, McCarthy and Murray.
Sure.
But you know what you have in JJ McCarthy, which is nothing.
I don't— I don't think you do know. He's been in the league for 1+ years.
But you also don't know what you have in Kyler Murray.
I think you do.
I think—
no, you don't, because you have the recent data point of, well, Sam Darnold. People thought that they knew what we had in him. And we, we have the sprinkled— we sprinkle the magic KOC juice and then you wonder.
Super Bowl.
Was Sam Darnold on that Call of Duty? No, he wasn't. That's my thing with Kyler Murray. When they have to write into your contract, yo, you gotta lay off the Call of Duty.
That's a—
We've seen Kyler Murray be good, lead a team to the playoffs. I've seen some flashes. So if he's flashed that, you assume like, ah, I want to see what this guy does with our head coach.
I've also seen this guy lose a job to Jacoby Brissett.
Also true.
America's backup quarterback.
Was losing his job to Carson Beck. Anyways, number 2, Washington Commanders left tackle Laremy Tunsil suffered a torn triceps at practice this past week. He's going to be out for a huge portion of the season. He's going to have surgery to repair that torn tricep. Not good.
You guys, Jaden Daniels, did you guys see how he, how he got hurt?
A one-on-one drill with the linebacker?
No, no, it was holding a water gallon thing upside down and just trying to have a drink of Seem to think that you can do it.
You don't want to have a torn tricep?
My thing would explode, dude.
When's Brandon Aiyuk signing? He's going to play for the Commanders, right?
Yeah, yeah. Soon. I'll have that hopefully next week for the—
I went to that Northwest Stadium 2 seasons ago where the Commanders play. What a dump.
Man, the idea of Laramie Tunsil in his locker room be like, oh, that video? I could do that. Give me one of those things that he tears his tricep.
Tears into the— guys, you can't let them know. Say it was a one-on-one drill.
At number 1, this is bad news for people over in the Bay Area. In San Francisco, at least 20 players, more than 20% of their 90-man roster, were sidelined with injuries from practice, with various soreness, with physical restrictions. 20% of the roster for the 49ers is injured.
And their head coach.
Are we doing that thing again?
And their head coach.
Are we skeptical that this has something to do with it?
It has to.
It has to.
What do you mean skeptical at this point?
It's like, that's, that's the reason they've been hurt ever since they've been practicing there. And the videos from practice are wild. Like, they're practicing in this substation. Yeah, it's crazy how close that thing is.
Like, there's the picture on the screen if you're watching on, on YouTube. It's literally across Bill, Bill Walsh Way.
I would not want to walk next to that thing.
I saw a video of a guy get electrocuted just in the middle of practice.
Exactly right.
Third down.
So, so they're all just turned into like mutants? They're gonna be like X-Men?
No, but, but the opposite way. Like mutants, you can't stop them.
Not metahumans, beta humans.
Yeah, worse. 20% of the roster before we've even played a preseason game is injured.
All right, not good. Good top 5 there, Tony.
Down, Levitar!
God, I would love to see that interaction. Lord, let there be a day. Hey Oprah, let there be a day. Oh, The Color Purple.
You like these glasses?
She would see these glasses, she'd be like, this is someone I'll take a picture with, he looks sophisticated.
I love big game, not a big game.
Jonathan Sasslo.
She would say that to me instead of me having to go up to her and say I'm a big fan. She like I love Big Deal, Not a Big Deal.
Huge fan of your work.
You're a one-time or two-time championship broadcaster?
Two. Oprah, two.
You think Oprah would say like, hey, know about that book club?
Well, and I would say, yes, I do, Oprah. Yes, I do.
Have you seen Weapons?
But the kids—
This is the Dan Levitan Show.
Over the weekend in, I guess it was a scrimmage, right? It wasn't, it wasn't a preseason game. It was in a scrimmage. You had, uh, I guess like a soft opening, the opening of the new stadium in Buffalo, Highmark Stadium. That's the new stadium there in Buffalo, which they've been hyping up for several years now, and it opened up this weekend. And I don't know if you guys saw, a lot of complaints, a lot of complaints. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see there— these are photos from over the weekend. Oh, obstructed views where fans are in their seats and they're taking photos. And most of these are season ticket holders. I mean, they're probably the type of team, Buffalo, that has a waitlist for season tickets. The ones that are most egregious to me are the ones with the rails in front of their seats.
You mean the ones where the person taking it takes a photo from an angle that no human would actually watch a game from?
Okay, okay. No, all right, can we pull up the first one?
Let's put up the first one we did again and pause it.
No, Mike brings up a good point. Okay, like this first one here, right there. Yes, I want the normal railing. That's a normal— that's a seat, and, and that is a railing that's right in front of you.
That's railing to protect you from falling.
Yeah, like, what do they want? Get this railing out of the way, dude. It's second down and 9.
Can you believe that? You think there are seats like that at Hard Rock Stadium?
Because there aren't.
No, no, look, it's a bad look.
There are seats at Hard Rock Stadium where if you're sitting back at your seat You might be obstructed, but if you lean forward, you can see over it.
Yeah.
Now this one here where there's like the Videotron, this is where some of this stuff over the weekend on Twitter— I'm going to take a guess and say that some of this stuff is a little bit deceiving. I would strongly believe that that position right there, if it's even a seat, that that position right there is not a for sale seat. I have a hard— like, I feel like someone went up to the top of the row and it's like, let me take a picture here because it's going to look bad. I doubt that seat is actually for sale. But then like this one here where you're— you're set— you're 50-yard line, first row in the upper deck.
That's—
I mean, that's horrific.
That's, that's an actual horrific— you can tell that's an actual seat because the staircase is in front of it. I, I mean, it's tough.
See-through glass.
Yeah, they've come out and said like, we knew about the see-through glass, we planned for this. Like, this was like something that they were aware of.
The see-through, like this one here. Again, I have a hard time believing that's a real—
that person— I, I believe it's real, see, but that person is leaning next to a wall. You can see most of the field. I hate to— why am I being— look at us just defending stadium.
We're defending the stadium.
Big Cat put out like, did everybody go to this stadium? Were they a building insurer?
Well, that's, that's a fair question.
Yes, it is a, it is a weird thing, and everyone was dunking on it, and certainly not the look that you want if you're the Buffalo Bills. Hey, we spent billions on this, uh, on this stadium. Everyone's making—
look at, look at that right there.
By the way, we're gonna throw it up. You guys notice something in all these pictures? The most objectionable thing? No roof, guys. It gets cold in Buffalo. It snows a lot.
Okay, so here's another thing apparently that happened over the weekend because it did rain at this event. Apparently the season ticket holders were told that 60 to 70% of the seats are covered by the canopy.
And what can it be?
I mean, it's It's a little— you're right.
That's not a canopy.
Yeah.
I hear canopy, I think of Hard Rock. That's a canopy.
Right, right. Supposedly 60 to 70% was supposed to be covered by any type of rain or snow, and they were saying that everyone got soaked.
Of course.
It was a bad rainstorm, but I think they were, you know, expecting conventional snowfall. I think that that's what they were most braced for.
I'm really confused at them calling this a canopy.
I'm never going to a stadium the first time they fill it up. That's just one thing I would say.
What's up?
Like, like, just like I know we're not worried about it like falling, but like, I'm just going to let other people be the guinea pig. You go to the first preseason game. Hold on. Let's just make sure.
Hold on.
I'm actually going to—
You can't test 70,000 people.
I'm going to the first regular season game.
But at least then you would have known they've had a couple.
Are you serious?
Yeah. Thursday Night Football, Lions at Bills.
I want to go.
Are you asking him if he's serious or asking Chris if he's serious?
No, I'm not even listening to Chris. Are like, why would you go to that?
It's a great game.
It is a good game.
Okay, but there are great games every week. You're just going to all the great games this year.
I really like going to Buffalo for a game. I don't— I'm not bound to a team, and I wanted to be in Buffalo for the—
You wanted to be in Buffalo? That was a sentence?
Yeah, I wanted to be with Bernie Palmly. I like— no, I'm going— I'm going with a friend that's a Bills fan, uh, and we're gonna go watch the Bills play the Lions.
Couple of things. Number one, first time meeting Mike. This guy flies all over the country. The only person who hasn't beat in the world is Master. Master Tifati On is the only human being who goes to more random sporting events than Michael Ryan, right? That's number one. But number two, if you're gonna go see the Buffalo Bills play in Buffalo in this brand new stadium, you do it the first regular season game, my friend, because the weather hasn't turned to absolute shit. And as we can tell from these pictures, there's no canopy. There is no canopy.
Well, there shouldn't be a canopy.
There needs to be a canopy.
Nah, you need the elements in Buffalo.
You don't need it in the—
It's part of their stick, man. You don't need it in the stands.
I got— I gave up. I capitulated on the field. You guys want to play in the snow? Play in the snow. Why I got to be there? And then the worst. Aren't they?
I'm shocked by these railings and staircases in front of actual seats.
You're shocked about safety? Is that what you're shocked about?
Why do you keep bringing up safety? I've been to Hard Rock Stadium a million times. Never have I been obstructed by a staircase.
You sat in all the seats?
Yes. You know what? I'm just going to say yes. Yes, I've sat in all 60,000 seats. Yes. Yes, I have. Now what are you going to say? Now what? Yes.
What's the view like from row 35?
Good.
Section—
ask me another one.
How about section 512, row 7?
There is no 512. Aha! Yeah, he's lying.
I feel like I could go to Hard Rock and like find ways to take pictures.
You have to look at every stadium, every arena in America.
And now it's become a meme, which is— that's the bad news for Buffalo. Some of these things were really bad looks, and now everyone's going to be going to your stadium to try to make fun of it because it's in the algo now.
It's It's the Eddie Murphy bit where he gets in a fight in the club and then he goes to court and everyone's like, "Yes, I was there and a piece of light hit my eye and it confused me and now I need $12 million for my eye, for my strained eyeball." That's just like people lining up to be part of the teardown committee. You know what, Buffalo? Your stadium's great. I love it. You know what, Mike? When is that first game?
September 18th.
I'm there just to prove the point, and I'm gonna find one of these seats. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna take a picture from that seat. So you know what? Not so bad.
So this happens every now and then at— okay, so what is this view that I'm looking at here?
Look at the bottom.
This said hard rock.
Oh my God, that railing! That railing is in the way.
It's not in the way of anything.
What are you talking about?
Yeah, because this person is standing up and taking the photo. If I sat down in my seat, you would see a railing.
Oh, get the hell out of here. It's completely normal view. Right here.
What if the catch is in the bottom right corner?
Oh, there's something wrong with that.
Bottom right corner. He like, hey, like Plitzka Burress in the Super Bowl. They throw it to him right there and it's like, wait, was he in bounds? I don't know. There's a railing in the way.
You're nuts.
There's a railing in the way.
You're nuts, man. This happens every now and then, Mike, at WWE shows, right? Where you'll be sitting, it's usually in the upper deck. I don't sit in the upper deck, but usually it's in the upper deck and you'll have one of those seats where the lights are just in your eyeball the entire show and it's unwatchable.
Floodlights?
Yeah, they're just stuck on you the entire show, like, and you cannot see. And people wind up complaining, or people like tweet out, I'm in section 306, row 10, the lights are right in my eyes, please shut them off, you know.
Shut them off.
Yeah, because what—
people chant, turn the lights off. It's a thing.
Yeah, and this happened to me, happened to me. I mean, I was, I was like 18 years old, and my father, me, my father, and my little brother, and we all went to a WWF pay-per-view. And, you know, back then, this is before I was the Ticket Ninja, and my father bought the seats, and we're sitting in the upper deck, and we had one of those seats where the light is right in our eyeballs. My dad was so mad, and, and he went down, he threatened the box office, so we got seats right by the floor. They were what, our seats? That's got to be some, some 1980s shit, because it was It was late '90s.
I can't imagine that happening today. Yeah, complain.
I had a pregnancy.
Threatened them.
The first WrestleMania I went to was at the, uh, the old Citrus Bowl before they, you know, revamped it, and they were obstructed. They said that they weren't going to be obstructed. There was nothing on the, on the ticket language that said I had an obstructed seat. Yeah, I got moved up pretty good to like ringside. Yeah, it was Ric Flair's final match.
Wait, do they just have like great seats available that they haven't sold in case someone complains?
I guess, but I, I just went to to the ticket usher.
I'm like, hey, this thing is in my way.
Yeah.
And then I got moved.
Happens all the time.
Usher did it?
You didn't have to go to a manager?
No, there was a, a dude in a suit that apparently a lot of people had this complaint.
Yeah.
And he was just like handing out upgrades.
So they do, they have like a cache of like—
uh, there are seats that have not been bought or have been, you know, given back for a multitude of reasons that are just available.
Yeah.
Sounds like a small-time event. All right. I'm just saying, can you imagine at the Super Bowl? Hey, the lights are in my eyes. Right here, right this way.
Super Bowl? How about a regular NBA game? Hey, can I sit on the floor?
Yeah, we got you over here.
The thing I will say though, and yes, it's a lot of people dunking on Highmark Stadium this weekend, but I don't remember when other NFL stadiums are opening, does this kind of thing happen? Like, are people busting on those stadiums too?
So this stuff happens when you have an owner that cuts corners a little bit, because I've been to the new Raiders stadium, and the new Raiders stadium, it's just new.
Like, there's no You don't like it? I love it. No, no, dude, the best—
in terms of like luxuries for just going to a game, it's not anything special.
I'll say this right now. The best stadium or arena pizza I've ever had in my life. It tasted like an actual pizza. You know, you go to most games, no matter how nice and new the stadium is, the pizza is always the same thing. It's this cardboard.
So bad.
It was amazing. And it wasn't like a gourmet pizza place. It was just like the regular stadium pizza. It was amazing. I got on the upper deck. I was like, you got to be kidding me. It's amazing.
Yeah, but like, the concourse there isn't great. Like, it's just, you know, poured concrete, very little. It looks nice from the outside, but on the inside they cut corners. And I think this is what happened. Like, these people that make these stadiums, they know what they're doing.
You ever done the club seats at Allegiant?
Yeah, I went there for WrestleMania.
What do you think? What do you think about the club seats? You don't like— they don't have that area? I don't know.
I'm just—
all right. I went for a football game.
Well, as mentioned, I'm well-traveled when it comes to these rando sporting events. Stadiums.
What's the greatest bell or whistle you've seen at a stadium?
The Chick-fil-A inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That was awesome.
That was just called Chicken Place during—
yeah, during the World Cup, it was just Chicken Place. They couldn't say that it was Chick-fil-A because of sponsorship, so you couldn't get any of the sauces because they couldn't do— they, they couldn't scratch out the, the logos there. But hey, we— I've never seen a Chick-fil-A that's— well, been called Chicken Place.
Chicken Palais.
They had to solicit people like, hey, we have chicken here, real good chicken.
Not on Sundays though.
Chris, you've never been to a stadium or an arena the day it opened?
I have never been the guinea pig for an arena or a stadium.
I went to, I remember when it was American Airlines Arena, of course, Caesars Center. I was there the very first game, not the first event, because you remember what the first event was.
Oh, it was a concert.
It was glorious.
Always a fun.
Always fun.
I'd go then because that at least It's been— Ameren, didn't Celine Dion have a banner because she was the first show?
Oh, maybe.
I love the idea of Chris being like, so how did opening night go? Like, 12 people died.
It's still up.
It collapsed.
But I would think—
but I mean, guys, I mean, a lot of— that's a lot of weight, 60,000 people.
I was the first game though at American Airlines Arena.
Okay.
Yeah, John Amici scored the first points, I believe.
Did he? It was against the Magic. That's true. Yeah, he won that game in overtime. Fun game. Yeah, back then, 400 level, general admission.
No way. Oh yeah, just sit wherever, wherever.
So we would get there, me, my dad, and my brother, we'd get there 90 minutes before when the gates open, and we run, we run to sit first row in the 400 level.
The entire upper deck?
No, 400.
Where's the 400?
400's behind the goals.
Ah, I got you.
Yeah.
Oh, you know what this is? I, I remember this now.
This was—
and the tickets were like 10 bucks.
Yes, the arena opened 2000.
Yeah, that was midseason. It was always weird when a new building opens midseason.
It was after the lockout. And after the lockout, because the NBA had such a PR problem, like, oh, these billionaires and millionaires fighting over money, every arena had to have a section of $10 seats.
Oh, is that right?
Behind the baskets, upper.
Yeah, all the seats were $10 general admission.
I didn't know the general admission part, but I know the $10 part. So that's, that's why. Got it.
We sit front row general admission for so many games. We love It's awesome. We were sitting like kings in the front row there.
Dan Levitar.
My algorithm on Instagram is, Dan, it's all boobs.
Jonathan Sasslo.
It's a good algorithm.
This is the Dan Levitar Show.
The NFL Hall of Fame was this weekend. Well, the Hall of Fame game was, you know, that last week, but the Hall of Fame ceremonies and everything was this— was this past Saturday. I want to give you a little bit of Adam Vinatieri, which, by the way, if I told you that Adam Vinatieri spent more of his career in Indianapolis than New England, would you believe that?
I would call you a dirty liar like Uber Eats.
That's weird, right?
Yeah, that is weird. That is— that's weird, right?
Yeah, more of his career. Like, I, I'm always going to think of him as a New England Patriot.
I always think about that first one, that first Super Bowl win. Where he was the hero, not Brady, 'cause Brady didn't do shit in that first Super Bowl.
Well, let me give you a little bit of Adam Vinatieri here. Adam Vinatieri apparently thought this was a roast, alright? Not a Hall of Fame induction. So Adam Vinatieri is gonna talk about Bill Belichick, alright? And Bill Belichick, he's gonna thank him and whatnot, but Belichick actually wasn't at the— now he knows he's not there. Belichick couldn't make the ceremony. Here's Vinatieri.
I would repeat those last few statements about Coach Bill Belichick as well. Bill, thank you for demanding excellence every single day. Your preparation, discipline, and attention to detail shaped far more than my football career. Unfortunately, Bill couldn't make it here today. There's a lot going on at UNC right now. He may be on a recruiting trip right now looking for the next Lawrence Taylor. I thought it was because training camp had already started, but in truth, It's because he's judging his girlfriend's cheerleading competition.
Tough spot for Warren Sapp, just chewing with his mouth open right behind Lawrence Taylor. It's a bad look.
The shrug. I like the shrug. Like, what do you want from me?
I mean, he thinks it's a roast.
Yeah, well, that wasn't the only roast he did, right?
Uh, he also said some— and by the way, like, I, I don't like Belichick. I'm obviously okay with the UNC situation blowing up in his face. I think there's a world— his son, who's a defensive coordinator, Steve Belichick— I don't want to make jokes because we don't know what it's actually for. He's apparently on medical leave. Uh, we already— what?
Zazz is like, I don't want to make jokes. Yeah, he's on medical leave, man. It doesn't matter what he's on medical leave for. He's on medical leave, right?
So I don't want to make jokes.
Yeah, but you said because Because we don't know what it's actually—
Saying I don't want to make jokes implies you actually do want to make jokes.
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna hold myself back here.
Well, no, no, say it.
As opposed to Lombardi, Mike Lombardi is on leave.
What's the joke that you had?
And that's because he sucks.
Like, I can make jokes about Lombardi, but what's the joke that you have for Steve Belichick?
I, I, I didn't think of any because he's— it's not a joking man. No, I just, I don't like the Belichick. That's all there is to it.
You see how this looks, right?
So I'm not gonna joke, he's on medical leave.
Okay.
I think there's a real world, by the way, where Bill Belichick does not finish the season.
The season?
Yeah.
Nah, come on, man.
Yeah, I think— now I don't think he would get fired.
Okay, you think he's gonna step away?
Yeah, I can see—
you did not see that contract.
I could see it, my friend.
Yeah, you don't think Jordan likes money?
I, I could see him stepping away.
You think Jordan likes—
well, what, you, you think money's an issue in the Belichick household? I think like they need this to pay the rent.
You pocket watching?
Well, you're the one who brought it up.
I'm saying you're not turning away the money.
I mean, look, I don't need to tell you what wives love.
No, that's what I'm saying. Girlfriends like it too. I know, especially girlfriends with no talent, like it even more.
So anyway, here is— yeah, so like I was saying, I'm all about cracking on Belichick, but I don't know, it feels kind of a weird place to make a joke about his girlfriend being really young. It's a strange speech by Vinatieri.
Felt like Vinatieri doesn't like Belichick the way he talked about him.
I can't believe you're getting dunked on by the kicker. At the Hall of Fame. That's wild.
But is that the most likely guy to be dunking on people? No, the kicker.
Least likely.
No, because the kicker is the most likely to be like a regular dude who cracks jokes.
I just can't believe that. I can't believe it.
You got to be—
look, I thought it was how far we have—
I was like, him making a cheerleading joke at his— I thought— I searched multiple because I was like, this has to be AI.
It seems pretty low rent.
Guys, think about it, man. You're in this locker room. It is a hostile environment. All these people are massive. And could kill you. What is the one advantage you got? The gift of gab. The kicker's got to be the funniest guy in the room because he's not— I can't whoop nobody's ass.
But he's also— he can't afford to be disrespectful. I guess when you're at the Hall of Fame you can. But speaking of disrespect, I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's tied to the, the leave that Zazz wanted to make fun of, but it's a real bad look for Bill Belichick not going to Adam Vinatieri's Hall of Fame.
Well, I think he's— okay, so you're making it sound like he's not there to support Vinatieri. I think he's not there because he is upset with the Hall of Fame.
Oh, because he's not—
yeah, but that, but that underscores the disrespect.
Like, whatever my beef is with the Hall of Fame, that's not surprising to you though? You're not surprised that, that he would take that attitude, that his feelings toward the Hall of Fame are more important than supporting one of his players. You're not surprised by that stance?
No, I guess I'm not anymore.
Usually someone says, I'm not surprised. You're not surprised? That doesn't surprise you?
I think you're right.
I'm not surprised by it anymore.
See, I knew it. Here's a little bit more from Belichick. We have a little bit more from Belichick, right? Where again, McAfee now— I'm sorry, more from Vinatieri, where he— I told him a little slow today. A little bit more from Vinatieri.
What do you say? You'll be good again.
He, he thinks this is a roast.
Hey, Pat McAfee's here in the crowd today. Great to see you, brother. The only person who enjoyed holding my balls more than my wife. She held for me in the offseason when everyone else was gone. Get that right.
It's a clever play on words there, guys.
It's weird, right?
Do you think that That was more appropriate than the Belichick joke? Yes.
Hey, way more appropriate.
Yes, because at least McAfee is there.
That's clearly playful and like, like, that's not a, that's not a dig at McAfee at all.
So what's the other one? Was a joke too?
Nah, UNC is dealing with its own problems right now.
That's not a shot at his girlfriend.
Hey, he just said his wife was handling his balls in the offseason. Hey, that's a great sound.
Well, let me ask you this: if Belichick were there, do you think he would have laughed at either one of those jokes?
No, because he doesn't have a sense of humor.
Okay.
Hey, I don't think He does not make the cheerleading joke with Belichick.
He absolutely makes a joke. You guys don't understand this.
Oh, I think he would have made the joke.
He absolutely— you think Adam Vinatieri is like this shy guy? That dude's cracking jokes left and right, man. You hear what he said about Peyton Manning?
No.
He said he's watching the thing on his forehead.
Juju, can you put it on the poll please? Is Adam Vinatieri a shy guy?
Not at all, man. These kickers, man, think of a kicker. All of them are like these eccentric people. Gramatica, Sebastian Janiskowski.
You feel like Bill Gramatica was cracking jokes in that locker room?
I don't think he was quiet.
What about Martine?
Oh, definitely. Martine was—
what, you think Martine was the funnier one?
Absolutely. Martine was the funnier one.
Martine came first. Martine was the older brother.
I'm telling you, like, and Bill always existed in his shadow. It's like, oh, I'll show you. And you can't. You can't, man. Everyone's like, oh man.
And then there's the son who also hurt himself celebrating.
No way.
Yeah, yeah. This happened like last year.
No.
Yes.
No, you guys are making that up.
No, he absolutely did.
There's another Gramatica and he got USF.
Oh, you're not surprised by that.
There's another Gramatica?
Look at me, you're not surprised by that.
You know what, I'm not surprised anymore. It does work.
See, he was right.
Put together a top 5 list of best stadiums that I've been to.
I thought it was going to be top 5, you're not surprised.
No. But this list will not surprise you.
Okay.
All right, OLI, the Etihad.
Hey!
OLI, Camden Yards.
Hey!
OLI, Wembley. Hey, after they, they upgraded it. Yeah. Uh, OLI, Oracle Park.
Hey, great. That's a great ballpark.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Where is that?
That's, uh, where the Giants play.
Yeah, not a bad seat in the house. I actually tried to go sit in every seat in that stadium.
Couldn't find it.
Couldn't find the best.
Took me some time when I did it at Hard Rock. Premium. I did it.
Premium concessions.
OLI, Petco.
Hey, really great.
No, fantastic ballpark and great for family too.
Yeah, because it's old.
No, no, Petco's not that old. San Diego? Yeah, it's not that old. Turn of the century building.
That's old, man. Where you at?
I remember when it was new. It's probably, what, 20 years old now? 15?
I love Petco. Petco is my second favorite ballpark in the MLB. I've been to a lot of ballparks.
I've been a lot of ballparks too.
Yeah.
You know what else is good? Shout out OLI, Comerica. Like America. Uh, all right, number 5, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Hey!
Great stadium.
They have to have a great stadium. They don't have anything else.
Well, it's just, it's an American-style stadium, so there's a lot of cool like bells and whistles. Uh, number 4, Hard Rock Stadium.
Hey, no way.
Hard Rock Stadium. Hard Rock Stadium is amazing. I think it's also because of the versatility of the venue too.
You can, uh, you can, you can get whatever credit for versatility. I'm telling you, I've been to Hard Rock.
I don't think you've been to the 72 Lounge.
You definitely have it. Broke boy conversation there.
Oh, I had good seats. Mike could see me.
I could see you from my couch. Number 3, Jerry World.
Hey, I haven't been, but I've heard it's fantastic.
But I don't, I don't understand how the sun shines into that place. Like, you didn't account for the sun. Uh, number 2, Mercedes-Benz. Hey, un-friggin-believable. And number 1, SoFi. SoFi is friggin' real.
That's what they say. That's what they say. I'm going to— I think I'm going to put up my own list, my own list of top 5 stadiums and arenas or just stadiums.
I will. I haven't been to Chase Arena in San Francisco and I haven't been to the Intuit, but arenas aren't really in this class because they're smaller. Yeah. Okay. But you can put them in there. It's your list. It's your top 5.
Maybe I will.
You weren't surprised by my list, right?
No, not really.
I told you you wouldn't be.
Yeah, you're surprised. You weren't surprised.
No, even though he didn't tell me, I knew I wouldn't be.
You were a little surprised by Hard Rock being top 5. I was shocked, but it's venue versatility, man.
I mean, does that—
okay, tell you what, there are no obstructed seats like that we saw at Highmark.
We saw one.
Nope, that's not obstructed.
You can't see Plexiglas birds make that catch in the Super Bowl.
Obstructed seat obstructed is when right in front of you there's something blocking your view.
There is something blocking your view of that corner of the end zone.
It's 20 rows back.
But it was the corner of the end zone, I couldn't see it.
That's not obstructed. Well— You don't know what obstructed means.
I do, it means it's something obstructing it.
No, obstructed is when you're sitting and there's something right in front of you preventing your view.
There was something right—
Not when there's a small angle, uh, 100 feet away that blocks from seeing something.
It does! I gotta see the whole field of play!
You don't know what you're talking about. You're awful. Oh, I need two hands and my chest to hold one of those.
"You wanted to be in Buffalo?! That was a sentence?!"
Tony has his Top 5 storylines from this week around NFL training camps, including Aaron Donald's insane workout and continued injury concerns in San Francisco. The Buffalo Bills had a soft opening for their brand-new stadium this weekend, and it did not go according to plan. How do we still have obstructed views in 2026? Plus, Adam Vinatieri is a jokester, and Mike Ryan shares his Top 5 nice stadiums he's been to.
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