Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast didn't come here to make friends.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansas, and I am joined by
Speaker 1: a room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler and Greg
Speaker 1: Ross at the hold's up, boys, What is happening? What
Speaker 1: is happening? Indeed, very concerned now about speaking right into
Speaker 1: the microphone because there were some reports coming out of
Speaker 1: from listeners from the last show that you know, some
Speaker 1: of us were a little low at times. So have
Speaker 1: the mouth right on the microphone for the entire duration
Speaker 1: of the show. It's almost like my supposed heel turn,
Speaker 1: which people seem to its surprisingly enjoy it for the
Speaker 1: most people put on the black Cat out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: You know you enjoy it. I hadn't eaten. Yeah, one
Speaker 1: guy run Raiders fans that he used to never like me,
Speaker 1: but now because of that he likes me now that
Speaker 1: I'm But it's almost like, you know, maybe I had
Speaker 1: a point if the if this sound was quite somehow
Speaker 1: this comes around to Gregg being corrected. Congratulations, you're kind
Speaker 1: of like Ed Harrison West World. Now, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you follow that HBO to make sense to me.
Speaker 1: But a little. Harris asked, Yes, this is the Thursday
Speaker 1: edition of the Around the NFL podcast, sponsored of course
Speaker 1: and always I by Mr Flames economics class in the
Speaker 1: Hague dot Netherlands. And Mark, I do have to say
Speaker 1: I forgot to do the sponsor read again. And you
Speaker 1: are much closer to Mr f than perhaps anyone in
Speaker 1: this world besides his wife. How about you maybe been
Speaker 1: the one to say, hey, guys before we go on.
Speaker 1: It's a fair point because you know, considering all the
Speaker 1: kind things that he's done for us as a sponsor,
Speaker 1: you'd think that during super Bowl week this is sort
Speaker 1: of what he would have wanted a little bit more mentioned.
Speaker 1: So that falls directly on my shoulders. Also, I will say, Mark,
Speaker 1: this is the first time I've seen you since the
Speaker 1: last podcast. How's your super Bowl Week? Oh? It's just
Speaker 1: been absolutely pleasant. You know. Just you imagine Mark periodic
Speaker 1: text like a man. You gotta come out, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: get out of the hotel room, and you're like, nut,
Speaker 1: can't do it. I'm just I'm I'm a soldier. Well
Speaker 1: here's the thing. When I get through, there's the Patriots
Speaker 1: were kind enough and most reporters can get behind this
Speaker 1: no doubt. You know, a lot of the Falcons have
Speaker 1: their media availability and early in the morning so you
Speaker 1: can get your reporting done, your writing done, and by
Speaker 1: one two o'clock in the afternoon, you know, your day
Speaker 1: starts off. The Patriots are doing it at four to five.
Speaker 1: You're gonna go to that after we increttibly, that is true.
Speaker 1: I will be there and then I have another, you know,
Speaker 1: round of work to do. So but I hope to
Speaker 1: see you tonight because the big chunk of the work
Speaker 1: is hopefully over. That's good. That's good. And uh, I
Speaker 1: hope to see West a little later tonight. Get him out.
Speaker 1: You know, we gotta get the force um out before
Speaker 1: the end of Super Bowl week. Have that? Has that
Speaker 1: not happened? That's crazy, that's gonna know what happened briefly?
Speaker 1: We had happened very briefly on I believe that's right,
Speaker 1: as Mark Um at the bar played and other some
Speaker 1: eighties new wave songs while Zan read aloud one of
Speaker 1: the great um writings of our time. Yes, uh, well,
Speaker 1: I can't say who it was, but we let's just
Speaker 1: say we found the blog posting of a sports personality
Speaker 1: from several years ago and we did like a fire
Speaker 1: Joe Morgan esque reading of it with commentary and Mark
Speaker 1: serving as the sound. Fun times with a couple of
Speaker 1: beers in you. But we have some serious things to
Speaker 1: talk about, one serious thing to talk about, and my goodness,
Speaker 1: it's a big one, super Bowl fifty one, and this
Speaker 1: will act as our official preview show of the game,
Speaker 1: A game between of course, the New England Patriots and
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons, the last Patriots Super Bowl with Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: Uh So, Mark, Greg, I know this one's special to
Speaker 1: you because this is the end of the road. Well,
Speaker 1: I I remember thinking that back in two thousand and
Speaker 1: twelve when they lost that that that was the end
Speaker 1: of the road. Since then that I believe they've made
Speaker 1: five a f C Championship games. This is two super Bowls.
Speaker 1: So you never know this guy, this guy Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard he's beaten back father
Speaker 1: time or people talking about it's a story line. He's
Speaker 1: kind of ageless. How about Billy Beaton. I remember that
Speaker 1: after the Patriots beat the Seahawks, Greg, right after it happened,
Speaker 1: and then he would you were actually and you were
Speaker 1: trying to be reasonable, and he thought anything from this
Speaker 1: point on is just it's a cheery on top icing
Speaker 1: on the cake. Well, give me a break, the cake
Speaker 1: just gets bigger and bigger. And I do feel that
Speaker 1: way that this loss, if it happened, would be easier
Speaker 1: to take than the other two that happened because of
Speaker 1: what happened against Seattle. That they did get that one
Speaker 1: extra one. Now, this would be something. It would be special.
Speaker 1: It would give Brady and Belgian more super Bowls than anyone.
Speaker 1: It would almost end those sort of greatest ever debates.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's still it's it's still it's very significant
Speaker 1: and would be sweet. But yeah, if they lost that
Speaker 1: on think would be quite as bad. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: the last one though, Why you've not had good luck
Speaker 1: with this narrative? I kind of I kind of believe that.
Speaker 1: I I believe that last time too, because this is all.
Speaker 1: None of this has ever happened. We've never we've never
Speaker 1: seen a team have a dynasty at Damna Check likes
Speaker 1: to point out, it's not really a dynasty. It's two guys.
Speaker 1: The two guys are the dynasty. I've had two totally
Speaker 1: separate eras of championship level playing and it's funny We've
Speaker 1: been talking about Tom Brady and waiting for him, or
Speaker 1: me specifically, waiting for him to get old and go
Speaker 1: away and leave me alone and go raise this kid.
Speaker 1: You got kids, tom uh from a previous relationship and
Speaker 1: with beautiful wife Giselle. I'm not judging him on that.
Speaker 1: I'm just stating the facts. How about now that you
Speaker 1: are I'm getting a little off topic here, but now
Speaker 1: that you're heading towards age forty in August, um start
Speaker 1: spending more time with the kids. I mean, let's let's
Speaker 1: think about hand it over to Jimmy Garrappola. Forget trading.
Speaker 1: I think he'll actually probably just handed over to one
Speaker 1: of his three sons directly. That's what happened when when
Speaker 1: they won their first Super Bowl, Belichick and Brady, I
Speaker 1: was twenty seven. I did not ever think back on
Speaker 1: that night, and I was rooting for them hard to
Speaker 1: beat the Rams because they were a great story that
Speaker 1: at age forty three would still be looking at a
Speaker 1: Belichick Brady combination that to me, I could see them
Speaker 1: winning two more. Still, it's crazy. I was in I
Speaker 1: was living in Boston attending Northeastern University. The night that
Speaker 1: the Patriots started their dynasty by beating the Rams. Uh
Speaker 1: and little did you know? And we all it was
Speaker 1: such a fun experience because the Patriots were given very
Speaker 1: little chance of winning that game, and they were like
Speaker 1: the the big underdog, the plucky team. To imagine from
Speaker 1: that what they grew into this this real, this monster.
Speaker 1: Wait a year, you essentially rooted for the Patriots that night.
Speaker 1: That is maybe responsible for what's happened. Remember you're getting
Speaker 1: name answer. It has a lot to do with who
Speaker 1: the Rams were. They were this unbeatable force o going
Speaker 1: for their second Super Bowl, and the Patriots had come
Speaker 1: from somewhere where the quarterback Nonymous had heard of. It
Speaker 1: was a tremendous super Bowl party at a college town,
Speaker 1: that's all. That's so. I enjoyed that, But it wasn't
Speaker 1: like I was so happy that the Patriots had won
Speaker 1: that day. But they were like the Jets. They are
Speaker 1: the Patriots a little better franchise than the Jets at
Speaker 1: that point, not even Yeah, so seeing them beat the
Speaker 1: mighty greatest show on turf with something and look what
Speaker 1: they've become, well that's one reason why I've always felt
Speaker 1: a little closer to Dan than you would expect. He's
Speaker 1: got just a little bit of masshole in him from
Speaker 1: his time in Boston as a college student. That that
Speaker 1: is another incorrect generalization by Greg. He's on fire, all right,
Speaker 1: So let's the studio does something to Greg. That's what
Speaker 1: I've noticed. I think it's the mic, because you he
Speaker 1: was actually giving you crap about the npr MI. The
Speaker 1: mic turns people into maybe what they what they've always
Speaker 1: wanted to be, because when we were in the headsets
Speaker 1: in our studio, you know, it's a little more Clark Kent.
Speaker 1: But then you put this big you know, I don't know,
Speaker 1: three thousand dollar microphone or whatever it is, in front
Speaker 1: of people, and sometimes their true nature comes out later.
Speaker 1: Eaten last time, this time, I feel great. Well, none
Speaker 1: of us have slept or eating. So that's let's wipe
Speaker 1: those away, all right, So we are ready to roll?
Speaker 1: Can I throw in one shameless plug before we get going.
Speaker 1: I was a guest on the John gabris a friend
Speaker 1: of mine, actor comedian, on the John Gabriels High and
Speaker 1: Mighty podcast. You could check that out, uh if you
Speaker 1: go to my twitter feed or John gabris Is twitter feed.
Speaker 1: We talked about the super Bowl and everything connected to
Speaker 1: the super Bowl and memories of the super Bowl and
Speaker 1: also uh, Sylvester Stallone films, so yeah, which you wouldn't
Speaker 1: expect what they dove tail nicely, so check that out.
Speaker 1: Uh and with that, Sid is in California, but still
Speaker 1: here with us in spirit. Let's do some news. My
Speaker 1: favorite side dish stuffing and let me tell you why
Speaker 1: it means so much. It's its own little party in
Speaker 1: your mouth. Oh, Pat McAfee, you cad we're leading the
Speaker 1: news with Pat Patti mac No, of course not. I mean,
Speaker 1: he probably thinks we should, but that's no, that is
Speaker 1: not where we are leading the news. The news that
Speaker 1: we're going to lead with, gentlemen, Uh, surrounds and centers on.
Speaker 1: Uh where do we want to start? Actually, where should
Speaker 1: we start? Why don't we start with Roger Goodell's press conference? Yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit of that, and we'll get to the game,
Speaker 1: to the other news, get to the hidden figures, and
Speaker 1: then oh we're gonna do yeah, a big segment a
Speaker 1: little later Hidden figures in super Bowl fifty one. See
Speaker 1: that the important thing when doing a podcast is to
Speaker 1: tie in different elements of pop culture light super Bowl
Speaker 1: and sliced alone films. We are tying together a hot
Speaker 1: oscar film, hidden figures, well famously or maybe not so famously.
Speaker 1: You know, NASA Houston the home of NASA, so it all,
Speaker 1: it all ties in. Yeah, how about this little hidden meaning.
Speaker 1: So we'll do that, we will make our game predictions
Speaker 1: and then and then we will go away. But let's
Speaker 1: start with the news. And let's start with yes, Roger
Speaker 1: Goodell's Goodell's press conference, which touched on a number of issues,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal, Uh, but the one that you got you
Speaker 1: all peeked up in the Super Bowl media center conference
Speaker 1: area where we've been working was Goodell strongly indicating that
Speaker 1: we will be seeing some shorter games, uh, in two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen and beyond. Yeah. And I know, maybe that's
Speaker 1: not the screaming headline, but a lot of it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, he looked he's trying to volley tough questions away,
Speaker 1: and it's almost like politics. This was actual news. This
Speaker 1: was stuff that was going to change our lives in
Speaker 1: some way. He made it sound like they are either
Speaker 1: going to kill one commercial break per half, knock it
Speaker 1: down from five to four, or maybe they're gonna put
Speaker 1: a play clock and kill the commercial between the extra
Speaker 1: point and the kickoff. I've heard some rumblings maybe they
Speaker 1: could even get rid of the two minute um warning
Speaker 1: entirely to get rid of a break kind of, because
Speaker 1: you know, when they made a two minute warning, it
Speaker 1: was literally to give players a break. It was another time,
Speaker 1: another era. There there's really no point in the two
Speaker 1: minute warning totally. I think that that was part of it.
Speaker 1: So it really sounded like that's a stress that they
Speaker 1: want to reduce the games by five to seven minutes,
Speaker 1: take out some of these commercial breaks, and I think
Speaker 1: that's something we can all look forward to. The two
Speaker 1: minute warning thing, because teams often use it as a
Speaker 1: fourth time out, so that is not just about time,
Speaker 1: it's about strategy too. Very interesting. Goodell also as the
Speaker 1: media's Want to Do, asked him about deflate Gate, which
Speaker 1: is kind of coming full circle now with the Patriots
Speaker 1: five of twenty nine questions from the Boston area. Yeah
Speaker 1: makes sense, uh, asking about his his feeling about the
Speaker 1: Patriots being involved in the possibility of the Lombardi Trophy
Speaker 1: being handed to Tom Brady on the UH in the
Speaker 1: same season he was suspended for cheating in the eyes
Speaker 1: of the NFL, and here's what rog had to say.
Speaker 1: We're moving on from that. That's uh, that's part of
Speaker 1: our history, but it's it's something that we're comfortable with
Speaker 1: the process, the decision, and as I say, we're focusing
Speaker 1: on the game now, which is all good mark for
Speaker 1: for Rod to say, because now it's gotten to the
Speaker 1: point where the NFL doesn't want anything to do with
Speaker 1: the flate gate, now that the punishment has been doled out,
Speaker 1: and now that's still on their grid because the team
Speaker 1: involves in the super Bowl. But this doesn't really get settled.
Speaker 1: The Patriots might have the final word on it comes Sunday. Well,
Speaker 1: it feels to me the same way that some one,
Speaker 1: uh would talk about a breakup and the person that
Speaker 1: you dumped, that you were dumped by is going to
Speaker 1: have a different take. And the Patriots steave. You know,
Speaker 1: there's still the Rogers like time to move on shore,
Speaker 1: invite me over your home. We can still see other people,
Speaker 1: We can go have a you know, maybe even go
Speaker 1: on a double date at some point. Uh. And the
Speaker 1: Patriots want nothing to do with Roger Goodell from what
Speaker 1: at least Patriots fans or nothing to do That was
Speaker 1: one of the things that that really struck me being
Speaker 1: at the game is just how fired up the fans
Speaker 1: still are about this. I think living elsewhere, it's kind
Speaker 1: of like this is old news right now, but it's
Speaker 1: still so much in their mind to win one title
Speaker 1: in the season that Brady was suspended, and you can't
Speaker 1: really write it any better, Robert crafted say on Wednesday, though,
Speaker 1: you know they would welcome Goodell back, especially. You know
Speaker 1: they would love it obviously if he was there for
Speaker 1: the first game of the season, because that means they
Speaker 1: will have won the title. So that is an olive branch.
Speaker 1: I think. You know they're they're making up. And by
Speaker 1: the way, this is going to be a little spoiler
Speaker 1: it here is we've been here all week. This is
Speaker 1: going to be a Patriots crowd on Sunday because and
Speaker 1: I'm sure there will be a lot of Falcons fans
Speaker 1: will will come in this weekend. That's when the Bulcal
Speaker 1: people come in. But I've seen very very few Falcons
Speaker 1: fans walking the streets of Houston this week, and I
Speaker 1: have seen many many Patriots fans, which I guess surprised
Speaker 1: me a little bit because you would think the Pats
Speaker 1: fans at this point wouldn't be racing to go back
Speaker 1: to the Super Bow because they've been there have been
Speaker 1: so many. But to me, at least so far, it
Speaker 1: seems like we're heading towards a pro Patriots crowd on
Speaker 1: So I think it seems inevitable because even if you
Speaker 1: go to you hear what's happened in both media sessions
Speaker 1: that the Falcons media session has been pretty barren of
Speaker 1: reporters and coverage. And if you're a Patriots fan, we
Speaker 1: just talked about it, it's been sixteen plus years of
Speaker 1: good times that if you had a child back then,
Speaker 1: you now have a fifteen year old that's grown up
Speaker 1: a Patriots fans. So there's no saying, hey, we've had
Speaker 1: an enough of this for the fifteen year old. It
Speaker 1: is people families if they're going, if they know that
Speaker 1: the super bowls of possibility, they've gotten used to structuring
Speaker 1: their budgets to potentially go to the Super Bowl every
Speaker 1: year it's there. If you're a Falcons fan. I'll talk
Speaker 1: to the Falcons fans on the drive here and there.
Speaker 1: One thought was we're shocked this happened. None of them
Speaker 1: saw this coming before this, You better get over to Houston.
Speaker 1: It's not so far away. It's like a very similar
Speaker 1: but it's not a it's not an annual ritual the
Speaker 1: way it is for you know, people in New England. No,
Speaker 1: I was caught flat footed. You guys mentioned your memories
Speaker 1: of that first Patriots super Bowl. I've regretted ever since
Speaker 1: not going there. It was in It was in New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and I had friends that went there for less than
Speaker 1: ticket price that year. You couldn't scalp tickets to that
Speaker 1: game because no one wanted to travel after humiliation for
Speaker 1: you it was but I was kind of caught flatfoot
Speaker 1: because you wouldn't. You weren't expecting the Patriots to ever
Speaker 1: make it, but show up on on Sunday, This would
Speaker 1: be the greatest moment in Atlanta sports history. I don't don't.
Speaker 1: Don't throw a Braves title at me. We'll get to
Speaker 1: that a little bit later because I have some research
Speaker 1: nuggets I wanted to share. Um a couple more notes
Speaker 1: from that press conference. Goodell, Uh duct any and all
Speaker 1: Donald Trump questions, Uh saying that his focus is singularly
Speaker 1: on the super Bowl on Sunday, and finally, the Raiders
Speaker 1: and Patriots will play in Mexico next season, a game
Speaker 1: where the Raiders will be the home team. That I
Speaker 1: found that interesting because and we love our our lend
Speaker 1: our listeners overseas, our our listeners in the UK and
Speaker 1: London specifically. Uh, They've gotten It's cool that the NFL
Speaker 1: goes there every year and there's plenty of plenty of games,
Speaker 1: but they very rarely get a good game between two
Speaker 1: real powerhouses. And Mexico is getting one of the a
Speaker 1: f C matchups of the season next year. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean you could say this is you know, to some people,
Speaker 1: this is the a f C Championship we never got.
Speaker 1: It's sure. That's a great point. Mark. I'm still angry
Speaker 1: about Derek Carson and even though by the way, Derek
Speaker 1: carr I and indefinite uh halting my vengeance declaration because
Speaker 1: I want, I just want I did it when I
Speaker 1: declared the possibility of vengeance. Uh. And then he helps
Speaker 1: locate that lost child. Initially said it a two weeks
Speaker 1: for him to unblock me, but now I want to
Speaker 1: just wait till the smoke clears on the season. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he's still getting his head right after surgery and
Speaker 1: the disappointment of the playoffs. I'm in the middle of things.
Speaker 1: I got two young kids, and let's let's let bygones
Speaker 1: be bygones, and I will extend this indefinitely. Wow. But
Speaker 1: I think there's a little bit of like a Twitter
Speaker 1: technicality going on too, because I don't block a lot
Speaker 1: of people. But I think once you do, they're kind
Speaker 1: of out of your life. How often you go into
Speaker 1: your blocks and say, who do I want to bring back?
Speaker 1: You might be and you're sort of in another world
Speaker 1: so much here he's even gonna know that you're blocked. Uh, No,
Speaker 1: he does, because I've he There have been hundreds of
Speaker 1: people that have tweeted him on my behalf and again,
Speaker 1: we love the listeners. Shout out to listeners. Other news,
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald will return to the Arizona Cardinals in seen.
Speaker 1: Uh this um coming after Fitzgerald, you know, after some
Speaker 1: time to figure out if his his body could handle
Speaker 1: the grind. He says he's back to normal physically now. Uh.
Speaker 1: He said, some things that were killing me late in
Speaker 1: the year. Filling back to normal for me, that's a relief. Also,
Speaker 1: my fire and desire to win and compete versus the
Speaker 1: best still burns. He told rap Sheet, Uh, this is
Speaker 1: coming off a year a hundred and seven catches, just
Speaker 1: over a hundred, just over a thousand yards, which I
Speaker 1: did not realize till today. Uh. He's not the game
Speaker 1: changer in terms of big plays anymore, but he is
Speaker 1: probably the best chain mover of a receiver in the league,
Speaker 1: or near the top of the list. But that often struggled,
Speaker 1: and he was someone I think if you watched those games,
Speaker 1: his in packed with so much greater than than the
Speaker 1: yardage total. You're right, it's surprising to me that was
Speaker 1: the the end total. But he was so valuable and
Speaker 1: I think it's a good sign for Cardinals fans that
Speaker 1: Carson Palmer is gonna come back. You don't know, there's
Speaker 1: been varying reports about whether Carson Palmer's houses for sale.
Speaker 1: He denied that. Cardinals fans that want to see what's
Speaker 1: behind quarterback door number two, I think are being foolish.
Speaker 1: I think they could. I think if everything broke right,
Speaker 1: you could win a title with Carson Palmer. Who knows
Speaker 1: what would happen with Tony Romo or whoever else they
Speaker 1: could get. I agree with that, and also I would
Speaker 1: imagine that Fitzgerald and Carson Palmer and all those guys
Speaker 1: they're texting behind the scenes. They know what's going to
Speaker 1: happen with next season. And if one of them said
Speaker 1: I'm all in and the other said, probably the other
Speaker 1: one said the same thing. I think, car You're gonna
Speaker 1: get Carson Palmer again. Bruce arians wonder. People wondered if
Speaker 1: he could do it again. He's gonna come back Fitzgerald
Speaker 1: one more year for this Cardinals. Also speaking behind the
Speaker 1: scene scenes and the Throne of Ease and Larry Fitzgerald,
Speaker 1: Mark Wahlberg is taking part in a celebrit pro m
Speaker 1: in Arizona this week, and he said when the Patriots
Speaker 1: beat the Falcons, not if in Super Bowl fifty one
Speaker 1: has effort jinks Gregg, it will be the time for
Speaker 1: him to uh launch a plan to recruit Lara Fitzgerald
Speaker 1: to the Patriots this offseason. Here's what Mark Wahlberg had
Speaker 1: to say. By the way, Mark Bolberg, who also once
Speaker 1: said that he could have stopped nine eleven if he
Speaker 1: was just on the plane, well, I've playing with him
Speaker 1: next week. We played last year in the A, T
Speaker 1: and T, so I'll playing with him again this year
Speaker 1: and oologize to the people in Arizona. But I'll try
Speaker 1: to recruit him for the Patriots for one year ring
Speaker 1: and retire champion him. I mean, Mark, come back to us.
Speaker 1: Enough of this Walberg stuff. Greg, Yeah, it must be
Speaker 1: nice to have people laughing at jokes in quotes like that,
Speaker 1: you know, just like laughing right next. I mean he's
Speaker 1: on point because there were rumors for years that Old
Speaker 1: Belichick and the Patriots were gonna try to trade for
Speaker 1: Fitzgerald at one point. He is not on point with
Speaker 1: the nine eleven thing. You're gonna be on what you
Speaker 1: stopped one plane. There were multiple planes involved from one
Speaker 1: golf pro am to the other. Like what's going on?
Speaker 1: And how much of the Arizona state industry is made
Speaker 1: from golf pro ams? I feel like quite a bit
Speaker 1: that's all that happens in Arizona. It's also fitting that
Speaker 1: the name of the pro am that Mark Wahlberg is
Speaker 1: taking part of parton is the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Speaker 1: If that doesn't get you excited, to get you right
Speaker 1: down to the golf course of what was In other news,
Speaker 1: Pat McAfee, who you heard with a great inspired bit
Speaker 1: at the top of news today, he is deciding to
Speaker 1: retire from the NFL after eight seasons. UH. He made
Speaker 1: the announcement on Comedy Central late last night, UM on
Speaker 1: the Barstool run Down program, UM, he had a mock
Speaker 1: press conference where he announced that he was leaving the
Speaker 1: NFL at age twenty nine and joining the staff at
Speaker 1: Barstool Sports. Mark. I'll ask you this, Pat McAfee, very
Speaker 1: funny for a professional athlete. Do you think he can
Speaker 1: make the transition now putting up pushing all those chips
Speaker 1: in the middle of the table, just being funny. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna find funny funny or athlete funny.
Speaker 1: I think he's athlete funny. We we know he's athlete funny.
Speaker 1: I don't from I don't. I don't particularly find him
Speaker 1: to be funny. He's not. He's not. He's not like
Speaker 1: him and Dana Carvey or like hanging out together. But
Speaker 1: I will say that you have a big you're a
Speaker 1: huge Carvey. But I'll say this about rising Carvey riff
Speaker 1: lately from you listen you're up late at night. I
Speaker 1: watched a little Dana Carvey stuff. You canadas a new
Speaker 1: Netflix special. Mcvie's got a new comedy special well, let's
Speaker 1: let's hold on, hold off on that. Here's here's my
Speaker 1: first thought when I saw this was I've not been
Speaker 1: a pro athlete. I have been a sports journalist. That
Speaker 1: about four or five months into this gig, he's going
Speaker 1: to realize, Wait a minute, this isn't nearly what I
Speaker 1: thought it would be. He will be punting by by Halloween.
Speaker 1: He will be He will be punting again by Halloween.
Speaker 1: That is what I wanted to tweet last night. But
Speaker 1: I know he's a little aggro on Twitter, so I
Speaker 1: just I said, you know what, have your day, have
Speaker 1: your little thing, but he will be punting by Halloween.
Speaker 1: Do you want to put a sandwich on it? I'll
Speaker 1: put sandwiches on it. Shore I would. I would take that,
Speaker 1: although I'm with you if you said by two thousand,
Speaker 1: you know, eighteen, I'd probably I wouldn't take the sandwich.
Speaker 1: By two thousand nineteen, for sure, he's back. Because punting,
Speaker 1: that's the thing. You really could take two or three
Speaker 1: years off for comedy, get your get your feet away,
Speaker 1: and then go back in punt another six years. I mean,
Speaker 1: this could also be a giant I mean. The Colts
Speaker 1: tweeted out that he's retired, so it's not completely it
Speaker 1: doesn't see it's not a bit, but it may be
Speaker 1: an extended bit. Well maybe I'll maybe I'll give him
Speaker 1: a call because I have experienced, you know, hosting a
Speaker 1: podcast with a professional comedian. You do what podcast was
Speaker 1: and I don't. I don't. That doesn't ring a bell
Speaker 1: that coming back. Now, the NFL did not allow that
Speaker 1: to come back a few weeks ago. I did not
Speaker 1: have a hand in that, despite people thinking it was possible.
Speaker 1: Do you think he'll be back to or do you
Speaker 1: find do you buy this? We should get him on
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL podcast, love to have him on
Speaker 1: on our show. Will Pat be back? No? I think
Speaker 1: he's very serious about this, and uh, good luck to you, buddy.
Speaker 1: All right. Finally, finally in the news, Um, Lady Gaga
Speaker 1: had a press conference and uh, you know, I'm excited
Speaker 1: about it. I gotta say I was at the press conference.
Speaker 1: That's part of my job here and uh and one
Speaker 1: of the most underrated aspects of the halftime performer. And
Speaker 1: I actually I like cold Play, but you don't. You
Speaker 1: need to have the career is my factor to carry
Speaker 1: a show like that? And it was obviously telling to
Speaker 1: me that last year, uh Cold Blake, they decided to
Speaker 1: have them flanked by Bruno Mars and Beyonce, who's like
Speaker 1: the charisma um perfection machine. But uh, Gaga really does
Speaker 1: have that, like that energy when she's in the room.
Speaker 1: And I thought it was a good press conference. Terry
Speaker 1: Bradshaw showed up. He is really perfected by the way, uh,
Speaker 1: the buzzed uncle stick Like, I don't like he taking
Speaker 1: I think it's taking him. It's taking him a long way.
Speaker 1: And I think he's always been folksy, that's part of
Speaker 1: the Terry thing, but now it's kind of like, you know,
Speaker 1: he hit the egg nog a little bit, and he
Speaker 1: started he's telling Gaga that, you know how much his
Speaker 1: favorite Gaga song ever his Edge of Glory, which is
Speaker 1: kind of a lesser known single, and was asking for
Speaker 1: like set list hints, and then asked if Gaga's grandmother
Speaker 1: was single. Uh, and then God uncomfortably answered, well, she's
Speaker 1: widowed and I don't think she's ready to date again.
Speaker 1: And Terry Bradscha, I mentioned he's married too, so that's
Speaker 1: that's how I did. Yeah, he's married as well, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, being there a person, it made me.
Speaker 1: I'm excited for the show. I I always enjoy the
Speaker 1: halftime show, uh, the spectacle of it, and I think
Speaker 1: it'll be good. I think it would be good. Was
Speaker 1: there you? Do you have any takeaways? Greg? I know
Speaker 1: you were in the newsroom area watching it as you
Speaker 1: were jotting down notes about Wow. That's not true, but
Speaker 1: I did have one thought. It was more about Luke
Speaker 1: Brian Uh, an artist I'm not overly familiar with, and
Speaker 1: a trend at these press conferences, and Gaga had had
Speaker 1: the same trend. It's a tradition every time they're asked
Speaker 1: about who they're rooting for, they like they hem and
Speaker 1: haw as if they're protecting some sort of state secret
Speaker 1: because they because they say they don't want to like,
Speaker 1: offend any section of their fan base. It's like, get
Speaker 1: over yourself. The egos either, they don't want to affect
Speaker 1: the game, right. I mean, look, Brian was like, you know,
Speaker 1: first of all, he hemmed and hot and he said, well,
Speaker 1: I do have to admit usually I wouldn't say this,
Speaker 1: but you know I did grow up in Georgia. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel bad for all my all my fans I've
Speaker 1: sold out Gillette Stadium a couple of times. Like coming
Speaker 1: back to you and be announced and have half the
Speaker 1: stadium heard that you're going to happen. It probably won't
Speaker 1: come back to us, Luke Ryan, you were you were
Speaker 1: raised in Georgia, went to college in Georgia. Oh, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go that far. How about this. I'll put
Speaker 1: the team I'm rooting for in my shoe, and after
Speaker 1: my performance I'll share it. What it's not. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to announce who I'm rooting for in this game
Speaker 1: or my pick either during this podcast. What yeah? I mean?
Speaker 1: I liked. I like what she's done, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: keep my pick a secret up until the end. And
Speaker 1: pulled out of my shoe. You see, it's not too late.
Speaker 1: We shared a nice moment at the Super Bowl forty
Speaker 1: nine mark, and we could that could happen again. I
Speaker 1: don't feel quite as fired up for the Patriots this
Speaker 1: time because they go into press conferences at four pm.
Speaker 1: But they kind of poisoned the well. This is many
Speaker 1: times coldplayer. Like many of the halftime shows, I kind
Speaker 1: of just said, give me a break, and I'm not
Speaker 1: into it. This one I like Lady Gaga like her
Speaker 1: a lot. I'm gonna stand up and watch this thing
Speaker 1: from wire to wire. Good for you, Mark, Um, that's
Speaker 1: what's happening in the news. I wanted to share a
Speaker 1: couple of nuggets from the NFL research team. They do
Speaker 1: such a good job. I wrote a post on this
Speaker 1: on the end Around blog, which you should check out. Um,
Speaker 1: some of my favorite nuggets since the Super Bowl was
Speaker 1: set from the media team. I'm going to share some
Speaker 1: of them with you now before we get to hidden figures. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: let's mess it up. Uh And and Sydney. What I'm
Speaker 1: gonna need your help with on this is I would
Speaker 1: love to hold up the Super Bowl fifty one research
Speaker 1: notes in my hand. In fact, I'm doing it right
Speaker 1: now even though you can't see me, said uh And.
Speaker 1: Then I wanted you to play the Final Countdown by Europe,
Speaker 1: but we're not allowed to play anything under the strict
Speaker 1: laws of the Shadowy League figures. So if you can
Speaker 1: find generic catalog music that sounds like the Final Countdown
Speaker 1: by Europe, do it now. Okay with that some nuggets
Speaker 1: I like, Greg to your point about the city of Atlanta,
Speaker 1: they have one championship in one hundred and seventy nine
Speaker 1: seasons from their major professional sports teams. Can you name
Speaker 1: the championship? Well, yeah, easily, I just I just said
Speaker 1: the Braves. They I will tell you the year. Okay,
Speaker 1: it was ninety five and they beat the Cleveland Indians.
Speaker 1: Of all teams, I think I would have gotten it.
Speaker 1: I would have got six games. That was the strike
Speaker 1: short nine season. Otherwise, nobody that we're talking the Hawks,
Speaker 1: We're talking, uh, the Thrashers, short lived in NHL team.
Speaker 1: We're talking the w n b a's Atlanta Dream. Oh
Speaker 1: too much. Shut out. You're always you're always risking it.
Speaker 1: If you don't have a nickname with an S on
Speaker 1: the end, it's more Nugs image. Uh. In this final
Speaker 1: countdown towards Super Bowl fifty one, each of New England's
Speaker 1: six Super Bowls in the Brady Belichick era decided by
Speaker 1: four points or fewer. That's pretty crazy all of them.
Speaker 1: You would think that they would have wiped someone out
Speaker 1: in one of them. The Eagles one is misleading. Where
Speaker 1: whereas it wasn't the worst game of all time, they
Speaker 1: essentially had control of it. It was never truly in doubt.
Speaker 1: But you have the other five all came down to
Speaker 1: one play. It's wild. And if you even go back
Speaker 1: to Belichick as a defensive coordinator, you know, the game
Speaker 1: he made his reputation on, you know, took a miss
Speaker 1: kick by Scott Norwood. It's like his whole career he
Speaker 1: could have he could have eight or nine super Bowls,
Speaker 1: or he could have one. Yeah, that's sports. Uh. With
Speaker 1: a win in Super Bowl fifty one, the Falcons defense,
Speaker 1: we've become the worst scoring defense. They've allowed point four
Speaker 1: points per game, uh this season to win a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But here's the funny thing. Here's the really interesting nugget
Speaker 1: about this. You want to hear the other five Super
Speaker 1: Bowl winners is the five that have qualified. The two
Speaker 1: thousand eleven Giants, the two thousand six Cults, the two
Speaker 1: thousand seven Giants, the two thousand twelve Ravens, and the
Speaker 1: two thousand nine Saints. What does every team but that
Speaker 1: Saints team have in common? They beat the Patriots in
Speaker 1: the title Game or the Super Bowl in those seasons.
Speaker 1: How about that. You're a little nervous about that. Well,
Speaker 1: it's also all in the last nine years because scoring
Speaker 1: is up just a decade worth of a sample size no,
Speaker 1: I mean it. It's interesting because that that Saints, uh,
Speaker 1: that Saints Colts game reminds me a lot of this one,
Speaker 1: where it's the two best offenses in the league. And
Speaker 1: that score wasn't crazy high, but there was almost no
Speaker 1: stops in that game. And that's exactly how I anticipate
Speaker 1: this game going long drives, lots of scoring and uh,
Speaker 1: don't give it away, Greg instead of Tracy Porter, it's
Speaker 1: logan right now. I don't know, I'm just making this
Speaker 1: our predictions coming at the end of the show. Everybody
Speaker 1: on the edge of their and this again all due
Speaker 1: respect to the Patriots, uh, in terms of how they
Speaker 1: build a team. Every year in the off season, they'll
Speaker 1: sign one guy where everyone universally goes, oh, this guy
Speaker 1: is gonna like kill everybody. It's gonna he's gonna be
Speaker 1: a perfect signing. Martellis Bennett was one of two of
Speaker 1: those this offseason, which and then you can figure out
Speaker 1: why they're sixteen and two right now. They also got
Speaker 1: Chris always open Hoken, but Martella's Bennett is uh the
Speaker 1: has the highest passer rating when targeted amongst any tight
Speaker 1: end in the league, one six point eight. You know,
Speaker 1: we were all doom and gloom about the Patriots after
Speaker 1: Gronk went out, and we all respected Bennett, but maybe
Speaker 1: we didn't quite like factor in just how good Marty
Speaker 1: Bennett is. He's a big time X factor because he
Speaker 1: hasn't been the same guy the last section of the season.
Speaker 1: He's playing her. He has not played his best in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. You know, he had a great regular season overall.
Speaker 1: To me, he he he is a huge X factor
Speaker 1: because if you get his a game, they are almost unstoppable.
Speaker 1: But he he was kind of a you know, as
Speaker 1: a receiver almost non existent the last two weeks, but
Speaker 1: also a major X factor during what would otherwise be
Speaker 1: one of the maybe the worst hour of you know,
Speaker 1: a team that produces nothing during it's it's our long
Speaker 1: media availability. Bennett over there riffing on the new like
Speaker 1: people asked about his time with the Giant, said, you know,
Speaker 1: it's my second year of marriage. It's so great to
Speaker 1: be in your second year of marriage. I was in
Speaker 1: New York, we went all over the place. How much
Speaker 1: he loves the New York art scene, and that the
Speaker 1: Giants would put I get the Maras, would put little
Speaker 1: notes in his lockers saying, Hey, there's an art show
Speaker 1: downtown on your day off here and go check it out.
Speaker 1: So Bennett, actually I just sat there by him, by
Speaker 1: him for like thirty minutes because it's like it's an
Speaker 1: intriguing human being who actually does have less of a
Speaker 1: filter than the rest of the roster. How about that,
Speaker 1: Well we let's get into that. Let's get into some
Speaker 1: availability takeaways both Greg and Mark. Well, he can talk
Speaker 1: to your Patriots. I feel like if you're a dynamic
Speaker 1: tight end, you're allowed to talk. If you're a dynamic
Speaker 1: tya with the Patriots, a lot of things can happen.
Speaker 1: Let me just say that beyond just talking. But uh,
Speaker 1: come on, Greg, help me on the ride in the darkness. Okay,
Speaker 1: but yeah, he does stand in contrast to almost every
Speaker 1: other Patriot through the years. Well, you might you might
Speaker 1: be onto something. I think if you prove yourself as
Speaker 1: a hardworking, tough player who performs at a high level,
Speaker 1: and I think the one thing Belichick said about Bennett
Speaker 1: all years, how tough he is, that he's playing through
Speaker 1: a cracked bone in his ankle, that he practices harder
Speaker 1: than anyone, I think you have a little more leeway
Speaker 1: than than people think under Belichick. Yeah, that's fair. What else, Greg?
Speaker 1: How about you? You were on you checked that Mark.
Speaker 1: You've been covering the Patriots all week. Uh? Greg, you've
Speaker 1: kind of jumped back and forth a little bit, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: I have. How about don't steal my fire and talk
Speaker 1: about the well? Who you want to talk about? Your
Speaker 1: little boy, Jimmy G passing around him Alayan Salt. Jimmy
Speaker 1: G is you know what, He's got a great personality.
Speaker 1: He's he seemed extremely relaxed. He to me, I think
Speaker 1: he's he's an interesting guy. He's not a tea when
Speaker 1: says Jimmy G is so amazingly handsome, Like I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be honest, I don't really I don't get that, uh
Speaker 1: the way I would with like Tom Brady or someone else.
Speaker 1: I see it. But I just think that Jimmy G
Speaker 1: is sort of a bro and he's sort of like
Speaker 1: a dude. I don't know, he's he admits he still
Speaker 1: has so much to learn. But but you're over there,
Speaker 1: you know, I see the I see the tweet you
Speaker 1: sent that where you're comparing recipes or whatever, and I'm thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, Mark is getting the intel and potentially the
Speaker 1: next potential savior. And there's been a few potential saviors
Speaker 1: and they haven't worked out for the Cleveland Browns, and
Speaker 1: this one is realistic. And and if I were you up,
Speaker 1: not just being a homer, he would be the guy
Speaker 1: that gets me most excited as a possibility this offseason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean from another adult, when you're at these things,
Speaker 1: you want to send out a couple of tweets to
Speaker 1: kind of check a box and show the employer, Oh,
Speaker 1: he was there, so there's no high read it tweet
Speaker 1: the early stages of courtship with your significant other, and
Speaker 1: you want to show like this nuanced, kind of fun
Speaker 1: side to you, Like Mark doesn't like talking about food,
Speaker 1: but when Jimmy G was there, all of a sudden
Speaker 1: he was way plugged in on the recipe for guacamole.
Speaker 1: Well that was Nate Solder, but in general, Yeah, but
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. Well, I think also you're roaming from
Speaker 1: player Jimmy G to be watching you being an intrepid
Speaker 1: journey be like, hey, you play. And because they're also
Speaker 1: we're creating this reporter's notebook each day, and there are
Speaker 1: like five other people from NFL Network there and so
Speaker 1: if I get anything, I say, that's it. That's what
Speaker 1: I'm writing about. Because it's like you don't with the
Speaker 1: Patriots and it's easy to say, oh, they're all incredibly boring.
Speaker 1: I would say, guys like Nate Solder incredible impression this week.
Speaker 1: I think he's one of the he's one of the
Speaker 1: smarter players on the team. I think, to a man,
Speaker 1: you can kind of get a feel for why the
Speaker 1: Patriots are the way they are, and it's annoying if
Speaker 1: you're a fan of another team, because they are all in.
Speaker 1: There aren't any players there that don't seem to not
Speaker 1: basically speak the jargon in the code, and it isn't like,
Speaker 1: oh they've got to say this, and then they go
Speaker 1: behind closed doors and there's someone completely else. They are
Speaker 1: a bought in team, and this game to me feels
Speaker 1: like they're from what I saw that they're just preparing
Speaker 1: for another game. That there's no heightened Uh it's not
Speaker 1: that it's a super Bowl or that it's this or that,
Speaker 1: or it could be a Week six game. They prepare.
Speaker 1: I asked some of them, you had an extra week.
Speaker 1: You haven't you don't have a lot of familiar already
Speaker 1: with the Falcons. Does that mean that you Rob Ninkovich,
Speaker 1: I asked him about his film watching, do you watch
Speaker 1: twice as much film? Do you do as much as
Speaker 1: you possibly? Kenny said, I do it the same way
Speaker 1: that I've done it for every opponent all year. That's
Speaker 1: how we're taught. You don't suddenly do something completely different.
Speaker 1: I think that's a really good sign for Patriots fans
Speaker 1: that the team just seems completely be line the way
Speaker 1: they've been all years. That's what Brian Cox, the Falcons
Speaker 1: evensive line coach said that was like if you go
Speaker 1: out drinking on you know, Monday night and you get
Speaker 1: lit up. He's like, I want you going out drinking
Speaker 1: and getting lit up on Monday night. Don't do anything different,
Speaker 1: do everything the same this week. I think you're right
Speaker 1: to on on the Patriots in terms of there's a
Speaker 1: reason they become I know this is gonna sound like
Speaker 1: a Homer, but there's a reason why the Patriots take them.
Speaker 1: I mean, Doron, Harmon, Logan Ryan, those two guys, they
Speaker 1: sound like the same guys. They're very smart. They said
Speaker 1: they wouldn't have been drafted if they couldn't tackle, Like
Speaker 1: that's a weird thing that they brought them there to tackle.
Speaker 1: Not many teams are stressing that, and they talked about
Speaker 1: the specific thing that Belichick would tell them in practice
Speaker 1: to help them on a very fundamental level. And it
Speaker 1: got me thinking, like, there's not many other head coaches
Speaker 1: in the league that are able to execute a vision
Speaker 1: from that top down. That he's gonna look for specific
Speaker 1: traits and players as a general manager, pick them and
Speaker 1: then be able to coach them very fundamentally. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: he's perfect at it, but he at least gets the
Speaker 1: guys and that Thomas de Mittroff said this, uh this
Speaker 1: week too. Belichick, if nothing else, always knows what he wants.
Speaker 1: He knows he wants very specific things, and he gets him.
Speaker 1: Danny boy, you know, congratulations, I'm happy for you. You
Speaker 1: know who. I like that Falcons take boys. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: were talking about the Falcons alright. They were pretty Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's fair. They were pretty dry on in contained too.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, there was a few more guys
Speaker 1: who I felt like, we're almost trying to convince themselves
Speaker 1: on the defensive side that like, you know, we can't
Speaker 1: overthink things because Brady he you know, they were talking
Speaker 1: just today Jalen Collins. You know, Brady's seen everything. It's
Speaker 1: almost like both defenses, no, they're not gonna stop. There's
Speaker 1: like Brady seen everything, He's gonna know what defense were in.
Speaker 1: We can't like overthink it, we can't do it. And
Speaker 1: they almost they felt a little younger on that side
Speaker 1: of the ball. But one guy that stuck out to
Speaker 1: me as a great talker and a great story here
Speaker 1: is Dwight Freeney. I mean, he's talk about legacy guys.
Speaker 1: He to me is a Hall of Famer, no doubt,
Speaker 1: and he, like Michael Strahan, could kind of make himself
Speaker 1: a total no doubt Hall of Famer by going out
Speaker 1: with a big game in the Super Bowl to win
Speaker 1: what would be his second Super Bowl. And I thought
Speaker 1: he was funny this week just talking about like haven't
Speaker 1: I seen Tom Brady enough? You know, I I've run
Speaker 1: into this guy. It's like again, I've been running into
Speaker 1: this guy in Belichick for fifteen years. They stopped me
Speaker 1: in the A f C. And it's like, come on,
Speaker 1: can we just mix it up? And I mean those
Speaker 1: are the words he used. He literally was just like
Speaker 1: enough enough of these guys. I'm with him. I'm with hi.
Speaker 1: All right, that was a good takeaways guys, anything else
Speaker 1: not really? Alright, well, then let's move on. I've been
Speaker 1: excited about this ever since Gregg hatched the name of
Speaker 1: the segment. This segment is called Hidden Figures. It's equal
Speaker 1: I have there. We go from the film Hidden Figures
Speaker 1: in Theaters, OSCAR nominated film set at NASA in Houston,
Speaker 1: the site of Super Bowl fifty one connected dots. I mean,
Speaker 1: what a month, what a year it's been for Janelle
Speaker 1: mon A, I mean, out of nowhere into performance Best
Speaker 1: Picture nominees, and uh, how about how she looks in
Speaker 1: the moon like mama mi ba ba boom. By the way, um,
Speaker 1: one more note about the guy. Everyone, she's a beautiful,
Speaker 1: talented woman. Don't be at shames, Greg, I was just choking.
Speaker 1: But how many years? And I've been covering these press
Speaker 1: conferences for six years now. Anytime as a female artist
Speaker 1: you have to ask if their nipple is going to
Speaker 1: come out at the game and say, oh, you know, Janet,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a w wardrobe malfunction. They asked that
Speaker 1: every year artist. The question was absurd. It was, well,
Speaker 1: as you know, the Patriots last time they were the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl in Houston. Uh, there was a wardrobe malfunction.
Speaker 1: Do you have any concerns? And she and Gaga had
Speaker 1: an interesting response, which was this, are you gonna blame
Speaker 1: with that on the Patriots? It's this coincidence? Well, uh,
Speaker 1: everything is going to be nice and tight for the game,
Speaker 1: so I wouldn't worry about that. Unfortunately, some of you
Speaker 1: might have been excited for that. So good answer. But
Speaker 1: come back to his journals. Just because it's a woman,
Speaker 1: you don't have to ask if if the boobs are
Speaker 1: coming out? That feels a little forced. Well, it is
Speaker 1: the press conference every year from the one or two
Speaker 1: that I've been to where suddenly like People Magazine and
Speaker 1: like E and everyone else's po super Bowl exactly. So
Speaker 1: I mean I I can see where they where it's
Speaker 1: coming from. But I did get I saw a little.
Speaker 1: Uh the Orlando Ledbetter got a question, Yeah, who who
Speaker 1: would have thought? Boy from the Atlanta Journal Constitution in
Speaker 1: the Okay, so now it's time, yes to talk hidden figures.
Speaker 1: Dan still warming up to this entire concept. It was Dan.
Speaker 1: If it was Dan's bed, I mean he'd be selling it.
Speaker 1: There would be sound effects, there were clowns coming in
Speaker 1: and dancing. Yeah, so hidden for Greg, can you explain
Speaker 1: the segment to both myself and the audience? And Mark,
Speaker 1: it's just a couple of guys maybe under the radar
Speaker 1: that you think of hidden figures. Oh what about the
Speaker 1: space program? Does it tie into NASA and Houston? Their
Speaker 1: performance will be shooting off into the moon into the
Speaker 1: sky like that. Alright, let's see, let's hear some Mark,
Speaker 1: you have some hidden figures. I got a couple. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna moderate this one. I don't have any hidden figures. Second,
Speaker 1: we'll go punch for punch. How you go first? Go
Speaker 1: for it at Atlanta Falcon. And again, it's not that
Speaker 1: I think hidden figures, isn't I think this isn't a
Speaker 1: great player. That's someone that's going to make it play
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl. Sometimes like these names come out
Speaker 1: of nowhere, Malcolm Butler, I think maybe Falcon Falcon's quarterback
Speaker 1: Brian pool I it just I was looking at their
Speaker 1: whole roster and do you want a huge rationale behind it?
Speaker 1: I feel like Brian Poole is in a nickel or
Speaker 1: dime package, is going to have a massive play in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter book it right now. Wait, so this
Speaker 1: is more a Sessler. It is a Sessler. So you
Speaker 1: don't have You're just basically I have other arts. No,
Speaker 1: I have, No, I have others that I have are
Speaker 1: hidden figures that I think we'll be that have consistently produced.
Speaker 1: Pool has been good this year for them, and that
Speaker 1: secondary is a trouble spot. I think as a Patriots fan,
Speaker 1: when I look at Kean O'Neil is a rookie, Jalen
Speaker 1: Collins is basically as the experience of a rookie, Brian Pool,
Speaker 1: Robert Alfred, I think these guys are gonna These guys
Speaker 1: are in for a long day. And that's the biggest
Speaker 1: advantage that the Patriots have is that secondary. I don't
Speaker 1: trust them. They're the ones this week. I haven't really
Speaker 1: quite bought their bravado. But of all those guys, I
Speaker 1: think Brian Pool, he's like a hard hitter. He I
Speaker 1: like Brian. We'll see. I think it's just that weird
Speaker 1: names pop up in the Super Bowl and suddenly everyone
Speaker 1: remembers the Patriots are going to find themselves in the
Speaker 1: deep end. Yeah, I like, hell, I'm gonna throw out
Speaker 1: another Falcon. What is he? What kind of figure it
Speaker 1: would you define your if you were looking for him,
Speaker 1: might not be able to find him because he's hidden.
Speaker 1: We got it now, I get the second go ahead,
Speaker 1: Austin Hooper. They're they're tight end. They're rookie tight end,
Speaker 1: very speedy player. And the reason I point him out
Speaker 1: here is I don't think the opponents in this offseason,
Speaker 1: I mean this playoffs actually have taken advantage of the
Speaker 1: weakness that the Patriots could have covering big players. That's
Speaker 1: Patrick Chung, who's a key player for them, and Belichick
Speaker 1: loves him and he says he it keeps them out of,
Speaker 1: you know, having to change their defensive But I worry
Speaker 1: about Patrick Chung covering the tight end. I worry about
Speaker 1: him in coverage. And if it's not Patrick Chuck, maybe
Speaker 1: it's Eric Roe sometimes taking a big guy like a
Speaker 1: tight end. And those are two weaknesses where the Falcons
Speaker 1: have hurt teams all year with their depth, and I
Speaker 1: don't think the depth and the Patriots secondary is particularly good.
Speaker 1: And Ryan like Aaron Rodgers, is good at just finding
Speaker 1: those weaknesses and they'll just be going after Chung, going
Speaker 1: after Row. And I think Hooper could have a nice game.
Speaker 1: That's a that's a nice hidden figure. I mean, it
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be too hidden. We don't have to
Speaker 1: go you know, it doesn't have to be like bottom
Speaker 1: of the roster. Even if he has a great game,
Speaker 1: he'll be hidden because it's a position that's just hidden
Speaker 1: in general. But it's so important to what the Falcons
Speaker 1: do on offense, and it's Alex Mack the center. And
Speaker 1: I realized that Alex Mack is not an unknown player.
Speaker 1: He's a pro bowler. But you can I'm the relative.
Speaker 1: What happens is is that six days later, I think
Speaker 1: if the Falcons win this game, that there'll be some
Speaker 1: think pieces that show Alex Mack did his job. He
Speaker 1: absolutely dominated the way he has all season, and it
Speaker 1: kept Matt Ryan upright. And if they if you, if
Speaker 1: you suddenly that doesn't happen. Their line has been their
Speaker 1: line was such a mess for years. The minute Alex
Speaker 1: Mack came in, everything started to fall into place. And
Speaker 1: I think he is he is. He was an absolute
Speaker 1: I know Cleveland was never successful, but he was an
Speaker 1: unbelievable player for Cleveland, surrounded by likable guy and I
Speaker 1: think that I think that you know, some of these
Speaker 1: guys that have come to these teams from terrible places.
Speaker 1: Alex Mack understands the perspective of how much different it
Speaker 1: is than this is than any other experience he's had
Speaker 1: planned pro football. He's gonna go out there. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be hell And I really think Alex Mack
Speaker 1: is a key to this game. Well, I gotta I
Speaker 1: gotta respond because for the first time in Hidden Figure history,
Speaker 1: I've got a hidden figure black Alan Branch on the
Speaker 1: opposite side of Alex mckin race is Alex Mac. He's
Speaker 1: the hidden figure. Who would have thought, uh, two hidden
Speaker 1: figures going up again happens each other? If someone how
Speaker 1: do they then get Are they further hidden by someone else?
Speaker 1: If they're just like blown off the out of the
Speaker 1: ether of the universe. The key here is that when
Speaker 1: when Alan Branch and maybe Malcolm Brown, they're kind of
Speaker 1: a tag team combination, when they stand their ground and
Speaker 1: Alex Mack and Andy Levitre and this running game aren't
Speaker 1: able to get any push in the middle and don't
Speaker 1: really protect Matt Ryan as well as you would hope
Speaker 1: up the middle. Either. People are going to think back
Speaker 1: to Mark Hidden Figure and think, oh, Greg, Greg got
Speaker 1: this right. Because Brown defensive tackle has been a long
Speaker 1: time week spot. This is one one area where I
Speaker 1: can say this Patriots defense is better than they have
Speaker 1: been in a while. These two defensive tackles. We cannot
Speaker 1: get to Dan's hidden figure quick enough. I will close
Speaker 1: out the hidden figure segment, which was very good, Greg
Speaker 1: with a name, and I'm trying to think the Patriots. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's assume because they're there's such a glory train that
Speaker 1: they put points on the board and win another Super
Speaker 1: Bowl on Sunday. Who is going to be the surprise
Speaker 1: player on offense? Because you know, the Falcons have dedicated
Speaker 1: a lot of time in the last two weeks studying
Speaker 1: up on Chris Hogan obviously, Julian Edelman looking out for
Speaker 1: Martelli's Bennett. Uh, you know Dion Lewis. Uh, the well
Speaker 1: worn stat that the Patriots are undefeated when Dean Lewis
Speaker 1: is activated. But I'm gonna throw a hidden figure out there.
Speaker 1: This one was a little saucy. I'm proud of myself
Speaker 1: because he he was very effective, got hurt, came back,
Speaker 1: didn't really have any role in NFC Championship game. But
Speaker 1: I expect Malcolm Mitchell okay to again be active over
Speaker 1: Michael Floyd and given two more weeks to rest up
Speaker 1: that knee injury. Uh, he gets deployed in a way
Speaker 1: that leads to a saucy five for ninety one and
Speaker 1: a touch. A nice performance from Malcolm Mitchell in in
Speaker 1: this game. Good outside receiver. And this the difference I
Speaker 1: think between these two defenses are the Falcons give up
Speaker 1: more big place and Malcolm Mitchell. I think it's a
Speaker 1: good candidate to get over the top. If they're gonna
Speaker 1: throw it deep, it's gonna be to Hogan or Malcolm Mitchell.
Speaker 1: I could see that. I thought you were gonna go
Speaker 1: with Super Bowl forty nine hero Danny Amondola. I thought
Speaker 1: he hasn't really done a lot super Bowl hero and
Speaker 1: hidden figures. Well, he's been pretty quietly like the West
Speaker 1: isn't here. That's West's corner to pump up. Danny Amadola
Speaker 1: is one of the greats of all time. I'm going
Speaker 1: I'm getting with Malcolm Mitchell in a big spot. All right,
Speaker 1: good hitting figures. Let's move on, uh, gentlemen, before we
Speaker 1: make our picks, our official Super Bowl fifty one picks,
Speaker 1: which will include the final score. Uh, and the m
Speaker 1: v P of the game. And we will not be wrong. Well,
Speaker 1: some of us will be wrong. Uh, let's do some
Speaker 1: sandwich props some Super Bowl. Go get my lunch, your
Speaker 1: garbbage pal yea piece of done. You nobody get my sandwich.
Speaker 1: So many appealing images for food and to be eating
Speaker 1: food with. All right, Mark, you will you will go first.
Speaker 1: You're not a fan of food. But now that you're
Speaker 1: swept up in love over Jimmy Garoppolo, you're talking about
Speaker 1: guacamole winking at him across the room. Uh yeah, like
Speaker 1: again that was Nate's solder. But you are right. I've
Speaker 1: talked to multiple Patriots and well someone else even asked
Speaker 1: that question, so I was just essentially recording it. You
Speaker 1: did privately text me after one of the availabilities and said,
Speaker 1: I know this is gonna sound corny, but the temperature
Speaker 1: in the room changes when Jimmy walks. You know what.
Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna deny it. I think the listener
Speaker 1: knows that is absolute garbage. All Right, He's like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna stay in my hotel room tonight, and you know,
Speaker 1: I just said Jimmy and that will be fine. At that.
Speaker 1: That will be absolutely fine. Greg, that's some crude humor.
Speaker 1: Enjoyed it. I'll tell you what I was actually doing.
Speaker 1: Can I take off? McAfee is coming on to our corner.
Speaker 1: We gotta up our bro game. Let me let me
Speaker 1: plug some meal fast in the room two nights and
Speaker 1: writing a story about the Houston Astrodome and went to
Speaker 1: check it out. Well. I went into it thinking, you
Speaker 1: know what, Okay, this it's an interesting building. I remember
Speaker 1: watching the oilers back in the day, but real quick
Speaker 1: talk to Jerry Glanville and Bruce Matthews talking to Jerry Glanville.
Speaker 1: One of the is a twenty minute interview. I cannot
Speaker 1: believe what he told me. The guy is absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 1: I tried to get as much as I could have
Speaker 1: it into the article and the rest of them to
Speaker 1: say for an a f C Central article down the road,
Speaker 1: but it's on the NFL dot com right now. Onto sandwiches, beautiful,
Speaker 1: nice plug. Me call you, Sailor. He called you something like,
Speaker 1: He's like, hey, Sailor. He was, He's you know, he's
Speaker 1: exactly the same guys. One of my favorite analysts on
Speaker 1: inside the NFL and the old Men dawstin Nick Monakanie days.
Speaker 1: All right, here we go, get us going. Uh, if
Speaker 1: you're not familiar with this game. And by the way,
Speaker 1: so many, so many um people in this area of
Speaker 1: fans of the show. I've had several people come up
Speaker 1: to me at different bars saying they love the pod. Uh.
Speaker 1: So thank you to everyone that listens. And yeah, if
Speaker 1: you see Mark Cessler in the wild, which might be
Speaker 1: hard to do, but if you see him, let him
Speaker 1: know you're a big fan. Yea, and tell him we
Speaker 1: said hi. Alright, tonight's possibility I've been hidden away. All right,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Mark, all Right, I told you like Lady Gaga,
Speaker 1: So this is Lady Gaga oriented. Here we go. Okay,
Speaker 1: Lady Gaga will do something during Super Bowl fifty one,
Speaker 1: during the Super Bowl fifty one halftime show that will
Speaker 1: immediately qualify as legitimate breaking news beyond the sports world
Speaker 1: and still be debated and discussed ten years. So now
Speaker 1: it won't be a wardrobe malfunction number one as I
Speaker 1: did with the Trent Richardson prop, though I will pay
Speaker 1: up the sandwiches at the first part. The breaking news
Speaker 1: part does not happen, it will be shocking and fascinating,
Speaker 1: But who who decides? We need someone to depend on
Speaker 1: our judge this because most westlan can decide it. But
Speaker 1: I again, I think it will make breaking news on
Speaker 1: other out I think that will be if you see
Speaker 1: it happening on We're talking major news stories. This connect
Speaker 1: to your There will be no final score in the
Speaker 1: super Bowl prediction, not directly, not directly, but I do
Speaker 1: think I do think that she would. It's a kind
Speaker 1: of thing that people will be talking about what she
Speaker 1: did long after they're talking about this game. All right,
Speaker 1: I will take you up on that. I'm excited about
Speaker 1: her performance. I think she detailed the months and months
Speaker 1: of planning that have gone into building out the show,
Speaker 1: and she did say it will be a very physically
Speaker 1: demanding show where she'll be up on I'm guessing that
Speaker 1: usually translates to she'll be up on wires at some point.
Speaker 1: Now I don't want to see. Then you start to
Speaker 1: get to a tricky area. Could something bad happen to
Speaker 1: Lady Gaga? That I mean, I'm not going there, like,
Speaker 1: what could happen that would qualify as breaking national news? Well,
Speaker 1: breaking news is not. The bar for breaking news is
Speaker 1: lower than it's ever been. But that's why I think
Speaker 1: we can have an arbiture. But I think it's the
Speaker 1: kind of it'll be a talk piece, the kind of
Speaker 1: thing people are talking about. Still, she makes a really
Speaker 1: bold political statement that would probably, but I didn't get
Speaker 1: the sense listening to her you never know, But listening
Speaker 1: to her today's I feel like she she made it
Speaker 1: clear that she wasn't gonna going to let her message
Speaker 1: speak for itself. That's so um does. All right, here's
Speaker 1: before I do officially take you up out in our past,
Speaker 1: I'm taking it. Did left Shark, for instance, which became
Speaker 1: a nationally trending story. Would that count? I don't think
Speaker 1: left Shark was breaking news. I think that was pop
Speaker 1: poultry and trendy. If she does something that she wears
Speaker 1: an outfit that everyone else starts wearing, I don't think
Speaker 1: that would be it. I'd be giving you a sandwich.
Speaker 1: That's a good remark. You hung a little onion there
Speaker 1: and I enjoyed it. Well, let's you know what without
Speaker 1: it's sad enough to have West here, but it's one
Speaker 1: less sandwich. I can get bold. All right, go ahead, Greg,
Speaker 1: you hit us with a sandwich, so you I've got
Speaker 1: like I've got so many, I know, but you just
Speaker 1: gotta pick a couple, buddy. It's called pre show prep.
Speaker 1: No I did. I have three and I want to
Speaker 1: do them all, bro Dion Lewis, we'll finish the game
Speaker 1: with over one hundred yards from scrimmage. Now, you might
Speaker 1: say that's not barely hanging too much Onion only done
Speaker 1: it once this season in many games? Well, only done
Speaker 1: it once all season? Was uh not that recently Week
Speaker 1: fifteen against the Broncos. He did score three touchdowns in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, only six yards that game. Dean Lewis over
Speaker 1: a hundred yards. I think he's gonna be a big
Speaker 1: time factor. He was my bold prediction in on the
Speaker 1: written written side. You know, it's kind of I've been
Speaker 1: riding this Dean Lewis train. I think it's a good
Speaker 1: chance of it happening. I think it's logical that, you know,
Speaker 1: if they if they want to keep the ball out
Speaker 1: of the hands of the Falcons, that they use the
Speaker 1: running backs in multiple ways. But you know what I'll
Speaker 1: take you for take you up on it? Why not,
Speaker 1: I'll take you up. I will also take you up
Speaker 1: on I thought West had a good um take on
Speaker 1: Tuesday's show or yeah, I think it was on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: He believes that the Patriots will attack the Falcons by
Speaker 1: being physical, and I think that means a lot Lark
Speaker 1: Legarrett Blunt, which I think although you're saying total yards
Speaker 1: right from scrimmag show that receiving yards you can run
Speaker 1: up the middle two, I think de yeah, I just
Speaker 1: I will take you up on that because I think
Speaker 1: Blunt's gonna have a big part of the game plan
Speaker 1: which will affect the production from a number standpoint. But
Speaker 1: I think Lewis, obviously you can have a big impact
Speaker 1: packed in this game. My first one will have we'll
Speaker 1: tie into Dean Lewis as well. M hmm. Actually know what.
Speaker 1: I don't want to do that one though, because we
Speaker 1: just did it. I was just for fun. I'll let
Speaker 1: you know what it was. But DeVante Freeman and Tevin
Speaker 1: Coleman will have more total yards than Dion Lewis and
Speaker 1: Lagart Blunt. That's interesting to get too far, too far
Speaker 1: off topic. But today Thursday, Dan Quinn, who was at
Speaker 1: the Light all week, was really stressing you know, we
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about anything but being physical. You
Speaker 1: wouldn't think he would really give things away. But he's
Speaker 1: talking about offense. He was like, that's our number one thing.
Speaker 1: Don't worry about what they're doing. Be physical. And it
Speaker 1: made me think, like, we can see a lot of running. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we could. We'll see about that. Um, I still think
Speaker 1: we'll see plenty of pigskins being tossed in the air
Speaker 1: to Greg. Hey, these guys two of the best passes
Speaker 1: of all times. It all right? Here is my first one.
Speaker 1: The Falcons will score an opening drive touchdown for the
Speaker 1: ninth straight game. I will take you up on that.
Speaker 1: You know that? So you think that the Patriots, after
Speaker 1: two weeks of planning, will find a way to stall
Speaker 1: the Atlanta attack, which has been week after week after
Speaker 1: week perfect in their goal on their first drive of
Speaker 1: the game. I do you know the offenses are good
Speaker 1: when a popular question all week has been about whether
Speaker 1: they would take the ball if they win the coin toss,
Speaker 1: because both offenses are just so good, that's been a
Speaker 1: question you as a defensive player, do you like that
Speaker 1: or not? Yeah, Patriots gotta try to make a statement defensively,
Speaker 1: and I think if they win it'll be by forcing
Speaker 1: you know, lots of field goals and so I'm going
Speaker 1: that they get a field goal. Okay, I think it's
Speaker 1: a coin toss that they scored up. But I will
Speaker 1: take you up on it because it Mark, You're starting
Speaker 1: to learn how to play the game after four years.
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, one more round, all right, I'll show
Speaker 1: you that I'm not really learning how to play the
Speaker 1: game with this one. For the time ever, the super
Speaker 1: Bowl will go into overtime. I like that. I hope
Speaker 1: it does. But I will take you on that because
Speaker 1: the odds are in the favor, right. I mean, every
Speaker 1: sandwich bet I produce is absolutely low odds for me,
Speaker 1: but it does. It is one of my favorite like
Speaker 1: statistical oddities of the Super Bowl, which has been going
Speaker 1: on since nineteen sixty seven. I believe, fifty straight games
Speaker 1: without an overtime affair. It's weird. We should, uh, we
Speaker 1: should do this. We should make it happen over time
Speaker 1: of the game. Mark well canon in its hie. So no, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really this and everything that I say, because there's
Speaker 1: so much that we have to say, ties into that
Speaker 1: if you think about it. This entire episode is problematic
Speaker 1: for Mark because he predicted that the game won't finish
Speaker 1: and yet that really changes almost everything. You would say,
Speaker 1: well downstairs to come up with something edgy and daring.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know how to top the prediction
Speaker 1: that the game will not end or have a result.
Speaker 1: The bar too high. Alright, Matt Ryan will throw for
Speaker 1: over three hundred in fifty yards in a performance that
Speaker 1: I guess we would need an independent army there here.
Speaker 1: That he's going to impress the world doesn't mean he's
Speaker 1: gotta win. He goes over impresses the world is gonna
Speaker 1: be in a losing effort, you know, spoiler alert. But
Speaker 1: because of Matt Ryan passing, that's it. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to take you on that because I've completely believe that
Speaker 1: he will completely at it's a lot. It's gonna I
Speaker 1: say he won't. He won't reach that number. He could
Speaker 1: throw for three hundred nine yards, but fifty that's a
Speaker 1: true carving potentially, which I would love to see, or
Speaker 1: or it's them coming from behind and but it's not
Speaker 1: quite enough. Yeah, you can throw for four end up
Speaker 1: just being uh and come back mode the whole time.
Speaker 1: All right, Uh, here we go. This one is actually
Speaker 1: a little often advance this uh, the winner of the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl will not have an official White House visit. Well,
Speaker 1: that's that's interesting. It's kind of it's tricky because yeah,
Speaker 1: I won't be decided I suppose until you know, midway
Speaker 1: through the offset. But that's fine, there's no room. This
Speaker 1: one just got a little I love it. Um, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna I'll take you up on it just for
Speaker 1: the sake of it. But I think you gotta I think,
Speaker 1: because what do you think. I agree with you that
Speaker 1: it's a very possible that it won't happen. But but tradition,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with what has been tradition that it will.
Speaker 1: But I will say that we're at a time where
Speaker 1: either the team or the White House could could be
Speaker 1: just as high of a chance to cancel it and
Speaker 1: anything like that Donald wants to happen. Well, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's if it's the Patriots there that absolutely, that's I
Speaker 1: think if New England, if New England wins, they're going
Speaker 1: to the White House. Because you got to think about
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, who has not been a fan of how
Speaker 1: this is all reflected back to him based on his
Speaker 1: make America Great Again. But there's always players that don't
Speaker 1: go Brady would seemingly be the most likely to go.
Speaker 1: I think the the problem would be if if they
Speaker 1: get the sense thirty to forty players don't want to
Speaker 1: go as a sign of unity, do they just cancel
Speaker 1: it because it's embarrassed. I'll take you up just because
Speaker 1: let's see where we are. But it's a great one.
Speaker 1: It's a great one. I'm not taking you up on
Speaker 1: that because I think it's a strange time in our
Speaker 1: nation's history. I mean, like we played the clip last
Speaker 1: show right about Arthur Bryant Blank and Robert Krafts, you know,
Speaker 1: with with Trump. Kraft was at a fundraising or uh,
Speaker 1: you know the night of the inauguration or that was
Speaker 1: for donors. I don't think it's gonna happen. I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any White House trip. All right, So there
Speaker 1: you go. There are sandwich props um are good friend.
Speaker 1: Nick Fortier. Uh, if you would not mind updating the page,
Speaker 1: go get your lunch dot org, which shows are all
Speaker 1: time standings season by season. Uh, really in depth. Also
Speaker 1: has been around the NFL soundboard, which is a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. So check that out. Go get my lunch
Speaker 1: dot Org. Okay, we've come two. The final the final
Speaker 1: countdown of today's podcast, it is time to predict the
Speaker 1: winner of Super Bowl fifty one. Um, I will go first,
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, you know you know me. You know
Speaker 1: I don't like the Patriots. I Uh, I ain't no
Speaker 1: fan of the Pats. I think they've had more than
Speaker 1: enough glory. Um. And I'm I'm factoring in all the
Speaker 1: different things, how great they're playing, what a great team
Speaker 1: they are on both sides of the ball effect. This
Speaker 1: is Tom Brady's final Super Bowl, and I know that that, Uh,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of there's a creeping sense
Speaker 1: of dread in that locker room, even if nobody else
Speaker 1: knows about it yet, that this is it for the
Speaker 1: Belichick Brady. So they're gonna want to go out a winner. Um,
Speaker 1: But I don't think they do. I don't think they do.
Speaker 1: I don't. I think the Falcons are a special team
Speaker 1: that is going to finally get the full recognition they deserve.
Speaker 1: And I think they're gonna do it the same way
Speaker 1: they've done it all year, which is they are going
Speaker 1: to railroad teams. With that offense. I think they have
Speaker 1: one of the best offenses of all time. And I
Speaker 1: think this game will be the rubber stamp of that.
Speaker 1: I do not expect uh them to all of a
Speaker 1: sudden cower in the spotlight. And I don't think the Patriots,
Speaker 1: despite having uh statistically the best defense in the league now,
Speaker 1: I still in my heart don't believe they've been tested,
Speaker 1: not certainly, not at this level. And I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna crack now. I totally believe in Tom Brady and
Speaker 1: that offense and and and their co chink. So I
Speaker 1: think it's a close game. Twenty one weeks you're back
Speaker 1: on the Brady train. But I think a late touchdown
Speaker 1: by Matt Ryan touchdown drive wins it. The street continues.
Speaker 1: The final score four points or less, thirty four to thirty.
Speaker 1: The Falcons win Super Bowl fifty one. Uh, let's give
Speaker 1: the m v P to Julio Jones who goes over
Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty yards with a couple of touchdowns.
Speaker 1: And that is my prediction. Come on, dirty birds, do
Speaker 1: it for America. Mark Well, I talked a little earlier
Speaker 1: about what could happen with the Samewich. I think they
Speaker 1: are going to do it. I'm with you, Didy. I
Speaker 1: I didn't think that anyone was going to pick the Falcons.
Speaker 1: I I'm stay to see it's not a backstab at all,
Speaker 1: because I think it's going to be an absolutely fascinating
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Uh remember I picked the Broncos last year.
Speaker 1: We pats, so we hain't in the press box anymore.
Speaker 1: We yes, all right, so we know that. But I'm
Speaker 1: going Falcons, and I have this going into overtime. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be tied thirty to thirty, and the Falcons are
Speaker 1: gonna get out there with a game winning touchdown, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna have that camera shot on Belichick and he's
Speaker 1: just gonna be like staring with his like his hoodie
Speaker 1: and his sweatshirt flowing in the wind, and everything's going
Speaker 1: crazy down the field. Matt Ryan is named m v P.
Speaker 1: I think he crosses the three fifty yard barrier. It
Speaker 1: is not a knock on the paths. I agree with Dan.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be one of the most competitive
Speaker 1: games we've seen. Forget the defense, forget the number one defense.
Speaker 1: It's going to be offensive firepower. It's gonna be an
Speaker 1: enjoyable one. Atlanta takes it. They're gonna get their second
Speaker 1: title of all time in pro sports. On Sunday, I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to win this game. How come things didn't work out?
Speaker 1: Do I want it to grumble? Grumble as as the
Speaker 1: uh as the confetti is falling. It would if it
Speaker 1: worked out that way, market would be painful, but it
Speaker 1: would it would cush. And it's somewhat that I would know.
Speaker 1: I'd get a sandwich out of it because the game
Speaker 1: will have ended in this entire prediction is a farce
Speaker 1: that you have to pick a winner. As I always do,
Speaker 1: I find a way that if I am going to
Speaker 1: pick a bet, I find in another medium somewhere else
Speaker 1: to pick the bet. All down the middle. Cessler we
Speaker 1: to check his NFL dot com PEXI yeah, before Greg,
Speaker 1: you make your your pick, which I can imagine what
Speaker 1: it's gonna be um as much as people knew who
Speaker 1: I was gonna pick. But I will just say that
Speaker 1: I checked this. Thirteen of twenty h one, NFL media
Speaker 1: quote unquote experts a group that includes both uh, Greg
Speaker 1: and I on the written piece that's up on NFL
Speaker 1: dot com pick the Patriots to win. That's pretty close
Speaker 1: to And now I want to I want to let
Speaker 1: you know that last year twenty of twenty two NFL
Speaker 1: media quote experts picked the Panthers to win, including everyone
Speaker 1: but Mark, I know if you were online you were
Speaker 1: not there. No, you picked No, you picked the Panthers
Speaker 1: also online online, Well, we make those earlier in the week.
Speaker 1: And then, you know, here's the thing, I remember exactly change.
Speaker 1: I covered the Broncos all week, and something struck me
Speaker 1: about the fact that I kept asking, does what happened
Speaker 1: to you two years ago matter? And they were a
Speaker 1: completely different team, and I started to buy into the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, you can overstudy for these games
Speaker 1: if you're if you're an analyst too, And then I
Speaker 1: was like, Manning's gonna get his moment that just came.
Speaker 1: That just was how it felt, And so yeah, I
Speaker 1: probably switched my pick at the end. I didn't even
Speaker 1: file thee with NFL dot Com because I operate on
Speaker 1: my own clock. This time. I also didn't know. I
Speaker 1: didn't even know about it. So there's that your own clock, Mark,
Speaker 1: I didn't even know about it. Let's let's put it
Speaker 1: there anyway. So my point being that whatever popular opinion
Speaker 1: is right now, don't assume anything. Because everyone thought the
Speaker 1: Panthers were going all the way last year, this time
Speaker 1: last year. Okay, Greg, now we need somebody to pick
Speaker 1: the Patriots. We'd seem weird if nobody did. And you're
Speaker 1: gonna step up and be the hero New England needs.
Speaker 1: Of course you You mentioned Julio Jones, by the way,
Speaker 1: which we haven't even mentioned this show or or week,
Speaker 1: and I think he is going to have a monster game.
Speaker 1: Forget this, they take the best UH weapon away from you.
Speaker 1: It's Julio Jones. This guy is one of the greatest
Speaker 1: receivers we've ever seen, and he is someone throughout the
Speaker 1: week that I will have a different image of Julio
Speaker 1: Jones after this week then before. Very likable guy, very personal, smart.
Speaker 1: It seemed to be just ready, and I don't think
Speaker 1: the Patriots defense is gonna really stop them. I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be an outstanding game. I'm really excited for.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be, like I said, like that
Speaker 1: Cult Saints game where there's very few stops. There might
Speaker 1: be some field goals, maybe there's one turnover that flips it,
Speaker 1: but both teams go back and forth because they don't
Speaker 1: have any pass rush. Everyone always told us the pass
Speaker 1: rush is like the most necessary thing in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and yet two teams are in the Super Bowl that
Speaker 1: really don't have a great pass rush, and I don't think,
Speaker 1: you know, Vic Beasley is gonna get past Marcus Cannon.
Speaker 1: I think Kyle Shanahan and Bill Belichick are two of
Speaker 1: the best coaches on their respective sides of the ball
Speaker 1: in NFL history, at least the Shanahan family. You know,
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick one said, Mike Shanahan is the best game
Speaker 1: planner and best guy at adjusting in game, and that's
Speaker 1: what I would say about Bill Belichick. They're great at
Speaker 1: changing on the fly. So it's as great a matchup
Speaker 1: when the Patriots are on defense as could be possible
Speaker 1: in terms of the coaches. But I give the Patriots
Speaker 1: the slight edge because their defense has been better, better
Speaker 1: in situational football all year. That's why they're number one
Speaker 1: in scoring defense. The number one scoring defense does always
Speaker 1: take it out the number one offense in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl almost time after time. They prevent the Falcons from
Speaker 1: scoring touchdowns. They stopped field goals, and for the second
Speaker 1: time in five years, I get the score exactly right
Speaker 1: on a hair her o pick on the podcast, just
Speaker 1: like two thousand and twelve, when I had thirty four
Speaker 1: to thirty one Ravens, I'm going thirty four to thirty
Speaker 1: one Patriots. Hello, Larry one point off dance prediction. Wow? Greg?
Speaker 1: All right, that was good. Greg. I mean, you're gonna
Speaker 1: be wrong, but it was good. It was a lot
Speaker 1: of passion argument, a very good argument. UM. So there
Speaker 1: you have it. Uh, the old Zeuser has the thirty
Speaker 1: four thirty for the Falcons, Mark has thirty six thirty
Speaker 1: in overtime for the Falcons, and Greg, so we're all
Speaker 1: in the same ballpark and thinking that this will be
Speaker 1: a high scoring, uh, tight taught battle of two superpowers
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So hopefully it ends up that way,
Speaker 1: and hopefully Gaga performs well and UH and survives, thus
Speaker 1: avoiding Mark's prediction. UH for prop and pop Sandwich and
Speaker 1: and hopefully this country heals itself. Uh. All right, now
Speaker 1: I'm spinning away a little bit. I'm gonna come on
Speaker 1: Sunday happen. Next time you hear from us, of course,
Speaker 1: will be Sunday night, and it will be uh the
Speaker 1: only podcast in town, the only game in town, UH
Speaker 1: that will have a full recap of Super Bowl fifty
Speaker 1: one the night of the game. We will go straight
Speaker 1: from the stadium where where we cover the game, back
Speaker 1: here to I Heart Radio studios here in Houston. And
Speaker 1: thank you again to Sports Talk seven ninety a m
Speaker 1: H for helping us with giving us a home to
Speaker 1: record this podcast. So thank you to them. Thank you
Speaker 1: for everyone for listening. Mark, thank you for hanging around.
Speaker 1: And now you're off to uh to Jimmy g once more,
Speaker 1: off to cover the team that's about to lose the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. It feels almost unnecessary. I can't believe you
Speaker 1: turn on them. Love that moment. You know you have
Speaker 1: a turning on on anyone. It is all the same.
Speaker 1: They don't even know I exist. After a while, you
Speaker 1: just you start to wonder if Mark just likes rooting
Speaker 1: for the losing team. I mean pick the winning team.
Speaker 1: Last year that was like in the NPR category of
Speaker 1: low low digs. That was worse. N We'll get back
Speaker 1: to our studio where Greg becomes, you know, a friendlier individual,
Speaker 1: hopefully back in Los Angeles. The microphone changes a man
Speaker 1: and we learned that. Okay, so thank you everyone, and
Speaker 1: let's get excited because Super Bowl fifty one is coming
Speaker 1: up next. Oh football is great. This is Dan Handss
Speaker 1: signing off for the Quiet Storm, The Boss, the First
Speaker 1: Lady I'll do around the NFL podcast, New Money behind
Speaker 1: the Glass until Super Bowl Sunday. Dan hands A here again.
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