Speaker 1: From the King of sports books comes the Key Sports
Speaker 1: podcast Unleashed, presented by the MGM. Here's your host, Jerry
Speaker 1: Ferrara and Olivia Harlan Decker. Welcome to Unleashed. We are
Speaker 1: in the holiday spirit. May your days be merry and bright,
Speaker 1: May your bets be ambitious and lucky. May your thirty
Speaker 1: three point lead be safe. And may your holiday get
Speaker 1: togethers be a little messy. Get it, let me s s,
Speaker 1: I get it. Okay, Christmas already came early. From my
Speaker 1: friend Jerry Ferrara. The Nicks have won seven in a row,
Speaker 1: maybe even more by the time you're listening, because we
Speaker 1: record on Tuesday's a couple of games coming up. The
Speaker 1: Giants win with maybe some help from the officials. Who
Speaker 1: knows about that. He's hitting parlay's, he's hitting teasers, and
Speaker 1: he won his fantasy playoff game. Life is good for
Speaker 1: the kid. It's a Jerry Christmas. I should just quit
Speaker 1: while I'm ahead, because there's no way this could keep up.
Speaker 1: But yes, Sunday, I hit sports Utopia, I hit a parlay,
Speaker 1: I hit a teaser. Trevor Lawrence guided me through the
Speaker 1: first round of my fantasy playoffs. The Knicks one. That night,
Speaker 1: the Rangers won the seventh in a row. I just
Speaker 1: don't know where I go from here, so I should
Speaker 1: stop all on the head. Yeah, the only thing is
Speaker 1: your Seahawks ticket. It's just I mean, by the week
Speaker 1: it's it's gone. So I hope you not the not
Speaker 1: the only thing going into the fire. Santa might be
Speaker 1: coming down the fireplace, but the Seahawks ticket to when
Speaker 1: the division is going in the fireplace and lit on
Speaker 1: fire because it's over. But what a fun losing ticket
Speaker 1: that was. It was. It was fun for a while.
Speaker 1: Gave us some good fodder. So coming up, we got
Speaker 1: NFL games on Christmas Eve. We have a full day
Speaker 1: of NBA games on Christmas. There's so much to get to,
Speaker 1: plus Jerry. Coming up, we former Buffalo Bills running back
Speaker 1: Fred Jackson. He is joining us. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you know this. His story, his path really to get
Speaker 1: to the NFL is amazing. Do you know his story?
Speaker 1: I know a little bit. But he was one of
Speaker 1: my favorite players to watch. I drafted Fred Jackson every
Speaker 1: like fantasy stuff. He was one of my favorite running backs.
Speaker 1: Great career. So very excited to talk to. Yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: get into all of that, but I think he's like
Speaker 1: third leading rusher in Bills history. He's fantastic, has great stories.
Speaker 1: Really excited to talk with him. So yeah, what a
Speaker 1: huge win for his Bills though. Last week in snowy
Speaker 1: Buffalo against the Dolphins, and Jerry you called it the
Speaker 1: Dolphins cannot swim in the cold. No, but I will
Speaker 1: say I don't want to make silver linings here. But
Speaker 1: it wasn't a bad performance. Did not seem like the
Speaker 1: weather was much more of a factor than it even
Speaker 1: was for the Bills. Like it did not seem to
Speaker 1: really factor in for them. They just they just lost,
Speaker 1: but they played. It was a really really fun game
Speaker 1: to watch, and I feel better about the Dolphin. Should
Speaker 1: they make the playoffs going into the cold, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I hear you. That's gonna be an interesting one and
Speaker 1: kind of interesting too early in the season when Buffalo
Speaker 1: went down to Miami kind of inverse weather tricks. So,
Speaker 1: but this time of year, like we talked about last year,
Speaker 1: this is like finals in college. This is when it matters.
Speaker 1: So you got to play in the cold. Before we
Speaker 1: get into too much NFL, we have to pay off
Speaker 1: what was the best World Cup Final ever with the
Speaker 1: best player ever. Did you watch at all Argentina beating France.
Speaker 1: I did. I definitely came in late. I I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie and say I watched the entire game. Again,
Speaker 1: I don't go too deep with soccer, but it did
Speaker 1: feel like a an event that if you missed you'd
Speaker 1: probably regret. So I caught the probably the best part.
Speaker 1: I caught part of the comeback in the end, and
Speaker 1: I mean, just wow. It's it's almost like sad that
Speaker 1: it's every four years, but it's kind of what makes
Speaker 1: it what it is, Like the Olympics. I mean, we
Speaker 1: all have all this national pride for a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks and it's really fun to like pit against other teams.
Speaker 1: And what I love about World Cup especially is in
Speaker 1: the Olympics that you have guys who are on the
Speaker 1: same team throughout the regular season play against each other
Speaker 1: like we did with France v Argentina. So really good.
Speaker 1: Did you see that Drake put a million bucks in
Speaker 1: Argentina to win. I did see that. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: it's all relative, right, I mean that's obviously an amazing
Speaker 1: big number, but it's all relative, Like a million to
Speaker 1: Drake is probably you know, ten cents to me. But
Speaker 1: either way, with those winnings, you can definitely you could
Speaker 1: definitely buy something really really nice, especially in Ohio. You
Speaker 1: you just doesn't make that in there. I'm running it
Speaker 1: out there, I'm running it up there. Yeah, he won
Speaker 1: two and a half million, So yeah, you could buy
Speaker 1: something very nice anywhere. But Messi finally gets to hold
Speaker 1: the one trophy that has eluded him. Argentina went up
Speaker 1: to nothing France with a frantic rally. They tied it
Speaker 1: with two Bob goals and first minute an extra time
Speaker 1: both teams would score again. Argentina went up eat it two,
Speaker 1: then Embob scored his third goal, who got the hat trick,
Speaker 1: tying it at three. The World Cup was once again
Speaker 1: decided by penalty kicks, which is amazing for the sport.
Speaker 1: I think because if you're not a big soccer fan
Speaker 1: and you just kind of, like a lot of people
Speaker 1: tuned in this one game, you probably thought it was
Speaker 1: super exciting, which it was, so it's really great for
Speaker 1: the sport and just the storylines and you had these
Speaker 1: two stars battling it out. It was just just incredible.
Speaker 1: So Argentina wins for the first time since nineteen and
Speaker 1: when we had Tim Howard on the show, he told
Speaker 1: us that, you know, Messi is one of the best
Speaker 1: players to ever play, but he'll always be compared to Maridonna,
Speaker 1: who had one for Argentina. So if he was ever
Speaker 1: going to be considered the best player in the world,
Speaker 1: he had to at least be considered the best player
Speaker 1: in his own country history. So really really cool. If
Speaker 1: you are all wrapped up in the soccer world, which
Speaker 1: a lot of people are right now because it was
Speaker 1: so attention grabbing, go back to our Tim Howard episode
Speaker 1: because his experiences at the World Cup and really really
Speaker 1: beautifully laying out what this stage was. I thought he
Speaker 1: did a really great job. So I think that listen
Speaker 1: is just as good now in past tense. Before we
Speaker 1: close the book on the World Cup, we have to
Speaker 1: get to our audible of the week. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: ahead and crown it Telemundo commentator Andre Cantor. He had
Speaker 1: so much pride in this call. You can feel it
Speaker 1: around the globe. It's so moving to watch a grown
Speaker 1: man cry about a soccer game. I'll just let you listen.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, Mom and Dodd d Yeah, Okay, let's get
Speaker 1: to the NFL. The big story this week, obviously Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts brained shoulder. The Eagles have been fine high this season,
Speaker 1: Hurts as an m v P favorite, but now there
Speaker 1: are fourths he could miss this Saturday's game against the Cowboys. Hopefully,
Speaker 1: hopefully no more than that. But this is a huge meeting.
Speaker 1: This is the game we've all been waiting for. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I think the Niners have been dubbed either tied around
Speaker 1: with the Eagles for the best team in the NFC
Speaker 1: or second best. I still think the Cowboys can be
Speaker 1: formidable regardless of that blown lead versus Jacksonvill. I think
Speaker 1: that says more about Jacksonville than it did about the
Speaker 1: Cowboys to me. But either way, we need Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: healthy to really experience what the Eagles could do. It's
Speaker 1: nice that the Eagles have built this lead, although they
Speaker 1: can get caught for the first round by in the
Speaker 1: one seed. The Niners could catch them. I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess the Vikings can catch them, but I don't think
Speaker 1: that's likely. And you know, I think the Cowboys are
Speaker 1: just too far behind. But without him, yeah, I do
Speaker 1: worry a little bit about what's gonna go on, it
Speaker 1: does seem like he'll be ready for the playoffs. This
Speaker 1: is where it's helpful to have a gardner Minshew, who
Speaker 1: I've always been a fan of. I think he could
Speaker 1: get you. Maybe they don't beat the Cowboys. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think he's good enough probably to beat the Giants
Speaker 1: and maybe lock up that one seed. But yeah, this
Speaker 1: isn't great, and you know, it definitely helps the Giants
Speaker 1: who might be playing them. I think the last week
Speaker 1: of the year, I don't know if we see Jalen Hurts,
Speaker 1: even if healthy, because the Eagles, it's still a big
Speaker 1: game because the Eagles are gonna want to lock up
Speaker 1: that one seed and rest Jalen Hurts. Do you know
Speaker 1: what the spread is? Oh God, what did they moved
Speaker 1: to now? I don't know. I I'm a little surprised
Speaker 1: it favors the Cowboys. I'm not surprised, Okay, and it's
Speaker 1: in Dallas obviously minus five and a half. That's a
Speaker 1: little surprising because I do think Minshew is capable, and
Speaker 1: also they just have web Philly as weapons everywhere air
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys have a really good defense, but their
Speaker 1: their secondary is a mess with injuries and Trevor, Lawrence
Speaker 1: and Jackson will just lit them up. So that's a
Speaker 1: little high. I I like the Eagles with the I'm
Speaker 1: not to win, but I love the points. Yeah. Okay,
Speaker 1: we saw some more brutal losses this week. It was
Speaker 1: a weird weekend. So Matt Ryan, we gotta start there
Speaker 1: once again on the wrong side of a historic collapse
Speaker 1: as the Colts blew a thirty three nothing halftime lead
Speaker 1: to the Vikings. Look, Matt got tight. You could just
Speaker 1: like see it on his face, his body language. Where
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins got loose. You love to see that level
Speaker 1: of loose Kirk Cousins. So Matt Ryan now owns a
Speaker 1: horrible spot in NFL history as being at the helm
Speaker 1: of two of the greatest collapses in NFL history. One
Speaker 1: in any game ever. That one one of a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl up three to loose Tom Brady. But Jerry, what's
Speaker 1: the takeaway? Who's to blame here? Is that Jeff Saturday?
Speaker 1: Is it Matt Ryan? Well, my main takeaway is, Look,
Speaker 1: this is not a good part of history for Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan to be affiliated with both of these losses. But
Speaker 1: let's not kid ourselves. This was bad. Yeah, sure, it's
Speaker 1: the worst, it's the biggest comeback ever. Blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: I get it. That sucks. The super Bowl thing, that's
Speaker 1: one that he'll be thinking about. That one, he's not
Speaker 1: going to be thinking about this game against the Vikings
Speaker 1: with Jeff Saturday as his coach. You can't pin this
Speaker 1: on Matt Ryan. Does he maybe get a little tight
Speaker 1: with some of his throws, sure, but also the defense
Speaker 1: didn't help him out at all. Jeff Saturday and the
Speaker 1: coaching staff certainly didn't help him out at all. So
Speaker 1: you cannot blame Matt Ryan. It's a team loss. But
Speaker 1: I would give the emphasis on the coaching and the
Speaker 1: play calling. The play calling got tight. But yeah, this sucks.
Speaker 1: But I don't although I guess the Colts could have
Speaker 1: had a playoff shot had they won this game somehow,
Speaker 1: they would have still been, you know, alive. But wrap
Speaker 1: it up, Cults, I think that's I don't know how
Speaker 1: you bounce back. I'm curious to see how they bounced
Speaker 1: back against the Chargers. But that that that was tough. Okay,
Speaker 1: The next one that was just weird. The Raiders completely
Speaker 1: stunned the Patriots with the lateral pass gone wrong. So
Speaker 1: the Pats could have ran out the clock and went
Speaker 1: to overtime. But for some weird, weird reason, Kobe Myers
Speaker 1: tried to be a hero toss it back to mac Jones.
Speaker 1: But Chandler Jones to the Patriots had cut, intercepted it,
Speaker 1: walk off, touchdown a lot of meth. And here's my thing,
Speaker 1: even if Matt caught it, he's so immobile, I don't
Speaker 1: know what the plan was. If he had caught it,
Speaker 1: he would have been toast. So of course Chandler Jones
Speaker 1: is right there. So yeah, this loss to me is
Speaker 1: much harder to take if you're a Patriots fan because
Speaker 1: first and foremost, you're now seven and seven with that loss,
Speaker 1: you should or could have been eight and six had
Speaker 1: you got it into overtime and maybe one it, so
Speaker 1: that would have put you tied for the seven. Basically
Speaker 1: six seven, eight would have been a log jam with
Speaker 1: the Chargers, Dolphins, and Patriots all eight and six. Now
Speaker 1: you're seven and seven, still have some hope, but that
Speaker 1: was one you you should. I mean, you can't say
Speaker 1: they would have won in overtime for sure, although they
Speaker 1: had chances to lock that game up. That just was
Speaker 1: weird unlike a Bill Belichick game. I do give Kobe
Speaker 1: credit for like sitting up and doing the press conference
Speaker 1: and take question. He did not shy away from the
Speaker 1: mistake in the moment. Props to him that was like
Speaker 1: that takes a lot of guts to do that after
Speaker 1: a moment like that. But yeah, that one, that one's
Speaker 1: gonna haunt the Patriots because it doesn't finish their playoff chances.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be uphill from
Speaker 1: here on out with that loss. Then the third one,
Speaker 1: and I've been excited to ask your opinion on this
Speaker 1: one because everyone on Twitter sure has one. The Commanders
Speaker 1: and the Giants. So the Commanders lose after several controversial
Speaker 1: calls at the end of the game, involving Terry McLaurin
Speaker 1: pointing over to the ref what oh a little violent act. Okay,
Speaker 1: what is your take on this as someone who has
Speaker 1: been on the wrong side of those calls as a
Speaker 1: Giant fan, and there's there's been a bunch that certainly
Speaker 1: sucks if you're a Commanders fan, because yeah, that was
Speaker 1: p I you could say in the end zone you
Speaker 1: could have called it. I think it's a it's a little.
Speaker 1: I mean they were definitely boxing out and jostling for position,
Speaker 1: but yes, he then wrapped him up. But here's what
Speaker 1: to me about the argument. People who are saying you
Speaker 1: have to be willing to call pass interference with the
Speaker 1: game on the line. Why these refs don't want they
Speaker 1: don't want to call pass interference. Why because the game's
Speaker 1: on the line, you gotta call it. They are also mad,
Speaker 1: how do you call Terry McLaren for off sides at
Speaker 1: that point in the game if it goes both ways,
Speaker 1: and it goes both ways, you can't get mad at
Speaker 1: the Terry McLaren call and then get mad at the
Speaker 1: non p I call. Look, it sucks. There was a
Speaker 1: lot of bad calls in that game. Also, like we
Speaker 1: saw it with the Vikings missing the This is happening everywhere,
Speaker 1: so don't blame like the Giants potentially making the playoffs
Speaker 1: and the Commanders not making the playoffs on this game.
Speaker 1: There's also holding on on Thibodeau and he got basically
Speaker 1: punched in the face and poked in the eye and
Speaker 1: a face mask not called. There was tons of awful
Speaker 1: missed calls or wrong calls in that game. They called
Speaker 1: a dead ball on a fumble that was clearly a
Speaker 1: fumble that you know, the Giants did get end up
Speaker 1: winning that challenge, but who knows, maybe Larry Williams could
Speaker 1: have got up and advanced the ball thirty more yards.
Speaker 1: It was a awfully awful officiated game, not the reason
Speaker 1: why the Commanders lost the game. I'm sorry, and you
Speaker 1: still have hope. Okay, opinion, Yeah, take a breath. Um, Okay,
Speaker 1: the NFC South is terrible. So who takes it? The Bucks,
Speaker 1: the Saints, the Falcons, the Panthers. You gotta look at
Speaker 1: what the Bucks did this past week because the Bengals
Speaker 1: had something to prove after Tom Brady called their defense
Speaker 1: fairly tough quote which, honestly, and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: ask Fred about this later in the show. Fred, it
Speaker 1: sounds like world friends. Yeah, Fred Jackson, we uh fairly tough.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's like much of an insult. And
Speaker 1: when you looked at the whole quote, Brady said, he's like,
Speaker 1: they've got a great young quarterback, they have a lot
Speaker 1: of weapons, and they have a fairly tough defense. Not
Speaker 1: that abrasive of a comment, but boy did the Bengals
Speaker 1: defense take it differently. Yeah, and I would say the
Speaker 1: Bengals are better than a fairly good defense. I will say, however,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady has played some of the best defenses ever
Speaker 1: to play football over the last twenty two years, So
Speaker 1: I basically think I read that as he's saying, you know,
Speaker 1: this isn't this isn't the twenty the two thousand seven
Speaker 1: Giants defense, but they're a good defense. If you would
Speaker 1: have gotten rid of the word fairly and said this
Speaker 1: is a tough Bengals defense, no one would have care.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if that would bottom line is,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are significantly better than the Bucks in every
Speaker 1: area of the game. Bucks got out to as good
Speaker 1: of a lead as they could have started with and
Speaker 1: it still wasn't enough. So yeah, a lot of people
Speaker 1: talking about that. I don't know. I as someone who
Speaker 1: did I wanted I mean, I did want to bet Tampa.
Speaker 1: I thought that I liked them in this spot and
Speaker 1: that was a great start. The Bengals just on another level.
Speaker 1: And the Bengals still have levels to go. They're gonna
Speaker 1: get even healthier. They still have a dB to get
Speaker 1: bat like. They're gonna get even healthier. So they're peaking
Speaker 1: at the right time. Yeah, Bengals defense. Remember it took
Speaker 1: him till a week eight for a team to even
Speaker 1: score a second half touchdown them and they had yet
Speaker 1: to allow a three yard passer. And in this game,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady through two interceptions and the Bucks started the
Speaker 1: second half with five straight possessions with the turnovers. So yeah,
Speaker 1: Bengals defense, that's something to prove. Bengals are hot, hot hot.
Speaker 1: Yeah you did mention though the NFC South. Should we
Speaker 1: stay in the South for a second, because this is
Speaker 1: going to pull straws, like what are we gonna do? Well?
Speaker 1: The funny thing is, and you know me, I love
Speaker 1: to see what teams have ahead when the schedule. The
Speaker 1: Bucks go at Arizona with you know, no quarterback in
Speaker 1: site there, so they should win that game. And then
Speaker 1: they finished with two divisional games. They finished with home
Speaker 1: against Carolina at Atlanta. The Saints, who are a mark ingram,
Speaker 1: stay in bounds away from maybe being in the driver's
Speaker 1: seat of this division. They go at Browns, which the
Speaker 1: Browns have proven to be tough at least you have
Speaker 1: to go beat them at Eagles, which that looked horrible
Speaker 1: on the schedule maybe it's a little better if no hurts,
Speaker 1: and then of course they Playbors the Panthers. All four
Speaker 1: of these teams play each other in the final week
Speaker 1: of the season. What are the odds of both of
Speaker 1: those games ending in a tie? I would not be
Speaker 1: surprised because then the Falcons go Ravens Cardinals, and the Bucks,
Speaker 1: like I said, and the Panthers go Lions. Don't underestimate
Speaker 1: this Panthers Lions game. That is huge because the Lions needed.
Speaker 1: The Panthers really are the team that could have ran
Speaker 1: away with this division. They've given away three games earlier
Speaker 1: in the year. Uh. And the Panthers go Lions and
Speaker 1: an at Bucks at Sts, so in a weird way,
Speaker 1: the Panthers could control their own destiny. They win out right, No,
Speaker 1: my gosh, it's it's crazy when you put it that,
Speaker 1: it is exhausting. Do you need another breath? If you
Speaker 1: had to pick though, if you had to pick a
Speaker 1: team to come out of the South. With everything I
Speaker 1: just laid out, the Bucks do have the one game
Speaker 1: lead on everyone else. And I think the Bucks are
Speaker 1: three and one in the division and the Panthers are
Speaker 1: three and one in the division. Is there a team
Speaker 1: that you lean toward. I guess Tampa Bay just because
Speaker 1: you know it's my buddy Tom, just because it feels
Speaker 1: like if he's in the division, you can't cut him out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I do think they maybe have the easier They're
Speaker 1: catching the Cardinals at a great time. The Panthers are alternate, right,
Speaker 1: and they finish at Atlanta, which you know, with their
Speaker 1: quarterback change, maybe that's not as tough of a game,
Speaker 1: but this is because then that affects everything else. Whoever
Speaker 1: wins this crazy division. And I can't believe someone's gonna
Speaker 1: you someone's gonna have to go win a playoff game
Speaker 1: in Tampa, uh, you know, New Orleans, Atlanta or Carolina,
Speaker 1: and I think that's probably gonna be what the Cowboys
Speaker 1: where I think are locked in at the five seed
Speaker 1: or whatever. I mean, it's insane that we have to
Speaker 1: watch a home Maybe in the future, just give the
Speaker 1: home field advantage to the team with the wild card
Speaker 1: team with the better record. Yeah, well, it is Christmas week,
Speaker 1: so I think we should eat make our wish, our
Speaker 1: our Christmas wish. But as it pertains to sports, and
Speaker 1: I think he knows, you know what mine's gonna be
Speaker 1: because I thought I was dead in the water. I
Speaker 1: thought I had completely retired all of my green I
Speaker 1: thought I was switching to my other team, the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: and just going to ride them all the way, even
Speaker 1: though the Chiefs didn't give me much to tear about
Speaker 1: last week. But it's a lie. For the Packers, there's
Speaker 1: still hope. So let me just run through this because
Speaker 1: this is my Christmas wish. They need to run the
Speaker 1: table to be nine and eight, because getting an NFC
Speaker 1: wild card should at least require an above five records.
Speaker 1: So the Giants finished with the Vikings, Colts, and Eagles
Speaker 1: with a chance to face Philly week eight team those backups,
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, Landers still need to play the forty Niners, Browns,
Speaker 1: and Cowboys. Okay, we've walked through that. But the Lions
Speaker 1: play at the Panthers and host the Bears. The Lions
Speaker 1: play at Panthers hosting the Bears. That's their next two weeks,
Speaker 1: so pretty favorable matchups, although not not a cakewalk. That's
Speaker 1: before they based the Packers, so obviously then Packers would
Speaker 1: have to beat the Lions. Seahawks need to deal with
Speaker 1: the Chiefs and Jets until they face the Rams. At
Speaker 1: home finish the season. Okay, so the Packers need to
Speaker 1: take care of their schedule, but they need to get
Speaker 1: a lot of breaks from the other So I think
Speaker 1: they have like a five percent chance right now of
Speaker 1: making the playoffs. But if they lose a game, they're
Speaker 1: out and and it starts here like it's do they
Speaker 1: go into beautiful Miami on Christmas Day to deliver? Helps
Speaker 1: start to deliver? You're like Cindy who in the Grinch
Speaker 1: writing the letter of the Santa that you're hoping for
Speaker 1: a Christmas miracle, but it can't happen. They just need
Speaker 1: the Lions to lose one of these games to Carolina
Speaker 1: or the Bears, which that would go a long while.
Speaker 1: Though I don't I don't think you're gonna get your
Speaker 1: Christmas miracle. I'm sorry. Oh, this is why it's a miracle.
Speaker 1: It's if not this time of year, then when yeah,
Speaker 1: look at least you're still a mathematically alive, which is
Speaker 1: more than I thought I did not just gonna be.
Speaker 1: At this point in the podcast, do you want to
Speaker 1: hear my Christmas wish? Please? And look, if you would
Speaker 1: have told me whose wish was more of a miracle
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the season. It would have been mine.
Speaker 1: The odds would have been mine. Is more of a miracle.
Speaker 1: Dear Santa, I've been a very good boy this year.
Speaker 1: I have not gotten into any trouble. I've done all
Speaker 1: my chores. I've been a good dad, I've been a
Speaker 1: good husband. I've tried to be a good podcast host.
Speaker 1: All I want for Christmas is for the Knicks to
Speaker 1: make the playoffs, not the playing game, the playoffs. Surging
Speaker 1: with seven in a row, we take this on a Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Who knows what will be after this airs, but I
Speaker 1: see it now. I'm getting pulled back in. Come on, Santa,
Speaker 1: come down the chimney and deliver me a Knicks playoff berth.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay, so obviously you get to see your
Speaker 1: Knicks on Christmas. They host the seventies Sis. That's gonna
Speaker 1: be a good one. Buck the Celtics. That's probably the
Speaker 1: best game on the slate Christmas Day. But yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot of good NBA coming up. I do think it's
Speaker 1: interesting that the NFL decide, you know, not that they
Speaker 1: decided because Christmas Day is on Sunday, so they're always
Speaker 1: just going to be football. But you know, they're kind
Speaker 1: of going head to head with the NBA, who's always
Speaker 1: owned Christmas Day, regardless of what day falls on. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie you'r Packers Dolphins match up is the
Speaker 1: best game of Christmas Day because then you go Broncos
Speaker 1: Rams I can't even name you who the quarterbacks are
Speaker 1: gonna be. And then you go Tampa Bay and Brady Verse.
Speaker 1: I don't know whose quarterbacking in Arizona. I will be
Speaker 1: glued to the NBA. The Knicks are finally back on
Speaker 1: Christmas Day. They always used to play on Christmas Day.
Speaker 1: I spent a good amount of my thirties because in
Speaker 1: my family, Christmas Eve was always like the bigger holiday,
Speaker 1: because that's what we spend on my mom's side, and
Speaker 1: my dad's side was not nearly as big and haven't
Speaker 1: really kept as much as close with them as I
Speaker 1: would have liked to. So Christmas Eve was the big one.
Speaker 1: Is mom's side Italian too, yes, And then Christmas Day
Speaker 1: I would always go me and I take my same
Speaker 1: friend Gerard. Every year. We're almost like orphans. On Christmas Day,
Speaker 1: we go to the Knicks game and they never really
Speaker 1: won on Christmas Day, but it was a great tradition,
Speaker 1: and then they it got so bad they took the
Speaker 1: Knicks off Christmas Day and now they're back. That's the
Speaker 1: game of the day. Although Buck Celtics might have something
Speaker 1: to say about that. But I think the Nick sixers.
Speaker 1: I'm glued to the TV on NBA NFL. I'll be watching,
Speaker 1: but I'll be watching NBA will be on the bigger TV. Okay,
Speaker 1: I like that. Yeah, Christmas Day NBA just feels right.
Speaker 1: But I think he made a good point. NFL is
Speaker 1: not scared to go head to head in that meeting,
Speaker 1: because NFL really does. Whenever you look up like TV ratings,
Speaker 1: NFL's king always. Yeah, And I guess if you looked
Speaker 1: at those matchups before the season, like, oh, Rogers versus Miami,
Speaker 1: that's a great game. And then you got Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: versus Matthew Stafford and defending champion Rams and Brady versus
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray in an eight twenty west. Yeah, well I
Speaker 1: didn't work out that way. Sorry, all right, Jerry, it's
Speaker 1: that time of the show where we need to just
Speaker 1: say what's on our mind, and I'm leaking. It's time
Speaker 1: to unleash. So here's my only R E L a X.
Speaker 1: Let me explain. So, my uncle is an agent. He
Speaker 1: represents NFL and college coaches. So at our Thanksgiving table
Speaker 1: growing up, he was always really busy working the phones
Speaker 1: because on Thanksgiving that's when college coaches are fired. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, it's called Black Monday, the day after the
Speaker 1: last regular season game January nine, by the way, this year.
Speaker 1: So because my uncle's an agent, I'm always really in
Speaker 1: tune to these key days on the calendar, on the
Speaker 1: sports calendar, and especially this week when I saw this.
Speaker 1: The NFL has come out saying that teams have paid
Speaker 1: about eight hundred million dollars in fired coaches and front
Speaker 1: office execs over the last five years. They are urging
Speaker 1: teams to be more patient and to not waste this money.
Speaker 1: A perfect example, Jerry your Giants. They're currently paying three
Speaker 1: different head coaches this season, Pat Charmer, who was fired
Speaker 1: nearly three years ago, that was only two years into
Speaker 1: his five year deal. And then two years later the
Speaker 1: team fired Joe Judge, who also only coached two years
Speaker 1: into his five year deal. And then of course now
Speaker 1: they're paying day Ball. I mean, it's pretty crazy. Last
Speaker 1: year saw nine teams part ways with their head coaches Bears, Broncos, Texans, Jaguars, Raiders, Dolphins, Viking, Saints,
Speaker 1: and Giants. Of course, so far this season, two head
Speaker 1: coaches have already been fired. That's Panthers and Colts Frank
Speaker 1: Wright obviously, and the Titans also fired their general manager.
Speaker 1: So this is a trend that we are always going
Speaker 1: to see. Black Monday is coming up and we're going
Speaker 1: to see this happening. But I think the average fan
Speaker 1: needs to realize how much teams have to end up
Speaker 1: paying to fire their coaches and fans are so impatient
Speaker 1: and just get him out of here, you know. And
Speaker 1: that's my unleashed is r E l a X. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's not that one man in the room that's causing
Speaker 1: all the issues. That is an amazing unleashed. Best gig
Speaker 1: I guess in town is to be a fire a
Speaker 1: NFL coach because if you are that, that's I mean,
Speaker 1: isn't like Sean Payton still getting paid. I don't even
Speaker 1: like it just sounds amazing. I'm I'm sure these guys
Speaker 1: love to work and want to be coaching, but it
Speaker 1: also sounds amazing, I will say. In the Giants case, though,
Speaker 1: great case you laid out, I mean Shermers, but I
Speaker 1: don't know if those are NFL head coaches, because then
Speaker 1: when you see what a guy like Dables doing with
Speaker 1: kind of the same ingredients, pretty much it goes a
Speaker 1: long way. But I will say the flip side is
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell and the Lions who won in six could
Speaker 1: have absolutely been fired. They stayed patient and that's worked
Speaker 1: out great. Unleashed, That's what I'm saying. That's what teams
Speaker 1: need to do. Yea believe believe. So from my unleashed
Speaker 1: I just need your help. I need you to give.
Speaker 1: This is more of a question than a statement, okay,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to do any professional sports. So
Speaker 1: I love basketball, you know this. I still play basketball,
Speaker 1: not nearly. I would love to play with Sam one day,
Speaker 1: but that would be like a joke for him. So
Speaker 1: me and a couple of buddies meet up at the
Speaker 1: local rec center here after we drop our kids off
Speaker 1: from school at eight thirty in the morning, and we
Speaker 1: play a very light like two on two, three on three,
Speaker 1: a lot of three point shots. So they have a
Speaker 1: curtain down the halfway part of the gym. Half the
Speaker 1: gyms for basketball, the other half is for the pickle
Speaker 1: ball and I hope you're all listening. I don't think
Speaker 1: any of these senior citizens are listening to our podcast.
Speaker 1: I hope you are, because I want the smoke they
Speaker 1: get about forty fifty people for these two pickleball courts
Speaker 1: that they get. So here's what happens every single time
Speaker 1: you play. Me and my buddies are playing and it's
Speaker 1: only four of us, and right when the fiftie pickleballer
Speaker 1: walks in, they start coming around the curtain and looking
Speaker 1: at us and looking at their watches and motioning there's
Speaker 1: no one under seventy years old. By the way. Now
Speaker 1: they've they've officially approached us. They come over and I
Speaker 1: can't keep my mouth shut, but I was taught to
Speaker 1: respect my elders. And they're basically like, would you guys
Speaker 1: mind playing on the side hoop? You know about the
Speaker 1: side who? You don't even get a three point line
Speaker 1: on the side who, so we can get an extra
Speaker 1: pickleball court, so four more of us could play and
Speaker 1: we don't have to wait as long. My initial reaction was,
Speaker 1: do they know who I am? No? My initial reaction was, um, no,
Speaker 1: you guys get half the court, we get half the court.
Speaker 1: We come here for an hour, you're here for four hours.
Speaker 1: We'll be done in twenty minutes. Is that cool? Cool?
Speaker 1: The whole time they're watching us just like throwing bad
Speaker 1: old people juju at us, just like I just feel
Speaker 1: it coming. They're just they're judging us. Then they sent
Speaker 1: over their leader, this this really nice older woman who
Speaker 1: came over and was like, guys, you guys should try
Speaker 1: pickle ball. You're young, you'll be really good. I've never
Speaker 1: played pickaball. Now they're recruiting us for pickleball. So my
Speaker 1: question to you listeners and Olivia from my unleashed is
Speaker 1: Number one, do I go to the side court with
Speaker 1: my three friends and play not no three point shooting
Speaker 1: pick up basketball to give them one more court? Where
Speaker 1: do I hold the line? Part B is do I
Speaker 1: just start playing pickleball and dominate because I'm thirty years
Speaker 1: younger than everyone. Can? I also just let the listeners
Speaker 1: know a story that you told us off fair, that
Speaker 1: you think you got tennis elbow from picking up a
Speaker 1: britt a picture that did happen that's true. Needs to
Speaker 1: keep this in mind when you answer this question, um boy,
Speaker 1: pickle ball has like swept the nation. My friends are
Speaker 1: all playing, and it's families are playing. Some babe, this
Speaker 1: is something you should get into. I've never played. I
Speaker 1: don't know, so okay, pickle ball aside? Do I give
Speaker 1: up the real estate? Do I give up the half
Speaker 1: half regulation half court so they could have another little
Speaker 1: pickleball court and then we go play on the side hoop? Nope,
Speaker 1: you hold firm because you have you know, Jerry, you
Speaker 1: mentioned on the show a lot. You're aging in front
Speaker 1: of me, and I don't know how many good basketball
Speaker 1: years you have left, so you need to protect them.
Speaker 1: I gotta get a ring trying to get okay, So
Speaker 1: I will respectfully when they look at me tomorrow when
Speaker 1: we're playing to one too, I will respectfully decline to
Speaker 1: move to the side hoop because they are my elders,
Speaker 1: and I do have respect for my elders. It's a
Speaker 1: bad day to be an old person playing pick a
Speaker 1: ball in Cleveland. I'll tell you that I would not
Speaker 1: want to miss you. Yikes. That's a good unleashed all right.
Speaker 1: Let's get to someone who uh would never hurt their
Speaker 1: elbow picking up a brit of picture or play pick
Speaker 1: a ball at a rec center with some moldie. Let's
Speaker 1: get over to Fred Jackson. Jerry, I'm noticing a trend
Speaker 1: that we keep getting Bills players on the show. Why
Speaker 1: are you letting this happen? You're this big Giants fan? Listen.
Speaker 1: I'm a big Giants fan, but I can't say that
Speaker 1: I am not enjoyed the way the Bills have played.
Speaker 1: I am also a big fan of our next his
Speaker 1: whole career has been um something I've followed really really closely.
Speaker 1: Do you want to take it from here? Because we
Speaker 1: have someone who's the first player in NFL history Kapable
Speaker 1: a thousand rushing yards and kick returns in the same season.
Speaker 1: What that's insane? All right? Everyone we know Buffalo is listening.
Speaker 1: It's Fred Jackson. Fred, How you doing? Not too bad? Man?
Speaker 1: And I really appreciate you guys having me on. You know,
Speaker 1: I first got to ask about your background here. And
Speaker 1: for those who are watching on YouTube, they can see it.
Speaker 1: For those listening on the podcast, they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: just use your imagination. But walk us through the jerseys
Speaker 1: and is there a special story that goes with each
Speaker 1: one of doing a jersey swap without a doubt. It's
Speaker 1: one of those deals that it's kind of grown over
Speaker 1: the years. Back when I was doing it, we weren't
Speaker 1: swapping as much as guys do now. You see it
Speaker 1: all over social media and stuff now where guys are
Speaker 1: getting jerseys from everybody but Marshawn. Actually, it took me
Speaker 1: until I left Buffalo to get to Seattle for me
Speaker 1: to get a jersey from him. I have to actually
Speaker 1: chase him down. So there's a story with that one.
Speaker 1: Drew Brees is Drew Brees. He was I was always
Speaker 1: a fan of his, And when I came to play
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, the restaurant that I owned out there, I
Speaker 1: was like, brim new jersey. Everything else is taken care of.
Speaker 1: I'll take care of the mill and all that with
Speaker 1: you guys, come hang out. All I want is a jersey.
Speaker 1: So he was obviously gracious enough to do that. Von
Speaker 1: Is Vaughan, You want one in the camp is right here.
Speaker 1: But I have a bunch of different jerseys, just guys
Speaker 1: that I respected and loved playing with. Teammates are over
Speaker 1: on the wall behind us. And and then I have
Speaker 1: you know, I even have an abbe wand back and uh,
Speaker 1: Carly Lord Jersey, Jersey. They are hanging up. I just
Speaker 1: like to collect the people that I've respected and guys
Speaker 1: that I love playing against, and it's great to be
Speaker 1: able to have them up on the wall down here
Speaker 1: in America. Carly Lloyd Jersey. That is a hard sentence
Speaker 1: to say. That's a really impressive collection you got there.
Speaker 1: I'm a Packer fan, so I love the Rogers Jersey.
Speaker 1: There was Aaron pretty generous giving that one up without
Speaker 1: a doubt. So Aaron and I have you know, I
Speaker 1: played him two or three times and we both respected,
Speaker 1: like I mean, I could read what it is. It's
Speaker 1: that's congratsman. I love the way you played. Always been
Speaker 1: a fan, so same respect for him. You know, I
Speaker 1: love the way he plays and still playing. It's not
Speaker 1: going to the way that he wants him to for
Speaker 1: this season, but he's still still a dynamic player, first
Speaker 1: ballot Hall of Fame. There's still a chance, there's a
Speaker 1: tiny chance. Earlier we were talking obviously this was a
Speaker 1: crazy weekend in the NFL. There was some gut wrenching
Speaker 1: losses this past week. Two things. One, next, do you
Speaker 1: remember your toughest loss? Similar to the endings that we
Speaker 1: kind of saw and is there a game that you
Speaker 1: still think about, one that you're just not quite over still,
Speaker 1: or have you healed from everything? You know what, I
Speaker 1: think being a competitor, you never healed from him. But
Speaker 1: I mean, the most recent that I can think of
Speaker 1: is we went out and played in the black Hole
Speaker 1: when Oakland was still out in Oakland and or the
Speaker 1: Raiders were still out in Oakland and we needed to
Speaker 1: win that game to keep our playoff hopes alive. And
Speaker 1: we went in there and Charles Woodson was Charles Woodson
Speaker 1: and ended the game on us. And that's you know,
Speaker 1: a different story, but I think that's probably the one
Speaker 1: where he had a chance at the end of the
Speaker 1: game and he made a play to end it in um,
Speaker 1: you know, that basically ended my career in Buffalo because
Speaker 1: you know, the next year I was off to Seattle.
Speaker 1: So that's probably one that six out the most of me.
Speaker 1: How does the team get over losing a thirty three
Speaker 1: point lead then, or even losing a game like the
Speaker 1: Patriots did this weekend? What can a coach possibly stay
Speaker 1: in the locker room after a game like that? You
Speaker 1: know what, I don't know. I think as players and
Speaker 1: the captains of the team. I think the number one
Speaker 1: thing you have to say is we get another opportunity
Speaker 1: next week to go out and showcase what we're capable
Speaker 1: of doing, and that that's not us. You know, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a bitter taste. There's no way you can
Speaker 1: ever say that you're over giving up a thirty three
Speaker 1: point lead. That's always going to be something that haunts
Speaker 1: those guys, and unfortunately it's something in the record books
Speaker 1: now that you know every time it gets brought up
Speaker 1: about leads and and giving up you know, Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: here's about three every time he plays against anybody and
Speaker 1: they have a lead. So but I think that's the
Speaker 1: number one thing is in the game of football, it's
Speaker 1: so humbling that you have to have a short term
Speaker 1: mem You have to be able to get over things
Speaker 1: like that, especially this late in the season. For those guys,
Speaker 1: you know, they start playing, they have to realize they're
Speaker 1: playing for their jobs, they're playing for their livelihoods, where
Speaker 1: their families are going to be be at at the
Speaker 1: end of the season. And I think that's what you
Speaker 1: look at and what takes precedent on what you're looking
Speaker 1: at the rest of the season and not this the
Speaker 1: buckle of a game that you had the last weekend.
Speaker 1: But I would love a player point of view here
Speaker 1: because I talked about this earlier in the show and
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a way to fix it.
Speaker 1: But the NFC South this year, let's just be honest,
Speaker 1: it has not been a graceful thing. Right. We have
Speaker 1: not watched good football from any of the teams. I
Speaker 1: don't know who is gonna. I mean, they all play
Speaker 1: each other in the final week of the season. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be shocked if both games were tied. That's how
Speaker 1: weird the NFC South has been. But so if you're
Speaker 1: another team like the Lions or the Seahawks or even
Speaker 1: Olivia's Packers, who may end up squeaking out eight or
Speaker 1: nine wins, we might very well see a seven and
Speaker 1: ten team in the playoffs. So, as a player, if
Speaker 1: you're on one of those other of teams that doesn't
Speaker 1: get in, even though you might be nine and eight
Speaker 1: and might be watching, what does that feel like? And
Speaker 1: is there a way we can fix this? Because that's
Speaker 1: this is gonna be a rough one watching the NFC
Speaker 1: South playoff team. Yeah, I think the number one thing
Speaker 1: you taken into account when you're a player and you
Speaker 1: see that happen is you don't blame them, Like you
Speaker 1: don't blame those guys for the seasons that they had.
Speaker 1: You say, if we wanted to get in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: that's on us, you know, go go handle the business
Speaker 1: that we can take care of. Goin our division, ensure
Speaker 1: our road to the playoffs is taken care of, and
Speaker 1: not relying on what's happening somewhere else. I think that's
Speaker 1: the only way as a player, you know, you get
Speaker 1: over something like that. When you start a season, your
Speaker 1: number one goal is win our division that guarantees us
Speaker 1: a role to the playoffs. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: only way you can look at it. As much as
Speaker 1: you don't want to, you have to say, those guys
Speaker 1: did enough to get into the playoffs. It might not
Speaker 1: be a lot, but they did what they had to
Speaker 1: to get in the playoffs and we didn't. So that's
Speaker 1: how I would look at it, and how I would,
Speaker 1: you know, try and justify to the team being in
Speaker 1: that locker room. But I mean it's always gonna be
Speaker 1: a tough pill to swallow knowing that. Okay, last beat
Speaker 1: on that. Then, can we at least say the road
Speaker 1: for the first round should not go through Tampa or Carolina?
Speaker 1: Cretly say that's a road game for the division win
Speaker 1: because you might have the Cowboys sitting at eleven wins
Speaker 1: or whoever, or even the Giant my my New York
Speaker 1: Giants at ten wins going on the road to a
Speaker 1: seven win t would that be a terrible thing to
Speaker 1: say they don't get a home game. I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I always always go back to this.
Speaker 1: You know, when the Saints went into Seattle and we
Speaker 1: had the beast quake. You know, that's a huge advantage
Speaker 1: for Seattle winning their division, So you also don't want
Speaker 1: to take that from them, you know. And and the
Speaker 1: fact that you know this gives us a chance to win.
Speaker 1: We got in it. I think they we're seven and
Speaker 1: nine a year or something, and we did enough to
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs. Now you come here and beat
Speaker 1: us if we're not. If you're looking at us saying
Speaker 1: we're not good enough to be in the playoffs, then
Speaker 1: you should be able to beat us wherever we play.
Speaker 1: So I think that's also, you know, the other side
Speaker 1: of the coin, so to speak. If you don't think
Speaker 1: these guys belong, then just go beat them where you
Speaker 1: have to go beat them, Matt, and then you gotta
Speaker 1: face guys like Marshawn who's great earthquakes when he's running.
Speaker 1: So there's always always a different bunch of different ways
Speaker 1: you can look at it. Speaking of seeding, the Bills
Speaker 1: are holding onto that top seed in the a f C.
Speaker 1: Buffalo beat Kansas City week six in Kansas City twenty
Speaker 1: and a highly anticipated meeting, but they traveled to since
Speaker 1: on week seventeen in Monday Night football. Who do you
Speaker 1: think gives them a tougher matchup as the Bengals are
Speaker 1: really getting hot right now. I think it's they both
Speaker 1: have tremendous quarterback playing and tremendous guys around the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: that are gonna get you know, those guys absolute fits.
Speaker 1: So I think you're you're flipping up, You're flipping a
Speaker 1: coin at this point. With the way that Cincinnati's playing
Speaker 1: right now, they are one of the hottest teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes and with Andy
Speaker 1: Reid at his side, those guys are always capable of
Speaker 1: winning every game that they play, So if you're a
Speaker 1: Bills fan, you're just saying, I hope our guys show up.
Speaker 1: I hope Josh is Josh and makes plays that Josh
Speaker 1: is capable of making. But no, it's going to be
Speaker 1: a shootout. It's going to be who makes the least
Speaker 1: amount of mistakes in those games. Because it's gonna be
Speaker 1: two great teams. It's gonna be too great offenses going
Speaker 1: at it, putting up a lot of points, you know,
Speaker 1: which is what guys want to see around the league.
Speaker 1: But I think you're picking your poison. You know you're
Speaker 1: you're gonna go against both teams are great. You're gonna
Speaker 1: have to show up and beat whoever it is you play.
Speaker 1: They're not gonna hand you the game, no matter who
Speaker 1: it is that you're facing. And on that note, the
Speaker 1: Bengals clearly had something to prove this last weekend when
Speaker 1: they faced Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. After Brady said
Speaker 1: what a fairly tough defense, they seem to take big
Speaker 1: offense to that. Did you like as a player having
Speaker 1: that bolleton board material in any given week? Well, I
Speaker 1: think it doesn't hurt to have bullets at all. You're
Speaker 1: motivating a lot of people when you give them bullet
Speaker 1: bulletin board material. But I think guys as competitors at
Speaker 1: the pinnacle of the sport are gonna show up and
Speaker 1: be ready to play anyway, especially when you're going against
Speaker 1: a guy like Tom Brady, you know, who's the best
Speaker 1: to ever play this sport. Defenses are gonna show up
Speaker 1: weekend and week out to compete against him. For him,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't really give guys bulletin board material because they
Speaker 1: want to beat him anyway. You know, they want to say,
Speaker 1: all right, I got Tom Brady. You know, if this
Speaker 1: is his last year. I gave him a loss when
Speaker 1: I played against him, so I wouldn't recommend it. He
Speaker 1: continues to do that. You mentioned Marshawn Lynch earlier. You know,
Speaker 1: I know in your few first few years in Buffalo,
Speaker 1: you guys shared the backfield. What was he like as
Speaker 1: a teammakers? Every now and then they would make him
Speaker 1: up right on the sidelines and he would be talking
Speaker 1: about everything but football. I feel like when we would
Speaker 1: listen to him, mike up almost like he was so
Speaker 1: just at ease with the game I know nothing about.
Speaker 1: It's easy and YouTube are literally my favorite backfield to
Speaker 1: watch and I think modern day right now, you two
Speaker 1: be the ideal NFL backfield to have. Yeah, and that
Speaker 1: was the think about Marshawn. Have one. You won't meet
Speaker 1: anybody that had an opportunity to play with him that
Speaker 1: has bad things to say about him as a football player,
Speaker 1: as a teammate, you know, even in the locker room,
Speaker 1: not on the football field. It was just an absolute
Speaker 1: joy to be around. And um, you know, anytime you
Speaker 1: get a guy like that and knowing the work ethic
Speaker 1: that he brings to the field and how he plays
Speaker 1: and what he leaves out on the field, he just
Speaker 1: a guy that everybody gravitates to him towards The game
Speaker 1: was easy to him. You meet those players that every
Speaker 1: now and then you come across somebody and you're just like,
Speaker 1: how is this guy doing this? You know, how is
Speaker 1: he capable of doing this? We're talking about Thanksgiving and
Speaker 1: going to spread turkeys in my community and he's out
Speaker 1: here rushing for three touchdowns. So, um, that's that's who
Speaker 1: he is. And that was the epitome of Marshawn. All
Speaker 1: this miked up stuff you see. I tell guys around
Speaker 1: here all the time, I'm like, that is him. That's
Speaker 1: not him putting on the show. That is Marshawn Lynch
Speaker 1: through and through, and that's why guys love him and
Speaker 1: gravitate towards him, and why he can be Marshawn Lynch
Speaker 1: whenever he's anywhere and everywhere he is around. It could
Speaker 1: be a two year old or a fourty year old,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get the same person. So now, for when
Speaker 1: you played in Buffalo, the Bills Mafia was a thing,
Speaker 1: but it's not. It wasn't as crazy as it is now. Right,
Speaker 1: you never jumped through a table, have you table jumping
Speaker 1: in the condiment man, and all that stuff. That's all,
Speaker 1: you know, relatively new. But yeah, it was still Bills Mafia,
Speaker 1: but not to the extent that it is now. I
Speaker 1: just always wondered, you know, we're watching on TV as fans.
Speaker 1: I'm freezing just watching you guys. What on earth are
Speaker 1: you guys doing to stay warm? Especially when like the
Speaker 1: the other team has a long drive. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: just just heaters crank and you're just standing right on
Speaker 1: those heaters. What are you guys doing in that freezing weather.
Speaker 1: It's a combination of things. It's easy when you're on
Speaker 1: the field because when you're on the field, you're worried
Speaker 1: about you know, this three hund pound dude that's trying
Speaker 1: to take your head off. That's easy to forget about
Speaker 1: the cold, but man, you're doing everything those big jackets.
Speaker 1: You see guys running as soon as there's a time out,
Speaker 1: running over to the guys that put the jacket on them.
Speaker 1: When we played in Minnesota. When I was in Seattle
Speaker 1: and we played on the in the one of the
Speaker 1: coldest games ever, they had like little boots and stuff
Speaker 1: that we can stick our feet in, and handwarmers that
Speaker 1: we had all of this stuff on. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of different things over sitting on the sideline because one
Speaker 1: of the things that you don't realize is how you
Speaker 1: have no dexterity in your fingers when you get so cold,
Speaker 1: so that you're trying to do everything you can. That's
Speaker 1: why you see quarterbacks with constantly putting their hands in
Speaker 1: handwarmers and stiff stuff like that so you can grip
Speaker 1: the football. There's a bunch of little things that they
Speaker 1: have going on. We have chicken broth that we can
Speaker 1: sit on the sideline that they're in, these giant coolers.
Speaker 1: There's all kinds of stuff that they try and do
Speaker 1: to help, but just I mean you, like I said,
Speaker 1: there's these big things to slip over your legs, things
Speaker 1: go over your arms, coats, chicken broth and then all
Speaker 1: that and then you ripped all that stuff off and
Speaker 1: running on the field and try and play a football game.
Speaker 1: You know, you mentioned von Miller earlier. He's one of
Speaker 1: your jerseys. He was having such a great year before
Speaker 1: his injury. Let the human sacks with eight really out
Speaker 1: of that pressure on opposing quarterback. Something important as we
Speaker 1: talked about going against the Mahomes the Boroughs, how much
Speaker 1: of a loss is he for the Bills defense now
Speaker 1: that we're seeing that play out. Obviously, you don't replace
Speaker 1: a guy like von Miller. There's just no way to
Speaker 1: do that. You know. He's a Hall of Famer in
Speaker 1: my opinion, you know, and a lot of people would
Speaker 1: agree with that. But he did such a tremendous job.
Speaker 1: I watched the Bills weekend and week out teaching those
Speaker 1: guys behind him, and you see the way that their
Speaker 1: game is elevated on how he's He's continuing to be
Speaker 1: in their ear and have Greg Russell is one guy
Speaker 1: that I've really watched Epanessa is another guy that has
Speaker 1: taken his game to another level. And one guy that
Speaker 1: I'm really impressed with and you can tell us from
Speaker 1: being around Vaughan, is Shack Lawson. Shack Lawson is taking
Speaker 1: his game to the next level, and I think that's
Speaker 1: what it is. You know, it has to be a
Speaker 1: group effort. It has to be all of those guys playing,
Speaker 1: feeding off of each other. And that's exactly what you
Speaker 1: hear from those guys in every press conference that they
Speaker 1: do is we replaced von Miller, but we can go
Speaker 1: out and we can be our best self, be pretty
Speaker 1: damn close. And that's what those guys are trying to do.
Speaker 1: You played for. In my opinion, I think two of
Speaker 1: the best or two of the five say best fan
Speaker 1: bases in football, Buffalo and Seattle, and also two amazing
Speaker 1: home field advantages. Is there one that you feel like
Speaker 1: it's not more intimidating, But what would be the in
Speaker 1: your opinion, tougher road game going into Seattle with that
Speaker 1: noise or going into Buffalo in January with like, as
Speaker 1: you said, can't feel your fingers. Well, I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: playing in Seattle is a daunting thing. You know, when
Speaker 1: they get that that that fan base behind them, it's
Speaker 1: hard to hear in you know, I said it about
Speaker 1: my daughter before she's been in She always wore nors
Speaker 1: canceling headphones and would sleep when she was a baby,
Speaker 1: and she couldn't do it in Seattle. But there's nothing
Speaker 1: like playing in Buffalo when the weather's the way that
Speaker 1: it is and the fan base is behind you. You
Speaker 1: know where you're dealing with, you know, swirling winds when
Speaker 1: you're trying to kick X and snow beating you in
Speaker 1: the face. Where you're trying to run down the field
Speaker 1: and catch a ball. You have to have a big,
Speaker 1: strong arm. That's a reason they took Josh Allen to
Speaker 1: guide the ball through the wind and you he's able
Speaker 1: to pick you know, the knowledge of guys like Jim
Speaker 1: Kelly and how you navigate all that, so it's easily
Speaker 1: Buffalo to me. You know, it's hard to come into
Speaker 1: Buffalo in January and play, especially when you're playing a
Speaker 1: good team and figure out ways to navigate not only
Speaker 1: beating this team, but the weather and how it is.
Speaker 1: We have to acclimate to that in this short period
Speaker 1: of time that we get to be in it. Could
Speaker 1: the Bills build a dome on their new stadium, you
Speaker 1: know what, you would make so many people in Bills
Speaker 1: Mafia mad if they did that, including Josh Allen. Josh
Speaker 1: Allen says, it's soft. It has to be open air,
Speaker 1: you know, it has to be an open air and
Speaker 1: like we said, continue to allow those elements to be
Speaker 1: a part of their advantage when guys come in there
Speaker 1: and play. I said that the team that it mattered
Speaker 1: to the most was when I played the Dolphins. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this Dolphins game this past week was a great game.
Speaker 1: It There's been times when I've played and I was like,
Speaker 1: these guys do not want to play football in this
Speaker 1: weather today, And it was a huge advantage for so
Speaker 1: you you gotta have that in your back pocket and
Speaker 1: anytime you do, you want every adventage you can get
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Is there any inverse to that? I mean, look,
Speaker 1: no one's gonna complain. You know, I think Olivia that
Speaker 1: your packers are going into Miami for a Christmas game
Speaker 1: or whatever. Yeah, I don't think it was gonna complain
Speaker 1: going into Miami to play. But Miami in September, that's
Speaker 1: a whole different thing degrees, like, is there a little
Speaker 1: bit of a home field advantage playing down South with
Speaker 1: I mean, you get guys carded off because they're just exhausted.
Speaker 1: Oxygen everywhere, fluids and stuff like that. You saw it
Speaker 1: in the game with the Bills playing in Miami. You
Speaker 1: saw how exhausted those guys were, how they're taking I
Speaker 1: vs And stuff at halftime and it's not helping in
Speaker 1: Kudos to Miami for also building a stadium where the
Speaker 1: Sun is signing directly on the opposing team. All those
Speaker 1: little minute advantages that you get, they add up at
Speaker 1: the end of it. So there's definitely an advantage of
Speaker 1: playing in the South, you know, early in September and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, and you know throughout the season. I
Speaker 1: know you've been asked about your journey a million times,
Speaker 1: but for our listenership, if anyone is not familiar, it's
Speaker 1: really an incredible story. Especially right now we're talking so
Speaker 1: much about brock Purty being Mr. Irrelevant. The guys who
Speaker 1: have an even bigger chip on their shoulder are undrafted guys,
Speaker 1: and that includes you, from what I understand, and correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong. No scholarship offers out of high
Speaker 1: school in Texas, undrafted out of co College D three
Speaker 1: in Iowa, played Arena football, than NFL Europe, and then
Speaker 1: finally to the NFL. I guess I'm curious in that
Speaker 1: span before your NFL dreams were realized, did you need
Speaker 1: help staying motivated or was that just not going anywhere?
Speaker 1: It was a combination of both. You know, I was
Speaker 1: always a self motivated person, but I did surround myself
Speaker 1: with people who had the same dream that I did.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the number one thing I tell
Speaker 1: any young kid that wants to play in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be easy. There are eighteen hundred jobs
Speaker 1: in the world to play in the NFL. So to
Speaker 1: get one of those eighteen hundred jobs, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to do something special. But it's easier if you surround
Speaker 1: yourself with people that are going to help you and
Speaker 1: keep you motivated to chase that dream. That's the number
Speaker 1: one thing you can do is have people that are
Speaker 1: gonna continue to push you. There's gonna be days you
Speaker 1: don't want to do stuff. It's human nature. I don't
Speaker 1: want to get up and go work out. I don't
Speaker 1: want to get up and film this this training session
Speaker 1: so that I can have it to show people. But
Speaker 1: if you have people that are like, no, you don't
Speaker 1: get to do that today. You know, you don't get
Speaker 1: to take this day off, you have to go work out,
Speaker 1: It's gonna make that motivation. You're gonna be motivated because
Speaker 1: you know those people are behind you just as well.
Speaker 1: You want to fulfill your dream, so they can be
Speaker 1: a part of it. Anytime you get people around you
Speaker 1: and are a self motivated person, like I was. You know,
Speaker 1: I was watching Reggie Bush was doing the same play
Speaker 1: at the same time in college that I was, and
Speaker 1: I wore number five, and I was like, you know,
Speaker 1: that's a pretty damn good back. But I feel like
Speaker 1: I can do the same thing, and I just need
Speaker 1: to get the opportunity to showcase that. Which I'm at
Speaker 1: Division three, he's playing at USC That's a huge difference.
Speaker 1: But all I can need is a chance. And I
Speaker 1: got my chance with Marvel leaving once he went back
Speaker 1: to Buffalo. I said, I'm not gonna let you down more.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna make make the most of this
Speaker 1: opportunity that you're giving me. And you know, one of
Speaker 1: the things I like to brag about is name another
Speaker 1: running back that was able to play ten years, nine
Speaker 1: years and one organization where they drafted two first round
Speaker 1: running backs. You know, top top twelve at your position,
Speaker 1: and it's not not something that you're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: anywhere else. And that's one of my things that I
Speaker 1: wanted to be able to say, is I had to
Speaker 1: work for everything that was given to me, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to Granted, I love both of those guys to death.
Speaker 1: Marshawn and c. J. Spiller were both are and still
Speaker 1: are great friends of mine. But they motivated me to
Speaker 1: They said, you know what, we we got drafted here,
Speaker 1: but we can see why you're still here, so continue
Speaker 1: you to do what you're doing. We're gonna push each other.
Speaker 1: They brought out the best of me, and I tried
Speaker 1: to bring out the best of them. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like when you finally made it to the NFL that
Speaker 1: it meant more to you, maybe than other guys who
Speaker 1: were first round draft picks or whatever. Absolutely? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Small things that I enjoyed about the game that you know,
Speaker 1: not everybody else did because I knew what work it
Speaker 1: took to get there. I loved going to practice you know,
Speaker 1: I loved getting up and being able to say what
Speaker 1: I get to do for practice or for a job
Speaker 1: is to go practices against the best guys in the world.
Speaker 1: You know, at this sport that I love playing and
Speaker 1: love giving everything too. So yes, there was absolutely things
Speaker 1: about the game that meant more to me and still
Speaker 1: meant more to me when I was competing against some
Speaker 1: of those guys than a lot of guys in that
Speaker 1: locker room. I really having a conversation a few weeks
Speaker 1: ago with my buddy where we're talking about running backs
Speaker 1: kind of from your generation and and now, and your
Speaker 1: name came up as like, who would be just like
Speaker 1: the perfect running back the way the NFL offensive a
Speaker 1: story of going today. So with that, I ask you,
Speaker 1: who are some of the guys that you like watching
Speaker 1: at running back specifically because obviously you're looking at it
Speaker 1: through a whole different lens than an average fan like me.
Speaker 1: So who are some of the running backs that you've
Speaker 1: enjoyed this year? One of the guys that I've enjoyed
Speaker 1: the most just watching him is Alvin Camara. I love
Speaker 1: the way Alvin plays every down back. He does everything
Speaker 1: you ask for him. Aaron Jones is another guy that
Speaker 1: I absolutely love watching. He's a guy that you you
Speaker 1: split out wide and you throw him a ball like
Speaker 1: he's a wide receiver. I can't remember who it was,
Speaker 1: but but he has more reception yards than everybody else
Speaker 1: on the team as a running back. You know, so
Speaker 1: I said, I tell every every running back, young running
Speaker 1: back that I talked to. Now I say Devin Singletary.
Speaker 1: I don't know how it left Devin Singletary out. He's
Speaker 1: absolute beast and I love watching him because his number
Speaker 1: is not called on every week, but when his number
Speaker 1: is called, he's ready. He's ready to run routes. He's
Speaker 1: ready to catch the ball out of the back field
Speaker 1: past protect, which I think is one of the biggest
Speaker 1: things we need to do is running back, and he
Speaker 1: runs the ball well. So this day and age, man,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to do it all. And
Speaker 1: watching some of these quarterbacks and being able to go
Speaker 1: out and pass protect for him and then know that
Speaker 1: they will come to you in a route they say, hey,
Speaker 1: go out there and run a route for me. I
Speaker 1: would have had an absolute blast point in in today's football,
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. Yeah, I feel like the
Speaker 1: Giants also would have loved you because the way they're
Speaker 1: using safe one has just he's leading the team in receptions, yards, touchdowns,
Speaker 1: Like the whole offense is built around one back. And
Speaker 1: I always felt like that was exactly your kind of game.
Speaker 1: You could build a whole offense around what you do.
Speaker 1: So Brian Dable is my favorite person to watch called offenses,
Speaker 1: and I told him all the time. I was like, Man,
Speaker 1: I would have loved to play for you the way
Speaker 1: you you do these scheme up these offenses and stuff
Speaker 1: like this. Man, it would have been an absolute nightmare
Speaker 1: for coaches that have to worry about me because I
Speaker 1: would have been like, Dave's put me wherever and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get it done. So I tell him all the time,
Speaker 1: and I talked to him two weeks ago. I said, Man,
Speaker 1: continue to call these crazy offenses because you got a
Speaker 1: weapon that I think is gonna be tremendous for you
Speaker 1: just last for I know we all get caught up
Speaker 1: in like the m v P conversations and candidates and
Speaker 1: all that. It's a fun conversation. I personally really believe
Speaker 1: that we should start looking at other players that are
Speaker 1: just not quarterbacks, like you even mentioned the guy like Singletary.
Speaker 1: Obviously he's not the league m v P, but for
Speaker 1: all the things he does, there's so much value there
Speaker 1: tyreek Hill, there's so much value of what he does
Speaker 1: to the offense. But all that being said, from everything
Speaker 1: you've seen this year, as of right now, who do
Speaker 1: you kind of lean toward as the guy who should
Speaker 1: maybe walk away with that award later? I know there's
Speaker 1: still three very important weeks left, so you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm glad I don't have to make this decision because
Speaker 1: you know, it's you can't go wrong with the way
Speaker 1: that a lot of guys are playing this year. And
Speaker 1: it's funny because it kind of changes from week to week,
Speaker 1: Like yeah, from I mean two weeks ago, three weeks
Speaker 1: ago when Tool was playing as well as he was playing,
Speaker 1: you know, he deserved to be in the m v
Speaker 1: P conversation. Jalen Hurts has to be there. You know,
Speaker 1: they're the number one team in the league and quarterback
Speaker 1: is the most responsible. They get all the glory and
Speaker 1: they get all the hate when things go the wrong way.
Speaker 1: I'm a homer. I think Josh Allen in the way
Speaker 1: that they're playing, you don't get to be the number
Speaker 1: one seed in the a f C without playing well
Speaker 1: at quarterback. I think he definitely you don't hear about
Speaker 1: him as much when he went through his low kind
Speaker 1: of two or three weeks ago where they went through
Speaker 1: a low and loose and lost a couple of games.
Speaker 1: But I think absolutely he should be up there. One
Speaker 1: of the guys that I would say that's kind of
Speaker 1: you know, I think should be get a lot more
Speaker 1: attention is justin fields. That guy continues to do things
Speaker 1: that are unheard of at the quarterback position, and we
Speaker 1: don't really talk about it as much as we should
Speaker 1: because he is that dynamic of of a player. I'm
Speaker 1: actually not wanting the Bills to play them next week
Speaker 1: because I know what he brings to the table and
Speaker 1: now hard of a task it is going to be
Speaker 1: for them to go into Chicago and beat him. So
Speaker 1: but you get guys that are playing well on defense
Speaker 1: that don't get enough attention, and running backs that have
Speaker 1: played out of their minds. Se Kwan has been absolutely
Speaker 1: fantastic this year and should be getting some recognition at
Speaker 1: that and should be in the m v P conversation.
Speaker 1: But it's a quarterback driven league. And that's usually who
Speaker 1: we we end up even as ex players. That's who
Speaker 1: we look at and say, you know this, this this guy
Speaker 1: should be the m v P. Oh, don't get Jerry
Speaker 1: started screaming this for weeks that like, maybe just separate
Speaker 1: the awards then. I mean, I know I have Offensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year and that typically goes to I
Speaker 1: get it. But oh man, there's something. There's just been
Speaker 1: some seasons this year that outside of the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: to me or it's really been glaring even on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball, like you said, at least
Speaker 1: through like eight weeks, Michael Parsons single handedly was like
Speaker 1: the number one defensive dude, making plays and more touchdowns
Speaker 1: than a lot of wide receivers on defense. So Fred,
Speaker 1: I I can't thank you enough for being here. Your
Speaker 1: story is amazing. You've You've always been one of my
Speaker 1: favorite players to watch. I feel like I drafted you
Speaker 1: every single year in Fantasy I had to have Fred
Speaker 1: Jackson on my squad. Thank you for went on. Enjoy
Speaker 1: the holidays, stay warm where you are. Everyone you could
Speaker 1: follow Fred at Fred twenty two Jackson and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: happy holidays, and thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1: I really was a pleasure to talk to you, man,
Speaker 1: absolute blast. I appreciate you guys having me on. I
Speaker 1: would love to do it again. You know, let's make
Speaker 1: it happen. Enjoy the holidays so much. Man, I love
Speaker 1: hearing that music play because it means we get to
Speaker 1: talk about Entourage and Jerry, you'll be very proud of me.
Speaker 1: I finally finished season five just in time for the holidays,
Speaker 1: and you said this was one of your favorite seasons.
Speaker 1: I see why. The season with all over the place
Speaker 1: like location wise too. So one quick question. When you
Speaker 1: guys go to Hawaii, you never actually film in Hawaii, right, Like,
Speaker 1: you didn't go there for this scene. No, it would
Speaker 1: have been nice to go there for that scene, but no,
Speaker 1: that was shot at a hotel I want to say,
Speaker 1: in like Long Beach, California, you know, decked out to
Speaker 1: maybe look a little more tropical than it is now.
Speaker 1: On that one, we didn't get to go there. But
Speaker 1: that was a fun episode. I know we talked about
Speaker 1: the Mushrooms episode where Connolly didn't speak, but also I
Speaker 1: think what added to his Golden Globe run was that
Speaker 1: next episode where the model is sort of making fun
Speaker 1: of his height, and I do remember too, that whole
Speaker 1: episode Connys like, this is awesome just getting made fun
Speaker 1: of for thirty minutes on TV. This is Golden Globe nomination.
Speaker 1: Those two episodes, I think are the two that really
Speaker 1: sealed the deal for him. He was great in those episodes. Now,
Speaker 1: how tall is he in real life? He's about my high.
Speaker 1: I think we're both around like five seven. You know
Speaker 1: which shoes on? Standing up straight? You know we're board,
Speaker 1: We're he If you ask him, this has been a
Speaker 1: debate for twin of years, he would say he's a
Speaker 1: full half to three quarters of an inch taller than me.
Speaker 1: I have shrunk in the last three years, so that
Speaker 1: might be true. But before I had such terrible posture
Speaker 1: holding kids, I think we were like, I mean, it
Speaker 1: was dead. It was a dead heat. Because his character
Speaker 1: gets so much flak forward on the show and yours
Speaker 1: never does. No, but I got all the everything I got.
Speaker 1: I got fat jokes too. You know, I was the
Speaker 1: heavier guy, so he can't call me short and fat.
Speaker 1: That would just be mean. Speaking of that, you get
Speaker 1: actually called fat to your face by Jamie Lynn Sigler
Speaker 1: in this episode, and that part I was like whoa. Wow. Wow,
Speaker 1: that was the first time they had actually ever said that,
Speaker 1: And maybe I'm I'm too sensitive. I'm like, that's so mean,
Speaker 1: But that whole storyline was really interesting in a big
Speaker 1: part for your character. So walk me through that love interest.
Speaker 1: It's really your first love interest on the show. It
Speaker 1: was definitely was my first love interest on the show,
Speaker 1: and almost one of my first, like ever on screen.
Speaker 1: I think I had a girlfriend in a movie I
Speaker 1: did earlier, but I was never I never had like
Speaker 1: the love interests. So I do remember and Jamie, who
Speaker 1: we all knew before the show a little bit, and
Speaker 1: she even knew our show creator. I think when Doug approach,
Speaker 1: do you remember the episode like we're on the plane,
Speaker 1: Like that's a hard thing to pitch someone. She's just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm down, Like let's do it. That's hilarious. But I
Speaker 1: do even remember to one of our producers like Jamie
Speaker 1: would never date Turtle, blah blah blah, and that might
Speaker 1: might have been true, but like in real life, we dated.
Speaker 1: So I wasn't going to bring it up, but I did.
Speaker 1: But but that was a little bit like, well, I
Speaker 1: guess you're wrong on both levels. On the show and
Speaker 1: in real life. But uh no, that was really fun.
Speaker 1: I had a whole new respect for actors who are
Speaker 1: in those romantic situations a lot. I don't love playing
Speaker 1: all that stuff, even doing like the Walk of Shame.
Speaker 1: Turtle does like the Walk of Shame almost something I
Speaker 1: just don't. I don't ever have to do that stuff,
Speaker 1: and I would be more than happy just being funny
Speaker 1: or being a lawyer. But that was that was like
Speaker 1: the first real evolution for her. I think he starts
Speaker 1: to become a man now, like a grown man. You're
Speaker 1: watching before your eyes. Someone who is on this season
Speaker 1: in the last couple episodes that kind of got me
Speaker 1: by surprise, and I think we talked off air about this,
Speaker 1: but Phil Mickelson makes a return because he was the
Speaker 1: butt of a joke earlier on and then he's in
Speaker 1: this episode, the episode where that one studio head dies
Speaker 1: on the golf course. So sorry. And my one thing
Speaker 1: that stuck out was boys Bill a bad actor. Listen,
Speaker 1: you know, he's great in commercials and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: A couple of things about Phil one like we made
Speaker 1: that joke in the season prior where I think the
Speaker 1: Ari character says, my god, the kid's melting down like
Speaker 1: Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot, which at that time that
Speaker 1: was not that far removed from happening. So now it's
Speaker 1: an old joke, but that had just happened. And Kevin
Speaker 1: Dillon and I ran into him at a golf course
Speaker 1: in like San Diego area, and I think Dylan was
Speaker 1: the one who asked him, like, Philly should come on
Speaker 1: the show. We were worried though, because did he see
Speaker 1: the joke? Is he gonna he's a big Actually, he's
Speaker 1: gonna take a swing at me. And he he had
Speaker 1: the best sense of humor about it. He thought it
Speaker 1: was hilarious and he's like, hell, y'all come on, and yeah,
Speaker 1: that episode with the studio had done. I love season five, Olivia,
Speaker 1: because it really is the up and down of an actor.
Speaker 1: And this is arguably the lowest the Vincent Chase character
Speaker 1: is he gets fired from a movie. And I even
Speaker 1: love that line from Ori after Alan dies and he's like, tomorrow,
Speaker 1: we'll see how alive Vince is. Because yes, it's terrible
Speaker 1: that he died, but that Alan character was hell bent
Speaker 1: on seeing Vince never make another movie again. So and
Speaker 1: clearly this has to happen in real life, right of
Speaker 1: and and you this is a sports podcast, this happens
Speaker 1: in sports. Certain coaches, certain gm just like we'll never
Speaker 1: sign a certain guy. They just will not like a
Speaker 1: guy they feel like snake bit And this happens in Hollywood.
Speaker 1: Have have you known the situation like this that you
Speaker 1: can even speak of, like, yeah, that one studio had
Speaker 1: he hated so and so. I don't think I know
Speaker 1: of a specific scenario where that I could say like,
Speaker 1: all this happened to this guy or this this girl.
Speaker 1: But I do know the minute that you are sort
Speaker 1: of dubbed either hard to work with or you know, Vince,
Speaker 1: you know he doesn't want to play the game. And
Speaker 1: maybe you could say the Vince character didn't want to
Speaker 1: play the game in seasons past where he would do
Speaker 1: the studio movie and sacrifice some things and be a collaborative.
Speaker 1: But what I loved about it Adrian played it so
Speaker 1: well is once he realized he was down, he said, Okay,
Speaker 1: I will do whatever it takes to get but he
Speaker 1: was willing to take a smaller role, humble his ego.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that Alan character just hated him and grudges.
Speaker 1: Like you said, it's real in sports. I think it's
Speaker 1: real in Hollywood too, And um yeah, getting Vince back
Speaker 1: on top was it was always a fun, a fun task.
Speaker 1: But the other question to Olivia is is Vincent Chase
Speaker 1: a good actor or is he a movie star? There
Speaker 1: is a difference, there's a differently. I think there is
Speaker 1: a difference from like a really great actor or a
Speaker 1: really great movie star. And sometimes you get people who
Speaker 1: are both. Those people end up having careers forever. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Leo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, like guys like that. But we
Speaker 1: never really see Vince act as the funny part a
Speaker 1: little bit in like the Smoke Jumpers thing, which again
Speaker 1: you can't even tell it what metaean right, Like you
Speaker 1: see the trailer and it looks so goofy because the
Speaker 1: makeup scoofy. And when he was doing that scene in
Speaker 1: the Smoke Jumpers movie was hanging from the tree. I
Speaker 1: don't know, it didn't look like he was a bad
Speaker 1: actor out of context. But that was always the great question,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if it ever truly got answered.
Speaker 1: Is Vincent Chase a good actor or not? Or is
Speaker 1: he just like a really good movie star. Well, that
Speaker 1: sums up season five. I'm going to start season six
Speaker 1: after the holidays and we will pick back up where
Speaker 1: we left off early January with our entreage behind the seat.
Speaker 1: Al Right, everyone, it's time for my favorite part of
Speaker 1: the show, and we're bringing on our guest. And I
Speaker 1: think we could officially go back to the early moniker
Speaker 1: that we had for him bet MGMs. We could just
Speaker 1: call him a betting expert at this point. Also, guys,
Speaker 1: if you hear a little, that's the sound of our
Speaker 1: Mike smoking hot because the on fire Peter Andrew is
Speaker 1: joining us to make some picks. Peter, let me just
Speaker 1: let me just I'm just gonna clap it up for
Speaker 1: you ran the table last week. How did that? I mean,
Speaker 1: we we needed it and you delivered. That's why we're
Speaker 1: all read today. Just those flames left and right. So
Speaker 1: I had to just match it. Yeah, I felt good,
Speaker 1: though I think you might have tailed me. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but we went perfect three for three I think, up
Speaker 1: fifteen units so plus the ten original units for the week.
Speaker 1: Couldn't have been any better. Started with the one game
Speaker 1: parlay Thursday Night Football McCaffrey hundre plus yards. We had
Speaker 1: Seattle under twenty one and a half and then Niners
Speaker 1: money line everything hit. Things were flying from there, and
Speaker 1: then I got a little lucky with the Vikings plus three.
Speaker 1: I mean, probably all of us have ever seen, so listen,
Speaker 1: you take it as it comes. For sure, I will
Speaker 1: say that that one game parlay too. That was almost
Speaker 1: like a no doubter from the moment of kickoff to
Speaker 1: the end, Like I really don't even think you had
Speaker 1: to sweat much with that one. That one just seemed
Speaker 1: like a note. McCaffrey was running well Seattle and looked
Speaker 1: like they could do anything with that Niners, and it
Speaker 1: never really was in doubt. The Niners are gonna win
Speaker 1: that game. So that that must have just been a
Speaker 1: nice Thursday night for you. It was great, and you
Speaker 1: know it's funny we didn't get to talk about it
Speaker 1: on the podcast. I placed another one before Thursday night.
Speaker 1: I added those three things in plus McCaffrey and Kittle
Speaker 1: touchdowns have the receipts to prove it. So I hit
Speaker 1: that at like I think sixteen of one or something
Speaker 1: like that. So I was, I mean, you better buy
Speaker 1: your wife something amazing for Christmas. With all those weddings
Speaker 1: you're closing out the year strong. All right, what do
Speaker 1: you got for us this week? Then? Because you're on
Speaker 1: a roll, yeah, so start again. Obviously we have to
Speaker 1: hit another one game parlay after last week. There's a quick,
Speaker 1: easy one. I think there's great value too. So two units.
Speaker 1: You got Jags at Jets Thursday night football. I think
Speaker 1: that's a actually a pretty good game, really meaningful for
Speaker 1: both teams. Over thirty and a half. I think what
Speaker 1: you're seeing with Trevor Lawrence and the Jags, they're scoring points.
Speaker 1: They have to win out. But but listen, they play
Speaker 1: the Titans to wrap the season up. That's gonna be
Speaker 1: for the division. I think they do went out, But
Speaker 1: for this week, I've kind of take I've stripped out
Speaker 1: the money line. I just went over thirty and a half.
Speaker 1: I think both teams are going to have to score
Speaker 1: some points and be aggressive. Za Jones has been an
Speaker 1: unbelievable wider super one for them the last probably three
Speaker 1: or four weeks. He's moving up into a top twenty
Speaker 1: overall role. The way he's playing so really impressive. So
Speaker 1: any time touchdown for him, and then I think Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson has to get Garrett Wilson going. He's had trouble.
Speaker 1: We've talked about in the past, he's had trouble getting
Speaker 1: him going. He is the focal point of their offense,
Speaker 1: especially without Breese Hall due to injury. No brainer for me.
Speaker 1: Those guys are gonna be two big parts of the offense.
Speaker 1: Two units to win two so to win pretty substantial
Speaker 1: amount of money twenty to win two hundred. Yeah, interested
Speaker 1: in your guys thoughts there. I think that's a quick
Speaker 1: and easy one, but obviously two pieces offense that I
Speaker 1: think need to get going. Look at someone who has
Speaker 1: been riding Trevor Lawrence to the through the Fantasy Football
Speaker 1: playoffs so far. Even what I love about what Lawrence
Speaker 1: is doing is now you feel like the Jags are
Speaker 1: just in every game even when they're not. They were
Speaker 1: going to it's a good defense, so I knew they
Speaker 1: You know, Dallas's secondary was banged up, but still to
Speaker 1: go put up that amount of unanswered points against the
Speaker 1: Cowboys is pretty spectacular, is a Jones fantastic? I agree
Speaker 1: with you with Garrett Wilson because Zach Wilson did I
Speaker 1: mean four catches yards is probably the best those two have.
Speaker 1: Look Garrett Wilson, My guy, I mean, boy, did they
Speaker 1: hit that pick? Because he even making look mc zack
Speaker 1: Wilson look good. I'm listening. I'm riding you to just
Speaker 1: like Trevor Lawrence. Buddy, we're gonna go into three to
Speaker 1: the Moon, Peter Andrew to the Moon. I love it.
Speaker 1: And you know funny, we talked about it last week.
Speaker 1: I think Jags were one of my picks in the teaser,
Speaker 1: and I said, sprinkle a little on the money line.
Speaker 1: If you have a couple of units, they're that good,
Speaker 1: they're gonna stay in games. I know they they struggled
Speaker 1: for about a half, but they worked themselves back into
Speaker 1: games and I think maybe a fun playoff team. I'd
Speaker 1: rather see them over the Titans, just with kind of
Speaker 1: the what they can do the intangibles versus a kind
Speaker 1: of one dimensional offense like the Titans. So that's two
Speaker 1: units there. Where are we going to next? And just
Speaker 1: for context, everyone, he's wearing a red San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: Niners kind of skull cap and Alabama T shirt, which
Speaker 1: Olivia was highly offended by the minute he came I've
Speaker 1: done it. I've done it once before. The chirp Olivia
Speaker 1: this time, I promised you, just because I have to
Speaker 1: do a lundry. Where are we going next peat? So
Speaker 1: sticking to the beanie, I think four units Niners seven
Speaker 1: and a half. Taken away the homer element of this,
Speaker 1: I think Niners have a really interesting opportunity the next
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. So they finish up against Washington, Vegas,
Speaker 1: Arizona for re very winnable games, they can put themselves
Speaker 1: in a great position. Talk about Jale hurts this injury.
Speaker 1: Based off the odds, it looks like he might be
Speaker 1: hurt longer than one week. I heard rumors about collar bone,
Speaker 1: things like that if they slip, If Minnesota does what
Speaker 1: they do and slip and lose a couple of these games,
Speaker 1: Niners could find themselves in the one slot. So it's unlikely,
Speaker 1: but it's possible. So I think they have to I
Speaker 1: think they have to play every game with full rosters. Here,
Speaker 1: Washington had a ton of trouble against Cavon Tabideau and
Speaker 1: and the Niners front for front seven. I think that's
Speaker 1: going to be no better this week, especially at home
Speaker 1: for the Niners. I see this being a two touchdown
Speaker 1: plus game, and you gotta keep you know, brock Purty
Speaker 1: going he's only played two and a half games. You
Speaker 1: gotta get him ready for the playoffs. Now that they've
Speaker 1: won the NFC West, so I think they come in
Speaker 1: with full offense, keep rolling, and then a pretty substantial win.
Speaker 1: So four units there, minus one ten with the minus
Speaker 1: seven and a half, so the hook going the other way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the Niners have been a big part of
Speaker 1: your formula. To get bad at all started when you
Speaker 1: took those five Giant favorites on a on a very
Speaker 1: uneven money line. I like that too. I mean you
Speaker 1: saw with the Giants defense, which is not very good.
Speaker 1: They're only okay, but so that defense is able to
Speaker 1: do to Hei Nikki, So yeah, going into San frand
Speaker 1: that might be scary. Okay, So you got that for
Speaker 1: four units, So you've got four units remaining. Yea where
Speaker 1: we go very simple parlay here, two teams that are
Speaker 1: desperate for wins, Dolphins home against Green Day and then
Speaker 1: you got the Chargers at Indie. Start with the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: This line doesn't make sense to me. We're sticking to
Speaker 1: the money line. But four and a half points, I
Speaker 1: think that's a little bit misproportioned because of the win
Speaker 1: last night, I can say really really bad Rams team.
Speaker 1: I think the Dolphins have to take care of business
Speaker 1: at home, give themselves a good position to go into
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks of the year without having
Speaker 1: a stress too much. Played really well in Buffalo. They've
Speaker 1: got all the tools, they just gotta put it together.
Speaker 1: I think they bounced back this week after a couple
Speaker 1: of tough, tough weeks plus three straight their tail spinning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I thought all things consider, they played decently well
Speaker 1: in Buffalo. Again, homer aside, they went against a really
Speaker 1: really good Niners defense a couple of weeks ago, So
Speaker 1: I think there's there's some opportunity and they should bounce
Speaker 1: back and win. But they are hungry and they are
Speaker 1: poised to make a run. Yeah. I thought we were
Speaker 1: done with this, but not I I should have known
Speaker 1: putting the Packers here this would have been a bad idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just baiting Olivia. Yeah, this one. I think maybe everybody
Speaker 1: will agree upon a very one dimensional Colds team now
Speaker 1: going against the Chargers team who are gainner fighting for
Speaker 1: a playoff spot. Put themselves in good position. But Jonathan
Speaker 1: Taylor likely out for the year coming off a really
Speaker 1: really really bad loss against the Vikings. I think that's
Speaker 1: one of those things that you have to put the
Speaker 1: mental and emotional element to this. They are super deflated
Speaker 1: from that. Chargers going to India. I think they take
Speaker 1: care of business. So both of those I don't want
Speaker 1: to touch the spreads. Keep the money lines. It's plus
Speaker 1: one thirteen, so it's plus money. It's forty to win
Speaker 1: ninety three or four units to win nine point three. Again,
Speaker 1: not asking for too much, but I think two teams
Speaker 1: that are super desperate for a win. To Olivia's point,
Speaker 1: especially the Dolphins, I do like it a lot. I
Speaker 1: do think that that Dolphins Packers gains will be very
Speaker 1: interesting because to Olivia's point, there is a pulse. They
Speaker 1: are not dead completely. They might be on life support.
Speaker 1: Is back. He looked good. Christian Watson looks good. A J.
Speaker 1: Dillon two touchdowns, but he might be hurt. So I'm
Speaker 1: just saying there's there's things happening. I got the hype machine.
Speaker 1: The Packers hype machine has been gone. All I'll say too.
Speaker 1: I like that Parlay a lot. You are tempting fate
Speaker 1: again because you've got such a gift from the cults.
Speaker 1: You would think, right, they're gonna just like, let's pack
Speaker 1: it up, guys, let's just get out of here safely
Speaker 1: and healthy. I just those are just two weird teams.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you took the money line. I don't trust
Speaker 1: the charges with any kind of point spread at all,
Speaker 1: but trust him to win. I agree, especially on the road.
Speaker 1: It's it's a tough one, but I think you're just
Speaker 1: you're in desperation mode for a lot of these teams
Speaker 1: and they have to win out or they have to
Speaker 1: win two out of three at this point, so you'd
Speaker 1: expect them to beat the subpar teams. And Olivia. It's
Speaker 1: almost like your family that's worked for the packers before
Speaker 1: with how you're touting them. So I don't know, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: Do you think they're writing me checks? They are not.
Speaker 1: I'm just loyal. My my blood is green except for
Speaker 1: playoffs when it's red and gold. For Yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: that's February, it's red. Yeah. Peter, can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1: I truly, truly hope you have a happy holiday. You're
Speaker 1: off to a great start going into this holiday season.
Speaker 1: I hope you close out too strong, because I would
Speaker 1: love nothing more then to come back for the first
Speaker 1: episode and Peter on a heater. That's my line on
Speaker 1: a heater. Yeah, we have to think of the converse
Speaker 1: one when I go on a Greek or a bad streak.
Speaker 1: Because Peter needs to take a cedar. I'm to fold
Speaker 1: he's cold. I'm excited to go into the new year.
Speaker 1: We don't talk any basketball, any hockey. We have, Well,
Speaker 1: we're going to have a good start to once we
Speaker 1: make a couple of bucks from from the NFL and
Speaker 1: start pivoting. So I'm excited. Same to you guys. Happy
Speaker 1: holiday is gonna be a fun next couple of months.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Happy holidays you two guys. Take care. M Well,
Speaker 1: that was a very fun show. I am so in
Speaker 1: the holiday spirit. And Jerry, I just want to wish
Speaker 1: you a very jerry Christmas. Uh, Merry Christmas. Also, first
Speaker 1: Christmas as a mom, enjoy it. Christmas gets I mean,
Speaker 1: Christmas is always cool, but seeing it through your kid's
Speaker 1: point of view, it's like you get Christmas back as
Speaker 1: a kid again. So enjoy your first as a parent.
Speaker 1: It's the best. I saw you put that on social
Speaker 1: media and it just like melted me. That is such
Speaker 1: a good sentiment, but thanks everyone for listening, Thanks for
Speaker 1: another great years. We wrap up two. We do have
Speaker 1: a show coming out next week to make sure you
Speaker 1: listen to that. We look back on the best moments
Speaker 1: in sports in two and you're actually not going to
Speaker 1: believe what we came up with, so it's a really
Speaker 1: fun listen. Thanks everyone for joining us. Happy holidays, watching
Speaker 1: everyone health and happiness in twenty three.