Speaker 1: Everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm your host Arizona Cardinals at ESPN broadcaster Dave Pash.
Speaker 1: My guest this week is a guy that I had
Speaker 1: the pleasure of working with for four seasons on college
Speaker 1: football at ESPN who's continuing to climb the ladder and
Speaker 1: is one of the faces and voices of college football,
Speaker 1: not just on ESPN but nationally with all that he does,
Speaker 1: whether it's calling games, college football, Live Sports Center, He's
Speaker 1: got his own podcast. He does a radio show in Birmingham.
Speaker 1: Greg McElroy, Greg, still a young guy at his mid thirties,
Speaker 1: excellent player in college won a national championship as the
Speaker 1: quarterback at Alabama. In fact, it was the first championship
Speaker 1: that Nick Saban won as the head coach at Alabama.
Speaker 1: Went on to play in the NFL for a little bit,
Speaker 1: including for the New York Jets against the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that during the podcast. We'll also talk
Speaker 1: about some of the big storylines in college football this
Speaker 1: year and what could be not just the biggest story
Speaker 1: in the sport, but the biggest story in sports period,
Speaker 1: and that's Colorado football. And Dion Sanders.
Speaker 2: Right now, it's really fun, it's really exciting. It's a
Speaker 2: great story. But if some of the flaws that were
Speaker 2: exposed a little bit last week get exposed even more,
Speaker 2: then it could come crashing down pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: Greg will also talk about what it was like to
Speaker 1: play for Nick Saban and Alabama, and we'll relive that
Speaker 1: memorable twenty twelve Cardinals Jets defensive showdown at MetLife Stadium
Speaker 1: with Greg McElroy coming up on the podcast. We are
Speaker 1: presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals, and by HeLa River Resorts and Casino. Sign
Speaker 1: up today with BETMGM, the official partner of the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: Use code cards one thousand and get back up to
Speaker 1: one thousand dollars in bonus bets. If you don't win
Speaker 1: your first bet, visit betmgm dot com for terms and conditions.
Speaker 1: Twenty one years of age you're older to wager Arizona
Speaker 1: only do customer offer. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem called
Speaker 1: one eight hundred. Next step all right, Time to catch
Speaker 1: up with First of all, a great guy, great friend
Speaker 1: of mine, also terrific broadcaster who for the next three
Speaker 1: to four decades is going to be on your TV
Speaker 1: screen as probably the most authoritative face and voice on
Speaker 1: college football in the country. And that's great Mackelrod.
Speaker 3: Greg.
Speaker 1: I'm sure over the course of the next thirty minutes
Speaker 1: or so, I'm gonna be busting your chops, So let
Speaker 1: me at least start with some praise. I'm so happy
Speaker 1: for you, man, your fast rise at ESPN. I guess
Speaker 1: I was the training wheels for you, working with you
Speaker 1: for four plus years to get you to this point
Speaker 1: where you're now working with the great Sean McDonough on
Speaker 1: the number two team on college football. You sound fantastic, brother.
Speaker 1: How how's it been through a couple games?
Speaker 2: Well, I love that you're softening me up right now.
Speaker 2: You're fattening me up for the kill. I know what's
Speaker 2: coming now. I am appreciative and I will always appreciate.
Speaker 2: We ate our friendship first and foremost, but I'll appreciate
Speaker 2: all the positive and quality lessons I learned from you
Speaker 2: on how to be a pro. Us are real pro,
Speaker 2: as Bill Raftery would say, a real pro's it's good man.
Speaker 2: I mean, I appreciate very much our friendship, and I'm
Speaker 2: glad that we could do this together and hopefully we
Speaker 2: get to reference the incredible game that was the twenty
Speaker 2: twelve Cardinals Jets game. So I know we'll have a
Speaker 2: chance to get there at some point.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, that's coming, that's coming. That's on the list.
Speaker 1: But first, let's talk college football, because it feels like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw. I know you saw
Speaker 1: the ratings as I did, and I still am surprised
Speaker 1: as much as I know. Dion's a big story in
Speaker 1: Colorado's a big story, dude, It's the biggest story in
Speaker 1: sports right now. They had almost a ten a ten
Speaker 1: million people watching that broadcast that went until two in
Speaker 1: the morning, past two in the morning on the East Coast,
Speaker 1: and I was one of them.
Speaker 2: And I'm sitting there thinking, all right, well, you know,
Speaker 2: this game will go final, It'll be one thirty. I'll
Speaker 2: get to bed and I'll make my expand polite, no problem.
Speaker 2: I'll get three hours or so and be fine. Then
Speaker 2: sure enough, over ninety eight our drive overtime, second overtime,
Speaker 2: it's like, oh boy, there goes the sleep cycle. But
Speaker 2: it's it's amazing, man, And I think, what's funny about it, Dave,
Speaker 2: and I know you know you and I have talked
Speaker 2: about it or whatever. It's it's like bigger than college football.
Speaker 2: It's almost like a pop culture phenomenon in some ways.
Speaker 2: I mean, whether it's the celebrities on the field, the
Speaker 2: celebrities that are leading the team out of the tunnel,
Speaker 2: the celebrities that are doing postgame performances in the locker room,
Speaker 2: the coverage that it's getting from from sixty Minutes, the
Speaker 2: coverage that it's getting on all the platforms that cover
Speaker 2: college football traditionally, like the you know, big noon kickoff
Speaker 2: on Fox or College Game Day or whatever. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a story that has just transcended to sport, and
Speaker 2: I think because people are just so fascinated by it.
Speaker 2: I mean, nobody in their right mind could have anticipated
Speaker 2: the performances that they've put together up to this point.
Speaker 2: And I'm not sure it'll ever really be replicated. Okay,
Speaker 2: it's just mind blowing.
Speaker 1: So they've got Oregon this week, and then they got
Speaker 1: usc next week. This week's games on ABC, and then
Speaker 1: Fox has that game next week which is a noon
Speaker 1: kick eastern ten am in Boulder. Do you think all
Speaker 1: of what you just said is sustainable once reality sets
Speaker 1: and when I say reality, like they may still win
Speaker 1: nine games, they might still win ten games, but it
Speaker 1: feels like winning the next two that's asking a lot.
Speaker 1: So if they were to lose the next two or
Speaker 1: even if they split, do you still think the phenomenon
Speaker 1: is there in mid October talking about Dion and Colorado,
Speaker 1: then like we are now if.
Speaker 2: They split, we are. If they go zero and two
Speaker 2: and lose close, we are. If they get blown out
Speaker 2: or not, probably, I mean, it's still going to be
Speaker 2: a captivating conversation. It's still going to be something that
Speaker 2: will you know, we'll definitely talk about it naturally. I mean,
Speaker 2: they are moving the needle, and I think you know,
Speaker 2: he'll still even given what he inherited and the team
Speaker 2: that he stepped into. I mean if they go to Bowl,
Speaker 2: if they go to a Bowl game by winning six games,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's far beyond what any of us could
Speaker 2: have anticipated from them in year number one. So I
Speaker 2: think it's and that's I think obviously well within reach
Speaker 2: with games that they have against Arizona State and Stanford
Speaker 2: and some other really really winnable games on the schedule.
Speaker 2: But I don't know if it's quite gonna capture the
Speaker 2: nation's attention the way it has if they lose big,
Speaker 2: Because right now it's really fun, it's really exciting, it's
Speaker 2: a great story. But if some of the flaws that
Speaker 2: were exposed a little bit last week getting exposed even more,
Speaker 2: then it could come crashing down pretty quickly. So I
Speaker 2: think it's one of those hey play the hot hand,
Speaker 2: but I don't know how sustainable it really is based
Speaker 2: on what I've seen up at this point.
Speaker 1: Through three weeks. Who would you say is the best team?
Speaker 1: I mean, Georgia second half looked like Georgia last week.
Speaker 1: First half not so much. Obviously, you're Alma mater. Alabama
Speaker 1: not great the loss of Texas. Texas struggled with Wyoming
Speaker 1: last week, ends up winning, Florida State struggles with BC
Speaker 1: ends up winning. Who do you think is the best
Speaker 1: team right now?
Speaker 2: Well, george is the best team. They have the highest ceiling,
Speaker 2: and I think it was on display in the second
Speaker 2: half of last week. I mean, they looked really really
Speaker 2: good against the South Kily team I think is actually
Speaker 2: kind of found themselves a little bit in their quarterback
Speaker 2: spensive rattler. I mean he's becoming a legit, you know,
Speaker 2: NFL prospect with how he's playing. So I think George
Speaker 2: is the best team. But really at number two, I
Speaker 2: think it's wide open. I'm not going to tell you
Speaker 2: the team that I at least want to play right
Speaker 2: now is Washington. I mean, Washington to me is like,
Speaker 2: if I had to rank them right now, Dave like,
Speaker 2: I'd have Washington too. I know a lot of people
Speaker 2: are like, well, that's that's absurd. They're not They're not
Speaker 2: a traditional blue blood. How can you do that? Well,
Speaker 2: have you watched Michigan? I mean, because Michigan doesn't look
Speaker 2: great frankly through three weeks. Ohio State up until last week,
Speaker 2: really hasn't looked great through three weeks. Last week, Texas,
Speaker 2: while I love Texas and think they're really good this year,
Speaker 2: they were at tied ten to ten going into the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter against Wyoming. I think about other teams that
Speaker 2: would be maybe garnering some of that attention at the
Speaker 2: number two or three spot. Florida State looked a little
Speaker 2: sloppy in the second half against Boston College. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, I think right now Washington's the team that's
Speaker 2: really clicking on all cylinders, and they did so on
Speaker 2: the road against the powerful opponent of the Michigan State.
Speaker 2: And I think SC is really capable as well. But
Speaker 2: SC hasn't done it against anybody yet. So if you're
Speaker 2: taking resume and you're taking eye test and trying to
Speaker 2: combine the two, the team that I think is playing
Speaker 2: better with a better resume is Washington. Who would I
Speaker 2: think be attur near the top of the list.
Speaker 1: So Michael Pennix clearly is one of the most improved
Speaker 1: players the last few years. You and I did one
Speaker 1: of his games back in the COVID year and yeah,
Speaker 1: when he was in Indiana.
Speaker 3: Right, Well, we.
Speaker 2: Definitely did an Indiana game. I still know if he
Speaker 2: was there.
Speaker 3: I think he was, yeah, because.
Speaker 2: Well you made me go up there to East Lanting
Speaker 2: and we did that game and it was like there
Speaker 2: was no one in the crowd and I had to
Speaker 2: hang out with you. So I try to forget it,
Speaker 2: but it's yeah, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he did play
Speaker 2: that game. I really don't remember. I think he probably did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then I had him the next year twice
Speaker 1: against Cincinnati and against Ohio State. He was not good
Speaker 1: in either game. What's happened, because now it feels like,
Speaker 1: obviously Caleb Williams and Drake May we already knew that
Speaker 1: they were major NFL prospects, but now you've got Riley
Speaker 1: Leonard from Duke in the conversation, bo Nix and his improvement,
Speaker 1: and now Michael Pennox. It's it's starting to feel like
Speaker 1: there could be five to six quarterbacks in the first round.
Speaker 1: Is is Pennock's legit in your mind?
Speaker 2: Yeah? He is. He is the real deal. And now
Speaker 2: he has an excellent supporting cast. So he gets taken
Speaker 2: into account that his wide receivers and he's got three
Speaker 2: of them that are ridiculous. But man, he's making throws
Speaker 2: that are next level. I mean off platform stuff, moving, sliding,
Speaker 2: still being accurate. You know, he's a lefty, which you
Speaker 2: know some you know sometimes that's just for writing in
Speaker 2: a quarterback and always just it's hard to value. It's
Speaker 2: not that I have anything against lest handed quarterbacks at all,
Speaker 2: but like, for whatever reason, it's watching left handed quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: It always looks unnatural to a right handed guy. But
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, he doesn't to me look unnatural at all,
Speaker 2: And I think he's he's excellent. I mean really really good.
Speaker 2: For instance, like if I had to choose an NFL
Speaker 2: player between Bonix or him, I'd probably take Michael Pennix.
Speaker 2: And I know bo Nix has garnered a lot of attention,
Speaker 2: but I've still seen no sporadic inconsistencies with him, uh
Speaker 2: and you know, I still think he can run a
Speaker 2: little hot from time to time. And bo Nick seems
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, and Michael Pennock seems to a
Speaker 2: little be a little bit more predictable with what you're
Speaker 2: going to get week to week. So it's I think
Speaker 2: it's going to be a really good quarterback lass And
Speaker 2: I would not have necessarily said that two years ago,
Speaker 2: just because some of the young guys have had some
Speaker 2: trials and tribulations, But it's really come full circle now
Speaker 2: and I think it goes to show too, man, we
Speaker 2: draw conclusions on guys way too early as far as
Speaker 2: they're to be a prospect, you know, I mean, sometimes
Speaker 2: takes guys a couple of years, and sometimes it takes
Speaker 2: them a little while to kind of find themselves. And
Speaker 2: just because you start slowly, or you start inaccurately, or
Speaker 2: maybe you look a little out of control or a
Speaker 2: little uncomfortable doesn't mean he won't fight it at some point,
Speaker 2: like people always forget, like Joe Burrow became highes sted
Speaker 2: player in the NFL and was terrible in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: Relatively speaking, I don't necessarily mean he you know. I
Speaker 2: mean he went for being a seventh round pick to
Speaker 2: the first overall pick in one year. So that's pretty
Speaker 2: remarkable thing to do. So I think guys can improve
Speaker 2: and guys can get better, and that wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 2: if someone else potentially joins the mix as the season
Speaker 2: goes along as well. There's a lot of really good
Speaker 2: quarterback play going on right now.
Speaker 1: So one of the years we were together, we did
Speaker 1: at least a couple Joe Burrow games and a couple
Speaker 1: two of games two, and now is starting to play
Speaker 1: a little bit more like I think you thought, because
Speaker 1: I know you were, I mean, among others, really high
Speaker 1: on him.
Speaker 3: It's well to me.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember this, Greg, it felt
Speaker 1: to me when we did those LSU games that even
Speaker 1: at Oorsron and his coaching staff, they weren't one hundred
Speaker 1: percent sold that Joe Burrow was elite. And then obviously
Speaker 1: clearly he's proven that he is well.
Speaker 2: When you watch him throw in shorts, it's like, really,
Speaker 2: this is him, Like are you sure? Are you positive
Speaker 2: that guy doesn't go into the locker room and like
Speaker 2: someone takes his place and it's a different dude. Like
Speaker 2: because you watch him throwing shorts, it's like, all right, well,
Speaker 2: it's okay, that's not bad. And then the game starts
Speaker 2: and he's like unconscious, and all of a sudden, the
Speaker 2: ball and the spiral gets tighter and the arm gets
Speaker 2: stronger and the accuracy gets better. It's like it's wild.
Speaker 2: And I actually did a Drake May game this year
Speaker 2: Week one, Spencer Rattler against Drake May South Carolina North Carolina,
Speaker 2: and I actually had kind of the same takeaway from
Speaker 2: him as I did with Joe Burrow, Like you watch
Speaker 2: him throwing shorts and you're not really prest then you
Speaker 2: watch him in the game and you're like, oh my goodness,
Speaker 2: you know, he's just a gamer. So I do think
Speaker 2: there's that sometimes that guy that can just flip the
Speaker 2: switch from practice to the game, And clearly Burrow has that,
Speaker 2: or at least he had that prior to the contract.
Speaker 2: I don't you know, we're only a couple of weeks in,
Speaker 2: but you know, just skidding, of course he's great. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I think some of some guys are just gamers
Speaker 2: and then when the real bullets start flying, they just
Speaker 2: get way better. And that's I think what what happens
Speaker 2: quite a bit with Burrow. I think that's what's going
Speaker 2: to happen with May and I think in some ways
Speaker 2: that's what's going to happen with maybe another guy that
Speaker 2: that we kind of evaluate and maybe comes to the
Speaker 2: forefront here in the next couple months as we're going
Speaker 2: to the evaluation process.
Speaker 1: You and I did you know Kyler Murray games in college?
Speaker 1: And obviously Kyler's hurt and we don't know when he's
Speaker 1: going to play. But you know, what were your thoughts
Speaker 1: on Kyler coming out? You know, what have you witnessed
Speaker 1: so far? Because I know you watch a lot of NFL,
Speaker 1: and you know, I keep telling people that I feel
Speaker 1: like he he wants to prove to people that he's
Speaker 1: worth the money. Others have said, well, he got the contract,
Speaker 1: that's all. You know, He's got the contract and that's it.
Speaker 1: But now I think the injury, this is the most
Speaker 1: adversity he's ever faced in his life. He's not used
Speaker 1: to adversity. He faced it a little bit so far
Speaker 1: as a player, but this is different coming off a
Speaker 1: major injury. He's never dealt with that before, and now
Speaker 1: he's got people talking about study, habits and contract and
Speaker 1: everything else. What's your take on that in terms of
Speaker 1: how he attacks this next stage of his career.
Speaker 2: Well, honestly, I would push back maybe a hair. I
Speaker 2: do think he experienced some adversity at Texas A and M.
Speaker 2: That's where he started his college career, and he was
Speaker 2: kind of thrown in there as a starter, and they
Speaker 2: had a couple guys at that point, and they were
Speaker 2: kind of trying to side. Was it going to be
Speaker 2: Kyle Allen or was it going to be Tyler Murray?
Speaker 2: And I believe there was another guy like Nick Starkole
Speaker 2: is in there. I don't even remember who the third
Speaker 2: guy in the mix was. Tyler got a start, didn't
Speaker 2: play very well, and then got benched, and so that
Speaker 2: was some adversity, and I don't know how he handled that.
Speaker 2: I don't think it was great, But you know, he
Speaker 2: was a young player as a true freshman, and that's
Speaker 2: just the way it goes. He went goes to Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: That's a couple of years to sit behind Baker Mayfield
Speaker 2: and obviously had a ridiculous here in twenty eighteen and
Speaker 2: parlayed it into being the first overall pick. So he's
Speaker 2: handled it and bounced back from it before. Obviously the
Speaker 2: way he plays, and just kind of the athleticism. I mean,
Speaker 2: the knee is an issue. I mean, will he trust it?
Speaker 2: Like a mental hurle that you have to get over
Speaker 2: as a player is significant, especially when you're a guy
Speaker 2: that's as twitchy as he is and as quick and
Speaker 2: as agile and as lateral as he is. So I
Speaker 2: do think that's the problem. But I mean, I think
Speaker 2: the study habits are a little concerning. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, I mean, the guy makes plays. I mean,
Speaker 2: I do think he's probably a difficult one to coach, though,
Speaker 2: because his best attributes are when he's off schedule, you know,
Speaker 2: And as a coach, you're like, man, I call a
Speaker 2: play to have it designed to go to this particular
Speaker 2: player against this particular matchup, against this particular look, and
Speaker 2: Tyler's not there, but he's running around like crazy and
Speaker 2: he makes a play. So I think he's a difficult
Speaker 2: guy to coach a little bit, but it's not necessarily
Speaker 2: a bad thing. It's just you have to be prepared
Speaker 2: for the unpredictable. And maybe that wasn't exactly what Cliff wanted,
Speaker 2: but hopefully with this new staff and with the new
Speaker 2: regime coming from Philly, maybe they're a little bit more
Speaker 2: used to that because Jalen Hurts will improvised too, and
Speaker 2: they clearly had no issues with his improvisation and allowed
Speaker 2: them to kind of use some of that athletic ability,
Speaker 2: use some of that, use some of that I guess
Speaker 2: you could call it improv as a skills, but can
Speaker 2: still kind of hone in the plan to where he
Speaker 2: can stay a little bit more predictable with how he
Speaker 2: attacks it. So I'm cautiously optimistic, especially you know, with
Speaker 2: the staff that was brought in.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a little bit about some
Speaker 1: of the rookies. The Cardinals are playing a handful of
Speaker 1: rookies right now. Paris Johnson is starting on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you did a game or two of his
Speaker 1: at Ohio State. Key Troll Clark is starting at corner,
Speaker 1: sixth round pick out of Louisville. We're just starting to
Speaker 1: see bj ol Jalai who I know you did his
Speaker 1: games at LSU Because of injury, he didn't really get
Speaker 1: a lot of reps in camp. And then Clayton Tune
Speaker 1: is the backup Joshu with Dobbs has played well enough
Speaker 1: to keep starting at quarterback, but Clayton Tune fifth round pick,
Speaker 1: a lot of starts, a lot of experience. I know
Speaker 1: you had one of his games. Tell me first your
Speaker 1: your thoughts on Tuon, Well, I have.
Speaker 2: I had Tune in the American Championship in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: he played against Cincinnati. He's very accurate. I knew his brother, actually,
Speaker 2: Nathan Tune, who was pretty close to my age, went
Speaker 2: to a small school in the state of Texas, and
Speaker 2: we had thrown together quite a bit. So I actually
Speaker 2: kind of followed Clayton's career since gosh he was a
Speaker 2: young pup, just because I had a relationship with his
Speaker 2: older brother. I really, I mean, I really think he's
Speaker 2: a good player. And now he doesn't have crazy mobility,
Speaker 2: but he has enough. He doesn't have a huge arm,
Speaker 2: but he has enough. I think he's pretty accurate, and
Speaker 2: when he stays on schedule and his feet are set
Speaker 2: like I think he'd be a pretty good player. I
Speaker 2: think he's a solid backup. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 2: if he'll ever be a guy the guy, because I
Speaker 2: do think his ceiling's a little limited, but I do
Speaker 2: think a solid backup. I mean, not that dissimilar. He's
Speaker 2: very similar. Actually in some way it's the Cole McCoy
Speaker 2: and obviously a little younger, a little less expensive, but
Speaker 2: in some ways, you know, a little similar as far
Speaker 2: as the skill set's considered, real accurate understands what his
Speaker 2: strengths are, what his weaknesses are, a good competitor, and
Speaker 2: in that Cincinnati game, I mean, he had Cincinnati feeling
Speaker 2: pretty uncomfortable, and so he threw a pick there at
Speaker 2: the beginning of the second half and that kind of
Speaker 2: broke the game open. But at that point, Cincinnati was
Speaker 2: playing for a playoff spot, and Tune had him had
Speaker 2: him on the ropes a little bit with how he
Speaker 2: played early in that game. So I really like his game.
Speaker 2: I think he's got a good chance to develop into
Speaker 2: a kind of a mainstay in the league. But I
Speaker 2: don't know if he'll ever be a high end starter.
Speaker 2: I think he's a spot starter that could that could
Speaker 2: bail you out from time to time.
Speaker 1: Paris Johnson's looked really good so far. I think I
Speaker 1: think everybody there's a consensus there. He's he was a
Speaker 1: great pick. He's going to be a great player for
Speaker 1: a long time. Bj ojala I mentioned we haven't seen
Speaker 1: as much of him. You've probably seen more than anybody else,
Speaker 1: just doing a lot of LSU games the last few years. Uh,
Speaker 1: what do you think his ceiling is in the NFL?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, no one's seen more LSU games. I
Speaker 2: mean we had him six times last year and I
Speaker 2: became a huge fan of bj oj l last year
Speaker 2: against Auburn and they were down, I mean like seventeen
Speaker 2: to nothing. I mean they were getting smoked, and bj
Speaker 2: Ojalari single handedly took over the game. I mean I'm
Speaker 2: talking take over the game, like stripsack to the house
Speaker 2: and then made a couple more plays that led to
Speaker 2: turnovers later in the game, and all of a sudden
Speaker 2: Lsu comes climbing all the way back on the road
Speaker 2: at Auburn to ultimately win the game. So a huge
Speaker 2: fan of him. I don't think he has a crazy
Speaker 2: high feeling because I don't think he's crazy twitchy but
Speaker 2: I think he's going to be a rock solid pro
Speaker 2: for eight to ten years. And I'm a I mean,
Speaker 2: he's just he's he's more productive than he is flashy,
Speaker 2: and you know sometimes and look, let's just let's just
Speaker 2: call call it what it is right now. Like if
Speaker 2: you're if you're an edge defender and you don't have ten, twelve,
Speaker 2: fifteen sacks, you're not a good player in the eyes
Speaker 2: of many, but you can impact the game a lot
Speaker 2: even if you don't get those numbers. He's pretty good
Speaker 2: against the run, I think, or at least in college
Speaker 2: he was. Haven't seen him as much in the league naturally,
Speaker 2: but I think he's just a really really solid player,
Speaker 2: probably not a crazy high ceiling, but he's probably going
Speaker 2: to give you eight to ten good years where he's
Speaker 2: going to be a steady presence there and you can
Speaker 2: slade him inside too in some obvious third down rush
Speaker 2: situations if you want to, and he can probably give
Speaker 2: you a little bit inside as well. So I really
Speaker 2: like him. I think he's a good player. He's got
Speaker 2: some good length and obviously comes from a conference you've
Speaker 2: got to bring it every week too, and it plays
Speaker 2: the right way. I mean really does play the right way,
Speaker 2: So I think he's a good pick too. I feel
Speaker 2: good about him.
Speaker 1: Well, I know you root for the Cardinals because of
Speaker 1: our friendship, so I know that you have a stake
Speaker 1: in what happens.
Speaker 2: Here more for Wolf than well.
Speaker 1: Speaking of that, first of all, because I've been messing
Speaker 1: with Wolf like he is nationally renowned because of you
Speaker 1: and Sean and Mike Muscaro, who's part of the production team,
Speaker 1: getting Wolf to voice the teas and then making Wolf
Speaker 1: the answer to the Affleck trivia question. And I appreciated
Speaker 1: you putting up the picture of Wolf at age eleven.
Speaker 2: By the way, Yeah he did. He did look very similar,
Speaker 2: just as crazy and I swear in that little tease
Speaker 2: that we ran with the backyard brawlby and obviously a
Speaker 2: proud West Virginia mountaineer. He wrote the poem and everything
Speaker 2: for it, which was terrific. I mean, he's actually very talented.
Speaker 2: That was pretty impressive, the poem that he wrote. But
Speaker 2: I mean, surely his voice was not that garkly like
Speaker 2: I've heard him talk before, like that was that had
Speaker 2: to have been like post production special effects. I don't
Speaker 2: care what anybody said, Like I know, he's nuts. And
Speaker 2: I've listened to you guys on the radio forever, but
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, there's no way he's that garglely,
Speaker 2: is he?
Speaker 3: He is?
Speaker 1: When he's locked in like that too, and he's reading,
Speaker 1: it's different. It's different than when he's just calling a game.
Speaker 1: You know, he's reading a script and he's locked in
Speaker 1: and he's reading his own poetry. Yet it does sound
Speaker 1: a little different.
Speaker 2: Okay, good. I was well, I to hope that someone
Speaker 2: has made some money in post production, but maybe not.
Speaker 2: It sounds like that was the real deal.
Speaker 1: He's looking he's looking for money too, by the way,
Speaker 1: So if you anything you can throw his way would
Speaker 1: be appreciated.
Speaker 3: Nob kidding.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't have that. Maybe Sean can help him out.
Speaker 2: I don't have that, So maybe you can take care
Speaker 2: of him. Maybe maybe you guys, you guys and all
Speaker 2: your all your commas and your bank if I got that.
Speaker 1: So the team the Cardinals are playing this week. You
Speaker 1: obviously have a connection to the Cowboys, your dad being
Speaker 1: a former executive with the Cowboys. I'm curious, first of all,
Speaker 1: what it was like to grow up as part of
Speaker 1: your childhood being associated with the Cowboys and also being
Speaker 1: a Cowboys fan as a guy that played high school
Speaker 1: quarterback very successfully in the state of Texas.
Speaker 2: Well. I mean, I my dad worked in pro sports forever,
Speaker 2: so I was a Cowboy fan though before he got
Speaker 2: to the Cowboys. So when he got to the Cowboys,
Speaker 2: Dad had jobs that I really cared about. When he
Speaker 2: took the job of the Dodgers, where I remain a
Speaker 2: diehard Dodger fan, and then when he took the job
Speaker 2: with the Cowboys, and you kind of as a kid
Speaker 2: that grows up in sports, like you root for the paycheck.
Speaker 2: So wherever Dad is, I'm rootten for you, and I'm
Speaker 2: rooting hard. So whether it's the La Kings, the Dallas Stars,
Speaker 2: the Texas Rangers, the you know, back to the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: to the Cowboys, the Arizona Standing like I'm rooting for
Speaker 2: the I'm rooting for the paycheck. So but when he
Speaker 2: had the job of the Cowboys, like I was a
Speaker 2: real genuine Cowboys fan being a kid in Dallas before
Speaker 2: he got that gig. So it was like a dream
Speaker 2: come true for me, you know, having grown up watching
Speaker 2: you know, Aikman and Emmett and Michael Irvin, and Dion
Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, gosh, all the greats there
Speaker 2: in the nineties, So it was really pretty amazing when
Speaker 2: he got that gig. And then when he got there,
Speaker 2: they stunk. You know. Of course, you get the job
Speaker 2: during the Chan Gaily era and then you know, you
Speaker 2: get a piece of it during Parcels and way Phillips
Speaker 2: where they ended up having some good years, but for
Speaker 2: most of that tenure as a Cowboy executive, they were
Speaker 2: god awful. So it was really hard to pull for
Speaker 2: the Cowboys when it was so natural as a kid
Speaker 2: because they were always winning. Well. When Dad got the job,
Speaker 2: he was the bad luck charm and I think in
Speaker 2: his tenure they won one playoff game in the ten
Speaker 2: to twelve years that he was there, So it was
Speaker 2: a less than ideal time to really be all the
Speaker 2: way in on the Cowboys. We just missed the run
Speaker 2: as a young kid, and I you know, we didn't
Speaker 2: have a whole lot to show for it. But it
Speaker 2: was cool. And the weird thing is when I got
Speaker 2: drafted to the Jets and my dad was still with
Speaker 2: the Cowboys, it was like, like I can't I can't
Speaker 2: root for the Cowboys anymore, Like I mean no way.
Speaker 2: I mean that ain't happened. And my first NFL game
Speaker 2: was actually against the Cowboys on nine to eleven and
Speaker 2: in twenty eleven, so it was a ten year anniversary
Speaker 2: nine eleven. It was either Sunday night or Monday night football,
Speaker 2: I don't remember. It was definitely a night game. I
Speaker 2: don't remember if it was a Sunday or Monday. And
Speaker 2: Romo threw a couple picks and one bad pick at
Speaker 2: the end of the game where they were on the
Speaker 2: same page as des Bryant and Reeve caught it off.
Speaker 2: Reeves picked it off and took it back, and Nick Folk,
Speaker 2: former Cowboy, drained it for the game winner. And I've never, ever,
Speaker 2: not one time in my life, cheered a Romo interception
Speaker 2: until that night. So it was very uncomfortable being there
Speaker 2: on the sideline in the Jets' uniform and like cheering
Speaker 2: against the team that I grew up gretting for and
Speaker 2: one of the players that I was obsessed with as
Speaker 2: a kid.
Speaker 1: By the way, back to your dad, the great Greg
Speaker 1: McElroy Senior, for a second, has he forgiven you for
Speaker 1: taking that bottle of wine out of his collector's stash
Speaker 1: that fridge that he has in his house when you
Speaker 1: and I did that Texas A and M Spring game.
Speaker 1: I mean, seriously, the nerve that you have to go
Speaker 1: in there on your own without permission and just take
Speaker 1: a nice bottle of silver oak.
Speaker 2: Well, that's really funny because my dad is convinced that
Speaker 2: he has this really nice wine collection. Dad has never
Speaker 2: had a glass of wine it in life. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm not exaggerating that has never once had a glass
Speaker 2: of wine. Dad drinks beer. That's what Dad drinks in vodka,
Speaker 2: So like, you know what, Dad, you know what you're
Speaker 2: getting beer and vodka, pretty simple. But he's literally never
Speaker 2: had wine. I did. However, when I was going through
Speaker 2: the NFL process, I was like, you know, and the
Speaker 2: draft process. This is during the lockout. So this is
Speaker 2: in twenty eleven. I was still living at home, and
Speaker 2: I went through a little bit of a wine face,
Speaker 2: albeit short lived, but a bit of a wine face.
Speaker 2: So I stalked up on all these bottles and nice bottles,
Speaker 2: and I just got dratched by the Jets and to
Speaker 2: buy some nice wine and you know, I'm gonna have it,
Speaker 2: and I just left it in my dad's fridge, and sure, enough.
Speaker 2: You go in Dad's fridge and he's got like probably
Speaker 2: ten fifteen, twenty bottles of wine that are all like
Speaker 2: two thousand and eight vintage, you know, silver, oak, camus,
Speaker 2: you know, all the usual suspects, cake bread, you name it.
Speaker 2: But they're all like two thousand and eight, two thousand
Speaker 2: and nine. And Dad's convinced that he's been collecting those
Speaker 2: for years, but they're actually mine, and he doesn't remember that.
Speaker 2: He forgets that I lived at home during the lockout,
Speaker 2: and he forgets that I went through a wine phase.
Speaker 2: And he somehow seems to not be able to get
Speaker 2: the dots based on the fact that all the wine
Speaker 2: bottles that are in there are eighth nine. So I'm
Speaker 2: not sure what he's thinking, but you're the one that
Speaker 2: wanted to break that bottle open, and you drank the
Speaker 2: whole thing, and it was really unprofessional. And we had
Speaker 2: a really high level telecast the next day, and you
Speaker 2: had a whole bottle of wine before we went to
Speaker 2: bed the night before. It was really unprofessional of you.
Speaker 1: First of all, that's not true, but I will say
Speaker 1: he did offer to pick whatever was in there, and
Speaker 1: then when I found out that it was yours. I
Speaker 1: made sure to pick the most expensive one.
Speaker 2: Uh, yeah, of course you did well. Dad still thinks
Speaker 2: that like we owe him money for that. But I'm
Speaker 2: not payned because I'm not payned for the same thing twice.
Speaker 2: I've paid for it once. I'm certainly not going to
Speaker 2: pay for it again.
Speaker 1: All Right, you've mentioned the Jets a couple of times.
Speaker 1: I got to get there, but I want to start
Speaker 1: with Alabama because you were the quarterback on Nick Saban,
Speaker 1: who is a first ballot Hall of Famer, perhaps the
Speaker 1: greatest college football coach.
Speaker 3: Of all time.
Speaker 1: You were the quarterback on his first national championship team.
Speaker 1: What was it like to be a part of a
Speaker 1: program shifting, sport changing title season? And then you know,
Speaker 1: we did some Alabama You've done him obviously without me,
Speaker 1: but Alabama games after that kind of watching interaction with
Speaker 1: coach Saban is interesting. What was it like to play
Speaker 1: for him as well? So loaded question, take your time,
Speaker 1: but I'm curious.
Speaker 3: I'm both.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, we'll just cancel whatever you have left on
Speaker 2: the podcast. We'll just go down.
Speaker 1: Then we have to save time for twenty twelve and
Speaker 1: and and what happened on that faithful days.
Speaker 2: I definitely want to carve out some time for that.
Speaker 2: So that's a lock. Well, starting with the first question
Speaker 2: that you asked, what was it like navigating through a
Speaker 2: season that was, you know, program defining sport, finding you know,
Speaker 2: seismic shift in the college football landscape. And the way
Speaker 2: I'd answer that is very simply not trying to dodge
Speaker 2: the question. But I mean we didn't know, you know,
Speaker 2: like I mean, we didn't know it was going to
Speaker 2: be a you know, tectonic shift of the powers that
Speaker 2: be because when we were you know, twenty one twenty two,
Speaker 2: we wanted to win, but for each other, you know,
Speaker 2: we didn't really think about the bigger picture. I'm glad
Speaker 2: that we didn't, because we probably would have felt a
Speaker 2: whole lot more pressure. But we just heay, let's just
Speaker 2: go win this thing, man, like no one thinks we can. Like,
Speaker 2: let's just go get it done. And we did, and
Speaker 2: we had a good team, and I don't think any
Speaker 2: of us really realized what we were doing at the time.
Speaker 2: And as I've gotten older and seen the program with
Speaker 2: great teams come up short, it's only gotten a little
Speaker 2: bit sweeter. That's one thing I've noticed is that it's
Speaker 2: really hard to win championships, and for us to have
Speaker 2: won it with that roster and with that team and
Speaker 2: the way we wanted against the teams we beat, it
Speaker 2: was pretty dang special to be part of. But it's
Speaker 2: not on the day that I really thought about At
Speaker 2: the moment. It was just, Hey, we're gonna try to
Speaker 2: win each game and let's take it one at a time.
Speaker 2: Let's just see what happens. And when the winds started
Speaker 2: mounting up, it got a little bit more pressure packs,
Speaker 2: but really never to the point where you know, we
Speaker 2: were worried about losing anything. I mean, it was like,
Speaker 2: we had nothing to lose, Let's go throw or out
Speaker 2: in the ring and see what happens. And that's kind
Speaker 2: of the way it went down.
Speaker 1: So so, even with early even with started interrupt but
Speaker 1: even with like Julio Jones and mark Ingram and Trent
Speaker 1: Richardson and first round picks on the defense, you guys
Speaker 1: did not think in the middle of the season or
Speaker 1: early in the season that you guys were a championship team.
Speaker 2: Well, we thought we got a chance to be really good,
Speaker 2: but we never talked about championships like we talked about, Hey,
Speaker 2: let's just win the one in front of us. Like
Speaker 2: there were guys on that team that were first round
Speaker 2: picks that we didn't know were first round picks. Like
Speaker 2: I remember when Kareem Jackson went out after two thousand
Speaker 2: and nine championship came and all of us were like,
Speaker 2: why is he going out? Like that's absurd, Like he
Speaker 2: might get drafted, you know, there's no way, you know,
Speaker 2: And sure enough he's like the twentieth overall pick and
Speaker 2: it's still playing. The guys had like at safety, a
Speaker 2: fifteen year career, you know, one of the most accomplished
Speaker 2: players that was on that team. Like we knew ROLANDA.
Speaker 2: McClain was a first round pick, Like we knew that,
Speaker 2: but we didn't, you know, we were we I mean,
Speaker 2: we were pretty naive at that point. Like it really
Speaker 2: wasn't so much like now so much of it's like
Speaker 2: NFL driven, NFL driven, like this guy's for this guy's
Speaker 2: for trimp pick. Like it really wasn't like that back then.
Speaker 2: There was more like, oh, well, he's good, he can
Speaker 2: help us. Like our center was five ten to eighty,
Speaker 2: you know, like that's a Alabama like, you know, clearly
Speaker 2: not an NFL prospect, but a really good college player.
Speaker 2: Our you know, our right tackle was you know, never
Speaker 2: sniffed the NFL and not even got to a training camp.
Speaker 2: Our two tight ends never even got the training camp.
Speaker 2: Our back up running back not Trent Richardson, but the
Speaker 2: backup was actually got named Roy up Church, never got
Speaker 2: the training camp. Our number two wide receiver never got
Speaker 2: the training camp. Our number three wide receiver never got
Speaker 2: the training camp. And we're talking like these are like
Speaker 2: impact players on the team. So yeah, our left tackle
Speaker 2: was a first round pick, James Carpenter. Our left guard
Speaker 2: was a third round pick. Mike Johnson I was a
Speaker 2: seventh round pick. Our running backs obviously Trent and Mark
Speaker 2: both first round picks. Julio first round pick, but was
Speaker 2: young at that point and frankly, during the championship season
Speaker 2: was never really at one hundred percent and the numbers
Speaker 2: would kind of reflect that he didn't really have a
Speaker 2: huge year. He was much better in ten when he
Speaker 2: came back as a third year junior and was uncoverable.
Speaker 2: And then defensively, you had Kareem Jackson, who was the
Speaker 2: first round pick, Brandon Detrick, a defensive lineman. The seventh
Speaker 2: round pick Lorenzo Washington was a seventh round pick or
Speaker 2: an undrafted guy, but you know, bottom, you know, bottom
Speaker 2: of the roster guy and played maybe two or three years.
Speaker 2: Corey Remer our outside linebacker, never played down the NFL.
Speaker 2: Eric Anders never played down the NFL.
Speaker 3: You don't have to go through the whole roster, Greg,
Speaker 3: we get we get it well.
Speaker 2: So it's like one of those things. It's like we
Speaker 2: you know, it's not like it was a superstar dridden team.
Speaker 2: We had some good players, but it wasn't you know,
Speaker 2: we were just we were just good, like some was
Speaker 2: greater than each individual part, which I think was kind
Speaker 2: of cool about that roster and what made it a
Speaker 2: little different from the rosters that came down the road.
Speaker 2: So no, like national championship was never really in our
Speaker 2: four purview, Like it was more let's, hey, let's beat LSU,
Speaker 2: let's beat Alabama, and hey, if we get the chance,
Speaker 2: let's beat Florida. You know, those were kind of the
Speaker 2: three things we wanted to do that year. And then
Speaker 2: sure enough, the wins just kept piling up and the
Speaker 2: National Championship became, you know, a clearer focus.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, the win over Florida was really cool to
Speaker 1: watching the Swamp Kings documentary on Netflix and seeing it
Speaker 1: was obviously the Florida side of things from their perspective,
Speaker 1: but just seeing you guys go in there and beat them.
Speaker 1: I can't remember if that was on nine or ten,
Speaker 1: but anyway, what was it like to play for coach Saban?
Speaker 1: He seems to be the same guy because Wolfley played
Speaker 1: for the Browns for Belichick and was the decordinator. And
Speaker 1: the way he talks about Saban is the same way
Speaker 1: you've talked about him, and basically the same thing I've
Speaker 1: seen when I've done his games. Is he the same
Speaker 1: guy today that he was then? What's it like to
Speaker 1: be around him as a player.
Speaker 2: No, he's a lot different now than he used to be,
Speaker 2: to be honest with you, really, yeah, And but he's
Speaker 2: had to adapt and the modern players different and like us,
Speaker 2: we never asked why, you know what I mean, like
Speaker 2: the players back in the day, not that we're tougher,
Speaker 2: like I don't like the whole notion. Well back in
Speaker 2: my day, you know, like it's not really bad, but
Speaker 2: but we just Hey, you want us to go jump
Speaker 2: off a bridge? Perfect, let's go. Hey, you want us
Speaker 2: to you want us to do this, let's do it.
Speaker 2: Whatever you think, Like we trusted him one you know,
Speaker 2: whatever he needed us to do, we were going to
Speaker 2: do it. And he didn't really have to push, he
Speaker 2: didn't really have to ask, he didn't have to beg
Speaker 2: he just did it. But the modern day players is
Speaker 2: not that way. Like the modern player has options. You
Speaker 2: can enter the transfer portal, you can go somewhere else.
Speaker 2: You can voice your frustration on social media with your
Speaker 2: coaching staff, which in turn hurts recruiting, which you know
Speaker 2: means you really get the last laugh if if a
Speaker 2: coach doesn't treat you the way you need to be
Speaker 2: treated or the way you think you need to be treated,
Speaker 2: so he's had to change. I think he kind of
Speaker 2: handles guys with with a little bit different approach. Like
Speaker 2: back in our day it was tough love man like,
Speaker 2: it was hard and he was not nice, and you
Speaker 2: know he was, I mean, he was a dictator and
Speaker 2: that's that's what he was. I mean, that's there's no
Speaker 2: doubt about it. His way or the highway. And if
Speaker 2: you don't want any part of the team final, you're
Speaker 2: not gonna win. And see you it was pretty simple.
Speaker 2: But the one thing that he always did a really
Speaker 2: good job of is that when you were struggling, maybe
Speaker 2: you had a run of bad games, maybe a game
Speaker 2: or two he didn't play great. He had a unique
Speaker 2: ability of being able to sense your or internal challenge,
Speaker 2: you know, because you're you know, you're clearly feeling it,
Speaker 2: like you want to play well, you want you want
Speaker 2: to help the team. He would really kind of build
Speaker 2: you up. So he'd call you in his office. You
Speaker 2: think you're gonna get ripped, and he'd be like, man,
Speaker 2: you're doing great. Just hang in there, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Yeah, And he would also and look at
Speaker 2: the same time, he's like, hey, we need to do
Speaker 2: this better. But hey, you get like you're out there
Speaker 2: for a reason, like we love you, we believe in you.
Speaker 2: You can do it for us, you know, not maybe
Speaker 2: not I love you, but you know, something closer to that.
Speaker 2: And then when you're playing great, he'll rip you the shreds.
Speaker 2: It's like, hang on a second, what do you mean
Speaker 2: I'm I'm bawling out, coach, like why are you gone me?
Speaker 2: Like stop? Like so, I think it's a way though,
Speaker 2: to keep everybody even and to kind of feel even.
Speaker 2: He doesn't want to experience the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2: He doesn't want you to be too high with the
Speaker 2: highs or too low with the lows. If you're really
Speaker 2: on cloud nine, he's going to bring you back down
Speaker 2: to earth. And if you're not feeling so great about
Speaker 2: where you're at, he's going to build up. And I
Speaker 2: think you can always kind of tell with him in
Speaker 2: his press conferences where the team is at, because if
Speaker 2: he's really really happy and nice, maybe the team doesn't
Speaker 2: feel great about themselves. If he's starting to get agitated,
Speaker 2: maybe the team's a little too over confident. And you know,
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of the way he doesn't. That's
Speaker 2: why his team's so consistent, Dave, Like I mean, I
Speaker 2: mean they've played in like three games since two thousand
Speaker 2: and nine that didn't have a possibility of going to
Speaker 2: the playoff for the national championship. Like I mean, there
Speaker 2: haven't been many games that haven't had national championship or
Speaker 2: playoff implications that he's been a part of. Because the
Speaker 2: team is so consistent, you're gonna get predictable performance. They
Speaker 2: might not always have their best stuff, but it's going
Speaker 2: to be more predictable than most other places.
Speaker 1: Well, listen, I'm sorry I've kept you longer than I intended,
Speaker 1: but I appreciate the time. But I do have to
Speaker 1: ask about twenty twelve.
Speaker 2: I did just read off the whole roster N Championship team,
Speaker 2: So I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to time.
Speaker 1: Well, I think what you were trying to do is
Speaker 1: get off the phone before I brought up twenty twelve.
Speaker 2: That was exactly what it I was trying to filibuster.
Speaker 2: So glad that you were able to piece that together.
Speaker 1: So, being your pal and wanting to support my pal,
Speaker 1: I always try to watch when I can your games.
Speaker 1: So I'm on the plane after doing Florida State BC
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to watch.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, yeah, look at you just getting getting your
Speaker 2: assignment And that was a huge rating last week, just
Speaker 2: a ratings bonanza, and you go ahead and just shamelessly
Speaker 2: promotes that was your game.
Speaker 3: That's fine, Wait, which I didn't see. Did that? Did
Speaker 3: that outrate the backyard brawl in your game?
Speaker 2: It did, but I think Wolfly had a lot to
Speaker 2: do with it. When he started the show and he
Speaker 2: said all right, I said, I'm done with this show.
Speaker 2: So I think Wolflely was our was our nemesis. There
Speaker 2: in the in the rating category.
Speaker 1: You're getting wolf back for twenty twelve. So anyway, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to watch your game West Virginia Pitt and the
Speaker 1: the TVs on on the flight keep going out. So
Speaker 1: I'm getting frustrated. Now I can't watch your game. I
Speaker 1: can't watch any game. So I'm gonna watch a movie.
Speaker 1: And so I start watching Field of Dreams. Do you
Speaker 1: remember the scene.
Speaker 3: Where you watch Field.
Speaker 2: I've been watching Field of Dreams, like the last I
Speaker 2: watched like ten minutes a night before I go to sleep,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, right at the part where he picks
Speaker 2: up he picks up James R.
Speaker 3: Jones arch arch noeral Jones.
Speaker 2: Already there, he picks up Archie. You know the doctor
Speaker 2: guy perfectly comes back as a kid. So they just
Speaker 2: picked him up last night and see what happens.
Speaker 1: Okay, so perfect. This is absolutely perfect. So you remember
Speaker 1: the scene where they're at Fenway Park and on the
Speaker 1: screen that only Kevin Coster and James Earl Jones can see,
Speaker 1: it says Archibald Graham one yeah or Moonlight Graham. I
Speaker 1: think it says one played appearance. No official at bats
Speaker 1: and so he.
Speaker 2: Played a half He played a half inning bats.
Speaker 1: Come on, okay, So that made me think of your
Speaker 1: NFL career one win, one win as an NFL quarterback.
Speaker 1: And it happened to come against the Arizona Cardinals in
Speaker 1: twenty two well, a game that, by the way, I
Speaker 1: still feel bad about to this day because I was
Speaker 1: ruthless to you on the broadcast. I felt so bad
Speaker 1: that I confessed and played the tape for you many
Speaker 1: years ago. But both Wolfley and I were ripping you,
Speaker 1: and we shouldn't have because he went out and played
Speaker 1: great and won the game. What do you remember about
Speaker 1: I even I can't remember if Ken Wizen came up
Speaker 1: to you last year because he was at a consultant
Speaker 1: at Penn State. And I texted Whiz and I said,
Speaker 1: if you see McElroy's doing the game, if you see him,
Speaker 1: go up and tell him, hey, thanks for getting me
Speaker 1: fired because of the twenty twelve I don't know if
Speaker 1: he did it or not. But what do you remember
Speaker 1: from that game? I mean not many core. How many
Speaker 1: people in the world can say they won an NFL game?
Speaker 1: And then you started the next week a month and
Speaker 1: at football if I'm not mistaken, but tell me about
Speaker 1: the Cardinals game in twenty twelve.
Speaker 2: Uh. Yeah, So I did not start the following week.
Speaker 2: We played the Jaguars the following week, which have been
Speaker 2: great place for me to start my first game in
Speaker 2: said they put Mark back and all Jacksonville did was
Speaker 2: run cover three and I would have tore him up
Speaker 2: in like perfect weather. Uh. And then Mark started the
Speaker 2: following week on Monday Night football and he turned over
Speaker 2: five times and got the hook. And I just started
Speaker 2: on a short week. The week after we get eliminated
Speaker 2: from the playoffs against the San Diego Chargers, who literally,
Speaker 2: I'm watching the tape six weeks earlier, absolutely killed the
Speaker 2: Big Ben. So I'm like, oh god, this is not good.
Speaker 2: You know. So long story short. Against the Cardinals, Mark
Speaker 2: had been struggling. I had had a really good year
Speaker 2: running the scout team. Uh. And you know TiVo was
Speaker 2: there too, but Tibo as as far as like the
Speaker 2: down end, down out offense, I was operating it a
Speaker 2: little better than him. So I started getting a couple
Speaker 2: of reps, you know, two weeks earlier, and then a
Speaker 2: week earlier, and then Mark had the butt fumble game
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving, which was, you know, a tough one and
Speaker 2: we got killed by New England. Uh, so you know,
Speaker 2: they basically come up there and and they say, hey,
Speaker 2: we're we're gonna dress you this week and and you
Speaker 2: know you're gonna be the two and and we'll just
Speaker 2: be ready in case, you know, markets off to a
Speaker 2: slow start, we'll get you in there. And sure enough,
Speaker 2: slow start, I'm not sure doesn't justice. Both defense were
Speaker 2: playing pretty well. We had a good defense. Y'all had
Speaker 2: a pretty good defense. People don't like to remember that,
Speaker 2: but the defense is actually pretty good. I mean, you
Speaker 2: had Rashaw Johnathan, you had you know, Patrick Peterson. Like
Speaker 2: it was a good group collectively if I.
Speaker 3: Remember, yeah, darn Old Dock Carrie Rhodes, yep.
Speaker 2: Yeah was on that team.
Speaker 3: You really can't remember, Yeah he was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, it wasn't a bad group. Y'all had a
Speaker 2: pretty salty outfit. But y'all ran a lot of man coverage,
Speaker 2: so we didn't have great wide receivers. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I'm sure you remember Clyde Gates and Jeremy Curly and
Speaker 2: uh and over the Hill, Gosh, Braylan Edwards, Jeff Jeff Cumberland.
Speaker 2: So we didn't have a great outfit of wide receivers.
Speaker 2: Chas Shilling's I'm sure you.
Speaker 3: Don't remember him. I do.
Speaker 2: Memory of an elephant. Anyways, it was a it was
Speaker 2: not exactly a star study group, so I don't blame
Speaker 2: him for playing a lot of man coverage. But Mark
Speaker 2: was off the mark. It turned it over a couple
Speaker 2: of times. They say, all right, Michroy, you're in there, male.
Speaker 2: Third quarter, All of a sudden, I mean, the crowd
Speaker 2: probably the first from the second quarter on is channing
Speaker 2: McElroy for had to have been a quarter and Mark
Speaker 2: gets the hook. I go in warm up a little bit,
Speaker 2: and first drive as a pro and of the third
Speaker 2: quarter I handed off, had a nice little run check
Speaker 2: piece of cake out the right door, right down the field.
Speaker 2: It's like, all right, this is this is easy, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean? This ain't hard. Had a couple
Speaker 2: of other plays that were pretty good. And then first
Speaker 2: play of the fourth quarter, which is why this game
Speaker 2: will go down as a fourth quarter comeback win. We
Speaker 2: had third and goal at the one yard line or so,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, hey, man, let's run the boot like
Speaker 2: they haven't seen it, like they're selling out against the run.
Speaker 2: They don't think we'll throw it. The boot was wide,
Speaker 2: Oh but hit Jeff Cumberland and we take a seven
Speaker 2: to six lead. Well pass forward. There was a couple
Speaker 2: of plays that it was kind of back and forth
Speaker 2: defensive battle. Like Rex is like, don't turn it over.
Speaker 2: Whatever you do, don't turn it over. I don't care
Speaker 2: what happened if if you keep doing what you're doing,
Speaker 2: we're gonna win this game because Ryan Lindley ain't gonna
Speaker 2: beat us. I was like, yeah, I probably agree with that.
Speaker 2: Long story short, basically, any drive the end of the
Speaker 2: kick was a good drive by us. And then there
Speaker 2: was a third down and six or so where we
Speaker 2: could kind of put the game on ice, and I
Speaker 2: knew we could kneel on it if we picked it up,
Speaker 2: So I had Jeremy Curley working against Patrick Peterson hit
Speaker 2: a little back shoulder to the right hand side and
Speaker 2: and that kind of put the game on ice. We
Speaker 2: kneeled on it a couple plays later and the red
Speaker 2: zone and called it today. So it was it was
Speaker 2: really a cool moment. I hate that it came against
Speaker 2: your team, but it was a cool moment to you know, say,
Speaker 2: I did it, you know, throw an NFL touchdown past
Speaker 2: get an NFL game. I think at that point that
Speaker 2: was probably all I really wanted to get from the NFL.
Speaker 2: I wanted to get my pension, I wanted to play,
Speaker 2: and I wanted to score touchdown. And if I did
Speaker 2: those three things, I felt pretty good about my career.
Speaker 2: And on that day I was able to accomplish you know,
Speaker 2: two of the three. So it's pretty neat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then you ended up, you know, staying in
Speaker 1: the league for a couple more years, one with the Jets,
Speaker 1: one with Cincinnati, and then off you were to television.
Speaker 1: And here you are, still a young guy with uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the position you've got right now, man is
Speaker 1: one of the voices and faces of college football probably
Speaker 1: for the next thirty years. So things have worked out. Man, Listen,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming on, Bro. I know you've got
Speaker 1: a lot going on with sports center, hips and game
Speaker 1: prep for Florida State Clemson. There's a there's a plug
Speaker 1: for your game ABC noon Eastern.
Speaker 2: Oh wow on Saturday. But are you guys on Mountain
Speaker 2: time or Western West Coast time right now?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 1: Pacific? I mean it's always Mountain time. But yes, it's
Speaker 1: it's three hours back. So nine am oukay.
Speaker 2: Nine am local a right? Good? Yeah, so perfect. I
Speaker 2: hope everybody in the valley's checking it out. It will
Speaker 2: be awesome. But I appreciate you, buddy. I love you,
Speaker 2: and I know I wouldn't be where I'm at without
Speaker 2: without your help and without your tutelage and your friendship.
Speaker 2: So I love you very much. I'm proud of you.
Speaker 2: And keep on keep on pushing the pashpod. I just
Speaker 2: love the pash pot.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Well, well, we'll take a retweet or a repost. They're
Speaker 1: hard to get these days. We'll take one.
Speaker 2: It's going to cost you, but we'll at least a
Speaker 2: two thousand and nine Camus or whatever the heck it
Speaker 2: was that you opened.
Speaker 1: Whatever, you whatever you stole out of your dad's stash
Speaker 1: that you blamed on me. Yeah, that that I'll pay
Speaker 1: you back.
Speaker 2: Perfect. That sounds like a good plan.
Speaker 3: All right, brother, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: See you, buddy.
Speaker 1: Great to catch up with Greg and a lot of things.
Speaker 1: The Dion Sanders Colorado story is fascinating. The fact that
Speaker 1: almost ten million people watch that game Colorado Colorado State
Speaker 1: this past week Colorado plays Oregon this week, usc next week.
Speaker 1: Dion is the biggest story. Colorad to Football's the biggest story.
Speaker 1: It's incredible to see how many people are tuning in
Speaker 1: just to see what happens with a program that won
Speaker 1: one game last year. Also fun to talk about Greg's
Speaker 1: playing days with Alabama and then his one NFL win
Speaker 1: as a quarterback in twenty twelve against the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: We are presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner
Speaker 1: of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Heila River Resorts and Casinos.
Speaker 1: You can follow us on Twitter, slash x at Pash pod.
Speaker 1: We also would love to hear from you by rating us,
Speaker 1: reviewing us, and telling us what you think. If there's
Speaker 1: a future guest you'd like to hear from, you can
Speaker 1: do that by visiting your favorite podcast platform. Thanks to
Speaker 1: ESPN's Greg McElroy, and thanks to you for listening to
Speaker 1: another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast