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Speaker 1: Welcome to playmakers everyone. I am your host, Hailey Elwood.

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Speaker 1: It is Week ten and the Los Angeles Chargers will

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Speaker 1: hit the road to take on the San Francisco forty

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Speaker 1: nine Ers in primetime on Sunday Night Football. So joining

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Speaker 1: me to talk about this game and also her return

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Speaker 1: to the sidelines as NBC Sports is Melissa's stark. Melissa,

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Speaker 1: thanks so much for coming on, Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: It's great to see you. Good to see you, and

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Speaker 1: good for you to be back. We are now halfway

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Speaker 1: through the twenty twenty two season. You have made your

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Speaker 1: return to the sidelines after twenty years. How's it been

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Speaker 1: being back? It's so funny to say we're halfway through

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Speaker 1: the season. It's flying by. I mean, I can't believe

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Speaker 1: we're halfway. But it's also it's a lot so being back.

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Speaker 1: It's a lot of travel and it's a lot of

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Speaker 1: you know, we do a lot more than people think.

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Speaker 1: I think they think we just show up, you know,

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Speaker 1: in the city, maybe the day before and just you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of wing it. It's really it's like a whole production,

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Speaker 1: the whole week. Because for Stay Night Football, it's really

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Speaker 1: like a mini super Bowl each week. I mean, that's

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Speaker 1: kind of the way we treat it. But it's been awesome.

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Speaker 1: It's it's been really like, I love being on the sidelines,

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Speaker 1: I love being in the center of the action. And

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Speaker 1: it was really cool to come back twenty years later

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Speaker 1: and kind of apply what I'd learned in those twenty

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Speaker 1: years and what I didn't know then that I know now.

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Speaker 1: And so that's been a really fun part. When you

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Speaker 1: talk about that, maybe what's the biggest piece of advice

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Speaker 1: that you kind of went back to or have drawn

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Speaker 1: on now that here you are a couple decades later.

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Speaker 1: It's a great question because I was actually I went

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Speaker 1: to UVA and I was I was guest lecturing to

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Speaker 1: their journalism class, and I said, you know, I wish

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Speaker 1: I knew then. You know, as a twenty six year old,

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Speaker 1: you know, not many women at all in the business

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Speaker 1: what I knew now. And someone raised their hand and said, well,

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Speaker 1: what would you tell yourself? And I said that I belong.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think it was hard. I think back

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Speaker 1: then being one of the only females in sports, you know,

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Speaker 1: it stood out. It was something that you thought about

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Speaker 1: for sure. I tried to be one of the guys

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Speaker 1: I just tried to blend right in, and so much

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Speaker 1: has happened in twenty years. Obviously I have twenty years

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Speaker 1: of contacts and history and knowledge of covering the NFL,

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Speaker 1: so that certainly helps. But also having you know, you

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Speaker 1: all the women that are covering sports now and doing

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Speaker 1: you know, a fantastic job in doing it. It's not

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Speaker 1: I don't even think about it anymore. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you think about it. I don't know if it's

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Speaker 1: you know, on your mind, but it's not. It's not

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Speaker 1: an anomaly. You know, it's more than norm So you

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Speaker 1: just it's it's not something that that used to be

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Speaker 1: a constant something that I thought about. You know, I

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Speaker 1: was just the only female in the room ever, you know,

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Speaker 1: in this man's world. Yeah, there's so many more of

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Speaker 1: us now and frankly we owe it to you too

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Speaker 1: for helping pave that way for the rest of us.

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Speaker 1: Thank Yeah. What's the best part about being back? Like

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Speaker 1: I know you've said it's so fun be in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the action, but specifically maybe like what have

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Speaker 1: you missed the most? Yeah? So, I think we traveled

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Speaker 1: so much together and we're all together. I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: the people and just accomplishing something. I was always like

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Speaker 1: a studier. I don't know how you were, but you know,

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Speaker 1: in school, I loved like gearing up for a certain

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Speaker 1: exam and really just you know, crushing it on that

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Speaker 1: exam and doing really well. I feel like each week

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Speaker 1: is like that. In fact, you and I talk and

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Speaker 1: you know, I haven't even just as the week goes on,

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Speaker 1: you study more and more and you learn about these

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Speaker 1: teams and you really you know, and I haven't necessarily,

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Speaker 1: we haven't had you guys yet. So I can't wait

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Speaker 1: to just sort of really dive in and really get

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Speaker 1: to know the ins and the outs and then talk

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Speaker 1: to people. I just hung up with Ed McCaffrey because

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Speaker 1: I was talking about Christian And that's the other fun

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Speaker 1: part of the sidelines is, you know, you try and

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Speaker 1: find you try and find stories on the stars that

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Speaker 1: nobody else has. You try and take a different angle.

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Speaker 1: You know, I like to talk to the dad or

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Speaker 1: the mom or a former coach something like that, because

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Speaker 1: you you do want to get those feel good stories

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Speaker 1: and you want to get the stories. But you know,

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Speaker 1: if somebody doesn't make a huge play or they're not

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Speaker 1: a star, the chances of you getting those in. There's

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Speaker 1: so many stories. I go in each week with so

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Speaker 1: much prepped. I mean, I'd say ninety percent of it

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Speaker 1: falls on the floor, you know, and you know it's wasted,

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Speaker 1: wasted information. But you know then you're on to the

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Speaker 1: next week, so it's fine. So I had asked Laura

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Speaker 1: Oakman this a couple weeks ago when I had her on,

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Speaker 1: because we were talking about studying. We were talking about prep,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, were you a good student? Because

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Speaker 1: I feel like, in order you have to be you

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Speaker 1: have to be right, you have to be a good student,

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Speaker 1: and you have to just really narrow in on focus

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Speaker 1: on that week and really know it all. I mean

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Speaker 1: literally the next day I might not know it at all,

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Speaker 1: especially being a mom, you know, and having four kids,

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Speaker 1: and just my brain just can't know. You can't overload it,

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Speaker 1: you know. Sometimes I'm in these meetings with these guys

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Speaker 1: who remember plays from twenty two years ago, and they

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Speaker 1: remember the nuances and stuff, and you know, my whole

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Speaker 1: thing is I'm gonna know it. I'm gonna know it

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Speaker 1: so well right there and then that moment and you know,

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Speaker 1: some might carry over, but I'm onto the next that's

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Speaker 1: the way my brain works. So that's why this is

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Speaker 1: a It's a good job for me. Yeah. One of

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Speaker 1: the coolest things I think watching Sunday Night football this

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Speaker 1: year for me has been this return of in game

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Speaker 1: coach interviews, which we've seen. You know, the NBA does

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Speaker 1: it all the time, but this is different for those

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Speaker 1: of us who have watched the NFL as of late.

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Speaker 1: Where did those come about? So I really pushed for that. Um,

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say I was responsible or anything like that,

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Speaker 1: but because because when I did Monday Night Football, we

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Speaker 1: used to do those, Yeah, and I think we got

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Speaker 1: away from them because because they became generic or they

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Speaker 1: just became you know, coach speak and what is it

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Speaker 1: really adding But to do them in game, right, because

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Speaker 1: that was going at halftime, right and the coach just

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Speaker 1: wanted to get in the locker room or whatever. It's

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Speaker 1: different and it's just a different thought. And granted, do

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Speaker 1: they want to get back to calling the play. They do.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes they literally run away from me like okay, well listen,

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Speaker 1: no more questions. UM. I try to keep the questions

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Speaker 1: as short as possible because you want to it is urgent.

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Speaker 1: You know, they may have you know, the this past

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Speaker 1: week was Rabili just Mike Ravel with the Titans. He

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Speaker 1: had just gathered his entire defense and they were trying

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Speaker 1: to make a red zone stop on the next play.

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Speaker 1: So there is a sense of urgency and that's what

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Speaker 1: I like. And you're seeing in other sports. And I

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Speaker 1: think nowadays in the younger generation, like in your generation,

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Speaker 1: and everything everything is about access. Yeah, everything is about access.

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Speaker 1: You want to hear from everybody, And I think it's

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Speaker 1: pretty cool a coach come over literally with his headset on,

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Speaker 1: or maybe he just you know, just whatever. The immediacy

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Speaker 1: of the moment is what I'm trying to say, And

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Speaker 1: it's very awesome to see them in that. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: love it because obviously we see it in the preseason.

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Speaker 1: You know, we see player interviews in the preseason two

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Speaker 1: and it's a different vibe, it's a different beast because

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Speaker 1: guys aren't playing a whole heck of a lot during

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Speaker 1: you know, those games in exhibition play. But I just

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Speaker 1: think it's really cool. How do you sort of parse

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Speaker 1: the questions down to not make it so coach speak right? Well,

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Speaker 1: I always say ahead of time, I say, okay, no, coach,

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Speaker 1: I want to talk to you, and they always laugh

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Speaker 1: and they say, they say, oh, what do the ratings

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Speaker 1: go down if it's coach speak or something like that.

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Speaker 1: And I remember, actually, I remember when we first started

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Speaker 1: at the beginning of the season. Um, it was let's

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Speaker 1: see it Sewn McVay. So we had the rams and

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Speaker 1: he said no, he didn't, he didn't, Yes, so he

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Speaker 1: didn't want to do it. And I said, oh, okay,

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Speaker 1: I said. He said, that's the producer. And I said, well,

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Speaker 1: when we get to the production meeting, let me just

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Speaker 1: talk to him, because I'm not one and I don't

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Speaker 1: know how you are. I do not take no for

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Speaker 1: an answer, and I think it's the type of job

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Speaker 1: where you cannot take no for an answer. You really

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Speaker 1: have to push it. Yeah, and it's a weak fun

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Speaker 1: So I said, okay, so I understand you don't really

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Speaker 1: you don't really want to talk to me on camera. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I said something funny, and he goes, he goes, well, wait,

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Speaker 1: tell me a little bit more about it, and I said, well,

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Speaker 1: I just want to let you know Sean mcdermam is

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Speaker 1: doing it. And then well that was kickoff. So and

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Speaker 1: then a week one, three days later on that Sunday,

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Speaker 1: I said, you know, when we have we had Todd Bowls,

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Speaker 1: we have the Bucks coming in to play the Cowboys.

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Speaker 1: I said, so Bowls is doing it Carthon. He goes,

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Speaker 1: oh okay, he goes, I don't want to be the

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Speaker 1: only sure you know, or you use something you know

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Speaker 1: not doing it. I go, he goes, okay, I'll do it,

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Speaker 1: you know. So, um, I think I try to tell

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Speaker 1: them and laugh about not coach speak. But also I

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Speaker 1: think i've I've learned that when you get maybe to

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Speaker 1: ask more specific questions, like you know, about the quarterback,

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Speaker 1: like something very specific about a player maybe that's just

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Speaker 1: returned or something, and how he's evaluating that person, I

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Speaker 1: think there's ways around it. But still sometimes you do

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Speaker 1: get the coach speak. But I like seeing the emotion

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Speaker 1: the week before it was the Packers and you know

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Speaker 1: they weren't playing, they haven't been playing well, and you

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Speaker 1: know it was Lafleur clearly like upset, like not feeling

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Speaker 1: like his players were putting out the effort that he

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Speaker 1: wanted to see. And you could really see that and

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Speaker 1: feel that. So um, so I think I think it's great.

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Speaker 1: I think it's cool. It's great, and hey, peer pressure

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Speaker 1: sometimes works too. I guess, yes, you've gotta do what

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Speaker 1: you gotta do, whatever you have to do, right whatever exactly.

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Speaker 1: You had posted an awesome photo at the start of

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Speaker 1: the season of you and Tom Brady and then you

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Speaker 1: and Brady from twenty years ago. And there's still some

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Speaker 1: guys in this league like him who you had ties to.

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Speaker 1: But what has it been like getting to know maybe

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Speaker 1: some of this this younger next generation of players like

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Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and them. This week and next

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Speaker 1: week you get Justin Herbert. Yes, yes, And I've actually

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Speaker 1: never met Justin Herbert, so I'm looking forward to that. Um. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's it's great. We you know. I mean, it makes

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Speaker 1: me feel old for sure, because they I just have

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Speaker 1: a son that went to college this year, so I

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm close for the age to their mother.

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Speaker 1: But but it is, it is really fun. It's it's

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Speaker 1: fun to see this next generation come along. And then

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Speaker 1: you know, you look at the league right now, and

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Speaker 1: you look at Aaron Rodgers and you look at Tom Brady,

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Speaker 1: and those teams are you know, those guys are as

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Speaker 1: amazing as they are. Yeah, their teams aren't doing well.

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Speaker 1: So um, I've interviewed Josh a couple of times already

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Speaker 1: this season, and looking forward obviously to I said to

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Speaker 1: meeting Justin and we had, we had Garoppolo, we had

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Speaker 1: we had the Niners once right when he took over

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Speaker 1: as the starter earlier in the season. But uh, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's really fun to see like the fresh the young

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Speaker 1: new blood in the league. So kind of an off

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Speaker 1: base question before we get to the game, but I

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Speaker 1: had read that your first role at ESPN was hosting

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Speaker 1: a show that focused on high school athletes scholastic Sports America.

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Speaker 1: It made me think because when I first started in sports,

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Speaker 1: I covered college recruiting and Fred Warner was a guy

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Speaker 1: who I had covered and by far the most successful

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Speaker 1: player in high school at the time who's now in

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Speaker 1: the league, who I had interviewed. But how did maybe

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Speaker 1: starting covering high school football sort of shape how you've

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Speaker 1: approached covering leagues in different levels of the game too. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think you know, when you see them

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Speaker 1: throughout their entire journey, you just understand sort of what

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Speaker 1: they've gone through, what it takes and the effort, you know,

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Speaker 1: to get to this level. And it's fun because you

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Speaker 1: know there were certain guys that are now retired that

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Speaker 1: I like a LaVar Arrington. You know, we went to

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Speaker 1: Pennsylvania and he was one of the guys. But it

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Speaker 1: was also it was all sports, so it was you know, NBA,

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Speaker 1: it was Tracy McGrady, it was Kobe Bryant. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we had some It's crazy when I look back to

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Speaker 1: that show Scholastic Sports America, because there were some superstars

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Speaker 1: on that show and you don't know it at the time,

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Speaker 1: like in amazing, So it was really fun to look

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Speaker 1: back on. But yeah, I mean, like I said, I

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Speaker 1: just talked to Ed McCaffrey and it was fun to

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Speaker 1: talk about his career with one year with the Niners

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Speaker 1: and then he was with the Broncos. But then you know,

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Speaker 1: to watch Christian kind of come through and you know,

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Speaker 1: it makes you realize time flies and and uh yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's also fun to watch the whole Yeah, yeah, exactly, Yeah, totally, yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 1: All right, So let's get to this game a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Niners Chargers, what are your sort of overall high level

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Speaker 1: thoughts right now as you prep for it? Well, I

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Speaker 1: mean when we look at you got Yeah, it's funny.

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Speaker 1: I was talking to the pr guys, because what we

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Speaker 1: do each week is we sit down with the head coach, quarterback,

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Speaker 1: you know, a star offensive player, a star defensive player.

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Speaker 1: And then I asked for my own players, you know,

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Speaker 1: on the side, a couple of players, and and um

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Speaker 1: he said, who do you want? And the two guys

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Speaker 1: I wanted were Palmer and Mac. He's like, yeah, I

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Speaker 1: could have. I could have predicted that because you know it,

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Speaker 1: we're so banged up. I mean, you know, um So,

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Speaker 1: that's unfortunate. I mean, that's just that's an unfortunate part

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Speaker 1: of the game. Um you know, the injuries. Um I

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Speaker 1: think what Herbert overcame, the drama of the Ribs and

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Speaker 1: that game and coming back from that was incredible, I

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Speaker 1: mean absolutely incredible. Um So. And then you know, the

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Speaker 1: Niners are always an interesting story, and and I think

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Speaker 1: the addition of Christian mccapp obviously that's a huge story.

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Speaker 1: Um So. And I'm excited because we have you guys

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Speaker 1: now back to back, because you guys are now are

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Speaker 1: exactly how you guys were coming down lay the night,

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Speaker 1: which was not originally the plan that you guys got

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Speaker 1: flexed into the Sunday night game against the Chiefs. So

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Speaker 1: that's exciting. Have you ever had back to back teams

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Speaker 1: in back to back prime time weeks before? Yeah? No,

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Speaker 1: It's so funny because they were talking to Chris collins

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Speaker 1: Where for me, it's for me, you know, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: try and get different storylines and things like that. But um,

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Speaker 1: but for Chris Collinsworth and for Mike those guys who

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Speaker 1: are just trying to learn, you know, the style of

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Speaker 1: their play. Yeah, and just yeah, and just literally all

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Speaker 1: the numbers and who's who and all that stuff, they

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Speaker 1: were like, this is awesome, you know, to have that.

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Speaker 1: But I mean it's funny because Sunday Night Football, right,

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Speaker 1: you get AFC, n NFC mostly. You know, if you're

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Speaker 1: a Fox sideline reporter or if you're a CBS sideline reporter,

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Speaker 1: you're really sticking just to the NFC or the ASC,

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Speaker 1: so you're seeing a lot of the same teams. I

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Speaker 1: think the maximum we can have a team is three times,

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna have It's funny. I was thinking, who

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Speaker 1: are we gonna have on Sunday Night Football three times?

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Speaker 1: We're gonna have you guys three times. We're gonna have

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Speaker 1: the Chiefs three times. And I think the Buccaneers. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I had to look at the schedule, but isn't that interesting.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, it's always fun to do a night game.

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Speaker 1: It's always fun to be in prime time and and

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Speaker 1: we're looking forward to well, we are looking forward to

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Speaker 1: it as well. Melissa, good luck this weekend and we'll

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Speaker 1: see you out here. It's so far in two weeks.

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to see you.