Hour 1: Billy Hates Priests (feat. Darren Waller & Lucy Rohden)

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This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stoogats Podcast.

I'm a little worried that Arkansas got raptured.

I mean, there's like really nobody here.

God does love the SEC more.

Hey Dan, it's me, Lucy, and we are here at beautiful Fayetteville, Arkansas.

This is a lovely town.

Dixon Street is awesome.

Arkansas fans, they are very kind people.

The football here is terrible.

It's awful, and it's so, so bad.

And their fans,

they're very sad.

And I got to say, one game of this I'm pretty sad too

how would you describe being an Arkansas fan disappointing it's tough at times waking up on Saturdays to my dad screaming yelling at the TV we're the bottom pit of the SEC oh heartbreaking at times well most of the time heartbreaking we call them the heartbreak hogs for a reason it's always a big disappointment but it's still fun we get our hopes up every year why does it never work out i blame bobby petrino It's all Bobby Petrino's fault.

It's literally all Bobby Petrino's fault.

Are you guys the unluckiest athletic department, athletics, and all of college sports?

Oh, hands down.

Hands down.

We're cursed.

You know, they say you can have some good friends at Olivia.

You'll have some girls at Olivia, but your team will never leave you.

So they're always there.

This team might actually leave you.

Oh, my God.

Sport shop.

Sport shop.

Sorry.

He's talking to a kid now, but I would like to talk to him.

Woo-pig.

Love you, buddy.

What I'm going to do is I'm just going to hand you the mic because this is your segment.

This is your moment.

This really isn't even about.

I think you're right.

Yeah.

We got a free people sign.

The people want to hear from people.

The canes are like 4-0.

The fans want to know what people have to say right now.

So, like, bring people back, please.

Free people.

I can tell you, Billy's going to hate this so much.

I'm speaking for the fans here.

We want to know where people's going.

What he's thinking right now.

You speak for the fans.

I speak for Billy.

Billy says no.

If you guys got to pick Arkansas's head coach, who do you want and who do you think it'll be?

I think John Gruden will be the coach.

The Arkansas next.

John Gruden?

Yeah.

What?

John Gruden.

Everyone is saying that.

Everyone is giving that answer.

Does Mitchell illness?

Probably Nick Saban.

Yeah.

That would be my top choice too.

You think he's coming back to go coach Arkansas specifically?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

When I hit the powerball and I just have an unlimited amount of money, I'm going to throw him probably about $150 million to come be our coach.

I love that.

All right, so everyone go buy lottery tickets and get Nick Sabin down here to Fayetteville.

I'm not a rookie here.

I bought some college football tickets in my time, but I've already used code Dan.

So here Lucy.

Use code Lucy?

Lucy for $20 off your first hour in terms of life.

So I use code Dan.

Now this is great.

Now I can actually use it again.

I just got to get another fake burner email.

But the heavy play here is you get the wife to download game time and then use code Lucy if you've already used it.

That's how we got $20 off, and here we are.

So, the vibes here,

I gotta be honest, they're off.

People don't really seem to be drinking that much, which like is Arkansas, it's the SEC.

I was not expecting that.

Truly, this is like a defeated fan base, and it's honestly kind of sad.

But I do love all the pig stuff, I think that's really cool.

What was your reaction to your first time hearing them call the hogs?

Uh, wild.

My dad, when he came here for orientation, said he needed a few more drinks.

He's freaky.

And the best way.

I've been trying to find out what actually Wu Pig Suey means.

Suey is a hog call.

So because Arkansas is a farming state, there are a lot of hogs here.

By the way, wild boars, terrifying animals, and we're very scared of them.

So when you're at a farm and you need your hogs to come, you go, sue, sue, sue, sue, sue, and you get the hogs to come.

Okay, let's do that again.

Sue!

Suey, suey, suey.

Will is potentially the biggest show fan we've ever met.

So, we would like

to declare you

the Hampton Farms nuttiest fan.

Nuttiest fan of the week.

Wow.

And we got you my favorite flavor, which is spicy dill pickle.

Pickle.

I saw him eating this one.

This is going to be a fan favorite, I think.

That is the best one.

Today's trip and today's Woo Pig Suit was brought to you by Hampton Farms.

Get nutty with Hampton Farms, the official snack nut of the tailgate.

Go, hogs.

Do you think this is Sam Pedman's last year?

I've heard rumors.

We don't win today.

I think he's out.

Yeah, probably so.

I hope so.

Personally, yes.

Yes, I do.

Maybe his last game.

I think he retires.

I don't think he quit or we fire him.

I think he retires.

I don't know.

I'd have to ask my dad, then come back to you.

Okay, yes, we got to get your dad on the phone and he'll tell you he's done with Sam Pittman.

Notre Dame wiped the floor with Arkansas.

You knew Arkansas was in big trouble when Notre Dame is doing fourth and nine from its own 20-yard line, a double reverse fake punt with a pass from its own 20-yard line because they had no fear of anything Arkansas was doing.

Lucy Rodin joins us now.

How was was the experience?

You look beaten down from the experience.

You look like a little sad while you're watching that video.

Fayetteville, lovely.

Like one of my favorite towns we've gone to.

Dixon Street is really cool.

The fans were really nice, but it was the first time.

Well, one, this is our first off-roading firing.

So that's kind of a big deal for us.

Congratulations, team.

But this was the first time we went to a game where like it was just the fans were apathetic.

They were there just to like be there, but clearly like the vibes are off.

That's probably one of of the worst defenses I've ever seen.

It was just like all around.

That's a fan base too that I think you need the context of like.

They have gone through hell and back in every single sport.

Like everything goes wrong for them in the most ridiculous way ever.

So to break Arkansas fans, that has to be like rock bottom.

And I was not expecting for them to fire Sam Pittman after this game just because he had a really weird contract.

But I'm glad they're trying Bobby Petrino again.

I'm sure that's going to work out really well.

This allows us us to put on the screen your Bobby Petrino costume and my Bobby Petrino costume.

Do you want to talk some Bobby Petrino?

Because it's just lovely that Bobby Petrino would be back after

ruining the entirety of his reputation and career while wrecking on a motorcycle.

It's like, it's one of those things where like, like I said earlier, things just go wrong for Arkansas.

Everything is bad.

And then occasionally you just look around and you're, you know, that's kind of your fault, right?

Like, this is a choice you made.

Like, you're going back to Bobby Petrino after everything that has happened is like the most Arkansas ever.

And so, he's interim coach right now.

He has made it very clear that he's like, I want this full-time.

Like, this is where I want to be.

I want to be the head coach of Arkansas again.

And Arkansas, what was so fascinating about going to Fayetteville was seeing how much money there is in Northwest Arkansas.

Like, that is a very, very wealthy area.

And Arkansas is a school that should be like Texas Tech.

They should be just like mopping it up in NIL with Walmart there, with Tyson Chicken there, with JB Hunt there.

Like they should be a very, very like wealthy athletics department, and it just isn't happening.

So I don't know who they go out and hire.

I don't know who they get for that job when the money isn't there, even though it should be.

So it does feel like Bobby Betrino is the next head coach in Arkansas.

And will it be good?

Probably not.

Will it be awesomely entertaining?

Absolutely.

Gruden would fit there.

Vibes-wise, yes.

He's got the call and the hogs vibe, but it's just like,

Arkansas, what are we doing?

Like, what I think Arkansas should do is know that, okay, SEC-wise, you're kind of low.

Maybe you could get some extra money.

You were able to get the extra money to fire Sam Pittman.

You got to try to find that next young guy.

Like, you don't want to do what they're doing at UNC with Bill Belichick.

You don't want to go back to Bobby Petrito.

Like, you need to just go take a chance right now because, like, you have no other shot of succeeding.

Lucy, how do you think the brass at Penn State feel about James Franklin?

Let me give some of these numbers, by the way.

James Franklin, 1 in 15 against top five opponents, 4 and 21 against top 10 opponents, 15 and 30 against top 25 opponents, 4 and 17 against Michigan and Ohio State.

Yeah, so after that loss, me just in my like full sicko brain, I immediately went to watch his post-game press conference.

I was like, I got to watch this.

And it was sad.

Like one of the things that I'll give James Franklin, he's very self-aware.

Like someone asked him a question of like, okay, so this ranked team thing, it keeps happening, you keep losing.

And he's like, I understand that narrative.

And at this point, it's not a narrative.

It's factual.

Like it's right in front of you.

If I'm a Penn State fan, I'm frustrated because this is the best roster that you have had in a long time.

And the big thing with Penn State was, okay, we are going to go and do the one thing we're supposed to do.

We're going to go to the portal and get wide receivers because that was the issue.

And they did that.

They got three really good wide receivers out of the portal.

They went and spent all that money on Jim Knowles.

Like this was supposed to be the all or nothing year.

And then you have James Franklin punting from the Oregon 36.

You can't be all or nothing in the offseason.

And then in game, James Franklin is like, ah, let's just, let's just hope for the best.

Like, it's clearly there's going to be an insane level of frustration, but I don't think they're going to move on from James Franklin because, like, who do you get?

Like, it's, he is such a good coach, except for in the game, except for in the game.

He just can't do that, which is like bad, but it's good.

And so you're just like living your life as it is right now, where Penn State will win a lot of games this year.

They are a very good football team, but you look at like what is happening with Oregon and Dan Lanning lives his life.

Like I don't even know if they got a punter on that roster the way he's calling fourth downs.

Like Penn State needs a little bit of that.

Like they need some urgency.

I just feel like James Rickland doesn't know what's going on during the game.

Did you watch Dan Lanning immediately following the game?

Is he okay?

Yeah, there are rumors going around that

I won't acknowledge.

I have been to a Penn State wideout game.

That energy is insane.

And I think he was just really, really hyped up on that energy.

And maybe not anything else.

I'm not going to make any assumptions.

It was a wide-out for sure.

It was a wide-out.

It was definitely a wide out.

Rumors.

It sounds like you guys just did the rumors.

You just did it.

No, no, you don't do it.

Don't take it there, Dan.

I mean, nobody.

He did.

He did that.

Whisper it in Zaz's ear and then he'll say it.

Darren Waller is going to join us here in about 10 minutes, fresh off his first two-touchdown game in five years.

Oh, it's cocaine.

The last time.

he...

What?

Whoa!

The last time Darren Waller had two touchdowns was also against the Jets.

He'll be joining us in a little bit.

Let's get to LSU losing the old miss.

LSU.

Billy hates priests.

Wow, you turned on him.

Fine.

Whatever.

Tired of this.

Can't hold it in for that long.

Whatever.

What am I protecting him for anyway?

You went to jail for him.

What am I protecting him for?

You're right.

I spent my time thinking about what I did, and I realized, why am I protecting him?

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Don Lebatard.

I want to talk to Hannah, the astrophysicist, and I want to make bets with her.

So smart.

I want him.

No.

No.

See, this is what I want to do with our our show.

No, not.

No, don't let Billy's team of dumb demons spew all over the bottom of this company and piss all over the show.

No.

Stugats.

Ian broke down everyone that was drafted on the offensive line, except centers because the Jets didn't need one.

Let's have Ian go against the astrophysicist head to head.

And let's see, let's put some money on it.

You're informed idiot or Lucy's actually smart person who doesn't know anything, but at least we're going to choose an astrophysicist and not Taylor's roommate who's not named Ian.

This is the Don Lebatar Show with these two guys.

LSU cannot run the ball.

Let's check in with Brian Kelly when he was all defensive about being asked about the fact that, among other things, his team can't run the ball.

What are you seeing with your offense?

Stop.

Really?

Is that the first question?

We won the game 20 to 10.

Try another question.

What do you want me to tell you?

I just laid it out for you.

We played the game to win the game.

We played the game to win the game.

All right.

How about third down then?

What is going on with third down?

It's one game.

Last game, we were great on third down.

You're micro, you're looking at this from the wrong perspective.

LSU won the football game.

Won the game.

I don't know what you want from me.

What do you want?

You want us to win 70 to nothing against Florida to keep you happy?

No, I think people want to know why you can't run the ball quite often.

We can run the ball.

Did you see the last play of the game?

That's all you need.

You just need one.

There's a ridiculous questions.

And I'm getting tired of it.

That football team just worked their tail off to get an SEC win, and you want to know what's wrong.

You know what?

You're spoiled.

You're spoiled.

This team is 17 and one at night.

17 and one.

Give them some respect.

How about that?

Give them some respect instead of microanalyzing every little thing.

This is ridiculous for a group of

seasoned reporters.

That kind of question is so out of line.

Was that Paul Kaharski?

Was he badgering poor Brian Kelly?

They can't run the ball.

And Ole Miss dragged them, Lucy.

Well, did you see that Mike Elko started his press conference off that way?

He was like, do you guys want to talk about how we're not good at this?

Like, he was clearly making fun of Brian Kelly, which I love Mike Elko.

He's so fun.

Yeah, Yeah, they can't run the ball.

They literally can't do it.

And because they can't run the ball, Garrett Nussmeyer is like lost in space.

And so you have this offense that is so one-dimensional that it becomes like zero-dimensional.

They can't do anything because like you're not afraid of LSU.

It's weird because it's a complete reverse of like what we've seen in previous LSU, Brian Kelly teams of like their defense is what's keeping them around.

They're like really getting close to Iowa territory here of like, You can't, no matter how good your defense is, if your offense cannot stay on the field, like your defense is going to get tired.

And this is just going to be like

the existence you live where they, I know Kaden Durham didn't play this game, but like you have to be able to run the ball.

They can't.

Ole Miss, on the other hand, that is a good football team.

What a problem to have where you go get this D2 transfer who has just like changed your entire world.

And now Austin Simmons is just like, we got to stay with a hot hand.

So it's going to be Trinidad Chambliss.

And they are a really good football team.

And with Georgia losing to Alabama this weekend, we don't really know like sort of what the SEC is looking right like right now.

There's no front runner.

Ole Miss is in an amazing position.

Like they were in such a good spot, which we did not see coming with how much that team lost from last season.

Give me a better college football name than Trinidad Chambliss.

Just one off the top of your head, just a name.

Shoot, there's a lot of good ones.

I can't think of them right now.

There's an all-name team that none of the names are coming back to me.

ACC is blank.

I mean, it's Miami's to lose right now.

Like, that's what it is.

It's a conference where I know Georgia Tech won this week, but they went and they just completely first half the bet against Wake Forest.

Like they were useless.

It took Haynes King doing Haynes King things again to bring them back to life.

You have Florida State losing on the road at Virginia, which, by the way, that was the fastest field storm I've ever seen.

Like, they didn't.

There was no jump.

Yeah.

They like just went straight forward into the field.

It was so like, I love a field storm.

I don't want to pretend that I'm not a person who doesn't.

That one scared me.

Thank you.

Because it went so fast.

It just like happened and nobody was off the field.

Like, that was terrifying.

It happened so quickly.

Mike had it right when he said world war z it's when the zombies are that fast it's terrifying when the zombies are fast and like it i think what was just so remarkable is like they didn't even try to stop i don't see a security guard in sight like they knew it was going to happen but like normally you have like at least like a 30 second buffer that was crazy it was so scary

Joseph Manjack IV, a white wide receiver from TCU who doesn't wear gloves.

No gloves.

Give me some music here for Lucy's Internet Minute to close out the the segment here.

She's at Notre Dame this weekend fighting Irish Boise State.

Give us an Internet Minute here to keep me and Cody younger than we actually are.

So, unfortunately, the Internet was not as strong this week as it was last week.

The Rapture really was like just a great way to start.

I haven't heard from any of the non-Raptures, but I do have some pretty sad news.

I hate to break this to our show audience, to you all.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have separated.

That came out.

That was shocking.

They have been together for 19 years.

No one really knows what happened.

Keith side said he initiated it.

Nicole side that she said that she was trying to make it work.

And they need to fly all the AMC like flags at half staff today or half mast.

I don't know why I couldn't say that.

That's my internet menu.

That was like 20 seconds.

I saw that this morning and I was really sad about the fact that, you know, they were together for such a long time.

And now that it's over.

Also, Nashville is like a really weird place, right?

where like you could just go to the grocery store and nicole kidman is there yeah it's a weird i've never been to nashville but it doesn't seem like a city i would like i'm just gonna say that i'm sorry oh it's lovely it is lovely it's a great city nashville pools we found

it tomorrow but today it's lovely we found a rice player named mobility

that's pretty good as good as it gets don't believe you that's pretty

M-O-H Bility

19 years in, right?

That's what they were together for, married for, Lucy.

And think about what she went through with Tom Cruise.

So you're like, no, Nicole, you deserve love more than anybody.

So it was very shocking.

But let me remind you, separated is not divorce.

I know divorce.

My parents are divorced, and they were never separated.

They were just straight up divorced.

Straight to it.

They could still get back together.

We will talk to you next week.

Thank you, Lucy.

Appreciate the insight.

After that amount of time, I think I wouldn't give up.

I'd just be like, this is what it is.

I think after that amount of time, you know that it's over.

I think you're just like, it's just.

I don't know.

I'll just tell you, I can tell you confidently, my parents are not getting back together.

Oh, but Nicole and Keith might.

I have one more nerdy football question for Lucy.

The SEC is basically the ACC with bigger budgets and a better publicist because that was an ACC-ass weekend for the SEC too.

Everybody that they tell you is good, all of a sudden, one weekend passes, you have all sorts of questions about.

I've been really liking what I'm seeing from Mizzou.

Does Mizzou have what it takes to really surprise?

Ahmad Artie is an incredible running back.

They have an easy schedule like by SEC standards.

I think what is so interesting about Mizzou is if you look at what happened to Penn State this weekend, had they had Bo Probula, I think that game would have gone differently.

Like Drew Allard kept them in at parts, took them out.

Bo might have been the better quarterback out of the two of them.

He's so dynamic.

He can run.

They are like, they're an Eli Drinkowic team.

They're going to have a real fun offense and they're really not playing anybody this season.

Like Mizzou is very much still in the fold, but the SEC is very, you're right.

It's very ACC.

It's very Big 12.

Like it's all over the place.

And I think we just keep telling ourselves that it's so great because, like, that's what we've always been told.

We're like, I think it's very clear right now: the Big Ten is the best conference in college football.

One more nerdy silence.

One more nerdy football question before we get to Darren Waller.

Give me the stat of the day music here quickly, Chris Cody, before I get to it and before I ask Lucy about Georgia's quarterback situation.

Start of the day, start of the day, it is your start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, it is your start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, it is your start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, it is your start of the day.

Mike Ryan was blaming Georgia's quarterback situation and Kirby Smart for not staying with Carson Beck, But the 13 third downs that Alabama converted against Georgia is the most any team has converted against Georgia in more than 30 years.

Do you agree with Mike Ryan that there are six, seven, or eight better quarterback situations just in

the SEC

than Georgia's quarterback situation?

Yeah, I think I would agree with that, just like off the top, like you, Lenora Sellers, like you ole miss probably has two quarterbacks better than what Georgia has right now.

I think you saw a little bit in this game of like kind of what Kirsten Beck dealt with last year, like drop passes.

I think Georgia's real issue is their secondary.

Like Alabama was cooking them through the air.

When you're throwing a bubble screen to a 350-pound offensive lineman, like you're just in hell.

Like that's just what's happening.

We will talk to you next week, Lucy.

That is a really good wide receiver room that they got in Alabama.

They got three excellent dudes out there.

That's like Washington Husky wide receivers.

So I guess Kaylin DeBoer can recruit wide receivers a little bit.

Thank you, Lucy.

And they're throwing to offensive linemen.

Like, we cannot forget that they're doing that.

That's insane.

Do you hate Caden Proctor?

No, I wish him the best.

It was a screen pass.

I can count on a 350-pound person to catch a screen pass.

And then it was great fun watching.

Do you know how odd it is to watch George's defenders specifically look like sixth graders trying to attach themselves to somebody?

I mean, he was that.

It is so funny.

There's nothing you can do.

What are you going to do?

He just felt, he just leaned forward and everyone kept bouncing off of him.

And he was like athletic with it.

Like, it was just crazy.

It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Like, Ryan Grop's back in his back.

I'm excited.

Again,

the person catching the ball was 150 pounds heavier than everyone trying to tackle him.

And they spent so much of the broadcast being like, and that's the skinniest he's ever been.

Like, he finally dropped down to this weight.

Thank you, Lucy.

Appreciate it.

Hey, Jeremy, old buddy, old pal.

Hey, Mike.

I want to talk to you about Miller Light.

You and I have bonded over these last few weeks talking about our shared love of Miller Light.

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Don Lebatard.

It's all about me.

Stugats.

This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugats.

So Greg Cody was very comfortable earlier in the show calling someone a nerd and Rex Ryan called Mike McDaniel nerd boy.

Rex Ryan is publicly as an announcer meaner than most.

I don't think he's in a position specifically.

He is.

He seems mean, right?

He is mean, but him calling someone else a nerd as if he gets to be the cool one when he's got a van full of pizza boxes, fake teeth, and a foot fetish.

Like, you get to be the cool one?

Let's hear Rex Ryan here talking about Shador Sanders and being mean.

Stofanski is one of the, I mean, an outstanding coach.

All right.

But why the hell isn't he putting Shador Sanders?

We're all waiting to see this Shador Sanders be the guy or Gabriel, whatever.

Something's missing.

Something's missing with this kid.

This kid talks.

He runs his mouth like he's a, I could be a starting quarterback with his arms crossed like this.

Get your ass in the front row and study and do all that.

If I know, the whole league knows.

Quit being an embarrassment that way.

You've got the talent to be the quarterback.

You should be.

You should be embarrassed that you're not the quarterback now.

Him saying someone else runs their mouth?

Really put his foot in his mouth there, huh?

I mean, he is paid to do it here.

He is, but I'm going to go ahead and defer.

I understand we all have our opinions, but I'm assuming Flacco's the starter because the coach is seeing things that we're not seeing.

He's got more invested in this need for winning than the rest of us.

My guess is that the young quarterbacks aren't ready.

I mean, maybe Shader does sit in the front of the film room.

How does he know?

I mean, Diana Rossini's been on this show talking about why Shadur Sanders is where he is on that depth chart.

There's so many mistakes, so many

things he did wrong in college that they're still trying to repair and get right.

But I don't think it's a criticism to call somebody a nerd or a nerdy.

I think that's a compliment.

I think, in the context of NFL coaches, okay, it's a scale, right?

Up here on the macho end of the the scale, you have the Dan Campbells, you have the Mike Tomlins.

Down here, you have the Mike McDaniels and the Liam Cohens.

Visually, just visually, they are nerdy, okay?

If you take that as a criticism, that's on you, not me.

What are you doing to Liam Collin?

I think he's nerdy.

He's like a big guy.

I don't care its size.

Visually.

They're doing great for what they're working with.

You think it's a compliment when Rex Ryan calls Mike McDaniel nerd boy?

Yes, yes, because nerdy conveys intelligence.

The nerd is the math whiz, the science whiz.

If you're called nerdy in high school, you know what?

It's the football player, the thick-necked football star calling you nerdy because he's jealous of your intelligence.

When I call Mike McDaniel nerdy, look, he's nerdy visually, but he's got a mind.

Speaking of thick necks, we've got Darren Waller on, and I was telling you when the Dolphins signed Darren Waller that what I saw from him from the Raiders was someone who was unstoppable.

It was really nice.

It was a really nice story last night to see Darren Waller catch two touchdown passes.

A man that size catching that pass on fourth down in the back of the end zone.

That was a great pass and a great play all around.

I want to welcome Darren Waller to the show.

Congratulations on last night, Darren.

You also recovered the onside kick at the end.

I'm wondering, given what your journey has been the last few years, my guess is that you felt some pretty seismic joy at being able to contribute like that that your first uh your first game out for the dolphins yeah i'm not gonna lie i felt like i was on drugs most of the night uh it was kind of crazy um but yeah definitely a lot of joy man like like i always been talking about getting back to the joy that i felt like when i was a kid like the pure joy getting away from like the numbers the stats just like being present to the moment and enjoying the game in the moment and that was couldn't ask for more first game back is crazy can you condense for us your journey over the last five years because it was it was a really nice story to see you go from uh you know with in new york it sounded like you had lost some of your love for football you left football and now you've returned to football this way take us through your feelings and and the articulation of what the last five years have been like for you yeah last five years um 2020 was the year where I had over 100 catches and made my made a Pro Bowl.

So that was like peak career.

And then 2021 was when the injury started happening.

22 was hit by injuries.

23 was hit by injuries.

Still productive years for when I was on the field, but the injuries were really holding me back.

And that was kind of frustrating me.

Life was just frustrating me.

I felt like I needed to step away.

And I feel like my higher power was leading me in a different direction.

And I feel like going in that direction allowed me to come back to appreciate football, just a cleaner vessel, you know what I'm saying?

And yeah, just still having something to provide, just still trying to be a teammate that, you know, guys can look over to me and know that they can count on me to make something happen, whatever my role is at any given time.

So, yeah, it's just crazy to be here.

And getting into camp, like first two weeks of training, after I signed with the Dolphins, I blew my quad out.

Damn near tore my quad from my hip.

So it was like,

what is going on?

Not trying to piece together like what this journey is supposed to be and not having the answers in the moment, but having a night like last night, just battling through the rehab and the humbling of just.

watching guys go through camp and not being able to be out there.

It was just a crazy journey, man.

It's been so many journeys in my life like that.

If you had to choose a reason that you left football, would it have been physical pain or mental pain?

Which was more responsible for making you leave?

It was more mental and emotional.

Physical definitely contribute to it because it was just frustrating.

I couldn't really feel like I could find answers, I guess.

And maybe the mental and the emotional contributed to it, but it was like I found myself still at the same spot.

Like, you know, when I was out the league for all the drugs and drinking I was doing, it was like, I don't know what I'm doing with my life.

I feel like my life looks great on paper, but I don't know what I'm doing.

And I felt that same feeling in 2023.

And I was like, I need to, yeah, like go into another chapter of reinventing myself and healing and growing.

Like if football is really meant for me, which I didn't think it was, like, I was, I thought I was done for real.

And, um, but it opened the pathway, like I said, for my higher power to lead me back into this when I wasn't even necessarily looking for it.

It just kind of happened organically.

So, but yeah, to answer your question, it was definitely more internal.

You've been very open talking about the darkness that you were feeling.

What are you comfortable sharing on the drinking and drugging and what kind of coping you were doing there to self-medicate?

Oh, yeah, back in the day, man.

Yeah.

I mean, smoking weed, drinking,

Percocet, like painkillers was my number one.

Xanax, cocaine, you name it.

Anything that can just give you a feeling and allow you to escape whatever the craziness is going on on the inside, I wanted to be a part of.

So it was a wild journey before getting sober.

The Giants was the experience of not being a 100-catch person anymore because you really were unstoppable with the Raiders.

You were always open.

Cornerbacks and those people are too small in the secondary to cover you.

Can you take us through specifically how it is you went from 100 catches to losing your love for football?

Like, how gradual was that?

I mean, I can even look back to moments in those seasons.

Like, I always tell people this story.

Played the Jets in 2020.

I had a 200-yard game and the first practice back out on the field on Wednesday.

I'm like, damn, I can't drop this passing routes on air when I literally just caught everything that was coming to me.

So it was like, there's always this.

internal doubt that I feel like I'm fighting every day or like this fear that I got to show up and press up against and, you know, just stand firm and be courageous.

So yeah, it was just, i don't know man i feel like if i'm not right internally uh mentally and staying with the practices that helped me reinvent my life on multiple occasions if i drift from those um whatever i'm doing i'm i'm probably going to lose joy and i feel like i i lost sight of uh a lot of what makes up my spiritual life and keeps me feeling alive every day in 2023 and i feel like i needed 2024 away from the game and the journeys through 2025, especially through this recovering from this injury was a major spiritual test for me as well, just humbling me in a lot of ways, just getting me back to ground level with how much I love football.

So, yeah, getting away from all the stats, like I said, and the accolades and just being like, man, what was that joy I had when I was a kid connecting to football and just trying to stay in that mind state?

Darren, you mentioned after the game last night that of all of the emotions you felt, one of them was a little bit of fear.

Where does that fear come from?

I think just being human.

I feel like being afraid most of my life.

That's why I was coping with the things I was coping with.

A lot of times I was just afraid.

And, you know, just

being out of football for almost two calendar years, it's a violent game.

It's a fast game.

You know, these dudes that are coming in out of the league, I ain't played against most of them now.

I'm like, I think I'm the oldest dude on my team.

And, you know, there's a lot of young dudes.

They, they getting faster, stronger.

And it's just like, you know, can you keep up?

Like, can you still do what you did?

Because my, my prime years that people may know me for was five, six years ago.

So you can't necessarily rest rest on that.

Um, you gotta uh earn it every day, you gotta earn opportunities, um, like last night.

So, yeah, I feel like fear is in question.

Like, I was sitting in my apartment yesterday before I went to the game, like, I'm really about to get hit.

Like, we're just about to see what happens, and not trying to play everything out in my head and try to make sure things go the right way.

It's like I've always been able to adapt, so uh, let me just stay in the moment.

My fear always feasts on me either being in the future or being on something in the past.

Darren, what do you make of playing for Mike McDaniel compared to your past coaches?

Mike McDaniel

is really kind of blown me away a lot because, you know, we've kind of connected on like having similar journeys.

I know he

battled with alcohol a lot of his life and was able to find sobriety.

And just seeing like the principles and the standard that he preaches every day were the same principles and standards that helped me change my life and still, I think, helped me find success in football too.

Because people think like a hundred catch guy, like I'm going into the league the year thinking I'm going to get 100 catches.

It's really not.

Like I'm just maximizing the the moment that's right in front of me.

I can't control how many opportunities that necessarily may be.

If it is 100, great.

If it's 42, it's going to be the best 42 possible.

And like staying present, like not even trying to go out there and say, I want to get a certain level of results.

You know, you think of like Bill Walsh, too.

Like he's one of the greatest coaches of all time.

And he had a book called The Scoreboard Takes Care of Itself.

So it's just like letting go of results, being focused on the standard, the process about which you go and get those results

is something that he stands on and preaches.

And I'm like, I never thought I'd hear a coach preaching this over just like, we got to be better, get your mask going.

Like, that's what I appreciate about him that he stands on that.

So it's really been refreshing to be around him.

Given what your journey's been, that first touchdown last night, give me one you've had in your career that felt as good as that one.

Ooh,

you might got me stumped there.

A game that I feel like I held like in my memory, memory, like when I'm done and looking back as like a grandfather or something one day, it would be, we played the Ravens on my birthday in 2021.

That was like my first game against Baltimore.

That was my former team.

And I had a whole bunch of family there.

And I had a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

And really, just that whole game was memorable.

But yeah, nah, that touchdown was best.

I don't think anything really compares to that for me.

Did you need the humbling?

Absolutely.

I feel like I always need it.

I feel like everybody needs it.

People that go too long without it, I don't know, man.

I can only speak for my own journey.

I feel like I definitely need it because

I can begin to rest on my laurels and think I got everything figured out when I'm up.

And yeah, I feel like being humble gets me back to the things that really matter, that keep me grounded, whether the success is there or not.

And yeah, I think I'm always going to need steady doses.

I'm not going to like it when I get it.

Nights like that, like last night, prove that there's a process and nothing that happens to me or in my life isn't ultimately happening for my good.

What did you miss in 2024?

Man, it's a good question.

I definitely missed the like locker room camaraderie, like having guys like you could just laugh with, cut up with every day, because 2024 was like,

you know, I had some solid friends around me, but it was a lot of time spent alone, a lot of time spent doing a lot of hard work on the inside of myself.

So it was a pretty lonely time, I would say.

So that locker room, just joy and just like jumping and just being happy and playing pranks on people and all that stuff, like I hold that with so much more gratitude now.

And yeah, just being in the mix, being in football and knowing that I have some gifts that God gave me and being proud of those and being to go, going through the ups and the downs of, that come with having those gifts.

and saying like, yeah, my feet are planted here.

I'm approaching this with a whole different perspective.

Like I needed, I needed to miss it.

I think.

I feel like most people, we don't appreciate things while we we got them.

They got to be gone, I guess.

So,

yeah, I would say that.

What else did you realize that you hadn't appreciated enough?

I don't think I appreciated the past versions of myself enough.

Like, I never realized how passively critical I was of younger versions of myself, like the younger versions of me that were doing drugs and drinking and getting arrested and being in trouble and stuff like that.

But those younger versions of me were just in pain and trying to do the best they could to get through the experiences that

he was going through.

So I got to show love to that younger version of me from college, from high school, from middle school, you know, really intentionally formed that relationship with the younger versions of myself.

I wasn't necessarily doing that.

I was so self-critical of myself and still can be.

So that's like a full-time job of just not trying to beat myself up.

Darren, how bad are the Jets?

Man, the Jets, bro, they, I mean, I kept looking up at the screen.

I was like, bro, they got so many rushing rushing yards like they were like i mean they were moving the ball bro like they were efficient and you know they got talent on on defense they got a great coach leading them so i mean i i think it's a matter of time like they got the leadership in place to um you know correct some of the things that aren't necessarily going their way man so they're a good football team and they fought to the end and they you know had chances to to to win that game and to you know go up that fumble in the beginning i feel like was huge too uh because they were building a lot of momentum could have been a different game, but man, it don't matter what happens, bro.

I feel like teams can always respond to wherever they're at.

Darren, congratulations.

It was really nice seeing that.

I was happy for you last night.

Thank you, sir.

Yes, sir.

Appreciate you having me.

The stat that I saw when he speaks of rushing defense, and the reason that I was telling you that they were getting gashed is the Dolphins are allowing almost more than five yards per carry.

Yeah, terrible.

Like, that's there can't be, there can't be another team in the league allowing five yards of carry.

You allow five yards of carry, you're going to lose most football games.

Yeah, I think part of that is dropping back in coverage, though, because you know your cornerbacks are so bad and you have three cornerbacks injured.

Smart move.

Darren Waller's answer there.

They play the Jets again.

Yeah.

Hey, Jeremy, old buddy, old pal.

Hey, Mike.

I want to talk to you about Miller Light.

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That's right.

A great partner of our show for practically its entire existence.

It's been a partner of this show since since I was 10 years old.

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We're approaching incredible partner status with Miller Light.

I mean to think that people were celebrating at my bar mitzvah with Miller Light as they were a partner of this show is pretty incredible.

You're talking about the moments that are made better by making those times, those special times, Miller time.

Jeremy, there's nothing like cracking open Miller Light with your crew.

This football season, it's especially true.

Whether it's a touchdown you didn't see coming or just arguing about fantasy lineups you already know you're going to lose, Miller Light has been the taste you can depend on for 50 years, brewed for flavor with simple ingredients, rich toffy notes, that iconic golden color, and here's a kicker, Jeremy.

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