Hour 2: Schedule Watching (feat. Shaquille Leonard)

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This is the Don Labatar show with the Stew Gats Podcast.

Shaq Leonard is going to join us here, three-time all-pro linebacker, retired after only six seasons in the NFL, most of them with the Colts.

They're seeing more NFL players do that at around 30 when they make their money.

So I want to talk to him a little bit about this Colts season and, in general, what went on with him physically that made him basically put down his identity at 30 years old.

It was cool to see the Colts do his trademark celebration during that game that he was honored, spoke to the crowd at halftime.

Weird game, that one, given that it was on Fox and the whole Mark Sanchez thing.

Well, I want to talk about that for a second because the details, we had some of them yesterday, but for

all of the things that are unknown there, I think most of the people are doing

time to throw away all journalistic credibility and get reckless.

Here is something we like to call reckless speculation.

You're good.

He was on something, right?

We're all assuming that it wasn't just drunkenness that makes you wipe the pepper spray from your eyes and continue to attack somebody who has a knife and pepper spray.

And no matter how much the 69-year-old truck driver has lived,

that was a bad situation that Mark Sanchez ran up into where the 69-year-old guy is prepared to defend himself in an alley with pepper spray, with a knife, with a knife, and the man handles cooking oil after midnight for a living.

Like the man is,

the truck driver is somebody who, while you're not quite prepared to defend yourself in this instance, didn't just take the beating, fought back in a way that leaves Mark Sanchez in a public swirl that will end his broadcasting career.

These charges, these felonious charges,

it's going to cost him a ton of money, a ton of money when this truck driver retires from having to handle cooking oil.

But that's bad luck to be so on something.

And again, I'm speculating here, obviously, but I think it's speculation we're all doing, that the guy that you run into in your reckless disarray, while I've read that he was running sprints after midnight in the alleys, too,

that that guy has both a knife and pepper spray.

And we don't know what condition.

He's in stable condition, but we don't know how much damage was actually done to Mark Sanchez.

He's ended his broadcasting career.

Yeah,

it's over.

But a lot of people are weighing in.

Dan, even the president of the United States said, quote, that was too bad.

He's a nice guy.

I don't know what happened.

Something bad happened.

Something a little crazy happened.

Okay, yeah.

Fair commentary.

You think?

Yeah, people were ready.

Consensus.

People were ready to politicize that.

You were right.

I went back and read some of the immediate takes, and it was interesting to watch Mark Sanchez turned immediately into a victim in a situation that he had.

I mean, the reports did lead that.

No, but not the politics of it.

Not when we're living in violent cities now where people aren't safe in alleys.

Not what happened next where people ran right

to there but not just him he hasn't walked it back though he's like my point stands what was the point let me talk to shaq leonard here because as i said it was cool uh to watch the way that he was celebrated and the colts have the best team that they've had in a while even though he was excellent for the colts uh for a good long time but not as long as i would have liked to see so i have some questions for him nice to see you shaq thank you uh for being on with us uh what what did make you leave early when you were so excellent at this?

Oh man, it just

surgeries after surgeries, man, and just fighting back and

trying to get back to being the absolute best that I could be.

And then the body was just wearing down.

And, you know, I just decided, you know, I mean, just instead of just putting my body through so much, you know, just walk away and be there, be there with my family and, you know, be there for the community that gave me a lot.

And that was basically it came out to my decision, man.

How hard was it for you how much did you wrestle with it

man it was extremely hard man it was difficult

yeah it probably took me it took me over a year to kind of you know to make the decision because I mean you don't want to give it up you don't want to you know walk away from something that you enjoy doing so no it's it's it took a it took a toll on me mentally, physically, and emotionally, just trying to figure out which way to go.

So I just figured that the safest and the smartest move was to walk away and just be there for the family.

Did you talk to Andrew Luck at all about it?

Nah, not about retiring, but Andrew and I, you know,

we'll text each other every once in a while, just trying to catch up or whatnot.

But

normally,

never talked to him about retiring or nothing like that.

It was just more so a self-conscious thing that I felt like I was, you know, I had to do to make a decision for me and my family.

Shaq, occasionally players who retire young and are very good change their mind.

We've just seen it down here with Darren Waller, the tight end for the Dolphins.

Is the door ajar?

Is there a chance in a year or two you make a comeback?

As of right now, today, that door is closed.

Do I still work out?

Stuff like that?

Yes, but right now, today, tomorrow,

that door is shut.

Just enjoying what I'm doing right now.

You're glancing over it when you say, well, it was hard.

You're a second-round pick, okay?

You fight all your life to get there you overcome odds you're at the top one percent of the top one percent of doing what it is that you do you must have been in a great deal of physical pain so what is what are you talking about there when you tell us uh that you were finished oh man um shoot where do i start i mean my rookie year Rookie year, I sprained my ankle week four and played the whole season through with a sprained ankle and then ended up having a surgery after year one.

And then I got the back and cuts in year two.

um and then year three i tear my pectaneus had another ankle surgery um

year four um i mean that's that 2021 season man i literally was out there just running around at about 75

uh just having my ankles taped uh just being in pain every single day of every single day of the year honestly uh just trying to do what's best to you know get out there on the field um and then in 2022

man, I was out there.

I couldn't do a calf raise.

I couldn't jump.

I had no power in my left leg.

And I was still out there trying to do it.

I shouldn't even, no way I should have been on the field.

But just being out there, man.

And then

my final year is basically the same thing.

Absolutely no leg power.

Can't even jump rope off the left leg.

And then, you know, battling with that, getting cut from the Colts.

I

go to the Eagles.

And then after the Eagles year, man, I had five bone spurs in the front of my ankle.

So I didn't have no flexion in my ankle.

And then after that, man, I had two hip surgeries.

Then 2021 and 2022, of course, the two back surgery.

So just surgery after surgery, man.

It was tough.

It was tough.

And

there's not been a season where I felt good.

During the during the season or during the game, I just always just played through the pain.

What hurt the most if you had to identify one thing?

Well,

I'm not going to say that it hurt because whenever

I had a back injury, like I was working out one day and I was fine.

I went to OTAs and the first day of OTAs,

we out there running sprints.

And then all of a sudden, I feel no power in my left leg.

And it took us maybe two months to kind of get the...

get down to it and see what it was.

And it was just I had my vertebrae and pinched on a nerve.

And then with that, man, I just lost all power.

So it wasn't wasn't more so that I was in pain.

It was just more so I couldn't, I couldn't, I didn't have no force off my left side.

And then with that,

having the tooth back surgery, I couldn't bend, lift, twist for six weeks.

And then going to go, my first day of training camp, I was only two weeks out from running.

And that was probably maybe six to nine months.

So I started the season of my final year with the coach.

And I probably, when the season started, that was probably my fourth or fifth week just getting back to running full speed.

And it was just constantly just trying to build up off that.

I didn't have the time to rest.

I didn't have the time to go out and, you know, get it back as strong as I needed to without having to get back on the field.

And ultimately, I paid the price for it, but

I wouldn't change it.

I wouldn't change absolutely anything about it because that's who I am, man.

I want to play.

I mean, that's sometimes you think that maybe people should have protected me from myself but they knew the competitive nature i didn't want to sit on that sideline and i just went out and trying to put my best foot forward how much did you have to medicate in order to do all of that didn't you have to go to some extremes in order to even be out there when you can't do calf raises

uh man um

not more so medication um besides you know just you know pain pain pills uh to try to get me you know through the game but um besides that it wasn't nothing um i mean i got stressed i mean man i got

I got really stressed out whenever I was going through all of this.

Manena was having to put me on blood pressure medicine to kind of get my blood pressure down.

Man, so that's the only medication that I really had to be on day in and day out.

And then night before the game, I take something for pain.

And then day of the game, I take something for the pain.

I'd be in pain on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday, more so it feels good.

Saturday, I'm resting.

And then Sunday, man, once that game hit, I'm giving giving it everything i got and then that cycle of hurt just just rolls over man because it's it sucks when you're playing a game and you can't push off your left leg but then when you watch my tape from my final couple years

it was what was missing was the splash plays and i knew that i couldn't get to the splash plays because it's more so coming off more so effort and speed so i just had to do my job and then i started looking bad when i was trying to do more than my job how about when you went right though when i went right i was there i was good

i was good i mean listen if i knew what gap i could shoot i knew what play was coming i was great but then that came down with you know the coaches and everybody trusted me to do that because i had a new coaching staff in uh indianapolis and everybody knew that i had instincts until i get out there i lined up in the wrong gap and then i knew at the snap of the ball where to go because i knew i knew the blocking scheme but they wasn't comfortable with me doing that so it slowed my game down a little bit to make sure that you know i was doing what i was told and just trying to fit into that scheme.

And I go back to, you know, when I played my last start, my last start with the Eagles, it was just downhill football, man, playing against Saquon on Christmas night.

And I looked it good, you know, just running straight downhill, but it is what it is, man.

I feel great now.

So it is what it is.

I know that you said you couldn't get that explosiveness on your leg.

You had all the surgeries, all that stuff.

But like, do you ever consider just taking Mark Jackson's advice and just tell your body, not now.

I'll talk to you tomorrow that's not how we said it um nah um i just more so taking it one day at a time man just being where my feet are as of uh right now um

uh so right now it's just more so continue to work out continue to get work done on your body and just you know be here for my family and be here for the high school kids that i'm coaching down here because um i want to see them succeed and i can't have that door opened right now or today or tomorrow because if i even inch towards going back I can't beat all win as a coach and I don't think these kids they don't deserve that either I'm in or I'm out how are the Gators looking by the way Lake View Gators well we're we're young man we're young but right now we're three and two we lost we lost two games and we got a big one coming up We got a big one coming up here against the undefeated team.

They're bigger, they're faster, they're stronger.

But we're known for our relentless effort, being the smallest team and just playing full speed and playing with a lot of heart and a lot of fight.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing the guys match up and see how they compete against you guys because I think that

they're ready for the opportunity.

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I'm sess.

No, it says.

Oh, sess.

Don Lebatard.

He has been great.

He's made great hires.

I said all.

We've said all.

He said all.

We've said all.

Everyone has heard everything.

Everyone has a lot of people.

Everything is great.

Everything you're saying.

It's all been said.

Okay, you got to understand one thing.

Stugats.

Me maximum until i say it hasn't been said

okay understand that with the maximum until i say it hasn't been said

me maximum me maximum this is the dan lebatar show with the stugats

What's the thing you like the most about coaching high school and what is the patience involved?

Because I would imagine imagine that some of that is involved as well.

The one thing I love about it, man, is seeing them grow.

Seeing them grow week in, week out, and seeing them make plays that they didn't think they can make, but you knew as a coach that you knew that they had it in them.

And once they, you know, go out and show their, you know, full potential that you've seen.

Seeing the smiles on their face and seeing how the team comes together is a beautiful thing to see.

And patience, yes, you got to have a lot of patience, man, because for one, this generation is a whole lot different from when I played, when you guys played.

The mentality is different.

So they're not as locked in as it was back in the day.

So it's going to be a lot of mental mistakes.

And it's more so frustrating there.

But, you know, that's what coaching is, man.

If it was perfect, man, that's not really coaching.

It's just actually just being there.

So I enjoyed the frustrating parts of it, the good parts, the bad parts, and everything about it.

Big one coming up against LaSalle, huh?

And then Logansport.

To him.

Big one coming up against LaSalle salle on the 10th what

uh we were gonna run through the schedule uh mr maniac

you were really good at punching the ball out from uh opposing players we have a cast member on our show his name is jonathan zaszlo and he's on a campaign to eradicate that from the nfl saying that players shouldn't be allowed to punch opposing players to try to cause a fumble because if they miss it could cause a boo-boo on the forearm what is your stance on this

that's like telling the offensive lineman don't use his hands um so I mean, I just feel like, man, that ball is out there.

And if you watch the taken, that's a lot of bad ball security.

And as a defense, you think about the ball all the time.

You punch at the ball.

So I don't like it.

I don't think that you take it out of the ball game because it's really good for the defense.

And you

see more people of it now.

So I love it.

16 force fumbles in his career because he was very good at punching the football.

He also wore the same t-shirt for several years under his pads.

Can you tell us a little bit about that t-shirt?

Is that still available?

How bad does that thing smell?

What kind of shape is that in?

Man, nah, man, it doesn't smell.

I get it washed every week.

But yes, I do have that shirt, man.

It's just, it's all about just feeling good, man.

Just feeling that peace, feeling at home.

And my first win, my first...

Big game was against Washington Redskins, and I wore the white shirt underneath.

And once you find that good mojo, man, you want to keep that good mojo.

So I wore the same shirt, the same socks, but yes, they were clean.

Each week they were washed.

But I'm very superstitious, man, and

I just love it, man.

I just love the small details of how to make somebody go about their day.

You wore a cowboy hat at your retirement ceremony.

How many cowboy hats do you have?

As of right now, I think I probably have seven cowboy hats.

I'm normally wearing them all the time, especially.

especially here at home working out on the farm and stuff.

So, yeah, man, I love the look, man.

I love to be, you know, my country self and um i love the cowboy look who gave you the nickname maniac and did you embrace it immediately

oh man um i forgot who gave me the name the maniac it was um a kid on sack on the state campus when uh i played out um played against clemson i came back on campus and he was like man you played like a straight maniac man and then once he said that man i embraced that role because you know if you see me out in public man i'm one of the nicest guy uh most humble guy that you would probably ever meet.

But once we step between those lines and we got to compete against each other, that's when that maniac mindset is.

So Maniac's not here.

He's not here right now.

Maniac's not here.

I can't ask for him.

He's not.

No, he's not here.

Holy Maniac going to come out when we're trying to compete, man.

I just see myself on the sideline now, coaching-wise, and it'll come out sometimes.

Ask.

I mean, I can't control it, man.

I just get in that zone, and it's...

It's competing time.

You don't ask to...

He's not...

No, I should ask about the Lakeview Gators' upcoming schedule.

That's what I should get.

Carver's Bay 7-0 is the next one.

Yeah,

that's a big one.

They're undersized.

You got this.

Listen, we always undersize there.

That's great.

We're always undersized, man.

And it's never the size of the dog that's in the fight.

It's the size of the fight that's in that dog.

We always will bring that fight.

Hello.

And that's what we live for.

So Lakeview.

Lada?

What do we think about that one?

Shadow.

Shad, man.

That's one of our rivals, man.

Yeah.

We're looking forward to it, man.

Each year, man, it's always a a good game, and we're definitely looking forward.

But we've got to take care of Carver's Bay first, man, and then fall on.

We'll see Lada at their house and

come out and just play our

best football there.

Yeah.

Shaq, good seeing you.

Thank you for spending this time with us.

We appreciate it, sir.

Of course, man.

Thank y'all so much.

So you've got a guy who goes by maniac, and he's telling you it's not the size of the dog and the fight, it's the size of the fight and the dog.

And then Greg Cody shows up, slides into the room, and says the most menacing thing that can be said: hello.

I'm affirming what he just said.

Hello, maniac, dog thing.

Hello, maniac.

Hello.

That's the better way.

Hello.

Hello.

Who needs me?

That's the better way to say it.

And you know it.

It is just going to the recycled hits.

He's been done since he recycled all of his column work.

I asked Billy before we did the Taylor Swift lyrics.

I said, is there any more in Greg Cody's paywall column that can be read?

And he says to me, he's done the whole thing already.

He repeated everything he said in his column.

He just repeated it on air.

How is that not embarrassing to you to say it all the same way that you wrote it?

Okay, first of all, it's obviously not true.

It was about a 950-word column.

So

I'm just repeating

some of the many great hits in that column.

You know, I encourage people to go read it themselves.

Do you encourage them to go listen to the Greg Cody show featuring Greg Cody?

I would love it, yeah, it's with, of course.

Please get that straight.

I would love it if they did.

It's opening night for the Florida Panthers, the best team in town, the best team in hockey.

And we have Gustav Forsling on our podcast.

Surprisingly good chat.

And when I say surprisingly good, he's a Swedish guy.

Some Swedish hockey players are a little, you know, not known for effusive personality.

But we got a lot out of Gustav.

Talked to him about cooking and other off-ice stuff, fishing.

ABBA.

So it was funny.

He did bring up ABBA.

Yeah, I did bring up ABBA.

I felt like I needed to.

Put it on the poll at Lebatarge Show.

Did Greg Cody need to bring up ABBA when talking to Gustav Forster?

I did, yeah.

It's a question probably better posed to Gustav's parents, but still, you know, you got to love Dancing Queen, Waterloo.

I mean, they got some bangers right there.

Greg, I saw you admit you're wrong also in this episode.

I did admit I was wrong.

Yeah, good on you.

Yeah, thank you.

It's because in the episode previously, he said that, he said to me, when I was asking about the day I was born, he's like, you know, I didn't actually see you for 20 minutes.

You were like, I was in a different room.

You got brought in, and 20 minutes went by.

And then my mom came on the next week and said, you were in the room.

Well, you know.

I mean, your mother's always right.

The idea...

Because I was in the room when my daughter was born.

The idea that

the idea that 30 years from now, I won't remember to my daughter that I was in the room is wild to me.

Okay, it's 38 years ago.

I'm off by 20 minutes.

Yeah.

You were in the room.

In fairness, your mom is probably also drugged up.

Like, who knows what she remembers exactly from that moment?

Well, Greg still has not forgiven our former sports editor, Paul Anger, who he called Paul Anchor on his career, because

that sports editor called Greg while he was in the hospital room for one of these births and asked him to report on George Myra Jr.'s steroid suspension.

That was Christopher's birth.

That was the, my first child is being born that year.

Well, there we go.

He was talking to Anchor on the phone in another room.

There were no cell phones at the time.

He had to step out to take the call.

That's right.

Case closed.

Exactly.

See, Billy brings up a phone call.

Is that what happened?

So work.

You were like, I'll work right now.

But he was angry at his boss for asking him to work when he was waiting for your birth.

Yes, that was before the birth.

So I bum-rushed anger off the phone and said, no, I'm going to graciously decline not to go chase George Myra Jr.

Got his ass kicked on a story.

That's what welcomed you into the world, Chris.

Come on.

All right.

I mean, it was reported by others that the star linebacker for the University of Miami had been suspended.

You got mad at our boss for calling you and telling you that you should do your job.

I was too busy creating a human life.

I apologize.

Did you guys have any janitor sources like Diana?

Like, what's the weirdest profession source that you guys have?

You don't have to tell us who the person is.

Restaurant owners are good for me.

Really?

Yeah.

I had a cop at UM, men in front of the floor shop.

I meant to speak about this, actually, not the cop that you had at UM, but I meant to say this the other day when we were talking about University of Miami Royalty and the idea of Michael Irvin as the new mascot.

To see Ed Hudak still running out with the coaches when he's run out with every coach, as we don't really have state troopers the way that run out with the Bobby Bowdens the way that some other places have.

To see one singular police officer be the one who keeps all of the University of Miami coaches' secrets and is trusted by Mario Cristobal back from the time that Mario Cristobal was a player at the University of Miami.

Don't let's reveal Greg Source.

No, that's not the source.

No, but it was.

It's just a weird thought to pop in your head immediately after that.

No, because

I thought when I saw him running out with Mario Cristobal, I was like, my God, Ed Hudak's been doing that for 40 years.

He's been running out singularly to protect a University of Miami coach ever since back when Dennis Erickson needed rides home from the local bars because he was drinking too much.

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Don Lebatard.

You have some hot takes today.

Joe Chestnuts of Fire.

Oh, he's on fire.

Jesus.

He calls Connor McDavid overrated before the show.

What the hell was that, Greg?

Yeah, no, I love it.

Stugats.

Roy, let me explain it to you.

And not that you need to, you know more about Hawking.

This is coming from a guy that's watched Connor play six times.

Right.

If that.

This is the Don Lebatar show with the Stugats.

The other big news in this week's episode was Gustav Forsling confirming

with us Panther fans that we need to stop saying night during the national anthem.

Oh, absolutely.

He was just like, Yeah, I don't know why they do that.

It's a good point by you.

Tonight it's tricky.

All right, they're guys.

I know tonight, night is starting for Chicago, so they're probably going to do it.

I'm okay with it tonight.

It's a 5 p.m.

start tonight, isn't it?

Yes, yeah.

Give me that.

I know this is selfish, and people who work nine to fives may hate this.

Give me, sign me up for the 5 p.m.

start.

Oh, yeah.

For our schedule?

Oh, done by 8.

Love it.

Put it on the poll at Lebatard Show.

Would you prefer a 5 p.m.

start for your nighttime sporting event?

The primetime game on ESPN is Rangers, Penguins.

Neither one of those teams meet the playoffs licensing.

They're doing that just to mess with you, Roy.

Yes, they are.

They're pissing me off, man.

It is a little insulting.

The back-to-back champs against a team that is from the central time zone kicks things off at 5 o'clock Eastern when the non-playoff teams, granted, original six franchises, Pittsburgh and...

Well, is Pittsburgh an original?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Well, Blue Blood franchises in that sport that missed the playoffs just because Sidney Crosby is there, gets the primetime slot.

I'm not a fan of it.

Can you guys give me some information on what LeBron James did with his second decision?

Was it all marketing?

What did he announce here moments ago while we were talking about it?

That are the details that I need to have here on LeBron James was teasing something.

He was doing it commercially.

He was doing it as an advertisement.

And I don't think this stuff ends up enduring in any meaningful way.

But I do always wonder why it is and how it is.

Some folks, like Kevin Hart, for example, are so insatiable that they simply cannot stop at the making of money.

They cannot stop selling the things they are about.

And I don't think it actually costs him anything, but I do wonder how much of this you do before people call you a sellout.

What is the announcement?

He said this fall, he's bringing his talents to Hennessy.

Yeah.

That's it.

To Hennessy Ed.

Yeah.

He looks cold.

He got us.

We're talking about it.

The hair's not great.

No.

There's salt and pepper there.

Wow, another corporate sponsorship for the billionaire.

So stupid.

Wow.

You piped out.

I was watching a documentary I had not seen before last night, American Pain, and it's just about how out of control all of the pain medication selling was, specifically in Florida and South Florida.

And it was two meatheads who sold half a billion pills, basically, because they were just...

Our state is

just replete with corruption.

Medicaid has its biggest issues down here in Florida and always has.

But this particular documentary that was killing people with opioid addictions, these two meatheads couldn't stop wanting to expand their stupidity because of the greed.

When does any of this stuff land on you guys in a way where you actually say, that's a sellout that's so

wrapped around just grabbing at money that I'm going to like you less because you're someone who sells out.

You cannot have enough.

You're insatiable.

That kind of greed confuses me once you've arrived at a point that you've already conquered and you still need more and more.

It doesn't bother me because I'm because I'm used to it.

What about Alan John putting it in your lane?

That's never-ending, like

last tour.

The four-year farewell tour, yeah.

No, I expect that.

You know, they're here to make money, not just play sports.

And, you know, I hate the idea that he's teasing it with a big announcement and then it turns out to be his latest sponsor.

I think that's tacky.

But the idea...

Oh, you mean like what we did with the Greg Cody show when we had a big guest a couple weeks ago?

Yeah.

And we misled the audience to trick them to get to watch?

The idea that he's making money off Hennessy is great.

Okay, it's great.

More power to it.

But the tease, like we do that in podcast, like you tease things.

If I got something I want to announce tomorrow, I'm going to make you interested in it.

Right.

And what's the difference between him teasing this and us seeing him in an ad for Hennessy?

The difference is that he's playing with your feelings and playing with the idea that he's going to retire again and reminding you how he went from popular to unpopular to popular again.

The original mistake, I'm going to call it a mistake because he said it's a mistake.

I didn't think it was a mistake.

But the original quote-unquote mistake that he made was teasing people with their feelings because he was playing with the suspense and the drama and then making a decision.

Here, he didn't change the way free agency is covered, he didn't change the way power is distributed, he just put his name on something that's a brand in order to make more money because he has more brand sponsorships than just about anyone in American sports.

And I do wonder, in the case of, for example, Kevin Hart, Kiss is the most commercially successful band of all time.

They will sell anything.

There is no pride in the art.

They will sell it

for selling stuff, just for selling themselves out commercially and brazenly.

Kevin Hart,

his last goal is he wants to be a billionaire.

That's the most important thing to him.

And so you see him everywhere.

What does it mean to anyone listening to this to have someone they love brazenly sell out?

I think we're so used to it.

We're so numb to it that it almost doesn't affect us anymore.

It doesn't affect me.

I'm so used to seeing, you know, when Tiger Woods is the biggest thing in golf, I'm so used to seeing a Nike swoosh on his on his hat, I don't even think about it anymore.

I think it's impossible.

I think it's impossible for a guy like LeBron to sell out and have,

he jumped into our lives immediately at like the top tier of fame.

It's not like he was an indie band that had all these underground records that you adored and then all of a sudden they become imagined dragons.

It's not the same kind of relationship.

I get it with music.

I get it with like directors that probably change.

I don't get it when you're complaining about Michael Jordan or or Tiger Woods doing it because they're already entering at the top line.

You mentioned Kiss.

I don't see anybody licensing their name as much as Shaquille O'Neal.

Yeah, like everything has a Shaquille O'Neal thing on it.

And no one like, we all, we all kind of get it.

But I will say part of this LeBron story that was interesting was the internet had it wrong.

This is bad for Hennessy.

Everyone was saying that this was an Amazon Prime thing.

Good for them.

You cannot believe the internet unless you want to.

Let me tell you about my algorithm right now, especially on Instagram.

Uh-oh.

It is all these AI-generated videos of historical figures doing incredible athletic things.

Yeah, I'm not sure it's AI.

Well, we'll see.

Yeah.

Let's play this one for Greg Cody and see what he thinks.

Here's George Washington hitting a walk-off grand slam against

the Yankees in the World Series.

Do we have audio for this?

That's a sweet swing.

So let's hear this post-game.

Well, I was sitting on the 12-6 curveball down and inside, and that's what that half-witted Nincompoot gave me.

That was unbelievable.

Miller laid on himself.

Do you think that's real?

Yeah, for sure.

All right, well, here's a great one.

Here's a King Elvis Presley post-NASCAR race.

Elvis 500 miles a Daytona, and you brought it home first.

How's that feel?

Feels like I wrestled a hurricane, man, but it sure feels good.

Car was steady, pit crew was lightning, and we kept it together when it counted.

Fans are going wild.

Got anything for him?

Thank you.

Daytonona.

He's got to go.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, the best subgenre of this is the WWE.

And when they invoke wrestling in historical figures, here's a ladder match between Mr.

Rogers and Bob Ross.

Hit it.

They're both up there.

No way.

No way.

Oh, my goodness.

Spinners fly off the top of the ladder.

Through the flaming tables.

Then a wrestler.

That table's on fire.

Oh, man.

Believe it or not, that one's actually real.

That was from SummerSlam 1987.

Wow.

All right, Dad.

Two are real, one's fake.

All right, here we go.

Here's another one from the wrestling world.

B-I-G.

Oh!

I can't believe this.

You've been running your mouth all week, champ, talking like the throne's yours, but you standing in my house now.

This ring, this is West Coast territory tonight, and I'm setting it off.

Biggie, you've been shining too long, hiding behind that gold.

Tonight, I'm kicking the door in.

That cell's gonna lock behind us.

And there ain't no bodyguard, no entourage.

Just you, me, and every single

uh, Billy, how do you feel about Elvis?

How do you feel about everything Elvis that is happening?

Uh, keeping him like Stephen Hawking statement,

all right.

So, like, it's like basically all Stephen Hawking ones, which I know is, you know, this one's a little dangerous, yeah, but as it's been pointed out, no longer with us, it's fake, link to the island, link to the island

to the island.

So, maybe not, maybe this is the only person we can do this with, but go ahead and fire up the screen.

I'm heading in.

Run two.

Look at his speed building on that chair.

He's locked in.

Sideways.

Look at Greg.

Greg's legitimately shocked.

Greg looks legitimately hurt on behalf of Stephen Hawking.

That was Stephen Hawking trying to do multiple backflips on a PMX ramp.

Show the Formula One.

Come on.

King Stewart.

Come on.

Driving an F1 car.

327 kilometers From a wheelchair.

The Mercedes.

All right.

That's enough.

That's enough.

I was going somewhere with Billy.

I forgot about that race.

On Elvis Presley.

I wanted to talk about Elvis.

Wait, what's Stephen Hawking doing here coming down this ramp?

Stephen Hawking rolling down the ramp.

He's on top of the cage.

On top of the cage.

Are you kidding me?

I used to hate AI.

Now I love it.

That happened to Billy last week.

He said he hated AI and then a segment later loved it again.

That's the relationship we have with him.

Tyreek Hill.

Tyreek Hill, you guys got that one?

All right, Trump.

Drake, did you take that?

Just play Elvis getting mad at somebody heckling him, please.

I don't pay attention to rumors.

I don't pay attention to movie magazines.

They don't read them because they're all junk.

No,

I don't mean to put anybody's job down.

I'm talking about they have a job to do, and they've got to write something.

So if they don't know anything, they make it up.

So in my case, they make it up.

Well, I hear rumors flying around.

I got sick in the hospital.

Well, I was, you know, in this day and time, you can't even get sick.

You are strung out.

Oh, by God, I'll tell you something, friend.

I have never been strung out in my life, except on music.

When I got sick here in the hotel, I got sick here that one night, had 102 temperature.

They wouldn't let me perform.

From three different sources I heard, I was strung out on heroin.

I swear to God, hotel employees, Jack, bell boys,

freaks that carry your luggage up to the room, people working around, you know, talking,

maids.

And I was sick.

I was, you know, I was getting, I had a doctor, had the flu, and I didn't get over one day.

But all across this town, I I was strung out.

So I told him earlier, and don't you get offended, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking to somebody else.

If I find or hear the individual that has said that about me, I'm going to break your goddamn neck, you son of a bitch.

That is dangerous.

That is damaging to myself, to my little daughter, to my father, to my friends, my doctor, to everybody my relationship with you, my relationship with the Pioneer State.

It is dangerous.

I will pull your goddamn tongue out by the roots.

Thank you very much.

Come on.

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