The Return of Old Man Rivers: Savior or Season Ender?

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And it's February 15th, 2026 at 1159 PM Eastern.

Speaker 4 Quick story. When I was doing corporate sales in my 20s, they used to do all these team building exercises.

Speaker 4 And one time they gave us a piece of paper and on the top of it, it said, I am dot, dot, dot. And then you had to fill out like five answers for it and then get up in front of everybody and read them.

Speaker 4 So I got up there and I said, I am a little teapot, short, and stout. And everybody in their suits and especially the bosses were not amused at all by it.

Speaker 4 Anywho, I bring this story up because now I want to do that with Phil Rivers signing with the Colts is dot, dot, dot. One, fun.

Speaker 4 Two, funny, especially after you see how fat he is now. Three, is good, not bad for his Hall of Fame candidacy.

Speaker 4 Coming out of retirement now allows him to avoid his contemporaries, Big Ben and Eli, both of whom are more likely to get a gold jacket before he does.

Speaker 4 And it also allows him to avoid guys like Matthew Stafford, who presumably are going to stick around for a little bit longer. And if he takes the Colts to the playoffs, this just about guarantees him.

Speaker 4 What a cherry on top of a borderline Hall of Fame career. Next, it's overstated how his age is going to impact him physically.

Speaker 4 You know, I know Stephen A is worried about the imminent danger and all of that, but keep in mind, it's very much like Frank Gore. The Frank Gore paradox is he was never reliant on high-end speed or

Speaker 4 athleticism. Phil Rivers never ran away from a pass rush.
He would stand in the pocket and take the hit. And that's that's how Phil Rivers used to play.

Speaker 4 And I assume is going to still be playing even after five years away.

Speaker 4 Next, NFC State Wolfpack Icon might not do well here, but it can't go as badly as another Carolina ACC school embarrassed itself this year. I'm talking about the old man named Bill Belichick.

Speaker 4 And lastly, is bad for all the other QBs who are in their prime right now. Imagine if Gramps comes off the sidelines after a decade and a half and is better than you.
How humiliating that would be.

Speaker 4 I guess come to think of it, good thing Phil Rivers isn't starting a podcast. Speaking of which, let's start the show.

Speaker 4 Yes, hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to NFL Week 15.
Welcome to Football America, presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Speaker 4 Quickly, but sincerely, a big thanks to my fellow Football Americans who've already subscribed and dropped us a line on YouTube or on social media. Otherwise, we appreciate it.
Now, a new request.

Speaker 4 Spread the good word. Let everybody else know about Football America with the playoffs fast approaching here.
Hi and hello to the fellows in Miami and up in New York.

Speaker 4 Jeremy Tashay among them joining us. Episode 33.
So let's honor the player who wore that jersey number best, obviously, as somebody who hails from the the banks of the Three Rivers.

Speaker 4 Tony Dorsett, the Heisman Trophy winner in 1976, Hopewell Viking, and all the rest of it. Then he became fancy and became Dorset when he went down the big D to Toil with Roger Stauback and Company.

Speaker 4 Who else? And hi and hello to you, Gino and Mike Fuentes?

Speaker 5 Let me see. The only ones that come to mind are Aaron Jones, who's currently playing, but not exactly legendary status.

Speaker 2 Jamal Adams, I think, the safety.

Speaker 5 Correct. I think you already named all the ones that I would know from history.

Speaker 2 The one guy I remember, and only because he helped me capture a fantasy championship, was Deion Lewis for the Patriots. He was playing alongside James White.
Deion Lewis.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he was playing along James White for a while, and then he ended up going over to the Titans where his career effectively died, as he was a second back behind Derrick Henry.

Speaker 2 And speaking of James White, James White didn't wear 33. He actually wore number 28 for the Patriots.

Speaker 2 I think he won, he scored the game-winning touchdown in the comeback against the Falcons, if I remember for a while.

Speaker 2 He should have been the correct? He should have given a Dubray. It's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 Sweet feet.

Speaker 4 It is one of the worst.

Speaker 2 It is one of the worst MVP awards ever.

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 4 early, the first 15 or so had some sketchy ones, but in more recent vintage, that's the most specious one was to give it to Brady there

Speaker 4 when James White had

Speaker 4 literally like 13 or 14 catches in that game. Also, Roger Craig, speaking of pass-catching running backs,

Speaker 4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, of course, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing. So that's the sport that wore 33 best is basketball.
Anyone else there, Jeremy Tashay?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I got a weird one. Yankees David Wells.
When he was with the Yankees, he wore 33.

Speaker 2 I don't know why that one immediately came to mind, but it was the first name I thought of when I thought of what's 33 in baseball.

Speaker 4 Eddie Murray, Hall of Famer. Good one.
Patrick Waugh with the Avs at least. I can't remember what he wore when he was with the Havs.
And Zidane Ochara wore 33 for a portion of his career.

Speaker 4 All right, that hash now settled. Let's move forward.
We have a lot to talk about here. Phil Rivers among it.
Gino, give us a list.

Speaker 4 Give us a little an update to sort of contextualize how long it's been since we saw old man Rivers.

Speaker 5 You know, a lot can happen in half a decade.

Speaker 5 These are the things that were true the last time Philip Rivers took a snap in the NFL.

Speaker 5 Shohei Otani had never made an all-star team, had never won an MVP, had never played in a World Baseball classic, and had never won a World Series.

Speaker 2 Wow.

Speaker 4 Had never been. Wow, that is legit surprising.
All right, good start.

Speaker 5 Joe Biden had just been elected president, but had not yet been sworn in.

Speaker 4 Heard about that one, yeah.

Speaker 5 Tom Brady had never won a Super Bowl outside of New England.

Speaker 5 Matt Stafford was a Detroit lion.

Speaker 2 Wow, you ain't lying. That

Speaker 5 was still called Twitter.

Speaker 5 Leonel Messi was playing in France and had never won a World Cup.

Speaker 4 Oh, my God. Whoa.
The Panthers. Cachet.
Wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 2 That one got me.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 The Fuentes boys were over the moon about the title for Messi and his pals. Is Miami alive with excitement? I got the sense sincerely when I was there a few weeks ago that maybe

Speaker 4 Miami

Speaker 4 that the soccer team was now the most popular brand in Miami sports. Am I exaggerating there?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I don't think you're right at all. I couldn't care less.

Speaker 2 Most people couldn't care less. That's also, I am a reporter for both the Marlins and the Heat, so you're asking a totally biased source.

Speaker 4 But I mean, I mean, historically, it would go Dolphins 1, but it feels like the Messi story consumes a

Speaker 4 ton of the conversation down there.

Speaker 2 I think it does, but I think you would still be hard pressed to put that brand above the heat either like it's dolphins heat 1a 1b at at this point and then from there you can go to mess how about this messi one

Speaker 2 dolphins and heat

Speaker 2 2a 2b inner miami is still like right around where the marlins are in terms of being a brand and the panthers are a different thing because obviously that's not the same as dade county but i don't think inner miami and maybe i'm wrong maybe i'm not getting the proper read because i'm i'm a broward guy inner Inner Miami has like this thing going forward where it has two cool logos?

Speaker 2 A cool logo, the colors are cool, and you have two like

Speaker 2 world-class all-time players attached because David Beckham is the owner and then Messi is a thing.

Speaker 2 But other than that, a lot of people don't. Inner Miami is known because of Messi.
People don't have that before.

Speaker 2 I've never seen someone.

Speaker 4 The fashion forward pink and black looks strong.

Speaker 2 They're still the first one to do that. Well, not even that.

Speaker 2 There was a team, Palermo in Italy, and there was a team in Spain, I think, too, that also did the pink and black. It's not like a new thing.
And they took it to soccer. The only reason it

Speaker 2 stopped the way that it did here was because the vice stuff that the Heat did years before. Like, it's just, it's, and not, by the way, like, it's not to downplay the importance of the championship.

Speaker 2 Like, I, I hate as a

Speaker 2 I'm a not, I'm not a soccer guy, right?

Speaker 2 And so, in turn, I don't like when people who aren't basketball people or aren't baseball people try to downplay the importance of individual moments or seasons or chases for things.

Speaker 2 at the same time, like it's not the type of thing that people are

Speaker 2 reaching out to me, being like, oh my God, what a cool time in South Florida sports, the same way that it exists with the Heat or the Dolphins or the Marlins or the Panthers.

Speaker 2 And maybe that's just because of a lack of familiarity with the franchise, but it's not quite there yet. It's like, oh, cool, they have Messi.
They should win.

Speaker 4 I'm trying to keep my foot on the gas and I'm doing a terrible job of that.

Speaker 5 I'm trying to tell you guys. Go ahead,

Speaker 5 Philip Rivers is.

Speaker 4 Okay. Yes, yes, yes.
Go back.

Speaker 5 Caleb Williams was still in high school

Speaker 5 Florida Panthers had never won a Stanley Cup and hadn't won a playoff series in 25 years

Speaker 5 Wonder Woman 1984 was the number one movie in the box office but that movie was awful but the box office was closed in America because of an ongoing pandemic

Speaker 2 what are you talking about

Speaker 5 okay and moving on things that have happened since you might have heard of the significance of January 6th that has not yet happened yet

Speaker 5 Otani has since won four MVPs he's been

Speaker 5 he has been voted to five all-star teams he became the only player at MLB history to steal 50 bases and hit 50 homers in the same season while injured

Speaker 5 and then he led Japan to a WBC and he won back-to-back World Series Alex Levechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record Donald Trump became the second president to serve non-consecutive terms

Speaker 5 Russia invaded the Ukraine. Maui produced

Speaker 5 the deadliest wildfire in US history in 100 years.

Speaker 5 And Taylor Swift broke up with a five-year boyfriend, but

Speaker 5 had a brief fling with Matt Healy.

Speaker 2 My God.

Speaker 5 Then began dating Travis Kelsey.

Speaker 2 This fire.

Speaker 5 And is now engaged

Speaker 5 all while fronting the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.

Speaker 2 Do you guys know,

Speaker 4 and here's what I'd like to throw in too.

Speaker 4 The last time Phil Rivers was in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs were relevant.

Speaker 4 Speaking of the AFC West,

Speaker 4 former Chargers

Speaker 4 cornerback, Quentin Jammer, for some reason, announced to the world. My pal Randy Bauman asked a great question.
Why did Quentin Jammer decide to announce this to the world eight years after the fact?

Speaker 4 Used to play drunk. He would throw on a good drunk and stay drunk throughout the game, which is at least a smart move because, as everybody knows,

Speaker 4 once you open the seal, you can't now decide to shut it down. The second half,

Speaker 4 you would get a lowie feeling if you didn't

Speaker 4 keep taking some shots there. But either way, weird stuff.
Jeremy, would you rather play pro football at age 44 or drunk? Or you know what? I'll throw in a third option: Ricky Williams. High.

Speaker 2 Ooh, I mean, I feel like the answer has to be the Ricky Williams, right? Because it's like, they're at least

Speaker 2 I can convince myself that I could lock in in some capacity.

Speaker 2 I'm in trouble. I mean, are we talking about me and my physical body? Because the answer is none of the above.
I don't think you'll be able to do that. I don't know.
I don't care what.

Speaker 2 None of these are performance enhancing necessarily.

Speaker 2 I think, I guess I'll go Ricky Williams, but if I go off your first question of the two,

Speaker 2 I think the answer would

Speaker 2 I think it'd have to be 44

Speaker 2 over drunk just simply because I would have control over how poorly I'm playing. If I'm drunk and then I head to film session the next day and I'm like, oh shit, I really

Speaker 2 don't really remember misreading that coverage that bad.

Speaker 2 You know, because if you're taking how many shots at halftime, that's what I do want to know is if you're, if you're getting drunk before the game and then you're seemingly sweating as much as Quentin Jammer would be throughout, right?

Speaker 2 And then having to hydrate. How many shots is he taking at halftime to be able to keep that buzz going? And that's the following sweating, you know.
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 Yeah, the combination of like sweating and hydrating.

Speaker 2 It's really complicated. So, to be able to keep it going, like, is this something that's happening? Like, is he bringing to because he said he had tequila at his locker, I believe.

Speaker 2 So, is he bringing that out like in a Gatorade bottle to the sidelines? So, in between series,

Speaker 4 drinkers are getting encouraged by the coaching We don't know.

Speaker 2 We don't know.

Speaker 2 These are the questions that we need a real journal.

Speaker 4 Pablo, where are you?

Speaker 2 No, no.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 We need someone to find.

Speaker 4 Well,

Speaker 4 I have heard tale that Mike Fuentes has a new show that he wants to unveil here. He wants to give it a test run here in just a minute.

Speaker 4 In the meantime, though, anecdotally, I can tell you, in high school,

Speaker 4 my pals and I, we would go through on Friday, pretty standardly, we would go through the beer beer distributor in Swiss Vale that would, um, that they didn't check your ID.

Speaker 4 And so they would just, it was a drive-through too.

Speaker 4 I don't know if this is, uh, if this is a popular thing across the United States, but you could just pull up and you'd be like, give us a case or two of Iron City or whatever.

Speaker 4 And they, you would pop the trunk, they would throw it in there, give them the loot and goodbye. And then we would, you know, go about the weekend.

Speaker 4 And then whatever was left over in the case on Monday after classes, but before basketball practice, we'd have like an hour and my pal Richie and I would go and finish off what was ever left in the case and then go to basketball practice.

Speaker 4 I got to tell you, it was some of the best basketball I ever played because I had a devil may care attitude.

Speaker 2 Yeah, lack of inhibitions.

Speaker 4 Yeah, and I was kind of lathered up and I was more fluid and my body didn't constrain me as much as normal. I could shoot the hell out of the ball from three.

Speaker 4 The limitation was in two-on-one and three-on-two drills, if I got felled going,

Speaker 4 got the ball on the block in full speed and I looked up to shoot it, to lay it up. The one time it went up over my head backwards.

Speaker 4 Again, the dizzies. That was bad.

Speaker 2 See, my question for you would be, did you actually play the best basketball of your life, or did it feel like you were playing the best basketball of your life?

Speaker 2 This reminds me of a Wolf of Wall Street thing where he thinks, oh, I got home without a scratch on the car.

Speaker 2 And then when they cut back the car is completely mangled and he didn't make it home at all i could be like actually eight turnover correct dave what are you doing he went over 37. you know

Speaker 4 that's the beauty that's the beauty of being the 13th man on a 12-man team yeah just like i mean look it couldn't get any worse couldn't get any worse and that brings me now to the joe burrows story talk about a devil may care attitude kind of heading into a game against the ravens it feels like the pressure is more or less off not in a good way if you're Cincinnati or if you're a Bengals fan, they probably lost the opportunity to sneak in the back end of the playoffs, but who knows?

Speaker 4 Either way, they catch the Ravens, who have all the pressure in the world on them. So it was a little curious for Joe Burrow to sound so bummed out.

Speaker 4 If you missed it, take a listen to what he said in his press conference midweek.

Speaker 6 Reflection, reflection on a lot of

Speaker 6 things that I've done and been through in my career. I think

Speaker 6 I've been through more than than most and

Speaker 6 certainly not easy on the brain or the body. So

Speaker 6 I'm just trying to have on doing it again.

Speaker 7 You talked

Speaker 7 you seem like

Speaker 7 there's something on your mind or maybe I'm reading too much into it, but seem frustrated.

Speaker 6 There's just a lot of things going on right now.

Speaker 7 A lot of things going on right now.

Speaker 6 Football related, personally.

Speaker 7 All the above.

Speaker 4 I mean, pretty heavy stuff. And I'm sorry to play cynic, but, you know, as somebody who is not a multi-millionaire, you're a multi-millionaire.
You're 29 years of age. You're a handsome devil.

Speaker 4 You get to play football as your job. You don't have that much to complain about.
And by the way, you also have the Batmobile as the result of your professional toiling.

Speaker 4 So I'm a little bit surprised by this. Tashay, your response, and Fuentes Brothers as well.

Speaker 2 This sounds like Andrew Luck to me. Like, this just sounds like a guy who's been physically beat up for years and years and years behind a terrible offensive line.

Speaker 2 He's gone through multiple surgeries. He's gone through multiple seasons where he's had to miss time.
Team has let him down.

Speaker 2 There's like so many different things there, including, by the way, like it didn't all start hunky-dory for him.

Speaker 2 He gets recruited to Ohio State, and then all sorts of things go awry there to where he has to end up at LSU, now with the best weapons ever and like one of the greatest teams we've ever seen.

Speaker 2 But the guy's dealt with a lot of injuries and a lot of a physical beatdown. And while 29 is obviously young for an actual person, it's not always the youngest for an NFL quarterback.

Speaker 2 I just think this sounds like a guy who is at the end of a season that's been disappointing yet again after reaching some really high highs early in his career and feeling the repercussions of that.

Speaker 2 But it...

Speaker 2 It's the closest I've heard anyone sound to Andrew Luck. And Burrow's a pretty bright guy.
Like, I'm not surprised he's thinking about actual life when it comes to football.

Speaker 2 I think the injuries definitely have something to do with it. For sure.
And then to have such a long injury now, and then when you get back, the team has not stayed afloat at all. Right.

Speaker 2 So now it's like, hey, you need to come in, pretty much play mistake-free the rest of the way. Yeah, please say just for us to have a chance.

Speaker 2 And then, let's be real, he threw away that game last week. He made a bone-headed play.
He tried, that was supposed to be a running play to Chase Brown.

Speaker 2 He's supposed to turn around and hand that ball.

Speaker 4 Oh, by the way, imagine the conversation right now.

Speaker 2 If he hits that, Bengals had just held on to that.

Speaker 2 If If he just hands the ball. He would be out.

Speaker 4 The Bengals would be on their way. Look out, Steelers and Ravens.
Here comes Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 But you see him.

Speaker 2 He sees the guy Blitz, and he notices that Jamar has nothing but green grass, well, white grass in front of him in the snow. He tries to make a play, totally mucks it up.
It gets batted up.

Speaker 2 It gets picked. He basically throws the game away.
So all these combinations of things, Providence, throwing a little bit of seasonal depression. It is December.
Oh, God. And all that together.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Get all that together, and you probably have a situation where you look a little deflated in the press conference.

Speaker 4 I'll say that I hear people on the Andrew Luck people are being real weird about it.

Speaker 4 I think he's in these mid-career sort of evaluations more in line with what you hear. I mean, Tom Brady was talking about retiring when he was in his late 20s, too.
Like, I have five more years.

Speaker 4 I think everybody hits a lot of these guys hit that stage, and then they end up sticking around for a decade or more. I think what he's getting at more is it's time to move on from Cincinnati.

Speaker 4 That's what I think. I don't think it's time to move on from football.
I think he's not having fun given his situation.

Speaker 4 He's sort of like a Big Ten school that isn't as deep pocketed as Ohio State is saying, like, what are we doing? This isn't fun anymore.

Speaker 4 And we got, you know, I think what he's saying is, I got to go to somebody who's willing to

Speaker 4 create a contender around me.

Speaker 4 It's diminishing returns for me.

Speaker 4 Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. You're old pal Dave here.
Let me tell you, when my first daughter was born, everything changed, and it was doubly so when my son came around.

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Speaker 4 Ho, ho, ho, hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. We have officially arrived at the holiday season and you know what that means.
It's Dave saying ho ho ho. Also, family food and football.

Speaker 4 The holidays aren't about stuffy get-togethers, dinner parties, or work parties you have to be at.

Speaker 4 They're about those unexpected side quests and spending time with the ones you love and if you're lucky enough, doing so at a bowl game.

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And please always remember to celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tis 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Speaker 4 Quickly, before we unveil Mike Fuentes'

Speaker 4 new show here, I want to get your thoughts on this. All the pressure, as we say, is on the the Ravens, Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh, and the rest of it.
Nothing on Cincinnati.

Speaker 4 The Bengals giving two and a half in this game somehow. How say you, Tashay?

Speaker 2 I don't understand that at all. Like, I understand that it's

Speaker 2 with the season being all but over, sure.

Speaker 2 You could argue that maybe they don't have much of a chance, but like two and a half points, I don't know. At home, it just feels like one of those things where it's ripe for the Bengals to get right.

Speaker 2 And we've kind of seen, I feel like over the years, and I don't have the numbers to back me up at the very moment, but I feel like we've seen this before with Cincinnati, where

Speaker 2 as soon as they're out of it, they end up starting to play like remarkably well and just kind of ruining things for everybody else.

Speaker 2 So if history serves us right, they're going to win by 14 this weekend.

Speaker 4 That's what December is for. This happens all the time.
The zero stakes for these teams that are just playing out the season.

Speaker 4 And I do think with Joe Burrow, between that press conference and kickoff on Sunday, somebody, maybe the man in the mirror,

Speaker 4 gets in his ear and has a It's a Wonderful Life kind of moment here. Things ain't that bad, Joe.
Let's go out there and win it for the Queen City.

Speaker 4 And I think maybe they really have a chance here because things do not seem good in Baltimore. However, the Ravens are not out of things in that garbage division.

Speaker 4 If they win three of four, including a win in Pittsburgh in week 18, the division is still in play for them. All right, let's get to it then, shall we?

Speaker 4 By the way, another game of great import to everybody in Football America. Dave Damashek against Bill Simmons in the fantasy playoffs.

Speaker 4 Good luck to the Cool Cats spelled with two K's as they try to take people who refer to it as a rivalry game don't know what they're talking about.

Speaker 4 The Cool Cats have dominated the double-deuce squad put out on the field by Bill Simmons each and every year. It's not a rivalry.
It's a hammer versus a nail.

Speaker 2 Let's see if Who let Greg Cody onto this show talking about logo? Yeah, and I kind of like it.

Speaker 2 The cool cats with two K's. You don't want to hear about my dream? You don't want to hear about my team?

Speaker 2 Tell me about your fantasy team. You want to hear about it? Yeah, sure.
Why not?

Speaker 4 Listen, no one wants to hear about anybody else's fantasy team.

Speaker 2 I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish the gang well. Pretty good.

Speaker 4 All right, let's do it. This is the all-time salacious football week with Sharon Moore and Quentin Jammer and

Speaker 4 fat Phil Rivers coming back. Mike Fuentes, what's the name of your new show?

Speaker 2 So it's up for debate because you guys want to call it Mike Fuentes doesn't find out. But the thing is, I am finding out, but I don't know and I don't want to know.
Okay. I'm just asking questions.

Speaker 2 All right. So I'm not even attempting to find out.
I just don't know and I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 Okay. Okay, but you know that there is already a show called Pablo Touré Finds Out.

Speaker 2 Listen, I don't know. I don't want to know.
Mike Fuentes doesn't know and doesn't want to know. I'm just out here asking questions.
Okay. I'm just out here asking questions.

Speaker 4 All right. So how does the show go then?

Speaker 2 If you're not finding anything else, I'm going to present a question, but I want you guys to know that I don't know and I don't want to know, okay? Okay. It's just a question.
Okay.

Speaker 2 So we're going to start.

Speaker 2 Way up in the frozen inhabitants of Minnesota. JJ McCarthy.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Only the third worst completes of percentage of the league. Two players below him.
We won't name those players to avoid being called all sorts of things.

Speaker 2 But he has a little bit of a mysterious injury. Why would he show up with a mysterious injury? Is it because of his horrible epiphany? I don't know.
Listen, I don't know. I don't want to know.

Speaker 2 Okay, I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 All right. What are you asking then? What's the question? Is he faking his injury?

Speaker 2 No, no,

Speaker 2 I didn't say that.

Speaker 2 Is he? He's on the injury report, but why? Right? I don't know.

Speaker 2 I don't want to know.

Speaker 5 You know what I want to know? What happened to Max Prosper?

Speaker 2 I don't know. And I don't want to know.
He seemed to be the answer.

Speaker 4 But it sounds to me like, Mike, what

Speaker 4 you're saying something that, like, JJ McCartney, there's something nefarious going on

Speaker 4 with the team that they're making something up here.

Speaker 2 I don't know.

Speaker 2 And Dave, I don't want to know. Okay.
Moving on to Indianapolis. Let's move on.

Speaker 2 Moving on with Indianapolis. Phillip Rivers, 44-year-old Doey Phillip Rivers.
He's returned to the NFL.

Speaker 2 Two months ago to the date, by the time you're hearing this, October 12th, Anthony Richardson suffered a fracture to his orbital bone in a freak accident in the training facility when an elastic band broke and struck him in the eye.

Speaker 2 He needed surgery. Okay, that was two months ago.
Yep. I had broken a bone before.
It took a month to heal. It's now been two months for Anthony Richardson.

Speaker 2 So why are they signing 44-year-old Philip Rivers? I don't know. Quite frankly, I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 Are you saying that Anthony Richardson is ready to go, but they are not using him and instead are signing an old man off the street?

Speaker 2 I am just

Speaker 2 asking questions. Why the 2023 fourth overall pick in the NFL draft? Why

Speaker 2 is he not signing up? So are you saying

Speaker 2 this is a distraction? No,

Speaker 2 I'm just asking why Anthony Richardson is not ready to play football. Okay.
Are you saying that they're trying to get a player? No, no, no. Guys, I don't know.
I don't know. So he should be ready.

Speaker 2 So the Phil Rivers is the I don't know. I don't want to know.
So are you saying that he's blind?

Speaker 2 I am not saying anything. I just know that the facts are

Speaker 2 October 12th.

Speaker 2 Injury. I.
Orbitable. Broken.

Speaker 4 It sounds like you're connecting dots to me.

Speaker 2 It sounds like.

Speaker 4 Put a question mark at the end and that like,

Speaker 2 you know what it sounds like? It sounds like I don't know and I don't want to know. What else don't you want to know? I don't want to know what happened to Christian McCaffrey.

Speaker 2 All of a sudden, Christian McCaffrey, 83% of the 49ers' offensive snaps this season. A usage rate hovering around 80 to 90%.

Speaker 4 Over 25 touches a game last year.

Speaker 2 Basically had no legs. Okay.
Went to Germany. Both Achilles were in the middle of the map mixing.
Exactly. What happened in Germany? I don't know.
I don't know what happened in Germany.

Speaker 2 Are you asking if he took the LeBron stuff? What I'm telling you is... So he did some blood.
Wait, so there was blood stuff in there? Blood transfusions, for sure. I don't know.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 Well, then why it seems like you're asking questions and then Jeremy is kind of, it's like it providing some possible answers.

Speaker 2 Listen, I don't know what you're asking.

Speaker 2 All I know is that I don't know.

Speaker 2 But you and Jeremy are in on this. And I don't want to know.
Are you asking if I'm in cahoots? Listen, all I know

Speaker 2 is that I don't know. And guys,

Speaker 2 I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 I got to say, I'm a cynic a lot of the time, but... There's something about this show that intrigues me.

Speaker 4 I don't want to know more about it necessarily, but good luck with it.

Speaker 4 Before you go, Jeremy, talking about Salatia, that was a very strong pilot. I'm sure all the networks are going to be fighting over themselves to get a bite of that apple.

Speaker 4 Congratulations on your new program.

Speaker 4 But speaking of programs, Sharon Moore in Michigan are in some trouble here, and the newsbreakers have once again wrapped themselves in professional glory.

Speaker 4 Specifically, Michigan man Adam Schefter said on the air on Thursday, said on the air, like, well, if I heard the rumors about more, then obviously the administration did like, isn't your job investigative journalism?

Speaker 4 Isn't that what you're theoretically supposed to be doing? Did

Speaker 4 you're

Speaker 4 being a Michigan man have something to do with you not digging in on that one? The thing I think would be, and a lot of people, this indic saying that

Speaker 4 the school was aware of this and was sitting on it for a long time. It might be something that you could ask questions about and not want to know the answer answer to.

Speaker 4 But it sounds exactly like that's what the administration did until after the Ohio State game and after signing day. That's what a lot of people are out there insinuating.

Speaker 4 And now everybody has moved on to what coaches should they go and hire.

Speaker 4 What is funny to me is if things continue to spiral down for the Ravens, John Harbaugh makes all the sense in the world, except that his brother Jim Harbaugh's regime, his era in Michigan, yielded that one national championship and also among the coaching staff, seven arrests.

Speaker 4 So the only reason you can't hire John Harbaugh is because you wouldn't want to bring the Harbaugh stink in there except for the fact that they also delivered a national championship.

Speaker 4 Tashay, how say you?

Speaker 2 I don't know and I don't want to know.

Speaker 4 Here's what I hope. I hope that Tom Brady can go work the same magic he's applied to the Vegas Raiders.
Well done there.

Speaker 4 If he can divvy up his time a little bit more to solve the Wolverines football program, I'm sure he'd like to do that. All right, listen, Jeremy Tashay, you're dynamite.

Speaker 4 We appreciate you sticking around quickly since you won't be here on Monday. Who do you have, Dolphins or Steelers, on the banks of the Three Rivers?

Speaker 4 In a game that both teams kind of need to make the playoffs, the Dolphins are in the mix.

Speaker 2 Oddly enough,

Speaker 2 I'm going to pick the Dolphins. Yeah!

Speaker 2 Crazy. Yeah.

Speaker 2 It's insane. I know it's insane.
How about just a lot of Jalen Waddell? Fantasy football.

Speaker 4 That's fine. Well, the bad news is for the Dolphins, if you look at what they have after Pittsburgh, it probably makes it implausible that they can get into the postseason.

Speaker 4 But if they get the seven and seven, this is an under-discussed story how Mike McDaniel has essentially saved his job.

Speaker 2 I love Mike McDaniel, and I would like him to save his job. And so that's what it is.
I think Tua's really a terrible quarterback, and poor McDaniel hits the base.

Speaker 4 If he loses three out of four, he still could end up fired.

Speaker 2 Right. You know, if he continues this run, am I jealous of what?

Speaker 2 His glass frames. Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 He's the coolest. Those 70 porn goggles, Rocks? Govon.

Speaker 2 That guy's capable of carrying some swag that I never will be able to. And it's pretty impressive considering the type of nerd he looked like when he showed up here.

Speaker 4 I agree with you, Tashay. Everybody's saying, oh, hey, football's better with Phil Rivers, and it's also more fun with Mike McDaniel.

Speaker 2 I love it. I hope he give me those random things

Speaker 4 on Monday night, but I do hope he gets to stick around pro football for a little while longer. Or maybe he could take the Michigan gig.
I don't know.

Speaker 4 All right, Tashi, good times on the Lebatard show proper. We appreciate you carving out some extra time for us.
You got it.

Speaker 2 You rock. Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 4 All right, good times as we head into week 15 here. It's time for the NFL game countdown.
We're going to tell you who's going to win.

Speaker 4 the most consequential games of the upcoming Sunday and beyond and by how much and here to help us do it. Look at this one.
I know Gino Fuentes is over the moon about it.

Speaker 4 Dean Mojo Matadi, welcome to the show, man. Thanks for the time.

Speaker 8 Big Dave, what's up, brother? Thanks for having me on. This is going to be fun.

Speaker 4 Oh, so much salacious news in football, college and pro, old man Phil Rivers back and all the rest of it. Let's stay in that

Speaker 4 in that conference and pick. A game of great significance to both sides here, the Los Angeles Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs.
It really does feel like, I know people say it every week.

Speaker 4 They try to talk it into existence if you're a foe of the Chiefs, but it really does feel like this is it. The Chiefs better win or their dynasty, at least this portion of it, is a wrap.

Speaker 4 Four and a half is the number that the Chiefs are laying. 41 and a half is your total.
How say you, Mojo?

Speaker 8 Brother, give me the Chiefs, man. I got to put it on the Chiefs.
This one, yeah, all season we've been waiting for him to bounce back, right?

Speaker 8 It was a really slow start and everyone's like this is you know this is part of the plan you can't bet against mahomes and kelsey they're going to find a way to get it done and uh more times than not they have not uh but at this point i don't know man i've been listening to travis kelsey and his interviews he feels a little down i've partied with trav several times actually and i've seen him get winded on the dance floor when you think it was going to be all over and he came back to life and rallied and i think that's exactly what's going to happen this weekend so give me the chiefs you know here's a here's an interesting thing you know uh nature versus nurture i i've brought this up to both of the kelsey brothers it's kind of hard to believe that they were raised in the same house right like

Speaker 4 they're both fun guys but that's kind of where and they're both pro football players but that's kind of where the comparisons end right like one guy is this is this husky you know offensive lineman type kelsey's out there swinging with hollywood types and the way he wears his facial hair and the earrings and everything else.

Speaker 4 How say you?

Speaker 8 You know, it is pretty funny that they're, I say that all the time, too, because, you know, I played defensive line, uh, college at Maryland and briefly in the NFL for a couple of seasons.

Speaker 8 And I know what it's like to be on the line and get no credit. And, you know, you're kind of a grunt and that's, that's your role.

Speaker 8 And then you got Trab, who's one of the most prolific players, very different personalities.

Speaker 8 I've never met Jason. I've always wanted to hang out with that guy, you know, shoot the crap with him, maybe party with them or whatever.
I do know Trab. He's a good dude.

Speaker 8 But yeah, man, I agree with you. They just seem so different,

Speaker 8 you know, but I don't know. And maybe that's why they have a good podcast.
They can bounce off each other a little bit.

Speaker 4 It's interesting that, you know, if the Chiefs lose this one, they'll be done.

Speaker 4 And I think they'll be bummed out about it and just looking for, you know, for the finish line and getting there as quickly as possible.

Speaker 4 We were just talking about Joe Burrow and the Bengals going against the Ravens, though.

Speaker 4 How true is it that in December that these teams that are playing for nothing but personal pride and everything else are scary to go up against?

Speaker 4 If you have to have it and you have the extra weight of if we lose this one, our season could be over when you're the Bengals like, well, our season's already over.

Speaker 4 Does that in fact lead to playing free and easy and more dangerous for your opponents?

Speaker 8 I would say so. I mean, you really got nothing to lose.
And I guess if you're a coach, I mean, you

Speaker 8 got nothing to hold back. You're not saving any of your game plans for later in the season.

Speaker 8 So you might as well dump it all out there unless you're trying to take the L's and get a better draft pick or something to that extent. But yeah, I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 8 Maybe some teams, some players get caught up trying to handle the pressure and they start to falter because of it.

Speaker 8 And, you know, if that pressure is removed and they can just go out there, have fun, who cares? Season's already done. It is what it is.

Speaker 8 You know, you cut loose, you tie your hair back a little bit more and

Speaker 8 fight a little bit harder. I don't know.
I think there is some truth to it, too. And maybe it goes on the other flip side of the token, too.

Speaker 8 If you got everything to lose and that pressure is mounting and you're worried about the postseason and you don't want to put too much strain on your big-time players and save them for the postseason, you start to make some mistakes on that side of it.

Speaker 8 So I don't know. It could be both.

Speaker 4 next, let's talk about. I mean, so often the truth teller with pro football is what the book has to say.
Everybody else has their agenda, not the book necessarily as much.

Speaker 4 Rams at home laying six points. You figure it's going to be a Detroit-friendly crowd in SoFi Stadium.
42 and a half is the total here. Another team that really has got to have it in the Lions here.

Speaker 4 How say you, Jared Goff against Matthew Stafford, flipping sides from five years ago, but when Phil Rivers was still playing pro football for the Colts the first time around?

Speaker 8 Tricky one for this one. Looking through the lineup of games, this is a tricky one for me to call, but when I'm doing my picks, I like to have some fun with them.

Speaker 8 And as a Packer backer, a former Packer myself, I get a lot of heat when I pick the Lions, but I like the heat. So give me the Lions.
All right. I'm a big Dan Campbell guy.

Speaker 8 When I played football, man, I would have killed to have played for this man. I feel like we speak the same language.
We got kind of that similar energy.

Speaker 8 I love to see a team that was so bad for so long flip the script and start to make a run. They've had some incredible seasons recently, but of course, didn't make it all the way.

Speaker 8 Last year in particular, definitely a heartbreaker for us, especially, I know, again, it's kind of blasphemous to say as a Packers fan, but since it's not the Bears, I think it's okay somewhat.

Speaker 8 So, yeah, give me the Lions, man. We're having some fun with this one.
But yeah,

Speaker 8 it is a worrisome pick for sure.

Speaker 4 I don't love picking the Rams here, but they say, or at least I say, if you like the team to win the game straight up, like them up to seven. Six is less than seven.

Speaker 4 So I'm going to take the home team here, Stafford. They do know that they're chasing the number one seed and have a real good shot at getting that.
I think that's enough incentive for them.

Speaker 4 Now, speaking of the Packers, Super Bowl XXXII rematch, one of the great Super Bowls ever played, even if people don't talk about it that way. Maybe a possible Super Bowl 60 rematch upcoming.

Speaker 4 Meantime, Packers, Broncos, the home team, get this. The Mighty Broncos, the number one seed in all the AFC, is an underdog at home.
Plus two and a half total is 42 and a half. How say you?

Speaker 8 Yeah, that's a crazy one right there. But, you know, I don't even need to say anything to you, Dave.
I mean, actions speak louder than words. So, you know what?

Speaker 8 That's how, that's how I'm feeling about this. And not only that, I'm going to stack my mini one on top.
I don't know if I can fit in the frame. This one's for my baby, my baby girl.

Speaker 8 We had to get her one as well. But

Speaker 8 that's enough said right here, sir.

Speaker 4 They make classical size cheese heads. All right.
There you go. All right.
Just for fun, then, I'll take the home team, the Broncos. They're waging war with the Patriots for that number one seed.

Speaker 4 We have detailed here how valuable it is to get. Man, Jordan loves playing real well, well, though.
What a juicy game that one is. Now, I mentioned Phil Rivers.

Speaker 4 It doesn't seem like the bookmakers are enthused about what he's going to provide. That's because the Seahawks at home are laying 13 and a half to old man Rivers.
How say you here?

Speaker 8 I know. That's a big one.
13 and a half, brother. What a spread.
Anytime I hear numbers like that, I immediately, you know, want to take the points here, but

Speaker 8 I don't know what we got. Indy, Seattle.

Speaker 8 Give me Seattle. We're going against the points.
Let's go.

Speaker 4 Well, you know, I mentioned the Rams are chasing that one seed. So, too, is their division foe up in the Pacific Northwest.

Speaker 4 You know, Mike Fuentes and I park our cars in the same garage on this one. That is too much.

Speaker 4 I don't care who's playing whom.

Speaker 2 I don't know. 13 and a half.
Dave, usually I ride with you, but if anything.

Speaker 2 A 44-year-old, bloated, doughy Philip Rivers again on four days prep against like the best defense in the league in Seattle. That's a well, that's a hotel.
I don't know.

Speaker 8 That's a brutal best part about that comeback was when they asked him about his weight. That was hilarious to me.

Speaker 2 I missed it. What did they say?

Speaker 8 That one got me big. He played along with it, which in that situation, yeah, you have to do, right?

Speaker 8 But, but still, that one got me good.

Speaker 4 Agree or disagree, Mojo. He's not Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger in their respective late 30s, relying to some degree still on dynamic athleticism.
This is a 6'5.

Speaker 4 Maybe it was 230, I don't know, 235-ish when he retired. Now he's about 310, 320, whatever.

Speaker 2 Whatever, you know.

Speaker 4 He never was reliant on his ability to run away from pressure. So who cares if they heat him up? That's always the condition under which he played pro football before, right?

Speaker 4 It's sort of the Frank Gore paradox, which is if you weren't, if you were never CGA 2K with 4-2 speed, then you haven't lost anything you never had.

Speaker 8 Well, you know what? I'll say this. So I played noseguard and defensive tackle for most of my career.
Most of my career, I was like in the 290, 300 range.

Speaker 8 And when I got up to 330 pounds, people couldn't move me off the ball, even if I wasn't trying.

Speaker 8 So what I'm trying to say here is now, according to you, that Phil Rivers weighs 310 pounds, he's going to be almost impossible to sack. They're not going to be able to bring him down.

Speaker 8 So maybe it's an asset anyways. I mean, if he's not fleeing the pocket all the time, he's good.
He's a tank back there.

Speaker 4 For the record, I was just estimating his weight. That was the eyeball.

Speaker 8 That's pretty accurate.

Speaker 4 I might do if I'm acting, if he gets on a scale, maybe I have a next line of work. I'll be one of those carnival guys who guesses people's weight as they walk by.
I can't believe that's still okay.

Speaker 8 If you'd walk home with some major, like, stuffed animals off of that job, bro, you'd clean up. Like the big ones, too.

Speaker 4 How do they get that right and not just give away a toy to every single person who jumped? How could you get within five pounds? All right, listen. I'm getting distracted with stuff.

Speaker 4 A renewal of the first ever Hail Mary game. Roger Stah back to Drew Pearson.
Reminder, Drew Pearson clearly pushed off on the Vikings DB there. They let it stand anyway.

Speaker 4 Here, a game the Cowboys have to have. The Vikes are already cooked.
Cowboys laying five and a half at home, 47 and a half. How say you, Mojo?

Speaker 8 Give me the Vikes, baby. Again, I'm picking literally all of

Speaker 8 Green Bay's most hated teams, but whatever, man, I'm not picking Dallas in this one.

Speaker 8 They don't do it for me. The Vikings are having a hell of a season.
I take them.

Speaker 4 All right. And then at number one on the countdown this week, the juiciest game.
And I am floored by that. It was already a fascinating matchup for me, given where these two teams are.

Speaker 4 But even more so when I see the Patriots, the other team in contention for the number one seed in the AFC are another underdog to the Buffalo Bills. They're plus one and a half in Foxborough.

Speaker 4 49 and a half is the total here. How say you, Mojo?

Speaker 8 You know, I was really going to pick the Patriots, another team that has really flipped things around this year. They're having a hell of a season.

Speaker 8 Another head coach I very much would have liked to have played for.

Speaker 8 That's right up my alley. I was a huge fan of his when he was playing ball.
Man, that's a versatile dude right there, and he could just flat out ball.

Speaker 8 But then I remembered who the Buffalo Bills were and who their fans are.

Speaker 8 And as a former pro wrestler myself, I really appreciate it when people throw themselves through tables, especially those of which that are flaming on fire and putting their bodies on the line to support their team.

Speaker 8 So it's very difficult for me to pick against the Bills. So I'm taking the Buffalo Bills for their fans more so than the team themselves.

Speaker 4 I like it. I like it.
I like the spiritual choice there. We're in December after all.
I like where your head's at there.

Speaker 4 Last question for you, Mojo.

Speaker 4 With this Joe Burrow kind of hinting at he's not happy and all of that kind of stuff, let's just say magically, who knows what's going to happen if the Ravens lose to Joe Burrows Bengals this weekend?

Speaker 4 Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, who may miss the playoffs, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow. Let's say they all magically hit the street in January this year.

Speaker 4 Who's the one guy you would want to be your quarterback for the next, let's say, half decade?

Speaker 2 Oh, man.

Speaker 8 Ravens are my AFC team. I'm a big fan of Lamar.
I mean, that dude's a huge threat in so many ways, as everybody already knows.

Speaker 8 The surefire answer, maybe prior to this season, obviously would have been Mahomes. Like, that's the guy, right? He's the one that figured out a way to get it done so many years recently.

Speaker 8 But this year, you know, there's chinks in the armor, and you got to wonder if this season falls apart, which more than likely it will, how's next season going to go?

Speaker 8 And if they put two back-to-back losing seasons on

Speaker 8 the grid there, I mean, that's it. End of the dynasty, like you said earlier.
I think they got another shot at it next season before we jump to conclusions.

Speaker 8 I guess everyone's entitled to a down year here and there.

Speaker 8 I mean, I'm definitely not taking Burrow, all respect there.

Speaker 4 It's the injury problem, but Lamar has that one, and Mahomes makes a ton of sense for obvious reasons. He's the only one that has a Lombardi, let alone multiple.

Speaker 4 But Burrow's the only guy to take him down in the playoffs, unlike Allen and Lamar. I think Burrow is a sneaky good pick there, especially if he can move off the Bengals to a new team.

Speaker 4 I think he'll be reinvigorated and maybe have a brighter second half of his career compared to what's already been a fantastic, you know, run in his.

Speaker 8 Put a better team around you. And who knows, man, like that's a good point, too.

Speaker 8 These other players are playing for some fantastic teams. So when you got more weapons, it's a little bit easier.
Yeah, it's a tricky one, man. Josh Allen's still waiting to get the big one.

Speaker 8 So is the whole, the whole city of Buffalo for sure as well.

Speaker 4 It'd be fun if they got to play the Packers in the Super Bowl. That would be a party all week long.
Hey, Mojo, awesome stuff, man. Let's do it again sooner rather than later.

Speaker 4 In the meantime, enjoy your football on Sunday and beyond, and don't be a stranger, fella.

Speaker 8 There we go, baby. Everybody put in your picks with my boys at DraftKings.
All right? Make sure you use that promo code Dean or Mojo on Casino.

Speaker 4 All right, before we get out of here, great news for sticking around. We're about to make you a millionaire.
And I mean me, Gino, and Mike Fuentes. It's time for the pick six presented by DraftKings.

Speaker 4 DraftKings, the crown is yours. And I am as sure as I've been all season long, fellas.
Okay, the bad news is I've been sure in the past, but this time I'm really, really sure.

Speaker 4 Easy peasy. These guys are all going to score at least one touchdown.
And you tell me if any of these are

Speaker 4 inaccurate. I doubt you will.
Christian McCaffrey,

Speaker 4 maybe the number one touchdown touchdown scorer against the Tennessee Titans. He gets one.
Derrick Henry against the Cincinnati Bengals, who have no defense. Touchdown for him.

Speaker 4 Jamar Chase against the Baltimore Ravens, who have a terrible secondary and no pass rush. Jamar Chase off the right arm of Joe Burrow.
Touchdown for him. Jameer Gibbs.

Speaker 4 Okay, forget about Christian McCaffrey. Gibbs is your number one touchdown scorer.
So we go Jameer. from Jamar and now on to Jalen.
Jalen Hurts gets a touchdown against Vegas.

Speaker 4 Good luck to Kenny Pickett in that one.

Speaker 4 And then while we're on the subject of names, the best name in all of pro football, Puka Dakua is going to get into the end zone against the Lions in SoFi Stadium.

Speaker 4 They're all touchdown scores, right, fellas?

Speaker 5 I wouldn't take any of them off the list, but if I had to take one off the list, I would take Puka out just because I think he would rather throw those to Devontae Adams at the goal line.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and then Puka had two last week.

Speaker 5 I'm not calling Puka a scrub.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, but

Speaker 5 Puka had two last week, right?

Speaker 2 So now it's like Devontae's going to get at least one. So like, you don't know how many they're gonna get.
You know what I don't like, and I know it's Vegas and Vegas is everybody's get right.

Speaker 2 I feel like Jalen Hurts doesn't want to run, right? He hasn't want to run lately. And then last game against the Chargers, they were on the two-yard line, no tush-pushes at all.
Very much made me mad.

Speaker 2 Yeah, very much made me mad because, of course, I had Jalen Hurts anytime touchdown in that one.

Speaker 2 So for me, I would take out that running quarterback, and I'd put in Josh Allen in the cold because he had the big run last week in the cold.

Speaker 2 There might be some throwing things going on, but I think he's discovered I can run it and he's going to have to get all the points he can against New England.

Speaker 5 All right, and I'm going to put in Mark Andrews TD because Cincinnati is so bad against the tight end that it has to be like a game, a game plan thing for them, that they just don't guard the position.

Speaker 4 I like both of those. And Mike, to your point, I thought it was...
vaguely troubling if you're an Eagles fan, even though it went for a touchdown.

Speaker 4 The pitch out to Saquon on fourth and inches, instead of tush pushing, it was weird. I do think that they decide and Jalen decides, dance with who brung you, the tush push.

Speaker 4 They'll return to that in a game that they absolutely have to have. Good news is they're playing the Raiders, as you say, so they'll win that one.
All right, that's it.

Speaker 4 Thanks to everybody for participating. Thanks to you for listening and/or watching.
Reminder, subscribe, won't you? Spread the good word. Leave us a comment on YouTube or otherwise.

Speaker 4 We'll be back on the other side of the football weekend to try and make sense of it for you. Until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans.
It's been a thin slice of heaven.