PMS 2.0 1289 - Peyton Manning, Shams Charania, Nick Sirianni, CM Punk, & AJ Hawk

People and welcome to our humble abode the Thunderdome on this Royal Rumble feel-good Friday January 31st 2025 this program starts now Football is wonderful and obviously the Pro Bowl games will continue on Sunday and obviously what started last night is something that everybody's saying is That's good That's what we want the Pro Bowl to be. That's how we want to celebrate our greatest players.
That's how we want to celebrate the league, you know, a week out from the Super Bowl. And everybody that was a part of it, I assume while they were doing it, was saying, yeah, this is a home run.
This is what we want to do. Here's the quarterback carnival, all right? Obviously, it's nice to see guys who have incredible arm talent.
Of the sort, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, Sam Darnold want bananas. Drake May performed yesterday.
Obviously, he makes the Pro Bowl as a rookie. I think two years ago, they had this thing figured out.
I like that they continued to think on it and say, how can we change it, how can we change it, how can we change it? Don't think you had to. Think you had it figured out a couple couple years back but nice to see the quarterbacks do

their thing the wide receiver catching thing certainly uh let's go back to the drawing board relay race is going to be what it's going to be the spike zone thing okay we're doing carnival stuff trying to figure it out and then uh the dodgeball was awesome it had a chance it's uh it's bro ball games yeah yeah and uh i don't know how much people know about what they're getting into whenever they sign up who knows if justin jefferson had to put those hulk if he knew he had to put those hulk hands on until he got there about four minutes five minutes before he had to do this and then you know a diving catch is obviously beautiful and uh justin jefferson might go wide receiver of all time. We have no idea.
Literally, when it's all said and done, there's a chance he goes down. So I appreciate him giving effort.
And I appreciate this being on TV to celebrate all the great players. And thanks for the effort.
With that being said, we'll be joined by Peyton Manning in 13 minutes. All right.
We'll get his thoughts on what was supposed to happen, how it was supposed to go, what was potentially going to take place,

what was the idea.

This thing, I think we can continue to go back

and draw on board the toxic tables here.

That boss of Connor and that Ty Schmidt.

Maybe she should just wear those helmets

and get out there on the field and protect each other.

Con man, you look awesome as a Pittsburgh Steeler player.

Yeah, I know.

I meant to cover that up right before the entire show.

But also, I mean, yeah, Pro Bowl games, we might be able to wear these during the season brother there's leather hats look at those things go you know i mean they do a bunch they don't it's incredible but yeah the pro bowl games were something uh i think if they called it maybe like the big stinking spike or kind of made it even more z, it would have been better. But at the same time, it's nice to see the best players compete.
I believe Quentin Williams was... What were you guys doing? What were you guys? Just so I know.
Hey, welcome to 1960, brother. That's what they used to do, man.
Trying to honor the games of the past. Can you imagine what the Pro Bowl games would look like in 1960? Oh, I bet.
Beers and cigs everywhere. Maybe we do that.
Maybe. Maybe.
Maybe that's what saves it. I appreciate you guys doing that.
I had no idea that was coming. We didn't either.
Until it was 3-2-1 on the countdown. Oh, you guys can really feel it.
We said we were about to do it right before the show started. We got to smash some helmets a little bit.
Let's wait until it starts. Let's wait until it starts.
I mean, you guys are really getting after it. That was more intensity than what we saw last night's Pro Bowl games.
Without a doubt. Oh, yeah.
And that's part of the problem. Yeah.
You know, the issue here is... All right, I'm not even going to get into it.
Well, I will say. Come on.
I will say. Because I can't't just say the issue i think there's a lot of things that need to go into play here i think the nfl was trying to save the pro bowl remember the football game that we thought was terrible whenever they were just hugging each other and it was 30 maybe 15 effort and everybody's saying this is a mockery of the game i think we look back on those times and say maybe it wasn't that bad know, whenever we're watching some of the stuff from last night.
So I think they're trying to be creative. They're trying to create, you know, a celebration of the greatest players.
They're trying to save this thing that has been a part of NFL history. I think some of it's just a little bit too Mickey Mouse, no offense, but I think inevitably they'll fall on something that's maybe worth watching, I think, at some point.
point i think so too and last night we found at least one thing that damn near saved the night the relay race was incredible it was incredible i mean like that's why we turn on our tvs i mean look at this look at this you got two brothers leaving everything they got out there you know trying to win for their respective conference handoffs you know the hand i mean it just I mean, it just, it was great. It was great.
I'm, I'm, I'm getting to the point where it's like, Hey, you're starting to lose me a little bit, but then, you know, we got some, we got some fumbles here. We got, you know, you don't know who's going to win.
Is it going to be AFC? Is it going to be NFC? Some of the, you know, who they decided to actually race each other, a little bit suspect, you know, it's like, okay, well, we're kind of stacking the box here, but you know, I mean mean this is the type of innovation that i'm looking for in the pro bowl games because we didn't have this last year i believe this is a new event calvin no he drops the handoff a lot of fumbles a lot of fumbles not a lot of practice i assume yeah which is a whole another thing like how long are people there practicing trying to learn what the hell they're doing how many people are know what's supposed to happen right you know because i guess you were watching, there was a couple moments where it felt like nobody had a clue what was going on and what was happening next. Got a lot of money invested in this, a lot of brains, a lot of very talented football players here, a lot of great representation of the league possible.
And, yeah, we hope it all works out. Jonathan Taylor and Jameer Gibbs, don't yet.
Oh. It's going to finish too all right it was gonna be a good finish that was gonna be a good relay race anyways flag football the game is on sunday that'll be the real pinnacle of the entire pro bowl games weekend uh eli manning and the nfc are currently in the lead i believe over peyton manning and the afc team we'll see how peyton feels about that uh this morning yeah you know he's got half the points of Eli's got.
Everything seemingly was going the NFC's way. Maybe on Sunday it changes.
Now, with that being said, we don't have one half of the hammer. Done.
Cowboys AP Tone because he's at home being a dad. Hey, Sienna.
Peace and peace. You better.
All your uncles here. And shout out to Dad Tone right now taking care of his daughter as wife is out of town.
We appreciate him doing that. So instead, we got a backroom guy from Hammer.
Dad. Bruce.
Brad. Bruce, you watched the Pro Bowl games last night.
Obviously got you zeeked up, geeked up. And how pumped are you for this weekend? Not only the flag football, but the Royal Rumble here in Indianapolis, Indiana.
I am fired up for both of those. The Rumble, especially I'm pumped for Roman Reigns to, you know, remind everybody.
Oh, you really? You think everybody's going to be acknowledging? I might leave if he gets eliminated to be completely honest with you. I don't want any of the nonsense.
I just want Roman Reigns maybe one spear, two spear, three spear. What? What? What? What? Superman punch, man.
What? Yeah. Superman punch John Cena into, you know whoa whoa whoa whoa time is now yeah yeah your time is up his last time is now yeah and uh people forget that we do have a pretty big announcement to make pay manning obviously joining us in about eight minutes excited to get his thoughts on a pro bowl games as whole.
Because back as the real Pro Bowl, back in Hawaii, Peyton was like the king of it. He was like the mayor of it.
He took a lot of pride in it, obviously. His family grew up in the NFL, so celebrating the greats, which is what the Pro Bowl is supposed to be about.
Those who actually carry the league, all the merch, all the eyes, all the needle move, that's what the Pro Bowlers are. That's what it always has been.
That's kind of the story. Peyton Manning took a lot of pride in that.
So I think he has felt very invested in this iteration of trying to save it. We'll be excited to see his thoughts on how last night went.
In the second hour, we'll have Shams Sharania joining us because I guess there's some basketball news. There's some things happening with the Sacramento Kings.
Yeah, De'Aaron Fox, he's one of the best point guards in the league. He's on the move and allegedly wants to be traded to San Antonio, team up with Wemby, and then Jimmy Butler, that saga continues.
He's been suspended indefinitely, I believe. So who knows what happens with him, but De'Aaron Fox kind of new breaking news this week.
February 6th is the trade deadline. We'll talk to Shams.
Obviously, if we're talking about on-court action, we'll only be talking about the pacers who had the best record in january in the entire nba no big deal that good you tell me i don't know tyrese halliburton is the star that was promised for the nba and spicy p has made the all-star after we trade for him last year he's been a great addition for the indiana pacers we'll talk about them then we have uh coach nick sirianni joining us at 1 30 eastern time the, the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, a man who's been through a lot of rough waters, turbulent waters, with how people talk about his tenure as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach. As recently as like week 13 of this year, week 14 of this year, people were saying that this guy ain't the guy to be leading the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then whenever he wins, you got people saying,

what does he actually do?

The head coach of an NFL team is somehow in a position

of never receiving any good praise or credit from some people.

Not everybody, but some people.

Excited to see how he has kind of shaped all that in his mind

and then also to his players who are one-and-a-half point dogs.

And I think a lot of America is pulling for them to knock off the chiefs so how do you feel is almost not being an iron you are an underdog but you're actually a favorite and everybody's buried you but now philly's on your side have like just the entire mental framework there how is sirianni battling it cannot wait to see it and then to wrap show, 1.45 Eastern because we only get 10 minutes with Coach Sirianni. Obviously very busy preparing for the Super Bowl.
CM Punk will be here. Wow! CM Punk will be here.
Chicago made Punk. Chick Magnet, Punk.
See me, Punk. CM Punk will be here.
Let's go. First time coming on a show.

He's been on every other show.

He goes on everybody's show. He always does all

his shows. Never does our show, does he, Ty? No, he doesn't.
It's interesting. What's that all about? I don't know.
I thought we all love Punk. I thought we were all on Punk's side, but maybe not.
Maybe there's some bad blood there. BELL RAT DELL RAT DELL RAT

BELL RAT DELL RAT DELL RAT

BELL RAT DELL RAT DELL RAT

BELL RAT DELL So we can normally play all WWE entrance music because we have a relationship business-wise with the WWE. Can't play his entrance music, though, because it's not a WWE song.
It's an actual song. So that is the song that will be...
What we just did there was a rehearsal for when he comes out. Worked out, too.
Yeah, I think we nailed it. That was perfect.
I hope we hit it on the same frequency whenever it's showtime. Too many...
You know, people kind of get sick of us barking. Knees are here, Bruce.
How could you not get too excited, though? It's Royal Rumble weekend. Awesome.
Downtown Indianapolis is alive. I went down there last night for a nice dinner.
Saw a lot of the folks from WWE. Nice little meeting.
Nice little chat. And 60 plus thousand, I don't know how many it's going to end up being.
royal rumble of all time happening here in indianapolis everything kicks off at 5 p.m today yeah and cole and i are going to be hosting that and i believe there's a chance we uh maybe on i don't know we'll see and then tomorrow obviously six o'clock kickoff for royal rumble four o'clock countdown start for royal rumble it going to be a magical weekend here in Indianapolis. We can't wait for the world to watch.
And even if you're not a wrestling fan, this is a good one. Royal Rumble is a good one to watch.
Especially in the stadium. It's going to be very loud.
There's going to be ridiculous moments that are going to happen. There's going to be people here from yesteryear that maybe you saw whenever you were growing up.
There's going to be surprises. There's going to be shocks.
There's going to be dramatic. There's going to be wild moments.
It's going to be

an insane show.

We're incredibly thankful that they brought it

to Indianapolis, and I think Indianapolis and the Midwest

is going to show up in a big

way. Speaking of showing up, back to the

NFL, no coaches

from the Buccaneers are going to be able to show up for Liam

Cohn in Jacksonville. The

Tampa Bay Buccaneers have

denied requests by the Jacksonville Jaguars to interview offensive line coach Brian Pachucci who left Kentucky with Liam Cohen to go to Tampa. Jags were able to hire Cohen but not Pachucci.
Teams have the right to deny interview requests for other teams. Also offensive line coach Kevin Carberry.
He is not allowed to do the interview with Jacksonville I believe if we heard it accurate Baltimore Ravens are a team that are like hey assistant coaches are under contracts as well so like hey can we interview your coach they're very apt to be like no they're under contract I don't know if it's just the Ravens I think there's many teams that do that and honor the contract. With the way things ended with Tampa Bay and Liam Cohen, I think we probably could have seen this coming.
But normally it's just like, hey, if there's a chance to up your status or move up in your coaching ranks, teams will give you the ability to do that. I wonder what Liam's going to be able to do here.
Because if they just joined this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team coming with Liam from Kentucky they probably have multiple years left on their contracts how many coaches is he going to be able to get that he knows he's only been in the NFL or around the NFL like four or five years so who's going to be his coaching staff it's an NFL job so he's going to be able to get great guys but this move by Tampa Bay I think was probably rather expected but I assume whenever whenever Liam and Jacksonville hear about it, they go,

oh, they don't want them to come to the great county of Duval.

And they say that's because they're scared of what we're building right here in Duval.

Am I going to be able to fill coaching staff up in the beautiful county of Duval? Yeah, I am because we're building a monster. But if they're scared of the team that resides in Duval, then to hell with them.
That's what Liam's saying this morning. I think we can put to bed the whole like, hey, nothing really happened.
There's a miscommunication between the Bucs and Liam. Like you said, a lot of teams probably do operate under the, hey, these guys have contracts, so no, you can't interview them.
But this is also the Bucs being like, hey, fuck you, buddy. You're not taking any of the coaches that are on our staff.
We haven't forgotten the way you left here. He did just hire the Packers linebackers coach.
Campanile? Yeah, Tony Campanile, who had only been in Green Bay for one year as his DC, but the Packers ended up having a top 10 defense this year, so I think that's a pretty solid hire. But we'll see.
I mean, like you said, who else is out there? We don't know. Obviously, there are a lot of good coaches in the NFL, but the the longer this kind of ticks on the tougher it's going to be to fill staff here's coach campanile i like that liam cohen is bringing this guy in this mindset into his building here's from hard knocks when he was with the miami dolphins it's gonna stop you from doing what you want to do okay everybody understands ass whooping okay i can go to go to Greece and somebody starts getting their fucking ass whooped.

We all understand what's happening.

Okay.

We're all speaking the same language.

Right.

We might not be able to communicate, but if somebody gets their ass kicked, nothing's

lost in translation.

Okay.

All over the world, they speak ass whooping.

Okay.

To the day you die.

Okay.

So here's what I'm saying.

Let's eliminate that factor.

They can't outwork them. Eliminate that.
And let's see what the fuck happens let the chips fall where they met okay let's all just commit to each other that's what we're gonna do don't stop throwing fucking punches don't stop attacking the ball don't fucking stop finishing blocks and then we'll see what happens hell yeah i can't wait for paizan to get down to beautiful dubal That's the OC. That's the DC.
I'm excited to see what Jacksonville becomes. Once again, let's reserve judgment.
We think they're going to be great. Joining us now live from Manatic in Ohio, ladies and gentlemen, college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner, A.J.
Hawke. Yeah, Hawker.
Hawker, how you doing, brother? Doing great. I think Ty's spot on saying the relay race was the innovation that he needed to see in the Pro Bowl game.
Did you watch Pro Bowl games last night? Yep. I didn't sit down and watch it from start to finish, but I've seen pretty much the whole thing now over the course of last night and today.
90 minutes of magic. Obviously, the clips are going to go on the internet.
Shot to Terry Crews hosting that thing. He had the trivia contest, which led into the quarterback carousel and then, you know, the new games, new challenges.
They got rid of the egg toss and the water balloon toss. They did.
They did add some other zany things as they try to kind of get this right. AJ, if you were to sit and watch for 90 minutes, your big takeaway would be what, Mr.
Hawk? Ooh, okay. Honestly, like I try to – this is okay.
The quarterback stuff is cool, I like the stuff flying through the air, it's nothing, nothing is like the old school with the chalk on the end of the ball when it hits the targets driving by like we used to see back in the day 20 years ago, but they did make the big, what do they call it, the big spike, the great spike, this is actually a much better setup than we watched yesterday, correct? Remember that, what we saw yesterday in the net, like you couldn't even see what was happening. Now, we might need some kind of, like, reference to, like, okay, is that a good number? Is that a bad number? Like, we need to bring in, like, some civilians, I think, too, to throw the ball.
Jax, him, DeVille just caught that on the other side. Yeah, maybe we should have a normal human spike a ball.
Ooh. Have, like, the ref spike one.
Have, like, the ref say, and he gets like 120. So then if someone gets 2, if someone gets 2 000 like oh okay those guys are pretty strong that's like you you remember whenever they used to have the uh punching bag at the bars yep with the numbers on it and uh you'd see some drunk go up there and swing and it's like 222 ah and then you see a barbarian walk up there and it's like 924 it's like okay there's clear difference on who's making real connection and who's not similar situation potentially for the big spike joining us now is a man who might have more of the answers uh because not only is he a coach i believe his company is a massive piece of bringing this thing and i think he is very steadfast on trying to keep the pro bowl a thing and a celebration for the nfl.
Ladies and gentlemen, GOAT, Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion multiple times, Peyton Manning. Yeah, Peyton.
How you doing? What do you say, guys? Thanks. I'm just like Harold, going to ride all the rides.
But, yeah, down here for the Pro Bowl. And I agree, Pat i think the nfl should have one weekend with the best players in the world uh come together and uh it's a good thing and hopefully we can keep it going okay so i talked about this a few moments ago before you're on and thank you for taking time from disney world can't wait to you need to get on that avatar ride that avatar ride where you're in the middle yeah that's it's it's the one enjoy it down there.
You've obviously earned it. So I talked about how whenever the Pro Bowl was back in Hawaii, and we obviously see the nostalgia clips, the quarterback challenge, the bench press, the running, and the resort was kind of all saved for NFL.
It was like an NFL family almost out there in Hawaii. You were a big piece of kind of setting up what was going on, and a of people called you the mayor of it so whenever there's this conversation about the Pro Bowl maybe no longer being relevant I feel like you have tried to jump in and say like this is an event that needs to be saved where do you think we stand with the Pro Bowl games how do you think this continues to evolve and what are your thoughts on last night and what's going to happen on Sunday

you're right Pat I mean the NFL is a good job kind of like Hawaii they have a hotel it's just the NFL players and their families and of course you know to be able to go to Disney World and you know celebrate that with your families is pretty cool but look last night I saw uh drake may uh having uh a conversation with Baker Mayfield. And to me, there's room in that.
In a young quarterback like Drake May, learning how to be a pro, learning how to go through a coaching change, which Baker Mayfield has done several times, right? That's the value. How do we keep these players in each position learning from a veteran player? And look, I realize some of these guys work out together and you can play in a charity golf tournament together and concentrated weekend where, like I said, the best of the best from some veteran quarterbacks.
And that's where I saw Ray Lewis have a conversation with Patrick Willis. I saw LaDalian Thomas have conversations with Adrian Peterson.
That's how we keep the game strong. That's why I think it's important.
Yeah, I think so too. I think that camaraderie behind the scenes at the Pro Bowl of all the greats is a massive ordeal.
I think celebrating our greats is a massive ordeal. I'll be excited to see how it continues to evolve.
Go ahead, AJ. Peyton, who were some of those guys, maybe some of those old school quarterbacks when you first got in the league that you used to bug at events like that, the Pro Bowl, or maybe when you see them before a game? Well, the first Pro Bowl that I played in, Rich Gannon was there, Mark Brunel, and just a couple of veteran guys.
I mean, like I said, I had a chance to be around Dan Marino and be around Troy Aikman at a couple of other events. Anytime a young quarterback can be around a veteran, I think you annoy the heck out of him.
You ask him as many questions as you can up until he says, all right, enough, kid. Leave me alone.
I got to hit this shot. So like I said, it's important to pay it forward.
I've always believed, whether it's through our football camp or anytime a young quarterback had a question for me, look, don't keep all the secrets to yourself. Pay it forward.
Teach a young quarterback, teach a young running back what it takes to be a pro. And I think it's good for the game.
And hopefully that'll continue. Now, listen, would I like to beat Eli in this Pro Bowl? Very much so.
He's 2-0. He's talking about a three-peat.
That's annoying. It's offensive.
And I'm afraid if we don't win, they'll fire me and I won't get to come back. So, um, look, did I have 10 Bud Lights with George Kittle last night? Yes, I did, but I'm still studying film and putting in a good game plan.
Well, that, Hey, I don't know if you've done that the last two times when you've lost, maybe we up, maybe we up the number. I think you're right, Pat.
I think the two years, going to bed early, drawing up plays, watching film. That's out the window.
Bud Lights with Kittle. I think that'll be my winning edge this year.
Yeah, it's a smart play. And I can't wait to see the Super Bowl commercial.
You, Shane, Post Malone, and many others out there. The jean shorts you had on Shane's social post last night were phenomenal.
You just pulled those right out of the closet. We that uh i did yeah it was a byo byo jean shorts yeah i understand a uh three pete watch eli he can't be selling any merch with three pete pat riley owns that have you heard about this that's right uh he patented right with the lakers right genius this guy's made money off of so many people he's made – Pat Riley's just raking in money, and he'll do it for Eli for sure.
Let's talk – go ahead. I hope Pat sues Eli just for using it, especially when it's not going to happen because the AFC is going to take care of business.
Of course. Hell yeah.
Hell yeah. You're down bad right now.
But yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. You're going to make it.
You're going to make it happen. I like you getting george boozed up too he's on the nfc's team maybe you need to drink every nfc player under the bar and just get up yeah that's not a bad play i like what you're doing uh you talk about older players being with younger players and you take immense pride in the manning passing academy you know that's been going on for a long time, I think since late 90s or early 90s.
And you've made a documentary about Buddy Teevens, who is a massive piece of the Manning Passing Academy. I got a chance to read a write-up that you did about Buddy and about why you chose to do this.
Can you talk about this a little bit more in the Buddy way, I believe, the special is called yeah no thanks for asking it's funny all six of the pro bowl quarterbacks were counselors at the manning passing academy and russell wilson was actually a camper at the manning passing academy and as a camp that my family started and buddy tebans uh just ran the organization and logistics for all 28 years that we've had the camp. He was the head coach at Tulane, Pat, when we started.
That was the New Orleans connection. He went on to coach different places, a longtime coach at Dartmouth, wherever he was, he came back and ran the logistics.
Positive, just a high energy guy. Look, it's an organizational nightmare for 1,500 kids in South Louisiana, 150 coaches.
Buddy just ran it as smooth as can be. One of the first coaches to hire women, one of the first coaches to get rid of tackling and practice, created this mechanical dummy by some Dartmouth students that he helped create to cut down on concussions and head injuries.
And so an innovative guy and growing the game, lost his wife way too early and wanted to pay just kind of his legacy forward, letting people know who this guy was, what he did. And it's called The Buddy Way, and it's out on ESPN+.
It's an inspiring, powerful story that I think everybody would enjoy watching and learning about him. Hell yeah, buddy.
You've done good, buddy. Yeah.
That's beautiful stuff. Your write-up was powerful, man.
I read it the other day. It was a very powerful write-up and obviously came from a place of a lot of passion for a human and obviously a lot of respect.
So I can't wait to watch that. Now, we have some questions around the NFL about some burning topics.
Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Payton, obviously this week with the Josh Allen and Bills losing to the Chiefs and Mahomes again, the big narrative is, you know, will Josh ever be able to get it done versus Mahomes in the playoffs because obviously he's undefeated in the regular season.
What is that kind of like as a quarterback who kind of can't get over that one team, that one player, every single offseason going in with the same feeling against the same team? How do you think the Bills and Josh Allen can kind of get over that hump? Yeah, look, I can relate. I mean, I lived that life and I sent Josh a text voice memo after the game and just telling him how much I enjoyed watching him play this year and how well he competed and just to keep his head up, keep grinding, keep sawing wood.
Look, I lived that life. You know, Tom Brady and the Patriots beat us back-to-back playoff years, once in the AFC championship, once in the divisional round.
And that's all you hear about all offseason. Yeah, but had Had a great season.
Yeah, but. You can't beat the Patriots in the postseason.
And then two years later, we did it. We beat them in the AFC Championship, win the Super Bowl.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to go crawl in a hole and feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to just keep fighting and keep grinding? I would rather, and I think Josh Allen and Lamar feel the same way, have their hearts ripped out in the AFC Championship by three points, as opposed to finishing 7-10, and you probably smoke a cigar in that locker room after that last win because you're kind of in a good mood and you feel kind of good. The truth is you're a bad team and you're so far away would

you rather be seven and ten or have your heart ripped out by being close I don't have my heart ripped out because that means they're close and Josh Allen's close Lamar's close they will get there I believe it it's just look they're not losing the bad teams last time I checked my homes and the Chiefs there's a reason they're in the Super Bowl they're a good team right we lost to the Patriots.

It sucked.

I hated it.

But they were the better team.

And so I think Josh and Lamar will both get there. But until then, they have to own it.
And they are doing it. They're not hiding from it.
And I think their time will come. You talk about smoking cigars after going 7-10 because you win the last game of the season.
Jim Irsay told the Colts that they're undefeated in 2025. Yeah.
Because they won of the season. I don't know if you saw that.
It was awesome. It was really cool.
It was really cool to see. It was really cool to see as a season ticket holder.
But on that note, you talk about them losing to a very good team in the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes, and obviously I'm sure you've had to talk about him numerous times.
We've asked you about him on this particular program. He's already a Mount Rushmore guy.
He's only 29 years old. Obviously trying to accomplish something that's never been done in the modern Super Bowl era.
Win three straight. What do you think it is about him that he's been able to continue this and not get comfortable or content? His contract is nowhere near what some of these dudes are.
Never hear a peep. He shows up.
He had a kid a middle of the season could be exhausted still shows up what do you think it is about patrick that makes him so special and this chiefs team as a whole that makes them so special payton yeah look i'm not sure anybody can speak about patrick about what it is except him because it is uh it is unique it is different i think he could beat you in different ways. You know, people say you got to keep him in the pocket.
He'll shred you that way. Hey, you know, let's force him out of the middle.
You saw some great runs you had against Buffalo. He throws the ball on the run as well as anybody in the league.
And he just doesn't really sweat out there. I think he likes getting behind and creating a little drama, good TV ratings, knowing he's going to lead you down for a two-minute drill.
Their team has been there, and their team never flinches because they're like, hey, we've been here before. We were down to this team.
We can come back, and they've been that way all season. Look, they're the bully, and they've earned it.
Everybody said they kind of had an off year this year. They lost one game, and they got to home field, and now they're back in New Orleans.
So they're the bully, and until you punch the bully in the mouth, they're going to keep bullying you. And I think that's the case until somebody does it.
All season, this team isn't that good. This team isn't.
They're not that good. Yeah, back-to-back Super Bowl champs.
They're 15-1 going into the last week. It's like they haven't even played good football yet.
It's like, okay, well, tell us when they play good football because all they do is win. Now, they're taking on a team that prides themselves as a bully, though, I feel like.
We're going to be talking to Coach Sirianni in about an hour, but that's their style of play. It's like a 1990s team.
Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Peyton, his counterpart, Jalen Hurts, we've seen all the stats about guys going to the Super Bowl and then never making it back.
He's obviously done that a couple years after. But for you particularly, how much did you learn after your first Super Bowl, whether it was handling the week and that kind of stuff or like the game itself like how much more comfortable do you think Jalen Hurts will be in this Super Bowl as opposed to the last one that when they play the Chiefs yeah like I think he'll be way more comfortable look Mahomes you know gets his mail sent to the Super Bowl every year because he knows he's going to be there uh Hurts um remember talking to him a couple years ago about kind of, hey, what's any advice? What's the routine? And like, he didn't call me for that this year because he knows it.
And I think, yeah, the more comfortable you are during the week, the better you're going to play. And, you know, Sirianni, I talked to Nick about it and he said, do you have any thoughts? I'm like, Nick, you know what to do.

I think they'll kind of put the game plan in this week.

I said they were going to play kind of Sunday, and then next week you go down and review.

But look, Jalen is probably one pass interference from a couple years ago from being a Super Bowl champion quarterback.

He is a championship quarterback from college.

So he thrives in these type of moments, and I see him playing well. I think a lot of attention is going to be on saquon as it should uh including from the chiefs and spags so i think jaylen and brown and smith are going to have to do some things in the passing game and he certainly can do that yeah on your point about saquon aj has a question for you yeah payton everyone expects saquon to go off and have a monster day i mean, too.
Every time you turn on the TV and you watch an Eagles game, the guy's breaking another explosive run. Do you think the Eagles are going to need a huge game out of Saquon to even have a chance to win this thing? I mean, I think it's easy to say that.
But, look, Saquon's presence is the factor. The fact that Spags is calling, you know, run blitzes and defensive schemes to stop him, extra defender down there in the box, that means one-on-one coverage for Brown and Smith, and Jalen knows that.
So look, I mean, Saquon doesn't have to have a carry because they're going to try to have a guy down there to stop him. It's the presence, right? It's Edger and James next to you and the defense going, we can't let this guy run it down our throat.
So we got to play one-on-one. And now, look, one-on-one coverage is what you want as a quarterback, as a receiver.
So, no, I think the answer is no. I just think as long as he's in uniform and standing next to Jalen, his presence can create some real passing game opportunities for the Eagles.
Yeah, Jalen threw for 300 plus in the last Super Bowl he was in. And then in the NFC Championship, he had some of his best throws of the entire season.
Obviously, you're going to need that to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Not going to be able to make any mistakes.
How'd you feel about the narrative all year that like you can't win with a great offensive line and a dominant run game anymore in 2025 NFL football? Feels like they'd be bunking all of that right now. Yeah, totally.
I mean, everybody wants to, you know, establish some trend and just be the first one to say it. I remember when I was playing in the middle of my career, they're like, there's no more place.
There isn't a place for the drop back quarterback anymore. I was like, God, I hope that's not true.
I really like playing in the NFL.

I'm out of a job.

Brady's out of a job.

Eli's out of a job.

And it just wasn't true.

Look, there's different ways to do it.

And I think the smart coaches are the ones that design plays

based around who they have playing.

And that's what Andy does.

That's what Sirianni does. That's what Sean McVay does.
I mean, that's what it's about. So there's a place for everybody.
You just got to figure out how it works in that particular system. Yeah, what's best for your team with that offensive line? And then they bring in Saquon from the Giants.
I mean, what a sign. What a historic free agent signing there, I think, Payton.
No, it was awesome. And, you know, look, obviously, if they win it all, you know, the fact that they're here probably was the right decision not to play them in that last game.
I would like to have seen that record broken because it's NFL history and, like, for all those offensive linemen to have that on their resume that I blocked for the all-time single-season rusher. You can tell Dickerson loves that record and did not want it to be broken, and that broken and that would have been cool but look if somebody would have gotten hurt in that last game and they're not in the super bowl that was probably the right call but uh awesome year by saquon and like you said awesome year by those guys up front okay so my rookie year was completely undefeated year until the decision was made to lose the last two games to Jets and Bills.
And obviously I was way too young to have a thought and I'm a punter, so let's not do it. But I remember there being a lot of upset people in the building that that decision was made because the 72 Dolphins are still popping champagne for being the only undefeated team.
Was I reading that situation right? You guys all wanted to go for that, right? Am I wrong in saying that? Well, look, I mean, look, it was, you know, it's easy to say now. It's what we should have done.
But, look, nobody got hurt. We made it to the Super Bowl.
We didn't win, but we got there. Like, I can't remember if it was the year before or that year, Wes Welker had gotten hurt in the last game for the Patriots.
I want to say it was against Houston. I remember that was kind of just on our minds, like, you know, and that kind of affected them, you know, that year or whatnot.
So, look, it's all about, you know, you make a decision. As General Patton once said, you make a decision and you do it like hell.
And you just go forward. And everybody's going to second guess or whatnot.
Like said i wanted saquon to go for it but had you know him or dickerson or lane gotten hurt in that game we'd be killing syrian you know how would you do that that's selfish or whatnot so look it was their call it looks like it was the right call and here they are you know getting ready to uh go out of the New Orleans. Good for them.
Super Bowl

obviously has great commercials. You're going to be a part

of a few of them, it does sound like. One of

them has our attention. Bruce Brown has a question

for you. Yeah, Peyton.
Obviously,

Eli's had the jump so far in the Pro

Bowl games, but how are you feeling about the

field goal kicking deal during

the Super Bowl? Do you think you can get him there

or what do you think?

Not great. Not great as far as how how I'm feeling I'm sore Pat yeah I've been practicing I've been practicing I can't tell you how sore I yes the inner the inner growing Eli pulled a quad Eli pulled a quad oh he's going in there injured oh boy I think I think that should be out there on the report.

He's recovering.

But much respect because you kick.

Of course, you go in there and say, I'm going to kick 15.

When you go 0 for 15, you kick 25 more.

And you're more sore.

And you can't practice for another week.

I was going straight on for a while. And Lutz, who's kind of been my consultant you don't want anybody to know that based on how i kick if i kick poorly he's like don't tell anybody i've been helping you yeah but i was kicking straight on with the square toe and he's like i gotta tell you peyton you don't kick well like that and you look like a fool they're gonna kill on social media.
So at least now I've gone soccer style. I look better.
I'm not saying it's great, but I don't have to be great. I just got to be better than Eli, and that's the key.
So I've been working at it, though. I have been working at it.
How long is the field goal? 20 yards? 25 yards. Make, make, kick again, miss, miss, go up to the 20 the 20 first one to make i think we have about a 45 second window so it uh i think it needs to be done quickly grok said there was wind last year for him i've been kicking indoors at the broncos don't want anybody to see me so uh they said i could kick it down here at the pro bowl i'm like no chance That means people can watch.
I'll wait for my live event in New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah, 130 million people get to watch it.
Yeah, first time I'm seeing it, I went the whole world to watch this. As soon as I heard you were doing it, I sent you the boot, the flat boot, because I do that field goal kick on game day every single weekend, and these people that have never kicked a soccer before they have these boots on i'm like you just need to go straight on and just swing as hard as you can so i wanted to give you that and you said yeah i tried that it's not good so i'm going soccer hey pat let me ask you because like i'm bringing my own balls to the kick footballs uh that is if somebody wants to bring their own football to uh game day are they allowed to are you giving them a football it's got to be this one interesting interesting we do we do not have any ball regulations i think if somebody was to show up with their own ball as long as it was at least a college ball can't be like a small niche ball if it was at least what are you taking nfl balls oh yeah i bring them yeah i bring i bring my own you know you're bringing on my own.
They keep saying, I have lines drawn on them where my foot's supposed to be placed. Is that legal? Yeah.
I don't think they made any rules because as long as it's beat up, the beat up ball is a smart play. That's a vastly different than a brand new ball.
Yeah. I got, you know, I got my Broncos equipment guys.
I got Frog and Colts equipment guys giving me feedback. So, look, if I don't make this, it will not be from a lack of, you know, full preparation.
And so, anyway, I'll be ready for it, I guess. All right.
Rip that hip flexor off the bone, brother. It'll be worth it.
It'll be worth it. We appreciate you.
Good luck on Sunday beating Eli so he doesn't just have a full sweep of your ass in the Pro Bowl games. Hey, I got Joe Burrow.
I got Brock Bowers. Burrow likes the pressure, so I feel good about it.
I appreciate it, boy. And you got Drake May.
Yes, you do. Got Drake May.
Never forget it. Give some tips, too.
Young stud. Yeah, he should be picking your brain.
I assume he already is. Ladies and gentlemen, coach of the AFC, Hall of Famer, a man who's going to kick a field goal on Super Bowl Sunday, Peyton Manning.
Thank you, man. Yeah, Peyton.
Just with the hat and the headphones. Okay.
Driving around Disney World. Sure.
Just so dad right there. Dad and out.
Dad Manning just rolling around Disney World. I did have 10 beers last night.
That's awesome. With George Kittle.
I hope you don't think anything up. I love that he's dead.
That's what the Pro Bowl used to be, though. I don't want to say, hey, everybody just got shit shit faced out there but it that's what it's a good time that's what the pro bowl was the pro bowl was and you know i've always said this i think a team comes together much better around a keg than they do kale you know and i think that is a part of like just having a good time with each other get a little loose a little comfortable have a good time you know hey hey you wanna yeah cheersing here's two-ing i mean that is like uh out of your element something other than the normal element that you see each other in every single day yeah and they're all normally positive now obviously that can all go too far yeah yeah we've all seen it we've all done it yeah so it makes it that's what makes it fun as well yeah that's the crap table of it all you At what point is this thing? Seven! Okay, everybody's a little bit too hammered, but it is...
That's what the Pro Bowl is. I think the more of that that happens, I think the more they'll try to make it an entertaining show because they're in there together, they're with their friends, and that's how bonds get made, but they're going to have to figure out how not to do so much zany stuff.
A lot of zany stuff. But you've talked about it, too.
Like, that's why it's so important that, and Peyton mentioned it, like, hey, they rented out that entire, you know, hotel. Because, like, when you went, it's like you have, like, a business conference and, like, guys can't be themselves.
They can't feel comfortable because you got people coming up, you know, hounding you for autographs. And heaven forbid, like, a player, you know, Kittle and Peyton are there.
And they're drinking 10, 15 beers at the bar. And then Kittle Punches guy.
Yeah, so Poindexter comes up and starts ruffling some feathers. So, like, you know, I mean, because it was one of your Pro Bowls, right? Where it's like, you can't even be yourself.
And then it's like, you can understand. Yeah, they flooded the lobby.
You can understand why guys would be like, yeah, I'm never coming back.

Flooded the lobby, jerseys, the whole thing.

Sat down at, like, I think it was, I think I sat down with one of the Bennett brothers, one of the Bennett's, Martellus maybe.

Sure.

I think Kelsey was there and Connor Barwin was there.

And we were sitting like at the bar and I was like, this is what we're here for.

You know, like this is first night. Like AQ was there.
We're like, okay, we're was like this is what we're here for you know like this is first night like aq was there we're like okay we're having this is what we're here for and then just four random marks just sit down at the bar and you see everybody just get like shelled up yeah and it's like i'm not gonna do anything and then you start realizing like oh this isn't just an nfl hotel it's like oh there's other conventions going on at this hotel. And these people are able to just walk around.
And then you automatically get mad. It's like, everybody wants the players to take it serious.
Well, what about the NFL tickets? Like, what do we even, these guys make all the money for your league and you won't even get the whole hotel for this? So then obviously they've had to go through some things to get back to the point where they get the whole hotel. But it's like, I think all parties are going to have to come together and decide whether or not it's going to be worth a fuck.
You know? Yep. Because I think a lot of people are watching this stuff going to say, what are we? I'm sure it's still got good ratings.
I'm sure they had big numbers. Yeah, you know.
I don't know. And that's just like whenever social media people say, they got big numbers.
We need people that know ball in there making decisions. That's all we ask.
People that know ball offering ideas and making decisions. That's all we ask.
That's not too much. No, not at all.
Because you see what they're trying to do. You kind of get the, they're trying to still do football games, the big spike, they're keeping it all ball.
They're doing the Hulk hands catching and the relay races with the football as the baton. You get they're trying to do different types of stuff.
It's just not working, and it hasn't been working for a few years. I mean, it's real.
It just hasn't been working for a few years. And then you even look at the quarterback challenge.
I know the LED boards and the tech is sweet, but last year was way cooler because they had targets, and the ball would go through the actual target with the number of points on it. Smoke would go on.
We need smoke to shoot out. We need smoke to shoot out, just like American Gladiators back in the day when you're shooting at the obstacle course.
Yeah, but once again, we're happy for all the greats celebrating ball. Without a doubt.

You can see why they changed it because it used to be that whole end was closed off and they're like, all right, well, we could sell 500 more tickets

if we kind of get these LED boards.

I did see some people potentially get sniped.

Whenever Justin Jefferson had his Hulk hands,

that ball went right through his hands.

Oh, yeah.

It's like, that ball's coming hot.

And then they were throwing a deep.

It's like, is this ball going to smoke some people in the back great energy out of the crowd oh yeah great energy it's added to it it's like a tgl crowd it is you know it is enjoying the experience and i assume live it's a little different let's talk about some news happening around the nfl the justin tucker story is very serious obviously uh serious allegations coming from multiple massage salons in multiple uh massage therapists about uh sexual actions from justin tucker kicker uh everybody assumes future hall of fame kicker for the baltimore ravens from 2012 to 2016 pretty wild that it is 220 2025 and we're hearing about this especially with everything that happened with deshaun watson in a very similar uh vein of conversation now i don't think it was 30 some people around the country which is what the deshaun stuff was this is all baltimore related they've gone back and found some tweets from like 2021 when people were alluding to this i have no idea we're just now hearing about this but we want to let the world know that uh if this is happening we are vastly against it and whatever the punishment is he deserves he has come out and said that this is completely false i have done nothing but be a professional and i have zero other things ever said about me this is not real and i assume assume he will fight it as much as he possibly can. Interesting timing, crazy allegations, and obviously all very serious, AJ, in the world of professional sport because massage therapy is a massive piece of professional athletics.
Lactic acids and getting a recovery and everything like that, they go hand in hand, which is why whenun watts's stuff happened it was hard not to be like this doesn't mean that massage therapists like i think people were like well whoa whoa like people contrarians are talking about it like this is a big piece of professional athletics and uh it will always be and i hope it you know doesn't continue to have situations like this that kind of soil the conversation or the relationship between the profession of massage therapy and professional athletics, AJ. Yeah, I don't know what the answer is.
Like when it comes, I guess it's always going to be. Yeah, it's just such a weird situation.
This happens in 2012 to 2016, they say. And then when you bring up these old tweets and then, of course, like he's denying it.
What did happen? Can we ever figure out exactly what happened? No, because there's not cameras, and there's only a couple people there, I guess. But how long has he been dealing with this, too? I know in his thing, he's talked about how he was going back and forth trying to, before they actually published this piece, I guess, he knew about it.
But going how far back? Because this would be, can you imagine, you know, this is on the horizon coming horizon coming out and you disagree with it and you know like that would definitely be a lot to handle. Had his worst year that he's ever had I assume there was some information potentially found out by him uh this year because I mean in kicking you're this is the difference between being a hall of famer and being never in the NFL.
Had his worst year by far this year. Obviously, probably the mind

with that heavy, I mean,

that's very serious.

We hope the truth is found

in the entire situation.

Yeah, that's

just weird.

It's just weird.

Yeah.

It's weird. Because you're getting the massages for a reason like you know and a lot of these massages that guys are getting like it's not i don't want to get into it it's not like a feel good like these massage yeah the good one like it hurts it usually hurts yeah yeah so it's like such a weird dynamic in it all uh nonetheless we will follow along with that story as the truth is hopefully found in obviously very serious allegations.
Doug Peterson, former head coach of both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Philadelphia Eagles, former quarterback in the NFL. And also the guy who called Philly Philly after Big Richard Nick Foles said, hey, I want to run.
He goes, all right, OK, OK, yeah, let's go. Let's do it.
In the biggest Numerous teams have reached out to him about being an offensive coordinator.

Remember, he was not calling plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars,

which was a massive piece of the conversation.

Like, why?

You got the head coaching job because you're a great play caller.

Why aren't you calling plays?

And then he would be asked about it, and he goes,

I wish I could tell you.

What's he going to do?

Last time he ended up leaving the Eagles, he took a year off, took a tour around the NFL, kind of went and saw some old friends, learned some new things, gets a head coaching job at Jacksonville. I assume he'll probably do something similar as he's done in the past.
Obviously he hasn't taken anybody up on their offer yet to be their OC. Yeah, maybe.
Also the Saints. You wonder if Kellen Moore is kind of the leader in the clubhouse there, bringing in another offensive guy who has also had head coaching experience.

It feels like the Saints are maybe going to have to spend a little more money

to get some guys in there because of the fact that they're going to be so late

in the process hiring all three, head coach OC and DC.

So that would kind of make sense.

But even a place like Houston, like, you know, after all the way everything went went down in jacksonville with hey who told the owner this was the best team ever you know that type of stuff you know great way way to get back at him just head on over to houston you know coach up cj stride and beat the hell out of jacksonville really any of these openings because you look like the raiders too you know like pete carroll we no one really knows what he's going to do with his staff. I don't know if they have any prior

relationship.

It is one of those things though where

these guys who are kind of always

in the cycle,

if he does just wait a year,

he is going to get head coaching interviews

next year because we don't know how many

openings there are going to be.

It's really whether or not he wants to get right

back into it. Doug Peterson, we love his style.

He's the man.

We love Doug.

We love Doug.

I love Doug.

The man.

Yes.

That press conference where he was just...

I don't know who told you that.

I don't know.

Was it me?

I don't know.

Who said that the owner had the greatest roster?

I don't know.

I didn't say that.

I don't know. Have you seen our roster okay how come you're not calling place i wish i could tell you though um i'll think about it just like everything about that one press conference is like all right doug we heard all we needed to hear from you to take a tractor another round.
Yeah. You know, I think he's...
Big Mike. I think he's probably...
How nervous are you? Like, not nervous, but how... I would assume some coaches are worried to get out of the...
Like, they want to stay in that head coaching cycle. So do they think, hey, I need to be an OC to stay in that and keep my name out there? Maybe.
I mean, maybe he does want to, like, get back into good football, too. You know? And I guess that's all up for him, and he's earned that situation so good for him.

Speaking of earning a situation, when you get to play in the Super Bowl,

you get a chance to buy tickets for people.

Here's Justin Reed of the Kansas City Chiefs chit-chat about these Super Bowl tickets

that I assume everybody's expecting him to hand out.

Tickets are—prices are running up, man.

I got 30 of them.

Yeah, so, I mean, you got to make sure. I mean, we're excited to go play, and, you know, we're chasing glory, but we got to win just for me to break even.
30 of them. Let's go to the SeatGeek graphic that we have for the average resale price currently for this particular Super Bowl.
It's over $10,000 right now. $10,417 average resale price.
Obviously obviously there's tickets that are vastly more than that there are a few that are less than that this is just the average ticket price currently uh you can use code pat two five zero for two hundred and fifty dollars off we know that that does not make much of a dent on these super bowl tickets but at least it helps yeah at least it's 250 bucks Everybody's kind of confused. They think the players get free tickets and free jerseys and all these things.
Home games don't even get really more than two tickets. Away games, you don't get any tickets.
Super Bowl tickets, I think you get five or ten. I forget the exact number.
Ten, maybe? Everything on top of that, you have to buy. Maybe it's four.
I forget what the number is. But you get a couple, and then everybody's like i won't guys you playing super bowl remember we remember we talked about these days when you're a kid you could play super bowl i'm gonna come watch it's like yeah okay yeah that's eleven thousand dollars to give a guy i haven't talked to in 10 years to the super bowl that's real i don't think people truly understand that aj no it's absolutely real and the fact that justin re said he's got 30, he had to absolutely work his ass off to find 30 to buy him from teammates.
I think when we went, you got the option to buy four that were actually decent down in the first level, and then six more that were the top row, very last row of the whole place. I was a rookie when we played in the Super Bowl, so the McAfee's and Moraldo were up in the...
Those were great seats. They were up in the top.
Touching the roof. Rookie punter? Yeah, you can...
We got a couple. You'll be in.
You saw us pre-game, though. You wave.
I did. I did see you guys.
You know, the Miami Stadium is pretty nice down there. Pretty nice little place.
But yeah, it is fascinating that people think the players are getting a benefit of the doubt. They are not.
They just maybe have more cash to spend it on these tickets. And the NFL doesn't mind that either.
Yeah. Buy the ticket.
Give them back. Now, granted, the NFL, unless they're running a secondary market scheme, which we do not think they would because it would get – the resale price is not what the NFL makes.
Obviously, the resale price is whoever the person that buys the ticket makes. There used to be a little bit of a racket of players, you know, getting a chance to buy four tickets and then maybe moving those four tickets.
Really? Yeah, that weren't in the Super Bowl. That was a thing for a long time.
And then, boy, they tried to crack down on that hard. Do you remember that? They were telling players, like, the IRS is going to get you.
What you're doing is fraudulent. You're not allowed to do what you're doing.
They would like send out memos. They had people come speak to teams like, we heard you guys think you have it figured out, huh? We heard you guys think you have it.
You can't do it anymore. And then as soon as you leave from that meeting, somebody would be like, I got a guy who's paying $7,500 a pop.
$7,500 a pop. You want to get rid of this? He's like, no, I don't want to do it.
Obviously, we're not doing it. It's illegal.
It's illegal. It's not illegal.
You have a ticket. You're allowed to sell the ticket.
Well, then how come they just told us? Because they're trying to scare the shit out of you. So that's kind of...
Wasn't it Mike Tice, the former Vikings coach? He got in a lot of trouble for scalping his tickets. So then they started saying that you weren't able to sell.
You had to pick up your tickets at the thing with your... Like, they really have been combating.
You used to be able to sign up. Yeah, when I first got in the league, there'd be one guy who on the team was like a broker who was trying trying to put tickets together.
You could sign your tickets away to him. He's like, okay, we're good.
But then they made you go in person, pick him up with your ID, all that stuff. Yeah, the NFL wasn't happy that the players maybe had to run a little racket in this entire thing.
Isn't Thomas Morseille giving them away for charity? Isn't there a way to do it like that as well? But he's going to have to go get those. Go get them.
They've made you have to jump through hoops to get these. Oh, these players think they're going to pull one over on us? I don't think so.
You buy the tickets, you assholes. You don't sell the tickets.
The IRS is going to get you. I hope you're happy.
You want to go to jail? Wesley Snipes? Is that what you want to do? Keep selling your tickets. Dare you.
It's like, we won't. We won't.
They walk out of the room. I got a guy 7,500.
I got guy at 8,500 Is that cash? Is that happening right now? Obviously I'll write it off I will report to the earnings The big game is almost here And it's your last chance to get in on the action Don't miss out on the final football game of the season With PrizeFix, the best place to cash in on the big game. The app is really simple to use.
Pick two or more players across any sport. Pick more or less on their projection and you can win up to a thousand times your money.
Join Prize Picks, America's number one daily fantasy sports app available to play in more than 40 plus states, including California and Texas. Join now because Prize Picks is giving away a free pick for the big game where a quarterback will only need to throw one yard to win.
PrizePix, the best place to cash in on the big game. Download the PrizePix app today and use code TPMS.
That's code TPMS on PrizePix and get $50 instantly when you play $5. That's code TPMS on PrizePix to get $50 instantly when you play $5.
PrizePix, America's number one daily fantasy sports app. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks for just playing.
Guaranteed. PrizePix, run your game.
Must be president in certain states. Visit PrizePix.com for restrictions and details.
Tax Act knows you probably don't need help filing taxes. But if you get stuck, we have live experts you can talk to.

And who knows, you could hit it off and become long-term tax friends. Staying up late at night,

talking about deductions, refunds, personal exemptions. Heck, you could even fall in love

and create a little dependent of your own one day. Or they could just answer your filing questions tax act let's get them over with it's wonderful that's aj hawk the toxic tables here at boston connor and at ty schmidt are you guys okay they're saying you maybe got a concussion from the first hour when you guys are bumping leather heads.
You hear this guy? Yeah. Keep going.

Keep going.

We can go all day.

Yeah, we're fine.

We can go all day.

We're good.

These things are probably honestly safer than current helmets.

No doubt.

This is basically two Guardian caps. Yeah.
Just think about all these people, okay, that hate that we have a show on this. Woo! I hate it.
We're taking up their friend spots, you know, two hours. You got a lot of people that are building up there in Connecticut that prestigious sports media, you know, that whole thing.
Was that last week we have the Hulksters press conference? Yeah. A block, hour one.
And we got Coach Tyriani. Yeah.
And then now we got you two bumping heads screaming, for 30 seconds. I want to let you know.
It's a nice reminder of what football used to be. That's right.
They don't mind. We're a throwback.
Yeah. Nobody ever says that.
They don't. This is a feel-good throwback Friday.
It is. Yeah, it's a way-back Friday, if you will.
Boom. Maybe this is what they should do in a Pro Bowl.
It's not a bad idea. Maybe it should be tackle football with leather helmets.
Yes. And then we can just kind of see if that's the right answer because there's still people that believe you want to get the concussion in the head out of the game keep it as tackle have them wear terrible helmets because players whenever they have those helmets on like this meathead right here they view it as a weapon ain't nobody thinking that's a weapon right no no way just your own skull is the weapon that's right yeah exactly and to be completely honest i think you could still play normal football with these and you'd be fine well that's what they're saying're saying, yeah.
That's the entire thing. With no face mask? With no face mask? Changes it? Don't need it.
Yeah, that's the entire thing. And you can still use your head.
I think you'd be fine. Oh, you're saying still same.
Yeah, same game. Same game is what I'm saying.
Same game. Same game.
I think you'd be okay. I truly do.
I don't think you need face masks either. It looks like Ty's fits a little better than yours.
Really? Yeah. I thought mine kind of fit like a glove.
I don't know what you're talking about. I think Ty made the comparison.
Almost looked like a 1610 Celtic warrior with this thing on a little bit. I was thinking you looked like the Czech, the goalie.
Pete Tech. That's a Czech.
Wow. Thank you.
There's like the soccer goalie helmets that they used to have to wear in indoor soccer as a child. Yeah.
And then Peter Check said, I'm wearing this for the rest of my life. And he looked awesome.
This is a smart move. I'd show up at an indoor soccer tournament.
I'd see these kids wearing these helmets. And it's like, I want to blast a ball through this guy's helmet.
But these kids would just be diving into these. Oh, into the post.
Into the thing. So they said, you're going to win.
Target acquired. I want to blast a ball through this guy's helmet.
But these kids would just be diving

into these

things. So they said, you're going to wear

these helmets. It's going to save everything.

Just made them look like assholes.

But I assume it saved some CTE from some

of these soccer goalies. But I appreciate

you guys really going all football today.

We need it after last night.

Last night was the future of football.

You guys don't remember what it used to be. Exactly.
When it was a Royal Rumble every Sunday. Well said.
Well said. Now, again, I will say, the tech innovations in the Spico meter.
We're getting close. We're getting close.
The relay race. Great.
On Sunday, we get the great football race. You know, before the flag game.
So we still have a couple opportunities here to kind of save the weekend, save the Pro Bowl in general. They're going to have to follow the Royal Rumble.
Yeah, that's going to be a tall task. That's going to be tough.
That's going to be tough with what the Royal Rumble is going to be tomorrow. Starting tonight with SmackDown, and we have a kickoff to the Royal Rumble weekend starting, I believe, at 6 p.m.
Eastern time on Peacock and on all the social media platforms. 5 p.m.
Okay, of course. 5 p.m.
Yeah, I think someone said the Rumble actually starts at 6 p.m. Tomorrow.
Yeah, tomorrow. I'm talking about the kickoff show.
Oh, tonight. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's at 5 p.m. It's a little early.
Yeah. Okay.
Per D-bone. That show's at 5 p.m.
tonight. Uh-huh per demo that shows at 5 p.m tonight just learning that i believe me and cole were part of hosting that 5 p.m that thing is starting okay tonight let's uh you got a police escort i cannot wait i cannot wait to kick off are you doing a three hour are you doing a kickoff show that's longer than the actual show? That's what it sounds like.

That's what I'm kind of looking at right now.

And I just realized that, baby.

But I'll tell you what.

We got a lot to talk about.

It's Roll Roll weekend.

Anything can happen.

Surprises are in store.

And legacies are going to be changed forever.

Let's go to the back room of Hammer.

Dine.

Bruce.

Buh. Buh.

I thought you meant back room.

Hammer.

Dine. Cowboy.
Bubba. You might be.
You might have rattled your cage a little bit. Not even a little bit.
The brain might be bouncing around a little bit. Not even a little bit.
A little rock brain in there might be with you going That might be happening right now. To be clear, honestly, when you started talking about the rumble, one song kept playing in my head over and over again a little bit.
So I'm just very excited about the possible, ban it, ban it, ban it, ban it, ban it, ban it, ban it, ban it. Which, who knows, might happen.
Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Don't get too excited.
I know, I know. I won't.
I won't. I'm just saying.
You're talking about a hearty boy.

Perhaps they're in the city.

Well, everybody's in the city for WrestleCon that is happening down at the Convention Center.

It's really treated and feels like a

WrestleMania weekend in Indianapolis,

Indiana. And maybe, I have no idea,

but that's what the Royal Rumble is.

Anything can happen.

Including the toxic table, maybe they can appear.

I don't know. We're in a video game.

I got somewhere to be tomorrow at 6. I'll just say that.
Is it Lucas Oil Stadium? Maybe. Wow.
Let's go to the back room of Hammer. Dad! Bruce.
Bruce, how you doing, bud? I'm good. How are you? It's not bad.
You know, the Pro Bowl games yesterday were fantastic. Really kicked off this weekend in a beautiful fashion.
thanks for asking you know nobody really nobody really sends it my way it's a staple yeah it's bruce brown that might be like a shirt yeah good how are you just send it on back i appreciate that uh there's some nfl news brandon breen or brandon bean the general manager of the Beals, had his postseason presser. We love Brandon Bean.
Absolutely love him. He's been very good to our show.
He's been very good on our show. He is a guy who actually speaks.
I think he's an actual human. Here's him chit-chatting about the end of the game, having Josh Allen as his quarterback.
Yeah, it um you know there's only so much i can say um you know i don't you know we we work with the league to try to get clarity and and i'll give them credit they've they've taken our calls they've sent video and things like that i just you know i wish you know if you're talking about like the fourth down play that was, you know, I wish, you know, if you're talking about like the fourth down play, that was, you know, I'm, I feel like he, you know, he got that. I feel.
And I still feel like he got that. I felt that in the moment.
And nothing has changed my mind on that. Okay.
You know, and, you know, the play that we challenged, I thought was a good challenge. I'm not sure either player had possession on the Bishop Worthy play when the ball touched the ground.
You have to have possession. It's like, what is possession? What Matt says is possession might not be what Elena says is possession.
You know is a little bit but when the ball touches the ground someone has to have established possession and you know again they've given how they see it and that's their job and and but it is what it is I mean that's those are just like plays we didn't make in a game too.

So by no means are we saying that's why we lost the game.

He's saying, hey, listen, they've sent us a bunch of angles

and they've answered our calls.

In the moment I thought he got the first down,

and I haven't seen shit that has made me believe that we don't. i appreciate him saying that because his fans are going to want him to say that and i appreciate him not just taking like the corporate yeah they said daddy they weren't able to overturn it and the call on the field yada yada yada beans living and dying with us too we talk about josh allen obviously uh having to lose to the chiefs every single year and how he is going to have to deal with it.
We talked to Peyton in the first hour about Josh Allen having to continue to go. Brandon Bean, too.
He knows he's staring down Veach and this Chiefs team until he's done. That's just kind of how it is.
And I respect the hell out of him. And I think all of us who know him hope at some point he's able to get to the confetti.
But that's going to be a tall task, H. And I think everybody kind of understands that.
Yeah, they do. And I think he handed it a well where he didn't use it as a cop-out, didn't say, like, you know, didn't freak out and say, this is why we lost the game.
Didn't really use it as an excuse, but he definitely let us know that, hey, I completely disagree with what the league is telling me. Yeah, they're communicating, but they're wrong, and I still feel the way I feel.
But, yeah, what do you do? You've got to move on. Like Peyton said, what said what are you gonna do sit there and feel sorry for yourself bishop worthy situation he said nobody had possession of it at the time but somebody had to be in control of it enough for the ball not to move when it hit the ground and i assume that's where the nfl is coming from is like even if they were both in possession of it the ball didn't budge when it hit the ground which is what the modern ruling i don't know when they changed that because obviously what's a catch what isn't a catch has been debated ad nauseum over the last 10 years calvin johnson des bront you name it there is so many of those moments but i think the common understanding now is if as long as the ground doesn't affect the ball or help the catch at all they are not gonna overturn it or say that the ground it's down so when that ball hits and it doesn't move even though it was very clearly who's in possession of it i think the nfl can say well we don't care it's about did the ball move or not on the ground and brandon bean doesn't want to hear that brandon bean doesn't want to hear well nobody's in possession of it hits the ground shouldn't it be isn't that dead if nobody if somebody's if we're touching it we're out of bounds it's dead this one touches ground nobody said it shouldn't be so i could see why he's upset you know and all the things that the internet's conspiring about their chiefs getting the ref's call think about what being in the boys behind the scenes are going you know they're kicking yeah i assume every aggregated video of every call that has not been made or the bill is getting screwed they've watched that in the building a thousand times thank you at least people are going to bat for thank you for doing that brandon bean had to rebuild the team josh allen is going to have to rebuild a team again they're going to have to go in and try to start at the bottom of the mountain to get all the way back to the afc championship next year and i think we all believe in bean and we all believe in josh.
Stinks for Bill's Mafia that you continue to have to go for this, but at least, like Peyton said, it happened at the end of the season as opposed to, or at the end of the playoffs, as opposed to at the end of the regular season. Yeah, Josh is starting to get into that point now where like, you know, Rogers was for a long time, where Mahomes is, where it's almost like no matter who they bring in receiver-wise, Josh is going to elevate them and make them much, much better.
But you also have to wonder Oh, no. I know.
He just got a little swallowed bug. Choked up.
Yeah. Getting choked up.
Choked up about old school football. Yeah, exactly.
Hey, Brandon Bean having to... All the above.
Yeah. But you have to wonder if they did bring in a high-end wide receiver one like how much that would help and just open up the entire offense because the team was better overall and maybe you know like some of the stuff like the locker room stuff with digs like they kind of avoided that and didn't have to deal with that this year but it's also no question like if digs is out there you know does he make that catch on third down not to throw you to throw Dalton under the bus, but they need a guy that when you absolutely – like the Chiefs going out and getting – God, who are they traded for? DeHop.
Yeah, DeHop. Getting a guy who you know, hey, third and eight, we can go to this guy.
He's going to catch it. He's going to move the chains.
I feel like the Bills still need a guy like that for Josh Allen, so he doesn't feel like he has to do everything on his own. Yeah, Kincaid was almost going to become that guy for them.
I think they're still trying. Shakir became a great weapon for them, and will continue to grow in that particular role.
You lose wide receiver once to find Diggs. They said it got better as a whole, and then obviously a conversation as soon as it's over is like, well, if you had a number one, they're going to find things.
You're going to find things to kind of throw out the rust of construction. If you don't win a Super Bowl, that's certainly when it's getting brought back up.
Yeah, also kind of not being talked about. What happened to Amari Cooper? You know, like Amari Cooper, when he got traded to Buffalo, obviously was known as that guy, you know, and kind of everything.
Did he not play as much? Like, to be honest, I don't really remember him being on the field. He got the ball early, I think.
Didn't he get targeted early on like a little quick? Yeah, but it feels like he either never like got fully used to the offense or something because he is that guy. Like, he is someone you can rely on on an every down basis.
And, you know, we heard Saban talk about him. Like, all the guy does is work.
So, it was just weird kind of how they used him or how they didn't use him. I wonder if there is more to that just because Mac Hollins became their deep ball.
He had the most touchdowns in the wide receiver room for the Buffalo Bills. The animal costume, he had a great catch.
Elmo, you Animal? I thought it was Sesame Street. Was it? Why did he go back on the field with the animal suit on after I saw that? Was that real? I didn't.
Like, how does he exit these games? You know, like. Same way.
Just with his head down, just a little more embarrassed. Yeah, just last.
Okay. Well, hey, I respect that he is who he is.
I think it's like a TikTok gimmick, and he does a lot on there. Oh, no.
Dressed in those costumes. Oh, no.
They need to figure that one out. They need to figure that one out.
Hopefully, the Bills are able to continue to be great with Josh Allen as quarterback. We assume that'll be the case.
Matt Collins, obviously a dog, walks around barefoot everywhere. Good for them.
Only one team is going to be happy at the end of the year. Only one fan base is going to be able to say we had the best team in the league.

So no matter when you lose, it's going to suck.

And people are obviously going to throw, you know, accusations on what you could have done better.

Joining us now is a man who does his job perfectly.

Senior NBA insider for ESPN, front of the program, ladies and gentlemen, Shams Sharanya.

Yeah, Shams.

Shams, we talked about the Buffalo Beals, you know, and they made some decisions and they felt like they had a better locker room, culture, environment, team aspect of that all. You know, that's a conversation around the NBA a lot.
Where do we stand on the Jimmy Butler Miami Heat saga? Because I did see Jimmy Butler's card got declined because he was unemployed. That's right.
Because he started suspension. So he's acknowledging that it's an interesting situation where do we sit currently with the heat in jimmy butler and how likely is it for him to be moved by february 6th yeah he's he's definitely not unemployed he might be unemployed right now because he's suspended but between now and the february 6th nba trade deadline by the way big week you got wwe you got super bowl week next week and then then the NBA trade deadline February 6th.
Miami and Jimmy Butler, they have the same goal right now, between now and next Thursday, and that's finding a trade for Butler out of Miami. They are an active conversation.
And tonight, actually, on ESPN, I would call it the Jimmy Butler Bowl. I know we got the Super Bowl next weekend, but this might be the Jimmy Butler Bowl tonight between the Warriors and the Suns.
They're both two of the teams that I would look at right now that are shaping up to be likely landing spots for Jimmy Butler. The Warriors, we know all season they've been trying to get a star player to go with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
And now when you think about Jimmy Butler and the motivation that Miami has, I think a lot of people are looking at the Warriors right now in a potential situation. Do you strike right now with him? And we know Phoenix, we've been talking about Phoenix for the last month and a half, two months regarding Jimmy Butler.
That pursuit remains strong. It might be a deal that takes three, four, five teams, but the Suns are trying every avenue to potentially get a deal done.
He has been suspended indefinitely. I think Miami has done a little bit to kind of poke him to an extent.
You think about it, he comes back to the team after a two-game suspension, shows up to their shoot-around earlier this week, and basically Eric Spolster, from what I'm told, in front of the entire team, tells Jimmy Butler, tells the rest of the roster that Jimmy Butler will be coming off the bench, moving forward for the Heat this season, that Haywood Highsmith will be their starter. And from that point on, Jimmy Butler, I'm told, just exited stage right, stage left, whatever you want to call it.
He left to shoot around, and that might be the last time Jimmy Butler is gonna be around the Heat. But Miami wants shorter term contracts, they want draft assets And we'll see if they're going to be satisfied with that between now and Thursday.
Boys, how we doing? Welcome to Shootaround. As we all have talked about and agree, this guy sucks.
And, yeah, you're not starting for us anymore. These guys go until you'll be coming off the bench.
And while you're sitting on the bench, all the way at the end, get away from everybody. We even want trainers, physical therapists, and security people separating you from the rest of the team.
And if you get some minutes, you'll get some minutes. Okay, Jimmy, is that okay? No, it's not okay.
What are you going to do? Are you going to leave? Are you going to leave? He walked right out. Pat, the last time Jimmy Butler played in a legitimate game, I think, he had 36 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists.
So Jimmy Butler can play. We haven't seen him play much for the Heat, though.
The NBA is the greatest. Okay, let's talk and continue to talk trade deadline.
Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Sean, there's a guy that kind of popped up this week, De'Aaron Fox.
Allegedly, I believe you said, or maybe it was someone else said, that he wanted to go to San Antonio, possibly team up with Wemby. Is that still where we stand with Fox, or have there been other teams kind of sliding in there trying to get him? B.C.
De'Aaron Fox, from sources that I've heard around the league, he wants to play in San Antonio. That is his targeted preferred destination.
He's a free agent in 2026. Theoretically, could the Kings just wait until the summer could they just wait until next season of course but i think what we've seen here is the kings getting out ahead of the inevitable and the inevitability of a trade around deer and fox happening in the summertime and they are in engaged in conversations uh they've got dozens of calls offers over the last 48 hours on De'Aaron Fox They're in conversations with multiple teams including San Antonio from what I'm told So I expect them to continue these conversations with multiple teams on De'Aaron Fox trade between now and Thursday Another guy with a potential likelihood to get traded He completely jumps to the top of the available market You know unless there's another guy that pops up between now and next thursday i don't know if we're going to see an in your prime superstar player that's a max contract guy pop up like we have here with de aron fox he changes the game he's a prime time player and you pair him with the victor women yama we've been talking for last year when are the spurs going to get when be some help when are they going to get him some help here's their opportunity here's their chance and we'll see if the Spurs sees it what would that mean for Chris Paul I mean Chris Paul I think he has a role with the Spurs organization he's shown as a leader I have not heard whether he would be a part of these conversations I mean theoretically if the Kings if the make or break part of of the deal were chris paul i don't know how san antonio would react uh my feel for the situation is stefan castle devin vassell all the draft picks they've got up to nine first round picks they've got dozens of second round picks they've got all their pick swaps so san antonio has a ton of assets and players that they can send to San Antonio.
This could be a salary Laysan deal with a bunch of picks. This could be a young player or two with a couple picks or maybe one pick.
But that's what they're trying to figure out here in these negotiations. Yeah, the Spurs have something special in Wembe.
Now granted, they can't beat the Pacers in France. What have you done for me lately? They lost.
That's what they did.

They lost.

They played twice.

Yeah, but the last time, they lost.

They lost.

Yeah, so the Pacers flew out of France,

victors, as the Americans fly back to Indiana.

I think you've got to flush both games.

I think both teams have to just flush both games.

That's what I think.

Pacers walked into Wemby's hometown and said,

bonjour, ça va? And that handled it? Gamma! He ain't flushing that. Wemby's special, right? He's a special, special guy.
When will that team have a chance to actually compete? Or is it right now because they have him? Well, if you get Darren Fox, then you put yourself in position to compete for a playoff berth. And I don't think you look at a situation where you're going from point A all the way to championship.
It takes steps, right? Even Oklahoma City, the last few years, they went through a couple years of tanking, gradually got better and better, make it to the playoffs, get bounced. And then now you're looking at them as a perennial title contender.
We'll see Chet Holmgren, hopefully back second half of the season. But I think San Antonio is looking at his gradual steps.
You bring in De'Aaron Fox potentially at point guard or another point guard in the summer, and then probably the next area of growth or potential add would be the wing position. They have Harrison Barnes right now.
I think they're very content with him as a veteran, but how can you continue to surround De'Aaron Fox with players? I think that's what De'Aaron Fox and Wemanyama, if you have De'Aaron Fox, how do you surround them? But this would be a step, 1,000%. Okay, let's stay in the Western Conference.
AJ has a question for you. Shams, what about the Lakers and J.J.
Reddick's first year as head coach? Are they going to be active at all before the trade deadline? And what's the outlook like for the rest of this season? It's every year. Need center yeah every year anthony yeah it is anthony davis told me a couple of those a week ago week and a half ago that he wants a center and he wants a guard potentially as well but that he feels more comfortable playing uh the four spot and having a five well i will say they have two first round picks they can trade they got one in 2029 they got one in 2031 i want a coach give me a wing i want to win a royal rumble ownership of the team well listen listen i think if the priority on the priority list i think the center spot is probably top of mind for uh anthony davis i think anthony davis and lebron james from my understanding they don't want the lakers to go future.
That's not what this is about. But it's how can we be aggressive? How can we be active before the trade deadline to go get a couple pieces? Anthony Davis told me I think we're one or two pieces away from a championship.
And when your player who's in the prime of his career, 31 years old, he just had a 40-20 game the other day. He's going to be out some period of time next week.
He's going to be re-evaluated with an abdominal strain, which was a tough setback. But you get him back in the lineup before the All-Star break, and he obviously wants a center.
We'll see if they'll be able to do it. But they have two first-round picks they can play with.
They have some tradable contracts as well. So I do think the Lakers will be active.
I think the Lakers are doing their due diligence right now. I think Rob Palenkainka in that front office they are trying to see what can they get in the market right now i saw brawny with a nasty and one are they thinking about trading brawny james are they thinking about maybe uh picking up a first round or or any other pieces yeah pat uh uh you know i've i said on this show in the spring lebron james to, is going to play one more season, maybe two.
LeBron James then went on the record about that and said he probably has one or two more years left. I don't see them doing anything with Bronny James.
I hate to break this news. I don't see the Lakers doing anything with Bronny James while LeBron James is on them.
This was a part of the entire process, right? This is why he's on the Lakers? Yeah. Like, hey, there's going to be growth.
He has played a lot better in the G League. 32 points.
That was a part of all this. That is a part of all this.
And honestly, when I watch him play, I think playing the point guard spot, I think seeing him handle the ball more, he's able to do that more in the G League. We saw him do it a little bit in summer league.
i really think point guard is a spot that you know he has to continue to to be comfortable with and embrace and i think that is the maturation that is the any any type of maturation with a player that came up really as a combo as a two guard how do you define yourself at the nba level love that can't wait to watch him continue to develop because you got people on our channel on espn LeBron, stop doing this to your kid. Yeah.
This week. Oh, yeah.
As a parent. What are you doing? Yeah.
Stop it. It's like, I don't think LeBron feels that way at all.
No. I think LeBron feels the complete opposite.
And they probably assume in a year from now, everybody's going to have to eat their words. Maybe that'll be the case.
Lakers are always looking for something, isn't it? Always. Lakers are always looking for something.
Hopefully, they're able to

get it this year. Speaking of get it

this year, we're getting some superstar

down in New Orleans. Ty has a

question for you. Yeah, you know what's coming,

Chami. What's going on

with Zion? Now, listen,

he's taking a lot of shit for being

hurt and sitting out and everything.

Actually, okay, yeah, we have the clip. Can we

just please run this? Let me make this clear

to everybody out there. Okay.

If I can play in the back-to-backs,

I would. I physically,

yes, I can.

But,

I work for the Pelicans.

They have decided that based off

the numbers, you know,

it's not smart to do that right now.

So, you know,

if that's what they feel, I'm rocking with them on that. that but yes if i could play in a back-to-back i would okay so with that mind first of all zion looks jacked yes he does i've been saying i've been saying on this show for a really long time he is in the best shape he is the lightest he's weighed he weighs to it's weighed.
He weighs 284. I'm telling you guys.
Oh, Zion pick! Yeah, exactly. Oh, Zion pick! I love that.
He looks good out there, too. The question, though, is, is the rubber going to meet the road at some point here? Because it sounds like he wants to play, and the Pelicans are still saying, like, hey, listen, pal, sit down and shut up up and maybe eat a couple more beignets.
Give him Madigan so that this can be your fault and not our fault. So let me translate what Zion Winston is saying.
He's basically saying him and the performance staff, the medical staff with the Pelicans, they have a plan in place on how they want to see the second half, the final stretch of this NBA season playing out. He just came back from a hamstring injury.
He missed almost two months with a hamstring injury. That hamstring of his both legs, it has been something chronic.
He's been having hamstring injuries throughout his NBA career. He is in the best shape.
So it stinks in a lot of ways that he had this hamstring injury this year. Because in the past, you could say maybe his conditioning was right, right whatever but now to have it when he's in the best shape of his career it is difficult but he they have a plan in place of course Zion Williamson wants to play back-to-backs but you look at the plan that they have in place for him coming off a hamstring injury and then the fact like let's look at it where the pelicans are in the standings if you have a player franchise player, we have already seen evidence when Zion Williamson is healthy, he is a game changer for an organization.
They really believe that in New Orleans. So, why throw him out there after two months of hamstring injuries? Just logically.
This is just me talking logically. Yeah, you've been talking logically for the Pelicans for the last three years.
We're sick of it. I'm tired tired of it.
He's gone one-on-one. He's gone one-on-two.
He's gone two-on-two. He's gone three-on-two.
He hasn't done three-on-three. That's their protocol.
Four-on-three is next. It's like, put the guy on the damn court.
Let the guy play ball. I will say, though, this is interesting that he spoke out like this, and I think he wanted to make it very clear that me potentially not playing back-to-backs.
Me you know, a couple of years, I think it was a couple of years ago in the playoffs, his, his stepdad went on the radio and in new Orleans and said, uh, my, you know, my son can play. Uh, they're just not throwing them out there.
Like, you know, I think we saw a pattern, right? Where it's like, Oh, he's ready, or he might be physically there, but the Pelicans wanted to go to X, Y, Z. I think this is the first time we've seen zion speak up so that part is very interesting but to my knowledge these sides are on the same page on his quote-unquote protocol all right chums we appreciate the hell out of you man keep doing what you're doing have a great weekend happy royal rumble weekend ladies and gentlemen shamsharon yeah can you feel it can you feel it aj what am i feeling We have maybe the greatest coach of all time about to join us.
Oh, yeah. In a matter of seconds.
I can feel it. You're right.
I can feel it. Two Super Bowls in his first four seasons as a head coach.
Maybe he's not. Some big dumb dipshit.
Guy's been chastised for everything he has done. Maybe he's not.
Some big dumb dipshit. Guy who ended up with home field advantage in the NFC Championship game somehow.
Maybe he's not. Some big dumb dipshit.
All people wanted to say all year is that this guy was definitely. A big dumb dipshit.
Lower thirds were saying. This guy's a big dumb dipshit.
Then the next week he would say, Still a big dumb dipshit. Then he'd win again, and he would say, May have won despite the big dumb dipshit.
Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a guy who might not be A big dumb dipshit. Paizano, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Sciani.
Yeah, coach! Coach, how you doing, man? Good, how about you guys? Good. Hey, so as we were trying to fill time there, as we were connecting with you, we had to relive the entire season that was that you were getting talked about all year.
And all you did was continue to win win games win games and all anybody wanted to talk about is is this guy a guy that can lead a team and then whenever your team starts winning now everybody's saying what does this guy even do it's like a head coach you get next to no credit for anything do you let that into your world have you let that into your world how are you framing everything at this standpoint? How are you framing everything at this standpoint? Because two Super Bowls in your first four seasons, historic shit, brother. You're doing great.
You're doing great, Coach. Yeah, thanks, guys.
You know, you try not to let outside noise in and listen. Obviously, you've got to hear some of it when you go through the media circuit and everything like like that but you know i uh i find it um i find it a moment where i can kind of connect with the guys that are going through that are going through things right um you know going through criticism going through things like that so i really look at it as a positive in that aspect that you know i can relate with guys that are going through some of the their own things that they go through okay so let's talk about that and i'm sure the boys don't mind you know sharing that moment with you quarterback jalen hurts he's talked about a lot everything he does he looks too cool he acts too cool he sounds too cool he's had too much success in his life he has haters for those reasons then people started questioning his arm he can't break down a defense he doesn't know what he's doing he's coming off his best game of the season i think in the nfc championship how do you feel about jalen hurts being your team's leader and how do you feel about the mentality of jalen going into another super bowl yeah i think i think jalen and i go through a lot of the same things in that aspect uh which we can relate with each other on that um all i know is all he does is is win and and he puts us in positions to win he's self.
He doesn't really care how we win and, you know, just goes about his business every day. And so I don't think that's talked about enough about how well he's done as far as just leading the football team.
Playing quarterbacks more than the stats that show up on the paper at the end of the game, right? It's getting you in and out of plays. It's taking care of the football.
It's making the right throws and the right reads and then knowing the right time to run. But he's just been in complete control and comes to work every day, unfazed by anything.
And yeah, I can't say enough good things about him. I said what I said about him after the post game last time on the podium there.
I just think he's a stud and wouldn't want anybody else leading this football team. He wins all the time.
He also has to deal with another offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore this particular season. Kelly Moe, if you go back to whenever he was at Dallas, he was blamed as a guy who's a quarterback who wants to run up the numbers and throw the ball all over the place.
This year, you guys get maybe the greatest free agent signing in the history of the NFL with Saquon Barkley. You have the best offensive line in the league, and he has been very comfortable relying on that even though it got really loud.
How has it been watching Kellen Moore work? How has it been knowing that your team is a run first even though you have the ability to throw offense in 2025 which is very abnormal yeah i think uh obviously hats off to kellen to be able to adapt and our and our coaches being able to adapt to whatever we need to do to win um again we don't we don't get enamored by you know what everyone else thinks it should look like um we just our job as coaches, our job players, is to win football games. And so, yeah, I really admire how Kellen has called the games and how he's led the offense.
He's done a great job. And, again, this is why you block out anything, the things that you can't control.
Because at the end of the day, all our job is to do is to win by any, if we throw it 50 times and run it once, great. If we throw it, if we run it vice versa, whatever, run it 50 times and pass it once, we don't care as long as we are doing the things we need to do to win.
And that, you know, again, I know a lot of people have an opinion after games and this and that, but that not our job to listen to that our job is to make sure we're doing everything we can do to put this team in a position to wing football games you guys are a run first team the stats say you have like 700 and some rushing attempts 500 and some passing attempts but you have two absolute star wide receivers they were the ones that dumped the Gatorade on you. Devontae and AJ were the ones doing the

bath. There was sometimes during the season,

which is going to happen, I think, especially with a team

that you're leading, where they were trying to drive

a wedge, maybe. Like, hey, what do we have

these stars for if we're not going to throw the ball to them?

This is 2025 and we're running the ball.

Them being the ones to do that, I think, was a big message.

How have you communicated

with your team this year, with those guys in

particular, knowing that they're going to have to make a huge play in a huge moment regardless? Yeah, I noticed that too. And I really am close with Devontae and AJ.
And I think it's my past of coaching and playing wide receiver. I always take a liking to those guys that are out there on the perimeter.
And for them, and I said that to them, for those guys to be the ones that, you know, dumped the Gatorade on me at the end of the game, that meant a lot because of the relationship I have with those two guys. And, yeah, they're studs.
And how selfless they've been throughout the entire season because they know they can take over games. And Jalen knows he can take over a game.
And Saquon obviously can take over a game. And, you know, this is the way we've won and the way games have played out.
And if you watch the tape, when you watch the tape, right, you're seeing some of those Saquon runs. Like, I don't know, I saw some stat about Saquon having 67 runs over 60 runs over 60 yards which is some sort of record well that doesn't happen unless you get blocks downfield from the wide receivers right it gets past the first level with the offensive line and the tight ends and jalen holding the back side uh but those those big ones turn into uh even bigger ones when those receivers are blocking down the field or running off down the field to to run man out of there.
Everybody's bought in. Maybe this guy isn't.
A big dumb dipshit. Maybe.
Maybe. Maybe not.
I don't know. Maybe not.
Go ahead, AJ. Coach, you guys brought in Vic Fangio as the defensive coordinator this year.
Your defense is, like you said, when you watch the tape of these guys, it's fun to watch them attack the football and seem to be such disciplined tacklers and just a great defense at all three levels what is what kind of confidence i guess has big big fanjo brought to you and the rest of that team yeah a ton a ton of confidence just his uh experience he's been a experienced coordinator for in this nfl a successful coordinator in the nfl for a long a long time you know decades not, decades. And so you have, it's, that's so comforting, you know, on my end.
And he's just, he just does a great job of calling the game, leading the defense. Can't say enough good things about him.
And, you know, I think that exactly what you said, the first couple of things you said is I'm, I'm, I'm happy you talked about the tackling first, because think we can get so enamored with oh look at this scheme and look at that scheme and look how this is this happens here but at the end of the day the truce of football from when we played as little kids to high school to college to professional level the truce of football is did you tackle better than the other team did you block the struck better than the other teams you take away the football better than the other team did you block destruct better than the other team did you take away the football better than the other team did you protect the ball better than the other team did you catch the ball better than the other team and did you and did you block better on the offensive side than the other team like that's where the big plays happen that's where the explosive things happen that are set up by the fundamentals of the talented players that are playing the game what did uh coach sirianni's dad say was the most important part of a team? O-line, D-line, Howie. So we talk about your O-line, your run game.
You're D-line. I mean, obviously you've got dogs across the board.
This Jalen Carter guy, he might be superhuman. They're talking like 98% of the snaps, and I know the rest of the group is great.
Can you talk about that front and how important that is to the rest of the team? Yeah, like you said right there, you guys know, you guys got to be in great shape to play that percentage of plays. There's not a lot of defensive linemen that are playing that percentage of plays.
And, you know, because the coaches will take them out if they feel like they're gassed a little bit to put them in. So, you know, we all see the film of what Jalen Carter can do, right? And all the things that he's shown, this is why we're talking about him right now, but the off the field things that he's worked so hard on to be in and great, you know, weighing what he's supposed to weigh, being in great shape, practicing his butt off, you know, working on the fundamentals.
I mean, you talk about a guy who knows how to take away the football. He's a knack for taking away the football and and again those you know those some of the plays that you're seeing it's him defeating blocks getting off blocks and then being able to take away a football like the way we kind of see um you know DBs take it away the way you know to be quite honest with this how he how he kind of comes after the ball so can't say enough about Jalen and his work ethic to put himself in this position where he is playing 98 and then you know the d line as you guys know has to work as one right it is such a you know those those guys have to be one right it's a group rush mentality and i think our guys have really embraced you know not caring who gets what um group rush this quarterback however we need to to make sure we're getting the pressure we need to get uh and letting the secondary do their thing in the backhand everybody's all in maybe he is in some big dumb dipshit maybe not and uh brandon graham tears his tricep week 12 we saw that you guys opened up the practice window yesterday for him and obviously you don't want to give any competitive advantage away but that would be a huge story if he was back for your team i assume back in the building active is already a big boost for the boys yeah you know he uh he's never really left he's been here through the whole the whole time and he's been at every meeting every practice uh in here getting rehabbed to see if he could put himself in a position to be able to play again if we got to this point.

And here we are.

We'll see.

We'll see.

Had a good run yesterday.

And we'll see where that goes.

I don't know yet, but I know the guys and myself and the coaches are really excited to have him back because he's a great leader and a great teammate.

I don't know if you all have talked to BG, but you can't have a bad day when you talk to him um he's gonna bring everybody up with him and that's what you want from one of your captains oh yeah he's all in maybe he is in some big dumb dipshit maybe not maybe not i mean i don't know maybe that's the case you he did something that was massive for the turn of the season connor has a question Coach, after you won the NFC Championship, a lot of people were pointing back to the beginning of the season and said, hey, when this guy shaved his head, everything kind of came together. Maybe he has to do that every single year.
Do you feel the same way about that? Was that some sort of kind of ritual for you in order to turn the team around? And did Big Dom shave your head? Is that who kind of put this whole thing together? If I felt that that had anything to do like i'm the last person who's superstitious and in fact my superstition is to break everything that what did i do last week all right i'm doing the opposite um nice and so if i thought that was something that helped i would definitely do it but uh i don't think that it didn't really i don't think that had any effect on anything just decided you know what point you know fridays are the days we usually get haircuts here and i had a busy friday and i did what i did hey you gotta do what you gotta do take it off hey good shaped head you got a good shaped head for the future if you end up losing that thing you know if that thing becomes a convertible and then you just want to take it all off i think you're the good spot pies on, Paizan. Now, obviously, we appreciate you taking time out of your schedule.

Biggest game of the year.

You've done it twice now.

Ty, has a question for you.

Yeah, Coach, first and foremost, just keep winning.

And you can just shove everything negative people say right back down their fucking throats.

You know?

So they'll give you respect eventually.

But I am curious.

Is there anything that you can take away from that first Super Bowl? I know, obviouslyters are different but some of the key components are still the same is there anything you can take away from the first time you played the chiefs in the super bowl to now that you think will set you up for you know success this time around you know uh that's a good question and uh every time you go through uh a different style of a game, you kind of look back and say, hey, what are the things we did well? What are the things we didn't do well? And I'm talking about the stuff off the field. You do that with every game every time you play.
And what can we do better? And so that was definitely a conversation we had two years ago when we got back. And there are some're, you know, without getting into them, really, there are some things we're doing differently, you know, based off some schedule things, some travel things.
And, you know, because at the end of the day, getting back to it, right, when we got to the playoffs, you know, we talked about what's going to be important for the playoffs. You don't get to the playoffs.
I'm talking endgame now. You don't get to the playoffs or get to the Super Bowl and say, okay, here's what we're going to be important for the playoffs you don't get to the play i'm talking in game now you don't get to the playoffs or get to the super bowl and say okay here's what we're going to do now it just doesn't it doesn't work that way you do the things you've done well you you try to continue to get better at your fundamentals your tackling your ball security all those things that i mentioned um and you just try to get a little bit better get little increments of getting better each day to to put yourself in a position to succeed on Sunday.
And so that's what we're doing. But there are definitely some schedule things that we tweaked and a couple travel things we tweaked as well.
Coach Saban, whenever the coaches would call him before these playoff games, he would say at dinner and on game day, he'd be like, if there was a better way to do things, shouldn't we be doing that every week?

In that, don't you think,

don't you think we should maybe do that at the beginning of the season?

Then we kind of have it all.

Scheduling, though, itinerary for Super Bowl, vastly different.

And dealing with all the bullshit that comes with the Super Bowl.

$10,547 average resale ticket price right now.

It's going to be a zoo down there, Coach Sirianni. Last question here for you from AJ.
Coach, on the lighter side, have you got your ticket situation all settled? Do you have your family and everyone all on board? This is obviously not your first rodeo, so you understand, but have you gotten that squared away yet? Yeah, we tried to take care of everything early in the week, and then what I said to the guys, like, again, I'm big and like, if I'm saying something to the guys, then I better be doing it myself. And so early in the week, we had to get we had to get everything taken care of.
And then if you have to do anything past Wednesday, you pass that thing on to your to your wife. You know, you pass that thing on your girlfriend, you pass whatever you need on to your mom.
You pass it on to the people in this building. All our mindset should be as focused completely on the game.
And if I'm telling them that at all times, and I'm scurrying around trying to get a ticket for my buddy, uh, then I'm full of shit. So that's not, I'm not doing that right now.
I've, I've passed all that on and, uh, yeah, they're handling it now. Last question from me.
And I know you're very busy. Once again, thank you for the time.
You guys are, like, favorite. You're underdogs in the game by one and a half points.
But America's, like, pulling for you. This is very abnormal for, I think, Philadelphia Eagles and for a Nick Sirianni-led team.
Have you told the boys? Have you talked about it? They're saying, like, the percentage tickets sold pennsylvania philadelphia the percentage of bets philadelphia like it is the world's kind of rallying around you right now because you're going against the chiefs obviously have you talked about that with the boys and does it feel weird because that's never the case for you guys yeah we we have we haven't talked to them about that but uh you know i know philly fans travel and and I know they travel well. It really doesn't matter where we've been all season.
We've had so many fans there. So just because it's the Super Bowl, I wasn't expecting anything different.
So it's going to be exciting to have our fans there making sure it's loud in that game for the Chiefs to be able to handle um and so that doesn't surprise me one bit as far as about being the favorite you know i don't know we don't care about that we don't care about that sometimes you like being in the underdog so we we'll just pretend we're the underdog well you are by one and a half points but america's pulling hard for you so good luck we appreciate you we'll see you down coach. Alright, guys.
Thanks for having me on. Ladies and gentlemen, a guy who might not be...
A big dumb dipshit. Coach Sirianni.
Yeah! He's the man. The man.
He's the absolute... Every time we said that, his face was over here just like...
Because he would like to... Oh, yeah.
He would like to say this, I think. I assume he watches Coach Tyriani, and there's some things he's like, oh.
Okay, I wouldn't say that. Okay, that is not how I feel.
Then there's some things you're saying, he's like, thank you, somebody. Somebody saying it.
The guy is a damn good ball coach, and his team's all in around him. You know, he's talking about Jalen Carter.
There's questions, is this guy going to be able to commit full-time to being a professional? It's like, it's like he's all why is he all in davante smith aj brown they talk about the pass game needs to get big oh they're trying to splinter they're going to be fractured it's like they're the ones dumping the gatorade bath on nick sirianni it's like well how do you think he manages relationships how do you think he gets everybody that's a head coach's job he's done a great job creating a culture Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker.

He had wealth, He's done a great job creating a culture.

Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker.

He had wealth, fame, and power.

What's up? Welcome to New York!

Until it all came crashing down.

Federal investigators raiding two homes owned by hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor.

As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio.
Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Brad Milkey.
You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast, Start Here, but I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm going to make it happen.
Every week, I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about. ABC's got some unique access here, so I'll talk to the reporters and producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years.

We're bringing the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.
Speaking of a culture, ladies and gentlemen, a man that oozes aura. He's looking to win the Royal Rumble to main event WrestleMania for the first time in his career.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Second City Saint, CM PunkM. Pong.
Okay! Wow! What an honor! What an honor! Oh, shit! Hell yeah! Yes! Clap it up, Hawk! Clap it up, Hawk! Come on, Hawk. Clap it up.
I don't know. Gucci? It's not overworld.
The cult of personality. Oh, did you know I was coming with your little Stanley Cup? Chicago has had one of those in a long time.
I mean, we won three in ten years, so we're paying the bill right now still. Brother, you're talking to a Penguins fan.
We are in a terrible position good at all um hey welcome to indianapolis thank you happy royal rumble eve happy royal rumble eve thank you for making time to stop by how do you feel how's the body you look like you're in the best shape of your life i've said it a couple times whenever you come out on monday night raw do you feel like you're in the best shape of your life and how do you feel going into tomorrow i think i was in the best shape of my life when i was like 26 when i when i when i set out when i set out to get this job when i was like i'm just gonna bust my ass so hard that they're not gonna be able to deny me i was probably maybe in a little bit better shape back then but yeah but you look good i feel good too yeah yeah i do i do what's plan for royal rumble tomorrow uh beat everybody, win, win all the belts, make all the money. Boom! That's what I'm talking about.
Everything. Everything across the board.
What did you learn from last year? Obviously got injured. That's no fun.
Drew McIntyre danced on your grave afterwards, everything like that. Do you take anything from last year's Royal Rumble? Do you take anything from this last year's voyage to this moment that can obviously change everything? Yeah, absolutely.
I think sometimes we fly so close to the sun and you fall and you realize that, like, oh, here's this. Me tearing my tricep in the Rumble wound up being, like, a huge gift because look what we did with it.
You know, to me, I've done the best work of my career when everyone else is maybe assuming that i'm like winding down i feel like it's cliche i'm just getting started you know and i i draw inspiration from like a great many different sources but like i felt like that was a moment where i could i could be inspiring to myself you know what i mean like i could turn the worst thing that's ever happened to me, you know, like this big return and this, we're going to, you know, rocket ship. And, you know, it all got halted in the blink of an eye.
So what I learned from that is, you know, the hell with it. Like, nose to the grindstone, bust your ass, like come back better, stronger.
And, you know, I think I did the best stuff of my career in the last year. Yeah, it's been fun fun to watch it's been fun to have a front row seat to watch you work and do your thing and i'll say i made this up hashtag stat that i think your name chanted the most in the history of any name in arenas you know because even for 10 years whenever you weren't around your name was getting chanted in every arena basically every single night yeah now every.
Now, every arena, every single night, three syllables, one name, C-M-P-A-L. Getting chanted everywhere.
You started that. Is that a lot of pressure? Is that a lot of pressure to live up to the hype, knowing that every city is eagerly awaiting your arrival? I think it is, but I love it.
There's still a huge part of me that's just like, oh, yeah, they remember me. That's strange.
That's weird. I still have that.
When you're gone for 10 years, even though they're still chanting your name, you wonder if the stuff you did prior to all that, does that matter? Is it relevant? Did I resonate? We're in the business of making something. So I obviously, I made people feel something.
Yeah, you certainly did. And then when other superstars are in the ring and your name's getting chanted, I don't want to say I can see just joy being sucked out of their bodies.
No, say it. Yeah, they hate it.
They hate it. And for the longest time, you know, like, it's probably honestly why a lot of them don't like me is because they they were here holding it down for so long and they're just like every time we go out there and we're busting our ass and they're you know chanting for some guy who's not even here like that's that's gotta suck man that's disheartening that's been talked about a lot you're the guy that left every single promo that you get into with somebody there's a bunch of sensitive folk around yeah they always say that but i mean that is the reason why they're saying that is because that is like you know i mean there's a lot of context that needs to be added to the entire conversation but certainly we're not there for a bit you come back feels like you're back at home though yeah i think so too i think the way everybody feels is like i obviously was not here during the time where you decided to leave i've just always been a a fan.
Yeah. So whenever I see you come back, I get excited.
Like, I'm pumped to see you. I think everybody is.
Do you get pumped to be back every single time? Every single time. Like, I hate traveling and I don't like not spending time with my wife and my dog.
But it's literally dealing with that, but also being like, man, I get to go to Raw today. I get to go to SmackDown today.
I get to stop by NXT and do all these fun things. Yeah, we'll be back on Monday.
Yeah, we missed a hard out. That was pretty good, though.
Show continues. You did great there.
That's a professional out of you. Wow.
On a microphone, you crushed it. You didn't even know.
You heard the music, and you said, you know what? I did. I just figured that was your cue i'm just a guest you're the you're the professional here no i am not so we're not on the air anymore still live oh espn plus disney plus youtube tick tock live okay i would say this this is uh more people are watching this more people have seen tvs that have the espn on you know it's kind of the interesting thing every airport has has ESPN on.
Every cafe has ESPN on. Fascinating.
You know, all the restaurants. But digitally, massive numbers, and these people had to get here.
So I think actually listening. So it's a nice, it's an interesting dilemma on what matters more.
In my eyes, it's a digital team. But we come from the internet.
You know, so it's a little different era. does that make sense no all right i don't understand the internet really i don't you run the internet yeah i don't understand you are you on there how much you on there i just have instagram so i can look at dogs do you read comments no you ever get on x never get on x no never read mentions on x can't do it i stopped because of all of that That's too much.
When did you stop doing that? I mean, two, three years ago, I think. Life much better? Yeah.
Not having to hear it? No, just drop out. Why do I need to hear a bunch of people who don't like me say what they think about me? Why do I care? Dude, yeah, I read that all the time.
It's a lot. It would be so cool not to read it.

Maybe I'll have enough will.

You can't make everybody happy.

There's always going to be somebody who's like, you know,

entire identity is like, oh, I hate this guy.

And it's just so strange to me.

Somebody.

I can understand like hating a sports team,

like the Penguins or something like that.

But, you know, like individual people.

Nobody hates the Penguins.

Except for maybe Ron Francis.

Okay, don't you even start talking about it. And if want to get into yarmul yarger ron francis mary lemieux can't rag it the entire crew back then okay tommy barasso goal used to stand on his damn head okay if you want to get into the greats we can certainly do that and if you want to get in the next iteration of our team we are are great then as well.
Blackhawks, you guys are good.

Oh!

The first monetary bet I made in my entire life was,

I think it was in the fifth grade,

whenever the Hawks and the Penguins were in the finals.

And I bet this kid five bucks.

I was like, the Hawks are going to win.

And we got swept.

Yeah, of course.

That's why I hate Ron Francis to this day for $5.

Ron Francis is a dog.

Ron Francis is an absolute dog.

All right, let's talk about Chicago sports.

Connor has a question for you.

Yeah, you probably didn't see it then, but when you were on Netflix on Christmas and you said that the Bears had to sell the team in order to turn it around,

that went huge.

Huge.

People loved it.

People were kind of singing your praises about it.

How do you feel now with Ben Johnson kind of at the helm?

He turned his back on Detroit, and now he's all in on Chicago.

Do you feel like the Bears are finally going to make a little run

And in your praises about it. How do you feel now with Ben Johnson kind of at the helm? He turns his back on Detroit and now he's all in on Chicago.
Do you feel like the Bears are finally going to make a little run at this thing with Caleb Williams? No. I feel like it's I feel like it's Groundhog Day.
We've been here before. Lovey Smith.
Oh, we're going to get this great coach. He's going to right the ship.
He's going to correct everything. No.
The Blackhawks in the 2010s were the model for all these teams that actually want to win. If you want to win, look at what the Hawks did.
Unfortunately, Bill Wurtz had to die for things to change, but you've got to get rid of the McCaskies. I'll buy the team.
I'll offer right now $100. Wow.
There we go. RG3 was doing something like this when Washington was up for sale.
I will buy the team, and I will be a responsible owner that doesn't care about where they play or what cut of the concessions we get, who owns the stadium. I just want to win.
That's kind of your thing. That your thing.
Yeah. What about doing right? You don't care about the bottom line.
Well, I'm a sports fan, and I'm a Chicago sports fan, so it's been a painful life and a painful existence. But it's just like you look at all these other sports franchises, the ones that just want to win, you win.
You know? Like, you do what it takes to win. And I understand there's politics, and people get involved and there's big money deals and all these things gotta get to go on but if you're an owner power yeah if you're an owner come on the bear the 85 bear should have been a dynasty and we weren't because of you know feelings and politics and and all that other bs and like do you think because you're from chicago it has helped create you as the guy who uh is going to be the one that's going to say something when nobody else will say something why do you think i mean i definitely think i'm a product of my environment so that probably has something to do with it and just in my in my in my my old age i've just tried to bite my tongue a little bit more why just because i i just i still you don't need to fight every war i't need to fight every war? I don't want to deal with people, I think.

I don't want to engage.

No reason to fight everything. No, you tell me

4 plus 4 equals 5.

I'll just go, yeah.

You're right. Fair.
I mean, I don't know how you got there.

Just cross you off the Christmas list.

Those guys are dipshit.

Ty has a question for you. Going back to

the Rumble, so you've obviously been to

damn near every arena

all over the world. Been in front of huge

Thank you. Going back to the Rumble, so you've obviously been to damn near every arena all over the world, been in front of huge crowds, but they're saying there's potentially going to be 70,000 plus out there, biggest Rumble ever.
When you come down that ramp, how much can you feel that? Is that palpable? Will you know right away, holy shit, this is a really hot crowd. I'm not used to this like it's it's like if you're in a building that has 10 000 people or you're in a building that has 15 000 people uh you might not be able to tell but like it's so exponentially bigger 70 000 people that's a lot of human beings yeah you know that's a lot of hot dogs that's a lot of It's just, it gets, it gets pretty crazy.
And the first time I ever experienced something like that was like at a WrestleMania. And now we're packing 70,000 people in for a rumble.
It's pretty impressive. Well, that's why you say, look in my eyes.
What do you see? I'm a cult of personality I feel like I'm blushing So when you were riding over here is that the only song you listened to? When you do Spotify wrapped your number one song called to personality I don't have Spotify so I can't do a Spotify wrapped thing Apple? You do Apple music music i have apple music but i also still have a an ipod and it just has one song no it's got a lot of songs it's got it's got a plethora of stuff i actually it's an old old ipod and i shattered it it was destroyed it looked like it got run over by a car and i remember i was was in Chicago, and I walked down the street, and there was a place that said, like, we repair whatever. Oh, yeah.
Iphones. Cracked screens.
Yeah, and I walked in there, and I threw it on the counter. He goes, is there anything you can do? And the guy looks at me, and he goes, I can't fix that.
And then he looks up at me, and he goes, are you CM Punk? I was like, yeah. And then he just picks it up, and he goes, give me two weeks.
And I said, all right. And he fixed it.
Hey, I said anything for CM Punk. It's the only time me getting recognized actually led to something like positive.
When you were away from the business. Yeah.
Okay. Were you still getting recognized everywhere? Yeah.
You were still every moment of your life. And how long has it been that everywhere you go, at least one or multiple people know you? And how do you deal with it? Like how often do I get spotted? No, everybody knows you.
How long has it been that everywhere you go, people know you? And how do you deal with it? Do you talk to people? What is your kind of... Every single interaction is its own little special universe.
It all depends all it all depends like if i'm at an airport chances are uh unless you're super polite like you're not gonna be able to get my attention because my job is to i'm trying to get somewhere you know what i mean yeah like glasses headphones no i just ear just the earbuds you know hat whatever i i hair looks very good. Clean.
My hair plugs are holding up. That's what they're saying on the internet? I think so, yeah.
I think it looks good. I think it looks very good.
I'm the greatest professional wrestler of all time. I've made people so angry that I've tricked them into thinking I got fake hair or something like that.
You are the best the world the best in the world maybe that is a part of the gimmick uh i love seeing people um i love great fan interactions that a lot of the times the best ones are just like walking down the street and somebody's like yo punk big fan fist bump like that's amazing to me like but if i'm walking my dog i have learned to i have to set boundaries like you know because my dog's gonna try to bite you if you get close to me yeah and people yeah like people you know people get wild in the streets but i get it too like i just met tina fay for the first time the other day you know what i mean like i was just like so thrilled and i was just thinking i'm gonna be murdered by my wife if i go home and i tell her like yeah i was in a room with tina fy and i didn't say anything you know so i i like you know hunch my shoulders and i try to look smaller than i am and i walk over and i was like excuse me it's tina fey i'm a really big fan and you know and she was nice as pie it was great so you marked out a little bit oh 100 why yeah why wouldn't you absolutely you don't have too much ego to mark out for tina fey and i i will be very contrarian now and i'll say like fans if you see people like yeah you have to i understand like you have to take your shot but like also like if you recognize that situation we're in like oh he's over there eating like maybe we shouldn't read the room yeah you know what i mean yeah so when you look back on your career any uh obviously everybody thinks about the pipe bomb being the big moment. Do you have a favorite Mount Rushmore moments of CM Punk's career? Do you think about that ever? Do you do a lot of reminiscing on everything you've accomplished? Because you said, greatest professional wrestler of all time, best in the world.
They changed your name for 10 years whenever you weren't around for good reason. You've been there, done that with a lot of things.
Do you have many moments you look back on or are you in the moment move forward? No, I've been super fortunate to have this long career. I think there's a lot of, even some of my devote fans don't realize how long I've been around, how long I've been doing this.
So it's always cool to see you've made a new fan by coming back, But then there's people who, you know, talk about this. And, like, to me, my favorite moments are the ones that most people have probably never seen.
They probably never will see. As far as stuff that's been, like, on TV and with WWE.
Wait, you're talking house shows and behind the scenes? Just house show stuff. Stuff when I was on the indies.
Like to work with uh like legends like terry funk uh eddie guerrero um tracy smothers like all the people that wound up being so nice to me when i thought that they were just you know like not necessarily they're going to be dicks to me or anything like that but just like they didn't have to be as gracious to me as they were you know like so like, like, that, I guess, kind of being accepted by, like, this group of old-school guys. Like, Dusty always loved me.
Harley Race loved me. I could tell stories about being on Harley's boat.
Like, it might actually get us kicked off ESPN. No, no, we're on the internet.
We've pushed it already. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We've attempted to do it all. So you think as you were breaking in, as you were coming up, all the OGs welcoming you into their world and their fraternity was a massive piece for you? Oh, that's the biggest.
That's the coolest thing I've ever done. Because when I was a kid, 1993, my first year of high school, I tried out for the football team.
I tried out for the wrestling team because I knew I wanted to do something. I just didn't know what it was.
And both times, like I made the teams, but it was still very much like a jocks versus punk rockers kind of situation where I was from. And I had like a purple Liberty Spike mohawk.
And the coach was like, you got to cut your hair. And I was like, I will fuck you.
Punk rock. Yeah, I was much more interested in being the opinionated punk rock kid i was like i can't cut my hair you know like you know and all the jocks would you know call me yeah names and sure some hard f's you know yeah we've been around sure so it was it was always i i just kind of always like assumed that like that's the way everything was gonna go like this weird odd punk rock kid with a big mouth wasn't gonna get accepted into this you know this man's world yeah well they love you i was pleasantly surprised yeah it's well it's because you had talent i had to fight a little bit you know but it all worked out yeah talent kid i assume is what, and you still do at this age.
How many years are we into the business, though? I don't know. Do you count when I left? I don't know.
Sure. Let's just say from when it started.
God, I mean, I'm going to write a book someday, and I don't know when. I'm just going to tell the story.
So, like, in 93, I started rolling around in backyards with my friends. Trampolines? No.
No trampoline. No, we weren't that smart.
We also weren't that rich. We had no trampoline.
We just used the ground. And then we would maybe, one year, we borrowed some materials from various construction sites in and around Chicagoland area and built a ring, you know, and at about 90, like 96, 97, 97, I, I, I went and I think we bought a wrestling ring, bought like an old wrestling from some guy in Texas, you know, it's just, and started running shows.
And we were very, we were very outlaw as our friend Jim Cornette would say. And I think around like 98, 99, I went and I was introduced that there was a wrestling school.
And I was like, oh, you actually have to learn how to do this? Yeah. Interesting.
Oh, the ring together. Yeah, it was shocking to me because it's not like there's a pro wrestling program in school.
There's football. There's wrestling.
There's all kinds of sports. But yeah, and then the rest is history.
They beat the crap out of me for being a backyard kid, and I earned my stripes. So it was like your whole life pretty much that you've been doing this, at least since you have.
It makes me feel old, man. Adult memories.
But then you disappear. How many times did you just want to get back in the ring? I assume that's a real thing that happened you weren't around when i when i was out no i was out and i was out there was no like yearning or missing no no no like uh because of how it ended i think definitely because of how it ended it just really didn't seem like there was even an avenue and i'm a guy that's not going to dwell on you know anything from the past i'm just going to keep and that's what I did.
Okay. I didn't know if there was a CM Punk chant that happened, and you're like, man, it would be nice to maybe get back in there.
Dude, my wife would wrestle on TV. She was at the company for, like, a year after I left, and, like, I think sometimes me and her probably got into arguments because she was maybe a little bit mad that that was going on.

But I get it.

I get it.

Speaking of your wife, hot topic for the Royal Rumble weekend.

You've been dropping clues.

No, there's no clues.

No, I've heard them.

I've heard them all.

You said big surprise.

That's what you said.

That's not what I said.

Yeah, I heard words.

That is not what I said.

Oh, huge surprise. Only me and a couple people know.
Wait, wait, wait. You're a liar.
You's what you said. That's not what I said.
Yeah, I heard words. That is not what I said.
Oh, huge surprise.

Only me and a couple people.

No.

You're a liar.

You're all liars.

No.

I heard that's what you said.

You never know who's going to show up.

Huh?

No.

The Royal Rumble.

Look out, Lucas Oil.

Huh?

Could be significant.

Others are people.

On a Saturday, maybe?

Huh? She's at home watching Larry. Chicago's very close.
Today's Friday, though. Yeah.
Rumble's on one day. Saturday.
Three-hour drive. Uh-huh.
52-minute flight. 70,000 people.
Hey, how are you getting to Cleveland on Monday? Flying. Okay.
You want to come with? Yeah. Huh? I do.
It'll be after the program, so it'll be a little later in the afternoon. Oh, I might have an earlier call time than you.
I'm not fancy. I don't get to walk in late.
I don't walk in. I walk in right on time.
Right on time. Perfect time.
Every time. Every time.
Yeah, Michael Cole is going to be traveling with me on Monday. Oh, man.
We can't have a show without you two.

You guys better get there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I agree.

We will.

We're going to try.

We're going to try to get up to the crew.

Who are we going to put on?

You.

Oh.

You'd be a great commentator.

Not again.

You would miss.

I'd be fired within the first 90 minutes.

No.

Yeah.

You get promoted.

Oh, well, maybe.

Michael Cole might get fired.

Like one of those promotions.

Like, we're going to send you over to the New York firm because you've caused too much

heat here in LA.

We're going to give you a raise and we're going to shuffle you over here.

Hey,

Thank you. Oh, well, maybe.
Michael Cole might get fired. Like one of those promotions, like, we're going to send you over to the New York firm because you've caused too much heat here in L.A.
We're going to give you a raise and we're going to shuffle you over here. AJ has a question from Ohio.
He's been eagerly wanting to ask. Yes.
Yeah, I got a question about the Rumble. So yesterday, Sheamus was actually sitting in your seat.
And Pat tried to give him some advice. He said, what if you laid face first and just kind of held on to the turnbuckle? Do you think they may not even see you and possibly all of a sudden you stand up and it's, it's you and one other person you get to battle.
I didn't think you would be disguising yourself. I just said, if you're laying down and then holding onto the bottom rope, that feels like a good idea.
I think it might be a good idea for anybody, but Seamus because he's so white. Like you're, you know, like you, I mean, do you think you're going to just going to be invisible? No, I didn't.
He No, he added the camouflage. I said you're going to be seen.
No problem at all. You're willing to take it and you're just laying on the ground and you're around that bottom rope just like this.
When you get in, why don't you try that and we'll see how it goes. Me? You're getting in? I don't know about that, Mr.
Punk. Or I feel like maybe don't give this advice to, like, you know, I don't know.
I don't know who's in the Rumble, but say, like, say Tyrese Halliburton isn't, you know, because that'd be something, right? Yeah, what if he did go in there? That'd be sick. Hold on.
He'd be getting a phone call from Adam Silver, wouldn't he? Yeah, middle of the season. They've got a game at 5 o'clock tomorrow.
Do they really? Yeah, 5 o'clock. So he can make it.
Yeah, well, that's the – Ooh, buddy. Depending upon how the show is set up, none of us know, obviously.
Nobody knows what matches or when. But, yeah, there's a whole – there's a lot going on in that.
Moving pieces. Fade the Pacers tomorrow.
What? Yeah, without a doubt. Hawks are going to win by 20 because all Halliburton is going to be thinking of is he's going to be real rumbling in his head.
Yeah, bingo. No, he's going to be trying to get that game over with quicker.
So he's going to hang maybe 50 in the first half, so we got to run a clock in the second half. Too many timeouts.
See, that's a good point. I'll take his under instead of the Hawks.
No, he's going over. Because if he keeps missing, that clock keeps rolling.

No, he's going to make every shot.

I don't know.

And then he's going to go in there and he's going to hang on to the bottom rope.

And when somebody does it, I want to let you know, we told you.

We told you about the idea.

You want to go to main event WrestleMania or not?

Hang on to that bottom rope.

I mean, it'll probably work for a little bit. And then you're just going to get stomped in the face.

So what?

You go unconscious.

What, are they going to lift your carcass up?

Yeah.

Yeah, they will, actually.

Yeah, they will.

That could happen.

All right.

Final, like, tonight.

Yeah.

What will be?

What is tonight?

Today is Smackdown, right?

Yeah, Friday is Smackdown.

Going to be great.

I'm shot.

I flew in on a red eye, and I'm just, you know.

A brother.

Me, too. I haven't had my coffee yet today.
You want this one? You want a Mountain Dew? We got some Mountain Dew. No, man.
No, thank you. Sure.
Alright. I'm good.
We got Diet Dew too. It's a Dew Zero.
And did you see that we have four palettes of Gatorade Glacier Free Zero, if you want it on the way out. That stuff's delicious.
That is the best, yeah. Showed up an 18-wheeler.
Do you want an ice cold real American beer? That's right. I certainly do not.
That's certainly a bad call. That's in the back row back there.
I was like, what's the voice of God? Why would you ask me that? Well, because we heard what you said. Wake you up quick.
It's not the he's straight edge thing that we're going to offer him a beer. It's just because we got some weed too, don't we? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Big no to that too. We don't have it, by the way.
It's Indiana. We would never have that.
Just joking. That was just a skunk outside that I smelled.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of skunks here in Indiana.
Skunks back again. You said if Hulk Hogan got his old ass in the Rumble, you'd throw his dusty ass over the top rope.
Tonight, when you go to bed, the night before the Royal Rumble, you win the Royal Rumble, main event at WrestleMania, I know that is something that everybody holds over CM Punk's. Yeah.
They really do. Tonight, what is the last thoughts? And then whenever you're heading in, walking down the ramp to join the Royal Rumble, what will you be thinking? What will you be saying? So Rumble is, what, the 1st of February.
That is going to be exactly 365 days from my surgery on my elbow. So I'm going to be thinking a lot about that.
Try not to dwell on it because, you know, I don't want to live in that negative headspace. Because anything can go wrong at any time, youlight could fall on me right now.
It could be all over with. Oh, good.
Yeah, I look... Why'd you like that? It's on my list of fears.
See, now you're paranoid because of all the skunks now. It's okay.
No, no. It calms me down, actually, the skunks.
Every time I lace up my boots and I'm in front of a crowd, even if it's just like you know microphone i got my hokas on or some jordans or whatever like i am so beyond like i'm overly to like a cheesy point like so grateful for every single experience you know getting to come back uh and kind of proving myself right this last year and just doing box office stuff and having fun while doing it uh i'm on top of the world so like you know when i'm when i'm walking into the rumble like i feel like i'm the luckiest kid in the world you know that's that's what's going to be going through my head in there and then when i get in there i'm just gonna start punching people in the face and throw them all over the top rope and oh Hell yeah It's going to be going through my head in there. And then when I get in there, I'm just going to start punching people in the face and throw them all over the top rope.

It's going to be fun.

Yeah, and attitude of gratitude is a beautiful thing.

And then when we get in the ring, maybe you say,

Look in my eyes.

What do you see?

AJ's the only one not singing.

Well, that's the problem.

He doesn't participate?

No, never.

He doesn't, Mr. Cump.
He'll be like, oh, well, there's a lag in between. Bingo! That is what he said.
We knew you were smart. We knew you were smart, punk.
There is a little bit of a delay. I would ruin the whole thing.
No. That's his excuse every time.
I think when it comes to singing, it might be right. No, he's not.
He just doesn't want to participate. Wiz Khalifa told him, put his hands up.
Put your hands up. He was two feet away from him.
And he looked at Wiz Khalifa and he said, how about this? Hands in his pocket. Everybody else in there is doing one of these.
He says, I'm not your puppet. That's what he says.
That's why he's a big CM Punk fan. You got to respect that.
We have one of your biggest fans here, actually. He's a 355-pound D3 national champion.
D-Bone! He looks good. He's been doing5 pound D3 national champion.

D-Bone!

He looks good. He's been doing the Celtic workouts.

355? Yeah, he's been... Boom!

He's here.

Did you get a chance to say hello to Mr. Bunker?

I met him when I walked in.

Did he mark out?

I don't think so.

When he found out you were going to be on the show,

he got a little bit of a zipper burn. He's tucking it right now.
You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Do you have any words of advice for CM Punk, the man that you would like to see win the Royal Rumble tomorrow? No, man.
Just go kick some ass. Do what you do.
That's right. I'll do the best I can.
That's all I can. As a D3 national champion football player.
For where? North Central College in Naperville. Okay.
Biggest scene of Mark in the world. You did say, really? Okay.
Well, so there's a little bit of a conflicting thing here. CM Punk.
Look in my eyes. What do you see? But he will every once in a while.
You can't see me. So, like, that's the thing.
Do, do, do, do. Ba, ba, da so like that's the thing how do you feel about mr cena uh i love the death i'm uh i feel spoiled that i get to witness uh whatever whatever journey he's about to embark on i think it's exciting i selfishly am looking forward to Saturday.
Hopefully there's a moment where me and him can have a moment. There's so many guys, so many bodies.
I don't know if it's in the cards, but we'll see. You did a wink-wink nod to him two weeks ago maybe during a promo, or three weeks ago during a promo about him having his last time his down, his run, and who he's going to go with and yada, yada, yada yada everything like that the world obviously exploded just at the thought of it he certainly oh yeah he exploded just even thinking about it all over he's special though man there's a lot of those guys you're obviously talked about in that same air as those legends and i assume you don't view yourself as that there's a lot of legends in the wwe right now and obviously it's at an all-time high cena coming back rock coming back obviously you guys had a moment at the Vegas press conference last year, which I enjoyed.
I mean, you talk about legends. You talk about me being just stoked at where I'm at and just grateful and enjoying myself.
It was Raw. Was it Raw? I think it was Raw.
Where were we at Monday? We were in Atlanta. Yes, we were in Atlanta.
And I remember I walked into one of the locker rooms or something like that, and there's Ray Mysterio. Yeah.
You know what I mean? Every time I see Ray, it could be like an old guy thing. Because every time I see Ray or every time I see Truth in the hallway, we all just look at each other and we just grab each other and just give each other a big hug.
Like, hey, man, look at us can you believe this because i've known those guys not just doing it i mean yeah i think i wrestled i wrestled ray 2001 i mean i've known him a quarter of a century you know i truth same thing like you know i knew him when i was doing wednesday night tna pay-per-views at nashville fairgrounds like so there's there's a bunch of us that of us that it's cool to look around and kind of go, hey, man, look at us. We're still here.
We're still doing it too. Yeah, absolutely.
And you talked about you created your own promotion there in Chicago in high school as a punk rock kid. You had some Ring of Honor times.
Obviously, you just mentioned TNA there. We don't have to get into the drama you know, the drama at the elite place, but how do you feel about TNA, WWE working together? It feels like the forbidden door that there had been for a long time is much more open now with Mr.
H in charge, I think. Is it for the good of wrestling? I think he's receptive to other people's ideas.
Whereas maybe, you know, Vince wasn't. He was like, I like i'm the boss we're doing this and this is how we're doing it and that's great like yeah i if you run a company you need somebody who is the the yes and no man and the final say but i i think triple h thinks he's surrounded and oftentimes is by a lot of really really genius wrestling minds and if he has an idea or see something one way like he'll look at michael hayes and be like what do you think legend he'll turn and oh yeah the boys are look at paul hayman you know like and these are people who have bona fide resumes they have literally done everything you possibly could do and in in the sport and the i think their voices should be heard not a not a lot of time you know everybody's gonna have this dynamite idea but i think the best the best idea always wins in today's wwe yeah i think it's awesome everybody's happy too yeah feels like the vibes are immaculate yeah i hate i actually don't like talking about that and i like because it sounds stupid to say well it just sounds like bullshit it sounds like it because it's the same because i've been in situations where everyone's like oh everybody's happy here this is great and i'm like and then you're choking people you guys are are a cult.
Like, what are you talking about? Like, everybody hates everybody.

Like,

it's just super clicky.

Like,

so,

you know,

and also like,

I'm very,

I try to set the boundaries of like,

this is work.

It is a job.

It is a corporation.

So,

you know,

but I,

I can't,

I can't lie.

I come to work and I'm stoked every day to see everybody.

You're not the only one.

Stoked to see you on every Monday,

you know,

like it's,

it's great.

I show up on time.

Yeah.

Sure you do.

Yeah.

I love it. and I'm stoked every day to see everybody.
You're not the only one. Stoked to see you on every Monday.
It's great. I show up on time.
I'm sure you do. Yeah, I'm always there early.
It is great to see you every time because I'm amongst legends. You talk about Rey Mysterio.
The first time I went into TVL and Rey Mysterio was getting changed in there, I was like, oh, I should get out of here. And he's like, no, no, no, all good.
And I'm like sitting two lockers down from Rey Mysterio it's like man i got a thousand questions right now you should ask him i did well yeah it's all it always starts with like one like hey you remember when brock like just did the he goes

yeah the funny thing about that and he'll get into like a full on and it's like oh he doesn't

mind at all like the ogs don't mind sharing the game at all and you talk about those genius minds

you mentioned paul hayman you're one of the first paul hayman guys i believe the first paul hayman

I'm going to go labeled it. Yeah.
I mean, there was amazing Paul Heyman guys before, you know. ECW, obviously.
For my mouth, you know, like labeled it and gave him a bunch of merchandise money. Sounds like you're pumped about it.
It sounds like you're pumped about it. I never got my cut.
It's okay. We'll figure that out.
The wise man will figure it out. I'm a giving...
He owes you? No. No, he does, doesn't he? No.
Oh, he doesn't? No, Paul doesn't owe me anything. Well, aside from the shirts, but in...
He definitely owes you. Oh, the favor? Yeah, I suppose.
Oh, yeah.

We don't got to get into it, though.

I'm all about good public pressure.

I'm a mouthpiece if you want me to go ahead and apply a little pressure.

I won't fold.

Let's go all in, then. Don't fold.

Don't get bluffed, either.

He owes you. Don't ever forget it.

I won't let you forget it.

Paul Heyman owes you. Now, I do acknowledge my tribal chief.
Good for you. As we all should.
Do you? Do I? No. Oh, shit.
What are you talking about? We acknowledge our tribal chief. I'll just do one of these.
Oh, jeez. Okay.
He didn't acknowledge. acknowledge let the record state he did not acknowledge our tribal chief which was expected but would have been a nice little pleasant surprise here on Royal Rumble Eve dangerous if you would have maybe put that one to the sky Paul Heyman owes you don't ever forget it and speaking of Owen we owe you for making a stop all the way out here especially on such a busy busy weekend after a red eye, before the biggest day of your life tomorrow.
Woo! Yeah. Yeah.
Biggest day of my life. Yeah.
Well, I mean, second to marrying my wife. I don't think anything else really compares to that, but, you know.
That's greatest day. Biggest match of my life.
Greatest day of your life. It's the biggest match of my life.
Biggest match of your life. Yeah.
Biggest Royal Rumble. That's the cool thing about where I'm at right now is like every match is the biggest match of my life.
Yeah. It's super neat.
But definitely tomorrow. Yeah.
100%. Alright.
We'll talk about it. Thank you so much for joining.
Good luck tomorrow. Hell yeah.
Go get them. Luck is for losers, boys.
What's that? Luck is for losers. Love that.
Hell yeah, punk. You're so punk rock, dude.
Oh, come on now. Hey, just real quick.
Look in my eyes.

What do you see?

Delay kills it.

You know that.

AJ?

I can't with the delay.

You know that.

Yeah, that's what he's waiting for.

AJ wished Cena was on the show instead of me. No, no.
Bob Backlund, actually. Yeah.
Bob Backlund's my guy. Eugene, maybe.
Nice. Yeah, he loves him.
Either one, yeah. Well, he's just a hop, skip, and a jump from here, isn't he? Bob Backlund? Eugene.
I think so. He's everywhere.
Yeah, I think he's everywhere. He's around here somewhere.
Yeah, he always will be. Don't even get a build on Gilbert.
Maybe, I don't know. All right.
We're going to get the hell out of here as well as we let CM Punk continue to prepare for the biggest match of his life at the biggest Royal Rumble of all time, which kicks off tomorrow at 6pm Eastern live from the beautiful city of Indianapolis, Indiana at the Loud House, Lucas Oil Stadium. From myself, AJ, all the boys in the back, and to Nick, happy birthday, buddy.
Happy birthday, Nick. Thank you.
Is that today? How old are we, Nick? Tomorrow. 39.
39. Wow.
Do you remember 39? Yeah, I haven't been there yet, but I know it looks like I have been. Thanks, CM Punk.
Maybe I should live a little more straight edge, you know, so I don't age like milk birthday nick it's an honor to you know experience life alongside you and you become a phenomenal dad a great husband and on the ones and twos back there so damn good we appreciate you happy birthday buddy thank you appreciate that greatly phil how about cm punk just happy birthday that was huge thank you mr punk you missed 38 of his birthdays'd like to. Yeah, well, I mean, what do you want? 39 chops? What do we do? Okay.
Get your ass out of here, dude. Maybe.
Haven't even thought of that. Get your ass beat for your 39th birthday.
Get Sheamus back here, and we'll have Sheamus. Sheamus comes in and does the whole headlock thing.
He did a number, yeah. He's a stiff prick, yeah.
Yeah, there's guys you know going in like, hey, this one's going to be a banger. Is he at the top of one of those? Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, I think so. You got JBL'd? Oh, yeah.
Nightly for, I don't know, like six months straight, yeah. Yeah, there's people like as a fan that I've watched, I'd be like, if I'm ever lucky enough to become a freshman wrestler and I get into the WWE, I'm going to try to steer clear of that particular human.
You can't avoid it. Yeah.
It's going to happen. Yeah.
That's why I don't get in there. Yeah, every once in a while I'll get in there and I realize, wow, this really hurts all of it.
That's the secret. That is the secret of Terry Funk's punches.
I found out the first time I ever wrestled him. You watch Terry Funk, you're like, man, these guys punches.
It's a work of art. And then he punches you in the face and you're like, oh.
Oh, it's a real point. That's why they look so good.
Got it. All right.
Well, we're going to get out of here. Again, we're leaving.
Again. We are.
You got anything to say? Yeah, I got nothing to say. I got to head over to, I don't know, Fanatics Fest or something.
I'm shaking babies and taking pictures and smiling. I don't think you should shake babies.

Oh, yeah, sorry.

Kissing babies.

You know what?

I don't want to do that either.

A lot of sickness is going around.

Be careful.

Maybe you should just, whenever they show up,

you should just say,

Look in my eyes. What do you see? I'll see you in the Royal Rumble.
I'm not in it, brother. Yeah, you are.
Well, is your wife? My wife? Is your wife in the Royal Rumble? Why would my wife be in the Men's Royal Rumble? That's ridiculous.. Oh, wow.
That's absolutely ridiculous. Don't be giving anything away, please.
It's ridiculous. Not on this show.
We don't like it. Grow up, guys.
All of you. All right.
Be your friend. Tell a friend something nice.
It might change their life. Have an incredible weekend.
Royal Rumble tomorrow. Kickoff show for the entire weekend starts at 5 o'clock.
Then SmackDown. Then we got the Pro Bowl games on Sunday.
Yes! It's a massive weekend of sport, and this is going to be awesome. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living.
We're going to try to enjoy it all. Be a friend.
Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life.
We're in this thing together. Team on me.
I like that. Hell yeah.
Any final thoughts? It's kind of jockey if you want to speak to the group here every day above ground is a good day

boom team on three one two three team goodbye