NFL Season Preview, Ashton Kutcher on the Bears, Coaching High School Football, and Dennis Green's Legendary Rant

Speaker 2 At blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments. It's about you, your style, your space, your way.

Speaker 2 Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right.

Speaker 2 From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows. Because at blinds.com, the only thing we treat better than windows is you.

Speaker 2 Black Friday deals are going on all month long. Save up to 45% off site-wide, plus an additional 10% off every order right now at blinds.com.

Speaker 1 Rules and restrictions apply.

Speaker 3 If the Jets make the Super Bowl, you have to wear a

Speaker 3 Philadelphia 76ers jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Speaker 1 Are you trying to get me killed?

Speaker 3 Are you trying to get me assassinated?

Speaker 3 You have to wear a Jets.

Speaker 3 You have courtside tickets. All right.
We know that. You have to wear a Jets jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Speaker 1 Matt, you are not taking this podcast where I thought you were. You're getting what you're playing like, this is like blood oaths broken.
What are you trying to do to me?

Speaker 1 Welcome, everybody. It's Throwbacks with Matt Leiner and Jerry Farrar.
It's week one in the NFL, but it's also week one for us. It is our first.

Speaker 3 Congratulations. Let's go.
Congratulations.

Speaker 1 I hope we go 1-0 after this episode.

Speaker 3 It's a win.

Speaker 1 I think it might be.

Speaker 1 I think we're heavily favored. But Matt, week one in the NFL coming up.
How are you feeling overall? Are you ready to get this going? Because this show is packed today.

Speaker 3 You know what? This time of year,

Speaker 3 it's like when December first hits for Christmas with kids, it's like the house is already decorated. It's just like you can't wait for the season to get, you can't wait for Christmas morning.

Speaker 3 I feel like that's every man in America when August first hits and it's preseason. We cannot wait for week one.
College football's here already, week one of the NFL.

Speaker 3 It is is like, it's like Christmas now every weekend, man. So I'm fired up.
And it's the best time of year. Fall is the best time of the year.

Speaker 1 It is. It is the best time of year.
And look, we do have a great guest lined up for you week one.

Speaker 1 I'm going to, you know, you know him from a lot of different things, but that's not really why we're having him on the show. But you know him from that 70 show.
You know him from two and a half men.

Speaker 1 You know him from a ton of movies. He's an amazing investor, but he's a big-time NFL football fan and a big Chicago Bears fan.
Joining us in a little while is going to be Ashton Kutcher, everybody.

Speaker 3 Which is awesome, by the way. And I don't know who's a bigger, a bigger fan of you or the Giants and him with the Bears.
Like, two

Speaker 3 die-hard, weirdly, just creepily fans, dude. I just still don't understand it.
I'm excited to talk to him and see.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it was one of those where I've heard him speak NFL before, and he walks the walk.

Speaker 3 It's not like it's not fake fandom.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he knows his stuff. So he's going to be coming up in a little while.
But yeah, I do agree with you. I feel like this time of year, it is the best.

Speaker 1 Now, my football watching habits have changed over the years since having kids. I don't know how much yours.

Speaker 3 I was going to say, how are you gearing up, man? Just game day. It's a little different, right? Wife, kids.

Speaker 1 Well, there has been a trade early in the NFL season. Here's what I had to trade off.
Okay. Now, obviously, we love watching sports.

Speaker 1 Part of the reason why I do this podcast is it's a great excuse to talk sports with you. But here's what I offered my wife, and she took the trade right away.
I said,

Speaker 1 I need to watch this late. The night, the eight o'clock game is what it is.
I'll get to, I'll watch it when I can. I'll watch it the next morning.
But for the one and four o'clock, I need some quiet.

Speaker 1 I need to watch. You take the kids out of the house for a little while.
In return, I do meal prep while watching football for the entire week. Meaning, I'm going to set up with the TV.

Speaker 1 I have a good view from the kitchen to the living room. I also have the laptop.
I'm going to be chopping up veggies. I'm going to be prepping some chicken.

Speaker 1 I will do all the meal prep while watching football and making notes for six hours. And she immediately took that trade.

Speaker 3 And the wife and kids are out of the house.

Speaker 1 For most of it.

Speaker 1 I can't say six hours.

Speaker 1 Seven hours, they'll be gone. But they're doing a lot of winning.

Speaker 3 You're absolutely winning.

Speaker 1 I'm just chopping up carrots. I'm chopping up celery.
I'm marinating some chicken, watching football, and then they will return at some point.

Speaker 3 So that's a big trade. I think, that's a great trade, by the way.
You won that trade. I think if I proposed that to my wife,

Speaker 3 she would look at me the way she looks at me sometimes when she gets mad. And I would just go right back to playing in the game room with the boys.
I don't know.

Speaker 3 I won't get six hours. And I travel a lot on the weekends with college football and stuff.
So like Sunday is the day and I get that. But I'm also not, you know, I'm not like, I don't have a team.

Speaker 3 I just enjoy watching throughout the day. But now that we have this, that actually, that's a good idea.
Maybe I'll propose a trade. I'm going to think about it.

Speaker 1 Propose a trade. And we do have some fun ways we're going to kind of go into this NFL weekend.
We're not just going to do some picks. We have some fun little topics to go.

Speaker 1 And also, I will say, you're on the West Coast. I think about this every year going into week one.
West Coast football watching, meaning like the time zone, there's nothing like it.

Speaker 3 I'm an East East.

Speaker 1 Look, East Coast watching is great when you're a teenager.

Speaker 1 It's great to wake up, go play a little tackle football with your friends in the morning or two-and-touch or whatever, and then get home for the one o'clock games.

Speaker 1 But as a parent, the 10 a.m., oh, that's so nice.

Speaker 3 It's perfect. Monday, I have a little bit.
of a Sunday morning semi-ritual game day. I 10 a.m., it starts, which is amazing.

Speaker 3 So right the morning, we're already up for three hours with the boys, breakfast. Sunday is kind of like,

Speaker 3 we do chill. Like it's a relaxing day.
Daddy's home from the weekend, kind of whatever we want to do. We do park, whatever.
But 10 a.m.

Speaker 3 is my, that's my, that's 10 to 11 is kind of like my fantasy football Peloton. I ride the Peloton kind of 45 minutes right here in my little man cave that I got.

Speaker 3 So then like I'm working out because I like she knows health for me. Like when I feel good, I have to work out.
I have to sweat on a Sunday.

Speaker 3 I ride the Peloton for about 45 minutes, which is long, but I keep it on that way on purpose.

Speaker 3 And so I get the first hour of the day scrolling through 19 of my fantasy football teams and it is glorious. It is a glorious hour.
After that, it's all downhill.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 3 the point to your

Speaker 3 thing, Monday night football, it's amazing. It's like 520, right? Usually like a 5.15 or 8.15.
It's the best. Like we're sitting there,

Speaker 3 we're eating dinner, watching the game. So it's like, I always tell my wife, like, this is a family outing.
Like we're watching Monday night football, eating dinner. The boys are excited.

Speaker 3 Like, it's great.

Speaker 1 I got to get the kids to bed, hopefully before nine o'clock. And then I'm playing a little catch up.
And by the time it hits halftime, I really have to, I almost make a pot of coffee because

Speaker 3 it is rough. All right.

Speaker 1 Let's dive in, okay? And I know some of my giants may come up here. It does worry me a little bit, but we have a couple of good preview topics.
Oh, I will say last thing on the time zone thing.

Speaker 1 I did do a movie in Hawaii once.

Speaker 3 7 a.m. football?

Speaker 1 Not as great. Not like we could discount.
That's not what we're looking for. So West Coast, you're the early winner of the best time zone to watch football.
All right.

Speaker 1 I got a few quick hitters, or you could go deep if you want to, but I want to get right into it. Let's go.

Speaker 1 For you, looking at last year going into this year, what's the team or who is the team that is most likely to bounce back? from a down year last year.

Speaker 3 We're just getting off the right foot because I know you hate this team, but I'm going the New York Jets.

Speaker 3 I know. Seven and 10 a year ago, Aaron Rodgers goes down.
We know the story. Everybody's back on the hype train.
Healthy. If he's healthy, they're a playoff team, plain and simple.
So,

Speaker 3 and I wanted to propose this because

Speaker 3 I know these are quick hitters. If the Jets make the Super Bowl, you have to wear a

Speaker 3 Philadelphia 76ers jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Speaker 1 Are you trying to get me killed?

Speaker 3 Are you trying to get me assassinated?

Speaker 3 You have to wear a Jets.

Speaker 3 You have courtside tickets. All right.
We know that. You have to wear a Jets jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Speaker 1 Matt, you are not taking this podcast where I thought you would. You're getting what you're playing like.
This is like blood oaths broken. I mean, what are you trying to do to me?

Speaker 3 Listen, I want to give the guys what they want. The guys want, everybody wants to see Jerry Ferrara in a Jets jersey.
By the way, the chance you're going to be able to do that.

Speaker 3 You say make the Super Bowl or win? You said make? I just said make.

Speaker 1 How about they win the Super Bowl? I'll do that.

Speaker 3 No, they got to make the Super Bowl. Dude, making the Super Bowl is tough.
They got to go through Mahomes. All right.
All right. We can move on.

Speaker 3 We can get back to that later another time. You got players.

Speaker 1 You just rocked my whole world. I don't even know if I could complete the show, to be honest.

Speaker 1 So for me, I looked at it really where

Speaker 1 who are the really bad teams last year that are hopeful. I'm not saying they're going to necessarily make the playoffs, but will bounce back and be in good shape.

Speaker 3 It's the Arizona Cardinals for me.

Speaker 1 They were 4-13 last year. Kyler Murray missed most of the season.
It was really rough.

Speaker 1 I have Kyler bouncing back. I linked him with Trey McBride in fantasy.
I'm kind of all in on the Kyler comeback. I do like Gannon as a coach,

Speaker 3 but that's

Speaker 1 Marvin Harrison Jr. I do worry a little bit about their schedule, but I just think there's massive upgrades everywhere.
They were frisky even in losses last year.

Speaker 1 So for me, it's the Arizona Cardinals. I did have an honorable mention.
I looked at the Commanders schedule.

Speaker 1 They got some, I mean, they got the Bucs, they got the Titans, the Panthers, they get the Giants twice. So also don't sleep on the Commanders.
But for me, Arizona should bounce back. This next one,

Speaker 1 I feel like I'm putting myself in the crosshairs here. The quarterback most likely to lose his starting job during the season.
Matt, you know the quarterback position well.

Speaker 1 What says you on the quarterback most likely to lose their job?

Speaker 3 I was torn on this one.

Speaker 3 This was kind of the obvious one in the sense of it was a quarterback battle as Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in Pittsburgh. Although I am a believer, Russell Wilson's still pretty good, man.

Speaker 3 Like he had a really good year a year ago. Just it didn't mesh well with Sean Payton.
I just feel like the amount of pressure,

Speaker 3 if they're like 500 or they kind of get off to a slow start and the dynamic ability and Fields look pretty good in the preseason.

Speaker 3 It's just going to be too tough to keep him off the field for what they can do.

Speaker 3 He's in a better system. They obviously got some players around him.
So that would be mine, I think, just to kind of keep an eye, maybe like week five, week six, if they're, if they're below 500.

Speaker 3 How about you?

Speaker 1 Well, just going off real quick, too. I mean, I don't know what it's like for a quarterback playing, knowing that there's also a guy here that's brought into

Speaker 1 like, he's not just the backup. He's also a little bit insurance.
He's also a little bit maybe the future. So I am looking at that one.
For me, I have to call out my guy and I just have to.

Speaker 1 But if you're doing betting odds, he's like the lowest rated starting quarterback in Madden, which might not mean a lot to you, but you're talking about keeping your starting job.

Speaker 1 We know it's make or break for Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 And also, Drew Locke, I'm not saying Drew Locke was brought in to replace Daniel Jones, but I don't think people view Drew Locke and Daniel Jones as a major talent discrepancy.

Speaker 3 Listen, I'm all in on Danny Dimes. I know he had a rough preseason.

Speaker 3 Danny Dimes Island,

Speaker 3 lonely place.

Speaker 1 It's a lonely place. Lonely place.

Speaker 3 It's a lonely place, but it could get crowded quickly. Just, you know, listen, preseason is preseason.
Sometimes these guys can jump. This is the year.
This is the year. I think if we don't see

Speaker 3 improvement, Drew Locke, again, I don't know how much better Drew Locke is than Daniel Jones, but you paid Daniel Jones a whole hell of a lot of money.

Speaker 3 You draft Malik neighbors in the top 10 to give him.

Speaker 3 you know, a big time threat, even though he's a rookie. But then you lose Saquon.
So, like, I don't know. It's going to be interesting.

Speaker 1 We'll see. He needs neighbors to show up.
That's for sure. The question is, can he he get in the ball? We'll find out.
All right.

Speaker 1 This one's an interesting one. Who's the team that's most likely to disappoint you from their kind of off-season hype?

Speaker 3 For me, it's the Green Bay Packers.

Speaker 1 It's a good one.

Speaker 3 Listen, I mean, look,

Speaker 3 I like Jordan Love. They just paid him a,

Speaker 3 what, 50 something, 50 mill a year.

Speaker 3 They get Josh Jacobs. You know, like they lose Aaron Jones, get Josh Jacobs.
They have a really, actually, really good receiving core, young receiving core. I don't know.

Speaker 3 I just feel like sometimes when there's so much hype and Jets can kind of be the same way, there's so much hype around a team. They kind of had a good run last year.
Oh my gosh, they are going.

Speaker 3 I've been on teams like that. They are going to be Super Bowl or bust.
And then I've seen people having the Packers win the Super Bowl. I just, I don't know.

Speaker 3 It's, it's, it's a tough division this year, obviously. I think it's tougher with the Bears getting better.

Speaker 3 That would be my team just to kind of like pump the brakes on.

Speaker 1 I don't disagree. I, I've been kind of saying this on Twitter a little bit.
And if you haven't follow us yet on Twitter, it's at throwback show.

Speaker 1 Please give us a follow on all that, throwing that in before I go.

Speaker 1 But yeah, I've been on Twitter saying I don't know why we're crowning the Packers all of a sudden as like the second best team in the North and definitely going to make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 I like them, but my issue with the Packers is, all right, Jordan Love, I get it. Sure, Jacobs, the receiving core, although they were very, very banged up, the defense still has to be there.

Speaker 1 And I do think that division is way, way tougher. So, but for me, all right, this is not some hot take.
There's logic behind what I'm going to say. It's the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaker 1 Now, when I say disappoint, they're still making the playoffs. They're still probably going to be in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 Maybe even the AFC Championship game is like their worst case scenario. But for the regular season, I don't know how you get up week in, week out for the regular season.
You're back-to-back champs.

Speaker 1 You're basically going. It's Super Bowl, really, or a disappointment.
So for me, in the regular season, I looked at their schedule.

Speaker 1 They get the Ravens this year, they get the Bengals, Niners, Bills, Browns, Texans, Steelers. And I know their division should be favorable.
There's some wins to be had.

Speaker 1 So, if I told you, like, the Chiefs kind of struggle and get to their 10 wins and are the three seed or whatever, four seed, that's kind of a disappointment for what their expectations are.

Speaker 1 I don't know if I'm penciling in the Chiefs for 13 wins, like a lot of people are.

Speaker 3 I mean, if they stay healthy, that's probably like that's like the number, right? 12 or 13 wins. I mean, that

Speaker 3 I just,

Speaker 3 uh, Bill Belichick did this in New England, and, you know, like my Dodgers kind of do it in baseball.

Speaker 3 It's like, you know, obviously they haven't won all the championships, but like those teams, man, that can sustain that type of success, especially in the NFL, because battle of attrition, injuries, the parity, all of these things.

Speaker 3 Like,

Speaker 3 to me, if I'm watching them like, all right, if they win 11 games, they lose in a divisional playoff round. I understand what you're saying.
I get it because the expectation is high.

Speaker 3 I'm still like, dude, that's like this team is still a dynasty. Like they could lose a season or two and then get back, you know? So like, and that's just a credit to Andy Reid, the ownership

Speaker 3 and what they've been able to build there. It was the same thing with Belichick and New England.

Speaker 3 They had a couple years there where they, you know, would lose early, but I mean, tell you, man, that, that is an absolute machine over there.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I just, I, I, I tried to find the 13 wins or so, and I couldn't necessarily find it. But, you know, you'll learn a lot tonight against the Ravens.
That's going to be for sure.

Speaker 1 We're going to find

Speaker 3 earlier. What a way to kick off.
Great way to kick off.

Speaker 1 That Thursday game,

Speaker 1 NFL's always done a really, really good job. But, you know, we've seen it before.
Chiefs lost last year on the Thursday game to the Lions. Detroit.

Speaker 1 Remember those Patriot teams a few years ago coming off their Super Bowl? Those new, those young Chiefs at the time kind of blew them out on the Thursday night.

Speaker 1 So we'll find out a lot tonight as we get ready to watch. Okay, next one.
Who's the off-season acquisition that is most likely to pay off?

Speaker 3 I look, there's quite a few. Who do you got?

Speaker 1 All right, I'm not going to try to, I'm not going to say the ones I thought about because I don't want to step on yours. Here's who I'm going with.
Again, not some scathing take.

Speaker 1 Why are we all so down on Stefan Diggs? Like, I understand his exit in Buffalo wasn't amazing. I get it.
And the TV

Speaker 1 disappointed. Why?

Speaker 3 Because you have Nico Collins, you have Tank Dell. Right.
You have

Speaker 3 Schultz. Yeah.
Sure.

Speaker 3 Now they got Joe Mixon. So I don't know, from a production standpoint, I think, you know.

Speaker 1 I guess I'm not looking at production. I'm looking at a team that made it to the second round, blew out the Browns in week one.
All things are trending upward. And now you added Stephon Diggs.

Speaker 3 Even if he is like your great receiver,

Speaker 1 even if he is your third receiver, I'll tell you what I like on third and nine. I like having Stephon Diggs running a route for me.
Even if it's just opening up Tank and Nico. Jerry,

Speaker 3 Jerry, what route would you like him to run for you on third and nine?

Speaker 1 Give me a Stephon Diggs slant over the middle. He's not afraid to go over the middle.

Speaker 1 Give me that slant. I'm confident Stroud could find him.
Give me the slant. Send Nico down the sideline and have like maybe a post corner from Tank.

Speaker 3 I'd love to draw this. So a slant, a go, and a post-corner all on the same side?

Speaker 1 No, not on the same.

Speaker 3 No, no, not on the same side.

Speaker 1 We're spreading them out a little bit. All right, buddy.

Speaker 1 You're the exes and those guy.

Speaker 3 Well, I would literally just drew that play up on my paper. I was like, that might not be, that might not work.
I like that. We're doing all three on the same side.

Speaker 1 We'll probably go Nico and Tank on one side, and then we're going to have Diggs.

Speaker 3 Hey,

Speaker 3 you single up Diggs on the back side. Yeah.
Well, Slam. I like him winning.

Speaker 1 Who's your offseason acquisition most likely to pay off?

Speaker 3 I'm going Kirk Cousins.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I just. I like that.

Speaker 3 I love Kirk. I think he's just one of those quarterbacks.
He wins games. I know the playoff record isn't great, but for what Atlanta is and what they have, the defense,

Speaker 3 you got Drake London, you got Kyle Pitts. So I think we're all like, gosh, this guy's got so much talent.
Like he needs a quarterback. He needs a play caller.
He needs his system.

Speaker 3 Obviously, Bijan Robinson. So I think because of the weapons and just Kirk has been just Mr.,

Speaker 3 literally, Mr. Reliable throughout the regular season, can get that team over the hump and in the playoff.
So I think that will pay off. He's made a fortune.
And listen, like more power to him.

Speaker 1 Yeah. You know, we mentioned Diggs.
Diggs has a lot to thank thank Kirk Cousins for. And then he goes to Buffalo and then he's replaced by Justin Jefferson.

Speaker 1 That's probably, you can't say it's a fair trade because Jefferson's so much younger and the upside now is higher.

Speaker 1 But at the time, you go back to two years ago, that really looked like one of those trades that was everyone kind of won here. Diggs goes to Buffalo.

Speaker 1 They're playing for, they're not in the Super Bowl, but they're a Super Bowl favorite. And then the Vikings get this young, amazing wide receiver.

Speaker 3 I love Kurt.

Speaker 1 I do.

Speaker 1 I think Kirk is going to put up numbers to say the least.

Speaker 1 So also, honorable mention, he doesn't count for this year, but Aaron Rodgers gets almost like an asterisk because he, if you really just do who the Jets really bring in here, they're bringing Aaron Rodgers in.

Speaker 1 We saw him for four plays. So that's the first thing.

Speaker 3 Dude,

Speaker 3 people like forget, like, Aaron Rodgers is like literally on my Mount Rushmore of all-time quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 He's a freak, like, and he's so good. Like, so if he stays healthy, he'll be one of the best quarterbacks

Speaker 3 in the NFL.

Speaker 1 Can I wear a Rodgers jersey to the Knicks game in this bet? If I have to wear a Jets jersey, can it at least be a Rodgers jersey?

Speaker 1 Because if they make the Super Bowl, he's going to to be a big reason why.

Speaker 3 Yes, you can wear a Rodgers jersey.

Speaker 1 All right, that's fair.

Speaker 4 For those of you who don't know, I'll give you that.

Speaker 1 I'm a Giants fan. Like the Jets, it's sacrilegious.

Speaker 3 Okay, next one.

Speaker 1 Who's the player that's not on your radar right now, but most certainly will be by the end of the year?

Speaker 3 So we just talked about Stephon Diggs, and I kind of drank the Kool-Aid on this because I watched every fantasy football show in America.

Speaker 3 Stephon Diggs is out of Buffalo. Gabe Davis is out of Buffalo.
Khalil Shakir,

Speaker 3 I think I'm saying his name right. He

Speaker 3 sort of becomes, I think, the last three games last year, like 16 catches or something. We saw him a little bit in the preseason.

Speaker 3 He becomes just a target machine to me. I know they have a good tight end.
They don't have like Keon Coleman they drafted as a rookie. Is he going to be a true number one yet? I don't know.

Speaker 3 Shakir is the guy this year that is going to have 100 catches. I hope he has 100 catches.
I have him in like three fantasy leagues.

Speaker 3 But that's the guy that I think kind of week three or four, maybe like the Puka Puka Nakua from last year, like, wow, who is this? Like, that's Shakir for me.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I, for me, this is a player that I, I always, especially when you talk about fantasy, I always think about draft him. I've never drafted him.
I know he's a little banged up now.

Speaker 1 I know I spoke about the Chiefs maybe in the regular season being a little disappointing. Hollywood Brown, that's just a name that I don't ever quite pay attention to.

Speaker 1 And then I kind of look at by week nine, it's like, wow, he's got, he's got 800 yards. He's got four touchdowns.
He's actually having a pretty good season. So I go Hollywood Brown.

Speaker 1 But for me, also being here in Cleveland, I, you know, and we're all hoping that Nick Chubb can get back close to what he is. He's going to be out for at least four or five weeks.

Speaker 1 We're not going to be thinking about Nick Chubb for the whole first half of the season, but come week nine or 10, if the Browns are still hanging around in that division and he's healthy, we know what Nick Chubb could do.

Speaker 1 So I think Nick Chubb could easily.

Speaker 1 Easily be that guy. All right, last one before we bring in our buddy, your buddy, Ashton Kutcher, which, by the way, leave it to Matt Leinert, folks.

Speaker 1 Ashton's your buddy. Your first guest you brought in is actually connected to Hollywood.
Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? I'm supposed to get the Hollywood guy in on the show.

Speaker 3 I know you're going to do your job. I know you're going to be committed to that.
Do your job.

Speaker 3 We had to start off with a bang, man. This is throwbacks, you know, and

Speaker 3 Ashton and I throw back all the way to, gosh, 2000, when I meet, like 2004, 2005, when I first met him, and we have a lot of mutual friends and there was a connection there. So I said, you know what?

Speaker 3 I'm going to re, I'm going to reach out to Ashton. He's a big Bears fan.
He loves sports. And he was like, dude, I'm in.
I was like, let's go. Let's go.
What a way to kick off throwbacks, man.

Speaker 1 I really feel like you put me on blaster. So, you know what?

Speaker 3 I have a feeling that your Rolodex is probably deeper than mine, especially. It might even be in the sports world because you've been connected to athletes.

Speaker 3 So we will rely on you heavily this year, buddy.

Speaker 1 That's what I got to do for week two. I have to come up with either an NFL player or former player, someone connected to the NFL, and that's going to be on me because I have to even this,

Speaker 1 even this one up. All right.
Last one, and arguably my most favorite one, because

Speaker 1 this will happen at some point in the season. It always does.

Speaker 1 The coach most likely to have a press conference meltdown at some point this year is, and I'm going to lead this off because I feel very, very strongly about this.

Speaker 1 And I don't think our amazing producer, Andrew Gunling, Philadelphia's own. Andrew Gunling is going to like this one.
Oh.

Speaker 3 It's Nick Siriani.

Speaker 1 Isn't it?

Speaker 3 He's a beauty up there. I got to be honest.

Speaker 3 He's got all the traits.

Speaker 1 He's got all the traits. He's had some bizarre press conference quotes.

Speaker 1 He could look a little unhinged. Even when the team's playing well, it could look super weird.
The Eagles do have some heat on them.

Speaker 1 Now they got Saquon, who could have also said was the biggest acquisition of the year. A lot of expectations in Philly.
If they're four and three, which for the years would not be a good start,

Speaker 1 he could,

Speaker 1 it could happen. Get yourself ready.
Sorry, Andrew, we love you, but he's my number one.

Speaker 3 Yeah, because what? They won the Super Bowl or

Speaker 3 they lost the Super Bowl. And the last year, the expectations, they struggled.

Speaker 3 I'm going to go, I have a great story about a coach ram. I'm going to get to in a second.
I'm going to go Dayball. And you're talking about.

Speaker 3 And the only reason why, and he's not like,

Speaker 3 he's not like super animated, right, in his press conferences, but like he just has that look.

Speaker 3 And I can just only imagine if Daniel Jones struggles early and the amount of pressure from that New York media. And just at some point, he just snaps.
Like he is just going to snap.

Speaker 3 And that leads me into, by the way, I don't know if you're familiar with this. that I was a part of one of the greatest coaching rants of all time.

Speaker 1 Which will, well, let's say

Speaker 3 denny green denny green monday night football

Speaker 3 which by the way i want to i i i do want to talk to ashton about that because i think he might have been at that game but um

Speaker 3 i we lost to the bears on monday night football 2006 it was my second start we were one and four the week before we lost to the kansas city chiefs um but you know kurt warner started everyone was excited i finally got the chance we were beating the chiefs we lost on a field goal so we we were one and four going to that game But we knew we're like, and the Bears were 5-0, and they ended up going to the Super Bowl that year.

Speaker 3 They lost to Peyton Manning and the Colts in Miami and like the torrential downpour.

Speaker 3 We had played them in the preseason game, week three. Back then, that was the game where all the starters played.
We beat them in Chicago.

Speaker 3 So we knew going into that game, like, hey, we could beat this team. Like, they were the number one defense, all that.
But so.

Speaker 3 We're playing. We ended up losing, right? Devin Hester, who just got in the Hall of Fame, the punt return.

Speaker 3 We kind of choked in the second half and i'm out i'm in the post game right and i'm standing outside the media locker room and all i hear and i'm just i'm pissed dude like i'm just i'm just pissed off and i'm there with mark dalton who was our pr guy at the time and denny is just going off the bears are what we thought they were

Speaker 3 what they're what we thought they were We played them in preseason. Who the hell takes a third game in a preseason like it's bull bullshit? We played them in the third game.

Speaker 3 Everybody played three quarters. the bears are who we thought they were

Speaker 3 that's why we took the damn field now if you want to crown them then crown their ass

Speaker 3 but they are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook and at the time i didn't really like i wasn't listening word for word but i'm like i'm hearing this and like it's you could hear a pin drop in there and he's just going off and then mark talton goes next up matt liner just like that and i'm like and i look in and i'm i'm already pissed and all these people i'm like and then Denny just walks right by me.

Speaker 3 He didn't even look at me. And I'm like, holy crap, dude.
What did I just get myself into?

Speaker 3 And the reason why is because, you know, we are who they thought they are.

Speaker 1 And we let them off the hook.

Speaker 3 We knew, we knew that we should beat them. Like, we knew going into that game, like, that would have been maybe a pivotal game for us.
One and four. We're two and five.
We get a little momentum.

Speaker 3 And man, I'll tell you what, though, it was looking back, rest in peace to Denny Green. He drafted me.
I love that guy. I only played with, I played for him for one year, man, but he was terrific.

Speaker 3 But that rant was like, that was all time, dude.

Speaker 1 I sometimes go for the comedy a little too much. I feel like if I were you and I just heard that rant and then I go up and they're like, all right, everybody, come into the podium now, Matt Liner.

Speaker 1 And they're getting ready to ask me a question. Like, yeah, I guess we did let him up.

Speaker 1 But you're, I said it, you're pissed at that point because you lost the game. But oh my God, how'd you keep it together here after hearing that?

Speaker 3 Well, dude, I honestly, I don't remember. It was, it was black out.
I was just pissed. You know, I was a rookie.
I was pissed. I was just like,

Speaker 3 you know, we probably threw the game. I mean, we were probably 20 to nothing.

Speaker 1 You threw two touchdowns that game.

Speaker 3 I threw two touchdowns on the first two drives. And then we, and then basically what happened was in the second half, we just, we, we kind of, hey, let's just run the ball.

Speaker 3 We were, we weren't a great running team. We just kind of, we basically took our, our foot off the gas pedal.
And they and an Erlacher had a pick. I had a, a, um, a sack.

Speaker 3 I sack was a touchdown, or we had a fumble. Edger and fumbled.
They scored, scooped, and score. I had a sack fumble, scoop, and score.
So their defense, I think, had like two defensive touchdowns.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's how they won. That's how they won games.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and then Devin Hester had a like, I don't even think they scored an offensive touchdown.

Speaker 1 Quintessential Bears Super Bowl run team was that exact blueprint. Do defensive touchdown or in a special teams touchdown.

Speaker 1 At any point, though, before we go to break, at any point later in the season, did anyone ever go up to Danny Green and be like, coach, dude, that was, they're still playing that. That was was great.

Speaker 1 Like, did he have any fun with that? Or is it just, we don't talk about that? That was a dark moment.

Speaker 3 No, that was a dark moment, dude, because we only won five games that year. And I think he knew he was going to get fired.
So that was not like

Speaker 3 that was a, that was a tough, that was, that was a tough day for, for Denny in the, in the Cardinal, Cardinal Nation.

Speaker 1 That's for sure. Yeah.
Well,

Speaker 1 I mean,

Speaker 3 I can't believe it.

Speaker 1 That totally slipped my mind. I cannot believe I haven't asked you about that sooner, but I'm glad it made it to the first show.

Speaker 1 All right, we're going to take a quick break right now and they're going to bring on Matt's buddy, Matt's good friend. He got this guest, Ashton Kutcher, coming to join us to talk some football.

Speaker 1 Breakfast might be the most important choice you make all day. That's because at Wendy's two for $3 breakfast, you could mix and match your very own perfect pairing of our delicious morning favorites.

Speaker 3 With this breakfast deal, the choice is all yours. It's not someone else's.
And isn't that how it should be? It's your breakfast after all, not Martha's. She can pick her own breakfast.

Speaker 3 This one's all you.

Speaker 1 No matter what you choose from our sausage biscuit with that grilled breakfast sausage or the egg and cheese biscuit with that fresh cracked grade A egg and melty American cheese on a fluffy buttermilk biscuit, a small size of perfectly seasoned potatoes or a medium hot coffee to power through the morning.

Speaker 1 All you got to do is pick your ideal morning pair.

Speaker 3 You really can't lose because you're the one calling the shots. The choice is all yours.
Wake up to Wendy's $2 for $3 breakfast just the way you want it. Limited time only during breakfast hours.
U.S.

Speaker 3 price and participation may vary. No substitutions, not valid in a combo, single item at regular price.

Speaker 1 What's up, guys? I just want to take a second and tell you about something that's been really great in helping me maintain a healthy lifestyle. That's cachava.
Whether you are...

Speaker 1 on the field, off the field, or hosting a podcast like me, cachava's whole body meal shakes will keep your body and mind nourished all day. So for me, my health journey has been a long road.

Speaker 1 You know, I got into some really good shape years ago. And now 10 years later, having kids, being pretty busy with this podcast, for me, it was really hard for lunches.

Speaker 1 I feel like I could handle breakfast well and dinner well, but I needed that great meal replacement, something healthy for lunch. And that's where cachava came in.

Speaker 1 And First guess for me was the flavors. I said, what is this going to taste like? And chocolate has quickly become my favorite.
I'm a big chia seeds guy. Lots of benefits from chia seeds.

Speaker 1 They also have 25 grams of plant protein. I was curious how plant protein was going to taste.
It was pretty good, as well as 26 vitamins and minerals, six grams of fiber.

Speaker 1 And it really is good for me being so on the go. No, I have something.
And my personal move is I'm a big frozen fruit guy. That's why I get the smoothie to be really cold.

Speaker 1 So I add a little frozen fruit. When I want to feel a little fuller, throw in a little bit of peanut butter right there.
Cachava has been great.

Speaker 1 And I want to give you guys the chance to try it yourself. You can fuel your game with cachava if you go to cachava.com and use the code throwbacks for 15% off your next order.

Speaker 1 That's cachava, k-a-c-h-a-v-a.com. Code throwbacks for 15% off.
I'm curious to know your favorite flavor. Chocolate, vanilla, chai, matcha, coconut, acai.
I said that pretty right.

Speaker 1 So again, cachava.com, throwbacks, 15% off. And let me know how you like to use it.

Speaker 5 This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?

Speaker 5 Well, with the name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at progressive.com.

Speaker 5 Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.
Not available in all states.

Speaker 1 All right, joining us now, I mean, he's our first ever guest. This is Hall of Fame stuff, the first ever guest on the Throwbacks podcast.

Speaker 1 You all know him from film and TV, but that's not what we're here to really talk about. We're here to talk about NFL.
We're here to talk about where his heart lies in the NFL.

Speaker 1 Aston Kutcher joining us. What's up, buddy? Thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 3 How's it going? You guys well? Dude, I mean, I didn't, I mean, can we talk about the stash, bro? What are we doing with that thing? I like it.

Speaker 1 It's awesome.

Speaker 4 This is a big year for the Chicago Bears. And if you don't go Dika, go home.

Speaker 1 Is that a Dikka stash? Is that in honor of the Bears?

Speaker 4 It is 100% about Mike Dika and 100% about the fact that we're going to be better than 500 this year, and that makes me happy.

Speaker 3 Way to set the bar high for your team. Okay, dude, so

Speaker 4 the last time we were good, the last time we were good,

Speaker 4 I think you remember the last time we were good because there was a very, very monumental moment in the last time that we were good that you were very, very involved with.

Speaker 3 Dude, I was just, so, so, Jerry and I were just talking about Denny Green and the famous rant, Monday Night Football, 2006.

Speaker 3 The Bears are who we thought we were.

Speaker 4 The Bears are who we thought we were.

Speaker 3 And we let him

Speaker 3 crown them, but we let him off the hook. It's regrettably speaking.
Well, dude, that's because we whooped your ass in the preseason, game three, in Chicago. And that's why he was pissed.

Speaker 3 And by the way, I was just telling Jerry, I was like, dude, I was literally Mark Dalton, our PR guy, right after he, I was standing right outside the tunnel.

Speaker 3 You might have been right outside the tunnel too. I was standing right outside the tunnel.
And he's like, next up, Matt Leiner. And I'm like, holy crap, dude.

Speaker 3 Like, I don't know how i'm gonna follow he was so pissed but i wanted to ask you i know you were there i know you were there what do you remember besides danny green what was like what do you remember from that game the favorite memory

Speaker 3 um

Speaker 4 okay so i was in bidwell's box

Speaker 4 at i was the owner cardinals owner's box

Speaker 4 and like biting my lip the whole time because I didn't want to be like that guy who got invited like to the part and then was like obnoxious about what was happening and it was like the i've never shown more restraint in my life because like with the bears like i remember the interception her lacquer had

Speaker 4 and i and and i was like and at that was the moment where i was like oh wait this is happening and i was and and and i just like grab my fists like this and i'm like just containing every single ounce of energy i have to not just lose it because i'm trying to have like a sense of decorum while i'm in the owner's box.

Speaker 3 Owner's box.

Speaker 4 Then there's the return kick and then I'm just like, my, it's just, it's this build, build, build, build, build.

Speaker 3 And I felt horrible for you, but I felt real good for me.

Speaker 3 When Dev and Hester returned that, like, were you just like, you were like, oh my God, I got to get up and stand?

Speaker 4 There was a moment where I, where I let, where the lid came off.

Speaker 4 The lid definitely came off. And I got all sorts of fired up.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 4 that might have been like the, other than my son's flag football,

Speaker 4 coaching my son's flag football, it might have been the greatest football game I experienced in my entire life. So

Speaker 3 I want to get in. We're going to get into flag football a little bit later, but I gave you, so I don't know if I've told you this.

Speaker 3 So I got a game-worn jersey that game from Brian Erlacher, Monday night football.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I think I did give him mine.

Speaker 3 I don't know what he did with mine. It's probably in the trash, but he gave me his game-worn jersey.
And what did I do? I gave it to you.

Speaker 4 You gave it to me, and then I took it and got it autographed by him.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 And then he wanted to kill me.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 it's in my mom's house right now. And it's her

Speaker 4 prize is that jersey from that game.

Speaker 1 I gotta say, if your mom has it, that's probably the best keeping. I was gonna ask you where it was.
That's pretty much one of the safest places a jersey like that could be.

Speaker 4 I mean, I have like a Chicago Bears like

Speaker 4 haul in my house that is just like, it's like Mike Singletary, Gail Sayers, Dick Budkiss, like my guy Walter Payton. I have William Perry's.

Speaker 4 I have the prototype ring for the 1985 Chicago Bears that they fit on William Perry. And I have it.
Like, I have the ring in, and my collection is pretty stout.

Speaker 4 I have like Kevin Butler's football from the 85.

Speaker 4 I'm a collector of Bears paraphernalia.

Speaker 1 So then what is it like for you on Sunday? And we'll get down into it more with the kids in a second of like how you watch, but are you just Bears only? Do you pop on red zone for a few minutes?

Speaker 1 Are you just locked into the Bears and everything else is just noise?

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 in my

Speaker 4 football watching has changed since I had kids.

Speaker 1 Same.

Speaker 4 So before I had kids,

Speaker 4 there's like BK and AK. And BK,

Speaker 4 I watched every game.

Speaker 4 And any game I couldn't watch, I would record so I could watch the game.

Speaker 4 T-VO era. Yeah.
No, no. Yeah.
My whole week was just dedicated. The only thing I ever watched was football.
And I didn't watch a television show. I didn't wanna nothing.
Just football.

Speaker 4 That's it. And so

Speaker 4 my guy TJ and I, who we lived together for like five years, and he would wake up on like opening day and he'd be like, are you ready for some football?

Speaker 4 And come screaming into my room and like slide on his knees. And he always had like a cowboys apron on and a hit.
And we would just watch football all day long.

Speaker 4 Now

Speaker 4 that I have kids, I watch the Monday night game and I watch the Bears game. And then I watch my Hawkeyes play on Saturday.
And so I get nine hours of football a week. And that's my exchange for

Speaker 4 having kids.

Speaker 4 And I get to coach my son's flag football league. So then I get a little bit more football that way.
I would only watch football.

Speaker 4 If I could just mainline football, if there was a drug that was football, I would take it every day.

Speaker 3 I asked Jerry this because I experienced watching a playoff Knicks game in New York with Jerry.

Speaker 3 And I got to be honest, dude, like I, I, I always like, I'm a fan of the sport of all sports, but I'm not a passionate fan, especially in LA. We didn't really grow up having a football team.

Speaker 3 But I have never had more anxiety watching a diehard fan watch their team than we were in a bar, we had a couple, couple drinks, and he's just sitting there.

Speaker 3 And it's like you couldn't even speak to you. Is that how you are when the Bears are on? Monday night football.

Speaker 3 Like the kids are like, hey, daddy's watching the Bears get the hell out of my room. How is it like watching with you?

Speaker 4 i mean i lock it in i like i usually for the first half for the first half i do not sit down i have like a rule that in the first half i can't sit down

Speaker 4 and for whatever reason i feel like i'm influencing the outcome of the game

Speaker 3 by my

Speaker 4 by where you sit by where you sit by how i sit where i sit what hat i'm wearing i pick an outfit like i had i pick a specific out if we win game one i'll be wearing that outfit the whole season like there's no, I won't change any.

Speaker 4 It is very, I'm very religious about my football, but I also, I also, um,

Speaker 4 I like to, like, I, I, I can,

Speaker 4 like, I try, like, I, the older I get, the more I relate with the coaches than I do with the players. It's a weird thing.
Like

Speaker 4 there was a switch that flipped. that I was like, well, I can't do those things anymore

Speaker 4 physically.

Speaker 4 And so now I'm watching the game like as a co- and I'm like, oh, he's setting up, you know, and I'm watching like what defense is being played and whether or not it's like a setup for a blitz.

Speaker 4 And then like seeing if I can predict what the play is going to be before the play is going to happen. That's become my new

Speaker 4 way I watch football.

Speaker 1 I'm kind of like Spider-Man memeing with you right now because everything you just said. is exactly the way I watch, especially Giants and Knicks.

Speaker 1 Like I, even if I'm in the one seat, that's not where I've even asked my wife to leave the house before. I'm like, it's your energy.
Your energy is not right right now. You need to go for a walk.

Speaker 1 But where are you standing right now? You know, I was going to ask you, I felt like it's kind of not like an unfair question, but like Bears quarterbacks, right?

Speaker 1 Because obviously, Caleb Williams right now is everyone's anticipating what he's going to do. Is Caleb already in the Bears sort of Mount Rushmore without throwing a pass?

Speaker 1 Because the franchise history of quarterbacks for the Bears is a little rough. Do you have an order of Bears QBs? And what are you hoping for just to see out of Caleb in like a rookie year?

Speaker 3 I mean, I

Speaker 4 in 85, I was seven years old, okay?

Speaker 3 And I picked the Bears as my team.

Speaker 4 Like, I was like, Super Bowl shuffle, like, it was so cool. I'm like, I'm picking,

Speaker 4 that's my team. And everybody around me was like, Packers fans, and I'm like, nah, the Bears.

Speaker 4 And it's been the brutality since 1985.

Speaker 4 I mean, we always have some version of

Speaker 4 a stout defense, some version, but it's just been brutal. Like, and I mean, everything from Bubby Brister to the Cabe McNoun era to this world, like, I mean, just walking through quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 And I think, yo, look, part of it is

Speaker 4 the coach. carousel that is also taking place.
Like, you could be a good quarterback, but if you have a different playbook that you've got to like put in, it's like

Speaker 4 anything in life, you got to get it to the point where it's like second nature.

Speaker 4 Like when we're driving a car, we don't sit there and go, all right, I'm going to put this hand over this hand and then turn the wheel.

Speaker 4 We just turn the wheel because we're so used to turning the wheel.

Speaker 4 And there are some quarterbacks that have had the blessing of having the same coach year in, year out, year in, year out, the same playbook, the same system, the same, when you know the locker room is the same and this thing, all of the, all the other things are exactly the same, then you get to play the game.

Speaker 4 But until you get to that point, you're just trying to do the right thing. And if you're so busy trying to do the right thing, you're not playing.

Speaker 4 And I feel like there's been a combination of like coach after coach after coach after coach, quarterback after quarterback after quarterback after quarterback.

Speaker 4 And maybe the guy with like, you know, the longest, like, Jake Cutler is a great quarterback.

Speaker 4 Like, he's great at playing football, but he also had a little bit of a carousel of coaches and this thing going. And that's hard.
And so the hope is that we've got Iberflus

Speaker 4 and we're liking what we're seeing out of Iberflus. We've got Caleb and we're liking what we're seeing out of Caleb.
And that those two can stay connected.

Speaker 4 And maybe Shane Waldron, who we just brought in from Seattle, maybe we can get a unit that stays together and gives the guy a fighting chance.

Speaker 4 So that's my hope.

Speaker 3 Now,

Speaker 4 now, now,

Speaker 4 I was

Speaker 4 a little bit,

Speaker 4 I will say, I like Justin Fields a lot. Like, I think he's

Speaker 4 an extraordinary football player. And, you know,

Speaker 4 but

Speaker 4 as I watch and compare his accuracy to Caleb's accuracy, I go,

Speaker 4 I can't deny that Caleb's accuracy is, I mean, some of these like rollout passes that he's like lobbing 40-yard passes and dropping it right on Roma Dunze, like right over his shoulder in the preseason.

Speaker 4 I would I'm impressed by his passing ability. I'm impressed, he's got this cool demeanor that's confident, but also humble.

Speaker 4 And then, and there was one part in hard knocks this year where the

Speaker 4 effect of like,

Speaker 4 I'm confident that I did the work.

Speaker 4 And I go, that's real confidence. Like when you're confident that you're doing the work, that's true confidence.
But it's a combination of that and humility.

Speaker 4 And if he maintains that, that's what leadership looks like. And so that's a nice thing.
And so I look, I have high hopes, but I have realistic expectations.

Speaker 3 I always get asked about Caleb, obviously being at USC, and everyone's like, like, what do you think? And, you know, he's a little quirky. He's a little different.
Obviously, the talent is undeniable.

Speaker 3 And Ashton, you just said it, like, the one thing that I always tell everybody is like, I don't, the, the

Speaker 3 throwing off platform and all this stuff that wows us, that's great. And that's there.
And that's a gift. And he has that.

Speaker 3 But like his work ethic, because he told me at SE, he's like, I want to be the greatest quarterback to ever live and didn't stutter. right Brady Mahone, like he did not stutter.

Speaker 3 And it's not even like, it's not even an arrogance where you don't like him. It's just like, dude, this kid really believes like he's going to do that.
And that's why,

Speaker 3 because of the work, that's why I think he's going to be great. It's not because he can throw the ball 80 yards and he's going to run around and make plays.

Speaker 3 Like, he is, he is a, he's a gifted player, man, but he works. Um, so is it playoff? I mean, are we thinking playoffs? I mean, winning the division.

Speaker 4 What, before I get into my predictions, um,

Speaker 4 because they are, they are generous.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 4 how many offensive systems, new offensive systems, and OCs did you play under as an NFL quarterback then?

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 I played Denny Green my rookie year, which was the old digit system, which is what he made famous kind of in Minnesota when he had Culpepper and Rainy Moss, which I really liked.

Speaker 3 And then he got fired and then Wisenhunt came in and that was kind of the old Steelers

Speaker 3 Rothesburger ran that really didn't fit my style.

Speaker 3 And then Todd Haley was there for three years and then I went to Houston.

Speaker 3 So I wasn't one of those quarterbacks. Like I played in Arizona four years, but then I went to Houston.

Speaker 3 I played for Kubiak, which is what we're seeing in Kyle Shanahan, which to me is the greatest offense for a quarterback. And that's why a lot of these quarterbacks, you can almost plug and play.

Speaker 3 So I learned, like, I probably had three or four offenses in, and then I went to Oakland and had a new offense. So probably three or four offenses in seven years.
And I wasn't, I wasn't.

Speaker 3 talented enough looking back to overcome that part. Like I needed structure.
I needed to be in a rhythm.

Speaker 3 I needed to have kind of that same thing year in and year out so I could build because I could, my, the stronger part of my game was the mental part. I could understand and read and process.

Speaker 3 The physical part was what I lacked, obviously.

Speaker 3 I'm not Caleb Williams, but and I wasn't really around.

Speaker 4 But that's the round trip to

Speaker 4 I think the bigger point in all of this, which is if he has consistency around him in the system that he's in, I think he's going to be extraordinarily successful. And so

Speaker 4 that's my, that's my sense.

Speaker 3 Okay,

Speaker 4 the prediction.

Speaker 1 Here we go. It's what we're here for.

Speaker 4 I believe the Chicago Bears, right now, the spread is eight and a half games.

Speaker 4 I believe they win 11 games this year.

Speaker 3 Wow.

Speaker 3 Yes. I love it.

Speaker 4 I believe they win 11 games this year.

Speaker 4 And that's before the playoffs start.

Speaker 3 Well, you know what? Here's why it's a lot more than Jerry's Giants, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 That's for sure. But what I do like, we're all talking about Caleb and the Bears' offense and those three receivers.

Speaker 1 Matt and I, on like a test show, said that's probably the coolest and deepest three-receiver core, maybe, in the NFL. I mean, three weapons that could do very different things, very effective.

Speaker 1 But what people don't talk about enough is, I think the Bears' defense is going to be ridiculous. I think the offense is going to be fun, but I think that Bears' defense is ready to go.

Speaker 1 So, I think that is in play, Ashton.

Speaker 4 All of our division games are late in the season. They did an interesting thing with the schedule this year.
I don't know if you noticed, like, everybody's division games are later in the season.

Speaker 4 And so, those teams are going to be priming up, but division games in the north late in the season are

Speaker 3 cold.

Speaker 4 And so, it's like, so the question goes, who can play in the cold?

Speaker 3 One,

Speaker 3 and two,

Speaker 4 who can run run the football yo because it's going to be a smash mouth the noise there they're two chicago and green bay are inhospitable in the winter inhospitable and so who can play in those conditions that's what it's going to come down to

Speaker 1 i think that making me a believer yeah i think those i think you hit the nail on the head with i think those bears packers games very well if you pencil in detroit say detroit uh just on chalk is all right they're the best team in the division.

Speaker 1 Say they get to 12.

Speaker 3 No, they're not wins. I'm just saying, hear me out with this, though.
Hear me out.

Speaker 4 Best team in the division. Chicago Bears are the best team in the division.

Speaker 1 I do think

Speaker 4 they are.

Speaker 4 But mark my words. Chicago Bears are the best team in the division.

Speaker 3 Oh, no, we're not going to be able to do that. So do you think the Bears are going to have more wins than the Lions this year?

Speaker 3 You just said Bears are going to win 11 games.

Speaker 4 I think the Bears win 11 games.

Speaker 3 And the Lions win less or more?

Speaker 4 I'll throw one more at you. I think we sweep Detroit.

Speaker 3 You are out of your mind.

Speaker 4 I've lived my life out of my mind. I know you're.
And it's gotten me places.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You could be a complete genius.

Speaker 1 We could be playing this back three months from now, saying, wow, we all should have followed Ashton Kutcher's picks because the Bears are seven and one going into Detroit.

Speaker 4 All right, I'm going to offer you a natural transition here.

Speaker 3 Okay. Ready?

Speaker 4 There's one special weapon that the Chicago Bears have this year that nobody is accounting for.

Speaker 4 Can you guess what it is?

Speaker 1 Anything in the coaching staff, Matt? No, I mean, not special weapon-wise or special teams.

Speaker 3 You're must have

Speaker 1 special teams.

Speaker 3 Tori Taylor. You know what, dude? You are so hunter.
That's a good call. That's a really good call.

Speaker 4 Guys, I was on the sideline of the Iowa Hawkeye Iowa State game two years ago, And the scout for the Chicago Bears was there.

Speaker 4 And he comes over, and I was like, oh, you're here looking at Lindebaum, right? The center, because the center is,

Speaker 4 we had a sixth center. And I was like, I know you're looking at Lindebaum.

Speaker 4 Pay attention to the punter.

Speaker 4 This guy is a coffin-kicking genius.

Speaker 4 And the field position game is

Speaker 4 the world, right? Like, I mean, if you had a player that could guarantee you over the course of a game 40 yards, guarantee you 40 yards,

Speaker 4 you'd be like, no, he's on the field. We're putting him on the field.
Torrey Taylor guarantees you 40 yards because he puts the ball so beautifully, so deep.

Speaker 4 He's going to create plays for that great defense, and he's going to give the offense field position to put points on the board. And the difference in football games in the NFL is a field goal.

Speaker 4 And if you've got 10 yards, the difference between 50 yards and 40 yards, one, you're not kicking it, and one, you are. And if it's three-point games, Chicago Bears win 11 games.
We sweep Detroit.

Speaker 4 We're going to the playoffs. I'll see you there.

Speaker 1 Let me tell you, this is exactly what I wanted out of our first guest.

Speaker 3 By the way,

Speaker 3 if they go to the playoffs, you are going to be just awful to be around. I feel bad for the wife.
Okay, I want to transition really quick, okay?

Speaker 3 Because

Speaker 3 We all have kids. You mentioned, I think you coached your son's flag football team, which is awesome.
I coached my kid, my oldest for years.

Speaker 3 So one of the reasons that kind of this show brought me and Jerry together is just being a dad. And we're a boy dad.
I got three boys. He's got two.
But I don't know if you know this.

Speaker 3 My wife is expecting. And we're having, we're, yeah, dude, we're throwing another one, just, just another one.
I got some heat on me for a third.

Speaker 3 So we're not going to, we're not going to, we're not going to, yeah, Joe, Jerry's next, trust me. Uh, we're not going to find out,

Speaker 3 but

Speaker 3 I am a boy dad through and through. I know you have a boy and a girl.
So I want to ask you,

Speaker 3 what is the difference and what's the best thing?

Speaker 3 Kind of secretly, healthy and happy baby is always

Speaker 3 number one. I would love to know what it feels like to be a girl dad.
I got to be honest.

Speaker 3 What is the difference for you?

Speaker 4 The first point, I don't know if it equates to it being a girl dad or it equates to her being my first.

Speaker 4 But when I had my daughter,

Speaker 4 because

Speaker 4 we had her first, my wife had my daughter. Let's be clear.
She did all that. You did.

Speaker 3 You did not have it. You did not have fun.

Speaker 3 I had fun.

Speaker 4 She did work.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 4 I had never been so in love in my entire life. Like, it was a sense of like, it was a depth of being in love.

Speaker 4 And Mila and I have talked about it a lot. It's like,

Speaker 4 I've never loved anyone this much ever.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 4 that was like the first sense of like,

Speaker 4 like, and there's a, there's a weird,

Speaker 4 I'll tell you, I parent them differently. My, my son, I'm always like, yeah, let's put, go, go for, you know, yeah, go, like, yesterday we were popping wheelies on a bicycle in the driveway, right?

Speaker 4 Or it's like, you know, see if you can jump down four stairs now. You jump three.
Let's see if you can jump four. My daughter, I'm like, I just want to protect her.

Speaker 4 It's a sense of like, just wanting to like protect her from.

Speaker 4 And when my son cries, I'm like, all right, you know, good, we're gonna let, you know, what do we learn? Let's go, let's move on. And when my daughter cries, it's like,

Speaker 4 my heart is out of my body and I can't put it back in.

Speaker 4 And it's,

Speaker 4 and I don't know if that's,

Speaker 4 there's probably like a ton, a ton of

Speaker 4 just,

Speaker 4 in some senses, maybe like toxic masculinity that I've had in my life that like treats my son different than my daughter in that way. But I also noticed the same thing with my, with my wife, like

Speaker 4 she's very strict on our daughter and like a gush ball with our son, right? Like, lets him get. And so, and I think we balance each other in that way.

Speaker 3 Where, like,

Speaker 4 my daughter and I, we like talk about the pro, you know, like, and my son, it's like, no, go do the thing. You know,

Speaker 4 it's just like a slight tone difference.

Speaker 4 But I think the challenging thing with daughters versus sons

Speaker 4 is

Speaker 4 there's some like they're just the relationship dynamics with daughters are difficult. Like the friendship stuff

Speaker 4 is a whole other level of importance for them.

Speaker 4 Well, especially for I guess for my daughter. And so like, if she's like out with her friends in some way, like it isn't in sync with her friends.
It's a real thing.

Speaker 4 And my son's kind of like, meh, okay, let's, you know, let's go throw the football. Right.

Speaker 4 But, but the relationship stuff is challenging.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I just, uh, I want to feel it. All my best friends have girls.
I'm just like, I, I got the boys.

Speaker 3 I got, I got my, my four and a half year old is like every day just like, daddy, punch me in the face today. I want to see what it feels like.
Like, no, no, he's dead serious.

Speaker 3 I'm like, I'm like, dude, we can't do that. Like, I always say he's going to be a middle linebacker.
He just doesn't feel pain, but it, but it is, you're right.

Speaker 3 It's just a different, I think, a different way of parenting, I'm assuming.

Speaker 4 So, um, you'll, I, I, I, but I, I would bet that you'll be softer with your daughter than you are for sure. Your sons,

Speaker 4 for sure, but you don't know what you're having, so you know,

Speaker 3 well, we'll see. It's gonna, we'll see, we'll see what pops out here in February.

Speaker 1 I got, I got, I just, you know, betting odds, I got you at a girl. But again, healthy babies all we want, but I got you at a girl.

Speaker 3 I think it's well, my, my, so, Ashton, I'm married to a Cuban lawyer, okay? So, already, yeah, so already I'm screwed, but she's the best. But she says, I

Speaker 3 desperately want you to, for the reasons you just kind of said, I want you to have a girl because I want you to feel that type of love for a daughter.

Speaker 3 She's like, I don't want you to have a girl because I know that I will be awful. I was like, what do you mean? She's like, I will be like protective and just like, she's already,

Speaker 3 my wife is an extremist in a lot of great ways. She's, she's, she comes from her culture and her family and all that stuff, but she's like, I feel bad for you if we have a daughter.

Speaker 3 And I was like, oh, dude, please no.

Speaker 4 I will say there's another thing that happens: is like you have a different level of,

Speaker 4 it is a different level of like introspective feminism that you build, where you will, you will instantly see the inequities between men and women in a more visceral way. And you'll also

Speaker 4 do stock on every relationship you've ever had with a woman in your life and whether or not you treated them the way that you would want your daughter to be treated.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 4 whether it's like the way you broke up with someone or whether it's like, you know, what, like,

Speaker 4 like across, you're like, man, I would just want my daughter to be treated better.

Speaker 4 And you'll, you'll do stock of it. And I think women make the world a better place because of that, because of daughters.

Speaker 1 And I know you mentioned, too, that

Speaker 1 you coach like your son's flag football team. I'm not quite there yet.
I'm trying to get my kids off the monster trucks.

Speaker 1 I mean, they're very much into the monster trucks, slowly trying to introduce sports. But I remember reading about you years ago, and I thought it was the coolest thing.

Speaker 1 And I remember saying, like, I want to do that. I know you coached high school football.

Speaker 3 Is that correct? Was it high school?

Speaker 1 But is this before you had kids? Or was this while, like, where did that fall in line? Because I wonder, were you like prepping to coach your kids one day?

Speaker 1 Or is this something that, like, hey, I got the summer off, I got time, I want to go coach. Draw

Speaker 4 at the time, I had three stepdaughters, um,

Speaker 4 and I had a little break from working where I was just like, I just need to like chill out and take a break. Um,

Speaker 3 and

Speaker 4 I was feeling this sense, this like slump of like,

Speaker 4 I don't know, I just wasn't happy, um, for whatever reason.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 4 uh, and I had a buddy who was like, Hey, I'm coaching the Frost team for Harvard West Lake. I'm an offensive coordinator.
And he would come over and watch football with me.

Speaker 4 He's like, Would you ever want to coach? Would you ever want to be a defensive coordinator? And I was like, Oh my God, I would die. Like, I would love to.

Speaker 4 And he's like, Well, why don't you come out and be the defensive coordinator for the Frost team? I was like, Count me in. Like, I'm there.
I'll see. He's like, Are you serious?

Speaker 4 I was like, I'll see you at Pratt West Pradesh.

Speaker 3 I'll be there.

Speaker 4 And I just started doing it. And it was, and I got this like edge back of like joy

Speaker 4 um being in the game

Speaker 4 being teaching something i really felt like i knew um

Speaker 4 and and more so like

Speaker 4 having these guys look at you when you're a coach and and um i still talk to a bunch of the players today i have a picture of my team over here um

Speaker 4 like it's just having a sense of like this relation. It's a different thing.
Like a locker room is a different thing.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 it was a wonderful experience.

Speaker 4 I did it for a couple of years, and then I realized that I couldn't give them what they ultimately needed because I needed to go back to work and my schedule didn't work out.

Speaker 4 And I didn't want to be like an absentee coach.

Speaker 4 And so I stopped. And then

Speaker 4 my son was like, Dad, I really want to play flight football. And I was like, okay.
And I was like, and a crazy work schedule and a bunch of things going on.

Speaker 4 I was like, I don't know if I'm going to coach. And Amelia looked at me.
She's like, you're going to regret for the rest of your life if you don't coach.

Speaker 1 You're coaching. You're coaching.

Speaker 4 And so I was like, okay, I'll be the assistant coach.

Speaker 4 And so I signed up as the assistant coach. And then halfway through the season, the head coach had a son in San Diego and he needed to travel back and forth.
And I had to take over as the head coach.

Speaker 4 And it's juice. I mean, it's just like

Speaker 4 when it's your kid and you're like,

Speaker 4 and in pee wee, the coach can be on the field. And so I'm lining up behind my son at middle linebacker and reading.

Speaker 4 I had game film. I took game film on the other teams and then I saw and I drew up all the plays and I was able to like,

Speaker 4 it is so bonkers the extent that I went

Speaker 4 and had more fun coaching flag football than I could have possibly imagined. And I'm very excited.
Our season starts. We got our combine next Wednesday.
I'm ready to go. The kids have to try it.
Dude.

Speaker 4 And then we draft our teams. I'm ready.

Speaker 3 Honestly, coaching flag football, My oldest son is 17 now. So he's, he's, uh, he's playing tackle, but I coached from probably seven to 14.

Speaker 3 And, and I, as they got older, we had a Super Bowl and our league, the league down here where I live, they actually film every game.

Speaker 3 So you can go on YouTube or something and you can watch the game, which is great. Some leagues don't do that.

Speaker 3 Dude, when we, and we were like a dynasty, we won almost every year, but I would, I would lose sleep, dude. I don't know if you were like that.
Like you're so involved.

Speaker 3 And my wife is like, what are you doing? I said, babe, like, I am like, we're in the Super Bowl and I'm watching, I'm sitting literally on my iPad watching YouTube.

Speaker 3 I swear to God, she would.

Speaker 4 You're like watching for like seven-year-old tendons.

Speaker 3 Dude, I'm literally getting, no, I'm getting, I, by the way, I had my coach who was like Connor Status, Connor Scallions for Michigan. He was deciphering signals and stuff.
And we had a whole sheet.

Speaker 3 Like, we would call it up, a color, and it would, we knew the place. It was so.
And I'm like, dude, if I'm coaching, I'm coaching. I'm all in.

Speaker 4 in i was looking at personnel packages i literally drew up on the other team this is for my son seven

Speaker 4 i drew up the opposing teams personnel packages in order to understand where the play was going and send a blitz directly into the play

Speaker 4 it's nuts like i up all night same thing like up at midnight i would wake up in the middle of the night i was like oh i got it i got it i got it like i know exactly what the package like i know exactly and there's weird rules in flag football that you can't can't run in between the hashes.

Speaker 4 And so, you're like trying to design things for

Speaker 4 it's

Speaker 4 so much fun.

Speaker 1 If you had to do like a press conference after a game, could you see yourself having that Danny Green moment? Like, we knew who they were and we let them off.

Speaker 3 Like, what could happen? Like, if he lost the Super Bowl, yeah, like, who's your coach comp?

Speaker 1 It could be from history or present. Do you have like a coach comp, more personality or could be style?

Speaker 4 I mean, if I we lost a couple games last season,

Speaker 4 and it was, I just had a bad day.

Speaker 3 Like, I had a real, I had a real bad day.

Speaker 4 Like, it was, I, I couldn't get out of the funk. Like, I, it was, because I couldn't stop rerunning.

Speaker 4 Like, well, if we've done that, like, what do I need to do next week in order to teach the kids contained? Like, what do I need to do? Like, it was like, no, and I would just, like, run loops on it.

Speaker 4 In a press conference right afterwards, I think I'd bella check it.

Speaker 3 We're on to Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 We're on to Cincinnati.

Speaker 3 Just not a lot of energy.

Speaker 4 I have enough media training that I can hide emotion real well if I need to.

Speaker 4 And I just, I would just repeat, you know, I would have the attitude of like, well, you watched the play.

Speaker 3 You saw what happened.

Speaker 4 We all saw what happened. Oh, dude.
The only question is, are we going to fix it next week? That's the only question. I would use the press conference to talk to the players.

Speaker 1 Guys got to do their jobs.

Speaker 3 They got to do do their jobs.

Speaker 3 I feel your pain so much, dude. It is the worst.

Speaker 3 I get asked this a lot, and I'm assuming I know the answer before we let you go, dude.

Speaker 3 Would you let your son play tackle?

Speaker 4 Mila and I debate about this all the time.

Speaker 4 The answer is yes

Speaker 4 if he loved playing football. If he gets to the point where it's time to consider tackle football and he loves playing football

Speaker 4 yes the answer will be yes um

Speaker 4 for me for nila the answer might be no um and and we debated it and it's funny like there was an article that came out this weekend i think it was like the new york times or something about like

Speaker 4 11 kids have died already this year uh in middle school and high school playing football two from traumatic brain injuries and and then the others are like related

Speaker 4 and so i was like that's a lot of kids and so i start digging into the numbers and i'm like okay well wait a second how many of these were from football and then how many kids die in it was horrible and it's awful for any parent that had to go through that like i can't even imagine but that but but i was just looking at it as like a data problem and i was like i feel like they're projecting that these are football related deaths when

Speaker 4 really they might be something. And so I started looking in and there's like this youth cardiac arrest thing that's like on the rise.

Speaker 4 And you have kids like in basketball and other soccer and all these other sports that are having these cardiac arrests. And so you can't really attribute it necessarily to football.

Speaker 4 You just attribute it to athletics. And I think that oftentimes there are a lot of like they skew the numbers from football because it is a violent sport.

Speaker 4 I'm not, I don't deny that in any way, shape or form.

Speaker 4 But they attribute a lot of these deaths and injuries to football when really they might be just athletic related injuries and so i started going through the numbers and and it appears to me that every year

Speaker 4 there are

Speaker 4 and consistently every year over multiple multiple decades there have been on average four deaths a year from some type of traumatic head injury that you could directly correlate to a football-related death and the heat stroke and other things.

Speaker 4 I mean, you could get a heat stroke when you're playing soccer, you get heat stroke when you're playing any outdoor sport when it's 115 degrees in the valley right now.

Speaker 4 Like, that's just irresponsible humans. That's irresponsible coaching.
And I think a lot of the head-related injuries

Speaker 4 are irresponsible coaching as well,

Speaker 4 where you don't teach the kids how to do things the right way.

Speaker 4 So the answer is

Speaker 4 we'll cross that bridge when we get there. My hope, frankly, is that

Speaker 4 flag football in the Olympics goes off and like sets things off in a way that, like, I love coaching flag football. I can't, I'm shocked at how much I love coaching flag football.

Speaker 3 It's the best.

Speaker 4 Maybe he'll just want to play flag football.

Speaker 4 But if he wants to play tackle, best believe.

Speaker 3 Dude, you'll be out drawing up players. Listen, real quick,

Speaker 3 if you need an OC, dude,

Speaker 3 I still got my playbook. A lot of championships down here in the South Bay.
If you need an OC in the offseason, though, just saying. I would love to

Speaker 3 reunited, buddy. Reunited.
Let's receive daddy and it be so good.

Speaker 4 We'd be the most handsome coaching duo in all of coaching.

Speaker 3 And our wives would hate us just the same because we would watch so much film.

Speaker 4 So much film. So much film.
So good.

Speaker 3 I love it. Oh, man.
You're the best, dude.

Speaker 1 Can't thank you enough for doing this first ever guest. I feel like if I run into you in the street six months from now, I'm just going to call you coach.
I don't even think I'm going to call it.

Speaker 1 I'm like, oh, there's coach right there. What's up?

Speaker 3 You really have a coach vibe. That's good.
When

Speaker 3 Flash Football starts, yeah. Does he guys start up soon? The real

Speaker 4 next Wednesday is

Speaker 4 tryouts, and then we draft our teams, and then we've got,

Speaker 4 and then we'll do two a days or two a weeks

Speaker 4 for a couple of weeks, and then then we start kicking off games.

Speaker 3 And then easy work, Bears, Titans, right?

Speaker 1 Easy work for them.

Speaker 4 No, no, no. There's no, I, I, no, no, I don't, there are no easy work games.
Love it.

Speaker 3 That's what a coach says.

Speaker 1 That's what a coach says.

Speaker 4 I don't, I, nothing is a given, right? Like, absolutely nothing is a given. I, do I think that we have what we need to win?

Speaker 3 The answer is yes. Will we win?

Speaker 4 We'll see.

Speaker 4 But, but I'm counting that as I'm counting that as one of the 11.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I was going to say.

Speaker 4 I'll say this. I was the first guest on one other podcast,

Speaker 4 and it's called Armchair Expert.

Speaker 3 Small little show. Yeah.
Small little show.

Speaker 4 So, well, I was the first guest that wasn't Dax's wife.

Speaker 4 So may you have the same success as Armchair Expert and

Speaker 4 keep cranking.

Speaker 3 Throwbacks, baby. Thank you, man.

Speaker 1 Thank you, man. Really appreciate it.
And I really do look forward to watching your Badger chair. They're going to be one of the fun teams to watch.
So good luck. NFC Nort's going to be amazing.

Speaker 1 And thank you, buddy.

Speaker 4 Appreciate it. Last note, Iowa offense put up over 40 points last week.

Speaker 3 Finally, right? Hey, Kate McNamara, baby. Let's go.
They got a QB.

Speaker 1 Look, we've all been there. Busy Sunday watching football all day.
It's hard to take the time and get a healthy meal in.

Speaker 1 It's way too easy just to order some takeout or hit a drive-through on the way home, but that's where cachava makes your life easier.

Speaker 1 I've been using cachava now for months and telling you all about it here.

Speaker 1 And I could say I've seen positive changes in my energy thanks to five key vitamins and minerals, my strength with proteins and electrolytes.

Speaker 1 I know matcha is all the hype right now, and cachava has you there with a matcha flavor, but there's six great flavors to choose from.

Speaker 1 And with the cachava kitchen, there's a ton of combinations and recipes for you to make a smoothie, a shake, a bowl, or whatever else you can come up with.

Speaker 1 With cachava, you get get a whole body meal with 25 grams of 100% plant-based protein that actually tastes delicious.

Speaker 1 You have those six indulgent flavors, chocolate, vanilla, chai, matcha, coconut acai, and strawberry.

Speaker 1 With every two scoops of cachava, you get 85 plus superfoods, nutrients, and plant-based ingredients. Plus, there's no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners.

Speaker 1 No GMO, no soy, no animal products, no gluten, and no preservatives. Your future self will thank you.
Go to cachava.com and use throwbacks for 15% off your next order.

Speaker 1 That's cachava, k-a-c-h-a-v-a.com. Code throwbacks, 15% off.

Speaker 1 All right, it's time now for the can't get enough sauce moment of the week brought to you by Wendy's.

Speaker 1 Each and every week, Matt and I are going to highlight an athlete who did something positive on or off the field, something that we just can't get enough of. And for me,

Speaker 1 same way I can't get enough of the Wendy's saucy nugs. I cannot get enough of Deuce McBride.
I know I'm a Knicks homer.

Speaker 1 I'm going to try to work the Knicks into every show, even though basketball season is two months away. I don't care.
I have to talk Knicks.

Speaker 1 Wait to see how unhinged I become when I talk about the Knicks on the show. So for my guy, Deuce McBride, okay, it's the offseason.

Speaker 1 He's supposed to be chilling, working out, getting ready for the season. He goes on college game day or whatever it is with Pat McAfee.

Speaker 1 He hits essentially in a crowd of thousands, a half-court shot live on the air and wins two people, I guess, partial scholarship or a yearly tuition.

Speaker 3 Oh, great.

Speaker 1 Whatever he paid. Awesome moment.
We all see the halftime shows where guys try to hit half court shots. I think the odds are so low.

Speaker 1 This dude live in a very weird environment to take a half court shot, knocked it down.

Speaker 1 The second round pick from West Virginia, Deuce McBride, who earned his way into a nice contract with the Knicks and is now a very important player. That is the pickup.
How to get that.

Speaker 3 How to get that.

Speaker 3 I feel like I'm going to have to buy a Knicks jersey at some point. Oh, we're going to talk you into it.

Speaker 3 I got my Kobe jersey behind me. But, okay, I'm going to,

Speaker 3 this was really cool. I don't know if you saw this.
Danny Stutzman, the Oklahoma linebacker last week, donated a portion of his NIL money to all of the walk-ons on their team.

Speaker 3 Two quick reasons why I love that. One, NIL sometimes has been looked at as a negative and this and that and how it can change these kids making money.

Speaker 3 And there's some of that, but I think we fail to see a lot of the good that can happen from it. And that's a perfect example of a dude who's getting paid a decent amount of money.

Speaker 3 He's a good football player, but he used it because walk-ons,

Speaker 3 as I could say this, like, you know, it's a very, it's a thankless job. You work really, really hard.
You're not on scholarship. Some walk-ons I played with had a job or outside of this.

Speaker 3 And so to take care of them with a pretty decent amount of money, I thought was really cool, man. Like just kudos to him.
He's a hell of a player, but that stuff goes a long way.

Speaker 3 And those guys, you know, those guys need to be recognized too because they work just as hard and put in the same amount of time.

Speaker 1 Yeah, there's a certain just maturity and leadership with a decision like that at such a young age. Again,

Speaker 1 I could say that now as a 45-year-old man, like, oh, that's a great thing to do. I, but when I was 20, would I have 21, however old, would I have had the wherewithal to do something like that?

Speaker 1 Well, again, thank you to Wendy's. That is the can't get enough sauce moment of the week brought to you by Wendy's.

Speaker 1 And I tell you what, the saucy nugs are going to be a part of my Sunday routine because I don't believe in cooking on Sundays. I don't believe in cooking on Sundays.

Speaker 1 I'll do some meal prep like I traded, but as far as what I'm eating on Sunday, it's coming from outside the house.

Speaker 3 I've had the saucy nugs.

Speaker 3 A lot of sauces too, a lot of flavors.

Speaker 3 They're fire.

Speaker 1 Cannot wait. It's going to be a big part of my NFL watching.
And look, we talked a lot of NFL. We talked a lot of superlatives.
We talked a lot with Ashen, but we have to talk.

Speaker 1 We got Matt Leinard here, folks. We have to talk a little college football.
We mentioned Deuce McBride in West Virginia. You were in West Virginia last week with big noon kickoff.

Speaker 1 And I know you're going somewhere amazing this week, but what was last weekend like for you?

Speaker 3 Dude, it was electric. It was.

Speaker 3 So there was so much hype going in the game. The game didn't end up being that great, but for us as the show, it's all about the fan.
It's week one, so everybody's excited.

Speaker 3 And let's be be honest, there's not a lot to do in Morgantown other than West Virginia, and whether it's basketball, that university. And so the fans were great.

Speaker 3 Machine Gun Kelly performed.

Speaker 3 He performed, which a lot of people were kind of like, why?

Speaker 3 The dude rocked it. He couldn't have been more of a professional.
He was great.

Speaker 3 Literally, I became a big MGK fan after this weekend. I talked to him a little bit.
He was great with the crowd, the fans. He performed.

Speaker 3 Well, he has a take of Lonely Road, which is the famous John Denver song that's used in West Virginia. He collabed with Jelly Roll.
It's actually a great song.

Speaker 3 But he was great and he hyped the crowd. So the crowd was great.
The energy was great. And then all of a sudden, like it does in that type and you live in it.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Just, you know, you never know when the weather's going to hit, dude. Chaos.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 3 It was, it was, and we kind of knew they're like, all right, hey, it could be lightning, thunder.

Speaker 3 And obviously, when lightning happens, there's like a four, it has to like when lightning strikes, there has to be 40 minute delay or 30 minute delay before you can go back on the field.

Speaker 3 Like it basically can't hit again. And then every time it strikes, like every 20 minutes, you keep.

Speaker 1 It starts the clock over.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it just starts to clock over again.

Speaker 3 So we dealt with that.

Speaker 3 Fortunately,

Speaker 3 we leave like so we can do halftime and then that game goes into another game. And so we left.
So we went, we drove the hour and a half to Pittsburgh, got home.

Speaker 3 But it was a great way to kick off the season for Big Noon. The fans were great.
And dude, this week.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Tell us about this week.
This is arguably the could be the best game of the year for all we know.

Speaker 3 Texas at Michigan.

Speaker 3 Texas at Michigan. It's,

Speaker 3 yeah, I mean, I mean, look, you got the defending national champs. You got Texas, who was almost in the title game a year ago.

Speaker 3 Kind of.

Speaker 3 Different storylines around both teams, but similar expectations. We got a star-studded lineup.
You know, you're going to have to tune in and watch Big Noon. We got another.

Speaker 1 You can't give us anything. You can't break news on the show, right?

Speaker 3 Well, let's just say, let's just say we have one of the greatest Yankees of all time.

Speaker 3 And we have a actor who maybe, I don't know if you've ever worked with, but he's a diehard Texas, which we all know that is.

Speaker 3 And we have another musical guest, which I'll say, but

Speaker 3 I'll tell you what.

Speaker 3 We have a party. The fans are great.
So we'll see everyone there Saturday morning in Ann Arbor.

Speaker 1 Who needs it more?

Speaker 1 Real quick, if you had a guess, Texas, Michigan, who do you think needs this one more going through the rest of the year?

Speaker 3 Texas. And the reason why I say that is Michigan,

Speaker 3 Michigan lost so much last year, like so much.

Speaker 3 And I just think the expectation will lower a little bit this year.

Speaker 3 I don't know if you watched the first game.

Speaker 3 They're a really good football team. But Texas, they tasted it last year.
They're going to the SEC.

Speaker 3 Sark is like, hey, are they back? We always ask the same question on the show. Is Texas back?

Speaker 3 Well, like, this is a game where I don't care if michigan ends up winning only eight games this is a game where you go on the road against the defending national champion you make a statement and that's why i just think there's more for texas on this and then you have the big 10 sec talk so uh it's big though it's big for both Could I, if I wanted to show up, are we close enough yet that I could get some VIP treatment?

Speaker 1 If I just say, hey, I want to go, I want to come check out the game, maybe come by set. Are we close enough yet?

Speaker 1 Or have we not crossed into that land where I could ask you for a giant solid like that?

Speaker 3 Dude, anytime you want to come, buddy, we'll get you a seat up there. You want to get on the show? I'll get you on the show.

Speaker 1 That's a good, I mean, if ever a tie, that game under those circumstances, that's a good one to go. I'm going to have to maybe trade off something else with the wife to get out of that one.

Speaker 3 I was going to say, let's go to Ann Arbor. Then, hey, honey, by the way, I'm going to spend six hours by myself on the next day.
I don't know if she'll let you do that, buddy.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 that might be a big problem.

Speaker 3 Hey, let's ease into the season, Jerry.

Speaker 3 We got a long ways to go, buddy. No, that's what happens.

Speaker 1 I get excited. I get so far ahead ahead of myself.
I make all these plans and I'm like, really? I just want to be able to watch and talk about it. And that's what we're doing here on Throwbacks.

Speaker 1 Week one in the books for us. I'm going to say we're 1-0.
I'm going to say Kutcher got us to 1-0.

Speaker 3 We're 1-0.

Speaker 3 Go follow us at Throwback Show. Our personal handles.

Speaker 3 We can't wait, man. It's going to be fun, dude.
It's going to be a fun season.

Speaker 1 Yes, at Throwback Show on YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok. You could also email us if you wanted to tell us what we did right at throwbackshow at gmail.com.

Speaker 1 Of course, if you like what you heard, please like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you like to get it. And we will be back week two.

Speaker 1 We're one and oh, we have to follow that up. And there will be a guest.
I'm going to try to make it NFL, and it's going to come from me. Thank you, Andrew Gunling, everybody who helped us do this.

Speaker 1 Week one, here we go, everyone. Enjoy happy football.

Speaker 3 Happy football.

Speaker 1 See you in a week.

Speaker 1 Ah, the sounds of an Etsy holiday.

Speaker 1 Now that's special. Want to hear it again? Get original and affordable gifts from small shops on Etsy.
For gifts that say, I get you, shop Etsy. Tap the banner to shop now.