Raiders HC Antonio Pierce, The Jaguars Kid Who Got His Head Stuck In A Statue, Hard Knocks, Mt Rushmore of Tough Thing + Grit Questions With USC HC Eric Musselman
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No joke, I think I might have a cane sauce problem. I was raising canes the other day, getting my box combo with extra sauce on the side like usual. I have an order. When I eat my canes, it goes crinkle cut fries, chicken fingers, the Texas toast, and finish strong with the slaw. So I start eating, and before I know it, I'm scraping the bottom of my sauce, and I wasn't even done with my fries yet. This habit is escalating, and I'm 100% here for it. Dip into canes. Get extra sauce for me, please.

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On today's part of my take, we have a packed show for the AWLs. It is Grit Week Day 3, and we have Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, one of the grittiest guys out there. Great interview with him.

We went to USC today to run a basketball practice with head coach Eric Musselman, recurring guest, great guy. He is going to be on the pod at the end of the show to answer listener-submitted grit questions.

We also have a very special interview, probably the only podcast that would do this interview. We ran into at the meet and greet the kid or he's not a kid anymore. The adult who has a kid got his head hit.

Stuck in the Jacksonville Jaguars statue. So we did an exclusive with him, which was great. We have the Mount Rushmore of tough things. We're going to talk hard knocks. It was a very good Mount Rushmore, by the way. Great Mount Rushmore. Great Mount Rushmore. We have Hot Seat Cool Throne. It is jam-packed show.

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We're gonna run to the edge. Come on, let's do it. My wrath will take you higher, higher, higher.

It's Part of My Take, presented by Barstool Sports. Welcome to Part of My Take, presented by DraftKings. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now. Use code TAKE, that's code TAKE, for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets instantly when you bet just $5 only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, August 7th, and football is back. Memes, are you okay? I'm okay.

He's crying. He's so happy that football's back. It's wild. Listen, we're going to talk about hard knocks in a second. I just want to set the stage. We are on day three of Grit Week. Grit Week, as Grit Week goes along, the days get longer. I feel like today was a thousand years. Thursday. Today's Thursday. We are all kind of running on fumes slash...

Like weird fights, but fun fights. I don't even know what's going on. I don't know. Hank wasn't being that fun when he was being a bitch earlier. That's a real hibbity dibbity. Right, Huey? Also, we found out that Huey says hibbity dibbity.

It doesn't? Why do you guys say that? I said that memes thinks that... Oh, he thinks that he says it. He thinks that that should be his catchphrase. Oh, okay. Can that be your catchphrase? Hippity-dippity. Hippity-dippity. All right, there it is.

I think he said the words. He did the tweet, the smocking tweet. Say it one more time. How do you spell that?

I don't know. I think it's spelled. Yeah, that's above our pay grade. But football's back. And we are in grit week, and we're losing our minds, but in a good way. Yeah, and we did the clothes thing yesterday. We had Huey and Pug, right? Pug went with you, so we're wearing our new clothes. Yeah, I got an OutKast shirt. I'm getting a lot of street cred. Big Cat shirt is just awesome. Yeah. But you are wearing, like, horizontal...

Conduct horizontal seersucker shorts, which I've never seen before. It's kind of hypnotizing. I didn't even realize until now one leg is horizontal and one leg is vertical. Yeah, your shorts are hypnotizing. What the fuck? Kind of cool. I've been wearing these shorts all day. It's like a magic eye thing for your crotch. What the hell? Hank is rocking a Daytona shirt. I would just wear this outfit. Yeah, Hank looks good. Max...

Max is wearing something. I look good. Yeah. What's wrong with my fit? You're wearing a tank top. Yeah. We're in Cali, bro. We're in Cali. You look like the owner of the shittiest bar in Mexico. I think the boys look great. I think the boys look pretty good today. But yeah, grit week. We are...

We're doing the damn thing. So we went. We watched Hard Knocks. Shout out Corby and Susanna. Great AWLs. They opened up their home to us. They made buffalo wings. And Rosie. Rosie, the beautiful dog. I wanted to be the one to shout out Rosie. No, the dog actually did growl at one person and one person only, Max. Didn't growl. Did not growl. It was a growl.

Not even a slight growl. It was a growl. It was a little... I saw it. I was standing right there. It was a little hesitant. There was no growl. It was a little... Not hesitant towards any of us. She wasn't hesitant to me. She was hesitant... You guys suck. No, she rubbed up against my leg. I have dog hairs on my leg. But we did it all. We had a great meet and greet in Long Beach. Tons of AWLs came out. We met the kid whose head got stuck in the Jaguar statue, which we have him on the show later on. Shout out to the guy that just brought me a football. He just came up to me. He goes...

hey, PFT, I brought you a football and hand it to me. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever given. This is the nicest present of all time. Yeah. Because then you get to just have a football and toss it around. Hank called the AWL soft as fuck because they didn't give him any drugs. I didn't say soft. I didn't say soft. That's not what I said. I was just... The last three or four meet and greets, we've walked away with like...

A lot of weed. The Silk Road. The entire Silk Road. I was surprised that in California, of all places, that it didn't happen. But I don't... I wouldn't have taken that anyway. It's okay. You don't like them. That's fine. I love them. They were awesome. Everybody was super cool today. Yeah, so we had a great day, and we finished it with hard knocks at Corby and Susanna's house. What were you going to say, Hank? I'll say... You probably will before the interview, but quickly, since I'm sure there's many, many people who will not understand the...

Jaguars kid because even our own producers were like, I don't even know what the fuck he's talking about. That's fair. There's a famous picture from 1997. Famous to you. No, this was the NFL world. The NFL world. 1997. I knew it. I knew it. There's a famous picture of a nine-year-old

who put his head inside the Jacksonville Jaguar outside the Jaguar Stadium. He put his head in the Jaguar's mouth, and he got his head stuck in the Jaguar. And there's a picture of this little kid with his head stuck in the Jaguar. And the fire department had to come. He's going to tell the whole story.

I get to the bar today. This guy comes up to me. He's like, hey, you've talked about me a lot, but you don't know who I am. And I was like, all right, this is weird. I'm skeptical. And he's like, I'm the guy, kid, who got his head stuck in the Jaguar. And I was like, shut the fuck up. And he showed me his ID. I then looked at all the articles about it. Matched up. Age matched up everything. I used to post a picture every time the Jaguars lost in my blogs. And I...

Listen, if Hank hates this interview, PFT, I thought it was fun. I thought it was a fun wrinkle. I don't think that Hank appreciates the lore behind Jaguars, kid. No, you hate the interview. It's fine. It's a 10-minute interview. It's a funny story. Jaguars, kid. The guy even said to us, he said ESPN and the Jaguars have reached out to him to try to get him to do an interview, and he was like, I saved it for PMT. I love that. Big Cat, I was standing next to him.

As we start doing pictures And every maybe first or second or third picture He'd be like I can't believe he's here I couldn't Jaguars kid is a big deal This kid is I would say that the first Things that come to mind with Jaguars It's Blake Bortles And then probably Blake Bortles again And then distant third Jaguars kid Also Urban Meyer Alright so We got a shit load for everyone But we should talk Hard Knocks

Which is great. I loved Hard Knocks. It was a good first episode. I don't think that you did like it. I thought you didn't like it. No, no, no, no. Because Big Cat went through some emotional swings during the episode. I understand the storytelling HBO has to do. I thought they were pretty heavy on the bad Caleb Williams highlights to start. But then they turned around. And I will say right now, just watching it, I mean, Caleb Williams has aura. He's also got a fucking fat ass, which is good. Because that's the power of...

To drive the football down the field. I made a couple notes during it, just right off the top, because Big Cat did get upset with how they showed his bad passes. The first ten minutes were just bad passes. I was like, where is this going? No, no, no. In the first five minutes, they did a montage of some silky, silky spirals.

Great passes. It was a lot of bad passes. First pass was great. Yeah, and then it was bad passes. Then they showed some good ones. I understand they're doing storytelling. I just, you know, and they also did the whole pun, like, oh, everyone can take the L, but they want Ws. So I made a couple notes here, just some Big Cat's initial thoughts behind it.

Um, first thing Big Cat said- Wait, whoa, you were recording me when we were just watching? I made two notes. Okay. Two things that you said. You can tell me if they're false. Okay, I mean, they're probably true. All right, first, Big Cat thought that they were calling Caleb Williams gay when Ibraflu said the word grinder. It was a suspect cut. I'm just gonna- Listen, everyone shits on the Bears. Everyone outside of Chicago is saying that Caleb Williams is gonna be a monumental bust.

I have my defenses up. I don't think that's true. A lot of people. Okay, a lot of people. Sorry, we never speak in hyperboles here. A lot of people are hoping for Caleb Williams to be a bust and wishing for Caleb Williams to be a bust, including Hank. Uh...

I have my... Hank's going to bet on it. I have my guard up. You guys do the same thing with your team. All right, all right. You do the same thing with your team. So that was the first one. So after the gay thing... I think that's a totally normal thing to have my guard up. I'm trying to defend my guy. I'm watching out for negative things. Hank, you went to jail for Tom Brady. Yeah, I know. You had your guard up. Yeah. Right.

Okay, so after the gay thing, next thing was he was stretching and Big Cat says, Caleb Williams has a nice ass. He does. Yeah. He's got a fat ass. You've never made a sexual comment? No, I'm just saying. You said he had a nice ass. He does. He's got a powerful ass. I want my quarterback to have a big ass. Drives the ball. He's got a good ass. But I think as it went on, correct me if I'm wrong.

I might be psychoanalyzing you a little bit. Yeah, this sounds like you're watching me more than Hard Knocks. No, no, no. This is from the first 10 minutes. There were only two things. But I think when they did use your clip, which was awesome at the beginning, when you said 100 out of 100, Cale Williams will be the best quarterback in the history of Chicago Bears. And they were playing serious behind it. It was pretty fucking cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool. Alan Parsons project. But then Nick Saban said the one thing that gets quarterbacks is expectations. Correct. Correct.

Is that why you were feeling touchy? Because you feel like you've given him big expectations? No, I'm going to say wild shit all the time, just like you, just like Hank. Yeah. We all say wild shit. Not me. What? Not you? Not me. Well, do you want to talk about your gaffe? Yeah, PFT is going to argue on my behalf on that one. Okay.

Wait, have I just been deputized as his lawyer? I don't know. I didn't know. I feel like I was in a safe space in Corby and Susanna's house. I didn't know I was being watched as closely as I was being watched. Well, we talk about things on the show that weren't personal.

I get it. I know that because I have my guard up. Right. I'm agreeing with you that I'm psychoanalyzing every moment, but it's because I've been battered to a point where it's like, you know, like when you drop your keys and your dog flinches, that's what I do.

When there's any negative thing, I flinch. I think you might feel the pressure of giving expectations to Caleb. No, I don't feel the pressure at all. I'm going to give expectations to everybody. I did the same thing to Justin Fields. I did the same thing to Mr. Biscay. I did the same thing. Go on down the line. I'm going to do the same thing for the rest of my life. If Caleb Williams doesn't turn out, the next guy I'm going to do the same thing. The next guy I'm going to do the same thing.

thing. And round and round and round we go, and then when someone drops the keys or someone closes the door really loud, I'm going to flinch. Okay, so Nick Saban sucks at karaoke, by the way. I agree. I said that. If you want to criticize Caleb Williams about anything, you can't sing. Which is fine. Or read. What? He couldn't even...

He wasn't even trying to sing. This is why I have my defense up. This guy is going, see? Everybody in the national media. I'm being, I'm proven correct. Everyone thinks he can't read. Can't read a defense or a karaoke machine. And I rest my case. This was the guy who just two seconds ago said he was an ally. I am, I am, I am. This is why I have my guard up. Drake May, you think he's good at karaoke? Definitely. I would rather my quarterback stink at karaoke. To each their own.

Okay, what else about Hard Knocks? Okay, Nick Saban. Yeah. Apparently Matt Eberflus, he has a coach. Yes. Because Nick Saban is now coaching Matt Eberflus. I didn't understand. Maybe this was just for cameras. And it is a show. And that's what, you know, the Caleb Williams, the bad highlights that I was like, come on, show something good. I understand they're telling a story. Did Nick Saban and Matt Eberflus never have that conversation before?

So I was that made no sense. I was wondering that if you're Matt Eberflus, it actually it's good that they're having this now when they have Caleb. But I feel like they would have had that conversation when he got the job. They 100 percent of that conversation. Right. He's probably had that conversation. Like he probably talks Nick Saban every year. It's kind of like the clip at the end with Jonathan Owens clearly watching a tape recorded Simone Biles. Yeah. Being like, yeah, go. It's like, no, she's in. She's going for a gold and you're half clapping.

We know this isn't live. Yeah, so Saban gets in. He talks about what can kill a quarterback. He's giving him advice. And then during that conversation, Max chimes in. Max says, Nick Saban, not a great track record when developing quarterbacks. He's not a QB whisperer. Yeah, that's what... They were just showing Nick Saban as this...

wise tell-all coach, which he is, but if you were to say one thing about Nick Saban, it's that he's not a quarterback whisperer. Right. And then Big Cat said... We started trying to think about quarterbacks that he's had. No, but you took that as a defense against the Bears for some reason. No. And then Big Cat said... Oh, yeah, it was. Yeah, my guard is up. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, because you're like, why is this guy telling him about the quarterbacks? And Big Cat said, what about Jalen Hurts? I'm not going to apologize for having my guard up. I want that very clear.

Okay. Memes back me up. You have your guard. This is why you've had a Florio of the year. You've got to always have your guard up. Yeah, always have your guard up. There's haters like Florio, Hank, and Max. When you're a battered franchise, you've got to be looking around every corner being like there's a shooter. Max is best. He said the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl, so I love Max. He just kept saying that. After he told us to do a long shot pick, and I said the Jets.

Yeah, but he's got his guard up, so he's like your troll. Yeah, guard up, guard up. That's cool. Anti-Florio of the year.

No, it's natural to have your guard up, but I said during, when we were watching it, that this was like Big Cat's version of the Dynasty, the Patriots documentary, where Hank got his guard up about the Patriots, and you're like, give me more football porn. I came around after they started showing Caleb good stuff. I understand. They've got to tell a story. They're like, oh, he's a rookie. He sucks. I just want to see him throw touchdowns. That's all. Yeah, so... It's not too much to ask for. So, Max, the Jalen Hurts comment, when you said Saban...

Not really quarterback whisperer. And they brought up Hurts. I got flustered like I normally do. Actually, Corbin brought up Hurts. He was like a fifth member of PMT. Yep, that was a good job by him. He was just like, what about Hurts, Max? I got flustered and came up with a bad answer. Then PFT was like, all you have to do is say that he got better when he went to Oklahoma. Yeah, he did. When he left. That's true. Yeah. He did.

He did. Yeah, I... Listen, Max, I agree that Nick Saban... I think that was just all like... They're like, we want Nick Saban in this and we're going to have him do a conversation with Ibra Floos. A conversation they probably had a million times. The main story of this Hard Knocks is going to be Caleb Williams, so he's going to talk about Caleb Williams. That's it. There was no...

That whole conversation was like basically for show in my mind. Because again, you can never tell me that Nick Saban and Matt Iberflues have not talked about football every single year. Agreed. It wasn't the first time they were doing it. And he was like taking fake notes. They had a very long montage of Matt Iberflues getting hot. Yeah. Well, Funk, our guy Funk, he got Funked up. Yeah, I don't know how I still feel about that.

I would feel better about it. He looks better. Because in some of the clips that they showed from... Feel good, feel good, play good. The last couple of seasons when he was bald-faced and he was making these goofy facial gestures or facial expressions, it made me repel in my chair a little bit. Yeah. And then they showed him now and it's like, that guy's hot. Yeah. Oh, I forgot. Nick Saban, the one funny part about Nick Saban was...

It's like the best college coach of all time, this football genius, and he also uses the dumbest argument in all of sports. Peyton Manning threw a ton of interceptions his rookie year, which is like there was only one guy who did that, who threw as many interceptions as Peyton Manning and then went on to be Peyton Manning. The more interceptions you throw as a rookie, statistically, the better you are. Every single person has been using that since Peyton Manning, being like, if your rookie sucks, you're like, well, Peyton Manning sucked.

And to see Nick Saban use that same dumb logic was awesome. The star of the show was the Canadian offensive lineman that sang karaoke. Yes. I think he might actually be deaf. Yeah. But it wasn't about the singing. It was about the...

It was about the Speedo, rocking an American flag Speedo. Yep. And his buddy in the background playing the cymbals. Yeah. And that was awesome, but it was like doing a speed run of hard knocks where usually you get the very sympathetic, the guy that you root for right off the bat, episode one. You follow him, you root for him, you root for him.

Then he gets cut in the last episode. This time it was like, okay, I'm rooting for this guy because he's fucking hilarious and had the most hilarious Canadian accent. And then later on in the episode, he got hurt and he's going to get cut. Yeah, for sure going to get cut. But that guy rocks. Yeah, he was awesome. He's the most American guy that I've ever met. Yeah. He was cool. It was cool when Cale Williams said his signing bonus just because everyone was like, oh, fuck. And he was pointing at Ryan Poles. The DJ Moore thing was cool.

He's an awesome guy getting all that money. It was also funny watching Kevin Warren sit there and read over the numbers at the end. Like, yeah, good deal. Okay, thanks. It's fair on all sides. Appreciate that. I liked it. I liked it. I just want to see...

Caleb Williams should probably throw more touchdowns and I'll see more touchdowns. Yeah. I understand that part of it. They did show a lot of his sick throws very early on. Yeah. When they had the spirals, he had a very fuckable spiral. But yeah, there was the, okay, he's struggling a little bit. Do you think he has aura? I do.

I don't think that you can argue otherwise. Yeah. I don't think that's even a question. Yeah. The slip and slide was cool. Also, Tyson Bajan is very funny. Yeah. Bajan's hilarious. The slip and slide thing was funny because there are two things that a coaching staff can do to train their quarterbacks how to slide. And every team does one of these two things. One is a slip and slide. Yep. The other is call up the professional baseball team in your city and

And ask them, do you have any pointers on how to slide? Yes. But football coach, you should be able to teach a guy how to slide without consulting a professional about it. Oh, breaking news. We just had an earthquake. Did we feel it? We just had an earthquake. I've always wanted to feel an earthquake. 5.6. Oh, is that what the breaking news was? 5.6?

How do we not feel it? Is that the big one? Pug texted our group chat and was like, the whole hotel was shaking. The RV didn't move. This thing is a fucking tank. You felt it? I thought it was just like someone shifting in the bus. That's a fat joke. Me, Huey, and Max just locking eyes, being like, okay. Is it still going? No. No. We survived our earthquake. There could be a... Let's go. After quake. It also might have been me yelling about the bears.

Cause a little fuss there. First earthquake on the pod. Yeah, so we've done a tornado. We've done an earthquake. We've done, we've survived. I'm kind of pissed that I didn't feel it. Yeah, me too. What else have we survived? Are we tougher than earthquakes? We just didn't even feel it? Either that or we have really bad balance naturally and so we just didn't feel being shipped around. Bad awareness? Yeah, bad awareness. I was probably focused on how I fucked up the Jalen Hurts thing. Yeah, also Max did say that he was hoping that Caleb Williams got hurt on the slip and slide.

That's not true. That was Hank that said that. Oh, did Hank say that? If he got hurt on the slipping side. Hey, listen. Just a little tip for everyone out there. You're not paranoid if everyone's out to get you. I agree, though. I agree that it would have been funny. That's a fact. Have you guys seen San Andreas? What are you guys talking about? San Andreas. You and memes? Starts with an earthquake, then a tidal wave, then just...

Are we about to get hit by a tidal wave? Do you think the Earth knows it's grit week? I think it would probably need more than 5.6, but yeah, maybe. You think there's a tsunami? Should we go catch a wave? We did. Go surfing. That video comes out Thursday. I'm bummed that I didn't feel that earthquake. Same. I know. If I didn't feel it and we were just hanging out, then we could at least lie about it. But the fact that we were recording, we didn't talk about it, so everyone knows we didn't feel it. Do you think the camera's shook? That'd be cool. Earthquake cam? Shake one of those cameras real quick.

Oh, yeah, there's the earthquake. Oh, my God. Oh, shit. What an earthquake. That feels like I'm going to say a 5.6. Whoa. All right, last thoughts about hard knocks. I wish the Bears weren't on hard knocks. That's what I'll say. It's too early for me to get my blood pressure this high.

I don't like that. I don't like having... I think I even said during the episode, I was like, how many episodes of this are there? Because I don't... Oh, yeah. I don't... I'm done watching this show. I'm going to have to just...

But I'm just... I'm like... Usually August is when I reserve my energy getting ready for the battles I'm going to go into. And now I feel like I have to fight the battles early and it's just... I don't know. Why can't you? Buddha Ben just tweeted, Whoa, big earthquake. Hashtag Los Angeles. Wow. What are you going to say, Max? I would be so excited if my team was on hard knocks. You would have won something. But it's like...

You've won something. You just get more football. Yeah, I understand. Because it's your team. I agree with Max. You get to be excited. But your team's not a joke. No, if the commanders were on. But your team is so excited right now. If they are a joke, I would absolutely love that. But you think that it's not. You think that everyone's out to get you. Because they are. I don't think they are. Yeah, you guys were wishing Caleb Williams got hurt on the slip and slide. Someone brought it up. They were getting off of that slip and slide.

With like no footing at the end of that. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I agree that they were very, it made me nervous. If it was another team. But when you vocalized it, I was like, he's out to get it. Okay, so if this was like the Steelers and we're watching the Steelers, Arnox,

and Russell Wilson was on a slip and slide because he couldn't slide anymore. I wouldn't give a fuck. And you said, like... I wouldn't give a fuck. And someone said it'd be very funny, like, just hilarious, though. Not, like, wishing bad will, but objectively speaking, it would be funny if he got hurt on the slip and slide they brought in. No shit! Wait, yeah, they wouldn't... No shit, PFT! If it was the commanders on the hard knocks and someone said that, you would have the same reaction. You'd be like, shut up. No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying...

If somebody said that, you would agree, yes, objectively, it would be funny. No shit. Yeah. Right. I agree. I don't know if it'd happen to Jane if I'd be this upset. Yes, you would. Okay. You'd react the same way. That's why I... I'd be upset. Yes, Max would be upset. Max would be upset. We all react the same way. It's just that this is why I wish I wasn't on Hard Knocks.

You can't, PFT, don't pretend that you wouldn't be upset if it was Jaden Daniels and he comes up a little gimpy or something and you're like, oh, it would be a shit. You'd be like, shut up, don't say that. I would say shut up, don't say that if he got up gimpy. Yeah, it would be the same thing.

And if it was a team that wasn't my team, I would have no problem. That's how all of us react. Guards up. But that's how everyone reacts to fandom. Yeah, but... Their team, they defend. I would love... Everything else is funny. That's how fans work. I would love to see just... I'm with Max, where it's like, if we get five weeks of extra Commanders content, I would be... But again, I'm not in the trenches. No, yeah, you're not a man in the arena. You're not right there right now. It's...

I'm going to watch every second. I just, I wish I didn't have to have my guard up this early. That's all. And we're a joke. I don't want to be a joke anymore. Huey, you understand. You just stopped being a joke. Yeah, I mean. The Lions literally just stopped being a joke. But to that point, it was two seasons after hard knocks. True. We had our best season ever. True. So I have to wait another year? Yeah. Okay. Next year will be the year. Okay. What are you doing, Hank?

hubbity hubbity hubbity oh no so close so close all right what else what else we got USA basketball wins

Yeah, LeBron had quite the moment. Did you guys see that? Yeah. Yeah, that was funny. The French swimmer came into the arena, and the arena went crazy, and LeBron thought everyone was cheering for him. He even put on the crown. It's very funny seeing a guy who's been, like, main character his entire life not be main character but still thinks that he's main character. Right, right. Hank, did Tatum play? Yep.

How did Tatum do compared to Joel Embiid? Because that's been the big back and forth. I thought he was better. No, I mean, it's a team game. USA won. Embiid played well. Tatum played well. Embiid had a monster game. Monster game. Only played half. Why? Because they were up so big. He was tired. We killed them. We now need to win every game by 30.

Yeah, I mean, today was domination. And who do we play next? We play Djokic, Serbia. Oh, so isn't B going to go home for that game? No, he's going to fucking dominate. It's not in altitude. Okay, good. Wait, how high up is France? I don't know, bro. I don't know why I said that. Max's guard's up. Yes. Yeah, guard's up. I'm shocked. Guard's up for no... The USA basketball is just reach city for takes.

Yeah, 100%. Unless your guys play well, then it rocks. No, it's a complete... Everything we've said has been a reach on USA Basketball. Yeah. 100%. I'm shocked, PFT. You would have the same reaction.

He just had his guards up because we flipped it on him. Don't compare me. But you would have the same reaction, PFD. To which thing? Guards being up if your team was under the microscope. Did I just feel an earthquake? Now I'm feeling the phantom quakes because I want to feel them.

There you go, Max. Shake it. Shake it. My guard would probably be a little bit up. Yeah. But I would also be excited. We all have our guards up when our team's under the microscope. I'd be excited. I'd be excited about having the team up. I am excited. But guards up. Always got to get your guards up. Hank's got his guards up anytime we bring up Tatum.

He's ready to go. No, when you win a championship, it's like, who cares? No, that hurts. He's right, though. No, he's right about that. You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right about that. Okay, anything else in the Olympics happened? Snoop Dogg's getting paid half a million dollars just to hang out. That's pretty sweet. A day. I was going to say, I think he's made like $10 million. It's crazy. Crazy. It's good money. Mondo DePlantis. Pole vaulting record. That was a big story. We met him in LSU.

Six years ago. We met that guy. I met him at a tailgate. We were at a tailgate together. I was like separate. I met him, hung out with him. Like we went to a different tailgate.

I was with him for a few hours. I just thought he was a normal student. We just had a good time. He was a normal student. Had a good time. Was with his friends. And then he followed me on Instagram. After I remembered his name, I clicked his name, and he had like 100,000 followers. I was like, oh, track and field star. Yeah. And then he went on to break the world record. And then he won the gold medal in Tokyo. Then he broke his own world record once.

And won the gold medal yesterday. And, like, the celebration with his girlfriend went viral. He was, like, the talk of the Olympics yesterday, which is very cool. Does that mean he's got a small dick, though? It might. That's fine. Gold medalist, world record. Yeah, model girlfriend, who cares? Yeah, no one cares. He's fine. So, Hank, was it after you met him that we did the Mount Rushmore of Olympic sports that you think you could dominate at if you trained? Yes, that was after. And Hank selected pole vaulting? Was he bigger than you? He's...

Oh, you think you'd take him in a fight? No, I mean, he's an athletic freak, but he might be like 5'10 or 6'1". Well, he can't be that big of an athletic freak. He needs a pull. Maybe he had to run fast as fuck. Did he respond to you when you selected pole vaulting? Yeah, he was like, you're the dumbest person of all time. I almost filmed a video with him. The timing didn't work out, but... But if he didn't... If he was an athletic freak, wouldn't he just win the high jump? I had an all-time... If I had been able to execute my vision, it was going to be me...

doing the running and then cutting to him in the same outfit so it looked like it was me. Okay, that's good vision. It would have been great. Yeah. But yeah, shout out to Mondo. Mando. Oh, we buried the lead at the start of the show. Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox. Oh yeah, they won. They won a game. They beat the Oakland Athletics today. So 21 games in a row, snapped. Yeah. Also, did you guys see today that Schefter was doing a weird thing? It was very smart of him. He was just tweeting out depth charts.

for the first preseason game just to get like the interactions were crazy because it was like JJ McCarthy's the second quarterback. Yeah. Bo Nix I think was the third quarterback. I see you, Shefty. That plays. Although I think Russell Wilson was QB1. Oh. So does that mean he's actually QB2?

I think so. They said Fields was starting. We're doing Terrence Howard math right now. I don't know. But it was... I saw he had a flurry of them, and I was like... Because I have alerts on for Shefty. And each one that came in, I was like, these are going to do numbers. Because it's basically like this first round pick...

is the second quarter, which doesn't mean anything, but it just gives fodder for everyone. Yeah. Listen, we all, we need content this time of year. Correct. We need stuff to argue about. Correct. Just give us a list. That's all. People say that all guys need to do is sit around naming names and that's fine. We do that sometimes, but if you give us those random names in any sort of an order, that's when our blood really gets up. Yes. That's when we have fun. That's a fact. All right. Anything else before we do hot seat, cool throne, and then get to the rest of the show?

It's been a great day. Yeah. I can't believe we played basketball this morning. I can't. Everything. Hot seat, cool throne. The MMA event of the year, Battle of the Giants, is coming up fast. Lineal heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou makes his return to the cage versus Hanan Ferreira. Women's MMA GOAT Chris Cyborg takes on 2023 PFL champ Larissa Pacheco.

Johnny Ebelin goes toe-to-toe with Fabian Edwards with the Bellator middleweight title on the line. Battle of the Giants and Ganu vs. Fajera goes down Saturday, October 19th at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN Plus Pay-Per-View. Hank, hot seat, cool to run? My hot seat, unfortunately, guards up the Patriots. Oh, I had them too on my hot seat. Brand, Naouk.

The rumors were hustling and bustling. It seemed like we were going to pick up a stud wide receiver, number one wide receiver for a new quarterback. And then the report came out on Monday that said it was basically two deals were in place, one with the Browns, one with the Patriots, and it was just going to be up to the 49ers or, I guess, IU to decide. This whole thing makes no sense. And then a report came out today, which is an official, that...

It's going to happen with the Steelers. McCaffrey, Christian McCaffrey, was in an interview called Iyuki's former teammate, which basically means everyone knows he's gone. I just don't know where he's going, but apparently it's not the Patriots. And Kyle Shanahan said something along the lines of it's hard to get better as a team when you lose a great player. Right. So I just don't know how the details aren't confirmed or out, but I was hoping it was going to be the Patriots, and it's not.

Yeah, so... I think it means he doesn't want to come here. That's what it means. So what happened was the Patriots, when the word got out there that things fell apart, they issued a statement being like, we're full steam ahead and we love the guys we have, so we're no longer going to pursue that. Then word came out that Brandon Ayuk did not want to go to the Patriots. So it sucks for you, Hank. I'm sorry. I don't understand. We're not fired. We quit. Brandon Ayuk is even doing the whole training camp, even though...

He's like, I don't want to be here and I want to be traded, but also I haven't agreed to a trade, but you guys have agreed to a trade? I don't think he's done that. But it's very similar to what Debo did a couple years ago. Yeah. But then Debo got the deal done. So you probably thought maybe this is going to happen. Get the deal done, yeah. Yeah. So now he's either going to be a stealer or a brown? Huh.

Steeler would rock. It'd be very un-Steelers-like, wouldn't it? Yes. Like, make a deal like this in the middle of training camp for a wide receiver? Yeah, I mean, they also, yeah, they just draft great wide receivers. Yeah. They never need to trade for them. Okay, good hot seat. My cool throne is the market. We're good. False alarm the other day. Oh. No worries. Because you told us the world was ending.

Did you? Oh, you said World War III. No, you said World War III. I said Black Monday, but it was more of like a light gray. It was chill. Well, what happened was, Hank...

Hank, as an economist yourself, I have no idea how you didn't pick up on this. It was bad on Monday, but then Black Monday ended, and now it's fine because it's no longer Black Monday. Yeah, I got to do some more research into Japan, but I think it's all, Japan plays a big role. They fucked this up, I think. But now they're like, I don't know. I don't know what to believe. Just print more money. No, I think that's the issue. But not if you print more money.

No, that's bad. No, but if you... Okay, so if you're out... That's what happened to... Right, but just keep printing money. Who had it? I heard a threat on a country about this the other day. Oh, which country was it? It was either Chile or Argentina. They just kept on printing money? Yeah, they were a booming economy in the 30s. But that's the problem. I think it was Argentina. I think you're probably thinking of Germany, but anyway... In Germany, they had to carry cash around in wheelbarrows. See, my theory is that they just didn't... They stopped. You got to go through the wall.

So like when you're like, oh, we printed so much money that it doesn't like it's not worth anything. That's when you print even more money. Right. You can't quit printing money. You got to be committed to printing the money.

And then when people are like, you've printed too much money, then you have to print more money than you originally. Correct. You like love if you print twice as much money as you did the time before, then you're good. Right. You just have to be committed that it's almost like you're just not committed all the way to the process. The process is printing money. And the minute you stop printing the money, it ends. Right. Yeah. Listen, any of our econ takes that are incorrect, blame Hank Lockwood because he hasn't taught us anything.

It's true. Yeah. We need that lesson. Also, Ruff and Rowdy. Yeah, that was my cool Toronto. Okay, never mind. I'll talk about Ruff and Rowdy cool Toronto. All right, PFT, your hot seat? Hank stole my hot seat with the New England Patriots, but that's fine, so I'll just...

Think of something else that I saw. Oh, Hot Seat, Arizona Cardinals. No, Hot Seat is people in Arizona's teeth because the Cardinals just released a new dessert that they're selling at the stadium, which I'm convinced that teams do this just to get impressions on social media. I don't think that many people actually order them, but they're looking for the next epic meal that is sold at a stadium. And so they released a cotton candy stuffed burrito.

Where it was like just filling it. It was filled with all these different sugary cereals. And nobody's actually going to eat that, right? No one's going to order it. It's just something that you want to order. Take a picture. Actually, that's a good idea for a restaurant, boys. We should do like the most Instagrammable food. But it's disgusting. But it looks awesome. People come in and they buy it, take a picture of it, and then throw it away.

Yeah. Or give it back to us. They rent the food to take the picture, give it back to us. Then we sell it. We rent it to the next person. Remember early part of my take? We had the idea we were going to create a fake team and then create fake menus to then try to dupe Darren Revell and it was going to be like a shit in a Frito. Yeah. And then I created the account and we said it was going to be like the Montana Black Bears or something. Yeah. But I did...

Montana's state code is M-N, M-T. And you did M-N for Minnesota? No, I did M-O. For Missouri? For Missouri, and then I just quit. That's a good idea. Yeah, that was the whole story. Huey, maybe that's something for you. You ever shit in a Frito? No, I haven't. Would you? Dorito? No. Have you shit in any type of chip? Not to my knowledge. Okay, good answer. Where's the weirdest place you pooped?

I got nothing. That would have been awesome if you just dropped, like, my ex-girlfriend's face. Or if it was, like, a bag of candy. Never chip. Yeah, in my hand. Okay, your cool throne? My cool throne is internet debates because there was a take. I think Draymond Green put this out there. He said that the 1992 Dream Team, the original Dream Team, he said that they would spank the current one.

Oh, I don't know. I didn't see this. Yeah, I think... He said that? Yeah, yeah. It was... Like, how can you say that if you're a current NBA player? Well, he's a throwback. Yeah, because he sees himself as being like Dennis Rodman. Right. He's a throwback guy. Born in the wrong era. I think that... I think that's true. I think that the original Dream Team... You don't think so, Hank? No. Modern game, more shooting. Like...

If you literally just took them in a time machine and dropped them in 2024, the 2024 team would smoke them. I don't know smoke. I disagree about smoke. Smoke is not the right word. Smoke's not the right word. Smoke's not the right word. They went on a 46-1 run at one point. Smoke's not the right word. Yeah, the other countries didn't start playing basketball anymore.

until after that. Also, I fucked it up. He said, quite frankly, I'm taking the 2024 Dream Team. Seven days a week. That's what I'm saying. You can't be a current NBA player and say that fucking 1992 Dream Team was welcome. I got a better dumb internet debate for you. Ready for this? Maggie Gray, who hosts a show with our friend McLovin. Oh, this is a good one. This is valid. She...

She had to take, can you really brag about being the fastest person on earth if you win a race by .005 seconds? So when you win a race by .005 seconds, does that mean that the person that you beat by .005 seconds is slower than you? Yes. Okay, then no, she's wrong. It's crazy. I don't understand the argument. Yes, you can brag. You won the Olympic gold for fastest person. By how much? But you won.

How did we? How much? But you won. It doesn't matter how much. I think a better debate off that would be, can you really brag about being the fastest man alive if you win the 100-meter dash? Because who decided that was the fastest man alive? Yeah, true. Why not 40-meter dash? Why not 40? Why not the combine? Why not a 5-meter dash? Yeah. Get off. But yeah, I think Noah Lyles can, if you win the gold medal. Yes, you won the gold medal.

Did he set a world record too? No. No, that's Usain Bolt. Oh, that's right. He can brag about being the fastest person to ever live, which is pretty cool. All right. My hot seat is Kyle Kuzma. I follow this account called NBA Alerts, which is very funny. The Celtics are... Uh-oh. So this was Kyle Kuzma this morning, 5.14 a.m. Pacific time.

NBA Alerts tweeted, Kyle Kuzma is now following Miz Thicke overload. Oh. And then at 7.22 a.m., Kyle Kuzma is no longer following Miz Thicke overload. How long was that? It was about two hours. He lasted pretty long. I clicked on Miz Thicke overload. She has, it's just straight porn. Oh. Just straight up porn. Yeah.

Yep, there it is. All right, first tweet. My pussy said hi. Yeah. Yeah, it did. Hi back. That's a brutal one, though, to have that. And that's also way too early in the morning to be that horny. We're on the West Coast.

But even still, if it's 8 a.m., yeah, you're right. I mean, that's 8 a.m. to be following Miz Thicke overload. I might give her a toss or a follow here. Yeah. I'll tweet. PFT commenters now following Miz Thicke overload. I'm following her just so that I know what my favorite players are doing in their free time. Yes. And then my cool throne is Ruffin Rowdy this Friday. Ruffin Rowdy. We're going to Wheeling, West Virginia. We have a retirement match between our guy Mikey Betts.

My hot seat...

It's the Utah Jazz. Oh. They just gave Lori Markkinen a five-year, $200-plus million contract. But the kicker...

He can only be traded on the exact trade deadline date. What? So he can't be traded for six months. Oh, that's part of the contract. Yeah. That wasn't specific to his contract. No. But the only date he can be traded is on the trade deadline. It just happens to fall on that day. So if they don't trade him then, then they're potluck committed to him for a whole other year, at least until another season. So a calendar year, Laurie Markkinen is going to be a—

a near $50 million guy for the Utah Jazz. He's a very good player. He's a very good player. Shout out, Laurie. He's not worth that much money. How much would you pay him? I'd pay him $35 million. Okay. So you think Danny Ainge... Doing too much. Okay. But... Yeah. You overpaid him by $20 million. He's not on your team anymore. Huey Analytics.

Yeah. I mean, that's just two recurring guests. Yeah, Laurie was on the show. He's a rich man who's going to be an All-NBA player one day. Yeah. So why wouldn't you pay him? All right. I shouldn't have said All-NBA. All-Star. I was about to duck in a little bit about that. He'll be a back-to-back All-Star again.

I feel good about that. I think it'll be fine. Teams wanted to trade for him. Now they can't, so that kind of closes the Utah Jazz a little bit. The trade deadline thing is interesting. That's kind of weird. It's only one day, yeah. But if you're the Utah Jazz, you think this year you might be like, man, if we had those extra $15 million, we could win a championship. No, but what you're going to now do is have to... You're essentially saying that this is...

We want to trade him, but we also can only trade him for one day in the next 365. Yeah. So if we don't trade him today or that one day, then he's ours. But we are paying him in a way to where we could trade him. That would kind of rock. Exciting day for you.

Yeah, that would kind of rock if it was like that with every player. Like you have 24 hours to trade and then you can't do shit. You just have to live. It's called consequences of your own actions. You have to live with them. Yeah. And it could be, God forbid, some tampering a few days before. I don't think that would happen. The NBA is not known for that, so I wouldn't think that. Okay. My cool throne, pit bull.

Yes, big news here. Dali. Buying the FIU Stadium for $1.2 million a year. Wow. To put his name on it. So it's the Pitbull Stadium. You guys are so distracting. Hank and Memes. Sorry. What are you guys doing? Trying to podcast your voice. Yeah, no, Memes is distracting. What are you guys doing? He's looking up, I don't know. You have to share with the class. Talking about school lunches. What is going on? Memes is, I don't know. Huey was talking about Pitbull. What's going on, Memes?

Hank almost just pressed retweet from the part of my take account that said, sorry, but I will never understand people being against free meals for kids in school. I do not give a shit if families who can't afford lunch get free lunch. Feed the fucking kids. I just got distracted. You were doing it. I was just trying to hit retweet on something. And that was a tweet. Got it. I should have mentioned, what's his name?

Tim, what's his name? Tim Walls. Tim Walls, football guy. Football guy. Non-political football guy. Ran a 4-4 defense. I don't know if that plays at all levels, but it played in Minnesota high school. But it took them from like an 0-7 team to three state titles? At least one. I don't know how many won. We haven't had a football coach or like a football guy. Who would be the last one? Gerald Ford? Gerald Ford would be the last one, yeah. Is he the only president that was never elected? That's a good question. I don't know. I think he was. Washington? Washington?

Was George? I think he won the first election. Yeah. Democracy was built on. No, Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson is the one? Right, because he took over for Lincoln, might have killed Lincoln, and then he got impeached, and then I think he said, fuck you guys, I'm out. Gerald Ford did not get elected. Yeah, he took over for Richard Nixon, and that was it. Yeah, but Joe Ford... What is going on over here? Hank is on his demon time. He's just like...

What is going on? No, I got ADD. I'm on ADD now. What did you say? Iguodala. Oh. Wait, so... Wait, what Iguodala? I don't know. President. You're just saying Iguodala? He's the president of the Players Association. Oh. Andrew Johnson did not? I don't think so. He was... Oh, yeah, no, Andrew Johnson didn't as well because he took over for... Wait. Oh, no, Andrew Johnson...

When was the election? He was president for four years. Oh, so a little history. So he might have been elected then. He might have been elected. Sounds like he was. Presidency, Lincoln and Johnson. Okay. No, he might not have been. You might be right. So Gerald Ford and how did we get here? Oh, Gerald Ford's the last football guy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Iguodala? Football guy. Football guy.

He's not even, he says something and then just walks away. And then just goes back on his phone. He's the acting executive director. In the National Football League? Basketball. Okay, so not a football guy. No. Okay. And not a president. Yes. Yeah.

Acting Executive Director. Apologies. All right. Pitbull. Acting Executive Director would be a good name for John Wilkes Booth, too. Pitbull's got a stadium. Yeah, Pitbull put his name on a stadium in Florida. So it's called the Pitbull Stadium? Yeah. The Dolly Dome. Mike Vick's going to go there all the time with that name. So I think this opens up the door now. I think this opens up the door. I hate you so much, Hank. You're just, your brain is gone right now. That'd be a great name.

It's not a dome.

Okay. But I think this opens up a world for celebrities now to start saying, you know, what school can we get our name on? What stadium? Because 1.2 per year is not nothing. But it is FIU. We almost did Mercedes-Benz. Yeah. Barstool Sports. We also almost did Buffalo. Yeah. Yeah. That would rock if just celebrities did it and they just named it after themselves for a year. Yeah. When that was going on, I was big into naming rights. I wanted to do, like, naming rights for, like, people's man cave.

Which would be sick. If you show me a sick man cave and I just pay you like a thousand bucks to make it my man cave. Would be cool, right? But you're right. Like $1.2 million for a mid-level school is not a bad deal at all. And it's one year, but still, yeah. Yeah, but you get one year of having your name on the side of a giant stadium. Yeah. That'd be cool. Really a good deal. What about the Mystic Overload Dome?

Followed by PFT. You're followed by PFT. How much would that cost? What's a good... 2.4. 2.4? Price goes up when it's x-rated. It's going to be a little inappropriate. Why didn't he tell you the school?

Oh, well, school. All right, yeah. BYU. BYU. Three. Three, okay. Done. Done, yeah. Miz Thick Overload Stadium. No, Dome. Dome. It's got to be the Dome. It's got to be the Dome. Also on Twitter, she is ThickOverloadENT.

Is she a doctor? Entertainment. Oh, okay. Oh, Huey. I've been around the porn game once or twice. You are a porn guy. Hey, don't knock it until you try. Wait. No, I didn't do it. You've been in porn? No, I was just watching. You love porn. Okay. You love porn. No, no, no, no. You dig into sex? No. You have a sex problem? No. No. Not at all. Not one problem.

Hank, any last words before we get to our Mount Rushmore? You biddy do biddy. All right. Our Mount Rushmore is brought to you by Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus is once again your home to stream the NFL on CBS all season long. Follow all the exciting on-field action and stream your live local NFL on CBS games every Sunday at

all the way through the AFC Championship. You can watch from your smart TV, tablet, phone, or any device, and all you need is Paramount Plus account. Sign up and sign in to Paramount Plus today and get ready for another thrilling season of the NFL on CBS, streaming live on Paramount Plus. Go right now. You need Paramount Plus if you're a football guy. Paramount Plus is a must. So go right now, Paramount Plus. All right, let's kick it to ourselves. Mount Rushmore of tough things.

Okay, Mount Rushmore time. We are sitting in the USC locker room. We're going to have Mus on at the end of the show for some FAQs about grit, which was great. Just did a workout. Max looks like he...

Threw up on himself. That's called sweat. That's called sweat. Max looks like a samurai. You guys were able to shower. I was setting up for the pod. So that could be a tough thing if you were to ask. Yeah, it is a tough thing. So we're going to do the Mount Rushmore of tough things, which feels very open-ended. This is one of those ones I really wish I wasn't going first.

but I am going first. Yeah. And we have updated standings. Who won the last one? Hank. Hank did. Hank's fully back right now. Hank. So yeah, it's 47. It's over after this one. 47 max, 40 me. Oh, max already won. Hank's 32 and PFT has got 31. So we had a new loser right now. Yeah, it's okay. It's a long season. It's a long season. Uh,

Mount Rushmore of tough things. Anything we want to say before? I'm woefully unprepared. I am as well. I think I'm prepared. I think I'm prepared. I would also like to say when we talked about it, when we talked about things you thought you were going to do when you were younger and going pro in basketball, I always thought I was going to play basketball at USC and then go pro. That was your goal? This is a dream day. This is a dream come true. That's awesome. Holy shit. Well, you were right. You played basketball at USC.

Yeah, that's now I've got to go pro. Today, yeah. Yeah. I don't think that Mus is going to give us a scholarship. I don't think we were very good. No. Hustle, though. Yeah. We tried. A lot of hustle. Okay, Mount Rushmore of tough things. I have the first pick. Yep. So it's Big Cat, Hank, Max, me, then back. Yes. All right, I'll go 1-1. I'm going to go a safe one because I don't know where this draft is going to go. Tough things, Navy SEALs.

That was my one-one. Was it? Well, troops. Navy SEAL. Navy SEAL is toughest of the tough. That has to be, like, yeah. Tip of the spear. Tip of the... The spear? Spear. Yeah, tip of the... Tip of the sphere. Sphere. Tip of the sphere. Yeah. I actually don't think... That's when you eat so many mushrooms at the sphere that you get... I don't think that spheres have tips. They're tipless. They have heads. They actually kind of look like the little big tit.

The tit of the sphere. The tit of the sphere. Yeah, that's the same. They put a nipple on the top. James Dolan, that crete. Okay, my one-one, Navy SEALs. What do you think, Hank? I think it's a good pick. Oh, okay. I think it makes me question my own pick. Like I said, I'm not prepared. I'm going to go childbirth. No, wait, it's not your pick. Yeah, it is. It is. Oh, it is? Yeah, childbirth. Oh, okay. Interesting. That's good. That's a good answer. One of the hardest things anyone could ever do. That's a good answer. Eh, heartburn. Yeah.

Yeah, also, like having a big shit. If you give birth and it's a C-section, then you're not pushing anything. Yeah, there's a lot of drugs involved. Taking the easy way out. I respect all. I had it on my list. Yeah, I had it. Being pregnant is also just like the whole process. I had pregnant women, but I feel like that's, they're tough. They are tough. They have the strength. They could pick up a car.

I think that's a mother. Yeah, same thing. Women can just pick up cars. Everyone knows that. That's good. That's one of those TikToks that went viral. Guy tries to pick up a car, kid, women. Okay. Okay, I'm going to go first responders. Okay.

Tough. Tough. Yeah, very tough. Running towards danger? Which ones are the toughest? Yeah. I love them all. Which one have you had to pick? If you made a call, which responder would you hope showed up first? I...

I hope. I love all responders. I don't want to alienate anyone. Wait, all responders matter? You called for the first responders and Marlon's man shows up. Are you like, hey, that's cool. No, no. He's a first responder. Every first responder minus Marlon's man. Are you including reply guys? Because reply guys, they're literally first responders. First responders. First responders. The guy at 3 a.m. who says, way to push the button, Max? Is he?

Does he count? No, I'll go fireman. I got a buddy. Shout out, Molly. FDNY. Only fans models that have notifications set on for Adam Schefter. Then they reply immediately. I'm done with the reply guy. I'm not answering anymore. Questions on reply guys. First responders. Okay. Correct. PFT. I can't believe this fell to me. Hockey players. Hockey players. Hockey tough. Yeah.

Anyone complain? That's a good question. That's a good answer. That's a very good answer. Okay. The troops was a good one. I had the troops. The troops was my one-one, yeah. So for my second one, I'm going to say passing a kidney stone. Now, not to belittle Hank's point about childbirth, but when I passed my kidney stone, I was in the hospital, and the nurse told me, she said, I've given birth to three kids, and

passing a kidney stone is the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Wow. She said that. Wow. Pretty good. But shout out women. Shout out women. Shout out women. Shout out women. We love women. Yep. They can have kidney stones too. Yeah. Yeah. We love women. My turn. Really? Look at that chick. Look at that chick. Okay. So my turn? Yeah. I don't know what Hank's doing right now. He's just Googling something. I'm going to go with strength coaches. Ooh. Okay. Good one. That's good. Okay. Okay.

That's a good pick. Yeah. Ben Herbert was tough. Yeah. Very tough. Hank? I'll stick with the one I had in my notepad. I'd give anything to see Hank's notepad. It doesn't really follow this theme that we're going with here, so it might hurt. But...

Holding in puke in an Uber or in a bar. I like that. Yeah. No, actually, Max, you don't like doing that. I've seen you. Yeah. I like that as an answer. Big Cat actually did it yesterday. Yeah, you guys don't even know I puked yesterday. Oh, yeah? Yeah. From what? We weren't in an Uber, so you could be like, I'm going to puke and just open the window. But if you're in a car or you're in an Uber with people and you have to puke...

But you can't just do it. Yeah. There's nothing harder. There's nothing tougher. Yeah, and in the ad, I chugged water as fast as I could. And you know when you chug water and it goes down the wrong side and it just sits in your chest? Yeah. So it was just like a quick, I got to get this out of my chest. Water puke, yeah. Yeah, pretty much. But I would have my head out the window. You're like, hey, we got to pull over real quick. And I laughed. He's like, no, I'm serious. No.

It's crazy. Are you going to get that like $250 Uber charge? No, we were in our car. Okay. Yeah. But I timed it well. I was just like, I was sitting there like, I think I can handle this. And then I was like, nope, I just got to get it out of my system. So yeah, that is tough. Okay. I got two picks. I will go...

City of Pittsburgh. City of Pittsburgh. Tough. Built on steel. That whole city is just tough. It's a steel city. Fries on the sandwiches. Yeah. Yinzers. They're just tough. And then I'll go with one that's a little kind of like Hank. It's a little off the board from my notepad. Dealing with Hank when he wakes up in the morning. That's very tough. Probably tougher than childbirth. Yeah. If you actually have to do it, like...

Childbirth versus if you're like, hey, every day you have to just wake up Hank, I'd take childbirth. Shout out to my mom and my sister because growing up... Toughest. Toughest women ever. Getting me to school. Yeah. I can't even imagine. I was like...

Just you the first hour of the day is just the toughest. It tests our friendship every time. So when we're on the road together, especially, it's just like... I think Hank's getting better in the morning, though. I've had two great breakfasts with Hank. Well, that's because he's eating breakfast. That's on his time, though. Yeah. That's on his time. I've woken Hank up probably like a dozen times in my life, and I'm convinced that the first

I don't know, 15 minutes of Hank's life when he wakes up, he's just blacked out. He's just still asleep. He tried to punch one of us. Thursday morning is going to be great. He tried to punch us. He threw a punch. I almost killed one of my friends in a sleepover when I was a kid. Do you have morning amnesia? Do you not remember the first 30 minutes of your day? It's not amnesia, but it's bad. It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where I'll say and do things...

And I'm like, oh my God, that was insane. I was so mad, fired up. It's just like, I've had girlfriends and stuff too where it's like, you say stuff you would never say otherwise, and then you're like, why would I...

I don't know what happened to me there. It was the first 30 minutes shouldn't count. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Your pick, Hank? I will go bomb disposal engineer. Oh. Jeremy Renner. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Nice. That is tough. Love that. It's pretty good. Everyone knows one of those guys. It's pretty specific.

Are they tough though? Because if you have a bad day as a bomb disposal engineer, you're just dead. Yeah, also wouldn't the tougher guy be the suicide bomber? No, that's a coward. Why? They're literally blowing themselves up. That's tough. Yeah, but they're not sticking around. Okay, okay. They don't have to deal with their shit. Yeah, that's true. Bomb disposal. Wait, is that a first responder?

No. Because they're usually deceptive. No, because usually, yeah. Firefighters are like, hey, I think we got a bomb. Yeah. And then they call Marlin's men. So they're actually tougher. Yeah, yeah. You can say that. They're tougher than first responders. Yeah. Because first responders are too scared to respond to that. So you hate first responders? No, I'm just saying. You don't respect first responders? Well, you hate cops. Yeah. That's not true. Cops are in my firefighters. I have a friend.

Shout out Mully. What about a tow truck driver? If a tow truck driver gets there before the cops do, is he a first responder? What? Stop asking me about the first responders. Okay. Well, we have to dive into these questions. All right. Nurses or cops?

I love all first responders. Dr. Kevorkian? Who? I don't know who that is. He was the assisted suicide doctor. Oh. He was killing people. Okay. Love him? I don't think that's a first responder. I'm just asking. I'm asking a question. It's a simple question. You're just saying random people and being like, that's a first responder? Like Pug. Pug's a first responder. I love Pug.

Pug's a first responder? I don't know. You're just saying random people and calling them first responders. No, that's a doctor. It's in line with what you were saying. He's a video podcast guy.

Correct. He's the first one to click post on the YouTube and the Rumble. That's not a responder, though. You click the button. I click the podcast button. That's one thing that people... Oh, so they got to start saying good push on Pug. Correct. Damn. So you're stolen valor. I'm the one who just brought it up. Wait, but what happens, though? So you're also putting, if it's late, they're going to say bad job, Pug. Yeah.

Oh, I don't know about that. I don't want our dear pug getting... Yeah, late can be me, early can be pug. Okay, I like that. What about corrupt cops? Can we stop with this? What about firefighters that are actually also arsonists? There's got to be one of them. Rico Bosco? Next pick? Yeah. Can't believe this lasted, fullbacks. Good pick. I thought fullbacks was going to be in the first...

In the first round. All right. I mean, offensive linemen have to play a lot more. Yeah, they have to block a lot more. All right, then pick it. Situational. Yeah. I mean, I'm like more, yeah, I actually won't get into my own strategy. Okay. Okay. Good pick, Max. Were you going to pick that? Yes. Shit. Okay, I'm going to go with Ronnie Lott. Ronnie Lott. Good one. Cut off his finger instead of having it repaired so that he could play football.

He was like, it'd just be easier if you cut it off. I don't need my pinky. Put me back in. Yep. That's a good pick. And then my last one is going to be going vegan and not telling anybody about it. That's good. I think that's impossible. Yeah. That's good. Being a secret vegan without bragging. That's tough because...

Yeah, it is tough. Thank you. If you eat with people, it's also... Yeah, I just gave you a great compliment. I think it's actually... I don't think anyone's done it yet. Yeah. It's like the three-minute mile. Yeah. Okay. Good pick. I'm going to stick with people. I'm going to go coal miners. I kind of got that with the city of Pittsburgh, too. How much coal is being mined these days? There's less, which makes it even tougher. So you're pro-fracking? Which makes those people...

I don't really know what fracking is. I personally don't know. I know it's bad. No, I don't know if I'm pro or anti-fracking. I have no idea. I think I'm anti. I don't know. What do you think about the environment, though? I want it to be good. Okay. What about different types of... Is it just coal? Believe in global warming? Yes, I think global warming is happening. All right. Lib of the Year nominee. 24.

That's on me. My pick? Yeah. Just like in the movies, the coal miners look so tough. I don't know how this fell to the fourth round. Max loves miners. Put that on a quote card. Toughest people in the world.

Cancer patients. You son of a bitch. You asshole. You fucking asshole. What's tougher than cancer? No, cancer patients. Are you pro-cancer? No, I'm saying cancer is the toughest thing you can have to deal with, so cancer patients are the toughest people in the world. Including people who get a mole removed? If it's cancer. What about an ingrown toenail?

That's pretty tough. More stolen valor. It's pretty tough. I'm just saying. Wait, Hank, would you say that we're the toughest people in the world because we have to deal with you and your cancer? Mm-hmm. No, I'm not. I'm fake cancer. Okay, you're benign. Okay. You're AIDS. You're AIDS, actually. You think I am a cancer. I do not have cancer. Right. You're the Black Plague. I think you're a good guy. Okay, my last pick. I got last pick. I'm going to go because I...

This probably will not help me because we don't have a ton of wrestling fans, but I'm going to go with Mankind Mick Foley. Toughest dude ever. Fucking going when he got slammed on a bed of tacks from Undertaker from the top of the hell in the cell. He is literally the toughest. Some of his early days where he's just like wrestling with barbed wire and shit.

That might have hurt me, but... People have told me I look like this man before, but I don't know who he is. You don't know who Mankind is? Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's not... Hold on. That's not a niche pick because people hear your attitude on this show. They know. Everyone listening right now knows that dealing with Hank is tough. It's you guys, some of my friends, my mom, my sister, are the true heroes of that answer. Max, you don't know who Mankind is?

I don't really know wrestling. But people tell me that I look like it. I know the name. I was going to go Stone Cold, but in my heart, I can't plan. Mankind is tougher. Mankind is tougher. That's what I had to do. How is Vaughn's son not tougher?

What? Vince Vaughn. What's his name? Vince McMahon. Steve. What's Shane? Shane O'Mac? Yeah. Oh, Shane, make a Photoshop of Vince Vaughn. Shane O'Mac took insane bumps and stuff, but Mankind would do it every single week.

Off the top of a cell? Dude, so I'll show you highlights. Like, when he was wrestling, like, in the independent circuit or, what was it, ECW? Yeah, ECW. Like, he would get... Shane Vaughn. He'd literally get thrown into barbed wire and shit. Yeah, his back... Things broken over him. His back was all cut up all the time. So fucked up. Max does look a little bit like him. Yeah, he does. That would be a great Halloween outfit for you.

People say you look like Mick Foley all the time, and I don't know. We've got to watch some Mankind highlights. I'll just send you the clip. Undertaker literally threw him off the top of Hell in a Cell. I think it's a compliment to be said that I look like him, right? Into a bed of tacks. Yeah, the dude got so much tail. All right, other picks. I had Camels. Honey Badger. Rudy just texted me. He was sitting in the room. Mankind lost an ear in Japan. That's wild. That rocks.

Okay. Who'd you have? I had camels, honey badgers. Camels? Camels, they go like three months without drinking water. Yeah, but they can smoke cigarettes. They can, sure. I guess that makes them tough. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Smoking cigarettes would be a good pick. Yeah. Calculus. Yeah. Real tough. I had that...

Pit Bulls. Pit Bulls. Tough. Getting an ingrown toenail removed and then playing 30-minute basketball practice immediately after. It's pretty tough. That is tough. I was going to pick this guy, but Big Cat took all of Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger. Yeah, he's tough. Pretty much everyone from Pittsburgh is tough. I actually got Ben Herbert before you took strength training because he's from Pittsburgh.

And I got all the cops and the firefighters. I picked that first before you. Accepting that you're going bald. Oh, yeah. That's a good one. Watching Cody Parkey kick field goals. That's very tough. Substitute teachers I had on my list because that just must be the worst job of all time. Yeah. That is tough. When I took hockey players, I got the FDNY and the NYPD hockey players, right? Well, I still picked that first. You guys have both said things that you've

That we're just wrong. Standing up at a bar for a long time. Mm-hmm. Very tough. You just don't get a seat at a crowded bar. It's one of the toughest things a person can do. Just waking up is tough. Yeah. Hank? Waking up and realizing your phone wasn't charging overnight. Yeah. Chasing a charge. And you have to go to Canobie Lake Park with your other producer. What? That's Coleman. Oh.

It can't be like Bart. That's where they went, I think. Invading Russia in the wintertime. Yeah. Tough. Also dumb. Dumb, tough. Man, tough. If you're going to be dumb, you got to be tough. That's true. That's true. Johnny Cash. Yeah. Him in general. Tough guy.

Teddy Roosevelt. Tough. Oh, that's a miss. Damn. That was a miss. Teddy Roosevelt. Shot through his hand. Yeah. That's a big one. No, he got shot in his chest. Oh, that was his chest? He got shot in his chest, and then he stood there and said, bring the guy up to me. Damn. It takes more than that to stop a bull moose. Damn. Jean-Claude Van Damme. Steven Seagal. Deer. Meat. Deer. Meat. Oh, the meat of deer. Oh, venison? It's tough. I guess. Human flesh. Human flesh.

That's tough. Living with your conscience, knowing that you hit a bear cub 10 years ago and someone's going to find out eventually. Yeah, tough. That is tough. Really tough. Sneaky. Oh, yeah.

Bernie Madoff, weirdly tough having to live with just the fact that you're a complete fraud and it's going to be found out one day. Mentally, he's got to be tough. It wasn't a pick, Max. We're just spitballing. You're a Bernie Madoff apologist? Yeah, you're an apologist. That sounds like what you're doing. No. Hank, you fucking shouted out suicide bombers. You were going to say it's tough to be Jeffrey Epstein next?

I almost said Theo Epstein. I do that often, honestly. No, because he had no... Yeah. You just switch them? Sometimes I say, like if I'm talking about Theo Epstein, I'll say Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, they're both known for evaluating young talent. That's a big mistake.

Oh, that's a big mistake, Max. All right, anything else, Huey? Did we miss anything? Draft a lot of high schoolers. I didn't think of anything too crazy. Maybe a test. Maybe just a... Yeah, a test. Any test. Any test of any kind. Tough. That is tough, Huey. Yeah, Huey didn't go to college. He tried it once. Dan Campbell. Tough. Tough. Detroit. Detroit, yeah.

Nails? Tough as nails. Fuck, that's a miss. Diamonds are the hardest thing. I thought about saying that. I was thinking steel or iron. Diamonds. Yeah, steel. Oh, spider silk. Isn't that tough? Oh, yeah. Like, if you made spider silk as big as a steel bar, it'd be twice as strong. Kevlar? Kevlar's tough. Ants?

Ants are tough. Yep. They lift 10, 100 times their weight or something. Marv was just saying that, right? Bees. Bees. He's a big bees guy. Not coming too fast. That's very tough. Actually, I think that doesn't count because that's not tough. That's impossible. Right. Yeah. Big difference.

Oh. It's like, I'm not going to say that. It's not tough because it's not possible. Yeah. Super. What were you going to say? I was like, that's almost as tough as making a woman cum. I was like, that's also impossible. Women don't cum. Yeah.

Next Grit Week Make a Woman Come Challenge. That kid's superhuman? The guy that does the backyard wrestling? Oh, yeah. That guy rocks. I love that dude. He'll just set up like a piece of plywood and then wrap it in barbed wire and be like, hey, I'm superhuman. Shout out to all the juggalos and the juggalettes out there.

I'm going to jump into this barbed wire. And he does it every day. Yeah, and doesn't he say something else like, this fucking sucks or something like that? Well, he just screams in pain every time. It's not like he doesn't feel the pain. He feels the pain. And then he gets back up, and every day he does it again. Yeah. Shoe nice. Shoe nice, tough. Shout out shoe nice. He ate like 100 tampons once, live ones, on a stream. He's pretty tough. Drinking glue. Yeah, he drank glue. He ate a beer bottle. That's tough as fuck. Mm-hmm.

All right. That was a good Mount Rushmore. Great Mount Rushmore. Yeah. All right, boys. Good job. Before we get to Antonio Pierce, he's brought to you by Chevy. It's presented by our great friends over at Chevy. There's a reason why we've never done a Mount Rushmore pickup truck. That's because for part of my take, there's only one pickup truck. It's the Chevy Silverado. Why is that?

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Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very special guest. It is our Grit Week interviews brought to you by Coors Light. It is head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Antonio Pierce. Coach, first of all, thank you for spending any time with us. We appreciate it. We're big fans. We start every Grit Week interview the same, though. Okay. How do you define grit? For me, toughness. Guys that don't blink, look the barrel down the eye.

That's still the eye focus. And more importantly, man, they got to have some shit to them. Yeah. Yes. They got to have the ish to them, man. If they got that, man, we'll go hand in hand. That's good to me. Playing Raiders football. That sounds like Raider football, doesn't it? Yeah. You said that you were born a Raider. And I don't know what that means because I was not born a Raider. Or can you change?

No, no, no, no. It's genetic. It's either you got it or you don't. There's no Raiders conversion. Is there a DNA test that you can do? Well, no, it's kind of attitude. Okay. You can look and you can feel it. You can feel a Raider. Somebody could present as a Raider, but you know deep down inside they're not actually Raiders. Yeah, I mean, sometimes, I know we're in California right now, so you could be like Hollywood around here. Yeah, yeah. Can you look into someone's eye and know if they're a Raider? Without a question. Look into our eyes. No. No.

Oh, shit. He had you. Damn it. I was like, I might be a Raider. Holy shit. I was waiting for you to blink. I saw a little twitching in the eyebrow. That's why. I was kind of doing it like, hey, I'm going to go at you. But the Bears had me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Raider family never were any other team. So what does that mean to be born a Raider? Man, like for me, though, to be honest, like growing up in inner city Los Angeles, it was going back to the word we talked about. It was grit. It was toughness. It was attitude. It was swag. It was when you wore those colors and you saw –

silver and black walking down the street or somebody in all black, you knew they meant business. Yeah. There wasn't about no BS, right? It was straight, it was straight stand on business. And that's what it kind of like started with me, you know, growing intercity and seeing that and seeing obviously, you know, the entertainment and that culture with hip hop moving on, but then WA and those gentlemen, you know,

And then just watching Bo Jackson, Marcus Allen, Howie Long, man. Yeah. Tecmo Bo. Yeah. That really did it for me. That actually is not gritty, though, to play with Bo and Tecmo Bo. That was a cheat. Yeah, right. That was a cheat. Easy way out. Yeah, that was an easy way out. It was fun, though. So, I mean, you do have grit. We saw it last year when you took over the team. We've seen it your whole career. I want to go back, though, because you played at Arizona. You don't get drafted.

I've read some stuff that you were shocked you weren't drafted. Do you think your career goes different if you get drafted? Or was that the motivation you needed to then have an incredible NFL career as a player? I mean, it definitely added more fuel to the fire. You see 30 guys go in front of you like, God damn, 30? I get 10? 15?

But 30, then, you know, when you start seeing those guys at the end of that sixth and seventh round, man, it was like, what did I do wrong? You know, he had a good career. He was productive, played some good players, good defense. Okay, measurables back then, everybody was 6'4", 6'3", 6'4", 250. Okay, I get it. You know, 6'1", 230. Right. All right, cool. But it definitely added fuel to the fire. I would have loved to be drafted because it's just kind of a badge. Yeah. But at the end of the day, like, man, it's kind of like my whole life. It's not where you start and where you grew up and all that. It's how you come on top of all that stuff, right? Yeah.

That kind of just really put that fire and desire in my eye to try to be great. Yeah. I think it's actually a cooler badge now, like to be like, I was not drafted. Right. And I had a career. But when you say that, when people say that about me, they're shocked because you look at the end result. Yeah, right. So you're like, oh, man, no, he should have been second, third round, I don't know, maybe not first. But, you know, you're like, I had to get drafted. Right. You realize, no. Oh, wow. I wasn't good enough in 2001, right? Yeah, right.

you look at my career, I'm going to brag a little bit. All those guys that got drafted before me didn't hit any of the stats as an individual or as a team player that I did. Right. With the Redskins at the time and the Giants. So I really pride myself on that man. And that obviously, that fueled me as I got into playing, especially in New York. Yeah. I mean, look at us, three undrafted guys. Yeah. We're all the same. Every day I wake up and it fueled me. If I had a jersey, I'd wear 32. Yeah.

Every team passed on me. So I was born – I don't think I can say I was born a Redskins fan because I'm from the D.C. area. So I always appreciated you on that team. You were the heart and soul of that defense that last year that you had. We had some ballers on that team. I know, but that last year you were like –

You were a great player for us. And then we had Clinton Portis on the show like six months ago. And I was talking to him about you and he said that the Skins were trying to lowball you at the time. And then you obviously had to take the money and go to New York where you ended up flourishing. But we missed you in D.C. after that. We wanted you back. I'm sorry that the ownership didn't feel the same way. But you made the right decision. You go to New York. You win a Super Bowl there. And going into that game,

Everybody else in America, again, doubted you. They thought, okay, let's just anoint the New England Patriots. Going into that game, though, your mindset, did you feel like an underdog going into that game or did you feel like you were going to win? Felt disrespected. It really went back to week 17. The media was asking us, we got into the playoffs, we beat the Bills a week prior.

Patriots coming into our place to kind of finish that undefeated season, the regular season. And I remember me asking, like, are you guys going to play in a game? Like, what are you playing for? Me, myself, straight ahead, a couple others was like, what the hell are you talking about? Like, why wouldn't we play? We can pay for 16 games. And these dudes were coming into our house. Nor did we not really like the Patriots at all anyway.

Right. So we obviously had a team even coach Coughlin and it wasn't even like we didn't hesitate. Like, no, we're doing it. And then if you guys remember that game, we were up 12 points late third quarter. But, you know, listen, Randy Moss is special. And Tom had a great year that year. They popped some plays. We lost by three. But that gave us kind of like that. Man, listen, we just went toe to toe with probably the best team of all time. And I still think probably the best team of all time, regardless that they didn't win the Super Bowl.

So when we got to the week of the Super Bowl, it goes back to your question, born a Raider, man. You know, we got off that plane where? All black. It was death to the Patriots. It was death to the dynasty. Going to a funeral. Going to a funeral. That was a mindset. That's what I told the team. Only guy they want to do is Eli. Everybody else, we're all black. You know what I mean? But that was kind of our mindset. Yeah, so we had a big underdog and then –

You know, there was comments made out the week. We're going to lose by double digits. You know, Tom Brady was laughing about the point spread that Plax said we're going to hold them to.

I mean, I rely if you to just watch us practice on defense, you to new like it's not gonna be close. Yeah, we don't get after those guys. Because that what it was crazy because Tom Brady his entire career, he didn't give Bolton board material. But that one time it feels like he slipped up. And yeah, but is that like because I never know we're we're just fans. But like that type of stuff. We say, oh, yeah, Bolton board material.

Does that matter a lot in the locker room? No, it did. Like I said, it even goes back to, like I said, back to regular season, how the Patriots were being treated, right? That was Spygate year two as well. Remember that, right? So there was a lot of things going on and they just, you felt a sense of entitlement, you know what I mean, with that team overall. And then like you said, the comments came in again, I get it. Like, you know, competitors, you know, they're averaging almost 37 points per game, but

And we said, sit here and say, we're going to hold them to 17 points. And he spotted them through. It was 14 actually. Yeah. Yeah. Were you worried at all during that run that Tom Coughlin's face was going to fall off? That Green Bay game? Yeah. Yeah. I've never seen a face like that. No, I was, I was concerned for him. Yeah.

But he's a tough dude. Now you talk about grit. Now that's a gritty guy, man. His face was melting. It was done. Yeah. It was done. But like all of our faces done. So like we look at each other like this is not going to end well. You know what I mean? But the coolest part about that game, man, like regardless of the weather, the adversity going back and forth, overtime, you know, Brett Favre last game as a Packer, which it ended up to be, like we were just so determined to make it happen. Because we had played the two teams, Dallas, really the last three teams we placed, right? Dallas,

Green Bay and New England, we all faced it in regular season. The first two games of the season, we gave up 80 points at 1,000 yards to Dallas and Green Bay to start the season. Then the last game we lost to was the Patriots. So, man, there was a lot of like bulletin board material, things that we can really go back and look at and really study. And that really propelled us and helped us in those playoff games. Yeah. Yeah. Tom Coughlin, ultimate football guy, ultimate grit guy. We've heard a few stories about Tom as a head coach, that he doesn't give bathroom breaks regularly.

Uh, they have to be, that's true. Could you like raise your hand and be like, no, this is an emergency, please. Yeah. You had time before. Are you still on cough on time? Uh, we, we try to get, I do start my meetings early. Okay. Oh, I think our team realized that like, cause you kind of came two minutes late to this. Yeah. Well, I couldn't find you guys. Okay. All right. All right. I mean, we, we're going to find you. Yeah.

Do you still call it Coughlin time? I can rescind that. Do you still call it Coughlin time or do you call it Antonio clock? No, I call it Coughlin time. He was here the other day. He was here last week for a week with the team and we started his meeting five minutes early. Love it. Yeah, for him. Yeah. Does it get confusing with like daylight savings when you change the clocks? It does. Especially back then because iPhones wasn't even out. So he's trying to like have us do things with our phones that we couldn't do. Yeah.

We had to go by the clock inside a building, the stadium. But if you're not inside a building, the stadium, then how do you know what time it is? Yeah, I just realized that. That day probably sucks for anyone on Coughlin time. It was very confusing. And it was very costly. Yeah, you got to set your clock back an hour and 15 minutes. No, you set it back an hour, but you also – But also the 15 minutes. Yeah, right. No, five. It was only five. Oh, it's five. Okay. It was five minutes early. We'd always heard 15 in the past. No, five. It was five.

He's an ultimate football guy. Listen, it's great that you're the coach of the Raiders. We were rooting for you last year. We wanted you to get this gig. And when you took over the team, it seems like they got a nice little boost. The players believed in you. More than anything, they played hard. They played really hard for you. And that game against...

the Chargers on Thursday night, at that point I knew I was like, they have to do this. They have to hire him as the full-time head coach because going out there on that field after about one second a game, it looked like the Chargers didn't want to be out there. Did you know in the first half of that game, like, I think I'm going to be the head coach of the Raiders next year? Not really. Not that game. That felt good because the week prior we scored zero. I was going to say that was the worst football game I've ever watched.

That was the worst game I had to be a part of. Yeah, I mean, that was the 3-0 game. I was just like, God, we can't get close to field goal right now. We can't even attempt a field goal. It's incredible. I mean, it was just one of those games. And really, as bad as it is, I know we love scoring. It was really two good defenses playing well. Obviously, quarterback play and offensive play on both sides wasn't good enough because, hell, they didn't score until almost three or four minutes left in the game. But that was tough. So then you got a short week. Yeah. So we got walkthroughs. We only got two practices. Yeah.

Right? And then you're about to play the Chargers at home. But we did see something on film. We're like, if we can jump out and we can impose our will early and come out with the energy and the tempo and play the style of play we wanted to play and attack certain players, we can get after them. And then right away, the first two plays in the run game, we got after them and we knew it then. Yeah. As our offense started rolling and defense was...

Mack started flying and turning the corner. Malcolm Coons had some big plays, and obviously Jack Jones did his little one-hand deal there. That was awesome. Yeah, that was a great play. So the game that I would assume you were like, I might get this job was that Chiefs game, because that was another one where it was like, it's something beautiful with football where if you play that game 100 times, the Chiefs probably win more than half, and

but it was you guys just had a perfect game plan you just frustrated the hell out of them was that the moment we were like okay this i i think i might be able to do this well that's what for me is like wow you know i went up against let's go back i went up against andy reed 25 times in my career as a player yeah all right or 23 excuse me and so i'm used to that battle but it was always different it was a player versus coach now it's coach versus coach so ultimate respect for

what he's done in his career, both in Philly and Kansas City. But it was like, man, it was tough. That was the hardest thing we've done. Yeah. That we did that week. I thought the coaches, the buy-in, the players, just the mentality that we talked about all week and the way and the style of play we wanted to play with and what we wanted to do to 15 and 87 was critical. And we wanted to make it ugly. We want to make it gritty. Yeah. Keep using the word because that's a good word for what we're talking about today. Yeah.

All that stuff came to fruition. And more importantly, man, the guys, they played with a purpose. Like we didn't want to be, they were not going to be denied that day. Yeah. Right. And it was good to feel it after the game. We're in the locker room celebrating. But did you, did I feel like that was a moment? No, I just felt like, okay, I belong in the National Football League as a head coach. Yeah. I thought that myself. Did I belong to be the head coach or deserve to be the head coach of the Raiders? We still had some games to go. We were hoping to get in the playoffs at that time. We had two games left and playing the Colts the next week.

You don't see how the chips fall at that point. Yeah, and I do – I love the way that you attack like football in an old school way, like talking about Patrick Mahomes, like we're going to go after him because we have a theory that with the way that the quarterback position gets refereed now, there's a lot of times where Patrick Mahomes gets – and it's a credit to him – gets like that extra five yards because guys will like come up short and stuff like that. So are you like – is that something you guys preach every day where it's like, hey –

We have to hit the quarterback. We know the rules are different, but we can't just play this style that lets him do whatever he wants. Yeah, I think our identity on defense is to make you uncomfortable. Yeah. We want you to step on your toes. We want to be in your face. We want to make you thinking about us.

Why you on the sideline? Why you preparing for us during the week? What are these guys gonna do today? What they got up their sleeve now? And if we can win that mental edge, then obviously we gotta go there and execute with X and Os, and our players gotta play at a high level. But the game is different the way it's officiated when I play, right? So yeah, you got that old school mentality, but then also you gotta be smart and play within the rules. Definitely.

I love it. I love, like, there's just something about old school football and just not. Especially late in the year, though, right? Like, late in the year, like, it was cold. Right. You know, everybody got their hoodie on, their beanies. Like, goddamn stuff's coming out your mouth. Like, that's what football is supposed to be. Right. It's not supposed to be high scoring and pretty and guys flying around. No, you're supposed to get, like, hit in your mouth. And that's why you tune in. Because you tune in and everyone's like, I mean, the Chiefs were, like, 10-point favorites. Like, oh, they'll win easily. It's like, no, the Raiders are going to just muck this up and make it a fight in the trenches. Right.

I love it. We did. You got some good coaches with you now, too. I read – I don't know how true this is. I forget. It was one of your players that I think talked about it. But you have some of your coaches doing conditioning drills. Somebody said that Rob Ryan was on a treadmill the other day. Not some. All of them. So we got 29 coaches. Okay. Big group. Yeah. So in offseason – and really, even when I was a position coach prior, you watch coaches both on defense, offense, and special teams, and like –

We're always yelling at players to run from drill to drill. But then you got that coach and he's like 10 yards behind you. The players are there at the drill with the coaches behind, so we're still late, right? So, cool. That's one thing. Then I start thinking about like, man, what can I do to show the players also that like, man, whatever we tell you to do, we can do as well, regardless if you played or not. And I said, look, one thing we can all do is we can get in shape. We can lose a couple pounds, right? So...

Yeah, man. So I told the coaches that in February. I said, listen, April, a week before the players come in, we're going to do the condition test. So we ran 20 40s. Rob Ryan did. Okay. Hold on. Anybody over 60 got on a bike. Okay. Okay. So they were on a bike. No, no, it's good. Yeah. We had an age limit. We don't want to kill any coaches. We had to take care of our senior coaches. We had a few of them. And, um, but they had to do this, you know, they had the trainers had an equipment, our strength staff had a good idea of what to do and we ran them and, um,

We got some former players on our staff and there was a couple guys showing out and then we got to, it was funny, we got to the last five, right? So we did 15, we're doing the last five. So now guys are trying to show off like, I'm good. And we had about two coaches come up lane. All right. So we, come on, man, you got to finish, you know, kind of like the players, you know, patting on the butt like, hey, let's go, let's go.

And then I give them credit, man. The last two reps, they fought through it, kind of made the time, but at the end of the day, they finished it. The whole thing is about finishing. So what we did, boom, players come back, off-season program starts, and I said, listen, man, I appreciate everybody being here, but let me show you how dedicated these coaches you got this year. Look what we did, and I put it on, and

Of course, Rob Ryan has his shirt off and he's doing stretching. It's not pretty at all, but Rob's got the hair back. He's got the flow, yeah. Yeah, it's good. He's laughing, he's karaoke-ing, and the knee's not going up at all. It was good for our team and our coaches to do it, but obviously it was even better for their health, man. Yeah. Who's the fastest coach? It's you. It's you? I'm going to put myself in top three. We've got Ricky Manning. Played corner league for several years. He's up there. Andre Carter's still in tremendous shape.

So I'll put us three here. Yeah. Would you say, are you addicted to making other men run? Because that story that I also heard of you in high school when you were coaching high school and your team was up 63-9 at half.

and you didn't like how they looked, so you made them run during halftime. And then you actually took a penalty at halftime because you got back not in time because they were still running gassers. Ran back to opening off in the second half. And then you won 99-9. So would you say maybe you're addicted to making other guys run? Well, I know, you know. What was the thought process? I mean, that's a crazy story. What's crazy is when I played, I could run for days. I was always in shape. Like, you know, you're a high school athlete, college athlete, want to be a pro athlete.

You can never be out of shape, right? So coached at Long Beach Poly and, you know, we're getting after the team pretty good, but we're just being sloppy. You know, guys have got some pill needs and stuff like that. 63 to 9 is the score. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The team was like 0 and 6, 0 and 7. I was mad they didn't score. Like, what are we doing? So I told my other teammate, listen, y'all can have our locker room. Go drink our water. You get all our snacks. We're going on the side field in the dark.

And we ran literally for, I think it was 20-minute halftime. And then the referees were blowing the whistle. We didn't go out there. And they threw the flag and they kicked the ball off. And we ran it back and we were up 70-9. And we just kept running until the score hit 99. And we could have kept running. You know what I mean? But, like, man, to me that's – it's like with our team. We talk about effort. Because at this level, when you get to professional football, everybody's good, right? You're playing with the 1% of the 1%.

What separates you? And like, you look at a Max Crosby, what separates Max Crosby from the rest of the defensive ends and defensive players in the National Football League? His effort. Yeah. So if I can get our guys in shape, in condition, in football shape to just constantly run and give that effort, man, like...

We can roll with the best of them because now you've got 61 minutes to deal with us. I said 61 because we're going to play each second longer than you. It's probably nice having a defensive player like Max, too, as a leader of the team. And he's out there on road trips and he's importing his meal prep that he brings in and makes at home. If he's spending all that time taking care of himself, then, yeah, you don't want to be a fat ass behind him, right? Listen, the first day I ever walked in this building back in 2022, the first person I met was Max at 6 a.m. in the morning.

When I wake up every day, the first person I see in the building and downstairs is Max Crosby. Yeah. It's amazing. Like, it's 365, 24-7. Yeah. I've never seen nothing like it. Like, we got walkthroughs, and it's not a walkthrough for him. He just kind of understands that. Yeah. Like, there's walkthrough, and then there's Max. Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. But when you have your best player playing at that level, what's happening now with the rest of our team? Yeah. Then I had a Christian Wilkins. Yeah. Now I got two of them. I got a guy inside and outside because he does the same exact thing.

So now that just breeds this, man, this energy and this synergy into our building, into our defense that, you know, these guys, they just want to run, man. They want to run a hit. They love playing ball. You know, it's fun to watch. It's really fun to watch. Do you have to change anything about your personality as a defensive guy that's, you know, you've hated quarterbacks for a long time and now you're the head coach and you're like, shit, I have to coach a quarterback now? Like, I have to love this guy? No, I don't change. I talk to him crazy just like I talk to the linebackers.

They look at me crazy too, like, what are you, like, that's not quarterback talk. Like, it's okay. It's football talk. Yeah. Football's football. I like that. Football's football, man. Let's not ever get confused, right? So that's how we operate here. And they get it. Obviously, we got to be sensitive to them at times, how we touch them. Yeah. But how we talk is how we talk. Do you talk football to the kickers? We do now. Okay. They got to make tackles. Yeah. Kickoff rule, right? So Daniel Carson did a good job the other day with the media. Man, he's talking about, like, man, I'm doing biceps and –

Getting a little bench press going because I got to make some tackles down. I got to be involved. So, yeah, we talk a little bit. Try not to get those guys too much. Yeah, you don't want to bog them down with too much football. No, we don't. And we got two special guys, man, with AJ and Daniel. So we talk a little bit, but I –

A little bit sensitive because they're more with the feet. Yeah. A little different. I'm not that good with that one. Yeah, kickers are weird. Very strange people. But our kickers are cool. Yeah. We got cool kickers. I've been around weird kickers. I've been around some weird guys. Like, oh, man, this dude's a weirdo. But these guys can hang. They can hang. I'll hang out with these guys. We can hang out together. They can hang out with a lot of people. Steve Weatherford.

Were you with him? He's a weirdo. I play with Jay Feeley. Jay used to come with all the wristbands popped up. He's going to knock somebody out. Did you ever see the picture of Jay Feeley when his daughter was going to prom and he had a gun in his hand? Jay Feeley, it's funny. We came in the same year in New York Giants together, both as free agents, the signees. Yeah.

So we played a couple years together. I got a good J.F. Ealy story. Man, we play in Seattle. He misses a couple field goals and shock. He just goes haywire. He's in the damn locker room throwing chairs at him.

And Jay's bobbing and weaving, man. Like I actually kicked one of them damn things. You know what I mean? Kind of cool, man. But Jay was like a tough dude, man. Like he was a guy that wasn't supposed to be a kicker. He's supposed to be like a linebacker. Yeah. He just happened to be a little short and a little stubby. He's a good linebacker. Yeah. I feel like Weatherford was kind of like that too, where he was self-conscious about being a punter. So he spent all this time just working his eyes out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we are obsessed with the owner of the Raiders. We want to get him on the show at some point. Uh,

Mark Davis, have you gone to – listen, we saw him at Super Bowl. We kind of – we might have ambushed him at a hotel and we're like, hey, you're going to come on? He's like, yeah, okay. So I don't think that's going to happen. But have you gone to P.F. Chang's with him? No. Will you? Why P.F. Chang's? That's where he eats all the time. It's his favorite meal. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought I was in and out.

Oh. So I heard that earlier, too, that he's spending a lot of time at In-N-Out. But I also think he goes to P.F. Chang's and that's like his meditation spot. Yeah. He sits down by himself. It's like a spa. Eats the meal. So I don't think none of us would be going with him if he goes by himself and he's eating a meal at P.F. Chang's. I think we don't leave that to him. That's our dream, to go to P.F. Chang's with him. You have to catch him. Yeah. We might just have to stake out at P.F. Chang's. That's fine. Yeah. So in other words, we'll just have to go to P.F. Chang's every day. There's not a lot of things. I mean, there's only a few.

- Okay, yeah, we'll just spot you guys. - You got some spotters. - Yeah, he's got his minivan. I don't know if he still rides around in that thing. That thing rocks. - Yeah, he's got some toys too now. - Yeah. What was it like when you got offered the job, like officially? - It was good. Came downstairs and kind of looked me in the eye and says, "Man, I think you're the guy for the job." And got a good little bear hug and I told him, I said, "Man, I'm not gonna disappoint you. "We're gonna be consistent. "What you've seen last year is gonna just grow."

And we got a good relationship, man. That's cool. Like, I reach out to Mark a lot, keep him informed of what's going on. It's good to see him around the building. He was at practice just a couple weeks ago, just to see the guys and watch the scrimmage and stuff, man. And I think it's important when your owner –

Owners presence is around the team. Cause you know, when I was a player, I looked like, where's the owner? Like, does he care? Does he not around? Cause I had two different organizations, right? I had one guy, you know, the team you like. He was probably drunk in Cuba somewhere. Never around. Right. Yeah. And that was with another organization where they were always there. Yeah. And I thought that was important. Which team was better? Just curious. Which team was better? Let you choose. I want to stay with that one if there's better, but yeah, anyway. Yeah. But no, man, listen, Mark,

One thing about Mark, he just wants to win. He was born a Raider. If anybody was born a Raider. He probably came out in silver and black. I don't know. Most of the time you get that pretty blanket, he probably had a Raider blanket. Yeah. Pretty cool. I didn't have a Raider blanket. I just happened to see the colors and fell in love with them. Yeah. And he wears the white jeans, which rock. Yeah. Nobody pulls off. No one. I can't pull it off. I've been seeing, he's sometimes in the owner's suite with white jeans, white shirt, eating like buffalo wings. Yeah. But not a stain on his shirt. Yeah. He doesn't spill. He's an adrenaline junkie. Or you just keep a couple of white shirts with you. You get one, you just flip it and.

That might be the case. I think he could afford it. Yeah, he could probably afford it. Yeah, he probably could. A couple of them. A couple of them. White shirt. All right. I know you've got to run in a minute. So we've got a couple last questions. My last question, Chevy question, Chevy.com. Go to Chevy. The Silverado is the best truck ever. Great sponsor for Grit Week. So how often, like in day-to-day, do people bring up that 2007 Giants team? And has there ever been a time where you've talked about them and it was awkward?

No, no, I'm never not a team meeting. I'm always a coach. Now, you know what the question was? I don't think I was asked the question. I just made a reference. Yeah, it goes back to the mindset, man. It goes back to that mindset. Yeah, you go against the best. You got to do something a little different, right? You got to approach it differently. You know what I mean? What you did in the past,

It doesn't work with this team. And that's kind of what it was. But, yeah, I've been asked that question quite a few. And if you ask me the question, better be ready for the answer. Yeah. That's a good point. That's a very, very fair point. Maybe some people would cut too close to the bone. And they'd just be very sensitive about it, hypothetically. Things like that can happen. Yeah, things can happen. I'm not talking about anybody in particular. My last, last question is just I read that you had interned on the Howard Stern Show. Yeah.

What was the process like for that? Why did you decide, like, I would enjoy being interned for the Howard Stern Show? So when I was with the Giants, I did a bunch of, I had my weekly show. I think it was a Pierce Fierce Report is what we called it. And after we won the Super Bowl, I was like, hey, man, I want to, because I played with Strayan, played with Tiki Barber, two guys that went to the media, right after football. So I'm like, man, I want to do some internships. So I did the, which was cool, which was crazy. I did, which nobody really talked about. I did Jamie Foxx, did Playboy, which was behind the scenes. You entered at Playboy? Yeah.

Let's stay with Howard Stern. And then they were like, Howard wants you to do it. So I'm like, cool. So the first day, I literally did all the stuff with Sal, Richard, Howard, and all the guys behind the scenes. And the next day, like, we're going to put you on camera. And then it was crazy, man. Like, I wish I could do it again. Because...

I didn't know Howard as well as I know him now. Especially back then. I knew who he was and how big he was. I didn't realize how smart he was, how sharp he was. But then also I didn't know what goes on in the back rooms. The back rooms are real. When they pull back this curtain, I need them shades. You better be prepared. But no, man, it's funny because I get asked about that probably second most other than the Super Bowl game.

If I had known you were an intern for Playboy, I would have just strictly written Playboy questions. Yeah. That was weird. I said I want to be diverse, and they gave me the most damn diverse thing as possible. If I could do a Howard Stern show again, I'd love to do it, man. Howard is a good gentleman, obviously, very sharp. They got a good thing going. I mean, how many years now? Yeah. It's forever. 30 years. Yeah. He's the king of media, right? Yeah. He's the godfather. Yeah. Well, Coach, thank you so much. I know you're going to have grit on these Raiders. Oh, yes. Like, just being around you pumps me up.

So we're big fans, and best of luck this season. You want to do a prediction? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We're going to win a lot of games. A lot of games. Okay. I'm going to take you over on that a lot. Yeah. Yes. Four games a day, thank you. Okay. I like that. Very good. I'm wrong. Yes, sir. All right. Thanks so much, Coach. I appreciate it. Thanks, man. Antonio Pierce is brought to you by Part of My Cheesesteak. Football is finally back. The preseason's here, and ordering Part of My Cheesesteak for a game day meal or late night eats is the best play call that you can make.

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And now, here's Jag's Kid. Ooh.

Okay, we now welcome on a very very very special guest. This is a gritty interview because we only have one camera set up Backstory, we're at the Long Beach. We're in Legends at Long Beach doing a fan meetup and

And a guy comes up to me and he says, Big Cat, you've talked about me a lot, but you don't know who I am. And I was very skeptical and I was like, what the fuck is this guy talking about? And he says, I'm Andy. I'm the kid that got my head stuck in the Jacksonville Jaguars statue however many years ago. 20 years ago? Oh.

1997. 1997. So I verified. He showed me his ID. I verified it with the news stories. So we were like, we have to have at least five minutes with the kid that got his head stuck in the Jaguar statue in 1997. An all-time iconic picture. So Andy...

I mean, just what happened? Well, first of all, thank you guys for having me for Grit Week. I don't know if what I did was gritty enough or worthy of this sit down. I'd say it is. Yeah. Yeah, without a doubt. Yeah. So no, I grew up in Jacksonville. Loved Jacksonville.

I was nine years old. I think my parents took me there. We were going to some, because you know Jacksonville is like a Navy port city. I think they had some Navy boat museum thing they were doing. And so we were already downtown. So we're like, oh, let's go to the statue or the stadium and kind of hang out and check out the vibe or whatever. And I was like, I think at the time, I was like, oh my God, this will be a really funny picture when I stick my head in here.

Yeah, and so I, you know, did my thing, went up there. It was your idea? It was my idea. I'm glad we're getting this moment because there's a lot of different things. I know you guys have speculated my death a couple times. I think when we talked to Tony Khan, I think one of you said, well, I think he might be dead. Yeah, he just died in the statue. Yeah, because we saw the picture where, like, this kid is so dumb, there's no way he's lasted, like, many years past this. Oh, yeah, no, I was nominated for a Darwin Award. I thought that there was a chance that maybe you died in the statue and then the news just covered it up.

Oh, yeah. I mean, there's, I mean, those conspiracies, there's, I mean, it's a full spectrum of all those situations. Okay. So, so back to what happened on that day. Yeah. A fateful day. Yeah. So I stuck my head in the statue for a picture thinking it'd be funny. And I, I have like, remember after the picture was done, I was like, I, you know, I'm, I can't get out. And I think at first my mom was like, all right, get in the fucking car kind of thing. Like, we're like, you know, I'm nine and like, well, I'm with like, you know, it's just me and my mom, my brother and my sister hanging out there.

And I was like, no, for real. Like, this is like a thing. And it escalated from like a holy shit, this is actually happening moment from like a parent who's like freaking out to like, how are we going to, what do we do from here kind of thing. So I think some Jaguar security like came out, monitored the situation. The first thing they did, laid into it, is they put Vaseline all over my head. Okay.

Trying to like wiggle me out, holding me by the feet. You're talking to the mic. Holding me by the feet and trying to like wiggle me out. And then I just remember them being like,

It's not going to do it. And I'm nine. My head's in there. They put a towel over me, so I'm not looking out at all of the people. Yeah, because there's a crowd. As this is happening, it's starting to trickle in. As this is happening, it's starting to trickle in. A whole circle is forming. That's when I thought they killed you. When they put the towel over you. Yeah, they shoot you like a racehorse. They bring the tarp out. And they're like, you gotta just put this guy out there. It's been euthanized. There were just too many eyes on at the time. It would be hard to pull off. So how long were you in the statue?

A little bit over, I would say like an hour and a half. Oh my God. Yeah. And so you got stuck in there because the, the, you were saying earlier, the curvature of the Jaguars fangs, you can go in, but then when you try to go out, the fangs. Yeah. That was the number one question. That was the thing that was hitting. And this was pre-social media, obviously, but this still like, this was so big that my mom's sister found out in Germany and no one from America called her. Like they were like, is this Andy? Like,

Like, is this your son? And this was, like I said, this is pre-social media, pre-any of that. So, like, this was, like, a big story. And the number one thing, like, my parents got all these phone calls, like, to come on these talk shows. I remember, like, Nickelodeon's, like, something, I think it was a Summer Sanders, I don't remember the name of it, like, thing. Some, like, Rosie O'Donnell and et cetera. Like, all these, like, talk shows were like, oh, we got to get, like, the story or whatever. And my dad's like, there's no story, whatever. I do remember that.

One of the big things that they talked about was the Jags were like, the Jags were nervous at the time. There was like things like, oh my God, this family is going to sue us. This is going to be, this is going to be a thing. I'm like, whatever. And I think my dad was just like, and he got a lot of respect for this. My dad's like, we're not going to sue you. We're not like those type of people. Like kids and shithead. Yeah.

Exactly. He's nine. He's just like, whatever. But there was a lot of people like, oh my God, like freaking out. And the Jaguars were super thankful. The owner at the time was owned by the Weaver. I know it's ShotKon now. Prior to that, it was the Weavers. The Weavers came out and like, you know, made sure everything was okay. I got a football signed by all the Jaguars back in the day because I've been a hardcore fan since ever. So I was like, I came out and I didn't understand the gravity of how big this was. It was like, oh, this is, I was nine. I was like, oh, this was kind of a shitty day. So wait, so how did they get you out?

So after the Vaseline procedure failed, they're like, we're going to have to give the jaws of life. So the fire department shows up. So the fire department shows up. I was on Rescue 911. There's still some clips you can find of this. So they call the fire department. They try to do something with a couple tools first. And then eventually they're like, no.

we got to bring out the jaws of life. So that's when I think, and it might've been around the moment when they actually put the towel on me because they didn't want me to see because they had that thing. Yeah. It's just like, you know, right above like my head. But going back to your thing earlier when you were talking about the actual, how does that work? And I explained, because the number one question was like, how does it get in and not out?

That's just the number one. You'll never not hear that question. I explain it like a crab trap where like you can push your ears backwards, like bend them back, but then it gets, can't go forward. And so that was like the simplicity of it. But everyone like that was the number one thing. People were like, how does that, how is that even possible? So, all right. So you get out and then like when you were growing up with, were people like, Hey, you're the statue kid.

Yes. A hundred percent. And I, again, like I knew when I got home that day, I remember, I do remember getting home and being like, all I thought about when I got home was, Oh my God, I have a football signed by like Mark Brunel. Yeah. I'm like, Oh, that's all I cared about. I was nine, but I was a diehard Jagger. It taught you the wrong lesson through this, which is like do something really stupid. And then everyone gives you stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, congratulations. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. No.

So I remember getting home and being kind of stoked. I was like, look at this football I got. Like, this is kind of rad. And I remember my dad, you know, my dad's a doctor and he got home like late that night and he just like, and my mom, I think I had like called him at that point. He just like comes in. I just remember him being like,

Like this big sigh. Cause it's like, I don't know how relatable that moment is when your kid, I know you have kids. It's like, if you just found out your kid is about to be all over the news. Right. Cause they got stuck in the bear stash. Yeah. Right. Like that. You'd be like, I don't even, how do we move forward with this? And so from that point on, it was, you know, parents getting calls to do this, I don't want, want to talk about it. And then me at school,

I was in fourth grade. So I remember I came back, I had somebody who's like, yeah, dude, you're like, you know, you're a legend or like whatever. This was in 1997 in fourth grade. And then I had to get like strategic about it as I got older later in life, because it's like,

I'm not going to like, you know, actually my college essay that helped me get in. Like, I feel like to, to, to school, I went to Emory was like, I bet you never heard of a kid who got his head stuck in a Jaguar and lived to tell the tale. Yeah. Because that became like, you look for a hook for those. Right. Right. And that stood out, but I also had to be careful and not like any other kind of particular jogging reason. Be like, Oh yeah. I'm an idiot. Yeah. I got my head stuck in a Jaguar statue when I was nine. So how it, so I used to do, uh, NFL recap blogs, uh,

like way back early barstool and i would use the picture every time the jaguars i would see it every time yeah so would you like you you obviously get older and you're like all right that was the thing in the past like have you had moments you're like fuck it keeps coming up no one i mean i didn't know you came up to me i had no idea who you were no no i know exactly like that's the thing i was lucky it was pre-social media even know that people like you and other people and i'm not saying this is a dig i think it's still fun i don't it doesn't like a

The Jaguars official account posted on their TikTok like a few weeks ago. And people started, people don't know, a lot of people like who I didn't know in Jacksonville who knew of the story growing up are like, where is he now? Whatever. And I was laughing at the comments because some were like, like, I heard he's like in Bangladesh. And one guy was like, and then one guy, it was funny. I saw a caption was like, I actually heard like he's in L.A., like he's a producer on Vanderpump Rules, which at the time that was correct. And I was like, I was like, oh, shit, this guy.

He knows. This guy's been digging. Yeah. How long into a relationship, if you're like dating somebody, how long do you wait to tell them, like, just so you know, I'm the kid that got his head stuck in the statue? Oh, my God. I wouldn't say it's an icebreaker, but it's definitely that something that comes up, I would say, I don't know.

three weeks in once you're past the like awkward vibe whatever then they're comfortable with you then it's like hey yeah here's a fun story yeah if you wait like two years then they'll be like why the fuck didn't you tell me that early exactly and i wouldn't put on my dating profile if it was like a first swipe yeah oh i would i would just have the picture yeah you just have me in the head yeah yeah i think i'm looking at me now yeah oh yeah before and after yeah they would look at me now all right so so last question i have do you think you've cursed the jaguars

It's a great question. There's been a lot of speculation. I was actually, before we got on the bus, I was trying to dig back because there were some really funny old Facebook messages I would get from seriously angry fans that would be like, fuck you. Like, fuck you. Ever since you did that, we've been terrible. We were sick back then.

And now you went to an AFC championship game after. And like, we were sick back then and we've been nothing but garbage since then. It's all your fault. And if I ever like fucking see you in Jacksonville, you better like keep your head on a swivel. Like, and it's like, and it's not like, and it was dead. And the guy was like, and I don't get like tons of those, but like those exist. Like people on the internet are crazy. That's incredible. So I'll get something like that occasionally. And I'm just, yeah. Well, so what we're going to do for you, cause we know Tony, uh,

I'm going to send Tony a picture of this, and I'm going to be like, if the Jags ever win the Super Bowl, I think you need to be part of the parade. Yeah, and we should all get together. If the Jags, I'm hoping we're going to go to the Super Bowl this year. We're not going to go to Jacksonville, but you are. Oh, you're going to go to Jacksonville. You guys love Jacksonville. Yeah, we do love Jacksonville, but we're not.

We're not going to go to Jacksonville. I might go play Sawgrass again. TPC, I saw your tweets. Great course. But I want you to be... I want the Jags to, like, embrace you. I want to, like, going forward, you need to be like, hey, we found him, and everything's going to be good now. It's a matter of fact that you cannot tell...

the story of the Jacksonville Jaguars without this kid getting his head stuck in the statue. Yeah. That's like a very, very big part of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is. I was seriously starstruck. I said to Hank, I was like, I don't remember the last time I felt this way. When you told me that you were the kid, I was just like, oh my God. And I felt weird coming up because I know you get everywhere you guys

go there's like no this one was i have a funny story anytime someone prefaces especially you at this point in your career when they say i have a funny story i know this one delivered no this one delivered sure yeah go ahead and shoot man yeah no no no this is one that's really gonna i thought you were dead and out yeah no i might have started that rumor uh all right well andy thank you thank you guys um the story's not ending though i i want to see you with the jags when they win a super bowl oh yeah and maybe we'll have to get maybe we get like a paper mache

like Jags hat. That's just the, the statue is still there. Yeah. So the statue is still there at one point. So when they, they gave me the tooth and I, it sucks because I actually, I gave it back to them and I wish I didn't. I know at the time I didn't. So I gave it back to him. Then they put like a rubber, like fake stub tooth. And it was so funny because I want to say like, I mean, this was probably like eight years ago. I was back home and we went to like monster jam at the Jaguar stadium or something. There was a yellow security guard standing out who was just monitoring to make sure like,

kids don't get near the statue and my buddy's like dude you created a job yeah you did job creator Andy alright well thanks man appreciate you coming out thanks for having me guys I really appreciate it I feel like

a sense of relief that you're not dead. We can finally move on. And we found each other in the most unexpected place, in a sports bar in Long Beach, California. I kept that tooth, though. That would go so hard as like a necklace. Yeah, we gotta get you another one. I know. Can I say one thing, too? Yeah. Going forward, when you guys talk about, you know, I listen to you guys religiously from the beginning. When you do your recaps the week, I

I get the joke sometimes when you do like, oh, Jags Tennessee. We're like, we can just skip that one. Yeah, yeah. There's a big Jag. We love the Jaguars. I know. They're a big deal. And we love listening to you guys. I know you're laughing. I think that was pre-Trevor Lawrence, though. Because you guys had some years between. Yeah, but Gardner. After Blake. Yeah. Yeah, and then you had the Urban Meyer year. All right, we'll do maybe more. Add a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was talking Jaguars.

That's what we'll do. Now we're talking Jaguars. Jagging off. Jagging off. All right. Thank you, Andy. Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it. We're about to get to head coach Eric Musselman, and he's brought to you by Mountain Dew.

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It makes you feel like you're on a mountain where the weather's always perfect, your friends are always ready to hang, and a day of epic proportions awaits. After we got done with our workout with Coach Musselman, we got back on the bus. First thing we did, grabbed a Mountain Dew. Hit the spot. The mountain's calling. You should answer. Grab your friends. Grab an ice-cold Mountain Dew wherever refreshing beverages are sold, and do the Dew.

Okay, it's time to wrap up the show with our good, good friend. It is Coach Eric Musselman, USC basketball coach. We just went through a workout with you. Let's start with that. How, how, how'd we do?

I was super impressed. One with the effort, the energy, and the enthusiasm. All right. So that was no basketball skills. I like that. It was just the effort, energy, enthusiasm. The three E's you brought it. And then the fourth E, you guys executed. Okay. We put in a play. You guys executed. You had good reads.

We kind of lacked ball skills. Yep. True. Yep. We for sure lacked shooting. Yep. Yep. These are... Now, would you say... Yeah, would you say shooting the basketball is important in basketball? Not that important. I mean, not...

Just a little bit. The meanest thing that you said was, I think you were trying to be nice, but the fact that you were impressed with us, you were surprised, and that really speaks poorly to what you thought of us going into this workout. Well, I hadn't seen, you know, I hadn't had the ability to really scout you guys. Yeah, that's actually our secret weapon.

People don't know how unathletic we are. Yeah, so it would be hard to... Right. Surprise you. It's hard to put a practice plan together, and it's hard to coach. You guys were fairly easy to coach, great coachability, but that usually happens, like lack of skill, reliability.

really coachable and then super skilled and maybe not so easy to coach. Yeah, it's perfect that we have you on the show because we're in Southern California for Grit Week. There were a few people that were pointing out that maybe it's hard to be gritty in Southern California. It's too nice, but you are a perfect example. So can you teach us how to maintain our grit while living in, you know, 73 degree weather year round?

Well, I think it's all about where you are. You know what I mean? So like if you're between the lines in the Galen Center, you got to have grit, you know, and then maybe tonight at the Manhattan Beach Pier, you don't really need the grit, you know, and so it's all about your environment and where you're at at the time. Yeah. You know, but you don't need grit 24-7, right? You just need it when you're competing. Yeah. And you are a gritty coach. You know, your teams always play very hard, you know,

You know, always running. So what is it like when you get guys and you're like, hey, we're going to run. I'm going to expect the most out of you. How do you get that out of guys? I think the big thing is it starts in the recruiting process. You know, like you got to go recruit and get guys that kind of fit your style, fit your system, fit the identity that you want to play.

It's kind of hard to change guys. You can tweak it, get them to step over the line a little bit more than maybe where they are, and that all comes with player development and buy-in. It's hard to run. Everybody says they want to run.

And then you're like, hey, here's the commitment that it takes to play with some pace, to play with defensive intensity. And then all of a sudden, guys might not want to do that. Yeah. How do you get that? How do you get the conditioning? What's the conditioning drill that you do to get your guys to a point where it's like they're going to be able to outrun and outlast the other team?

So the first thing we do is there's a mile test that you have to pass. Okay. And if you do not pass the mile, you have to do it again like two or three days later. What's the passing time? So it's 5.30 for the guards. Okay. 5.30 for the guards. Okay. Yeah. It is 5.00. Can we use a bike? Huh? Can we ride a bike? You could. Okay. I could do it. Beach cruiser. Yeah. And then it's 5.45 for the wings. Okay. And then...

5.55 for the bigs, the fours and fives. Damn. Yeah. That's really fast. And then what happens after that? After they pass the test? Once you pass, you're good to go. Okay. And then we have a conditioning test that is in the gym with the strength coach that we've taken from the Miami Heat. Coach Riley did it. Coach Spolster did it or does it. And then they got to do that with the strength coach. And what's that? That's a sideline to sideline thing that

I let him kind of run and dictate. And he'll do that when they – so we just finished our eight-week segment. We did the mile.

Everybody passed but two guys. So when they come back, they'll continue to try to work on the mile. The rest of the team, when they come back, they'll do this Miami heat conditioning in the gym. So it starts on the track, and then it evolves onto the court. I noticed in your evaluation of us, you didn't mention if we had aura. Is that part of your evaluation process? Aura. Mojo. Yeah, do we have aura, mojo? Yeah, I thought there was a lot of confidence. You know, at midweek,

maybe at a few of the positions, too much confidence, but certainly swag. I would say the swag was there. That would be the biggest thing, you know, is you guys walked out there like you belonged. Yeah. You know, and that's half the battle. You got to look good in the layup line. Yeah. It's also insanity thinking that we belong out there.

Probably. Probably, but... Yeah. I did. When we went to the practice facility, I hit like four threes in a row, and then one of your assistant coaches gave me a bad pass, and I missed the next like 10, and I was like, that bad pass probably ended my career. Yeah, you know... Because I was kind of at a point where I was like, if Musk gets a look at this, he's going to be like, damn. You know the deal, Big Cat? Never shoot a bad pass. Oh. I like that. So you got to remember that, whether you're watching an NBA game, it's really hard to make a shot off a bad pass. Yeah.

So you got to, you should have thrown it back to the assistant coach and said, Hey man, hit me in the chest, hit me in my shooting pocket.

Get your stuff together. Yeah. Because that's not on you. That's a shot. Okay, so maybe I'm back. Yeah, you're back. Yeah. All right, so we have our listener-submitted grit questions. Hank has them. Hank, we'll fire them off and we'll answer them to the best of our abilities. Hank did have grit today, too. Yeah. I mean, when he dove on the floor, he showed great grit. I can't wait until people see this video. We were flopping all over the floor. Max, maybe some butt crack. We'll have to...

There was some big-time butt crack from Max. Yeah, Huey with an all-time hustle play, chasing down that loose ball. All the way into the stands. All the way to the stands. He went a couple rows up. That was incredible. Yeah. Okay, Hank. Is grit and moxie the same thing?

Having Moxie in the pocket or having grit on the line. Are they the same? Ooh, I think mojo coach also showed us the the mojo plays and like mojo grit or I feel like it's all kind of the same. I don't think grit and Moxie are the same. I don't think I actually don't agree with you. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that you can have aura and grit at the same time. I think they're mutually exclusive. Yeah. Moxie is like you could have grit in Moxie. I don't know. But if you have Moxie, I don't know if you have grit. Yeah. Yeah.

Like in football terms, I'd say that Drew Locke has Moxie. Right. And like Taysom Hill has Grit. Yeah. So what would you rather have in a guy you're recruiting, Moxie or Grit? Both. You need the combination? Yeah. How many Grit guys, if you have a 12-man roster, how many Grit guys do you need? How many Moxie guys do you need? I don't think you can have a lot of Moxie guys. Okay. So I would say Moxie guys, three. Okay. Right? And the rest, Grit.

Yeah. And then you're going to win. I think that's right because if you have too many moxie guys, there's only one ball. Everyone knows. Egos. Yeah. Moxie, there's a little ego involved. Yeah, right. Britt's just toughness. You're like a sewer rat. Yeah. You know? But how good is it? You do need – one thing I love about basketball is you do need at least one guy on the roster who thinks he's just never going to miss, right? Oh, no question. Yeah. You've got to have a guy that's just got unbelievable confidence. Yeah, like too much confidence where you're like, he's actually insane, but you need that. No doubt. Yeah. Good question.

As an avid pickup basketball player, what's a good way for me to consistently be the grittiest guy out there? Floor burns. Yeah. I mean, it's a little hard if you play outdoor. Pickup basketball, though. You're diving on the floor and pick up basketball. I mean, nobody wants to do that. Okay. So if you can do that, or forget diving on the floor then. It's all about when the ball's in the air. How many loose balls can you get? Long rebounds.

balls that are floating around. Can you get those? Yeah. It's like a receiver. You think every rebound with balls in the air, that's your ball. Yeah. Go get it. Personally, so wait, what was the exact question? How can you be the most grit? What's a good way for me to consistently be the grittiest guy out there? So the two tips I would give is you want to save your energy, so always try to correct the score every time down. Be like, hey, hold up, check ball. What's the score again? And then use your timeouts.

So the timeout will always stop the game for at least 30 seconds. Everyone will be like, dude, there's no timeouts in pickup. And then you get your breath back a little bit. Just yell ball. Yeah. When people are shooting. Yeah.

If you call a timeout, though, and you're playing with the wrong guys in pickup ball, especially if it's outdoor, you might. Yeah, that's true. But listen, the timeout, everyone looks around. They're like, what are you doing calling a timeout? There's no breath back. Yeah. Yeah. I called a timeout today during practice. Mike. Yeah. When we're getting miked up, that saved me. Yeah. Right. It's all about that. That's that can maximize your grit.

Can you please ask Mus what grit means to him when it comes to what makes a great walk-on? Does he have any good stories from walk-on tryouts, specifically at Nevada, and a walk-on's abilities to juggle and ride a unicycle? Also, does he have any good Gilbert Arenas or Ron Artest stories? Oh, nice.

Good question. So where do you want me to start? Just with the walk-on. Yeah. Yeah. What grit means to him when it comes to what makes a great walk-on? Yeah. A great walk. Well, first of all, a great walk-on has got to be the grittiest guy on the team. I mean, there's no questions about that. Or the coach's son. Or the coach's son. That'll work too. Or grandson. Grandson.

But I would say, Coach K, you know, a great walk-on story, right? Was that part of the question? Yeah, something about, I think, I'm guessing he's talking about himself. Yeah.

Specifically at Nevada and a walk-on's ability is to juggle and ride a unicycle. What was this guy's name? It doesn't have his name. So was there a walk-on at Nevada that rode a unicycle? Yeah, we did a pre-game warm-up at Nevada, which was we had a guy that rode a unicycle and juggled. So this is his question? For sure. So we had a walk-on tryout at Nevada, and one of the assistant coaches was really serious. He was having him do ballgames.

ball handling, shooting. All I wanted was a walk-on who could ride the unicycle for the pregame warm-up. So I kind of stopped the thing and go, hey, let's stop with the basketball stuff. I just want to find a guy that can juggle and ride a unicycle for this warm-up. You wanted Red Panda on the team. Yeah. There you go. Yeah, exactly. Do you ever have walk-ons that try too hard in practice or is that not a thing? Oh, no, for sure. Great question. Yeah, because if you've got a walk-on who's too excited...

And really, you know, like you don't want an injury. Right. You know what I mean? And a lot of walk-ons oftentimes are smaller, maybe not as skilled, not as athletic. You don't want to walk on like hard foul, Bill Lambie or hard foul on one of your better players. Right. So you do have to tell the players.

tell some walk-ons like, hey man, chill or you're only on the scout team. You don't need to go like 50% right now. We're not going, you know. Yeah. What if you're playing against a team like, I don't know, Houston comes to mind or a team that's just going to absolutely like shove you around and be physical. Do you then tell your practice team like, hey,

hey, we need to actually dial it up with the intensity. We need to be a little bit more physical. Yeah, we haven't played Houston, but if you're playing Calvin Sampson's team, yeah, I'd probably throw seven walk-ons out there and have our guys try to guard five walk-ons.

five on seven and put seven scout team guys going to the offensive glass because that's what it looks like when Houston, when a shot goes up, like their best offense is a missed shot. Yeah. So, yeah, we would probably over-exaggerate what we would have to do to try to take away their offensive rebounding game. Yeah. Okay. And then what was it, run or test or Gilbert Arenas?

So do you have any good stories about them? I mean, there's so many with both of them. So you were an assistant coach when they were on what teams? No, I was a head coach with Gilbert Arenas his second year playing for the Warriors. He didn't play much his first year. I got hired as the head coach.

And, uh, probably about the second or third practice, about 15 minutes in, I don't ever leave practice. I left practice, went upstairs. The GM was Gary St. Gene. I'm like, this guy down here is an all-star. Like he's going to be a bonafide all-star. He was so talented, could go get his own shot whenever he wanted. Um,

So that's the one thing that – and then with Ron Artest, I mean, it was every game. I was the head coach of the Kings. First close game we had, right? It was like 15 seconds left. We call a timeout. We're playing in Milwaukee. Ron comes sprinting up to me. Coach, what are we doing? The Kings need a basket, and we're down one against Milwaukee Bucks. I'm like, I don't know. He goes, get the ball to Ron Artest. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

That's a good answer. I'm like, all right, let's get the ball to the rock. Yeah, Gilbert Arenas, he's one of those guys that had unbelievable confidence in himself. Yeah, he did, and he could back it up. Yeah. He really could. Unbelievable player. All right, well, last one. Who's your favorite or player with most grit from your time at Arkansas? Ooh, that's a tough one. I would say we had a lot of guys at Arkansas that had grit, but I would say the one guy, and he kind of changed our season, was a guy named Trey Wade.

And, um, he was a guy that just kind of stuck with it. And, uh, we had some other more offensively talented players, but as soon as we added him in the lineup, our team took off. We made an elite eight, uh, beat Gonzaga who was, you know, number one at the time. Um, and Trey Wade was the grittiest guy. He was six foot five and a half, six, six. He ended up

Shed Holmgren did a great job of doing all the dirty things. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, your teams are great tournament teams. I mean, I loved the Nevada teams were so much fun to watch. I mean, I've told Ruta a bunch, but, like, I would stay up...

We were, we were living in New York at time. I'd stay up 11 o'clock tip off in New York time. She'd be like, got to watch Muscle's guys. Got to watch the Martins going crazy. Hit every three. Super talented team. Yeah. And how do you, how are we feeling about this upcoming season for USC? Yeah. We're like our, we had finished our eight week summer session. It was unbelievable. Got great chemistry. Guys really get along. Um,

We lack certain things, but we know what areas. Like at that center spot, we don't have a lot of depth, so we're going to have to play small ball. Those are some of the things that we're trying to figure out. We've had a lot of injuries, but they're injuries that everybody should heal.

But this will be a great experiment. Like we're going to have to win off grit. We're going to have to win off togetherness. We're going to have to win off team chemistry. We're going to have to win off having a better locker room than the other team as far as being together. Because there are going to be some teams that probably have a little bit more talent in certain areas or certain positions.

But it's a team that's super fun to coach. Okay. You guys got a theme for this year or something that you're hammering home to the team? Like this is going to be your motto moving forward? Yeah, we don't have one yet. It's interesting you bring that up because we've talked about it. We wanted to go through the summer. We had a two-week break where we need to come up with a hashtag or a theme. And then we've got to be all about it. It's one thing to put it on a wall or put it on a shirt, but then how do you execute that identity? Yeah, it's got to match up. Got to match up.

You got to spend some time like meditating on it. Let it come to you. Let the universe speak it right into existence. And welcome to the Big Ten.

It's tough basketball, tough basketball, physical league, really hard to win on the road in this league. And then you think about the travel that USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington, you know, we have to go through the three time zones way more than the other, you know, they come up to us once and we got to go there four times. Yeah. So it's, it's how you manage that is super important. We've tried to study, we've,

A couple weeks ago, we were over with the Rams asking them how they travel. When do you leave for a Sunday game? If it's an afternoon game, what time do you want to arrive at the hotel? Do you try to change your sleep habits or do you stay the same? And so all those things. It's going to be like for us, quite frankly, the first year, we're going to be learning on the fly. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited, though. Coach, you're the best. We're going to finish off. We guess a number. We have a lottery ball machine in our office.

So we don't have it here, but we do random number generators. So I want you to, any number from 1 to 100, guess whatever you want. I'll let you start. We're all going to guess a number, and then we're going to randomly generate it. Perfect. So what's your number? 13. 13. 17. 8. I'll go 20. You guys want it? Meme's got 3. 42. Max? 11. 21. All right, here we go. PFD, you're watching. Yep. 48. 48. 48.

So nobody got it. Is that exciting? I mean, I wish somebody won. Really hard to explain. That would have been exciting. Yeah, it would have been. It's all right. You've got to get better. Yes. Yeah, you've got to get better. For sure. We all got to get better, right? Next time, guess the right number. No question. Yeah, work hard. No excuses, right? Yes, yes. All right, well, thank you so much, Coach. Thank you, guys. It was awesome. Great day. Appreciate you having us on. Yes. Awesome way to start the day.

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