Skip on Charles Barkley, Mahomes and Undisputed live at the Super Bowl
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Here we go. This is the Skip Bayless Show, episode 53.

This, as always, is the Un-Undisputed. This is everything I cannot share with you during the two and a half hour debate show that is undisputed. Today, I will respond to Charles Barkley's latest criticism of me, his contention that my criticism of LeBron James is quote unquote personal.

Today, I will tell you why it is now already laughably sad that so many people already believe Patrick Mahomes is better than Tom Brady. How quickly we forget. Today, I will answer many of your questions, such as what did I give Ernestine for Valentine's Day? Such as what was it like debating before live crowds in Arizona? Wait until I get to that one. And also...

A final question on just how far away are my Dallas Cowboys from the Kansas City Chiefs and even those Philadelphia Eagles? I hate the Eagles. But first up, as always, it is not to be skipped. Charles Barkley was at it again recently, taking more shots at me, this time on a podcast. Charles has been taking shots at me for, I don't know, 20-odd years now.

various platforms, including his own on TNT's Inside the NBA. But at least this time, for the first time ever, Charles didn't go K-word on me. This time, for the first time ever, he did not say that he would like to kill me as he so often has. You might remember I did an entire podcast, this podcast, asking Charles for my wife Ernestine's sake to please refrain from

from saying he'd like to kill me just for her, just for other members of my family, my inner circle. You can say whatever you like, Charles. You can rip me and slash me all you want. Just please don't go K-word on me. To his credit, this time he did refrain. I greatly appreciate that. That is progress. Thank God for small favors. Thank you, Charles Barkley. I'd also like to thank you, Charles, for so faithfully watching Undisputed.

Charles Barkley might just be our biggest fan on Undisputed. He knows it all, inside and out. And I must admit, I do love Charles on TV. I'm a big fan of Charles Barkley, the commentator on Inside the NBA. But Charles, as you know, has come to the point he can get away with saying just about anything that pops into his head and out of his mouth. That's just Charles being Charles.

His man Ernie, his moderator, can say, "Oh Chuck, you don't really mean that." I really do. And all of a sudden, all is well. I envy that. I'm the polar opposite of that. I can say the smallest thing, the most innocent thing. I can tweet it or say it on Undisputed. Something that is completely in bounds, completely okay.

And all of a sudden, one person on Twitter says, can you believe Skip Bayless said that? And then two people, three people, four people, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 2 million, 3,000, 3 million, 4,000, 4 million. And you know what happens. All of a sudden, once again, I'm being canceled by that internet lynch mob.

Fortunately, there are always a few people who say, wait a second, what is exactly wrong with what he said? Well, I don't know. It's just wrong. That's my life, and I'm happy to live my life, but I do envy Charles' life because he's now above it all. He's above any sort of criticism because it's just Charles being Charles. So on the recent podcast that he did,

He started out talking about one of his mentors, his big brother, sort of father figure, Michael Wilbon, and how Michael always told him what a powerful weapon television is. I worked with Michael Wilbon for, I don't know, maybe seven years on a Monday night football pregame show on ESPN called Prime Monday. Spent a lot of time with and around Michael Wilbon.

who knows me pretty well, I always wondered, did Charles ever ask Michael Wilbon what I'm really all about? I guess not. So as he goes on in said podcast, Charles Barkley suggests that my criticism of LeBron is quote-unquote personal, that nobody could say anything bad about LeBron James without it being personal because Charles indicated there's really nothing that bad to say about LeBron James.

So I thought, wait a second. To me, over the years, Charles Barkley has been a consistently harsh critic of LeBron James. Remember once he said that LeBron will never ascend into the all-time top five. Obviously, Jordan, Oscar, Bill Russell, Kareem, Wilt never ascend into that echelon.

And Charles has routinely over the years condemned LeBron's the decision move, obviously leave Cleveland, join forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami with Pat Riley. He's always condemned that as a punk move. I actually applauded that move by LeBron James. So

I ask you, do you remember what happened back in February of 2017? Shannon Sharp, my debate partner, and I were at the Super Bowl. It was a Fox event that year. And LeBron's Cavaliers had played a game the night before at New Orleans. They had lost. And afterward, LeBron had ripped Cleveland's roster, saying...

We're top heavy as, pardon my language, shit. We're top heavy as shit, said LeBron James to the media after that loss in New Orleans, meaning that the Cavs had LeBron and Kyrie and Kevin Love, but not much else. What? How would you have liked to have been one of LeBron's teammates not named Kyrie or Kevin Love? How would you have felt about that statement? Are we just chopped liver? To Charles Barkley's credit...

I guess it would have been the next night on TNT, the Thursday night. He blasted LeBron James for that comment. He called LeBron whiny. I'll read you the comments here. Charles said on TNT of those comments, inappropriate, whiny, all of the above. The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in the NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer. They paid him. He wanted Shumpert last summer. They got him.

They brought in Kyle Korver. He's the best player in the world. Does he want all the good players? He don't want to compete? Asked Charles Barkley live on TNT. Hmm, very interesting. So LeBron, the first night, just dismissed it as, oh, he's just trying to make ratings. It's just good for ratings. But he thought about it, and the next day, LeBron did respond to Charles Barkley. And I'll read his response.

To Dave McMenamin of ESPN, this is LeBron on Charles. I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that. I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said I'm not a role model. I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying. LeBron went on to say...

All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. 14 years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that. LeBron went on to conclude, screw Charles Barkley. I'm tired of biting my tongue. There's a new sheriff in town, said LeBron James of Charles Barkley. Interesting. So at least...

LeBron's never fired back at me like that. If he wanted to, it'd be great by me. It'd certainly be his right. It would be welcome on my part. I take my shots. You can take yours. But fortunately for LeBron James...

He has the single biggest LeBron fan in the world, at least the world that I know, sitting across from me every day on Undisputed, defending LeBron, checking me, firing back at me about all my takes on LeBron. That man is LeShannon Sharp, as I call him. And does he ever have LeBron's back, as well as his front, as well as either of his sides? Now back to Charles's contention that

I misuse my TV power by making my criticism of LeBron personal. First and foremost, I'm on a debate show. I'm going up against a debate partner who believes LeBron James is the GOAT, the greatest of all time, that he is better than Michael Jeffrey Jordan. I covered Michael. I got to know Michael. Trust me, LeBron James

isn't even in Michael's universe when it comes to goatness and greatness, not in his universe. So yes, I get angry, I get offended, I come in glued having to defend Michael against a man across from me, Shannon Sharpe, wearing a goat mask in support of LeBron James, the phony goat.

I will defend Michael Jordan with all my heart and soul when it comes to goatness. But trust me, from my heart, I have absolutely zero personal against LeBron James. In fact, I've often said he's a very nice guy to a fault. He's actually too nice a guy to compete with Michael to be goat. Because in the end, Michael Jordan...

was as cold-blooded a basketball assassin as there ever was. Michael Jordan, not really a nice guy. He can be on occasion, but at heart, not the nicest guy. That's what propelled him to go in 6-0 in the finals with six MVPs. That's what propelled him

to winning 10 scoring titles to LeBron's one. That's what propelled Michael Jordan to winning a defensive player of the year that obviously LeBron never won, propelled him to winning three steals titles, propelled him to making first team all defense nine times to LeBron's five. Michael Jordan, not a nice guy, cold-blooded basketball assassin.

killer clutchness. Just absolutely rip your throat out clutchness. Of all the players I've ever covered, closely observed, life on the line. If my life's on the line, I want Michael taking the last shot. The last person I would want would be LeBron. Too nice of a guy. But I've often said, I've often tweeted from the very start, LeBron is amazing.

always was, the day he stepped on the floor in Sacramento at age 18, the best passer in basketball. Was then, still is now. How many times have I said on live national TV, LeBron James is the greatest driver of the basketball ever, and not even close. Still can play bully ball better than anybody in this league. But when I tweet these things, when I tweet anything positive, it just explodes. I don't read my ads, my mentions, whatever, my responses. But I know what's going on.

People are saying, you can't say that. You can only hate on LeBron. You're ruining the fun. You're supposed to be the villain who hates LeBron James. Well, I don't hate him personally. I got some issues with his game, which I stress on television and always back up with facts. But I don't play a character on TV. I just speak and write what I see as the very honest truth. I back it up with facts. I...

I don't hate LeBron. I just try to tell you exactly what he is and what he is not. In the end, I'm not afraid to say what I believe others won't say, can't say, maybe because they don't want LeBron to cut them off from interview access or maybe because he's such a huge ratings draw for their network. But I don't care about protecting access or game ratings.

I'm just going to give it to you as straight as I can with no strings attached. Since LeBron James entered this league, he has missed more clutch shots than anybody else by far. Since he has entered this league, he's missed more late game, close game free throws, more clutch free throws than anybody else. And it's not even close. Again, greatest driver of the basketball ever. But what does he do?

like shockingly consistently, he'll pull up from three in the final seconds of close games and take shots that aren't his shots, not his forte. He's a below average three-point shooter and a way below average free throw shooter for superstar status. I'm not making any of this up. I'm not exaggerating, but by all time greatest score standards, I can just show you the numbers. Lousy three-point shooter, lousy free throw shooter,

And it's always been disturbing to me that he couldn't improve either one of them over the years through hard work, as Shannon always says, getting in the lab. He does great work on his physique, on his fitness. His nutrition is the greatest. But shooting a little better from the free throw line this year, he's up to 76.4%. Career, he's 73.5%. These numbers will rank near the bottom of the league. This year, the Lakers have lost 17.

Nine games. I watch every dribble of every one. Nine games that they could have, should have won if LeBron had been able to close those games. But closing has never been his strongest suit. MJ, cold-blooded assassin of a closer that he was, he closed. I'm talking about clutch closer gene in MJ, not LeBron.

LeBron has suffered several epic superstar playoff meltdowns that Michael never even thought about having. You know what they are. 2010 versus the Celtics in games four, five, and six when his owner in Cleveland, Dan Gilbert, accused him of quitting. 2011, that first go-round in the finals with the Heetles, as they call them, against the Mavs, games four, five, and six after he'd made that list, according to ESPN.

Of people he was going to, I told you so tell, I was at the top of the list, four, five, and six melted down. End of regulation, game six in 2013, look it up, what happened over the last three minutes. Ray Allen shot me right in the heart, saved his legacy. LeBron's 2014, he got blown off the floor in the finals by a record finals margin. I can go on and on and on.

So many games, four, five, and sixes. 2015 finals. He's up two games to one. He didn't have Kyrie or Kevin Love, but it was Herculean effort by him. And then four, five, and six, he faded and disappeared. How about that game one in overtime 2018 finals? Shot the ball out of his mind. Best I've ever seen him shoot it from distance.

Turned down a jump shot over Steph Curry, passed to George Hill, and you know what happened. J.R. Smith lost his mind, but then in overtime, game one at Oracle, LeBron pouted and wouldn't shoot for the first two and a half minutes of overtime. They fell behind by seven, and that was that. They got swept. I could go on and on. LeBron obviously is an all-time top 10 player. I got him ninth on my list, but obviously the greatest player ever is Michael Jordan. Yet,

I've said from the start, Jordan wasn't in LeBron's universe, universe when it came to social and racial justice commentary, social and racial justice commentary. To me, LeBron's impact off the court in those areas, right up there with any of the all-time superstars, with Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, with the icons. Not that LeBron had to endure anywhere near the racism those two icons had to endure early in their careers.

But LeBron did risk his endorsements to take powerful stands against white cops killing unarmed black men and women. God bless him for that. Look, LeBron's no angel off the court, but not once has he ever been in any kind of trouble with the law. Not once, as he pointed out to Charles back in 2017. I don't love LeBron's F-bombing in interviews. I don't really understand it in any sort of public forum. I don't know if it's...

an attempt to develop a little more sneaker-selling street cred. I have no idea. Even his acceptance speech after he passed Kareem, it ended with an F-bomb that shook me up. But I give him that. He is human. But to all the points that he used when he lashed back at Charles Barkley, LeBron hasn't done any of the things, the many things that Charles has done off the court. Nobody has taken care of himself better than LeBron.

in ways Charles never dreamed of when he was playing. That's the biggest reason LeBron has been able to play at such a supremely high level longer than any player has ever been able to sustain. I congratulate LeBron James on playing the greatest basketball ever, the longest ever.

And I congratulate him on becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Now, final thought on Charles Barkley. The truth as I see it, only as I see it, is that Charles knows I speak nothing but truth about LeBron. Truth that Charles wishes he had said first on TNT. I believe Charles tries to disqualify my commentary on LeBron by calling it personal. Or by saying, I don't know because I never played.

All because he's a little jealous. That's what I believe. Just a little envious of what I see and what I say about LeBron before Charles does. I am flattered by that. I am honored by that. Charles Barkley has been blessed with very rare basketball talent and very rare TV talent. I feel like I've been blessed with some vision, some insight, some fearlessness.

and some TV debate skills. I thank God above for that every time I pray. But my mission in life is simply to tell the truth as I see it. I don't hate LeBron. I don't hate Charles. But I do, Charles, thank you from my heart for watching Undisputed so faithfully.

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Let's get to your question, shall we? This is Jonah from Pittsburgh who asks, what did you get Ernestine for Valentine's Day? Happy Valentine's Day, Ernestine. I did send her a big bunch of red, red roses, posted a picture of those on Twitter and IG.

And as I've said before, on every holiday occasion, we exchange several cards. It's hard to keep up with her. She goes to six or eight. I try to do four or five, some funny, some serious. I did get her one funny card for Valentine's of a squirrel wishing her happy Valentine's because she has become the squirrel queen of our complex. We do have many squirrels where we live here in West LA.

and they love them some Ernestine because she always, when we walk Hazel in the evening, she always takes a big bag of peanuts. Squirrels come up to Ernestine and stand on their hind legs and they will all but take the peanut right out of her hands because they love her and they will eat said peanut

right at her feet, completely unthreatened. I keep waiting for the day she walks back in the door with a squirrel on her shoulder because she threatens to make one of them her pet. She has one favorite, the little man, as she calls him. I tell her you can't make them a pet. They're just not house pets. But she loves herself some squirrels. And the other bizarre development is that

Our little six-year-old Maltese, who's not that little, 10 pounds, named Hazel, because her mother loves the squirrels, because Ernestine loves the squirrels, Hazel weirdly loves the squirrels. I've had many dogs in my time. They all wanted to kill squirrels. I once had a Shiba Inu when I lived in Dallas who brought a squirrel home, brought it to the door. He'd killed the squirrel down in a creek that was behind our place. Dogs want to kill squirrels.

I assume Hazel, who is fierce, you don't want to mess with her. She wants to fight German shepherds. She'll fight anybody, any other dog. She doesn't like any humans outside of Ernestine and her sister Joyce and I. But squirrels can come right up to Hazel and she just sniffs and looks away. I guess because her mother loves squirrels. So allow me to say publicly...

How much I love my wife, Ernestine. Allow me to say that I am the luckiest man in the world to have Ernestine because the truth is I don't treat her the way she deserves to be treated. The truth is I told her the first night we went out 17 years ago,

My work will always come first, and it always has. I said from the start, you'll always be number two if this goes anywhere. This is our first date in New York City. If this goes anywhere, you'll be number two to my work because it's my life. It's my cause. It's my mission. It's why I'm on this planet is to do what I do. And she has risen to 1A, but she knows that undisputed conquers all. Not love, but undisputed.

And I don't deserve her. She is as loyal and faithful to me as any woman ever has been to a man. Trust me on that. And I don't show her enough appreciation. All I can do is on my podcast now, just tell her how much she means to me, how much I couldn't do it without her, how many bad times she's gotten me through, and how I love this woman with all my heart and soul. The truth is...

The truth that I have trouble admitting to her is she is more important to me than my work. God bless you, Ernstine, and I love you dearly. Howard from Louisiana asks, how was debating in front of a live audience in Arizona? Howard, it was simply the most fun I've ever had on television.

It has been three long, seemingly endless years since we were able to do a road show, a live show on the road in front of people. And I was astounded by how much I had missed it. We had two of the greatest crowds we've ever had. In fact, I'll go so far as to say the two greatest crowds that I've ever experienced. And I did a whole lot of road shows in my days on First Take, heck, in my days on Cold Pizza. We used to go during football season at every

Game Day venue on cold pizza. We would go every do a Friday show live at a college campus, went to Austin, Tuscaloosa, Blacksburg, Boston College and South Bend. We did everything. So I've done live shows all over this country and never have we had crowds like those two crowds.

that they had to stand out in the cold for two hours waiting to get in we had to turn hundreds away we could get in i don't know what it is couple hundred maybe they're frozen and then all of a sudden they have to sit still for two and a half hours while we do undisputed but i think they were highly entertained and warmed up once we got rolling they love our show they know our show they get our show

They knew when it was time to blow out our eardrums and they knew when it was time to go quiet. They booed when it was time to boo and they cheered when it was time to cheer. They did not disrupt. They did not distract. They were beautiful. My only regret is that I wasn't able to reward them, to give back to them by doing a receiving line, what we call a meet and greet after the show that I've always done in years past, always.

where however many want to line up after the show i will interact with each one of them one at a time we want to do picture if we want to talk about lebron or cowboys or whatever you want to talk about i would do it for a couple of minutes with everybody who came and we opted not to do it this time because covid is still lurking ernestine still pretty leery maybe a touch paranoid but very leery about me getting coveted again

I had it once when I didn't know it. I had it once when I did know it, didn't miss a show, but I did have COVID. This was January of a year ago. She's not had COVID and she didn't want me to bring it back from Arizona to her. And I do not blame her. But when I did go out five minutes before showtime, which is 6:30 a.m. out here, obviously in the West Coast, it was 7:30 there in mountain time. But I went out five, seven minutes early. And as always, I decided

that I could at least fist bump just about everybody in the crowd. So I balled up my fist and I bumped everybody, went all around the semi-circle of fans, bumping and thanking everybody for coming and certainly for waiting in the cold for us. It gets cold in Arizona in the February mornings. It's around 40 degrees. So I did do that, and I think they did appreciate that. And in the end,

I had so much fun interacting live on TV with members of that studio audience, if you will, that when we got back to LA, I asked our fearless leader, Charlie Dixon, if we could consider having a live studio audience for Undisputed here at Fox every single day. It would be 6:30 AM in the morning. It would be tricky. It would be difficult.

But Charlie is thinking about it and maybe even working on it. It changes my life. I can't tell you. It brings me out. It rocket fuels me. And I think Shannon was as inspired as I've ever seen him. And we just vibed off each other. I don't think my repartee with Shannon has ever been hotter than it was thanks to those two crowds in Arizona. Thank you, if you're listening or watching, for coming out.

This is Ethan from New York who asks, can you admit Patrick Mahomes' second half playing on that injured ankle was gutsy? Ethan, no, I cannot. I actually think that sprained ankle was the single best thing that has ever happened to Patrick Mahomes. What was the best thing he did in this Super Bowl? It's what he did not do. He did not turn the ball over one single time. He did try one of his trick passes.

Remember, it was in the first quarter. That was before he aggravated his ankle. Remember this one? It was an ill-advised, forced, sort of falling forward throw. Tight window, nearly intercepted. One of those, Patrick, what are you doing? Andy Reid gives him the greenest light this side of Christmas. He'll try anything, left-handed, no looks, between the legs, behind the back. It sells. It shuts down the internet.

It's not exactly the way to win championships. So the sprained ankle forced Patrick Mahomes to camp in the pocket, to throw on time. He simply got the best protection in the National Football League. His line, number one in pass, block, win rate this regular season passed. Number one. Philly get a hand on him? Nope, not a hand on him. Didn't sack him one time. Didn't really hurry him much at all. He's very skilled, very gifted at

knowing when to escape forward, when to run with the football forward. I'll get to that in just a second. But Patrick Mahomes was forced to play a boring football game, make boring textbook throws. Second half, 13 of 14 for a grand total of 93 yards. The only incomplete was a throw away. 13 of 14, but for only 93 yards. So he went from dazzling to dinking and dunking.

He did not do what he did in, remember, his first Super Bowl against San Francisco. He did not throw an interception late in the third quarter down 20-10 that should have lost that game. But Jimmy Garoppolo could not take advantage or capitalize. He did not do in this Super Bowl what he did in that first one against San Francisco early fourth quarter. Still down 20-10. He threw another careless, awful interception high and behind San

Tyreek, a little too hot, tipped up in the air, intercepted. I thought that was ball game. You're down 10, you give him the ball again. He got away with it because Jimmy G handed the game back to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Jimmy G in the fourth quarter goes three of 11. Wow. For 36 yards. Whoa. And an interception. Whoops. And a misthrow to Emmanuel Sanders running free at the goal line with a minute and a half left. Game over. Hmm.

Patrick Mahomes in this Super Bowl did not do what he did against Tom Brady in his second Super Bowl. He lost 31 to 9. He threw two more interceptions. So he came out of his second Super Bowl having thrown two touchdown passes to four interceptions in two Super Bowls. Two to four. Interesting. Who knew except me? Speaking of Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., if you take away that 10th Super Bowl,

in which he beat Patrick Mahomes so badly that he needed to only throw in the fourth quarter for six yards in the fourth. He only needed to throw for six. If you just look at Brady's first nine Super Bowls, would you believe he averaged almost 100 yards passing in the nine fourth quarters? Think about that. He averaged almost 100 yards passing in all nine of the fourth quarters. What? That's impossibly great.

But it wasn't spectacular. He didn't throw left-handed. He didn't no-look. He didn't throw one pass behind the back. But almost 100 yards passing in the fourth quarter? So again, Sunday night, Patrick Mahomes threw for 93 in the third and the fourth quarter, and we are immortalizing him. Some people are even saying he's already proven that he's better than Brady. He's what?

Kansas City in the second half ran for 115 yards to Patrick's 93 yards passing. So they ran it down Philly's throat. And wait a second. Kansas City's Kadarius Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history, a 65-yarder that set them up first and goal at the five? And wait a second. Patrick Mahomes, two touchdown passes.

were both blown coverages by the Eagles, one of four yards and one of five yards. They were walk-ins. They were uncontested, busted coverages. What? Really? And he's being immortalized already? The harder and longer I looked at what Patrick Mahomes did in Sunday night's second half, the less impressed I got. By the way, here are some of Tom Brady's passing yards in just the fourth quarter of

of a few of his Super Bowls, just the fourth quarter of a few. Carolina, remember that was his second Super Bowl, 136 in the fourth quarter, 136 yards. Seattle, 124 in the fourth with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He came back from 24-14 down to win the game. Yep, he got help from Malcolm Baller, greatest defensive player ever to end a Super Bowl. But he did throw for 124 and two touchdowns against the Legion of Boom. How about...

196 yards in just the fourth quarter of that 28-3 comeback against the Falcons in the Super Bowl. 246 total in fourth quarter in overtime. How about 101 yards against the Eagles in the game

that he unfortunately lost to the backup quarterback Nick Foles, 41-33. So Brady put up 33 in that game on a top five defense, throwing for a playoff record, not a Super Bowl, a playoff record, 505 yards. And he lost 41-33 because Belichick's defense allowed 41 to the backup quarterback Nick Foles. Does anybody see this stuff but me?

Patrick Mahomes had 93 yards passing in the third and the fourth quarters. Jalen Hurts actually threw in the second half for 119 that easily could have been 160, could have, should have been 160. If Quez Watkins simply catches a pass at the five-yard line, they hit him right in the hands, right in the hands, and Quez dropped it. That could have changed the game. That would have put the Eagles up 10 points. I think they could have hung on to that.

As you know by now, I love me some Jalen Hurts. I hate the Eagles, but I love Jalen Hurts, and I always have.

I told you on last week's podcast that my favorite prop bet for the Super Bowl was Jalen running for more than 49.5 yards. He ran for a Super Bowl record 70 yards. I told you on last week's podcast that he needed to control the football by going 10 of 15 on third down. Not easy to do. He went 11 of 18. Pretty close. I told you he needed to win time of possession to keep Mahomes off the field.

35 minutes to 25 minutes. He won it 36 minutes to 24. Pretty great. But as you know, a play that will live in Super Bowl infamy, a play I might never get over, was Jalen Hurts losing the handle on the football in the middle of the second quarter, an unforced error. I still can't explain it. I can't process it. I can't compute it. I can barely live with it.

He just lost the handle on the football as he transferred it from his left hand to his right hand away from oncoming tacklers. He just lost the handle and it slipped right out of his hands. It was not stripped. There was no contact. Unforced error that became double jeopardy because that oblong ball

So unpredictably bounced right up to Nick Bolton as he was charging forward for it. Hit him right in the hands like a perfect Mahomes pass. Right in the hands on the run, on the dead run to the end zone for a scoop and a score. A tumultuous turnover. A 14-point swing because it felt like Jalen Hurts was on the move.

On the way to going up 21-7, even Shannon Sharp, my debate partner, admitted on Monday's show, I thought I was in trouble. He loves Mahomes. I love Jalen Hurts. A scoop and a score, and all of a sudden the game was tied. That just tore my heart out for Jalen Hurts. So uncharacteristic. It was so shockingly unexpected. It was so not Jalen. But congratulations, Patrick Mahomes.

Jalen Hurts handed you this game. Quez Watkins handed you this game. Finally, a referee handed you, Patrick, this game. A game-deciding penalty that so unfortunately took the ball out of Jalen Hurts' hands for one last hurrah with a minute and a half left. No penalty, three-point game. I believe Jalen Hurts wouldn't have just tied the score. I believe he would have won the game. That's how hot his hand was.

but just before that happened i will give you this ethan from new york patrick mahomes did put his team in position for that go-ahead field goal with a 26-yard escape right up the gut of the philadelphia defense but as i've said so many times about sprained ankles and i've had my share i don't play nfl football i don't play nba basketball

But I've run a lot of marathons and I've run a lot of distance over a lot of rocky terrain and I have turned my ankles with orthotics in high built running shoes and turn them all the way to the ground. And I know what happens. I still play a lot of basketball and I still turn my ankles. I still tape my ankles to try to avoid the twists and the turns, because once you twist and turn them.

You can't go side to side, but trust me, you can still run okay straight ahead. You could see Patrick Mahomes ran straight ahead just fine. Maybe he didn't have quite top speed, but he took off running and the Green Sea parted as all the Eagles back seven ran man to man with receivers. And there was just nobody home. And he ran 26 yards before he had to slide and give himself up.

He looked just fine while he was running on that sprained ankle. He actually looked just fine the whole second half. He was forced to stay in the pocket and forced to play textbook football, and he did it to the highest level, and I congratulate him for that. But finally, it's third and eight at the 15. Finally, an Eagles defense that I first guessed on this podcast last week. I told you

It was flawed. I told you it was a liability. I told you and reminded you that Dak Prescott on Christmas Eve put up 40 points on this defense. 40. That's why I said Jalen's got to do it all himself. He's got to keep the ball away from Mahomes because when Mahomes has the ball, he will do damage to the Eagles defense. And did he ever.

But finally, they stiffened. Finally, Josh Swett broke loose and made Patrick sweat in the pocket and throw the ball much quicker than he wanted to. It was basically a throw away. And you know and I know what happened. A flag was thrown for what was a bogus phantom robbery of a penalty. James Bradbury died.

quote-unquote holding Juju Smith-Schuster. I'm sorry, I've watched it a thousand times, and the more I watch it, the worse it gets. There was no grabbing of the jersey. There was no fistful of jersey by Bradbury. I know he took the fall after the game. I know he took the high road. He took all blame. He took the responsibility. He did not grab jersey. He did not redirect Juju.

He did not impede his progress coming out of the break. I'm sorry. It should not have been thrown, that flag. It just threw me for the biggest loop I've ever been thrown at the end of a Super Bowl. You heard our man Greg Olson on the telecast live. He immediately said, no, you can't.

LeBron James was watching from a skybox, immediately tweeted, no, you can't decide the game that way. You can't end the game that way. I even saw that Julian Edelman, former Super Bowl MVP, said, no, you can't end the game that way. Again, my man Shannon Sharpe says, well, if it's penalty in the first quarter, shouldn't you call it at the end of the fourth quarter? Well, I get that, but it was so ticky tacky. It was so cheap. I guess you could say by the letter of the law, he did put his right hand

on the front of Juju's jersey, just touched him. And then as he turned, he put his left hand on the back of Juju's hip. But there was no clutching and grabbing and pulling. There was no redirecting. There was no impeding. I just don't get it. The more I look, the worse it gets. Patrick Mahomes benefited greatly from that call. Patrick Mahomes won MVP while throwing for a grand total of 182 yards, 93 in the second half.

Patrick Mahomes is now two and one in Super Bowls, despite not having a single sensational performance in any of the three. Not any of the three would you say, oh, wow, did you see what Patrick did there? Yeah, he lit up the fourth quarter once he got going in the first one against San Francisco, but he'd just thrown two picks. I don't know. Yet the legend grows along with my offended frustration. Now all I hear is that Patrick Mahomes is right on course to dethrone Tom Brady as the GOAT.

Tom Brady won his first six Super Bowls with game-winning drives in the fourth quarter and or overtime. Tom Brady went 80 yards for a touchdown with two minutes to go in that first Eli Super Bowl, six yards to Randy Moss, put them ahead 14 to 10. And Belichick's defense allowed Eli to go 75 yards, not for just a field goal, but for a touchdown to win the game. Tom Brady threw a catchable ball to Wes Welker. Shannon Sharp says, you got to catch it.

that would have won the second Eli Super Bowl. Welker couldn't hold on. As I mentioned, Tom Brady threw for that playoff record 5-0-5 against the Eagles, 33 points, and he lost 41-33. You know, the truth is, if you look hard at Tom Brady's 10 Super Bowls, he actually played well enough to be 10-0 in those Super Bowls. 10-0! Tom Brady didn't have one Super Bowl nearly as poor as the Super Bowl Mahomes played against Brady, the 10th Super Bowl.

But all I hear, Patrick Mahomes is going to catch and pass Tom Brady just the way LeBron caught and passed Kareem. All I can say is good luck, Patrick Mahomes. George from Niles, Illinois asked, did you work out when you were on the road?

George, forgive me for this, but I'm not boasting. I'm not bragging. It's just who I am. I'm never going to miss. Home road, no matter the circumstance, I'm going to figure it out. Because the truth is, it's the only way to do it as long as I've done it. If you're going to decide to have a fitness routine, you cannot pause it.

You cannot give yourself days off just because you're on the road. You have to figure out how to do it every single day. You need to sweat a little or a lot. You need to work out just a little or the usual or a lot. And it is my mission when I go on the road to figure it out. Friday was a tough day. I lift weights after the show every Monday, every Wednesday, and every Friday. So Friday, we're in Phoenix.

And I'd already scoped out the hotel gym and it looked great on the website. But when I went in it, it just didn't have the equipment I needed to do my weight workout. I've now got a home gym thanks to the pandemic. And I now work out almost solely at home. But this gym just didn't hack it. So I got our ops director, our wizard, Colin Burke, to scour around. And, oh, there's a very nice fitness center. Here's a big gym over here.

Just five minutes away, we got one of our security men to drive me over. We get there and I've got one hour to work out because I had to catch my flight home to see Ernestine for date night on Friday night. So this is it. I'm down to the second. I need at least an hour. I usually take an hour and a half at home, but I can do it an hour, but I have to be really focused and frenzied in the workout.

So I have to pay the fee, 50 bucks to go in. It's a beautiful fitness center. And we couldn't even find a parking place. It's a huge, gigantic parking lot. It's packed. I'm thinking, what is going on? It's 1130 mountain time on Friday. Clock's ticking. I got to get to the airport. I'm going to have to have time to take a shower because I'm going to work out so hard. I'm going to sweat a lot.

And I walked, it was the second level that I went up to for all the weight machines and equipment. And I look around the floor and every machine, there's people waiting. I've never seen that many people. I've worked out all over the world. I've never seen that many people in a gym. It's a great gym, great fitness center, high tech, A plus, overwhelmed with people. Worse, when I used to work out at an Equinox here in LA,

L.A. is a celebrity town. People here get used to seeing celebrities everywhere. So so people don't really bother you. I used to go to the Equinox. Nobody really. People would wave to me. They might say something about what you think of the game last night. But nobody really bothered me because in L.A. they just don't. Trust me, they just don't.

But in Phoenix, I walk in and all of a sudden I got a line of people who want to take selfies. And I love that. I honor that. I welcome that. But the clock is ticking and I can't even see my way clear where to find a machine to work out. So on the fly, I've made such a study of people.

all movements, all exercises. I had to make up a brand new workout that I'd never done before using all hand weights, all dumbbells. I just had to figure out how to do things. It was a day in which I do shoulders and arms, biceps, triceps, shoulders. And I'm just having to make it up in ways that I never make it up. And I'm having to go as hard as I can go while pausing occasionally to take a selfie.

And the clock is ticking. And I pulled it off. And I will tell you, Saturday morning when I woke up, I was much more sore than I ever am from lifting weights because everything had been new. But the key to this was I didn't hurt myself because I warn you. People always say you need to change your workout to shock your system, to make your muscles grow bigger. Bologna. And I don't eat bologna. But you can't do that.

very much or you will hurt yourself and you will hurt yourself badly. And I risk hurting myself badly all for the cause of getting finished in time to make my plane. I got my workout in. It was OK. And I made my flight. That's just how I roll. Ryan Reynolds here from it mobile with the price of just about everything going up during inflation. We thought we'd bring our prices down. So

So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile, unlimited premium wireless. How did it get 30, 30, how did it get 30, how did it get 20, 20, 20, how did it get 20, 20, how did it get 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month? Sold! Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes each detail. This is Corey from Arizona who asked, do you fly private? So would you believe that

This is last week, my outbound flight from L.A. to Phoenix and then my flight back on Friday, Phoenix to L.A. First two times I've flown since the pandemic, what, three years. That I did not miss. I flew my whole life, my whole career. You have no idea how many flights I've taken in my life to get to sports events all over the world. Just name it. Wimbledon, British Open. Name a sports event in America I went to.

20, 30, 40 times. Fly, fly, fly. You get numb to it after a while until you don't do it for three years and then you realize how many uncontrollable variables there are when you fly commercial. Obviously, there can be traffic to get into the airport. There can be long lines when you get to the airport.

All kinds of late planes, mechanical failure, mechanical problem. There can be bad weather. There can be the jerk sitting next to you who just will not leave you alone. It can go on and on and on. So yes, Corey, I am now completely and utterly spoiled because for the first time in my life last summer, I did fly private, use the service Lil Wayne uses. Ernstein got to know the president of said service and really liked him and trusted him.

So I did fly private from the private airport out in Van Nuys here in L.A. to Oklahoma City for my annual summer golf week with my high school buddies. Just me and two pilots. Ernstine did not go. So I'm alone on a fairly large private jet. And I don't know, car service, 20 minutes maybe from our home out to Van Nuys private airport. And

Car service is allowed in to drop you off right at the plane, like right there. And you literally throw your bags up on the plane, talk to the two pilots. They say, you ready? Yeah, I'm ready.

And they close the doors and there's no taxi time because you're literally sitting on the runway. There's no wait. And you are airborne in like five minutes from the time you get out of your car service car to get on the private plane. You are airborne and off. And two hours later, I'm landing at a private part of the airport in Oklahoma City where my rental car is waiting for me. And 20 minutes after that, I'm at my hotel. It just doesn't get any better.

It is not cheap. It is extremely expensive. I am not a spendthrift, but it is certainly the greatest money I ever spent. It is worth every single penny. I don't regret one penny of how much I had to spend for that flight, but I am now spoiled rotten and it's going to get harder and harder for me to fly commercial. Fortunately, I don't have to do it very much. Two quick movie reviews.

The first is Plane, starring Gerard Butler. Plane. Maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't. About a plane flown by Gerard Butler that has to crash land on an island run by some badass rebels. Basically pirates. Plane just grabs you by the throat and it will not let go. Gerard Butler is...

William Neeson is Jason Statham. He just made for these roles. He just grabs it like he does the steering wheel as the plane crash lands in the jungle. It is not Academy Award material, but it is perfectly executed for what it is. Great grand finale of a shootout. It's everything you would want in a thrill ride.

from start to finish. I'll give it an A- just because it doesn't pretend to be anything more than an A- movie. It's highly entertaining. Ernestine loved it, but she loves Gerard Butler. I really liked it. I can't wait for the sequel, which already has been announced. It will be called Boat. I can only imagine. Now for a second movie, allow me to go a little more highbrow, if you will.

This one is Academy Award worthy, though I have no idea if it will win a thing. It's called Babylon. It is the ultimate love it or hate it movie. Ultimate. In all my life of movie watching, and I am a connoisseur, I have never encountered a movie that could be so easily loved or so easily hated. I have friends who walked out after 30 minutes,

Ernestine wanted, we were watching it actually at home now that it's streaming. This was last Friday night when I got back from the Super Bowl. She wanted to stop 30 to 40 minutes in only because the opening scene must take 45 minutes and it's an orgy of a party, of a Hollywood party. It's disgusting, it's deplorable, much of it is hard to watch.

It's 45 minutes before the title actually appears, Babylon, on the screen. The movie's runtime is three hours and nine minutes, and I must tell you, I never even thought about looking at my watch. I was dead tired. I thought I would fall asleep in 30 minutes, and I never blinked. I never looked at my watch. And fortunately for us, Ernestine hung with me until we got to the title, Babylon, and

and then it took off. Babylon ultimately is about the Hollywood machine that for years and years, decades and decades, eras after eras, has immortalized actors on screen. They'll live forever on film before spitting them out into suicidal oblivion. Those actors have known stardom and known a lost loneliness none of the rest of us will ever know.

immortalized in celluloid up on screen. Brad Pitt, as usual, is great as sort of the fading Clark Gable of a leading man. It's Margot Robbie. It's Diego Calva who just takes over the movie. You probably don't know him, but you would if you... you will if you watch. Babylon is a deep, bold, harsh, unapologetic look at movie making at the highest and the lowest level.

I love movies. I've told you I'm writing a screenplay that I believe with all my heart and soul will live up to Babylon's screenplay. And ultimately, and unapologetically, I was riveted. Ernestine and I cannot stop talking about it and are going to go back this next weekend and watch a couple of scenes over just to try to grasp the depth and the dialogue.

Final question is from Dan from Dallas. How far away are the Cowboys from the level of the Chiefs and the Eagles? Thanks a lot, Dan from Dallas. My Dallas Cowboys at least have a better defense than the Chiefs. My Dallas Cowboys have a way better defense than the Eagles, as you saw with your own two eyes on Sunday night. We have Micah Parsons. They do not. We have Dan Quinn. They do not. But the Chiefs do have Andy Reid.

For what it's worth, the Eagles have Nick Sirianni. He's growing on me. We're stuck with please drop the Mike McCarthy, who won the power struggle with Kellen Moore and who next year will call plays for my Dallas Cowboys. Perish the thought. This while Kellen Moore goes to the Chargers and probably will help lift them into next year's Super Bowl. The Chiefs obviously have Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles have 24-year-old Jalen Hurts.

We're stuck with Dak, who's eating up way too much of our salary cap. He's just not worth the money. But we do have my own Micah. We have 11 from heaven. And next year, we will beat those lousy, stinking Eagles twice. I believe we'll beat them 10-7 at Philadelphia and 14-13 at Dallas because we're going to have to beat them with our defense. I hate the Eagles. I hate them. You can feel free.

to condemn me as delusional. But in the end, dreaming of beating those Eagles twice next year is all I have to hang on to, all I have to get me through the long, cold offseason. That's it for episode 53. Thank you.

for listening and or watching. Thanks to Jonathan Berger and his All-Pro team for making this show go. Thanks to Tyler Korn for producing. Please remember, Undisputed every weekday, 9.30 to noon Eastern Time, The Skip Bayless Show, every week.