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January 14, 2026 41 mins

Dan & the Danette's talk about how quick or slow the rebuild process in Pittsburgh is going to be, former NFL QB & ESPN analyst Alex Smith joins the show, and more! 

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio Our two.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
On this Wednesday, Dan and the Dannet's Dan Patrick Show,
Alex Smith, former quarterback now working for the Mothership, will
stop by. We will talk about Steelers and some of
these coaching vacancies, but also look ahead to the games
coming up this weekend. You got Bill's Broncos. Saturday, you
got the Niners and the Seahawks, and then Sunday Texans, Patriots,

(00:27):
Rams and the Bears. I'm looking at some scenarios here.
DraftKings just sent me this the Super Bowl exact result odds.
The matchup that is the favorite according to DraftKings. Marvin,
I'll start with you. This is the matchup that is

(00:48):
leading the way. Broncos Rams, Broncos, Rams, Paul Bill, Seahawks,
Seaton Bills, Rams Todd Seahawks, Bills, Seahawks, Patriots, Seahawks, Patriots.

(01:12):
Let's run it back leading the ways. Run it yeah,
call a different play at the goal line, run it back. Yes.
Then it's the Rams, Patriots and Seahawks, Broncos and Seahawks.
Built they love the Seahawks here. So the Seahawks are
the top four Super Bowl matchups. The Seahawks are involved

(01:34):
in three of those, Patriots involved in two of those.
Then you have Rams, Broncos, Rams, Bills, Patriots, Seahawks. Then
you have down the list Broncos Seahawks is the tenth
best option. Yeah, so is this one of those.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Things where they really believe in the Seahawks and Patriots
or are they just daring you to bet it?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Like they want your money.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
So they did that with those odds to like, oh, yeah,
get people in.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
But I don't know if people are buying into Seattle.
Therefore those odds would be Okay, Now I'm going to
put my money on this. For Seattle to have the
best odds to go to the Super Bowl, I would
be going in on somebody. Hm when I go in on, well,
these are the Super Bowl odds. So it's Seattle, then
the Rams. Then down its Patriots, Bills, Broncos, Texans, Bears, Niners.

(02:31):
If I was betting, I'd probably go with the Bears Niners,
one of those you know, long long odds. Seattle as
the best odds. By the way, the Gambling Podcast this week,
we will have that up on the website. After the show,
we'll be taping that Today with Shan Irving, Dylan and
also bad Laying eight seven seven three. DP Show email

(02:54):
address Dpadanpatrick dot com, Twitter handle at DP show. Good morning.
If you're watching on Peacock, thank you for downloading the app.
Say good morning to those who are listening to the
program as well. Feels like every couple of days I
give you an update on what's happening with the college
football playoffs. Just got some information there now they're going
to make this decision for next year's playoff format a

(03:18):
week from Friday. From what I'm told, the Big Ten
still wants a twenty four team championship. Now, this is
what might be going on, according to my source. He says,
I think there might be an agreement to go to sixteen,
with some commitment to either consider going to twenty four

(03:39):
or actually going to twenty four teams in three years
within three years. But the Big Ten wants to increase
the value of its regular season contracts because its media
agreements only run through twenty thirty. Just some of the
information that, as we've talked about for the last six weeks,
it feels like we're going to sixteen. The Big Ten

(04:01):
wants to have twenty four, they will make this decision. Now,
there's a chance they stay at twelve because they can't
agree on the sixteen and they don't want to go
to twenty four. But that'll be a week from Friday
they make that announcement.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Yes, Martin, if they go to twenty four teams, is
there gonna be more college football games than NFL games?
You've got to be playing seventeen eighteen games.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, that's what they have to figure out of How
many games is enough? How many games is too much?
And nobody has brought that up. You know, you know,
how many games are you going to have to play?
If you win a national title, you're going to play
eighteen nineteen games?

Speaker 5 (04:38):
Are you?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Are you going to get to twenty games? But you know,
I'll ask my source who's listening now, and then if
he has information, I'll pass that on to you. Seaton
poll question, what are we going to go with an
hour two?

Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah, let me.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Update you from hour one because I think it's kind
of fun. No, but almost nobody has Mike Tomlin coaching
again next year. I find interesting. Right now, sixty three
percent have him in the media and twenty eight percent
have him on the beach playing Sudoku. Uh, do you
want to dive into this hour replacements for mister Tomlin.

Speaker 6 (05:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
I think it's challenging because then you're saying to people, Hey,
Jesse Minter, nobody knows anything about Jesse Minter except for
really good defensive coordinator. But if you want to put
candidates down, sure, yeah, okay, yeah, okay, great, Like Chris Shula,
nobody knows him other than his grandfather was Don Shula,

(05:33):
defensive coordinator for the Rams. I don't know if you
get a wild card there there you go, Wow.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
Curious to see where Marcus Freeman ends up. Yeah, him,
he's worth I'm definitely going to put him on that list.
I figure he would be ideal, you think so, I
can you know as a Steeler candidate. He's forty defensive
minded guy, played defense in college, Notre Dame head coach.
You bring him in and I would think people would

(06:03):
view that as that's an upgrade. Really Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
I mean, he's highly thought of, but you know, it
might be just he looks like a head coach. I
get the.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Candidate part of it. Yes, he's very impressive when you
look at him, but yeah, ah man that's.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
A big jump. Yeah, I agree, Yeah, Paul.

Speaker 7 (06:23):
In the past eight seasons, the Steelers have not had
a top fifteen offense. Maybe they go counter and hire
an offensive guy and then a great defensive coordinator.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Okay, here's something to keep in mind with this so
called great defense in Pittsburgh. In the last two games,
the Steelers defense allowed completions of twenty six yards, thirty
three yards, thirty six yards, thirty eight yards, forty six yards,
fifty yards, sixty four yards. It's not a great defense,
and it's certainly not a great offense. They are average

(06:56):
and in no more Aaron Rodgers, where are you getting
your quarterback? We brought up Sam Donald last year. We
brought up Sam Donald would be a great quarterback for
the Steelers to go and get, and you could have
had him. He's a good quarterback in his prime. You

(07:17):
went all in on Aaron Rodgers. I think you thought
you had a super Bowl caliber team, but if you
had Sam Donald. Now, I'm not saying Sam is a
great quarterback. I think he was unfairly marred by what
happened with the Jets, as most people are. But at
least I have a future at that position. And right
now you have nothing but Mason Rudolph. Yeah, Suton.

Speaker 4 (07:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
I feel I feel like if you're building around something,
you start with, you know, whatever Marquee players you have, right.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
I don't know who you build around now, Like I'm
not building around TJ. Watt. I've seen his best work.
It's an older team, Jalen Ramsey. I don't know. I
go on offense. I'm not the biggest DK Metcalf fan, but
all right, maybe he can turn out to be you know, TJ.
Watts thirty one. Yeah, he's really the only.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
Marquee player that you have at this point, right.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Yeah, I guess if you want to consider DK Metcalf,
is he Marquee? It's a good name, but not really. Yeah.
I mean he's more a curiosity for me where I
watch him. You know Mount Washington their tight end. Yeah,
that's a curiosity as well. But I don't look at
that team. And I mean Baltimore has a ton of talent,
ton of talent Pittsburgh doesn't. Yeh see. That's why I think.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
That the next head coach in Baltimore, I don't know,
it sounds weird to say maybe, but I don't know
what that person's going to do with Lamar Jackson. Well,
it's like a blessing and a curse at the same time,
because you have this guy who is just electric, absolute
MVP candidate pretty much every single year. He also seems

(09:01):
to run the team. But you know he's getting to
a certain age where at some point he's going to
start really tailing off if he hasn't already, and your
employment is going to be directly tied to how do
you handle Lamar Jackson for the next four years.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
I know it's tough because he's not running as much
as he did before. He has also been banged up.
You got a factor that in as well. The Ravens
owner held a press conference and he Steve Biscotti, and
he talked about Lamar Jackson having input on who's the
next coach.

Speaker 5 (09:37):
Eric made it clear to Lamar that when we get down.

Speaker 8 (09:41):
Here talking to him, I think he's texting Lamar after
every interview, whether it's zoom or in person, and I
think he's getting some opinions from Lamar. I said to
Lamar last night, when they call me up from Florida,
you better get your ass up here too, because if
you want to do the interviewing. These are going to
be full day meetings like they were eighteen years ago.

(10:03):
So I said to Lamar, you can jump on my
plane or find another way to get up there. But
if you're that interested, then we're going to get a schedule.
He's going to call me up. He's going to offer
you the same luxury. And I said, I hope you
take it, and he said, yes, sir, I think I will.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Okay, all right, having some fun, having some laughs there,
Lamar Jackson involved in the process here. How about we
find an offensive coordinator who meshes with Lamar Jackson. That
to me would be a really key ingredient to this team.
Are they going to do anything? Big picture? There are

(10:41):
certain quarterbacks who were great regular season quarterbacks. There's we
know a handful of quarterbacks. When they get to the postseason,
it's just different. We've seen that down through history. You
get to the postseason and you go he's just different.
Lamar is not. That's been the problem. He can be

(11:04):
the best quarterback, but I need you to be the
best quarterback at the biggest time of the year, and
he has not been. Now, can I put that on hardball?

Speaker 5 (11:13):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Have they had misfortune here miss field goal, a couple
of drop passes or fumbles along the way. But that team,
I mean, you've got receivers, you got a tight end,
you got a running back, you got a couple of
defensive players, you got a two time MVP at quarterback.

(11:35):
I mean you got to go to the conference title game.
We expect you to be in the conference title game. Yes, Tom,
if Lamar.

Speaker 9 (11:44):
Would have answered that question in another way more positive
to Harball, like yeah, I fully expect him to be
back if I want him back. Anything that said that,
he's on you know, they're on the same page, and
he wanted that coach back. Would that have changed how
things played out?

Speaker 2 (11:57):
I'm gonna say yes, But he didn't say that, and
that's why John Harbaugh was fired. It doesn't take long
and much effort for Lamar Jackson. If you say, hey,
do you want you know, coach Harball back, Yes, but
we got to figure out other things so we're not
in this same situation next year. So then I've taken

(12:19):
that off your plate now. But I keep going back
to that, Oh yeah, I do say, of course, and
then you move on whether you believe that or not.
I truly believe that he knew they were going to
move on from John Harball. I truly believe that, because
that's why he said it. If you want to make

(12:42):
sure that there's no finger of blame pointing to you,
then you say, well, of course I want him back.
Now we find out that the Ravens chose Lamar Jackson
that fired John Harball, Joey and Fort Wayne. Hey, Joey,
what's on your mind today?

Speaker 6 (12:59):
Hey?

Speaker 10 (12:59):
I wanted to know what you thought of the Steort
Scott documentary, and I also wanted to know if you
coined the phrase mothership.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
I think I coined the phrase mothership about ESPN, and
I have only seen bits and pieces of the Stewart documentary.
Alice in Pittsburgh. Hi Alice, Hi Dan, Thanks for taking
my call.

Speaker 11 (13:26):
I don't usually not usually off this time of the day.
I talked to the guys on Fox Sports at nine o'clock.
But I'm one of the Pittsburgh fans that didn't want
Mike to leave. I've been a fan since the early seventies,
and you know, I've seen them through some bad times,
good times, whatever, over the years. But I don't think

(13:47):
that they can blame this all on Mike, Like the
fans here were yelling fire Tomlin and Rogers retire at
the end of that game. The other night, the DK
metcalf dropped the pass they weren't blocking the offensive line with.
Terrible for them to say that at the end of
that game, and to feel like that about Tomlin after

(14:07):
all that he's done over the years. And it's not
just you know, the playoff games. Yeah, we haven't won
a playoff game in ten years. We haven't won a
Super Bowl since what two thousand and eight, But he
was part of Pittsburgh. It wasn't just that he was
our coach. I was hoping that he'd stay around, and
I hope that he did step down in his own terms.
The Rooneys would never fire anybody. They haven't fired a

(14:30):
coach since I think the late sixties, since before Chuck Noll.
But they were all three allowed to go on their
own terms. Chuck Noll retired. None of them ever coached again.
I don't know if Mike Wittell coach again. I could
see him in media. I hope he doesn't go to
a rival. I hope he doesn't go to Baltimore or Cleveland.

(14:50):
But it's going to be hard to watch him coach
another team.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, I think he's going to take some time off Alice,
and he's only fifty three. He's going to get ample
opportunities to be able to coach. But you know, he
might enjoy TV for a little while, and it gives
you a different perspective. He's not watching games on Sunday.

(15:13):
But once you go into that job in the media,
you're watching all these games, you're talking about everybody, You're
looking at these teams differently. He might look at a
team and go, Okay, I got to study that team
this week, and then he moves on. When you're in
the NFL and media and if you're doing games, you know,

(15:35):
I don't see him doing games. I want to take
advantage of the look of Tomlin. You know, he always
has those facial expressions. And it's easier to get acclimated
to TV by slipping somebody into a studio because now
I can control Hey, we're going to ask you this, Hey,

(15:56):
would you break down this? I can do all of
that with Mike and set him up for success when
you get out to a game. You know, even Drew Brees,
and Drew Brees didn't do well when he first went
out there, Drew Brees one of the great football minds
of all time. It's different, it's live. You got to
call it, you got to get in, you gotta get out,

(16:18):
and like there's a science to that, a cadence to that.
Studio I can set you up for success. We'll take
a break. Alex Smith will join us on Loan from
the Mothership right after this. Thanks for listening to The
Dan Patrick Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live
every weekday morning nine to noon Eastern or six to
nine Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station

(16:41):
for The Danpatrick Show at Foxsports Radio dot com, or
stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by
searching FSR.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can
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Speaker 5 (16:55):
Jeh Jed.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. If
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Speaker 2 (17:16):
Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away, Amy,
Paulie's in my head. We were talking about t Steve Bushatti,
the Ravens owner, and Paulie brought up those cookies, those
Biscotti cookies today when he first took over the team.
It's like, that's name's Piscotti.

Speaker 4 (17:34):
That's kind of cool.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, so social media reminding me, hey, talking hairdoo, it's Bushati. Okay,
I should have brought it up.

Speaker 4 (17:43):
I should have brought it up.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Uh. This in from on three. This has to do
with Ty Simpson. Tennessee, Miami and Ole Miss were offering
four million dollars to the Alabama quarterback. Miami went up
to six and a half million dollars. Miami. They lost
out on Sam Levitt. They came back with a big number.

(18:04):
Old Miss called again and they couldn't match it. So
it looks like Ty Simpson, Alabama quarterback is going pro. Yes,
Paul if.

Speaker 7 (18:13):
You were going to say that he could make more
money by staying in college, it's kind of true. But
that one year, for example, if he was the twenty
first pick like Jackson Dart Jackson Dart made nine million
as a rookie, most of us signing bonus, but then
going forward Jackson Dart would make one point six, two
point three three point one.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Alex Smith of the Mothership quarterback for sixteen years and
a Heisman Trophy finalist back in four when he was
at Utah. Good to see you again. I was wondering
about this. I mentioned Jalen Hurts. He's had a different
offensive coordinator every single year in the NFL, every single
year in college. As a former quarterback, do you care

(18:51):
more about who's your head coach or who's your offensive coordinator?

Speaker 12 (18:56):
Well, Dan, it's the best when they're the thing, the
same person most of the time. Usually usually when an
offensive coordinator is good enough to become a head coach,
they're pretty good at what they do.

Speaker 5 (19:07):
You know, I feel I feel his pain.

Speaker 12 (19:09):
You know, I had seven offensive coordinators in my first
seven years.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
And to see what Jalen's.

Speaker 12 (19:16):
Done in spite of all that volatility is incredible, Right, Like,
I think at some point it becomes a strength, Dan, Right, Like,
there's not a system you haven't run, there's not an
offensive mind you haven't been around. You get really good
at adapting. You get really good at taking kind of
the strengths of all these people and systems, you know,
and combining them. But no question, it's not what you want,

(19:37):
right like to get to it, to get to high
level football. I mean, this is not the recipe for that.
So I think that obviously Nick has been there again
that he is an offensive head coach. I think it's
the same system despite different play callers these last several years.
But nonetheless, obviously, you know, when especially the Eagles as

(19:57):
good as they've been, as good as that roster is,
they need far more stability on that side of the ball.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
But the terminology is probably kind of the same no
matter who your offensive coordinator is.

Speaker 5 (20:08):
I think it's all the same there with Nick.

Speaker 12 (20:10):
No, and I was in a different scenario where you know,
I went from digits to West Coast to all these
different systems. I think the nice thing there with obviously
Nick at the helm is that by and far this
is the exact same language. It's a different play caller,
it's a little different style obviously putting the plan together
every week.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
All right, let's look ahead to what Pittsburgh does now
moving forward, given their history young defensive coordinators they bring
them in in today's NFL, is that the wise thing
to do for Pittsburgh to follow that track record.

Speaker 5 (20:43):
To stay on the defensive side of the ball, young defense.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
You know, they're not going for big ticket items here.

Speaker 12 (20:48):
It does sound I mean, they've done such a great job.
I mean I think back to even when they hired
Mike Tomlin, right, like it just they seem to do,
you know, like these interview processes like you know, as
you can imagine when you bring in a guy for
an interview, these are football coaches that you know, sometimes
are they coming in a suit and tie and trying
to you know, put their best foot forward. So much
of this comes from reference checking, right, your network as

(21:10):
an organization reaching out and finding who's an actually good
football coach who can create culture. Right, just because you
are a great coordinator doesn't necessarily mean you're going to
be a great coach. Those are those are very different things,
and so how do you identify them? And clearly this
organization seems to have that down. I do anticipate that
their track record, yeah, has been they're going to go young, right,
They're they're going to go for a young coach that

(21:32):
they believe in that, they're going to support that, they're
going to build with, and it's going to be there
for the next twenty twenty five years.

Speaker 5 (21:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (21:39):
Whether or not that's on the defensive side of the ball,
I think remains.

Speaker 5 (21:41):
To be seen.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Do you think that Mike Tomlin had read the room,
had the wherewithal to say, I got two years left
on my contract, I'm stepping down, or do you think
that there was maybe nudging on the Steelers' part.

Speaker 5 (21:57):
No, I don't think there is any nudging. I don't
think so. I mean, listen, and I know.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
With two years left on his contract, he's Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
I know.

Speaker 5 (22:06):
That's my point.

Speaker 12 (22:06):
Like, I think in the media, this has been talked
about a lot, right, we heard the chance this year.
I think behind closed doors, I mean, teams would be
lining up to hire him, lining up, right, Like, I mean,
this guy's that well respected and it's just so rare
to have done it for nineteen years in one place, right,
Like I do wonder just being a head coach for

(22:27):
nineteen years, right man? These are these are dog years.
It is a lot of pressure. It demands a commitment level, right,
Like if you just have to sacrifice so much of
your life, Like I don't, I mean clearly obviously, who
knows that the you know here for him to step down, right, Like,
I think something on that front. I don't think it
had anything to do with getting nudged out.

Speaker 5 (22:48):
Again.

Speaker 12 (22:48):
I think this guy's one of the most sought after,
if not the most sought after guy in the market
and would have been uh and there's a lot of
demand there and I think he knew that despite some
of these conversations that go on on the that the
media side.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Yeah, but the Ravens had no problem announcing they fired
John Harball. Similar career track record, super Bowl, same thing, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:10):
Similar, similar. I would argue this, right, like, look at
those two rosters this year, Oh, I know, I.

Speaker 12 (23:15):
Mean, I think you can make an argument one of
them overachieved and the other one from this year.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
I'm not talking.

Speaker 12 (23:23):
I'm obviously John Harbaugh's eighteen years are incredible, right, like,
potential Hall of Fame head coach. But this year I
think they greatly underachieved, right, that roster, that many all pros,
that many Pro Bowlers, You've got an MVP. I mean,
Lamar just came off arguably, arguably maybe the greatest season
of quarterback ever. And I know he was injured this
year and missed some time, but like that, you can't

(23:44):
be a fan of football look at that team and
say it didn't underachieve, especially the way the division was
this year, right, one of the worst divisions in football.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
Talking to Alex Smith ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown, what is
it about certain quarterbacks when they get to the postseason,
Like there's certain quarterbacks who were regular season quarterbacks, but
then you get to the postseason, So what is that
that factor that somebody just plays better than the lights

(24:11):
of the brightest.

Speaker 12 (24:12):
I mean, I think a lot has to go right
in this scenario. Like I'm thinking about justin Herbert when
you said that, and I know he's zero for three
and the playoffs and people are talking about this and that,
but like, I mean, he didn't have it. He was
overmatched in that game, right, and against the Patriots, and
as beat up as the Chargers were limping into the playoffs,

(24:33):
you know, I know they were hoping to be more
competitive in that game, but going across the country on
the road, like and we're just going to pin that
all on him, you know, I think in some ways. Again,
when you step back and look at the job he did,
like for them to even be in that position, I
think was you know, in some ways remarkable, right, I
think that was a positive. But you know it's the
nature of the quarterback position, you know this, right, Like

(24:54):
we get in these big moments, these winner take all
one game scenarios, right quarterbacks, Obviously, I think when you
when your team wins and you play well, this is
where you become legendary, right Like, this is where that
that kind of stuff happens. And so what goes into that, right,
Like what I think again, the ten guys in the huddle,

(25:14):
the matchup, the system, right, Like, the position you're put
in has a huge part of that. And again and
so but then obviously the guy's got to go out
there and and and and make the plays. I At
the same time, I think about Josh Allen right, like,
incredible playoff numbers, just absolutely incredible playoff numbers. But you know,

(25:35):
up until now, it's the guy that can't get it done,
right Like that, that's the stuff you hear, right like,
he can't get there and which is that because of Josh?

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Right?

Speaker 12 (25:44):
Like that that's insane to say when you actually go
look at the play like that, there's not much else
he could do, and yet we want to pin that
on the quarterback. So sometimes I think that that kind
of narrative is is pretty unfair.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
How would you defend Josh Allen if you're in good luck?

Speaker 5 (26:00):
It's tough. It's really tough, listen.

Speaker 12 (26:02):
I mean, I think you know when you look at
them from an offensive standpoint and you think about the
weapons and who you need to shut down. Obviously, it's
the best run game in football, and a lot of
it starts upfront with that, right James Cook obviously had
a phenomenal year.

Speaker 5 (26:14):
Josh is a big part of that run game.

Speaker 12 (26:16):
From there, you kind of move to their tight ends, right, Like,
they're pretty dynamic, both those tight ends, Kim kaid and knocks.
So much of what they do is tied end too,
the run game with play action pass right and over
the middle.

Speaker 5 (26:28):
And so how are you going to take those guys away?

Speaker 12 (26:30):
You know, they don't have big contributors on the outside, right,
Like they kind of piece it together on the outside, right,
And I know they just lost a couple guys to injury,
and so you're.

Speaker 5 (26:41):
Gonna be piecing it together. Even more.

Speaker 12 (26:44):
So, it's interesting when you got a guy like Patrick's rtan, right, like,
who's he gonna go take away? They don't necessarily these
aren't feature guys for them that play outside, and then
your instinct would be to play some man, right, certainly
because you're not necessarily afraid of some of these matchups
I just talk about in coverage. However, I think Josh
is kind of the guy that would really deter you

(27:05):
from that, right, Like, you don't want a lot of
backs turned running in coverage with this guy and the
ball in his hands, right, he can really make some
big plays with his legs. He can really extend plays.
It's hard to cover that long. So he's the biggest
deterrent against that. And I do think you're going to
see a heavy dose. You're going to see them spy
him a lot in this game, right this, let's not

(27:25):
let him get going again. Think about last year's playoff
game against the Denver Broncos. On that fourth down he
runs around for eight seconds and you know, dot's what
the running back in the back of the end zone
for that phenomenal play, right, Like any of you're the Broncos,
like we're not letting that happen again. Right, We've gotta
have some eyes on him. We've got to have some
defenders tracking him down.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
I know that you're working with a company. We're looking
at concussions, you know. I go back to that what
twenty twelve game when you suffered a concussion and then
Kaepernick came in. Yep, did you know you were concussed?

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Oh yeah, yeah immediately, Dan.

Speaker 12 (27:59):
And it's funny, you know they this is and we've
learned this, like concussions very much are obviously a spectrum now, right,
Like I remember everything. I was very present, Like it
wasn't one of those things where I was like, you know,
you're out for me. It was a vision deal, you know,
And it was a it was a game that it
was at a candlestick and vision for me and one
o'clock kickoff and all of a sudden having trouble with

(28:23):
my vision right again. And I say it because it
was it was an incredible day of candlestick, really sunny,
really bright, and for me having trouble focusing my eyes,
having trouble with my vision, certainly having trouble with the brightness.
And I remember, it's one of those things where you're
you know, you're you're trying to blink it off, right,
You're trying to like work through it, and it's not working, right, Like,

(28:45):
it's not getting better. And you know, in that game specifically,
I remember, I mean, I continue to play. In fact,
I threw a touchdown pass as my last play I think,
and finally got to the sideline.

Speaker 5 (28:55):
It was like a miracle.

Speaker 12 (28:56):
I remember thinking like, I don't know how that just happened, right,
Like this kept thinking it would get better and it didn't.

Speaker 5 (29:02):
Finally obviously getting out, you know, getting.

Speaker 12 (29:05):
Myself out of the game in the sense that I
wasn't going to help us out there not being able
to see, and so it's scary. It's scary stuff, right.
I think it's for all football players. It's kind of
the looming scary thing, right, And like we don't we're
learning more, we don't know a whole lot about concussions.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
What's the company you're working.

Speaker 12 (29:25):
Yeah, I'm with I'm with Oxyo Oxya Biopharma ox Eia,
And listen, I think that the number one thing for
all of us is there are no approved treatments and right, like,
there are no approved tests for concussions. Like when it
comes to treatment of concussions, it's the same as it
was twenty forty fifty, one hundred years ago, right, Like
we're still kind of in the stone age.

Speaker 5 (29:45):
It's just hey, rest up, how do you feel? You know?

Speaker 12 (29:48):
And again still learning the consequences of some of these things,
and so just pumped to partner with Oxya and to
try to be a solution, right, to try to find
some answers to try to figure this out.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
And how often are you tested? Like do do a yearly?

Speaker 5 (30:05):
Well, there are no tests there.

Speaker 12 (30:06):
I mean, obviously there's these baseline tests where you can
kind of take they're cognitive right in that sense, they're
you know, processing, but they don't they can't definitively define
whether or not you've had a concussion.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Nothing can but MRI cat scan none of that will
show up.

Speaker 5 (30:24):
Like those help.

Speaker 12 (30:25):
Those help, and they certainly help, I think with more
severe ones. But the vast majority that happened on the
football field, the vast majority I think that happened for
people in their lives. Like I can't tell you how
many parents come up to me constantly, right and like, hey,
my my child had a concussion doing something, and like
what can I do for them?

Speaker 11 (30:41):
Right?

Speaker 12 (30:41):
Like, what what can help? And again there's just there's
just nothing there right in. The NFL has taking steps,
We've seen changes in the kickoff rule right to make
it safer. We've seen helmets try to get better, but
there still is nothing here on the treatment side. And
again I think just just pumped a partner with Oxya
in the sense that if somebody trying to do something right,
someone trying finally trying to change that narrative. And for

(31:04):
anybody that wants to go learn more, go to Oxia
Biopharma dot com.

Speaker 5 (31:10):
You know company.

Speaker 12 (31:11):
Again, I think that is onto something but really trying
to trying to make a difference.

Speaker 5 (31:17):
Are you.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
One record is saying the Rams could put up fifty
on the Bears.

Speaker 12 (31:21):
You know, listen, hey kay got me on and it
was like, hey, first thing, that is going to be
a high scoring game. I haven't checked the weather. That's
always like a part of this when you're playing at
Chicago in January. But I'm just that defense, Chicago's defense,
the way they're playing. I know they've feasted on turnovers
all year, but especially against this system like they just

(31:45):
went to they just went to San Francisco played the
Niners and I think they got forty eight put up
on them. It's the exact same system, and you could argue,
you know, the group they have in LA with the
Rams is maybe more Dyna.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Weather's going to be thirteen degrees.

Speaker 5 (32:03):
All right, well, listen again.

Speaker 12 (32:05):
I think it's going to be high scoring whether or
not they actually get the fifty burger, but I think
they're going to put up some points. I don't think
there's a whole lot of love loss between these coaching
staffs either.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Great to talk to you again. I hope you're doing
well and thanks for sharing same damn. Thanks for having
me Alex Smith joining us on the program. I go
back to when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist at
Utah that that was an incredible run that year and
sixteen years in the NFL. All right, we'll take a break.

(32:37):
We'll update our poll results here and more of your
phone calls right after this. Thanks for listening to The
Dan Patrick Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live
every weekday morning nine until noon eastern six to nine
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, and you can find us
on the iHeartRadio app at FSR or stream us live
on the Peacock app. We are formalizing our plans for

(32:57):
the Super Bowl in San Francisco, and we'll let you
know if you would like to be part of the
studio audience for one of the five days. We'll let
you know how you're able to access that. For over
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(33:21):
Com is the way tire buying should be. Zach and Dayton,
Good morning, Zach. What do you have for me?

Speaker 10 (33:28):
Laurn Dan first time, long time, six foot one ninety five.
If I were the Pittsburgh Steelers front office, I would
at least reach out, take a couple of minutes and
reach out engage the interest of Mike McCarthy for the
Pittsburgh Steelers head coaching job.

Speaker 5 (33:49):
He's got a.

Speaker 10 (33:49):
Proven track record, won a Super Bowl, and he's from Pittsburgh.
A couple other quick comments the movie Primate, I've already
seen that it was called Kujo. And finally, I think Dougwites,
you need to reach out and find out a way
to make Dugwits the official white of Crappensburg State.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh. I like that, Thank you, Zach. You know Pittsburgh
likes the younger quarterback, younger coordinator. Do you want somebody
there for twenty years, nineteen years, eighteen years, McCarthy's sixty two.
Now you're not bringing in John Harbaugh for fifteen years.

(34:29):
And I think that's the formula that's worked for them
and they'll probably stick to them. John in Indianapolis, Hi, John,
what's on your mind today?

Speaker 6 (34:41):
Good morning Dan?

Speaker 5 (34:42):
How are you good?

Speaker 2 (34:43):
John?

Speaker 6 (34:44):
Good so, Indianapolis now via Chicago.

Speaker 5 (34:49):
So I'm big.

Speaker 6 (34:49):
I'm excited about the Bears question I have for you
because you mentioned it in a few minutes ago. Well,
you escorted out by security when you left ESPN.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Not officially. They just they let me stay a little
bit longer. They let me stay a little bit longer
than normal. But I did have friends and when they left,
they were escorted. Somebody was there with them when they
were leaving the building. A producer who went to Fox

(35:21):
and did their pregame show, created that pregame show. He
was escorted out. Like you're watching it, I'm thinking what
do they think Scott's going to be taking But no,
they were. They let me stay a few days longer
after I had said that I was, but I was
doing radio. They still allowed me to do radio for

(35:42):
a couple of days. And then some of the ESPN
affiliates pushed back and said, well, he's not going to
be here, why are we allowing him to still do
his job. Yeah?

Speaker 5 (35:51):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
If it's about how much they're going to steal rather
it as a people tend to be upset when they
get fired.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
Let's avoid any issues. Yeah, you know, well I didn't
get fired.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Now, but I go into my boss's office and tell
him what I think now that I can't be fired
since I just was, how about I tell everybody here
what I think of him?

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, but this guy quit and went to Fox. So
we're doing Sports Center that night and the guy, Scott Akerson,
who was a great coordinating producer, he says, hey, I
got this job. They want me to create the Fox
pregame show, and I said take it. He goes and
he kind of you know, it wasn't sure because you

(36:28):
don't leave ESPN. And I just remember it felt like
it was early evening, and I said, take the job, man.
So he tells management and that he's taken the job,
and that's it. He's out the door. He was done. Yeah, PAULI.

Speaker 7 (36:47):
As you know, Dan, I was at ESPN in one
of those situations and three people were fired and I
was at work at my desk and I watched the
hr slash security person walk to the desk, walked them out,
and one of the people I had to bring him
his cell phone and his keys because they didn't give
a chance to grab his selling keys.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
And it is a wild scene.

Speaker 7 (37:05):
I've never seen that in persons.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yeah, so I did not get escorted out, but I
did witness that.

Speaker 5 (37:13):
Escorted.

Speaker 7 (37:13):
It's such a non nice word and not the right
word for when you get fired. You're not escorted.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
It's not a pleasant experience. Yeah, allow me to escort you. Okay,
Nate in La Hi, Nate, what's on your mind today?

Speaker 11 (37:27):
Hey? Dan?

Speaker 4 (37:27):
I hope I could catch one of your shows a
San Francisco during Super Bowl week.

Speaker 3 (37:31):
I called to give you praise.

Speaker 9 (37:33):
For the influence you had on Cam Newton's TV podcast
career so far.

Speaker 11 (37:38):
That being said, have you been invited to the cookout yet?

Speaker 10 (37:40):
And do you know what you're going to bring.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
I have not been invited to Marvin's cookout or cam
Newton's cookout, but I look forward to that, and I
would probably confer with Marvin on what I should bring
to a cookout. Yes, mar you can bring ice, ice, ice,
alcohol you like? Okay, join us please, okay? But no food? No, no, no, no, okay.

Speaker 4 (38:10):
It's almost like Thanksgiving. You gotta know who's making what
I'm not eating. Everybody's cooking, like, oh who made that?

Speaker 5 (38:17):
Aunt?

Speaker 4 (38:17):
Beatrice made that?

Speaker 5 (38:18):
Ell?

Speaker 4 (38:19):
No, thank you? Okay.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
It feels like it's a slight towards me that I
can't bring food. Well, like my wife would be the
one cooking. Oh wait, well, I said, who brought the
tuna casserole? That guy very very true. I bet it

(38:43):
was him.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
Yeah, it is funny going back to that, Hey white bread,
did you bring?

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (38:50):
I did, iron for sure.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
Who about the green bean casserole?

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Who do you think made that.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
A lot of mayonnaise heavy salads?

Speaker 4 (39:02):
Unfortunately?

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Man, how about I just bring some tequila? Oh?

Speaker 4 (39:10):
Yeah, that's all you, that's okay, Yeah, of course, all right.
My family doesn't really partake, but by all means they are.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Not, but the other side of the family does.

Speaker 4 (39:19):
Yeah, they drank Hennessy and I was like, wow.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
No, I can't do that. Well, I wouldn't bring hennessy.
I would have a little bit of Hennessy if I
got there.

Speaker 4 (39:27):
Oh, they definitely would. They would go.

Speaker 5 (39:29):
Oh, sports center.

Speaker 4 (39:33):
Because as Ice Cubes told you, brothers got cable. Oh
that's still you're good everywhe vp you know who you are.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Of course I know when ice Cube said that to me,
he goes, brothers got cable, because I said if I
went into Compton, and he was like, brothers got cable.
Brothers got for sure.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
Because if somebody didn't know you, you know what that
is Sports center, that's the best.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
There's a great line. Adam in Michigan. Hi, Adam, what's
on your mind?

Speaker 10 (40:02):
Hey?

Speaker 13 (40:02):
Dan, gotta be careful of bringing ice to barbecues these days.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
But either way, yeah, also the whity Yeah, the white
guy brought ice.

Speaker 13 (40:20):
Six clip bear one eight down Arizona. And my question
is for Polly and Marvin on the jerseys. If Denver
announces they're going to wear their throwbacks, is that worth
a one point swing either way? And does any other
team have that kind of sway when it comes to jerseys, Okay, Todd, I.

Speaker 9 (40:42):
Am extremely hopeful that they're going to wear those nineteen
seventy seven throwbacks.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
I think it's worth a one and a half point
different than the point.

Speaker 2 (40:48):
Hopefully they don't do like that blue uniform. Didn't they
have one of those?

Speaker 4 (40:52):
I don't like. I don't really like any of their
other ones except.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
For the throwback, the orange crush, the Orech scrush, Yes, Morman.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
The Seahawks if they brought up their throwbacks two point.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Okay, are we doing Jim Zorn like the Steve Larging
or do you want that lime green like the Steve Largin? Yeah,
Chris Warren era, Chris Warren, Yeah, Paulie. I think it's
the opposite.

Speaker 7 (41:13):
I think all teams in the playoffs should wear their
standard uniforms. I was watching the college football playoffs the
other day and a couple teams wore like different uniforms.
Even the Bears the other day went blue on blue.
You should wear whatever standard like Oregon had another whacky uniform.
Wear your standard for playoffs.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
Two hours in the books on this Wednesday, one more
to go, or of your phone calls. We have a
new poll question as well EH seven seven to three
DP Show email addres Stpadanpatrick dot com, Twitter handle at
DP Show, Fritzie Seat and Marv Paulia yours truly final
hour right after this
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