The Season with Peter Schrager: Greg Olsen

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. We're he football is finally
here and this is the opening week episode of the

(00:30):
season with Peter Schrager. Aaron wan Kaufman joins me here
in New York City. We're recording this on Tuesday. Kickoff
is on Thursday. I'm excited, Aaron. Are you ready? Have
you fully gotten over the summer and shifted and turned
that page to first day of school? Football's here mode.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm not ready. I don't know how I'm gonna feel
comes Sunday, when it's suddenly hours and hours and hours of.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Fun sneaks up on you. Right.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, Yeah, it's nice to have Thursday to start, which
is one game and like really get into it. But yeah,
that's Sunday, back to back game games. Yeah, I'm so excited,
and I'm also not ready.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
So I've work a daily show. And when I complain
about being on in June and May, it's because there's
nothing to talk about. It's like random player, you know,
tweeted this do three hours on it. Football season starts.
I'm looking at a schedule with sixteen games. We could
talk football. I don't need to talk about Marquette King's
tweets anymore, or I don't need to talk about what

(01:32):
Chandler Jones posted on Instagram in the middle of June
while he was on a boat in Hawaii, like we
are here, and I love it, and I feel like
I almost have too much information in my head. I
have to like dummy it down a little bit and
sift through it and be like, Okay, now that we're here,
let's make rational football predictions and football thoughts and kind
of be satient with this thing. I know I've been

(01:54):
hyping Jumior Gibbs and the Lions for three months. Am
I really putting Jamior Gibbs in the same breath as
Emmett Smith and Jim Brown? Maybe I could just take
a step back, but it's my excitement, and I know
I love what I do because we're here and like,
I'm giddy. I feel like this is our gift, this
is the gift, and now find me in week thirteen,
after twelve weeks of travel and flight delays and eating

(02:17):
the same Delta meal, maybe I feel differently. But coming
off summer as sad as I am to see the
summer done like it is a beautiful gift to see
Thursday night NBC on the schedule and it not be preseason,
and it not be some terrible game show or reality show,
and it be actual NFL football. That's Thursday Night, Lions Chiefs.

(02:41):
If you want a comprehensive preview, you can watch Good
Morning Football in the morning, and then Sunday we have
a slate of games from the football Gods. I cannot wait,
and I think it's an awesome one on Fox at
four point thirty on America's Game of the Week, Bears
hosting Packers. Kyle Brant, my co host on Good Morning Football.

(03:03):
So this might be the most important Bears game in
twenty years, and they've played in multiple playoff games since then.
Just that this feels like the NFC North is finally
open for business. Now. I know that the Vikings won
it last year and the Packers didn't even make the playoffs.
But with Aaron Rodgers out of Green Bay, Chicago sees
a light here, a little light at the end of

(03:23):
the tunnel that wait, maybe the next ten years, this
could be our division. And Aaron Rodgers, who figuratively andler
realistically owns the Bears is no longer there anymore, so
Packers Bears. I think it's the game of the week
on Sunday. I know Brady's being honored and they're playing
the Eagles, and we can split hairs over which game

(03:43):
is a better game. I'm personally most excited for this
Bears versus Packers game and to see Fields versus Love
and Jordan Love the mystery Man, and because that's the game,
I'm so excited for him. Because we're a big time
podcast and because I've got the best relationships in the world,
I was able to call up Greg Olsen, who's calling
the game on Sunday for Fox fresh off his first

(04:07):
Super Bowl. This will be the first time he's calling
an actual non preseason football game since, and we've got
him on the podcast. Let's welcome in our guest, a
great friend of mine and the lead NFL announcer for
Fox Sports. It's coming off a year in which not
only called an NFC championship game, but then called an

(04:27):
amazing Super Bowl. One of the best dudes as a
player and now one of the best dudes in the
media game, mister Greg Olsen. Welcome to the season with
Peter Scheger.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
What's up, buddy. It's good to be on man. I
feel like I've been waiting for my call to be
on the show. It finally came.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
This is it. You got the call. You also got
the call to call a Super Bowl last year. I
think we were all blown away by your performance when
you were a current player and you would jump in
like I was a three man booth. Whether it was
was Charles Davis, it was burkhard at the time, whoever
it was. And then you get the full time assignment
a couple of years back, and Aikman's the number one guy.
Aikman leaves for Monday night football and you send to

(05:06):
the number one chair in a Super Bowl year, and Greg,
I don't think you need to hear from me, but
you hit it out of the park. You were awesome.
Your experience calling a Super Bowl in year number one
as the lead Fox announcer.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
You know, it was hard. It was kind of hard
to imagine everything playing out the way it did, you know.
And you know, as you said, when I signed on,
and you know, following the twenty twenty season, I retired
and signed on in twenty one, you know, joined Kevin
on the second crew and was really excited for that. Right,
I thought, all right, you know, do this for a
while and we'll see where it goes. Never in my
wildest imagination did I think that next offseason, leading into

(05:42):
last season, that the musical chairs that was sports media
and especially with the top broadcast teams across all the
different networks would change so quickly and the opportunity and
the seat opened. And you know, I was fortunate that
after just one year of really calling games, Burkhart and
I found well not one year for Burkhart, one year
for me, a long time for Burkhart, that the two
of us found ourselves together again, albeit on a different crew,

(06:07):
and just so happened to be a Super Bowl year.
So it was. It was quite the ride. It was
quite the experience, and you know, and one that I'm
thankful for and excited to do it again this year.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Did you treat it like any other game?

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Like?

Speaker 1 (06:19):
I know, it's easy to say I approach it one
week at a time, but god, there's two weeks to
prepare and it's the Super Bowl and it goes from
twenty million, which is no small potatoes, to like hundreds
of millions watching. Did you go into it like I've
got to have a catchphrase, or I'm gonna I'm gonna
have the call of a lifetime where they're going to
play this back on NFL films for thirty years, or
do you just try to hone in and think, Okay,

(06:41):
it's Week six, Tampa Bay taking Atlanta, and let's just
treat it like that.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, you know, I got some really good advice from
from a lot of people who had been kind of
in it, you know, just you know, who had called
super Bowls, especially just on our team, right with with
Zee and Russo and Aaron and Tom and just and
obviously first one for me and Kevin. So you know,
just being on a team that had a lot of
people that had called super Bowls and knew at the moment,
felt like it was very similar to my you know,

(07:06):
when I was a player and the weeks leading up
to the Super Bowl felt like months and then the
game felt like minutes. It really was exactly once the
game started, right, We had two weeks of prep after
the NFC Championship game, which was an interesting game then,
you know, in its own right, and everything that went
down with Purdy and there was no quarterback and it
was a weird game. Then we kind of had this

(07:27):
lull for the first week where you know, nothing really
going on, and then we get to Arizona. Then we
get to Arizona, we have super Bowl weeks. So it
was very much as a player, where you know you're
reading everything, you want to make sure you have your storylines,
you're diving into the weeds, and then once the game started,
just like as a player, it was over in a blur, right,
the hours and hours of my board and these detailed notes.

(07:50):
I think I went a quarter and a half and
didn't even look down, right, like, you just get captured
into the moment of the game, the energy of the game.
All of your prep kind of plays out as the
game unfolds on the screen. And we were very fortunate
that the game was incredible, right. It came right down
to the wire, came right down to the last possession,
which is what all of us kind of cheer for.
So the game cooperated, which makes it a lot easier

(08:12):
for the broadcast team because there's so much exciting things
to talk about in so many different personalities and storyline.
So we got lucky with the teams, We got lucky
with the game, and the game it felt like we
started then Rihanna saying and then it was over, like
that's really that was literally what happened.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
That's the memory and like the Rihanna thing, like so
I'm just thinking, you know, I was on the studio
show that morning, all afternoon into the night. Then we
get to kick back and kind of just watch the
game and a green room you guys are calling it.
Rihanna goes on and Caris and I are like, all right,
we're gonna go and try to watch it on the field.
We walk on out into the tunnel where with Sean Payton.
Sean Payton stays out there, no one bothers him. They

(08:51):
tell me and Chrissa, you guys have to go back.
No one's allowed on the field, and like Sean Payton,
they weren't gonna mess with So we go back and
we watched Rihanna from the green room, which is like,
did you watch Rihanna? Are you studying depth charts at me?
And like is my home's coming out in the second half?
Are you able to like enjoy the super Bowl? It?

Speaker 3 (09:07):
So I love Rihanna right, like I discussing songs. She's
got so many good songs, so but it's really funny.
So you and you said it. The Mahomes thing kind
of changed my halftime plan. Like I was like, I
can't wait till halftime. They always serve us food, you know,
they bring up chicken fingers or whatever, and I'm like,
I'm gonna make a play of food. I'm gonna go
take I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'm gonna come back,

(09:29):
and I'm gonna watch Rihanna and enjoy it. Whatever. Well,
Mahomes gets rolled up like right before halftime, right, so
I'm like, holy shit, Like what what are we going
to talk about if Mahomes can't play? Aside from Mahomes
not playing, but like what are the other storylines? Like
where do we go? We got to start talking about

(09:50):
other people so I'll never forget it. I'm sitting like
at on the little like there's like a little desk
in our booth and I'm sitting there and I have
my notebook which has like all my storylines and thoughts
that I've kind of put together over the weeks, and
I remember being like, you know, I don't like this song,
and then I'm like then like it, and like I

(10:11):
take a break, and I'm like, I love this song.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
I gotta listen. Okay, I'm sorry, I gotta listen.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
I was going in and out like based on what
song she was singing, but now from the press box,
like from our from our booth. When she got lifted
onto those like convey like platforms, she was like, I
level with us, so from where we are vantage points,
She's like, ie level performing on the little platform. I'm
like going through my my chart and my thing, like

(10:37):
all right, what do we want? How are we going
to pick up the second half of Mahomes does come
out if he doesn't come out, but you know, all
this stuff, And then like in between, I'm like, oh
my god, I love this song and I'm like, yeah,
shared in this.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Well, she's eye level. You don't want to be rude
and not look at you can't be looking at notes
about uh chat.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
I don't want to insult re Rea. And she's got
a baby on board, which was a big announcement, and
so I wanted to be respectful of the halftime performer.
But then at the same time, I'm like, the whole
world is expecting us to talk about this second half
for the next two hours and the best player in
the world may or may not be part of it. Unfortunately,
he came out and he was fine, and it was
an unbelievable game. But like halftime was such a mix

(11:18):
of like, man, I really want to watch this performance,
but I got to make sure I get my shit
right because if I'm not ready for the second half,
one hundred million people are gonna let me know.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
You know, the last big play was the flag. I'm
gonna I'm gonna toss to the sound right now so
we could hear your call prior to the past, holding
number twenty four pirod Pinnerley automatic first und.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, that's worst case scenario. You'll see James Bradburry. They're
gonna say he grabs him. He's got his left hand
on his back. I don't know, I'm Mike listen. I
think on this stage, I think you'll let him play.
Obviously Mahomes thought he saw it.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
I think.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
I don't know. I think you'll let him play. Finish
this thing out. I don't love that call.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
I mean, I think you got to see the whole thing.
It seemed to me at the initial break time you
were you were on it like there's a flag. Do
we want that flag thrown there? Now? Were you thinking
about going hard on that and saying, let's crush the
refs here? Why are you throwing that flag? Or did
you feel like just that was your natural reaction.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
No, A lot of people are like Man Olson's been
waiting for that moment. I love officiating, like I would
joke with Mike Pereira like and Blandino like. I liked officials.
I was not one of those guys that had a
lot of issues with refs. And you know, I'm sure
I had my moments where I argued a PI ball
or a whole you know whatever, But I was never
like an anti ref. I've been on record. I think
their job is extremely hard. I think if the average

(12:41):
person went out there, they'd be like they were caught
in like an interstate traffic jam. They went things are
happening so fast, and I don't think anyone could process
it as quickly as those guys do. My point in
the game, and there was no like, that's just what
I felt in the moment. I think unless you were
a Chiefs fan, every the one hundred and fifteen million

(13:02):
people watching that game would have loved to see. And
all we are in the booth is fans. Right. I
don't get he wins. I want a great game. I
want a game with some action. I want a game
that unfolds that allows us to really give a lot
of fun insight to the fan. Right, that's what we
all hope for, as you know, you know, people that
cover this sport, how much how great would it have

(13:25):
been if that ball gets put in Jalen hurts his
hands and the MVP runner up has one more possession
to beat the MVP and go down there and see
where the game unfolds. It was back and forth, Kansas
City comes back from behind.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
They let's see how.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
It unfolds, and then it just like was a big
wet right, Like I know, they run the clock out,
they slide before the goal line, they run the clock down,
take a time out, walk off.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
It is so anti climactic, and that flag probably was
the right call, but going back on it, you could
make the argument not to throw that flag in that spot,
and who knows if that's one of the all time
greatest finishes of all.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Here we are, and here we are, we're saying we
could get the first overtime game in NFL history, right,
we got to make sure, like in between breaks as
we were getting there in the fourth quarter and we're like,
you know it's you know, within three, it's within a
one score that a tie is real, Right, We're thinking,
all right, we got to make sure, like if this
does go to overtime, everybody is clear on the new rule, right,
Like everyone gets a possession. This is playoff.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Like, yeah, we're just we're having.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
Those conversations during the break to make sure if we
do go to overtime, all right, who's gonna set the rules?
How are we gonna bring it?

Speaker 1 (14:35):
Because you're talking and because the Patriots and Falcons did
go to overtime. But this is the new rules. Where
new rule, that's what I mean with the kickoff, Yeah, yeah,
with the kickoff changes and like you get one possession
and then and it's not regular season rules, it's specific
for the playoffs. And we hadn't seen one all playoffs,
that's right.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
So we had never seen it since they implemented the
new rule. It obviously was the big deal after the
Bills Chiefs game when Mahomes and and Josh Allen had
that epic back and forth and then you know, you
know that both of them don't get a chance in
the overtime to possess the ball, So they changed the rule,
and we're like, could you imagine if it the first
time it ever unfolds is in the Super Bowl? We
were damn close. We were damn close. So I think

(15:13):
we all had that moment like, man, we're really there,
all right, even if they kicked this field goal. Now
Jalen Hurts has a chance to go down and he
can answer or potentially win whatever. And then obviously became
kind of anti climactic. Bucker just lines up for a
kind of a routine chip shot. Albeit it's the Super
Bowl and the rest is history.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
We go back to the hotel afterwards after the postgame
show wraps up their show. I'm doing my stuff on
the field. You got the studio guys breaking down the game.
You and Burt Cart take a ride back from the
stadium to the hotel, and I'm going to put you
in my perspective. My shoes, I get back, go change
and there is a small little after party at the

(15:55):
hotel and they're like, anyone who worked on this today,
whether you're behind the scenes, you're on camera, you're in
the booth. You're in the studio show Why don't you
come and let's have a few drinks. Fox is gonna
put the bill, and let's just appreciate the season and
this amazing super Bowl that we've had. We all go there.
You and I talked for about five minutes and then
you say, Okay, I gotta go. Where you going? I'm like,

(16:15):
this is everything you've worked for, your entire season and
maybe your entire professional life, thinking about the super Bowl
calling it. And you put on a cowboy hat, which
I don't know why you were wearing, but you put
on a cowboy hat or straw hat of some sort,
and you stroll out and I see a roller bag
suitcase with you. It was about ten o'clock Arizona time.
Greg Olsen, Can you take it from here and tell

(16:38):
us how you spent the night you called your first
ever super Bowl?

Speaker 3 (16:41):
Yeah, so this is a really I think this is
a story that everyone, not just you, enjoys the most
and kind of is a perfect ending to what was
a crazy year. So originally we were out of town
the week before. My wife and I went on a
little trip, so we were away from the kids, and
then I went out the whole week in the Super Bowl,
so I hadn't seen my kids. I saw my kids
for like one day in ten twelve days. I was like,

(17:05):
you know what, it's a long week. After the super Bowl.
They opened up all these random flights from from Arizona
to Charlotte, where I live, and there was like a
two am or a one am local time flight that
was like a mini red eye, like a you know whatever,
back to Charlotte. I was like, I'm taking it. I'll

(17:26):
get back from the hotel, I'll change, i'll shower, I'm
getting out of here. And no, my original flight was
like eleven thirty local times. My original flight was eleven
thirty local times. So I wasn't even going to come back.
I was going to go straight to the airport and
get at it.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
From the game you're gonna call the Super Bowl, then
go to the airport.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
I was like beating the crowd. A couple of years ago,
I was working the Minnesota Super Bowl. I forget who played,
maybe like Philly New England.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
Made New England. Yeah, yeah, and.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
I took I made the mistake of flying out Monday morning,
and it was an absolute cluster. There was it was,
so I'm like, I'm not doing that again. So I
arrived and our boss, you know, our crew boss, our producer,
Richie Z's like, hey, man, I gotta talk to you.
He's like, you can't not come back to the hotel.
I'm like, Wow, We're gonna be together all week. I'll

(18:14):
have a dinner and drink with every single person all week.
I'm like, after the game, man, I want to get
out of here. He's like, you can't. I was like,
all right, fine, So he told.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Me, why do you think Why do you think that
was because out of respect to the bosses, or like
cause he knew you're gonna want I take a moment
to just take competive.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
You're probably both, probably both. I get so long story short,
I get talked into staying. I'm like, you know what,
all right, I'm gonna come back. So the morning of
the game, I go on and I'm like, all right,
I gotta find like a perfect medium. I don't want
to stay a whole nother day and take a red
eye Monday night. Then I have like twenty four hours here.
There's got to be so long story short. I quickly

(18:52):
book a flight at breakfast morning of the super Bowl
that leaves at like one thirty local time. So no,
I'm like, I'm gonna come back to the hotel. I'll
see everyone have a drink. We had about five hundred bourbons.
They made the big I guess mistake of saying everything
on the is on these. I might be the only
guy in history to ever make an old Fashioned with

(19:14):
Pappy Van Winkle. It was great, and so I'm glad
I came back. But the story just gets worse all
the entire time. So not only was first class sold
out by coach flight, not only did I have to
take a coach flight, I had to connect in all.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
You called the super Bowl two hours earlier.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
So I got done calling the super Bowl. I had
three Pappy Van Winkles with the guys back at the bar,
drew on my hat, T shirt, shorts, roller back. I'm like,
I'm out of here. I say goodbye to everyone. I
go to the airport, but it won't let me check
in for my second leg. So I thought that was weird,
Like it only let me go from Arizona to Austin,
but then the six am Austin flight to Charlotte, it

(19:58):
wouldn't let me get my boarding pass. So I go
to the ticketing agent and I'm like, hey, won't let
me check in? Can you give me my boarding pass?
She goes, well, mister Rolson, your second leg from Austin
doesn't leave till tuesday. And I was like, I said no,
I said I can't. She's like, I can rebook you.
But I was supposed to be first class from Austin

(20:19):
to Charlotte. Now, not only my coach. I'm coach from
Austin to Charlotte now because I booked a flight for
twenty four hours from when I was actually getting into
So I literally get on the plane, I put my
hat down, and I'm like, oh my god, what am
I doing? I fly from Arizona to Austin. Get up,

(20:42):
get off the plane, have like an hour, you know,
layover back on. I'm like in row twenty one C.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
I'm like fighting hold the super Bowl last night.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
And everyone's walking by and they're like, hey, nice job
on the super Bowl. Let's flying home, coach. You know,
everyone else is out on private jets and I'm sitting
on a private I want to say it was like Southwest.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
I think it was. Dude. I didn't want her to
call out the airlines and whatever. But like, if I'm
not mistaken, the story that you told me was like
You're like, I'm on Southwest and I'm not in boarding group. A.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah, it was like it was. It was the worst
knowing that I was going to call that game. I
couldn't have done a worst job planning my departure if
I tried to. So my I would say I have
the most unique No one has. I'll just say this,
No one has flown home from calling a super Bowl
like me since like nineteen sixty five exactly.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
And that was on like a greyhound bus. Yeah. So
to sum it up from my perspective, you're drinking Pappy
van Winkle at the bar on top of the universe,
hundred millions of people a lot. But there is nothing
more humbling and more blue collar than you just get
in your lunch pail, on your cowboy hat and you're
getting on that board boarding group. See whatever. It was
connecting in Austin waiting and then flying home. But you

(21:56):
know what you saw your kids in the morning.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Saw them they got off the school. I took like
a six hour nap. I didn't participate in the in
society for like forty eight hours, I rushed home to
do nothing. But nonetheless it was, uh what was a great,
busy but awesome week ended in very appropriate fashion.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
It's so fitting. It's it's the it's the walk we
we walk, my friend, it's it. We are grinders, That's
what we are. I wouldn't have flown coach in a million. No,
I'm kidding. I actually, to be honest, if you know
how often I'm flying, I would have like completely just
obsessed over that flight and probably not even known any
of the players is a plan on time? Am I

(22:38):
getting upgraded? Like that's all I would have cared about
during the game. That's why you're a better pro than me.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Here's like a running joke, like even with our crew
or like my wife. My wife's like, what hotel you at?
I'm like, I have no idea whereinery is. I was like,
I don't know. I'm like, I land, I get in
the car, and wherever the car drops me off, that's
my hotel. She's like, where are you eating dinner? I'm like,
I don't know anything. What time we head into the

(23:04):
game tomorrow. He's like, we're going to meet down upstairs
at eleven. Yeah, done.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
He's dial he's got the restaurant, he's got the gluten
free options, He's got it.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
I don't I always say I don't. I don't water.
I don't bog myself down with the details.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, big pole, big picture. Uh one more on that one,
like before the game, because I think I always say this,
I have the honor every three or four years whenever
Fox is the Super Bowl. We get a credential and
we're able to be on the field before the game,
and I like taking a nice long lap and just
soaking it in and being like, this is a once
in a lifetime experience that I get to experience, and
I'm not going to take it for granted. Did you

(23:39):
get that moment at the Super Bowl? Able? I know
he said Rihanna was performing, Like did you get a
chance to enjoy the experience?

Speaker 3 (23:44):
Well, I actually have another amazing story that's gonna it's amazing.
Like when I keep telling these stories, people are like,
it's amazing this guy can like hold down a job
because he's a disaster. So me and Burkhart all week
we have we know that we have a hit with
the pregame guys at whatever time, so we go down,
so they bring us downstairs. We go up to the booth,

(24:05):
we get set up and they're like, hey, we're going
to bring you downstairs. I don't know whatever the time
is locally, And they bring us to the green room,
like where all you guys are down for the studio
and the beating.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Like CAVR and yeah it was pretty nice.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
I'm eating chicken fingers and and uh, stuffing my face
with Jersey Mike sandwiches. You guys are reading like file.
Me and Burkhart get escorted down by by our by
our by our guide and we're sitting in the green
room watching that pregame show and we finally after like
a hectic morning, we're just like kicking back. They do

(24:40):
our makeup and we're just sitting there. All of a sudden,
Burkhart's phone starts blowing up and it's Russo Rich Russo,
our director. He's like, where are you guys. You're about
to miss your hit and we're like holy, So we
grab our jackets. We run out of the green room.
We get to the entrance to the tunnel. The players
are taking the field like in pre pregame. They don't

(25:02):
let us pass security. Yeah, so We're like no, no,
Guys like we were.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Call the game, We're like, we don't care.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
On the pregame show in like three minutes, they're like,
I'm sorry, the tunnel's closed until the players get back
to the locker room. We're like no, no, no. So
we're like asking. We're like those people like trying to
talk their way into the bar. Yeah, yeah, that Johnny.
You know, I got him. He told me I have
a table. So we now get out to the field

(25:29):
and there's no leisurely. We don't get the Peter Schrager
leisurely walk around. We take off in a full on sprint,
but we don't know which corner of the stadium. Long
story short, we make it to wherever the hit is.
They come meet us, They give us our IFBs. We're
putting them in our ear. I plug it into my

(25:49):
pack as I'm walking to my spot, and it's like
and now down to Kevin, Burkhart and Gregg. We walk
into the shot as the second it gets tossed to
us from Kurt. I forget and I don't even know
what we said.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
You're there though, you made we.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
So we we we go off of our hit. We
look at each other. We're like, well, that was a
horrible way to start calling you because we almost missed
our pregame hit. So no, my pregame was not as
leisurely and as.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
I'm like, I'm like, I'm like smelling the grass.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
I'm in a full sweat. I can't even see straight.
I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, I just ruined
the super Bowl because I almost missed my hit.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Go I share my pregame story. I've got so many,
and I feel like I did to get a chance
to tell us on the podcast. You'll appreciate this. So
I'm walking around with Peyton, Woodson and Vic. Now we're
the we're the secondary pregame show. Obviously we're not how
we tarry all those guys. Those guys are working. We
are done for the day. We have about an hour
until the post game, so we have a chance to
just walk around. And now, Sean Payton's likely a Hall

(26:55):
of Fame coach when he hangs it up, Charles Woodson
one of the greatest football players to ever grace a field,
and Michael Vick a cultural icon, and me. So we're
walking around and there he is jay Z. Jay Z
is staring us right in the eye, and I'm like,
how is this gonna go down? First thing he does,
he grabs Charles Woodson, brings him in for a giant hug,

(27:16):
Then Michael Vick giant hug, then Sean Peyton giant hug.
Then he locks eyes with me and he gives me
a hug, and I'm like, okay, I'm in. Then he goes,
let's get a picture, all right, I'm in. Jay Z
then positions his body in a way where he can
grab three different folks with his arms, and I knew

(27:37):
my place. I quietly drifted out of this photo, and
the photo is taken of jay Z, Woodson, Vic and Peyton,
and I am like, so sheepishly just slinking out of
the photo, but like also know that there could be
some cultural relevance. Should I get in this photo? Should
I slide backing? And I'm like, do I fly bacon?
I sat out the photo and I did not make

(27:59):
the photo, and sure enough the photo goes viral. Now
a minute later, this is where I get my redemption.
A minute Gordon Ramsey walks by Gordon Ramsey. I don't
know if he knows football. He might think I'm Joe Montana.
But he sees on with Fox and he sees me
with all these other guys, and he sees Sean Payton
and Gordon Ramsey comes over and Gordon Ramsey's like producers, like,

(28:22):
why don't you three getting a photo? And it's me,
Peyton and Ramsey And sure enough, Gordon Ramsey from his
Instagram fee with one hundred million people is like Fox
NFL Super Bowl crew and it's me, him and Sean Payton. So,
Jay Z, I didn't want to be in your photo.
I got in the Gordon Ramsey photo. Let's go.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
I can picture when you're telling that story, is that
he'll skit where he pumps down off the podium and
he's like giving everybody hugs, but then he like shapes
the random white guy's hands like that was you, that.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
Was me one hundred percent, and I knew my place.
I knew my place.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
The only thing that would have made that story worse
is if he handed you his phone, who was like a.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Seriously, can you take it. I've had that happen plenty.
I've had that. Trust me great, I've had that happen
all right. Now we turn the pig and it's like
the come down from the Super Bowl and there's nothing
more humbling than your first game back being assigned Saints
Texans preseason? How'd that go?

Speaker 3 (29:15):
You know what? Prep for it was a little challenging,
especially when we talked to Dennis Allen and he told
us that literally not one was played. The Texans at
least did us the favor and played like the first
two drives with most of their starters. So at least
got we got like a good quarter and change out
of c. J. Stroud and the stations.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Got your Nico Collins for the year. He checked it off.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Good. Yeah, the Saints did us no favors. They did
not play a single starter a minute, a play a second.
They didn't even put a uniform on.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
But how to feel get it back in the booth though?

Speaker 3 (29:50):
It was good? You know what? I actually, as much
as you're like a preseason game, it's actually really good.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
It's great.

Speaker 3 (29:57):
Just get one out of the way, grind on fifty
five different wide receivers and forty different linemen and just
put the prep in and just get yourself back in
the in the floor, like all right, this is what
a normal week's going to feel like for me. For
the next five months. You better wrap your head around it,
you know. But it was fun. It's always good to
be around the crew that I always liked going to
New Orleans. I got a good energy. It didn't feel

(30:17):
like a preseason game, so it was a nice warm up.
It was a good kind of rehearsal to get the
bugs out, and we got a good one for Week
one with Bears Packers.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
You sure do, which is to me the most intriguing
matchup in the entire NFL slate. There's bigger names elsewhere,
but like, I don't know what to make of the Bears,
and I did not know what to make of the Packers.
As we turned the page towards this weekend, have you

(30:46):
dug in on your prep for that game and really
what are your immediate takeaways on Justin Fields and Jordan Love.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, I've been. I started diving in over the weekend
and just kind of reading some of the clips and
you know, knowing we had them, you know, for the
first game, you know, just following in preseason, following guys,
you know, some of the beat writers on Twitter and
who are the surprise guys at training camp and all that.
But now that the rosters are set and you can
really dive in. I'm with you, I think there's a

(31:12):
lot of unknown. I think it's hard to really prepare
for Jordan Love firstly, you know, first off with the
Packers because you know, we've seen him spot play, We've
seen him come in at times for Rogers in various situations,
but we've never really seen him operate. An offense tailor
made for him, a system tailor made, you know, for
his strengths, and Matt Lafleur and him work closely at

(31:32):
weekend week out. So I'm with everyone else, everyone like,
how are they going to be? I'm like, I don't
know how anybody can really make an assessment of Jordan
Love fairly go to our bad until we see him play,
until we see him operate behind center. And then compounding that,
they're the youngest team in the league, right. I was
just spending some time with both the Bears and the

(31:53):
Packers roster, and you know, they got some vets at
the offensive line and on defense, they got a lot
of vets returning, a lot of names that we're all
familiar with, Kenny Clark and you know, Rashan Gary hopefully
coming back healthy. From his ACL but like on offense,
it's Bachtiari and some offensive Elton Tenkins, Well.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's not offensive linemen. Yeah, and then.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
It's like rookie rookie, rookie second year Christian Watson, second
year Romeo Dobbs. You know, they got the vet running backs,
but it's kind of a funny team, like they either
got veteran guys at offensive line and running back and
then everyone else is first and second year at all
the rest of the offensive skills. So I think there's
a lot of interesting storylines for the Packers and then

(32:33):
the Bears. Their roster looks more like an NFL roster
now at least on paper than it did. And I
think with Dj Moore on offense and you know, investing
in a top ten pick at tackle and Nate Davis
they invested him in free agency, like they got some dudes.
They got some guys now on offense to hopefully help
justin out a little bit. And I think they're going

(32:53):
to be better. And again how much better, I don't know,
but obviously all eyes are on the two young quarterbacks
and that makes it for a fun week. One.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
I said it on the show today on Good Morning
football that it feels like a case study almost of
nature versus their Like Justin Fields was just thrown out
into the fire and two years was just under siege,
and it's like, all right, you've got two years under
your belt. It's year three. You've seen the as dark
as it can get. You've been there, you know, ten
straight losses last year, you've done. On the other end,

(33:21):
Jordan Love's been sitting on the bench and watching and
having this really nurtured and I wouldn't say coddled, but
like that is the dream situation that you get three
years to learn an offense and three years to grow.
And then he's almost been in a lab for three
years and it's like, okay, it's one situation which is
a philosophy of throwing the guy out there, and the
other philosophy is let's let him learn. And this is

(33:41):
most extreme sense. I'm curious to see who comes out
and who's got jitters to start.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah. I think it's such an interesting topic because it's
really what everyone talks about, right, you know, mahomes Oh,
he Mahomes sat. So if Mahome sat, everybody should sit
the rookie year. And I'm I'm a big believer that
if you're gonna be good, you're gonna be good, and
if you're gonna be s, you're gonna be I personally
think we use these like anecdotal examples based on whatever

(34:08):
you think to like support one way or another. I
think Patrick Mahomes was going to be Patrick Mahomes whether
Andy Reid played him week one of his rookie year
year or he sat behind Alex Smith and then eventually
took over. I think how Justin Fields ends up his career,
whether he went through the fires of playing as a
young kid. You know, he didn't technically start game one,
he took over for Andy Dalton. You could say in

(34:31):
Essen started as a rookie because it only took a
couple of weeks. His career, in my mind, is going
to be the same. It's all about the structure. Who's
the coach, what do they surround him with, Whether they
surround you with a good system and good supporting players
day one as a rookie or in Jordan Love's case,
year four, I think your career is going to be
what your career is going to be, regardless of when

(34:52):
the journey starts.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
I just interesting.

Speaker 3 (34:54):
I think we see so many examples. Cam Newton played
Day one, that.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Was on your team. I was gonna mention him, and
that was with Ron in his first season.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Right. So do I think Cam Newton's career would have
been better or worse if he waited till year three?
I don't. I think his career was as was the
great career that it was. He was going to have
a great career whether he started game one, Game six,
or year two. Same with Mahomes his career. He was
still going to be the same player as long as
Andy Reid was his coach and the system, and he's

(35:21):
the player that he is. I just believe in all
my heart, like we make too much about this guy
was only good because he sat, This guy was only
good because he played Game one. I really don't think
a lot of that is as important as everyone makes
it out to be.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
In your research. Can you give me one nugget on
Jordan Love that you have found that I don't, because,
like we did a test in our show where it's like,
if I show you a silhouette of these young quarterbacks scoring,
can you identify it? And we went zero for four
on Jordan Love's throwing motion. He played one game against
the Chiefs with his mom and dad, and we're sitting
in the ninetieth row at Arrowhead. I remember that and

(35:58):
Jordan Love looked terrible that game and looked ill equipped,
And then we've heard great things this summer, Like, is
there one thing you've learned in doing your weeks of
research leading up to this game that you could share
with us?

Speaker 3 (36:07):
You know what, I think, I'm like everybody else. You
know every everything you read, and whether it's fair or unfair,
it's just the nature of the beast. Everything you read
is him at this stage versus Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers
first year starting when he took over for Farv. Okay,
what does that mean for Jordan Love taking over for
Rogers and kind of passing that torch? So like he's

(36:29):
going to operate right now in that world. Whether it's right,
wrong or in different it doesn't matter. That is the
reality when you follow a guy like Rogers, just like
it was for Rogers when he followed far If you're
not going to escape that, I think the thing that
I'm most curious about is, like I know, and I
know Matt Leafloor kind of or the GM kind of
like this, you know, downplayed this idea. I think for

(36:52):
the first time, Matt Leafloor's offense now in Green Bay
is going to be Matt flofense.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
Mark Murphy's the president of the team, and he speaks.
I always listen because it comes from the top, and
he said, we're gonna see what Matt's offense looks like
for the first time, and that was taken as a
slight of Aaron Rodgers like it run Laflor's offense. Now
it Rogers gets in there, it opens up a world
of possibilities you can do. This is the offense that
Matt Lafleoor was planned to run, where the quarterback is
just gonna operate it and not audible out and do
his own thing.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Right, It's gonna be more. It's gonna be more reminiscent
of Shanahan's forty nine, Ers mcveigh's, you know, even though
when Stafford got there, they kind of evolved into a
little bit of a different iteration of that offense. But
you know, maybe the Jared Goff version of the Rams
offense where it was really the system and operate within it.
I think we're gonna see that really for the first
time since Lafloor's come in, and and that's not a

(37:37):
knock on anyone. I just think that's the nature of
when you don't have a Hall of Fame quarterback and
you have a young kid. Okay, now we hired Matt
Lafloor because of his offensive creativity in his mind and
his system. Okay, now we're gonna it's gonna be more
on the forefront because he doesn't have a Hall of
Fame quarterback who had done it at a high level,
you know, for over a decade before he came in.
It would it makes sense for Aaron Rodgers to do

(37:58):
things he's comfortable with. You don't just come in and
revolutionize a player like that and make them and make
them change his game. So I think that's gonna be interesting.
But I think everything we all know is a very
small sample size, which I never try to judge anyone
by their best game or their worst game. So when
a guy like Jordan Love, you really don't have anything
in between. And I really take everything that comes out

(38:19):
of training camp with a grain of salt, because every
single player in training camp has the best training camp
they've ever had.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
They look amazing.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Yeah, I'm really not really making any big predictions as
far as Jordan Love goes, because he's wildly talented. He's athletic,
he's big, he's strong, he's got all the measurables. The
kid deserves the right to go out there and play
before anyone passes judgment good or bad on him.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
This is the game of the week for Fox, which
is a big title for two teams that I don't
think many people have going to the playoffs. Honestly, the
Vikings were the defending division champions, the Lions of the
hot team of the NFC North Bears could have a
jump and the Packers obviously could keep it going and
be great. But to put that crown on this game
says a lot about the fan bases and the traditions,
and it says a lot about you guys going up

(39:05):
there and doing it. Now, one more sports broadcasting question,
and I know you said you don't know the itinerary,
but like, take us through the days leading up to it.
If you're a listener and you know you're going to
see Greg and obviously Kevin Burkhard on the call, when
do you guys get in, what are the meetings? And
now in a post COVID world. Are we back to
production meetings? It is still on zoom. What can you
share with us as far as from your chair, what

(39:27):
your next two days are.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
Yeah, So on a typical week, this week week one,
we start a little bit earlier, just because you know
the anticipation of opening week. But on a normal week
where you have a game on the previous Sunday, Monday,
I don't really do a lot. I kind of take
it as a personal day, catch up on some things
at home, do stuff with the kids and my wife.
And Tuesday I'll really dive in. So Tuesday I start

(39:49):
with the team I know the least. So if I'm
calling a game with an AFC you know team, or
you know a team we just don't see very often,
I'll start with them on Tuesday, Like what do they
look like, who do they have on the team, what
numbers do they wear, what do the jerseys look like like?
Just familiarize yourself with something that might not just be
top of mind. Like maybe if I'm calling a Cowboys
game or a Philly game, which we see a lot,

(40:10):
we kind of know those teams pretty well, you know.
And then Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday is really just familiarizing yourself
with the players, the schemes, the storylines, you know, reading
all the clips coming out. They send us all sorts
of information and stats and you know, analytics and some
really interesting things that you can build some context into

(40:31):
game plan and personnel adjustments and you know, tendencies of
each team. And really that's where for me, I build
a lot of my storylines that I want to talk
about for the game. Like a great example is Philadelphia
last year. Towards the end of the year. We obviously
had them a lot throughout the playoffs and through the
regular season. They became one of the big stories of
the year. So we're calling them a lot and everyone's

(40:53):
just fascinated with fourth down, right, Everyone's fascinated with fourth down.
But all this information that we get aside from just
watching us, so yes, they go on fourth down, everyone
in the world knows that.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Like that, that's not what can we add? What can
I act that.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
The Fox researchers and the team they send really really
good data that dives into all the tendencies and the
percentages and all that. Not that any of that would
make the roster, would make the broadcast, but through our
prep of the week and my conversations with Kevin. Some
of our best conversations come from those midweek great calls, right,
and I'll call Kevin and be like, keV, how can

(41:27):
we in the middle of the game, everyone's talking about
them going for fourth down? How do we talk about
fourth down? On second down? How do we talk about
fourth down? On third down? Saying, hey, keV, it's third
and four balls at the forty two yard line. We
will know whether Nick Sirianni's going for it on fourth
down based on what call they have here. And Kevin
will do He's like the master at like setting all

(41:48):
that up. And he leads me right into him and say, Kevin,
if they turn around and hand this ball to Miles
Sanders and then we know, you know they're going for
it on fourth down, because if not, they would attempt
to pass. So to answer your question, like our midweek
conversations as a crew and emails, and Kevin and I
spend a lot of time just talking things through. Sometimes
the things we talk through don't ever make air because

(42:10):
it sounded great on Tuesday, and come Saturday, it just
didn't make any sense really. But like that's one example
like those cool conversations, those moments that align on game
day that just really work in the broadcast, really just
come from a week of throwing things against the wall,
reading between the lines, the context, the articles, and trying
to say, like, how can we take this conversation maybe

(42:33):
deeper to the viewer than just give them the surface
level context. They go for fourth down three times more
than the other team if no one gives about.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
The stack stats. You can't. There's only so many stats
the human brain can take.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah, So like so like that's a big part of
our process. We go in on Saturdays. We do all
of our calls with the team via Zoom. That's worked
for Kevin and I since because we were The season
Kevin and I first started working together was postponed. We
weren't allowed in the building, and it worked for us.
We felt like we got more people because we got
them on Zoom's. We felt like they were very open.

(43:08):
It worked for travel, it worked for our schedule, so
we've kept it. It's worked great for our team. And
we go to a group dinner on Saturday night, we
have a production meeting, we get together, we kind of
put all the final touches on the broadcast plan, and
then Sunday morning we get up and let the game unfold.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
All right, These are the inside the weeds questions. The
group dinner. Is that out at a restaurant or are
we eating in the hotel banquet room?

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Now, we try at all costs to get Now, we
might eat in the hotel restaurant if it's a nice restaurant.
We're trying to get out of the We'll do our
production meeting first, handle business, go through graphics, go through
any of the highlights, the bumps, the in and out
of the stuff, storylines, talk through the game. Once we
feel we're in a good place, we make it a

(43:52):
point as a crew. Everybody, we make it a point
as a crew, and overall sometimes twelve fourteen people deep,
and it's really I think it's the highlight of the week.
I think everyone looks forward to it. I think there's
great banter. I think is great camaraderie. I think people
like book their travel to make sure they're done with
their work and done at the trucks or whatever they're doing,

(44:13):
to like make dinner. And I just believe in that
Kevin and I have really tried to make that a
point with Aaron and Tom and everyone's bought in and
Aaron usually kind of spearheads where we go. A lot
of times, she has great contacts. She knows a lot
of good restaurants around around the around you know, around
the country and whatnot. Or everyone kind of chips in
where they where they have a insight and it's a

(44:36):
highlight of the week. We love it. It's a good
way to kind of start off the weekend. And then
we know Sunday morning, we wake up, we get ready
to roll, we go to the stadium and game time.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
I'm gonna make a pitch right now to to be
or Fox Sports one or NFL Plus. We love Anthony Bourdain, right,
We love his journeys, his travels. We love football. I
would love a show where it's not about the games.
We just go on with these crews to their Friday night,
Saturday night dinners and we spend a different night with
a crew each week. Is that not a great content?

(45:07):
I feel like that's something I would love to watch.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
I think people would love to see. Our dinners are
a lot of times are hysterical and we get great
stories and just I think it's great. We try to
go somewhere different. We try to go to good places
and try new things. And I'll be honest, it's really
a highlight of the week. I think it's something that
everyone really looks forward to, and I think it's a

(45:31):
great idea. I'd be happy.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
I think honestly, it's like last for years, I would
come in for Fox on the Sunday pregame show and
I would just eat at the hotel and maybe I'd
get a drink with Woodson. Last year, Sean Payton' spearheaded
and he's like, let's go out on Saturday nights. Let's
go out, not too late, Let's go out. And that's
where the camaraderie forms. That's where the chemistry boy and
it really I think it led to a better product
on air.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
Oh, I definitely think. And we have some of our
best I mean, we cover a lot of topics at
these dinners, right, but I would say some of our
best ideas that have made air and made the broadcast
come from just impromptu debate, impromptu arguments, conversations, whatever you
want to call it. Over a crab leg, over a stake,
over a you know, over a bourbon, just you just

(46:16):
once everyone feels comfortable that they can be a part
of the conversation. And this is not just three or
four of us that run the show and everyone else
shut up like this is a collaborative event, right, This
is a collaborative crew. We are open to all in
any suggestions. And some of our best conversations that Kevin
and I have gotten on air, or stories that that
Aaron and Tom have shared on a sideline hit have

(46:36):
come from just an organic conversation at a dinner or
casually in a social environment where it's like, guys, that
would be great conversation to have tomorrow, you know, in
the second half, if the game's at a whack or
you know, whatever it is. And sure enough, sometimes you know,
not always, but sometimes it lines up and that dinner
conversation makes its way on air with maybe a few

(46:57):
more PG PG related language.

Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, all right, this is awesome. We're gonna do a
quick exercise right now. I like always having fun with
a guest and do like a game of some sort.
And as as we're previewing the entire season as a whole,
and knowing that you've got a full fox late ahead
of you at the a game, I thought it would
be fun to do an exercise with you where we're
picking three different breakout teams each Now, breakout could mean

(47:22):
anything but a team that shows great improvement from last year,
and it might not as not necessarily be a playoff
or non playoff team. But every year we know that
there are teams that go from the bottom to the top,
and there are teams they're so puch parody. We're into
a little draft. You're gonna go first, give me your
first breakout team out of all the thirty two that
you think is going to make the leap this year.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
I think a team that comes to mind right off
the bat that I think was was worse. Their record
was worse than maybe how they were, so they probably
have the most built in equity as far as the
upside would be a team like New Orleans.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
Okay, go on.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
I think the Saints obviously adding Derek Carr makes a
big difference, but I think they were better than the
record was last year. Their offense was horrible, but I
you know Michael Thomas, the injuries to him, if he's
back anything, like you know you mentioned. We were with
them two weeks ago for the preseason game, and they're
raving about what he looks like. So let's hope that's
true and that's the case they get him back. I

(48:20):
know Kamara is going to miss a couple of games.
They say he looks good, he'll be back. They should be,
even if they're just marginally improved on offense. Their defense
last year down the stretch, the last ten twelve games,
I remember, it was one of the best defenses in
the league. They were giving up sixteen points a game
and losing. So, like, I think between just coming resorting

(48:41):
back to the mean of just media, even if they're
just okay on offense, that's an improvement if the defense
just holds, serve and stays top ten, not asking them
to make a huge leap, just be what they have been.
And then in fact they're in the division is going
through a little bit of a rebuild. There's new quarterbacks everywhere.
Carolina's got a rookie, you know, Atlanta still figuring out

(49:02):
what they want to do, Desmond ridd or whatnot. And
then Tampa obviously with Baker, you know, replaced Brady. Their
schedule is very easy. I don't think they play it.
I think they play like one playoff team. In the
first you seven eight games. Like, I just think all
the ingredients are there that they could be a team
that we'd looked that says oh Man. Not only did
they win the South, but you know they're the three

(49:22):
seed or they're the four. I don't think that would
be completely out of the picture.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Okay, Saints are off the board. I love that pick.
I picked them to win the division today on Good
Morning Football. I think that their defense is very good,
and they have an upgraded quarterback. They should be able
to handle that. I'm going to go with a team
that's gotten so much hype and so much buzz, and
I've I don't know if it's just considered in my backyard.
And then I but I think the Jets are gonna
be really good this year. Like I look at their
defense last year, they're the number four defense in the league.

(49:47):
They added talent on defense, they got a first round
pick in McDonald. I love Tony Adams, their undrafted safety
who's been having an outstanding training camp. And then you
add Aaron Freakin Rodgers. Like, I'm a believer and I
know a lot of people are waiting to pop a
pin into this balloon and just see it go whoo
and come down. I don't know, and I wouldn't be
shocked if we wake up Tuesday morning and they put

(50:08):
a licking on the Buffalo Bills. Am I crazy and
saying that I'm in on the Jets? Man?

Speaker 3 (50:12):
Yeah, it's hard not to write. I think the Jets
are the no brainer. I think the I think all
your points are so spun on. I think the lazy
national thing is, oh, do you get Rogers, You're automatically good.
I don't think people realized how good they were last year.
They went through some injuries, they lost Breeze Hall, the
running back. I mean, we called that game when no
one gave them a shot, and albeit the Packers weren't

(50:34):
maybe the Packers, but they went into Lambo, and w
went into Lambo and didn't just beat them, they beat
them soundly. We walked out of We walked out of
Lambo that day and we were like, I don't know
what the Jets are going to accomplish this year. But
they're young, they're athletic, they're they're aggressive, they're talented, and
they're pretty damn and Robert sala is a damn good coach.
So I think I'm with you. I think you know,

(50:56):
the addition to Rodgers is the obvious choice, but I
think aside from him, it's a good team. Aside from Rogers.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
I've got the Jets winning that the all right, Greg,
your second team, what do you got?

Speaker 3 (51:11):
So I'm glad you gave me the caveat of like
it could still be a playoff team because I think
a playoff team that if the average fan, Like, I
don't even know if people realized. Last year Jacksonville got
so hot at the end upset Dallas. We called that game.
They went on a walk off pick six and over.
I think it was overtime, Yeah, it was. Yea, it
was overtime, walk off pick six and overtime. But like

(51:32):
they were kind of under the radar the year before,
they were a disaster. Doug Peterson comes in, people were
expecting a little bit of improvement. Trevor Lawrence, you could say,
has his breakout year, really kind of establishes himself with
that AFC young group of quarterbacks, and then they go
on to win a playoff game. I know they won
a playoff game last year. I think this year again

(51:52):
very similar to the Saints division record, good young quarterback stability.
I don't think there was any I think we could
look up in December when the playoff seedings are getting
set and we could say, yeah, they win, they win
their division, the division's kind of down, they win their division,
and they could be fighting for a buye right, they

(52:13):
could be.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Absolutely they have the fifth easiest schedule in the NFL.
I saw.

Speaker 3 (52:17):
So I think again that the prospects of your season
is not always just okay, how good are you as
a team. I think there's gonna be some really really
good teams who go eight and nine, who go nine
and eight just because.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
They play a brutal schedule.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
They're at a conference teams or brutal they they got
to cross their division the ground. Maybe they won the
division last year, so they play every division winner in conference. Like,
there's so many factors to success year over year that
you could not get any better and the next year
be a three game be three games better win win

(52:56):
loss record, just because your scheduled, just because your division sucked,
just because a couple of things went your way. There's
so I think, and you don't apologize. I think that's
the nature of the NFL. So I think Jacksonville has
a shot as crazy as it sounds. The other guys
all beat up on each other, and they're sitting there
at the end of the year fighting for a top
spot in playoffs.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
My number two team of the Detroit Lions. I'm a believer. Again,
Maybe I do this show too often on the mornings
that we did it since May and June and July
that eventually you're just like, all right, we've been hyping
this team so much that I can't go against it.
I think their offensive coordinator is really good, this Ben Johnson.
Did you guys call any Lions games last year to
get a chance to.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
We called Lions when they beat the Packers in Detroit?

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Okay, yeah, because there was Big eighteen that was on
Sunday night. So yeah, yeah. This kid is thirty seven
years old, not a household name, but I could tell
you he took his name out of the head coaching carousel,
and so I'm coming back to Detroit early on in
the process. I think he would have been a head
coach at one of these teams that hired new head coaches.
He was that hot a name. I think Week eighteen
was like his coup de gras with Colin Hook and
ladders and crazy stuff in the fourth quarter. I think

(54:00):
he's awesome, and I think their defense has gotten a
lot better with Campbell and Branch And they go in
and signed Chauncey Ardner Johnson like, I've got the Lions
winning the NFC North. I think they're going to be
hosting a playoff game.

Speaker 3 (54:11):
Yeah, I don't. I think you're spot on. I'm excited.
I mean two days from, you know, two days from
as we sit here recording this pod, the whole world
is going to see and they have and Dan Campbell
has not shied away from it. He's like, give us
the spotlight. He's like, for the first time, and I
thought I thought I heard I forget where I heard
him say it, but I thought it was so cool.
He's like people were asking him, is it is it

(54:32):
hard to have expectations? Is it hard to shoulder like
for the first time in a long time, And he's like,
hell no, He's like, you know how hard I've worked
for us to have expectations. Like when you go into
a season with no expectations, that means you've been a failure.
He's like, we're not only accepting it, He's like, we're
leaning into it. We we are so thrilled that finally

(54:52):
people expect us to do something. Why would we shy
away and under and downplay it. He's like, so, I
mean they got their shot. They got the World champce
Thursdays night off the season, and they got their shot.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
All right, your third team, you've already done the Saints
and the Jaguars. Do you think it's going to take
a leap in twenty twenty three?

Speaker 3 (55:10):
You know, again, another playoff team, but maybe a team
that no one last year, even though they were a
playoff team, very similar to the Giants, right, Like, I
think when the Giants made the playoffs last year, people
were like, great story, Brian Dable, great job first year.
You know, Daniel Jones had a great season, ended up
getting a contract off of it. But I don't know
if anyone was like, man, they're going to make a

(55:31):
deep run. I don't know if they were at that point.
I think Seattle was kind of in the same boat
last year.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
I'm in on the Seahawks too, talk about it.

Speaker 3 (55:38):
So even though they did squeak in and they made
the playoffs and whatnot, I don't know if anyone ever
considered first year with Gino. How they're going to replace.
I think they have gotten young. I think they've gotten talented.
I think they've hit on a lot of these draft picks.
I think I know it's m Smith and Jigba is
gonna be He's gonna miss some time with that. What

(55:58):
did he hurt? He hurt something? Yeah, Anyway, I think
they hit on the running back. I think they're young.
I think they're talented. I think Gino has far exceeded
everyone's expectations, at least nationally. I think internally there they
always thought he was pretty good. I think they got
a shot again. It's gonna be them in the forty
nine ers. We'll see what happens with the Rams. Can
they get back a little bit from last year's down year?

(56:20):
And I think Arizona has a has a long uphill
battle right now to be relevant again. So I think
schedule wise, they're okay in the division. And I think
when we I think they're a team that has a
chance to make some noise.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
My last team that I think is gonna make a leap,
and it's on just Bravado and Gusto and leadership alone.
I'm going to Broncos. I know they play a brutal schedule.
I know the AFC West is not getting any easier,
but like I'm a Hackett guy. As far as ex's
and osgo, clearly it didn't work. And now you put
Sean Payton, which is such a cult personality, and again

(56:53):
I'm biased. I watched the man for a year as
my colleague on a show, and I saw how he operates.
He's a genius, beautiful mind and when it comes to football,
and he's one of these guys that doesn't stop. He's
also a late guy. He's not into the office at
six am. He's in the office till two am, and
that's where his mind is festering and he's coming up
with creative ideas. I just think, on Sean Payton alone,

(57:14):
this Broncos team is not going to be any worse.
They're going to be at least two to three games better,
and I think they might be fighting for a playoff spot.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
Yeah, I agree. I think we saw the worst of
Russ last year. I think he has too much pride
to allow it to happen again. I think that team
again was better than their record, and they had a
you know, between injuries and poor play and dysfunction, whatever
you want to call it. I think again, like certain teams,
there's like an equity built in that last year, if

(57:42):
like a couple of things, there are a two or
three win better team than they were the year before.
So like you almost carry that over with you and
you know, and then it also works on the other way, right,
Like I think a lot of people are saying, Minnesota,
you go eleven and zero in one score games. How
realistic is that? Although I thought Kevin O'Connell did a
great job. You know, we called their playoff game against
the Giants. They were a great story. But equity could

(58:04):
work both ways, right. I think some teams have upside
equity built in, and I think some people have a
little built in depreciation that can we expect every bounce
to go your way again? I don't know, I don't know.
I think that's what makes every year so exciting.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
So excited to see you on Sunday again. I will reiterate,
this is a great idea that we have come up with.
This is Anthony Bourdaine meets John Madden meets Guy Fieri
meets Gordon Ramsey. It is going to be I think
we pitch it to like Bill Richards and Joel Santos
and skip their amazing like cinematographer, and we say just

(58:41):
pick a random crew and you follow them and you
just eavesdrop on their dinner and we throw that up
on two b or FS one or Fox Sports dot com. Greg,
are you in it? Executive produce this thing?

Speaker 3 (58:50):
Make it work? Executive producer, Peter Schreger.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
That's it. I'll take it at that. To list the jobs, yes,
we will take it. Greg. Good luck on Sunday. Thank
you so much. Really quick before we leave, can you
talk about the amazing work you guys are doing in
Charlotte and how the foundation's going and all the latest there.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
I appreciate it. It's going great. We you know, we
are very passionate. Actually just spoke at the World the
Congress of Pediatric Cardiology, which is like a world summit.
It was in Washington, d C. Last week, so I
was actually out there. So it's something that we live with,
something that we live and breathe and with our son
TJ and what he's been through. But we take a

(59:29):
lot of pride in our foundation. It's called the Hardy Shard.
We we launched a pretty extensive program here in Charlotte,
both in patient outpatient, new new heart center that we
were able to help build and whatnot. So we actually
just branched to our second location down in Charleston at
MUSC Children's Hospice, so were able to expand to a

(59:50):
second so we get a little more regional kind of footprints.
So it's something that we love. It's something that we're
very passionate about. And you know, our goal is to
try to make the path of a lot of people
that find themselves where we were ten years ago, have
a little bit of an easier path than our son did.
And if we do that, did mission accomplished. But it's
something that we love doing and we take a lot
of pride and I appreciate you let me talk about it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
What a blessing, dude. Thank you, Good luck on Sunday.
I'll be rooting you on all season. And of course
the listeners here have gotten to know a different side
of you that I think they'll enjoy, and you and
Kevin are going to kick ass and send the best
to Bruce and Zions and Aaron and Tom of course.

Speaker 3 (01:00:25):
Hi Will buddy, it's always good chat with you man.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
Thanks that was awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:00:37):
Greg Olsen the week of NFL kickoff, and he's probably
got so many things on his plate, gave us an hour.
We so appreciate it. Again, Greg and Kevin Burkhart two
the best guys you'll ever meet. I say that about
all my guests, I really mean it this time. I
usually am saying that with just my hopes of them
coming back on the pod in the future. This week,
for the monologue, we just kicked it off, but for

(01:00:58):
the post interview, I really wanted to give a quick
little essay of sorts and bring in a different guest
on the microphone. You guys have heard me reference the
name Jason English. He works for iHeartMedia and he helped
put together this podcast and has been such an important
piece of the success of the season with Peter Scheger.
But he's also become a friend. And you know, I

(01:01:19):
was really shookn up, and I was a little surprised
by how shaken up I was by the passing of
Jimmy Buffett this weekend. And I am not a parrothead.
I did not go to the shows. I you know,
don't live and breathe all the lyrics. But I love
what Jimmy Buffett stood for Jimmy Buffett, obviously the musician.
It was a diehard NFL fan as well, And as

(01:01:40):
the story goes, he was performing as a native of Mississippi.
He was performing in New Orleans in the late sixties,
and it was the same time the Saints were starting
off as an expansion NFL team, and it was as
casual as he was a performer in the local bars
in the French Quarter and the players would come in
to drink and have dinners, and he drew up friendships
with these guys, and sure enough, the first ever Saints

(01:02:01):
game in nineteen sixty seven at tu Lane Stadium, Jimmy
Buffett was there. He was there, and he's been a
ever since. And he passed away on late Friday night
of cancer that he was battling and had not announced publicly,
but close friends apparently knew. And I was really shaken
up by it because here's just always been a fixture
in my life, and Jimmy Buffett brings positivity and brings joy.

(01:02:23):
And you know, you sit out at the pool, you
could put on a few different sets of playlists, and
I think the Jimmy Buffett playlist is one of those
that's probably played at fifty percent of every pool's backyards
and barbecues that you can find in summer. And I
thought it was almost fitting that Jimmy Buffett waited till
after the summer to finally say farewell. It was like,
all right, I'm gonna get you all one last summer

(01:02:44):
and then on Labor Day weekend, that's where we're going
to ride off into the sky. I spoke to Sean
Payton this weekend because he and Buffett had a really
close relationship and we were exchanging texts about it. Peyton
had shot had Jimmy Buffett in the locker room after
they won the NFC Championship. Came over the Vikings and
Brett Farv in two thousand and nine, one of the

(01:03:05):
most epic NFC Championship games ever, and there was Jimmy
Buffett amongst all the players, celebrating as if he was
part of the team, and Peyton said there was no
way he wasn't having Jimmy in there. And Buffett's story,
as the legend goes, is that he got there the
day before from a private flight from Bora Bora. But
on the way from that private flight, they had to
stop because the tire blew out on that private plane.

(01:03:26):
And if that's not the most Jimmy Buffett story ever,
I don't know what is. Ten years later, the Saints
go back to the NFC Championship game. They're hosting the
La Rams and Sean Payton flew in you know who,
Jimmy Buffett to sing the national anthem. Over the last
several days, we have seen tweets from JJ Watt, who
apparently has seen Buffett multiple times in concert, and it's

(01:03:47):
one of them. Greg Bentzel, who is the pr chief
for a long time for the Saints, had a really
strong connection with him and then one that blew me away.
And if he wasn't calling the game on Thursday night,
I think I was going to bring him on and
just talk about his connection to Jimmy Buffet. Chris Collinsworth
had a flurry of tweets and as a University of
Florida graduate, I think he Andmmy Buffett had a forty

(01:04:07):
or fifty year friendship where you know, he had multiple
multiple tweets morning the passing of Jimmy Buffett. I mentioned
the philosophy and the approach to life like don't get
it straight, don't get it twisted. Jimmy Buffett was a businessman.
This guy's a billionaire, and no one branded himself better
than Jimmy Buffett in this laid back, cool Caribbean vibe
with Margarita Phlle. But that Key West thing, I think

(01:04:30):
he lived and breathed that he had multiple homes. He
was living out in California for a long time. Obviously
has the New Orleans, He's got the Key West. He
had a place in North Haven, New York, which is
on the eastern tip of Long Island, where he would
spend his summers and spent COVID And I think the
message that you get from Jimmy Buffett is like, enjoy
every single day, and yes there's work to be done,

(01:04:51):
but when you're not working, enjoy it, relish in it,
relish it and really savor it. And gosh, as we
start the NFL season and what we have going, I
just thought it'd be cool to bring Jimmy Buffett up
and kind of give him a little bit of an
obituary on the season with Peter Schrager. And as we're
talking about it, Jason English is here, and Jason's been
a great friend for the last year, and you mentioned

(01:05:12):
Jason that you yourself were like prey taking aback and
obviously had a connection to Buffett as well.

Speaker 5 (01:05:18):
Yeah, there are some of these celebrity deaths that just
hit a little different. I'd say Tim Russert was one
many years ago. Anthony Bourdain, who you mentioned earlier, Jimmy
Buffett was the same. It just feels like the world's
a little a little less fun without him in it.
My parents were big Jimmy Buffett fans. We'd go down

(01:05:39):
to Sarasota, Florida. We wouldn't listen to Jimmy Buffett at
any other time of the year, but during those trips
we'd have the Floridays. These were with These were tapes
when I when I was a kid, Floridays off to
see the Lizard. We of course had the greatest hits, the.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Songs that you know by heart.

Speaker 5 (01:05:56):
Yeah, yeah, the Yellow Yellow Album. I got to see
Jimmy Buffett a couple times. I'm glad I ticked that off.
When my father passed away. We actually used the Jimmy
Buffett quote in the in the you know the little
card with the obituary, a quote from he went to Paris,
which was some of his magic, some of it tragic.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
But I had a.

Speaker 5 (01:06:20):
Good life all the way, which you know, Jimmy Buffett
definitely lived a full life, great life. These tributes coming in.
Paul McCartney. The Colin jo Just book has a Jimmy
Buffett story in it, so you figure those will just
keep pouring out. And Jimmy Buffett, the legend will never die,
the music will never die, and memories I have of

(01:06:42):
listening to him with my father certainly never die.

Speaker 1 (01:06:45):
Oh dude, that was beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.
You mentioned, Paul McCartney. I thought Cheryl Crow had a
really amazing thing. And then on CBS Sunday morning, one
of the commentators was close with him, and you know,
he was telling a story about Buffett's last days and
those who knew him knew he's going through. But the
name of his most recent single, I believe, is something

(01:07:08):
about taking a gummy right. Did you read this from McCartney.
And the story goes is that he was having a
small private dinner in the Hamptons and invited was Paul
and Linda McCartney and they're there and she trips and
like stumbles and she says, oh, I think the Gummy's
kicking in. And he says, that's the name of a song.
And Paul mccartny's on the other side of the table

(01:07:30):
saying what, Like, what do you mean that's the name
of a song. He's like, that's the name of a song.
So before he passed, Jimmy Buffett, I believe, wrote and
performed a song saying that's the gummy kicking in, and
you know that's that says a lot about where his
inspiration for lyrics comes. But all the readings that I've
done and all the stuff that I've done this deep time,
and I better believe. On Sunday I was blasting, you know,

(01:07:50):
everything from Finn's It's the Cheeseburger in Paradise to Monday
Morning Again. My father was more, you know, Steely Dan
in the House and the Doobie Brothers and Spencer Davis
Group and some of that classic rock and not so
much the Margaritaville and the Jimmy Buffett style. But I

(01:08:11):
have grown to appreciate the Buffet approach to life and
hopefully hopefully can keep that going where when you're off
the clock, it's okay to be off the clock. You
don't have to live online. You can just have fun
and enjoy. And I think that's a beautiful message at
you said your father brought that to you and that
you gave that quote at his funeral. That's beautiful.

Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
Thank you for having me on it. Du A ten
second shout out to the Duke football team. We have
my Riley Leonard Heisman trophy stock looking good after night.

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
Off off camera. You and I are off Mike. You
and I have talked about Riley Leonard way too much.
What is your connection to Riley Leonard the Duke quarterback?

Speaker 5 (01:08:50):
I get the Phil Steele season preview every July, and
I'm as a Duke fans often not don't ever see Duke.

Speaker 1 (01:09:02):
You see coach k and you see Carlos Boozer and
Trech and Langdon. You don't see these guys.

Speaker 5 (01:09:06):
And I'm looking at the quarterback projections and it's Caleb Williams,
it's the Drake may from unc NNIX in Washington, but
it's Riley Leonard number three.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
So I did not realize what we had going into
this season.

Speaker 5 (01:09:21):
So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and uh, good good
win last night.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Great win. Against Clemson. Although I want to mention for
our listeners Arizona thirty eight to three of the Northern
Arizona and they are the official team of the season
picture Matt Rule was also they lost, so they're done.
It's like survival. Like Matt Rule, you can go kick
Rocks at this point. I know you came on our show,
but you can't lose to Minnesota in the first week

(01:09:46):
after you come on the season. So Jed Fish and
the Arizona Wildcats and you're Duke Blue Devils and Aaron,
I don't even know what Aaron's what do you Carlton
College in college? There we go the Knights no nights
nights there as well. Okay, season starting here we go.
We're gonna have one more podcast I think before they
kick off. Might want to post this on Tuesday, and

(01:10:08):
that one might go up Thursday with just my predictions.
But I'm not even sure we want to cut this one.
Sure we might want this one to live as the
top of your feed for the entire weekend. It was
that good. We'll figure it out on behalf of Jason, Aaron,
all the folks in La Greg Olsen awesome as always,
and put on some Jimmy Buffett folks. The summer's over,
but it doesn't mean you can't keep listening to his message.

(01:10:37):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Peter Schrager

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

Therapy Gecko

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Season with Peter Schrager: Greg Olsen