Season 3 Debut - Larrivee & Lepay Podcast - The Packers, Badgers & Rules Changes

With the start of the football season looming, Matt and Wayne talk Packers, Badgers, rules changes and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is the Laravian la Pey Podcasts, a production of
iHeartRadio Podcasts, with hosts Wayne Larvie, the voice of the
Green Bay Packers, and Matt Lapey, the voice of Wisconsin
Badgers football and men's basketball. The Laravian la Pey Podcast
is presented by UW Credit Union.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Here for every you, Hi, everybody, I'm Wayne Larravie, Man,
I'm Matt Lapey on this episode of the Laravie la
Pey Podcast. Well, first off, Matt, we're back for a
third season, which is two more than I anticipated. I
don't know about you.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
First off set of the season Wayne, in twenty twenty four,
they've invited us back for year three. Kudos to day
mccatt who makes all of this possible. Otherwise I think
we would have been we'd have been thrown out the
door a long time ago.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, he makes it sound better than we really are. Folks. Well,
we take this thing and then he gets into the
post production and makes it actually sound like it's something
worth listening to. But at any rate, it's been a
long off season and now you and I have been
watching football practices since the spring into the summer, and

(01:09):
let's talk a little bit about how you prepare for
a football season. I know you're you're heavily invested. You're
right there in Madison. You go to almost every practice.
You and Larry McCarron, he does it for us on
the packer's side. But you know, I have found that
at this stage of the season, I don't know about you,
with all the guys in camp, and an NFL camp,

(01:30):
they're ninety of them. I get to a point where
I'm starting to prepare for another team to do a game,
and I'm looking out of the practice field in Green
Bay and I'm say, who the hell is number forty one?
You know what I mean, Like, at least my head,
it just, you know, it kind of gets like, uh, yeah,
who's thirty two? Now, Oh, that's Marshaun Lloyd. But he

(01:50):
hasn't been practicing in about a week or two or whatever,
you know, because he's been dinged up and all this
other stuff. And you know, I don't know about you,
but I kind of starts swimming in names.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
And yeah, I start to get a glaze look in
my eyes. At this point of the the camp portion,
I guess has ended for another I guess it has
for Wisconsin. They did a scrimmage, a good scrimmage last Saturday.
They had three pretty good scrimmages. I mean that that
resembled football. They tackled people. You know, they've been bringing

(02:22):
guys to the ground a little bit more than we're
used to seeing here. But you're right, you know, with Wisconsin,
I guess I've seen them enough where I have a
pretty good grip of who who we expect to see
on the field when they open up their season against
Western Michigan. And we can get into this more in
a bit, but the hard part for me, and I'm
sure for you as well, but especially at the college level,

(02:45):
is trying to dig up stuff on the opening opponent
because there's a loster turnover more than ever now with
the transfers, and you could look back at last year
and you can get a glimpse of X number of guys,
but you're kind of adjusting as you go as you
get ready, even from a broadcast preparation. But wayne of

(03:05):
the years that I've been around this program, there have
been maybe three or four years were and I'm not
very smart, so maybe smart people have a better percentage,
but I just I don't know how good a team
really is. You know, one day the offense will look
good one day, the defense will look good one day,
the starting quarterback will look good. The next day it's
the backup, you know, twenty eleven with Russell Wilson. But yeah,

(03:29):
they're they're pretty good. Even twenty ten with Scottie Tolzine
and he had JJ Watt, all those guys on the
defensive side. Barry's team. A couple of Barry's teams but
one in nineteen ninety nine. They had already come off
of beag ten championship in rose Buwl season. There was
all the hoopla around Ron Dane the matter a lot
of years. I kind of fooled myself last year. I

(03:49):
thought they might stumble a little bit early but get
better as the year went on. But it wasn't quite
what most had thought. So somebody asked me a couple
of weeks ago to gathering what I thought of the Badgers,
and I started to give a rambling answer, as I
often do it. I finally caught myself and I said,
I really don't start to find out the end of

(04:12):
August and then moving forward and especially game number three
against Alabel.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
You know, I mean people think we're making like broadcasting
excuses here. Uh, but it's really true. And Matt, we
just said about that glazed look you get you know again,
oh in the NFL OTA's and I see pretty good
amount of those. The mandatory mini camp in June, and
I see that. And then there's you know, we go

(04:39):
three weeks in training camp and you get a you know,
I think what happens is you see the offense do something, well, oh,
that's Jordan Love made a big pass play to Christian Watson,
and you don't think as much about the defense. Then
the defense makes a sense. Oh that Evan Williams man,
he's got like six interceptions here in the these practices,

(05:01):
he looks great and you're starting. So the negative stuff
that happens is offset by the good thing that happened
because it's all within the squad, and so you get
this false feeling that all these guys are really good.
People don't realize how good these guys are. But it's
part of it's because we haven't seen anybody else, you
know what to me, Yeah, stage, yeah, it's one.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Of the reasons. And you know, those are like the
beat reporters in today's world, especially when the practices are open.
You're documenting things and you know, Jordan Love was, you know,
eight out of ten today and teen drills, or Tyler
van Dyke did this, did that for Wisconsin, And I
get it, but I don't and I'm I don't think
you do either. I'm not tracking it that, you know

(05:45):
with that much statistical information. I'm just trying to get
a general set. So if they're personnel groupings, who who's
rotating into the mix and the first and second groups,
and that if there's a couple of freshmen or maybe
more than a couple of freshmen in this year's class
of was cads of the transfers, just try to get
an idea, because you're right, some days they want to

(06:08):
stress the offense more. Some days are going to stress
the defense maybe a little bit more. They might, you know,
tie their hands back a little bit and see what
the offense can do. Individual performances, you know, playmakers, those
kind of those kind of things will will stand out,
but you had to judge. I mean, there are some

(06:28):
obvious things, but it's you can fool yourself. And I've
done it more often than i'd remember. Want to admit
into thinking that a team is either really good or
not so good at all. So like, the more the
more I've been around it, the more I realize, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
You know, Matt, It's amazing with the thing about football,
especially at the high levels like Division one, major college
in NFL. I don't think you really know what you
have until you get into a real game. And I
mean not a preseason game in the NFL, not not
a scrimmage in the college game, but until you get

(07:03):
into the real blood and guts of a real football game.
And in some cases with colleges, it used to be
like this in the past. It they play, you know,
some minor, lower level Division one opponent early on, and
so you might not know until you get to the
big ten in the NFL. You starting September, you start

(07:24):
to find out who you are. But I don't know
if you really know before that. And I think that's
that's just football. And I think these teams evolve as
the season goes along. And then because it's football, and
because it's flesh and blood, there's inconsistency and injury the
two eyes which change everything. And you know that to

(07:45):
me is hard, that's why it's so hard. I keep
telling people, well, on paper, all these teams, look who's
good on paper in the NFC. Well, San Francisco's good
on paper, so is Detroit, Philadelphia retooled, They're very good,
you know, but this is on paper. Who knows what
they're going to be by the time the Packers get
around to playing them. And same thing with Green Bay.

(08:06):
You just don't know. So it's intriguing in that regard.
But it's really hard when people come up to us
because I'm the same way as you are, and people
get kind of put off when I say I don't
know how the Packer is going to be. Tell me
you know who's going to be on the field on
September sixth, you know what I mean? Then I'll have
a better idea.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
And you just look at it at the NFL last year,
and everybody was ready to crowd the Philadelphia Eagles right
when they really started with ten and one, and we
will spell off. Everybody was ready to, you know, throw
the Packers season away when they were struggling, and then
all of a sudden, you know, they go into Detroit
on Thanksgiving Day and run them out of the stadium
and then they get on a roll and you don't know,

(08:47):
and it's I guess that's that's the fun of it here.
But I and I think, especially with Colach, because the
off season is fort effort in college football in the NFL,
we can at least as fans, get a glipse you know,
maybe not the starters for any extended play, but you
can get a glimpse of them in the month of August.
In college you really don't until this year August thirtieth

(09:09):
for Wisconsin, but it's a September, October, November sport for
the most part now with the postseason into December and
mid January, so you could talk to yourself at it
just about any and with college football that that's really
you know, if you did the words on paper, you know,
Ohio State and Oregon apparently they might as well just

(09:30):
forget everything and go light up and play for the
Big Ten championship in December if you believe that. So
the question is, okay, who else is really in the mix?
Are those two teams as good as people think? And
that's the fun of this to see. I think with
Wisconsin this year that people aren't talking about them very
much on a national level, but history tells us maybe

(09:52):
for Wisconsin that isn't such a bad thing.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
And the Big ten matt ten equals six, right is
that sixteen eighteen eighteen eight? Oh my gosh, for now,
this is new math. I can't handle I just can't
handle it. I barely passed algebra in high school. So yeah,
I mean everything gets kind of like it's such a

(10:16):
big league now. And you can say the same thing,
but the SEC in some of the other leagues, but
this big ten thing is so huge now it's hard
to figure.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, we should probably we should get into that here
a little bit, because it's not Power five now, it's
Power four. The PAC twelve is no longer. It's basically
the PAC two. Washington State and work in State. They're
gonna play a lot of Mounted West teams. But the
SEC has grown with Texas and Oklahoma the ACC. When

(10:49):
you think the ACC, wait, I know, you think of
the Stanford Cardinal and the cow Bears and the SMU Mustangs,
they're in it.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
You're the They're Atlantic Coast, aren't they.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, it's and obviously with the Big
ten going coast to coast. Now I'm still trying to
get used to the idea that Wisconsin will play its
first Big Ten game this year at USC at the
LA Coliseum.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
And then they'll come home and then the following road
trip will be two Rutgers. So it's uh, that's how
it that's how it is now, and there's a twelve
team playoff. Now there is the belief that in a
couple of years that number will grow.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
It's good to take some getting used to, especially for
those of us who grew up watching college football as
more of a regional sport that that left the building.
So we will, I think we'll get used to it,
especially a younger fan will. Some will probably just choose
to walk away. But I think the majority, because football

(11:55):
is so immensely popular, that people will get into it
and they'll enjoy see can come in here. They'll enjoy
seeing USC, you know, eventually come into Madison. And but
it's gonna take a little time, you.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Know, Matt, We're gonna get into the Packers specifically getting
ready for the season, and and the Badgers here on
this podcast. But you know, the one last thought I
had in this segment would be for you on this
this whole thing about nil. Are they getting any closer?
And can they put that genie somewhat back in the bottle?

(12:31):
And by that I mean just have some kind of
semblance of I hate to say, salary cap or something
that would give everybody a chance maybe in this thing, because.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yeah, that's the That is the sixty four billion dollar question.
Next season, next the next academic year, there will be
revenue sharing where schools will be directly compensating athletes. Now
they're still trying to figure out how this is going
to work. How much it could be upwards of twenty

(13:04):
to twenty two million dollars among you know, the biggest programs.
But there's still trying to sort out weighing as best
I understand it, as to let's just say it's twenty
two million, how much will be devoted to football, how
much will be devoted to men's basketball, so on and
so forth. Are the other Title nine implications That still

(13:25):
something that you know, I think is is being discussed
and how does that work? But even with that, I
think you're still going to need collectives. You know, there's
still going to be there. There will be a limit
as to what schools will directly compensate athletes, but you're
still going to have that opportunity through third parties to

(13:48):
earn money as an athlete, so that it's never I
don't think it's ever going to be a level playing
field college athletics has never been. Next year at this time,
it could be a little closer to that. But you're
not gonna get You're not gonna get equity across the board.
That's why the NFL is so good, you know, because

(14:10):
the Green Bays of the world have a chance. The Bengals,
which you know, they were miired in quicksand forever and
then all of a sudden they're in a Super Bowl
and they're contending. It's just it's not impossible for colleges,
but it's a heck of a lot more difficult because
you just don't have that balance.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah, no question about it. Well, we'll talk check a
dive into the Packers coming up in our next segment
here on the Lera Villa Pay Podcast. Ready to give
fees the stiff arm. Uw Credit Union can help because
since nineteen thirty one they've been committed to eliminating fees
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(14:48):
an it CUA terms and conditions apply.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
All the good news for Packers fans, for NFL fans,
there's just one preseason game left and then they start
to count. As we record this, I know Wayne has
had a chance to unwind from the excitement of the
Sunday night match up out of Denver. Look these things
to me, and you've been doing this a long time.
Preseason games are not necessarily for the entertainment of our

(15:18):
listening or viewing audience. It's about evaluations and maybe try
to find the last four or five roster spots or
where specific or specific battles that are going on. But
for you, Wayne, just as a broadcaster, get into weeds
a little bit. How do you prepare for a preseason game?
You know, it was the Packers' backups against the Broncos starters,

(15:41):
but you're going to have so many more guys out
on the field than what you will in Brazil when
the Packers playing the Eagles to start the year. Well,
what's the preparation look like? And how many names can
you put on one spotting board?

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, I mean the spotting board is crowded, there's no
doubt about that, man. But I try to get everybody,
all ninety players in each team on the board. Now,
am I able to memorize all the tiny guys from
the other team? No, not really, But I kind of
look at it like I did with college. You know,
you don't need to know going into a game every

(16:16):
single player on that's dressing for the game that day.
You need to know who's gonna play and how you know,
how many, how deep they go to position or that
kind of thing. How many guys are gonna play, who's
really gonna play in the game. Preseason is tougher than
that because in preseason everybody will play that's healthy at

(16:37):
one time or another. There is no rhyme or reason
as to the substitution patterns. They're not working position groups necessarily.
It's not like the regular season where you know that
on first and second downs Josh Jacobs is going to
be the running back, and you know that on first
and second downs they're probably gonna have a tight end
or two in the game. That kind of thing. There's
none of that in the preseason. As you really pointed

(17:00):
it out very well. It's all about evaluating people and
especially getting some reps for a lot of the young guys.
The starters now will get you know, have had a
couple of reps. Maybe they'll get a couple of more
in the last preseason game, but not much, and they'll
get them out of there pretty quick before somebody gets
dinged up. That's the last thing you want is a
preseason injury, but to one of your starters. But no,

(17:22):
you know it's hard. The first game's really hard, but
you have a lot of time to kind of prepare
for it. The second game comes at you pretty quick,
but you do have some tape to look at, and
the third game comes at usually really quick, and you
know you pretty much it's a throwaway game. You just
you just go into it. And you know, all these
guys are going to play for the Baltimore Ravens. We'll

(17:44):
get a look at them on Thursday of practice. I've
seen their first two preseason games, but it's not like
doing a regular season game. And in that regard, I
find it kind of difficult because I'll get there in
the middle of a play and I'll say, holy gut,
who is number forty five? And I'm talking about the
Packers at this point in time, Who's number forty five?

(18:06):
You gotta look down real quick. But that's kind of
where it is. You know, some guys, I think Kevin
Harlan's like this, and Bob Costas used to be like this,
and Ei worked a little bit together on Missouri years
and years ago. He could look at a roster, walk
into a press room, look at a roster and know
everybody who was number and everything. You know, just had
a photographic memory like that. And I don't have that.

(18:30):
So and the other thing I do. I write a
lot of things down, not that I'm going to be
reading them during the game, but it helps me prepare
and to remember who these guys are, what they're doing.
But I got to tell you this about the Denver experience.
You were talking about the game. The game was a game,
but the Packers went out there with a couple of
agendas in mind. Winning that game was probably very low

(18:53):
on the agenda list. They went out there for a
couple of reasons. It's they had a set a Sunday
night game. They had a Friday practice against the Broncos
in Centennial, Colorado, which is just south of Denver on
the foothills of the Rockies. They had a day off
on Friday in terms of practice or on Saturday rather,

(19:15):
and they had the game on Sunday. They did a
couple of things as a team when we got there
Thursday night. Now not us, Larry and I are any
of us in that traveling party. They went to a
steakhouse as the team coaches players, that type of thing.
The next day they had the practice with the Broncos.
Then that night they went to ex Golf and had

(19:35):
some fun just knocking the ball around of that kind
of thing what Matt Lafleur was trying to do. In gosh,
it felt like a long time we were out there,
and I love Denver. Denver's my favorite town of b
in an entire country. Loved Denver, Colorado. I was fine,
but we were there a long time, and by Sunday afternoon,
it felt like if we were there one more hour,
we're going to be eligible to vote to the upcoming

(19:57):
election here. And I think I'm sure that team felt
that way as well. But it gave them an opportunity
to really bond together a little bit. Now here's what
really happened out there the Packers since the finish last year,
and I'm sure you know this from Wisconsin. Our whole
off season in football, Your whole off season is predicated

(20:18):
to how you finished that season, even though really that
doesn't have a whole lot to do with the upcoming season,
but that's where the vibe is. So the Packers finished
very strong. So all through the spring into the summer,
there's nothing but positives surrounding this football team. And then
they go to Cleveland and the Browns don't play any
of their starters and the Packers play some of their

(20:40):
starters a little bit of time, and then they have
a nice game and they win convincingly, and that's great.
So everything's very positive. Now you go out to Denver, Colorado.
You got to practice against another team for the first
time this summer, and all of a sudden, you come
out there on that practice field and the Broncos are
flying around and the Packers are saying, wait a minute,
it's ninety five degrees out here and we're a mile

(21:03):
high up and none of us are used to this.
And then you know, there were some negatives in that practice.
The Packers kind of got handled by the Broncos, and
that was the first negative thing. And this is still
this Green Bay team is very young, and I'm really
concerned about the fact that, Okay, this is a young team.
They've spent an entire offseason been told how good they are.
Now they come out to Denver and the Broncos and

(21:26):
Sean Pagon's got a good team working there. He's building
a good team pretty quickly. But they kind of knock
him around a little bit and all of a sudden,
it's the first negativity, so to speak. And I'm anxious
to see how the Packers respond to that. I don't
know if we're going to see it in this preseason game,
but I know we're going to get evidence of how
they respond is when they scrimmage in practice. The Ravens

(21:50):
coming up tomorrow. We're doing this podcast till Wednesday. Practice
in Green Bay tomorrow will feature the Baltimore Ravens. And
the one thing you have to know about the Baltimore Ravens,
the Ravens are the forty nine ers of the AFC.
They're the most physical team in the league, in that conference.
And so you know, this will be interesting to see

(22:11):
because the Packers, I'm sure the coaches are I knew that.
I know the coaches weren't happy with what happened in
Denver on the field, so it's gonna be interesting to
see how this young team responds to its first kind
of dose of negativity. And that's okay.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Yeah, you were saying the coaches were unhappy, is there
you think there's a part of them though, that kind
of thinking This isn't such a bad thing because they've
been getting a lot of pats on the back because
they of what they did surpassing expectations last year and
walda hoopla. I mean, you don't like to see it,
but at the same time, maybe they don't if it's
going to happen. But it happened in the middle of August,

(22:47):
so you humble them a little bit. They would never
admit that publicly, but do you think maybe that enters
into it a bit.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah. I think the thing I came away from the
practice and the game itself was I said, wow, well,
this coaching said they've got a lot to coach on here.
In the next week, I'm sure that's been going on,
and we'll see against the Ravens. I think it'll be
a good test. We'll look at starters very closely against
the Ravens. Starters in that practice, we'll probably see very

(23:16):
little of either, if any in the game. But we'll
also get a look at some of the young players
and now you start seeing, okay, there's some question marks.
Back up quarterback Boyd Neither Sean Clifford or Michael Pratt
will lit it on fire. In Denver, they had the
whole game to go. You're looking at, you know, if
there's been an underlining negative aspect, and it's very minor,

(23:42):
but underline it's just behind the scene. Nobody's really talking
a lot about it. But the Packers' top draft choices
have all been battling injuries. Jordan Morgan, who's supposed to
be in the running for the right guard spot, it's
been out of almost two weeks now with a shoulder injury.
Edgeran Cooper, who we really liked and saw a lot

(24:02):
of good things from him early. He's been out with
either a groin or a hip injury. Take your pick.
He's been tagged with both and he's not played much.
Isaiama McDuffie returned or no, I beg your pardon. Tyron
Harper Hopper returned for the game in Denver and was
maybe the best player on the field for the Packers

(24:23):
in that game. He was outstanding athletic linebacker, a third
round pick out of Missouri, the running back Marshaun Lloyd.
We've seen glimpses of him, haven't seen much of him
because of injuries. So the top of that draft class
and if people don't realize, Okay, a veteran gets injured
at this time of year, that's okay, he'll be fresh

(24:45):
for the regular season. A rookie misses this part of
the year, it could affect the rest of his first
year and he may not even be good for he
may not even be able to make the field for
the first month or two months of the season. So
that's the hard part. And hopefully these kids will be
back this week and and get an opportunity of the

(25:05):
last week of the preseason to get some licks in
and and maybe show the coaches they can play in
the early season. Because this this draft class they feel
very good about, but the injuries have kind of welled
that positivity a little bit. And I'm just hoping these
kids can come back. They're not minor, they're not major injuries.
But you missed two weeks in camp as a rookie,

(25:27):
and you missed a lot. Yeah, I want to I
want to.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Go on a little tangent here, even though we've talked
about how we full ourselves sometimes over the years of
you know, thinking how good an individual player or a
team can be. I mean, it's still secret right now
that Chicago is buzzy about Caleb Williams just catching little
hard docks. I don't watch that is intensely as I

(25:51):
used it intensely as I used to. But you know,
I caught a little bit here this past week, and
you know, they were going back over the game against
the Buffalo Bills, a preseason game, and he is showing
something here. But I just remember last last fall, Wayne,
you your outlook of where the direction of the Chicago Bears,
you like, where they'd be like is the right word,

(26:13):
But you're impressed with what they're doing right, and if
Williams can be, if he's going to be the guy,
which certainly is going to be in Chicago, they're not
that far away maybe right. I mean you kind of
hinted at that last season when when the Packers Bears
are getting ready to squirre off with the seconds. Huh.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Well, I have no question about it, Matt. And there
are a couple of things. The offensive skill around this
rookie quarterback is outstanding. Okay, they've got veteran players who
are playmakers, who know how to play the game. What
they're hoping the quarterback is is CJ. Stroud. That's what
they're hoping he is. And there's every indication that Caleb

(26:56):
Williams can deliver that kind of performance. I mean, Drought
elevated Houston nobody into the playoffs last year and they
won a playoff game. Now the Bears are hoping they
can do that. But the reason I'm kind of high
on the Bears, I think they've done a tremendous job
with personnel and on the defensive side of the football.

(27:17):
They really fixed that side last year. And the Packers
caught a break last year playing the Bears on the
first week of the season in Chicago. The why is
that of break, well, because that defense had so many
new faces, they weren't quite put together, and they became
a much better unit when they got Montez Sweaton and
they started all of a sudden, they became a big

(27:38):
time player defensively. And that defense is back this year
and it's probably a little better than it was a
year ago. You put that together with the offensive skill
they have. If the quarterback doesn't what did the coaches say?
I don't know if I can say it on a podcast.
If he doesn't wet the bed, let me there you
go what they say. But if he does what the bed,

(28:01):
they have a chance to be a playoff team in
my opinion. And you know a lot of people kind
of poo poo that although the Bears, they'll fight a
way to screw it up. I don't think so, not
this regime.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Yeah, this is a tough division now. I mean with
the Detroit Lias obviously, with what they're doing. If the
Bearers are are continuing on this trajectory that you and
then I think many others, the Vikings. Who knows right
now with what's going on up there. But this is
a division that looks like it's real. If you can
get through this, then you've done something.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, no question, Detroit matt is far and away on paper.
Everything's on paper right now. But on paper, in my opinion,
they're the best team, maybe the best team in the NFC.
And I say that only because San Francisco is struggling
with internal issues that do have a way of reaching
the field. With Brendan IU with Williams, the great left tackle.

(28:52):
They're having issues contractually and that affects the team and
its preparation for the season. Kyle Shanahan can coach over that,
but they may not be quite the team they were
a year ago. And here's the other thing. I always
say this and understand something. When you go to a
super Bowl. It's hard enough to get to a super Bowl,

(29:13):
but when you lose the Super Bowl, you lose your soul.
I mean, it is that deflating. It is really hard
to come back and get back to a super Bowl.
It happened a lot in the seventies. I know that
Miami lost the Super Bowl then went on a perfect season,
But you know it doesn't happen as much anymore. And
the reason is because it's just so hard to get there,

(29:36):
and when you fail, it's so hard to get yourself
back into the right frame of mind. We got to
do this all over again, and what if we failed again.
I mean, Buffalo made four super Bowls in a row.
That's why Marv leeby their head coaches in the Hall
of Fame. They lost them all, and I think it's remarkable.
The one of the most remarkable feats in Super Bowl

(29:58):
history is that the Bills after was one super Bowl
got back for the next lost. That one got back
for the next lost, that one got back for another that,
in my opinion, will never be done again.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Yeah. Yeah, no, it's a great point. And it's any
sport too. I think of the as listening to you
right here, you know, I think of the Wisconsin basketball
teams in the final four. Yeah, they lose a semi
final game to Kentucky on a heartbreaker. You know, kid
hits a twenty seven foot three and Wisconsin gets a
good look and Trey Jackson miss is a mid range jumper.

(30:32):
The following year, obviously, they get to the title game
and it's there. It's down to the final couple of
minutes against Duke, and the Duke makes makes the place
to win the game. The deeper you go, it just
been my experience observing at the college level. The deeper
you go, the lor it hurts. You know, I was
content this past year basketball got bumped in the first round.

(30:53):
They didn't play well, they got beat and you know
there were some I mean, it obviously hurts, but the
level just the the five and a locker room and
it's it I'm sure it's it's times whatever in the NFL,
or or the Milwaukee Brewers in twenty eighteen Game seven
home feet Field lose of the Dodgers the eighty two series,

(31:13):
losing in Game seven. It's just it just seems to
be the truth. The deeper you go, the more the
more painful it is when you can't win at all,
and that challenge of coming back, and you're right with
what the Buffalo build we're able to do is you
know they're going to be remembered by some by the Cenics.
Is the team that couldn't win the big One? Well,

(31:35):
you got to. You got to win a lot of
big ones to get to the biggest one. And for
those guys to come back year after year as one
of the remarkable achievements in maybe any sport.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Ever, Yeah, I know, doubt about it, Matt. And and
again it's the what we as layman struggle with is, Okay,
so you got to the super Bowl. You got all
these great players and ninety percent of them are back,
but you don't get this start at the super Bowl level.
You know what I mean, You're not playing the super Bowl.

(32:04):
And I keep hearing people talk about the process, and
you know you have to go through the process to
get there again, and there's no guarantee the ball is
gonna bounce your way. It's a very fragile thing as
you go along. And the beauty about I think that
the Wisconsin Badgers teams that you were talking about, and

(32:26):
you and I were together at the final four of
those two final fours and even at the regional finals,
they were the same teams. But it's basketball. And I
found this with the Bulls too. You know, basketball teams,
you're talking about fifteen players essentially maybe less than that
twelve will really play or maybe even ten who have
to get on the same page, who have to really

(32:48):
go through the process and get it done. Football is
a whole different animal. Man. Try to get fifty three
men on the same page, get them to perform to
a level year after year. What Kansas City did is remarkable,
and they're going for a three pet and I wouldn't
count Patrick Mahomes out, but it's going to be real

(33:09):
hard for them to get that done. And there's it's
just a real difficult situation to get back to the
mountaintop because again, people, the best analogy I can give
you is one of the Mitch Holts, the voice of
the Chiefs gave me. He said, you know, and they
had a lot of disappointment at Kansas City before the
Super Bowl run three Super Bowls championships in five years,

(33:31):
but they had been to the playoff time and time again,
and he said, they said, the problem is is that
you can't start where you finished. You have to start
back at the beginning, and there's no guarantee you're going
to get back to where you finished.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
On Wisconsin off fees, get e freed, checking options of
more at uw Credit Union, joined at UWCU dot org.
Terms and conditions apply. Insured by n C new a
Before we'll let you go here with this first podcast
of the season for us the new kickoff rule. I'm

(34:09):
sure the college guys are watching this closely or will
watch this closely throughout the course of the season. You know,
we're getting used to the landing so and then this
that or the other, the setup zone, the setup sold. Yeah,
what are the what's the vibe? What are what are
the coaches? What if players think of it? And I
would imagine there's gonna be a lot of strategy that

(34:30):
we're not going to see in August, but we're going
to see in September.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
It's very interesting, mat because I think the whole thing
is going to evolve as the season goes along, and
the NFL may tweak this rule as we go along.
And it's in place for one year. It's only a
one year experimental rule. But you know, for fans who
may not be familiar, it's very unusual looking. The kicker
is back at his thirty five yard line all alone.

(34:59):
Everybody else is up in a setup zone area, and
that is you know, ten coverage members are at the
forty I have to have a foot of the forty
yard line and that's the receiving team's forty yard line.
At the thirty five yard line, the receiving team must
have seven players across the field. Then they have five
yards back. You can have two more players outside the

(35:21):
hash marks, and then you can have two players back
deep to receive the whole key. What the league wanted
to do was get the football, get the kickoff back
into the game because last year in the Super Bowl,
every kickoff was kicked out of the end zone. It
was a non play. Now they're trying to get the
kickoff back into the game. But the reason they had

(35:42):
taken basically taken the kickoff out of the game was
because of the high speed collisions. Well, when you put
all of these the blockers and coverage people within ten
yards of each other, within five yards of each other,
then you don't have the high speed collisions and the
play chain. Okay, here's the big The setup zone is

(36:02):
from the goal line out to the twenty yard line
of the receiving team. The kicker must put the ball
in that area. If he can land it in there,
or if the catch made in there, the ball has
to be returned. There's no fair catching, there's no downing
the football. If the ball hits in the landing zone
and carryms into the end zone, the return man can

(36:22):
pick it up and either down it, and if he
downs it, the ball only comes out to the twenty.
If the ball skips through the end zone because it
landed in the landing area and kicked into the end zone,
it comes out to the twenty. But if the ball
sails into the end zone, the return man has an
interesting option. Depending on what he sees in terms of

(36:44):
the blocking and coverage, he can return that kick out
of the end zone. That never touched the landing zone.
But he can down it as well. And if he
downs it, it comes out to the thirty five yard
line or thirty yard line. Kick the ball through the
end zone, it's out the thirty yard line, the ball
lands short. Let's say you're trying to line drive scud
missile of a kick to kind of you know, put

(37:06):
that element into it, make it hard for the return
guy to feel it in the first place. And let's
say it hits somebody in the setup zone, the players
whistled dead. The ball comes out to the forty yard line.
Seeing as a kickoff that goes out of bounds. So
there are a lot of different rules in that regard.
And what we started seeing we didn't see it during
the game, but what I started seeing Deniver do in

(37:27):
practice that Friday we were in Denver. They started to
hit directional lower kicks that would land and force the
return man to make the catch out a you know
field it like a shortstop on the hot that that
seemed to be somewhat effective, but you have to have
a talented kicker to do that because you're kicking to

(37:48):
the quarters usually, and if that ball goes out of
bounds it comes out to the forty yard line. So
it's interesting. I then we saw we've seen during the
games a lot of these special teams coaches and HAD
coaches are saying, Okay, thirty yard line, that's not bad.
Just kick it through the end zone. We don't want
to bother with a return. Originally, when I saw this rule,

(38:09):
I thought this would be a pretty good advantage because
let's say the kit carries to the five yard line
or the ten yard line return man makes a catch.
You know they should be able to get beyond the
twenty five thirty yard line. Almost every time, that's not
been the case. Here's the situation where the return team
has a little bit of an advantage or disadvantage. Nobody

(38:30):
can move until the kick either hits the ground or
is caught by the return man. So the coverage unit
can see it. The return unit really can't, or if
they turn around to look to see one of the
catchers made then they have to turn around and locate
the guy they're going to block. It's not easy. So

(38:51):
the coverage unit actually in this rule has a step
on the return unit. Just a step, but sometimes a
step is all it takes of the NFL. So it's
gonna be interesting to see where it goes, how it evolves,
And I honestly don't know what the strategy will be
with the Packers. I can tell you this, I don't

(39:12):
think Richie Bisacia is too happy. He's the Packers special
teams coach. Longtime special teams go to the league. I
don't think he's too happy with this rule change.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
It's gonna be, like I said, the college guys are,
they're gonna watch it because nothing changes in regards to that.
In the college game, you can still signal for a
fair catch, balls in play, you know, it comes out
to the twenty five solid and so forth. But I
remember when Brett Beilamo was here at Wisconsin. He even
thought then that the time was coming where the kickoff

(39:43):
would could be eliminated all together because of what you said.
The heighest yeah collisions. I mean, you can make it safe,
but you can make it safer. And I think the
NFL and the college games both have taken, you know,
pretty sizable steps to try to make it safer. But
I'm guessing sing that that the college college rules folks
are going to be watching this very very closely.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, I think you're right, Matt, and everybody's going to
be monitoring this closely. A lot of us think that
if kickers start booming it out of the end zone
and there are very few returns, the NFL will tweak
it and maybe make the touch back come out instead
of to the thirty out to the thirty five, and
that might give the uh, you know, coaches something to
think about. But you know, we'll see and and again.

(40:29):
From an injury standpoint, I think they're figuring there are
going to be fewer injuries in a situation like this
where everybody is close together. I'm anxious to see what happens.
But you know, uh, it's I I don't know what
will you think I want the kickoff in. I'm old school.
I'd like to see kickoffs and returns, you know what
I mean. I'd like to see yeah exciting.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
Yeah, it's exciting you know when when they are in
fact return So yeah, it's a The college game is
is you know, they're they're steering in more and more
to the NFL style. I mean, obviously now there's a
twelve team playoff in college football, there's a two minute
timeouts this year, way we're all going to call it
a two minute warning, but the official wording is a
two minute timeout. It's not an additional tell broadcast commercial break,

(41:17):
but the partners are saving one, so there's going to
be a commercial break there. So the ten second runoff
goes into effect right after that instead of the last minute.
That's the biggest change. And they're using the electronics stuff
now where you can communicate whether it's a quarterback or whatever,
one player offense, one player on defense. You can use
the iPads. So it's becoming more and more pro like,

(41:41):
and I think fans probably there's probably a mixed review
of that. There are those who liked the college game
like the pro game. They don't necessarily want one to
look like the other. But the college game is at
least with rules. In the format of postseason play, I mean,
think of it this way way into Rose Bowl. That
used to be the ultimate if you grew up in
a Big ten, use it quarter final game. Now quarter

(42:03):
fine quarter final game in the college football playoffs. So
another thing we're gonna have to get used to. We
can get in. We will deep dive into that more
as the year goes on. No more Big ten East
and West, which you know, the jokes are over now
about the Big ten West.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
I'm still getting over what was it CHAMPI Peters.

Speaker 3 (42:21):
And Legends, Yes, leaders in Legends address the Leaders division
and twenty whatever twenty eleven.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
So yeah, they haven't changed the Michigan fight song, have they.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
I mean it's not yet, not yet. So we're just
the new fights as still learn the way, you know,
you know, with USC and UCLA, yeah or yeah, Washington,
most people would recognize USC's probably I don't know so
much about you know, maybe UCLA Oregon in Washington, although
Oregon is a really really good team this year and

(42:55):
Washington played for the national title last year. But they
they're also Wayne. They have two returning starters from last year.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Two.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
It's oh my god. It's a new world, it really is.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
And you know we're talking did you say eighteen Big.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
Ten eighteen Big ten teams? Yes, and it's done through eighteen.
But one thing, and you know this is we're probably
go on LinkedIn on the first one. But it's been
a minute as we've been together here, it's gonna be
interesting to me the importance of winning elite championship. Now
you can get your first round by if you're a

(43:32):
top four seed. If you're they're going to take the
top four about four highest ranked conference champions we'll get
a buy So that would figure in all probability the
power for champs. It could be a group of five
in there, but I would say unlikely. But otherwise it's
about getting your team in the field. Much like basketball,

(43:53):
you know you can you can finish third theoretically in
the Big Ten, maybe even fourth in the Big tench
the SEC because you know they're going to lobby for it,
uh and fight a way to get into the the
College the twelve team playoff, and especially in a couple
of years if this expanse to fourteen or whatever that
other is going to be is winning the cloud. You know,

(44:14):
players will tell you and coaches. Yes, Like at basketball,
it means more than what most fans might thick to
win a Big Ten regular season championship or an ACC
regular season championship. But for those who both the overwhelming
majority of us who are not, it's are you in
the playoff or not? That's how so many programs are

(44:37):
going to be judged.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
And the conference championship games are could put right.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
It's a no it's an extra game. You can play
as many as seventeen games. Wow, quile, it's season. Now.
If you are the one that plays for a national championship,
they say you were say it. Let's just theoretically, if
Oregon plays Ohio State in the BEG ten championship games,
lose of that game is still you know, could very
well be end up being a playoff team. Sure, it's

(45:04):
already played thirteen games. So if it goes in as
a you know it's a five seed or a sixth seed,
you know, play in the twelve or the eleven.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
It hurts.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
You could end up playing four post season games. So
it's still a weird dynamic. Notre Dame's not in the league,
so it'll never be a top four, but it could
get home field seeds five through eight of the home
field for the first round game. And that's another thing
that's going to be confusing for some to get used to.
And put it to you this way, based on the

(45:39):
format that's in play now, Wisconsin would have had a
stretch of three years out of four where the Badgers
would have been in the twelve team playoff and would
have hosted at least it would have hosted a game twice.
They finished eighth one time sixth. So like Paul Christ
had it going, and they would have in the CFP rankings,
they would have qualified times in that brief period to

(46:02):
get into the college football playoffs. The wisconsinents of the world,
how many years out of five dof fans expect your
team to be in there? Or how many years out
of ten? Those are questions that will be really really
interesting to answer, and fans will tell us forward.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Yeah, no question about it, all right, Matt, We've already
admitted you and I look at our teams with glazed
eyes at this day. I think it's mostly at least
my wife Julie tells me it's allergies, but I think
it might be something more than that. Then, well, we're
off when the regular season begins and we can start

(46:39):
focusing on how teams really do play. But tell me
about Wisconsin and the Van Dyke kid you mentioned earlier.
You know, I know he's had some ups and downs
in his career, but he's got a fresh start here
in a new offense. I believe it's the fourth he's
playing for his fourth offensive coordinator of four years. How

(47:00):
is this all coming together for well.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
Really strong arm. You can see he has a used
the baseball trim. He has a really good fast ball.
He looks like he can make all the throws, the
short crows, the intermediate throws, and has a good deep ball.
All The question is, you know, do the Badgers have
guys in the receiving cort who can stretch defenses. I
think the answer is yes. We'll fight out together once
the games begin. Uh. He went through quite a bit

(47:24):
and in his time at Miami. I remember talking to
was Western, a guy we both know voise laugh Falcons
and or of the major voices of the ACC network.
And I talked to him right away after Van Dykm's
coming here. I said what he got on this guy?
He said, he's really tough, and he went through and
played hurt, you know, and then you did miss some time.
Also was benched for a time. But at his best,

(47:47):
he was really good. ACC Freshman the Year in twenty
twenty one, he was twenty five touchdowns, six interceptions. But
it's been it's been more up and down since then.
His good is really good. Can he stay healthy? He
moves better than people might think. You look at his
rushing statistics. And there they're roles non existent. But he

(48:08):
can't he can move, but we'll see the elusiveness, we'll
see the escapability when the pocket starts to cave once
the games begin. But I think the fact way that
he's gone through so much. He's twenty three years old now,
so I mean he's he's been around the block. But
I think at the same time, Braidon Lock as he
pushed him. You know, we saw him start three games

(48:29):
last year and you know, he too had his ups
and downs, but it was to be expected. It was
the first really exposure he's had at the college level
after transferring from Mississippi State. But it wasn't like Braiden
Lock stuck it up and as I we got to
give it to the Van Dyke guy. Van Dyke went
out and heard it. So and I think they're they're

(48:49):
deeper way and I will put this at a just
in a broad brush here. You know, they they're running
back position is much deeper than what it was to
really promising freshmen and Dylan Jonson, Dearian Dupre and then
veterans like Kadjakamelli, Jackson Acre and then obviously Chess mclucy
and young man out of a transfer out of Oklahoma,
Tewee Walker, really tough runner, receiving core, deeper, linebacking, cord deeper.

(49:17):
I think they can get pressure on the quarterback. I
think they have the makings of that. Again, we'll find
out together when the games start. Offensive line not much
experience behind the starting I mean very little, So that's
an area worth watching. Defensive line, can they continue to
build depth and hold up better against the run. But
this is a more talented team, I think, Wayne, you

(49:40):
just have guys who got to fit the profile of
what the coaches we're looking for with the linebacking course
specifically more length, maybe a little bit more team speed
right now. But with the schedule that they're playing with
Alabama in game three, be ted opener, you know, following
Alabama going to USC, Oregon coming here, Penn State coming here,

(50:03):
Badgers go to Aisle, they go to Rutgers. A team
that is getting more and more respect Nebraska. Is this
the year that Nebraska finally breaks through and starts to
win games again that it's been losing with regularity the
past six seven years. It is on paper, it's our
favorite term here. On paper, it is a much more

(50:25):
difficult looking schedule than the one they faced last year, in.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
A schedule that's pretty exciting for fans, I might add.
I mean, you know, the home schedule sounds great. Oregon
coming to Madison, that's awesome, Penn State's coming to Madison,
even the road games. You go to the Coliseum in
LA it's one of the magical buildings I think in
sports when you just sit there or you walk through
that tunnel where all those great players have walked through.

(50:52):
It's the same tunnel, it looks the same. I mean,
it's just an imagical place. I think Coliseum, Los Angeles.
How many Olympics have been there, at least two? And
I think is coming, you know. I mean, it's just
like there's so many things to look forward to with
the way the Big Ten is now, and I understand

(51:13):
there's something like we kind of joked around a little bit.
There's a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot of why
this is just wow eighteen teams, but there's also a
lot of upside to it. The question I have for
you on Wisconsin is twofold. What kind of team is this?
Because we hear about this air raid offense and those

(51:34):
of us who are not indoctrinated into a thing. Oh,
they're throwing the ball all over the place. And number
two is this, this has got to be closer to
a team Like last year. We were saying Luke Fickel
and his staff are probably massaging the roster a little bit.
They don't really have their guys yet. Do they have
their guys now?

Speaker 3 (51:55):
On a path to that? Wayne, I almost wish they
didn't call it air raid because Phil long ago, you
can go back to last year, and he's reiterated again
this fall camp. There is a stress to balance. You know,
they all pass it a whole lot more than they
run it. He has said that over and over. But
when you hear air raid, you're thinking, yeah, you're going

(52:18):
to be slinging it all over the place. But this team,
I just keep going back to what Luke Fickle said
at the end of the regular season last year, the
Badgers had managed to run the ball well enough against
a really good run defense of Nebraska. They ran the
ball well. Brailn Allen his last game as a Badger,
and it's terrific against Minnesota and Luke Thickele the old noseguard,

(52:38):
said that's where I want to live so they are.
I think they are going to certainly be committed to
running it, but I don't know. They're not at a
point like we have Rod Day, you give the ball
fifty times. You know, they don't have that necessarily. It's
got a lot of really good running backs, but you're

(52:58):
still going to have to be able to throw it
to at least have opposing the defenses respected. Yeah, and
quite frankly with Wisconsin that hasn't been the case for
the last few years. Defensive coordinators of posting Wisconsin have
probably not lost a ton of sleep in being concerned
about Wisconsin's passing attack. They believe they're better there. But

(53:22):
with the with the the stable of running backs that
they have now, a blend of youth where you know,
really promising young players, but guys who've been around the
block as well. I really I think this team is
going to be committed to being able to pound away
when they need to or choose to against an opposing defense.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
And Matt One of the staples of Wisconsin has been
great offensive lines, and most of those players bake into
the pros that seems like and are very good. Iowa
and Wisconsin, oh you get an offensive lineman in the
on the NFL level out of Iowa or Wisconsin, you
generally you have a player the offensive line. I I

(54:03):
from what I'm understanding from you over the transition is
that they're still going to feature offensive lineman, but there
may be a little different build or a little more
athletic or what are we seeing?

Speaker 3 (54:13):
Well, I think they they want to just they want
to get back to, you know, where the really good
offensive lines have been in the past, and it's been
a while since they've really had that, you know. You
know Joe Thomas is that he's a freak of nature. Uh,
you know, but they certainly have had some Tyler Biattish
and Michael Dieter, Uh, you know, Robbie Havens died out

(54:34):
in LA I mean they but collectively it just hasn't
been as good quite frankly. And they still want the big,
tough guys, you know, the big you know, the three
three hundred and twenty pounders. I don't think the shape,
you know, the look is going to change much every
staff here, you know, and in some years they've been
more successful than others. You want guys who are who

(54:56):
have a degree of athleticism to them. So I don't
know if that's going to change a ton. I do think,
you know, with Jack Nelson the left tackle, Riley Moulmon
on the right side, that's a pretty good place to start,
you know. I know Mark taushi Is really was really
impressed watching Malman last year. The challenge could be, you know,

(55:20):
if a couple guys, you know, one or two guys
can't go, that's where They've got five scholarship freshmen offensive
linen and two or three of them are likely to play,
and that's probably not ideal in the short ton. But
these are guys who have a lot of talent, and
we may see them, you know, sooner than later Week one.

(55:41):
I don't know, but you know, I think as this
year goes on, you could see a guy like an
Emerson Mandel out of Minnesota, Colin Cobberly, Kevin Haywood. There.
Those are names that might not mean a ton to
most listeners now, but there are names that you may
hear more of, maybe some some this season, but in

(56:02):
the coming years. And those are guys who could factor
render this offensive line to get it back to where
they expect it to be.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
Yeah, I just can't wait for the start of the
college football season and see what Wisconsin does. Because I'm
with you, Matt. I think it's going to be really,
really fascinating to watch. And I think you know, from
what all I've heard, the Badgers are a better team
than they were a year ago from a talent standpoint.
I want to wrap this up with one thing. The
Badgers for the last two years have gone away to

(56:30):
training camp for almost two weeks, if I'm not mistaken.
So Platteville was constant. I spent fourteen summers of my
life in Platteville, Wisconsin in a college dorm when the
Bears trained there are through the eighties into the nineties.
You know, Platteville was we would we just loved going there.
Was like going to summer camp. And then you know,

(56:52):
with the Bears there and that little town and it
was it was just a riot. It really was back.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
To try to picture the the Bears. But you know,
some teams more than others in uh small towns southwest
Young wisconsint uh they they fickle loves it. And then
the players, you know, as much as nobody loves training camp,
but the players were very happy with everything. There. You know,
the the accommodations, the food, the facilities, it's it was

(57:25):
really they were there for a week last year. They
were able to go two weeks this year. And then eventually,
you know plat the Flatbeill Pioneers had to start their
own camp. But you know they're going to be there
here for the next this year and then the next
couple of years. Uh, Fickle likes to get his guys away.
Uh back in the day, it wisconstant. They used to
do that on the far west side of town at

(57:46):
the old Holy Named Seminary and then you're you're saving
costs and just for for logistical purposes, you come back
to campus. But Fickle likes and and it has worked
extremely wealth for these guys. They just feel like and
beg used to see that in the old Cheese League,
as he mentioned, there used to be really real advantage
his advantages to that even in the NFL. But for

(58:08):
the colleges, they did it at Cincinnati. I think they've
done it for years at Cincinnati, and he just likes
that it's just us and yeah, college, little college style Americans.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
So the good.

Speaker 3 (58:22):
Little bars there though. Wait, I'll say that that ice
cold beer Mineral Street. It's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
You should have seen. I think it's Mineral Street is
their main drag where most of the bars are, if
I'm not mistaken, but it could be I could be wrong. Anyway,
back in the day, you could walk into one of
those establishments Saturday night after after the first Saturday of
training camp and the Bears were off the next day,
and you could I mean, you know, Hall of famers

(58:49):
like Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael are tending bar and
Jim McMahon is throwing him back, and William Perry comes
rolling in, and you know, I mean, it was just
it was bedlung on a Saturday night in Blatfell, Wisconsin
of the summer when the Bears used to train there.
But I have fond memories of its great little town
and they have a nice football program there. And one

(59:11):
of the guys I got to meet was jeep In
Paul's dad, George George Price, who was the athletic director there.
And I will say this, Matt, there may not be
there might not have been a nicer human being, a
more wonderful human being than him. If there were, they were,

(59:31):
they were no better than him. He was just one,
a wonderful guy. Loved being a practice, loved watching it.
He was an old football coach and he would talk
to you on the sidelines and it was every year.
It was just wonderful. You know. He died way too soon,
but his sons are very much like him. Jeep is
a good friend of mine from our days with the Bears,

(59:53):
and and of course Paul I got to know doing
Big ten games, and you know, over the years, just
really class people, wonderful people. But the apple didn't fall
far from the tree. George was as good as it gets.
And he was the athletic director back then, and he
was just great. He was just a wonderful guy.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Yeah, I never got to know I never got to
know George. No, Patty and obviously Paul, we still text
each other and you know, throughout the course of a
year and exchange lake photos up in the north Woods
where we're up there. And Rick christ at one time,
you know, one of his many accomplishments when he was
a commissioner of the Mid American Conference YEP for SIRAL

(01:00:31):
he was in Jeep got to know him, obviously. Keller,
his son, is on the staff at the University of Iowa.
So it's a yeah, it's a it's an incredibly successful
football family and more importantly just just great people. Missiy
with Paul, but I think he's he's doing okay for himself.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
Now tell tell him when you do. I said hi,
and I appreciate him very much as a coaching to
somebody who helped out what we did games there in
the Big ten. Matt, that'll do it for us. This
week on the podcast, good to be back with you
on this upset season. Upset being the fact that we're back.
As you pointed out.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Well we'll see if we're back for episode two of
season three.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Yeah, it helps out a stream vid any rate all
the best and we will talk soon and the seasons
are about to get underway, and the glaze will be
removed from my eyes and hopefully I'll see better than
I I've been seeing lately. Special thanks to our producer
engineer Dave McCann, our executive producer Jeff Tyler for mathis

(01:01:33):
is Wayne, thank you very much for listening to the
lay of the Lapey Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:01:40):
The Larovian la Pey Podcast is a production of iHeartRadio
Podcasts with hosts Wayne Larvy and Matt Lapey, with production
engineering by Dave McCann. The Lerreovian la Pey podcast is
presented by UW Credit Union. Here for every you listen to.
Other episodes available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
MHM