February 12, 2023 • 35 mins
Live from Super Bowl Row, Ben Maller & Danny G. deliver (hybrid) mail bag fun for your Super Sunday! Some P1's of the #MallerMilitia sent in questions, even though Ben never asked for them this week! Plus, joining the fun is former Eagles/Saints star & Super Bowl winner, Malcolm Jenkins! As well as WR sensation, Christian Watson, of the Green Bay Packers!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kaboom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now. N alright is the Fifth Hour
with Ben Mallard and Danny g as we continue all
weekend long here from Super Bowl fifty seven the iconic
Radio Row and Danny g. No need for a big
open right now, because we have a big name here.
(00:46):
This guy came on like game busters this year in
the NFL and he's slumming with us now. He really did,
and he could be in the middle of the desert
for four days of darkness, but no, he's at media
Row instead. That's right. His name Christian walk into the
Green Bay Packers and he joined us here in the
fifth Yeah, what this year? You know, you would admit
(01:08):
we were doing that great and then all of a sudden,
like around what week ten you went Gamebusters? What happened? Like?
What was different at the end of the year for you. Uh,
just find found a little more consistency, you know, I
found found that confidence that I need to play at
play at a high level. Uh and just just contentt off. Yeah,
and you like you like doing this media stuff here,
parading around all the different radio shows and podcasts and
(01:30):
all this. Uh you know, I mean it's crazy. Uh,
it's hectic, it's a lot, but uh, you know, I've
been enjoying it. I've been enjoying it. Do you have
your own podcast yet or are you doing your own
thing or not yet? I do not not yet, not yet.
Maybe maybe one day in the future. But but as
I write out now, so you're just starting your career,
you do you have a vision like down the line.
I don't know how long you plan on playing for.
Do you want to get into the media or anything
(01:51):
like that when you're done, or do you you want
to completely leave that in the past. I mean, I
haven't put too much thought into it, but you know,
I have a strong passion and love for football, so uh,
you know, I'm sure you know once I'm once I'm done,
whatever that is, I'm sure I wanna I want to
be around it some way, Uh, some in some some forms.
So we'll see. Ben, you said vision wrong packer. He
(02:12):
doesn't take ayahuasca, he's not doing not doing what do
you think about what's going on with your QB situation?
And I'm just I'm just letting him do him and
then whatever whatever he needs to do to to you know,
come to a decision and uh, you know, figure out
what he needs to figure out. Uh, let him do him.
And so I'm not putting too much thought into it.
Uh just just you know, controlling what I can control
and doing doing what I can do. Now, um, take
(02:35):
us behind the scenes. So you were obviously a young player,
but we're guys busting his chops on the ayahuasca and
all that in the locker room or they was that
we're boating or were they having a good time with that? Uh,
you know, I don't think there's anything too crazy. I mean,
if anything, you know, not not directly to him, but
you know, there might have been a few chirps you know,
here and there, but uh, you know, no, it was
it wasn't anything crazy. Uh you know, I don't think
(02:56):
uh anybody was you know, overwhelmed, you know what he
had going on. You know, I think that. Uh you know,
everyone you know loves Rogers, every everyone uh uh you
know has a really good connection with him in the
locker room. So uh, you know, we we we didn't
we kept that off the field. Was it was it awkward?
Like because I'm assuming being a receiver and you didn't
(03:17):
know where you were gonna be drafted, and you're drafted
there and you're like, uh was it What was it
like walking in and dealing with with a guy who's
one of the legends and your sport and your business
of football. Uh? Yeah, I mean it was crazy. There
was definitely a little bit of star struck no to
to seeing you know, seeing him for the first time
and uh, you know, just being on the football field
(03:37):
with him. Uh. But I mean for me, I just
kind of looked at as a as an opportunity to
to grow, uh and and get better and and you know,
be able to pick his brain because yeah, obviously there's
there's not a lot of opportunities out there to to
you know, play and learn from you know, a player
of his caliber. Absolutely, Now let's switch it up and
talk about the big headline that happened this week kind
(03:58):
of trumped the whole Super Bowl thing for a hot minute,
k d coming here to Phoenix for the Suns. I
know you're an NBA fan. I see your Kobe shirt.
You have good taste. Danny, my guy, Danny's jealous because
this guy the biggest Kobe Bryant fan that I know. Yeah,
I like that shirt and Lakers had a couple of
good moves too. What do you think about the movement
(04:19):
going on in the NBA? Oh, you know, I actually
I've I've been pretty busy, so I haven't been able
to dive too deep into it. Uh, you know, I definitely,
I definitely watched the games once they once they get
good a little a little later in the season, uh.
I mean, and like a lot of us, when there's
no no more NFL games, super Bowl exactly, we switch
our attention to the NBA exactly. But you know, I
(04:40):
haven't haven't dove into it too much. But obviously, you know,
I've seen that there's been quite a bit of commotion
going on with it, so it's been crazy. Yeah. So
you you're from Florida, right, you grew up in Florida,
but you went to school in North Dakota. Is now
you're in Green Bay, is uh what's going on North
Dakota versus Green Bay? What better play? Better environment? Uh?
(05:02):
Not known as party places either one of those locations.
Uh you know, I mean I've honestly, I've been joining
enjoying Green Bay a little bit more only because the
winters are a little bit less Harshly you frozen tundras
easier than when you went to college. Yeah, No, it's
it's definitely definitely a little a little more chili in
North Dakota. So I've been uh, you know, I I
(05:23):
don't want to say enjoy, but I definitely been enjoying
it more than I enjoyed the North Dakota winters. But
I mean it's it's a small town vibe and and
you know, I feel like everything revolves around the packers.
So it's a It's a nice place to be. But
growing up in Florida, you're used to the warm weather
and all that stuff, So how it's gotta be crazy
for you still you're in college and now in the NFL,
(05:44):
you're like cold, cold places. Have you adjusted over the
years and they're used to it now? Uh? You know,
I definitely adjusted. Uh you know, I don't think I
will ever be you know, used to it. But you
know I've I've learned to cope with it, you know,
layer up and Uh. I know that if I step outside,
just be outside for as little as possible, uh and
do what I need to do. But you know I've adjusted.
(06:05):
I'm I'm getting there, I'm getting used to it. Yeah.
Was that the first time you would have had ever
seen snow? Uh in North Dakota? Yeah? It was. It
was were you like trying to maybe get back on
the plane and go back to let me change my
my decision on that. I mean I stepped outside, uh
when it was snow for the first time, and I
enjoyed it for maybe like three minutes, yeah, and then
(06:29):
went inside and haven't enjoyed it since. But no, I
hear you just weird. My my brother and I grew
up in l A. We do the show from l A.
My brother moved to Appleton, which is right near Green Bay,
and so I went to visit him, uh last year actually,
and I was like, whoa, it was a whole a
whole different world and all that. Uh. Do you do
you go out much of you? You mostly just stay
(06:50):
at home when you're in Green Bay? I mean you
have you you were there last year? Do you have
your routine down? Are you pretty much just a home body?
You know. I mean I've always been a home body,
you know. You and then Tampa. Uh, never you know,
got out too much. You know, I enjoyed just uh,
you know, chilling obviously. You know when I'm when I'm
doing you know, football stuff. When I was doing school stuff,
school and football, it was always you know, super busy.
(07:10):
So you know when whenever I had some free time,
I I always enjoyed just no chilling at the crib. Uh.
But I mean if I needed, if I need to
step out, uh you know, grab something to eat or
you know, find something fun and doing green behind me
that there's there's stuff to do. So I've enjoyed it.
Great cheese, the cheese creates very good. The pizza not bad.
It was a good pizza the Mars Cheese Museum. And
you're talking about that on the podcast. You got to
(07:32):
drive down there, too much of a drive. Exactly which
of your packer teammates would we find you hanging with
the most often? Um, honestly, I would just say the
whole wide receiver group. You know, I feel like the
the entire wide receiver core was was really tighten it. Uh,
you know, any time you know one of us are
a couple of us were hanging out, it was it
was honestly all of us. Uh so, uh, you know,
(07:54):
the the entire wider super corp was was was pretty close.
I gotta give you credit. Now, Christian Watchings is here
and normally the way this works, Danny is you have
like you hold up a product and you're not doing
I love that You're just here to talk some football
and hang out with us, and I'm just, yeah, what
do you think of all this? Uh, it's it's it's
(08:15):
it's craziness, but uh it's dope. It's obviously my first
time in METEA row and then doing stuff like this
for the super Bowl. So I'm having a good time. Awesome,
what's great to meet you. Thanks for coming on with
Oh that's right. Yeah we are we are contractually obligated
by the powers that be. And you have an opinion
on the game. Who do you see? Um? You know,
I'm I don't you know, care too much about who wins.
(08:38):
I just want to watch a watch a really good game.
But you know, I've just been staying in NFC. I'm
gonna go with the Eagles. Okay, you know, you know,
like go to a big party. What's the plane You're
watched by yourself with family, and I know I'm just
gonna watch the at home with my fiance. Just probably
makes some advertisers. Make some food, uh, and enjoy the game.
You gotta break the diet, man, it's the Super Bowl.
You gotta pick out. I know, your professional athlete, but
(08:59):
you gotta live. You gotta live life, Christian, I can,
I I can put on a few pounds, exactly, Man.
You don't have to worry about it for a couple
of months. What's your what's your go to like? Your
favorite Super Bowl food? Honestly, probably some probably some caso
chips in cases or like or like a buffalo chicken dip. Yeah,
(09:20):
what about the guacamole? Always promote guacamole this day. I'm
not a big wak guy. I'm not. I enjoyed guak
by definitely. I definitely prefer prefer a case over a
solid move told you he had good tastes exactly. All right, Well, Christian,
thanks to come up by man, I appreciate it. Good
luck to you with the packers and we'll see what happens.
Thanks many, thank you. All right, that was very cool
Christian Watkins hanging out with us here in the fifth hour. Yeah,
(09:44):
nice guy. So I guess I now have to be
a Christian? Do I have to suck up to him
now because he came on the podcast. I don't know
how this works, Dad, You know, if he drops an
important past next season, you're gonna say this, moron pass, No,
I will, I will actually do that, you know you
that wasn't a good looking Kobe shirt that yet. Uh.
Now we have another big name that is popping up here.
(10:05):
We cannot say who. But in the meantime, this being
the Sunday Podcast, Now, this is a great testimonial to
the fans, the p Ones, Dandy g in, the Mallar
militia that love this show. Because I did not promote
the mail bag and and I was like, I always
have this neurosis when I don't promote things. Well, no
one's gonna send questions. And we we got a bunch
(10:26):
of questions in the mail bag, people that do not
send them in on Facebook, that emailed them in. And
so we'll do some of that right now. I think
we should do that right now, what do you say, Well,
have a mall or mail bag and we don't need
Ohio all this week. Right, We're good on that. Wow,
you get the week off to just enjoy the Super
Bowl festivities wherever you maybe exactly all right, So the
(10:49):
mail bag, these are actual questions send in by actual listeners.
If you'd like to be part of the mail bag
for next week, you can send your questions in right now.
You don't have to wait. Send them in care of
Real Fifth Hour at gmail dot com. That's Real fifth
Hour at gmail dot com. And we may make you
podcast famous and that boy who doesn't want to be
(11:09):
podcast famous? That is big. That is absolutely big. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two a m. Eastern eleven p m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio ap
uh So. The first question comes from Pierre in Springfield,
mass home of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, and
(11:32):
that is where Muffett mcgraws and trying. He says, Hey, Bannon,
Danny Gee. He says, as someone who lives far from civilization,
I often struggle doing cost benefit analysis and whether or
not to drive for takeout as a recovering large man, Ben,
how far will you go to pick up take out?
The closest this decent option to me is twenty to
(11:56):
thirty minutes away. All Right, So that's a great question, Pierre,
and and you can answer this is what we like it.
We like a nice meal. Um. I'm now at the point,
since I've started learning how to cook where I would
rather invest the time on having making what I want
in in the kitchen myself. Um. So the answer the
(12:16):
question is no, I would not drive thirty minutes unless
it was like rare and appropriate. But if it's something
I can go to it anytime, Like I'm here in Arizona.
One of my favorite restaurants is from Wisconsin. We had
Christian Watkins on Culver's, which is a Wisconsin chain. I
think it's great. My wife hates it, but I love it.
And uh and I was like, oh, you know it's
(12:37):
they don't have in California. So we'll go, we'll hang out,
we'll have some of that and all that. But um,
but that's because we're traveling, but back back home not
doing it. What about you, Danny, Yeah, especially when you
get into a serious relationship. Whether or not your girl
can cook, that's one thing. And also and in in
(12:57):
your case, Ben, you're a good cook. I'm not. But
the farthest my girl will go for food outside of
our own kitchen is ten minutes away. There's a ten
minute rule. It's a ten minute rule. It's the fish grill.
It's ten minutes away. You gotta get on the freeway
to go there. And she acts like that is going
(13:18):
to northern California. Well, and I have to say to Pierre,
when I was at my fattest, I'm the guy that
we'd be like, you know, I want Taco Bell, but
I kind of like some fries, and I think I
feel like Carl's Jr. Fie man. So I would go
through multiple drive your own accommodation. But then I'm like
do I I would like, do I get the Taco
(13:38):
Bell first? Do I get the fries first? You know?
What do I do? I always would go taco is
a fatast move right me at my heaviest I could
understand that a little bit because I remember going through
one drive through and it not being fulfilling because I'm thinking, yeah,
but I was also craving this. Always get a short
(13:58):
order here and then I'll add on to it there.
And I think, what's your record three places I have done?
I have done three? Yeah, I have done. If you've
gone over three, you might be on a TV show
on the TLC channel with a crane. Yeah there, Well,
the chance to make some money on that, you can
cash in on that. Who is next on the mail bag?
(14:20):
We've got Kevin in Kansas who writes and he says,
dear Ben and Danny g cleaning out my shirt drawer
last week. Well, that's the kind of thing we need
an update on that. That is what Kevin is doing.
He says. I realized how many old school shirts I
have in Polos I own. He says, T shirts Polos
and all that. All of them were given to teachers
by the school. That makes me wonder how much company
(14:42):
gear you own? And what's the nicest company gift you've
ever received? So your here right now? No, yeah, this
is probably this is probably up there, but but no
back I'm trying to be like back in the back
in the day. Let's see, we got a backpack that
was pretty I gotta I gotten more than one. Oh man,
(15:03):
I have so many different backpacks you have, you have
a ge backpack. I have I have because every year
for the these radio stations don't know what they give.
They give bags out every year, you know bags uh,
a cell phone charger one year, remember got we got that,
the speaker, a bluetooth, remember the speaker. Those are all
(15:25):
things Fox has given out that I would say the
most valuable thing that we ever had when I started.
When I left San Diego and I was working at
the mighty six ninety and they started Extra Sports eleven
fifty in l A. They had this huge marketing budget
and so they had this huge campaign. They billboards up
and all this. I was not in any of the billboards,
(15:46):
but they gave us for photos. You know those letterman
jackets you'd get in high school at the really expensive
letterman jackets with the patches, and so they made for
the radio station. They made a letterman's jacket. It was
the right size and everything. Yeah, I know it fit.
I still have it. It's still in great shape and
it's held up and I have if you want any
(16:06):
old T shirts, hats, any of that. Danny from radio stations,
my wife we when we moved the last time, and
to you, Kevin um, she wanted to get rid of
that stuff. And I don't know I should have gotten
rid of it, but I just kind of held on it.
I don't know, it's I'm the same. I feel like
that's the stuff you need to save and it's better.
(16:26):
That might be better than my number one answer on
the board maybe five years ago at our Christmas party,
remember when our bosses had the prostitutes up on the
seventh floor. That was a great well. And that's the
gift that keeps giving, because you know, that's a surprise.
When you get done with the the prostitutes're like, whoa
wait a minute. They they've got a special gift for
(16:47):
you that pops up a couple of days later. All right.
Next up on the mail bag, we've got Mike from
Fuller to no relation to fur Dog Danny. This is
not this could not be furg Dog. This is Mike
from Fuller To in in southern California, home of the Titans,
the cal State Fullerton Titans, whose rival is you see
(17:08):
Irvine be and Eaters Mike and Fullerton rights. And he says, hey, Bannon, Danny,
g did you guys hear Mexico banned all shark cage tourism.
I did not hear this, is that true. I didn't
hear that either. He says, you regret not getting in
the water with a great white shark while you had
the chance. And speaking of the ocean, do either of
you have any good fireboat stories. I'd love to hear one. Oh, yeah,
(17:34):
there you go, man. Yeah. Last week, last week you
mentioned you had some San Francis. This is all time
great stories. Look at that. We're running out of time.
We're gonna have to blow off. I guess this is
a better story. So I'm gonna go way back. I'm
gonna date myself. We're good. They don't need no, We're
all right, we don't need nothing. We're solid. So I'm
(17:56):
gonna go back to when they opened up the new
ballpark in San Francisco, the Giants new stadium, which at
that time, yeah, it was called pac Bell at the time.
At open. So I was doing local radio and we
thought Dodgers and Giants, great rivalry. This was a huge deal.
The Giants had played at Candlestick Park for a long
(18:17):
long time. The new ballpark, beautiful stadium, and so we
did a promotion. The Dodgers opened up the stadium against
the Giants, and so we all went up. The marketing
guys had this great idea, We're gonna go in a
pirate ship and McCovey cove outside the but we didn't
know it was McCovey Cole. We just we're going the
water outside the ballpark and we're going to you know
(18:39):
show where we're with the Kings of the Giants ballpark
or whatever it was. So I'm on a boat with
Dave Smith, the guy that I did the show with,
Vic the Brick and uh, who's a big radio star
at M five seven. If you're not familiar with Victor
Brick around the country, he worked at Fox Sports Radio.
So Vick was there. There were some of the other
hosts that were part of this, and there were a
(19:01):
bunch of sponsors. And so the bit we were broadcasting
live from the pirate ship and we're going around the water.
There's beautiful. It was perfect. It was a day game,
it was perfect weather. It was awesome. What could so
And of course Vic and I believe it was a
Martinez who has become a big star in public radio.
(19:23):
He does like public radio and nationally, I believe, but
a Martinez and vic were dressed up as pirates, and
we are cruising through and everyone's having a great time
through the waterway right there outside the ballpark, and we
see a San Francisco fireboat off in the distance. We're like, okay, whatever,
and the fireboat comes at us and it turns on
(19:48):
the all of the hoses from the fireboat to flood
to flood our boat. So you see people, these are
big time business people who are big sponsors of the
radio station, jumping underneath trying to get away from the lord.
You do. I had no idea, Danny. I admit I'm
naive on this one. It looks when you were looking
(20:10):
at a fireboat, it looks really majestic. The water streaming out.
It is an insane amount of money when it's raining,
when it's coming down on top of your head. There
the water from the fire hoses. It's nuts. It's absolutely insane.
Because can b R had I don't know whether they
(20:30):
knew somebody at the fire department or something like that.
They thought, okay, radio rivalry. Yeah, so we're gonna get
these idiots dressed up as fire as it was the
funny vic the brick. I will never forget to my
last breath here Vix one of the great characters. I'll
never forget him standing up in a totally disheveled in
(20:52):
a pirate costume, soaking way and in furious first shower weeks.
Oh my goodness, it was nuts. So it was absolutely nuts. So, uh, Danny,
and so that is my fireboat story. On the mailbag,
A good job by you, Mike Cei. I was worried
(21:14):
if somebody didn't bring that up. I was not going to.
I was not gonna bring it up. But but he did.
Next up on the mailbag, we have Barry in Nashville,
the Music City. Barry writes in he says, yo yo mo, Benny.
I'm sure you have told this story, but I don't
recall it. Can you tell us how you ended up
meeting and befriending the great Fred Dryer? Yeah. Well Fred
(21:37):
was actually a listener to the show, and we have
mutual friends, and so that's that's how that that happened.
Fred was like, he's up late sometimes and he was listening,
and uh. And then a friend we had a mutual
friend who introduced me, and then we had Fred on
and Fred's come on a few times. It was great
having him on this week some of those old school
(21:58):
stories about the seventies and the eighties is that he
was doing was awesome. It was amazing. Well, that's good
for the mail bag right now, right, yeah, I think
we have a guest stepping up. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two
am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app. Alright, and that guest is
here now, that's right. And New Orleans they want super
(22:21):
bowls with both those teams, and and now he's hanging
out on radio row or was it media role? That
doesn't sound as good to be there. He is right there, Malcolm, welcome,
what's going on? Yeah, I appreciate you put some respect
on it. That's right, the one and old there is
no sequel. Yeah, yeah, you're enjoying this. How many of
(22:44):
these things have you done? Too many? I'm like, let's see,
if I played thirteen years, I played in two Super Bowls,
so that means eleven, it would be twelve, now twelve,
So you're gonna go to You're not gonna go autopilot
on us, right, No, no, no no, no, I just had
a coffee. I'm good. You didn't study like sports cliche
dot com back when we were playing at all. You
(23:06):
didn't get into that. You kept it real there. So
you know, you've obviously just played it not that long ago.
You're now done, but you still know a bunch of
these guys, right, is it? Is it awkward you're pulling
for Philadelphia? I would assume yeah, yeah, but it's a
different team. Like you know, it's only the guys that
I played with. You got the Kelsey Um, Brandon Graham,
(23:28):
Fletcher Cox, Um, a few of the younger guys Vonte Maddox,
uh sees are Gonna Johnson I was with in New
Orleans and UM super excited about what he's doing in Philly.
But you know, other than that, everybody else is kind
of actually I'm lying. Josh Sweat was there, Marcus? Is
(23:50):
this a lot of the young talent, the new guys?
You know? I don't know, but um, they've had a
strong core of players that you know, have been there
and been able to kind of, you know, keep the culture,
uh intact. Yeah, so I have someboddies to do radio
in Philadelphia. They tell me, I didn't I heard you
were coming up. They the love affair between the Eagle
fans and you in Philadelphia. What not that they didn't
(24:12):
love you in New Orleans? Right, you played there multiple times.
But what was it like for you, because there was
like this bond, the way they loved the way that
you played in Philadelphia? What was that like? Well, I'm
from New Jersey, so so I understood, you know a
few things about what it means to you know, grow
up in that kind of area. Um and I embodied
that in my play. And so you know, I knew
(24:33):
trying to come and play safety for Philadelphia. The automatic
thing people are gonna do is compare you to Brian Dawkins.
And when I looked at what he did, he just
played with phenomenal passion. You know, I wasn't afraid of anybody.
Was a smaller guy. Um well, he played like a giant,
but realistically he was, you know, not the biggest safety
out there, but played like a giant. And so for me,
(24:55):
you know, I made up my mind that I was
just gonna do me. I was gonna talk trash, I
was not gonna back down from any body. I fight
if I need to. And those are the things really
that Philadelphia values. That's their fan base, right, and I
think that's what made that connection so special between me
and the city. And then obviously all the things that
I've I've dove head first into trying to make, um,
you know, an impact on that city in a positive
(25:15):
way in the community and in every aspect that I could,
and and it came back to me, you know, with
with love. So I think it's the reciprocity there that,
um you just don't get to see with you know,
a ton of players, and for me, it's been phenomenal.
Where do you spend most of your time since playing? Yeah,
so I'm split between New Orleans and Philadelphia. My kids
(25:36):
are down in New Orleans, so I'm there most of
the time. But I'm finding every opportunity that i can
to get back up. What you think about Derek Carr
and the Saints and maybe it working out for for
Derek to go there to New Orleans. I mean it's
a good situation, you know. They they are looking for
just some stability at the quarterback position, a veteran who's
proven that can do some things, good locker room guy,
(25:59):
um because because to have a hell of a defense
and they for the last three four years, they've had
a defense that's only really gotten better. They just need,
you know, some some balance to be able to play
complimentary football weekend and week out. And I think, you know,
it's been rough the last few years between Drew retiring him,
you know, being a little bit older in his career,
him getting banged up, and then two years in the
(26:20):
road they've had quarterbacks banged up. Has just been rough.
So yeah, I mean, quarterback is obviously something they need
to address if the Saints want to have any success. Yeah,
I want to go back to the way that you played.
Like the NFL, it's changed, It's changed as you've been playing.
It's changed. Like what do you think is gonna happen
five years from ten? You if you were in charge,
what would you do it? If I was in charge,
(26:41):
I would find quarterbacks and ball carriers for getting knocked
out and getting hurt, because like I would always get
mad when they throw a ball across the middle of
my job is to not allow you to catch the ball.
But then I get fined. Well what about these rules
with the tackling? Like how are in real time? I
don't know. I mean, I I played high school football.
(27:02):
You play really good, but I don't understand, Like, how
are you supposed to do at a millisecond? It's a joke,
I mean, But but realistically, the NFL always responds to
his fan base, right, So when things happen, t O
got hurt way back in the day, and what they do.
They banned horse collar tackles, all right, the wrong the
(27:22):
star player gets hurt, they'll change rules for that. Uh.
You know, when things are coming out and the game
gets a little bit too violent, they will change the
game for that, right, just because the fans, whatever they say,
they'll respond to in the league. The NFL does that
better than any league or business out there. Spends the narrative,
changes it so people can feel connected to the game
and still watch it and feel good about it, um,
(27:44):
regardless of what it really means for the players. Yeah,
but when you were when you were some of those
penalties you your reaction, You're like, you're looking at the officials,
like what did I think? At the replayers? But but
some of those things are necessary. Like and like you said,
it's changed a lot even while I was playing. I
came in two thousand nine, and you know, it was
still a little bit of old school where you're trying
to like tee off on guys. Uh. And I realized that,
(28:05):
like I was hurting myself a lot trying to hurt
other people, right, And then you see what Seattle was doing,
and they changed more to like a gator role type
of tackle, a rugby style tackle that gets your head
out of the way. And I changed to that, and
next you know, I didn't miss a game for eight
straight seasons just because I played the game different, more
cognizant about my own health and it's important. So I
(28:28):
think there's a little bit of balance. But I do
think some of some of the things that they do
don't make any sense. Uh, even you know when they
did the whole heads up football campaign, playing with your
head up, save your neck. Not that don't stop you
from getting but it makes us feel better about it.
But is there really away, Like we talk about this
on the radio show Idea, you can't totally make football.
(28:50):
There's always no it's not a safe What what are
we doing here? There's no safe way to play the game.
You will get hurt. It's a re rate. Every single
player who plays football will get hurt. You have to
and then so it's just about the severity, uh, and
the types of injuries that you have. We can deal
with muscles and lower extremities, but we talk about your
(29:12):
quality of life moving on from the game. That's where
you're looking at your brain, UM, your your organs, and
the way you take care of your body, what you
put into your body. Those things I think are very important.
And brock Purty found that out real fast. Do you
think they're gonna get to my homes often? I mean,
do you know that's the game plan right he's I mean,
(29:34):
obviously we'll see what his health looks like with a
larger gap now two weeks off before having to play
another game with that ankle. But you got to imagine
that the Eagles entire game plan is going to be
get to Patrick Mahomes as fast as possible. But I
think you know, patter smart man. Patrick knows what he's doing.
He knows how to get the ball out of his hands,
he knows how to manipulate the defense. UH. And and
(29:56):
I think what the Eagles need to do mostly is
keep him from extending to play if they can keep
him from going off schedule, UH, and get pressure on
them that way. I think they'll be. I think they'll have,
you know, all the success that they want. What about
Jalen Hurts here? Because he's not in some of these
playoff games. He hasn't played particularly great. The numbers aren't wonderful,
The numbers a small sample size. He plays the game
(30:19):
the way it needs to be played. He's not worried
about the stats or the only stat that matters is
did they win? And how much? Did they win? By?
A lot? So it's like, if you're the quarterback and
y'all win by twenty four or more, what do you mean?
You're punching back, Malcolm against the criticism of Jalen Hursts.
They've been bouncing around a little. They wanted to look
a certain way, but Jalen Hurts his game has never
(30:41):
looked like what people wanted to look. And that's what
that's really the whole rhetoric around him. And that's why
I really enjoyed his ability to just stay poised and
focused on what matters right, and the winds are all
that matter right and and all this all he's done
every single day is show up, answer the questions, go
to work and perform and win. Speaking of what matters
(31:01):
you're an author. Yeah, congratulations, that's uh. You've got a
new books coming out this week? Is this all right?
We announced it this week, it comes out. It comes
out in November, but people can preorder it now any
major book retailer Amazon. It's called What Winners Won't Tell
Your Lessons from a legendary defender. It's just in the
can now you've already written it, or because I wanted
(31:24):
to write a book, I've been talking to people. It's
a pain of the blood to do this right, and
it is a lot of work. It's a labor of
love for sure, but man would have almost all pictures.
But as you know, the hardest part is there coming
up with what you want to say, like what is
your message and understanding that like, not everything's gonna fit
in the book, right, it's not my whole life. It's
(31:46):
not an expose, a or a tell all. But realistically,
I just finished a thirteen year career, done a lot
of different things in that span of time, have a
lot of different experiences, and it's like, how do I
contextualize and crystallize all of that and and be able
to disseminate that in ways that can help people. So
you know, I'm a single father dealing with you know,
all of the pressures of being a dad. People can
(32:09):
relate to that, you know, whether it be athletes who
want to understand what it takes to be great, or
the business side of sports. People want to know those
things leadership. Um. You know, there's so many different things
that I've learned, and what I've done is taking all
of those lessons and and just really telling my story
kind of through this this uh weave of my family,
(32:31):
my career, uh in business. And you've got Tom Brady,
he's doing the how did you get he's he's doing
the beginning the four That was a long shot. You know,
He's been by far my favorite person to compete against
my entire career. Just I've got so much respect for
(32:52):
who he is as a competitor, what he's done and
and it's not really until he just retired where you
really sit back and take inventory, but the fact that
I got to compete my entire career against probably the
greatest quarterback that will ever play this game. Um, And
so you know, when I reach out, it was definitely
a long shot. UM. I think the last time, I
think it helps that the last significant game we played
(33:13):
he won, right, That helped a little bit, But no,
I think I think we we have a mutual respect for,
you know, each other's game and how we approached the game,
how we approach our locker rooms, our teammates, and just
what we mean to the game of football. Yeah, you
think he's gonna come back and play a game. I
think he's done for really three months from now, We're
(33:35):
not going to see him back, you know what. I
can't say for a hundred percent, but I think I
would if I was a betting man, I would say,
I think he's I think he's finally putting it down.
What about the TV stuff? You think he'll he'll do that?
Really he'll go forward with that? Yeah, now that stuff,
I don't know how long he'll like that. Yeah. Yeah,
A lot of these guys were struggling with it, you know,
like even he saw Drew had a plan and he
(33:57):
stepped down from it. It's you know, it's one of
those things that I think as players were in it,
and so it's very easy to talk about the game,
but television is a little different. When you gotta start
criticizing guys and coming up with hot takes. And all
those things like Joe Montana couldn't do it way back.
You didn't want to criticize. I didn't want to criticize.
And that's that's part of you, like you know your
little us, right you got, I got to give a gap.
(34:18):
But I'm the same way. I don't really. I know
how hard it is. I know how hard these players work,
I know how competitive the talent is, and so it's
hard for me to say how this person sucks. So
this person is not good. And it's because it's all relative, right,
it's relatively to the best in the world. To Davante Adams, Yes,
that guy looks sure for sure. All right, well we'll
(34:40):
get you out of here on that, Malcolm. Thank you.
And again the book if you want to get it
not available to November. You can prepreder preorder book. It
sounds like a great book. What winners won't tell your
lessons from a legendary defender and a beloved Philadelphia Eagle
and a bunch of Pro Bowls and all that. Speaking
of that, I know you're gonna pick the Eagles. You
gotta score them. I don't think it'll be close. I
(35:01):
think they'll win. I think they'll win. Actually, I think
they'll win by a touchdown. I don't know what school.
They'll win by a touchdown, but it won't be close
though score and a late score that will make it
within seven, but I think they'll be in control. I'm
gonna put my son's college money on that bag there
it is. Don't come looking for me Jenkins h and
(35:22):
that will do us for us anything. Radio row where
we are out of here. Now back to the reality
of the day to day grind. That's right, see you
back on Fox Sports Radio. You'll be back on talking
about the Super Bowl tonight on the overnight uh all
over the country there at two am to six am
Eastern Time coast. Yes, and I'll be back on Afternoon
(35:42):
Drive with Covino and Rich on Monday afternoon, and then
the podcast will jump back into effect next weekend, so
you can't wait for that. Absolutely, have a great rest
of your day, enjoy the Super Bowl, and we will
catch you next time. Later, Skater,
Kaboom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now. N alright is the Fifth Hour
with Ben Mallard and Danny g as we continue all
weekend long here from Super Bowl fifty seven the iconic
Radio Row and Danny g. No need for a big
open right now, because we have a big name here.
(00:46):
This guy came on like game busters this year in
the NFL and he's slumming with us now. He really did,
and he could be in the middle of the desert
for four days of darkness, but no, he's at media
Row instead. That's right. His name Christian walk into the
Green Bay Packers and he joined us here in the
fifth Yeah, what this year? You know, you would admit
(01:08):
we were doing that great and then all of a sudden,
like around what week ten you went Gamebusters? What happened? Like?
What was different at the end of the year for you. Uh,
just find found a little more consistency, you know, I
found found that confidence that I need to play at
play at a high level. Uh and just just contentt off. Yeah,
and you like you like doing this media stuff here,
parading around all the different radio shows and podcasts and
(01:30):
all this. Uh you know, I mean it's crazy. Uh,
it's hectic, it's a lot, but uh, you know, I've
been enjoying it. I've been enjoying it. Do you have
your own podcast yet or are you doing your own
thing or not yet? I do not not yet, not yet.
Maybe maybe one day in the future. But but as
I write out now, so you're just starting your career,
you do you have a vision like down the line.
I don't know how long you plan on playing for.
Do you want to get into the media or anything
(01:51):
like that when you're done, or do you you want
to completely leave that in the past. I mean, I
haven't put too much thought into it, but you know,
I have a strong passion and love for football, so uh,
you know, I'm sure you know once I'm once I'm done,
whatever that is, I'm sure I wanna I want to
be around it some way, Uh, some in some some forms.
So we'll see. Ben, you said vision wrong packer. He
(02:12):
doesn't take ayahuasca, he's not doing not doing what do
you think about what's going on with your QB situation?
And I'm just I'm just letting him do him and
then whatever whatever he needs to do to to you know,
come to a decision and uh, you know, figure out
what he needs to figure out. Uh, let him do him.
And so I'm not putting too much thought into it.
Uh just just you know, controlling what I can control
and doing doing what I can do. Now, um, take
(02:35):
us behind the scenes. So you were obviously a young player,
but we're guys busting his chops on the ayahuasca and
all that in the locker room or they was that
we're boating or were they having a good time with that? Uh,
you know, I don't think there's anything too crazy. I mean,
if anything, you know, not not directly to him, but
you know, there might have been a few chirps you know,
here and there, but uh, you know, no, it was
it wasn't anything crazy. Uh you know, I don't think
(02:56):
uh anybody was you know, overwhelmed, you know what he
had going on. You know, I think that. Uh you know,
everyone you know loves Rogers, every everyone uh uh you
know has a really good connection with him in the
locker room. So uh, you know, we we we didn't
we kept that off the field. Was it was it awkward?
Like because I'm assuming being a receiver and you didn't
(03:17):
know where you were gonna be drafted, and you're drafted
there and you're like, uh was it What was it
like walking in and dealing with with a guy who's
one of the legends and your sport and your business
of football. Uh? Yeah, I mean it was crazy. There
was definitely a little bit of star struck no to
to seeing you know, seeing him for the first time
and uh, you know, just being on the football field
(03:37):
with him. Uh. But I mean for me, I just
kind of looked at as a as an opportunity to
to grow, uh and and get better and and you know,
be able to pick his brain because yeah, obviously there's
there's not a lot of opportunities out there to to
you know, play and learn from you know, a player
of his caliber. Absolutely, Now let's switch it up and
talk about the big headline that happened this week kind
(03:58):
of trumped the whole Super Bowl thing for a hot minute,
k d coming here to Phoenix for the Suns. I
know you're an NBA fan. I see your Kobe shirt.
You have good taste. Danny, my guy, Danny's jealous because
this guy the biggest Kobe Bryant fan that I know. Yeah,
I like that shirt and Lakers had a couple of
good moves too. What do you think about the movement
(04:19):
going on in the NBA? Oh, you know, I actually
I've I've been pretty busy, so I haven't been able
to dive too deep into it. Uh, you know, I definitely,
I definitely watched the games once they once they get
good a little a little later in the season, uh.
I mean, and like a lot of us, when there's
no no more NFL games, super Bowl exactly, we switch
our attention to the NBA exactly. But you know, I
(04:40):
haven't haven't dove into it too much. But obviously, you know,
I've seen that there's been quite a bit of commotion
going on with it, so it's been crazy. Yeah. So
you you're from Florida, right, you grew up in Florida,
but you went to school in North Dakota. Is now
you're in Green Bay, is uh what's going on North
Dakota versus Green Bay? What better play? Better environment? Uh?
(05:02):
Not known as party places either one of those locations.
Uh you know, I mean I've honestly, I've been joining
enjoying Green Bay a little bit more only because the
winters are a little bit less Harshly you frozen tundras
easier than when you went to college. Yeah, No, it's
it's definitely definitely a little a little more chili in
North Dakota. So I've been uh, you know, I I
(05:23):
don't want to say enjoy, but I definitely been enjoying
it more than I enjoyed the North Dakota winters. But
I mean it's it's a small town vibe and and
you know, I feel like everything revolves around the packers.
So it's a It's a nice place to be. But
growing up in Florida, you're used to the warm weather
and all that stuff, So how it's gotta be crazy
for you still you're in college and now in the NFL,
(05:44):
you're like cold, cold places. Have you adjusted over the
years and they're used to it now? Uh? You know,
I definitely adjusted. Uh you know, I don't think I
will ever be you know, used to it. But you
know I've I've learned to cope with it, you know,
layer up and Uh. I know that if I step outside,
just be outside for as little as possible, uh and
do what I need to do. But you know I've adjusted.
(06:05):
I'm I'm getting there, I'm getting used to it. Yeah.
Was that the first time you would have had ever
seen snow? Uh in North Dakota? Yeah? It was. It
was were you like trying to maybe get back on
the plane and go back to let me change my
my decision on that. I mean I stepped outside, uh
when it was snow for the first time, and I
enjoyed it for maybe like three minutes, yeah, and then
(06:29):
went inside and haven't enjoyed it since. But no, I
hear you just weird. My my brother and I grew
up in l A. We do the show from l A.
My brother moved to Appleton, which is right near Green Bay,
and so I went to visit him, uh last year actually,
and I was like, whoa, it was a whole a
whole different world and all that. Uh. Do you do
you go out much of you? You mostly just stay
(06:50):
at home when you're in Green Bay? I mean you
have you you were there last year? Do you have
your routine down? Are you pretty much just a home body?
You know. I mean I've always been a home body,
you know. You and then Tampa. Uh, never you know,
got out too much. You know, I enjoyed just uh,
you know, chilling obviously. You know when I'm when I'm
doing you know, football stuff. When I was doing school stuff,
school and football, it was always you know, super busy.
(07:10):
So you know when whenever I had some free time,
I I always enjoyed just no chilling at the crib. Uh.
But I mean if I needed, if I need to
step out, uh you know, grab something to eat or
you know, find something fun and doing green behind me
that there's there's stuff to do. So I've enjoyed it.
Great cheese, the cheese creates very good. The pizza not bad.
It was a good pizza the Mars Cheese Museum. And
you're talking about that on the podcast. You got to
(07:32):
drive down there, too much of a drive. Exactly which
of your packer teammates would we find you hanging with
the most often? Um, honestly, I would just say the
whole wide receiver group. You know, I feel like the
the entire wide receiver core was was really tighten it. Uh,
you know, any time you know one of us are
a couple of us were hanging out, it was it
was honestly all of us. Uh so, uh, you know,
(07:54):
the the entire wider super corp was was was pretty close.
I gotta give you credit. Now, Christian Watchings is here
and normally the way this works, Danny is you have
like you hold up a product and you're not doing
I love that You're just here to talk some football
and hang out with us, and I'm just, yeah, what
do you think of all this? Uh, it's it's it's
(08:15):
it's craziness, but uh it's dope. It's obviously my first
time in METEA row and then doing stuff like this
for the super Bowl. So I'm having a good time. Awesome,
what's great to meet you. Thanks for coming on with
Oh that's right. Yeah we are we are contractually obligated
by the powers that be. And you have an opinion
on the game. Who do you see? Um? You know,
I'm I don't you know, care too much about who wins.
(08:38):
I just want to watch a watch a really good game.
But you know, I've just been staying in NFC. I'm
gonna go with the Eagles. Okay, you know, you know,
like go to a big party. What's the plane You're
watched by yourself with family, and I know I'm just
gonna watch the at home with my fiance. Just probably
makes some advertisers. Make some food, uh, and enjoy the game.
You gotta break the diet, man, it's the Super Bowl.
You gotta pick out. I know, your professional athlete, but
(08:59):
you gotta live. You gotta live life, Christian, I can,
I I can put on a few pounds, exactly, Man.
You don't have to worry about it for a couple
of months. What's your what's your go to like? Your
favorite Super Bowl food? Honestly, probably some probably some caso
chips in cases or like or like a buffalo chicken dip. Yeah,
(09:20):
what about the guacamole? Always promote guacamole this day. I'm
not a big wak guy. I'm not. I enjoyed guak
by definitely. I definitely prefer prefer a case over a
solid move told you he had good tastes exactly. All right, Well, Christian,
thanks to come up by man, I appreciate it. Good
luck to you with the packers and we'll see what happens.
Thanks many, thank you. All right, that was very cool
Christian Watkins hanging out with us here in the fifth hour. Yeah,
(09:44):
nice guy. So I guess I now have to be
a Christian? Do I have to suck up to him
now because he came on the podcast. I don't know
how this works, Dad, You know, if he drops an
important past next season, you're gonna say this, moron pass, No,
I will, I will actually do that, you know you
that wasn't a good looking Kobe shirt that yet. Uh.
Now we have another big name that is popping up here.
(10:05):
We cannot say who. But in the meantime, this being
the Sunday Podcast, Now, this is a great testimonial to
the fans, the p Ones, Dandy g in, the Mallar
militia that love this show. Because I did not promote
the mail bag and and I was like, I always
have this neurosis when I don't promote things. Well, no
one's gonna send questions. And we we got a bunch
(10:26):
of questions in the mail bag, people that do not
send them in on Facebook, that emailed them in. And
so we'll do some of that right now. I think
we should do that right now, what do you say, Well,
have a mall or mail bag and we don't need
Ohio all this week. Right, We're good on that. Wow,
you get the week off to just enjoy the Super
Bowl festivities wherever you maybe exactly all right, So the
(10:49):
mail bag, these are actual questions send in by actual listeners.
If you'd like to be part of the mail bag
for next week, you can send your questions in right now.
You don't have to wait. Send them in care of
Real Fifth Hour at gmail dot com. That's Real fifth
Hour at gmail dot com. And we may make you
podcast famous and that boy who doesn't want to be
(11:09):
podcast famous? That is big. That is absolutely big. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two a m. Eastern eleven p m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio ap
uh So. The first question comes from Pierre in Springfield,
mass home of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, and
(11:32):
that is where Muffett mcgraws and trying. He says, Hey, Bannon,
Danny Gee. He says, as someone who lives far from civilization,
I often struggle doing cost benefit analysis and whether or
not to drive for takeout as a recovering large man, Ben,
how far will you go to pick up take out?
The closest this decent option to me is twenty to
(11:56):
thirty minutes away. All Right, So that's a great question, Pierre,
and and you can answer this is what we like it.
We like a nice meal. Um. I'm now at the point,
since I've started learning how to cook where I would
rather invest the time on having making what I want
in in the kitchen myself. Um. So the answer the
(12:16):
question is no, I would not drive thirty minutes unless
it was like rare and appropriate. But if it's something
I can go to it anytime, Like I'm here in Arizona.
One of my favorite restaurants is from Wisconsin. We had
Christian Watkins on Culver's, which is a Wisconsin chain. I
think it's great. My wife hates it, but I love it.
And uh and I was like, oh, you know it's
(12:37):
they don't have in California. So we'll go, we'll hang out,
we'll have some of that and all that. But um,
but that's because we're traveling, but back back home not
doing it. What about you, Danny, Yeah, especially when you
get into a serious relationship. Whether or not your girl
can cook, that's one thing. And also and in in
(12:57):
your case, Ben, you're a good cook. I'm not. But
the farthest my girl will go for food outside of
our own kitchen is ten minutes away. There's a ten
minute rule. It's a ten minute rule. It's the fish grill.
It's ten minutes away. You gotta get on the freeway
to go there. And she acts like that is going
(13:18):
to northern California. Well, and I have to say to Pierre,
when I was at my fattest, I'm the guy that
we'd be like, you know, I want Taco Bell, but
I kind of like some fries, and I think I
feel like Carl's Jr. Fie man. So I would go
through multiple drive your own accommodation. But then I'm like
do I I would like, do I get the Taco
(13:38):
Bell first? Do I get the fries first? You know?
What do I do? I always would go taco is
a fatast move right me at my heaviest I could
understand that a little bit because I remember going through
one drive through and it not being fulfilling because I'm thinking, yeah,
but I was also craving this. Always get a short
(13:58):
order here and then I'll add on to it there.
And I think, what's your record three places I have done?
I have done three? Yeah, I have done. If you've
gone over three, you might be on a TV show
on the TLC channel with a crane. Yeah there, Well,
the chance to make some money on that, you can
cash in on that. Who is next on the mail bag?
(14:20):
We've got Kevin in Kansas who writes and he says,
dear Ben and Danny g cleaning out my shirt drawer
last week. Well, that's the kind of thing we need
an update on that. That is what Kevin is doing.
He says. I realized how many old school shirts I
have in Polos I own. He says, T shirts Polos
and all that. All of them were given to teachers
by the school. That makes me wonder how much company
(14:42):
gear you own? And what's the nicest company gift you've
ever received? So your here right now? No, yeah, this
is probably this is probably up there, but but no
back I'm trying to be like back in the back
in the day. Let's see, we got a backpack that
was pretty I gotta I gotten more than one. Oh man,
(15:03):
I have so many different backpacks you have, you have
a ge backpack. I have I have because every year
for the these radio stations don't know what they give.
They give bags out every year, you know bags uh,
a cell phone charger one year, remember got we got that,
the speaker, a bluetooth, remember the speaker. Those are all
(15:25):
things Fox has given out that I would say the
most valuable thing that we ever had when I started.
When I left San Diego and I was working at
the mighty six ninety and they started Extra Sports eleven
fifty in l A. They had this huge marketing budget
and so they had this huge campaign. They billboards up
and all this. I was not in any of the billboards,
(15:46):
but they gave us for photos. You know those letterman
jackets you'd get in high school at the really expensive
letterman jackets with the patches, and so they made for
the radio station. They made a letterman's jacket. It was
the right size and everything. Yeah, I know it fit.
I still have it. It's still in great shape and
it's held up and I have if you want any
(16:06):
old T shirts, hats, any of that. Danny from radio stations,
my wife we when we moved the last time, and
to you, Kevin um, she wanted to get rid of
that stuff. And I don't know I should have gotten
rid of it, but I just kind of held on it.
I don't know, it's I'm the same. I feel like
that's the stuff you need to save and it's better.
(16:26):
That might be better than my number one answer on
the board maybe five years ago at our Christmas party,
remember when our bosses had the prostitutes up on the
seventh floor. That was a great well. And that's the
gift that keeps giving, because you know, that's a surprise.
When you get done with the the prostitutes're like, whoa
wait a minute. They they've got a special gift for
(16:47):
you that pops up a couple of days later. All right.
Next up on the mail bag, we've got Mike from
Fuller to no relation to fur Dog Danny. This is
not this could not be furg Dog. This is Mike
from Fuller To in in southern California, home of the Titans,
the cal State Fullerton Titans, whose rival is you see
(17:08):
Irvine be and Eaters Mike and Fullerton rights. And he says, hey, Bannon, Danny,
g did you guys hear Mexico banned all shark cage tourism.
I did not hear this, is that true. I didn't
hear that either. He says, you regret not getting in
the water with a great white shark while you had
the chance. And speaking of the ocean, do either of
you have any good fireboat stories. I'd love to hear one. Oh, yeah,
(17:34):
there you go, man. Yeah. Last week, last week you
mentioned you had some San Francis. This is all time
great stories. Look at that. We're running out of time.
We're gonna have to blow off. I guess this is
a better story. So I'm gonna go way back. I'm
gonna date myself. We're good. They don't need no, We're
all right, we don't need nothing. We're solid. So I'm
(17:56):
gonna go back to when they opened up the new
ballpark in San Francisco, the Giants new stadium, which at
that time, yeah, it was called pac Bell at the time.
At open. So I was doing local radio and we
thought Dodgers and Giants, great rivalry. This was a huge deal.
The Giants had played at Candlestick Park for a long
(18:17):
long time. The new ballpark, beautiful stadium, and so we
did a promotion. The Dodgers opened up the stadium against
the Giants, and so we all went up. The marketing
guys had this great idea, We're gonna go in a
pirate ship and McCovey cove outside the but we didn't
know it was McCovey Cole. We just we're going the
water outside the ballpark and we're going to you know
(18:39):
show where we're with the Kings of the Giants ballpark
or whatever it was. So I'm on a boat with
Dave Smith, the guy that I did the show with,
Vic the Brick and uh, who's a big radio star
at M five seven. If you're not familiar with Victor
Brick around the country, he worked at Fox Sports Radio.
So Vick was there. There were some of the other
hosts that were part of this, and there were a
(19:01):
bunch of sponsors. And so the bit we were broadcasting
live from the pirate ship and we're going around the water.
There's beautiful. It was perfect. It was a day game,
it was perfect weather. It was awesome. What could so
And of course Vic and I believe it was a
Martinez who has become a big star in public radio.
(19:23):
He does like public radio and nationally, I believe, but
a Martinez and vic were dressed up as pirates, and
we are cruising through and everyone's having a great time
through the waterway right there outside the ballpark, and we
see a San Francisco fireboat off in the distance. We're like, okay, whatever,
and the fireboat comes at us and it turns on
(19:48):
the all of the hoses from the fireboat to flood
to flood our boat. So you see people, these are
big time business people who are big sponsors of the
radio station, jumping underneath trying to get away from the lord.
You do. I had no idea, Danny. I admit I'm
naive on this one. It looks when you were looking
(20:10):
at a fireboat, it looks really majestic. The water streaming out.
It is an insane amount of money when it's raining,
when it's coming down on top of your head. There
the water from the fire hoses. It's nuts. It's absolutely insane.
Because can b R had I don't know whether they
(20:30):
knew somebody at the fire department or something like that.
They thought, okay, radio rivalry. Yeah, so we're gonna get
these idiots dressed up as fire as it was the
funny vic the brick. I will never forget to my
last breath here Vix one of the great characters. I'll
never forget him standing up in a totally disheveled in
(20:52):
a pirate costume, soaking way and in furious first shower weeks.
Oh my goodness, it was nuts. So it was absolutely nuts. So, uh, Danny,
and so that is my fireboat story. On the mailbag,
A good job by you, Mike Cei. I was worried
(21:14):
if somebody didn't bring that up. I was not going to.
I was not gonna bring it up. But but he did.
Next up on the mailbag, we have Barry in Nashville,
the Music City. Barry writes in he says, yo yo mo, Benny.
I'm sure you have told this story, but I don't
recall it. Can you tell us how you ended up
meeting and befriending the great Fred Dryer? Yeah. Well Fred
(21:37):
was actually a listener to the show, and we have
mutual friends, and so that's that's how that that happened.
Fred was like, he's up late sometimes and he was listening,
and uh. And then a friend we had a mutual
friend who introduced me, and then we had Fred on
and Fred's come on a few times. It was great
having him on this week some of those old school
(21:58):
stories about the seventies and the eighties is that he
was doing was awesome. It was amazing. Well, that's good
for the mail bag right now, right, yeah, I think
we have a guest stepping up. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two
am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app. Alright, and that guest is
here now, that's right. And New Orleans they want super
(22:21):
bowls with both those teams, and and now he's hanging
out on radio row or was it media role? That
doesn't sound as good to be there. He is right there, Malcolm, welcome,
what's going on? Yeah, I appreciate you put some respect
on it. That's right, the one and old there is
no sequel. Yeah, yeah, you're enjoying this. How many of
(22:44):
these things have you done? Too many? I'm like, let's see,
if I played thirteen years, I played in two Super Bowls,
so that means eleven, it would be twelve, now twelve,
So you're gonna go to You're not gonna go autopilot
on us, right, No, no, no no, no, I just had
a coffee. I'm good. You didn't study like sports cliche
dot com back when we were playing at all. You
(23:06):
didn't get into that. You kept it real there. So
you know, you've obviously just played it not that long ago.
You're now done, but you still know a bunch of
these guys, right, is it? Is it awkward you're pulling
for Philadelphia? I would assume yeah, yeah, but it's a
different team. Like you know, it's only the guys that
I played with. You got the Kelsey Um, Brandon Graham,
(23:28):
Fletcher Cox, Um, a few of the younger guys Vonte Maddox,
uh sees are Gonna Johnson I was with in New
Orleans and UM super excited about what he's doing in Philly.
But you know, other than that, everybody else is kind
of actually I'm lying. Josh Sweat was there, Marcus? Is
(23:50):
this a lot of the young talent, the new guys?
You know? I don't know, but um, they've had a
strong core of players that you know, have been there
and been able to kind of, you know, keep the culture,
uh intact. Yeah, so I have someboddies to do radio
in Philadelphia. They tell me, I didn't I heard you
were coming up. They the love affair between the Eagle
fans and you in Philadelphia. What not that they didn't
(24:12):
love you in New Orleans? Right, you played there multiple times.
But what was it like for you, because there was
like this bond, the way they loved the way that
you played in Philadelphia? What was that like? Well, I'm
from New Jersey, so so I understood, you know a
few things about what it means to you know, grow
up in that kind of area. Um and I embodied
that in my play. And so you know, I knew
(24:33):
trying to come and play safety for Philadelphia. The automatic
thing people are gonna do is compare you to Brian Dawkins.
And when I looked at what he did, he just
played with phenomenal passion. You know, I wasn't afraid of anybody.
Was a smaller guy. Um well, he played like a giant,
but realistically he was, you know, not the biggest safety
out there, but played like a giant. And so for me,
(24:55):
you know, I made up my mind that I was
just gonna do me. I was gonna talk trash, I
was not gonna back down from any body. I fight
if I need to. And those are the things really
that Philadelphia values. That's their fan base, right, and I
think that's what made that connection so special between me
and the city. And then obviously all the things that
I've I've dove head first into trying to make, um,
you know, an impact on that city in a positive
(25:15):
way in the community and in every aspect that I could,
and and it came back to me, you know, with
with love. So I think it's the reciprocity there that,
um you just don't get to see with you know,
a ton of players, and for me, it's been phenomenal.
Where do you spend most of your time since playing? Yeah,
so I'm split between New Orleans and Philadelphia. My kids
(25:36):
are down in New Orleans, so I'm there most of
the time. But I'm finding every opportunity that i can
to get back up. What you think about Derek Carr
and the Saints and maybe it working out for for
Derek to go there to New Orleans. I mean it's
a good situation, you know. They they are looking for
just some stability at the quarterback position, a veteran who's
proven that can do some things, good locker room guy,
(25:59):
um because because to have a hell of a defense
and they for the last three four years, they've had
a defense that's only really gotten better. They just need,
you know, some some balance to be able to play
complimentary football weekend and week out. And I think, you know,
it's been rough the last few years between Drew retiring him,
you know, being a little bit older in his career,
him getting banged up, and then two years in the
(26:20):
road they've had quarterbacks banged up. Has just been rough.
So yeah, I mean, quarterback is obviously something they need
to address if the Saints want to have any success. Yeah,
I want to go back to the way that you played.
Like the NFL, it's changed, It's changed as you've been playing.
It's changed. Like what do you think is gonna happen
five years from ten? You if you were in charge,
what would you do it? If I was in charge,
(26:41):
I would find quarterbacks and ball carriers for getting knocked
out and getting hurt, because like I would always get
mad when they throw a ball across the middle of
my job is to not allow you to catch the ball.
But then I get fined. Well what about these rules
with the tackling? Like how are in real time? I
don't know. I mean, I I played high school football.
(27:02):
You play really good, but I don't understand, Like, how
are you supposed to do at a millisecond? It's a joke,
I mean, But but realistically, the NFL always responds to
his fan base, right, So when things happen, t O
got hurt way back in the day, and what they do.
They banned horse collar tackles, all right, the wrong the
(27:22):
star player gets hurt, they'll change rules for that. Uh.
You know, when things are coming out and the game
gets a little bit too violent, they will change the
game for that, right, just because the fans, whatever they say,
they'll respond to in the league. The NFL does that
better than any league or business out there. Spends the narrative,
changes it so people can feel connected to the game
and still watch it and feel good about it, um,
(27:44):
regardless of what it really means for the players. Yeah,
but when you were when you were some of those
penalties you your reaction, You're like, you're looking at the officials,
like what did I think? At the replayers? But but
some of those things are necessary. Like and like you said,
it's changed a lot even while I was playing. I
came in two thousand nine, and you know, it was
still a little bit of old school where you're trying
to like tee off on guys. Uh. And I realized that,
(28:05):
like I was hurting myself a lot trying to hurt
other people, right, And then you see what Seattle was doing,
and they changed more to like a gator role type
of tackle, a rugby style tackle that gets your head
out of the way. And I changed to that, and
next you know, I didn't miss a game for eight
straight seasons just because I played the game different, more
cognizant about my own health and it's important. So I
(28:28):
think there's a little bit of balance. But I do
think some of some of the things that they do
don't make any sense. Uh, even you know when they
did the whole heads up football campaign, playing with your
head up, save your neck. Not that don't stop you
from getting but it makes us feel better about it.
But is there really away, Like we talk about this
on the radio show Idea, you can't totally make football.
(28:50):
There's always no it's not a safe What what are
we doing here? There's no safe way to play the game.
You will get hurt. It's a re rate. Every single
player who plays football will get hurt. You have to
and then so it's just about the severity, uh, and
the types of injuries that you have. We can deal
with muscles and lower extremities, but we talk about your
(29:12):
quality of life moving on from the game. That's where
you're looking at your brain, UM, your your organs, and
the way you take care of your body, what you
put into your body. Those things I think are very important.
And brock Purty found that out real fast. Do you
think they're gonna get to my homes often? I mean,
do you know that's the game plan right he's I mean,
(29:34):
obviously we'll see what his health looks like with a
larger gap now two weeks off before having to play
another game with that ankle. But you got to imagine
that the Eagles entire game plan is going to be
get to Patrick Mahomes as fast as possible. But I
think you know, patter smart man. Patrick knows what he's doing.
He knows how to get the ball out of his hands,
he knows how to manipulate the defense. UH. And and
(29:56):
I think what the Eagles need to do mostly is
keep him from extending to play if they can keep
him from going off schedule, UH, and get pressure on
them that way. I think they'll be. I think they'll have,
you know, all the success that they want. What about
Jalen Hurts here? Because he's not in some of these
playoff games. He hasn't played particularly great. The numbers aren't wonderful,
The numbers a small sample size. He plays the game
(30:19):
the way it needs to be played. He's not worried
about the stats or the only stat that matters is
did they win? And how much? Did they win? By?
A lot? So it's like, if you're the quarterback and
y'all win by twenty four or more, what do you mean?
You're punching back, Malcolm against the criticism of Jalen Hursts.
They've been bouncing around a little. They wanted to look
a certain way, but Jalen Hurts his game has never
(30:41):
looked like what people wanted to look. And that's what
that's really the whole rhetoric around him. And that's why
I really enjoyed his ability to just stay poised and
focused on what matters right, and the winds are all
that matter right and and all this all he's done
every single day is show up, answer the questions, go
to work and perform and win. Speaking of what matters
(31:01):
you're an author. Yeah, congratulations, that's uh. You've got a
new books coming out this week? Is this all right?
We announced it this week, it comes out. It comes
out in November, but people can preorder it now any
major book retailer Amazon. It's called What Winners Won't Tell
Your Lessons from a legendary defender. It's just in the
can now you've already written it, or because I wanted
(31:24):
to write a book, I've been talking to people. It's
a pain of the blood to do this right, and
it is a lot of work. It's a labor of
love for sure, but man would have almost all pictures.
But as you know, the hardest part is there coming
up with what you want to say, like what is
your message and understanding that like, not everything's gonna fit
in the book, right, it's not my whole life. It's
(31:46):
not an expose, a or a tell all. But realistically,
I just finished a thirteen year career, done a lot
of different things in that span of time, have a
lot of different experiences, and it's like, how do I
contextualize and crystallize all of that and and be able
to disseminate that in ways that can help people. So
you know, I'm a single father dealing with you know,
all of the pressures of being a dad. People can
(32:09):
relate to that, you know, whether it be athletes who
want to understand what it takes to be great, or
the business side of sports. People want to know those
things leadership. Um. You know, there's so many different things
that I've learned, and what I've done is taking all
of those lessons and and just really telling my story
kind of through this this uh weave of my family,
(32:31):
my career, uh in business. And you've got Tom Brady,
he's doing the how did you get he's he's doing
the beginning the four That was a long shot. You know,
He's been by far my favorite person to compete against
my entire career. Just I've got so much respect for
(32:52):
who he is as a competitor, what he's done and
and it's not really until he just retired where you
really sit back and take inventory, but the fact that
I got to compete my entire career against probably the
greatest quarterback that will ever play this game. Um, And
so you know, when I reach out, it was definitely
a long shot. UM. I think the last time, I
think it helps that the last significant game we played
(33:13):
he won, right, That helped a little bit, But no,
I think I think we we have a mutual respect for,
you know, each other's game and how we approached the game,
how we approach our locker rooms, our teammates, and just
what we mean to the game of football. Yeah, you
think he's gonna come back and play a game. I
think he's done for really three months from now, We're
(33:35):
not going to see him back, you know what. I
can't say for a hundred percent, but I think I
would if I was a betting man, I would say,
I think he's I think he's finally putting it down.
What about the TV stuff? You think he'll he'll do that?
Really he'll go forward with that? Yeah, now that stuff,
I don't know how long he'll like that. Yeah. Yeah,
A lot of these guys were struggling with it, you know,
like even he saw Drew had a plan and he
(33:57):
stepped down from it. It's you know, it's one of
those things that I think as players were in it,
and so it's very easy to talk about the game,
but television is a little different. When you gotta start
criticizing guys and coming up with hot takes. And all
those things like Joe Montana couldn't do it way back.
You didn't want to criticize. I didn't want to criticize.
And that's that's part of you, like you know your
little us, right you got, I got to give a gap.
(34:18):
But I'm the same way. I don't really. I know
how hard it is. I know how hard these players work,
I know how competitive the talent is, and so it's
hard for me to say how this person sucks. So
this person is not good. And it's because it's all relative, right,
it's relatively to the best in the world. To Davante Adams, Yes,
that guy looks sure for sure. All right, well we'll
(34:40):
get you out of here on that, Malcolm. Thank you.
And again the book if you want to get it
not available to November. You can prepreder preorder book. It
sounds like a great book. What winners won't tell your
lessons from a legendary defender and a beloved Philadelphia Eagle
and a bunch of Pro Bowls and all that. Speaking
of that, I know you're gonna pick the Eagles. You
gotta score them. I don't think it'll be close. I
(35:01):
think they'll win. I think they'll win. Actually, I think
they'll win by a touchdown. I don't know what school.
They'll win by a touchdown, but it won't be close
though score and a late score that will make it
within seven, but I think they'll be in control. I'm
gonna put my son's college money on that bag there
it is. Don't come looking for me Jenkins h and
(35:22):
that will do us for us anything. Radio row where
we are out of here. Now back to the reality
of the day to day grind. That's right, see you
back on Fox Sports Radio. You'll be back on talking
about the Super Bowl tonight on the overnight uh all
over the country there at two am to six am
Eastern Time coast. Yes, and I'll be back on Afternoon
(35:42):
Drive with Covino and Rich on Monday afternoon, and then
the podcast will jump back into effect next weekend, so
you can't wait for that. Absolutely, have a great rest
of your day, enjoy the Super Bowl, and we will
catch you next time. Later, Skater,
Host
Ben Maller
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