If the Jets make the Super Bowl, you have to wear a Philadelphia 76ers's Jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Are you trying to get me killed? Are you trying to get me assassinated?

You have to wear a Jets. You have courtside tickets. All right, we know that. You have to wear a Jets Jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Matt, you are not taking this podcast where I thought you were. You're playing like... This is like blood oaths broken. What are you trying to do to Welcome, everybody. It's Throwbacks with Matt Liner and Jerry Farrar. It's week one in the NFL, but it's also week one for us. It is our first ever- Congratulations. Let's go. Congratulations. I hope we go one and oh after this episode. I hope it's a win. I think it might be. I think we're heavily favored. But Matt, week one in the NFL coming up, how are you feeling overall? Are you ready to get this going? Because this show is packed today.

You know what? This time of year, it's like when December first hits for Christmas with kids. It's like the house is already decorated. It's just like you can't wait for the season to get. You can't wait for Christmas morning. I feel like that's every man in America. When August first hits in its preseason, we cannot wait for week one. College football is here already. Week one of the NFL. It's like Christmas now every weekend, man. I'm fired up. It's the best time of year. Fall is the best time of the year.

It is. It's the best time of year. Look, we do have a great guest lined up for you week one. You know him from a lot of different things, but that's not really why we're having him on the show. But you know him from that '70s show. You know him from Two and a Half Men. You know him from a ton of movies. He's an amazing investor, but he's a big time NFL football fan and a big Chicago Bear's fan. Joining us in a little while is going to be Ashton Kutcher, everybody.

Which is awesome. By the way. I don't know who's a bigger fan of You are the Giants and Him with the Bears. I know. Two diehard, weirdly just creepily fans, dude. I just still don't understand it. I'm excited to talk to him and see.

Yeah, It was one of those where I've heard him speak NFL before, and he walks the walk. It's not fake fandom. He does. He knows his stuff. He knows his stuff. He's going to be coming up in a little while. But yeah, I do agree with you. I feel like this time of year, it is the best. Now, my football Football watching habits have changed over the years since having kids. I don't know how much yours.

I was going to say, how are you gearing up, man? Just game day. It's a little different, right? Wife, kids.

Well, there has been a trade early in the NFL season. Here's what I had to trade off. Now, obviously, We love watching sports. Part of the reason why I do this podcast is a great excuse to talk sports with you. But here's what I offered my wife, and she took the trade right away. I said, Look, I need to watch this late. The eight o'clock game is what it is. I I'll watch it when I can. I'll watch it the next morning. But for the one and four o'clock, I need some quiet. I need to watch. You take the kids out of the house for a while. In return, I do meal prep while watching football for the entire week, meaning I'm going to set up with the TV. I have a good view from the kitchen to the living room. I also have the laptop. I'm going to be chopping up veggies. I'm going to be prepping some chicken. I will do all the meal prep while watching football and making notes for six hours. She immediately took that trade.

The The wife and kids are out of the house?

For most of it. I can't say six hours. You're winning. They'll seven hours, they'll be gone. But they're gone.

You're absolutely winning.

I'm just chopping up carrots. I'm chopping up celery. I'm marinating some chicken, watching football, and then they will return at some point. It's a big trade.

That's a great trade, by the way. You won that trade. I think if I propose that to my wife, she would look at me the way she looks at me sometimes when she gets mad, and I would just go right back to playing in the game room with the boys. I don't I won't get six hours. I travel a lot on the weekends with college football and stuff. So Sunday is the day, and I get that. But I'm also not... I don't have a team. I just enjoy watching throughout the day. But now that we have this, that actually That's a good idea. Maybe I'll propose a trade. I'm going to think about that.

Propose a trade. We do have some fun ways we're going to go into this NFL weekend. We're not just going to do some pics. We have some fun little topics to go. Also, I will say, you're on the West Coast. I think about this every year going into week West Coast football watching, meaning the time zone, there's nothing like it. It's the best. Look, East Coast watching is great when you're a teenager. It's great to wake up, go play a little tackle football with your friends in the morning or two-ant touch or whatever, and then get home for the one o'clock game. As a parent, the 10 AM, that's so nice. It's perfect.

Monday, I have a little bit of a Sunday morning semi-ritual game day. 10 AM, it starts, which is amazing. So right the morning, we're already up for three hours with the boys, breakfast. Sunday is like we do chill. It's a relaxing day. Daddy's home from the weekend. Whatever we want to do, we do park, whatever. But 10:00 AM, that's 10:00 to 11 is like my fantasy football Peloton. I ride the Peloton 45 minutes right here in my little man cave that I got. So then I'm working out because she knows health for me. When I feel good, I have to work out. I have to sweat on a Sunday. I ride the Peloton for about 45 minutes, which is long, but I keep it on that way on purpose. I get the first hour of the day scrolling through 19 of my fantasy football teams, and it is glorious. It is a glorious hour. After that, it's all downhill. But the point to your thing, Monday night football, it's amazing. It's like 5:20, right? Usually like a 5:15 or 8:15. It's the best. It's a brunch. We're eating dinner watching the game. I always tell my wife, This is a family outing.

We're watching Monday night football, eating dinner. The boys are excited. It's great.

I got to get the kids to bed, hopefully before nine o'clock, and then I'm playing a little catch up. By the time it has halftime, I really have to... I almost make a pot of coffee because it is rough. All right, let's dive in, okay? I know some of my giants may come up here. It does worry me a little bit, but we have a couple of good preview topics. I will say last thing on the time zone thing, I did do a movie in Hawaii once. 07:00 AM football? Not as great. We could discount. That's not what we're looking for. West Coast, you're the early winner of the best time zone to watch football. All right, I got a few quick hitters, or you could go deep if you want to, but I want to get right into it. Let's go. For you, looking at last year, going into this year, what's the team or who is the team that is most likely to bounce back from a down year last year?

We're just getting off the right foot because I know you hate this team, but I'm going New York Jets. I know. 7 and 10 a year ago, Aaron Rodgers goes down. We know the story. Everybody's back on the hype train. Healthy. If he's healthy, they're a playoff team, plain and simple. I wanted to propose this because I know we're moving. I know these are quick hitters. If the Jets make the Super Bowl, you have to wear a Philadelphia 76ers Jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Are you trying to get me killed? Are you trying to get me assassinated?

You have to wear a Jets. You have courtside tickets. All right, we know that. You have to wear a Jets Jersey to a New York Knicks game.

Matt, you are not taking this podcast where I thought you were. You're playing like... This is like blood oath It's broken. What are you trying to do to me?

Listen, I want to give the guys what they want. Everybody wants to see Jerry Ferrara in a Jets Jersey. By the way, the chances of I make it- Did you say make the Super Bowl or win?

You said make?

I just said make.

How about they win the Super Bowl?

I'll do that. No, they got to make the Super. Dude, Making the Super Bowl is tough. They got to go through Mahomes.

All right.

We can move on. We can get back to that later another time. You got plenty of time.

You just rocked my whole world. I don't even know if I could complete the show, to be honest. For me, I looked at it really where, who are the really bad teams last year that are hopeful. I'm not saying they're going to necessarily make the playoffs, but will bounce back and be in good shape. It's the Arizona Cardinals for me. They were 4-13 last year. Kyler Murray missed most of the season. It was really rough. I have Kyler bouncing back. I linked him with Trey McBride in fantasy. I'm all in on the Kyler comeback. I do like Gannon as a coach.

Marvin Harrison Jr.

Marvin Harrison Jr. I do worry a little bit about their schedule, but I just think there's massive upgrades everywhere. They were frisky even in losses last year. For me, it's the Arizona Cardinals. I did have an honorable mention. I looked at the Commander schedule. They got the Bucks, they got the Titans, the Panthers, they got the Giants twice. Also, don't sleep on the Commanders. But for me, Arizona should bounce back. This next one, I feel like I'm putting myself in the crosshairs here. The quarterback most likely to lose his starting job during the season. Matt, you know the quarterback position well. What says you on the quarterback most likely to lose their job?

I was torn on this one. This was the obvious one in the sense of it was a quarterback battle as Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in Pittsburgh. Although I am a believer, Russell Wilson is still pretty good, man. He had a really good year a year ago. Just didn't mesh well with Sean Payton. I just feel like the amount of pressure, if they're like 500 or they get off to a slow start and the dynamic ability and fields look pretty good in the preseason, it's just going to be too tough to keep him off the field for what they can do. He's in a better system. They obviously got some players around him. So that would be I think just to keep an eye, maybe like week 5, week 6, if they're below 500. How about you?

Well, just going off real quick, too. I don't know what it's like for a quarterback playing, knowing that there's also a guy here that's brought in He's not just the backup. He's also a little bit insurance. He's also a little bit maybe the future. I am looking at that one. For me, I have to call out my guy, and I just have to. But if you're doing betting odds, he's the lowest rated starting quarterback in Madden, which might not mean a lot to you, but you're talking about keeping your starting job. We know it's make or break for Daniel Jones. Also, Drew Lock. I'm not saying Drew Lock was brought in to replace Daniel Jones, but I don't think people view Drew Lock and Daniel Jones as a major talent discrepancy?

Listen, I'm all in on Danny Dimes. I know he had a rough preseason. Danny Dimes Island.

It's a lonely place. It's a lonely It's a lonely place, but it could get crowded quickly.

Just listen, preseason is preseason. Sometimes these guys can jump. This is the year. This is the year. I think if we don't see improvement, Drew Lock. Again, I don't know how much better Drew Lock is than Daniel Jones, But you paid Daniel Jones a whole hell of a lot of money. You draft Malik Nabors in the top 10 to give him a big time threat, even though he's a rookie. But then you lose Saquan. I don't know. It's going to be interesting.

We'll see. He needs Nabors to show up, that's for sure. The His question is, can he get in the ball? We'll find out. All right. This one is an interesting one. Who's the team that's most likely to disappoint you from their offseason hype?

For me, it's the Green Bay Packers.

It's a good one.

Listen, I like Jordan Love. They just paid him a, what, 50 something, 50 million. They get Josh Jacobs. They lose Aaron Jones, get Josh Jacobs. They have a really, actually Really good receiving core, young receiving core. I don't know. I just feel like sometimes where there's so much hype, and Jets can be the same way. There's so much hype around a team. They had a good run last year. Oh, my gosh. I've been on teams like that. They are going to be Super Bowl or bust. Then I've seen people having the packers win the Super Bowl. I don't know. It's a tough division this year, obviously. I think it's tougher with the bears getting better. That would be my team just to pump the brakes on.

I don't disagree. I've been saying this on Twitter a little bit. If you haven't follow us yet on Twitter, it's @throwbackshow. Please give us a follow on all that, throwing that in before I go. But yeah, I've been on Twitter saying, I don't know why we're crowning the packers all of a sudden as the second best team in the north and definitely going to make the playoffs. I like them. But my issue with the packers is, all right, Jordan Love, I get it. Sure, Jacob's the receiving core, although they were very, very banged up. The defense still has to be there, and I do think that division is way, way tougher. But for me, all right, this is not some hot take. There's logic behind what I'm going to say. It's the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, when I say, Disappoint, they're still making the playoffs. They're still probably going to be in the Super Bowl. Maybe even the AFC Championship game is their worst case scenario. Before the regular season, I don't know how you get up week in, week out for the regular season. You're back to back champs. You're basically going... It's Super Bowl, really, or a disappointment.

For me, in the regular I looked at their schedule. They get the Ravens this year. They get the bangles, Niners, Bills, Browns, Texans, Stealers. I know their division should be favorable. There's some wins to be had. If I told you the Chiefs struggle and get to They are 10 wins under the three seed or whatever, four seed. That's a disappointment for what their expectations are. I don't know if I'm penciling in the Chiefs for 13 wins, like a lot of people are.

I mean, if they stay healthy, that's probably the number, 12 or 13 wins. I mean, Bill Belichick did this in New England, and my Dodgers do it in baseball. It's like, obviously, they haven't won all the championships, but those teams, man, that can sustain that type of success, especially in the NFL, because battle of attrition, injuries, the parody, all of these things. To me, if I'm watching them, I'm like, All right, they win 11 games, they're losing a divisional playoff round. I understand what you're saying. I get it because the expectation is high. I'm still like, Dude, this team is still the dynasty. They could lose a season or two and then get back. That's just a credit to Andy Reid, the ownership and what they've been able to build there. It was the same thing with Belichick and New England. They had a couple of years there where they would lose early. But I mean, tell you, man, that is a absolute machine over there.

Yeah. I tried to find the 13 wins or so, and I couldn't necessarily find it. But you'll learn a lot tonight against the Ravens. That's going to be for sure. We're going to find out a lot early on.

What a way to kick off.

Great way to kick off. That Thursday game. Nfl has always done a really, really good job. But we've seen it before. Chiefs lost last year on the Thursday game to the Lions. Detroit, yeah. Remember those Patriot teams a few years ago coming off their Super Bowl? Those young chiefs at the time blew them out on a Thursday night. We'll find out a lot tonight as we get ready to watch. Okay, next one. Who's the offseason acquisition that is most likely to payoff? Look, there's quite a few.

Who do you got?

All right, I'm not going to say the ones I thought about because I don't want to step on yours. Here's where I'm going. Again, not some scathing take. Why are we all so down on Stefan Diggs? I understand his exit in Buffalo wasn't amazing. I get it, and the team is disappointed. I'll tell you why. Why?

Because you have Nico Collins, you have Tankdell, you have Schultz, now they got Joe Mixon. So I don't know, from a production standpoint, I think...

I guess I'm not looking at production. I'm looking at a team that made it to the second round, blew out the Browns in week one. All things are trending upward. And now you added Stefan Diggs. Even if he is your third- That was a great addition. Even if he is your third receiver, I'll tell you what I like on third and nine. I like having Stefan Diggs running a route for me. Even if it's just opening up Tank and Nico.

Jerry, what route would you like him to run I'm for you on third and nine?

Give me a Stefan Diggs slant over the middle. He's not afraid to go over the middle. Give me that. Give me that slant. I'm confident Stroud could find him. Give me the slant. Send Nico down the sideline and have maybe a post corner from Tank.

I'd love to draw the... So a slant, a go, and a post corner all on the same side?

No, not on the same. No, no, not on the same side. We're spreading them out a little bit.

All right, buddy. I like that.

You're the X's and O's guy.

Well, I would literally just drew that play up on my paper. I was like, that might not work. I like that.

We're not putting all three on the same side. We'll probably go Nico and Tank on one side, and then we're going to have Diggs solo.

You single up Diggs on the back side? Yeah. We'll slant.

I like him winning. Got it. Who's your offseason acquisition most likely to pay off?

I'm going Kirk Cousins. You like that? I love Kirk. I think he's just one of those quarterbacks. He wins games. I know the playoff record isn't great, but for what Atlanta is and what they have, the defense, you got Drake London, you got Kyle Pitz. I think we're all like, Gosh, this guy's got so much talent. He needs a quarterback. He needs a play collar. He needs a system. Obviously, B. John Robinson. I think because of the weapons and just Kirk has been just Mr. Where, literally, Mr. Reliable throughout the regular season can get that team over the hump and in the playoff. I think that will pay off. He's made a fortune. Listen, more power to him.

We mentioned Diggs. Diggs has a lot to thank Kirk Cousins for. Then he goes to Buffalo, and then he's replaced by Justin Jefferson. That's probably... You can't say it's a fair trade because Jefferson's so much younger and the upside now is higher. But at the time, you go back to two years ago, that really looked like one of those trades that was... Everyone won here. Diggs goes to Buffalo. They're playing for... They're not in the Super Bowl, but they're a Super Bowl favorite. Then the Vikings get this young, amazing wide receiver. I love Kirek. I do. I think Kirk is going to put up numbers, to say the least. Also, Also, honorable mention, he doesn't count for this year, but Aaron Rodgers gets almost like an asterisk because if you really just do who the Jets really bring in here, they're bringing Aaron Rodgers in. We saw him for four plays. So that also counts.

Dude, people forget. Aaron Rodgers is literally on my Mount Rushmore of all-time quarterbacks. He's a freak, and he's so good. So if he stays healthy, he'll be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Can I wear a Rodgers' jersey to the next game in this bet? If I have to wear a Jets' jersey, can it at least be a Rodgers' jersey? Because if they make the Super Bowl, he's going to be a big reason why.

Yes, you can wear a Rodgers' jersey.

All right, that's fair.

For those of you who don't like-I'll give you that.

I'm a Giants fan. Like the Jets, it's sacrilegious. Okay, next one. Who's the player that's not on your radar right now, but most certainly will be by the end of the year.

We just talked about Stefan Diggs, and I drank the Kool-Aid on this because I watched every fantasy football show in America. Stefan Diggs is out of Buffalo. Gabe Davis is out of Buffalo. Khalil Shaqir I think I'm saying his name right. He becomes, I think the last three games last year, 16 catches or something. We saw him a little bit in the preseason. He becomes just a target machine to me. I know they have a good tight end. They don't have Keion Coleman, they drafted as a rookie. Is he going to be a true number one yet? Shaq here is the guy this year that is going to have 100 catches. I hope he has 100 catches. I have him in three fantasy league. But that's the guy that I think week three or four, maybe like the Puka Nakuwa from last year. Like, wow, who is this? That's Shaq here for me.

For me, this is a player that I always, especially when you talk about fantasy, I always think about drafting him. I've never drafted him. I know he's a little banged up now. I know I spoke about the Chiefs maybe in the regular season being a little disappointing. Hollywood Brown. That's just a name that I don't ever quite pay attention to. I look at by week none, it's like, wow, he's got 800 yards. He's got four touch downs. He's actually having a pretty good season. I go Hollywood Brown. But for me, also being here in Cleveland, and we're all hoping that nick Chubb can get back close to what he is. He's going to be out for at least four or five weeks. We're not going to be thinking about nick Chubb for the whole first half of the season. But come week nine or 10, if the Browns are still hanging around in that division and he's healthy, we know what nick Chubb could do. I think nick Chubb could easily be that guy. All right, last one before we bring in your buddy, Ashton Kutcher, which, by the way, leave it to Matt Leinert, folks.

Ashton's your buddy. Your first guest you brought in is actually connected to Hollywood. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? I'm supposed to get the Hollywood guy on the show.

Listen, I know you're going to do your job. I know you're going to be committed to that. Do your job. We had to start off with a bang, man. This is throwbacks. Ashton and I throw back all the way to, gosh, 2000, when I meet, like 2004. 2005 when I first met him. We have a lot of mutual friends, and there was a connection there. I said, You know what? I'm going to reach out to Ashton. He's a big bears fan. He loves sports. He was like, Dude, I'm in. I was like, Let's go. Let's go. What a way to kick off throwbacks, man.

I really feel like you put me on blast. You know what?

I have a feeling that your Rolodex is probably deeper than mine, especially. It might even be in the sports world because you've been connected to athletes. We will rely on you heavily this This year, buddy.

That's what I got to do for week two. I have to come up with either an NFL player or a former player, someone connected to the NFL, and that's going to be on me because I have to even this one up. All right, last one, and arguably my most favorite one, because this will happen at some point in the season. It always does. The coach most likely to have a press conference meltdown at some point this year is, and I'm going to lead this off because I feel very strongly about this, and I don't think our amazing He's an amazing producer, Andrew Gunling, Philadelphia's own, Andrew Gunling is going to like this one. It's nick Siriani, right? Siriani. Isn't it?

He's a beauty up there. I got to be honest. I love listening. He's got all the traits.

He's got all the traits. He's had some bizarre press conference quotes. He could look a little unhinged. Even when the team's playing well, it could look super weird. The Eagles do have some heat on them now. They got Saquan, who we could have also said was the biggest acquisition of the year. A lot of expectations in Philly. If they're four and three, which for the East would not be a good start. It could happen. Get yourself ready. Sorry, Andrew. We love you, but he's my number one.

Yeah, because they won the Super Bowl or they're They lost the Super Bowl. The last year, the expectations, they struggled. I'm going to go... I have a great story about a coach around. I'm going to get to in a second. I'm going to go Dayball and your team. The only reason why... He's not like... He's not like, It's super animated in his press conferences, but he just has that look. I can just only imagine if Daniel Jones struggles early and the amount of pressure from that New York media, and just at some point, he just snaps. He is just going to snap. That leads me into, by the way, I don't know if you're familiar with this, that I was a part of one of the greatest coaching rants of all time.

Which, well, let's see. Denny Green.

Denny Green, Monday Night Football. That's right. Which, by the way, I do want to talk to Ashton about that because I think he might have been at that game. But we lost to the bears on Monday Night Football, 2006. It was my second start. We were one and four. The week before, we lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. But Kurt Warner started. Everyone was excited. I finally got the chance. We were beating the Chiefs. We lost on a field goal. We were one and four going to that That game. But we knew we're like... And the bears were five and oh, and they ended up going to the Super Bowl that year. They lost to Peyton Manning, the Colts in Miami, and the torrential downpour. We had played them in the preseason game, week three. Back then, that was the game where all the starters played. We beat them in Chicago. We knew going into that game like, Hey, we could beat this team. They were the number one defense, all that. We're playing. We ended up losing. Devin Hester, who just got in the Hall of Fame, the punt return. We in the second half.

I'm in the postgame, right? I'm standing outside the media locker room. All I hear, and I'm just pissed, dude. I'm just pissed off. I'm there with Mark Dalton, who was our PR guy at the time. And Denny is just going off.

The bears are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were.

We played them in preseason.

Who the hell takes a third game in a preseason like it's bullshit? Bullshit.

We played them in the third game. Everybody played three quarters. The bears are who we thought they were. That's why we took the damn field.

Now, if you want to crowd them, then crowd their ass.

But they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook.

And at the time, I didn't really... I wasn't listening word for word, but I'm like, I'm hearing this. You could hear a pin drop in there, and he's just going off. Then Mark Dalton goes, Next up, Matt Liner. Just like that. I'm like, and I look in and I'm already pissed. All these people, I'm like, Then Denny just walked right by and he didn't even look at me. I'm like, holy crap, dude, what did I just get myself into? The reason why is because we are who they are. They thought they were, and we let them off the hook. We knew. We knew that we should beat them. We knew going to that game, that would have been maybe a pivotal game for us. One and four, we're two and five. We get a little momentum. Man, I'll tell you what, though. It was, looking back, rest in peace to Denny Green. He drafted me. I love that guy. I played for him for one year, man, but he was terrific. But that rant was like, that was all time, dude.

I sometimes go for the comedy a little too much. I feel like if I were you and I just heard that rant, and then I go up and they're like, All right, everybody, coming to the podium now, Matt Liner. They're getting ready to ask me a question. We're like, Yeah, I guess we did let them off. But I get it, you're pissed at that point because you lost the game. But oh, my God, how did you keep it together after hearing that?

Well, dude, honestly, I don't remember. It was-Blacked out a I was just pissed. I was a rookie. I was pissed. I was just like, we probably threw the game. We were up like 20 to nothing in that game.

You threw two touch downs that game.

I threw two touch downs on the first two drives. Then basically what happened was in the second half, we We just... Let's just run the ball. We weren't a great running team. We basically took our foot off the gas pedal, and they and an Erlacher had a pick. I had a sack. A sack was a breakdown or we had a fumble. Edger fumbled, they scored, scooped and score. I had a sack, fumbled, scooped and score. Their defense, I think, had two defensive touch downs.

Yeah, that's how they won.

That's how they won games. Then Devon Hester had a... I don't even think they scored an offensive touch down.

Quintessential bear Super Bowl run team was that exact blueprint, two defensive touch down or in a special team, it's touch down. At any point, though, before we go to break, at any point later in the season, did anyone ever go up to Danny Green and be like, Coach, they're still playing That was great. Did he have any fun with that? Or it was just, We don't talk about that. That was a dark moment.

No, that was a dark moment, because we only went five games that year. I think he knew he was going to get fired. That was a tough day for Denny in the Cardinal Nation, that's for sure. Yeah.

Well, I can't believe you were part of that. That totally slipped my mind. I can't believe I haven't asked you about that sooner, but I'm glad it made it to the first show. All right, we're going to take a quick break right now, and we're going to bring on Matt's buddy, Matt's good friend. He got this guest, Ashton Kutcher, coming to join us to talk some football. All right, joining us now. I mean, he's our first ever guest. This is Hall of Fame stuff. The first ever guest on the Throwbacks podcast. You all know him from film and TV, but that's not what we're here to really talk about. We're here to talk about NFL. We're here to talk about where his heart lies in the NFL. Ashton Kutcher joining us. What's up, buddy? Thank you so much for coming on.

How's it going?

You guys Dude, can we talk about the stash? What are we doing with that thing? I like it.

It's awesome.

This is a big year for the Chicago Bears, and if you don't go Dicca, go home.

Is that a Dicca stash? Is that in honor of the bears?

It is 100% about Mike Dicca and 100% about the fact that we're going to be better than 500 this year, and that makes me happy.

Way to set the bar high for you, too. Okay, dude.

No, the last time we were good, the last time we were good, I think you remember the last time we were good because there was a very monumental moment in the last time that we were good that you were very involved with.

Dude, I was just... So Jerry and I were just talking about Denny Green and the famous rant, Monday Night Football, 2006. The bears are who we thought we were.

The bears are who we thought they were.

And we let them off the hook.

But we let them off the hook.

It's a great speech voice. Well, dude, that's because we whipped your ass in the preseason, game three in Chicago. And that's why he was pissed. And by the way, I was just telling Jerry, I was like, dude, I was literally Mark Dalton, our PR guy, right after he... I was standing right outside the tunnel. You might have been right outside the tunnel, too. I was standing right outside the tunnel, and he's like, Next up, Matt Liner. I'm like, Holy crap, dude. I don't know how I'm going to follow. He was so pissed. But I wanted to ask you. I know you were there. I know you were there. Besides Danny Green, what do you remember from that game, the favorite memory?

Okay, so I was in Bidwell's box. I was in Cardinal's Owner's box. And biting my lip the whole time because I don't want to be that guy who got invited to the point and then was obnoxious about what was happening. And it was like, I've never shown more restraint in my life because with the bears, I remember the interception her lacre had.

Yeah, thanks.

And I was like, and that was This was the moment when I was like, Oh, wait, this is happening. I just grabbed my fist like this, and I'm just containing every single ounce of energy I have to not just lose it because I'm trying to have a sense of decorum while I'm in the owner's box.

The owner's box.

Then there's the return kick, and it's just build, build, build, build, build. I felt horrible for you, but I felt real good for me.

When Devon Hester returned that, were you just like, Oh, my God, I got to get up and stand?

There was a moment where the lid came off. The lid definitely came off, and I got all sorts of fired up. Other than my son's flag football, coaching my son's flag football, it might have been the greatest football game I experienced in my entire life.

I want to get in. We're going to get flag football a little bit later. But I gave you... I don't know if I've told you this. I got a game worn jersey, that game from Brian Erlacher, Monday Night Football. You traded? Yeah, I think I did give him mine. I don't know what he did with mine. It's probably in the trash But he gave me his game worn jersey. And what did I do? I gave it to you.

You gave it to me, and then I took it and got it autographed by him.

Yeah, and then he wanted to kill me.

And it's in It's in my mom's house right now, and it's her prize is that jersey from that game.

I got to say, if your mom has it, that's probably the best keeping. I was going to ask you where it was. That's pretty much one of the safest places a jersey like that could be.

I have a Chicago Bears Hall in my house that is just like, it's like Mike Singletary, Gael Sayer, Dick Budkiss, my guy, Walter Payton. I I have William Perry's. I have the prototype ring for the 1985 Chicago Bears that they fit on William Perry, and I have it. I have the ring, and my collection is pretty stout. I have Evan Butler's football from the '85s. I'm a collector of bears paraphealium.

So then what is it like for you on Sunday? And we'll get down into it more with the kids in a second of how you watch. But are you just bears Only? Do you pop on Red Zone for a few minutes? Are you just locked into the bears and everything else is just noise?

My football watching has changed since I had kids. Same. So before I had kids, there's like BK and AK. In BK, I watched every game. In any game I couldn't watch, I would record so I I could watch the game.

And I-Tevo era. No, no.

Yeah. My whole week was just dedicated. The only thing I ever watched was football. I didn't watch a television show. I don't know, nothing, just football. That's it. And so I My guy, TJ and I, we lived together for five years, and he would wake up on opening day, and he'd be like, Are you ready for some football? And he'd be screaming into my room and slide on his knees. And he always had a cowboy his apron on. And we would just watch football all day long. Now that I have kids, I watch the Monday night game, and I watch the bears game, and then I watch my Hawkeyes play on Saturday. And so I get nine hours of football a week, and that's my exchange for having kids. And I get to coach my son's flag football, so then I get a little bit more football that way. I would only watch football. If I could just mainline football If there was a drug that was football, I would take it every day.

I asked Jerry this because I experienced watching a playoff Nicks game in New York with Jerry. I got to be honest, dude. I'm a fan of the sport of all sports, but I'm not a passionate fan, especially in LA. We didn't really grow up having a football team. But I have never had more anxiety watching a diehard fan watch their team than we were in a bar, we had a couple of drinks, and he's just sitting there, and it's like you couldn't even speak to. Is that how you are when the bears are on? Monday night football, the kids are like, Hey, Daddy's watching the bears get the hell out of my room. How is it like watching with you.

I mean, I lock it in. I usually, for the first half, I do not sit down. I have a rule that in the first half, I can't sit down. And for whatever reason, I feel like I'm influencing the outcome of the game. You guys are crazy, dude.

By where you sit. By where you sit.

By how I sit, where I sit, what hat I'm wearing. I pick an outfit. I pick a specific outfit. If we win game one, I'll be wearing that outfit the whole season. I won't change any. I'm very religious about my football. But I also... I The older I get, the more I relate with the coaches than I do with the players. It's a weird thing. There was a switch that flipped that I was like, Well, I can't do those things anymore, physically. So now I'm watching the game as a co-op, and I'm like, Oh, he's setting up. And I'm watching what defense is being played and whether or not it's a set up for a blitz. And then seeing if I can predict what the play is going to be before the play is going to happen. That's become my new way I watch football.

I'm like Spider-Man meeming with you right now because everything you just said is exactly the way I watch, especially Giants and Knicks. Even if I'm in one seat, that's not where... I've even asked my wife to leave the house before. I'm like, It's your energy. Your energy is not right right now. You need to go for a walk. But where are you standing right now? I was going to ask you, I felt like it's not an unfair question, but like, bears, quarterbacks, right? Because obviously, Caleb Williams right now is everyone's anticipating what he's going to do. Is Caleb already in the bears, Mount Rushmore without throwing a pass? Because the franchise history of quarterbacks for the bears is a little rough. Do you have an order of Bayes QBs? And what are you hoping for just to see out of Caleb in a rookie year?

In '85, I was seven years old, okay? And I picked the bears as my team. I was like, Super Bowl, Shuffle. It was so cool. I'm like, I bet that's my team. And everybody around me was like, packers fans. And I'm like, not. The bears. And it's been the brutality since 1985. We always have some version of a stout defense, some version. But it's just been brutal. I mean, everything from Bobby Brister, to the K. Mcnown era to I mean, just walking through quarterbacks. And I think, look, part of it is the coach carousel that is also taking place. You can be a good quarterback, But if you have a different playbook that you've got to put in, it's like, anything in life, you got to get it to the point where it's like, second nature. When we're driving a car, we don't sit there and go, All right, I I'm going to put this hand over this hand and then turn the wheel. We just turn the wheel because we're so used to turning the wheel. And there are some quarterbacks that have had the blessing of having the same coach, year in, year out, year in, year out, the same playbook, the same system.

When the locker room is the same and all the other things are exactly the same, then you get to play the game. But until you get to that point, you're just trying to do the the right thing. And if you're so busy trying to do the right thing, you're not playing. And I feel like there's been a combination of coach after coach after coach after coach, quarterback after quarterback after quarterback after quarterback. And maybe the guy with the longest... Jake Cutler is a great quarterback. He's great at playing football, but he also had a little bit of a carousel of coaches and this thing going, and that's hard. And so the hope is that we've got Iberfluss, and we're liking what we're seeing at Iberfluss. We've got Caleb, and we're liking what we're seeing out of Caleb, and that those two can stay connected. Maybe Shane Waldron, who we just brought in from Seattle, maybe we can get a unit that stays together and gives the guy a fighting chance. So that's my hope. Now, I was a little bit... I will say, I like Justin Fields a lot. I I think he's an extraordinary football player.

But as I watch and compare his accuracy to Caleb's accuracy, I go, I can't deny that Caleb's accuracy is I mean, some of these rollout passes that he's like, lobb in 40-yard passes and dropping it right on Roma Dunzé, right over his shoulder in the preseason. I'm impressed by his passing ability. He's got this cool cool demeanor that's confident but also humble. And there was one part in Hard Knocks this year where the coach asked about-I'm going to ask you about that.

Yeah.

And he goes, and he's like, or he said something to the effect of like, I'm confident that I did the work. And I go, that's real confidence. When you're confident that you're doing the work, that's true confidence. But it's a combination of that and humility. And if he maintains that, that's what leadership looks like. And so that's a nice thing. And so look, I have high hopes, but I have realistic expectations.

I always get asked about Caleb, obviously being at USC, and everyone's like, What do you think? And he's a little quirky. He's a little different. Obviously, the talent is undeniable. And Ashton, you just said it. The one thing that I always tell everybody is throwing off platform and all this stuff that wows us. That's great. That's there, and that's there. And That's a gift, and he has that. But his work ethic, because he told me that, see, he's like, I want to be the greatest quarterback to ever live, and didn't stutter. He did not stutter. It's not even an arrogance where you don't like him. It's just like, dude, this kid really believes he's going to do that. And that's why, because of the work, that's why I think he's going to be great. It's not because he can throw the ball 80 yards and he's going to run around and make plays. He's a gifted player, man, but he works. So is it playoff? I mean, are we thinking playoffs? I mean, winning the division?

Before I get into my predictions, because they are generous, how many offensive systems, new offensive systems, and Oasis, did How did you play under as an NFL quarterback then?

I played Denny Green, my rookie year, which was the old Digit System, which is what he made famous in Minnesota when he had Cole Pepper and Randy Moss. Which I really liked. Then he got fired, and then Wissenhunt came in, and that was the old Steeler's, Rothsberger ran that. It really didn't fit my style. Then Todd Haley was there for three years. Then I went to Houston. I wasn't one of those quarterbacks. I played in Arizona for years, but then I went to Houston. I played for Kubiak, which is what we're seeing in Kyle Shanaher, which to me is the greatest offense for a quarterback. That's why a lot of these quarterbacks, you can almost plug and play. I learned. I probably had three or four offenses, and then I went to Oakland and had a new offense, so probably three or four offenses in seven years. I wasn't talented enough, looking back, to overcome that part. I needed structure. I needed to be in a rhythm. I needed to have that same thing year in and year out so I could build because the stronger part of my game was the mental part. I could understand and read and process the physical part, whereas what I lacked, obviously, I'm not Caleb Williams, and I wasn't running around.

It's hard.

But that's the round trip to, I think, the bigger point in all this, which is if he has consistency around him in the system that he's in, I think he's going to be extraordinarily successful. And so that's my sense. Okay, the prediction.

Here we go. It's what we're here for.

I I believe the Chicago Bears, right now, the spread is eight and a half games. I believe they win 11 games this year.

Wow.

Yes.

I love it.

I believe they win 11 games this year. And That's before the playoff start.

You know what?

Here's why I feel like- It's a lot more than Jerry's Giants, that's for sure.

That's for sure. But what I do like... We're all talking about Caleb and the Bear's offense and those three receivers. Matt and I on a test show said that's probably Probably the coolest and deepest three receiver core, maybe in the NFL. I mean, three weapons that could do very different things, very effective. But what people don't talk about enough is, I think the Bear's defense is going to be ridiculous. I think the offense is going to be fun, but I think that bear's defense is ready to go. So I think that is in play, Ashton.

All of our division games are late in the season. They did an interesting thing with the schedule this year. I don't know if you notice. Everybody's division games are later in the season. And so the teams are going to be priming up. But division games in the north late in the season are cold. So the question goes, who can play in the cold? One. And two, who can run the football? Because it's going to be a smash mouth. Chicago and Green Bay are inhospitable in the winter. Inhospitable. And so who Who can play in those conditions? That's what it's going to come down to.

You're making me a believer.

I think you hit the nail on the head with, I think those bears, packers games are very well. If you pencil in Detroit, say Detroit just on chalk is, all right, they're the best team in the division. Say they get to 12-12 wins. No, they're not. I'm just saying, hear me out with this, though. Hear me out.

They're not the best team in the division. Chicago Bear is the best team in the division.

I do think Bear- I'll tell you, they are.

Mark my words. Chicago Bear is the best team in the division.

No, we won't play this back. Do you think the bears are going to have more wins than the lions this year? You just said bears are going to win 11 games.

I think the bears win 11 games.

And the lions win less or more?

I'll throw one more at you. I think we sweep Detroit.

You are out of your mind.

I've lived my life out of my mind. I know you do. And it's gotten me places.

You could be a complete genius. We could be playing this back three months from now saying, wow, we all should have followed Ashton Kutcher's picks because the bears are seven and one going into Detroit.

All right, I'm going to offer you a natural transition here. Okay. Ready? There's one special weapon that the Chicago bears have this year that nobody is accounting for. Can you guess what it is?

Anything in the coaching staff, Matt? No? No. I mean, not special weapon-wise. A special Special teams.

You're must have.

Special teams.

Tori Taylor.

You know what, dude? You are so right.

Hunter.

It's a good call.

That's a really good call. Guys, I was on the sideline of the Iowa-Hawai, Iowa State game two years ago. And the scout for the Chicago Bears was there. And he comes over, and I was like, why are you here looking at Lindebaum, right? The center. The center was-Yeah, he's good. We had a six center. And I was like, I know you're looking at Lindebaum. Pay attention to the punter. This guy is a coffin-kicking genius. And the field position game is the world, right? If you had a player that could guarantee you over the course of a game 40 yards, guarantee you 40 yards, you'd be like, No, he's on the field. We'll put him on the field. Tori Taylor guarantees you 40 yards because he puts the ball so beautifully, so deep. He's going to create players days for that great defense, and he's going to give the offense field position to put points on the board. And the difference of football games in the NFL is a field goal. And if you got 10 yards, the difference between 50 yards and 40 yards, one, you're not kicking it, and one, you are If it's three-point games, Chicago bears win.

Eleven games. We sweep Detroit. We're going to the playoffs. I'll see you there.

Let me tell you, this is exactly what I wanted out of our first guest.

By the way, if they go to the playoffs, You are going to be just awful to be around. I feel bad for the wife. Okay, I want to transition really quick, okay? Because we all have kids. You mentioned, I think you coach your son's flag football team, which is awesome. I coach my kid, my oldest for years. One of the reasons that this show brought me and Jerry together is just being a dad. We're a boy dad. I got three boys. He's got two. But I don't know if you know this. My wife is expecting, and we're throwing another one, just another one.

I got some heat on me for a third.

I got some heat on me. We're not going to... Yeah, Jerry's next. Trust me. We're not going to find out. But I am a boy dad through and through. I know you have a boy and a girl. I want to ask you, What is the difference and what's the best thing? Secretly, healthy and happy baby is always number one. I would love to know what it feels like to be a girl dead. I got to be honest. What is the difference for you?

The first point, I don't know if it equates to it being a girl dead or it equates to her being my first. But when I had my daughter, because we had her first, my wife had my daughter. This would be clear, she did all the work.

You did not have it. You did not have it. I had fun.

I had fun. She did work. I had never been so in love in my entire life. It was a sense of... It was a being in love. And Milla and I have talked about it a lot. I've never loved anyone this much, ever. And that was the first sense of... And there's a weird... I'll tell you, I parent them differently. My son, I'm always like, Yeah, let's go for... Yesterday, we were popping wheelies on a bicycle in the driveway, right? Or it's like, see if you can jump down four stairs. Now you jump three. Let's see if you can jump four. My daughter, I'm like, I just want to protect her. It's a sense of just wanting to protect her from... And when my son cries, I'm like, all right, good. What do we learn? Let's go. Let's move on. And when my daughter cries, it's like my heart is out of my body and I can't put it back in. And I don't I don't know if that's... There's probably a ton, a ton of just, in some sense, maybe, toxic masculinity that I've had in my life that treats my son different than my daughter in that way.

But I also notice the same thing with my wife. She's very strict on our daughter and a gush ball with our son lets him get... And I think we balance each other in that way, where my daughter and I, we talk about the... And my son is like, No, go do the thing. It's just a slight tone difference. But I think the challenging thing with daughters versus sons is there's some… The relationship dynamics with daughters are difficult. The friendship stuff is a whole other level of importance for them, especially, I guess, for my daughter. And so if she's out with her friends in some way, it isn't in sync with her friends, it's a real thing. And my son's like, Okay, Let's go throw the football. But the relationship stuff is challenging.

Yeah. I want to feel it. All my best friends have girls. I'm just like, I got the boys. I got my My four and a half year old is every day just like, Daddy, punch me in the face today. I want to see what it feels like. No, he's dead serious. I'm like, Dude, we can't do that. I always say he's going to be a middle linebacker. He just doesn't feel pain. But it is, you're right. It's just, I think, a different way of parenting, I'm assuming.

I would bet that you'll be softer with your daughter than you are with your sons. For sure. But you don't know what you're having.

Well, we'll see. We'll We'll see what pops out here in February.

I got... Betting odds, I got you had a girl. But again, healthy baby is all we want, but I got you at a girl.

I think it's your time. Ashton, I'm married to a Cuban lawyer, so already I'm screwed. But she's the best. But she says, I desperately want you to... For the reasons you just said, I want you to have a girl because I want you to feel that type of love for your daughter. She's like, I don't want you to have a girl because I know that I will be awful. I was like, What do you mean? She's like, I will be protective. My wife is an extremist in a lot of great ways. It comes from her culture and her family and all that stuff. But she's like, I feel bad for you if we have a daughter. And I was like, oh, dude, please no.

I will say there's another thing that happens is you have a different level of... It is a different level of introspective feminism that you build, where you will instantly see the inequities between men and women in a more visceral way. And you'll also do stock on every relationship you've ever had with a woman in your life, and whether or not you treated them the way that you would want your daughter to be treated. Whether it's the way you broke up with someone, or whether it's like, you're like, Man, I would just want my daughter to be treated better. And you'll do stock of it. And I think women make the world a better place because of that, because of daughters.

And I know you mentioned, too, that you coach your son's flag football team. I'm not quite there yet. I'm trying to get my kids off the monster trucks. I mean, they're very much into the monster trucks, slowly trying to introduce sports. But I remember reading about years ago, and I thought it was the coolest thing. I remember saying, I want to do that. I know you coached high school football. Is that correct? Was it high school? But is this before you had kids or was this while... Where did that fall in line? Because I wonder, were you prepping to coach your kids one day? Or is this something that, Hey, I got the summer off. I got time. I want to go coach.

Draw some ways. At the time, I had three step daughters, and I had a little break from working where I was just like, I just need to chill out and take a break. I was feeling this sense of slump of... I don't know. I just wasn't happy for whatever reason. I had a buddy who was like, Hey, I'm coaching the Frosh team for Harvard West Lake. I'm the offensive coordinator. He would come over and watch football with me. He was like, Would you ever want to coach? Would you ever want to be a defensive coordinator? I was like, Oh, my God, I would die. He's like, Why don't you come out and defensive coordinator for the Frosh team? I was like, Count me in. I'm there. He's like, Are you serious? I was like, I'll see you at Winsor Practice.

That's awesome.

I'll be there. I just started doing it. I got this edge back of Enjoy being in the game, teaching something I really felt like I knew, and more so having these guys look at you when you're a Coach, and I still talk to a bunch of the players today. I have a picture of my team over here. It's just having a sense of this relation. It's a different thing. A locker room is a different thing. It was a wonderful experience. I did it for a couple of years, and then I realized that I couldn't give them what they ultimately needed because I needed to go back to work, and my schedule didn't work out, and I didn't want to be an absentee coach. So I stopped. And then my son was like, Dad, I really want to play flight football. And I was like, okay. And I was like, a crazy work schedule and a bunch of things going on. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to coach. Emilia looked at me. She's like, You're going to regret for the rest of your life if you don't coach.

You're coaching.

And so I was like, okay, I'll be the assistant coach. And so I signed up as the assistant coach. And then halfway through the season, the head coach had his son in San Diego, and you need to travel back and forth. And I had to take over as the head coach. And it's juice. It's so great. When it's your kid and you're like,. In Peewee, the coach can be on the field. And so I'm lining up behind my son at middle linebacker and reading it up. I took game film on the other teams, and then I drew up all the plays, and I was able to... It is so bonkers the extent that I went and had more fun coaching flag football that I could have possibly imagined. I'm very excited. Our season starts. We got our combine next Wednesday. I'm ready to go. The kids have to try them, and then we draft our teams. I'm ready.

Honestly, coaching flag football, my oldest son is 17 now, so he's playing tackle. But I coach from probably 7 to 14. As they got older, we had a Super Bowl. Our league, the league down here where I live, they actually film every game, so you can go on YouTube or something and you can watch the game, which is great. Some league don't do that. We were like a dynasty. We won almost every year. But I would lose sleep, dude. I don't know if you were like that. You're so involved. My wife is like, What are you doing? I said, Babe, we're in the Super Bowl, and I'm sitting literally on my iPad watching YouTube. I swear to God, she would- You're like watching for seven-year-old tendencies. Dude, I'm No, I'm getting... By the way, I had my coach who was like, Connor Scalians for Michigan. He was deciphering signals and stuff, and we had a whole sheet. We would call it up a color, and we would knew the place. It was so... And I'm like, Dude, if I'm coaching, I'm coaching. I'm all in.

I was looking at personnel packages. I literally drew up on the other team. This is for my son's seven. I drew up the opposing team's personnel packages in order to understand where the play was going. And I can send a blitz directly into the play. It's nuts. Up all night, same thing. Up at midnight, I would wake up in the middle of the night, I'm like, Oh, my God, I got it. I got it. I know exactly what the package... And there's weird rules in flag football. You can run in between the hashes, and so you're trying to design things. It's so much fun.

If you had to do a press conference after a game, could you see yourself having that Danny Green moment? We knew who they were and we let them off.

What country are you? Have you lost a Super Bowl? Oh, yeah.

Who's your coach comp? It could be from history or present. Do you have a coach comp? More personality or it could be style.

We lost a couple I had a couple of games last season, and I just had a bad day. I had a real bad day. I couldn't get out of the funk because I couldn't stop rerunning. If you've done that, what do I need to do next week in order to teach the kids contain? What do I need to do? It was like, no. And I would just run loops on it. In a press conference right afterwards, I think I'd bella check it.

We're on to Cincinnati.

Just not a lot of energy.

I have enough media training that I can hide emotion real well if I need to. And I would just repeat. I would have the attitude of like, Will you watch the play? You saw what happened. We all saw what happened. The question is, are we going to fix it next week? That's the only question. I would use the press conference to talk to the players.

Guys got to They got to do their jobs. They got to do their jobs.

I feel your pain so much, dude. It is the worst. I get asked this a lot, and I'm assuming I know the answer before we let you go, dude. Would you let your son play tackle?

I Miele and I debate about this all the time. The answer is yes, if he loved playing football. If he gets to the point where it's time to consider tackle football, and he loves playing football, yes, the answer would be yes. For me, for Miele, the answer might be no. And we debated it. And it's funny. There was an article that came out this weekend. I think it was the New York Times or something about 11 kids have died already this year in middle school and high school playing football, two from traumatic brain injuries, and then the others are related. And so I was like, that's a lot of kids. And so I start digging into the numbers, and I'm like, okay, well, wait a second. How many of these were from football? And then how many kids die in... It's horrible and it's awful for any parent that had to go through that. I can't even imagine. But I was just looking at it as a data problem. I was like, I feel like they're projecting that these are football-related deaths when really they might be something. I started looking in and there's this youth cardiac arrest thing that's on the rise.

You have kids in basketball and other soccer and all these other sports that are having these cardiac arrests. You can't don't really attribute it necessarily to football. You just attribute it to athletics. I think that oftentimes there are a lot of... They skew the numbers in football because it is a violent sport. I don't deny that in any way, shape, or form. But they attribute a lot of these deaths and injuries to football when really they might be just athletic-related injuries. I started going through the numbers, and it appears to me that every year there are, and consistently every year, over multiple decades, there have been on average, four deaths a year from some type of traumatic head injury that you could directly correlate to a football-related death. The heat stroke and other things, you could get heat stroke when you're playing soccer, you could get heat stroke when you're playing any outdoor sport, when it's 115 degrees in the valley right now, that's just irresponsible humans. That's irresponsible coaching. I think a lot of the head-related injuries are irresponsible coaching as well, where you don't teach the kids how to do things the right way.

So the answer is we'll cross that bridge when we get there. My hope, frankly, is that flag football in the Olympics goes off and sets things off in a way that I love coaching flag football. I'm shocked at how much I love coaching flag football. It's the best. Maybe he'll just want to play flag football. But if he wants to play tackle, best believe.

Dude, You'll be up to your own up, please.

Listen, real quick. If you need an OC, dude, I still got my playbook. A lot of championships down here in the South Bay. If you need an OC in the offseason, though. Just saying.

I would love to.

Reunited, buddy. Reunited.

Let's go.

We got it and it feels so good.

We're the most handsome coaching duo in all of coaching.

Our wives would hate us just the same because we would watch so much film. So much, though. So much, Phil. So good. I love it. Oh, man. You're the best, dude.

Can't thank you enough for doing this first ever guest. I feel like if I run into you in the street six months, then I'm just going to call you Coach. I don't even think I'm going to call. I'm like, Oh, there's Coach right there. You really have Coach vibes.

Is five football starts, yeah? You guys start up soon?

The real season. Next Wednesday is tryouts, and then we draft our teams, and then we'll do two a days or two a weeks for a couple of weeks, and then we start kicking off games.

And then easy work bears Titans, right?

Easy work for them. No, no, no. There are no easy work games. Love it.

That's what a coach says.

That's what a coach says. Nothing is a given, right? Absolutely nothing is a given. Do I think that we have what we need to win? The answer is yes. Will we win? We'll see. But I'm counting that as one of the 11.

Yeah, I was going to say.

I'll say this. I was the first guest on one other podcast, and it's called Armchair Expert.

Small little show. It's done very well. Small little show.

So Well, I was the first guest that wasn't Dax's wife. So may you have the same success as Armchair Expert and keep cranking.

Throwbacks, baby. Thank you, man. What a star.

Thank you, man. Really appreciate it. And I really do look forward to watching your Basher. They're going to be one of the fun teams to watch. So good luck. Nfc North is going to be amazing. And thank you, buddy. Appreciate it.

Last note, Iowa offense put up over 40 points last week.

Finally, right? Kate Mactamera, baby. Let's go.

They got a Q All right, it's time now for the Can't Get Enough Sauce Moment of the Week brought to you by Wendy's. Each and every week, Matt and I are going to highlight an athlete who did something positive on or off the field, something that we just can't get enough of. For me, same way I can't get enough of the Wendy's Saucy Nugs, I cannot get enough of Deuce McBride. I know I'm a Nix homer. I'm going to try to work the Nix into every show, even though basketball Seesaw's basketball season is two months away, I don't care. I have to talk Nix. Wait till you see how unhinged I become when I talk about the Nix on the show. For my guy, Deuce McBride, it's the off-season. He's supposed to be chilling, working out, getting ready for the season. He goes on College Game Day or whatever it is with Pat McAvill. He hits essentially in a crowd of thousands, a half-court shot, live on the air and wins two people, I guess, partial scholarship or a yearly tuition, whatever he paid. Great. Awesome We all see the halftime shows where guys try to hit half-court shots.

I think the odds are so low. This dude, live in a very weird environment to take a half-court shot, knocked it down. The second-round pick from West Virginia, Duke McBride, who earned his way into a nice contract with the Knicks and is now a very important player. That is the player I cannot get enough of right now.

How to get that?

How to get it in?

I feel like I'm going to have to buy a Knicks jersey at some point.

Oh, we're going to talk you into it.

I got my Kobe jersey behind me. But okay, I'm going to... This was really cool. I don't know if you saw this. Danny Stutzman, the Oklahoma linebacker, last week donated a portion of his NIL money to all of the walk-ons on their team. Two quick reasons why I love that. One, NIL sometimes has been looked at as a negative and this and that and how it can change these kids making money, and there's some of that. But I think we fail to see a lot of the good that can happen from it. That's a perfect example of a dude who's getting paid a decent amount of money. He's a good football player, but he used it because walk-ons, as I could say this, it's a thankless job. You work really, really hard. You're not on scholarship. Some walk-ons I played with had a job or outside of this. To take care of them with a pretty decent amount of money, I thought was really cool, man. Just kudos to him. He's a hell of a player, but that stuff goes a long way. Those guys need to be recognized, too, because they work just as hard and put in the same amount of time.

Yeah, they're There's a certain just maturity and leadership with a decision like that at such a young age. Again, I could say that now as a 45-year-old man, like, Oh, that's a great thing to do. But when I was 20, would I have 21? I know. However old would I have had the wherewithal to do something like that. Well, again, thank you to Wendy's. That is the Can't Get Enough Sauce Moment of the Week brought to you by Wendy's. I tell you what, the Saucy Nugs are going to be a part of my Sunday routine because I don't believe in cooking on Sundays. They're great, by the way. I don't believe in on Sundays. I'll do some meal prep like I traded, but as far as what I'm eating on Sunday, it's coming from outside the house.

I've had the Saucy Nugs. A lot of sauces, too. A lot of flavors. They're fire.

Cannot wait. It's going to be a big part of my NFL watching. Look, we talked a lot of NFL. We talked a lot of superlatives. We talked a lot with Asha, but we have to talk. We got Matt Liner here, folks. We have to talk a little college football. We mentioned Deuce McBride in West Virginia. You were in West Virginia last week with big noon kickoff. I know you're going somewhere amazing this week, but what was last weekend like for you?

Dude, it was electric. There was so much hype going in the game. The game didn't end up being that great. But for us, as the show, it's all about the fan. It's week one, so everybody's excited. Let's be honest, there's not a lot to do in Morgantown other than West Virginia, and whether it's basketball, that university. The fans were great. Machine Gun Kelly performed. He performed, which a lot of people are like, why? The dude rocked it. He couldn't have been more of a professional. He was great. I became a big Mgk fan after this weekend. I talked to him a little bit. He was great with the crowd, the fans. He performed well. He has a take of Lonely Road, which is the famous John Dember song that's used in West Virginia. He collab with Jelly Roll. It's actually a great song, but he was great, and he hiked the crowd. So the crowd was great. The energy was great. And then all of a sudden, it does in that type, and you live in it. You never know when the weather's going to hit, dude.

Chaos. It's like a movie Twister.

Oh, my God. It was... And we They're like, All right, hey, it could be lightning, thunder. Obviously, when lightning happens, there's like a... When lightning strikes, there has to be 40 minutes delay or 30 minutes delay before you can go back on the field. It basically can't hit again. Then every time it strikes, every 20 minutes, you keep- Starts the clock over. Yeah, it just starts the clock over again. We dealt with that. Fortunately, we leave, so we can do halftime, and then that game goes into another game. So we left. We drove the hour and a half to Pittsburgh, got home. But it was a great way to kick off the season for Big Noon. The fans were great. And did this week.

Yeah. Tell us about this week. This is arguably could be the best game of the year for all we know. Texas, Michigan.

Texas, Texas at Michigan. Yeah. I mean, look, you got the defending national champs. You got Texas, who was almost in the title game a year ago. Different story lines around both teams, but similar expectations. We got a star-studded lineup. You're going to have to tune in and watch Big Noon. We got another- Can't give us anything.

You can't break news on the show, right?

Well, let's just say we have one of the greatest Yankees of all time, and we have an actor who maybe, I don't know if you've ever worked with, but he's a diehard Hard, Texas, which we all know that is. We have another musical guest, which I'll say, but I'll tell you what, we have a party. The fans are great, so we'll see everyone there Saturday morning in Ann Arbor.

Who needs it more? Real Okay. If you had to guess, Texas, Michigan, who do you think needs this one more going through the rest of the year?

Texas. The reason why I say that is Michigan. Michigan lost so much last year, so much. I just think the expectation Pantation will lower a little bit this year. I don't know if you watched the first game. They're a really good football team. But Texas, they tasted it last year. They're going to the SEC. Sark is like, Hey, are they back? We always He's asked the same question. He shows Texas back. Well, this is a game where I don't care if Michigan ends up winning only eight games. This is a game where you go on the road against the defending national champion, you make a statement. That's why I just think there's more for Texas on Then you have the Big Ten SEC talk. It's big, though. It's big for both.

If I wanted to show up, are we close enough yet that I could get some VIP treatment? If I just say, Hey, I want to come check out the game, maybe come by set. Are we close enough yet or have we not crossed into that land where I could ask you for a giant solid like that?

Dude, anytime you want to come, buddy, we'll get you a seat up there. You want to get on the show? I'll get you on the show.

That's a good... I mean, if ever a time, that game under those circumstances, that's a good one to I'm going to have to maybe trade off something else with the wife to get to that one.

I was going to say, let's go to Ann Arbor. Then, Hey, honey, by the way, I'm going to spend six hours by myself on the next day. I don't know if she'll let you do that, bud.

No, that might be a big problem.

Let's ease into the season, Jerry. We got a long ways to go, buddy. I know. That's what happens.

I get excited. I get so far ahead of myself. I make all these plans, and I'm like, Really? I just want to be able to watch and talk about it. That's what we're doing here on Throwbacks. Week one in the books for us. I'm going to say we're one I'm going to say, Kutcher got us to one and all.

We're one and all. Go follow us at Throwback Show. Our personal handles. We can't wait, man. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun season.

Yes, @throwbackshow on YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok. You could also email us if you wanted to tell us what we did right, @throwbackshow@gmail. Com. Of course, if you like what you heard, please like and subscribe on Apple podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you like to get it. We will be back week two. We're one and a half. We have to follow that up. There will be a guest. I'm going to try to make it NFL, and it's going to come from me. Thank you, Andrew Gunling. Everybody helped us do this. Week one. Here we go. Everyone, enjoy. Happy football. Happy football. See you in a week.