Games with Names - "The Bush Push" with Matt Leinart | USC vs. Notre Dame
Episode Date: February 8, 2024Matt Leinart is in studio! He’s here to break down one of the greatest and most controversial college football games of all time: “The Bush Push.” Matt joins us on the couch (3:03). We go back... to October 2005 (34:05). We look at the Notre Dame and USC rosters (45:39). We dive into the game ( 1:01:18). We score it (1:14:15). We hit the GWN hotline (1:25:52). Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports.
Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry.
Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
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Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry.
Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.
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is sponsored by Diet Coke. Will Ferrell, Snoop Dogg at practices. I would have signed instantly.
Dude, Kobe and Shaq had just got off their three-peat. I think Shaq had bounced. The
Dodgers weren't great. The Kings weren't great. Like it was our town. Today we're looking at the infamous
Bush-Push 2005 USC versus Notre Dame. One of the oldest college football rivalries. We got a 2004
Heisman Award winner, QB for the Cardinals, Texans, and Raiders, Matthew Steven Leiner.
The aura that you guys had as a college football team,
the history of the titles, the Heismans, the games.
I sat there and I thought you guys were pros.
That was the life we had. We would go anywhere.
We were treated like celebrities.
We could get into any club at 18.
It was wild, dude.
Right when I got off the bus, I'm like, this is going to be a battle.
And they come out in the green jerseys and we're like, oh my God.
I just hate Notre Dame, dude.
I still hate Notre Dame.
The next play is when I scramble and I fumble.
The next thing I know is there's a storm in the field,
and I'm just like, what just happened?
I just lost the game.
So I come in, and I swear to God, dude, it was the loudest I'd ever been in.
I couldn't hear myself talk.
I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
Leinert going to try to sneak it ahead.
He got it.
Touchdown, SC!
Games with Names is a production of iHeartRadio.
Games with Names is doing a live show,
and you guys bought so many tickets so gosh darn fast
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Come hang with us August 30th at the Wilbur Theater in Boston.
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Welcome to Games with Names presented by Winbet.
On today's episode, we are talking the Bush push.
2005, USC versus Notre Dame with Matthew Leinart,
the lefty Heisman winner.
Oh, my God.
As a Domers fan, I'm still mad about this game.
I don't even want to get into it right now.
Are you a Domers fan?
Oh, yeah.
Are you?
I'm a Domers guy.
Is that what they call?
The Golden Dome.
You're a Domer.
I thought they were called losers.
Oh, get out of here.
Get out of here.
Man.
We'll save this for the post.
I'm all riled up already.
All right, we'll save it.
Great episode.
Matt was awesome.
Matt was awesome. Matt was awesome.
One of college's greatest dynasties.
We go over that.
USC, I mean, at that time was insane.
The partying, the rappers on the sidelines.
We all know.
We get the inside scoop, though.
Brian Routs with Snoop.
Snoop out here doing one-on-ones.
Snoop- here doing one-on-ones. Snoopaloop. And the transition from being a college icon superstar hero
to the rookie in the National Football League.
Good insight there.
Great insight.
Great to see his perspective.
A lot of people don't realize, you know, you're 22,
you just won the Heisman.
Actually, you played it a year after you won the Heisman.
You got to just do ballroom dancing,
date Paris Hilton,
allegedly,
you know,
and then all of a sudden you wake up and you got 30 million in your bank
account.
You got a national championship and now you got to go be the lowest man on
the totem pole.
Yeah.
Denny green screaming at you.
Danny green out in the desert,
baby.
They are who we thought.
We let them off the hook. We let them off the hook.
And then we wrap up this
show by answering some questions
from the fans.
It's a good one. Can't wait.
Can't wait. Make sure you
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All right, guys, let's go.
Let's go.
October 15, 2005.
Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana.
Down 31-28 with 7 seconds left on the clock.
Matt Leinart steps to the line of scrimmage is he gonna sneak it oh my god what's Reggie doing this is the bush push
hey bro let's go let's go this is awesome, dude. Welcome to Games with Names, presented by WinBet.
Today we have a very, very special, very special guest.
It's just so good to be here.
You know, we got a 2004 Heisman Award winner.
This is our third Heisman guy.
Who is it?
We have Ricky Williams.
Oh, yeah.
Peyton Manning.
We had a first-team All-American College Hall of Famer.
QB for the Cardinals, Texas, and Raiders.
Host of Big Noon Kickoff on Fox.
I watch it every Saturday.
We have Matthew.
Steven.
Matthew, Steven Leiner.
What's up, man?
What's up, man?
How you doing?
Dude, I'm freaking pumped to be here, dude.
Are you?
Yeah.
Good.
It's a great setup, dude.
By the way, I just saw Bruce Willis over there on the wall that's yeah that's maybe it's a chopper
huh who's motorcyclist baby it's a chopper that's a great what is that that's a great
that's dead what are you up to besides tick talking right now i see you on tiktok i mean
you are committed dude i'm you're in it daily content. I was told I need to push out daily content.
I'm like, are you sure?
And they're like, yeah.
So I'm in the football content right now on the road doing all that stuff.
Yeah, it's a lot, but it's fun.
It's working.
It's paying off.
It's building a little bit.
I like the Manhattan Dad stuff.
Yeah, the Manhattan Dads.
The coaching stuff.
This is the coach stuff.
The starter.
I did a Manhattan Beach starter pack. So you're familiar with the South Bay big the starter i did a manhattan beach starter
pack so you're familiar with the south bay manhattan beach i did a manhattan beach starter
pack and that one kind of like catapulted me up in the south bay because it was like you know
man like we're retired i'm retired i walk around there no one really cares it's great it's a great
place but like i got stopped more for that the manhattan beach dad's thing starter pack than anything else i've ever done it was like oh the mappy it was the and
from wives moms divorces dads it was hilarious wasn't one of them to have an suv with tinted
windows with them all the way down was that it was uh was that a part of that one it was uh
a golf cart you gotta have a golf cart you got the Aviator Nation
everyone the creation the juices that you're you know you spend $30 for a
smoothie I love it yeah I love it so yeah it's all good man so today we're
looking at the infamous yeah Bush push 2005 USC versus Notre Dame huge rivalry
huge rivalry I'm wearing the hat I love it I saw this the
content you did you guys went out there you and Brady Quinn walked through the bush the bush push
had a lot of fun you broke into the locker room we did break in the alarm went off yeah we did
it was awesome so what does this game mean is this like your guys's biggest game SC Notre Dame
you know it's interesting.
It's a different kind of rivalry game because you have a lot of –
like UCLA is our rival.
But, I mean, it really wasn't a rival when I was there.
But that's the crosstown rival in the battle for LA.
Notre Dame is so much bigger.
It's historic.
I don't know if it's – it's not Michigan-Ohio State,
but it's a historic rivalry.
And I wish I knew how it started, but it's pretty fascinated how it all started I think it started between like the president's wife and someone else at the time like thought the two should play or
something and like that's how it like kicked off um but like the the history the titles the Heismans
the games um some of the performances. Like it's just very unique.
And that was my first time back since the Bush-Bush game, so 18 years.
Obviously, you're playing.
You know, I don't go.
I never went to the game.
And then my job now, we hadn't covered a game at Notre Dame.
So it was really cool, man.
Like it was cool to go back.
I played there twice.
But to walk the field with Brady, to kind of relive this game, it was cool to go back um i'd gone i played there twice but to walk the field with brady
to kind of relive this game um it was wild man like it was it was it was cool it was it was
cool to be back a lot of changes or a lot of changes though so it's turf now which sucks
it used to be grass it was long grass in your game i was watching this dude they jared got
hocked because of that long grass was like you know jared was like a four seven guy he couldn't
well they grew that out for Reggie.
Yeah.
Dude, we actually had like, I think we had one of our kids tore his ACL
because the grass was so long, and one of their linemen tore their ACL.
We were pissed.
We're like, dude, the grass was like six or seven inches off the ground,
and it was all just to try and slow down our offense.
And obviously, I mean, it worked at times,
but Reggie went off that game still, so it didn't matter.
It's kind of like when you play, like that's what the Bears always did.
Yeah, the Bears, yeah.
They keep that long grass.
I miss grass, though, man.
Yeah, so that part was different.
And, you know, just the smell of grass and just like you're walking on it, it just feels different.
So that was a little different.
And then they added, they just renovated the stadium but it still had the same feel it's kind of like
the car i don't know if you've been to the coliseum but the usc's coliseum they condensed
in so they took out like 20 000 seats but they still have grass so it still has the same feel
of the bowl but i'll tell you what man you touched down down Jesus, the history in that place. It was good to be back.
It was good to be back.
I had some good performances.
Yeah.
I mean, a man with 1.5 national championships beat.
1.5?
What are you talking about?
Didn't you guys have, you guys kind of co?
We split one, but we got screwed.
I know.
You know what?
The crazy thing is we're kind of in that same age group.
And I was in JUCO this year, I think, when were you at kent state i went to kent state the next year oh six
oh six was my first year at kent state and i remember watching you guys and like the aura
that you guys had as a college football team it wasn't like a college football team I sat there and I thought
you guys were pros and I was in the same age as you guys I was like these guys dude it was it was
wild so like at that time well you gotta remember too so my first year was Pete's first year we were
awful um we were six and six but you just felt it was gonna be different his I mean dude he's still
trucking along now like fucking 80 years old he's still growing but like you just felt it was going to be different. I mean, dude, he's still trucking along now at like fucking 80 years old.
He's still growing.
But, like, you just felt it was different.
The staff was great.
We had Carson, obviously, who was great.
The next year, it just flipped.
It was one year.
And we beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl.
And then the next year was when I won the starting job.
But to your point, it was like – we always talk about this.
There was no football then.
Kobe and Shaq had just got off their 3p i think shack had bounced the daughters weren't great the
kings weren't great like it was our town like like la was our town and pete loved it man he
embraced oh dude he was like why wouldn't i use this as my recruiting tool? This is our backyard.
Hollywood, entertainment, celebrity, the lifestyle.
Like, let's go.
Come join this ride with us.
And he did.
And it was a ride.
Will Ferrell, Snoop Dogg at practices.
I would have signed instantly.
Dude, Snoop was the best, man.
Snoop, I threw passes to Snoop.
One-on-ones?
Yeah, one-on-ones.
He was out there running.
He loved that.
Dude, we had, I'll tell you this story. It was one-on-ones. Yeah. One-on-ones. He's out there running. He loved that, dude. We had,
I'll tell you this story is one of the,
is one of my best stories.
And so I think it was,
I was right after I won the Heisman my junior year.
And I came back and in that timeframe,
the game,
remember the rapper,
the game.
So he was a big SC fan.
He's from,
I think he's from Compton and he was a big reggie.
He would come to the sideline,
come to the games.
He asked me to be in his music video.
It was dreams.
So it was like Serena Williams, a couple other athletes in there.
And I was like, shoot, OK, let's do it.
So I took Lindell White.
I took my boy B. Hans, who was a backup quarterback.
And we went over on the Sony lot.
And I'm walking in.
And I'm carrying this big ass Heisman.
I'm in like a gray hoodie and jeans.
And we go and I see Dr. Dre right when I'm walking in.
Again, we're 21 years old.
Dre's like hitting us up.
And then we go into his trailer and it's like eight of his dudes in his trailer.
You could imagine what that thing smelled like.
But we're in there.
I put the Heisman on there.
And this dude is like, Heisman this, that.
And I'm just sitting there with my boys. Lindell's probably lighting one up you know we're just sitting there
dude telling stories it was the coolest thing and so the best part about it we then shoot the music
video and the funniest thing is i'm watching like this guy do a music video it's cool and dreams
like was one of his hits back then and i'm in it and i'm like walking out of the fog with the
heisman and long story short i never i didn't make the cut I didn't make the cut of the video he didn't put me in it I was like I was
here for like six hours but it was the coolest day man so that like dude that
was the type of stuff we got to do man like it was it was nuts so you grew up
in Santa Ana which is Orange County yeah it's not I grew I didn't grow I grew up
very uh I'm I grew up in like right on the border of Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.
I grew up right by Mater Dei in my high school.
Super just working middle class.
My parents both worked full-time jobs.
We didn't have a lot of money, but my mom wanted to get us into private school.
That was like she wanted to get us out of that district.
So my brother went to Mater Dei, which was five minutes away.
He was five years older, and then they worked hard to get us there and that was that was it
who was your who was your college team growing up ucla the kade mcnowan era
dude kade mcnowan jj stokes danny farmer yeah uh deshaun boster and deshaun boster was a couple years old i mean he was a stud
um i loved kade mcnowan because he was a lefty and they were really good so like i got recruited
heavily to ucla but when i went there it's just like it was it was just a different feel man and
and i got nothing against ucla i really don't but it was just it was like ucla it's just like
this place kind of sucks. It just felt boring.
Like it just felt boring.
There was no energy.
And then I was getting recruited by Paul Hackett.
I don't know if you ever played for Paul,
but it was Paul and Hugh Jackson when they were at SC.
And even that energy was better, even though they were terrible.
But Pete brought in, and Pete was with Sarkeesian and Kiffin,
and this staff was loaded, and it just felt right even
though we weren't good i was just like this is where i want to be so ucla was my team um but sc
it just it felt it felt uh it was i mean it was the right decision geez so let's get back to modern
day modern day you guys have three heisman trophies the only only high school in america we have three with three and the third he's old john hewitt
yeah john hewitt john hewitt where where'd he go to school modern day no college notre dame i think
yeah are you getting get out of here look at you bro talking about dude look at you you're cheating
over here with the teleprompter what are you talking no dude this is that's a bat that's a bat tv dude colt brennan rest in peace i know that's my boy he was uh he was a monster at hawaii
he was my backup at modern day we were best friends and then yeah he so he kind of you know
he had his path he started colorado then went to juco um kind of got his life back in order and he
balled the juco he walked on for june jones at hawaii and just ball like he was a
baller dude like 5 000 yards he was a baller and he was running up in the heisman so we played on
my senior year we went out to hawaii and i was and we had i think we had a better song we we
dropped 70 on him dude but he he ball i mean it was like 70 to 20 or something but he played okay
that's back when those hawaii teams were just dude they were slinging dude just dude the run and shoot man they throw the ball 60 times a game and he was
like the the flag carrier for dude he so he got drafted to washington washington like fifth or
sixth round and i remember i was so happy for him bald in the preseason and tore his hip up and his
and he just never like he was i think he was third string but he was balling god it might have been Shanahan at the time Mike Shanahan and uh fit perfectly kind of
what type of quarterback he was and uh he got hurt and I think he tore his labrum in his hip
or something he just never got back but like I thought he he probably would have stuck around
a little bit dude because he could he could he was accurate he was smart um and then he just
man he had a lot of smart um and then he just man
he had a lot of problems dude and just feel bad man yeah it's a sad story yeah it is what was the
first time you met pete carroll i know you said hugh jackson was modern day modern day yeah because
he so i had so when i'm chewing gum probably he's drinking mountain dew and chewing gum um he came out so when when hackett got fired i decommitted and then um actually bob
stoops who was at fox for a while who's the greatest guy oklahoma came in real hard and that
was the year they won the title they played florida state and they had josh heiple and they
that they were they were awesome so they were recruiting me and then i i committed early to sc
decommitted because i didn't know who the coach was going to be Bob came in hard Oklahoma was like and I was like it was pretty cool but then
I went to visit oh yeah but then I went to Norman I was like I was like dude I was like bro I'm
sorry man but I can't I can't live in this place I just it was like I just couldn't I couldn't go
there but I was like I was fascinated they were great you know but I'm like I just couldn't go there. But I was like, I was fascinated. They were great, you know, but I'm like, I just can't see myself in Norman, Oklahoma.
But the first time I met Pete was at modern day.
He came to practice and just, we threw the ball around.
And obviously he was trying to get me to commit there.
Norm Chow came.
That was a big reason why I stayed.
Cause Norm Chow, his history,
he had just coached Phillip Rivers at NC State,
but he had like, you know, all the guys at BYU,
Detmer, Jim McMahon. Like he, I mean, he was the quarterback guru. coached philip rivers at nc state but he had like you know all the guys at byu detmer jim mcmahon
like he i mean he was the quarterback guru so yeah that was the first time i met pete man
probably chewing gum freaking a dozen mountain dews a day so you love you love so norm chow his
son's my agent carter chow really carter chow yeah. Carter Chow is one of my agents. In TV? No, in football.
He's part of Yee and Dubin Sports.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, he's a stud.
And the Hawaiian.
Yeah, so I know Cam a little better
because Cameron was in Manhattan Beach for a long time.
Carter, I know a little bit.
I haven't seen them in forever, though.
Norm actually just called me today.
Did he?
Randomly.
You got to tell him I said hello.
I will, yeah.
I just went out to Hawaii and hung out with the family.
They live over in the North Shore.
Oh, that's cool, man.
It's crazy.
Now, tell us about this quarterback room, rookie or freshman year.
Freshman year, you got you, Carson Palmer.
Who else?
Castle, your boy.
Did you play with Castle?
No, you didn't.
That's how we met.
Castle played with Welker.
He played with Welker, but we met castle play with welker he played
with welker but we met because i used to come out remember and throw with you guys on the beach
because i linked up with cas so my freshman is doing tv too now he's he is i love cast dog um
talk about a career dude jesus um carson castle me billy hart was the other freshman that came in billy ended
up getting drafted by the yankees like six like 10th round or something played baseball for a
while dude we just i mean just a clown show it was awesome because carson like i mean you know
castle and castle just well cars used to come out and throw with us too and carson's kind of
carson is like i always tell everybody he's like the driest sense of humor but he's he's like he's the funniest
dude he's sneaky funny man he's just because like he's not like super social but when like he's just
sneaky funny man and castle is the opposite castle is just a clown the first time i met castle i don't know how it came up but he
got a piece of paper and he he he drew through three guys he drew him tom brady and vinnie
testaverti do you know where this story is going no he drew him with a medium-sized dick
tom with a decent sized dick and then he just threw a castle that went off the fucking page for Vinny Testaverde.
And that's the first thing he ever – I'm like, I've heard of you, Matt Castle,
but why are you telling me about Vinny Testaverde's dong?
Like, that's the first thing he told me.
That's something.
Does it not surprise you?
So we'd be sitting at practice, and I'd be – this was probably my first –
the second year, too.
I'd be taking a knee, you know this was my, probably my first two, uh, the second year too. I'd be
taking a knee, you know, like leaning on the helmet as whatever. And he would just come over
and just hawk a fucking loogie on my calf. Just, just like that. And I, and I would, I would just,
I would put like, I would get big old boogers and just throw them in his helmet, all this shit.
We did the stupidest stuff, man you know locker room shit but castle and castle
and carson would wrestle monday or tuesday every week and and both those dudes are big dudes like
a castle big ass legs and carson's just a big human being and they would go at it and i don't
know if you've ever wrestled but they would wrestle for like three minutes straight which
they're just like they're like dead dude, dude. He used to wrestle with Brady.
Yeah,
probably the same.
He wrestled with Brady at the Derby one time. He's just an,
he's an idiot in the best idiot way.
I love that guy.
He's a fun guy to be around.
He is.
He's the best.
Now,
first time you met Reggie?
Uh,
probably his recruiting trip.
Um,
should I remember seeing his highlights?
I don't know if you guys,
I mean,
San Diego,
right?
I remember.
Yeah.
So he was,
he,
he,
you know, who's quarterback was, I do. Once you say Alex Smith, Alex Smith, I knew that. And you guys, I mean, San Diego, right? I remember. Yeah. So he was, he, he, you know, whose quarterback was, I do.
Once you say Alex Smith, Alex Smith, I knew that.
And he went to Helix.
There were two, there were like three highlight.
I don't know.
We used to do this, the recruiting class coming in and Pete would show like all of the recruits
are highlight video and the three I'll never forget.
Well, Brian Cushing's was ridiculous because he was returning punts, playing running back, linebacker.
Jeff Byers was our center.
He was the number one.
He actually never really – he started a little bit,
but he was the number one lineman in the country from Colorado, I think.
And this dude was just a monster.
And then Reggie.
And Reggie's highlight was like holy shit dude this kid is
special it's like that resnos run every dude it was just he was he was he was a highlight he was
a video game and um that's how it was like the first day probably recruiting trip and then i
remember so his first year so he was one year behind me so i still wasn't playing was that
oh i think i was playing i think i was a redshirt sophomore and his true freshman.
So I was two years ahead of him.
And he came in and actually, dude, he was like kind of like second, third string.
We had three backs.
We had Lendell, who was a baller, and we had Chauncey Washington,
who actually was on the depth chart right behind Herschel Dennis going in.
And Reggie was kind of like
scat kind of use him in return but he wouldn't go he would go in like third but we knew in practice
we're like dude this kid he's just reversing field like and our defense was nasty they couldn't
tackle him they couldn't get to him um he was uh i i say this openly like he's the best i think
best college football player i've ever seen there There's a lot of debate, obviously,
but what he did and the most electric by far.
I think him and Mike Vick.
Those are the two, at least in that era.
Ricky Williams could be thrown in there.
I mean, there's a lot of guys.
I just think what Reggie did,
Reggie was just like, he was a human highlight film, man.
Who's the one guy in the team that needs a little more love?
His name gets passed around a little.
What do you mean?
No one really talks about.
Because when you think of.
On those teams?
On those teams, we think about you, Reggie Bush.
You think about some of the D guys.
But it's usually you and Reggie Bush.
I think Lindell White.
Lindell White.
I mean, I receive.
Well, I also say.
You remember Mike Williams?
Mm-hmm.
Dude. That was the most dominant dude I've ever seen he went to Detroit right it was tie a
he went he was overall or so he was like ninth or ninth so they had just drafted
I mean they were that was a bad years to be in Detroit but they had chart they
drafted Charles Rogers a year before so they drafted two receivers back-to-back
I remember that.
And then he bounced around.
He went to Oakland, Seattle a little bit.
He was unbelievable.
I think Lindell White is the one.
Just because he gets overshadowed by Reggie, I'm telling you what,
one of the best pure football players.
You play with just pure guys at any level.
And Quan Bolton, to me, was the best pure football player i've ever played with like just this dude could start at
safety receive was just a football player lindell was like that man like he was so naturally good
he didn't have to try at all that was probably part of his downfall a little bit he just didn't
try as hard probably as he got older but he was was special, man. And he was a big – without him, we don't win those titles.
Short yardage.
Dude, but he was 240, 4'5", 4'6", broke tackles quick, pick up blitzes.
He just did everything, man.
This season he had 1,521 total yards from scrimmage.
I think he's our all-time touchdown leader at USC.
He's got like 60-something, right?
Total, he's got 57.
57.
And by the way, well, Reggie gets mad a lot because we'd be down on the five
and they put Lindell in.
Lindell had like 20 touchdowns inside the five.
Reggie get us down there, but no, Lindell was a stud, man.
He's probably the one that gets people kind of like,
oh, I remember how good he was, you know? Yeah, he he was a monster he was just such a good one-two punch dude this dude so we play
oklahoma in the orange bowl and that was the year we won he had a sprained ankle like end of the
season so he didn't practice and he was you know he just kind of didn't he kind of showed up when
he wanted to he didn't practice all bowl season, probably three weeks.
Showed up at the game 255.
255.
He's like 6'2", 255.
And ran for like a buck 50 on him and looked like he was running a 4-4.
And didn't practice one time.
It was honestly one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.
So what made Norm Chow's offense is so
electric was it you guys obviously have players but west oh west west coast it fit me really well
getting the ball fast timing you know play action stuff bootleg stuff um and then we just did we had
dogs man we had we had those recruiting classes,
those handful, even after I left for a couple of years, I mean, that run from like, Oh, two to
10, probably nine, eight or nine years was unbelievable. Like the, he left you guys and
went, became the head coach of Titans, right? He left, he left at the, he left at a very opportune
time for himself. Oh, child you're talking about? Yeah. Ohow left yeah so chow left um i was talking about
pete pete left right before all the shit went down um chow left my senior year so he took the
job with the titans with jeff fisher but it was it was fine like because sark and kiffin then became
sark was my qb coach and then kiffin was the oc they were co-ocs but we didn't i mean we didn't
skip a beat obviously they were i mean they're really good so so you guys are essentially like like you said there was no LA pro team at the
time you guys were the pro team now what was the best part of it obviously going to all the clubs
what was the worst part of it I think you know for me for me personally I think looking back
the perception it gave me as I went into the NFL, I think for sure.
I don't always say, I've said this, like, I don't think I helped my cause a lot.
But I also, like, wasn't like what everyone thought I was.
Like, we were in college.
We worked our ass off.
We won.
We played at a high level.
We just were like, that's just, that was the life we had, dude.
Like, we would go
anywhere we were treated like celebrities we could get into any club at 18 we were living like normal
college kids in that in that city in hollywood because that's just all we had that's he's a
terrible college town we weren't like either we're going to a frat party who they hated us because we
were the king of the town or we go to a hollywood club where we can get in and like drink and whatever you know like so
and we weren't it's not like we were going out that much we just when we went out we went out
you know like and um i so i think the worst part was just how that perception carried with me in
the nfl i it wasn't obviously and then again like i said i made mistakes but um i mean the best part
is i mean the best part is what i said man but um i mean the best part is i mean the
best part is what i said man we just i mean the stories i could tell for days man it was freaking
awesome wildest what's your what's the wildest celebrity encounter that you had at one of those
clubs my my nick my nicholas shea who's like one of my best friends is kind of funny how we met but
um dude we i just like we would we would hang with like DiCaprio.
We would hang with, cause in that, in that time there was no camera phones and that was
like the top of the club game.
Cause everyone would go out.
Cause no one, there was no one.
I mean, I don't even, I think a camera phone might've came out, um, a couple years later,
but, um, there was no worry, you know, you had security. No one was taking pictures of you.
You could just do whatever the hell you want.
Kid Rock, I don't remember boozing one night heavy with Kid Rock.
I was like 20.
It was just random in the off season.
Every time you went out, you just ran into people, and they knew us, you know?
And then our boys ran the club, so they would set us up with the best table
next to whoever was there. So you would just, I mean, you know and like and then our boys ran the club so they would set us up with the best table next to whoever was there so you would just i mean you know how it is you just mingle and
it was just wild dude it was uh it and the wild part about it was it just felt it was just super
normal for us for those years yeah kyler wrap up this dynasty what else we got okay so i just want
to like throw out some quick stats on this pete carroll era usc the usc dynasty from 2001 to 2009 the trojans went 97 and 19 there's a 2003 ap national title 2004
national title against oklahoma uh and then 2005 lost the national championship game to texas which
is probably the best the best game of all time and i can't wait to do that one here at some point
um do you have a we have a huge te huge Texas fan that wants to do that game.
Dude, we get VY here.
VY's the best.
Who?
Vince Young.
No, we were thinking Vince, too.
We do Vince, too.
His last name rhymes with McConaughey.
McVay?
Chaminade?
It rhymes with that.
Is that McConaughey?
I don't know. I'm just saying, if we lock it in. If you get McConaughey? I don't know.
I'm just saying, if we lock it in.
If you get McConaughey, I'm coming back because I'll talk smack to him.
All right.
Book it.
All right, all right, all right.
All right, all right, all right.
Seven consecutive Pac-10 titles, 33 straight weeks at number one,
which is wild, from 2003 to 2005.
Finished top four in the AP poll for six straight years.
Three out of four heisman
winners from 2002 to 2005 palmer liner and bush 14 players selected in the first round during that
time and 28 players selected in the first two rounds nfl draft that's the usc dynasty
dude and then from 2010 to like 20 it was like nobody that was the pack 10 or 12 whatever you call it we were uh how sad is that we were pack
10 i remember you guys it's sad but they only have their self themselves to blame they really do
stupid so smug pack 10 was always smug we gotta get you we gotta get you in the college space a
little bit you know no dude no can't read can't write can't stay don't belong you can't read can't
write can't stay can't that we just don't belong, bro. Can't read, can't write, can't stay, we just don't belong.
No, you're a crossover.
You're a crossover.
It's tough.
No, it's not.
I got you.
Although that's how I feel in the NFL.
I'm like, God, you know, I don't think I fit in the NFL.
I'm more suited for college.
Yeah.
You fake it till you make it, man.
We'll get you on the show.
Dude, they would go nuts for you.
Are you kidding me?
You know what?
I honestly, I got so mad.
I didn't understand college.
Like, where I grew up, I grew up in the Bay.
So we used to like, I used to like Berkeley.
Where'd you go to high school?
Woodside.
Nothing big.
So what part of the Bay, though?
The peninsula right by Palo Alto.
So when I grew up, there was Stanford and Berkeley.
Like, whatever.
You go to those games.
It wasn't like a crazy college environment.
I mean, they were good. They were rolling. Both of them were pretty good aaron rogers was he was balling over there
but then i went to i went to ohio i went to kent state and people used to get up and leave our game
to go watch the ohio state game and you know like that i didn't realize how big ohio state was
until i went to ohio i didn't know college football you State was until I went to Ohio.
I didn't know college football.
You know, you don't get that environment when you live in the Bay Area.
Dude, why don't we get you to Michigan, Ohio State?
You're an Ohio native.
Ish.
Yeah, ish.
C-Dub will be there.
You guys fly back at the same time.
But, you know, I'm also kind of bluey because the guy used to toss me the rock.
I think he might.
We usually try to get him on the show.
Maybe he'll come on the show this year.
I mean, we'll see if his schedule allows him.
Yeah.
Let's go back.
What's he doing now?
I think he's just buying teams and being a dad.
Buying teams.
Delta consultant.
He's coming to Fox, right?
He's going to come to Fox at some point, maybe?
I hope.
That's what they say.
I'm hearing it's 50-50.
I don't know. Nah, I heard he's been working. You know, if he jumps into it. Oh yeah, he jumps in.
He'll be good. He'll be good. We'll be right back after this quick break.
Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk
Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts.
When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like,
how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions.
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answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Santer. The only difference
between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies.
Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take?
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Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career
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Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Stories about people who have accomplished extraordinary things, pets that have gone above and beyond, events that have defied explanation,
and I'd like to tell you about them. I'm Aaron Manke, and for the past six years,
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Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science
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the three-pound universe in our heads.
We're looking at a whole new series of episodes this season
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Why does your memory drift so much?
Why is it so hard to keep a secret?
When should you not trust your intuition?
Why do brains so easily fall for magic tricks? And why do they love conspiracy theories? I'm hitting these questions and
hundreds more because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can
steer our lives. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life by digging into unexpected questions.
Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Let's go back to October 15, 2005.
This is a segment we do.
We try to live in that moment.
The best movie was The Fog.
I don't even remember this movie.
Do you?
Dude, I'm not a scary movie guy.
But I do remember the movie.
I remember Gold Digger by Kanye West.
I still remember that.
Yep.
By the way, though, Twilight.
Huge Twilight fan.
No shame in my game, dude.
Edward or the other one?
Team Edward or Team?
Oh, that's good.
Oh, no, no.
The wolf, dude.
The wolves.
I was Team Edward.
Really?
A little bit.
I used to love.
You don't strike me as a Team Edward guy.
I know, but my sister liked him, and I kind of like him.
I don't get, I didn't get the, I mean, I don't think he's a good looking dude.
I didn't really get the hype around him, but.
I think it was, he was like the goth cool kid, you know, like against the grain.
Yeah.
I was definitely the wolves.
I used to love those houses because when those movies came out,
I mean, I'm a movie guy.
I didn't read the books.
They used to have such cool houses in like the upper northwest.
Oh, yeah.
Like the modern house in the forest.
No, those are good movies.
I actually rewatched those movies. I like those movies. What we got in sports, the sports world,
first international game, Arizona defeat San Francisco and Mexico city. We played in Mexico
city. Did you, how was that? I didn't play actually. What year was that? I hurt my knee.
What year is that? 17. But we went out went out what year did you get drafted you got drafted
nine and then you retired in 20 20 hell of a career dude it was it was a good one i remember
dude when we train you and your long hair and i remember and that was when you were backing up
kind of west right you were kind of like following his mold i remember dude i was like this kid i
was a kid because you were we were young i was like dude this kid's gonna be good dude like he's like he's got it man and you freaking you just took off dude
i worked hard and i oh yeah no i know but it was dude you it was fun it was fun but that mexico
city that that that altitude's at like 9800 feet is it it is people don't know that that stadium i
heard mexico city's kind of a cool insane yeah so we
did i did a documentary there to promote the game and then i ended up tearing my knee up
but we went out there and spent a week in mexico mexico city was so fun so much culture the food
was amazing i've heard went to toadi wakhan you didn't play in london i did did you i did
they sent you guys to london we went to london twice did you like that honestly i had a blast because we just a lot of beer no we're a domestic sport and so they treat
they just were so excited right not really it's just it was exciting for us because you get to
have that plus was that six that's not a terrible flight for you guys no it was like six and a half
hours but the sleep schedule did get messed up i I wasn't used to going out of the country at that time.
But yeah, London was cool.
The grass was super long, though.
I bet those fans are nuts.
Speaking of the Cardinals, can we talk about Dennis Green?
The greatest rant of all time.
They were who we, was it the Bears?
Do you know the backstory of that?
No.
Okay, so my rookie year, we played the Bears third game of preseason.
Third game, starters play, most of the game, right?
First half at least.
And so I start that game, and we're in Chicago, and we beat them.
And that was the year they went to the Super Bowl.
Urlacher, Lance Briggs, I mean, their defense was nasty.
Peanut Tillman, yeah.
Their D-line was really good.
Tommy Harris, I think, was there.
And we just outplayed them.
We beat them.
And so when we played that game, we were 1-3 or 4.
My first start was the week before,
and we missed a field goal to win against the Chiefs.
Ty Law, did you play with Ty?
No.
He picked me off in that game, but we should have won that game.
And then the next week was Monday Night Football,
and it was like first time we were on Monday Night Football for years.
And we knew going into that game, like, we could beat this team.
They were 5-0 in front of us.
We were like, they had Sexy, Rexy.
Like, they went on a run, but they had a great defense.
Their offense was average.
And we came out smoking, dude.
Like, we were up 21-3 or something like that.
And then we took the foot off the pedal.
They started making some plays.
And then freaking Devin Hester ran one back to go up with like four minutes left.
And then a minute and a half left, we drive down and we get a field goal arranged to win.
And we miss again.
We missed two field goals back-to-back games to lose.
So then I get it.
So then the post-game conference and denny and i'm sitting the funny
the funny thing is and mark dalton is still the pr guy there and so i'm standing outside with mark
and all i hear is they are who they thought they are we let them off the hook you want to crown
them crown their ass and teddy was that he was awesome dude and uh i'm just sitting there like
and i'm still pissed i'm like holy shit dude like i gotta follow this so and then mark's like you can hear him mark's like all right next up is matt
leiner and so i walk in there i'm like you know and i was a rookie dude so i didn't really say
much i was pretty quiet like you know whatever and that was it man and he we were he was so angry
because we i mean we should have won that game um we had him dude and we just we choked it away that's got to be crazy for you
a guy that comes from the most talented team yeah probably in college football history at those at
that time to then going to team we had so we had we had larry and we had anquan yeah so we had
two of the best to ever do it um larry certainly and then and kurt was there
who eventually resurrected his career um we weren't i mean we were we had some good players
um that year we had like even my rookie year i played pretty well and we were like okay and then
i i hurt my ac the last game of the year um against san francisco joint ac joint in the
throwing and i was but yeah and
it was like mild and alex guerrero took care of me but uh it was like grade twos but i was it was
like i think it was the second to last game so but i was playing well whatever and then okay then
the offseason then danny gets fired new coaching staff comes in and that's where for me personally
went all downhill so like to get drafted there was one thing but like showed a
lot of promise and then that second year i was coming off the injury so i didn't really have a
good off season and then i i was i was otas i was finally healthy and stuff but it just it just was
like from the get-go just this dude and like you know you've been around coaches like you just
i was screwed from day one like i felt like and again i didn't help myself at times
but like there was nothing i could do right um that's tough when you're dude it was a first
round quarterback that the coaching staff gets fired who probably went on you know on the table
for you and then all of a sudden they're bringing in someone else and it's it's almost like they
can't they're like we got to go somewhere else because it buys that coaching staff and more time well and we had kurt warner who'd already won a super
bowl so like two glove kurt warner at the time two gloves dude i went to dude at one point i
went to two gloves dude because this dude i was pissed like so i got i was there four years so
like year three so year two we split time the first six games i broke my collarbone out for
the year year three we had a uh duel he beat games, I broke my collarbone out for the year,
year three,
we added a dual.
He,
he beat me out.
And then that's the year we went to the super bowl.
But that was also the year where I'm like,
so he was two gloves always.
And I'm like,
dude,
you're screwing me. Cause he would use brand new balls and those brand new balls.
I couldn't throw a brand new ball.
And like,
I don't have,
I have big hands,
but I don't have super big hands.
I'm like,
dude,
you're going to make me go to gloves, dude. dude because i couldn't like he did not give a shit
and i tried to get him like hey could we get some of these old balls in there and just like this so
in case i have to go in and he was like yeah whatever but most of them weren't so i went to
two gloves a couple times i felt like an idiot i actually threw the ball right in it but i was like
what come on dude i look i already look bad enough in my uniform you're
gonna make me wear these nasty ass nikes i i tried two gloves after that for a while did you
you threw the ball quite a bit when i was oh and can't you use two gloves because we used to have
like crazy weather games yeah and i felt like when you did you could you could get really good
centrifugal force on the ball you could spin it i I didn't, to be honest with you, like.
But I felt like sometimes it would stick in your hand.
Yeah.
And so sometimes you'd be dead accurate with it.
Yeah, and it'd stick too long.
Yeah, it felt that.
I actually didn't throw too bad in him.
I didn't mind it.
I was just like, dude, this looks awful.
What I was going to say was the year I got my mojo back was in Houston with Kubiak.
And it was like I was with Orlovsky, I was with Schaub, and then year six.
Did Orlovsky have all the answers then too?
He's the same as – on TV he's the same as he was then.
But we had a – that was about two years.
He knows football.
He's smart as hell, man.
I give him that.
He was always like,
he should be,
I bet he'll be a coach one day.
Although I know he likes,
he likes the freedom he has,
but Kubiak was so like Shanahan and like that tree.
It just,
it went back to my college days.
It just,
it felt right.
What year was that?
That was 11 and 12 or 10,
10,
11,
12.
Was that the year you guys came to our house in letterman jackets
came to houston no houston came one year in like the whole team had a mantra we're gonna all wear
letterman jackets no to foxborough we never i and i think we beat them like 48 to 3 or something
the only time i ever came to new england was pre-season my rookie year and dude i'll never
forget it was
week two and week one i was still holding out for my contract so week two is the first time i'm at
new england and it's willie mack it's junior i think bruski it was like you know like those
defenses were nasty and i think i played against him a little bit um i actually played pretty well
the game that was the only time and then the year tom went out with the acl you probably weren't there yet it was oh right before yeah right before he went out
cast dog beat us and west went off it was a snow game and they beat us like 41 to 10 and uh actually
i actually came out through a touchdown to larry that game we're down 30 points i threw a go route
to me kyle was pretty sweet but um that was the year we ended up going to the super bowl yeah we were all we were eight and eight we went to the playoffs
eight and eight and we just made a freaking run dude you gotta get hot at the right time we started
with the home game because we won our division so we played i think we played green bay or atlanta
so we had a good match up there and then philly was the one seat or two seat they lost to carolina
but we had whooped Carolina that year at Carolina.
So we were like, it's set up perfect.
Oh, no, no, no, that's not right.
Carolina, we went, and then we hosted Philly in the NFC Championship game.
We had the perfect run to get to the playoff.
Or it's the Super Bowl.
We should have won the Super Bowl.
We lost.
San Antonio, a little corner.
Fuck, dude.
What do we got, Kyler?
The Letterman Jacket game was in 2012.
Yeah, so I was gone.
I was gone.
They wore Letterman jackets?
Yeah, the Texans went to New England in Letterman jackets.
They lost 42 to 14.
We had a couple good teams.
They always had good teams.
Dude, we had, well, that was, we were playoffs.
I mean, the two years I was there, we lost to Baltimore, dude,
both years at Baltimore.
I mean, they were just, they were rocking.
But we had Aaron Foster was a beast those years, Andre Johnson.
D'Amico Ryans was our middle linebacker.
D'Amico.
What a stud he's been doing.
I mean, I'm so, like, happy for him.
I'm happy for C.J. Stroud.
We covered him in college, and he's from out this way.
Kind of tough upbringing, you know, like just family stuff
and like really good kid, man.
I got to talk to him a bunch in Ohio State.
He just wanted to be great.
He's kind of soft-spoken, great leader,
but felt a lot of pressure at Ohio State there.
And I was rooting for him, man, and he's been balling, dude.
Yeah, he's playing his tail off, man.
He is, man.
It's impressive to see.
We'll be right back after this quick break.
Games With Names is doing a live show,
and you guys bought so many tickets so gosh darn fast
that we are adding a second show.
Come hang with us August 30th at the Wilbur Theater in Boston.
Presale tickets are available
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Let's set the stage for this game.
So 2005 Notre Dame fighting Irish.
This was the first year of the Charlie Weiss era.
Charlie Weiss.
Notre Dame had hoped to sign Urban Meyer,
but they were able to get Charlie Weiss from three soup bowls from the Patriots.
Kind of somewhat famously, Weiss told his players,
every game you will have a decided schematic advantage.
That was his quote there.
They started the season unranked.
They were 4-1 leading up to the Bush-Push game
with one loss to Michigan State,
ranked number nine in the country at the time.
Some notable names, Charlie Weiss, as we mentioned,
Brady Quinn quarterback, Jeff Samarja,
wide receiver, and Tom Zbikowski.
The boxer.
The boxer safety.
He was such a cool dude.
Zbikowski? I don't know. I never met him. He was such a cool dude. Zubikowski?
I don't know.
I never met him,
but like.
He was a beast, dude.
I was like a fan of him.
Samarza pitched in the big leagues
for like 12 years.
12.
And he was a baller receiver too.
Insane.
I remember him always catching
deep post routes.
Dude, he was 6'5", dude.
And like,
he just,
yeah, I told Brett,
I'm like,
you just don't go routes to the guy.
Because he could jump.
He was a good receiver, man.
I mean,
that's the smart way to do it, though.
He probably has a lot more money and a lot less pain right now.
Dude, he was making like 10 mil a year just pitching like every five days.
Bullpen, too.
I know.
I wish I would have done that.
We already kind of set the stage for the Irish, huh?
So, 2005 USC Trojans.
They were coming off an undefeated season,
having beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2004
National Championship game.
Matt, you won the Heisman.
They were riding a
22-game win streak.
14 returning starters from the 2014
team. I think a lot of those on offense.
The number one ranked team coming into the year.
Notable coaching changes, as we mentioned.
Norm Chow left the Titans.
Coach O.
Coach O.
To Ole Miss.
Brought in Steve Farkeesian as QB coach,
and Lane Kiffin was elevated to OC.
Notable names.
You don't need the notable names.
We all know the USC notable names.
Jeez.
Let's get into it.
So you get into the game.
First half.
Terrible.
You guys are kind of battling.
You guys scored first they're they're
leading at halftime dude i played awful that game awful up until like one the last play why
i just played bad dude just it was my it was we had struggled against arizona state a couple
weeks prior by like it knocked out of that game i couldn't see straight back I stayed in. But it just, for me, I'll never forget. I felt the pressure of coming back.
And it wasn't even about winning a Heisman. I knew it wasn't going to win. It was like just
trying to win a third championship. It was just, I just felt pressure that year to be great. Like
I had to be great. People were like, you were going to be the number one pick if you came out.
I was like, I don't think I was, I wasn't healthy. I didn't feel right. So there's just a lot of
pressure that I kind of put upon myself to like have to lead this team so you didn't go back you came back because you
so I was supposed dude so I mean you know how it works but it was me Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers
and I had just came off the great performance in the Orange Bowl and so like kind of riding that
wave and I had a messed up elbow. I ended up getting surgery on.
And that was a part of it.
And also, honestly, I just don't want to leave school.
Like I'm like, I love what we're doing.
Truthfully, like I had just graduated.
So I had to take one class my senior year.
Ballroom dancing?
Ballroom dancing, dude.
So good.
I took that with Mark Sanchez, by the way.
Sanchito.
Sanchito.
Home place.
He was a true freshman.
But anyway, so Notre Dame.
Okay, so they were good.
Like it was the first time.
I just told this to Brady not too long ago.
We got off the bus on I think Friday, like Friday walk through to go to the stadium.
We'd screw around a little bit.
And there was like 600 students waiting for us.
And so the story goes, he told me, he's like, you know why they were there And there was like 600 students waiting for us. And so the story goes,
he told me, he's like, you know why they were there? I was like, why? He's like, I, they had
a pep rally the night before they said, Hey, SC is getting here at two o'clock. We need to show out,
talk shit, do whatever you need to do, like screw with them. So we get out and Notre Dame is not
really like, it's not really like a hostile environment, you know, like it's a, it's a cool place to play, but it's not like probably playing in
the sec or some of these crazy atmospheres.
But that year it was, and we get out and I'll never forget Sark's like, Sark takes me like
kind of by my shoulder and he's like walking me through, they made a tunnel for us, but
they're just like signs talking shit, flipping us off.
It was awesome, dude.
I'm like yeah i think
this is gonna be fun so that's when i knew right when i got off the bus i'm like this is gonna be
a battle because they were good too like they like they could easily beaten us obviously that was
when i knew it was like all right this is gonna be a game and then the game man it just started
slow dude like it was just kind of like one of those games like feeling each other out but the second half picked up for sure like the second half was more back and forth um the first half
was just slow it was just one of those things and then the one thing that stands out to me let's
just talk about that last drive because you guys are going back and forth you guys weren't playing
that great and that could be because of rivalry i mean it was a hostile environment you got
touchdown oh they had a punt return too, Zbikowski.
That's right.
Yeah, Zbikowski over here boxing and returning punts for Tuggs.
Let's walk down this last drive that you guys had.
Hold on.
Before we go to the last drive, I want to touch on one thing that Notre Dame did.
Oh, the green jerseys?
The jersey switcheroo.
So stupid.
They did.
So they came out in their traditional blue or their dark navy for pregame. Oh, the green jersey switcheroo? So stupid. They did.
So they came out in their traditional blue or their dark navy for pregame when they went back in.
And Brady said they didn't know.
It was a surprise.
So I think they've worn maybe the green jerseys a handful of times, right,
prior to that for, like, matchups.
I think when it was the number one team in the country maybe.
They also have, not to cut you off,
they're kind of street killers a little bit.
Okay, yeah.
So there was something behind it.
So they, after pregame, they go in,
and Brady was like, all of our green jerseys were hanging.
So they were like, let's go.
I was just totally amping up motivation.
Is it D2, the Mighty Ducks are back?
Kind of, right, dude?
Remember that when they became Team USA
and they come out in the second half
with the duck uniforms?
By the way, top five sport movie of all time.
Yeah, so then they come out in the green jerseys and we're like,
oh, my God, dude.
I just hate Notre Dame, dude.
I still hate Notre Dame.
Just a bunch of arrogant assholes.
But that's fine.
That's for another story.
So that just was like, screw these guys.
But, okay, the drive.
So Brady scores with, what, two minutes left, right?
It was a couple minutes, 2-0-4.
And obviously plenty of time.
We had a couple timeouts or one timeout at least.
You guys have that third.
You guys have second and 20.
Third and 20.
I remember every play.
Dude, the first play, cover two.
It was like a comeback, turned to a fade.
It was not open, so I threw it out of bounds.
Second play, I get sacked.
Second and 20.
Yeah, I get sacked, so now it's third and 20.
And we call timeout.
Hit Reggie.
And I'm on the sideline, and they're like,
I don't know what play we called at that point,
but we're like, if it's not there, just check reggie obviously it's four down we're going for it on
four down uh let's try and get half back a little check down how's the guy's eyes in the huddle when
you're calling this player are we are we dialed locked in locked and i'll get to that it was it
was it was one of the coolest and you've been in huddles like that for sure super bowl game winning
drives like we just knew like it was just one of those things where you didn't even have to say
anything it was just like we kind of been you didn't even have to say anything.
We kind of been there, dude.
We had a couple comebacks in this time.
Everyone thinks we blew everybody out.
There were a couple games where like,
hey, we got a fourth quarter, we gotta step up.
It was pretty cool.
So third and 20, we get 11 back.
So then I think we might call a timeout again.
Think, yeah, it was another timeout. Because we, yeah, it we might call timeout again i think yeah it was another time out yeah
because we yeah it was another that was our last time out we call i'll never forget trouble right
61 sam y option all right so it was trips right so front tight end dominic bird who's good was
running an option round right around the sticks cover to steve smith who was great was going to
run a kind of post split the safety kind of high low there and then if it's single high duane runs
our backside comeback which he was great at and that was the matchup i always liked anyway and then reggie's
out on a little option route but they said hey if you see any single high let's let's check the
sluggo win old school sluggo win was our bread and butter and i don't think it was it might have
been zibikowski but so okay so the part of the huddle. So I come in and I swear to God, dude, it was the loudest I'd ever been in.
And Notre Dame's not traditionally loud, but I couldn't hear myself talk.
And everybody is just, you could just see it.
Everybody's just like laser focused.
I'm like trouble.
I'm yelling trouble.
I see someone say, Hey, look for my hands.
I'm going to, I'm going to check to slug a win.
If I see this look, whatever.
And at the line of scrimmage, I don't even think like I'm going to check to slug a win if I see this look, whatever.
And at the line of scrimmage, I don't even think like,
I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
I don't even think they heard me fucking say hike, dude.
It was like, you know, dude, when all 11 are on like the same page to make a play to win a freaking game or to make a play like that
is like nothing better in football, in my opinion.
Everybody does their job, especially in a moment like that. like that so like yeah the throw gets a lot of credit but
the line like every we checked didn't hear shit everyone slid protection blocked Dwayne just right
over the shoulder boom out the gate for 60 thank god he got got hocked because if he would have
scored been like over a minute left they probably wouldn't they probably would have came down and
scored on us.
But that moment, man, it was just like,
looking back, you know, there's a little nerves,
you're like, shit, we gotta make this play or we lose,
but like, just never a doubt.
It just felt like never a doubt.
Then you guys go in and you guys get to the red area.
So we get to the red area.
Reggie had a really good third down.
That's a play people forget about
because we had no timeouts left.
It was like third and four, and we ran.
With 28 seconds or something?
Yeah, so we ran like a little outside zone,
and he got the first down by like a yard.
In college football, it stops the clock once you get first down.
Yeah, it stops, so then we could huddle.
So that was a play.
And then the next play we go is when i scramble and i fumble and that
was were you terrified that it wouldn't end dude i was like when i look back i'm like dude like i
was a pretty good athlete just jump like three inches higher and i score yeah like i would
literally watch that play a thousand times and i'm like embarrassed because i could like i could
dunk back then like i was like a sneaky good like kind of lazy hop i could dunk a little bit but you know and i look back at that play and i'm
just like god what an embarrassment that was but i fumble no clue where the ball went i kind of got
you know pirouette like that clock goes out well okay so i do remember getting up and i see the
ref like right next to me going like this like clock stopped out of bounds with with uh obviously
i think they put seven seconds on but like three seconds on the clock and the next thing i know is they're
storming the field charlie weiss on the jumbotron and i'm just like what just happened i just lost
the game literally in my mind i'm like but then then they start circling up i'm like no the ball's
out of bounds so then i'm like okay we're good so then the bush push so it's pretty cool so we're the clock so they're yeah so they're all just commotion they're while everyone's getting
off the field we're kind of like right at the line of scrimmage seven seconds left and our i should
have clocked it for sure our clock signal was always a built-in quarterback wedge no matter
what so the linemen always block
qb sneak whether i sneak it or clock it regardless obviously they kind of know in in the time of the
game or whatever but i had told him up there because there was like a minute there where
i'm i'm going to pete like hey this was our sign you want me to like you want me to do it he's like
do it like whatever so i'm like fuck it dude i'm doing it so reggie did he do that to you think
russell wilson and in the super bowl with us i mean what is the worst call of all time
how about how about dude how about marshawn just calling him out i love i love marshawn um right
after that all the linemen are standing up and reggie comes up to me and i go what i go dude i
think i'm gonna do it i wish i do he's like you. That was it. It was like a two second thing. I get up, dude. And you could see
there, dude, Zbikowski's right over the A gap. This guy's going to punch me in the face as I'm
trying to sneak all these big dudes. I had no business trying to sneak that play. I was on the
one and a half, one yard line. All I remember, dude, is falling in the end zone.
I didn't even remember.
I didn't feel Reggie push me.
I'm thinking I get up.
I'm like, might have shed a tear.
I don't even know what's going on.
I'm like this.
And then after the game, Reggie, I think there's a video of Reggie comes on.
He goes, you know, I pushed your ass in, right?
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I had no clue, dude.
So like the bush push became that after, yeah i had no clue dude so like the bush push became
that after but i had no clue he pushed me in because dude it was just like there was like
50 bodies on me dude i had no idea i got in and now philadelphia uses every week push push dude
that's where it originated from 100 he so he did that play with stafford in detroit
the same the same play dude it was i mean it's probably 10 years ago he's a serial pusher he's
a serial pusher dude he just likes to get up in there and just that had to be such a cool feeling
i mean that's this is the one of the oldest dude it's college football rivalries west coast versus
the midwest it was uh like catholics versus not you guys not the convicts that's for sure um i
would say this dude like i kind of talked about that huddle, the moment.
That was really special looking back.
And then the locker room after, it was the only time.
You know, you've been in locker rooms.
We were so, just the pressure, dude.
We were just like, and we ended up losing to Texas,
but the pressure to win and just every week.
It was a grind, dude.
It was an emotional grind.
You guys are college students too.
Dude, that game was so emotional.
So we were in the locker room and I kid you not,
like there were guys like just crying because like,
not like, you know, just cry, like one tear,
just like, like a relief.
And it was really, it was special, dude.
It was a really special thing.
And then I'll never forget, we had a players-only meeting.
So that was Saturday.
We had a players-only meeting on Monday because we weren't playing great.
State of the Union?
We had a State of the Union, dude.
And we were just like, yo, we all need to take a deep breath and hold ourselves accountable, both sides.
I stood up and talked.
I remember because I wasn't playing very well in my mind.
And then we started rolling.
And then we had the Fresno State game, which was close.
But, yeah, man, that year was nuts, man.
Well, people don't realize when you guys are like who you are at that time,
everyone is circling you.
Coaches will get jobs if they beat you.
Players are going to get drafted if they beat you.
You guys are America's most wanted.
Charlie Weiss got paid
for a decade off that game yeah and he got fired and got paid for eight years later i think he went
to kansas he was getting like eight million a year from notre dame for like eight years dude
because of that game because of that game i mean that that's crazy and you guys go on you didn't
oh yeah you weren't there
charlie charlie was in new england he was well i know everything about char he's there's a because
he was with tom right for yeah to the first couple years there's an infamous office called charlie's
office that i had yeah i got brady's got some good charlie weiss stories yeah and you could always
you know everyone would always when we're breaking the offense, because he was the one who kind of made our offense with the zero-out slot.
Zero-out slot.
Zero-out slot thing.
It evolved to what it became, but he was definitely a good play caller,
and he was a huge part of the early success of those Patriot teams.
Bush won.
It's Zbikowski, 9-0.
What's up?
9-0 in his boxing career.
I know, 9-0.
His first match
was at Madison Square Garden
while he was a student
at Notre Dame
that's pretty cool
yeah
he was a good player
he was tough as shit
yeah so just the
aftermath
USC went on
12-1 that year
you mentioned the
Fresno State game
50-42
you guys pulled that one out
Reggie Bush won the Heisman
and lost in the
iconic
2005
but 2006
I mean the entire season was vacated like really are we back was it And lost in the iconic 2005, but 2006.
I mean, the entire season was vacated.
Really?
Are we back?
Was it?
Is it back, though?
Who cares?
We smashed everybody except Notre Dame and Texas.
We're out of the record books, that's for sure.
How?
But they're going to bring it back, though. Who cares?
It doesn't matter.
Is he getting his Heisman back?
I don't know.
You've got to ask him. People always say, oh oh those wins don't count i'm like really like it's not like
reggie took steroids dude like it's not like he is dumb yeah it's so dumb he took he took his money
how do you feel about like the nil and that all being kind of fair game now does it like is it
like salty or how do you feel about wrong time i was in the wrong era playing college that's for
sure um i'm all for nil obviously i mean yeah like looking back i mean we it wasn't we didn't Like salty or how do you feel about that? Wrong time. I was in the wrong era playing college. That's for sure.
I'm all for NIL.
Obviously, I mean, yeah, like looking back, I mean, it wasn't,
we didn't even think about it because it wasn't, it didn't exist.
But, I mean, obviously people were getting money all over the country.
How much money did you get?
How big was the pay cut when you got to the NFL?
Dude, I didn't get any money in college.
I swear to God.
I swear to God. Just a bunch of free club. I would, dude, I to God I swear to God just a bunch of free I would
boot I I got yeah I mean a bunch of club stuff right I drove a Ford Ranger I drove my Ford my
first ever car when I was 16 was a stick shift Ford White Ranger extended cab I drove that
throughout my college career and I remember when I came back I used to drive down the road my my
went my Ranger and all my boys would
be like, dude, no one's given you a car yet. I said, no man, this is my joy ride, dude. This,
and I had, and my dad, my dad ended up, cause then when I got drafted, I got a Tahoe,
but I wanted to keep my truck. I was like, I want to keep it. It's like my truck, sentimental value.
My mom and dad sold that thing because it was stuck at their house for years. They sold it
without telling me, dude. I was pissed.
They're like, this is not, you don't even drive it.
It's sitting in our driveway.
We're selling that thing.
No, man.
I just, honestly, it sounds like I'm lying.
I just really wasn't exposed to it.
I didn't run into people who would be like, hey.
I did run into some autographed like at the award show like hey
i got like kind of like what manziel did like hey i got 100 pictures i'll give you 10 grand and i
remember i was with my brother in orlando and we're like no we're good um but like never it just never
i never really met anyone like that yeah i tell everybody i swear like shit i wish i would have
but alabama guys and all the florida guys that I played with during the urban years.
Oh, dude.
They all took pay cuts.
Yes.
They took a lot of pay cuts.
Yes.
So just to wrap up the game, the final score is 34-31.
And then Notre Dame went on to the Fiesta Bowl.
They finished 9-2, where they lost to Ohio State.
They lost the next four games to USC.
As we mentioned, Jeff Samarja went on to play for the Cubs.
Very successful career.
Tom Zbikowski was 9-0 as a boxing career.
Brady Quinn went to the NFL draft a few years later.
Weiss was fired, then replaced with Brian Kelly.
Wait, Brian Kelly, he was the next coach?
I didn't know that.
He was there for a long time.
Yeah, he was there for a long time.
Where does this Bush push rank amongst all-time controversial calls
honestly i don't even people talk about that i don't think it is well because it technically
technically section 3 article 2b of ncaa rulebook states that couldn't push someone in the runner
shall not grasp a teammate and no other player of his team shall grasp push lift or charge into him
to assist him in forward progress.
If the penalty has been called,
the push would have resulted in a five-yard penalty.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You can't call that on the end of play.
You can't call that on the end of the game.
Yeah, I mean, it could be considered controversial.
That's for sure.
I mean, you guys have, SC hasn't been SC since then.
Where's that dynasty rank all time i mean you guys are up there
yeah we i mean in modern day we got i mean bama has been a great dynasty we got to be up there
miami had a good run um i mean i think i would put us i mean you can go back in history books
but i think i put us up there as top two or three dynasties two titles three heismans
yeah i mean being a california kid that was like our badge because we like all our best cal
california kids went there and you always hear about texas you hear about ohio state
and i we i wore it with you guys i mean oh yeah dude we always like it was all like that was when
the um the cal texas high school all-star game was in texas like
oh we got the best high school football which was good florida but it was like cali always got a
little like slided i think right always yeah it was pretty cool to rep like west coast and usc you
know like and the beat we beat every scc team we played I mean, in that era, we beat everybody. We lost to Cal and we lost to Texas, but we beat Auburn.
We beat Arkansas.
We beat Michigan.
And even after I left, we still had a run.
We beat all those teams.
Yeah.
Beat Virginia Tech, too.
Beat Ohio State at the shoe.
Matt Barkley's freshman year.
Virginia Tech, that was a game.
Shit, that was a tough-ass game.
Did you play at the We played at
Pro
We played
Not pro
We played with the Redskins
Commanders now
But
So we didn't play at Vatec
I played there
Have you?
Yeah I heard man
They open up with the
Sandman
And the stadium's built like this
Yeah
So it's not the biggest stadium
Like a lot of those old stadiums
That you guys
Yeah but it's loud as hell
Loud because the pitch
When did you play there? I played there in 2006 7 you guys got smacked up there yes because
they were good those years they're good can we talk about xavier db covering reggie bush that
whole game before he pours towards to peck well i was gonna say so he no he got hurt early in that
game yeah so that i remember that was opening game. I'll never forget. That was
04
and
I was like,
dude,
this is the fastest defense
I've ever seen on film.
They had Eric Green
who I ended up playing with
and
he was the second round pick corner.
Their other corner
was a first round pick,
I think.
Big tall guy.
Jimmy Williams?
Jimmy Smith?
Jimmy Smith was the Colorado.
Jimmy Williams maybe yeah
he played for a while
Xavier Deby but he tore his peck or his bicep
I'll never forget dude we had
fourth quarter
they had just the outside
linebacker who shouldn't have been playing outside
linebacker and we
would always offset Reggie
try to get man obviously and I just
he ran a wheel route i'm like oh dude
touched and we that was the play that put us so we only won 24 13 i think but that was it i remember
seeing that i'm like oh dude you're not covering reggie i bet you reggie in this day and age would
be like if he were to come and be put into this football he was he was he was he was still dynamic
he was still a beast he was used yeah he was used that way in new Orleans for a while.
It wasn't as sexy to talk about. No,
he was Christian McCaffrey before Christian McCaffrey low key. Yeah. He, uh,
he was probably just ahead of his time in that, in that role. He, I mean,
I think his rookie year, dude, he had like 70 catches. I remember. Um,
because I mean, Sean Payton and drew like it was a perfect,
it was perfect for him. And then he he had he had a good year in miami i had a good year in detroit but yeah he just was kind
of ahead because you know now now these guys catching balls 60 you know they're doing everything
man you know what make it's it's a crazy correlation but it makes me think. The way you guys treated your team,
your practice, your everything,
how Pete embraced the celebrities,
it kind of reminds me of today's landscape
with what Deion's doing at Colorado.
It's very similar, very similar.
Use everyone to come over here,
make it a fun place to play.
Dude, he has been, in my opinion,
so great for football, mean especially college one he's
dion right so he's one of the greatest athletes we're the greatest football players to ever live
he's an incredible human being uh he's an incredible motivator inspiring all these things
uh he's pretty good coach too you know like i i think he kind of does more of the just managing and he's
the motivator and all that but dude he's he's he's totally just like won the transfer portal
has changed the way college football is but he's just just the way he is like he's unapologetically
him he gets the most out of his players um he's kind of he's just it's kind of a fresher uh breath
of fresh air in a sense you know like
because he is who he is he doesn't give a shit what people say he's he's dion he's never cared
about that his players like he's got work to do his players kind of fit that mold and they're out
there having fun they're they are embracing everything that college football is nil
transfer portal i'm gonna be me i going to be myself because, you know.
And he's been awesome, man.
Like, he doesn't have to win another game, and it's been a major success.
He has put them on the map.
He will recruit.
That place, I don't know if you've been to Colorado.
It's beautiful.
The facilities, like, he can win there because they're going to the Big 12.
Now we'll see if he stays a couple years.
But, yeah, he's been great man he great
for college football his son is a star like it's awesome we i mean you guys originated this is the
bush push once once and for all are they gonna outlaw this i think so i think you think so yeah
i think so it's i don't i don't think they, but with the way the league's going right now. Oh, dude.
Because a lot of guys can get hurt.
The league's going soft, dude.
You can get hurt.
Yeah, the league is.
Dude, Matt Schaub had a Liz Frank doing a QB sneak.
Albert Hainsworth landed on his foot.
Then I ended up starting the next week.
Yeah, I mean, injuries and all that.
I just think there's too many people that hate.
I just think from a competition standpoint, I see wrong with it i don't like dude it's a
it's they're saying it's not a football play i mean it's probably the original football play
exactly stop literally the first play that they probably ran it dude it is it is just i love it
because it's the major just f you you know it's, and you can't stop us for two yards. They've been stopped a couple times.
He basically said it's like playing first and nine every time
because they know they can get a yard every time.
Plus, Jalen Hurst, dude, they got a great online.
They just perfected it.
You see other teams doing it, and they can't do it.
No.
Let's go to Stagor this game.
We have this segment where we score it.
We have any leftover questions, Kyler?
I missed a couple of stuff.
So Notre Dame and USC is a long story rivalry.
They played for the Jeweled Shillelagh.
It started in 1926.
The Jeweled Shillelagh?
I don't know.
It's like an Irish club.
It's like a cane or something.
I don't even know.
Did you ever use it?
No, I had it on the show last week because I had to dress up as a leprechaun.
I saw that.
Fuck.
That's embarrassing. That was embarrassing. You're too tall to be a leprechaun. I saw that. Fuck. That's embarrassing.
That was embarrassing.
You're too tall to be a leprechaun.
It just made me feel ugly, man.
I just couldn't.
I couldn't.
And, by the way, we did the whole A block in that thing.
I was like, I didn't realize I had to talk in that.
I was like, dude, I can't be serious right now wearing this Halloween costume.
Yeah.
Anyways.
How the fuck do you guys lose that game?
I mean, did you watch it?
Yeah.
I did.
They got their ass kicked.
And then the origin of the Notre Dame-USC rivalry
is recounted as a conversation between wives
from Notre Dame's head coach, Newt Rockne,
and USC athletic director, Gwynn Wilson.
And Notre Dame leads the overall series 49 to 37 and five.
Did you know they won 18 national championships?
Is it 18?
And they don't even count half of them.
This is some crazy shit.
I saw it when I was walking in the stadium.
I saw them all the banners.
I'm like, damn.
There's a lot of history there.
The Fog.
I fucked up on The Fog.
Self-check here.
The Fog was in 2005.
Supernatural.
I said Stephen King.
It's not. It's a remake of John Carpenter's 1980 film, The Fog was in 2005 Supernatural Horror I said Stephen King it's not
it's a remake of
John Carpenter's
1980 film
The Fog
of the same name
no one watched that movie
and then one
yeah
and then one last
little nugget
Colt Brennan's
career stats
at Hawaii
played for three years
hold on
let me try
a hundred
and
like 20 touchdowns
115
131 131 isn't that crazy 42 interceptions 120 touchdowns, 115.
131.
131.
Isn't that crazy?
42 interceptions, and then he threw for 14,193 yards.
I remember he used to run all the time. Is he in one all-time, or is it, what's his name?
I'm sure it's some Texas Tech guy.
No, it's Case Keenum, I think, is all-time.
Who was the guy that followed him, too?
There was like an Asian quarterback.
He was before.
Oh, before. He was two before. Tommy Chang. Immy chang i like timmy chang could sling it dude because you'd be
on i think he's the head coach there now is he dude so my first we played we had a home and home
with them and my first year it was or no we played him like three years three or four years he came
hawaii came to us um and timmy was a quarterback and he just dude it
was the run and shoot dude he would just sling it dude he could play so he was on those good that
like st louis i think he was in like when that high school was just sending guys out timmy chang
is the head coach of hawaii right now he's the second all-time in passing yards it's 17 000
in case cam is first but yeah yeah wow. Case Keenum, yeah. Wow.
We'll be right back after this quick break.
Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente.
And I'm Jamee Jackson-Gadsden.
We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline,
a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts.
When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions,
like how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed?
Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for
advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan
Sanner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is
usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of
the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself.
Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career
without sacrificing your sanity or sleep.
Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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How do you feel about biscuits?
Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit,
where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot,
the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits.
I was a lady rebel.
Like, what does that even mean?
I mean, the Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of
the biscuits.
It's right here in black and white in print.
They lying.
An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the
mascot switch is a leader.
You choose hills that you want to die on.
Why would we want to be the losing team?
I just take all the other stuff out of it.
Segregation academies.
When civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools,
these charter schools were exempt from that.
Bigger than a flag or mascot.
You have to be ready for serious backlash.
Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
So let's score this game.
We have this whole segment.
One out of ten.
Name of the game is the Bush Push
or the Bush Push game?
Bush Push, yeah.
So it's just the Bush Push.
Stakes of this game
zero to ten oh decimal is okay 27 game win streak i would say i would say 10 because if we lose
we're probably we're not in the national championship game because that was the bcs
era so we probably i every game we could yeah every you you could probably look it up but i
think there's a couple teams maybe that finished undefeated that year, so we would have been out.
Losing a rival kept us out of the BCS title game,
and no one had ever won a third championship.
Star power.
Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott. Star power, are we doing overall?
Overall.
The whole thing.
Team, in crowd.
Of the game or history?
Because you're saying, oh, in attendance.
In attendance.
Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott were there.
Also Tim Brown and Joe Montana.
Also Rudy.
Rudy was there.
Rudy.
Oh, shit.
In that case, I mean, you got to go 10.
10?
Well, dude, you got, before Tommy,
you got the greatest quarterback of all time.
You got Tim Brown Heisman Trophy winner.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
In college?
Well, Tom is the greatest quarterback of all time. Oh, I thought you were. Okay, okay. I'm just saying Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback of all time I'm just saying before
Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback of all time before until Tom took over but he got
close one oh yeah no dude I did Tom about Tom's ago Tom and Joe were the goat Joe greatest one
top two greatest quarterbacks of all time Tim Brown Heisman Marcus Heisman Ronnie Lott one of
the best defensive players ever if
not the best you could argue top never play in this era top three why not because you couldn't
cover anybody no because he would they just they're they're suspending guys for four plays on
not even the hardest hit that ronnie lott doesn't even have a ring finger dude he just he got that
different game chopped off when he played it's a different game i loved ronnie lott ronnie lott
was so good what was the gameplay of this?
Oh, yeah, because you were probably a Niner fan.
He's an Niner fan.
Dwight Montana.
Gameplay?
Gameplay, I'd give it a six.
No, I'd give it a five.
It was a terrible game, dude.
Five.
Yeah, but that fourth quarter, final drive.
Yeah, but that's two minutes.
The whole game was terrible.
The name?
Bush Push?
That's a 10, dude.
That's such a great name.
That's a good name.
This is not a great name. It's a great name. That name could That's a 10, dude. That's such a great name. That's a good name. It's not a great name.
It's a great name.
That name could mean a lot of different things.
I've been currently.
So 35 out of 40.
I have a first grader.
So my daughter's into this huge rhyming.
So Bush Push.
Yeah, you're teaching her.
It's good.
8-7-5.
Yeah, man.
It's a big game.
8-7-5.
I just think the gameplay was just overrated.
People think it's like the Texas game.
I'd give that a 10 or a 9.
So with 8.75 in our so far, in our totals,
it ties with the 1999 Women's World Cup final, USA versus China.
How is that not higher?
Who gives that game?
You're tapping a nerve here.
Our scoring system is fucking bullshit.
It needs to be completely...
Look at number one.
Wait, Mavericks?
Mavericks, he knows that.
Because Mark Cuban came here and just gave everything 10.
So you had someone come in for each one of these?
Yeah.
That's pretty sweet.
Yeah.
Yeah, so this game is...
The wheelchair game.
What a joke.
Paul Pierce.
I mean, did he shit his pants?
Did he not?
I mean, it's right up there with the...
Did he come in?
We zoomed him in.
You zoomed him in?
We zoomed him in.
That was probably a pretty funny interview.
Yeah, he was smoking hookah the whole time in his backyard with his pool.
You guys got some good...
It's a pretty diverse list here, though.
We got some stuff.
Yeah.
This is right up there with it, man.
Yeah, so this game
is nestled
no we're at 8
we're at 8 something
it ties with
Women's World Cup
just below
the Ironman match
Shawn Michaels and
Bret Hart
ridiculous
and just above
the 20-3 Super Bowl
Patriots Falcons
can we talk about
your catch
it was a lucky catch
yeah but it was
fucking awesome
I was watching that shit
I was like
you knew
did you know
did you think you knew yeah I knew you always know it was fucking awesome i was watching that shit i was like yeah you knew did you know did you think you knew yeah i knew you always know yeah it was this much dude yeah but i was under it
yeah you felt like you felt yeah you know you know just like in kansas city to get there or
that was the next one remember the punt that almost touched me i knew it'd touch me either
that didn't touch but that catch was dude that was the catch it was a good catch but it was a it was a lucky catch dude yeah like my throw
fourth and i was i mean dude one inch the other way it's incomplete yeah but it's a product of
you making that throw so many times just yeah that catch is just that balance you just were
yeah that was a product i used to do these reaction drills every day did you get a truck
no that was the first year they didn't give.
Did you go to Disney World?
Yeah,
I went to Disney World.
Was that cool?
I went to Disney World twice.
It was awesome.
Against Seahawks and then for this one.
And then you get a nice little bonus
for Super Bowl MVP,
huh?
I think you get like 50 grand.
Really?
It's nothing crazy.
They don't give you shit.
That's like what you get
for going to the Super Bowl.
You get the bonus.
If you win the whole Super Bowl
and we get it.
Oh,
you get 100 or something.
You get a total. Because it went up every game. Yeah, you get a total of you win the whole super bowl and oh you get 100 or something you get a total
because you went up every every game yeah you get a total of like 210 or something which is a lot of
money don't get me wrong to a lot of people but if you think about your salary what you're you get
paid weekly for a regular season you're you're yeah it's a pay cut but i love because the year
we went to the super bowl it was awesome man because the whole you know like the practice
squad everybody got the same check which is cool you know so those guys made a hundred grand you
know yeah that was cool man did we miss anything you got anything to plug what we got good dude
i'm just happy to be here with you man i'm happy you're here too you gotta come more we should we
should talk like the last time i saw you were just chan chawing with a wife beater on in Cannes. Yeah, we did go to Cannes with a wife beater on.
It's a wife pleaser.
I'll never forget that, dude.
Where were you?
Oh, you were in the hotel lobby.
Did he tell you this story?
No.
We're in France this summer, and we rode out together and all that.
And I'm walking, and it's like this five-star, and he's with all his boys.
And he is just rocking a lipper with a wife beater and his whatever, whatever.
I don't know, brown pants, whatever.
And I'm just like, only you would rock that shit right here and look good too.
You look good.
You look like you could still play.
Let's see.
What are you running?
What are you running right now?
Not fast.
What did you do?
What were you?
What were you like a four or five? Yeah. I mean, I mean, you were, I mean, you were, you were quick and now what were you like a four five yeah i mean i mean you were
i mean you were you were quick and now you were i was more explosive yeah explosive
my best ever like when i ran it was four four eight but they didn't give you call you a four
five guy yeah now you're four three cone though was probably fast as hell eight nine yeah that
was my stuff yeah but you know i think know, I think. The three cone.
I mean, what are we doing?
That's, I don't know.
That's fucking what they.
No, I know.
I'm just saying, like, who cares?
Yeah.
What receivers came out when you came out?
Oh, Sid?
Crabtree.
Crabtree.
He was.
I sat next to him on the rookie symposium bus.
Really?
He had, like, five phones and, like, six chains.
And he.
So, he was top five.
Yeah, he was up there.
No one else in that year?
That's all I remember.
I mean, he had a decent career.
He had a really good career.
He was good.
Was it Tlaib that pulled his chain off?
Yeah, I think so.
That was so tight.
I love that guy.
Darius Hayward-Bey.
Hayward-Bey.
DHB.
Jeremy Macklin.
Macklin.
Percy Harvin.
Percy was a beast. Percy was there too. DHB. Jeremy Macklin. Macklin. Percy Harvin. Percy was a beast.
Percy was there too.
I forgot.
Urban talks about Percy like he was.
Everyone that played with him said he was the best football player they played with.
Urban, because when we had Reggie, Urban always said that was my Reggie.
He was a great football player.
He was a dog, dude.
He just had a lot of issues.
Explosive.
Tough as shit. Could do anything. Mike Wallace. great football players dog dude he just hit a lot a lot of issues but explosive tough as line
that just could do anything Mike Wallace Wallace Mike Wallace there's a lot of them I remember
you had the best career all of them were you were you drafted what seven seven throne seventh as a
quarterback that's a crazy story man we're gonna have to have you come back on I appreciate you
bro dude you kicking me out already?
I'm just getting started.
Well, I got to pick up my car.
I want to just come back on and just talk life with you, dude.
Just talk.
We could talk life.
Talk life.
We could talk the Texas game if you want.
If you get McConaughey, dude, I'm coming.
You heard it here, folks.
See, we're going to clip this and use you to get McConaughey to come on.
Magic.
We should get, you know, you should get Far get McConaughey to come on. Magic. You should get Pharrell McConaughey.
Me, Vince, Pharrell McConaughey on the couch.
That would be awesome.
They would do it for sure.
I'll just throw a fucking...
I feel like they just did something.
They didn't do games with names, though.
Brought you by games with names by Wim Bat.
Might get Snoop Dogg on soon, though.
Huh?
Snoop Dogg soon. Snoop's my guy. Snoop's the best man unc he's the best anytime i he used
to come out to boss he had like a residency in boston and so anytime you would come you go hey
i get a text from one of his guys i think it's white kev and uh he goes hey nephew hey nephew can i use your spot before i go have to go out i was
like yeah i live in a brownstone in boston we have the whole fucking gang there getting my body
worked on we got a game in three days snoop is he's about to go he's just an og dude but we'll
get you next time oh That's good, man.
Thanks for having me, man.
That was a crazy episode.
Glad I wasn't here for the interview
because I might have dove across his table and grabbed him.
I'm still mad about that.
You would have been the dude after the judge?
Yes, I would have been the guy after the judge.
Brian Dawkins, the judge.
I don't know when this came out, but you guys have seen the meme.
Bro, that is top five for me most painful sports loss.
I still remember I was sitting at the bar of
a brick's pizza with my dad watching on the little tv above the bar like just pounding the bar like
push them out charlie i wanted charlie to get that win man oh charlie oh charlie man
man him and pete carroll wearing the big pleated khakis that was a great era my god how like because
he wore the pants
like how the old people like actually on their waist right like what is that number there um
like a 60 it's it's got to be up there that was a lot of khaki material but like
yeah i don't know what i don't want to know what was going on there but i love charlie that's
called the dick do belly it's when your belly go further than your dick do oh man the real takeaway from this is that we have to do obviously the texas usc national
championship i know we've already got reggie on we've got matt on we just got to get either vince
or matthew mcconaughey once we get one of those dudes in the studio reggie or matt will be here
in a second and that's going to be.
It's coming.
It's coming.
We got to work on it, but it's coming.
That's hopefully coming.
But what about all the other names that were just thrown out there?
Clay Matthews, Lindell White.
Lindell White.
He loved Lindell.
Lindell was a monster. You could tell he had a little.
He had like, I mean, we looked at it.
It was like 20-something touchdowns.
He was just straight thunder.
And you know what? He had an okay career with the Titans.
He did a little bit.
Norm Chow was the OC, right?
Yeah. Shout out, Norm Chow.
Let's get to these fan questions.
Let's get to these fan questions.
Julian, my name is Mason Whiteley.
I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio.
And I just had a quick question for you.
Me and my best friend, roommate, are in a preheated debate over the last month.
Who's better, Darrell Rivas or Pac-Man Jones?
All right, thanks.
Yo, I love Pac.
I love Pac-Man.
Unbelievable football player, played for a long time.
Unbelievable punt returner.
West Virginia.
West Virginia.
Darrell Rivas.
Darrell Rivas is generational great.
Rivas Island, baby.
Pac can make it rain, though.
Dude.
I've kicked him.
Hey, he can make it rain.
We used to have all these Bengal formations and stuff.
I've told this story.
We always remembered the F would be all the way in the three-by-one,
and we always remembered it by, you know, he's in jail.
So Bengal, the F is in jail.
I forgot about that.
I don't know why I brought that up with Pac-Man, bro.
Also, Kurt to Pac-Man, he was early on hating Adele, right?
He was the early beef on that, right? Now we all do, but he was early on hating adele right there was he's the early beef on that
right now we all do but like he was really pac-man just ran for like right now if you put him on a
field pac-man's better than durell i've seen durell my guy durell eating good he's living
pac-man just ran four or five jeez bro he ran four or five on something on the internet didn't he
i gotta look that up that was smokes. Pat was fast, man.
Me and Pat, we used to get into scuffles.
Revis, yeah, no, he was a blanket, man.
The whole side of the field is taken away.
Yeah, you just say, hey, Revis, you take him all day.
I also like the idea of like.
Different players, though.
Yes, yes.
Different players.
Interesting debate.
I was going to say this is very insightful into this relationship.
But if you're going straight corner.
Right. A little wrinkle here. This is a
backyard brawl.
West Virginia-Pittsburgh. Wow.
It gets deeper.
I like these two guys. Would they fight? No, but
the colleges are a big rivalry.
That's what you got to take from this. That
goddamn conference got some
ballplayers. Big East ballplayers,
baby. That was still Big East then. Yeahston yeah it was close i like imagining these guys like one's making his
pop tart in the morning pack man still got eight pack two he showed it to me when i went on did
all the smoke or something i did one of those know what i do which one uh it was uh with with
i am athlete yeah yeah i like imagining these these guys making their Pop-Tarts in the morning.
The other guy comes out of his room and he's like,
Darrell Rivas is better because of this.
It just goes on and on.
I'm like, what the heck is going on in this apartment?
I have to suspect that the roommate went to West Virginia
or is from West Virginia or from Cincinnati
because that's the only way this thing works.
I'm curious about this debate.
All right, next one.
Thanks, Mason, for the question.
Yes, I need a little
positivity
for the Atlanta Falcons because
there ain't been none since
the 28-3.
Can you give me a little advice here?
I'd appreciate it, buddy.
Yeah, buddy, here's
my advice.
You go down to Rite Aid.
You get a bottle
of Aleve. You take to Aleve, and you go down to Rite Aid you get a bottle of a leave you take to a leave then you go take a
walk and just start thinking because it ain't changing anytime soon okay there's no prescription
for this you know as a Patriots fan right now I'm going through the same thing these are things you
have to go through when you are a fan of an NFL team that doesn't have a quarterback.
So, buddy, placebo effected.
Go get a couple.
Leave.
Won't kill you.
Maybe give you an ulcer if you take too many.
But take those two a leave.
Go take a walk.
And just don't even think about it because it ain't changing anytime soon.
And, you know, watch Georgia games.
And you got Georgia games. Yeah, Kirby, man.
Kirby will get you by on Saturdays. Desmond will let you down on Sundays. But, hey, you know, watch Georgia games. And you got Georgia games. Yeah, Kirby, man. Kirby will get you by on Saturdays.
Desmond will let you down on Sundays.
But, hey, you'll be good.
I feel bad for my guy, Desmond.
Sorry.
Ritter.
Let's get to another question.
Julian, I was wondering, are you ever going to make any more smoothie time videos,
whether it's with Sugar Shane or maybe you want to get Ryan Allen on the show?
You know, smoothie time was great,
but I think burger time was pretty good too.
I mean, getting Jon Bones Jones again,
that would be amazing,
especially in recent circumstances.
Anyways, love you, Joel. Bye.
Yeah, we got to do something.
People are asking. The streets are talking.
You know, old burger time, smoothie time.
Sugar Shane, is that Vereen?
I was just going to say, was that ever a Vereen nickname?
I don't know.
But I like it mostly.
Just in the video.
I like it.
I like that.
I like it.
Ryan Allen, I actually have to send him.
I don't know why.
I think I may have taken his locker because I have, like, all his baby pictures.
I got a pair of flip flops that are, like, I think they say Ryan Allen pictures i got a pair of flip-flops that are like i think
they say ryan allen i got a bunch of his shit right and i'm gonna send you a care package
i'm gonna talk to you in a minute now you got a couple kids like it um bones jones right now
we're just gonna keep that let's just leave it right there yeah we'll leave it there i think
from the practical standpoint, the way we get
smoothie time rebooted is
where's Athletic Greens?
Where's Vitamix?
Where's some brands?
We're all ears.
Nah, F that, man.
F that.
F the brands.
This is for the integrity of the art, dog.
For all the smoothie makers out there that do it for the game. For. This is for the integrity of the art, dog. For all the smoothie makers
out there that do it for the game. For all the smoothie makers
and those burger fiends, dude.
Just remember this old burger craze.
Everyone creating burgers, doing
burgers, smash burgers.
Doing that back when you were popping your
pimples watching old Home Magazine.
You ain't never even heard of a smash burger.
You know what we should do? Here's an idea.
For April Fool's, find out what day that is.
We just re-skin.
What day is April Fool's?
No, no, no.
What day of the week it is.
What day of the week it is, right?
If it's close enough to Tuesdays, maybe we re-skin Games With Names for a day,
and we do a BurgerTime version of Games With Names.
Monday, 2024.
I don't know, dude.
That one's getting too try.
All right, next question.
Next question. Yo, Julian, this is logan from new jersey if you're the patriots manager what are you doing
with this top five tech are you taking a quarterback are you taking off alignment
are you taking a wide receiver what are you doing patriot manager so i'm gonna probably
i'm gonna get what's his name christian gonzalez i'm gonna have him lead off Patriot manager So I'm going to probably I'm going to get
What's his name?
Christian Gonzalez
I'm going to have him lead off
I'm going to have
I mean manager
Who's clean up?
Who's clean up?
Who's clean up?
It's got to be Judon
I was going to say you got Judon in the clean up spot
Judon
Got to go quarterback
You got to you have no choice
top five got it we gotta we gotta get a spark gotta do quarterback this is quarterback league
jayden daniels i don't know the like i'm not a college guy i like that you know there's there's
a lot of guys they say it's a rich quarterback draft. I mean, they say that all the time, but.
J.J. McCarthy, the Michigan guy who's got some juice.
I don't like any of them.
You don't like any of them, Jack?
I like elements of them, but I don't.
Caleb Williams doesn't want to play in New England, and he's a baby.
Penix hurt a million times.
Drake May, eh.
Jayden Daniels, maybe, maybe.
Which one is that?
This LSU Heisman Trophy winneran yeah yeah he's got the skill sets but
maybe i don't know i like drake may i just feel like he's got that josh allen in him i think he's
got a little bit of that trabisky in him you know what or sam howell oh god it's gonna be funny
watching all these guys leave they're gonna going to be all gone top ten.
Yeah.
That's how the hype goes.
Always.
Hold on.
Let's do one.
Let's do two quick ones.
Rocks here.
Let's wrap these up.
One more here.
Hi.
Calling in from North Palm Beach, Florida.
My question is, is Vince Woolfolk set on Jack McCarthy?
How long or how many seconds
would he stay alive?
Love the pod. Have a good one.
That's my boy Ed.
Brother, I'm tapping out so fast.
I am tapping out in under 10 seconds.
It's not about tap out. It's not up to you.
Oh, true.
I have no say in this.
How is he sitting on him?
I'm thinking like big Rikishi.
I think maybe like two Rikishi butt on Rikishi.
I think maybe like two minutes, you might be done.
Two minutes?
Two minutes, how long?
I think, I'm pulling for you.
You're a fighter.
I just think he's a fighter.
You're a fighter.
I take the over, baby.
I think he survives.
Survives.
Survives.
I just pictured the scene in Billy Madison where Principal Anderson was, when he was
playing the revolting blob, and he's like, he was supposed to pinch my
leg if he was running short of air
when he killed that guy in the ring.
I thought, you know what
you should do? I think of it
as you're like Terminator
2, the liquid guy. You just kind of figure
it out.
Those were fun.
Those were fun. fun well what an episode
thanks to old Matty
Matt Leiner
for coming on
I can't wait to see his son
son's a stud
beast
and he's like
seven feet two
we're gonna have him
on a games with names
hell yeah
and that's been
another episode
of games with names
presented by Winbet
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games with names
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Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti.
And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden.
We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline
from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts.
There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties I'm Keri Champion, eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.
Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry,
Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
People are talking about women's basketball
just because of one single game.
Clark and Reese have changed the way
we consume women's basketball.
And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture.
Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.