The Ryen Russillo Podcast - College Football Playoff Picks With Matt Leinart, and Life Advice

Episode Date: December 29, 2023

Russillo is joined by 2004 Heisman-winning QB Matt Leinart to break down both College Football Playoff matchups, share his thoughts on all four QBs, and detail his time playing in national championship games (1:00). Next, Russillo finalizes his picks for the playoff (35:00), before welcoming in Ceruti and Kyle to answer some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (40:00). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Matt Leinart Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

here's the plan for today matt liner we're going to preview the playoffs and he's going to give us some great stories about his national championship games i'll give you my picks and we have life advice happy new year this episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine, yeah.

And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Okay. Excited to do this before the big

games get started in college bowl season. Matt Leiner, USC legend, Manhattan Beach legend, also part of Fox Sports coverage, big noon kickoff. All right. What's up, man? How are you doing? I'm good, man. How are you? Good, good, man. Fired up, fired up for these games. Let's start here. Turn around. It just must be nice, man. I know. We have the shades closed too.

You're such a West Coast guy now. You're a SoCal guy. I love it. I know. I'm just, I'm relaxed'm just i'm relaxed there's no there's no edge to me anymore i've lost all my edge but i'm happy that's good it makes you happy man it does it's hard to be in a bad mood when you walk outside you're like you know what today's today's still gonna be all right um let's uh let's dig into this who are you most surprised of they're in the final four here in the playoff? That's a good question. Washington. I honestly thought Oregon was going to beat them in the Pac-12 title game.

And I honestly still think Oregon is one of the four best teams in the country. But look, I give Washington a lot of credit, man. They had that little kind of couple games in the middle of the year where you're just like, God, this team. And I think it was Arizona State, USC took them down the wire. Arizona took them down the wire earlier in the season. But they just found ways to win. And that offense is absolutely dynamite. Like Michael Penix Jr. is a stud.

Those receivers are stud. Kalen DeBoer is really good. I'm really surprised just because I really thought Oregon. I didn't think they could beat Oregon twice. And look, I think Michigan, I knew Michigan, it was the best team, the big 10 all season long. I wasn't surprised by that. Um, Alabama did not shock me beating Georgia, especially the way Alabama has been playing the back half of the season and Texas, you know, we saw Texas firsthand earlier in the year against Kansas State. And there really is just something special about that team.

You know, it wasn't always pretty, but you look at them and you're like, damn, like this is a national title team. Like the way they look and the way they play, especially on defense. I think Washington, probably Ryan, is the one that was a little surprising. Okay, let's go through the four quarterbacks then. I want you to start, let's just start at the top with J.J. McCarthy, and then I can cut in or take it wherever. Give me the things you like and maybe the things you're still concerned about

with each of the guys. So let's start with Michigan. I've seen J.J. a lot. I've seen a lot over the last couple years. From last year to this year, year one to year two, is always the big jump in development, right? Just the way you see defenses physically all of those things um and he's he's a he's interesting because he's not asked to do a lot there right so i think some people are like he's a first round pick you know how he's you

know he's penn city through the ball seven times in a game like this was this is a heisman kennett through the ball seven times um but when you see him in person, the strengths one, he's, he's, he's got a really good arm, a lot better than people are going to be. You know, people are gonna be like, Hey, he's not the biggest guy. Like he could sling the ball. Um, he's a high, high level athlete. Who's going to probably run high four fours, maybe a low four or five at the combine. He's that fast. Um, so he has, and he's, and he's just an incredible leader. Many talk to this kid. Um, just, he just has it right. He just,

he's respectful. He understands the game. He understands the position. He's a great team leader. Um, so I think physically and everything you want from a leader of a franchise at the next level, like he's everything you want. I think, I think the concern is just the size. I think that's a natural one. He's not the biggest guy. Um, he is probably six, two, six, three, but he's not built how you probably want a quarterback to be built. But I mean, look at some of the guys down the league. I mean, some of the guys that are having success, like you don't have to be 230 pounds and six, five anymore. Um, but I think that's just the one thing and the system and he plays in, you know, he's not asked to do a

whole lot. So as you go to the next level, uh, and you spread things out, you know, I think he'll be able to handle that. That's just, that's just with how he plays at Michigan. Um, we can go, who are they playing? They're playing Alabama, right? Jalen Milrow. Um, he's, he's unique, man. Like I've seen him in person in the summer. He, he looks like a linebacker dude. Like he's, and he's so raw and so unpolished, which is scary because of the improvement that he had throughout the season. I do want to give Tommy Reese though, see a ton of credit though, man. Tommy Reese was fantastic with him. Um, in one building back his confidence from being benched, which is really tough to do, but just developing him and, and, you know, using his strengths and

all the quarterback runs and just breaking down, you know, half the field to make it easier on him as he progressed. I still think he's a work in progress, big picture. But, um, if you've seen him in person, dude, like that, that guy looks like a starting middle linebacker who's going to run a four, three, a lot of like Anthony Richardson vibes, I think, right. Just the size, um, probably not as polished as the past. I think AR was a really good kind of pastor. I think he got knocked a little bit, just the polish of the mechanics.

I think Milrow has a lot of work to do there, but, um, he's a, he's, he's a stud man. Um, and he knows his strengths. Uh, Michael Penix is, is interesting to me. Um, we covered him at Indiana all the way back. And I think if you look at his, maybe the, the, the concerns, obviously he's older. So you want, you, you wonder about his ceiling, like, you know, how much better is he going to get the next level?

Um, I think the injury history is a real concern, although he's, he's been great this year. I mean, just the ACLs and I think that shoulder, whatever he's been, uh, throughout his career. Um, so that's always something that, you know, NFL teams are going to take, you know, take into consideration, but, um, and, and some of the throws, like I'll watch film on them and I'm just sitting there like this dude throws off his back feet and like so many times and not just like off platform pose where you're kind of flushed and like the patch my home stuff, like in the pocket, a guy, one guy coming at him. And like, he's like leaning back, throwing a 40 yard dart and triple coverage. And it's like, I'm like, damn, like it's one of those places where you rewatch again. So like the accuracy,

he's got good arm strength, enough arm strength, the leadership, all those things like he's really good. I don't know if he's a first round guy. I mean, I've seen him sneak into first rounds, but he's the guy that will be a backup. Then if he gets an opportunity, I think he, he, because he's a great thrower, like he can throw the football as well as anybody. Um, when you were, I think he's coming back and he's, I think I love the kid. Um, I got a chance to spend some time with him, um, earlier this year when we were at Texas, great kid. Um, I just think he's got a lot of, I'm glad he's coming back. Cause I think he's really like an unfinished product.

I think the natural talent is there. Um, the arm talent is crazy. It's kind of, you know, it's, it's, it's Herbert esque. It's my homes. That's where it's just very, very effortless. The way he throws a football, uh, and the arm angles, um, he doesn't shoot. He doesn't need to use his legs. I think, I think the deep ball needs work. I think that's something that he would tell you. I think just the deep ball, the accuracy I think his mobility is a lot better than he probably, then you probably would think, cause he doesn't run a ton. But I think he will benefit another year with Sark

and that system and just the quarterback development that Sark will give him where he'll be a future first round pick so I think he's he's got a lot of room to grow in my opinion but the upside is tremendous I'm with you on the Pennix part of it like if you had told me this is what he was going to become after watching him at Indiana where it was it was fun at Indiana but I never really felt that it was consistent now Now, granted, he might have three NFL guys at receiver, but the risk that he'll put on some of these throws where he knows Odunze is going to get it. Seeing McMillan back in the Oregon game was a big part of their success in that one. Then you include the running back who was a stud. I admire what they do so much because even if you think you're slowing them down, you're constantly in fear of them. And I think that's going to be the scariest thing to

go up against the defense. It's like, we can hold them for 50 plays, but there's going to be maybe 10 where we get smoked. And that's how they play and that's the personnel they have. Look, I know the game has changed and it's continuing to change at the quarterback position. And guys like, obviously like myself, the six, five,

you got to stay in the pocket. Like Penix is so fricking good in the pocket. And he's like at that level, at the next level, I don't care what you still have to throw between the tackles. And you still have to make a fricking third and nine throw. And you still have to be able to put it between three defenders and you still have to throw between the tackles and you still have to make a fricking third and nine throw. And you still have to be able to put it between three defenders and you still have to be on time on time,

decision-making and accuracy with the three things in damn near every quarterback room that I was in, no matter who was starter. That was a thing. If you're accurate and Pennix has all of those elite, elite. So like, he's a fantastic player. And to your point in this game and just the way Washington plays, they don't run the ball really well. They don't really care. Although they did run the ball pretty well against Oregon. Um, and playing Texas, who has one of the worst past defenses in the country this year, they haven't defended the past very well. Like any time,

any one of those receivers will go off a Dunse is a freaking animal like that dude is so good polk is so good these guys they they just keep coming at you and all of a sudden you're looking you're like you think you slowed them down they just put up 40 points i look i i don't i don't know if they're gonna win the title i probably honestly think alabama is probably the best team of those four although it's it's by a minimal margin, the way they're playing. Like, I would not be shocked if Washington wins at all. Like, everyone's on Texas,

and now they're favored and all of this stuff, and it's because Texas is good with the brand and all that. Like, Washington is really, really good, man, and they played a really difficult schedule. So, like, their battle tested, their defense improved enough, and their offense, as you said, like, offense is just they're so dangerous, like they are so dangerous at any point. And they got a QB man who's played in a lot of big games, who's won a ton of games and like like they've come from behind multiple times. Like that's that's a dangerous team. And I'm telling you, like they are really good.

Yeah. Dillon Johnson was so good against Oregon. I mean, he had some huge games. really good. Yeah. Dillon Johnson was so good against Oregon. I mean, he'd had some huge games. He lit up, he lit up at sea, which, which isn't the most shocking thing when you think about this season, but I do feel like people are, well, I was dismissive of him against him just as you were in the rematch against Oregon, because I'd watched both Oregon and Washington play to close out the last six weeks. And so going into that, you're like, look, Oregon loses a close one at their place. They had a lead late, lose on the kick, you know, whatever they'll get them, they'll get them in a neutral site. And then it doesn't happen. And I think Dylan Johnson was as big a part of that as anything for them. So I have a part of me that, you know, hates what's happening to the

PAC 12 so much that would love to see this happen because, you know, I still wonder with the PAC 12, they'd had two more playoff participants somewhere in the drought here, if that would be able to salvage it. Like sometimes I think the recency of, oh, the Pac-12 is so down, it's so down. And as Florida State realized, this whole system was set up to leave one of the partners in the Power Five to be really disappointed. And unfortunately for the Pac-12, it kind of cycled out there a bunch of times, not that they should have had a team that had as good of a an argument as florida state did but watching it all fall apart and then go into this year and feeling like it's kind of right there with the sec certainly on the top side of depth there's no other conference you put in the conversation with those two maybe the pac-12 is even better

i have a weird part of me that's rooting for washington to pull this off although it's going to feel incredibly bittersweet because if it maybe it happened a couple years prior I don't know if it saves the conference because leadership has been a question there but it just makes me think because I hate what's going to happen I don't think it would have saved it but it was interesting this year going and even even with USC down like this year and having the year that they had it was the deepest conference probably in college football. Um, because even teams like Oregon state's really good and or like Oregon state, maybe, you know, four or five that I'll put that team against any other fourth

or fifth place team in any other conference. Like they're a really good team. Arizona became a really good team. Um, and yeah, I mean, look, it's, it's the more I think about, and yeah, I mean, look, it's, it's, it's the more I think about it and we did like this, this PAC 12 essay on the, on the farewell, the PAC 12 and on, on, on our show and people ask me all the time and I'm just like, okay, yeah. And then when I really stopped to think about it, I'm like, it's just, it's it's, it's, it is, it's really, it's kind of sad. It's really crazy, man.

You think about the history and the players and the games and, um, and just for me personally, like playing in championships and being a part of the run that I was on at USC and part of the pack 10 at the time, um, how it's no longer it's, it's, it's, it's sad. Um, it's unfortunate because of the leadership that obviously, um, kind of led to this point. And then just, just the way college football and the conferences and the money and all that is shifting. Obviously this is a new world in college football. And it's continuing to shape itself with, with the portal and NI on all those things. So I I'm with you. I, I, I selfishly hope Washington wins it all for that. And Taylor DeBoer is a great dude. And you know, like Washington's up in the Pacific Northwest, man, like there, there is regional bias. We know

that no one in the South probably has watched them play other than maybe the Pac-12 title game. Um, I, I hope they win. I think they're good enough to win, but yeah, I think just to kind of go out with a bang, I mean, I think Pac-12 had a great year, um, but to go out with a bang. I think Pac-12 had a great year, but to go out with a bang would be awesome. I'm rooting for them. I believe they can win it, dude. I really do. People aren't giving them a chance. I'm telling you, that team, I guarantee you, Sark is like,

if we don't come to play, we're going to get beat for sure. Yeah, Texas is watching them beat Alabama on a Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. That's probably the best resume thing of any team all season long. And granted, Alabama was probably not Alabama now, although I'm sure as you're talking about it, some listeners are pushing back being like, hey, second half of the season, they almost lost to Auburn, which, you know, I don't know if it sounds like a pass or not, but that that game when it's at Auburn just seems to be inexplicable all the time but you know when you're building out entire resumes certainly you're a Florida State fan too you're like oh cool so that game doesn't count um so you know look I I'm trying to be fair and acknowledge like all the different parts of of what this conversation is going to these matchups

but I don't know if like going into the State game, I didn't think Oklahoma State had a chance. They had too many games where you're like, they're not that good. And losing to Oklahoma in their survival game, I would say the same thing with Texas in that one. I thought Texas was the better team, leave the game. It was a lot like the first Oregon-Washington game. I was like, I think if they played again, I would have picked Texas. Who knows?

Who knows if Oklahoma had found a way to get back into it. But it does feel like with the drama around Alabama and their resurgence, the Washington-Oregon buildup, and then Michigan with a kind of game like Ohio State and no one even cared about the Iowa State. Of the four, even if Texas is favored, it feels like Texas is the one that's just kind of hanging around without the expectations, which seems crazy for them. Like everyone was waiting for this resurgence in this moment. And in a way, you have it. They are in the playoff with Sark. And yet it still doesn't feel as big as it should have felt with the entire decade-long run of is Texas back?

No, that's a great point. I think, too, because the whole Florida State and just the drama with the fourth, like you couldn't put Bama in and not have Texas in, right. Because of the wind in Tuscaloosa. I think that was like, at least that's how I thought it. Like, I don't care if you win the SEC, I think Bama is a good team, but like Texas has to pass, like that game had to matter.

Like you went on the road and you beat them and you handled them. Even if it was in September or November, but you're right. Like there there's less, there's less like the PAC 12 drama, the Washington Oregon game, the Heisman hype between Pennix and Knicks. Like that was awesome. And then Michigan and the Harbaugh just like every single week Harbaugh watch what's going to happen in Michigan versus everybody. And then obviously the game, like that's the biggest game of the year. Um, and then you have Alabama who, you know, then you have an sec team and they knock off the two time defending champ. And now, and Bama gets in over Florida state, right. And that,

like Texas kind of is just like, okay, they're in, and no one's really talking about them. And then you, and then you look at their year and it was just, it was kind of, you know, like they had some dominant wins. They had a lot of wins where they're just kind of like ho-hum and you're like, you barely beat Kansas state. It was a good team, but you're like, they're just some games where you're just like, eh, but this doesn't matter. And I've seen a lot of teams up close. Like,

if you look at that defense up close, like we went and watched practice, like that front four, when you, when you watch it, when you watch this game, look at like sweat and murphy like that front four is every bit of alabama georgia every bit of an nfl front four i've ever seen and i was like holy hell and they're and they're good like that's why texas is is really good offensively they have weapons quinn ewers plays just if he just plays well he doesn't you know he's a little inconsistent time like texas really dangerous team but to your point yeah it's like this is the year texas is finally back and like the expectation the pressure on sark and to win there and like no one's really

talking about them you know and and i think and i think anyone any four of these teams could win the title like i and again i think in previous years there's been one dominant team obviously this year i i don't i don't see that i think obviously matchups probably are favorable i think alabama i think it's a tough matchup for michigan to be honest with you but um any four of these teams can win man like i think that's that's what's and and i do feel bad for florida state but that's been what's been great about this year i think i'm totally with you the depth of you know where we're basically the last week going into conference championship weekend you're like there's seven teams that are still alive for this which is why i know georgia's six and like come on like georgia's still you could argue easily they're one of the four best teams

in the country i mean it's just yeah right but to your point with the texas bama game like what's the point yeah what's the point exactly right so let's, uh, let's pivot that then too, because look, I agree with the D line that night in Tuscaloosa watching the D line. Like it was just very weird to watch Alabama, especially at home, look like their O line was having the issue and they were because of that front. And even though I think Oregon's front was, was better than, you know, if you're just a real casual watcher of football and you're thinking, oh, the Pac-12 just doesn't have the guys along the lines. Yeah, you're right.

I mean, historically, that's been their weak part because of geographically where they are. Those guys, they're not grown that way out west. Maybe some pockets of Arizona and LA, but for the most part, the South has dominated that part of it. You would think Texas as well. I think Oregon had a couple of those guys, but not probably the depth, certainly not the size combination of what you have with Sweat at the front there.

All right, so why do you think Alabama's a bad matchup for Michigan? I think Michigan's a really good team. This year it's interesting. My biggest concern in this game is two things from Michigan's standpoint. One, their offensive line, we saw them the last three weeks of the year. We saw them Penn State, we saw them Maryland, and then Ohio State. They got beat up pretty good by Maryland, and they got beat up pretty good by Penn State, who's an elite defense, and Ohio State got after them pretty good.

And then they lost Zinter, obviously, who's a big part of that. Um, Alabama's front, obviously very good. That, that part makes me a little nervous from Michigan. Like Michigan's not going into this with like, are we have the best offense line in the country? I probably, well, I think Washington probably has the best offense line in the country. So, so just that upfront, this isn't as a dominant group as it's been. And then staying on that side of the ball, the,

the biggest thing is can Michigan, you know, win a shootout? Can Michigan, do they have enough playmakers? You know, Roman Wilson's their number one target. Not the biggest guys fast, whatever, but outside of that, they have, they have good players, but they don't have the Washington receivers, you know, obviously Alabama and then Alabama Milrow, obviously when Texas has Mitchell and Brooks has been, or Brooks is outside Baxter and Whittington, those guys like Michigan doesn't have an explosive offense in that regard. So if, if they just take away Roman Wilson,

and that's what we saw against Maryland, like they'd say say Roman Wilson was out, I think with the concussion early, they had nobody that stepped up on the outside. That is my concern in this game. Now, if they can run the football, control it, McCarthy will be very active in the run game. Then they got a shot. I think that's just to me, that is the biggest concern I have for Michigan. I think Michigan's defense is outstanding. And the number one thing is, is do not let Milrow beat you on the ball. Just don't like that. It's hard,

but that's what you do. You make him throw it. You make him be a passer. And Michigan's front is, is really good, man. Like they're nasty and they'll rotate nine guys. That's what makes them really good on that side of the ball.

For me, it's just the playmakers, man. Like, I just don't like, I don't know if they have enough in that game and maybe they're not going to need it maybe they can run with quorum and edwards 40 to 50 times like they can in the big 10 but alabama is different alabama can score alabama can control the game as well so i think that's the biggest concern i have if you look at

michigan you know when i go back to two years ago, they run into Georgia, they lose, whatever. It was a bit of a wake-up call, I'm sure, for them. But I was happy they were back in the playoff after all the Harbaugh criticism. My position has always been with some of these programs, if you're going seven and six to the bowl game, then we can talk. But when you're right there at the end of the year in the playoff conversation, be careful what you wish for. I've already covered all that kind of stuff. The TCU loss is damning. Yet, when we watched Ohio State and Georgia play out after that game, you're kind of like, that was the national championship.

That was the national championship game. The TCU won, though, considering who they've been all season. You're like, okay, and JJ has some mistakes in there. This would easily be, though, because even last year, I wasn't sure if I thought Michigan was better than Ohio State. I thought that second half was like a really fluky, weird game. And then the way the playoffs kind of played out, I felt right about it, even though, again, the head to head. This year, it was very clear in Michigan, especially with the gap of quarterback, like Ohio State couldn't hang with that team. And Michigan dictating the game the

way they need to, whether it was the Penn State game or the Ohio State game, just knowing, hey, our defense is really this good. And I'm with you a bit. And I don't know that you're going to be able to do that against Bama, especially if Melrose can get Burton a couple of times and he's probably going to escape for a couple of deep runs. But this would be the devastating loss. The other two are last year's frustrating, two years ago is understandable. This one would be devastating, which is really, it can sound stupid saying it out loud about Alabama, but the way they've played this year and the way everything's gone on and Harbaugh's future and all this stuff, this one would really sting if they don't get the first one in the playoff. I think, like you said, you lose to Georgia a couple years ago and you get rolled and you're like, okay, we have to build our team to beat Georgia.

You have to build your team to beat Alabama's, Alabama's of the world Clemson's, you know, a couple of years ago, those types of teams that you're going to play in the playoff. Uh, I do, I do. I agree. Like last year, like McCarthy, what he threw two pick sixes, I guess just one of those games where, you know, they ran into and they, they still could have should have won that game. They ran into that Cinderella story. And again, I think Georgia, Ohio state, whoever won that game was going to win the title. Um, this year they have the quarterback. Um, they have obviously quorum and the running backs came back for that reason. Um, their defense had got some of their guys, Colson and like Sainer still is a stud. Like he's a first round pick. I think like he's a great player. Um, like this is the,

this is the year you have to do it because one, I think Harbaugh's gone. I think he's, I think he's going to the NFL. I mean, I think that's obvious. Um, and I think McCarthy's gone, um, even though he hasn't declared now, it wouldn't shock me if McCarthy stayed just because of the type of kid he is, but this is it, man. This is like, you build your team for this. You know what it takes. You have, I think the oldest most veteran team in all the college football. I think they have like 70 or 75 or 80 upperclassmen on the team. And they have, I think the most valuable asset they have is they have experience.

They understand what a playoff is like. They understand what it's going to take, but you know, like you're playing Bama man like that, like Bama is playing, like that, like, and Bama is playing as well as anybody right now in the country. So I'm with you. I like, like, I don't want to say like, how do you not, how do you come back from a loss against Bama? But again, with the uncertainty of Jim Harbaugh being there or not, the quarterback is probably gone. You're going to lose all your best players, Colson, Corum, all these guys are going to draft like word is meant and they're recruiting well, but where do they go from here? gone you're gonna lose all your best players colson quorum all these guys are

going to draft like where does min they're recruiting well but where do they go from here like you're so close like what gets you over the hump and um it's gonna be interesting man i think they can beat alabama there's no doubt like i don't think this is a lopsided are they're almost i think they're favored in the game i saw that earlier but um it's gonna be a tough one man yeah it opened up i mean depending on when this airs but as of right now are taping michigan's favored by point and a half texas favored by four and a half okay i always love going back to story time we're coming up on 20 years here you're not

that old yet though so i'm still happy for i'm still rooting for matt uh i was looking at i was looking at the the run you know where you've got the oklahoma game you've got the michigan game where you end up in the polls and then of course you know there's the texas game which is you know i hate i'm sure you're reminded of it too often but it's still for college football fans maybe the greatest modernera game that we've ever seen. Let me get a story from you on whether it's the confidence of the group the first time around. I don't know. I've never really talked to you about it. When you're as good as you were at SC, does the confidence get too much, or are you better off when it's new and it's not expected? much or is it is it better are you better off when it's new and it's not expected pick one of those games for me and give a give the audience a story on kind of like the mindset of going into those

matchups for a national championship it's interesting i think you know so we played in i mean three you know obviously michigan we shared the title with lsu so the hoopla around that game wasn't as big um we and this is a credit to Pete, man. Pete Carroll was fantastic. And like, we never were too bit too up for a game, too down for a game. And like, there's a lot of cliches like, Oh, it's just another game. And it like, like, and I genuinely say this dude, like every game was just another game for us now. Yeah. You go into the title game and you're like, okay, like it feels bigger,

but like, he never let us get bigger than what it should be. Because at the end of the day, it's a football game that you go out and you prepare for and you play now. And if we let like, like, cause he knew that, you know, like if you let the emotions of the game get to you, let you start reading all the clippings. Like he hated that stuff. Like we didn't, we didn't like he, we didn't didn't talk shit we didn't really we just did our job now we knew on the field like we knew we were

better than you from i mean damn near every team we played but we didn't talk during the week we didn't talk in both both seasons preparing for the game we just went out and we talked amongst ourselves like we're gonna whoop their ass like we like we feel good like we knew every time we're gonna go to the field even in sexist that's feel good. Like, we knew every time we were going on the field, even against Texas, that's how we felt. Texas was a little different. We were a little – I think our P was a little more worried about playing Vince Young and those guys.

But, yeah, I mean, the mindset is that, man. And, again, I just said it about Michigan. It takes experience. We were really experienced. You know, obviously, I'd played in a lot of big games that junior year. Our defense was like, we had the Sean Cody's, we had low foot to two poo who was outstanding. Matt Gritty good, who was still the best high school player I've ever seen.

And he was a bucket. So we're candidate at USC. Like we were so veteran late in that we just went in and we did our job. And the same was against Texas. Now we had, we were a little younger cause we had Dwayne Jerry. We had some of these younger players, but we still had a bunch of guys, Reggie guys, guys that went around. Um, the other day I was in Vegas for the awards of college football or the, the, um,

hall of fame because Reggie got in and I ran into and Derek Johnson just got in and we didn't, I didn't play Derek Johnson. He was, but a lot of the Texas guys that were on that team that we played in 05 were there. And I'm looking and I'm just thinking like, there's Jamal Charles, right? There's Iraq Poe, there's Huff, there's Griffin, there's B Y and we're all in there in the lobby of a hotel. Like they all had the burn orange. And I was about myself. I was waiting for all my teammates because we were surprised and Reggie. And I'm like, and then to your point, I'm thinking like, damn,

like that was like that game won the game lived up to the hype, but the players, whether some of us didn't excel, then the fellow in that game, the amount of talent, the players on that field is second to none, man. Like it was like, like Jamal Charles, I was like, Jamal Charles was like a, like a, like a freshman, I think in that game. And like, you look at what he became, right. So, um, Iraq was on fricking like all pro and he was a freshman in that game. So, um, we were just, we were out there to kick your ass, dude. Like it didn't matter if it was

Colorado State or if it was Oklahoma I love Michael Huff loved him they were loaded man we should have beat them damn it real quick though and you know I'm sharing this too because I you know I've got to know you a little bit in that maybe you have the perfect personality to be a quarterback in that Oklahoma game because that's your first one, right? Like the new thing is taking over, Pete's taking over, and now it's like, oh, wait, this is real. And you're going to roll.

And Oklahoma goes up 7-0 to start the game. And like, are you, is there any part of you where you're a little bit freaked out in the beginning? I was pissed off that game. And I, and this, I don't know if I've, it's not, I mean, it's not a funny story, but so that was the year I won the Heisman and AP Adrian Peterson had his true freshman year ran for like 1800 yards. He finished second and the whole, and again, you've seen me, like, I wasn't like,

I was a lot heavier than, but I'm like, not the most physically like gifted looking athlete. Like I could throw the ball that, but I wasn't, I didn't, couldn't run like kind of long and gangly. And that whole, the three weeks leading up to that game, the amount of like shit talking that they did saying this guy won the, I'll never forget this guy won the Heisman. What? Like, like they were making fun of me and like, no joke. I mean, you could probably Google press clippings, like Oklahoma defense. I think Larry Burdine, I'll never forget.

I think he was the defensive end that was just talking out of his ass. And then the week of you had to do, um, some events together, like, you know, some dinners together, both teams are there, like whatever. And again, they were like, that's the Heisman trophy when they need it. Like, I don't know. I do. I can hear them. Like it was, it was, I was like, all right guys. Like, you know, and I, and you know me, like I have, you know, I had some swag back in the day. I had a lot of confidence. I was like, all right. Like it, it, it pissed me off so much.

And even Pete was like, all right. So we were good. So going into that game to answer your question, um, our defense dude was so good that year. Like, like, like their offense was loaded. Like Jason, why was the Heisman trophy winner AP was fantastic. Like going to that game, there was, I'd never, I'd never thought we'd beat them the way we did. Never. Like that was one of those games where everything went our way and then they just couldn't come back. Like we hit them with a tornado and they didn't know what to do. Um, they go down and score. And I

was now like, like we, like the thing people need to remember for us. And it's the same as all the, like we were down in a bunch of games that year. Like we almost lost the Stanford, uh, Cal Aaron Rogers, like the fourth down and nine or first and nine from the nine yard line. Like we stopped them barely. Like we played in a lot of close games. Like, so we weren't like, we weren't really worried about it to be honest with you. Um, I knew we were going to score, gonna score um but the punt the punt return or the punt fumble was the one that shifted everything i think it was seven seven and then

they punted to us and then we scored lindell the first play and that was it and i'll never forget too at halftime we were coming out and like they they were they were like literally on the on the field like they didn't want any part of us dude it was It was like 35 and seven. Oh yeah. They were, they were telling the offensive line, like, dude, like let's run the ball, get it. Like they were just getting their ass kicked. And it was like, like that's a true story. They didn't want to know part of us in the second half and we were just running it up on them, dude. It was awesome, man.

But they were talking so much smack that game. It was unbelievable. I was like, you guys just, you guys poked the wrong bear dude like we're gonna we're gonna score a ton on you guys so i just love the idea of them seeing you at some dinner and being like oh literally i swear dude they were like and then berdine it was berdine was his name he hit me late on the thing and like i started talking shit to him and like you know and i wasn't a great shit talker but but I was just like, look at the scoreboard. And I had five touchdowns that game. And yeah, they were they they didn't want any part of that, man.

And then Bob Stoops, who obviously is a good buddy of mine, like we still to this day, he's just he's still bitter. He's like, God, you guys kicked our ass. I was like, yeah, we did. I was like, God, you guys kicked our ass. I was like, yeah, we did. 55-19, the final for the USC Trojans and five touchdowns. A clean day for Leiner. And a hell of an after party, buddy.

A hell of an after party. All Pete Carroll said was, don't miss the flight the next morning, boys. Have fun. That's all he said. We'll get that one. We'll do that, the after party pod series that we're trying to launch and get funding for now. We'll get that one. We'll do that. The after party pod series that we're trying to launch and get funding for now.

Thanks as always, man, Matt Liner, Fox sports. Enjoy the games. College football playoff. Let's do this. Okay.

We understand the Michigan and Alabama resumes. You realize that Bama has never gone three years without winning a national championship under Nick Saban. So one of the things that I was looking at here is the offensive line stuff. And I would argue over the course of the year, looking at this Bama team, like the hard part is, did they figure it out? And this is right there with these others? Or is this still a lesser version? Because the receivers are good. The two running backs are good. The offensive line feels like it's a lot better. Their front seven at times kind of waiting on, all right, they're going to be a run first and then destroy you up front team. Are they that team? At times they've shown it and they've shown that they finish really strong. The corners are solid, which I don't know that you're going to need all of those corners. I mean, the corners are actually really good for Alabama.

And when you think of the lack of depth at receiver for Michigan, you wonder, well, are they going to be able to do some other things there because they don't feel like they have to defend, say, like a Washington receiving core because of what's going on there. On the other side for Michigan, I'm a little worried about the offense not having to really be worried, perhaps all season long, and even more so later, because it was Penn State, doesn't matter. And McCord at Ohio State, they never really felt threatened, even though there was a bit of a moment where it felt like a bit of a game. And then Iowa, say whatever you want.

They put some NFL guys in the league, though, right? So the point of all of this is I'm trying to figure out where these two teams have been. There's two things that I think are important here. The Bama O-line, which I thought was just flat-out overrated the first half of the season, they gave up 35 sacks in eight games. And part of that is Milrow understanding and the O-line understanding Milrow. But Bama's O-line has given up only nine sacks in the last five games.

So that has gotten better. Iowa, which was 12th during the regular season in sacks in the Big Ten, they had four sacks and 11 pressures against Michigan in the Big Ten title game. So I don't know that you're just going to run it at Bama. I think that front has gotten better. I think their O-line has gotten better. And despite there's still moments where I go, this isn't this world beater Alabama team. Michigan certainly can beat this team. I'm looking at that kind of O-line matchup here as the deciding factor of why I'm going Bama plus one and a half. If you want a little two to one pay action on this, go Bama plus the one and a half. Figure Burton's good for a couple deep shots over 50 yards.

That's going to pay out two to one on FanDuel right now. Texas-Washington. I've gone back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on this one. I feel like more people that I talk to actually like Washington, despite Texas being the favorite here. I feel like that number is a little dismissive of who Washington has been. Washington certainly surprising me in winning the rematch with Oregon. And I think one of the biggest things that I saw, especially in the Oregon game,

was Dylan Johnson, the running back for Washington. I thought he was the story as much as anybody else, as much as the receivers all being healthy for Pennix. But, I mean, he went for 28 carries, 152 yards in that game. And it wasn't just the 152. It was that you thought you had him at a two-yard gain, and it was a six-yard gain. And it happened over and over and over again.

So, you know, Dylan Johnson, I thought was maybe the most important guy. I mean, it's easy to say Penix. It's easy to say McMillan's back and everything. And then Rome, who's just maybe, you know, right there with everybody not named Marvin Harrison Jr. Maybe sometimes he is. I've liked this Washington team so much better. I think the Pac-12 test is far more than what Texas' test has been. I feel like Texas has been on cruise control for over a month.

But I don't see Dylan Johnson doing this against his Texas front. If you look at Texas' D-line, which we saw against Alabama and it's carried throughout the season, even when it looked like Ewers and their offense wasn't getting it going, and granted he missed some time because of the injury. But Ollie Gordon, the running back for Oklahoma State, he's been a stud this year. He averaged 2.6 yards per carry in the Big 12 Championship.

31 yards for Oklahoma State as a team. Kansas State, they run it for 200 yards per game through the regular season. In their matchup against Texas, 29 carries, 30 yards. I don't know if that room's going to be there for Dylan Johnson I don't think it's there for anybody against that D line for Texas but then it starts becoming a Pennix Ewers thing and whatever you think about Washington's defense which definitely had some moments this year where you were going late like what the hell is going on with those guys which also led into me thinking that Oregon would figure it out and would win the rematch. But I'm

just taking the points. I'm taking the points for a much more tested Washington team than a team that goes to the Big 12 this year. So if it were even, it might be the Texas play, but I want those points. So I'm taking both dogs. Give me Washington plus four and a half. You want details?

Fine. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible.

Let me tell you what's required. The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. It is life advice. We have Kyle. We have Steve. Let's just get to them. Okay, unwanted video sharing. First off, what would you prefer to hear on the street from an attractive woman?

Love the pod or love the bod love the pod probably the second one oh really yeah that's just the one i want i want to know the numbers are up there i want to know where uh you know we're dying male demos growing oh yeah that's good fastest growing show in america 18 to 35 female demo. What's up? I love that when a new sports show starts. 16 months in. Fastest growing show in America. Like, are you sure?

Nope. Definitely not sure. But harder to refute. All right. So here we go. I recently rekindled a childhood friendship via Instagram. Great guy, great friend, good energy, etc. I value our friendship. Totally love the dude. All right, you like this guy. But he sort of spams me with a

lot of videos on chat on Instagram. I don't even pretend to watch them all, but every now and then again, I feel obligated to watch at least one or two. The problem is that invariably, someone in the video is embarrassed or hurt or injured or humiliated. It's supposed to be the funny part. For me, it's just I don't want to see this part. Most likely, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, which is just politely ignore most and text them on other matters unless one of the three wise men, a Christmas reference, not a sarcastic remark. Oh, that's us. Can offer some really solid advice on how to get my friend to stop sending me these kinds of videos and just focus more updating me on his life in the immediate world can't say much about the bod but i do indeed love the pod all right uh our guys in poland chiming in all right so you're getting spam videos look the people that

send videos love sending videos i'm even on a couple text threads where i was like wait am i video guy on this one because i don't see but i noticed it i noticed it where i was like i'm not getting much response to a couple videos that again i thought i was being fairly engagements down right i thought my i was you know stringent where i was like you know don't be fucking just giving it out for free right uh hey this is interesting we're all aligned on this stuff hey here's here's a video and then when i didn't see a ton of engagement you know some alarms when i was like this could be a bit like when you're getting videos from people all the time where you're like another video so i hear

what you're saying but i'll just say this about video people most people just love people that send videos never i don't know that they ever go, now I'm no longer into sending those videos. They just want to share it. They enjoyed it. They want somebody else. It comes from a good place. But it is really, really fucking annoying when you have people that are big on video share. So I think a funny tactic is to say ha.

One single ha. H-A. Not a ha-ha. Not a three. I did this to my brother once where I gave him a ha and he was like, one ha. It was ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha That means like, cool, dude, fuck off. Oh, does it? I got to stop doing that then. Because I told you I did exclamation points and ha. I didn't do ha's for a decade. And then I was like, I got to lighten up the tone here. Because everybody's like, you're kind of a dick when you text.

I was like, I don't think, I don't, like, I got to give you an exclamation point to prove I'm not a dick. I know. It doesn't make any sense. Unfortunately, yeah, sometimes. It's like Slack culture. Kyle does this, like, you know, when knows this. It's like the Slack thing. It's basically like AIM and email all into one, basically, for people you work with.

And yeah, if I don't know somebody super well and I don't throw an exclamation point at the end of something, I feel like an ass. But then if you do it, it's like, wow, why are you so excited? You're just telling me that something's due tomorrow. It's not that fun. So it's a weird gray area to be in. How about, we need to talk about how bad your performance was in the fourth quarter.

Exclamation point. Smiley face. Makes an advantage. Yeah. Your sales numbers suck. Ha ha. All right. So I think a single ha

every fucking time, every time, every time you get a video would be the funniest thing. Because the reason I'm offering this up is that I want you to get something out of it. I want you to enjoy it. Don't even watch the videos. Just see how long you can go single ha. I mean, could it be 20 videos? Could it be 200 straight videos where he's getting 200 single haws in response?

That's good. Does he ever say anything when he does say something? How much fun is that? It's going to be like a thing. It's going to be like Pete Rose chasing DiMaggio's hit streak. You're just going to be going, let me check the box score in the morning. You're going to send the ha and you're going to wait to see how long it takes him. So I think there's no real stopping him there's no real conversation be like hey these videos suck you know i mean you could just be like hey that guy got hurt i don't want to see that or

that wasn't my favorite or whatever he doesn't care he's rekindled this childhood friendship um his his prior you seem to really like him too on top of everything else so that's important you're just getting a lot of videos so why don't you find a way to make it entertaining for you to see how long the hot street can go yeah if you want to do if you want to do that work i say do that i think that's probably the best advice we'll get where you can feel like you've got to win i've got about 10 to 12 people i think that we go back and forth on instagram with sending stuff i've only got one that's uh sends me annoying and annoying amount of videos I don't care about. And that's my wife. And there's nothing I can do about

it. So what I've done is I just I'm okay with it. There's some dudes I actually have just like muted it. Like you can be like, you'll get the you don't block them, but you just it won't like you won't get a definitely turn off your notification on Instagram if you haven't already. That's insane behavior. I think if you're getting notified anytime somebody reaches out to you on Instagram with a like or a message, I think that's crazy. Insane behavior. It is. So and that's that I've I've I changed that like five years ago and I was like, I can't

believe I didn't even do it before then. But I've just gotten used to the idea of having eight, nine videos. I send her good ones. We watched we've watched Sopranos and she loved it. Now I send her like good Sopranos clips. There's like a million of those accounts that are well run out there. I've sent really nice curated videos, babies doing funny things. She sends me nothing but animals, just animals.

And it's like, look at, look at this pet dog. And it's not even like cool animals. Like, oh my God, look at that tiger. Look how high I could jump. It's just, I'm flooded with animals. And every once in a while when I'm pooping on the toilet, I'll like, you know what? I'm going to look at my wife's things and I'll go through them all. And I'll like a couple and I make sure not to like some to know that she knows I don't like, you know, this onslaught of cute animals enough with the rabbits already. But

like, really, it's not, it's not a conversation I'm ever going to have with her. I'm just, I'll, I'll get to it when I get to it. And there's always, you know, pretty much my Instagram messages are always read except for there's, it says like 12 plus from her and that's it. And that's okay. So if you don't want to go through the, you know, making a regimen of Haas or whatever you want to do to get it to stop, just ignore them. I mean, you guys have each other's phone number. If there's really something like you're not having real meaningful conversations over the Instagram app, are you? So I think you could just totally ignore them. And, you know, every once in a while when you're sitting on the pot, just look through them and, and, uh, or don't just make it seem like you look through them. If you don't really want to

have a solution to this other than just forgetting about it. I don't really have much to add because I definitely agree with Ryan's advice. But how many I'm just curious because I don't know if I'm in the if I have too many or not enough. How many like actual threads are you guys on where you're sending someone like at least a couple memes a week or a couple videos a week? Because I think I really only have two. It's like my buddy's group chat. And the extension of that is our group chat on Instagram. And then my wife, like I don't have any more than basically two spots. And then I guess my family, to some extent we have a group chat,

but it's not as the traffic's not as high there. It's like every, you know, maybe, maybe once a week, but my wife and I sends multiple things a day, friends, multiple things a day.

But if anybody that I didn't know super well was doing that to me, I'd be weirded out. It would really creep me out. It's probably five. I don't really have group chats on Instagram that we like go back and forth in, but yeah, it's probably five i don't really have group chats on instagram that we like go back and forth in but yeah it's probably like five including my wife there was one from somebody i didn't really know that well just sending the horniest stuff all the time yeah that's the worst and i was like or just like comedians that are just like way too aggressive and you're like hey

man i don't know you that well like this is a little bit edgy for for our for how well we know each other one of my best buds when i got married and like the run-up to it just started sending me like memes about cheating on your wife and i'm like what are you doing what the fuck is this i've never given you any like i've never given you any inkling like this is what i'm about and like and it was like i think it was after the bachelor party nothing terrible happened at the bachelor party we were just kind of drinking and you know at secrets the whole time um like i don't it just he just he went it's still to this day it's just like and it was like wedding things like we're wife dog walking down the aisle knowing what you're about to do like it was just it's

just crazy shit like it's i don't know what that was uh i told him you need to stop that because that was like there was no it was uncalled for and whatever but sometimes when there are like guys that get and then we're getting a little off topic here, but there are guys that get excited to be angry husband guy, you know, or like, oh, my wife annoys me. Like they're, they're pumped to get married so they can be annoyed at their wife. And those guys suck. Yeah.

Like, I mean, I've got like, I've got, you know, I've got like uncles and family members who I love. They're great. But it's like, hey man, like we were married for like six months. Like, man, you ready to get out yet? And it's like, no, actually, like things are going great. Is that, you ready to get out yet? And it's like, no, actually. Things are going great. Is that weird? Does that make me weird? I don't know. I don't know. And it's like, you want me to be miserable. I'm not miserable, though. I'm sorry. Send them counter their stereotypical

all-in-the-family depressed husband memes with just happy Instagram instagram health wellness memes but that's not me either i don't want to do that like i'm not like oh man like my marriage we talk about our feelings every morning for 15 minutes whenever we i'm not that guy either i just i'm just i'm content do that i'm sorry i'm not i know you don't but tell them that you do counteract it because they would i don't want them to think i'm some like you know simple loser uh so i don't know like i'm just a normal guy man I just I'm just a happily married guy what can I say sorry sorry sorry to disappoint you

happy Steve's here again fucking loser it's kind of similar it's kind of similar to the guys that are balding right I feel like where they're like they're like they take joy in other guys balding it's like hey man just leave it let me just let me do me yeah I I hated it i

hated when van pelt would every six months kind of like give me a look and i was like you're rooting for it you're not a friend he is a friend but i didn't love it speaking of van pelt uh we got an email here 31 years old six foot 160 more of a runner than a weightlifter, but I try to keep a balanced fitness routine. My wife and I bought a house in West Hartford this year. I know there are a lot of ESPN folks in the area, but I haven't run into any yet. Was that just a shout-out? Was that just a yo from you there, Suri?

No, I live right near West Hartford. I was there on Christmas Eve. It's a great spot. How's the center doing? It's great. They replaced great spot. How's the center doing? It's great. They replaced your spot, Grant's, with this really

great pizza place called Sparrow. Shouts out to our guy, Adam. Another pizza place? Dude, I'm telling you, it's incredible. Whenever you're back, we'll go. I would say Trevor was my spot far more so than any other

spot uh yep trevor's good too but i'm it's good i'm just saying i'm excited for my guy west harford's a fun spot okay shout out to west harford so they bought a house there um we consistently get mail and packages addressed to the family who sold us the house turns out they know scott's family scott van pelt's family uh because they're on their christ card distribution list. I connected the dots when I saw the return address and let my curiosity get the best of me. I opened and I now proudly display the Van Pelt Christmas card on my refrigerator. Wow. That's awesome. Don't need advice here because I'm certainly not going to add them to our list, but I just want to let you know how likely you think it is that we stay on their list for years to come.

I don't know. Wow, there was an audible groan there from Kyle. You don't like this move, huh? It's a big step. It's a big step. You have to ask, are you the dude that opens people's mail? And if you can tell it's a Christmas card, I guess that's cool. But I tell you what, you know what looks like Christmas cards?

Like birthday cards with money in it, Christmas gift cards, you know what I mean? Like you run the risk of that not being a Christmas card unless it's like a straight up postcard, but you wouldn't even have to open it at that point. So I think, you know, that could have been, that could have been not a Christmas card. That could have been totally like a check for 300 bucks or it could have been, I don't know, a gift card for Houston's restaurants. I don't know what people give. But I know a lot of times those Christmas cards come in envelopes that look like what people get when they're sending small gifts for holidays or birthdays.

So you had a set on you for opening that. But it turns out it was okay. I just wouldn't get in the habit. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't get in the habit. But you're safe in this spot. Yes, it was okay. I don't know if I would be cool with that either even if it was a christmas car i don't want people doing that to my mail with all due respect but you know that's just me because you can't give it back what if you need to give it back it's like hey i opened this thing that

somebody sent you it's like and it's like uh i got it to you but i definitely opened it to see if it was you know if it was something i wanted yeah but if there's a post-it note that said like to a secret love that can never be celebrated right you're like whoa what's going on here this isn't just a christmas card this is a mystery right i don't love the opening up of the mail but if you knew it was a christmas card i think most people are going to open that one up when they see Van Pelt's name on the return address. I just think they are. They want to see what the Christmas card looks like here on this one. He also wanted to thank

Rudy for the recommendation on a jeweler on buying an engagement ring. He mentioned it on the pod a couple years ago, and it all worked out. That's awesome. I think I know this guy. He's got a lot going on. You think you know him? Well, no. He DM'd me.

That's why I remember him DMing me, asking me. Yeah. So that's great. I love to hear that. Oh, okay. All right. There you go. Okay. One more here. Do I need to tell my girlfriend I love her? Hey, guys. Love the show.

Appreciate life advice. AKA your support of maladjusted middle-aged men like myself. Hey, we had an 18-year-old who was freaking out about lebron jordan debates he might be out of depression now because of us 62185 don't know uh max bench numbers uh these days but can run 50 miles in a row jesus christ nba player comp is is that straight? I think it probably means 50 miles a week. Uh, Draymond, if he was only mildly psychotic and a worse passer, uh, I've been taking a lot of heat from my buddies recently and how my relationship is unfolding and need your guys help in figuring out what the right normal approach to it should be. I'm in my mid thirties and met my girlfriend 18 months ago.

We've been officially dating for 15 months. She's two years older than me and does want to get married and have a family at some point fairly soon. He didn't give us an age here, did he? He said middle age. Everything's been going well. We get along great, starting to think about the future. We just started a joint investment account on Robinhood. spent holidays, a lot of time with each other's families and friends. We were going to Southeast Asia together for six weeks to start next year, part work, part vacation, and found a lot of time to travel together already. One night, almost a year ago, we both got borderline blacked out and told one another we loved each other, but we've not mentioned the night since. I've otherwise not told her that I love her. If I'm being honest, I'm not fully certain I do. Who even knows what that means these days? It means a joint investment account. I'll tell you that. That's definitely one thing it means. Usually the lovey thing, although technically if it happened a year ago, that's in front of the joint account. I'd never understand like,

what's the rush? Why do you have to be in a joint? And again, that's an investment account too. Like, all right, that's fine. But my best group of buddies have recently been telling me that i'm an idiot for a not knowing that i love her love her or b not telling her that i do regardless uh of the answer to part a i personally don't think there's anything wrong with just continuing as is but am i leading my girlfriend on in any way or potentially damaging the relationship long term simply because i won't check this box and say i love her any thoughts reactions would be very appreciated thanks guys i think we've delved into this kind of stuff before the question is really uh what you have to do is based on kind of what she wants you to do in this case and i don't think

that's the default all the time for the male female dynamic i think often you know too often kind of earlier we were talking about it's like oh i'm just gonna do whatever she says the whole time but in this case um it it appears that she's okay with it and she's never said it to you okay so if she's okay with it then i guess you guys are okay um as far as like what that even means these days i don't even i don't know what that sentence means right now you know as if the concept of love has evolved to this unknown place where 20 years ago it was easier to understand or whatever i mean look um everybody will tell you you kind of know it when you feel it if you've never been in it then maybe that's harder for you to understand um you know it seems like a lot of the things that would make sense that you enjoy being with this person i know that sounds really simple but

you know when you're actually looking forward to being with the person that's a pretty good sign and it sounds like you've given us no indications whatsoever so if she's cool with you not verbalizing it most women would want it to be verbalized uh and again if you're mid-30s to mid-30s middle age i guess mid-30s early 40s if she's she's around that age and wants to start a family wants to do all that stuff i don't know it's about verbalizing that sentence to her as much as it makes just making sure that you're on the same page because she doesn't want to waste two years with somebody that may not be into it because you sound like you're kind of not into it but i think you're not into it in in just confirming something that you seem to be very

into otherwise so it's really if this were such an issue for her i mean forget what your friend said here i mean they're not necessarily wrong but that's not the person that you have to make happy here um i don't it sounds kind of awkward to be like hey do we need to bring this up do we need to talk about this i wouldn't delve in and be like i'm not sure that i am or i don't really know what it means or maybe it's a little bit more complicated. This is not the way I am. That's probably not going to go over great. But if she hasn't kind of asked you or any kind of follow-up or I don't know if she remembers that night or whatever, maybe you're just with somebody that doesn't need that kind of outward confirmation

because it feels like she has all the real confirmations that she needs unless you're in this weird phase of like, I guess I've never really felt it or I'm not feeling it now or I don't really know what to compare it to. So therefore, I guess I'm good. But I guess I'm good is not what somebody wants to hear when the concept of like spending the rest of your life with this person is on the table. Yeah, I think if you're in as a general rule of thumb this

is what i followed if you're you know if you're dating somebody and uh you're not like looking for a way out and they say it i'm just saying it back i think it's okay to lie in that situation um what what i don't know i don't know about well i'm just saying i'm not it's not three it's not a month in or something but i'm saying if we're if if she brings it up at six months or something like i'm not even gonna think about it it's just a response i i mean maybe it's not three, it's not a month in or something, but I'm saying if we're, if, if, if she brings it up at six months or something, like, I'm not even going to think about it. It's just a response. I mean, maybe it's just because I have a hard time being like, like, what do you say to that? It's so much easier to say, I love you. And if you break it is, it's not like people who love people don't ever, you know, don't ever break up. So it's just like, yeah, I loved you. I love you now, whatever. Uh, just not working. Like it's, there's i loved you i love you now whatever uh just not working like it's there's really nothing what's the downside of saying i love you too i said it wants to get out of a fight

did you that's great right it's totally worth it totally worth it do you regret that first time not really i mean i was young but i was getting worked i was getting worked over for a decision we went to this thing after the bars closed got invited this thing so she was tagging along i've been with her for a while i was she was i was just getting yelled at she was like you know we get these weekends because of my job and then i come to see you at work i was like yeah but this is kind of like my night and she was like just and she was right she was right about everything she said i finally was like whatever it's like this is how i feel ended the fight immediately it was unbelievable It's fucking awesome

that you could just pull that out. And I'm not saying use it to get ahead. Can't do it a lot. Can't do it a lot. I think you can. But that's just how you get into a fight.

I love you though. I love you. No, the first I love you, definitely. That's the trump card. We met three hours ago. You don't have a job.

You're a deadbeat. Like you smell like you're out of shape. Yeah, but I love you. Hey, I love you. What do you like you smell like you're out of shape yeah but i love you hey it's okay what do you want me to do i'm just in love no i i just don't i don't know i'm just not a fan of like playing with people's emotions in that way and i don't feel like i don't know i don't love it what does it mean sincere steve over here in this specific instance it sounds like they might both be playing

what it sounds like they might both be playing like chicken and maybe she's like oh man like I don't want to bring it up either and she feels the same way you do I would just ignore it nobody has to say anything like if she wants to bring it up she can bring it up but she hasn't so that doesn't mean you have to bring it up

just keep just if you're happy just keep being happy and then maybe six months you know a year whatever you talk about the love conversation but i don't think you have to bring it up unless she also wants to bring it up maybe she's in the same situation as you so i wouldn't worry about it and if she says it just say it back that's it yeah like i i think that that's one thing versus like just being like oh man like i don't know if i actually love this girl but i'll just tell her I love her so that we could stop talking about it. That to me is not, I don't love that move. Well, it's not so we stopped talking about it.

It's just like, hey, listen, we're not breaking up. She loves me. What do you want me to say? Like if we're absolutely dating, if it's casual and whatever that means, like I get like wrestling with that a little bit, but if it's just like, listen, we're exclusive. We've been dating for a while.

We traveled to South Asia. That's a quite a flight to take with a buddy or whatever you you're calling you know it's and you're you've got an investment account and you're sharing passwords like i think if she says i love you it's just like if you're not looking for a way out of this then pick the fight right there i guess i know you're coming with it yeah but if you just say it i mean what's the problem she's not gonna be like we broke up and you because you love you know and you lied about it's like no who's to know you just say i love you because i don't want you to be sad because to ryan's point i think you don't want to like lead someone down like if you say that she's going to be like oh well this this you know

he loves me this maybe this is something that is going to be forever and if you don't have that in your mind then you're misleading her and you're wasting her time i guess if you're not planning an exit i think it's all the same i think it's all the same. I think it's all the same. Maybe. I think we covered it. Good luck, man. Thanks to Steve. Thanks to Kyle. Ron Russo Podcast. Ring or spot. We'll be right back. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem?

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