The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Mavs' Big Game 1 Win and What’s Up With Ant? Plus 49ers All-Pro Linebacker Fred Warner!

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

Russillo begins by recapping Dallas’s big Game 1 victory and discussing Anthony Edwards’s struggles (0:40). Then, he’s joined by 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to learn what he took away from the Super Bowl loss, how he can become an even better player, and what makes the 49ers D so special (15:18). Plus Life Advice with Ceruti and Kyle (34:56)! Is my basketball career over after a catastrophic injury? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, live streams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Fred Warner Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of the podcast, we take a look at a game one win for Dallas in Minnesota, the things that went right for the Mavericks, which we expect to continue. And what is up with Ant? Fred Warner, he's my favorite player in the NFL and he is awesome at playing linebacker. We're going to finally talk to our guy on the show, everything that's going on with his career so far and the stuff that's going on off the field, and we've got life advice with one about credit cards.

I guess we're gonna start doing that, maybe never again. It's Ryan Roussela podcast presented by FanDuel. The road to the NBA final starts now, and FanDuel is the best place to get in on the action. Right now you can check out the new and improved Quick Bets, which are back and better than ever for the NBA playoffs and Fandual. Find what you're looking for faster and easier with more props right at your fingertips. You can check out live bets like three-minute markets and exclusive live bets like quarter

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Two games into the conference finals on both sides and I want to focus on Dallas's big win in Minnesota as they take game one after trailing at halftime. So we start with a bunch of things that I want to get to. Kyrie. I didn't want passive Kyrie in the first half. I was actually a little surprised he was getting so much credit for it, but that's what happens. We just play the results. We're like, all right, he was so smart and tactical about everything. Well, he was just unstoppable in the first half of this game. It's exactly what I wanted from him. Setting the tone, 24 points in the first half, 11 to 14 shooting.

Ant was his primary defender, but I want to talk about four plays in particular that I think speak to a real fixable thing that Minnesota can, can get on here. Um, we're going to talk about Ant's defense to Kyrie and what that meant for Ant offensively later in this game, because if you've watched it, it was fairly alarming, but I tweeted this out about Jaden McDaniels and it was that I don't think Jaden was ready for Kyrie's speed. budget mc daniels and it was that i don't think jayden was ready for kairi speed it's not like kairi's new in the league but after.

Attacking booker attacking murray and you know great guys get cross match and there's some switches from time to time. This was a little different in that there's just something going on in the league that i've noticed more more. Where if you're really good defender it's great to like get out and challenge, but you can also be doing someone with great quickness or great ball handling skills. If Kyrie has maybe the best that we've ever seen, you're doing them a great favor by just getting right up into them. You think about when Steph Curry is beyond the three point line and he's in front of like the bench. Okay. So he's not in the corner.

He's not at the top. He's at the break and Steph is like bent over. He has the ball down low. The defender's like right up on him, right? Like Jamie Foxx style, just right on it. And then Steph just kind of like pirouettes away, gets the dribble, gets that kind of step before you put the ball down on the floor and then he's gone. And you're like, you're actually doing the offensive player a

favor because you're not cutting off any kind of angles by just saying like 30 plus feet away. So I know that it's, it's kind of like, well, wait a minute. You guys all love it when he's working Devin Booker and turning him two or three times, just trying to get the ball up the court. You love it when you see it against Jamal Murray. And then you're like, oh, wait a minute, you guys all love it when he's working Devin Booker and turning him two or three times just trying to get the ball at the court. You love it when you see it against Jamal Murray. Yes, I do love those things, but with Jayden, I felt like he misjudged Kyrie's speed or at least wasn't ready for it in game one

four different times. One was just a complete brain lapse where Jayden doesn't pay attention and Kyrie's too smart. Backdoor cuts Jayden because he can see exactly what it is and because Kyrie's so quick, that cut is going to be more damaging from Kyrie than maybe another player that's baseline behind you. Play number two, there was a left side layup where Kyrie went left hand the entire way and Jayden just never really was able to get in front of him or deter his path, which is really crazy. If you're thinking about Jayden's defense and his length in his own speed, he never was able to like get the Kyrie and Kyrie's got the ball.

But as we know, there's some players that are faster with the ball than they maybe are in a 40 yard dash. And Kyrie is probably one of those guys too. Play number three, 30 seconds left. He picks him up three quarters court. Um, and he goes right past him. And at that point, I think Jayden felt like, well, I have Rudy behind me. And then Kyrie finished against Rudy, which in itself was like, probably more

impressive than any of the stuff that I'm talking about here and Kyrie wasn't even fazed by it and Rudy's just up there trying to guess right to contest the shot doesn't happen play number four picks up Kyrie full court with five seconds left, which makes no sense because it's Kyrie. Another player five seconds left, ball handler who's likely the number one option to get the shot up at that point.

Yeah, it makes more sense for Jayden to do the Jayden McDaniels things. But against Kyrie, I'm not sure that it is. Guess what? Kyrie goes past him, questionable and one, but a score that looked like it could have been eight points or more at halftime in a matter of 30 seconds of Kyrie ends up being a one possession game. So when we looked at the half, let me give you the totals actually, and then

relate it back to the half because Minnesota shot 49 threes last night. I knew they were shooting a lot of them. And then when I went back and looked at the box score, I was like, man, 49 seems high. They finished 18 to 49. So you could say 37%. That's not a big deal. They've never taken 40 in a regular season game this year. They took 40 in game six against Denver, which I'm not sure was a real game. Denver was up 50 at one point or excuse me, Minnesota was up 50 in game six to a Senator to get game seven against Denver. Denver, you want to know why they had 23 points combined in the first and fourth quarter.

It doesn't feel like a real game. So all season long, the Timberwolves averaged about 33 threes, uh, attempted per game in the regular season. That's 23rd in the NBA. But I wonder if the success that Minnesota had at the half, because there were 44% from three at the half, they were plus 27 points because Dallas I think was two of 15, they couldn't make any, I wonder if that pulled Minnesota into something game plan wise where maybe Dallas was like, look, we can't let Ant go off, so if the ball is with Kat, if the ball is with Rudy, if the ball is

with McDaniels, McDaniels was terrific offensively. I mean, that's a huge plus for Minnesota to get that kind of night out of him offensively, specifically in the first half, but the collection of the rest of the shooters went real cold. And I don't know if it's a comfort thing with a team where it's like, hey, we like shooting all these threes a little bit easier, saving some energy on deep non-defense. Um, and we're making enough to justify it when Dallas is like, great, keep doing

this. And there was a bunch of that stuff throughout this game because it looked like Minnesota was making sure that they weren't going to give up any of the corner threes from Dallas. And we'll get to those numbers in a second here. The next part of this story is Ant was six to 16, but more alarming than going six to 16 is that he's five of 12 from three. Like, Hey, wait, that number's good.

Not to me. It isn't the shooting is great. The percentage is great, but that means that 12 of his 16 shots. We're outside the arc. You want me to make it worse? I can make it worse. That's four shots inside the paint, but there's only two of those shots at the rim. He was also 0-5 with zero points in the third

quarter. He took two free throws all game because he only had two shot attempts at the rim the entire game. He's averaging six free throw attempts per game in the playoffs. Two is not going to get it done. So if we look at the percentage of shots at the rim in game one, it's only 15%, which again is low, but it's just the one game. But compare that with his rim attempt percentage based on the rest of his attempts throughout a game in the playoffs.

It's 35% and was either tired, was either in love with the three. Um, and honestly, I think he was all of those things because in the fourth quarter, we did get the Reggie Miller alert. I don't know what Reggie Miller's batting averages on the Reggie Miller alert game that I like to play at home where he's like, oh, something's happening. But he was talking about it and he's like, he's grimacing. He's grimacing. And as someone who did one play by play game in his NBA history, I can tell you it's weird when I'm at home on TV going, why are they not noticing how hurt this guy is?

Or why are they not noticing like Luca in my game? Was it three? I forget the third quarter of game two, maybe I was like, how come they're not talking about this yet? You know the game, you've done it. We all do it. And yet when I think about when I did one game of play by play, it's probably because I only had one under my belt where I was like, yeah, there's all sorts of stuff I wasn't noticing. I was just hoping to say the teams and names of the players, right? The entire time while giving out the score enough For the radio listener to not be upset with me

So Reggie Miller is on the an alert and I'm like great somebody picked up on this because is he actually hurt because he seems To be somewhat not involved. It wasn't hurt. I guess he was just exhausted I Know there's a bit of a victory lap there where it's. And I don't really feel like he was calling out Kyrie when he gave out the defensive assignment. In the postgame presser against Denver where he's like, yeah, I got Kyrie. Like, yeah, I mean, I think worse things have been said. Then that unfortunately leads depending on where you are with Kyrie postgame content.

I can't change the channel fast enough, but where Kyrie is just super into the sage wisdom role that he gets into, where he was like, I love that. I love that from him, you know, but I was like, I don't really know. Was Kyrie motivated by all that or were the perimeter defenders just kind of like, Hey, this guy seems to go way faster and it's going to take us two hours and some film to adjust to how fast Kyrie is. Uh, and by the way, I should be fair about the sage old man thing with Kyrie. Cause I remember a guy came up to me at the beach, sitting there reading a book. I think something about the withdrawal from, I don't know.

I forget where I forget which region I was locked into at that point. And this guy comes up to me, he's like, Hey, my buddies over there said you were, some like big time podcaster. And I was like, yeah, I don't know. I was like, yeah, things are going all right. At the beach, the middle of the day. And he was like, yeah, cool, man.

So then I was like, all right, well, this guy came over here for a reason. I'm in a decent enough mood. I was like, what do you do? He's like, I go to USC. I was like, well, you know, I think the important thing that I kind of figured out was that, um, you know, getting people to actually like you can be a skill.

Um, I think, you know, worrying about saving money in your twenties might drive you more crazy than just kind of being broke in your thirties, but I always wanted to pursue things that had like high ceiling value. I don't know if that's worth it. And then I think I get to like a third tidbit of advice and the guys like, yeah, man, I'm actually like doing pretty good. I'm selling like 20 something grand worth of stuff on eBay by like finding it on Amazon and then like marketing it up. He's like, I made, I made like 20 plus grand like each of the last couple of semesters. And I'm at the beach on a Wednesday too, man. So I didn't really come over here for advice.

So I was like, wow, that guy just fucked me up pretty bad. So yeah, I, I can have a little Kyrie in me. Okay. So anyway, back to ant, uh, it was bad. It was bad because there were just too many possessions where you're like, what are you doing? You're going to, you're just going to stand there in the corner now and Conley and Kat have to two man game Minnesota to a win here. And the thing is they still almost pulled this off but I think even

the hardest the hardest of the hardcore Minnesota fans would be like all right you want to run your offense through Cat to collect even if that's what they're gonna be doing then they're not gonna win this series so for aunt to be that tired chasing Kyrie around after a bad shooting night in game seven. You want to say, Hey, one less day off. I don't know, dude, 22 years old, but these are the rules. So as we pivot this from aunt to Luca where look, I have Luca as the second best player in the world. I voted him second in MVP. I don't think there was much of a conversation of, Hey, do I think I would want to take aunt over Luca? Where all of a sudden too, like Ant was the undisputed

two way King, which felt a little disrespectful of Yannis despite the bag, the accessories. One guy may feel like he's buying something at, you know, the power up airport shop where he's getting a carry on there. And the bag for Edwards is a bit more of the Gucci Louis Vuitton line. Yeah. I mean, I got you there, but I mean, this is what happens with all of the praise now enters in a lot of the doubt.

I saw some wild shit today because people were like, well, look, I don't really, I have no allegiance to this cat guy. It seems like everybody really likes him. That's another bad playoff game, at least, well, look, I don't really, I have no allegiance to this cat guy. It seems like everybody really likes him. That's another bad playoff game, at least statistically. Although look, he played defense. He made some great passes, some good rebounding, but not really gonna do it. That's not gonna be enough, buddy,

because these are the rules, especially when you see Luca do what he did at the end of this game. 15 points in the fourth, manipulating every defender the way he needed to be manipulated. Getting past the first perimeter guy, having Rudy in hell on those plays were like, do I show? They think they blitzed it once late. It may have led to a wide open three, but Dallas wasn't hitting any threes last night.

I think they only took four corner threes because Minnesota wanted to drop Rudy and they wanted to cover up the threes in the corners. So they took only four after averaging, I think between like 11 and 13 attempts in the corner so far in the playoffs. And the problem is, is that, and this is why like Luca against Lou Dort, where you look at the overall numbers, you go, okay, so Luca was only 24 points per game in this and the shooting numbers weren't better, but he was getting better. Like he definitely closed healthier again, looks healthy in this game one, as

opposed to some of those moments early in the series against Oklahoma city. But then you're like, maybe the credit to Lou Dore was that he was just able to impede some of this from time to time. Because as great as Jayden is and his length, you need to be stout against Luca and Luca got right into what he because my expectation is that he can't. So it actually works all the way back around here where it's like, man, this Luca Kyrie one, two punch, um, this is the scary part of Dallas to go with the defense and everything else that Minnesota didn't seem to want to do on offense last night.

So Minnesota will attack more. And then they'll have to do a lot of defense. And then they'll have to do a lot of defense. didn't seem to want to do on offense last night. So Minnesota will attack more. They'll probably take less threes They'll probably speed themselves up to match the speed of Kyrie on some of the stuff in the drives I don't know what you're gonna die. I always feel like that Luca thing can get really unsolvable certain nights. So You know, here we go. But look if they're two evenly matched teams, which I think they are, I gave the edge to Minnesota, um, I think we've all learned the lesson that two teams that, you know, it's not a wide, massive, like insurmountable gap, I don't believe

talent wise between the two, the one, two punch for Dallas feels better than aunt and then who ever number two is that night from Minnesota, but there's a depth thing that could be crazy to think is Dallas going to win this series because of their defense against the defense in Minnesota that can't solve what Dallas is doing. But here is the lesson that we have to remind ourselves every single time. Two closely matched teams, 40 hours later, can look completely different after the result of game one. If you listen to this podcast, you know he's my favorite defensive player. I was thinking about it today.

I was like, I think I like him more than any other quarterbacks that I used to like. Now that Brady's gone. He is linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers. It's Fred Warner. What's up, man? What's going on, man? Thanks for having me, bro.

I appreciate you. Yeah, yeah, man. I appreciate it. So let's talk about that one play against Dak this year, because we had McShea on and we hadn't talked about it ahead of time. And I was like, for those that were confused as to why I was such a huge fan of yours, I was like, this play speaks volumes about what Fred is able to do. And that's my whole point with you is that you just seem like you can do stuff other linebackers don't do anymore. You obviously smiled as I said that. So what was it about that play against the Cowboys?

Yeah, I think it just encompassed everything, you know, about who I am as a player, right? You know, the film study going into that game, I mean, Dallas is always such a fun matchup for me. And knowing the environment that we were gonna be playing in game. I mean, Dallas is always such a fun matchup for me. And knowing this, the environment that we're gonna be playing in and that type of game on a Sunday night football game to NFC juggernauts. In that moment, I knew exactly what they were going to try to do. It was like, as if you're in a flow state,

you know what I'm saying? When things when time's kind of moving slow, be able to step up and kind of bone the receivers off their route and Get in get in the passing lane for Dak and ultimately go down and make the sag I was to really make it phenomenal I would have been able to knock the ball out of his hand and then just pick it up and run the end zone and Then it would have been just an all-time clip. But nonetheless, it was still a good play, you know And that was that was one of the best games I've been a part of. Yeah I think you've been a little hard on

yourself because I still think it's an all-time clip because of all the different things that went into that one play. When you were in college the freedom that they had for you like how much does that help translate into your ability in coverage that I think is unchallenged in the league? Yeah. I mean, at BYU, they had me do a couple of different things. First with Bronco Mendenhall, they ran a three-four system and I was an outside rush in. So I was kind of doing all the pass for stuff like a Nick Bosa.

Not to that level, of course, but that was kind of my assignment. And then when he left to Virginia and I got a new coaching staff and coach, they had me outside playing more of a nickel, a nickel cover guy. So I never really played the traditional off the ball backer in college. And that was the thing that teams were confused about

and kind of knocking me on going through the draft. They're like, man, we don't really know where we see you. And that was the great thing about San Fran is when I walked into that building for my 30 visit, Coach Sala, he brought me into his office and he knew exactly where I would fit in his defense based on the techniques and the things I was asked to do at BYU. He knew it would translate to their defense. And yeah, man, it was, I think all those little things that I had to do at BYU, the pass rushing, the coverage, working in space, all those little things helped me to be the best Mike linebacker I could be in the NFL.

I'm sitting here holding back because it just seems impossible to watch you play in your NFL career and have multiple teams before the draft go. We don't know. Like we don't know how you fit. We don't see exactly where you are when in reality, the whole point of why we like you so much is you can do all of it. I mean, do you ever think about some of those pre-draft interviews? I mean, sure, everybody has confidence and you know you're gonna play in the NFL and everything, but I mean, it's like somebody telling a basketball player,

like, yeah, you just don't think you're athletic enough, you know, that turns into something like Anthony Edwards. You know? Yeah. No, I mean, it did shake me a little bit, man. That whole process is brutal. You know, their whole job is to tear you down, to try to see, all right, like who is this guy, right?

And I knew all along that yeah, I was, I thought I was a great player, you know, and I knew I wanted to be the best. But shoot, when you're your only supporter at that time, it's like, damn, like, I just need one guy to believe in me, one team to believe in me. And, you know, luckily, the San Francisco 49ers were that team. And, you know, it was such a crazy project. Yeah, I do look back now, I'm like, well, I guess, I guess I proved all them wrong. But it was it was something that gave me a good chip on my

shoulder heading into the NFL to then, you know, I still have it to this day that I'm always looking to prove myself and get better. You mentioned Salah in the beginning and, you know, D'Amico was there as well. So you've changed coordinators a bunch of different times. Every year when I look at the tee deep, I just go, hey, the Niners are loaded again on defense. But you know, there is a lot of turnover because of this league. So then when I think about like the handful of guys that are still there, what is it about

this group? What is it about that side of the football Fred, where you're consistently competing for super bowls despite the turnover? Yeah, ever since I've been here, uh, you know, our defense has had really talented football players, right? You talk about Nick Bosa, uh, Tylenol, who Funga, Tarverius war, you know, I go down and of course my counterpart, Dre Greenlaw. And you know, I think the thing that makes us so consistent year after year and what's made us different is not only the scheme that we run, you know, where it starts up front, you know, we have a defensive line that's loaded and they're taught to get off, get

off the ball and penetrate, disrupt and attack. But also just the style in which we play, you know, we've always played with phenomenal effort, uh, phenomenal finish. You know, we're trying to hit you. We're trying to be violent physical out there. So when you turn our tape on, it looks different, right? And I think that's been the standard that's been set here. And, uh, you know, that's something that we've got to continue to uphold and push. You know, I think that's, that's exactly what we're doing right now, OTAs and into training camp. When Dre got hurt, how much did that change what happens in Super Bowl? I mean, you know, high size 2020.

You know, I think obviously we have a better chance of winning with Dre on the field than him not on the field, right? It was a huge heartbreak, you know, for us and And, uh, especially because I knew the type of game that Dre was having, you know, I know when he got to, he kind of has that look in his eye where he's, he's on one and he had it that game. Uh, you know, he, he, we, we lost him early in the game. Uh, but man, yeah, he would have, for sure helped us, uh, to, to, to take that one. When you think about the Superbowl loss, what do you think about?

I think about pain. And how painful it is to continue to revisit it. But that's part of it, man. In this league, you earn scars. And I say earn because that's exactly what it is, man. We earned the opportunity to even go to a Super Bowl with the type of season we had. It was phenomenal year,

and I thought we played a phenomenal game for about three and a half quarters. We just didn't finish it. And that's something that's gotta stay with you for the rest of your career. I still think about that first Super Bowl that we lost and what we could have did to win that one. And so, at the end of the day, you do have to just jump right back on the horse think about that first Super Bowl that we lost and what we could have did to win that one.

At the end of the day, you do have to just jump right back on the horse and get back to work to make sure you're better than you were last year in order to go achieve what you're trying to achieve. Man, you got to make sure you watch that thing close and learn from it or else there was no point in going out there and not winning it. You know, I feel like the tone of the interview has changed. So we'll, uh, we'll move on. When I have guys like you on and I mean, we had roommates that never wanted to concede anything and we never did anything cool. And I always think about like the tough guy on the group out of all of you guys on defense, who's the one the rest of the room would be like, this is,

this is the tough guy out of us. I think it's clear cut. I think we'd all throw Dre out there. Dre Greenlaw for sure. You know, he, that boy is a Savage. He's a dog. Uh, you know, yeah, he'll, he'll do anything for you, man. He, yeah, got a little crazy in him. So he's perfect. Okay. That was, that was going to be my guess. And I think I would have guessed right when you look at how the front, you know, has been, there's been so many resources put into the front, whether it's draft picks, whether it's moving around, whether it's in free agency. And then even this year with a couple trades, like it's draft picks, whether it's moving around, whether it's in free agency.

And then even this year with a couple of trades, like what, I don't know if the front office talks to you, but when you get new guys in, what is that relationship like with like, this is why we're prioritizing the front because of you and Dre there and then obviously the defensive backs, like how does that conversation work because it's clear that Lynch and this front office always want to maximize what they're doing up there. Yeah. I mean, there's not much of a conversation for me to be had, right?

I think my job is to show up and be the best linebacker in football. Like that's my job. Everybody has their own job. And for them, I think they understand where the success in the defense lies and that's like I mentioned it starts up front you know with that defensive line that's why we do you know draft so many great D linemen and bring in guys in free agency to play D line play for our D line you know and that kind of helps in the second and third levels because you're going to be covering a whole lot longer if your D line is not getting home,

right? And the D in the run game, you're going to have runs bussing out to the second and third level. If the first level isn't taking care of their job, you know, so it's, it kind of goes hand in hand. And so when they're, when they're upfront disrupting doing their thing, then we're able to do our thing in the backend. Going into this year, you know, I think everybody had, and I'm talking about this past season, it's like, yeah, Purdy has like these efficiency numbers and I

guess he's the guy they trust. And it actually kind of leads me back to like visually how we look at athletes where like, it's hard to think like Jokic is better than other players because you're like, well, how could that guy be better than all of these other guys? Like it doesn't look as good. And the more I started thinking about it, I was like, it's kind of the same thing with quarterbacks. Like, Hey, this guy can make all the throws and supposedly Purdy couldn't make all the throws. And that's why

he lasted seven rounds. What do you see when you see Purdy or what did you see maybe before the rest of us saw? Yeah, I saw a quiet confidence about him. I saw a swag about him, even though he was mystery relevant, even though he was the last pick in the draft and the last quarterback on our debt chart. There was something that you don't really see out of a guy who was put in that situation.

He had something about him, right? Not to say that I knew at all that he was going to be the Brock Purdy that we've all seen and, you know, been able to witness his greatness, but, you know, he's always had that little something within him that aside from the physical attributes, which obviously he can make all the pros, he has the quickness and the foot speed to do, to extend plays and make some things happen. I think it's something that's within that you cannot measure at a combine or a pro day that he's got all the way through and through and something that you know that is going to continue to allow him to be successful in this league and and be the guy to lead us you know.

Did you know like in camp before he was named the starter like how were you talking about him with your teammates? Yeah, I mean, I've always been a Brock Hardy fan, you know, and I think after that first season You know, I guess the camp going into his rookie season I'm assuming you're talking about or maybe last year I Think it's the first season Because because the first season felt like wait is this? And then even there was even more of like, how real is this type of stuff? So it was like two different levels of doubt where the first one was like an easier season.

So go wherever you want with it, because really I was focused on kind of his first season. And then if you want to pivot into this season as well, that's great too. Yeah, no, with Brockman, you know, that first training camp, I think is what allowed him to kind of start getting people talking because in training camp, especially for rookies, you know, we have our practice during the day and then we have the second practice in the evening, which is more of a walkthrough setting. And usually for third or

fourth string guys, that second evening practice is where you're going to see some of your reps. Because that first practice is usually the ones and twos and maybe a little bit of threes. So when we'd see him in that evening practice out there, you know, doing like running a two minute drill and he's really commanding things and making some plays, it's like, okay, wow, like this kid got a little something to him. And then you get into preseason games where that's real football, you're able to see, all right, can he like, can he do it? Can he make plays in a live situation? You know, and he was able to kind of do some,

some pretty interesting things and ultimately, you know, continue to develop throughout the season for when his number was called, you know, and be ready for that moment. So it's been, it's been his job ever since, man. I know we're not looking back. How many other guys play middle linebacker like you? Cause when I watch you, I wonder like, is this, it's kind of like starting pitchers in baseball.

We would go, well, this, this isn't going to matter anymore. Like 300 wins. We might not have guys who have 200 wins. So when I think about the middle linebacker, the way it grew up, you know, I grew up with it or, you know know that next generation kind of before you and then I think around and I go I don't know Who how many other guys are doing what you're doing? Yeah, I mean, it's unique I think just like any position I think the linebacker position has evolved You know to this day to ultimately you got to be able to do everything. You can't just be the run stopper. You can't just be the small cover guy that you bring in on third down for dime package.

You got to be able to do it all. And so I really admire the games of a lot of different linebackers in this league. I came in as a huge, huge Bobby Wagner, Luke Keakley fan. And those are the two guys that I had to compete for a Pro Bowl nod with, you know, early in my career. But those guys are obviously two gold jacket Hall of Famers and guys I try to take and pull from their games, right? And then now it's all about, you know, the kind of the young and up and comers, you know, I think me, Ro Kwon Smith, obviously coming out in the same draft class as me, has been

a guy who's been at the top of the league. Matt Milano is super underrated. For some reason, I don't understand why. This guy is phenomenal. You ask who does stuff like me, I think he's as close to me as possible, except we have just different frames. Right. Um, and, uh, you know, and I'm still, you know, missing a bunch of other guys who are really great, but, um, man, yeah, it's a position that's evolved just

like any other position. Two things before we finish up. Cause you were kind of talking about like the stuff that you do, uh, that we all enjoy 27 years old, what else can you add to your game? Like are there things where you're going, all right, I really want to prioritize this, this off season. Yeah, absolutely.

There's so much room for improvement, which is, that's the scary thing. You know, two things that I think if I, if I kind of hone in on these two things that will separate me and continue to elevate my game are, one, my pass rush. If I can continue to add tools in my tool belt for pass rush and get into the quarterback and making plays there, that's going to elevate me. As well as my man-to-man coverage skills. Being able to match up with tight ends and

even receivers, running backs, is something that I want to continue to develop, you know, for my coaches to feel good about trusting me in those positions, uh, and being able to play more man-to-man this upcoming season. So both those areas are, are points of emphasis for me right now. Okay. We know that the training a lot goes in and I imagine, um, part of your motivation to be presented today by Abbott as part of their beat malnutrition campaign with Real Madrid.

Um, it affects one out of every three people in the world. And I wanted you to at least, uh, help us understand it better and the motivation behind your partnership. Yeah, absolutely. I think the pure motivation comes from you guys, I don't know if you know, but I had my firstborn son back in March. And that was by far the biggest blessing and moment of my life, me and my wife, my wife's life's life to have him join join our world and

That's really allowed me to not only focus on obviously I focus on my nutrition year-round as a professional athlete But now I'm starting to focus on everything for him and his nutrition, right? Because I want to make sure he's growing big and strong You know, but I'm also aware that not everyone has access to those type of nutrients and those good foods. One in three people around the world do suffer from malnutrition. So growing up, I played soccer a little bit. That's why my footwork is pretty good. And I watched Ronaldo, my favorite soccer player, watch Messi.

And I know the impact that soccer has, the positive impact that soccer has on the world, right? And so that's why it's so great to partner with Abbott, the global health tech leader in Real Madrid. And, you know, they're both tackling this global childhood malnutrition through trainings and nutrition education, and of course sports,

and their day doing a new celebration at the end of this league year. And maybe you'll see me do it out on the field this year, so you gotta check out the games and watch me to see if you're gonna see the celebration. But it's all in the hopes to raise awareness of the issue, man. If anybody else has questions about it,

you can visit beatmountainnutrition.com to learn more. And it's just a really great cause to get behind. Okay, last thing. I imagine fans of the Warner House podcast series, they're, what's going on? Where are we with this? Yeah, it'll be back for season two. It'll be back full go.

Yeah, don't worry, that wasn't a one and done-er. We'll be back season two starting probably training camp end of July preseason. So we're looking forward to getting back going and giving the fans what they want. Okay, because I know people worried it was a limited series there or you were like, hey, maybe I don't want to also host a podcast with my wife on top of being married. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. On top of a full season football season, professional football. So, yeah. Look, Fred, this is a, this is something that I've enjoyed. I remember like the first time, you know, watching where I went. Whoa, wait a minute folks. And we just started like getting the campaign going. And I hope to introduce you not only as a three-time all pro, but hopefully

defensive player of the year at one point. I don't know if the linebackers are going to get that kind of love anymore. And again, beat malnutrition.com. Uh, the great Fred Warner. Thanks man. Hey, I appreciate you. Thank you. You want details? Buy. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all,

kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Before we get to life advice and we have a promotional announcement for life advice coming up here. So Rudy wants to update the playoff draft where it was looking like I had all the ceiling in the world, all the floors to go. And apparently that's not the case now. So let's see. Well, you still did. By the way, I think, I hope the people wanna know. I mean, we do this thing where we do drafts sometimes and we just never update them

and then they just like disappear into the ether. So I do, I kinda wanna buck the trend here and keep people updated. Plus, you know, again, we have a website, racilopod.com. Listener was kind enough to make that. I am up 20 to nine right now, but my max is only 69 points.

Your max is 83 points. So basically I have the Mavs, you have the T-wolves, you have the Celtics, I have the Pacers. I have, I basically need the Mavericks to do some work here for me to do it, or otherwise you're gonna take the victory. But the Nuggets going out really killed me. Really killed me, because if I had the Nuggets and the Mavs, there was probably a good chance I was gonna win this.

Did you launch this website without asking me? I didn't launch it, a listener did, I'm telling you. It's just, you know, we got people boots on the ground. We don't even, just people freelancing for us. Check his DMs. I know, it's funny because sometimes I think the Rossello memes guy doesn't even like us, which I like. I like that he doesn't play favorites. I was surprised he didn't do something off of me being a tool on the last pod. That usually seems to be a good engagement tweet. Well, I can see him doing two this week. I don't know.

Wow. Ouch. Kyle. Thanks, dude. We haven't even started and Kyle's warmed up. Kyle's like, how many innings do you need me to go today? All right. Speaking of people we're fired up to talk to, Joy Taylor, Fox Sports.

She's going to be joining us on Life Advice next week. We'll probably just talk some whatever, but yeah, I love Joy, so I can't wait to have her on. And I don't know what the topics should be. I mean, is it just as simple as, I don't think it's as simple as dating. I think Joy's well-versed on a lot of stuff, but think of it this way.

If you wanna send an email that you would like her perspective on, just put Joy in the subject, and then I will go through those with Kyle, and we'll figure out what we think will work and what won't, all right? Totally, I don't think we need to put labels on it. Just, you know, Joy is as well rounded up a guest as we have.

So, you know, if you want to ask her about sports, you want to ask her about life, you want to ask her about dating, you know, her about life, you wanna ask her about dating, it's all on the table. I'm nervous already. Are we gonna be on with her? You're out, dude. No, I'm just.

Yeah. No, of course you're gonna be on. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm nervous. I'm gonna have to do my pre-live show routine. Well. Two dumps and a whiskey.

Yeah. I was gonna say, it'd be pretty early for that, but hey, you know, piece their own. 7.30 AM. Super, super. But sometimes people justify things, be like, well, I wouldn't normally drink, but Joy's on today.

It's a huge day. It's Tuesday at 7.30 AM. That is a perfect, perfect transition into our first email. Drunk friend at concert. Shit. Hey guys, five, nine, two, 30 dad bod, no gym stats, no NBA player comp, but my team in 90s NBA gym was Phoenix

with Barkley and Marley. So a couple of weeks ago I recommended, or reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen for a few years, but have known for a couple decades We used to get after it with the boys from time to time as you do when we were younger The plan was for me along with my wife and daughter to commute down to his city on a Friday night Which is only a couple hour drive get some dinner watch a major rock touring act in the arena there It's gonna be Pearl Jam, right? Spend the night get a name. No, we didn't get a name. He doesn going to be Pearl Jam, right? Spend the night. Did we get a name?

No, we didn't get a name. He doesn't want to, you know, totally get it. Hang out the next day. Kyle, did you go to Pearl Jam last night? No. Were you invited? I was asked not by Bill, but by other guys. I was just like, I'd be a waste.

I don't know enough songs and like, I'm sure I'd enjoy it, but I'm like, when everyone else goes like, oh yeah, they're playing this one. I'm not, I'm going to be lost. So I'm like when everyone else goes like oh yeah they're playing this one I'm not I'm gonna be lost so it's like I'll bow out of that one you couldn't just like I'm like uber over just with the song lyrics on your phone be like even I know that one I think that was in guitar hero was it do you even know the you do you know the the opening what song bills open is dance of the clairvoyance right or right? Or Corduroy. Corduroy. Yeah.

Yeah, close. Yeah, I'm not the guy. I'm not the guy. Hey Sarudy, you're in management now. Who do we have to talk to around here to get a real song to intro the pod? How's that work? What do you want?

What? I mean, I don't even know how Bill was just, I think he just did it for a bunch of years and then he kind of like met the Pearl Jam guys and they just allowed him to do it. I mean, typically you just have to pay royalties to whatever band it is. Yeah, that's what I mean.

Yeah. Let's pick a song. What do you want? What do you want? Rick Ross, Hustlin'. Ice Cube, Wicked. No chance for a 50, right? 50 Cent?

Yeah, no chance. I feel like I should have to like the song the most. All right. Is that fair? Well, you like 50? Well, if we're not voting, I guess, yeah, whatever to like the song the most. All right. Is that fair? Well, you like 50? Well, if we're not voting, I guess, yeah, whatever you wanna do, man. You know what I'm-

I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I can't, oh, you know, I know what I've always wanted was building Steam with a Grain of Salt to be my entrance song if I was tough. I'm on a big Freddie Gibbs kick right now, though. My God, I can't, I can't get enough of them. I'm making my big Freddie Gibbs kick right now though. My God, I can't get enough of them. I'm making my own Freddie Gibbs playlists to make sure they're always ready.

So that's what I've been up to. Bill, did you know Bill interviewed Freddie Gibbs? Yeah, I did. That's good. Anyway, let's get back to this. We were trying to guess what band it was and then we got distracted, which is gonna happen almost every single email.

Okay, so spend the night, hang out the next day, then a few weeks later, he would come up and see the same band in our city. I like to have a couple of whiskies and light beers, like a normal 46-year-old man from time to time, but it appears my buddy still gets after it like we did back in the day. When we met him in the hotel lobby, his first words to me were, I'm already drunk. Which he proclaimed excitedly. The night turned out to be a complete disaster. He was a visual and vocal disaster. At dinner

he could barely walk in the concourses at the show and I basically had to carry him down the stairs of the seats. He pretty much ruined the night. His girlfriend came and picked him up after the show. We did not hang out on Saturday. Just, we just wanted to get home. I called him the following Monday and we talked. I kind of let him off the hook since I've known him so long, but I did tell him that if we were ever gonna do this again, he can't get that hammered.

It's just not what we do anymore. The conversation ended with, maybe you can bring your girl up sometime and we can go to a baseball game or something. God, that's the saddest line I've read in months. Where there's no kids so I can get hammered. No, but you know what I mean? Like, yeah, no, I get it.

Maybe you can bring your girl up sometime. We go to a baseball game or something. I don't want them to come to the shows in our city, which is a week away now. What do I do? I don't want to burn the friendship, but I also want to chance the opportunity. He pulls this act again. I wouldn't mind seeing him do? I don't want to burn the friendship, but I also want to chance the opportunity, he pulls this act again.

I wouldn't mind seeing him, but I don't want to be liable for the guy. I'd rather go with someone else. You guys are the best. All right. Look, I think the thing about this that's probably pretty obvious, and you know, it's kind of like people

at different stages and stuff, is that it's not about the concert, it's about having an excuse to get absolutely hammered and that's kind of what this guy's wiring is right now. Now I know that I had friends that like the second they are away from their wives and kids it was just double whiskies on the plane and we're like yeah but like we're going somewhere and I can't wait to like go do this thing with you and hang out and like have a late night like the old days and this person was like, I just need to escape my

reality as quick as possible and if it ruins the rest of the night and you have to babysit me, I don't care because this is what I need to do right now. All right. And this is what I need. So you'd like to think that he could go off a bad one, you know, after a couple of bad game one and two, he goes on the road and has a nice little games, three and four. Um, I think most people can do that. There's some people. This guy didn't say the right things. He didn't say the right things to assume

that he's got a good game three in him. He didn't say anything that would lead you to believe that he's practicing. You know what I mean? Yeah. See, that's the point. Like he's probably more of like, this just might not be his series right now. Um, where I think there's other people I know that like, don't get them off a bad night, cause if you get them the night after a bad night, you're going to get one of the best nights you've ever seen from that guy.

All right? So the other thing that I would add in here before I open it up is that he's already had this conversation that he had to have with you on Monday with other people that he's probably around. Unless this is a complete one-off and out of characteristic, out of character, I should say. But I think we all know that this isn't out of character at all for him anymore.

And when you get older and you're hammered, nobody likes it as much as when you're younger and hammered. They just don't. Like those are the rules for this. So if you don't wanna completely burn the friendship, I get it, but you know, at 46, and was kid, like, I don't think it said in the email, but was his wife and kid at the hotel and the dinner and the concert and all that kind of stuff?

Like, that's, that would be another part of this. What's that, Serti? Were you going to see The Wiggles live? Like, how old are your kids? And like, yeah, it would be nice to know what the band was if you were sure whether or not the, you know. Well, it's a major rock band. The kids were going to this concert.

Oh, okay, not the Wiggles. Yeah, I don't think it was the Wiggles. Although they were versatile. Yeah. This is my greatest fear as a guy who likes to have double whiskey sometimes. And usually it almost never happens to when it does. It stands out and I won't ever forget it.

Christmas two years ago, Bill thought it was funny. My auntie did not. So, and stuff like that really, for me, really put things into perspective. The one thing I would say maybe is if this guy's driving to you, you could sort of be there with him through the day to be like, let's not have the, let's not start with IPAs right now.

Let's not do this right now if he's driving up. Cause you showed up and he's like, let's not have the, let's not start with IPAs right now. Let's not do this right now if he's driving up. Cause you showed up and he's like, what's up? I've been waiting all week for this. And I started at 10 AM today. Like if he's got to drive, I don't know if he's getting on the train and he's just gonna go ham on the Metro North. But I think that's a positive where you can be like,

you can kind of chaperone the day when he shows up, especially if it's like a Friday and he's got to work or something and he just comes to you. And then you can get things started in a normal pace, because you don't know what the hell this guy was up to before you got there. He was probably super excited. You were coming to his town and he was getting all excited about the places you'll go and whatever. So maybe, maybe, I mean, I think it would do some serious damage

to the relationship if you're like, I didn't like what I saw last time, so I don't think you should come to this concert with him. Like, I think it would do some serious damage to the relationship if you're like, I didn't like what I saw last time, so I don't think you should come to this concert with him. Like, I think that will do some real damage, even if the sentiment is right for you, and you're like, hey, you kind of embarrassed yourself in front of my family, and now I'm taking heat from my wife, like, why is your friend like this?

I think if you go through that mode of communication, just saying like, that was so bad, we're not doing this, I think that will do some damage you might not wanna do. So, I think look on the positives and maybe just try chaperoning him. You're kind of in the driver's seat when they're in your city. You're like, here's what we're gonna do

instead of him being in the driver's seat. I agree. I think the tough love is the way to go. And I forget which one of these, but maybe it's you, Ryan, who said that like, his other buddies, your other buddies have probably already had this conversation with him. But I think the more people that have this conversation

say, hey dude, that's like kind of shitty, and like you put us all on kind of a weird spot, the more it's gonna hammer that point home. I'm kind of in a similar situation this weekend, not exactly the same, but so I have a buddy, one of my best friends is getting married, we're going to Litchfield, which is this like, you know, part of Connecticut, which is pretty nice.

And so people are coming in, we're spending some two days in a hotel, it's gonna be fun. And the rest of the core group is like, hey, should we go to, there's like this awesome distillery there and there's like a bunch of wineries. So it's like, hey, before the wedding, that day should we just like go, you know,

kind of like distillery and vineyard hopping. And I was like, it's a small wedding. We're not in the wedding cause there isn't really a wedding party, but we are kind of the core group. And I was like, I don't know that it's a great idea that we like really go to a, I don't know. Like I'm not, I don't trust all the guys to like, you know, take care of themselves

for the whole day to get to that point in the wedding. So I think, you know, sometimes you gotta be the dad, sometimes you gotta be the chaperone guy, it kinda sucks, but I think, you know, maybe as Kyle said, have that conversation with this guy, be like, hey, this is not a good look for you. We know what happened last time. Like you don't wanna be a babysitter

cause that kinda sucks too, but I think you gotta kinda do like a little bit of shame, make sure he knows that he fucked up, and then also kind of like keep your eye on him for him. Because I don't think you want to kick him out of the core group or the friend group. Obviously, if it's a repeat thing, I would do that. But if it's one time, make sure he knows he fucked up

and then kind of, you know, make sure, you know, we keep it moving from there. How about manager Steve just managing the fuck out of this wedding party? That's great. I know, if people didn't think I was a tool before, they're going to think I'm a tool now. Are you doing it to make it seem like it's their idea too?

Like you could inception this into their head that maybe we shouldn't. I just know that some guys are gonna get after a little bit too much. Oh, I believe you. I know you. And I don't want people puking at this wedding. It's gonna be hot that day. I just see this coming.

And I would add now, so I think of these things. You don't want them to smell your group rolling in? Like, holy shit. I don't wanna be anti-fun guy, but it's like, you know, we could do it that night. There's going to be an after party. It's going to be a lot of drinking that day. You don't have to start at 9 a.m.

Starting at 9 a.m. never feels like it's a great idea unless you're already like at the all exclusive resort. I don't know. I've had a few golf rounds where it's like, golf could have gone better than this. But when you're younger, you're just like, oh my God, this is sort of like acceptable to do right now. This is going to be like so incredible that we can drink,

not feel like it's that weird because we're on a golf trip and everything. I think Saruti did a really good job with this. And I would also say if you can do the good manager version, like if I ever, and I'm not gonna have to worry about it, but if I had to manage people, I would try, as long as the life advice could go, I would try to be incredibly efficient.

And if you can take a manager approach to this with your buddy, you'd be like, hey, we can't do that again. Can't wait to see it, cannot happen again. Cool? And then that's it. Cause this conversation sucks. Yes.

And if you make it like 20 minutes long, then the guy's gonna wanna drink as soon as he sees you And if you make it like 20 minutes long, then the guy's gonna wanna drink as soon as he sees you because he's gonna have anxiety the entire time that he just get a fucking lecture from a guy that he's been friends with for 20 years. And it's like, well, you don't really have to tell me what to do or whatever and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, it depends on the dynamic,

depends on the relationship, depends on how much this guy respects you. But my guess is this is kind of his deal right now depends on the dynamic, depends on the relationship, depends on how much this guy respects you. But my guess is this is kinda his deal right now for whatever reason that he's going through. Or maybe this is just his let loose thing where it's like, oh, well, concerts, like I allow myself to do this,

I only go to a few a year and that's fine, but it doesn't make it fun for you. So I would be tempted to go, hey dude, that cannot happen again. And I'm still not sure that a stern talking to is gonna work all the time with somebody that's, you know, going through this right now. The least amount of time this conversation takes the better though.

You're a hundred percent right on that. Less is more with stuff like this. Yeah, like, hey dude, we both kind of know what happened here. Yeah, just kind of like, you just kind of nod at each other, you know, like, oh yeah, all right. Yeah, my bad. Yeah, he doesn't get it. Then he doesn't get it though. He might, he might just kind of, I mean, I hate to say it, but like, if he's doing this around family and kids, like that's a pretty, that's a red flag. You probably shouldn't. I don't know if he's, I'm not saying he's not fixable, but that's a, that's a lack of self-awareness that I think that's

something you kind of can't learn sometimes. It's just who you are. So a little nervous on that part, but you know. We've never done this before, I don't think. And I'm doing it because Kyle sent it to me and it is really funny. However, I imagine the person that's getting credit for the quote stole it from somebody else who stole it from somebody else and whoever changed it. Because I'm just not a huge fan of content people thinking they're in content by just taking everybody else's but

Here's the tweet. My mom sounds like an NBA writer when talking about single people 32 and no ring It's a shame great career, but nothing else That didn't seem to work. Yeah audience of two Was not super into that one. All right, maybe we'll never do that again. That would be test drove a new feature on the show. And we won't. That sounded like something you'd find

in the funny pages or something, just like two frames. Oh my God. Funny pages. Do we still call them that? Comics? What are we going? Comics, yeah. funny pages. Do we still call them that? Comics? What are we calling them? No, I just, whenever you have some old school reference, it blows my mind.

I don't think they're called that anymore, but what the hell is that? I've been called the funny pages in my entire life, and I'm older than Kyle, so I don't. Wait, really? The funny pages? I think you guys are wrong. From like the 60s. I think you guys are wrong. From like the 60s.

I think you guys are wrong. Yeah, I guess throughout the 1920s, it was a common phrase that said, I'll see you in the funny papers, which became a breezy lighthearted way to say goodbye because it's a line in a movie too. And for whatever reason, I can imagine the line happening right now.

And I hate it. I hate it. I hate the delivery. I hate it all. All right, let's- Funny pages, a 2022 film. So who's jokes on you guys basically. Yeah, but I'm just saying there's a movie,

there's a movie where it might even be Tom Hanks and he delivers it, it's like seeing the funny papers and like no one would get it unless you were really old. So I was blown away that Kyle kind of got it. So shout out to Kyle. Just sneak tip history, nostalgia, reference. I'm looking at this funny pages movie and it appears, I don't know that it takes place in modern day though Kyle, so it might work. I might

chalk one up against you there. Let's try something else terrible. Kind of a sample one here, no gym stats but share an operation medium shirt is all systems go this summer. I'm trying to get back in shape and fit in my wardrobe. I had a bank issued credit card that I don't use a ton, pay off the balance the day after using each time, deathly afraid of credit cards in general. You are really afraid.

You pay off the balance every day. How about giving yourself a day off from a transaction? Slippery slope, I can tell you that. Yeah, but I realized I definitely need to get an airline or hotel credit card to rack up some points. Any tips to share on which way to go there? I'm sure get an airliner hotel credit card to rack up some points any tips to share on Which way to go there? I'm sure the gangs are fair share credit card stories

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts and the people miss Maxoma. Yeah, look I think home I just changed his allegiance to pardon my take like pretty significantly. I'm um, I'm one to be like hey, we had him on because everybody was like you and Homer really gonna hit it off And I was like, all right fine We'll have him on because everybody was like, you and Homer are really gonna hit it off. And I was like, all right, fine, we'll have him on. And then I really liked him. Riv, the whole deal was awesome. And then I told Big Cow, I was like, you guys gotta get him on, he's great.

Because I'm thinking like, hey, that's good for those guys. Those guys are my friends. It's even better for Max. And then it just becomes a kidnapping. So we'll put that one in the W column for those guys on that transaction. Because we have- So we're looking for a new guy. Yeah, hey guys on that transaction, because we have a new guy. Yeah, hey, we're a guy. Right, if you're flirting with some majors, let us know.

A great personality would also help. So anyway, credit card stuff. Man, some people are like, I swear it's usually pretty good. Maybe they're like this guy at Pearl Jam and then Joy Taylor's the next concert next Tuesday. Okay, the real problem is we're having some technical difficulties today. All right, so AMEX Platinum's no-brainer because of the Sky Lounge, Delta, all of that stuff, I would say the apple cart and a day to day thing.

It's not so much about the points. It's daily cash back. And then you go right into the Goldman Sachs savings account. I use it for all of the kind of everyday stuff. Bigger purchases. I use the MX. Um, they're both incredible. I don't really know what else to add because I've had a million

different credit cards, just pay them off. Okay. Well, and with this one, freak injury is my basketball career over. What's up 25 years old 6 foot 175 No super impressive gym stats, but I work out seven days a week was down 11 pounds on a cut up until last week Basketball comp is the typical streaky white dude at your local pickup spot last week while playing pickup I went for a routine two-on-one fast break layup, nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. When I came down, my right ankle completely gave out on me.

Their bone dislocated and popped through the skin while simultaneously shredding all the ligaments in my ankle and fracturing part of the bone. And the opposite side is the skin puncture. Ooh, when I first got to the ground. I don't like that. What's that? I just, I-

Sounds like a ski accident. You know what's weird to me a side note The people that like that love watching, you know, like when what was it? Was it kevin weir right the louisville guy and there was the paul george street the people that like like watching that stuff I I can't even look at it. I can't look at it I don't I haven't watched any of those videos to this day But they're like people that get enjoyment out of watching shit like that. I'm like, how is that a thing that you like?

Even the guys who turn their ankles, I'm like, please don't replay that. Any knee injuries? I'm like, I'm out. I couldn't watch Nip Tuck. That's an episode. I know. That's great.

I wanted to watch it, liked the people in it, got rave reviews. I just hate watching surgeries on shows. The only Kevin Ware thing that I would pivot off of that, Surty, was that I think you're right, but I do actually want to see it the first time. I want to see what happened. You want to have a frame of reference.

Yeah, I want to have a frame of reference. And then when it turns into, I don't know when this happened, but it happened maybe after Kevin Ware where it was like, how dare you post that? And it was like, well, yeah, I think if you're one of the aggregator sites and just posting somebody's injury for interactions,

it's like bullshit. But if you're, I don't know, like a legit reporter for ESPN.com covering college basketball or whatever, and be like, this is the injury. And then it's a bit like the punishment debates, where it's like, once you start debating punishments and what is the worthy punishment,

then everybody loses their fucking minds because- Yeah, they just one up each other. Right, like my John Morant position, where I was like, that's too many games. It's too many games. And then it's like, you don't think guns are an issue in the country, Rossello? Like, actually, I think there's a lot of stuff about it

that I think we could change. But I think specific to this fucking thing, it was too many games. And it's like, you don't get it, do you? I'm like, no, I actually think I do get it. I think I do get it. And I think I know exactly what you're doing and what you think you're doing

by saying this kind of stuff. So then it came into this policing of each other, where after Kevin Ware, it was like, you know, anytime somebody posted an injury, he's like, hey, we've seen it, can you definitely not? It's like, well, most of the people cannot, but there's a few people that kind of need to, and that's okay too.

All right. I don't wanna think- I even think broadcasts have gotten weird about it. There have been times- Absolutely. There was a soccer match over the weekend where a guy You know there was like kind of a head injury situation and they like refused to show the injury on TV And I thought it's really bad and that the way they were talking about it We're like whoa is this guy like is his head cracked open what's going on?

I was like scrolling through Twitter and I saw the guy barely got hit like he got hit in the face now He's out for a couple games, but like it could have easily been shown So I think they've gone way too far on TV the other way but I still don't like seeing like the gnarliest of the gnarly stuff and even you just reading that guy's injury I didn't like it well we have more on the injury when I got to the ground I figure it was a sprain when I looked down and saw dark blood dripping out of my shoe and soaking my sock I didn't want to play basketball today after reading this.

While the guys I was playing with yelled, oh shit, you're bleeding. I knew I had a problem. After surgery later that night, my surgeon told me it looked like a bomb went off in your ankle. Oh, jeez. Oh.

Oh. Man. Yeah, when I broke my finger, when I had the hammer finger thing, the guy X-rayed it and he's like, it's just like 50 pieces of an egg shell floating through the end of your finger. I was like, so what does that mean, Doc?

Can you fix me? He's like, I can try, but there's a 50-50 chance it's not even going to come close. And I was like, we're good. I was like, how's it going to feel? He's like, it's going to feel weird the rest of your life. I was like, yeah, we're good. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, it's gonna feel weird the rest of your life. That's the cat, we're good. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, Doc.

I know you did the best you could. Anyway, I've always been pretty injury prone, especially when I'm playing sports, but never anything to this level. That brings me to the question for the brain trust. Is my basketball career over? I'm looking at three months before I can put any weight on my ankle and I know that my age,

I can certainly make a full recovery. But is it worth something like this happening again? I generally love hoops and playing pickup is one of my favorite things to do. But as I lay here with the ankle propped up on the top of two pillows, I have a hard time imagining myself being willing to go full speed on a basketball court again.

I don't wanna lose the enjoyment I get out of playing basketball, but I don't know where to go from here. Please help, side note, I did make the layup. So if it was my last one ever, at least I went in. That's how I want to go. That's awesome. That's how I want to go.

Absolute, Mikhail up and under, up and under. Do you think it's over? Nope, you're still in the spin cycle. And then heart attack baseline. I keep playing. Could have predicted that. Do you have a wife? Do you have a girlfriend? Because she's going to hate that. She's really going to predicted that. Do you have a wife? Do you have a girlfriend?

Because she's going to hate that. She's really going to hate that. I'd say play until you have real responsibilities and then you can't do that. He's 25. He's going to recover. Yeah, he's fine. If you were 35, which I'm 35,

I think I'd have a real long, hard thought about whether or not this was my future. 25 is too young. And I mean, if we're just playing the probabilities, like what are the odds, you said you're injury prone, but never like this, like what are the odds you're gonna have another catastrophic injury playing basketball?

It's probably not high, it's not zero, but it's not high. So, you know, something to think about. I do wonder if it's a coordination thing. Would he love it this much if it was a coordination thing though? Wouldn't he like be more of a different kind of guy? I don't know. I don't want the emailers listening going,

are you guys fucking serious? You're gonna read this? My ankle blew up and then I'm sitting here, I can't even walk for three months, and Rossello wonders if I'm just a spaz. Yeah, is this guy actually a fool? I mean, what? What?

Maybe you come back hard, agility drills. I think you look at it this way. I think your priority is your ankle. That's the most important thing in your life right now. So I think you want to attack it. Pretend they're going to do a documentary on you. Imagine they're doing some kind of Alex Smith type thing where they're going to run it on Monday Night Football. But instead of about Alex Smith

and the NFL quarterback, it's about you. Get your quotes ready. Like there was a lot of dark days. I watched a lot of game shows. Did you know that pressure luck is back with the smoke show from 40 old Virgin. Get some know your why t-shirts, you know? Yeah, exactly.

Know your why. Sorry to hand them out to your friends. Your face right on it. I like that. I want, I want my story to be so inspirational. RG3 tweets about me. So I think that's the way you got to attack it, man. Take it on as a physical challenge because look, I'm just telling you, you younger guys that think

you're just avoiding injuries and somehow like, I was thinking about this the other day, I had a professor that said he, all he did was work out. He boxed, he worked out. He was a little brick shit house. I mean, he just could tell his forearms, Popeye type stuff. Professor Frank Bryan, love the guy.

I've mentioned him a few times. Favorite guy. I've been a fan of him. I a little brick shithouse. I mean, he just could tell his forearms, Popeye type stuff, professor Frank Brian, love the guy. I've mentioned him a few times, favorite professor I've ever had. Um, and he was like, I realized that as I worked out harder and harder, as I got older and older, I was just more hurt.

And then he was like, so basically I'm prolonging my life just to be hurt more. Yeah. Right. So like I could die earlier, but in less pain by constantly challenging myself physically and the whole thing. And obviously it spoke to me. Um, but then again, that's what he did.

I mean, he didn't stop working out because no one strong has ever wished they were weaker. So I would say that you need to continue on this path because there is nothing like pickup basketball. And I wish I could go back in a time machine and not redo a relationship, not invest in Apple or Tesla. I wish I could go back in time and appreciate my 20 something body and play even more basketball than I did.

And I played a lot. So I don't think there's any reason for an injury to derail you if this is what you love doing. Because you're probably going to get hurt waking up one day when you get in your 40s. You'll be like, did I just blow out my hamstring, take the toast out of a fucking toaster? So then it's like, what did you save it for?

What did you save it for? I went to the gift store this morning to go get two waters and the headphones because this one's on me and I made one step and I was like, did I, do I have nerve damage, do I have nerve damage in my left? I've never felt this before and I didn't even play hoops today. My ankles to this taping are fine. And I didn't even play hoops today. My ankles to this taping are fine. So I always will say, keep going,

especially when you're 25 and to Siri's point, no one is yelling at you regularly yet. Yeah, that 25 point is big. Steve, what would that conversation be like if you were just laid up for four months without putting pressure on your ankle and then another two months of rehabbing it and you're like, six months have gone by, eight months have gone by and you're like, all right, Maddie, back with the boys, they need me. And she's going to

be like, what? They need me. Yeah. With a kid now it'd be a disaster. I mean, I've got a record. I have a very cool wife. She lets me do a lot of cool stuff, but that would not go over super well, not go over super well. And does she play well. And- Does she play soccer still? No, she danced growing up. So she's got that kind of, we have different levels of coordination in the family. We'll see TBD on the go.

What kind of dance? Which discipline? I think she did ballet. Some ballet, you know. Kyle, what are you? It's earlier than we usually do this, I'm sorry. Did you go out last night? No, nope, didn't do it.

I thought it was a completely legitimate question, Kyle on the other hand. I took it as a legitimate question. It was your tone, buddy, it was your tone. I think we all heard it. I had an agent say that to me once, it's not your words, it's your tone. He was not complimentary.

Yeah, I could see that. We haven't talked about your injury situation in a while. What's good? Five weeks out since the tear I've done two training sessions not heavy on the kicks or knees and I feel okay. I did legs yesterday but later in the day I felt something like in the calf that felt a little weird. But it also could have just been because I did legs. And so, you know, I didn't do any like calf specific things the first three weeks. I did calf raises with no weight. And then yesterday I actually did calf raises on the leg press, which is pretty simple.

So a few plates. It's not like it's super hard. Out to the leg press gang. You know who you are. Nine plates aside. Couple reps. Everything else about you sucks. Taking up all the fucking plates. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'll probably tear it again. So get out there, guy.

Yeah. Yeah. Get out there. Back on that horse. of the new thing. We're planning out this summer, getting in there, get out the lays, get out the up, you're like, I'm in content. So can we videotape everything? So that's kind of the new thing we're planning out this summer, getting in there, get out the lays. That really doesn't make a ton of sense. Maybe for the oars. All right. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Sarutti. Thanks to Kyle Renner, Rasula Podcast, ringer Spotify. ["Spring of the Sugar Plum Fairy"] Must be 21 and older 18 plus in DC and present in select states. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star

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