The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio, No.

00:00:05
Speaker 2: Eagle, NBC Sports play by Play, Big ten Saturday Night NBA. He's going to call the USC Notre Dame game as well. He's a busy man as we make way for No. Eagle on the program. So Notre Dame and USC that'll be Saturday at seven thirty Eastern on NBC and Peacock and then three days later on the call for the NBA and NBC Steph Curry and the Warriors against Luca and the Lakers. It's a busy schedule there, but you grew up with your dad having a crazy schedule, Like, at what point did you realize what your dad did and that he wasn't going to be home like normal dads.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: I figured he'd be home all the time. He's not home right now. No, no, no, I think he might be doing a game in like Boise at this point. If there was a little league game he could do, he would sign up for that. He was gluttonous at times. But no, it was great for me because I think it was just expected and normal that I would be in the living room and pop on the TV and there he was. When I was four. I just said, oh, yeah, that's just my dad is there. And then the best part was he did have the summers off. Because he wasn't a baseball guy. He got offered I actually didn't really know this. Many years ago. He got offered certain baseball packages. And he grew up a huge Mets fan in Queens from Forest Hills, and his dream was to do the Mets as a kid. That was always what he thought he would do, and so I think he got offered, however, many Mets games and he went to my mom and said, you know, this is the deal. And I grew up and she goes, and I've really put up with a lot in life. This is going to be a no, a hard no.

00:01:51
Speaker 4: At that.

00:01:51
Speaker 3: The one moment that I have that we have together is the summertime, and if you're going to take that away, it's going to be a problem. And he's a smart man. He listened.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: When did you realize this was your calling?

00:02:03
Speaker 3: Probably about thirteen or fourteen. My dad has a great story that he went to his father, who was an actor, stand up comedian, performer, and he went to at seven six or six or seven years old and said, I want to be a sportscaster and his dad said, well, that's what you're going to do. You're going to be a sportscaster. And the problem was he said it with a list. He said, I want to be a fourth castor. And his dad said, well that's what you're gonna do, but you got to get rid of your lisp and he said what lift?

00:02:32
Speaker 4: You know?

00:02:32
Speaker 3: So that's that was a beautiful story because it bred confidence in this young man. I went to my parents about the same age, and you know, they said, oh, well, what do you want to do? When most kids it's cowboy asked or not something fun. I said, I want to be a TV dentist. And instead of them saying, well, that's what you're going to do, it was what is wrong with our child? What is a TV dentist? Can we get them checked out? So for me it was it took a little bit longer, I'd say thirteen or fourteen TV dentist. I think doctor Phil filling a molar is probably the intersection I was thinking of now on TikTok or Instagram reels that exists, I'm sure somewhere, but for whatever reason, I thought people would want to sit at home on a Wednesday at one point fifteen and watch a crown get in sold that does not exist, or at least not yet, I should say, But for me thirteen or fourteen years old, I'd gone with my dad to enough games at that point and been around them and gotten to meet some amazing people around them that I said, well, this is pretty cool. And you know, I wasn't going to be the tallest of people, as you could see him pretty vertically challenged, so this was the next best bet for me to stay involved in sports.

00:03:36
Speaker 2: I made the mistake of calling you I an eagle, ye like, you look exactly like you're dead.

00:03:42
Speaker 3: The crazy thing is I'm adopted, So that's that's shocking that it just worked out that way. That's like when dogs turn morph into the people that bring them into the house. No, I Yeah, it's definitely one. We sound very similar, look very similar. I'm about two inches taller, so yeah, we go back to back on a daily basis. I post them up in the driveway, and you know, there's the similarity aspect. The one good thing, though, is I'm glad at least you said I in. There are people that come up to me and they say Ian Ian, I love you on the nets, like thank you so much. You know, if you mess it up twice, that's a deeper problem.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: How do you capture a moment as a play by play guy, You're going to walk into this stadium Saturday, the Olympics, Lakers, Golden State next week, but you got to capture it too, but you can't try to overshadow it. So it's kind of a delicate tightrope walk. How do you do it or what's your approach?

00:04:39
Speaker 3: Tightrope is probably the right term. I like to say it's a constant dance as well of feeling. And someone asked me this. We did the white out game a couple of weeks ago, about a month ago now, which is crazy, and going into that game, you know the environment is going to be amazing, the crowd is going to be a sea of white. It's going to be deafening noise. I don't think I've ever heard a stadium that loud, and this one right here gets real loud. And so that says something. And so you don't want to take away from that because you're trying to find the perfect words, or you're trying to make sure that you leave a stamp on it a lot of times, it's going to do that for you. And so I know, a game like this, with so much rich history and tradition and star players and star coaches on either sideline, a lot of the pictures are going to tell that story and the worst thing I can do is try to jump all over it. But I think you want to make sure that you have a period that ends every call. And that was something that was really drilled into my head is you need to finish with an exclamation of some kind, some level of punctuation, to at least just give that sound bite at least that give that moment some more levity than maybe it would have had before. But that is to your point. It's tightrope. It's not something that you can go in there and plan. I don't think I've ever necessarily sat down and said, if this happens, I'm going to say this because the game always dictates. It's how you're going to feel when it's all said and done.

00:06:03
Speaker 2: But you start to look at these moments that you have and I'm wondering when you're growing up and you're listening to your father, and it may sound crazy to say this, but did you pattern yourself after your dad, or did you have somebody else that you wanted to broadcast Like.

00:06:18
Speaker 3: It's a great question, and I'd say, naturally, just because I was eating chicken palm next to my father on a regular basis, naturally you gain a lot of that stuff. And what I mean, it's more than just sitting and watching him call a game. A lot of it. It was being around him at the dinner table, being around him interacting with his crew. That influenced me a lot more than how I broadcast. And the thing he always really made sure that I understood is the best broadcasters aren't just the best x's and O so to speak of play by play, it's the most well rounded people. What do you know outside of the sports you're covering, television, movies, music, arts, history, current events, all of that stuff is important, and so making sure that you blend all of that I thought was key. But there were certainly broadcasters that influenced me. I thought Mike Turrico, my colleague at NBC, the most versatile broadcaster in the business, someone who could be an elite host and an elite play by play guy. I thought that was incredible. I said, Okay, how do you emulate this Bob Costas. The eloquence that he brought to every broadcast was special. Mike Breen, you talk about elevating moments in the biggest moments. If you hear bang, you know it was a huge deal. A double bang now is even bigger. And you go down and on and on. You know, the Dave Passes, who I think don't get enough credit. Dave Pash, I think is just one of the best broadcasters in the business. And now even the younger Adam Amein, Jason Bennetti, guys like that who are just so solid. So you take bits and pieces from all of them. But to even go back to your previous question, you know, my dad, I just the calls that stick out to me are not the ones of the biggest moments. They're the Antonio Brown kicking the punter and him just being on top of kicks a man. You want those those are the ones that always you know. And obviously I grew up in New Jersey watching all of the NETS games, and so there are just random Nets moments of Jerry seinfeldsitting courtside and Joe Johnson hitting a game winner in double overtime and him being ready with That was real, and that was spectacular. That's what I like, you know, So that's the stuff that influenced me more than anything else.

00:08:24
Speaker 2: We're talking to Noah Eagle, he'll be on the call with Todd Blackledge. He'll be tomorrow night and rain in the forecast Notre Dame USC. Do you care about the conditions when you broadcast.

00:08:35
Speaker 3: Well, if you're asking if I physically care, not necessarily, because I know my hair is protected in the booth. That's the key. I worked hard on it this morning, so that's always the key. But I care in the sense that I want the game to be at the highest quality. And sometimes, look, you can make the argument that that's real football, right of how do you deal with the elements? How does a quarterback deal with a wet football? All of that stuff matters, and so it does factor into the story of the game. But you want it to be at the highest quality, highest level. When we did and I apologize for bringing this up for Notre Dame fans, when we did the A and M game earlier this year, it was picture perfect in terms of the forecast, in terms of the offensive execution on either side, And so you want a lot of those highlights as a play by play guy. But at the same time, you want a great game, and sometimes the ugliest games turn into the all time games.

00:09:26
Speaker 2: It's always weird when and I don't know how you take this, but when you hear a play by play guy and they give you credit for not saying anything. Sure like you you did a great job, you laid out, you let the natural sound come through, which sounds kind of counterintuitive to what a play by play guy does. But hey, I did a great job, but I didn't say a word like Chris Berman doing the cal Ripken game when he broke lou Gerrigs all time record. I think Chris didn't say anything for fifteen minutes. You did a great job on that game. Yeah, you didn't say a word for fifteen eight minutes. It just sounds weird.

00:10:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it goes back to what you asked earlier about finding that balance between when's the right time to say the right thing and when's the right time to say nothing. And honestly, the one guy I forgot to mention who really has influenced me a lot is Joe Buck, who I think early in his career got a lot of flack for probably laying out almost too much, and he would admit that. But now he's found, in my opinion, the perfect balance and the reason that people say all the time it sounds like a big game when Joe buck is on it is because of exactly what you just said. It's very minimalist. He's going to give you exactly what you need, but nothing more, and then he's going to allow the crowd and the photos and the sound, the cacophony of noise, to do the rest of the talking for him. I think that is powerful, incredibly powerful, because if you really think back to all the great moments of your childhood of sports fandom, of just sports history, a lot of it is exactly that, where a broadcaster will punch it with one or two lines, the rest of it just you feel like you were there. And that's what the goal of watching sports is.

00:11:02
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, we think that these stadiums they are all heated and they're covered and you don't have to worry about the elements. But you did an army game at Yankee Stadium and your partner Todd Blackliche who did play professional quarterback. Yeah, it was an open air broadcast, yes booth, and here's a guy who played professional football that he seemed to be kind of wimpy in the booth there.

00:11:30
Speaker 3: I'm not going to say that Todd looked like Tom Coughlin purple face, but he was on the road to purple face. You know. That's how you know it was cold out that day. Look, I think we've gotten Sharman ultrasoft in the booth because we just expect the conditions to be very tame, even cold weather games. Look, you keep the window open and you feel it, but you're covered. You're not dealing with overwind and both directions, and that was different. That was definitely a unique experience. It's the dead of winter, really, I guess beginning of winter, towards the end of November, and it was cold. I think you guys were around so you could probably remember. It was what seven, eight, nine, ten degrees and we were out for the entire game. And I think the reason that it was probably a little worse was because Notre Dame pummelt army. If it's a close game and it's cold, you go, okay, the adrenalines pump in once it becomes a thirty or forty point game. It feels a little bit different, and that was certainly that. But yeah, he was not doing well. I think he turned to me a couple times during breaks and said, why are we out here? Exactly what's going on right now? Great to see you, you too appreciate it.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: He is a no Eagle. He'll be on the call tomorrow night, seven thirty Eastern on NBC and Peacock and then you got the NBA on NBC and there'll be Steph Curry the Warriors with Luca Lakers as well. Thanks for joining us.

00:12:53
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

00:13:05
Speaker 2: Jerome bettas Hall of Famer Notre Dame running back and he's got a lot of things that he is working with the Jerome Bettas Bus Stops Here Foundation. We'll talk to him about that. He's also got a holiday toy drive on display as well. Bussy, good to talk to you. When I say USC, the first thing that comes to mind is.

00:13:25
Speaker 4: Hey, we hate USC absolutely.

00:13:30
Speaker 2: More than Michigan.

00:13:33
Speaker 4: Yes, more than Michigan.

00:13:35
Speaker 5: But it's slightly more me being from the state of Michigan, I may.

00:13:39
Speaker 4: Have a little different opinion.

00:13:40
Speaker 5: But USC is our biggest rival, no question about it.

00:13:46
Speaker 2: But you did well against USC, then you I never lost. I got you in nineteen ninety one, you had two touchdowns Notre Dame one by four, and then in ninety two you guys won thirty one twenty three. What do you remember about those games that they were?

00:14:03
Speaker 5: They were all, you know, really good games. And USC has always been uh competitive. You know, they had a couple of years and they've kind of slid a little bit, but it's always, uh you know, that big game. And what I always remembered about it is if you play well in that game, then everyone in the country knows your name, you know what I mean. It's one of those games where if you can have a big game, you become a household name around the country. That's the kind of game that it is.

00:14:31
Speaker 2: Did USC recruit you?

00:14:33
Speaker 4: They did?

00:14:34
Speaker 5: That was the one of the three visits that I took. Actually, yes, I took. I went to Michigan, USC and Notre Dame, and USC was just too far away.

00:14:44
Speaker 4: Uh But I.

00:14:45
Speaker 5: Remember seeing h Junior Sea when I was on my visit and he had a tank top on, and I said, who is this.

00:14:54
Speaker 4: Guy looking like Zeus?

00:14:55
Speaker 2: I said, who is.

00:14:57
Speaker 4: They said, that's what you say, he's going to the NFL.

00:15:00
Speaker 5: And I was just I thought to myself, that's what all the linebackers look like.

00:15:04
Speaker 6: I'm uh.

00:15:07
Speaker 2: Those linebackers found out quickly they were in trouble when they were trying to tackle you. You did tell the story, didn't you have somebody that it almost sounded like they were weeping or when when they tried to tackle you. Was that in the NFL where I heard a little a little little scream or little cry.

00:15:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: But how often didn't guys make business decisions? You think with trying to tackle you?

00:15:37
Speaker 5: A lot in the later part of my career, the early part of my career, guys were trying to take me on and you know, I, you know, broke a guy's shoulder at the play for Baltimore and did this, did that, and so a lot of guys later on saw the kind of the curnage just said okay, that's not for me.

00:15:58
Speaker 4: And the latter part of my career, a guy started going to.

00:16:01
Speaker 5: My ankles and and lower extremities they didn't want to take me on the fip.

00:16:06
Speaker 2: Okay, But what's the one tackle that somebody got the better of you?

00:16:12
Speaker 4: Oh? My goodness?

00:16:13
Speaker 5: Uh the one we were playing a Tennessee Titans and Mike thoms Ach he threw me the ball late and he knew he shouldn't have threw it to me. So I got to catch the ball and as soon as I catch it, I get I get cracked and my head hit the hit the ground first. So you know that was a bad one because I'm a big guy. In my head usually doesn't get there before my butt.

00:16:42
Speaker 2: Where you who hit you?

00:16:44
Speaker 4: Remember?

00:16:45
Speaker 5: I was not concussed? No, And I cannot remember who? Uh the book. I think his name was Bolden Bolden, but he played for Tennessee Titans and he was he was a good linebacker.

00:16:59
Speaker 4: But to should never have had a hit like that on me. And I got up.

00:17:04
Speaker 5: I'll never forget went to the I went to the huddle and I just looked at my job.

00:17:10
Speaker 2: He was like, sorry, Broy, what happened to your Steelers last night?

00:17:19
Speaker 4: Yeah? They You know, I.

00:17:21
Speaker 5: Think sometimes these things are psychological, right, And you hear the what what coach Tomlin says about Flacco, right, and then you go out and lay an egg. But you have to look at it and say, Joe Flacco is a capable quarterback.

00:17:43
Speaker 4: When you don't get pressure on him. When you get.

00:17:47
Speaker 5: Pressure on him, then you know he can make some mistakes. And that's just what the Steelers couldn't do.

00:17:53
Speaker 4: Uh last night.

00:17:53
Speaker 5: They could not get pressure, consistent pressure on Joe Flacco. And when you have those receivers on that roster, it's gonna be hard for you to cover the entire field. And Joe Flacco was hot and he sliced the part my Pittsburgh Steelers and it didn't didn't look good.

00:18:13
Speaker 2: Okay, but this is one I don't understand. Steelers always have great defense and here you are giving up thirty points again that I think the big question was receivers, running game, Aaron Rodgers offensive line. That doesn't seem like it's the problem. It feels like it's defense with this team.

00:18:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, when you.

00:18:31
Speaker 5: Score thirty points, you you should you should win the game. I mean that's just how how it works in terms of in Pittsburgh, because that defense always shows up and is ready to play the problem is they're they're just not getting the production. Uh in that front seven, which is putting the guys in the secondary, uh, you know, at risk. They're nobody's playing well. Let me say that the back can they're not playing particularly well.

00:19:02
Speaker 4: And the front seven of those guys, they're not.

00:19:06
Speaker 6: Uh.

00:19:06
Speaker 5: They're giving up too much yards in the run game. This one thing that still has never gave up was one hundred yard rushier and so to see Brown have one hundred yards that was discouraging.

00:19:17
Speaker 3: Uh.

00:19:17
Speaker 5: And then to be able to not put Flacco on the ground, that was a huge problem.

00:19:24
Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin ever yell at you know, I missed Tomlin.

00:19:29
Speaker 4: So I when I retired, coward.

00:19:32
Speaker 5: Was in this last year, okay, uh, and then he left, and then Tomlin came uh.

00:19:37
Speaker 4: A year later.

00:19:38
Speaker 2: The coward yell at you.

00:19:40
Speaker 4: Yes he did.

00:19:42
Speaker 5: He yelled at everybody. And I mean he was a spinner, so you can understand that.

00:19:47
Speaker 2: Was yeah, but wasn't lou Holtz didn't he.

00:19:51
Speaker 4: Yes, I was. I was.

00:19:53
Speaker 5: I was fortunate to have double spinners. But the key, the key is those screw up. So I threw it up. Very very little I got. I didn't get as much that the juice that somebody else got.

00:20:10
Speaker 2: You should have worn the Ladanian Tomlinson shield then you could have you.

00:20:14
Speaker 5: Know, they weren't out there. You better believe I would have had a shield.

00:20:20
Speaker 2: Were you famous when you were on campus here your senior year?

00:20:25
Speaker 5: Uh no, because so I left after my junior year. And what happened was I had a really good sophomore year. So yeah, I was maybe a popular, but I wasn't. Like so we had to get rocket Ishmael Now Rocket when I was there, he was a star. Okay, they had to They had to take him out of the hotel in the laundry basket type things. I mean, he had that kind of people out there looking for him, and he was.

00:20:57
Speaker 4: He was a star.

00:20:58
Speaker 3: Man.

00:20:58
Speaker 2: Hold up, hold up, Rocket gets in the laundry basket to then get out of a hotel like yeah, so he.

00:21:06
Speaker 5: Can they can take him out in the back and put him in the car and drive him away so that you know, it's got crazy because he couldn't just walk out the front.

00:21:14
Speaker 4: Door, uh type thing.

00:21:17
Speaker 5: You know.

00:21:17
Speaker 4: He was, Uh, he was a rock star when we.

00:21:20
Speaker 5: Were at Notre Dame because he had done some amazing things. Myself, I was a really good player and on you know, on the cusp if you will, and everybody knew who I was, but it wasn't the rock star uh stype type celebrity.

00:21:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, but are you talking to like boy band celebrity for rocket ismail? Like there were women out, girls outside screaming and waiting for really.

00:21:45
Speaker 5: Yes, it's like if he came down the elevator, you would see a crowd rush over over there.

00:21:52
Speaker 4: Where if I came down the elevator, everybody's.

00:21:57
Speaker 5: You know, and I do the way, Hey if he comes down, they were kind of rush over there.

00:22:04
Speaker 2: Uh, tell me what you're doing with the Drone Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation.

00:22:08
Speaker 4: Well, we we at the Bus Stops There Foundation.

00:22:11
Speaker 5: We're you know, extremely excited about our cyber bus program. We've got our second bus that we've been very fortunate Bluebird donated a new electric bus to us. We've got it retrofitted thanks to the CNX Foundation, and now we've got we've got it ready and prepared to go to the rural areas of Pittsburgh, Washington County, all those areas where there's kids that still need access to the technology that we're able to provide. And then we also have our first bus that goes into the the housing Authority there in Pittsburgh and represents the Bus Stops Foundation and helps a lot.

00:22:56
Speaker 4: Of kids there and parents and grandparents.

00:22:59
Speaker 5: So we're just proud of the things that we're able to accomplish there in Pittsburgh, and uh.

00:23:04
Speaker 4: Just it warms my heart.

00:23:05
Speaker 5: Men are our Christmas Holiday toy Drive. We're trying to get get toys. And what we do is we give them the families that are that are having a difficult time uh during the holidays, that that need uh, you know, kind of a hand up, not a handout, and and we kind of provide that for them, uh and their children on the uh in the holiday scenes and so things that we're trying to do in Pittsburgh and try to stay connected to the community.

00:23:35
Speaker 2: Always great to talk to you, Bussy, Thanks again for joining us.

00:23:38
Speaker 4: Thank you appreciate it.

00:23:40
Speaker 2: It's Jerome Bettis on the program.

00:23:42
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

00:23:52
Speaker 6: Bally Foods Go Ahead with Tony Foods Go.

00:23:55
Speaker 7: As everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning Polly and Tony Foods Go show. But instead of us telling how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show.

00:24:04
Speaker 2: Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

00:24:08
Speaker 6: What what are you doing interrupting our promo?

00:24:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, he wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally of context.

00:24:15
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you out and beat you.

00:24:19
Speaker 2: Let me put this into context.

00:24:21
Speaker 6: Shut up.

00:24:21
Speaker 7: Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Paully and Tony Fusco Show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts O wherever you get your podcasts.

00:24:28
Speaker 1: Yea.

00:24:30
Speaker 2: He is Mike Golick, senior, co host of Gojo and Goliic on DraftKings Network, former defensive lineman, of course, a member of the Fighting Irish Alumni and great to see him again. We welcome in Mike Goldig Senior on the program. All right, whoa there he is? Who?

00:24:49
Speaker 4: All right?

00:24:53
Speaker 2: Used to be Big Mike, but not anymore. Medium Mike is what they call him now.

00:24:58
Speaker 6: Two quick things. First, sorry to do this, but we Mike and I change networks for it, FanDuel. Now Todd, Yeah, I'm killing sorry, Todd. I just get the memo on the I just figured I'd get that out.

00:25:14
Speaker 2: Wait wait, let me give you the correct plug.

00:25:16
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's Golick and Golic. Now we went from Gojo and Golic to Golo and go Gojo and Golick and Golic FANDUL Sports Network three to five afternoon. Okay, all right, And second thing, that second thing who said Steve Atwater and Rodney Harrison cried, I mean seriously, I mean you for those that aren't old enough google Steve Atwater and Christian Okoye. Christian Nakoya was a two hundred and fifty pounds back for Kansas City that ran a straight run up the middle. Steve Atwater came and dropped him, dropped him where he stood. And Rodney Harrison, you don't have to say those two would snap their forearms and not cry. So those were those I a son when I heard those two names, but you.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: Could I don't know if you can imagine this, but like you have to make that business decision with Jerome Bettis, there's certain players where you go this is gonna hurt.

00:26:10
Speaker 6: And I've always got asked. And Jerome's rookie year was my ninth year, my last year in the league, so I didn't play against him. But people always ask how would you have tackled like Derrick Henry? And I said, as a D lineman, you don't get that back at full speed. You know that back when they get to the second and third level and all of a sudden, that dB is looking at that back going okay, do I hit him in the thigh? Do I hit him in the ankle? Do I hit him in the chest? And make that businesses. But as a D lineman, we rarely got him at full speed, and we were bigger than them.

00:26:42
Speaker 2: But when you think about the running backs you played against, like Emmett, you played against quite a bit, quite a bit, but he wasn't fast. He was like the running back version of Jerry Rice. It didn't seem like he was fast. But nobody ever caught Jerry Rice from behind, and Emmett seemed to get fat, faster better as the game went on.

00:27:02
Speaker 6: That's why you know you talk about Jerry Rice running the four to six at the combine, everyone was too slow. Well, there's forty speed, which you rarely want to run a straight ahead forty and there's game speed, which is a different thing. And Emmitt could drop his shoulder and deliver a blow as good as anybody. Tony Dorsett was a guy you could never get a good hit on. He always turned his body at the last moment. You could never get a solid hit on him. Emmett Smith, I hit as hard as I've ever hit anybody in my life out of bounds. I had a full speed run and he was going toward the sideline, and I mean I clocked him, clocked him, and I hit him. And as I was going down, I'm like, oh yeah, that one hurt him, and he bounced up and ran right back to I'm laying on the side and go, what the hell just happened. It's like a boxer giving your best puns and the dude just kind of shaking it off. You're going, oh, well, I'm screwed.

00:27:51
Speaker 2: How would you describe this rivalry with USC Notre Dame and why is it on the cusp of ending? Oh?

00:27:56
Speaker 6: I hate USC? I mean, I I hate USC.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: But are you you were taught that growing up?

00:28:03
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, listen, I have a different perspective from Notre Dame. My brother Bob came here as a freshman in seventy five. I was twelve years old, so I grew up basically coming to Notre Dame games. And then my brother Greg came here, and I was more with my peers before I got recruited to come here. I mean USC recruited me, but there was never a thought. And when both my kids both my son Mike was a junior, he was down with Urban Meyer getting recruited to Florida, and Jake was a sophomore and was down there with him as a recruit. And I told the boys there, I said, listen, don't go to Notre Dame because me and your mother and your uncles went there. And I rattle off everybody that went there. I said, you go where your heart takes you. I said, except usse. I said, you can't go to USC. That's a non starter.

00:28:53
Speaker 2: Why are we on the verge of ending this rivalry?

00:28:56
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, listen, Notre Dame. It's gonna sit there and people are going to listen and say, oh, he's blaming USC, but it is on USC. Notre Dame hasn't changed their independence, We haven't changed anything. We still play the same schedule. No FCS schools, all FBS schools. Now it's ACC schools, been big ten schools. But the Michigan rivalry is somewhat over USC, and I get it to a point where they're doing it. They're gonna have to play They playing nine conference games and they have to be careful of their non conference schedule to make the playoffs. So there's part of me that understands their reasoning. But then the Notre Dame part of me comes in and says, just schedule us.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Well, if you had a scheduling, SAR, or if we get to that point, then you're going to have Notre Dame in Michigan, and then you would have Notre Dame in USC. It would be mandatory. I mean, we're in the entertainment business. That's why we've expanded the playoffs. That's why we're going to expand March madness. I just I would hope that there is somebody and maybe this is ten years down the road when we have the top forty schools in a right right yeah, and then you can have this is your schedule this year. Maybe you don't play USC this year, but you're playing them next year. Maybe you play Michigan. That's what I think we need. I worry about when you have these schools and you take before a big game. You always have that cupcake. Now, I know the cupcake is a payout game, right, but it's still haven't we gotten to the point where let's just play a really good schedule.

00:30:26
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, teams are in schools are thinking about the playoffs. But the thing about it is like Notre Dame has two losses, two losses to the number two and number five team in the country. If Notre Name runs the table they're in, they're ten and two, they're going to be in the playoffs. If they lose tomorrow, they lose, they're going to be done. If they get a third loss, they're going to be done because they can't win a conference, so they're going to be done. And they put themselves in this tough spot kind of like last year a bit. But the two team and when the committee looks at the two losses, as long as those two teams keep winning, they're going to be like, well, those are quote unquote great losses. But to play USC anymore, it would probably be early in the season, conference games being later in the season, so it would have to be done early in the season if it's going to continue. I mean, it's the ninety sixth meeting. The only one that's been longer is Notre Dame Navy, and that's ninety seven.

00:31:17
Speaker 2: What was your first reaction when you saw Rudy? I mean, it is a documentary.

00:31:29
Speaker 6: Do I have to answer this question? Am I on the hot seat for this question? There were some Hollywood things put in there to make it a little more than maybe what it was. So the story is great, right of not being a recruited athlete going to Holy Cross, finally getting your chance, but some of the things on the inside of that maybe didn't happen.

00:32:00
Speaker 2: So you didn't buy into this even though this is your Alma Monter.

00:32:04
Speaker 6: My brother Bob was a freshman when Rudy. When the Rudy story, Rudy was in his last year, and my brother Bob, if you ask him, he doesn't even remember. Rudy doesn't remember. And now Rudy was defensive show team. My brother Bob was on the defense going against the offensive show team, so he wouldn't have a chance to play against him on the field. But still they were teammates.

00:32:28
Speaker 2: And did your brother turn in his jersey like everybody else did that they weren't going to play.

00:32:33
Speaker 6: If Rudy remember, I talked about of Hollywood embellishment. Can I get a t o here? Yeah? Again? Great story, great, great, you know story of a kid who wasn't a top athlete getting on the team and getting in for a play and such.

00:32:55
Speaker 2: He's a Mike Golig senior squirming in his seat right now. He is, him and his son are on a FanDuel network.

00:33:04
Speaker 6: Todd, Sorry, Todd, Sorry.

00:33:07
Speaker 2: It's okay. You've been consistently bad. Don't worry about it. You know, how do you keep these coaches in place for a longer period of time? We grew up in a in an era where coaches stayed for decades. But here's Marcus Freeman. Who I mean, everybody loves Marcus Freeman. I think they looked at him maybe for the NFL last year. You know, is Penn State gonna come knocking on the door? The money that is there now, you know the price with you know, coach Signetti getting eleven million dollars a year. How do you keep these coaches in place for a long period of time?

00:33:45
Speaker 6: First off, let me say, stay the hell away from Marcus Freeman, all right, Stay away from my coach? All right? He is a great coach. He's a great recruit. Why they're coming after Listen. I know he just got extended I think last December. If they have to, you keep extending this guy as long as you have to to keep him here. I mean, listen, Dan, everybody complained about the players having movement, and I do think while I'm happy the players have movement, happy the players are getting paid, being able to move every single year is really really tough. But coaches have been able to. I mean, Kurt Signetti signed that eight year, ninety two million dollar extension and he still could sign somewhere else next year if he wanted to, Right, he won't. He's really done an incredible job with that program, but he could. Extensions really mean nothing. The buyout may get bigger, but you always have alumni that will buy it out. Dan, there's no way under the current system, there's no way to stop the movement. And quite honestly, head coaches don't want to stop this movement because they're going to only be one new coach at Penn State. But if five are talked about, those other four are going to get extensions at the school they're atting more money, so they don't want it to change.

00:34:57
Speaker 2: Either what's going on with the Big Ten with this pension fund and you know two billion dollars.

00:35:03
Speaker 6: Oh, the private equity firm. I think the worry there for this. It would be split. There's eighteen teams in the Big Ten and then the equity firm. There'd be split twenty ways. Basically, I think the one the one point of contention for any kind of private equity is what kind of power do they have. I understand they wouldn't get a seat on the board. It all depends on the power that you have. There's one thing to happen to pay a portion of your money to somebody, but it's another thing if that entity has power, and that's what they don't want. There's already enough cooks in the kitchen already enough. You talked about the possibility of just forty teams. At some point it would probably be more than that. But as my son Mike and I argue about this all the time, he thinks that's going to happen. But I'm like, I don't think commissioners can work together. Greg SANKEI would have to be the top man. He's not going to accept anybody else running anything. He wants to run. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but that's kind of the position that he's in. So I have a hard time believing even the power for conference commissioners could all work together to secure kind of going away from the NCAA and just forming one one conference.

00:36:13
Speaker 2: March madness is going to expand. It's not a question of if, but when. And I mean it used to be special to make the tournament.

00:36:21
Speaker 6: I mean, we've had so many coaches and we've had John Calipari on the show, and every coach we've had on is just like, why why are we You know, we already have to call the play in games round one, which I don't do. They're playing games. Now you're just going to have more playing games. I mean I have, but a team can say we made the tournament, No you didn't. It's really a play in game, even though you're not saying it's a playing game. I don't understand why they're expanding, but.

00:36:50
Speaker 2: We're going to expand college football playoffs.

00:36:52
Speaker 6: We are, but I think sixteen is more palatable than seventy six.

00:36:57
Speaker 2: But we're not stopping at sixteen.

00:37:00
Speaker 6: Oh it better stop at sixteen. I mean, how far can you go? I mean you have when do you start games? I already think they wait too long to start games. They should start them earlier. Then you get into Christmas, then you get into school, which that's another thing. We've we lost the student athlete moniker. But there's a but the lower divisions have figured out playoffs, haven't they. They've been doing it for years and they figured it off. And Division One has always been like, ah, we got to think about the players and the games until the money gets too good, kind of like the NFL and gambling. No we're not. No, can't wait a minute, how much can we make? Oh? Wait, so let's have gambling. Okay, So again it's no secret it's all about the money.

00:37:39
Speaker 2: Did you know the points spreads when you were playing?

00:37:41
Speaker 6: No, I had no idea. Quite honestly, I've worked for DraftKings and FanDuel and I still don't know the point spreads. I really don't. I mean, we don't talk about like the gambling and this points bright the stuff on our show. We just do it like a sports show, like like we used to do in the old days.

00:37:56
Speaker 2: Okay, but so when you played for the Eagles, No, you had no idea.

00:37:59
Speaker 6: No, clue, zero idea, no idea, and I don't know if any players did, but I had no idea at all.

00:38:08
Speaker 2: Why is Notre Dame a nine and a half point favorite tomorrow?

00:38:11
Speaker 6: That seemed coming off the USC destroying of Michigan and Mayava the quarterback and Lemon the receiver? How good they are and the line? Their line is on their fourth combination, but they've only given up four sacks. It's either two strong offenses. I was surprised that the spread was as big as it is, but again, as a former player, I never cared about the spread. If we won by a point didn't matter to me. We got the w Where are you going to be for the game? I'm actually calling the game for Notre Dame Radio. Ryan Harris normally does it, but he has this little thing, this fiftieth Super Bowl anniversary for the Broncos that he's going to, of which I wish I had a Super Bowl you know, or you're need to go to. But he's going to that, So I'm actually I'm actually calling the game. Awesome, Yeah, that would be fun. A family here, No, I'm here by myself, mulking it all in. Nobody wanted to come with me.

00:39:02
Speaker 2: We were at linebackers last night. Then, oh I'll be there. I'll be there tonight. We were there last night. Yeah, yeah, it's uh, there is no doubt. I don't want to get graphic, but there's no doubt my vomit is still somewhere in there. There's no doubt that it's still in there somewhere.

00:39:19
Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah, great place, just a great place has been changed. Don't don't wear open toe shoes in there. Just don't.

00:39:28
Speaker 2: Great to see you. Todd, my senior. He doesn't work for drafts.

00:39:33
Speaker 6: A few months ago ready he went from Driftings to Fangil GoJ It's golic and gold. Yeah, three to five Eastern. Yeah. I thought I would text at you, but I was like, I was like, he screwed up. He's a phenomenal producer. He knows.

00:39:48
Speaker 4: Times of change.

00:39:50
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Fox the big noon kickoff at Michigan and they're going to be in Utah. So me on Thursday. Once Friday, it's yeah, big intro to Brady Quinn. He's like, uh, I'm not Michigan. I'm not in Michigan.

00:40:05
Speaker 6: You did play it Notre dame though he did.

00:40:07
Speaker 7: When you got that right calling the game for no game on the weak.

00:40:10
Speaker 6: There you go, You're like hitting three hundred. You'd be a multimillionaire in basis.

00:40:13
Speaker 2: Mike Golic Senior. And you'll find him on.

00:40:20
Speaker 6: Andlic. Know I got that gojo from Goolic on FanDuel.

00:40:23
Speaker 2: How about we cut our losses. We'll take a break.

00:40:26
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

00:40:37
Speaker 2: I forgot about this, but our next guest, he's the athletic director here at Notre Dame, Pete Babaqua. I think he was my boss at NBC Ecock at one point, although I never saw him. I don't know if we had any communication.

00:40:49
Speaker 6: Yes, Paul, that's the best kind of boss.

00:40:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I I just remembered he worked at NBC Sports and ran NBC Sports, but I didn't come in contact with it. Yeah, Paul.

00:41:00
Speaker 6: Then he went in the portal and Notre Dame picked up.

00:41:01
Speaker 2: Yeah they did. But the nil I mean, he's done a really good job here as we welcome the Notre Dame athletic director, Pete Mabakwell, thanks guys.

00:41:15
Speaker 1: Thank you.

00:41:15
Speaker 2: Oh whoa, Okay, what have we got? We got gifts here?

00:41:18
Speaker 6: Oh our new our new hockey jersey.

00:41:23
Speaker 2: Okay, so this is the unveiling of the hockey jersey that will be on display.

00:41:29
Speaker 8: Wow, tonight we're gonna We're gonna wear it tonight. We play tonight again against Saint Lawrence. We had a nice victory. I think a bunch of you guys were there.

00:41:38
Speaker 2: They were there.

00:41:38
Speaker 8: I had a nice victory last night at ATE two, and hopefully we can keep it going.

00:41:42
Speaker 2: That is awesome.

00:41:43
Speaker 8: We also I have some of your old performance reviews. You do, yeah, sit down and talk about that.

00:41:49
Speaker 6: Wait?

00:41:50
Speaker 2: Were you my boss? At some point?

00:41:51
Speaker 6: I was?

00:41:52
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, But why didn't I talk to you?

00:41:55
Speaker 2: You know, I was busy, and why didn't you talk to me?

00:41:57
Speaker 8: I re talked.

00:41:59
Speaker 2: Did you think I did a good job?

00:42:00
Speaker 8: I thought you did a really good job.

00:42:02
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, yeah, we Why am I not there anymore?

00:42:06
Speaker 8: There's there's new bosses.

00:42:10
Speaker 2: Great to talk to you, and I mentioned this. I don't know if I'm overstating it. You probably would think I am. But I look at Sank and Patiti and I look at you, as you know, probably the three most important people in college football, the SEC commissioner, Big ten and you here at Notre Dame and you take over for Jack Swarbrick, who was one of the most influential people we probably had with this sport. Sometime, do you feel like you guys are the gatekeepers here and if so, what goes along with that?

00:42:41
Speaker 8: Well, I would tell you, first of all, it's it's not me, it's Notre Dame. I mean, Notre Dame is there in that position. You talk about the history of Notre Dame football, the power Notre Dame football, the power of the brand. I'm the I'm the caretaker of that, you know, and I couldn't be more honored or feel more fortunate to be in this position. And I take that responsibility very very seriously. That I'm in that room having those conversations with Greg Sankey, Tody Petiti, Jimmy Phillips at the ACC, Brett Yormark at the Big twelve, and others, and you know, we have a very definite point of view, We have a perspective what Notre Dame believes in. Being independent in the space, as you've mentioned in the past, is certainly a unique attribute to the position we hold in college football and it's a great privilege to be in that room. I love being in that room. I love being a part of those conversations, and we're hall hopefully united and aligned in certainly doing what's best. A commissioner has to always have the perspective of what's best for his or her conference. I have to have the perspective of what's best for Notre Dame. But I think we all hope to share a common ground of what's best for the future health of college football.

00:43:50
Speaker 2: Okay, but what is that? There have been different models that have been put out there, and I just it feels like it's inevitable we're going to get to an NFL or Premier League type of format. Could you get sixty teams fifty forty teams and almost secede from the NCAA.

00:44:06
Speaker 8: Yeah, Dan, there's the concept of this super league. Are there twenty four to thirty teams that extricate themselves from the college football space and create a mini NFL? I, for one, I think that's a horrible mistake. College Football's not the NFL.

00:44:19
Speaker 6: We shouldn't be.

00:44:20
Speaker 8: The NFL were something different. We're something that's special. The crowds, the alumni bases, the fact that these are eighteen to twenty one year olds that change and graduate. There's a power to that. And I think in trying to replicate the NFL model, where there might be some more revenue there, particularly from a media standpoint, I think we'll ruin what's special. We won't look like the NFL, will look like a small version, a compromise version of the NFL, and we'll lose what's so special about what's going to happen here tomorrow night. When you have two great, storied programs from great schools coming together, this wonderful rivalry. You know, you have the Notre Dame US, the Ohio State, Michigan's that's what makes college football so special.

00:45:04
Speaker 2: But we're losing these rivalries. We may lose USC Notre Dame.

00:45:08
Speaker 8: Well, I would say, and I can't speak for USC, but in the conversations we've had, I think both schools, both administrations are committed to keeping this series alive. We've had a lot of positive conversations with USC. They're continuing literally around the clock. My hope, and I think USC shares this and I know they share it. We want to keep this series going. It's so special. It's hey, I'll be the first two admitte It's great for Notre Dame. I think it's great for USC, and maybe most importantly, I think it's great for college football. This is one of those rivalries that defined college football, define the sport, the greatest intersectional rivalry that there is. And I think the public deserves it. I think the college fans deserve it. All the pageantry of a Notre Dame USC game. You think about the importance of this game over the history of college football. How many national championships were influenced and determined the Heisman Trophy winners. And I understand, you know, with the Big Ten, the conference schedules, you know, more conference matchups, that's tough, that's difficult travel for USC now that they're in the Big Ten. But you know, I just think college football deserves it. I know we feel that way. I know USC feels that way. And you know, for us, we're lucky that we have a long list of really prominent teams that want to play us. They want to do home and homes, they want us to come to their stadiums, they want to come here to Notre Dame and you know, that's great, and that's a fortunate position to be in. And that's the power of Notre Dame and the power of the program under coach Freeman. But there's something really special about Notre Dame USC, and no matter how either team season is going, anything can happen. You can make a team a more difficult road to a national championship, you can have an upset. It's just a wonderful history there that I hope we don't lose.

00:46:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, So at this point where we have to negotiate around the clock to keep this going, if everybody understands the beauty of this rivalry, the importance of this rivalry.

00:47:07
Speaker 8: I think it's scheduling and now the Big Ten schedule and the nine games that they play. When you look at our schedule into the future, and we're talking about moments in the calendar month that makes sense for US and for USC, I think there's no secret that US would like to play our game earlier in the season. So I'm working hand in hand with somebody who's so important to our program, Ron Palace, who's a name everybody knows, and Ron is kind of mapping out what our future looks like twenty six, twenty seven, well into the thirties, and where could we position this game. So it's a win win for us when we go out there and when USC comes here and visits. I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic. Nothing is finalized, but I'm optimistic that we'll get something done.

00:47:51
Speaker 2: He's a Pete Bbaqua Notre Dame athletic director. But I understand from USC's perspective, it feels like Notre Dame may need USC more than USC needs Notre Dame because Notre has a tough Big ten schedule and they don't want to jeopardize, you know, another loss, because if you have three losses, you're not going to make like tomorrow's an elimination game. It feels like for Notre Dame.

00:48:11
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it's you know, we you know, we have a tough schedule this year. We opened up with two very tough competitive games, obviously with Miami, who's now I think number two in the country in Texas A and m We lost to Miami by three points. There in our opening game, we lost to Texas A and m here by a point. Then we've you know, we've had this great stretch of four victories in a row.

00:48:31
Speaker 6: But no, hey, no doubt about it.

00:48:32
Speaker 8: If we want to make the CFP, and we do, we got to go win tomorrow night. We know that our team knows that, Marcus knows that. But I'll push back on you. I think this game is just as important for USC as it is for Notre Dame, and just as important for college football. And if you're USC, you want this tradition. You want to play Notre Dame. You want Notre Dame to come out to the coliseum. You know, just like when USC's here, we'll pack the house the South Bend. There'll be one hundred more or thousand people coming into South Bend, even people who can't get in the stadium, just to be a part of the pageantry in the atmosphere. Well, that happens when we go out to the coliseum. It's packed. The surrounding area has packed. It has such a benefit for the campus, for the community.

00:49:15
Speaker 6: And when you.

00:49:15
Speaker 8: Take two great historic brands from wonderful schools and you're able to have this great contest on the football field year in and year out, there's tremendous value for the entire eCos.

00:49:27
Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to lose it. But I don't want to lose Notre Dame in Michigan.

00:49:31
Speaker 6: Well I would.

00:49:32
Speaker 8: I'd love to play Michigan, you know, And I think that's something we're going to work toward. I think that's one of you know, I think back to my time here. I graduated in nineteen ninety three.

00:49:43
Speaker 2: If you join the Big Ten, then you get to play these teams. Yeah, but we just let me know. I hear you and the Big Ten, Hey, no, there's was it ever close? Big Ten's a wonderful conference. I don't think it was ever close. You know, there's the Big Ten, the SEC, the Big twelve, the ACC. As you know, we're a member of the ACC for twenty four of our twenty six sports or Big ten in hockey, and obviously independent in football.

00:50:08
Speaker 8: I think it's a great time to be independent. And we're sure we're a unicorn. But we have a wonderful relationship with NBC thirty five years in counting. We have the luxury and we're fortunate to schedule great teams. Think about this year we had Miami, Texas, A and m we play USC. Going into the future, we have Alabama, we have Texas, we have some others that we're close to announcing. And I love the fact that the freedom we have from playing teams that make sense, playing in areas that we want to play in, whether it's going to New York City, going out to Los Angeles, playing in the Yankee Stadium next year, opening up the season in Lambeau against Wisconsin, going to Ireland thinking hey, can we go play a game in Mexico City. You have the luxury of that when you're independent. But to be independent, you have to be good, and we know that that's an obligation, that's a responsibility.

00:51:01
Speaker 6: We have to be good.

00:51:02
Speaker 8: We have to stay relevant. We have to knock on that national championship door year in and year out. Because to stay independent, we have to be impossible to ignore. You have to be a unicorn, but you don't want to. You can't let the unicorn get starved. And that's tremendous pressure on the program, on our athletic department, on coach Freeman. But it's pressure that we welcome and I think we thrive on.

00:51:25
Speaker 2: If you add the deciding vote of expanding the playoffs from twelve to let's say sixteen.

00:51:31
Speaker 8: One hundred percent answer in my opinion, sixteen teams is the way we should go. Five automatic qualifiers, one each for the power for conference champions, one for the highest CHI five G five champion, eleven at large. Prove it on the field. If we're lucky enough to be in, we're in. If because we're independent, we have three losses or four losses.

00:51:51
Speaker 6: And we're out, we're out.

00:51:53
Speaker 8: I think there's almost unanimity in that feeling, and I hope that's we end up. I feel passionate about that. I think it's the best thing for college football. I think it's the best thing for the future college football. Look at the top ten this year, look at the different teams in there. Look at the success that Texas Tech is having.

00:52:14
Speaker 6: You want that.

00:52:14
Speaker 8: You want every team to wake up at the end of the summer and they as they go into their first game and say, hey, if we do it, if we get it done, if we go twelve and zero, if we go eleven and one, if we schedule tough opponents and have a strong strength to schedule, we can earn our way in there. Nobody wants a head start. That's not the way to do it. We want to prove that we can identify a true national championship a team that's earned in on the field, And I feel very.

00:52:40
Speaker 2: Strongly, yeah, but can we lock in sixteen? We got to twelve and went we were already going, well, we got to get to fourteen or sixteen?

00:52:47
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think what I love about I think the move from four to twelve was terrific and smart. I think the move from twelve to sixteen brings additional teams in. Obviously the four additional teams, it creates those four additional narrative around the country, brings those fan bases in, brings in other geographies. Yet there's that delicate balance that I think it achieves and maintains of identifying a true national championship but protecting the integrity and the importance of that of the regular season. And there's no sport where the regular season games are more important than they are in college football. Here we are in Week seven and we have a game tomorrow night that for us will determine whether we can make the playoffs or whether we're on the outside looking in. That doesn't happen in other sports, and that's the beauty of college football. That's why there's so much passion around these games. And you mentioned games this weekend that are so important, Teams that can't afford to lose again, teams that need to quality win. That's the beauty of college football and I we can't lose. That be a shame if we lost that.

00:53:48
Speaker 2: Do you have uniform approval?

00:53:50
Speaker 8: I have uniform input, input input. So you know Marcus, who's probably one of the two or three most stylish men in America, he is a lot of input. We tend to defer to him. We have color combinations that we like, and then he works with our very talented team and with our partner under Armour to put the uniforms out there. But I get a sense that's a leading question. Are you thinking about a uniform that we haven't debuted yet?

00:54:16
Speaker 2: No, I'm just curious. Is there anything like a bold move that you would make for a one off?

00:54:24
Speaker 8: Well, you think about our Shamrock series. We've had some really creative uniforms, you think when.

00:54:28
Speaker 2: We mean, I love the helmet with the shamrock on.

00:54:30
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think we see though the gold helmet as Sakrasay, Okay, I don't think we're gonna monkey around with the helmets anymore. That gold helmet is as good as it gets. I'm biased. I think it's the best helmet in college football. But you think about when we went to Yankee Stadium for the Shamrock Series a few years back with the pinstripes, what we did last year when we went to Yankee Stadium for the Army game.

00:54:53
Speaker 6: What we're going to do.

00:54:54
Speaker 8: Next year at Lambeau, what we did a couple of weeks ago in the all green uniforms. I love when we use the white on white with the gold helmets when we're away. So we're gonna, you know, we work with under armour. We want to change it up. The fans love it.

00:55:06
Speaker 2: But you would do that the leprechaun on the front, like, but you.

00:55:11
Speaker 8: Can't put the leprechaun on for you need the number, but you can't do a no. You will see that are we have the sports specific leprechauns. We debuted the football one that that you guys that we've been wearing a few weeks ago, and the fans love it. Coach Freeman loves it. We have the hockey leprechaun. We're going to do that in more sports. You will see that football leprechaun start to move into certain positions on some of our football uniforms, but unlike the hockey sweater, it won't be on the front or the back.

00:55:37
Speaker 2: Can you give me an idea of how much merchandise you guys do well, I would tell you we did a lot yesterday to let you know. That's a two story got a bookstore full of merchants.

00:55:50
Speaker 8: It's like saxvixth Avenue.

00:55:51
Speaker 2: Yes, like this has to be. You must do more merchandise than any other program in America.

00:55:56
Speaker 8: I think you know, we're lucky. We have such a great passionate national, international fan base that Notre Dame logo. Whether you're in South Bend, Indiana, or New York City or Beijing, people know what it is. It means something. And then, to the credit of the university and to the credit of our partners, like under Armor, we come up with, you know, really interesting designs that appeal to people. And then, as I say, you put it on Marcus Freeman, put him on television for three and a half hours on a Saturday afternoon or a Saturday night, and everybody wants what what Marcus wears. Now, the unfortunate thing is not everybody looks as good as as Marcus.

00:56:35
Speaker 6: Does you guys.

00:56:36
Speaker 2: Do your results may vary? Can you get the Pope?

00:56:40
Speaker 8: He's a cell Sider, he's a southsiderbody, but he is a villainovgrad.

00:56:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, but they don't have football.

00:56:45
Speaker 8: They don't have football. We're we think the pope's a fan. We are Provost John McGreevey and our president.

00:56:52
Speaker 2: Maybe you know, fighting iris and he's wearing the hockey.

00:56:55
Speaker 8: A little blue and gold and green. It would be nice something to work on, for sure.

00:56:59
Speaker 2: Thanks for having us hosting us people here behind the scenes did a wonderful job. Could not have been more accommodating. And uh it is uh And I don't know if an honorary degree is like in play now, but I mean i'll throw it out there.

00:57:14
Speaker 8: We well, we we're thrilled here here.

00:57:17
Speaker 6: I love the show that personally know that.

00:57:19
Speaker 8: That's why I I'll take it up with our president father Bob.

00:57:22
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, fair enough. I mean I graduated from Dayton, so maybe yeah, maybe like a graduate degree, you know.

00:57:28
Speaker 8: So well you can come back and get on an advanced degree.

00:57:30
Speaker 2: A doctorate something like that.

00:57:33
Speaker 6: Thank you.

00:57:33
Speaker 2: Pete Notre Dame Athletic Director