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How do you know that Claude won't become manipulative? This is a constant worry. And you can actually catch the model thinking, I think X is actually true, but I'm going to tell the user why. I'm Walter Isaacson. On my new podcast, The Builders, I'm going inside the minds of the people shaping our future. Listen to The Builders starting October 13 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
It's all just a joke. What is the value of these women? I'm Bridget Armstrong, back with season two of the podcast, Curse of Miss America. We're talking to participants, whistleblowers, and people who say Miss America didn't live up to their promises. He looks at me and goes, you don't look like you suffered an eating disorder. I never received scholarship money to pay for my student loans. Maybe this is the meta question for the podcast. Why is Miss America at this point? Listen to the Curse of Miss America on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
There are thousands of podcasts that can tell you how to better yourself. Get Worse with Kyle Brew is not one of those podcasts. So if you're interested in getting thinner, going to therapy, starting peptides, setting boundaries, taking supplements, making your better, getting closure, then I would humbly recommend other podcasts. If you're interested in blackmail, love bombing, cloning yourself, or getting revenge, then we've got a little something something for a dastardly individual like you. Listen to Get Worse with Kyle Brew on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty. We've been trying to figure out how to describe what is Armstrong and Getty on demand for many years. I'm going to give it a shot. So most media is either agenda-driven or they're so shallow. And boring. Don't learn anything anyway. We try to get to the bottom of the stories that are shaping our worlds and help you understand what's actually happening. So give it a try sometime. Entertaining and you learn something? Where do I do this? Listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
You are listening to The Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio. Hour two on this Wednesday. It's a pizza Wednesday, so morale is high. Dylan, who's responsible for the menu, what are the pies today on the Rec Tech Grills? We have a hot Italian sausage pizza, New Haven-style tomato pie, and, of course, Todd's world-famous classic cheese pizza. Who has it better than we do? Nobody. Stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the program. Labor Day weekend on NBC and Peacock. Back-to-back days of baseball action. Braves, Phillies, Twins, White Sox, and Monday.
Cardinals-Giants, Labor Day weekend on NBC and Peacock, which is where you can see this program Monday through Friday. Ryan Leaf, former NFL quarterback, now the lead analyst for the Pac-12. He will join us coming up a little bit. The Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin Jr., III, will stop by as well. Phone calls, 877-3DP-SHOW. Tyler sitting by, he'll take your calls. I've been in on Kyler Murray with the Vikings. I have. For some reason, I think Kevin O'Connell will get him going. He's got some good wide receivers. He might have the best receiver in football.
Maybe you could get him out in space, as they like to say. I'll take draft. Well, here's the problem. I just saw the over-under for passing touchdowns for Kyler Murray. Now I'm a little concerned about the Vikings. Over-under is 18.5 touchdown passes. That's lower than Bryce Young and Cam Ward, who are both at 20.5. Here's my problem with the Vikings. The Vikings, since 2022, are averaging just under 23 points per game. So they're 14th in the NFL over that period.
Well, you've got a great defense. Since 2023, the Vikings are allowing around 20 points per game. That ranks third in the NFL over that time span. What's amazing is they won nine games last year, and they had an offense that was at the bottom of the NFL and a defense that was top 10. Brian Flores, he can dial something up. Go ahead. If I said to Kirk Herbstreet, you're not allowed to use the expression dial up because Brent Venables, man, could he dial some stuff up at Clemson?
Todd Munkin, man, could he dial something up for the Ravens? Brian Flores, you know, he can dial something. Spags, Steve Spagnola, he's going to dial something up. Yes, Mark. He's a big fan of Mike Stoops at Oklahoma. Oh, Mike Stoops could dial something up.
A couple years ago in the NFL, it was the Bengals' Lou Anarumo, the defensive coordinator, was dialing up stuff. You've got to have somebody who can dial some stuff up there. Yes, Dylan? Can you only dial stuff up on defense? You can't dial anything up on offense? It feels like it is defense-heavy with dialing things up. It does. Yeah, because you're going to be like, what spag is going to dial up here? Yes, Marvin. Marvin Lewis. When he was with the Ravens? Did he have to dial anything up? But he definitely got a lot of play.
You know, speaking of great defense, defensive duos, Aaron Donald, when he makes his debut, certainly with Miles Garrett. And I started to wonder, and you guys, the audience, you can fill in the blanks here as well with your favorite duos, like LT and Harry Carson, both Hall of Famers. Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Hall of Famers. Vaughn Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Hall of Famers. Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes, Haynes, Hall of Famer. Ed Reed, Ray Lewis. I might go right there and say that is the greatest duo, defensive duo.
And they were there together a long time. Now, Derek Brooks, Warren Sapp, Alan Page, Carl Ehler, Mel Blunt, Mean Joe Green would be up there as well. Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, back with the Kansas City Chiefs, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley. Those are just some names that we wrote down earlier this morning. Ed Reed, Ray Lewis might be the best duo. If you think about, I mean, all pros.
And I do think Ed Reed's underrated because that defense was so good. But when Ed got an interception, Ed was going to make you pay. He wanted to score. He was like Deion. He wanted to score on you. Mel Blunt and Mean Joe Green and Steel Curtain. Damn. You could throw Jack Lambert in there if you wanted. Jack Hamm in there if you wanted. Elsie Greenwood in there if you wanted. That's a cheat code right there. How about Jerome Brown and Reggie White?
But Jerome Brown passed away too soon in his career, obviously. But that was a duo up front. The Rams have a duo. That's up front here. I just thought taking two defensive players from the same team at the same time. Harry Carson got into the Hall of Fame, had LT there. Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp. John Lynch, throw in there as well.
Yeah, Paulie. You mentioned Jerome Brown and Reggie White. In 1990 and 1991, they were both first-team All-Pros lining up next to each other. That's as rare as it gets. And I don't know other ones. There's other ones that I've forgotten, but these are the ones that are just off the top of my brain. Yes, Marvin. What about James Harrison and Troy Palamalu? Yes, absolutely. Yes. Yes, Dylan? Did you say Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman? I did not. It's a good one. Patrick Willis, he obviously didn't have the longest career, but he was reminiscent of Ray Lewis, to be honest.
Yes, Paul? I got a deeper cut I just got emailed in. Neil Smith and Derek Thomas together with the Kansas City Chiefs. They went to five straight Pro Bowls together and a couple first-team All-Pros. Yeah. I'm fine with that. There's no wrong answer here. I'm just saying, in my opinion, if it's not Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, it might be Mel Blunt and Mean Joe Green. Yes, Marvin? Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley? I like that one, too. I mentioned that one. Yeah, Dylan? We'll give the defending champs some love. What about Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner? Yeah, Hall of Famers? Yeah. Throwing Richard Sherman in there. Yeah, and Richard Sherman. Trifecta. Yeah. Cam Chancellor is one of my favorites.
I can still hear Cam Chancellor hit Julian Edelman. Oh, man. That sounded like a ball coming off the bat of Otani. And Edelman still held onto the ball and stumbled and got a first down. Edelman's had two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. Oh, new topic. Two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. The catch against Atlanta defied all probability. And then that hit against Cam Chancellor. Oh, man.
And then he's still, I still, whenever I see Edelman, I've said, dude, you had to be knocked out on your feet. And I've been around Cam Chancellor. He's a man. He's big. And you're around Edelman, and you go, how did you survive that? Like, I'm thinking death. He got hit so hard. I'm thinking, he's not getting up anytime soon. Yeah, Paul? I'm watching the replay of the Edelman hit by Cam Chancellor. Not only does he get up, his teammates are, like, tending to him. He doesn't go to the sidelines. There's someone waving him over. He's shaking them off. He goes right back to the huddle. I'm double-checking. I think he caught the next play. Oh, my goodness.
They're just guys who are built different and taking that punishment. But, you know, these defensive players, like Ronnie Lott would just, you know, it was different when Ronnie was playing and Mel Blunt and some of these other guys. But, boy, if they got a free run at you, they were taking you out. It wasn't one of those, hey, I'm going to ease up on you. This is going to hurt. And the fact the NFL used to celebrate these hits. You know, you get those greatest hits of the NFL. Yes, Dylan? I thought about this one, too. I know this is one of your favorites, but the New York Sac Exchange for defensive tandem, maybe a short, like, I mean, a great couple seasons. Well, Gastineau and Klecko were great.
Klecko was the great player. Gastineau got credit in a sack dance and dating Brigitte Nielsen and drove a Rolls Royce. I remember when I would go out to Hofstra where the Jets practiced and you'd go into the parking lot and you'd see Gastineau's Rolls Royce there. He was always friendly to me and I was working at CNN, so not exactly. We weren't a sports network, but I think he liked the fact that CNN went worldwide.
When you interviewed him, you know, the other guys didn't like him because he was getting all the attention. He was flashy, sack dance. Klecko, to me, was workmanlike. That dude was the strongest guy on the team, and he was the one who did the dirty work. He was sort of the Aaron Donald of the New York Sack Exchange. I felt that way a little bit as a kid watching the Steelers. Jack Lambert was a star. Joe Green got commercials. Mel Blunt, to me, was scary when I was a kid. I was like, that guy's too big to play cornerback. Well, and I think the Steelers' defense, it felt like everything was funneled to Lambert there.
You know, you see this with a lot of linebackers. You know, Mike Singletary, it's funneled to you. Golly. When you think about it, I didn't even put the Bears in there, Pauly. You got Singletary and Richard Dent? Right, yeah. John Hampton? More of an ensemble. But, yeah, I mean, Richard Dent, probably a little underrated, historically. Yeah, Hall of Famer. Yes, Marvin. Kind of in that same vein. I know they were an ensemble, but Ty Law and Rodney Harrison? Yeah. Ty's in the Hall of Fame. Rodney should be in the Hall of Fame. I think Rodney will eventually get into the Hall of Fame. Yeah, Paul. J.J. Watt, anyone? Oh! Forgot J.J., sorry. Justin? J.J. Watt.
Paulie went through a bad stretch where he couldn't help himself mentioning J.J. Watt. It's not over. Even when the season was over, he'd be like, I've got to text him, J.J. I reached out. He had a baby boy. So Paulie went from J.J. Watt to Sam Darnold. And then Paulie just can't help himself. Whenever you talk about Seahawks, yeah, Sam Darnold. We're aware of that. Sam and I did it. We did it. Yeah, Sam. Is Carl Mecklenburg and Steve Atwater a stretch? I know it's a Bronco thing. They played five years together. Those are two pretty big guys. We were talking about Paul.
I'm just adding them to the list of the duos. Well, Paul, you got your own show with Perloff. Maybe you can mention that. Not so fast. Not so fast. Let's see. What do we have here? Jared in Tampa. Hi, Jared. What do you have for me today? Hey, Dan. Six foot, 170.
Hey, I just, I wanted to call. I was listening to the podcast late last evening with my kids in the car, right? And you were going through those NFL surveys of fan bases, right? And I've got a bunch of young Buccaneers fans in the car. You gave us a really good moment yesterday when you started counting down, what was it, the most positive teams? Fan bases. Yeah, and you got to the Bucs, and my kids, like, let loose in the back. It was cool. Just wanted to call and say thank you. I've got a good dad moment yesterday. You're welcome, Jared. You're welcome. And to your kids, good luck with the Buccaneers. But, yes, they ranked number one.
and positivity for their fan base. Jacob in Tennessee. Hi, Jake. What do you have for me today? Hey, Dan, second time, long time, 5'8", FB195. Thank you. Hey, man, I just wanted to say thank you. You always, you know, shine a line on addiction and bring it, you know, a lot of mental health issues and bring it to the surface, I think. That's really important, and it's, you know, really helped me in my life. The Ryan Leaf interview in 2016 was actually right around a big turning point for me. I struggled a lot with opiate addiction back then and had been for years and trying to, you know, figure it out. And then that interview came on, and for some reason it really affected me. You know, I listen to you every day for a very long time, and over that year I listened to it.
probably five times or more. And, you know, it really just helped get the ball rolling for me a lot, and I really appreciated it. And I actually got to meet Ryan at the Regents Pro Day. And I just really wanted to call up to say thank you to you and to him because I wasn't able to tell him what that interview meant to me at the time because I was standing in front of my boss while I was working. So I said, hey, thanks, man. But I just wanted to say thank you to both of you guys. Sorry I ran on for a minute. That's okay. Ryan Leaf will join us coming up in about 10 minutes. But thank you for the phone call there. Bill in Chicago, and we'll take a break. Hi, Bill. Hey, morning, Dan. 6'2", and a Gilgis 190.
I constantly am thinking about your death trip bike ride you took with your wife from Atlanta to New Orleans. And having done those kinds of trips, I know how hard that is. And I wondered how your wife's trial hike on the Appalachian Trail went. And I was hoping you could cash in your credits from that bike ride and maybe do a supported hike. No, no, no, no. There's no supportive hike there. My wife went and picked up the trail in New Hampshire. And she loved it. She wants to do the Appalachian Trail.
And I have retired from hiking. Wow. Yeah. That was my first retirement. You're hanging up your boots? From hiking and biking. And by the way, we did open up the envelope last night for the cost of the wedding. We had sealed it. My wife said she told the hotel clerk, just seal it up. And then she put it in her bag when we traveled home from California. And I said, you know, we don't have to open it up. Maybe put it in a time capsule and send it to Mars if you want. Like, I don't care. I mean, I still have to pay it. So let's pay it. And you don't have to tell me what it costs. I don't care.
You know, it was a great moment, you know. And so it was, you know, when you open it up and it's real slow. And then I was curious how many pages we're going to be. And then I'm like, damn, that's a lot. And I mean, I've gotten Sandler scripts that weren't as long as this. And all of a sudden, and I always start at the bottom. You know, when I get fan mail, I always start at the bottom because if they say, like, I hate your guts, then there's no need to read the other stuff. But if it says, have a blessed day or sincerely, then I go, okay. So I went down to the bottom and I said to my wife, how many numbers?
And she goes, um, I said, more than five. What's the first number? And then, so she told me, and then she showed me, you know, the price of it. And I go, great. And she goes, great. I said, yeah, I'm good. You know, it wasn't, I probably wouldn't have been ready as we're checking out after the wedding to look at that number. But, you know, we're removed a couple of weeks. I'm like, you know, it's okay. All right, we did it. She had a great time. We got to have family and friends. That's what it's about. So I was fine with that.
I did tell my other two daughters, don't be afraid to do something a little more frugal. Does anybody want to get married at the house? You know, my wife keeps saying it'd be nice if somebody wanted to get married at the house, get married at Paul's house. Like, you know, save me a little bit of money. Yeah. True green. It came in and made your lawn look great. Come on over. Okay. Uh, more phone calls coming up. Ryan leave. We'll join us next year. Dan Patrick show. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern 6 a.m. Pacific on Fox sports radio and the I heart radio app.
Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon. Comment away. The Hard Rock Bet Casino app is here, Ontario. It's safe, secure, and crystal clear with fast payouts and 24-7 local support. You can play over 3,000 games right here, including Hard Rock Bet Casino exclusives. The Hard Rock Bet Casino app is here, Ontario. Roll with us. Must be 19 years of age or older to play. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you? Visit the nextontario.ca. If there's a million times more digital intelligence than there is biological intelligence, it's hard to imagine humans being in control in that scenario. I'm Walter Isaacson, host of the new podcast, The Builders. Right now, we're living through an AI arms race.
So I went directly to the people shaping that future. Elon Musk, Dario Almanac, Alex Carr, Feifei Lee, Palmer Luckey. Because I wanted to understand what the most consequential builders believe, what they fear, and where they think this is all headed. Silicon Valley is always saying the cliche thing about the way to predict the future is to create it. Well, yeah, it's up to us. But when you say us, who's us? Is it 400 people that you know in Silicon Valley? Is it me down here in New Orleans? They're brilliant, controversial, and they're already shaping the future. The question is, whose imagination do we want to live in?
This is going to determine the fate of nations and economies and the future of humanity. Listen to The Builders on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more than a century, Miss America sold the country of fantasy. Well, are you ready, ladies? Okay, here we go. But over the past decade, the crown's been slipping. They said goodbye to swimsuits. Now, hello to lawsuits. I'm Bridget Armstrong. Last season, we took you inside the world of America's next top model. Now I'm back with season two of this podcast, Curse of Miss America, investigating the rise, fall, and uncertain future of one of America's most iconic institutions.
The Miss America pageant. I never received scholarship money to pay for my student loans. He looks at me and goes, you don't look like you suffered an eating disorder. She's great, but looks too ethnic. It's a story the Miss America organization really doesn't want us to tell. An exploitation of our Miss Americas is treated by the Miss America organization as an attack on Miss America itself. Listen to The Curse of Miss America on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Robert Griffin Jr. III, as McLovin would say. He'll join us coming up next hour. The Heisman winner. The fact that McLovin called him Robert Griffith.
Jr. III. And I went, well, you screwed up the Griffith and the Jr. But he said it in a convincing manner. Yes, Paul? Do you remember we played it so many times in the weeks after that that Sal Palantonio accidentally said it on Countdown? Yes. And let's go out to Sal Palantonio. Robert Griffith Jr. III will be available for, and I'm like, oh my gosh. I apologize to Sal Pal for that. Ryan Leaf, USA lead Pac-12 analyst, former NFL quarterback, and the number two overall pick by the Chargers back in 1998. How many teams are in the Pac-12?
Eight football, nine basketball. Okay. The opportunity to expand. Where are you getting those? Everybody wants expansion. So where are we getting other teams, other schools? I think what Teresa Gould, who is the Pac-12 commissioner, I think her vision has really kind of become a reality. You know, there was a time where there were the two teams where everybody else vacated. And I don't think there was a moment after she went and spoke to the presidents of the university where she had a plan in place. Did either one of those teams waver? If an ACC team had come in or an ACC conference would come in or a Big 12 conference would come in, I don't think Washington State.
or Oregon State would have left. They were going to build this new Pac-12, rebrand it, and release it to the public here in July. I think it's going to be highly competitive, a lot of fun. But I do think they want to keep looking outside to build the brand and build something bigger down the stretch. But right now, they're really happy with the eight participants. So now we only have power four. There are four power four conferences, which would make sense if it's a power four then.
I don't really buy into it outside the college football playoff saying this year that the four power four conference champions are going to get an automatic bid into the college football playoff. That allows for, let's say, the Pac-12 if they're the fifth best ranked conference, which I think it is going into the season. This gives my alma mater and a lot of these teams in this conference maybe their best chance to go to the college football playoff ever. Washington State hasn't won a championship since 2003, so this is going to give them a much better chance to get to the playoff and be a part of the conversation than they ever would have had in the old Pac-12. How do we get to the point where you can go to the NFL and put on an NFL uniform and go through training camp?
get cut, and then be allowed to go back and play college football. Okay, so this is something I've been a little bit annoyed with, the way the talking heads have been. You know, you heard Dan Orlowski go on, get up and say, this is going to open up the floodgates. It's not going to open up the floodgates. He said, they're going to play three years in college and get drafted in the second round and play two years and want to come back. No, that can't happen. It's, it's now ruled five for five. You get five years to play five. This rule, which was injuncted in the courts is being applied retroactively. So this only affects the class of 2022 of these players. None of them were drafted. They did not make a roster. They have a chance to come back and do everything else that everybody does through this five for five. So it's not something that's going to be ongoing. I don't know where the story got so out of hand this week. It just became this.
Well, it's Lane Kiffin. Well, because he's using it to his advantage. And all these other teams should, too. These are players that are due their final year of eligibility. It's not something that's going to affect it next year or the year after that. But then you even have head coaches like Steve Sarkeesian go on there and start talking about morality and things like that. And I'm like, are you kidding me? I mean, I don't know if they're informed. No, it's the concept of it, Ryan, that we think, oh, my God, this is going to be an avalanche. The floodgates are open, and now we're going to have 50 guys go to the NFL, get cut, and then come back and play wherever they want to. No, never happen. Won't happen. This is a...
an injunction in the courts that is being retroactively instituted for these players that are due their final year of eligibility. That's it. And if they fall between these parameters, and we're talking about maybe what, six, seven, eight players? Like, that's it. It's like the bigger conversation around all of the things that make it so subjective, and it's not. It's going to piss off some other coaches, because guess what? It seemingly feels like a lot of these players want to come back and play for Lane Kiffin. I don't have any problem if Lane Kiffin wants to take advantage of this. Like, I don't have the morality, please, you know, going to LSU. He didn't invent this. If he takes advantage of this, then fine.
I'm okay with it. I think if it was with another program and another coach that I don't think we would have this. It was like, oh, here's Lane. He'll do anything to win. If I'm in his position, as long as my AD is fine with this and I know these kids, I would open the door if they're allowed to do this legally. Then I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. Yeah, I'm not even against liking it. These guys did not make an NFL roster. This is an opportunity for them to maybe play football for the last time and make...
name, image, and likeness money to help them. You know, it may be their best opportunity to do so. I think a lot of these coaches are talking about, hey, I'm not going to give a kid who's busted his butt for seven months, give away his spot. Well, they're not giving away a spot. There's 105 roster spots. None of those have been completely met. They're going to play within this roster. And I know Lane really well. Lane's having come speak to three of his programs since he was at Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss. And I suspect I'll be down to Baton Rouge pretty soon. I simply love the guy. I think that he has really reinvented himself. I thought we saw the best possible version of him at Ole Miss. I even told him that. I said, this is the best possible version of you. You have that at Ole Miss.
but he felt like this was something he needed to do, and so I supported him on it. I didn't necessarily think it was the right move, but we'll see how it plays out. What does he have you tell his team? Well, I go in and speak to consequences, a big part of it. Also, a huge part of it is I'm exactly where they were 25 years ago. I'm sitting in the exact same chair, and I was in a much better position than all of those people in that room. I was about to be the second or first pick in the NFL draft. I give them that image. I go, how many of you would give right now a five-year career in the NFL, the second pick in the NFL draft, $31 million, a Heisman Trophy finalist? How many of you would give for that right now? And every single one of them raises their hand. Because you forget, because of how poor my professional career was, how much sacrifice and how much...
You know, greatness went into the first 22 years of my life. It's always thrown to the side because of what the professional thing happened. People always ask me the question, do you wish you would never play professional football? Because then you would have this great legacy. And I'm like, why would I want that? I wanted to be the best. I wanted to get to the NFL. It's just how it happens. It's life. But when you tell them what happened to you after football, and I don't know if they look at you like, well, that's not going to impact me. You know how kids are. You know, they look at you like that. They look like that's not going to happen to me. Yes. You know, which part I say? The part where you're going to be the second pick in the NFL draft or the part where you're going to end up in a prison cell? It can happen to anybody at any point.
You know, we just had the young man who called into you. I mean, I'm sitting in your green room. That was 10 years ago that I came on the show. And that guy heard that that day. You talked about it just a little bit ago in your in your confessional about that platform. And maybe you weren't ready to talk about it, but you had me on your show. Yes. And I was talking about it and that allowed it to grow and become something. And you then took hold of that. And now you can speak to that. And so I think the impact that I am having would have never been the case if I'd been a Super Bowl winning quarterback that.
didn't get that education. But would winning have kept you away from prescription drugs? I don't know. I mean, the failure and the judgment led to that. I didn't use it while I was playing. It was a coping mechanism like you talked about with the Tony Romo and Tiger Woods conversation. You're trying to hide something. And so I never had that problem while I was playing in college. You were never interested in...
I never took a drug. The only drug I've ever taken in my life is Vicodin. I didn't have my first drink until my 18th birthday. Probably can count on two hands how many times I've been drunk in my life. Like it's not, you know, competition was my drug choice. I competed at everything. And now I found that later in life. And, you know, I was talking to Andrew Perloff back there and I've been sober longer now than I ever was using, which is, that kind of snuck up on me. How many years? 14 years. And previous, in my using years, it was, I think, I don't know, 12?
8 to 12, I think it was. So, you know, we're even past that point. It's not something I think about on a daily basis. There's no reminder or something that you know that feeling, you know, or that you get that feeling and then you have to, like coping mechanism? Yeah, behavior. I think behavior is a real telling sign of that. You see old Ryan behavior, you know, entitlement, you know.
But there's not a smell or a situation or anything? Movies was a thing for me. I would always go to movies and I would take them. You'd take Vicodin and go? And I would disappear. I would just numb myself out. And so I always thought it was going to be hard to go see movies again. And I love to go see movies. And so when I got into treatment, one of the things that the therapist had me do was we all went to a movie as a group and I got to see it in a sober environment and it was still the greatest, right? And I remember that. And so I take my kids to the movies. My wife and I go all the time. That was the one thing I thought was going to trigger.
and uh you find a way to get past all that stuff and then you use the tools that you learn through the process uh to not um be influenced by those things and you know i've had a couple surgeries since uh since i got sober and there's been a plan in place it's always about uh transparency telling your doctors talking to people My wife says I built my house out of glass over the last 12 years. And she's got a point. Everybody knows my stuff. I'm not afraid or worried that somebody may know it. And this has zero to do with any sort of redemption for me. Like there are so many people who have been infected by the justice system, mental health or substance use that have gone through this, conquered it and are thriving. But no one has them on the Dan Patrick show. No one has them on a podcast and certainly not on the platforms. It's life. And it just was public for me. And that's it. What was that feeling like when you took a pain med for your surgery?
It was great, right? I mean, they're dangerously great. Dangerously great, yeah. I remember how this feels. I love this. I love not feeling, you know, negative feelings, painful feelings, the things that you're supposed to feel as a human being. But, you know, we just had a plan in place, you know. My wife handled them. We took them for a couple days, and then we didn't think about it again. I had knee replacement surgery, and I said to my wife, you know, they gave me a boatload of Percocet, and I said, I don't want to take it.
You know, I have an addictive person. I just, I said, no, I don't want to. And she said, you haven't had problems with this before. I said, I know that, but this is knee replacement. And I was in terrible pain. That's smart. And I, I caved in. I said, let me have half. Listen, they're invented for a reason, right? Yes. They're for acute physical pain. There's a reason why there's that. That's a me problem.
That's not a pill problem. I used to think football was the problem. No, it's a me problem. Football was never the problem. Football gave me everything. I had to figure it out. That's why with the Tony Romo statement that we just saw, I thought it was a very good statement. Didn't need the part about having debilitating back pain. Take that whole paragraph out. You don't need any of that. You chose to do this, and it's cost you this, and you're going to admit to it, and you're going to find a way to get better.
It's almost like the saying when you say something, but everything after the but is meaningless to me. And I was reading it with my wife yesterday, and I was just like, oh, no, you don't have to say that part. Everybody's had surgeries. Everybody's going through debilitating pain. I play on a golf tour with him. He was always out there on a golf tour playing. So I'm like, if you're in such pain, why the hell are you out there playing golf all the time then? That's not helping things. And to your point, you could see the things starting to unravel, being around people outside the celebrity in the game of football. But don't mask.
what the problem is by telling me that you've gone through surgeries. Yeah. Same thing with Tiger Woods. Yes, you're masking these things. Yeah. You know, let me bring it back. I'm going to talk some actual football. Yeah, let's do that. We'll continue with Ryan Leaf right after this. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at FoxSportsRadio.com and within the iHeartRadio app, search FSR to listen live. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free iHeartRadio. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and Park the Bus. Now with full video.
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Continuing our conversation with Ryan Leaf, he's the lead Pac-12 analyst for USA Sports, and he'll be in the booth on Saturday, Colorado State hosting Wyoming, the border war rivalry, 6.30 Eastern on USA Network, and then you've got Memphis at Boise State the following week. You look at the number of teams that can win the national title. How many would you say, let's say get to a national title game? As of right now, I would argue there's many more than what we think, because I don't think anybody has any idea what's about to trot onto the field this Saturday. with the way that rosters change so much in the offseason. The preseason rankings are absolutely bunk, in my mind. Should be ripped up completely after week one. You know, when my Cougars go beat Washington in week one, and Washington's a 15, you know, whatever, they have 15 ranked, they get ripped up. And Washington State probably should be in the top 25, then, if you look at it that way. Yeah, but this is for TV. I understand why we do it. I get it. But the point about this is, is that I don't think you can have any rational conclusion on how many teams are viable options for a national championship right now. But give me a ballpark. 30. 30 have a chance to go to the national title. Yes, I believe so.
30 for the playoffs, not a national title game. I would say you probably have... I think when you get into that playoff, you have a chance. Wait, well, are you suggesting that we could have another Indiana this year? Definitely. But who would be Indiana this year besides Indiana? Ole Miss. Okay. Ole Miss, I think Trinidad Chambliss is maybe arguably the best in the business. My Heisman frontrunner is John Mateer at Oklahoma. Maybe Oklahoma could be that team that comes out of nowhere.
because I think they're the best quarterback. And, you know, realistically, if you have the best quarterback at any level, you have a really good shot of making that. So I think there's definitely a team out there that could win the national championship that you are not talking about right now. I think Miami has a really good chance of going back to the national team. Mario Cristobal, I've known him for a long time. He's been an incredible coach, a recruiter. He's back home. He got to taste a little bit of it last year. You know, he continues to build a program that is rooted in winning. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if they're back in that realm once again. The ACC is such a, you know, foreign.
conference than what the other three are when you're talking about the Power Four. So, yeah, I suspect that they could be right in the mix again. And Mensa, they get a really good quarterback who will be a Heisman Trophy candidate. The number of analysts who think C.J. Carr is the best quarterback in college football. Yeah, water's wet. They're not going out on a very far limb there to make that. Well, but Arch Manning was the anointed, and even Dante Moore.
I think that you say Notre Dame, CJ Carr, I think Arch Manning, Dante Moore. I think all those guys can be in that realm. Like I said, I think John Mateer is the... You think he's the best quarterback in college football? Yeah, I think if he doesn't get hurt a year ago, there's a much different conversation being had. He was the best quarterback in all college football his final year at Washington State. He just was stuck in Pullman and not playing against the right kind of opponents. So yeah, I think he's the best player. I think he's got one of the best play callers in all of football. Ben Arbuckle calling plays that he's very familiar with.
you know, they got to be good on defense and that's Brent Venables area. So hopefully that, that makes Oklahoma, they got a difficult schedule, but yeah, that's my, that's my guy. The prep work leading up to being drafted now, because these kids are programmed when they're in grade school, high school, seven on seven, all of these things, but we're getting back to quarterbacks being under center in the NFL, which I kept thinking, why would you take that away? That the defense doesn't know what I'm doing in those seven steps. If they just see me in the shotgun, I've taken away, I think, a weapon of deception here. And so why are we getting back to these quarterbacks? Like Mendoza's never taken a snap under center.
I've taken more snaps under center than I know. Yes. So why are we getting back to quarterbacks under center? Well, I think college coaches didn't care that they weren't preparing them for the NFL. They were trying to win a national championship and get themselves paid in the process. Now these players are being paid a lot of money. So what the coaches have had to shift and pivot to is that you come play for us. Not only will you get paid this, that, or the other, we'll make you and get you ready to be an NFL quarterback.
And to be a great NFL quarterback, you better be knowledgeable and have the ability to be under center, to read a defense while you drop back, and make things difficult when you run play action. That's what a pro-style quarterback who has success in the NFL is able to do. But why wouldn't that help you in college if you're a coach? Because I think a lot of college coaches, and I think this was stemmed by Chip Kelly, it was speed, and it was basketball on turf. It was not necessarily... So like Loyola Marymount basketball back in the 90s. Chip believed that if we could outrun you to the perimeter, if we could out-leverage you with numbers, that was the difference. And it still is that way. I mean, when you scheme up an offense...
That's what you're up against. You're running into the A gap or the B gap on the defense. And if you can get a double team and get to the linebacker and the safety all in one, you're going to have leverage. You're going to have the victory there. But when you put a quarterback under center and remove him from that and put him in the shotgun, especially if you put it back to the right of him or the left of him, you pretty much for a defensive coordinator, you're giving him so much leeway. Now, that's why when the pistol came in, I really like that because at least you put the back behind you in that and you made it difficult for the defensive coordinator to scheme that up. You in the shotgun and put a running back to one side, like you are cutting the field in half in terms of what a defensive coordinator can do. And he's going to thank you in his postgame speech. How did J.J. McCarthy fall?
Well, I think he got injured. You know, I think that... I don't think he played all... all that bad last year, to be honest with you. I don't think that they were very good offensively, unfortunately. Having one of the best wide receivers out there and not getting the football, that's something else. But, you know, I think a lot of it goes into what Sam Darnold was able to do a year ago, what Daniel Jones has been able to do. Two guys that were on that roster and a decision by the Vikings organization to go with J.J. McCarthy. And in this day and age, if you don't go out and have an immediate success, people are ready to throw you out with the bathwater. And that's just something that I don't really appreciate. I wanted a competition. Kyler clearly walked in there and won it. I will say this. I love Kevin O'Connell.
But I'm telling you right now, if this team doesn't win this year with Brian Flores as the defensive coordinator, there's got to be a real conversation that maybe he's better as an offensive coordinator, as a quarterback whisperer, than he is as a guy overseeing an entire organization when this is all said and done. They have to win this year. Plain and simple. Ryan Leaf, USA Sports Lead, Pac-12 Analyst, and he'll be in the booth on Saturday at Colorado State in Wyoming. That'll be 6.30 Eastern on USA Network. And then the following week, Memphis at Boise State.
Great to see you. Thank you for sharing, as always. Robert Griffin Jr. III will join us coming up in about 25 minutes. Marvin will be in the confessional today. So two hours in the books on this Wednesday, one more to go. Todd is here, bandage and all, incredible. Dylan, Marv, Paula, yours truly in the back room, guys. We say goodbye to Ryan Leaf. We'll say hello to you coming up next hour. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.