Welcome back to our best of twenty twenty three. Let's get right back to our interview with GEO. That's what we call on Greg Wilson. Greg, I know you have a vacation to get to, but hold on. I really need to know your thoughts on this because you're such a gentleman. You're a great husband, You're a great father, you're a great teammate. These kids are so well behaved and lovely, and I want Max Stole to be just
like them. Yes, all of the above, thank you. But if your wife wants to go get a Starbucks and you guys are on a connecting flight okay, and you've heard the announcement like they're boarding yours now again, you get on late to the plane like I do, so this may, you know, be an indication of what you're going to say. But she wants to go get a Starbucks and you're like, hey, we're cutting it close, like don't go get a Starbucks. But she's like, hey, yo,
I'm going to. I want to. So you go to the plane and then the plane is going to take off and she's not there yet. Do you get off the plane and make sure that she like is with you or story the guy the guy left without his wife. He was like, she took too long. I told her not to go to Starbucks. What would you do?
Yeah, I probably wouldn't board with outer because you do. It probably been like a whisp.
True.
I probably didn't have the problem. Is I probably my boarding pass was probably on her phone. Yes, but you know, but I think if I put myself in that situation, I wouldn't have boarded the plane without her. There would have been like a whisper fight, you know, like a really like silent whisper fight, saying like why are you
going to get a Starbucks right now? Where there would have been like a whisper like a whisper fight back and forth where like we think we're the only like everyone knows you're fighting, but you think no one knows you're fighting, you know. So there probably would have been like one of those going on. Hopefully I would have won the fight. Unlikely that I did. If there was no line at Starbucks, I probably would have hung tight. And yeah, I probably I would not have boarded the
flight without her. That's that's I could prove that happen. That would be the case. But if she put us in that position, it wouldn't the whisper fight would have escalated.
The whisper fight. Is this a common Olsen term? A whisper fight?
So my wife and I always had this joke, like when the twins were little, we we didn't sleep for like a year. In our again it was probably two months, but in our mind it's a year, and like we would we had this running joke that like as long as in the morning, whatever happened in the middle of the night didn't count.
So like the twins and sleep.
They'd alternate, you're tired, you're being mean, Like whatever we whisper fighted in the middle of the night. When we woke up in the morning, like when we when our eyes opened and it was morning time, we would like check in and be like are we good, Like nothing that happened, nothing that happened throughout the night counted. We'd start fresh in the morning, and the whisper fights they
don't count. So so that was kind of our like deal for us, and it got us through like the first year of having the twins, and we've always tried to stick to that plan, Like if we're gonna fight, we gotta fight.
But if we're whisper fighting, it doesn't count.
I just want to get a sense of what whisper fighting is because in our house and be like there's such an asshole, like but I can't imagine whispering, Like.
What's a whisper fighting is? So like whisper fighting is like stop, you need.
A fucking Starbucks? Now, what about to board the plane?
Get a Starbucks on the plane or like, you know, when when the babies were small, it was like, I'm fucking trying.
Why don't you try to put them asleep? You're gonna wake up? There's this you know what I mean, Like you want to say everything, but you're talking like I'm trying. What do you think I'm doing?
You know, so that whisper fighting is like not a real fight, and we were we were on the same page with that, so that that got us. That's why we were able to get through having twins.
We call that a mister and missus in our house. If you're having a fight, well, we had a mister and missus yesterday. It wasn't good.
And as long as you make as long as you don't end the day or start the day on whatever that fight is, it's good as long as it doesn't linger You're.
Good, okay, So Greg, I'd be remissed because Aaron is very great at impersonations. She's done it of Sean McVay, she's done it of myself, she's done it of you and keV. I need you to give me your best Aaron andrews impersonation. It could be anything. It could be on the sideline, it could be in a meeting, it could be at dinner the night before. I need you to put together and think about it. I don't want you to rush, and I'm putting you on the spot here.
But this chick is great calling out other people. So I think that you need to. Having spent the most time with her over the last year and a half on the road in various you know positions, give me your best Aaron andrews impersonation an setting.
Wow, this is this is a lot of pressure. This this is a lot of pressure. I'm not prepared. This is impromptu. I would love to hear Aaron's impression of me. First of all.
Okay, Saron, do you know you can do it? Whenever it is when I don't want to say the team because I don't want to put them on the spot. But we were at I know what you're what, it's my favorite. We're like, by the way, very few people can make Aaron cry laughing. This is Greg Olsen to her on like a daily affairs every week in our meetings.
I asked him, you know how I asked you, Chris, if you took a xanax when you do our end gate breaks, because you're like, and the Bears are losing forty one to nothing?
Can we talk about then? Before? Well?
Why I do about it? Let's talk about it, go Greg. So this turned from I need to make fun of Aaron. So now we're back on me.
We're going to We're going to get to Aaron in a minute. But I said this to Aaron the other day actually at our production meeting. If I have a great thought, a great replay, I'm like, this is gonna be a great moment of the game. You can bet your bottom dollar I'm gonna get whispered in my ear.
We're gonna go to Crista with a game break.
One hundred out of one hundred times, one hundred out of one hundred times. And I'm like, that was the most interesting play of the last forty five. I had nothing to say for forty five minutes. I got a great play.
It's not cool point.
We're gonna go to Chris on a game break, and then it's like, thanks, keV. Thanks.
Here we have the Vikings, the Vikings and the Chargers. Fourth quarter, justin Herbert going back connects Mike Williams six points cuts the lead to twenty seven twenty four.
Back to you, keV.
keV, you know what I mean, Like can point three and by and by that point three plays have been run and no one gives a shit about my point from four p.
But you're praying, go babe. I have to say just keV, because I want to say all your guys name, and there's twelve of you on the staff, so I can't get through up. So I just gotta cut it down to keV. Okay, I put a side where the games breaks come through. Half the time, I'm not paying attention.
All I hear is let's go to Carissa. And I'm quickly hoping that it's the right highlight cheat that I have in front of me, because half the time I'm talking to somebody else or saying something inappropriate and praying
that it doesn't end up on the microphone. I was like, I've had so many panic moments where Terry Bradshaw's been sitting next to me and saying God knows what, and all of a sudden, I hear, let's go to Chrissa, and I'm like having to get out of his mouth because I'm like, this guy, you never know what you're gonna get. But anyways, so that's I said. Chrissen took
like a xanax on doing those production meetings. Greig is again one of the best teammates I've ever had, and like he is in our production meetings, I just have to say this and you ask me what my favorite line is, and then he can absolutely bury me. Right now, he comes to production meetings and he's ready, like it's not a whisper fight. It is like I asked him this past weekend, I go, did you take speed? Like He's just like, so, we have to tell America the story,
Like we have to tell America the story. And I sit there Rich Gross another one of my whole time favorites whom I die for. I love each other all the time with Greg because we love him so much and we're just like like it's insane. But Greg, last year we were talking about a defense. We had a really fun meeting and actually Greg brought us all gifts c and he brought us like tequila and we started drinking it and it was so much fun. And we allowed Greg to have the floor and he sits serr
and he basically diagnoses the whole game. He gives us his thoughts on everything. He's mid sentence, he's like, just you know, talking to us about this defense, and he goes, Guys, I just have to tell you. He sticks this giant paw in a bowl of tortilla chips, shut in his mouth and he goes, their defense is in a real freefall. I looked at Kevin. I was like, I'm just seized. They're in a free fall.
That's a true story. Yeah, I'll be honest. I gave my best follow up.
I had like four baskets and chips in the meeting this past week in Kansas City.
I hadn't eaten all morning, and you.
Don't light attendant, So how could you? Yeah, you're not You're not accepting anything she's offering. This guy, I don't.
Eat airplane food.
I'm with you, I guess my favorite My my favorite thing about e A is I don't know if it's much of it's like an impression or like my favorite thing about e A is she knows she has like the story the interview, like she has it, but as she's getting it out, it's like, listen, guys, I don't have a thing.
I have no idea. I'm a mother. I'm a mother. Do you guys realize? But like she has to go through like.
The whole self deprecate, I'm a mother, and then at the end she she like lays it out. We're like, yeah, eyah, that's your open that's your question. You know, damn well what you want to say?
No one don't.
You're the fucking best and anyone who's ever done this like you got it, Like we can skip to that part.
Like that's my favorite thing about AA.
It's qualifier.
Yeah, it's like qualifier, self deprecate, I'm a mother, self deprecate.
Self quiet.
I haven't washed my hair in a week.
I have horrible acne. Have you seen my nose?
It's a crater. I'm like, Eya, first of all, no one has seen your zip. No one's noticed since you brought attention to it. I still don't see it and you know exactly what you're gonna say, and it's gonna be fucking great. So like that's my best thing about EA. Like in all honestly, this is and this is a god's honest truth. You could ask my wife she coming down here. We actually had a full conversation like when Erin is like in the moment, like yesterday with Mahomes, there's nobody better.
Immediately, I was like I texted or I talked to Greg before we did it because I was like Greg, I'm panicking.
No, but like it was, but that was our pregame. She's like, guys, I can't do it. They want I can't. And then she gets on air and it's like, yeah, Erin, that's it. Just do like she is and now she's gonna be embarrassed. She when the when the light comes on.
She is so good at asking questions in a way that comes across organic and natural and personable that whoever she's interviewing, it could be Patrick Mahomes, it could be Kelsey, it could be whoever their guard goes down, they don't feel like it's a gotcha, and she's able to ask the question that everybody wanted to know. Did you feel pressure throwing the ball to Kelsey knowing Taylor Swift sitting in his box. That's a hard question to ask, whoa
that's a weird question to ask. And I'll tell you what, when Aaron asks it, it comes across as so normal, It comes across as non threatening, it comes across as so fun. And that's why you get the answer mahomes gabr which ended up being the story of the entire game. And like, that's Aaron's gift and that's what and that's why every time she goes to that, I'm like, Aaron, stop, you know you're going to crush the question. You're going
to crush the interview. I have no patience for the rest of it, you know what I mean.
But like, there's no one.
Better, there's no one better framing the question everybody at home wants to know and getting it in a very personable and fun manner than er.
And that's her gift. That's why she is so good.
And we will finish up with one of another one of our favorite people, the legendary Dan Patrick. I know we were both honored that he agreed to come on the podcast. He's been so great to us in our careers and he gave us a masterclass, me specifically, eighteen years into this thing, I finally got the art of the interview from Dan Patrick, and we talked about the pressure of trying to be perfect in this industry. Hello, and the toll that it can take. What, Where, when?
Why?
How? That's the art of interviews. Just got to remember those. He also tells an unbelievable story about the time he interviewed OJ Simpson. I feel like everybody has stopped us on the streets on the field to say that they listen to this interview. Here it is with Dan Patrick. Check it out. So, Dan, you are so skilled at so many things that you do. Aaron and I both
interview people as well for a living. I want to know the art of the interview through the lens of Dan Patrick because I'm constantly trying to figure out and learn and take advice, yield advice from people that I respect. What makes a good interviewer.
Be curious, like, always be curious. It's not about you. There's nothing wrong with the question that makes it seem like you don't know the answer if you say why, But we get caught up in Oh my god, they're going to think I don't know. So you're going to ask a question, answer the question, then ask the question. It's terrible, yes, just get to the question. Just ask
the question. And because the less time I have you to be able to load up with an answer or maybe bullshit me, I'm doing a disservice to my audience. And I always think when I'm interviewing, my job is to be a conduit to the people who are listening or watching. It's my job to get them something that keeps them in their car or they go, oh, did you hear that interview? And if you're selfless, then you'll ask open ended questions and be curious and always be
ready with the follow up. Athletes try not to tell us things, or coaches try not to tell us things. Your job is. They're going to tell you something. You just have to listen for it, and then when you
follow up, that's when you get gold. I remember when Scotty Pippen was being interviewed by all these people and he had something to say about Michael Jordan and Lebron and everybody was, oh my god, did you hear what Scotty had to say, well, in the same conversation he talked about race played a role in phil wanting Scotty did not take the last shot. Tony Kukoach was going to take the last shot in the game and Scotty sat down and I said, oh my god, that's the
quote he'd basically called Phil Jackson a racist. And I said, to Pritzy my book, I said, see if you can get Scotty on. And he was promoting his whiskey or bourbon or something, tequila maybe, and I asked him, I said, what are you saying about Phil? And he said no, he basically was saying he's a race And I just thought, nobody's listening, like they're listening for what gets clicks. And gets clicks is when you talk about Michael Jordan and
Lebron James, not Phil Jackson. And I just remember it was like it hit me that are we really listening? Are we only listening for what works in today's social media climate? And I don't do social media. I'm not on social media. I'm not interested in social media. I'm aware of it. If I make a mistake, somebody points that out, but other than that, I don't need it. As a reassurance. But I think you know how we
ask questions, who's asking questions? And I think journalism is sort of in small letters now, I don't think it's capital letters. And that's where I think we get into trouble sometimes hot takes. That's really important. But when you sit down and you ask questions, ask the question, and don't be afraid because this isn't about that guy being your buddy or you know, that woman being your buddy. Your job is still to get that answer to your audience. And if you always believe in that and stay true
to that, you can't go wrong. But make it about the subject, not about you and your questions.
I love that. Now I'm rethinking everything. I want to ask a stentistic I'm my shit, what's happening?
Well, I would I not to tell you how to do your job, but I would like to know, like what makes you want to be part of the media, Like what what part of the media do you enjoy? Because he he is good, Yeah, he's good on his podcast and he's got things to say, and he's young, and I'm just curious that new wave of athlete. So you know, we got the nil guys and then we got you know these guys who have a podcast and what do you say? And can you say it? And
are you saying it on here? But you won't say it to the media when you do a press comment Like those are things that I find really fascinating because today's athlete is far ahead of the game in a lot of ways, but really naive in a lot of ways too.
You've done everything, covered World Series and Bay Finals, Olympics, your time at ESPN, your time at NBC, and your own show. Is there something you would go back and do differently? Or you appreciative of the past that.
You've been see I would have critiqued you right there. Tell me what would you have done differently?
What would you have done differently?
You don't even add the end of it.
I love you now.
I do this to my wife and I do this to my kids. So much again, so good.
And it mess that is the way you think, Dan. Did you deal with John Swatsky at ESPN?
Yes, he in a.
Great way sucked my head up, like what where?
When?
Why? How do not ask two part questions? Like? It screws my brain app but it's great.
John Swantsky changed my career.
Wow. Wow.
John was in a magazine. There was an article and it was like the King of interviewing or King of the question. And I read it and I said to John Walsh, who was running Sports Center, I said, we have to get him here.
Yeah.
And so he got him here five days, eight hours. And people were like right in MF and me like they were like, oh my god, why did you? And I said, oh my god, this is unbelievable. It was a treasure trove of things that could help you. Tips laying down breadcrumbs, like take them here, take them here. Where are you going? What's your end game? What's your first question? Now? We went toe to toe a lot of times because I said, you've never interviewed Mike Tyson,
you've never interviewed Dennis Rodman. Your law is your rules, your tips won't apply, and he goes, I beg to different. I go, I know because I've done that, I have interviewed them, and there is no way to really go into that with his formula. But the other stuff was wonderful, open ended question. I'll sit around the table with my kids, my wife and I used to go, how is your day good? And I go Okay, tell me what was
the best part of your day? And so then they would give you an answer, and then after a while they caught on and they go you interviewing down or you really.
I love it? Though I love it, you have.
To get into Do it to your boyfriend, do it to your husband, just to ask a question. They won't realize it. But when you say, hey, how you doing good? Hey, uh, what was fun today? Or what was interesting today? Then you get conversation. And I always tell people when you get married, you fall in love, but you stay married because you like that person. So find out if you like being around them by talking to them.
Chris, don't do this. Don't do it.
I don't want to screw up. You've gotten this far without me. I've helped you with other relationships.
Exactly get out of them. So wait, So okay asked the question. In the Dan Patrick school of interviewing, this is this is my test. Okay, so Dan, you have covered World Series NBA.
Don't have to do that.
But they don't have to do that. You're out of information that they know about. Okay, I thought I was starting. I thought I had to start, Like, No, I don't do your question now I don't know. My question is what would you do differently?
Okay, that's it. What would you do differently in your career?
What would you do differently in your career?
Nothing? I learned. I learned the right way. I mean, I got humiliated, I got kicked to the curb. I came back. I started something on my own. I'm proud of, like you're proud of. It's like you know when a supermodel gets wrinkles, like that's life. You know, you've been smiling, it's okay. And I just and I didn't call myself a supermodel, by the way, I'm just saying that you you're not. It's not perfect. And I tried to be perfect when I started this. Every sports Center I did,
every single one. I'd get done, i'd grab the tape, I'd go upstairs and I would watch the entire Sports Center because I was looking for things that I did wrong, and I thought, what am I like? So you're kind Even I'd make a mistake on camera and I'd be thinking about it through the whole show. And I don't know if you guys have gone through that where you make a mistake pregame or something, and you're going, oh, God, damn it, it's just there. But I was looking for
everything that was wrong. How'd the tie look, how'd my hair look, how did I sound? And it was just I was driving myself crazy because I couldn't just go out there and go I made a mistake. I can deal with it. And it took a long time to do that. And you know, Keith Oberman helped immensely because he's like, DP, fuck it, move on, and then he's right. But in the moment, you're like, God, I want to I want to be perfect. You know, that's probably why
I got to where I am. But it also can really, you know, take its toll on you because you want to be great all the time. You know, the motto is every day is the super Bowl, and if you don't have that approach, then you're going to fall in
your face sometimes because you weren't prepared. And it goes back to that first day in radio when I didn't know how to pronounce the Ayatola's name, and I never forgot that feeling of being humiliated, and so it's always there, you know, forty years later, I'm emotional.
I'm emotional because I am I'm like sitting here crying because a lot of this is relatable. But also I was telling Chris one question I wanted to ask you, was I feel like in this whole thing has been like just like a relay race, right, Like you just go as fast as you can because you want to keep up and you want to keep reinventing yourself, you want to stay relevant, but you don't take the time to enjoy it. And there's things I look back at college game day I wish I enjoyed more. I wish
I had taken pictures. But this is so special that we have you in our life. We have you somebody we looked up to, we wanted to be like, we wanted to work with, and we have you as a friend. And just to hear you tell these stories that you know are so passionate and things that we are so interested in. I don't know.
I never celebrate it. I never celebrated. I never stopped. And my wife goes celebrate the victories. I go, hun, I need big victories hard, like, hey, you know you're going to win an award, And she would say no, like did you have a good show? I say, well, I don't know, yeah, I guess she goes, but you got to celebrate it and I and she was so right, as she always is, and I just missed out on that.
So I would say to you, guys, man, the small things, and you know, having a baby, just those small things, those are things you should be doing in your career, noticing the small things. It's like when your baby does something small and you go, God, did you see that? That was awesome? She ate an avocado? Oh my God, Like have fun and remember it because you chase constantly I did. I kept thinking, well, next job, or next paycheck, or next raise, or next next, next, next, next, next,
And I never ever stopped. It's okay to look open the scrap book and just go, yeah, that was fun. Okay, So let people and the memories.
So let's let's do this as I applied, Mike, do you have a few more minutes for us? Because I know we're.
Already I have, I have life for you.
I love you, Thank you. I know to me right now, she's a mother, she's emotional.
I guess I'm a mother too. I'm a mother too.
The best part is Daniel, one of the funniest people we know, and Aaron and I don't cry ever, and here we are, okay, so rapid fire. Since somebody is by Dan Patrick's school of question asking favorite interview, I don't have one. Least favorite interview.
Ooh, Tanya Harding was was painful. Why there? You go? Right there? Boom, that's what you do? Why Well? I brought up Nancy Kerrigan. She I had never interviewed her, and she had found religion, and I wanted to know how her religion accepted what she did and what she was, how she was a part of Nancy Carrigan and you know, her husband and all those things, and so good. She follow up, She goes, are we are we going to
really talk about this? And I go yes, And then all of a sudden I hear, hold on, Paul once talk to you. Well, I don't know who Paul is. Paul goes, Dan, we're going down this road, and I go, uh, who are you?
Jeff's brother.
I'm her agent and a PR person, and I go, look, I've never had so they cut short the interview, but I just wanted to ask her about it. I interviewed O. J. Simpson. This was after the double murder.
And what was your first question?
I don't remember my first question, because we were we were talking football. Okay, I made a terrible mistake. Iowa, I think was playing USC and the Orange Bowl, and I thought, you know what, Oj, you know he was found not guilty, he was still a wonderful football player. Maybe we talked to OJ Simpson, well he agrees, and we just talked football and USC and all those things, and we were changing tapes. So I did thirty minutes
and then we stopped. And so you know, that feels like forever when somebody's reloading their camera and it's just him and we're just sitting next to each other and like four feet apart, and he goes, you think I did it? And I go did what? And he said kill? Yes, but I wanted him to say it, so I said did what? And he said killed those two people? And I said yes. And then and then my cameraman goes, okay, we're okay, we're ready to roll. Oh shit, yeah.
So what happened?
Dan? He kept trying to tell me how he was not guilty, and he goes, you don't know how crazy my life is. Do you know that I was in Vegas and I walked by a room and they were shooting a porn and they wanted me Oj to be in the porn and like it was going, it was going in a direction where it wasn't going to make air. And I just let him talk. But he was trying to convince me because I just told him to his face. Yes, I thought that he killed you know, his his wife,
oh Ron Goldman. Yeah. So that one was an interesting conversation. Lawrence Taylor, I thought was going to beat me up. Really yeah, I'd ask him. He had been suspended for cocaine use and he read a statement to the print media and I was at training camp and then he came out. They wouldn't let camera people in and he came out and he was walking to his car, and I was working at CNN at the time, and I said, would you read the statement on camera? And then he
said you need to get the real story. And I said, I have the full story. I talked to your agent. And then he walked away, and then I thought, oh god, all right, here I go, and I went up to him again. I said, look, I need you to read that on camera. You know that I wasn't able to be in there. They wouldn't allow cameras and then he had the darkest sunglasses on ever. I could see the whites of his eyes through his sunglasses and he's staring
at me, and I go, oh, my gosh. I felt like I was Ken O'Brien of the Jets, and he was coming after me, sacked me, and he's my neighbor.
I'm not kidding, I tell the street, Yeah, it's awesome.
He's a good guy. I felt that he's one of the first guys I ever felt bad for. I saw fear in his eyes when Lawrence Taylor was chasing him during a game, and I go, that that is fear right there, That is fear. But he got into his he had a dark blue Portia, and he peeled out and Peter King was working I think for news Day. He runs out, he goes, what did he say? And I told him the story, and I think Peter quoted me in Newsday that Lawrence Taylor basically told me to
get fucked as he got his car. I mean, these are the moments that people don't really care. Like when you're getting in the business, you don't you know that that you don't want to have these moments, Like you don't have these moments come on, you know, and then you do where you know, sometimes you're asking a tough question and you know, I just I just try to be professional the best I can. Never try to be sensationalistic, and I don't do gotcha. I don't do any of
that stuff. But there are times when you go, God, this is gonna hurt. When I asked this question, bos so you gotta do it.
Was there an interview that you wanted, didn't think that you would get and you got it.
Let's see now I could say yes or no to that, right.
Who was a person that you wanted to interview and you didn't think you could get it, but you got it.
I think Michael Jordan during the NBA Finals when he wasn't talking to the media and then I got a chance to talk. I had a great relationship with him. I don't really know him, but he was very generous with me and he knew that I was I could push him a little bit and he was playful. I thought he was different when he was on Sports Center after they would win those championships and another interview I
got that's really not headline worthy. But John Stockton never did interviews, never the NBA finals NBC would be trying Jim Gray would be trying to get John Stockton to sit down, and I just remember saying to the p R, I was just trying to be funny and I said, hey, love to have you know, John to sit down for an interview. And he goes, I'll ask, and I go, okay, just for shits and giggles comes back and he goes, John'll do it. Where do you want to do it?
And I go what? So we sat down to the interview. I just remember NBC's like, wait, what do you wait a minute? You know, why don't you do an interview with us? And I go, I have no idea. I just ask. And I always say that don't be afraid to ask. Cool if you can take no, which I happened through most of my high school and college career with women, like if you can, if you can take a no and keep coming back, then you know that's you got to have that that thick skin, you have
to have callouses. And I just remember, you just ask, you know, I had no problem asking, and if you got rejected, you're like, okay.
Do you think you could ask Michael Jordan to do calm down as well, like we can book him next week, that'd be a easy. No.
I don't have that pipeline to him anymore, but he I would still love to follow up with him, and I would love to talk business with him. His business acumen and the fact that his mom played this important role and what would happen if he, you know, stayed with the Didas didn't want to go to Nike. And I mean, you know, these small little decisions that somebody makes, and you go, that's a billion dollar decision right there,
if not more a couple of billion dollars. And all it was was, we're going there and we're gonna we're going to talk to these people at Nike, and uh, you know, you're just sometimes it takes that it's just a small thing with a lot of these guys. And they're competitive too. I find this too in interviewing. You got to be competitive with somebody competitive, don't be afraid to let them know you know what you're talking about and go after them a little bit. Pat Riley famously
shut me down one time. Don Shulish shut me down one time because they didn't think I knew what I was talking about, and they could have been correct but what I was asking was not, you know, something really serious. You know, it wasn't goodwill hunting and I'm solving a problem on a chalkboard. But I asked Jack Ramsey. I said, give me a question. I can ask pat Riley NBA Finals and Jack Jack was just a wonderful, wonderful man.
He goes, Dan, bakers are Miami. Who's he with?
He was with the Knicks?
Oh? Sorry, Nick, Yeah, yeah, the Knicks.
So he goes, Dan, this is what you ask him? And so he's got this elaborate thing, and I'm so I go over there. It's a you know, a group interview with Riley, and I asked the question and he didn't even answer. He looked at me and he didn't even answer it. And I walked back over and Jack goes, what did he say, Dan? I said, he didn't say anything. He goes, he knew you knew something. I go, uh, I don't. I just think I just embarrassed myself in
front of him. He goes, no, you didn't, Dan, you learned from me, like you know, a Hall of Famer, wonderful man. And he was trying to I think he knew that Riley knew that Jack gave me the question to ask him and he wasn't going to give up the answer to the reporters there. That's all right, you know, it's sorry.
That's why Rogers is so hard for me sometimes because he and Andrew Locke was really hard Chris. I know, he was just on your Thursday Night show. Because they're smarter than you. I'll never out, you know, and Rogers knows what's coming luck New And I was like, damn it, stop being so smart. Just listen.
Yeah, but I find those they'll play you know, kind of verbal tennis with you a little bit. They'll help you do your job. I found Rogers would be engaging. And when I talked to him after the draft when they took Jordan Love and I said, you know why forefingers with your tequila? And he said there wasn't any any more tequila, like he had that amount of tequila only because that's all the tequila that was left at
the time. And you know, so you're asking him about that process and he allowed me to go into his home when I was asking the quest. And that's all you want is if you break through the barrier. Now, what do you do when you get in the house. Are we sitting in the living room, the kitchen? Are we going down to the man cave? Are we going to the bedroom? But I want to know where where are we going? Is it going to be a fun, intimate conversation. Is it going to be sort of status quo?
Like I want to be in the kitchen with you? Living room? Nothing good happens in the living room now except for the Christmas tree and that's it.
Yeah.
Yeah, Like you know, whenever you go over and you were meeting a girl and you were going to take her to prom, you went in the living room like it was always and they'd have plastic on the furniture, Like, nothing good happens in the living room. But you get into the kitchen with an athlete or a coach or something, then it's like just sitting around and it becomes a little bit more of a uh, let's chat. And that's another thing I always tell my students. Don't interview somebody.
Have a conversation with somebody, because then it doesn't sound like an interrogation because if I ask you questions and I'm like, you know, peppering you, You're gonna tense up a little bit. But if we're having a conversation, then I feel like, okay, let me hear your tone and that'll tell that kind of dictates you can have a velvet hammer. That's the way I view it is, Hey, it may hurt, but it's not gonna hurt as much, or it's gonna look better than a hammer coming at you.
It'll be a velvet hammer. But ask that question and get that conversation going, because when you do, that's when they forget they're being interviewed. And and it's hard to do that, really hard. But when you do, then you got magic. And that's all you want. You want that sound bite. And I always respected when when you had to ask two questions, you got your two questions on the sidelines. I'd be like, God love you, ma'am, God love you, because I couldn't do it. What are you
going to say to your team second half? Like like, coach, what do you need to work on? After that? Every goddamn thing is what I need to do. They're like, wait a minute. Contractually I get to ask you one more question.
You know, you know what I want to see you interview Mike McDaniel on the sideline at half time because that questions. My dream is to see Dan Patrick interview Mike McDaniel at halftime. And then I reached out.
I had Fritzie reach out to Mike McDaniel two weeks ago and I said, you know, hey, we'd love to have you on the show. And the message we got back was I'd like to talk to Dan in the off season.
Huh, that was it, because he wants to talk for a long time. He is very I.
I love it. I love you know when everybody is a cookie cutter and it's like, oh, that's the coach. Nobody wants that. I want a guy who like is difficult or irascible. I mean, I don't want Belichick or Popovich per se, because that's not good for you know, our jobs. But when you get somebody who wants to kind of push back at you a little bit, give you a ship like Jim Beheim always wanted to, you know,
push back John Caliperry wanted to give me ship like that. Yeah, but that's what you want because there, as I say to my daughter's boyfriends, if I like you, I'm going to give you a ship. And if I don't, then anything time to pack your back, like you just have fun with somebody that you care about or you want to engage with. And I've been fortunate that you can kind of push back a little bit.
I mean, Bob Knight became right in front of your microphone.
That is Lou Holtz at Arkansas.
The red sweater and the white shirt underneath. I thought it was Bob.
I have Bob Knight, A big doll back there, a big carving or something. People send me stuff all the time. I love it. I love it. I got this is, I have this man case. I don't know what I'm going to do with my career is over because I have to take all this stuff home, and you know, my my wife loves that. You know, there's no sports stuff at home.
When is the end of your career? When you wanted more years? Four more years? Really? Why good? Chris? I think that learning that was great.
I want to be able to do it at a certain level, hopefully maintain that level, and then you you bow out. It's a young person's game, trying to stay relevant, having the energy, the enthusiasm, having something new to tell people. You know, those are all challenges, but it's every day where you think about that. What I mean there are
shows that I went to see one direction. I would go see Taylor Swift if I could get the like, I want to stay young, at least in my mind of what is out there, what is somebody doing, what are they saying, what are the shows that people are watching, the athletes, the younger at like all of that stuff, and it's doing your homework. And I just want to make sure, you know, I do it in a way that you laugh with me, not at me. And that's my that's my big concern. That's my big fear is damn,
he's still doing that, like you don't know. I know, but that's unfortunately, that's the approach I have. It's I'm still trying to prove myself after all these years. Every single day, I know, but I have no other approach to that. I have no other approach. I can't do it any any other way. And it's as I said, going back, you don't enjoy it because you're always going
straight ahead. There's nothing wrong with pulling over the side of the road and going all right and then getting back in the you know, the H O V lane or whatever. But that's, yeah, that's what that's the only way I know how to do it, So four more years and then I'll bow out Christmas Eve in four more years.
On that illustrious resume. The occasionally accurate annuals.
We were trying.
We were trying to why the book.
Every football book is serious and it's about gladiators and it's about you know, all this stuff. Macho and Joel cohen Co wrote the book and he writes for the Simpsons. And he called me up and he said, hey, would you like to be in a Simpsons episode? And I said sure. I said I want to play myself. He goes, no, no, you'll just be a generic announcer. I said, that's playing myself and you're going to do some rock skipping. That's a rock skipping competition with Homer Simpson, and you're going
to do play by play. And I go, I'm all in and he goes, okay, Hey, can you explain to me why Mark Sanchez gets criticized for the butt fumble when Vince Wilford blew up the tackle that bounced into Mark and I go, And so we started talking and then he said, you know, I got one other thing, and then he would bring something up and then all of a sudden, I would say stuff back to it. So we were basically exchanging ideas. And then I think after twenty minutes, he goes, do you want to write
a book? And I go sure. Now I didn't know what he was talking about. I just said, sure, write a book. Yeah, I don't know. And then he goes, I'm going to write all this stuff down. I'm gonna come back at you. And then we just would talk on the phone. And then it was all tongue in cheek, fun stuff, goofy stuff, some serious stuff, some stuff we made up. And I just thought, you know what, have a little levity with this, have a little fun with this, poke a little fun at it. And he was wonderful
to just talk to. And then Andy Richter from Conan he had a question he wanted to write something like all of these people that he knew were like, hey, can I tell why? You know how I became a Vikings fan and I used to sleep naked with the windows open to get used to the cold and be And then I'd been like, sure, can we talk about nipple Gate? And I said, we can talk about whatever you want. I'm going to talk about nipplegate and sure, we're talking nipplegate here.
Yes, I'm going to rename this book the Random Shit you want to talk About with.
That might have been a better title than the occasionally accurate Annals. I just love having you trying to say animals.
Okay, wait, we're going to let you go. But before we do that, E, do you want anything before we let Dan get back to his life. No, I just I love you and I hope you're well and how is your health? Are you good?
I'm going into New York once a month, get wired up there for a little bit, but a whole lot better than I was because I went down a dark hole there for quite some time. And yeah, you know, I never knew depression. Never Like when somebody says, oh, I suffer from depression, I'm like, how do you suffer from depression? Then all of a sudden you get depression
and you're going, holy shit. So whenever anybody brings it up up now, man, I want to know, I want you to talk because it's that that was as that I almost quit the business. I physically couldn't. I couldn't climb the steps to get into the studio, and I'm like, man, I am I'm in bad shape, but everything's good. Better. Got a granddaughter and uh, little Josephine, so life is good. She is going to be eight months. Oh my god, it's not fair how cute she is.
My dad said, if I knew how great being a grandparent was, I would have never been a parent. It's a whole different thing.
When you're on it is. Man, you can love them and then you just hand them off.
That's how it.
Yeah.
But look, I I'm proud of you too, the women you are okay, thank you.
You're going to make me cry, that's not possible. Thank you.
I am proud of you. And we've we've navigated some some waters there, that's certainly. But you know what, I'm glad whatever role I play, I'm very happy to be a sounding board or just a friend. And just a friend is not fair to say I'm proud to be a friend.
No, thank you, Dan, I'm modus hi for you. Yes, we love you, so love you a lot. I'm so grateful for you. So those were some of our favorite moments from twenty twenty three. But we couldn't do any of this without you. Guys are wonderful listeners and followers. I know Erin and I talked about it all the time. But when you guys yell out from games and from the sidelines that you love calm down, or the questions that you write in, we cannot thank you guys enough
for supporting us through all the ups and downs. We love you, We love you, we love you. Thank you for another incredible year and all your support. Yeah, even when we're walking our dogs and you scream from across the street, calm down, and my husband thinks it's like something that we did, and I'm like, no, it's the podcast. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you're a guy, girl, anything. We're just so excited. Everybody's listening. Even you had coaches
out there. I know you're listening to us, and we appreciate you guys so much. Happy holidays, Happy New Year, and we'll see you in twenty twenty four. We love you, Howie long. Yeah. Calm Down with Erin and Carissa is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.