Bonus: At the Super Bowl with Chiefs superfan Eric Stonestreet

Kansas City Chiefs were lasting the Super Bowl. After a lifetime watching the Chiefs, this is an incredible within sple. This just means so much, not only to me, citizens Iron City fans for both teams have been streaming into this city all week, all wearing red and gold. By the way, because for the first time in Super Bowl history, the teams share the same colors, even though the forty

Niners are a little more on the scarlet side. While the crowds are gathering all around Hard Rock Stadium, I've set up shop nearby and the Sleep Number booth at the Media Center, a giant space where their camera crews and makeshift studio set up. People milling around a lot of football players and it's kind of crazy here, but a lot of fun. My guest today is a devoted football fan. In fact, he might be the biggest Chiefs fan of all time, and he's here wearing head to

toe Kansas City Chiefs gear. Eric stone Street, who plays Cam Tucker on Modern Family. It is time for some farm justice back home. When we have two alphableles, we lock them in a pin and let them fight it out. This is between Nanny and Luke. Come on, let's go. Oh and help yourself to a gingerbread person. They're both gluten and gender free. Hi, Eric stone Street, I am so happy to see you, so happy to see one of the nicest people on the planet. You are well,

thank you. That means a lot coming from you, because you're one of the nicest people we try. Don't wait, and you are obviously pretty darn jazzed, Eric, because you are here to cheer on your team, Kansas City chief So excited you got your hat on? Oh, I got everything on? But but about come September or October. This is basically all I wear in my wardrobe. Really, you know, look, it's comfortable, it's it's it makes a statement. It represents

what I love football Kansas City. But no, I'm very excited. I've been a fan of the Chiefs since I was a little kid. You know. My aunt and uncle got me um to go in their season tickets, and then my dad got me season tickets when I was maybe in eighth or ninth grade. I had season tickets all through college. Then of course moved away to Chicago and Los Angeles. But I've always maintained my Chiefs fandom. Um

and knowledge, you know, I football knowledge, you know. I just I mean, I recognize all these guys walking around legends. I just saw, Oh my god, there's John Randalls, like there's Anthony Munos. You know. So I know so much about football. So being here and now representing the Chiefs and representing my team and having a reason to be at Super Bowl is so fun. Now, did you play

football when you were younger? I did. I just told Anthony Munio so I had a poster of him in my room, even though he was a Cincinnati Bengal and I was a Chiefs fan. I said, I had a poster in you in my room because I wanted to be an offensive tackle, but I never got big enough or good at football. I played in high school and you know I was fine, but never to the level that I would ever have garnered any kind of stuff.

You grew, I mean, you grew to love the sport to play it, but also just as a super fan, just a just a fan and just love the game and love love everything about it. And you've met a lot of players, I know, Eric, when you were younger growing up in Kansas City. And there's one actually very moving story. You met a young player at a mall's

signing named Joe Delaney. Can you tell us that story? Yeah, I was at I was at Indian Springs mall and there were two players out signing autographs, him and J. T. Smith I believe was the other one. But I got Joe Delaney's autograph, and that sort of was the moment that you know, you look back of like when did your fan fan hood start? For me? And it was were you then well six, I mean seven, seven or eight, you know, um, because I don't remember what year he

passed away, um. But then of course I got his autograph and he played I think that next season, and then he passed away trying to you know, save a kid and uh who was drowning and drowning and he drowned and self. Yeah, I mean he was going to be that was so heartbreaking, going to be one of the greatest that was back in I guess three or something, right,

I'm not sure what the year was. Yeah, yeah, he died in nineteen three, so I would have been probably uh ten when that when I met him, And so it was shortly thereafter where this accident took place, just

a year or so afterwards after that. You know, I can't help but ask you one question about this, Eric, because I just came from Los Angeles because I was at a stand up to cancer scientific summit and Eric, by the way, has been incredibly supportive of the work we're doing its stand up, but boy, Los Angeles was just uh it just like if a city could cry,

Los Angeles was crying stunned. I was in Kansas City when I found out the news, and immediately reflected on, you know, as we all do, what our personal experience was and has been with people that we've lost or passed away, And the story that came to mind for me was, um, he came to the set of Modern Family one day. He we got word that hey, Kobe's coming to Modern Family. We're like what, And so he comes and watches this rehearse and shoot and he was

just sitting there, just taking it all in. And I said, so, what do you think, Kobe, And he goes, well, it's cool how you guys rehearse because it's like us setting an offense. You know, you have to be here so she can be here, and then if you move that way, then this person counters and does this. So it's really neat for me to see all this happen. And then at the end, I said, so what made you, you know, come today? And he goes, you know, I woke up this morning and I just I felt like I wanted

to watch something funny. And what I thought that he was so cool is like most people just turn on the TV and watch something or but Kobe Bryant's like, no, I'm gonna go to a set in the sound stage and watch something. And then he says, and plus, you told me to stop by sometime. And I'm like, Kobe, and he goes, you did last year he told me to stop by, And I'm like, well, yeah, but like,

who knows if he was serious. I know I told him to stop by, but he knows I he was serious about probably in passing, like yeah, fine, but the fact that he remembered that and then referenced and made a joke about it, but came and so hungry to learn, and and he referenced that, you know, why would I go to any other show? You guys are the best. I want to watch the best do what they do. And and every time I saw him was just so delightful and such a nice person, and always with his

family and would always introduce and ppictures and whatever. Just heart heartbreaking, tragic, and so sad for all those families, all those families, and those young girls, and a lot of the surviving children left that one family without a mom or a dad or a sister. It's just I don't know. But obviously we're continuing to keep Vanessa Briant in our prayers because, uh, it's going to be a long difficult road for her. And I thought, what what

Barack Obama? President Obama said? You know, he was just getting started on his second act, and I do believe he would have done great things. But I hope. Absent of that, you know, people will be inspired to do great things. But that's what he did. I think that's what he did while he was living, and I think that's his legacy. He'll continue to do that, um after

he's gone. Yeah, Well, getting back to I'm going to talk to you about modern family, which is ending soon and I'm sure you're sad about that, but but let's let's get back to football just for a few minutes. Um. You you go to almost every game? How do you do that with your schedule? Well, this season with Patrick Mahomes, I just decided that this was a year I wasn't going to miss a game. So I went to every Chief's home game this year. UM, with the notion that

we would be here. I having gotten to know the general manager of the Chiefs, Brett Beach and Andy Reid, the head coach a little bit, and marked on him and the president. You know, I just really felt like, given what I listen to them say, this was we were going to make it to the super Bowl this year. And there's plenty of documentation of me saying that. And I'm not a cocky guy. I don't like to put the cart before the horse is type of thing. But it just felt like we were so close last year.

Our roster got better this year, so given that we shouldn't make we should go to the super Bowl. Now it's called any given Sunday for a reason. Any team can beat any team any day. But I just felt like we were going to be here now when you went to those games where you're do you still have family in Kansas City? And you do? So are they all so into it? Are they coming to the super Bowl? No? Well,

just Lindsay and I are here at the super Bowl. Um, but my mom would come to all the home games, would get her there, and my sister would come and um, and what about like friends from high school? Friends from are you still close to them? Some? Some? For sure we stay in touch. I have a lot of friends, and I'm still in touch with college buddies a lot. And um, where'd you go to college? Kansas State? Oh god,

my god, you are hardcore Kansas you know. But there's something to that, though, and something that I think you appreciate, can appreciate and other people can appreciate it. I'm proud of where I'm from, you know, I'm my parents chose to raise me in Kansas because that's where they're from. And I don't like it when places get painted with with broad brushes. I'm not a fan of broad strokes in that way. I don't want people to just think that everyone from Kansas is a certain way or any

everyone from that part of the country. There are good people everywhere. I agree with you. I love to put the spotlight on where I'm from and draw attention to where I'm from because they're great food there, there's great entertainment, there's great culture, there's great people, great sports, obviously with the Royals and the Chiefs. So I love being from Kansas and I love telling people about it. That's so nice, and I think you should be and there's no reason

to be proud. But I think in the current culture and landscape that we're in, you know, people people that I identify, we're so tribal, and we make assumptions about people that are completely untrue, and you know, I just wish everybody would be not not be so hard on each other. You know, has your relationship with the game

changed at all? Obviously the game has gotten some some tough press, and understandably so, with the number of injuries with ct E and and on field collisions and traumatic brain injuries, and I'm just curious, Um, you know, has it changed your relationship with football at all? You know it has It hasn't for me. I haven't played the game. Of course, I'm empathetic to people that you know, have suffered you know, health issues because of playing football. I

think of the people that have suffered that. And of course I don't know this for a fact. I'm just basing it off. My interviews that I've seen would all say they would do it again, like they would all play the sport again the same way because of what they got out of it, you know, So I have to yield to players. I think the NFL is is doing a lot to make the game safer. They are, They're improving helmets, there are some changes in the rules, and a lot of resources have been devoted to making

the sports safer. Um. And it starts with youth football. It starts with you know, a generate teaching this new generation of kids how to tackle and how not to put yourself in the situation to potentially get you know, injured. So hopefully they're making the right strides and um uh, you know, I feel like concussions in general in all sports are taken are treated much more seriously. Now. I

was talking to someone the other day. They said, oh, you bang your head and be like, give them smelling salts, get back out their kids. And now, of course I think that there's so much more medical information that that people take it much much more serious. I think so. And I think as long as the NFL, and I know they are in colleges and everyone's you know, making strides and using the technology for good to make the game safer than I think that's obviously moving in the

right direction there. So, um a Super Bowl prediction from Sleep Number. By the way, because we're here in the Sleep Number booth. Um, you know, Sleep Numbers working with a lot of NFL teams, including the Fansas City because they're really trying to help sleep is kind of very underrated and it's so critically important and it's a lack of sleep is an epidemic in this country. So according to Sleep Number, Kansas City is a slightly more well

rested city than San Francisco. So they're putting their money on the Chiefs. What do you think of that? I love it. I love it. I know a lot of the Chiefs players, and they all have their sleep numbers. They all use them. Really, as we're talking, Travis Kelsey's right above us talking about his sleep number. Yeah, isn't that great? And uh others I think that's his mom or something. Yeah, that's awesome. Uh. I'm happy to hear

anyone predict the Chiefs to win from any angles. So what are the what are the bookies or whatever they are? They one and a half point favorite, which is essentially a coin toss. Yeah, it's a good It's gonna be a great game, that's what we have. Do you think it'll be high scoring? I do. I think it's going to be in the thirties because I guess people were a little bit disappointed last year, right because it was such it was a defensive battle. I don't think this

is gonna be a defensive battle. I think it's going to be an offensive juggernaut. I think we're gonna go back and forth on each other a little bit. I'm just so nervous. I'm so excited. It's just a control thing, you know. It's the same reason you get nervous, you know, doing things that you don't have any flying for example. You know, you get nervous about that because you're you're not making any of the decisions. I'm not I'm not a coach, so everything's in the hands of and it's

a good thing. I'm not a coach. Let's be very clear about that. Would you'd like to be a coach, but you are You're not a coach, but you play one on TV. And speaking of that, we're going to talk about the last season of Modern Family. We're gonna We're done. We're going to do it right after this. We're back with Eric stone Street. We're here. If you guys are hearing some ambient noise, we're in the media

center for the Super Bowl. So we've got a lot of crews milling around, a lot of football players, uh, people with microphones kind of in search of right anything to them. So, um, let's talk about Modern Family. I can't believe it. You must eleven years and twenty two Emmys, including two for you, my friends. Um you, I mean, you must be feeling so many different emotions, right and it has to do with what we just talked about, which is football, which is the most exciting time in

my sports life. The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl, while at the same time it's one of the saddest moments in my professional life. Saying goodbye to a dream role in a dream job for the last eleven years. Well, I mean, how lucky, right, What is Dr Seussa say, don't cry because because it's over, smile because it happened. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, And that's definitely our approach, like we are most definitely thankful and grateful that it happened. Um,

it's gonna be hard. You know, I've kind of said I didn't go to acting school, but I know one thing they don't teach you in acting school is how to be on the show eleven years and develop a hundred and some odd different relationships with crew and cast, and then all of a sudden say goodbye to that. You don't learn how to do that. You have to do that. And you know, you've said goodbye to jobs and people that you've loved and worked with for years

and years. This is the first time I've ever had this extended period of time in my life with the same people for nine some eleven some five six years. So I'm just gonna try to keep my heart and mind and eyes open and enjoy every moment of it and let the emotions hit me when they hit me. Um, and they've started to most definitely. You know, was Cam the role of a lifetime for you? Eric? Oh? I think so there's you know, people have always said like, oh,

aren't you worried about being typecast? And you know, and that's a popular question, I guess for people to ask. But if that, if that's it, I mean, it's great. I mean, it's just I never imagined it for my career. I was going to ask you, how did you get that role? And it was it was it competitive? You know, how did it happen? It was competitive. I came into

the process late. They had cast a few of the other parts, and I you know, had four auditions for the for the for the for the role, you know, which is an uncommon in Hollywood to keep kind of having to jump through hoops. But you know, Stephen Chris, the creators of the show, they had an idea of what maybe Cam looked like. And I don't think I was it at first, and so they you know, passed on me, not meaning I was a terrible actor or

terrible performer, but they just didn't think it. But to their credit and thankfully to them, they kept being reminded by my audition and they kept their minds open and their hearts open, and they were like, you know what, bring that guy back in because we keep thinking about his audition. And then they decided to test me. And I tested it twentye and tested at ABC and got the party and us that's the rest of the story.

So in two thousand nine, when this show started, Eric, it was truly groundbreaking, and I was so thrilled that it. You know, it showed all kinds of underrepresented people on television living normal lives. How did that evolve? Because I feel like the country has evolved and attitudes have evolved, perhaps in some ways because of of what you did on Modern Family. How did you continue to kind of

update and push the envelope during the course of the show. Well, just as life happens, you know, that's the beauty of the blueprint of that show is is that as a family, you know, it ebbs and flows right right. Tragedies happened, Shocking things happen, growth, you know, job changes, financial issues, whatever, those all things, those things all happened. So with Mention Cam, the goal always was from the beginning, that make people laugh. You know, we want to make We want these characters

to make people laugh. We want these characters to be a mirror for everyone, not just a mirror for gay people, just a mirror for a lesbian couple, but a mirror for everyone. And I think the writers did such a good job of putting us in situations that that weren't defined by our sexuality. I always said from the beginning, Mitch and Cam's goal was to prove that they could be terrible as terrible parents as anyone else. And as

as you know, it's like gay marriage. People would say, why can't gay people be as miserable as the exactly and and and you know, we just wanted what defined Minch and Cam to be that they were men, that they were partners, that they were fathers, and they were sons, and they were you know, all these other things, and let the fact that they were gay be one of the things that they are. But certainly isn't at the top of the list of what everybody needs to know

about them. You know, it's like it's not important. I was gonna ask you how much of you was in camp, because listen, you know, you grew up on a farm. Can grew up on a farm. You guys have a lot of similarities. You like to clown? Do I use that as a verb? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. What does that mean? Clowning? Yeah, clowning. It means you like to dress up as a clown. Well,

but clowning is comedy. I was I was clowning earlier because I keep tripping on this carpet out there for some reason, and I literally tripped leaving that way, and then when I came back, I tripped at the same place. I'm like, how did I trip at the exact same place? And then there was a group of firemen there, and I knew that they were listening to me, So then I said, I tripped at this same exact place, and

then I tripped again just for their benefit. That's like an example of clowning, you know, uh, just having fun and you know, entertaining people. I wanted to do that when I was a kid. I wanted to be in the circus and to get to be on Modern Family and play Bisbo the clown in the greatest circus of all time Hollywood. Um was just a complete, complete dream come true. But did the writers take some aspects of your personality and background and really incorporate them into the character.

Oh yeah, all of us. You know, they sat down with us and just listened and we talked and they just mind what they wanted and left some behind. And UM, so thankful for that. Grounds of characters. Yeah, and you you know, one of the things I wanted to ask you is about this new attitude about casting certain people for certain roles. Like now, people are offended or take issue when a character who does not identify as similarly

as the character is cast. For example, a trans person should play a trans person, not a non trans person. A gay person should play a gay person gay character, you know, latinos should play latinos, on and on and on. And I wonder if you've gotten any pushback because you are not gay for playing a gay man. I think there are definitely people out there that have a problem with it, and did when I got the part. I don't. You know. Here's the thing, Hollywood has a tried and

true method of how they cast parts. Right, they bring people in and then the crew leaders and producers of the show decide who they think is best. Now, did a lot of gay people audition for the role of cam Right. You know, I did a lot of straight people, absolutely, and I think it's a real slippery slope when we start saying, okay, we just want you to check this box to tell me if you're gay or not before we let you audition for this part. I mean, how

would that even work? Like, how would you even say, like, no, I swear I'm gay. It's like, and what about people that aren't comfortable with being out? But are you know, quietly gay? It's like, well, no, but I'm gay. But I can't say that I'm gay because I don't want my parents to know yet. But no, I'm gay. I can audition for this part. It just doesn't make sense. I mean, we have to just obviously give everyone a chance, and I think opened the doors for for for people

who haven't haven't had opportunities. I don't know. I mean, this is my opinion. I Ope, it doesn't get me in trouble, but I feel like actors, that's what acting is. You take on the persona of someone else. Well, that's the gift to me from a performer. The gift to me is to be able to play someone like that like that. That's the exchange I bring who I am and what's in my heart to that character, and that

character then returns a tremendous amount to me. That's the exchange we have, and me bringing my life experiences to someone else is what we should sort of be celebrating. Um, but I just think, you know, you don't want to go down that road because uh so, then I just think it's opportunity as long as everyone's getting an opportunity to audition. And look, I can make the case that for twelve years before I got on Modern Family, I

didn't get a tremendous amount of opportunities. But maybe because of the way I looked, I didn't maybe get Cam because of me being a heavy set guy. They didn't think that that was who Cam was. And so there are all kinds of reasons people don't get parts. There's only usually one reason they do, you know. There's it's because somebody decided that that's who they want to play

the part. As long as there's opportun unity and people are allowed to be in the room equally, which I'm supportive of, you gotta yield to the creative process, which is this is who we want to play this part. And I think just be aware of your implicit biases and make sure that people are open to the possibilities, just as you had to open their eyes that you could play cam as well as somebody who looked different

than you, you know. And my mom always, you know, said when they when the Chauffeur started, they were like, people would say, oh, well are you what do you think of your son playing you know, a gay guy on TV? And I told her she said, well, what am I supposed to say to that? I don't care? And I said, Mom, what you need to say to them is that you watched your son murder people on TV. And no one ever asked that question, what's it like

to watch your son murder someone on TV? You know, that never was a question anyone never thought to ask. But bringing that back to what your initial question was is like, so you know, you're going to have to find people with real life experiences and everything if you start using that line and cast, so you have to cast convicted villains, which murders. Again, if you're out of jail and they've done your time, you should and you're an actor and now you have an agent, come on

into the audition. You know, for that murderer show us how it's done. What does Eric really think of his Modern family castmates. You'll find out when we come back and we are back with Modern Families Eric stone Street, So eleven seasons, Is there any Are there any particularly intense memories you have, either funny poignant of experiences you

had on the show, there are so many. I mean the Fizbo episode, crying calling my parents and telling them that there's an episode called Fizbo the Clown that we're shooting next week. It was a pretty big emotional moment. But I would say when why was that so emotional? Well, because I wanted to be a clown. My dad gave me the name Fizbo the Clown when I was a kid, and now you know here I showed the writers an article about me as a kid, and now it's an

episode of television. Um, I would say, I always go back to when we found out the show was picked up for what's called It's Back nine. You know, when I got the job, audition for the job and got the job. That was awesome. I was very excited, but you know that's my job to get those jobs. So I was like measured Well, now we have to, and then the show got picked up, and it's like, well, that's out of my control. That's not up to me.

I did the best I could. Now it's up to the show creators and the networks and the studio to see if this fits on TV. Not not under my control. So that was a great That was a great day,

but not the biggest day. But the day that the show got picked up for the back nine, meaning we were going to do a complete season of twenty four episodes on ABC, that started to pay pave away from my mind to imagine, oh man, we're gonna be on TV a long time, because if we do one full season, they're never gonna do one full season and just cut us.

They're gonna do a second season. And if they're gonna do a second season, now we're getting kind of if in syndication, so they're not gonna let it go after two seasons. So we're gonna do three. And if we do three, ways four and oh my gosh, four five. So then you started managing like I'm going to be on TV for a while. So I think still to this day, the day the Back nine got picked up is the most important day and is what is responsible to leading me here right now. I want to name

some of the people in modern family. I just want you to kind of give me a short instantaneous reaction. Okay, Ed O'Neill, legend, just down, just down home. All he wants to do is have something in his crock pot and an mm A fight on TV, holding holding one of his collectible knives, just sitting at home. Ed O'Neill right now, no doubt, is cooking something, holding one of his knives in his house and watching a sporting event. That's Ed O'Neill. It's super nice, so very funny or

not that life very funny, very funny, very funny. Different kind of funny than Jay. Yes, different. I mean at seventy some years old, he's from Ohio. I mean he's got different life perspective and he sometimes catches you off guard with what his humor is. Yeah. Sophia Vegara generous, beautiful, inside out, nice, um hilarious, self deprecating. Rico Rodriguez, who plays Manning sweet just a good kid. Can't get any better than then. Rico Julie Bowen energy goes twenty four

hundred miles a day. I mean she is a mile a minute, good mom, carrying, polite. I always really liked her. Oh yeah, she's great, isn't she graz smart too? Very brown, brown graduate. Yeah. Tyrell uh ty Burrell is so uh. He's like a what do you call it? A U when a guy can do everything. He wants to make his own sausage, he wants to brew his own beer. He wants to do this, he wants met him at an event and he was super nice. And I met his wife. They were lovely. She's a baker, I mean,

he's he's he's just they sound very crunchy. Well, they're from Utah. They live they live up in Utah. And he's just he's an awesome, friendly, awesome guy. Sarah Highland talented. I've blown away by Sarah's acting. When I got on the show and I started seeing her in episodes, I'm like, oh, wow, she's great. She's really good, aerial, Winter sweet nice. Um. Do you worry about child actors? I do not. These kids. Nolan could smart. He's you know, he's a mensa and

he plays a dumb character. Yeah, he's very smart. I should be I should be too. Yeah, let's let's let's let's let's look. I think we need to we we should just start a petition. Well, we need to get them to lower the standards, and then we'll get in. And finally I want to ask you, well, actually to two more. Your name's on here, but I'm humble, incredibly challenged, wonderful lover. Yeah, I enjoy him in bed. I enjoy him very much, all of him in bed. He's a

wonderful guy. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Oh man, Jesse's you know, are you guys super tight? You know we are super tight. But here's the thing that's so great about Jesse and I. His relationship were so different, like and we are a great example of how people can be completely different and have a great friendship. Like there's no doubt that I'm here at the greatest sporting event of all time and

he's probably at Barber streisand tonight. You know, like we do completely different things, and we have so many operate moments from our past. We're all tweet out or instagram out a picture of me at brock Lessner's mm A FI and he's seeing Lady Gaga in Las Vegas for the thirtieth time. Uh, what is m m A. It's don't mis martial arts. Sorry, I knew I was thinking. I couldn't remember the mixed part. But my point is

is we we have a fantastic relationship. We've only really been mad at each other a couple of times, Like where we when did you get mad? At the second second season we got mad at each other for something and I don't remember what it was, but it was stupid, and we both just went to each other and we're like, you know, what are we doing? We're gonna be working together forever, so we can't be mad at each other. But who who who made the first move to apologize?

Jesse's the type of person that I can't stand if he's upset. He's got that kind of personality where I might have a personality. We're like, oh, Stone Streets mad, Good, let him sit there for a while, you know, you know what I mean? You know those people where Jesse's the type of person. It's like, I don't want Jesse to be mad at me. I don't want Jesse to be upset, so I need to bridge this gap here. So you were the bigger person, not always, I'm not always.

I don't even remember in that moment what it was. But I just know that we had a conversation, which is, we don't have time to be mad at each other, so let's just be super upfront and honest with each other. But you know, the other thing about our show that made it, all of us get along so well as we don't work together all the time. You know, we're modulars. So I'm working with Jesse the most, which means I'm

not working with Ti and Julie. I'm not working with Ed and Sophia, so we don't have a lot of time for each other to really get on each other's nerves much as other ensemble shows. And finally, Aubrey Anderson Emma's who played Lily your daughter. Yeah, well she's come a long way. You know, we had two twins that did not want to be that. We had a set of twins that did not want to be there. They cried all the time. So we fired their asses. Uh no,

we wed. Yeah, we did what a family would do, and we removed them from a situation that they clearly weren't having a good time and it was not worth it. And they found they found um Aubrey and you know, she she's so cute, so sweet when she got there, but you know she she had her own struggles with wanting to be there and doing it and she's really come into her own as a young lady now. I'm so proud of who her personality has become and what

she is. And what do you think the secret sauce of the show was, Eric, I mean, just great writing, great characters, very modern family. I mean the secret sauce of the show is is families are universal. No matter where you are, what country you're in, we all suffer the same drama, the same stuff back and forth, and it just it's it's all relatable. And even when we would we would write something, you know, we would write something on and I would think, like, there's nobody that's

gonna get that joker, nobody's gonna like that joke. We would inevitably be out somewhere and be like, oh my god, when you said that, that happened in my family, That exact same thing happened. And that's where you know writers are brilliant. They're like chefs. You know, you don't sit down at a restaurant and look at the menu and think like man Elk and blueberry jam and fog. It's gonna go great together. It takes somebody to tell you that's going to be good, and then you taste it,

you're like, that's really good. And that's what comedy writers do. They they create the taste of what is funny. And we've had the best writers maybe in Hollywood history, on that long of a run of a TV show. So what's ahead for you? When you think about, Okay, what am I going to do next? Are you and your cute girlfriend Lindsey going to take some time off? We're talking about you, Lindsey. Um, she was sort of stacy for a minute. I don't know what we're I don't

know what I'm gonna do. I'm not. But here's the thing is what modern families afforded me the opportunity to do is not worry about it. I don't want to go away forever, because you know how Hollywood is. I go away and people forget, you know, who I am or what I've done, and they'll miss you even more well potentially. And that's the other thing about getting to

play the character I got to play. People got to know me, you know, for playing a character they don't know they haven't gotten to know me, and usually people don't like me as much as they like my character.

That's what I feel that must always be. Well, not always is, but you know, it's hard to talk in real life and be as funny as as as you are when you're reading comedy writer's words, although you're pretty damn funny that they have a completely different sense of humor than my character does, which always catches people off guard. But I'll find something to do that's meaningful and funny.

You're not you're not thinking about it, or you think, n G, I'd love to do a play, or are you just going to kind of savor the end of this run. I'm gonna savor it and then jump in and find something that is exciting. I've never done a multicam comedy, like a traditional sitcom that that sounds fun to me to do that, because it's like doing a play every every week, and now there's so many opportunities with so many outlets, which I guess the conversely, you

think it's so much content, how can anything breakthrough? It's it's it's it's an incredible time but a challenging time right now, right But I'm excited. That's the good news is I'm thankful, I'm grateful, and I'm excited to see what's next. Well, before we go, you have to tell me quickly about this video you did with the Chiefs.

Randy Reid. Yeah, okay, explain to people who may not Understandy reads the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and I wanted to do a video celebrating Andy Reid in the chief So I played his brother, Randy Reid, seeing what he does, seeing what these guys do. It's

a lot different than what I do. I have a jet ski business in Oxnard, California, and it's just something my friend jered Well came up with the idea a few years ago, and then my friend Jerry Collins, I asked him if he wanted to help me write it, and he came up with, you know a lot of the stuff, and then we just went to training camp

and improvised it. But it was very popular in Kansas City and Coach Reid was in it, and him being in it really grounded it and made it feel real and a lot of people Patrick Mahomes girlfriend as she watched it apparently and was like, man, Andy Reid's brother is he's something else and she's like, Patrick's like, that's er, that's not. But that was happened a lot, a tremendous amount. Yeah, she wasn't one of the only ones that I got

that message about. But it was just meant to be a love letter to my favorite you know football team, Kansas City Chiefs. Where are you to be sitting for the Super Bowl? Do you have good seats? I'll tell you where I'm sitting, and then you tell me if you think they're going to be good seats with the Commissioner of football. Oh oh, aren't you the one that'll be fun? So are you going to be in a box? You're gonna be in You don't want to be in the stands. I picture you as want to be in

the stands. I mean to focus, I need to go to the bathroom. When I need to go to the bathroom, I don't want I love the stands. You're probably not going to be super sociable because you're going to be I'm not sociable. I'm not sociable. You are a football games. I'm not. I want to just watch the game. I don't want to chit chat. But no. The reason I'm sitting with Roger is because five years ago he invited me to the Super Bowl because his wife and he

and his daughters are big fans of the show. He called me and said, we'd like you to come to the super Bowl and I said, no, thank you, that's true. You said no thing. I said, no, I'm not coming to the super Bowl until the Chiefs are in it. And he said, very funnily funny, that's not a word. I think it might be. I just made it up. He said, in a very funny way. Okay, if you want to wait that long, that's up to you. And

I was like, okay, Roger, game on. And so the last two years I've been Roger, the Chiefs are in the a f C Championship rain check time, and this year we won. So I'm he's made good on his invitation to the to the super Bowl, and I made good on me never coming to the super Bowl and tell the Chiefs are in it, well, awesome. Well I am rooting for the Chiefs because I love you, so by extension, I love the chief Sorry to but they've had a lot of fun. Are you the most famous

band Paul Jason skis. Are they all coming, Rob Wriggle, I'm sure they'll all be here, but we're all fans. Well, thank you, love seeing you. And that does it for the special bonus episode of Next Question from Miami. Thank you to sleep Number for the cozy podcast booth, and thanks to my guest Eric stone Street for the on conversation. I just love that guy, and thank you all for taking the time to listen to this before the big game.

Enjoy the super Bowl. Check out my commercial. I think it happens in the first quarter and what can I say? I was brilliant. But don't blink because you'll miss me until next time and my next question. I'm Katie Couric. Next Question with Katie Kurik is a production of I Heart Radio and Katie Curic Media. The executive producers are Katie Currik, Courtney Litz, and Tyler Klang. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen. Our show producer is Bethan Macaluso. The

associate producers are Emily Pinto and Derek Clemens. Editing by Derrek Clements, Dylan Fagan, and Lowell Berlante. Mixing by Dylan Fagan. Our researcher is Gabriel Loser. For more information on today's episode, go to Katie kurik dot com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at Katie Kurik. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.