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Welcome to a special edition of The Deal Our Super Bowl Thoughts. Alex Rodriguez, my co host, myself Jason Kelly joining you, breaking down the big game from you know, what I would like to think is our unique perspective.
Alex. First of all, how are you doing?
I'm doing great? You know, super Bowl Monday. This is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds me, Jason in my career that baseball's right around the corner. Yes, the Monday after the Super Bowl is Baseball's almost here, Springs almost here, warm weather, all of it.
That's great. That's a good point.
That's a good point because, like I have to say, Super Bowl Monday, I feel the same way. But I also feel like, ah, football is over. You know, I love watching football, you and I love talking about it, So let's talk about it. I mean, this game. I don't think anybody on this Super Bowl Monday is like, hey everyone, great game, unless you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan.
What did you think of it?
Well? I just think that I can relate big time with the Kansas City Chiefs. You know, Pat Mahomes obviously, I've known him since he was a child because I played with his father, Pat Mahomes Senior. But you know, you either love the Chiefs or you hate the Chiefs, and I think the chatter and at least in my opinion, going in, I don't think people gave the Eagles enough credit on how great they are from top or the
organization to bottom. It was an absolute masterclass from ownership to GM to head coach, defensive coordinator, you name it. They won every category by a landslide.
All right, So there's a lot to unpact there, and I want to unpack it with you. The first is you touched on it, and I'm going to take it a step further. I think the Kansas City Chiefs this season essentially became the villain of the NFL.
Would you agree?
And I dare say, like, you know a little bit of what that's like playing for the TV you played for?
How do you read that? Why was that well?
I mean, look, when you're that good, I think there's some fatigue, right, there's some jealousy for sure. I mean fan bases that haven't been I mean, think about if you're the Bills, right and you're a fan base and you see the Chiefs just winning and winning and winning, and they have now glamour and they have you know, the great Taylor Swift, and they have Hall of Famers all over the place, and you know, the red. It gets a little bright for people. And I think that's what you saw.
Yeah.
And the other funny thing is like the Eagles are a team that I don't know people love to hate because you know, Philadelphia fans, again, this is something you know as well as anyone, are like no other. They have a ferocity all their own. And yet it did feel like the stadium, at least watching it on TV, it felt like the stadium was very pro Eagles. I mean like it wasn't quite a home game, but like it definitely felt like it was with them sort of with them in the room.
All right.
I want to I want to lean on your expertise here in two different ways, and I want you to put yourself in the mindset of each of these quarterbacks. Pat Mahomes, you said you noted you've known him since he was a child, you played with his dad. The pressure going into that game, what does that feel like? What do you think was sort of going through his head leading up to it and then as it is like clearly coming apart.
Well, I think if you're Patrick Mahomes, you want to eliminate the white noise because there's a lot of it. Two weeks is a long time. It's a long time between games. I think Patrick Mahomes knew how good the Eagles were a little bit disconnect from I would say the general fan base, and I feel that. You know, he said after the game yesterday that the agony of defeat hurts more than the glory of winning, or something
like that. I'm paraphrasing, obviously, but for me, there was a lot of pressure on Patrick Mahomes and it's almost a no win situation. Yes, you get the three pet but man, you show up to the dance often enough, it's just a matter of time.
So you get whacked.
Yeah, and last night they got whacked. So I dare say you felt that feeling. What does it feel like? How do you process that when the expectations are so high and you don't meet them.
I think, Look, it's hard enough to repeat. I mean, the numbers will tell you it's almost impossible not to do a three P. That's almost really impossible, especially in such a competitive league. Look, the Eagles had it all working, and if you look at the numbers and you look inside the data, the Eagles were a better team all year long. Yeah, from training camp to last night. And I think the Chiefs are looking at you know, we're one point favorite when and a half point, and they're like,
I'm not sure about that. We might be the dogs here. But I think for a guy like Patrick Mahomes, I'm really looking forward to see how he comes back. But the daunting task of having to do that back to back to back, I think it was too much against a team like the Eagles.
So what's your advice to him?
Well, I don't think he needs advice, but I think knowing Patrick the way I do, I think he's going to get back to the drawing board and I think they have some more to do. Again, there is not my circle of confidence, but it seems like they're going to probably strengthen their line a little bit. It seems like they're going to go out and get, you know, beef up that roster a little bit and put their necessary pieces for Patrick Mahomes to get back to the Super Bowl and win it and look just like the
Eagles did a couple of years ago. They came back stronger than ever. Yeah, I think the Chiefs will be back. I can almost guarantee that.
All Right, I'm going to move to the Eagles in a second, but I'm going to push you on this because I feel like, as your friend and your partner, it is it's like I understand what you're saying about the football, but as an athlete, like you have insights into this that almost no one does.
Like, how do you get your head right after you lose like that?
Well, I think here's the deal. When we lost in two thousand and four to the Red Sox after being up three zero, I think that's a whole different way. Not all losses are created equal. I think it's actually easier to get over last night because that was that was a whacking, right, I mean they got destroyed in every they really did. I mean it was over from the get go, and then you see the interceptions and then you see another one, and I'm sure for Patrick
he felt quite embarrassed and some shame. I know that's how I felt. You almost don't want to come out of your house for a month or two. But I think there's going to build him up. I think he's crushed right now. I think he's a little bit in disbelief. He played his worst game of the year, the biggest. That's something that you can never say about Patrick Mahomes. So I think he's I know that after two thousand and four, I was destroyed and it took a lot out of me. And I came back in OH five
and came back stronger than ever. I won an MVP, and then of course in two thousand and nine we won the world title. So I can see Patrick Mahomes coming back stronger. But it's going to take a minute to get over this loss. This one hurts.
Yeah, all right, So let's shift to Jalen hurts because he comes into this game with like a head full of bulletin board material, right, I mean, he played out of his mind two years ago, I mean literally the best game of his life and the team comes up short. How does he in your mind? How did he go into the game yesterday? And what does that feel like from your perspective? And maybe it's O five, maybe it's
O nine for you. How does it feel like when you're like, Okay, I put in the work and now I see the fruits of that labor.
Much easier than Patrick Mahomes because here's a guy who played really, really well yeah and couldn't close. But that's easier from a psychological point of view because you can say, Okay, I showed up in the biggest game. Great confidence. I just need my boys to follow. Yeah. But it was interesting after he lost that game a couple of years ago. I think he said we'll be back, and he was very resolute and very confident that they were going to come back, and this time they're going to be ready.
And I think he's been prepping for last night the Super Bowl for the last two years. Yeah, and it helps. It helps, like a tidal wave of confidence when you play well at the highest level and your teammates come up a little short, then the other way around.
Yeah, Okay, that's really interesting.
By the way, let me just say this the comp and baseball. This is something I do know about. Is Aaron Judge. Yeah, Like when Aaron Judge loses against the Dodgers and he makes that you know, the mistake where he drops the simple flyball and fans are getting on him, I think that's a double avalanche to overcome. He played poorly, and the Yankees got embarrassed. For a guy like Aaron Judge is a double whammy that's much harder than the battle we're talking about.
Yeah, all right, So you alluded to something really important, which is what happens with the Eagles over the intervening two years between that loss, and it happens very quickly. And what's interesting is from an ownership perspective, these are ownership groups that you and I know more than enough to be dangerous about. I dare say both very resolute. In the case of the Eagles, Jeffrey Loriie I did
a documentary about him a couple of years ago. He's a very different sort of owner, very understated, as you know, really is involved and also really trusts people.
His relationship with Howie.
Roseman is probably one of the lesser known but arguably most important storylines here because what they do over two years is they draft incredibly well and they really identify what the missing pieces are. When I think about the business lessons from what the Eagles have done, that's what strikes me is that, like they really figured out what they needed and they went and got it. Because this was an entirely different team especially on the defensive side
than we saw two years ago. And that's just again we see all these lessons between sports and sort of business more broadly. That to me is like a management to use your word, a management masterclass.
Yeah, Jason. And the thing is, by the way, I love that piece you did with them a few years ago because I learned a lot about them. Jeffy Lourie. I'm talking about the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. The adjustment they made was not that rare if you're talking about five twenty years. What makes it rare is it did it inside of two years? Yeah, And that is
a testament to jeff Louriy the owner. Now when you think about their ownership group, you said it they draft, well, they do one, free agency, They develop their players and their alignment from top to bottom. Jeffrey Loriiy the owner, he is the epitome of what VCP stands for, Big vision, clear vision. He deploys tons of capital to go get his players like Barkley, and then you go out and
get the best people in the world. And that just doesn't mean on the field, but it also means this general manager, his coach, his devisit coordinator, the head of business, chief revenue officer. Jeff Lori is a masterclass on how to run an organization and he deserves a lot of flowers.
Yeah, I mean, and did it, you know, very quietly.
I mean again, in a city that you and I both know does not hold back, and yet he is, you know, he is revered. And listen, he has brought this city two titles. It's first two NFL titles. It's first two NFL championships, you know, over his ownership in the last ten years.
He's owned it for longer, but those have come there with by the.
Way, two different coaches, two different quarterbacks, obviously a whole different you know, roster of players and coaches underneath that. But the one, you know, the one consistency there other than Jeffrey Lorie.
Is Harry Roseman.
So we got to get one of those guys on this pod, by the way, we do.
And Jason, I want to just kind of double tap on what you just mentioned, because you know, as an owner or an organization, sometimes you have easier markets to
be able to navigate, you know, adjustments. But in a city that you have more white noise, arguably with that fan base and the radio and the media than any other franchise, you know, probably only second to New York or one two, one A, one B. And to do it in such a stealth matter, in such a noisy place, which arguably you're talking about some of the most smartest, most passionate fans and sports the Philadelphia where there's a Phillies.
The Eagles are the Sixers. They bring it every day, and they expect you as a player, you as a general manager, and you as an owner to bring it twenty four to seven.
Let's go back to the game for a second, because it was on your home network. As happy as the Eagles were, I'm going to go out on not much of a limb and say your friends at Fox were not pleased at how lopsided that game was.
I have not seen the final ratings.
I have to think I've seen anecdotally that yourship dropped off pretty dramatically after halftime because the game felt over, and it turns out it definitely was over. If you're sitting at Fox right now, like, are you just thinking bad luck? You know, it's obviously outside of their control, but like, what are they feeling right now?
You know from the Murdocks to Eric Shanks, they're just great, great people to work with. It's amazing. This is an organization that they're not married to ratings. They control what they can control. What it is anti climatic, right, I mean, they've been planning for two years and this is the baby. This is what they pay all those billions of dollars for. And here's what I think Eric Shank would say, I'm
happy with all the control controllables. Yeah, we had a good telecast, we put on a good show, we had good numbers, and then the game fell off. And that's not on us. But that's not just unique to Fox. It was CBS, NBC, ABC, Disney, whatever. Everybody would be disappointed with a game that's you know a little bit out of reach past the middle of the second quarter.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, So let's go to the booths, Alex.
These are your guys. Kevin Burkhardt, who is your other partner. I'm very jealous of him, and obviously Tom Brady you're a good friend. They're in the booth calling the game. What's your obviously biased perspective on them?
Well, again, disclaimer, I love him both. They're both very good friends. I think Kevin Burkhardt is one of the most underrated to this day still even after doing a couple of Super Bowls, one of the most underrated, understung superstars out there. He does not only a great job for football and he kind of drives the bus for Tom Brady. He does a great job with the Fox World Series crew with Derek Jeter, myself, Dontre Willis, and
Big Poppy. And if Tom Brady was a stock, I would buy as much as I can afford, I would buy all of it. And the reason why I say that, I think he got so much better from week one to week call it twenty one last night, right to the Super Bowl. I just think his work ethic is, you know, second to none, and if you study his resume, he's a guy that just you know, he knows a
sending better than anyone. And I think that in three or four years he's gonna be one of the top guys, if not the top guy in the game.
Yeah, I will say it was fun to watch him.
I mean, there were so many undercurrents, especially because it wasn't that long ago that he was playing.
Obviously, it was only a couple of years there's all this goat debate.
You know, this certainly was coming into it with Mahomes and Mahomes. Had they won last night, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes would have done something that Brady had not done in terms of winning three in a round. I mean, nobody has done it in the Super Bowl era. So
it was interesting to watch that. I mean it was also interesting and again I don't know playing sports at the level you or Tom Brady do certainly, but you know this notion of you know, sort of Brady watching all of this unfold, it must have been kididly like challenging for him to just even process what he was seeing because he must know, again more than anyone. How that felt for Patrick Mahomes to have that sort of
performance and just be overwhelmed by a defense. I mean, in some ways it happened to Tom a couple times, you know, because he was seven and three in his ten Super.
Bowls, so he didn't win everyone. But it's fascinating to have him calling that game of any game.
Yeah, a few things there. There's a lot to unpack there, Jason. So number one, you and I about a month month and a half ago, did a pod here on the deal, and I felt the same way probably Tom felt about watching the great Patrick Mahomes. I felt the same way watching Juan Sooa go through these negotiations. Yeah, because around twenty four years ago, I was in that same spot and that was kind of a weird unique That's why I'm so glad we jumped in the pod. That's one too.
It's really hard to judge or praise both Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhart in a game that's that wide open because it really goes from first half is a super Bowl to second half is talk radio. Yeah, and there's no big watershed moments like I like to appraise announcers in the seventh, eighth, and ninth and in and for football down the stretch because I want Tom to tell me should they do a three step drop or a seventh step drop? Should they be doing a screen or
running here? And that only happens when you have all the money on the table. So last night it's almost like a pass, don't you don't know? You almost throw out the report card. Really, yeah, because at this point you're just trying to entertain and have a little fun, which is very, very challenging and I've been in that position. But you know, him talking about Patrick Mahomes I thought
was a great subplot. I think, you know, how does he react if he's going to do the three p The fact that he had access to production meetings this week, I thought that's an interesting step because it's been talked about that Tom Brady doesn't have access to production meetings because of his ownership with the Raiders. And again, who better if the game is a blowout? Who better to talk about coming back in that stadium than Tom Brady?
I will say as an Atlanta Falcons fan, it was excruciating to think about. The biggest comparison, of course, had they come back, would have been twenty eight to three. Of course, like the worst will right right, like everybody except New England Hatriots fans.
But by the way, Jason, but you said something earlier about the fans were a little bit louder for the Eagles in Kansas City. You know, you remember in the mid nineties to late nineties, the Brace fans sometimes wouldn't sell out for the playoff games. Yeah, and because they went every year, it was like unless it's the World Series or bust, and I'm not going to get stimulated over first or second round. Yeah, the Yankees went through a little bit of a lull where they were very
spoils from winning, right. I think there's maybe a little bit of the thatd with the Chiefs, where the Eagles are like this kind of they're both blue collars, but like we haven't won, we need to beat them. And you felt a little bit more energy at least early in the game before it was a blowout.
Yeah, all right, I want to wrap up by talking a little bit about the ads. I got to tell you I was a little bit underwhelmed. I feel like we need a little more creativity. I will say one theme that definitely joked out to me is a theme that we've been talking about a lot on our podcast, which is women's sports. And you know, clearly I thought two of the most compelling ads were the Nike ad your friends at Nike creating just a super powerful ad
with an unbelievable number of powerful female athletes. It's led by Caitlin Carr, Chikari Richardson, Sabrina I and Scu and a number of others. That is one that if people haven't watched, they should go back just for the artistry, the message, the music, all.
Of it, and then the other.
And I feel like this is something we're probably going to be dealing with and wanting to deal with on the show.
Is flag football and everything that's happening there.
The NFL is clearly pushing that from a business perspective.
They know that there's.
An audience for it and a way to grow the audience for the NFL by getting more young women to play football.
What did you think?
I love that. I love what Roger Goodell is doing with trying to grow football, you know, and he's going two places that are evident. One is youth sports and youth trying to you know, take market share from baseball, soccer and other sports by flag football. I think that's brilliant. I think the more you can introduce young ladies to the game the better. That's one. And two obviously the global reach right where they have big ambitions to grow the game and play all these global games, even with
more repetition. A couple of the ones that I liked was Tom Brady and Snoop, you know, Fighting Hate. I think that's a Robert Kraft production. Yes, he's deployed tons of capital and resources to help fight hate. And also it was nice to Snoop and Tom Brady. Neither one got paid for that ad, which you know, props to them. But my favorite was Nike. I think they had a
maybe a twenty plus year hiatus. I know it's been a while, and to come back in the way they did, I think was beautifully done, in a step in the right direction because their stock has really struggled here in the last five years.
Yeah for sure. Yeah, interesting, interesting turning point.
We may see they got a new CEO, and you know that's something I'm guessing we're going to be talking about on future episodes. All right, So, speaking of which, we're moving on to baseball man, like it's all happening. You know, We've got a lot coming up on this show, so we'll wrap for now. But I really love being able to chop it up with you right after a big event like this. It was fun to watch it knowing it felt like homework in a good way.
Like I was taking a little.
On my phone as I was watching gous, like I gotta ask Alex about this, and I want to take on these things. So appreciate you for hopping on and I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon.
You got it all right, look forward to it all right.
My thanks to my partner Alex Rodriguez, and you've been listening to a special edition of the.
Deal here from Bloomberg.
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