Inside Fantasy Football with Matthew Berry

from the king of sports books comes the king of sports podcasts Unleashed presented by MGM here's your host Jerry Ferrara and Olivia Harlan Decker so December brings back memories for so many people of finals like if you can think back to high school College finals and the final exams to end the semester and I kind of think it's the same in the NFL like who's failing who's passing we're going to dig into the current picture scenarios betting angles everything Jerry Ferrara do you ever think about these bad memories of like final exams right before the winter holiday you know what I do remember all that and I just I do remember of course I couldn't wait for the holidays but I couldn't wait for football around the holidays is the greatest and the fact that the way these games along with college football all line up with the holidays like New Year's Eve is going to be insane Christmas it's all like it's sandwiched in all the holidays this year which I think is night I think it takes some of the edge off of Santa and presents and all there's something in it for Mommy and Daddy Let's just say that I like that this is my first yeah first Chris as a mom and I already told Sam we are not getting the baby one thing he's seven months old if I threw him like a piece of you know a Kleenex he'd be thrilled so yeah he'll he'll he'll like the boxes of your guys's gift like you guys are open stuff and he'll just want the box of the wrapping paper yeah and like as an adult I told Sam don't get me anything like take me to a nice dinner you know what I mean that that's all yeah what do you guys do gifts or do you just say like let's you know get that new garage door you know what we're doing that and I think but what we're trying to go for is and this is more of a briefing she wants uh uh infrared sauna in the house which I'm like yeah that sounds so how are we supposed so this is all in the spirit of like saving money or let's not go crazy for Christmas let's go get an infrared spot of I don't know how to build oh yeah no I don't think you want to build that that's up I'm kind of excited though the three-year-old my Jake I'm taking back Jacob wants a skateboard I'm taking back the fancy dinner now yeah just go infrared sauna I mean she's she's also telling me like you should reach out to them on Instagram I'm like oh I know where that what that means you know she's right right yeah I'm the one who wants to do it what were you gonna say about yourself oh my three-year-old this is I found this exciting he wants a skateboard I don't know how he even knows what a skateboard is I'm I haven't been on a skateboard since I was 16. he really wants a skateboard so I guess I have a I have a skater kid I didn't even know oh recipe for broken arms so get ready for that um we have a big show today Jer as we welcome in NBC's Matthew Berry fantasy football Guru he made the jump from ESPN to NBC after 15 years over at ESPN that happened this off season so we'll get his take on the playoff picture uh the career change I find that stuff really interesting and the expansion of legal sports betting and fantasy football everything I can't wait to talk to Matthew Berry but let's take a look at the playoff picture I'm I'm curious what you're gonna think now as we're looking at updated odds um starting with AFC the Chargers now have the seven seed after a big win over Miami it kind of quieted people comparing Justin Herbert into a tongue of iloa I thought that was kind of a bad comparison anyways to be honest like I think Herbert has the brighter future longer career ahead of him kind of a tangent but they own the current uh tiebreaker against the Jets uh Bengals and Ravens are both nine and four but look like two teams they're they look like they're headed in the opposite direction now Ravens might be on their third quarterback this weekend but what do you think about the AFC for teams who are on the couch well I was certainly a little off I I was worried about the charges when we talked about it a few weeks ago because of their schedule and their health although they seem to be getting healthier there's talk of Bosa which that would be huge for them you know Herbert with the lead throwing like 43 passes was was crazy look I'm with you there's not I don't see the debate of who's better I think both quarterbacks are very very good I think Herbert has the chance to be one of the best and Tua who has the stats to back up all the hype that he's gotten we are really gonna learn a lot because I heard the rumors that uh what they had like heaters on because it was like 55 degrees in L.A so the dolphins that well they're going to Buffalo this Saturday at eight o'clock at night and that is gonna be a real like if two uh plays with Miami wins or just even loses batua if it's like a duel two I think will or I think everyone could shut up about two is he good is he not that being said even if he has a tough game I would not say all right we're all out on two I just certainly would say it might be really hard for you in that division being that you should be in the AFC South let's be honest you should be in the South yeah you should not be in the NFC East you are on the East Coast you should be in the South it's it's a it's a disadvantage for them in my opinion when it comes to December yeah no 100 yeah that's not a good sign when you've got the heaters on the side and 50 degrees come on uh so Ravens are minus 135 to win the AFC North Bengals plus 110. the Bengals have the highest ticket percentage and handle uh over at Venom GM so people are still loving the Bengals okay let's look at NFC Vikings will win the north Eagles will probably win the East uh the Niners should win the West the south is a [ __ ] show uh beyond the Cowboys the last two spots I think are up for grabs so who do you think gets those last two spots well Giants commanders well we're gonna get that I mean that game which we know is coming Sunday night so for me this Sunday night's big I hate to say that the Giants took the week off against the Eagles they didn't the eagles are just significantly better the Giants did not have the Firepower to go into battle but they could still kind of control their own destiny if they beat the commanders I do like the Giants to do that even though it's on the road what gets me about this whole wild card situation is I actually think of the Giants and the commanders and a team like the Panthers I think the Panthers are the best of all three and yeah they've just been so snake bit but they really are like the DJ more helmet thing could actually be the reason why the Panthers don't get it's as simple as that that might be the thing that screwed them out of the playoffs but my money would be on the Giants still right now but of course I just I just like where they're where they're at but this game's gonna tell us everything this is a playoff game on Sunday we're getting our first our first real playoff game this Sunday I know we kind of thought this last weekend was going to be like our playoff preview um the Panthers look like the only ones who want to win it it's like yeah they're they're physical they're the defense is good the running backs are good uh quick thing on Heineken I don't know if our listeners know this I don't know if you know this I found this to be interesting as a sneaker head this goes back to last year with heinecke he after he slays a team goes out and buys a pair of Jordans that are the same colorway as the team he just beat I thought that that's something I would do if I was an NFL quarter like if you beat the Vikings you're coming home with some like Bel Air Jordans you know so I I would completely or actually Grape fives would be maybe something like that I just thought that was cool about high Nikki I don't want to like them but that makes me like them oh I like them I'm all on and remember last last year this got more hype the story but we should remind our listeners and remind you if you forgot that he was sleeping on his sister's couch before he got picked up like he's a he's what we call rags to riches story as far as NFL players go I mean pretty good so I'm always cheering them on I like that he's got a good head on his shoulders and now I love I love his Jordan story I love a sleeping on the couch story Jeremy Lin was my favorite one when he was sleeping on Landry Fields couch but if I slept on the couch at 43 years old I could not uh I could not play NFL quarterback the next day let's just say that no and I don't think anyone's asking you didn't want me off the couch oh yeah no commanders can be dangerous with him though they've got Playmakers I like scary Terry McLaurin they're running the ball well good defense heinecke can be a gunslinger when he needs to so um I I'm watching the commanders pretty closely what about NFL win totals did you and did you do any of that this off season I did I did uh I I in addition to the Seahawks for the division which we know about I did take the Seahawks over which I think was a five and a half at the time I did take the Giants over which I think they've already hit or they need one more win to hit um uh I think I had like one or two I definitely had a loss in there I think I definitely took uh I think I took Bears over with stupid which was a loss but there's been a lot of variants to say the least in these over under wings I remember you kind of hyping up the Bears I was I thought yeah you were hyping up the Texans a little bit listen I I hyped up the Texans to upset to be have one of the biggest upset wins of the year they almost happened they almost did this past weekend doesn't it didn't it feel like they like called down to the to Lovey Smith when they were on like that first and goal from the one after that interception and then they just ran through four of the worst plays I've ever seen for the Cowboys to stop them it's like there's draft picks on the line here lovey you don't want to win this one I know they don't and you've got to look at that you've got to know that's in the back of their mind yes um not so much a head coach though I I always think this about players too players cannot tank no you know what I mean that's how you get hurt they cannot take in the NFL it's like not trying I feel like you're more likely to get hurt that way and let's be real at the end of the day as an athlete as a player you're considering your future before you are the franchises so like you want to put up your stats you want to provide for your family you want to sign a good contract in the off season you kind of don't care about their draft picks you know yeah I I wouldn't want to say like I would have to really have a long-term contract with T I don't even know yeah I don't think I just don't think athletes players think in that way like hey if we lose these two we get a great draft pick there's so much pride on the line and also their own safety but also if you're the Texans you gotta just love love the Browns losing and DeSean Watson not looking good because even if you do win a game that pick just gets better and better by the week oh by the by the second yeah and just it feels good just like get him out of here and let's watch him lose so yeah we we keep mentioning it was a weird weekend um we talked before we started recording it was kind of a sad weekend a sad week with uh the passing of Mike Leech I I cannot believe I'm saying that that's as someone who is so in love with college football and so ingrained in college football that one feels like a major loss in the world of college football yeah that's it look that that's tough I was following that story because at first you know people thought he passed and they're saying no he didn't but it's just awful that's I've been watching some highlights of his uh it's the worst part of it all it's really where you start to say like we love sports sports are the best but there's just the family element to this and the human element that sometimes it's a good it's just a good reminder to all of us so yeah it was definitely a tough week with Mike Legion and also obviously everything going on at the World Cup but Grant wall is like one of them right you know most prestige he is the you know soccer football journalist and then I know another journalist passed away too it's so coming off those tragedies then the Mike Leach tragedy it just was a tough week in sports so uh you know going into this holidays let's let's enjoy the football and let's let's do all that but let's also give give our family a hug yeah oh that's well said it's funny just it's people at the end of the day you know what I mean as we cover these Sports it's it's people it's families it's it's everything and um that's the weird part and Jerry I know you're kind of new to being a sports uh journalist we can call you now I think officially um you do have to cover a lot of ugly things a lot of sad things and yeah this week was kind of one of those um but on a positive note a great story to come out of this weekend um was Baker Mayfield and I I don't know if this will be sustained um a lot of people saying that final drive 98 yards that he led the Rams on was they were impressed coverage it was kind of a gimme they were in prevent defense like there are a lot of people who are like oh it wasn't that hard but you've got to admit a guy who landed on a Tuesday and played on a Thursday I think he wore a game Jersey before he wore a practice jersey and pulling that off for a career that's been kind of riddled with injuries and haters and some drama and everything I was just really happy for Baker Mayfield in that moment I was too and look he's not the first player to leave the Cleveland Browns and end up having success with the LA Rams Odell Beckham we're talking about you uh yeah I just it's it's great to see people are gonna try to poke holes in it I do think the Rams are in a pretty precarious situation without having their draft picks with all the payroll that they have like this could be a good way to if it is a blow up situation soften the blow or even the retool because Stafford who I love I don't know are you secure on how much longer Stafford plays for and what he has left now I'm not even saying that I think he doesn't have anything left it's just hard to tell because the guy's hurt and the guy's taking a lot of hits so to take a flyer and bring Baker in for whatever Michael Lombardi told us it was like 1.1 million at that point for the Rams money is not an object I say that's Chuck you know what he's still young he's the number one overall pick I think it was a great move by them to kick the tires there and who knows that could be their way of rebooting without having you know not gonna be able to draft the quarterback in the first round this year so that might be a way to a sneaky way to do it yeah so that was a feel-good story later in the show you know we introduced the audible of the week that's coming up uh his post game comments I thought were a lot of fun so that's gonna be our audible of the week coming up um I have a question for you Jerry stick in with New York go into New York the bills I feel like they're not as scary as we thought they were preseason Von Miller is now out the rest of the season if they win out and they have home field advantage I think that's huge but I mean I don't think they want to see a team like the Jets again even I feel like they're looking kind of mortal I I think that's correct uh I I will say I love to underestimate the Jets no one loves to underestimate the Jets more than I do you just can't do it in a weird way if you look at that win for the bills which normally a bills Jets game that ended that way so yeah the bills might have been off I don't I think the Jets uh to beat the Jets you almost have to kill them and they almost killed Mike White Mike White almost died on the field yeah he took two or three of the biggest legal no helmet to helmet hits then I think I've seen the quarterback take in a long time and he still kept coming you know Quinn and Williams even went down and they were still fighting I I just I hate I hate to give the Jets all this credit but I do yeah you definitely don't want to see the Jets again but I also think that I think the bills will be okay in home field for them I I just think that's huge in case you do see a dolphins or Chargers or one or the Chiefs a high powered although I don't think Mahomes cares where he plays I I think homerfield is probably most important to them out of the teams that could still get it because of weather because of weather and just yeah I just think that they are built for for that exact type of game and we're going to learn a lot by the by the Bills Dolphins this week and see a team who maybe not who knows if they're built for that so I think it could help the bills the most I guess I just feel like other teams are hitting their stride now and like when I mentioned the finals analogy like this is kind of where you have to be at your best this time of year and I feel like the bills aren't at their best right now where other teams are streaking uh getting their act together a team like the Bengals comes to mind you know what I mean like where you're kind of like oh they're better than we thought they were one team that's really getting their act together at the right time the Lions they won for the fifth time in the past six weeks beating the NFC North leading Vikings they were a one and a half Point favorite at home they covered winning by 11 and it was the most bet game of the weekend did he put money on I did so I I had a parlay and a teaser I've been hitting teasers all year long folks and I listen I know a lot of people have a lot of feelings about teasers you know if you believe in them that much throw them in a parlay well I had a parlay that I went over three I lost all three picks of my money line Park but my teaser I needed every single one of those 10 points I actually pushed the Vikings up to 12 or 12 and a half and covered basically by that one point because the lions in the fourth quarter just destroy him that was a close game going into the fourth quarter and yeah they just put some separation it is really impressive what's going on with the lines and Olivia I want to ask you this because I got into a debate with Twitter mainly one person on Twitter who I thought had a terrible take and I called him out based off an Ian Rappaport article saying how what a mistake it would be for the Lions to move off to stick with goth and not draft a quarterback with one of their two top 15 picks that they'll have uh okay before and I didn't see your Tweet so before you tell me your take on it I already have a take on this and I think Jared Goff right now is playing this game so well and and I don't mean the game football I mean the the contract game I feel like he's in a great position to stick around and earn some money now I I think Detroit would be foolish to waste one of their draft picks right now for a quarterback who right now they've got a quarterback who's getting it done I you listen you could you could are we disagreeing no no I'm that is my that is my perspective I would maybe feel differently if uh that Rams pick was going to be number one then I would maybe say take a long hard look if there's a quarterback you'd love or number two I don't think it's gonna fall there the Rams will probably be somewhere between four and six the Lions pick is getting better worse and worse because they're winning I think Goff has had a great season I think that offense has played amazing yes you could say well maybe it's the emergence of I'm on Ross and brown he hasn't even had the Andre Swift for most of the Season Jamal Williams is the best goal line running back probably in football I think that it got off to a rough start I think his last 10 games he's been fantastic he's top 10 in yards he's top 10 in touchdowns and that number and it's just getting better and better and they're on a win streak so if you have say fourth or fifth overall and then say 15th overall I'm not saying you're building around golf but would it hurt you to take to add another defensive player and maybe another wide out or another offensive lineman to go with what you already have I think that puts you squarely in control of the NFC North no disrespect to your Packers no disrespect to the Vikings who could easily be like I'll even know like six and six I know so I'm in on golf I'm in on golf I am too I am too and this offense is clicking like if you were to ask us in August if in December we are saying how good the Lions offense is looking I would think we were tripping mushrooms in Joshua Tree like you did in entourage that we're going to talk about later by the way um but also a key piece of this offense that's emerging and I personally am really excited about this kid he's wide receiver Jameson Williams from Alabama his first NFL catch went for a 41-yard touchdown reception I interviewed him last year after the SEC Championship and remember he just like lit up like he was a really likable guy really excited about his future and about Bama and all this he tours ACL a couple weeks after that in the national championship which was actually a huge huge reason why Alabama lost to Georgia that night so I've kind of been following his career and it's really great to see that they were patient with his rehab and now he's inserted again right time right time of the year and he's he's doing well so I'm excited to see that yeah I never thought I'd be lobbying for uh Jackoff to keep his gig I just think the guys earned it oh that's the last part of the debate someone this guy said I have golf as like 21st to 30 like basically in the bottom eight of quarterbacks I'm like wait a second you could name 21 quarterbacks in the NFL right now not not three years ago now that are better than goth I'm not saying that means Goff is the guy to lead you to a Super Bowl or base that decision who by the way has played in the Super Bowl say what you want yeah yeah I have a hard time finding like 10 quarterbacks better uh I mean Geno Smith yeah you could say that three weeks ago do you say that for the last two weeks maybe not so I I didn't really find you know 21 quarterbacks better than Jared Goff maybe someone else can Jerry listen to this set I heard today there have been 54 different starting quarterbacks in the NFL this season now think about that 32 teams let's say each one of them started two that'd be 64. so we're only 10 fewer than if every NFL team started two different quarterbacks this year that's wild and think of the names we talk about Mike White Brock Purdy Baker Mayfield in L.A darnold's back who else darnold yeah uh Sam Ellinger Sam Ellinger Sam Ellinger project I remember that who else I'm I'm missing it well you got Mike White even you know this weekend play two games it's been it's been crazy yeah so this is a weird year and I think this is a huge reason why I love this league so much is it's really hard to predict and I know we sit around all summer and we talk about Futures and all this but this is the part that's so fun to cover it's it's better you know I love Real Housewives I love reality TV this is that I'll tell you what though it's made for a lot of fun bets all these quarterbacks yeah uh it's made for a lot of fun bets and I think it's also made it a lot of fun for the book I like beds yeah I think it's I think it's been fun at times for both sides I think both sides have had a lot of fun and have had a lot of sadness at times too yeah but I think our employer are cashing those checks with a big smile on their face so we have to elaborate a little bit on Brock Purdy since I brought him up so the 49ers rolled over Tom Brady in the Bucks who were basically missing their whole defense and everyone including myself said that Brock Purdy really just had to be a game manager and look he did so much more than that he was actually pretty great I'm the millionth person to make that Dad joke but I had to get it in he threw for two touchdowns and ran for one in the first half alone of his first career start and he's just the second quarterback to ever do that um and obviously Debo Samuel is going to be out for some time with an ankle injury or we should really be glad it's not a knee injury he'd be out for the rest of the season with that but um what do you make of the of the 49ers I feel like I've been sitting here all season lobbying like don't count them out they're gonna be great they're gonna get healthy and that was before I knew Garoppolo I have been rooting against them because of my Seahawks play and then also thinking of uh our own bed MGM Zone Peter Andrew and just showing up on the first episode of this show this year where is 49er jersey I'm like oh I got now I got an enemy that being said think about the storyline you talked about quarterbacks you know I made that bet on the Seahawks mainly based off of Trey Lance I don't know if Trey Lance would have reached the level to where Brock Purdy already seems to to be yeah I mean there's such different types of quarterbacks but I'm feeling you with Brock Purdy I think there's something there and uh I think it's gonna make the whole situation crazy what happens at the night we're talking about what happens with the Niners when the Super Bowl with Garoppolo what happens if the Niners win the Super Bowl with party I mean can you imagine there would we'd have to call up Jeff Perma sorry we'd have to call up Jeff Pearlman and tell him to start doing his 700 interviews to get ready for that book because that would be a book and then you make it a movie find me some role in it so I can retire nicely but that that would be a story for the age yeah and interesting like Kurt Warner Kurt Warner is a great story obviously that became a movie undrafted but yeah it would be a great story and obviously there's already another great story of an undrafted now Brock Purdy was Mr Irrelevant so he was technically drafted barely and Kurt Warner undrafted won Super Bowls Hall of Famer you know a story like that is so rare and that became a movie so Jerry I'm just saying you jump all over this if Brock Purdy does something amazing here I want you to get the rights what do you call it not the rights not the right life rights no you're on it you're on it that's correct look at you look at you I'm trying to learn something from you oh my God so yeah a lot a lot going on on um but we we gotta be we're honest on the show it wasn't like the most fun week in sports definitely not it was not but we we met I mean I hit a teaser so I I found some fun in this outside of that yeah so for a little bit of fun let's get to our audible of the week it's the king of La Baker Mayfield [Music] Sean Liam and Zach Robinson helped me study for the since I landed um didn't think it was going to play out like this but I'm sure happy we covered the two minute operation my goodness originally I was angry about having to go through many so many coaching changes and learn so many new things but that for sure helped right there uh just learning protections first and then just talking with those guys on offense about the you know the concepts that I like and luckily have I run a lot of them um and they put some good plays out there and put me in a good position to win what time is it right now seriously he's not on the time zone yet 8 30 8 30. so it ended at 7 15 on Tuesday we got to the facility so it's been over 48 hours did you know you were going to be in in Los Angeles as soon as uh Carolina let you go was this one of the potential teams that said you know what that's probably a good spot for me I took a gamble I booked the flight uh before the waiver wire went through okay I love it foreign let's bring in our guest he turned his fantasy into a reality by becoming the face of fantasy sports he's a New York Times best-selling author and a go-to source for Fantasy advice to some of the biggest names in the world some of the biggest stars from NBC Sports Matthew Berry is here Matthew thanks for joining us in your studio with that beautiful background thank you Olivia pleasure it's uh my pleasure to be here guys how are you we're doing good we've been laughing at uh some of Jerry's fantasy football this weekend and but first of all Matthew how many leagues are you in like for fun oh I'm in I'm in well they're all for fun you know they're a all for fun and they're all seriousness because I have to like I'm not allowed to not win one right you know I mean like I get when I don't win and I you know it happens obviously I I get unbelievable amounts of grief um I always joke about this uh like I you know a number of years ago uh we decided to do a friends and family so like you know it's a it's my it's my me and my wife and my kids and uh like their friends and their friends parents and like you know it's a neighborhood league right and it's just friends and family so each adult had a kid that they were paired with and the kids drafted you know we're like we just handed them sheets and okay fine so I don't know we're like four or five weeks in and um you know our team's fine it's like middle of the pack or whatever and like my at the time my like eight-year-old goes as well why are we in first place I'm like no no you know we're like in fourth we're fine and it goes well we're gonna win right I mean I have you as my coach now I'm like great now I gotta now I gotta win you know now I gotta brush a bunch of ten-year-olds because you know my kids expecting us to win because I'm his dad and we've got the you know we got the uh we're in this league so yeah I'm in 16 leagues Olivia to answer your question oh God yeah I get you having to win too because that's like your kids looking at you you're Superman you're like wait a minute Superman doesn't fly I don't understand what you have to fly uh hopefully you picked up someone that none of the little kids know about I have to ask you because I've talked a lot about fantasy on the show and my feelings profanity I've been doing I've talked before I go back to scoring fantasy with a pencil in the USA Today I still have I will I'll say this for you Jerry and we I think we've talked about this the last time we did one of these together but the the this is there's a real real thing Olivia like I remember way back in the day of fantasy sports and when before it was when it was still considered nerdy it was still very Niche we were still trying to get it into the mainstream um we would like anytime we heard of somebody you know a celebrity or anything like that that would talk about fantasy we're like oh yeah we hung on to it and literally like the two the first two celebrities I ever remember hearing playing fantasy football were the late great meatloaf and Jerry and I was like Wow wait turtle from Entourage places you know and like yeah a thousand percent and so um yeah I mean Jerry was absolutely one of the very first celebrities to talk openly about hey yeah I play Fantasy Football I enjoy it it's one of my hobbies so um we always appreciate him carrying the flag early I used I saw all the guys at Entourage too they would always ask what I'm obsessing about and I I think Connolly Kevin Conley I finally won him over I know you've spoken with him a lot too he's now he's he's in he's almost more in than me I've scaled back just because I have two young kids now and Olivia has a young son I I couldn't balance the sports betting now with all of it so I'm in three leagues one of which still has a kicker Matt and I'm beside myself that I've lost I'm not gonna make the playoffs in this league and a lot of this because I had a kicker who couldn't make an extra point and that should be illegal now right shouldn't kickers officially be illegal in fantasy sports altogether like just not even an option band kickers 100 I'm I'm all in you got to play Super Flex it's the it's the best way to play I am if it makes you feel better Jerry I think in the of the 16 teams I'm 16 leagues I'm in I want to say kickers we use kickers and I want to say like four or five of them like so I've been able to fully get rid of them in any of the leagues I plan like the league that I played with all my college buddies I've been in this league for like 30 years and it's just like the the commissioner is like kind of an old school guy who doesn't you know like this is how we've always played I'm like you know but we play with defenses and kickers and I literally needed to to um I'm third in that League I'm third in total points but I needed but I've had some bad scheduling luck and I literally needed four points from Nick Falk last night to get into the playoffs and like there's nothing and we ended up getting it obviously and so I'm in it I I co-owned the team with my college roommate and it's like a way that we um we stay in touch over the years um I but it was like you know there's nothing worse than sweating stupid Nick Folk to make a 50-yarder and you're like you know like anyway so yeah band Pickers I'm with you Jerry there's nothing and that's a tough one that's a bad beat when you when you're not making the plays because of a missed Equity point so a lot of Jerry's leagues are filled with celebrities he's being very humble here and I've tried to get him to name drop a little bit of who's in them but uh the only one I know really Jerry CJ McCollum that you've said CJ mccollum's in one uh I'm still recovering from my loss to Bobby Flay I even asked Bobby Blake he trash talk me I asked him like is Matt are you talking to Matthew Berry I had to ask because he had a couple of really slick moves I'm like are you talking to Matthew Barry bro are you talking to Bobby Flay him and I have emailed once or twice but not a lot I mean he's a good he's a good no but he's a good fantasy player because I've we've back when I was at ESPN we did a couple of like celebrity Leagues with him and sometimes when you do the celebrity leagues you know some sometimes the celebs know what they're doing and sometimes he's sort of gotta just you know help him out a kind of draft form behind the scenes and Bobby was like no no I'm good you know what I mean and he drafted a really good team so uh Bobby's a really good player he's a really good player so yeah it is it's fantasy or cooking it's hard to Beat Bobby Flay no question what about any U.S presidents uh I've never been in a league with a U.S president I did have the um we had the second gentleman uh it's weird to sort of say that but yeah that's the second gentleman so vice president Harris's husband Doug emhoff uh is a big fantasy player and he actually was on my podcast the fantasy football happy hour and he's in a he's been like in a 30-year League um with all of his old law school buddies and so um that was cool they were like you know we you know it's like it's not often that you get a call from the White House like you're like Frank and uh they're like no like you know the the second gentleman uh wants to talk about fantasy football would love to come on like we you know anyone that's in the White House is more than welcome with myself who's the real running back in San Francisco I can imagine what those questions like one of those weird things I I literally joke for them I'm just like you know can't you like you get us you know your wife gets you know the top level security clearance every single day can you just like say like listen who's um who's getting the Targets in San Francisco this week you know can you kind of flip that in there like they know everything you know and he didn't want to he didn't want to do that he's you know he's playing it above board but uh but yeah that was uh that was fun so um uh yeah certainly that's that's the closest I've gotten to a white house uh fantasy football interaction so I've done a little bit of a 360. and I I don't know if you've actually spoke because I obviously listened to all your stuff I don't know if you've ever spoken about this I know you have I might even heard you on Simmons maybe talk about it um but I I obviously when I first started playing I was in like total points leagues and then when I was really young and everyone started doing head to head so we transitioned to that and it's been head to head for eternity but I am no longer down with head to head because in one of these leagues too I think I have the second most points and I'm in ninth place and I'm not gonna get in and also too when you get to this point in the Year guys who are out who forget to set their lineups and stuff like that and lose a game that if they would have just started one person on the bench that would have won I feel like with overall points that doesn't happen as much not nearly as fun maybe but maybe the more accurate portrayal of who the best team is yeah it's certainly a more accurate Patrol portrayal the way I really enjoy playing and I play about you know like I want to say like I got four four or five of the leagues that I'm in this year we do it this way and so um it took me forever I finally got ESPN to do this of course and then I leave but um so you can play this on ESPN and you can play this on like my fantasy league in some other ways but um there's a uh where you in essence play it's it's victory points some people call it the Howard Stern rule because it's a way they um I used to be in a league with a bunch of the guys in the Howard Stern Show and so the first time I ever heard this rule was through that league so uh you know um some people call it the Howard Stern rule but in essence the rule is is that say it's a 10 Team league you play your match up you play a head-to-head matchup which is always fun Jerry and so you get that you know interaction so obviously whoever wins the five teams that win those head-to-head matches get one win but the five highest scoring teams in the league also get a win so in essence every single week you either go 2-0 one and one or one and oh and two and so that way if you're you know you're the third highest scoring team in the league that week but you play the first place team and you lose at least now you go one one for the week and so that's sort of the uh I really enjoy that because it's sort of The Best of Both Worlds it rewards the teams that score a lot of points um but also allows you the the head-to-head matchup piece of it which is you know the fun part of fantasy football that you know talking trash and going head-to-head and knowing that one matchup that you got to be you know so you mentioned leaving ESPN for NBC and I think it's actually a part of a bigger conversation about the landscape of which networks cover Sports and weave in fantasy football we've been betting we're seeing this change as networks are catching up so when you left ESPN after 15 years for NBC you've said that some of that played into your decision so what did tip the scale and NBC's favor for their plans for you yeah I mean well I mean it's a it's a little out of order in essence um uh basically I knew my deal was coming up at ESPN and so you know we we were talking about an extension um you know and I had a great run there and still a lot of friends still at the at the company and uh you know they said to me I have this side business I have a you know it's a real business out Fantasy Life the Fantasy Life newsletter and fantasylife.com I mean we're up to we're up to seven full-time employees you know we're gonna do seven figures in Revenue this year we're profitable it's you know it's a it's a real business and um uh and by the way for anyone that's a fantasy player highly recommend checking out fantasylife.com and subscribing to the newsletter it's 100 free we don't ask if we never ask you for a dime but um a lot of tools on fantasylife.com for both betting and fantasy league sync and waiver wire assistance and it's just a great site um they do a great job with it and so anyway ESPN said to me you know simply hey we want to sign you to a three-year extension but we want you to focus just on ESPN we don't want you're gonna have to give up this thing that you'd had a carve out for in your previous contract and I love it and I didn't want to give that up and so as we were having those conversations you know we started talking to other people and um you know there was hey you know my agents were like hey Matthew might be available um uh you know and so um and so you know we sort of gauge the interest of the community and and I was very flattered that there were a lot of companies out there that said like if Matthew's ever free we'd be really interested in sitting down talking to him and uh so anyway ultimately ESPN tonight it's hard to you know we decided to part friends and I decided to leave ESPN and I was incredibly flattered and overwhelmed by the reaction that ha you know that that uh was online you know say I said to my wife I said wow it's really awesome to be trending on Twitter and not be dead or cancel seriously you know like you know like um you know and so uh uh so that was that was really cool a really cool moment for me um and so anyway in terms of NBC so you know we we started taking meetings and by we I mean you know I have agents and so we started taking media beings with all the people that had said like yeah if he's a free agent we'd be really interested and so we were like hey I'm I'm a free agent now and you know it's sort of interesting I uh Olivia I sort of joking uh I've made this joke before where it's like you know as you're going taking these meetings it's a little bit like you know dating is a single parent you're like Hey listen I I know you I know you're like me but like I also got this kid you know and I was just like listen you know Fantasy Life comes with me I'm not yeah I'm not doing anything without Fantasy Life and NBC NBC just came over the top in just such a massive way NBC came to me and they said look um we love you uh uh and we you know so we we'd love you to come over here and really help us out of this space we know how important betting and fantasy is and it's something we want to you know really uh dive into even more in a bigger way and we think with you we can do that and so what we'd like to do is we'd like you to come over here we'll we'll make you we want you to be a part of football night in America you know so the the pregame to Sunday Night Football the biggest show um you know in television it's literally the it's it's the second highest rated show on television not the second highest rated Sports show it's the second ice rated show in television the only thing higher rated than that is the actual football game and so you know for me it's you know it was it's the iconic uh pregame show and that was always a big part of of me and I'll talk about this in a second but I I it was important for me as I always try to sort of push the ball forward for Fantasy footballs throughout my career to be a part of NFL programming that was a big part of me and not just like sort of some sort of off to some side set on the shoulder like you know where you're just like 45 seconds because whatever some sponsor started you know sponsor to start sit you know thing and I'm doing like you know just be a truly integrated member of the cast of a of a of a pre-game show and so NBC said we'll push on football night in America you know we're gonna we're gonna give you a Daily Show on on peacock that'll be a podcast of you know with your name on it we'll do a Sunday show on peacock and CNBC uh as well we'll put you on football night in America and as for Fantasy Life they're like we're totally comfortable with that Chris Collinsworth owns Pro Football Focus Mike Floria owns pro football talk uh Jim Cramer owns his investment Club so we we've proven that we are you know and I talked to some of those guys saying what's your experience been with NBC and they're like it's been great they're incredibly supportive of ours of my side business and you know they want me to accomplish what they need me to accomplish for NBC and as long as I take care of that like they're good and that's been the case here they're like yeah we're going gonna have we're gonna need you to do X Y and Z for us here at NBC and as long as you do that not only can you have Fantasy Life and promote it and contribute to it but you know if we can figure out a way for it to be a a mutually beneficial relationship between Fantasy Life and NBC Universal well you know we'll promote it we'll support it and we'll and so we're having those conversations now which have been great and productive and um I mean it's a I say this with no disrespect to my former home but it is a uh dream come true to be here to be at NBC they are they have every single thing they've promised me they've delivered on and over delivered it's been it's been awesome man it's just been it's been great and so like Olivia just take it full circle back to your question what puts them over the top it was just that I mean like they the highest you know I mean they at the highest levels of the company they you know they took me out to dinner and they recruited me and they're like we're gonna you know we'll we'll pay a nice salary we'll let you have Fantasy Life we'll put you on football night in America I mean you know it's like where do I sign it's great where do I sign good move off of all that what I find so fascinating too is uh trying to relate to that you know I've been acting for a long time but I I get I got like the opportunity to be in a Clint Eastwood movie and I was significantly more nervous than I ever was before to a point where I'm like can I do I even know how to do this what is Matthew Berry feeling like moments before he's about to be on as you said the second biggest TV show in in the country Gary that's a great question it's exactly the same thing that you felt like when you were on the set of that the first time you know you're on set and there's Clint you know like it's the same thing I'm just like you know and and the other thing is my first time was at um so the we we made the announcement and literally hours later I was on the field for the the preseason game the very first game of the of the year the the Hall of Fame game between the Raiders and the Jaguars and so not only is it right it's football night in America but I also know like it's the first preseason game it's the first game of the year so there's gonna be a huge audience anyway um and then then you're on the field and you're at the hall of fame right and so like you know I'm standing there on the field and like whatever there's you know um Robert Lawrence walks by and then you know I see Devonte Adams you know uh screwing around with Derek Carr and you're like and then you know it's like you know Mike tariko walks hey Mike you know hey Matthew welcome team you know Chris Collinsworth like you know these guys that I've watched for years and years and years and I knew Mike from my days at ESPN so that helped but um you know super nervous and you know and like yeah I mean I've been on TV almost every day of my life for 15 years I get on ESPN and I don't think I've ever had butterflies like that because it's one thing where you're like ah my dumb little podcast or whatever I'm doing even when I was doing like fantasy football now or the Sunday show that kind of stuff it just right you know Jerry right you've been acting your whole life and it's a sort of I've done it for 15 years it's like you know I know what I'm doing and but I was so I mean my heart's beating a million miles a minute I'm trying to remember what I'm saying and you know they're in your ear rap and throw to Chris and what I'm doing because my first segment was Chris Sims and um yeah I mean it I still honestly you know it's gotten a lot better um but I still get nervous you know every Sunday night uh because it's still you know like everyone's watching Everyone's Watching The World's watching well because they literally say that like and so my producer Matt Casey pillow like um like we're watching the game the show starts at seven o'clock and so we'll still we've got in the background we've got the late games but once you know and they'll end and so I usually don't show up in the show show until later on in the show and so like you know segment six and segment seven and segment eight and so which are whatever towards the end of the show and and so you know we'll be on we'll have you know our our earpieces in and everything like that we'll see like the the last late game go final and Matt always goes all right man uh he'll just say whatever whatever the late game was um you know just like Kansas City never just went final all right guys the whole country's with us let's go you know and it's like you know and it's true right I mean because right you know you like I mean everyone watches that show and so um uh it's definitely nerve-wracking it's that like please don't screw up please don't screw up and then Jerry and then you know this too is because now that you've gotten into the betting and fantasy world as well like the in addition to like just okay please don't screw up then you're like okay whatever it is you know 12 million 14 million people are watching me this past week 14 million people or whatever it was saw me say I think Tua has a great game and just kills the charger right he was like right why did I just you know why did I just tell so many people you know you know uh why did I Believe In Tua um so you know it like you know it comes with the territory but um people have been great the response has been absolutely terrific and uh what's really cool is and this helps just to answer your question Jerry uh is that NBC and specifically the cast of football night have been so welcoming because it's I've been in situations many times in my life where it's just like oh what's the fantasy nerd doing here what's the like uh we got to do betting we gotta oh man you know everything like that and I have to tell you to a person when I came on the set and I'm like so I'm the new guy right I mean like and they've they've built this great show that's you know super successful you know um over the years and so I'm the new guy showing up and um you know Jason Garrett's new this year as well but like you know that's a guy that you know everyone that watches football has been seeing for years and years and years on the sideline and he's been in the NBC family because he was calling USL full game USF all games last year and so I'm the I'm the new guy on the fantasy nerd and everything like that and everyone was just like hey man that's awesome thanks so much they're they're like thanking me we're like oh we're so glad you're here and like oh we we need to do more in fantasy and betting and we're so glad you're here and you give us credibility in the space and like you know the Maria Taylor who had never met at ESPN because she worked on pro basketball and college football which I never did so I like I literally never interacted with her at ESPN um I I walk up to shake hands with Maria to say hi and she just immediately hugs me and she goes welcome home and like and this right I mean like Maria's the best whatever and it's just a great it's just a great great casting crew that have made me feel so welcome I'm so glad to hear that Maria is the best I we both went to Georgia a couple years apart and then I knew we're at ESPN on the college football side but I've got to ask you because I think he may be the nicest man in Show Business Mike Tarico is he not just the best he he is the second nicest man into a business because I will tell you that Tony Dungy uh is like is like Saint Tony it's unbelievable but yes uh Mike is great he's been really encouraging you know Mike's a fellow orangeman like myself who both went to Syracuse and uh oh that doesn't narrow it down in our industry that does not narrow it down is but tariko is you're 100 right tariko is great he is he is he's he's the consummate professional he is such a he's so good on air he's just I've been awe of him right and it's played by play skills and and just how good he is but um yeah we he said hi to me before the game but after the game all of us were back at the hotel and the casting crew were you know we had like some pizzas and beers and stuff like that and he pulled me over to the side and he was just like here's what here's the difference between ESPN and NBC here's what you can expect and just sort of gave me you know a really nice kind of welcome here you're gonna love it here here's kind of a lay of the land here's some here's some things that I found helpful you know by the way you know here's my cell and email you know I want to make sure I you know I still had it from ESPN but it's like you have it you want to make sure anyway he's yeah tariko's the best lovely he's great yeah yeah so you mentioned being a can right and I I know you know you're a very busy guy so we could maybe potentially end on this depending on your answer uh I think there's a great opportunity for the NFL to include fantasy in the Hall of Fame like a wing like a like a a wing and I think if anyone's ever gonna preside over who gets in maybe not the green jacket or a yellow jacket it's a silver jacket I think you would be maybe the best call ever to process to preside over that well I I appreciate that Jerry that's high uh High Praise I'll say this I certainly think fantasy deserves a place somewhere in the Hall of Fame some sort of acknowledgment I will tell you that fantasy baseball is in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown yes they have the original they have the the original constitution of the the very first the rotisserie League Baseball guys and those guys have been honored at the at the hall of fame so fantasy football has brought so much uh joy and interest into the game and there are um you know people over the years have tried to do fantasy hall of fames and that kind of stuff but I do feel like that um 100 I think that's a great idea Jerry it should be I don't know how it's you know I'm not the curator of the Hall of Fame I I'll leave it to the the people that are in charge of that to figure out how but it it absolutely it's too it's too woven into the game it's too important to the overall fan enjoyment of the game to not have some sort of acknowledgment at the hall of fame all right do you have one player before you go then if you are doing an inductee now this could be a personal one you don't have to go on who the maybe just the best ever a personal Matthew Barry if it's my hall of fame because maybe something this player did for you like for me it's Randy Moss only because of what he did for me for three specific years on that Patriots run he he got me he'll get me my only chip who fits that criteria for you that's meant the most to you that you would say that guy gets the silver jacket or whatever color our jackets are yeah I mean Gosh guys there's I mean there's so many I've been playing fantasy for so long I know it's probably not fair because you have you know you can make a case for everyone you really can I mean like you know listen my my very first fantasy league ever I had Cordell Stewart you know and he was like awesome that one year and um uh the very first ever played fantasy football I've been playing fantasy sports much longer than that but that was when I was in uh that was in college um uh you know listen uh Darren Waller Darren Waller's you know kind of breakout year with the Raiders he was a big sleeper for me and I won a like a deep industry Dynasty League where I beat a bunch of big names in the fantasy football industry and it was it's a Titan Premium League and I had Waller um so like he's important to me I also have my homes in that League I love you know I love my homes um uh God has you know I have to think about that one really I mean you know it's always sort of you know Jalen hurts this year like the writer died he's made me look great Brock Purdy this year [Laughter] I mean like what a crazy story Brock birdie is uh uh as well so you know I I'd have to oh boy I'd have to really um think about come back and maybe give us a little all those guys I mean listen uh Brandon Marshall uh you know Brandon Marshall especially like his rookie year 20 reception games yeah like you know so there's there's a bunch of guys that I would uh I would throw in there you know as well so speaking of Brock Purdy there have been 54 different starting quarterbacks this year which is mind-blowing considering that if each team started too we'd be at 64. so we're almost at each team starting new two quarterbacks with that in mind and with the fantasy perspective what do you see from some of these backups that are now starters um and who's going to do well for guys fantasy leagues uh it's a great question Olivia um you know I think it's all dependent it's you know it what I will tell you though is what's interesting is is that fantasy success in general comes from two things Talent an opportunity and so a lot of these quarterbacks now have the opportunity do they have the talent you're always surprised by it like Brock party was a little bit of a surprise just because he didn't think he would run you know you don't think he's more of a pocket Pastor he's not gonna run it's hard for a quarterback to have fantasy success when they don't run right generally in today's NFL like you have to be able to um if you're going to have tremendous success as a non-running quarterback you have to be able to you have to be like just a massive touchdown Equity pocket passer like Joe burrow right and so you know it just would pretty have that and pretty ended up doing that it was a little more mobile than I think people gave him credit for um I don't know that there's anyone that you feel great about um uh you know I will say that I think you know we just we saw the Kyler Murray injury last night which is just awful I don't think Colt McCoy is going to be a great fantasy quarterback but I think he's going to be confident enough to keep the fantasy prospects of uh DeAndre Hopkins and Marquis Brown alive James Connor he's he's he doesn't have the arm that that Kyler Murray does so I think he's going to dump off to you know James Connor a lot I think when Rondell Moore comes back if he comes back next week I think rondelle Moore becomes uh pretty interesting I will say if there's a backup quarterback that I would stream this week that's available in more than whatever you know 60 of Yahoo leagues or ESPN leagues Mike White becomes interesting to me he's at home against Detroit so Mike White in the three games in which he started he's averaging at at least 43 pass attempts he's averaging 317 passing yards he faces the lines Detroit allows the most fantasy points to oppose in quarterbacks over the last four weeks the lions are giving up the third most passing yards per game this game is in New York now as we tape this podcast the expectation is that white will be starting he took a couple shots of the ribs so it's not 100 but like if you're asking me like give me a backup quarterback that I could stream this week Mike White would be my choice okay I've got I've got just one more before I let you go what's this about you giving Jay-Z fantasy football advice so it's it's a fun story um 10 years ago I get a I get a call from a guy named Mike and he says you know hey Matthew we we're all big fans but my League's a big fan of yours and uh we'd love you to come by our draft and hang out you know and just you can just kind of critique the picks you know and just uh you know give your analysis and that kind of stuff and I'm like he's like yeah it's in New York on this date and I'm just like listen Mike I don't know this guy from a whole wall or I'm like listen Mike I I'm flattered I really am I appreciate it but you know I August is my busiest month I live in Connecticut it's like two hours to get to New York and I just I'm just you know I'm swamped and I just I just don't do that honestly I just don't go to random people's leagues and hang out for three and a half hours I'm sorry you know he goes well it's it's for Jay's Easley when do you need me what are the directions uh what am I wearing I mean like you know like and so um so you know and I've told the story many times but anyway so I walk in and it was um and so Jay-Z's League the guy Mike that was uh asking me to be in the league is a guy named Mike Kaiser who's the president of Atlantic Records and uh at Little Burger on uh Instagram as well a lot of people that so he's he's very close friends with Jay and has been for 20 years and so um uh and so I've just sort of you know uh I've gone to that draft for 10 years and so um so I've given uh I've now gone to that draft for 10 years and so when I'm at the draft sort of everyone kind of like I'm kind of like a community property if you will and so there'll be times where Jay will call me over and uh ask me for some advice or Mike Kaiser Chris Paul was in that League uh Irv Gotti uh for Murder Inc he's in that League Jesse itzler who's one of the co-owners of the Atlanta Hawks he's in that League great motivational speech speaker Steve Stout from United Masters and translation he's in that League like um Kevin Lyles who you know 300 entertainment you know former president of Def Jam he's in that League like it's it's all here yeah it's oh I mean it's it's Legends back and forth Juan Perez the president of Rock Nation Sports he's in that League like it's all it's all legends it's all you know we saw this sort of Pop around and people will Hey Barry you know I'm thinking about these two guys who will say so um so I give you know um Jay advice uh in that sense that you know I'm at the you know I'm at the at the draft he's a really good player he's the um you know he last year he he won the championship you know he's a really good player he's he's in the playoffs this year he's um uh so you know he's a really good player he doesn't really need my help what did the loser in that League have to do I've got to know it's got to be Big Sticks they don't they don't have a loser punishment I will say it's a pricey League to get it yeah yeah um it is uh it's definitely a pricing and they um uh it's one of those Olivia that if you have to ask yeah you can't afford to be it I already knew that yeah I'll uh I'll I'll leave it there I'll say though that they um their trophies are um in terms of first place so Jay has a uh Jay has a deal with Tiffany's and so when he won the championship last year they designed him oh my God I mean it's a Tiffany designed fantasy football trophy it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life like it's gorgeous I don't even know what it costs but like I mean so it's um it's just uh the the trophies in that in that League are um just absolutely uh insane um the the other the there's a lot of stories that I could tell about the league the one thing else um no uh it's a great league and the all the guys in that League are great and it's always one of my favorite days of the year is just going there and hanging out with all those guys um but uh uh what's funny is the very first time I meet uh Jay-Z I don't know what to call him yeah right because it's not like it's not like you get introduced to him right the way you normally would like hi I'm Olivia you know Matthew meet Olivia Olivia Matthew oh hi nice to meet you how are you right you don't it's it's just like he's him right you know what I mean and So like um and so like you know he motioned me over I wanted to ask me a couple questions but I don't know what to like do I call him like you know like you know do I call him Jay do I come home do I call him Mr Carter do I call Mr Z you know like what do I how do I how do I attract friends you know what I mean like what do I I don't know what to you know I'm literally sweating bullets thinking like how do I address him you know what I mean because I don't it's not like I've been introduced and it's not like we're friends and I mean he's you know you know to me he's the closest thing we have to royalty in this country absolutely and um so I you know you know like you know um and so anyway right exactly like all right but do I call him that's a tough intro you gotta hope someone buffers that for you you know King Mr President like what do I call you know anyway eventually everyone in the league everyone in the league calls him Jay or Hove and So like um like after like about three hours in I sort of I sort of you know I I kind of floated a little trial balloon like uh hey hey Jay what do you think about this tight end here you know and he didn't he didn't react so I was like okay okay all right I can call him Jay all right good so he's great by the way he's he's uh the one thing I'll say about him um we're gonna have to but what I will say is is that what's been a what's incredible to me is that if you didn't know who he was like you know what I mean like if you just met him without any context whatsoever you would not know he's him like he's like he's he's the most down to earth like normal dude you would ever meet you know what I mean like he's just he's super chill and just like you know and and like it's it's really it's disarming to be honest with you like it's uh in terms of just how um how unaffected he is if that makes any sense like he's just like the most normal guy and you know and you're like you know anyway you know I mean and yet like I've I've been at events with him or I've you know been in places with him and it's just like he he can't walk three feet without being surrounded by 25 yeah I mean he's just like he's you know he's that iconic and anyway but and anyway so yeah he I I love that guy I mean I just I absolutely love him wow sorry we we definitely might we've kept you long enough we're gonna have to get you back for a follow-up because there's so much more to talk about but Matthew Berry thank you so much for being here good luck with the rest of the season and keep adding to the the trophy case for sure and also as you know we will all be watching on football night in America so continued success with that love watching you love seeing you succeed and doing your thing you look like you're having a blast so uh thank you for taking the time and coming on here and talking to us no I appreciate it guys thanks for having me glad we were able to make this work thank you again for uh for stopping by and uh yeah please come back if you can fit this if you could fit Us in we'd love to have you back as we get into playoffs or even leading into next year yeah anytime man happy to do it I love you guys appreciate it so much [Music] you know when you hear that music it is time to talk Entourage to go back into Jerry's past and ask him really all the behind the scenes stuff and I've got a good episode this week I'm dying to ask you about Jared it's the Joshua free episode The tripping shrooms this has to be one of the episodes you're asked the most about I know you say that frequently but this one's got to be a fan it is definitely up there oh this is such a good one to talk about because uh you know we always talk about those episodes where we go somewhere really cool and usually spend like a few days shooting there whether it was Hawaii or can Joshua Tree which is really cool not the greatest place to shoot in like the middle of July in the desert when it's 110 degrees but the episode itself is one of my favorites because it it it was such like a non-hollywood thing and the whole premise of we're going there to find answers of Vince to do Benji the movie it's just so hilarious premise there's a lot here so I'm curious what you want to talk about first because I have a few stories off the top of my head okay well I first have to ask because I always thought if I was an actress and I had to be drunk in a scene I've always said this I would have a couple drinks before the episode so my question is did you guys do anything to loosen up a little bit before she uh to my recollection and I could definitely speak for myself and I could speak for the other guys no no one no one did anything and I've been asked a lot about look how have I ever had a drink on the set before where I have no lines and it's a party scene yes but um here's how I would describe you have to play drunk or high typically what do drunk people or even Stone people say when you ask them are you [ __ ] up they say no no I'm not no they try so hard to play it straight so if you really watch that episode we're not do we talked a lot about this we're not doing like too much of the whoa It's So trippy it's subtle the funny thing is and Connolly Kevin Connolly in the episode was given Doug Allen a lot of [ __ ] because he's like Doug I have no lines in the episode my character doesn't speak it's the best part the best part and he got nominated for a Golden Globe that year though for the whole season but like it's like he complained and you'll see in the next episode there's a lot of jokes about him he complained the most about these two episodes he got nominated for a Golden Globe three months later oh my God no it was great when he says he writes down my mouth my mouth won't say words or something yeah yeah no there's so many lines in that in that episode and it's funny in some shows I know it does contribute to the overall plot but it does seem like kind of a one-off yes like I don't isn't there a phrase for that in Hollywood like in Ted lasso it's the one there's one Christmas scene um there's like one really trippy yeah it's kind of like Ted lasso I know it's kind of like episodic meaning like it has a beginning middle and end theoretically there's not a ton of the overall storyline that gets pushed like the only overall storyline really was should Vince do Benji or should he go after smoke jumpers so he gets that answer but yeah in a box that episode has its own beginning middle and end and you could watch it by itself without really knowing what's going on in the show and it will still work for you oh and then the Ari and Lloyd banter and that episode is so good you know Lloyd's yeah they were doing what like naked Pictionary in the pool that's a lot of fun funny story about Arnold the dog who in the episode were looking for the entire time that Dog's real name is Rocky okay so like I said it's 110 degrees there are rattlesnakes in Joshua Tree there was a take we did with Rocky and then at the end of the take he just ran back to his trailer and Rocky would not come out of the trailer he Rocky basically wrapped himself he's like I'm done Diva I'm done with the desert [ __ ] you guys it's over so Rocky wrapped himself but he's the biggest diva of for sure absolutely so I guess I just have to know what inspiration do you draw on when you're acting like you're tripping on mushrooms do you just draw on real life experiences yeah I would say you could a little real life or maybe a little stories you heard you know we definitely like I said we all got together and made the plan along with our director and Doug Allen of like we're not gonna go for the like wow so trippy yeah um you can't override it that story with my character at the end where he's like kind of crying like I want to call my Mom apparently that really happened what's up either it was either Connolly or Doug or one of their friends that's a real story Uh Kevin Dillon has the line of the show the first time I got drunk right call my mom my mom someone called my mom Kevin Dillon had the line of the show which I won't repeat where he's peeing and he says I thought I pulled my off you know yeah everyone was firing on all cylinders that episode but we were very happy to get back to LA after that yeah yeah any other stories pertaining to that episode because again it was just like yes I do think so Eric Roberts who had the Cameo playing himself great actor Eric Roberts and he's driving that Winnebago and do you remember that part where Vince sees like the firefighter and then he sees himself for a second he thinks he's still there was like a crane shot we were doing right so there's a crane in a car next to us following the Winnebago and the arm of it's like shooting us while we drive and I feel like Eric Roberts almost took out the crane yeah I think I think there is a chance that like we almost died I think that so he was actually driving yeah he was driving the Winnebago for parts not the whole time but for certain parts he was driving the yeah and last story you know we we were we were in a hotel or a motel I should say very close but there was a night when we were driving to a different location and we stopped at a Mohegan Sun or one of those types of places yeah and we were we played some Blackjack and craps and we were on a heater it was a great episode so we all won money too it was a great episode now that's a recurring theme I've noticed when you guys have gone to Vegas and you guys end up hitting the tables pretty hard it's great that now you work in sports gambling you were just getting your feet yeah no I feel like I've been training for this my whole life yes you have all right well I I need you to have good stories on that episode that was such a good episode okay let's get over to our bed MGM bedding analyst we're not calling them expert analyst Peter Andrew all right Peter welcome back well I'm looking at I'm looking at last week you know not a bad week you only down two units from last week I I did love your over teaser because we love over players because I'm an emotional better so it didn't pan out we could blame our Dolphins Chargers match up for that uh but you did hit on your boy Brock Purdy did his thing for you gotta feel good about that and then your teaser you know you had the you had the Browns did you have the Browns and it's easy you had the Browns and the teaser you you asked for it you asked for it one point one measly point I would have hit that Chiefs did their business I think that's you're right that's what I get for Benton Browns but but Brock Purdy kept me somewhat I still mutter about that Jets come back win over the Browns that destroyed my six leg parlor I still will wake up in the middle of night being like [ __ ] Brown's ruining that I still will wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that but it's a new week your man Brock Purdy is legit so let's see if we can make the people some some money here what what what does Peter Andrews what is your menu looking like this week yeah so two weeks in a row he was game of the week Fox on Sunday Thursday night football at Seattle this week uh I know he's technically on the injured list I think he's questionable they got an MRI on his oblique but based off everything he said he's good to go uh so we're doing an ogp for the Niners I couldn't resist two units here so uh first is just Niners money line very plain and simple I don't love the points here I think it's gonna be closer than people expect I think it's a low score spread right now um spread is not Niners or minus sign in Seattle so minus three and a half minutes in Seattle staying away I just like money line here okay um so taking Niners money line I'm taking Seattle under 21 and a half points so they played early in the season Niners kept them to seven I I think yeah Niners defense obviously matches up really well against them like they do with the rest of the NFL um so I seen similarities uh from early on to to right now if anything the defense has gotten better in Seattle yeah that's a big part of it but San Fran without Evo San Fran without Debo dodged a bullet there looks like only four to six weeks thank god um but this this week is going to be about the running game I think Seattle's got a bottom three defense run defense uh specifically so I'm boosting McCaffrey up from I think it's right around 67 yards was his over under I'm actually taking 100 plus so I think this is a heavy Run game they're going to exploit them with their Zone running uh those three things combine plus 425 so that's 20 bucks to an 85 so that's two units there really like all three McCaffrey looked awesome last week it's it's just funny because I feel like they use their offense for probably two and a half quarters maybe because things were just so out of control I think you could have seen record numbers from lots of guys Purdy didn't even hit over 200 yards because he didn't have to essentially took him out of the game didn't have to right so um I think it'll be a little bit different a little closer here uh lower scoring like I said I can see something like a 21-17 Niners win um so yeah 425 I think good value there for just three picks in the one good value and yeah without Walker and without Debo I like the McCaffrey over rushing yards and the under 21 and a half Seattle points okay two units 20 to 185 love that do we have a teaser this week we do have a teaser this week oh boy uh so I'll first real quick you got bills minus one and a half at home against Miami uh Miami's been on a bit of a steep decline here haven't looked great rumor last week you know or the last couple weeks when they play in cold weather 55 degree weather the reason heat warmers on the bench and we it's gonna be what 15 to 20 degrees in Buffalo this weekend they are going to suffer uh I was half considering taking this alone but I'm just teasing it down to one and a half in case something funky happens um Vikings I've teased them down to plus two against the Colts uh if this was any other team I would not be looking at the Vikings they have a horrendous defense specifically their pass defense but the good news is the Colts can't throw the ball so right um I think must win game for them you know they're pretty locked into their playoff spot obviously but they're fighting for the 2-3 seed and I think this is an important game to get kind of back on track um so I like Vikings to take care of business uh probably pretty handily um and then Jags plus ten and a half I've teased that they're at home against Dallas Dallas looked really shaky last week against Houston against your Houston Texans uh I actually think Jags win this game out right this week so I think the 10 and a half points there is a nice little buffer Trevor Lawrence looks awesome I mean it's taken a year and change but he's actually got some weapons now I think this dude Zay Jones is legit they have ATN I mean they have some weapons now to build off of him and I think he's he's kind of proven himself to be that legitimate number one overall pick so could sprinkle some money line there with some extra extra units but 10 and a half seems really good especially at home okay so that's five units you got five remaining how you're gonna use the remaining five big week for you Peter Andrew so similar similar to last we call I felt so good about the Niners minus three and a half I got my lock of the week I've been talking about this since the game on Sunday oh last week Lions plus one at the Jets at MetLife they've already beat a MetLife team once this year I think you remember that Jared I do and that typically happens when teams play both Giants and jets in Jersey they usually win both games yeah there you go um I mean there's a combination of things here start with the Jets Mike White got shaken up real bad last week so he's clearly not gonna be playing at 100 I think he was in and out of the game like three times last week um I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a crack rib uh from the hits he's taken fast forward to this week you got guys like Hayden Hutchinson coming at him I think he's in for a bit of rude awakening and then on the other side of the ball you got the Lions who again similar to the Jags seem like they have a kind of complete offense right now they've traded away TJ Hawkinson but you bring in a guy like Jameson Williams last week about his first touchdown Which is amazing to see after that touring ACL um uh Jamal Williams looks great they're playing really complete football they are probably going to end up short of the playoffs just because they put themselves in a pretty deep hole to start the season but they're going to do everything in their power and Dan Campbell specifically to get right close to that seven seed especially if you see teams like the Giants or the commanders tell off a little bit even Seattle they've got a shot still and clearly he's putting every trick in the book out on the field I mean fake punts penisul with a fourth down completion there's star guard um so they're they're going for it I love to see it and I think that's what people were kind of hoping watching hard knocks this year is seeing that team really kind of ride behind their coach so I think they win I think they win big jets are on the way down here they have not looked great and obviously a bunch of injuries have kind of turmoil their season a little bit so five units minus 110 plus one uh lines there it's not worth the value of money line it's only uh I think an extra five cents so take the plus one just in case but really like the lines this week um yeah I think that I do think that teams that win one if they go into like you know the Sinatra is it called or whatever I think that's that's in play here and the lines are surging I mean I I think that this is a better time we talked about the Lions and jaragov a lot today so this is a good yeah this is a good bet um ogp hopefully on the same side as me and not go opposing everything I just said no I'm on the same side as you I'm on a I'm on a oh yeah I'm on a draft don't draft a quarterback side which is a healthy debate for right now but let's see how the rest of the year goes but I I really like the ogp I don't know what what you were feeling Olivia well unlike Jerry I write her two every week Peter every week we will see you next week I'm excited for all of your hot takes and I also like you know kind of selfishly when you're wrong when you're bad because it's nice to rub it in because we have that friendly rivalry both Jerry and I are always going to be against you as a 49er fan that's one thing we have in common but thanks again for popping on everyone make sure you follow us and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and on the YouTube page if you want to watch us because you know Jerry just looks even better than he sounds so you've got to watch it but thanks guys for joining us see you next week [Music] thank you