Puka Nacua & Drew Brees Join! (Hour 1)

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can hop into my all-new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available H-Track all-wheel drive and three-row seating, my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. Live from the play show you're not overly ostentatious, Mandalay Bay Convention Center inside a radio row. This is the Zach Gelb show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, but of course streaming live on YouTube, youtube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. We have a loaded guest lineup today.

Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Luke Keakley, Joe Montana, Michael Pennix Jr., CJ Stroud, Austin Eckler, and DJ Moore. But now joining us on behalf of Pepsi, there are good rookie seasons and then there are just ridiculous rookie seasons and that is star and it's tough to be a star in your rookie year but unexpected star Puka Nakua of the LA Rams kind enough to join us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio right out of the gate. Puka, first off, it's an honor to meet you. Thanks so much for doing this and congrats on all your success.

Thank you. Nice to meet you as well. Thanks for having me. So what you did this year, obviously I couldn't predict it. The rest of the NFL couldn't predict it because if that was the case you would have gone a lot earlier in the draft, but when you look back at everything that has transpired and now the way people talk about you as one of the better wide receivers in the league, just how do you kind of reflect on what this last year has been like? Yeah, it's been a while.

I've been pretty busy since the end of the season of going out. I went to go visit my brother, played his last high school game and then was out in Pro Bowl and then obviously out here in the Super Bowl. So I obviously feel like I haven't reflected too much on what's been able to happen but I just know it was such a blessing. Just every moment felt like I was in the right place and that all the balls were on my side of the court and I was able to do what felt right and everything just seemed to happen how I was supposed to. Even though we didn't win, I'm excited to get back and to improve on the things that I know I can't improve on, but I would say it was a good start for sure. Yeah, you could say that. Was this season surprising to you?

It definitely was. I feel like I have a lot of comments in myself and I know I've worked hard to be where I am and to earn these opportunities, but I don't think I could have imagined it being this sweet. So what did you expect, just wondering? Like I know you have big expectations to be able to do what you did.

You have to have confidence and I don't think confidence should be associated with arrogance. It's just reality, but what did you expect going into this year? I was expecting just to make the team, to be a special team guy or any opportunity that they were going to give me to try to take advantage of it. I knew I grew up in a physical household with all my brothers and stuff like that, so I knew whether it was going to be on punt or kickoff or whatever, to exert the physical part of my game, because I enjoy that side of football, but when the opportunity came to run routes and then to exert my physical dominance, that's why it was the cherry on top.

What are you able to learn as Pukodiku is here with us on behalf of Pepsi? Like Cooper Cupp, he's one of the better wide receivers in the league. I also feel like he could get and should probably get more praise for whatever the reasons are when you make these top five, top ten lists, but being in that building with Cooper, I know he dealt with some injuries this year, but what did you kind of just learn from him? He's got his routine down and his level of consistency is going to stay the same.

He's the same guy whether he goes out and has 175 yards or he has 25. The ability to stay the same and to do the things that you know work for you to keep that routine and that consistency is something that as a young guy to watch that and to how he held himself throughout the whole season was something I was to look up to and it helped me be able to stabilize and try to find a routine and to not necessarily latch my confidence onto his, but to be like, okay, the guy who's leading our room, his confidence has never wavered, so why should mine? So now everyone's going to be a Pukanuku expert. People start reading the articles, they start thinking they know everything about your life. I still feel like there's a lot of your story that probably has been untold, so I'll just simply ask you this.

What do you want people to know about Pukanuku and what it has taken to really get to this point? My family has been my biggest support. I feel like I always credit Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cupp and Coach McVeigh and they definitely deserve all the credit that I've been able to give them, but my brothers have played a big part in my life of being able to compete with them at a very young age, but also to feel like I have my biggest critics and my biggest supporters behind me at all time. They're my big brothers. They never let me forget that they could do what I do better and that my brother would hit me across the middle and I wouldn't be able to get up and stuff like that, but they were the first people to call me and to say how proud they are when breaking records and winning games. So all five of my brothers, I love those guys to death and especially my sister as well. So I know I only have one sister, so she gets left behind, but she's just as good as they are. Well, you have easy smack talk now and your bigger brothers try to talk down to you. Are you an all pro? That's all you got to say. That's after one year. That's a pretty good card to be able to play. So naturally, when you have the success that you've had and where you were in the draft, we've even seen it right with Brock Purdy.

People are going to say, ah, it's going to end. I can't be replicated. So instead of just replicating it, how do you not only continue it, but make it even better than what we saw this past year? Yeah, to be able to, I think it was some of that I took from Coop as well as I saw Cooper playing 100% of snaps in almost every single game that we played in. Like, and that's something I want to be able to, I feel like I love being a part of the run game, blocking and things like that.

So to be able to be out there every single play to give our team the best chance to win is something I want to be able to do. And then I also was made aware actually this week that I led the league in drops. I didn't know that was a thing. I didn't know I led that category, which is something that I definitely don't want to leave that category again. Yeah, I think you made up for it. I don't remember too many drops, but hey, the stats are the stats, as Bill Belichick says, stats are for losers most of the point.

Pukanukua here with us on behalf of Pepsi. We'll talk about them in just a bit. Hey, I say a lot of things on the radio.

Some of the things I get right, some of the things I got wrong. I did not believe that this Rams team was going to be a playoff team this year. You know, I just kind of sensed McVeigh was one foot in, one foot out. Stafford one foot in, one foot out.

Donald as well with the future and their future being speculated possible retirement. I was just in awe and really bought into you guys in the second half of the season. What kind of are you still building in LA that won the Super Bowl a few years ago? You got a good mix of youngsters and vets.

What do you guys think you're building in LA? Well, we got something great cooking up over there with Coach McVeigh at the head of us. My confidence is in another world. I have so much confidence in our guys and like you said, we got a mixture of young guys. So we got a lot of new energy and we have the right vets to lead us. So I'm excited. I think the sky's the limit. Just like you said, we'd run the Super Bowl a couple years and we are just a couple plays away from being able to put stuff together in the playoffs this year.

So it hurts to lose, but I'm super excited for what we got because we know we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg. What about Stafford? What really stood out to you about the one-year getter in El Matthew? From the moment I got invited in OTAs to throw routes in practice, there's not... So you don't have a problem connecting with him. I remember that story from his wife, right? That he doesn't know how to talk to these younger players. You would have been one of those younger pain in the asses, you know?

No, 100%. I know. At the beginning, that for sure was me, but just us throwing routes and then being able to talk ball. We're able to build a little bit of a relationship and stuff like that, but he takes such pride in being able to throw that ball perfectly every single time and he can put the ball anywhere on the field. So as a wide receiver, that's the best thing you want to hear as coming from your quarterback. He's like, hey, he knows that as well. So it makes it so fun when we're dialing stuff up and he makes my job really easy because if I'm rolling in the DBs on my top shoulder, he's going to put it on my back shoulder and it's going to be in the one spot where he can't get it. So I always trust number nine and he's one of the best for sure.

You know, sometimes players, they kind of reflect who their head coach is and you see some similarities. I'm not even going McVay. I'm going Kalani Satake. I've had Kalani on a bunch and I'm sitting there and I'm like, am I talking to Puka Naku or am I talking to Kalani Satake? You kind of remind me a lot like Kalani. I love Kalani. He's the best. I know I need to go back there to BYU and see all the guys, but Coach Kalani, Coach Fess, all the guys over there at BYU. That's so funny. I love that. Coach Kalani and Coach McVay, they both have an extreme amount of energy. Yeah, there's no question about that.

Wrapping up with Puka Naku. So you were at Washington, then you end up at BYU. How did that make you into the player that you were?

Because now we see it all the time. NIL, transfer portal, guys are at one place and they end up transferring. They go on to have really successful careers. Yeah, Junior Adams was my receiver's coach at the University of Washington and Chris Peterson was the head coach at that time when I committed and those were the big reasons I ended up going out there. Coach Adams, I actually coached Cooper Cup, so there's somebody who had put guys into the league and somebody I knew that could help me get to where I wanted to be. But family has always been something big to me, so my grandma was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That's what ended up leading me transferring back to BYU or transferring home to be closer to my family and then it was God's plan at that point.

To be able to be close to my family and to be there with my grandma before she had passed away was something I hold very dear to my heart that time that we got to spend, but I know my grandma was a big part of everything that's happened in this year as well. That's a phenomenal answer. Wrapping up with Puka Nakua, tell me about what you're doing today on behalf of Pepsi. Yeah, Pepsi. I love me some Pepsi Wild Cherry, that's for dink, so this is my favorite drink up here. I'm a gamer, so when I sit down and I start to game, this is my drink, my go-to drink. You're getting all jacked up on the Pepsi? Now that it's off season, I can enjoy some soda now. That's when the trash talking starts spewing.

Exactly. Coop won't get too mad at me, but we're just gonna be on Saturday from 2 30 to 4 across from the Horseshoe. We got Sip City Secrets, so everybody can come out and share your secret.

You're gonna write down your secret on some invisible ink, so nobody should be too scared about the secret you're gonna share. Hopefully it's nothing too wild for all the fans, but then when you share your secret, you confess your secret, you'll get a code to win some gear over there by Pepsi. They have a bunch of serious promotions. I know they got some dope stuff. They ain't playing around.

Yeah, they got some dope stuff. What's your secret? I'm super excited. Has anyone asked you that today? No, I don't know if my secret is an actual secret. I think you displayed your secret this year in the NFL. Pat McAfee said my secret was dumb, but I was like, I poured my milk before my cereal. I don't know if that's a secret.

I know I'm kind of an outsider with that one, but he's like, I don't think that was a good secret, but then he said his secret was you two suck, so I was like, my secret's for sure better. Wait, so you go milk first, then the cereal. I actually don't think that's a bad combination. I'm not a big cereal guy, but I've done that before. See, I was trying to tell him, so when you pour the milk before, that means then you get the perfect amount of cereal.

The milk to cereal ratio is perfect, because sometimes you eat a bowl of cereal, then you need to pour extra milk in there, but I'm like, now I got extra soggy cereal, but now I never have that when you pour it in first, because you have the perfect amount. I kind of think it's actually a good take. Some people won't. Now we're trying to figure out how real this relationship is between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. I think they're good to see wedding bells. A lot of people eventually do.

Do you think they'll eventually get engaged? I don't know, honestly. So you're in the maybe category. I'm in the maybe category, yeah.

Well, anyway, I appreciate you coming on. I'll end you on this. Where do you think you rank, like in the end? Do you feel like you're a top 10 wide receiver right now? Shoot, I don't know.

I know, I've been in my first year. I don't know if I would say I'm top 10. I still got a lot to prove.

I like that answer. Humbled as always. Here he is, Puka Nuku on behalf of Pepsi.

Puka really appreciated it. This is Zach Gelb's show on Radio Row. We'll come on back after these short messages.

A Peanut Butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

The Sultan of Sizzle, the Titan of Toastiness, the Kingpin of Kindling. These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place together. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a Solo Stove Fire Pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged. Football is revered and food is enjoyed. Solo Stove, the perfect flame for the big game.

Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all-new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available H-TRAC all-wheel drive and three-row seating, my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe, available at early 2024. We continue. This is Zach Gelb's show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us, legendary NFL quarterback.

Of course, one day going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP. And now joining us today on behalf of FedEx, obviously, is Drew Brees. Drew, great to see you. How you been? Yeah, I've been really well. You? I've been fantastic. Can't complain. This week's a zoo.

It's crazy. We're all getting ready for Super Bowl Sunday. Media night. When you were a player playing in the big game, you know, I was there on Monday. Everything was Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, which I love.

I think it's fun and I think it brings more eyes to football. But what do you remember from your opening night or media night, whatever they called it when you were playing? Yeah, you know, we were in Miami.

I think we did it during the day. It was great. I mean, it's only gotten crazier, right? And you know what, it's become more global is what it is. Obviously, NFL announces that Philly's playing in Brazil next year to kick off their season.

And so the game just continues to kind of broaden its reach. We're going to South America. We're playing a bunch of games in Europe.

Flag football just got announced as an Olympic sport in 28 in LA. So, man, the sport of football is growing and I think the attention in and around it is growing, which is awesome. So I got to ask you about Brock Purdy. I hate the conversation the last two weeks.

I'm so tired of it. System quarterback, franchise quarterback, game manager, good quarterback. Everyone has their opinion. You playing the position at an extremely high level. When you turn on the tape and you watch Brock Purdy, what do you see? I see a guy that has great command of the offense, has very high intellect. You have to execute that offense with all the shifts motions and the timing and rhythm that you have to create as a quarterback.

You have to be smart. I see a poise to him. He doesn't seem to be phased by pressure situations.

I think that goes back to the guy started 47 games in college, right? And he's used to being in situations where he's the underdog. He's got a chip on his shoulder and you can tell he plays for a higher calling too. That football is not necessarily his identity, that he's been equipped with an incredible skill set, but he's very faith driven and I think he just feels like this is part of something much greater than just playing a sport. You can tell he has the respect and admiration of his teammates.

His team rallies around him. And then there's his skill set, which is then the guy throws with timing and rhythm. You can tell he knows where to go with the ball.

I just watch his feet. I watch how he's able to kind of work the pocket, get the ball out of his hands quickly and accurately. And I think the thing that impressed me most of last week, maybe something that we hadn't seen or nor did we expect, was his ability to run the football.

He's actually a very good athlete. When he took off on those three runs in critical situations, that was the defining moment of that game. His ability to make those big plays, keep the chains moving, score points, you know, kind of keep the comeback going.

And I mean that just ignited the entire team and the entire stadium. So that just showed me that here's a guy who's multi-dimensional. He's going outside the system to create what the team needs in order to go win the football game.

I don't know when you watch games, as Drew Brees is here with us on Radio Row on behalf of FedEx, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Do you see like a little Brock Purdy, like from when you were playing, does he remind you at all like about yourself? Are there some quarterbacks that you go, okay, this guy reminds me of the way that I played the game? Yes, obviously our stature is very similar. We're both, you know, six foot. Underdog, right?

Yeah. Like it seems like from afar it's like a lazy kind of comparison, but I wonder since you're the person that people would compare him to. Yeah, but I'd say we're both athletic guys, but we're conditioned to be, you know, pocket passers, rhythm passers is really what I would call it. And the offenses that we played in were very similar, right?

We were a version of the West Coast offense with Sean Payton. That's obviously what they're running with Shanahan. You know, I'd say they've kind of taken it to another level with all their shifts, motions, and all this stuff. And they've got some incredible talent, you know, that you're trying to figure out ways to create matchups and get them in space and all that stuff.

But that's a lot to handle. It's a lot of responsibility as a quarterback. And I just think he does it with a confidence and a poise that's maybe beyond his years. I mean, let's keep in mind this guy's only a second year player, right? I mean, he's got such a long career ahead of him and with limited NFL experience thus far.

But I do see a ton of similarity just in regards to the timing and rhythm in which we play the game. When you look at Mahomes, like, I don't even know what there is to say anymore. It's just you have to continue to appreciate the greatness that he does week in and week out.

They were a vulnerable team this year and still no one was able to take them down in the AFC. Well, I'd say this, though, you know, there's always a confidence, though, when you have a quarterback like that, where you just say we always have a chance, you know? And I think just as a team, it maybe takes a little bit of the pressure off you to say, like, man, guys, we don't have to be perfect. You know, we just we need to do our job, right? We need to play together. We need to execute the game plan. But we do have this guy who can run around and make it happen. You know what I'm saying? And just his ability to improvise and to buy time and to, like, at times where you just kind of shake your head and say, I've never seen a guy scramble around like that and then make that throw, right, at the end of it all.

So it's pretty uncanny. He's great. We all know that. Hot take of the day, right? Drew Brees here with us. People are already saying he's the greatest quarterback of all time, right? You're in that top 10, top 15 quarterback of all time, kind of ranking on a lot of these lists. Is that a little premature to say he's already the greatest quarterback to ever play the game? Yeah, I think it's, I mean, look, what he's accomplished in his first, is it six seasons?

Yeah. I mean, it's pretty remarkable. So six conference championship games and four Super Bowl appearances, right?

I mean, that's remarkable. But I think when you're talking about the greatest of all time, you're talking about a body of work, right, that encompasses a full career. And so when you're talking about a guy like Brady, you know, who played 23 years, and then some of us who played 20 years, and Peyton who played 18 years, and I think you have to see the consistency over a long period of time. You know, see it through multiple generations, so to speak, of teams, right, and coaches. You know, Andy Reid's not going to be there forever. Travis Kelce is not going to be there forever. You know, over the course of Mahomes career, if it lasts another 10 years, he's going to basically play on three different teams, so to speak. You know what I'm saying? In other words, the way the turnover in this league works is he's going to kind of have his core group, but man, then he's going to have, you know, who knows who the next coach is going to be or how long that's going to wait.

So there's just, it's the body of work. It's the consistency over that period of time. Why did Sean Payton, your former coach, and Russell Wilson just not work this year?

Why did they not mesh? Well, I think we knew that it was going to be, obviously, a kind of a pivotal moment in that organization. If it is going to work, then we're going to see it, and then it's going to be a, you know, kind of a fruitful thing moving forward, and if not, then I think you're going to see a very quick transition, you know, and then we're moving on. You know what I'm saying? But you kind of knew the decision was going to need to be made. I think as I watched the Broncos offense this year, it didn't feel like there was the timing and the rhythm and the tempo that I'm used to seeing in a Sean Payton offense.

I know those are the hallmarks of his offense. I know that that's what he preaches, and that's what they're striving for, and it didn't feel that way, you know. So, obviously, the decision was made. It looks like they're parting ways. I think Russell still brings a ton of value in the right place, in the right system, and I'm confident that'll happen for him, and then we'll see what Sean does to go get his guy. Can Sean adapt to how football is coached in 2024? Because it seems like, and I don't know if he's definitely a my way or the highway guy, but you have some of these older football coaches now that you start to see it's a different game. A lot of younger coaches, former players, getting hired. Do you think he could still be an extremely successful coach in the year of 2024?

Yeah, I do. He's an incredible communicator and coach, and his messaging is on point, you know, so much. He's a master of understanding human nature. I think a lot of this comes from Bill Parcells, whom he coached under and learned a lot from, and so his teams are always ready to play. They're always prepared and they are ready to play. You then have the challenge as a coach of taking the skill set of the players you have and then putting everybody in the best position to succeed based on their strengths, right? There's the things that Sean Payton wants to do, and then there's the team that he has or the skill sets that he has, and it's like, okay, how do we plug that into the system, right?

Look, everything is constantly evolving. I watch offensive football now and I'm like, man, this is an unbelievable time to be playing in the NFL. And being a quarterback. This San Francisco offense is awesome. That Miami Dolphins offense is awesome. I saw what Buffalo did at the end of season two with Joe Brady. Detroit, I'm pulling up a lot of these game tape, you know, because I'm still a fan. I have access to the database, and so I'm pulling up the All 22.

I wish I was born 10 years later. No, I mean, dude, I just love football. I mean, I'll install it on my 7-on-7 team or something. Your stats are pretty good.

I think you're okay. No, no, but just point being is, man, the game's constantly evolving. The stuff that's happening with offensive football right now, it's awesome. It's so much fun to play the quarterback position right now. Tell me what you got cooking today with FedEx. Yeah, so FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year. FedEx has been doing this for a long time.

I had the pleasure of winning this award four times during my career. FedEx has been an incredible sponsor of the NFL for a long time, doing so many things in the community. And so I am proud to announce the winners this year of the FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year. FedEx Air is Brock Purdy. FedEx Ground is Christian McCaffrey. So first time in history that it's the same teammates. And so maybe that's a little foreshadowing for the game on Sunday.

We'll see. But also, as a result of this, FedEx is donating $40,000 to HBCUs in Brock Purdy's name and Christian McCaffrey's name to fund scholarships. So then who's more valuable to the team? Is it Brock or is it Christian? Because I think it's Christian. No disrespect to Brock.

I just think it's Christian. I mean, look, they both are. I'd argue that Deebo Samuel is kind of the guy who is the X Factor, just because he can do so many things. He's a guy who's a matchup nightmare. You pretty much know where Christian McCaffrey is going to line up. You know where Brock Purdy is going to line up.

You got no clue where Deebo is going to line up. And he's a run after the catch guy. You could put him at running back if you want. You can throw screens to him or you can launch 60 yard bombs to him.

I mean, it's crazy what the guy can do. All right. We've been asking this question all throughout the week. We have to have a Travis Kelcey, Taylor Swift. Do you think they're ultimately going to get engaged? Only one person said no, and that's Sean Alexander. Really? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know the inner workings of the relationship. So you're in the maybe category. There's a maybe category right here as well.

If that's what they want, I'm hoping for it. He is Drew Brees. Drew, always good to see you. Thanks so much for doing this. You got it.

No problem. There he is. Drew Brees joining us on Radio Rose. Super Bowl 58 on Westwood One is streaming for free. Sponsored by AutoZone on Super Bowl Sunday. Hear every minute of Westwood One's broadcast live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports on the Westwood One affiliate station's digital platforms and get in the zone with AutoZone.

AutoZone's free battery testing and charging is available for free at your local AutoZone. Get in the zone. AutoZone restrictions apply. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. You know, I'm going to reveal something on the air right now. It is what?

3 29 p.m. Eastern, 12 29 p.m. Pacific. I have not had a bite of food today. And the reason why is I ate like a pig last night.

We got the best service ever at Piero's off the strip in Las Vegas. It was amazing. The amount of Italian that we had last night was just stupid.

And I mean that in a good way. And I've never seen Samter drink and eat so much in his life. They started off with what? The meatballs and the ricotta cheese. You also had the garbage Caesar salad as well, which was phenomenal. They had some sushi dish too. What else did we have? We had the crab claws. Oh yeah, the stone crab. The shrimp cocktail with the spicy shrimp cocktail. The horseradish cocktail sauce. And the crazy thing with their tongue is the story about how somebody said they can eat 70 something shrimp.

Yeah, no shot. I had two of them stuffed. They brought out the large jumbo shrimp.

And the guy who said he could do 70 had 28. They said it was the grossest thing they've ever seen in their lives. But that sounds awesome to me. And I had some of the best veal parm I've ever had. You had what for your main course? Because we had to... Samter had to send the drink back because he was a little snobby last night.

You're the second person who said that. I didn't send a drink back. I got a drink that it wasn't my favorite drink. It wasn't my favorite scotch. I took a sip. I'm like, this isn't my favorite. I didn't complain. I just made a face.

And then everyone else, when the waiter came by, was like, oh, he doesn't like it. Take it away. I never said anything. We didn't bully Samter a little bit last night. I never did anything. I said, don't worry about it. It's good. I'm fine. I enjoy it well enough. Don't take it away. But whatever.

So I'm not taking the hit on that one. So what was your main course? I had the sole chicken, the sole piccata. So it was like a white wine, lemon butter sauce. A little bolognese sauce.

No, no, no. On the side. There was bolognese pasta on the side. There was a bolognese pasta. Had some linguine with the lemon sauce.

It was fantastic. Oh, and then canola. Oh, we'll get to dessert. The dessert.

Cannolis. What was the cake? We had a carrot cake. They had a creme brulee with Nutella underneath. Which that was maybe the craziest thing I've ever devoured.

Yeah, man. But that was wild. What a night it was. And I appreciate Sully and his crew for making that possible. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. I have agreed to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge as it's the 10-year anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge with Matt Ryan, former NFL MVP, now superstar CBS Sports analyst. Matt Ryan's going to join us on the set when we come on back from the commercial break. And I'm very curious to see how the Ice Bucket Challenge goes down. Sources tell me the engineer staff with all the wires around here, they're a little nervous.

But we'll see what happens. You know, Frank is having his hands shake right now. And I'm a little bit concerned when I'm looking over to my right. And you got, oh, they got kiddie pools? I'm stepping in a kiddie pool? There's going to be a tarp and we're getting big buckets of water dumped on us? Man, did they pay me to do this?

This is what I agreed to do? Oh, yeah. Matt Ryan joins us next on CBS Sports Radio. It is the Zach Gelb show.

Let's toss it back to New York City. Here's the latest CBS Sports Radio update with the act man, Rich Ackerman. I'm Tony and this is the Tony Kornheiser show. Well, that makes it sound a bit more serious than it really is. So what exactly is the show about? Been almost 30 years and I still don't know. Right now we have some of the best voices in football come on to explain to us what we need to know in the college and pro world. And we get weekly picks from a monkey. Do you really need more than that? I might just tell you about my bunker game and the latest failed entry in my quest to find the best coffee ice cream.

No schmutz, please. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. Chris Chapman's hit podcast was canceled. As you know, my old show, the Chris Chapman confrontation was a victim of a little thing called cancel culture.

But he's learned he's grown and he's ready to win back his audience. I'm back better than ever with the Chris Chapman do over starring Ike Barenholtz. I have a new lady co host on the pod Lisa Gilroy. My mic is on and Neil Casey is the professor greetings my humans the new hit improv comedy The Chris Chapman do over an Odyssey and paper kite production.

Listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Bill right here. Kind of work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty. Hey, Mikey, if you're gonna puke, find the popcorn bowl.

But my availability is 110% coincidentally, so is my fever. But I'm gonna get you that budget just as soon as Mikey popcorn bowl press one to use instacart and get your family sick day essentials delivered in as fast as 30 minutes. Press two to keep working.

Do not press to just use instacart Brian. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. This portion of the show is sponsored by the new Hyundai Tucson available with complementary class leading blue link.

Plus, now it's easy to use your phone to control your Tucson and now joining us. Man, I think there's only one person I would do this for, and he is the former NFL MVP Matt Ryan. And the only reason why I would end up doing this for Matt Ryan is because I know his favorite cheesesteak spot is Della Sandro's.

But solid, solid spot. Well, we're gonna do now, we're gonna talk, obviously, some football. And Matt is here on behalf of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which it's crazy that this challenge has been going on for 10 years, and it just speaks to the power of the challenge and what the causes of this challenge. And I got an email from my producer this week, Michael Samter, and he goes, Do you wanna do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with Matt Ryan? And I go, Okay, like where?

He goes on Radio Row. I go, If you could set it up, I'll do it. And here we are, Matt. Yeah, well, I appreciate you doing it with me and appreciate you having me on to talk about the Ice Bucket Challenge. And I can't believe it's been 10 years, right? That thing blew up 10 years ago for a great reason because it's a disease that if you've ever been personally impacted by it is rough. And I was, a good friend of mine was Pete Frades from Austin College, who was instrumental in getting it going. And Pete, unfortunately, passed away, but he was so brave during that fight with it to create awareness for it. And so here we are trying to, you know, make some noise for it and try and keep people going, keep people committed to what they're doing. And so for me, as we get Josh Allen coming to say what's up.

Dion Dawkins protects that man pretty damn good. But so anyhow, it's great to be able to promote it and to try and encourage people if there's a way that they can help raise money for this. Let's keep it rolling. Let's keep the momentum that started 10 years ago going so we can find a cure for this disease. Yeah, I remember doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and I want to say it was 2014, right?

Yeah, 10 years makes sense right around then. And to see that this continues to go and to just honor Pete's legacy and, you know, continue to remember, you know, everything about Pete. Obviously, you knew him well. I hear all the best stories about him. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him, but just tell me a little bit more about your friend. Yeah, he was one of the first guys I met when I was at Boston College. We were actually in orientation, freshman orientation. We were kind of in the same dorm. And so like one of the first five guys I met when I got there and just salt of the earth guy and fun. He was one of the people that made everybody feel like he was your best friend, you know, like you've known him forever. He just had an easy way about him. Cool, cool guy, great baseball player.

Fun to be around and fun to hang out with and just a good all around dude. Talking to Matt Ryan right now. We'll get back obviously to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in a bit as we're going to be doing this live on CBS Sports Radio. If you want to watch along youtube.com slash CBS Sports Radio.

Let me chat to you a little bit about the Atlanta Falcons. I thought Belichick was going to be their head coach. It ends up being Rahim Morris. How did you kind of process that one when that was announced the other week?

I like Rahim. You know, he was, you know, with me in Atlanta for six years and I saw him in all kinds of different stages, right? I saw him as he came in on the defensive side of the ball, then switched over coach wide receivers for us for a bit and then went back to the defensive side of the ball, calling plays on that side and then ultimately interim head coach and then leaves and goes to the Rams for the last three years and does a great job there and really turned. He took a young group of defenders on that Rams defense and turned them into a pretty good unit and I was impressed by that but I like to hire. He understands the organization.

He understands how it works. He's walking into a team that's built to win but they need to get the quarterback position right. I think he'll do that. They'll get somebody to solidify the position moving forward and I expect them to do well. So, when the speculation was Belichick, Belichick, Belichick, Belichick, it ends up being Rahim. You know, there's a reaction to that but for you, if it was going to be Belichick, how would you have kind of approached that one? Well, I said it was doing one of the pregame shows for CBS in the wildcard ground and that was kind of the height of the talk and all this. I said the thing that would have made sense to me for Bill Belichick is if you were going out and getting a veteran quarterback, maybe it's the Kirk Cousins or you're going to make a play for whoever to get somebody that's established, right? You know, because I thought the window was maybe three or four years.

I don't think Bill would have been coaching there, at least in my opinion, for 10, 12 years. But if you wanted to go the young direction and try and solidify that organization moving forward and get a young quarterback, I think you needed to go in a different direction and ultimately, I think that's what they've decided. See what happens.

I could be dead wrong. This is just speculation on my part but we'll see what happens with them in the draft here in a couple of months. So, I've talked about you a lot throughout this season because one of our co-workers is Tiki Barber. Yeah, yeah. You obviously call games with and I'm a big fan of Andrew Catalon but seeing Tiki every day in the office, I feel like whenever a quarterback would go down and unfortunately, there was a lot of them. I go, is your broadcast partner going to be your broadcast partner on Sunday? And every time he goes, I think Matt's just done playing.

I think he really enjoys the broadcasting. So, if you didn't, I don't know how many calls you got this year. I'm sure there were quite a few but if you didn't come back this year, you're officially done. It's over.

There's no more coming back to the league? Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah. I'm comfortable with what I'm doing right now. I've really enjoyed, you know, I really enjoyed working with Tiki. I mean, he's right.

He's a great dude to be around. I think that was part of it too, right? Like, I didn't know at the beginning of last season what it was going to be like. Maybe I was no good. Maybe it wasn't going to be fun calling these games or anything but I think working with Catalon, working with Tiki Barber, AJ Ross on the sideline for us and then really our director and producer, our producer Steve McKee and our director Andy Goldberg were fantastic. And so, as the season shook on and these spots opened up, I was like, I'm kind of having fun doing what I'm doing. Things are good at home. Like, it just made sense to continue on. So, I think it's pretty safe to say I'm going to continue to do what I'm doing.

Gotcha. Matt Ryan here with us and that's good for us here at CBS because, you know, you never know how, I think people try to complicate broadcasting too much. They're like, oh, he doesn't have broadcasting experience and now he's going from the gridiron to a great broadcast with him.

Like, so what? If he's good, he's good and you guys have a good booth but how do you kind of think it all played out this past year? You know, I thought it got better as the year went on, as it should, right? Chemistry. Chemistry got better, all of those things. But Tiki and I and Andrew would talk all the time is we wanted to feel like, you know, it was three guys sitting at a bar watching a game.

It should be. And the fourth guy at the bar is the audience. And so, have fun. You know, maybe I explain one of these things here. Tiki gives his lens on a run play or whatever there. Andrew kind of guides the conversation and, you know, I thought we did a pretty good job of that, you know, and improved on like the hard part for me was telestrating and hear the replays and stuff like that, getting that going. But, you know, I thought we got better. You got to be careful when you're drawing.

We always know what people are looking for on social media. I understand. I understand.

I worked hard to not draw anything. So, you know, it was, I thought we had fun, you know, and I thought we covered games in a really good way. And hopefully, you know, we all just continue to get better.

We're going to be doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with Matt Ryan momentarily live on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. From a quarterback perspective, I've said this 9,000 times today, so make it 9,001. I'm sick of the way that people are talking about Brock Purdy. You know, full disclosure, before the season, I said I think he's a system quarterback. But as the season goes on and he keeps on winning, I don't care how people refer to him. You win. You're eventually a Super Bowl champion.

It doesn't matter. I agree with you. I think that, you know, he had a great first year. Fair to ask the question, can he continue to do that? Well, he did.

He continued to do it all of his second year and, in fact, made plays in the second half of playoff games to keep them going. To me, it's like, okay, he's a legitimate starting quarterback in this league and he's a guy that's good enough to beat you any week he's on the field. What else do you want? I mean, that's to me enough.

It's good enough. And I don't think he's even scratching the surface of, you know, what he can be. I think he'll continue to get better, more comfortable, better vision, like a better understanding of defenses.

All of these things come with experience. I think he's going to continue to improve as a player and his skill set is by far good enough to win in this league. Matt Ryan here with us. If Kyle Shanahan is hoisting at Lombardi on Sunday and, you know, you guys have obviously been through a lot, what would that moment mean to you?

I'd be happy for a friend, you know, and a guy that, you know, when you're in the building with somebody every day and you're working with them and you see how important it is to them, you see how hard they work, what they're willing to do to be successful, you're root for guys like that and that's Kyle Shanahan. It's incredibly important to him. He's dedicated to what he's done. He's done a great job in San Francisco and, you know, at some point he's going to win a Super Bowl.

I truly believe that and I'm going to be really happy for him when he does. What is the biggest x-factor in this game? I think to me it's the offensive line play for both teams. As unsexy as that is. I'm a big fella.

I like when we praise up the hog mollies. To me, like, you look at, you know, how you win football games, how you kind of take over games. It's pounding and it's protecting your quarterback. It's being able to run the football. I think both teams want to do that. The team that does it better to me is the team that's going to win. Alrighty, so this isn't TV even though we're streaming. The radio product is the main focus. So we got to make sure there's no dead air.

We're going to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the 10-year anniversary of the challenge right now. So I'm following my quarterback. Today I'm not the quarterback and you're not the quarterback either right now. It's Michael Samter. So Samter, you direct us. You tell us what you want us to do so we can get this thing rocking and rolling here on Radio Row. Where are we going? Alright, so you guys are going to come follow me over here to these buckets. We're going to move the camera. I'll give you the mic. I'll hold the mic for you Zach. Okay.

And we'll just have some fun. Are you nervous by the way? Nervous?

Yeah. Nah, I'm good. Alright, let's do it. I need a good pregame speech. Are you nervous? I already agreed to this.

I don't get nervous. We got to do it. I need a good pregame speech coming up. Alright, here we go. So here we go. Samter, you may want to keep on talking so we can end up... Alright, well here we go.

They are moving on over ladies and gentlemen. We are switching up the camera. Here we are. Hold on.

Everybody here. Alright, as you can see, we have them all set up in their ice buckets. There are buckets right in front of them.

They're in little mini kiddie pools, which is absolutely fantastic. Alright. Alright, here we go.

Oh, that's Chris Long. Anyway, so we're about to do this. I need a quick pregame speech before we do the ALS ice bucket challenge.

What do we got cooking still? My pregame speech is just don't overthink it. Dump it on you. It's not going to be too bad.

I mean, it's going to suck a little bit, but you'll be alright afterwards. The other thing I'm saying is I'm challenging Tiki. Oh, he's calling out Tiki.

Right? We've been talking about Tiki Barber all day. That's our guy. Tiki's got to do it too, man. He's a good guy.

He supports good causes, but I'm going to need to see him in the ice. Alright, here we go. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose. Let's go, Matt. Let me take the microphone. Ready?

One, two, three. There we go. Wow.

That is a pretty look. Now, just real quickly before we let you run, postgame thoughts. I think that's maybe the greatest accomplishment of your career. Like envy me.

Get into a Super Bowl. The last time I did this, I got to be honest, was after a training camp practice. So, I was like hot and sweaty, tired. It actually felt good.

That was a little colder than the last time I did it. So, it's for a good cause. Support ALS research and let's find a cure for this disease. Let's be real. Let's thank God that the Super Bowl is not in Minnesota this year because I think we would have just had hypothermia in this moment.

Let's get some towels, bro. Well, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. You're the best. He is Matt Ryan.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I have to kill a minute here? So, I have to just talk for a minute?

Alrighty. So, Tiki's like bougie when he's in the broadcasting booth. He probably has all of his snacks. What does Matt Ryan bring into the booth just to snack on on a football Sunday?

I'm simple. I'm water or a coffee first half. Whatever they have laid out in there for the little spread at lunch, I'll grab something and then a water in the second half. I'll have a little coffee in the first but I don't really snack during the broadcast but I'll eat whatever they got.

I'm not picky. So, this is for a great cause. I'm just I'm actually thrilled that this went down so effortlessly. The engineering guys are all freaking out.

My bosses are calling me. Don't get us fired or anything like that. Don't get us kicked out of here.

But this was awesome. Matt, I think we got what? How much time do I have here? 30 seconds left. So, just give me official prediction on the game or say one more thing about Pete if you want.

Yeah. Well, Pete was the best. There's no doubt about it. Proud to to at least try and help continue what he started and hopefully find a cure for this but my call is the Chiefs part of it bet against Patrick Mullins.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring but the runners-up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter but you're on a roll.

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2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. I'm Tony and this is the Tony Kornheiser show. Wow, that makes it sound a bit more serious than it really is. So what exactly is the show about? It's been almost 30 years and I still don't know.

Right now we have some of the best voices in football come on to explain to us what we need to know in the college and pro world and we get weekly picks from a monkey. Do you really need more than that? I might just tell you about my bunker game of the latest failed entry in my quest to find the best coffee ice cream. No schmutz, please. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.