Scott Hanson, NFL RedZone Host

And we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life well, Rocket can. And this is Zach Gilp's show on a football Friday, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Let's head out to the guest line right now welcoming Scott Hansen, who is the preeminent host of NFL Red Zone.

I don't even think there's a close second. You could obviously catch it each and every Sunday afternoon. For more information on NFL Red Zone, visit NFL.com. Scott, it feels like football season when we hear your voice. How are you? Zach, I'm doing well and it's good to be back.

Happy New Year, so to speak. So how do you like just calm the nerves this week as you wait for the buildup when everyone waits for your introduction to basically welcome them into the NFL season on Sunday? You know, the thing is, it's funny you ask that question because I actually don't try to like calm down the nerves. I want the excitement to build. Right before I joined you right here on this call, I texted my brother and I said, Brian, I'm still so fired up after all these years.

I'm in the middle of my Friday afternoon research, just grinding through my spreadsheets and the facts and the research notes and everything else like that. And I'm just like, let's go. I can't wait.

So I don't even try and temper it. I just want to sublimate that, to use a good vocabulary word, into my preparation so that someday we're ready to peak and we're ready to let you guys have the best viewing experience in the NFL. So clearly, like you just said, this never gets old, but there's been a lot of movement in the broadcasting world this offseason. How much longer do you plan to do Red Zone, Scott? Well, how much longer will it take for someone to offer me an Al Michaels, Joe Buck, Mike Tirico type salary?

Then things could change in a heartbeat. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm thrilled for all of my peers and colleagues in sports media that there seems to have been some great seats filled and shuffled. It'll sound a little bit different and look a little bit different on different nights of the week, but I'm thankful to still be at NFL Red Zone and be in that captain's chair for seven hours of the best competition on earth.

I need you to take me to about 8 or 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. What type of food are you eating after that marathon of Red Zone? Well, let's see. So the first thing I do, I leave the studio, and believe it or not, when I walk out of the studio, I do not even head to the men's room immediately. My bladder is so trained that I don't even need to feel the need to go after seven hours of not using the facilities, but I'll drive home to my place here in Los Angeles. I pop up NBC Sunday Night Football. I'll be watching that game. I'll put on a couple highlight shows on my side monitors.

I have five screens on my media wall here in my house. And then, let's see, this weekend I usually go through a rotation and it's whatever, you know, greasy, fatty, caloric meal I want to have. I allow myself on Sunday night. It usually rotates between like a good Italian pasta dish, Chinese, burgers sometimes, Mexican sometimes.

But you know, I haven't decided exactly yet. However, I do like to polish off the end of the meal with chubby hubby Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Oh, now we're talking. Vanilla caramel swirl with the chocolate covered pretzels. So it's a little salty, a little sweet.

Oh, that's the finishing touch. And by the way, I'm reminding myself as I say this out loud, I actually don't have a pint or two in my fridge. I need to... You better go get it. Go get my... I gotta go get it.

Or if Ben or Jerry are listening and they want to hook your Red Zone boy up, I'm happy to receive it. There's one thing you said that I absolutely love, that you devour Chinese food because that's a big debate on this show. My emaciated producer, Hot Take Kiki, he looked at me like I had 13,000 heads last year when I told him, because I do the Sunday Eye on Football show on CBS Sports Radio for eight hours, and afterwards I always get Chinese food because it's the perfect Sunday night football food. It is. I think it's awesome. Now, depending on what your flavor is, what you like, if you like the spicy, if you like the new flavor, if you like the spicy, if you like the noodles, if you like the rice, whatever protein you want to throw on it, I usually go for a little Kung Pao chicken.

Wow. Sometimes Kung Pao chicken and shrimp, but then I also get... I usually like noodles, but I can also get some fried rice on the side.

Love it. And then the key is the order of side of spring rolls. I like egg rolls, but okay. Four pack. I'm not married.

I don't have kids, so I'm living by myself. I eat the whole four pack of spring rolls. And this is, if you really want the gross details, some members of your audience will probably enjoy this. I'll bite the top of one of the spring rolls off, and then it's like, you know, it's got the little tube there.

I pour soy sauce down the middle of the spring roll so that I just get that pure saltiness that I just love with the deep fried crunchiness. Oh man, you can't beat it. In fact, now I'm talking myself into going Chinese in week one here. Well, now we know when you actually go to the bathroom after that meal, Scott.

I think that's clear. Hey, you talked about your legendary bladder. You've only taken one bathroom break in the entire existence of the show. Is there any pressure, do you feel, to not go to the bathroom?

Because now this has become a big national event. Yeah, that's a good question because even Roger Goodell himself got a little bit intrigued, if not fascinated, by your boy Scotty's bladder integrity, let's call it. I was doing an interview with Roger, this is years ago, we were doing like kind of a state of the NFL interview on NFL network, and we were both in the makeup room at the same time before we headed into the studio. And Roger leaned over to me, he goes, Scott, is it true? You don't go to the bathroom for seven hours? I'm like, Kamish, it's true. I don't.

He goes, when you get to my age, you're not going to be able to do that. And I kind of laughed and I was like, well, Roger, hopefully by the time I get there, you know, medical science will have caught up to male anatomy, so to speak, and they'll have something that'll help me along. The answer is kind of yes. Like I could take a bathroom break. It's not like I can't. It's I choose not to, and it's not to beat my chest over, I don't go to the bathroom for seven hours. It's because if I left the studio, I still have my earpiece in my ear.

It's a wireless, we call it an IFB, you know that, but it's the earpiece where I can hear all the I can hear all the games. I am convinced if I walk out that studio door, even for two minutes to use the facilities, I'm convinced the greatest touchdown in the history of the NFL is going to happen. And I will not let myself miss that touchdown.

So that's why I don't take a bathroom break. I don't want to miss a moment of NFL red zone. It's actually funny you say that because when I was working at NFL radio, I would do the Monday night and Thursday night post game show. And I went to the bathroom right before we got on air. And that was when Myles Garrett swung his helmet at Mason Rudolph. And I'm in the bathroom and I'm getting all these alerts, get back to the studio, get back to the studio.

And I missed it. Yeah, no, you can't, you'll never forget. Everyone says, oh, you'll remember where you were the moment that, you know, Odell Beckham Jr reached back and made one of the greatest one-handed catches in the history of the sport. Like you always remember, but if there's something that really breaks and you're not there and you're like, you and I, you'll never forget about the sport and about serving our audiences, you'll never forget it and you'll never let yourself live it down.

So I don't want to put myself into that circumstance. And that's why I am just glued to the monitors for seven straight hours. Scott Hanson here with us. I know you saw the game last night. Bills absolutely dominated the LA Rams. Were you more impressed by the Bills or more concerned about the Rams?

Well, that's a good question. I was there in person, so I got to watch it just as a fan. There's very few games I get to actually go to and just enjoy it as a fan, but I'm more impressed with the Bills because to go on the road, that stadium was blazing hot.

On the field level, it was about 100 degrees. You know, the Bills mafia traveled well, so I wouldn't even say it was a true road game. I mean, it was to their body clocks and, you know, flying across the country and all of that and the heat in the stadium. But Josh Allen lived up to, he had a couple of turnovers, but everything else was almost flawless in his game. And that Bill's defense just devoured that Rams offensive line and befuddled Matt Stafford for most of the game. I was probably more impressed with the Bills, even if they were 90% of people's Super Bowl preseason favorite. The Rams will get it corrected. The Rams just ran up against the buzzsaw yesterday.

So I would say I'm more surprised or pleased if that's a word I could use in terms of the great football that the Bills played in game one. One of the games that you'll be covering right out of the shoot on Sunday is going to be Baker Mayfield going up against his old team Panthers and Browns. What do you expect from Baker?

Well, what type of Baker do we see on Sunday? Well, here's a little behind the scenes of NFL Red Zone. So we've got nine games in the early window this weekend, and we'll have our production meeting a couple hours before showtime and we go through every matchup. Nine in the early window, four games in the late window, here's what we're looking for, here's things to keep an eye out for and all of this.

Well, obviously Baker in the revenge game and all that is one of them. In that meeting every week, we usually discuss where is our landing spot. So we'll go to the Octobox, right, to show you eight of the nine games that are going on across the National Football League. And then we say, well, where's the first one we're going to go to? Because, you know, if everyone kicks the ball through the end zone, everyone's all the offense is starting on the 25 yard line.

All things are kind of equal. Where should we go to first? They'll probably be a couple people in our production meeting pounding the table for if Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers get the ball first, we got to see Baker in that opening possession. But, but it's not an easy call because you're talking about Trey Lance could get the ball first in his first true reel.

I mean, he had a couple of starts last year. I get it, but he's got the keys to the franchise of the 49ers who could be a Superbowl contender this year. That would be a landing spot. Vince Prabisky and his first drive with the Pittsburgh Steelers is better. Could be a landing spot. Joe burrow and the reigning AFC champions could get the ball first.

I mean, there's all sorts of places we could go to for our first possession. It might be Baker Mayfield. And certainly if he throws the ball on the first drive, you know, like a third and long or something, we're going to cut it and say, Hey, here's his first throw as a Carolina Panther, you know? And then of course you'll see everything he does throughout the game, just as you will for, you know, Hey, Trevor Lawrence in year two, or Joe Flacco taking over the jets for a little while. Lamar Jackson, not getting the long-term contract, but trying to make another MVP season. And then of course the Patriots and the dolphins is an early window game, a big game that will determine some jockeying order in, in a division this year.

Oh, I mean, I can't, I can't, if it, if it doesn't sound obvious, Zach, you're excited. Scott Hansen here with us from red zone. You talked about the Pats and the Fins. That's such an interesting game to me because I don't know what new England's going to look like offensively. And the same could be said for the dolphins. Yeah, a hundred percent. I expect big things out of the dolphins.

I got to go to that training camp for a day, got to see things for a little while and look at, like it or not, it is all onto a tongue of Bylaw. It's all lined up for him right there. And if it's not this year, it might never be for him in Miami.

And I really expect good things. Historically speaking, the dolphins at home against the Patriots have had good success against the Belichick slash Brady Patriots back in the day. It's going to be hot as blazes down there with the humidity. Now, Belichick took his team down there. They actually practiced for several practices down in Miami earlier to try and get acclimated to it. But I expect big things out of the Miami dolphins offense this year. And even in their first half of their first game of 2022, I really do not know what to expect out of Mac Jones and the Patriots. I really do believe there's something, there's some fire to the smoke of shuffling the coaching staff the way that they have, not having clear understanding, at least outside of their walls, clear understanding of how the play calling dissemination will go. I think there are big questions about the Patriots offense going into the season.

Scott Hansen, two other games that I'm circling, Packers and Vikings, Chiefs and Cardinals. When I look at the Chiefs, everyone wonders what they're going to look like without Tyreek Hill. I think they'll be okay because they have Patrick Mahomes and the same about the Packers.

What are they going to be like without Devante Adams? I'm not that concerned because they have Aaron Rodgers. Dude, think about this late window, four games in the window. You've got Giants at Titans, nice game for a lot of different reasons. But think about these three matchups, Green Bay at Minnesota.

That's week one. That's about as close as you can get to a division defining game in week one. The Vikings win that. People are going to say Vikings now have the inside track at the NFC North. The Packers win it. It's same old, same old, just pencil Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in for the division title and a one, two or three seed in the NFC. Then you've got Kansas City, Arizona, the two dynamic quarterbacking playmakers, Tyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes, both with issues on where was their star receiver from last year.

Tyreek is out of Kansas City. Obviously the Andre Hopkins is going to be watching on TV suspended for Arizona. Then you've got the Raiders and the Chargers in the division of all divisions in football this year. The AFC West has a huge matchup right out the gate. Vegas at Los Angeles, Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, obviously Devontae Adams making his Raiders debut a delicious late window for us on NFL Red Zone. I went with the Chargers to win the AFC West.

How about you? I'm going Chargers. In fact, if you want a dark horse AFC candidate for the Super Bowl, I think the Chargers could. If the Chargers had a little bit better of a home field advantage, we all saw on TV and heard on TV how sometimes SoFi stadium with a Charger home game can get invaded by these teams, fan bases that want to go to Los Angeles for a weekend that want to see a game and that there might be tickets available for them. Like if the Chargers had a little bit better home field advantage, I would feel stronger about that pick. And if they didn't play in the AFC West, I would feel stronger about that, but I love the Chargers roster top to bottom. I love Brandon Staley and that coaching staff now with a couple years under their belt.

I think they could be the team to beat in the division and maybe in the conference. Two more for Scott Hanson before we let him run. Bucks Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The big question, is this it for Tom Brady's? This is final year. I've never predicted this before. I know people been saying this for 10 years. I go, I'm not going to try to predict when he retires, but this year I finally get a feeling like this is it for TB 12. Yeah, I mean, look at all the tea leaves are there, but it is a fool's errand to try and determine when the greatest quarterback of all time is going to do something or not do something.

Because if I would have gone back five years ago and give you the stats that he had this last season, you know, second in the MVP race and leading the league in passing and what like, it's, it's insane. So, you know, could he find some new zest or some renewed zest by mid season or late season or, or next February when he's making his decision again, I can't, I wouldn't put it past him. But if you know, if you've said, Scott, you got to say yes or no, I'd probably be with you and say, yeah, I think this is Tom's last year because I really do think that he, he really didn't mean it for a little while during the 40 day retirement that he had early in the off season. But man, it's going to be fun to watch because the books and what a lot of people think is the lesser of the two conferences are the books are going to be right in the thick of things again in the NFC. Will Lamar Jackson end up getting that contract extension with the Ravens or are you going to try to go play somewhere else?

Man, it's crazy. I was really disappointed to not hear the news because I want great things for great players. And you got to think that the Ravens had an offer on the table that had to be in the 150 million plus guaranteed neighborhood. The last couple of big quarterback contracts had a, you know, 160 something, but of course the Deshaun Watson contract kind of threw the market kind of askew. So I, I, I was really disappointed that they, that they didn't come to an agreement and you hope that he doesn't have any type of injuries this year. And then it sounds like the Ravens will be able to rattle the saber of a franchise tag for not only next year, but maybe for the next two years. You know, we're not going to cry for him. He's going to, by the end of this year, he will have made about $40 million in the NFL. It's not like it's, it's that his life isn't going to be nice without, without a $200 million contract. I don't know. I can't answer that. If, if, how well does he play this year? Does he get injured this year?

Everything could change for him in the next five months. Last thing I'll ask you Scott Hansen, cause you're so warm. You're so friendly on the air. You make people want to tune in. You're so exciting in your delivery.

I've always wondered this all the years you've been doing this. What's your favorite moment on red zone? Oh man.

I mean, at risk of sounding like, you know, I'm a parrot for Tom Brady. My, my favorite moment or my favorite show is the next one. And when I come out of the gate and the staff and I come out of the gate, you know, in week one here, and we hit that first octo box, it's going to be like, you know, the, the, the end of 2001, a space odyssey, the Stanley Kubrick movie.

It's like, you see a vision, you see the stars, you see the universe and its totality. And I can't wait to rock and roll come one o'clock on Sunday. You know, his voice, he is Scott Hansen, the host of NFL red zone, which airs every Sunday afternoon. For more information on NFL red zone, visit NFL.com slash red zone, Scott, have a great season. We appreciate it. Zach enjoy the year. We'll see you on Sunday.