0:12

This is in the Locker Room with

0:15

Wolf and Starks on Fox Sports

0:17

Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation Radio,

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presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.

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The F one point fifty is the official truck

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of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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So after Super Sunday,

0:31

the question of the day comes off, I'm

0:34

doing it, Wes, I'm doing it all right.

0:36

The question is is Taylor Swift ruining

0:38

the NFL?

0:39

Now?

0:40

Hold on, hold on Max before

0:42

we go any further, and the number to call is

0:44

four one two nine, one three,

0:46

one six if you.

0:47

Want to get in on this. But here's the fact.

0:50

All right, she's walking away, you

0:52

know, with Travis after the game's over,

0:54

and somebody in the crowd is yelling, you're ruining

0:56

the NFL. I'm not going, huh,

1:00

which one of those two is asking for any

1:02

of this?

1:02

You know, I'm just sitting there laughing, going

1:05

you gotta be kidding me. How stupid

1:07

is that you got?

1:08

If two people, those two can find happiness

1:11

together, God bless them, that's

1:13

great. But you know what, it's the camera

1:15

guys in the NFL and all this stuff. Get

1:17

the camera off them and keep it on the field

1:19

where it should be. There you go, Max, that's

1:21

my rant.

1:23

But when they had them together

1:26

taking she was on the field with them.

1:28

Oh that's okay, See that's okay.

1:30

There, see that. Okay, that that's good. Okay,

1:32

okay, all right, So

1:35

what are you thinking about me? I

1:37

know, it's

1:40

it's no, it's annoying because

1:45

plenty of other athletes

1:47

have dated other

1:50

entertainers, right, I think is the best

1:52

way of trying to, you know, do

1:55

this. But yet, for

1:58

some reason, the NFL is

2:00

obsessed with Taylor Swift

2:02

and Travis Kelcey.

2:03

Well, let me ask you situation.

2:04

Okay, let me throw this in at you, because it's just

2:07

it's just came rolling through my nogging. What

2:09

would be bigger in this day and age Taylor

2:11

Swift and Travis Kelcey or Joe DiMaggio

2:14

and the blonde?

2:15

Uh?

2:17

I mean, I mean, if you that's a

2:19

pretty good equivalent on I'm sitting there.

2:21

Thinking it just you know, these things every now and

2:23

then I have my moments of sanity, you know. So

2:26

the point being is, who do

2:28

you think would create a bigger dust up?

2:30

I gotta believe it would be Joe DiMaggio,

2:33

Yeah, Demaggio and Marilyn.

2:34

Monroe would probably be will

2:37

probably be a very very good equivalent,

2:40

uh to what this Travis Kelcey

2:42

and Taylor Swift situation is.

2:43

But what if Joe and and and

2:45

uh what was your name? Maryland?

2:48

Forget this

2:52

Monday morning? Come on, you know, so

2:55

I got Joe cup number two. It's

2:57

only cup number two a coffee bo if I understand,

3:00

you read my mind, brother, So I'm

3:03

sitting there and go, oh, you got Marilyn Monroe

3:06

and you got Joe Demagio. But put them in

3:08

context of today. If they

3:10

were like really together today

3:12

in twenty twenty four, at the peak of their powers.

3:16

Popularity, yeah, popularity, whatever you want to call

3:18

it.

3:19

Tell me wait you think no, no,

3:21

that they win, they win, because

3:24

you have to think it caused a buzz

3:27

back then.

3:28

And there was no social media, that's

3:30

true.

3:31

You know, there was no It

3:33

was it was how many newsies and

3:35

guys with really large, awkward

3:38

cameras with real light bulbs

3:40

in them can get into

3:42

space and take pictures. I mean imagine

3:44

if they had smartphones back there, Wow,

3:47

were you had social media, I

3:50

mean it would have been a friend

3:52

like they would not have had any peace and

3:55

every time she came to a game or came

3:57

to the dugout or whatever, you

4:00

know, that would have been blown up. But

4:04

you know, I do say this, it's

4:07

really funny and weird

4:10

almost how obsessed

4:12

they are with Taylor Swift. It's

4:14

like you have a you have a bunch of

4:17

who's the the NFL,

4:20

the media companies, the letter

4:22

agencies and companies that work for

4:25

you know, they have contracts with to broadcast.

4:27

These all right, so we're not talking right,

4:31

No.

4:31

We're talking CBS, ABC, NBC.

4:33

Just making sure that those would be the.

4:35

Alphabet boys by the way,

4:40

but the three letter companies, you

4:43

know, or it's just it's really

4:45

like obsessive compulsive,

4:48

I would say, almost to a degree, or

4:52

or every every teenage

4:55

you know girl dad

4:58

that's in there is making sure that they pease their child,

5:01

you know what I'm saying, Like like by

5:03

showing this all the guys, they have girls

5:06

that are in the production side of it. Okay,

5:08

we gotta show Taylor again, Gotta show Taylor again.

5:10

Okay, what's she doing now? Okay

5:12

I can't. I can't take it anymore. I see what she's doing

5:15

and it's like boom boom, guess

5:18

what she's not moving from the suite. I can tell

5:20

you that it's an

5:22

away game too. She's gonna be in the sweet

5:24

the entire time, so it's not like you're gonna lose

5:26

her in a crowd at any point.

5:28

No, So I mean, it's

5:31

one of those things. It is annoying. And I

5:34

was rooting for the anti Swifty

5:37

super Bowl, so full

5:39

disclosure there, even

5:42

though I know that that would have meant the

5:45

Baltimore Ravens going and.

5:47

See, I couldnot bring myself to

5:49

root for the Ravens.

5:50

I just couldn't do it.

5:52

I try, I know, you know what. James

5:54

Ferrier said the same thing to me and

5:56

then gave me hell about

5:58

it. I'm saying

6:00

that you know that that that's

6:02

not real rivalry. How could you root

6:05

for them? It's because I did

6:07

not want to see any

6:09

more Taylor Swift, you know, on

6:11

football Sunday. So that

6:15

disdain. And there's nothing wrong

6:17

with her. Her music's fine, my

6:19

kids an artist, but

6:23

you know what I'm saying, like that doesn't but

6:25

it's the like the amount of attention

6:28

that has come because

6:31

of this, it is exhausting and as fatiguing.

6:34

And when you got to answer questions for that.

6:36

I would rather see the Ravens

6:39

in the Super Bowl than

6:42

to deal with another week with Taylor Swift.

6:48

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm thinking it's one week till I

6:51

have.

6:52

She got a sweet for the Pro Bowl too.

6:55

No, well, he's not

6:57

participating though.

6:58

So nobody he's participating.

7:01

It's a series of athletic

7:03

games like whooped the do recess.

7:06

Oh, it's that's terrible. I'm

7:09

telling you, that's just terrible.

7:10

It's you know, it's a smack

7:12

in the face of all the Pro Bowlers that have

7:14

gone before him, that have labored on the field

7:16

of play, have gone out there and laid it on

7:19

the line.

7:19

You know.

7:20

Here's one of those things.

7:21

Though, guys, the Taylor Swift

7:23

in the NFL thing has become like

7:27

a Kardashian's thing in the

7:29

sense of the more that you scream and

7:31

yell and stomp your feet that you don't like it

7:33

and you want it to go away. You're just

7:36

throwing gasoline on the fire.

7:38

But who's slighting the fire? I

7:40

mean, who is is it? The network? Guys?

7:42

Totally?

7:43

I mean, but here's the again, this is like the

7:45

people that complain about what's on CNN

7:47

or what's on Fox.

7:48

They are giving the audience what it wants.

7:52

Yeah, because even though even

7:54

though you're complaining about, you're still looking.

7:56

And that's the thing.

7:57

You might be hate watching it, but you're still

7:59

talking about you open the show

8:01

with it. Today people are on Facebook and Instagram

8:04

and Twitter and whatever commenting how

8:06

much, Oh I can't stand Taylor Swift.

8:08

Get her out of the NFL.

8:09

All you're doing is feeding the beast.

8:12

See.

8:12

I don't really care, you know, except

8:14

for they don't have to keep showing her in

8:16

the suite all the time unless.

8:18

There's a Jason. But

8:21

think about this, don't we don't we.

8:23

Do this every No, again, this is on another

8:25

one.

8:25

How many times this is on another level?

8:27

You get Jason Kelsey going shirtless,

8:29

chugging a beer and jumping out of the sweet

8:31

window.

8:31

I mean, come on, like,

8:34

yeah, this is again, this is on another.

8:37

That in Allegiance, though, I'm just gonna say that

8:40

it's a little bit different.

8:42

No, he's got to get one of those suites down in the end

8:44

zone, one of those leather couch suits down

8:47

in the end zone.

8:48

Well, No, here's the thing. If he if he jumps on the field,

8:50

from the wind Field Club. He

8:53

will get arrested, so you

8:55

can't enter the field out of credential, right.

8:58

No doubt about it. There's a big drop

9:00

there too, if you're in one of the other.

9:03

Yeah, there is there is, yeah, yeah, Winfield

9:06

Club. And the problem is, though I

9:08

don't want him dancing on a table, he'll have access

9:10

to a table to dance on.

9:11

Oh no, that's not good.

9:13

That's not good. You know that

9:15

would be inappropriate. A very

9:18

just a dash, just a dash, all

9:21

right? So think about it. You know you got this situation

9:24

now we're they I think, is there

9:26

gonna be enough public outcry that you kind of like,

9:28

okay, just cool it with the sweet shots.

9:30

I'm sure there's a there's a couple of things. No,

9:33

no, no, you don't think.

9:34

When Jack goes to Lakers games, do

9:36

they stop showing him on the sideline?

9:38

Jack Coop Nicolas jack

9:42

him. Now you realize he does

9:44

not know that West. I don't know why you gave

9:46

that. Now.

9:47

That's the most famous example of an athlete being

9:49

tied to a sports team, though, isn't it. Jack's

9:52

almost as famous as for being on

9:54

the sidelines that every Lakers game.

9:55

Is he is the shining.

9:56

I just think it's interesting every now and the

9:59

clip. Oh yeah,

10:01

Billy.

10:02

Crystal Spike Lee with the Knicks.

10:04

I mean yeah, there we go, there we

10:06

go.

10:07

Wow.

10:08

Man, So well, what's the deal

10:10

then do do we just like we gotta totally?

10:12

Dan Taylor Swift is you're gonna be like a burning

10:15

of the records, like you know at the Chicago.

10:17

At the Beatles.

10:19

Yeah, the All Star getting No, it was it

10:21

was it was what

10:23

disco.

10:24

It was Disco Infernal night when they burned all

10:26

the forty fives on the

10:28

field. You

10:30

don't no,

10:34

no, no, I don't think so. I just I just found

10:36

it fascinating that someone yells out from

10:38

the crowd at her you're ruining the NFL, going.

10:40

Yeah, angry Ravens fan, What do you

10:42

expect?

10:43

That's you know what I

10:45

did? That even that should have been the first

10:48

consideration.

10:49

What am I thinking?

10:51

Of course, it would be just one of the ugly

10:53

Ravens fans, you know, just.

10:55

Just drenched in purple as it's dumping

10:58

buckets there in.

10:59

Baltimore, trying trying

11:01

to trying to change and a skew

11:03

your your viewpoint, wolf shame.

11:07

Oh, it's just shameful?

11:08

Is that a happy Taylor Swift? Could we get more sad?

11:10

Jim Harbaugh shots? I mean he had to be there

11:13

in the suite somewhere right, sad that his brother

11:15

was, you know, not gonna, not gonna go to

11:17

the super Bowl.

11:18

But here's the thing. No, they they

11:20

showed Jim during.

11:21

The game, did they.

11:22

Yeah, he was the Yeah he was in the suite.

11:26

But here's my thing. I

11:29

felt like he had to be a little

11:31

happy for sure.

11:35

Yeah. It brotherly competition, Yeah,

11:37

yeah, because his

11:39

brother having a one up on him.

11:42

No, I don't believe that.

11:44

No, absolutely talked. I mean they've

11:46

talked about it before, really, like

11:48

they're competitive during you know, during the holidays

11:51

and stuff. You know when

11:53

when when they when they would talk about stuff during

11:55

the holidays, like Thanksgiving, it was like tens

11:58

so kidding.

11:59

See, I would never I would never feel

12:01

that way towards my brothers. I mean, win

12:04

win whatever you can. You know what

12:06

I mean that?

12:07

Yeah, but your brother's already got one.

12:08

I mean you don't want them to get two before you get

12:11

one, do you?

12:13

And and the other had a college ring,

12:15

But I mean what's a college ring versus a Super

12:18

Bowl?

12:19

Especially when you won that Super Bowl ring against your

12:21

brother.

12:23

Yeah.

12:25

Yeah, I don't

12:27

even remember the hard ball eleven years ago, years

12:30

ago when the Ravens beat the Niners.

12:32

I can't remember when the.

12:33

Lights went out at the stadium.

12:35

In New Orleans.

12:37

It was James Harrison to turn the lights out,

12:43

or at least an that was.

12:45

That was funny, Now, that was funny. I

12:48

forgot that. That was almost as

12:50

good as the AFC Championship came up in

12:52

New England when they when we had the early

12:54

the uh, the

12:57

fire alarm went off at like five a m.

13:00

I'll never get they put the meme of.

13:02

Belichick as as a pulling

13:05

the fire alarm, even though they said, oh

13:07

we we saw there was a new maintenance.

13:10

Guy that was on the job. They showed

13:12

they showed Belichick.

13:13

Like in these maintenance outfit pulling a fire

13:16

alarm.

13:17

Oh man, was

13:19

that nasty?

13:20

That? Yeah, I

13:22

can't even imagine that that that.

13:24

Would have oh it, did you

13:26

know what. I didn't even leave the room and I

13:29

looked out. I saw the fire truck coming,

13:31

and I'm like, you know, I don't

13:33

hear people like running and.

13:35

Stuff like that.

13:35

I had a feeling that Yeah,

13:38

you know it was I had a feeling that

13:40

it was just a false alarm, and they would

13:42

like after like ten minutes gone.

13:45

Of course, if I'd been wrong, that really would

13:47

have been bad. I could

13:49

have been bad.

13:49

Yeah, that would have been but.

13:52

Would have totally been bad.

13:54

But getting back to our initial premise, is

13:56

Taylor Swift ruining the NFL?

13:59

Some people apparently in Baltimore,

14:02

obviously non Taylor Swift fans,

14:05

they apparently feel that she is

14:07

ruining the game. So we're gonna

14:10

leave that question hang all day, maybe

14:12

hang all week as we proceed and move

14:14

along. But your final word on it, Max,

14:17

is it a yay or nay?

14:21

It is not a ya or a nay.

14:23

Okay, it is inevitability.

14:25

Inevitability. Boy,

14:28

that's that's really taking a stand there.

14:29

But I

14:32

wanted to plant I wanted to plant my flag

14:34

in a firm gray area,

14:38

and you succeeded. Yeah.

14:40

Well, because here's my thing is

14:43

I have to talk about it regardless like

14:46

it. So it's inevitable.

14:49

You know that if Kansas City

14:51

won, this is going

14:53

to be a topic. And

14:56

now that San Francisco has won, we've

14:58

now got to talk about out rock party

15:01

and disrespect versus respect,

15:03

and he's mister relevant.

15:06

He's a football player now, okay,

15:08

right, he is not who he was drafted

15:11

the you know what the draft is for. The

15:13

draft is for the invitation to open the

15:15

door to the NFL. That's all it is. First

15:18

round, seventh round on drafted

15:20

free agent. All you're looking

15:23

for is the opportunity. And that's what

15:25

that did for him, and

15:27

he has taken it and ran away with it.

15:29

So you know what, I don't

15:32

let's make that the next topic because I don't

15:34

want because I'll go on a ramp for about five more minutes.

15:36

Okay, I'll be like you, all right,

15:38

we got to go to break because who do we got coming up?

15:41

We got King?

15:42

The King is in the castle coming up while he's

15:44

going to be long distance castle.

15:46

We gotta throw the salvo though before at the

15:48

castle.

15:49

Oh absolutely, because we got it. There you go.

15:51

The opening round right has been fired,

15:53

and we'll be back with more because we got the King

15:55

are coming and we're gonna find out is he is.

15:58

He a swiftie when

16:02

we come back.

16:18

This is in the locker room with

16:21

Wolf and Starks on Fox Sports

16:23

Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation Radio

16:25

presented by your neighborhood Ford's

16:27

door. The F one fifty is the official

16:30

truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

16:32

La la oh,

16:35

King in the Castle, King in the castle,

16:38

have a chair? I have a chair?

16:41

Oh go do this, Go do this? King

16:43

in the Castle.

16:46

Well, we know who that is. When you hear the

16:48

boradic coming, you gotta

16:51

answer the door. And who

16:53

better to walk through that door than

16:56

the man himself, the King.

16:58

That's right, mister Rob King is

17:01

now inside the locker room,

17:03

or the King has entered the castle.

17:05

However you want to look at Fortune's solitude

17:07

and go Superman style, doesn't matter, but Rob

17:10

King is here. Rob

17:13

Interesting days yesterday?

17:14

How you know?

17:15

First of all, how has your how?

17:18

How is your how is your bye week? And off

17:20

week? Ben? How was how was last week for

17:23

you? You know?

17:25

How are you doing? Yeah?

17:27

A little sad that it wasn't still going on? You

17:29

know I expected

17:31

to, h you know, do the Power hour and

17:33

then do the locker room with you guys, and

17:35

then later that day, you know, get

17:38

together with the Maxx and uh

17:41

get together with Matt Williamson and Wolf and

17:43

you know my uh, yeah,

17:45

all that went away, you know. So disappointing.

17:49

Great to watch football yesterday and

17:52

looking forward already to uh

17:54

to twenty twenty four for the Steelers.

17:56

All right, Kinger, let's cut to the chase yesterday,

17:59

yes today is Taylor Swift and Travis

18:02

are leaving the the Ravennight Stadium.

18:04

There they yelled out your runing

18:07

football to poor miss Taylor.

18:08

Now are you a Swift?

18:09

Ea?

18:10

First of all, you okay,

18:13

so let me I'll tell you.

18:14

Let me tell you this, So okay.

18:16

I know less about pop culture

18:18

than probably anybody.

18:20

You know.

18:20

No, I don't know. You're talking to somebody.

18:23

You're talking to somebody that probably knows less.

18:26

I don't know a single Taylor Swift song.

18:28

I really don't mean neither.

18:29

I know she's uh,

18:32

you know, she's talented. You

18:34

know, I think she plays multiple instruments. I

18:36

believe she sings, she writes music.

18:39

She's a superstar. She's a superstar.

18:42

I don't understand. I

18:45

don't get why people are

18:47

so upset. But you know, I'm not easily

18:49

upset about a lot of stuff that that seems to bother

18:51

people. You know, I like I

18:54

like the game of football. I love the game of football.

18:57

And if they show a shot at Taylor Swift.

18:59

That's okay with me. I don't I don't

19:02

care. You know, this seems to have gotten

19:05

not only about

19:07

Taylor Swift, it seems to have gotten like almost

19:09

political. It's crazy

19:12

to me. She's a young lady who's dating a football

19:14

player, right, and she's famous and they show

19:16

shots of her and that's that. You know, she's

19:18

not parade. It doesn't feel

19:21

to me like she's seeking attention by the way.

19:23

You know, if you step back and took a whirl

19:25

a look around the globe and ask somebody who's

19:28

more, who's bigger Taylor Swift

19:30

to the NFL, you know, we're

19:33

not even talking about Taylor Swift, that Travis

19:35

Kelsey or the Chiefs.

19:37

You know, she is massive worldwide,

19:40

that's all. That's all I really know about her. So I'm

19:42

You're me. I don't know. I

19:45

don't know. I mean, I don't know anything about her.

19:48

I don't know. I just heard that. I

19:50

just heard the term Swift like a couple of months ago.

19:52

Gentlemen, gentlemen, read you ready for this?

19:55

Okay? What we got?

19:56

Yeah?

19:56

The NFL has twenty nine million followers

19:58

on Instagram, a little over twenty nine million followers

20:01

on Instagram.

20:01

Okay, how many you think Taylor Swift has?

20:04

I don't love more than that two hundred

20:06

and seventy nine million followers

20:09

on.

20:09

Instagram, right, proving you

20:11

exactly right, Rob King.

20:13

Yeah, any notion that she's in

20:15

this for publicity or whatever,

20:18

I think she's just a young lady dating a football

20:21

player, and she happens to be famous. And

20:24

you know what if you're the networks and you see

20:26

a famous person in there, I mean, listen,

20:28

how many times do we see, uh,

20:30

you know, the cameras of let's say a Fox telecast

20:33

and oh, there's somebody in attendance. Oh,

20:35

you can see their show on Tuesday. And oh, by

20:37

the way, we happen to have this actor who's on a

20:39

Fox show, you know, uh,

20:42

And that's like, that's self anchoran aggrandizement,

20:45

and this is just a young lady going to that.

20:47

That's the way it looks to me. She's a young lady

20:49

going to a football game, happens to be dating a football player.

20:51

She's famous, they show shots of her. It

20:53

doesn't it doesn't interrupt

20:56

or bother my Sunday afternoon even

20:58

one iota.

21:01

You know, Diane, Hey,

21:03

Max what do you think.

21:04

Let's have Let's have Wes look up Rob King

21:07

and see if he follows Taylor Swift.

21:11

I can tell you now you're asking

21:13

me this wolf, do you you don't? Do

21:15

you not like it?

21:16

No, I'm just laughing, just having fun.

21:19

I thought it was absolutely ludicrous

21:21

when I heard somebody yelling you're ruining the

21:23

NFL and one of those and his Max pointed

21:26

out those unruly Baltimore fans.

21:28

Why am I even paying attention to that?

21:31

Yeah, it's walking.

21:33

Around like zombies today. They can't

21:35

believe what happened.

21:39

Man, What's what's Max's take on this?

21:41

Max?

21:42

Do you care? What do you think about the Taylor

21:44

Swift phenomenon here with Travis?

21:47

I mean, I mean it is what it is. I mean we

21:49

we talked about it earlier. Like I felt

21:51

like NFL players have dated celebrities,

21:53

uh, for for as long as time goes

21:55

back, and

21:58

we've had we've had, we've had people who have

22:00

dated. I mean, hell, Tom Brady was married to

22:02

the number one supermodel in the world, and

22:05

we didn't see as much Gizelle as

22:07

we as we have saw.

22:09

Uh, they were afraid, they weren't

22:11

afraid to show a shot of the booth.

22:13

You know, they were they a shot in

22:15

the booth. But they also it wasn't

22:18

every single game like the momentum

22:21

of well, where is.

22:23

She going to be during the game.

22:25

No, it was it was like, hey,

22:27

hey, there's Tom Brady's wife, Giselle

22:30

Bunch it not girlfriend that he's

22:32

been dating, his full on

22:34

wife, And you would get a shot

22:37

at the end of the game, good or

22:39

bad. Well, I guess Taylor

22:41

Swift is every touchdown. Yeah, there's degrees.

22:45

Yeah, she's bigger than Gizelle.

22:47

I mean as much.

22:48

Yeah, as much as Jel was was an

22:50

international superstar, Taylor Swift was,

22:52

you know, twenty times whatever

22:55

her Instagram wolf for West,

22:57

coming up with the Instagram followers or or

22:59

all that their stuff. And and

23:01

I guess part of me is I don't

23:04

give two seconds of thought

23:06

to where she's gonna be before the game starts,

23:09

uh, nor where she's gonna be where the game ends,

23:11

nor where she's gonna be what the game is going on. So

23:13

if they show you chod at her, I'm like, okay, whatever,

23:15

I just shrugged my shoulders. It doesn't make any

23:18

If they showed less of her, I'd

23:20

be fine with it. They show the same amount of her, I'd be fine.

23:22

It doesn't. It just doesn't. It doesn't

23:24

bother me. It doesn't bother me. And

23:26

if people are bothered, they're bothered. It doesn't bother

23:29

me.

23:29

Let me ask you, who do you think would be bigger?

23:31

All right?

23:32

You got Taylor Swift and Travis

23:34

Kelsey, or what if in this day

23:36

and age, Joe Demaggio and Marilyn

23:39

Monroe.

23:40

Huh? I mean that wouldn't that be something?

23:43

That that would be that would

23:46

be something, And there probably be pictures

23:48

and they were married, there probably be pictures

23:50

of missus Demaggio up in the uh

23:53

uh, the owner's box at the Yankee

23:55

Stadium. I'm sure that there would be no lack

23:57

of cameras on on uh on

23:59

Maryland Monroe if that were the case. That's a that's

24:01

a that's very interesting. Well, have good call.

24:03

You know, I had my moments every now and then.

24:06

Just that was that was a proper

24:08

equivalent. That was a proper equivalent.

24:11

Doubt about it? All right, let's break it down.

24:14

We're talking Kansas City. We're talking

24:17

the fact they went in uh and and and whopped

24:19

up? What do you what do you think about it.

24:22

Yeah, I'm I did

24:24

not think. I saw

24:26

Kansas City play several times down the stretch.

24:29

They did not look good. I thought

24:31

they were vulnerable of all.

24:33

You know, when I when I thought there was a chance

24:36

that the Steelers might be playing them instead

24:38

of Buffalo, my

24:40

reaction was, bring it on. I

24:43

am I'm I'm

24:45

very surprised that they got through

24:47

the a FC. I didn't think they'd get through Buffalo.

24:50

I didn't think they beat Baltimore. I

24:52

mean, I think this, you know, underlines

24:55

and underscores the greatness

24:57

of Patrick Mahomes.

24:59

The defense has been outstanding. I

25:02

did not think that they were

25:04

gonna be the ASC champions. It's

25:07

just to me, it's a remarkable run that

25:09

they went on because they just they

25:11

simply, like I said, I saw him play

25:13

a bunch. They didn't look good down to stretch, but they five

25:15

and five in their last ten games something like that. I

25:17

mean, it wasn't very good, it wasn't very

25:19

impressive, and yet here they are

25:22

going to another super Bowl. It's incredible.

25:24

I think, No, it

25:26

is.

25:27

I mean, dynasty is in full effect.

25:29

Sorry, yeah,

25:33

dynasty is in full effect here. And

25:36

you know, I really you

25:38

know, I don't think

25:41

the more talented

25:43

team won. I think the more experienced

25:47

teams won yesterday in general,

25:50

and that experience will

25:53

outplay talent, because

25:56

that's what we saw, and not only this game,

25:58

but in both games. But for Kansas

26:01

City, like you said, I mean, they

26:03

looked average at best, but

26:06

yet the last three games,

26:09

nobody has been able to top

26:12

them. And when it comes to winner

26:14

take all, this team knows

26:16

it better than anybody else. They average

26:19

AFC Championship game appearances

26:21

over the last six years. They've been

26:23

in the last six straight.

26:25

You know, it really is

26:27

incredible.

26:29

Yeah, that's that's mind

26:31

blowing. And now you realize

26:33

they can do it on the road because

26:36

they had it at home the previous five and

26:39

now number six, they take it on the road

26:42

and they got shut out the entire

26:44

second half and it didn't matter. Think

26:47

about that. You got shut out in

26:49

a complete half of football and

26:51

your seventeen points you scored in the first half

26:54

were good enough to win the game.

26:56

That's just that's that's unreal.

26:59

What does that say about

27:01

Lamar Jackson?

27:02

What do you think?

27:05

But by the way I did to the point I'm gonna say quickly,

27:08

I think that there was a start. No, no, no, no, I want

27:10

to answer that there's a stark difference to me between

27:13

how uh you

27:15

know, they handled that second half versus out

27:17

of the Lions handled their second half completely different

27:20

in experience.

27:20

I think.

27:21

You know, also, you're talking about the coaching staff,

27:24

the quarterback, play mahomes, understanding

27:26

how to manage a lead, understanding

27:29

that a mistake was something

27:32

that could bring Baltimore back into play,

27:34

not panicking relying

27:36

on their underrated, very good defense.

27:39

As far as Lamar, you know, uh

27:42

boy, that's you know, I think

27:45

Lamar is a great player, obviously. I mean,

27:47

you know, I'm not I'm not breaking any ground here,

27:50

you know, I don't. I don't

27:53

think that they

27:55

did him a lot of favors. They didn't run

27:57

the ball a lot, you know, they didn't run the early

27:59

down very often in the case, and I

28:01

thought they really I thought,

28:04

and again you talk about, you know, the coaching

28:06

staffs and not that Todd Munkin hasn't been around,

28:08

but that seemed to me to be something

28:11

that would have helped Lamar out had they run the

28:13

football more and tried to establish and run

28:17

and they didn't, and Kansas City

28:19

kind of stayed with the run and

28:21

and I thought they you know, I

28:24

thought that was a difference in the game that

28:26

they so I think it says less about

28:28

Lamar. And there were several

28:32

drops in this game that certainly

28:34

didn't help them.

28:35

Yeah, yeah, I mean,

28:38

you know, and that that was one of my things I

28:40

was going to say, is you

28:42

know, the Zebra tried to change

28:44

its stripes in this game,

28:47

meaning that you

28:50

know, for Baltimore, they got away

28:52

from what got them there. And

28:54

the game plan looked very

28:58

cautious, almost like they were trying to prove

29:00

a point that Lamar

29:03

was a pocket quarterback or something, because

29:06

everything was standard

29:08

run, standard drop back, and

29:12

you know, and Kansas City did a great

29:14

job. They're like, hey, y'all want him in the pocket,

29:16

We'll keep him in the pocket for you. Our

29:19

rush will dictate that. And they

29:21

didn't try as much RPO stuff. They didn't

29:24

get him out on the edges, give him two way goes,

29:27

and it was just it was a very

29:29

vanilla game plan, as

29:32

though you were trying to

29:35

like prove some type of point which I didn't

29:38

get and you did not. It

29:40

did not look like Baltimore football

29:42

from the regular season and

29:45

that was kind of strange to me. But

29:48

like I said, I mean, you played right into Kansas

29:50

City's hands. They're like, listen, we were expecting all this other

29:52

stuff. You're gonna give us easy stuff. Okay,

29:55

we're gonna have the spy that

29:57

will then add Blitz if he's gonna stay in the pocket,

29:59

which he did, and they got

30:01

to him, they affected him, they constricted him

30:03

from from all sides. You

30:06

didn't give him really as many two way

30:08

goes and and that's what we

30:10

saw in this game. So it was it was very weird

30:12

to see that. And I know, you know, listen,

30:15

there's not a single Steeler fan out there

30:17

crying a tear. But you

30:19

know what, yeah, you

30:22

know, I mean so, but I'm like

30:24

one of those weird guys where I was like, you know

30:26

what if Baltimore makes it

30:28

to the super Bowl, you know, I was like,

30:30

man, think about how good our division

30:32

is, Like we we would be the division

30:35

that if you come out of it, you

30:37

were definitely in the and and you know, you

30:39

came through a gauntlet because

30:42

think about this, we swept the Baltimore Ravens

30:44

this year, so how you know, so that would

30:46

have made me feel better about our season

30:48

even more so, it's like, oh, look at Baltimore's there.

30:51

That's right, because they didn't get to see us, you

30:53

know what I'm saying, Like, because it would

30:55

have it would have been a complete and utter sweep

30:58

had we seen them a third time. You know, I would

31:00

I would have had all of these built

31:02

in arguments in my head about

31:05

how, you know, how much better we are and

31:07

looking at, you know, a team, it

31:09

reminded me of back when I was in college.

31:13

LSU my senior year won the national

31:16

you know, split the national title with USC.

31:18

They won the BCS and USC

31:21

won the AP that year, and

31:23

I just remember I used to I used

31:25

to tell Justin Vincent, this one of my teammates, because

31:28

he was on that squad, and

31:30

I was like, I was like, hey, JV liked

31:32

you guys go undefeated. He's like, no, he

31:35

said, who's that team that beat y'all? Oh, that's

31:37

right, my Florida Gator's beach. That's right, We're

31:39

the one on your You're welcome, Max

31:42

Starks, Florida Gators. You got

31:44

it right West, That's right. You know, you always

31:46

look for those little things that would have been like hey, hey, Baltimore.

31:49

Yeah, you won the Super Bowl trip. I was like, who

31:51

swept you? Okay, that's right, Okay, that's right, the

31:53

Pittsburgh Steelers, did you know?

31:55

So?

31:55

And I looked at, you know, the dominance

31:58

of our division, being that we had all

32:00

four teams above five hundred. It

32:03

just I felt like I had some good

32:05

stories and some good cannon fodder,

32:07

had Baltimore one, and that all

32:10

got poop pooed when when you know,

32:12

Kansas City became Kansas City and we're getting

32:14

a Super Bowl rematch of

32:16

what twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen

32:20

all over again is the Hardball

32:23

Bowl. Was the last time these two teams

32:25

saw each other in a

32:27

Super Bowl, and we're getting that again. And

32:29

so it's just it's always funny

32:32

to me, you know about that, because

32:34

I because I listen, I got I got, I got, I

32:36

got. I got arrows from my friends. And when

32:39

I say arrows, that means, you know, you man, how could

32:41

you say that you? I was like, listen, I

32:43

would rather see it because you know what the

32:46

division. I'm like, just think about

32:48

all the talk that will be and

32:50

the buzz and they have done that and

32:52

the fact that they didn't really dominate their division.

32:54

We had more wins division wins than they

32:56

did, you know, and they

32:59

and they made it. You know, it just would it would

33:01

have. You know. There was just so many stories I had brewing

33:03

in my head had they won. So

33:06

so yeah, but once again I'm the

33:08

outlier. So I'm sure I will get more

33:10

eyre from uh from the social

33:13

media's for me saying that on the airwaves.

33:15

But it's all good, It's all good. It

33:17

doesn't matter because Kansas City is there. So I

33:19

could just stash all of these uh, these

33:22

arguments in my head and just file them away and

33:24

probably forget about him by next season.

33:27

You know what I find interesting? Oh?

33:29

Go ahead?

33:30

Right? No, no, no, no, no, won't please?

33:32

Hey, this is this is the King's time,

33:34

right, so you go right ahead, buddy, Yes, I

33:36

got I.

33:38

Want to know what you find interesting?

33:40

Okay.

33:40

What I found interesting was how this thing

33:42

started with the the battle in

33:45

the warm up area with

33:47

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey

33:49

and Justin Tucker and you got a little

33:51

bro who, as Touch always says,

33:53

you don't.

33:54

Know how to say that. You can't say that word, but

33:56

I can't, you know.

33:57

But the fact is it started this little

33:59

scuffle stuff in the pregame when

34:01

you got Kelsey going over and

34:03

kicking the ball and throwing, uh,

34:06

throwing Justin Tucker's helmet to the side.

34:08

It's crazy because Mahomes needed to warm up

34:11

and that it was kind of crazy. Did you

34:13

see that?

34:14

I did? And my first question

34:17

was, and maybe

34:19

things you're different in the NFL than the levels

34:21

that I played at, But you know you're supposed

34:24

to stay in your side at the field, aren't you. What

34:26

I mean, what's Justin Ducker doing down there?

34:28

The kickers, well, kickers

34:31

are like Switzerland, Yeah you.

34:35

Get that, Yeah, but what what's he doing

34:37

right there? It's almost like he was in

34:39

the way intentionally? I

34:42

bet that. Yeah, I mean, why are you sitting

34:44

so like if you're at you're at the twenty yard line

34:47

and you're stretching out because you're gonna kick some field goals on

34:49

that end and you want to see the wind. And now you

34:51

go down to the other end and you kick some field goals, and I

34:53

understand that that is part of the pregame routine,

34:56

but what are you doing kneeling down at

34:58

the three yard line?

34:59

I he was he was stretching his So

35:02

my thing was is that he does he

35:05

does this weird thing where he does the leg sweeps from

35:07

the goal line and you know,

35:09

just does this, just stands there and does the

35:11

swinging leg kicks to work

35:13

on his motion and then he and then he backs up.

35:15

I mean a lot of kickers do that, that same thing.

35:18

So you stretch your leg warming up and then

35:20

and then you just start going to kick it and then you start backing

35:22

up incrementally. It's it's like a guy

35:24

when you're you know, so I worked

35:26

as a ball boy for for the Orlando

35:28

Magic growing up, and so a

35:31

lot of drills that a lot of NBA

35:34

guys would do. They go right to the rim and they

35:36

just work on passes right over the hoop

35:38

right you know, you stand about a foot away up

35:41

and then you take a step back boom boom

35:43

boom to get to gauge your distance,

35:45

engage your range, to start to initiate

35:48

that kind of muscle memory. So that's

35:50

that. So that's what they do is

35:53

just I guess the timing for Justin Tucker should

35:55

have gotten out there earlier to do that on

35:58

the Kansas City side of the field, and

36:00

he did. He got out there at normal time, and

36:02

I'm sure normally most teams, you

36:05

know, especially when you're at home, you know, kind

36:07

of just give credence to that guy. They'll move

36:09

their drill. And Kensey was

36:11

like not. They came in. They

36:13

came in with the mentality like, now

36:15

you're not you're not gonna push us around, You're not going to force

36:17

us to change our routine. It's like,

36:19

you will conform to our routine. And they had

36:22

that bully mindset from

36:24

from the moment they left the locker room and

36:26

just instilled that end themselves.

36:28

So I think that's really what it was,

36:31

was that you're establishing a mindset on top of that,

36:33

and Justin Tucker might have, you know, subliminally

36:36

been trying trying to trying to get a mental edge

36:38

on them, and they were. They weren't having it.

36:40

No, they weren't having I just saw a

36:43

clip here where they showed Pat Mahomes

36:45

picking up his little you know, the thing that

36:47

holds the ball when you don't have a holder. Justin

36:50

Tucker Yah, yeah,

36:53

yeah, and he just threw it, you know, he

36:55

just threw it.

36:56

Away through it.

36:57

Then he kicked it a couple of times.

36:59

Yeah, I mean, and then then you had

37:01

Kelsey go up there and grab his helmet

37:03

and throw his helmet out of the way, and that threw his helmet.

37:06

And the balls.

37:06

Yeah, and in the caballs.

37:09

It was just very interesting that you would

37:11

do this before an AFC championship

37:13

game, like you're going to try to ruffle

37:15

some feathers or something like that before the

37:18

actual you know, the set to begins

37:21

right again.

37:22

Uh, you know, I don't know

37:25

what Justin Tucker was doing or trying

37:27

to do. I mean, would

37:29

it been polite maybe

37:31

to handy the cheet of Tucker and roll

37:34

his helmet toward him and and you know,

37:36

nuns of football in his racket instead of throwing it

37:38

to the back of the end zone. Maybe,

37:40

but maybe they felt like Justin Tucker was trying

37:42

to deliver a message and they decided to deliver

37:45

the message to him.

37:46

You know, it tells you how

37:48

far that the Ravens organization would go

37:50

from a Ray Louis to a Justin Tucker delivering

37:52

a message.

37:56

Just saying just saying,

37:58

okay.

37:59

Oh my god, oh that's funny.

38:02

What about the other game? Now we talked,

38:04

we got Ravens jeeps. Now we got

38:07

How did Detroit fold up after

38:09

a twenty one point lead.

38:12

Look, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, and

38:14

I said it at the time, and

38:18

you know, watching the game of my family, and

38:22

when you're up to scores and

38:25

you know a Kansas City is trying to get the momentum

38:27

back. Okay, so they come out. They are not that

38:29

Kansas City, San Francisco. They score out. Okay,

38:31

Fine, you have a chance to

38:33

kick a field goal and go back up

38:36

three scores. Look,

38:38

we can argue all day about momentum football,

38:40

but I think that's a momentum changer. I

38:42

think the team comes out and says, but

38:44

geez, now we're midway through the third quarter and we're

38:47

not really much closer than

38:49

when we started this half. You just fought

38:51

him to a draw, basically by kicking that

38:53

field goal. I look,

38:56

I know Dan Campbell does what Dan

38:58

Campbell does, and they got there playing

39:01

that way and being aggressive. But I

39:03

think there comes a time where

39:06

you're not being cowardly by

39:08

managing the game. I really

39:11

felt like they should have kicked the field

39:13

goal there. You know, listen, there's no guarantee they're

39:15

gonna make it, But it was that it could have been about a forty four to

39:17

forty five yarder. I think you kick

39:20

the field goal there, you go up by three

39:22

scores. Now they need three scores

39:25

to beat you. So

39:27

but by making it a two score game, hey,

39:30

you're one mistake a win. And then march down to score. Then

39:32

there's your one mistake. Now we're tied. Wow,

39:34

Now who's got the momentum? Well it ain't you, So

39:38

you know, and I understand. I

39:40

think, you know, like he wanted to play his football,

39:42

he wanted to be true to it, but I just think

39:45

my feeling is that he needed to manage it. The

39:47

second one. I thought, as well, look

39:51

again, you're now putting two scores

39:54

back into play for them. So

39:57

and that's exactly what happened. I just don't

39:59

understand. And you

40:01

know, and I watched that that two point

40:03

conversion game, and I thought

40:05

it was gut you to go for the win there. But

40:07

then once that's taken away, I

40:09

think, you know, you're going for two from the eight

40:12

yard line. Just kicked the extra point in

40:14

that game against Dallas. So you

40:16

know, I I know I'm not alone in thinking

40:18

that, but I and and maybe that makes me old

40:20

school, but I think when you have

40:22

the points and you have a chance to seize

40:25

momentum and a chance to go up by three scorers,

40:28

you need to take it. When you've got a chance to, you

40:31

know, keep it. I think that with that field goal, have tied

40:33

the game at the end. I forgot regardless.

40:37

I think when you have a chance to take points

40:40

in a game of bat match, take

40:43

it. Yeah, you kick the field goal

40:45

there, you kick the field goal there, and

40:47

and and you tie the game. And but

40:49

now they come down and score, and now you

40:52

need two scores. So I just

40:54

thought, you know, and and I know, I

40:57

know he's going to hear it, but I just think it was that

41:00

that thought

41:03

too much bravado. And I thought the first one,

41:05

not going for the first one completely

41:07

changed the momentum and the tenor of

41:09

the game. Now if you complete that

41:11

pass and you and and you take

41:14

more time off the clock and you score, we're

41:16

talking about what a great gutsy move it

41:18

was. And you know, I think one of the announcers

41:20

said, well, you can't. You can't judge

41:23

the outcome by

41:26

you can't judge you know, what they did

41:28

by the outcome. You have to judge it by the intent. Well,

41:30

this is exactly why you can judge it by the you

41:33

know, I mean right, I mean there there. You

41:36

have to measure both the upside and

41:38

the downside as a coach, and the downside

41:40

to me was too big to

41:43

go for it on that fourth and two or fourth and three.

41:48

Yeah.

41:48

No, you guys agree or disagree?

41:50

Yeah no, I completely agree with you, Rob.

41:52

Yeah, because you're in a hostile

41:55

environment. You're in the away

41:57

stadium. You've already

42:00

hit the blitzkrieg on them, right, You've

42:02

already done what you're supposed to. You went

42:04

down first drive of the game, boom

42:06

for play, seventy five yard touchdown. You

42:09

already punched them in the mouth. And

42:11

once you started to win the rounds,

42:14

now you've got to manage and box. You know, you

42:16

got to go Floyd Mayweather style, right, You're

42:18

you're going for You're going for the points. You're going

42:20

for the wind to control the tempo of

42:22

the game. And you can't go all

42:24

the way down the field and come up with nothing. And

42:27

you get you know, you've

42:29

got you, you got you got to give me something if

42:31

I'm if I'm gonna take this trek, I

42:34

need to see some effort and payoff.

42:37

And then of course for it to be

42:40

a game that's three

42:42

points that you lose by and you

42:44

had an opportunity to quote unquote

42:46

tie and at that point would have went ahead. I

42:49

mean, you have to take the points.

42:52

You've done it. You realize they were going

42:54

to adjust, and they started to

42:56

adjust. You know, by the end of that

42:58

first half. You have to know that the adjustment

43:01

was coming, and you've got to just keep

43:03

pace. Continue. The more

43:05

points you put on the board, whether their field goals

43:07

or touchdowns, that's that's

43:10

enough. That's enough in those moments.

43:12

But that's where I talked about experience

43:15

came to play. Yep, right. You

43:18

know, Kyle Shanahan's been

43:20

to the NFC Championship Game a number

43:22

of times as the head coach, just

43:24

like Andy Reid has been to the the

43:27

AFC Championship Game a number of times

43:29

as a coach. John Harbaugh has been,

43:32

but his squad has not, so he

43:35

should have leaned on, you know, a little more experience,

43:37

like hey man, hey, this this doesn't look right.

43:39

Todd.

43:39

I know you're in college the last couple of years. Here's

43:42

what we need to do. And also

43:44

for Dan Campbell, it's like, you know, this

43:47

was this is a valuable learning curve for him,

43:49

Like you got to take the points when the points present

43:51

themselves, and I don't I don't fault

43:53

like he said, I don't fault the aggressive because that's how they got here.

43:56

But at the same time, you know,

43:58

some wisdom has to kick and there's no cowardice

44:01

in taking the field goal, Like that's why you got

44:03

a kicker on the team. If you didn't want

44:05

a field goals, you wouldn't have you wouldn't

44:07

have a field goal kicker.

44:10

The other thing is too Max, I'm sorry, I mean you to up

44:12

is that you know, people talk and use

44:14

the word learning curve, but I know you did it advisedly.

44:16

And people are talking about, well, I think

44:18

they said in the pregame other they've arrived

44:20

maybe a year ahead of schedule. Okay,

44:22

that's great, and maybe they're gonna go to four

44:25

more NFC championship games right in

44:27

the next six years. But here's the other thing, maybe

44:29

they're not. You know, maybe

44:31

this was your best chance to get

44:33

to the Super Bowl. These things are not

44:36

given and these things are not promised. So

44:39

to to just blithely say, well, you

44:41

know, you know

44:43

next year. You know, well, who's who's

44:46

to say there's going to be a next year. So

44:48

I think that when you have an opportunity like that

44:50

and it slipped away, I just

44:52

think I think it's gonna

44:54

be a long offseason for Detroit. They're gonna be thinking

44:56

about this, I think for a long time because

44:59

they had every op unity to get to the Super Bowl

45:01

and maybe win a Super Bowl and it didn't happen.

45:04

Yeah, there's no question about it. And that

45:06

would have been could you imagine

45:08

the Motor City in the biggest

45:11

show on Earth, you know,

45:13

in one during the year.

45:15

It just would have been that.

45:16

I'm so disappointed because Detroit Buffalo would

45:18

have been just unbelievable. Oh

45:20

but uh yeah, man could

45:23

have been the pizzaz you.

45:26

Know, uh fifty seven,

45:28

nineteen fifty seven. I'd have to look

45:30

that up, but I'm pretty sure Bobby Lane was still

45:32

their quarterback in Detroit when they won that championship

45:35

before the game to the Steelers. You

45:37

know, that's a long time between

45:40

championships and thirty five

45:42

thousand people at their stadium just to root

45:44

on the team. I mean, it

45:47

was I was, you know, with

45:49

no real dog in the in the fight.

45:51

I was rooting for the Lions and to see

45:53

them come up short, I think it would

45:56

have just been a great fun story. And uh,

45:59

that's the way it goes.

46:01

Yes, You're absolutely right, Rob, that's

46:03

the way it goes. And we got we

46:05

got two really good teams that will be in the Super Bowl

46:08

that have earned their way there. So

46:11

you know, like it or hate it, this

46:13

is happening and it's going to be I think,

46:15

I think a really good matchup. Rob.

46:18

We appreciate the time, the extended

46:21

amount of time, especially as

46:24

always, thank you for always coming into

46:26

the locker room with us. We appreciate you this

46:28

season and we can't wait to do it again

46:30

next years. This is the final week of

46:33

the Locker Room, so thank you,

46:35

Thank you King for coming into the castle

46:37

and uh and enjoying us and regaling

46:40

us with tails. We do appreciate it.

46:42

Thank you, Yeah, Max,

46:44

and well if you guys, you made it so much fun, man. Thank

46:46

you.

46:47

All right, that was Rob King. We're gonna step

46:50

aside. We'll be back with more inside the Locker Room

46:52

here on Fox Sports Pittsburgh and that s an R Radio.

47:03

This is in the Locker Room with

47:05

Wolf and Starks on Fox Sports

47:07

Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation Radio,

47:10

presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.

47:12

The F one P fifty is the official truck

47:14

of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

47:16

Well, it was the last time with the King

47:18

and the Castle. Rob King was just

47:20

love always talking with him, don't we,

47:23

Max? And the fact is we got

47:25

our money's worth from the guy, didn't we.

47:28

We kept him on for just about the whole

47:30

period here in the back end of the

47:32

first hour. So coming up is the next

47:34

hour with Max leading off the numbers

47:36

four one, two nine. I

47:41

want to find out are you a Swifty? Did

47:43

you do you think Taylor Swift is ruining the

47:45

NFL? Then we have a host of other things

47:47

going on, so stay tuned for more,

47:50

coming right back after this again four

47:52

to one two nine, one nine, three one

47:54

six be back after this