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Reacting to the Steelers 2025 schedule · The Irish Steelers Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Irish airline air Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's growth in
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: prepares to fly to two new US destinations, Nashville and Indianapolis,
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  Speaker 1: using its new Airbus eight three twenty one xl or aircraft.
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  Speaker 1: This brings the number of transatlantic routes operated by the
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  Speaker 1: airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester to twenty four. Steelers
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  Speaker 1: fans traveling to Ireland for the big Game can enjoy
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus. Air Lingus,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: You're very welcome.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Everybody, Welcome into the Irish Staters podcast. Michael mccuadier as
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: we Get the Flu a novel week of this offseason.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: And look, let's be very very clear for any Irish
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  Speaker 2: or international fan, there's something happening every week with not
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: just the Steelers and the NFL, and that is awesome
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  Speaker 2: to see as any fan of the NFL with a
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: grease nation, It's time to take flight with Erlingus, an
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and founding partner
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: of Steeters Ireland. There's never been a better time to
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: book your trip to Dublin. With nineteen North American gateways,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: including flights for nearby Cleveland. Get ready for warm Irish
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: hospitality and plenty of room on board for your terrible
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: toll whether it's game day or a getaway. Erlingus looks
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: forward to saying you're very welcome to the players and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: fans of the Pittsburgh Stears. You can book now at
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  Speaker 2: erlingus dot com and that game as the Irish Stateis
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  Speaker 2: podcast presented by Erlingus, rolls on is on September the
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  Speaker 2: twenty eighth in the iconic Crook Park Stadium between the
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  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Staeters and the Minnesota Vikings. In week four. The
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  Speaker 2: biggest news has dropped since we've last spoken to with
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: our folks You're very welcome is the Steelers' schedule is out,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: and I guess for Irish fans the biggest sort of
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  Speaker 2: one there is we finish before Dublin against New England
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  Speaker 2: on the Sunday away to New England. We go to Dublin.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously that ISTBD when the team's gonna go out, but
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: there's a bye week in week five, I know you're wondering.
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  Speaker 2: I know you're asking tickets on sale June the seventeenth
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  Speaker 2: from NFL dot com slash Dublin. That is your information.
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  Speaker 2: Use of that as you will, my friends. We're gonna
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  Speaker 2: look through the schedule to then talk a little bit
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: more Staters ball with a guy from s n R,
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  Speaker 2: A guy that had the chance to jump on and
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  Speaker 2: chat with at the NFL Combine. Fantastic man. Delighted to
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: welcome Where's Euler to the Irish Theaters Podcast presented by
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  Speaker 2: our Lingus?
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  Speaker 3: Okay, folks.
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  Speaker 2: This week on the Irish Theaters Podcast presented by our Lingus,
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  Speaker 2: We've got a stalwart of Staters Nation Radio, a guy
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: you'll hear most afternoons. Delighted to welcome into the first
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: time Where's Eler?
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  Speaker 3: Wes.
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  Speaker 2: I'm so happy I did not butcher your surname there.
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  Speaker 2: You're very very welcome. How you do Let's crack.
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  Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Nick, Thanks for having me. I'm excited
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  Speaker 3: to chat with you here this afternoon. The crack is
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  Speaker 3: We're buzzing, man. Absolutely, you know the schedule now official.
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  Speaker 3: We all have known for a long time, right, there
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  Speaker 3: was gonna be a game in Dublin sometime in late September,
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  Speaker 3: we all thought. But now we know the exact date,
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  Speaker 3: the exact time, the exact opponent, all that stuff, and
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  Speaker 3: I'm buzzing to get over there. Man, I cannot wait.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk about the actual game itself on this schedule
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: and and just in a few moments. But yeah, it's
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: funny because we we had the chance to meet for
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: the first time in person at the NFL Combine, and
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: we that's the one that we knew there was thought
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  Speaker 2: there was a game coming of Dublin. I had the
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  Speaker 2: chance to bring the ball over. Oh my god, the
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  Speaker 2: old the obligatory photo, etcetera. But you know, when you
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  Speaker 2: talk to people over there, when you talk to people
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  Speaker 2: in the US, especially, what's the excitement like in the
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: office in Pittsburgh. But then what's the excitement like with
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  Speaker 2: fonds that you've spoken to who are looking to get.
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  Speaker 3: Over Yeah, I mean just over the moon through the roof.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, people, this this is absolutely, without a doubt,
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  Speaker 3: the game that has circled on the calendar for everyone.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, so that's typically the two Ravens games, right,
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  Speaker 3: maybe a Browns game, maybe a Bengals game. Maybe you're
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: playing someone like the Chiefs or the Eagles or the Cowboys.
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  Speaker 3: Like that's typically the games that you circle. This is
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  Speaker 3: the game that everybody has circled. There is obviously a
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  Speaker 3: rich Irish culture and heritage in presence in Pittsburgh and
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  Speaker 3: western Pennsylvania. There is a huge Irish American contingent that
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  Speaker 3: follows the Pittsburgh Steelers because the history of the franchise
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  Speaker 3: and the ties with the Rooney family to Ireland. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, for about as excited as you could be
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  Speaker 3: for a game that's not the Super Bowl or an
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  Speaker 3: AFC Championship game, you know what I mean. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I have been asked by friends and family for months
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  Speaker 3: about when this game is happening, When exactly is it
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  Speaker 3: going to be because people have been trying for months
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  Speaker 3: to get hotels, to get flights, to make plans. I've
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  Speaker 3: got family and friends that are doing you know, ten day,
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  Speaker 3: fourteen days swings through England and Ireland or you know,
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  Speaker 3: maybe maybe Ireland somewhere in the UK, maybe throwing in
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  Speaker 3: a France or a Germany in there as well too,
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  Speaker 3: making like I said, like a ten day, fourteen day
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  Speaker 3: trip out of it so like bucket list I think
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  Speaker 3: that's probably the best way I could describe this, like
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  Speaker 3: this is a bucket list game, a bucket list trip,
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  Speaker 3: a bucket list moment for a lot of Steeler fans.
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  Speaker 3: And this is my eighth season working with the team,
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  Speaker 3: and then obviously a lifetime of growing up in the
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  Speaker 3: area and being a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I
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  Speaker 3: cannot remember a regular season game anywhere close to this
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  Speaker 3: type of anticipation, particularly one that you know, again, isn't
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: it the end of the season against the Ravens with
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  Speaker 3: playoff ramifications on the line, or you know, Christmas Day
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  Speaker 3: against the Chiefs or the Raiders or something like that.
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  Speaker 3: This is one that people have been talking about for
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  Speaker 3: months and I think are going to talk about four
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: months after it all takes place.
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  Speaker 2: You've got me ready to run for the keyboard here,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Mom'm just ready to go. I'm pumped up. I know
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of people listening will be as well for
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: people in Europe. I believe tickets are in seal from
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: the seventeenth of June, all the information because people are
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: texting me asked me for NFL dog Com Slash Dublin.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: That's where you need to go Staters fans, Staeters Vikings.
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  Speaker 2: We'll bring up back in a few moments ago I
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: had a chance to shat to you at the combine.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Whatever you guys, and thank you very much for having
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: me on One thing that has happened very very sadly
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: over the last few weeks. Say we've lost Craig. Craig
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  Speaker 2: WOLFI with SNR look to look at it in you know,
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  Speaker 2: a positive light in terms of just this week it
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: was his birthday. He would have celebrated his birthday this week.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: He was on the podcast t or three times. Can
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: you give us, say, some funny Wolfe story that we
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: can all laugh at and remember him on that land?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean there's we could probably sit here for
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: an hour or or even more and swap Wolf's stories.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: It's one of those things that like once I would
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: get going and bringing back some memories, like all just
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: just floodgates coming out here. But one story that I
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: do love to tell that I think kind of encapsulates
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: Craig wolfly so well. Is you anyone who's around him
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  Speaker 3: knows that he loves to eat, right, I mean he's
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: he's he's always been a bigger guy, offensive lineman and bodybuilder,
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: all these things. He's always loved to eat. And you know,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: he used to have a thing with the late Great
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Tounch Yolkin called Wolf Wednesdays where every single Wednesday on
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: the show, Wolf would do a weigh in, and if
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  Speaker 3: he was under three hundred pounds, you know, it would
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  Speaker 3: be like yay, Wolf, like you did it, You're doing well.
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  Speaker 3: If he was over three hundred pounds, it would be like, boo, Wolf,
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  Speaker 3: you had a bad week. You know, like get on
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  Speaker 3: the salads, get get on the treadmill type thing. And
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  Speaker 3: so you know, I've been been producing radio for him
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  Speaker 3: for years and I'll never forget one time he you know,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: we we're we're in the studios and and one of
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: the employees in our building I forget what was pop
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  Speaker 3: their head in the studio and was like, hey, guys,
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  Speaker 3: there's Dunkin donuts and and and all kinds of stuff
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  Speaker 3: out there in the kitchen if you want to go
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  Speaker 3: get some food. And and you know, we all instantly
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  Speaker 3: kind of like look at Wolf like oh, here we go,
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  Speaker 3: and he's like, no, I'm gonna behave. I told Faith.
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  Speaker 3: That's that's that's Wolf's Wolf's wife. He's like, I told Faith,
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  Speaker 3: I'm gonna eat well this week. I'm not doing any
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  Speaker 3: fast food. I'm not doing any donuts. I'm having a
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  Speaker 3: good week health wise. And we're all like, hey, good
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  Speaker 3: for you, Wolf, good for you. Well, you know, a
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: couple of breaks later, like we're we're in the middle
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: of a break five six minutes and uh and and
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  Speaker 3: Wolf's like, I'm gonna run to the restroom. Well, you know,
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: two minutes into the break, I'm like, you know what,
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go refill my water, my coffee or whatever
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  Speaker 3: it was. I walk around the corner in the kitchen
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  Speaker 3: and Wolf is standing there, wolfing down a donut, like
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  Speaker 3: just just inhaling this donut. And Mick, I think it's
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: like the proverbial, like when you were a kid and
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: you get caught with your hand in the candy jar,
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: the cookie jar that mom and dad told you you
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: weren't allowed to do. No, you get you get caught
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: watching the TV show or something that you know you're
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: not allowed to watch as a kid by by mom
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: and dad, or you know, maybe somebody catches you in
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: a lie or something like that. His face like instantly
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: went he's got this donut in his mouth and his
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: face goes red and he's like, don't say anything to anybody,
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  Speaker 3: don't get and I and I kept that secret for years.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: I don't think I told that story to anyone until
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: after Wolf had passed away. So just always always a laugh, always,
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  Speaker 3: like working with Craig wolfly Man, every day was the
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: best day ever. Like he truly had that great even
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: on bad days, even when he was sick or if
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: something was going on in life, or if he had
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: lost a friend or a family member. He just always
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: had such a deep and rich appreciation for every day.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: And so yeah, man, but that's Wolf's trying to sneak
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: his donuts and sneak his food in and all those
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: different things and hiding it from everybody. I think that's
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: a good story to describe Wolf, you know, telling us no,
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: I'm eating good this week, I'm eating good. And then
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: I catch him, I catch him crushing a couple donuts
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: in the break room and he's like poorer, swears being
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: the secrecy that I can't tell anybody about.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: It, Oh man, I'd say, And I know he'll be
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: watching down in September when this game happens like, look,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I can only imagine what it would have been like
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: to have him there, And I'll talk about the schedule
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: on Luisac. And one thing that has changed the last
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: book properly is the draft. I know you guys have
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: probably talked it to death on SNR, but in terms
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: of European fans, like we have a lot of I think,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: especially across the island of the Ironland, there's a lot
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: of people that are very interested in college football, but
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: more so they're probably more into their NFL. And I
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: don't feel like we've talked about yet too much in
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: this podcast. Did you like the draft was right? Anything
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: that you thought, oh okay, here we go. We had
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Tom the Irish guy, make that will Hire a pick.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: It was a really cool draft for us. But do
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: you like the selections? What's your one million analysis from this?
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah? We mad? Yeah, I think listen, I think if
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers ends up being the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, which
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: I do still believe is going to be the case
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: sooner or later at some point here in the next
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: few weeks, and then I think if you kind of
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: consider that you was your second round pick to go
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: and acquire Dk Metcalf. I feel like it all fell
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: perfectly for the Steelers. You know, there were three defensive
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: linemen that we talked about being real options. As the
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: first round pick, Kenneth Grant's gone, Walter Nolan's gone, you
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: still end up being able to get Derek Harmon there
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: at pick twenty one, a great fit and at a
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: position of need. And then, like I said, we all knew,
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: you know, at the end of the regular season, wide
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: receiver a big position of priority. You essentially used your
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: second round pick to go get Dk Metcalf, who is
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: twenty seven years old, only a few years older than
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: a lot of these wide receivers now who are coming
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: out at twenty three to twenty four years old. But
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: he's proven with years and years of production with different
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: quarterbacks in Pro Bowl pedigree, and then running back obviously
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: as well too. I think we all like Jalen Warren
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: and know that he has a lot of upside and
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: are excited to see what he can do this year.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of us like the free agency
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: addition of Kenneth Gainwell, and you know what he was
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: able to do is Saquon Barkley's kind of understudy last
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: year with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but Caleb
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Johnson felt like a great pick for the kind of
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: outside zone run scheme that Arthur Smith and this offense
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: want to have. So when the season ended. Aside from quarterback,
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: because we all know whenever you don't have the Ben
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Roethlisberger or the Patrick Mahomes or the Josh Allen, quarterback
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: is always a priority. But aside from that conversation, it
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: felt like defensive line, wide receiver, running back were real
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: positions of priority, and I think you came away with
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: one of the top defensive linemen, you get a twenty
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: seven year old DK Metcalf, you get one of the
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: top running backs in Caleb Johnson. I think it all
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: fell very well for the Steelers in terms of high
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: quality players to fill big positions of need.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I feel like we'll all be in the trope in
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: five minutes. This offseason is just like look, I feel
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: like a lot of people shared with faults. It's a
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: positive draft and we'll see if any more moves are
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: made over the next few weeks and months. You've been
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: with a team for eight years, so talk to us
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: about what it's like working with a team more so,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: and when did it hit you that you're working with
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Sedis When was that moment as a guy
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: like you've mentioned earlier that you're you're obviously from the area,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: you're a fan as well.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, you know, that's a that's that's a great question, honestly, Mick.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: It still hits me sometimes that I'm working for the
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers as a you know, a kid who grew
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: up in Pittsburgh waving my terrible tow and you know,
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: I'm thirty four years old now, so I'm not a kid.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I'm not young anymore. But I'm not old yet either,
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: But I am kind of at that first stage of
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: life where you start to look back the last ten years,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: the last fifteen years. You know, where you've come since
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: your school days and all those different things. My first
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: training camp, though, was a was a huge one for me.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: My first training camp was in twenty eighteen, and I
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: just remember being in the dorm rooms working with guys
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: like Tounch, Joakin and Craig wolf Lee and Max Starks,
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: being there on the sideline at practice every day as
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: Antonio Brown and Joe Hayden went to head right as
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Marquise Pouncy and Ben Roethlisberger were working on their exchanges
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: and their craft. And then it was twenty twenty two
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: when I started traveling with the team. So started working
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: for the Steelers in twenty eighteen and was part of
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: the broadcast crew, you know, back at home base. And
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: then now for three years I've been traveling with the team.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: So my first ever game being in the booth and
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: being on the team plane and all that as well too.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: It was a preseason trip to Jacksonville, and I still
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: remember getting on the Steelers plane and being like, this
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: is really happening. You know, Cam Hayward's walking up the
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: aisle to get into his seat. You know, mister Rooney's
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: sitting at the front of the plane. Kevin Colbert at
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: that time was the Steelers general manager. Still you know
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: he's He's sitting at the front of the plane, sipping
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: on his Starbucks coffee, cracking jokes like there are There
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: are a lot of moments where it still hits me.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: My first ever combine in twenty nineteen, I got to
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: interview Santonio Holmes. That was another big moment because for me,
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: like my biggest Steelers moment as a fan growing up
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: with Santonio Holmes two, you know, two feet down in
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: the back of the end zone against the Arizona Cardinals
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: to win that Super Bowl in dramatic fashion. So get
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: to have him sit down on our show at the
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: Combine was an amazing pinch me moment. But you know what,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: like it's gonna happen this year again when I'm in Dublin,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: when I'm standing there in the booth and taking in
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: that whole scene at Croke Park. So yeah, those are
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: those are something like my first training camp, my first Combine,
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: my first time in the broadcast booth. But like I said,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: I continue to have these kind of like pinch me moments.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: I'm very, very blessed to be doing what I'm doing.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you and I've ever talked about
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: this before, but I actually I worked for the Philadelphia
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: Eagles for three years before I got a job. My
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: wife is from is from Philadelphia, and we lived out
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: there for three years after college before I got the
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: job with the Steelers, and you know, able to move
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: back home to Pittsburgh and everything. I was with the
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: Eagles when they won a Super Bowl. You know, their
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: first super Bowl in franchise history, which was amazing and
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: was so much fun. Even though I wasn't, you know,
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: a fan of the team, it was really cool to
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: be a part of that, a franchise winning a first
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: super Bowl. But none of that compares to, you know,
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: being back in your hometown working for the team that
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: you grew up with, you know, getting to walk the
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: hallways and seeing mister Rooney and seeing Mike Tomlin and
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: seeing Cam Hayward and you know, all these these guys
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: that have been figures in my life for so long.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: I'm very fortunate and I'm very blessed. And like I said,
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: it's still many times throughout the year, I still have
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: those those tench Mean moments.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I love it. You've you've hit the kneel in the head.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: There.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Let's jump into the schedule very very quickly. That's the
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: one thing that has Chiens since we got the podcast.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: They going last week. The NFL schedule is out for
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five, and it's a really interesting schedule in
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: the sense that you know, obviously with this DUBLINGI and
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: being in Week four, sometimes not a lot of teams
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: just doing take the bye week five. I sort of
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: like how the Steelers are taking on bye Week five,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: because they obviously open up the season on the roads
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: to the Jets. They opened they have the home opener
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: against the Seahawks and then an East Coast game before
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: they had before they hit Ireland the week three. I
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: like the Week five by has been much reaction to
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: that over there. What's your faults in the schedule overall?
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Because I remember last year the AFC North was just
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: you have to get to like the m of November
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: to actually play a team in the AFC North. So
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: I actually liked the schedule. I think if you get
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: off to a good start there, it gives you a
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: good foundation to head over here to and then hopefully
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: head back over a Week five of a bye with
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: a win and then almost start again.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: In that sense, I'm with you on that, and I
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: think I think the start of the schedule is important
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: because you know, the end of the schedule, as you mentioned,
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: it's not the same as it was last year with
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: the Divisional Gauntlet and then at Philadelphia in Kansas City
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: as well too, the two teams that ended up being
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: in the Super Bowl. Uh, it's not quite as daunting
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: down the stretch with the Steelers this time, but they
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: still have four of their last six games against teams
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: that were in the playoffs last year. A physical on
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: the road Detroit game at the end of the season
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: against a team that's gonna want to play that, you know,
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: that fist fight type of style of football. So yeah,
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: I think the beginning of the schedule is important. You
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: get the New York Jets to start the season. New
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: era for them, right, I mean, they've kind of they've
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: kind of completely a new head coach, new staff, new
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: team in the post Aaron Rodgers era here, the post
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: Robert Sala era here. It's a good time to be
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: getting them as week one. New quarterback, new coach, new
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: regime Seattle, not quite to that extent, but new quarterback,
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: relatively new coach, heading in a new direction. And they've
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: got to come across the country for a one o'clock game.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: That's that's you know, like a ten am start time
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: for for kind of their internal clock and how they
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: work being three hours behind us on the West coast.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: You love getting a West Coast team at one am
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: early in the season with a new quarterback. New England
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: Drake May yes did some great things last year, but
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: you've still got a sophomore quarterback who's trying to figure
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: it out now with a new head coach, new offensive coordinator,
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: a lot of new parts on that offense. Those first
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: three weeks are I think very important. And then of
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: course the trip to Dublin against a Vikings team that
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: was really good last year. I mean, won fourteen games
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: last year, and and and and was was in the playoffs,
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: and was was you know, was one game against Detroit
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: away from being the top seed in the NFC last year.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: But also gonna have a new quarterback in JJ McCartney.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: We all think here, but we know at least it's
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: not going to be Sam Darnold anymore. For the Vikings,
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: those first four games before the buy are very important.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: A lot of new coaching staffs, a lot of new quarterbacks,
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: and I realized the Steelers will be in that new
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: quarterback situation. We all think as well too with Aaron Rodgers,
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: but that feels like a real opportunity. Then you get
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: Cleveland out of the bye week, we know they're they've
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: got crazy quarterback carousel and just a whole bunch going
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: on in weird spot as an organization, things start to
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: get a little bit more difficult than after that. You know,
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: you've got to go on the road against Joe Burrow
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: in that offense, you've got a good Green Bay team,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: You've got to go across the country to La Buffalo Bolt,
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: you know, the two Baltimore games, Detroit. So I think
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: the beginning of the schedule is very important, and I'm
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: with you, like just in general, I think you would
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: like to see your bye week at more in the
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: middle of the schedule, just in an average year. But
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: you're gonna go, you know, until October twelfth, basically playing
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: one true home game, Like I know, the game in
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Dublin is a home game, but that's the first trip
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: to Steelers are gonna make all year. So you're in
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: New York, you're in New England, you're in Dublin, only
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: one home game there, you know, until October twelfth. So
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: I think it's good from that standpoint too, that you'll
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: finally have some time to breathe and be home for
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: I went to starts month, I says, I. It's flying
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: in that this offseason seems like there's a story every
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: day and we're just taking away very nicely. It's hard
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: to believe we're a mayor's all with the Premier League
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: DOT ends this weekend, so it before we know what
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: it will get here, like the preseason schedule as well.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: I guess one thing I want to end on WES
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: for international listeners listening, especially those in the Island of Ireland.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: For anybody here that has not been to a Steels
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: game before in Pittsburgh or wherever, if there was one
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: game of that schedule, if you could say to them,
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: go to this game in Pittsburgh, what would it be?
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Put me on the spot.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's got to be Baltimore, right, Uh, there's
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: there's there's there's no wrong answers for that. This the
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: the Sunday night game against the Packers would be fantastic.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: It's Sunday night football. It's it's Pittsburgh and Green Bay,
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: two of the most storied organizations in sports. Uh, Buffalo
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: a lot of fun and that's only about a three
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: hour drive from Pittsburgh. A lot of those crazy Bills
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: Mafia fans come down and break tables and it's it's
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: always an awesome atmosphere. Two very passionate fan bases in
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: the in the Bills and the Steelers, but in in
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: January at home against the Ray with what could be
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: a division title or a playoff spot on the line.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: As there as there often is, the weather is cold,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: the implications of the game, or through the roof, it's Pittsburgh,
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: it's Baltimore. I as much as there's some really fun
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: home games this year on the schedule as well too.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: The home opener is always a blast, right because it's
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: the first time everyone's back in a long time, and
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: the energy and the and the optimism is great. The
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: man that that Baltimore Ravens game every single year, there's
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: just something there's just something special about it, right. It's
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: I don't know, do you guys use the term derby
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: as well too, you know what I mean? Yeah, okay,
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: so I didn't know if that was just an English
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: thing or if you guys use that as well too,
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: But like that's our I know, we don't share a
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: city proper, you know, like the way it's supposed to
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: be for a Derby, like you know, like Liverpool and
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Everton or Manchester United and Manchester City. But like this
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: is like our closest to like our Derby is you know,
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: to two cities that are not far away from each
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: other that are just football obsessed that Like I said,
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: it seems like every year it comes down to that
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: game deciding who's winning the division and who's going to
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: the playoffs. If you're if you're a Steelers fan, I
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: think going to a home game against against Baltimore has
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: to be on your bucket list.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: There you go. Folks have seen some tweets or some
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: posts this week about flights booed. If you're still in
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: the fense list and the Wes get sordid and maybe
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: we'll see you over there as well, say hi to
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: him and the whole gang at SNR.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: Wes.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: I love your energy, I love your enthusiasm about this
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: season in the schedule before we know what will be
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: maybe together in the bar somewhere doing the podcast Quigland,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you popping on and you can listen to
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Wes and the rest of the guys on the Steeers
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: Video Network, check them out in the website and on
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: your favorite podcast platform. Wes, we will chat to you soon.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Thank you very very much.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: Mammnck. Thanks for having me anytime. I'm here for you
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: and yeah, can't can't wait to get a couple of
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: fights with you NC.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: In September, Irish airline aer Lingus will proudly serve as
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the presenting partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: growth in North America continues in twenty twenty five as
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: the airline prepares to fly to two new US destinations,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Nashville and Indianapolis, using its new Airbus eight three twenty
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: one xl or aircraft. This brings the number of transatlantic
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: routes operated by the airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: to twenty four. Steelers fans traveling to Ireland for the
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: big Game can enjoy a relaxing journey when they fly
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: with their Lingus. Air Lingus, You're very welcome.