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One year from HISTORY: When the Steelers came to Dublin with Max Starks · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: As an official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aer
0:03
Speaker 1: Lingus is flying Steelers Nation even closer to the action.
0:06
Speaker 1: The Irish airline Aer Lingus has launched a brand new
0:09
Speaker 1: non-stop route between Dublin and Pittsburgh. So whether you're heading
0:13
Speaker 1: to Steel City for game day or crossing the Atlantic
0:15
Speaker 1: for that Irish adventure you've always dreamed about, flying there
0:18
Speaker 1: has never been easier. Book now at AerLingus.com. Here we
0:22
Speaker 1: go Steelers!
0:23
Speaker 2: Aer Lingus Good morning Steelers fans across the island of Ireland.
0:37
Speaker 2: Happy NFL Dublin game day. This date will go down
0:40
Speaker 2: in history as the anniversary of the Steelers playing in
0:43
Speaker 2: the first ever regular season NFL game in Ireland. Michael
0:47
Speaker 2: McQuaid here. Delighted back in Ireland after a great weekend
0:52
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh was at the game on Sunday and obviously
0:54
Speaker 2: the huge win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Myself and Mark
0:58
Speaker 2: will break that down. on a special podcast on Wednesday,
1:01
Speaker 2: because we've got a very, very short week. Thursday Night
1:04
Speaker 2: Football coming up against the Browns, so a podcast dropping
1:08
Speaker 2: on Wednesday morning. So, you know, do get your thoughts
1:11
Speaker 2: in at Cedars Ireland on socials. But today, I have
1:14
Speaker 2: got the main man, Max Starks, who had a great
1:17
Speaker 2: time in Dublin last year among so many people listening
1:20
Speaker 2: to this now. And in the conversation that we had
1:23
Speaker 2: prior to the Bengals game, of course, Max and myself
1:26
Speaker 2: look back on what was a very memorable, emotional moment
1:29
Speaker 2: And a very, very meaningful day in Croke Park. We'll
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Speaker 2: see you on Wednesday. And here is Max on the
1:34
Speaker 2: Irish Tutors Podcast. Presented, of course, by Aer Lingus. Folks,
1:40
Speaker 2: welcome into the Irish Tutors Podcast on what has become
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Speaker 2: a very, very special date. Can you believe it is
1:46
Speaker 2: one year on from the 2025 NFL Dublin game?
1:49
Speaker 3: And why not?
1:50
Speaker 2: Why not have a special podcast today after a Steelers game?
1:54
Speaker 2: Just to talk about this game as well. A guy
1:56
Speaker 2: that was very, very, and continues to be very, very
1:58
Speaker 2: close to the NFL and the Steelers in Ireland, Max Starks,
2:01
Speaker 2: is beside me here. Max, it's good to see you again, man.
2:04
Speaker 2: It's always good chatting to you, and it's good chatting
2:06
Speaker 2: to Steelers football, and it's good talking Irish Steelers football.
2:09
Speaker 2: How are you doing?
2:10
Speaker 3: I'm doing wonderful, mate. And once again, always a pleasure
2:13
Speaker 3: to get on the airwaves with you. And like you said,
2:15
Speaker 3: a year ago, we were having a crack over across
2:18
Speaker 3: the pond, right? See, look, I got the phrasing right.
2:21
Speaker 2: You got it. You got the phrasing right. I'll tell
2:24
Speaker 2: you what, man, you've definitely embraced the Irish culture and
2:29
Speaker 2: really the Irish fandom for the NFL, not just for
2:32
Speaker 2: the Steelers, but the game itself as well. And not
2:34
Speaker 2: just for that weekend, but really across the last few
2:36
Speaker 2: years as well. It's been great seeing it, even at
2:38
Speaker 2: the draft, which was great. Can you believe it's a
2:40
Speaker 2: year ago?
2:42
Speaker 3: I still pinch myself because it seems like just a
2:45
Speaker 3: week ago we were talking about going to our the
2:48
Speaker 3: announcement remember we're at the super bowl yeah talking about
2:51
Speaker 3: hey there's going to be an announcement we're probably gonna
2:53
Speaker 3: get it and there's like it happens and then we
2:56
Speaker 3: go through this and then we get there and then
2:58
Speaker 3: to spend the week going around the entire aisle was
3:03
Speaker 3: was absolutely phenomenal and then like you said to have
3:06
Speaker 3: the ending and that result of a game for that
3:09
Speaker 3: was just the best story you could write 24 21 and.
3:11
Speaker 2: I think to myself and just sort of standing at
3:16
Speaker 2: the end zone and seeing those last few minutes play out.
3:19
Speaker 2: You were in the Hogan stand calling the game.
3:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, we were.
3:21
Speaker 2: Like, was that your first time in the stadium? And like,
3:24
Speaker 2: how did you find the ambience? Because for me, you know,
3:27
Speaker 2: going to GAA matches as a fan, I had never
3:31
Speaker 2: actually been in the press box before. I mean, I
3:33
Speaker 2: went up and seen the view of the city and
3:35
Speaker 2: the fans. And really what got me was whenever I
3:38
Speaker 2: think U2 was playing. That got me, that got the
3:42
Speaker 2: heartstrings a little It must have been awesome to sit
3:44
Speaker 2: where you were sitting. That was prime. Like, you know,
3:46
Speaker 2: Max Stark's prime condition there.
3:48
Speaker 3: It was beautiful because, like, I've been in college stadiums
3:51
Speaker 3: where you have an open-air press box. And it's usually
3:54
Speaker 3: like a smaller school. But to go to a professional game,
3:58
Speaker 3: to sit in the press box in an open-air area.
4:01
Speaker 3: And like you said, fans are literally right next to you.
4:03
Speaker 2: Yes.
4:04
Speaker 3: And you're calling this game. People are bumping into you.
4:07
Speaker 3: They're excited. And it just gave you a different kind
4:10
Speaker 3: of emotion. Like, I wanted to call the game that
4:12
Speaker 3: much better. I was that much more involved because, you know,
4:16
Speaker 3: when you go to a pro stadium, it's glassed off.
4:18
Speaker 3: You're in this special box that's often away from the fans.
4:21
Speaker 3: You can't really get the temperature of the crowd unless
4:23
Speaker 3: you open a window. But to literally be immersed in
4:26
Speaker 3: that environment and prime seating view, and we were right
4:29
Speaker 3: there on like the 45-yard line looking down on the
4:32
Speaker 3: upper tower, looking down onto the field. And like you said,
4:34
Speaker 3: you could see just all of Dublin as you looked around.
4:38
Speaker 3: And it was a beautiful, it was a fun experience.
4:40
Speaker 3: And for my first ever international game, It set the
4:43
Speaker 3: bar really high for future endeavors like we're going to
4:46
Speaker 3: experience in Paris.
4:48
Speaker 2: We're there in just around the month, and we'll definitely
4:51
Speaker 2: talk about that in a wee second. Let's talk about
4:53
Speaker 2: the game in a wee second and recap it as well,
4:55
Speaker 2: just from a memory point of view and that sort
4:57
Speaker 2: of iconic, incredible moments. But you had your own sort
5:00
Speaker 2: of incredible moments earlier that week. I joked with you
5:04
Speaker 2: earlier on, you've probably seen more of the Island of
5:06
Speaker 2: Ireland than I have. You have? Talk to us. We'll
5:10
Speaker 2: get your favorite part of the journey in a moment,
5:12
Speaker 2: but From your memory a year ago, talk to us
5:15
Speaker 2: around the tour because I remember you were calling the game.
5:19
Speaker 2: You literally jumped on a plane. It was maybe in
5:22
Speaker 2: New England, wasn't it? Yeah, it was a New England game.
5:23
Speaker 2: Jumped on a plane and then, yeah, talk to us
5:25
Speaker 2: about that whole experience.
5:26
Speaker 3: So what was crazy was flying to New England, we
5:31
Speaker 3: called the game. We're in Foxborough, which is about an
5:34
Speaker 3: hour and 20, hour 30 from Boston. I go to
5:38
Speaker 3: Boston a lot. So we literally book it out of
5:40
Speaker 3: the stadium. get in this car. We drive to, to,
5:43
Speaker 3: to the airport, check in, we get on our flight
5:46
Speaker 3: and we get to the gate and we do an
5:48
Speaker 3: Aer Lingus hit, you know, or it is that the
5:51
Speaker 3: airplane and we take the flight over. We land, it's
5:54
Speaker 3: about 8 30 AM, go get our bags, get to
5:58
Speaker 3: the other car, drive to the hotel, check into my room.
6:02
Speaker 3: And when I say check into my room, it's literally,
6:05
Speaker 3: I got my room key. I opened the door. I
6:08
Speaker 3: threw a bag in there. I went straight back downstairs
6:10
Speaker 3: and And there's a huge, terrible towel-wrapped sprinter van. And
6:15
Speaker 3: they're like, all right, we're going to load the towels in,
6:17
Speaker 3: and you're off. I was literally on ground for, I
6:20
Speaker 3: kid you not, maybe 35 minutes in Dublin before we
6:24
Speaker 3: got on the road and started going. And we went
6:27
Speaker 3: to Kilkenny Castle. It was the first stop. And we
6:30
Speaker 3: went to Cary. And then it just started. We did,
6:34
Speaker 3: in four days, we hit 10 counties. That's so neat.
6:38
Speaker 3: And we went around the entire aisle. So we went
6:42
Speaker 3: to Cary. Then we went to Killarney. We went to Limerick.
6:46
Speaker 3: We went to Dort. We went to the Cliffs of
6:48
Speaker 3: Warren County, Clare. We had Sligo, Belfast, Derry.
6:53
Speaker 2: Derry, yeah.
6:54
Speaker 3: And Vip. One other stop. One other stop. I can't remember.
6:58
Speaker 2: Potentially Nury, was it?
6:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, Nury. Yes.
7:00
Speaker 2: There we go.
7:01
Speaker 3: So we did all of this. And literally every night,
7:03
Speaker 3: we're staying in a different place. And it was just
7:06
Speaker 3: beautiful because... all the things that you kind of think
7:10
Speaker 3: of are on a postcard, or you think of, hey,
7:12
Speaker 3: when people say Ireland, what do you think? Like, just
7:15
Speaker 3: the emerald green beauty of just the natural land, sheeps
7:19
Speaker 3: crossing the road, single lane roads, like, random castles that
7:23
Speaker 3: are just sprouted up in the middle of, like, a
7:25
Speaker 3: field that's been around since, like, the 17th century. You're
7:28
Speaker 3: just like, yeah, that's just one of the castles.
7:31
Speaker 1: Like, what?
7:32
Speaker 3: No, that's not normal. And it was just, it was
7:34
Speaker 3: beautiful to meet people and to see the natural fans
7:39
Speaker 3: that we had going on campus at University of Limerick
7:42
Speaker 3: and just talking to college students. And then all of
7:44
Speaker 3: a sudden, college students are literally on campus wearing NFL
7:48
Speaker 3: football jerseys. And it wasn't like it was a proud thing, like, hey,
7:51
Speaker 3: we're going to announce it and we're going to make
7:53
Speaker 3: it look cool. It just happened to be. We went in,
7:56
Speaker 3: middle of the day, just stood in the middle of
7:58
Speaker 3: the student square and just started interviewing people. And just
8:00
Speaker 3: the fun interactions we had. Learning to play rugby. from
8:05
Speaker 3: like the biggest rugby stars there, you know, in Limerick.
8:08
Speaker 3: And then I just remember learning hurling in like the
8:11
Speaker 3: middle of a square with like a bunch of like
8:13
Speaker 3: 13 and 14 year olds. And I am just looking
8:16
Speaker 3: like a butthead.
8:17
Speaker 2: Oh, Galway.
8:17
Speaker 3: Forgot we went to Galway. I learned how to play
8:20
Speaker 3: the Bahrain drum in Galway. So, and the Galway oysters
8:24
Speaker 3: are amazing.
8:24
Speaker 2: They are. They are amazing.
8:26
Speaker 3: So it's like when I think about like all of that,
8:29
Speaker 3: it was just such a sensational way to inundate yourself
8:34
Speaker 3: and ingratiate myself with, you know, the local people who
8:37
Speaker 3: are hosting us. I mean, you know, Ireland was our
8:39
Speaker 3: host for this event, even though there was that connection
8:43
Speaker 3: with the Rooney family. But then to learn their history
8:46
Speaker 3: and their part in Ireland and in the Republic and
8:50
Speaker 3: how things went, like when we spent time in Derry,
8:52
Speaker 3: like just learning about the history of the Troubles and
8:56
Speaker 3: seeing where then Dan Rooney, of course, Ambassador Rooney, You know,
9:01
Speaker 3: where he would stay because he wasn't allowed to stay
9:03
Speaker 3: in a hotel. Like, this was crazy things to learn
9:05
Speaker 3: walking along the walls. And it was just, it was beautiful.
9:08
Speaker 3: And then, like you said, Colman A's getting back to
9:11
Speaker 3: Dublin and then getting ready for a game two days later.
9:14
Speaker 3: And Croke Park and just Temple Bar. I mean, all
9:17
Speaker 3: these great experiences.
9:19
Speaker 2: Fitzsimons Bar as well.
9:20
Speaker 3: Oh, I forgot about Fitzsimons. Listen, Fitzsimons, definitely the basement
9:24
Speaker 3: area was awesome. Yeah. Because the main level was definitely
9:28
Speaker 3: a ruckus crowd. And then if you went up top,
9:31
Speaker 3: it's like when you ascended, it got even wilder to
9:33
Speaker 3: the rooftop. But it was just, it was beautiful. And
9:35
Speaker 3: then I got to bring my family. So my daughters
9:37
Speaker 3: got to see Ireland. They got to see like a
9:40
Speaker 3: Steelers game, like in a foreign environment. And I'm like,
9:43
Speaker 3: that's something like, when I think about those moments, those
9:46
Speaker 3: are like the experiences that you just keep in the
9:48
Speaker 3: back of your mind. Because it was truly something that
9:50
Speaker 3: was special. Not only for myself, but for all the
9:53
Speaker 3: Steelers nation. All the users that made made the trip
9:56
Speaker 3: i mean you can't say that you had a bad
9:58
Speaker 3: time there it was just amazing.
10:01
Speaker 2: And there's so much there to unpack in a good
10:04
Speaker 2: way like you know you say about yinzers and making
10:07
Speaker 2: history you can't repeat the first time doing something yes
10:10
Speaker 2: you can play in different content you can come back
10:12
Speaker 2: and play again but it's that first time i think
10:14
Speaker 2: there's so many elements like i'm lucky enough to you're
10:18
Speaker 2: on the road most weeks doing games in the US,
10:20
Speaker 2: but I'd have the chance to go to London games,
10:23
Speaker 2: Germany games, games in Spain last year. But I really
10:26
Speaker 2: feel that probably with the size of the island, it
10:29
Speaker 2: was maybe truly the first time that a team went
10:32
Speaker 2: into a market and really put the full effort in
10:36
Speaker 2: that week, not just to come into Dublin and do
10:38
Speaker 2: what they had to do. It was a genuine effort.
10:41
Speaker 2: And I think what you've done, I'll give you a
10:43
Speaker 2: prime example. We would have The people listening will know rightly.
10:47
Speaker 2: You know, the old WhatsApp NFL group and stuff, people talking.
10:49
Speaker 2: The amount of people that were texting saying, Max Starks
10:53
Speaker 2: is in Killarney. Max Starks is here. There was people like,
10:56
Speaker 2: we have to meet. So it was just very, very cool.
10:59
Speaker 3: I bet guys wearing Steelers shirts on Sligo Beach at
11:02
Speaker 3: 9.30 in the morning.
11:03
Speaker 2: It's crazy.
11:04
Speaker 3: And getting gelato. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's
11:06
Speaker 3: just the amount of, you know, just kind of fervor
11:10
Speaker 3: that was for this game. And people just, because they're like,
11:13
Speaker 3: maybe I can't make it to Dublin. but we're bringing
11:16
Speaker 3: the terrible towel bus tour all around the country, and
11:20
Speaker 3: people making it a point to be at those locations.
11:23
Speaker 3: I mean, we're at a bar in Dort, right? I mean,
11:26
Speaker 3: it's this little small town, and I'm behind the bar
11:29
Speaker 3: pouring drinks for everybody in the bar. These are the
11:32
Speaker 3: kind of cool experiences that I was so fortunate that
11:35
Speaker 3: the Steelers, A, wanted to do this for their home country,
11:40
Speaker 3: but B, entrusting me to go and be kind of like,
11:43
Speaker 3: that go between before they got there and represent this team,
11:48
Speaker 3: pass out the terrible towel, something that's a traditional aspect
11:51
Speaker 3: of our team that's only us. Like, this is the
11:54
Speaker 3: most iconic towel you'll ever see. Even though I had
11:56
Speaker 3: a couple of locals that were like, this is dish rash.
12:00
Speaker 3: This is dish rag. I was like, yeah, I mean,
12:02
Speaker 3: technically you wipe your mouth with this more like a napkin,
12:05
Speaker 3: but you keep it everywhere. I wouldn't wash dishes with it.
12:08
Speaker 2: Most Irish thing I've ever heard in my life. It's incredible.
12:12
Speaker 2: I mean, there's... you know, we'll talk about the future
12:16
Speaker 2: in a moment, but you've covered so much of the island.
12:18
Speaker 2: There are so many stories. And when you actually get
12:21
Speaker 2: to that day where the game is played, we talked
12:24
Speaker 2: to people there about the atmosphere, but you compare it
12:28
Speaker 2: to like 97 when they had the pre-season game. And yes,
12:32
Speaker 2: you know, the pre-mainstream internet days, there were pictures, there
12:36
Speaker 2: were stories about players playing golf with the Bears and,
12:39
Speaker 2: you know, what it meant to the Rooney family. Like,
12:43
Speaker 2: The images, the videos of people like yourself, that's something
12:46
Speaker 2: we can look back on 10, 20, 30, people's stories.
12:49
Speaker 2: And I think it's so much more illustrated in such
12:51
Speaker 2: a great way as well. Look, how important was it?
12:56
Speaker 2: And obviously for people, this is so special. We haven't
13:00
Speaker 2: got a game in Dublin this year. I think of
13:04
Speaker 2: that moment when the game was won. How important was
13:07
Speaker 2: it to win that game? It's almost unspeakable if they
13:10
Speaker 2: hadn't won it because of the whole... Family heritage. And
13:13
Speaker 2: at that point, both watch parties the two years before
13:18
Speaker 2: were losses. Yeah. And the nerves for me crept in
13:21
Speaker 2: towards the end. But thank God, over the line and
13:24
Speaker 2: when it happened and the tiles were waving, it was very,
13:27
Speaker 2: very special. And I think of the image of Coach Tomlin, obviously,
13:32
Speaker 2: who's now went. So he's left the team. Aaron Rodgers
13:36
Speaker 2: and Cam Hayward walking out of that state league. You know,
13:40
Speaker 2: hard strings. I don't say it no more if you
13:42
Speaker 2: get what I'm trying to say.
13:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it just, it gives you the chills almost. Like,
13:45
Speaker 3: I'm like, man, I got goosebumps because, like you said,
13:49
Speaker 3: there was so much effort put in by the Roonies
13:54
Speaker 3: to the league. You know, you over there locally like
13:57
Speaker 3: pushing for it and then with the Irish government to
14:00
Speaker 3: make this game a reality and how many years it took.
14:05
Speaker 3: So it's like, you want to pay off that hard
14:07
Speaker 3: work and you want to pay off the relentless effort
14:12
Speaker 3: that you and others made to bring the prominence of
14:15
Speaker 3: this and the reality of American football being on Irish soil.
14:19
Speaker 3: You know, I think about when Ambassador Rooney first got
14:22
Speaker 3: the ambassadorship, like looking back at the ambassador's house and
14:25
Speaker 3: looking at the back yard like, that looks like we
14:27
Speaker 3: can play flag football on that field. That's a fine
14:29
Speaker 3: field back there. Let's go ahead and mow it and
14:31
Speaker 3: start playing flag football in the back of the property.
14:35
Speaker 3: to where he was like, hey, we need to bring
14:37
Speaker 3: football camps over here. We need to start to do
14:40
Speaker 3: this type of goodwill ambassadorship here to bring this game
14:45
Speaker 3: and make it more of an opportunity for us in
14:48
Speaker 3: the future. And so to then see, you know, Mr. Rooney,
14:52
Speaker 3: Art Rooney II, like have that opportunity to kind of
14:54
Speaker 3: bring his dad's dream to reality and to be able
14:59
Speaker 3: to go and just flood the market and just show
15:02
Speaker 3: truly their roots and, And the love that they have,
15:05
Speaker 3: not only for the Irish people and for their motherland,
15:09
Speaker 3: but also just for the game of football itself. Like,
15:11
Speaker 3: it was one of those, it's just a wholesome story.
15:14
Speaker 3: So it meant a lot. And I was like, we
15:16
Speaker 3: got to win this. Like, in the back of my head,
15:18
Speaker 3: I'm like, you know, that pit in your stomach. You're like, oh, God,
15:20
Speaker 3: Carson Wentz is starting to get hot. Please, God, don't
15:22
Speaker 3: let him go off. And to pull that game off,
15:25
Speaker 3: and like you said, you unload the last two watch
15:28
Speaker 3: party years of losses, all that weight just falls off
15:31
Speaker 3: of you. You're just like, okay, it's pure... adulation and
15:35
Speaker 3: excitement and exuberance and the stadium erupted. I mean, when
15:38
Speaker 3: they played Renegade in the fourth quarter and they brought
15:41
Speaker 3: Akershire over to Croke Park, that was palpable. The place
15:47
Speaker 3: was literally rocking. Because it's one of those older stages,
15:50
Speaker 3: you could feel when people started stomping and moving, you
15:52
Speaker 3: felt the stands moving. And that was truly a special moment.
15:56
Speaker 2: It's funny because when you're on TV and not on radio,
16:01
Speaker 2: you obviously have to go back onto the field for
16:02
Speaker 2: post-game and you have to be on it immediately. And
16:04
Speaker 2: for people that aren't aware, and just to illustrate this,
16:07
Speaker 2: you have to wait until the very end of the
16:09
Speaker 2: game and you're queuing up with five minutes to go.
16:11
Speaker 2: So I was literally looking with, you know, on my
16:14
Speaker 2: tiptoes trying to see what was going on. And it
16:17
Speaker 2: was hard, but even seeing the fans' reaction on either
16:20
Speaker 2: side was really cool. So you mentioned Mr. Rooney there,
16:23
Speaker 2: like there was an event with a commissioner on the
16:26
Speaker 2: Saturday in Dublin and we had the chance to speak
16:31
Speaker 2: privately outside you know before it and the pride that
16:34
Speaker 2: he had both there but also talking publicly about it
16:36
Speaker 2: i think i don't want to say it might have
16:38
Speaker 2: hit him then just you know but i think he
16:39
Speaker 2: was definitely realizing just how much that just how big
16:42
Speaker 2: that weekend truly was.
16:43
Speaker 3: He was was that was that trinity college it was.
16:46
Speaker 2: There was an event that morning with you're talking about
16:48
Speaker 2: obviously the ambassador's residence yeah and there was like then
16:51
Speaker 2: like a live event after and he came on and
16:52
Speaker 2: spoke about how proud he was and yeah it was
16:55
Speaker 2: it was it was very very cool it was yeah.
16:57
Speaker 3: It was really cool because we went to an event
16:59
Speaker 3: that steelers had at trinity college before And went in
17:02
Speaker 3: there and I saw Roger Goodell. I went up to
17:06
Speaker 3: the commissioner. Hey, you know, because we have a good relationship.
17:09
Speaker 3: I mean, him and the Roonies are very close. So
17:12
Speaker 3: I just went and I just started talking. I was like,
17:14
Speaker 3: can you believe we're here? And he's like, I'm so
17:18
Speaker 3: happy that we got here. I just wish Dan could.
17:22
Speaker 2: Have seen that.
17:23
Speaker 3: And I thought that was something that was really special.
17:25
Speaker 3: Because it meant, like you said, it meant something to him.
17:28
Speaker 3: And for him to have that kind of pride in this.
17:30
Speaker 3: Because he knew how hard he worked. And he was
17:33
Speaker 3: a trusted confidant, someone that if Roger Goodell didn't know anything,
17:36
Speaker 3: he could always call Mr. Rooney who was going to
17:38
Speaker 3: get an unbiased answer. And I think that was that
17:40
Speaker 3: kind of relationship. So I think for them to be
17:42
Speaker 3: able to work this out and get this here, that
17:44
Speaker 3: was a pretty cool moment.
17:46
Speaker 2: You mentioned about the journey of getting it here and
17:48
Speaker 2: getting it there last year. You don't want to do
17:51
Speaker 2: something every year because it maybe takes away the significance
17:53
Speaker 2: and the specialness of it especially. I think you can
17:55
Speaker 2: have it in London every year, different games. But in
17:57
Speaker 2: terms of the Cedars.
17:58
Speaker 1: Yeah.
17:59
Speaker 2: How important do you think it would be to run
18:00
Speaker 2: it back over the next few years?
18:02
Speaker 3: Oh, we've got to get it back. But we have
18:04
Speaker 3: to be there. Because I know there's other teams in
18:06
Speaker 3: the market. I know there's other teams in the market. Really,
18:08
Speaker 3: I do. But we need to be a part. There's
18:11
Speaker 3: no other team. I get the Patriots can kind of
18:15
Speaker 3: have that because of the Boston and a lot of
18:18
Speaker 3: history and families there. We are Ireland's team. There's no
18:22
Speaker 3: other team that's Ireland's team except for the Steelers. And
18:25
Speaker 3: we need to be a part of it, whether we're
18:27
Speaker 3: the away team or whether we're the home team, when
18:30
Speaker 3: that game comes back again, and it should come back
18:32
Speaker 3: because that was probably one of the best international games
18:36
Speaker 3: all year as far as the attendance for Americans.
18:37
Speaker 2: I would agree with that.
18:39
Speaker 3: And I know there's a lot of fun places like
18:41
Speaker 3: we're going to go to Paris, right? You know, Brazil
18:43
Speaker 3: has been a hotspot the last couple of years. You're
18:46
Speaker 3: trying to open up these different markets. Spain has now
18:49
Speaker 3: gotten a second year, but there is something about the
18:54
Speaker 3: closeness of that Island and the, the friendliness, like people
19:00
Speaker 3: are so welcoming and it's a destination location. And I
19:04
Speaker 3: think that being mixed with that Steel City type of moniker,
19:09
Speaker 3: it's hard, blue collar, but just good people, good people.
19:13
Speaker 3: And I think Steelers have to be back there. And
19:16
Speaker 3: I would say that it was a most picturesque park
19:19
Speaker 3: that I've seen an international game from and local live
19:22
Speaker 3: being there and then watching the replays. Like it was like,
19:25
Speaker 3: this place is packed to the ceiling. It was like,
19:27
Speaker 3: All of Ireland was in that stadium, mixed with some yinzers, right?
19:31
Speaker 3: And there was Guinness flowing everywhere.
19:33
Speaker 2: If anything, I mean, it's in my head. Half a
19:35
Speaker 2: million people watched it in Ireland as well. Cumulative on
19:38
Speaker 2: TV that day as well, so it was crazy. Two
19:40
Speaker 2: more questions to finish off. Firstly, if we do get
19:42
Speaker 2: another game at some point in Ireland, you're going to
19:44
Speaker 2: run the tour back? Yeah, that's the plan?
19:45
Speaker 3: Absolutely. So we have to get to all 32 counties,
19:48
Speaker 3: and Mr. Rooney did it as an ambassador. So, I
19:50
Speaker 3: think for us as a Steelers organization.
19:52
Speaker 2: I think you could do it. I think you could
19:53
Speaker 2: do it that week. I think if you've hit.
19:56
Speaker 3: 10... We've got 10.
19:57
Speaker 2: You could do 22. You could do Ulster quickly.
19:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean, and listen, I don't have to
20:01
Speaker 3: be in Cork that long either. So, that's good. Once again,
20:05
Speaker 3: nothing wrong with.
20:06
Speaker 2: Being in Cork. Cork, for me, is elite.
20:08
Speaker 3: Elite.
20:09
Speaker 2: And we've we've a few rebels listening to this so
20:11
Speaker 2: i'll say no more yeah we're um do you know
20:13
Speaker 2: what it's like we talked about doing this before but
20:16
Speaker 2: recapping and i'm actually really glad we did because it
20:17
Speaker 2: actually signifies to me how important that weekend was and
20:21
Speaker 2: i wish i could relive it again in that sense
20:22
Speaker 2: yeah you're gonna relive something a bit of a rendezvous
20:25
Speaker 2: and we're all gonna be there in three or four
20:26
Speaker 2: weeks time in paris when i heard we're going to
20:29
Speaker 2: paris i was like here we go again like here
20:31
Speaker 2: we go right yeah i don't know here we go
20:33
Speaker 2: is in french but You talk about Ireland in the future.
20:36
Speaker 2: This takes away... The Steelers played in Wembley in 2013.
20:39
Speaker 2: They're now two years in a row. I think the
20:42
Speaker 2: yearly what-if is starting to erode in a positive way
20:45
Speaker 2: for international fans. No bye week this time around, but
20:48
Speaker 2: I think you're going to have a very fun week.
20:51
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it. Paris is a place I've
20:54
Speaker 3: been before. I've been a number of times. To go
20:57
Speaker 3: there and have my druthers about me when I go there...
21:01
Speaker 3: I just tell our Steeler fans, like, listen, just be prepared.
21:04
Speaker 3: It's baguettes and berets, baby. We're going to do it live,
21:07
Speaker 3: and I'm going to have a fun time there. But,
21:11
Speaker 3: you know, like I said, it won't be the same
21:12
Speaker 3: as Ireland because we're the away team, and we're not
21:16
Speaker 3: able to do as much.
21:17
Speaker 2: The Fonz is going to still bring it.
21:19
Speaker 3: Oh, the fans. I just need Terrible Towels showing up.
21:22
Speaker 3: And we already have the French– Terrible Towels, they've been
21:24
Speaker 3: in since training camp. So fans have been able to
21:27
Speaker 3: get it. So there's no sellout scare for that one
21:30
Speaker 3: like it was with the Irish Towel a year ago. Remember,
21:32
Speaker 3: you couldn't find that by Thursday.
21:33
Speaker 2: I have five in my house. Everything from last year
21:36
Speaker 2: is put into a box.
21:37
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. We're going to remember this moment. And then
21:41
Speaker 3: in a couple of years when we come back, you're
21:43
Speaker 3: going to crack it open.
21:43
Speaker 2: I'll crack it open.
21:44
Speaker 3: And then you'll be like, yeah, I got the retro set.
21:48
Speaker 2: And to part it, Francais?
21:50
Speaker 3: Uh yeah no bonjour and uh and we we that's
21:53
Speaker 3: all i've got for you and then after that i'm
21:55
Speaker 3: looking at them like please just accept me and start
21:57
Speaker 3: talking in english like that's what i'm working.
21:59
Speaker 2: On i'm just looking forward to the ref saying something
22:01
Speaker 2: to french and forget about emily and paris we've got
22:04
Speaker 2: max and paris in a few weeks then looking forward
22:06
Speaker 2: to seeing you over in the french capital and you
22:09
Speaker 2: know what for all the french and there are diehard
22:11
Speaker 2: french nfl fans it's gonna be a great week for
22:13
Speaker 2: them i know you're gonna have a Bon time. Bon chance.
22:17
Speaker 2: See if travel's over. Thanks for recapping this. And I
22:19
Speaker 2: know there'll be a few NFL fans, not just Steelers fans,
22:22
Speaker 2: listening to this going, that was a good crack last year. Max,
22:25
Speaker 2: thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.
22:26
Speaker 3: My pleasure. And we'll share a croissant over there since
22:29
Speaker 3: that's one of their favorite pastries.
22:31
Speaker 2: Oui, oui. Merci beaucoup.
22:53
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