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Neil Reynolds on the Steelers 2025 Dublin Game and more · The Irish Steelers Podcast

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Speaker 1: Irish airline air Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
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Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's growth in
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Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
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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
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Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus.
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Speaker 2: Air Lingus, You're very welcome, folks.
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Speaker 3: You're very pocket to the Irish Steeters podcast this week,
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Speaker 3: presented by air Lingus Folks. Irish Airline aer Lingus has
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Speaker 3: just announced plans to become an official airline partner of
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Speaker 3: the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a founding partner of Steelers Ireland,
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Speaker 3: air Lingus will be welcoming Steelers and all of Steelers
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Speaker 3: Nations to Dublin this autumn for what's set to be
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Speaker 3: a fantastic NFL showdown for listeners outside of Ireland. You
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Speaker 3: can book your flight to Dublin now at erlingus dot
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Speaker 3: com to make sure you don't miss out in any
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Speaker 3: of the action. And you're very welcome in to this
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Speaker 3: week's edition of the Irish Theaters Podcast, a very special
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Speaker 3: edition if you're an NFL fan in Ireland or the
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Speaker 3: UK listening, and we are absolutely delighted to bring on
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Speaker 3: this week the host of NFL on sky Sports NFL
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Speaker 3: in the UK and Ireland, Neil Reynolds. We talked to
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Speaker 3: Naim about his time in the trope and training camp
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Speaker 3: for the Staters and his hopes and falls ahead of
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Speaker 3: a historic audan to come for Staters Nation in Dublin.
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Speaker 4: Here's Neil.
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Speaker 3: Okay rolling on on. This week's episode of the Irish
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Speaker 3: Theaters Podcast is outed by Erlingus. Everybody who is a
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Speaker 3: Staders fan of NFL fan across the island of Ireland
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Speaker 3: and the UK and you're listening in, you're very very welcome.
1:47
Speaker 3: We'll have heard of this man or no, this man.
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Speaker 3: He is the lead presenter on sky Sports NFL among
1:52
Speaker 3: many other things which I should be listening, but there's
1:55
Speaker 3: so many to say. Neil Rynolds, Nil a Falter, you're
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Speaker 3: very welcome to this podcast.
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Speaker 4: How I did. Thank you.
2:00
Speaker 5: I'm very good, Michael, Yeah, very very excited about what's
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Speaker 5: coming up in twenty twenty five. I'm enjoying the off
2:07
Speaker 5: season because I've got to make the most of it.
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Speaker 4: While i can.
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Speaker 5: But also it is going to be just incredible. This
2:14
Speaker 5: this coming year is just gonna be so special.
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Speaker 3: It's probably on a thing now only Look you're you're
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Speaker 3: You're obviously very welcome, You're staying there, but enjoying the
2:20
Speaker 3: off season. I know there's time to chill out and
2:23
Speaker 3: time to relax, but I think it sort of says
2:25
Speaker 3: where the game is at in Ireland and the UK
2:29
Speaker 3: that it is it's quite busy, like there's a lot
2:31
Speaker 3: of stuff going on, which is really really cool. The
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Speaker 3: Seas Dealers in entied a couple of weeks ago, and
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Speaker 3: I know for you, it never stops.
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Speaker 5: No, No, I'm always doing something, so planning, you know,
2:42
Speaker 5: planning tours, planning things around the island of Ireland and
2:46
Speaker 5: some stuff I'm doing in the UK with Jason and Phoebe,
2:50
Speaker 5: planning game programs for next year, Planning, yeah, trips and
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Speaker 5: different bits and pieces. So yeah, there's always something, and
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Speaker 5: you know, you can just take it for me, I
3:00
Speaker 5: can take it at a slower pace in the in
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Speaker 5: the off season, that's the difference. You know, it's not
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Speaker 5: quite as demanding as it would be in the regular season.
3:08
Speaker 5: But look, I just what's happening as well is and
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Speaker 5: you're seeing it with the Steelers in Ireland. These teams
3:13
Speaker 5: are so invested in our markets now that you know,
3:18
Speaker 5: you just you just almost have to grab onto their
3:21
Speaker 5: coattails and keep up because they're going to drive it
3:24
Speaker 5: and they're going to want to do things, you know,
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Speaker 5: and I just I come from a time when there
3:30
Speaker 5: was nothing like that. You know, teams looking to do
3:33
Speaker 5: what they're doing in these in our countries.
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Speaker 4: It's amazing.
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Speaker 5: So yeah, you sort of it means you stay busier
3:39
Speaker 5: than you maybe would be normally or but it's a
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Speaker 5: it's a great thing, and I'm really excited about where
3:46
Speaker 5: everything's going internationally.
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Speaker 3: You're a genius because you've literally picked up on the
3:49
Speaker 3: next question, like talking about those times like lead nineties,
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Speaker 3: early two visons to think where the league is now
3:56
Speaker 3: that we're on a Pittsburgh Steelers podcast for Down of
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Speaker 3: the Irelands really really cool. I guess my question for you,
4:01
Speaker 3: Neil is as an NFL fan first and foremost, And
4:05
Speaker 3: were you aware of the Steelers connection in Ireland or
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Speaker 3: is that something that you've really sort of grown and
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Speaker 3: developed over the last few years. I know you guys
4:13
Speaker 3: had a chance to go out there as well.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I think it's more more in recent years.
4:17
Speaker 5: But obviously, I know the Steelers played in ninety seven
4:20
Speaker 5: in preseason game, and I think there was always that
4:23
Speaker 5: kind of attraction, So I knew it was I knew
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Speaker 5: it was there.
4:27
Speaker 4: I knew there was a heritage there.
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Speaker 5: Obviously when mister Rooney was the ambassador that that kind
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Speaker 5: of kicked it on another level. So I feel they've
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Speaker 5: they're a perfect partner. I feel like they're a perfect partner.
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Speaker 5: People love, especially Americans. They love the history of Ireland,
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Speaker 5: they love the They get sentimental about it, and I
4:51
Speaker 5: think that's quite right to do, and that makes the
4:56
Speaker 5: Steelers a perfect fit the Steelers. When I think of
4:58
Speaker 5: the Steelers, I think of tradition and history, and you
5:03
Speaker 5: get sentimental about certain players and certain Super Bowls that
5:06
Speaker 5: they won. So it's not like it's I don't know,
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Speaker 5: a team with no history that's attaching itself to Ireland.
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Speaker 5: It's a team rich in history, and so to me,
5:17
Speaker 5: it's just a perfect marriage. It's really for me, it's
5:21
Speaker 5: I use that word again, it's so exciting to see
5:25
Speaker 5: what's happened so far. It's all going to kick into
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Speaker 5: another level whenever that regular season game is played.
5:30
Speaker 4: Once we know when that is, that's going to kick
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Speaker 4: to another level.
5:33
Speaker 5: And then I think it will kick on and don't Yeah,
5:36
Speaker 5: there's no way, and I don't know, I might be
5:39
Speaker 5: asking answering the next question as well.
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Speaker 6: There's no way this is going to be a one
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Speaker 6: and done. Absolutely no, I'm just excited to see the
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Speaker 6: one first off. I know a lot of this podcast
5:49
Speaker 6: are so excited on people that you've had a chance
5:52
Speaker 6: to meet down through the last few years as well.
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Speaker 6: Just really it seems like it's a fever pitch now.
5:57
Speaker 6: And before we talk about I guess more recent I
6:00
Speaker 6: remember there was the opportunity for Sky Sports to come
6:04
Speaker 6: out to Pittsburgh for the season opener. I might have
6:06
Speaker 6: been twenty twenty four, And I'm bringing that up because
6:09
Speaker 6: you know, obviously, firstly you guys got to go out there,
6:11
Speaker 6: but I remember when you started the show off and
6:15
Speaker 6: I think Phoebe spoke to Art Rooney as well the.
6:18
Speaker 3: Whole bar that we were watching and then went quiet.
6:21
Speaker 3: And I think a lot of fans over here get
6:23
Speaker 3: the significance of the team and what it means to
6:25
Speaker 3: the market. But what was like going out there, Because
6:27
Speaker 3: you know, going out there, and I know you do
6:29
Speaker 3: your tour anyway, like you've obviously got a connection to
6:32
Speaker 3: going out there and seeing what the trope is like.
6:33
Speaker 3: But what was like going out there for that Week
6:35
Speaker 3: one game, especially when it's favorite pitch. We'll not talk
6:38
Speaker 3: about the result, but I've seen where you guys were
6:40
Speaker 3: a standing for a live broadcast pretty special month.
6:43
Speaker 5: It was amazing, so as week won twenty twenty three
6:46
Speaker 5: season and the whole weekend was just incredible from every
6:53
Speaker 5: way you went. And I've been I've been to training
6:56
Speaker 5: camp before, but to go and walk around on the
7:00
Speaker 5: museum to hear about the connection between the fans and
7:05
Speaker 5: the team, that was great. I'd met Tomlin, Mike Tomlin
7:09
Speaker 5: earlier that summer in training camp and he kind of
7:12
Speaker 5: talked about, you know, he talked about the standard, he
7:15
Speaker 5: talked about you know that there's a reminder about what
7:18
Speaker 5: it means to be a Steeler. As soon as you
7:20
Speaker 5: walk in the building, all the Super Bowl trophies are there.
7:23
Speaker 5: He said, it's a reminder and not a subtle one
7:25
Speaker 5: about what the standard is. So I kind of had
7:28
Speaker 5: all the I knew what it was. I knew what
7:30
Speaker 5: I was going into. It was one of the most
7:31
Speaker 5: storage franchises in the NFL. It's an iconic stadium. It's
7:36
Speaker 5: one of the things when you think of special scenes,
7:38
Speaker 5: it's the terrible towels being waived. So I knew what
7:43
Speaker 5: to expect, sort of, and then it blew me away.
7:47
Speaker 5: It blew me away. Santonio Holmes came and joined us pregame,
7:51
Speaker 5: and it was about five minutes before kickoff, and I
7:54
Speaker 5: actually turned to camera and there's a bit. They used
7:56
Speaker 5: it a couple of times on Sky that year. I said,
7:58
Speaker 5: this is not the play, this is not the super Bowl,
8:02
Speaker 5: this is Week one. It was definite I've never heard.
8:06
Speaker 5: I went back that weekend after that weekend and said,
8:08
Speaker 5: that's the loudest crowd I've ever heard. It was the
8:11
Speaker 5: loudest crowd I've ever heard. Now it got quite pretty quick.
8:14
Speaker 5: We won't talk about that part of it, but it
8:16
Speaker 5: was so special and to me, if you take these
8:20
Speaker 5: wonderful Irish fans who are amazing when we go and
8:23
Speaker 5: do the tours around the country, you feel the passion,
8:26
Speaker 5: you see it, you know, we hear it all the time.
8:29
Speaker 5: You combine that with people that are going to come
8:31
Speaker 5: over from.
8:31
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh, that's going to be mad. It's going to be
8:34
Speaker 4: absolutely crazy.
8:36
Speaker 3: It's gonna be my And look, I know you've been
8:38
Speaker 3: over here both in Northern Ireland and the Republic numerous times.
8:42
Speaker 3: But I guess as well for you, you know, obviously working
8:44
Speaker 3: with a whole UKs scope of things and half on
8:47
Speaker 3: the London games throughout the last fifteen to twenty years,
8:50
Speaker 3: it is different and I think for a lot of
8:52
Speaker 3: UK fans as well, and it's very very cool because
8:55
Speaker 3: there's that sort of extra game like do you feel
8:57
Speaker 3: like people that you've spoke to look at this game
8:59
Speaker 3: now and on then like it's almost like a nice
9:01
Speaker 3: little bonus scheme that we've got London, We've got Dublin
9:03
Speaker 3: as well. I feel like a lot of people are
9:04
Speaker 3: going to travel over in terms of ones that are
9:07
Speaker 3: you know, usually need to go like Lundonam. I think
9:09
Speaker 3: they we're going to get a lot of people that
9:10
Speaker 3: will triangle to Dublin as well, and even if they
9:13
Speaker 3: haven't got a ticket, I think they're going to try
9:14
Speaker 3: and see everything. You haven't been the Coup Park of you,
9:16
Speaker 3: it's going to say I haven't be inside.
9:17
Speaker 4: It still not I reckon. I don't know what.
9:21
Speaker 5: I think I can get all the way round to
9:22
Speaker 5: the game before I go in there and see it.
9:24
Speaker 4: That would be amazing. We will definitely try badly.
9:28
Speaker 5: I think the people from the UK use the word
9:31
Speaker 5: they can try, They can try to get to the game.
9:34
Speaker 4: This is going to be a hot ticket.
9:36
Speaker 5: I want to see the fans from Ireland, Northern Ireland there.
9:39
Speaker 5: I do think there's going to be a big contingent
9:41
Speaker 5: coming over from North America as well, which is just
9:43
Speaker 5: going to add to it. It kind of adds to
9:45
Speaker 5: the London game, so I don't think it detracts at all.
9:47
Speaker 5: I think it's great to sort of have that multicultural
9:51
Speaker 5: crowd there, But you know, I do I do want
9:55
Speaker 5: to see the local fans have the chance to see
9:58
Speaker 5: this game. You know, I've talked about this before the
10:02
Speaker 5: amount of the amount of live shows I've done with
10:04
Speaker 5: NFL over the years, and they'll be queuing out the
10:07
Speaker 5: door of four hours before we go on stage.
10:10
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think it's Look, look all.
10:14
Speaker 5: These games now, if you're a fan in the UK,
10:17
Speaker 5: you know you've got a chance to get on a
10:18
Speaker 5: one hour flight to Dublin. You've got a chance to
10:22
Speaker 5: maybe fly an hour and a half to Berlin, a
10:24
Speaker 5: couple of hours to Madrid.
10:26
Speaker 4: I mean, this has.
10:27
Speaker 5: Now become a really kind of European thing, and each
10:31
Speaker 5: of those games will have a different feeling to them.
10:33
Speaker 5: That will that would just be the you know, the
10:35
Speaker 5: local slant that's put on it.
10:37
Speaker 4: And so yeah, I think it's going to be special.
10:39
Speaker 4: I think it will be traveling fans from all over.
10:42
Speaker 5: I'm just hopeful that there's a big old green contingent
10:45
Speaker 5: in there as well.
10:47
Speaker 3: Leave that with me. I'll do two things. I'll try
10:49
Speaker 3: and get you to the stadium before that, and then
10:52
Speaker 3: we'll probably talk about that at a different point. I guess, Look,
10:54
Speaker 3: this is actually something I want to ask you for
10:56
Speaker 3: somebody that hasn't been to the stadium. How interesting doesn't
10:59
Speaker 3: look to you because you've obviously got the hill, which
11:01
Speaker 3: is not a proper it's not a false stand. But
11:03
Speaker 3: then you've got it's because I was standing that at
11:05
Speaker 3: last week whenever the Steelers had the flag football camp,
11:07
Speaker 3: and I was thinking, like, this is going to be
11:09
Speaker 3: just different because obviously the thing I love al atopen
11:12
Speaker 3: them is that sort of cop stand where it just yeah,
11:14
Speaker 3: and I think the atmosphere is going to be really
11:16
Speaker 3: really cool as well. There isn't really a bad seat
11:17
Speaker 3: in the stadium, which is the sem Totenham weem as well.
11:20
Speaker 5: To be fair, Yeah, I think it's I think it
11:22
Speaker 5: looks fantastic. I think because it's quite wide. Isn't it
11:26
Speaker 5: the the Gaelic football field, So I think.
11:28
Speaker 3: It's why it'll sort of be in and the players more.
11:31
Speaker 4: Fiel it's going to come in.
11:33
Speaker 5: All I think selfishly is that's going to give me
11:35
Speaker 5: more room to roam on the sidelines of the sky.
11:37
Speaker 4: So that's great.
11:38
Speaker 5: We can be down on the sideline watching this game
11:41
Speaker 5: up close. Look, I think having a unique stadium, like
11:44
Speaker 5: I wonder if they're with the Hill, whether they'll kind
11:46
Speaker 5: of make something of that. I don't know, don't know
11:49
Speaker 5: what they could do there, but look, it's it's an
11:52
Speaker 5: amazing stadium.
11:53
Speaker 4: It's an amazing stadium.
11:55
Speaker 5: It's a city that I think people want to visit
11:59
Speaker 5: for a weekend. I think the whole weekend is going
12:01
Speaker 5: to be crazy. I would love to I think Monday morning,
12:06
Speaker 5: Dublin Airport's going to look like some sort of zombie
12:08
Speaker 5: cough apocalypse because people kind of make their way back,
12:13
Speaker 5: kind of whispering.
12:15
Speaker 4: To each other, don't talk too loudly. It's going to be,
12:18
Speaker 4: it will.
12:18
Speaker 5: Be, It'll be brilliant, it's going to be great. You know,
12:22
Speaker 5: you're going to have the Steelers doing so much leading
12:25
Speaker 5: up to it. I think we're seeing they're not just
12:27
Speaker 5: paying lip service to this game. This is a franchise
12:30
Speaker 5: that is so committed to the market. They're going to
12:34
Speaker 5: really really pump this game and they're going to get
12:36
Speaker 5: their just reward. That's going to be filled to the
12:38
Speaker 5: rafters and it's going to be an incredible scene. I
12:42
Speaker 5: think we should have. I would love to see and
12:45
Speaker 5: you did this at the watch I think they did
12:47
Speaker 5: this at the watch parties. I want the yellow Terrible towels,
12:52
Speaker 5: but I want some green ones in there as well.
12:55
Speaker 5: That would be great if that was just a sea
12:56
Speaker 5: of yellow and green Terrible towels right before.
13:00
Speaker 3: Okay, and I know it's the official team's podcast people
13:04
Speaker 3: listening because it's something nice for the mentions as well.
13:06
Speaker 3: I don't know what. I can't wait to see what
13:07
Speaker 3: color of the toils are going to be. I'm sure
13:08
Speaker 3: there'll be something special for the day and I'll not
13:10
Speaker 3: get out in the way. I just don't know yet.
13:12
Speaker 3: I think I feel like I feel like the hill
13:14
Speaker 3: is seated for We spoke to the cdium directors, so
13:17
Speaker 3: for people listening, hopefully that helps with their questions as well.
13:20
Speaker 3: Neil look a lot of focus too much in the game,
13:22
Speaker 3: which we know is coming in the autumn, and we
13:24
Speaker 3: expect the NFL UK and Ireland GM. Henry Hodgson mentioned
13:28
Speaker 3: the Crew Park last week for people listening around just
13:31
Speaker 3: after the Drafters, So maybe early May we'll find out
13:34
Speaker 3: the opponent and the details at NFL dot Com Slash Dublin.
13:37
Speaker 3: Do not DM me or Neil looking tickets yet. Anyway,
13:40
Speaker 3: we'll see Neil. Just on that you had a chance
13:44
Speaker 3: to meet and obviously sort of I know you were
13:47
Speaker 3: chatting the Charlie Smith a few months prior to the
13:49
Speaker 3: ipp et cetera, and and you got to know them
13:52
Speaker 3: very well. But I guess you had a chance to
13:53
Speaker 3: sort of meet him properly at the Super Bowl in
13:56
Speaker 3: New Orleans, which was actually really weird because that's something
13:58
Speaker 3: for a lot of us lads never sort of go away.
14:00
Speaker 3: Because that was the week where the game was announced
14:03
Speaker 3: as well, and while Charlie's playing for the scenes, he
14:06
Speaker 3: grew up ten minutes from the historic home of the Steelers.
14:10
Speaker 3: It's really really cool generally to see players in the app,
14:13
Speaker 3: whoever they're from Ireland, the UK, Europe, whatever. How cool
14:17
Speaker 3: would it be because we're on a Steelers podcast, How
14:19
Speaker 3: interesting or cool would be at some point down the
14:21
Speaker 3: line to maybe have an Irish player player for the Steelers.
14:25
Speaker 3: It would pretty awesome, wouldn't.
14:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it would in the same way when
14:29
Speaker 5: the Jags signed Lewis free summit and he came back
14:32
Speaker 5: to the UK, and I think that connection is brilliant,
14:36
Speaker 5: So it would be really special. And maybe that's something
14:39
Speaker 5: that when the Steelers if they have a choice between
14:42
Speaker 5: two or three players and one maybe can go on
14:45
Speaker 5: to practice squad, that is something to look at.
14:47
Speaker 4: But I know these teams are completely.
14:49
Speaker 5: Ruthless and professional and business like with that, so it
14:51
Speaker 5: would have to be worth their while. But yeah, I
14:54
Speaker 5: think that's going to come those opportunities the more the
14:57
Speaker 5: more players that go through, especially in the kicking and
14:59
Speaker 5: punt from Ireland, that's going to be a real opportunity.
15:03
Speaker 4: It was great to spend time with.
15:05
Speaker 5: Charlie, and you know we I felt like I knew
15:08
Speaker 5: him so much because i'd I I basically wrote a
15:12
Speaker 5: lot of the bios for the I wrote the media
15:15
Speaker 5: guide for the ipp So I met Charlie online.
15:17
Speaker 4: We did a couple of bits.
15:18
Speaker 5: I got all his information, wrote up his bio, I
15:22
Speaker 5: spoke to him online for the few months after he
15:25
Speaker 5: signed with the Saints, kind of gave him a little
15:27
Speaker 5: bits of advice here and there about dealing with the media.
15:30
Speaker 4: So I felt like I really knew him. And then
15:32
Speaker 4: I got to New Orleans and I was like, I've
15:34
Speaker 4: never actually met you in person.
15:36
Speaker 5: And first of all, he's much taller than I thought,
15:37
Speaker 5: which is what everyone says when they see me as
15:39
Speaker 5: well for the first time in person. But what I
15:42
Speaker 5: love about Charlie's story is he's such a fan, so
15:47
Speaker 5: it's not like he had no interest in American football
15:49
Speaker 5: and then just thought, well, okay, this is a way
15:51
Speaker 5: to make some money. He loved the game. He's passionate
15:55
Speaker 5: about it. He came and joined us in studio on
15:57
Speaker 5: sky on the on the night and you know, he
16:00
Speaker 5: was just like this is class. He was like, this
16:03
Speaker 5: is brilliant, this is amazing. He was just having the
16:05
Speaker 5: best time of his life. And to see that is
16:09
Speaker 5: is really really really pleasing. And I'm I know he's
16:13
Speaker 5: not going to be playing for the Steelers anytime soon,
16:16
Speaker 5: but I hope he has a really big year with
16:18
Speaker 5: the saying to be great.
16:20
Speaker 3: I know he's he's buzzing. There's a game in Ireland
16:23
Speaker 3: that he's actually like and seeing his face when when
16:25
Speaker 3: the game is announced, so I know he's absolutely buzzing.
16:27
Speaker 3: And to see people like from his family and people
16:31
Speaker 3: like when I've done an events separately from this podcast
16:34
Speaker 3: in near you to see Sobney Steelers fans is is
16:36
Speaker 3: really really good as well. They just for letting go
16:38
Speaker 3: Mat you mentioned there, But you know, meeting coach Tomlin
16:41
Speaker 3: down through the years obviously, I know you're drawn up,
16:43
Speaker 3: you know, potentially drawing up your summer schedule now in
16:47
Speaker 3: terms of training camps. So we'll see, you know, TVC
16:50
Speaker 3: if you get to the trope or not. What's it
16:52
Speaker 3: like down there, but also as well, just to sort
16:54
Speaker 3: of end on it, this is something that we haven't like.
16:56
Speaker 3: I had a chance to chat to Pat f Agry
16:58
Speaker 3: last week Rod Woodson for this podcast, but we haven't
17:00
Speaker 3: really talked too much around I guess, and this is
17:02
Speaker 3: the issue when it's time relevant. The series are in
17:05
Speaker 3: a really interesting position going into this new season, and
17:08
Speaker 3: I'm fully aware this could completely change by the time
17:11
Speaker 3: this podcast goes out, but as of right now, in
17:14
Speaker 3: terms of if we're talking that the nineteenth of March
17:17
Speaker 3: for people listening, they're in a really interesting spot. I mean,
17:21
Speaker 3: how do you see it going in Because the thing
17:23
Speaker 3: about the NFL is and we all know it, it
17:26
Speaker 3: can top and turn, and she injured every moment.
17:29
Speaker 4: So I'll start with the second part.
17:32
Speaker 5: And obviously Aaron Rodgers' name has been put out there
17:36
Speaker 5: and has been discussed. I think Rogers played really well
17:41
Speaker 5: second half of last season. I think Aaron Rodgers has
17:43
Speaker 5: gas left in the tank. I think Aaron Rodgers throwing
17:47
Speaker 5: to DK Metcalf and George Pickens with that defense instantly
17:52
Speaker 5: makes the Steelers a playoff team again. So that's exciting
17:56
Speaker 5: to me. We'll see if that pans out. We'll see
17:58
Speaker 5: if that becomes the case. I'm glad you asked me
18:02
Speaker 5: about the training camp because I know this is an
18:04
Speaker 5: official Steelers podcast. I don't want to sound like a homer,
18:07
Speaker 5: but it's my favorite NFL training camp site. Genuinely, Yeah, genuinely.
18:12
Speaker 5: I said this last year and the year before. The
18:16
Speaker 5: reason being, so there's a large period at first of all,
18:20
Speaker 5: it's just this beautiful campus in in La Trope, and
18:24
Speaker 5: it's you know, it's you sometimes see the monks walking past,
18:28
Speaker 5: going off to the to the cathedrals.
18:30
Speaker 4: And the you know, the monastery is there.
18:33
Speaker 5: And what I find amazing is that there's not always
18:37
Speaker 5: music playing. So they there's large periods where it's very
18:41
Speaker 5: old school. You go to most training camps now and
18:43
Speaker 5: there's music blaring from start to finish. There are long
18:45
Speaker 5: periods of a stealer's practice where there's no music and
18:48
Speaker 5: it is fascinating. Like the fans that are on the hill,
18:52
Speaker 5: they're in the bleachers. You can hear the pads smashing
18:55
Speaker 5: against each other, you can hear coaches coach. You will
18:58
Speaker 5: hear Mike Tomlin lot and.
19:01
Speaker 4: So that to me is just brilliant.
19:04
Speaker 5: It's It's just the most amazing place to watch a
19:08
Speaker 5: training camp. The weather's not too hot, but it's hot enough.
19:11
Speaker 4: It's beautiful.
19:12
Speaker 5: It's sunny, and last year, I say it's sunny. Last
19:16
Speaker 5: year it rained sideways. It absolutely poured. So we interviewed.
19:21
Speaker 5: We were at They put us at the top of
19:23
Speaker 5: a hill and then you're looking at the training ground
19:25
Speaker 5: behind you, in the fields and the bleachers. Just the
19:28
Speaker 5: perfect scene. So I'm interviewing Cam Hayward and that goes great,
19:34
Speaker 5: and then Cam Hayward sort of halfway through the interview
19:39
Speaker 5: sits up straight and almost puts himself kind of on parade,
19:42
Speaker 5: and I can hear this like this like a golf
19:46
Speaker 5: cart that's really revved up, and it's stopped right by
19:49
Speaker 5: the cameras. I'm like, that's noisy, who's done that?
19:52
Speaker 4: Turned and looked over my shoulder.
19:54
Speaker 5: It's Mike Tomlin and it souped up golf cart ready
19:57
Speaker 5: for his interview. So of course we stopped Cam hay
20:00
Speaker 5: We went straight away. Coach Tomlin comes in gives us
20:02
Speaker 5: five minutes. He's fantastic. Just as we finished, the storm
20:06
Speaker 5: clouds are rolling in. We were waiting to interview TJ.
20:10
Speaker 5: Watt and it starts absolutely I mean literally, we're running
20:15
Speaker 5: for cover.
20:16
Speaker 4: It's bouncing off the ground.
20:17
Speaker 5: We got cameras with tripods. We're trying to carry everything
20:21
Speaker 5: off and in the end we That was about eleven
20:25
Speaker 5: o'clock in the morning. And then because it was raining
20:28
Speaker 5: so hard outside, we couldn't find anywhere else to do
20:30
Speaker 5: the interview. We had to do TJ. Watt at like
20:32
Speaker 5: five o'clock at night because of the weather. My cameraman's
20:35
Speaker 5: camera broke, so we had to cancel the TJ. Watt
20:39
Speaker 5: interview and just say, right, we'll do it another day.
20:42
Speaker 5: We're doing it another time. So yeah, it's not always
20:45
Speaker 5: sunny in Latrobe, but it is my favorite place. It's
20:49
Speaker 5: just an incredible training camp, old school training camp, real
20:54
Speaker 5: training camp.
20:55
Speaker 4: Really it's just perfect, just really great.
20:58
Speaker 3: From seeing the team, seeing what you mentioned at the
21:01
Speaker 3: museum and the stadium, I can imagine it's exactly what
21:04
Speaker 3: you're saying there is just different than I think. That's
21:06
Speaker 3: what makes it team so great. Hopefully have a chance
21:09
Speaker 3: myself to hell out, hoping to get in July ro August,
21:11
Speaker 3: so who knows, Neil, maybe I'll see you there for
21:13
Speaker 3: a couple of years something that we'll try and make
21:14
Speaker 3: sure the ever's not too bad. But I know there's
21:16
Speaker 3: a lot of people listening to this that appreciate the
21:19
Speaker 3: work that you're putting into the island of Ireland as
21:21
Speaker 3: well as the UK, and you know, thanks for getting
21:23
Speaker 3: the game to this point. We're really really looking forward
21:26
Speaker 3: to the fall and for this game and we'll definitely
21:29
Speaker 3: get you to cook Park at some as some stage
21:31
Speaker 3: board up. But for now, Germey Mugget, thank you very
21:33
Speaker 3: very much and what Chatty said, thank you very much.
21:39
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22:05
Speaker 1: Game can enjoy a relaxing journey when they fly with
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Speaker 1: air Lingus, air Lingus, you're very welcome,