True Patriot Love - Super Bowl Isn’t Football Anymore

00:00:00.000 all right Super Bowl 60 is in the books and the Seahawks put on a clinic defensively to defeat

00:00:09.360 the Patriots to win the second Super Bowl title in their franchise history and set our celebrations

00:00:14.120 a big big day for Sam Darnold and some vindication and a great great day for Chris Pratt and the 12s

00:00:21.100 the Seahawks fanatics around North America and a lot of fun had by all at Levi's Stadium in Santa

00:00:27.560 Clara California joined by Brady how are you it's Brady I you know I guarantee that someone threw

00:00:34.860 a dart at the dartboard and it came to stories and it landed on me because I don't know why I'm

00:00:40.240 currently here Jim see now you're exactly who Roger Goodell in the Super Bowl market the game to oh the

00:00:46.780 hardcore football fans basically it's through the season into the playoffs the Super Bowl is a

00:00:52.760 different animal the people in the stands the celebrities the people from around the world

00:00:58.900 who travel to the game the way the game was presented the presentation the halftime the

00:01:04.020 commercials are all geared towards the the people who like everything but maybe aren't hardcore

00:01:11.080 football fans the casual view the casual fans my wife is there doing her puzzle I'm watching the game

00:01:16.740 and checking a commercial and going hey there's Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton you know like

00:01:21.780 pointing out stuff like that and that's what the game is all about that's why it routinely averages

00:01:27.000 in the United States around 125 million viewers give or take and then you have the Super Bowl ratings

00:01:33.620 and how it's evolved in the last 20 years to become this global thing which is broadcasting countries

00:01:39.620 around the world in real time and they have Super Bowl parties from Mumbai to Manchester England

00:01:46.420 everywhere yeah so I'm a I'm an old school football guy yes so I'm a Howie Long guy oh yes well I'm an old Raiders

00:01:54.640 LA Raiders yeah and I know old Raiders um you know how he well I I have talked to him on the phone but he's one of the

00:02:01.720 great defensive players of the 80s I I think I was outside of his family I was probably the biggest guy in his

00:02:06.640 corner when he wanted to make a movie run yeah when he was becoming a movie star I I try to see every

00:02:13.300 Howie Long movie possible but I'm an old school football fan and uh over the years as I've grown as

00:02:18.640 an adult I've kind of fallen off of the game of football but with you're right and I'll put the

00:02:23.380 point on on what you were saying even the casuals tune into the Super Bowl this is the most viewed

00:02:30.160 thing it's in the world the 20 top rated TV shows in the history of American television I believe 16

00:02:36.460 are the Super Bowl oh really but and you have to go to like the the final episode of MASH and historic

00:02:43.120 stuff like that the man on the moon yep uh the lunar landing that's the only thing that penetrate the

00:02:48.100 Super Bowl it's it's it's bulletproof it's why the NFL receives 12 billion dollars a year in TV money

00:02:56.140 why the commercials are so elaborate the commercials are probably the best thing now

00:03:00.900 some people argue that the game is then other people argue the halftime shows are I have always

00:03:05.500 been a huge fan of the commercials well look at the Michael everything that Kanye didn't produce I'm a fan

00:03:10.260 but think about the Michael Jackson Pepsi ad yeah the ads for computers and cell phones and cars and

00:03:17.180 the Seinfeld reunion remember how big that was before Curvy Enthusiasm did it they did it on a Super Bowl

00:03:23.540 so that is that is part of the magic of the Super Bowl there was actually a funny anecdote from a

00:03:28.340 couple of reporters that I've covered games with previously who said they were on the elevator in

00:03:33.720 Levi's Stadium and they were asked to get off so Justin and Haley Bieber and the bodyguards could go up

00:03:38.540 to their private suite so that's the kind of thing I was at a Super Bowl uh Super Bowl 42 in Phoenix

00:03:44.940 and Willie Nelson who's shorter than I thought is there with his braids and his you know he's a little

00:03:50.960 guy like me a tiny little guy he had four of the biggest bodyguards ever so you could barely

00:03:55.120 but I my dad god rest his soul said dad that's Willie Nelson your buddy let's I was gonna wait

00:04:00.540 until the end of the show but let's talk about this now you just because you kind of threw that out

00:04:03.560 there how many Super Bowls have you been to Jim and that's as a sports broadcaster yeah especially

00:04:08.840 you spend the whole week spend like eight nine days you never pulled any money out of your own

00:04:12.140 pocket to go see one of these games no I couldn't I mean they talked about the prices going down for

00:04:17.880 this past Sunday's game to 3,500 a walk-in to get in there that's nosebleeds up yes you can't

00:04:24.380 upper deck at Levi's Stadium you're watching the game of the Jumbotron so yes so it's it's you spend

00:04:31.000 the week before the week of Super Bowl week preparing and then you go usually on the Sunday

00:04:36.700 3,500 is ludicrous and then you're there all week long days covering the team and the coaches and

00:04:42.420 players and everything and then you build up so so you've been to five I've been to five what what

00:04:47.760 five Super Bowl 40 42 43 44 and 45 wow so you were all in the 40s yeah and so the first one I was at

00:04:59.460 was Detroit they decided to have the Super Bowl in Detroit yeah which was they wanted expanded Dome

00:05:05.060 Stadium Ford Field great facility and bring it to the American Midwest you know the audio industry

00:05:10.540 taking a hit and we were staying in Windsor and our travel secretary was a little late booking

00:05:17.580 hotels we ended up staying they you do know St. Clair College in Windsor rent out empty dorm rooms

00:05:23.760 that's where we were staying you were in the dorm room we were I'm not kidding I'm not kidding so

00:05:29.400 um that's full circle for a media guy eh yeah and then I was in Phoenix for Super Bowl 42

00:05:35.300 Tampa for Super Bowl 43 which was my favorite Super Bowl yeah uh Super Bowl 44 was in South Florida

00:05:42.840 Miami and Fort Lauderdale and Super Bowl 45 in Dallas and each city they bid for it so part of what the

00:05:51.380 NFL is doing now is they want huge state-of-the-art stadiums or you spend significant money upgrading your

00:05:58.560 stadium and then you bid and you get a Super Bowl so already we know that LA SoFi Stadium that a massive

00:06:06.160 multi-billion dollar stadium in Los Angeles home to the Rams and the Chargers they have Super Bowl

00:06:11.800 next year the year after it's in Atlanta so it's not a home field advantage thing so it's like

00:06:16.580 Wrestlemania you have all these cities every year at the end of Wrestlemania they're now bidding for

00:06:20.640 the next on a very very rare occasion the home team is in their home stadium for the Super Bowl but it

00:06:27.100 it doesn't happen very often but you understand why those cities would do that because of the amount

00:06:31.400 of revenue that comes in around the Super Bowl that week has got to be astronomical billions and

00:06:36.440 billions and billions Brady it's so much so that Pepsi is the sole soft drink for the Super Bowl

00:06:41.600 when you're there the week leading up to the game I thought it used to be Budweiser

00:06:45.460 well that's the beer not soft drink I'm terrible but um you can't find a Coke product in the city of

00:06:52.660 the Super Bowl that week I'm not kidding so even like McDonald's who normally serves Coke

00:06:57.080 they now switch over to Pepsi that day but I hadn't gone into McDonald's but going to a corner

00:07:00.880 store like you're running around everything's just Pepsi it's all it's all Pepsi like it's it's

00:07:06.040 serious yeah so and so if it's if it if you are the you know Brady Chev Olds that's all you see

00:07:14.240 whatever the car is that's the only car you see what like whatever whatever the main sponsor is

00:07:19.400 it takes over the city and as the week builds up people flow in in the hotel rate so we will get our

00:07:26.980 bill as a reporter at the end you see your rate is whatever and then from the Friday on it's double

00:07:33.640 triple that for the weekend so it goes from 250 night to five six hundred a night for Super Bowl

00:07:39.580 weekend so as media being there is it actual chaos or is there some structure for media like it's a

00:07:45.100 little bit of both okay so it's there is some you walk into the Super Bowl you go to roll call you get

00:07:51.400 your media pass what happens next okay so you don't do that so you you have you know so they have

00:07:56.860 a media center which is probably a central convention center yeah whether it's Tampa whether it was San

00:08:02.960 Francisco whether it's LA next year so the week during the week building up to the game you show up

00:08:10.060 show all your ID get your pass there there's two passes so you have one pass which would have certain

00:08:17.180 colors and dots and that's the week of the game then you have to get a separate media pass for the

00:08:22.040 day of the game to get into that facility spots and there's a whole series of codes on your media pass

00:08:28.420 and it tells you where you can and cannot go and I actually saw Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart and

00:08:35.120 their son denied access to Cowboy Stadium because the security guard looked at their pass and said

00:08:41.680 I am sorry Mr. Ford you do not have the right pass to go on the field and he and then you hear

00:08:47.100 stories about like Shane Gillis sneaking up to Trump's section last year and all this stuff yeah

00:08:51.720 but not on the field oh I guess yeah on the field it would be different and then I was with a reporter

00:08:55.960 buddy and we looked at her pass and we kind of chuckled goes we could go on but we were going

00:09:00.000 somewhere else but that's how strict it is look at you denying Harrison Ford no no it was the security

00:09:05.000 guard doing his job sounds like it was you so game day you realize you're at the stadium yeah you'll go

00:09:10.160 through three metal detectors from the time and media arrives till you get to your seat makes sense

00:09:14.520 and it's you have your bag with you it's put over there the dog sniff and as the state troopers say

00:09:22.660 if the dog says no you don't get in and then if you've ever seen media denied no I've not okay so

00:09:29.220 because they know they it's so serious and then they put a color tag on your bag at that checkpoint

00:09:34.560 you go to another checkpoint you're checked again they put it so oh no the security

00:09:39.540 because I was there post 9-11 so the security Brady getting in the stadium for the fans

00:09:45.420 is one thing but when you're in the stadium and they're singing the anthem and the jets fly over

00:09:52.320 it's it's I can't describe it I was there Super Bowl 43 and Jennifer Hudson who has a voice of an angel

00:09:59.880 beautiful voice at the end of the star-spangled banner on that last note is it crescendos throughout

00:10:06.100 the stands the blue angels fly over top the stadium and it's rocking or like oh my god what

00:10:11.860 like at the last note the jets are over the stadium and there's they're shooting off fireworks and the

00:10:18.040 american flag when you share that much energy with that many people excited it is something that you

00:10:23.400 can't even put into words right like there is an energy that takes over us as humans collectively when

00:10:28.540 you get into the 50,000 plus that is just sound barrier breaking it's your body doesn't even feel

00:10:34.240 right you're you know you're starting to get discombobulated it is a fantastic feeling being

00:10:39.140 around people like that that are excited and ready to go and then a kickoff you have 65 70,000 people

00:10:45.520 and at the it's a flash is going on at kickoff because they want to get a photo of the opening kickoff well

00:10:52.020 I'm thinking how much money is exchanged just with that coin flip oh the color of the Gatorade yeah the length of

00:10:58.420 the anthem yeah um what celebrities will be there what celebrities will be mentioned so that's where

00:11:04.180 the game goes beyond just a game so you'll have soccer moms and your aunt and your your friends are

00:11:11.680 going do you think they're going to show Beyonce because I want to make a bet about it how long do

00:11:16.380 you think the anthem will be well speaking of the game itself if we were to talk about this game yes um

00:11:21.440 from the other night it this would take two minutes it was not a very exciting no it wasn't but you know

00:11:26.720 what it was uh Mike McDonald the young coach of the Seahawks he's 38 and he's regarded as a defensive

00:11:32.520 genius and he had a defensive he proved it yeah Drake May the Patriots quarterback was so overwhelmed

00:11:38.940 by what was coming at him he was so unprepared he was rattled and Sam Darnold who was in that great

00:11:46.520 draft class of 2018 with Josh Allen and other quarterbacks this is his fifth NFL team he's been

00:11:52.420 bounced around people thought he was done he was like a waste of a pick he gets his Seattle and

00:11:59.080 he's proved everyone wrong so I feel happy for Sam Darnold going through five teams and all he's had

00:12:05.200 to go through in the ups and downs in his NFL career to become a Super Bowl champion but defensively

00:12:11.080 from a coaching standpoint from a you know this is as good a defensive performance he's undeniable now

00:12:17.220 since when when Ray Lewis and the Ravens beat the Jay the Giants 25 years ago it was that good that

00:12:22.700 was a great game that was a great game so here's the thing that you know people realize a lot of

00:12:27.320 people Brady would complain I'm so tired of the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey okay

00:12:34.100 that's fine but this is what you got yeah and the one thing about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs he is

00:12:40.060 good enough and experienced enough that he would have found a way to make yards first down score points

00:12:46.460 make a game of it now I'm not saying he would have won and I'm not saying but that's why there's

00:12:51.380 certain athletes who are able to elevate their game in that kind of level you have to understand

00:12:56.220 that everything that happens on Super Bowl day is different than the routine they have pre-game

00:13:02.140 warm-up there then they go back to the locker room for 45 minutes for the coin toss for the anthem

00:13:08.020 for the this and that there's a lot of roller coaster oh yeah yeah especially if you're a player

00:13:12.860 field and then halftime's twice as long for the concert yep and everything that goes with it so

00:13:17.840 it's it's a lot mentally and emotionally that you have to adjust your energy level to peak and be

00:13:25.140 ready to go and be ready to make those decisions so you mentioned halftime if you can't talk about

00:13:29.520 the game the biggest talking point that's coming out of uh this Super Bowl seems to be a bad bunny

00:13:35.240 two things yeah one is Donald Trump obviously because there can't be a thing that goes on in the

00:13:40.500 United States without Donald Trump having to attach himself to it and having a talking point

00:13:44.480 but yes bad bunny and TP USA's uh concert of Kid Rock the failed concert the failed well anything

00:13:51.740 that seems to be coming out of TP USA right now seems to be failing uh extremely fast yes yes um

00:13:57.920 I think they lost more than just Charlie Kirk they lost a lot of momentum over the past couple months

00:14:04.500 there's a lot of people that have lost faith in them and one of the things that they've lost faith in

00:14:09.240 is this move that was done by them and apparently Donald Trump but look at all the artists that

00:14:14.620 dropped out in the day leading up to the game yeah but what does that tell you it's not a good look

00:14:19.120 you know I I don't I don't speak a word of Spanish and when I heard Kid Rock I was just like that just

00:14:24.480 sounds like a really cool name for Jeffrey Epstein's island they shouldn't really be doing that right

00:14:28.520 like um but bad bunny put on a great show it's and you have to understand it was amazing what he did

00:14:35.640 if this is the field in the Super Bowl at the end of the half it is just grass yeah okay in the five

00:14:43.860 minutes they go to commercial and they the talking heads go what do you think well you know the Patriots

00:14:48.180 got to do this that in the four corners of the stadium all the stage and all the props converge

00:14:55.160 where they're going to perform out of nowhere and and that's been rehearsed two or three times a day

00:15:01.520 every day for about a week so because they only have so many minutes to get in and get everything

00:15:06.060 set up and you never hear about the people that make that happen it's incredible thanks that they

00:15:10.520 deserve you just hear about all this this crappy talking point stuff like the people who put that

00:15:15.840 production together incredible Brady the logistics probably the best team in the world when it comes to

00:15:21.600 live production so that's why the camera work the sound all the special guests here Jessica Alba and

00:15:27.680 Lady Gaga and everything goes with it they're all part of it and then it disappears so when they go to

00:15:33.200 commercial afterwards we don't realize is within a few minutes everything that was there is gone and

00:15:38.560 the field's perfect put away and packed up and it's like it's never happened yeah and like how they do

00:15:43.700 that because I've seen it uh firsthand I'm like I it's the the logistics the rehearsals the execution

00:15:52.920 of it is flawless and they don't leave they don't make every second is counted for that like that's

00:15:58.360 the incredible thing about it is how they pull the games off both for the fans in the stadium and for

00:16:03.200 the television audience and being a an Irish Canadian kid um I don't understand anything that

00:16:08.820 bad money was saying but that's not why I was good wasn't it I don't understand half of what the

00:16:13.640 halftime shows guys are saying for the past 10 15 years but while we're talking about halftime shows

00:16:18.820 it was great but it wasn't the best halftime show of all time that was Prince I actually think it was

00:16:24.840 Michael Jackson okay so now I was there for Bruce Springsteen it was really really tell me in real

00:16:29.700 time what was that like it was Bruce's great it was fantastic so I'll tell you something three days

00:16:36.420 earlier I was shooting a segment out so they call it a satellite farm it's basically sat trucks and

00:16:44.320 uh remote locations outside the stadium broadcasting back around the world and there was a warehouse

00:16:51.300 about 200 meters just away from us outside the stadium we could hear Bruce and the E Street band

00:16:57.660 rehearsing their songs those songs in that order they rehearse are what they played that night that

00:17:03.720 would have been awesome and because they believe nothing to chance everything was that that was

00:17:10.780 Super Bowl 43 that would have been 2008 2009 so 2008 2009 that would have been the last like peak of

00:17:20.180 great performances at the hat like what was the last good halftime show like a really good one I know a lot

00:17:25.500 of people say that they like the Dr. Dre 50 cent gimmick Lady Gaga was pretty good Lady Gaga was okay 0.91

00:17:31.380 Lady Gaga was I mean I'm just Prince in the rain Prince was amazing it was amazing but I do think

00:17:37.680 Michael was the best of all time okay so again you're like 101A Prince Michael Jackson yeah um and

00:17:45.120 part of it is the NFL has evolved over the years they have made no bones about it Brady they're trying

00:17:51.620 to expand their reach globally they have tapped out of America there's no more American cities they can

00:17:57.320 expand to so every year now they're playing games and well there's pass here in Sao Paulo Brazil

00:18:02.620 London England you know Wembley Stadium they're in the Olympic Stadium in Munich they're going to

00:18:09.700 cities around the world to play games now because the games then over there it's a 9 a.m. game on a

00:18:15.720 Sunday so that's more TV viewers you get your 9 a.m. game it ends the 1 o'clock game then the 4 o'clock

00:18:21.820 game then the 8 o'clock game but the fans now in those cities around the world it's not just American

00:18:27.940 fans going to these games Brady they're saying so yeah 122 to 127 average uh viewers yeah that's

00:18:35.600 in the U.S. in the U.S. but they they report and whether you believe the Nielsen thing like I know a lot

00:18:40.760 of this is manipulated but there's a half a billion people that yes genuinely tune into the Super Bowl

00:18:45.380 within live or within 48 hours afterwards right you got a half a billion people that watch this

00:18:51.820 guarantee this is the number one watched thing in the world right now do you think and I got to turn

00:18:57.240 this back to politics just for a second you think this is a good idea to have this much stink

00:19:03.280 afterwards over a halftime show between the president and the most streamed artist of all time what does

00:19:08.880 this do where does this leave us in the United States is it just another notch on the belt of people

00:19:14.840 getting frustrated and having enough of their leader or is this something that there's a con because it

00:19:20.260 feels like in the U.S. right now everything is in a pressure cooker right I will say this Brady I

00:19:25.920 think the most people being critical of Bad Bunny's halftime show are the hardcore Trumpites even a lot

00:19:33.720 of Republicans who maybe had voted for Trump going hey that was really good hey I had a lot of fun I

00:19:38.840 don't understand any of the language I don't speak that language but I enjoy a good performance yeah and

00:19:45.760 there was a great performance so I've seen Britney Spears live at back in her pray in her prime and 0.70

00:19:51.220 it was great right I don't even like oops I did it I don't know that so I I think the politics of it

00:19:57.540 is it's a show it's inconsequential the NFL is thinking big picture and they're looking what if

00:20:03.740 we put a franchise in London England what if we had a franchise in in Barcelona like an NFL franchise

00:20:09.880 franchise in a European country or another country and I mean they only play well they want to play

00:20:16.820 18 but they play 17 games and you could do it you're traveling now every team's basically traveling

00:20:22.260 at one time of the season to the overseas game then they have their bye week they could easily do it

00:20:27.780 and they're thinking all of a sudden in that city all those people hoodies hats toques you know

00:20:34.720 merchandise tickets sales tote bags right I mean the NFL merchandise is so many tote bags in front

00:20:41.680 of the Super Bowl like every time that they show the crowd you just see all because you get that

00:20:44.900 when you get in they get gifts yeah because when you buy your your overpriced sweatshirt and t-shirt

00:20:49.780 they put it in the in the the Super Bowl whatever number tote bag that you come with so it's all part

00:20:56.140 of the marketing that there's a reason the NFL makes so much money it they're not it's not by accident

00:21:02.920 they're smart people it goes back to Super Bowl three when Joe Namath predicted they would upset

00:21:09.400 the Baltimore Colts and the Jets did and it went from all the Super Bowl to a TV must-see game it got

00:21:17.420 bigger and bigger every year to the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in the 70s and

00:21:22.860 the Steelers dynasty then Joel Montana and it just it just when you think oh it's maybe it's going to

00:21:29.380 take a dip nope okay quick questions and they'll be uh they'll be for you and then I'll ask our

00:21:35.440 producer Nick one on the way out okay so how much money is spent on the NFL each year like how much

00:21:42.480 revenue is actually spent from advertisers on the NFL do you know I believe it it's got to be in the

00:21:48.100 tens of billions 10 to 15 billion yeah it's got to be yeah it's got to be next year and this is this

00:21:52.980 question will be for uh Nick as well who is the perfect halftime show to counterbalance all of

00:21:58.360 this chaos and negativity that came after this one who right now if you could pick an artist and say

00:22:03.720 they're on their way to being the best artist of 2026 they have to be part of this halftime show next

00:22:09.100 year who's the who's the artist on the top of your head wow I mean geez I'm such an old head say I'm

00:22:16.400 bad with new music Morgan Wallen Nick but he sells out stadiums here's the thing I think we just bring

00:22:25.520 Adele we just bring Adele in there and when and we let her do her thing so no one's gonna be angry 1.00

00:22:31.300 see I I'm a Shania Twain fan so I think we do like the the the the women the power women in music but

00:22:40.180 leave the Dixie chicks over at TP USA yeah it's have like Shania Twain say Beyonce who did her 1.00

00:22:46.180 country thing okay and like an Adele trio and like doing hits and like all working each other's hits

00:22:52.360 I think that would have a lot of crossover even while you're at it you might as well throw Gaga

00:22:55.720 back in there right yeah yeah let's let's get an all women's show next year yeah that's how we 1.00

00:23:01.040 counterbalance this yeah and you know what and enjoy the game Jim thank you so much for letting me be

00:23:07.200 the weirdo to talk about your favorite thing in the world with you I I'm I'm just glad that I get

00:23:13.880 to sit down and talk to you Jimmy always always thanks brother it's always the best

True Patriot Love - February 12, 2026

Super Bowl Isn’t Football Anymore

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