Belichick to Co-Host NFL Draft on the Pat McAfee Show

[Bill Lee]

It was refreshing from the gushing over every "special plyer" you normally get on draft coverage.

Overall, IMO, it was far more enjoyable than the ABC coverage.

The ABC coverage is a symbol of how awful the modern NFL is. It's all fake, 100% schmaltz.

It's all done on a stage that is made to look impressive but will be torn down on Monday then packed away for the next stop on the circus.

The ABC/NFL show is all about endorsing corporate narratives. It's filled to overflowing with fake praise, no flaws get mentioned.

Crying family members are on the stage. Honestly, it makes the show like watching family movies, but of someone else's family.

I'm not a huge fan of the McAfee's synthesis of talk show dynamics and locker room talk, but it's far more compelling than that plastic ABC presentation.

BB used to do his telestrator segment on the Patriots preview show, he's actually pretty good at it.

Unlike the Patriots show BB was able to lean into the flaws of the players, so that was pretty interesting to see.

I've seen interviews with former players who say how snarky and mean Bill can be, we got a small taste of that last night.

I found some of his recollections of other NFL execs and players to be mighty interesting.

If nothing else I think this might be setting BB up for a more major role in NFL TV next season.

PS: As I said in the draft comments thread, the go-around about the Colts pumping in fake noise and the gang calling the Dolts CHEATERS was EPIC!

You could tell McAfee was a bit nervous then because he played for the Colts, but he stuck the landing.

 

[Steve102]

I am not digging Ty Schmidt (Mad Mel Kiper). His schtick isn't funny. It's more annoying than anything. He seems like one of those guys on Jackass who grossly exaggerate for the shock value. Jayden Daniles has 3 elbows? Really dude? They would be better off having Fitzy on there than that guy. At least Fitzy is funny.

I think it was cute for a bit. After a while, it was just annoying. Yep, ok guy, you do a good Mel Kiper. Move on.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Much less critical of JJMc than the others.

BB was reviewing strengths and weaknesses of all the prospects, and now we are going to review the weakness commentaries to quantify which was the weakest of the weakness reviews?

 

[Bill Lee]

He might have taken McCarthy, listening to him last night.

TBH I think McCarthy comes across very well in the interviews/segments I saw with him last night.

It's easy to see how he's a great locker room presence.

The knock on him is more about the on-the-field stuff.

My $0.02: JJM will do fine in the NFL, but is not as gifted as the QBs that went ahead of him.

I'm perfectly fine with us taking Maye at #3.

I hope our fan base will have some patience and give Maye some time to develop, but who am I kidding, we all know that won't happen.

I'm already expecting countless "We could have had MHJ!" posts in our future.

 

[Steve102]

BB was reviewing strengths and weaknesses of all the prospects, and now we are going to review the weakness commentaries to quantify which was the weakest of the weakness reviews?

No. I thought it was a clear analysis of who he would have taken.

 

[1960Pats]

As much as I enjoyed Bill, I couldn't stand the morning zoo radio show vibe, especially when they brought that asshat Oz out (or whatever his name is) to be another court jester. I found myself telling him to STFU more than once. Eventually, sleep won out.

That's exactly what I was thinking but I stayed with it anyway. Bill was the only reason I watched.

 

[Guts]

I think it was cute for a bit. After a while, it was just annoying. Yep, ok guy, you do a good Mel Kiper. Move on.

Thats been part of the draft show with McAfee since they started doing it 5 years ago.

If you're gonna watch the show with BB but didnt like the other characters just tune in when he's on because the McAfee show is a comedy sports bar talk show. I love the show so won't be an issue for me but if you don't just tune in when BB is on

 

[Steve102]

That's exactly what I was thinking but I stayed with it anyway. Bill was the only reason I watched.

I am catching up online now, skimming highlights.

Thats been part of the draft show with McAfee since they started doing it 5 years ago.

If you're gonna watch the show with BB but didnt like the other characters just tune in when he's on because the McAfee show is a comedy sports bar talk show. I love the show so won't be an issue for me but if you don't just tune in when BB is on

I usually watch the highlights on youtube. I won't be watching it live.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I could do without the "Mad Mel" character. Funny for the first few minutes, but longer than that is like having to watch a 2 hr Bevis & Butthead movie marathon

love the show, otherwise


edit... until they started doing card tricks rather than letting Bill talk about his binkie, Bowers

The card tricks were a stupid waste of time, but Mad Mel was hilarious. Especially when he said something like, "with good coaching, he should be ready to start in 5 or 6 years..." I hope he was nto talking about Maye....

BB was terrific. He is the Real Deal. He did his homework and watched a ton of tape and prepared some great clips. He is the best I have ever seen at draft analysis; good job Bill.

 

[HSanders]

PS: As I said in the draft comments thread, the go-around about the Colts pumping in fake noise and the gang calling the Dolts CHEATERS was EPIC!

You could tell McAfee was a bit nervous then because he played for the Colts, but he stuck the landing.

mc afee and luck were both on the record at the time as thinking ballghazi was stupid.

 

[1960Pats]

Thats been part of the draft show with McAfee since they started doing it 5 years ago.

If you're gonna watch the show with BB but didnt like the other characters just tune in when he's on because the McAfee show is a comedy sports bar talk show. I love the show so won't be an issue for me but if you don't just tune in when BB is on

If Bill was serious then Mondays in the fall is when I'll be there. Hearing Bill's insights will be worth it.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

He didn't with any QB prospects really. He was showing bad tape of Caleb from the start. Same with Daniels.

BB also told the world how to defend Daniels; put a spy on him and cover the outside throws. Force him to throw to the middle of the field and not run. This will put a crimp in Daniels, at least at the start.

 

[Kdo5]

BB also told the world how to defend Daniels; put a spy on him and cover the outside throws. Force him to throw to the middle of the field and not run. This will put a crimp in Daniels, at least at the start.

Easier said than done. I imagine that was the goal when we first played Lamar and he absolutely smoked us.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Thats been part of the draft show with McAfee since they started doing it 5 years ago.

If you're gonna watch the show with BB but didnt like the other characters just tune in when he's on because the McAfee show is a comedy sports bar talk show. I love the show so won't be an issue for me but if you don't just tune in when BB is on

The old grumpy guys didn't like it. Lol

 

[1960Pats]

Easier said than done. I imagine that was the goal when we first played Lamar and he absolutely smoked us.

Lamar is a very difficult runner to stop. Does Daniels have that kind of skill?

 

[Bill Lee]

Reminds me of Curt Shilling's quip (to paraphrase): As far as I'm concerned, Aura and Mystique are two exotic dancers!

 

[Bill Lee]

Going back through pre-show comments....

First step in trying to rehab his image as a sourpuss with poor communication skills

IMO he did quite well along those lines.

He looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed instead of the run-down sourpuss look he projected here in NE.

He managed to keep his act clean while those around him went dirty, and managed to not look too out of place while doing so.

We should set up a Bingo card for his favorite phrases. "Had a lot of production in college." "Played in a good program." "Great value for where he was picked."

"That kid can make all the throws" was heard a lot, "plays with aggression" too.

It’ll definitely be interesting getting his feedback when the Pats pick. Imagine if they take a QB and he says that guy sucks. Lol

He kinda did, talked about the bad and the good, made it clear Maye has some big flaws in his current game without totally burying the kid.

Is Bill going to identify the 1st round reaches ?

Is that comment unfair .... oh well needs be said.
One trait of Belichick is his honesty ... stay real Bill.

He definitely did, and it was a refreshing break from the traditional Mel Kiper shtick of how perfect each player is.

Trying to wrap my head around why McAfee's show. He could be anywhere.

I don't think he could have been on the stage next to Goodell.

I don't think he had tons of options, just like in his coaching search.

If nothing else, this gave him a great chance to associate himself with what I think is a new trend in NFL coverage.

Does he really want to be the next Terry Bradshaw, Boomer Esiason, or Phil Simms?

Wasn't the Internet supposed to give us more choices?

I suppose the money's great for the traditional gigs, but BB has been getting big bags of money from RKK for a long time now, so he's all set on that front.

Yet I do feel this is setting him up for a bigger/better TV gig next season.

 

[Bill Lee]

He might have taken McCarthy, listening to him last night.

Or trade down thinking he could end up with McCarthy and ending up with another Bailey Zappe instead.

This will probably be one of this board's ongoing "what if" scenarios, interesting but irrelevant.

 

[1960Pats]

BB also told the world how to defend Daniels; put a spy on him and cover the outside throws. Force him to throw to the middle of the field and not run. This will put a crimp in Daniels, at least at the start.

So Bill's sticking it to the Skins again. He's still pissed about the 72 points they scored against the Giants in 66.

 

[Bill Lee]

I watched it because it was actually one of my few options to watch the draft tonight as I cut the cord years ago. The Disney/Hulu is one of the streaming packages I have and it includes ESPN+ which carries McAfee.

It was available for free via the YouTube app on all the platforms, which pleasantly surprised me.

I went looking for something better than the ABC free over the air coverage and tried a few things but once I saw BB doing his film breakdowns on McAfee, I was all-in on that.

I had ABC on the big screen and McAfee via YouTube on a laptop. ABC mostly stayed muted unless something interesting popped up. ABC also had the picks a few seconds sooner than McAfee, probably due to contractual obligations, so I would un-mute ABC for that then put it back on mute shortly thereafter.

I tried a third screen (tablet) for Twitter/X, but TBH I was not seeing the same level of "spoilers" that were happening 2-3 years ago. Seems like Park Avenue has largely put the kibosh on that.

I had "patriots unfiltered" on for a short while but it didn't last long. That show needs new blood, bad. Paul Perillo thinks he's smarter than he actually is. Can't they find someone better than him?

Saw some clips of Zolak for the first time in a long time. Man, he's not aging well. As someone who has a few rounds of eye surgery over the years, I hope he's working with an eye care professional. He reminds me of the old Dean Werner line, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son".