0:07

The Season with Peter Schrager is a production

0:09

of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.

0:23

Hey everybody, this is Peter Schrager from

0:25

the Season with Peter Schreeger.

0:28

It is a Tuesday morning,

0:30

Week fifteen. I'm joined by my colleagues,

0:32

Aaron wang Kaufman, our fine producer,

0:35

and Jason English from the iHeartMedia

0:37

team. And if it sounds like I'm running on fumes,

0:39

just because I was up all night, like off

0:42

the couch, like cheering like a madman,

0:44

for two incredible football games. The

0:47

Giants somehow finding away

0:49

over the Packers, and then

0:52

the Dolphins give a game away

0:54

to the Titans that's not even fair to the Titans. The Titans

0:56

take the game from the Dolphins. The history

0:58

books will tell you that that game was as

1:01

unusual and as unique a

1:04

game as you will ever find. Here's the story.

1:06

Since nineteen seventy six,

1:10

right nineteen seventy six, there

1:12

hasn't been a game with a team that has been up

1:15

fourteen points with less than three minutes ago

1:17

that is lost in regulation. Happened

1:19

last night. On the other end,

1:22

You've got Tommy DeVito and

1:24

the Giants absolutely dead

1:27

to rights after Jordan

1:29

Love has an incredible tribe and a touchdown take

1:31

lead after a terrible Saquon Barkley fumble,

1:34

and then DeVito takes them all

1:36

the way back downfield and they

1:38

win in the final seconds. And

1:40

yet the story of the day is not necessarily

1:43

de Vito. It's

1:45

his agent, his agent, Shaun

1:48

Stillotta. Why because Sean

1:50

is dressed in a top hat, in a zoot suit

1:52

pinstrit suit, and it's all over

1:54

the ESPN broadcast. And

1:57

if you hear me

1:59

smiling, I don't know if that's the thing through

2:02

your earbuds or you can sense them smiling. It's

2:04

because of our podcast that we have for you. We

2:06

got two guests. The first guest

2:08

is the biggest sensation in New York City not named

2:11

Tommy DeVito. It's his agent, Sean

2:13

Stillado. And our second guest

2:16

is maybe the most dynamic

2:19

player in the defensive backfield in the NFL

2:21

over the past few weeks. It is Vikings

2:24

breakout superstar Josh

2:26

Mattellis. Both

2:28

guys are awesome and I'm excited to

2:30

speak with them, which brings us two our

2:33

guest today. I've

2:36

known this guy for like a decade,

2:39

so with everyone sending out memes

2:41

and Dave Portnoy on barstool

2:43

being like, who is this? And

2:46

I saw that there was a

2:48

million and the Manning

2:50

brothers are commenting on him as if he

2:52

just flew in from

2:55

Naples or Sicily or from

2:58

Bay Ridger benson Hurst and decided

3:00

he was going to put on a suit and a hat and say

3:02

here, I'm Tommy DeVito's agent. You're

3:04

missing the deal, guys. This

3:06

has been Sean Stallato since the day I met

3:08

him ten years ago. And he's also

3:11

an incredible agent, like fighting for

3:13

those back end of the roster guys.

3:16

I don't know who he represents currently, but like

3:18

I remember, he used to represent guys

3:21

that I would be like, who is that player?

3:23

And it'd be pre draft and he's like, you gotta

3:25

give this guy a shot. You gotta talk about it, and

3:27

then that player would be in the NFL like two

3:30

years later, making plays, and Sean was the agent

3:32

and was the only guy who believed in him, took

3:34

a risk on him and got him to the league,

3:37

and then of course from there pivoted

3:39

and then got Tommy de Vito

3:41

as a client. Our guest

3:44

today is

3:46

Sean Stallato, the agent for Tommy

3:49

de Vito and so many others.

3:52

I'm just gonna let the interview run. Let's

3:54

bring him in right now, mister Seawan

3:57

Stallato. Welcome to the season

3:59

with Peter Schreker.

4:01

Peter, I appreciate those kind words, my friend.

4:03

Always great to have a little time with

4:05

you. And yeah, exciting time right now.

4:08

All right, So this is Tuesday morning, Monday night

4:10

for like the Apex, but it might even go higher

4:12

and hire for Tommy DeVito seventeen

4:15

of twenty one game winning drive, third

4:18

straight win, no interceptions. And

4:20

yet it's the vibes, it's

4:23

the it's the off the field stuff, it's everything

4:25

that goes into it that New York is having a moment.

4:28

Take us through yesterday. Please, when

4:31

your day started Monday and the

4:33

Monday night went over, the packers, what was going

4:35

down went.

4:36

Out of doubt.

4:37

I first got to bring my CNA sicily

4:39

to Kindergarten, so that kicked

4:41

off, and then I drove down, had a meeting in Manhattan,

4:44

and then shot over to that Electric stadium.

4:47

You know, obviously the cutlets the tailgate

4:49

was five star led by Lexi

4:51

and Tommy SR. And the two to

4:53

three hundred people. But just we knew last

4:56

night was a huge coming out opportunity.

4:58

Look at he's already came out a little bit, but we knew

5:00

the Packers obviously playoff contention.

5:03

Monday night football home, he

5:05

was ready for the You know, Tommy was in a lead eleven.

5:08

He was a dark huss for the Heisman in twenty

5:10

eighteen. Ye I

5:12

knew how good he was. He is,

5:15

And let's face it, sometimes you

5:17

just need that opportunity and luck is where preparation

5:20

meets opportunity. He's continued

5:22

to show his worth and that he can be deserves

5:24

to be a starter in the National Football League.

5:27

We had you on Good Morning Football, and we had Tommy

5:29

on Day three of the draft, and he comes

5:31

in and we'd loved him. We love

5:33

his energy, we loved everything about him. He

5:35

goes undrafted, then you guys have to hustle

5:38

a little bit and figure, Okay, who are we going to sign

5:40

with? First talk about the disappointment

5:42

of not being drafted, and then the quick

5:44

pivot to what's the best situation for us?

5:47

Yeah, everybody wants to any player

5:50

that's trying to get to the NFL wants to hear their

5:52

name call and let's face it's

5:54

some of the greatest to play the game haven't had

5:56

that opportunity. But we know

5:58

about projecting value in long ball

6:00

game. And I think what it came down to, Peter, Yeah,

6:03

coming in the studio, he showed

6:05

all thirty two GMS that morning that you

6:07

know what, I'm the real guy, I'm your guy. I'm

6:09

confident what I did at Illinois

6:12

is just something that I'm going to continue to evolve off

6:14

of. And that's what he did. Draft day was

6:16

a little bit. Let's face it, there should be a Day four

6:18

in the NFL draft. Three days undrafted

6:21

market is the wild West, and you

6:23

know it's tough. You're making a life time,

6:26

life changing decision and moments, and I don't

6:28

think that's very reasonable. We

6:30

didn't have a ton of ton of office. I stood on

6:33

his father's office desk

6:35

that in a begging, claring, scratching

6:38

why they needed to draft him, and no one

6:40

really wanted to listen. And I remember the

6:42

rings when they took sets in Bennett and I said, come

6:45

on, man, this kid is better. I know we didn't win the National

6:47

championship and then he went else, but he

6:50

has been a humble kid and it came

6:52

down to the Commanders, and it came down to the Giants

6:54

and my relationship with Joe

6:56

going back with the Bills having a player

6:58

there, cam Lewis and then Coach

7:01

Gable his development of quarterbacks.

7:03

We were looking a guaranteed money to the local

7:06

to come back home and let's be you

7:08

know, let's have an opportunity

7:11

to do what we need to do. One of the greatest

7:13

markets of you know, a football

7:15

of fashion, and the stars kind

7:17

of aligned and he knew he was going

7:19

to have to go in there. And I met with coach early, right

7:22

after the draft, and he laid it on on the table

7:24

what he's going to need to do to stick. And

7:27

let's face it, he did a great job with Josh Allen.

7:29

He's done a tour in Jalen. We

7:31

knew that was his guy, and he loves coach

7:33

and he loves the organization and it's been obviously

7:36

the story couldn't be written any better.

7:39

Let's talk about you, your story, because we always

7:41

talk about the gms and the coaches on this podcast

7:43

and where they came from their humble beginnings. But you

7:45

played at Maris and you

7:48

were a stud at Maris you were a good player,

7:50

then you went from being a player to an agent.

7:52

Take us through your rise through football

7:55

and kind of where you're at now.

7:57

You know, my dad gave me a football when I was six

7:59

years old and we watched Doug Flutie

8:01

do the Miraculous Pas eighty

8:04

four, November twenty fifth. I

8:07

looked at him and I said, Daddy, I want to be a football

8:09

player. And he said, hey, you

8:12

know what, You're not going to be the biggest, strongest. We

8:14

don't have the resources like a lot of others,

8:16

but no one can ever outwork you. And I took

8:18

that. He goes, this ball gonna be a compass. And football

8:21

has changed my life in every

8:23

part of the rem and I'm blessed.

8:25

And you know the title of my book, and no backing

8:27

down, that's my mantra. You

8:30

know, Maris gave me an opportunity. I just miss getting

8:32

in the Columbia Richmond offered me a scholarship

8:34

and I wanted it. My mother doesn't fly, so

8:36

I said, I'm gonna go out to be a Red Fox and embraced,

8:39

you know, two Division one sports. I

8:41

did play two years of pro ball arena

8:43

football. Jeff Brown Yep,

8:45

yeah, coach. I knew Jeff his

8:47

rookie first year of a coaching was an absolute

8:50

star. He has run on the forty nine Ers Chargers

8:52

playbook. And then you know, obviously

8:54

I operate now, you know, through primary

8:56

source experience, not through speculation, kind

8:59

of like a GM agent, you

9:01

know. And I've been able to really go after

9:03

guys that I believe in, the maybe

9:06

guy that are underdogs because we share that

9:08

same mindset and that grittiness

9:10

and that walking with a boulder on our shoulder,

9:13

and Tommy defines all those core

9:15

values and let's face it, the Italian

9:17

heritage. We're both very

9:19

very proud Bisons. We

9:22

know all our ancestors who came before

9:24

us and made those sacrifices.

9:26

So it's been fun, you know, been in the game. SES

9:28

Sports is ten years old, so

9:31

not a rookie, been in the game for eighteen years.

9:35

And I'm just excited to be in this

9:37

moment because, let's face it, we all build

9:39

and we work for these type of moments.

9:42

But I'm so proud of Tommy DeVito,

9:44

how he's handled himself off the field, never forgetting

9:46

his roots. He is inspiring and

9:49

he's being that iconic

9:51

figure that so many people need of hope

9:53

for that underdog. And let's face

9:55

it, everybody can get to hit the

9:58

Ovarian lottery. Everyone can be at.

10:00

A certain level.

10:01

But Tommy has taken the bull

10:03

by the horns. And that's a testament to

10:06

Lexi and his dad how

10:08

they raised him, and test him

10:10

into my mom and dad, how they raised Themlet's face

10:12

that, I got an awesome wife, and you know,

10:14

Peter, you know you can be good,

10:17

becoming great. You got to have that right lady on your

10:19

corner. And my wife is my Adrian

10:22

uh and you know I'm trying to be there or

10:25

for her.

10:27

Last night, you put on that that that hat,

10:29

you got the suit on, You're kissing Thompson

10:31

and it goes viral. The Mannings

10:33

are talking about it. Did you wake up this morning

10:35

to about a thousand texts? I

10:38

think it might have been two thousand. Peter, absolutely

10:40

crazy. I know it was.

10:42

You know Tommy. See he kissed me first, and

10:44

I said, you know what, I was so

10:47

so, I I know he

10:49

broke the ice. Yeah,

10:51

you know what, I put the hat on. I'm a big Frank Sinatra,

10:54

Rocky Balboa fan. Let's go I've

10:57

kind of lived my life as as the

11:00

Rocky Balboa and in

11:02

that passion, that gritty underdog. That

11:04

was a special moment with his dad. He able

11:06

to experience that the energy uh

11:09

doing in New York. You know, I just wish you know Sinatra

11:12

New York was playing when he kissed me.

11:14

That would have been kind of like the icing on

11:16

the cake.

11:17

That's Yankee Stadium. That's how they ended there,

11:19

the Yankee Stadium with New York, New York

11:21

giants. I think they go to New York state of mind with Alicia

11:24

Keys, which yes they do.

11:26

But Peter I

11:28

got engaged a Rockefeller ice. I can't even ice

11:30

skate, So I appreciate

11:32

the Red Sox, but I am a Yankees fan. I

11:35

know that's kind of a crazy statement to make,

11:37

which has been cool, But

11:39

I'm just so happy to Tommy. You know,

11:41

Tommy is a he's

11:43

a warrior, he's a fighter,

11:46

and he has that quiet swag

11:48

and confidence that is just intoxicating.

11:51

Yeah.

11:52

I know, I'm happy for you because

11:54

I've known you for years and you've had play like

11:56

You've had a lot of guys come through, a lot of Patriots

11:58

players. I remember. I mean I saw a tweet this morning

12:00

from Jonas Gray like hey, that's my agent.

12:03

Like that's the man right there. So it's not like

12:05

you're this overnight sensation to us in the football

12:07

world, but you were. You guys are

12:09

leaning into this and I appreciate it. The thing that DeVito

12:11

said at the end of his personal is like, hey, it's

12:14

good for business, and I let's

12:16

call it like it is. The football has been great, but

12:18

he's not afraid to go and do the off the field stuff

12:21

and really lean into his Italian heritage as well.

12:23

Yeah, we look through those similar lenses

12:26

and I think that's important, the business side of

12:28

things. But obviously we know our main

12:30

commitment is to the New York Giants and

12:32

being the best football player he can be.

12:34

But then there is a side. Let's face

12:36

it, we're in an informations you know, tech

12:39

savvy era. You know today

12:41

Tom Brady didn't have that, you know, when he was

12:43

killing it early years. So we

12:45

know we've got to gradually, you

12:48

know, pick and choose who we want to collaborate

12:50

with. But let's face it, you know, our names

12:52

in and a vowel. We're passionate

12:54

about our heritage and it's a great

12:57

market that shares that same passion

12:59

and all those traditions, and let's face it, Christmas

13:01

Times comment Pete. We got the Seven Fishes,

13:04

and we've got a lot of unique

13:07

traditions of that Italian culture

13:09

that we're looking forward to. So

13:11

playing on Christmas Day is going to be extra unique

13:14

for him this year. Obviously we can't look. Main focus

13:16

is New Orleans.

13:18

But you know, I didn't even realize that is that game

13:20

in is that game in Jersey? Or is that game in Philly?

13:22

Billy?

13:23

Oh, so Dom Desandro, Nick

13:25

Sirianni, John Ferrari

13:28

and Tommy DeVito will all be in the building together.

13:31

And you know what, my wife, you might have to set

13:33

up Christmas tree in the hotel and

13:36

come down to Philly and have Christmas and I'll

13:39

do my Rocky step run in the morning.

13:41

Philly's got there no shortage

13:44

of you know, Vince Papoli and Rocky

13:46

Balboa and cousin Paulie. I

13:48

feel like there's some Phillies up there too.

13:51

Yeah, that really is yeah, the Philly. Yeah,

13:53

Philly is a cool city. I had four

13:55

players when they won Super Bowl fifty two, you

13:58

know, which was a cool experience.

14:01

It was weird going up against the Patriots. It's

14:03

like I had guys on both sides. But Brian Brayman

14:05

is one of my first you know, firstborns

14:08

in the industry, and uh, it was

14:10

special to see him, you know, PARTI

14:12

Trophy and the owners. You know, mister Lorie

14:15

Howie Roseman, great great guy and you

14:17

know, I had a good good John Tish

14:19

last night. We had a good moment on the field game.

14:23

You know, we're good. He's he picked

14:25

away at the Gunnery. I went to Gunnery School for

14:27

a year. Any lum

14:30

of that school and that was a year in

14:32

my life.

14:33

When you when you see, uh,

14:35

you know, some of the tweets coming through and

14:37

the Mannings obviously commented on you, but

14:39

like, who's the who's the icon

14:41

that that is talking about Tommy DeVito

14:44

or even an Italian American icon that has talked

14:46

about you and de Vito and DeVito's dad that has

14:48

been like, are you serious that guy's paying attention?

14:50

Oh my gosh, pinch me.

14:53

Yeah, I know. There's a lot of iconic

14:55

names. Look at Scott Pioli is a

14:57

huge Italian roots guy. I

14:59

mean he brought up the draft day and you

15:01

know, the you know, in terms of the

15:04

the setup for food, there's

15:06

a lot of guys Sebastian, you know. Sure

15:10

now he called Tommy up and congratulate.

15:12

You know, I spoke Joe Pesci. I'm getting inducted

15:15

Friday into the National Italian American

15:17

Sports Hall Fame in Chicago.

15:19

Slow down, slow down, You're getting inducted

15:21

this week to the Italian

15:24

American Sports Hall of Fame, amongst

15:27

Mike Piazza, and uh

15:29

you go through the Joe DiMaggio, Sean

15:31

Stillado is going to be in there.

15:33

I mean, I'm just so humbled,

15:36

Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Vince Lombardi.

15:38

I mean, yeah, those men, Mac Bavaro, to

15:41

stand on the shoulders of those great men

15:43

who you know, allowed me to dream a little bit

15:45

bigger. I'm

15:48

it's it's just surreal to the extent.

15:50

And then obviously going in there with Tommy

15:52

performing like he did on the biggest

15:54

stage, you know, Monday night football, truly

15:57

a blessing pete And uh, it's

16:00

you know, obviously there's no slowing down in this industry,

16:02

as you know, so just uh

16:05

the Naro said, the high

16:07

high, the low low. You got to kind of maintain

16:09

that same pace. And but you

16:11

know, being Italian, being passionate,

16:14

loving the game, it's hard to turn it off.

16:17

You know, one gear, You've always

16:19

worn your heart in your sleeve, whether it be at the combine

16:21

or whether I see you at NFL game. So it's a warm

16:23

embrace. I love seeing you. What's

16:26

the outfit in the closet we haven't seen

16:28

yet?

16:28

Oh man?

16:29

And how big? How big are we going?

16:32

It's crazy. You know my mother, you know, grew

16:35

me, when I raised me. She's like showing

16:37

you the daughter I never had because I was so

16:40

My grandmother worked in a men's department store,

16:42

filings my Latiti and my nanna.

16:44

She immigrated from Ponte Grande, Catanzaro,

16:48

collaborator, and she always

16:50

used to hook me up, you know the white sport code. Hey,

16:52

let's give it the uncle look. And

16:55

you know, I started rocking a couple of suits in

16:57

the middle school fashion show.

16:59

In high school and then college,

17:01

I was in a couple of fashion shows. And I

17:03

remember in the industry with my early

17:06

years. Know, one of my tailors like, hey, man,

17:08

when you walk in the room, someone got to say, who the

17:10

fuck is that guy? On my French?

17:12

So we can definitely

17:14

go kind of loud.

17:16

You know.

17:16

I obviously I love the Fedoras,

17:18

you know some you know, some of the shoe collaborations

17:21

through the years. The suits, Yeah, I've got some. I've

17:23

got some stuff I haven't even busted out.

17:25

Yeah.

17:25

Look, there's like there's there's Ferragamo and

17:27

there's Gucci. But like I feel like you've got different brands.

17:29

You've got like the custom brands. Yeah

17:31

I do.

17:32

I got you know, a couple of tailors I work

17:35

with it that in terms of the custom I

17:37

mean I told my wife, I got to try

17:39

to maintain the six pactal I at least sixty

17:41

so we got you know, we got fifteen years.

17:43

But uh it's it's you

17:46

know, when you have thirty custom suits, you gotta

17:48

you can't get you

17:50

know, I do got you know, someone asked me who has

17:52

the bigger closet out of you too? I said, ah,

17:54

man, I said, you got me. I said, I got to see

17:56

the closet for my suits and then my walk

17:59

in. Uh so I might got her

18:01

on that, but uh, which is cool.

18:03

But yeah, you know what I've always I'm

18:05

looking forward to going to Italy. Uh

18:07

you know, we're looking to potentially have a football

18:10

camp in June like this, Yeah,

18:12

I've got a couple, you know.

18:14

And that's the thing, Like this is opening up doors that

18:16

maybe two months ago weren't possibilities.

18:19

But now you see the success, you see the

18:21

fan reaction, you see what Tommy does to the Italian

18:24

American community, maybe Italian community

18:26

at large. What

18:29

what's what's the uh, what's

18:31

the future for Tommy DeVito and honest

18:33

Tommy, what's something? What like,

18:35

have we done Madison Square? Garden court Side yet?

18:37

Have we done that? And then big scale? What are we thinking?

18:41

Yeah, you know, big scale, we haven't done

18:43

Madison Square. They've reached out a couple of times, you

18:45

know Islanders, Uh in the Knicks.

18:48

I know he's a Knicks fan, an Islanders fan.

18:50

Uh.

18:50

So we're gonna hopefully look at the Yankees.

18:53

We're gonna get that first toss out because I know

18:55

they're gonna cash probably mister Cashman

18:57

is probably gonna offer him, you know, try to be a dual's

19:00

threat like the one.

19:03

Uh.

19:03

But the kids very talented, big

19:05

scale, look at we you know, we're obviously going

19:07

to continue to evolve. He's got

19:10

that you know, Boulder on the shoulder. He

19:12

knows it's about preparation. He knows

19:14

in NFL is an opinion based business and

19:17

you've got to get better. And he's

19:19

going to continue to work on his craft. I know that.

19:21

And he's with a great coach that's gonna

19:23

in a storied franchise that's going to continue

19:25

to walk with him and help him,

19:28

you know, get it done. Off the field, you know, impact

19:30

all those young potential future

19:33

Tommy de Vito's be that post to child

19:35

for them, but also continue to evolve

19:37

as a player. I think he's solidified

19:39

himself as a bona fide starter in the National

19:41

Football League. You know, my

19:43

job early in this whole process is to project

19:45

value. I knew Tommy was special. I

19:48

thought, I screamed, you know, in him doing

19:50

what he's doing. That's just a testament

19:52

to his mindset and

19:54

the aura about him. And he's embraced,

19:57

you know, all the blessings God given him. And let's

19:59

face it, he's a proud Italian American with

20:02

a big upside and he's he's going to continue

20:04

to rise up to those challenges. Wouldn't write

20:06

them off the playoffs. I'm excited

20:09

for the rest of these next four games.

20:12

Last question as we wrap, has the Tommy DeVito

20:15

explosion and maybe your profile

20:17

getting a little bigger on the national has it led

20:19

to any help in the recruitment game for these

20:21

college athletes?

20:23

You know what it's that recruitment game is

20:25

just a whole different animal, and I

20:27

go through it every year A lot of times.

20:29

I've got to the finish line, you know, with top one

20:31

hundred guys coming in second, I

20:34

can't control any of that. I look at I'm

20:36

excited about the two guys I have two to

20:38

three that will be coming off of the twenty five fourth

20:41

twenty twenty twenty four draft. Hopefully

20:44

players can see the value in that. You know, what

20:46

you see is what you get with me, and

20:48

you know my passion, my energy, my tenacity,

20:51

my attention and detail my relationships with all

20:53

thirty two teams right there. I mean

20:55

you said it, Peter. So hopefully eight

20:57

some of the guys will look through the smoke and mirrors

20:59

and really know how

21:01

they want to be represented, and we'll

21:03

embrace the you know, the opportunities

21:06

to come out away and get the right guys on

21:08

the bus and have fun with it, but most

21:10

importantly, get them employed.

21:12

And hopefully have a long, lucrative NFL

21:14

career. So uh, like Sinatra

21:16

said, the best is you have to come.

21:19

Bestors, you have to come come. I love

21:21

it, dude, this is speaking my songs.

21:24

I'm gonna let you go. I'm wishing you all the luck, Senior

21:27

Ball. I might see Combine, I might

21:29

see Uh. I can't wait to embrace

21:31

you in person. I'm so happy for you.

21:32

To Thank you, Peter, much love

21:34

and thank you. Thank you for being a good friend through

21:36

the years. Man, much much love.

21:38

All right, Absolutely, Sean stillado

21:40

the age at the time of the Vito and hopefully

21:42

many many more. Thanks Sean, you got

21:44

it.

21:52

Wow.

21:53

Respect guys. I got

21:55

a room to get on an eleven oh five. But

21:58

hey, guys, all

22:00

the best love bus here shout.

22:09

I mean, there's so much to download

22:11

off of it. There's a must. Where do we begin.

22:13

I'm bringing in Aaron and Jason.

22:16

I'm happy for Sean because he's a.

22:19

He is a fighter.

22:21

Like you see these agents and you know,

22:23

the big ones come through and it's Joel Siegel

22:26

and Drew Rosenhouse and Dodd

22:28

France and they're talking about Dax contract

22:31

and you're talking about Nicole

22:33

Lynn, who is a bit of a

22:35

newer entry into the scene, but she's got Jalen

22:38

Hurts, and you know, you love those stories

22:41

of the agent and the client

22:43

and they're getting these two hundred million dollar

22:45

contracts, and then you've got about

22:48

fifty agents who are

22:50

scrambling to get two to three guys drafted

22:53

each year. And Sean is one of

22:55

those guys who's practice has gotten

22:57

bigger and bigger over the years. And he's had some

22:59

legitimate guys in the past, super

23:01

Bowl winners, as he referenced, But holy

23:05

crap, was that something. And to

23:07

see him, of all people who I've

23:09

known for all these years, the lead

23:12

story on barstool and the lead

23:14

image on ESPN and NFL Network,

23:17

I'm bringing in Aaron and Jason. Aaron,

23:19

your impressions on the Sean Stillado experience.

23:23

I mean, he was a character, and

23:26

I I mean similar to what

23:28

I'm sure everyone else's experience was. I had people

23:31

texting me photos of him last night who

23:33

don't talk about football, like they just knew

23:36

about him on the sideline, and

23:39

he reminds me, I don't know, if you've ever watched I

23:41

think you should leave.

23:44

Robby.

23:45

Yeah, he reminds me of the

23:47

driving crooner with

23:49

the get up in that picture. Oh, but he was incredible.

23:52

He was incredible.

23:53

Yeah,

23:56

Jason.

23:57

Three weeks ago, Tommy DeVito,

24:00

I live in Wayne, New Jersey. Lifelong

24:02

Giants fan. Tommy DeVito made

24:04

an appearance at Primo Hogi's Wayne,

24:06

New Jersey near my house. I thought,

24:08

how great is this? This guy got

24:11

a shot, and someone figured

24:13

like, let's let's embrace this and get

24:16

ours now. Now the Giants

24:18

are in the in the Hunt,

24:20

They're on the graphic, in the the the in the

24:22

Hunt, and and I just love

24:25

as a Giants fan, I did not see this

24:28

coming. I love it seeing a number fifteen

24:30

back up running around Stetler body

24:32

of Hostetler and

24:34

this guy he delivered. I've

24:37

been I've been texting today

24:40

while you've been talking to him, all the people who

24:42

texted me last night. So

24:44

Jason, keep this going.

24:46

You're a Jersey guy, you live up in Wayne, Like

24:48

talk about what Don Bosco is and

24:50

talk about what Tommy's place

24:52

in Jersey sports is, because it's

24:54

like, this isn't the first time for a lot of these North

24:57

Jersey fans knowing Tommy DeVito, like he was the dude.

25:00

And every if you didn't know

25:02

Tommy, you knew a Tommy, and

25:04

you knew a Tommy's Day, and

25:07

you knew a Tommy's agent.

25:10

And this is

25:13

the whole region is just behind

25:15

him in a way that's really fun.

25:18

And the team is playing well. This

25:20

team was not. We

25:22

were talking about tanking a month ago.

25:25

So I know. So you know my

25:27

buddy Ditro My, you know, dear Italian

25:29

American friend who's also a Giants fan. He lives

25:31

out in Long Island, but his

25:33

father was president of the Sons

25:35

of Italy. Like very proud Italian American.

25:38

And Dietro texted me this in the morning. He says,

25:41

you know, in this part of

25:43

the country, everyone over seventy

25:45

looks at him like he's their grandson. This

25:47

is the veto. Everyone in their fifties

25:49

looks at him as their son. And if you're

25:51

in your thirties or your forties, you're watching

25:54

your cousin or your younger cousin who

25:56

was born when you were eighteen, and

25:58

you've watched him grow up your whole life. I think you know,

26:00

I grew up in Freehold, New Jersey, Jersey Shore,

26:02

Like I'm not saying, I know a bunch of people like Tommy

26:04

DeVito, but when you grow up up in New Jersey,

26:08

there's a lot of Italian Americans and those families

26:10

that go generations that have all the cousins

26:12

in the pregame tailgate and they live and die

26:14

with football. But there's also that delicious

26:17

Sunday pasta dinner that you will not miss

26:19

on Sunday night, Like that's a

26:21

real thing. And here's Tommy DeVito representing

26:23

those folks and doing it and his hometown

26:26

team, and.

26:28

It seems like he hasn't reached that point

26:30

where he's he's an exciting

26:33

story and no one's like, there's

26:36

you know, there's no one's.

26:38

That was my fear. I thought there would be a lot of

26:40

a all right enough

26:42

with to the Vito thing. B all

26:45

right, it's kind of becoming condescending now

26:47

and now it's a parody. And maybe last

26:50

night, when when Stillado shows up with that suit

26:52

and that hat, maybe it did veer towards that.

26:55

But they're leaning into it and like embracing

26:57

it in a way that makes it all okay for us

26:59

to have fun with it too.

27:01

Yeah. I remember very specifically

27:03

my grandfather my Chinese grandfather loves

27:06

and when Sandy was a thing, he

27:09

was all on board. And then suddenly he switched

27:11

and he was like, he's a sloppy player. I don't like

27:13

him. He's not as good.

27:14

What do you think that is because he leaned into the

27:17

the I don't know.

27:19

I think it was like he became too big. It

27:21

was just too much of a story. And I don't

27:23

feel like that's the case right now with de Vito

27:26

so very exciting. Yeah,

27:29

he's it's a fun thing

27:31

to talk about.

27:33

Can we break down shown Stillado interview real

27:35

quick? Like this is like you know on Howard Stern they

27:37

have the after show, the post show, and

27:39

it's usually like John him

27:41

and Ronnie and and Richard and

27:43

sal they start discussing it and Jad the

27:46

post show of that interview,

27:49

he mentioned he's going into the Italian

27:51

American Sports Hall of Fame

27:54

in Chicago. Now he is an

27:56

agent now granted he played

27:59

a couple of seasons at Marris and then

28:01

the Area League has

28:03

anyone While we've been doing this, done a little research

28:05

on this building slash Hall

28:08

of Honors.

28:09

All right, so I've pulled up some information.

28:11

Most important, I think when you go to the

28:14

National Italian American Sports Hall

28:16

of Fame. You scroll down the website

28:18

just a little and it says new website

28:20

coming in twenty twenty three. All right,

28:22

guys, it's December of twenty twenty

28:24

three.

28:24

You gotta get it.

28:27

All right.

28:27

So the forty fifth Annual Gala

28:29

an induction ceremony. The other members

28:32

of the twenty twenty three inductees

28:34

include Mike Rizzo, sports executive

28:37

for Washington Nationals, Louis

28:39

Scrippa Junior, who was just listed as

28:41

sports endurance, Mario

28:44

Massa, who's a bachi player. Ed

28:47

Kelly, who's the former superintendent

28:49

of the Chicago Parks District.

28:53

Yeah, it would be irish

28:55

Ed Kelly.

28:55

Okay, go on.

28:57

He's the very first regional inductee. But

28:59

so I was looking at these names, and I was like, Okay,

29:02

I don't know. These aren't like blowing

29:04

my socks off. But I'm looking at actual

29:07

members who are in already. And

29:11

here are some of the names. Mario

29:13

Andretti, race car Dragon, Brian

29:15

Boitano, figure skater.

29:17

Let's play a different game. Let's play a different game. You're

29:19

going alphabetical, I name a name. You

29:22

tell me if they've been on there. All right,

29:25

I'm going to start Mike

29:27

Piazza. Yes,

29:30

yes, Piazza made it. Jason,

29:32

you give one.

29:35

I have to say, I'm I'm very happy

29:38

I'm the one looking them up and not guessing them.

29:41

How about we stick

29:43

with with football. Vince Lombardi?

29:45

Oh yeah, oh yeah Lombardi.

29:46

I'll stick with football too. How about Vince Ferragamo.

29:49

F Vince Ferragamo played

29:51

for the Los Angeles Rams, took him

29:53

to a Super Bowl.

29:55

He's not Oh yes, yes, yeah,

29:57

yes, sorry sorry, yeah, yeah.

30:00

He's How about how about Dan

30:03

Pastorini, like quarterback for the

30:05

Oilers. Oh yeah, Jason,

30:07

give me some more.

30:08

About Tony Siragusa.

30:11

The late great. This is

30:13

definitely in there, do you, s

30:17

irr Yes,

30:20

He's built that place. We

30:25

have to have that's a posthumous entry.

30:27

We have to have the ghosts get in there.

30:29

That's absurd. You can be one of these

30:31

guys who gets the media

30:33

members, who champions the guys for all

30:35

the same cases.

30:37

Long after they're passing. Yes, belongs

30:40

to that, but like I love that Sean Stillado

30:43

is in that hall as he should be. Uh.

30:45

The other point, and I sure hope

30:48

NFL Media puts this tweet out

30:50

there as a as a viral video. When

30:53

he's talking about his dual

30:55

closets, one of them is

30:57

cedar, the other is walking

31:00

thirty custom suits and he has to

31:03

maintain a six pack because he

31:05

doesn't want to out grow the

31:07

suits. Gentlemen, the

31:09

floor is yours. Aaron he lost.

31:12

I looked him up, just like to get an image

31:15

of him, and if you look up

31:17

his name, one of the first images

31:19

that comes up is him. It looks like from college.

31:22

He's he's built, he's

31:24

in shape, Like I can see that. Yeah,

31:28

and look, if I had thirty custom suits,

31:30

I would want to be able to wear them for the rest of

31:32

my life. So yeah, I'm on

31:35

board with that.

31:36

Jason.

31:38

The U.

31:40

Is Phileen's basement still, yeah,

31:42

he said.

31:43

Leans, So he said Fileens, but not Fileen's

31:45

basement. Because if the jumping is phi

31:47

Lean's the men's store and Philein's

31:49

basement the woman's store,

31:52

I wonder if because he's like I go to I want to fight. My

31:54

mom worked at phi Leans, and I'm

31:56

like, oh my god. Everything he was saying words

31:58

that sounded so good out of his mouth like

32:00

that just I was hungry listening to him

32:03

because I just think of like meatballs

32:05

and par and like you're like you know and parm when

32:07

he's talking. But the way he said Phileins

32:10

is fileings and filing's basement. Are they linked?

32:14

Yes? I don't know if filings

32:16

in particular as Men's where I

32:19

feel like I went to filings with my mom in

32:21

the mall, Like I don't think it.

32:23

Was a so Silens might have been the sort of filings

32:25

basement might have been their version of like ADJX

32:28

or like Marshall's. All right, one

32:30

last thing. If

32:33

you're a prospective college kid,

32:35

do you not want to at least take the meeting? You

32:37

know, like all these agents come in

32:39

and they're all basically saying, for three percent, I'm gonna

32:42

get you the most money possible. I'm gonna wake up ey day thinking

32:44

about how I'm gonna get you more money and we're gonna

32:46

do great things in marketing? Do

32:49

you not take the meeting with what Seaan Stellato

32:51

has done to maximize Tommy DeVito in the New

32:54

York market. Jason, your thoughts.

32:56

If you're the dad and you see

32:58

how much airtime the dad is getting,

33:00

I think if you if you

33:03

fancy yourself a TV superstar,

33:05

you might push your son in his direction.

33:09

Aaron, Yeah.

33:11

The only thing I would think that

33:14

might make me second guess it is how

33:17

many agents get this much like

33:20

attention, Like is that something where you might be

33:22

like, you know, of.

33:23

Course that's an absurd thing. Of

33:25

course, of course the biggest red flag.

33:27

Yeah, like change you way, it's

33:30

a huge red flag. Oh

33:33

no, I don't know real quick.

33:35

In closing on that whole thing. Like,

33:38

guys, I didn't even realize they have a Christmas Day

33:40

game, Like they have a game in New Orleans,

33:42

So this show goes to New Orleans, like Stilada

33:45

will be there, like he's gonna be dressed

33:47

in Florida leze this weekend, like he's gonna

33:49

be down Bourbon Street they want to and

33:52

then Eagles Christmas?

33:54

Are you serious?

33:55

So the best

33:57

is as he said Sinatra, the best

33:59

is yet to come. Come baby,

34:02

Uh, it's the best is yet to come with

34:04

Sean Stillado, I am so happy for I'm

34:07

glad that. I don't know if he looks

34:09

at it as like like you know, the Mannings

34:11

were making fun of him, that wasn't laughing with

34:13

that was laughing at I don't think he gives

34:15

a shit, like all right, Elion Payton. They've

34:17

never met me, so I don't care, which I kind

34:19

of respect to. That

34:22

was a great interview,

34:24

and on any other week I'd say, all right, let's

34:26

wrap, let me do a little playoff picture talk. Before

34:30

Sean Stillado became a national

34:33

household name. We booked the guests that

34:35

I thought was a great get in itself, and

34:37

it's Vikings defensive back Josh

34:40

Mattelis, who has played thirteen different positions

34:42

and is fresh off a game in which

34:44

his Vikings won three to nothing and stayed

34:46

alive in the NFC playoff picture. I

34:48

love Josh's story. Their PR

34:51

guy, Sam Newton, is a friend of mine. Sam's like, Josh

34:53

is a great dude, and I'm like, eh,

34:55

we don't really do player guests, Like I'll

34:57

be honest with you. I get a lot more out of

35:00

coaches and gms who have nothing to lose,

35:02

and in a lot of cases, media members

35:04

and celebrities who just want to play

35:06

can usually be either really buttoned up or

35:09

cliche. And He's like, now Josh

35:11

is the leader, Like, get Josh on.

35:14

I'm so happy to have Josh mattel

35:16

Us because I am excited for this interview.

35:18

The more stuff I watch of him online,

35:21

the more I know we're going to hit it off. So with no

35:23

further ado, let's get to our second interview.

35:26

Vikings defensive back Josh mattell

35:28

Us. Josh, welcome to the pod.

35:30

What's up? What's up? Peter? Thank you for having me. Oh

35:33

yeah, man, it's been some

35:35

months since that happened.

35:36

You know, I've been getting a lot of questions about that interview,

35:40

and you know, just to see, you know, where this has gone,

35:42

where this has gone, and you know, for people to

35:44

really see, you know, my impact on this team.

35:46

It is a great feeling, all right.

35:48

So you're drafted in twenty twenty and

35:50

you're playing special teams for the most part.

35:52

You're a two team, two time captain

35:55

this year though career high thirteen

35:57

starts, and you're one of only two players

35:59

in the NFL to have at least a sack,

36:02

one interception, and four forced fumbles.

36:05

You're doing it all. We're gonna get to the positions that you're

36:07

playing. But you had to wait

36:09

for this opportunity. I mean, you weren't a first round

36:11

pick. Talk about your perseverance and knowing

36:13

that your time would come.

36:16

Yeah, man, I would say a lot of

36:18

it is just the type of person I am.

36:20

I'm very relentless. You

36:22

know. I even talked to the team about this in

36:25

camp.

36:25

You know, I think this league is built on your confidence

36:28

and your resiliency to get back

36:30

when it knocks you down. And you

36:32

know, for me, it happened very early. Drafted,

36:34

but then cut, you know a month later, you

36:36

know at the camp

36:38

cut dates, brought back on the team,

36:41

on Peace squad, you know, finally get a shot on

36:43

special teams, you know, having to make my way through there.

36:45

Then you know, come in, you know, they draft

36:47

guys, you know, for my spot, having

36:50

to fight through that.

36:50

Then we get a whole new coaching staff.

36:52

So you know, there's always been that sense of,

36:54

you know, having to fight for my spot, and

36:57

but I just knew, you know, I just had to break through. And

36:59

I always told myself, you know, once I get that one

37:01

opportunity, that one shot, I'm gonna make sure

37:04

that, you know, they can never take me off the field. And

37:06

lo and behold, you know, I've set myself up, you

37:08

know for exactly where I wanted to be.

37:11

You know, there's there's this this quote

37:13

that I think John Harbaugh uses

37:16

a lot. Nobody cares work

37:18

harder, and it's you know, and I tweeted

37:20

that out with an image yesterday, and the image

37:22

was from the Fox broadcast and it says, Josh

37:24

mctelli's positions played this season. I'm gonna

37:26

listen them. Strong safety, free safety,

37:29

left cornerback, right cornerback, slot cornerback,

37:31

left inside linebacker, right in side linebacker,

37:33

middle linebacker, left outside linebacker, right

37:35

outside linebacker, right defensive

37:37

end, left defensive tackle.

37:40

You've played thirteen different defensive

37:42

positions. Is that something

37:44

that you keep track of? Or it's just hey, where if

37:46

you need me, coach, put me in?

37:47

Yeah?

37:48

For me, it's just plays. It's the line up

37:50

here and do this. You know, it's not even really

37:53

like positions for me. You know, they call it. We're all

37:55

exes, so it doesn't really matter, you

37:57

know, in our room. But when you look at it on paper,

38:00

it sounds kind of crazy. But then when you look at

38:02

the tape, you know, it kind of looks crazy too.

38:03

So just what we do?

38:05

You know, it works for us. I'm just

38:07

you know, I would just tell people I'm a football player,

38:09

you know. I just want to play football. You know, I think I'm really good

38:12

at it. It doesn't matter where you put me. I just want

38:14

to make game changing plays.

38:16

You know.

38:16

It's it's it's interesting because Flores comes

38:18

in and a lot of you guys were all there last year.

38:20

There's been a couple additions. The rookie pace has been

38:22

a revelation. But that Vikings

38:24

defense. When you hold a team to zero points

38:27

and you keep your team in it with all the different quarterback

38:29

changes and win three nothing, It's

38:31

easy to look at the defensive coordinator and then you look

38:33

at the players on the field. You and Flora

38:35

seem to have a great chemistry and seem to speak

38:38

the same language. He is high on intellect,

38:41

high on being prepared, and also he'll

38:43

throw a lot of stuff at you. Has

38:45

it been just a sensational time learning

38:47

from this guy, And what is the Flora's effect

38:49

had on you as a player.

38:51

Yeah, I mean I would say it's been life

38:53

changing.

38:54

I think you know, his his impact,

38:57

you know, not only for this team but for me in general,

38:59

has been huge.

39:01

From the first time I met him.

39:02

One of the first things I said about him was just you can

39:05

see the experience who was in out of him. He

39:07

walks through the through these holes and

39:10

I think, you know, just his uh, his

39:12

intellect and you know, the way he cares himself

39:14

and the way he respects the game. I think

39:16

has uh inspired our whole team, you know,

39:18

especially on the defensive side. It's definitely

39:20

inspired me. If

39:22

I ever wanted to coach, you know, I would want to be a coach

39:25

just like him, you know.

39:26

Uh.

39:26

I think he has a great way of just you know, inspiring

39:28

guys and getting guys ready to go,

39:31

you know, teaching the fundamentals and

39:33

what it takes to actually win football games.

39:35

And I think he's he's doing a great job, and you

39:38

know, we're lucky to have him.

39:39

I've mentioned this Ivan Pace already three times in this

39:41

interview. But when you have thirteen tackles and you

39:43

are all over the field and you're an undrafted guy

39:46

doing that in your first year, A lot of

39:48

the a lot of the listeners this podcast don't

39:50

watch the Vikings every week. They've never heard of Ivan Pace

39:52

Junior. When he walked into camp as an undrafted

39:54

guy to Cincinnati. Did you know he'd be leading

39:56

all rookies and tackles. A couple of months later, did you have a

39:58

feeling.

39:59

Uh, after a week of the practice,

40:01

I did. You. You know, he

40:04

come in, he's a quiet kid. He

40:06

was really to himself.

40:07

You know, I think you know, it really was just the fact that

40:09

he was mad that he went undrafted. You know, he had

40:12

that chip on the shoulder, so you know, he didn't talk to

40:14

anybody. He was just by his work. But

40:16

the minute he stepped on the football field and we put on cleats

40:19

and he ran around, you instantly knew he

40:21

was going to show up popped on the tape

40:23

instantly, A guy who loves football,

40:25

hall who loves to be around the ball. And you

40:28

know, I think me and him we hit it

40:30

off because you know, we have that same dog mindset.

40:32

You know, it doesn't matter what size we are,

40:34

how fast we are, you know, we're gonna find a way to

40:37

make an impact. And he's been used

40:39

for this team and I'm excited to see where

40:41

he goes. You know, he's been growing a lot, especially

40:43

in these past couple of weeks, you know, having to step

40:46

up and call the plays. So you know, I think

40:49

his his his career is going to go in a

40:51

great trajectory if you know, he keeps it

40:53

up and he keeps doing the work that he's doing.

40:55

Tell me really quick about the celebration

40:58

you guys had in the keg stand. I saw you.

41:00

You were the one who was disney walking. That was me in college.

41:02

I was like forty four

41:04

with the captain's logo. That's me. That's Peter Striker

41:06

twenty years ago. Uh is that kind of stuff

41:09

orchestrated? When do you work on a keg stand

41:11

the celebration.

41:13

Yeah, we have one of our dB rookie

41:15

DB's Najie Thompson, our special

41:17

Team's gunner. He's

41:19

he's a celebration coordinator.

41:21

About I would say like eight weeks ago,

41:24

you know, when we were like two or fours, you know,

41:26

trying to make our way out.

41:28

Uh, Flow appointed him as coordinators.

41:31

That's an extual conversation. Florus is

41:33

like, you know what, Naji, You've earned that title.

41:35

You were going to be the celebration courter.

41:37

That's exactly how you said it.

41:38

And every every day

41:41

before the game, the meeting before the game, that Saturday

41:43

night, Friday night, whatever day we play

41:45

on, we

41:47

have a lot of time for him to come and

41:49

talk to us and show us the celebrations, and you know,

41:52

we talked through them. You know, we practice

41:54

some however you want to do it. But yeah, we

41:56

definitely, uh, we definitely

41:59

plan those and they're not just something

42:01

we just think of right on the spot.

42:02

They all have meaning to it and

42:05

that means something to us.

42:07

Looking at these stats and Josh mctellis

42:09

number forty four for the Vikings, I

42:11

see the leaders of quarterback

42:13

pressures from defensive back position. You lead the

42:16

NFL with twenty three. The next

42:18

closest number is fifteen.

42:20

You have eight more quarterback pressures than

42:23

any other defensive back in the league. Talk

42:25

about getting to the quarterback and rushing off

42:27

the edge, and how about you enjoy doing that?

42:29

Oh? I love it.

42:31

I said, in another life,

42:33

I would be an outside linebacker and just

42:35

rush the pass it for a living. I think it's

42:38

an art and you know, it's definitely

42:40

appreciated. You know, that's why they get paid the big bucks.

42:43

You know.

42:43

Me as a dB, I always

42:45

admired it, you know, and this year, finally getting

42:47

a chance to do it is something I definitely

42:50

took pride in and you know, it

42:52

feels you know, just it's a different

42:55

feeling. You know, you could get the guy down, you know, save

42:57

your dbs, you know from having to cover too

42:59

long, and you know, just impact the game in

43:01

a different way. And you know, being with guys

43:03

like the Neil and DJ Wannham,

43:05

you know, you get a lot of tension taking away and you've

43:07

got I have of pace, you know, running through God's

43:10

faces. You know, it's a you got to too coming

43:12

off the edge. You know, it's just a lot

43:14

of a lot of a lot of guys moving around it and I

43:16

just sneak my way in, you know, make an impact that

43:18

way. Yeah, but I loved it, and you

43:20

know, I'm excited to see where you know, we keep building

43:23

this thing all.

43:24

Right as we're rapping because you got meetings.

43:26

I love it. We don't often do the players

43:28

you should do coaches and gms on this podcast.

43:30

I love that we have a current player who's actually a

43:33

huge part of this Saturday game that you guys have

43:36

talk about you where'd you grow up?

43:39

Talk about your household growing up, and then maybe

43:41

your path to the NFL just a little bit, and

43:44

shed some light on the people that helped you get here.

43:46

Yeah. So I'm originally

43:49

from Noo, Miami, Florida.

43:51

UH.

43:51

Born and raised there. I grew

43:53

up with a single mom.

43:54

Uh My dad was in my life

43:57

a little bit growing up, and I

43:59

have six I'm the oldest

44:01

of six kids. So I always really been

44:04

that you know, leader in that type

44:06

of role, you know, having a take on a lot. Like

44:09

I said, my mom has four kids on her side,

44:11

so I was always always in the house

44:14

with three of the kids, having to you know, be

44:16

the oldest male in the house. So

44:18

that was something that always you know, just

44:21

prime me for a position of leadership. And

44:24

you know, we moved a lot as a kid. My mom had me

44:27

when she was in high school, so you could just imagine

44:29

the struggle she had, and you

44:31

know, it was just a lot of resiliency,

44:33

you know, a lot of having to stand back up on my feet,

44:36

knowing, you know, I've been knocked down, and a

44:38

lot of you know, working hard. When I don't see the

44:40

light, I don't see the the and I

44:43

can't picture, you know, what it would look like. But I

44:45

know it's going to be there if I just keep working hard

44:48

and I go start

44:50

playing football, fall in love with the game, go

44:53

to high school and playing running back. You

44:55

know, we need a guy to play safety

44:57

in a seven on seven game, in a seven on seven

44:59

tournament, I go play safety.

45:01

Fall in love with that kind of like how I'm doing.

45:03

I just put myself in a position and just play football,

45:05

you know, in it out later and you know

45:08

I figured that out, you know, end up getting a scholarship

45:10

to Michigan going up there.

45:12

Time out. You get a scholarship to Michigan. What's your

45:14

mother's reaction when she finds out you getting

45:16

I mean to Michigan is one of the top institutions

45:18

in the world.

45:19

Crazy. My mom was so excited.

45:22

That was one of the biggest things, you know, as

45:25

a child for me was you know, finding a way to get a scholarship.

45:28

I had actually a couple of academic scholarships,

45:30

you know, before I had my first football scholarship,

45:33

so she was excited for those two. So you know, it was

45:35

kind of a win win, and

45:38

uh, you know, I get to Michigan. I

45:40

actually played my first my

45:42

started my first game at linebacker, you

45:44

know, trying to just fit fit in, you know, trying to follow

45:47

my freshman year, they moving back to safety.

45:50

Playing three years there and come

45:52

out of me, my wife, Uh, at

45:55

the end of college, going into the league,

45:57

and uh, you know we have our we have our

46:00

son, and it's just you know, for me, it's

46:02

just been a lot of a

46:04

lot of successes in my life, you know, off

46:06

the field, that's just been you

46:08

know, just a result of hard work and putting

46:11

my head down, you know, doing the right things, living

46:13

the right way, you know, treating people the right way.

46:16

And you know, I think as

46:18

a player and just as a person,

46:20

you know, I just want to shed light.

46:21

I want to give light.

46:22

You know, I want to be that driving force for somebody,

46:25

you know, anyway I can help.

46:27

And you know that's just how I am with the team,

46:29

That's just how I am as a person.

46:31

I look at you as not only an ambassador

46:34

of North Florida or North Miami and

46:36

what you've done at Michigan. But like it's

46:38

kind of cool to now have this feelings like,

46:40

hey, Vikings, put us anywhere, put us

46:42

against any team, we'll figure it out. Take

46:44

our quarterback, we'll figure it out. Have our

46:47

free agent running back that was our superstar

46:49

b somewhere else, we'll figure it out.

46:52

From the Zilf family, you know,

46:54

Ziggy and the Will family from Ziggy on

46:56

to Mark to down to the GM to

46:58

the coach. Do you feel like this Vikings team

47:01

is something special and you guys can go on a bit of a run

47:03

right now.

47:04

One hundred percent. I love our organization.

47:06

I think the top to bottom they're doing

47:08

great things and it's definitely shown

47:10

within the players and.

47:12

Within just the culture of this team.

47:15

I say, you know, we were voted number one in

47:17

the best organization, and I would say I

47:20

firmly believe that that's true. You know, we have great

47:22

we have great leadership here and I

47:25

think you know it's going to show in this month of

47:27

December. You know where football matters the

47:29

most. You know, we're going to show our true our

47:31

true characteristics and then the

47:34

true the true value of this team will

47:36

showing this month. You know, as we know, had

47:38

to make the playoffs.

47:40

Number forty four captains

47:42

Cee on the chest. We're all gonna be watching Saturday.

47:45

You're going to be out there super

47:47

excited. Dude. It is great to get to know

47:49

you. I'm a huge fan, having not known you,

47:51

just knowing your game and your story and

47:54

this was awesome. Thank you, josh I appreciate

47:56

it.

47:57

Thank you, Peter. I'm a big fan of you as well. Say

47:59

hi, did accrue for me? I want to try to do

48:02

this offseason meet you guys.

48:04

It'll be fun, no doubt, dude.

48:06

If you want to host the show during the off season, we'll

48:08

throw you in the host chair. You could sit in for three hours. We'd

48:11

love to have you.

48:11

I would love that. I would loved it.

48:14

Just another hurdle you'll be able to leave. Josh

48:17

Mittelis, Minnesota Vikings

48:19

have a great game on Saturday, and we'll be watching you

48:21

the rest of the way.

48:22

Thank you guys.

48:31

All right, Josh mttelis a great young

48:33

man. Really dug him. I bring

48:35

back Aaron and Jason. This is what we do now. We just do

48:37

a PostScript on the interview. Had

48:40

you heard of Mittellis before today? Yeah.

48:42

I went to college

48:45

in Minnesota, so I have a soft spot for the

48:47

Vikings, and I always like to keep

48:49

them in mind, even if I'm not, you know, actively

48:52

rooting for them while I root for the Bills. But

48:55

I remember, like I loved Questi when he came

48:57

on. He was one of my favorite interviews we had.

48:59

And I have a couple of friends who are huge Vikings

49:01

fans, and I remember like during that interview,

49:04

texting them and just being like, your guys, is you're

49:06

in good hands. This guy's amazing.

49:08

And he said he was on that interview saying the one

49:10

guy to watch for is Mattellus, and I'll be honest, he

49:13

could have gone anywhere. I was like, okay, he gave me like a special

49:15

teams guy. I didn't realize he was going to ball out and

49:17

be like the leader of Flora's defense.

49:20

And I love that.

49:21

Today we had two separate, two

49:23

separate interviews, two separate teams,

49:26

both of them talking about players coming

49:28

from These are not first round picks, these

49:30

are not second round picks. These are guys who

49:32

who got drafted and then got cut

49:35

or as as Sean was saying, there needs

49:37

to be a day floor of the draft because he was in

49:40

a UDFA. I mean like that, that's

49:42

amazing to have two separate players I think

49:44

making a huge impact that

49:46

are not draft darlings

49:49

or anything. I love that.

49:50

You know, not to get dramatic

49:52

about it, but when Mittellis is telling his story

49:56

and it's like I was the oldest

49:59

male in my household, and my

50:01

wife and my mother had me when I was

50:03

when she was in high school, in high school.

50:07

It never it never stops amazing me what

50:09

people overcome, It never stops

50:11

amazing me. And I can only imagine I got emotional

50:14

when he sayed it. But like, what do

50:16

you think his mom says when he comes home and he's like, I've

50:18

got a scholarship offer to go to the University

50:20

of Michigan, which is one

50:23

of the blue chip universities in the world, And

50:25

like, this kid put it together

50:27

and did it, of course with the support of his family. But

50:29

like it's an you can

50:32

never and that story never

50:34

gets old, and it's an age old story

50:36

of the player emerging from

50:38

you know, circumstances that might might

50:41

not be ideal, and yet it

50:43

was ideal. It was ideal for him, and it was ideal,

50:45

and they never pitied each other and they made it happen.

50:47

Like I love that stuff.

50:49

I also love you know. You were asking him,

50:52

like what'd your mom say when you got the scholarship

50:54

to Michigan. He's like, well, I already had two academics,

50:57

like chefs, so you know this wasn't

50:59

as big a deal. Baby, No, it was amazing, and

51:04

everyone can sort of give that mind of

51:06

like, oh, well, when I've been knocked down and this support

51:09

the thing has happened, I get back

51:11

up and I, you know, try again for him

51:13

to be able to say one

51:15

of six kids, single

51:18

mom. You know, she was not

51:20

even in college or age when she

51:22

had me. And then I was drafted and cut

51:24

and then I'm watching the team draft more guys

51:27

at my position. He plays thirteen

51:29

positions or whatever, like, yeah,

51:31

he's he was and he was

51:33

so nice and kid.

51:36

Yeah, I want to be friends with him.

51:38

Joking with you before the interview and everything.

51:40

I know he was busting my chops. Let's

51:44

let's watch Joshuma tell us this weekend. That's

51:46

the early game on the Saturday

51:49

slate. So here is a PSA public

51:51

service announcement for all the listeners to

51:54

remember that there's football

51:56

on Saturday, and it's not just one game at night.

51:59

It is football on Saturday, and

52:01

it's all day long. It's actually on

52:04

the NFL network exclusively

52:06

and on NFL Plus. So those games

52:09

Saturday one eastern ten am

52:11

Pacific, Josh Mattelis and

52:13

the Minnesota Vikings will

52:15

take on Jake Browning Chase Brown

52:18

and the Cincinnati Bengals

52:21

in Cincinnati. That's at

52:23

one. Then if you're

52:25

on the East coast at four point thirty, you've

52:27

got Steelers at Colts. Those

52:30

are four playoff hungary

52:32

teams, and if the playoffs were today, all three

52:34

of those four, the Bengals would be out, would be

52:37

in it. And then at night Broncos,

52:39

one of the hottest teams in football against the Lions,

52:41

who just stubbed their foot again for

52:44

the second time in three weeks, losing

52:47

an inexplicable divisional game, this

52:49

one to the Bears. The Broncos and Lions

52:52

is at night at eight fifteen. So Saturday

52:56

Vikings Bengals early one of those

52:58

like you're not going to remember, and then all of a sudden

53:00

you're going to see tweets and people are gonna be texting you about

53:02

the game. I'm reminding you Saturday,

53:04

one o'clock NFL Network, Steelers

53:07

Colts right after, and then Broncos Lions,

53:09

and then Sunday.

53:11

The Saturday games there, none of them

53:14

are nothing. Every other team, they're all

53:16

good games. Five of them are seven and six,

53:18

and then the Lions are nine and four.

53:24

So every single team there as a winning record.

53:26

Every single one of them is in the playoff hunt.

53:28

That's wild Saturday.

53:31

Then Saturday ends and you're like, all right, Sunday

53:35

one o'clock Giants Saints is a huge

53:37

game now, and we have Sean

53:40

Stillado, the agent of Tommy DeVito.

53:42

His client Tommy is playing. Okay,

53:44

everything's gonna be about Shan Stillado. The

53:47

rest of the one o'clock schedule, Jets Dolphins

53:50

becomes interesting, Chiefs,

53:52

Patriots, eh, Texans,

53:54

Titans gee. And then

53:56

the four o'clock window.

53:59

I'm looking at it. My phone's going off. Someone's calling

54:01

me. I'm shutting that off.

54:02

Sorry, blowing you off. Whatever that was.

54:05

Four o'clock window. Forty

54:07

nine Ers, Cardinals, maybe, Rams, Commanders

54:10

Yeah, oh, Bills, yeah,

54:12

Boys, Bills, all

54:14

right, great, great one, and

54:18

then Ravens Jaguars Sunday night, awesome,

54:20

and then Eagles Okay, great, great, great

54:22

three days of football Saturday,

54:26

Sunday, Monday. Yeah,

54:30

guys, that's the pod.

54:33

Stellato, Mattelis, Schreger,

54:36

Wan Kaufman, English.

54:38

There we go.

54:39

I love today's podcast.

54:42

If they win, and I want to hear

54:44

from the listeners and the viewers and all this stuff.

54:47

If they win, do

54:49

we want to have Sean Stillado on it again next week?

54:53

You remember how we used to do, like we

54:56

talk about White Lotus every week when

54:58

that was on or something. I just want Sean to come on.

55:00

I'm like, I don't know what is he.

55:01

Going to talk? Like?

55:02

Tell us about the hotel in

55:05

New Orleans? What was that like?

55:06

Like?

55:06

Where did you put your suits in the how?

55:10

Yes?

55:10

Exactly? Do you take only

55:12

two of them with you? I don't know. Yeah,

55:15

Sean could come on and talk about anything.

55:17

Do you want of the beauty of this? As we wrap, I

55:20

had a whole episode dedicated

55:23

to the offensive off sides

55:26

penalty with research with a guest

55:28

lined up with all sorts

55:30

of data. The NFL moves so

55:33

quickly no one gives about

55:35

the off sides from Kadarius Tony.

55:37

By Tuesday morning, we're already on to

55:40

the following week, and that just was another game.

55:42

It was another game because everyone got upset this week,

55:44

and there's all sorts of crazy stuff. So the Bill's beat

55:46

the cheeks, big deal. Onto the next and

55:49

onto the next week.

55:50

Go.

55:51

I had a great time with you guys. Aaron Wan Kaufman,

55:53

Chason English to everybody from

55:55

the iHeart and NFL side, I'll just

55:57

make one point. We've been talking about the

56:00

super Bowl and you know, to me

56:02

in Vegas and who came in. If

56:05

the Cowboys freaking make the super Bowl, all

56:07

bets are off on this being one

56:09

of the craziest weeks and one of the craziest

56:12

and they look like a super

56:14

Bowl team. Maybe we'll discuss that next week if

56:16

they get past the Bills. We don't want to jump too soon,

56:19

but a Cowboys and Cowboys

56:21

Nation in Vegas for the super

56:23

Bowl with Tony Romo on the call. Yep,

56:26

that's a possibility right now. I'm believing. But

56:29

we'll get to that next week if they beat the Bills. All right,

56:31

guys, till next week, Thanks for listening,

56:33

Tell your friends, share the YouTube, do

56:35

all that stuff. As

56:38

the Great Sean Stillato once said, the

56:40

best is yet to come. The

56:51

Season with Peter Schrager is a production

56:53

of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio.

56:56

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio

56:59

app, Apple Podcasts, wherever

57:01

you get your podcasts.