Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Shiel Kapadia. Today, we are talking with ESPN's Mina Kimes about all things Seahawks. This went in a number of different directions. Me and Billy, you know, when you get around me and Billy, you don't know what emotions are going to come up, what direction it's going to go in. So Billy Gill, Mina Kimes, let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll talk Seahawks. all right we are back here on the ringer nfl show with our special guest mina kimes mina how we doing i'm good yeah yeah i it's so funny to see billy here like old world new many worlds colliding uh no this is a lot of fun i was telling him earlier that his hair looks great and he shouldn't wear a hat as much. Well, you know, right? His hair does look great. I think so. Yeah, he does look good. Billy, you were wondering, I think, if Mina is like enjoying this week. Like, do you enjoy having the Seahawks in the Super Bowl? Yeah, is this a big week for you? Here's the thing, Mina. I feel like I knew you before. You were a massive star. And now you're a star. You're the talk of the NFL, ESPN media darling. Everyone wants time with Mina. You're on all the shows. I saw you on NFL Live earlier today. You're everywhere. Every week you're traveling to the games. So I was wondering, like, first of all, thank you for taking the time to sit with us here at the Ringer and give us, you know, your valuable time. But what do you do? Is this a good week for you with the Seahawks? I feel like people want you even more now than they would in normal circumstances. I don't know if I'm – I guess there aren't that many Seattle natives or Seattle fans or Seattle people nationally. That's how Sheil and I are friends. Yeah, but they're not grabbing Sheil. I know that's right. No offense to Sheil. There's like you, Kenny Mayne, Joel McHale. Yeah. Andy from Parks and Rec. You're putting them in her eye. Well, I would say outside of the front office, pretty much everybody from your time covering the Seahawks is gone in terms of the coaching staff. Yes. There's not a lot of... Not that the game management guy is still there. Ryan Ayers. Crazy, yeah. He came up big for him. So, yeah. But I'm definitely getting asked a lot about the team. But in a different way, to your point. Like, I'm getting asked, like, how do you feel? I never got asked, how do I feel? Yeah. What's your emotional state? So, how do you feel? What's your emotional state now? I feel good. I've really loved watching this team this season. I've really enjoyed the Mike McDonald era in Seattle. I know everybody's like kind of taking this moment to regard how surprising it is that these two teams are in the Super Bowl. But I don't feel shocked that Seattle is here. There's things about the season that surprised me. But like, you know, I think there's like this was already a defense that was top 10 last year on track to being one of the best defense in the league. So it's not surprising that they were able to carry them for so much of the season. Yeah, I don't know what the moment was this season where I'm like, the Seahawks maybe could get to the Super Bowl, you know, because certainly not before this season I didn't think they could get there. But then as their defense played well and it was like this is wide open, maybe they actually could get to the Super Bowl. I think that's it, though. For both teams, for both Seattle. For me, it was less like, wow, these teams are amazing, although I think the Seahawks have amazing attributes. And New England, the offense was during the ride of the season. But it was more looking around the league and thinking anyone could win right now Or at least 20 teams could win. And then maybe like 15 teams to win. And then why not Seattle? Why not New England? I would say like, you know, about 75% of the way through the season. Okay. Where are you watching? Are you at the game? Sorry. Is the mic going to say? It's a little droopy. This doesn't usually happen. Yeah, I am actually not. I am going to be at SoFi Stadium because NFL Live is going to be live after the game. Wow. Because it's like a handoff. Because ESPN has the Super Bowl in LA next year. Right. Okay. So they're doing like a little. Okay. So you'll be watching with work, friends, colleagues on like a big screen? Or what's going on? I'll be watching with the NFL Live gang. And then Ben Solek and I are going to actually go live on my show at YouTube.com slash at MeanyKimes. The MeanyKimes show right after the game. Okay. And the NFL Live is on an hour after that. Okay. So it's going to be a long night. What's your preference for like watching big games that the Seahawks are involved in? Would you rather be alone? Are you with a select group? I know you used to watch it, right? You used to watch the bars and stuff back in the day. So this is a little bit of a sentimental turn, or I guess personal. But I was thinking, I was reflecting on the last, the Super Bowl, 48. I don't even remember what I did for 49. But for 48, I remember I had the opportunity to go, because I was already working on ESPN. And instead, I watched with my friends from Seattle who I've been watching with in New York for my old adult life. And it was like the best decision I ever made. Not going and covering it professionally. Watching with my friends. Yeah, one of my friends who I was with at the time passed away not long after that. And I'm like, I never saw it. When you started, I was like. I thought I was going somewhere, but I didn't know. I'm like someone's going to die. I'm going to cry. And then you were like, I was with my friends. I was about to say, thank God no one died. And one of them died. Well, one of the pictures from that game is one of my favorite pictures of him. So watch it with your friends. You'll never forget. What was your friend's name? Patrick. All right. Patrick. Yeah. I think that's a man. Sorry. I didn't mean to take it. No. It's good. So commercial. Yeah. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Interception happened, it was in New York. I watched at the same bar, it was freezing cold. There was a pig Took me a second to set in what happened I been at the bar like all day because we were like you know eating breakfast and stood up I think my husband then not my husband there at the time stood up zipped up my jacket It was like cold and snowy and just walked outside. I didn't say a word to anyone. I literally zipped up and I walked into the snow and walked like a mile in the snow. This is like I was I did on my phone. I had my phone, but it wasn't like social media like today. I feel like. And I just like, I was like, I don't want to talk to anyone or think about this for the next hour. And one of the nice things about that is I wasn't on TV back then. Yeah. So I didn't have to like, suffer. Think content right away. Yeah. I was like, I can just like, be in my feelings, touch grass. And obviously that game looms large over this one because it's the rematch. Wait, so how are you going to, okay, headed into this game, you are going to be going live after the game. So you may have to deal with that because we were talking before, like, when we wanted to discuss possible outcomes, what would be the best game? Bill does a live show on Netflix after Sunday Night Game, so he'll be doing one after the Super Bowl. So we were talking about what happens if the Patriots, like, win or what happens if they, like, blow it late at the end. Like, the fact, this whole, like, live world now, you have quite the range of emotions. Let's talk about Bill. Yeah, I also wanted to know if you were going to, like, respond to his text. We've gotten a lot of texts about this, obviously. Yeah. So Bill has been like, since the championship games ended, he's been a text with me and Danny Kelly. Just been lowering expectations. For himself? No, no. He is really trying to set this up. No one's picking up. No one's picking up. He's been like, I'm just happy to be here. This will be really disappointing for you guys. We're not supposed to win this game. And I'm like, I know what you're doing, Bill. I know what you're doing. You're trying to set expectations so that when you have to go live, if you lose, you can be like, you know, we were ahead of schedule. Young quarterback. It's a great season. Nobody, whatever, you know. And I'm not buying it. He wants to win. I believe in his heart of hearts thinks that they can win. Say it right now. Look at the camera and say, you're a liar. Bill Simmons, I don't believe you when you're setting these expectations low. I think it's deliberate. Yeah. I think that you want to be the underdog. Even this whole like Bill Belichick's down the Hall of Fame. It's all like New England against the world or whatnot. And I also add this. I'm sure that his pod gets live viewership. It's great regardless. I will say, Spin Zone Bill, I think more of your listeners will tune in if you lose. I'm just throwing that out there. I mean, that's undeniable. Right? That's absolutely true. Honestly, it might be the same for me. yes i think that's true too if we lose bill all of your listeners come over to youtube.com slash i mean it times and watch me shed these tears um but i do think he is he has my expectations are higher than his so well he is the you know creator of the nobody believes in us theory i know and it does feel like everybody is picking the seahawks but when the line's only four and a half i don't know that you know i i'm kind of on the fence about that can you be a nobody believes in us team when the line it's four and a half it's not like they're 10 point underdogs as uh i can attest to this personally because my the nfl live crew stepped in it when we all picked the texans uh and of course whenever a show goes all 508 on a team the screenshots of course the patriots immediately were like yes and the backstory on that is we legit do not talk about our picks beforehand. I wish we did, frankly. But the producers really like for us to be surprised if that happens. And we all thought we were being cute. We were all like, you know what? I'm going to pick underdog this week. But then Cardi B was like, nobody believed in us. Look at NFL Live. And Cardi, I love you. You were favorites to win that game. Wow. Everybody believed in you except our dumb show. Tell Cardi B, Cardi B, you're full of shit. Say it right now. I do love you. I don't think she's watching this. Billy, you were mentioning Mina's everywhere. But we've had her for 10 minutes, and she's gone right at Bill Simmons and Cardi B. Yeah, I mean. I feel, is that a nice job? That might be a nice job at us. Bill's been texting us. Drake's holding his luggage with the wrong hand, his shoulders. You're not, you know, people are hiding it. Will you respond during the game? In game, are you phoned down? No, I don't do that. I don't do that. I don't. I like that. I love that. Well, also, if I know somebody really loves a team, I do not celebrate. I wait a day. Okay. The cone of silence. Okay. 24-hour rule. I was in a group chat with a bunch of Niners fans, and we all had this for each other back when the Seahawks-Niners rivalry was so insane. Yeah. Hey, just give it a little time. I like that. Yeah. It's fine. Are you ready for Sam Darnold to be, like, a legend for your team? Yeah. Also, I would say, and Mike McDonald maybe being, he could just go down as, like, one of the best defensive coaches in NFL history. Are you ready for this new era of celebration? I feel like I saw somewhere that a defensive play caller has never won a... I think I read a tweet about that and couldn't verify it. I was like, let me do the mental math. That was the most tepid support of that ever. No, I did see that, too, and I couldn't verify it. I'm like, that doesn't sound right. Bill Belichick was technically, you know what I mean? Like, thinking about the middle of the Super Bowls, but then he put together the game plan. I don't know. It's like a little bit. Yeah. I mean, this is kind of, there's a lot of, it's like the coach of the year bowl, I think, between the mics. And Darnold, it's such a funny one because he's coming off of his best game of the season. But for the second half of the season, he really struggled. Yeah. And everyone has kind of forgotten that. I know. But I don't mean that in a personal, like, why is everybody like it? But more so like as an analyst, I can't go into this being like that's who he is. I don't know. Yeah. It could be the weeks 11 through 17, Sam Darnold. I don't know. But if he is my thesis on this game is if he is just above average they probably win I think that yeah Whereas May has to be spectacular I agree with that I leaned into the recency bias You so right You know like a month ago I like I don know about Sam Darnold in the playoffs And now I'm like, he's going to cook them. Like, he's going to play well in this game. I don't know. It just feels like watching him and watching Drake May. What's your line about? You had the line about quarterbacks, God. They believe in God. They think that, wasn't that you? I feel like you invented this. I had a line. No, Billy, you'll like this. It's good. My thesis on quarterbacks, this is really Russell Wilson inspired. Okay. Was that they either have to believe in God or believe they are God. Oh. But I would argue Sam Darnold is probably neither. Well, Billy and I have had that conversation. He seems normal. I don't know. Sam Darnold? He's not. Look into the camera. Look into the car. Sam Darnold doesn't believe in God. Where do you stand on God? Let us know. He is a legitimately, like, nice, pleasant, chill dude. Yeah, seems like a nice guy. Which is just not a common thing with quarterbacks. Yeah. May's a big guy guy. Yeah. He's also lovely. I did an event with him at his draft. And the now famous Ann Michael was there. It's Ann Michael, right? His wife. And he was absolutely adorable. He is like. We couldn't confirm or deny. He's like a golden retriever. She may have read a tweet about that. He doesn't know. This is one of the nicest quarterback matchups in recent history. Like two legit sweeties. Seems that way. Darnold seems normal. So normal. We had a conversation. Darnold and Bryce Young seemed like the only normal quarterback. Bryce Young is very— Is Bryce Young not normal? No, no, no. Bryce Young is really normal. I'm just saying, I think there's— You think there might be another one? I think there might be some more. Okay. We had trouble. Sam is pretty normal. Have you ever met him? No. He's pretty— Yeah, I mean, he's got very white teeth, but— Oh. Yeah. Yeah. That's how I usually gauge the end normalcy. Too white. All right, let's take a break. We'll come right back. More with Mina Kimes. The Ringer NFL Show is brought to you by FanDuel. Last call for football and FanDuel is giving you the daily profit boost every single day leading up to Super Bowl 60. Today's 30% profit boost is on over, under, and alternate receiving yards props. and check back each day for a new daily boost because FanDuel is giving everyone something extra to cheer for during football's final week. Play your game with FanDuel, official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Must be 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. Restrictions apply. I see terms at sportsbook.fandle.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. What's your worst? I have some worst case scenarios written down for you, but I didn't know if you've thought about, do you not approach fandom like that? Like if this happens, this is going to be the absolute worst thing, worst way they can lose, or I hope if they lose, it's not like this, or you don't really think about it that way? I don't think about it that way. I think about it less as a fan and more like as an analyst, like where could I be horribly wrong? So, you know, I just taped a pod with Ben and I talked about how I thought Seattle would be able to move the ball in New England. My general feeling is like the Patriots defense is a little bit inflated after the last few games because the opponent, and on the flip side, I think the Patriots offense is being a little bit too discounted in Drake May. So I think my fear would be just like immediately, like if the Patriots win like 10 to 7, just looking like really dumb. But, you know, I look dumb all the time. That's bad. You know, comes with the territory. You make predictions. You're going to be right and wrong, right? I don't like this. I don't like that you've shifted from like fan to like analyst mode where like you're more concerned with like, I hope I don't look dumb on one of my picks. Team content, yeah. She's leaning into the team content. Ego's getting out of control, Mina. You know, I love the thing about watching with your friends. It doesn't matter where you watch it. You know, watch with the people who are important to you. I thought that was pretty tight. It's a lot better. When you think back at your great, like your most fun sports viewing memories, don't you think about that? Like, who was I with? Oh, that was a lot of fun. Or you're thinking about it. My teams are pretty bad. Yeah. Like, I'm trying to think of, like, when I've had good sports memories. Well, the Dolphins had that. The Patriots, you know. I think you're getting honest, right? Yeah. So that'll. Like everyone else. Hey, look, Madden says that you guys are going to win 23 to 20. I think I had 27-24. Wait, is that out already? Did you tell people? No, no, we had to submit them to his family. Don't worry. But the world doesn't know. This is like an exclusive thing. Okay, so we got Prediction, Simmons, and Cardi B. Our best show of the week. And she's pressing Sam Garnall on God, too. We got emotions? Sam Garnall was an atheist. I mean, this is what a hit. I don't even know you might have to. This really was a roller coaster. I actually have a question about. About football? Yes, this is about football. I think you've been, I believe you've been on the same page as me with Mike McDonald's trust in Sam Darner for much of the season. I would watch games and be like, I know they're winning, but I actually don't think he trusts them. I think he's hiding him. And then the NFC Championship game. I know, yeah, crazy. That last possession where they're going. Two passes on second down. Hell yeah, brother. Is that just because Stafford and McVay are, like, how do you think he approaches this game? Do you think McDonald's going to be aggressive and be like, I trust it, got to go for it? Or is it going to be like, let's settle down? I know. It's funny because Mike after the game was like, nobody doubted Sam, but, you know, in the building. I'm like, you had like a five-yard average depth of target for six weeks, my guy. Like, let's be, you know, don't. Like in the, I was going to say, the Week 18 game. They protected him a lot this year as the run game got better. But this is why I love Mike McDonald. It felt like a couple of things. I think he recognized that Darnold was playing really well. So he was like feeling it. I think the Seahawks office just had a real beat on the Rams defense. Some of the things they were doing formationally and some of the ways they were using JSN, um, to not just for his own targets, but to create opportunities for others. Uh, and I think, yeah, he recognized that giving the ball back to Matthew Stafford with over two and a half minutes less was probably not going to work out And I love that I mean that was my first reaction to the game Just defensive head coach calling two play action passes He's not the play caller, but he obviously has to green like that from Kubiak. I freaking love that. And I'm such a fan of his. Like I said, he was my pick for coach of the year. And I think moments like that show why. It's crazy. He could just, I just feel like he's going to coach a top five defense every single year that he's there regardless, which he really can't say that about many people. Billy, I feel like you're distracted. You're looking over at their mad and saying, are we boring you? People are walking by a lot where you guys are. I'm distracted. You got up in the middle to give someone their credential and we're having a conversation with someone off. I'm distracted. Am I the distracted one? I called you distracted. She didn't say that. Geez. Sorry. She was turning us against each other. I don't like it. Well, again, it's good for the show sometimes. That was our clip where I feel like you got a lot of heat for your Zach Lowe take. I wasn't going to see. I wasn't going to bring it up. You want me to tell you how that went? Did I tell you how that went? I don't think I said on air. Did I update you on how that went or no? I can't remember. For those who have forgotten, I told Billy to say hi to Zach when I found out he was. Yeah, I was in Minnesota. I texted Mina because Mina years ago at a Super Bowl went on the zip line in Mall of America. So I sent her a picture of that. And then she asked if that's where I was. I said, yeah, I'm here with Zach Lowe. And she said, tell Zach that I say hi. and then i discussed with shield that situation because i didn't tell zach that you said hi on that trip because it was my first time kind of interacting with him so then after talking to shield and telling him the story that clip of all clips was the one that went on you know social media well so i was like well now that i've said it now i need to say hi because what if he's you know a big fan of ringer nfl show yeah so then the next time i worked with him on zoom i said oh Hey, Mina said hi. Oh, you did it? I did. I said, oh, hey, Mina said hi. And he goes, I know, I saw. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, it went as badly as possible. Have you rebounded since then? I don't know. That's so cool. I try not to look him in the eyes anymore. You can't come back from that. It's tough. It's been tough. It's been a long couple months. I was in your corner there. I thought you were fine not saying hi. Well, I will say this. I didn't learn any lesson whatsoever because after that, I talked to his former producer, Dan Stanzik, who works at ESPN. I've heard of him, yeah. And he said, tell Zach I say hi. And I was like, we're not playing this game again, buddy. Like, not going to happen. I was like, absolutely, but I learned my lesson. People love to hear this person said hi. It's like the universal entry point for human bonding. Yeah. We have a mutual friend. Mina did explain it well later that she was actually trying to help you, which I don't think you and I realized at the time. Yeah. No, I appreciate you looking out for me. Listen, I'm beyond help sometimes. you know? All right. You want one last football question? Yeah. Who is the, who is your like hipster, like this, no, who is your no one's talking about player? Which when people say that now, like look around, everybody has been talked about. There is no no one's talking about, but if there was one, no one's talking about how this player could have an impact and Sunday night, we're going to be talking about this player if their team wins. Do you have a hipster take like that? I would say Anthony Bradford, the guard on the Seahawks. who was much maligned. Oh, but in a bad way. Because the path to me for this Patriots pulling off the upset is Drake May going nuclear on one side of the ball, having the game of his life. And then on that side, it's Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, who have been phenomenal in the postseason, taking advantage of that weakness. So for those who don't know, poor Anthony Bradford. He just is the weak link on the Seahawks offensive line. I think there's things Clint Kubiak can do to mitigate that to some degree. rolling out Darnold, run the football, all that. But does that just happen while you guys tape all of them? No, it's because, yeah, no one has done that for me. It's weird. But, yeah, I would say, I know that's a negative one, but I think that's the name Seahawks fans will be, like, worried about going into this game. Yeah, Nate Tice. Are you worried about your team being sold? Like, what if you have bad owners? Are there good owners? There are, right? Should any of them be in the Hall of Fame? Because I say no. that's a topic for another day. I mean, so did voters this year, right? Yeah, good. I mean, I wanted to like- Do you have strong takes on that? I mean, I was just like, oh my gosh, there's a cloud over San Francisco. Like, people can't go on because Robert Kraft didn't get into the whole thing. I know, somebody asked me, they were like, do you have takes about, and I was like, okay, Bill Belichick, literally everybody agrees, so it's not fun to talk about. Oh my gosh. And then somebody asked me about Robert Kraft. I was like, okay. I mean, it's just- Why would I have strong feelings? Who cares? I almost canceled all our programming. Really? I was so distraught that Robert Kraft didn't get it. Sorry, excuse me. Mr. Kraft. Yeah, Mr. Kraft. Mr. Kraft, I'm sorry. You didn't get into the Hall of Fame. You were very responsible for top. Topic for another day. Mina's got to go. I don't believe you feel that way. You think I support Mr. Kraft? You can't ask. We're having a conversation. It's a charged topic. Looking over there. Charged topic. Thank you to Mina Karnes who just did it. What did you do? 90 minutes with Solak? I did 90 minutes with Solak. I doubt that you shed a tear during that. I didn't shed a tear. I was close, yeah. I knew it was headed that way. I was trying to prepare myself. Zach, if you're watching, what's up, buddy? All right. What's up? All right. Thank you to Mina. Thank you to Billy Gill. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing. Corey McConnell on video and Ben Cruz on social. I'm Sheila Capati. We'll talk to you next time on The Ringer NFL Show. you Thank you.
