Overview of Pardon My Take
This episode is a football-heavy, joke-filled PMT episode centered on preseason NFL storylines, with a major sit-down interview with Jon Gruden. The crew riffs on quarterback drama, training camp impressions, injury reporting, league schedules, and a few bizarre viral stories before wrapping with a “Mount Rushmore of Purple Things” and listener-submitted pardons.
Main NFL Topics and Takeaways
The Vikings QB situation and the J.J. McCarthy debate
- The show opens with a running joke about a bizarre Minnesota quarterback decision, framed as Kyler Murray winning the Vikings’ starting job.
- The real point of the conversation is that J.J. McCarthy is suddenly being treated like a trade candidate, with the hosts arguing he needs a clean reset if he’s not going to start.
- They toss out possible landing spots for McCarthy:
- Steelers
- Lions
- Cardinals
- Rams
- Seahawks
- Chargers
- Jets
- Texans
- Their main takeaway: if Minnesota doesn’t believe in him, they should move on rather than damage his confidence further.
Browns QB chatter: Shedeur Sanders vs. Deshaun Watson
- Todd Monken’s quoted comments about Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders get dissected.
- The hosts interpret Monken’s response as essentially admitting that Shedeur is ahead of Watson in the competition, or at least that Watson’s status is very much in question.
- They note the Browns’ unofficial depth chart listing Watson or Shedeur at QB1, with Dylan Gabriel behind them.
Injury-reporting rant
- The crew goes off on media reports that initially downplay injuries and later reveal a much longer recovery.
- Their argument: if a reporter says a player is out for 8–10 weeks and it becomes 4–6 months, that reporter should “go to jail.”
- It becomes a recurring bit about reporters needing to “serve the sentence” of the injury timeline they reported.
NFL schedule reactions and hot-seat list
- The NBA Christmas schedule is mocked because it overlaps with major NFL games.
- The episode also reacts to a USA Today “hot seat” coach list, which they think gets shaky fast after the top five.
- Their biggest reactions:
- Shane Steichen at No. 1 was debatable
- Dan Quinn felt too low
- Clint Kubiak and Joe Brady on the list made little sense
- Mike Vrabel at No. 10 made no sense at all
Other football notes
- They discuss:
- Paul Skenes being pulled early and speculate about an injury or workload concern
- A new NFL rule allowing a designated red-flag thrower on the sideline
- The Bears’ offseason and whether Caleb Williams and the new staff can actually take a leap
- The Lions, Commanders, Eagles, Cowboys, Jets, Patriots, Texans, Seahawks, Rams, and Broncos as key teams to watch
Jon Gruden Interview Highlights
Gruden on coaching, training camp, and mental toughness
- Gruden says you can tell fairly early in camp whether a team has real juice or is in trouble.
- His core coaching beliefs:
- Mental toughness has to be coached
- Teams should embrace adversity
- The best teams have “grinders” and “savages” who show up in big moments
- He repeatedly stresses that some players are simply not replaceable.
Team and player takes
- He’s notably high on:
- Seahawks
- Rams
- Bears
- Eagles
- Jets
- He likes the Bears’ run game and believes Ben Johnson has the right stuff.
- He is skeptical of the Giants and more cautious on the Texans, saying C.J. Stroud has leveled off a bit after his rookie breakout.
- He thinks the AFC is wide open, while the NFC has a few teams that stand out.
Quarterback thoughts
- Gruden gives praise to elite QBs like:
- Matthew Stafford
- Joe Burrow
- Josh Allen
- He also talks about how difficult it is to replace certain players and how some quarterbacks need the right system and confidence to succeed.
Media, books, and the return to broadcasting
- He jokes about Barstool becoming a “book company” because of the PMT book.
- He explains the upcoming Gruden family football show, which he’s doing with his brother Jay and others.
- He’s also excited to return to the booth for preseason Buccaneers games with Rondé Barber.
- He shares a few old-school coaching stories, including:
- Mike Holmgren’s work ethic
- Ray Rhodes’ intensity and charisma
- The value of game balls and motivation tricks
Final play-by-play exercise
- The hosts have Gruden do improvised play-by-play on random football clips.
- He’s surprisingly natural at it and clearly enjoys the challenge.
Viral and Offbeat Stories
Snake in a football helmet
- One of the wildest stories in the episode: an Arkansas high school player practiced for an hour with a live cottonmouth snake inside his helmet.
- The snake had to be removed by filling the helmet with water.
- The hosts joke that helmet manufacturers should add a warning label about snakes.
Golf cheating scandal
- They break down a viral story about a golfer who allegedly:
- drove out before a tournament
- dropped a ball into a hole on a par-3
- faked a phone call about an ill grandmother
- then claimed a hole-in-one
- The crew treats it as extremely premeditated and weirdly impressive from a criminal-psychology standpoint.
Bots and dead internet theory
- They discuss a report that non-human internet traffic is exploding.
- Their read: bots and AI crawlers are everywhere, and the internet is becoming increasingly fake.
Mount Rushmore of Purple Things
The episode’s Mount Rushmore segment is about purple things in honor of the Vikings/QB joke.
Picks that were made
- Grape jelly
- Taco Bell logo
- Purple Heart
- Purple Rain
- Purple Haze
- Vince Carter Raptors jersey
- Red wine
- Grimace
- Eggplant emoji
Notable debate
- The biggest disagreement was over whether red wine and Taco Bell were actually “purple enough.”
- The segment also turned into a fast, funny list of purple-related things the crew forgot:
- Purple drank
- Purple Nurple
- Purple haze
- Vikings helmet
- Purple Doritos
- Barney
- Waluigi
- Orchids and violets
Hot Seat / Cool Throne
Hank
- Hot seat: Tulsa National Little League team
- They were disqualified after allegations of fraudulent eligibility and abuse of the Challenger program.
- Cool throne: LeBron James / Sixers national TV exposure
- Hank leans into the “LeBron on the Sixers” joke and how much attention that would create.
PFT
- Hot seat: Player safety
- The snake-in-helmet story becomes the example of why football equipment needs more caution.
- Cool throne: Robots
- He points to the rise of bot traffic and “dead internet” behavior.
Zach
- Hot seat: Paul Skenes’ health/workload
- He thinks Skenes doesn’t look quite right.
- Cool throne: Cristiano Ronaldo
- Ronaldo got married, which Zach treats as the biggest possible win.
Listener Pardon Your Takes
- The listener segment includes:
- More cannoli discourse
- A debate about whether Canadians are secretly dickheads
- A bizarre discussion about being “70% out of shape”
- A listener’s bold NFL prediction involving new playoff teams
- They also joke about betting and playoff futures, especially around:
- the Commanders
- the Patriots
- Stefon Diggs and his uncanny ability to land on rising teams
Bottom Line
This episode blends preseason football analysis, absurd comedy, and a strong Jon Gruden interview. The main threads are:
- quarterback uncertainty and trade speculation,
- coaching hot-seat chatter,
- old-school football philosophy,
- and the show’s signature off-topic bits, including purple things, golf cheating, robots, and snakes in helmets.