The Jets as the original foil; the switch to the Browns for cheaper Ohio filming; Andrew Brandt's critique; a JaMarcus Russell origin for the $100 trick; the 2012 Black List script; the NFL-vetoed effigy scene; a former Jets GM consultation; an R rating cut to PG-13

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 00:25:44Read transcript

Previewed as research: the foil team was supposed to be the Jets.
They changed it to the Browns because it was cheaper to film in Ohio.
Andrew Brandt, a former Packers executive turned media figure, shredded it as lacking any true description of how an NFL team operates around the draft.
The $100-bill trick came from a famous JaMarcus Russell story involving a blank DVD.
The screenplay was on the 2012 Black List.
The NFL nixed a scene of fans hanging Costner's character in effigy; a quoted reaction from the star found it funny but noted the NFL cracking down on fan behavior.
Little information exists because the movie was not successful.
The screenwriters consulted for two hours with a former Jets GM (transcribed Mike Dannembaum).
It was supposed to be rated R before being argued down, joked as the version with Eva Mendez.

Casting What-Ifs

The Buffalo Bills in place of the Browns

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:07:12Read transcript

No casting what-ifs were found; the only what-if is the team being the Bills, as it was supposed to be.
One host would have enjoyed the Bills more: a little more competent, 90s Super Bowls and a desperate fan base.
Bills-Jets trades within a division would be an unclearable hurdle, and the co-host prefers the Browns, retroactively validated by the 2014 draft.
Bills fans would have thrown themselves into the movie; screenwriter Rajeev Joseph, from Cleveland, said in the making-of that they needed a city whose fans live and die by a team without success.

Recasting Couch

Eva Mendes in the salary-cap expert role; Hoyer as Brian Drew

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:13:41Read transcript

Eva Mendez replaces Jennifer Garner to dial up the role and make the closet scenes charged.
The co-host has no nominee, accepts the incumbent's seriousness, and finds the movie hard to imagine with almost any role recast.
A real quarterback as Brian Drew is proposed: Ryan Tannahill is too young for 2014, so a fringe player like Trent Edwards, Fitzpatrick or Hoyer; "I like Hoyer," though it would be Tannahill now.

Picking Nits

The owner's impossible trip to Cleveland; Sonny firing his father; the eight-year $100 playbook trick; silent conference calls; no draft value chart; no Goodell boos; David Putney missing at the end; the blog's wrong conference name; the Callahan printout errors; Sonny missing the will reading

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 01:19:37Read transcript

The owner getting from the draft to Cleveland in about 45 minutes is impossible; Jeff Chow initially argued for a helicopter-to-plane route but agreed it was not possible.
Midtown traffic, 466 miles by the co-host's husband's math, a helipad and a flight add up to at least two hours 15 minutes, versus about 40 minutes across picks two through five; a FaceTime from the plane is suggested.
Sonny firing his own father is glossed over; the co-host had it as an unanswerable question, noting Barb asked him to keep Coach from dying on TV, and compares it to Sierra voting out her mother on Survivor.
The $100 playbook trick has apparently been used for eight years without agents catching on.
Calls between two crowded war rooms are implausibly silent, a point sharpened in the Zoom era.
In 2014 teams had draft value charts, yet no one checks the value of three seconds for a first; Sonny acting alone makes advice hard.
The co-host's top nit is the lack of boos for the commissioner; David Putney is missing from the final huddle despite being central to the trade, joked as waived after the third preseason game.
Bo's conquest blog is named for the wrong conference instead of the Big Ten, where Wisconsin plays.
Callahan's printout looks made in Microsoft Word, lists his height as 6-4 and 6-3, and has a birth year of 88.
Sonny not being at his father's will reading is very strange; the rest of the nits are skipped.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

What happened at Bo's birthday party; why Bo's website needs a sign-in; who the real-life Brian Drew is; what career Bo Callahan had; how many people Bo slept with each week; what PEDs Brian Drew is on

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:24:19Read transcript

An unanswerable question: what happened at Bo's 21st birthday party, since not one of 85 scholarship teammates showing up would have come out in draft prep.
More a question than a nit: whether the blog embeds a full sex tape and why it requires a sign-in; a scout character bookmarked the page.
The real-life Brian Drew is nominated as Alex Smith and Dalton, with Dalton too young in 2014; Smith is called a good one.
Bo Callahan is read as a pocket passer with Matt Leinert's career; the film invites a Ryan Leaf comparison, and Carson Wentz is floated.
A hot take says Bo Callahan had a great career; a debate follows over whether the birthday story happened, with Sam Elliott's anger taken as evidence it did.
How many people Bo slept with weekly: one scout character says 20 and another 10; one answer is one a day, with a missed Joe Namath joke and Mark Sanchez as a comp.
What PEDs Brian Drew is on, given his late-career strength gains; the only other theory is that Tom Welling is again playing Superman, and he should be in the stands serving a four-game suspension.