The Pomp And Joe Show
Brian Batko likes the NFL Draft, but the second round on is different story
03 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: Why do some people find the NFL Draft boring?
Did you try to sabotage the show? By doing what? Turning off my mic. No, I never turned it off or on. I turned it on and it immediately turned off, and I don't think it did so magically.
You didn't turn it off at the end of last segment, so I turned it off.
Oh. Oh. The mongoose has arrived. The Batconian mongoose, we like to call him. Brian Batco.
Jeff Hathorne's out in the hall waving hello.
Two very nice men. Brian is now sitting in Bob's seat and will be with us for the rest of the show. I have an early dismissal at 1.15. We have a lot of Steeler stuff to get to, but this topic has all of a sudden arisen. Um, I told limits who's going to the draft that I wouldn't go there in a million years. I compare it to the ball drop at times square.
I just, I just, or have a groundhog day to keep it more recent. It's not local. It's not for me as much as I love the fact that I can watch it on TV and people have, um, They've made it a thing. They've made it a whole event. The enthusiasm to go. Great for them. Great for limits. He's going to be there. But the NFL draft as a whole, obviously the Steelers pick is exciting and interesting.
And we're going to talk about all everything that goes into that and who they're going to take. Yeah, of course. But the draft as a whole, yes, I would classify as boring. Limits went wild on me. And then he put out a Twitter poll. Joe thinks the NFL draft is boring, says Limits. I think that is preposterous.
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Chapter 2: What are the differences between watching the draft in person and on TV?
Is the draft exciting? And his two answers are either fun or boring. And guess which one's winning, Brian? Boring. 52%. Oh, no.
Fun just took over right when I said that. Fun just took over.
Yeah.
Fun has 52%. Boring is 47%. Where do you stand?
As I tend to try to do with you guys, I want to split the difference. I want to mend fences. I want to play it down the middle if I can. I don't think the draft is boring. I actually love the draft. I dive pretty deep on the draft. I want to know about the guard from Bemidji State or whatever, if he's 6'5", 330 and could be a second round pick.
There was probably a time in my life, I don't know, 15, 16 years old, where I would sit there and watch every pick. Because I knew a lot of the players and I sort of studied them. And I guess that's how you become a sports writer for a job. But I'm with you, though, Joe, that I don't enjoy it as an in-person event. Like I said, I feel like it's... It's sort of like a Groundhog Day.
You're gathering about nothing. It's just an excuse to go drink with like-minded people who obviously enjoy the NFL, too. There's something to be said for that camaraderie, but it's a party. But where is that going to end? I mean, are we going to start having parties for free agency? Will the NFL capitalize on that?
And you'll cheer when Adam Schefter reports that the Bears are signing a cornerback to a three-year, $33 million deal? Limits, do you feel insulted by the Mongoose right now? I understand his point and his perspective. How about the schedule release?
You went wild on me when I said the exact same thing.
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Chapter 3: How do personal experiences shape opinions on the NFL Draft?
I understand that. I think my original point was simply it's not for me. which is like getting mad at somebody for saying, I don't like pumpkin pie. I mean, okay, I get it. I don't want to be standing there with 500,000 people, probably a lot of them sneezing, coughing, smell bad, pushing. At the end of April? Drunk. It's not like it's January.
What do you think, people stop sneezing in the spring limits? Well, people are less sicker in April than they are in January. Well, this guy. Right? I would imagine that's true.
If Brian said that, you'd say, oh, that's an excellent point. You just have built up resentment toward me.
No, I just think that, at least in my own experience, I've been sicker in Januaries and Decembers and, you know.
and February is compared to March and April can I finish my point we're losing the plot here get back to it it's not for me I don't want to stand there with 500,000 people pretending I'm excited that somebody just drafted Malachi Starks I don't care I don't care now for the purposes of my job or interest in football yeah it's interesting I like it especially the Steelers pick and I love the fact that the draft is in Pittsburgh it's sort of for any city that gets it
A celebration of their franchise. And for us, it's a celebration of the institution that is the Steelers. It's cool. And it's great for business. That doesn't mean I want to be standing there with 500,000 humans. I don't. And it also doesn't mean I think that the draft itself necessarily is what I would call exciting. There's pockets of excitement. A lot of it is boring.
A lot of the names nobody knows really or cares about. It's a bunch of guards and tackles and linebackers and anonymous names that are taken in the first round that even the people from the cities that take them have no idea who that guy is, but they blindly cheer because they love their team and or they're drunk.
I don't know if I agree with that part. I think the amount of clicks and views that mock drafts and big boards get, people are more familiar with the first round prospects by and large than you're giving them credit for, Joe.
But I'm with you that I think it's simply to me an NFL event that is better followed via phone, internet, TV, back when they used to put it on the radio because there's really nothing happening. Yes, I suppose you have guys walk across the stage They'll give Roger Goodell a hug. Maybe they'll do some interviews there. But I just yeah, it's become commodified by the league, which is brilliant.
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Chapter 4: What factors contribute to the excitement of the NFL Draft for fans?
this year. We need to upgrade a guard. Let me go read what all the Seahawks beat writers and draft gurus are saying about the guards and I'll form my opinion. I would like a lot of overlap between those people and those who would want to actually go to the draft in person.
Okay, I'd love to go up to those people who are cheering wildly when the Saints take Kelvin Banks Jr. and say to them, tell me a couple things about him and see what they tell me.
Well, I think that same thing could happen if you go to an Ohio State football game and you're walking around before noon, you could probably ask a lot of those people, who's your favorite Buckeyes player right now? I disagree.
See, for a place like that, it's a religion and it's game day and it's at Ohio Stadium.
All right. Well, let's say you go to a Seahawks game then. And who's one of their better players? You know, if you start asking them, where did Kenneth Walker go to college? I mean, do a lot of them know that? I don't know. I think there's just levels of fandom there.
You see those videos kind of go viral from time to time where people are sort of mean spiritedly making fun of fans and say, oh, you're not a real fan because you don't know. All right. OK, then let's go to the second round when they saw one. I don't know if I'm agreeing or disagreeing with you anymore, Joe.
When everybody's cheering wildly because you just took, oh, I don't know, Nick Skorton, an edge rusher with the 51st pick as the Carolina Panthers. We can all agree that once you get to the second round, it's all fake enthusiasm, but it's fun to be at a party, right? I get that.
And that's the whole conceit of the idea, I guess, of making the draft this big thing. And they try to do events along with it. We'll obviously have a better idea of what those festivities entail once the draft is here and gone in Pittsburgh.
Yeah, I get the party part. It's no different than a certain kind of music we like, right, or don't like. I wouldn't want to be in the parking lot. I can't even think of a singer. But for certain concerts, I wouldn't want to be over in the North Shore parking lots tailgating and going crazy. That doesn't mean I don't think it's cool. And I'm glad people like it. I'm glad limits will be there.
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Chapter 5: Is the enthusiasm for the second round of the draft genuine?
Would you think of him at Ohio State in the national title game? That, I suppose, brings people together in his mind. Buckets of excitement. That was a story last year that was pretty riveting. I remember coming on the air. Todd Munkin already brought it up to Shador Sanders that they were going to draft him in Baltimore, and now they're working together in Cleveland.
His presser's going on right now in Cleveland, by the way. We should have carried that live, like the Mike Tomlin presser, Todd Munkin and the Browns.
Do you think we could make me at the draft a big content thing? Do you think Craig could sell that? I was just going to say, I said earlier. Limits at the draft, the limitless draft. Yes. Limitless amount of opportunities and content for Craig. Here's what you need to put out there on the social channels.
Here's what you need to do from somebody with experience in such situations. I used to go to the Steelers pep rallies and that's where all the Cornish hen questions were born limits. See if you can look up and does Joe Cop still have a folder?
No.
How about a Fulsey? Maybe him. Just type in Cornish Hens and see if anything comes up.
Cornish Hens? Yeah, sound-wise. Based on Joe's idea that people who attend the draft don't necessarily know who the prospects are, you should go around asking people for brief scouting reports. Some names real, some names fake.
Fake and real names would be awesome.
And you get some, you know, you're like, hey, what do you think of, what was the name you said earlier? No, don't repeat that, Joe. Roger Middlefocker. Yeah. What do you think of Texas A&M defensive end Andrew Middlefocker? And then the person's like, oh, he's got good length, you know, pretty good burst, but only one year as a starter.
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Chapter 6: How has the NFL Draft evolved into a major event?
In a May 2024 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mailbag column, Joe Starkey revealed that he is a fan of Cornish hens, telling a reader that he does not just like them, but loves them. He has previously confirmed his familiarity with the dish in a 2022 column.
Well, here's the thing. There's some great sound there of me asking people at Steelers pep rallies about Cornish hens. And if that was lost to history, that's really a sad thing.
It's in here somewhere, but not in Fulsey's folder. Fulsey's folder has been wiped from the... From existence.
Well, what are we supposed to do when we have a fan anniversary? Where does all the great soundbites go?
I have to look it up in the podcasting and into the deep, deep archives that I don't even have access to.
All right. Well, we'll deprive our listeners of that, Brian.
Are you in limits? Are we in a good place now after the draft disagreement? We're an old married couple. What do you think of his mustache? Oh, the mustache is... I think it's actually maybe jutting out a little bit too much on the ends.
So Crowley and Doran were... Burnt ends. Giving me a lot of flack for the mustache earlier today. Crowley was trying to make it out like I looked like an 80s bad movie star, but he also said that I looked like a lower-level Tom Selleck, so I think that's a compliment.
I think you could keep the width the same, but if you make it really pencil-thin, you could probably pass for a French guy and maybe play up that. Maybe you go to Brown Saints in Paris this season. Is it going to be Brown Saints? It's not Steelers Saints in Paris? It's already been reported by some French outlet that it's going to be Brown Saints. Why would the French want that?
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Chapter 7: What role does hope play in the NFL Draft experience?
Yeah. They had to have known at least that that was an issue there. They have another kid named Jerry Seinfeld. Well, I have a son named Dawson, and a lot of people assume it's after Dawson's Creek, which my wife and I never watched.
Well, we know it's after Dawson Knox, The Bill's Tight End.
Dermotty Dawson. I lived on Dawson Street in South Oakland, actually, when I went to Pitt. That's right near where Marino grew up.
Your wife's favorite movie is Titanic?
Jack Dawson, yeah.
Works out. No Dawson's Creek. Works out very well.
Joe, why are you named Joe? I don't know.
That's a good question. Really? You don't know? It's just Joe. I mean, there's nobody else named Joe in my family.
Why are you named Austin? Is it after Austin City Limits? No, my dad just always liked the name.
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