The last installment of the Match wasn’t too exciting, although it may have been the most built up. Brooks Koepka took down Bryson DeChambeau so fast the telecast didn’t have time to get through all their scripted jokes. It was a beatdown. And the winner only had one thing to say.
This time around, PGA Tour players weren’t invited. No Tiger, no Phil (for probably more than one reason), and no Bryson. Just incredible athletes from the National Football League battling it out at a level comparable to Justin Thomas trying to be a wide receiver on Sundays.
Tom Brady, the GOAT, and Aaron Rodgers will take on Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes at the Wynn in Las Vegas on June 1.
During a press conference with media on Wednesday, Rodgers was asked if he’s been practicing leading up to the match.
“No.”
The Super Bowl champion seemed confident in his ability to show up and rely on his “gamer” personality.
Brady on the other hand is about to enter preparation mode.
“I’m going to figure out some time this week to work on it. I’m going to Baker’s Bay. I got a few buddies coming in, got my kids. Aaron and I will be facetiming from the range,” he said.
One area the pair is confident in regardless of their performance on the course is trash talk.
“Last year, there wasn’t a lot of great trash talk. Bryson had way too much stuff prepared and Phil, you know, didn’t really land in my opinion,” Rodgers said. “Again, let me just remind you, Tom and I, we’re from the older era. He’s a little bit older than I am, played a few more years. There was real trash talk. And there was a lot of good sh– talking and we knew who they were around the league. And now it’s more buddy-buddy.
“Social media, following each other, memes, you know, all these emojis, sh–, it’s not the same. So when you talk about Kermit the Frog (Patrick Mahomes) and Josh trying to sh– talk me and Tom, a couple old school grizzled vets, they better have some prepared material that’s written by Bill Burr and Brian Regan or some sh– because they’re not gonna be able to hang with Tommy and I.”
Brady had some things to get off his chest as well when it came to the young guns.
“Golf sh– talk is a little different than pro football sh– talk. Usually pro football shit talk, you usually have to back that up. But Josh really hasn’t backed much up on the football field in his career, let’s be honest. Especially playing against me. I would just say it’s gonna look what it’s looked like for a long time against him.
“And Patrick, you know, although he’s played a lot of great games, he didn’t really win important ones. He’s won a few of the other ones but not really the important ones.”
“Talk that sh–, man, talk that sh–,” Rodgers chimed in after Brady’s spiel.
It will be interesting to see if Allen and his Sesame Street friend can keep up with the veteran quips.
This will be Rodgers’ second appearance in the Match series, while Brady will be suiting up for the third. Mahomes and Allen are making their debuts.
All we know so far about the format is it will be a 12-hole competition, much like the Koepka-DeChambeau match (of course, it didn’t last that long). The players will be mic’d up, giving them the ability to not only talk to each other but the announcers.