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Hello. This is going to be fun.

Hey, what's going on everybody from First We Feast? I'm Sean Evans, you're

watching Hot Ones, and today we deliver you a very special episode brought to

you by Tums, because even legends need relief, and I'm thrilled to be joined in

the studio by the legend himself, Tim Howard.

Nicknamed the Secretary of Defense, he's the most capped goalkeeper in U .S.

men's national team history, 13 seasons in the Premier League, and a tournament

record 16 saves in a single match against Belgium in 2014.

But will he walk away with a clean sheet against the world's spiciest wings?

Only time will tell. Tim Howard, welcome to the show.

Thank you. I think, thank you. I'm not sure what we're doing today, but we're

going to find out.

What's going through your head as you prepare to take on these wings? Are you

naturally a fan of spicy food?

Naturally, no.

So, a little background. If we went out and we had wings and you ordered medium,

I'd say, no, let's get mild. So, this is going to be a whole lot of rock and

roll today. But, here we are.

Okay.

This is easy for you.

The first one.

But I'm no hero.

It gets challenging as it goes.

So we're just a few weeks away from the big tournament, and some have labeled

this year's U .S. men's national team as the golden generation.

Does that add unnecessary pressure? Does it feel accurate given the talent level

on this roster?

Most of the pressure. A lot of teams don't live up to that hype.

A lot of teams that get labeled their golden generation, it's hard because in

that moment you have to win, you have to succeed.

They've been named the golden generation. I think in the last year or

have sort of said maybe they're not, but they're super talented. This generation

of players plays at bigger clubs than...

previous generations, and a lot more players are playing at those clubs. So

they just have to go figure out how to win something big.

And then every tournament has a player who comes out of nowhere and becomes a

household name.

Is there anyone on this U .S. men's national team roster you think we should

paying more attention to going into it? Yeah, that's a great question.

The ones that kind of jump off the page we already know about, Christian

Pulisic, Weston McKinney, Tyler Adams, I think Chris Richards.

Which is weird to say because he plays at Crystal Palace every week in the

Premier League.

He's an out -and -out starter, captain of the team. I think he has another

because I think he's got a bit of devilment in him. He's a good defender,

already has that sort of foundation. But now if you do it on the world stage, as

you just asked, that can take you to new heights.

Yeah, we're going for it.

I just read Homegrown Hell, which I'm not looking forward to. You know, it's

dangerous when you have to start reading ahead.

I know, and it's hard not to.

I understand.

You received the news that you'd made the National Soccer Hall of Fame while

live on air at NBC Sports.

What's it like to get information like that when you're literally on TV?

Strange, which I think that's why they wanted that shock and awe element. In

that moment, you're like, sort of, there's this fast -forward video of

of the things you've done and all the people that got you there.

And you're on live TV, so you're trying to figure out how to formulate thoughts.

Really cool and special. And I do think that...

Those type of moments are deserving of monumental sort of announcements, and it

felt good to sort of be around my NBC family, share that with the people at

too, so it was cool.

How do you think the sport has changed or evolved the most comparing the games

that you played in during your career versus the ones that you now watch and

analyze as a broadcaster?

You can't do the same thing over and over tactically for 100 years. Someone

to change it.

And so the game changes slightly from a tactical element.

Different formations get brought in.

Pep Guardiola at Man City will change a position and create a clever name for

it, and then everyone picks up on it. But ultimately, the game doesn't change.

The game, for me, doesn't change.

You have to be combative. You have to be tough.

So ultimately, there are ideas around the game that I think change.

the crux of the game never changes. Yeah, I mean, because that's what's

interesting. Like, I'll interview Steph Curry, you know, and, like, his style of

play of, like, shooting threes, like, just in front of the half -court logo,

know, like, that can change things. Like, now you'll see in AAU a lot of,

Euro stepping, you know, but I think you're saying that football is just

different from basketball or different from baseball, different from... Yeah,

a sense, right? Like, if you were to look at basketball, for example, and

Curry sort of extending where players think they can shoot from or the Euro

step, all these different little elements that come into the game, but if

were to... ask someone, like, how do you win a championship? Like, if you asked

LeBron James how to win a championship, it would have nothing to do with Euro

steps or deep threes. It would all come back down to the basics of the game. So

that's sort of kind of how I analyze soccer as well.

You enjoy this, huh?

I do. It's masochistic in that way. How do you get to enjoying

hot stuff?

You know what? I think it's like cardio. And then if you step away from it, I

think it's hard to build up that tolerance again. So I think it's just in

rhythm of natural practice.

But I'm not going to be doing this after this. Can you take me inside the

psychology of a penalty shootout? You know, it remains one of the most

high -stakes situations in all of sports.

I love it.

These guys out in the outfield have run, at this point, after 120 minutes,

probably like 15K.

17K. Like, they're done. They're out on their feet.

Mentally, you're exhausted.

So, like, let's get the game over with.

And I'm a fan of that.

So, I like the penalty shootout. You can only ever be a hero.

Like, as a goalkeeper, you're not supposed to make any saves.

The chips are stacked against you.

So, I always thought, this is great. If I make one save here, I'm a hero. And I

think I'm good enough to do that.

If you get two, you're probably going to win. So, I sort of like the...

The mental challenge as well and sort of that one -on -one. It's a long 50 -yard

walk -up. You're staring at the shooter.

You're kind of figuring out whether you know where he's going or you're sort of

hinting to him that you know. It's just a mind game. I love it. And then

finally, maybe something doesn't come to mind, but I am curious.

Does anything stand out as like the most bewildering intimidation tactic someone

has ever tried in the moments leading up to a penalty kick?

Not really because here's the thing about penalty shootouts.

The goalkeeper is always going to try and do something radical.

The shooter just wants to be in rhythm because he wants to walk up, take the

ball, put it down, back up, pick his spot, and go.

He wants nothing to break that rhythm. So you want to sort of do things to make

the referee get involved.

You want the referee to say, hey, stand still because it's like a field goal

kicker. The more they think about it, the worse it is for them. That makes

sense. So the more time that I can take while they're standing over the penalty.

The walls close in. Yeah, I think so.

So up next is the smoking draft. I bet it is. I absolutely bet it is.

This is a little bit of a step.

Oh, okay.

You didn't warn me about that.

So your nickname at Everton, Secretary of Defense, is one of the greatest

nicknames in the history of sports.

Do you remember any sort of welcome to Merseyside moment when you transferred

there from Manchester United? It does seem to be a very singular and intense

football culture over there.

The city of Liverpool in and of itself stands out.

They're fanatical. They're crazy. They think the world is against them. They

think all of England is against them, and they sort of have this rallying cry

together, even though both sides sort of hate each other.

That one moment, I don't remember like a single moment. I just remember coming

from Manchester United, which is like the biggest club in the world, to

and Everton just felt like it fit. I was a kid from Jersey, and I was like, this

is sort of like my club, my people. This is...

They're a very demanding group of fans.

But if you run your socks off and you fight like a dog. They love you. They're

going to love you. For me, that was like a big turning point in my career. And

then, of course, I spent 10 years there.

What does it mean to have your own chant in the Premier League?

I feel like that, you know, getting on a video game is cool. And then being in

the stadium and having people chant your name or something about you.

It's sort of the culture. We don't have that in America. It's special. So

individually, they chant your name, which is cool.

But I think the fanaticism, like the game is important.

I've been in games where our team travels or you see it with away teams.

travel. They spend a lot of money to go into Europe or certain places in the

country and travel to see you.

And you lay an egg and you stink. And you get beat like 4 -0.

And instead of leaving, the shirts come off and beers are flying and the chants

are going. And it sort of becomes a game in and of itself. And they're basically

saying, we came here to be entertained.

We're not being entertained.

It's our turn to take over. And so there's this, like, togetherness with

fans and the club and the players. So, yeah, it's fun.

In your autobiography, you have an interesting passage about how your coach

to convince you to play goalkeeper. You compared it to standing in the outfield

and tee ball.

What are the hallmarks of a good goalie prospect?

Like, it does seem like a position that requires some recruitment, some

indoctrination, since not everyone gets a chance at it.

I didn't want to play goalkeeper. I wanted to have fun and run around and

and do all the things. Score goals. Score goals. I was a big kid. I was

In all my soccer pictures, I'm like this tall.

And then my coach is the same height, you know.

And so the tall kid goes and goal. I was always on teams that were good.

And my coaches sort of make deals with me. Play in the goal in the first half

and then we'll probably be winning. So I can come out in the second half and

play a striker or something. So I did.

And then the further along the way that you go, you just get this positive

reinforcement and kids like that. Like, hey, you did a great job today. Your

teammates are high -fiving. You're like, okay, well, I guess I like playing in

goal. But I think from the attribute standpoint as a youngster, it's like

athletic, brave, someone who – The order of semi wants to be in goal, like when

my daughter started playing. They did this little rotational thing when they

were like seven years old where every kid had to play every position.

She put the gloves on. It was her turn, and she started crying. I was like, oh,

thank goodness. That's my girl.

Just cry. Get out of goal. Don't go anywhere near it.

But I think that you have to have kids who are willing to want to be in goal.

Otherwise, it's just a disaster.

All right, Tim, we've made it halfway through the gauntlet, and I think it's

time for a little halftime heartburn relief.

Bill, bring in the Tums Chewy Bites Tropical Fruit Smoothie.

Heartburn relief incoming.

Thank you so much, Bill. You're welcome.

You know, after all these years of being a chicken wing talk show host, I still

to this day could use a little relief.

You know what? I'm actually already starting to feel the heat.

So I'm going to take a thumbs now.

I think I'll join you.

I'm ready.

Good.

I'm going to hell. Here we go.

That's where I get serious.

I think we drink milk. Yeah.

I'm going to join you at that party.

If you could relive one game from your career as a semi -regular reoccurring

dream, which one would it be and why?

I do. The Belgium game. Every night.

Every night before I go to bed, I watch it. It was sort of my signature moment,

but whether it was for me or not, for the fans, People come up to me and talk

about Everton, and they talk about their United fan, Manchester United fan, or

whatever. But 99 % of the time, people are talking about the Belgium game. And

think for an athlete in hindsight, it's like, it's cool.

It's really cool to have a shining moment that people can remember. It's

imprinted in culture, yeah. Yeah, and the stories are usually like...

I was in a bar with my best friend, and we were going crazy. And then they bring

you back to this time and moment that's special. So that's the one. When you

reflect on that game, do you feel like you were in any sort of flow state? Did

the game unfold in front of you in a unique way?

How, if at all, was it different from the other one?

It was different because I'm 47 years old. We're in 1979, right? I came up as

a child idolizing Michael Jordan like every kid in America.

And there was a point in time, early 90s, Where Michael Jordan sat down for

interview and he had done something spectacular.

They asked him about it. It was the first time in sports history that we

about a player being in the zone. He coined that phrase. And so psychologists

and everybody thought, what's the zone? What does that feel like? And I talk

about that day having heard about what being in the zone was like. I remember

sort of the smells and the sounds.

And we were playing Belgium. They were wearing red. And so I can remember sort

of blurry moment.

But I was so locked in that.

I don't remember a lot of the game. Like, I don't remember visually a lot of

game like I do other games. It was sort of going warp speed, but almost

underwater, if that makes sense.

Neo picking bullets out of the air. Totally.

And so, for me, that was sort of how it was, the breakdown of it. But kind of

cool to go back and watch.

There's just something about that deep pepper flavor. Yeah, don't like it.

I'd imagine when you lose an elimination game, That it has this sort of

emotional vacuum that takes over. How would you describe what a locker room

looks and sounds like in that moment? After a big loss, elimination, quiet,

disbelief. You're dealing with winners who won another shot.

So you're conditioned to win, and when you don't win, you're conditioned to go,

all right, let's go again. And when you get eliminated or you're going home,

you're looking for that, but it's not coming. And so it's a sort of disbelief,

and it feels different than anything else you've done.

It's an epic failure. It sort of smacks you in the face. A bit like... Jesus.

So this is the bomb beyond insanity.

Holy heck.

Wow.

Jesus. I know.

While you battle to bomb, what I'm going to do is give you some U .S. men's

national team superlatives. So I'll make a declarative statement, and then you

tell me which player, past or present, best fits that description. If I can.

Which player would you trust most to take a penalty with everything on the

Landon Donovan.

Wow, Jesus.

Guy Landon. Yeah.

Who's most likely to give an inspiring halftime speech during halftime? Michael

Bradley. Who's the most natural leader?

Carlos Bocanegra.

He was captain for a while.

Who had the best relationship with fans?

Clint Dempsey, I think, because they loved him. He could do no wrong.

Which player is most likely to show up to the charter with the most expensive

luggage?

Josie Alcantara.

Oh, wow. The T -tissue.

Mm -hmm. Gone. Completely gone.

At times like these?

And then just be careful around the eyes? Yeah, no, that's fine.

It was his hand. It was his hand. It's hot.

Jesus. I'm sweating from everywhere.

I know.

It's amazing. You and I both, we got the right kind of haircut for this. Yeah.

Yeah.

You were saying?

I was just throwing superlatives at you. Yeah, you know.

You did body that.

I guess.

Who's most likely to miss the team bus because they're still getting ready,

fixing their hair?

DeMarcus Beasley.

Not his hair, just most likely.

How are we feeling?

Horrific, mate.

Absolutely horrific.

Well, we're good. We're good.

The good news is that was the worst one. I don't think so.

You know?

Next to not a walk in the park, but you looked a formidable opponent in the

face. That's wild.

Yeah. People get orders of that and go, yeah, put the bomb sauce on that.

There's some people that need that. They need that to feel alive. That's wild.

But we're almost to the finish line. Sure.

If you're ready.

This next one is the Squash Reaper X.

Good God.

All right. You doing it? Mm -hmm.

Oh.

I find with the athletes, there's always like a little bit of a competitive

streak that kicks in, you know, like a one more rep, one more wing. Damn, I

that competitive streak.

I think the bomb knocked our chemistry out of me.

Ah, Jesus.

What's the code of honor regarding a keeper scoring a goal? You know, I've

you describe your famous one against Bolton. You described it as cruel.

Yeah, I was too nice.

I mean, actually, it's terrible. A goalkeeper gets scored on, you've done

something wrong.

Like, that's terrible.

I didn't want to celebrate that in his face. But, like, now that I'm, like,

older and wiser and, like, more honorary, like, if I scored again, my

coming off. I'm like...

In the fans, you know?

I tried to have a little bit of respect, but if it happened again, I wouldn't.

All right.

No, I've seen you do this. No way.

I need more milk, by the way.

Time. 20 seconds. I need more milk.

No chance of putting it on there.

Did you put it on there? You know what? We don't have to. I mean, I'm not.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you wouldn't do it just for yourself.

You know, I don't want to show, you know, I don't want to, I feel like I'm

showing off. Yeah, yeah, don't show.

All right, this is the last guy. Last guy.

And with that, Tim Howard, the wings of death are behind us. Oh.

You have conquered the Hot Ones Gauntlet.

And I want to close things out. Wow. With some rapid fire predictions for the

tournament coming up in the next few weeks.

I know your brain, your mouth are on fire.

Not going to be easy with the heat of a thousand suns coursing through you.

Which team is your pick for a Cinderella story?

I think one of the really small, and I don't know which one, one of the really

small nations, because the tournament's expanded now. So you're going to get

teams who had never been in a tournament, who should probably never be

near it, but they're going to be in it.

And you're probably going to get an upset.

I don't know if they'll get out of the first round.

Maybe, but they'll get an upset. A shock the world moment. Yeah, and if they do

that, and they get out of the group as the third place team, that's one of the

biggest things in their footballing. So, like Congo, maybe. You look at a Congo

and think they could be one of the teams.

Which host city do you imagine will have the most raucous game environment?

I still think New York. New York just brings the world to them, always. And

finally, who do you think is going to be hoisting that trophy on July 19th?

I think it's going to be Spain.

That's my champion.

And there it is, Tim Howard taking on the wings of death, living to tell the

tale. Before we roll out the red carpet, a very special shout -out to Tums for

making this all possible. And with that said, Tim Howard, this camera, this

camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.

What do I have going on? Everything.

NBC Sports Premier League Unfiltered Soccer Podcast with Landon Donovan. We

crushing all things soccer.

It's being dad to two crazy college kids. And that's it. It's good.

Life is good.

Amazing. Wow.

My God. Great job. Great job. Great job.

It wasn't fun. It was okay.

Horrific, mate. Absolutely horrific.