Kyle Brandt, Jeff Garlin Discuss Bears Fandom, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and a Certain 1980’s Football Team

When a football analyst and a comedian discuss the Bears, would you expect anything less than an entertaining ride for the listener?

In this week’s episode of 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, the co-host of Good Morning Football and namesake of the show was joined by comedian Jeff Garlin, a fellow Chicagoland native. The two discussed a wide range of topics, but their Chicago Bears fanhood came up early and often.

The show itself is a fun gab between host Kyle Brandt, a native of Lincolnshire and former running back for the Princeton Tigers, and a guest of various backgrounds. Some of the recent guests include former Bears receiver Brandon Marshall, star of the Emmy-winning sitcom Scrubs Sarah Chalke, and actor Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings fame. Brandt quizzes the guest with ten questions, some tougher than others, all intertwined with informal chatter and interview questions about upcoming projects.

Jeff Garlin, a Bears season-ticket holder who plays hilarious roles in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and ABC’s The Goldbergs, joined Brandt this week as the guest. Brandt asked Garlin about the signing of quarterback Andy Dalton, to which the 58-year old actor, who grew up in Morton Grove, admitted that he thinks Dalton is a “fine quarterback.”

To those who would prefer the Bears have an elite quarterback as opposed to a fine quarterback, rest assured that Garlin feels the same way. “Do you want your favorite team to have a fine QB? I don’t.” After a forgettable year for the Cowboys following a downward trend in performance for the Bengals, which culminated in Cincinatti benching the Red Rifle, Dalton comes to Chicago on a 1-year deal. The Bears hope he can return to the Pro Bowl-caliber player he was early in his career.

When prodded by the host about buying an Andy Dalton jersey, Garlin stated that he purchased one and donated it to charity. (4:51 and 7:45)

Garlin noted that being a Bears fan is “heartbreak, as any team you’re passionate about.” When you’re high on the Bears successes and low on the Bears failures, Garlin is there with you, and as a Chicagoland native he had some choice words about where the city’s heart lays between their sports teams. “Chicago, in spite of the Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, and Blackhawks; you can put all those together and they’re still not as popular as the Bears. Chicago lives or dies with the Bears.” (5:15)

Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to ignore the most recent champion from professional sports in Chicago: The Cubs. When asked if winning the World Series in 2016 changed anything, Garlin noted it changed the expectations for the team. “The expectation of Cubs fans… they expect the Cubs to be great every year…I mean you’re always disappointed when your team loses but the expectations are so out of wack.” With the Cubs ranked dead last in the MLB in batting average, slugging, on-base, and OPS as of April 13th, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to reach out to your local Cubs fan to make sure they’re OK. (50:29)

Two Bears fans with an average age of 50 years old wouldn’t be able to pass up an opportunity to talk about the best football team of all-time. In fact, Brandt was sure to include the ‘85 Bears as a question in his trivia game, with the first question in the game concerning which defensive starter scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XX. If you think you know the answer, be sure to follow the link to listen to the podcast to see if you’re right. (3:58)

When asked about the infamous double-doink field goal in the Bears Wild Card Playoff loss to the Eagles, Garlin actually stated that he wasn’t surprised by the fact that Cody Parkey found the upright with his kick. “At that point, what else would you think? That’s how the whole season had went,” Garlin pointed out. Most kickers would tell you they couldn’t hit the upright on a 43-yard attempt if they tried, and that it was just rotten luck. Earlier that season, though, Parkey doinked 4 kicks between extra points and field goals in a game against the Lions. He owed the uprights an engagement ring hitting it that often. (6:45)

Brandt and Garlin also spent considerable time discussing the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the gut-busting screwball comedy on HBO starring Garlin and Larry David. For the quiz show, other topics included WWE champions, city nicknames, Ted Danson’s body parts, late-night talk show hosts, and the size of your knife in the Australian Outback.

You can listen to the podcast here. The episode contains NSFW language.