Holy Water & The Path to Santa Clara: Mike Ryan Ruiz on Miami, Mendoza, and Playoff Magic

Le Batard & Friends Network

Dan Le Batard

Sports

4.8 • 8.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It was over before it started - did you see the priest blessing the Pittsburgh endzone with the holy water before the game? The other side of that magic H20 is of course it damned the Ravens. What did they do to feel the wrath of Jesus? I don't know. And I don't want to know. But we do know the NFL playoffs are set. The Broncos and the Seahawks have the easiest pathways to Santa Clara. Mike Tomlin lives to coach again. And over in college football land, a Cuban American showdown between Miami native Fernando Mendoza and fans of The U is on the horizon. They just need to get past the Ducks and Ole Miss first. Dave Dameshek and the gang chat it up with our good friend Mike Ryan Ruiz on this episode of Football America! (Photo by Rusty Jones/AP) AUDIO Football America! is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/football-america/id1831757512 Follow us: Dave Dameshek: https://x.com/dameshek Mike Ryan Ruiz: https://x.com/MichaelRyanRuiz Host: Dave Dameshek Guests: Mike Ryan Ruiz Team: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes Director: Danny Benitez Senior Producers: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes Executive Producer: Bradley Campbell Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. Since last we spoke, the Hawks with the Niners,
0:04.5	the Panthers lost their way to the NFC South Crown, and the Steelers breeze past the Ravens
0:09.6	in a snoozer. Okay, that last part isn't exactly right, but it was over before it started.
0:15.3	Did you see the priest blessing the Pittsburgh end zone with holy water before the game?
0:19.4	The other side of that magic H22-0 is, of course,
0:22.1	it damned the Ravens. Now, we could say the Steelers winning the division on a kick missed by the
0:27.2	rookie who replaced Justin Tucker as Shakespearean tragedy, but let's be honest, it was downright
0:32.5	biblical. Hey, Jesus loves football. The players have been telling us as much for decades. You think it's a
0:38.8	fluke when they get interviewed five seconds after the game they think their Lord and Savior
0:42.1	before the offensive line or even their mom? And it raises uncomfortable theological questions.
0:47.6	The league office would rather not discuss. If Jesus is responsible for wins, then he is also,
0:53.2	by definition, responsible for losses.
0:56.0	Why is Jesus helping some teams and players?
0:59.0	Two of paints a crucifix right on his face, and it's not enough.
1:03.0	Derek Henry does two, and he wears another little crucifix as a nose ring, and still not enough.
1:10.0	Prayers up and bless your heart, by the way, King. I guess on one level there's a certain piece one could derive from knowing you lost because it was in God's hands. You can't blame Tyler Loob's toe if Jesus blocked a kick. You can ask why he blocked it, but I've heard he works in mysterious ways. Does he have his thumb on the scale and maybe a two-team parlay going?
1:29.6	I don't know and I don't want to know.
1:32.2	Either way, forget about Adam Schaefter and the so-called insiders who only pretend to know stuff in advance.
1:37.8	We need Christ on a pregame show ASA and P.
1:41.5	I'd love to see him up at the Big Board doing his version of advanced analytics with a spreadsheet, tracking the poor behavior of our league's ne'er-do-wells. And thanks to his fashionable Moomoo, he'll fit right in with the other cocktail hour attire of the people up there with him. By the way, when did this start for Jesus? Did he create football? Like, did he get bored so he celebrated
2:02.8	his 1,900 3rd birthday by coming up with something to watch? I guess we could ask Al Michaels
2:08.7	or Aaron Rogers or someone else who was around back then. I'm likewise curious if Jesus is in a fantasy
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