- 4/23/2025
Rob McElhenney Interview @ Wrexham vs Union
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FunTranscript
00:00Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Subaru Park, President of the Steve Show, and Rob McElhaney.
00:04Hi. Good to see you, man.
00:06It's so good to be here.
00:07Welcome back home.
00:09It's lovely, isn't it? The weather is just lovely.
00:12You came on the hottest day of the year so far, the most sickeningly humid day.
00:17But that's part of the question.
00:17It's something that is so...
00:19People don't believe how humid Philadelphia can get.
00:22They think it's the Northeast.
00:23No, it's a hellscape when it gets up ahead of Steve.
00:26But that doesn't matter, because this is an event delayed.
00:31We are so excited that it's finally happening.
00:33So happy to be here.
00:34And even when I sit through weather like this, I try to be as grateful as possible,
00:39because I think about what it was like here in 1776 when they were sitting in that building,
00:43and they were forming this country, and it felt exactly like this.
00:46And all those ruffles and stuff and the wigs.
00:49And they got through it.
00:50I'm embarrassed that I took that thing.
00:52That's what I want people to take away from this.
00:54Feel shame for complaining about the heat.
00:57Exactly.
00:58Exactly.
00:58So just a quick question, if I may, at the top.
01:01Talking about the first time around, obviously COVID played, you know, an issue in it.
01:06Were you, I assume there was a bit, you were resolute in making this happen,
01:10but did you actually ever think it would happen that all of the multiple pieces would fall into place?
01:16You know, like with every bit of this being so productive and so good along the way?
01:21That's just due to the staff of both the Union and Wrexham, who wanted to make this happen.
01:28And that includes the English FA and the Welsh FA and also MLS.
01:34So just everybody working together to make it happen, and we're so grateful.
01:38So with all these friendlies that are happening around the country, Wrexham has played, I think, four games already, or is this the fourth game?
01:43This is the fourth game.
01:44Okay, and a bunch of the other teams were in, you know, the European leagues, the English leagues.
01:51This is essentially kind of a get the game in our areas and get people to feel what it's really all about.
01:59That's what this is mainly about.
02:00Yeah, so these are called friendlies, and the whole point of it is to just spread the word.
02:05And there's so many Americans that we're finding that want to watch a Wrexham game
02:08but haven't had a chance to get over to Wales yet or to the U.K.,
02:11and so this gives them an opportunity to come to the games.
02:14What are the guys' reactions to the U.S. so far, the fandom and all that?
02:18They love it.
02:18They can't believe the reception that they've been getting.
02:21I mean, to go to a stadium to play Manchester United
02:24and to see that 50% of the people seem to be there in support of Wrexham
02:28I think was a pretty profound experience for them.
02:31Well, you know, the first time this was going to happen, and we asked you,
02:34and it's called a friendly, but you made it clear that victory was still paramount in your mind.
02:41Is that holding true?
02:42Yes.
02:43I am a union supporter in every way, by the way, but a Philadelphia union soccer team supporter,
02:50and I was there actually at the MLS Cup Championship this year supporting my full union gear,
02:55and the union social team was happy to post that picture this morning,
02:59which I thought was a wonderful shot across the bow.
03:03That's great.
03:03Yes, it was a great move, very savvy.
03:05And so I'm a union supporter, but we're not in the same league,
03:10so you can be a union supporter and a Wrexham supporter.
03:13But today, for 90 minutes, it's going to be war.
03:18And then as soon as the game's over, I'll be a union fan again.
03:20Hey, I wanted to ask you about, and obviously you're a Philly sports fan from day one,
03:24we had a chance to hang out with you at the Eagles Super Bowl parade.
03:28Compare that to the celebration you had in Wales for Wrexham.
03:34It was incredibly similar, and I kept talking about that over and over again.
03:37It felt like the same thing.
03:40It was a catharsis of an entire community coming together who had been saying for generations,
03:46why not us?
03:48When's it going to be our turn?
03:50And when it finally was to have the entire community come out and celebrate as one
03:54was the same exact feeling.
03:57Right.
03:57So I got to go to your bar last night, Max Tavern in Philly, and I met a guy named Nick,
04:01and he's from Wales, and he moved to Philly years ago.
04:05He ended up getting a job at Fenway in Boston and worked there for a number of years,
04:09and he moved back to Philly.
04:10He is a huge Wrexham fan, and so he was chatting to me about the importance of the team to that town,
04:16and I'm quoting him directly.
04:18He said, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds are gods to me.
04:22And he was so appreciative of what you and Ryan have done for that city, for that team,
04:27for that franchise.
04:28It's not lost on any of those guys how, you know, it just connects him back to his homeland.
04:33He's lived in the States for almost 20 years at this point, and I think that's, I don't
04:38know, it's just got to make it feel great.
04:39It does.
04:40That was always our goal from the very beginning, to look at a city like Philadelphia,
04:46a city I understand very well, and make the connection between us and the town of Wrexham.
04:53And I knew if I could make that connection, that people all over the world could see that
04:57it wasn't just about this small town in Wales or a city in the northeast of the United States,
05:02but of working class communities all over the world, and people would identify with that.
05:06So I think that what he's responding to is that.
05:10Ryan and I happen to be the catalyst of that, and we're the ones that have the ability to
05:14shine a spotlight on it, but it is very clearly not about us.
05:17I wanted to ask, because obviously there is a strike going on, and that is warranted,
05:21that you're honoring and all that.
05:24But I wanted to ask you just on a macro level, with the reality program,
05:29there's a displaced time sort of thing going on, where social media, we're seeing things happen
05:36that we know will be part of something coming up.
05:38How has it been having to juggle that?
05:41Yeah, it's funny.
05:42So many people have asked me over the last few years, what's it going to be like?
05:47Because people already know the ending, so are they going to be interested in the documentary?
05:51And my answer to that is always, did you cry at the end of Titanic?
05:56And if the answer is yes, then I would say, well, but you knew the ending.
06:00Yeah, yeah.
06:01It doesn't matter if you know the ending, you're along for the journey,
06:04you fall in love with the people who are a part of the story.
06:07Some people have chosen not to Google it, but it's kind of hard to get away from now.
06:11And I would say, if you think you know the story, then tune in and you'll be able to see it.
06:15That's great.
06:16The video of you and Ryan at the championship game hugging each other.
06:20Did Paul Rudd take that video? Was that the story?
06:22Yes.
06:23Okay. Has he has to be a partial owner of the team now too?
06:26Are your celebrity buddies now going, how do I get in on this gig?
06:30So what's great about Rudd, I'd never met Paul.
06:33We have a lot of mutual friends and that was the very first day that I met Paul.
06:36So it's so strange to me that Paul Rudd was there for one of the greatest days of my life.
06:41And it feels like he's the kind of guy who's just there for people's great days.
06:46And whatever you think of Paul Rudd, like picture Paul Rudd.
06:50I don't know if he's been on the show before, if you guys know him.
06:51Yes, and we're desperately trying to suck up to him.
06:54So the thing about Paul that I think everybody should know is if you picture Paul Rudd in your head
06:59and you want him to be a certain thing and believe him to be that thing, trust me, that's exactly who he is.
07:06In the same way with DeVito. You guys know DeVito.
07:08Like you picture Danny and everyone's like, I think I know Danny.
07:11You know Danny. Same thing with Paul.
07:12That's great.
07:14Has Danny fallen in love with the soccer at all or is he?
07:19Nine.
07:19Of course, he is supportive of me and texts me and he's like, wow, this is amazing.
07:24I'm like, you want to come to a game? He's like, wow.
07:29So with that, we've heard the racing, the racing team and you're interested in that.
07:35Is there, is in the back of your mind, and I assume there has to be,
07:40you've had such a wonderful experience with this.
07:43It is, you've really, your dream has come true.
07:47You know, are you, you hope lightning can strike twice, you know, but is there, is there that fear?
07:53It's just full steam ahead.
07:54We'll, we'll, whatever happens, happens.
07:55I think when you're, when you're going into any new endeavor, I think part of the fun of the experience is that failure is expected, especially in sport.
08:06Coming in second place, even out of, you know, 40 teams is still first loser.
08:11So you have to assume failure, but you just have to define that in different ways.
08:18So not every, we're not going to get promoted every year.
08:20We're not going to win every race.
08:21We're not going to win every championship, but that's not how you necessarily define success from a macro level.
08:27And I truly don't mind failing.
08:29I learned how to do that a long time ago.
08:32So, um, and, uh, and I think that's a huge part of going into, into anything.
08:36All right, Rob, over the last year, five moments have it occurred in your life that from an outsider's perspective would seem to leave quite the impression.
08:43Please rank them in order of importance.
08:46One, Wrexham are National League champions, get promoted to English Football League II.
08:50Two, the Eagles make it to their second Super Bowl in five years.
08:53Three, the Phillies made it to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
08:57Four, the Union make it to the MLS Cup.
09:00Five, this interview with Preston and Steve.
09:04Wow.
09:05That's pretty easy.
09:05You actually put them almost in order.
09:10I would switch the Union and this interview only for today.
09:17Right, right.
09:18Because, because I need to, we need to, to vanquish them.
09:23It's what 1776 taught us.
09:26Yeah.
09:26About how we rank those various events in our life.
09:28Yeah, but we, we, as long as we end up in the top five by the construct to begin with, it still works.
09:34Yeah.
09:34That's how we frame it.
09:35Yeah.
09:35Well, you guys have been such a huge part of my life for over 20 years.
09:40You were supporters from the very beginning.
09:41I bring this up all the time, but we just did an episode of our podcast where we talked about that episode that you guys starred in.
09:49And it was so great to see you again.
09:51And, because I feel like I check in with you guys every few months, but, you know.
09:54Do you know when stuff like that happens, by the way, you're not seeing it, but on our side, it's like, it's that scene in Bye Bye Birdie when Conrad comes to this high school.
10:02And, you, Rob talked about us.
10:05We don't want to, you know, blow our thing.
10:07But am I right?
10:08Oh, yeah.
10:09I would say this, too.
10:10We have a lot of, you have attained a ton of success, but there are a lot of mutual fans.
10:17And so, when something happens on your podcast or on the Sonny podcast or there's a Preston and Steve reference or an MMR or even a Philly reference, we hear about it from our listeners.
10:25And, for us, that's really cool because it bridges that gap from Sonny to our listeners to your viewers back to Philadelphia and then to MMR.
10:31And it's not lost on us.
10:33Like, that's a really cool connection.
10:34We appreciate it, you know.
10:35And I believe that it's genuine.
10:37I hope it is.
10:37Of course.
10:38I mean, I just see so many people, certainly in my industry or across industries, who go on to do certain things and they don't remember what got them there.
10:46And it's so easy to forget what all of the people, all this self-made person nonsense is just not true.
10:53There are a series of people and events that happen throughout your life that allow you the opportunity to get some of these successes.
11:02And so, I'm just so grateful to those people.
11:05And you guys are a huge part of that.
11:06Likewise.
11:07Absolutely, yeah.
11:08So, you got in last night.
11:10You're in and out pretty quick this time around, right?
11:12Well, unfortunately, yes.
11:13I was planning to stay here for a few days.
11:15But, unfortunately, one of our star players, Paul Mullen, got injured in the game.
11:19How is he?
11:20He's okay.
11:21He's got broken ribs.
11:23He's in the hospital.
11:24And a punctured lung.
11:25Yeah.
11:25Whoa.
11:25So, he can't fly.
11:27Yeah.
11:27Now, these are – he's from Liverpool.
11:31He's been to the U.S. a few times, but he doesn't have family here.
11:33So, he has to stay in Southern California.
11:36So, I'm going to – immediately after the game tomorrow, I'm going to fly back.
11:41And then he's going to come stay with Kaitlin and I for a few days or a few weeks, depending on how long it takes.
11:46And then we'll go back.
11:47You're going to have to go back to Liverpool.
11:48Well, I'm going to get you a map.
11:52I'm going to get you a map.
11:53We'll talk about how we're going to get back.
11:54A lot of rib injuries.
11:57My wife just had a situation.
11:59They're very pernicious.
12:00So, yeah.
12:01Whatever it takes to get him 100%, you need to get that done.
12:03Yeah.
12:04So, that includes just not being able to fly for a while.
12:08So, we just didn't want him to be alone.
12:09So, we're going to go back for that and then head back to the U.K.
12:11That's awesome.
12:12The player is staying at your – crashing at your place.
12:14Yes.
12:14That's badass.
12:15Nice.
12:16No.
12:17I mean, how many owners do that?
12:19Come stay home for a little while.
12:20Not a lot.
12:20I'm sure.
12:21I have one more follow-up question about the team and their time in the U.S.
12:25And referencing what Steve was talking about earlier on social media.
12:28You guys got to go to Vegas together.
12:29And I saw your lovely wife applying sunblock to some of the players.
12:35Was that really difficult for her?
12:36Did she have a hard time?
12:37Yeah.
12:37I think that was rough.
12:39I think that was rough.
12:40It was funny, too, because we got so many comments.
12:43And she – it's weird because we do look at ourselves as kind of like peers of these young men.
12:49But we could be their parents very easily.
12:52Mathematically, very true.
12:53And so when Caitlin was looking around, she was – because we have two boys, 113, 111, that she's not looking at them as like sex symbols, even though they're all young, beautiful men.
13:06She's looking at them as a mom like these guys are Welsh and English, and they're not wearing sunblock in Vegas.
13:12They're going to burn.
13:13Yeah.
13:13I got to get some sunscreen on them.
13:16I guess that does make sense.
13:18Yeah.
13:18What are the boys' fandoms like for the team?
13:21They got to be loving it.
13:23They are.
13:23Yeah, they are.
13:24And each of them has a different experience.
13:27So my one son doesn't love coming to the games.
13:30It's just – it's a loud experience.
13:33And this is something that I can actually also understand is that if you have sensory issues that when you have, you know, 50,000 people screaming, it can be really overwhelming.
13:46I actually feel that as well, and it's taken me a long time to kind of like navigate that.
13:51But for some people, it's just really, really difficult.
13:53But he loves the team, and we wake up 6 a.m. to watch the 7 a.m. game every Saturday, just me and him.
14:01So Caitlin and Leo will watch the game maybe, but they'll watch it in a different room, and it'll just be the two of us.
14:05So that's our shared experience.
14:07And then my other son, Leo, he loves to come to all the games, so we'll go to the live experience.
14:11So it's kind of nice.
14:11Is it Leo who's madly in love with Wawa?
14:14Yes.
14:14Okay, so we had the president of Wawa Air.
14:17Chris Geisens.
14:18Chris Geisens, and we told him the story about how you're, you've got to ask for free stuff from Wawa, because he's complete, right?
14:25He was like, oh, my God.
14:26Can I do that here?
14:27Can I do that now?
14:28Yes.
14:29Can I have free stuff, Wawa?
14:31I'm telling you, I had a shorty on the way over here.
14:35There you go.
14:36Yeah.
14:36A turkey and cheese shorty from Wawa on the way here.
14:39He was absolutely impressed.
14:41Yeah.
14:42That was Leo's first question.
14:45What Wawa are you going to go to?
14:47It's a lot of people when they get back to Philly.
14:50I wanted to share something with you, Rob, that's pretty cool.
14:53Preston and Steve and the show are going to be honored by Cora this year.
14:57The honor that you and Caitlin received last year, the National Constitution Center, and Charlie Ralph as well.
15:03And so we're going to have that happen in October.
15:06I saw Anne-Marie last night.
15:07She sends her best.
15:08And I just would like to use this opportunity for you to give Cora a plug because it's just such a great organization.
15:14We can't say enough nice things.
15:15Steve has had really cool experiences at some of the golf outings.
15:19And they're just the kids are you love spending time with them.
15:22Yeah, I mean, that is, and we were unaware.
15:26I mean, I'd heard about it and we'd all heard about it, you know, prior to it.
15:29It was a peripheral understanding of what was done.
15:31And then after attending the outings and seeing, I mean, we love linear, here's the charity, straight through to accomplishing the goal.
15:41That's Cora.
15:41So we always love that.
15:43And then to see, you know, and also the term, you know, stopping the falling through cracks, which is what Cora does.
15:50And what really blew me away is I forget the young man who had had a speech impediment and basically did a set of comedy and was sensational.
15:58I'm like, that's what's going on with Cora.
16:00So that's why we've been sold ever since.
16:02Well, that's Anne-Marie and Cora to a T.
16:04But Anne-Marie very specifically, she just gets right to the heart of it and is a bulldog and will fight for children in a way that I haven't seen many people do.
16:14And that's what that organization is.
16:16It's just it's a resource and it has helped so many, so many hundreds of thousands of people in the city.
16:22And it's been a huge part of my life because of my father.
16:25Speaking of your father, you know, we happen to know some of your family members and, you know, your mom, dad, your brother, Pat.
16:30And Nick was telling me that Pat is going to be working on a documentary in Scotland.
16:34That's right.
16:34What's the subject matter?
16:35Or is that under wraps for now?
16:37I think we can talk about it.
16:39He's documented the Edinburgh Film Festival.
16:41Okay.
16:42But maybe we shouldn't talk about it, actually.
16:45Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know what kind of union thing that is.
16:48Well, it's actually not made for a studio, so he's not sure if it's actually going to be distributed anyway.
16:54So he's making it for himself.
16:55But we should probably not talk about it.
16:57All good.
16:58But if you want to talk about McElhenney's.
17:00Yes.
17:01Now, I'm not exaggerating.
17:02But today, there is a section of this stadium in which there will be 76 people with the last name McElhenney.
17:13Wow.
17:14Wow.
17:15Is that incredible?
17:16Are they direct relatives?
17:18Well, I mean, obviously extended relatives.
17:20But do they by happenstance have that name?
17:23Or are they, in fact, family members?
17:24I don't know if you recognize this.
17:26McElhenney is not a common name.
17:27It's not like, well, there's a bunch of people named Smith here.
17:30You know, it's all my family members.
17:33It's all my dad.
17:35Both my parents have.
17:37My mom had nine brothers and sisters.
17:38My dad had ten brothers and sisters.
17:40And of those McElhenney's, they all had many children.
17:43So it's either my uncles, aunts, or cousins, or their children.
17:49Do you know everyone's names?
17:51I do.
17:51Oh, my God.
17:52You're amazing.
17:53Are you serious, Evan?
17:55Really?
17:55Yeah, they're my family members.
17:56That's crazy.
17:57Wow.
17:58I'm not that good, and I have a small percentage of that.
18:02But God bless you.
18:03That's cool.
18:03Are they all now, I assume, by association, football soccer fans?
18:08I'd like to believe so.
18:09Okay.
18:10I'd like to believe so.
18:11I hope so.
18:12I hope they're not union fans tonight for one night.
18:17Do you try to have a prediction in your mind of each game and the score and what might happen, anything like that?
18:23Yeah, but it never comes true.
18:24Okay.
18:24It turns out, and I get asked about this a lot, like, you know, what kind of, like, pregame rituals do you have?
18:29Do you have superstitions?
18:30And the answer is no, but not because I don't feel the need to.
18:36It's just that whenever I make a prediction, it's never right.
18:39And if it is right, it's just by pure luck.
18:41And it turns out that once the game begins, like, regardless of how many times I tap my hand on it or if I stand in a certain place or if I – those guys don't care.
18:52They're not watching me.
18:53They're not seeing whether or not I'm doing anything.
18:56So it really doesn't have any outcome at all.
19:01So magic has no place in the game.
19:03Oh, wait.
19:04Hold on.
19:04Magic does outdo.
19:05It's just that I'm not the one that's wielding it.
19:08Before we wrap up, I know you and Ryan Reynolds have become really close, and we don't know Ryan very well, but our executive producer, Casey, met him about 22 or 23 years ago.
19:20And we were talking about this on the show today.
19:21There was a premiere event for Van Wilder, and Ryan went out of his way to make sure that Casey had a good time.
19:28And Ryan was just being a kind, sweet person, and it made such a positive impact on Casey that it's become a story that we've told a couple times on the air.
19:37So on behalf of Casey, I would like to thank Ryan for being nice to him 22 years ago.
19:44I'll let him know that, and I can tell you that that is indicative of who he is.
19:49There is no other version of him that I've seen.
19:53We butt heads from time to time because that's what friends do, sure.
19:56But I'm always almost wrong, always.
20:00It's like he's just such – look, we're friends and business partners, so of course you're going to have disagreements from time to time.
20:08But the truth is he approaches everything with such respect and such kindness for human beings that it's not – I've seen him do that for people, I mean, pretty consistently.
20:19And he's so dreamy.
20:20And he's also handsome, yeah.
20:21He's a very handsome man.
20:23It is great to see you.
20:25Enjoy today, the match.
20:26It should be a lot of fun.
20:27The city's stoked.
20:29The place is packed, and it's going to be a great night tonight.
20:32Thank you for having me, as always.
20:33Anytime.
20:34Rob McElhenney, gang.
20:35Woo-hoo!
20:35Então, back to the list.
20:36Bye.
20:40Bye.
20:51Bye.
20:54Bye.
20:55Pick them up.
20:55Bye.
20:55Bye.
20:56Bye.
20:57Bye.
20:58Bye.
21:04Bye.
21:05Bye.
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