Gruden Family Football Show debuts for NFL Week 1 with Jon, Jay Gruden and Kayce Smith
TLDR: Jon Gruden, brother Jay and Kayce Smith launched their new weekly show for the NFL's opening Sunday, breaking down the Cowboys, Rams-49ers in Australia and the rest of Week 1.
Barstool's newest football show is officially on the air. The Gruden Family Football Show, pairing Jon Gruden with brother Jay and co-host Kayce Smith, dropped its first episode as Week 1 of the NFL season got underway, giving the Gruden name a weekly desk to break down the entire slate.
First episode of The Gruden Family Football Show is live. We’re just getting started. 😤
Jon Gruden joined Barstool in 2024 and had already built out Gruden's QB Class before this. Jay's path here is newer -- he was hired in July 2026 to co-host the family show after Underdog Sports shut down its content division and canceled the shows he'd been fronting there, Clean Pocket and The Arena: Gridiron. Putting two Grudens behind one desk, as Dave Portnoy framed the hire, was the whole pitch.
The Week 1 episode leaned into the biggest storyline on the board: the Cowboys. Jon Gruden didn't hold back on Dallas heading into their game against the Giants, and Barstool's own account pulled the soundbite straight off the show.
Gruden also used the platform to air a grievance he's apparently had for a while: the NFL playing regular-season games overseas. With the 49ers and Rams opening the season in Melbourne, Australia -- a matchup that has each team logging roughly 7,900 miles and a 17-hour time difference just to kick off -- Gruden made clear he'd rather see the league grow the game at home than keep shipping Week 1 across the globe.
Not every segment was pure X's and O's. Gruden also spent part of the show unboxing a care package the Browns sent him, a nod to growing up a Cleveland fan with Leroy Kelly as his favorite player -- a nice personal beat for a show that's built around family ties in the first place.
IT'S WEEK 1 NFL WEEKEND!!! We got a box from a team that holds a VERY special place in my heart... it's the CLEVELAND BROWNS!!! I grew up a Browns fan... my favorite player was Leroy Kelly and I even got his autograph! Thank you Coach Monken and @Browns for all this stuff!!
The show also rolled out its own call-in bit, The Shred Line, taking voicemails from fans right out of the gate -- the kind of interactive wrinkle that suggests this isn't meant to be a one-and-done Week 1 special but a full-season fixture. With Jon's football pedigree, Jay's fresh coaching resume and Kayce Smith running the desk, Barstool's got a legitimate NFL show now, not just another Gruden bit.
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