Jerry Ferrara previously starred in the HBO hit series Entourage and Power, one of Starz's most popular shows. Recently, he's moved from in front of the camera to behind the mic alongside Heisman-winning quarterback Matt Leinart for a weekly podcast, Throwbacks with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara. Ferrara, a diehard New York sports fan, took a break from podcasting and joined OutKick to discuss memorable Entourage episodes, whether OBJ has a spot in Canton, appearing alongside Kevin James as a 19-year-old on The King of Queens and more. We're used to seeing Jerry drive the Lincoln, but in this case, we took the keys and let Jerry navigate us through his world of sports and entertainment. (Jerry Ferrara's comments follow in italics. Some questions and answers from the interview were edited for time and clarity). Successful Podcast Pairs Jerry As Co-Host Alongside Former NFL Quarterback Throwbacks with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara launched last September. The once-a-week podcast (drops Thursdays) encompasses both sports and entertainment. Despite both hosts having lived within the LA scene in the early 2000s, they didn't know each other, though they did share some mutual friends and contacts. Sinclair Broadcast Group approached Ferrara about starting a podcast along with a list of names of potential co-hosts. Having familiarity with Leinart's playing days, media career and, at-the-time, newfound use of Instagram to entertain, Ferrara thought a pairing of him and Leinart could work. We got on the phone, we had like a podcast blind date. Soon after, the podcast was born. Ashton Kutcher, Charles Barkley, Johnny Manziel and Josh Duhamel are among the guests to have appeared in the show's first six months. You're kind of seeing Leinart and I figure out (their chemistry) in real-time. I don't know everything about him. I have a ton of questions because he's an interesting guy and I think (he'd say the same of me). So I think it's been great. We're off to a great start. Though Throwbacks already has a number of big-name athletes and entertainers who have appeared as guests, Ferrara has a couple of white whales he'd like to get in front of a mic. I'm a huge golf fan. Obviously, I'd love to talk to Phil (Mickelson) and Tiger (Woods)…I recently went on the Roommates podcast with (Jalen) Brunson and (Josh) Hart. You know me with the Knicks. I want to get those guys. I want to get my Knicks on. Ferrara Was A Co-Star Throughout The Entirety Of Entourage Jerry's best known for his eight-season run as "Turtle" on Entourage. Nearly 15 years after the last episode aired, and another 10 since the Entourage movie premiered, he is still occasionally addressed by his character's name. Not that he minds. I would get recognized here and there after season one, but once we started shooting season two, it was people yelling "Turtle" at me as they were driving by. Everywhere I went I heard "Turtle, Turtle." As a young actor, you're like ‘This is really cool,’ but also, ‘Shit. Am I getting put in this box now that I’m never going to get out of?'… I never had a bad attitude about it. If you were cool, I was cool. I worked really hard to get out of it (then). But, I just don't care, honestly. *Laughing* We're only talking now because of that show and that name. So how can I get mad at people? It means I did my job well. One of the trademarks of Entourage was cameos from some of the biggest names in sports, music and entertainment. Matt Damon, LeBron James, Christina Aguilera, to name a few. A handful of those cameos were most memorable to Jerry, including Phil Mickelson's and Michael Strahan's appearances. The Tom Brady episode is an iconic one. And him and I had that back and forth so that's an easy one to pick…Michael Phelps had a sneaky cameo where people didn't even realize it was him…We were shooting in New York, which we only did one time, and he had just gotten back from the Olympics where he'd won like 87 gold medals…One of our ADs saw him and was like ‘We’re shooting Entourage, want a quick cameo?' He's like ‘Yeah. Let’s do it. I love that show.' It happened (snaps fingers) that quick. Entourage aired 96 episodes during its early-to-mid 2000s HBO run. You'd be hard-pressed to find 10 minutes, let alone an entire episode that doesn't leave you wanting more: One Day in the Valley, Seth Green Day, The Day F*ckers…the list of memorable episodes is massive, though, one particular episode from early in the series' run stands out most to Ferrara. I always kind of hearken back to those earlier years. We were innocent. We didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know if anyone was watching. …If I go back to season two, when we went to Sundance (S2.E7 The Sundance Kids) - which is the first time we took the production outside of LA…That Sundance episode for me really stuck out like, ‘Oh, we’re trying to do things bigger here.'. And the real Sundance Film Festival was going on (while Entourage filmed). Sundance sticks out for me. If you thought, or even hoped, the actors portraying Turtle (Ferrara), Vince, E, Drama and Ari Gold closely resembled their characters off-screen, there's probably some truth to that, but not much. Jerry's of the opinion that there's a little bit of each of the actors' personalities in the characters, which he thinks is inevitable when working on the same show for such a long period of time, but they're generally fairly different from what's portrayed on-screen. I honestly think I was the most different (from his character). I just went to work and went home. I had a lot of anxiety back then about getting fired. So I tried to stay out of trouble. Jerry Ferrara Weighs In On Yankees, Knicks And More Sports Having been a Yankees fan all his life, Ferrara weighed in on New York's recent change in stance, to now allow players to have facial hair for the first time since the mid-1970s. I couldn't even believe it was really still a thing. …About time, I would say. About time. That was a long time ago when (George) Steinbrenner said ‘You don’t like it, go play somewhere else!.' About time. Let these guys do what they want. Jerry's a Knicks superfan, often sitting courtside at MSG. His fandom rivals that of Spike Lee's. When asked to Start, Bench, Cut a trio of former and current Knicks legends: Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Jalen Bruson, Ferrara struggled to play GM. I gotta start Patrick Ewing, only because I'm a man of a certain age. He's gotten us to the Finals. He certainly tried everything in his power (to win), left it all out on the court. Nothing but love to Patrick Ewing. Next would be Brunson. So I'm benching Brunson, which is absurd! I do think Burnson has a chance to go down as one of those great all-time Knicks. …He's just been outstanding. And Oakley *sigh* (gets cut)… you set me up for failure! The New York Knicks aren't Ferrara's only hoops interest. He's a big fan of the NBA and has a couple of suggestions about how the league could fix All-Star Saturday Night and that includes bringing professional dunkers into the Dunk Contest. I've been around some of these professional dunkers at random charity events and basketball games. These guys are dunking hours a day and working on stuff that we've never seen and making it look effortless, and making it on the first try. …Get pro dunkers in the contest. …The three-point shootout's easy to fix. I know it's all branded stuff. Get rid of the four-point shot. Shame on you NBA, for doing that. I don't even want the money ball anymore. Why can I hit more threes than you, but because you hit the Sprite (money) ball, you beat me? That's not competition, that's a video game. (People say) ‘That’s a pressure shot.' Do you think these guys are really feeling pressure for a money ball? Maybe if it's the very last ball and they need it to advance. But do you think they're feeling the pressure of the money ball in the first rack? And you can put (all of the money balls) on your favorite rack? It's ridiculous. One guy Ferrara wasn't tasked with cutting or watching hoist up money ball threes was Odell Beckham Jr., whose career skyrocketed out of the gates but has since fizzled out. Three Pro Bowls, Rookie of the Year, a couple All-Pro seasons, a Super Bowl and 60 career touchdowns. But not enough for a spot in Canton. I'm gonna say no (to OBJ being a Hall of Famer), without having the numbers in front of me. If I looked at his numbers I might feel differently. And it's not because he wasn't good enough or talented enough. …Just that next chapter of his career, after the Giants, was that combination of injuries (and changing teams)… His first few years with the Giants he was easily a first-ballot guy. That wasn't even a question. …He just had some unfortunate injury luck. …I said no (to getting into Canton, but) Hall of Fame talent for sure. When having to pick who meant more to New York, Eli Manning or Derek Jeter, Ferrara didn't hesitate turning to the diamond, mentioning how the Yankees routinely missed the postseason before Jeter stepped into the lineup. It's The Captain. No disrespect to Eli Manning. …I love Eli. …But I go with The Captain. Before Entourage, There Was The King Of Queens Prior to landing Entourage, Jerry had a role in one episode of one of network television's biggest hits, The King of Queens. This launched his SAG career, and he still receives residuals from the appearance, though the residuals are barely enough to buy a couple of stamps today. I got the part and, at the time, that was very, very important (for his career). That was a huge accomplishment for a young actor just starting out to get into the union. Because they do not let you in unless you…*laughs* it's like the biggest catch22. You can't be in the union unless you have a speaking part, but you can't get a speaking part unless you're in the union. …Leah Remini (the show's co-lead) was amazing. She was from my neighborhood too, so we had this connection. Kevin (James, co-lead) was really cool. He was a big Mets fan. I don't think he loved that I was Yankees, but totally cool. …The real cool part was, I got to spend a little bit of time with Jerry Stiller. When he heard my name was Jerry, he enjoyed that. ‘There’s not many of us left,' he'd tell me every morning. …It was a surreal experience. I think for a guest star at the time, a guest star like that would make five or six grand. Which, for me at the time, I was rich. I quit my job at the restaurant I was working at. I got this network TV money, five-six grand. Three, four months later you run out of money and go ask for your job back at the restaurant. And I repeated that cycle 15 times. I would get a guest star (role), make five, six grand and quit my job, run out of money, go ask for my job back.I was 19-years-old. I still get residuals. The first run of residuals you get that same (original) amount, like five or six grand the first time they re-air it on (network TV). And then over time, as they re-air it, it just dwindles. I literally still get checks for like 64 cents for The King of Queens. Follow along on X: @OhioAF