Joel McHale has worked with and crossed paths with some of the biggest names in Hollywood over his long career as an actor and comedian, but the Mercer Island native and lifelong Seahawks fan admitted he was a bit starstruck while at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Wednesday.

Seated next to Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and receiver Cooper Kupp, both of whom helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl LX earlier this year, McHale acknowledged that it was a little different being around his sports heroes than Hollywood royalty.

"I've met Jim Carrey a couple of times and I'm like, 'This guy's cool,'" McHale said during a break after Macdonald discussed his affinity for 90s comedies like "Dumb and Dumber" and "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" that turned Carrey into a superstar. "Then I'm up here like 'Holy (expletive)!'"

McHale was back in his hometown, or at least a short trip across Lake Washington from it, on Wednesday to host a special SiriusXM Front Row event that allowed a small group of contest winners to sit in on an hour-long conversation with Macdonald that also included appearances from Kupp and tight end AJ Barner.

The hour-long conversation, which will debut on Thursday, April 30 at 3 p.m. PT on SiriusXM, covered plenty of football topics, but also had plenty of lighthearted moments, which you might expect from an event hosted by McHale, though the longtime actor and comedian and former UW football walk-on also showed sincere side when thanking Macdonald for bringing another Super Bowl title to Seattle.

"I was at the Super Bowl, and I cried to the point that I disturbed myself," McHale said. "My 18-year-old son and I, we hugged each other—and I'm literally tearing up right now—so thank you for what you have done for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest."

One of the first topics covered what Macdonald's life has been like since winning as Super Bowl, and naturally he downplayed any changes, though Seattle's head coach did express his appreciation for the celebration that took place on the streets of Seattle days after the team returned home.

"I didn't know what we were in for," he said. "Everything happened really fast, and all of a sudden we're here and ready to load up and go to the stadium. It was beyond my wildest dreams. My expectations weren't high enough on how awesome it was. That was definitely the highlight after the Super Bowl. That was incredible, it was awesome."

When McHale relayed a question from his 87-year-old father, wondering what part of Ireland Macdonald's family comes from, Macdonald no doubt disappointed the elder McHale with his answer,

"We're actually Scottish," Macdonald said, noting the Mac spelling.

After a segment with Macdonald and McHale, Kupp joined the conversation, dressed in his finest ripped tank top, and the two-time Super Bowl winner talked with McHale about his beard, which "comes back with just a ferocity" since he cut it short last year. Kupp expressed an appreciation for new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury also having a beard, saying, "He's committed to the beard thing. He shows up with his beard, so it's like, 'It's OK now. This is a safe place.'"

To which McHale replied, "You guys look like a bunch of lumberjacks from 1850."

McHale also asked Kupp about being self-taught on the piano, which Kupp explained was so he can play songs for his wife to sing, but also because he aspires to be a guy who can sit down and play piano in a hotel lobby.

McHale pointed out that being a Super Bowl-winning, decorated veteran NFL receiver is pretty cool too, with Kupp replying, "Random hotel piano guy is right above NFL player."

Other topics included how Kupp and other veterans turned Techo Thursday into classic rock Thursday, and how he is sharing his night-before-games pho routine, which he started in L.A., with Seahawks teammates.

When the conversation turns to Macdonald's favorite 90s movies, Kupp asks if only Jim Carrey made comedies back then, to which Macdonald counters with the Austin Powers franchise and Chris Farley movies.

When Macdonald and Barner were asked about what comes next after winning a title, Macdonald went back to the message he shared with media during the NFL Annual Meeting, which is that the Seahawks don't feel like they're defending champs or a team trying to run it back, but rather a new team that has to respect the same process that helped them build a successful team last year, starting with offseason workouts this time of year.

"The messaging isn't defending anything or running anything back," Macdonald said. "We're a new team. We're proud of what we did, that team's going to live forever, but we want to run it forward. We want to run our process forward. We want to perpetuate our way of life around here. That's sustainable, that's what's exciting. The journey of last year to become the team we became is the stuff we'll remember and cherish the most."

Barner added, "For sure. That (journey) was the best part. The confetti was falling and it was like, 'Oh, (expletive), it happened.'"

Macdonald continued, saying "We actually never talked about winning the Super Bowl last year, believe it or not. We just never did."

To which Barner smirked and said, "Maybe coaches."

"We never got in front of the team and said, 'This is our goal,'" Macdonald said. "It was always, 'How do we become the team that we aspire to become?' And that's a championship-level team. You have to have faith that the results are going to fall in line with who you become. But if you start thinking about winning another championship, that's disrespecting the process of the things we have to be able to do to get there."

McHale also asked Macdonald about the notion that other teams will now try to copy the Seahawks' winning formula, and Macdonald noted that doing so requires a lot more than understanding of the Xs and Ox of his scheme.

"Our secret sauce is—and we say 12 as One—but the power of the collective, the synergy of everyone involved," Macdonald said. "The thing we have here in Seattle is alignment, from ownership to Chuck (Arnold), our president, John (Schneider), our GM, all of our support staff, we're just pushing in the same direction. That's what MOB is, that's the spirit of how we operate. So when you can get that going and it snowballs, that's how you can get those expedited results. I encourage people to try to copy it, because they don't know the sauce, they don't know the recipe… We just have to stay being us. We have to keep reinventing ourselves, we call it chasing edges, push the envelope of who we want to be, and don't worry about the periphery. That's how we got here, and that's the mentality we're going to keep moving forward."

The conversation ended with a Q&A with the fans who were in attendance, as well as some comments from Barner and Macdonald about how much they love their new hometown.

"When you see Rainier on a beautiful day, and the water, you can't beat it," Barner said. "The people too, great people out here. You can't beat Seattle."

Said Macdonald, "It's the most beautiful place I've ever been. And the people have been awesome, 12s are everywhere."

McHale, never one to shy away from some dark humor, pointed out that when his parents arrived in 1979, his dad was not a fan, but that he would never leave now.

"Now he wouldn't leave—he can't really leave; he's in a wheelchair now," McHale said, before responding to the hesitant laughter with, "He would love that joke. He would love it."

Here is the upcoming schedule to catch all of SiriusXM Front Row with Mike Macdonald, Joel McHale, Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner:

• Thursday, April 30 (6pm ET/3pm PT)
• Thursday, April 30 (11pm ET/8pm PT)
• Friday, May 1 (8pm ET/5pm PT)
• Saturday, May 2 (9am ET/6am PT and 6pm ET/3pm PT)
• Sunday, May 3 (6pm ET/3pm PT)
• The show can also be heard anytime on demand on the SiriusXM app