May 16, 2025 • 41 mins
It’s a Football Friday on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, and the Nuggets force a Game 7 vs the Thunder. The Pros doubt Caleb Williams will stay in Chicago for the long haul after reports he tried to circumvent them in the Draft. Plus, failed ‘Cavalanche’ and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Two Pros and a cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio
LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knox with you here. Coming
up on this Football Friday. We're going to talk football.
Of course we are because we've got more drama involving
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Right when you thought
that it was safe to come out and be a
Bears fan again, apparently Caleb Williams wasn't even a Bears
fan before he got into the league. We will discuss.
(00:21):
We're also going to talk about the unfair treatment one
network got when it came to the star power at
the quarterback position in the NFL. We're also going to
talk about college football and there's somebody who's unhappy about
start times in Ohio on what it means moving forward. Plus,
we're going to get into the NBA playoff action from
the night that was. We've got a Game seven coming
(00:42):
up in OKC and it might get a little bit
awkward if we're handing out MVP awards. Plus, we got
another edition of In case you missed it. We're also
going to spin a wheel to pick a horse. We've
got the two Pros topic roundup and a special edition
of Lee's Leftovers. Right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And away we go. It's two pros and a cup
of Joe. Fox Sports Radio, LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas
Knox with you here. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app. You know, you can always find us on
hundreds of affiliates all across the country. And wherever you
are making us a part of your Friday morning, we
appreciate you doing so. We'll be taking you all the
way up until nine am Eastern time, six o'clock Pacific
(01:51):
here and we have got all sorts of conversation to
be had here, and it must start with the forcing
of a game seven last night, the Denver Nuggets get
it done, and the Denver Nuggets will be taking on
the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Game seven to move
on to the Western Conference Finals against the Howling Wolves.
(02:13):
Just sitting there waiting coming up on Sunday, fun game
last night.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Oh No, I don't know that pack at home waiting
to get it in, getting getting rest, you know, get
a little bit more rest.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I just don't think that that plays into that doesn't
play into the advantage of either one of the OKAC
or Denver if they're able to advance. This was a
blown opportunity by okay See. It looked like it had
the makings of you know what the previous games that
(02:56):
okay See had won, which was you know, the game
was the game in the front half. But then you know,
Denver isn't able to close out. It seemed like they
got tired, weren't able to have enough gas to get
it done. And that wasn't a case yeah or no, No, Denver.
Denver wasn't. Denver did not have enough in the tank
(03:19):
to finish out close out games that they possibly and
maybe probably could have won during the course of this series.
And okay See kind of you know, had had way more.
They were moving faster, they were fresher. Uh you could
tell that the rotation was taking a toll on Denver.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
And I still think that that was the case.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I just think that you have a team and in
Denver that they're stubborn, they're the champ. They they didn't
want to go home, didn't want to lose. Jamal Murray
picked it up, he played better. Uh, It just it
just seemed as though they were able to do something
that they hadn't been really able to do. Bron played
(04:05):
very well. He's been kind of an under the radar
type of workmanlike type type guy. Yeah, going up top,
up top guy in the series. Aaron Gorton, Aaron Gorton
could have boned yesterday. He definitely needed to show up more,
(04:26):
and he most likely will need to show up more
in game seven. Everybody's going to have to show up
for this Game seven to get out of it. But
I think that this this was a really good series,
a competitive series. I think it turned into somewhat of
a grueling series for both of these teams. And while
I'll say that Okac most likely will be better suited
(04:49):
to move on and be fresh enough to be competitive
against the Timberwolves, I think this still a Game seven
being forced by bay Denver still makes this a advantageous
situation in my estimation, for whoever gets out of that series.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Plan for you playing against Minnesota, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
What about Jokic, I mean up top Jones. Hell yeah,
he's the one that's not letting Denver fade off in.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
The sunset, all right, He's the one.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
He is the best player in the NBA he's proving
it right now by carrying Denver. And I just again,
it's he's fun to watch, like he really is. He's
like a dancing bear out there.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
He doesn't that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like he wasn't even like he had no he hadn't
hit a three until the fourth quarter, Like it wasn't.
Like his offense was the same the game before it was.
He didn't maybe didn't have his shot, but his ability
to facilitate, Like he might be the best point guard
in the NBA. Like he just like he really might
be as far as passing vision, what he's able to do.
(05:52):
He finds guys that are open, knows when to make
the right play. By far and away the best player
in the NBA. And I know that Oklahoma City is
a big favorite and the Aaron Gordon hamstring injury is
something to monitor. But man, the best team in the
the best player in the NBA on the road in
a game seven. That's a problem and they're gonna have
(06:14):
to deal with it. And I would also like to
point this out, Denver plus five last night was a
bank heist.
Speaker 6 (06:21):
At well, look at this guy, Look at this what
you make? How much did he make off that one
like fifteen.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Okay, yeah, but the point is, hey, that was set
up to be a game seven. We deserved a game
seven with the way those teams have played and the
way you wanted to step Hell.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
Yeah, yeah we won Game sevens.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Come on, man, if he would have put it for that,
if it had been put in and sweet Baby Jesus
betting Jesus' hands, I bet Jesus' hands, it wouldn't have happened.
So the fact that Jonas called for this and it
didn't come down from the betting heavens, from lab bet Jesus,
it just, you know, it seemed to all work out.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I mean, you know, I'm fairly certain he won his
last bet if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
So no, that's not true.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
I don't think he did.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
The last bet you made on Harry lost. Okay, well
I was the baseball one.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, what definitely wasn't me. But we do have we
do have David Adelman, the head coach of the Denver Nuggets,
talking about the opportunity to have a Game seven there
for the Nuggets.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
I mean those losses were tough, but I mean it
was three to two this series is still here.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I've said this.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
I know it's a cliche, but every game is its
own chapter, it's its own things, its own entity, and
different people are going to step up, just like for them,
they've had people step up in Game four and five
and tonight we had that team that did it. And
now you pretty suffer in a situation where hey, let's
go see what happens on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I would say this, if they're able to pull this
off and knock off the one seed, this is kind
of a bad look on Mike Malone. Nott's say that
because Mike Malone was fired with like four or five
games left in the season and people are looking around going,
how could you fire that guy? Just want a title
a little over a year ago? What's going on here?
And then Mike Malone's got this team playing better than
(08:14):
they had for a long time during the course of
the season and now they're making a run again to
the Western Conference finals. Kind of justifies maybe the decision
or the temperature of the room there that they fell
in Denver.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
It's happened a lot of thought the NBA. There's been
a number of teams. We've had coaches who have won
and fired them a couple of years after. It's kind
of odd.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And if it works and all of it, Like the
Penguins did it a couple of times where they fired
their coach in season and then you know it was
Dan Bilesman nine took him to the Stanley Cup at
he was a mid season higher promoted from Wilkes Bear.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
And then there was.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Wilkes Bear, and then there was Mike Sullivan and who
just moved on recently. But they fired Dan Bilesma mid season,
made Mike Sullivan the coach, and then they went on
and won a Cup and actually went back to back Cups.
So I always think about the guy who was let
go to see the team have success after he was gone,
especially a guy like Mike Malone who disagreed with the decision. Obviously,
(09:23):
I don't know, man Like they're that's a fun team
to watch, still a significant underdog. I think I saw
it at like seven and a half. They're a seven
and a half point underdog on the road, But that
could be. That could be an interesting setup if it
gets close. Who do you trust in that series? Pick
anybody out? Okay see SGA included or or the Joker later.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
In that game being able to make a play the joker.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So I mean it's it's I don't know that there's
a pick one because SGA has has done.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
And we don't have any options. Pal. I get it,
I get it, I get it.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I just still think that the tail of the
tape is still the fact that they're playing over forty minutes.
You still haven't had one OKC player going to the
forty minute range, and yet you continue to have multiple
players for you know, Bron went over forty minutes obviously,
(10:26):
Jokice he went over forty minutes. In Jamal Murray, I
guess fighting his cold, he went over forty minutes. Well, well,
Bron had thirty nine minutes, so he wasn't quite at
forty minutes. Jokicge and Jamal Murray had forty minutes. I
just look at that. I look at the fact that
they are doing so much for this team, at the
(10:48):
amount of minutes that they're doing. Like as an example,
just to give you an idea, SGA only had thirty
five minutes and that was the high.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Well, Jamal.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, the forward, Jamal Williams or jayaln excuse me,
Jaylen Williams. He had thirty eight minutes. That was the
most minutes. So I think the point I'm making is
you have a rotation that is so it's so set
up for them to have gas and a lot of it,
(11:25):
you know, and it's you know, people may not think that, Okay, well,
thirty eight minutes to forty one to forty two or
forty three minutes in a game, that's not really a
big difference, but it is. It does turn into a difference,
and you can see the it's like there's fatigue that's
setting in late in the games. And I think that
(11:46):
that was probably the reason why Denver was letting the
games get away from the thunder.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
They just had more. They just had more at the
end of the game.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
I think it was such a gritty and a gutsy,
you know, gutsy game by the Nuggets to be able
to break that trend. But it still was nonetheless it
was hitting in that direction. It still had that same
feeling that Okac had more and the Nuggets weren't going
(12:16):
to be able to maintain the level of play that
they were able to do. They started out well, you know,
won the first quarter, the second quarter, you know, okay,
see answered, and then you say, okay, going into the
third quarter, you wouldn't have expected Denver to be able
to have as much success in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
They would fizzle out. But they did it.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
They were able to win the third quarter, and they
were able to win the fourth quarter in this game.
In the second half of this game, they won the
second half.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And if I'm.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Okay, see, you've got to be very very nervous going
into Game seven because they did it. And and it
makes you wonder because they are the chance because they
have the best player, you know, in in the country,
in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I guess we all the Celtics are the champs. I mean,
you know, we're being fair.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, but there's still there's still champs too. I mean
they're one year removed from it. I know the Celtics
got it last year, but there's still the champs. They're
the last ones to win it from the West. I'll say,
you know, but yeah, I just I think, you know,
this is one of those series where again I think
(13:37):
the impact of it, the effect of it goes way
further with Denver if they're able to advance. I think
it works into Minnesota's for if Denver were to win,
because I just don't know how much they're going to
have left. I think the better matchup is Okay see
if okay se comes out of it, but you're going
(13:58):
to have a hard time put putting the chap to bit.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I mean, they they want to stay in it.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
You can see the resilience of them in last night's game,
and they forced the game seven. I just knew for
certain Okase would find a way to send them home
last night, and they weren't able to do it. Give
credit to Denver, give credit to Jokid, give credit to
to Murray Braun, Give credit to the.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Team for doing what they needed to do.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
But you know, Lou Dort, he kind of disappeared last night.
He didn't give them the type of boost that he
has generally usually given them hitting threes and doing what
he does.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
It just half was sweet though, kind of like shut
down everything in the crowd.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah, it just wasn't you know, it wasn't enough.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
It was starting to get away from Denver a little
bit there, and then they closed out the first strong
Dort hit that and then there's that three.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
I was like, well, man, this may not work out,
but it worked on then.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
He needed to do more, or Jalen Williams, the smaller one,
he needed to do more. I have looked at this
this this series and it's funny because home Grin and
Hartenstein have to me to Brady they have done is
(15:19):
is dang.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
First one was loud sorry about that guy?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
That was that was like that was some serious That
was a real top gun up top right there.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
One.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I think those two guys had played their hearts out
against Joki, which I think what what I take away
from this series this year is how amazing Jokic is
seeing the way that they're playing against him. I mean,
and listen, we've seen teams really take a an aggressive
(15:53):
manner in trying to to defend him. But I think
Hartenstein and and and home Grin have done as good
a job as any trying to really really combo cover
him as well as just platoon against him. And you
know you can add to the other Williams obviously into that,
(16:15):
Jalen Williams into that scenario. He comes in as a
big body that tries to physically impose himself the same
way hart and Stein is physically and they basically have
tried to use three dudes to wear Jokic down, which
in general should work. It should work, and it hasn't.
(16:36):
It hasn't. I mean his point totals went down. I
mean it did go down last evening. He didn't score
as much, but he's still effective in what it is
that he's doing. So give him a ton of credit. Man,
Give give the Denver Nuggets a ton of credit for
being able to push the game seut.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You know, we've kind of alluded to this with all
the high fives, but I do feel like this series,
Brady and I are pretty well represented, you know, I
got to be honest. I mean between Holme, Grin Hartenstein,
Christian Brown, I mean like like there's like there's a
lot to really wrap your arms.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Around here with this series. For us. Well, I'm happy
for y'all.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I mean, y'all heard you've heard your boy stephen A
talking about the.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Return of the White Boy. The return of the White Boy.
Oh no, I mean it's.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Kind of been there for a while, right, We're gonna
the number one overall pick what up?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
It's just yeah, don't don't hate the game, hate the play.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I'm saying pick six and the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, I have no hate for y'all. Man, I have
no hate for y'all. You know I didn't. I didn't
ask to land on Plymouth Rock. You know, Plymouth Rock
landed on me, you know.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
So it's kind of just what it is. Great point,
all right, so up top it is. Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It is important though to point out here that we.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Uh, there's one thing I think we're missing here.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
You can have not bearing the lead.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It is a football yeah right, it's Friday. Now to
put a ca.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah, it's football Friday, Friday Friday. Yeah, all right, Okay,
little Brint is going to.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Be a bre is going to be a quarterback. He's
going to throw it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Throw the ball, football lord, right now, throw the ball.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Throw it and catch throw it and catch it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Football football football football football football. All right, let's do
it for Eddie. Let's do it for Eddie. Come on now,
let's do it for Eddie. Friday night and a football Friday,
Football Friday lead the last got in the game. Come on,
kick it is football Friday.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
It is a football Friday. Here on, two pros and
a cup of Joe. So we are going to have
the usuals coming up later on. We've got another edition
of in case you missed it. We've also got Lee's leftovers.
We're gonna try something brand spanking new here an hour
two of the program. We've got a wheel in studio.
We're gonna spin. We'll explain all of that later on.
All of it is yours here on this three hour extravaganza.
(19:24):
But coming up next here, though everything seemed like it
was great, it seemed like brighter days were ahead, and
then all of a sudden, this happened in the NFL.
We'll explain right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe Here Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knocks with you. Coming up
and we'll call it about twenty minutes from now here.
We are going to tell you a story about somebody
who had a really good idea in the world of sports,
and unfortunately they didn't get to execute it. We'll get
into that for you again about twenty minutes from now
(20:13):
so right when you think that everything's looking up in Chicago,
there's optimism, there's hope. Forget about all the old stuff.
This is the year. Ben Johnson's your coach, Caleb Williams
your quarterback. Everything's good to go. Wickershamed Seth Wickersham of
(20:37):
ESPN drops a bomb yesterday and there's a lot to it.
So there's a book that's coming out in September titled
American Kings, a Biography of the Quarterback, and it chronicles
the journey of a bunch of players at both college
and the NFL from the past as well, so quarterback
(21:00):
from all different landscapes, and Caleb Williams is featured prominently
in some of the excerpts that have made the rounds.
Quotes from the book are his dad, Carl Williams, who
went to great lengths to try and circumvent the NFL draft.
He wanted to give his son an opportunity to choose
his future employer because he was worried about the Bear's
(21:23):
history of not really working well with quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
I don't want my son playing for the Bears. The
Bears are where quarterbacks go to die. Carl Williams, his
dad spoke with Archie Manning, who helped obviously Eli Manning
get to New York and out of control of the
San Diego Chargers. There was even a conversation about potentially
going to the UFL so that he could become an
unrestricted free agent in twenty twenty five to be able
(21:48):
to pick a team. He wasn't happy with the rookie
wage scale. And then the most interesting stuff of all
this is that he thought, well, maybe I'll just blame
last the organization like John Elway did in eighty three
to the Baltimore Colts, and just go public with it
like the Lways did back then. And then Caleb Williams
(22:11):
was at the Combine and all of a sudden realized, hey, man,
I get along great with Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings head coach.
That's where I want to be. His dad was on board.
They hit it off, but Ryan Pulls the GM for
the Bears, told him we're drafting you either way. So
Caleb was concerned that if he did try to bury
(22:32):
the organization that he didn't want to nuke the city.
So he wasn't ready for all that, and so at
a pre draft visit with in the Bears facility, Williams
believed he could be part of the process to turn
the franchise around. I can do it for this team.
I'm going to go to the Bears. And then he
went on to discuss the in season struggles with the
(22:53):
eber Flus and Shane Waldron the OC and not really
having any direction when it came to prepping and looking
at film and all that stuff. So moral of the
story is interesting time in considering Seth Wickersham writs for
ESPN and Seth Wickersham points out that Caleb Williams wanted
to be a part of the Vikings organization who the
(23:14):
Bears just happened to be playing on ESPN on Monday
Night Football Week one of the upcoming season. So take
it away. There's the unpiling of the drama in Chicago
now between Kayleb Williams and the organization.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Again, I think we kind of forget pretty soon after
what happens. And then the speculation and conversation is around
the draft every single year, right like the next one
comes along, We're like, oh, yeah, okay, we'll focus on
this one now. If you go back, though, there was
a lot of smoke in regards to the frustration of
Caleb Williams and his party on his side of things
(23:51):
with the entire draft process. That was the speculation. Now
we have confirmation that all that was true, and I
got to be honest, like, I'm not sure that I'm
overly bothered by it. For this reason, I never hate
the fact when players or even their families try to
(24:12):
push the envelope of what's possible to give themselves the
best opportunity possible.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
All Right.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
I know people made comments about you know, Prime and Shador.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Sanders and what they were maybe trying to do.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
This year in the draft, which I think they're two
you know, different in regards to the talent of both players.
But in Caleb William's you know aspect, like he kind
of sought out everything you possibly could, you know, seek out.
At that point, he looked at going to the UFL,
which would have been pretty crazy to think about. However,
we've seen quarterbacks in the past do that. Granted it
(24:46):
would be decades ago. You know, they talked about the
rookie wage scale. There's a lot of people who've got
issues with it. We've talked about this before. Fundamentally, a
team can basically draft a player and have complete control
of them for seven years of their career, seven years
without the player's input. Outside of having to sign a
(25:07):
franchise tag a four year deal plus a fifth year option.
Two tags, that's seven years you could be damn near
thirty and never having the chance to really test free
agent waters. So there's a lot of issues I think
from the player's side as to you know, what could
be potentially wrong when you enter into the NFL.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Now, the hard part is he's now been here. Here.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
The fan base, I think, I think and Jonas you
could speak to this better than anyone else. I think
they like Caleb Williams. I think they wanted to be
their quarterback. They feel like he can be their franchise quarterback.
You know, despite all the chaos the one on last
year in Chicago. But this isn't a ringing endorsement. I mean,
even though at the end of the day he came
(25:55):
around on the Chicago Bears, there's still probably a lot
of speculation that when it comes time for him to
try to sign an extension and if things go well,
you do wonder will he be a guy that stays around,
tries to get out tries to look for the first
opportunity to go to another team. It feels like him
(26:17):
his father probably involved to would try to make that
sort of move. That's how and by the way, that's
how you operate in college. Folks like you should be
surprised by it if you're a Bears fan. He left
Oklahoma where he had a nice setup to go to
Southern cal. You could say he's falling Lincoln Riley, but
it was also to go to Southern cal to go
to greater pastors for him and want a heisman out
(26:39):
of it, So you got to give him credit. But
at the end of the day, that's what it's going
to be about for him. It's trying to find where
he feels like it's the best possible situation for him
to succeed, not the team for him to succeed.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
And by the way, Bears fans can outwardly be upset
or frustrated about these comments and be hurt, guess what
he's right, and based on how last year went, they
were probably right and having some concerns about what the
direction of the organization was going to be. So be
upset about it all you want, but the proof is
(27:17):
there there's been a history of not being able to
build around the quarterback and not finding the right guy,
and last year only prove them more right. So they
can get pissy about it all they want. Facts are facts. Q.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
If you and your family, with twenty twenty hindsight as
a benefit, had the opportunity to say we're not going
to the Browns, would you have rather had the opportunity
to go to a franchise that knows how to utilize
what you do best so that you could go figure right.
(27:57):
I know this takes a brainiac and the genie used
to to come up with this conclusion. But someone who
is going to actually put you in the best position
to have success and you had that play out versus
being called a bus so here.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
So here's the hard part about answering this question is
I think in general, had it been any other team
other than Cleveland, I would have said, you know, yeah,
of course, like I want to go to the best
possible situation.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
I rot I grew up a Browns fan. It was
literally on site.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
That's still the reality of being a pro versus being
a fan that team.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
That's the only exception. Cleveland was the only exception.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
Even to this, Well, that's fair even to this state
if right, if you would have put any other organization
like that drafted me that didn't have that like Bernie
Coezar Jersey picture. I grew up as a kid going
to games as a kid rooting for the Browns, like
being so frustrated up set when they got taken away
and they go to Baltimore and then you can to
(29:04):
ship for it without a doubt.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
I would never have take again.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Look, So so that's that's the difference, because it was
a childhood dream come true.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
But if you're talking.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
About any any other team that you would have said,
you know, for example, now, again, Chicago might have been
different to me because I got, you know, close to
that just seeing that team being in South End and
you kind of had to respect for all the Chicago fans,
the South End fans and all that. So I don't
know that. And here's what I'll say on this. I
just I didn't have that perspective, and right wrong or indifferent.
(29:37):
My family really didn't either, Like we were pretty naive
to all of it.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
You know, I had I was very fortunate.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
I had a couple of uncles who very savvy in
the business world, and they helped me through a lot
of the decisions on you know, finding an agent, interviewing
agents it would be best set for me, you know,
and investment advice like all those things. And they might
have had the ability to see into the future and say, well,
you know, maybe this isn't the best place to go
(30:06):
because of the organization. But there was never any pushing
or pulling by my mom or my dad because they
were just grateful. They always were. They were grateful for
the to the University of Notre Dame, they were grateful
to the Browns. They were always just grateful. And that
was just how our background was like. It wasn't one
(30:26):
of like, well, what can you do for me? What
can you do for my son? You're not doing enough
for my It was never that they and that was
how I was raised. So I didn't really look for
that either. And maybe that was my own naivete, maybe
that was my own ignorance or maybe even theirs, which
I don't I don't know how.
Speaker 6 (30:44):
You know what your parents very rare they have experience.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
This is not it's not a right or wrong answer,
but at the end of the day, my answer would
be I rather have people hate me for being a
hole in the initial based off of the potential what
I could be versus the ladder where I went. You know,
(31:08):
I could have gone number one, I could have I
purposely priced myself out to the Cleveland Browns, ironically, maybe coincidentally,
the same franchise i'd priced myself.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So so let me ask you this because because because
obviously the Browns were never a team you you probably
hated and grew up in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I didn't hate them, No, I didn't hate.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
Them, Okay, but you didn't like them.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
But if you could have went if it was the
Pittsburgh Steeles, if it was the Pittsburg Steelers.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
But see the problem is is the Pittsburgh Steelers have
always been a pretty successful organization.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
That would be the problem.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
If if if they hadn't played in a super Bowl
or had been.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Let me put it this way. Let me put it
this way.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
If you if you had the opportunity to go there,
but the contract wasn't gonna be perfect, you couldn't price
yourself out, you know what I'm saying, Like you you
were gonna have to maybe, Okay, that's probably better.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I wouldn't have most likely if I had the opportunity,
which kind of goes down the lane, because I think
we were probably raised probably probably pretty much very similar
in ideologies and and foundational components. We would have been
over the moon excited to go to Pittsburgh and whatever
(32:21):
that would have been, it would have been whatever it is,
and I would have went there and I would have
had a Hall of Fame career. I truly believe that
I would have been one hundred plus sas guy. I
would have had stability as a pro. I would have
been in the locker room with guys like Joey Porter
and James Ferrier and and who's my guy from from
(32:46):
Michigan that would Foot Larry Foot.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
I would have been with guys like uh.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Uh that he's a little older, so he would have
been he would have been. I mean, but Kevin Green
was a very very large influence on me. Kevin Green
and Greg Greg Lloyd is my favorite player of all time.
Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown. You know, I used to work
out with them at Bally's and when I was in
(33:14):
high school, I would have I would have given up
anything to be able to play for for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So like I said, I get your point, but had
my my hometown team stunk and didn't you know, break
my heart in the Super Bowl playing against Dallas, or
(33:36):
you know seeing Bill cowerd get his Super Bowl Bill
Cower that I mean, it was the highlight of my
of my combine was going in and interviewing with the Steelers,
and I told him I was like, man eight, and
they're like, I know and this, that and the other,
and there's no reason to move up for a linebacker.
If you were the Steelers, I would have went to
(33:57):
the Steelers in a heartbeat. But with that being said,
it was because it was based upon what I had
grown up knowing. And I went to school on the
same street that that Art Rooney, the Senior, the original
you know, had a house on, you know and the
Mexican War streets. And then there was another one another
(34:19):
area where Franco lived that.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Was right near where I went to school as well.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I was indoctrinated into the culture, not only indirectly, but directly.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I saw these people. I met these people.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
The white white lived in the same community that I
lived in, so I saw him quite a bit, and
he became a mentor and a role model to me.
But I think the point that I'm making is is
I would much rather be called an a hole and
an unreasonable up front with having a Hall of Fame
(34:54):
or a Pro Bowl, All Pro career, Latin career of
longevity in success, versus being called a bust. I get
called a bus. Think about it. I know you get
called a bus. We both get called bus. And I
made three Pro Bowls and I am in All Pro
three times and still get called a bus. And you
(35:15):
know what, by all intentsive purposes, by the letter of
the law of what my potential was, if I had
gone to a different organization and played for a different organization,
my career was a buss.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Oh it was stop.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I hate it.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I hate this, bro. Let's be clear here, Let's be clear,
like put this into proper There is not You can't
name another football player. You can't name one that achieved
what I achieved in terms of what I was able
to do coming out of high school and college. You
can't name them. I was the number one player coming
(35:53):
out of high school, Jonas. I won every award. The
equivalent of the college Heisman is an award called the
Bobby Dodd Award. I won the award, I won every
award you can win. In high school, I was the
highest rated player coming out. Imagine that, the highest rated
player coming out of high school.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
I was the Parade Player of the Year coming out
of high school.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
And then I go to college and I'm able to
parlay that into one of the more dominant, dominant deals
in college and end up being the number one rated
player coming out in college and one awards beyond. You know,
won every award you can win as a defender, was
in the top ten and votes for the Heisman. So
(36:37):
in the end, all I'm saying is is that for
what it's worth, all that success, it's a blessing and
it's a curse because it can lead to you not
having that opportunity to actually go to an organization in
the draft where you can have success.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
But I would say this in both your defenses. When
you get to the NFL, you turn your careers over
to the franchise you're with, the people you're around, and
to fate. Brady got drafted to a terrible situation and
you're and your achilles jumped off off the bone at
(37:16):
twenty sevens who like you can't.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
We never won. We never won it in Washington.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, but there's a lot of people who never won.
Like Eric Dickerson was a Hall of Famer, and he'll
say it, man, I'm I'm I would rather be a
Hall of Famer than win a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Like so I look at it, I go Once you
get there, you hand your fate over to people around you,
and you hand your body to the gods, and they
determine what happens after that.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
In a large it's not a complaint. It's not a complain.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
To answer your question that again, and I will reiterate this,
I would do it over again and have this shot
at trying to turn around and be a solution in
Cleveland than not.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
That's how I love that, And maybe that's maybe.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
That's how I you know, and and and have peace
with it to some degree because that was the opportunity
I was giving. It didn't work out. It was heartbreaking,
still is to this day. But it's also why I
think it's motivated me to find that next thing, you know,
whether that's in broadcasting or whatever else, like that still
lives with you. And that's one of the things we're
I've been together and that's top, Brady, that's whatever up top.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
Yeah, up top, Brady.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
It brought us together, though, y us being in the
same fricking situation brought us together.
Speaker 4 (38:25):
So here we are.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
I want to be a Hall of Fame radio personality
and I'm gonna get it for some WeGo.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
I'll get you there.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Thank you, sir. By the way it is, that's why
you're on the show.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on Fox
Sports Radio, LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knox with you
coming up next. Though somebody did have a great idea.
This is a phenomenal idea. Unfortunately, you know, didn't exactly
get to execute it. We'll explain why that was here
on FSR.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox. Weekday said six am Eastern, three am Pacific
Zoom Pros.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And a Cup of Joe, Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Brady, Quinn,
Jonas Knox with you here and right now it is
time for the tire rack Play of the Day. I
promise you, Jordon feels up. I'm telling you that tire
Rack play of the day is something else Man.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Murray behind the three point line.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Back over to Jokic for three yeah, twelve point lead
for tend for their.
Speaker 4 (39:30):
Big lead of the night.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Nuggets Radio Network on the call. That's your tire ract
play of the day. For over forty years, Tirerack's been
helping customers find the right tires for how, what and
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Speaker 2 (39:50):
Sometimes you can't get to everything in the world of
sports or entertainment. Good thing, the guys are here to
bring you in case you missed.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
It, and for that turn it over to our executive producer,
Lea Lap.
Speaker 8 (40:03):
Good morning, everybody, Good morning, Jodah's good morning, pretty, good morning,
LeVar guys.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
In case you missed this, talk about thinking outside the box.
Speaker 8 (40:11):
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic revealed Wednesday that Dan Gilbert
actually spent five hundred thousand dollars on fake snow machines
to put in the ceilings of Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The machines were meant to douse the seating area in
confetti when the Calves went on a huge offensive run
which came to be dubbed the Cavalanche during the regular season.
Problem with that is they only got to use it
(40:31):
in Game two of the first round of the Eastern
Conference Finals. Are essentially getting eliminated.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Right, well, hold on for a second. Can we use
this in the future, like this will be all next year?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Right? What's row on that? What's wrong with the cav What's.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
Wrong with that?
Speaker 5 (40:42):
Then, Gerbi, because the Calves struggling the playoffs, I.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Think that's a great idea, premature or on that investment.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
They've got it.
Speaker 6 (40:54):
Now, they got the Cavalanche the next year. It's something
to look forward to.
Speaker 8 (40:58):
Granted it does look pretty cool, but yeah, we gotta wait,
we gotta wait.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
See is it his false? Is his false? Max Strus
was like, oh, for one hundred in the final game
of the year.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
It looked like a party at a club Miami. You know,
the same thing.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah, listen, stiff fun.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
And they bring the bottles out. Yeah,
Two Pros and a cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio
LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knox with you here. Coming
up on this Football Friday. We're going to talk football.
Of course we are because we've got more drama involving
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Right when you thought
that it was safe to come out and be a
Bears fan again, apparently Caleb Williams wasn't even a Bears
fan before he got into the league. We will discuss.
(00:21):
We're also going to talk about the unfair treatment one
network got when it came to the star power at
the quarterback position in the NFL. We're also going to
talk about college football and there's somebody who's unhappy about
start times in Ohio on what it means moving forward. Plus,
we're going to get into the NBA playoff action from
the night that was. We've got a Game seven coming
(00:42):
up in OKC and it might get a little bit
awkward if we're handing out MVP awards. Plus, we got
another edition of In case you missed it. We're also
going to spin a wheel to pick a horse. We've
got the two Pros topic roundup and a special edition
of Lee's Leftovers. Right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And away we go. It's two pros and a cup
of Joe. Fox Sports Radio, LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas
Knox with you here. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app. You know, you can always find us on
hundreds of affiliates all across the country. And wherever you
are making us a part of your Friday morning, we
appreciate you doing so. We'll be taking you all the
way up until nine am Eastern time, six o'clock Pacific
(01:51):
here and we have got all sorts of conversation to
be had here, and it must start with the forcing
of a game seven last night, the Denver Nuggets get
it done, and the Denver Nuggets will be taking on
the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Game seven to move
on to the Western Conference Finals against the Howling Wolves.
(02:13):
Just sitting there waiting coming up on Sunday, fun game
last night.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Oh No, I don't know that pack at home waiting
to get it in, getting getting rest, you know, get
a little bit more rest.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I just don't think that that plays into that doesn't
play into the advantage of either one of the OKAC
or Denver if they're able to advance. This was a
blown opportunity by okay See. It looked like it had
the makings of you know what the previous games that
(02:56):
okay See had won, which was you know, the game
was the game in the front half. But then you know,
Denver isn't able to close out. It seemed like they
got tired, weren't able to have enough gas to get
it done. And that wasn't a case yeah or no, No, Denver.
Denver wasn't. Denver did not have enough in the tank
(03:19):
to finish out close out games that they possibly and
maybe probably could have won during the course of this series.
And okay See kind of you know, had had way more.
They were moving faster, they were fresher. Uh you could
tell that the rotation was taking a toll on Denver.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
And I still think that that was the case.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I just think that you have a team and in
Denver that they're stubborn, they're the champ. They they didn't
want to go home, didn't want to lose. Jamal Murray
picked it up, he played better. Uh, It just it
just seemed as though they were able to do something
that they hadn't been really able to do. Bron played
(04:05):
very well. He's been kind of an under the radar
type of workmanlike type type guy. Yeah, going up top,
up top guy in the series. Aaron Gorton, Aaron Gorton
could have boned yesterday. He definitely needed to show up more,
(04:26):
and he most likely will need to show up more
in game seven. Everybody's going to have to show up
for this Game seven to get out of it. But
I think that this this was a really good series,
a competitive series. I think it turned into somewhat of
a grueling series for both of these teams. And while
I'll say that Okac most likely will be better suited
(04:49):
to move on and be fresh enough to be competitive
against the Timberwolves, I think this still a Game seven
being forced by bay Denver still makes this a advantageous
situation in my estimation, for whoever gets out of that series.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Plan for you playing against Minnesota, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
What about Jokic, I mean up top Jones. Hell yeah,
he's the one that's not letting Denver fade off in.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
The sunset, all right, He's the one.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
He is the best player in the NBA he's proving
it right now by carrying Denver. And I just again,
it's he's fun to watch, like he really is. He's
like a dancing bear out there.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
He doesn't that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like he wasn't even like he had no he hadn't
hit a three until the fourth quarter, Like it wasn't.
Like his offense was the same the game before it was.
He didn't maybe didn't have his shot, but his ability
to facilitate, Like he might be the best point guard
in the NBA. Like he just like he really might
be as far as passing vision, what he's able to do.
(05:52):
He finds guys that are open, knows when to make
the right play. By far and away the best player
in the NBA. And I know that Oklahoma City is
a big favorite and the Aaron Gordon hamstring injury is
something to monitor. But man, the best team in the
the best player in the NBA on the road in
a game seven. That's a problem and they're gonna have
(06:14):
to deal with it. And I would also like to
point this out, Denver plus five last night was a
bank heist.
Speaker 6 (06:21):
At well, look at this guy, Look at this what
you make? How much did he make off that one
like fifteen.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Okay, yeah, but the point is, hey, that was set
up to be a game seven. We deserved a game
seven with the way those teams have played and the
way you wanted to step Hell.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
Yeah, yeah we won Game sevens.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Come on, man, if he would have put it for that,
if it had been put in and sweet Baby Jesus
betting Jesus' hands, I bet Jesus' hands, it wouldn't have happened.
So the fact that Jonas called for this and it
didn't come down from the betting heavens, from lab bet Jesus,
it just, you know, it seemed to all work out.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I mean, you know, I'm fairly certain he won his
last bet if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
So no, that's not true.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
I don't think he did.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
The last bet you made on Harry lost. Okay, well
I was the baseball one.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, what definitely wasn't me. But we do have we
do have David Adelman, the head coach of the Denver Nuggets,
talking about the opportunity to have a Game seven there
for the Nuggets.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
I mean those losses were tough, but I mean it
was three to two this series is still here.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I've said this.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
I know it's a cliche, but every game is its
own chapter, it's its own things, its own entity, and
different people are going to step up, just like for them,
they've had people step up in Game four and five
and tonight we had that team that did it. And
now you pretty suffer in a situation where hey, let's
go see what happens on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I would say this, if they're able to pull this
off and knock off the one seed, this is kind
of a bad look on Mike Malone. Nott's say that
because Mike Malone was fired with like four or five
games left in the season and people are looking around going,
how could you fire that guy? Just want a title
a little over a year ago? What's going on here?
And then Mike Malone's got this team playing better than
(08:14):
they had for a long time during the course of
the season and now they're making a run again to
the Western Conference finals. Kind of justifies maybe the decision
or the temperature of the room there that they fell
in Denver.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
It's happened a lot of thought the NBA. There's been
a number of teams. We've had coaches who have won
and fired them a couple of years after. It's kind
of odd.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And if it works and all of it, Like the
Penguins did it a couple of times where they fired
their coach in season and then you know it was
Dan Bilesman nine took him to the Stanley Cup at
he was a mid season higher promoted from Wilkes Bear.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
And then there was.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Wilkes Bear, and then there was Mike Sullivan and who
just moved on recently. But they fired Dan Bilesma mid season,
made Mike Sullivan the coach, and then they went on
and won a Cup and actually went back to back Cups.
So I always think about the guy who was let
go to see the team have success after he was gone,
especially a guy like Mike Malone who disagreed with the decision. Obviously,
(09:23):
I don't know, man Like they're that's a fun team
to watch, still a significant underdog. I think I saw
it at like seven and a half. They're a seven
and a half point underdog on the road, But that
could be. That could be an interesting setup if it
gets close. Who do you trust in that series? Pick
anybody out? Okay see SGA included or or the Joker later.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
In that game being able to make a play the joker.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So I mean it's it's I don't know that there's
a pick one because SGA has has done.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
And we don't have any options. Pal. I get it,
I get it, I get it.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I just still think that the tail of the
tape is still the fact that they're playing over forty minutes.
You still haven't had one OKC player going to the
forty minute range, and yet you continue to have multiple
players for you know, Bron went over forty minutes obviously,
(10:26):
Jokice he went over forty minutes. In Jamal Murray, I
guess fighting his cold, he went over forty minutes. Well, well,
Bron had thirty nine minutes, so he wasn't quite at
forty minutes. Jokicge and Jamal Murray had forty minutes. I
just look at that. I look at the fact that
they are doing so much for this team, at the
(10:48):
amount of minutes that they're doing. Like as an example,
just to give you an idea, SGA only had thirty
five minutes and that was the high.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Well, Jamal.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, the forward, Jamal Williams or jayaln excuse me,
Jaylen Williams. He had thirty eight minutes. That was the
most minutes. So I think the point I'm making is
you have a rotation that is so it's so set
up for them to have gas and a lot of it,
(11:25):
you know, and it's you know, people may not think that, Okay, well,
thirty eight minutes to forty one to forty two or
forty three minutes in a game, that's not really a
big difference, but it is. It does turn into a difference,
and you can see the it's like there's fatigue that's
setting in late in the games. And I think that
(11:46):
that was probably the reason why Denver was letting the
games get away from the thunder.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
They just had more. They just had more at the
end of the game.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
I think it was such a gritty and a gutsy,
you know, gutsy game by the Nuggets to be able
to break that trend. But it still was nonetheless it
was hitting in that direction. It still had that same
feeling that Okac had more and the Nuggets weren't going
(12:16):
to be able to maintain the level of play that
they were able to do. They started out well, you know,
won the first quarter, the second quarter, you know, okay,
see answered, and then you say, okay, going into the
third quarter, you wouldn't have expected Denver to be able
to have as much success in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
They would fizzle out. But they did it.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
They were able to win the third quarter, and they
were able to win the fourth quarter in this game.
In the second half of this game, they won the
second half.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And if I'm.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Okay, see, you've got to be very very nervous going
into Game seven because they did it. And and it
makes you wonder because they are the chance because they
have the best player, you know, in in the country,
in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I guess we all the Celtics are the champs. I mean,
you know, we're being fair.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, but there's still there's still champs too. I mean
they're one year removed from it. I know the Celtics
got it last year, but there's still the champs. They're
the last ones to win it from the West. I'll say,
you know, but yeah, I just I think, you know,
this is one of those series where again I think
(13:37):
the impact of it, the effect of it goes way
further with Denver if they're able to advance. I think
it works into Minnesota's for if Denver were to win,
because I just don't know how much they're going to
have left. I think the better matchup is Okay see
if okay se comes out of it, but you're going
(13:58):
to have a hard time put putting the chap to bit.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I mean, they they want to stay in it.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
You can see the resilience of them in last night's game,
and they forced the game seven. I just knew for
certain Okase would find a way to send them home
last night, and they weren't able to do it. Give
credit to Denver, give credit to Jokid, give credit to
to Murray Braun, Give credit to the.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Team for doing what they needed to do.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
But you know, Lou Dort, he kind of disappeared last night.
He didn't give them the type of boost that he
has generally usually given them hitting threes and doing what
he does.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
It just half was sweet though, kind of like shut
down everything in the crowd.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah, it just wasn't you know, it wasn't enough.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
It was starting to get away from Denver a little
bit there, and then they closed out the first strong
Dort hit that and then there's that three.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
I was like, well, man, this may not work out,
but it worked on then.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
He needed to do more, or Jalen Williams, the smaller one,
he needed to do more. I have looked at this
this this series and it's funny because home Grin and
Hartenstein have to me to Brady they have done is
(15:19):
is dang.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
First one was loud sorry about that guy?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
That was that was like that was some serious That
was a real top gun up top right there.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
One.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I think those two guys had played their hearts out
against Joki, which I think what what I take away
from this series this year is how amazing Jokic is
seeing the way that they're playing against him. I mean,
and listen, we've seen teams really take a an aggressive
(15:53):
manner in trying to to defend him. But I think
Hartenstein and and and home Grin have done as good
a job as any trying to really really combo cover
him as well as just platoon against him. And you
know you can add to the other Williams obviously into that,
(16:15):
Jalen Williams into that scenario. He comes in as a
big body that tries to physically impose himself the same
way hart and Stein is physically and they basically have
tried to use three dudes to wear Jokic down, which
in general should work. It should work, and it hasn't.
(16:36):
It hasn't. I mean his point totals went down. I
mean it did go down last evening. He didn't score
as much, but he's still effective in what it is
that he's doing. So give him a ton of credit. Man,
Give give the Denver Nuggets a ton of credit for
being able to push the game seut.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You know, we've kind of alluded to this with all
the high fives, but I do feel like this series,
Brady and I are pretty well represented, you know, I
got to be honest. I mean between Holme, Grin Hartenstein,
Christian Brown, I mean like like there's like there's a
lot to really wrap your arms.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Around here with this series. For us. Well, I'm happy
for y'all.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I mean, y'all heard you've heard your boy stephen A
talking about the.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Return of the White Boy. The return of the White Boy.
Oh no, I mean it's.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Kind of been there for a while, right, We're gonna
the number one overall pick what up?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
It's just yeah, don't don't hate the game, hate the play.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I'm saying pick six and the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, I have no hate for y'all. Man, I have
no hate for y'all. You know I didn't. I didn't
ask to land on Plymouth Rock. You know, Plymouth Rock
landed on me, you know.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
So it's kind of just what it is. Great point,
all right, so up top it is. Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It is important though to point out here that we.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Uh, there's one thing I think we're missing here.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
You can have not bearing the lead.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It is a football yeah right, it's Friday. Now to
put a ca.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah, it's football Friday, Friday Friday. Yeah, all right, Okay,
little Brint is going to.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Be a bre is going to be a quarterback. He's
going to throw it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Throw the ball, football lord, right now, throw the ball.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Throw it and catch throw it and catch it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Football football football football football football. All right, let's do
it for Eddie. Let's do it for Eddie. Come on now,
let's do it for Eddie. Friday night and a football Friday,
Football Friday lead the last got in the game. Come on,
kick it is football Friday.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
It is a football Friday. Here on, two pros and
a cup of Joe. So we are going to have
the usuals coming up later on. We've got another edition
of in case you missed it. We've also got Lee's leftovers.
We're gonna try something brand spanking new here an hour
two of the program. We've got a wheel in studio.
We're gonna spin. We'll explain all of that later on.
All of it is yours here on this three hour extravaganza.
(19:24):
But coming up next here, though everything seemed like it
was great, it seemed like brighter days were ahead, and
then all of a sudden, this happened in the NFL.
We'll explain right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe Here Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knocks with you. Coming up
and we'll call it about twenty minutes from now here.
We are going to tell you a story about somebody
who had a really good idea in the world of sports,
and unfortunately they didn't get to execute it. We'll get
into that for you again about twenty minutes from now
(20:13):
so right when you think that everything's looking up in Chicago,
there's optimism, there's hope. Forget about all the old stuff.
This is the year. Ben Johnson's your coach, Caleb Williams
your quarterback. Everything's good to go. Wickershamed Seth Wickersham of
(20:37):
ESPN drops a bomb yesterday and there's a lot to it.
So there's a book that's coming out in September titled
American Kings, a Biography of the Quarterback, and it chronicles
the journey of a bunch of players at both college
and the NFL from the past as well, so quarterback
(21:00):
from all different landscapes, and Caleb Williams is featured prominently
in some of the excerpts that have made the rounds.
Quotes from the book are his dad, Carl Williams, who
went to great lengths to try and circumvent the NFL draft.
He wanted to give his son an opportunity to choose
his future employer because he was worried about the Bear's
(21:23):
history of not really working well with quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
I don't want my son playing for the Bears. The
Bears are where quarterbacks go to die. Carl Williams, his
dad spoke with Archie Manning, who helped obviously Eli Manning
get to New York and out of control of the
San Diego Chargers. There was even a conversation about potentially
going to the UFL so that he could become an
unrestricted free agent in twenty twenty five to be able
(21:48):
to pick a team. He wasn't happy with the rookie
wage scale. And then the most interesting stuff of all
this is that he thought, well, maybe I'll just blame
last the organization like John Elway did in eighty three
to the Baltimore Colts, and just go public with it
like the Lways did back then. And then Caleb Williams
(22:11):
was at the Combine and all of a sudden realized, hey, man,
I get along great with Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings head coach.
That's where I want to be. His dad was on board.
They hit it off, but Ryan Pulls the GM for
the Bears, told him we're drafting you either way. So
Caleb was concerned that if he did try to bury
(22:32):
the organization that he didn't want to nuke the city.
So he wasn't ready for all that, and so at
a pre draft visit with in the Bears facility, Williams
believed he could be part of the process to turn
the franchise around. I can do it for this team.
I'm going to go to the Bears. And then he
went on to discuss the in season struggles with the
(22:53):
eber Flus and Shane Waldron the OC and not really
having any direction when it came to prepping and looking
at film and all that stuff. So moral of the
story is interesting time in considering Seth Wickersham writs for
ESPN and Seth Wickersham points out that Caleb Williams wanted
to be a part of the Vikings organization who the
(23:14):
Bears just happened to be playing on ESPN on Monday
Night Football Week one of the upcoming season. So take
it away. There's the unpiling of the drama in Chicago
now between Kayleb Williams and the organization.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Again, I think we kind of forget pretty soon after
what happens. And then the speculation and conversation is around
the draft every single year, right like the next one
comes along, We're like, oh, yeah, okay, we'll focus on
this one now. If you go back, though, there was
a lot of smoke in regards to the frustration of
Caleb Williams and his party on his side of things
(23:51):
with the entire draft process. That was the speculation. Now
we have confirmation that all that was true, and I
got to be honest, like, I'm not sure that I'm
overly bothered by it. For this reason, I never hate
the fact when players or even their families try to
(24:12):
push the envelope of what's possible to give themselves the
best opportunity possible.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
All Right.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
I know people made comments about you know, Prime and Shador.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Sanders and what they were maybe trying to do.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
This year in the draft, which I think they're two
you know, different in regards to the talent of both players.
But in Caleb William's you know aspect, like he kind
of sought out everything you possibly could, you know, seek out.
At that point, he looked at going to the UFL,
which would have been pretty crazy to think about. However,
we've seen quarterbacks in the past do that. Granted it
(24:46):
would be decades ago. You know, they talked about the
rookie wage scale. There's a lot of people who've got
issues with it. We've talked about this before. Fundamentally, a
team can basically draft a player and have complete control
of them for seven years of their career, seven years
without the player's input. Outside of having to sign a
(25:07):
franchise tag a four year deal plus a fifth year option.
Two tags, that's seven years you could be damn near
thirty and never having the chance to really test free
agent waters. So there's a lot of issues I think
from the player's side as to you know, what could
be potentially wrong when you enter into the NFL.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Now, the hard part is he's now been here. Here.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
The fan base, I think, I think and Jonas you
could speak to this better than anyone else. I think
they like Caleb Williams. I think they wanted to be
their quarterback. They feel like he can be their franchise quarterback.
You know, despite all the chaos the one on last
year in Chicago. But this isn't a ringing endorsement. I mean,
even though at the end of the day he came
(25:55):
around on the Chicago Bears, there's still probably a lot
of speculation that when it comes time for him to
try to sign an extension and if things go well,
you do wonder will he be a guy that stays around,
tries to get out tries to look for the first
opportunity to go to another team. It feels like him
(26:17):
his father probably involved to would try to make that
sort of move. That's how and by the way, that's
how you operate in college. Folks like you should be
surprised by it if you're a Bears fan. He left
Oklahoma where he had a nice setup to go to
Southern cal. You could say he's falling Lincoln Riley, but
it was also to go to Southern cal to go
to greater pastors for him and want a heisman out
(26:39):
of it, So you got to give him credit. But
at the end of the day, that's what it's going
to be about for him. It's trying to find where
he feels like it's the best possible situation for him
to succeed, not the team for him to succeed.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
And by the way, Bears fans can outwardly be upset
or frustrated about these comments and be hurt, guess what
he's right, and based on how last year went, they
were probably right and having some concerns about what the
direction of the organization was going to be. So be
upset about it all you want, but the proof is
(27:17):
there there's been a history of not being able to
build around the quarterback and not finding the right guy,
and last year only prove them more right. So they
can get pissy about it all they want. Facts are facts. Q.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
If you and your family, with twenty twenty hindsight as
a benefit, had the opportunity to say we're not going
to the Browns, would you have rather had the opportunity
to go to a franchise that knows how to utilize
what you do best so that you could go figure right.
(27:57):
I know this takes a brainiac and the genie used
to to come up with this conclusion. But someone who
is going to actually put you in the best position
to have success and you had that play out versus
being called a bus so here.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
So here's the hard part about answering this question is
I think in general, had it been any other team
other than Cleveland, I would have said, you know, yeah,
of course, like I want to go to the best
possible situation.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
I rot I grew up a Browns fan. It was
literally on site.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
That's still the reality of being a pro versus being
a fan that team.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
That's the only exception. Cleveland was the only exception.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
Even to this, Well, that's fair even to this state
if right, if you would have put any other organization
like that drafted me that didn't have that like Bernie
Coezar Jersey picture. I grew up as a kid going
to games as a kid rooting for the Browns, like
being so frustrated up set when they got taken away
and they go to Baltimore and then you can to
(29:04):
ship for it without a doubt.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
I would never have take again.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Look, So so that's that's the difference, because it was
a childhood dream come true.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
But if you're talking.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
About any any other team that you would have said,
you know, for example, now, again, Chicago might have been
different to me because I got, you know, close to
that just seeing that team being in South End and
you kind of had to respect for all the Chicago fans,
the South End fans and all that. So I don't
know that. And here's what I'll say on this. I
just I didn't have that perspective, and right wrong or indifferent.
(29:37):
My family really didn't either, Like we were pretty naive
to all of it.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
You know, I had I was very fortunate.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
I had a couple of uncles who very savvy in
the business world, and they helped me through a lot
of the decisions on you know, finding an agent, interviewing
agents it would be best set for me, you know,
and investment advice like all those things. And they might
have had the ability to see into the future and say, well,
you know, maybe this isn't the best place to go
(30:06):
because of the organization. But there was never any pushing
or pulling by my mom or my dad because they
were just grateful. They always were. They were grateful for
the to the University of Notre Dame, they were grateful
to the Browns. They were always just grateful. And that
was just how our background was like. It wasn't one
(30:26):
of like, well, what can you do for me? What
can you do for my son? You're not doing enough
for my It was never that they and that was
how I was raised. So I didn't really look for
that either. And maybe that was my own naivete, maybe
that was my own ignorance or maybe even theirs, which
I don't I don't know how.
Speaker 6 (30:44):
You know what your parents very rare they have experience.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
This is not it's not a right or wrong answer,
but at the end of the day, my answer would
be I rather have people hate me for being a
hole in the initial based off of the potential what
I could be versus the ladder where I went. You know,
(31:08):
I could have gone number one, I could have I
purposely priced myself out to the Cleveland Browns, ironically, maybe coincidentally,
the same franchise i'd priced myself.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So so let me ask you this because because because
obviously the Browns were never a team you you probably
hated and grew up in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I didn't hate them, No, I didn't hate.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
Them, Okay, but you didn't like them.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
But if you could have went if it was the
Pittsburgh Steeles, if it was the Pittsburg Steelers.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
But see the problem is is the Pittsburgh Steelers have
always been a pretty successful organization.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
That would be the problem.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
If if if they hadn't played in a super Bowl
or had been.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Let me put it this way. Let me put it
this way.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
If you if you had the opportunity to go there,
but the contract wasn't gonna be perfect, you couldn't price
yourself out, you know what I'm saying, Like you you
were gonna have to maybe, Okay, that's probably better.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I wouldn't have most likely if I had the opportunity,
which kind of goes down the lane, because I think
we were probably raised probably probably pretty much very similar
in ideologies and and foundational components. We would have been
over the moon excited to go to Pittsburgh and whatever
(32:21):
that would have been, it would have been whatever it is,
and I would have went there and I would have
had a Hall of Fame career. I truly believe that
I would have been one hundred plus sas guy. I
would have had stability as a pro. I would have
been in the locker room with guys like Joey Porter
and James Ferrier and and who's my guy from from
(32:46):
Michigan that would Foot Larry Foot.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
I would have been with guys like uh.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Uh that he's a little older, so he would have
been he would have been. I mean, but Kevin Green
was a very very large influence on me. Kevin Green
and Greg Greg Lloyd is my favorite player of all time.
Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown. You know, I used to work
out with them at Bally's and when I was in
(33:14):
high school, I would have I would have given up
anything to be able to play for for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So like I said, I get your point, but had
my my hometown team stunk and didn't you know, break
my heart in the Super Bowl playing against Dallas, or
(33:36):
you know seeing Bill cowerd get his Super Bowl Bill
Cower that I mean, it was the highlight of my
of my combine was going in and interviewing with the Steelers,
and I told him I was like, man eight, and
they're like, I know and this, that and the other,
and there's no reason to move up for a linebacker.
If you were the Steelers, I would have went to
(33:57):
the Steelers in a heartbeat. But with that being said,
it was because it was based upon what I had
grown up knowing. And I went to school on the
same street that that Art Rooney, the Senior, the original
you know, had a house on, you know and the
Mexican War streets. And then there was another one another
(34:19):
area where Franco lived that.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Was right near where I went to school as well.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I was indoctrinated into the culture, not only indirectly, but directly.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I saw these people. I met these people.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
The white white lived in the same community that I
lived in, so I saw him quite a bit, and
he became a mentor and a role model to me.
But I think the point that I'm making is is
I would much rather be called an a hole and
an unreasonable up front with having a Hall of Fame
(34:54):
or a Pro Bowl, All Pro career, Latin career of
longevity in success, versus being called a bust. I get
called a bus. Think about it. I know you get
called a bus. We both get called bus. And I
made three Pro Bowls and I am in All Pro
three times and still get called a bus. And you
(35:15):
know what, by all intentsive purposes, by the letter of
the law of what my potential was, if I had
gone to a different organization and played for a different organization,
my career was a buss.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Oh it was stop.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I hate it.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I hate this, bro. Let's be clear here, Let's be clear,
like put this into proper There is not You can't
name another football player. You can't name one that achieved
what I achieved in terms of what I was able
to do coming out of high school and college. You
can't name them. I was the number one player coming
(35:53):
out of high school, Jonas. I won every award. The
equivalent of the college Heisman is an award called the
Bobby Dodd Award. I won the award, I won every
award you can win. In high school, I was the
highest rated player coming out. Imagine that, the highest rated
player coming out of high school.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
I was the Parade Player of the Year coming out
of high school.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
And then I go to college and I'm able to
parlay that into one of the more dominant, dominant deals
in college and end up being the number one rated
player coming out in college and one awards beyond. You know,
won every award you can win as a defender, was
in the top ten and votes for the Heisman. So
(36:37):
in the end, all I'm saying is is that for
what it's worth, all that success, it's a blessing and
it's a curse because it can lead to you not
having that opportunity to actually go to an organization in
the draft where you can have success.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
But I would say this in both your defenses. When
you get to the NFL, you turn your careers over
to the franchise you're with, the people you're around, and
to fate. Brady got drafted to a terrible situation and
you're and your achilles jumped off off the bone at
(37:16):
twenty sevens who like you can't.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
We never won. We never won it in Washington.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, but there's a lot of people who never won.
Like Eric Dickerson was a Hall of Famer, and he'll
say it, man, I'm I'm I would rather be a
Hall of Famer than win a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Like so I look at it, I go Once you
get there, you hand your fate over to people around you,
and you hand your body to the gods, and they
determine what happens after that.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
In a large it's not a complaint. It's not a complain.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
To answer your question that again, and I will reiterate this,
I would do it over again and have this shot
at trying to turn around and be a solution in
Cleveland than not.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
That's how I love that, And maybe that's maybe.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
That's how I you know, and and and have peace
with it to some degree because that was the opportunity
I was giving. It didn't work out. It was heartbreaking,
still is to this day. But it's also why I
think it's motivated me to find that next thing, you know,
whether that's in broadcasting or whatever else, like that still
lives with you. And that's one of the things we're
I've been together and that's top, Brady, that's whatever up top.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
Yeah, up top, Brady.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
It brought us together, though, y us being in the
same fricking situation brought us together.
Speaker 4 (38:25):
So here we are.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
I want to be a Hall of Fame radio personality
and I'm gonna get it for some WeGo.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
I'll get you there.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Thank you, sir. By the way it is, that's why
you're on the show.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on Fox
Sports Radio, LeVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, Jonas Knox with you
coming up next. Though somebody did have a great idea.
This is a phenomenal idea. Unfortunately, you know, didn't exactly
get to execute it. We'll explain why that was here
on FSR.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox. Weekday said six am Eastern, three am Pacific
Zoom Pros.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And a Cup of Joe, Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Brady, Quinn,
Jonas Knox with you here and right now it is
time for the tire rack Play of the Day. I
promise you, Jordon feels up. I'm telling you that tire
Rack play of the day is something else Man.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Murray behind the three point line.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Back over to Jokic for three yeah, twelve point lead
for tend for their.
Speaker 4 (39:30):
Big lead of the night.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Nuggets Radio Network on the call. That's your tire ract
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Speaker 2 (39:50):
Sometimes you can't get to everything in the world of
sports or entertainment. Good thing, the guys are here to
bring you in case you missed.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
It, and for that turn it over to our executive producer,
Lea Lap.
Speaker 8 (40:03):
Good morning, everybody, Good morning, Jodah's good morning, pretty, good morning,
LeVar guys.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
In case you missed this, talk about thinking outside the box.
Speaker 8 (40:11):
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic revealed Wednesday that Dan Gilbert
actually spent five hundred thousand dollars on fake snow machines
to put in the ceilings of Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The machines were meant to douse the seating area in
confetti when the Calves went on a huge offensive run
which came to be dubbed the Cavalanche during the regular season.
Problem with that is they only got to use it
(40:31):
in Game two of the first round of the Eastern
Conference Finals. Are essentially getting eliminated.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Right, well, hold on for a second. Can we use
this in the future, like this will be all next year?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Right? What's row on that? What's wrong with the cav What's.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
Wrong with that?
Speaker 5 (40:42):
Then, Gerbi, because the Calves struggling the playoffs, I.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Think that's a great idea, premature or on that investment.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
They've got it.
Speaker 6 (40:54):
Now, they got the Cavalanche the next year. It's something
to look forward to.
Speaker 8 (40:58):
Granted it does look pretty cool, but yeah, we gotta wait,
we gotta wait.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
See is it his false? Is his false? Max Strus
was like, oh, for one hundred in the final game
of the year.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
It looked like a party at a club Miami. You know,
the same thing.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah, listen, stiff fun.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
And they bring the bottles out. Yeah,
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Jonas Knox
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