June 6, 2025 • 40 mins
It’s Football Friday on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, and the Pacers comeback once again thanks to Tyrese Halliburton in the clutch. Aaron Rodgers finally d4ecides to sign with Pittsburgh to get the taste of New York out of his mouth. Plus, dedicated losers and much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up on
this football Friday. We're gonna talk football, of course, because
we got Aaron Rodgers news. Finally he gets to Pittsburgh.
We've got concern out of Indianapolis when it comes to
Anthony Richardson, but there's no concern out of Indianapolis when
it comes to the Pacers. The walking, talking zombie of
(00:23):
sports has done it again, a shocker in OKC for
Game one of the NBA Finals. We'll break it all down.
We're also going to have a conversation about Russell Wilson.
What's real, what's not? Who the hell knows? We've got
another edition of our topic Roundup, and we're gonna spin
the wheel for the Belmont Stakes. It's all yours. Coming
up next here, Two Pros and a Cup of Joe
(00:44):
on a Football Friday, Fox Sports Radio. You're listening to
Fox Sports Radio. It is Two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox.
You you can find this show on the iHeartRadio app.
You know, you can always find us on hundreds of
(01:05):
affiliates all across the country and.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Wherever you are, damn skippy, he just ain't gonna find me, honestly.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And then uh, and you will listen. You will listen
to us all the way until nine am Eastern time,
six o'clock Pacific. And you know it's appropriate. We're listening
to the Narcos theme song here as the show starts.
Because there was an old method back in the day
where Pablo Escobar, when he wanted to rid himself of
his competitors, he would throw them into a lagoon full
(01:39):
of hippopotamuses.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Oh it was.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
He throw him in there. He's got these pet hippos
and he would throw him in there and just let
him go at it. And I don't even think the
Pablo Escobar could throw the Indiana Pacers in with a
pond full of hippos and get rid of them, because
that team does not die. They are a zombie. They
did it again last night. That's unbelievable. It's just it's
(02:08):
unbelievable to watch that game. And I'm watching long thinking, man, Okay,
see better extend this. If you don't push it to
twenty and you keep them within four five ish possessions.
They're gonna figure this thing out. And as the game
went down to the wire, they made play after play
after play. Even lou Dort makes a great block on
(02:31):
Nie Smith and you're like, oh, okay, well that was
the real crucial play that had to be had. Pascal
Siakam goes out of bounds, they challenge it, call stands okay,
see gets the ball back. You're like, Okay, that's the
one that's gonna be ultimately what pushes Okac over the top.
And it's just not because Indiana refused to die. Awesome
(02:54):
Game one of the NBA Finals last night.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I mean, it was what the NBA if they have
drawn it up. And I hate to be the I
told you so type of guy, but it is I
told you so type of moment where if Indiana wins
that game, it's it's it makes the series more watchable,
(03:20):
more interesting. If if Indiana wins the game the way
it was drawn up yesterday, it makes the series way
more attractive to watch and want to be a part of.
I mean, you think about it. In this game, You're
you're talking about the Pacers set a record on turnovers.
(03:44):
That's how or excuse me, not a record, but it
was the season high, season high twenty five turnovers, and
yet they were still over able to overcome the deficit
of the entire game, never led the entire game, and
the only time they lead is when they win. You
(04:07):
couldn't have drawn it up any better for a viewer
to want to watch, because it took you to the
entire game unless at the point a time where they
were down I want to say it was by at
least fifteen. I want to say they were down by
If you if you dowed out, if you dialed out
(04:28):
in the second half, like the third quarter, based upon
what the score was, then you missed. You missed the
treat of a game. But to see the way Indiana
fights back and claw their way back and get into
games the way that they do, they held to form
(04:49):
this is you can't say that this was a luck
game or you know they they some way, somehow. You know,
the OKC thunder gave the game away. They shot poorly,
They shot poorly, and while Oka see shot poorly, you
know what Indiana did. They just kept getting after it.
(05:12):
They were slashing to the hole, which I was loving
to see as they were being aggressive getting to the hole.
They were kicking the ball out, guys were finding their range.
You started seeing contributions come from from different guys, you know,
in the comeback. It just it's one of those games
(05:36):
where you ask yourself, you know, did did okay see
did okay see open up a door that they shouldn't
have opened up in this series? Or was it one
of those first game, first game jitters? You're at home.
(05:57):
Sometimes being at home can actually play against you a
little bit. You know, you you might not for some reason,
you might not play as loose. And maybe it's because
of the excitement, Maybe it's because it's your home crowd.
There's just certain reasons why sometimes teams play a little
bit better, a little bit more relaxed when they're on
(06:17):
the road. But this one was a head scratcher. I
think if you had to come up with a way
to kind of sum up what last night represented, it
was still a head scratcher that this type of a
pendulum swing could take place in a game in the
(06:38):
NBA Finals to this to this degree, uh.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The guy who hit the game winner, Tyres Halliburton, spoke afterwards.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
There was never a disbelief as a group. Honestly, you know,
we never think the game is over ever. Honestly speaking,
ever like they never that never creeps in. I think
we just keep talking as a group, how can we
walk this team down. So it's at twelve going in
a half time, we talk about if we can win
one quarter by six, one quarter by seven, will be
in a great spot. We got to a six point
(07:08):
game at the end of the third quarter and Shay
hit at three, but we liked where we were, and
then they went on a big run to start the
fourth and we just say, okay, it's that fifteen, let's.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Get to ten.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Well we got it to eight. They call time out,
so we just stay with it. So this group never
gives up. We never believe that the game is over
until it hit zero.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And that's a real calculated zombie right there. That's one
that's not just one of these Well I'm just going
to get.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Up and eat everybody.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
It's like, no, no, no, I'm just gonna get up and
this is how I'm gonna do it. It's gonna come
in sections, it's going to go one body part by
the next, and I'm going to figure out a way
to make Halliburton wasn't even good. It's not like he
had a great game. He didn't have some some monster
game that you look at and go, man, he willed
his team to victory. But when he was coming down
(07:52):
with that ball following the miss by SGA, there wasn't
a doubt in my mind that he was going to
hit that shot. You you felt it. I think the
arena felt it. And there's probably okay, see thunderfans that
are looking around going what the hell happened? Yeah, because
and I'll tell you what happened. What happened was the
same thing that happened in every single playoff series that
(08:15):
Indiana's been involved in. Yeah, you leave him hanging around
for long enough. You don't step on the throat, you
don't finish putting their head in the vice like that
guy in Goodfellas and put it into the whole thing.
You let him hang around and they ultimately end up
making plays to win. That's a fun.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Team, you know. I told you. Like the second hour
they play the theme song one of the parts of
Thirteenth Warrior. Yeah, and what I felt like took place
in Last Games. Last night's game was comparable to a
scene in Thirteenth Warrior. So there was a guy, he
was one of the norsemen that came with Bouva to
(08:52):
help with the evil that they had to fight against
that the village was that sent for for them, you
know what they were facing. Well, the son of the
king of the people that sent for Bulvie and his
crew to come. You know, he was not as respectful
and receptive to them coming to help. And he felt
(09:12):
like him and his crew could handle the evil that
was coming their way. And he had one big dude
that was there, and one of the smaller dudes that
bouv brought with him, you know, picked a fight with him.
You know. And this this reminds me of that game
last night, right, Okay, see the big, tall, strong dude
(09:36):
and you got this little dude over here, and he's
he's digging. Everybody's digging trenches and he's throwing the mud
on the guy right, hits him with the mud, boom, hitting,
get him dirty. He's like, hey, little man, what are
you doing? And he picks a fight with him. So
they picked a fight. They get in the ring and
you know, they're hitting their shields and he's just letting
(09:59):
this big do well on him, just bang bang, cracks
his cracks his shield, and I think they get like
four shields, five shields in the fight or whatever. Little
dude ain't messed up. Not one of the shields that
this big dude is has ain't really made him do
anything to make him feel as though he could hurt him.
(10:23):
And the confidence of the big dude is growing by
every single shield that he's crushing on this little dude.
He gets to the last, the last shield they're fighting,
boom boom boom, and the big dude does it again, bang,
just like what the OKC Thunder was doing in his game,
seemingly looking like they were just too much, they were
(10:44):
going to overpower them. He breaks the shield. The little
dude kneels down and and like looking like he's being defeated.
It almost looks like it's just defeat. He's too weak,
he's too small, he's not not he's not nearly the
warrior that the other guy is. And the other guy
looks at you know what I guess would be the coach.
(11:06):
He looks at the King's son, and the King's son's like, yeah,
do him, you know, finish it. Chop that man's head
off and show these Norsemen. They're not as tough as
they think they are, and they need to listen to
what I need, what I'm going to say, what I
want to do. So the guy picks up his he
picks up his sword to go knock his head off,
and the little dude hitching with one of them little
(11:28):
like little moves like put sword in the big dude.
Put sword in a big dude. And when he hit him,
he said he was a brave one, right, And so
all this time you're beating the hell out of this dude.
In the entire time, it was a strategy to get
him to the proper place of where he wanted to
(11:48):
get him and took him out. And then all of
the village people are looking like they were confused. You know,
they live by what they can see, but now you're
giving them something that they can't see. They got to
think about. Keeps them off guard, and that maintains the
fear the point of the story. Sometimes you can't judge
it by the way it looks. Okay, See looks like
(12:10):
they're the big, big, strong dude that that can knock
you down and take you out because they're so deep
with their their you know, with their bench. They have
so many strong starters, they got seven footers to go
along with it. But you beat up on these dudes
for for a half of basketball. Really, really, I mean
(12:31):
you didn't. You didn't beat them up as well as
you should have in the second half, but for the
most part, you still maintained your lead throughout the second
half of the of the game until the end. And
then at the end they make a move and chop
your head off and looked at the crowd, and now
the crowd is like all stunned, like wait that they
(12:53):
just beat our champion, Like did they just take him down?
They just took out the champion. And now OKC has
to figure out how they're going to move forward in
this series because what I felt took place in this
first game, even though they didn't shoot their best. I
(13:13):
bet you OKAC was ready to come out of that
game and say, you know, we didn't shoot our best,
but we defended home court. We had good we had
a good showing. Even though guys didn't shoot well from
the perimeter. Our shots weren't they weren't going down. Maybe
our shots selection could have been better, but yet we
were still good enough to win this game and win
(13:35):
the game handily. You couldn't come out of the game
saying that. Now now you had to say, dang, like,
we didn't play as well as we could have, but
we had the game in hand on our way to
a victory. In some way, somehow, Indiana found a way
to beat us. That's right. That's a very very hard
that's a hard riddle to solve. If I'm OKC, maybe
(14:00):
they don't think too much of it, but maybe they are.
I got one more game there, you got one more
game there, And I think this is such a pivotal
game for OKC because they cannot allow, they cannot allow
for Indiana to gain any more confidence than what they've
(14:24):
gained being able to come out of that game the
way they did.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
You mentioned the thought process, the mentality of Oklahoma City.
After that game last night, SGA, their superstar, the MVP,
spoke about it, following it.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
As much as we can, we just got to treat
it like every other game, every other situation we've been in. Yes,
we haven't been in the situation, but it doesn't mean
our character has a changeer what we did last time.
It's still basketball, still the game of basketball that we
grew up playing the rules.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Don't change its because we're in the finals.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
So it's like we've been in a situation before and
the other situation we handled it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
We handled it well.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
We were better for game and gets the goal.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
They are currently an eleven point favorite in game two,
so the overwhelming expectation as well, they respond and they'll
come back out, and it's like, look, you could feel
any kind of way you want to feel about it.
A lot of people said the same thing about the Knicks. Listen,
they should have won that game in game one, one
of the chances India, and what happened. Indiana came out
(15:22):
and they were actually better in game two, Like that's
that's the if. This would have been Indiana's best shot
and their best shot was able to overcome a deficit
by Okac who didn't make enough plays down the stretch.
I'd feel better about it if I was a Thunder fan,
because I would look at it and go, well, yeah,
the likelihood of them playing that good again is small, especially.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
On the road.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
The problem is Indiana didn't play that great. Halliburton didn't
have a great game as far as his getting to
the basket, you know, getting whatever shot he won, he
was actually passed, like give me the ball up at
times when he probably could have made a play at
the rim. So I look at it and I go,
this makes me that much more interested in game two.
(16:08):
And it would not surprise me whatsoever if Indiana was
able to keep that close. And if it's close as
we've seen, I don't know that you trust any other
team in the playoffs to make a play down the stretch.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
And you do Indiana more than you know. What makes
me think of a scene out of a movie, Like
it's like that moment where Rocky punches Ivan Drago and
he cutting, and he went back to he went back
to the corner and Rocky's corners like you're cutting, you see,
(16:39):
you see, he's a man, He's a man. And then
Ivan Drago's sitting there like looking at it like this
is blood. It's blood, it's my blood. It's my blood, right,
and then he realized that this little man could beat him,
and again comes back to the David and Goliath type
of storyline here, this is a David Goliath type of series. Obviously,
(17:04):
Goliath being Okcu, David being the pacers. I just think
that this was a very debilitating loss. Like I understand
what SGA is saying, and he's right. That's the right
way of looking at it, that's the right approach. But Jonas,
if I'm OKC, that is the worst loss that you
(17:24):
could have possibly taken. Was the first one last night?
Yeah at home?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Not great, not great, but great for us because it
makes it that much more entertaining. It is two pros
and a cup of Joe. Here on Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you. By the way, we
do have some good news for you here on this show.
It's a football Friday. It's a damn Fox Sports Radio.
You bet your sweet assa Friday. Come on, Bar, come on.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah. Yeah, we got some basketball. It's foot for Friday.
But we got some basketball. We talked about the NBA.
But it's a football Friday. It's a football. It's Friday.
It's a football Friday, Football Friday. Come on, football football, football, football, football, football,
(18:11):
football football football Friday, football Friday. What's wrong with Jonas?
Did you just use the blow gun? What's wrong with Jonas?
All right? Mark, Mark, come on now, Mark, let's do it.
Let's do it for Eddie. Friday night is a Football Friday.
Yeah Friday, Rock them, suck them, throw it, catch it is.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
It is a football Friday here on two Friday. We
are gonna have the usual's coming up later on. We've
got another edition of In case you missed it. We've
also got our topic round up from the week which
we're going to get into an hour three of the program.
We're gonna spin a wheel yet again. A fun event
is taking place over the weekend, and we've got another
edition of Lee's Leftovers. All that is yours here on
(18:58):
this three hour extravagans up. But we were waiting, we
were wondering. There were predictions made. Some came true in
the NFL yesterday. We'll tell you which ones next.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
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 (19:25):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up less
than twenty minutes from now. If you think you're a
real fan of your favorite team, you got nothing on
these guys, what do you hear? These details in this
story coming up here less than twenty minutes from now
here on Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington has been detailed
(19:45):
many times on this show. You grew up a certain
fan of one team in particular. You grew up.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Mmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
A fan of those Pittsburgh Stillers and those Pittsburgh Stellers.
Got some good news yesterday.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Did they?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Aaron Rodgers, it's official, signs a one year deal with
Pittsburgh and he will participate in next week's mini camp.
No surprise whatsoever. Brady Quinn had called his shot on this,
He had sourced this weeks ago, and here we are,
(20:39):
lo and behold, Aaron Rodgers is in fact the starting
quarterback now for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Congratulations and Steeler Nation?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Is this a major shocker and a surprise? This is
what we've been waiting for? Correct? Yeah, then it's because
nobody else wants them?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Jeez, damn.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
You know well, I mean, if you think about it,
he's in a situation where no one else wanted him.
You clearly got a great understanding with Pittsburgh in terms
of what it is that you wanted out of the situation.
It's a one year deal. I think there's a lot
of people. I think there's a lot of mixed feelings
(21:24):
about this. I think there are sides to this signing.
You know, on one side, you have the people who are
probably excited because he now comes in and regardless of
what you think about Aaron Rodgers. The other side of it, people,
(21:44):
the people that are on the side of Aaron Rodgers
are clearly saying, we now have a quarterback that's better
than the ones that we have on the current roster,
and that would be a true assessment. Again, I don't
know what what the quarterback out of you know, out
of out of Ohio state that was drafted to the
(22:06):
team is. It's Will right Will Howard, Will Howard. I
don't know what he will end up being as as
a pro. But what I do know now and today,
as I've made mentioned quite a few times, you gotta
have somebody who can stand up to what you're going
to see in the AFC North, when you see a
(22:27):
team like the Baltimore Ravens or the Cincinnati Bengals. You
gotta have a defense that can stand up to those offenses.
And you gotta have an offense that can stand up
and score points against the defenses that you're going to
see against those top, top end teams. And I'll even
throw Cleveland in there in terms of what what Pittsburgh
(22:48):
is going to have to see defense defensively, and we
don't know what we may get from them offensively, but
Stefanski has in the past been pretty good at figuring
out ways to make these pretty formidable. So you get
what you're looking for if you're a pro Aaron Rodgers.
But I think the con Aaron Rodgers fans are looking
(23:09):
at it like, Okay, you brought in Aaron Rodgers. That's great,
whooped dee dude, you brought in a guy that's better
than Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. That's what we're That's
what we're basing the win off of. Because if you're
basing the win off of just that solely and that alone,
how many games was Mason Rudolph going to give you
(23:30):
as a starter, Which, by the way, if Aaron Rodgers
can't hold up under what's what he's going to see
defeat defensively against these AFC North teams and and just
at his age, hold up against what he's going to
have to do physically for the season. Then you might
see Mason Rudolph. It might have to be Will Howard
(23:54):
the rookie. It might have to be someone different who
carries this team forward. And so to me, I feel
like the way this storyline unfolded, you have put the
weight of the world or the city, we should say,
on the shoulders of Aaron Rodgers coming into this scenario.
If I'm Aaron Rodgers, you have a chance to end
(24:20):
your career on a high note and with a football
town and a football fan base where you can be
praised and admired and reverenced to the same extreme and
levels that you experienced in Green Bay. Or you could
(24:43):
deal with the intensity of the hate and why did
we do this? And why is he here? And this
is crazy? You can deal with the disappointment and the
anger of those same fans at the same intensity level
that you see play out in Green Bay. Also, so
(25:03):
it's a very It's to me, it's a fluid situation
because I don't think anybody knows what the hell is
about to happen in Pittsburgh, So intriguing storyline. It'll be
interesting to see how he integrates. It'll be interesting to
see how the media handles him, because it's not like
(25:24):
the way Aaron Rodgers is is not how Pittsburgh is.
Aaron Rodgers has a very West coast Ish type of
approach to things. Pittsburgh people get it out of the mud.
They get up, they get their lunch pails, they get
their hard hats, they go to the mill, they go
to where they're going, and they work their asses off.
(25:44):
Very blue collar, very very simple, very plain, and they
just want to hear dudes say I'm come out and
whoop your ass. Like that's what Pittsburgh people like. We
call it stell Town because of the steel curtain, because
we shipped steel, and we make Hinz products and Clark
products like we ship them out. We do what we
(26:06):
need to do. We throw our steaks on those steel
cooking pots and we go Pittsburgh style with our steaks.
We're not playing around, no game playing. So I wonder
I'm curious to when he gets his first interviews, how
is he going to approach his interviews immunizing versus you know,
(26:27):
getting getting the the shot is not going to work.
Trying to be clever and creative and how you create,
you know, communicate, that's not going to work in Pittsburgh.
So it'd be interesting to see how he handles things,
how he carries himself, and how that's received by the
market that he's in right now.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So some people have made a big thing about the
fact that the super Bowl odge for the Steelers didn't
change after Rogers signed. Well, it's because it was probably
already baked in that they knew he was going to sign.
It wasn't a surprise as we laid out. So I
look at it and I go, I don't think this
is a super Bowl team. I hope I'm wrong, but
I still think they're the third best team in the division.
(27:11):
And I and I think to myself at the same time,
Pittsburgh is a better team today with Aaron Rodgers than
without him. And so the conversation becomes, well, why would
Rogers if this isn't a super Bowl caliber team? And
maybe that's you know, a long shot goal, and yeah,
in a perfect world that would happen, why would Rogers
(27:32):
want to sign with Pittsburgh? And my question and my
thought on it is, well, my thought on I think
there was other options for him. I think he could
have gone elsewhere he would have maybe had to have
competed for a job. But I think Pittsburgh was appealing
to him for something that you laid out. I think
(27:52):
he missed what he had in green Bay and it
was furthered with his experience with the Jets, and I
think they're the appeal to him with Pittsburgh. And we
don't know what the contract, what the numbers are. He
said he would be willing to play for ten million dollars.
I don't think it has anything to do with that,
and I don't even think it has to do with
chasing another Super Bowl. I think he wants to go
(28:12):
out the same way that he came in. I think
there was something about the green Bay experience, even though
he's a California guy and all that, that I think
you really missed because when he got to the Jets,
I mean, you got an owner landing helicopters, you got
a former coach who was a foot fetish guy. You've
got people getting fired, them blaming Rogers players not wanting
(28:36):
to be there, or reporting a notcho It's like the
whole thing was a disaster. Madden ratings to evaluate players
by the owner's son, the whole thing was a clown show,
and I think he looked at it and said, man,
I could walk away right now. I've got my five
hundred touchdowns, I'm a first ballot Hall of Famer. I
got to play with my best friend again, DeVante Adams
last year. I did everything I could possibly want to
(28:58):
do in my career. I just want to end it
on the right note. And this may result in a
nine and eight season and Tomin gets to stay five hundred,
but he signs a one year deal because I think
he's ready to go out the right way, and I
think that environment in Pittsburgh makes sense for him if
he wants to bookend his career and finish it off
(29:18):
the way that it started. Pittsburgh I think was the
most appealing landing spot for him.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
You said he had other options, Yeah, what were they?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think he could have gone to Tennessee, OK. I
think the New York Giants would have been a possibility.
I think that Minnesota had had he waited, or had
he been willing to sit behind a JJ McCarthy or
even have a further conversation with Kevin O'Connell about that,
I think that maybe would have been a possibility. Maybe
(29:49):
the Niners like it's not that there were a lot
of options, But I do think that he looked at
Pittsburgh and said that would makes sense. Look, the Saints
could have signed him. He could have gone to New
Orleans like that. That was another landing spot.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Patient. I think those are all I don't think those
are as strong options as you're making them sound. I think,
just in short, this was his only option. Let's be clear.
Those other ones you named, those aren't Those aren't real options.
What about retirement, I don't think. I don't. I think
(30:26):
if retirement was the sole other option that he had,
he would have he would have retired. I think he
would have retired. And and so to me when he
didn't retire in the timely fashion that it seemed like
he was, you know, you got a choice you have
to make, and he was shopping it around and everybody
(30:49):
knew he wanted to try to get to Minnesota, and
Minnesota seemingly are bought into what they may be able
to get out of McCarthy. That was not an option
that was on the table for Aaron Rodgers, not as
a backup, not as anything. I just I don't agree
with that and I don't believe that as far as
(31:10):
any of these other teams that are out here, I
don't believe those were legitimate options. I don't believe the
New Orleans Saints was a legitimate option. I don't believe that,
after all them quarterbacks they brought in to New York,
that it was a legitimate option. And it makes me
(31:31):
very very curious and very leary of the fact. We
had the same conversation about Sam Donald. Now I'm not
going to compare careers obviously of Sam Donald and Aaron Rodgers,
but what I will compare is the level of interest.
And it's interesting because it kind of dovetails into the
(31:53):
Shador Sanders conversation as well. The market speaks, and when
the market spe you gotta listen, whether you like it
or not, whether you want to create a situation. I mean, God,
Lee stephen Ay out here talking about Shador Sanders reminded
him of the Colin Kaepernick situation, Like you can sensationalize
(32:18):
what the market says about you or not.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Who's Colin Kaepernick?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Dang, Yeah, well it's been a while. You can sensationalize
what the wise in the hous of what the market says,
but when that market comes out and it says what
you are, that's what you are. And the market said
that Aaron Rodgers is not good enough to be one
(32:47):
of these quarterbacks that we're willing to risk taking in
the off season and adding him to our roster. There
was only one team that was willing to not only
meet with him and want to bring him in, but
pretty much under the terms and the timeline that he
felt comfortable with doing, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It only takes one.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
It only takes one, but in a league of thirty
one teams, because obviously he's not going to go back
to the New York Jets in a thirty one team pool,
that only one is a team that to me is
(33:32):
it's a very pivotal year for this team. And so
for there to only be one team that wants Aaron Rodgers,
my biggest question is how much does he have left?
And if you're basing bringing him in and feeling excited
about the season on who Aaron Rodgers was, I just
(33:55):
feel like that's a dangerous decision to make if you're
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Could ultimately it could be it's a
boomer Bus situation, Jonas. Either it's boom and you look
at it and you say the GM did a great job.
They took a chance, it worked out and here they are,
or it could be a costly mistake. I think that
(34:18):
if it doesn't work out, you may see changes come
seasons in I don't think it'll come in season just
because of the type of organization they are. But who's
to say that if this thing goes as bad as
it looked and seemed and felt in New York when
he was there, I wouldn't be surprised if Pittsburgh made
a change during the course of the season.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
It is two pros and a cup of Joe here
on Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you.
By the way, a reminder, you can stream this show
in all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty
four to seven in the new and improved iHeart Radio apter.
Search Fox Sports Radio in the apter stream is live.
One of the newest features in the app is that
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sure to preset Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
(35:01):
and it will always pop up at the top of
your screen. Coming up next here, though, if you think
you're a real fan of your favorite team, you got
nothing on these guys. That's yours next.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
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.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up top
next hour. A little over ten minutes from now. We
got trouble. We got trouble for an NFL quarterback. That'll
be yours here on FSR. Right now, though, it is
time for the tire ract play of the day, Rebound Indiana.
Eight seconds to go. The Pacers are not gonna call
(35:42):
the time out. Paddleburton has it with three driving, with
two pulling.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Up ahead heading with three tenths of a second to go.
How many more times can this team do that?
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Soweets Baby Pacers Radio Network on the call. That's your
tire rack play of the Day. For over forty years,
ti Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires
for how what and where they drive shipped fast and
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Speaker 5 (36:21):
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.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You missed it.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
After that, we turn it over to our executive producer,
Lea lap.
Speaker 6 (36:35):
Good Friday morning, everybody, Good morning, Jona's good morning, LeVar.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Guys.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
In case you missed this, Perry saves your main beat
into Miami for the first Champions League title five to nil.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
But if you could drink I know, right, which one first?
Like to order? What Petty sends your mite? But to
here you go? Yeah, this sounds like something you order
at the ball some.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Inter Milan, you know, Did I say inter Miami?
Speaker 2 (37:03):
I might have just said you did say and some
some Miami not not Milan Milan. Yeah, but it just
sounded like something with with you know, caviar and great poopond.
You know something you would drink. Yeah, pust me to
great poop On. Please a little bit of that caviar.
Thank you very much, Thank you so much, and I'll
(37:24):
be drinking what lee.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Uh. There's probably some soccer blowhards out there who just
like saying the name. They don't even like the team,
they just like saying the name.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
Or you just say some PSG And in case you
did miss that PSG title PSG pretty sing jamain okay uh,
in case you did miss that for me that when
there were two fans.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
There happen to be.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
Two Belgium fans who were who made sure not to
miss this game. They actually uck into the stadium twenty
seven hours ahead of time and put some out of
order signs on the bathroom, camped out inside of the
bathroom inside the stadium for twenty seven plus hours.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
And then entire day Yeah, eight hours of extra credit.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Nobody thought to check the out of service bathroom that's
been there for twenty seven hours.
Speaker 6 (38:20):
Yeah, they said they had the lights on the entire time.
They we had comfortable sitting positions but were unable to sleep,
couldn't find a comfortable sitting sleeping situation.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
They created a real life pursued a happiness.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Yeah my god.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
What people was knocking like, we need to fix this.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Hey, hey michel my next killing me today? What do
we sleep on the last night. You're an okay? Oh
got it? Thanks? What a loser?
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah? Well those two bulg fan three hours in a bathroom, yep.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Snuck their wings in.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
That sixty five thousand person crowd said it was the
most beautiful game they had ever witnessed.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
So certain it was. They're twenty three hours in a
freaking rets room.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
What do you think they smelled like? You know, there
was somebody sitting next to them at the game that
was like, Hey, is it me? Or do they smell
like urine?
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Like?
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Is it like?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Is it like they smell like urine and floor cleaner
for some reason? What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (39:17):
You want to know what's crazy. I'm gonna tell you
what's so crazy is technology is so gangstered at this point.
Everything that you would do on your couch, if you
find a comfortable place to sit and squat, you can
do it wherever it is you are. Yeah, you can
watch the same program, play the same games, do the
(39:37):
same stuff. Nobody uses big screen TVs anymore except old heads.
These young cats, they be using their cell phone, so
as long as they had something to plug in and
be able to do that and had their food pack.
They were good, which is crazy to think twenty three hours.
I mean of doing something in a urinals, a bathroom, something.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Some people call I'm dedicated. I'd call them losers, but
again I call them both
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up on
this football Friday. We're gonna talk football, of course, because
we got Aaron Rodgers news. Finally he gets to Pittsburgh.
We've got concern out of Indianapolis when it comes to
Anthony Richardson, but there's no concern out of Indianapolis when
it comes to the Pacers. The walking, talking zombie of
(00:23):
sports has done it again, a shocker in OKC for
Game one of the NBA Finals. We'll break it all down.
We're also going to have a conversation about Russell Wilson.
What's real, what's not? Who the hell knows? We've got
another edition of our topic Roundup, and we're gonna spin
the wheel for the Belmont Stakes. It's all yours. Coming
up next here, Two Pros and a Cup of Joe
(00:44):
on a Football Friday, Fox Sports Radio. You're listening to
Fox Sports Radio. It is Two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox.
You you can find this show on the iHeartRadio app.
You know, you can always find us on hundreds of
(01:05):
affiliates all across the country and.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Wherever you are, damn skippy, he just ain't gonna find me, honestly.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And then uh, and you will listen. You will listen
to us all the way until nine am Eastern time,
six o'clock Pacific. And you know it's appropriate. We're listening
to the Narcos theme song here as the show starts.
Because there was an old method back in the day
where Pablo Escobar, when he wanted to rid himself of
his competitors, he would throw them into a lagoon full
(01:39):
of hippopotamuses.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Oh it was.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
He throw him in there. He's got these pet hippos
and he would throw him in there and just let
him go at it. And I don't even think the
Pablo Escobar could throw the Indiana Pacers in with a
pond full of hippos and get rid of them, because
that team does not die. They are a zombie. They
did it again last night. That's unbelievable. It's just it's
(02:08):
unbelievable to watch that game. And I'm watching long thinking, man, Okay,
see better extend this. If you don't push it to
twenty and you keep them within four five ish possessions.
They're gonna figure this thing out. And as the game
went down to the wire, they made play after play
after play. Even lou Dort makes a great block on
(02:31):
Nie Smith and you're like, oh, okay, well that was
the real crucial play that had to be had. Pascal
Siakam goes out of bounds, they challenge it, call stands okay,
see gets the ball back. You're like, Okay, that's the
one that's gonna be ultimately what pushes Okac over the top.
And it's just not because Indiana refused to die. Awesome
(02:54):
Game one of the NBA Finals last night.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I mean, it was what the NBA if they have
drawn it up. And I hate to be the I
told you so type of guy, but it is I
told you so type of moment where if Indiana wins
that game, it's it's it makes the series more watchable,
(03:20):
more interesting. If if Indiana wins the game the way
it was drawn up yesterday, it makes the series way
more attractive to watch and want to be a part of.
I mean, you think about it. In this game, You're
you're talking about the Pacers set a record on turnovers.
(03:44):
That's how or excuse me, not a record, but it
was the season high, season high twenty five turnovers, and
yet they were still over able to overcome the deficit
of the entire game, never led the entire game, and
the only time they lead is when they win. You
(04:07):
couldn't have drawn it up any better for a viewer
to want to watch, because it took you to the
entire game unless at the point a time where they
were down I want to say it was by at
least fifteen. I want to say they were down by
If you if you dowed out, if you dialed out
(04:28):
in the second half, like the third quarter, based upon
what the score was, then you missed. You missed the
treat of a game. But to see the way Indiana
fights back and claw their way back and get into
games the way that they do, they held to form
(04:49):
this is you can't say that this was a luck
game or you know they they some way, somehow. You know,
the OKC thunder gave the game away. They shot poorly,
They shot poorly, and while Oka see shot poorly, you
know what Indiana did. They just kept getting after it.
(05:12):
They were slashing to the hole, which I was loving
to see as they were being aggressive getting to the hole.
They were kicking the ball out, guys were finding their range.
You started seeing contributions come from from different guys, you know,
in the comeback. It just it's one of those games
(05:36):
where you ask yourself, you know, did did okay see
did okay see open up a door that they shouldn't
have opened up in this series? Or was it one
of those first game, first game jitters? You're at home.
(05:57):
Sometimes being at home can actually play against you a
little bit. You know, you you might not for some reason,
you might not play as loose. And maybe it's because
of the excitement, Maybe it's because it's your home crowd.
There's just certain reasons why sometimes teams play a little
bit better, a little bit more relaxed when they're on
(06:17):
the road. But this one was a head scratcher. I
think if you had to come up with a way
to kind of sum up what last night represented, it
was still a head scratcher that this type of a
pendulum swing could take place in a game in the
(06:38):
NBA Finals to this to this degree, uh.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The guy who hit the game winner, Tyres Halliburton, spoke afterwards.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
There was never a disbelief as a group. Honestly, you know,
we never think the game is over ever. Honestly speaking,
ever like they never that never creeps in. I think
we just keep talking as a group, how can we
walk this team down. So it's at twelve going in
a half time, we talk about if we can win
one quarter by six, one quarter by seven, will be
in a great spot. We got to a six point
(07:08):
game at the end of the third quarter and Shay
hit at three, but we liked where we were, and
then they went on a big run to start the
fourth and we just say, okay, it's that fifteen, let's.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Get to ten.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Well we got it to eight. They call time out,
so we just stay with it. So this group never
gives up. We never believe that the game is over
until it hit zero.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And that's a real calculated zombie right there. That's one
that's not just one of these Well I'm just going
to get.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Up and eat everybody.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
It's like, no, no, no, I'm just gonna get up and
this is how I'm gonna do it. It's gonna come
in sections, it's going to go one body part by
the next, and I'm going to figure out a way
to make Halliburton wasn't even good. It's not like he
had a great game. He didn't have some some monster
game that you look at and go, man, he willed
his team to victory. But when he was coming down
(07:52):
with that ball following the miss by SGA, there wasn't
a doubt in my mind that he was going to
hit that shot. You you felt it. I think the
arena felt it. And there's probably okay, see thunderfans that
are looking around going what the hell happened? Yeah, because
and I'll tell you what happened. What happened was the
same thing that happened in every single playoff series that
(08:15):
Indiana's been involved in. Yeah, you leave him hanging around
for long enough. You don't step on the throat, you
don't finish putting their head in the vice like that
guy in Goodfellas and put it into the whole thing.
You let him hang around and they ultimately end up
making plays to win. That's a fun.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Team, you know. I told you. Like the second hour
they play the theme song one of the parts of
Thirteenth Warrior. Yeah, and what I felt like took place
in Last Games. Last night's game was comparable to a
scene in Thirteenth Warrior. So there was a guy, he
was one of the norsemen that came with Bouva to
(08:52):
help with the evil that they had to fight against
that the village was that sent for for them, you
know what they were facing. Well, the son of the
king of the people that sent for Bulvie and his
crew to come. You know, he was not as respectful
and receptive to them coming to help. And he felt
(09:12):
like him and his crew could handle the evil that
was coming their way. And he had one big dude
that was there, and one of the smaller dudes that
bouv brought with him, you know, picked a fight with him.
You know. And this this reminds me of that game
last night, right, Okay, see the big, tall, strong dude
(09:36):
and you got this little dude over here, and he's
he's digging. Everybody's digging trenches and he's throwing the mud
on the guy right, hits him with the mud, boom, hitting,
get him dirty. He's like, hey, little man, what are
you doing? And he picks a fight with him. So
they picked a fight. They get in the ring and
you know, they're hitting their shields and he's just letting
(09:59):
this big do well on him, just bang bang, cracks
his cracks his shield, and I think they get like
four shields, five shields in the fight or whatever. Little
dude ain't messed up. Not one of the shields that
this big dude is has ain't really made him do
anything to make him feel as though he could hurt him.
(10:23):
And the confidence of the big dude is growing by
every single shield that he's crushing on this little dude.
He gets to the last, the last shield they're fighting,
boom boom boom, and the big dude does it again, bang,
just like what the OKC Thunder was doing in his game,
seemingly looking like they were just too much, they were
(10:44):
going to overpower them. He breaks the shield. The little
dude kneels down and and like looking like he's being defeated.
It almost looks like it's just defeat. He's too weak,
he's too small, he's not not he's not nearly the
warrior that the other guy is. And the other guy
looks at you know what I guess would be the coach.
(11:06):
He looks at the King's son, and the King's son's like, yeah,
do him, you know, finish it. Chop that man's head
off and show these Norsemen. They're not as tough as
they think they are, and they need to listen to
what I need, what I'm going to say, what I
want to do. So the guy picks up his he
picks up his sword to go knock his head off,
and the little dude hitching with one of them little
(11:28):
like little moves like put sword in the big dude.
Put sword in a big dude. And when he hit him,
he said he was a brave one, right, And so
all this time you're beating the hell out of this dude.
In the entire time, it was a strategy to get
him to the proper place of where he wanted to
(11:48):
get him and took him out. And then all of
the village people are looking like they were confused. You know,
they live by what they can see, but now you're
giving them something that they can't see. They got to
think about. Keeps them off guard, and that maintains the
fear the point of the story. Sometimes you can't judge
it by the way it looks. Okay, See looks like
(12:10):
they're the big, big, strong dude that that can knock
you down and take you out because they're so deep
with their their you know, with their bench. They have
so many strong starters, they got seven footers to go
along with it. But you beat up on these dudes
for for a half of basketball. Really, really, I mean
(12:31):
you didn't. You didn't beat them up as well as
you should have in the second half, but for the
most part, you still maintained your lead throughout the second
half of the of the game until the end. And
then at the end they make a move and chop
your head off and looked at the crowd, and now
the crowd is like all stunned, like wait that they
(12:53):
just beat our champion, Like did they just take him down?
They just took out the champion. And now OKC has
to figure out how they're going to move forward in
this series because what I felt took place in this
first game, even though they didn't shoot their best. I
(13:13):
bet you OKAC was ready to come out of that
game and say, you know, we didn't shoot our best,
but we defended home court. We had good we had
a good showing. Even though guys didn't shoot well from
the perimeter. Our shots weren't they weren't going down. Maybe
our shots selection could have been better, but yet we
were still good enough to win this game and win
(13:35):
the game handily. You couldn't come out of the game
saying that. Now now you had to say, dang, like,
we didn't play as well as we could have, but
we had the game in hand on our way to
a victory. In some way, somehow, Indiana found a way
to beat us. That's right. That's a very very hard
that's a hard riddle to solve. If I'm OKC, maybe
(14:00):
they don't think too much of it, but maybe they are.
I got one more game there, you got one more
game there, And I think this is such a pivotal
game for OKC because they cannot allow, they cannot allow
for Indiana to gain any more confidence than what they've
(14:24):
gained being able to come out of that game the
way they did.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
You mentioned the thought process, the mentality of Oklahoma City.
After that game last night, SGA, their superstar, the MVP,
spoke about it, following it.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
As much as we can, we just got to treat
it like every other game, every other situation we've been in. Yes,
we haven't been in the situation, but it doesn't mean
our character has a changeer what we did last time.
It's still basketball, still the game of basketball that we
grew up playing the rules.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Don't change its because we're in the finals.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
So it's like we've been in a situation before and
the other situation we handled it.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
We handled it well.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
We were better for game and gets the goal.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
They are currently an eleven point favorite in game two,
so the overwhelming expectation as well, they respond and they'll
come back out, and it's like, look, you could feel
any kind of way you want to feel about it.
A lot of people said the same thing about the Knicks. Listen,
they should have won that game in game one, one
of the chances India, and what happened. Indiana came out
(15:22):
and they were actually better in game two, Like that's
that's the if. This would have been Indiana's best shot
and their best shot was able to overcome a deficit
by Okac who didn't make enough plays down the stretch.
I'd feel better about it if I was a Thunder fan,
because I would look at it and go, well, yeah,
the likelihood of them playing that good again is small, especially.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
On the road.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
The problem is Indiana didn't play that great. Halliburton didn't
have a great game as far as his getting to
the basket, you know, getting whatever shot he won, he
was actually passed, like give me the ball up at
times when he probably could have made a play at
the rim. So I look at it and I go,
this makes me that much more interested in game two.
(16:08):
And it would not surprise me whatsoever if Indiana was
able to keep that close. And if it's close as
we've seen, I don't know that you trust any other
team in the playoffs to make a play down the stretch.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
And you do Indiana more than you know. What makes
me think of a scene out of a movie, Like
it's like that moment where Rocky punches Ivan Drago and
he cutting, and he went back to he went back
to the corner and Rocky's corners like you're cutting, you see,
(16:39):
you see, he's a man, He's a man. And then
Ivan Drago's sitting there like looking at it like this
is blood. It's blood, it's my blood. It's my blood, right,
and then he realized that this little man could beat him,
and again comes back to the David and Goliath type
of storyline here, this is a David Goliath type of series. Obviously,
(17:04):
Goliath being Okcu, David being the pacers. I just think
that this was a very debilitating loss. Like I understand
what SGA is saying, and he's right. That's the right
way of looking at it, that's the right approach. But Jonas,
if I'm OKC, that is the worst loss that you
(17:24):
could have possibly taken. Was the first one last night?
Yeah at home?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Not great, not great, but great for us because it
makes it that much more entertaining. It is two pros
and a cup of Joe. Here on Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you. By the way, we
do have some good news for you here on this show.
It's a football Friday. It's a damn Fox Sports Radio.
You bet your sweet assa Friday. Come on, Bar, come on.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah. Yeah, we got some basketball. It's foot for Friday.
But we got some basketball. We talked about the NBA.
But it's a football Friday. It's a football. It's Friday.
It's a football Friday, Football Friday. Come on, football football, football, football, football, football,
(18:11):
football football football Friday, football Friday. What's wrong with Jonas?
Did you just use the blow gun? What's wrong with Jonas?
All right? Mark, Mark, come on now, Mark, let's do it.
Let's do it for Eddie. Friday night is a Football Friday.
Yeah Friday, Rock them, suck them, throw it, catch it is.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
It is a football Friday here on two Friday. We
are gonna have the usual's coming up later on. We've
got another edition of In case you missed it. We've
also got our topic round up from the week which
we're going to get into an hour three of the program.
We're gonna spin a wheel yet again. A fun event
is taking place over the weekend, and we've got another
edition of Lee's Leftovers. All that is yours here on
(18:58):
this three hour extravagans up. But we were waiting, we
were wondering. There were predictions made. Some came true in
the NFL yesterday. We'll tell you which ones next.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
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 (19:25):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up less
than twenty minutes from now. If you think you're a
real fan of your favorite team, you got nothing on
these guys, what do you hear? These details in this
story coming up here less than twenty minutes from now
here on Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington has been detailed
(19:45):
many times on this show. You grew up a certain
fan of one team in particular. You grew up.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Mmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
A fan of those Pittsburgh Stillers and those Pittsburgh Stellers.
Got some good news yesterday.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Did they?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Aaron Rodgers, it's official, signs a one year deal with
Pittsburgh and he will participate in next week's mini camp.
No surprise whatsoever. Brady Quinn had called his shot on this,
He had sourced this weeks ago, and here we are,
(20:39):
lo and behold, Aaron Rodgers is in fact the starting
quarterback now for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Congratulations and Steeler Nation?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Is this a major shocker and a surprise? This is
what we've been waiting for? Correct? Yeah, then it's because
nobody else wants them?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Jeez, damn.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
You know well, I mean, if you think about it,
he's in a situation where no one else wanted him.
You clearly got a great understanding with Pittsburgh in terms
of what it is that you wanted out of the situation.
It's a one year deal. I think there's a lot
of people. I think there's a lot of mixed feelings
(21:24):
about this. I think there are sides to this signing.
You know, on one side, you have the people who are
probably excited because he now comes in and regardless of
what you think about Aaron Rodgers. The other side of it, people,
(21:44):
the people that are on the side of Aaron Rodgers
are clearly saying, we now have a quarterback that's better
than the ones that we have on the current roster,
and that would be a true assessment. Again, I don't
know what what the quarterback out of you know, out
of out of Ohio state that was drafted to the
(22:06):
team is. It's Will right Will Howard, Will Howard. I
don't know what he will end up being as as
a pro. But what I do know now and today,
as I've made mentioned quite a few times, you gotta
have somebody who can stand up to what you're going
to see in the AFC North, when you see a
(22:27):
team like the Baltimore Ravens or the Cincinnati Bengals. You
gotta have a defense that can stand up to those offenses.
And you gotta have an offense that can stand up
and score points against the defenses that you're going to
see against those top, top end teams. And I'll even
throw Cleveland in there in terms of what what Pittsburgh
(22:48):
is going to have to see defense defensively, and we
don't know what we may get from them offensively, but
Stefanski has in the past been pretty good at figuring
out ways to make these pretty formidable. So you get
what you're looking for if you're a pro Aaron Rodgers.
But I think the con Aaron Rodgers fans are looking
(23:09):
at it like, Okay, you brought in Aaron Rodgers. That's great,
whooped dee dude, you brought in a guy that's better
than Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. That's what we're That's
what we're basing the win off of. Because if you're
basing the win off of just that solely and that alone,
how many games was Mason Rudolph going to give you
(23:30):
as a starter, Which, by the way, if Aaron Rodgers
can't hold up under what's what he's going to see
defeat defensively against these AFC North teams and and just
at his age, hold up against what he's going to
have to do physically for the season. Then you might
see Mason Rudolph. It might have to be Will Howard
(23:54):
the rookie. It might have to be someone different who
carries this team forward. And so to me, I feel
like the way this storyline unfolded, you have put the
weight of the world or the city, we should say,
on the shoulders of Aaron Rodgers coming into this scenario.
If I'm Aaron Rodgers, you have a chance to end
(24:20):
your career on a high note and with a football
town and a football fan base where you can be
praised and admired and reverenced to the same extreme and
levels that you experienced in Green Bay. Or you could
(24:43):
deal with the intensity of the hate and why did
we do this? And why is he here? And this
is crazy? You can deal with the disappointment and the
anger of those same fans at the same intensity level
that you see play out in Green Bay. Also, so
(25:03):
it's a very It's to me, it's a fluid situation
because I don't think anybody knows what the hell is
about to happen in Pittsburgh, So intriguing storyline. It'll be
interesting to see how he integrates. It'll be interesting to
see how the media handles him, because it's not like
(25:24):
the way Aaron Rodgers is is not how Pittsburgh is.
Aaron Rodgers has a very West coast Ish type of
approach to things. Pittsburgh people get it out of the mud.
They get up, they get their lunch pails, they get
their hard hats, they go to the mill, they go
to where they're going, and they work their asses off.
(25:44):
Very blue collar, very very simple, very plain, and they
just want to hear dudes say I'm come out and
whoop your ass. Like that's what Pittsburgh people like. We
call it stell Town because of the steel curtain, because
we shipped steel, and we make Hinz products and Clark
products like we ship them out. We do what we
(26:06):
need to do. We throw our steaks on those steel
cooking pots and we go Pittsburgh style with our steaks.
We're not playing around, no game playing. So I wonder
I'm curious to when he gets his first interviews, how
is he going to approach his interviews immunizing versus you know,
(26:27):
getting getting the the shot is not going to work.
Trying to be clever and creative and how you create,
you know, communicate, that's not going to work in Pittsburgh.
So it'd be interesting to see how he handles things,
how he carries himself, and how that's received by the
market that he's in right now.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So some people have made a big thing about the
fact that the super Bowl odge for the Steelers didn't
change after Rogers signed. Well, it's because it was probably
already baked in that they knew he was going to sign.
It wasn't a surprise as we laid out. So I
look at it and I go, I don't think this
is a super Bowl team. I hope I'm wrong, but
I still think they're the third best team in the division.
(27:11):
And I and I think to myself at the same time,
Pittsburgh is a better team today with Aaron Rodgers than
without him. And so the conversation becomes, well, why would
Rogers if this isn't a super Bowl caliber team? And
maybe that's you know, a long shot goal, and yeah,
in a perfect world that would happen, why would Rogers
(27:32):
want to sign with Pittsburgh? And my question and my
thought on it is, well, my thought on I think
there was other options for him. I think he could
have gone elsewhere he would have maybe had to have
competed for a job. But I think Pittsburgh was appealing
to him for something that you laid out. I think
(27:52):
he missed what he had in green Bay and it
was furthered with his experience with the Jets, and I
think they're the appeal to him with Pittsburgh. And we
don't know what the contract, what the numbers are. He
said he would be willing to play for ten million dollars.
I don't think it has anything to do with that,
and I don't even think it has to do with
chasing another Super Bowl. I think he wants to go
(28:12):
out the same way that he came in. I think
there was something about the green Bay experience, even though
he's a California guy and all that, that I think
you really missed because when he got to the Jets,
I mean, you got an owner landing helicopters, you got
a former coach who was a foot fetish guy. You've
got people getting fired, them blaming Rogers players not wanting
(28:36):
to be there, or reporting a notcho It's like the
whole thing was a disaster. Madden ratings to evaluate players
by the owner's son, the whole thing was a clown show,
and I think he looked at it and said, man,
I could walk away right now. I've got my five
hundred touchdowns, I'm a first ballot Hall of Famer. I
got to play with my best friend again, DeVante Adams
last year. I did everything I could possibly want to
(28:58):
do in my career. I just want to end it
on the right note. And this may result in a
nine and eight season and Tomin gets to stay five hundred,
but he signs a one year deal because I think
he's ready to go out the right way, and I
think that environment in Pittsburgh makes sense for him if
he wants to bookend his career and finish it off
(29:18):
the way that it started. Pittsburgh I think was the
most appealing landing spot for him.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
You said he had other options, Yeah, what were they?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think he could have gone to Tennessee, OK. I
think the New York Giants would have been a possibility.
I think that Minnesota had had he waited, or had
he been willing to sit behind a JJ McCarthy or
even have a further conversation with Kevin O'Connell about that,
I think that maybe would have been a possibility. Maybe
(29:49):
the Niners like it's not that there were a lot
of options, But I do think that he looked at
Pittsburgh and said that would makes sense. Look, the Saints
could have signed him. He could have gone to New
Orleans like that. That was another landing spot.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Patient. I think those are all I don't think those
are as strong options as you're making them sound. I think,
just in short, this was his only option. Let's be clear.
Those other ones you named, those aren't Those aren't real options.
What about retirement, I don't think. I don't. I think
(30:26):
if retirement was the sole other option that he had,
he would have he would have retired. I think he
would have retired. And and so to me when he
didn't retire in the timely fashion that it seemed like
he was, you know, you got a choice you have
to make, and he was shopping it around and everybody
(30:49):
knew he wanted to try to get to Minnesota, and
Minnesota seemingly are bought into what they may be able
to get out of McCarthy. That was not an option
that was on the table for Aaron Rodgers, not as
a backup, not as anything. I just I don't agree
with that and I don't believe that as far as
(31:10):
any of these other teams that are out here, I
don't believe those were legitimate options. I don't believe the
New Orleans Saints was a legitimate option. I don't believe that,
after all them quarterbacks they brought in to New York,
that it was a legitimate option. And it makes me
(31:31):
very very curious and very leary of the fact. We
had the same conversation about Sam Donald. Now I'm not
going to compare careers obviously of Sam Donald and Aaron Rodgers,
but what I will compare is the level of interest.
And it's interesting because it kind of dovetails into the
(31:53):
Shador Sanders conversation as well. The market speaks, and when
the market spe you gotta listen, whether you like it
or not, whether you want to create a situation. I mean, God,
Lee stephen Ay out here talking about Shador Sanders reminded
him of the Colin Kaepernick situation, Like you can sensationalize
(32:18):
what the market says about you or not.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Who's Colin Kaepernick?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Dang, Yeah, well it's been a while. You can sensationalize
what the wise in the hous of what the market says,
but when that market comes out and it says what
you are, that's what you are. And the market said
that Aaron Rodgers is not good enough to be one
(32:47):
of these quarterbacks that we're willing to risk taking in
the off season and adding him to our roster. There
was only one team that was willing to not only
meet with him and want to bring him in, but
pretty much under the terms and the timeline that he
felt comfortable with doing, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It only takes one.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
It only takes one, but in a league of thirty
one teams, because obviously he's not going to go back
to the New York Jets in a thirty one team pool,
that only one is a team that to me is
(33:32):
it's a very pivotal year for this team. And so
for there to only be one team that wants Aaron Rodgers,
my biggest question is how much does he have left?
And if you're basing bringing him in and feeling excited
about the season on who Aaron Rodgers was, I just
(33:55):
feel like that's a dangerous decision to make if you're
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Could ultimately it could be it's a
boomer Bus situation, Jonas. Either it's boom and you look
at it and you say the GM did a great job.
They took a chance, it worked out and here they are,
or it could be a costly mistake. I think that
(34:18):
if it doesn't work out, you may see changes come
seasons in I don't think it'll come in season just
because of the type of organization they are. But who's
to say that if this thing goes as bad as
it looked and seemed and felt in New York when
he was there, I wouldn't be surprised if Pittsburgh made
a change during the course of the season.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
It is two pros and a cup of Joe here
on Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you.
By the way, a reminder, you can stream this show
in all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty
four to seven in the new and improved iHeart Radio apter.
Search Fox Sports Radio in the apter stream is live.
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sure to preset Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
(35:01):
and it will always pop up at the top of
your screen. Coming up next here, though, if you think
you're a real fan of your favorite team, you got
nothing on these guys. That's yours next.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
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.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio,
LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up top
next hour. A little over ten minutes from now. We
got trouble. We got trouble for an NFL quarterback. That'll
be yours here on FSR. Right now, though, it is
time for the tire ract play of the day, Rebound Indiana.
Eight seconds to go. The Pacers are not gonna call
(35:42):
the time out. Paddleburton has it with three driving, with
two pulling.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Up ahead heading with three tenths of a second to go.
How many more times can this team do that?
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Soweets Baby Pacers Radio Network on the call. That's your
tire rack play of the Day. For over forty years,
ti Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires
for how what and where they drive shipped fast and
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Speaker 5 (36:21):
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.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You missed it.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
After that, we turn it over to our executive producer,
Lea lap.
Speaker 6 (36:35):
Good Friday morning, everybody, Good morning, Jona's good morning, LeVar.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Guys.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
In case you missed this, Perry saves your main beat
into Miami for the first Champions League title five to nil.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
But if you could drink I know, right, which one first?
Like to order? What Petty sends your mite? But to
here you go? Yeah, this sounds like something you order
at the ball some.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Inter Milan, you know, Did I say inter Miami?
Speaker 2 (37:03):
I might have just said you did say and some
some Miami not not Milan Milan. Yeah, but it just
sounded like something with with you know, caviar and great poopond.
You know something you would drink. Yeah, pust me to
great poop On. Please a little bit of that caviar.
Thank you very much, Thank you so much, and I'll
(37:24):
be drinking what lee.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Uh. There's probably some soccer blowhards out there who just
like saying the name. They don't even like the team,
they just like saying the name.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
Or you just say some PSG And in case you
did miss that PSG title PSG pretty sing jamain okay uh,
in case you did miss that for me that when
there were two fans.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
There happen to be.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
Two Belgium fans who were who made sure not to
miss this game. They actually uck into the stadium twenty
seven hours ahead of time and put some out of
order signs on the bathroom, camped out inside of the
bathroom inside the stadium for twenty seven plus hours.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
And then entire day Yeah, eight hours of extra credit.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Nobody thought to check the out of service bathroom that's
been there for twenty seven hours.
Speaker 6 (38:20):
Yeah, they said they had the lights on the entire time.
They we had comfortable sitting positions but were unable to sleep,
couldn't find a comfortable sitting sleeping situation.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
They created a real life pursued a happiness.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Yeah my god.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
What people was knocking like, we need to fix this.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Hey, hey michel my next killing me today? What do
we sleep on the last night. You're an okay? Oh
got it? Thanks? What a loser?
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah? Well those two bulg fan three hours in a bathroom, yep.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Snuck their wings in.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
That sixty five thousand person crowd said it was the
most beautiful game they had ever witnessed.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
So certain it was. They're twenty three hours in a
freaking rets room.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
What do you think they smelled like? You know, there
was somebody sitting next to them at the game that
was like, Hey, is it me? Or do they smell
like urine?
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Like?
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Is it like?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Is it like they smell like urine and floor cleaner
for some reason? What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (39:17):
You want to know what's crazy. I'm gonna tell you
what's so crazy is technology is so gangstered at this point.
Everything that you would do on your couch, if you
find a comfortable place to sit and squat, you can
do it wherever it is you are. Yeah, you can
watch the same program, play the same games, do the
(39:37):
same stuff. Nobody uses big screen TVs anymore except old heads.
These young cats, they be using their cell phone, so
as long as they had something to plug in and
be able to do that and had their food pack.
They were good, which is crazy to think twenty three hours.
I mean of doing something in a urinals, a bathroom, something.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Some people call I'm dedicated. I'd call them losers, but
again I call them both
Hosts And Creators
Brady Quinn
LaVar Arrington
Jonas Knox
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